Background: The prognostic impact of hyperuricemia and the factors that induce hyperuricemia in cardiovascular intensive care patients remain unclear. Methods and results: A total of 3257 emergency department patients were screened, and data for 2435 patients who were admitted to an intensive care unit were analyzed. The serum uric acid level was measured within 15 min of admission. The patients were assigned to a low-uric acid group (uric acid ⩽7.0 mg/dl, n=1595) or a high-uric acid group (uric acid >7.0 mg/dl, n=840) according to their uric acid level on admission. Thereafter, the patients were divided into four groups according to the quartiles of their serum uric acid level (Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4), and uric acid levels and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score. A Kaplan–Meier curve showed a significantly lower 365-day survival rate in a high-uric acid group than in a low-uric acid group, and in Q3 than in Q1 or Q2 and in Q4 than in the other groups. The multivariate logistic regression model for 30-day mortality identified Q4 (odds ratio: 1.856, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.140–3.022; p=0.013) as an independent predictor of 30-day mortality. The area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve values of the serum uric acid level and APACHE II score for the prediction of 30-day mortality were 0.648 and 0.800, respectively. The category-free net reclassification improvement and integrated discrimination improvement showed that the calculated risk shifted to the correct direction by adding the serum uric acid level to the APACHE II score (0.204, 95% CI 0.065–0.344; p=0.004, and 0.015, 95% CI 0.005–0.025; p=0.004, respectively). The prognosis, including the 365-day mortality, among patients with a high uric acid level and a high APACHE II score was significantly poorer in comparison with other patients. Conclusion: The serum uric acid level, which might be elevated by the various critical stimuli on admission, was an independent predictor in patients who were emergently hospitalized in the intensive care unit. The serum uric acid level is therefore useful as a surrogate biomarker for critical patients in the intensive care unit.


Skempton coefficient B is commonly used to verify the saturation of a sample before triaxial testing. This coefficient is obtained during undrained isotropic consolidation and is defined as the ratio between the increment of pore pressure u measured and the imposed increment of isotropic stress. This coefficient varies between 0 for dry soils and 1 for saturated soils. Many studies on liquefaction of unsaturated soils were published using Skempton coefficient B to represent saturation degree Sr of soil. On the first hand, this variation of B coefficient with saturation degree is mostly due to the compressibility of air in the pores. On the second hand, we also know that the presence of air as a fluid phase gives birth to suction after equilibrium is reached inside the sample. The higher the suction, the stiffer the soil skeleton. These two phenomena are opposite. Their effects in laboratory testing depend on the experimental apparatus. For example, if we consider an unsaturated triaxial device, we will have to take suction into account. On the contrary if we plan to break the menisci just before measuring B, suction equilibration will not occur. Experimental tests were performed to show the difference between these two cases and to study the equilibrium phase. Based on these observations, this article presents new relationships that permit to calculate saturation degree with a given Skempton coefficient with different hypotheses and with different experimental devices. These results are confronted to the commonly used relation given by Lade and the difference between all these calculations is studied.


In this paper some experiences about the data fusion for cultural heritage documentation are presented. The goal is the production of metric documentation for immersive and three-dimensional navigation. The resulting products are also very useful for web-based animation purposes. The main stairway of the Chancellor building at the Padua University was chosen as test site and some different methodologies were applied to realise navigable products. Traditional surveys and historical analysis are performed to document the main stairway from Gio Ponti also in terms of differences between the project and the realisation itself. The panoramic photos acquisition is used whit some image processing techniques to mosaic and to filter the raw data. Different software is used to test different interpolation algorithms also in terms of computational effort. The anaglyphs are created for this site. The laser scanning survey is performed using the Leica HDS2500 3D laser scanner (re-branded Cyrax 2500 scanner). Some acquired point clouds are presented whit different acquisition parameters (point of view and resolution) in the Cyclone 5.1 and Reconstructure environment. Furthermore, algorithms coming from image processing, like the Sobel filter, are applied to produce detailed silhouettes and perform edge extraction.


Dumping syndrome is infrequently reported, but known to occur after Nissen fundoplication in children. However, it may be difficult both to diagnose and manage. Here we presented four infants who received Nissen fundoplication for severe gastroesophageal reflux disease, two of whom developed dumping syndrome whilst the other two did not. Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) was very useful to clearly detect large glycemic fluctuation around each feeding. CGM was also helpful to prove the effect of treatment to avoid abnormal glucose levels. We believe that dumping syndrome in children may be underdiagnosed if clinicians rely solely on the recognition of symptoms or limited frequency of blood samplings. CGM might be the most sensitive diagnostic tool.


It is necessary to develop new technologies for energy storage and use of renewable energy to improve energy efficiency. Phase change materials (PCMs) are a family of energy storage materials that are among one of the most suitable materials for storing and effectively utilizing renewable thermal energy. PCM-based latent heat storage (LHS) is more advantageous than sensible energy storage because of the high storage energy density per unit volume/mass and the smaller temperature difference between storing and releasing heat. However, PCMs have low a thermal conductivity and a high degree of supercooling that are affecting their efficiency for energy storage. This review article first introduces the principle of phase change energy storage and the classification of phase change energy materials. Then, the improvement of storage methods of PCMs, and the fundamental properties that affect the application of phase change materials are discussed in detail. The applications of PCMs in various fields are also reviewed, including in solar energy utilization, waste heat recovery, construction, and civil and medical use. Finally, it summarizes the research progress of PCMs and provides an outlook for future research.


Self-assembling materials based on peptides have shown great potential as vaccine adjuvants. In our previous work, we have demonstrated that nanofibers based on D-peptide Nap-GDFDFDY are good candidates for vaccine adjuvants. Here we further found that supramolecular hydrogels based on positively charged D-peptide Nap-GDFDFDYDK as vaccine adjuvants could induce stronger immune response. We designed and synthesized two D-peptide derivatives, one with a positive charge (Nap-GDFDFDYDK) and the other with a negative charge (Nap-GDFDFDYDE). Both of them could form the hydrogels constructed by nanofibers. The nanofibers formed by Nap-GDFDFDYDK promoted the more powerful immune response in mice against the antigen chicken egg albumin (OVA) than peptides Nap-GDFDFDY and Nap-GDFDFDYDE. Through cell experiments, we demonstrated that the main reason was that nanofibers formed by Nap-GDFDFDYDK could enhance the uptake of OVA by primary antigen presenting cells. Most importantly, it was intriguing that the nanofibers based on Nap-GDFDFDYDK could evoke long-lasting antibody titers for 28 weeks at a single dose of protein vaccine. Our study demonstrated that supramolecular hydrogels based on positively charged D-peptide were promising vaccine adjuvants and might be very useful for antibody production and vaccine development.


defence against intolerable reality; in Chapter 4 he claims that there is a genetically determined pre disposition, that autism may be due to some kind of "¿ over-breeding―, that there may be a defect in lead metabolism, that there is a delayed maturation of the central nervous system, and that a considerable pro portion of cases of childhood autism have a pre dominantly emotional aetiology related to an impair ment of the mother-child relationship. He adds that the epilepsy exhibited by some autistic children could be regarded as a form of defence mechanism. In Chapter 6 he goes on to suggest that autism is a more extreme form of the dissociation that everyone exhibits in having a selective response to environ mental stimuli. The psychiatric punter is left in a state of considerable perplexity as to the horse on whichDr.O'Gorman thinkshismoney shouldbe placed. As thebook islargely a personal statement in relation to the author's own extensive experience, it is appropriate that there should be little mention of the literature. However, this is occasionally mis leading. For example, Dr. O'Gorman says that he has neverheardofa casewhereonlyone ofa pairof identical twins was autistic; but Kamp provided a detailed account of such a pair in 1964, and another pair was described by Vaillant in 1963. Nevertheless, in spite of their rather involved and sometimes contradictory presentation, Dr. O'Gor man's views on aetiology merit attention. Many readers will be provoked to reconsider some of their thinking on the topic. The author's reappraisal of "¿ the 9 points―is also valuable, and many will find his revision in the form of 6 points an improvement on the original listing. The last chapter contains a broad, but sometimes controversial, account of therapeutic approaches to autism—few would agree that E.C.T.


In this paper, we propose HyperFlowCutter, an algorithm for balanced hypergraph bipartitioning. It is based on minimum S-T hyperedge cuts and maximum flows. It computes a sequence of bipartitions that optimize cut size and balance in the Pareto sense, being able to trade one for the other. HyperFlowCutter builds on the FlowCutter algorithm for partitioning graphs. We propose additional features, such as handling disconnected hypergraphs, novel methods for obtaining starting S,T pairs as well as an approach to refine a given partition with HyperFlowCutter. Our main contribution is ReBaHFC, a new algorithm which obtains an initial partition with the fast multilevel hypergraph partitioner PaToH and then improves it using HyperFlowCutter as a refinement algorithm. ReBaHFC is able to significantly improve the solution quality of PaToH at little additional running time. The solution quality is only marginally worse than that of the best-performing hypergraph partitioners KaHyPar and hMETIS, while being one order of magnitude faster. Thus ReBaHFC offers a new time-quality trade-off in the current spectrum of hypergraph partitioners. For the special case of perfectly balanced bipartitioning, only the much slower plain HyperFlowCutter yields slightly better solutions than ReBaHFC, while only PaToH is faster than ReBaHFC.


The three dimensional Monte Carlo simulation code CORSIKA is used to calculate the fluxes of atmospheric neutrinos with the hadronic interaction models DPMJET, VENUS, and UrQMD. For this purpose the original CORSIKA is extended by a parametrization of the solar modulation and a microscopic calculation of the directional dependence of the geomagnetic cut-off functions. A precise description for the geography of the Earth has been included by a digital elevation model, tables for the local magnetic field in the atmosphere, and various atmospheric models for different geographic latitudes and annual seasons. The neutrino fluxes obtained are compared with other calculations.


Rutile from a mafic granulite, intermediate granulite and mafic amphibolite within juxtaposed litho/tectonostratigraphic units in the Greater Himalayan Sequence (GHS) of NW Bhutan yield overlapping laser ablation multi-collector inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry U-Pb lower intercept cooling ages of 10.1 ± 0.4 Ma, 10.8 ± 0.1 Ma and 10.0 ± 0.1 Ma, respectively. Titanite that grew during an exhumation-related amphibolite-facies overprint on an eclogite-facies mineral assemblage from the neighbouring Chomolari Massif yields a U-Pb lower intercept cooling age of 14.6 ± 1.2 Ma. The interpretation of cooling rate by linking thermochronometer ages to a single closure temperature, T C (Dodson, 1973), is shown to not provide as useful insight into cooling rates as matching analysed ages with those calculated from diffusion models. Certain assumptions made in calculating T C , specifically the assumption of high starting temperature and cooling rate proportional to 1/time, are not applicable to Himalayan timescales and temperature paths. Additionally, T C requires knowledge of the cooling rate, commonly the unknown parameter of interest. Given the increasing precision of available geochronological data and the computationally undemanding nature of simple diffusion models, there is now little reason not to progress beyond Dodson's 1973 T C formulation in the quest for determining cooling rates. Numerical diffusion models constrained by previously published temperature-time (Warren et al 2011) and Pb-diffusion data (Cherniak 2000) suggest that the rutile ages from NW Bhutan may be explained by rapid cooling (>50°C/Ma) from peak P-T conditions of ca. 800°C and 1.0 GPa at 14 Ma in the granulite-bearing unit and ca. 650 °C at 12 Ma in the amphibolite-bearing unit. The good fit between the model and analysed ages confirms the relatively high retentivity of Pb in rutile suggested by experimental data (Cherniak 2000). Diffusion modelling additionally suggests that the titanite age is too old to be consistent with the temperature-time paths inferred for the other analysed samples. Instead, the titanite data suggest that the Chomolari Massif cooled at a rate of ca. 40°C/Ma from ca. 650°C at an earlier time of 17-15 Ma. This suggests that the high grade rocks in the Chomolari Massif experienced a different cooling history from the rest of the GHS in NW Bhutan. Together these data show that high-grade rocks from three apparently different structural levels of the GHS in NW Bhutan experienced rapid cooling following high temperature metamorphism, but at different times. The highest grade granulite-facies rocks were exhumed from deeper structural levels that are not exposed, preserved, or remain unrecognized west of eastern Nepal. A progressive eastwards change in tectonic regime, metamorphic history and/or exhumation mechanism across the orogen is implied by these thermochronologic data.


We examine the effect of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) on the quality of household food purchases using the National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey (FoodAPS) and propensity score matching. A healthy purchasing index (HPI) is used to measure nutritional quality of household food purchases. WIC foods explain the improvement in quality of food purchases, not self‐selection of more nutrition‐conscious households into the program. The improvement in purchase quality was driven entirely by WIC participating households who redeemed WIC foods during the interview week. There was no significant difference between WIC participants who did not redeem WIC foods and eligible nonparticipants. In this sample, there is no evidence that lack of access to clinics has adverse effects on participation nor is there evidence that HPI depends on supermarket access. A supervised machine learning process supports our main conclusion on the importance of WIC foods.


consist of numerous nucleated caudate cells, lying in a molecular basis. It is not necessary to go minutely into the symptoms of the case alter the operation. No primary union took place; the flaps retracted; and the tibia was exposed, and seemed likely to becorne necrosed. Under the use of stimuilants, he rallied for a short timie; but, on the seventeenth day after the amputation, symptoms of secondary intection supervened, and lhe sank on November I(5th. No post mortem examination was allowed. REIAMARKS. The above forms an interesting example of the recuirrentce( of a disease, undoubtedly malignant, in the scar of an operation undertalen for the renmoval of onie as undouibtedly innocent. Th'le careful examination to which the tumour was submitted on both occasions leaves hardly any room for doubt on either point. At anly rate, there can be no qu1estion that the tumour whilch was removed on the second occasion was cancerous. The aspect of the disease and of the patient was quite sufficient to give occasion for a diagnosis uhich the exarnitnation of the diseased parts after amputation abundantly justified. Our knmowledge of the real pathology of cancer is far too elementaty as yet to allow of any reasornable explatiation of such cases as these. The rememibrance of them may perhaps serve to modify the expression of a prognosis which may turn out afterwaids to have been rnshlv favourable in cases where the tum1ouri1 is of at all (loibtful appearance. The readers of our JOURNAL mav remembei a case of cancer followinon simple abscess in the neck, wlhichiwe reported at p. 770 of last year's voluimne. The fact seems to be, that, in a person predisposed to miialiginarit disesse, the cancer will select any part whiich many have been inijured, whether by operation, accidient, or previous (lisease, for its nidlus. It is probable, therefore, that the cyst, whicl precedted the formation of this malignant depos.it NA as merely an accidental circumstarnce; and that the operation upon it only cau-sed the latter in tle same way as a blow, wounId, etc., so often causes sinmilar diseases; so that there is no occasion to resort to the improbable supposition that the cyst was itself a portion of a cancerous tumour-a suppositioncontrary to all the appearances observed.


Recursive relations are developed for computing the multipoint correlation functions of a particle undergoing a biased continuous-time random walk (CTRW) in an external potential. Two- and three-point correlation functions are calculated for waiting-time distributions with an anomalous power-law profile t(-alpha-1), 0 < alpha < 1, on intermediate time scales with a crossover to an exponential long time decay. Comparison of the CTRW with the Brownian harmonic oscillator model (Gaussian process) illustrates how higher-order correlation functions may be used to distinguish between dynamical models that have the same two-point correlation function.


Abstract The barotropic prediction model, applied in a way appropriate to the character of tropical circulations and of the information available to describe them, is found to be capable of providing a basis for a significant advance of the state of the art of hurricane track forecasting in the range from 24–72 hr in regions of relatively dense rawinsonde data coverage. The distinctive features of the technique are application of the barotropic equation to tropospheric mean data computed from information at 10 constant-pressure levels, prognostic use of a stream function derived from direct analysis of the mean wind field, and numerical calculation over a grid with relatively small mesh length, without separation of the tropical vortex from the residual flow. A series of test forecasts for hurricanes Donna 1960, Carla 1961, and Flora 1963 illustrates the performance of the model in dealing with storms characterized by a wide variety of behavior. The most prominent failure, a premature forecast of the recu...


Abstract Support Vector Machines (SVMs) have gained prominence because of their high generalization ability for a wide range of applications. However, the size of the training data that it requires to achieve a commendable performance becomes extremely large with increasing dimensionality using RBF and polynomial kernels. Synthesizing new training patterns curbs this effect. In this paper, we propose a novel multiple kernel learning approach to generate a synthetic training set which is larger than the original training set. This method is evaluated on seven of the benchmark datasets and experimental studies showed that SVM classifier trained with synthetic patterns has demonstrated superior performance over the traditional SVM classifier.


Ash-shi`r al-manthur (prose poetry), an-nathr ash-shi`ri (poetic prose), ash-shi`r al-mursal (blank verse), ash-shi`r al-maqtur (strophic verse), ash-shi`r al-hurr (free verse) and qasidat an-nathr (the prose poem) were the form of modern Arabic poetry. The beginning of the twentieth century marked a new and revolutionary stage in the history of Arabic poetry. This century has witnessed the most extensive experimentation, which never before faced such an impetus for renewal and revolutionary change and such a revolt against conventional concept of rhyme, metre and diction was coupled with a revulsion against traditional themes and imagery. Arabic free verse is a term describing various styles of Arabic poetry that are written without adhering strictly to the metrical system outlined by Khalil ibn Ahmad al Farahidi (c. 718 – c. 791). BadrShakir al-Sayyab (1926-1964) is regarded as one of the major pioneers of the "free verse" (ash-shi`r al-hurr) movement that revolutionized the style and rhythms of modern Arabic poetry. He was one of the greatest poets whose experiments helped to change the course of modern Arabic poetry and led the way in introducing "ash-shi`r al-hurr" in Arabic.


Recently considerable attention has been paid to developing narrow spectral linewidth semiconductor lasers for use in various coherent application systems. To obtain a stable and narrow linewidth light source, integrated external cavity configurations were employed, and single-frequency oscillation was achieved.1-3 However, the linewidths were in the range of 1-2 MHz, and further reduction was required for practical use.


Gastrointestinal (GI) diseases are the diseases that affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract including acute, chronic, recurrent or functional disorders. There are a numbers of factors affecting the biology of GI tract. Nanoparticles are one of them in causing diseases. As there are many conventional therapeutic strategies for the treatment of GI diseases but these are not very efficient. Nanotechnology is the emerging and rapidly evolving field of the current era with new hopes in the field of nano-medicine for the detection, prevention and the treatment of diseases. Chemotherapeutic drug delivery in the field of nanotechnology has gained much attention and focus recently. Nano materials have wider range of potential applications for the detection and treatment of diseases while toxicological effects cannot be neglected and safe and non-toxic nano drugs should be considered for the treatment of pathological and physiological gastrointestinal diseases to reduce the existing conventional treatments. The parameters such as shape, size, surface chemistry and geometry of nanoparticles are important to consider in the designing of nano carrier. The review aims at integrating toxicological effects of nano materials and their safe and effective role in the treatment of GI disorders. Although there are disorders caused by nanoparticles but counteracting as well in a safe and targeted delivery of the conventional drugs into the GI system.


Immunologic rejection is the main cause of corneal graft failure, especially in vascularized corneal beds. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of systemic Cyclosporine-A (CsA) on the survival of corneal allografts in heavily vascularized rabbit corneal beds, following alkali burn. Heavy corneal vascularization was induced in one eye of 20 rabbits by alkali burn. Forty-five days later, penetrating keratoplasty was performed in all the heavily vascularized corneas. Twenty-five mg/kg/day of CsA was intramuscularly administered to 10 rabbits for 30 days. The other 10 rabbits were treated with the solvent without CsA and were used as a matched control group. The results show a significant difference in corneal allograft survival between the two groups. All corneal grafts in the untreated group were intensely rejected and vascularized within 3 weeks. Nine of the 10 corneal transplants, in the CsA-treated group, remained transparent without signs of immunologic rejection for>180 days. In one corneal transplant, minor signs of rejection occurred. We suggest that CsA, when given systemically, is a potent drug in the prevention of immunologic rejection in high-risk corneal transplantations, such as allografts, in heavily vascularized corneas following alkali burn.


Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) is used to evaluate the metal binding selectivities of an array of novel caged macrocycles for silver, gold, copper, nickel, zinc, iron, lead, manganese and alkali metal ions. It is found that five of the new compounds display silver selectivity, and their relative affinities for various metals depend on the type, number, and arrangement of heteroatoms (N, O), the cavity size, and the presence of aromatic substituents. Alkali metal cation binding studies are used to evaluate the size-selectivities of the cavities of the macrocycles. Electronic structure calculation by B3LYP density function theory methods were used to model the metal complexes. The presence of nitrogen atoms in the macrocyclic ring is essential for silver selectivity over other transition metals and alkali metal ions, and the presence of aromatic groups also enhances silver avidity. Macrocycle 3, a triaza-18-crown-6 analog modified with two phenyl groups and a cage group, is capable of selective extraction of Ag+ from aqueous solutions in the presence of other transition metal ions and the most common alkali and alkaline earth metal ions.


Electronic and magnetic properties of CeN are investigated using first-principles calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) with the LDA + U method. Our results show that CeN is a half-metal. The majority-spin electron band structure has metallic intersections, whereas the minority-spin electron band structure has a semiconducting gap straddling the Fermi level. A small indirect energy gap occurs between X and W. The calculated magnetic moment is 0.99 μB per unit cell.


Cyperus pangorei Rottb. is a sedge, pantropical in distribution and the rhizomes ofwhich provide a substitute for C.rotundus in Gujarat. The alcoholic rhizome extracts were prepared and used for the screening of the antibacterial and antifungal activities against eleven bacteria and five fungal species. The activity was compared with the activities of commercial antibiotics like ampicillin (amp), tetracycline (tet), kanamycin (kan) and nystatin (Nys) and the MICÂ's were determined. The extract exhibited potential activity against both Gram positive and Gram-negative bacteria (9 strains) and three fungal strains. Furthermore the extract showed potent activity against Serattia marcesance, S. epidermis and S pyogenes, while the antibiotics showed no activity against these microbes. The extract was also found to be fungicidal in case of Candida albicans, Fusarium sp. and Exherholium sp. The MIC varied between 5mg/ml to 20mg/ml.


Neuropathy and neuropathic pain are common complications in T1D. We aimed to determine if sex-specific differences in the prevalence of neuropathic pain and neuropathy exist in patients with longstanding T1D. In Phase 1 of the study, 361 Canadians with ≥50 years of T1D completed questionnaires which included subjective assessment for neuropathy defined by Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument Questionnaire score ≥3, termed NEUROPATHY MNSI-Q . In Phase 2 of the study, we studied a sub-cohort of 75 diabetes participants and 75 age- and sex-matched nondiabetic controls who completed objective neurological examinations which included assessment of abnormal nerve conduction studies (NCS) for neuropathy, termed NEUROPATHY NCS . In the Phase 1 cohort, more females than males reported neuropathic pain [87(42%) vs. 41(27%); p=0.003)], but the presence of neuropathy (NEUROPATHY MNSI-Q ) did not differ by sex [87(42%) females vs. 66(43%) males, p=0.82], and thus neuropathic pain was independent of the presence of neuropathy [adjusted OR for neuropathic pain in females compared to males, 2.7 (1.4-5.0; p=0.002)]. In the Phase 2 participants, neuropathic pain was similar between the sexes (29% females vs. 21% males, p=0.43) while NEUROPATHY NCS was less prevalent among females (83% females vs. 97% males, p=0.05). Though not statistically significant, in a combined analysis of Phase 2 participants adjusted for NEUROPATHY NCS , females had a tendency to a higher adjusted OR for neuropathic pain compared to males [OR 2.0 (95% CI 0.8-4.7), p=0.11]. In conclusion, in patients with longstanding TID, neuropathic pain appears to be greater among females compared to males independent of the presence of neuropathy. Further research using larger datasets with objective neuropathy measures are required to further confirm and address these sex-specific differences. Disclosure N. Cardinez: None. L. Lovblom: None. J. Bai: None. A. Abraham: None. E.J. Lewis: Employee; Self; Nutarniq Corp. D. Scarr: None. J.A. Lovshin: Other Relationship; Self; AstraZeneca. Consultant; Self; Novo Nordisk Inc.. Research Support; Self; Sanofi, Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.. Other Relationship; Self; Novo Nordisk Inc.. Y. Lytvyn: None. G. Boulet: Advisory Panel; Self; Medtronic, Sanofi, Novo Nordisk Inc.. Other Relationship; Self; Janssen Global Services, LLC., Abbott. M. Farooqi: None. A. Orszag: None. A. Weisman: None. H.A. Keenan: Research Support; Self; Sanofi. Employee; Self; Sanofi Genzyme. M.H. Brent: Research Support; Self; Novartis Canada. Advisory Panel; Self; Novartis Canada. Research Support; Self; Bayer Canada. Advisory Panel; Self; Bayer Canada, Allergan Canada. Research Support; Self; Roche Canada. N. Paul: None. V. Bril: Consultant; Self; Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.. Research Support; Self; CSL Behring, Grifols. Advisory Panel; Self; CSL Behring. Consultant; Self; Grifols. Research Support; Self; Shire. Advisory Panel; Self; Pfizer Inc. D. Cherney: Consultant; Self; AbbVie Inc.. Other Relationship; Self; AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Eli Lilly and Company. Consultant; Self; Sanofi. Other Relationship; Self; Merck & Co., Inc.. Consultant; Self; Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation. Other Relationship; Self; Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. B.A. Perkins: Advisory Panel; Self; Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH. Research Support; Self; Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Novo Nordisk Inc.. Advisory Panel; Self; Novo Nordisk Inc., Abbott. Speaker9s Bureau; Self; Abbott, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.. Advisory Panel; Self; Insulet Corporation. Speaker9s Bureau; Self; Insulet Corporation, Dexcom, Inc..


Abstract Context. Livestock depredation is a major conservation challenge around the world, causing considerable economical losses to pastoral communities and often result in retaliatory killing. In Mongolia, livestock depredation rates are thought to be increasing due to changes in pastoral practices and the transformation of wild habitats into pasture lands. Few studies have examined the interactions between humans and carnivores and even fewer have considered how recent changes in pastoral practices may affect depredation rates. Aim. This study aimed to assess the influence of herding practices on self-reported livestock losses to snow leopards and wolves in two communities in South Gobi, Mongolia. Methods. In total, 144 herder households were interviewed and an information-theoretic approach was used to analyse the factors influencing self-reported livestock losses to snow leopards and wolves. Key results. The majority of self-reported losses to both snow leopards and wolves occurred when herds were left unattended in the pastures. The economic loss associated with livestock losses to snow leopards and wolves amounted to an average loss of US$825 per herder and year. The number of livestock owned by a household and the frequency of shifting campsite had the strongest influence on livestock losses to snow leopards and wolves. Other determinants of livestock losses included frequency of visiting the soum (county) centre. Implications. On the basis of the findings, we make recommendations for mitigating the conflict with large carnivores, with focus on guiding future herding practices.


Measurements of atmospheric O2 and CO2 concentrations serve as a widely used means to partition global land and ocean carbon sinks. Interpretation of these measurements has assumed that the terrestrial biosphere contributes to changing O2 levels by either expanding or contracting in size, and thus serving as either a carbon sink or source (and conversely as either an oxygen source or sink). Here, we show how changes in atmospheric O2 can also occur if carbon within the terrestrial biosphere becomes more reduced or more oxidized, even with a constant carbon pool. At a global scale, we hypothesize that increasing levels of disturbance within many biomes has favored plant functional types with lower oxidative ratios and that this has caused carbon within the terrestrial biosphere to become increasingly more oxidized over a period of decades. Accounting for this mechanism in the global atmospheric O2 budget may require a small increase in the size of the land carbon sink. In a scenario based on the Carnegie–Ames–Stanford Approach model, a cumulative decrease in the oxidative ratio of net primary production (NPP) (moles of O2 produced per mole of CO2 fixed in NPP) by 0.01 over a period of 100 years would create an O2 disequilibrium of 0.0017 and require an increased land carbon sink of 0.1 Pg C yr−1 to balance global atmospheric O2 and CO2 budgets. At present, however, it is challenging to directly measure the oxidative ratio of terrestrial ecosystem exchange and even more difficult to detect a disequilibrium caused by a changing oxidative ratio of NPP. Information on plant and soil chemical composition complement gas exchange approaches for measuring the oxidative ratio, particularly for understanding how this quantity may respond to various global change processes over annual to decadal timescales.


The synthesis of orostanal, containing novel 6-5-6-5 fused rings and exhibiting meaningful bioactivity against HL-60 cells, has been achieved via 12 steps in 18% total yield from a readily accessible intermediate 7. The key steps for the synthesis entailed an alumina-mediated intramolecular aldol cyclization and asymmetric crotylation to construct the chirality of carbon-25.


Slovene cities are subject of rapid spatial, structural and functional development. Ljubljana, the capital, is pointing out, where development differences are increasing in comparison to other Slovene cities. The article represents the processes of tertiarisation, spatial changes and changes in the functional structure of Slovene cities.


How to make opposites compatible Polyethylene (PE) and isotactic polypropylene (iPP) are the two most widely used commodity plastics and thus make up a large fraction of the waste stream. However, the two plastics will not mix together, which limits options for dealing with mixed waste and decreases the value of recycled products. Eagan et al. report the synthesis of multiblock copolymers of iPP and PE by using a selective polymer initiator (see the Perspective by Creton). The high-molecular-weig ht blocks could be used to reinforce the interface between iPP and PE and allow blending of the two polymers. Science, this issue p. 814; see also p. 797 Polyethylene/isotactic polypropylene multiblock copolymers enable welding of composites of the two immiscible polymers. Polyethylene (PE) and isotactic polypropylene (iPP) constitute nearly two-thirds of the world's plastic. Despite their similar hydrocarbon makeup, the polymers are immiscible with one another. Thus, common grades of PE and iPP do not adhere or blend, creating challenges for recycling these materials. We synthesized PE/iPP multiblock copolymers using an isoselective alkene polymerization initiator. These polymers can weld common grades of commercial PE and iPP together, depending on the molecular weights and architecture of the block copolymers. Interfacial compatibilization of phase-separated PE and iPP with tetrablock copolymers enables morphological control, transforming brittle materials into mechanically tough blends.


The authors of this work propose a virtual reality approach that overcomes two fundamental challenges experienced in physical learning environments; i) variations in audial quality, and ii) variations in visual quality, in an effort to achieve individual customization of information content. In physical brick and mortar environments, the dissemination of information is influenced by the medium that the information travels through, which is typically distorted by line of sight constraints and constraints that distort sound waves. The fundamental research question is how to achieve consistent quality of information being disseminated, as the number of audience members increases? There exists a knowledge gap relating to the creation of a scalable, networked, system for enabling real time, information exchange. The authors propose a virtual reality approach to address these limitations of physical learning spaces that minimizes the variability in audial and visual information dissemination. A real time, networked architecture is proposed that enables multiple individuals to simultaneously experience the same quality of audial and visual information, based on the optimal geospatial position for audial and visual exposure determined. A case study is introduced that first quantifies simulations of the audial and visual information loss experienced by audience members receiving information at different geospatial locations in a brick and mortar environment. This information loss is compared against the proposed virtual reality architecture that minimizes the variation in information dissemination. The authors demonstrate that the proposed solution is an improved, scalable multi-user system, unlike brick and mortar environments that are constrained by size and geospatial positioning.Copyright © 2015 by ASME


The hazardous consequences that the radionuclide europium (Eu(III)) has on humanity and the ecological environment motivate the development of advanced sorbent materials for its efficient removal from wastewater. Herein, a flower-like molybdenum disulfide material fabricated using a carbon composite (MoS2/C) was successfully prepared via an in situ hydrothermal method and confirmed using various experimental characterization methods (scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy). It was found that the MoS2/C composite exhibits a much higher sorption capacity (100.57 mg g−1, pH 5.0, 298 K) towards Eu(III) than that of pristine MoS2 (32.52 mg g−1, pH 5.0, 298 K) due to the cooperative effects between the S atoms of MoS2 and carboxyl groups of the carbon material, which were confirmed from X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Besides this, the MoS2/C exhibited a high adsorption rate with a short equilibrium time (120 min) and a wide pH operating range (4.0–9.0). This study reveals that the MoS2/C composite can be employed as an auspicious candidate for Eu(III) removal and expands the realm of possibilities of using MoS2-based materials in the field of eliminating radionuclides from wastewater.


Winter walks around my Portland neighborhood remind me how fungi are exquisitely tuned in to environmental factors including short term weather and seasonal change. Most of this past growing season has been especially rich in fungal abundance and diversity. The same cold snaps that signal autumnal senescence and fall foliage coloration in broadleaved trees also seem to stimulate a last wave of fruiting by a range of macro-fungi. As the northern forest moves into the more muted tones of late fall and the monochrome of winter, I like to imagine that the fungi know that they have a limited time so they hurry along to produce mushrooms. As understory herbaceous plants die back to the ground and the woodland trees and shrubs shed their leaves, fruiting bodies and other fungal survival structures tend to become more prominent.


This study calculates and elucidates the minimum size of respiratory particles that are potential carriers of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2); furthermore, it evaluates the aerosol generation potential of SARS-CoV-2. The calculations are based on experimental results and theoretical models. In the case of maximum viral-loading derived from experimental data of COVID-19 patients, 8.97 × 10−5% of a respiratory fluid particle from a COVID-19 patient is occupied by SARS-CoV-2. Hence, the minimum size of a respiratory particle that can contain SARS-CoV-2 is calculated to be approximately 9.3 μm. The minimum size of the particles can decrease due to the evaporation of water on the particle surfaces. There are limitations to this analysis: (a) assumption that the viruses are homogeneously distributed in respiratory fluid particles and (b) considering a gene copy as a single virion in unit conversions. However, the study shows that high viral loads can decrease the minimum size of respiratory particles containing SARS-CoV-2, thereby increasing the probability of aerosol generation of the viruses. The aerosol generation theory created in this study for COVID-19 has the potential to be applied to other contagious diseases that are caused by respiratory infectious microorganisms.


In this article, the optimization of isolation system parameters via the harmony search (HS) optimization method is proposed for seismically isolated buildings subjected to both near-fault and far-fault earthquakes. To obtain optimum values of isolation system parameters, an optimization program was developed in Matlab/Simulink employing the HS algorithm. The objective was to obtain a set of isolation system parameters within a defined range that minimizes the acceleration response of a seismically isolated structure subjected to various earthquakes without exceeding a peak isolation system displacement limit. Several cases were investigated for different isolation system damping ratios and peak displacement limitations of seismic isolation devices. Time history analyses were repeated for the neighbouring parameters of optimum values and the results proved that the parameters determined via HS were true optima. The performance of the optimum isolation system was tested under a second set of earthquakes that was different from the first set used in the optimization process. The proposed optimization approach is applicable to linear isolation systems. Isolation systems composed of isolation elements that are inherently nonlinear are the subject of a future study. Investigation of the optimum isolation system parameters has been considered in parametric studies. However, obtaining the best performance of a seismic isolation system requires a true optimization by taking the possibility of both near-fault and far-fault earthquakes into account. HS optimization is proposed here as a viable solution to this problem.


There is few researches focus on investigating game player's experience and preference between the young and elderly. In this study, four different braining training games designed by us are used to investigate the effects of age and game preference. In total, 136 participants were randomly selected, and they are separated into two age groups-young (N=90) and old (N=46). The experimental results demonstrate differential age effects in braining training games performance. Our results show that no matter what types of games young adults get better performance than the older adults and they all reach a significant difference. Meanwhile, due to the interface design may affect the willingness of older adults to play the game. Therefore, the usability is also studied by the design of game's control keys in a car racing game. The experimental results show that, older people respond relatively more slowly than the young people. Therefore, simpler interface design of brain training game is more suitable for older adults. In addition, the survey results indicated that the fruit catching game is loved by most of old people (reached 41.2%). The main reasons are without problem-solving stress and easy to play-player only need to control the right and left arrow keys. In other words, no psychological burden and simple interface design are the key factors in design popular games for elderly. However, young group is more like car racing game than others (28.6%). Since it is a playable game and they get a feeling of satisfaction when they reach a lower lap time. Finally, the brain age reference diagrams for the four developed games are proposed. Players can use these diagrams to understand their capability with respect to young and old group.


Carbon based paramagnetic materials are frequently used for EPR oximetry, especially in vivo, but the EPR spectra of these materials often have more than one paramagnetic center and/or relatively low signal intensity. To determine whether the multi-components of carbon based materials could be separated and enriched in the active component, we used density gradient centrifugation to separate the materials into several fractions. We studied two types of coals, gloxy and Pocahontas, and found these materials to have large density distribution. The separated density fractions had very different EPR spectra and intensities. The active component from the coal material had a more homogeneous EPR signal and significantly increased EPR signal intensity, whereas for India ink, only slight changes were observed. This result can be very useful in the development of better probes for EPR oximetry.


This article looks at one of the best documented examples of negotiations with insurgents in a British colonial territory: the Baling Talks of 28–29 December 1955. At these, the Malayan Communist Party Secretary-General, Chin Peng, attempted to negotiate an end to the Malayan Emergency. It examines how the communist leadership came to desire negotiations over the period 1954–56, how it viewed them, and on what terms they might have succeeded. It also seeks to understand the British perspective. It shows how, for the British, these one-off negotiations have to be understood in relation to a wider British 'persuasive' strategy. Finally, the paper shows why the attitudes and interests of the British and host nation politicians meant that the 1955 talks were doomed to fail.


Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma metastasis to brain is unusual and rare. We present a case of a 61-year-old man with a primary oral  squamous cell carcinoma who was referred to our department for evaluation of decreased sensorium and hemiparesis. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain revealed a ring enhancing central hypo-intense lesion with surrounding perilesional oedema on T1WI in the left frontal lobe. Left frontal craniotomy with gross total tumour removal was performed. Histopathological examination confirmed metastatic squamous cell carcinoma. The patient was subsequently offered adjuvant radiation therapy. To the best of our knowledge, few such cases have been reported.


The results of petromagnetic and palaeomagnetic research of Vyazivok loess-paleosoil sequence (Dnieper Lowland) are presented. Variations of natural remanent magnetization and magnetic susceptibility are not correlated with lithology. The rocks are characterized by high stability to alternating magnetic field demagnetization and temperature demagnetization due to the presence of highly coercive magnetic mineral — hematite. The other ferromagnetic minerals (magnetite and maghemite) are also presented. The paramagnetic minerals have a significant influence to magnetization and strongly affect to hysteresis loop parameters and other magnetic properties of rocks. The characteristic components of magnetization are characterized by normal polarity of samples above 56.2 m depth within the lower part of Shyrokino soil horizon. At the bottom of the section all samples demonstrate the reverse polarity. We proved that the Matuyama—Brunhes inversion is correlated with this level. The position of Matuyama—Brunhes boundary in Roxolany and Vyazivok sections are controversial following the local stratigraphy schemes, which can be explained either by delay of «magnetic record» in soil or incorrect stratigraphic subdivision of section (probably Roxolany)


CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE
child development is negatively influenced by multiple risk factors associated with poverty, thus indicating the importance of identifying the most vulnerable groups within populations that are apparently homogeneous regarding their state of socioeconomic deprivation. This study aimed to identify different levels of poverty in a population of low socioeconomic condition and to ascertain their influence on infants' neuropsychomotor development.

DESIGN AND SETTING
cross-sectional study conducted at four Family Health Units in the Health District IV in the city of Recife, Brazil.

METHODS
the sample comprised 136 infants aged 9 to 12 months, which represented 86% of all the infants in this age group, registered at the units studied. Socioeconomic status was assessed through a specific index and child development through the Bayley III screening test.

RESULTS
around 20% of the families were in the lowest quartile of the socioeconomic level index and these presented the highest frequency of infants with suspected delay in receptive communication. Maternal and paternal unemployment negatively influenced receptive communication and cognition, respectively. Not possessing a cell phone (a reflection of low socioeconomic status) was associated with worse cognitive performance and gross motricity. Male infants showed a higher frequency of suspected delay in receptive communication.

CONCLUSIONS
infants of more precarious socioeconomic status more frequently present suspected developmental delay. Development monitoring and intervention programs should be encouraged for this subgroup, thereby providing these children with a better chance of becoming productive citizens in the future.


BACKGROUND
Studies have identified that nurse-led telephone health coaching benefited the continuity of care in patients with heart failure. However, the effect of nurse-led telephone health coaching remains inconclusive among the previous studies.

AIM
This review aimed to determine the effects of nurse-led telecoaching among patients with heart failure.

DESIGN
This study was a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. This study was reported in accordance with the PRISMA guideline.

METHODS
Seven databases (PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, MEDLINE, Cochrane library and Ovid) were electronically searched up to 20 October 2020. The eligibility criteria were a randomised controlled trial study on heart failure patients, with the intervention led by a nurse through telephone coaching. Two authors independently evaluated the methodological quality using the modified Jadad scale. The Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software version 3.0 with a random effect model was used to conduct a meta-analysis, and Begg's and Egger's tests were performed to assess publication bias. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis was carried out.

RESULTS
A total of 12 randomised controlled trials were met eligibility criteria and representing 1938 heart failure patients. The results showed that the nurse-led telecoaching significantly enhanced patients' self-care behaviour (SMD = .84, 95%CI [0.45-1.24], p < .001) and improved quality of life (SMD = .23, 95%CI [0.06-0.39], p = .007).

CONCLUSION
Nurse-led telecoaching appears to enhance self-care behaviour and improve quality of life in patients with heart failure. Further research needs to build the evidence for nurse-led telecoaching intervention, including understanding its mechanisms of action (e.g. frequency, components) and identifying its moderating factors.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE
Implementation of nurse-led telecoaching is deemed helpful in promoting continuity of care because it was an accessible and sustainable intervention to improve patients' self-care and quality of life.


In this study, numerically prediction of the screw propeller design that can overcome cavitation is conducted. The research presents a simplified regression model for the analysis of the geometric area ratio, pitch ratio and open water efficiency of propeller, with the aim of revealing quantitatively the effect of cavitation on propeller open water efficiency. The case study takes into consideration factors that can enhance the performance of a propeller. Area of the propeller disc, propeller pitch ratio, diameter of the propeller, delivered power, thrust coefficient, torque is used as inputs into the model, in prediction of performance for cavitated and non-cavitated propellers. Sensitive analysis is carried out by percentage increase and reduction of the blade area ratio, so as to know the effects on the propeller performance. It is revealed that for every 1% increase in the expanded blade areas, the open water efficiency decreases at 0.12% and 0.15% for the non-cavitated and cavitated propellers respectively. This indicates a performance reduction by a cavitation factor of 0.03. The study further shows that at 7.5% reduction in the expanded blade area ratio, the propeller performance in terms of open water efficiency, increases by 1.85%. The analysis exposed an appropriate and accurate operating envelope for optimal screw propeller performance, thus revealing a way of minimizing cavitation effect.


This talk is based on the paper "Initial phases of high-mass star formation: A multiwavelength study towards the extended green object G12.42+0.50" by Namitha Issac, Anandmayee Tej, Tie Liu, Watson Varricatt, Sarita Vig, Ishwara Chandra CH and Mathias Schultheis and has been accepted for publication in MNRAS. A multiwavelength study of the extended green object G12.42+0.50 is presented. The associated ionized, dust, and molecular components of this source is probed using various observations at near- and far-infrared, submillimeter and radio wavelengths. The radio continuum emission mapped at 1390 and 610 MHz calls for a scenario of co-existence of an ultracompact (UC) H II region with an ionized jet possibly powered by the same young stellar object (YSO). Shock-excited lines of H2 and [Fe II] seen in the NIR spectra provide support to this picture. Study of the gas kinematics of the molecular cloud reveals the presence of both infall activity and large-scale molecular outflow, suggesting an early stage of massive star formation in G12.42+0.50.


A rapid and convenient synthetic methodology for the cyclocondensative transformation of various alkylsulfanylphenylamines with bromoacetyl bromide by supporting on KF-alumina in ionic liquids [bmim][Br] and [bmim][BF 4 ] has been developed to obtain 3-oxo-1,4-benzothiazine in good yields. The product is easily obtained by extraction with ethyl acetate and concentrating under vacuum. Easy recovery of ionic liquid and use in consecutive reactions is also reported.


Noise often leads to bad generalization of network. Many of the typical algorithms can not be applied for the on-line identification of complex system since they are not robust to the variance of the energy of noise. A new algorithm is proposed to solve this problem based on the frequency band of wavelet network. It is shown that the wavelet network trained by the new algorithm is a low-pass filter, which has removed the noise out the frequency band of network. Since the frequency band of noise is usually higher than that of network, the variance of noise little influences the identification of wavelet network, so the new algorithm is robust to the variance of noise. The analysis of theory and the results of simulation show that the new algorithm has the capacity of avoidance of overfitting and the robustness of noise


This study of legislative outputs in the fifty states examines bill introductions and bill enactments during the period from 1963 through 1974. Production rates are described in terms of the volume of bills introduced and laws made as well as the growth in legislation in recent years. Of principal concern is exploration of the role that institutional factors, such as the initiatives of individual legislators and the capacity of legislatures, play in promoting production. Analysis demonstrates the substantial impact of societal needs; thus population, urbanization, and industrialization are controlled, while the effects of individual initiatives and legislative capacity are tested. Analysis indicates that capacity plays a significant role and that societal and institutional factors combined explain a large percentage of the variation in bill introductions and enactments among the states.


In this paper the block-based motion analysis in monocular RGB-image sequences is considered. The motion analysis is realized using a combined matching criterion, that represents a robust similarity measure for image blocks in successive images. This criterion is calculated as a weighted combination of the 3 color-specific matching criteria. The weight of each of these channel-specific criteria is determined based on their reliability. The combined criterion is used to measure translational and rotational motion between 2 successive images. Assuming these measuring values, a model based recursive estimation technique (Kalman filter) is applied to estimate the position and the velocity of the respective region. In order to cope with problematic image situations (e.g. partial occlusion) an extension of the conventional filter by a recognition system is proposed. This system recognizes typical distorted matching criteria and controls the adaptation of the filter.


A majority of US households view content on online video streaming services, consuming on demand. Not surprisingly, ad spending on such services is growing rapidly. We develop a three-stage approach to deliver an optimal ad schedule that balances the interests of the viewer (content consumption) with that of the streaming platform (ad exposure). In the first stage, we use theoretical findings to develop two parsimonious metrics – Bingeability and Ad Tolerance – to capture the interplay between content consumption and ad exposure. Bingeability represents the number of completely viewed unique episodes of a show while Ad Tolerance represents the willingness of a viewer to continue watching after ad exposure. The second stage uses detailed data on viewing activity and ad delivery to predict these metrics for a viewing session using causal machine learning methods. This is achieved via tree-based algorithms combined with instrumental variables to accommodate the non-randomness in ad delivery. In the third stage, we use the predicted metrics as inputs to a novel constrained optimization procedure that provides the optimal ad schedule.


A 73-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of fever, productive cough and dyspnea on exertion in March 1998. He had been treated at our hospital for interstitial pneumonia. Chest radiographs showed consolidations and honeycomb shadows in both lungs. He also had a chronic subdural hematoma. After admission his respiratory state deteriorated and the chronic subdural hematoma increased in size and as a result, artificial respiration was needed. During intubation for bronchoscopy, we found protuberant white lesions in the tracheal mucous membrane, a biopsy of which showed amyloid deposition. Immuno-histochemistry revealed AL-amyloid, although there was no amyloid deposition else where. This was an idiopathic case in which localized tracheal amyloidosis probably developed in association with interstitial pneumonia.


The intermittent electric power supply of renewable energy can have extremely negative effect on power grid, so long-term and large-scale storage for energy released from renewable energy source is required for ensuring a stable supply of electric power. Power to gas which can convert and store the surplus electric power as hydrogen through water electrolysis is being actively studied in response to increasing supply of renewable energy. In this paper, we proposed the novel concept of hydrogen liquefaction process combined with pre-cooling process using the liquid air. It is that hydrogen converted from surplus electric power of renewable energy was liquefied through the hydrogen liquefaction proc-ess and vaporization heat of liquid hydrogen was conversely recovered to liquid air from ambient air. Moreover, Comparisons of specific energy consumption (kWh/kg) saved for using the liquid air pre-cooling was quantitatively conducted through the performance analysis. Consequently, about 12% of specific energy consumption of hydrogen liquefaction process was reduced with introducing liq-uid air for pre-cooling and optimal design point of helium Brayton cycle was iden-tified by sensitivity analysis on change of compression/expansion ratio.


The present study made attempt to find out the awareness and use of Wi-Fi facility by the university doctoral scholars. It is found from the study that majority of the research scholars utilize the Wi-Fi facility for research purpose and also it is observed from the study that they are satisfied by the present Wi-Fi connection. A majority 59(84.3%) of the research scholars use the Wi-Fi facility 'daily'. It is reveals from the study that 77.1% respondents use Wi-Fi facility to search information relating to research subjects. A majority 49(70.0%) of respondents replied that 'limited connectivity', is the major problem while using Wi-Fi. A majority 70 (100%) of the respondents replied that they are satisfied towards the Wi-Fi facility. It is recommended that expand the Wi-Fi connection in all over the campus, it increases the use of resources and services for their research purpose.


Based on 15 case reports it can be shown, that the onset of a convergent squint is even possible in the age of presbyopia, independent of the patient's refraction. The clinical picture resembles that of a divergence paralysis or the convergent strabismus of the Bielschowsky type. In 13 cases the decompensation of a previous esophoria may have caused this distance-esodeviation; a divergence paralysis is not probable. In two cases change of orthophoria to esotropia could be observed. Therefore we share the opinion of v. Graefe, that an increased tonicity of the internal recti induced for compensation of weak convergence in aged individuals may cause esotropia. Treatment with prisms for distant vision is easy and effective. No case required surgery.


The aerodynamic efficiency of turbomachinery blades is profoundly affected by the occurrence of laminar-turbulent transition in the boundary layer since skin friction and losses rise for the turbulent state. Depending on the free-stream turbulence level, we can identify different paths toward a turbulent state. The present study uses direct numerical simulation as the primary tool to investigate the flow behavior of the low-pressure turbine blade. In the simulations, the flow past only one blade is computed, with periodic boundary conditions in the cross-flow directions to account for the cascade. Isotropic homogeneous free-stream turbulence is prescribed at the inlet. The free-stream turbulence is prescribed as a superposition of Fourier modes with a random phase shift. Two levels of the free-stream turbulence intensity were simulated (Tu=0.19% and 5.2%), with the integral length scale being 0.167c, at the leading edge. We observed that in the case of low free-stream turbulence on the suction side, the Kelvin–Helmholz instability dominated the transition process and full-span vortices were shed from the separation bubble. Transition on the suction side proceeded more rapidly in the high-turbulence case, where streaks broke down into turbulent spots and caused bypass transition. On the pressure side, we have identified the appearance of longitudinal vortical structures, where increasing the turbulence level gives rise to more longitudinal structures. We note that these vortical structures are not produced by Görtler instability.


Explore modern Web Component design and integrate them with a variety of web frameworks to build encapsulated reusable UI components for your web apps
Key Features
Learn Web Components with more than 50 web component examples for both beginners and advanced users

Create responsive and highly customizable web pages using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

Extend the potential of Web Components by integrating them with standard web frameworks

Book Description
Web Components are a set of APIs that help you build reusable UI modules that can operate in any modern browser using just Vanilla JavaScript. The power of Web Components lies in their ability to build frontend web applications with or without web frameworks.

With this practical guide, you will understand how Web Components can help you build reusable UI components for your modern web apps. The book starts by explaining the fundamentals of Web Components' design and strategies for using them in your existing frontend web projects. You will also learn how to use JavaScript libraries such as Polymer.js and Stencil.js for building practical components. As you progress, you will build a single-page application using only Web Components to fully realize their potential. This practical guide demonstrates how to work with Shadow DOM and custom elements to build the standard components of a web application. Toward the end of the book, you will learn how to integrate Web Components with standard web frameworks to help you manage large-scale web applications.

By the end of this book, you will have learned about the capabilities of Web Components in building custom elements and have the necessary skills for building a reusable UI for your web applications.
What you will learn
Understand Web Component design, specifications, and life cycle

Create single-page applications using Web Components

Enable reusability and customization for your UI components

Implement Web Components in your web apps using Polymer and Stencil libraries

Build powerful frontend components from scratch and deploy them on the web

Design patterns and best practices to integrate Web Components into your existing web application
Who this book is for
This book is for developers who have heard about web components, but don't really know where to start. This book is also for intermediate and advanced developers who know what web components are, but are still afraid to use them in production. This book is also for frontend engineers who are simply looking into web components in order to increase their knowledge and skills.


More Pacific bluefin migrate across the ocean than previously recognized High market values have incentivized extensive fisheries for Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis, see the photo), a species whose longevity, commercial value, and long generation time make it particularly susceptible to overfishing (1, 2). Today, the population of Pacific bluefin tuna stands at an estimated 2.6% of prefished levels (1). Yet, knowledge of its basic life history is incomplete. Recent studies (3, 4) suggest that the fundamental distribution of Pacific bluefin across the North Pacific has been misunderstood. The results underscore the need for basic movement ecology information to assist science-based fisheries management.


As Rwanda and Yugoslavia indicate,
atrocities policing ("humanitarian intervention")
is, in our currentglobal polity,
unreliable and carried out crudely. This
becomes apparent when it is compared
with domestic policing. It is the result of
the system of sovereign states, into which
atrocities policing does not readily fit.
Even innovation to accommodate it leads
to the haphazard interventions we have
seen in this decade. But the sovereign state system,
which developed in Europe
in the context of a particular historical
contingency and was then endowed to the
rest of the world through decolonization,
is not the only possible way of organizing
the global polity. Thus, the author offers
as an alternative the concept of a democratic
global federation in which atrocities
policing - including preventative
policing - can be conducted in a much
more reliable and responsible manner.
While such a global political organization
may seem utopian, in the long term
it is not, given how radical change has
been in the past century and can he expected
to he in the next one. Moreover, it
provides direction to current institutional
reform and adds to current decisions about atrocities policing the issue of
the longer-term consequences for global
practices and institutions.


Background: Tetracyclines' use in intensive animal farming has raised some concerns regarding the biosafety for humans. Increasing evidences have revealed the presence of these drugs in processed animal by-products, such as bone, throughout the food chain. A potential off-target of tetracyclines is the bacterial-like mitochondrial translational machinery, thereby causing proteostatic alterations in mitochondrial DNA-encoded components of the oxidative phosphorylation system. Methods: The Seahorse methodology, confocal microscopy imaging of mitochondrial potential and reactive oxygen species, and q-RT-PCR analysis of the expression of genes involved in mitochondrial biogenesis and mitophagy were carried out on human lymphoblast derived K562 cell line challenged with bone powder derived from chicken treated with or without oxytetracycline and pure oxytetracycline. Results: A complex dose-dependent profile was attained with a low dosage of bone powder extracts causing a metabolic adaptation hallmarked by stimulation of the mitochondrial respiration and enhanced expression of mitochondriogenic factors in particular in cells challenged with oxytetracycline-free bone extract. Conversely, a higher dosage of bone powder extracts, regardless of their source, caused a progressive inhibition of mitochondrial respiration and glycolysis, ultimately leading to cell death. No significant effects of the pure oxytetracycline were observed. Conclusion: Bone powder, regardless of chicken treatment, contains and releases factors/chemicals responsible for the observed effects on energy metabolism. Quantitative differential effects appear to depend on biochemical alterations in the bone matrix caused by antibiotics rather than antibiotics themselves.


Free/Libre/Open Source Software (FLOSS) communities have produced a large amount of valuable software that is directly or indirectly used daily by any person with access to a computer. The field of Software Engineering studies processes, mechanisms, tools, and frameworks for the development of software artifacts. Historically, however, most of Software Engineering research and education does not benefit from the large and rich source of data and experimental testbeds offered by FLOSS projects and their hundreds of millions of lines of working code. In this paper, we discuss how Software Engineering research and education can greatly benefit from the wealth of information available in the FLOSS ecosystem. We then evaluate how FLOSS has been used, up to now, by papers published in the Brazilian Symposium on Software Engineering. Finally, we present an agenda for the future, proposing concrete ways to exploit the synergies between research and education in Software Engineering and FLOSS projects.


Salen, Salan, and Salalen chromium (III) chloride complexes have been investigated as catalysts for the ring-opening copolymerization reactions of cyclohexene oxide (CHO) with CO2 and of phthalic anhydride (PA) with limonene oxide (LO) or cyclohexene oxide (CHO). In the production of polycarbonates, the more flexible skeleton of salalen and salan ancillary ligands favors high activity. Differently, in the copolymerization of phthalic anhydride with the epoxides, the salen complex showed the best performance. Diblock polycarbonate-polyester copolymers were selectively obtained by one-pot procedures from mixtures of CO2, cyclohexene oxide, and phthalic anhydride with all complexes. In addition, all chromium complexes were revealed to be very active in the chemical depolymerization of polycyclohexene carbonate producing cyclohexene oxide with high selectivity, thus offering the opportunity to close the loop on the life of these materials.


In Czech (as in other Slavic languages), clitic reflexives serve – among others – as a derivational means of deriving lexical reciprocal verbs, i.e., the verbs that encode mutuality directly in their lexical meaning. Here I draw a line between those lexical reciprocal verbs with which the reflexives introduce mutuality (nenávidět se 'to hate each other' ← nenávidět 'to hate sb' and slíbit si 'to promise sth to each other' ← slíbit 'to promise sth to sb') and those with which the reflexives have another function (oddělit se 'to separate from each other' ← oddělit 'to separate sb/sth from sb/sth'). It will be shown that lexical reciprocal verbs of the former type form without exception the so-called discontinuous constructions with the nominative subject and the commitative indirect object (Petr si slíbil s Marií věrnost. 'Peter and Mary promised fidelity to each other.'), and that they fall into several semantic classes, which, however, semantically overlap to a great extent with lexical reciprocal verbs of other types.


Geoff Eley's and Keith Nield's essay is marked by a tension between a desire to update the old social history by detaching it from its materialist assumptions on the one hand and a commitment to continue writing narratives of working-class political agency on the other. By insisting that class is still the best way of analyzing inequality and mobilizing resistance to it, the authors foreclose other possibilities for thinking about contemporary politics and for writing critical history. They do not ask the questions that need to be asked, which are, What are the operative political categories capable of moving masses of people into agency? and, What terms might be used to represent inequalities of distribution? These questions don't exclude class but they don't require it either; they also allow for a more open and probing approach than is offered by Eley and Nield.


Top-$k$ classification is a generalization of multiclass classification used widely in information retrieval, image classification, and other extreme classification settings. Several hinge-like (piecewise-linear) surrogates have been proposed for the problem, yet all are either non-convex or inconsistent. For the proposed hinge-like surrogates that are convex (i.e., polyhedral), we apply the recent embedding framework of Finocchiaro et al. (2019; 2022) to determine the prediction problem for which the surrogate is consistent. These problems can all be interpreted as variants of top-$k$ classification, which may be better aligned with some applications. We leverage this analysis to derive constraints on the conditional label distributions under which these proposed surrogates become consistent for top-$k$. It has been further suggested that every convex hinge-like surrogate must be inconsistent for top-$k$. Yet, we use the same embedding framework to give the first consistent polyhedral surrogate for this problem.


The high-grade sylvinite orebody (28% K2O) mined by the Potacan Mining Company (formerly the Denison Potacan Potash Company) near Sussex, New Brunswick, Canada, has undergone intense internal folding. The folds vary in size from centimetres to hundreds of metres, are mostly tight to isoclinal, recumbent and asymmetrically overfolded towards the southeast, and belong to a single varied style group suggesting one deformation event. Folds are noncylindrical to sheath-like locally and have highly variable cross-sectional morphologies. Slickensides are locally common and penetrative. Slickenline trends in all parts of the mine are northwest–southeast. All the evidence is consistent with a southeast-directed movement across the top of the evaporite body having caused extensive ductile drag folding within both the sylvinite and halite lithologies. The evaporites, in fact, have all the characteristics of a near-horizontal mylonite zone. Variscan deformation during the Late Carboniferous is generally cited as bein...


The objective of the study was to investigate the involvement of angiotensin II receptor subtypes 1 and 2 in total interstitial cell and endothelial cell DNA synthesis and cardiac function after myocardial infarction (MI) in the rat. Rats with a MI were treated with either AT1 receptor antagonist GR138950C (2 mg/kg/day) or the AT2 receptor antagonist PD123319 (3 mg/kg/day). Total interstitial cell (that is endothelial cells and fibroblast-like cells) DNA synthesis in the interventricular septum was significantly increased 2 weeks after MI. 33+/-3% of DNA synthesizing cells were identified as endothelial cells. PD123319, but not GR138950C significantly reduced total interstitial DNA synthesis. Both agents did not alter the fraction of DNA synthesizing endothelial cells. The effects on cardiac function were studied in parallel groups. MI reduced both cardiac output and stroke volume at 3 weeks after MI PD123319 reduced CO, whereas GR138950C did not affect cardiac function. Thus, the data show that AT2 receptor blockade, but not AT1 receptor blockade early after rat myocardial infarction inhibits interstitial DNA synthesis and decreases cardiac function.


The effects of airway care procedures on intracranial dynamics were studied in 12 patients with intracranial lesions. The patients had controlled ventilation and were treated according to a standardized protocol with endotracheal suction and bag squeezing. Intracranial, arterial blood and airway pressures were recorded and cerebral perfusion pressure was calculated. Both methods used for airway care elicited marked changes in intracranial, arterial blood and cerebral perfusion pressures during the treatment session. However, within 1 min after termination of the procedure the different pressure levels returned to pretreatment values except for the intracranial and arterial blood pressure in endotracheal suction. Cerebral perfusion pressure, calculated at different time intervals: 1, 5 and 15 min after the treatment, showed only minor deviations from values before treatment. The mean values varied from 70 to 90 mmHg (9.3 to 12.0 kPa) and the lower limit of the 99% confidence interval of the means was never below 55 mmHg (7.3 kPa). At times complementary administration of sedatives during endotracheal suction was found to induce a drop in arterial blood pressure and cerebral perfusion pressure. In conclusion, patients with severe brain injuries treated on mechanical ventilation are exposed to equal risks when using bag squeezing for airway care as when using traditional endotracheal suction. Regardless of the method used, patients should be adequately sedated before starting the procedure in order to reduce the risk of adverse effects.


The Open Source Software (OSS) model makes source code available to users, who can change the software to tailor it more closely to their own requirements. With many OSS applications now available for library and information management, Organisations have a new option for acquiring and implementing systems, plus new opportunities for participating in OSS projects. Examples of such systems include Greenstone DSpace, and Ganesha. OSS is popular with technically sophisticated users, who are often also the software developers. OSS is becoming an increasingly popular software development method. This paper highlights the comparison, features, function and usability of OSS like Greenstone Digital Library, DSpace and Ganesha Digital Library.


Abstract : An intranet is a computer network based on the data communication standards of the World Wide Web. These standards can contribute to enhance communication, collaboration, and information distribution within this organization. The adoption and implementation of this technology by industry has been swift, and broad, a organizations have quickly recognized the benefits to be realized from this technology for new organizational networks. This study presents a review of the Republic of China Navy's (ROCN) future intranet implementation and its potential applications. The first three chapters address the characteristics of intranet technologies, its pros anc cons, its implementation issues, and the impact of the technologies on the Republic of China Navy Headquarters The current information technology environment of the Republic of China Navy is reviewed. Some potential intranet applications are discussed in the Chapter IV. Recommendations are presented in the last chapter. These recommendations include more emphasis on information technology education in the ROCN. The overal conclusion of the study is that the ROCN leadership should embrace information technology at the highest level Without a good implementation plan to manage and predict the growth of the information technology the Republic of China Navy will fall to realize this resource in the future.


Extensive living creatures on the Earth from 4.0 billion years ago to date lived and diversified under a specific physical & environmental condition of the Earth, where the Earth's gravity plays an important role. But populations of this planet are growing so rapidly to the point of concern that the Earth's Carrying Capacity has been surmounted. So, for maintaining the Carrying Capacity, it is important to find out another/other planets which are like the Earth. In our generation, there are some who believe that an ecosystem fit for human survival is creatable on Mars (Red Planet). Although there seems to be no life at present in Mars, there is substantial evidence, returned by various robotic missions, that in the early Mars' history, liquid water environments existed, and conditions may have been suitable for the origin of native life.


Two collocation-based methods utilizing the novel Bessel polynomials (with positive coefficients) are developed for solving the non-linear Troesch's problem. In the first approach, by expressing the unknown solution and its second derivative in terms of the Bessel matrix form along with some collocation points, the governing equation transforms into a non-linear algebraic matrix equation. In the second approach, the technique of quasi-linearization is first employed to linearize the model problem and, then, the first collocation method is applied to the sequence of linearized equations iteratively. In the latter approach, we require to solve a linear algebraic matrix equation in each iteration. Moreover, the error analysis of the Bessel series solution is established. In the end, numerical simulations and computational results are provided to illustrate the utility and applicability of the presented collocation approaches. Numerical comparisons with some existing available methods are performed to validate our results.


A cross-sectional, descriptive type of study was done was done in the Department of Anatomy, Dhaka Medical College, Dhaka, from August 2005 to December 2006, based on collection of 75 postmortem male human pancreas, to determine the number of alpha and beta cells per islet of Langerhans in different parts of the pancreas with advancing age. The collected samples were divided into seven age groups, i.e. A (10-19 years), B (20-29 years), C (30-39 years), D (40-49 years), E (50-59 years), F (60-69 years) and G (≥70 years), for convenient description of their various age related changes. Histological slides were prepared by using Gomori's chromium haematoxylin phloxine stain. The number of alpha and beta cells per islet of Langerhans was measured by point counting technique on a grid square drawn by Visio basic 2000 software with high magnification under the compound light microscope. The mean number of alpha cells per islet in the head of the pancreas were 17.60±2.51, 21.40±2.07, 27.40±3.13, 20.80±2.59, 15.40±2.51, 14.60±3.58 and 11.40±1.67; in the body of the pancreas were found 24.60±1.67, 31.40±2.60, 40.00±2.45, 26.80±2.05, 22.60±2.51, 19.20±2.68 and 20.00±2.45; in the tail region were 37.80±4.09, 42.20±4.82, 53.20±2.94, 55.60±6.69, 43.60±6.69, 39.20±8.01 and 35.60±1.34 in group A, B, C, D, E, F and G respectively. The mean number of beta cells per islet in the head of the pancreas were 32.60±2.51, 36.40±2.07, 42.40±3.13, 35.80±2.59, 30.40±2.51, 29.60±3.58 and 26.40±1.67; in the body of 141 the pancreas were found 39.60±1.67, 46.40±2.07, 55.00±2.45, 41.80±2.05, 37.60±2.51, 34.20±2.68 and 35.00±2.45; in the tail region were 52.80±4.09, 57.20±4.82, 68.20±2.94, 69.50±6.58, 70.60±6.69, 58.20±8.01 and 50.60±1.34 in group A, B, C, D, E, F and G respectively. In the present study, the number of alpha cells of islets of Langerhans gradually increased up to the 4th decade of life in head and body of the pancreas and up to the 5th decade in the tail region, later it decreased. Besides, the number of beta cells gradually increased up to the 4th decade of life in head and body of the pancreas and up to the 6th decade in the tail region, then decreased. Here, females were excluded due to less availability of the female cadaveric pancreas during study period. Bangladesh Med J. 2014 Sep; 43 (3): 141-145


Limitations in data transmission caused by modal dispersion in fiber-optic links can be significantly improved using equalization techniques. In this paper, two different equalizer implementation approaches are proposed to extend the transmission capacities of existing fiber-optic links. The building blocks of the equalizer including a multiplier cell, a delay line, and an output buffer stage are fully integrated on a 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS process. For the continuous-time tap-delay implementation, a passive LC delay line and an active inductance peaking delay line are compared for performance against process variation, as well as power consumption. In addition, a delay-locked loop is proposed to counter delay variations caused by changes in the process corner. A 10-Gb/s nonreturn-to-zero signal is received after transmission through a 500-m multimode-fiber channel, and the signal impairment due to the differential modal delay is successfully compensated using both feed-forward equalizers.


: The temperature dependence of birefringence and fluorescent polarization of stained nerve fibers has been studied. Theoretical aspects of the determination of the orientation of chromophores from polarized emission experiments are aslo considered. The experiments with changing temperature permits a conclusion that the organization of polar groups of the membrane becomes random with the decline of temperature from 20 degrees to 0 degree C, while the order of organization of hydrophobic groups increases.


A preliminary evaluation of methods for the salt waste and waste water streams and recycle preparation problems was completed. A feasibility study for removing actinides from synthetic salt waste showed that a bidentate organophosphorus extractant is the most efficient for actinide removal. The evaluation of adsorbents for removing detergents and anions from waste water suggests the use of a combination of non-ionic and a strong base ion exchange resin for best results. Evaluation of leaching and dissolution methods for the recovery of actinides from combustible waste (incinerator ash) was continued. Two promising recovery methods are: (1) reaction with cerium(IV) in nitric acid to solubilize carbon and actinide oxides, and (2) fusion with carbonate--nitrate mixtures. Silica proved to be a problem. If dissolved, it interferes with subsequent actinide recovery by forming polysilicic acid upon acidification. If not solubilized, silica-encapsulated actinide oxides may not be contacted by the dissolvent. Pretreatment of ash by refluxing with greater than or equal to 6M sodium hydroxide appears to remove silica, simplifying subsequent recovery steps.


Conductive polyaniline (PANi)/Fe3O4  is coated on the MnFe2O4  nanocomposite with multi core shell structure was synthesized by in-situ polymerization in the presence of dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid (DBSA) as the surfactant and dopant and ammonium persulfate (APS) as the oxidant. The structure and magnetic properties of Fe3O4 coated on the MnFe2O4 nanoparticles were studied by using powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), respectively. The morphology, microstructure and DC conductivity of the nanocomposite were characterized by scanning electron Microscopy (SEM), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and four-wire-technique, respectively. The microwave absorbing properties of the nanocomposite dispersed in resin acrylic with thickness of 1.4 mm were investigated by a HP 8720B vector network analyzer and standard horn antennas in Anechoic chamber in the frequency range of 8–12GHz. A minimum reflection loss of -18 dB was observed at 8.6 GHz.

 Key words: Nano-structures, polymer-matrix composites (PMCs), magnetic properties, microwave absorption (nominated).


The aim of this reflective article is to display the relationship between B.A. students learning experience and self-regulation metacognitive skills. It is a demanding task for a teacher to assess their apprentices in terms of their individual academic needs and capabilities. Self-regulation metacognitive skills can empower students with the tools to recognize themselves as learners with different expectations and aptitudes. The challenge for current classrooms is to work on making students aware and responsible for their own learning. Commitment and discipline are key aspects of becoming a self-regulated learner.


This article reports on a school-based ICT initiative, called Dissolving Boundaries (DB) which links primary, (pupils aged 5-11), post-primary (pupils aged 12-18) and special schools (pupils aged 5-18) in partnerships across the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The aim of the research was to investigate if participation in DB was associated with an increased awareness and understanding of life on the other side of the border. The ICT skills of pupils were also probed. Two cohorts of pupils were used in the study, one which had taken part in the Dissolving Boundaries program during an academic year and another cohort of similar age in the same schools, which had not taken part. Findings suggest that participation in the program contributed to students' knowledge and awareness in general of the other jurisdiction. In terms of collaborative work, a large majority of DB pupils agreed that they could learn something new from working with another school. Participating pupils in the DB program showed much higher competence in those ICT skills associated with communication and collaboration than their non-participant peers.


Dissociation kinetics of the K(+) loss reaction of three potassiated tertiary amino acids (Scheme 1) were studied by infrared multiple photon dissociation (IRMPD) in a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT ICR)-MS instrument. The aim of the study was to probe if a kinetic study by IRMPD can yield useful information on the ion structure of the precursor ion species. The measured activation energy values determined by IRMPD are related to the potassium affinity, DeltaH(K(+)), of N-methyl proline determined by threshold collision-induced dissociation experiments. By appropriate scaling with this reference value, the experimentally determined activation energy values for the K(+) loss are transformed into respective potassium affinities, DeltaH(K(+))(IRMPD). These values match the calculated potassium affinity values for salt bridge (SB) structures, DeltaH(K(+))(SB), substantially better than those for canonical structures with a single formal charge site (charge solvation (CS)), thereby allowing structure identification. This conclusion is consistent with other spectroscopic data, which yielded unambiguous evidence of these tertiary amino acids adopting SB structures in the gas phase. This study demonstrates that IRMPD can be applied to determine individual ion structures in the gas phase, given that adequate reference values are available for proper scaling.


The development of electrical power supplies began more than hundred years ago. At the beginning stage, there were only small DC networks within the local boundaries, which were able to cover of industrial plants. An increasing demand on energy, technology changed to be transmitted from DC to AC power and voltage levels. The driving force for the development of power systems is the increase of electrical power demand. Therefore, power system developed from the regional to national systems. To achieve technical and economic advantages, extend further to large continental systems by applying interconnections to the neighbouring systems. This paper will treat benefits of HVDC and FACTS devices applied in power systems such as increased power transmission capability, improved static and dynamic stability, an increase of a availability and a decrease of transmission losses by using power Electronics techniques.


We demonstrate a one-step fabrication of patterned graphene on SiO2 substrates through a process free from catalysts, transfer, and lithography. By simply placing a shadow mask during the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) of graphene, an arbitrary shape of graphene can be obtained on SiO2 substrate. The formation of graphene underneath the shadow mask was effectively prevented by the low-temperature, catalyst-free process. Growth conditions were optimized to form polycrystalline graphene on SiO2 substrates and the crystalline structure was characterized by Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Patterned graphene on SiO2 functions as a field-effect device by itself. Our method is compatible with present device processing techniques, and should be highly desirable for the proliferation of graphene applications.


The results of experimental researches of the linear electromagnetic motor in the form of graphs are presented. Dependence of the interlinked magnetic flux and inductance on the position of the secondary element, at different supply voltages of the motor, was obtained. Also, dependence of the interlinked magnetic flux on the current, with fixed position of the secondary element, and dependence of the traction force on the position of the secondary element, at different supply voltages, were obtained. On the basis of experimental diagrams the laws of changes of the relationships were established. The relationship between the change of the motor excitation coil inductance and the shift along the coordinate x, which can be approximated by analytical expression with the accuracy sufficient for engineering calculations, was established. The formula of the inductance change was obtained, with the presumption that magnetic system of the motor is not saturated and no magnetic link exists between the coils. After a number of experiments the conclusions were made defining dependences of the electromagnetic parameters of the linear electromagnetic motor on the position of the secondary element. When designing electric drives using linear electromagnetic motors (LEM), it is necessary to have mathematical model of the motor which allows calculating static and dynamic operating modes of the drive. Mathematical model takes into account static load of the motor and load components, which are dependent on the shift along the coordinate x and speed, and therefore can be used to examine the drives with the linear motors. Il. 5, bibl. 11 (in English; the summaries in English, Russian and Lithuanian).


A cooperative study with the Delta Drilling Company (Tyler, Texas) provided a unique correlation of experimental tools (induced gamma-ray spectroscopy, digital sonic) and commercial tools (natural gamma-ray spectroscopy, high-resolution dipmeter) with petrophysical/geologic measurements on a whole rock core from the tight gas sandstones of the Upper Jurassic Cotton Valley Group in east Texas. For example, a SARABAND suite of logs and dipmeter analyses processed according to the major genetic units of sedimentation (barrier bar, tidal delta) demonstrates the dynamic conditions of fluvial and shallow-marine (tidal) systems. Induced and natural gamma-ray spectroscopy with a SARABAND presentation yields a stratigraphic analysis of the clay/non-clay fractions and the lithology. Of growing economic importance, fracture containment boundaries to hydraulic fracturing can be predicted from a mechanical properties log--a combination of SARABAND and digital sonic. The tight gas sandstones are characteristically well-laminated and bedded lithic sandstones with low porosities (< 10%) and low permeabilities (< 0.1 md). The intergranular pores are lined with diagenetic minerals--quartz overgrowths and calcite, and are filled, lined, and/or bridged with nonexpandable illite, chlorite, and illite/chlorite mixed-layer clay minerals. The depositional paleoenvironment of the lower section of the Cotton Valley Group is interpreted as a sequence of shallow-marine, organically burrowed, layered, foreshore-shoreface deposits comprising the above-mentioned major genetic sedimentation units, the barrier bar and the tidal delta. End_of_Article - Last_Page 972------------