Simple Summary The welfare of cows in traditional cow shelters (gaushalas), was assessed on the basis of the measurement of animal- and resource-based welfare parameters and description of the herd characteristics by the manager. A description of the condition of the cows and the resources provided to them is provided in this cross-sectional study. Small space allowance per cow, non-uniform flooring, little freedom of movement, and lack of access to pastures were the key welfare issues observed in the study. Very few cows were recorded as lame, but about half had carpal joint lesions and slightly less had lesions from interacting with shelter furniture. This study will inform the stakeholders about the concept of welfare auditing of the cow shelters, for better welfare and management of the cows in the shelters. Abstract Cow shelters (gaushalas) are unique traditional institutions in India, where aged, infertile, diseased, rescued, and abandoned cows are sheltered for the rest of their life, until they die of natural causes. These institutions owe their existence to the reverence for the cow as a holy mother goddess for Hindus, the majority religion in India. There is a religious and legal prohibition on cow slaughter in most Indian states. A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the welfare of cows in these shelters, which included the development of a welfare assessment protocol, based on direct animal-based measurements, indirect resource-based assessments, and description of the herd characteristics by the manager. A total of 54 cow shelters in 6 states of India were studied and 1620 animals were clinically examined, based on 37 health, welfare, and behavior parameters. Thirty resources provided to the animals, including housing, flooring, feeding, watering, ease of movement, cleanliness of facilities, lighting, temperature, humidity, and noise levels in the sheds were measured. The study showed that the shelters contained mostly non-lactating cows, with a mean age of 11 years. The primary welfare problems appeared to be different to those in Western countries, as the major issues found in the shelters were facility-related—the low space allowance per cow, poor quality of the floors, little freedom of movement, and a lack of pasture grazing. Very few cows were recorded as lame, but about one half had carpal joint hair loss and swelling, and slightly less had lesions from interacting with shelter furniture. Some shelters also had compromised biosecurity and risks of zoonosis. These issues need to be addressed to aid in ensuring the acceptability of these institutions to the public. This welfare assessment protocol aims to address the welfare issues and problems in the shelters, by providing feedback for improvement to the stakeholders.


The aim of present work was to screen traditional claim of methanolic extract of Pongamia pinnata (PP) leaves for its antiarthritic and analgesic activity. The antiarthritic activity of different doses of PP extract (100,200 and 400 mg/kg) in rats were evaluated on 7th and 14th day of treatment. The paw volume displacement, radiographic analysis, histopathological investigation and secondary changes were measured, as a mark of activity. The analgesic activity of the different doses of the extract in rats was evaluated using hot plate model. The PP extract at the dose of 200 and 400mg/kg showed significant reduction in paw volume on 7th and 14th day of treatment and also significant effect in radiographic and histopathological analysis but, none of the doses of PP extract showed any significant effect as analgesic.


Although historically cultivated by small farmers, bean crops are now cultivated in large scale to increase productivity, which involves varied levels of technology in practices such as irrigation and direct sowing, as well as developed soil management and traditional practices. Along with the adoption of these techniques, an increase in irrigation efficiency has occurred, which aims to meet the water requirements of the crop throughout its life cycle without water wastage. The main objective of this study was to study the effects of different irrigation depths during two phases of the bean crop cycle and the behavior of cv. IAC-Alvorada during winter in the first and second year of direct sowing in Botucatu – SP, a southeastern region of Brazil. The experimental soil was classified as a red distroferric nitosol with a clayey texture. The delineated experimental design consisted of complete randomized blocks (each: 1.8×4.0 m), 16 treatments, and a witness with four replications. Irrigation treatments were performed daily with the assistance of a Class A tank. The following characteristics were evaluated: the productivity of the grains, number of pods per plant, number of grains per plant, number of grains per pod, grain yield, weight of 100 grains, empty pods per plant, and water use efficiency. The number of pods and the grain yield decreased with an increase in water stress at a 5% probability. Reductions in the applied water depth in the vegetative phase did not interfere with grain productivity. Reductions in water in the reproductive phase had the greatest effect on the productivity of grains and the number of pods per plant. The highest productivity was 3,322.27 kg ha and resulted from the combination of an application depth of 40% in the vegetative phase and 100% in the reproductive phase.


The effect of pertussis toxin (PT) on transforming growth factor β1 (TGFβl)‐induced proto‐oncogene expression was investigated in AKR‐2B fibroblasts. PT substantially abolished c‐sis and c‐myc mRNA expression following TGFβl stimulation. This inhibitory effect was specific for TGFβ1‐stimulated proto‐oncogene expression and associated with the ADP‐ribosylation of a 41‐kDa substrate. Actinomycin D decay and nuclear run‐on experiments demonstrated that the inhibitory effects of PT are a result of decreased transcriptional activation and not to an increased decay of proto‐oncogene message. PT did not, however, affect TGFβl‐stimulated fibronectin and collagen mRNA accumulation nor did it have any inhibitory effect on TGFβl‐induced morphological transformation. These data indicate that TGFβl‐stimulated gene expression is coupled to multiple pathways distinguished by their sensitivity to PT.


The softening behaviors of concrete have been the object of numerous experimental and numerical studies, because the load carrying capacity of cracked concrete structure is not zero. Numerical studies are devoted to the investigation of three-dimensional softening behaviors of concrete on the basis of a viscoplastic theory, which may be able to represent the effects of plasticity and also of rheology. In order to properly describe material behaviors corresponding to different stress levels, two surfaces in stress space are adopted; one is a yield surface, and the other is a failure or bounding surface. When a stress path reaches the failure surface, it is considered that the softening behaviors are initiated as micro-cracks coalesce and are simulated by assuming that the actual strain increments in the post-peak region are less than the equivalent viscoplastic strain increment. The experimental studies and the finite element analyses have been carried out under the displacement control. Numerically simulated results indicate that the model is able to predict the essential characteristics of concrete behaviors such as the non-linearity, stiffness degradation, different behaviors in tension and compression, and specially dilatation under uniaxial compression.


Background: Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma (MPM) is a biologically aggressive tumour leading to a dismal prognosis, for which novel and/or additional treatment modalities are needed. In contrast to other solid malignancies, TP53 mutations are extremely rare in MPM. However, in TP53 wild-type tumours, the function of P53 can be deleted by the E3 ubiquitin protein ligase homolog (Mdm2), which is overexpressed in several tumour types including lung carcinomas. Material and methods: The protein expression of P53 and Mdm2 was assessed in five different mesothelioma cell lines by immunocytochemsitry. Moreover, Mdm2 and P53 expression was investigated by immunohistochemistry in tissue microarrays (TMA) from 61 patients with MPM of varying subtypes and survival analyses were performed. Results: In three out of five mesothelioma cell lines, nuclear reactivity for Mdm2 was demonstrated. 13 out of 61 (21.3%) MPM tissue specimens showed nuclear expression of Mdm2. Mdm2 protein expression was observed in epithelioid MPM only and in epithelioid parts of biphasic MPM. Expression of the P53 protein could not be detected. Statistical analysis of the Cox-regression showed a significant association between Mdm2 expression and survival in a linear (p=0.0242) and logarithmic scale (p=0.0226). Conclusions: Mdm2 protein expression was detected in epithelioid MPM only, and is significantly associated with poor survival in MPM of epithelioid and biphasic subtypes compared to Mdm2 negative tumours, leading to ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation of functional P53 protein.


We compared the nocturnal plasma prolactin (PRL) and beta-endorphin (B-E) concentrations prior to and after sleep deprivation (SD) in eight epileptic patients with complex partial seizures. After the period of SD (1) the mean number of interictal epileptiform discharges and the mean plasma PRL levels showed a significant rise during light non-REM stages of sleep, and (2) mean nocturnal plasma PRL and B-E concentrations showed a moderate rise during the first few hours of sleep, significant only for plasma PRL. In a patient with multiple complex partial seizures during sleep, the levels of plasma PRL and B-E concentrations were closely related to ictal discharges. The data obtained in this stress-free environment suggest a centrally mediated interaction between the release of PRL and B-E, in relation to epileptic discharges.


Study of seepage flow through soil strata of convergent confined aquifer is of complex nature. An attempt has been made to analyse the resistance of fluid flow through convergent duct with dimensions along transverse direction varying from 1000 mm at top and 200 mm at bottom and the height of the duct along longitudinal direction is 1050 mm and width of duct between two parallel confining surfaces is 200 mm filled with porous media of size 14.50 mm crushed rocks for better understanding purpose for certain extent. The total energy loss per unit weight of flowing fluid through boundary of the convergent duct and along the centre of the convergent duct for different bed slopes varying from 600 to 900 are analysed. The variation of Darcy parameter, ac, and non-Darcy parameter, bc, which are influenced by the properties of the fluid and porous media, are determined from a plot of i/V versus V along the longitudinal direction of converging duct and along the transfers direction of converging duct are studied to explore the indescribable complex nature of resistance flow through porous media. It is also investigated how the volume flux of fluid is affected when it flows through convergent duct when the media is being packed with porous media with varying bed slopes from 600 to 900.


The contributions in this book reflect the rapid developments both in the industry and in science. The nutritional aspects of the potato tuber are discussed as well as the volatile consumer moods in saturated or new markets. Latest developments in potato breeding and seed potato production are highlighted and these contributions underline how these potato sectors have been revolutionized. The present and future role of decision support systems in managing inputs of nitrogen and water and in managing pests (and thus in making potato production more sustainable) is described. Several innovations in technology development in potato production and storage are illustrated. Experts provide the latest news on crop protection, with a focus on developments in the control of the potato brown rot bacterium and late blight. Finally the trends in potato trade are described.


Objective: This study aimed to determine the carriage of extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) genes in third-generation cephalosporin-resistant (3GCR) Escherichia (E.) coli from frequently contacted surfaces, wastewater and disinfectant-cleaning solutions of selected healthcare institutions in South-western Nigeria. Methods: Samples were collected over three months for the isolation of 3GCR E. coli on MacConkey agar containing 6 μg/mL of cefotaxime. 3GCR E. coli isolates were identified by detection of uidA gene and susceptibility to selected antibiotics was performed using disc-diffusion method. Detection of ESBL genes was done using primer-specific PCR. Results: A total of 22 ESBL-producing E. coli (11 each from the frequently contacted surfaces and wastewater) were obtained from the pool of 3GCR isolates in this study. No isolate was recovered from the disinfectant-cleaning solution. All the ESBL-producing E. coli obtained from the frequently contacted surfaces and wastewater were multidrug resistant, with complete resistance observed to ampicillin, cefotaxime, cefpodoxime, tetracycline and ertapenem. The ESBL genotyping showed that 54.5% carried blaCTX-M, 63.6% carried blaTEM and 9.1% carried blaSHV in isolates from the frequently contacted surfaces, while 63.6%, 9.1% and 18.2% carried blaCTX-M, blaTEM and blaSHV, respectively, in the isolates obtained from the wastewater. Conclusions: This study showed a high burden of multidrug resistance E. coli on frequently contacted surfaces and wastewater of the studied healthcare institutions, indicating the need for good hygiene and proper mitigation measures to prevent potential public health and environmental challenges.


The paper presents the results of studies of the influence of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on radio engineering (reflection coefficient), electrophysical (surface electrical resistance), thermomechanical and strength properties of fiberglass based on epoxy binder. The compositions and technological parameters of the manufacture of fiberglass samples are proposed. The change in the electrophysical and radio technical characteristics of fiberglass samples with increasing concentrations of CNTs is shown.


In nineteenth to twenty-first-century Lithuania, the exhibits of almost all museums reflect a certain aspect of Lithuanian history. These exhibits are the quintessence of museum concepts and are presupposed by society and the groups within it, historical memory, scientific and ideological discourses. The most important themes of Lithuanian history exhibits include Lithuanian prehistory, past glory, statehood, resistance to foreign occupation, repressions, exile, trauma, struggle for independence and its restoration and certain personalities who were involved in these processes. Exhibits of Lithuanian prehistory have remained constant since the nineteenth century. Other tendencies of Lithuanian history exhibits in museums have been shaped by time, ideology and politics. Since the Republic of Lithuania in the Interwar period (1918–1940), popular museum themes include Vytautas the Great, the Battle of Žalgiris, medieval castles, rebellions against Russia and especially the prohibition of the Lithuanian press in the nineteenth century. Since the second half of the twentieth century, the musealisation of the memory of personalities, especially writers, is intensifying. After restoring Lithuanian independence in 1990, museums have tackled the acute themes of Soviet occupation, anti-Soviet resistance, exile, trauma and Lithuania's pursuit of independence. Current museological representations of Lithuanian history are rising, fostered by concepts of "living history" and "the past for the present".


ABSTRACT Chen, G.F., 2020. Analysis on risk sources and constraints of marine agriculture development in China. In: Bai, X. and Zhou, H. (eds.), Advances in Water Resources, Environmental Protection, and Sustainable Development. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 115, pp. 244-246. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. This paper analyzes the common misunderstandings of increasing aquaculture of large surface fish and fishery environment protection, and puts forward some countermeasures in combination with the corresponding misunderstandings. Although traditional marine fisheries management aims to address the general reduction in target species, overfishing has changed the entire food chain and has complex potential chain effects. Most fisheries are concentrated in predators on the surface. The strength of the fishery is, for example, to capture dominant species in the feed fishery in the middle of the food chain. Peru's Theragra chalcogram or Engraulis ring can reduce the prey of predators (such as fish, marine mammals and seabirds). The fishery not only removes specific nutrient-level biomass from the food network, but also has an indirect effect, such as removing targets Species, change habitats, adjust biological behavior and provide welfare for scavengers.


Effective human learning depends on a wide selection of educational materials that align with the learner's current understanding of the topic. While the Internet has revolutionized human learning or education, a substantial resource accessibility barrier still exists. Namely, the excess of online information can make it challenging to navigate and discover high-quality learning materials. In this paper, we propose the educational resource discovery (ERD) pipeline that automates web resource discovery for novel domains. The pipeline consists of three main steps: data collection, feature extraction, and resource classification. We start with a known source domain and conduct resource discovery on two unseen target domains via transfer learning. We first collect frequent queries from a set of seed documents and search on the web to obtain candidate resources, such as lecture slides and introductory blog posts. Then we introduce a novel pretrained information retrieval deep neural network model, query-document masked language modeling (QD-MLM), to extract deep features of these candidate resources. We apply a tree-based classifier to decide whether the candidate is a positive learning resource. The pipeline achieves F1 scores of 0.94 and 0.82 when evaluated on two similar but novel target domains. Finally, we demonstrate how this pipeline can benefit an application: leading paragraph generation for surveys. This is the first study that considers various web resources for survey generation, to the best of our knowledge. We also release a corpus of 39,728 manually labeled web resources and 659 queries from NLP, Computer Vision (CV), and Statistics (STATS).


Abstract This study compares the variation of richness, abundance and diversity of butterfly species along an atmospheric pollution gradient and during different seasons in the Monterrey Metropolitan Area, Mexico. Likewise, we analyse the influence of environmental variables on the abundance and richness of butterfly species and quantify the indicator species for each atmospheric pollution category. Based on spatial analysis of the main atmospheric pollutants and the vegetation cover conditions, four permanent sampling sites were delimited. The sampling was carried out monthly in each of the sites using aerial entomological nets and ten Van Someren-Rydon traps during May 2018 to April 2019. A total of 8,570 specimens belonging to six families and 209 species were collected. Both species richness and abundance were significantly different between all sites, except for the comparison between the moderate contamination site and the high contamination site; diversity decreased significantly with increasing levels of contamination. The seasonality effect was absent on species richness; however, for species abundance the differences between dry season and rainy season were significant in each site excepting the moderate contamination site. Regarding diversity, the seasonal effect showed different distribution patterns according to each order. Relative humidity, vegetation cover and three pollution variables were highly correlated with both abundance and species richness. From the total number of species found, only 47 had a significant indicator value. This study constitutes the first faunistic contribution of butterflies as indicators of the environmental quality of urban areas in Mexico, which will help in the development of strategies for the management, planning and conservation of urban biodiversity.


The Severity of Disabilities Scale (SDS) of the ICIDH reflects the degree to which an individual's ability to perform a certain activity is restricted. This paper describes the application of two models from item response theory (IRT), the graded response model and the partial credit model, in order to derive a tentative proposal for a revised SDS. The key ingredient of the approach is to scale existing disability items obtained in different studies on a common scale by exploiting the overlap. Both IRT models are fitted to a linked data set containing items for measuring walking disability. Based on these solutions, a tentative SDS is constructed. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications, limitations and advantages of the approach. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


As Thailand and Vietnam have long had mutual relations, there are a number of Thai books written about Vietnam, including academic and historical documents, travelogues, novels, and short stories. This paper examines works of contemporary Thai fiction to present a new and outstanding image of Vietnam in a Thai perception – an "opening and changing" country – from factual data and from literary textual analysis. First, it provides readers with the socio-historical background of the Renovation Era of Vietnam after 1986 and the Thai-Vietnamese relationship. Next, the main part explains how the image of "opening and changing" Vietnam is portrayed through four aspects: (1) physical changes in landscape, cityscape, and economic development; (2) changes in lifestyle and traditions; (3) openness in political views and international relations; and (4) changes in social structures and values. Lastly, the paper will discuss the novelty of this image compared with that of earlier Thai literature and other contemporary books, as well as the factors contributing to this image. Overall, the image of Vietnam in transition is not static but has developed dynamically from the early phase to the later stage of the reform process. Images of a "changing and opening" Vietnam portrayed in Thai contemporary fiction reflect the changes of Vietnam itself, the development of Thai-Vietnamese relations, and the Thai perception of Vietnam under a new historical context.


Given a certain model of atmosphere, the position of resonant factor of infrasonic waves is figured out, by using the theory of BUDDEN full waves and some certain bound conditions. Therefore, the two resonant peaks in the infrasonic frequency structure can be interpreted.


PURPOSE OF THE STUDY The purpose of this study is to reveal the waste of water by medical staff hand scrubbing preoperatively in the operation theatre, draw attention to the water consumption with small precautions. The study compares motion-sensitive sensor tap with an uncensored classic tap, to assess the difference of water consumption during hand scrubbing. MATERIAL AND METHODS The presented study compared two groups; hand scrubbing with sensory tap was enrolled as group A and classic tap with running water was enrolled as group B. Three participants were included in each group. Operation faucets with a motion-sensitive sensor and timekeeper were used in group A. Running water from a tap in 10 seconds was measured with the help of a measuring cup. The water amount after 3 minutes of washing was also measured. The difference between the two obtained data was compared. The obtained data were also multiplied to the global surgical data. RESULTS Measurements were performed with a measuring cup and it was measured that 1,250 ml of water is running from faucets in 10 seconds. In group A, faucets were open for 23 seconds whereas in group B faucets were open for 180 seconds. In group A, water utilization was 2,875 ml per person (8,625 ml for three), in group B was the water utilization of 22,500 ml per person (67,500 ml for three). Regarding this data for a single operation, the consumption difference between the two groups was measured as 58,875 ml. The total count of major surgery worldwide per year is reported to 321,500,000. When this number is multiplied with the obtained data, it is calculated that the total amount of water to be saved between the two groups is 18,928,313 m3. That is equal to one year of water consumption of a city with 125,000 inhabitants. CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, as healthcare professionals, it is possible to save enough water as a medium-sized city by changing our handwashing habits in the operation rooms. As a result, water-conserving systems and hand scrubbing education can be very effective in using the natural resources economically and protecting these resources. Key words: water, operation theatre, washing.


Since obesity is a chronic disorder, a long-term approach is essential, and modern obesity pharmacotherapy means medicating as an adjunct to diet and physical activity not only to achieve weight loss, but also to maintain it. Sibutramine is a US Food and Drug Administration- and European Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products-approved medication with demonstrated efficacy in long-term obesity management. It is a norepinephrine-serotonin reuptake inhibitor and produces weight loss by a dual mechanism: reduction of food intake and increase in energy expenditure. Sibutramine is given once daily in doses ranging from 5-15 mg. The amount of weight lost with sibutramine is related to both the dose of the drug and the intensity of the behavioral therapy component. Sibutramine produces a weight loss from baseline of more than 5% in over 75% of patients who are prescribed 15 mg daily, and it produces weight loss that averages 5-8% from baseline, independently of the behavioral approach. Weight loss with sibutramine is associated with improvement in waist circumference, lipids, glycemic control, uric acid and health-related quality of life. Sibutramine use is associated with small increases in mean resting blood pressure, but the individual response is variable and not all patients will have blood pressure increases. The drug is also associated with small increases in mean heart rate and should therefore not be used in patients with a history of cardiac arrhythmia. Because it is a serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, sibutramine should not be used with monoamine oxidase inhibitors or noradrenergic agents, and caution is advised in prescribing sibutramine to patients on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants. Given the growing appreciation for the health benefits that can be achieved with even a relatively small weight loss, physicians must become adept in office approaches to achieve modest weight loss. Sibutramine is a useful adjunct to diet and physical activity approaches and can help selected patients achieve and maintain weight loss with concomitant health benefits.


Luvanda FT, Lyimo ME. 2018. Evaluation of antimicrobial and antioxidant attributes of Tanzanian honey from two agroecological areas. Biofarmasi J Nat Prod Biochem 16: 69-82. In order to appraise the characteristic of Tanzanian honey based on antioxidant attributes and antimicrobial activity on bacteria and fungi in relation to its physicochemical attributes, the study was conducted. The examined honey was sampled from two kinds of bees namely stinging and stingless honey bees and was gathered from the western area (Tabora and Shinyanga) and the central area (Singida and Dodoma). They were examined for their antimicrobial activity, anti-oxidant attributes (total phenol, vitamin C) and physicochemical attributes of pH, color, pH, sugar, and minerals. 54 % of tested honey samples inhibited microbial growth but the remaining 46% did not inhibit the growth. Microbial impediment areas range from 8.5 to 14.16 mm (stinging honey bee) and 10.56-15.13 mm (stingless honey bee). Honey yielded by stinging honey bee in the cities of Shinyanga, Bukombe, and Nzega and the cities of Singida and Issuna is more effective in impeding microbial growth than that of other cities. Candida albicans is more sensitive (23.1%) to honey of stingless honey bee, followed by Staphylococcus saprophyticus (33%), Salmonella typhi (32%), Escherichia coli (19.2%) and Aspergillus flavus (16.0%). The substance of antioxidant, total phenol and vitamin C in honey of stingless honey bee were importantly (P <0.05) higher than that of honey of stinging honey bee. Antioxidants (FRAP) ranged from 322.16-973.57 µMFe (II) /100g, total phenols was from 13.87-33.55 mg /100g and vitamin C was from 2.54-10.99 mg /100. At pH value, there was no substantial dissimilarity (P> 0.05) between the two samples of honey. Potassium possesses the highest value while Zn possesses the lowest value in samples of honey of stinging and stingless honey bee. The gradation color of honey of stingless honey bee ranged from extra light amber-light amber while that of honey of stinging bee ranged from white water-light amber. There was a positive and substantial correlation (P <0.001) between the color of honey, antioxidants, total phenol, and mineral substance. Stingless honey bee's honey from the western region is superior to stinging honey bee's honey in antioxidant and antimicrobial attributes and therefore is prompted to be utilized as a valuable diet product, preventive and curative medicine.


For most practical problems, the magnetic structure analysis cannot predict the quantitative relationship between the coercive force and the structural state of the material of goods on the basis of theoretical models only, due to a significant number of factors that affect the experimental estimate. Therefore, the aim of research is to determine the influence of the main factors for the products of different sizes, taking into account the structure, phase composition, geometry and surface conditions on the reliability of the estimates. Measurements of the coercive force in the production were carried out using the most common portable Coercimeters MRC-C with two types of superimposed transformers and 6 kinds of pole pieces, designed to assess the products of different size and shape. The developed method of research has helped to clarify the existing and establish new dependencies of influence of the shape and the ratio of the cross-section area of product and the pole pieces, the gap between the electromagnet and the product, the microgeometry of the contact, the structure of alloys, the reliability of the estimates of the magnetic parameter through the definition of transition coefficient when using pole pieces of various form. Comprehensive research found that the influence of the studied factors could reduce the accuracy of the measured indices of the magnetic characteristics up to 60%. The research results can be applied in the production while implementing the technology of nondestructive testing of the quality by magnetic method


The purpose of the article is the solution of the problem of activating the intelligence of students, it seems especially relevant as an innovative technological stage that promotes young chess players to a higher level of realization of creative inclinations and abilities, intellectual potential.
The following methods are used in the learning process: observation, testing, conversation, game methods, methods for solving chess problems, writing games, designing and solving original chess problems, modern information technologies, participation in competitions, including the Internet competitions, viewing and analyzing the content of chess games, participation in tournaments and competitions, P. Torrens creativity test «Finish a painting».
Results. The Torrence test, conducted at the beginning and at the end of the study, determined the effectiveness of the experiment. We got a result that differs from the initial one: if the number of children with a low level was 27%, then at the final stage up to 19%, some of them moved to the middle level, some went to the group with a high level. The number of students with a high level at the beginning – 12%, at the end of the experiment – 21%.
Conclusions. The intellectual activity of younger schoolchildren in the process of learning to play chess suggests that the student demonstrates the ability to break from the traditional solution and type of tasks to another type of tasks – original, non-standard, having a different proof algorithm, significantly improves the quality of training of young chess players, activates mental activity.
The main thing is the active internal activity of the child himself, the realization of intellectual abilities, the development of inclinations, their transformation into intellectual abilities, unconventional, contradictory, creative thinking, the presence of a life goal to achieve chess heights, which determines his further own nature of activity.


Five Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae strains isolated from pathological lesions of porcine pleuropneumonia in Hungary could not be assigned to any of the accepted 15 serovars. Using hyperimmune serum raised against these unty-pable-serovar A. pleuropneumoniae strains in rabbits, indirect haemagglutination tests proved that they form a distinct group and there is no cross-reaction between them and the type strains of A. pleuropneumoniae. All five strains harboured the toxin-associated genes for the production (apxIA) and secretion (apxIB) of ApxI, the gene for the expression of ApxII and the largest-size (2800 bp) apxIV gene. The carbon source utilisation pattern and the sequence analysis of the 16S rRNA gene confirmed the species identification of the suggested type strain, A. pleuropneumoniae A-85/14. A new serovar of A. pleuropneumoniae - serovar 16 - is proposed with A. pleuropneumoniae A-85/14 as reference strain.


SUMMARY We evaluated the incidence rate of culture-positive central nervous system tuberculosis (CNS TB) in France in 2007 and its time trend between 1990 and 2007. We used a capture–recapture analysis by using data recorded in 2007 by the mandatory notification system and the national network of the National Reference Centre (NRC). The 2007 sensitivity of the NRC was 79·4%. The previous sensitivity for 2000 (75·6%) and that for 2007 yielded a pooled estimate of 77·4% (95% confidence interval 64·8–88·0), which was used to extrapolate the number of culture-positive CNS TB cases from those reported in four surveys (1990, 1995, 2000, 2007). The extrapolated number of culture-positive CNS TB cases fell from 90 to 35 between 1990 and 2007, and the extrapolated incidence rates fell from 1·6 to 0·55 cases/million (P < 0·001). This favourable trend should be closely monitored following the change of the BCG vaccination policy in 2007.


In view of the short residence time of the aerosol in the atmosphere, knowledge of its distribution in space is essential for the understanding of many processes associated with this distribution, for example, the formation of clouds and hence of the entire cloud cover over the Earth's sphere. This review considers both the distribution of aerosol particles with respect to size (from the standpoint of chemical and physical characteristics) and the distribution of aerosols in space in a broad sense of this term. The bibliography includes 55 references.


Bacteroides fragilis is a commonly investigated commensal bacterium for its protective role in host diseases. Here, we aimed to develop a reproducible antibiotic-based model for conditioning the gut microbiota and engrafting B. fragilis into a conventional murine host. Initially, we selected different combinations of antibiotics, including metronidazole, imipenem, and clindamycin, and investigated their efficacy in depleting the mouse Bacteroides population. We performed 16S rRNA sequencing of DNA isolated from fecal samples at different time points. The α-diversity was similar in mice treated with metronidazole (MET) and differed only at weeks 1 (p = 0.001) and 3 (p = 0.009) during metronidazole/imipenem (MI) treatment. Bacteroides compositions, during the MET and MI exposures, were similar to the pre-antibiotic exposure states. Clindamycin supplementation added to MET or MI regimens eliminated the Bacteroides population. We next repeated metronidazole/clindamycin (MC) treatment in two additional independent experiments, followed by a B. fragilis transplant. MC consistently and reproducibly eliminated the Bacteroides population. The depleted Bacteroides did not recover in a convalescence period of six weeks post-MC treatment. Finally, B. fragilis was enriched for ten days following engraftment into Bacteroides-depleted mice. Our model has potential use in gut microbiota studies that selectively investigate Bacteroides' role in diseases of interest.


For the effective treatment of aphthous stomatitis, the matrix type mucoadhesive patches containing triamcinolone acetonide have been formulated. The drug layer was obtained by drying the polymer gel which was prepared with carbomer 934P, ammoniomethacrylate copolymer, titanium dioxide and polyethylene glycol 400. The effects of the content of additives on physical characteristics of the polymer gel and the drug layer were evaluated. The addition of carbomer increased the yield point and the zero-shear viscosity of polymer gel as well as the thickness, the water absorption ratio, the adhesive time and T_(50%) of drug layer. The adhesive time and the water absorption ratio of drug layer were also improved by the addition of ammoniomethacrylate copolymer, but the addition of titanium dioxide had decreased the zero-shear viscosity of polymer gel and the adhesive time of drug layer.


Boundary element methods (BEMs) are an increasingly popular approach to model electromagnetic scattering both by perfect conductors and dielectric objects. Several mathematical, numerical, and computational techniques pullulated from the research into BEMs, enhancing its efficiency and applicability. In designing a viable implementation of the BEM, both theoretical and practical aspects need to be taken into account. Theoretical aspects include the choice of an integral equation for the sought after current densities on the geometry's boundaries and the choice of a discretization strategy (i.e. a finite element space) for this equation. Practical aspects include efficient algorithms to execute the multiplication of the system matrix by a test vector (such as a fast multipole method) and the parallelization of this multiplication algorithm that allows the distribution of the computation and communication requirements between multiple computational nodes. In honor of our former colleague and mentor, F. Olyslager, an overview of the BEMs for large and complex EM problems developed within the Electromagnetics Group at Ghent University is presented. Recent results that ramified from F. Olyslager's scientific endeavors are included in the survey.


The most extensively investigated toroidal confinement concept is the Tokamak (Toroidal magnetic confinement). The Table Top Tokamak (TTT) is pulsed plasma device, which produces and confines plasma for few milliseconds.The objective of this Tokamak is to study basic plasma behavior under different set of conditions. Different basic plasma experiments will be carried out from the students of different universities to explore new facts and technologies in plasma science and technology field.Researches in controlled thermonuclear synthesis are actively conducted in many countries all over the world. The quantity of working devices and devices under construction and in project is increasing, which causes the necessity in preparing professionals in a wide range in this field. The teaching and training on the working installation are especially effective. Being simple to operate, flexible to realign and relatively cheap in the sense of the operating cost, tokamak of this type can be used by the universities in the educational process in the frame of joint educational and scientific projects with other universities and research laboratories all over the world.


Isomanifolds are the generalization of isosurfaces to arbitrary dimension and codimension, i.e. submanifolds of R d defined as the zero set of some multivariate multivalued smooth function f : R^d → R^{d−m} where m is the intrinsic dimension of the manifold. A natural way to approximate a smooth isomanifold M is to consider its Piecewise-Linear (PL) approximation or meshM based on a triangulation T of the ambient space R d. In this paper, we present a simple algorithm to construct such an approximation for arbitrary m and d up to a given precision D. The complexity of our algorithm is polynomial in d and δ, and exponential in m. Since, by previous results,M is O(D 2)-close and isotopic to M when δ = Ω(d 2.5), our algorithm constructs a geometrically close and topologically correct PL-approximation of isomanifolds of low dimensions in polynomial time. The algorithm is practical and can handle cases that are far ahead of the state-of-the-art. Combining this algorithm with dimensionality reduction techniques, the dependency on d in the sizes of the output sample and mesh can be completely removed with high probability. The crux of our algorithm is to use for the ambient triangulation T a regular triangulation from a particular family. This family consists of Freudenthal-Kuhn triangulations and their images through affine mappings. It also includes Coxeter triangulations of typeA d. We introduce an elegant and very compact data structure to implicitly store the full facial structure of such triangulations. This data structure allows to retrieve the faces or the cofaces of a simplex of any dimension in an output sensitive way, which is essential for our application and is of independent interest.


Abstract The sustainable and responsible exploitation of natural populations for subsistence requires a scientific basis for management. Eggs of the Endangered Northern Rockhopper Penguin (Eudyptes moseleyi) in the Tristan da Cunha archipelago have been harvested since the 19th century with no restrictions on which (A- or B-eggs) can be harvested, despite the larger B-egg being much more likely to produce fledged offspring. Our objective was to create a discriminant function to predict the laying order of harvested eggs. We found that the discriminant function of D = 0.58 x Length + 0.39 x Breadth -57.48 successfully classified 91% of eggs as A- or B-eggs. When applied to previously collected harvest data, the discriminant function identified at least 36% of eggs as B-eggs. The method we describe here provides a mechanism around which one aspect of a management framework for the sustainable harvest of Northern Rockhopper Penguin eggs can be built.


argue overlook even disrupt low-cost healthy options make points. we demonstrate the of focusing food deserts when interpreting diet-related health disparities. By conducting a US national county-level multi-variable spatial regression analysis of socio-economic status, built environment and food environment factors, we determine that health outcomes do not clearly correlate with supermarket access. Instead, health outcomes are most strongly associated with income and race. This suggests that to improve healthy eating should begin with a focus on anti-poverty. Second, we identify alternative paths, beyond supermarkets, to healthy food access through literature review. We ground-truth our  ndings with from o (cid:284) in seventeen counties with a high the population living in a food desert, but low of diet-related disease. Our suggests new avenues for research and  nancing centred around existing community-based practices of established


Nature is a good human environment, more or less altered by people, and mankind is part of it. Environment means all the elements that surround us, humans often leaving their footprint on them, mostly in a destructive way; hence the need of interventions from the state authorities for nature protection and conservation. Leniently watching people's actions that destroy nature and the environment, would mean a distortion of their own sense of conservation, a degradation of personal and community life.


ABSTRACT This article offers a comparative overview of the case studies included in this Special Issue with the aim of providing a narrative of how the refugee emergency in Europe has unfolded during the period 2014–2016. I look at the 'real' events as they happened, identify which events were taken up in the different national political scenes and media landscape as highly relevant, and then identify on the basis of a meta-analysis of the findings of the different articles, the main interpretative frames used to make sense of the refugee emergency. This meta-analysis allows me also to relate the discourses with the actual policies adopted or decisions taken with a view to addressing the emergency. The article focuses on contrasted discourses, how they are politicized in different countries and how they are eventually brought together adopting a frame of 'reason'/rationalization that reconciles solidarity with public order.


Using a peer approach, the paper explores the impact of a crop microinsurance program, called Crop Insurance in the Sahel (CIS) on the performance of farmers in Burkina Faso. Comparison of groups of maize farmers, insured and non-insured, shows that the CIS improves access to microcredit and to fertilizers and results in an increase in the areas planted with maize. This stimulates production. However, the yield is slightly higher for the non-insured farmers.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: MR imaging has been shown to be useful in the diagnosis of juvenile idiopathic arthritis of the temporomandibular joint. Prior MR imaging approaches have relied mainly on the subjective interpretation of synovial enhancement as a marker for synovial inflammation. Although, more recently, several attempts have been made to quantify synovial enhancement, these methods have not taken into account the dynamic enhancement characteristics of the temporomandibular joint and the effect of sampling time. Our aim was to develop a clinically feasible, reproducible, dynamic, contrast-enhanced MR imaging technique for the quantitative assessment of temporomandibular joint synovitis in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis and to study the effect of sampling time on the evaluation of synovitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective study of all patients who had dynamic, contrast-enhanced coronal T1 3T MR imaging through the temporomandibular joint at our institution between January 1, 2015, and July 8, 2016. Patients in this cohort included those with a history of juvenile idiopathic arthritis and control patients who underwent MR imaging for other routine, clinical purposes. Synovial enhancement was calculated for each temporomandibular joint using 3 different types of equations termed normalization ratios. The enhancement profiles generated by each equation were studied to determine which provided the best discrimination between affected and unaffected joints, was the least susceptible to sampling errors, and was the most clinically feasible. RESULTS: A ratio of synovial enhancement (defined as the difference between the postgadolinium and the pregadolinium T1 signal of the synovium) to the postgadolinium signal of the longus capitis provided the best discrimination between affected and unaffected joints, the least susceptibility to sampling error, and was thought to be the most clinically feasible method of quantification of synovial inflammation. Additional synovial enhancement ratios studied did not provide the same level rates of discrimination between the affected and unaffected joints and were thought to be too temporally variable to provide reliable clinical use. CONCLUSIONS: We provide a robust, reproducible, dynamic gadolinium-enhanced MR imaging technique for the quantitative assessment of temporomandibular joint synovitis in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis.


distinct functions of β receptors located in the T-tubule vs outer Abstract Membrane proteins are present in both cardiac T-tubule (TTM) and outer surface membrane (OSM), although at a different density. Classical pharmacology does not allow to explore the function of a membrane protein separately in OSM vs. TTM. Here, we developed a technology based on size exclusion to explore the function of β-adrenergic receptors (β-ARs) located in the OSM. We synthetized a PEG-Iso molecule by covalent linking between isoprenaline (Iso) and a 5000 Da PolyEthylene-Glycol (PEG). Using confocal microscopy, we show that PEGylation constrains molecules outside the T-tubule network. PEG-Iso produced similar effects as Iso on I Ca,L , sarcomere shortening and Ca 2+ transients. However, PEG-Iso increased [cAMP] i with a lower efficacy than Iso, produced a much lower stimulation of nuclear PKA activity than Iso but a larger stimulation of cytosolic PKA at equivalent levels of [cAMP] i . Our results show that activation of OSM β-ARs is sufficient to activate cytosolic PKA and excitation-contraction coupling, but insufficient to activate nuclear PKA or nuclear protein phosphorylation for which additional activation of TTM β-ARs is needed.


The status of the solar axion search with the CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST) will be presented. Recent results obtained by the use of $^3$He as a buffer gas has allowed us to extend our sensitivity to higher axion masses than our previous measurements with $^4$He. With about 1 h of data taking at each of 252 different pressure settings we have scanned the axion mass range 0.39 eV$ \le m_{a} \le $ 0.64 eV. From the absence of an excess of x rays when the magnet was pointing to the Sun we set a typical upper limit on the axion-photon coupling of g$_{a\gamma} \le 2.3\times 10^{-10}$ GeV$^{-1}$ at 95% C.L., the exact value depending on the pressure setting. CAST published results represent the best experimental limit on the photon couplings to axions and other similar exotic particles dubbed WISPs (Weakly Interacting Slim Particles) in the considered mass range and for the first time the limit enters the region favored by QCD axion models. Preliminary sensitivities for axion masses up to 1.16 eV will also be shown reaching mean upper limits on the axion-photon coupling of g$_{a\gamma} \le 3.5\times 10^{-10}$ GeV$^{-1}$ at 95% C.L. Expected sensibilities for the extension of the CAST program up to 2014 will be presented. Moreover long term options for a new helioscope experiment will be evoked.


We have determined and analyzed the full-length cDNA sequence of a coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) Korean isolate (CVB3-Korea/97) which has been known as a general human pathogen. The whole genome contains 7,400 nucleotides and has a single large open reading frame with 6,555 nucleotides that encodes a potential polyprotein precursor of 2,185 amino acids. The genome also contains a 5 non-coding region (NCR) of 741 bases and a 3' NCR of 104 bases followed by poly(A) tail. Sequence homologies of nucleotides and deduced amino acids between the CVB3-Korea/97 strain and the prototype (Nancy strain) were 81.7% and 91.5%, respectively. The genes encoding the functional proteins including viral protease and RNA dependent RNA polymerase showed higher homology than those encoding the structural proteins. We have further analyzed the sequences of 5' NCR, VP1 and VP2 of CVB3-Korea/97, which are known as cardiovirulent determining factors at the nucleotide and amino acid levels. Although the CVB 3-Korea/97 strain was isolated from an aseptic meningitis patient without cardiomyopathy, its 234th nucleotide and 165th amino acid were uracil and Asn as same as those of other cardiovirulent strains one. However, the 155th amino acid of VP1, which closely associated with cardiovirulence, was replaced with Arg by single nucleotide substitution from A2916 to T2916. Moreover, additional amino acid substitutions were observed in the flanking region of Asp155. Taken together, amino acid(s) substitution in VP1 may play a critical role in determining cardiovirulence of the CVB3- Korea/97 strain rather than individual nucleotide replacements in the 5' NCR and/or an amino acid substitution in VP2.


Abstract The low-frequency scattering of barotropic shelf waves is considered in the limit of small but nonzero dissipation. For a rectilinear shelf it is shown that an intense oscillatory boundary layer forms on the incident side of any obstacle. This layer destroys incident shelf wave energy and turns volume flux to pass smoothly round the obstacle. By confining attention to low frequencies the results of Wilkin and Chapman for scattering at a discontinuity in shelf width are extended to more general changes in width and more general shelf profiles. A spreading along-shelf free shear layer is present downstream of a widening shelf. For a narrowing shelf this layer carries fluid from the dissipation layer and for a headland the layer represents an intense free midshelf current. It is also shown that a change in shelf width can scatter energy from an oscillatory geostrophic current into shelf waves. This corresponds in a flow with a free surface to scattering of Kelvin wave energy into shelf waves.


Background and Aims We report a 6-year-old boy presenting with macroscopic hematuria, hyperkalemia and hyperfosfatemia. Results A 6-year-old boy presented to our outpatient clinic with hematuria. No clinical abnormalities were found, besides borderline hypertension of 120/60mmHg (P95 adjusted for height and age 100/57). Laboratory testing revealed a serum potassium of 8.6 mmol/l and a phosphate of 6.2mg/dl. During admission hyperkalemia appeared refractory to standard treatment with furosemide, salbutamol and alkalinisation. Prompt reduction of hyperkalemia was observed after a trial with hydrochlorothiazide, suggesting the diagnosis of pseudohypoaldesteronism. Further testing revealed a high aldosteron of 537 pg/ml. Familial history was negative but still a suspicion of pseudohypoaldosteronim remained, so genetic testing was performed. A de novo splice site mutation was found in the CUL3-gene (c.1377+1G>A) leading to a skipping of exon 9. Conclusions We present an atypical presentation of Gordon syndrome (familial hyperkalemic hypertension) due to a de novo splice mutation. The clinician should be aware of this possibility when facing a child with high serum potassium.


In this book, Giovanni Bignami, the outstanding Italian scientist and astronomer, takes the reader on a journey through the seven spheres , from our own planet to neighboring stars. The author offers a gripping account of the evolution of Homo Sapiens to the stage where our species is developing capabilities, in the form of new energy propulsion systems, that will enable us to conquer space. The reader will learn how we first expanded our activities to reach beyond our planet, to the Moon, and how nuclear energy, nuclear fusion, and matter antimatter annihilation will enable us to extend our exploration. After Mars and Jupiter we shall finally reach the nearest stars, which we now know are surrounded by numerous planets, some of which are bound to be habitable. The book includes enticing descriptions of such newly discovered planets and also brings alive key historical characters in our story, such as Jules Verne and Werner von Braun


Contact friction along drill string is one of root causes of stick-slip vibrations, especially when drilling an unconventional well with a long lateral section. By using a downhole steerable motor in rotating mode, the motor bend can create important contact forces between the drill string and wellbore and consequently generate considerable frictional torques opposed to the drill string rotation. Therefore, for more accurate estimations of stick-slip behavior, these forces need to be considered in stick-slip modeling.
 In this paper, a torsional vibration model based on a mass-spring system with multiple degrees-of-freedom is used to investigate the drill string stick-slip behavior. This stick-slip model includes the drill bit friction torque, contact friction along the drill string, and mud damping. The contact forces along drill string are determined using an advanced 3D drill string behavior model allowing to consider the motor bend effect. They are then integrated in the torsional equation of motion of the stick-slip model. A case study is carried out to show the consistency between the simulated results and field data.
 Stick-slip is a highly damaging dysfunction that adversely effects all components of the drill string. In the case of this paper, the subject well experienced high stick-slip resulting in inefficient drilling and increased risk of equipment failure. Modelling of the drill string successfully replicated the stick-slip response observed at the rig site. Further modelling with consideration of the motor bend angle's effect successfully showed a reduction in stick-slip magnitude.
 Considering the motor bend in the stick-slip model is the novelty of this work. This allows to determine more accurately the contact forces on the bottom-hole assembly (BHA), which directly influence the drill string stick-slip behavior. This work can provide a tool for the design of the BHA with a downhole steerable motor to mitigate stick-slip vibrations and lead to significant improvements of the bit performance and rate of penetration.


The aging water infrastructure (AWI) dilemma requires a straightforward road map to address the issue as a financial problem. The basic steps should be understood by water utility management, politicians, and members of the public. Once this common ground is established, collaborative partnerships can be formed and professionals from a variety of disciplines can work through the steps. The game plan presented in this article uses the AWI solution cycle to offer basic steps to – among other things – reduce costs, find every available funding source, create new partnerships, conduct condition assessments, communicate with the stakeholders, address rate affordability challenges, build an asset management program, and achieve sustainability. As these basic steps are followed, cost efficiencies will occur and costly mistakes will be avoided. In addition, overall asset risk will decrease, and infrastructure investment funding gaps will be reduced. In order to move forward on AWI, the focus must be shifted from an engineering problem to a financial problem. Likewise, moving forward with condition assessment ahead of a total asset management program offers small and medium utilities a chance to better allocate funding and reduce risk early in the process.


An algorithm is presented for the least-squares approximation of FIR filters by IIR filters. The algorithm is an iterative procedure where each iteration requires the solution of an overdetermined set of linear equations and some digital filtering operations. All calculations are performed with the numerator and denominator coefficients of the transfer functions. A conversion to state-space descriptions is not necessary. Examples show that the approximation error is as small as that of the IIR filters obtained with balanced model reduction. Moreover, the effects of numerical errors are negligible. Thus, our algorithm is applicable even in cases where the FIR filter length is large.


Speech broadcasting via loudspeakers is widely used in public transportation to send broadcast notifications. However, listeners often fail to catch spoken context from speech broadcasts due to excessive environmental noise. We propose an ultrasonic communication method that can be applied to loudspeakerbased speech broadcasting to cope with this issue. In other words, text notifications are modulated and carried over lowfrequency ultrasonic waves through loudspeakers to the microphones of each potential listener's mobile device. Then, the received ultrasonic stream is demodulated back into the text and the listener hears the notification context by a text-to-speech engine embedded in each mobile device. Such a transmission system is realized with a 20 kHz carrier frequency because it is inaudible to most listeners but capable of being used in communication between a loudspeaker and microphone. In addition, the performance of the proposed ultrasonic communication method is evaluated by measuring the success rate of transmitted words under various signal-to-noise ratio conditions.


The last two decades have provided an astounding amount of novel information about the human genome. Translating germline genomic data into clinically actionable findings is reliant on the annotation and laboratory classification of specific variants. Variant classification helps providers and patients determine if genomic findings can inform clinical management. In germline hereditary cancer predisposition testing, variants of uncertain significance (VUS) are routinely misunderstood. By definition, they cannot be classified by the testing laboratory as either problematic mutations or benign variants. Many VUS undergo category reclassifications over time (from months to years after initial classification) as more information is known about normal human genomic diversity, especially among underrepresented minority populations. When VUS are reclassified, it has been shown that they are often downgraded. Likewise, some variants originally thought to be actionable mutations are downgraded to VUS or benign variants. Rarely but importantly, VUS may be reclassified in a manner that increases their initial clinical significance. Here, we discuss the insights gained from the study of variant reclassification. We provide a case series to highlight the potential impact that variant reclassifications can have on individual and family cancer management, risk counseling, and screening.


A novel no-reference blockiness metric that can automatically and perceptually quantify blocking artifacts of DCT coding is presented. The proposed metric is built upon the specific structure information of the artifact itself combined with the properties of the human visual system (HVS) by means of a simple and efficient model of visual masking. Investigations are conducted to reduce the additional cost introduced by the human vision model, without compromising its overall prediction ability. The proposed metric is validated through comparing its performance to state-of-the-art HVS model based blockiness metrics with respect to accuracy, reliability and computational complexity.


We have demonstrated experimentally a proportional feedback algorithm for the synchronization of chaotic time signals generated from a pair of independent diode resonator circuits. Synchronization was easily obtained and occurred for relative feedback levels between three and eight percent of the driving voltage. Once established, the synchronization persisted throughout the whole range of the resonator bifurcation diagram without varying the gain of the feedback.


Three alkyl vinylethers from our collection of chiral samples were investigated through VCD spectroscopy, in combination with Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations. Despite the simplicity of the compounds, reproducing all the spectral features is an involved task, since the many significantly populated conformers contribute to the total VCD spectrum with bands which often have opposite signatures. Nevertheless, we show that certain bands can be satisfactorily reproduced by calculation and therefore they may be employed for the determination of absolute configuration in these and similar compounds, for which no simple alternative method is available.


This paper proposes a general approach to design convergent coordination control laws for multiagent systems subject to motion constraints. The main contribution of this paper is to prove in a constructive way that a gradient-descent coordination control law designed for single integrators can be easily modified to adapt for various motion constraints such as nonholonomic dynamics, linear/angular velocity saturation, and other path constraints while preserving the convergence of the entire multiagent system. The proposed approach is applicable to a wide range of coordination tasks such as rendezvous and formation control in two and three dimensions. As a special application, the proposed approach solves the problem of distance-based formation control subject to nonholonomic and velocity saturation constraints.


In this study, the authors propose reliable sequences of binary coded symbol (BCS) modulation, and their characteristics and performances for Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) application are described. A BCS sequence vector is formed by eight variable length sub-chips of alternated + 1 and −1 (or −1 and + 1) values. A judicious choice of the sub-chips lengths of the BCS sequence permitted to propose several BCS sequences that provide high performances in terms of multipath mitigation, resistance to the noise and interferences rejection. An overview of the essential characteristics and the resulting autocorrelation functions (ACFs) and power spectral densities of the proposed BCS sequences were introduced. The latter ACFs have a sharp main peak due to the increase in the number of transitions of the BCS sequences within a chip interval, which corresponds to a larger slope of the discrimination function, and consequently a reduced range of search in the delay locked loop with a minimum calculation load. The theoretical and simulation results indicate that the proposed BCS sequences are more consistent compared to the conventional signals adopted by the GNSS navigation systems.


The article provides an analytical relationship (mathematical model) between the steam pressure at the exit of the steam boiler and the fuel supplied to the boiler. The mathematical model was determined on the basis of the characteristics obtained experimentally through the channel "fuel - steam pressure in the boiler". The experimental data were processed by the method of M.P. Simo and E.P. Stephanie. The dynamics of the change in steam pressure in a steam boiler is simulated in the Matlab (Simulink) simulation environment. The resulting model will be used to develop an automatic control system for the vaporization process. In particular, when establishing the region of stable operation of the regulator, when choosing the optimal values of the tuning parameters of the regulator that satisfy the given quality indicators of technological processes.


In some male pigs, there is an increased production of the testicular 16 androstene steroids which end up being concentrated in fatty tissue. When the meat is cooked, a disagreeable odor/flavor is produced, a phenomenon known as "boar taint." All boars selected for food production are castrated even though only ca 10% of boars may be "tainted." This has a high economic cost because castrated pigs convert food into meat less efficiently, the meat is fatter, and there is an increased mortality due to the castration procedure. Recent data has implicated an increased level of cytochrome b5 in the testes with the increased synthesis of the 16-androstene steroids. As an initial step in analyzing this process, we used 5' and 3' RACE PCR procedures to isolate, clone and sequence the cDNAs for the membrane-bound and soluble forms of porcine cytochrome b5.


We present a method for obtaining the likelihood function of distance and extinction to a star given its photometry. The other properties of the star (its mass, age, metallicity and so on) are marginalised assuming a simple Galaxy model. We demonstrate that the resulting marginalised likelihood function can be described faithfully and compactly using a Gaussian mixture model. For dust mapping applications we strongly advocate using monochromatic over bandpass extinctions, and provide tables for converting from the former to the latter for different stellar types.


The primary purpose of this study was to identify the skills and knowledge required of employees in the plastics industry in the Dallas Metropolitan area. An instrument was utilized to obtain data in order to identify various skills and knowledge. This study was limited to fifteen instruments returned by fifteen participating firms in the Dallas Metropolitan area. A comparison was made of the industrial arts plastics course offerings in the Dallas Metropolitan area schools with the requirements of the plastic industry in order to ascertain the degree of importance the course offerings were to the plastics industry.


Due to the high mobility nature of the low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite systems, the satellite's coverage area changes with time causing an extremely frequent handover rate. Therefore handover procedure has a significant impact on the success of LEO systems and handover failure rate is a major criterion in measuring the system's performance. In this paper we propose a handover procedure called advance handovers arrangement and channel allocation (AHACA) to maximally exploit the deterministic and predictable characteristics of LEO systems to reduce handover failures and optimize channel utilization. This method does not exclusively guard channels for handovers, instead it queues and reserves channels that are currently in use but will be released within expected queuing time.


E-waste is the fastest-growing type of waste in the world. The formal sector can play a role in managing waste according to environmental standards and minimizing the risk of fraction recovery with supporting facilities. However, the formal sector of e-waste management simply cannot compete with its informal sector, which has a dominant role in Indonesia. This study aims to identify what factors influence formal sector e-waste management, how it is currently performing, and to design better policies for e-waste management. This research uses the System Dynamics approach to view the complex systems of e-waste management holistically. In Jakarta, public awareness and the competition with the informal sector were the biggest challenge in this industry. The results show that public awareness-raising policies can gradually improve reverse logistics performance and economic benefits. In addition, the WEEE Processing Fund policy can double the performance and economic benefits.


A systems-based approach for evaluating the utility of structural health monitoring methods in bridge engineering applications is presented. The vehicle for this evaluation is a systems management model developed within a computationally tractable decision support framework called a Partially Observable Markov Decision Process (POMDP). A major component of this work was the investigation of the complex relationship that exists between damage as inferred from global measurements (e.g., natural frequency and mode shape) and the actual resistance or capacity of a structural system. The concept of a relationship matrix is presented as a means of representing this relationship mathematically. In addition, a simplified example is offered to illustrate how relationship matrices can be assembled via simulation. Finally, the potential implications of this research are discussed.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate pancreatic tissue perfusion and oxygenation in severe and mild experimental acute pancreatitis in pigs.

DESIGN
Randomised controlled experiment.

SETTING
Animal laboratory, Finland.

ANIMALS
24 domestic pigs weighing 21-27 kg.

INTERVENTIONS
24 pigs were randomised into severe acute pancreatitis, mild acute pancreatitis and control groups (n = 8 in each). The pancreatic duct of eight anaesthetised and mechanically ventilated pigs was cannulated and taurocholic acid was infused into the pancreatic duct to induce severe acute pancreatitis. Eight animals received intraductally infused saline and developed mild acute pancreatitis. Eight pigs had their ducts cannulated alone, and served as controls.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Pancreatic tissue oxygenation, laser Doppler red cell flux, central haemodynamics.

RESULTS
Intraductally infused taurocholic acid rapidly induced macroscopically and histologically proven severe necrotising acute pancreatitis. Histological changes characterising mild acute pancreatitis were seen in animals after intraductal saline infusion. Pancreatic tissue oxygen tension decreased in the severe group and increased in the mild group during the six-hour study period. Laser Doppler red cell flux decreased in the severe group. Central haemodynamics, arterial blood gases, and acid base balances were stable throughout the study period in all groups.

CONCLUSION
The present model of severe acute pancreatitis significantly impairs pancreatic oxygenation in the early phase. In mild acute pancreatitis, pancreatic oxygenation increases.


Establish the prevalence of hypothyroidism among children with diabetes mellitus (DM) as a result of selective screening. During the examination period 132 children (64 f/68 m) aged from 1.0 to 17.5 years were examined. Ultrasonography evaluation, including measurement of thyroid volume, was performed in all volunteers as well as analysis of TSH, TPOAb and fT4 when TSH was out of reference range. The prevalence of overt hypothyroidism (7,6%) in the outcome of AIT in children with DM was above the population level, which confirms the effective of selective screening in this group of children and demands to its introduction into routine clinical practice; high incidence of TPOAb (12.8%) need to clarify their prognostic value having regard to longterm followup, as well as revising of dividing cutofpoint.


The study focused on the perception and attitude of FUNAAB undergraduates towards students with physical disabilities. Two hundred and forty students were randomly selected for the study, and questionnaire tagged "PAPPD" was the instrument used for data collection which was administered to the 240 students. Only 227 students that filled and returned their questionnaire were engaged in the study. The reliability coefficient of the instrument was 0.83 using Cronbach Alpha. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistical tool and Analysis of variance. Result shows that majority of the students 112(49.3%) perceived students with physical disabilities as normal people, 107(47.1%) perceived them as friends. The findings also showed that majority 130(57.3%) indicated that they love rendering help to students with physical disabilities because they are also human beings. In general, result showed that there is no significant difference in the perception and attitude of students towards students with physical disabilities irrespective of their ages, colleges and departments. Therefore, awareness programmes such as seminars should be mounted within the University system from time to time so as to enhance positive attitude and perception of undergraduates towards Persons with Physical Disabilities (PWPDs) Â


The vestibular and cochlear aqueducts serve as additional sound transmission paths and produce different degrees of volume velocity shunt flow in cochlear sound transmission. To investigate its effect on forward and reverse stimulations, a lumped-parameter model of the human ear, which incorporates the third windows, was developed. The model combines a transmission-line ear-canal model, a middle-ear model, and an inner-ear model, which were developed previously by different investigators. The model is verified by comparison with experiments. The intracochlear differential-pressure transfer functions, which reflect the input force to the organ of Corti, were calculated. The results show that middle-ear gain for forward sound transmission is greater than the gain for reverse sound transmission. Changes in the cochlear aqueduct impedance have little effect on forward and reverse stimulations. The vestibular aqueduct has little effect on forward stimulation, but increasing its impedance causes deterioration on reverse stimulation below 300 Hz. Decreasing its impedance increases the excitation effect during reverse stimulation over the entire frequency, especially below 1000 Hz. Moreover, compared with the case without the third windows, the presence of the third windows has little effect on forward stimulation. Whereas, it boosts the reverse stimulation's performance below 300 Hz.


Background

There are great differences in physiological and biological functions between animals of different genders. However, whether there would be a consensus in duck intestinal development and microorganisms is still unknown.

Methods

Male and female ducks were weighed at 2, 5 and 10 weeks, respectively, then the duodenum, jejunum, ileum and cecum were sampled and measured, and the content were analyzed by 16S RNA.

Results

The results showed that male duck hold shorter intestinal length with higher density and jejunum VH/CD, and the similarity, evenness and diversity of the total intestinal microorganism of male duck were higher, with 99.66% OTUs shared by both gender, while Rikenellae , Prevotella and Nocardia were only in male duck. Proeobacteria hold higher abundance than Bacteroidetes in female intestine, while the value of Firmicutes/Bacteroides was lower than male duck. Whats more, the different functional pathway of microorganisms was only showed in jejunum, among which the metabolic and disease pathways of male ducks were higher, while gene pathways was lower.

Conclusions

The intestines of male ducks have higher development, nutrient absorption, fat deposition and metabolic capacity while their disease resistance was relatively weak, providing a basic reference for intestinal development and microorganism symbiosis of duck in different genders.


The clinicopathology of 13 cases of chondroid syringoma were examined. The ages of the patients ranged from 26 to 86 years, with an average of 48 years. There were eight males and five females. Ten tumors out of the thirteen appeared on the face. Only one patient out of ten was suspected of recurrence in follow‐up information. Histologically, all tumors consisted of epithelial cells, chondroid or myxoid matrix, and other strumal elements. The tumors were histologically classified into two types; twelve tumors had tubular and cystic lumina lined by two layers of epithelial cells, and only one case had small lumina lined by only a single layer. By an immunohistochemical study with a PAP method, positive stainings of keratin were observed in all cases, and S‐100 protein in all but one. Ultrastructurally, the tumor cells showed features of an epithelial cell. Some ultrastructural differences were noted between two types of chondroid syringoma. Type I tumor cells had many tonofilaments in cytoplasm, but cytoplasmic filaments in type II were of the intermediate‐type.


We report the discovery of a Neptune-like planet (LP 714-47 b, P = 4.05204 d, mb = 30.8 ± 1.5M⊕, Rb = 4.7 ± 0.3 R⊕) located in the "hot Neptune desert". Confirmation of the TESS Object of Interest (TOI 442.01) was achieved with radial-velocity follow-up using CARMENES, ESPRESSO, HIRES, iSHELL, and PFS, as well as from photometric data using TESS, Spitzer, and ground-based photometry from MuSCAT2, TRAPPIST-South, MONET-South, the George Mason University telescope, the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope network, the El Sauce telescope, the TÜBİTAK National Observatory, the University of Louisville Manner Telescope, and WASP-South. We also present high-spatial resolution adaptive optics imaging with the Gemini Near-Infrared Imager. The low uncertainties in the mass and radius determination place LP 714-47 b among physically well-characterised planets, allowing for a meaningful comparison with planet structure models. The host star LP 714-47 is a slowly rotating early M dwarf (Teff = 3950 ± 51 K) with a mass of 0.59 ± 0.02M⊙ and a radius of 0.58 ± 0.02R⊙. From long-term photometric monitoring and spectroscopic activity indicators, we determine a stellar rotation period of about 33 d. The stellar activity is also manifested as correlated noise in the radial-velocity data. In the power spectrum of the radial-velocity data, we detect a second signal with a period of 16 days in addition to the four-day signal of the planet. This could be shown to be a harmonic of the stellar rotation period or the signal of a second planet. It may be possible to tell the difference once more TESS data and radial-velocity data are obtained.


Spatial accelerators provide high performance, energy efficiency, and flexibility. Recent design frameworks enable these architectures to be quickly designed and customized to a domain. However, constructing a compiler for this immense design space is challenging, first because accelerators express programs with high-level idioms that are difficult to recognize. Second, it is unpredictable whether certain transformations are beneficial or will lead to infeasible hardware mappings. Our work develops a general spatial-accelerator compiler with two key ideas. First, we propose an approach to recognize and represent useful dataflow idioms, along with a novel idiomatic memory representation. Second, we propose the principle of modular compilation, which combines hardware-aware transformation selection and an iterative approach to handle uncertainty. Our compiler achieves 2.3× speedup, and 98.7× area-normalized speedup over high-end server central processing unit (CPU).


Noncovalent interactions between the polyoxometalate [PMo12O40](3-) and acryloyloxyundecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide surfactant, used during membrane preparation, were evaluated in the frame of density functional theory. The electronic solvation energy of [PMo12O40](3) and bromide anions was also evaluated, at the same level of theory, in order to predict a probable exchange on the polymeric surface between these anions at the water/polymer interface. Energy balances were theoretically assessed, showing that the bromide cannot be exchanged with this nanosized polyanion in large extent. In order to validate this theoretical conclusion, ad hoc and accurate measurements were carried out by using homemade polymeric membranes and by dipping them in an ca. 0.4 mM solution of Na3[PMo12O40] for 4 days. The Br(-) concentration, released in a polyoxometalate solution, was followed at different times during the test period by gravimetrical analysis. The agreement between the theoretical prediction and experimental data was remarkable, as the quantum calculations correctly accounted for the short-range intermolecular interactions involved in this phenomenon. Bearing in mind that the achieved conclusion is based on an ab initio quantum approach, the findings of this study can be considered rather general and then exploitable for other similar systems.


In the study,tanning sludge with Cr[3+] two times higher than the national ontrol standard for agricultural use was applied in forest and mutation of erythrocyte nucleus of Rhodeus sinensis caused by the water (both percolated water and surface water) from the site was examined.The results showed that the erythrocyte nucleus induced didnt increase in the test areas,and the forestry utilization of tanning sludge is safe,but oozing water for the tanning sludge can induce the increase of the red cell nucleus of R.sinensis blood.Thus careless disposal of tanning sludge can be very dangerous.


This article discusses the Norwegian language textbooks for foreigners Stein på stein and Her på berget, published from 1995 to 2015. These textbooks are analyzed as tools for promoting the official ideology and as sources of information showing how Norwegians would like to present their society and themselves to representatives of other nations. Such an interpretation is considered to be possible since these publications are primarily designed for immigrants who are planning to come to Norway for permanent residence. Norwegian language courses are expected to provide future citizens of Norway with the necessary knowledge about the society, culture and history of the country, and allow them to become acquainted with the values and lifestyle of Norwegians. The focus of the article is one of the most popular series of textbooks published by Cappelen Damm: Stein på stein and Her på berget. Over the course of twenty-five years, new editions of these textbooks have been published: for example, the first edition of the textbook Stein på stein was published in 1990, and the last one in 2015. The new editions show changes in the image of Norwegian society, shifts on emphasis, the themes that were important to discuss in different editions, and some new concepts and topics that the authors of the textbooks considered necessary to introduce in the new editions. When analyzing the texts, the authors single out several lexical ideologemes, the so-called "values" (verdier), which can be considered especially significant in the self-presentation of the Norwegian nation. Such ideologemes as "equality" (likestilling / likhetstanke), "democracy" (demokratiet) and "environmentally conscious" (miljøbevissthet) are analyzed. The article considers the political background for the actualization of these concepts in educational texts; the development of the semantic fields, the core of which are the mentioned ideologemes; the organization of these concepts in the text and model characters of the textbooks as bearers of these "values".


Despite the relative sophistication of modern surface design systems, many graphical renderings of surfaces are rather crude. The paper discusses several possible renderings, including various line drawings methods, realistic and functional shading, and combinations of line drawings and smooth shading. It concludes that a good choice is the superposition of contours or sections on either realistic or Gaussian curvature shading.


Introduction: Effectiveness of tamsulosin in distal urolithiasis, which provide drastically comfort to the patient, considering stone expulsion, renal colic, expulsion time and costs. Aim: To evaluate efficacy of tamsulosin in the expulsion of distal ureteral stones and to determine expulsion rate and time. Materials and Methods: An interventional study was conducted in the department of surgery, Santosh Medical College and Hospital, Ghaziabad. 100 patients were included in study from 15–45 years of age and both sexes having a single unilateral stone of 2–8 mm size. Patients having multiple or bilateral stones, renal insufficiency, UTI, urinary retention, malignancy, history of previous surgery, hypersensitivity, taking calcium-antagonist or corticosteroid, renal abnormalities, were excluded from the study. Results: The results showed an important role of tamsulosin for conservative expulsion of distal ureteric stones up to 8mm. There was no statistical significant difference in age and calculus size in the 61 males and 39 females. Ureteric calculi were more common on left side (56 patients) than right side (44 patients). Symptoms included flank pain in 100% of patients, dysuria in 17, vomiting in 10, haematuria in 6 patients. The diagnosis was confirmed by USG-KUB, X-Ray KUB or both. IVP helped in 1 case. 82% expulsion rate with tamsulosin, mostly within 1 week and with 1 mean colic episode was observed, better for smaller and left sided stones Conclusion: Medical expulsive therapy with tamsulosin should be considered between conservative and surgical management.


Challenging many assumptions about what constitutes "local knowledge", immigrant Latino and Southeast Asian harvesters of non-timber forest products on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington possess extensive ecological knowledge of overstory-understory relationships and how forestry practices affect understory biological and commercial production. Specifically, harvesters of salal (Gaultheria shallon), an understory shrub in used in the multi-million dollar floral greens industry, possess different kinds of resource management knowledge depending on whether they are longer-term resident harvesters or more recent newcomers to the area. Harvesters who have lived and worked in the area for many years often have more ecological process knowledge, whereas newcomers who have arrived more recently often have identification and harvest knowledge only. An added layer of complexity emerges because although many harvesters working in the floral greens industry are considered to be mobile workers, many return year after year to the same forests. Interviews conducted with salal harvesters in 2001 – 2003 reveal that the differences in kinds of ecological knowledge may also correlate with differences in intensity of harvesting practices and, consequently, sustainability of the resource. Understanding how resource management knowledge differs between long-term and new harvesters can inform public and private forest land managers in their efforts to develop appropriate access and permitting policies for floral greens and other non-timber forest resources in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Harvester ecological knowledge is also an untapped resource for forest managers working toward co-management of timber and non-timber products from private and public lands.


Introduction: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is defined as carbohydrate intolerance occurring or detected for the first time during pregnancy.  Hypertension occurring as a result of pregnancy is called pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH), which is itself divided into two groups: gestational hypertension and pre-eclampsia.  The aim of this study is to compare the incidence of hypertensive disorders in patients with GDM and controls. Methods: This is a case-control study of 2416 pregnant women attending 5 antenatal clinics attached to Tehran University of Medical Sciences.  The universal two-step screening approach was used: first, all women underwent a 50-gram 1-hour glucose challenge test; second, all women with a 1-hour blood glucose concentration higher than 130mg/dl underwent a 100-gram, 3 hour oral glucose tolerance test.  Carpenter and Coustan's criteria were used to diagnose GDM.  220 women with a normal glucose challenge test were chosen as controls.  GDM cases and controls were matched for age, body mass index, parity, and gestational age. Results: 114 women overall were diagnosed with GDM.  Mean age, BMI, and parity in GDM and control groups were 29.09±6.13 and 28.64±6.00 years, 27.43±4.33 and 26.64±1.8 kg/m 2 , and 1.79 and 1.52 births, respectively.  Women with GDM had a higher prevalence of essential hypertension, PIH, and pre-eclampsia than matched controls. Conclusion: Our results show that hypertensive disorders are more common in women with GDM than in normoglycaemic controls of similar age, parity and BMI.


La Niña (LN) events are generally longer than El Niño (EN) events. Using objective analysis data, we herein investigated the effects of the Australian winter monsoon (AWM) on prolonging LN events. Conventionally, EN events end through the eastward shift of the anomalous Walker circulation in the equatorial Pacific during March–August. In contrast, the stronger-than-usual AWM induced by LN anchors the upflow branch of anomalous Walker circulation in the Indonesian maritime continent (IMC). The strength of the AWM is controlled by the surface temperature difference between the IMC and the northern Australian continent (NAC). LN has a large impact on the decrease in surface temperature in the NAC through a decrease of the downward surface shortwave radiation flux and the increase in surface soil moisture in the NAC. In LN events, the strength of the AWM and the anomalous Walker circulation reinforce each other through the common convective ascending in and around the IMC, which may be termed LN–AWM feedback, prolonging the duration of LN events. During EN events, such feedback is weak so that EN events generally end in the period of March–August.


Before the Partitions, Poland, beside Russia, was the largest, territorially compact European state. As a result of the Partitions of Poland, which were carried out in 1772, 1793 and 1795, Polish territory was divided and annexed by the three partitioning powers: Russia, Germany and Prussia. In an attempt to resist aggressive Germanization by the invader, Poles employed, among others, the methods of "organic work" and "work at the grass roots" (a programme, launched by the Polish positivists, of economic and cultural development through spreading literacy and popularizing science among the masses). It was on Polish territories under Prussian occupation that the theoretical and practical foundations of farm accounting were developed (Bernacki 2007b, p. 116-117). The main objectives of this paper are: to place the work and theory of Juliusz Au within the social and political context of the Prussian partition; to present a theory of agricultural accounting developed by J. Au; to evaluate J. Au's theory from present-day perspective. J. Au is the author of a comprehensive, universal theory of accounting encompassing its three cognitive levels (aspects): (1) general level, covering the concept, objectives and method of accounting; (2) procedural level, comprising principles of assets measurement, choice of accounting period and production cost calculation; (3) supporting level, comprising organization of accounting, rules for statistical data collection and audit procedures.


Abstract. The Australian Legumes Symposium was the first in a planned series of regular technical symposia organised by the Australian Grasslands Association. The aim was to provide researchers with the opportunity to interact, present up-to-date reviews on topics related to pasture legume science, present results of current research and participate in planning of future research and development relevant to pasture legumes. This paper is intended to be the key output of the forum – a summary of findings and highlights from review and contributed research papers as well as identifying key research priorities for the future. In terms of the former, reviews presented at the symposium provided an overview of the development and role of pasture legumes in temperate farming systems. Closely related topics – nitrogen (N) fixation, N balance of farming systems and management of legume inoculation provided a focus on the importance of legumes in terms of N input and overall productivity. International perspectives on lucerne – its improvement and adoption provided a noticeable contrast to the apparent paucity of research into this species in Australia – despite its widespread use in temperate farming systems. In terms of content, there were many other papers delivered dealing with a wide diversity of relevant issues. On one hand the diversity of work in pasture legume research and development may stem from the wide array of expertise available in Australia and New Zealand, while on the other it might suggest that research and development inputs are being thinly spread over a large number of species. With respect to determining research priorities, it was surprising that participants were most concerned with how research is funded and conducted and the need to address this by reconsidering current arrangements. A greater role for economic analysis in determining research priorities was foreshadowed. The identification and management of acid-tolerant perennial legumes for higher rainfall zone permanent pastures was nominated as a major research priority, as was the need to address problems related to pre-inoculation of legume seed. The clear message from the symposium was that there needs to be a reorganisation of pasture legume improvement in order for gains to be effectively realised, and to maintain research and development capacity.


AbstractThis essay explores the recurring figure of the traitor in African-American letters, arguing that literary portrayals of the crime of treason reveal the fundamental tension between black loyalty to the nation and the nation's betrayal of the race, and indeed demand that we reconsider the terms of treason itself. In three nineteenth-century texts by African American writers—Victor Sejour's 1837 "The Mulatto," Frederick Douglass's 1853 "The Heroic Slave," and Sutton Griggs's 1899 Imperium in Imperio—faithful black subjects are inevitably betrayed by racialized law and custom and the refusal to acknowledge the possibility of a black subject fully incorporated into the nation. Asking whether and how blacks writers can navigate the chasm between loyalty to race and loyalty to nation, this essay interrogates the twinned metaphors of patriotism and treason as literary responses to the seeming incommensurability of racial and national citizenship.


The color-matching property of lamps was appraised by use of Wyszecki's 12 gray object colors that are metameric with respect to CIE standard illuminant C and the CIE 1931 color-matching functions. The color-matching property of a test source was assessed in terms of its failure to preserve the metameric match between the 12 gray object colors. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether these 12 gray object colors are sufficiently representative of the infinite number of metameric grays that are conceivable with respect to the same conditions. By use of reconstituted spectral distributions of fluorescent lamps with different values of the general color-rendering index but with the same chromaticities as CIE standard source C, the failure to preserve the metameric match was analyzed for the infinite number of metameric grays. The effective radius RC of the computed confidence ellipsoid (a reasonable index of the color-matching property of a given test lamp derived in the present study) has an extremely high correlation with the color-matching property of the test lamp assessed by use of the 12 gray object colors. This confirms the effectiveness of Wyszecki's 12 metameric gray object colors for appraising the color-matching property of light sources.