This article represents a programmatic attempt to relate the subject of aesthetics to the wider scope of issues concerning the nature of the human mind. In addition to a criticism of the aesthetics' isolationism, it provides an outline of orthodox cognitivism and also of the more recent philosophy of embodiment, and sees the latter as a natural context for aesthetic concerns. The author argues that not only may the results of brain research be instructive for a more profound understanding of beauty but also that the subtlety and richness of aesthetic studies can be insightful for empirical studies of the neural system. That beauty is not reducible to brain processes does not mean that a possible lesson from neuroscience has no explanatory value for aesthetics; at the same time the article affirms the stand that the aesthetic, being one of the most profound traits of the human mind, cannot be fully captured in empiricist terms. What is needed is a multidisciplinary exchange that requires a shift from the comfort of the traditional views and an opening that might prove potent for the aesthetics of the present times which should not deprive itself of an ambition to participate in deciphering the "mysteries" the mind, cognition, and action.


Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) is the most significant agricultural crop, found abundantly in the Arabian Gulf in Saudi Arabia, Northern Africa, Pakistan, India, and the United States (California). Huge deposition of more than 15000 tons of date palm leaves and trunk are generated as wastes alone in Saudi Arabia. The date palm fibers from trunk and leaf possess considerable mechanical strength and modulus to many of the natural fibers and higher with respect to E-glass fibers and many aluminium alloys. Wide varieties of both thermosets and thermoplastics polymers have been modified by the reinforcement of date palm fibers derived from leaf and trunk. Date palm fibers represent a promising alternative substitute to synthetic fibers in polymer composite industries for both advanced structural and semi-structural applications. Present review article designed to be a comprehensive source of recent literature and study on date palm fibers origin, cultivation and its surface modifications. This article also intended to covers the recent findings in date palm fibers reinforced polymer composites with some interest on physical structure and chemical compositions, including their different commercial applications.


For PT Vale Indonesia Tbk, performance is one of the important indicators for the company. Performance is also mentioned and described in the proceeds of the 2014 Joint Task Force which is the result of management agreements with trade unions as representatives of employees. To analyze the influence of motivation and perceived organizational support towards commitment and performance in employee performance improvement strategy at PT Vale Indonesia Tbk, used data collection technique through questionnaires distribution to selected employee as sample. Data analysis technique used in this research is Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique. This method is commonly used for the examination of relatively complex relations simultaneously with a sample of 202 people at PT Vale Indonesia Tbk. The results showed that commitment was positively and significantly influenced by Perceived Organizational Support and motivation, performance was positively and significantly influenced by motivation and Perceived Organizational Suppor, while commitment had positive and significant effect on employee performance at PT. Vale Indonesia Tbk, so the hypothesis in this research is accepted.


In this letter we study the mean sizes of Hα clumps in turbulent disk galaxies relative to kinematics, gas fractions, and Toomre Q. We use ∼100 pc resolution HST images, IFU kinematics, and gas fractions of a sample of rare, nearby turbulent disks with properties closely matched to main-sequence galaxies (the DYNAMO sample). We find linear correlations of normalized mean clump sizes with both the gas fraction and the velocity dispersion-to-rotation velocity ratio of the host galaxy. We show that these correlations are consistent with predictions derived from a model of instabilities in a self-gravitating disk (the so-called "violent disk instability model"). We also observe, using a two-fluid model for Q, a correlation between the size of clumps and self-gravity-driven unstable regions. These results are most consistent with the hypothesis that massive star-forming clumps in turbulent disks are the result of instabilities in self-gravitating gas-rich disks, and therefore provide a direct connection between resolved clump sizes and this in situ mechanism.


In this paper, I focus on the notion of expressive completeness in Robert Brandom's Making It Explicit. For Brandom as a normative pragmatist, a theory of meaning is expressively complete if it specifies a human practice that is sufficient to confer on expressions conceptual contents so rich that the very conferring practice can be described by means of these expressions. I put the notion of expressive completeness in contrast with the related, but non-identical notion of self-referentiality of a semantic theory. Further, I examine the position of the concept in Brandom's philosophical project: I assess the justification Brandom provides for his claim of expressive complete- ness of the presented theory, and I outline the consequences he can draw for his overall project provided that expressive completeness is achieved. Whether it is actually achieved, remains however an open question.


Tight gas and unconventional hydrocarbon wells bring forward HPHT well construction requirements. Typically, these wells require multistage high pressure stimulation, and, in most cases desired to be completed with openhole stage frac tools. These stage frac tools are exposed to repeated high pressure and temperature cycles during various stimulation and subsequent production activities. The increasing need to exploit such tight reservoirs pushes the endurance limits of conventional designs and elastomeric technologies required to deliver completion tools. This paper encapsulates invaluable information covering application, design and development of a complete HPHT multistage fracturing completion system with ball activated frac sleeves and packers. This system not only delivers a unique completion solution for HPHT stimulation and production, but, also incorporates distinct features from the pilot design to overcome common operational challenges in deploying this type of completion in difficult wells.
 In order to ensure the completion tools can handle this extreme well environment, the tools were tested at expected bottom hole conditions with numerous repetitive cycle tests beyond minimum acceptable API norms. During testing, various tool components and elastomers had to be redesigned or changed to pass the minimum qualification criteria; while maintaining compatibility to the well environment.
 During development and testing, the team had to employ Additive Manufacturing technologies for critical components to enable high expansion and to eliminate any extrusion gap of the openhole packer's packing element. Further, in order to withstand the frequent temperature swings during operations, a more resilient elastomer was selected for the packer over traditional hydrogenated nitrile, FKM or FEPM compounds. Together, these provide increased functionality, by enabling handling of repeated loads and pressure cycles and pipe movement. This along with the other components of the multistage frac completion system and full 15,000 psi liner hanger and liner top packer provide a one of a kind robust HPHT stimulation system designed to enable well integrity at all times. The detailed design, functionality and testing performed eliminate the need for deployment of openhole anchors that are typically used to prevent movement of the packer due to pressure and temperature induced tubing movement. In addition, the system incorporates rotational and high circulation rate features to overcome common operational challenges for deployment in difficult wells.
 This unique multistage fracturing system brings the industry's first openhole completion packer that utilizes additive manufacturing to go outside the boundaries of conventional tool manufacturi ng capabilities for HPHT stimulation application. Further, this system integrates the lower stage completion to deployment tools and upper completion providing a complete HPHT Stage Frac system from well head to toe. This reduces need for systems integrity testing or compatibility between tools during later planning and execution phase which is paramount for HPHT well construction.


Abstract:This essay traces Cherokee diplomacy in the Arkansas River Valley in the decades before Removal as a window into how Native Americans in the American South shaped the contours of multi-cultural settlement. The Arkansas Cherokees fled social upheaval and diminishing game in their homeland to establish their new settlements. Cherokee leaders solidified their new territory via treaties with the United States by initially depicting themselves as immigrant hunters and, in later negotiations, as farmers. When white settlers challenged the Cherokees' worthiness to agricultural land, Cherokee leaders appropriated American scientific systems to block white settlers from Cherokee-claimed territory. The Cherokees' ability to enforce their geographical claims demonstrates how southeastern Indian nations influenced geopolitical power in the southern borderlands through controlling ecological language and scientific knowledge.The Arkansas Cherokees' adaptive diplomacy harnessed multiple environmental, spatial, and scientific strategies, most notably the scientific practices often used to support American expansion. The Arkansas Cherokees wielded American science with comfortable dexterity, influencing scientific expeditions, dictating survey procedures, and adopting American cartographic styles. Cherokee men of science protected much of their own sovereign spaces in the southern borderlands and leveraged these key tools of American colonialism to defend their landholding.Though Indian Removal and the expansion of the Cotton Kingdom demonstrated the weakened position of southeastern Indians, Native South communities persisted as geopolitical powers despite demographic disparities and whites' racist rhetoric. The Arkansas Cherokees' conceptualization and protection of their borders through environmental, rhetorical, and scientific strategies adds to recent scholarship showing how Native Americans marked their territorial boundaries in the face of white settler expansion.


Physical activity (PA) levels among adolescent girls in the UK are low. 'Girls Active', developed by the Youth Sport Trust (YST), has been designed to increase girls' PA levels.To understand the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the Girls Active programme.A two-arm cluster randomised controlled trial.State secondary schools in the Midlands, UK.Girls aged between 11 and 14 years.Girls Active involves teachers reviewing PA, sport and physical education provision, culture and practices in their school; attending training; creating action plans; and effectively working with girls as peer leaders to influence decision-making and to promote PA to their peers. Support from a hub school and the YST is offered.The change in objectively measured moderate to vigorous intensity PA (MVPA) levels at 14 months. Secondary outcomes included changes in overall PA level (mean acceleration), light PA levels, sedentary time, body composition and psychosocial outcomes. Cost-effectiveness and process evaluation (qualitative and quantitative) data were collected.Twenty schools and 1752 pupils were recruited; 1211 participants provided complete primary outcome data at 14 months. No difference was found in mean MVPA level between groups at 14 months [1.7 minutes/day, 95% confidence interval (CI) –0.8 to 4.3 minutes/day], but there was a small difference in mean MVPA level at 7 months (2.4 minutes/day, 95% CI 0.1 to 4.7 minutes/day). Significant differences between groups were found at 7 months, but not at 14 months, in some of the objective secondary outcomes: overall PA level represented by average acceleration (1.39 mg, 95% CI 0.1 to 2.2 mg), after-school sedentary time (–4.7 minutes/day, 95% CI –8.9 to –0.6 minutes/day), overall light PA level (5.7 minutes/day, 95% CI 1.0 to 10.5 minutes/day) and light PA level on school days (4.5 minutes/day, 95% CI 0.25 to 8.75 minutes/day). Minor, yet statistically significant, differences in psychosocial measures at 7 months were found in favour of control schools. Significant differences in self-esteem and identified motivation in favour of intervention schools were found at 7 and 14 months, respectively. Subgroup analyses showed a significant effect of the intervention for those schools with higher numbers of pupils at 14 months. Girls Active was well received by teachers, and they reported that implemented strategies and activities were having a positive impact in schools. Barriers to implementation progress included lack of time, competing priorities and the programme flexibility. Implementation costs ranged from £2054 (£23/pupil) to £8545 (£95/pupil) per school. No differences were found between groups for health-related quality-of-life scores or frequencies, or for costs associated with general practitioner, school nurse and school counsellor use.Girls Active may not have had an effect on the random 90 girls per school included in the evaluation. Although we included a diverse sample of schools, the results may not be generalisable to all schools. Girls Active was viewed positively but teachers did not implement as many aspects of the programme as they wanted. The intervention was unlikely to have a wide impact and did not have an impact on MVPA level at 14 months. Capitalising on the opportunities of a flexible programme like this, while also learning from the stated barriers to and challenges of long-term implementation that teachers face, is a priority for research and practice.Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN10688342.This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Public Health Research programme and will be published in full inPublic Health Research; Vol. 7, No. 5. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information. The YST funded the intervention. This study was undertaken in collaboration with the Leicester Clinical Trials Unit, a UK Clinical Research Collaboration-registered clinical trials unit in receipt of NIHR Clinical Trials Unit support funding. Neither the YST nor the NIHR Clinical Trials Unit had any involvement in the Trial Steering Committee, data analysis, data interpretation, data collection or writing of the report. The University of Leicester authors are supported by the NIHR Leicester–Loughborough Biomedical Research Unit (2012–17), the NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre (2017–22) and the Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care East Midlands. These funders had no involvement in the Trial Steering Committee, the data analysis, data interpretation, data collection or writing of the report.


The incidence of malignant tumours in 570 patients with kidney transplants was examined. It was found to be 20-30 times higher than in the average (normal) population. In accordance with the literature, mainly skin cancers were observed, but at variance with these data, the number of lymphoreticular malignancies was small. On the basis of their study, the authors emphasize the oncogenetic effect of immunosuppression. By comparing the conventional (AZA+PRED) and Cyclosporine (CYA+PRED) treatments, they point out that this risk should be taken into consideration even in Cyclosporine therapy which has otherwise a much more favourable effect.


Background: Undernutrition is a common problem in Dutch older people and may cause increased length of hospitalisation, early institutionalization and decreased quality of life. Nutrition risk precedes undernutrition and can be identified by timely nutritional screening. Design: This cross-sectional study aimed to examine the prevalence of nutrition risk among older people living in the community of Woerden. Measurements: Nutrition risk was assessed using a validated questionnaire: Seniors in the Community: Risk Evaluation for Eating and Nutrition, version II ('SCREEN II'). Participants: The sample (n=335, mean age 80, age range 75-85) were 32% men, 40% received home care and 46% lived alone. Results: Nutrition risk was present in two thirds (67%) of the respondents (38% 'at high risk', 29% 'at risk'). The most common SCREENII items that led to nutrition risk were a low intake of meat and alternatives (65%), milk products (59%), fruit and vegetables (59%) and eating alone (56%). Those who received home care were 1.8 times more likely to be at nutrition risk than people without home care (p=0.03) and those living alone were 3.3 times more likely to be at nutrition risk than those living with others (p<0.001). Conclusions: Intervention strategies are needed to encourage Dutch older people to take opportunities to eat meals with others and to improve their intake of major food group items. Training of home care staff to identify nutrition problems should be prioritised.


We investigated how MeV nitrogen ion implantation affects the resistivity transition in Czochralski (CZ) silicon wafers. After annealing at 800 °C for 20 h and again at 1000 °C for 10 h, the implanted nitrogen atoms accumulated in the projected range (RP) for ion doses less than 5 × 1014 cm−2 whereas they accumulated at both RP/2 and RP at ion doses above 3 × 1015 cm−2. These results indicate that no resistivity transition was found at nitrogen ion doses less than 5 × 1013 cm−2 whereas n−/p or n+/p resistivity transition was shown at ion doses higher than 5 × 1014 cm−2. Many fewer than 1% of the implanted nitrogen atoms were ionized after the heat treatment. Thus, the resistivity of nitrogen-doped silicon wafers is more than 100 times higher than that of phosphorous-doped silicon wafers.


We recently reported the expression of matrix metalloproteinase 20 (MMP20), hitherto thought to be tooth specific, in the metabolically active ductal epithelial cells of human salivary glands. Furthermore, our report indicated that MMP20 co-expressed and potentially interacts with dentin sialophosphoprotein (DSPP), a member of the small integrin-binding ligand N-linked glycoproteins (SIBLINGs). Our earlier reports have shown the co-expression of three MMPs, MMP2, MMP3, and MMP9, with specific members of the SIBLING family: bone sialoprotein, osteopontin, and dentin matrix protein 1, respectively. This study investigated the expression of MMP20 and verified its co-expression with DSPP in human and monkey kidney sections and human mixed renal cells by IHC, in situ proximity ligation assay, and immunofluorescence. Our results show that MMP20 is expressed in all segments of the human and monkey nephron with marked intensity in the proximal and distal tubules, and was absent in the glomeruli. Furthermore, MMP20 co-expressed with DSPP in the proximal, distal, and collecting tubules, and in mixed renal cells. Consistent with other SIBLING–MMP pairs, the DSPP–MMP20 pair may play a role in the normal turnover of cell surface proteins and/or repair of pericellular matrix proteins of the basement membranes in the metabolically active duct epithelial system of the nephrons.


A comprehensive study of the gross characteristics of high-frequency seismic-wave propagation in China and its surrounding regions was accomplished to learn more about how regional geology affects high-frequency phases. Amplitudes of the regional seismic waves Sn and Lg relative to P coda were used to map lateral variations of shear-wave attenuation in the crust and upper mantle. Over 7000 digital seismograms from 13 broadband stations of the Chinese Digital Seismic Network and Global Seismic Network in the frequency range 0.5 to 5.0 Hz were visually examined. Propagation efficiencies of Sn and Lg were qualitatively analyzed by ranking their amplitudes relative to the P-wave coda. Efficient Sn propagation is observed in the Tien Shan, Tarim Platform, southern Tibet, Yangzi Paraplatform, and Sino-Korean Platform. We have confirmed results of previous studies by finding a lack of Sn transmission in north central Tibet, the Ryukyu and Japan Arcs, Burma, and the Baikal Rift. An important observation, which has not been previously reported, is that Sn does not propagate across Mongolia. The elimination of Sn and the occurrence of recent volcanism in north central Tibet and Mongolia suggest that there is partial melt in the uppermost mantle beneath those regions. High-frequency Lg waves propagate efficiently for most of China, Indochina, and Mongolia. Lg signals are attenuated within central Tibet as well as along its southern boundary. Crustal structure variations along with an anomalously low-Q crust are primarily responsible for weakened Lg amplitudes in Tibet. Propagation paths across oceanic crust in the Sea of Japan and the Andaman Sea show blockage of the Lg phase as well. This investigation has relevance to Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty monitoring by showing where certain regional phases will or will not propagate efficiently.


This study aims to evaluate comparatively the situation of the federal units and the Brazilian states in relation to the pandemic of new coronaviruses (COVID19) through the technique of Network Data Envelopment Analysis (Network DEA - NDEA). For the development of research, data were collected on the Ministry of Health website, for all regions that register cases of virus cases notified until April 27, 2020. The purpose of the analysis is to assess regional discrepancies in the country. The model consists of the following structure: three inputs (number of doctors, number of respirators and number of clinical beds), an intermediate variable (number of reported cases) and one output (number of deaths). The results indicated that the federative unit with the worst performance overall was Amazonas, while the worst capital was Manaus. With two-dimensional representation, managers can visualize better which locations have the worst performance and assess which locations require more assistance. Depending on the results, managers can develop regional action plans, which can take steps to prevent the collapse of the health system.


In view of the widespread use of emetin hydrochlorid in the treatment of amebic dysentery and of pyorrhea alveolaris, more precise knowledge of the toxicity of the commercial preparations employed is highly desirable. The following case reports forcibly emphasize this fact: Case 1. —I. B. (Med. No. 33209), white, male, aged 56, a native of Baltimore, was admitted to the surgical service Oct. 12, 1914, complaining of an "ulcerated rectum." Fifteen years previously he had had a chancre, followed by a secondary eruption. For the past six years there had been alternating periods of diarrhea and constipation, with blood in the stools at times. Examination. —On examination, there was found slight enlargement of the heart to the left, a soft systolic murmur at the apex and some impairment of the percussion note over the manubrium. The systolic pressure was 150 mm. Hg; diastolic, 70. The urine was negative. The


Metadocuments are documents that consist primarily of references to other documents, and elements within them. Our active browsing web visualization tool generates an evolving series of navigable metadocument snapshots over time. The granularity of browsing is shifted, from documents to the finer grained information elements, which are metadocument constituents. The program conducts expression-directed automatic retrieval of information from the web. It performs procedural visual composition of the information elements to form spatial hypertext. The user can express interest and design intentions through direct manipulation interactions with the visualized information elements. As prior versions of the tool lacked the capabilities of save and load, they were entirely process-oriented. The metadocuments existed only as transient states. This paper is an early report on our new metadocument authoring and publishing capability, and its potential uses. Saved metadocuments can be published on the web. Once published, they can serve both as static navigable metadocuments, and as the jumping off point from which the information space represented by the collected elements can continue to evolve.


The kidney plays a fundamental role in the regulation of arterial blood pressure and fluid/electrolyte homeostasis. As congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT) constitute one of the most common human birth defects, improved understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms that lead to CAKUT is critical. Accumulating evidence indicates that aberrant signaling via receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) is causally linked to CAKUT. Upon activation by their ligands, RTKs dimerize, undergo autophosphorylation on specific tyrosine residues, and interact with adaptor proteins to activate intracellular signal transduction pathways that regulate diverse cell behaviours such as cell proliferation, survival, and movement. Here, we review the current understanding of role of RTKs and their downstream signaling pathways in the pathogenesis of CAKUT.


Comparison of surgical site infection ( SSI ) rates across institutions has been an eŠective infection control measure, but success relies on the quality of risk adjustments. This study assessed desirable risk-adjustment methodologies for use in the Japan Nosocomial Infections Surveillance ( JANIS ) network. Patients who underwent 1 of 6 digestive system procedures ( APPY, BILI, CHOL, COLN, GAST, or REC ) were included. Logistic regression analysis was performed to predict the risk of developing SSI in the following two models: ( 1 ) selected variables that consist of an NNIS Risk Index, or ( 2 ) all variables that were collected at SSI surveillance. Model perfor-mances were assessed using the c-index. Two regression models were also developed that included or excluded factors regarding surgery duration as well as laparoscopic surgery. The diŠerence in the standardized infection ratio ( SIR ) in each model was then evaluated. Surveillance data were collected from a total of 37,251 procedures from 37 institutions. Odds ratios regarding the develop-ment of SSI were generally diŠerent between procedures and risk factors. Except for APPY, the c-index was statistically greater in the model with all variables than in the model including risk index factors only ( p < 0.001 ) . The estimates of SIR were considerably diŠerent between models with adjustment of surgery duration and laparoscopic surgery versus models without these adjustments. The two models oŠered contradictory evidence regarding hospital performance. Multivariate logistic regression analyses that use all available variables from SSI surveillance were found to be su-perior to NNIS risk index methodology. When calculating SIR, we should consider the exclusion of surgery duration and laparoscopic surgery as risk-adjustment factors.


In this Letter, we present resonance properties in terahertz metamaterials consisting of a split-ring resonator array made from high-temperature superconducting films. By varying the temperature, we observe efficient metamaterial resonance switching and frequency tuning. The results are well reproduced by numerical simulations of metamaterial resonance using the experimentally measured complex conductivity of the superconducting film. We develop a theoretical model that explains the tuning features, which takes into account the resistive resonance damping and additional split-ring inductance contributed from both the real and imaginary parts of the temperature-dependent complex conductivity. The theoretical model further predicts more efficient resonance tuning in metamaterials consisting of a thinner superconducting split-ring resonator array, which are also verified in subsequent experiments.


The lysis cassette of Pseudomonas aeruginosa phage фKMV encodes a holin, endolysin, Rz and Rz1 in the canonical order. It has a tight organization with a high degree of overlapping genes and is highly conserved (between 96 and 100% identity at the protein level) among several other members of the "phiKMV-like viruses." The endolysin KMV45 exhibits characteristics as expected for a signal-arrest-release (SAR) endolysin, whereas the holin KMV44 is a typical pinholin. KMV45 is initially secreted as an inactive, membrane-anchored endolysin, which is subsequently released by membrane depolarization driven by the pinholin KMV44. The SAR domain of KMV45 is necessary for its full enzymatic activity, suggesting a refolding of the catalytic cleft upon release from the membrane. The physical proximity of the catalytic glutamic acid residue close to SA R domain suggests an alternative activation mechanism compared to the SAR endolysin of phages P1, ERA103 and 21. Expression of KMV44 leads to a quick cell lysis when paired with SAR endolysin KMV45, but not with the cytoplasmic phage λ endolysin, indicating the membrane depolarizing function of KMV44 rather than the large hole-making function characteristic of classical holins.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to examine the diagnostic potential for patients with endometriosis of porphyrin fluorescence after oral administration of 5-aminolevulinic acid.

STUDY DESIGN
Fifteen women referred for laparoscopy because of suspected endometriosis received 1 or 10 mg/kg 5-aminolevulinic acid orally. After 1.5 to 6 hours endoscopic fluorescence spectral analysis and video inspection were performed.

RESULTS
With 10 mg/kg 5-aminolevulinic acid and application intervals of >3 hours we observed a significantly higher porphyrin fluorescence in active peritoneal endometriosis than in adjacent normal peritoneum. Pigmented and nodular endometriosis showed weak to negative fluorescence. A strong fluorescence of the fimbrial mucosa was seen. A 1-mg/kg dose of 5-aminolevulinic acid was insufficient for fluorescence diagnosis. No side effects were recorded.

CONCLUSION
Porphyrin fluorescence after oral administration of 5-aminolevulinic acid may be beneficial in diagnosis of peritoneal endometriosis. The strong fluorescence of fimbrial mucosa may limit the applicability of this technique in young women, however, because phototoxic damage cannot be excluded at present.


Objective
Untreated school refusal increases the risk of a premature discontinuation of the educational career. The aim of this study is the economic evaluation of a manual-based treatment for school refusal in comparison to the standard treatment.

Method
Within the cost-minimisation analysis, resource use is measured retrospectively for six months using the CSSRI questionnaire. Unit costs for most health care services are derived from published standard prices. Costs are calculated from the societal perspective based on prices compiled in 2011. The cost comparison during the one-year intervention period applies a difference in differences Approach.

Results
The most common diagnoses among the 112 participants are phobic and emotional disorders. The average cost per patient during the intervention period amounts to 7197 € (95 %-CI: 4746 € – 10 079 €) for the manual group and 9294 € (95 %-CI: 6313 € – 12 878 €) for the control group. The difference in adjusted costs of 1453 € in favour of the manual group is not statistically relevant.

Conclusions
The manual-based treatment is equivalent if not slightly advantageous compared to the standard treatment considering the clinical outcomes and cost of illness.


This paper presents the result of the simulation of synchronous static compensator (STATCOM) with fuzzy logic controller on a three phase power system. The behavior of this system in order to compensate the reactive power and harmonics will be described. The fuzzy logic controller does not require a mathematical model of the system and this is a big advantage to use this controller instead of conventional PI controllers. Furthermore, designing and implementation of this controller on the cheap microcontroller is easier than the conventional PI controllers. In this method, the compensation method is based on sensing the line current only an approach different from conventional methods, which require harmonics or reactive volt-ampere requirement of the load. PWM pattern generation is based on carrier less hysteresis based current control to obtain the switching signals. At the end, the result of simulation with MATLB Simulink software has been presented.


An investigation to evaluate the competitive ability of MR219 and MR269 cultivated
 rice against three weedy rice biotypes viz: awn-spikelet (AWB), open panicle (OWB)
 and compact panicle (CWB) weedy rice biotypes was carried out in the greenhouse,
 Field 2, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia from October, 2014 to
 November, 2015. The experiment was designed in a randomized complete block design
 with four replications. The replacement series method was used to vary the weedy rice
 density to cultivated rice at proportions of 00:100, 25:75, 50:50, 75:25 and 100:00 in
 other to evaluate the effect of density and their competitiveness. The result showed that
 the growth of the cultivated rice was affected differently by different biotypes of weedy
 rice. The density of weedy rice within the two cultivated rice was significant (p < 0.05)
 on the growth of MR219 and MR269. Increasing relative yield loss (RYL) of both
 cultivated rice was observed as weedy rice density increases. While this increase was
 significant (p < 0.05) for the effect of CWB and OWB on the RYL of the MR219, only
 AWB significantly reduced the RYL of MR269. Under varying nitrogen (N), MR269
 produced higher yield grain in monoculture and compared to MR219. The application
 of different flooding regime to the competition of MR219 and MR269 with weedy rice
 in this research did not significantly enhance the competitiveness of the cultivated rice.
 The harvest index and above ground biomass in both cultivated rice were significantly
 reduced by the competition of weedy rice in both nitrogen and water treatment.
 However, MR269 appeared to perform better in terms of tolerance to weedy rice
 competition for yield. Added N of 100 kg/ha can be said to enhance its performance.
 The result of this work showed that despite the cultivated rice competitive ability
 against the weedy rice biotypes, the weedy rice is agronomically and physiologically
 more vigorous, and weedy rice free condition would be essential for optimum rice
 yield.


We investigate the geometric co-optimization of shading and solar photovoltaic tracking with a single surface. The simulation combines ideal solar tracking with a unique method for continuous shading of a fixed surface area through all sun angles. For photovoltaics, a panel achieves maximum power production by maintaining a normal orientation to the sun vector. This is achieved by tracking the 2-axis solar motion. Shading is also increased with standard tracking, but the area shaded is not effectively controlled by normal tracking alone. By rotating the panel along a path in space that maps the arc the sun makes across the sky, it is possible to also provide constant shading to a fixed position at the centroid of the arc while simultaneously maintaining a normal orientation to solar rays. The simulations were made as part of the development of a solar photovoltaic powered outdoor work table with a continuously shaded work surface. The results show the ability to maintain continuous shading, and to double the potential PV generation as compared to a fixed panel. We built a prototype that achieved this operation, and in that process used a curved panel, which has led to further simulation of curved PV surfaces. This analysis demonstrates the potential leveling of the power curve. Although it decreases total energy produced per area of panel, we show curved surfaces can significantly increase the power per unit area of panel footprint. Introduction, motivation and background


Abstract : DEOMI is the primary provider of human relations, equal opportunity (EO), and diversity training for the military. The primary mission of DEOMI is to foster acceptance of beliefs and proactive engagement in behaviors that foster non-discrimination, diversity, and social justice as legally/morally appropriate, and to achieve these goals without harm to the primary goal of mission readiness. However, creating permanent attitudinal and behavioral change is complex, especially in the controversial areas of equal opportunity and diversity. It is argued that the theory of regulatory focus (Higgins, 1997) and the associated principle of regulatory fit (Higgins, 2000) provide a conceptual framework of EO and diversity and that when regulatory fit is properly managed, it will create greater attitude change and willingness to positively engage EO/diversity. The purpose of the current paper is to explicate regulatory focus and regulatory fit in relation to EO/diversity and to discuss managing fit in terms of both day-to-day training operations and broader strategic issues for DEOMI.


We tested specimens to see behaviors of shear walls without column on compressive side, especially after flexural yielding. The most important parameter was the ratio of wall thickness to neutral axis depth. Flexural deformation capacity of shear wall was almost proportional to the ratio. Other important parameter was amount of tie bars in compressive area. They increased deformation capacity of shear wall. We proposed a simple equation to estimate deformation capacities of these walls.


Nowadays, no one can deny the role played by technical and vocational education in reducing the rate of youth unemployment, low rate of poverty, high wages, and livelihood for workers, particularly younger workers. Technical and vocational education is a dual type of educational system that permit students to acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes mostly needed by industries and business. The quality of technical and vocational educations would facilitate the transformation of students from classrooms, workshops, and laboratories into real work environment. The success of technical and vocational education in achieving the its objectives would depend on the quality of management in forging a strong linkage with industries and business. The concept of working in a "black box" would not apply in technical and vocational education since industries and business are the main contributors in shaping students' knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Kuwait, as one of the gulf states, the shortage of indigenous skilled and semi-skilled manpower in noted in essential sectors of the economy (e.g., electricity and water and the oil sector). Key figures have appreciated the significant role of technical and vocational institutions in providing essential sectors of the economy with the skilled and semi-skilled national manpower in order to reduce, to great extent, the dependence on expatriates. The Sabah Al-Salem Industrial Institute, SSII, and Shuwaikh Industrial Institute, SII, was forged between 1992-1993, by the Kuwaiti Government with the aim to equipped local manpower with the know-how and know-why that are applied in local industries and business. The research is focus on measuring the perception of a sample of heads of supervisors at the Ministry of Electricity and Water and at the oil sector towards the quality of the graduates from the Sabah Al-Salem Industrial Institute, SSII, and Shuwaikh Industrial Institute, SII. The research is based on extensive field work that encompasses a review of the related literature, interviews with a sample of heads of supervisors at the Ministry of Electricity and Water and at the oil sector to assess the quality of SSII & SII, graduates. Finally, the research will argue that unless the Sabah Al-Salem Industrial Institute, SSII, and the Shuwaikh Industrial Institute, SII, recognize and appreciate the value of building a strong linkage with local industries, its contribution in tackling the shortage of skilled and semi-skilled indigenous in essential sectors on the economy will be below the government expectations, thus continuing relaying on expatriates for years ahead.


Background: In developing world including sub-Saharan Africa, HIV/AIDS has worsened the impact of under-nutrition in children. HIV infected children are highly vulnerable to malnutrition. Even though under-nutrition screening and intervention are incorporated into the care plan of HIV infected children, it is continued as a major problem for HIV infected children in Africa. Hence, the main aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to estimate the pooled prevalence of under-nutrition and associated factors among children infected with HIV.Methods: Primary studies were retrieved from PubMed/ MEDLINE online, Science direct, and Hinari databases. We found a total of 1847 records from these databases. After removing papers my using different exclusion criteria, 26 studies that report the prevalence of under-nutrition were included. We used a standardized data extraction format prepared in Microsoft Excel. STATA- version 14 statistical software was used for analysis. Heterogeneity was evaluated through I2 test. A random-effects meta-analysis model was used to estimate the pooled prevalence of under-nutrition and its associated factors. The summary estimates were also presented using Forest plots and tables.Results: The pooled prevalence of stunting, underweight, and wasting in HIV infected children were 51.4% (95% CI: 46.3, 56.4), 39.0% (95% CI: 33.7, 44.3), and 24.5% (95% CI: 19.2, 29.8) respectively. Household insecurity was associated with stunting [OR= 5.50 (95% CI 3.36, 8.98]. Low family economic status [OR= 5.25 (95% CI: 2.52, 10.92)])], feeding frequency [OR= 0.32 (95% CI 0.172, 0.605)] and caretakers attending dietary counseling [OR= 0.367 (95% CI: 0.182, 0.739)] were significantly associated with under-weight among HIV infected children. Conclusions: The pooled prevalence of under-nutrition among HIV infected children was high. Routine nutritional assessment and nutritional support shall be strengthened, monitored, and evaluated in HIV infected children. Implementation of policies and strategy sated by a national and international stakeholder in ART care centers should get maximum emphasis to reduce undernutrition in HIV infected children.


The Cuk converter can be employed for the control of DC voltage of a battery or it can be a component of a complex converter to control the intermediate or output voltages. Due to the switching property included in their structure, DC-DC converters have a non-linear behavior and their controller design is complexity. However by employing the average method it is possible to approximate the system by using a linear model and linear control method can be used. Dynamic performance of Cuk converters output voltage can be controlled by the method of Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR). In this article, matrices coefficients are selected based on genetic algorithms. The results showed an improvement in voltage control response in a short response time.


Catheter ablation is an effective and durable treatment option for patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Ablation outcomes vary widely, with optimal results in patients with paroxysmal AF and diminishing results in patients with persistent or long-standing persistent AF. A number of clinical factors including obesity, hypertension, diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea, and alcohol use contribute to AF recurrence following ablation, likely through modulation of the atrial electro-anatomic substrate. In this article, we review the clinical risk factors and the electro-anatomic features that contribute to AF recurrence in patients undergoing ablation for AF.


G-quadruplex structures have been shown to form in human telomeres, and the formation of G-quadruplexes can inhibit telomerase, which plays a key role in cancers by stabilizing telomere length and integrity thereby granting limitless replicative potential. The human telomeric G-quadruplex is thus considered to be a potential target for cancer therapeutics. In physiologically relevant potassium solution, human telomeric DNA sequences form two equilibrating hybrid-type G-quadruplex structures, with the hybrid-2 structure being the predominant form in extended sequences. We discovered that epiberberine (EPI), a naturally occurring protoberberine alkaloid, can specifically bind the hybrid-2 human telomeric G-quadruplex and can induce the conversion to the hybrid-2 structure. Using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, we determined the solution structure of the 1:1 complex of EPI and hybrid-2 human telomeric G-quadruplex. Our NMR structure shows EPI bound at the 5' end of the hybrid-2 telomeric quadruplex with an unexpectedly large drug-induced conformational change in the flanking and loop regions, creating a very well-defined drug binding pocket with extensive capping structures. The EPI molecule and 5' flanking adenine form an induced quasi-triad plane which is intercalated between the external 5' tetrad and capping structures. Two layers of new capping structures are formed with the 5' flanking segment and the second TTA lateral loop to cover the "intercalated quasi-triad". Notably, the well-defined EPI-induced multi-layer binding-site arrangement is only possible in the hybrid-2 folding topology of telomeric DNA. Our results provide important insights into specific targeting of the physiologically relevant hybrid-2 human telomeric G-quadruplex by a small molecule compound; EPI's asymmetric crescent-shape and the positioning of its dioxolane moiety, as well as the hybrid-2 folding and the loop and flanking bases in the human telomeric DNA sequence, all contribute toward the specific recognition of EPI. In addition, we have conducted polymerase stop assays, which confirmed that EPI can stabilize the human telomeric G-quadruplex to inhibit polymerase activity. Citation Format: Clement Lin, Guanhui Wu, Yong Shao, Danzhou Yang. The molecular basis for specific recognition of the biologically relevant hybrid-2 type human telomeric G-quadruplex by epiberberine [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 5232. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-5232


We demonstrate a universal reconfigurable add-drop optical filter based on arrays of digital micromirrors. Our approach allows for reconfiguration of the device parameters for operation in different sets of channel wavelengths, even or uneven channel-to-channel separation, adjustable channel passband, and dynamic add-drop of optical signals. The proposed device shows insertion loss at the center wavelength in the all-pass configuration of 7.6 dB, extinction ratio of 35 dB, channel isolation better than 24dB, negligible loss ripple, and possibility of reconfiguration time in the order of microseconds. Although designed for demonstration on optical telecommunication frequencies, the high-flexibility features of the proposed add-drop filter allow it to be used for other optical wavelength-based filtering/switching applications.


Aims: To present two cases of thrombosis of the splanchnic veins, which is considered a possible fatal cause of intestinal ischemia, with the portal and superior mesenteric veins being the most affected. To discuss the etiological possibilities and emphasize the importance of using imaging exams for the definitive diagnosis. Case Description: Two women with splanchnic venous thrombosis showed nonspecific clinical manifestations. In the first case, the main symptoms were abdominal pain, bloody diarrhea, abdominal distension and nausea. In the second case, the patient presented with vague abdominal pain, anorexia and hypotension. In both cases the diagnosis was established by computed tomography. Conclusion: Considering the nonspecific clinical manifestations of splanchnic veins thrombosis, the imaging exams, especially the computed tomography , play a major role in its definitive diagnosis.


This paper presents a new model integrating a recurrent neural network (RNN) and a least squares support vector machine (LS-SVM) for classification of document titles according to different predetermined categories. The new model proposed in this paper is abbreviated as neuro-SVM. Based on the neuro-SVM model, a system is implemented, using latent semantic indexing (LSI) to generate probabilistic coefficients from document titles, which are used as the input to the system. The system's performance is demonstrated with a corpus of 96956 words, from University of Denver's Penrose library catalogue and the accuracy rate of the proposed system is found to be 99.66%.


The early embryonic development and features of the developing embryo of the glowworm Rhagophthalmus ohbai are described chiefly by light microscopy, with emphasis on the germ rudiment formation and its phylogenetic implication. The egg period is 30–34 days at about 23°C. The newly laid egg is a short ellipsoid, 1.09 by 0.78 mm in size, and the size increases to 1.15 by 0.95 mm by 17 days after oviposition. Cleavage is of the typical superficial type. The germ disk is formed by cell aggregation of the embryonic area at the anterior end of the egg. The central part of the germ disk then sinks into the yolk and the spherical germ rudiment is formed by fusion of the amnioserosal folds extended from all margins of the germ disk. The inner region of the germ rudiment soon becomes slender and develops into the short embryo, whereas the outer region facing the anterior end is extended to form the thin amnion. The embryo then rapidly elongates, the elongation being accompanied by embryo segmentation and formation of appendages. The submerged condition of the embryo persists until about 17 days after oviposition (about 1 day before embryonic revolution) and thereafter the embryo becomes superficial in position. The presence of the following embryonic characters in R. ohbai supports the molecular data placing it within the Lampyridae: 1) formation of a spherical germ rudiment near the anterior end of the egg, and 2) the submerged condition of the developing embryo persists until shortly before revolution. J. Morphol. 253:1–9, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


The approximate number of people without access to clean cooking facilities is 2.8 billion, primarily in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Among those, 2.5 billion people cook with biomass in inefficient and polluting stoves. The health impacts are severe: it is estimated that household air pollution from solid fuel use results in more than a million premature deaths each year in the People's Republic of China and 2.8 million deaths worldwide. In addition, the biomass often comes from unsustainable sources. In spite of intensifying efforts, programs and policies to address the clean cooking challenge have so far had limited impact, and more effective policies are needed. Clean cooking technologies and tools include improved and advanced biomass cookstoves that meet World Health Organization standards for exposure to indoor air pollution, biogas digesters based on wastes, solar cookers, electricity for cooking based on small solar home systems and minigrids, and switching to liquefied petroleum gas, which, while not renewable, is an important option for reducing the health impacts of solid fuel cooking. The current work aims to bring together the experiences of promoting clean cooking policies and programs in Asian countries. The quantitative results of this study will be helpful for policy and decision makers to find out the challenges, issues, and possible solutions for providing clean cooking technologies in Asia.


Crowdsourcing allows to instantly recruit workers on the web to annotate image, web page, or document databases. However, worker unreliability prevents taking a workers responses at face value. Thus, responses from multiple workers are typically aggregated to more reliably infer ground-truth answers. We study two approaches for crowd aggregation on multicategory answer spaces stochastic modeling based and deterministic objective function based. Our stochastic model for answer generation plausibly captures the interplay between worker skills, intentions, and task difficulties and allows us to model a broad range of worker types. Our deterministic objective based approach does not assume a model for worker response generation. Instead, it aims to maximize the average aggregate confidence of weighted plurality crowd decision making. In both approaches, we explicitly model the skill and intention of individual workers, which is exploited for improved crowd aggregation. Our methods are applicable in both unsupervised and semisupervised settings, and also when the batch of tasks is heterogeneous. As observed experimentally, the proposed methods can defeat tyranny of the masses, they are especially advantageous when there is a minority of skilled workers amongst a large crowd of unskilled and malicious workers.


A micro-expression is a spontaneous unconscious facial muscle movement that can reveal the true emotions people attempt to hide. Although manual methods have made good progress and deep learning is gaining prominence. Due to the short duration of micro-expression and different scales of expressed in facial regions, existing algorithms cannot extract multi-modal multi-scale facial region features while taking into account contextual information to learn underlying features. Therefore, in order to solve the above problems, a multi-modal multi-scale algorithm based on transformer network is proposed in this paper, aiming to fully learn local multi-grained features of micro-expressions through two modal features of micro-expressions - motion features and texture features. To obtain local area features of the face at different scales, we learned patch features at different scales for both modalities, and then fused multi-layer multi-headed attention weights to obtain effective features by weighting the patch features, and combined cross-modal contrastive learning for model optimization. We conducted comprehensive experiments on three spontaneous datasets, and the results show the accuracy of the proposed algorithm in single measurement SMIC database is up to 78.73% and the F1 value on CASMEII of the combined database is up to 0.9071, which is at the leading level.


This book discusses a philosophy and some of the practical aspects of management for handicapped children. It is intended for parents but I doubt whether most parents will find it easy to read as it tends to talk about them rather than to them. I wish the sections on bath aids, seating, and feeding cerebral palsied infants were as thorough and as well illustrated as the sections on feeding aids and clothing. Aids to communication and environmental control systems are neglected. Continence and spina bifida is no longer so dependent on diversionary surgery as is implied. The use of catheters is not discussed and there is an underestimate of the potential for bowel continence. The paraphrased medical advice to parents of children with epilepsy, asthma, and cystic fibrosis would be disputed by many doctors. The need for physically handicapped children to learn to adapt to a world and family which do not view them as central is well put. The cartoons of the smoking mother reading a magazine and dribbling the contents of the feeding bottle over her baby on to the carpet in front of the expectant cat, and of the father, empty beer glass in hand swinging his legs on a bar stool are patronising and offensive. Pictures of seating systems would have been more useful. The tendency of therapists to tell parents that certain activities are vital and others should never occur diminishes credibility. The book may be of interest to child development centre libraries. It needs firmer editing, more information, and a contemporary system for giving full references.


The NASA Orion manned spacecraft will replace the NASA Space Shuttle for getting astronauts to low earth orbit, moon and Mars and returned to the earth safely. It also serves as a crew escape vehicle at the ISS to increase astronaut safety The NASA integrated, vehicle health management (IVHM) program has been adopted by many segments of the aerospace industry. The IVHM is the tool to prevent catastrophic failures by identifying the equipment that will fail prematurely for replacement, thus preventing/eliminating surprise equipment failures from threatening both safety and mission success. Due to the extreme environments experienced by both the launch vehicle and its payload (s) during launch and while operating in space the space industry often rejects most advancements made in other aerospace industries in technology related to and improving reliability. Personnel on the ground responsible for launch vehicle and spacecraft receive limited technical information from an on-board telemetry system that generates routes engineering data, whose accuracy is suspect, available from spacecraft when both planned and unplanned events occur. Included in this paper are examples of spacecraft equipment failures that have been accurately predicted to occur or prevented from occurring. We provide many examples of equipment telemetry measurements used to measure spacecraft equipment usable life. The equipment with a measured usable will fail prematurely with certainty. The equipment that will fail prematurely should be replaced at the factory or if the spacecraft is in space, the failure can be managed to a positive conclusion. This paper summarizes the use of a prognostic and health management program including using predictive algorithms to measure equipment life and predict remaining usable life with certainty on the many NASA space missions as specified in the NASA IVHM technical plan published in 2009. The non-Markov reliability paradigm for measuring equipment usable life was specifically developed for preventing surprise catastrophic equipment failures. It is already in use on the Air Force F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The decision to use a PHM is in part, based on the results from our prognostic analysis we completed on the NASA GSFC Extreme Ultra Violet Explorer LEO space science satellite and the NASA Space Shuttle Challenger and Columbia accidents. Our results identified the information that was present but was ignored for a variety of reasons that would have prevented both Space Shuttle accidents if the information had been properly interpreted.


This study assessed the vulnerability of 16 floodplain wetlands (beels) of the Lower Brahmaputra Valley, Assam, India, in relation to a range of natural and anthropogenic factors including climate change. The total water-spread area of the selected beels varied widely (8–50 ha), with 68.75% of the beels showing a reduction in water-spread area over the past 30 years. High levels of siltation and encroachment and detachment of marginal areas through the construction of roads were the major factors responsible for the reduction in the water-spread area of the beels. The reduction was observed to be in the range of over 33% in three beels (Raghunath Sora, Chulkani, and Dudua beel) to 83% in Bhoishpuri beel. In addition, one beel (Chulkani) experienced reduction in its deep pool area, which is an important wetland area that provides shelter to brood fishes during the dry season. Only 12.5% of the beels studied practiced enclosure (pen) culture for rearing fish. None practiced cage culture. Our study showed that only two beels (Bhoishpuri and Tariachora) were free from exotic fishes; the remaining surveyed beels reported exotic species such as, Cyprinus carpio (Common Carp), Ctenopharyngodon idella (Grass Carp), Hypophthalmichthys molitrix (Silver Carp), H. nobilis (Bighead Carp) and Piaractus brachypomus (Pacu). The prevalence of exotic fishes in the majority of the beels (due both to escape from nearby aquaculture ponds during floods and intentional stocking in certain beels) would have adversely affected the diversity of indigenous fishes in those wetlands. From discussion with the fishers, 50% of the beels surveyed experienced a reduction in the number of fish species from that recorded 10–20 years ago. In addition to climate change-related factors (e.g. abnormal rains, floods, or drought-like situations), other factors – both natural (e.g. hyper-nutrification) and anthropogenic (e.g. construction of roads, houses, and other structures) – also adversely affected the studied wetlands. To help cope with these factors and increase the adaptive capacity of fishers, four measures aimed at mitigation are suggested. These are: the practice of enclosure aquaculture in beels; the construction of floating macrophyte refuges (katal); deep pool refuges; and stock enhancement programmes with climate-resilient indigenous fishes.


Fault feature extraction based on prior knowledge and raw data is increasingly becoming more challenging in energy Internet fault diagnosis due to complicated network topology and coupling disturbances introduced into the systems. Deep learning methods that have emerged in recent years, such as the convolutional neural networks (CNNs), have shown a number of advantages and great potentials in the field of feature extraction and image recognition. However, CNNs does not work well in fault diagnosis for industrial systems, due to the totally different data representations between images used in recognition and signals obtained from industrial processes. This paper tackles this problem by introducing a novel and generic fault diagnosis method for complicated system, namely, the Spearman rank correlation-based CNNs (SR-CNNs). By imposing the Spearman rank correlation image layer on the typical CNNs, the multiple time-series signals measured by the phasor measurement units (PMUs) is converted to appropriate data images, which are then fed to the CNNs. With the aid of this novel design, different fault features can be comprehensively extracted while the fault can be identified more quickly and precisely than other conventional approaches. To validate the efficacy of the proposed approach, an IEEE defined power gird with many new energy resources are used as the test platform. The experimental results confirm the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method in energy Internet fault diagnosis over conventional methods.


The present study was conducted to administer overweight and obesity by suggesting various nutritional and lifestyle intervention programs through planning, designing, and formulating mobile-based Mhealth technique. The study intended to assess the efficacy of the designed health mobile application in bringing out the various dietary and nutritional modifications in the lives of those who are at the risk of overweight and its related major health issues. To accomplish the above objective hundred obese women residing in Udaipur city were selected and studied. Mobile application was then developed by gathering authentic nutritional pieces of information from different sources, books, internet, journals. Application was then installed in the smart phones of the respondents' testing of anthropometric measurements like height, weight, BMI, WHR along with dietary and nutrient adequacy was assessed on 0 day the mean height was 164.74 ± 4.89 cm, the mean weight was 72.9 ±14.92 kg, and the mean BMI was 28.23 ±2.36 kg/m2, and the mean WHR was 0.86 ± 0.07cm.Again, post assessment of Anthropometric measurement as well as dietary and nutrient adequacy was recorded on, 90, 120, 150, 180 and changes occurred was observed. It was observed that the mean height remained constant. Whereas there was a change in mean weight, bmi, where, it was evident from the data of dietary and nutrient assessment. It was considerably deficient in green leafy vegetables, other vegetables, and fruits. Cereals, pulses, milk and milk products, sugar, and fat, on the other hand, were substantially higher in consumption as compared to balanced diets. Also, the female respondents' diet was substantially deficient in the following nutrients: vitamin A, vitamin C, and iron. On the other hand, the diet was high in energy, protein, carbohydrates, fats, calcium. Significant improvements were observed in the post-assessment, with reduced intake of sugar, fats, and oil, and increased intake of roots, green leafy vegetables, other vegetables, fruits, and pulses.


The present status of solid waste management reviewed into this article based in Lahore, Pakistan. Following UN-Habitat city profiling with involved systematic quantitative, qualitative assessment, governance features of the present waste management includes in and shows the present system, waste collection, transportation is the main concentration and producing 74,000 tons year-1 of organic compost. Lahore waste management system (LWMC) is low in their target market consulted in decision making (inclusivity) and bad performance (governance features). Formal waste management system having backward of the informal system, which is absolutely inconsistent with current waste management systems. Watchful arranging and organization proposed here to reduce the trouble by integrating informal waste management system into formal waste management system for shared advantages. The integrated sustainable waste management (ISWM) indicators used for different levels of income class and LWMC performance in Lahore. Recommendation builds for the public awareness for recycling and to make the integrating informal sector sustainable system and fill the historical data gap.


Novelties of this study include a synthesis of water quality parameters for the upstream sub-basin of the Dnieper River. This upstream sub-basin includes the Desna River. The synthesis revels new insights on the sources of the water pollution and the status of the water quality for different purposes such as drinking, aquaculture and recreation. The main research objective was to identify the main sources of water pollution and how those sources could decrease the water quality. As a result of our analysis, we conclude the following. The levels of ammonium-nitrogen and nitrite-nitrogen in the Desna River (upstream sub-basin) are by 2-43 times and up to 53 times higher than the water quality thresholds, respectively. This poses a risk for recreational activities since too much nutrients often lead to blooms of harmful algae. We also find an increased level of biological oxygen demand in the river for drinking purposes. For aquaculture, decreased levels of dissolved oxygen are found. Climate change has an impact on water quality. For example, extreme floods caused by too much precipitation can bring pollutants to nearby waters. Monthly average temperature has increased by +2.7 degrees contributing to increased microbiological processes that could stimulate blooms of harmful algae. Main sources of water pollution are sewage discharges in cities, agricultural runoff and erosion activities after floods.


We consider multirate digital control systems which consist of an interconnection of a continuous-time nonlinear plant (described by ordinary differential equations), a digital controller (described by ordinary difference equations) which has quantizers (but is otherwise linear), along with the required interface elements (A/D and D/A converters). The input to the digital controller consists of the multirate sampled output of the plant. In the present note we show that when quantizer nonlinearities are neglected, then under reasonable conditions (which exclude the critical cases), the stability properties (in the Lyapunov sense) of the trivial solution of the nonlinear multirate digital control systems can be deduced from the stability properties of the trivial solution of its linearization. For such systems we also present a result concerning the existence and construction of stabilizing multirate-output digital controllers. In the present note we also show that the solutions of multirate digital feedback control systems with nonlinear plant and quantizers are uniformly ultimately bounded if the trivial solution of the corresponding linear systems consisting of the linearization of the plant and with the quantization removed from the digital controller, is asymptotically stable. We also provide a result which compares the response of multirate digital control systems with nonlinear plant and quantizers in the controller with the response of the corresponding nonlinear multirate digital control systems without quantizers in the digital controller.


This study aims to describe the design of electronic teaching materials packaged in e-summary form, and to determine the validity of e-summary teaching materials according to experts and product trials. This type of research is development research using the Hannafin & Peck model. The types of data in this study are quantitative and qualitative data. The research data collection used the document recording method and the questionnaire method. The data analysis technique used is descriptive quantitative analysis technique, and descriptive qualitative. The results of the study (1) The design of this e-summary teaching material consists of three stages, namely the needs analysis stage, the design stage, the development and implementation stage. And at each stage it passes through the evaluation stage. (2) The validity of the development of e-summary teaching materials is measured through (a) the results of the content/content expert review by obtaining a percentage of 93.3% being in very good qualification, (b) the results of the e-summary linguist review being 87.5% being on good qualifications (c) the results of the review of individual trials show that the percentage of the overall subject is 97.1% with very good qualifications and (d) the results of the small group trial review show that the percentage of the overall subject is 96.3% with very good qualifications. . In general, the research results show that e-summary is valid with very good quality and is suitable for use in the learning process in creative thinking training. Suggestions that can be given from the results of this study are that this e-summary teaching material can be used optimally in the learning process so that it can increase the training participants' self-study motivation and make it easier to understand the training material.


Activated immune cells become obligate glucose utilizers, and a large i.v. lipopolysaccharide (LPS) dose causes insulin resistance and severe hypoglycemia. Therefore, study objectives were to quantify the amount of glucose needed to maintain euglycemia following an endotoxin challenge as a proxy of leukocyte glucose requirements. Fifteen fasted crossbred gilts (30.3 ± 1.7 kg) were bilaterally jugular catheterized and assigned 1 of 2 i.v. bolus treatments: control (CON; 10 mL sterile saline; = 7) or LPS challenge + euglycemic clamp (LPS-Eu; 055:B5; 5 μg/kg BW; 50% dextrose infusion to maintain euglycemia; = 8). Following administration, blood glucose was determined every 10 min and dextrose infusion rates were adjusted in LPS-Eu pigs to maintain euglycemia for 8 h. Pigs were fasted for 8 h prior to the bolus and remained fasted throughout the challenge. Rectal temperature was increased in LPS-Eu pigs relative to CON pigs (39.8 vs. 38.8°C; < 0.01). Relative to the baseline, CON pigs had 20% decreased blood glucose from 300 to 480 min postbolus ( = 0.01) whereas circulating glucose content in LPS-Eu pigs did not differ ( = 0.96) from prebolus levels. A total of 116 ± 8 g of infused glucose was required to maintain euglycemia in LPS-Eu pigs. Relative to CON pigs, overall plasma insulin, blood urea nitrogen, β-hydroxybutrate, lactate, and LPS-binding protein were increased in LPS-Eu pigs (295, 108, 29, 133, and 13%, respectively; ≤ 0.04) whereas NEFA was decreased (66%; < 0.01). Neutrophils in LPS-Eu pigs were decreased 84% at 120 min postbolus and returned to CON levels by 480 min ( < 0.01). Overall, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils, and basophils were decreased in LPS-Eu pigs relative to CON pigs (75, 87, 70, and 50%, respectively; ≤ 0.05). These alterations in metabolism and the large amount of glucose needed to maintain euglycemia indicate nutrient repartitioning away from growth toward the immune system. Glucose is an important fuel for the immune system, and data from this study established that the glucose requirements of an intensely and acutely activated immune system in growing pigs are approximately 1.1 g/kg BW/h.


Portfolio risk, introduced by Markowitz in 1952 and defined as the standard deviation of the portfolio return, is an important metric in the modern portfolio theory (MPT). A popular method for portfolio selection is to manage the risk and return of a portfolio according to the cross-correlations of returns for various financial assets. In a real-world scenario, estimated empirical financial correlation matrix contains significant level of intrinsic noise that needs to be filtered prior to risk calculations.


This open access book focuses on explaining differences amongst organizations regarding various attributes, forms, and outcomes. By focusing on the "how" of new venture creation and management to produce well-established organizations, the authors aim to increase our understanding of the antecedents of most management research assumptions. New ventures are the source of most newly created jobs generated in an economy, new industries and markets, innovative products and services, and new solutions to economic, social, and environmental problems. However, most management research assumes a well-established organization as the starting point of their theorizing.

Building on the notion of guided attention, it details how entrepreneurs can allocate their transient attention to identify potential opportunities from environmental change and how entrepreneurs allocate their sustained attention to form beliefs about radical and incremental opportunities requiring entrepreneurial action. The authors explain how entrepreneurs build such communities and engage community members over time to co-construct potential opportunities for new venture progress. Using the lean startup framework, they connect the dots between the theorizing on identifying and co-constructing potential opportunities and the startup of new ventures. This leads to a new overarching framework based on are (1) co-creating a startup, (2) organizing a startup, and (3) performing a startup to bring together the many disparate threads of research on new ventures. The authors then theorize on the importance of knowledge in organizational scaling.

Based on cutting-edge research from the leading entrepreneurship journals, this book expands knowledge on the cognitive aspect of the new venture creation process.


We consider a scalar QED model for the frictional force and the momentum fluctuations of a polarizable particle in thermal equilibrium with radiation or in hyperbolic motion in a vacuum. In the former case the loss of particle kinetic energy due to the frictional force is compensated by the increase in kinetic energy associated with the momentum diffusion, resulting in the Planck distribution when it is assumed that the average kinetic energy satisfies the equipartition theorem. For hyperbolic motion in vacuum the frictional force and the momentum diffusion are similarly consistent with a thermal equilibrium at the Davies-Unruh temperature. The quantum fluctuations of the momentum imply that it is only the average acceleration that is constant when the particle is subject to a constant applied force.


UNLABELLED
80 patients of presenium hypertension with geriatric Kidney Qi Deficiency and Blood Stasis were randomly divided into two groups. (1) Traditional Chinese Medicine group (TCMG, 50 cases) treated with Xianbai Buyang Huanwu Decoction (XBH); (2) Western medicine group (WMG, 30 cases) treated with compound hypotensor tablets and gamma-evening primrose-E oil capsules.

RESULTS
The difference between the two groups was not significant (P > 0.05). After treatment, in TCMG, serum cholesterol and triglyceride, fibrinogen, whole blood viscosity and plasma viscosity, plasma and erythrocyte LPO activity lowered significantly, and plasma SOD and erythrocyte SOD raised significantly (P < 0.001-0.05), while in WMG, only showed the plasma LPO dropped (P < 0.05). The results suggested that XBH has the effects of reducing blood pressure, lowering the blood lipid, improving hemorrheological parameters and antioxidation.


A three dimensional (3-D) nonlinear analysis of the beam-wave interaction in the single-grating rectangular waveguide (SGRW) sheet-beam Back-ward Wave Oscillator (BWO) is presented, in which space-charge effects and conductivity losses are considered. The results are compared with those obtained by CST-PS code PIC simulations.


Objectives COVID-19's second wave started a debate on the potential role of schools as a primary factor in the contagion resurgence. Two opposite positions appeared: those convinced that schools played a major role in spreading SARS-CoV-2 infections and those who were not. We studied the growth rate of the total number of SARS-CoV-2 infections in all the Italian regions, before and after the school reopening (September–October 2020), investigating the hypothesis of an association between schools and the resurgence of the virus. Methods Using a Bayesian piecewise linear regression to scrutinise the number of daily SARS-CoV-2 infections in each region, we looked for an estimate of a changepoint in the growth rate of those confirmed cases. We compared the changepoints with the school opening dates, for each Italian region. The regression allows to discuss the change in steepness of the infection curve, before and after the changepoint. Results In 15 out of 21 Italian regions (71%), an estimated change in the rate of growth of the total number of daily SARS-CoV-2 infection cases occurred after an average of 16.66 days (95% CI 14.47 to 18.73) since the school reopening. The number of days required for the SARS-CoV-2 daily cases to double went from an average of 47.50 days (95% CI 37.18 to 57.61) before the changepoint to an average of 7.72 days (95% CI 7.00 to 8.48) after it. Conclusion Studying the rate of growth of daily SARS-CoV-2 cases in all the regions provides some evidence in favour of a link between school reopening and the resurgence of the virus. The number of factors that could have played a role is too many to give a definitive answer. Still, the temporal correspondence warrants further systematic experiments to investigate on potential confounders that could clarify how much reopening schools mattered.


Cholecystohepatic duct (CHD) is a very rare anomaly of the extrahepatic biliary tract. Herein we report on a case of bile leakage after cholecystectomy due to injury to the CHD, the presence of which had not been recognized before surgery. Follow-up computed tomography (CT) of an asymptomatic 63-year-old man 1 year after Roux-en Y reconstruction for advanced gastric cancer revealed a gallbladder mass, and so cholecystectomy was planned. Preoperatively, there was no indication of biliary anomaly by magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP). During surgery, a "string" was visualized between the cystic duct and the bed of the gallbladder. This "string" was ligated without intraoperative cholangiography and the gallbladder was removed. On postoperative day (POD) 5, bile peritonitis developed and percutaneous drain- age was performed. Abdominal contrast examinations from the drainage tube enabled visualization of the intrahepatic duct of the posterior segment of the liver. Careful re-examination of preoperative MRCP images showed a confluence between the bile duct and the neck of the gallbladder (i.e. a CHD), which drained the posterior segment of the liver. Although the end of the CHD was blind, the bile leakage improved following percutaneous abdominal drainage alone, without percutaneous transhepatic cholangiodrainage or reoperation. In conclusion, CHD is a very rare biliary anomaly. However, it should be kept in mind during cholecystectomy to avoid serious complications.


The take-off behavior of typical tri-pad and sub-ambient pressure tri-pad sliders is investigated using acoustic emission (AE) measurements. The relative energy of the torsional and bending mode frequencies in the AE signal is determined as a function of velocity. The change in energy in the AE signal corresponding to the torsional and bending modes of vibration of the slider is found to be associated with the change in the contact location between slider and disk from the side rails to the trailing edge.


[1] A noniterative, implicit, mass-conserving, unconditionally stable, positive-definite numerical scheme that solves nonequilibrium air-ocean transfer equations for any atmospheric constituent and time step is derived. The method, referred to as the Ocean Predictor of Dissolution (OPD) scheme, is coupled with EQUISOLV O, a new ocean chemical equilibrium module based on the EQUISOLV II atmospheric aerosol solver. EQUISOLV O converges iteratively, but is unique because it is positive-definite and mass and charge conserving, regardless of the number of iterations taken or equations solved. Two advancements of EQUISOLV O were the development of a new method to initialize charge and a noniterative solution to the water dissociation equation. Here OPD-EQUISOLV O is used to calculate air and ocean composition and ocean pH among dozens of species in the Na-Cl-Mg-Ca-K-H-O-Li-Sr-C-S-N-Br-F-B-Si-P system. The modules are first used in a one-dimensional ocean/two-compartment atmospheric model driven by emission to examine the historic change in atmospheric CO2 and ocean composition from 1751 to 2004 and the possible future change in CO2 and ocean composition from 2004 to 2104. CO2 estimates from the historic simulation compare well with the measured CO2 record. Whereas surface ocean pH is estimated to have dropped from near 8.25 to near 8.14 between 1751 and 2004, it is forecasted to decrease to near 7.85 in 2100 under the SRES A1B emission scenario, for a factor of 2.5 increase in H+ in 2100 relative to 1751. This "ocean acidification" is calculated to cause a nontrivial transfer of ammonia from the atmosphere to the ocean and a smaller transfer of hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, and sulfurous acids from the ocean to the atmosphere. The existence and direction of these feedbacks are almost certain, suggesting that CO2 buildup may have an additional impact on ecosystems. Computer time of the module in the GATOR-GCMOM global model with a 10-layer-ocean was less than two hours per simulation year on a modern single processor.


In this paper, a time-varying analysis procedure based on lattice filters is proposed for real-time processing. The analysis procedure estimates the reflection coefficients from the signal frames successively in a way that the current frame is analyzed with respect to previous frames. For that purpose, a linear coefficient trajectory covering the current and previous frames is estimated under condition that the left-sided starting value of the trajectory is prescribed by analysis results of previous frames. The coefficients of the current frame can be determined from the trajectory at a particular point. Analyses of speech signals show that the algorithm yields good spectral modeling simultaneously with a smooth time development.


Silicone materials are very appropriate for dielectric elastomer (DE) transducer applications due to their distinguished mechanical and electrical characteristics like high elasticity and an efficient electromechanical behavior. Since the material parameter permittivity influences significantly the work output, Wacker Chemie AG developed a new silicone named ELASTOSIL® Film 5030 with increased permittivity for improving the work output. Within this contribution, the mechanical characteristics including the hyperelasticity and electromechanically coupled behavior is compared to standard silicone material ELASTOSIL® Film 2030 from Wacker Young's modulus of both materials are obtained conducting tensile tests, while the electromechanical behavior is characterized by investigating a planar single layer DE transducer. The new material has a similar Young's modulus compared to the standard material. Furthermore, the electrically actuated deformation of the planar single layer DE transducers made form new silicone is proportional larger to its permittivity and inversely proportional to its Young's modulus under same electrical field applied.


In this paper a New Keynesian model is described and partially estimated for the euro area. The model is then used to analyze the stabilizing properties of alternative monetary policy rules for the euro area: instrument (Taylor-type) rules and targeting rules. Our main finding is that if instrument rules are designed optimally they behave similarly to targeting rules both in terms of performance and robustness. This result is obtained for a variety of ECB preferences on stabilizing inflation, the output gap, and the nominal interest rate. Furthermore, the rule quasi-equivalence is also obtained if the ECB objective function is based on welfare maximization.


Mesozoic Birds: Above the Heads of Dinosaurs. Edited by Luis M. Chiappe and Lawrence M. Witmer. University of California Press, Berkeley. 2002. 520 pages. Cloth $95.00.

This dense, collected volume comes with all of the summits and declivities expected of the genre. Because of the pace of new discoveries, particularly in China, the manuscript was out of date well before it reached the hands of a printer, and by the editors' own admission the book is incomplete for lacking treatment of important groups such as Ichthyornithiformes and most of the Hesperornithiformes. For certain omissions, however, the editors may be praised as sparing us from further exposure to futility. Regarding the origin of avian flight, for example, they take the position that "so much has been written on the subject, with so little positive outcome, that another dedicated review was not warranted."

By comparison with other collections of papers on early birds, this volume is commendable for sticking pretty closely to the subject of actual birds rather than dinosaurs. Nevertheless, the sustaining ichor flowing through it is the cladistic hypothesis of the origin of birds from theropod dinosaurs. This is not without detractors and the debate is usually never less than rancorous.

The opening chapter by Larry Witmer summarizes the conflict with a measured and sedate tone sure to win plaudits from those weary of the usual plangent clangor, yet for all of his seeming moderation, Witmer, too, descends into bombast and propaganda. Speaking of the early Cretaceous Caudipteryx from China, he says (p. 14): "The presence of unambiguous feathers in an unambiguously nonavian theropod has the rhetorical impact of an atomic bomb, rendering any doubt about the theropod relationships of birds ludicrous." But Caudipteryx is anything but an unambiguous theropod and the theropod origin can …


In traditional cheese making, pregastric lipolytic enzymes of animal origin are used for the acceleration of ripening and the formation of spicy flavor compounds. Especially for cheese specialities, such as Pecorino, Provolone, or Feta, pregastric esterases (PGE) play an important role. A lipase from Pleurotus citrinopileatus could serve as a substitute for these animal-derived enzymes, thus offering vegetarian, kosher, and halal alternatives. However, the hydrolytic activity of this enzyme towards long-chain fatty acids is slightly too high, which may lead to off-flavors during long-term ripening. Therefore, an optimization via protein engineering (PE) was performed by changing the specificity towards medium-chain fatty acids. With a semi-rational design, possible mutants at eight different positions were created and analyzed in silico. Heterologous expression was performed for 24 predicted mutants, of which 18 caused a change in the hydrolysis profile. Three mutants (F91L, L302G, and L305A) were used in application tests to produce Feta-type brine cheese. The sensory analyses showed promising results for cheeses prepared with the L305A mutant, and SPME-GC-MS analysis of volatile free fatty acids supported these findings. Therefore, altering the chain length specificity via PE becomes a powerful tool for the replacement of PGEs in cheese making.


Burkholderia pseudomallei, a causative agent of melioidosis, is a facultative intracellular Gram-negative bacterium that can survive and multiply inside the macrophages. Toll-like receptors are one class of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) that have been documented to play significant role in B. pseudomallei infection. In the present study, we investigated a potential role of nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-containing protein 1 and 2 (NOD1 and NOD2), cytoplasmic pattern recognition receptors, in B. pseudomallei-infected mouse macrophage cell line RAW 264.7. Both live and heat-killed B. pseudomallei were able to up-regulate NOD1 and NOD2 expression in a time-dependent manner. Marked reduction of a negative regulator, suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3), expression was observed only in B. pseudomallei-infected NOD2-depleted macrophages and not in NOD1-depleted macrophages. The decrease in SOCS3 expression also led to an increase in IFN-γ responsiveness as judged by an enhanced STAT-1 phosphorylation on tyrosine 701 in the B. pseudomallei-infected macrophages. Together, these results suggested that, in addition to using other PRRs to evade macrophage defense, B. pseudomallei may also use NOD2 to regulate a negative regulator like SOCS3.


The pre-crop is a crucial component of competitiveness of grain legumes and yield benefits to subsequent crops depending on fertilization and the type of pre-crop. A field experiment was conducted between 2013 and 2014 at KALRO, Njoro, in Kenya, to evaluate the benefits of legumes in crop rotation on potato yields. The site lies within the semi-humid, lower highland zone three (LH3) also classified as wheat/maize/barley zone (AEZ LH3) with a bi-modal rainfall pattern of 275mm in the short rains and 425 mm in the long rains (total 960 mm) with mean maximum/minimum temperatures of 24◦C/8◦C, respectively. The soils are well drained, deep to very deep, dark reddish brown, friable and smeary, silt clay, with humic topsoil classified as mollic Andosols. The experiment was laid out in a split split-split plot-design with four factors including water harvesting (two levels), crop rotation (four levels) and soil fertility management (SFM) (four levels). Water harvesting (wh) was assigned as the main treatment, crop rotation as the sub-plot while soil fertility management as the sub-sub plot and sub-sub-sub plot was inter-crop (IC). It was evident that potato grown in the long rains (lr) after the legume (Lablab purpureus (L.) Sweet) in the short rains (sr) attained the budding stage, 2 days, significantly (P < 0.05) earlier, took longer to reach physiological maturity (4 days) and produced a higher tuber yield (24 %) than when grown after wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Legume as a pre-crop had a profound effect on physiological traits which resulted in increased period between crop emergence and budding. Similarly, the period between emergence and physiological maturity also increased significantly, subsequently resulting in increased tuber yields. This therefore agrees with the fact that legume as a pre-crop contributes more positively to yield components and tuber yield of potato than when cereals are planted as pre-crops.


The karyotypes of three species of fish of the Cichlidae family from the Forqueta river and several locations in Guaiba lake/RS (Brazil) were analyzed. All species presented 2n=48, while Gymnogeophagus gymnogenys showed two karyotypic formulae: 4m+44st-a with FN=52 and 6m+42st-a with FN=54. Gymnogeophagus labiatus presented 4m+4sm+40st-a and FN=56 and Geophagus brasiliensis 4sm+44st-a and FN=52. Simple NORs were found in all species with the exception of a population of G. gymnogenys from Saco da Alemoa/Barra do Ribeiro. CMA3 staining revealed NOR sites, while DAPI staining was negative and heterochromatin was limited to pericentromeric regions an d associated to NORs, except in G. labiatus. The data show a conserved pattern in Geophagus brasiliensis and karyotype variation in the species of Gymnogeophagus.


Reactions between 1-nitroso-2-naphthols and α-functionalized ketones such as α-bromo-, α-chloro-, α-mesyloxy-, α-tosyloxy-, and α-hydroxy ketones under basic conditions delivered 2-substituted naphtho[1,2-d][1,3]oxazoles in a single synthetic operation. The product formation was accompanied by the unexpected loss of the C═O group from the α-functionalized ketones. With aryl bromides, allyl bromides, α-bromo diketones, α-bromo cyanides, α-bromoesters, and α-bromo ketoesters as substrates the formation of naphtho[1,2-d][1,3]oxazoles was also observed. The transformations were performed in 1,2-dichloroethane or acetonitrile under reflux and gave the corresponding naphthoxazoles with yields ranging between 52% and 85%.


Historically, usage of and access to forest resources by India's Adivasi community and other forest dwellers have been considered encroachment and their efforts to acquire forest land have been used as evidence of their anti-development attitude. Government policy has continued to deny them legal rights to use, manage and conserve forest resources and to hold forest lands that they have been residing on and cultivating. In 2006, the passage of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dweller's (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act (hereafter FRA) tried to make amends by recognizing the customary rights of forest dwellers, including the right over common areas and the right to manage and sell forest produce. However, the overall implementation of FRA still suffers from inadequate community awareness; conflicting legislation; the lack of a dedicated structure for implementation and devoted staff; administrative roadblocks to smooth processing of claims; and a governance deficit.


Since Cox and Vargas (1966) introduced their pretest-posttest validity index for criterion-referenced test items, a great number of additions and modifications have followed. All are based on the idea of gain scoring; that is, they are computed from the differences between proportions of pretest and posttest item responses. Although the method is simple and generally considered as the prototype of criterion-referenced item analysis, it has many and serious disadvantages. Some of these go back to the fact that it leads to indices based on a dual test administration- and population-dependent item p values. Others have to do with the global information about the discriminating power that these indices provide, the implicit weighting they suppose, and the meaningless maximization of posttest scores they lead to. Analyzing the pretest-posttest method from a latent trait point of view, it is proposed to replace indices like Cox and Vargas' Dpp by an evaluation of the item information function for the mastery score. An empirical study was conducted to compare the differences in item selection between both methods.


Background
Multipotent mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from virus tumors have been reported to contribute to malignant cell growth, invasion, and metastasis. However, the mechanism of communication between MSCs and colon cancer cells is poorly understood. Recent studies have suggested that exosomes are an important player in crosstalk between cells and could significantly suppress the invasion ability of human cancer cells (hCCs) when transfected with a microRNA inhibitor. However, to date, no study has illuminated the miRNA changes in exosomes derived from hCC-MSCs.

Methods
Colon cancer stem cells were cultured in medium and passaged to develop fibroblast-like morphology. Exosomes were collected using ExoQuick precipitation and exosome morphology was visualized by transmission electron microscopy. Small RNA sequencing was analyzed using an Illumina HiSeq4000 analyzer, and the expression of MIA3 was assessed by real-time PCR and Western blot. The functional roles of miR-30a and miR-222 in colon cancer cells were evaluated through cell and animal experiments.

Results
Our results showed that the characteristics of MSC-like cells (hCC-MSCs) derived from human colon cancer stem cells were comparable to those of bone marrow-derived MSCs, including surface antigens and the ability to multi-differentiate to osteocytes and adipocytes. Furthermore, we screened the microRNA (miRNA) profiles of exosomes derived from hCC-MSCs and the corresponding parent hCC-MSCs. We found a significant enrichment in the miR-30a and miR-222 level in hCC-MSC-derived exosomes. Furthermore, in vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated that miR-30a and miR-222 bound to their shared downstream target, MIA3, to promote the ability of colon cells to proliferate, migrate, and metastasize, thus evidencing their functional roles as oncogenic miRNAs.

Conclusions
These data suggest that hCC-MSC-secreted exosomes promote colon cancer cell proliferation and metastasis through delivering miR-30a and miR-222. Subsequently, exosomal miR-30a and miR-222 simultaneously target MIA3, suppress its expression, and promote colon cell proliferation, migration, and metastasis.


The development of catalytic methods for chemical transformation of CO2 into useful compounds is of paramount importance from a standpoint of C1 chemistry and so-called green chemistry. The kinetic and thermodynamic stability of CO2 molecule presents significant challenges in designing efficient chemical transformations based on this potential feedstock. In this context, efforts to convert CO2 to useful chemicals will inevitably rely on its activation through molecular catalysts, particularly transition-metal catalysts. Two preparative processes employing solid catalyst or CO2-philic homogeneous catalyst were devised for environmentally benign synthesis of organic carbonates and oxazolidinones under solvent-free conditions. Those processes represent pathways for greener chemical fixations of CO2 to afford industrial useful materials such as organic carbonates and oxazolidinones with great potential applications.