The thesis is focused in a specific kind of system, the Linked Multi-componentRobotic System (L-MCRS) consisting in a collection of automous robots attachedto a one dimensional object which a passive, flexible and/or elasticelement constraining the dynamics of the autonomous robots in a non-linearfashion. Therefore, modeling and prediction of the system dynamics needs totake into account the linking element as well as the mobile autonomous robots.In fact, the kind of practical tasks best suited for this kinds of systems is relatedto the manipulation and transport of the one dimensional object. Theparadigmatic example is the transportation or deplyment of a hose for fluiddisposal. The present dissertation follows a line of research of the group thathas laid some background supporting the present work. First, some proof ofconcept physical systems have been built and tested where the expected effectof the linking element is demonstrated. The hose sometimes hiders the motionof the robots, sometimes introduces drifts, and sometimes drags lagging robots.Some of these systems have been commented in Chapter 2 of this dissertation.Second, a theoretical framework for the accurate modeling and simulation ofthese kind of systems was provided. The Geometrically Exact Dynamic Splines(GEDS) allow modeling the hose and the forces playing inside it as a response ofthe external forces exerted by the robots and the environment. In this dissertation,the GEDS model has been adapted to be embedded in the computationalexperimentation required by the Reinforcement Learning (RL) approach.Although the physical model demonstrations provide some evidence of thelinking element efect, simulation does provide a repeatable and fully controlledexperimental setting to provide additional evidence supporting the intuition thatthe L-MCRS belongs to a category of systems different from the disconnectedcollection of robots (D-MCRS). The reasoning is that a control scheme derivedwith a D-MCRS in mind would not be able to deal with a L-MCRS identicalin every respect except for the existence of the linking element, that is, the distinctionbetween system categories lies in their controlability. The experimentalsetup in Chapter 3 was the formulation of a minimalistic L-MCRS model wherethe linking element is a compressible spring that exerts some force only when thesegment between two robots extends beyond a limit size. A distributed controlsystem was defined for a path following task with a mixed formation, where eachrobot unit control was designed to follow a reference position by a Proportional-Integral controller. Keeping the formation was the role of a distributed controlprocess, where the rear robot position corresponds to the coordination variable.The robots performed a consensus-based asynchronous distributed estimationof the coordination variable allowing for the successful completion of the taskwhen no linking element was present. The introduction of the linking elementproduced easily observable interactions between units, rendering the controllersystem ineffective to solve the path following task. The experiment demostratesthat the L-MCRS are specific category of systems from the point of view ofcontrollability.Reinforcement Learning (RL) allow autonomous learning of control systems.The main aim of the Thesis is to show that RL can provide a solution to theautonomous control design problem for L-MCRS. First we have identifed asuitable problem as prototypic instance of the L-MCRS control problem. Suchproblem is the deployment of a hose to make the tip reach a desired position.The state variables of the Markov Decision Problem (MDP) and the rewardsystem are they sensitive elements of the definition of the Q-learning system.The de denition of the state variables includes the decision about the discretizationresolution of the configuration space where the hose is moving. We have foundthat the discretization resolution can have a strong effect in the computationalcost of the process and in its success rate. Low resolution imply smaller statespaces and higher success because rough approximations to the solution arebetter tolerated. High resolutions imply greater computational complexity andlower success, because the exploration time grows exponentially with systemsize. Nevertheless we reach very high sucess rates in some instances of thelearning experiments.The state variables are determined by the abilities of the agent. The basicability is to sense its current position, which allowed in all systems. Next is theability to perceive the hose and determine if it has become an obstacle. Thisability is the minimal perception required and it may correspond to very simplesensors in real life experiences. The system is able to provide good results withthis minimal perception ability, under specific reward systems. The ability todetermine if the hose is inside a some specific region of the configuration is afurther sophistication of the perception ability of the system. An additionaldegree of perception is the ability to sense the position of two specific points ofthe the hose, allowing to have an implicit model of the hose to reason about.Finally, the ability to predict the danger of undesired termination state one stepahead is the last perception stage reached in our modeling, providing the bestresults as expected.In all the cases, the reward policy has a bigger impact on the learning performance.Basically they give positive reward for reaching the goal position,negative reward for reaching a failed state and diverse ways to value the inconclusivestates. When there is only positive reward for reaching the goal statethe results are good, meaning that negative reinforcement is not so influentialas expected from an intuitive point of view. Simplistic ways to give value toinconclusive states, such as zero value or a value proportional to the distance ofthe tip to the desired position, give good learning performance.We have tested a single-robot and a two-robots configurations with similarresults, the two robot system improving someplaces the single-robot configuration.For the two robot configuration we have tested single robot reward policiesapplied to the robot at the tip of the hose, the other robot remaining rewardless,with not-so-bad learning results, suggesting that teaching the "guiding robot"may be enough for the task. Besides, we have tested two-robot specific rewardsystems improving the single robot reward systems.Finally, learning time is highly dependent on the simulation time employedto reproduce the experiences on the real system. We have tested the improvementintroduced by storing the visited state transitions and their correspondingobserved rewards in a variation of Q-learning call TRQ-learning. We find improvedresults with TRQ-learning due to reduced need for exporation and fastercomputation.As lines of future work we find highly interesting the research on methodologicalimprovements in the definition of the RL algorithms allowing fasterand more successfull learning processes. The hierarchical decomposition of thesystem into diferent layers of abstraction can allow the progressive refinementof learning results until reaching the final stage of the most realistic modelingand simulation. Learning in the simple models can be fast and the refinementlearning can be much faster than the brute force approach on the whole model.Such approaches would need innovative ways to define the equivalence betweenmodels and how the transition between levels of abstraction could be made.We are also interested in bringing into real life systems the results of thelearning on the simulated model and exploring more realistic systems closerto the industrial applications, such as the hose deployment from a compactinterleaved state. The physical system design problems are challeging and havebeen only scratched by research groups interested in similar problems, suchas the GII from the Universidad de A Coruna. Innovative hose graspers andminimal mobile robot configurations, that may even be folded with the hose inthe resting state, or power transmision systems are extremely appealing lines ofresearch.


Spiral structure might develop as the gas--dust disk of a galaxy is being formed. The drift flow of gas is studied in the corotation resonance zone of the equatorial plane of a galaxy which has a cental rotating barlike structure. Matter will collect in the plane, and the gas layer will evolve to produce drift flow patterns closely resembling the spiral and related configurations observed in galaxies. By this approach one can also explain the stellar age gradient across spiral arms.


This paper titled Setting village in Tourism Management Authority. Problemsoccurred that Act No. 32 year 2004 on Regional Government does not clearly informvillage authorities in the field of tourism. This paper aims to understand and knowabout setting authority in the management of village tourism. This paper, usingnormative legal research with descriptive method. The conclusion is Act No. 32 year2004 on Regional Government of village authorities have not specified in terms oftourism management. The provisions concerning the authority of the village intourism management can be seen in the Minister of Home Affairs Number 30 Year2006 on Procedures for Delivery of Government Affairs District / City To Ruralaffairs explained that one of the district / city that can be handed over to the village isthe field of tourism, covering : (a) Management of tourist attraction in the villageoutside of the tourism master plan, (b) Management of recreation and publicentertainment places in the village, (c) establishment licenses Recommendationcottage in the village in the tourist area, and (d) Assist the hotel and restaurant taxcollection in the village.


Recent studies suggest that chest wall reflexes may have a role in modulating diaphragm activation. The purpose of this study was to more closely examine this issue by assessing the diaphragmatic motor response to airway occlusion. Studies were performed in vagotomized mongrel dogs anesthetized with pentobarbital sodium. Diaphragmatic electromyogram (EMG) and phrenic neurogram (ENG) responses to airway occlusion were evaluated at different precontractile respiratory muscle lengths, achieved by passive inflation and deflation with a volume syringe during the preceding expiration. Lung volume was expressed as the corresponding change in airway pressure. At functional residual capacity, deflation (-5 cmH2O), and large inflation (+25 cmH2O), phrenic ENG during occlusion was 90 +/- 2 (SE), 84 +/- 5, and 86 +/- 3% of the preceding control breaths, respectively (n = 9). Qualitatively similar, but somewhat more pronounced, responses were observed on diaphragmatic EMG. With small lung inflations, the degree of reduction of phrenic ENG with airway occlusion was less. Consequently, the relationship between airway pressure and degree of inhibition was best described as a reverse parabola with the maximum at approximately +10-15 cmH2O. Responses were not significantly affected by bilateral cervical phrenicotomy. Complete section of the spinal cord at the high thoracic level (T1-T2) abolished the observed reduction in phrenic ENG in response to airway occlusion. Our results demonstrate 1) the existence of nonvagal nonphrenic reflex control of diaphragm activation most likely secondary to activation of intercostal afferents and 2) that the magnitude of this reflex is highly dependent on factors related to lung volume.


Abstract Organization readiness measurement is a very important step to be performed by Pusat Dokumentasi Informasi Ilmiah (PDII) before implementing Knowledge Management System (KM) system. The measurement is intended to help PDII in analyzing its capability to have effective knowledge sharing before PDII implementing KM system. Readiness measurement is done by lowering KM enablers into several dimensions. Dimensions are derived into indicators which serve as questionnaire statements that will be distributed to PDII employees. Readiness scale is using Aydin-Tasci readiness scale. Beside readiness measurement, priority weighting calculation using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is also done to see which KM enablers and dimensions have to be prioritized by PDII in implementing KM system. Generally, PDII has readiness score of 3.02 (more ready to implement KM system). The results of readiness measurement and priority weight are: Culture readiness score is 3.091 (more ready to implement KM system) with priority weight by 24%, Process readiness score is 2.617 (more ready to implement KM system) with priority weight by 43.6%, and Information Technology readiness score is 3.448 (ready with a few improvements to implement KM system) with priority weight by 32.4%. Keywords: readiness score, priority weight, KM system implementation, KM enablers, dimensions, KM activities


: The defect density of a material is central to its properties. Here, we show, employing EXAFS measurements and MD simulation, how the Ba-Li antisite defect density of perovskite-structured BaLiF 3 nanoparticles can be tuned. In particular, we show that ball milling reduces the defect content. Conversely, thermal annealing increases the defect density. The work represents a first step towards tailoring the properties of a material, via defect tuning postsynthesis. The


In this work, we consider the inverse problem of reconstructing the internal structure of an object from limited x-ray projections. We use a Gaussian process (GP) prior to model the target function and estimate its (hyper)parameters from measured data. In contrast to other established methods, this comes with the advantage of not requiring any manual parameter tuning, which usually arises in classical regularization strategies. Our method uses a basis function expansion technique for the GP which significantly reduces the computational complexity and avoids the need for numerical integration. The approach also allows for reformulation of come classical regularization methods as Laplacian and Tikhonov regularization as GP regression, and hence provides an efficient algorithm and principled means for their parameter tuning. Results from simulated and real data indicate that this approach is less sensitive to streak artifacts as compared to the commonly used method of filtered backprojection.


The infection of human skin fibroblasts grown in culture with Candida albicans causes the death of infected cells, as assayed with the trypan blue exclusion test. The cell death is preceded by: (1) an attachment of germ tubes to the perinuclear surface of fibroblasts; (2) the disappearance of stress fibers and the disorganization of F-actin cytoskeleton and (3) cell rounding and detachment from the substratum. The results provide evidence for the role of F-actin cytoskeleton as a target in the cytopathic activity of C. albicans against human skin fibroblasts.


Many techniques have been developed for medialization of the paralyzed vocal fold. The purpose of this study is to evaluate autologous fat as an alternative to alloplastic substances for use in vocal fold medialization. Eight dogs underwent left recurrent laryngeal nerve sectioning. Autologous fat was harvested, and the paralyzed vocal fold was medialized by injecting the fat into the thyroarytenoid muscle. The animals were divided into three groups for evaluation at 1, 3, and 6 months. Videolaryngoscopy was performed prior to sacrificing the animals. The larynges were sectioned coronally, and histologic studies were performed. The studies confirmed the preservation of viable fat at the injected site in all animals. Only a minimal inflammatory response was observed in the 1-month group. It would appear that fat injection is a viable alternative to Teflon injection and thyroplasty; it eliminates the need for alloplastic materials, does not appear to migrate, and does not require an open procedure.


The geotechnical site characterization process typically begins with an assessment of the soil lithology, the in situ stress state, and the geostatic stress history of the formation, which involves identification of soil types and an evaluation of the preconsolidation, or effective yield, stress. The preconsolidation stress is defined as the maximum past stress physically and/or mechanically applied to the soil, representing the demarcation between normally consolidated (NC) and overconsolidated (OC) states.
 This paper presents an assessment of the preconsolidation stress of Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) sediments within the zone of influence for offshore renewable wind turbine foundations, based on laboratory oedometer test data and cone penetration test (CPTu) data. Atlantic OCS sediments comprise a complex layering of clays, sands, and silts, classified using physical (textural) characteristics, including visual description, grain size distribution, and soil plasticity-based or CPTu data-based soil behavior type (SBT) charts.
 Soil classification for a variety of OCS sediment types from SBT charts, the Unified Soil Classification System (USCS), and ISO standard 14688-2 (2018) is compared and described. Predicted preconsolidation stresses are compared across several commonly used industry methods, and prediction accuracies are discussed in the context of soil type, minerology, and microstructure. Guidance is provided on appropriate site investigation (SI) techniques to allow characterization of these influential properties.


The advantages of cold-formed thin-walled steel studs are many and their
application in building construction continues to grow. They are used as loadbearing
members. An example is lightweight wall panel assemblies which
consist of channel steel studs with gypsum plasterboard layers attached to
the two fl anges, often with interior insulation. At present, expensive fi re tests
or advanced numerical modelling methods are necessary in order to obtain
the fi re resistance of such wall assemblies. For common practice this is not
eff ective and a simplifi ed method, suitable for use in daily design, is necessary.
This paper explains a new approach for calculating key temperatures on the
steel studs and describes the Direct Strength Method (DSM) for calculating
the load-bearing capacity of cold-formed thin-walled steel studs with nonuniform
temperature distributions in the cross-section, instead of using
the traditional eff ective width method. Combining these two aspects gives
a performance-based fi re resistant design method that can be used in the
design or development of products.


Criteria used in the evaluation and selection of applicants for clinical neuropsychology internships were identified by a survey of the programs listed in The Clinical Neuropsychologist. Neuropsychologists from 40 programs replied to the survey, yielding an 80% response rate. Clinical experience in neuropsychological assessment, specialization in clinical neuropsychology during graduate training, personal interview, and letters of recommendation were reported to be the most salient selection criteria. Practica that provide experience with flexible batteries at university-affiliated medical centers and doctoral curricula that follow INS/APA Division 40 guidelines, with teaching and supervision provided by neuropsychologists were preferred prerequisites to internship. Selection criteria reflect a vertically integrated model of education and training in accordance with the Houston Conference model.


Since it is not expected to switch to fully electric and/or fuel cell vehicles in the near future, the search for alternative fuels for systems using internal combustion engines has accelerated. At the forefront of these studies is the use of natural gas instead of diesel fuel in on-road, off-road vehicles, or stationary power generation plants. Diesel engines with their special combustion chamber (i.e. bowl in-piston) can be converted to run entirely on natural gas by installing a natural gas fuel injector on the intake manifold and a spark plug instead of a diesel fuel injector. In this study, in-cylinder combustion characteristics, performance, and emission values for different Spark Ignition Time (SIT) of natural gas usage at 2300 rpm and full load in a tractor engine with a compression ratio of 17.5:1 were investigated numerically using ANSYS Forte three-dimensional analysis program. G-equation combustion model, RANS k-ε turbulence model, and methane chemical kinetic mechanism representing natural gas consisting of 29 species and 171 equations (a reduced mechanism) were used. First SIT was accepted as a 719.5 Crank Angle Degree (CAD) which is diesel injection start time. As a result, due to the special shape of the combustion chamber of diesel engines (re-entrant bowl in-piston), it was seen that the flame was faster and thicker in the bowl, while it was slower and thinner in the squish zone. With the advanced of SIT, the in-cylinder pressure ratio increased. By taking SIT too advanced (i.e. 690, 695, and 700 CAD SIT), more than one peak formation was observed in the heat release graph depending on the combustion characteristic. With the effect of both natural gas use and SIT, it was observed that HC and CO formations were almost not seen, while NOX formation remains above a certain level.


Abstract In this paper, weight reduction methods were studied in a seat track used in a passenger cars front seats. One of front seat, which has passed regulation tests and has been verified by the finite element model, a monoblock riser bracket design has been developed instead of the existing individual brackets. The bracket geometry has determined by topography optimization. The final model was created by updating the design of the resulting model in terms of manufacturability. Finite element analyses were performed in Altair HyperWorks according to the regulation conditions. The design was validated in static and dynamic tests, including crash tests. Comparing with the existing parts, 26.7% weight has been reduced as a result of the study.


A paradigm shift in the standard operating procedures (SOP) is underway in the reliability and health management industry. As the community transitions from traditional preventive maintenance procedures to modern predictive or health-based management systems, areas such as efficient online monitoring and diagnosis schemes based on real-time observations have emerged as key research subjects for engineers. Most diagnostic systems require data from both healthy and faulty conditions in order to properly train their classification algorithms. However, in many situations, normal signals are acquired easily while fault samples are difficult to be gained. In this paper, we present a diagnosis scheme based on the least squares support vector machines (LS-SVM). Our modified LS-SVM algorithm is a one-class novelty detector which can differentiate between a normal and faulty condition based only on the normal samples which are easily available. We diagnose a growing crack fault on a planetary gear plate mounted aboard a UH-60 Blackhawk aircraft using this approach. Comparisons drawn with other contemporary approaches lean favorably towards the viability of the suggested novelty detector.


A novel strategy for video object segmentation in normal video frames, which is an indispensable preprocessing of the objectbased video encoding in the MPEG-4 standard, is presented. It is a semi-automatic strategy, which combines the efficiency (speed) of automatic segmentation and the accuracy of manual segmentation. Initially, the object contour in the first frame is specified interactively by a user using a computer-aided tool based on our improved Intelligent Scissors. The frames following then undergo an automatic region-based object tracking process. A user interface is designed to display the object tracking result and allow the user to observe it during the tracking process. The user can suspend the process when the result is considered inaccurate or unacceptable, and interactively correct the object contour in the first frame containing the unacceptable result with the proposed computer-aided tool. The automatic region-based tracking process can then be resumed with the corrected object contour as the new initial object contour. This tracking-correcting cycle can be repeated until the end of the video clip is reached.


This work describes the first thorough analysis of "header" signs in proto-Elamite, an undeciphered script from 3100-2900 BCE. Headers are a category of signs which have been provisionally identified through painstaking manual analysis of this script by domain experts. We use unsupervised neural and statistical sequence modeling techniques to provide new and independent evidence for the existence of headers, without supervision from domain experts. Having affirmed the existence of headers as a legitimate structural feature, we next arrive at a richer understanding of their possible meaning and purpose by (i) examining which features predict their presence; (ii) identifying correlations between these features and other document properties; and (iii) examining cases where these features predict the presence of a header in texts where domain experts do not expect one (or vice versa). We provide more concrete processes for labeling headers in this corpus and a clearer justification for existing intuitions about document structure in proto-Elamite.


The job demands on physical work capacity and the frequency of the firefighting and rescue tasks were rated by 156 professional firefighters (age range, 22 to 54 years) who responded to a questionnaire. Smoke-diving requiring the use of personal protective equipment was considered to demand most aerobic power. The clearing of debris with heavy manual tools, and roof work set the highest demands on muscular performance and motor coordination, respectively. During the past 5 years, 83 to 88% of the respondents had performed these tasks on average four times a year. The rating and frequency of the tasks were not significantly affected by age. The results suggest that the job demands on physical work capacity remain the same throughout the occupational career of the firefighters.


The VISA (Vessel Integrity Simulation Analysis) code was developed as part of the NRC staff evaluation of pressurized thermal shock. VISA uses Monte Carlo simulation to evaluate the failure probability of a pressurized water reactor (PWR) pressure vessel subjected to a pressure and thermal transient specified by the user. Linear elastic fracture mechanics are used to model crack initiation and propagation. parameters for initial crack size, copper content, initial RT/sub NDT/, fluence, crack-initiation fracture toughness, and arrest fracture toughness are treated as random variables. This report documents the version of VISA used in the NRC staff report (Policy Issue from J.W. Dircks to NRC Commissioners, Enclosure A: NRC Staff Evaluation of Pressurized Thermal Shock, November 1982, SECY-82-465) and includes a user's guide for the code.


Phytoplankton physiology is dynamic and highly responsive to the environment. Phytoplankton acclimate to changing environmental conditions by a complex reallocation of carbon and energy through metabolic pathways to optimize growth. Considering the tremendous diversity of phytoplankton, it is not surprising that different phytoplankton taxa use different strategies to partition carbon and energy resources. It has therefore been satisfying to discover that general principles of energetic stoichiometry appear to govern these complex processes and can be broadly applied to interpret phytoplankton distributions, productivity, and food web dynamics. The expectation of future changes in aquatic environments brought on by climate change warrants gathering knowledge about underlying patterns of photosynthetic energy allocation and their impacts on community structure and ecosystem productivity.


There has long existed a need, which has been expressed by otologists and others interested in persons who are hard of hearing, for a disinterested comparison of the performance characteristics of portable commercial carbon microphone hearing aids. In 1934 Dr. Horace Newhart, as chairman of the Committee of Deafness Prevention and Amelioration of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology, proposed that an investigation be undertaken to determine whether significant differences exist between the hearing aids of various manufacturers. With the help of funds supplied by the Graduate School Research Committee of the University of Minnesota the proposed investigation was commenced in July 1934 as a joint project of the Division of Otolaryngology and of the Electrical Engineering Department. It was the original plan to test the products of the leading and representative manufacturers of portable carbon microphone hearing aids and thereupon to make an attempt


Ninety normal individuals were included in this study on skin types, skin colours and cutaneous responses to ultraviolet radiation. Skin types were recorded using Fitzpatrick's classification, skin colours were measured using the Minolta Chromameter CR‐300, and cutaneous responses to UV radiation were measured in terms of minimal erythema dose (MED) to UVA, UVB and the immediate pigment darkening dose to UVA (IPDDA). Skin colour measurements were taken from the right cheek to represent facultative skin colours, and from the buttock to represent constitutive skin colours. The colours measured were expressed by the L*a*b colour space. Skin types and some colour parameters (L and b from covered parts of body) correlated fairly well with the minimal erythema doses (MED) to UVA and UVB. Skin colour measurements are more objective than skin type assessment and could be better markers of photosensitivity. However, there is still considerable overlap in MEDs for persons with different skin colours, and further studies of these parameters are warranted. Our MEDs are higher than other reports on similar skin types and skin colours. This could be due to differences in methodology, genetic make‐up or acclimatization from chronic sun exposure. This illustrates the importance of local controls for each institution dealing with photosensitive disorders.


Author gives an overview on the beginnings of the alternative medicine in Hungary, based on the articles of the first Hungarian medical journal, Orvosi Tár (Medical Magazine) published in the period 1831-1848. In the journal the following alternative methods were mentioned: folk medicine, magnetism (mesmerism), brownianism, broussaisism, rasorism, homeopathy, hydrotherapy, therapies of Morrison, Le Roy and that of the Slovakian healer, Ferenc Madva. Analysing the publications of the Orvosi Tár author assumes, that these therapies were widespread in the period mentioned above being their significance however not always equal. Folk medicine were applied practically everywhere in the countryside. Brownianism spread only on the turn of the 18. and 19. centuries in Hungary, though its popularity declined in the 20-ies. Mesmerism entered Hungary in the tens of the 19th century. The presence of magnetiseurs using methods of mesmerism could be documented still in the 30-ies and 40-ies. This method later was picked up by the spiritist movements. Homeopathy's career started in Hungary around 1820. Among the alternative systems homeopathy gained the greatest popularity in our country, especially in the 40-ies. This time the movement established its institutions, even homeopathic hospitals were founded in the country. Methods of hydrotherapy were frequently used by the public in the 1840-ies. This way of healing was accepted by the majority of conventional physicians as well. Methods of Broussais, Rasori, Morrison and Le Roy were probably lesser known in our country. They were mentioned exclusively in the period from 1810 to 1850. The so called life style reform movement developed significantly only in the second half of the 19th century.


In the early twentieth century, the Société française des distilleries de l'Indochine, principal supplier to the alcohol monopoly in French Indochina, sought to extend its operations into Siam. This led to a protracted dispute with the Siamese government over the rights that the company enjoyed under the unequal treaties that Siam had signed with the Western imperial powers in the mid-nineteenth century. After sustained pressure from the French government, the Siamese government was forced to resolve some legal ambiguities in favour of the SFDIC. This dispute thus captures the essence of Siam's semi-colonial relationship with the West.


Measuring diffusion rates of ligands plays a key role in understanding the kinetic processes inside proteins. For example, although many molecular simulation studies have reported free energy barriers to infer rates for CO diffusion in myoglobin (Mb), they typically do not include direct calculation of diffusion rates because of the long simulation times needed to infer these rates with statistical accuracy. We show in this talk how to apply Markovian milestoning along minimum free-energy pathways to calculate diffusion rates of CO inside Mb. In Markovian milestoning, one partitions a suitable reaction coordinate space into regions and performs restrained molecular dynamics in each region to accumulate kinetic statistics that, when assembled across regions, provides an estimate of the mean first-passage time between states. The mean escape time for CO directly from the so-called distal pocket (DP) through the histidine gate (HG) is estimated at about 24 ns, confirming the importance of this portal for CO. But Mb is known to contain several internal cavities, and cavity-to-cavity diffusion rates are also computed and used to build a complete kinetic network as a Markov state model. Within this framework, the effective mean time of escape to the solvent through HG increases to 30 ns. Our results suggest that carrier protein structure may have evolved under pressure to modulate dissolved gas release rates using a network of ligand-accessible cavities.


Saccharomyces cerevisiae Stm1 protein is a ribosomal association factor, which plays an important role in preserving ribosomes in a nutrition-deprived environment. It is also shown to take part in apoptosis-like cell death. Stm1 N-terminal region (Stm1_N1-113) is shown to recognize purine motif DNA triplex and G-quadruplex. Circular dichroism (CD) spectra of Stm1_N1-113 (enriched in positively-charged Lysine and Arginine; negatively-charged Aspartate; polar-uncharged Threonine, Asparagine, Proline and Serine; hydrophobic Alanine, Valine, and Glycine) collected after 0 and 24 h indicate that the protein assumes beta-sheet conformation at the higher concentrations in contrast to intrinsically disordered conformation seen for its monomeric form found in the crystal structure. Thioflavin-T kinetics experiments indicate that the lag phase is influenced by the salt concentration. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) images collected for a variety of Stm1_N1-113 concentrations (in the range of 1–400 μM) in the presence of 150 mM NaCl at 0, 24, and 48 h indicate a threshold concentration requirement to observe the time-dependent amyloid formation. This is prominent seen at the physiological salt concentration of 150 mM NaCl with the fibrillation observed for 400 μM concentration at 48 h, whereas oligomerization or proto-fibrillation is seen for the other concentrations. Such concentration-dependent fibrillation of Stm1_N1-113 explains that amyloid fibrils formed during the overexpression of Stm1_N1-113 may act as a molecular device to trigger apoptosis-like cell death.


This research aims to theoretically and empirically investigate the difference of poverty outcome between applying a fixed and an endogenous poverty line. Applying the microeconomic theory of consumer behavior and the CGEMicrosimulation, this study has theoretically and empirically proven that, if a fixed poverty line is applied, the poverty impact of policy reforms (economic shocks) which significantly increase (decrease) price will always be underestimated (overestimated). This study empirically found that there is 0.316 percentage point difference in the poverty outcome between applying the endogenous poverty line and the fixed poverty line when analyzing the impact on poverty in Indonesia of 100 percent increase in the world soybean price. Supposing the fixed poverty line, the poverty rate will increase by 0.180 per cent, while supposing the endogenous poverty line, the poverty rate will increase by 0.496 per cent. Therefore, applying either an endogenous or a fixed poverty line will have a different policy implication.


Background:The coverage of the vaccine for health workers is not satisfactory. The study was conducted with health workers in a large community.A self-administered questionnaire was used based on "Awareness and Attitudes.Several factors may be related to influenza vaccination, and identifying these can support the development of policies and strategies that expand vaccination coverage. Aim: To identify vaccination-related factors based on awareness and attitudes, but priority is still scarce. Methods:It was a cross-section study among 349 healthcare workers to determine their attitudes and awareness toward the vaccine. The results were evaluated statistically to observe the significantassociation using the fisher's exact/Chi-square tests respectively. A p-value <0.05 is taken as significant. Results:Three hundred and forty-nine responses were analyzed (190 men and 159 women). The average age of vaccines was 41.10±11.90 years. 186(53.2%) patients aged>40 yrs, while the majority of 263(75.4%) of the study group were physicians, 78(22.3%) were pharmacists, and only 5(1.4%) were nurses. A percentage increase was seen of healthcare professionals from private set-upwho wereless susceptible to influenza 109(59.6%) compared to other HCPs in public sector, GP clinics and vaccination centers(P=0.010*). Practical implication: Healthcare professionals with a good attitude about the flu shot are more likely to receive the shot themselves and encourage their coworkers and patients to do the same. This can increase overall vaccination rates and assist in stopping the influenza virus from spreading.Healthcare workers are more likely to take preventative measures to stop the transmission of the virus, such as wearing masks and washing their hands, if they are informed of the risks of influenza and the advantages of vaccination. Conclusion:There is a lack of awareness about the nosocomial nature of influenza among HCPs. Awareness and counseling can increase in the vaccination rate among healthcare workers. Keywords:Influenza vaccination, Healthcare workers,attitudes and knowledge


Abstract COVID-19 models indicate a mass casualty event may potentially occur in the United States. Among numerous social and economic changes, the potential to reshape the political landscape exists. The theoretical perspective of politics-administration dichotomy is used to examine the rhetoric, power, and authority of public health messages during the pandemic. This study considers political shifts using state-level data on population, historical voter turnout, and projected COVID-19 cases number coupled with national-level data on voter participation by age group and COVID-19 fatality rates. Developing a formula to calculate these data, we project the extent to which the number of voters from each party could diminish. The analysis shows the potential for significant political changes due to the disproportionate loss of older voters in key swing states in the months leading to the 2020 presidential election.


PurposeThis paper reviews the challenging trends in the tourism sector of the UAE brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. In so doing, it highlights a radical shift in the consumption of travel products and the related marketing strategies that tourism enterprises could adopt.Design/methodology/approachThe study aims to discern the ramifications of the Covid-19 pandemic for the tourism sector of the UAE by conducting a thematic review of the contextual literature. It highlights how tourism businesses can employ transformative strategies to revive the sector.FindingsThe outcomes reveal that tourism businesses are finding it difficult to respond to the needs of customers in settings where physical distance is a reality. Given this, the study reveals the importance of digital technology in building a relationship between the supplier and the customer. Businesses can leverage virtual reality to provide enriching experiences to prospective customers and in so doing, influence their tourism product choices. Further, there is a need to co-create values wherein the final tourism product is beneficial to both the supplier in terms of profit margin and within the scope of the customer's willingness to pay.Originality/valueThis review highlights that there are both demand and supply-side shocks in delivering tourism products in the post Covid-19 era. It also considers the key socio-economic factors that need to be accounted for when designing tourism products.


We argue that a healthy urban forest contributes immensely to the sustainability of cities. The argument is based on a comprehensive array of values elicited from Canadians in several cities. To begin, we define the urban forest as inclusive of all the trees in the city and thus representing the predominant contributor to a city's green infrastructure. Then we enumerate and explain the broad diversity of ways in which urban people value trees in the city. We, thus, show the myriad pathways by which trees contribute positively to any city's social, economic, and ecological sustainability. Following a short summary of the ways in which trees may detract from people's quality of life, we present promising management directions for urban-forest improvement, as we understand the situation in Canada. We conclude that all cities can enhance their sustainability by improving the urban forest.


Flexural wave dispersion in a bi-material solid and hollow circular cylinders is investigated with the use of the three-dimensional linear theory of elastodynamics. It is assumed that on the interface surface of the cylinders the complete contact conditions satisfy. The analytical solution of the corresponding field equations is presented and, using these solutions, the dispersion equations for the cases under consideration are obtained. The dispersion equations are solved numerically and based on these solutions, dispersion curves are constructed for the concrete selected pairs of materials such as Tungsten (inner cylinder material) + Aluminum (outer cylinder material) and Steel (inner cylinder material) + Aluminum (outer cylinder material). The numerical results are obtained for the first and second lowest modes. According to these numerical results the influence of the problem parameters, such as the thicknesses of the external and inner cylinders and the materials of the inner cylinder material, on the character of the dispersion curves is analyzed.


1.
Restoration of salt marshes on previously reclaimed land provides an excellent opportunity to study plant colonization and subsequent development of salt-marsh vegetation. Insight into the process of salt-marsh development can guide the design, implementation and evaluation of salt-marsh restoration schemes and help determine appropriate management strategies.

2.
We evaluated the process of salt-marsh restoration at a species- and plant-community level and investigated how the sequence of species establishment is related to site suitability, availability of the target species in the local and regional species pools and dispersal traits.

3.
It took approximately 5 years for species diversity in the restoration site to become similar to a local reference marsh. The annual species Salicornia spp. and Suaeda maritima colonized and reached maximum abundance first. Perennial species (Puccinellia maritima, Aster tripolium, Spartina anglica, Spergularia media, Atriplex portulacoides and Limonium vulgare) only started to colonize or increase notably in abundance after 3 years of restoration.

4.
Plant composition at the highest elevation of the restoration site developed from an annual Salicornia community into a Puccinellia maritima salt marsh, which was similar to the local reference marsh. After 8 years, the lower elevations were still covered by annual Salicornia salt marsh despite the potential for the development of a Puccinellia community.

5.
Salt tolerance appeared to be much more important in explaining the sequence of species establishment than the availability of the species in the local or regional species pools or dispersal traits.

6.
Synthesis and applications. The prospect of salt-marsh restoration after de-embankment is good, with target species establishing spontaneously and vegetation succession taking place. Because most salt-marsh species are dispersed over short distances, it is important that a well-developed salt marsh is adjacent to the restoration site. The rate of salt-marsh development and species diversity appears to be affected mainly by surface elevation. Proper elevation in relation to tidal inundation is therefore a prerequisite for the successful restoration of salt-marsh vegetation after de-embankment.


Endothelial cells in blood vessels are known to be important during the later stages of organ development in the embryo. However, their involvement at the induction stage of organ formation has not been previously documented. As Bahary and Zon explain in their Perspective, new work demonstrates that endothelial cells secrete factors early in development that induce embryonic endoderm to become liver or pancreas (Matsumoto et al., Lammert et al.).


A sensitive, directional coupling sensor attached to a high-voltage power transmission cable couples enough signal from a partial discharge to an electrooptic modulator to measurably change the amplitude of an optical carrier. The demonstrated sensitivity and bandwidth lead to the design of a very robust system for measuring partial discharge that requires no power at the site of the sensor. System concept and experimental results are shown and future options discussed.


Educational institutions are grown by initiative, one of which is certainly inseparable in so much the contribution of the existence of a mature planning with the preparation of a strategy / concept of management framework to create a quality educational institution. This journal describes a public relations management framework within educational institutions ranging from Planning, Organizing, Actuating, and Controlling. Public affairs and lobbying are high status and strategically important strategic public relations. It is a field of public relations practice that produces high levels both scientifically and publicly concerning the role it perceives in supporting the company's strengths and impacts related to the functional legitimacy of democratic institutions. For this paper content analysis is done from academic journals to provide insight into how public affairs and lobbying have been theorized and researched within it public relations scholarship and to ascertain what level of wider public concern has been addressed. The findings include empirical confirmation of a low level of research activity in public affairs; that rhetorical stakeholders and theories are the most widely used theories, but far from the dominant paradigm


A new nematode species, Capillostrongyloides ancistri sp. n., is described from the intestine of aquarium-reared catfish Ancistrus dolichopterus Kner in Czechoslovakia. This fish is of South American origin and, therefore, C. ancistri sp. n. has probably been brought into aquaria in Europe from there. The parasite is characterized mainly by the structure of the male caudal end (presence of two large postanal papillae and the cuticular bursa supported by two caudal lobes), the length of a spicule (0.258-0.297 mm), the presence of a non-spiny spicular sheath, shape of the female end, structure of the stichosome (23-30 stichocytes present), and the size of the eggs. The species appears to be highly pathogenic to aquarium-reared Ancistrus dolichopterus, causing death of these fish.


Flavor is one of the most prominent characteristics of chocolate and is crucial in determining the price the consumer is willing to pay. At present, two types of cocoa beans have been characterized according to their flavor and aroma profile, i.e., (1) the bulk (or ordinary) and (2) the fine flavor cocoa (FFC). The FFC has been distinguished from bulk cocoa for having a great variety of flavors. Aiming to differentiate the FFC bean origin of Peruvian chocolate, an analytical methodology using gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was developed. This methodology allows us to characterize eleven volatile organic compounds correlated to the aromatic profile of FFC chocolate from this geographical region (based on buttery, fruity, floral, ethereal sweet, and roasted flavors). Monitoring these 11 flavor compounds during the chain of industrial processes in a retrospective way, starting from the final chocolate bar towards pre-roasted cocoa beans, allows us to better understand the cocoa flavor development involved during each stage. Hence, this methodology was useful to distinguish chocolates from different regions, north and south of Peru, and production lines. This research can benefit the chocolate industry as a quality control protocol, from the raw material to the final product.


© 2018 Melanie Channon This is an open access article licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/40/) A central tenet of modern family planning efforts is that the rights of individuals, women's empowerment and gender equality are forefront. This can be traced back to the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), held in Cairo. Given the central role that women's empowerment and the right to plan ones family hold in international development, it is surprising to find that the relationship between these two things has not been more broadly researched. Two recent systematic reviews, one on women's empowerment and fertility, and one on women's empowerment and family planning, aimed to summarise and analyse what has already been done, as well as what is yet to be done (Prata, et al., 2017; Upadhyay, et al., 2014). There is a paucity of systematic reviews in demography, sometimes leading to misconceptions about the size, strength, and types of evidence available on a certain topic. Given that the searches for these reviews only included literature published up to December 2012, there is a need to update them regularly, but nonetheless they are an important resource and they raise some important issues for researchers looking at this area.


Wireless multicasting is quickly emerging as an important enabling technology for mass content distribution to mobile hand-held devices. With channel state information at the transmitter, it is possible to tailor transmissions by selective beamforming towards specific user groups, thereby harnessing the wireless 'broadcast advantage' and managing co-channel interference. Wireless (physical layer) multicasting options are currently being debated in the emerging UMTS-LTE standard. A key problem in this context is admission control: it is often infeasible or impractical to serve all subscribers from a single access point, due to mutual interference or power limitations. This paper considers the joint multicast beamforming and admission control problem, aiming to maximize the number of subscribers that can be served and minimize the power required to serve them. The joint problem is NP-hard, yet suitable reformulation reveals that it can be naturally relaxed to a semidefinite program (SDP), leading to an approximation by deflation over SDP. Experimental results using measured channels indicate that the proposed approximation approach is fast and efficient.


Many issues concerned with clustering process are due to large datasets involves. In clustering computation become expensive when there are large data sets involved and work efficiently when there is limited number of cluster with relatively small data set. This paper will present a new technique for clustering for large datasets. That will work efficiently equally with large data set as well as with small data sets. The main idea behind this method is to divide the whole process in two steps. The first step uses a cheap approximate distance measure that divide the data into overlapped subsets we call it stubs. Then in second step clustering is performed for measuring exact distances only between points that occur in common stubs. The stub based clustering approach reduces computation time over a traditional clustering and also increases its efficiency.


Water stable Zr-metal–organic framework nanoparticles (PCN-224 NPs, PCN refers to porous coordination network) have been solvothermally synthesized. PCN-224 NPs show spherical shape with smooth surface and particle size of approximately 200 nm. PCN-224 NPs can be stable in acid and aqueous solutions, as confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction. Gatifloxacin (GTF) adsorption measurements showed that PCN-224 NPs exhibit a high adsorption capacity of 876 mg·g−1. Meanwhile, the adsorption factors, adsorption characteristics, and mechanisms of GTF were investigated in batch adsorption experiments.


Design space exploration (DSE) of complex embedded systems that combine a number of CPUs, dedicated hardware and software is a tedious task for which a broad range of approaches exists, from the use of high-level models to hardware prototyping. Each of these entails different simulation speed/accuracy tradeoffs, and thereby enables exploring a certain subset of the design space in a given time. Some simulation frameworks devoted to CPU-centric systems have been developed over the past decade, that either feature near real-time simulation speed or moderate to high speed with quasi-cycle level accuracy, often by means of instruction-set simulators or binary translation techniques. This paper presents an evaluation in term of accuracy in modeling real systems using the GEM5 simulator that belong to the first class. Performance figures of a wide range of benchmarks (e.g. in domains such as scientific computing and media applications) are captured and compared to results obtained on real hardware.


Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are an interesting metal nanoparticle that can be incorporated into pharmaceutical products, including for diabetic foot ulcers as an antimicrobial agent. Green synthesis of AgNPs using plant extracts has been drawing much attention as it is simple, eco-friendly, stable, and cost-effective. This present study was performed to evaluate the potential of three Indonesian medicinal plant extracts, namely Phyllanthus niruri (PN), Orthosiphon stamineus (OS), and Curcuma longa (CL), as reducing and capping agents in the green synthesis of AgNPs, and to optimize their concentrations. Based on the yields and characteristics of the formed nanoparticles, which were analyzed using a UV-Vis spectrophotometer, particle size analyzer, scanning electron microscope, and X-ray diffractometer, Phyllanthus niruri extract at a concentration of 0.5% was concluded as the best extract in the green synthesis of AgNPs. It is thereby a prospective reducing and capping agent for further scale-up studies.


This paper documents a design driven inquiry that focuses on the question how the physical body of human beings is represented within virtual spaces. Using the methods of content analysis and participatory observation, we investigate the interfaces of a text-based and an image-based online role-playing game, so called Multi User Dungeons (MUDs), referring to their virtual body representations and their impact on individual performance, navigation and community interaction. Regarding the body as an essential benchmark of spatial orientation and communication due to its social, cultural meaning and its individual expressiveness, designers define the way of virtual embodiment by the development of their interfaces. In this respect, the investigation of 'body as interface' is an essential design research issue. In this paper, we also vote for the utility of qualitative methods for design research purposes revealing social and cultural implications of design artifacts.


ABSTRACT Pestiviruses belong to the family Flaviviridae, and their genome is a single-stranded RNA of positive polarity encoding one large polyprotein which is further processed into mature proteins. Noncytopathogenic (noncp) strains of the pestivirus bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) can establish persistent infection. In persistently infected animals, noncp BVDVs occasionally acquire mutations in viral nonstructural protein 2 (NS2) that give rise to cytopathogenic (cp) BVDV variants, and, eventually, lead to the onset of lethal disease. A molecular marker of cp BVDV infection is a high-level expression of the replicative NS3 protease/helicase that together with NS2 is derived from NS2-3. Here, we present evidence for NS2-3 autoprocessing by a newly identified cysteine protease in NS2 that is distantly related to the NS2-3 autoprotease of hepatitis C and GB viruses. The vital role of this autoprotease in BVDV infection was established, implying an essential function for NS3 in pestiviral RNA replication which cannot be supplied by its NS2-3 precursor. Accordingly, and contrary to a current paradigm, we detected almost complete cleavage of NS2-3 in noncp BVDV at early hours of infection. At 6 to 9 h postinfection, NS2-3 autoprocessing diminished to barely detectable levels for noncp BVDV but decreased only moderately for cp BVDV. Viral RNA synthesis rates strictly correlated with different NS3 levels in noncp and cp BVDV-infected cells, implicating the NS2 autoprotease in RNA replication control. The biotype-specific modulation of NS2-3 autoprocessing indicates a crucial role of the NS2 autoprotease in the pathogenicity of BVDV.


In this paper we first analyze some state of the art methods for text summarization. We discuss what the main disadvantages of these methods are and then propose a new method using fuzzy logic. Comparisons of results show that our method beats most methods which use machine learning as their core.


When interpreting routine radiographs following thoracic venous catheterization, a thorough knowledge of normal venous anatomy is necessary to prevent potential complications of central venous catheter misplacement. In the following report, we review the thoracic venous anatomy and show examples of azygous, superior intercostal, internal mammary, inferior thyroid, pericardiophrenic, and left superior vena cava catheterizations, as well as the more common venous catheter misplacements. The use of both frontal and lateral radiographs for catheter localization is discussed in detail.


Abstract. Micronekton – small marine pelagic organisms around 1–10 cm in size – are a key component of the ocean ecosystem, as they constitute the main source of forage for all larger predators. Moreover, the mesopelagic component of micronekton that undergoes diel vertical migration (DVM) likely plays a key role in the transfer and storage of CO2 in the deep ocean: this is known as the "biological pump". SEAPODYM-MTL is a spatially explicit dynamical model of micronekton. It simulates six functional groups of vertically migrant (DVM) and nonmigrant (no DVM) micronekton, in the epipelagic and mesopelagic layers. Coefficients of energy transfer efficiency between primary production and each group are unknown, but they are essential as they control the production of micronekton biomass. Since these coefficients are not directly measurable, a data assimilation method is used to estimate them. In this study, Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs) are used at a global scale to explore the response of oceanic regions regarding energy transfer coefficient estimation. In our experiments, we obtained different results for spatially distinct sampling regions based on their prevailing ocean conditions. According to our study, ideal sampling areas are warm and productive waters associated with weak surface currents like the eastern side of tropical oceans. These regions are found to reduce the error of estimated coefficients by 20 % compared to cold and more dynamic sampling regions.


Background Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a crucial role in etiology of DNA fragmentation and lipid peroxi- dation in sperm, leading to infertility in men. The silent information regulators SIRT1 and SIRT3 are members of the sirtuins protein family known to be involved in cancer genetics, aging and oxidative stress responses. The aim ofthis study is to determine the correlation between SIRT1 and SIRT3 with antioxidants, oxidative stress biomarkers, and DNA fragmentation in the semen of asthenoteratozoospermic and normozoospermic men. Materials and Methods In this case-control study, after spermogram analysis the specimens were divided into two groups, normozospermic (n=40) and asthenoteratozoospermic (n=40), according to World Health Organization (WHO) standards. Sperm DNA fragmentation was evaluatedusing the sperm chromatin dispersion (SCD) test.Catalase activity was measured using the Aebi spectrophotometeric method. Total antioxidant capacity (TAC) level and super- oxide dismutase (SOD) activitywere measured by using commercially available colorimetric assays. Enzyme-linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure SIRT1 and SIRT3 protein levels of seminal plasma. Malondial- dehyde (MDA) level in seminal plasma was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Results The asthenoteratozoospermic group had significantly lower catalase and SOD activities and TAC levels in comparison with the normozoospermic group (P<0.001).The percentage of DNA fragmentation and MDA level in the asthenoteratozoospermic group were remarkably higher than in the normozoospermic group. The SIRT1 and SIRT3 protein levels in seminal plasmawere remarkably lower in asthenoteratozoospermic group than the normozoospermic group (P<0.001). Conclusion The results of this study suggest that SIRT1 and SIRT3 protein levels are negatively correlated with oxidative stress and DNA fragmentation in semen. The low levels of SIRT1 and SIRT3 in asthenoteratozoospermic men may lead to an increase in oxidative stress, DNA fragmentation, and lipid peroxidation that eventually result in immotile and immature spermatozoa (asthenoteratozoospermia).


In the present work, we investigate the influence of substrate wettability and crystal morphology on the evaporative crystallization of saline droplets. On a superhydrophilic substrate, the evaporative crystals formed during the drying of a saline droplet of aqueous potassium nitrate are observed to be long and needle-shaped, oriented along the substrate. The crystal deposits form a flower-shaped pattern when the initial contact angle of the droplet increases to ∼72°. The orientation of the crystals along the triple contact line of the droplet controls the self-amplifying creeping growth of the salt crystals that eventually determines the overall evaporative patterns. The crystals change from being needle-shaped to globular salt deposits as the volume of liquid available for crystallization reduces. We demonstrate that the arrangement of the crystal with respect to the substrate and the droplet-air interface governs the rate of evaporation, growth, and morphology of the crystals.


A new class of spectrometer can be designed using programmable components such as MOEMS which enable to tune the beam in spectral width and central wavelength. It becomes possible to propose for space applications a spectrometer with programmable resolution and adjustable spectral bandwidth. The proposed way to tune the output beam is to use the diffraction effect with the so-called PMDG (Programmable Micro Diffraction Gratings) diffractive MEMS. In that case, small moving structures can form programmable gratings, diffracting or not the incoming light. In the proposed concept, the MOEMS is placed in the focal plane of a first diffracting stage (using a grating for instance). With such implementation, the MOEMS component can be used to select some wavelengths (for instance by reflecting them) and to switch-off the others (for instance by diffracting them). A second diffracting stage is used to recombine the beam composed by all the selected wavelengths. It becomes then possible to change and adjust the filter in λ and Δλ. This type of implementation is very interesting for space applications (astronomy, Earth observation, planetary observation). Firstly because it becomes possible to tune the filtering function quasi instantaneously. And secondly because the focal plane dimension can be reduced to a single detector (for application without field of view) or to a linear detector instead of a 2D matrix detector (for application with field of view) thanks to a sequential acquisition of the signal.


In this paper we investigate whether small-scale businesses face financial constraints that affect their survival. We develop a model of moral hazard in which financial constraints arise endogenously. The model predicts that higher private assets relax financial constraints and have a positive effect on the firm's probability of survival. We test this proposition using German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) data, which cover the period 1984–2004. The release from financial constraints is measured by inheritance. The empirical analysis confirms that the entrepreneur has a higher propensity to stay in business when she inherits capital. This effect is particularly strong for entrepreneurs that switch from self-employment into wage employment. These results are consistent with hypothesis that financial frictions have a perceptible impact on bankruptcy among small business firms.


Stochastic Petri nets are commonly used for modeling distributed systems in order to study their performance and dependability. This paper proposes a realization of stochastic Petri nets in SystemC for modeling large embedded control systems. Then statistical model checking is used to analyze the dependability of the constructed model. Our verification framework allows users to express a wide range of useful properties to be verified which is illustrated through a case study.


Exhausting pollutant gas in a plug flow micro reactor are identified, described and predicted in this paper. For this, a premixed methane/air micro flame was simulated by a simplified chemical kinetics mechanism with four equations of Jones
 and Lindstedt. In addition to the Jones and Lindstedt model, one chemical kinetic mechanism with three equations describing the formation of thermal NO was integrated in Comsol 4.2a code, all that equations describing the production process and
 disappearance of the major chemical species. Simulations in stoichiometric and lean conditions with equivalent ratio ф equal to 0.9 and 0.7 show that the simulations with Jones and Lindstedt model provide a stable flame with the temperatures of the
 same order as that obtained with a detailed chemical kinetic mechanism as reported in the literature. Production of carbon dioxide (CO2) varies with the richness of the mixture. It is high with ф = 1 and in the order of 250 ppm, this value remains
 smaller than the required threshold for breathable air. Carbon monoxide (CO) is not found in the products of combustion due to the high temperatures at the outlet of the microreactor in the three cases


Motivated by drone autonomous navigation applications we address a novel problem of velocity-aided attitude estimation by combining two linear velocity components measured in a body-fixed frame and a linear velocity component measured in an inertial frame with the measurements of an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). The main contributions of the present paper are the design of Riccati nonlinear observers, which may be viewed as deterministic versions of an Extended Kalman filter (EKF), and an analysis of observability conditions under which local exponential stability of the observer is achieved. Reported simulation results further indicate that the observers' domain of convergence is large.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to review the prognostic significance of pathologic and radiologic factors for screening-detected invasive breast cancers of any size.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The patient group was a consecutive series of 470 screening-detected invasive breast cancers that were diagnosed between 1988 and 1998. Data regarding tumor type, grade, maximum invasive diameter, lymph node status, and the presence or absence of vascular invasion were recorded, as were the mammographic features of the lesion. Survival was ascertained from hospital records and a cancer registry. Differences in survival were assessed using Kaplan-Meier survival curves with a log-rank test for difference. The significance of any correlations was assessed using the chi-square test and the chi-square test for trend. Multivariate analysis used a Cox proportional hazards model.

RESULTS
At univariate analysis, large invasive size, the presence of definite vascular invasion, high histologic grade, and nodal involvement were associated with poorer breast-cancer-specific survival. Mammographic spiculation (the presence of either a spiculated mass or distortion) was associated with more prolonged breast-cancer-specific survival. The presence or absence of mammographic comedo calcification did not influence breast-cancer-specific survival. In a Cox multivariate analysis that included those factors significant in univariate analysis, size, grade, nodal stage, and mammographic spiculation maintained their prognostic significance.

CONCLUSION
Mammographic spiculation is an independent, good prognostic factor for screening-detected invasive breast cancer. The mechanism of how mammographic spiculation confers a beneficial prognostic effect is not clear.


This research is focused around Italian defensive system on the southern coast of Sicily, in the territory of Ragusa. Object of this study is the system consisting in three coastal watchtowers, located in three hamlets in Santa Croce Camerina, a small town near Ragusa. These works of military engineering are nominated as Torre Vigliena in Punta Braccetto, Torre di Mezzo (or Torre di Pietro) in the homonym hamlet and Torre Scalambri in Punta Secca. Despite their poor state of preservation, these towers have always been an eye catcher for their territory. Today, observing this defensive system, one can note a variable state of decay: their original geometric characteristics and morphological shapes are not clearly legible. This work consist in a first historical investigation, useful for the temporal location and for the comprehension of the roles of these towers. Following, the study develops with the investigation of the environmental characteristics, to better understand the tower orientations and their observation devices. The comparison between the three towers and with other examples from Sicily, numerous not only on the coastal area, will create a volumetric hypothesis; this construction, positioned in the virtual world of Google Earth, will complete the analysis providing valid observation points for the evaluation of their placement on the coast. The study presented will be completed with an overview of the inner relations of the defensive tower system, regarding their volumes, geometry, materials and functions: this to better understand design strategy of settlement and to create a model comparable with other similar defensive configurations.


We present a model of financial crises that stem from endogenous complexity. We conceptualize complexity as banks' uncertainty about the financial network of cross exposures. As conditions deteriorate, cross exposures generate the possibility of a domino effect of bankruptcies. As this happens, banks face an increasingly complex environment since they need to understand a greater fraction of the financial network to assess their own financial health. Complexity dramatically amplifies banks' perceived counterparty risk, and makes relatively healthy banks reluctant to buy risky assets. The model also features a novel complexity externality.


Telepresence robots (TPRs) are versatile, remotely controlled vehicles that enable physical presence and human-to-human interaction over a distance. Thanks to improving hardware and dropping price points, TPRs enjoy the growing interest in various industries and application domains. Still, a satisfying experience remains key for their acceptance and successful adoption, not only in terms of enabling remote communication with others, but also in terms of managing robot mobility by means of remote navigation. This paper focuses on the latter aspect of remote operation which has been hitherto neglected. We present the results of an extensive subjective study designed to systematically assess remote navigation Quality of Experience (QoE) in the context of using a TPR live over the Internet. Participants were 'beamed' into a remote office space and asked to perform characteristic TPR remote operation tasks (driving, turning, parking). Visual and control dimensions of their experience were systematically impaired by altering network characteristics (bandwidth, delay and packet loss rate) in a controlled fashion. Our results show that users can differentiate well between visual and navigation/control aspects of their experience. Furthermore, QoE impairment sensitivity varies with the actual task at hand.


This paper presents a vision based cross sectional area measurement system suitable for in-process quality controlling of rubber profile extrusions via cross section measurements. The system is basically developed for solid trapezoidal shaped rubber profiles commonly used in the rubber tack manufacturing industry. Since the extrusion continuously comes out the extruder, it is impossible to view the cross section directly. So in the proposed system, a laser projected at an angle on to the profile is used which is finally observed by a camera. Laser projections seen in each camera image is processed in a general purpose note book computer by the use of a vision software to estimate the cross section area of the actual profile. The paper contains the development approach of the method, experimental results and further improvement tips. Several test results are also presented in order to give an idea of the system accuracy and repeatability. The technology with further developments can be used as closed loop feedbacks for efficient process controlling of rubber profile extruders.


The effectiveness of any drug involves many factors not just the pharmacological ingredients. The hidden benefits of a drug are termed the 'placebo effect', but because many of these factors cannot be explained scientifically they are often dismissed as irrelevant. However, factors including the attributes of the drug itself (shape, colour, taste), the relationship between the nurse dispensing the drug and the patient receiving it, the route of administration, the setting in which the drug is given and wider sociocultural beliefs surrounding the ingestion of medicines can all have a major influence on a drug's efficacy. This article explains the term 'placebo' and explores some of the factors contributing to the placebo effect in relation to oral medications. Nurses need to appreciate the influence of such factors in order to provide appropriate and holistic care to patients with different social and cultural beliefs and expectations.


A large fraction of white dwarfs (WDs) may host planets in their habitable zones. These planets may provide our best chance to detect bio-markers on a transiting exoplanet, thanks to the diminished contrast ratio between the Earth-sized WD and its Earth-sized planets. The JWST is capable of obtaining the first spectroscopic measurements of such planets, yet there are no known planets around WDs. Here we propose to take advantage of the unique capability of the Kepler spacecraft in the 2-Wheels mode to perform a transit survey that is capable of identifying the first planets in the habitable zone of a WD. We propose to obtain Kepler time-series photometry of 10,000 WDs in the SDSS imaging area to search for planets in the habitable zone. Thanks to the large field of view of Kepler, for the first time in history, a large number of WDs can be observed at the same time, which is essential for discovering transits. Our proposed survey requires a total of 200 days of observing time, and will find up to 100 planets in the WD habitable zone. This survey will maintain Kepler's spirit of searching for habitable Earths, but near new hosts. With few-day observations and minute-cadences per field, it will also open up a completely unexplored discovery space. In addition to planets, this survey is sensitive to pulsating WDs, as well as eclipsing short period stellar and substellar companions. These have important implications for constraining the double WD merger rate and their contribution to Type Ia supernovae and the gravitational wave foreground. Given the relatively low number density of our targets, this program can be combined with other projects that would benefit from high cadence and many-fields observations with Kepler, e.g. a transit survey of a magnitude-limited, complete sample of nearby M dwarfs or asteroseismology of variable stars (e.g. RR Lyrae) in the same fields.


Although EU directives were issued quite some time ago, implementation progresses slowly and at an unequal pace in Union member states. Certification of assessors, auditors and verifiers differs widely and is sometimes inordinately complicated; in some instances accountants have stepped into the "vacuum", in others "certification" documents are issued by private organizations. Uniformity is far from being the rule. This paper takes Belgium as a case study. In opposition to what has developed in the USA where federal authority can be completed, even toughened by US regulations, but remained national (viz. federal), in our example responsibility has nearly entirely been devolved to the next (regional) level of authority. A survey was conducted of EMAS implementation in 11 European States: its results are disclosed and commented on.


Background: Hyperacute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) as a severe and lethal disorder frequently occurs within 2 weeks followed by allogeneic haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). Molecular mechanisms underlying allo-HSCT triggered hyperacute GVHD remain elusive. Method: Using a genetic NADPH-oxidase deficient CGD murine hyperacute GVHD model, we measured the proportion and related function of donor-derived T cells and recipient-derived myeloid derived suppressor cells(MDSC) by flow cytometry. Reactive oxygen species(ROS), a key molecule of immunosuppressive function, was evaluated by luminometer in murine model and cohort patients who received allo-HSCT with or without hyperacute GVHD. We also performed related interventions such as MDSC depletion and ROS agonist to discern the clinical significance of MDSC-NADPH-ROS axis on immune homeostasis. The underlying mechanism on the process of hyperacute GVHD was determined by RNA-sequence assay and cytokine profiling. Results: Here we surprisedly found that MDSC derived ROS potently prevents hyperacute GVHD by suppressing T cells activation. Moreover, in CGD mice receiving transplantation, the donor derived T cells triggered an immense allo-reactive T cell response and gained killing capacity during hyperacute GVHD. MDSCs, a main cell type for ROS production, exhibited defective suppressive effects on CD8+ and CD4+ T cells. Similarly, pharmacological depletion of MDSCs by an anti-Gr1antibody reproduced the hyperacute GVHD phenotype as seen in CGD mice. Conversely, a gain-of-function approach using a ROS agonist prevented development of hyperacute GVHD. Transcriptional analysis showed that T-cell dysregulation during hyperacute GVHD. In a cohort of 17 patients who received allo-HSCT, ROS levels were reversely correlated with hyperacute GVHD development. Together, our data provide novel mechanistic insights into the MDSC-NADPH-ROS suppressive functions in development of allo-HSCT.Conclusion: On the basis of these findings, we propose a new therapeutic paradigm by delivery of ROS agonists for effective prevention and treatment of hyperacute GVHD.


Society services activity in kitchen waste management system has been implemented to the owner of restaurant and catering work in Tasikmalaya City area. This activity has colaborated with Indonesian Catering Associations (APJI). The rapid growth of restaurant and catering activities has created serious problems of energy requirement, water, and solid waste disposal. Less information and limited area become the problems in handling of kitchen waste. A simple technique is needed to overcome the environmental problem which is caused by kitchen waste. The components of kitchen waste include vegetables, peelings, fruit skins, spoilt fruit, cooked and uncooked meat, bones, fats, egg-shells, bread and pastries, cooked food waste, etc. Due to a high organic content, bioconversion technologies such as anaerobic digestion are more suitable to handle the waste convert to biogas. It would be reducing the LPG usage. For the kitchen wastewater, grease trap as pre-treatment followed by a physical and biological process is one of a simple process which can produce the effluent in accordance with government standard. The activities were continued by the socialization of 3R program (reuse, reduce, recycle) by doing demo utilization of kitchen solid waste such as packing material, mineral water bottle is made a handicraft. Knowledge transfer run well and the enthusiasm of the participants in following the activity were very good.


Several trials performed in the United States and Europe have demonstrated the efficacy of UFT (uracil and tegafur in a 4:1 molar combination) with oral leucovorin in the treatment of several tumor types, but particularly for advanced colorectal cancer. Phase III studies are under way in the United States to determine whether the combination of UFT with oral leucovorin is as effective as standard treatment, not only in the advanced setting but also in the adjuvant arena as well. This study is an open-label phase I trial to determine the safety of UFT and leucovorin, both given orally three times daily during concurrent fixed doses of pelvic radiotherapy, and to determine the safety of UFT plus oral leucovorin administration after pelvic radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and surgery. Standard treatment at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center for patients with T3, T4, and/ or > N1 rectal carcinoma is a preoperative continuous-infusion of fluorouracil (5-FU) with radiation therapy followed by four courses of 5-FU/ leucovorin postoperatively. Data suggest that UFT and leucovorin may offer a well-tolerated, fully oral treatment option that could be more convenient for patients. The trial presented herein provides data relative to the feasibility of preoperative oral UFT and leucovorin chemotherapy given during radiation therapy, and oral UFT and leucovorin chemotherapy following surgery in the treatment of patients with rectal cancer. This study is anticipated to serve as a pilot to develop an investigational treatment arm for a randomized trial of preoperative treatment of patients with rectal cancer.


As part of qualifying the Teledyne-e2v CCD273 for the visible imager (VIS) on the ESA Euclid mision, a front-illuminated CCD273 is tested in order to observe the Point Spread Function (PSF) response with respect to signal and voltage parameters. In order to achieve this an optical characterisation system with the ability to project flat-fields and precisely positioned and focused spot images is constructed and characterised. The Single-Pixel Photon Transfer Curve (SP-PTC) is devised in order to provide an analytical method for characterising the system PSF and the Brigher-Fatter Effect (BFE), a systematic spot-widening with signal, is observed. A technique for confirming the mechanism of the BFE via use of separate spot and flat-field illuminations in a single frame is devised in addition to parallel image clock electrode parametrisation. Device-specific optimisations are also presented regarding bright spot response and elimination of persistence following bright illuminations or charge occupation of the dielectric interface surface states.


Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurological disease featuring neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration in young adults. So far, most research has focused on the peripheral immune system, which appears to be the driver of acute relapses. Concurrently, the mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration in the progressive forms of the disease remain unclear. The complement system, a molecular component of the innate immunity, has been recently implicated in several neurological disorders, including MS. However, it is still unknown if the complement proteins detected in the central nervous system (CNS) are actively involved in perpetuating chronic inflammation and neurodegeneration. To address this knowledge gap, we compared two clinically distinct mouse models of MS: 1) proteolipid protein (PLP)-induced experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (rEAE) resembling a relapsing-remitting disease course, and 2) Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus-induced demyelinating disease (TMEV-IDD) resembling a progressive disease. Real-time PCR was performed in the spinal cord of rEAE mice, TMEV-IDD mice and age-matched sham controls to quantify gene expression for a broad range of complement components. In both experimental models, we found significantly increased expression of complement factors, such as C1q, C3, CfB, and C3aR. We showed that the complement system, specifically the classical complement pathway, was associated with TMEV-IDD pathogenesis, as the expression of C1q, C3 and C3aR1 were all significantly correlated to a worse disease outcome (all P≤0.0168). In line with this finding, C1q and C3 deposition was observed in the spinal cord of TMEV-IDD mice. Furthermore, C1q deposition was detected in spinal cord regions characterized by inflammation, demyelination, and axonal damage. Conversely, activation of the classical complement cascade seemed to result in protection from rEAE (C1q: P=0.0307). Interestingly, the alternative pathway related to a worse disease outcome in rEAE (CFb: P=0.0006). Overall, these results indicate potential divergent roles for the complement system in MS. The chronic-progressive disease form is more reliant on the activation of the classic complement pathway, while protecting from acute relapses. Conversely, relapsing MS appears more likely affected by the alternative pathway. Understanding the functions of the complement system in MS is critical and can lead to better, more targeted therapies in the future.


An experimental technique is described from which plasma velocity distributions have been determined. The technique consists of dropping a line of ball bearings of 3, 4 or 5 mm through a horizontal arc and recording the horizontal deflection of the balls by allowing them to strike a carbon paper. Multiple drops through repeated arcs enabled a deflection curve to be compiled. This curve was then subjected to an Abel inversion so that the radial variation of aerodynamic drag on the balls could be determined. By iterative techniques it was then possible to calculate a plasma velocity distribution compatible both with the Reynold's number and the radial deflection profile. A comparison with Wienecke's results obtained using photographic techniques on a 200 A arc showed good agreement, although the maximum deflection recorded was less than 3 mm with balls of 3 mm diameter. It was not possible to increase the deflection resolution by using smaller balls, since the scatter in striking position even in the absence of an arc increased unacceptably for balls of 2 mm diameter. An examination of the validity of the assumptions involved and associated errors is included. In particular the disturbing influence of the ball within the plasma is considered to be small. A more serious difficulty, pointed out by Kimura and Kanzawa concerns the difficulty of assigning the effective temperature and Reynold's number which determines the drag coefficient, since the ball and plasma boundary layer are necessarily at different temperatures. It is argued that the error involved in assigning the undisturbed plasma temperature is small. The overall error in the velocity distributions, which reach to 1500 m s−1 for the 2160 A arc, is considered to be about ±11%.


Angiogenesis has long been established as a key element in the pathophysiology of tumor growth and metastasis. Increasingly, new molecularly targeted antiangiogenic drugs are being developed in the fight against cancer. These drugs bring with them a need for an accurate means of diagnosing tumor angiogenesis and monitoring response to treatment. Imaging techniques can offer this in a noninvasive way, while also providing functional information about the tumor. Among the many clinical imaging techniques available, MRI alone can provide relatively good spatial resolution and specificity, without ionizing radiation and with limited side effects. Arterial spin labeling (ASL) and blood oxygenation level‐dependent (BOLD) imaging techniques can be employed to confer indirect measures of angiogenesis, such as blood flow and blood volume, without the need for external contrast agents. Dynamic contrast‐enhanced (DCE)‐MRI is rapidly emerging as a standard method for directly measuring angiogenesis during angiogenesis‐inhibitor drug trials. As macromolecular MR contrast agents become available, they will inevitably be utilized in the assessment of tumor perfusion and vessel permeability. Meanwhile, technological advances have made imaging at a molecular level a possibility. They have brought the potential to directly target MR contrast agents to markers of angiogenesis, such as the αvβ3 integrin. Before this is used clinically, however, substantial gains in sensitivity brought about by improved coils, pulse sequences, and contrast agents will be needed. Herein we discuss the techniques currently available for MRI of angiogenesis, along with their respective advantages and disadvantages, and what the future holds for this evolving field of imaging. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Background: Approximately 60% of term and 80% of preterm neonates develop jaundice in first week of life and significant neonatal hyperbilirubinemia occurs in 3-5% of healthy term neonates. Objective:  To assess the cord blood albumin level as a tool to screen the risk of development of subsequent significant neonatal hyperbilirubinemia in term neonate. Subjects and Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted over a period of 2 years on 1040 healthy term neonates. Demographic profile, relevant maternal and neonatal information were recorded. Measurement of cord blood albumin, blood group/Rh typing and serum bilirubin at the end of 24 & 72 hours was done to predict significant hyperbilirubinemia. Results: A total of 1040 healthy term neonates were enrolled with male to female ratio of 1.4:1. 120 neonates had developed significant hyperbilirubinemia and required phototherapy while 2 of them  did not respond to phototherapy and needed exchange transfusion. Out of 245(23.55%) neonates with low cord albumin level (<2.8gm/dl), 104(42.44%) neonates had significant hyperbilirubinemia at the end of 24 hours with sensitivity 86.67%, specificity 84.67%, positive predictive value 42.45% and negative predictive value 97.66%. While 105 (42.85%) neonates had significant jaundice at the end of 72 hours with cord blood albumin <2.8 gm/dl with sensitivity 87.50%, specificity 84.78% positive predictive value-42.86% and negative predictive value-98.11%. Conclusion: Neonates with cord blood albumin level more than 2.8gm/dl can be safely discharged early whereas neonates with albumin levels <2.8g/dl will need close follow up to check for development of significant jaundice. Hence cord blood albumin levels help to determine and predict the possibility of significant jaundice among healthy term neonates.


The biomedical scientific literature comprises a crucial, sometimes life-saving, natural language resource whose size is accelerating over time. The information in this resource tends to follow a style of discourse that is intended to provide scientific explanations for various pieces of evidence derived from experimental findings. Studying the rhetorical structure of the narrative discourse could enable more powerful information extraction methods to automatically construct models of scientific argument from full-text papers. In this paper, we apply richly contextualized deep representation learning to the analysis of scientific discourse structures as a clause-tagging task. We improve the current state-of-the-art clauselevel sequence tagging over text clauses for a set of discourse types (e.g. "hypothesis", "result", "implication", etc.) on scientific paragraphs. Our model uses contextualized embeddings, word-to-clause encoder, and clauselevel sequence tagging models and achieves F1 performance of 0.784.


The addition of the protein inhibitor cycloheximide, at concentrations which suppress virus replication, to HeLa cell monolayers infected with reovirus type 2 results in the appearance of accelerated cytopathic effects (CPE). At high multiplicity of infection, CPE appeared after a lag period of 2 to 3 hr and increased progressively, until by 12 hr the entire monolayer had rounded and sloughed off. During this same period, both the uninfected cycloheximide-treated and untreated virus-infected controls exhibited no CPE. The phenomenon is affected by the kind of cell species employed and can be reversed if the antibiotic is removed within 1 hr after exposure. The evidence obtained through studies in which specific metabolic inhibitors and direct biochemical analyses were used suggests that the accelerated CPE observed in cycloheximide-treated reovirus-infected cells is the consequence of the combined inhibition of the synthesis of both cellular protein and ribonucleic acid. The accelerated CPE is also induced in the antibiotic-treated cells by reovirus serotypes 1 and 3.


textabstractDams have proven their usefulness in preventing and mitigating floods, and water scarcity and generating electricity. They are indispensable in present society. But at the same time, they cause serious ecological, social and economical problems. Consequently we have to live with a dams dilemma, but how? Dams are changing (natural) rivers. In the decision making process the qualities and values of (natural) rivers are structurally underestimated.. These are identified. It is not the dam but the river ecosystem that has to fulfil so many wishes at the same time. Therefore it is the watersystem (on the scale of a riverbasin), and not the dam that has to be focussed on. The dam is only an instrument for
management. By constructing a dam, essential environmental boundary conditions are changed. These changes cause negative effects but in the mean time they are challenging because they offer new opportunities. Pre-condition is a holistic systemic approach relying on an integrated water resource management, instead of the current fragmentation in managing water. Growing ecological knowledge and practical application (eco-pragmatism) will therefore play an increasing important role in
watermanagement. Directed ecosystem development of watersystem will become within reach. The aims for (water) management of rivers are summarised. The universal principles in watermanagement are identified and applied.. Alternatives are put forward. Finally some recommendations are formulated.


The objective of the paper is to present collaborative teams construction able to be used in education and software companies based on alternative methodologies. Starting from previous dedicated developed applications based on Enneagram and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), new methodologies, new elements concerning typologies based on oriental and occidental cultures, other alternative methodologies are analyzed. Based on the Jungian-Keirsey system many companies integrated MBTI that offers some potentialities in collaborative education and working teams. More refinements can be realized considering correspondences with the nine-enneagram typologies, the Belbin's nine clusters of behavior, and other elements based on occidental zodiac and oriental inner discovery. All these elements should be integrated in modern companies to improve the efficiency within harmonious employer's activity. An open web architecture proposal based on components, services and micro-services will be used to integrate all facilities.


Objective: to identify the social representations of leprosy among its carriers. Methods: qualitative study based on the Theory of Social Representations, conducted with 40 subjects with leprosy, divided into two groups (male and female). Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and free observation, submitted to thematic content analysis. Two categories were formulated. Results: it was found different aspects between men and women. Women highlighted issues related to the domestic sphere, care with family and body image; men signaled changes in routine and adaptation to the new condition. Conclusion: The health and especially the nursing model, must seek to understand the daily life of being a leprosy carrier, learning to deal with the differences in each individual, using educational activities that advance toward comprehensive care to the human being. Descriptors: Leprosy; Integrality in Health; Nursing.


2-Methyl-2-prop-2-ynylcyclohexane-1,3-dione (8), prepared by alkylation of the potassium salt of 2-methylcyclohexane-1,3-dione (7) with prop-2-ynyl bromide in dimethylformamide, gave 2-acetonyl-2-methylcyclohexane-1,3-dione (1) on treatment with mercurated Amberlite IR 120 resin in methanol. An attempt to achieve the same result by use of boron trifluoride–ether complex and red mercury(II) oxide in methanol gave methyl 4-(3,5-dimethyl-2-furyl)butyrate (9). Attempts to cyclodehydrate compound (1) with aqueous 5% potassium hydroxide or potassium t-butoxide furnished an isomeric acid which spectral data indicated could be either 3-(2,4-dimethyl-5-oxocyclopent-1-enylpropionic acid (2) or 2-methyl-4-isopropylidene-3-oxocyclopentane-carboxylic acid (4). Both these acids were synthesised independently and the product of alkali cleavage was shown to be compound (2).