Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) form an indispensable component of body9s defense against cancer and therefore lie at the heart of the cancer immunotherapy program. However, evasion and suppression of immune surveillance by tumor cells remains a reality and a major roadblock for the clinical success of cancer immunotherapy. In this study, we established a novel RNAi silencing screen based on a siRNA library, which contained multiple siRNA sequences to individually target more than 500 G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) in MCF7 breast cancer cells, to identify those tumor-associated receptors that promote tumor resistance to immunological destruction by CTLs. Briefly, luciferase-tagged MCF7 cells were reverse transfected with the siRNA library, followed by co-culture with the reactive CTLs. Effect of individual gene knockdown on CTL-mediated tumor lysis was determined based on the luciferase activity of the remaining live cells in each well. Gene knockdowns that affected cell viability by themselves were excluded from the hit analysis. Z-score based normalization resulted in a hit list comprising of 79 candidates that negatively regulate CTL activity and 27 candidates that positively modulate the T cell response. Using antigen-specific T cell clones in secondary assays, we have validated two of such high scoring hits, namely NiS-6 and NiS-1, that negatively regulate CTL response against tumor. siRNA-mediated knockdown of NiS-6 increases the susceptibility of both MCF7 and MDA-MBD-231 breast cancer cells to immunological destruction by survivin-specific T cells, as measured in standard chromium-release kill assays. Blocking of NiS-6 in MCF7s via siRNA also increases the interferon-gamma and granzyme B secretion by survivin-TCs in ELISpot readouts. Moreover, elevated levels of IL-2 and TNF-alpha, along with significantly diminished levels of immunosuppressive cytokine IL-10, were observed in the supernatant of the MCF7 and T cell coculture upon NiS-6 knockdown. Preliminary knockdown studies with NiS-1 receptor in tumor cells demonstrated that NiS-1 might be similarly involved in de-sensitizing tumor cells to CTL-mediated lysis. Here we report a systematic and high throughput screening strategy for the identification of novel immune modulators associated with breast cancer. Based on our findings, we suggest a new and previously undefined role for the tumor-associated G-protein coupled receptors- NiS-6 and NiS-1 – in downregulating T cell responses. These surface receptors are therefore an attractive therapeutic target for the treatment of breast cancer in either a monotherpay setting or in conjunction with adoptive immunotherapy, so as to override tumor9s acquired resistance to immunological destruction. Citation Format: Nisit Khandelwal, Marco Breinig, Tobias Speck, Heinke Conrad, Ludmila Umansky, Michael Boutros, Philipp Beckhove. A high-throughput RNAi screen unravels new immune-checkpoint molecules that mediate tumor resistance to cytotoxic T lymphocytes. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Tumor Immunology: Multidisciplinary Science Driving Basic and Clinical Advances; Dec 2-5, 2012; Miami, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(1 Suppl):Abstract nr A97.


While fertility rates generally fall over time as an economy develops, there is also evidence, primarily from developed countries, of pro-cyclical fertility. Fertility rates are correlated with short-run economic fluctuations because women delay pregnancy in poor economic times and periods of uncertainty, and increase fertility when conditions improve. Because health insurance reduces the cost of childbirth and medical care for children, the introduction of social health insurance may have the same effect on fertility as a positive income shock. This paper examines whether the introduction of social health insurance in Ghana had a positive, pro-cyclical effect on fertility decisions. Using data from the 2005/2006 Ghana Living Standards Surveys (GLSS) conducted shortly after the roll out of the insurance programme and the 2012/2013 GLSS, we compare fertility decisions of insured and uninsured women. To control for self-selection into the insurance programme, we exploit district-level variation in the dates of implementation of the national health insurance to instrument for insurance enrolment. We find evidence of a pro-cyclical fertility effect at the individual level. This is consistent with an increase in national fertility rates observed around the time the programme was introduced. The increase in fertility, however, appears to have been temporary; we find no effect of insurance on fertility in the more recent data.


The incidence of melanoma is rising faster than any other malignancy. As more cases are diagnosed, it is likely that general nurses will come into contact with melanoma patients. This article discusses the identification, treatment and prognosis for this group of patients.


The worldwide rollout of 4G LTE mobile communication networks has accelerated the proliferation of the mobile Internet and spurred a new wave of mobile applications on smartphones. This new wave has provided mobile operators an enormous opportunity to collect a huge amount of data to monitor the technical and transactional aspects of their networks. Recent research on mobile big data mining have shown its great potential for diverse purposes ranging from improving traffic management, enabling personal and contextual services, to monitoring city dynamics and so on. The mobile big data research has a multi-disciplinary nature that demands distinct knowledge from mobile communications, signal processing, and data mining. The research field of mobile big data has emerged quickly in recent years, but is somewhat fragmented. This article aims to provide an integrated picture of this emerging field to bridge multiple disciplines and hopefully to inspire future research.


A study to identify animal health delivery systems to show how marginalized pastoral communities are accessing animal health services was conducted in Babati, Hanang and Mbulu Districts of Manyara Region. It was shown that livestock was the principal economic activity for pastoralists in Mbulu, Babati and Hanang and that pastoralists are located in relatively remote areas. Animal diseases, in particular parasitic infections,  viral/bacterial epizootics and scarcity of water and pasture are among the major constraints that these pastoralists face. Despite of such problems, reliable animal health delivery system lacks in these areas and handling of almost all animal husbandry services, treatment and control of diseases is exclusively carried out by farmers that are quite skilful home grown animal para-veterians. Efforts to improve animal health and productivity and thus economy and livelihood of these pastoral farmers will succeed through their involvement in solving the problems. It was observed that there is a high illiteracy rate among the pastoralists; hence education for all is essential for success of any developmental project to be implemented in the pastoral areas. In summary the information available in the present study validates the need for planning of an effective and sustainable animal health delivery system in the pastoral farming systems in Manyara region and Tanzania as a whole.


Recent debates amongst civil society organizations focusing on the governance of multilateral development banks have expressed some concerns regarding institutional capacities to ensure project quality-at-entry in line with key developmental issues. The present paper delves upon the African Development Bank's (AfDB) "Additionality and Development Outcomes" framework practice in that respect. By reviewing the concepts that underpin the AfDB's project quality-at-entry framework, the paper brings out the importance of well-aligned appraisal criteria with institutional priorities. The paper's main contribution is to provide empirical regarding the extent to which key components of project quality-at-entry criteria interrelate and how they balance against credit concerns. Results suggest that at appraisal the AfDB has played an active role in achieving development outcomes, increasing the development focus of portfolio decisions. Also, results highlight that the variables taken into account during appraisal – whether they pertain to development or risk concerns are rather independent from each other and that no assumption should be made on one variable given information on the others. Finally, findings suggest that both development outcomes and additionality considerations are important for project approval at board level. More specifically, considerations regarding financial additionality matter when it comes to AfDB value-added in a project, and concerns over household benefits, gender & social effects, government revenues and private sector development matter most when it comes to overall development outcomes. While some caveats remain to be addressed, the overall conceptual and institutional framework now in place has laid strong foundations that will help measure how these projects have performed in practice.


Poor hand hygiene and food handling put consumers of restaurant and street food at risk of enteric disease, especially in low-income countries. This study aimed to collect hygiene indicators from a nationally representative sample of restaurants and street food vendors. The field team collected data from 50 rural villages and 50 urban administrative units (mahallas). We explored restaurant service staff, cook, and food vendor hygiene practices (N = 300 restaurants and 600 street food vendors), by observing hygiene facilities, food handling, and utensil cleaning. A qualitative assessment explored perceptions of hygiene related to food handling. During restaurant spot checks, 91% (273/300) had soap and water at handwashing location for customers but in only 33% (100) at locations convenient for restaurant staff. Among street food-vending stalls, 11% (68/600) had soap and water when observed. During 90-minute structured observations, cooks used soap to wash hands on 14/514 (3%) of occasions before food preparation, 6/82 (8%) occasions after cutting fish/meat/vegetables, 3/71 (4%) occasions before serving food, and 0/49 (0%) occasions) before hand-mashing food/salad preparation; no street food vendors washed hands with soap during these food-handling events. Most of the qualitative study participants perceived that customers select a vendor based on tastiness of the food, whereas no one mentioned the importance of food hygiene. The study demonstrates widespread poor hygiene and food-handling practices in restaurants and among food vendors. Based on our study findings, we proposed a food premises Hygiene Investigation Model to create action plans to improve food safety.


The new venture analysis is the foundation of venture development. In this paper, 14 venture prototypes are proposed based on the attributes of venture.Then, a new venture analysis method is discussed by the way of matching the new venture with the corresponding prototype. Considering the fuzziness of human subjective grading, the L-R fuzzy numbers are used to express the variables and corresponding fuzzy algorithm are applied in analysis. At the end, an application example is applied to indicate the effectiveness of the method.


We present a continuous-time collision detection algorithm for quickly detecting whether certain polynomial trajectories in time intersect with convex obstacles. The algorithm is used in conjunction with an existing multicopter trajectory generation method to achieve rapid, obstacle-aware motion planning in environments with both static convex obstacles and dynamic convex obstacles whose boundaries do not rotate. In general, this problem is difficult because the presence of convex obstacles makes the feasible space of trajectories nonconvex. The performance of the algorithm is benchmarked using Monte Carlo simulations, and experimental results are presented that demonstrate the use of the method to plan collision-free multicopter trajectories in milliseconds in environments with both static and dynamic obstacles.


Conventional radar absorbing materials may be divided into two main types: those which employ one or more thin resistive sheets separated by dielectric spacers, such as the Salisbury screen, and those comprised of one or more lossy layers, such as the Dallenbach absorber. Both types operate by absorbing electromagnetic energy incident upon them and converting it into heat. In this paper, however, we describe a new class of "absorber", the so-called phase-switched screen (PSS), which phase modulates electromagnetic energy reflected from its surface to produce a scattered field with a low time-averaged energy spectral density.


Convergence difficulties were encountered in our recent efforts towards a combined aerodynamic-structural optimization of the High Speed Civil Transport (HSCT). The underlying causes of the convergence problems were traced to numerical noise in the calculation of aerodynamic drag components for obstacles to convergence. The first technique employed a sequential approximation optimization method which used large initial move limits on the design variables. This helped dislodge the optimizer out of the local minima in the design space created by the noisy drag data. The second method utilized the aircraft. Two techniques were developed to circumvent the response surface methods to construct smooth approximations to the noisy data. The response surfaces were formed by analyzing several individual HSCT configuration and then fitting polynomial functions to selected objective function data. A simplified example design problem was used to demonstrate the response surface technique and to investigate various other issues relating to the construction of the response surfaces.


Assessors' perspectives on their evaluative practices remain relatively under-researched. Given evidence that higher education assessment and feedback continue to be problematic, this paper proposes a specific methodological innovation with potential to contribute both to research and practice in this area. It explores the potential of a micro-analysis of textual engagement, nested within an ethnographic approach, to defamiliarize the often taken-for-granted practice of marking. The study on which the paper is based used screen capture combined with audio-recorded, concurrent talk-around-text to throw light on the processes, strategies and perspectives of eight teachers within one university as they assessed undergraduates' work. This close-up focus was nested within broader ethnographic data generation incorporating interviews, marked assignments and other assessment-related texts. The paper presents selected 'moments of engagement' to show how this methodology can offer a renewed understanding of evaluative literacies as complex, 'messy' and shot through with influences invisible in the final assessed text but which may nevertheless be highly consequential. The paper concludes by reflecting on the potential for this type of data and analysis to contribute to assessor development and inform debate about the future of higher education assessment.


The article deals with the problem of Gothic style in Western literature. The main part of the text is devoted to the issues of its origin and cultural background, the origin of the term itself and its application to fiction, the main stages of the classical Gothic novel and the rise of the Neo-gothic tradition. The main points of the article are illustrated by the examples from most typical Gothic texts, from Walpole's 'Otranto' to Lewis's 'The Monk', alongside with the crucial aesthetic and philosophical ideas of the period, the concept of the Sublime, developed by Burke, included. The article also touches upon the problems of academic studies of the Gothic literature and its reception by undergraduate audience.


Most business decisions are made with analysis, but some are judgment calls not susceptible to analysis due to time or information constraints. In this article, we present a real-life case study of critical business decision making of PerceptIn, an autonomous driving technology startup: in early years of PerceptIn, PerceptIn had to make a decision on the design of computing systems for its autonomous vehicle products. By providing details on PerceptIn's decision process and the results of the decision, we hope to provide some insights that can be beneficial to entrepreneurs and engineering managers in technology startups.


The review describes atomic transitions where two or more photons are simultaneously absorbed by an atom or a molecule (without any intermediate resonant level). The authors show theoretically and experimentally the possibilities of these transitions for numerous high-resolution spectroscopic studies. The Doppler broadening is suppressed in two-photon transitions if the atoms are irradiated by two laser waves travelling in opposite directions, because the Doppler shift in one wave cancels that in the other. A generalization is made for multiphotonic transitions. A typical experimental set-up with a CW dye laser is described in detail, but the possibilities of other light sources are also discussed.


ABSTRACT This essay offers a survey of the history of the Roman Society during the 100 years since its foundation in 1910. It discusses relations with other classical bodies, especially the Hellenic Society and the Classical Association; the Society's fragile finances until the 1950s; and the key role played over several decades by its Secretary, Margerie Taylor. Separate sections deal with the Society's library; its journals, the Journal of Roman Studies (1911) and Britannia (1970); membership and finance; and relations with schools, amateur archaeologists and the University of London, whose Institute of Classical Studies has housed the Society's office and library since 1958.


This article proposes a model of world literature based on multilingualism, rather than translation or a series of monolingualisms. It analyzes three novels, positioned in uneven relationships to world literature: Ramon Saizarbitoria's Hamaika pauso (Basque; Countless steps, 1995), Roberto Bolaño's 2666 (Spanish; 2004), and Sol Ceh Moo's Sujuy k'iin (Mayan; Unspoiled day, 2011). They can all be read as multilingual, and despite the differences of their contexts and the particular ways in which different languages intertwine in them, anticlimactic forms are an aesthetic solution they share. The model of world literature informed by this anticlimactic multilingualism could be called the Real of world literature, since it points to the traumatic core of world literature that disrupts the possibility of systematizing its literatures in a holistic structure.


It is evident that an exact knowledge of the energy necessary to remove the electrons from a molecule is of great value in formulating definite ideas of atomic structure and in testing the correctness of any quantitative theory. Not only is it desirable to know the work required to detach the outermost valence electron but also the further energy steps corresponding to the removal of more closely bound electrons. Moreover, in the case of polyatomic molecules, it would be most interesting to learn what the actual products of ionisation are, whether it is necessarily accompanied by dissociation and, if so, what is the state of the dissociated components. In ionisation of a gas by the impact of slowly moving electrons we have a method of disrupting molecules under known energy conditions, and therefore turn to experiments of this type for the solution of the problems just propounded. The first important quantitative work was that of Franck and Hertz in 1913 using a method originally due to Lenard. Modifications and improvements in this general mode of attack have enabled subsequent investigators to contribute greatly to knowledge of atomic structure. For a detailed discussion of methods and results reference can be made to Hughes' "Report on Photo-electricity" or to a recent series of papers by Franck, but for the purpose of the present paper it will be sufficient to state the principal results as briefly as possible.


The major mortality from congenital heart disease occurs within the first year of life. A review of the autopsy material at Babies Hospital from 1935 through 1960 revealed that three-quarters of the deaths from congenital heart disease occurred under 1 year of age.1The primary surgical interest in congenital heart disease has been concentrated on that group of patients who survived this period, while a closer review of the autopsy material revealed that approximately 60% of these infants have lesions which are amenable to surgical therapy. Among this group of 321 autopsies performed on infants with congenital heart disease under 1 year of age, approximately 15% had coarctation of the aorta as a portion of their anomaly. A review of this group of 46 infants (Table 1) reveals that 12 infants died within the first week of life from prematurity, tracheoesophageal fistula, or other noncardiac anomalies. Nine infants in


Highly dense bulk samples were produced by spark plasma sintering (SPS) through combined devitrification and consolidation of partially amorphous Al85Y8Ni5Co2 gas atomized powders. The microstructure of the consolidated samples shows a mixed structure containing crystalline, ultrafine-grained and amorphous/nanocrystalline particles. The sintered sample exhibits a remarkable high strength of about 1050 MPa combined with 3.7 % fracture strain.


A critical review of solar drying relevant to countries in Africa is presented in this paper, pointing out achievements and failures, and explanations why they may have occured. Available technical information suggests that solar drying technologies are available for a range of foodstuffs, but they need to be adapted to the local environment. Several technologies that may be suitable for rural and industrial uses are reviewed. The greatest challenge is concerned with technologies for rural farmers who at present have very little income to acquire improved solar drying technologies. It is argued that solar drying has not yet taken hold in the agricultural sector due to several reasons such as the orientation of research and development workers, promoters of related technologies, and lack of favorable national policies. Some guidelines that can be used for developing and ensuring the effective use of solar dryers are presented. M. W. Baeeey


Community opposition to dairies has altered location decisions by milk producers. Our objective was to identify residents' perceptions towards dairy by individual and community characteristics. A mail survey of residents of dairy counties and non-dairy counties was conducted. Dairy county residents were more willing to live close to a dairy.


Smart Home System (SHS) is a dwelling incorporating a communications network that connects the electrical appliances and services allowing them to be remotely controlled, monitored or accessed. SHS includes different approaches to achieve multiple objectives range from enhancing comfort in daily life to enabling a more independent life for elderly and handicapped people. In this paper, the main four fields for SHS which are, home automation and remote monitoring, environmental monitoring, including humidity, temperature, fault tracking and management and finally the health monitoring have been considered. The system design is based on the Microcontroller MIKRO C software; multiple passive and active sensors and also a wireless internet services which is used in different monitoring and control processes .This paper presents the hardware implementation of a multiplat- form control system for house automation and combines both hardware and software technologies. The system results shows that it can be classified as a comfortable, secure, private, economic and safe system in addition to its great flexibility and reliability.


This paper summarizes nuclear-related work in support of the US effort for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) Study. Primary tasks carried out during the past year include design improvements of the inboard shield developed for the TIBER concept, scoping studies of a variety of tritium breeding blanket options, development of necessary design guidelines and evaluation criteria for the blanket options, further safety considerations related to nuclear components, and issues regarding structural materials for an ITER device. The blanket concepts considered are the aqueous/Li salt solution, a water-cooled, solid breeder blanket, a helium-cooled, solid-breeder blanket, a blanket cooled by helium containing lithium-bearing particulates, and a blanket concept based on breeding tritium from He/sup 3/. 1 ref., 2 tabs.


Single-frequency network (SFN) can be applied to advanced television systems committee (ATSC) 3.0-based terrestrial broadcasting systems to improve the service availability and quality of service without additional spectral resources. The main problem of SFN planning is the co-channel interference caused by multiple transmitters that use the same radio frequency for signal transmission and reception. The effect of the co-channel interference can be minimized by adjusting the network delay and transmit power of multiple transmitters within the SFN coverage area. To adjust the delay and power, it is necessary to estimate the channel impulse response (CIR) from each transmitter to a receiver. To support this process, a transmitter identification (TxID) signal is embedded in an original ATSC 3.0 signal. At the receiver, the individual CIR may be measured by a correlation-process-based TxID detection. However, since the correlation process may require large computational efforts, it is a quite challenging work to design a TxID detection algorithm with reduced complexity. This paper proposes a low-complexity TxID detection algorithm. The design and performance of the proposed algorithm is investigated and analyzed through numerical simulations. The simulation results indicate that the proposed algorithm can offer almost the same performance as the conventional TxID detection algorithm with significantly reduced complexity.


The paper presents the results of extensive experimental and theoretical study of the solid solutions in the system Mg/sub 2/Si-Mg/sub 2/Sn. It is shown that the system is a favorable base for the creation of excellent thermoelectrics with band type of conductivity. The reproducible results are obtained for Seebeck and Hall coefficients, electrical and thermal conductivity in the wide temperature range 77-850 K for the samples of various solid solution composition and various electron concentration (up to 5/spl middot/10/sup 20/ cm/sup -3/). At optimum solid solution composition and electron concentration the thermoelectric of ZT/sub max/=1.1 is produced reliably. Average ZT value in the temperature range 350-830 K is about 0.8 for this material. It is shown that the high value of ZT is achieved due to some features of band structure of these materials. It is of great interest that these thermoelectrically remarkable alloys have simple crystallographic structure, made by a traditional technology and are formed from very cheap and ecologically friendly components.


Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL

Prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths among men. Protein kinase C epsilon (PKC∈), a member of the PKC family of phorbol ester/diacylglycerol receptors, has been shown to be up-regulated in human prostate cancer specimens. We recently demonstrated that mice that specifically overexpress PKC∈ in prostate under the control of the probasin promoter (PB-PKC∈) develop hyperplasia and PIN lesions. However, PKC∈ overexpression was insufficient to drive neoplastic changes in the mouse prostate. In the present study our goal was to determine whether PKC∈ overexpression can cooperate with Pten deficiency, one of the most common genetic alterations in human prostate cancer. We stably overexpressed PKC∈ in two pairs of isogenic mouse prostate epithelial lines that are either heterozygous (P2, P8) or homozygous (CaP2, CaP8) for Pten deletion. PKC∈ overexpression led to significant enhancement in cell proliferation compared to the respective control cells and this effect is more pronounced in CaP2 or CaP8 cells. Moreover, assays of colony formation in liquid medium revealed that anchorage-dependent growth was augmented in PKC∈-overexpressing cells relative to control cells. A significant elevation in phospho-Akt levels was observed in PKC∈ overexpressing cells relative to respective controls. To further elucidate the cooperativity between PKC∈ overexpression and Pten loss we intercrossed the PB-PKC∈ transgenic mice and Pten+/− mice. Strikingly, the resulting compound mutant mice overexpressing PKC∈ and haploinsufficient for Pten (PB-PKC∈; Pten+/−) developed fully invasive adenocarcinoma at 12 months of age. Very strong phospho-Akt, phospho-S6 and phospho mTOR staining could be detected in adenocarcinomas from PB-PKC∈; Pten+/− mice. Furthermore, we detected enhanced p-Erk, Cox-2, STAT3, NF-κB and cyclin D1 signaling in adenocarcinomas from PB-PKC∈;Pten+/− mice than in lesions from each monogenic model. These data thus suggest that PKC∈ overexpression cooperates with a defined oncogenic input to promote prostate tumorigenesis. These findings also suggest a crucial role of PKC∈ in survival.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 534. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-534


Introduction Alkaline soils with iron (Fe) deficiency are found in many regions of the world, and the use of silicon (Si) can mitigate the damages caused by such deficiency. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of Si in mitigating a moderate deficiency of Fe in two energy cane cultivars. Methods Two experiments were performed, one with the VX2 cultivar and the other with the VX3 cultivar of energy cane, which were cultivated in pots with sand and a nutrient solution. In both experiments, treatments followed a factorial scheme 2x2, designed based on the sufficiency and deficiency of Fe, being combined with the absence or presence of Si (2.5 mmol L-1), disposed in a randomized blocks design with six replicates. In the condition of Fe sufficiency, plants were cultivated in a solution containing 368 µmol L-1 of Fe, while plants cultivated under deficiency were initially submitted to cultivation with a 54 µmol L-1 concentration of Fe for 30 days, and later, with Fe complete omission for 60 days. The supply of Si was carried out by applying 15 fertirrigations with Si (via root and leaf) during the initial stage of seedling development, and after transplanting, the nutrient solution was added daily (via root). Results and discussion Both cultivars of energy cane were sensitive to Fe deficiency in the absence of Si, impairing its growth by causing stress and pigment degradation, thus reducing the photosynthesis efficiency. The supply of Si mitigated the damages caused by Fe deficiency in both cultivars, by increasing Fe accumulation in new and intermediate leaves, stem, and roots in the VX2 cultivar, and in new, intermediate, and old leaves and stem in the VX3 cultivar, which in turn reduced stress and favored both the nutritional and photosynthesis efficiency, while increasing the dry matter production. Si by modulating physiological and nutritional mechanisms, mitigates Fe deficiency in two energy cane cultivars. It was concluded that Si can be used as a strategy to improve growth and nutrition of energy cane in environments that are susceptible to Fe deficiency.


ABSTRACT Citizens hold opinions about what kinds of foreign policy their government should pursue. Because foreign policy often has geographically specific domestic consequences, we expect opinions to vary with the locality of its impact. In this article, we examine whether individual support for US foreign policy to promote democracy abroad depends on exactly where the policy's domestic impact will occur. We expect individuals to favor policies that bestow local benefits while opposing those that impose local costs. Accordingly, we argue that support for proposed democracy aid grants will be higher when such aid benefits local firms and organizations. Conversely, we expect that opposition to proposed economic sanctions in the form of development aid cuts will be higher when the associated domestic costs stemming from lost jobs fall locally. Using the results from an original survey experiment, we find evidence that a positive local impact of aid increases support for and reduces opposition to democracy promotion, while a negative local impact of sanctions reduces indifference and increases opposition to punitive policy in the case of democratic backsliding.


Selecting the best strategy from among a number of identified alternatives is an important part of any strategy process. Often this involves a difficult choice between the values to set and the trade‐offs to be made. Even swaps is a rational and simple method for making trade‐offs that help the decision maker in considering the value of one objective in terms of another. In this study, the principles of even swaps method are presented and its use is illustrated by applying it to a case of strategy selection in a rural enterprise in Finland. The strategy was chosen from among identified alternatives and it was evaluated with respect to the defined objectives and taking a number of possible future scenarios into account. According to the experiences gained from the case study, the decision makers found the trade‐offs difficult to make. However, they noted that the even swaps method made this difficult task more understandable by indicating the concrete changes in the objectives, allowing them to focus their mental energy on deciding the real value of the alternatives. As the swapping process is transparent, the method also supported communication and learning.


A survey was made of the sodium concentration in eight grass and legume pasture species in the Townsville region. The grass species could be characterized according to sodium concentration. Panicum maximum, Chloris gayana, and Cenchrus setigerus were 'high-sodium' species (>0.40 per cent Na), whereas Urochloa mosambicensis had a medium sodium concentration, and Cenchrus ciliaris, Heteropogon contortus, and the legumes Stylosanthes humilis and Phaseolus atropurpureus were `low-medium? species (<0.10 per cent Na). The sodium concentration in five species grown at five sites located within 257 kilometres of Townsville, Queensland, was also examined at one stage of growth. Since several common pasture species contained low levels of sodium (<0.05 per cent of dry matter) deficiency symptoms could occur in grazing stock under certain circumstances.


New ground-based remote sensing techniques developed over the past decade present solutions to many challenges associated with traditional in situ monitoring of mass movement hazards. In particular, ground-based interferometric radar (GBIR) and terrestrial laser scanners (TLSs) are ideal candidates for application to rockfall hazard monitoring, owing to high precision in displacement sensitivity and spatial resolution, respectively. Through controlled experiments with a synthetic rock specimen and measurements of induced rock movements in the field, this study aims to quantify lower bounds of repeatable displacement detection for single rock targets using GBIR and to compare the results to total station and TLS measurements. One investigation used a synthetic rock that was moved with precisely controlled displacements to determine the lower bound threshold and accuracy of the GBIR for detecting translational movements of a realistic rock-like scatterer. This study found that the GBIR system was capable of reliably measuring displacements as low as about 0.2 mm with accuracy in the range of 0.1 to 0.2 mm. A controlled study was also performed at a field site where boulders were displaced at millimeter-scale increments and measured using the GBIR, a total station, and a TLS. Results from this portion of the study showed consistent results between the three measurement techniques within measurement error bounds.


The production of public goods like amenity value of the landscape, food security, preservation of rural communities and rural lifestyle, by agricultural sector is a subject that has been widely accepted by experts. However, in many policies and political analyses carried out, solely the production of private goods by the agricultural sector is paid attention and the important function of public goods production is ignored. Given the importance of multifunctional debate of agriculture in policies analysis, this study examined the effect of agricultural multifunctionality in the simulation of the agricultural production subsidies reduction effects using Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model. Simulation results of the effects of agricultural production subsidies reduction in terms of the multifunctionality showed that current practices to support the agricultural sector is non-optimal according to agricultural production and welfare reduction and the optimal level of supports with and without multifunctional agriculture is different. The simulation results showed that the welfare effects of economic reforms in Iran in the agricultural sector in terms of the multifunctionality will be positive. This is on condition that the welfare effects of agricultural reform in terms of the multifunctionality of agriculture are negative.


Displacement is the effect most often predicted when recreational activities in wild reindeer ( Rangifer tarandus tarandus ) areas are discussed. Wild reindeer in Blefjell (225 km2) are exposed to humans more frequently than in Hardangervidda (8200 km2), from which the Blefjell herd originate. We recorded fright and flight response distances of groups of reindeer in both herds to a person directly approaching them on foot or skis during winter, summer, and autumn post-hunting and rutting season in 2004-2006. The response distances sight, alert, flight initiation and escape were shorter in Blefjell than in Hardangervidda while the probability of assessing the observer before flight tended to be greater in Blefjell. To test whether these results could be due to habituation or genetic influence of semi-domestic reindeer previously released in the Blefjell region, we compared the genetic variation of the Blefjell reindeer with previously reported variation in semi-domestic reindeer and in the wild reindeer from Hardangervidda. Microsatellite analyses revealed closer genetic ancestry of the Blefjell reindeer to the wild Hardangervidda reindeer and not to the semi-domestic reindeer at both the herd and the individual level. We conclude that the decreased flight responses in Blefjell reindeer appear to be a habituation response to frequent human encounters rather than traits inherited from a semi-domestic origin.


A qualitative, emergent, case study design guided the description of care provided to nursing home residents with urinary incontinence in three Midwestern nursing facilities. Participants included 17 residents and 16 family members or friends of the respective residents. Staff and managers involved in the planning and delivery of care to the participating residents also were included. The three facilities represented variation in size, location, ownership, and Medicare certification. Data were collected via observation, resident record audit, and semi-structured interview. Definitions of incontinence varied among staff. A collectively held expectation that residents would be toileted every 2 hours was not met. Maintaining skin integrity was the primary motivation for keeping residents clean and dry. Medical directors viewed incontinence as a nursing problem. Staff described situations in which incontinence was improved for specific residents, but there was little evidence of formal programs to maintain continence or improve incontinence.


Several members of the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) superfamily play key roles in kidney development, either directly or indirectly regulating nephron number. Although low nephron number is a risk factor for cardiovascular and renal disease, the implications of increased nephron number has not been examined due to the absence of appropriate animal models. Here, using unbiased stereology we demonstrated that kidneys from TGF-β2 heterozygous (TGF-β2+/−) mice have approximately 60% more nephrons than wild-type mice at postnatal day 30. To determine whether augmented nephron number involved accelerated ureteric branching morphogenesis, embryonic day 11.5 metanephroi were analyzed via confocal microscopy. A 40% increase in total ureteric branch length was observed in TGF-β2+/− kidneys, together with an extra generation of branching. In embryonic day 12.5 metanephroi cultured for 48 h the numbers of both ureteric tree tips and glomeruli were significantly greater in TGF-β2+/− kidneys. These findings suggest that augmented nephron number in TGF-β2+/− kidneys results from accelerated ureteric branching morphogenesis and nephron formation. Manipulation of TGF-β2 signaling in vivo may provide avenues for protection or rescue of nephron endowment in fetuses at risk.


Because of the increasing usage of smart phones and laptops, android application usage rates also increase. To make life easier, android applications are used to serve users. Besides, education is one of the most important part of a human being's life. With the improving and widespreading of technological opportunities, many of the technological developments are integrated with education area. Especially, researchers think that mobile devices will provide many opportunities. Also, with the help of the improved methods, the education and learning periods will be more amusing and useful. Thus, more succesful results will be gained. For this reason, many applications and platforms are started to be developed recently for providing more successful education period for children and students. The basic aim of our project is to provide a mobile education application for primary school kids. Thus, they will reach their lesson topics and they will make exams and solve more questions at every place and every time over their smart phone.


We have created the analogue of a black hole in a Bose-Einstein condensate. In this sonic black hole, sound waves, rather than light waves, cannot escape the horizon. The black hole is realized via a counterintuitive density inversion, in which an attractive potential creates a region of low density. This allows for measured flow speeds which cross and exceed the speed of sound by an order of magnitude. The Landau critical velocity is therefore surpassed. The point where the flow speed equals the speed of sound is the sonic horizon. The effective gravity is determined from the profiles of the velocity and speed of sound.


Soft computing is one of the emerging fields used in many application problems. This paper mainly deals with the emerging soft computing technique (i.e.) Ant colony algorithm for the optimized network routing and clustering method for the optimized network design. In the design of networks the fundamental problem is to transmit the packets of information from source node to destination node. An important part of network design is to find the best way to layout the nodes and arcs with a minimized cost between each of the path. In the Network Design stage nodes are grouped into clusters and interconnected using the Cluster Method. In the optimized routing stage the best path is selected from the designed network using the Ant Colony Soft Computing Techniques. The paper focuses on securing the path for data transmission using RPS algorithm.


BACKGROUND
In Madagascar, where more than half of women give birth without skilled attendants, quality improvement of health services may ameliorate community perception of facility-based delivery care, thereby increasing the skilled birth attendance rate. For women who do deliver in a facility, a higher quality of services will lead to better outcomes, moving the country closer to reaching Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5. To guide the quality improvement processes at health facilities in Madagascar, this study assessed the quality of care at facilities with respect to interventions addressing the main causes of maternal and newborn complications with a focus on postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) and pre-eclampia/eclampsia (PE/E).

METHODS
The study targeted all health facilities with a high volume of deliveries through inventories of medications and material, interviews with health providers, and observations of routine care and complicated cases. A total of 36 health facilities were included in the study, and interviews were carried out with 139 providers. Observations were made of 323 antenatal consultations and 347 labor and delivery clients, including 255 observations of the first stage of labor and 288 at the second or third stages.

RESULTS
The main challenges to providing high-quality services as revealed by the inventory are the low availability of clinical protocols and guidelines for providers, and syringes, needles, and IV infusion sets to give uterotonics. Also, communication equipment and emergency transport were available in half of facilities, and a safe water source within 500 meters was available in only 67%. Regarding provider knowledge as measured by the interviews, the strongest areas of knowledge were detection of lacerations and conducting a physical examination; the weakest were on management of uterine atony or of retained placenta, stabilizing the mother with magnesium sulphate and anti-hypertensives, initial steps in management of severe PE, management of convulsions, and essential equipment and supplies needed. Technical support or supervision of providers was often nonexistent or inadequate. Some aspects of the observed care were of moderately high quality, such as infection prevention and provision of prophylactic oxytocin. However, compliance with all elements of the active management of the third stage of labor (i.e., oxytocin within one minute of delivery, controlled cord traction, and uterine massage after delivery of the placenta) occurred in only 13% of observed deliveries. In only 48% of observed antenatal care consultations was blood pressure measured using correct technique, and in only 29% did the provider perform or refer the pregnant woman for proteinuria screening. During cases of postpartum hemorrhage management, manual removal of placenta (MRP) was attempted in five cases but in none was it carried out according to the guidelines. In several cases of severe pre-eclampsia and one case of eclampsia, magnesium sulphate, the drug of choice, was not given.

DISCUSSION
Overall, quality improvement is urgently needed to provide prophylactic oxytocin to all women within one minute of delivery, and to supply magnesium sulphate to all maternities for treatment of severe PE/E, among other interventions. To build on existing favorable policies to improve maternal and newborn health care in Madagascar, quality improvement efforts should target provider and facility readiness. In addition, national guidelines and protocols need to be updated and operationalized according to an appropriate national strategy that includes a budgeted action plan, follow-up, and performance-based recognition of providers and facilities. A national strategy is critical to ensure that all partners in the health system support it. An increase in the government's participation in funding for health (more than 12%, per the Abuja recommendation) would facilitate this program. Provider competencies can be maintained through regular practice with low-cost anatomical simulators and through use of regular updates and reminders to providers on clinical protocols via cell phones. In addition, accountability can be promoted by an adequate health management information system that collects data on the main causes of maternal and neonatal deaths, adequate supply at facilities of oxytocin, magnesium sulphate and other lifesaving drugs, and routine presentation of this information in regional and national fora.


The purpose of the article is the need to develop a concept for the formation of communication using parser programs in the personnel department of higher education to improve educational activities. Methodology. In the process of research the methods of informology and social communication, logical-dialectical method of cognition, methods of system analysis, abstractions were applied, which allowed to reveal the content of implementation of parser programs; to analyze the use of parser programs in higher education institutions on the example of Vasyl' Stus Donetsk National University. Scientific Novelty. The necessity of introduction and use of parser programs in higher education institutions is substantiated. The use of Google Spreadsheet in the human resources department of the university as an information retrieval system and text-digital database to improve the educational activities of higher education institutions has been studied. Conclusions. Analyzing the communications of the institution of higher education, it is necessary to name their main directions: communication between the organization and its external environment; communication between management levels and departments; communication manager-subordinate; communication between the leader and the working group; informal communications. The purpose of using parser programs in higher education institutions is primarily to increase the efficiency of the educational process, improve service and reduce costs in the data processing. The use of parsing in the personnel department of a higher education institution is multifaceted. Today, parser programs perform parsing, lexical, automated analysis, process many information requests, parse documents, extracting from there the necessary and useful user data. The Google Spreadsheets parser program aims to use the latest information and communication technologies that help improve management, improve employee interaction, and promote social innovation.


There has been conducted research on the theme of forecasting in construction industry. Brunch model developing is problem in forecasting. In the paper is worked out influential factor system for construction industry. General part of industry forecasting model is part of demand forecasting. Construction demand consists of governmental, private and enterprises demand. Main idea of paper is that economic growth changes population economic structure. With economic growth population wellbeing increases in all revenue groups, persons move from one revenue group to next more rich. Possibility to estimate population structural changes, population growth, average revenue level of any group gives good quantity in private demand forecasting. Construction branch demand consists of total governmental, private and enterprises demand. This method allows seeing level of demand in different construction markets: private housing, industrial and strategic object building, reconstruction with high quantity.


Cross-validation is the standard approach for tuning parameter selection in many non-parametric regression problems. However its use is less common in change-point regression, perhaps as its prediction error-based criterion may appear to permit small spurious changes and hence be less well-suited to estimation of the number and location of change-points. We show that in fact the problems of cross-validation with squared error loss are more severe and can lead to systematic under- or over-estimation of the number of change-points, and highly suboptimal estimation of the mean function in simple settings where changes are easily detectable. We propose two simple approaches to remedy these issues, the first involving the use of absolute error rather than squared error loss, and the second involving modifying the holdout sets used. For the latter, we provide conditions that permit consistent estimation of the number of change-points for a general change-point estimation procedure. We show these conditions are satisfied for optimal partitioning using new results on its performance when supplied with the incorrect number of change-points. Numerical experiments show that the absolute error approach in particular is competitive with common change-point methods using classical tuning parameter choices when error distributions are well-specified, but can substantially outperform these in misspecified models. An implementation of our methodology is available in the R package crossvalidationCP on CRAN.


We extend a recently introduced free-energy formalism for homogeneous Fokker-Planck equations to a wide, and physically appealing, class of inhomogeneous nonlinear Fokker-Planck equations. In our approach, the free-energy functional is expressed in terms of an entropic functional and an auxiliary potential, both derived from the coefficients of the equation. With reference to the introduced entropic functional, we discuss the entropy production in a relaxation process towards equilibrium. The properties of the stationary solutions of the considered Fokker-Planck equations are also discussed.


AIM
The purpose of our prospective study was to document the clinical and radiological results of conservative-functional treatment of extraarticular proximal phalangeal fractures without immobilisation of the wrist.

METHODS
The Lucerne Cast (LuCa) resembles a circular metacarpal brace leaving bare both flexion creases, the rascetta and the distal palmar flexion crease. Dorsally, the brace expands to beyond the proximal interphalangeal joints, fixing the metacarpo-phalangeal joints in an intrinsic plus position, thus causing the extensor aponeurosis to tighten and to move distally. Clinical and radiological results of 15 consecutive patients with a total of 20 fractured proximal phalanges were prospectively recorded through a minimum follow-up of 3 months.

RESULTS
Fracture consolidation was achieved in all patients, with nine cases showing a dorsal angulation of 2 °-16°. A slight radial or ulnar deviation, respectively, was present in four cases (3 °-5°). Radiologically, a minor rotational deformity of 5° in supination was found in 3 cases. At a follow-up of 12 weeks, a mean total range of active motion (summation of active range of motion in all three finger joints, TAM) of 240° (minimum 200°, maximum 290°) was achieved.

CONCLUSIONS
The results of our prospective clinical trial are comparable to those of already established treatment protocols. Since the Lucerne Cast allows free mobilisation of the wrist joint, the cast is comfortable to wear and may have relevance in the treatment of disabled patients, who only can be mobilised with crutches or walkers.


Background. The progression of COVID-19 to its acute (pneumonia) phase occurs during the 7th to 14th day of illness. During this highly inflammatory phase, a proportion of patients with severe COVID-19 develop a hypercoagulable state associated with poor prognosis. Hence, anticoagulation is seen as a potentially beneficial intervention due to its antithrombotic effect, anti-inflammatory function, and anti-viral properties.
Objective. This review aims to determine the efficacy and safety of anticoagulation in severe COVID-19.
Methods. A rapid review was done on April 11, 2020 and updated on April 23, 2020. PubMed, MEDLINE, and medRxiv.org were searched. The review included studies on the association between the use of anticoagulants on top of other interventions, and disease progression and/or mortality among adults >18 years old with severe COVID-19 infection, as well as studies on patients with disseminated intravascular coagulopathy (DIC) of sepsis investigating bleeding complications with anticoagulant use. Four ongoing registered clinical trials on anticoagulants for COVID-19 were also found.
Results. Current evidence shows that the use of low-molecular weight heparin (LMWH) in COVID-19 is associated with the following: (1) improved surrogate markers for disease progression (increase in lymphocyte & platelet counts and decrease in D-dimer, fibrinogen degradation products, and IL-6); and (2) reduced 28-day mortality in high risk patients. Studies on DIC related to bacterial sepsis did not show significant increase in bleeding complications with anticoagulation.
Conclusion. The use of anticoagulants appears to be beneficial for severe COVID-19 due to a reduction in 28-day mortality and improvement in inflammatory and coagulation markers. However, these findings come from low-quality studies, and confirmation of the effect is needed through randomized controlled trials.


Convolutional neural networks require numerous data for training. Considering the difficulties in data collection and labeling in some specific tasks, existing approaches generally use models pre-trained on a large source domain (e.g. ImageNet), and then fine-tune them on these tasks. However, the datasets from source domain are simply discarded in the fine-tuning process. We argue that the source datasets could be better utilized and benefit fine-tuning. This paper firstly introduces the concept of general discrimination to describe ability of a network to distinguish untrained patterns, and then experimentally demonstrates that general discrimination could potentially enhance the total discrimination ability on target domain. Furthermore, we propose a novel and light-weighted method, namely soft fine-tuning. Unlike traditional fine-tuning which directly replaces optimization objective by a loss function on the target domain, soft fine-tuning effectively keeps general discrimination by holding the previous loss and removes it softly. By doing so, soft fine-tuning improves the robustness of the network to data bias, and meanwhile accelerates the convergence. We evaluate our approach on several visual recognition tasks. Extensive experimental results support that soft fine-tuning provides consistent improvement on all evaluated tasks, and outperforms the state-of-the-art significantly. Codes will be made available to the public.


Previous studies have focused on the physical health, but mental health issues such as depression and anxiety are also important in pneumoconiosis patients. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the effects of a combined program of laughter and exercise and an exercise-only program on physical and mental health of patients with pneumoconiosis. Intervention was conducted with 20 participants in each the experimental and the comparison groups, three times a week for five weeks. The experimental group received a combined intervention of laughter and exercise, and the comparison group received exercise-only intervention. In results, no significant difference in physical health variables between the two groups, but within-group preand post-data comparison showed that peripheral capillary oxygen saturation (SPO2) was significantly increased in the experimental group, and subjectively perceived dyspnea was significantly reduced in both groups. As for the mental health variables, no significant difference in depression was found, while anxiety and the quality of life were significantly improved in the experimental group. Thus, the combined program of laughter and exercise had a significant effect on mental health and a partial effect on physical health in patients with pneumoconiosis. 1


Training generative adversarial networks (GANs) using limited training data is challenging since the original discriminator is prone to overfitting. The recently proposed label augmentation technique complements categorical data augmentation approaches for discriminator, showing improved data efficiency in training GANs but lacks a theoretical basis. In this paper, we propose a novel regularization approach for the label-augmented discriminator to further improve the data efficiency of training GANs with a theoretical basis. Specifically, the proposed regularization adaptively constrains the predictions of the label-augmented discriminator on generated data to be close to the moving averages of its historical predictions on real data, and vice versa. We theoretically establish a connection between the objective function with the proposed regularization and a $f$ -divergence that is more robust than the previous reversed Kullback-Leibler divergence. Experimental results on various datasets and diverse architectures show the significantly improved data efficiency of our proposed method compared to state-of-the-art data-efficient GAN training approaches for training GANs under limited training data regimes.


We analyze the performance of a single-input single-output wireless link that is aided by multiple reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs) – in terms of outage probability, average symbol error probability and ergodic capacity, for which we derive analytical expressions in closed form. In particular, we consider a realistic system model, where the direct path may not be blocked and for which channels corresponding to different RISs are assumed to be independent but not identical and follow the generic $\kappa-\mu$ fading distribution, which can be reduced to a number of fading scenarios (namely Rayleigh, Rice, Nakagami-m, and one-sided Gaussian). This enables the evaluation of the system performance when adopting any combination of these special cases or the generic $\kappa-\mu$ distribution for both hops of the multiple distributed RISs. The direct path is modeled by Rayleigh fading assuming no line-of-sight between the source and the destination. We verify the accuracy of the adopted approach by means of Monte Carlo simulations and conduct a performance analysis that demonstrates the significant improvement in the system performance due to the usage of the RISs. Especially, we show that increasing the number of reflecting elements equipped on the RISs and placing the RISs closer to either communication endpoints improve the performance considerably.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this five-year follow-up study was to investigate the clinical and radiologic status of implants that had undergone abutment disinfection immediately prior to prosthetic loading (PL) using plasma of argon (PA) or 0.2% chlorhexidine (CHX) gel.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Sixty patients who had had an implant-supported prosthesis fitted at least five years previously were recruited for this study. In groups 1, 2, and 3, implant abutment disinfection was performed using PA, 0.2% CHX, and a vapor protocol, respectively. Modified plaque index (mPI), modified bleeding index (mBI), probing depth (PD), and mesial and distal crestal bone loss (CBL) were measured. A questionnaire on routine oral hygiene, smoking habits, and systemic health status was also administered. Sample size estimation was performed, and group comparisons were made. Probability values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

RESULTS
Group 1, 2, and 3 included 20 (20 implants) patients each. At five-year's follow-up, there was no difference in mBI, mPI, and PD in all groups. There was no significant difference in peri-implant CBL in all patients. None of the patients were immunosuppressed or had periodontal disease, and or had used nicotinic products within the past five years. Toothbrushing twice daily was reported by at least 90% of individuals in all groups. Flossing of interproximal spaces once daily was reported by at minimum 60% of individuals in all groups.

CONCLUSIONS
Disinfection of implant abutments directly before PL can be performed using AP, or 0.2% CHX gel.


Mindfulness-based interventions have been shown to have benefits across a diverse range of physical and mental health problems. The present qualitative study explores the experience of individuals diagnosed with a terminal cancer who attended either of two six-week mindfulness groups. Five people participated. There was a rich diversity in participants' responses. Participants reported finding mindfulness practice beneficial in a range of ways, as well as valuing the social context of the group and the wider hospice setting. Participants also described forming a meta-understanding of mindfulness practice, which was informed by the experience of others in the group as well as their own, and this understanding illuminated the degree to which people found mindfulness beneficial. In conclusion, the study raises some themes and issues around mindfulness in palliative care which might enrich future practice and research. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Ba 0.60 Sr 0.40 TiO 3 thin films were deposited on oriented NdGaO 3 substrates by pulsed-laser deposition. Film thickness ranged from 20 nm to 800 nm. Microstructural features, as evaluated with AFM and FESEM, have exhibited high quality thickness dependent topography. X-ray analyses have shown consistently textured films of high crystallinity. Permittivity, Q-factor, and tunability, were investigated using interdigitated capacitors in the 0.1–20 GHz range. Effect of film thickness on dielectric properties and tunability in polycrystalline textured films exhibited strong thickness dependence in their elasto-dielectric properties. Tunability up to 45% was observed at moderate field levels (∼ 7 MV/m), while the Q-factors remained ≤40.


The Brazilian semiarid environment that has a rightly variable hydrologic behavior, and consequently is a climate change spot to all scenarios designed by IPCC. On this, the objective of this research was to verify the rainfall patterns and select the better distribution statistical adjustment inrainfall time series from semiarid of Pernambuco State, in a total of thirty analyzed cities, inside the Brazilian semiarid. Therefore, through the analysis of rainfall distribution in monthly and annual time series, the Probability Distribution Function (PDF), that had produced the better adjustment for the data set observed for most of cities was the Weibull (type 3) for the monthly data set, while in the annual time series the distribution that obtained the best adjustment to the data among those observed was the Logistics PDF, better adjusted to ten cities. The distribution Gama (type 2) Probability Distribution Function was better adjusted to six cities, and the GEV (Generalized Extreme Values) distribution showed good adherence in five of the thirty analyzed cities. The Log-Normal distribution adjusted well to four cities, the Fréchet distribution (Fisher -Tippett type 2) to three cities, and Weibull distribution (type 3) and Normal adjusted well just to one city each.


Many flash lidar applications continue to demand higher three-dimensional image resolution beyond the current state-of-the-art technology of the detector arrays and their associated readout circuits. Even with the available number of focal plane pixels, the required number of photons for illuminating all the pixels may impose impractical requirements on the laser pulse energy or the receiver aperture size. Therefore, image resolution enhancement by means of a super-resolution algorithm in near real time presents a very attractive solution for a wide range of flash lidar applications. This paper describes a super-resolution technique and illustrates its performance and merits for generating three-dimensional image frames at a video rate.


A Florida ophthalmologist, often described as America's richest practicing physician, has been convicted on 67 counts of defrauding Medicare.

Salomon Melgen billed the government $190 million (£148m; €174m) for services that were medically inappropriate between 2008 and 2013.1 Patients' diagnoses were written out by staff before they were seen, the most lucrative conditions were diagnosed in improbable numbers, and vision treatments were billed for prosthetic eyes, the jury found.

The Dominican born, Harvard trained doctor received $105m of the money billed, but became embroiled in several disputes with the public payer.

Melgen became active in politics and befriended a Democrat senator from New Jersey, Bob Menendez, who interceded on his behalf in the billing dispute. Menendez and Melgen holidayed together, Menendez took free trips on Melgen's private jet, and Melgen contributed roughly $1m in campaign contributions. Menendez …


The reliance on wild stocks of ornate spiny lobster (Panulirus ornatus) for aquaculture and fisheries production will be reduced with the recent development of hatchery technology. The commercialisation of P. ornatus closed life cycle aquaculture production is nearing completion thus demanding greater understanding of various aspects of lobster health. In these early stages of sector development, each animal produced is valuable from both an economic and research standpoint, and so nonlethal sampling methods using haemolymph (blood) are preferred in health monitoring programs. Bacterial communities are indigenous to the haemolymph, a condition termed asymptomatic bacteraemia. However, dysbiosis of bacterial communities within the haemolymph can lead to invasion and proliferation of pathogens, causing disease. Limited information exists for the bacterial composition and diversity associated with the haemolymph of healthy and diseased states of P. ornatus. This knowledge gap can be filled using next generation DNA sequencing, a technical platform used to answer similar questions in the Human Microbiome Project. The primary aim of this study was to characterise haemolymph bacterial communities of healthy P. ornatus juveniles, deduce their potential functions and compare them with the gut microbiome.

Next generation sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA genes showed that the core haemolymph microbiome of juvenile P. ornatus consisted of phyla Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes. Culture-independent analysis of bacterial communities captured a higher bacterial diversity comprising 13 phyla when compared to culture-dependent methods (2 phyla), yet members of the family Rhodobacteraceae were strongly represented in both analyses. Haemolymph bacterial loads of control lobsters ranged from 0 to 3.1 × 103 CFU mL-1 (culturable bacteria) and from 55 to 2.8 × 103 cell equivalent mL-1 (rpoB gene). The difference in culture-dependent and -independent analyses reinforces the limited resolving power and bias of the former method, a likely variable in the reporting of haemolymph-associated bacteria in earlier studies on lobsters. The observed prevalence and diversity of certain groups of bacteria in the haemolymph was suggestive of a number of positive functional roles including antimicrobial production and contribution to host nutrition. Juveniles thermally challenged for 6 d at 34 °C, which is 6 °C above the standard culture temperature of 28 °C, were affected in terms of survival, total granulocyte counts, bacterial diversity, bacterial load and functional potential of the haemolymph bacterial community. This study advocates nonlethal sampling and closer examination of the haemolymph microbiome for use in health monitoring programs of cultured spiny lobsters.

The gut microbiome of juvenile P. ornatus across region and developmental stage was characterised and screened for similarities with the haemolymph microbiome. Next generation DNA sequencing showed the core gut microbiome consisted of phyla Tenericutes and Proteobacteria, with communities dominated by families Pseudoalteromonadaceae and Vibrionaceae. Gut region shaped the bacterial communities of 13 month post-emergence lobsters, where the hindgut community was more diverse and compositionally dissimilar to the foregut and midgut bacteria. The bacterial composition of the hindgut was influenced by developmental stage as there were more similarities among younger juveniles (6 - 7 d and 52 d post-emergence) compared to 13 month post-emergence lobsters. Bacteria identified as common to both the gut and haemolymph microbiomes included Flavobacteriaceae, Saprospiraceae, Rhodobacteraceae, Moraxellaceae, Pseudoalteromonadaceae and Vibrionaceae, suggestive of a transmission mechanism. This study was the first to comprehensively explore gut microbiomes of spiny lobster juveniles and to demonstrate that the bacteria present were influenced by gut region and developmental stage.

Bdellovibrio and like organisms (BALOs) are obligate predators of other bacteria and were discovered for the first time in the present work residing in the haemolymph and gut of juvenile P. ornatus. BALOs have strong potential as biocontrol agents and alternatives to antibiotics in aquaculture, warranting further investigation into their roles in spiny lobster hosts. A combination of co-culture assays (agar and broth) and transmission electron microscopy was used to show a BALO strain (Halobacteriovorax sp.) isolated from sea water preyed upon a haemolymph-derived prey bacterium Vibrio sp. When Halobacteriovorax sp. was injected into the circulatory system of lobsters, there was no mortality and no change in immune parameter (percentage of granulocytes) or haemolymph microbiome after 3 d. However, lobsters injected with both prey and predator showed significant differences compared to other treatments (PBS control, prey only, predator only) in haemolymph bacterial community composition and reductions in plasma DNA concentration (bacterial load) after 2 d. The results indicate that BALOs are not pathogenic to juvenile P. ornatus and may assist the host in controlling bacterial population growth in the haemolymph.

This study provides an extensive baseline characterisation of haemolymph and gut microbiomes of healthy cultured P. ornatus juveniles. Future comparisons with microbiomes of diseased individuals and those subject to suboptimal environmental conditions will advance the development of health management strategies for P. ornatus.


A very common configuration of motorcycle V-belt variators allows for the correction of the belt tensioning in dependence on the resistant torque by a suitable helical shape of the tracks that enable the closure/opening of the driven half-pulleys. The theoretical model for the belt-pulley coupling is just complex for this arrangement, where one half-pulley may run in advance and the other is slower than the belt, and requires the repeated numerical solution of a strongly non-linear differential system by a sort of shooting technique, until all boundary conditions are fulfilled (angular contact extent, torque, axial force). After solving the full equations, the present study develops closed-form approximations characterized by an excellent fit with the numerical plots and proposes a simple and practical formulary for the axial thrust in dependence on the torque and the tension level. Then, results of a theoretical-experimental comparison are also reported, revealing a very good agreement of the model with the real operation.


Malignant tumors of the skull base are complex lesions. Identifying the indications and contraindications for resection is essential for the successful treatment of these lesions. This requires an understanding of the pathology, principles of resection, and nonsurgical therapeutic modalities. Choosing the appropriate surgical approach requires an understanding of the tumor and its association with the anatomy of the skull base. Preoperative assessment and preparation of the patient for the postoperative course, including functional and cosmetic deficits, are reviewed in the context of the specific approach. Anatomical variations encountered in the preoperative planning are discussed. A review of reconstructive alternatives is presented that is specific to the approach and anatomical violation. Finally, the use of a multidisciplinary team both in and out of the operating room is recommended, emphasizing a team approach during the resection itself.


The broad objective of this study is to empirically estimate the export supply model of Bangladesh. The techniques of cointegration, Engle-Granger causality and Vector Error Correction are applied to estimate the export supply model. The econometric analysis is done by using the time series data of the variables of interest which is collected from various secondary sources. The study has empirically tested the hypothesis, long run relationship and casualty between variables of the model. The cointegration analysis shows that all the variables of the study are co-integrated at their first differences meaning that there exists long run relationship among the variables. The VECM estimation shows the dynamics of variables in the export supply function and the short run and long run elasticities of export supply with respect to each independent variable. The error correction term is found negative which indicates that any short run disequilibrium will be turned into equilibrium in the long run. Keywords: Engine of Growth; Cointegration; Granger Causality; VECM, VAR; Impulse Response. JEL Classifications: F4


Objective
To explore the clinicopathological characteristics, diagnosis and treatment of penile verrucous carcinoma (VC).

METHODS
We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data about 18 penile VC patients at the mean age of 52 (35-66) years. The tumors were cauliflower-like, measuring 2.5-8.7 cm in diameter, all with mucopurulentive discharge. A giant tumor invaded the perineum in 1 case, which had a history of surgical excision of penile condyloma acuminatum. The lesions invaded the glans penis in 2 cases, the shafts in 4 (all with a history of phimosis or redundant prepuce), and the whole penis in 11. Partial penectomy was performed for 2 cases with the proximal coronary sulcus involved and another 2 with the condylomata located in the glans penis and measuring <3.5 cm in diameter. Radical surgery was done for 2 cases of glans VC >3.5 cm in diameter, 11 cases with the whole penis involved, and 1 case with the perineum invaded.

RESULTS
Postoperative pathology showed well-differentiated tumor cells, negative surgical margins, papillary epithelia with hyperkeratosis and hyperplasia, and lymphocyte infiltration in the surrounding interstitial tissue in all the cases. Neither recurrence nor metastasis was found during the 1 to 8 years of follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS
Penile VC is a special type of squamous cell carcinoma with little invasiveness and rare regional lymph node or distant metastasis, for the treatment of which partial penectomy or radical surgery confers good prognosis.


Abstract Integration of a wide range of multidisciplinary data, including seismic tomography features, regional tectonic transport directions and ages of subduction/collision, lithospheric extension and slab detachment, suggests a new model for the development of the Alpine belt in the western Mediterranean. The model implies that the backbone of the Alpine Orogeny was formed by a composite SW-NE-striking subduction system, active until some time before 22 Ma. The system which consumed Mesozoic Tethyan lithosphere was dipping westward under the leading edge of Iberia which was drifting eastward with respect to North America under the influence of the opening of the North Atlantic. Allowing for a series of late-stage extensional regimes, with local formation of Neogene oceanic lithosphere, in the Valencia Gulf, Provençal-Algerian basin and southern Tyrrhenian basin, and inherent slab roll-back, the original collision belt may be reconstructed comprising all present Alpine metamorphic core complexes in the western Mediterranean: Betic-Rif, Kabylies and the Sicily-Apennines(-Corsica) belt. It follows that in the western Mediterranean the northward drift of Africa against Iberia/Europe, although influential, e.g., in creating the E-W grain of the Betic Cordilleras, has not been the controlling factor. In contrast, in the eastern Mediterranean the influence of N-S convergence has been much more pronounced due to the hinged sinistral movement of the African plate. A major part of the Europe-Africa N-S convergence was accommodated in a coherent N-dipping subduction zone running from North Africa through Sicily-Calabria to Crete, becoming increasingly significant to the east.


Nine CMS lines of rice were evaluated for their morphological and floral traits. six agronomical traits with standard check CMS line IR-58025A. Five CMS lines viz., IR-6888A, HPMS-10A, HPMS-11A, HP-5001A and HP-5004A were of early in duration (75 to 89 days to 50% flowering) and other three lines were of medium duration (90–100 days). HP-5001A was the earliest in days to 50% flowering (75 days); while IR-70362A was late (101 days). The lines viz., IR-70362, IR-70372, HPMS-5A and HPMS-92 recorded, significantly more days to 50% flowering over IR-58025A (check). The maximum plant height was observed in HPMS-9A (105.0 cm) followed by HP-5001A (91.0 cm) and HP-5004A (88.00 cm). The shortest plant height was observed in IR-70362 (65.7 cm). The maximum productive tillers plant−1, observed in HP-5004 (12.0), was significantly superior to the check. The panicle length ranged from 20.0 (HPMS-5A) to 30.0 (HP-5001A) cm. Panicle exertion is an important feature in CMS lines for getting proper seed production. The panicle exertion ranged from 74.60 (IR-70362A) to 90.00 (HP-5001A) percent. The spikelets per panicle were highest in HP-5001A (192.0). The floral characteristics, like stigma exertion was maximum in CMS line IR-6888A (61%) followed by HP-5004A (58.85%) and HP-5001A (51.8%) which were significantly superior to check. Pollen sterility was cent per cent in the line HP-5001A, HP-5004A and IR-58025A. Three CMS lines viz., IR-6888A, IR-70372 and HPMS-5A showed more than 95% pollen sterility and these were categorized under highly sterile CMS lines.


QUBA college of engineering, Nellore, Andhra pradesh, India ---------------------------------------------------------------------------***--------------------------------------------------------------------------AbstractWind turbine generators (WTGs) are usually controlled to generate maximum electrical power from wind under normal wind conditions. With the increasing penetration of wind power into electric power grids, energy storage devices will be required to dynamically match the intermittency of wind energy. To meet the requirements of frequency and active power regulation, energy storage devices will be required to dynamically match the intermittency of wind energy. A novel two layer constant-power control scheme for a wind farm equipped with doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) wind turbines. Each DFIG wind turbine is equipped with a super capacitor energy storage system (ESS) and is controlled by the low-layer WTG controllers and coordinated by a high-layer wind-farm supervisory controller (WFSC). The WFSC generates the active-power references for the low-layer WTG controllers according to the active-power demand from the grid operator; the lowlayer WTG controllers then regulate each DFIG wind turbine to generate the desired amount of active power, where the deviations between the available wind energy input and desired active power output are compensated by the ESS. Simulation studies are carried out in mat lab on a wind farm equipped with dfig wind turbines to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme


The recent sporadic infections of humans in China with previously unrecognized avian influenza A virus of the H7N9 subtype (A(H7N9)) have caused concern. The aim is to find out the epidemiological and molecular analysis of the PB1-F2 proteins in H7N9 influenza viruses, in Jiangsu province. Sequences were obtained from GISAID database. Data were analyzed by using Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis software and Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo method. From March 1, 2013, to May 31, 2014, 53 patients were confirmed to be infected with the H7N9 virus; one was a retrospective case in Jiangsu province. 38 sequences of PB1 in H7N9 of Jiangsu were obtained from the GISAID online and were then divided into three lineages. Of these sequences, 4 sequences and 3 sequences encode an N-terminally truncated PB1-F2 (52aa)polypeptide and C-terminally truncated PB1-F2 (76aa) polypeptide, respectively. The remaining sequences encode a full-length PB1-F2 (90aa). We estimated a mean evolutionary rate of 3.053 × 10−3 subs/site/year (95% HPD: 2.021 × 10−3–4.051 × 10−3). The site-by-site analysis of selection pressure analysis revealed positively and negatively (12, 3), respectively, selected sites. Influenza A (H7N9) virus adapting into new host, PB1-F2 of H7N9, might be faced with higher selection pressures.


Typical urticarial lesions are transient cutaneous swellings of sudden onset, often itchy, persisting for less than 24 hours and resolving to leave normal appearing skin. Angioedema lesions are similar subcutaneous lesions. Atypical urticarias persist for longer than 24 hours, may be painful and bruised in appearance and accompanied with severe systemic symptoms. Conditions where prolonged weals are present include delayed pressure urticaria and urticarial vasculitis. These conditions do not respond well to antihistamine therapy. In delayed pressure urticaria, weals appear after a delay of hours at sites of sustained pressure on the skin and occur in association with ordinary chronic 'idiopathic' urticaria. Weals of urticarial vasculitis show histological features of venulitis, and can be accompanied by arthralgia and abdominal pain. Rarely, the condition is due to infective or autoimmune disease. Urticarial diseases, sometimes with features of urticarial vasculitis, and with associated systemic features include Schnitzler's Syndrome, Still's disease and Muckle‐Wells syndrome. The latter syndrome is linked with chromosome 1q44, as is autosomal dominant cold urticaria, an unusual physical urticaria. Persistent cholinergic erythema, a variant of cholinergic urticaria, has been mistaken for a drug eruption or cutaneous mastocytosis. Rarely, food and exercise induced urticaria and anaphylaxis occur when exercise follows a specific food or any meal within a few hours. The early stages of inflammatory disease may be mistaken for urticaria and angioedema, but lesions usually persist for longer than 48 hours and are accompanied by epidermal changes.


Australian accounting standards commonly used in the preparation of company financial reports have a controversial origin. Under a protocol adopted by the Financial Reporting Council, Australian accounting standards since 2005 substantially replicate the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) made by the International Accounting Standards Board. These standards' continued development is largely outside the control of Australian authorities. The standards examined are found to have such a large catalogue of conceptual and technical deficiencies that the authors call to question the adoption of an Australian IFRS protocol.


Abstract Objective: To determine the in vivo presence of Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus on different bracket materials and to correlate the prevalence with the Visible Plaque Index (VPI) and the Gingival Bleeding Index (GBI). Methods: Orthodontic brackets made of different materials (stainless steel, gold, ceramic, plastic) were bonded to the upper and lower second premolars in 40 subjects receiving fixed orthodontic appliances. After 30 days, the brackets were debonded and the presence of S. mutans and S. sobrinus on the brackets was determined using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. The VPI and GBI were recorded and the relationship between the prevalence of the streptococci and the level of oral hygiene was calculated. Results: There were fewer S. mutans and S. Sobrinus over the surface of gold and stainless steel brackets compared with the plastic and ceramic brackets. A statistically significant difference was observed in S. mutans and S. sobrinus prevalence between the metal brackets and the aesthetic brackets. However, there were no statistically significant differences in S. mutans and S. Sobrinus prevalence when the gold and stainless steel brackets were compared. Comparison between the plastic and ceramic brackets revealed a similar finding. Furthermore, a significant correlation was found between the in vivo prevalence of S. mutans and S.sobrinus and the oral hygiene indices (p < 0.05), suggesting that the oral hygiene indices could be a good indicator of S. mutans and S. sobrinus prevalence. Conclusions: Since microbial adhesion is greater on aesthetic brackets, good oral hygiene during treatment should be emphasised.


B-cell lymphoma is a common aggressive neoplastic disorder of lymphocytes. Delivery of genes of interest into B cells, particularly virus-mediated B-lymphoma cells, is still a challenge. In this study, we report that a system (L-VLP) based on the parainfluenza virus PIV5-L strain isolated from B cells had highly expressed exogenous genes and remained stable without obvious cell toxicity, which provides a potential new strategy for gene delivery and treatment of B-cell cancer. ABSTRACT Aggressive B-cell lymphoma is one of the most common types of blood malignancy. Robust delivery of genes of interest into target cells, long-term gene expression, and minimal risk of secondary effects are highly desirable for translational medicine including gene therapy and studies on gene function. However, efficient gene delivery into viral or nonviral B-lymphoma cells remains a challenge. Here, we report a strategy for inducing foreign gene expression in B-lymphoma cells by using a vector based on the novel parainfluenza virus PIV5-L (a strain isolated from B cells) that enabled us to study and control the function of a gene product within B-lymphoma cells. Using enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) as a reporter, we successfully rescued PIV5-L and established a one-step system to generate PIV5-L virus-like particles (L-VLPs) with efficient delivery into a broad spectrum of susceptible B-lymphoma cell lines, including Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)- or Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV)-transformed B-lymphoblastoid cells. Similar to lentiviral vector, the L-VLP highly expressed exogenous genes and remained stable for long periods without obvious negative effects on cell viability. Taken together, these data demonstrate that the PIV5-L-based system provides a potential new strategy for the delivery of desirable genes and the treatment of cancer. IMPORTANCE B-cell lymphoma is a common aggressive neoplastic disorder of lymphocytes. Delivery of genes of interest into B cells, particularly virus-mediated B-lymphoma cells, is still a challenge. In this study, we report that a system (L-VLP) based on the parainfluenza virus PIV5-L strain isolated from B cells had highly expressed exogenous genes and remained stable without obvious cell toxicity, which provides a potential new strategy for gene delivery and treatment of B-cell cancer.


We introduce a compact, intuitive procedural graph representation for cellular metamaterials, which are small-scale, tileable structures that can be architected to exhibit many useful material properties. Because the structures' "architectures" vary widely—with elements such as beams, thin shells, and solid bulks—it is difficult to explore them using existing representations. Generic approaches like voxel grids are versatile, but it is cumbersome to represent and edit individual structures; architecture-specific approaches address these issues, but are incompatible with one another. By contrast, our procedural graph succinctly represents the construction process for any structure using a simple skeleton annotated with spatially varying thickness. To express the highly constrained triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMS) in this manner, we present the first fully automated version of the conjugate surface construction method, which allows novices to create complex TPMS from intuitive input. We demonstrate our representation's expressiveness, accuracy, and compactness by constructing a wide range of established structures and hundreds of novel structures with diverse architectures and material properties. We also conduct a user study to verify our representation's ease-of-use and ability to expand engineers' capacity for exploration.


SUMMARY Older adults have unique opportunities to be served and to share with others through groups and individual relationships and programs in religious congregations. Where programs and senior centers with public funding can provide only for physical, emotional, and social needs, religious congregations can be more wholistic and provide for the spiritual needs as well. This chapter offers further discussion of planning that will facilitate program development for the whole person.


We observed that two species of crows reused nest materials. Given the conventional knowledge that crows avoid breeding in their old nests, this behavior is both novel and surprizing. Pairs removed materials from their completed nests and carried them to other sites, and there used the old materials in the construction of new nests. It is unknown whether any eggs were laid in the original nest or whether the nest was abandoned prematurely. One pair of Carrion Crows reused twigs, and two pairs of Jungle Crows reused wire-hangers and twigs for the outer shell of their nests. However, inner linings were newly obtained in all cases. These observations suggest that the reuse of nest materials by crows may be more common than was hitherto believed.


Crossbred (Chester White X Yorkshire X Duroc) boars were used to evaluate the effects of feeding a progestogen (altrenogest) on body growth, endocrine function (determined during feeding and after withdrawal of altrenogest), carcass composition, boar odor and testicular function (determined after a 30-d withdrawal from altrenogest). Boars from 18 litters were assigned at 12 wk of age to three treatments: 1) 18 control boars; 2) 18 boars fed altrenogest (20 mg/day) for 6 wk from 15 to 21 wk of age, followed by 30 d with no treatment; and 3) 18 boars castrated at 2 wk of age (barrows). Daily gains were greater (P less than .05) in boars fed altrenogest than in barrows through 21 wk of age but were lower (P less than .05) than those of control boars and barrows during the 30-d withdrawal period. Boars fed altrenogest weighed less (P less than .05) than control boars and barrows at 25 wk of age (at slaughter). Both groups of boars were similar in percentage of muscle and had less (P less than .05) backfat than barrows, whereas control boars had the largest (P less than .05) loineye areas. Based on evaluations by a trained sensory panel, intensity of boar odor in fat samples was similar for both groups of boars and was greater (P less than .05) than that for barrows. Weights of accessory reproductive glands and weight and sperm content of testes and epididymides were reduced (P less than .05) in boars fed altrenogest.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of lead on the incidence of anemia and to find cases with lead poisoning early among female workers who have been exposed to lead occupationally, for one year from August, 1985. The level of blood lead and hemoglobin concentration were observed for 284 female lead workers and 123 female non-lead workers of industries in the Gumi industrial complex in Kyungpook Province. The average age was years and years in lead workers and non-lead workers, respectively. The average working duration was months in lead workers. The mean value of blood lead was and in lead workers and non-lead workers, respectively. There were significant differences between two groups. The mean value of hemoglobin concentration was and in lead workers and non-lead workers, respectively. Anemia cases were not observed at Hb concentration below 12g/100ml. The percentages of lead workers at Hb concentration ranged 12.0~13.0g/100ml were 4.5%. There was no dose-response relationship between blood lead level and the incidence of anemia. There were no remarkable differences between age and blood lead level as well as Hb concentration, and between working duration and the level of blood lead and hemoglobin.


The impact behavior of composite materials has been extensively studied but interest has been centered on flat plates. For underwater applications, thick composite cylinders are employed and several questions must be addressed concerning the influence of accidental impact. The aim of this work is to study the dynamic response of tubular structures. Such structures find many applications but the damage upon impact is not taken into account during their dimensioning. However, at the time of their handling or in service the damage introduced by accidental impact can compromise their capacity to fulfill their function. The cylinders are thick and consist of epoxy matrix and glass fiber reinforcement. After having observed the nature of the damage related to the static and dynamic loading, the scale and size effects on dynamic response and damage are examined. The studies reveal that the dynamic responses show a satisfactory correlation with predictions based on rules of similitude.


In this study, we use a three-dimensional numerical model of glacially related lithospheric flexure to estimate in-situ stress and pore pressure changes through time in the Norwegian sector of the northern North Sea. The model results match available borehole measurements of in-situ stress and pore pressure, which show a transition from high horizontal stresses at large distances from the coast to lower horizontal stresses in near-coastal areas and an associated rotation in stress orientation. In addition to the present-day predictions, the model results provide an estimate for the evolution of stress and pore pressure during glacial and interglacial periods. We found that the temporally changing stress field might have induced repeated reactivation of reservoir-bounding faults during the course of the Pleistocene glaciations, especially during Weichselian interglacials. As a result, hydrocarbon fields in the Norwegian offshore areas appear to have been exposed to multiple periods of fault reactivation and potential hydrocarbon leakage.