The study was carried out to determine the sources and accessibility of credit to farmers for agricultural financing in Makerifi Local Government Area of Kaduna State of Nigeria. Primary data was used for the study. Primary data was obtained using a structured set of questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis were used for the investigation. The result obtained show that 95.3% of the sampled farmers were between the age bracket of 21-50 years while 85.9% of the respondent had received one form of education or the other. 85.9% of the respondents have been farming for between 1 – 40 year. The result further revealed that 91.1% of the farmers in the area had 4 – 16 children as members of household size. The level of education and years of farming were the significant factors influencing access to credit by farmers in the area under study. 76.5% obtained loans from formal sources, while 23.5% got loans through informal sources. Further analysis, 24.7% of the farmers sampled, had problems of delay in approval and obtaining loans through formal sources while 4.7% of those sampled complained about delay in getting credit through informal sources. Based on the findings, the following recommendations were put forward. That there should be (i) minimization and simplification of procedures in obtaining loans from formal and information sources. This will enhance timely disbursement of loans to the farmers; and. Interest rates charged on loans by both formal and informal sources should be minimal.


Oilsumps, valve covers and distribution covers belong to the main noise radiating parts on modern engines. These parts have in common that they undergo velocity excitation at their fixation to the main engine structure. A method was developed to quantify the noise emission of the individual part using artificial excitation. This measurement technique allows the assessment of the parts and their mounting to the engine for efficient variant comparisons. The difficulty lies in the simulation of near to rigid boundary conditions of those parts and in the effective velocity excitation. A combination of reciprocal acoustic excitation and inverse force identification is used. The objects are excited by volume velocity sound sources. On the basis of a reciprocity relationship and inverse force identification the effective noise emission is quantified for spatially uncorrelated velocity excitation. A comparison of aluminium, plastic and rubber decoupled oilsumps is shown as an example. (A) For the covering abstract see IRRD E100043.t


BACKGROUND
Plasma cholesteryl ester transfer (CET) from high density lipoproteins (HDL) to very low and low density lipoproteins (VLDL+LDL) may predict (subclinical) atherosclerosis. We tested the extent to which plasma CET and cholesterol esterification (EST) are decreased by statin and fibrate combination therapy compared to statin and fibrate administration alone in type 2 diabetic patients.

METHODS
Plasma CET and EST were measured by isotope assays in 14 type 2 diabetic patients, in whom a randomized placebo-controlled crossover study was carried out (8 weeks treatment with simvastatin (40 mg daily), bezafibrate (400 mg daily) and their combination). Plasma CET and EST from diabetic patients were compared with 42 non-diabetic control subjects with similar triglyceride levels.

RESULTS
Plasma CET and EST were elevated in diabetic patients at baseline compared to control subjects (p < 0.01), and were correlated positively with non-HDL cholesterol and triglycerides in non-diabetic subjects and in diabetic patients at baseline (p < 0.01). Decreases in CET during combined treatment (p < 0.05) were not greater than the changes during simvastatin and bezafibrate monotherapy (p > 0.20). EST only decreased during bezafibrate therapy (p < 0.05). Changes in CET during treatment were correlated positively with changes in non-HDL cholesterol (p < 0.05) and triglycerides (p < 0.001). Changes in HDL cholesterol were related inversely to changes in CET (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
Diabetes-associated plasma CET elevations are ameliorated by statin and fibrate monotherapy, but combined lipid lowering drug treatment does not additively lower CET. CET lowering likely contributes to HDL cholesterol changes during statin and fibrate administration.


Introduction Adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) patients are encouraged to live as active a life as possible. For most patients, international travel is realistic. However, adequate travel insurance is critical but may be difficult to obtain. Awareness of the need for disclosure of relevant cardiac conditions when obtaining insurance has not been studied amongst these patients. Method Anonymised questionnaires were distributed to patients at the ACHD clinics of a large quaternary ACHD specialist centre over a 2 week period. Responses were then collated and descriptive statistics used to analyse patients' responses. Results 107 patients completed the questionnaire 55% male, 45% female, with 92% of patients being aged between 18–54. 66% had been on holiday within the last 12 months, 51% of whom went to Europe, 28% remained within the UK and the remaining 21% travelled outside of Europe. Of the total number who travelled outside of the UK, 86% had travel insurance. Almost a quarter (23%) did not declare that they had a pre-existing heart condition. Of those that did declare their condition 31% reported that it incurred a premium charge. Of those specifically travelling in Europe 71% stated that they used an EHIC card. 90% of respondents felt that insurance had not been fully addressed in the ACHD clinic, however only 10% stated that they had been rejected for a travel insurance application during their lifetime. Conclusion This study shows that while the majority of patients seen in the ACHD clinic are using travel insurance, a significant percentage are not declaring their pre-existing heart conditions, which may render it invalid. Most patients feel that the need for adequate insurance has never been discussed in clinic. Appropriate counselling is essential to maximise patients' opportunities for travel, whilst ensuring adequate access to healthcare should problems arise. We recommend the availability of Sommerville Foundation Travel Insurance Leaflets in all ACHD clinics.


Therapeutic options for patients with myeloma are a rapidly advancing area of research due in part to an increase in the understanding of myeloma biology as well as the development of novels agents. Proteasome inhibition is a novel modality for the treatment of patients with myeloma. Bortezomib, a novel proteasome inhibitor, was effective in a broad range of tumor cell lines in preclinical testing. In phase I trials, bortezomib was noted to be active in patients with multiple myeloma and lymphoma. This led to several multicenter trials confirming the safety and efficacy of bortezomib for patients with relapsed and refractory myeloma. Most recently, a large randomized phase III trial comparing bortezomib with high-dose dexamethasone demonstrated that bortezomib had an improved response rate, duration of remission and overall survival advantage in the setting of relapsed disease. These findings have led investigators to study proteasome inhibition with conventional chemotherapy and other novel agents. In addition, several recently completed and ongoing studies are evaluating the role of bortezomib in the initial treatment of myeloma. The success of proteasome inhibition in the treatment of myeloma is a model for effective translation of preclinical research into tangible clinical benefits for patients with cancer.


AbstractHeavy duty gas turbine power plants may cause severe instability in grid connected operation under load fluctuations. To overcome such instability problems, an attempt has been made to develop proportional-integral-derivative controller for all the heavy duty gas turbine models with Speedtronic governor. Proportional-integral-derivative gains are tuned by Ziegler-Nichols and performance index methods and the step responses are obtained by using MATLAB/Simulink considering various droop settings. Simulation results of all the models reveal that the integral of squared error tuned proportional-integral-derivative controller provide better response. In order to improve the stability further, fuzzy self-tuning proportional-integral-derivative controller has been proposed in this article for all the heavy duty gas turbine models. On analyzing the simulation results, the proposed fuzzy self-tuning proportional-integral-derivative controller is found to be adaptive for all the heavy duty gas turbine mode...


Members of the P4 subfamily of P-type ATPases are believed to catalyze transport of phospholipids across cellular bilayers. However, most P-type ATPases pump small cations or metal ions, and atomic structures revealed a transport mechanism that is conserved throughout the family. Hence, a challenging problem is to understand how this mechanism is adapted in P4-ATPases to flip phospholipids. P4-ATPases form heteromeric complexes with Cdc50 proteins. The primary role of these additional polypeptides is unknown. Here, we show that the affinity of yeast P4-ATPase Drs2p for its Cdc50-binding partner fluctuates during the transport cycle, with the strongest interaction occurring at a point where the enzyme is loaded with phospholipid ligand. We also find that specific interactions with Cdc50p are required to render the ATPase competent for phosphorylation at the catalytically important aspartate residue. Our data indicate that Cdc50 proteins are integral components of the P4-ATPase transport machinery. Thus, acquisition of these subunits may have been a crucial step in the evolution of flippases from a family of cation pumps.


Abstract Polymerization of butadiene sulfone was accomplished by using two different methods. The first method involves electrochemical polymerization of the monomer using the constant potential electrolysis technique. Oxidation of the monomer under nitrogen atmosphere in an acetonitrile-tetrabutylammonium tetrafluoroborate system yields brown, tarry polymers. On the other hand, the second initiation method, which was radiation polymerization, yields white, powdery polymers. Structural analyses of the two polymers by various spectroscopic methods suggest a structure consisting of two different units in different proportions.


From the late 1960s until the mid 1980s many projects conducted research on superconducting power transmission systems. The culmination was the testing of a prototype system rated for 1000 MVA-a power level suitable for initial trials in a utility system. The specific design adopted for each development produced differing requirements for the conductor, dielectric insulation, cooling system and the cryogenic enclosure. Similar constraints apply to a design based on the use of high-Tc superconductors. If superconducting systems are to become a commercial reality they must fill a technical niche in the overall power delivery system and be economically competitive with conventional equipment. A detailed cost estimate for an 800 MVA superconducting power transmission system indicates the priorities that must be given in a research and development programme so that the most expensive components can be developed to achieve lower costs and at the same time improve the operational performance.


Abstract The transition from aquatic to terrestrial habitat is thought to be a period of high mortality for amphibians. We used radio telemetry to estimate survival and study factors influencing survivorship of newly metamorphosed Gopher Frogs (Rana capito). Predation was very high and only 12.5% of frogs survived their first month in the terrestrial habitat. All documented predation occurred during the frogs' initial 12 days in the uplands, and snakes (Coluber constrictor and Thamnophis sirtalis) were the major predators. Also, frogs were preyed upon by mammals and birds and killed by vehicles along dirt roads. Survival rates varied among ponds, with the survival rate at one pond being significantly lower than survival rates at three other ponds. Survival of frogs was dependent on their use of underground refuges, particularly burrows excavated by Gopher Tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) and small mammals. Using underground refuges reduced the risk of mortality to only 4% of that faced by frogs while in the open environment; in fact, all surviving frogs located a burrow within their initial eight days in the terrestrial habitat and remained there for the duration of tracking. Our results demonstrate the dependence of Gopher Frogs on underground refuges and suggest that the availability of burrows near breeding ponds influences survival of juveniles and, thus, the recruitment of adults.


BACKGROUND
In patients unable to exercise, potential methods of induction of reversible myocardial ischemia include physiological heart rate acceleration via pacing or dobutamine infusion and asymmetric coronary vasodilatation using dipyridamole. Although their bases for induction of ischemia are widely disparate, no direct comparison of these techniques has previously been reported.

METHODS
We performed a randomised, paired comparison of dipyridamole and pacing myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) in 28 patients in whom exercise stress imaging was precluded, comparing the detection, localisation and quantitation of ischemia.

RESULTS
Reversible myocardial ischemia was detected in 21 patients, concordantly in 13 (p = 0.042). There was a high degree of concordance (p < 0.0001) regarding locations of sites of ischemia. While there was a good correlation (r = 0.74, p < 0.0001) between size of total ischemic zones with dipyridamole and pacing, the magnitude of ischemia tended to be greater with dipyridamole (mean percentage of left ventricular myocardium ± SD, 9.4 ± 11.0% vs. 7.0 ± 9.0%, p = 0.091). Furthermore, this difference resulted from accentuation of the primary ischemic zone with dipyridamole in patients with multi-vessel ischemia (mean ± SD, 28.1 ± 21.1% vs. 18.7 ± 16.1%, p = 0.046).

CONCLUSIONS
Despite major differences in mechanism(s) of induction of ischemia, dipyridamole and pacing produce similar results regarding detection, localisation and severity of ischemia. However, dipyridamole accentuates ischemia in primary (vs. secondary) ischemic zones, consistent with known induction of coronary "steal". This should be taken into account in interpretation of scan results.


Combination with a low dose of pineal hormone melatonin increased the anxiolytic effect of tofisopam (subthreshold dose) in open-field and cross-maze tests, as well as its chronotropic activity in time-course of forced swimming test in rats.


Three-dimensional (3D) printing has become an important fabrication method for soft robotics, due to its ability to make complex 3D structures from computer designs in simple steps and multimaterial co-deposition ability. In this article, the application of 3D printing techniques in the fabrication of four types of tactile sensors commonly used in soft robotics, including the piezoresistive tactile sensor, capacitive tactile sensor, piezoelectric tactile sensor, and triboelectric tactile sensor, will be discussed. The 3D printing mechanism, material, and structure for each type of sensor will be introduced, and the perspectives on the future potential of 3D printable tactile sensors will be discussed.


This paper shows how to carry out a quantitative risk assessment, describing how each step in the process is carried out. We use the grade management system at the University of Bergen as a case study, evaluating the risk of wrong grades ending up in the university grade database.


In patients with sickle-cell disease (Hb S/S disease) who are not in crisis, the serum-level of alpha-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (alpha-H.B.D.) is significantly above normal. The degree of elevation correlates with the severity of the disease. During infarctive crises the level increases still further by a factor of 2 to 3, and it returns to the patient's normal level on recovery. The level of alpha-H.B.D. thus provides an index of the severity of the disease. Also, it allows distinction between true infarctive crisis, infection, and fake symptoms. In 5 patients a rise in the level of alpha-H.B.D. above the patient's normal level was detected several days before the onset of symptoms, which suggests that there may be a "prodromal" phase.


Cosmos From Romanticism to the Avant-Garde. Jean Clair, chief curator, and Pierre Théberge, director. At the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 17 June to17 October 1999; Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, 24 November 1999 to 27 February 2000; Palazzo Grassi, Venice, 25 March to 23 July 2000. Cosmos From Romanticism to the Avant-Garde. Jean Clair, Ed. Published for the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts by Prestel, New York, 1999. 396 pp. $75, £45. ISBN 2-89192-231-X. The paintings, photographs, sculptures, and displays gathered in the exhibit Cosmos fuse astronomy, art, politics, and humanistic thought. Those unable to arrange a trip to Italy (where it opens this week) will still find much of interest in the accompanying catalog.


Computer-aided design (CAD) tools are now making it possible to automate many aspects of the design process. This has mainly been made possible by the use of effective and efficient algorithms and corresponding software structures. The very large scale integration (VLSI) design process is extremely complex, and even after breaking the entire process into several conceptually easier steps, it has been shown that each step is still computationally hard. To researchers, the goal of understanding the fundamental structure of the problem is often as important as producing a solution of immediate applicability. Despite this emphasis, it turns out that results that might first appear to be only of theoretical value are sometimes of profound relevance to practical problems, VLSI CAD is a dynamic area where problem definitions are continually changing due to complexity, technology and design methodology. In this paper, we focus on several of the fundamental CAD abstractions, models, concepts and algorithms that have had a significant impact on this field. This material should be of great value to researchers interested in entering these areas of research, since it will allow them to quickly focus on much of the key material in our field. We emphasize algorithms in the area of test, physical design, logic synthesis, and formal verification. These algorithms are responsible for the effectiveness and efficiency of a variety of CAD tools. Furthermore, a number of these algorithms have found applications in many other domains.


Background In South Africa with one of the most rapidly ageing populations in Africa despite the demographic impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, diabetes is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Self-management is challenging for all those with the condition but is likely to create a higher demand for those who may have existing co-morbidities associated with age, and long-standing chronic diseases. Objective To determine the relationship of social support, especially that of family and friends with their self-management. Methods This cross-sectional study was undertaken in the Cape Town metropole primary care clinics. The sample comprised 406 people drawn from four community health centres (CHC) that are served by Groote Schuur Hospital at the tertiary level. Results Of the 406 participants, 68.5% were females, 60.5% were living with a family member, and almost half were married. The mean duration of diabetes from diagnosis was eight years. More than half (57.4%) had no or only primary education. Half the participants (50.2%) had poor knowledge level in relation to symptoms and complications of diabetes. Multivariable linear regression showed older age was associated with poor knowledge (®: -1.893, 95% CI-3.754; -0.031) and higher income was associated with self-management practice (®: 3.434, 95% CI 0.797; 6.070). Most participants received family support to follow aspects of diabetes self-management. The ordinal logistic regression indicated that family support was positively associated with the self-management practice score for following a diabetic meal plan, taking care of feet, physical activity, testing blood sugar and handling participants' feelings about being diabetic, but not for taking medication. Conclusions Consideration needs to be given to developing and testing education programmes that focus on needs of older people with diabetes and emphases the role of family and friends.


The effects of Calotropis procera latex alone and in the presence of loperamide and atropine on intestinal transit in rats were determined to elucidate the action of C. procera on intestinal transit. Six groups of rats containing ten rats per group were used. Each rat in the control group (I) received 0.5 ml of normal saline. Each rat in groups II, III, and IV received 0.25 ml/100 g, 0.5 ml/100g and 1.0 ml/100g of C. procera latex respectively. Thirty minutes before the administration of 0.25 ml of latex of C. procera, each rat in groups V and VI received 0.4 mg/100g atropine sulfate and 0.1 mg/100g loperamide hydrochloride respectively. Intestinal transit was measured in all animals by charcoal meal test and was expressed as the percentage of the distance traveled relative to the entire length of the intestine from the pyloric junction to the anal orifice. The mean transit point of the dye in the control group was 85.19 ± 8.51%. For Calotropis procera treated rats, the mean transit points were 68.47 ± 6.37%, 54.49 ± 6.67% and 25.06 ± 4.79% for 0.25 ml/100g, 0.5 ml/100g and 1.0 ml/100g of the latex respectively. The mean transit points in the groups pretreated with 0.4 mg/100 g atropine (Group V) and 0.1 mg/100 g loperamide (Group VI) were 55.29 ± 5.09% and 66.87 ± 6.20% respectively. The results showed that the latex of Calotropis procera inhibited intestinal motility and its action was potentiated by atropine and loperamide. This inhibitory action is contradictory to the observation of diarrhea in fed animals (Afr. J. Biomed. Res. 9: 125 - 128, May 2006) Keywords: Calotropis latex, Intestinal transit, Atropine, Loperamide


We initiate the study of how to perturb the reward in a zero-sum Markov game with two players to induce a desirable Nash equilibrium, namely arbitrating. Such a problem admits a bi-level optimization formulation. The lower level requires solving the Nash equilibrium under a given reward function, which makes the overall problem challenging to optimize in an end-to-end way. We propose a backpropagation scheme that differentiates through the Nash equilibrium, which provides the gradient feedback for the upper level. In particular, our method only requires a black-box solver for the (regularized) Nash equilibrium (NE). We develop the convergence analysis for the proposed framework with proper black-box NE solvers and demonstrate the empirical successes in two multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) environments.


In addition to the corrections proposed by Mr. Ramsay to the inscriptions from Assos (Journal, I. p. 149 and foll.), I would add a remark referring to No. xIII. Dr. Sterrett reads [7drpwo]va r;C vEs6riro;. This translation of the latin title principem juventutis is unknown to me; inscriptions and authors give. only pobcxporo rw7 usorizro, and rys/lwbv Es'r-ro , as I have observed in my Trait& d'epigraphie grecque, p. 533. In consequence, I propose to restore [Ij')-,bs]Va r EC OEsr 7roC. Compare fMonumentum Ancyranum, ed. Mommsen, p. 52: 86nEs P B6 'Pwoaaicov ory-avrEs •-s/~r va sVerrro; hxdrosov abrtbv 7rpooapybpeaav. SALOMON REINACH.


The point of the Dominicans, creating a historiographic work, was not only to establish facts from the past but also to combine the historical and the didactic elements, with the latter playing the decisive role. Itwas connected with sermons preached by the Dominicans, written with the use of history handbooks, among others. General chapters encouraged to independent writer's work, which was highly valued at the
order. Most frequently, the Dominicans created monumental chronicles of the world, but also the gesta of secular and ecclesiastical rulers, chronicles of cities and states. Besides providing materials for sermons, their task was also to search for and to disseminate the truth, since only in the truth one could recognise God's intentions, which was so important for everyone at that time. At the Dominicans, chronology was a fragment of the history of the world and the history of salvation. Thus in historiography, they didn't see the part artes(in the medieval theory of literature, historiography was subordinated to rhetoric and grammar) but the provider of true and adequate information for the writing of sermons, which were to lead towards the Creator (thus the Dominican turn to the past had a pragmatic foundation). It is obvious that making use of diff erent type historical works during preparation of sermons had a significant influence on the shape of individual historical memory of the Dominican (the monastic rule and general chapters did not interfere in the
selection of reading of this type, leaving a free choice).
It's also worth considering whether other factors occurred in the Dominican order besides this factor, which had an influence on the shape of the Dominican's historical memory (group and individual memory). In our opinion, there were
several factors. Noteworthy are the offi cial biographies of St Dominic and other works depicting the history of the order's founder, which were eagerly read, and some of them were required reading (individual) for the Dominicans and novices.
Other works were—at least in Western Europe—Legenda aureaby Jacobus de Voragine and Bonum universale de apibusby Th omas de Cantimpre. During meals (recitatio ad mensam) the monastic rule, numerous lives of the saints, as well as works on the congregation's history the order had in a great number used to be read. The obligatory curriculum of the studies adopted by the general chapter was steeped in
historical content. Th e foundation of the Dominican studies—to which all brethrenpriests were pledged throughout their life—was the Bible, being in principle "the great historical epic" of the Israelites. At provincial schools of theology and general
studies, one of the main books for required reading was Historia scholasticaby Petrus Comestor, which is a synthesis of Biblical history from the creation of the world to the Ascension. Different types of encyclopaedic works were also eagerly used, e.g. works containing the whole historical knowledge of the Middle Ages, for example Speculum historialeby Vincent of Beauvais. When listing the factors shaping the memory one cannot omit the memorias, i.e. collective or individual prayers of monks said for salvation of the dead (and living) fellow monks and benefactors (memoria mortuorum et benefactorum). These people were remembered, writing them down in special books. In the Dominican order, prayers of this type were an important part of liturgy, which is proved by a separate chapter of their constitution entitled De anniversari is devoted to these matters. Prayers for the dead during liturgy did not exclude individual memories, which soon brought to the establishment of special church services for specific dead persons (missae pro defunctis). Th is type services were exceptionally popular in the Middle Ages amidst the Dominicans. Since the church's high altar was considered to be devoted to matters concerning the entire commune, church services for the dead were celebrated by side altars. Due to the fact that in the early Middle Ages these side altars were consecrated and as a rule had a martyr as their patron saint, with the passage of time memoriaswere merged with the worship of these saints. Th is led to the formation of a strong community with the saints (communio sanctorum), and the vitaof a worshipped canonized martyr—living in the specific past—aroused the monks' curiosity, who wanted to acquaint themselves with their and the believers' patron saint and advocate. In our opinion, all the above-named factors had an influence on the shape of the monks' historical memory. Due to the services accepted by their community, one can call
the Dominican brethren-priests carriers of special memory, in which—besides the Bible—memoria mortuorumconnected with communio sanctorumplayed—as it seems—the most important role.


We investigated the interactions between clouds and moisture at the diurnal scale in the Western Atlantic trade winds region. Profiles of tropospheric relative humidity from the SAPHIR/Megha‐Tropiques sounder are combined with cloud categories obtained from geostationary satellites. In winter, the midtroposphere undergoes strong daytime drying due to air masses coming from the colder upper troposphere. The moistening near the surface triggered by solar radiation precludes the development of low‐level clouds. At night rising moist air in the upper troposphere triggers the formation of high‐altitude clouds and favors their presence. In summer, daytime high‐altitude clouds shield the solar forcing on the atmosphere and reduce drying from large‐scale subsidence. After sunset, the development of upper tropospheric opaque clouds constitutes a local source of moisture. We argue that modulations of the diurnal cycle of clouds and relative humidity by season may be related to diurnal pulses of the Intertropical Convergence Zone.


The bimodal, alkaline volcanic suite of the Kap Washington Group (KWG) at the northern coast of Greenland was investigated during the BGR CASE 2 expedition in 1994. Geochemical and Nd and Sr isotopic data are presented for basalts to rhyolites of the KWG and of related basaltic dykes cutring Lower Paleozoic sediments. In the EVO(t) vs. (87Sr/86Sr)t diagram. the KWG basalts and rhyolites follow a common mixing trend with increasing crustal contamination from basic to acid volcanites. Assimilation of pre-existing crustal rocks during formation of the rhyolitic melt is documented by Nd model ages of 0.9-1.2 Ga and by different fractionation trends for the basalts and the rhyolites in the Y vs. Zr diagram. Petrographical and geochemical features indicate intra-plate volcanism which was active most probably during a continental rifting phase. A new Rb/Sr whole rock age on rhyolites of 64 ±3 Ma, corresponding to the result of LARSEN (1982), confirms that the volcanic activity lasted until the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. 40Ar139Ar dating on amphibol separates from a comendite yielded strongly disturbed age spectra with a minimum age of 37.7 ±0.3 Ma. This age is interpreted to date a hydrothermai overprint of the volcanic rocks related to compressive teerenies which led to the overthrust of basement rocks over the Kap Washington Group.


Background: Total hip arthroplasty (THA) is one of the most common surgical procedures. Although THA surgeries are typically very successful, between 3% and 17% of all patients experience trochanteric pain after surgery. Unfortunately, there remains little high quality and reproducible evidence surrounding this disorder, especially following total hip replacement. The objectives of this review are to describe, among pre-operative or post-operative primary THA patients the prevalence, treatments, prognosis, risk factors, and diagnostic methods available for trochanteric pain.
 Methods: This is a protocol for a descriptive systematic review of trochanteric pain among THA patients. We will include studies of all study designs, with the exception of non-systematic reviews and expert opinion, with no date limits. We will search Medline, Embase, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Library using the Ovid search interface. We will also search the reference lists of included studies for possible missed studies. We will use the systematic review management software Rayyan to assist with study screening. Two reviewers will independently review studies for inclusion and extract data into a study-specific database.
 Discussion: This study will add to the literature by comprehensively and systematically evaluating the available literature on trochanteric pain after THA. Previous studies have been conducted on the topic but they were not comprehensive or did not review the literature systematically. Additionally, our study will critically evaluate the methodological quality of the included studies, adding an evidence-based component to the review. This review will help orthopaedic surgeons better care for patients with trochanteric pain after THA, and will identify knowledge gaps for future research.
 Registration: This protocol will be registered on PROSPERO


In recent decades, the combined forces of climate warming and short-term variability have forced the massive glaciers that blanket Greenland into retreat, with some scientists worrying that deglaciation could become irreversible. The short history of detailed glacier observations, however, makes pinning the ice loss to either short-term dynamics or long-term change difficult. Research by Young et al. detailing the effects of two bouts of sudden and temporary cooling during an otherwise warm phase in Greenland's climate history could help answer that question by showing just how heavy a hand short-term variability can have in dictating glacier dynamics. Along the western edge of Greenland the massive Jakobshavn Isbrae glacier reaches out to the coast, its outflow dropping icebergs into Baffin Bay during the summer months. Flanking the glacier's tongue are the Tasiussaq and Marrait moraines—piles of rock marking the glacier's former extent. Researchers suspected the moraines were tied to two periods of abrupt cooling that hit Greenland 9300 and 8200 years ago, and that association was reinforced by the authors' radiocarbon and beryllium isotope analyses of the area surrounding the moraines. Beryllium-10 forms when cosmic radiation travels through the atmosphere and strikes the Earth's surface, with surface rock concentrations indicating how long it has been ice-free.


The existence of gender differences in the structure and composition of social networks is a well established finding in the social and behavioral sciences, but researchers continue to debate whether structural, dispositional, or life course factors are the primary driver of these differences. In this paper we extend work on gender differences in social networks to patterns of interaction, propinquity, and connectivity captured via a social sensing platform comprised of an ensemble of individuals' phone calls, text messaging, face-to-face interactions, and traces of their mobility activities. We attempt to isolate dispositional from other factors by focusing on a relatively homogeneous population on a relatively closed setting at the same stage in the life course. Analysis across three different networks along with mobility data reveals systematic gender differences in terms of communicative, distributional, mobility, and spatial proximity tendencies. Most importantly, some patterns observed in the communication network (e.g. stronger same-gender preference for women) are found to be reversed in the spatial proximity context, with men displaying a greater tendency to spend time in a narrower (and thus more predictable) range of spaces with same-gender peers than women. These findings provide robust and novel evidence for the powerful effect of gender in structuring behavior across a wide range of communication and mobility behaviors, validating and extending recent work pointing to differences of socio-cultural and evolutionary origin in the styles of sociability and interaction characteristic of men and women.


The effect of sodium salicylate perfused at constant rate for 30 minutes on Glucose-3-H3 kinetics has been studied in anestethyzed normal Wistar rats, controlling blood glucose levels, Ra and Rd. While blood glucose levels and Rd were not affected, the Ra values were influenced between the 20th and the 30th minute of salicylate perfusion.


This paper provides the first in-depth study of the algorithmic questions involved in the scheduling of space-sharing for Internet advertising. We consider the scheduling problem where each advertisement is specified by a geometry and a display frequency. Given a set of ads, a schedule of the ads specifies which ads are to be displayed at the same time. The objective is find a schedule of the ads such that (1) each ad is displayed with the correct frequency, (2) each ad is allocated enough space for the specified geometry, (3) all the ads to be displayed simultaneously can be arranged in the space available for advertising. We demonstrate that an optimal schedule can be determined by finding a solution to a new variant of the bin packing problem that we introduce. In this new variant, there are a number of copies of each item to be placed into the bins. In addition to the usual bin packing requirements, all copies of an item must be placed in different bins. In this paper, we provide an efficient algorithm that finds the optimal solution to a restricted version of the new bin packing problem. This algorithm also provides a 2-approximation for the unrestricted case. We then apply this approximation to the problem of scheduling space-sharing for Internet advertising. We obtain a 2-approximation to the problem of minimizing the space requirements of a given set of ads, as well as to the problem of determining the best subset of the ads that can be scheduled with a given space constraint. We also consider an on-line version of the ad scheduling problem, where requests to purchase ad space arrive sequentially and after each request arrives, a decision must be made whether or not to sell the requested space without knowledge of future requests. We provide an algorithm that makes these decisions in a manner that is the best possible for any on-line algorithm. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Abstract:This article explores the complex appeal of home-buying and renovation shows on the cable channel HGTV. While their popularity is clear, their political implications are murkier. Some media studies scholars accuse the genre of fostering consumerism, conformity, and neo-liberal nationhood. Others admire its inclusion and "non-special treatment" of queer and racially diverse participants. My own feminist reading notes the limits as well as merits of the diversity defense and offers to appreciate the shows' contribution in somewhat different terms. Focusing specifically on House Hunters (1999–present), I credit this home-buying series with asserting the primacy of domestic life in conjunction with a host of related values conventionally coded and subordinated as 'feminine.' In the hegemonic scheme of things, qualities coded as 'masculine' (the aggressive, historic, large-scale, public-sphere, self-reliant, and individualist) occupy a superior position. House Hunters challenges this gendered hierarchy by reveling in the modest, everyday, small-scale, private-sphere, interdependent, and relational. It does so, moreover, in a gender-neutral way: no longer written off and relegated to women, the little things that happen in houses are made paramount for male and female viewers alike. Adding a further twist, I close with an episode whose homebuyers have histories of social marginality and economic insecurity. In this context, the desire for domestic 'coziness' is less about conformity to bourgeois norms and more about feelings of safety and belonging in relation to place.


Recently, benzotrithiophene graphdiyne (BTT-GDY), a novel two-dimensional (2D) carbon-based material, was grown via a bottom-up synthesis strategy. Using the BTT-GDY lattice and by replacing the S atoms with N, NH and O, we designed three novel GDY lattices, which we named BTHP-, BTP- and BTF-GDY, respectively. Next, we explored structural, electronic, mechanical, optical, photocatalytic and Li-ion storage properties, as well as carrier mobilities, of novel GDY monolayers. Phonon dispersion relations, mechanical and failure behavior were explored using the machine learning interatomic potentials (MLIPs). The obtained HSE06 results reveal that BTX-GDYs (X = P, F, T) are direct gap semiconductors with band gaps in the range of 2.49–2.65 eV, whereas the BTHP-GDY shows a narrow indirect band gap of 0.06 eV. With appropriate band offsets, good carrier mobilities and a strong capability for the absorption of visible and ultraviolet range of light, BTF- and BTT-GDYs were predicted to be promising candidates for overall photocatalytic water splitting. The BTHP-GDY nanosheet, noticeably, was found to yield an ultrahigh Li-ion storage capacity of over 2400 mAh/g. The obtained findings provide a comprehensive vision of the critical physical properties of the novel BTT-based GDY nanosheets and highlight their potential for applications in nanoelectronics and energy storage and conversion systems.


Traditionally, Markov models have not been successfully used for compression of signal data other than binary image data. Due to the fact that exact substring matches in non-binary signal data are rare, using full resolution conditioning information generally tends to make Markov models learn slowly, yielding poor compression. However, as is shown in this paper, such models can be successfully applied to non-binary signal data compression by continually adjusting the resolution and order to minimize the code-length of the past samples in the hope that this choice will best compress the future samples as well, a technique inspired by Rissanen's minimum description length (MDL) principle. Performance of this method meets or exceeds current approaches.


The sprays from a pintle-type nozzle injected into a constant volume chamber have been visualised by a high resolution CCD camera and quantified in terms of droplet velocity and diameter with a 2-D phase Doppler anemometry (PDA) system at an injection pressure of 200 bar and back-pressures varying from atmospheric to 12 bar. Spray visualization illustrated that the spray was string-structured, that the location of the strings remained constant from one injection to the next and that the spray structure was unaffected by back pressure. The overall spray cone angle was also stable and independent of back pressure whose effect was to reduce the spray tip penetration so that the averaged vertical spray tip velocity was reduced by 37% when the back-pressure increased from 1 to 12 bar. Detailed PDA measurements were carried out under atmospheric conditions at 2.5 and 10 mm from the injector exit with the results providing both the temporal and the spatial velocity and size distributions of the spray droplets. The maximum axial mean droplet velocity was 155 m/s at 2.5 mm from the injector which was reduced to 140 m/s at z = 10 mm. The string spacing determined from PDA measurements was around 0.375 mm and 0.6 mm at z=2.5 and 10 mm, respectively. The maximum mean droplet diameter was found to be in the core of the strings with values up to 40 μm at z=2.5 mm reducing to 20 μm at z=10 mm.


Many plants acquire freezing tolerance through cold acclimatization (CA), a prolonged exposure to low but non-freezing temperatures at the onset of winter. CA is associated with gene expression that requires transient calcium influx into the cytosol. Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) cells treated with agents blocking this influx are unable to cold-acclimatize. Conversely, chemical agents causing increased calcium influx induce cold acclimatization-specific (cas) gene expression in alfalfa at 25 degrees C. How low temperature triggers calcium influx is, however, unknown. We report here that induction of a CA-specific gene (cas30), calcium influx and freezing tolerance at 4 degrees C are all prevented by cell membrane fluidization, but, conversely, are induced at 25 degrees C by membrane rigidification. cas30 expression and calcium influx at 4 degrees C are also prevented by jasplakinolide (JK), an actin microfilament stabilizer, but induced at 25 degrees C by the actin microfilament destabilizer cytochalasin D (CD). JK blocked the membrane rigidifier-induced, but not the calcium channel agonist-induced cas30 expression at 25 degrees C. These findings indicate that cytoskeleton re-organization is an integral component in low-temperature signal transduction in alfalfa cell suspension cultures, serving as a link between membrane rigidification and calcium influx in CA.


Waveform inversion (WI), which has been used primarily for high-resolution velocity analysis, can also be employed to obtain the source parameters of microseismic events. Here, we implement WI to estimate the location, origin time, and seismic moment tensor of microseismic sources embedded in heterogeneous VTI (transversely isotropic with a vertical symmetry axis) media. The algorithm operates with multicomponent wavefields modeled using an elastic anisotropic finite-difference code. The gradient of the objective function for the three classes of parameters is calculated with the adjoint-state method under the assumption that the velocity field is known. Synthetic tests for data recorded by vertical receiver arrays show that it is possible to tightly constrain all source parameters, if a sufficiently accurate initial model and high-quality data are available. In particular, the source location in layered VTI media can be estimated simultaneously with the moment tensor. The resolution of event location, however, somewhat decreases when the origin time is unknown or there are errors in the velocity model.


This work describes a new method for the temporal segmentation of human actions based on a 2D inter-frame similarity plot. This similarity matrix contains relevant information for the analysis of cyclic and symmetric human activities, where the motion performed during the first semi-cycle is repeated in the opposite direction during the second semi-cycle. Thus, the pattern associated to aperiodic activity in the similarity matrix is rectangular and decomposable into elementary units. We propose a morphology-based approach for the detection and analysis of activity patterns. Pattern extraction is further used for the detection of the temporal boundaries of the cyclic symmetric activities. Result evaluation approach is based on a statistical estimation of the ground truth segmentation and on a confidence ratio for temporal segmentations. Research reported in This work was supported by a discovery grant of the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.


The molecule studied in this work, 2-hydroxyprop-2-enal, is among the candidates to be searched for in the interstellar medium (ISM), as it is a dehydration product of C3 sugars and contains structural motifs typical for some interstellar molecules. The aim of this work is to deepen knowledge about the millimetre-wave spectrum of 2-hydroxyprop-2-enal in the region enabling its search towards astronomical objects. We target the solar-type protostar IRAS16293-2422 and star-forming region Sagittarius (Sgr) B2(N). The rotational spectrum of 2-hydroxyprop-2-enal was measured and analysed in the frequency regions of 128-166 GHz and 285-329 GHz. The interstellar exploration towards IRAS16293-2422 was based on the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) data of the Protostellar Interferometric Line Survey. We also used the imaging spectral line survey ReMoCA performed with ALMA toward Sgr B2(N). We modelled the astronomical spectra under the assumption of local thermodynamic equilibrium. We provide analysis of hundreds of rotational transitions of 2-hydroxyprop-2-enal in the ground state and the lowest lying excited vibrational state. We report its nondetection towards IRAS16293 B. The 2-hydroxyprop-2-enal/3-hydroxypropenal abundance ratio is estimated to be less-than or similar to 0.9-1.3 in agreement with the predicted value of 1.4. We also report the nondetection of 2-hydroxyprop-2-enal toward the hot molecular core Sgr B2(N1). We did not detect the related aldehydes 2-hydroxypropanal and 3-hydroxypropenal either. We find that these three molecules are at least 9, 4, and 10 times less abundant than acetaldehyde in this source, respectively. Despite the nondetections, the results of this work represent a significant improvement on previous investigations in the microwave region and meets the requirements for further searches of this molecule in the ISM.


Thyroxine (T4) is a prohormone and must be activated to 3,5,3′-triiodothyronine (T3) by either type 1 (D1) or type 2 (D2) selenodeiodinase. A third deiodinase (D3) inactivates T3 or T4 by removal of an inner ring iodine. These reactions require both a deiodinase enzyme and a cofactor, probably a thiol, to reduce the oxidized selenolyl group in the active center of each deiodinase. Thus, deiodination rates depend on both the enzyme and cofactor. The source of most of the circulating T3 is D1-mediated, while D2 provides nuclear receptor-bound hormone. Using sensitive and specific assays, it has become apparent that both D2 and D3 are widespread throughout vertebrate tissues. The complex interactions between the activating D2 and the inactivating D3 in tissues expressing these two enzymes determine the intracellular T3 concentration. This provides enormous flexibility for both developmental and tissue regeneration processes, allowing exquisite control of intracellular T3 concentrations. The endogenous factors regulating the activity of these enzymes, such as the hedgehog proteins, FoxO3, or the wnt/β catenin pathway together with the actions of thyroid hormone transporters, direct adjustments of nuclear receptor-bound T3 which in turn can control the balance between cellular proliferation and differentiation. Their actions provide dynamic flexibility to what appears on the surface to be a very static hormonal system.


Silver(I) ions (Ag+) are harmful to humans and can be bioaccumulated in organisms. Although numerous methods for Ag+ analysis have been established, new strategies are still in urgent need. Here, we propose a colorimetric sensor based on polyadenine (polyA)-mediated DNA-functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) for the specific measurement of Ag+ ions. In this strategy, a polyA-modified Au probe with high uniformity was assembled successfully. The method was based on Ag+-induced aggregation of the probe. Ag+ was reflected according to the color variations of solution. Taking advantage of the low cost and convenient assembly of the polyA-based Au probe, our strategy determined Ag+ with high sensitivity and wide range. In addition, by changing probes or nanoparticles, the proposed strategy is expected to be a universal platform for detecting other analytes in environmental and even biological samples.


Paleomagnetic data from a 907-m thick volcanic sequence from Hole 642E on the Vdring Plateau, Norwegian Sea, are presented. NRM, susceptibility, Q-ratio, stable inclination, and polarity values were determined for 520 samples obtained from 118 flows, 7 dikes, and 12 volcaniclastic units. Declination values were also estimated from AF demagnetization analysis on suitable samples. The magnetic polarity in the upper 778-m thick series of tholeiitic lavas and sediments is reversed throughout while the polarity of the 136-m, more silicic lower series is interpreted to be predominantly normal with widespread reversed component overprint caused by dike intrusions. A strong contrast in magnetic properties between the upper and the lower series reflects the different primary and secondary petrological features of the series. The reverse upper series is correlated with chron 24r of the magnetic polarity time scale, with an age of ca. 54 Ma. This timing matches well with other areas of the North Atlantic Volcanic Province and indicates a common age for the surge of voluminous volcanic activity before the onset of spreading. The inclination record of the upper series indicates an extremely fast rate of extrusion that possibly exceeds growth rates of lava piles like those in Iceland by an order of magnitude. The normal polarity of the lower series is correlated with chron 25, indicating a hiatus between the two series. Comparison of paleolatitudes from the North Atlantic basalt province confirms a northward component of movement of some 15° in the last 55 m.y. for the Wring Plateau.


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Objectives: The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of parents' oral health management behavior towards children on children's oral health. Methods: Dental examination were done to 82 children, and a survey was conducted to 82 parents of them. This researcher conducted multiple regression analysis to figure out how parents' oral health management behavior towards their children influences their oral health condition. Results: Among the kinds of parents' oral health management behavior towards their children, when they received a lower score in guidance for dietary control, children tended to have more dt index. Among the kinds of parents' oral health management behavior towards their children, guidance for tooth brushing and guidance for oral care influenced their children's O'leary index. When they received a higher score in guidance for tooth brushing and guidance for oral care, their children's O'leary index became lower. Conclusions: This study has found that parents' dietary guidance provided to children influences their dt index, and O'leary index, one of the major causes of dental caries, is influenced by parents' guidance for tooth-brushing and guidance for oral care. Therefore, we should realize that according to the degree of parents' interest in children's oral care, children's state of oral health can be changed, and parents should acquire proper knowledge about oral health and instruct and train their children desirably.


PURPOSE
Inadequately corrected refractive error is the leading cause of visual disability among children in China; inaccurate spectacles are a potential cause. The prevalence and visual impact of spectacle inaccuracy were studied among rural, secondary-school children, to determine the optimal timing for updating of refraction.

METHODS
A random sample of children from years 1 and 2 in all junior and senior high schools in Fuyang Township, Guangdong Province, underwent ocular examination. All children who reported wearing glasses received cycloplegic refraction, vision assessment, and measurement of current spectacles.

RESULTS
Among 3226 examined children, 733 (22.7%) reported owning spectacles. Refractive error and spectacle power were assessed for 588 (80.2%) children. They had a mean age of 15.0 +/- 1.6 years; 70.2% were girls, 83.3% had more than -1.5 D of myopia, and 17.9% had presenting vision < or = 6/12 in the better eye. The glasses of 48.8% of children were inaccurate by > or = 1 D; inaccuracy was > or = 2 D in 17.7%. Children with inaccurate glasses (> or = 1 D) had presenting vision in the better eye significantly (P < 0.001) worse than that of children with accurate glasses, and 30.3% had presenting acuity < or = 6/12. In multivariate models, younger age (P = 0.004), more myopic refractive error (P < 0.001), and having glasses > or = 1 year old (P = 0.04) were associated with inaccurate spectacles.

DISCUSSION
Inaccurate spectacles are common and are associated with significant visual impairment among children in rural China. Reducing outdated glasses could lessen the visual burden, although refractive services may have to be offered on an annual basis for optimal benefit.


Recent advances have given rise to popularity and successes of wireless sensor networks. Secure transmission of data is found to be very critical in WSNs (Wireless Sensor Networks). The technique of clustering is found to be very efficient and practical in WSNs. This technique is useful to increase the performance of the system in WSNs. This technique is very useful for Cluster Based Wireless Sensor Networks. Recent studies proposed two new Secure and Efficient Data Transmission Protocols for wireless sensor networks. The two protocols are named SET-IBS and SET-IBOOS. They use Identity Based Digital Signature (IBS) and Identity Based Online/Offline Digital Signatures (IBOOS) respectively. Compared to the traditional protocols the proposed protocols provide more security. Generally, key exchange is a big overhead for any secure data transmission protocols. This is removed in the proposed system by introducing Base Station. SET-IBOOS Scheme reduces the computational overhead


OBJECTIVE
In breast cancer patients eligible for breast-conserving surgery, we evaluated whether the information provided by preoperative MRI of the breast would result in fewer tumor-positive resection margins and fewer reoperations.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS
The study group consisted of 123 consecutive patients diagnosed with either breast cancer or ductal carcinoma in situ eligible for breast-conserving surgery between April 2007 and July 2010. For these patients, a first plan for breast-conserving surgery was made on the basis of clinical examination and conventional imaging. The final surgical plan was made with knowledge of the preoperative breast MRI. The rates of tumor-positive resection margins and reoperations were compared with those of a historical control group consisting of 119 patients who underwent 123 breast-conserving procedures between January 2005 and December 2006. The percentage of change in the surgical plan was recorded.

RESULTS
Preoperative breast MRI changed the surgical plan to more extensive surgery in 42 patients (34.1%), mainly to mastectomy (29 patients, 23.6%). Ninety-four patients underwent 95 breast-conserving procedures. Significantly fewer patients had tumor-positive resection margins than in the control group (15.8%, 15/95 versus 29.3%, 36/123; p < 0.01). Patients in the study group underwent significantly fewer reoperations compared with the historical control group (18.9%, 18/95 vs 37.4%, 46/123; p < 0.01).

CONCLUSION
Preoperative breast MRI can substantially decrease the rate of tumor-positive resection margins and reoperations in breast cancer patients eligible for breast-conserving surgery.


This paper estimates the magnitude of participation costs and preference parameters exploiting information on households' participation decisions in the equities market. A structural model for portfolio choices over the life cycle is solved numerically. The parameters of interest are estimated using an Indirect Inference approach which makes use of the computed participation gains/losses. Participation costs are found to be significant, education and lagged participation being the major sources of heterogeneity. Also, the least educated are the least risk averse, and the positive effect of risk aversion on wealth accumulation dominates its negative influence on the risky asset demand. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Assessment of the impact of the rheumatic disease on the individual patient is necessary to evaluate the outcome of an intervention targeted at the disease process as well as at the restoration of the patient's functioning. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) is a comprehensive tool designed to record and organise a wide range of information about health and health related states, based on bio-psycho-social perspective. The ICF components, namely, body functions, body structures, and activities and participation are complemented by the contextual components, environmental factors and personal factors. All of them are in mutual interactions. The ICF contains lists of so-called ICF categories that describe the components of the integrative World Health Organisation model. It uses an alphanumerical model where categories are 'nested' so that broader categories are defined to include more detailed subcategories of the parent categories. Organized in such a way and with more than 1400 categories ICF covers virtually all the spectrum of problems encountered in patients with musculoskeletal conditions. The main practical tools of the ICF include ICF check lists, ICF core sets, ICF categorical profile and ICF assessment sheet. The ICF is likely to become the generally accepted conceptual framework and will be increasingly used in clinical practice to structure patient problems, particularly in multidisciplinary care and for rehabilitation purposes.


A lively exploration of the Planet of the Apes films as racial allegory. In 1968, Planet of the Apes became a megahit movie both in the US and abroad, inspiring four film sequels, two TV series, several comic series, and hundreds of millions of dollars in worldwide merchandising. The Apes films confronted some of the most controversial issues of the time, including Vietnam and the Black Power movement, all the while remaining crowd pleasing box office hits. Eric Greene uses rare photographs, transcripts, and extensive interviews with the writers, directors, actors, and producers to read the Apes saga as a profoundly American myth. Greene also looks at the attempts of filmmakers like Oliver Stone and James Cameron to remake the myth for the 90s. This enjoyable and meticulous book gives the reader an insider's look at the complex relationships between race, politics and popular culture in America.


Urbanization results in the dramatic change in the land use, which impacts soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in topsoil. The dynamic changes in soil organic carbon pools have significant implications on regional and global carbon balances. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of urbanization on SOC stocks in an urbanized area of Kangra district with varying degree of urbanization under north western Himalayas, India. Soil samples of both urbanized and control areas were collected from three sites namely Dharamshala, Palampur and Baijnath-Paprola. Impact of urbanization on soil organic carbon storage was evaluated and soil carbon stock was found to be varied significantly among different urban areas. The highest soil carbon stock (26.48 Mg C ha -1 ) was recorded in Municipal Corporation which was significantly higher than Municipal Council (23.84 Mg C ha -1 ) and Nagar Panchayat (22.24 Mg C ha -1 ). All the urban sites accumulated more SOC than countryside areas which has challenged the assumption of degrading ecosystem services by urban areas. Henceforth, it is suggested that in order to support enhanced carbon sequestration in soil mapping and periodic estimation of soil organic carbon stocks in urban as well as in countryside areas are crucial.


Conservation and utilization of the native plant resources is essential for long term sustainability of biodiversity. Wild native resources are adapted to specific and diverse environmental conditions and therefore, these adaptive features can be introduced into modern cultivars either through conventional breeding or advanced molecular genetic techniques. Understanding the genetic make up of the wildly growing plant species and of target desirable genes is a prerequisite for this purpose. Five wild rose ( Rosa L.) genotypes were collected from different locations in northern hilly areas of Pakistan for this study. Different morphological characteristics and PCR based random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique was used to find out the diversity and relationship among the genotypes. On morphological basis, Rosa webbiana collected from Muree and Nathia gali showed maximum (83%) similarity, whereas on DNA pattern basis, Rosa brunonii collected from Bansra gali and Sunny bank showed maximum (72%) similarity, while R. webbiana showed maximum diversity among all the species.


Author(s): Mordechay, Kfir | Advisor(s): Orfield, Gary | Abstract: The cyclical recurrence of economic crises suggests that they are an inevitable and recurrent phenomenon in American society. The most recent economic downturn that struck in late 2007 and lasted through 2009, referred to as "The Great Recession", is now generally acknowledged to be the most severe economic crisis since the Great Depression in the 1930s. A lot has been written about the dramatic and nearly simultaneous shocks to the labor, stock, and housing markets that undoubtedly affected millions of American households. While this work has been crucial for expanding our understanding of the consequences of economic shocks, we know little of how the economic shock of The Great Recession impacted children in schools. Understanding the ways in which schools and communities were impacted is crucial to the development of policy responses seeking to stabilize vulnerable neighborhoods and remediating the individual and community-level effects in the event of future economic crises.Using data from a large urban high school district as a case study, this dissertation analysis considers the effect of the most substantial economic shock in decades on a variety of educational and community outcomes. The study seeks to expand on earlier work by applying a quasi-experimental research design to examine the impact of an exogenous economic downturn on a school district located in San Bernardino County California, an area widely considered at the epicenter of The Great Recession. The findings of this study promise to facilitate our understanding of how recessions impact educational outcomes and the role policy can play to mitigate the consequences.Data analyzed for the study comes from three sources: (1) Administrative Chaffey Joint Union High School District Records; (2) American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Percent Public Use Micro data; (3) Zillow monthly real-estate data. Maps constructed using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology helped depict pre-recession and post-recession changes across San Bernardino County. Both Multi-level and signal level logistic models were developed to estimate the effects of The Great Recession on student subgroups between the periods 2004-2013, controlling for a variety of background variables. Community level findings indicate sharp increases in child poverty, unemployment, and foreclosures caused by The Great Recession. At the student level, results indicate statistically large increases in mobility, particularly for middle class blacks. Perhaps counter-intuitively, steep declines in graduation rates in 2008 are followed by a sharp increase beginning in 2009- largely driven by increases from the most disadvantaged groups. The results suggest that the recession created a counter-cyclical demand for education, but also raises important questions about the effects of district responses to the needs of the most vulnerable students at the height of economic downturns. Given the results from this dissertation, educators and policy makers may be well served by considering economic cycles when determining the allocation of classroom resources, classroom planning, and cohort dynamics. This is particularly important in the beginning of economic crises, which might adversely impact the most vulnerable students through a variety of pathways. Large scale economic shocks are going to continue to be common feature of the global economic landscape, and these shocks could result in poverty traps, generating effects that harm not just present, but also succeeding generations. In an era of frequent and rapid economic change, it is crucial to understand the associations between large-scale economic change and educational opportunity.


A common method of antenna array synthesis uses least-squares approximation to fit the radiation pattern of the array to a set of samples of an ideal desired pattern Fid . However, it has long been known that discontinuities in Fid prevent close approximation, and that sampling a target pattern Ftar that approximates Fid can afford better results. Here we show, for the case of circular planar arrays, that an appropriate target pattern can be obtained by modification of a Taylor pattern for a circular aperture.


Abstract Thermodynamics of order-disorder in minerals may be approached by treating the mineral as a solid solution between an independent set of end-members with which the range of possible states of ordering of the phase can be represented. Thus, a mineral of fixed composition (a one-component phase), requiring s independent order parameters to represent the state of order in the mineral, involves an independent set of s + 1 end-members. This approach is applied by means of symmetric formalism, with the entropy part of the Gibbs energy taken to be the ideal configurational entropy of mixing using a mixing-onsites formulation, and the enthalpy part taken to be that of a regular solution between the s + 1 end-members. Symmetric formalism is shown to be formally identical to the generalized Bragg-Williams or point approximation, and its treatment of convergent and nonconvergent cation ordering is compared with that of the Landau theory. Its flexibility in describing a wide range of order-disorder behavior is illustrated with applications to sillimanite, spinel, albite, and potassium feldspar, the latter two involving order-parameter coupling.


Routing in wireless ad hoc networks is greatly impacted by fading mechanisms such as path loss, lognormal shadowing and multipath fading. Despite this, most existing routing protocols typically consider only path loss while ignoring channel fading. We examine the efficacy of selection-based route path (SRP) and maximal-ratio route path (MRRP) network diversity schemes to combat the deleterious effects of fading inherent in the wireless medium. It is shown that the MRRP scheme provides better performance than the SRP scheme in terms of end-to-end outage probability, end-to-end average bit error rate (ABER) and power efficiency, but these benefits are realized at the expense of added complexity/resource overhead.


Toxoplasmosis and toxocariasis are parasitic infections that are transmitted by cats and dogs, respectively, to humans, and which may induce posterior uveitis already in childhood. Toxoplasmosis presents as a congenitally or postnatally contracted infection whereas toxocariasis is always an acquired disease. The typical ocular sign of toxoplasmosis is retinochoroiditis, occurring as an active lesion, in most instances, associated with an inactive pigmented scar. In contrast, toxocariasis leads to a choroidal granuloma secondarily involving the retina or an endophthalmitis-like picture. Although toxoplasmosis represents the most common cause of posterior uveitis, there are uncertainties regarding the timing and specificity of the diagnosis, namely in atypical cases and those at risk of permanent severe loss of function. Antiparasitic treatment should be tailored to the severity of the inflammation and the risk of visual function loss. Concomitant steroids may be used to control the sequelae of unspecific inflammation, but should be used with caution and must be combined with an antimicrobial regimen. Because it is a rare disorder, one may not be familiar with the clinical presentation and suggested therapy for ocular toxocariasis. With this survey we, therefore, wish to provide a current, practice-oriented overview on the infection, ocular manifestations, diagnosis and treatment of ocular toxoplasmosis and toxocariasis in childhood.


The interaction of uranyl ions with inorganic pyrophosphatase from baker's yeast was investigated by measurement of their effect on the protein fluorescence. Fluorescence titrations of the native enzyme with uranyl nitrate show that there is a specific binding of uranyl ions to the enzyme. It was deduced that each subunit of the enzyme binds one uranyl ion. The binding constant was estimated to be in the order of 10(7) M-1. The enzyme which contains a small number of chemically modified carboxyl groups was not able to bind uranyl ions specifically. The modification of carboxyl groups was carried out by use of a water soluble carbodiimide and the nucleophilic reagent N-(2,4-dinitro-phenyl)-hexamethylenediamine. The substrate analogue calcium pyrophosphate displaced the uranyl ions from their binding sites at the enzyme. From the results it is concluded that carboxyl groups of the active site are the ligands for the binding of uranyl ions.


Background: Primary care physicians in Japan see many patients in a given day; consequently, they find it challenging to devote sufficient time for detailed clinical consultation and evaluation of asthma control status. The aim of this study was to investigate asthma symptoms that reveal the presence of inadequately controlled asthma. Methods: A pooled analysis of baseline data from 100 patients with asthma treated with inhaled corticosteroid(s) (ICS) alone or ICS/long-acting beta-agonist who participated in three previous clinical trials was performed. Asthma control status and asthmatic symptoms were determined using a five-item Asthma Control Questionnaire, and whether asthmatic symptoms reflect clinical markers was investigated. Results: Nocturnal awakening owing to asthmatic symptoms was observed only in the uncontrolled asthma group. Patient-reported wheezing was not observed in the group with well-controlled asthma, but was observed in all patients in the uncontrolled asthma group. Virtually all patients, irrespective of asthma control status, reported symptoms in the morning, limitation of normal daily activities, and shortness of breath. Conclusions: The presence of nocturnal awakening due to asthma and wheezing likely reflected uncontrolled asthma. These results will lead to re-recognition that clinical interview, querying nocturnal awakening from asthma and wheezing is a simple and useful approach to assess asthma control status in a primary care setting.


Airborne lidar systems are equipped with a scanning mechanism that produces a swath of 3D coordinated points to form a cloud in each flight strip. The scanning is perpendicular to the direction of flight. The density of the point cloud is one of the major quality measures for the data collected with such systems. Point density, shade (occlusion of the laser beam) and penetration rate are major factors to be considered in the flight design. For practical operations, flight missions may be designed with overlaps ranging from 5 to 50%. Aside from the percentage overlap, the field of view is another important parameter for flight design. An evaluation scheme to assess the percentage overlap between flight strips and the selection of the field of view is proposed in this study. The influences of overlap and field of view are also demonstrated with real data gathered by an airborne lidar system.


It is essential for robotic tactile sensors to provide capability of shape discrimination from static touch. For this purpose, the principal curvatures and corresponding principal directions play the important roles which defines the local shape of the object. This paper proposes a novel acoustic tactile sensing system which has an ability to identify the principal curvatures of the object surface by utilizing reflected acoustical wavefronts. Any smooth surface can be locally approximated by a set of independent parameters: the location of the point of contact, the normal vector of the tangent plane, the principal curvatures and the corresponding principal directions. The major difficulty, however, existing in estimating these parameters is that the wavefront reflected by the paraboloidal surface cannot be described in the linear combination of the plane-waves nor the spherical-waves strictly such that the nonlinearity exists between TOF and the parameters defining the surface. Avoiding the difficulty, the proposed sensing system utilizes TOFs for both single and double reflections.


We report on an educational project in particle physics based on Feynman diagrams. By dropping the mathematical aspect of the method and keeping just the iconic one, it is possible to convey many different concepts from the world of elementary particles, such as antimatter, conservation laws, particle creation and destruction, real and virtual particles, and so on. We have created a construction toy in which the rules of the graphic representation are translated into mechanical constraints between the toy elements. We report and discuss the results of public demonstrations with high school students.


The cytoplasmic innate immune receptor NOD2 is required for antibacterial immune response. Optimal regulation of NOD2 is essential for controlling bacterial infections and inflammatory disorders. Recently, ubiquitination has emerged as an important posttranslational modification required to control NOD2-signaling. Yet, the specific ubiquitination mechanisms that negatively regulate NOD2-signalling during both acute and chronic (e.g., MDP-tolerance) stimulations are incompletely understood. Through a human genome-wide-RNA-interference screen, we identified an E3-ubiquitin ligase {termed as NOD2 Signaling Regulator (NSR)} as a novel negative-regulator of NOD2-mediated NF-KB, cytokine, and antibacterial responses. Mechanistically, NSR induced K48-linked ubiquitination of RIP2 (NOD2-adaptor), and promoted RIP2 degradation through the endoplasmic-reticulum-associated-degradation (ERAD) pathway. We identified the endoplasmic reticulum as a new regulatory site for NOD2-signaling, where RIP2 was localized and interacted with NSR and ERAD. In vivo NSR knock-down in mice resulted in increased NOD2-mediated NF-KB activation. NSR-mediated RIP2 degradation was critically required for MDP-tolerance induction both in vivo and in vitro. Thus, this study unravels a key molecular mechanism by which NOD2 pathway is attenuated, and provide new directions to understand the role of NOD2 pathway in both infectious and inflammatory diseases.


Psoriasis is a multi-system, chronic, non-infectious, autoimmune, and inflammatory disorder that mainly affects the skin and has a multifactorial etiology. Nutrition has always been a very important line in the management of multiple diseases, whether dermatological or otherwise. Although it is more important in some diseases than others, nutrition could probably always play a role in augmenting and improving recovery. The advantages of optimizing nutrition and using it as a tool in the management of diseases are many, including cost, knowledge of long-term complications if present and less-to-no side effects compared to newly produced medications. Those nutrients are also likely to benefit one's overall health and not just the pressing condition. Thus, this review aimed at providing an overview of nutrients, such as vitamin D and omega-3 (n-3), and obesity in relation to psoriasis. Using standard search engines, the present study reviewed how vitamin D, n-3, and weight loss can help patients dealing with psoriasis. Evidently, vitamin D and n-3 were found beneficial for alleviating psoriatic symptoms, especially vitamin D, because of its steroid sparing effects. Weight loss in obese individuals with psoriasis was found not only in improving psoriatic lesions as reflected in Psoriasis Area and Severity Index but also it protected them against metabolic syndrome. It is important also to note that for patients with psoriasis to use these substances as they could prevent them from developing complications when using conventional medications such as steroids and help them in other areas such as psoriatic arthritis, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular diseases.


Background and purpose Multiple sclerosis (MS), a multifactorial autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (CNS), is characterized by demyelination and chronic inflammation, as well as axonal and neuronal loss. There is no cure for MS, and despite a significant improvement in the therapeutic management of patients during the last 20 years, some symptoms are still resistant to treatment, and the evolution of the disease to progressive form seems still ineluctable. The etiology of MS is complex and still not fully understood. However, inflammation is a major driver of physiopathology and oxidative stress contributes to CNS lesions and promotes existing inflammatory response. Plant polyphenols are endowed with many therapeutic benefits through alleviating oxidative stress and inflammation, thus providing neuroprotection in MS. We presently evaluated the curative effect of grape seed extract (GSE) in an experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) mouse model of MS. Experimental approach Six-week-old C57Bl/6J females were subjected to the EAE paradigm (using myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein peptide fragment (35-55), complete Freund's adjuvant, and pertussis toxin) and then chronically treated with GSE from day 10 to day 30 post-induction. Clinical score and body weight were monitored daily, while evaluation of sensitive, motor, cognitive, and anxiety-related behaviors was performed weekly. Then, the GSE effect was evaluated on whole brain and spinal cord samples through the evaluation of oxidative stress damage, antioxidant capacities, myelin alteration, astroglial and microglial proliferation, and sirtuin expression. Key results Grape seed extract curative chronic treatment corrected the clinical course of EAE, as well as the mechanical hypersensitivity, and avoided the development of EAE mouse thermal cold allodynia. The neuropathological evaluation showed that GSE reduced oxidative stress in the brain and spinal cord by decreasing the lipid and protein oxidation through correction of the three main antioxidant enzyme activities, namely, superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase, as well as restoring normal myelin protein expression and correcting microglial and astroglial protein overexpression and sirtuin downregulation. Conclusion and implications These data strongly support GSE as an effective therapeutic approach in MS treatment.


The pier is the place where the ships are being moored at the port. It is also a place for loading and unloading activities and for people or passengers to get on or get off from the ships. There is a need for a digital recording of vehicles or passengers entering the ships to speed up the port administration process. For this reason, in this study, a prototype of a Vehicle and Passenger Recording System (Manifest) at the dock access gate is integrated in an integrated manner based on the Internet of Thing (IoT), which consists of an Android and Web system. This system uses a QR-Code as a ticket that contains manifest data and is read with a QR-Code Reader to be compared with the data stored in the server. If it is appropriate, the dock entrance will be active, and the vehicles or passengers can enter the ships. Whereas if it does not fit, they cannot be open the pier access door. From the test results, the mechanical system can function as expected and can recognize as the entire QR-Code within an optimal distance of 3 cm. All registered users can open the door, as well.


This paper proposes improvements to the binary grey-wolf optimizer (BGWO) to solve the feature selection (FS) problem associated with high data dimensionality, irrelevant, noisy, and redundant data that will then allow machine learning algorithms to attain better classification/clustering accuracy in less training time. We propose three variants of BGWO in addition to the standard variant, applying different transfer functions to tackle the FS problem. Because BGWO generates continuous values and FS needs discrete values, a number of V-shaped, S-shaped, and U-shaped transfer functions were investigated for incorporation with BGWO to convert their continuous values to binary. After investigation, we note that the performance of BGWO is affected by the selection of the transfer function. Then, in the first variant, we look to reduce the local minima problem by integrating an exploration capability to update the position of the grey wolf randomly within the search space with a certain probability; this variant was abbreviated as IBGWO. Consequently, a novel mutation strategy is proposed to select a number of the worst grey wolves in the population which are updated toward the best solution and randomly within the search space based on a certain probability to determine if the update is either toward the best or randomly. The number of the worst grey wolf selected by this strategy is linearly increased with the iteration. Finally, this strategy is combined with IBGWO to produce the second variant of BGWO that was abbreviated as LIBGWO. In the last variant, simulated annealing (SA) was integrated with LIBGWO to search around the best-so-far solution at the end of each iteration in order to identify better solutions. The performance of the proposed variants was validated on 32 datasets taken from the UCI repository and compared with six wrapper feature selection methods. The experiments show the superiority of the proposed improved variants in producing better classification accuracy than the other selected wrapper feature selection algorithms.


OBJECTIVES
despite numerous reports on the distribution of reflux in patients with venous ulceration, there is no consensus on the contribution of each venous system. This study was performed to evaluate the distribution of reflux in this group of patients.

METHODS
a literature search from 1980 to 1998 was performed. Because duplex scanning is the best method for detecting venous reflux, we only included reports that used this diagnostic modality. All studies with less than 30 ulcerated limbs were excluded. Since most reports did not give detailed data on perforator veins, reflux in these veins was combined with the superficial and deep veins. Documented episodes of superficial or deep vein thrombosis were noted.

RESULTS
thirteen studies that included 1249 ulcerated limbs fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The mean age of patients was 59 years (95% CI: 54-63, range: 14-93). Reflux was detected in 1153 (92%) of limbs. Reflux confined to the superficial veins alone was seen in 45% of limbs, in the deep veins alone in 12% and in both the superficial and deep veins in 43% of limbs. The overall involvement of the superficial veins was 88% and of the deep veins 56% (p <0. 0001). A documented episode of deep vein thrombosis was reported in only six of the 13 studies and the incidence was found to be 32%.

CONCLUSIONS
reflux in the superficial veins is seen in 88% of limbs with venous ulcers (CEAP classes 5 and 6). Isolated superficial vein incompetence is detected in 45%, while reflux in the deep venous system alone is seen in only 12%. These data have significant clinical implications, since reflux in the superficial system can be easily eliminated by excision of the affected veins.


Research on self-adaptive systems (SASs) has proliferated in the last fifteen years. Approaches resting on models at run-time have been proposed (e.g., to model system variants), as well as methods that aim at giving requirements a key role in driving the adaptation process (e.g., to choose the most appropriate system variant). More recent research focuses on automating model-based decisions, such as requirements revision, by exploiting data generated at execution time.Uncertainty is considered a first-class citizen in SAS engineering. A well recognised technique for dealing with uncertainty is risk management. Several risk management methods exist, as well as visual modelling languages that aim at supporting risk analysis.Our objective is to investigate how complementing requirements modelling with risk modelling could support automating risk-driven requirements analysis. While risk could be identified and modelled at design-time using domain knowledge and data generated by previous system executions, their estimation will be done at run-time, and guide the selection of system behaviour that minimises the risk of the system not being compliant with requirements.In this paper, we introduce our research objective that concerns the definition of an engineering framework, called Risk4SAS, that enables risk-driven requirements analysis in SASs life-cycle and describe first steps towards its realisation, including a meta-model, which captures the dependency between risk and the characteristics of a SAS's variants. We conclude by presenting our research road-map.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the augmentation effect and mechanism of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) on the bystander effect of herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSV-TK)/ganciclovir (GCV) system in the treatment of tongue carcinoma cell line.

METHODS
Immunocytochemistry and flow cytometry (FCM) were used to analyze the expression of Cx43 protein in Tca8113 cells after treated with ATRA; The bystander effect of HSV-TK/GCV system on tongue carcinoma cells before and after treatment with ATRA was detected by MTT assays. The interaction of ATRA and bystander effect was analyzed by factorial experiment.

RESULTS
After treated by ATRA (10(-7) mol/L - 10(-5) mol/L), the expression of Cx43 protein was up-regulated in Tca8113 cells and the positive rate of Cx43 protein increased from 5.17% (before treatment) to 30.53% (10(-5) mol/L ATRA). There was significant difference between ATRA treated cells and untreated cells (P < 0.01). The bystander effect of HSV-TK/GCV system on Tca8113 cells was poor, but improved after combined with ATRA. There was cooperation effect between ATRA and bystander effect of HSV-TK/GCV (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
ATRA can augment the bystander effect of HSV-TK/GCV system in the treatment of tongue carcinoma cell line. The mechanism might be due to up-regulation of Cx43 gene and restore gap junction intercellular communication.


Tugby (2013a) and Yates (2016) have recently argued that immanent realism is incompatible with the existence of intrinsic but (at least partially) relationally constituted genuine dispositional properties. The success of Tugby's and Yates' arguments depends either on a strong or on a weak assumption about the interworld identity of dispositional properties. In this paper, the author evaluates the strength of the arguments in question under those two assumptions. He also offers an alternative metaphysical picture for the fundamental dispositional properties which rejects these assumptions and, consequently, undermines the arguments themselves.


The linear, second-order and third-order dielectric susceptibilities 1, 2, 3 of a (Sr0.65Ba0.35)2NaNb5O15 (SBNN) single crystal have been measured. Strong relaxation was found in all investigated dielectric susceptibilities near the phase transition. The time dependence of linear and third-order dielectric susceptibility can be explained as the effect of polar nano-clusters evolution. Near the phase transition, the net polarization of the crystal, monitored by second-order dielectric susceptibility, changes both its value and orientation. Measurements of the pyroelectric effect indicate that the non-zero net polarization in SBNN crystals appears spontaneously. In addition, the ferroelectric phase transition in SBNN showed many features of a first-order phase transition.


Objective : to assess the relationship between bone mineral density (BMD) and the muscular apparatus in male patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). Patients and methods . The investigation enrolled 79 male patients (median age, 63 [57; 66] years) with an established diagnosis of CHD verified by coronary angiography. Muscle mass was assessed by multispiral computed tomography, by determining the axial muscle tissue area (cm2 ) at the level of L III . Muscle strength was measured with a wrist dynamometer. Muscle function was examined using the tests of the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB). BMD at the neck and proximal femur as a whole and at the lumbar spine was measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. For comparative analysis, the patients were divided into three groups (EWGSOP, 2010). Group 1 included 31 patients without sarcopenia; Group 2 consisted of 21 patients with presarcopenia; and Group 3 comprised 27 patients with sarcopenia. Results and discussion . Osteopenic syndrome was diagnosed in 34 (43%) patients: osteopenia and osteoporosis in 31 (39%) and 3 (4%) patients, respectively. Normal BMD values were observed in 45 (57%) men. The prevalence of osteopenic syndrome was significantly higher in the patients with sarcopenia than in those with presarcopenia (p=0.050) and was comparable to that in men without sarcopenia (p>0.050). BMD at the neck and proximal femur as a whole was significantly lower in the patients with sarcopenia than in those without sarcopenia or with presarcopenia (p<0.050). There was a direct correlation between BMD and the characteristics of muscle mass and muscle strength. Regression analysis showed that the total skeletal muscle area at the level of L III had a significant direct impact on BMD at the neck and proximal femur as a whole, and the reverse – walking speed. Conclusion . The relationship between the characteristics of the muscular apparatus and BMD requires further investigation.


We developed a real-world oriented mobile constellation learning environment. Learners point at a target constellation by gazing through a cylinder with a gyro-sensor under the real starry sky. The system can display information related to the constellation. The system has original exercise functions which are not supported by existing systems or products by other research group or companies. Through experimentation, we evaluated the learning environment to assess its learning effects.


Low density polyethylene (LDPE)/ liquid natural rubber (LNR) blends with the composition of 100LDPE/0LNR, 70LDPE/
30LNR, 60LDPE/40LNR and 40LDPE/60LNR were prepared via dispersion of LDPE and LNR emulsion. LNR was obtained via
photochemical sensitization of natural rubber (NR). Emulsion of LNR was prepared by using sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and 1-hexanol as the emulsifier and co- emulsifier respectively. Emulsion of LDPE was prepared in the same way by using LDPE solution in carbon tetrachloride, SDS and 1-hexanol. LDPE/LNR blends were prepared via mixing of LNR and LDPE emulsions. Mechanical properties of the blends were analyzed by tensile, hardness and impact test. Optimum mechanical properties were observed for composite with composition of 60LDPE/40LNR that showed the maximum value of stress and strain. The glass transition temperature, Tg, of the blends as obtained from differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) showed that the blends were homogeneous. Morphology study by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) also indicates the homogeneity of LDPE/LNR blends produced.


Future high-performance computers demand highly dynamic data rates, e.g., a few terabytes per second communication bandwidth between switch hubs, and hundreds of gigabytes per second bandwidth between nodes and hubs, in order to overcome the challenges to rapidly growing traffic. Integrated photonic interconnect on silicon is believed to be one of the best solutions for low-cost, energy efficient, and high-speed data communications because of its fundamental advantages in high-volume throughput and dense integration. Applied with signal multiplexing techniques, e.g., wavelength division multiplexing (WDM), large bandwidth data links have been proved to be achievable on silicon. In such a system, an on-chip, robust, low-power consumption laser source is the key component as well as one of the fundamental limits to the silicon platform. In this work, we report the first hybrid silicon microring lasers with quantum-dot (QD) gain material to show great potential for uncooled, highly energy efficient, and isolator-free operation. The hybrid silicon QD lasers have a microring cavity with a 50 μm diameter that incorporates InAs/GaAs QD gain material at a 1.3 μm emission wavelength. The threshold current is as low as 0.7 mA under continuous wave (CW) operation at room temperature, and the laser operates at stage temperatures of up to 70°C. We demonstrate, to the best of our knowledge, a hybrid QD laser with non-return-to-zero (NRZ) communication at a record-high direct modulation rate of 15 Gb/s with energy efficiency of 1.2 pJ/bit. We believe this work shows huge benefits from superior QD lasing material and hybrid photonic integration not only for data communications but also optical memory and many other emerging applications.