BACKGROUND Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) accounts for 5-6% of all human cancers. Considering the extrahepatic metastasis, the main organs involved are lymphnodes, lung, bone and adrenal gland. Usually colon metastasis is very rare, especially on the left sided colon. CASE SUMMARY We report a case of a 70 years-old man hepatitis B carrier with HCC treated four times with trans-arterial chemoembolization, presented to our surgical department complaining of gastrointestinal bleeding. A colonoscopy revealed a mass of 4 cm of the sigmoid colon with signs of bleeding. The computed tomography showed a mass originated from the sigmoid colon of 3.5 cm, and the presence of HCC in segment VI and VII, without portal vein thrombosis. Due to the large size of the mass and the active bleeding, the patient underwent a left colectomy. The postoperative period was uneventful, and the patient was discharged in fifth post-operative day. Histological examination revealed that the neoplasm was characterized by a diffuse proliferation of epithelial cells with an hepatoid differentiation. So, the presence of a history of HCC of the liver and the histopathological features supported the diagnosis of metastasis from the liver. CONCLUSION Although rare, colon metastasis from an HCC can be left-sided and can present with acute bleeding.


Abstract Because of the exacerbation of population ageing, more family members are involved in the informal care-giving for older adults with disabilities to cater to their long-term care needs. As informal care-givers are associated with the mental health of the care recipient, this study, based on the theoretical framework of the Actor–Partner Effect, utilises a mixed method composed of quantitative and qualitative strategies to identify the relationship among gender and type of both care-giver and care recipient, and mental health of the recipient and explain its internal mechanism. In the quantitative research, ordinary least squares (OLS) regression results based on the basis of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) data corroborate the existence of actor and partner effects within the care-giving dyad. The qualitative analysis further explains the socially constructed differences in gender role, trust relationship and perception towards filial piety of adult care-givers playing their role in the emergence of the Actor–Partner Effect. Finally, this study proposes a developed Actor–Partner Effect analysis framework, advocating to destigmatise disability and construct social support networks for the older adults with disabilities who receive informal care to promote their mental health based on the reflection of socially constructed gender difference.


The southeastern border of the Laguna Merin Basin (Rocha Department, East Uruguay) consists of Mesozoic volcanic deposits of the Puerto Gomez and Arequita formations, overlain by a sedimentary cover of Cenozoic and recent deposits. Well- preserved lava flow and pyroclastic deposits have been identified in the Arequita Formation after detailed mapping (1.50.000) in Sierra de los Ajos region. The present study focuses on the petrographic characterization of this felsic volcanism, with special emphasis on the pyroclastic units. Differences in the structural and petrographic distribution of these volcanic units are related to the N20oE trending India Muerta Lineament. East of this lineament, SiO 2 -rich rhyolites and pyroclastic deposits (ignimbrites) are present whereas to the west, the volcanic rocks are mainly represented by basic to felsic lavas. Based on petrographic features and regional distribution, explosive mechanisms have been assigned to some of the volcanic units, interpreted as pyroclastic flow and pyroclastic surge deposits.


This paper presents a scheme developed for instrumentation and monitoring of the structural performance of a hybrid precast and in situ concrete flat slab system employed in an educational building. The system contains a precast plate flooring slab, which is composed of a thin reinforced concrete plate incorporating a steel lattice girder and all reinforcement required by design. A top mat of reinforcement is placed on site, as well as reinforcing stitching bars across the precast slab joints to ensure shear transfer and two way bending action. The concrete topping is then placed on site. Preliminary data obtained from the instrumented building are discussed. Continuous monitoring of the data will allow long term effects, such as creep, to also be monitored and compared with design guidelines.


Epoxy-based composites moulds are frequently used for wax and polymer materials injection. Tri-phase materials, composed by an epoxy resin, aluminium particles and milled glass or carbon fibres were produced with better mechanical and thermal performances than the single materials, increasing the competitiveness of the epoxy rapid tooling processes. Charpy Impact tests were employed to obtain a qualitative indication of the composites toughness. The electronic instrumentation of these tests allows a more accurate differentiation of the impact behaviour of the neat and aluminium filled resins, and the tri-phase composites, and consequently, more rigorously tailor their properties.


The Cognitive-Emotional Theory of Esteem Support Messages posits that messages intended to enhance recipients' state self-esteem focus on cognitions and/or behaviors. In the current studies, problem-focused message content (i.e., content focused on enacting behavior to alleviate the esteem threat) was of particular interest. College students (Study 1, n= 227) applying for postgraduation jobs and unemployed, underemployed, and/or displaced workers recruited from a government one-stop career center (Study 2, n = 292) rated esteem support messages varying in degree of focus on behaviors vs. cognitions relevant to the job search process. Messages focused on behavior were rated as less effective than those focusing on cognitions relevant to the esteem threat, although support for this result was stronger in Study 2.


We estimated the time of occurrence of metachronous liver metastasis in colorectal cancer patients from tumor diameter and doubling time. Micro-metastasis was present prior to operation in most patients and a few metastatic cases could have been initiated by the surgical procedure. Portal chemotherapy is more effective against liver metastasis than intravenous infusion because a higher drug concentration in the liver can be obtained. This efficacy of portal chemotherapy on survival was also observed in a rat model. Thus perioperative adjuvant treatment should be undertaken for metastasis which already existed before the operation and adjuvant chemotherapy via portal vein is the treatment of choice. The no touch isolation technique is also needed to avoid spreading of tumor cells during surgery.


CD4 cross-linking by HIV gp120 triggers CD4+ T cell death. Several authors have suggested that this effect is mediated by CD95, but this possibility is debated by other authors. In a previous work, we found by co-capping that gp120(451) and gp120MN, but not gp120(IIIB), induce lateral association of CD4 with CD95 on the T cell surface. In this work, we used fluorescence resonance energy transfer to confirm that CD4/CD95 lateral association is induced by gp120(451), but not gp120(IIIB). Moreover, we found that gp120 ability to induce the CD4/CD95 association correlates with ability to induce cell death, since gp120(451) and gp120MN induced higher levels of cell death than did gp120(IIIB) in PHA-derived CD4+ T cell lines. CD95 involvement in gp120-induced cell death was confirmed by showing that gp120(451) and gp120MN did not induce death in CD4+ T cells derived from patients with autoimmune/lymphoproliferative disease (ALD) and decreased CD95 function. Cell death induced by gp120MN was inhibited by a recombinant CD95/IgG.Fc molecule blocking the CD95/CD95L interaction. However, inhibition was late and only partial. These data suggest that the gp120-induced CD4/CD95 association exerts a dual effect: an early effect that is independent of CD95L and may be due to direct triggering of CD95 by gp120, and a late effect that may be due to sensitization of CD95 to triggering by CD95L. In line with the former effect, cell treatment with gp120MN activated caspase 3 in the presence of Fas/IgG.Fc, which shows that cell death induced by gp120MN independently of CD95L uses the same pathway as CD95.


With recent advances in the precision of inclusive lepton–nuclear scattering experiments, it has become apparent that comparable improvements are needed in the accuracy of the theoretical analysis tools. In particular, when extracting parton distribution functions in the large-x region, it is crucial to correct the data for effects associated with the nonzero mass of the target. We present here a comprehensive review of these target mass corrections (TMC) to structure functions data, summarizing the relevant formulas for TMCs in electromagnetic and weak processes. We include a full analysis of both hadronic and partonic masses, and trace how these effects appear in the operator product expansion and the factorized parton model formalism, as well as their limitations when applied to data in the x → 1 limit. We evaluate the numerical effects of TMCs on various structure functions, and compare fits to data with and without these corrections.


Probabilistic composite micromechanics methods are developed that simulate expected uncertainties in unidirectional fiber composite properties. These methods are in the form of computational procedures using Monte Carlo simulation. The variables in which uncertainties are accounted for include constituent and void volume ratios, constituent elastic properties and strengths, and fiber misalignment. A graphite/epoxy unidirectional composite (ply) is studied to demonstrate fiber composite material property variations induced by random changes expected at the material micro level. Regression results are presented to show the relative correlation between predictor and response variables in the study. These computational procedures make possible a formal description of anticipated random processes at the intraply level, and the related effects of these on composite properties.


We propose a high-efficiency, broadband, multi-channel all-optical switching scheme based on broadband coherent perfect absorption (CPA) in linear and nonlinear regimes in cavity quantum electrodynamics (CQED) system. Two signal fields coupled from two ends of an optical cavity excite two separate atomic transitions simultaneously under the collective strong coupling condition and produce three polariton eigenstates which can be tuned freely by varying system parameters. The output field intensities of multiple channels are zero when the CPA criterion is satisfied. However, destructive quantum interference can be induced by a free-space weak control laser tuned to the multi-polariton excitations. As a consequence, the CQED system acts as a perfect light absorber/reflector as the control field is turned on/off the polariton resonances. In particular, the proposed scheme may be used to realize broadband multi-throw all-optical switching in the nonlinear excitation regime. The proposed scheme is useful for constructing all-optical routing, all-optical communication networks and various quantum logic elements.


Ghrelin is a gastric hormone that stimulates growth hormone (GH) secretion and food intake to regulate energy homeostasis and body weight by binding to its receptor, GH secretagogue receptor (GHSR1a), which is most highly expressed in the pituitary and hypothalamus. Nowadays there is considerable evidence showing that the GHSR1a is also expressed in numerous extra-hypothalamic neuronal populations and the physiological role of ghrelin is by far wider than considered before including learning and memory, anxiety, depression and neuroprotection. The present review attempts to provide a comprehensive picture of the role of ghrelin in the central nervous system and to highlight recent findings showing its potential as an innovative therapeutic agent in neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.


The distribution of income is related to the discrepancy of research aims to study the discrepancy level of income distribution at North Tapanuli Regency, to study the Kuznets hypothesis about "Reverse-U Curve", to study the influence of economic growth rate, inflation and rate of open unemployment to the discrepancy level. Theresult of research indicates that the average percentage of the increasing of GRDP based on the basic price in North Tapanuli for 2000-2010 is 14,59 %. The average of inflation rate is high for 8,72. The average of open unemployment rate is 3,027 %. The Gini Ratio for North Tapanuli is less than 0,3. This indicates that the score less than 0,3 means the income is distributed evenly. The Reverse-U Curve because requirement of the square equation did not applied at North Tapanuli regency in 2000-2010. Based on estimation, the score of R2 is 0,336. F-calculated (0,336) is smaller than F-test (18,77) means that simultaneously the gross domestic product, inflation and the open unemployment rate did not influence the discrepancy of income distribution. The gross regional domestic product has not a significant influence to the discrepancy of income distribution at North Tapanuli regency. Inflation has not a significant influence to discrepancy of income distribution. The open unemployment rate has not a significant influence to the discrepancy of income distribution at North Tapanuli Utara Regency.


Large stocks of U.S. dollars and other hard currencies circulate in the transition economies, in Latin America, and in other countries that have experienced macroeconomic mismanagement. Using a monetary model that combines the legal restrictions and crime-theoretic traditions, this paper demonstrates how leaky exchange controls lead to currency substitution and progressive dollarization. The paper also analyzes the impact of dollarization on the ability of governments to earn seigniorage, the dynamics of dollarization in a growing economy, and the central role of expectations—specifically, confidence in the domestic currency—in determining the extent of dollarization and, potentially, in reversing it.


The magnetic susceptibility of Cr+0.2 at.% V and Cr+0.4 at.% V alloys (nominal concentrations) is found to show a sharp increase at the Neel temperature with increasing temperature and to obey a Curie-Weiss law in the paramagnetic phase up to 400 K, corresponding to a moment per V atom of about one Bohr magneton. The relation of these results to the behaviour of other physical properties of dilute CrV alloys is discussed.


Many farmers still use chemical pesticides. Chemical pesticides inside the body will form free radicals that will bind to unsaturated fatty acids (cell membrane structures) that cause increased levels of malondialdehyde (MDA). Organic pesticides can be used as an alternative to control pests. Organic pesticides leave no residues to plants and the environment. This study aims to determine the difference of plasma malondialdehid (MDA) levels in farmers who use chemical pesticides in Dawuhan Village, Tenggarang Subdistrict, Bondowoso Regency and farmers who use organic pesticides in Lombok Kulon Village, Wonosari Sub-district, Bondowoso District. This was an observational analytic research with cross sectional research design conducted on 30 farmers who use chemical pesticides and 30 farmers who use organic pesticides. Blood sampling was taken from Mediana cubiti vein. Measurements of plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) were performed using the TBARS method. Based on the result of Unpaired T-test, it was found that p < 0.001 which showed significant difference in plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) level in farmers using chemical pesticides and farmers using organic pesticides. The plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) level average were higher in farmers using chemical pesticides.
Keywords: Chemical Pesticide, Organic Pesticide, Plasma Malondialdehyde


Objective To measure trends for the emergence of opioid withdrawal (OW) and leaving against medical advice (AMA) among hospitalized patients. Method Retrospective time-series of hospitalized patients with OW, defined by a Clinical Opioid Withdrawal score >8, using electronic health record data at a tertiary health system and of patients with a discharge status of AMA from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2020. Results The average number of monthly hospitalizations with OW showed a year-to-year increment of 15% in 2018, 21% in 2019, and 34% from 2019 to 2020, whereas the total monthly hospitalizations remained stable. The segmented regression analysis showed that the upward trend in hospitalizations with OW became significant after January 2019 (slope: 1.14, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.70, 1.57). After August 2019, Fentanyl was added to the hospital urine drug testing panel and was identified in most OW patients. The monthly proportion of patients who left AMA was significantly higher among the OW patients than among all other admitted patients. There was a significant increase of 0.39 (95% CI: 0.29–0.49, P < 0.001) per month in %AMA among patients with OW. The estimated difference in %AMA among OW patients versus all other patients was 7.25 (95% CI: 5.12–9.38) in January 2017, and 16.92 (95% CI: 14.60–19.24) in December 2020. Conclusions The number of hospitalized patients either presenting with or developing OW increased between 2017 and 2020 with a significant rise occurring after January 2019. The percentage of patients who left AMA among those who developed OW steadily worsened during the entire study period.


Bullying and eye patching

The psychological impact that patching treatment for amblyopia might have on children and their families was highlighted in an influential review of amblyopia screening.1 A recent randomised trial investigating the efficacy of patching for amblyopia has reported that 4 year old and 5 year old children were significantly more upset by receiving patching and glasses than by receiving glasses only, as were the parents of the 4 year olds undergoing treatment, suggesting that patching treatment can be associated with some short term distress for the child and the family.2 However, most children in the study were reported as being happy and had normal behavioural scores. We have recently reported results from a birth cohort study suggesting that longer term psychosocial sequelae may be associated with patching treatment (the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, ALSPAC3). A history of patching treatment and wearing glasses were both independent risk factors for children reporting that they had been bullied in the past at age 8.4 Repeated bullying victimisation is consistently associated with physical and emotional problems for the victims and may have long term adverse consequences.5, …


Luby Transform (LT) codes are a new member in the family of forward error correction codes without a fixed code rate. The property called rateless is attractive to researchers in last decade, and lots of studies have been proposed and attempted to improve the performance of LT codes. One variation is the use of a sparse degree distribution instead of a full one referred to in the encoding process of LT codes to reduce the search space. Observing a fact that the ability of a sparse degree distribution is limited by the nonempty degrees, we introduce a tag selection scheme to choose reasonable sparse degrees for LT codes in this paper. We firstly investigate the influence of different degrees on the error rate of LT codes and then propose a general selection algorithm based on our observations. After that, the covariance matrix adaptation evolution strategy (CMA-ES) is applied to find the optimal sparse degree distributions of which the degrees are defined by our selection algorithm. Finally, the experimental results are presented as evidence to show the proposed scheme is effective and practical.


Video streaming has become the application that drives the Internet to a new height. In this paper, we analyze and evaluate the performance of H.264-based video streaming over multi-hop wireless local area networks (WLANs). Contrary to common believes that adding relays in the same wireless channel may increase coverage but has to reduce throughput, our analysis and simulation results show a wide spectrum of coverage-capacity tradeoff in generic scenarios and confirm previous measurement observation in specific cases. In addition, the paper provides guidance on how to achieve the optimal balance for a given scenario, which is important when deploying end-to-end video streaming services with quality of service guarantee.


Several different soft magnetic materials have been investigated by means of Magnetic Force Microscopy (MFM) using commercial Atomic Force Microscope (Nanoscope III) with slope detection. The observed contrast of basically solenoidal magnetization distributions in nanocrystalline Fe-Permalloy multilayer and single-layer Permalloy thin film elements not only reveals wall locations, and thus the subdivision of the magnetic volume into domains, but also a decomposition into subdomains hitherto undocumented. A strong influence of roughness on the magnetic fine structure is also demonstrated. Additional observations of the classical lancets of Goss texture in bulk Iron confirm the fact that the symmetries of the observed contrast are consistent with those of pendicular component of magnetization within a volume close to the sample surface. >


BACKGROUND
The 6S Dialogue Tool was elaborated to provide knowledge to nurses about patients' preferences in congruence with the 6S person-centered palliative care model, which includes the S-concepts of self-image, symptom relief, self-determination, social relationships, synthesis and strategies. The tool needs to be scrutinized for appropriateness.

AIMS
To develop and psychometrically test the 6S Dialogue Tool.

DESIGN
A qualitative study investigating construct validity of the 6S Dialogue Tool.

METHODS
Forty-six patients in palliative care services in Sweden responded to 15 questions from May 2015 to August 2016. Responses were analyzed with qualitative content analysis.

RESULTS
Six categories, capturing the meaning of the 6S-concepts, were formulated: Maintaining everyday life; Challenges in everyday life; Maintaining control; Maintaining selected relationships; Appraisal of life; and Appraisal of the future.

CONCLUSION
The responses to the 6S Dialogue Tool questions reflect the intent of the 6S-concepts. Nurses should integrate the 6S-concepts and the questions in their approach to facilitate to co-create meaningful palliative care in dialogue with the patient.

IMPACT
Patients' preferences must be explored to co-create palliative care in accordance with their own needs and beliefs. The 6S Dialogue Tool questions are suitable for obtaining patients' preferences and could be used as an approach in palliative care. Patients, families and nurses will have the potential to co-create palliative care and to improve possibilities for patients to have an appropriate death. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


This article discusses the development and functionalities of an intelligent computer-assisted language learning (ICALL) system. By way of example, we describe E-Tutor, an ICALL system for L2 learners of German that has been in use for a decade. Based on advancements in technology, user studies with L2 learners of German as well as feedback provided by language instructors, students, and researchers, the system has undergone several system updates since its initial implementation in 1999. This article focuses on the pedagogical benefits of ICALL systems by also providing reflections on the development of such systems that resulted from the lessons we have learned in building and maintaining E-Tutor.


The author utilizes the national growth rate method of indirect estimation to calculate internal migration rates for Bangladesh for the period 1961-1981. (ANNOTATION)


Abstract A wide range of studies have shown that the lower bound of fatigue properties of high strength steels is determined by the maximum size of non-metallic inclusions that are present in a component. The maximum size of inclusions in a given component or material volume can be reasonably estimated using the statistics of extremes. However, as long as the estimation is based on microscope inspections of two-dimensional (2D) surfaces, there will be errors and uncertainties in estimating the maximum particle in a three-dimensional (3D) volume. In addition it has been recently found that in some steels the distribution of extreme defects is composed of a mixture of different particle types. The scope of this paper is to clarify the validity of 2D inspections on the basis of 3D distribution of inclusions in a modern super clean steel. The 3D distribution was obtained with a combination of inclusions detected with a repeated slicing procedure and of particles at fatigue fracture origin. The 3D distribution of inclusions is composed of a mixture of two types of particles having similar chemical compositions and different 3D morphological structures: one with a large population and another with few rare particles. The 3D large population can be accurately estimated from maximum inclusions on small polished sections, while in order to estimate the characteristic size of inclusions at fatigue fracture origin by 2D inspections it is necessary to adopt a minimum inspection area S crit. In the case of the material examined in this study (SCM435 steel) this minimum inspection area is ~ 10 000 mm2.


The wine museums are spaces of visitation, "guardians" of memory and of discourses about the past and present wine culture of the regions they represent. But they are also places of integration and interaction between history and identity, spaces of selection and exclusion, and also of subjective and selective memories. These spaces today assume two different roles and responsibilities: on one hand, the preservation, dissemination and (re)production with scientific rigor of this heritage, but on the other hand, they commit themselves to make it playful, attractive and pedagogical, adapted to targets and publics. They are therefore vital agents in the construction of a "wine culture", an oenological culture in the regions in which they are integrated, nevertheless remaining selective. The number of wine museums in the Douro region has grown exponentially. For a better understanding of the wine culture in this region and its identity, promoted and valued through these spaces, the present study analyses a significant sample of the existing museums, how they organize and select their discourse. The main goal of this study is to better understand the role of these wine museums in the Douro region, how they help building the local wine culture. From the analysis carried out, it can be concluded that there is some discursive selectivity that values the historical "notables" of the land, the owners, and at the same time it often sheds social cleavages. It can also be noticed a strong religiosity, present in many of the exhibitions and collections. The hard land work is also very visible, centred on the technical aspects of grape and wine production and growth at its evolution for centuries. Many of these spaces are recent and others have been renovated, revealing that the region recognizes and values the existence of wine museums. They are, nevertheless and clearly, an added value for these territories of the Douro, both in their aspect of animation, creating dynamics and building cultural affirmation and identity that goes well beyond the wine heritage of the region. They are spaces that aggregate a cultural universe that represents and values more than the wine itself.


This study addresses the appropriateness of a passenger assignment model for a distance-based fare structure that recently has received attention from transit agencies, along with technological advances in electronic fare payment and global positioning systems. Among the two major passenger assignment models, the study identifies that the schedule-based model has an advantage over the frequency-based model for representing a distance-based fare structure. The schedule-based model that explicitly traces passenger routes enables the accurate calculation of a distance-based fare and its variant. In addition, the study addressed the implementation issues associated with the schedule-based model. As the schedule-based model is considered to require more data than the widely-used frequency-based model, the study suggests a way to mitigate this data requirement issue by approximating the timetable at each stop with the same data used for the implementation of the frequency-based model. A case study on the field application of the schedule-based model and its availability as a ready-to-use option in most commercial software for travel demand modeling is described.


Background: Falls and fractures contribute to morbidity and mortality in bradykinetic rigid syndromes. Methods: The authors performed a retrospective case notes review at the Queen Square Brain Bank for Neurological Disorders and systematically explored the relation between clinical features and falls and fractures in 782 pathologically diagnosed cases (474 with Parkinson's disease (PD); 127 progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP); 91 multiple system atrophy (MSA); 46 dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB); 27 vascular parkinsonism; nine Alzheimer's disease; eight corticobasal degeneration). Results: Falls were recorded in 606 (77.5%) and fractures in 134 (17.1%). In PD, female gender, symmetrical onset, postural instability, and autonomic instability all independently predicted time to first fall. In PD, PSP, and MSA latency to first fall was shortest in those with older age of onset of disease. Median latency from disease onset to first fall was shortest in Richardson's syndrome (12 months), MSA (42), and PSP-parkinsonism (47), and longest in PD (108). In all patients fractures of the hip were more than twice as common as wrist and forearm fractures. Fractures of the skull, ribs, and vertebrae occurred more frequently in PSP than in other diseases. Conclusion: Measures to prevent the morbidity associated with falls and fractures in bradykinetic rigid syndromes may be best directed at patients with the risk factors identified in this study.


The theory of mind is a way of relating consciousness to a certain dimension of the world, namely to its social region, being an essential element for the social existence and ensuring the foundations of mutual understanding. The theory of mind is the most important social integrator, the face of this integration being the theory of the society, as a particular form of aggregation of mind theories that govern the relationships with others; thus, to the theory of mind a theory of the society corresponds. From an evolutionary perspective, the essence of the theory of mind is the survival strategy centred on the ability to predict the behaviour of other people, namely on the anticipation specific intentionality; it is the gateway to the complexity of social relations, the third degree representations ensuring the highest level of integration due to the ability of anticipation and prediction that it brings along. The theory of mind is a specific form of intent, characterized by mentalization: orientation to identifying mental states. The world reality thesis shall be applied to the theory of mind: we do not "issue a theory" at every reunion with a known person, but we use the previous one every time, possibly updated in the light of our further experiences / comments / interests. Any theory of mind is "a reality thesis." The world reality thesis has a stabilizing function, generating a reference context in a multitude of possibilities. © 2016 Published by Future Academy www.FutureAcademy.org.uk


This research is concerned with the development of a mathematical approach for energy and mass transport in solidification modelling involving a control volume (CV) technique and finite element method (FEM) and incorporating non-physical variables in its solution. The former technique is used to determine an equivalent capacitance to describe energy transport whilst the latter technique provides temperatures over the material domain.The numerical solution of the transport equations is achieved by the introduction of two concepts, i.e. weighted transport equations and non-physical variables. The main aim is to establish equivalent transport equations that allow exact temporal integration and describe the behaviour of non-physical variables to replace the original governing transport equations.The variables defined are non-physical in the sense that they are dependent on the velocity of the moving CV. This dependence is a consequence of constructing transport equations that do not include flux integrals. The form of the transport equations facilitate the construction of a FEM formulation that is applicable to heat and mass transport problems and caters for singularities arising from phase-change, which can prove difficult to model. However, applying the non-physical enthalpy method (NEM) any singularity involved in the solidification process is precisely identified and annihilated


Objective Precancerous lesion, a well-established histopathologically premalignant tissue with the highest risk for tumourigenesis, develops preferentially from activation of DNA damage checkpoint and persistent inflammation. However, little is known about the mechanisms by which precancerous lesions are initiated and their physiological significance. Design Laser capture microdissection was used to acquire matched normal liver, precancerous lesion and tumour tissues. miR-484−/−, Ifnar1−/− and Tgfbr2△hep mice were employed to determine the critical role of the interferon (IFN)–microRNA pathway in precancerous lesion formation and tumourigenesis. RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP), pull-down and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays were applied to explore the underlying mechanisms. Results miR-484 is highly expressed in over 88% liver samples clinically. DEN-induced precancerous lesions and hepatocellular carcinoma were dramatically impaired in miR-484−/− mice. Mechanistically, ectopic expression of miR-484 initiates tumourigenesis and cell malignant transformation through synergistic activation of the transforming growth factor-β/Gli and nuclear factor-κB/type I IFN pathways. Specific acetylation of H3K27 is indispensable for basal IFN-induced continuous transcription of miR-484 and cell transformation. Convincingly, formation of precancerous lesions were significantly attenuated in both Tgfbr2△hep and Ifnar1−/− mice. Conclusions These findings demonstrate a new protumourigenic axis involving type I IFN–microRNA signalling, providing a potential therapeutic strategy to manipulate or reverse liver precancerous lesions and tumourigenesis.


A double-blind crossover trial against placebo was conducted to assess the effects of the GABA derivative, baclofen, on the disabilities due to muscle spasticity in twenty children suffering from cerebral palsy. Baclofen performed very significantly better than placebo in reducing spasticity and significantly better than placebo in allowing both active and passive limb movements to be carried out. Notable improvement was also seen in scissoring. Side-effects were minimal and responded promptly to dose reduction. The evaluation of drug effects on muscle spasticity and the pharmacodynamics of baclofen are discussed. Recommendations are made regarding dosage of baclofen in childhood.


The combination of ultrafast laser inscription and engineered soft glasses is enabling a new class of photonic devices offering long wavelength transparency, high nonlinearity, and optical gain. However, this field of research also possesses its own unique set of fabrication challenges, which range from the predictable, such as self-focusing effects, material stress, and damage to the unexpected, such as photo-induced index changes of different sign. In this article, we review many of the fabrication challenges surrounding ultrafast laser-written soft-glass photonics and highlight these by comparing and contrasting laser processing of common soft glasses in both the athermal and thermal writing regimes.


Abstract. Suspended sediments impact stream water quality by increasing the
turbidity and acting as a vector for strongly sorbing pollutants.
Understanding their sources is of great importance to developing appropriate
river management strategies. In this study, we present an integrated sediment
transport model composed of a catchment-scale hydrological model to predict
river discharge, a river-hydraulics model to obtain shear stresses in the
channel, a sediment-generating model, and a river sediment-transport model.
We use this framework to investigate the sediment contributions from
catchment and in-stream processes in the Ammer catchment close to
Tübingen in southwestern Germany. The model is calibrated to stream flow
and suspended-sediment concentrations. We use the monthly mean
suspended-sediment load to analyze seasonal variations of different
processes. The contributions of catchment and in-stream processes to the
total loads are demonstrated by model simulations under different flow
conditions. The evaluation of shear stresses by the river-hydraulics model
allows the identification of hotspots and hot moments of bed erosion for the main stem
of the Ammer River. The results suggest that the contributions of
suspended-sediment loads from urban areas and in-stream processes are higher
in the summer months, while deposition has small variations with a slight
increase in summer months. The sediment input from agricultural land and
urban areas as well as bed and bank erosion increase with an increase in flow
rates. Bed and bank erosion are negligible when flow is smaller than the
corresponding thresholds of 1.5 and 2.5 times the mean discharge,
respectively. The bed-erosion rate is higher during the summer months and
varies along the main stem. Over the simulated time period, net sediment
trapping is observed in the Ammer River. The present work is the basis to
study particle-facilitated transport of pollutants in the system, helping to
understand the fate and transport of sediments and sediment-bound pollutants.


Aim System-based improvements to the chain of survival have yielded significant increases in survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in adults. Comparatively little is known about the long-term trends in incidence and survival following paediatric OHCA. Method Between 2000 and 2016, we included paediatrics aged ≤16 years who suffered a non-traumatic OHCA in the state of Victoria, Australia. Trends in incidence and unadjusted outcomes were assessed using linear regression. Adjusted trends in event survival and survival to hospital discharge were assessed using multivariable logistic regression. Results Of the 1301 paediatric OHCA attended by emergency medical services (EMS), 948 (72.9%) received an attempted resuscitation. The overall incidence of EMS-attended OHCA was 6.7 cases per 1 00 000 person-years, with no significant change over time. Although median EMS response times increased over time, the proportion of cases with OHCA identified in the call and receiving bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) also increased. Unadjusted event survival rose from 23.3% in 2000 to 33.3% in 2016 (p trend=0.007). Over the same period, survival to hospital discharge rose from 9.4% to 17.7% (p trend=0.04). After multivariable adjustment, the odds of event survival and survival to hospital discharge increased independently of arrest factors, by 7% (OR 1.07, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.12; p=0.001) and 8% (OR 1.08, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.15; p=0.02) respectively. Bystander CPR and OHCA identification in the call were not associated with survival. Conclusion In our region, survival following paediatric OHCA increased significantly over a 17 year period. However, the factors contributing to this improvement require further investigation. Conflict of interest None Funding ZN is funded by a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Early Career Fellowship (#1146809).


Abstract In 2011–2014, the occupancy of nest-boxes by secondary hole-nesting birds and their breeding success was investigated in pine stands of the Augustów Forest (North-Eastern Poland). In the studied area of 12600 ha, the share of Scots Pine Pinus sylvestris L. in the stands was 92%. On average, birds occupied 54% and bats 3% of the 224–317 nest boxes controlled yearly. Nest boxes were also used by the Pygmy Owl Glaucidium passerinum L. as food caches. In total, broods of nine secondary hole-nesting species were observed, but only four bird species nested in each year of study. The most numerous species, occupying 53–60% of all boxes each year was the Pied Flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca Pall. The Great Tit Parus major L. occupied 15–24% and the Coal Tit Periparus ater L. 10–12% of available nest-boxes, while the Redstart Phoenicurus phoenicurus L. used 2–7% of nest boxes. The yearly breeding success was highest for tits (Great Tit – 52–84%, Coal Tit – 50–72%) and strongly variable for the Pied Flycatchers – 38–78%. Broods were lost due to predation by martens Martes sp. (38%) and great spotted woodpeckers Dendrocopos major L. (6%) as well as nest competition (2%). The nest-boxes were occupied at a constant rate during the following four years after their exposition. Over 67% of the new nest-boxes were occupied annually which means new nest-boxes (up to 4 years) were occupied significantly more often than boxes older than 4 years.


Inborn errors of metabolism (IEMs) are the hereditary metabolic disorders often leading to life threatening conditions when left un-treated. IEMs not only demand better diagnostic methods and efficient therapeutic regimen, but also, a high level understanding of the precise biochemical pathology involved. Constraint-based metabolic network reconstruction and modeling is the core systems biology methods to analyze the complex interactions between cellular components that maintain cellular homeostasis. Simultaneously, the global human metabolic networks, Recon 1 and Recon 2, are landmarks in this regard. The work presented in this thesis discusses the combined bottom-up and module approaches to expand and refine the mother networks. It also highlights the importance of transport proteins in network reconstruction, their associated properties, and their involvement in various IEMs. Thereafter, we focused on expansion of Recon 1 with acylcarnitine metabolism, via the Ac/FAO module, which enabled mapping of newborn screening data, facilitating the use of in silico models in IEMs diagnosis. Additionally, a compendium of IEMs was assembled for interrogation of 235 IEMs using this expanded network. IEMs are mainly treated by specific diet and medication. The impact of diet and IEMs on cellular metabolism was explored by manually building a metabolic network of small intestinal epithelial cells (sIEC), taking into account the correct representation of the biochemical, anatomical and physiological attributes of the human small intestine. Limiting constituent of specific diets that deranged the metabolic capability of sIEC was revealed. Subjecting the sIEC to particular diet and IEM, lead to further understanding of the biochemical relatedness to the clinical picture of IEMs, identification of novel comorbid patterns, as well as, studying cellular adaptive mechanisms employed by cells to bypass the metabolic block. The role of medications was analyzed through a drug module; further expanding Recon 2 to account for the metabolism of commonly used drugs. Administering a defined combination of diet and drug under IEMs, their effect on drug metabolism and elimination was studied. Further, statin-associated myopathy in mitochondrial energy disorders was found to be linked to hindrance of statin metabolism. The statin-cyclosporine interaction in IEMs cases was predicted to be related to common metabolic and transport proteins involved in their metabolism. Finally, we observed that the cellular energy level being compromised in order to enable elimination of drugs, like antihypertensives, analgesics and midazolam. This signifies the potential of metabolic modeling for biomedical applications, and the presented work can be extended to predict better therapy in terms of diet and medications, as well as their combination to combat various enzyme deficiencies.


Proceedings: AACR 106th Annual Meeting 2015; April 18-22, 2015; Philadelphia, PA

Hematopoiesis is a tightly regulated process with multiple transcription factors (TFs) involved sequentially. Aberrant expression of the lineage specific transcription factors may disturb normal differentiation of hematopoietic cells and result in leukemia. Myeloid Ectropic viral Integration Site 1 (MEIS1), induces and maintains MLL transformation, and plays a rate-limiting regulatory role in MLL leukemogenesis. Meis1 gene is identified as the downstream targets of PU.1, another important hematopoietic transcription factor, which is inversely correlated with worse prognosis. Though multiple regulatory elements have been identified throughout the Meis1 locus, little is known about how PU.1 plays its role on Meis1 gene expression.

To gain insight into the transcriptional regulatory role of PU.1 during myeloid differentiation, we isolated the hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPC, Lin-kit+CD34+ cells) and matured myeloid cells (Lin+Gr1+cells) from bone marrows of C57 mice, performed ChIP sequencing assay, and analyzed PU.1 enrichment and histone modifications. The ChIP seq data was then confirmed with an induced differentiation model of mouse MLL-ENL leukemia cells. In addition to DNaseI hypersensitivity, the PU.1 binding elements were also characterized with H3K4me1 and H3K27ac modification. We studied the transcriptional activation role of one common PU.1 binding elements with luciferase assay. Insertion of PU.1 binding elements before the promoter increased the luciferase reporter activity, suggesting that the PU.1 binding region be the enhancer element of Meis1 gene. The association between PU.1 enrichment and Meis1 gene expression was studied in further with PU.1 knocking down assay in the MLL leukemia cells. Bioinformatics analysis results suggest that there were other transcription factors, including HOXA9 and MEIS1 itself enriched around the PU.1 binding sites. Our results suggest that PU.1 enrichment to the intronic enhancers of Meis1 gene is required for the proper expression during hematopoiesis. PU.1 together with histone modification and many other TFs, including MEIS1 itself, contributed to the hematopoietic expression of Meis1 gene. (The work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant number 81100380) to Y.L.)

Citation Format: Yajun Li, Bo Li, Qiang Li, Lixia Zhang, Ping Li. PU.1 enrichment to intronic enhancers is required for meis1 gene expression in both hematopoiesis and leukemogenesis. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 2088. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-2088


Background: The use of personal protective equipment (PPE) is a critical intervention in preventing the spread of transmission-based infections in healthcare settings. However, contamination of the skin and clothing of healthcare personnel (HCP) frequently occurs during the doffing of PPE. In fact, nearly 40% of HCP make errors while doffing their PPE, causing them to contaminate themselves. PPE monitors are staff that help to promote their colleagues' safety by guiding them through the PPE donning and doffing processes. With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, the UNC Medical Center chose to incorporate PPE monitors as part of its comprehensive COVID-19 prevention strategy, using them in inpatient areas (including COVID-19 containment units and all other units with known or suspected SARS-CoV-2–positive patients), procedural areas, and outpatient clinics. Methods: Infection prevention and nursing developed a PPE monitoring team using redeployed staff from outpatient clinics and inpatient areas temporarily closed because of the pandemic. Employee training took place online and included fundamentals of disease transmission, hand hygiene basics, COVID-19 policies and signage, and videos on proper donning and doffing, including coaching tips. The monitors' first shifts were supervised by experienced monitors to continue in-place training. Employees had competency sheets signed off by a supervisor. Results: The Medical Center's nursing house supervisors took over management and deployment of the PPE monitoring team, and infection prevention staff continued to train new members. Eventually, as closed clinics and areas reopened and these PPE monitors returned to their regular positions, areas used their own staff to perform the role of PPE monitor. In the fall of 2020, a facility-wide survey was sent to all inpatient staff to assess their perceptions of the Medical Center's efforts to protect them from acquiring COVID-19. It included a question asking how much staff agreed or disagreed that PPE monitors "play an important role in keeping our staff who care for COVID-19 patients safe." Of the 626 staff who answered this question, 67.6% agreed or strongly agreed that PPE monitors played an important role in keeping staff safe. Thus far, there has been no direct transmission or clusters of COVID-19 involving HCP in COVID-19 containment units with PPE monitors. Conclusions: PPE monitors are an important part of a comprehensive COVID-19 prevention strategy. In early 2021, the UNC Medical Center posted and hired paid PPE monitor positions to continue this critical work in a sustainable way. Funding: No Disclosures: None


It was generally recognized that the bioavailability, other than total content of heavy metals in soil, is crucial to predict metals' toxic effect on environment. Stable Isotope Dilution technique (SID) equipped with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is a good way for measuring the potential bioavailable portion of metals in soils. In Chapter 2, we build method to accurately determined Cd (111Cd/114Cd) and the ratio of Zn (66Zn/68Zn) in soil suspension and then applied this to stable isotope dilution technique to successfully obtain the labile fraction of Cd and Zn in polluted soils. In Chapter 3, it was found when compared to chemical extraction methods, the stable isotope dilution technique is the better way to assess bioavailability of Cd and Zn in soil to the earthworms Eisenia fetida and Lumbricus terrestris. Besides, the result showed on average, the fraction of labile Cd (44.7%) was significantly higher than that of Zn (25.4%), indicating that Cd is more chemically reactive in soil, which may explain the larger BSAFs for Cd in earthworms. In addition, it was found the accumulation of heavy metals was not only element-specific, but also species-specific. In Chapter 4, the uptake and elimination kinetics of Zn and Cd by E. fetida and L. terrestris were investigated then. The kinetic rates were calculated using a first-order, one-compartment, toxico-kinetic model. Pronounced differences were found on the earthworms' uptake and elimination kinetics between Zn and Cd (p<0.01). Lastly in Chapter 5, it was found earthworms' activity increased the pH value and decreased organic carbon content of soils. In addition, the results showed that the Cd, Zn contents in the casts was significantly decreased, while the percentage of 0.01M Ca(NO3)2, 1M CaCl2-extractable Cd and Zn, as well as the fraction of labile Cd and Zn in the casts were significantly increased, suggesting that the earthworms effectively improved heavy metals' lability.


Traditional understandings of federalism suggest that states are likely to take varying approaches to important policy questions, particularly in areas as sensitive as family law. And indeed, there are patterns of convergence and divergence in state approaches to supporting early childhood development. Surprisingly, however, the divergences do not always follow predictable political lines. These similarities and differences raise a puzzle that deserves attention by scholars and advocates.

In the United States, differences in early childhood play a key role in replicating poverty. Clear evidence establishes that child development in the first five years of life lays essential groundwork for future learning and the acquisition of life skills. In today's economy, educational achievement is strongly correlated with adult earnings, but children from low-income families begin school at a significant disadvantage. Differences in early childhood explain much of the income-based achievement gap in education. And disadvantage during early childhood has a particularly pernicious effect on boys' academic achievement. Early interventions can make a difference for all children, but these interventions must start early. And they must involve both parents and children, because one of the central insights of the literature on early childhood development is that children do not develop in a vacuum. Instead, child development is dependent on the relationship between a parent or other long-term caregiver and a child.

As compared with other wealthy countries, the United States makes limited investments in families with young children. Indeed, the level of public investment in children from birth to age three is inversely related to the importance of this period for child development. Public investments are highest for school-age children and lowest for children from birth to age three. Investments for children from ages three to five fall in between. Many wealthy countries mediate the impact of poverty on child development by providing universal health care, including prenatal care, home visiting for new parents, heavily subsidized childcare and preschool, and, most fundamentally, a child allowance, which ensures families have money to care for children. The United States does offer prenatal care and health care to virtually all low- and moderate-income citizens, as well as some food assistance and income support, largely through the Earned Income Tax Credit. But in most other areas, including housing, childcare, preschool, and basic income guarantees, government support for families falls far short of the need. Additionally, the support available to non-citizen families, especially undocumented individuals, is far more limited.

Numerous scholars and advocates have called for greater investments in families—and early childhood in particular—but rather than revisiting these arguments, this chapter takes a different tack, exploring the investments that are made and focusing on the web of funding across levels of government. As this chapter describes, the bulk of money available to support child development from the prenatal period until age three comes from the federal government, and there is limited variation in how this money is spent across the states. For the period from age three until entrance to kindergarten, the federal government and states largely share the cost of supporting early childhood development, leading to significant differences among the states, particularly in access to preschool for three- and four-year-olds. This chapter explores these funding differences, emphasizing the political economy of state choices and noting that, perhaps surprisingly, some red states are making a substantial effort to invest in early childhood education, especially for four-year-olds. The chapter closes with insights for both advocates and scholars.


In this paper, diamond-like carbon (DLC) films and DLC-Si films were studied. These films were deposited by DC-plasma-assisted chemical vapour deposition (PACVD). X-ray diffraction analysis of coatings was used for a determination of coatings structure. In particular, the effect of the crystal structure of the coatings on their mechanical properties was studied.


The typical missions for the current stand-off UAVs are surveillance and reconnaissance. On the other hand, the primary mission for the future UCAS will be combat mission such as SEAD under the man-made ultimately hostile environment including SAM, antiaircraft artillery, threat radar, etc. Therefore, one of the most important challenges in UCAS design is improvement of survivability. The current studies for aircraft combat survivability are focused on the improvement of susceptibility and vulnerability of manned aircraft system. Although the survivability design methodology for UCAS might be very similar to the manned combat system but there are some differences in mission environment, system configuration, performance between manned and unmanned systems. So the parameters and their sensitivities which affect aircraft combat survivability are different in qualitatively and quantitatively. The susceptibility related parameters for F-16 C/D and X-45A as an example of manned and unmanned system are identified and the susceptibility parameter sensitivities are analyzed by using Monte-Carlo Simulation in this study.


Study Design Observational analyses of 55 adult patients who underwent elective sequential anterior–posterior thoracolumbosacral surgical corrections for spinal deformities were used to evaluate the efficacy of pulmonary artery catheter monitoring. Objective To demonstrate that during complex reconstructive surgery for spinal deformities, pulmonary artery catheter monitoring identifies a subset of patients with pulmonary injury and is essential in their management. Summary of Background Data Patients who undergo sequential anterior–posterior thoracolumbosacral surgical corrections for spinal deformities experience significant perioperative morbidity. Although the value of pulmonary artery catheter monitoring is controversial, its use in these procedures may help identify potential physiologic complications and improve surgical outcome. Methods All patients were monitored with a pulmonary artery catheter during surgery until at least postoperative day 1. Outcome measurements included blood loss, vertebral levels fused, operative time, postoperative respiratory complications, and days in intensive care. Results Eight (8/55; 14.5%) patients according to pulmonary artery catheter monitoring demonstrated elevated pulmonary vascular resistance and noncardiac pulmonary edema. These patients had longer operative procedures with greater blood loss and had more postoperative respiratory complications. They were treated appropriately in intensive care and discharged without further complications. Conclusion Pulmonary artery catheter monitoring of patients who undergo complex spinal fusion facilitates the identification of patients with pulmonary injury and is essential in the management of these patients in the postoperative period. It may, also, be a marker for embolic injury to the lung.


Although strongly attracted to the Swiss national Myth as a theatrical subject, and that above all by virtue of the high level of civic-mindedness that characterizes its libertarian ethos, Schiller, as the author of Wilhelm Tell, found himself facing considerable difficulties when he decided to use such a matter for an appropriate dramatic elaboration. The main purpose of the present contribution is to highlight what artistic expedients (Kunstgriffe) from his creative workshop – accessible in an exemplary way thanks to the teathrical fragments he left as a direct testimony of his own poetics – Schiller employed to solve what he himself styled «eine verteufelte Aufgabe».


Background In hospital emergency services, the prevalence of alcohol-related admissions is about 20%, of which 80% display elevated &ggr;-glutamyl transpeptidase or carbohydrate deficient transferring (CDT). We investigated whether intensive case management (ICM) that included cognitive behavior-oriented brief intervention could decrease patient morbidity. Methods This study was a 13-month, prospective, exhaustive, longitudinal, controlled trial in an emergency department. Readmission rate of patients previously admitted to the emergency services for the same reason was chosen as an indicator of efficacy. Results A total of 203 patients were enrolled in the study: 106 in the intervention group, who received ICM, and 97 in the control group, who received standard care. In the control group, 59% of the patients were readmitted for the same reason in the 1-year follow-up against 32% in the intervention group. Thus, the 1-year readmission rate decreased by 45%. Conclusion ICM in an emergency ward can successfully treat patients with alcohol problems and reduce relapse rate. Alcohol intervention should be part of the standard care in alcohol-related emergency admissions. It treats the alcohol problem early, effectively, and at low cost, and can have a major impact on long-term patient health.


Both metabolic and nonmetabolic mechanisms have been proposed to the plasma amino acid decreasing effect of an acute ethanol load. We used tert-butanol, an alcohol that is only minimally metabolized, as a tool to explain the mechanism behind the amino acid decreasing effect of ethanol. Acute administration of tert-butanol was found to exert a decreasing effect on rat serum amino acid concentrations similar to that of ethanol, indicating that the mechanism of the amino acid decreasing effect of ethanol is primarily due to ethanol itself and not to its oxidation. Ethanol and tert-butanol also had similar effects on liver amino acid concentrations, including an increase in the glycine concentration and decrease in the concentrations of glutamate, alanine, leucine, and tyrosine.


Three middle-aged patients, 2 of whom are females, with unilateral trigeminal pain and associated isolated oculosympathetic paralysis are presented as characteristic of the benign form of Raeder's paratrigeminal syndrome. Their nonprogressive course is representative of the fact that this syndrome is not likely to be caused by aneurysms or mass lesions, and suggests that neuroradiologic contrast studies are generally not initially required in the investigation of such patients. If atypical features are present, or the pain is protracted, further investigation may be warranted.


Preface. 1.Models of Growth and Decay. 2. Models of Competition, Survival, and Combat. 3. Epidemics. 4. Bootstrapping. 5. Monte-Carlo Solution of Differential Equations. 6. SIMEST, SMIDAT, and Psuedoreality. 7. Exploratory Data Analysis. 8. Noise Killing Chaos. 9. Bayesian Approaches. 10. Multivariate and Robust Procedures in Statistical Process Control. 11. Optimization and Estimation in the Real (Noisy) World. 12. Utility and Group Preference. 13. A Primer in Sampling. 14. Stock Market: Strategies Based on Data versus Strategies Based on Ideology. Appendix A. A Brief Introduction to Probability and Statistics. Appendix B. Statistical Tables.


This research was motivated by the inability of students to understand or recognize the structure and composition of HOTS questions in mathematics. One of the efforts to overcome the problem of low learning achievement and students' thinking skills is to carry out daily assessments which are benchmarks, so there should be a question component by measuring higher-order thinking skills.The purpose of the study was to describe the quality of the odd semester daily assessment questions on the fourth grade FPB material at Elementary School. This type of research is descriptive and uses a qualitative approach. The daily assessment HOTS questions were analyzed by the researcher. The data analysis in this research is to analyze the quality of the questions in the HOTS and LOTS categories, analyze the questions and analyze the characteristics of critical thinking skills, creative thinking skills and problem solving abilities. Based on the results of the study, it showed that the quality of the HOTS questions on the daily assessment with a percentage of 60%


The phenomenon of marketing prayer water by offering blessings is a part of social relations accepted by the Indonesian people. This study aims to determine how blessings are accommodated in the practice of religious ritual therapy associated with certain religious figures. In particular, this study examines the practice of the Air Blessing (Holy Water) ritual of Habib Hasan Al Muhdor, a religious leader from the Shalawat Ahbabul Musthofa Council at Widoro Krejengan Probolinggo. To determine the community's construction of blessed water, data collection methods were used by observing and interviewing 1 assembly leader, 1 head of blessed water distribution and 3 local communities with special needs for blessed water, such as illness, pregnancy and life success. In analyzing the data, this study uses Berger's sacred canopy theory approach. As a result of observing this religious (or economic?) Therapy, society has transmitted material or money into blessings with the medium of Habib Muhdor's prayer water as a form of practice to get through life's problems. This fact shows the desecularization between the sacred and the profane, also shows the other side in practice it is used by certain figures for the purpose of strengthening patronage and capital capital.
Keywords: Prayer Water, Blessing, Religious Therapy, Sacred World


Background: The prevalence of loneliness increases with age. The presence of loneliness in older adults has been found to be associated with health problems such as depression, decreased cognitive functioning, increases in systolic blood pressure and increased mortality. The underlying mechanisms of the higher mortality risk are largely unknown. Methods: Meta-analysis to investigate the present evidence for the associations between loneliness and mortality. Cross-sectional studies investigating the associations between loneliness and cardiovascular disease and between loneliness and cortisol in 378 depressed and 132 non-depressed older adults. Results: Loneliness appears to be associated with increased mortality, although when only studies are included that consider depression as a covariate, the association is not significant. Therefore it seems likely that depression plays a mediating role in the higher mortality risk. We did not find a significant association between loneliness and cardiovascular disease. In contrast, loneliness was significantly associated with lower cortisol output and decreased dexamethasone suppression. Discussion: The results and their implications for prevention and treatment will be discussed from a clinical perspective as well as a general health perspective. Is loneliness as potentially dangerous as depression?


Inverse modeling has become increasingly popular for estimating effective hydraulic properties across a range of spatial scales. In recent years, many different algorithms have been developed to solve complex multiobjective optimization problems. In this study, we compared the effi ciency of the Nondominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II), the Multiobjective Shuffl ed Complex Evolution Metropolis algorithm (MOSCEM-UA), and AMALGAM, a multialgorithm genetically adaptive search method for multiobjective estimation of soil hydraulic parameters. In our analyses, we implemented the HYDRUS-1D model and used observed pressure head data at three different depths from the Spydia experimental fi eld site in New Zealand. Our optimization problem was posed in a multiobjective context by simultaneously using three complementary RMSE criteria at each depth. We analyzed the trade-off between these criteria and the adherent Pareto uncertainty. The results demonstrate that all three algorithms were able to fia good approximation of the Pareto set of solutions, but differed in the rate of convergence to this distribution. Small differences in performance of the various algorithms were observed because of the relative high dimension of the optimization problem in combination with the presence of multiple local optimal solutions within the three-objective search space. The Pareto parameter sets yielded satisfactory results when simulating the transient tensiometric pressure at predetermined observation points in the investigated vadose zone profi le. The overall best parameter set was found by AMALGAM with RMSE values of 0.14, 0.11, and 0.17 m at the 0.4-, 1.0-, and 2.6-m depths, respectively. In contrast, the fi t errors were substantially higher at these respective depths, with RMSE values ranging from 0.87 to 1.49 m, when using soil hydraulic parameters derived from laboratory analysis of small vadose zone cores.


Objective Novel coronavirus disease 2019 is known to have poor impacts on health with health systems facing serious challenges. Limited information is available on health issues for patients who have recovered from the disease. Our study aims to investigate the extent of sleep disorders in patients who have recovered from the coronavirus disease. Material and Methods A casecontrol study with 256 patients who had recovered from coronavirus disease 2019 was carried out, with 491 patients enrolled as the control. All participants were 18 years or older, and sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh sleep quality index. Furthermore, sleep latency and hours needed for sleep were calculated. Chi-square and t-test statistical methods were used to analyze the variables. Results A total of 215 (84%) recovered patients were associated with poor sleep quality, with 384 patients (78%) in the control group. The PSQI values for recovered and control groups were 8.77±3.7591 and 8.139±3.068, respectively, with a significant p-value of 0.014. Average hours needed for sleep were 6.899±3.7869 and 6.44±1.477 for recovered and control patients, respectively, with a significant p-value of 0.01. The difference in sleep latency was non-significant (p=0.374), with 29.01±39.3702 and 33.520±38.208 minutes for recovered and control patients, respectively. Conclusion Sleep disorders were more prevalent among patients who had recovered from COVID-19 than the control group.


In a phase I clinical trial the morphological impact and safety of high intensity focused ultrasound administered transrectally for tissue ablation in prostates from 22 patients undergoing subsequent prostatectomy were evaluated. Location and size of the tissue lesions correlated well with the predefined target area and revealed sharply delineated coagulative necrosis in all cases. Intervening tissues, such as the rectal wall and posterior prostate capsule, were invariably intact. In a subsequent phase II clinical trial the effectiveness of transrectal high intensity focused ultrasound as a novel minimally invasive treatment modality for 50 patients with symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia was determined. The maximum urinary flow rate (ml. per second) increased from 8.9 +/- 4.1 to 12.7 +/- 6.4 at 3 months in 44 patients, 12.4 +/- 5.6 at 6 months in 33 and 13.1 +/- 6.5 at 12 months in 20. During the same period the post-void residual volume (ml) decreased from 131 +/- 120 to 48 +/- 41, 59 +/- 42 and 35 +/- 30, respectively, and the American Urological Association symptom score (points) decreased from 24.5 +/- 4.7 to 13.3 +/- 4.4, 13.4 +/- 4.7 and 10.8 +/- 2.5, respectively. These data demonstrate that transrectal high intensity focused ultrasound is capable of inducing coagulative necrosis in the human prostate via a transrectal approach while preserving intervening and adjacent tissue. A 47% (+4.2 ml. per second) improvement in uroflowmetry and a 53% (-13.7 points) decrease in the American Urological Association symptom score 1 year after treatment clearly prove that transrectal high intensity focused ultrasound is a novel and safe minimally invasive treatment option for benign prostatic hyperplasia.


This paper investigates the degree of inflation persistence across regions in Portugal by analyzing the Consumer Price Index (CPI) growth rates for NUTS II regions. The study employs the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test to determine whether the CPI data for Portugal is stationary or non-stationary. The results of the ADF test reveal that the IPC data for Portugal is non-stationary, indicating that inflation exhibits persistence in the long run. The study further assesses the persistence of inflation by estimating an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model for each region. The Ljung-Box test is used to test for autocorrelation in the time series data, and the Hurst exponent is calculated to evaluate the presence of long-term memory in the time series data. The study finds that there is significant autocorrelation in the time series data for all regions, supporting the presence of persistence in inflation at the regional level in Portugal. The Hurst exponent also shows that the time series data for each region exhibits a high degree of persistence in inflation. Finally, the study applies the ARIMA model to each CPI division's data and uses the Ljung-Box test to test for autocorrelation in the time series data. The results show that some CPI divisions exhibited higher levels of persistence compared to others. For example, the "Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels" division exhibited high persistence, while the "Communication" division exhibited low persistence. This study contributes to the existing literature by exploring regional inflation persistence in Portugal and its implications for policymaking. The results provide insights into the inflation persistence patterns across regional levels in Portugal, by emphasizing the need to consider regional differences in inflation dynamics when formulating effective policy interventions. Understanding the persistence of inflation is crucial for policymakers to ensure price stability and sustainable economic growth.


Abstract Critical thinking is a core skill within tertiary education, traditionally relying on such principles as logic and truth. Relativistic pedagogical frameworks, such as critical literacy, however, have become increasingly widespread within all levels of education and call into question such principles. In order to ascertain whether critical thinking skills are enhanced or hindered by relativistic approaches, the assessment results of students studying critical literacy within an enabling program at a regional university in Australia were analysed in a small-scale study. The findings potentially suggest that the framework of critical literacy may have had a negative impact on students' results and, possibly, their critical thinking skills, raising the question as to whether the two frameworks might be mutually exclusive. (and the focus of this present study), there are other philosophical approaches that can act as alternative frameworks for crit-Critical Abstract Critical thinking is a core skill within tertiary education, traditionally relying on such principles as logic and truth. Relativistic pedagogical frameworks, such as critical literacy, however, have become increasingly widespread within all levels of education and call into question such principles. In order to ascertain whether critical thinking skills are enhanced or hindered by relativistic approaches, the assessment results of students studying critical literacy within an enabling program at a regional university in Australia were analysed in a small-scale study. The findings potentially suggest that the framework of critical literacy may have had a negative impact on students' results and, possibly, their critical thinking skills, raising the question as to whether the two frameworks might be mutually exclusive.


We consider a family of finitely presented groups, called universal left invertible element (ULIE) groups, that are universal for existence of one-sided invertible elements in a group ring K[G], where K is a field or a division ring. We show that for testing Kaplansky's direct finiteness conjecture, it suffices to test it on ULIE groups, and we show that there is an infinite family of nonamenable ULIE groups. We consider the invertibles conjecture, and we show that it is equivalent to a question about ULIE groups. By calculating all the ULIE groups over the field of two elements, for ranks (3, n), n ≤ 11, and (5, 5), we show that the direct finiteness conjecture and the invertibles conjecture (which implies the zero divisors conjecture) hold for these ranks over .


Biomechanical quantification of both the athletic participants and the sporting events themselves have included video-based biomechanics, electromyography, ground force measurements with force plates, and other tests. Enhancement of these technological tools can be accomplished through accessing "Cyberspace". While "Cyberspace" is merely a term created to represent a universe sustained by a vast network of computers and telecommunications lines, the advent of the internet made it a reality. Rapid satellite/computer exchanges provide worldwide access to on-line information resources and services. The speed of transmission and the contact with even the most isolated locations will enable the biomechanical quantification of athletes and events to advance into a new age of technology resources, research, data base development, and interaction among scientists, coaches, and teachers. Biomechanists can retrieve and display data as well as documents from virtually anywhere on the planet. As a technology designed for searching and retrieving, internet provides a unified interface to the diverse protocols, data formats, and information archives appropriate for biomechanical endeavors. Electronic links, known as "hyperlinks", can provide specified information within a document by embedding images, sounds, graphs, bibliographies, supplementary resources, data bases, etc. Similarly, complex biomechanical research segments at different research sites can be linked so that studies can be conducted at multiple locations and data rapidly exchanged among the sites. Biomechanical research and subsequent reports become virtually three-dimensional with this multiple level access. The present study was designed as a simple test to determine the efficacy of aquiring data at one location with simultaneous on-line interaction with a second site. Although the Internet electronic linking capabilities allow more elaborate research protocols the efficacy of interfacing two sites with nearly real time data transference and quantification was deemed sufficient for this study. The Internet tools selected as appropriate were (1) File Transfer Protocol (FTP) to transfer large video and document files from site to site, (2) Gopher to retrieve and post research finding and progress documents, (3) World Wide Web (WWW)to hyperlink documents with video images and sound, (4) Hyper Text Mark-up Language (HTML,) to create the Hyper-link documents. Video images of track athletes were acquired, grabbed into hard disk files, and transmitted across the United States between the athletic and the quantification sites. Digitization, transformation, smoothing, and brief summary descriptions were executed at the quantification site. Subsequently information was exchanged between the locations for dissemination to the athletes. After the athletes practiced the recommended changes, their performances were filmed and retransmitted. The study demonstrated that biomechanical research can utilize the Internet effectively when conducting and sharing research between distant locations.


Integrated Law Enforcement in criminal Action of Legislative General Election in Makassar City. The research aimed to investigate the law enforcement in following up the criminal action of the legislative general election, the factors influencing the effectiveness of the law enforcement of the criminal action of the legislative general election carried out by the law enforcement apparatus in Makassar City. The research was conducted in the General Election Supervising Board of South Sulawesi Province, Makassar City Resort Police, Office of the Counsel for the Prosecution of Makassar, District Court of Makassar City. Data were collected by an interview and documents related to the problems examined. The research result indicates that the law enforcement authority in handling the legal matters in the legislative general election, has been carried out in line with he mandate of the acts. However, the factors such as: the substance, structure, human resources, facilities, infrastructures and culture mostly influence the course of the law enforcement. Besides, there is also the dominant factor namely the evidence determination which is imposed on the general election supervisors, very short handling time, lack of community's participation in supervising the legislative general election, so that the law enforcement in the legislative general election carried out by the law enforcement apparatus is less maximal.


CASE I.-Captain C., aged.33, who had been inoculated, was admitted on September 20th, I900, suffering from enteric fever. He had been ailing for some weeks, and had been ill and delirious for four days before admission. He was given Io grs. of urotropin in water three times a day. About two days later he complained of some pain and difficulty in micturition. On September 27th blood was passed in the last portion of the urine. On September 28th blood was seen oozing from the meatus; the urine was smoky in appearance and not scanty in amount. The administration of urotropin was stopped, and potassium bicarbonate and tincture of hyoscyamus given instead. A little more blood was passed the same evening. On September 2gth there was no pain on micturition and no blood mn the urine. CASE Ii.-Lieutenant Y., aged 24, who had been inoculated, was admitted on September 21st, I900, suffering from enteric fever. He had been ailing a few weeks, and had been ill in bed for two days prior to admission. He was given Io grs. of urotropin in water three times a day. On September 27th he had some pain and difficulty in micturition. On September 28th blood appeared in the urine, actual clots be.ing seen. The urotropin was stopped, and potassium bicarbonate and tincture of hyoseyamus were given instead. The next day the symptoms were much alleviated and soon disappeared. The occurrence of hiematuria in 2 cases admitted on successive days after urotropin had been given for eight days, and its rapid subsidence after the drug was stopped, is too striking to be a mere coincidence. Haematuria resulting from nephritis in enteric fever is not unknown,4 but in such cases urotropin appears to be beneficial. In my cases the bladder would seem to have been the source of hsemorrhage. This untoward effect of urotropin cannot be common. Out of 82 cases of enteric fever treated at the Metropolitan Hospital during the last winter urotropin was given in I3. In one of these haematuria occurred, but the patient was taking turpentine at the same time. Discomfort, which preceded the haematuria in both my cases, should be considered a danger signal when employing urotropin. REFERENCES. 1 Goulstonian Lectures, I9oo, Lancet, April 14th, 1900. 2 Suter, Lancet, February 23rd, 390o. 3 Mogi, It Policlinico, January xgth, l19K. 4 HortonSmith, op. cit.


Life satisfaction is a complex and highly subjective concept. Scholars studying this issue have made numerous attempts to define it. Whether we are happy, or have a sense of fulfilment, or we delight in the years we have lived through and in everyday life, it is all related to the aforementioned life satisfaction. The article deals with the subjective sense of life satisfaction among elderly people who are members of the Senior Club in a rural-urban district. The article is based on material obtained from in-depth interviewing. The research objective was to explore and obtain thorough knowledge of the sense of life satisfaction of elderly people. Particular attention is paid to selected factors that determined the perception of life satisfaction. On the basis of the participants' opinions, certain groups of factors were selected that were more often indicated as key factors in the assessment of life satisfaction, i.e. health, housing situation, place of residence, family relations, neighbourly relations and a sense of social utility. The article presents the complexity of the problem and the need for an individual approach to the topic, due to the changing face of ageing and old age.


This case study of the procedures used by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University in selecting a computerized billing service provides a model for other institutions with similar needs for evaluating billing systems.


The article is devoted to the development of innovative technologies in Kazakhstan. Recently, the world has been flooded with new ideas, gadgets, applications, a staggering number of innovative technologies are being developed that are capable of fundamentally transforming goods and production processes: nanotechnology, 3D printers, robotics, industrial Internet, additive, disruptive, subtractive technologies. Artificial intelligence, voice control and virtual reality are the times when science fiction is slowly becoming a reality. Among other innovative technologies is a face recognition system developed by Kazakhstani specialists. In Kazakhstan, Tech Garden and Astana Hub projects help innovators develop innovative ideas by providing them with infrastructure, financial support, mentoring, access to investors and opportunities to exchange experiences with foreign innovators. The development of innovations directly depends on the support from the state and business of scientific research work. In order for Kazakhstani specialists not only to introduce innovative technologies into the practice of their company, but also to develop and offer new ideas, products, projects and gadgets themselves, it is necessary to create favorable conditions and encourage them accordingly, for example, the creation of special workspaces for young professionals (technology hubs, business incubators, innovation centers).


Background: Allostatic load is the physiological deterioration that accumulates as the body responds to stress, resulting in disparities in chronic disease. Although perceptions of stress vary, marginalization and social disadvantage are associated with elevated allostatic load. Allostatic load is understudied in the multiply marginalized populations of sexual minority Black women. Methods: We used data from six waves of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2001-2010, 2015-2016) to identify heterosexual (n = 78), lesbian (n = 21), and bisexual (n = 57) Black women. We quantified allostatic load using nine biomarkers, and compared mean allostatic load across the three groups, adjusting for age, educational attainment, income, and country of birth to account for possible confounding. Results: We found no significant differences in allostatic load among heterosexual, lesbian, and bisexual Black women. Conclusions: These findings suggest that sexual orientation may not contribute to within-group differences in allostatic load among Black women, a group previously noted to have elevated allostatic load.


Oil and gas transmission pipeline steels with high deformation capability are required for environments (earthquake zones, permafrost zones, forest heave, deep sea applications, etc.) where large strata movement may occur. When large strata movement occurs the pipeline is exposed to large plastic deformations that can result in failure. Transmission pipelines that must operate in these environmental conditions utilize a strain based design strategy to protect the pipeline from failure. This strain based design strategy for these transmission pipeline environments requires that the steel design used for pipe production must not only have the capability to withstand the high internal operating pressure but must also have good deformation resistance characteristics.Shougang Steel has conducted research into the metallurgical design required for heavy wall X80 transmission pipeline steel with high deformation and good low temperature mechanical property characteristics. This research coupled with the production capability of the Shougang Steel's Qinhuangdao China (Shouqin) 4.3 m heavy wide plate mill has resulted in the successful production of a cost effective low C-Nb X80 alloy design with good deformation and low temperature toughness capabilities suitable for applications such as the natural gas TCPL/ExxonMobil proposed Alaskan Pipeline Project. This paper will discuss Shougang Steel's research and development of heavy wall X80 pipeline steel. Key process parameter and equipment capabilities of the Shouqin 4.3 m wide heavy plate mill along with heavy wall X80 production results will be discussed.Copyright © 2012 by ASME


Abstract Background: Several studies reported an increased cardiovascular (CV) risk in Cushing's syndrome (CS). We performed a meta-analysis on the impact of CS on major markers of atherosclerosis. Methods: Studies on intima-media thickness (IMT), carotid plaques prevalence, and flow-mediated dilation (FMD) in CS patients and controls were searched in the PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and EMBASE. Differences between cases and controls were expressed as mean difference (MD) with 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) for continuous variables, and as Odds Ratio (OR) with 95%CI for dichotomous variables. Results: Fourteen studies (332 CS, 462 controls) were included. Compared with controls, CS patients showed higher IMT (MD: 0.20 mm; 95% CI: 0.12, 0.28; p < .001), increased prevalence of carotid plaques (OR: 8.85, 95%CI: 4.09, 19.14; p < .001), and lower FMD (MD: −2.65%; 95% CI: −3.65, −1.65; p < .001). Difference in IMT and in the prevalence of carotid plaques was confirmed also in patients with CS remission (MD: 0.24 mm; 95% CI: 0.07, 0.40; p = .005 and OR: 9.88, 95%CI: 2.69, 36.3; p < 0.001, respectively). Regression models showed that age, diabetes, obesity, ACTH-dependent CS, serum and urinary cortisol levels impacted on the observed difference in IMT. Conclusions: CS is significantly associated with markers of subclinical atherosclerosis and CV risk. These findings could help establish more specific CV prevention strategies in this clinical setting. Key messages A series of studies reported an increased cardiovascular risk in patients with Cushing's syndrome (CS). In the present meta-analysis we demonstrated that CS is associated with an increased intima-media thickness, higher prevalence of carotid plaques, and lower flow-mediated dilation as compared with controls. These data consistently suggest the need for a strict monitoring of early signs of subclinical atherosclerosis in CS patients


We measured the areas of the weight-bearing surfaces of the femorotibial joint of specimens subjected to a compressive force of between 225 and 250 kiloponds, which is considered a physiological load, exerted through the center of the knee. We found the areas to range from 20.13(2) to 11.60 cm2 from extension to flexion of the knee in normal knees, and from 12 cm2 to 6 cm2 after removal of the menisci.


This thesis studies the normal developmental pattern of social evaluative fears from childhood to adolescence. We have investigated age differences in self-reported social fears and physical responses during a public speaking task. In addition, youth's perceptions of speaking in public were studied through a short interview. Finally, two aspects of adolescent development are highlighted, namely resistance to peer influence and self-restraint, in the two concluding chapters. The main finding of the thesis is that social evaluative fears seem to increase with age. However, future research needs to develop more developmentally sensitive measures and further investigate the underlying processes of this increase.


To what extent do online issue networks serve as a proxy for their real-space counterparts in structure and substance? This question is significant because a number of scholars have begun to study transnational advocacy networks through their representations online. We explored whether this assumption is valid by comparing the network composition and agenda composition of the advocacy network around 'women, peace and security', as operationalized through a web-based survey of actual activists, and the network's online representations of itself, as measured through advocacy websites. Two specific concerns drove the study. First, how closely does the structure of issue networks, as represented on the World Wide Web, correspond with actual advocates' understanding of the players within a specific issue domain? Second, to what extent does the online issue agenda correlate with the most prominent issues described by real-space advocates within a transnational network? Our findings yielded a high correlation between the online issue agenda and activists' interpretations of the agenda. However, we found that while hyperlink analysis is an effective tool for identifying the 'hubs' or 'gatekeepers' within a specific issue network, the nature of the World Wide Web makes it is a blunt tool with which to capture the broader network. This suggests that while the web poses important opportunities as a data source, scholars of transnational networks must pay closer attention to the methodological assumptions implicit in their reliance on this and other new media.


Structure changes around the crack tip of natural rubber vulcanizates filled with carbon-black were investigated after a cycle of stretch-retraction. On the extension line of the crack, formation of a valley-like dent was newly found. The depth of the dent was about 10 μm. By the diffraction mapping using the micro X-ray beam, localization of crystals of paraffin, which has been mixed as plasticizer, along the valley-like dent was disclosed. These findings indicate the occurrence of large-scale mass transfer which leads to three-dimensional transformation and segregation of the low molecular weight material along with the strain-induced crystallization around the crack tip.


Thenar and hypothenar hammer syndromes are uncommon conditions characterised by digital ischemia of the hand as a result of repetitive trauma at level of the thenar and/or hypothenar eminence and damage to the radial and/or ulnar arteries, respectively. The symptoms are related to the mechanism of the trauma and a Raynaud's phenomenon can be predominant for a long time. The angiography is the "gold standard" imaging technique which allows to confirm the diagnosis. Therapeutic strategy depends on the type of the lesion and severity of symptoms and includes pharmacological (antithrombotic and thrombolytic drugs) and surgical treatments. The authors present a case of a 53-year-old man, carpenter by profession, with combined thenar and hypothenar hammer syndromes and Raynaud's phenomenon, successfully treated with a short course of intravenous infusion of iloprost.


This item includes a segment of an instructor interview in a Writing Intensive course in Indo-Pacific Languages at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. The interview was conducted in 2013, and in this clip the interviewee is responding to the question 'When you designed assignment(s), what learning goals for students did you have in mind?'


: The frequency of genetic recombination (with allowance for the fertility system action) has been studied in crosses of 7 different Uvs mutants with two Uvs+ strains (ant+ and ant-) and one specially constructed Uvs strain. It is shown that mutation Uvs, inducing the highest level of sensitivity to UV-light, belongs to the rec-type mutations.


This paper presents a novel error driven online search and tracking controller for maximum PV-solar energy utilization for a low cost village/cottage electric energy scheme. It proposes a maximum photovoltaic solar energy tracking and efficient energy/power utilization control scheme to cope with changing resistive loads and motor torque variations. The proposed controller requires only the online value of the PV array output voltage and current that can be easily measured with voltage and current transducer. Satisfactory results are obtained with the proposed dynamic tracking controller for resistive load as well as for asynchronous motor. The conversion from DC to AC is done with the inverter. In this paper the novel dynamic search controller was developed and is based on dynamic voltage or current error-signals activating a proportional plus integral (PI) controller. For resistive or motorized type load the tri loop based PV power, voltage and current tracking controller is adequate in ensuring maximum power tracking. The proposed stand-alone scheme is suitable for low cost cottage electricity renewable energy scheme and can be implemented by a low cost PIC 16 micro controller for economic sizes (1500 watts-15000 watts).


This paper considers the problem of constant false alarm rate (CFAR) detection of radar targets using multiple observations. In the Gaussian clutter scenario, the structure of the optimum (uniformly most powerful) CFAR detector is rather simple, but when the clutter is heavy-tailed, that is non-Gaussian distributed, the derivation of the optimal detector becomes infeasible. For this latter relevant case, a new CFAR algorithm is porposed based on goodness-of-fit (GoF) tests. The performance of the proposed detector is numerically investigated through Monte Carlo simulations assuming heavy-tailed Weibull and Lognormal distributed clutter. Numerical results shown that, in heavy-tailed clutter and also when several interfering targets exist, the proposed detector outperforms the conventional CFAR detector based on binary integration. Performance is also tested processing real sea clutter data collected by a non-coherent navigation radar.


Photograph of seven High School students seated at a reserved table with their chaperone during the Southwest Soiree event that was held during the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference. The event was held in the Austin Ranch Banquet Hall on the grounds of the Hilton DFW Lakes Executive Conference Center in Grapevine, Texas.