These days, propositional planning can be considered a quite well-understood problem. Good algorithms are known that can solve a wealth of very different and sometimes challenging planning tasks, and theoretical computational properties of both general STRIPS-style planning and the best-known benchmark problems have been established.

However, propositional planning has a major drawback: The formalism is too weak to allow for the easy encoding of many genuinely interesting planning problems, specifically those involving numbers. A recent effort to enhance the PDDL planning language to cope with (among other additions) numerical state variables, to be used at the third international planning competition, has increased interest in these issues.

In this contribution, we analyze "STRIPS with numbers" from a theoretical point of view. Specifically, we show that the introduction of numerical state variables makes the planning problem undecidable in the general case and many restrictions thereof and identify special cases for which we can provide decidability results.


The level of success achieved by returning Australia Awards scholars varies. Success is measured in relation to the implementation of Re-Entry Action Plans (REAP), degree of change introduced in the workplace, and personal development. However, the level of success of returning scholars has not been studied. In fact, some scholars were considered less successful, and there were cases wherein they were unable to implement or complete their REAPs. This study aimed to develop a framework to show contrasting factors that contribute to scholars' success levels. A sequential exploratory mixed method was utilized. The scholars' assignment (their workload/designation/rank in their employing organization) and qualities, their motivation, and the extent of scholarship support were considered facilitating factors in their level of success. However, colleagues and support from superiors were found to be hindering factors. Multiple regression reinforced that assignment appeared to be a predictor of success for returning scholars and to some extent scholars' qualities may also facilitate their success. Consequently, in selecting potential grantees for Australia Awards, work-related indicators and personal qualities may be useful factors to be considered in the scholars' selection criteria.


The phenomena of humor recognition seems to occur, in part, at cognitive levels that are below conscious awareness. Thus, the details of how humorous statements are recognized are not open to introspection or simple investigatory techniques. In this thesis, an information processing model of humor appreciation was further specified by integrating it with three concurrent models of natural language understanding. Then detailed processes for recognizing a written form of humor (puns) were couched in terms of syntactic and semantic processes, and the model was programmed in LISP for the purpose of testing its plausibility. It was concluded that the program can recognize simple forms of potentially humorous sentences, as well as resolve the ambiguity of many words in ordinary sentences. The program illuminates several of the detailed processes involved in the recognition of potentially humorous statements and in the resolution of ambiguous words, and provides a new approach for future research in the area of humor appreciation.


The main aim of this study is to investigate the influence of the individual characteristics and personality traits of the founder on the performance of family SMEs. To achieve this goal, a questionnaire was constructed, covering the socio-demographic (individual) characteristics of the entrepreneur and an individual's personality traits through five dimensions (Big-Five): extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness to experience. To measure performance, an already validated scale was also used, including two fundamental dimensions: business and family. 123 questionnaires from family SMEs were validated. Results show that the individual characteristics (age, gender and academic qualifications) of the founder do not influence the performance of family SMEs. As for the personality traits of the founder, only extraversion, conscientiousness and openness to experience are found to have a positive influence on performance, while neuroticism has a negative influence on performance. Some implications for theory and practice are also presented.


Mental health is becoming an increasingly prominent health challenge. Despite a plethora of studies analysing and mitigating bias for a variety of tasks such as face recognition and credit scoring, research on machine learning (ML) fairness for mental health has been sparse to date. In this work, we focus on gender bias in mental health and make the following contributions. First, we examine whether bias exists in existing mental health datasets and algorithms. Our experiments were conducted using Depresjon, Psykose and D-Vlog. We identify that both data and algorithmic bias exist. Second, we analyse strategies that can be deployed at the pre-processing, in-processing and post-processing stages to mitigate for bias and evaluate their effectiveness. Third, we investigate factors that impact the efficacy of existing bias mitigation strategies and outline recommendations to achieve greater gender fairness for mental health. Upon obtaining counter-intuitive results on D-Vlog dataset, we undertake further experiments and analyses, and provide practical suggestions to avoid hampering bias mitigation efforts in ML for mental health.


The potential of Cenchrus ciliaris L. root powder in sterilized form (as organic matter source) and un-sterilized form with plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB); Pseudomonas moraviensis, Bacillus cereus and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia was evaluated for improving soil health, physiology and yield of wheat. Cenchrus ciliaris roots were shade dried and ground in powder form. Root powder was applied to wheat in the field, as well as in pots containing sterilized soil at Quaid-e-Azam University Islamabad, for two consecutive years. Pot grown plants comprising 20 g root powder/ pot, while 150 g root powder was added in plot of 1 square meter in field. PGPB existing in applied un-sterilized root powder were re-isolated from rhizosphere soil of pots grown plants after 57d and 122d of sowing. Application of root powder in sterilized form improved organic matter (45%), P and Mg contents of rhizosphere soil and leaves, and positively affected growth, protein content and antioxidant enzymes activities. The application of root powder in un-sterilized form further improved nutrient contents in rhizosphere soil and leaves. Protein, proline, sugar contents, antioxidant activities, Indole acetic acid (IAA), gibberellic acid (GA) and yield components were also improved. The cost benefit ratio analysis for per hectare wheat production reveals that root powder application may increase the farmer's benefit by 19% in field. Root powder may be a rich source of organic matter as well as Phytostimulant for better crop growth and development.


Boston's Central Artery (Interstate 93) through downtown Boston is being reconstructed as a 1.5 mile long tunnel. Within the tunnel itself are several exits that require guide signing for motorist safety and efficient traffic operation. Design and placement of this signing faces challenges due to low ceiling height (17.5 feet) and horizontal and vertical curvature within the tunnel that reduce the distance from which signs can be seen by motorists. Within the confines of the tunnel, guide signs may be more easily blocked from view by large trucks, due to the lower than usual mounting height above the roadway. One of the improvements - from a traffic operations standpoint - of reconstructing the Central Artery is to reduce the number of exits and entrances from Interstate 93. Currently, there are a total of 27 exits and entrances (two-directional total) in a distance of about three miles. This number will be reduced to a total of 14 exits and entrances. Yet, in the tunnel portion of the project there will be a total of 7 exits. Three exits will be compressed into a 4,100 foot long southbound tunnel segment. The above conditions may mean that drivers - especially unfamiliar drivers - will have difficulty obtaining the guidance information they need to find the proper exit. This will lead to driver frustration and may also lead to a reduction in safety due to abrupt lane changing and other maneuvers. To overcome these problems and to improve the sign design and placement, a study using a driver simulator was undertaken. A computer generated roadway through the tunnel was developed to replicate the tunnel geometry (including horizontal and vertical curvature and ceiling height) and the placement of signs. Signing alternatives were developed and test subjects drove through the simulated tunnel to evaluate those signing alternatives. This paper will share the authors' experience in using a full-scale driving simulator as a tool for improving freeway guide signing.


3D semantic segmentation is one of the key tasks for autonomous driving system. Recently, deep learning models for 3D semantic segmentation task have been widely researched, but they usually require large amounts of training data. However, the present datasets for 3D semantic segmentation are lack of point-wise annotation, diversiform scenes and dynamic objects. In this paper1, we propose the SemanticPOSS dataset, which contains 2988 various and complicated LiDAR scans with large quantity of dynamic instances. The data is collected in Peking University and uses the same data format as SemanticKITTI. In addition, we evaluate several typical 3D semantic segmentation models on our SemanticPOSS dataset. Experimental results show that SemanticPOSS can help to improve the prediction accuracy of dynamic objects as people, car in some degree. SemanticPOSS will be published at www.poss.pku.edu.cn.


The unmanned helicopter exhibits a complex and nonlinear dynamic behavior and open-loop unstable. This paper describes a attitude control method based on adaptive output feedback for an unmanned helicopter. First, it is assumed that the controlled system satisfies the output feedback linearization conditions. Second, the approximate model of the system is considered as the diffeomorphism of the system. Then, a linear controller and adaptive neural networks are designed to cancel the model errors produced by nonlinear, uncertainty and disturbance. Finally, the boundedness of tracking errors and weight errors are studied with Lyapunov stability theorem. The application results of an unmanned helicopter show that the proposed controller can not only cancel the dynamical error effectively but also improve tracking performance of the attitude control system.


A form of sequential analysis has been developed to track performance of tracheal intubation by novice intubators. One hundred and nineteen trainees completed logbooks during their attachment to the Departments of Anaesthesia and these data were used to produce rates of success for sequential attempts at the procedure. A grid was created from this on which future trainees could report their performance. A boundary drawn on the grid can be used as a trigger to indicate the need for more basic instruction.


The sequence in which problems of different concepts are studied during instruction impacts concept learning. For example, several problems of a given concept can be studied together (blocking) or several problems of different concepts can be studied together (interleaving). In the current study, we demonstrate that the 2 sequences impact concept induction differently as they differ in the temporal spacing and the temporal juxtaposition of to-be-learned concept problems, and in the cognitive processes they recruit. Participants studied 6 problems of 3 different statistical concepts, and then were tested on their ability to correctly classify new problems on a final test. Interleaving problems of different to-be-learned concepts, rather than blocking problems by concept, enhanced classification performance, replicating the interleaving effect (Experiment 1). Introducing temporal spacing between successive problems decreased classification performance in the interleaved schedule—consistent with the discriminative-contrast hypothesis that interleaving fosters between-concept comparisons—and increased classification performance in the blocked schedule—consistent with the study-phase retrieval hypothesis that temporal spacing causes forgetting and subsequent retrieval enhances memory (Experiment 2). Temporally juxtaposing problems of concepts 3-at-a-time rather than 1-at-a-time improved overall classification performance, particularly in a blocked schedule—consistent with the commonality-abstraction hypothesis that blocking fosters within-concept comparisons (Experiment 3). All participants also completed a working memory capacity (WMC) task, findings of which suggest that the efficacy of the above study sequences may be related to individual differences in WMC.


A self-organizing computing network based on concepts of fuzzy conditions, beliefs, probabilities, and neural networks is proposed for decision-making in intelligent systems which are required to handle data sets with a diversity of data types. A sense-function with a sense-range and fuzzy edges is defined as a transfer function for connections from the input layer to the hidden layer in the network. By generating hidden cells and adjusting the parameters of the sense-functions, the network self-organizes and adapts to a training set. Computing cells in the input layer are designed as data converters so that the network can deal with both symbolic data and numeric data. Hidden computing cells in the network can be explained via fuzzy rules in a similar manner to those in fuzzy neural networks. The values in the output layer can be explained as a belief distribution over a decision space. The final decision is made by means of the winner-take-all rule. The approach was applied to a series of the benchmark data sets with a diversity of data types and comparative results obtained. Based on these results, the suitability of a range of data types for processing by different intelligent techniques was analyzed, and the results show that the proposed approach is better than other approaches for decision-making in information systems with mixed data types.


Purpose: There exists a barrier between developing and disseminating risk prediction models in clinical settings. We hypothesize this barrier may be lifted by demonstrating the utility of these models using incomplete data that are collected in real clinical sessions, as compared to the commonly used research cohorts that are meticulously collected. Patients and methods: Genetic counselors (GCs) collect family history when patients (i.e., probands) come to MD Anderson Cancer Center for risk assessment of Li-Fraumeni syndrome, a genetic disorder characterized by deleterious germline mutations in the TP53 gene. Our clinical counseling-based (CCB) cohort consists of 3,297 individuals across 124 families (522 cases of single primary cancer and 125 cases of multiple primary cancers). We applied our software suite LFSPRO to make risk predictions and assessed performance in discrimination using area under the curve (AUC), and in calibration using observed/expected (O/E) ratio. Results: For prediction of deleterious TP53 mutations, we achieved an AUC of 0.81 (95% CI, 0.70-0.91) and an O/E ratio of 0.96 (95% CI, 0.70-1.21). Using the LFSPRO.MPC model to predict the onset of the second cancer, we obtained an AUC of 0.70 (95% CI, 0.58-0.82). Using the LFSPRO.CS model to predict the onset of different cancer types as the first primary, we achieved AUCs between 0.70 and 0.83 for sarcoma, breast cancer, or other cancers combined. Conclusion: We describe a study that fills in the critical gap in knowledge for the utility of risk prediction models. Using a CCB cohort, our previously validated models have demonstrated good performance and outperformed the standard clinical criteria. Our study suggests better risk counseling may be achieved by GCs using these already-developed mathematical models.


Examining the minutes of the Council of Ministers, we can state that there were basically three ways in which the petty offences appeared there: firstly, the management of tasks related to petty offences as ministerial competence, secondly, the preparation of legislation related to petty offences, and thirdly as conflicts of competence related to petty offences. One of the results of the compromise associated with the commencement of judicial reform was the adoption of Article 25 of Act IV of 1869, which temporarily regulated the issue of resolving conflicts of competence between administrative authorities and courts. The regulation was unfortunate because the government had to deal with issues for which it did not have the necessary knowledge, the necessary competencies, or the required amount of time. In addition, especially in the case of petty offences, cases had to be brought before the government that were of very little importance. According to contemporaries, the government acted with due restraint and caution in resolving conflicts of competence. However, this restraint was not forced by any legislation, nor was there any legal guarantee element in the government proceedings. The real solution to the situation was brought in 1907 by the Competence Court Act.


This article discusses the inherent relation between image plans and business management from the point that the structure of corporate and brand identity is an important step to establish the whole image . The aim is to expound and prove that the factor of image construction derives from the composition of corporate organization and product exploitation strategy through analyzing the peculiarities and functions of several kinds of image structures. A reasonable image structure should not only indicate how the corporate is organized but also aim at how to bring about communicational advantage.


Two experiments investigated the effects of cooking rate and post-cooking holding time on the internal cooked color of ground beef patties. In Experiment 1, patties were cooked rapidly (1.8oF/second) or slowly (0.4oF/second). At temperatures below 180oF, rapidly cooked patties were redder and appeared less well done than those cooked slowly. All slowly cooked patties appeared well done, even at unsafe final internal temperatures. In Experiment 2, patties were cooked rapidly and held for 1, 3, 6, or 12 minutes after cooking. Increasing the post-cooking holding time to 6 minutes after rapid cooking decreased pinkness and maximized well-done appearance. This allowed ground beef patties to be cooked to a lower temperature, likely preserving juiciness and flavor. Employing either a slow cooking rate or rapid cooking with a postcooking holding time will foster a well-done appearance. Internal cooked color is not an adequate indicator of ground beef doneness. Only strict temperature control and monitoring can ensure product safety.


Providing legal rules for life sciences is not an easy task. On the one hand, for instance, scientific results change rapidly and new areas for research are continuously emerging. On the other hand, legislative procedures are time-consuming and the law risks to be always late. Scientific complexity and ethical divisiveness are also uneasy to deal with by political bodies and courts, requiring precise and specific expertise. In the light of the tricky relationship between life sciences and the law, the article recommends three features that are supposed to help the law in efficiently cope with contemporary and future scientific challenges: openness, updateness, attentiveness.


Background : The main objective of the study was to report on the main parameters of ocular biometry and Intra ocular lens power of patients attending a cataract surgical program in Eastern Ethiopia. Methods : The study was a cross sectional study on 765 eyes which were legible for cataract surgery during a mass eye camp conducted from April 04 to April 10, 2018 at Bisidimo Hospital,Eastern Ethiopia.Ocular biometric parameters such as axial length (AL), anterior chamber depth (ACD), mean corneal curvature (MCC) were measured using automated keratorefractometer(Retinomax) and Sonomed A - Scan. Analysis of variance and multivariate analysis were done to determine association of ocular biometry components with socio demography of the study subjects. Results : A total of 765 eyes were enrolled in this study. The mean corneal curvature and the mean anterior chamber depth were found to be 7.61 mm and 2.88mm respectively. The mean axial length was estimated to be 22.98 mm. The mean refractive power of Intra ocular lenses was calculated to be 19.34D. The mean axial length in females was shorter than that of males by 0.24 and this was statistically significant ( P - value = 0.01). Under multiple linear regression model gender had a statistically significant impact on the axial length. The mean Anterior chamber depth in males was also larger than that of females by nearly 0.1 and this was statistically significant (P - value = 0.001). Under multiple linear regression model both age and gender had a statistically significant impact on the anterior chamber depth. There was no a statistically significant difference on the mean Intra ocular lens power required for male and female patients.Conclusion : This study is the first of its kind to provide a larger population based normative data on the most important parameters of ocular biometry in Ethiopia.The female sex was a strong predictor of small axial length and shallow anterior chamber. Increasing age had no effect on the axial length but was found to be a stronger predictor of shallow anterior chamber. Key words : Axial length, Anterior chamber depth, Corneal curvature, Intra ocular lens.


This study was conducted on raw cow's milk collected in seven states of Malaysia to investigate the composition of minerals and trace elements in the milk. Raw cow's milk samples were collected from Kedah, Perak, Johor, Melaka, Pahang, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan from January to November 2015. ICPMS technique combined with microwave digestion were applied to determine the concentration of five major minerals (Na, Mg, K, Ca and P) and eleven trace elements (Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Se, Sr, Mo,Ba and Pb) in the milk samples. The result of analysis showed relatively constant composition of minerals and trace elements in the samples but some variations were observed in certain states. Application of principal component analysis (PCA) in the composition data showed different cluster exists between the states of Selangor and Negeri Sembilan as well as Kedah and Negeri Sembilan. There is no significant difference observed in the compositions of minerals and trace elements between other states. The compositions of minerals and trace elements in raw cow's milk in Malaysia are comparable with reports from other research. Further studies can be done to investigate the source of nutrient, food or environmental condition that produced the amounts of minerals and trace elements in the milk.


Fraught relations between authors and critics are a commonplace of literary history. The particular case that we discuss in this article, a negative review of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Christabel (1816), has an additional point of interest beyond the usual mixture of amusement and resentment that surrounds a critical rebuke: the authorship of the review remains, to this day, uncertain. The purpose of this article is to investigate the possible candidacy of Thomas Moore as the author of the provocative review. It seeks to solve a puzzle of almost two hundred years, and in the process clear a valuable scholarly path in Irish Studies, Romanticism, and in our understanding of Moore's role in a prominent literary controversy of the age.


The cost and time needed to conduct whole‐genome sequencing (WGS) have decreased significantly in the last 20 years. At the same time, the number of conditions with a known molecular basis has steadily increased, as has the number of investigational new drug applications for novel gene‐based therapeutics. The prospect of precision gene‐targeted therapy for all seems in reach… or is it? Here we consider practical and strategic considerations that need to be addressed to establish a foundation for the early, effective, and equitable delivery of these treatments.


The purpose of the study is determine whether communication climate and job satisfaction are independent from one another as perceived by the faculty members of Cavite State University - Naic . Specifically, it seeks answers to the following questions:(1)What is the level of faculty members' communication satisfaction in relation to the following variables, communication, information, relationships, communication channels? (2) What is the level of faculty members' job satisfaction at Cavite State University- Naic? (3) Is communication climate independent from job satisfaction? The researcher used the descriptive research design. Qualitative and quantitative techniques were utilized in this study. The data for this study was gathered through the use of communication satisfaction and job diagnostic survey questionnaires. Results revealed that Job satisfaction and communication climate are not independent. It means that Communication climate is related to job satisfaction, employees with positive satisfaction on communication climate are satisfied on their job. Therefore, establishing and maintaining a healthy and positive communication climate are very vital in creating and maintaining job satisfaction.


This paper adopts XML technology to establish standard development of electronic tender, which format is not unified in traditional construction project internet-assisted bidding system. In view the lack of scientific evaluation of the decision-making model, the two-level system of fuzzy evaluation model based on single-weight system evaluation model is put forward for both experts and bidders so as to realize qualitative and quantitative evaluation. Based on the above work, an internet-assisted bidding system for construction project is developed by the supporting techniques such as C#, XML and Web. The three-layer architecture of this system is constructed and its working flow is given. Its performance shows the feasibility and effectiveness of this system and provides important reference for the computer aided bid evaluation system.


On 26 December 2004, the Urak Lawoi sea people were hit by a huge tsunami that overwhelmed all of Southeast Asia causing the deaths of more than 350,000 people across the region. If the tsunami was the disaster, the "first wave", the relief efforts and the assistance that came with it became the "second wave", due to the social and economic changes that followed. The Urak Lawoi have for centuries, resided on the Andaman Sea, off western Thailand. They have long lived on islands, that today are popular touristic destinations, such as Phuket, Phi Phi, and Ko Lanta Yai. Here, they have long shared resources that the ocean can offer for subsistence. Living next to the sea is central to their identity; here, they fish, gather at the shore, and perform ancestor-spirit worship. Although they are a minority in Thailand, they maintain a culture, language, and lifestyle apart from Thai society. In this dissertation I discuss how the post-tsunami reforms, relief efforts and outside attention have affected everyday life among the Urak Lawoi on the island of Ko Lanta Yai. The dissertation is based on 36 months of ethnographic fieldwork that stretches over a decade (2002-2013), before and after the tsunami. I have used video cameras to film, providing a deeper understanding of the empirical data collected. The monograph provides an empirical understanding of how global economic interests and transnational migration influence local communities. Examples from fieldwork are used to demonstrate how an indigenous people were deprived of their territory (which in this case includes the sea), and how this affected their religion but also hampered their self-sufficient economy as they became increasingly dependent on a solid monetary income. The analysis reveals how a response to a natural disaster can accelerate the integration of local people into the global economic arena under the conditions of tourism development. The rebuilding activities, new regulations, and social integration processes became catalysts for the local government to implement desired changes that suited tourism growth. The study demonstrates how development increased the inequalities of people's living conditions and made people without land entitlements more vulnerable. Those who have access to land were the best at integrating with Thai society, but they were also the best at preserving their identity.Thus, I argue, a natural disaster can be used as a pretext for exploitation in favor of tourism development in the affected area, and speed up the process of change. I conclude that outsiders have a desire to create stereotypes of the Urak Lawoi, who only have the "right" to retain their identity as "sea people" if they adapt their traditions and culture to suit tourism development. Although vulnerable, the Urak Lawoi do not see themselves as victims but show strong agency and creativity to act within limitations in society.


The effect of the 2x 1 reconstruction on the core-electron binding energies of the outermost Si(100) layers has been determined using high-resolution photoemission data. A previously unobserved 190-meV crystal-field splitting is resolved for the up-atoms of the asymmetric surface dimers, whose average corelevel shift is —400 meV. The signal from the down-atoms is clearly identified and has a shift of +220 meV. These new findings indicate a charge flow of -0.05e from the subsurface to the surface layers, with a substantially larger diff'erence of -0.34e between the up-atoms and down-atoms in the dimer.


Finite-strain analyses of Galice Formation metagraywackes from the footwall block of the Orleans fault, western Klamath Mountains, California, show a dramatic increase in strain ratios structurally upward, approaching the Orleans fault. R xz strain values range from less than 3 at a distance of 2 km from the fault to 6.5 adjacent to the fault. Strain-ellipse orientations are relatively consistent; X-directions are commonly northwest-southeast and subhorizontal and trend subparallel to the trace of the Orleans fault. Finite-strain ellipse orientations and the clockwise rotational strain recorded by microscopic kinematic indicators are both compatible with the interpretation of dextral oblique convergence on the Orleans fault during the Nevadan orogeny.


Acute appendicitis is one of the commonest surgical diseases. It can rapidly progress to severe complications, like perforation and peritonitis. Consequently, surgeons often prefer to operate as soon as there is, clinically, a probable diagnosis, even if such a decision results in the ablation of up to 30% of normal appendixes. Many diagnostic methods have been proposed with the aim of decreasing the number of appendectomies in patients without appendicitis: ultrasonography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, laparoscopy. In particular, ultrasonography has the advantage of being less expensive, widely available, and non-invasive; furthermore, it has demonstrated a diagnostic accuracy of 70-95%. However, its use needs further evaluation with respect to the best way to integrate it with clinical and laboratory data, in order to correctly identify a patient with suspected acute appendicitis. The aim of our study is to show our experience with ultrasonographic diagnosis of acute appendicitis, acquired by surgeons with specific sonographic expertise.


In the face of globalization, Islamic boarding schools require rapid change and development, especially in careers, and contribute to society and the boarding school. Therefore, we need a concept to build a career properly and how a contribution can be helpful in stages. Problems such as human resource development are necessary so that Islamic boarding schools can positively impact people worldwide. This article is an extension of previously published essays and the method used. Moreover, this article's result is a valuable career development framework for increasing human resource competence, detailed job descriptions, and how contributions can make gradual so that they are right on target. This framework and process will be very useful in increasing ability and teamwork. It also needs to be done so that Islamic boarding schools can develop rapidly; of course, it is also necessary to have consistency in implementing this to create high competency human resources as proof that this concept implemented is that we have carried out community service by implementing cloud storage as a medium for registering new students at the Askhabul Kahfi Islamic boarding school and have made the Si-PenO (Online registration information system) application. Of course, these two things will continue to develop so that Islamic boarding schools can increase their competence and competitiveness in the face of globalization.


The lesion O6-alkylguanine (O6-AG) is produced in cellular DNA following exposure to monofunctional alkylating agents and its miscoding and mutagenic properties have been demonstrated in specific in vitro systems. In order to examine whether this lesion could be responsible for any of the biological effects of alkylating agents in mammalian cells, we have constructed a plasmid containing the O6-AG alkyltransferase (ATase) region of the gene from Escherichia coli, the product of which normally repairs both O6-AG and alkylphosphotriesters in DNA. We have transfected the construction into Chinese hamster fibroblasts which are deficient in endogenous ATase activity and selected a clone that expresses the truncated repair gene. We demonstrate that this protein is functional, acts on damage in host cell DNA and protects the cells from the toxic effects of those alkylating agents that react extensively at oxygen atom positions.


The adsorption of Cu (II) ions by Genjer (Limnocharis flava) biomass has been carried out. This research aims to determine the optimum pH of the plant and the contact time between the metal ion Cu (II) with the plant that produces the highest absorption, as well as knowing the best adsorbent mass for absorption between Cu (II) metal ions and genjer plants. The study used a completely randomized design (CRD) with variables of pH, contact time, and adsorbent mass. The testing of the absorption of the Genjer leaves biomass against Cu (II) was carried out with Atomic Adsorption Spectrophotometric (AAS). The results showed that the optimum absorption produced was 83.34% at pH 4, and 91.54% with the highest contact time of 30 minutes, and 82.04% with an adsorbent mass of 1 gram.
Keywords: Limnocharis flava, pH, contact time, adsorbent mass, adsorption, Cu (II) ion


The desalination of seawater is one of the most established techniques in the world. In the middle of the 20th century this was achieved using water evaporation systems, later with reverse osmosis membranes and nowadays with the possibility of capacitive deionization membranes. Capacitive deionization and membrane capacitive deionization are an emerging technology that make it possible to obtain drinking water with an efficiency of 95%. This technology is in the development stage and consists of porous activated carbon electrodes, which have great potential for saving energy in the water desalination process and can be used for desalination using an innovative technology called capacitive deionization (CDI), or membrane capacitive deionization (MCDI) if an anion and cation membrane exchange is used. In this paper is proposed and designed a characterization system prototype for CDI and MCDI that can operate with constant current charging and discharging (galvanostatic method). Adequate precision has been achieved, as can be seen in the results obtained. These results were obtained from the performance of typical characterization tests with electrochemical double layer capacitors (EDLC), since they are electrochemical devices that behave similarly to MCDI, from the point of view of the electrical variables of the processes that take place in MCDI. A philosophy of using free software with open-source code has been followed, with software such as the Arduino and Processing programming editors (IDE), as well as the Arduino Nano board (ATmega328), the analogical-digital converter (ADC1115) and the digital-analogical converter (MCP4725). Moreover, a low-cost system has been developed. A robust and versatile system has been designed for water treatment, and a flexible system has been obtained for the specifications established, as it is shown in the results section.


Magnetic flywheel system utilizes a magnetic bearing, which is able to support the shaft without mechanical contacts, and also it is able to control rotational vibration. Magnetic flywheel system is composed of position sensors, a digital controller, actuating amplifiers, an electromagnet and a flywheel. This work applies the neuro-fuzzy control algorithm to control the vibration of a magnetic flywheel system. It proposes the design skill of an optimal controller when the system has structured uncertainty and unstructured uncertainty, i.e. it has a difficulty in extracting the exact mathematical model. Inhibitory action of vibration was verified at the specified rotating speed. Unbalance response, a serious problem in rotating machinery, is improved by using a magnetic bearing with neuro-fuzzy algorithm.


Immunodeficiency, centromeric instability and facial anomalies (ICF) syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by DNA hypomethylation and antibody deficiency. It is caused by mutations in DNMT3B, ZBTB24, CDCA7 or HELLS. While progress has been made in elucidating the roles of these genes in regulating DNA methylation, little is known about the pathogenesis of the life-threatening hypogammaglobulinemia phenotype. Here we show that mice deficient for Zbtb24 in the hematopoietic lineage recapitulate major clinical features of patients with ICF syndrome. Specifically, Vav-Cre-mediated ablation of Zbtb24 does not affect lymphocyte development but results in reduced plasma cells and low levels of IgM, IgG1 and IgA. Zbtb24-deficient mice are hyper- and hypo-responsive to T-dependent and Tindependent type 2 antigens, respectively, and marginal zone B cell activation is impaired. B cells from Zbtb24-deficient mice display elevated CD19 phosphorylation. Heterozygous disruption of Cd19 can revert the hypogammaglobulinemia phenotype in these mice. Mechanistically, Il5ra (interleukin-5 receptor subunit alpha) is derepressed in Zbtb24-deficient B cells, and elevated IL-5 signaling enhances CD19 phosphorylation. Our results reveal a novel link between IL-5 signaling and CD19 activation and suggest that abnormal CD19 activity contributes to immunodeficiency in ICF syndrome. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT ICF syndrome is a rare immunodeficiency disorder first reported in the 1970s. The lack of appropriate animal models has hindered the investigation of the pathogenesis of antibody deficiency, the major cause of death in ICF syndrome. Here we show that, in mice, disruption of Zbtb24, one of the ICF-related genes, in the hematopoietic lineage results in low levels of immunoglobulins. Characterization of these mice reveals abnormal B cell activation due to elevated CD19 phosphorylation. Mechanistically, Il5ra (interleukin-5 receptor subunit alpha) is derepressed in Zbtb24-deficient B cells, and increased IL-5 signaling enhances CD19 phosphorylation.


With the increasing popularity of digital camera, organizing and managing the large collection of digital photos effectively are therefore required. In this paper, we study the photo album sorting, clustering and compression techniques in DCT frequency domain without having to decompress JPEG photos into spatial domain firstly. We utilize the first several non-zero DCT coefficients to build our feature set and calculate the energy histograms in frequency domain directly. We then calculate the similarity distance of every two photos, and perform photo album sorting and adaptive clustering algorithms to group the most similar photos together. We further compress those clustered photos by a MPEG-like algorithm with variable IBP frames and adaptive search windows. Our methods provide a compact and reasonable format for people to store and transmit their large number of digital photos. Experiments prove that our algorithm is efficient and effective for digital photo processing.


Whales are federally protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act; endangered species, such as the North Atlantic right whale, receive additional protection under the Endangered Species Act. However, their regulations have failed to satisfy conservation and animal welfare concerns. From 1990 to 2011 the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis, NARW) population grew at a mean of 2.8% annually. However, population trends reversed since 2011; the species is in decline, with only ∼100 reproductively active females remaining. This failure is driven by vessel collisions and increasingly fatal and serious entanglement in fixed fishing gear, whose rope strength has increased substantially. Chronic entanglement, drag, and associated morbidity have been linked to poor fecundity. Genuine solutions involve designating areas to be avoided and speed restrictions for ships and removing fishing trap ropes from the water column. A trap fishing closure for NARW habitat in the Cape Cod Bay (U.S.) area has been in place seasonally since 2015. 2017 mortalities in Eastern Canada elicited substantive management changes whereby the 2018 presence of NARW in active trap fishing areas resulted in an effective closure. To avoid these costly closures, the traditional trap fishery model of rope end lines attached to surface marker buoys has to be modified so that traps are marked virtually, and retrieved with gear that does not remain in the water column except during trap retrieval. Consumer demand for genuinely whale-safe products will augment and encourage the necessary regulatory changes so that trap fisheries conserve target and nontarget species.


The authors have investigated the simultaneous photoionisation and excitation of He, using the R-matrix method, for photon energies between 68 and 75 eV, covering the energy range of the resonances converging to the n=3 and 4 states of He+. Cross sections and asymmetry parameters for leaving the He+ ion in the individual nl states for n<or=3 have been calculated. Where possible, the authors have compared their results with those of recent experiments and good agreement is obtained.


Subsequent to the introduction of High Performance Computing in the developed countries, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development/Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD/NEA) created the Task Force on Adapting Computer Codes in Nuclear Applications to Parallel Architectures (under the guidance of the Nuclear Science Committee`s Working Party on Advanced Computing) to study the growth area in supercomputing and its applicability to the nuclear community`s computer codes. The result has been four years of investigation for the Task Force in different subject fields - deterministic and Monte Carlo radiation transport, computational mechanics and fluid dynamics, nuclear safety, atmospheric models and waste management.


Almost ten years after its accession to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women ("CEDAW") in 1995, Malaysia submitted its first periodic report to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women ("CEDAW Committee") in April 2004. This report was a combined initial and second report; the reports were due in 1999 and 2003. Under article 18 of CEDAW, parties are to submit reports on the "legislative, judicial, administrative or other measures which they have adopted to give effect to the provisions of [CEDAW] and on the progress made" within one year of accession and thereafter at least every four years. The CEDAW Committee considered Malaysia's report at its 35th session in May 2006, and provided its concluding comments on 31 May 2006. Twenty eight non-governmental organisations submitted a joint report ("NGO Shadow Report") to the CEDAW Committee, critiquing the government's report, identifying continuing problems concerning gender equality in Malaysia and providing specific recommendations for the Committee's consideration. This article evaluates this landmark event.


Virtual reality (VR) technology can be used to simulate environments of historical sites in virtual spaces. In fact, many VR reproductions of historical sites have already been studied and developed. For users, the quality of the visual experience largely determines the authenticity of a VR space. However, when developing a VR space, it is difficult and timeconsuming to significantly improve visual quality while maintaining real-time rendering speed, which is the primary requirement of an effective user interface. For this reason, there have been few genuinely photorealistic VR spaces created for historical sites. However, this has begun to change due to the arrival of next-generation three-dimensional (3D) game engines. In this paper, we report on our recent development of photorealistic VR spaces for historical Kyoto sites created using the UDK 3D Game Engine. Specifically, we describe our VR reproduction of Reizei-ke, which consists of the Japanese court noble residence (kuge-yashiki), and Funehoko-cho, which is an important site for Japan's Gion Festival. Through the fabrication of these VR spaces, we could also extract a workflow that allows us to realize photorealistic and read-time VR contents of other cultural assets based on the abovementioned next-generation 3D game engine.


Tensor decompositions have been successfully applied to compress neural networks. The compression algorithms using tensor decompositions commonly minimize the approximation error on the weights. Recent work assumes the approximation error on the weights is a proxy for the performance of the model to compress multiple layers and fine-tune the compressed model. Surprisingly, little research has systematically evaluated which approximation errors can be used to make choices regarding the layer, tensor decomposition method, and level of compression. To close this gap, we perform an experimental study to test if this assumption holds across different layers and types of decompositions, and what the effect of fine-tuning is. We include the approximation error on the features resulting from a compressed layer in our analysis to test if this provides a better proxy, as it explicitly takes the data into account. We find the approximation error on the weights has a positive correlation with the performance error, before as well as after fine-tuning. Basing the approximation error on the features does not improve the correlation significantly. While scaling the approximation error commonly is used to account for the different sizes of layers, the average correlation across layers is smaller than across all choices (i.e. layers, decompositions, and level of compression) before fine-tuning. When calculating the correlation across the different decompositions, the average rank correlation is larger than across all choices. This means multiple decompositions can be considered for compression and the approximation error can be used to choose between them.


There is insufficient evidence to advocate the routine use of folate supplementation for the treatment of coronary artery disease (CAD). High levels of serum homocysteine have been associated in several studies with an increased risk for CAD (strength of recommendation [SOR]: B, associated in case-control studies). Folate supplementation decreases the level of serum homocysteine (SOR: A, meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials). This indirect evidence suggests that folate supplementation may be of benefit in slowing the progress of arteriosclerosis.


Basically, ritual activities are a series of sacred (sacred / sacred) actions carried out by Hindus using certain tools, places, and certain ways. Its main function is as a medium to surrender by worshiping God along with His manifestations accompanied by various offerings while accompanied by prayers (mantras) in order to obtain a gift of salvation. The rituals that are often encountered and experienced and carried out in daily life are generally life cycle rituals such as the rituals of birth, marriage, until death that are religiously believed by followers. Hinduism itself as a religion constructed by three basic frameworks positions "ritual" (event) as a supplement of material (skin / packaging) to support the element of "ethics" (moral) as part of an essence that is strengthened as well as to strengthen the foundation of "philosophy" (tattwa) as substance.


CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE
Carotid body tumors, or chemodectomas, are the most common head and neck paragangliomas, accounting for 80% of the cases. They may present minor symptoms; however, they deserve special attention in order to achieve accurate diagnosis and adequate treatment. The objectives of this study were to show the approach towards chemodectomas and evaluate the complications of the patients treated surgically without previous embolization.

DESIGN AND SETTING
Retrospective study on chemodectomas followed up at the Head and Neck Surgery Service, Department of Surgery, Unicamp.

METHODS
Twenty-two patients were evaluated between 1983 and 2009. The diagnosis was based on clinical findings and imaging methods. The epidemiological characteristics, lesion characteristics, diagnostic methods, treatment and complications were analyzed.

RESULTS
The paragangliomas were classified as Shamblin I (9%), II (68.1%) and III (22.7%). Angiography, magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography confirmed the diagnosis in 20 patients (90.9%). Five (22.7%) had significant bleeding during the surgery, while four (18.1%) had minor bleeding. Four patients (18.1%) developed neurological sequelae. Seven (31.8%) needed ligatures of the external carotid artery. Three patients (13.6%) underwent carotid bulb resection. The postoperative follow-up ranged from 3 months to 14 years without recurrences or mortality.

CONCLUSIONS
In our experience and in accordance with the literature, significant bleeding and neurological sequelae may occur in chemodectoma cases, particularly in Shamblin III patients. The complications from treatment without previous embolization were similar to data in the literature data, from cases in which this procedure was applied prior to surgery.


Background Adoptive T cell therapy has evolved from preclinical setting to a potentially feasible treatment strategy for advanced breast cancer (BC). However, the ability to expand tumor antigen specific T cells ex vivo has been one of the major hurdles that has limited clinical translation of adoptive T cell therapy. Tumor specific T cells are rare in unprimed patients and generating large bulk cultures from rare precursor frequencies is difficult. We have found immunizing HER2+ patients to increase tumor specific T cell precursor frequencies to the levels of a vaccinated foreign antigen markedly improves the ability to generate large numbers of tumor specific T cells in vitro. We hypothesize that T cell expansion strategies that are facilitated by prior immunization will be clinically useful in the treatment of advanced BC. Design : A Phase I/II non-randomized, single arm study. Priming with a HER2 ICD vaccine will be performed at 1 week intervals for a total of 3 vaccines. Patients will undergo leukapheresis 2 weeks after the 3 rd vaccine to collect PBMC for T cell expansion. Patients will be pre-treated with cyclophosphamide 24 hours prior to 1 st T cell infusion and then receive up to 3 dose-escalating infusions of T cells given 7–10 days apart. Three HER2 vaccine booster immunizations will then be administered at 1, 2, and 4 months after the final T cell infusion. Follow-up for persistent and continued immunity will then ensue. Aims : To evaluate the safety of infusing escalating doses of HER2 specific T cells into patients with advanced HER2+ BC using ex vivo expanded autologous T cells, to investigate to what extent HER2 specific T cell immunity can be boosted or generated in individuals after infusion of HER2 specific T cells, to evaluate how long T cell immune augmentation persists in vivo after adoptive transfer of HER2 specific T cells and subsequent booster immunizations. Criteria : Patients with HER2+ Stage IV BC who: have been maximally treated and not achieved a complete remission, have stable or slowly progressive disease, HER2+, and have adequate LVEF. Statistical Methods : Toxicity will be determined by chemical and clinical parameters evaluated at various time points. If the true probability of a DLT is 0.11, then the probability of observing 0 DLT9s in 20 patients is 0.097. If the true probability of a DLT is 0.18, then the probability of observing ≤1 DLT9s in 20 patients is 0.102, and if the true probability of a DLT is 0.27, then the probability of observing ≤2 DLT9s in 20 patients is 0.064. Therefore, with low observed rates of DLT (≤10%), we can be reasonably confident (∼90%) with 20 patients that the true DLT rate is Accrual : Target=20/Actual=14 Citation Information: Cancer Res 2011;71(24 Suppl):Abstract nr OT2-05-05.


We report the modification of surface properties of solution-processed zirconium oxide (ZrO2) dielectric films achieved by using double-coating process. It is proven that the surface properties of the ZrO2 film are modified through the double-coating process; the surface roughness decreases and the surface energy increases. The present surface modification of the ZrO2 film contributes to an increase in grain size of the pentacene film, thereby increasing the field-effect mobility and decreasing the threshold voltage of the pentacene thin-film transistors (TFTs) having the ZrO2 gate dielectric. Herein, the molecular orientation of pentacene film is also studied based on the results of contact angle and X-ray diffraction measurements. Pentacene molecules on the double-coated ZrO2 film are found to be more tilted than those on the single-coated ZrO2 film, which is attributed to the surface modification of the ZrO2 film. However, no significant differences are observed in insulating properties between the single-and the double-coated ZrO2 dielectric films. Consequently, the characteristic improvements of the pentacene TFTs with the double-coated ZrO2 gate dielectric film can be understood through the increase in pentacene grain size and the reduction in grain boundary density.


To determine if alpha 1-or alpha 2-adrenergic receptors mediate the inhibition of ACTH stimulation of growth hormone secretion, decrease in blood pressure and inhibition of renin secretion produced by release of catecholamines in the brain, drugs with varying amounts of alpha 1- and alpha 2-adrenergic activity were injected directly into the third ventricle in pentobarbital anesthetized dogs. To determine whether the receptors mediating the responses to clonidine were pre- or postsynaptic, the effect of intravenous clonidine was determined 2 weeks after intraventricular 6-hydroxydopamine, and 24 h after intravenous alpha-metyl-p-tyrosine. Norepinephrine, epinephrine and clonidine, but not methoxamine and phenylephrine inhibited ACTH secretion. None of these alpha-agonists affected growth hormone secretion. Epinephrine and clonidine lowered blood pressure. Clonidine decreased plasma renin activity, but the other agonists increased it. In dogs treated with 6-hydroxydopamine, the decrease in blood pressure and ACTH and renin secretion produced by clonidine was not altered but the growth hormone response was reduced. alpha-methyl-p-tyrosine had no effect on the ACTH and growth hormone responses to clonidine. The data suggest that postsynaptic alpha-adrenergic receptors mediate inhibition of ACTH secretion and stimulation of growth hormone secretion, although in the case of growth hormone secretion, a presynaptic receptor is also involved. In addition, postsynaptic alpha 2-adrenergic receptors mediate a decrease in blood pressure, and they may mediate decreased renin secretion.


The highest concentrations of epidermal growth factor (EGF) are found in urine, but the physiological role of urinary EGF is unknown. We studied human urinary EGF excretion, by measuring its concentration with a specific homologous RIA, in 265 healthy children from birth until age 16 yr. The absolute concentrations varied widely between individuals. Mean values were approximately 10 ng/ml in 1- to 30-day-old infants; 2.5-fold higher values were found in infants aged 2 to 12 months. During the second year there was a further rise to about 70 ng/ml, and urinary EGF excretion was in the same range in older subjects. The EGF/creatinine concentration ratio was less variable. The mean ratio increased 6-fold from birth to the second year of life. Thereafter, the EGF/creatinine ratio decreased gradually to one-third of the peak level at puberty. No sex difference was found.


The spread of infectious disease via commercial airliner travel is a significant and realistic threat. To shed some light on the feasibility of detecting airborne pathogens, a sensor integration study has been conducted and computational investigations of contaminant transport in an aircraft cabin have been performed. Our study took into consideration sensor sensitivity as well as the time-to-answer, size, weight and the power of best available commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) devices. We conducted computational fluid dynamics simulations to investigate three types of scenarios: (1) nominal breathing (up to 20 breaths per minute) and coughing (20 times per hour); (2) nominal breathing and sneezing (4 times per hour); and (3) nominal breathing only. Each scenario was implemented with one or seven infectious passengers expelling air and sneezes or coughs at the stated frequencies. Scenario 2 was implemented with two additional cases in which one infectious passenger expelled 20 and 50 sneezes per hour, respectively. All computations were based on 90 minutes of sampling using specifications from a COTS aerosol collector and biosensor. Only biosensors that could provide an answer in under 20 minutes without any manual preparation steps were included. The principal finding was that the steady-state bacteria concentrations in aircraft would be high enough to be detected in the case where seven infectious passengers are exhaling under scenarios 1 and 2 and where one infectious passenger is actively exhaling in scenario 2. Breathing alone failed to generate sufficient bacterial particles for detection, and none of the scenarios generated sufficient viral particles for detection to be feasible. These results suggest that more sensitive sensors than the COTS devices currently available and/or sampling of individual passengers would be needed for the detection of bacteria and viruses in aircraft.


The aim of the study was to determine the influence of relations joining customers are employees of co-operative banks to evaluate the activity of selected elements of these banks. The survey was conducted in 2015. Authors devoted the special attention to the way of perceiving the credit offer to customers. Maintaining relationships between customers and employees has an impact on the perception and evaluation of the functioning of both the bank and its products. Relationships with employees had impact 2/3 of respondents mentioned aspects of the bank. The results of the correspondence analysis indicated the presence of statistically significant correlation between the type of relation linking clients with employees of the bank and the perception of available bank credit offer. The strongest correlation was observed in the group of respondents with their friends cooperative bank employees and a well-evaluating its credit offer.


The role of line-edge roughness scattering on the electronic properties of graphene nanoribbons is numerically investigated. The nonequilibrium Green function formalism, along with an atomistic tight-binding model, is employed. Our results indicate that, depending on the geometrical and roughness parameters, the transport of carriers can be in the diffusive or localization regime. We extract the mean free path and the localization length, which characterize the diffusive and localization regimes, respectively. In the diffusive regime, the conductance linearly decreases with length, whereas in the localization regime, it exponentially decreases with length. However, as the localization length depends on the carrier energy, an effective transport gap in this regime can be defined. This gap is evaluated as a function of the geometrical and roughness parameters, and its impact on the device performance is discussed.


. . . Although the basic technique for LIF measurements is similar for all instruments, there are differences that may have an impact on potential interferences, such as number of passes, laser power, repetition rate, inlet diameter, internal pressure, etc. Although some of this information is provided in the text describing the individual instruments, the details are not consistent. For example, while the laser power typically


Abstract Current research into the structural evolution of the East Shetland Basin, northern North Sea, indicates that a significant phase of structural inversion occurred during the Latest Jurassic-Early Cretaceous. Structural effects of this tectonic phase include the pronounced uplift of pre- and syn-rift sequences along the western margin of the basin and the partial inversion of Mesozoic half-graben along intra-basinal NE-SW controlling faults. In addition, the localized occurrence of flower geometries and pop-ups along NE-SW trending faults suggests a component of strike-slip during the reactivation of these pre-existing structures. Work presented stresses the importance in the role of pre-existing lineaments and the effects of superimposing subsequent non-coaxial extensional events upon them. Lineaments may be prominent reactivated basement shear zones or fault systems from earlier extensional phases. Inversion will be analysed in detail with respect to two areas within the northern East Shetland Basin, the Tern sub-basin and the northern Penguin ridge. A regional tectonic model of northern North Sea rift evolution is presented and its implications to observed Latest Jurassic-Early Cretaceous structure discussed.


The results of new spectroscopic analyses of 20 recently reported extrasolar planet parent stars are presented. The companion of one of these stars, HD 10697, has recently been shown to have a mass in the brown dwarf regime; we find [Fe/H] = +0.16 for it. For the remaining sample, we derive [Fe/H] estimates ranging from -0.41 to +0.37, with an average value of +0.18 ± 0.19. If we add the 13 stars included in the previous papers of this series and six other stars with companions below the 11 MJ limit from the recent studies of Santos et al., we derive ⟨[Fe/H]⟩ = +0.17 ± 0.20. Among the youngest stars with planets with F or G0 spectral types, [Fe/H] is systematically larger than young field stars of the same Galactocentric distance by 0.15 to 0.20 dex. This confirms the recent finding of Laughlin that the most massive stars with planets are systematically more metal-rich than field stars of the same mass. We interpret these trends as supporting a scenario in which these stars accreted high-Z material after their convective envelopes shrunk to near their present masses. Correcting these young star metallicities by 0.15 dex still does not fully account for the difference in mean metallicity between the field stars and the full parent stars sample. The stars with planets appear to have smaller [Na/Fe], [Mg/Fe], and [Al/Fe] values than field dwarfs of the same [Fe/H]. They do not appear to have significantly different values of [O/Fe], [Si/Fe], [Ca/Fe], or [Ti/Fe], though. The claim made in Paper V that stars with planets have low [C/Fe] is found to be spurious, due to unrecognized systematic differences among published studies. When corrected for these differences, they instead display slightly enhanced [C/Fe] (but not significantly so). If these abundance anomalies are due to the accretion of high-Z matter, it must have a composition different from that of the Earth.


Self-stabilizing algorithms represent an extension of distributed algorithms in which nodes of the network have neither coordination, synchronization, nor initialization. We consider the model where there is one designated master node and all other nodes are anonymous and have constant space. Recently, Lee et al. obtained such an algorithm for determining the size of a unidirectional ring. We provide a new algorithm that converges much quicker. This algorithm exploits a token-circulation idea due to Afek and Brown. Disregarding the time for stabilization, our algorithm computes the size of the ring at the master node in O(n log n) time compared to O(n3) steps used in the algorithm by Lee et al. using the same computing paradigm. It seems likely that one should be able to obtain master-slave algorithms for other problems in networks.


A super heater is a device that is used to convert wet, saturated steam into dry steam. Dry steam at 538°C contains more thermal energy. It increases the overall efficiency of the cycle. The Modelling of the Super heater is done to control the temperature. The paper deals with simulation of control of power plant Super heaters by means of Simulink. The simulation models are developed. These are applied to electrical power generating plants in order to characterize the essential dynamic behaviour of the boiler. The corresponding models are used for the power plant processes. Mathematical model of a super heater is described by sets of nonlinear partial differential equations. Estimation of the Super heater model is done by the System identification tool for design of a steam temperature control system. Data obtained by the measurement compared with simulation results.


This study mainly seeks to investigate the determinants of migration in Kyonggi-Do. Two types of migrations are examined. First, the determinants of net migration in Kyonggi-Do for 1980-1985, 1985-1990, and 1990-1995 are analyzed. Second, the determinants of interurban migration in Kyonggi-Do for 1995 and 1997 are also investigated. Four factors(e.g. economic factor, gravity factor, policy factor, and amenity factor) are considered as potential attributes of migration based on the previous studies. Specially, from the four factors, the specific variables of the migration model in this study are defined (e.g. income from the economic factor and distance form the gravity factor. etc.). The results showed that 1) in the net migration, the increasing rates of housing and the proportion of people in cities are most influential variables. 2) In interurban migration, the distance between cities and the proportion of people in both origin and destination are the most important determinants. Based upon the findings of this study, several implications on housing and migration policies are suggested.


Background: The role of hepatectomy in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with portal hypertension (PH) remains controversial. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of hepatectomy on overall survival (OS) of HCC patients with PH.Methods: A total of 1651 HCC initially treated with hepatectomy were retrospectively reviewed and divided into PH group (n=157) or non-PH group (n=1494). Propensity score matching (PSM) was conducted to match the baseline characteristics of the PH group and non-PH group. Results: The PH group presented a similar OS (p=0.29) and recurrence free survival (RFS) (p=0.83) compared with non-PH group after initial hepatectomy before PSM. After PSM processing, the baseline characteristics were highly comparable for both groups (133 patients in each group). The PH group also presented a similar OS (p=0.81) and RFS (p=0.65) compared with non-PH group after initial hepatectomy. After PSM, multivariate analysis identified tumor size (>5 cm) (p=0.02), macro-venous invasion (p < 0.001), AST (>37 U/L) (p =0.008) as independent risk factors for OS.Conclusions: Hepatectomy provides good long-term outcomes for HCC patients with PH. PH should not be regarded as a contraindication for hepatectomy in HCC patients.


One of the ways by which prostate cancer cells survive or become resistant to conventional therapies is through the ability to reprogram their metabolic pathways. Thus, justifying the need for studies to elucidate the efficacy of metabolic inhibitors in prostate cancer intervention. The purpose of this study was to investigate the synergistic effects of two metabolic pathway inhibitors - 3-bromopyruvate (3-BrPA) and genistein - on androgen sensitive (LNCaP) and androgen insensitive (DU145) spheroid prostate cancer cells separately primed or irradiated with very low doses of x-ray radiation (VLDR) and low frequency weak magnetic field radiation (MFR). Methods: Both PCa cells were cultured until they form spheroids and then irradiated with either VLDR (20mGy/hr) or MFR (10mT; 50Hz/hr) in separate groups. Cells were seeded and treated with varying doses of 3-BrPA and genistein in single or combination regimen. Cell viability, metabolic activity and cytotoxicity or LDH release levels were measured using MTT, Alamar blue and LDH assays respectively. NBT assay was used to determine treatment-induced ROS levels. mitochondrial membrane potential was determined by Rh123 and ethidium bromide fluorescent staining. Modes of Cell death were determined by fluorescent staining with acridine orange and ethidium bromide dyes, and by morphological identification of apoptotic and autophagic PCa cells. CompuSyn program was used to determine the time- and dose-dependent synergism between combination regimens. Results: Our results show that VLDR and weak MFR moderately inhibit cell proliferation in both PCa cell lines. However, LNCaP PCa cells were found to be more responsive to both VLDR or weak MFR compared to DU-145 PCa cells. Both VLDR and MFR suppresses ATP generation and increases ROS generation time-dependently in both cell lines. The most common cell death event found in MFR-exposed cells was a mixture of mitotic catastrophe and autophagy, while autophagic and slight apoptotic responses were observed in VLDR-exposed cells. 3-BrPA triggers more autophagic response in irradiated DU145 cells compared more apoptotic response in LNCaP cells. In contrast, genistein induced cell growth inhibition in both cell lines, but more effect was observed in LNCaP cells with dose-dependent apoptotic response. Combination of 3-BrPA and genistein forced PCa cells to undergo reprogrammed cell death, decreased the mitochondrial membrane potential and LDH levels significantly in a dose and time-dependently. Conclusion: The combination treatments show synergistic and significant inhibition of the glycolytic and mitochondrial metabolic pathways resulting in induction of apoptosis in radiochemosensitized PCa cells. Priming of cells with VLDR or MFR also enhanced the therapeutic effects of both metabolic inhibitors. Hence, reinforcing the potential benefit of metabolic inhibitors in prostate cancer treatment. Note: This abstract was not presented at the meeting. Citation Format: Saheed O. Oseni, Rolando Branly, Mirjana Pavlovic, James Kumi-Diaka. Synergistic effects of metabolic inhibitors on radiochemosensitized spheroid prostate cancer cells [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 5422. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-5422


In the last three decades, improvements in respiratory management are responsible for increasing survival and improving quality of life for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients. Nowadays, ALS patients with respiratory involvement are offered a support treatment other than the traditional respiratory palliative care. Knowledge about available respiratory support potentialities is essential for appropriate, customized and effective treatment of ALS, which should probably be started sooner than the conventional approach. There is evidence supporting that respiratory support has a larger impact than riluzole on survival. Noninvasive ventilation is essential in the treatment of ALS patients with respiratory involvement. In this article methods to determine respiratory failure in ALS, mechanical invasive and noninvasive ventilation, telemetry, diaphragm pacing, cough aids and respiratory exercise are reviewed, after a brief overlook of respiratory insufficiency in ALS.


Over the last years, energy consumption in greenhouse horticulture has been reduced considerably by using (multiple) screens, controlled dehumidification and more efficient use of assimilation light. All these actions affect greenhouse climate and thereby plant processes. Measuring crop photosynthesis, a process that responds very rapidly to changes in climate, would be suited to monitor whether the climate is set according to the needs of the plant. Two monitoring systems have been developed, the crop photosynthesis monitor and the CropObserver. The crop photosynthesis monitor is a soft sensor that calculates the CO2 uptake of the entire greenhouse, based on the mass balance of a greenhouse for CO2. At known CO2 supply rates, measuring the CO2 concentrations inside and outside the greenhouse, and determining the ventilation loss allows the calculation of the crop photosynthesis. The CropObserver is a fluorescence sensor that provides laser light pulses from above in a surface of 3×3 m. Since the measurements are fast, the sensor provides a good image of the electron transport rate (ETR) of a large crop area in a short period of time. Evaluation of the sensors in a tomato cultivation showed that the data of the crop photosynthesis monitor matched the daily pattern of manual photosynthesis data up-scaled to crop photosynthesis by a crop growth model reasonably well. The CropObserver data were very comparable to local reference fluorescence measurements, and closely followed irradiance patterns over the day. Both systems have attracted the attention of Dutch growers, and will be further evaluated in commercial greenhouses.


Coastal flooding has disastrous consequences on people, infrastructure, properties and the environment. Increasing flood risk as a result of global climate change is a significant concern both within the UK and globally. To counter any potential increase in future flooding, a range of potential management options are being considered. This study aims to explore future coastal management practice for flood alleviation, incorporating the influence of climate change.,The Taf estuary in South West Wales, a macro-tidal estuary which has a history of coastal flooding, was chosen as the case study in this paper to investigate the impact of coastal management interventions such as construction of hard defences, managed realignment or altering land use of affiliated ecosystems such as salt marshes on the complex hydrodynamics and hence flooding of the surrounding areas of the estuary. The study was carried out using a numerical hydrodynamic model of the Taf estuary, developed using the process-based Delft3D modelling software.,The role of the selected management interventions on coastal flooding was investigated using an extreme storm condition, both with and without the impact of future sea level rise. The results highlight the scale of the effect of sea level rise, with the selected management interventions revealing that minimising the increase in flooding in future requires careful consideration of the available options.,This paper explores the highlighted role of coastal management practice in future with the influence of climate change to study how effective alternative methods can be for flood alleviation.


In order to design for children with special needs, we need to design with children with special needs. The inclusionary model proposed in this paper suggests that appropriate involvement of children with special needs in the design process begins with the level of involvement a team expects from children, and is additionally influenced by the nature and severity of the child's disability and the availability and intensity of support available to the child.


Conservation of fish assemblages in severely impounded rivers has often focused on providing longitudinal and lateral connectivity along the main stem. Less attention has been given to tributaries, some of which remain unimpounded. This study shows that the biodiversity of ichthyoplankton in tributaries to the largest reservoir in the Parana River, Brazil, is similar to that of tributaries of the few remaining unimpounded stretches of the Parana River. Annual and seasonal variability in discharge within and among tributaries attracts and supports a diverse mix of species in each spawning season. Tributaries enrich the fish biodiversity of the entire system by providing a variety of environmental conditions, access to spawning habitat, refugia for early life stages, and by promoting ecological heterogeneity. Thus, tributaries can mitigate the adverse influence of an impounded main stem. Tributaries also support populations of endangered and threatened species. A focus on tributaries offers conservation alternatives that are more feasible given the scale and large number of impoundments constructed on the main stem. Conservation in the main stem may focus on maintaining passage through dams and access to large floodplains. Conversely, in tributaries conservation may focus on managing the quality of inflows from catchments, preserving suitable instream habitats and flows, and preserving access to smaller but more numerous floodplains.


The success rate of establishing human cancer cell lines is not satisfactory and the established cell lines often do not preserve the molecular and histological features of the original tissues. In this study, we developed a novel culture method which can support proliferation of almost all primary epithelial ovarian cancer cells, as well as primary normal human oviductal epithelial cells. Cancer cells from fresh or frozen specimens were enriched by the anti-EpCAM antibody-conjugated magnetic beads, plated on Matrigel-coated plate and cultivated under the optimized culture conditions. Seventeen newly established ovarian cancer cell lines, which included all four major histotypes of ovarian cancer, were confirmed to express histotype-specific markers in vitro. Some of the cell lines from all the four histotypes, except mucinous type, generated tumors in immune-deficient mice and the xenograft tumor tissues recapitulated the corresponding original tissues faithfully. Furthermore, with poorly tumorigenic cell lines including mucinous type, we developed a novel xenograft model which could reconstruct the original tissue architecture through forced expression of a set of oncogenes followed by its silencing. With combination of the novel culture method and cell-derived xenograft system, virtually every epithelial ovarian cancer can be reconstituted in mice in a timely fashion.


Abstract Teleseismic body waves from the 14 September 1981 eastern Hispaniola earthquake were inverted using different source structure models. Comparison of the inversion results showed that the non-double-couple (CLVD) component of the moment tensor may be interpreted as a measure of deficiencies in the inversion procedure. Increasing the complexity of the source structure model to improve the fit of the Green9s functions to the observed seismograms, improving the data set9s azimuthal coverage, and leaving the time function free to compensate partially for the deficiencies of the Green9s functions all can decrease the size of the CLVD component. For an earthquake in which the direct arrival is clearly separated from the crustal phases, an inversion of the direct P and SH waves only, assuming a half-space source structure model, is adequate to determine the source double-couple orientation and time function. The moment tensor for the Hispaniola earthquake indicates thrust faulting on an east-west striking fault plane dipping 30° to 35° to the south. The pressure axis is oriented north-south, the intermediate axis east-west, and the tension axis is nearly vertical. The source time function is a simple 3-sec-long triangular pulse. The slip vector is consistent with the slip vectors for nearby earthquakes, as determined in other studies and indicates that the slab is moving down-dip to the south.


As the most important and dangerous front-end production link, coal mining operations will inevitably face geological disasters such as water inrush, rock burst, collapse, and fire, posing a great threat to the life and safety of miners. Among the five major geological disasters (gas, dust, water, fire, roof) in coal mines, the threat of flooding is very serious and it is one of the main disasters in coal mines. The research and development of dual-frequency excitation technology and its application in coal mine exploration have realized the elimination of potential safety hazards, improved the work efficiency and safety factor of prospectors, and realized the automated operation of the exploration process. This article explores the electric field of the intelligent algorithm's focused dual-frequency induced polarization method in coal mine electrical exploration, and summarizes some of the advantages of the intelligent algorithm's focused dual-frequency induced polarization method in coal mine surveying on related materials, and then conducts related experiment, through the experiment of focusing on the dual-frequency IP method in the coal mine survey, obtained the result, in the abnormal point detection experiment, the change trend of the two curves is the same, the increase is more obvious at 1.3-1.5m, and at 1.5m When reaching the limit value, when it exceeds 1.5m, it starts to fall. It shows that when there is a water-bearing anomalous body directly in front of the tunneling section, the measurement results of the two survey lines are roughly the same. Compared with the no anomaly body, the apparent resistivity and the apparent amplitude frequency both change significantly, and reach the extreme in a certain direction. However, the actual anomalous body is located 1.0m directly in front of the tunneling section, which means that the actual position of the anomaly cannot be determined based on the apparent resistivity and the extreme point position of the apparent amplitude frequency.


There is an increasing demand for portable, reliable, and cost effective bioelectronic systems for applications ranging from clinical diagnosis to homeland security. Conventional detection systems involve labeling the probe molecules, large amount of target molecules to enable detection, and elaborate signal transduction methods. Most of them also have to couple with optical detection equipments that are bulky and expensive. One dimensional (1-D) and two dimensional (2-D) structures such as nanowire, nanobelts and films are capable of detecting the molecular interactions in terms of significant change in their electrical properties leading to ultrahigh sensitivity and easy integration. In this paper, we demonstrate ZnO nanowires based bio-sesnors to detect IgG antibodies. Current-voltage (I-V) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) characterization were used to monitor the change in the conductivity as well as morphology. By comparing with the reference sample, the specific binding event between anti-IgG and IgG antibodies was detected. The data indicated a conductivity change by more than 12% after the protein hybridization. SEM images confirm the morphological change from reference samples to reacted samples. In addition, same experiment protocols are carried out for ZnO thin film devices. Similar change in I-V characteristics and morphologies are observed. Through this work, we have demonstrated to use ZnO nanowires as building blocks to fabricate bio-sensors which can potentially detect any protein. Conductimetric sensing results in a label-free detection system as it detects the protein hybridization events electrically. It is a cost effective process, which can be exploited further by expanding into arrays and integrating with microfluidics. When integrated on the SOP platform, this technology can lead to portable, reliable and cost effective biosensors with applications in many areas.


—We propose an approach to identify users' exposure to fake news from users' gaze and mouse movement behavior. Our approach is meant as an enabler for interventions that make users aware of engaging with fake news while not being consciously aware of this. Our work is motivated by the rapid spread of fake news on the web (in particular, social media) and the difficulty and effort required to identify fake content, either technically or by means of a human fact checker. To this end, we set out with conducting a remote online study ( N = 54 ) in which participants were exposed to real and fake social media posts while their mouse and gaze movements were recorded. We identify the most predictive gaze and mouse movement features and show that fake news can be predicted with 68.4% accuracy from users' gaze and mouse movement behavior. Our work is complemented by discussing the implications of using behavioral features for mitigating the spread of fake news on social media.


The linearized Bregman method is a method to calculate sparse solutions to systems of linear equations. We formulate this problem as a split feasibility problem, propose an algorithmic framework based on Bregman projections and prove a general convergence result for this framework. Convergence of the linearized Bregman method will be obtained as a special case. Our approach also allows for several generalizations such as other objective functions, incremental iterations, incorporation of non-gaussian noise models or box constraints.


Pixel binning is a well-known method to reduce the storage capacity of digital images. There remains the question, however, whether binned images obtain an increase of signal or signal-to-noise ratio. Experiments with photographs of point light sources and extended light sources are presented to demonstrate (a) the effect of increase of signal and (b) the success of pixel binning. The work presents a method to compute the signal-to-noise ratio for the binning task. On-chip binning is provided by some hardware devices. On-chip binning will introduce a certain complexity to the calibration of the device and to the derivation of errors obtained from photometry. Electronic imaging and photography are based on physical constraints. It is shown, that binning does not violate the physical law of conservation of energy. Binning will provide averaged pixels at lowered dimension and resolution of the image. Binning does not improve the signal-to-noise ratio or the susceptibility of the device.


The effect of hen egg-white lysozyme (HEWL) inhibitors (such as heparin, histidine methylester, chitotriose, chitobiose) on immune response was evaluated by measuring antibody-producing cells and circulating antibodies in mice inoculated with these substances and the test antigen (SRBC or BSA). It was found that these compounds have an immuno-enhancing effect which is directly proportional to their inhibitory activity on HEWL. Conversely, HEWL inhibited the immunoenhancing effect of these compounds when injected together with these and the test antigen. The results suggest that one possible mechanism by which adjuvants stimulate immune response may be the inhibition of endogenous lysozyme.


Calvin Blackman Bridges studied chromosomes and heredity in the US throughout the early twentieth century. Bridges performed research with Thomas Hunt Morgan [4] at Columbia University [5] in New York City, New York, and at the California Institute of Technology [6] in Pasadena, California. Bridges and Morgan studied heredity in Drosophila [7], the common fruit fly. Throughout the early twentieth century, researchers were gathering evidence that genes [8], or what Gregor Mendel had called the factors that control heredity, are located on chromosomes. At Columbia, Morgan disputed the theory, but in 1916, Calvin Bridges published evidence that, according to Morgan, did much to convince skeptics of that theory. Bridges also established that specific chromosomes function in determining sex in Drosophila [7].


We discuss single inclusive hadron production from a high energy quark scattering off a strong target color field in the Color Glass Condensate formalism. Recent calculations of this process at the next-to-leading order accuracy have led to negative cross sections at large transverse momenta. We identify the origin of this problem as an oversubtraction of the rapidity divergence into the Balitsky-Kovchegov evolution equation for the target. We propose a new way to implement the kinematical restriction on the emitted gluons to overcome this difficulty.


It is shown in this paper how wireless network simulators should be extended to enable the realistic evaluation of link quality prediction algorithms for 802.11 MANETs. These extensions are a novel broadband small-scale fading model, bit/packet error modeling using this model with the Moment Generating Function of and the use of spatial correlation in the stochastic large-scale fading model. We justify and detail the extensions made. We evaluate three Link Quality Prediction algorithms from the literature by performing measurements and simulations. We conclude that the extensions made enable the accurate simulation of link quality prediction algorithms which has hitherto been deficient.


Older patients, generally defined as individuals age >75 years, are less likely to receive percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for treatment of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) compared to younger patients. This is due to the paucity of evidence derived from randomized trials, concerns about possible PCI–related side effects, and multimorbidity. We investigated the prognostic impact of PCI in a large population of patients hospitalized with AMI in the period 2003–2018, by using the administrative Lombardy Health Database.

 We analyzed data of all patients >75 years hospitalized with AMI (both STEMI and NSTEMI) from 2003 to 2018 in Lombardy. Patients were grouped according to whether they were treated or not with PCI during index hospitalization. The primary outcome was in–hospital mortality. One–year mortality and 1–year re–hospitalization for acute heart failure (AHF) or AMI were considered as secondary endpoints.

 During the study period, 116,063 patients (mean age 83±6; 48% males; 46% STEMI) were hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of AMI. Thirty–seven percent of them (n=42,912) were treated with PCI. The in–hospital mortality rate in the entire cohort was 12%. It was significantly lower in patients treated with PCI than in those not treated with PCI (6% vs. 15%; P<0.0001). In the overall population, 1–year mortality was 32% and 1–year re–hospitalization for AHF/AMI was 19%. Both these endpoints were less frequent in PCI–treated patients (16% vs. 41% and 15% vs. 21%, respectively; P<0.0001). The adjusted risk of the study endpoints was significantly lower in patients treated with PCI: OR 0.37 (95% CI 0.36–0.39) for in–hospital mortality; HR 0.37 (95% CI 0.36–0.38) for 1–year mortality; HR 0.74 (95% CI 0.71–0.77) for 1–year re–hospitalization for AHF/AMI. Similar results were found in STEMI and NSTEMI patients considered separately.

 Our real–world data showed that in patients with AMI >75 years of age, PCI use is associated with a significantly lower in–hospital mortality and up to 1 year. This work was partly financed by the Italian Ministry of Health and the Lombardia Region (Grant NET–2016–02364191; EASY–NET)


Investigations of dooryard gardens, kitchen gardens, home gardens, and houselot gardens fall unequally into one of three groupings. The first are those that treat the plants in the gardens as biological entities and define a space considered a culturally controlled biological community or habitat. The second are those that consider plants cultural traits and the space defined by their positions a setting for household activities. The third conceives of plants as design elements within a garden or a landscape that frames a house or provides a setting for formal human performances. Recent decades have witnessed a broadening focus in the study of gardens, from spatial characteristics and biological content to social and cultural concerns such as reciprocity networks, contested spaces, and the concept of "dwelling."


AIM
To evaluate the clinical effectiveness of metacognitive training (MCT) as a transdiagnostic program, on a diverse population with mental disorders in routine Japanese day-care settings.

METHODS
This study employed a prospective, multicenter, single-group pre-post design. Participants diagnosed with various mental disorders received 10 MCT group sessions. We set transdiagnostic outcomes to assess quality of life, global functioning, cognitive insight, and depressive symptoms. At the end of the MCT, we also evaluated participants' satisfaction with treatment. Assessments were conducted at baseline (Pre), Week 5 (Mid), Week 10 (Post), and Week 14 (follow-up: FU).

RESULTS
Thirty-four participants enrolled in the study and received MCT (schizophrenia = 22, non-schizophrenia = 12). Intent-to-treat analyses revealed significant improvements in quality of life/global functioning during the intervention period, and further improvements were observed during the follow-up (all p < .05). The Pre-FU treatment effect sizes for quality of life and global functioning were small (Hedge's g = 0.44 and 0.47, respectively). Significant improvements were also found in depressive symptoms during both the intervention and follow-up periods (all p < .05), but not in cognitive insight. Overall, participants were highly satisfied with the MCT content and format. Scores on almost all outcomes (except for depression) at each assessment point were not significantly different between the schizophrenic and non-schizophrenic sub-groups.

CONCLUSIONS
Despite several limitations, mainly due to small sample size and having no control conditions, our results suggest that MCT for a diverse population with mental disorders is a potentially effective approach in improving quality of life/global functioning and other clinical outcomes in routine day-care settings.


Headform impact tests and sled tests were conducted on child restraint systems, designed for use in motor vehicles, to evaluate their safety performance characteristics.


The paper addresses the need for efficiency gains in the modern industrial engine as utilized in Combined Heat and Power (CHP) generation and other Distributed Generation (DG) situations. Power generation is discussed in terms of reciprocating-engine-based plant operating on Otto type thermodynamic cycles. The current state of the technology and the research being conducted is examined. Internal combustion engine (ICE) performance improvement in the industrial engine sector focuses on improvements in the combustion characteristics of the plant, with emphasis on areas such as piston design, valve timing and supercharging. Maximum brake thermal efficiencies, in percentage terms, are currently in the forties. In CHP generation, most of the energy not utilised for mechanical power is recovered as heat from various engine systems such as jacket water and exhaust and utilised for space or process heating. In other Distributed Generation situations, this energy is not utilised in this manner and is lost to the surroundings. While second law analysis would provide a more meaningful interpretation of the efficiency defect, this approach is still not the norm. Distributed Generation benefits directly from efficiency improvements; the more efficient use of primary energy leads to reduced fuel costs. Combined Heat and Power generation is, however, more sensitive to the matching between the plant and its energy sinks, as its successful implementation is dictated by the ability of a site to fully utilise the heat and electrical power produced by the plant. At present, the energy balance of such engines typically dictates that heat is produced in greater quantity than electrical power, the ratio being of the order of 1.1 — 1.5: 1. Due to this production imbalance, it is accepted that in order to be economically feasible, thermal and electrical demand should be coincident and also all heat and power should be utilised. This has traditionally led to certain sectors being deemed unsuitable for CHP use. Some current research is aimed at tipping the production balance of these engines in favour of electrical power production; however, performance gains in this regard are slow. The paper concludes with some brief commentary on current industrial engine developments and applications and proposes some directions for progress.© 2007 ASME


Current problems in the safety evaluation of chemicals, including species differences in chemical toxicity, the difficulty in predicting whether metabolism will result in detoxication or activation, the different metabolic roles of tissue cytochromes P-450, and the significance of oxygen radical formation, are reviewed. A number of specific chemical problems are discussed, including the safety evaluation of benzene, methylene dichloride, DDT, dieldrin, TCDD, the PCBs, and the hepatotoxic drugs: benoxaprofen and tienilic acid. Two novel methods for the prospective evaluation of chemical toxicity are described, namely (i) computer optimized parametric analysis for chemical toxicity (COMPACT) based on the computer graphic determination of chemical structure and its relationship to specific cytochromes P-450 and hence toxicity, and (ii) enzyme activation in chemical toxicity (ENACT) based on the induction of specific cytochromes P-450 by the chemical, from which toxicity can be predicted.