Objective The aim of this study was to determine the expression of growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus and its association with iron-loading anemia in these patients. Background Significant shortened red cell survival has been reported in patients with liver diseases even in the absence of anemia. The mechanism for the observed decreased red cell lifespan is not fully understood, and it is most probably multifactorial. GDF-15, a member of the transforming growth factor-β super family, was first cloned from human monocytoid cell line and was found to inhibit tumor necrotizing factor production by macrophages and negatively regulate hepcidin. Recent studies suggest that GDF-15 levels increase in conditions of cell stress and apoptosis. In bone marrow (BM), GDF-15 increases in case of ineffective erythropoiesis. Patients and methods This study was carried out at Clinical Pathology Department, Faculty of Medicine and National Liver Institute, Menoufia University, in the period from May 2013 to May 2015. The study included 70 individuals: 50 patients with compensated chronic hepatitis C with unexplained anemia and 10 patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura who had normal red blood cell counts and no signs of erythroid dysplasia, as a control group for BM expression of GDF-15. In addition, 10 unrelated healthy age-matched and sex-matched adult individuals were included as a normal control group. Serum GDF-15 was measured by ELISA, and GDF-15 mRNA was measured by real-time RT-PCR. Results There were significant differences between the different studied groups regarding iron profile, GDF-15 serum level, and BM expression of GDF-15 mRNA, being higher in patients with chronic hepatitis C than other groups. GDF-15 was positively correlated with serum iron indices and negatively correlated with hemoglobin concentration. Conclusion Ineffective erythropoiesis contributes to iron overload and anemia in patients with chronic hepatitis C.


Background-Distal femur fractures are commonlyassociated with severemetaphysealcomminution and significant soft tissue injury.Locking plating is one of the best and modern options for treating supracondylar femur fractures with relatively low failure rates. Single lateral plating of distal femur fractures was often found to have a relatively higher failure. A medial platingin addition to lateral plating reduces the chances of failure of fixation and prevents varus collapse.The purpose of this study is toAssessment of Functional Outcome of Dual Plating For Comminuted Distal Femur Fracture. Materials and Methods-Following ethical approval, thirty patients with distal femur fractures were treated with dual plating between 1st January 2021 to 31st June 2022.The follow-up studies included clinical and radiographic examinations. All relevant outcomes were recorded during follow-up. Result-All 30 patients were assessed by follow-ups. All follow-up fracture united by the end of study, but delayed union was observed in 5/30 patients. The average union time is 6.2 months (range, 5 to 8 months). The main complication in this study was found to be surgical site infection which occupied 6/30 cases. Conclusion-In our study though there were complications and increase in operating time, the union rate is 100% with no varuscollapse or malunion and functional range of movements were good in 40% of cases and excellent in 25% cases, so double plating is one of the betteroptionto achieve bony union and better functional outcome in severely comminuted distal femur fractures.


Over the last years the ever-growing demand for higher performance has led to much interest in using nonlinear circuit concepts for electronic circuit design. For this we have to deal with analysis and synthesis of dynamic nonlinear circuits. This thesis proposes to handle the nonlinear design complexity by dividing the design process in two steps. In the first step, a high-level synthesis/analysis step, a circuit topology implementing the wanted (nonlinear) function is found. We conclude that an expansion in basic functions, chosen to fit the nonlinear building blocks used, appears to be the best option for implementing this step. The second step consists of a low-level analysis/synthesis step, in which the quality of the topology is determined. The thesis research has focused on using the linear time-varying (LTV) small-signal model for describing the dynamic behaviour of nonlinear circuits in the context of low-level analysis/synthesis. This model is a generalization of the conventional linear time-invariant small-signal model and allows the use of equivalent stability criterions. Linear eigenvalues and poles are generalized to dynamic eigenvalues, Floquet exponents and Lyapunov exponents. The LTV small-signal model decreases low-level modeling complexity by using knowledge from the high-level step. The linear time-varying approach was applied to various specific nonlinear circuits: a negative feedback amplifier with class-B output stage, a dynamic translinear filter and oscillator and a differential pair used as a limiter. These design examples show that the linear time-varying approach is a good modeling candidate for low-level synthesis/analysis.


Rationalist tendencies mean those individuals and groups who prefer reason over divine teachings and explain the Holy Quran on their own. Mostly, they do this type of fabrication through so-called reasoning, but sometimes they get influenced by Europe. The article highlights their rationalist approaches in Exegesis of the Holy Quran and how they opposed the majority of the Quran Commentators while making their own rules. This research work explores the historical background, basic rules, and methods of those rationalists, their disagreement with most of the conventional interpreters, and the impacts of their self-made foundations. Moreover, it presents a comparison of their invented rules and well-accepted rules of the Quran Explainers to a clear course of commentary for every Muslim reader. The summary contains how these rationalists plant rules to have their self-wished results and ignore authentic traditions of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), deny different dialects of the holy Quran, refuse reasons of revelations, and explain Huroof e Muqataat as they deem fit.


A model based on information theory, which allows yield managers to determine the optimal portfolio of yield analysis technologies for both the R&D and volume production environments, is presented. The knowledge extraction per experimentation cycle and knowledge extraction per unit time serve as benchmarking metrics for yield learning. They enable yield managers to make objective comparisons of apparently unrelated technologies. Combinations of four yield analysis tools-electrical testing, automatic defect classification, spatial signature analysis and wafer position analysis-are examined in detail to determine the relative value of ownership of different yield analysis technologies.


Long COVID is now well accepted as an ongoing post-viral syndrome resulting from infection of a single virus, the pandemic SARS-CoV-2. It mirrors the post-viral fatigue syndrome, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, a global debilitating illness arising mainly from sporadic geographically-specific viral outbreaks, and from community endemic infections, but also from other stressors. Core symptoms of both syndromes are post-exertional malaise (a worsening of symptoms following mental or physical activity), pervasive fatigue, cognitive dysfunction (brain fog), and sleep disturbance. Long COVID patients frequently also suffer from shortness of breath, relating to the lung involvement of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. There is no universally accepted pathophysiology, or recognized biomarkers yet for Long COVID or indeed for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Clinical case definitions with very similar characteristics for each have been defined. Chronic inflammation, immune dysfunction, and disrupted energy production in the peripheral system has been confirmed in Long COVID and has been well documented in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Neuroinflammation occurs in the brain in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome as shown from a small number of positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies, and has now been demonstrated for Long COVID. Oxidative stress, an increase in reactive oxygen and reactive nitrogen species, and free radicals, has long been suggested as a potential cause for many of the symptoms seen in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, resulting from both activation of the brain's immune system and dysregulation of mitochondrial function throughout the body. The brain as a high producer of energy may be particularly susceptible to oxidative stress. It has been shown in peripheral immune cells that the balanced production of proteins involved in regulation of the reactive oxygen species in mitochondria is disturbed in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Fluctuations in the chronic low level neuroinflammation during the ongoing course of Long COVID as well as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome have been proposed to cause the characteristic severe relapses in patients. This review explores oxidative stress as a likely significant contributor to the pathophysiology of Long COVID and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and the mechanisms by which oxidative stress could cause the symptoms seen in both syndromes. Treatments that could mitigate oxidative stress and thereby lessen the debilitating symptoms to improve the life of patients are discussed.


Abstract: In recent years the need for indicators that measure the integration of migrant workers and foreigners in general has often been voiced. But most of the time scholars in the field of international migration have in mind single-indicator measures. By contrast, this article represents the first attempt to construct a multi-indicator index for the legal integration of migrant workers from non-EU (or other privileged) countries in eight European states (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland). This index should primarily work as an instrument of representation. It makes possible synchronous cross-country comparisons as well as the establishment of time series for individual countries. In this first tentative version of an index of integration five domains of legal integration were taken into account: 1) residence and permanent residence, 2) access to the labour market, 3) family reunification, 4) legal status of the second generation of immigrants, and 5) naturalization. The major results of the index in its current version can be summed up as follows: First, there are enormous differences of legal integration in the eight countries studied which will pose great difficulties to the intended harmonization of immigration laws in Europe. Second, the three German speaking countries in the sample still have, generally speaking, the highest amounts of legal discrimination with Austria as the outstanding negative example: In four out of the five spheres analysed Austria shows the highest scores in legal discrimination.;


A case of pacemaker implantation because of acquired atrioventricular block third degree in woman aged 39 years with rare isolated dextrocardia with inversion of cardiac ventricles, compensatory transposition of both aorta and pulmonary artery, and ventricular septal defect. The end of electrode has wedged in the apex of the arterial ventricle. Following pacemaker implantation, patients clinical course of gynaecological operation was uneventful.


Small or home office (SOHO) Ethernet LAN switches consume about 8 TWh per year in the U.S. alone. Despite normally low traffic load and numerous periods of idleness, these switches typically stay fully powered-on at all times. With the standardization of Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE), Ethernet interfaces can be put into a Low Power Idle (LPI) mode during idle periods when there are no packets to transmit. This paper proposes and evaluates a new EEE policy of synchronous coalescing of packets in network hosts and edge routers. This policy provides extended idle periods for all ports of a LAN switch and thus enables energy savings deeper than in the Ethernet PHY only. We evaluate our method using an ns-2 simulation model of a LAN switch. We show that our method can reduce the overall energy use of a LAN switch by about 40%, while introducing limited and controlled effects on typical Internet traffic and TCP.


Genetic and genomic tools have provided researchers with the opportunity to address fundamental questions regarding the reintroduction of species into their historical range with greater precision than ever before. Reintroduction has been employed as a conservation method to return locally extinct species to their native range for decades. However, it remains unknown how genetic factors may impact population establishment and persistence at the population and metapopulation level in the short- and long-term. Genetic methods are capable of producing datasets from many individuals, even when only low quality DNA can be collected. These methods offer an avenue to investigate unanswered questions in reintroduction biology, which is vital to provide evidence based management strategies for future projects. The Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) and European wildcat (Felis silvestris) are elusive carnivores native to Eurasia and have been the subject of multiple reintroduction attempts into their native range. During the 19th and 20th century, the Eurasian lynx was extirpated from West and Central Europe due to increasing habitat fragmentation and persecution. Similarly, the European wildcat was the subject of human persecution, residing in a few refugia in West and Central Europe. After legal protection in the 1950s, subsequent reintroduction projects of both species began in the 1970s and 1980s and continue to the present. Despite this large focus on species conservation, little attention has been given to the consequences these reintroductions have on the genetic composition of the reintroduced populations and if the populations have a chance of persisting in the long term. These species have not yet benefited from the large range of genetic and genomic techniques currently available to non-model organisms, leaving many fundamental aspects of their reintroduction poorly understood. In my dissertation, I investigate demography, population structure, genetic diversity and inbreeding at the population and metapopulation level in both species. In the introduction, which lays the foundation for the subsequent chapters of this PHD, I provide background on reintroduction, its role in conservation and the genetic consequences on populations, especially populations of apex and mesocarnivores. In Publication I, I investigated the reemergence of the European wildcat in a low mountain region in Germany using fine-scale spatial analysis. I found that the reintroduced population has persisted and merged with an expanding natural population. The reintroduced population showed no genetic differentiation from the natural population suggesting there is a good chance this population has retained sufficient genetic diversity despite reintroduction. In Publication II, I tracked population development and genetic diversity over 15 years in a reintroduced lynx population to determine the genetic ramifications on a temporal scale. I found slow genetic erosion after a period of outbreeding, which fits in line with other reintroduced taxa sharing similar demographic histories. I also found the number of genetic founders to be a fraction of the total released individuals, indicating that reintroduced populations of elusive carnivores may have fewer founder individuals than previously thought. In Publication III, I sampled all surviving lynx reintroductions in West and Central Europe as well as 11 natural populations to compare levels of genetic diversity and inbreeding across the species distribution. I found that all reintroduced populations have lower genetic variability and higher inbreeding than natural populations, which urgently requires further translocations to mitigate possible negative consequences. These translocations could stem from other reintroduced populations or from surrounding natural populations. The results contribute to a growing body of evidence indicating that inbreeding is likely to be more prevalent in wild populations than previously understood. Finally, in the discussion I explore how genetic methods can be applied to post-reintroduction monitoring of felid species to illuminate questions relating to genetic composition after release. The methods employed in these studies and in future work will be highly dependent on the research questions posed. Additionally, I investigate the drivers of the observed genetic patterns including founder size, source population, environmental factors, and population growth. I found that genetic diversity loss patterns across these two felid species are not clearly defined, however, management actions can be taken to mitigate the negative effects of reintroductions. These management actions include further translocation, introducing a sufficient number of released individuals and situating reintroductions adjacent to natural populations. All of these actions can minimize genetic drift and inbreeding, two factors which negatively impact small populations. This thesis further supports mounting evidence that genetic considerations should be assessed before releasing individuals, which allows for incorporation of scientific evidence into the planning process thereby increasing the overall success of reintroduction projects. Ultimately, the resources developed during this dissertation provide a solid baseline and foundation for future work regarding the consequences of reintroductions. This is especially important as an increasing number of species are at risk of extinction and reintroductions of both the European wildcat and Eurasian lynx, as well as many others, are planned in the coming years.


Infrared holography by using CO2 laser radiation (10.6 µm) is demonstrated. Cholesteric liquid crystals having a response range from 26°C to 31°C and 34°C to 37°C are used as a holographic recording medium in the infrared wavelengths. A hologram represented on the liquid crystal detector is then recorded photographically on an ordinary film and is reconstructed by a 6328Å He–Ne laser beam. It is shown that the observed values of demagnification and the positions of reconstructed images of the IR holography are well represented by calculations based on the Meier's theory.


In reply As biological psychiatrists, we believe that everything we do, think, or feel has an ultimate biological substrate. Although we are interested in delimiting these substrates and their interactions with experiential factors, we realize that if we are to progress in this endeavor, we must rigorously question our methods and our data, as well as our hypotheses and the assumptions on which they rest. Unfortunately, one cannot offer constructive criticism of the biological theories of sexual orientation without being perceived by some as rejecting the hypothesis that biology plays any role. We did not, as McConaghy concludes, consider "a biological influence on sexual orientation incompatible with findings of a large proportion of monozygotic twins discordant for homosexuality." Our conclusion was that, while genes are not irrelevant, "the large proportion of discordant pairs undersciores our ignorance of the factors that are involved... in the emergence of sexual orientation. " 1(p230) Logically, the


Currently, HIV diagnosis relies on serology. Yet in groups at high risk for HIV serology is not sufficient because of the window period between infection and seroconversion. There is a growing body of reports on HIV-infected yet seronegative individuals. Some tests have been developed to identify exposure to HIV by its effect on the cells of the immune system that would differentiate following exposure to the foreign antigens. Detection, in vitro, of HIV-specific B and T cells in seronegative, at risk individuals has been reported. In only some of these individuals was an HIV infection confirmed by other methods. These new assays to detect HIV immunity enable us to identify two new groups among seronegative, at risk individuals; namely those with immunity to HIV and a detectable HIV infection (silent carriers), and those with immunity and no proof of infection. Both groups have been exposed to HIV yet are not being detected by serology. Both might hold information on other forms of HIV immunity, possibly a protective one. Thus there could be an important role for other immunological assays in early detection of HIV exposure.


The mouse monoclonal antibody (MAb) AUAI, when applied on LoVo tumour sections, reacts by staining all tumour cells, on their cell surfaces. To investigate the accessibility of these sites to antibody when the tumour is present as a solid mass in vivo, subcutaneous xenografts of LoVo were first prepared in nude mice. The mice were then injected intravenously with either 125I‐labelled AUAI, 125I AUAI F(ab')2 or with 125I‐labelled HMFG2 (negative control antibody). Animals were killed at various time intervals. Gross and micro‐autoradiography as well as immunohistochemistry were performed on tissue samples of tumour and control organs. The in vivo injected antibody, in contrast to that studied in vitro, was localized only, as detected by auto radiography, on a thin layer of tumour cells adjacent to the vascularized stroma. On microscopically small tumour islands the antibody penetration was complete. Most of the radioactivity was on the cell surfaces, as seen on in vitro immunostaining. With intact antibody, similar autoradiographic results were obtained at days 1,3 and 6. With F(ab')2 fragments there was deeper penetration into the tumour at days 1 and 3, though less radioactivity was found; by day 6 the activity had greatly decreased. Radioactivity in the control organs was limited to the blood pool. Negative control antibody HMFG2 showed no localization on the tumour cells. These results were not due to differences in antigenic expression of the tumour cells but reflect the problem of accessibility of antigenic sites in vivo.


This explorative study aimed to investigate the relationship between anthropogenic air pollution like summer smog, and anti-asthma medication dispensing by pharmacies to children from 6 until 12 years old in a city and a town in the North of the Netherlan


Expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) mRNA in ovarian granulosa cells of patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) were explored. Ovarian granulosa cells were extracted from 5 patients with PCOS and 30 normal controls. Expression of PPARγ mRNA in granulosa cells of the 5 PCOS patients (observation group) and 5 normal controls (control group) was detected by RT-qPCR. The remaining 25 cases of normal human ovarian granulosa cells were cultured in vitro for 48 h, followed by cell culture for another 24 h with different concentrations of testosterone, insulin (INS), and rosiglitazone (RGZ). After that, expression of PPARγ mRNA was detected by RT-qPCR. Relative expression level of PPARγ mRNA in the observation group was significantly lower than that in the control group. Compared with testosterone concentration at 10-2 mol/ml, testosterone concentration at 10-3 mol/ml significantly reduced the expression level of PPARγ mRNA. When the INS concentration was 10-5 mol/ml, relative expression level of PPARγ mRNA was significantly higher than that of the control group (P<0.01). Relative expression level of PPARγ mRNA was significantly higher than that of the control group when INS concentration was 10-4 mol/ml. When the concentration of RGZ was 10-4 mol/ml, the relative expression level of PPARγ mRNA was significantly higher than that of the control group (P<0.01). When concentration of RGZ was 10-3 mol/ml, expression level of PPARγ mRNA was significantly increased comparing to that under a RGZ concentration of 10-4 mol/ml or that of the control group (P<0.01). Appropriate concentrations of testosterone can inhibit the expression of PPARγ mRNA in ovarian granulosa cells, and certain concentrations of INS and RGZ can induce the expression of PPARγ mRNA in ovarian granulosa cells. Abnormal expression of PPARγ mRNA in ovarian granulosa cells may be related to the mechanism of PCOS.


In our previous work, we described an adaptive fast playback framework for video summarization where we changed the playback rate using the motion activity feature so as to maintain a constant "pace." This method provides an effective way of skimming through video, especially when the motion is not too complex and the background is mostly still, such as in surveillance video. In this paper, we present an extended summarization framework that, in addition to motion activity, uses semantic cues such as face or skin color appearance, speech and music detection, or other domain dependent semantically significant events to control the playback rate. The semantic features we use are computationally inexpensive and can be computed in compressed domain, yet are robust, reliable, and have a wide range of applicability across different content types. The presented framework also allows for adaptive summaries based on preference, for example, to include more dramatic vs. action elements, or vice versa. The user can switch at any time between the skimming and the normal playback modes. The continuity of the video is preserved, and complete omission of segments that may be important to the user is avoided by using adaptive fast playback instead of skipping over long segments. The rule-set and the input parameters can be further modified to fit a certain domain or application. Our framework can be used by itself, or as a subsequent presentation stage for a summary produced by any other summarization technique that relies on generating a sub-set of the content.


The zonally integrated flow in a basin can be separated into the divergent/nondivergent parts, and a uniquely defined meridional overturning circulation (MOC) can be calculated. For a basin with significant volume exchange at zonal open boundaries, this method is competent in removing the components associated with the nonzero source terms due to zonal transports at open boundaries. This method was applied to the zonally integrated flow in the Indian Ocean basin extended all the way to the Antarctic by virtue of the ECCO dataset. The contributions due to two major zonal flow systems at open boundaries, the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), were well separated from the rotational flow component, and a nondivergent overturning circulation pattern was identified. Comparisons with previous studies on the MOC of the Indian Ocean in different seasons showed overall consistency but with refinements in details to the south of the entry of the ITF, reflecting the influence of ITF on the MOC pattern in the domain. Other options of decomposition are also examined.


Abstract: To define the pathology in cases of non-Alzheimer primary degenerative dementia (non-AD PDD), we have studied autopsies from four medical centres accessioned in consecutive years since 1976. Neurochemical studies of the basal forebrain-cortical (BF-C) cholinergic system have been conducted in cases from which frozen tissue was available. Twenty-two cases (mean age 70 years, range 47-86) in which the history was consistent with PDD, but which did not meet anatomic criteria for AD, were selected. Approximately 70 cases of PDD, which were accessioned in the same years and met the anatomic criteria for AD, were excluded. The pathologic findings permitted a classification into six groups: Lewy body disease (LBD), 4 cases; Pick's disease, 6 cases; cortical degeneration with motor neuron disease (CDmnd), 2 cases; hippocampal and temporal lobe sclerosis, 3 cases; few or nonspecific abnormalities, 5 cases; other disorders, 2 cases. Our findings suggest that LBD and Pick's disease account for a large proportion of cases of non-AD PDD in the presenile age group, but that a large number of other disorders occasionally present as PDD. Careful examination of the motor systems, as well as cerebral structures relate' to cognitive function, is important in the neuropathologic evaluation. Lesions of the BF-C cholinergic system have been most consistent and severe in LBD, and have not been identified in CDmnd.


Abstract: The purpose of this article is to determine whether biographical differences influence employees' perception on safety control measures and the cost thereof. A quantitative research approach was followed for which data were collected by means of a structured questionnaire from 151 employees at a colliery in South Africa. Exploratory factor analysis was used to reduce the employees' perceptions into nine factors. This was followed by an analysis of means using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and t-tests to determine differences between perceptions of these factors and the biographical groupings of the employees. Five biographical variables were included, namely (i) years of experience, (ii) English proficiency, (iii) qualification, (iv) gender, and (v) designation. Within a meta-theoretical conceptual scope, a cross-sectional analysis revealed the following statistically significant perception differences: Firstly, from a biographical variable view, English proficiency groupings differ significantly among six of the nine factors. Secondly, from a factor classification view, both direct and indirect cost of work accidents/injuries and perceptions in relation to direct and indirect cost of an unsafe work environment differ significantly in three biographical variables, namely years of experience, English proficiency and qualification. To be more specific, the most experienced group (21+ years' of experience), the poor/fair, and even to a lesser extent, the good English proficiency groups and the group with no tertiary training should be educated especially about the effect that work accidents, injuries and an unsafe work environment have on the direct and indirect costs of the colliery. The study recommend that the employees with higher qualifications, excellent English proficiency as well as those with relatively fewer years of experience should do higher risk jobs as they are more receptive to safety rules and procedures.Keywords: Biographical factors, colliery, mine, production costs, safety controls


The cryosphere plays an important role in the global carbon cycle, but few studies have examined carbon fluxes specifically on debris-covered glaciers. To improve understanding of the magnitude and variability of the atmospheric carbon flux in supraglacial debris, and its environmental controls, near-surface CO2 fluxes and meteorological variables were monitored over thick (0.23 m) and thin (0.04 m) debris at Miage Glacier, European Alps, over two ablation seasons, using an eddy covariance system. The CO2 flux alternates between downward and upward orientation in the day and night, respectively, and is dominated by uptake of CO2 in thick debris (mean flux = 1.58 g CO2 m−2 d−1), whereas flux magnitude is smaller and near net zero on thin debris (mean flux = −0.06 g CO2 m−2 d−1). These values infer a potential drawdown of >150 t CO2 km−2 over an ablation season, and >500 t CO2 (0.5 Gg CO2) for the whole debris-covered zone. The strong correlation of daytime CO2 flux magnitude with debris surface temperature suggests that atmospheric CO2 is consumed in hydrolysis and carbonation reactions at sediment-water interfaces in debris. Incoming shortwave radiation is key in heating debris, generating dilute meltwater, and providing energy for chemical reactions. CO2 drawdown on thin debris increases by an order of magnitude on days following frost events, implying that frost shattering generates fresh reactive sediment, which is rapidly chemically weathered with the onset of ice melting. Net CO2 release in the night, and in the daytime when debris surface temperature is below 7°C, is likely due to respiration by debris microorganisms. The combination of dilute meltwater, high temperature, and reactive mineral surfaces open to the atmosphere, makes supraglacial debris an ideal environment for rock chemical weathering. Debris-covered glaciers could be important to local and regional carbon cycling, and measurement of CO2 fluxes and controlling processes at other sites is warranted.


The influence oftemperature, addition of glycerol, initial freezing temperature, method of dilution, level of glycerol in the diluted semen, equilibration time and type of diluent on the survival and fertilizing capacity of deep-frozen according to the best conditions was compared with that of "fresh" semen. The addition of glycerol at plus30 degrees C resulted in a highly significant decrease in the mean proportion of motile spermatozoa immediately after thawing compared with the effect of addition at plus 4 degrees C. The immersion of the straws at minus55 degrees C significantly reduced the revival of the spermatozoa compared with initial freezing at lower temperatures. The exposure time to glycerol had no significant effect on the survival of spermatozoa after thawing and incubation, but fertility was significantly higher with 4% than with 2% glycerol. The I. N. R. A. diluent provided better sperm survival and a significantly higher conception rate than did lactose-egg yolk extender. The semen frozen according to the best conditions (about 50% of the samples) had a fertilizing ability similar to that of "fresh" semen when the proportion of motile spermatozoa before, and after 1 or 3 hr of incubation was equal to or above 45, 40 and 30% respectively.


Using data of the partial reflection technique, the behavior of electron concentration in the D-region of the polar ionosphere during a strong earthquake on December 26, 2004 has been investigated. At the distance of about 7000 km from the source of the event, wave disturbances in the auroral D-region were found, which spatial and temporal characteristics were determined.


In this short report, I discuss the way in which an assumption at the outset of a longitudinal study on HIV-positive mothers has been challenged three years into the study. The assumption concerns the employment status of the participants. The Kgolo Mmogo project1 is investigating the resilience factors in mothers (n=440) and children (n=440) who are dealing with the affect and effects of HIV&AIDS.2 The study consists of long-term data collection on the psychological resilience factors in both groups. The assessment data are paralleled by intervention research that tracks the effects of a group-based support intervention in terms of which the mothers and children are assigned to groups within a randomised control trial design. In designing the intervention, a basic assumption was that the study would show variance in the group participation rates of the mothers due to anticipated health fluctuations. As a result, the intervention was designed to make provision for home visits should a mother be absent from three consecutive group sessions. However, preliminary data from the study indicate that absenteeism from groups can more often be explained in terms of new employment than in terms of health problems. This preliminary finding may have implications for the design of future interventions in respect of mothers affected by HIV&AIDS.


Capable tools are needed in order to successfully search and retrieve a suitable image from large image collections. Many content-based image retrieval systems employ low-level image features such as color, texture and shape in order to locate the image. Although the above approaches are successful, they lack the ability to include human perception in the query for retrieval because the query must be an image. In this paper a new image annotation technique and a keyword-based image retrieval system are presented, which map the low-level features of the Joint Composite Descriptor to the high-level features constituted by a set of keywords. One set consists of colors-keywords and the other set consists of words. Experiments were performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed technique.


Objective: We aimed to examine hemoglobin (HGB), hematocrit (HCT), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean cell hemoglobin concentration, red blood cell count (RBC), platelet count (PLT), ferritin, vitamin B12, and folic acid levels in heroin addicts by comparing them with healthy controls. Materials and Methods: This study included a total of 325 patients with only heroin use; and 163 healthy individuals. Participants, who had hematological disorders and other chronic diseases, were excluded from the study. HGB, HCT, MCV, mean cell hemoglobin concentration, RBC, PLT, ferritin, vitamin B12, and folic acid levels were compared between groups. Results: The patient group comprised of 318 males and 7 females with the mean age of 26.39±6.18 years. There was no significant difference between patient and control group in terms of age, sex, body mass index and alcohol consumption. HGB, HCT, folic acid levels, and RBC were lower in the patient group than control. There was no significant correlation among HGB, HCT, RBC, PLT, and the sociodemographic characteristics of patients. Conclusion: The effects of heroin on the hematological parameter should be considered. Heroin effects on HGB, HTC, RBC, and folic acid may tend to decrease. Prospective, longitudinal studies, and studies involving intoxication-remission periods are needed.


The electrical conductivity and viscosity of borosilicate glass-forming melts were studied over a wide composition and temperature range above the transition temperature Tg. High-temperature Raman spectroscopy was used to characterize the structure of both molten and glassy states of the system. The temperature dependence of both electrical conductivity and viscosity are well described by a Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann VFT law. Contrary to the solid state, it appears that in the molten state the boron coordination number is no longer the relevant parameter to account for the compositional dependence of both the electrical conductivity and the viscosity. Our results reveal an interdependence of the electrical conductivity and viscosity with a nonlinear character of the Stokes-Einstein law. This could be explained by a difference in the elementary mechanism of transport between these two properties.


. In many museums in China, the use of artificial intelligence for transformation has been a new path of development. At the same time, the use of artificial intelligence technology has broken through the limitations of time and space, allowing people to visit museums anytime and anywhere, to get the information they need, and to observe and experience all aspects of the museum's activities. The use of artificial intelligence technology for museum development has great relevance and value to the development of museums. This paper discusses the intelligent development path of the Forbidden City Museum from the perspective of several intelligent services, such as intelligent reception, intelligent exhibition and intelligent tourism, and makes relevant suggestions in this regard.


OBJECTIVE
To characterize histopathologic features of non-Alzheimer type dementia.

METHODS
Bodian, Gallyas-Braak silver staining, tau and ubiquitin immunohistochemistry were applied in an analysis of 22 cases of autopsy-proven neurodegenerative dementia. Appearance, distribution and immunoreactivity of neuronal and glial inclusions in the brain were observed. The final histological diagnoses were made according to the pathological criteria for several types of common non-Alzheimer type dementia.

RESULTS
Among the 22 cases of neurodegenerative dementia, 12 cases were identified as non-Alzheimer type dementia, including Pick's disease (2 cases), progressive supranuclear palsy (3 cases) and corticobasal degeneration (3 cases), dementia with Lewy bodies (1 case), and Parkinson's disease (3 cases). Another 10 cases consisted of pure Alzheimer's disease (AD, 9 cases) and AD combined with argyrophilic grain disease (1 case). Characteristic neuronal and glial inclusions, such as classical and cortical Lewy body, Pick body, Globous NFTs, astrocytic plaque and tufted astrocyte, argyrophilic grain were found in the brains of non-Alzheimer type dementia. Classical and cortical Lewy bodies were not argyrophilic but were immunoreactive to ubiquitin. Pick bodies, Globous NFTs, astrocytic plaques, tufted astrocytes and argyrophilic grains were all argyrophilic. Pick bodies showed tau and ubiquitin immunoreactivity. However, Globous NFTs, astrocytic plaques, tufted astrocytes, and argyrophilic grains were reactive only to tau immunohistochemistry.

CONCLUSIONS
Findings of characteristic neuronal and glial inclusions may help to differentiate non-Alzheimer type dementia from AD, and in conjunction with Gallyas-Braak staining and immunohistochemistry for tau and ubiquitin, to further define histopathologic subcategories of non-Alzheimer type dementia.


Pecan [Carya illinoensis (Wangenb.) C. Koch] tree height was gradually reduced by removing one, two, or three limbs per year at a height < 9 m. Pruning improved tree vigor and color, increased trunk circumference, terminal shoot growth, nut size, and leaf N, P, and Mg, but reduced leaf K and percentage of fancy grade kernels relative to unpruned trees. Yield was not influenced by selective limb pruning


The Swedish agricultural sector is undergoing a period of rationalization and structural change where farms have become fewer and larger. This has created a number of challenges for the remaining farms in terms of how to survive and prosper in the changing competitive landscape. This compilation thesis investigates how the external environment (competitive intensity), social environment (advisors and family) and internal environment (identity) influences farmers' strategic choices related to strategic orientation and entrepreneurship as well as outcomes related to performance. Based on a sample of 388 randomly selected farmers, paper I revealed that as perceptions of competitive intensity increase, farmers tend to become more market and Lean production oriented, but not entrepreneurial oriented. Fittingly, those farms that adopted a more market or Lean production orientation experienced better overall performance than those who increased their entrepreneurial orientation. In paper II, a three-group between subject experimental design was conducted on 122 Swedish farm management students in order to investigate the influence of "cultural intolerance" on the advice given to a farmer considering different strategic options to develop their farm. As the subject's cultural intolerance (as measured through their level of "Jante") increased, their recommendations towards adopting entrepreneurship decreased. Paper III in this thesis used a survey of 269 Swedish farmers to measure social identity and the level of involvement of family members on the farm in order to predict strategic choices related to financial, social and environmental sustainability goals. Findings reveal that family influences sustainability goals, however this influence is limited to social sustainability goals, but not economic or environmental sustainability goals. The findings can be useful to understand farmer's social justification to be in business. Finally, the kappa in this thesis employs a post-literature scoping review in order to reflect on the choices made in conceptualizing, operationalizing, and positioning the work in order to develop recommendations for future research.


Throughout this study period the prevalence of infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV) in Scottish farmed Atlantic salmon was high in the marine environment but relatively low in fresh water. In order to minimize the risk of vertical transmission of infection from parent to progeny, all IPNV infected broodstock populations had to undergo testing of all fish for the virus at the time of stripping and eggs from positive parents were destroyed. Between 1990 and 2002 over 68 000 Atlantic salmon broodfish were individually screened for IPNV by cell culture isolation and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Generalized linear mixed models were used to assess the influence of geographical region, age, sex and year on IPNV prevalence in Atlantic salmon broodstock. This analysis determined that the age and sex of the broodfish and the geographical region of the broodstock stripping site did not have a statistically significant influence on IPNV prevalence within the broodstock parental population. However, there was a statistically significant temporal increase in IPNV prevalence from 1990 to 2002.


In this paper we will identify the contract dimensions of alliance contracts directed at joint development of new products or services. We will determine to what extent these contract dimensions are adaptable to future needs and insights. We will also provide insight into the contingency of these adjustable contract dimensions upon competence trust, the build-up of alliance experience and cooperation intensity. The results demonstrate that the adaptability of the risk and revenue distribution lags behind the adjustability of other critical contract dimensions like the scope definition, determining the input of assets and the anticipated efforts of alliance partners. This contrast in adaptability can result in an early demise of alliances. On the other hand there is evidence that alliances create such a dependency that alliances, especially those directed at joint development, tend to create a lock-in or prisoner dilemma.


This paper explores whether or not the saving behavior of Filipino households fits the life-cycle hypothesis. Using pseudo-panels, which are constructed from the public use data files of the Family Income and Expenditures Survey of 1988 to 2000, it shows that consumption rises with the age of the household head and that the consumption profile has been rising for younger cohorts. The regressions indicate that the cohort-independent age effects on consumption simply track those on income across all ages, suggesting that Filipino households do not behave as the life-cycle hypothesis prescribes, possibly because they are liquidity constrained or impatient.


Augmented reality (AR) is on the rise with consumer-level head-mounted displays (HMDs) becoming available in recent years. Text entry is an essential activity for AR systems, but it is still relatively underexplored. Although it is possible to use a physical keyboard to enter text in AR systems, it is not the most optimal and ideal way because it confines the uses to a stationary position and within indoor environments. Instead, a virtual keyboard seems more suitable. Text entry via virtual keyboards requires a pointing method and a selection mechanism. Although there exist various combinations of pointing+selection mechanisms, it is not well understood how well suited each combination is to support fast text entry speed with low error rates and positive usability (regarding workload, user experience, motion sickness, and immersion). In this research, we perform an empirical study to investigate user preference and text entry performance of four pointing methods (Controller, Head, Hand, and Hybrid) in combination with two input mechanisms (Swype and Tap). Our research represents a first systematic investigation of these eight possible combinations. Our results show that Controller outperforms all the other device-free methods in both text entry performance and user experience. However, device-free pointing methods can be usable depending on task requirements and users' preferences and physical condition.


The proposed System assists the sensor based mobile robot navigation in an indoor environment using Fuzzy logic controller. Fuzzy logic control is well suited for controlling a mobile robot because it is capable of making inferences even under uncertainty. It assists rules generation and decision-making. It uses set of linguistic Fuzzy rules to implement expert knowledge under various situations. A Fuzzy logic system is designed with two basic behaviors- obstacle avoidance and a target seeking behavior. The inputs to the Fuzzy logic controller are the desired direction of motion and the readings from the sensors. The outputs from the Fuzzy logic controller are the accelerations of robot wheels. Under the proposed Fuzzy model, a mobile robot avoids the obstacles and generates the path towards the target.


Abstract In this work, optimized techniques of conventional, ultrasound and microwave-assisted extraction were applied for the recovery of antioxidant compounds from lemon by-products (Citrus limon L). Specifically, the effect of solvent, temperature, microwave power, time and their interaction on the extraction was investigated. Among the tested solvents, the hydroalcoholic mixture (ethanol:water, 50:50) was the optimal one for all extraction techniques: in particular assisted by ultrasounds at 70 °C for 30 minutes (total phenolic content: 6.93 mg GAE g−1, total flavonoids: 2.07 mg CE g−1, ABTS assay: 18.36 µM TE g−1). Also, the other techniques allowed to obtain valuable extracts, although with relative lower amounts. The analyses of individual phenols revealed hesperidin and eriocitrin as the main compounds (respectively about 1650 and 1150 mg kg−1) after ultrasound assisted and conventional extraction. Results of this work can be useful to valorize an industrial by-product by sustainable techniques for the high-added value substances recovery.


The hook method has been applied to the population measurement for low-lying excited levels of He and Cd including metastable levels as well as for the ground state of Cd in the cataphoretic He–Cd laser discharge (3 mm bore and 685 mm long) under the typical condition for lasing (He pressure of 4.0 Torr, evaporator temperature of 170 to 270°C and dc current of 30 to 160 mA). The population density of Cd ions in the 3250 Å upper level was also obtained by the line intensity measurement combined with the hook method. The results have shown that Penning collisions of ground state Cd atoms with 23S metastable He atoms are dominant for the excitation of 4416 and 3250 Å laser lines. The Penning-excitation cross section of 1.7×10-15 cm2 and the population density of the 4416 Å upper level have been determined, which are consistent with the result so far obtained.


Nowadays, the demand of conceptual document clustering is becoming increase to manage various types of vast amount of information published on the World Wide Web. In this paper, we use formal concept analysis (FCA) method for clustering documents according to their formal contexts. Concept hierarchy of documents is built using the formal concepts of the documents in the document corpus. We use tf.idf (term frequency /spl times/ inverse document frequency) term weighting model to reduce less useful concepts from these formal concepts and the association and correlation mining techniques to analyze the relationship of terms in the document corpus.


Radical innovation is an important driver of the growth, success, and wealth of firms and nations. Because of its importance, authors in a variety of disciplines and time periods have addressed this topic. They have proposed many hypotheses about the drivers of innovation in firms across nations, including factors such as religion, geography, number of scientists and engineers, country culture, intellectual property protection, patents, R&D, and firm culture. The authors test these hypotheses using survey and archival data across 759 firms drawn from 17 major world economies. Results contradict many prior assertions about the appropriate metric for innovation and the drivers of innovation.Results show that: 1) Commercialization of radical innovations has an important impact on a firm's financial performance and as such is a more valid measure of innovation than patents. 2) The internal culture of a firm is the strongest driver of radical innovations. Its impact exceeds that of all other factors proposed in the literature.


The peripheral sympathetic nervous system (SNS) is a major determinant of blood pressure and is likely to be involved in the pathophysiology of hypertension. Because SNS activity varies among organs, we measured the in vivo turnover (TO) of norepinephrine (NE) in seven organs of 5- and 22-wk-old genetically hypertensive (LH), normotensive (LN), and low blood pressure (LL) rats of the Lyon strains. The TO of NE was found normal in the superior cervical ganglia and decreased in the heart of 5-wk-old LH rats compared with both LL and LN controls. This suggests that sympathetic cardiac innervation may not be involved in the development of hypertension. On the contrary, an increased TO of NE in the kidney cortex and an elevated TO of dopamine associated with an increased epinephrine content in the adrenal medulla were observed in 5-wk-old LH rats, which could participate in the development of hypertension in the Lyon model.


The management schemes of four rain forest patches in southern Benin and south-western Nigeria, which led to the successful protection of numerous threatened plants and animals over the last 20 plus years, are analysed. Since climatic conditions are similar, tree composition depends largely on different availability of water and documented biodiversity mostly on the availability of taxonomic expertise. Management differs according to accessibility and human population pressure, from total closing off of the forest by an international institute near the mega-polis Ibadan to unmarked borders near Lanzron, a remote village in the lower Oueme Valley, where foreigners are mostly excluded from visiting the site. In Benin, trees and wildlife (antelopes and monkeys) seem best protected where the local vodoun beliefs are adhered to. This is, however, not sufficient and development aid to support and benefit the local population is needed as exem plified in Zinvie. At the Ibadan and Drabo sites, long-term protection is assured by legally-binding landtitles. Since for all of Lanzron and part of Zinvie these are lacking securing them is a priority. In Ibadan, Nigeria, a major rehabilitation effort is concentrated on bringing relatively old grass land and former vil lage sites under forest cover by planting local trees. Rehabilitation in Drabo, in southern Benin, relies on enriching the naturally occurring fallow succession with rare species from nearby threatened sacred forests. We demonstrate that reversing biodiversity loss is possible but requires a long-term commitment. Recommendations for protecting, stabilizing and enhancing similar small hotspots of biodiversity are made.


Flexible approaches to lifelong learning have the potential to increase motivation and influence recruitment and retention. This paper explores how the introduction of a collaborative rotational placement programme between the NHS and the voluntary sector helped qualified staff to develop their practice in caring for patients with cancer from diagnosis through to bereavement. Staff experienced an increase in their personal motivation, confidence and enthusiasm.


Abstra ct Public Service Advertisements are non-commercial advertisements that aim to sell ideas for the benefit of public service. The message of Public Service Advertisements contains suggestions and persuation  to the public to take an action that changes their "bad" behavior for the better behavior . This paper attempts to describe the meaning of social messages in the text of public service advertisements "Stereotype Z". Data analysts use  Riffaterre's semiotic approach. Through heuristic and hermenetic reading, analysis of the indirect expressions, matrix, model, variant, and hypogra, results show that the text of public service advertisements "Stereotype Z" contains  a social  message that persuade the young generation (generation Z) to be more critical about the problems in their suroundings .


Bangladesh is one of the top five growing economies in the world, according to the World Bank. The country is now at a critical economic juncture with many challenges ahead. The double-digit growth rate of Gross Domestic Product, a massive influx of investment and a highly skilled workforce is the key bases to secure 'Vision 2041'. This study shows how the Economic Zones are contributing to foster economic development in Bangladesh. The background study of the Economic Zones showed that the 'Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority Act, 2010' was enacted to make each zone an engine for economic growth. Describing the challenges, the study shows the key dynamic aspects of Economic Zones and the rationale behind why investors and other people are marking them as key role players in the economic advancements of Bangladesh. Economic Zones are contributing to attracting Foreign Direct Investment, local investment and employment to promote the economic growth of the country. The priorities of the investors were sorted out, and some gaps were also detected. Upgrading online servicing in fostering 'One Stop Service' and revisiting fiscal rules are the suggestions more from this study.


Purpose: To investigate the effect of tiazofurin on proliferation and growth of oral cancer cells, and the associated mechanism(s) of action. Methods: The effect of tiazofurin on the cytotoxicity of SCC-VII and SCC-25 oral cancer cells were measured using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, while cell apoptosis was determined by flow cytometry. Western blotting was used for assaying protein expressions. Results: Tiazofurin inhibited the viability of the oral cancer cells in a concentration-based manner (p < 0 .05). Tiazofurin treatment at a dose of 2.0 μM reduced the proliferation of SCC-VII and SCC-25 cells to 25 and 22 %, respectively. Apoptosis was significantly increased in SCC-VII and SCC-25 cells by tiazofurin treatment, relative to untreated cells (p < 0 .05). Tiazofurin also increased the activation levels of caspase-3 and caspase-9 and downregulated the expressions of p-Akt and p-mTOR in the two cancer cell lines. Moreover, miR-204 expression was significantly promoted in the tiazofurin-treated cells, when compared to control (p < 0 .05). In SCC-VII cells, treatment with tiazofurin suppressed Factin expression, relative to control. Conclusion: These results demonstrate that tiazofurin inhibits the viability and proliferation of SCC-VII and SCC-25 cancer cells via induction of apoptosis and activation of caspase-3/caspase-9. Moreover, tiazofurin targets Akt/mTOR pathway, and upregulats the expressions of F-actin and miR-204 in the oral carcinoma cells. These findings suggest that tiazofurin has a potential for use as an effective treatment for oral cancer.


Companies, universities, and other institutions that conduct clinical trials are required to record the results of most of them in a federal database, so that doctors and patients can see whether new treatments are safe and effective. But a Science investigation has found that many persist in not reporting those results, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) are doing little to nothing to enforce the reporting requirement—despite recent promises to the contrary. While many pharma companies have improved their reporting of trial results over the past few years, a large number of universities and academic medical centers continue to have bad records. Ironically, NIH itself is part of the problem—its top institutes for clinical trials have a poor record of reporting results of those trials for which they are responsible. Science checked all 4768 trials whose results have come due under legal requirements finalized by NIH and FDA 3 years ago. Overall, sponsors violated the reporting law more than 55% of the time. Yet FDA has never fined a trial sponsor for noncompliance and NIH has never publicly named or withdrawn a grant from violators, although such actions were vowed in 2016 when ClinicalTrials.gov9s requirements were clarified.


Over the past two decades researchers have increasingly become aware of the fact that language teaching can benefit from the field of discourse analysis and pragmatics. This paper analyzes the applicability of the so called problem-solution pattern to the teaching of writing. An experiment was conducted in order to test M. Hoey's (2001) belief that the pattern can serve as a ready-made template to help the learner-writer in their task The results point at the fact that providing students with vocabulary related to the topic triggers the problem-solution pattern, which reveals itself as culturally known for our student s, without the need of explaining it explicitly.


A synthesis of bismuth selenide with a thickness of 3-4 nm on the surface of mica taken as a matrix was investigated using the gas-solid mechanism. Since discovery of two-dimensional atomic crystals of graphene in 2004, scientists have grown interested in exploring methods for synthesis of two-dimensional atomic crystal nanofilms. Among them, of particular interest are sulfides and transition metal selenides, such as molybdenum sulfide, tungsten selenide, bismuth selenide. Bismuth selenide possesses special thermoelectric, photoelectric properties, therefore there are wide possibilities for its use in such areas as thermoelectric devices, photosensitive elements, optical information keepers, etc. In this connection, there are many studies on the search for optimal methods for the synthesis of bismuth selenide. Each of the proposed methods has its own advantages and disadvantages. In the article, a variety of the recently used gas-liquid-solid mechanism (V-L-S) is used as a method for the synthesis of bismuth selenide. When using amorphous silicon dioxide as a matrix, the synthesized bismuth selenide is not uniform, and the synthesis process is uncontrollable. Therefore, in the work fluorinated gold mica was used as a matrix. The effect of temperature, gas feed rate on the size, shape and thickness of the film was investigated.


The genome of eukaryotic cells is stored in the nucleus as chromatin, a DNA-protein complex that serves to compact and protect the DNA molecules. The basic unit of chromatin is the nucleosome composed of DNA wrapped around a histone protein core. In addition to condensing and protecting the genome, chromatin confers a number of regulatory properties employed for example in control of gene expression and stabilization of repetitive sequences. Chromatin also constitutes an obstacle that needs to be negotiated in processes such as transcription elongation, DNA replication and DNA repair. A wide range of chromatin modifying factors and mechanisms are involved in regulating the state of chromatin and affect all DNA related processes. These mechanisms, often referred to as epigenetic, include methylation of DNA, regulation by non-coding RNAs, remodeling of nucleosomes, posttranslational modifications of histones and incorporation of variant histones. The resulting chromatin state is called the epigenome and can, in contrast to the underlying DNA sequence, differ between cells in the same organism. This thesis describes characterization of aspects of the egipenomes of hematopoietic cells and fission yeast. We show that in fission yeast, genes with related functions share common patterns of histone modifications in the promoter regions. We also demonstrate crosstalk between different histone modifications, including interdependence of histone H4 acetylation sites and regulatory roles of histone methylation for histone acetylation. To better understand how chromatin factors influence human blood development we analysed expression of genes encoding chromatin modifying proteins in the hematopoietic system, including the hematopoietic stem cells and a wide range of mature blood cells. In doing so we could identify epigenetic factors that were expressed in cell type, cell lineage or cancer specific patterns, implicating them in regulation of blood development. We also found that several genes display differential use of alternative transcription start sites between cell types. Finally we constructed an in-depth map of how DNA methylation and gene expression changes during human granulocyte development. Our experiments show that DNA methylation changes are linked to points of lineage restriction, implicating DNA methylation in control of cell fate. DNA methylation changes, most of which were decreases, were primarily located outside of CpG islands, which have been the focus of most DNA methylation studies historically. Interestingly, DNA methylation was especially dynamic in enhancer elements, and sites with decreasing DNA methylation overlapped with differentiation induced enhancers and increased expression of target genes. This result suggests a role of DNA methylation in regulating enhancer activity in granulopoiesis. LIST OF PUBLICATIONS I. Sinha I*, Buchanan L*, Rönnerblad M, Bonilla C, Durand-Dubief M, Shevchenko A, Grunstein M, Stewart AF, Ekwall K (2010). Genome-wide mapping of histone modifications and mass spectrometry reveal H4 acetylation bias and H3K36 methylation at gene promoters in fission yeast. Epigenomics 2: 377-393 II. Prasad P*, Rönnerblad M*, Arner E, Itoh M, Kawaji H, Lassman T, Daub C, Forrest AR, the FANTOM consortium, Andreas Lennartsson, Karl Ekwall. High-throughput transcription profiling identifies putative epigenetic regulators of hematopoiesis. Blood, manuscript accepted for publication. III. Rönnerblad M, Andersson R, Olofsson T, Douagi I, Karimi M, Lehmann S, Hoof I, de Hoon M, Itoh M, Nagao-Sato S, Kawaji H, Lassman T, Carnici P, Hayashizaki Y, Forrest AR, Sandelin A, the FANTOM consortium, Ekwall K, Arner E, Lennartsson A. Analysis of the DNA methylome and transcriptome in granulopoieis reveal timed changes and dynamic enhancer methylation. Blood, manuscript accepted for publication.


Among dental anomalies, tooth transposition is considered the most difficult to manage clinically. Distal migration of permanent mandibular lateral incisor happens rarely. It can be discovered radiographically in the early mixed dentition & interceptive treatment is often appropriate. If left uncorrected it may erupt ectopically and the results are often unsatisfactory both esthetically and functionally. When transpositions are detected early the positions of the root apices are important in deciding where to move the transposed tooth. This article reports a case of early orthodontic treatment of a rare unilateral mandibular left lateral incisor - canine transposition.


This paper describes the implementation of a spectrally efficient 4-dimensional Q/sup 2/PSK (quadrature-quadrature phase shift keying) DSSS modulation strategy. By using Q/sup 2/PSK, combinations of four, two or one data streams can be modulated in parallel in the same bandwidth as normally occupied by a QPSK system. This allows for even greater flexibility in terms of data throughput rate and reliability in accordance with the prevailing channel conditions. The disadvantages of the Q/sup 2/PSK modulation strategy, such as its inherent sensitivity to phase distortion, can be effectively mitigated by employing the multidimensional spreading technique proposed in this paper. Finally, the efficiency of the proposed Q/sup 2/PSK DS-SSMA system is assessed and demonstrated in a multi-user interference (MUI) environment by means of computer simulation. Very promising results is demonstrated with relatively short sequences used in the simulation studies.


The authors conduct an analysis of diamonds as an investable asset. They discuss the literature of alternative asset class investing and how diamonds fit into this investment framework. After examining the correlation of diamonds with several financial indices and a set of metal commodities, they demonstrate the ability of diamonds to enhance portfolio returns through diversification. They conclude by demonstrating the ability of a diamond return index to provide superior risk-adjusted returns.


This paper introduces a new financial
product named Certificates on a Straddle with Forward Start and provides
detailed descriptions of the product specifications. It shows that the payoff
of a Certificate on a Straddle with Forward Start can be duplicated by the
combination of long positions in call and put options on the underlying asset.
A pricing formula is developed to price the certificates. A certificate issued
by Credit Suisse is presented as an example to examine how well the model fits
empirical data. The results show that issuing Certificates on a Straddle with
Forward Start is a profitable business and the results are in line with
previous studies pricing other structured products.


In this paper, we present the recent port to and latest results of our cache-oblivious algorithms and implementations of parallel LU decomposition code TifaMMy on two new architectures: SGI's UltraViolet distributed shared memory machine, and Intel's latest ×86 architecture Sandy Bridge. TifaMMy's matrix multiplication and LU decomposition routines have been further optimized with regard to these new architectures. Results are discussed and compared with Intel's architecture specific and optimized numerical Math Kernel Library (MKL) for both the standard C++ version with vectorization compiler switches and TifaMMy's highly optimized vector intrinsics version.


In a language test, the number of correct answers is commonly used as the only source of information that defines the result. The question raised is the following: do all task types accommodate all test-takers in the same way? This paper attempts to investigate this relationship by relating correctness and confidence in the answers provided with the task typology. Two achievement tests in two versions (same language content – different task type) were used while test-takers were asked to mark their degree of confidence for each item on both versions. Data obtained through this research were: 1) number of correct answers, and 2) degree of confidence in different task types. Through the correlations of the variables examined (task typology, correctness and confidence) several findings were registered concerning the relationship between accuracy and confidence in different task types. The task type typology may be seen as a moderating factor which could be responsible for possible variations in accuracy and confidence scores.


To the Editor.— We have reviewed the article entitled "Simultaneous Outbreaks of Guillain-Barre Syndrome and Bell's Palsy in Hawaii in 1981" 1 and have a few comments about the methods used in control selection. Proper control selection is of paramount importance for some of the serological comparisons made in this article. Unfortunately, the reader is left questioning how the childhood and adult control groups were actually selected. The reader is given no assurances that selection biases were not introduced. The Lilienfelds 2 and Sackett and Whelan 3 discuss the possible introduction of biases with controls selected from an unrepresentative population. What percentage of the childhood control subjects had disorders that produced immunodeficiency? Persons selected as controls with underlying conditions may not respond to antigenic challenges to agents such as cytomegalovirus or herpesviruses. This could help explain the differences in titer results between case and control populations. The author states that


Formulating and processing of multimedia queries using mobile devices presents many challenges. This is due to the limitations of the devices themselves and the cost of the bandwidth involved in transmitting multimedia data between servers and devices. In this paper we propose a novel approach: "query streaming" which uses Reverse Polish Notation to perform multimedia query-by-example on a mobile device and server. An important advantage of query streaming is the ability to perform a query within the previous result set. To solve the problem of limited resources, the concept of result set examination using Fragment Request Units and Fragment Update Units is also explored. MPEG BiM compression is performed on the communication messages to further minimize transmission requirements.


An evaluation of the effectiveness of the Toothkeeper program was performed in Houston to determine if participation in the program by elementary school children would result in their having cleaner teeth and better gingival health than seen in similar children not in the program. Assessments for plaque and gingivitis were made at the beginning, at the completion of the formal 16-week program, and again after a second 16-week period. In this particular setting, the Toothkeeper was found to be ineffective. Possible reasons for the ineffectiveness of the program are discussed and several suggestions for modifying the program are offered.


Cycloparaphenylenes (CPPs) have attracted the attention of researchers in various fields because of their unique properties, but studies and applications on host materials in the optoelectronics field are lacking. We undertook preliminary exploration and finally selected 1,4-azaborine and [6]CPP as the basic building blocks to construct a series of BN-[6]CPP hybrids. BN-[6]CPPs with various triplet energies (ET = 1.66–3.52 eV) could be the potential hosts in full-color phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). DFT/TDA-DFT calculations showed that introduction of 1,4-azaborine rings at different positions of the [6]CPP hoop could efficiently control delocalization (localization) of triplet excitons and T1-state aromaticity (non-aromaticity), and thus varied with the ET. This work provides not only an efficient strategy for realizing ET controllability for CPP-based materials by chemical modification of CPP frameworks, but also theoretical guidance for the design and prediction of novel hoop-shaped materials with high ET in the organic optoelectronics field.


Because of the correlation between an individual's health and physical activity, this study examines factors influencing the participation of rural residents in various recreational activities. Using survey data collected from rural residents of two areas of Lubelskie Voivodship, this paper fills the gap in research focused on rural residents. The response summary identifies the two most common forms of recreation among rural residents as walking and bicycling, recreation forms common in other European and non-European countries. To further identify personal characteristics and their relation to the frequency of recreational walking and biking, two equations were specified and estimated using latent dependent variable techniques. The results equation showed that females and farmers were more frequently walking than men or non-farming rural residents. In the case of recreational biking, married respondents, farmers, and residents of the northern area of Lubelskie were twice as likely to bike often or very often than the non-married, not employed in farming, and residents of the southern area. Results indicate that in addition to different demographic characteristics, location determines physical activity as reflected in recreational walking and biking, suggesting different approaches are needed to increase participation in either form of recreation among rural residents.


In this paper a new goodness measure for behavioral complex envelope power amplifier models is defined in the frequency domain. The measure can be calculated for any input signal using the same formulas, which makes it general and easy to use. The results will however be dependent on the input signal. The total model error, or normalized mean-square error, for power amplifier models are normally dominated by the in-band error, often mainly caused by the linear distortion. The new measure is aimed at capturing the nonlinear modeling performance of the amplifier model. This is of interest since it is most often the nonlinear, rather than the linear, distortion that causes most harm in real-life power amplifier applications.


In the recent years we have witnessed the growing criticism of the representative framework and the way it operates in many European countries. At the local level, numerous authorities try to answer the shortcomings of representation by applying new participatory agendas. This, however, not only influences the governing process, but also often leads to the clash between elected politicians and citizens. By examining the attitudes of local councilors from Finland and Poland toward citizens' involvement, the present article contributes to the discussion on the coexistence of representative and participative schedules. The analysis draws on empirical data gathered in selected municipalities of both countries. The research findings demonstrate that, in spite of different governing models, the Finnish and Polish local representatives have quite similar, positive attitudes towards increasing the citizens' direct involvement. However, they still consider voting in local elections the key instrument of civic engagement. The results of the research also display the barriers the expanded participative framework encounters and this can be interesting for local practitioners who design participative instruments and monitor their operation.


By using a seine net, fish samples were taken from the nonestuarine Chwaka Bay (Zanzibar, Tanzania) from the mangroves, mud/sand flats and seagrass beds. Sampling was done twice per month between November 2001 and October 2002. In total, 150 fish species belonging to 55 families were identified. Diversity (H') ranged from 1.9 in mud/sand flats to 3.4 within the Chwaka seagrass beds. Mean density of fishes was significantly higher in the mangrove creeks than in any other habitat (mean = 238.7 ind./1000 m2. Highest, but non-significantly different mean biomasses were recorded in the mangrove creeks (1.7 kg/1000 m2) and in the Marumbi seagrass beds (1.6 kg/1000 m2). The mangrove channel had the lowest biomass (0.6 kg/1000 m2). A high overlap in species composition (as high as 93.4% similarity) was found for adjoining habitats (i.e mangrove creeks and mangrove channel), while habitats that were far apart showed low overlap (6.6% similarity for the Marumbi seagrass beds and mangrove creeks). On average, 58.4 and 63.2% in terms of abundance and biomass, respectively, of the fish assemblage of Chwaka Bay were of commercial fishery importance. Thus, Chwaka Bay appears to be an important juvenile habitat for various commercially important fish species.


Tucked inside Thomas Kuhn's masterly little book is a statement to the effect that scholarly endeavours, that have yet to fix upon an accepted paradigm, display continual and often exacerbatic confrontations between rival wings each trying to press upon the other the virtues of their particular mode of scientific procedure. In Kuhn's own words: 'Because it [the awareness of anomaly] demands large scale paradigm destruction and major shifts in the problems and techniques of normal science, the emergence of new theories is generally preceded by a period of pronounced professional insecurity.' It seems as if political scientists have taken this point to heart. Rarely does an issue of a journal appear without some restatement or reappraisal of the 'State of the Discipline' and related problems.² Apart from the obvious point that political scientists must be spending inordinate amounts of time in such debates, and so perhaps neglecting other fruitful activities — a point which my economist friends would characterize as opportunity costly — there is a concomitant danger that the political world may begin to appear only analyzable with the aid of abstruse, esoteric and above all novel paradigms. Theoretical reasoning may be sustained on the basis of novelty rather than perspicuity.


The pore structure of extending PTFE(ePTFE) membrane by the stretching method is much different from other polymers. The image analysis of Scanning Electron Microscope(SEM) was used to describe the fiberized PTFE molecular and the coagulated PTFE node. The interconnected notes and fibrils were defined as numerical parameters, LF, WF, LN, WN and AN. The results by description of the SEM image analysis were corresponding with the porosity Pr and density Pf in the combination method of bubblepressure and fluid permeability used in other microporous membranes. The membrane with bigger AN images of node gave larger Pf and smaller Pr, and membrane with smaller AN images showed smaller Pf and bigger Pr. However there was no certain relationship with r or rmax. It is said that the SEM image analysis can be used as one of the methods to describe the pore performance of ePTFE membrane. Moreover, the influences of molecular weight of PTFE, and the stretching ratio at mechanical operation on ePTFE pore structure could also be interpreted by the SEM image analysis. The bigger molecular weight of raw material PTFE, the higher porosity and strength of the membrane would be found. The less stretching ratio, the bigger crystal node and the shorter fibril SEM image were observed.


This article aims to analyze possible risks in microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Nepal during the loan disbursement decision. Effective risk management allows MFIs to capitalize on new opportunities and to minimize threats to their financial viability. MFIs consciously take a risk to fulfill their dual mission of sustainability and outreach to the poor. Consequently, they are exposed to a spectrum of risks which include institutional risk, operational risk, financial risk, and external risk. MFIs need to manage these risks for their survival and sustainability. They take risks every day by lending money to people without credit histories, without business records, and often without collateral. Each MFI takes risks to operates as a successful microfinance institution. But it is important to take calculated risks. Risk Management is always focused on the process of taking calculated risks. It includes both the prevention of potential problems and the early detection of problems. Risk management is an ongoing process of systematically identifying, measuring, monitoring, and managing risks in MFIs. It is important to ensure that MFIs operate in a safe, responsible, and sound manner towards their mission.


The first printed book published in Venice appeared in 1469. Ten years later, the city had the largest output of incunabula in Europe. This article aims to analyse Venetian book production between 1469 and 1500, thanks to a database that combines data from ISTC and other information. It makes it possible to better understand how printing became established in Venice. Venetian printers worked for scholars all over Europe, with a strong speciality in law and literature. However, the end of the period shows how the new industry was able to adapt and conquer new markets. This article also analyses the ways in which the printing world developed from a monopolistic structure into a far more fragmented economy.


According to Van Eemeren and Houtlosser (1999, 1999b) discussants that wholeheartedly comply with norms of reasonable and critical discussion may simultaneously and without reneging on these commitments adhere to a rhetorical strategy. To gain a full understanding of what goes on within a discussion or of what is implied by an argumentative text, strategic behavior of the type they describe and exemplify should not, indeed, be neglected. Yet much of this type of behavior is better characterized as following a dialectical strategy. The issue may seem, but is not, merely a question of terminology. If all considerations of strategy were deemed to belong to rhetoric, this would seriously impair the attempts to construct a viable dialectical model of reasonableness fulfilling the demands of critical rationalism. An earlier version of this paper appeared in Dutch (Krabbe 2000a).


Objective:To assess response to physical stress, gene expression profiles in peripheral blood cells were analyzed using an original microarray carrying 1467 stress-responsive complementary DNA probes. Design:Gene expression was analyzed at 4, 24, and 48 hours after exercising on a cycle ergometer at 60% VO2 max for 1 hour (aerobic exercise) or until exhausted (exhaustive exercise). Setting:Institute of Health Biosciences, University of Tokushima Graduate School. Participants:Twelve healthy male students of the postgraduate or undergraduate school. Interventions:The volunteers performed the aerobic or exhaustive exercise on a cycle ergometer. Main Outcome Measurements:Detection of aerobic exercise-responsive or exhaustive exercise-responsive genes in peripheral blood cells. Results:Aerobic and exhaustive exercise transiently changed the expression of 21 and 16 genes, respectively, with the peak at 4 hours. Only 2 genes significantly responded to both types of exercise. Exhaustive but not aerobic exercise produced a secondary response with significantly altered expression of 14 genes at 24 hours. Five of those genes encode receptors for neurotransmitters (HTR1A, CHRNB2, GABRB3, GABRG3, and LOC51289). Conclusions:The behavior of the individual genes shown here may be informative to objectively assess acute physical stress and exhaustion-associated responses.


As a peacetime work of Katherine S. Macphail (Glasgow, 1887- St.Andrews, 1974) MB ChB (Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery), the Anglo-Serbian Children's Hospital in Belgrade was established after World War I, and the English-Yugoslav Children's Hospital for Treatment of Osteoarticular Tuberculosis was founded in Sremska Kamenica in 1934. Situated on the Fruška Gora slope, the hospital-sanatorium was a well-equipped medical institution with an operating theatre and x-ray machine providing very advanced therapy, comparable to those in Switzerland and England: aero and heliotherapy, good quality nourishment, etc. In addition, school lessons were organized as well as several types of handwork as the work-therapy. It was a privately owned hospital but almost all the children were treated free of cost. The age for admission was up to 14. During the period from 1934 to 1937, around 458 children underwent hospital treatment, most of them with successful results. During the war years the Sanatorium was closed but after the war it was reactivated. In 1948 by the act of final nationalization of all medical institutions in the communist Yugoslavia, the hospital was transformed into a ward of orthopedic surgery under the supervision of the referent departments in Belgrade and Novi Sad. Today, hospital is out of work and deprived of its humanitarian mission. The building is neglected and in ruins although it has been proclaimed the national treasure by the Regional Institute for Protection of Monuments of Culture.


Background: Suicide attempts (SA) and other types of self-harm (SH) are strong predictors of death by suicide in adolescents, emphasizing the need to investigate therapeutic interventions in reduction of these and other symptoms. We conducted an updated systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) from our previous study reporting therapeutic interventions that were effective in reducing SH including SA, while additionally exploring reduction of suicidal ideation (SI) and depressive symptoms (DS). Method: A systematic literature search was conducted across OVID Medline, psycINFO, PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library from the first available article to October 22nd, 2017, with a primary focus on RCTs evaluating therapeutic interventions in the reduction of self-harm. Search terms included self-injurious behavior; self-mutilation; suicide, attempted; suicide; drug overdose. Results: Our search identified 1,348 articles, of which 743 eligible for review, yielding a total of 21 studies which met predetermined inclusion criteria. Eighteen unique therapeutic interventions were identified among all studies, stratified by individual-driven, socially driven, and mixed interventions, of which 5 studies found a significant effect for primary outcomes of self-harm and suicide attempts (31.3%), and 5 studies found a significant effect for secondary outcomes of suicidal ideation and depressive symptoms (29.4%) for therapeutic intervention vs. treatment as usual. Collapsing across different variations of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), and classifying Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Adolescents (DBT-A) as a type of CBT, CBT is the only intervention with replicated positive impact on reducing self-harm in adolescents. Conclusion: While the majority of studies were not able to determine efficacy of therapeutic interventions for both primary and secondary outcomes, our systematic review suggests that individual self-driven and socially-driven processes appeared to show the greatest promise for reducing suicide attempts, with benefits of combined self-driven and systems-driven approaches for reducing overall self-harm. Further RCTs of all intervention categories are needed to address the clinical and etiological heterogeneity of suicidal behavior in adolescents, specifically suicidal ideation and depressive symptoms.


Whereas game-theoretic experiments take place in an equilibrium framework in which meaningful change can come from outside observers, the real world is not so fortunate. This paper provides an empirical example of how real people, when given the sufficient time and space not usually afforded in laboratory settings, can and do internally develop institutions that act to change the game-theoretic payoffs they face in order to reinforce cooperative outcomes absent outside intervention. To do so I first introduce virtual reality as an empirical platform for economic analysis and draw on the largely yet-untapped realm of virtual online computer games.


Isomeric biphenyldicarboxylic acids have been
prepared from halobenzoic acids and aryl boronic acids using an inverse
biphasic modification of the Suzuki coupling reaction. In this modification of
the Suzuki coupling reaction, both reactants and products are contained in the
aqueous phase, with palladium catalyst contained in the organic phase. A phase
transfer catalyst is used to contact reactants and catalyst. Multiple cycles,
in which the catalyst/organic solvent is contacted with fresh aqueous
reactants, generating products with no loss of efficiency, are demonstrated. We believe that this is
the first demonstration of Suzuki coupling to produce biphenyldicarboxylic
acids, in this case useful as monomers for the production of condensation
polymers.


The vasoconstrictor effects of PGE2 and PGF2 alpha are less pronounced on retinal vessels of the newborn than of the adult pig. We tested the hypothesis that the decreased vasomotor response to these prostaglandins might be due to relatively fewer receptors and/or different receptor subtypes (in the case of PGE2) on retinal vessels of the newborn animal. Binding studies using [3H]PGE2 and [3H]PGF2 alpha revealed that PGE2 (EP) and PGF2 alpha (FP) receptor densities in retinal microvessel membrane preparations from newborn animals were approximately 25% of those found in vessels from the adult. The Kd for PGF2 alpha did not differ; however, the Kd for PGE2 was less in newborn than in adult vessels. Competition binding studies using AH 6809 (EP1 antagonist), butaprost (EP2 agonist), M/+B 28,767 (EP3 agonist), and AH 23848B (EP4 antagonist) suggested that the retinal vessels of the newborn contained approximately equal number of EP1 and EP2 receptor subtypes whereas the main receptor subtype in the adult vessels was EP1. In addition, PGE2 and butaprost produced comparable increases in adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate synthesis in newborn and adult vessels. PGE2, 17-phenyl trinor PGE2 (EP1 agonist) and PGF2 alpha caused a 2.5 to 3-fold greater increase in inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate (IP3) formation in adult than in newborn preparations. It is concluded that fewer PGF2 alpha receptors and an associated decrease in receptor-coupled IP3 formation in the retinal vessels of the newborn could lead to weaker vasoconstrictor effects of PGF2 alpha on retinal vessels of the newborn than of adult pigs; fewer EP1 receptors (associated with vasoconstriction) and a relatively greater proportion of EP2 receptors (associated with vasodilation) might be responsible for the reduced retinal vasoconstrictor effects of PGE2 in the newborn.


It has been observed that similar metallic materials, when in contact and undergoing relative displacements, can fuse or weld. In standard atmospheric conditions it is not common but in the space environment the inability of the surface interfaces to re-oxide after abrasive contact is hindered, atomic diffusion of the metal occurs, and this can lead to fusion. Oscillatory motion and Hertzian contact stress between the two surfaces plays a major role in the strength of the cold welded joint. It has been shown that the action of a low fretting load can almost double the adhesion force under cyclic loading even in terrestrial atmospheric conditions. In space, cold welding was first identified in the 1960's as an adverse reaction. It has been attributed to anomalies and failures of deployable mechanisms. Other research has alluded to the potential of this phenomena for use in spacecraft repair in space. Examples where this may hold promise is repair of a spacecraft hull breach after hypervelocity impacts due to micrometeoroids or orbital debris. This research proposes an investigation into cold welding for use in spacecraft hull repair. The research intends to qualify an experimental apparatus to TRL 4 using a sub-orbital sounding rocket platform. A joint research effort between the Aerospace, Mechanical and Electronic Department at I.T. Carlow, Ireland, the Department of Aviation at Malta College of Arts, Science, and Technology, Malta is underway. The project aims at developing a test apparatus to apply a number of custom patches to simulated hypervelocity spacecraft hull breaches and investigate the adhesion properties during re-entry for a range of mechanical application conditions. A number of chambers may be tested and monitored using pressure transducers. After Phase 1 (terrestrial development and validation using a vacuum chamber), there will be an application to education based space programmes such as the one offered by the European Space Agency (REXUS). The core of the activity will be the design and testing of the experimental payload, simulating hull breaches, deployment the repair patch and monitoring of its performance during re-entry (Phase 2). The recovery of the payload will allow further metallurgical analysis of the cold welded joint (Phase 3). A conceptual 3-D model of the payload has been developed and is presented here. The data acquired from the sub-orbital flight experiment will test the validity of the hypothesis for use of cold welding for spacecraft hull repair but will also detail the development and implementation of mock hypervelocity impacts to rocket skin for the purposes of simulating hull breaches in the space environment


obesity is an increasingly prevalent comorbidity in the united States and throughout the world. As a consequence, an increasing number of obese patients present to the operating room for surgery with unique perioperative considerations. Anesthesiologists must be able to take safe, effective care of these patients. This narrative review discusses the anesthetic implications of obesity and offers methods for providers to care for obese patients undergoing neurosurgical procedures in the perioperative period. The review examines the preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative issues that anesthesiologists encounter, as well as unique challenges that are addressed during the care of obese patients.


The analysis and design of machine foundation requires more attention since it involves not only the static loads but also the dynamic loads caused by the working of the machine. The limiting amplitude and operating frequency of a machine are the most important parameters to be considered in analysis of machine foundation. The Elastic half space analogy method with embedment coefficients can be used for coupled modes of vibration to get the natural frequencies and amplitudes of foundation vibrations. With effect to depth of embedment there has been increase in natural frequency but considerable decrease in amplitude of foundation vibrations.


Earlier work has demonstrated that partitioning one large behavioral process into smaller ones before synthesis can yield numerous advantages, such as reduced synthesis runtime, easier package constraint satisfaction, reduced power consumption, improved performance, and hardware/software tradeoffs. In this paper, we describe a novel three-step functional partitioning methodology for automatically dividing a large behavioral process into mutually-exclusive subprocesses, and we define the problems and our solutions for each step. The three steps are granularity selection, pre-clustering, and N-way assignment. We refer to experiments throughout that demonstrate the effectiveness of the solutions.


A system of models has been developed to study transient flow during continuous casting and applied to simulate an event of multiple stopper-rod movements. It includes four sub-models to incorporate different aspects in this transient event. A three-dimensional (3-D) porous-flow model of the nozzle wall calculates the rate argon gas flow into the liquid steel, and the initial mean bubble size is estimated. Transient CFD models simulate multiphase flow of steel and gas bubbles in the Submerged Entry Nozzle (SEN) and mold and have been validated with experimental data from both nail dipping and Sub-meniscus Velocity Control (SVC) measurements. To obtain the transient inlet boundary conditions for the simulation, two semi-empirical models, a stopper-rod-position based model and a metal-level-based model, predict the liquid steel flow rate through the SEN based on recorded plant data. Finally the model system was applied to study the effects of stopper rod movements on SEN/mold flow patterns. Meniscus level fluctuations were calculated using a simple pressure method and compared well with plant measurements. Insights were gained from the simulation results to explain the cause of meniscus level fluctuations and the formation of sliver defects during stopper rod movements.