Bound states and quasibound Rydberg states of NO are studied as a function of internuclear distances in the range . R-matrix calculations which include 12 configuration interaction target states in the close-coupling expansion are performed. Rydberg states of up to n = 10 are studied for the , and symmetries of NO. Intruder states, of both valence and Rydberg character, are followed both above and below the ionization threshold. Where possible these states are classified as Rydberg states of an excited state of the ion. Away from avoided crossings, it is found that the quantum defects of the Rydberg series converging on the state of show little sensitivity to bondlength but show considerable dependence on the number of states included in the close-coupled expansion.


Abstract: A novel floating gate MOS (FGMOS) transistor-based differential difference controlled current conveyor (DDCCC) is proposed in this paper. Major advantages of the FGMOS-based DDCCC are low power dissipation and simplicity. The proposed circuit is designed using only 14 MOS transistors. The total power dissipation of the proposed circuit is equal to 7.38 μW. The other advantage of this circuit is that intrinsic resistance seen at port X of the DDCCC can easily be tuned by a biasing current. The tuning range of the intrinsic resistance is rather wide. Additionally, a current controlled universal filter and tunable positive and negative active resistors are presented as applications of the proposed circuit. The DDCCC and its applications are simulated using SPICE in 0.18 μm CMOS technology.


The development of new Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) techniques, such as swept-source OCT (SS-OCT), has increased the demand for ultra-fast, broadband and highly coherent swept sources. Among the existing technologies, Fourier Domain Mode-Locked Lasers rely on the periodic modulation of an intra-cavity filter in resonance with the cavity round-trip time [1] while the modulation of the cavity length of a single mode Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL) can provide continuous tuning over 100's of nm [2]. Multi-section semiconductor lasers, such as Sample-Grating Distributed Feedback (SG-DBR) Lasers have been used as widely tunable lasers in the telecom industry for many years and have, more recently, been considered for OCT applications [3]. One of the shortcomings of these lasers, when compared to VCSEL's, is that they cannot have a continuous tuning of a single mode all across a wide spectrum required for OCT application as they exhibit many mode hops during a single sweep.


The nitrite-rodanide method was suggested to determine the content of iodine in food. It was shown that this method, provided the exposure of the test solutions during colorimetry was appropriately chosen, enables the determination in an aliquot of 0.5 g of both low and high (2-600 microgram/100 ml) concentrations of iodine. The determination of high concentrations can be realized by an ordinary diluting of the solutions under colorimetry.


Patients with chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have a higher risk of colorectal carcinoma, and present with this malignancy at a younger age than non-IBD individuals. In three patients, two men aged 20 and 36 years and one woman aged 34 years, colorectal cancer developed at a young age, following a long history of ulcerative colitis. Surveillance for colorectal cancer in IBD patients needs to be performed by regular colonoscopy with extensive biopsy sampling for the detection of dysplasia, regarded by many as predictive for colon carcinoma. Whenever a dysplasia-associated lesion or mass or a highgrade dysplasia is identified, there is a strong indication for colectomy. When low-grade dysplasia is found, the findings should be discussed with the patient and it should be decided whether the patient should resume surveillance or opt for colectomy.


This study addresses speech and signing interaction during simultaneous communication (SC). Productions of sentence stimuli by ASL-English bilinguals (CODAs) and signed English (SE) users who know no ASL (SIMCOMs) were compared in two conditions (speech-alone or signing-alone, speech and signing combined). Speech took longer combined than alone, whereas SE took longer alone than combined. The increased duration of speech-combined resulted from increased syllable duration, number of gaps, and gap duration. Rate of signing had a significant effect on speech duration. The decreased duration of signed sentences combined resulted from decreased sign duration, decreased gap duration, and increased sign omissions. Knowledge of ASL was reflected in qualitative differences between the two groups. Sign omissions were analyzed by grammatical category; these are discussed in terms of context-supported permissible deletions and the compensatory use of ASL nonmanual marking devices.


Pharmacogenomics (PGx) is the study of genetic variations in terms of their response to drugs. Variations in gene sequence or copy number may result in complete loss of function, partial decrease or increase in enzyme activity, or an altered affinity for substrates, which may in turn significantly impact a drug9s efficacy. PGx studies are increasing in significance as precision medicine is becoming a reality in standard practice. Different technologies have been developed to measure the sequence variation and copy number variation (CNV) in the PGx genes. Among them, a complete sample-to-result PGx workflow solution using the QuantStudio™ 12k Flex Real-Time PCR System is the most notable high throughput solution and has broad adoption by advanced PGx laboratories. Both PGx SNP/INDEL genotyping assays on OpenArray™ plates and copy number analysis on 384-well plates can be performed on the QuantStudio™ 12k Flex System. Integrated analysis software translates genotyping and copy number assay results into star allele genotypes for ease of interpretation. Recently we have developed a next generation sequencing (NGS) based PGx research solution with increased flexibility on the assay targets and combined detection of SNP/INDEL genotyping and CNV using Ion AmpliSeq™ technology for low to medium throughput laboratories. With a highly multiplexed PGx research panel, we can profile a set of 136 genetic markers in 40 known PGx related genes and CYP2D6 copy number variation in a single reaction using Ion Torrent™ semiconductor sequencing. The number of genetic markers can be customized easily based on the user need. To systematically compare these two end-to-end PGx workflows, we collected buccal swab samples from 20 individuals and performed both QuantStudio™ based assays and PGM™ based Ion AmpliSeq™ PGx research assay on them. Both systems generated high quality results. Compared with OpenArray™ plate genotyping results and 384-plate CYP2D6 copy number assay results from the QuantStudio™ system, the Ion AmpliSeq™ PGx research solution demonstrated >99.9% genotyping concordance, 100% CYP2D6 gene CNV concordance, >99.7% reproducibility, Citation Format: Melvin S. Wei, Zhoutao Chen, Shann-Ching Chen, Manimozhi Manivannan, Emily Zeringer, Sunali Patel, Toinette Hartshorne, Guoying Liu, Fiona Hyland, Mark Andersen. A next-generation sequencing-based sample-to-result pharmacogenomics research solution enables both SNV and CNV detection at once. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 2042.


The radiation constant of the plasma and the temperature distribution at the Lower Hybrid Wave (LHW) antenna on the superconducting tokamak HT-7 are calculated from the engineering point of view and the result provides an important reference to the design of a new antenna.


The IEEE 802.11e network provides different with QoS (quality of service) guarantee for different traffic streams. The enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) in IEEE 802.11e MAC protocol is proposed to support prioritized QoS on the basis of the distributed coordination function (DCF) in IEEE 802.11. We first build a new Markov chain model for the EDCA. The model takes into account both the idle state that represents that there are no packets to be transmitted and differentiation based on different AIFS-value for different traffic. We can use the signal transfer function of the generalized state transition diagram to derive a probability distribution of the MAC layer service time and analyze the performance of EDCA from a non-saturated channel to a saturated medium by using M/G/1/K queuing model. The proposed model is calculated numerically and validated against simulation results, we observed a good match between the analytical model and simulation which conforms the veracity of proposed model. Simulation and theoretical results show that despite providing prioritized QoS, the EDCA still can not support strict QoS for real-time application like voice and video unless network works in the non-saturation case. On the other hand, it is inevitable that there is unfairness of channel access to prioritized traffic due to EDCA.


There were 118 false-negative results in a series of 847 cases of proved intracranial lesions subjected to brain scanning. In patients with neoplasms false-negative results are much more likely if the site of the tumour is infratentorial or mediobasal. In patients with stroke the incidence of false-negative results depends on the stroke-scan interval.


This volume deals with the Targum of 1 and 2 Samuel. It systematically discusses its text, translation techniques and the usage of several Aramaic words. It also provides a commentary, including an English translation, to the entire Targum of these books. The book is important for those interested in early Jewish history and theology, especially for those studying all kinds of Targumim. The section on usage of Aramaic words is important for linguists, specialized in the various aramaic dialects and stages. The commentary offers a supplement to commentaries on the Hebrew text of the Books of Samuel, because it provides part of the history of exegesis.


Methods are presented whereby an Algol-like program given together with its specifications can be documented automatically. The program is incrementaly annotated with invariant relations that hold between program variables at intermediate points in the program text and explain the actual workings of the program regardless of whether it is correct. Thus, this documentation can be used for proving correctness of programs or may serve as an aid in debugging incorrect programs.


The magnetic properties of Nd2Fe14B/α-Fe nanocomposite magnets consisting of two nanostructured hard and soft magnetic grains assemblies were simulated for 2D case with random grain distributions generated by a Monte Carlo procedure. The effect of the soft phase volume fraction on the remanence Br, coercivity Hc, squareness γ, and maximum energy product (BH)max has been simulated for the case of Nd2Fe14B/α-Fe nanocomposite magnets. The simulation results showed that, for the best case, the (BH)max can be gained up only a several tens of percentage of the origin hard magnetic phase, but not about hundred as theoretically predicted value. The main reason of this discrepancy is due to the fact that the microstructure of real nanocomposite magnets with their random feature is deviated fromthe modeledmicrostructure required for implementing the exchange coupling interaction between hard and soft magnetic grains. The hard magnetic shell/soft magnetic core nanostructure and the magnetic field assisted melt-spinning technique seem to be prospective for future high-performance nanocomposite magnets.


Background: Background sites are mainly affected by long-range-transported air pollutants, resulting in potential adverse effects on local atmospheric environments. A 4–5 year observational study was conducted to illustrate the air pollution profile at the Kanazawa University Wajima air monitoring station (KUWAMS), an ideal remote background site in Japan. Methods: Nine polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the particulate phase and various air pollutants were continuously monitored for 4–5 years. Diagnostic ratios of PAHs and back-trajectory analysis were applied to trace the possible sources of the air pollutants collected at the sampling site. Results: The atmospheric concentration of PAHs in the atmosphere at the site decreased from 2014 to 2019, benefit from the predominant air pollution control policy in China and Japan. Common air pollutants including sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), ozone, methane (CH4), and non-methane hydrocarbon (NMHC) were detected in low concentrations from 2016 to 2019, while ozone (O3) and particulate matter (PM2.5, PM with a diameter less than 2.5 μm) were present in high levels that exceeded the Japanese standards. Most air pollutants peaked in spring and showed evident diurnal variations in spring and summer. Conclusions: This is the first study to clarify the atmospheric behaviors of multiple air pollutants at a background site in Japan. Significant external air pollutant impact and unneglectable air pollution were demonstrated at KUWAMS, indicating the importance of studying atmospheric pollution at remote sites.


This paper studies a multi-cluster sensor network which is applied for source extraction in a sensing field. Both the performance of source extraction and the total energy consumption in the sensor network are functions of the number of clusters. In this paper, we aim at finding the optimal number of clusters by minimizing the effective energy consumption which is defined as the ratio of the performance of source extraction to the total energy consumption in the sensor network. A particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is employed to form the clusters which enables every cluster to perform source extraction. The existence and the uniqueness of the optimum number of clusters is proven theoretically and shown by numerical simulations. The relationship between the optimum number of clusters and the various system parameters are investigated. A tradeoff between the performance and the total energy consumption is illustrated. The results show that the performance is greatly improved by adopting the multi-cluster structure of the sensor network.


Science fiction can be defined as the literature about cognizable unusual phenomena which represents hypothetical scientific, technical and social products of their rational exploration. Before the genre emerged, the subject of exploring the unusual was developed mainly in the field of mythological fiction, which became the basic element of Gothic literature. In Gothic, the features of science fiction began to form: in M. Shelley's novel "Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus", the motives of the supernatural are rationalized through the use of scientific and technical issues. The goal of the presented research is detecting the nature, methods and specifics of the transformations of the Gothic plot that led to the formation of the science fiction genre. It is achieved by the use of comparative, historical-genetic, hermeneutic, mythopoetic methods. Gothic literature reacted to the growing interest in scientific and technological progress by attempting to rationalize the elements of the supernatural plot: demons, werewolves, the living dead could be presented either as a result of experimentation or as an object of scientific exploration. In Russian literature, V. F. Odoevsky made a move from Gothic poetics towards long-term social, scientific and technological forecasting in a fiction text. The role of Gothic in the genesis of science fiction is clearly visible in the artistic world of H. P. Lovecraft who elaborated supernatural horror in the form of nonhuman manifestations of the indifferent Universe. The protagonist scientist is involved into the knowledge of it and, therefore, is put in the situation of a mythological cultural hero, reinterpreted in the coordinates of the plot of scientific research.


In 1998 South Africa's Parliament passed the Domestic Violence Act (the DVA), a comprehensive piece of legislation aimed at addressing the high levels of intimate violence in this country. The drafting of this legislation, subsequent efforts to monitor its implementation and resultant advocacy to ensure its effectiveness, have given feminist activists in South Africa an important opportunity to influence criminal justice policy towards victims of domestic violence and to inform both procedural and substantive aspects of the Act. These contributions to the law reform process in South Africa have not been limited to technical legal adjustments but have also included the procedural practices of managing domestic violence cases. Over the past decade the domestic violence law reform movement has become an important arena from which to challenge the social and legal understanding of women's experiences with domestic violence and to ensure that these experiences are embodied within law and criminal justice practice. These efforts have shown mixed results. For some this reinforces their ambivalence about the effectiveness of law and of the criminal justice system in combating violence against women. Others, including ourselves, have taken heart from the shifts that have occurred over the five years since the Act was promulgated, in respect of criminal justice practice and policies relating to domestic violence. This is an ongoing and arduous process both for those outside and inside the system, but there is little doubt in our minds that the law continues to be an important site for social transformation and the emancipation of women from violence in this country. In this chapter, we look at research findings on the implementation of the DVA and our own engagement with this process through five years of research and advocacy aimed at improving state responses to domestic violence.


This paper describes the methodology and tools being developed under the Virtual Test (VTest) Program sponsored by Wright Laboratory's, Manufacturing Technology Directorate. The VTest system will be a commercially available, test system independent, Integrated Process/Product Development (IP/PD) solution for the design and virtual testing of electronic circuits. The methodology and tools developed under the VTest program will provide measurable benefits to enterprises who have spread the printed circuit assembly (PCA) and line replaceable module (LRM) life-cycle across more than one location or test system, electrical design and manufacturing companies and electrical service depots.<<ETX>>


Current NLP systems heavily rely on embedding techniques that are used to automatically encode relevant information about linguistic entities of interest (e.g., words, sentences) into latent spaces. These embeddings are currently the cornerstone of the best machine learning systems used in a large variety of problems such as text classification. Interestingly, state-of-the-art embeddings are commonly only computed using large corpora, and generally do not use additional knowledge expressed into established knowledge resources (e.g. WordNet). In this paper, we empirically study if retrofitting, a class of techniques used to update word vectors in a way that takes into account knowledge expressed in knowledge resources, is beneficial for short text classification. To this aim, we compared the performances of several state-of-the-art classification techniques with or without retrofitting on a selection of benchmarks. Our results show that the retrofitting approach is beneficial for some classifiers settings and only for datasets that share a similar domain to the semantic lexicon used for the retrofitting.


We study a mathematical model of immune response by T cells where the regulatory T cells (Treg) inhibit interleukine 2 secretion. We model the suppression of the autoimmune line of T cells after a different line of T cells was stimulated by the presence of a pathogen. The exposure to a pathogen results in an increased proliferation rate of the bystander T cells. If the population of the pathogen responding line of T cells becomes large enough, for a sufficiently long time period, it may be able to deplete the concentration of autoimmune T cells. As a consequence, autoimmunity can be suppressed. This work is financed by the Project "NanoSTIMA: Macro-to-Nano Human Sensing: Towards Integrated Multimodal Health Monitoring and Analytics/NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000016" is financed by the North Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, and through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).


A sequence of kinetic models has been developed to simulate the chemical processes occurring throughout the hot section of a modern gas turbine engine. The work was performed as part of the EU funded PARTEMIS programme, which was designed to investigate the effect of both engine condition and fuel sulphur content on the production of gaseous aerosol precursor such as SO3 , H2 SO4 and HONO. For the PARTEMIS programme, a Hot End Simulator (HES) was designed to recreate the thermodynamic profile through which the hot gases pass after leaving the combustor. Combustion rig tests were performed in which the concentrations of gaseous product species were measured at the exits of both the combustor and the HES. These measurements were used to validate the kinetic models. The combustor was modelled by a sequence of five perfectly stirred reactors, using the Combustor Model Interface (CMI) developed at the University of Leeds. The CMI allows for the addition of dilution air at each stage of the combustor as well as re-circulation between each stage. The results at the combustor exit were then used as initial boundary conditions for the HES model, which followed the evolution of reacting gases through each of the pressure stages of the HES. This combination of the two models allowed the chemistry occurring throughout an engine, from combustor inlet to turbine exit, to be simulated. The principal aim of this modelling programme was to determine the extent of conversion of the sulphur (IV) species, SO2 , to the sulphur (VI) species, SO3 and H2 SO4 . The predicted level of this conversion at the exit of the HES was found to be in very good agreement with the experimentally measured values. These values were lower than had been previously determined by modelling studies and this was found to result from changes made to the thermodynamic properties of the key intermediate, HOSO2 , following recent experimental measurements. The results also showed that for these tests, the predominant sulphur conversion process occurred within the combustor itself rather than the turbine or beyond.Copyright © 2004 by ASME


We demonstrate the use of an exchange-biased magnetic multilayer structure as a promising basis for developing a three-dimensional-patterned storage medium. The behavior of several multilayered structures is investigated. The structures are of the form Si(001)/Ta/Co/Ta/Co/FeMn/Ta/Co/FeMn/Ta. The memory state is determined by the orientation of the magnetization of each magnetic layer. In order to achieve the independent switching of the magnetic layers necessary to set the state of the three-dimensional (3-D) "memory," the switching field and coercivity are controlled by making use of the increased coercivity and exchange biasing that result from coupling an antiferromagnetic layer to a ferromagnetic layer, and by varying the thickness of each magnetic layer. The change in behavior upon patterning the exchange-biased continuous multilayered films into arrays of 50-mum diameter dots, is investigated. We find that patterning on this scale dramatically changed the switching behavior of the magnetic layers


Spreading depression (SD), discovered by Leao in 1944, is a pathophysiological wave which propagates slowly in the brain (3 mm/min) and cause dramatic ionic and hemodynamic changes. SD appears to act through several mechanisms and receptors which have not completely understood. Here, we studied the effect of inhibitory system in animal model of SD using immunohistochemistry technique. After implanting recording electrodes and cannula over the brain, repetitive SD was induced by KCl injection (2 M) in juvenile rats for four consecutive weeks. Then all rats were decapitated and the brains removed. Mean number of dark neurons in entorhinal cortex were determined using Toluidine blue staining. To identify the prevalence and distribution of γ-aminobutyric acid A (GABA-A) subunit receptors and glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), immunohistochemistry technique was performed. The mean number of SD induced by KCl injection was statistically increased during four weeks of experiments (P=0.036). The mean number of dark neurons in entorhinal cortex was significantly increased in SD group compared to sham rats (P≤0.001). Also, expression of GAD 65 receptor in the Entorhinal cortex significantly increased in SD group compare to control group (P<0.05). GABA-Aα and GABA-Aβ receptors didn't show significant change in that region. These data suggest that SD is able to damage neural cells and also it could lead to enhancement of GAD, the enzyme which is responsible for synthesizing an important inhibitory neurotransmitter, GABA receptor, in the central nervous system.


This professional publication addresses disruptive trends in technology and innovation in the context of the real estate industry, covering 3D-printing, artificial intelligence, robotics, synthetic biology and sensor technology. Since the adaptation rate of innovations is comparably slow within all real estate sectors, it was deemed reasonable to analyse likely changes as well as opportunities, induced by the aforementioned technologies, for the real estate industry.Amongst those changes could be drastic shifts in the demand for office and special purpose real estate, a significant extension in property lifecycles, research and investment decision automation, diminishing costs for sustainable developments, job-redundancies and a significant acceleration of planning as well as development.A continued procrastination in the adaptation of various technologies is likely to lead proportionally to diminishing competitive advantages and changes of corporate status quo. Accordingly, opportunities for new actors and sectors within the real estate industry will emerge.


The present work aimed to evaluate the efficacy of the use of decocts of different plant species for the control of bovine eimeriosis. Decoctions of two species were prepared, namely, Asclepias curassavica L. and Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd. ex Klotzsch. The decocts were prepared according to the Brazilian Pharmacopoeia 5 edition, and the for test, oocysts of Eimeria bovis were purified from feces obtained from naturally infected cattle by modification in Sheather's method. After purification, the oocysts were suspended in physiological solution and separated into tubes, into which were added the decocts to be tested. All decoctions antiparasitic activity showed after 24 hours the exception E. pulcherrima showed that only 97% effectiveness after 72 hours of observation. Noteworthy is effective for the results obtained from the plant A. curassavica once induced rupture of 100% of the oocysts. Therefore, it is important to carry out future studies that aim to identify the active principles responsible for the antiparasitic activity observed, as well as to evaluate the antiparasitic efficacy of the most elaborated extracts, and thus may become part of the composition of disinfectants in environments, particularly opposite the Eimeria species.


Abstract Objective This study is aimed to develop student simulated patient (SSP) training content and evaluation indicators, and further explores their validity and reliabilities. Methods Delphi consultations with 20 nursing experts were conducted. The weights of indicators were calculated through the analytic hierarchy process. SSP training was conducted with a high-fidelity nursing simulation. Results The expert positive coefficients were 0.952 in the first round consultation and 1.00 in the second round consultation. The expert authority coefficient was reported as 0.87. The training included role and responsibility of simulated patient (SP), script interpretation, plot performance, and training for a rater, with a total of 17 indicators. SSP evaluation consisted of disease knowledge, role portrayal, and performance fidelity and since being a rater, it consists of 20 indicators in total. The coordination coefficients of two rounds of consultation ranged from 0.530 to 0.918. The content validity of SSP evaluation indicators was 0.95. The inter-rater reliability was reported as 0.866, and the internal consistency established using Cronbach's α was 0.727. Conclusions Students as SPs should have first-hand knowledge and experience within the simulated scenarios. SSP training content and evaluation indicators were determined through the Delphi consensus combined with analytic hierarchy process. The evaluation indicators were valid and reliable, and provided the objective and quantifiable measurements for SSP training in nursing.


Introduction: Demodex (D.) mites play a role in the etiology of many dermatological diseases. Objectives: The aim of this study was to reveal the relationship between acne severity (mild, moderate, and severe acne) and Demodex density in patients with acne vulgaris and compare this with the healthy population. Materials and Methods: In total 150 patients with acne vulgaris and 60 healthy individuals were evaluated. Patients diagnosed with acne vulgaris were divided into three groups as mild, moderate, and severe. The gender, body mass index, history of diabetes mellitus, smoking, alcohol use, tea and coffee consumption, usage frequency of moisturizer, facial cleanser and concealer, and skin type (dry/sensitive, mixed, and oily) were recorded. Demodex density was measured by using the standard superficial skin biopsy method. Results: Demodex infestation was observed in 40 (26.6%) of the acne patients and 13 (21.6%) of the healthy control group. The Demodex infestation was observed in 16 (32%) of the mild acne group, 15 (30%) of the moderate acne group, and 9 (18%) of the severe acne group; there was no significant difference between the control group and severity of acne. In patients with acne, being over 25 years of age 2.6-fold, sensitive-dry skin type 7.4-fold, and obesity 4.06-fold increased risk of Demodex infestation. Conclusion: In this study, we did not detect an increased incidence of Demodex, including disease severity, in patients with acne vulgaris. However, we showed that the density of Demodex was increased in those aged 25 years and older, obese patients, and those with sensitive-dry skin in patients with acne.


The main objective of this paper is to examine the impact of the central bank's interest rates on investments in the euro area. The results of the analysis indicate that in 1999-2016 the European Central Bank's main interest rate lagged by two quarters had an inversely proportionally and statistically significant influence on the level of investment outlays in the euro area. The disturbances that euro-area economies were experiencing in the analysis period due to the recent financial crisis considerably weakened the monetary policy's effect on the real economy. However, the relationship between the ECB's main interest rate and investment outlays was statistically significant, implying that the interest rate played a role in the central bank's influence on investments.


This paper presents MPG (Mobile Process Group) Protocol, a self-organizing and self-healing on-demand loop-free path routing protocol for mobile ad-hoc networks. The protocol uses the concept of mobile process groups to coordinate the mobile nodes and make communication amongst them reliable. The route discovery phase tries to discover a path from the source to the destination with the help of its routing tables that stores the group views and the list of overlapping groups. The topology of the network in spite of its dynamicity is self-organized. Every time a node enters the network or leaves the network the topology is re-organized using the concept of views. The advantage of the presented protocol over existing protocols is its low control overhead in maintaining the topology of the network and loop-free routing that are the main causes of routing inefficiencies in ad-hoc networks. Simulation of MPG protocol was done using Glomosim simulator.


OBJECTIVES
To develop a new way to prevent vascular anastomotic sites from intimal hyperplasia, we applied medical suture which had been soaked in pN2-pro-uk plasmid solution to perform rat carotid artery end-to-end anastomosis and study the effect of gene therapy with pro-uk gene on the formation of intimal hyperplasia of vascular anastomotic sites.

METHODS
11/0 nylon medical suture which had been soaked in pN2-pro-uk plasmid solution was applied to perform rat carotid artery end to end anastomoses. The rats were randomly divided into control and treatment groups. In the control group, medical suture was soaked in the pN2 plasmid solution for 72 hours before use. In the treatment group, medical suture was soaked in the pN2-pro-uk plasmid solution. By means of Northern blot analysis, pro-urokinase activity assay, the number detection of cr-51 labelled platelets accumulating at anastomotic sites, 3H-TDR incorporation detection of anastomotic sites, pathological changes study, the following results were obtained.

RESULTS
When isolated RNA was hybridized with the radiolabeled pro-uk probe, band appeared in Northern blot analysis in the treatment group, but band could not be found in the control group. The pro-uk activity could be detected on the 2nd, 7th, 14th, 90th day in the treatment group, but could not be detected in the control group. The number of platelets accumulating at the anastomotic sites, the average intimal area and 3H-TDR incorporation of anastomotic sites were significantly fewer in the treatment group than in the control group (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS
When medical suture which has been soaked in pN2-pro-uk plasmid solution is used to perform vascular anastomoses, the foreign gene can produce pro-uk at anastomotic sites and effectively prevent the formation of intimal hyperplasia. The mechanism is probably related to the decrease of platelets accumulating at anastomotic sites. This study provides a new way to prevent vascular anastomotic sites from intimal hyperplasia.


This article is a reflection on the insertion of breast health in the context of health policies in Brazil. The objective was to conduct a descriptive reflexive study about public policies and the health promotion in breast cancer, investigating the current trends in the literature on the existence of policies on health promotion targeted to breast cancer. The discussion is presented on two topics: public policies involving breast cancer and advances in health promotion in breast cancer in Brazil. There is an urgent need to recast public policies that allow full attention to women's health, that focus and preserve the their autonomy and dignity and that effectively provide favorable conditions for health promotion. With that, promote breast health means act in the protection to certain environmental factors and daily lifestyles, which could contribute to reduce the incidence of such illness.


Decision making and policy development is an important process for organizations, since the consequences of given decisions were identified among the major risk factors for organizations' future. This study aims to prove the importance of using combined decision making methods for a successful and strong decision making for managers. We integrate the multi-criteria decision making methods into a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis framework to show the applicability of the proposed method in a ceramic manufacturing firm in Kayseri, Turkey. Multi-criteria decision making processes were applied for taking quick action for future policies. SWOT analysis is used to optimize potential policies. Then, multicriteria decision making methods: Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), The Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) and Grey Relational Analysis (GRA) are used in order to determine the importance of each potential policy. Determining the importance of the policies also gives the best solution for each method. This study shows the potential policies ranked by different multi-criteria decision-making methods for simplifying the decision-making process.


Automatic Modulation Classification (AMC) is a new technology implemented into communication receivers to automatically determine the modulation type of a received signal. One of the main applications of AMC is in adaptive modulation systems, where the modulation scheme is changed dynamically according to the changes in the wireless channel. However, this requires the receiver to be continuously informed about the modulation type, resulting in a loss of bandwidth efficiency. The existence of smart receivers that can automatically recognize the modulation type improves the utilization of available bandwidth. In this thesis, a new AMC algorithm based on a Hierarchical Polynomial Classifier structure is introduced. The proposed system is tested for classifying BPSK, QPSK, 8-PSK, 16-QAM, 64-QAM and 256-QAM modulation types in Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) and flat fading environments. Moreover, the system uses High Order Cumulants (HOCs) of the received signal as discriminant features to distinguish between the different digital modulation types. The proposed system divides the overall modulation classification problem into hierarchical binary sub-classification tasks. In each binary sub-classification, the HOC inputs are expanded into a higher dimensional space in which the two classes are linearly separable. Furthermore, the signal-to-noise ratio of the received signal is estimated and fed to the proposed classifier to improve the classification accuracy. Another modification is added to the proposed system by using stepwise regression optimization for feature selection. Hence, the input features to the classifier are chosen to give the highest classification accuracy while maintaining a minimum number of possible features. Extensive simulations showed that a significant improvement in classification accuracy and reduction in the system complexity is obtained compared to the previously suggested systems in the literature. Search Terms: Adaptive Modulation, Automatic Modulation Classification (AMC), Hierarchical Polynomial Classifiers (HPC), SNR Estimation, Stepwise Regression.


The study of human grasping has shown that during the reaching phase of grasping, the hand preshapes in order to prepare the 'shape matching' with the object. A preshape represents a class of configurations, among which, one is executed by adjusting the fingers against the object. Preshaping is guided by visual data providing with the object description. The expected object modelling for preshaping is very far from classical CAD models: the shape must be described as being rather round, flat, thin, long, among others; size may be, for example, rather small or large. A major issue addressed in this work is the automatic extraction of such a model from low-level visual data. A system for preshaping a planar bi-fingered hand with four joints grasping planar objects is described: the input is a bitmap of the object from which size and shape descriptions are extracted and used for preshape selection: a preshape is executed using a potential field approach.<<ETX>>


This prospective, multicentre, interventional study evaluated the efficacy of a modified treat-and-extend (mTAE) aflibercept regimen as personalized therapy for macular oedema (MO) due to central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO). Fifty eyes were studied from 50 patients who were enrolled between November 2016 and July 2019. All patients received intravitreal aflibercept (IVA) injections on an mTAE regimen for 24 months. Primary outcome measures were best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central subfield thickness (CST) at 12 months. Secondary endpoints were BCVA and CST at 24 months. Mean (standard deviation) baseline BCVA (logMAR) and CST were 0.50 (0.51) and 557 (240) µm, respectively. BCVA and CST showed significant improvements at month 12 (0.19 (0.38) and 275 (98) µm, respectively; both p < 0.0001, paired t-test). BCVA and CST also showed significant improvements at 24 months (0.26 (0.50) and 255 (91) µm, respectively, p = 0.0004 and p < 0.0001, paired t-test). The mean numbers of IVA injections and clinic visits over the 24-month study period were 6.2 (3.0) and 10.3 (1.0), respectively. The mTAE regimen of IVA injections for MO due to CRVO was effective in improving BCVA and decreasing CST at 24 months. The mTAE regimen might be an effective personalized therapy for CRVO.


Offspring of women with pregestational diabetes mellitus are at increased risk for congenital malformations, largely attributable to poor periconceptional glycaemic control. We assessed the effect of preconception care in reducing congenital malformations, in a meta-analysis of published studies of preconception care in women with diabetes mellitus. Articles were retrieved from Medline (1970 to June 2000) and Embase (1980 to June 2000), and data abstracted by two independent reviewers. The rates and relative risks (RR) for major and minor congenital malformations were pooled from all eligible studies using a random effects model, as were early first-trimester glycosylated haemoglobin values. In 14 cohort studies, major congenital malformations were assessed among 1192 offspring of mothers who had received preconception care, and 1459 offspring of women who had not. The pooled rate of major anomalies was lower among preconception care recipients (2.1%) than non-recipients (6.5%) (RR 0.36, 95%CI 0.22-0.59). In nine studies, the risk for major and minor anomalies was also lower among women who received preconception care (RR 0.32, 95%CI 0.17-0.59), as were the early first-trimester mean glycosylated haemoglobin values (pooled mean difference: 2.3%, 95%CI 2.1-2.4). Women who received preconception care were, on average, 1.8 years older than non-recipients, and fewer smoked (19.6% vs. 30.2%). Only one study described the routine use of periconception folic acid. Out-patient preconception care probably reduces the risk of major congenital anomalies among the offspring of women with pregestational diabetes mellitus. Because many women with diabetes neither plan their pregnancy nor achieve adequate glycaemic control before conception, strategies are needed to improve access to these programs, and to maximize those interventions associated with improved pregnancy outcome, such as smoking cessation and folic acid use.


OBJECTIVE
To determine parental satisfaction and cost-effectiveness of having a frenotomy performed in the office setting versus in the operating room under general anesthesia.

METHOD
After obtaining IRB approval at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), we performed a retrospective chart review of patients having a frenotomy in the office between 2003-2008. 55 patients met the criteria and 25 were consented and their parents interviewed.

CONCLUSION
All participants reported an improvement in feeding within one day and up to two weeks following the procedure. Parents also reported being somewhat satisfied to very satisfied with having the frenotomy performed in the office versus under general anesthesia. There were no complications reported. Performing the frenotomy in the office provided patients with satisfaction as well as cost savings. The surgical fee for a frenotomy in the office is $850 and is the same as if the procedure is performed in the operating room. Performing a frenotomy under general anesthesia includes extra cost which consists of an anesthesia fee of $500-$900 and hospital charges ranging from $500-$8,000. Performing the frenotomy in the office on our 25 patients has resulted in a cost savings of more than $240,000 and the avoidance of general anesthesia in the first few weeks of life. Office frenotomy should be considered in children with ankyloglossia who present with difficulty nursing in the first week of life.


During the current global pandemic, a series of transitions have taken place at Social Analysis. Judith Bovensiepen from the University of Kent and Hans Steinmüller from the London School of Economics have joined Martin Holbraad, University College London. The three of us will edit the journal from this issue onward as a team, supported by our editorial assistant, Alonso Zamora Corona, and the staff at Berghahn.


Using the path integral Monte Carlo technique we show that semiconductor quantum rings with up to six electrons exhibit a temperature, ring diameter, and particle number dependent transition between spin ordered and disordered Wigner crystals. Because of the small number of particles the transition extends over a broad temperature range and is clearly identifiable from the electron pair correlation functions.


Dual targeting of the programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) and transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) pathways, 2 key mediators of tumor immune evasion, may provide synergistic antitumor activity. The novel bifunctional fusion protein M7824 (MSB0011359C) is a fully human IgG1 monoclonal antibody against PD-L1, fused via a glycine-serine linker at the CH3-C terminus to the extracellular domain of human TGFβ receptor II, which functions as a TGFβ "trap." Thus, M7824 is designed to exert independent and complementary anti-immunosuppressive functions by simultaneously blocking the PD-L1 and TGFβ pathways. The purpose of this study was to evaluate M7824 preclinically. M7824 was efficacious in multiple syngeneic tumor models (EMT-6, MC38, PANC02, 4T1, CT26, and GL261). In orthotopic EMT-6 and intramuscular MC38 models, M7824 showed superior additive antitumor effects compared to anti-PD-L1 antibody or TGFβ trap monotherapy. M7824 also inhibited spontaneous metastases in EMT-6 and 4T1 models. Furthermore, M7824 extended survival and conferred long-term protective antitumor immunity, as demonstrated by protection of cured mice against tumor cell rechallenge. Mechanistically, the dual anti-immunosuppressive activity of M7824 in the MC38 model resulted in unique activation of both the adaptive and innate immune systems, including increased tumor infiltration, proliferation, and cytotoxicity of CD8+ T cells; increased prevalence of splenic tumor antigen-specific CD8+ T cells; increased CD8+ TEM infiltration and CD8+ TEM/naive ratio; increased tumor-infiltrated natural killer (NK) cells; increased ratio of M1/M2 macrophages; and decreased infiltration of tumor-associated neutrophils and myeloid-derived suppressor cells. Similar immunophenotypic changes were observed in the EMT-6 model. Activation of both the adaptive and innate immune systems contributed to the antitumor activity of M7824 in the MC38 model, as depletion of CD8+ T cells and NK cells led to a substantial decrease in M7824-mediated tumor regression; CD4+ T cells and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity, however, appeared dispensable. Toxicologic evaluation in cynomolgus monkeys indicated M7824 was well tolerated, with only minor hematologic effects observed. Although M7824 is a bifunctional molecule, its antitumor activity can be further improved by combination with standard-of-care therapies: in the MC38 model, combining M7824 with radiotherapy or chemotherapy resulted in more effective inhibition of tumor growth and an increased frequency of tumor antigen-specific IFN-γ-producing CD8+ T cells vs either monotherapy. Collectively, our preclinical data suggest that M7824 elicits potent and synergistic antitumor activity via the simultaneous blockade of the PD-L1 and TGFβ pathways. Phase 1 clinical trials with M7824 are under way in patients with solid tumors. Citation Format: Yan Lan, Dong Zhang, Chunxiao Xu, Bo Marelli, Jin Qi, Huakui Qi, Guozhong Qin, Xiaomei Xu, Hong Wang, Aroop Sircar, Beatrice Brunkhorst, Eric Austin, Laszlo Radvanyi, Kin-Ming Lo. Preclinical evaluation and mechanistic characterization of M7824 (MSB0011359C), a novel bifunctional fusion protein targeting the PD-L1 and TGFβ pathways [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 2615. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-2615


Prolonged exposure of a commercial organic photoconductor in a plasma environment corresponding to an industrial electrophotographic process caused the formation of a parasitic surface layer with properties that are different from the original photoconductor. The parasitic film consists of a heavily oxidized surface region and oxygen-free subsurface layer with a chemical composition similar to the original photoconductor but having a significantly different bonding arrangement. The formation of this film has been correlated with damage induced by the energetic particles and UV photons originating from the electrophotographic plasma discharge. An in-depth understanding of the formation and the properties of this parasitic layer could provide an effective means to overcome its detrimental impact on printing cost and quality.


The influence of the addition of propylene glycol or monensin to diets of dairy cows during the transition period on milk production and milk composition was studied. Forty-two multiparous Holstein cows with an average milk production of 8,000 kg in the previous lactation were distributed in a complete randomized design and were divided into seven groups receiving either control diets or diets with 30ppm of monensin or 300ml of propylene glycol during the transition period. Milk production was recorded on days 10th and 20th post-partum and milk samples were taken on the same days to analyse milk components such as fat, protein, lactose, urea and somatic cells (101/ml). The addition of propylene glycol in the post-partum diet decreased milk production as well as total the fat and protein production on the sampling times (days 10th and 20th post-partum) (P<0.05). The adition of propylene glycol during pre- partum increased fat and lactose percentage on the sampling times (P<0.05). The use of monensin during pre and post-partum periods decreased the protein percentage.


The study aimed to determine the influence of nitric oxide (NO) on the action of histamine and carbachol on acid secretion in the common African toad - Bufo regularis. Gastric acidity was determined by titration method. The acid secretion was determined when nitric oxide was absent following administration of NO synthase inhibitor; N-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) and when nitric oxide was in excess by administration of exogenous NO donor, sodium nitroprusside (SNP). Histamine or carbachol increased acid secretion in the toad. Acid output increased from 0.32 +/- 0.04 mEq/15min to 0.56 +/- 0.08 and 0.61 +/- 0.05 mEq/15min for histamine and carbachol respectively [P < 0.05]. Pretreatment of the toad with L-NAME produced further increases in histamine (0.62 +/- 0.06 mEq/15min) or carbachol (0.74 +/- 0.06 mEq/15min) induced acid secretion respectively. SNP however, completely abolished the acid secretion stimulated by either histamine or carbachol. It was therefore concluded that nitric oxide has a negative influence on the histamine or carbachol-stimulated acid secretion in the toad - Bufo regularis.


Co-evolution has an important function in the evolution of species and it is clearly manifested in certain scenarios such as host–parasite and predator–prey interactions, symbiosis and mutualism. The extrapolation of the concepts and methodologies developed for the study of species co-evolution at the molecular level has prompted the development of a variety of computational methods able to predict protein interactions through the characteristics of co-evolution. Particularly successful have been those methods that predict interactions at the genomic level based on the detection of pairs of protein families with similar evolutionary histories (similarity of phylogenetic trees: mirrortree). Future advances in this field will require a better understanding of the molecular basis of the co-evolution of protein families. Thus, it will be important to decipher the molecular mechanisms underlying the similarity observed in phylogenetic trees of interacting proteins, distinguishing direct specific molecular interactions from other general functional constraints. In particular, it will be important to separate the effects of physical interactions within protein complexes ('co-adaptation') from other forces that, in a less specific way, can also create general patterns of co-evolution. The EMBO Journal (2008) 27, 2648–2655. doi:10.1038/ emboj.2008.189; Published online 25 September 2008 Subject Categories: genomic & computational biology


A distributed system is self-stabilizing if it can be started in any possible global state. Once started the system regains its consistency by itself, without any kind of outside intervention. The self-stabilization property makes the system tolerant to faults in which processors exhibit a faulty behavior for a while and then recover spontaneously in an arbitrary state. When the intermediate period in between one recovery and the next faulty period is long enough, the system stabilizes. A distributed system is uniform if all processors with the same number of neighbors are identical. A distributed system is dynamic if it can tolerate addition or deletion of processors and links without reinitialization. In this work, we study uniform dynamic self-stabilizing protocols for leader election under readwrite atomicity. Our protocols use randomization to break symmetry. The leader election protocol stabilizes in O(/spl Delta/D log n) time when the number of the processors is unknown and O(/spl Delta/D), otherwise. Here /spl Delta/ denotes the maximal degree of a node, D denotes the diameter of the graph and n denotes the number of processors in the graph. We introduce self-stabilizing protocols for synchronization that are used as building blocks by the leader-election algorithm. We conclude this work by presenting a simple, uniform, self-stabilizing ranking protocol.


Two cAMP-dependent protein kinases with different activation constants were separated from Drosophila melanogaster head extracts. Both are only found in nervous tissue. The first cAMP-dependent kinase, with Mr = 190,000, has been already characterized as tetrameric Drosophila type II cAMP-dependent protein kinase R2C2. The second purified cAMP-dependent protein kinase, with Mr = 80,000, is dimeric in structure RPC, and the cAMP-concentration required for half maximal activation is 4 fold lower than for the type II kinase. The generation of RP can be stimulated in vitro by addition of exogenous calcium and is due to an endogenous Ca2(+)-dependent protease that selectively degrades the regulatory subunit. Extraction in the presence of various protease inhibitors does not affect the amounts of RP, suggesting that the observed quantitative change in RP occurs in vivo. The amounts of RP in the nervous tissue of the memory mutants dunce1 and dunce2, which have increased cAMP levels, are different from the amount of RP in wild-type flies. Also treatments of wild-type flies with drugs affecting cAMP-metabolism and acetylcholine levels led to amounts of RP different from untreated flies.


This work presents a fully integrated SiGe microwave up-conversion mixer, utilizing a new circuit topology consisting of a common-base, series-connected triplet at the IF port to achieve a significant improvement in dynamic range. This circuit functions with an IF signal of 1.25 GHz, and has an input 1-dB compression point (IP/sub 1dB/) of -6.8 dBm, for an RF output at 28 GHz. The circuit operates over a frequency range from 19 to 31 GHz, with a maximum conversion gain of 1 dB. The mixer can operate over an IF range from 1 to 10 GHz, while maintaining an IF port return loss greater than 10 dB.


With the development of micro- and nanotechnological products such as sensors, MEMS and NEMS and their broad application new reliability issues arises. The authors present a combined experimental and simulative approach targeted on unsolved questions of size effects within newly developed nanomaterials and highly integrated systems. The experimental approach is based on the in-situ SPM scans of the analyzed object carried out at different thermomechanical load states. With the application of digital image correlation techniques displacement fields with nanometer accuracy are derived. A simulative approach is performed by homogenization which is the modeling of a representative volume of bulk material taking into account a spatial distribution of the filler particles. The results of the homogenization are input data for standard finite element codes.


The experiments have been performed on 164 rats and 110 mice. Met-enkephalin and beta-endorphin concentration was established to increase in the blood in the early period after acute blood loss in rats who survived after 24 hours of a follow up in the group of animals, who died during 24 hours follow up, the momentary beta-endorphin increase was noted at the 1st minute of the experiment; met-enkephalin contents in blood wasn't essentially changed. mu-Receptors' agonist DAGO injection significantly decreased rat mortality in a posthemorrhagic period. The correlation between arterial pressure values and beta-endorphin and met-enkephalin contents in the blood wasn't defined. The opioid peptides' ability to increase the organism stability to hypoxia was determined. Beta-endorphin and met-enkephalin significance in the pathogenesis of a posthemorrhagic period in acute blood loss is being discussed.


5-8% of all colorectal cancer cases are assumed to be due to germline mutations in DNA mismatch repair genes. Mutation analysis of these genes in affected families enables one to identify subjects with an inborn susceptibility to colorectal tumorogenesis and to offer presymptomatic testing to family members at risk, provided that the mutation detected is a truncating one or a missense mutation that has either been judged as disease causing in other families or segregates with the disease and results in a microsatellite instability of the corresponding tumor. Segregation analysis within the family or microsatellite analysis of the tumor is, however, not always possible. In these cases, assessment of the relevance of the sequence variation identified is very difficult. On the other hand, discrimination between inactivating mutations and innocuous sequence polymorphisms is of extreme importance for clinical and genetic counseling of affected families. Here we report 16 rare sequence variants of the hMLH1 and hMSH2 genes including 11 different missense variations found in a cohort of 254 suspected HNPCC patients. We provide evidence, that missense variations in hMLH1 do not necessarily result in microsatellite instability of the corresponding tumor DNA. These patients would have been missed had one followed the recommendations of using only microsatellite analysis for the selection of patients at high risk of hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer for mutation analysis.


Drug abuse is of epidemic proportions in California. Arrest figures in 1969 were double those of the previous year. Many high schools reported 50 percent of the senior students were experimenting with one or a variety of drugs. Marijuana is the illegal drug indulged by young and old alike and it became even more the center of a highly political debate. Increasingly strict laws and the enforcement of such laws have not alleviated the problem, and may have accelerated it. The present crisis suggests not only monumental problems of contemporary youth and society, but serious failures in our social policy. The current trend for the younger and younger drug user is away from psychedelic drugs popular in the mid60s and toward experimentation with amphetamines, barbiturates and heroin. The idea that heroin is used mainly by ghetto dwellers who were economically and socially deprived has validity no longer. Besides the acute medical and psychological crisis produced by such drug use itself, the role of criminal definition of what is essentially a medical problem has produced increasing criminalization of the young middle class American. What seems obvious, but is least well understood by the public, is that the real problems of drugs lie not with the drugs but the people who use them and the increasing crises in the American social system. DAVID E. SMITH, M.D. DAVID BENTEL, D. CRIM.


Organizations have recently begun to deploy conversational task assistants that collaborate with knowledge workers to partially automate their work tasks. These assistants evolved out of business robotic process automation (RPA) tools and are becoming more intelligent: users can initiate task sequences through natural language, and the system can orchestrate those tasks if they have not previously been defined. As these tools become more automated, system designers tend to optimize overall process efficiency, but at the cost of shifting agency away from workers. Particularly in high stakes work environments, this shift raises questions of how to re-delegate agency such that workers feel sufficiently in control of automated tasks. We explored this through two studies comprised of interviews and co-design activities with knowledge workers and identified four task dimensions along which their automation and interaction preferences vary: process consequence, social consequence, task familiarity, and task complexity. These dimensions are useful for understanding when, why, and how to delegate agency between workers and conversational task assistants.


The paper summarizes the history of Yinchuan and the status of Islam in Yinchuan, discusses the time that Islam entered Yinchuan, then summarizes in four periods the basic condition that Islam spread and developed there. The research emphasizes on these points: the gradually re-collection of Muslims there during Ming Dynasty, the architectural achievement of the Great Mosque of Najiahu, an unknown historic figure named Ma Tuo, the Muslim rebellion during emperor Tongzhi of Qing Dynasty, and especially the successes of Imam Hu Songshan which include his attitude-changing to Ikhwani sect of Chinese Islam, his leading role in the initiation of normal Chinese-Arabic schools, and thus how he promoted the great reform of traditional religious education in the mosques.


Arguments were presented to show that the procedures of covariance adjustments for MA or for MA and CA are unsuited to the analysis of comparative data for retarded and nonretarded persons. Whatever the task and the performance levels of such subjects, the performance measures for both groups must always define a single continuous regression surface. It was proposed that graphical inspection of the regression surface will properly suggest the relative contributions of CA, MA, and IQ to the performance under study. Some of the data of the Temple longitudinal studies were used to illustrate the graphic procedure.


Abstract A set of guidelines is proposed as an aid in determining the specific facilities, equipment, and procedures required for operations involving radioactive material. The guidelines are centered around a tabulation that groups the commonly used radionuclides into eight groups corresponding to the relative magnitudes of their maximum radiotoxicities, and then presents curie quantities above which the need for various safeguards should be examined. The eight groups of radiotoxicity are chosen to correspond to the eight orders of magnitude over which the estimated maximum doses per curie range for the various nuclides when they are delivered in a single intake by inhalation.


Using nationally representative data from repeated cross section surveys conducted in 2011/12, 2013/14, and 2016/17, we test for separability in the household model and analyse household factor market participation in Afghanistan. Estimates of a household labour demand model and tests for separability reject the null hypothesis that household labour supply and demand decisions are separate. The fact that the magnitude and quantity of labour demanded by the farm household is strongly influenced by the household endowment of labour can be interpreted to mean that there exist potential market failures in multiple markets in Afghanistan. Exploring input market participation, results reveal that ownership of information and communication technologies and transport assets by households has a strong positive influence on the use of inputs. In addition, households living in communities with better access and within a closer radius of markets are more likely to participate in factor markets and spend more on purchased inputs. Standard factors such as household socio-demographic and socio-economic factors were also observed to have an important influence on factor market participation: household size, literacy and education; land endowments and quality; off-farm income; and ownership of farming assets such as tractors, oxen and livestock, are significant determinants of participation and expenditure on inputs. The analysis allows observed transaction costs to be endogenous using instrumental variables and employing a control function approach. The endogeneity of ownership of ICT and transport equipment in fertilizer and chemical, and tractor rental markets is confirmed (we reject endogeneity in the case of hired labour). Correcting for endogeneity bias revealed a negative association between the error terms in the reduced form and structural model, but the main results were maintained. JEL Classification: O12, Q12, Q13, Q18


We obtian a short and new sharp proof for atomic decomposition for Fock space by using the frame theory. In fact we show that the Fock space F 2 α admit an atomic decomposition i.e every analytic function in this space can be presented as a linear combination of "atoms " defined using the normalized reproducing kernel of this space.


Author(s): Navarro, Karin Elisa | Advisor(s): Fuller, Bruce; Mintrop, Heinrich | Abstract: Pre-service teachers depend on hands-on training to acquire the necessary practical skills to effectively work in the classroom. This is especially true for pre-service teachers in Early Childhood Education (ECE), who often rely on mentoring programs to learn to successfully work with children and influence their developmental outcomes. This study used a theory of action and an intervention design to improve mentoring skills of senior teachers (mentors) to prepare pre-service teachers (mentees) to address children's oral language and vocabulary skill deficiencies. The methodology combined Design Development and Action Research using multiple data collection points (e.g. third party observations, mentor's self-assessments, , mentee's assessments, and interviews) to ensure unbiased conclusions. The study implemented an intervention in a Child Development Center Lab School staffed with five senior teachers. The intervention consisted of a series of training sessions, lectures, analyses of videotaped pre-staged practices, reflective workshops, in-classroom practice sessions, and the development of a mentoring guideline. It focused on three major areas of mentoring: Relationship Building (RB), Instructional Support (IS), and Oral Language and Vocabulary Skills in Children (OL). Improvements in RB were mainly driven by gains in mentors' ability to provide timely support. Mentors who showed improvement in RB also showed improvement in IS. Both videotaping and reflections proved to be very useful in helping mentors to solidify theoretical concepts through practical activities. However, mentor improvements in advanced ECE technical areas after building such mentoring foundation, as is the case of OL, seem to need a good number of opportunities to practice them before starting to produce positive results. This study shows that good mentoring training requires pre-selecting participants by their top learning traits, that there is a domino effect in the way skills are built or developed, and that sufficient practice of the desired skills is indispensable. The effectiveness of the intervention also depends on mentors becoming aware of their role's potential, the quality of the classroom instruction they receive, the maturity of the mentor-mentee relationship, and on the mentee's side, on their level of ECE experience and their mastery of the language of instruction.


Abstract : Numerical calculations based on the compressible boundary-layer equations and an integral form of the kinetic-energy-of-turbulence (IKET) equation are presented for a variety of conditions. The addition of the IKET equation permits the streamwise computation of an additional dependent variable normally taken as an empirical constant in conventional mixing-length formulations. A baseline turbulence model is developed and then modified to account for the effects of favorable and adverse pressure gradients, roughness, and transpiration. Examples given include adverse and favorable pressure gradients, relaminarization, acoustic-energy-induced transition, surface roughness, and transpiration. The IKET-based extended mixing-length hypothesis is shown to be considerably more flexible than conventional mixing-length turbulence models.


Background Binge drinking, a common form of alcohol consumption, is associated with increased mortality and morbidity; yet, its effects on the immune system's ability to defend against infectious agents are poorly understood. Burkholderia pseudomallei, the causative agent of melioidosis can occur in healthy humans, yet binge alcohol use is progressively being recognized as a major risk factor. Although our previous studies demonstrated that binge alcohol exposure results in reduced alveolar macrophage function and increased Burkholderia virulence in vitro, no experimental studies have investigated the outcomes of binge alcohol on Burkholderia spp. infection in vivo. Principal Findings We used the close genetic relatives of B. pseudomallei, B. thailandensis E264 and B. vietnamiensis, as useful BSL-2 model systems. Eight-week-old female C57BL/6 mice were administered alcohol comparable to human binge drinking episodes (4.4 g/kg) or PBS intraperitoneally 30 min before a non-lethal intranasal infection. In an initial B. thailandensis infection (3 x 105), bacteria accumulated in the lungs and disseminated to the spleen in alcohol administered mice only, compared with PBS treated mice at 24 h post-infection (PI). The greatest bacterial load occurred with B. vietnamiensis (1 x 106) in lungs, spleen, and brain tissue by 72 h PI. Pulmonary cytokine expression (TNF-α, GM-CSF) decreased, while splenic cytokine (IL-10) increased in binge drunk mice. Increased lung and brain permeability was observed as early as 2 h post alcohol administration in vivo. Trans-epithelial electrical resistance (TEER) was significantly decreased, while intracellular invasion of non-phagocytic cells increased with 0.2% v/v alcohol exposure in vitro. Conclusions Our results indicate that a single binge alcohol dose suppressed innate immune functions and increased the ability of less virulent Burkholderia strains to disseminate through increased barrier permeability and intracellular invasion of non-phagocytic cells. Author Summary Burkholderia pseudomallei causes the disease melioidosis, which occurs in most tropical regions across the globe. Exposure rarely evolves to significant disease in the absence of specific comorbidities, such as binge alcohol intoxication. In susceptible hosts, the disease is primarily manifested as pneumonic melioidosis and can be rapidly fatal if untreated. In this study, we utilized B. thailandensis, a genetically similar strain to B. pseudomallei, and opportunistic B. vietnamiensis, a known human pathogen that utilizes similar virulence strategies as B. pseudomallei in immunocompromised and cystic fibrosis patients. The study investigates the impact of a single binge alcohol episode on infectivity and immune response in vivo. We show that a single binge alcohol episode prior to inhaling Burkholderia species increases bacterial spread to the lungs and brain. We also identify alcohol-induced tissue permeability and epithelial cell invasion as modes of action for greater bacterial spread and survival inside the host. Our results support the public health responses being developed in melioidosis-endemic regions that emphasize the nature of binge drinking as a prime concern, especially around potential times of exposure to environmental B. pseudomallei.


The urinary levels of albumin, beta 2-microglobulin (BMG) and beta-D-N-acetyl glucosaminidase (NAG) were studied in 30 children with short stature due to partial or complete growth hormone (GH) deficiency under treatment. All 30 children had a normal urinalysis and no clinical evidence of renal disease. They were treated with recombinant GH in a dose of 0.5 IU/kg/week given subcutaneously. The mean albumin excretion rate (9.13 +/- 8.33 micrograms/min/1.73 m2) of these children was significantly higher than that (4.2 +/- 2.27 micrograms/min/1.73 m2) of 30 age-, sex- and pubertal status-matched normal children (p < 0.01). BMG and NAG excretion was normal in both groups. There was no correlation between the urinary albumin excretion rate and the duration of GH treatment. Among the GH-treated children, the urinary albumin excretion rate was correlated significantly with circulatory insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) (r = 0.65, p < 0.01). In 7 other children analyzed before and three months after start of GH treatment, the mean urinary albumin excretion rate increased significantly from 4.71 +/- 3.95 micrograms/min/1.73 m2 to 8.29 +/- 2.70 micrograms/min/1.73 m2 (p < 0.03). These results suggest the possibility of functional glomerular alterations during GH therapy.


We apply symmetric function theory to study random processes formed by singular values of products of truncations of Haar distributed symplectic and orthogonal matrices. These product matrix processes are degenerations of Macdonald processes introduced by Borodin and Corwin. Through this connection, we obtain explicit formulae for the distribution of singular values of a deterministic matrix multiplied by a truncated Haar orthogonal or symplectic matrix under conditions where the latter factor acts as a rank $1$ perturbation. Consequently, we generalize the recent Kieburg-Kuijlaars-Stivigny formula for the joint singular value density of a product of truncated unitary matrices to symplectic and orthogonal symmetry classes. Specializing to products of two symplectic matrices with a rank $1$ perturbative factor, we show that the squared singular values form a Pfaffian point process.


The objective of this work is to take a first step to close this fundamental gap, aiming at laying a foundation that can be used in future computer/network designs taking into account the malicious users. Our approach is based on proposing a metric that evaluates the vulnerability of a system. We then evaluate the commonly used data structure in network mechanisms, the hash data structure, using our vulnerability metric. We show that a Closed Hash is much more vulnerable than an Open Hash to DDoS attacks, even though the two systems are considered to be equivalent via traditional performance evaluation. We also apply the metric to queuing mechanisms common to computer and communications systems. Lastly we apply it to the practical case of a hash table whose requests are controlled by a queue, showing that even after the attack has ended, the regular users still suffer from performance degradation or even a total denial of service.


ABSTRACT The aim of this article is to nuance notions of 'pronatalism' by applying it as an analytical concept for studying population and family policy Sweden and Finland in the 1940s and 1950s. This endeavour is pursued by analysing the ideologies and practices of three pronatalist non-governmental organisations from Sweden, Finland and Swedish Finland: the Swedish Population and Family Federation (Befolkningsförbundet Svenska Familjevärnet), the Finnish Population and Family Welfare League (Väestöliitto) and the Swedish Population Federation in Finland (Svenska Befolkningsförbundet i Finland, SBF). All three organisations promoted family-friendly policies, emphasised the need for wide-spread population policy education or 'propaganda', and framed pronatalist population policy as a collective issue of the nation or 'people', yet with different motivations and framings. Väestöliitto and SBF related the so-called population question to an external threat: the Soviet Union that threatened the geopolitical status of Finland, and the pressure of the Finnish-speaking majority, respectively. In addition, SBF saw that the Finland-Swedes were delusional about their demographic and cultural vulnerability and were hence causing their own demise. Familjevärnet, on the other hand, first and foremost connected family and population policy to the furthering of welfare, solidarity and democracy, primarily within Sweden but also transnationally. Respectively, the organisations also framed motherhood slightly differently. Väestöliitto and SBF portrayed procreation as a civic duty and motherhood as the most important role of women. Familjevärnet also viewed motherhood as an important and natural role for women, yet not as an exclusive civic duty. Rather, it emphasised that all citizens had a duty to contribute to a positive demographic development and family-friendly society, either through procreation or by partaking in the cost of bringing up children.


ABSTRACT In general, the wood materials are used for constructing the buildings, passenger seats in trains and automobile doors. However, the progression of the fires due to the wooden construction is high when the fire accidents have occurred in the buildings, rail and road vehicles. To overcome this, advanced basalt fiber reinforced polymer composites can be replaced with these wood materials, owing to the high melting point of basalt fiber. However, fire resistance characterization studies are limited to natural fiber composites of different fiber volume fractions, particularly for rock fibers. There is a need to identify the fiber volume fraction effect on fire resistance characteristics of composites for filling this research gap. In this study, mechanical, water absorption, and fire resistance properties of Basalt Rock Fibers (BRF) and Pineapple Leaf Fibers (PLF) reinforced polyester composite panels were investigated. The effect of fiber volume fractions ranging from 10% to 45% on the above-mentioned properties was studied. The theoretical Young's modulus values were determined using the Halpin-Tsai model. Results indicated that the mechanical properties of BRF/polyester and PLF/polyester composites increased with the increase in fiber volume fraction (FVF) of up to 40% and 30%, respectively. The theoretical Young's modulus values are in reasonably good agreement with the experiments. The percentage of the linear burning rate was found to be decreased, with the increase in FVF. It was found through the water absorption studies that PLF/polyester composites are hydrophilic whereas BRF/polyester composites are hydrophobic.


Nutritional Medicine is based on the principle that nutrients, including essential micronutrients, are required for the proper functioning of all the biochemical processes on which our bodies depend. Therefore, when treating symptoms or diseases, we look for the underlying causes which, although often partly genetic, are usually very much tied up with nutritional and environmental factors. This is in contrast to the tendency in the conventional medical approach to treat symptoms by means of drugs or surgery.


Hepatoid adenocarcinoma is defined as an extrahepatic malignant neoplasm showing morphological and immunohistochemical resemblance of hepatocellular carcinoma. The occurrence of this type of tumor in the gallbladder is extremely rare. In this study, we report the first cytological case of hepatoid adenocarcinoma of the gallbladder. An 80‐year‐old Japanese female was found to have a tumorous lesion in the gallbladder. Papanicolaou smear of the ascites demonstrated a few epithelial cell clusters composed of round to oval neoplastic cells with distinct cell border and large centrally‐located nuclei. Tumor touch smear of the resected tumor revealed the presence of two distinct neoplastic components. The first component was composed of clusters or sheets of epithelial cells with distinct cell border, relatively rich clear cytoplasm, and centrally‐located nuclei, as seen in the ascites specimen. The other component was composed of tall columnar cells with large basally‐oriented nuclei, and glandular formation was noted as well. Immunocytochemical analyzes of the touch smear material demonstrated that the former component was positive for HepPar1, thus it was considered as a hepatoid adenocarcinoma, and the latter component deemed as a typical adenocarcinoma. Histopathological and immunohistochemical examination of the resected gallbladder tumor confirmed a diagnosis of hepatoid adenocarcinoma. The characteristic cytological features of hepatoid adenocarcinoma are the presence of sheets or clusters of neoplastic cells with distinct cell border and centrally‐located nuclei. Immunocytochemical analysis for HepPar1 may help its diagnosis. Demonstration of hepatoid adenocarcinoma is important in the cytological specimen because this type of tumor shows an aggressive clinical course.


The deployment of 3G mobile systems is now getting underway, with roll-out plans being affected by a number of mutually reinforcing factors. These factors include policies affecting the business case for operators who need to erate return on their investment in infrastructure within a reasonable time span, and the general economic situation impacting the propensity of operators to take such infrastructure investment risks coupled with the propensity of end to pay for new and improved services. This is all taking place in an environment where expectations have, for many years, followed the technology curve of rapidly improving performance and capability at steadily declining cost.


Diffusion models have demonstrated highly-expressive generative capabilities in vision and NLP. Recent studies in reinforcement learning (RL) have shown that diffusion models are also powerful in modeling complex policies or trajectories in offline datasets. However, these works have been limited to single-task settings where a generalist agent capable of addressing multi-task predicaments is absent. In this paper, we aim to investigate the effectiveness of a single diffusion model in modeling large-scale multi-task offline data, which can be challenging due to diverse and multimodal data distribution. Specifically, we propose Multi-Task Diffusion Model (\textsc{MTDiff}), a diffusion-based method that incorporates Transformer backbones and prompt learning for generative planning and data synthesis in multi-task offline settings. \textsc{MTDiff} leverages vast amounts of knowledge available in multi-task data and performs implicit knowledge sharing among tasks. For generative planning, we find \textsc{MTDiff} outperforms state-of-the-art algorithms across 50 tasks on Meta-World and 8 maps on Maze2D. For data synthesis, \textsc{MTDiff} generates high-quality data for testing tasks given a single demonstration as a prompt, which enhances the low-quality datasets for even unseen tasks.


A numerical fragmentation model is proposed to predict the mechanical response of intermingled, unidirectional hybrid composites under tensile loads. The model is based on a previously developed for unidirectional composites considering the critical number of fiber breaks and the correction of the fiber-matrix interfacial strength. Hybrids comprising two reinforcements are considered, and the energetic contribution of reinforcements is evaluated during the damage process. Additionally, the pseudo-ductile strain, yield strength, and the level of degradation of each reinforcement are estimated. The present model is compared with a progressive failure model and micromechanical finite element simulations, obtaining some similarities in the stress-strain behavior.  Results show that both low elongation and high elongation fiber sub-composite experience a linear tensile response where fibers remain intact (IF), and fragmentation (FM) where breaking appears. The sliding/separation phenomenon (SS) occurs in one of the sub-composites when crack saturation is obtained, and failure occurs when the other one undergoes the crack saturation. Results also show that the IF, FM, and SS phenomena are conditioned by the fiber mixing ratio, α. The model allows estimating the optimal value of α for which the highest pseudo-ductile strain and hybrid effect are reached.


Objective To evaluate progressive white matter (WM) degeneration in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Methods Sixty-six patients with ALS and 43 healthy controls were enrolled in a prospective, longitudinal, multicenter study in the Canadian ALS Neuroimaging Consortium (CALSNIC). Participants underwent a harmonized neuroimaging protocol across 4 centers that included diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) for assessment of WM integrity. Three visits were accompanied by clinical assessments of disability (ALS Functional Rating Scale–Revised [ALSFRS-R]) and upper motor neuron (UMN) function. Voxel-wise whole-brain and quantitative tract-wise DTI assessments were done at baseline and longitudinally. Correction for site variance incorporated data from healthy controls and from healthy volunteers who underwent the DTI protocol at each center. Results Patients with ALS had a mean progressive decline in fractional anisotropy (FA) of the corticospinal tract (CST) and frontal lobes. Tract-wise analysis revealed reduced FA in the CST, corticopontine/corticorubral tract, and corticostriatal tract. CST FA correlated with UMN function, and frontal lobe FA correlated with the ALSFRS-R score. A progressive decline in CST FA correlated with a decline in the ALSFRS-R score and worsening UMN signs. Patients with fast vs slow progression had a greater reduction in FA of the CST and upper frontal lobe. Conclusions Progressive WM degeneration in ALS is most prominent in the CST and frontal lobes and, to a lesser degree, in the corticopontine/corticorubral tracts and corticostriatal pathways. With the use of a harmonized imaging protocol and incorporation of analytic methods to address site-related variances, this study is an important milestone toward developing DTI biomarkers for cerebral degeneration in ALS. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT02405182.


Sodium is an ionic checkpoint for the induction and amplification of human Th2 cell responses and shapes the atopic skin microenvironment, where it could serve as a novel therapeutic target for Th2 mediated diseases. Abstract There has been a strong increase in the incidence of allergic diseases over the last 50 years. Environmental factors most likely account for this phenomenon. However, the nature of these factors and the mode of action by which they induce the type 2 immune deviation, which is characteristic of atopic diseases, remains unclear. It has previously been reported that dietary sodium chloride promotes the polarization of Th17 cells with implications for autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis. Here, we demonstrate that sodium chloride also potently promotes Th2 cell responses on multiple regulatory levels. Sodium chloride enhanced IL-4 and IL-13 production while suppressing IFN-γ production in effector T cells. It diverted alternative T cell fates into the Th2 cell phenotype and also induced de novo Th2 cell polarization from naïve T cell precursors. Mechanistically, it exerted its effects via the osmosensitive transcription factor NFAT-5 and the kinase SGK-1, which regulated Th2 signature cytokines and master transcription factors in hyperosmolar salt conditions. The skin of patients suffering from atopic dermatitis contained highly elevated amounts of sodium compared to non-lesional atopic and healthy skin. This demonstrates that sodium chloride represents a so far overlooked cutaneous microenvironmental factor in atopic dermatitis that can induce Th2 cell responses, the orchestrators of allergic diseases. Together, our data propose ionic signaling through sodium chloride as a novel checkpoint and potential therapeutic target for type 2 immunity and its associated allergic diseases.


Introduction Spiral enteroscopy (SE) is an emerging technique for the evaluation and management of small bowel pathology. There is no published data concerning tolerability and safety of this technique under sedation in the UK. We report our single centre experience of the tolerability, safety and efficacy of SE in the investigation and management of small bowel pathology. Methods A retrospective analysis of case notes of patients undergoing SE (March 2009–November 2010) was performed. Patient demographics, indications, findings, treatment performed, tolerability and complications were analysed. Results We performed 47 procedures in 43 patients. 45 SEs were performed per oral and 2 per annum. M:F 30:17. Mean age was 68.8 (range 35–90). Indications for SE were anaemia (17), angiodysplasia (12), occult GI bleeding (7), polyps (5), upper GI bleeding/melaena (3), abnormal radiology (1), pain (1) and Peutz–Jegher syndrome (1). All procedures were performed under conscious sedation. Mean estimated depth of insertion in 39 patients was 212 cm (range 100–300 cm) per oral. Mean time for the procedure in 41 patients was 40 min (range 15–80). Abnormalities were identified in 30 (63.8%) cases; comprising angiodysplasia (22), small bowel diverticula (3), polyps (2), ulceration (2), lymphoma (1), Blue Rubber Bleb Naevus syndrome (1), presence of altered blood (1), lymphangiectases (2) and upper gastrointestinal pathology (GAVE, hiatus hernia, Barrett's oesophagus). Seven patients had more than one abnormality. Therapy was performed in 24 cases (51.2%) and comprised APC (21), tattooing (8), multiple polypectomies (1), and dual therapy with adrenaline and clipping/APC (2). Tolerance was recorded by endoscopist and nursing staff as 'good', 'fair' or 'poor'. cases. Tolerance was recorded as 'good' in 34 (72.3%) cases, 'fair' in 8 (17%) cases and 'poor' in 5 (10.6%) cases. One patient suffered a complication - mild hypotension and hypoxia resolving with intravenous fluids and oxygen. There was one death within 30 days, in a patient with ischaemic heart disease and cardiac failure (not procedure related). Main limitations of this technique were failure of the spiral to engage the small intestine adequately (3), impaction of the spiral in a large hiatus hernia (1) and in one patient SE did not visualise a tattoo placed previously at double balloon enteroscopy. Conclusion In our experience, spiral enteroscopy appears to be a safe and effective way of diagnosing and treating small bowel pathology. It is safe to perform under conscious sedation and well tolerated in most patients.


A successful operation in a 22-month-old baby with the Taussig-Bing anomaly is reported. The operation consisted of a intraventricular rerouting of the left ventricular blood through the ventricular septal defect to the aorta via an intraventricular dacron conduit sutured to the sub-pulmonary conus posteriorly. The patient was recatheterized 3 months after surgery and there was no sub-aortic or sub-pulmonary obstruction. There was residual pulmonary artery hypertension and a residual shunt that was successfully closed at reoperation. Among 41 surgical cases of TB anomaly reported in the literature, 6 only have had this kind of repair with 3 deaths. The present case is the youngest patient successfully operated upon by this technique. The three basic surgical options in the Taussig-Bing anomaly are discussed, along with the anatomic conditions that permit intraventricular conduit repair, which appears to be theoretically the best surgical approach.


This study was focused on the catalytic activity for the combustion of low-concentration methane using various commerical catalysts (six transition metal catalysts in Russia and one rare earth metal (Honeycomb) catalyst in Korea). Catalytic activity was strongly influenced by the type and loading content of metal supported in catalyst. Catalytic performance showed the highest activity in Honeycomb catalyst including rare earth metal, which was the most expensive catalyst, while the next was the catalyst supported Cu with high content (AOK-78-52) and also that supported Cr and Co (AOK-78-56). However, both AOK-78-52 and AOK-78-56 catalysts that were very cheap had lower activation energy than Honeycomb catalyst. In the economical field, both AOK-78-52 and AOK-78-56 catalysts with transition metals showed a good alternative catalyst on the combustion of methane.


We aim at developing a vision-based autopilot for autonomous small aerial vehicle applications. This paper presents a new approach for the estimation of optical flow, aircraft motion and scene structure (range map), using monocular vision and inertial data. The proposed algorithm is based on 3 nested Kalman filters (3NKF) and results in an efficient and robust estimation process. The 3NKF-based algorithm was tested extensively in simulation using synthetic images, and in real-time experiments.


The growth of multi-sided platform (MSP) firms, especially those with high Internet utilization such as Uber, Tokopedia, Go-Jek as well as other sharing economy firms, started to catch the attention of strategic management scholars. Since multi-sided platforms have more than one distinct user side with various role in the business ecosystem, the strategic alliances between the MSP and its platform members may play a significant role in increasing the user base as well as the value of the platform itself. However, there are still few researches that discuss the strategic alliances within the MSP. For this reason, this conceptual article aims at mapping the strategic alliances literature relevant to the MSP context through in-depth literature review. Two case analyses from high growth MSP firms in Indonesia are presented to explain this phenomenon. first The firms new to on ante, at levels that post. the data, are on in than


Background: In Tanzania, like in many other poor African countries, cervical cancer is a major problem facing women especially for those aged 30 years and above. This study aimed at constructing a statistical model to enable the prediction of the outcome of treatment for cervical cancer patients in Tanzania.
Methods: Data were collected retrospectively from patient's files with histological proven cervical cancer who were treated at Ocean Road Cancer Institute (ORCI) from year 2009 and followed up to year 2011. The factors considered are screening status, HIV status, disease stage, age, treatment type and the intent of the treatment. The study employed the Chi-square (χ2) test and the logistic regression model for its analysis.
Results:  The Chi-square (χ2) test result showed that there was a significant relationship between outcome of treatment and the patient screening status, HIV status, disease stage and intent of treatment at 5% level of significance. On the other hand, the logistic regression results found patient disease stage and intent of the treatment to be statistically significant at 95 percent. Logistic regression results also showed that patients who attended ORCI when their disease at a late stage had an odds ratio of 0.128 less likely to have favorable outcomes compared to those patients who attended ORCI when their disease stage was at early stages. The odds ratio for cervical cancer patients who received both treatment, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy was 2.643 more likely to have favorable outcomes
Conclusion:  More emphasis and campaigns should be made in order to encourage women all over the country to attend cancer centers for screening and treatment at early stages or even before any symptoms for cervical cancer and other types of cancers.


Keywords: Heat Transfer ; Measurement Techniques ; Turbomachinery ; GTT ; LTT Reference LTT-CONF-2002-008 Record created on 2007-04-18, modified on 2016-08-08


ABSTRACT This article explores the experiences of a group of established academic staff in New Zealand and the UK, as they undertake a doctorate in their home institutions. Our interest is in how individuals negotiate this dual status from a cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) stance that explores how rules, tools, community and divisions of labour, and interacting activity systems, shape doctoral experiences. The focus in this article, having analysed their detailed narrative accounts, is on how academics experience three interdependent activity systems: those surrounding the thesis, the institutional context, and the home-life spheres. Issues related to time, workload and supervision issues, variability in collegial support and impact on personal priorities and time emerged. There is a range of particularities – from easy access to resources/supervisors to inflexible institutional regulations – applicable to this group of doctoral candidates. Negotiating life as an academic with concurrent doctoral candidature provides positive outcomes in terms of teaching, research confidence and general personal and professional development. However, a range of difficulties can also be encountered, particularly in relation to personal and professional relationships, and workload management.