Introduction: A radial nerve injury associated with a humeral shaft fracture is an important injury pattern among trauma patients. It is the most common peripheral nerve injury associated with this fracture. Injuries to the radial nerve can result in significant motor impairment of the arm and the wrist with the loss of wrist extension, the ability to grasp is significantly reduced leading to a serious handicap.
 Objective: To find out the incidence of radial nerve palsy in case of fracture shaft of humerus. To analyze results of various modalities of treatment of fracture shaft of humerus associated with radial nerve injury; To establish a probable guideline for the treatment of radial nerve injuries in fracture of the shaft of humerus. Method: This is a prospective study of 80 patients with closed and open diaphyseal fracture of Humerus with 20 complete primary radial nerve palsy and 5 secondary nerve palsy treated in Government Wenlock Hospital, K.M.C. and associated Hospitals, Mangalore during the period from January 2004 to September 2006.
 Result: A total of 80 patients of fracture shaft of humerus were analyzed in this study with 20 immediate and 5 secondary radial nerve palsy. The youngest patient was 20 years and the oldest was 70 years old. Majority of the patient were in 21 – 40 years of age. Radial nerve palsy was more commonly seen in fractures involving the middle third of Humeral shaft P(0.004). The incidence of radial nerve palsy was highest in patients with oblique fracture and average time of recovery was 22 weeks. All the cases that were explored showed the nerve to be in continuity and no surgical repair of the radial nerve was required P( 0.831). Radial nerve palsy associated with upper third fracture recovers faster; though it needs to be further confirmed as the sample size was small.
 Conclusion: The outcome of radial nerve palsy was not found to be related to age group, sex, side, mechanism of injury, intra-operative condition of nerve, method of treatment of fracture and time of exploration of radial nerve.
Recommendation: Our study recommends a conservative and expectant line of management for both primary as well as secondary nerve palsies. As complete recovery of the nerve can be quite delayed, patience is merited before considering tendon transfers.


Background: The current dissertation examined neurocognitive and dysfunctional belief candidate endophenotypes (CEs) across the obsessive compulsive spectrum to elucidate general versus specific factors. This study included CEs from two etiological perspectives well established in the literature. Secondary analyses examined several CEs multidimensionally and examined the relationship between CEs and of QOL. Methods: A total of 77 participants took part in this study, divided into four groups; OCD (n = 21), Hoarding Disorder (HD; n = 16), Grooming Disorders which included both Trichotillomania and Excoriation Disorder (GD; n = 18), and control participants (n = 22). Participants completed a clinical interview and battery of neurocognitive tasks and questionnaires. Results: Those with HD performed worse than controls on measures of response inhibition and set-shifting. OCD continued to predict significant variance in number sequencing. Examination of dysfunctional belief CEs revealed specificity of Responsibility/Threat beliefs and Importance/Control of Thoughts beliefs to OCD. Perfectionism/Intolerance of Uncertainty appear to be broad CEs; however, differing specificity emerged depending on the measure utilized to measure the construct. Self-report indecision revealed specificity to OCD and HD. Differing patterns of QOL impairments emerged across the spectrum. A better understanding of CEs specificity has implications for diagnostic classification, etiology, course, and treatment.


Online knowledge communities can affect the status of languages within the internet linguistic landscape. Despite the prominence of English in the online environment, multilingualism is increasingly being promoted in these environments. It is against this background that the status, presentation and representation of African languages are being investigated. This article reports on the contribution of the website Sesotho Online to the establishment of an internet-based language knowledge community for the Sesotho language. In its literature review the article considers the concept of language knowledge communities and the internet language landscape with particular reference to Sesotho. Furthermore, an overview of website usage statistics and qualitative research by means of a descriptive study (borrowing from methodologies of autoethnographical enquiry of the author's experiences) is provided. Online trends over the past twenty years are mirrored in the development of the researched website. From reflections on this website, some recommendations are made towards future developments in other African languages, for example. In conclusion, through Sesotho Online, clear lessons are learnt for the development of other internet-based language knowledge communities within the South African and other minority language contexts.


This work summarizes the current state of the art in software radio for 4G systems. Specifically, this work demonstrates that classic radio structures, e.g., heterodyne reception, homodyne reception, and their improved implementations, are inadequate selections for multi-mode reception. This opens the door to software defined radio, a novel reception architecture which promises ease in multi-band, multi-protocol design. The work presents the many advantages of such an architecture, including flexibility, reduced cost via component reduction, and improved reliability via, e.g., the elimination of environmental instability. The work also explains the limitations that currently curtail the widespread use of SDR, including issues surrounding A/D converters, management of software and power, and clock generation. This provides direction for future research to enable the broad applicability of SDR in 4G cellular and beyond.


Operation specimens from 52 Hong Kong patients considered to have tuberculosis of the spine were sent at -78 degrees C to London where they were cultured on two Löwenstein-Jensen medium slopes, a slope of 7H11 medium made selective with antibiotics and in two bottles of selective liquid Kirchner medium. Cultures of M tuberculosis, usually with only scanty colonies, were obtained from 37 of the patients. Pus and caseous matter yielded more positive cultures and more numerous colonies than other specimens, but eight of the 37 patients yielded positive cultures only from tissues lining abscess walls or from bone or intervertebral disc specimens. Cultures in Kirchner medium were never contaminated and twice as many were positive as cultures on the slopes; nine patients had cultures positive only on Kirchner medium. It is recommended that (i) a variety of operation specimens, always including pus or caseous material in volumes of at least 1 ml, should be sent for bacteriology; (ii) specimens should be cultured in selective Kirchner medium, with or without Löwenstein-Jensen slopes; (iii) cultures should be incubated for a minimum of 8-9 wk.


The stimulated ignition of latchup effects caused by external radiation has till now proved to be a hidden hazard. However this paper presents the effect in a new light-as a new approach for detecting particles by means of a solid-state device susceptible to latchup effects. This device can also be used as a circuit for reading a sensor's signal by leaving off-circuit sensing capabilities. Given that MOS transistors are widely used in microelectronics devices and sensors, the latchup-based cell is proposed as a new structure for future applications in particle detection, in the amplification of sensor signals and also in radiation monitoring.


The identification of geographical distribution of a plant species is crucial for understanding the importance of environmental variables affecting plant habitat. In the present study, the spatial potential distribution of Astragalus fasciculifolius Boiss. as a key specie was mapped using maximum entropy (Maxent) as data mining technique and bivariate statistical model (FR: frequency ratio) in marl soils of southern Zagros, Iran. The A. fasciculifolius locations were identified and recorded by intensive field campaigns. Then, localities points were randomly split into a 70% training dataset and 30% for validation. Two climatic, four topographic, and eight edaphic variables were used to model the A. fasciculifolius distribution and its habitat potential. Maps of environmental variables were generated using Geographic Information System (GIS). Next, the habitat suitability index (HSI) maps were produced and classified by means of Maxent and FR approaches. Finally, the area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUC-ROC) curve was used to compare the performance of maps produced by Maxent and FR models. The interpretation of environmental variables revealed that the climatic and topographic parameters had less impact compared to edaphic variables in habitat distribution of A. fasciculifolius. The results showed that bulk density, nitrogen, acidity (pH), sand, and electrical conductivity (EC) of soil are the most significant variables that affect distribution of A. fasciculifolius. The validation of results showed that AUC values of Maxent and FR models are 0.83 and 0.76, respectively. The habitat suitability map by the better model (Maxent) showed that areas with high and very high suitable classes cover approximately 22% of the study area. Generally, the habitat suitability map produced using Maxent model could provide important information for conservation planning and a reclamation project of the degraded habitat of intended plant species. The distribution of the plants identifies the water, soil, and nutrient resources and affects the fauna distribution, and this is why it is relevant to research and to understand the plant distribution to properly improve the management and to achieve a sustainable management.


ABSTRACT Purpose Assessment of the efficacy of upper and lower one-snip punctoplasty combined with silicone tube stenting for the management of bi-punctal stenosis. Methods Prospective interventional case series of 20 patients (33 eyes, 66 puncta) with epiphora due to bi-punctal stenosis. All the patients were subjected to bi-punctal 1-snip punctoplasty with silicone intubation, and the tube was kept for 3 months. The follow-up was extended for 6 months after tube removal. The resolution of epiphora with patent puncta was considered as a complete functional success, while patent puncta with residual epiphora were considered as an anatomical success. Results The mean patients' age was 41.3 years and 55% were females. Grade 0 puncta were found in 9.1%, and grade 1 represented 39.4%, while 51.5% had grade 2 puncta. Silicone tube was removed after an average period of 12.1 ± 2.7 weeks. Complete functional success was reported in 90.9% while anatomical success was noticed in 97%. Conclusion One-snip punctoplasty combined with 3 months of silicone intubation can be considered in the management of bi-punctal stenosis achieving high success rates with a minor discrepancy between functional and anatomical outcomes.


With the emergence of Intelligent Transportation System technologies, there has been a renewed interest in the study of bus priority signals (BPS). However, at present there is no convenient method of conducting these studies since existing models are not capable of simulating various BPS strategies and then restoring the original signal settings after bus preemption is awarded. The NETSIM graphic animation feature was used in this study to detect the bus arrival, award preemption, and the signal timing plan was then restored to the original signal setting manually. The green extension / red truncation with and without compensation, the skip phase with and without compensation, and the conditional preemption plans were evaluated. The most appropriate preemption strategy at each intersection along the study corridor in Ann Arbor, Michigan was established. The sensitivity of BPS was tested under different network traffic volumes and different main to cross street traffic ratios for an isolated intersection. The signal preemption for carpools and the impact of random traffic fluctuation were also tested. It was found that maintaining progression is critical under heavy traffic conditions. The traffic volume criteria that warrant signal preemption were established. There appears to be advantages to providing carpools with preemption capability up to between 5 and 10% of the main street traffic volume. In any corridor there is likely to be random fluctuations in the traffic demand, and this variation may be as large as the measured effect of BPS.


Flash laser heating using short‐pulsed laser irradiation of a surface is demonstrated to be a promising new approach for effective removal of particulate contaminations of sizes as small as 0.1 μm. This is very useful because micron‐ and submicron‐sized particulates adhere tenaciously onto a solid surface, and conventional cleaning techniques are inadequate for removal. Several varieties of the new laser‐cleaning techniques have been developed by us as well as by others. For example, the pulsed laser irradiation can be used with or without the simultaneous deposition of a thin liquid film on the surface to be laser cleaned. The laser wavelength can also be chosen so that absorption occurs mainly at the sample surface, or in the liquid, or in the particulate, or in a combination of these. In this paper, we discuss and compare examples of these different approaches. We find that laser cleaning with highest efficiency is achieved by choosing a laser wavelength that is strongly absorbed by the surface together with pulse depositing a water film of thickness on the order of microns on the surface momentarily before the pulsed laserirradiation. This permits the effective removal of particles smaller than ∼20 μm, down to as small as 0.1 μm, from a solid surface using a modest ultraviolet laser fluence of ∼0.1 J/cm2.


This paper investigates the problem of controlling Hopf bifurcation of delayed small-world networks with fractional-order dynamics. Specifically, a fractional-order PID feedback controller is designed to realize control of the Hopf bifurcation that is embedded in delayed small-world networks with fractional-order dynamics. The characteristic equation of the controlled fractional-order network is analyzed, which yields the useful conditions for stability as well as Hopf bifurcation. Moreover, the analysis reveals that the control parameters of the fractional-order PID feedback control scheme may be varied to have a significant effect on the bifurcation dynamics of the controlled small-world network with fractional-order dynamics. The theoretical findings are also confirmed through computer simulations.


This study approaches a new way to determine a correction coefficient for calculation of occupant's vertical travel speed in a high-rise building when a fire protection engineer uses Simulex, one of the most widely used egress model in Korea. It is used to analyse human evacuation behaviours and travel times. In case of a high-rise building fire, occupant's vertical travelling up and down speeds tend to be distributed wider than low-rise buildings due to one's fatigue. It is needless to say that occupant's travel speeds have to be calculated extremely precise, especially evacuee going up through staircases to reach a refuge area located within every 30 floors or top floor. However, most correction coefficients of egress models for calculating occupant's vertical travel speed are usually from one's free walking speed but this can bring about significant errors. To summarise, this study compares occupant's vertical walking speed from a full-scale experiment with a result from Simulex modelling and suggests a new correction coefficient based on free walking speed for predicting the time more accurately.


Many information management projects of state own and large enterprises in China target in equipment management in recent years. There are some information technology points at this course, but those methods and software usually use the basic data and the traditional job processing control management, which can not meet the big professional equipment's demands. For this reason, this paper designs a new equipment management model and system that use the network structure to integrate each main job task and form a system that emphasis on the collection and statistics of device's data information, equipment operating design and control, equipment malfunction detective and relative technology analysis. This system can achieve dynamic management and will be great helpful to professional equipment manager's daily work.


We propose a system for automatic positioning of identified landmarks on anatomical structures generated from medical images. We obtain a rigid registration of 3-D shapes using the Iterative Closest Point (ICP) algorithm where a curvature constraint is added as a supplementary dimension in order to improve robustness. A dichotomic scale search and a local rigid registration allow fast local adjustment. We show the effectiveness of the proposed approach by comparing the automatic positioning of anatomical landmarks against the manual positioning by a trained operator.


Facial behaviour of deception has emerged as an important topic in surveillance research. In this paper, we evaluate the facial behaviour of deception based on some of the cues identified in the literature. First, we present a short review of deception cues in facial behaviour. Then, we run a pilot study, using a rapport style one-to-one interview scenario, under controlled and experimental conditions. Following the standard practice, the experiment has been designed to incorporate three stages. Stage one: facilitation session, in which the baselines are established for each participant. Stage two: interrogation session, in which the participants are required to answer questions on two topics - one truthfully and one falsely. Stage three: self-reporting session, in which the participants are required to report the ground truth for stage two. Once the data regarding visible images of facial behaviour was collected, it was analysed and compared to the facial behaviour cues identified in literature. For statistical analysis, a non-parametric sign-test was selected. The results indicated that there is potential in applying facial behaviour as the cues in predicting deception. Finally, a discussion on future work introduce more subtle facial actions analysis is presented.


This paper deals with modeling, simulation and implementation of rotor side control strategies for a grid-connected wound rotor induction machine. In the system under consideration, the stator is directly connected to the constant frequency three-phase grid and the rotor is supplied by two back-to-back three-phase voltage source inverters with a common DC link. Such a configuration is attractive in large power applications with limited speed range of operation. The rotor currents are controlled at any desired phase, frequency and magnitude to control the active and reactive powers of the machine independently. A stator flux-oriented model of the doubly fed wound rotor induction machine is presented. The current controllers are designed in the field coordinates. Simulation waveforms exhibit excellent transient response of the current loops; the dynamics of the direct and quadrature axes are also observed to be decoupled. An experimental setup consisting of IGBT inverters and a TMS320F240 DSP-based digital controller is developed in the laboratory to implement the control algorithms. Relevant experimental waveforms are presented; they are observed to be in good agreement with the simulation results.


This work aims at implementing an asynchronous FIR adaptive filter, based on the Recursive Inverse (RI) adaptive algorithm. Previous work has presented the proposed adaptive filter algorithm and has shown that the algorithm's performance is similar to that of the Recursive Least Squares (RLS) algorithm. Moreover, it offers better performance than the Transform Domain (TD) algorithms, i.e. the TD LMS with Variable Step-Size (TDVSS) in stationary environments. The asynchronous logic has been chosen because of its unique low-power characteristic towards stationary events. The asynchronous-based architecture has been designed to be fast enough to accommodate the iterative computation of the filter coefficients while being accurate to ensure a minimum number of iteration, and a fast convergence. This paper presents an overview of the proposed architecture, as well as performance comparison between the RI and the RLS algorithm. Preliminary test shows promising results, nevertheless some optimization is required to reduce the complexity of the design and to increase the accuracy of the computation.


Between 1896 and 1903, Jean Grave, editor of the anarchist journal Les Temps Nouveaux, published an artistic album of original prints, with the collaboration of (avant-garde) artists and illustrators. While anarchist theorists, including Grave, summoned artists to create social art, which had to be didactic and accessible to the working classes, artists wished to emphasize their autonomous position instead. Even though Grave requested 'absolutely artistic' prints in the case of this album, artists had difficulties with creating something for him, trying to combine their social engagement with their artistic autonomy. The artistic album appears to have become a compromise of the debate between the anarchist theorists and artists with anarchist sympathies.


The most dominant moisture-related problem in building materials is probably mold growth. It occurs as a result of relatively high moisture concentrations. Although recent research has established the causal, physical-biological relationship between moisture content, temperature, material type, and mold growth, we do not have an established set of causal relationships between certain building parameters (such as envelope characteristics) and the risk of mold growth. This indicates a need for a "performance indicator" (PI) that expresses the mold growth risk in existing buildings as the causal effect of certain building parameters. Such a performance indicator should express the relationships between mold growth occurrence and the physical descriptors of building components, HVAC systems and layout, maintenance and cleaning operation, and so forth. This paper will deal with the first stage of research that focuses on the construction of such a PI. In this stage, we will deal with the accurate prediction of mold growth based on the availability of detailed information of the physical state (i.e., temperature and moisture content) of the materials in the building over time. Based on the accurate simulation of these states, these states can be aggregated into a PI value that is meaningful to the actual risk that mold growth will indeed occur under these circumstances. A method for the latter will be presented.


Nitric oxide (NO) is produced in almost all tissues and organs, exerting a variety of biological actions under physiological and pathological conditions. NO is synthesized by three different isoforms of NO synthase (NOS), including neuronal, inducible, and endothelial NOSs. Because there are substantial compensatory interactions among the NOS isoforms, the ultimate roles of endogenous NO in our body still remain to be fully elucidated. Here, we have successfully developed mice in which all three NOS genes are completely deleted by crossbreeding singly NOS-/- mice. NOS expression and activities were totally absent in the triply NOS-/- mice before and after treatment with lipopolysaccharide. Although the triply NOS-/- mice were viable and appeared normal, their survival and fertility rates were markedly reduced as compared with the wild-type mice. Furthermore, these mice exhibited marked hypotonic polyuria, polydipsia, and renal unresponsiveness to an antidiuretic hormone, vasopressin, all of which are characteristics consistent with nephrogenic diabetes insipidus. In the kidney of the triply NOS-/- mice, vasopressin-induced cAMP production and membranous aquaporin-2 water channel expression were reduced associated with tubuloglomerular lesion formation. These results provide evidence that the NOS system plays a critical role in maintaining homeostasis, especially in the kidney.


The unitary free energy of transfer of a hydrocarbon molecule from a hydrocarbon solvent to an aqueous medium is a measure of the hydrophobic interaction in the aqueous medium. We have reexamined available data on this phenomenon and have confirmed that the free energy for saturated hydrocarbons is proportional to the surface area of the cavity created by the solute in the aqueous solution, with the same proportionality constant for linear, branched, and cyclic hydrocarbon molecules. The numerical value of the proportionality constant is uncertain because absolute and self-consistent area measurements are not available. We estimate that it falls between 20 and 25 cal/mole per A(2) at 25 degrees (for areas measured at the distance of closest approach of water molecules), which is significantly less than the figure of 33 cal/mole per A(2) that has been assigned to the same parameter by Hermann [J. Phys. Chem. 76, 2754-2759 (1972)]. A small discrepancy exists when similar data for homologous series of alkyl derivatives are compared with results based on hydrocarbons themselves, and possible reasons for it are discussed.


The control problem of linear time-invariant systems under bank-bank measurements only is discussed. The main feature of the proposed algorithms is that the one's estimate the unknown continuous values of output variables and the further synthesis of the state observer with use of continuous estimations of output variables.


A number of NLO polymers were obtained, in which aromatic polyester is a matrix and the chromophores are incorporated into the form of a side chain. Special monomers are based on 2,2-bis(3-amino-4-hydroxyphenyl)propane; they contain an azomethine bond and various electron-acceptor groups (nitro, cyanide, and fluoride) as substituents in the side-chain aromatic ring. The effect of the type of the electron-acceptor substituent, its substitution position in the aromatic ring with respect to the azomethine bond, and special monomer concentration on the optical, mechanical, and thermal properties of the whole system was studied. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 80: 1374–1382, 2001


The paintings of the abstract expressionist artist Sam Francis contain vivid biomorphic forms. One influence for Francis may have been microscopic images of biological tissues he observed in premedical courses prior to becoming an artist. Using two morphometric measurements common in cell biology, the authors show that forms in Francis's paintings are statistically similar to cells in biological tissues that resemble his paintings. This study highlights specific similarities between forms in Francis's paintings and biology. It also presents a novel application of biological morphometrics that could help clarify the creative process and psychological appeal of Francis and other "organic" artists.


The goat choroid plexus angioarchitecture of the lateral ventricles was studied under the SEM using the method of "microvascular corrosion casts". The whole plexus is semilunar shaped and directed in an antero-posterior, latero-median fashion. In the plexus the lateral extremity is larger than the median one. All the components of the vascular bed (arteries, veins and capillaries) of the choroid plexus have interesting morpho-structural features. In particular, the capillaries are more developed than the other components and they are variously located on both sides of the plexus. The capillary network has a various organization in different zones of each side of the plexus.


A triangulation-based range-finding system composed of two stripe projectors and a camera generating a cross stripe is described. A method of reconstructing surfaces from the range data obtained by the system is shown. The technique utilizes Coon's path formalism, which interpolates the surface solely from the boundary information of the patch. Simulation and experimental results for the method are presented. A brief literature review is included.<<ETX>>


To curb the spread of COVID-19, houses of worship in the State of New York were legally required to limit attendance at religious ceremonies. Two religious communities—the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and the Orthodox Jewish organization, Agudath Israel of America—asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene. This article provides a theological interpretation of the Court's decision to grant these communities injunctive relief, thus freeing them from the State's restrictions on religious attendance. Drawing upon the Catholic tradition, and especially the thought of Saint Thomas Aquinas, the article offers a sustained virtue-based analysis of the Court opinion and of the relationship between church and state more generally.


Bilateral cleft lip and palate occurs in 9.2% of cleft patients. Many approaches have been adopted to manage the protrusive premaxillary segment in patients with bilateral cleft lip and palate. Some advocate the use of intraoral appliances, occasionally combined with invasive surgery, which often requires revision at a later date. The authors describe the case of a 3-year-old child born with bilateral cleft lip and palate presenting with a protuberant premaxilla and an overjet greater than 25 mm. Prompt intervention was warranted in this case due to the potential for traumatic compromise to the dentition of the premaxillary segment and a distinct lack of social integration reported by the parents. The patient was managed with a novel, innovative approach using orthodontic traction and minimally invasive surgery. The literature has been reviewed and the patient's subsequent physiological and psychosocial development has been monitored. He has since undergone successful alveolar bone grafting.


In old, mature fields with declining production and timeworn facility equipment, transient flow problems like slug and surge issues tend to appear during operations, especially during platform start up (PSU) processes where flowrates, pressures, and temperatures are constantly and significantly changing, which can lead to unstable production. Such situations may cause longer production stabilization time and potentially trip the entire facility if not managed properly. To mitigate this, a methodology for an integrated transient modelling advisor (ITMA) is introduced to assist engineers in determining a suitable well start up sequence at reduced risk. With ITMA, engineers can automate the determination of a well start-up sequence and simulate results of the proposed well start up sequence. This provides critical data for users to identify potential transient flow issues in advance prior to implementation. In addition, ITMA can give better clarity to operations on unseen risks that could lead to facility trips and eventually incur production loss. The ITMA we discuss here has three components integrated to work as a complete system.
 First, the data retrieval step is where the most recent historical well test data are retrieved from the database, and hierarchical analysis is performed to propose the most suitable well line up (WLU) sequence. The determination of WLU is produced based on pre-set well performance priority criteria and equipment capacity constraints and the proposed WLU is passed to the ITMA simulation engine.
 Second, the transient modelling engine simulates PSU scenarios based on proposed WLU. The baseline scenario can be modified to account for other factors, and multiple scenarios can be configured and tested. Some input data (such as choke opening and casing head pressure incremental versus time) can be modified before the run prior to simulation initiation.
 Third, at the end of the simulation, engineers are able to obtain and visualize critical output results such as platform production rates, separator liquid level, flowline slug/surge severity, and compressor/pump trip potential via trend plots. This result can be used to evaluate potential transient issues between scenarios and finalize the most suitable plan for use.
 ITMA assists engineers in planning and making proactive decisions for effectively managing PSU challenges and adding value in various areas – Operation Efficiency: Reduces risk of facility trips/shut-downs due to surge issues and slug issues during startup/ramp up stageProactiveness: Improves team ability to forecast and plan for potential problems during PSU situations and make decisions with increased operability assuranceProduction recovery: A system that assist operation to achieve normal production conditions from shutdown state in a stable and quick manner.
 The use of such an ITMA system in designing and proactively evaluating start up procedures can help reduce the unstable production period and minimize risk of flow assurance issues and facility trips that could lead to production loss.


Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) are composed of a large number of sensor nodes which are connected by wireless channels. Some of these sensor nodes are regarded as critical nodes which are responsible for the management of the other nodes in their sphere. Therefore, update of node information must be implemented through these critical nodes' multicast operation. In this paper, we present a novel Node Information Update Multicast (NIUM) algorithm to optimize the transmission performance among critical nodes. After applying with our algorithm, each critical node could explore a reasonable transportation way according to its distance apart from other critical nodes. Despite of the ideal assumption, our algorithm is also tested under different circumstances and the results prove that it behaves well for prompt node information update in wireless sensor networks. Both velocity and efficiency of the network can be improved tremendously.


The structure, method of feeding and relationship with the host cells of the tissue parasitizing stages of Histomonas meleagridis have been studied by means of light microscopy, cytochemistry and electron microscopy. The invasive stage is amoeboid, lacks flagella but has what appears to be remnants of the flagella apparatus, and feeds by phagocytosis. The vegetative stage is a round quiescent form. It apparently feeds by secreting proteolytic enzymes, which carry out extra-corporeal digestion of the host's tissues, and then taking up small particles of disrupted host cells by means of pinocytosis and probably by diffusion. The vegetative stage also contains remnants of flagella apparatus. Neither the invasive stage nor the vegetative stage contains mitochondria and succinic dehydrogenase is absent. It is concluded that there is no resistant stage. The reaction of the host's tissues to the parasites has been briefly described. The authors are grateful to Dr C. C. D. Shute for permission to use the electron microscope, to Mrs B. Fisher and Mr M. Shirley for technical assistance and to Mr P. Rogers for assistance with the photography.


The majority of humanity have lived out their lives in a &;rural&; context, and even in our increasingly urbanised world almost half of the global population still live in rural areas. In the European Iron Age, the vast mass of the population clearly lived in small hamlets and farmsteads, and this overarching &;rurality&; is important for understanding these societies. While there has been a pronounced focus in recent archaeological research on patterns of centralisation and urbanisation, there is a need to reincorporate &;rural life&; or rurality into these discussions of how people lived.


IMPORTANCE
The optimum size of endotracheal tube (ETT) for general anesthesia remains unresolved. Choice of ETT size may be of particular relevance to thyroid surgery because of the increased risk of laryngeal trauma and concerns regarding postoperative vocal outcomes.

OBJECTIVE
To test our hypothesis that intubation with a smaller ETT would lead to reduced postoperative vocal impairment and associated reduced laryngoscopic evidence of laryngeal trauma compared with intubation with a standard-size ETT.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
This double-blind randomized clinical trial studied patients 18 years and older undergoing elective thyroidectomy at an academic teaching hospital from October 15, 2012, through June 13, 2013.

INTERVENTIONS
Patients were randomized to group 1 (standard-size ETT, 8.0 mm for men and 7.5 mm for women; n = 24) or group 2 (small ETT, 7.0 mm for men and 6.5 mm for women; n = 25). Patients were assessed preoperatively and at 24 hours and 3 weeks postoperatively.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES
Fiberoptic videolaryngoscopy with modified scoring system, voice assessment using the GRBAS (grade, roughness, breathiness, asthenia, strain) rating scale, vocal self-assessment using the 30-item Voice Handicap Index, and subjective pain score.

RESULTS
At 24 hours, no significant differences were found between patients in groups 1 and 2 in change in GRBAS scores, change in laryngoscopic score (1.71 vs 1.76, P = .90), or postoperative pain score (3.3 vs 3.2, P = .91). At 3 weeks, no significant differences were found in changes in the 30-item Voice Handicap Index score (-2.2 vs -1.3, P = .74), GRBAS scores, or laryngoscopic score (0.25 vs 0.16, P = .67).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
We did not find evidence that smaller ETT size for thyroidectomy has any significant effect on postoperative vocal outcomes, incidence of laryngeal trauma as assessed by laryngoscopy, or pain scores. However, because of the small sample size, our study may have been underpowered to detect small differences.

TRIAL REGISTRATION
clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT02136459.


Although metal-matrix composites have been fabricated by various techniques, the most successful are solid state processes such as powder metallurgy and diffusion bonding. Liquid-metal processes such as compucasting, pultrusion, and infiltration, while less successful, are potentially more economical. The advantages of producing silicon carbide-aluminum matrix composites by liquid-metal infiltration techniques can not be fully realized without an improved understanding of the infiltration behavior and the fiber/matrix bonding mechanisms. This paper reports on infiltration models which consider the physical properties of the liquid and preform (either porous compact or capillary/tube bundle). These properties include viscosity, density, surface tension, and wettability (pore shape and size in the case of the porous compact). The models have been assessed in terms of their ability to predict infiltration behavior from known physical properties of the materials.


The large number of fault-plane solutions at present available in the literature permit one to calculate several statistical averages that have an important bearing upon geotectonics. The present paper represents a continuation of earlier work in this direction: 101 new fault-plane solutions are listed and the ratio of pressure to tension, strike slip to dip slip, and the average slip angle have been calculated for nine earthquake areas. Some of the older results are thereby corroborated, viz., that the "normal" character of earthquakes is to represent strike-slip faulting, and that the central Asian regions constitute an exception to this rule. In addition, it is now possible to make a breakdown with regard to depth. In this, a peculiar situation is found at 0.03 R depth, where the slip angle reaches a maximum. If the relationship between shallow and deep earthquakes be considered for any one area, however, it turns out that they are on the whole of the same character. Thus, whatever it is that causes earthquakes, acts in a similar fashion at all depths in any one area, but differs from one area to another.


Based on a large cross-section of developing and developed countries, this paper investigates the nexus between globalisation and four labour standards: freedom of association and the right to bargain collectively (FACB), freedom from forced labour (FL), abolition of child labour (CL) and non-discrimination (D). The question of central interest is whether trade and foreign investment affect the level of the four labour standards. FACB and FL are measured by newly constructed indices that emphasize de facto government compliance. Openness is measured by various trade and FDI indicators, which range from highly aggregated to highly disaggregated ones. The empirical results suggest that trade and foreign investment are in general associated with stricter labour standards. Special government initiatives which stimulate exports and FDI do, however, have an adverse effect on labour standards, and particularly, on FACB.


The calculation of accurate and consistent forces is an essential part of the computational analysis and design of many time-harmonic eddy-current systems. While most of the magnetostatic force formulations have been extended to quasi-static applications, a viable equivalent to the multiple solution Classical Virtual Work method (CVW) has not been established. An effective and efficient CVW-type method for the calculation of time-averaged net forces and torques in time-harmonic eddy-current systems is derived. The computational performance of the method is tested and evaluated using finite element analysis.


The draconian turn of U.S. immigration policy in recent years—ballooning budgets and the broadened reach of domestic enforcement agencies like Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the increasing legal precarity of the immigrant population, the massive strain placed on immigration courts and federal criminal dockets—has been thoroughly studied by immigration scholars, who point to important explanatory factors such as the War on Crime launched in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the nativist recrudescence of the 1990s, and failed attempts at system reform in 1965 and again in 1986. Such work, however, has rarely explored the link between immigration law and national security.

This article argues that the rise of terrorism has been one major driver of the immigration law crackdown. With statutes like the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 and the 2001 PATRIOT Act explicitly linking border control and crime by non-nationals with a larger fight against terrorism, immigration law and national security police came to share sources of statutory authority, patterns and techniques of enforcement, and, not least, common tropes and imagery ("enemy aliens," "terrorist organizations," and so forth).

I introduce the concept of policy militarization to explain this process. A militarized sphere of public policy is one increasingly defined in terms of war or crisis. The American preoccupation with terrorist attacks emerged after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Tanzania and Nairobi, but it was the events of September 11, 2001 that hurled the nation into a conflict lacking geographic borders, time horizons, or a clear enemy. "Everything became war," says a former Pentagon official, to include control over the non-citizen population. As in war, militarized policy features a centralized and heightened administrative response. After the 9/11 Commission deemed "information silos" to blame for the failure to stop the attacks, the national security community spearheaded massive growth in intelligence-gathering agencies and increased data-sharing between them. Immigration agencies grew in size, picked up new tools and techniques imported from counterterrorism, and crucially, adapted their mission to the lens of ever-present foreign threat. Finally, at the level of the political branches, militarized policymaking becomes highly bureaucratic. Security experts take a lead role in designing policy, often at the expense of ordinary legislators and judges, producing a governing regime in which policy is made through administrative, not legislative channels. As a result, rights enforcement and the fixity of legal standards can wane. I call this a state of extralegality, because traditional sources of law cease to truly bind administration action, even though they may shape it. Critics of the administrative state, attuned to the phenomenon of legislative "rules" being replaced by administrative "standards," may recognize this argument, albeit applied in a new context.

That war and threats of it can trigger the growth of the state is not a new insight. However, as the militarization of immigration shows, the same effects—delegation of responsibility, expansion of executive power, and dilution of legal standards—do not, in fact, require an actual war, but instead can be built on rhetorical foundations and the threatening specter of wars to come.


In this paper, a single DOF in-plane gimbaled silicon gyroscope and capacitive detection circuits are designed, fabricated and experimented. The operational principles of a vibrating silicon gyroscope and in-plane gimbaled silicon gyroscope are explained, and the differences between them are described. Because the latter has inner and outer gimbals separately, the driving and sensing mode is almost decoupled mechanically, which results in performance enhancement. The model equations of the in-plane gimbaled gyroscope are derived. Capacitive detection method with two anti-phase driving signals is used to measure the variation of capacitance. Moreover, two anti-phase carrier signals are added in order to reduce driving and measurement noises and to achieve linear relationship between applied angular rate and sensing output. Through experiments, it is confirmed that the proposed gyroscope and detection circuits have good linear property, resolution and sensitivity, contributing to the performance improvement of a silicon gyroscope.


The propagation velocities (ug) of argon plasma jet are obtained by intensified charge coupled device (ICCD) camera images at fixed gate width time of 5 ns. The propagation velocities in upstream and downstream regions are in the order of 104 - 105 m/s. The plasma ambipolar diffusion velocities are measured to be in the order of 10 - 102 m/s. Plasma jet discharges are generated by sinusoidal power supply in varying voltages from 2 to 4 kV at repetition frequency of about 40 kHz. By employing convective wave packet model, the electron temperature (Te) inside plasma bullet for argon non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma jet is estimated to be about 1.18 eV. Also, the electron density (ne) is found to be 8.0 × 1014 - 2.5 × 1015 cm−3.


Adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs) play key roles in metabolic inflammation, insulin resistance, adipose tissue fibrosis, and immune disorders associated with obesity. Research on ATM biology has mostly been conducted in the setting of adult obesity, since adipocyte hypertrophy is associated with a significant increase in ATM number. Signals that control ATM activation toward a proinflammatory or a proresolving phenotype also determine the developmental program and lipid metabolism of adipocytes after birth. ATMs are present at birth and actively participate in the synthesis of mediators, which induce lipolysis, mitobiogenesis, and mitochondrial uncoupling in adipocytes. ATMs in the newborn and the infant promote a lipolytic and fatty acid oxidizing adipocyte phenotype, which is essential to support the lipid‐fueled metabolism, to maintain nonshivering thermogenesis and counteract an excessive adipose tissue expansion. Since adipose tissue metabolism in the early postnatal life determines obesity status in adulthood, early‐life ATM functions may have a life‐long impact.


The n = 3-4 transitions observed in the X-ray spectra of nickel-like ions (Ag XX-Pb LV) have been investigated theoretically by the multiconfigurational Dirac-Fock approach. The effect of the level crossings on the transitions rates of low excitation depopulation transitions is considered both for forbidden and for allowed transitions. A comparison of the ad initio wavelengths with the available observations for the resonance transitions shows that some experimental data must be refined.


Abstract Colorectal adenocarcinoma (COAD) is one subtype of colorectal carcinoma (CRC), whose development is associated with genetics, inappropriate immune response, and environmental factors. Although significant advances have been made in the treatment of COAD, the mortality rate remains high. It is a pressing need to explore novel therapeutic targets of COAD. Available evidence indicated that immune cell infiltration was correlated with cancer prognosis. To reveal the roles of immune cells in the COAD prognosis, a study published in Bioscience Reports by Li et al. (Bioscience Reports (2021) 41, https://doi.org/10.1042/BSR20203496) analyzed data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) dataset. It demonstrated a beneficial effect of Th17 cells in COAD prognosis. In addition, six hub genes (KRT23, ULBP2, ASRGL1, SERPINA1, SCIN, and SLC28A2) were identified to correlate with Th17 cells and COAD prognosis, suggesting one new therapy strategy and some predictive biomarkers of COAD. These findings reported by Li et al. may pave one way to explore the molecular mechanism of COAD further.


The Waqf system continues to be the most successful way by which endowments or revenues accruing from assets can be donated by benefactors,expressly for the welfare of the Muslim Ummah. It is a highly revered act when
waqf funds are used in building mosques, madrasahs, orphanages, colleges and universities as well as for providing free medical services for needy Muslims. Waqf can also offer Islamic financial facilities to the deserving. Waqf is considered as an indispensable institution for the socio-economic upliftment of the Bangsomoro people. This research discusses the role of waqf properties in the development of the Islamic institutions in the Phillipines. It also analyses and evaluates the issues and challenges faced by the Muslim minorities in the management and development of waqf properties in a country dominated by Catholic Christians. For sustainable development of waqf properties, this research recommends the establishment of a credible model in management and financing of waqf, which will, in turn, provide a strong support for the establishment of health clinics, Islamic religious centers and educational institutions. This paper concludes that unity among the scholars ('ulama') and Muslim non-governmental organizations through implementation of a uniform waqf management system can strengthen the role of waqf properties in developing Islamic institutions in the Phillipines.


A sample of sixty panellists was selected from the Sainsbury's Consumer Panel. Each week they were given a different variety of new potatoes which they were asked to take home and use as they normally would, recording their results on a questionnaire. Eleven different varieties were tested, some two to three times. Some well known varieties were interspersed amongst the less well known. The results have shown that there are some new varieties which match up to the standards of the present ones marketed by J. Sainsbury and also that different varieties are well suited to specific and different types of preparation.


The energy consumption of 2 alternative tillage systems for continuous cotton production in Arizona were compared to a conventional system. The tests were conducted at the University of Arizona Marana Agricultural Center. Results of the study in a Pima I clay loam soil showed the sundance treatment to have the lowest energy requirement of 39 Hp -hr /ac (73 kWh/ha); the USM system had the second highest of 58 Hp -hr /ac (107 kWh/ha). The conventional system required 67 Hp -hr /ac (124 kWh/ha). Average yields for all 3 systems were not significantly different. A continuation of this study will be conducted to determine long -term effects on energy consumption, yields, and soil compaction.


Design and development of gas turbine components are a complex multidisciplinary process. At the beginning of the power class definition and engine configuration it is necessary to conduct a market study. The results obtained are used in gas turbine thermodynamic cycle calculations and analysis in order to define the gas turbine design point. Several possible design points are evaluated during this procedure. After this step, the gas turbine components are designed, including: compressor, combustion chamber and turbine. For industrial gas turbine purposes, it is common to use a free turbine after the gas generator, also commonly named power turbine. In this work, a power turbine was initially designed by meanline techniques, considering internal loss mechanisms, to obtain the main dimensions. The geometries of the components were generated in a 3-D environment to make possible the mesh generation, process to discretize the physical domain into a computational domain and use a 3-D Computational Fluid Dynamics tool. The results from the meanline approach and from the 3-D turbulent flow numerical simulations were compared to verify the turbine operational conditions and its predictions at design and offdesign conditions. The gas turbine under study is a project, derived from a low thrust turbojet previously developed by Instituto de Aeronautica e Espaco. The power turbine project uses the same turbojet gas generator, already designed and currently under tests.


This article analyzes the role of schools in educational choices in the transition to public high schools in Mexico City. Secondary schools have the potential to influence educational choices, through the development of certain educational functions. This influence comes in different ways, and is relatively independent of adscriptive characteristics and previous academic performance of students.  Schools serve i) as agents contributing to decision making, facilitating continuity on educational trajectories ii) or as instances that do not develop explicit actions aimed to link their students to any of the options offered in the post-secondary educational system. While some schools teaching resources are destined to accompany their students during their decision process, others lack of them, abandoning them in this crucial educational event. The article is based on data provided by an ethnographic study conducted in seven high schools in southern Mexico City between January and July 2012


For preemptive scheduling, the discrete scheduling has the same capability as the continuous scheduling. However, most work previously done has been focused on the continuous scheduling. In this paper, a discrete analysis approach Empty-Slots method is discussed and applied to fixed priority scheduling for constraint-deadline task model. Then a new schedulability test using the Empty-Slots method is presented. Compared with classical schedulability tests for continuous scheduling, this test is more convenient to be used and more efficient to tackle practical problems.


Random effects regression mixture models are a way to classify longitudinal data (or trajectories) having possibly varying lengths. The mixture structure of the traditional random effects regression mixture model arises through the distribution of the random regression coefficients, which is assumed to be a mixture of multivariate normals. An extension of this standard model is presented that accounts for various levels of heterogeneity among the trajectories, depending on their assumed error structure. A standard likelihood ratio test is presented for testing this error structure assumption. Full details of an expectation-conditional maximization algorithm for maximum likelihood estimation are also presented. This model is used to analyze data from an infant habituation experiment, where it is desirable to assess whether infants comprise different populations in terms of their habituation time.


Identifying cutaneous manifestations associated with systemic diseases is a crucial task for dermatologists and other providers in the outpatient and inpatient settings. Here, we present a rare case of postictal petechiae occurring after a generalized tonic-clonic seizure in a patient with poorly controlled epilepsy. This case illustrates a unique and underrecognized entity that may serve as the only cutaneous clue to assist in the diagnosis of recent seizure activity.


Objectives In the midst of the opioid crisis, increasing attention has been given to assessing and addressing substance use disorders (SUDs) among transgender and gender diverse (TGD) populations. As electronic health records begin to more uniformly collect gender identity data, clinicians and public health professionals are better able to examine the prevalence of SUDs and the receipt of SUD treatment services in these populations. Methods We utilized cross-sectional electronic health records data from January 2005 to December 2019 from a large safety-net hospital in Massachusetts. A cohort of TGD patients was identified using self-reported gender identity data as well as diagnostic and procedures codes associated with receipt of gender-affirming care (n = 2000). We calculated odds of SUD diagnosis and receipt of medications for SUD among TGD patients. Results Among a cohort of 2000 TGD patients, 8.8% had a SUD diagnosis. SUD diagnoses were more common among older, Black, and transmasculine patients, as well as those holding public health insurance. SUD diagnoses were less likely among those reporting college-level education. Of those with an opioid use disorder (OUD), 46% were prescribed an FDA-approved medication for OUD. Conclusions SUD diagnoses among TGD patients were associated with demographic, socioeconomic, and gender-related factors. We found a modestly lower prevalence of non-tobacco SUD among our cohort of TGD patients than the national average of 7.4%. Despite a relatively better receipt of prescription treatment services than the national average, the low rate of treatment overall represents a missed opportunity to address SUDs in these vulnerable populations.


A pronounced oxidized zone is characteristic of the sedimentary members of the Tertiary Artist Drive and Furnace Creek Formations on the east-central flank of Death Valley, California. Light-colored rocks of the deformed formations represent an oxidized zone in initially dark-colored rocks that originated in the reducing environment of a perennial lake. Oxidation of iron accounts for the color change. The interface between oxidized and unoxidized rocks is generally 50 to 150 ft (15 to 46 m) below the ground surface and is sharply defined as a planar, subdued replica of the surface topography. The well-developed interface may be the result of simple downward-progressing weathering; however, evidence suggests that it may be the vestige of a "paleo-water table" except where locally modified by oxidizing meteoric waters, erosion, and tectonic activity.


Although school nurses may be unfamiliar with adolescent body piercing, they are in a key position to assist students who are considering these procedures. Information about various types of body piercing, student experiences, and teaching strategies to talk with adolescents about this procedure are presented. Nurses can utilize the data to help students make informed decisions about body piercing.


: Objective: To determine the efficacy of point urinary albumin to creatinine ratio at 20 +0 and 28 +0 weeks of gestation for predicting the possibility of developing pre-eclampsia, late in pregnancy. Material and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at DHQ Hospital Narowal from July 2019 to December 2019 over the period of 6 months. Total 200 patients were selected. Patients were divided on the basis of development of pre-eclampsia and their mean Albumin to creatinine ratio was compared by applying Student's t-test considering p≤0.05 statistically significant. Results: Mean urinary albumin to creatinine ratio was 22.77±12.42 mg/mmol in normotensive women and 46.87±15.13 mg/mmol in pre-eclamptic women which was significantly higher in pre-eclamptic patients (p<0.001). The sensitivity of point urinary albumin to creatinine ratio at a cutoff value of 35.5mg/mmol is 73.91%; the specificity is 91.56%; the positive predictive value (PPV) is 72.34%; and negative predictive is 92.16%. Conclusion: Our study concluded that solitary point urinary albumin creatinine ratio values equal to or higher than 35.5mg/mmol, when quantified early during the second trimester had a higher specificity than the sensitivity and it can be safely used to rule out the possibility of developing pre-eclampsia, late in pregnancy.


Understanding the family experience in the care of a rare syndrome child and their search for support from the health services and professionals. Comprehensive study developed on the nuclear family formed by Pedro and Jessica, Theo's parents, a child who was born with rare and neurodegenerative syndrome. The methodological strategies included the Life History operationalized by In-depth Interview and Observation. The fieldwork was performed from June/2015 to January/2016 and the empirical material was compiled in a Research Journal. Performing an attentive reading, we assigned a different color to the meanings of the narrated excerpts. The matrix research which this study is linked has ethical approval under the number 951101/CEP-HUJM/2015. The family solicitude is careful and integrative, focusing on Theo's well-being and development, as possible. This integrative perspective is different from the one held by the health services and professionals that offer strictly specific responses to the momentary demands. To increase the response capacity, services and health professionals need to set in motion different notions of time and temporality, in order to reconsider the protocol and rigidly formalized times in an effort to cover the living temporality and the children care, including children with other normalities.


Wind power is a clean and sustainable source of electricity, but its intermittent nature creates challenges for its grid integration. Utility-scale batteries are a popular and effective solution to make wind power dispatchable, however, batteries are expensive and increase the overall cost of operation. In this paper, we propose utilizing the flexibility in the consumption of smart buildings to reduce the size of the utility-scale batteries needed for the dispatchability of wind energy. A method based on stochastic optimization is proposed to compute the dispatch plan required to participate in the day-ahead energy market. A stochastic model predictive controller is proposed for the control of the buildings and batteries to track the dispatch plan in real-time. Simulations are carried out with realistic building models and real weather, wind power production, and forecast data. Results demonstrate that utilizing the flexibility of building thermodynamics can significantly reduce the size (and usage) of the required battery for making the wind power production dispatchable.


Contrastivism about some concept says that the concept is relativized to sets of alternatives. Relative to some alternatives, the concept may apply, but relative to others, it may not. This article explores contrastivism about the central normative concepts of reasons and ought. Contrastivism about reasons says that a consideration may be a reason for an action A rather than one alternative, B, but may not be a reason for A rather than some other alternative, C. Likewise, contrastivism about ought says that it might be that you ought to perform action A rather than action B, while it is not the case that you ought to perform A rather than some other alternative, C. It explores the shape and motivations for, and the relationship between, these contrastivist theories.


Coopetition drives prosperity and economic development. Surprisingly, despite its relevance and the presence of family dynamics which affect business behaviour, researchers have not yet explored coopetition in small- and medium-sized family enterprises. This study seeks to advance coopetition research by analysing its application by family SMEs coopeting in a German business network in the information technology sector. We explore the nature of coopetition among family SMEs, and focus on motivational drivers to coopete and the implications of coopetition. Based on the present qualitative case study on 11 coopeting family SMEs, we discovered that coopetition among family SMEs tends to be cooperation-dominated. Moreover, the decision for and implications of coopetition seem to facilitate the family SMEs' non-economic goal to safeguard their socio-emotional wealth. The creation of binding social ties and the fortification of the firm's long-term orientation in the form of family bonds renewal are important consequences of coopetition.


Soft tissue sarcomas of childhood continue to present problems with pathologic diagnosis, staging and treatment. Rhabdomyosarcoma, the most common soft tissue sarcoma, represents 4–8% of all malignant solid tumours in children. We report a case of congenital alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma who presented with "blueberry muffin"‐like rash. A full‐term female infant was noted at birth to have multiple skin lesions resembling blueberry muffin rash and an abdominal mass in the left iliac fossa, which appeared to be fixed to the posterior abdominal wall. There was no enlargement of liver and spleen, but her para‐aortic lymph nodes were enlarged. Biopsy from the mass confirmed the diagnosis of alveolar cell rhabdomyosarcoma. Molecular investigation for the t (2:13) translocation was negative. The infant received chemotherapy but died within 1 mo of diagnosis.


Introduction: Anthropometry refers to a group of systematic methods for quantitatively measuring the dimensions of the human body and skeleton. It is the fundamental tool for biological anthropology that is closely related to determining an individual's height based on the available information.
Objective: Medical and dental students in Nepal will use finger lengths to derive a regression equation to calculate an individual's height in a tertiary care hospital.
Methods: A cross-sectional study included 250 healthy Nepali students from KISTMCTH (145 females and 105 men). Using SPSS software version 17, the index (2DL) and ring (4DL) finger lengths were measured in order to create a regression formula.
Results: Males outperform females in terms of Pearson's correlation, coefficient of determination, and regression equation. Linear regression analysis was used to estimate stature using the assessed factors that were statistically significant (p 0.05) for both genders.
Conclusions: Forensic professionals and anthropologists will find it useful to be able to estimate stature from the length of the finger when identifying a person from skeletal remains.


The EU faces a serious crisis of democratic legitimacy. Citizens believe that the EU is run by distant and non-responsive political elites. The EU's perceived lack of responsiveness to ordinary citizens poses a threat to its very survival. This timely book presents a comprehensive account of how EU governments signal responsiveness to the interests of their citizens over European policies. Schneider develops and tests a theoretical framework of the intergovernmental dimension of responsive governance in the European Union, using evidence amassed over nearly ten years of multi-method research. The findings show that European cooperation in the Council of the European Union takes place in the shadow of national elections. Governments signal responsiveness to their publics by taking positions that are in the interests of politically relevant voters at the national level, defending these positions throughout negotiations in the Council, and seeking appropriate policy outcomes at the EU level.


The Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) is a NASA Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP) mission that is currently under development at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). OCO will make global, space-based measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) with the precision, resolution, and coverage needed to characterize regional-scale sources and sinks of this important greenhouse gas. The observatory consists of a dedicated spacecraft bus that carries a single instrument. The bus employs single-string version of Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC) LEOStar-2 architecture. This 3-axis stabilized bus includes a propulsion system for orbit insertion and maintenance, provides power, points the instrument, receives and processes commands from the ground, and records, stores, and downlinks science and engineering data. The OCO instrument incorporates 3 oboresighted, high resolution grating spectrometers that will make coincident measurements of reflected sunlight in near-infrared CO2 and molecular oxygen (O2) bands. The instrument was designed and manufactured by Hamilton Sundstrand (Pomona, CA), and then integrated, flight qualified, and calibrated by JPL. It is scheduled for delivery to OSC (Dulles, VA) for integration with the spacecraft bus in the spring of 2008. OCO will be launched from the Vandenberg Air Force Base on a dedicated OSC Taurus XL launch vehicle in December 2008. It will fly in formation with the Earth Observing System Afternoon Constellation, a group of satellites that files in a 98.8 minute, 705 km altitude, sun-synchronous orbit. This orbit provides coverage of the sunlit hemisphere with a 16-day ground track repeat cycle. OCO will fly approx.4 minutes ahead of the EOS Aqua platform, with an ascending nodal crossing time of approx.1:26 PM. The OCO science data will be transmitted to the NASA Ground Network Stations in Alaska and Virginia, and then transferred to the OCO Ground Data System at JPL. There, the CO2 and O2 spectra will be analyzed by the OCO Science Team to provide spatially resolved estimates of the column-averaged CO2 dry air mole fraction, XCO2. These measurements are expected to improve our understanding of the nature and processes that regulate atmospheric CO2 enabling more reliable forecasts of CO2 buildup and its impact on climate change.


Abstract This paper is a study of the opening section of Gentzen's first publication of 1932, Über die Existenz unabhängiger Axiomensysteme zu unendlichen Satzsystemen, a text which shows the relevance of Hertz's work of the 1920's for the young Gentzen. In fact, Gentzen borrowed from Hertz the analysis of the notion of consequence, which was given in terms of the rules of thinning (Verdünnung) and cut (Schnitt) on sequents (there called "sentences"(Sätze)). Moreover, following Hertz again, he also judged it necessary to justify the forms of inference of the system by providing a semantics for them, so that it became possible to make precise the informal notion of consequence, and to show that the inference rules adopted are correct and sufficient.


Assessment of the physical status of older women conducted anthropometry and bioimpendance analysis. Body type determined by the gender dimorphism index of J. Tanner (1951). It was found that in the studied sample representative of gynecomorphic and mesomorphic body types were determined in a high percentage of cases: 46,15 and 49,11 %. Women andromorphic body type were found less frequently - 4,74 %. Women with gynecomorphic body type were smaller mass and transverse dimensions of the body, unlike representatives with andromorphic and gynecomorphic body types. The absolute content of fat and lean body mass tended to increase from gynecomorphic body types representatives to andromorphic. The results of anthropometric measurements, bioimpedance analysis and determined by the gender dimorphism index of J. Tanner provide results about adaptive possibilities the human body and can serve as markers (predictors) of somatic diseases.


In this paper, we investigate joint sensing and power allocation schemes for OFDM-based cognitive radio (CR) systems. A CR system employing cooperative sensing based on energy detection is considered. Each primary user (PU) band is assigned a subset of sensors and equal gain combining is used at the access point to detect the presence of PU in that particular band. For such a system, we propose algorithms to jointly allocate sensing thresholds at the access point and power at the CR transmitters so that the throughput of the CR system is maximized while taking total transmit power, CR quality of service (QoS) constraints, and interference introduced to the PU band into consideration. The performance of the proposed schemes is compared to the schemes that only optimize either sensing thresholds or transmitted power. Presented numerical results demonstrate the strength of our proposed schemes.


Black-Scholes is useful for valuing real options, but not in the way often used for new ventures. The use rests on an apparent analogy between real and stock options. Although conceptually helpful, a direct analogy is flawed for most real ventures. The most critical flaw is the assumption that the variance in new venture outcomes is a continuous time function and must be derived from a so-called tracking stock. The analogy also requires that the present value of venture cash flows be the equivalent of a current stock price in the Black-Scholes equation. Determining this certainty equivalent requires subjective inputs, for which guidance is usually lacking. This paper reviews the analogy problems and ways to resolve them for new venture situations, including the problem of estimating risk discounts for new ventures.


The European Commission funded ERASMUS is a 30 months project to look at ways to effectively integrate advanced automation concepts consistent with controllers' human factors issues. This paper outlines an innovative concept of operations that combines a human factors approach, automation technologies and their relationship to overall system safety and efficiency. ERASMUS aims at investigating three applications with varying levels of automation: subliminal control, ATC auto pilot and enhanced MTCD. Only the subliminal application is presented in this paper.


Alloy 600 and Alloy 82/182 materials have been used widely in PWR plants. But these materials are known to be susceptible to PWSCC(Primary Water Stress Corrosion Cracking). Recently, there have been several PWSCC events in major components due to repair welding, because repair welding in the dissimilar metal welds during the construction increases residual stress significantly on the inner surface of welds. In this paper, various residual stress analyses for repair welding were performed using FEM to check the effect of repair welding on residual stress distributions in PZR safety/relief nozzle. The results indicate that for inside surface repair welding, high tensile residual stress is developed on the inside surface of the nozzles.


The present study aimed to investigate the potential virulence factors and antifungal resistance of 31 Candida albicans and 21 non-albicans Candida isolates colonizing preterm neonates. The study also compared the susceptibility results with the in vitroactivity of chlorhexidine in the eradication of Candida colonization.  Candida albicansproduced significantly more phospholipase and coagulase than non-albicans Candida, whereas proteinase production was higher in non-albicans Candida.  Biofilm production was demonstrated in Candida albicans and non-albicans Candida (P = 0.214). None of the planktonic growth of Candida isolates were resistant to either fluconazole or amphotericin B, whereas 40% and 84% Candida isolates grown as biofilm became resistant to fluconazole and amphotericin B, respectively. Both coagulase and phospholipase production  strongly correlated with the resistance of sessile Candidaisolates to amphotericin B (P < 0.001). Whereas both proteinase and phospholipase correlated with the resistance of in vitro Candida biofilms to fluconazole (P < 0.05 and P = 0.001; respectively). Chlorhexidine was comparable to fluconazole towards planktonic and sessile grown Candida isolates. In conclusion, the study demonstrated an association between certain virulence factors and the development of biofilm drug resistance and highlighted the value of chlorhexidine as a promising prospect in the eradication ofCandida colonization.

 Key words: Antifungal susceptibility, biofilm resistance, Candida colonization,chlorhexidine, preterm neonates, virulence factors.


Biotic-abiotic hybrid systems (BAHs) constructed by integrating biological methanogens with photocatalysts offer novel approaches for the effective solar-driven conversion of CO2 to CH4, providing significant inspiration for achieving carbon neutrality and alleviating the energy crisis. As metal photocatalysts would cause photocorrosion that damages microbial cells and lead to system imbalance. Therefore, exploring suitable metal-free photocatalysts is of particular importance in the search for more efficient and sustainable BAHs to improve the actual operability and applicability. Herein, black phosphorus/carbon nitride (BPCNx) as an alternative metal-free heterostructure was combined with Methanosarcina barkeri (M. barkeri) to construct M. barkeri-BPCNx hybrid systems, and their cyclic methanogenesis performance was investigated. Our results demonstrated that BPCNx promotes the separation of photogenerated charges and enhances the quantum yield, providing a sustained energy source for the cyclically driven M. barkeri reduction of CO2 to CH4 under visible light. Our system achieved a total CH4 yield of 1087.45 ± 29.14 μmol gcat–1 after three cycles, 1.96 times higher than that of M. barkeri-Ni@CdS. M. barkeri-BPCNx overcame the defects of the metal photocatalyst and kept cell permeability, achieving cyclic stability and effectively maintaining the activity of M. barkeri. These results highlight the viable role of BPCNx as a metal-free photocatalysts in the construction of BAHs for the sustained and efficient methanation of CO2, which is conducive to the development of an environmentally-friendly, low-cost, and efficient strategy for the conversion of CO2 to CH4.


This study systematically reviews the published literature regarding inappropriate prescribing in frail individuals aged at least 65 years. Twenty-five of 466 identified studies met the inclusion criteria. All papers measured some surrogate indicators of frailty, such as performance-based tests, cognitive function and functional dependency. Beers criteria were used in 20 studies (74%) to evaluate inappropriate medication use and 36% (9/25) studies used more than one criterion. The prevalence of inappropriate medications ranged widely from 11 to 92%. Only a few studies reported the relationship between potentially inappropriate medication use and surrogate measures of frailty. These diverse findings indicate the need for a standardized measure for assessing appropriateness of medication in frail older individuals. Prescribing tools should address both medication and patient-related factors such as life expectancy and functional status to minimize inappropriate prescribing in frail individuals.


This report documents the design procedure of a SerDes Transmitter module for PCI e-gen1 applications. The Transmitter module has programmable features: impedance, amplitude and pre-emphasis. Design was performed in 130nm CMOS technology (process IBM cmrf8sf). The design of the Transmitter module is divided in three stages as follow: First, a behavioral model of Transmitter module was created in Verilog-A language. This model has 2 inputs and two complementary outputs. This behavioral model was used to verify the proper system-level response of the Transmitter module alone. Simulations based on behavioral model were performed using Spectre simulator in Virtuoso-Cadence. Simulations results show that the three features: impedance, amplitude and pre-emphasis could be properly modulated with the developed Verilog-A code. The behavioral model of Transmitter module was also assembled with other modules of SerDes system in order to perform mixed-signal simulations and validate the correct response of the entire SerDes system for PCI-e gen1 specifications. As second stage, the Transmitter module was designed at transistor level with two complementary outputs. For this, we used pCells (transistors, resistors and capacitors, and vias for interconnecting devices) from CMRF8SF technology process. Transmitter module is composed by several blocks such as Mux, Decoders, basic digital cells, buffers, and pseudo-analog cells among others. Transistors of digital cells were sized by applying the basic scaling theory while transistors of pseudo-analog cells were sized by analytic calculations in an iterative way. Mux and Decoders were assembled with digital cells. To validate the correct response of each designed internal block, test-benches were created to test each block. Transient simulations were performed using Spectre in Virtuoso Cadence. After verifying the proper response of internal block alone, they were assembled to form more complex blocks such as Decoders, ZAP UNIT and others and they were also tested. Finally, all internal blocks of Transmitter module were assembled and tested at nominal PVT conditions. Critical PVT corners were evaluated and it was verified that response was under tolerance range. The third stage of design was the layout creation in a custom way. A similar bottom-up methodology followed to design at schematic-level of internal modules was applied to design the layout of each internal block of the Transmitter module. Keeping in mind the integration of internal blocks, the low–level digital cells were designed with the same height. The layout of each internal block was verified for DRC and LVS using Calibre tool and design rules of CMRF8SF process. Extraction of parasitics from layout using Calibre-PEX was done for each internal block. Post-layout response was compared to the pre-layout one; for this, Spectre simulation was performed of each internal blocks using simultaneously the extracted Calibre view and schematic view. Once the correct response was verified, the internal blocks were assembled and routed in order to build the entire layout of Transmitter module. Finally, the layout of Transmitter module was folded in order to generate the two complementary outputs. At this top level, the layout of Transmitter module was also checked for DRC and LVS.


Between January 1983 and July 1997, 83 patients (35 female, 48 male) with a median age of 37 (19-57) years with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) were admitted for bone marrow transplantation (BMT) at the University hospital of Vienna. Fifty-six patients were in chronic phase, 17 in accelerated and 10 had blast crisis. Marrow donors were: HLA-identical siblings in 62 patients, 2-antigen mismatched related donor in 2, HLA-identical unrelated donors (MUD) in 17 and 1-antigen mismatched unrelated donor in 2 patients. The median time from diagnosis to BMT was 22 (2-91) months. Conditioning therapy consisted of cyclophosphamide (CY) and total body irradiation or CY and busulfan. For graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis methotrexate (MTX) alone, MTX and cyclosporine A (CSA), CSA alone or CSA and methylprednisone were given. Durable engraftment was documented in 75 of 77 patients (97%). As of July 31, 1997 48 patients are alive (58%), 36 (56%) after sibling transplantation with a median observation time of 77 months and 12 (63%) after MUD transplantation with a median observation time of 13 months. Overall survival for patients in chronic phase (CP) at time of BMT is 64%, 53% for patients in acceleration and 30% for patients in blast crisis (BC). Disease-free survival (DFS) after sibling BMT and unrelated donor transplantation is 53% and 58%, respectively. Ten patients (12%) experienced relapse of CML. Transplant-related mortality was 33% after sibling and 32% after MUD transplantation. Thus, sibling and unrelated donor BMT offer high cure rates with acceptable toxicity to patients with CML.


This paper reviews recent advances in the economic literature on corruption in order to put some of this material into a broader analytic perspective. Using widely accepted definition of corruption in the literature, we argue that excessively centralized government structure is one of the ultimate factors that drive high level of corruption. In accordance with existing studies, we found there is ample evidence that corruption reduces economic efficiencies and has significant distributional consequences. In addition, due to widespread criticism of conventional perception-based corruption measures, we develop alternative measure of corruption that allows more fruitful empirical studies. The estimated magnitude of corruption in Korea suggests a number of important policy implications.


n the university, corpus-based research is commonly done for writing a thesis. However, corpus-based research can also be introduced for the first year of EFL students to build their critical thinking and vocabulary mastery.  Less research discusses the practice of corpus-based research for the first year EFL student.  Therefore, it is essential to investigate the benefit and the challenges of corpus-based research in the Indonesian EFL Setting. This study aims to examine the benefits and the challenges of corpus-based research in the Indonesian EFL Setting. Students did corpus-based research in English for the Islamic Studies course. Students tried to structure an English glossary from online Islamic articles, Islamic journals, and Islamic blogs. Forty-four students were chosen as the subject of the research. The survey was done to the students to gather the data about the benefits and the challenges of corpus-based research. The results showed that corpus-based research benefits increase vocabulary, increase students' understanding of research, improve students' accuracy in writing, develop critical thinking, and develop collaboration. Students faced several challenges in implementing corpus-based research. The finding shows students have difficulties in understanding new vocabulary. Besides, they have problems classifying data into specific topics, allocating time, and writing their reports.


BACKGROUND
The streptokinase (SK) regimen (1.5 MU/60 min) has remained unchanged in the ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI) for the last 20 years.

AIM
To compare the efficacy of an accelerated SK (ASK) regimen combined with enoxaparin (Enox) or heparin (UFH) with the standard SK and UFH combination in STEMI.

METHODS
633 consecutive patients, aged 21-74 years, admitted within 6 hours after the onset of STEMI, were divided in three groups: (1) ASKEnox (n=165): Enox 40 mg. i.v. followed by SK 1.5 MU over 20 min, either as a full dose or a double infusion of 0.75 MU over 10 min. separated by 50 min. After SK infusion, Enox was administered 1 mg/kg s.c. every 12 hours for 5-7 days; (2) ASKUFH (n=264): the same ASK regimen plus UFH 1,000 IU/h for 48-72 hours, (3) SSKUFH (n=204): SK 1.5 MU/60 min. plus UFH 1,000 IU/h for 48-72 hours. All patients received aspirin. Three coronary reperfusion (CR) criteria were used: 1. rapid cessation of chest pain; 2. rapid reduction of ST-segment elevation by more than 50% of the initial value; 3. rapid increase in plasma CK and CK-MB with a peak in the first 12 hours.

RESULTS
The rates of CR in the ASKEnox (77.6%) and the ASKUFH (73.5%) groups were similar but both were significantly higher than that observed in the SSKUFH group (62.2%) (p=0.002 and 0.013, respectively). The 30-day mortality rates were similar in the ASKEnox (6.06%) and the ASKUFH (6.81%) groups but both were significantly lower than in the SSKUFH group (12.74%) (p=0.048 and 0.044, respectively). SK-induced hypotension was more frequent in the ASKEnox (39.4%) and ASKUFH (38.3%) groups compared with the SSKUFH group (20.6%) (p<0.0001), but it was transient and well tolerated. Haemorrhagic stroke occurred in two patients from the SSKUFH and one patient from the ASKUFH groups.

CONCLUSIONS
ASKEnox and ASKUFH regimens are safe and result in a significantly higher rate of CR and a lower in-hospital mortality compared with the traditional SSKUFH regimen.


Rainfall and temperature are the two key parameters of crop development. Studying the characteristics of these parameters under El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions is important to better understand the impacts of the different phases of this phenomenon (El Niño, Neutral, and La Niña conditions) on agriculture. This study analyzes 32 years (1980–2011) of climatic data from 128 weather stations across Goiás State in Brazil to determine the behavior of temperature and rainfall time series over three periods (1980–1989; 1990–1999 and 2000–2011) under El Niño, Neutral, and La Niña conditions. The analysis revealed no major impacts of ENSO conditions on accumulated rainfall characteristics, a feature particularly marked in the most recent period (2000–2011). ENSO impacting temperature was identified but presented considerable variability across the periods investigated. These impacts were marked in the first two periods as for maximum temperature and increased from the first to the last period as for minimum temperature. These features were noticed in both analyses in the entire Goiás State and most of the investigated mega-regions, except for the East and Northeast mega-regions as for minimum temperature. There were increases in maximum temperature values throughout the rainfed season (October to March) for all ENSO conditions and investigated periods. Minimum temperature also increased across the three investigated periods, and this was marked in the beginning of the rainfed season (October) under El Niño and Neutral conditions.


: The transformation of natural environments into urban areas has been on the rise since the industrial revolution in the late 1800s. Currently, urbanization is a global phenomenon intended to accommodate the natural growth of the human population as well as to the increasing levels of migration from rural to urban areas. Urbanization processes are responsible for levels of biodiversity loss never seen since the dawn of human civilization. In this context, the few species that can exploit the resources available in urban areas can greatly benefit and proliferate in those areas mainly by the virtual absence of natural predators and the overabundance of resources as a result of the biotic homogenization process. These few species that are able to thrive in urban environments alongside humans are commonly known as urban exploiters. Aedes aegypti and Culex quin-quefasciatus are among those few species that can thrive in urban environments and, as a consequence, have considerably expanded not only their range but also their abundance in many cities of the world. They are currently present in most large cities in tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. This represents a considerable public health challenge since Ae. aegypti and Cx. quinque-fasciatus are some of the most epidemiologically relevant mosquito species. Aedes aegypti is a primary vector of chikungunya, dengue, yellow fever, and Zika viruses, whereas Cx. quinquefasciatus is a primary vector of West Nile, Eastern Equine encephalitis, and Saint Louis Encephalitis viruses. New mosquito surveillance and control strategies are needed to deal with this increasing threat of arboviruses outbreaks in urban areas.


In petroleum engineering, a low permeability reservoir is an oil reservoir whose permeability of porous media lower than 50 micro-Darcy. Due to the existence of the threshold pressure gradient (TPG), it is hard to describe the seepage characteristics of the low permeability reservoir, and there is no ideal model of this kind. Considering the force between liquid and solid surface, the authors derived a new liquid flow model based on the negative slip boundary model of a micro-channel. Firstly, after defining the non-flowing liquid layer close to the solid surface as the boundary stick layer, and using the inverse proportion of the boundary stick layer to the pressure gradient, the authors derived the formula of the distribution of the flow rate and the flow formula of a round channel; Then, the authors got the low permeability seepage model with consideration of capillaries model; Finally, the authors derived the TPG of low permeability reservoir after testing the flow of the samples. The results show that there does not exist TPG on the low permeability reservoirs on the whole. However, it can be seen in small parts with low pressure gradient. After different power fitting of the experimental data, we find that the first power exponential function fitting is relatively accurate.


Purpose of research. The purpose of this study is to assess the possibility of developing and simulating an optimal control system for the longitudinal movement of a robocars according to the criterion of maximum speed by using the MSC.Adams virtual modeling system and the MATLAB mathematical modeling package Methods. One of the research approaches is system modeling, while a virtual modeling system is used as a software tool for synthesizing a virtual physical model of a robot, and a package of application programs for solving technical computing problems MATLAB and a graphical environment for simulation Simulink are used to model a control system. The Pontryagin maximum principle is used as a synthesis method for the longitudinal displacement control system, and the maximum speed is used as an optimality criterion. Results: The structure of the control system for a robotic platform is presented; an optimal control algorithm is developed and implemented in the Simulink environment. The structure of the physical model management system with data transfer to Adams has been developed. The acceleration curves and the phase portrait of the model control system during the longitudinal movement of the robotic platform are presented and analyzed. Conclusion. As can be seen from the above simulation results, the optimal positional control law, which implements the maximum principle, fulfills the task with the required quality indicators. In this regard, the proposed algorithm can be used in the development of control systems for the longitudinal movement of mobile robots. Joint modeling of the virtual prototype and the object control system in the Matlab and Adams environment avoids the production of a fullscale model and makes it possible to take into account the physical properties of the object without creating an analytical model.


Scientists all over the world know Gottfried Landwehr as Mister High Magnetic Field. In 1972, he started the conference series ``The Generation of High Magnetic Fields and their Application in Solid State Physics'' and acted as the director of the High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Grenoble at the time when the Quantum Hall Effect was discovered at this research center. His scientific interest in low temperature physics and semiconducting materials (mainly low dimensional electron systems) together with his strong connections to the Metrology Institute in Germany (Physikalisch Technische Bundesanstalt, PTB) formed the basis for scientific breakthroughs and discoveries with the Quantum Hall Effect as the main highlight. There is no doubt; he is the Grandfather of the Quantum Hall Effect. I have known Gottfried Landwehr for more than 40 years, and first met him in Braunschweig at the PTB, where I worked as a summer student. Gottfried Landwehr had the privilege to run the ``Laboratory of the President'' which allowed him to do basic research within an excellent scientific environment. His main interests were magnetotransport phenomena in semiconductors such as germanium, tellurium and III/V semiconductors in pulsed magnetic fields up to 10 Tesla. His investigations on germanium bi-crystals opened the research field of low-dimensional electron systems, since the hole accumulation at the grain boundary between the crystals forms a two-dimensional hole gas. The accidental observation that (depending on the etching process) a two-dimensional hole gas can be formed not only at grain boundaries but also at the surface of an undoped tellurium crystal led to a concentration of Gottfried Landwehr's research into the field of two-dimensional electron systems. A fruitful cooperation with Gerhard Dorda at the Siemens Research Laboratory extended the research program in the direction of modern Silicon field effect transistors with pioneering transport research on n- and p-channels with different surface orientations. Even today, low-dimensional systems are one of the topics of his scientific research. Especially II/VI semiconductors with their applications as blue lasers or in spintronic are connected with the name Gottfried Landwehr. All these research activities have contributed to the topics of the international conferences ``New Phenomena in Mesoscopic Structures (NPMS)'' and ``Surfaces and Interfaces of Mesoscopic Devices (SIMD)''. In recognition of Gottfiied Landwehr's contribution to science and to the scientific community, the special joint mesoscopic conference NPMS/SIMD 2005 was dedicated to him.


In this paper, a coordinate transformation method (CTM) is employed to numerically solve the Poisson–Nernst–Planck (PNP) equation and Navier–Stokes (NS) equations for studying the traveling-wave electroosmotic flow (TWEF) in a two-dimensional microchannel. Numerical solutions indicate that the numerical solutions of TWEF with and without the coordinate transformation are in good agreement, while CTM effectively improves stability and convergence rate of the numerical solution, and saves computational cost. It is found that the averaged flow velocity of TWEF in a micro-channel strongly depends on frequency of the electric field. Flow rate achieves a maximum around the charge frequency of the electric double layer. The approximate solutions of TWEF with slip boundary conditions are also presented for comparison. It is shown that the NS solution with slip boundary conditions agree well with those of complete PNP-NS equations in the cases of small ratios of Electric double layer(EDL) thickness to channel depth(λD/H). The NS solution with slip boundary conditions over-estimates the electroosmotic flow velocity as this ratio(λD/H) is large.