Sirius is a3G eVsynchrotron light source that is being built by the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory (LNLS). The electron storage ring uses the multi-bend-achromat approach (5BA in this case) to achieve a very low beam emittance of 0.28 nm.rad. The 518 m circumference contains 20 straight sections of alternating 6 and 7 meters in length, to be used for insertion devices as well as injection and RF systems. The 5BA cell is modified to accommodate a thin high field dipole (for 1.4 ◦ deflection) in the center of the middle bend producing hard X-ray radiation (12 keV critical energy) with a modest contribution to the total energy loss. This high field dipole (2.0 T) will be made of permanent magnet material, whereas the low field (0.58 T) ones, responsible for the main beam deflection, will be electromagnetic. Many challenges are associated with this kind of lattice, including both in beam dynamics and accelerator engineering, that require R&D on new techniques. In this paper we discuss the main issues and achievements for Sirius in the last year.


The paper analyzes the security of conventional network access authentication technology and provides a novel IP address pair based short signature technology which strengthens the security of authentication and control. Conforming to TNC architecture, the paper extends the endpoint access domination to MPLS backbone by IP address pair based short signature technology and depicts a new trustworthy network access scheme and realizes it on Network Processor. The scheme enriches the integrity measure of security client and administrator's security policy with ARP virus, fraud DHCP server, address spoofing of IP and MAC, thus enhances the safety and initiative defense ability of enterprise and public networks, and reduces the cost of enterprise for security deployments greatly while achieving the SP's excellent Return-on-Investment.


The tea collection is
a difficult and laborious task, but few studies have analyzed risks by work
activities or the work environment. To investigate the effects of work
activities and work environment on tea collectors by looking from
dermatological perspective, detailed dermatological examination was performed
on tea collectors and clinical backgrounds of the participants were questioned
and all findings were noted. The participants clinically suspected for skin,
hair and nail infections have been referred to our hospital microbiology
laboratory for sampling. The most common diseases in the participants were allergic
contact dermatitis, irritant contact dermatitis and acute paronychia. These
three diseases accounted for 59.1% of the total diseases in tea collectors. Clinical background story was
unremarkable in the vast majority of participants. The current study draws
attention to this business area and health problems of tea collectors. The
authors think that, use of protective equipment such as masks and gloves during
working and receiving of safety training related to their job will decrease
work-related health problems of tea collectors.


The current demand for fossil fuels will promote the search for techniques to increase hydrocarbon production, so methods are needed to accelerate the development of this resource. The use of computer tools in the oil industry is indispensable today; we use increasingly powerful algorithms that perform extremely complex analyzes, which enable us to obtain solutions to previously affected problems pending in the industry. Most of the time the lack of parameters forces engineers to limit the study of a well, making restrictions and predictions not so accurate, especially regarding production; Based on this, the main objective is the development of a computational tool that allows to calculate the production potential of the wells drilled in the Huyapari field, which will use the python programming language, encoded from such a way to perform the calculations under the statistical methods of the analogous wells, the Joshi equation and nodal analysis. This tool is divided into two phases: the first is the calculation of the potential for pre-drilling and post-drilling of wells; the second phase is the adjustment of the potential that is carried out by means of the individual nodal analysis of each well taking into account the current reservoir pressure and the immersion limit of the pump.


The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of 3 different music therapy introduction dialogues with cancer patients. Relationships between patient-reported anxiety levels, sex, and age and the acceptance rate of music therapy services were also examined. Patients (n = 59) were offered music therapy using 1 of 3 introduction dialogues, asked to complete an anxiety Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), and provided with music therapy services if accepted. Results showed that introduction dialogue #2 (benefits of music therapy explained, including research) had the greatest effectiveness. Moderate anxiety levels, males, and individuals 61+ years of age also showed greater acceptance rates. A breakdown of different variables influencing patient response, limitations of the study, and future recommendations are also discussed.


In regressions involving integrable functions we examine the limit properties of instrumental variable (IV) estimators that utilise integrable transformations of lagged regressors as instruments. The regressors can be either I(0) or nearly integrated (NI) processes. We show that this kind of nonlinearity in the regression function can significantly affect the relevance of the instruments. In particular, such instruments become weak when the signal of the regressor is strong, as it is in the NI case. Instruments based on integrable functions of lagged NI regressors display long range dependence and so remain relevant even at long lags, continuing to contribute to variance reduction in IV estimation. However, simulations show that ordinary least square (OLS) is generally superior to IV estimation in terms of mean squared error (MSE), even in the presence of endogeneity. Estimation precision is also reduced when the regressor is nonstationary.


This it the first technical reference book available on the PSoC, and it offers the most comprehensive combination of technical data, example code, and descriptive prose you'll find anywhere.Embedded design expert Robert Ashby will guide you through the entire PSoC world, providing thorough coverage of device feature, design, programming and development of the software-reconfigurable PSoC. He shares his best tips, tricks, and techniques that will help you to utilize the flexible and inexpensive PSoC to its greatest potential, with a minimum of heartaches and late nights.With its emphasis on designing for adaptability -– a feature of the utmost importance in today's fast-paced and cost-pressured design cycles -– this book will bring you up to speed quickly on everything PSoC, from memory management to interconnects. You will add brains and capable signal conditioning to a design with one chip, giving you extreme flexibility for a relatively low price. Specific application examples highlighting the PSoC's unique capabilities are included throughout the text, with the supporting sample source code. This valuable code is also provided on the companion CD-ROM so you can easily adapt it to your own designs.


Fetal hemoglobin (HbF) is the major genetic modulator of sickle cell anemia. Candidate gene-based and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have provided strong evidence that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) linked to genes on chromosome 6q ( HBS1L-MYB) and 2p ( BCL11A ), along with elements in cis to HBG help determine HbF concentration in untreated patients with sickle cell anemia and β thalassemia, and in normal individuals. The HbF response to hydroxyurea (HU) varies considerably among treated patients, even when compliance with treatment is good and patients are treated under controlled conditions. This suggests that genetic factors might affect the response to treatment with this agent. In the Multicenter Study of Hydroxyurea, 299 patients were randomized to receive either HU titrated to maximum tolerated doses, or a placebo, and HbF levels were measured before and at the completion of the randomized phase of the study. In 123 HU-treated patients, we completed GWAS using Illumina 370K chips that include approximately 350,000 haplotype tagging SNPs, and studied the association of SNPs with the change in HbF from baseline levels to levels measured at the end of the active treatment portion of the study. We conducted a GWAS using the analytical program PLINK, of approximately 273K SNPs with minor allele frequency >0.05, using linear regression and an additive model of inheritance. We selected for further investigation those SNPs with association that reached 0.05 significance, after we adjusted for sex. Because of the limited sample size that results in relatively large p-values, no single SNP reached so-called genome-wide significance after correcting for multiple comparisons using a Bonferroni correction (p-value FABP7 in 6q22.31 was associated with the largest increment in HbF after treatment with HU (6.9% change per copy of allele G, p-value 4 ×10–5). We also identified 2 SNPs in PDE7B (6q23.3) that were significantly associated with positive changes of HbF and 3 SNPs in MAP7 (6q23.3) that were significantly associated with a reduction of HbF after treatment. Using candidate gene association studies, we had previously shown that PDE7B and MAP7 were significantly associated with differential expression of HbF in sickle cell anemia. These new GWAS results suggest a regulatory role for these genes, or this region of chromosome 6q, in the HbF response to HU in sickle cell anemia. Analysis of the distribution of significant SNPs per chromosome also showed that chromosome 20 had a larger number of significant SNPs than expected at random, especially in CST9, one of a family of protease inhibitors. CST9 is tagged by 3 SNPs in the 370K array (rs2983639, rs2983640, rs10485646), 2 of which were associated with significant positive changes in HbF after treatment with HU and one with significant negative changes of HbF. Specifically, the average increase in HbF was 1.5% for each copy of allele G for SNP rs2983639 (p = 0.025), and 1.6% for each copy of allele A for SNP rs2983640 (p = 0.047), while the level of HbF decreased by approximately 1.5% for each copy of allele A for SNP rs10485646 (p = 0.035). The SNP rs2983640 is an exon variant that produces the amino acid change F-L. Although these SNPs do not individually reach genome-wide significance, cumulatively they provide strong evidence of association, as the probability that they are all simultaneously associated by chance is 10-4. Furthermore, we identified significant variants in other genes that belong to the same family of type 2 cysteine protease inhibitors, specifically 2 SNPs in CTS3 and 1 SNP in CTS5 . Although the small sample size and the large number of SNPs tested suggest caution until these results are replicated in independent patient treatment groups, these preliminary findings suggest that type 2 cystatin genes and pseudogenes are associated with the HbF response to HU. If confirmed, it might be possible to use results like these to build a prognostic model of the HbF response to HU in sickle cell anemia.


Analysis of the feeding kinematics of Astatotilapia (a small cichlid fish) suggests the presence of peripheral feedback modulation of the motor pattern, allowing the act of suction to be abbreviated. In this way, the effort spent in suction is minimized. The biological significance of the development of such a modulating feedback system is not immediately obvious from a 'classical ecological' point of view. It is postulated that the muscular metabolism itself might constrain the short, transient and strenuous motor output typical of suction feeding. Thus, reducing the suction effort makes sense when successive strenuous head-part movements are immediately required for additional suction, buccal transport or spitting. This hypothesis was tested by in vivo electrical stimulation of muscles important in feeding: the epaxials, which lift the skull and expand the buccal cavity. Reliable stimulation variables for the epaxial muscles were determined from preliminary stimulation experiments and from electromyographic recordings of these muscles in a specimen feeding on crickets. Stimulation trains of variable duration (<150 ms) were applied in series of five trains. The intervals between trains were variable as well (<1 s). The mechanical output was measured by means of an accelerometer, a force transducer or a magnetoresistive displacement transducer. In the latter case, the time course of the mechanical output could be recorded and analysed. The hypothesis predicts a decrease in the muscular output with increasing effort (long trains) and fast repetition (short intervals). The experimental results show the expected decline in mechanical output from one stimulation train to the next when longer stimulation bursts are imposed in quick succession. Statistical analyses (multiple regression) showed that train length, train rate and train number contribute significantly to the observed variation in mechanical output, supporting the hypothesis. Explanations for the phenomena are discussed.


This paper presents extension of our efficient on-chip antenna structure for 60 GHZ and 77 GHz frequency bands using mainstream silicon technologies. The challenges are implementation of an efficient antenna while isolated from substrate and RF circuits on the same substrate on low resistivity silicon substrate. Two antenna designs for the above bands are presented. The radiation efficiency of more than 30% is achieved.


Purpose: Because there are no data available from randomized controlled trials (RCT), a decision analysis was performed to aid in the decision of which option, a local excision with or without radiotherapy or an abdominal perineal resection (APR), should be offered to medically fit patients with early (suspected T1/T2) low (F 5 cm) rectal cancer. Methods: All clinically relevant outcomes, including complications of surgery and radiotherapy, cure, salvageability after local recurrence, distant disease, and death, were modeled for both options. The probabilities of complications and outcomes after radiotherapy and/or local excision were derived from weighted averages of results from studies conducted between 1969 and 1997. The probabilities for the APR option were extracted from relevant RCTs. Long- and short-term patient-centered utilities for each complication and outcome were extracted from the literature and from expert opinion. Results: The expected utility of local excision (EU 5 0.81) for the base case was higher than the expected utility for APR (EU 5 0.78). Although the result was sensitive to all variables, local excision was always favored over APR within the plausible ranges of the variables taken one, two, or three at a time. The model illustrated the tension between the patient's perception of a colostomy and the higher recurrence rates with local excision. Conclusion: The results of this decision analysis suggest that local therapy for early low rectal cancer is the preferred method of treatment. However, there must be careful preoperative assessment, patient selection, and consideration of patient concerns. In addition, decision analysis may be useful in providing patient information and assisting in decision making. J Clin Oncol 17:312-318. r 1999 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.


Drought is water availability that is far below the water needs for life, agriculture, economic activities, and the environment. The impact of severe drought in Indonesia occurred in 2015 due to the strong El Nino phenomenon and positive IOD. The Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of Karawang Regency noted that drought in 14 villages spread across three subdistricts in Karawang Regency expanded in 2019. One of them is the Ciampel subdistrict. The purpose of this research is to analyze the drought of agricultural land based on green vegetation, soil organic content, and soil moisture using Tasseled Cap Transformation (TCT) method in Ciampel Subdistrict, Karawang Regency in 2015 and 2019. This research uses Landsat 8 OLI imagery in August 2015, September 2015, July 2019, and September 2019. Agricultural land drought includes three indices, namely the brightness index, wetness index and greenness index. Overlay and scoring three drought parameters to making the map drought of agriculture land with four classes such as normal, moderate, high, and very high drought classes. The results show that the drought occurred in 2015 and 2019, but the dry area is more expansive in 2015 than 2019.


Until now, the drinking water companies in Indonesia still use chlorine for disinfection processes. In addition, the chlorine also uses for removal Fe, Mn and ammonia. If the raw water contains high concentration of ammonia, chlorine will react with ammonia form chloramines which have lower strength of disinfection power. The higher concentration of ammonia in raw water caused the higher consumption of chlorine. The reaction of chlorine with certain organic compounds as humic substances will to produce chloro- organo compounds like chlorophenols which become serious problems to day because trihalomethane and also chlorophenols compounds are carcinogenic substances. To overcome the problems one of alternative is using the combination of biofiltration and ultrafiltration to process the drinking water. Biofltrations process is treatment of raw water biologically using fixed bed biofilter reactor witch filled with honeycomb plastic supporting media for removal Fe, Mn, ammonia detergent, and also organic substances. Ultrafiltration (UF) is filtration process using hollow fiber membranes that have effective pore sizes of 0.1 – 0.01 μm. The ultrafiltration units are capable of separating some large molecular weight dissolved organics, colloids, macromolecules and suspended solids from raw water. The ultrafiltration process is designed to remove colloidalized particles in the range from 0.1-0.01μm. By combining the biofiltration and ultrafiltration processes, hence will be got technological alternative of drinking water process which capable to degrade an organic matter, ammonia, detergent and can remove the colloidal or suspended matter effectively without chemicals instead of conventional process.


Abstract Focusing on one historic but unsuccessful effort to achieve peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the 2000 Camp David summit, this paper presents a systematic framework for future analyses of the conflict. An analysis of the failure of the Camp David summit enables us to spotlight some of the deep-seated essential problems of war and peace in the Middle East. An inquiry into the substance of the summit reveals how, all in all, the conflict is based on six major issues: (1) the establishment of a Palestinian state, (2) the location of land for the Palestinian state, (3) the evacuation of Israeli settlements, (4) the partition of Jerusalem, (5) Palestinian custodianship over the Temple Mount, and (6) the refugee problem. Emphasizing the importance of national ethos, this paper defines the above mentioned six major issues in dispute that constitute the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by viewing them through the eyes of each of the rival parties. This article explains the causes of the conflict, relying on national forms of ethos that are rooted in narratives and collective identity. By establishing a profound comprehension of each of the six topics, this paper also creates the platform for possible future analyses of the conflict.


Objective  The present study aimed to evaluate the antenatal care adequacy for women who gave birth at the University Hospital of Santa Catarina in Florianopolis (Brazil) during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to evaluate the association of adequacy with sociodemographic, clinical, and access characteristics. Methods  Data were collected between October and December 2020, including 254 patients who delivered in the University Hospital from Federal University of Santa Catarina and answered our questionnaires. Additional data were obtained from patients' antenatal booklets. Antenatal care was classified as adequate, intermediate, or inadequate according to the number of appointments, gestational age at the beginning of follow-up, and tests results. We carried out a descriptive statistical analysis and a bivariate/with odds ratio analysis on maternal sociodemographic, clinical and health access variables that were compared with antenatal adequacy. Results  Antenatal care was considered adequate in 35.8% of cases, intermediate in 46.8%, and inadequate in 17.4%. The following maternal variables were associated with inadequate prenatal care (intermediate or inadequate prenatal care): having black or brown skin colour, having two or more children, being of foreign nationality, not being fluent in Portuguese, and using illicit drugs during pregnancy; the clinical variables were more than 6 weeks between appointments, and not attending high-risk antenatal care; as for access, the variables were difficulties in attending or scheduling appointments, and attending virtual appointments only. Conclusion  In a sample of pregnant women from a teaching hospital in Florianópolis during the COVID-19 pandemic, antenatal care was considered adequate in 35.8%, intermediate in 46.8%, and inadequate in 17.4% of cases.


The concept of a universal device that can provide diagnostics and monitoring of individual and collective power supply systems, the construction of life support systems, the state of household appliances, the Internet of Things devices and housing and communal services devices is considered. This paper proposes new design solutions able to improve the existing technologies for assessment of the quality of the energy flow by two orders of magnitude in terms of overall characteristics relative to the existing analogues. The developed Smart microcontroller is designed to operate as an intelligent unit, to analyze the parameters of the AC voltage network and control the electromechanical elements of the Smart Circuit Breaker, as well as to send data through a standard interface. The implementation of protection against spark discharge is proposed. The proposed solution is based on the application of cloud and boundary computing technology. The possibilities for improvement of the efficiency of design technologies and construction of energy-efficient buildings, provision of the industry and households with a new type of information management services (monitoring energy infrastructure, etc.) are presented.


PURPOSE Based on 5-year or shorter-term follow-up data in recent randomized trials, adjuvant cisplatin-based chemotherapy is now generally recommended after complete surgical resection for patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We evaluated the results of the International Adjuvant Lung Cancer Trial study with three additional years of follow-up. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients with completely resected NSCLC were randomly assigned to three or four cycles of cisplatin-based chemotherapy or to observation. Cox models were used to evaluate treatment effect according to follow-up duration. Results The trial included 1,867 patients with a median follow-up of 7.5 years. Results showed a beneficial effect of adjuvant chemotherapy on overall survival (hazard ratio [HR], 0.91; 95% CI, 0.81 to 1.02; P = .10) and on disease-free survival (HR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.78 to 0.98; P = .02). However, there was a significant difference between the results of overall survival before and after 5 years of follow-up (HR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.76 to 0.97; P = .01 v HR, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.02 to 2.07; P = .04) with P = .006 for interaction. Similar results were observed for disease-free survival. The analysis of non-lung cancer deaths for the whole period showed an HR of 1.34 (95% CI, 0.99 to 1.81; P = .06). CONCLUSION These results confirm the significant efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy at 5 years. The difference in results beyond 5 years of follow-up underscores the need for the long-term follow-up of other adjuvant lung cancer trials and for a better identification of patients deriving long-term benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy.


Eighteen anthracyclines representing several different structural classes were found in the literature to have their respective redox potentials measured under near-identical conditions. The initial reductions were determined in terms of half-wave potentials (HWPs). The electronic structures of these 18 anthracyclines were optimized, and the resulting electronic descriptor measures were regressed against the HWPs. A very significant linear correlation (QSAR) was found between HWP and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy by using both the CNDO/2 and MNDO one-electron molecular orbital methods. These findings suggest that it may be possible to estimate the HWP of an anthracycline in advance of its synthesis. Insofar as the redox potential, as represented by HWP, is an indicator of the relative degree of cardiotoxicity of an anthracycline, it may also be possible to rank relative cardiotoxicity for chemical classes of anthracycline analogues in terms of the identified QSAR.


This study examines network factors in the cross-national diffusion of a recent crowdsourcing innovation in the public sector, called Peer to Patent. Policy diffusion theory, as applied to informational network exchange, suggests that information about innovation will be communicated through social networks among policy decision makers. Building on case studies from five countries — the United States, Australia, South Korea, Japan, and the United Kingdom — that have adopted Peer to Patent, this study finds that the pattern of adoption is best explained by the underlying network structure of professional and institutional actors that allow policymakers to exchange ideas and learn from others. The informational network framework includes epistemic communities, international organizations, and globalized corporate entities and is affected by other mediating factors such as regulations, peer-to-peer relations, and technology. Policy transfer is thus a complex concept that includes multiple streams of transnational communication and exchange.


Under the background of information technology, this essay has conducted a research on the practice of task-based college English writing based on SPOC (small private online course). This "Three in one" task-based writing teaching model has created a new model for teaching college English writing, which includes online network teaching, interactive feedback from offline teachers and peers, dynamic evaluation of teaching effect. This study aims at verifying the validity of the new teaching model. The research result has showed that this model has improved students' writing ability, aroused their interest and promoted the development of their writing motivation、 writing strategies and writing competence, while at the same time enhanced students' self-efficacy.


This article looks at philosophical aspects and questions that modern astrophysical research gives rise to. Other than cosmology, astrophysics particularly deals with understanding phenomena and processes operating at "intermediate" cosmic scales, which has rarely aroused philosophical interest so far. Being confronted with the attribution of antirealism by Ian Hacking because of its observational nature, astrophysics is equipped with a characteristic methodology that can cope with the missing possibility of direct interaction with most objects of research. In its attempt to understand the causal history of singular phenomena it resembles the historical sciences, while the search for general causal relations with respect to classes of processes or objects can rely on the "cosmic laboratory": the multitude of different phenomena and environments, naturally provided by the universe. Furthermore, the epistemology of astrophysics is strongly based on the use of models and simulations and a complex treatment of large amounts of data.


Solar energy development in Tanzania is steeped in discourses of Western technological transfer whereby the devices themselves are lauded as central innovating agents—the "doers"—that are solutions to local poverty. The trend intensifies in Maasai spaces, where a long history of marginalization in development projects has shaped the narratives of energy change around the practices and perspectives of pastoralists. In this paper, drawing from ethnographic work on Tanzania's solar energy landscape, including 50 unstructured interviews with Maasai herders, city-dwellers of Arusha, Tanzania, and representatives from foreign solar energy firms, I show how the Maasai reconfigure incoming solar energy devices through locally generated knowledges, philosophies, and technologies in calculated efforts to chart their own futures. Using a sociotechnical imaginaries approach, I analyze interviews, historical literature and other relevant documents to underscore how Maasai pastoralists are central innovating agents in a shifting sociotechnical landscape who engineer and inscribe their own meanings onto solar power. The Maasai repurpose solar energy technologies as tools of negotiation between modern development initiatives pri-oritized by the national government and foreign solar companies and their own desires to remain anchored to elastic ancestral traditions grounded in the special relationship between herders and livestock. By discussing how solar energy is used and imagined in Maasai communities and combining that analysis with a history of top-down energy imaginaries in Tanzania, I hope to provide new platforms for (re-)imagining solar energy, pastoralism, and Maasai participation in technological futures.


Research within the cruise industry now has the ability to utilize Web-based content analysis. This paper provides an example of a methodology that explores patterns of co-creation of value on board cruise ships using holiday reviews retrieved through Web content mining from CruiseCritic.com. The aim is to add to the field of co-creation and cruise tourism by providing an approach to exploratory Web-based data collection. With the use of a data-driven approach to knowledge discovery, this paper provides a means to achieve a deeper understanding of guest-to-guest and guest-to-staff interactions on board cruise ships. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


A new and independent method to investigate biological reactions and their products based upon the accurate and real-time measurement of the thermal conductivity of the reacting samples is presented. A micromachined thermopile based thermal sensor integrated with a planar heater and microfluidic channel has been fabricated for these measurements. The device was calibrated by measuring the thermal conductivity of standard fluids such as DI water and isopropyl alcohol. The calibrated device was then used to measure the thermal properties of biological molecules such as glucose, urea, Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA), Human Fibrinogen (HF), their antibodies, and the bound product. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of the observation of the real-time monitoring of antibody-antigen binding based on the change in the thermal properties of the reacting fluids


Although the world wide web is already about ten years old, it is still a dream that products and services actively serve user's needs. Central market-places with product catalogue metaphors still dominate the internet. This means that market-place participants are required to access, understand and analyse the available offerings before they can interact with other participants or market-place services. Personal business medias start from the position that channels for product and service offerings can be dynamically grouped around the needs of participants so that new and personalised market-place structures can be designed, i.e. market-places come to me at home and speak my language. In contrast to many other approaches, personal data processing is not hosted by a market-place operator but stays with the user. We argue for the position that personal business media provide means to implement open and modular digital media. Finally, with micromarkets a platform is presented which demonstrates how personal business media can be implemented.


TNF- (cid:2) induces cytosolic phospholipase A 2 expression via Jak2/ PDGFR-dependent Elk-1/p300 activation in human lung epithelial cells. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol 306: L543–L551, 2014. Cytosolic phospholipase A 2 (cPLA 2 ) plays a pivotal role in mediating agonist-induced arachidonic acid release for prostaglandin (PG) synthesis during inflammation triggered by tumor necrosis factor- (cid:2) (TNF- (cid:2) ). However, the mechanisms underlying TNF- (cid:2) -induced cPLA 2 expression in human lung epithelial cells (HPAEpiCs) were not completely understood. Here, we demonstrated that TNF- (cid:2) induced cPLA 2 mRNA and protein expression, promoter activity, and PGE 2 secretion in HPAEpiCs. These responses induced by TNF- (cid:2) were inhibited by pretreatment with the inhibitor of Jak2 (AG490), platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR) (AG1296), phosphoinositide 3 kinase (PI3K) (LY294002), or MEK1/2 (PD98059) and transfection with siRNA of Jak2, PDGFR, Akt, or p42. We showed that TNF- (cid:2) markedly stimulated Jak2, PDGFR, Akt, and p42/p44 MAPK phosphorylation, which were attenuated by their respective inhibitors. Moreover, TNF- (cid:2) stimulated Akt activation via a Jak2/PDGFR pathway in HPAEpiCs. In addition, TNF- (cid:2) -induced p42/p44 MAPK phosphorylation was reduced by AG1296 or LY294002. On the other hand, TNF- (cid:2) could induce Akt and p42/p44 MAPK translocation from the cytosol into the nucleus, which was inhibited by AG490, AG1296, or LY294002. Finally, we showed that TNF- (cid:2) stimulated Elk-1 phosphorylation, which was reduced by LY294002 or PD98059. We also observed that TNF- (cid:2) time dependently induced p300/Elk-1 and p300/Akt complex formation in HPAEpiCs, which was reduced by AG490, AG1296, or LY294002. The activity of cPLA 2 protein upregulated by TNF- (cid:2) was reflected on the PGE 2 release, which was reduced by AG490, AG1296, LY294002, or PD98059. Taken together, these results demonstrated that TNF- (cid:2) induced cPLA 2 expression and PGE 2 release were mediated through a Jak2/PDGFR/PI3K/Akt/p42/p44 MAPK/Elk-1 pathway in HPAEpiCs.


Applying the sequence stratigraphy theory establishes the sequence stratus frame of parasequence controls dolomitization.This paper references the data records of geochemistry and thin section analysis to discuss the relationship of the carbon and oxygen isotopes,the order degree of dolomite,and the porosity and permeability in the Ordovician Majiagou Group parasequence.The research indicates that in the research area,the rocks located on the top of the parasequence and formatted later are affected by the later rainfall,exposure and dissolution,so the order degree of dolomite is higher than the dolomite located in the bottom and firstly formed.This relationship has very good corresponding relation with the porosity in the research area;the order degree of dolomite on the top of sequence is generally higher;and the porosity of corresponding dolomite is higher too.Parasequence strongly controls the order degree of dolomite,and the relationship existed generally in the region.


BACKGROUND
Tropical tree or shrub leaves are an important source of nutrients for ruminants and a potential source of biologically active compounds that may affect ruminal metabolism of nutrients. Therefore, eight woody species from the native flora of Argentinean Dry Chaco, rich in secondary compounds such as condensed tannins (CT), were assessed for their nutritional value, CT fractions and in vitro true digestibility of dry matter, as well as biological activity (BA).

RESULTS
Differences among species were found in contents of total phenol, protein-precipitating phenols (PPP), bound proteins to PPP (BP) and BP/PPP (P < 0.0001). The BP/PPP ratio reveals differences among species in potential BA as indicated by protein precipitation. The major CT of each species were isolated and purified for use as a standard. Although Schinopsis balansae had the most (P ≤ 0.05) total CT (19.59% DM), Caesalpinia paraguariensis had greater (P ≤ 0.05) BA with the most PPP (530.21% dry matter). Larrea divaricata, at 0.97, followed by Acacia aroma, at 0.89, had CT with the highest (P ≤ 0.05) BP/PPP ratios, followed by Prosopis alba (0.59).

CONCLUSION
There were differences in nutritive value and bioactivity among species. Those with the greatest CT were not necessarily those with the most BA. Caesalpinia paraguariensis, S. balansae and L. divaricata were the most promising species as native forage CT sources. Cercidiurm praecox (20.87% CP; 18.14% acid detergent fiber) and Prosopis nigra (19.00% CP; 27.96% acid detergent fiber) showed the best (P ≤ 0.05) nutritive values. According to their nutritive traits, these species might be complementary in grass-based ruminant diets. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.


The water treatment processes employed by coal-fired power stations do not completely remove most of the natural organics (volatile component) from the feed water used for power generation. Currently, polyaluminium chloride, polyelectrolyte and ion exchange resins are used to treat water at power stations. The effectiveness of water-insoluble cyclodextrin (CD) polymers in the removal of natural organics, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and total organic carbon (TOC) from water collected at a specific power plant is reported. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), a total organic carbon combustion analyser and ultra-violet visible (UV-Vis) spectrometry were used in the analysis of the water samples. Results obtained from this study show that, despite the usage of the current treatment processes, natural organic species emanating from raw water still persist throughout the stages of the water treatment process. The polymers on the other hand demonstrated the ability to remove dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from raw water by as much as 84%.


This article introduces a novel method for reducing dimensional complexity of classification problems which are frequently present in gene microarray analysis. Revealing the most relevant subset of genes among few thousands of analyzed genes is necessary to get accurate disease classification. Attribute (gene) filter was developed for such a purpose. The filter, first introduced as mutual information feature selection (MIPS) was coupled with the support vector machines (SVM) classifier in the leave-one-out (LOO) loop, which resulted in an efficient and reliable tool named MIFS/SVM hybrid. The set of gene microarrays, which consists of two leukemia types, was used as a benchmark. That particular set was thoroughly analyzed by others. Hence, it was appropriate to use it for testing the accuracy of MIFS/SVM hybrid based filter


Abstract The characteristics associated with prey attraction and capture in pitcher plants are not well understood. Because of physiological constraints due to growth patterns and resource availability, pitcher characteristics should vary among seasonal cohorts and with pitcher age. We measured age-related changes in characteristics (funnel diameter, extrafloral nectar guides, extrafloral nectar concentration) and in prey capture of early- and mid-season cohorts of Sarracenia alata pitchers. Pitchers achieved their mature height before opening, and pitchers of the mid-season cohort were smaller than those produced early in the growing season. In both cohorts, extrafloral nectar concentration on the lip of the pitcher and the number of "secondary nectar guides" (an indication of hood coloration) were highest approximately 3 wk after pitchers opened. The rate of insect capture in both cohorts was highest approximately 3 wk after pitchers opened, corresponding with the peak in nectar concentration and the maximal number of secondary nectar guides observed. The mean intact insect capture from the four main collections (the three sampling periods for Cohort A and the single period for Cohort B) was significantly positively related to mean nectar concentrations for those collections. When pitchers were capturing at their maximal rate (3 wk after opening), prey capture per unit size per unit time was higher in the mid-season cohort even though nectar concentration was not significantly different than that in the early-season cohort. Furthermore, ants comprised a significantly greater proportion of intact insects captured by the mid-season cohort. The results of this study show that characteristics of pitchers and their effect on prey capture vary between seasonal cohorts and with pitcher age. Nectar appears to be an important attractant, and foraging insects may be attracted by nectar, coloration, or most likely by some combination of these and other characteristics. The physiological constraints and evolutionary pressures leading to these differences need to be examined.


This paper examines the relationship between intra-couple income distribution and subjective well-being, using nationally representative data from Hungary. We show that the association between the woman's relative income (the woman's share of the couple's total earnings) and life satisfaction is negative not only for men, but for women as well. Because we control for financial disadvantages on the individual and household level, as well as for socio-economic and job characteristics of the respondent and their partner, the result can be interpreted as the impact of traditional gender roles and the persistence of the traditional male breadwinner mentality. In addition, we show that gender norms moderate this negative association. Among those with low levels of traditional norms, the woman's relative income has no effect on life satisfaction, whereas among those who prefer traditional gender roles, the negative association is stronger. Our results suggest that conflicts between the gender norms and the social and economic reality reduce life satisfaction.


Excerpt] Myths about organizing women, and women of color in particular, prevent the labor movement from hearing and acting on the real opportunities to work together on issues that affect everyone. This article contributes to the burgeoning effort to listen to what women around the world are saying about their role in the labor movement. The article includes stories of women from the African country of Uganda and the Asian countries of Sri Lanka, South Korea, and Nepal. These stories are not isolated incidents; they represent the growing participation of women in labor movements around the world. Gaining an appreciation for this growing participation will help lay to rest some of the widelyheld myths about organizing women myths that still persist after years of effort to combat them.


This study performs a structural analysis to determine seismic behaviour of bridge structures with optimally designed metallic damper absorbing earthquake energy. Since the metallic damper utilizes the plastic deformation of steel to reduce vibration of the structures, this optimized metallic damper can be more economic, reliable and sustainable than the conventional bridge dampers such as friction or viscous dampers. The considered earthquake loads applied to the structure is assumed to work on two-dimensional directions. Also, the shape optimization of metallic damper is purposed to perform ideally under those bi-axial earthquake excitations. The optimizing process is based on the calculation of dissipated energy by the damper through finite element analysis of ABAQUS and the SQP algorithm by MATLAB. The MATALB algorithm controls the alteration of the damper's shape to maximize the amount of energy dissipation under the constraint of total mass of the damper. To evaluate the effect of the developed metallic damper using this optimized shape, this study applied the damper into a three-span bridge model and conducted earthquake analysis through SAP2000.


Large marine two-stroke diesel engines still represent the major propulsion system for merchant shipping. Withsteadily increasing transport demands, rising operational costs and stricter environmental legislations, the global marine shipping industry finds itself facing the challenge to future-proof its fleet. In order to comply with international maritime organizations emission standards (TIER II and TIER III), highly sophisticated and flexible combustion systems are demanded. With the help of spray and combustion research such systems can be developed and continuously improved. A highly valuable tool to investigate sprays of large marine diesel injectors under engine relevant conditions is the Spray Combustion Chamber (SCC). This paper reviews the history of the SCC, shows todays possibilities and looks into the near future of research involving large marine two-stroke engines. The SCC was built during the first Hercules project (I.P.-HERCULES, WP5, [1]). The initial setup focused on fundamental investigations comprising the application of highly flexible thermodynamic conditions. During follow-up projects (Hercules beta [2] and Hercules C [3]) the SCC was continuously developed, and a variety of influences on spray and combustion were experimentally assessed. The initial SCC design focused on maximum optical access as well as the applicability of a wide span of optical techniques. Single-hole nozzles were utilized to generate reference data to optimize existing spray and combustion simulation models. Different fuel types and fuel qualities were investigated and effects of the in-nozzle flow on spray morphology was identified. A sound set of results was achieved and published in several (internal and public) reports. Over the years, spray research at Winterthur Gas& Diesel has turned its focus from basic spray investigations to more detailed cavitation and in-nozzle flow examinations [4], [5]. Future research on the SCC will focus on investigations of more engine related topics, as, for example, the application of a fuel flexible injection system as is currently developed in the HERCULES-2 project [6]. Significant design modifications of the initial setup were necessary, as the injector positions and therefore exposure of the spray relative to the swirl were not fully congruent with real engine conditions. As a consequence, the new setup includes some minor drawbacks, e.g. the optical access of the nozzle tip is only visible from one side of the chamber. This means that line-of-sight methods are currently only possible at selected positions in the centre of the chamber. Therefore, a new setup was installed to illuminate the spray, consisting of a high speed, high energy laser (100 kHz, 100 W) and special optics. In order to obtain enhanced optical access, tangential windows were re- arranged, now pointing directly at the nozzle. With this setup, a first set of images was realized, showing a realspray as it occurs in large marine two-stroke diesel engines. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/ILASS2017.2017.4734


In the decades ahead, the US labor force will reflect changes in the industrial structure, with declines in some manufacturing industries and expansion in service industries. The services sector is so diverse that the jobs within it cannot be categorized as either high wage or low wage. The service-producing sector employs 85% of professional specialty workers in the US. In general, information on compensation trends indicates that greater increases in compensation have occurred for workers in service-producing as opposed to goods-producing industries. The increase in service sector jobs has created opportunities for women to enter the labor force and, at present, 5 out of 6 women work in this sector compared to fewer than 2 out of 3 men. Productivity growth rates in the service-producing industries vary substantially and are strongly affected by the business cycle. Central to employment opportunities in the years ahead will be the effect of new technology. To date, the aggregate effect of new technology has been increased employment and higher living standards. Although retraining programs should be in place, the scenario of a huge technology-created labor surplus seems unlikely. In fact, a more likely problem is a shortage of labor resulting from earlier labor force withdrawal and demographic aging of the population. Those in the 25-54-year age group will represent a larger share of the labor force in the years ahead. In addition, blacks are expected to account for 20% of the labor force growth in the next decade. Finally, given increasing labor force participation rates among mothers, employers may have to provide more flexible work schedules, assistance with day care, and more attractive benefits packages.


The development of automotive industries and energetics has a large impact on the carbon-dioxide level in the atmosphere and therefore on the climate change process. There is a continuous cycle and flow of inorganic compounds between the atmosphere and the ecosystems, therefore the anthropogenic affects (such as CO2 emission) strongly modify the activities of ecosystems. The modified activities are as follows: fluxes of the photosynthesis, CO2 emission of the soil or the quantity of dissolved organic compounds in the ocean. These activities could have a feedback on the climate controlling the compounds of the atmosphere and therefore on the temperature of the Earth.
The most important anthropogenic green-house gas (GHG) is the carbon-dioxide. The global CO2-level has an increase from 280 ppm (before industrial era) to 380 ppm (by 2008). The annual fossil CO2-emission was 6.0–6.8 Pg C in the 1990s, and 6.9–7.5 Pg C in 2000–2005. There is positive correlation between the amount of green house gases in the atmosphere and the temperature, so the larger the increase in the GHG-level the higher the global temperature in the Earth.
The ecosystems could control the climate (precipitation, temperature) in a way that an increase in the atmosphere component (e.g. CO2 concentration) induces the processes in biosphere to decrease the amount of that component through biogeochemical cycles. These feedbacks could affect the climate either on positive or negative ways.
In our research the answers of a theoretical freshwater ecosystem are examined on the change in the value and the fluctuation of the temperature. Our aim is to show a simple ecological model related to this feedback mechanism, and to examine the feedback ability of the theoretical ecosystem to the temperature of the atmosphere.


It is quite valuable for the research scientist to be able to predict accurately the strength properties of his treatment specimens. This is frequently done through the use of control or untreated test specimens. This study explored several methods of predicting treatment specimen MOR's for two types of oriented particleboard, using side- and end-matched control specimens. The effect of control specimen positioning was investigated. Side-matching proved to be more accurate than end-matching. With the treatment specimen flanked on either side by control specimens, the average percent error was only 3.4% with a standard deviation of 2.8 when the prediction parameter was obtained by averaging the MOR's of the flanking control specimens. A freehand curve fit method was attempted with similar results. The introduction of another material property (i.e., modulus of elasticity) into the prediction model was examined. Because of a low correlation of the parameters used (MOR and MOE), this method did nothing to improve prediction accurary.


An interesting class of heterogeneous datasets, encountered for instance in data journalism applications, results from the inter-connection of data sources of different data models, ranging from very structured (e.g., relational or graphs) to semistructured (e.g., JSON, HTML, XML) to completely unstructured (text). Such heterogeneous graphs can be exploited e.g., by keyword search, to uncover connection between search keywords [1]. In this paper, we present a vision toward making such graphs easily comprehensible by human users, such as journalists seeking to understand and explore them. Our proposal is twofold: (i) abstracting the graph by recognizing structured entities; this simplifies the graph without information loss; (ii) relying on data visualization techniques to help users grasp the graph contents. Our work in this area continues; we present preliminary encouraging results.


In this paper, based on fuzzy logic, adaptive equalization, feedforward and decision feedback approaches, we propose a new decision feedback fuzzy adaptive equalizer (fuzzy DFE) that using extended Kalman filter (EKF) adaptation algorithm to cope with the intersymbol interference (ISI) effects of power line communication channels and the impulsive noise generated by electrical appliances and nonlinear loads that connected to power grids. The simulation results show that the proposed fuzzy DFE technique applied to minimize both influences of the ISI and impulsive noise has lower steady state bit error rate and faster convergent speed compared to conventional decision feedback equalizer (DFE) that using least mean squares (LMS) adaptation algorithm. The proposed fuzzy DFE also performs better than fuzzy DFEs that using RLS and LMS adaptation algorithms in terms of steady state bit error rate and convergent speed when direct sequence spread spectrum is employed as a transmission technique. The bit error rate of the EKF based fuzzy DFE is close to that of the optimal equalizer


INTRODUCTION
No global consensus exists on diagnostic criteria for malnutrition. Muscular deficits and functional impairments are major components of available malnutrition diagnostic frameworks (SGA, MCC, EDC, GLIM), because these facets of nutritional status significantly impact outcomes. The purpose of this review is to explore which body composition (BCA) and functional status assessment (FSA) tools are being used for nutritional assessment (NA) and monitoring response to nutritional interventions (RNI) in adult inpatients.

METHODS
A literature search of Embase, Medline (Ovid), Web of Science and Cochrane Central was performed to identify studies that utilized BCA and/or FSA tools for NA (along with an accepted NA diagnostic framework) and/or for monitoring RNI in adult inpatients.

RESULTS
The search yielded 3,667 articles; 94 were included in the review. The number of studies using BCA and/or FSA tools for NA was 47, and for monitoring RNI was also 47. 79% of studies used bioimpedance for BCA and 97% that included FSA utilized hand-grip strength. When compared against sets of diagnostic criteria, many of the BCA and FSA tools showed promising associations with nutritional status.

CONCLUSIONS
Bioimpedance methods are the most widely used bedside BCA tools, and HGS is the most widely used FSA tool; however, these methods are being used with a variety of protocols, algorithms, and interpretation practices in heterogeneous populations. In order to create a standardized NSA process there is a need for validation studies on bedside methods and development of globally standardized assessment protocols in clinical inpatient settings. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


The finite temperature self-consistent semiclassical equation is derived with the utilization of Skyrme force and semiclassical approximation. This equation is solved numerically by employing the imaginary time step method. The nucleon densities of some hot spherical nuclei are determined and the RMS radii are calculated.


A novel Ferrimonas species is described on the basis of phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic studies. Four halophilic organisms were isolated from marine sand and marine macroalgae samples by using high-pH marine agar 2216. An analysis of the nearly complete 16S rRNA gene sequences of these new isolates indicated that they were phylogenetically close (16S rRNA gene sequence similarity >99.5%, gyrB gene sequence similarity >97.8%), and were most closely related to Ferrimonas balearica (16S rRNA gene sequence similarity 97.1-97.3%, gyrB gene sequence similarity 84.4-85.0%). Chemotaxonomic data (major menaquinone MK7; major fatty acids C(16:0) and C(18:1)omega9c) supported the affiliation of the new isolates to the genus Ferrimonas. The results of physiological and biochemical tests allowed phenotypic differentiation of the isolates from F. balearica. It is therefore proposed that the new isolates represent a novel species with the name Ferrimonas marina sp. nov. and type strain A4D-4(T) (=MBIC06480(T)=DSM 16917(T)).


The audit committee is a fundamental and prerequisite tool for fulfilling board's monitoring role of ensuring transparency, financial and managerial efficiency. Therefore, it has been applied to address perceived governance failure. This paper aims to critically review the previous literature on the relationship between audit committee diversity as a major corporate governance mechanism and corporate voluntary disclosure reporting (CVDR) with a change in the regulatory regime as moderation variable. This review specifically evaluates theoretical and empirical literature related to audit committee diversity like independence, financial expertise, accounting expertise; and CVDR in order to highlight some important areas of gaps for future research in this field. It also, emphases the need for a more qualitative method for better understanding of the relationship. This paper proposes that examining the moderating influence of the change of the regulatory regime with regard to CVDR would provide more insight into the link between audit committee diversity and CVDR. The policy implication of the study is also discussed. Lastly, the paper stresses the importance of studies linking audit committee diversity and CVDR, which are quite scanty in the existing literature.


In aspirin-treated patients with acute coronary syndromes without ST-segment elevation unfractionated heparin (UFH) or low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) treatment < 7 days significantly reduce the risk of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and LMWH furthermore reduces revascularisation. There is a non-significant effect on mortality compared with placebo and an insignificantly increased risk of haemorrhagic complications. No net clinical benefit of LMWH was found compared to UHF, but LMWH has pharmacokinetic advantages. The optimal duration of heparin treatment remains controversial.


Integrins and other cell surface receptors have been fertile grounds for structure prediction experiments. Recently determined structures show remarkable successes, especially with beta-propeller domain predictions, and also reveal how ligand binding by integrins is conformationally regulated.


A new series of biologically important 2-amino-4- (2-naphthyl)-6-aryl-6H-1,3-thiazines were synthesized starting from 1-(2-naphthyl)ethanone with different aromatic aldehydes in basic medium followed by the reaction with thiourea via Michael adduct formation, heterocyclisation and subsequent tautomeric change of adduct. All the synthesized compounds were characterized by IR, 1 H and 13 C NMR spectral studies and Screened their


Coffee is the main source of income for a large number of households and provides major foreign currencies for the national economy. Although it covers only 6.3% of cultivated areas, coffee is produced by 500,000 households in Rwanda. Since its introduction in the country in 1904, coffee has always been operated by individual producers. However, after the liberalization of the coffee sector in 1998, the quantity and quality produced are steadily decreasing which affects the price and the income of coffee growers. To search for a solution, the Rwandan government has striven to consolidate coffee growing cooperatives in different parts of the country by building coffee washing stations (CWS). These stations were mainly meant to help coffee growing cooperatives produce high quality coffee which is competitive on the international markets. The goal is to produce a fully washed coffee, exportable and better valued on the international market, which can provide better income for peasant producers. Coffee washing stations are then seen as tools to produce quality coffee and are mainly run by cooperatives, which are structural elements in the rural world. Through these facilities and structures put in place, jobs are created for coffee producers, loans are granted, farmers are motivated due to the increase of income, the market is guaranteed and the prices become attractive for the members. Thus, the socio-economic welfare of coffee growers is improved, which reduces poverty among coffee growers' households. This study focuses on the analysis of the role resulting from the structuring action of the peasants through CWS and coffee cooperative KOPAKAMA Rutsiro District, Western Province of Rwanda on the socio-economic development and technical assistance of members and the surrounding world.

 Key words: KOPAKAMA Cooperative, coffee, coffee washing stations (CWS), growers, socio-economic development.


The e.s.r. spectra of the paramagnetic [Fe3Pt3(CO)15]– monoanion have been recorded in solution and in the solid state at variable concentration and temperature. A comparison of e.s.r. and electronic diffuse-reflectance spectra with X-ray structural data of [Fe3Pt3(CO)15]n–(n= 1 or 2) clusters suggests that the unpaired electron is mainly located in a non-degenerate molecular orbital of the triplatinum system which, under an idealized D3h symmetry, may primarily be the a2′* combination of three dxz platinum orbitals. The stability of the paramagnetic cluster probably derives from the unpaired electron being localised mostly on the platinum atoms, and from the steric properties of the µ-Fe(CO)4 groups which hinder spin-pairing by dimerization.


It is widely acknowledged that one of the biggest problems associated with the compilation of floristic checklists is that they are invariably out-of-date almost as soon as they appear in print. Recognizing the value of digitized information over the past few years we collectively began to database the holdings of lichenized, lichenicolous, and allied fungi at The New York Botanical Garden (NY) in conjunction with our fieldwork and taxonomic studies. The goal of this project is to create dynamic checklists for the geographic regions that are the strengths of the NY herbarium, namely eastern North America. All of the holdings at NY of lichens from the following regions have been databased (the Ozark Ecoregion, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, State of New Jersey, and Province of Newfoundland & Labrador) and thus the available checklists fully represent the taxa from these regions held by NY. Databasing of specimens from other regions is not complete. The NY lichen checklists can be accessed at the following URL: http://sciweb.nybg.org/science2/hcol/lena/i ndex.asp. When acknowledging this resource, please cite it as: The C. V. Starr Virtual Herbarium of The New York Botanical Garden (http://sciweb.nybg.org/science2/VirtualHerbarium.asp). The Virtual Herbarium website also includes instructions on how to create links to the data presented there (http://sciweb.nybg.org/science2/hcol/howtolink.asp).


Recursive Monte Carlo filters, also called particle filters, are a powerful tool to perform the computations in general state space models. We discuss and compare the accept-reject version with the more common sampling importance resampling version of the algorithm. In particular, we show how auxiliary variable methods and stratification can be used in the accept-reject version, and we compare dierent resampling techniques. In a second part, we show laws of large numbers and a central limit theorem for these Monte Carlo filters by simple induction arguments that need only weak conditions. We also show that under stronger conditions the required sample size is independent of the length of the observed series. AMS 2000 subject classifications. Primary 62M09; secondary 60G35, 60J22, 65C05.


Abstract : For decades a suitable replacement for cadmium has been discussed and debate on the best alternative is still ongoing. Due to the toxic nature of most cadmium salts, a growing environmental pressure to reduce cadmium usage has lead some countries to ban the use of cadmium and research for alternatives was intensified. Cadmium is used for several applications due to its lubrication/friction properties in combination with corrosion protection. The lubrication ability of cadmium is an important factor in the fasteners industry, providing a corrosion protection that doesn t disturb the thread profile along with break-away torques that allow for fasteners to be mated several times without damage1. An additional difficulty for the replacement of cadmium is the extensive data collected over the years on cadmium s mechanical and corrosion protection properties on which industries all over the world rely on to develop new products. A wide range of possibilities has been suggested, from electroplated and electroless deposits to physical vapour coatings. Among the candidates to replace cadmium are the zinc-nickel alloys which can outperform cadmium in corrosion tests, exhibiting a resistance in salt spray test (ASTM B 117) up to 3000 hours.


Institute of Radiation Hygiene carried out series of field studies because of possible dissemination of radioactive contamination in the territories of Far East regions of Russian Federation after the accident on "Fukushima-1" NPP. The aim of investigations was to clarify radiation situation in the territories of Sakhalin region. We carried out investigations during May-October of 2011 in the Sought-Eastern part of Sakhalin region including the territories of Korsakov district of Sakhalin Island and Kunashir and Shikotan Islands, which are located close to "Fukushima-1" NPP. In autumn of 2012, we carried additional investigation in the Islands Sakhalin, Iturup and Kunashir. In the frames of expedition investigations of 2011 – 2012, we carried out gamma-irradiation dose rate measurements, gamma-spectrometric investigations, sampling of soil, foodstuffs, environmental samples, and as well local population questionnaire survey with the aim of clarification of the food rations. We sampled 132 foodstuffs samples, which local population use to consume and implemented their gamma-spectrometric and radiochemical analysis. We carried out 99 questionnaire surveys of population to estimate the volume of consumption of different foodstuffs, clarification of food ration and its peculiarities. Carried survives revealed that practically all respondents consume milk, fish, mainly sea fish, seafood and/or edible algae. Local population consume freshly cooked, salt and pickled forest herbs: wild garlic, fern, and burdock. The consumption of cow milk, produced mainly in private farms, could reach 200 l/year, sea fish – 170 kg/year, seafood – 100 kg/year, edible algae – 50 kg/year. More than 50% of respondents rather actively consume forest mushrooms – up to 90 kg/year, 3% of respondents consume meat of game – up to 6 kg/year and feathered game – up to 15 kg/year. Carried survives revealed peculiarities of cattle ration: the cows gaze unorganized, feed meadow and forest grass and herbs, algae from a coast. Forestlands of the investigated region are located in the territories with prevailing of sandy, sandy loam and loamy soils. The values of caesium isotopes transfer factors from such soils to foodstuffs and environmental objects are much higher than the values of transfer factors from fertile black soils. Thus, the population of investigated territory actively consume the foodstuffs transfer of caesium isotopes to which is rather high.


An experiment was performed in female rats in order to assess the influence and mechanism underlying the effects of hyperglycemia, hypertonic saline and vasopressin upon the gas~Lric acid secretion and mucosal blood flow (MBF). Infusion of isotonic saline did not alter acid output and gastric clearance of plasma aminopyrine whereas hypertonic solutions (20~o glucose or 3 ~ NaC1) significantly increased plasma osmolality and decreased the acid secretion within 30 min and recovered to normal levels after 2 h. Vasopressin also effectively inhibited acid secretion. Both hypertonic solutions and vasopressin decreased the mucosal blood flow. However, the ratio (R) of MBF to gastric secretory rate which is a helpful guide to the mechanism of secretory inhibition did not significantly change in either case. We concluded that all three agents probably had a direct action on secretion rather than decreasing MBF. The mechanism of inhibition of acid secretion and its relationship to MBF was suggested and discussed.


Abstract In the course of the lipoxygenase-catalyzed transformation of linoleic acid to 13S-hydroperoxy- 9Z,11E-octadecadienoic acid, iron ions are liberated. This iron release has been determined using a spectrophotometric assay based on the complexation of ferrous iron by 3-(2-pyridyl)-5,6-bis-(4-phenylsulfonic acid)-1,2,4-triazine disodium salt (ferrozine). Further comparative measurements demonstrated that iron release correlates to deficient oxygen supply. We speculate that release of iron ions is caused by modifications of histidine residues located at the active site of the enzyme. Liberation of iron ions may be responsible for increased generation of lipid peroxidation (LPO) products observed after a myocardial infarction since iron ions induce nonenzymic LPO processes.


Aims of this study were: to evaluate changes in lung function in wheezing children with detected MP and CP infection according to treatment; to measure the response to inhaled corticosteroids in children with significant wheezing who were selected as having a high risk of progressing into childhood asthma. 54 children were randomly assigned 2:1 into 2 groups-the main group (36 patients), in which inhaled corticosteroids were administered, and the control group (18 patients), without inhaled corticosteroids. Serum IgE levels were determined using the ELISA (reagents: IBL-Hamburg). Serologic studies were performed by the ELISA for IgM and IgG antibodies to MP and for IgG and IgA antibodies to CP (reagents: ImmunoLISA, Orgenics, Israel) on the Hiperion MRIII (USA). Pulmonary function testing was done with SpiroLab II (DEGO GmbH, Medizin-Elektronik, Germany). The patients of both groups were administered macrolides: azitromycin during five days. Patients of the first group received inhaled fluticasone propionate 125 mg twice daily. The parents were asked to record symptoms. Each symptom (wheezing, cough, and shortness of breath) were scored on a scale of 0 to 3--daily symptom score (DSS). Scores were calculated every 4 weeks for a total treatment period 16 weeks. The days within each period on which the DSS equalled zero were pointed as symptom free days (SFD). It had been shown an significant improvement in DSS, an increase in SFD and significant improvement of the lung functions following the treatment with inhaled fluticasone and macrolide in children with wheezing and documented MP or CP infection, compared to control group treated only with antibiotics. In conclusion, the use of ICS should be seriously considered in children with wheezing and the risk of persisting symptoms.


The synthesis and conformational analysis in solution (by FTIR absorption and 1H NMR) and in the crystal state (by X-ray diffraction) of three Hib-containing depsipeptides have been performed. In the crystal state Z-Aib-Hib-Aib-OMe is folded into a type-III beta-bend, while the conformation adopted by Z-Aib-Hib)2-Aib-OMe is a beta-bend ribbon spiral, characterized by two type-III beta-bends with Aib(1)-Hib(2) and Aib(3)-Hib(4) as corner residues, respectively. Both independent molecules in the asymmetric unit of t-Boc-L-Ala-Hib-L-Ala-OMe crystals are folded into a type-II beta-bend. For the Aib-Hib depsipeptides the conformation adopted in the crystal state is also that largely prevailing in solution, whereas for t-Boc-L-Ala-Hib-L-Ala-OMe the beta-bend conformation is significantly less populated in solution. A comparison is also made with: (i) the published crystal-state conformations of fully protected -(Aib)3-, -(Aib)5-, and -L-Ala-Aib-L-Ala- sequences and the beta-bend ribbon spiral generated by (Aib-L-Pro)n oligomers, and (ii) with the herewith described solution preferred conformation of Z-L-Ala-Aib-L-Ala-OMe. The possible use of Hib as an isosteric replacement for Aib in the design of conformationally constrained depsipeptides is briefly discussed.


In addition to memory problems and other cognitive symptoms, most people with Alzheimer's disease also suffer from mental health issues. It has long been unclear whether these occur because of tissue changes in the brain, or whether they represent psychological reactions to cognitive symptoms. A study from Lund University in Sweden has provided new insight, and is published in Biological Psychiatry.


This article introduces a special collection of 20 research articles that present current developments and applications of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). The first objective is to review and introduce the research addressed within this special collection. The second objective is to summarize and synthesize the model performance statistics and parameters published in these articles to provide a succinct guide to complement a previous SWAT model summary. Recent SWAT developments in landscape representation, stream routing, and soil P dynamics are presented in this collection. Numerous critical applications of the SWAT model were conducted across a variety of landscape scales, climatic and physiographic regions, and pollutant sources. In this article, model performance in terms of coefficient of determination, Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency, and percent bias across all the studies is summarized and found to be satisfactory or better in all cases. These results are then compiled with a previous synthesis of results to generate a comprehensive assessment of SWAT. Model parameters used to calibrate the model for streamflow, sediment, N, and P in numerous studies are also summarized. This collection demonstrates that research in development and application of the SWAT model and associated tools continues to grow internationally in a wide range of settings and applications.


Launched in May 2012, the Michigan Oncology Medical Home Demonstration Project is an innovative multipractice oncology medical home model supported by payment reform. In the first year of the project, four oncology practices (29 physicians) participated and enrolled 85 patients receiving chemotherapy for a cancer diagnosis (96 new chemotherapy starts). By creating an oncology medical home for patients, the project reduced costs associated with unnecessary emergency room visits and inpatient admissions, with an average estimated cost savings of $550 per patient, while also enhancing payments to providers. The total estimated cost savings for year 1 was $46,228. In addition to the financial savings realized through reductions in emergency room visits and hospitalizations, the program also demonstrated that participating practices had high adherence to national and practice-selected guidelines, instituted advance care planning, and provided effective and standardized symptom management. The results are promising and provide evidence that community oncology practices will embrace the transformation to a patient-centered model with properly aligned incentives and administrative assistance.


A previous Navier-Stokes finite difference computer code is extended in order to compute seal leakage directly from given upstream and downstream reservoir pressures. The numerical results are in excellent agreement with previous measurements, the discrepancy being less than eight percent. Annular seals are found to leak approximately twenty percent more than corresponding labyrinths over the entire range of realistic clearance. A rather unexpected finding is that a dramatic increase of swirl velocity occurs near the discharge of small-clearance annular seals, which does not arise in corresponding labyrinth seals. The results, which are used to explain this finding, show that a large density drop occurs near the small-clearance annular seal exit, which provides the swirl velocity increase in accordance with angular momentum conservation.


There appears to be two distinct natriuretic factors. One group, suspected since 1951 in overloaded dogs, had a low molecular weight: it belongs great affinity for ouabain, binds to digoxin antibodies and inhibits NA-K ATPase; this group seems heterogeneous in spite of the extraction of an amino glucosteroid-like substance from human urines. These factors are vasoconstrictor; the source is not still well known (hypothalamus ?). The atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) is a peptide about 20 to 25 amino acids and comes from a precursor of 152 amino acids, its synthesis was successful; secreted in the plasma from endocrine atrial granules, it causes striking natriuresis and diuresis and relaxes vascular and intestinal smooth muscle; it acts on guanylate cyclase but its renal mechanism of action is not well known; it constitutes an antagonist axe to ADH and RAA system. The relations between the two groups of natriuretic factors do not seem still very clear.


Cameroon's President Paul Biya has weathered the transition from a single-party to a multi-party system, dramatically strengthening his control over the political apparatus in recent years. While many have noted the tendency of Africa's new 'democrats' to consolidate their authority by removing various constitutional restraints on their power, this paper argues that Paul Biya has adapted more subtly to the various opportunities provided by open political competition and international discourse on minority rights. Beyond the sadly predictable fraud in electoral counting, he has manipulated electoral boundaries to his party's advantage, while at the same time prohibited voting access to citizens who would likely vote for the opposition. In addition, he has acceded to constitutional changes to recognize minorities in compliance with international and domestic pressures, which is in reality yet another useful tool to marginalize the opposition.


The anthropometric measurements, lipid pattern and dietary intake of 64 male and 68 female Thai vegetarians (mostly lacto-vegetarians) were investigated. 32 males and 36 females on an ordinary Thai diet served as controls. Nutritional anthropometric variables and serum lipid concentrations, which the exception of triglycerides, were found to be lower in the vegetarian group than in the control group. The vegetarians consumed more energy than the controls. No difference in the protein intake was observed in both groups. Fat intake was, however, lower and carbohydrate intake higher in the vegetarian group. Also in the vegetarian group, HDL-cholesterol fraction correlated negatively with anthropometric measurements. Other fractions show only a weak correlation, if at all, in this group. A good correlation to all serum lipid variables determined to anthropometric measurement was observed in the control group.


Preface. Questions. Neurotransmitters, receptors, signal transduction, and second messengers in psychiatric disorders. Basic principles of molecular biology and genomics. Genetics and genomics. Chemical neuroanatomy of the primate brain. Electrophysiology. Animal models. Psychoneuroendocrinology. Principles of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Brain--immune system interactions: relevance to the pathophysiology and treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders. Brain imaging in psychopharmacology. Statistics, placebo response, and clinical trial design in psychopharmacology. Tricyclic and tetracyclic drugs. Fluoxetine. Sertraline. Paroxetine. Fluvoxamine. Citalopram and s-citalopram. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors. Trazodone and nefazodone. Bupropion. Mirtazapine. Venlafaxine and desvenlafaxine. Duloxetine and milnacipran. Benzodiazepines. Buspirone and gepirone. Putative new-generation antidepressants. Classic antipsychotic medications. Clozapine. Olanzapine. Quetiapine. Aripiprazole. Ziprasidone. Drugs to treat extrapyramidal side effects. Lithium. Valproate. Carbamazepine and oxcarbazepine. Gabapentin and pregabablin. Lamotrigine. Topiramate. Cognitive enhancers. Sedative-hypnotics. Psychostimulants and wakefulness-promoting agents. Electroconvulsive therapy. Neurobiology of mood disorders. Neurobiology of schizophrenia. Neurobiology of anxiety disorders. Neurobiology of Alzheimer's disease. Neurobiology of substance abuse and addiction. Neurobiology of eating disorders. Neurobiology of personality disorders. Neurobiology of childhood disorders. Treatment of depression. Treatment of bipolar disorder. Treatment of schizophrenia. Treatment of anxiety disorders. Treatment of agitation and aggression in the elderly. Treatment of substance-related disorders. Treatment of eating disorders. Treatment of insomnia. Treatment of personality disorders. Treatment of psychiatric emergencies. Treatment of childhood and adolescent disorders. Psychopharmacology during pregnancy and lactation. Treatment during late life. Treatment of chronic pain syndromes. Ethical considerations psychopharmacological treatment and research. Answers.


Exopolysaccharides (EPS) of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are of interest for food applications. LAB are well-known to produce α-glucan from sucrose by extracellular glucansucrases. Various Lactobacillus reuteri strains also possess 4,6-α-glucanotransferase (4,6-α-GTase) enzymes. Purified 4,6-α-GTases (e.g., GtfB) were shown to act on starches (hydrolysates), cleaving α1→4 linkages and synthesizing α1→6 linkages, yielding isomalto-/maltopolysaccharides (IMMP). Here we report that also L. reuteri cells with these extracellular, cell-associated 4,6-α-GTases synthesize EPS (α-glucan) from starches (hydrolysates). NMR, SEC, and enzymatic hydrolysis of EPS synthesized by L. reuteri 121 cells showed that these have similar linkage specificities but generally are much bigger in size than IMMP produced by the GtfB enzyme. Various IMMP-like EPS are efficiently used as growth substrates by probiotic Bifidobacterium strains that possess amylopullulanase activity. IMMP-like EPS thus have potential prebiotic activity and may contribute to the application of probiotic L. reuteri strains grown on maltodextrins or starches as synbiotics.


Calculations of simultaneous two-particle transfer cross-sections are performed with different overlap factors, using DWBA with the recoil included exactly. The interaction between the particles, taken into account in the overlap functions, lead to enhancements of the cross-sections by factors of 2 to 3, when the overlaps are calculated in a basis with a large number of functions, corresponding to shell model continuum components.


The dynamic modeling problemfor planar two flexible link manipulators is discussed.A numeric model based on the Lagrange equations is obtained,which describes the dynamics and vibration of flexible link manipulators more succinctly and precisely than other models.The research also supplied theoretic instructions for developing dynamic control system with flexible manipulators.


This work presents a case of a young woman with apraxia and a severe body scheme disorder, 10 years after a childhood frontal and occipitoparietal brain injury. Despite specific limitations, she is independent in performing all activities of daily living. A battery of tests was administered to evaluate praxis and body representations. Specifically, the Hand Laterality Test was used to compare RS's dynamic body representation to that of healthy controls (N = 14). Results demonstrated RS's severe praxis impairment, and the Hand Laterality Test revealed deficits in accuracy and latency of motor imagery, suggesting a significant impairment in dynamic body representation. However, semantic and structural body representations were intact. These results, coupled with frequent use of verbalizations as a strategy, suggest a possible ventral compensatory mechanism (top-down processing) for dorsal stream deficits, which may explain RS's remarkable recovery of activities of daily living. The link between praxis and dynamic body representation is discussed.


Gap junctional intercellular communication is thought to play an important role in cell differentiation and tissue homeostasis. Gap junctional intercellular communication is mediated by intercellular channels connecting adjacent cells and composed of connexin (Cx) proteins. Until now, approximately 20 different Cx have been characterized in mammals, and they are expressed in a tissue‐specific manner. The downregulation of Cx expression is often observed in tumors and transformed cell lines and is believed to contribute to the loss of proliferating control. Connexin 26 (Cx26) is a Cx constitutively expressed in the normal epithelial esophageal tissue. In the majority of esophageal tumors, Cx26 expression is low or totally absent. CpG island hypermethylation is known to be associated with gene silencing in cancer. Because the promoter and exon 1 region of Cx26 are rich in CpG dinucleotides, we examined whether the loss of Cx26 expression in human esophageal TE cell lines was related to the hypermethylation of this region. We analyzed several TE cell lines derived from different human esophageal carcinomas and exhibiting different levels of Cx26 expression by using methylation‐sensitive restriction digestion and Southern blot analysis. We did not find any correlation between the Cx26 expression and the methylation level of the promoter region of the Cx26 gene. Our results suggest that methylation was probably not involved as a primary mechanism of Cx26 regulation in human esophageal cancer cell lines. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


The information revolution has profoundly influenced the interaction between states in the twenty-first century. Networked computers have supported the operations of the global financial system, industrial services, and even the conduct of military operations. Due to this revolution, the level of dependence on networked technologies has risen exponentially following the evolution of the Internet. However, networked technologies have also exposed vulnerabilities that have been exploited by hostile actors to disrupt systems, infiltrate networks, and aggravate conflicts.

While the academic literature on cybersecurity has substantially increased in the past decade, most scholars have focused their attention on the capabilities of great powers and strategic behaviour in cyberspace. Despite the cyber incidents involving Estonia and Georgia, as well as the proliferation of cyber capabilities among states, scholars have continued to overlook the relevance of small states in cyber interactions. The significance of this research gap is more prominent in the studies on the Asia-Pacific Region where a substantial amount of studies have focused on the foreign and security strategies of small states but very few have focused on the cyber dimension.

This research gap is addressed by the study by exploring the strategic utility of cyber capabilities for small states in the region. More specifically, it addresses the puzzle: Why have small states developed cyber capabilities despite its obscure strategic value? On this, three additional questions are considered: What factors influence the development of cyber capabilities? What are the advantages and limitations of developing cyber capabilities? What are the implications of cyber capabilities on the foreign and security policies of small states?

The primary objective of the study is to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the strategic utility of cyber capabilities as foreign policy instruments for small states. It hypothesises that two necessary conditions influence the development of cyber capabilities in small states: the balance of power in the Asia-Pacific (primary condition) and strategic culture (secondary condition). The interplay between these two conditions provides a stronger explanation regarding why small states develop cyber capabilities regardless of the ambiguity surrounding the strategic utility of cyber capabilities. Based this hypothesis, it draws on neoclassical realism as a theoretical framework to account for the interaction between systemic and the domestic variables. The study also pursues three secondary objectives. First, it aims to determine the constraints and incentives that affect the development of cyber capabilities. Second, the study evaluates the functionality of these cyber capabilities for small states. Lastly, it assesses the implications of cyber capabilities on the military strategies and foreign policies of selected small states.


The rapid development of artificial intelligence places high demands on human-machine interfaces. Various types of huma-machine interfaces have been implemented, including smart keyboards, electronic skins, and wearable motion sensors. Handwriting behavior has a high degree of interaction freedom, and handwriting characteristics offer high-security standards for human-machine systems. Herein, we propose a portable smart pen integrated with triboelectric displacement vector sensors to trace handwriting trajectories for human-machine interactions and biometric identification. A triboelectric pressure sensor array is evenly distributed along the pen case to sense displacement vectors, and an additional triboelectric sensor is placed on top of the pen to detect vertical force. By leveraging the resin pen refill as a tribopositive material and a nanowired polyethylene tribonegative layer attached to a Cu electrode, triboelectric signals are generated during the writing/moving process. The calculation and analysis of the sensor signals enable the recognition of handwritten patterns, including Latin letters and Arabic numerals. Moreover, the smart pen can be used to authenticate users based on their unique handwriting patterns, which can help take human-machine interfaces and cyber security to the next level. Furthermore, a custom smart pen operation mode that enables the control of a slide presentation demonstrates the smart pen's potential for various human-machine interface applications.


Abstract:  Spermophilus citellus (Linnaeus, 1766) is a medium-sized sciurid commonly called the European ground squirrel. The species inhabits grasslands in central and southeastern Europe on a range from short-grass steppes to meadow orchards, and from sea level to an elevation of 2,500 m. These squirrels live in colonies and construct burrows used for hibernation, reproduction, refuge, and resting. Due to serious declines in many portions of its range, the species is listed as "Vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. It is also protected by the Bern Convention (Appendix II), and the European Union Habitats and Species Directive (Annexes II and IV).


Enzyme function is critically affected by gross changes in tertiary structure, but much less is known about the dependence of activity on localized conformational changes that might occur during the catalytic process. Such information is essential to the understanding and verification of enzyme mechanisms, and can only be obtained from systems in which the substrate binding and catalytic groups of the enzyme active centre are not only identified but also rendered appropriate probes of the catalytic reaction, that is they must signal changes in their mutual interactions at rates at least as fast as catalysis. It should then be possible to observe directly each of the dynamic events that result in catalysis. Time-averaged structural analyses can neither reveal the dynamics of catalysis nor describe the conformational details of molecules who structures-particularly of the active centre-are motile. Moreover, the three-dimensional structures of enzymes in crystals and solutions may not always be identical as evidenced by marked differences between the kinetic properties of crystalline and of dissolved enzymes (e.g. hexokinase, glycogen phosphorylase and carboxypeptidases A and B). Various experimental approaches have been devised to explore the relationship between structure and function of these and other enzymes. We have focused on the syncatalytic, spatial relationships of active-site residues as they bear on the mechanism of enzyme action using absorption, circular dichroism, magnetocircular dichroic, and resonance Raman spectroscopy as well as resonance energy transfer. Stopped-flow, pH and temperature jump methods quantitatively assess both the conformational and local structural features of the enzyme and reveal multiple, discrete conformational states that prove to have mechanistic significance. These and related data serve as a basis for a minimal model of the dynamic aspects of enzyme action.


2 Abstract: The present study aims at understanding the democratic attitude and element of justice. For the present study 520 respondents were sampled from Lahore district through proportionate random sampling technique. A survey method was used as a technique of data collection and an interview schedule was administered by the researchers to collect information from the respondents. The results showed that there is a positive and significant relationship between democratic attitude and element of justice.


In this paper, we propose a reduced-form credit risk model with a hidden state process. The hidden state process is adopted to model the underlying economic environment with an observable state revealing the delayed and noisy information of the underlying economic state. Our model is a generalization of the work in Gu et al. [1]. Under this framework, we give a computational method to extract the underlying economic state and to find the distribution of multiple default times. Numerical experiment is conducted to illustrate the impact of change in observable state and the contagion effect of defaults.


In this study, the essential oils of endemic Heracleum platytaenium (Apiaceae) species in Sinop region of northern Turkey  were investigated and 27 components were identified by GC, GC-MS. Essential oils were obtained by Clevenger-type hydrodistilled from the aerial parts of plants collected from the natural habitats. The essential oils yield is very low and 0.5 (v/w). Twenty seven constituents were comprised the 98.89% of the total essential oil extracted from the Heracleum platytaenium . The predominant compounds of Heracleum platytaenium were as Limonene (30.83%), Terpinolene (17.98%), β-Pinene (16.36%) and Ocimene (13.68 %). The results were discussed in view of chemotaxonomy and natural products.


In the examinations of recurrent or chronic rhinitis, important aspect is whether the rhinitis symptoms and work are related. Dusts, fumes, smoke, vapours and smells at work can all cause nasal irritation or rhinitis. Occupational rhinitis (OR) means that rhinitis is mainly caused by work. OR is usually IgE-mediated allergic rhinitis, and rarely caused by other mechanisms. The crucial tasks in the examination of work-related rhinitis are description of the job, its allergens and irritants, and performing relevant allergy testing and nasal examinations to exclude other causes of rhinitis. The main focus in management of OR is to avoid further exposure.


In the present experiment were tested 18 Canchin breed steers nearly 24 months old, and conducted three different treatments: T1 - Com silage plus concentrate plus urea, T2 - Com silage (70%) plus faded oates silage (Avena strigosa Screb) (30%) plus concentrate plus urea, and T3 - Com silage (40%) plus faded oats silage (60%) plus concentrate. The concentrate composition was the same for the 3 treatments. Urea was added to T1 and T2 in order to maintain the three treatments in the same nitrogen level (12% of crude protein). Ali the animals were kept under confined conditions during 123 days. The carcasses from T2 have shown a less muscle percentage, 62.78%, against 65.45% for T1 and 65.3% for T3 (P 0,05) and fat percentages (P > 0.18853). The meat marbling score was 5.67; 7.17 and 4.67 points for T1, T2 and T3, respectively - (P > 0.09488). The results obtained for meat coloration and texture were similar in all the three treatments. The laboratory meat analysis has shown that the percentages of weight losses due to thawing and coction have not statistically differed, being 10.70% and 20.27% for T1; 11.25% and 23.54% for T2; 11.87% and 19.79% for T3 (P > 0.05 for the both variables). Meat juiceness, palatability and tenderness were similar for the three treatments (T1, T2 and T3). It is concluded that the carcasses from T2 have shown less muscle percentage; as for as the other studied variables are concerned, it was not observed any significative difference when it was added faded oats silage to com silage in the animals, feed.


Existing hierarchical forecasting techniques scale poorly when the number of time series increases. We propose to learn a coherent forecast for millions of time series with a single bottom-level forecast model by using a sparse loss function that directly optimizes the hierarchical product and/or temporal structure. The benefit of our sparse hierarchical loss function is that it provides practitioners a method of producing bottom-level forecasts that are coherent to any chosen cross-sectional or temporal hierarchy. In addition, removing the need for a post-processing step as required in traditional hierarchical forecasting techniques reduces the computational cost of the prediction phase in the forecasting pipeline. On the public M5 dataset, our sparse hierarchical loss function performs up to 10% (RMSE) better compared to the baseline loss function. We implement our sparse hierarchical loss function within an existing forecasting model at bol, a large European e-commerce platform, resulting in an improved forecasting performance of 2% at the product level. Finally, we found an increase in forecasting performance of about 5-10% when evaluating the forecasting performance across the cross-sectional hierarchies that we defined. These results demonstrate the usefulness of our sparse hierarchical loss applied to a production forecasting system at a major e-commerce platform.