The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of vitamin C supplementation and yoga practice on total antioxidant status (TEAC), lipid peroxidation, and blood lipid profiles of middle-aged women. Thirty two women (53.34±5.08 years old) in B city volunteered and the signed consents were received before the study. Experimental groups were normal (n=8), vitamin C intake group (n=8), yoga group (n=8), and vitamin C intake with yoga group (n=8). Total experimental period was 12 weeks. Yoga group practiced yoga 3 times a week for 12 weeks with intensity of RPE 13~15. Each practice was 60 minutes. Vt. C group was instructed to take 1 g of Vt. C every day after dinner meal. Changes in TEAC after 12 weeks were 28.23% for the normal group, 30% for Vt. C group, 26.58% for yoga group, and 43.66% for Vt. C with yoga group; the increases in TEAC among groups were not significantly different. Serum malondialehyde (MDA) concentration of the normal group increased by 10% during 12 weeks of experiment while that for the Vt. C, yoga, and Vt. C with yoga group were significantly decreased by 25%, 32.14%, and 33.87%, respectively (p<0.05) compared with the normal group. Neither yoga, Vt. C supplementation nor combined program for 12 weeks were effective enough to change the serum lipid profiles compared with the normal group. In conclusion, Vitamin C supplementation or regular yoga practice seems to have health promoting effects of retarding the oxidative stress by decreasing lipid peroxidation in middle-aged woman.


Introduction: The electrocardiogram (ECG) signal is important for early diagnosis of heart abnormalities. Type 2 diabetic individuals' ECG signals provide pertinent data about their heart and are one of the most important diagnostic techniques used by doctors to identify Cardiovascular Disease (CVD). Bidirectional Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) classifies the features linked to normal and abnormal stage ECG signal. Aim: To analyse ECG signals of type 2 diabetic patients for early prediction of CVDs using feature extraction and bidirectional RNN based classification. Materials and Methods: This was a secondary data-based modelling study at Shri Ramasamy Memorial University Sikkim, India from December 2020 to January 2022. Different noises were removed by hybrid preprocessing filter made up of a Median and Savitzky-Golay filter. Undecimated Dual Tree Complex Wavelet Transform (UDTCWT) along with Detrended fluctuation (DA) analysis and Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis were then used to extract features. These features were classified with Bidirectional RNN. Results: The proposed method was tested on the MIT-BIH, Physionet and DICARDIA databases, and the findings showed that it achieves an average accuracy of 97.6% when compared to the conventional techniques. Conclusion: The proposed method proves to be the most effective way for detecting anomalies in ECG signals in both the early and pathological stages. This method is also effective to diagnose the early intervention of cardiovascular symptoms.


The emergence of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) — large state owned investment funds – is attracting increasing attention from academics and policy makers. However, this research begins by pointing out that SWFs can differ considerably. The research question is: What accounts for the establishment of different types of SWFs across and within countries?
This research analyses the role of domestic state-society structures in policy-making processes and their effects on policy choices regarding SWFs. It empirically investigates whether and how policy networks affect decisions regarding the types and choices of SWFs. Particular emphasis is placed on SWFs with savings mandates, and SWFs with development mandates. Using process tracing on qualitative data, the research identifies key actors and interests involved in policy processes, and offers causal mechanisms that connect policy networks to decisions about the creation of different types of SWFs. Acknowledging the particular regional and historical contexts helps to account for the effects of networks within countries and across domains, and within domains across countries.
Using a case study on the 'types and choices of SWFs in Hong Kong and Singapore between the late 1960s and 1980s', this research examines whether domestic policy networks affect national decisions about SWF creation. These are hard cases for theories that emphasise the importance of domestic state-society structures. After all, over this period Hong Kong and Singapore were extremely exposed to international diffusion and economic pressures, and existing research emphasises a set of important factors (e.g. macro-economic characteristics, international economic pressures, diffusion).
The present research draws attention to four key findings between the 1960s–1980s: there were external pressures to which Hong Kong and Singapore had to respond and different policy choices were available and discussed; policy networks included and excluded actors that were making these decisions; there were systematic linkages between the type of policy networks and the type of SWFs; these had important implications for actors and created winners and losers.
Thereby this research adds to the ongoing debate on whether policy networks matter in explaining policy choices. It is doing that in four ways. To date, policy network approaches provide rather crude hypotheses on the effects of policy networks on a broad set of state strategies and forms of adjustment. These are difficult to verify because they are very broad. The present study offers a critique of policy network literature and develops policy network analysis with regard to causal mechanisms and hypotheses.


We study additive properties of the set $S$ of bijections (or permutations) $\{1,\dots,n\}\to G$, thought of as a subset of $G^n$, where $G$ is an arbitrary abelian group of order $n$. Our main result is an asymptotic for the number of solutions to $\pi_1 + \pi_2 + \pi_3 = f$ with $\pi_1,\pi_2,\pi_3\in S$, where $f:\{1,\dots,n\}\to G$ is an arbitary function satisfying $\sum_{i=1}^n f(i) = \sum G$. This extends recent work of Manners, Mrazovic, and the author. Using the same method we also prove a less interesting asymptotic for solutions to $\pi_1 + \pi_2 + \pi_3 + \pi_4 = f$, and we also show that the distribution $\pi_1+\pi_2$ is close to flat in $L^2$.
As in the previous paper, our method is based on Fourier analysis, and we prove our results by carefully carving up $\widehat{G}^n$ and bounding various character sums. This is most complicated when $G$ has even order, say when $G = \mathbf{F}_2^d$.
At the end of the paper we explain two applications, one coming from the Latin squares literature (counting transversals in Latin hypercubes) and one from cryptography (PRP-to-PRF conversion).


The T-stress of cracks in elastic sheets is solved by using the fractal finite element method (FFEM). The FFEM, which had been developed to determine the stress intensity factors of cracks, is re-applied to evaluate the T-stress which is one of the important fracture parameters. The FFEM combines an exterior finite element model with a localized inner model near the crack tip. The mesh geometry of the latter is self-similar in radial layers around the tip. The higher order Williams series is used to condense the large numbers of nodal displacements at the inner model near the crack tip to a small set of unknown coefficients. Numerical examples revealed that the present approach is simple and accurate for calculating the T-stresses and the stress intensity factors. Some errors of the T-stress solutions shown in the previous literature are identified and the new solutions for the T-stress calculations are presented.


Aim: To examine the prevalence of complications related with transulnar approach in patients undergoing elective percutaneous coronary interventions. Study Design: Cross-sectional/observational study. Place & Duration: The study was conducted at cardiology department of Cat A Hospital Batkhela and Fauji Foundation Hospital Peshawar for six months duration from January 2020 to December 2020. Methods: One hundred and eighteen patients of both genders with ages 20 to 75 years who underwent percutaneous coronary interventions were included. Patients' detailed demographics including age, sex, BMI and com-morbidities were recorded after taking informed written consent from all the patients. All the patients had percutaneous coronary procedure through transulnar approach and periprocedural complications were examined. Data was analyzed using SPSS 24.0. Results: Out of 118 patients 85 (72.03%) were males and 33 (27.97%) were females with mean age of 55.74±11.71 years. Mean BMI was 28.09±7.33 kg/m2. Hypertension was the most common morbidity found in 63 (53.4%) patients followed by diabetes mellitus and smoking. Minor bleeding was the commonest complication found in 28 (23.7%) patients followed by ulnar artery occlusion, excessive bleeding, ulnar nerve injury and hematoma in 10 (8.5%), 8 (6.8%), 6 (5.08%) and 2 (2.5%) patients respectively. Conclusion: It is concluded that transulnar approach for coronary interventions is safe and effective with fewer rate of complications. Keywords: Coronary Intervention, Angiography, Transulnar Approach, Complications.


B circulating microRNAs are known as novel and validated biomarkers for application in early detection of diseases including cancers. The aim was to design and fabricate precise sensors for quantification of miRNAs in real samples (serum/plasma) without any sample manipulation. Two sensors (an electrochemical biosensor and nanobiosensor) were developed for quantification of miR-155, as a biomarker related to the early phase of breast cancer expression. Both sensors showed high specificity and selectivity, so that they could discriminate between target miR-155 and single-base mismatch, three-base mismatch, completely unmatched oligonucleotides. Reproducibility, stability and functionality of the sensors in the real samples (serum/plasma) were found to be significant. Both sensors had a low detection limit and wide linear ranges with simplicity, less consumed time and low cost, which were superior to the most of previously published works. It seems our method can be introduced to be used in clinical labs and also detection of other miRNA biomarkers through other optimizations.


New fractional boundary conditions (FBC) on plane boundaries are introduced. FBC act as intermediate case between perfect electric conductor and perfect magnetic conductor. In certain sense FBC are analogue of commonly used impedance boundary conditions with pure imaginary impedance. The relation between fractional order and impedance is shown. Plane wave diffraction problem by a strip described by FBC is formulated and solved using new method which extends known methods. Numerical results for physical characteristics are presented. Analyzing the scattering properties of the fractional strip new features are observed. FBC has one important special case where the fractional order equals to 1/2. For this special case the solution of diffraction problem can be found in analytical form for any value of wavenumber. Also for small values of wavenumber monostatic radar cross section has new specific resonances which are absent for other values of fractional order.


Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKIs) have been recommended by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) as first-line therapy in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) patients with EGFR mutations. In addition to prolonging Progression-Free Survival and Overall Survival, one of the treatment goals also considers improving the health-related quality of life (HRQOL), which can help to achieve the patients' treatment targets. Several systematic review studies related to HRQOL in advanced NSCLC patients have already been carried out, but there are only a few studies of HRQOL in NSCLC patients who experience EGFR mutations and are treated with TKIs in their specific treatment. This Systematic review aims to provide an overview of the impact of TKIs on HRQOL. Relevant studies were identified from Science Direct, PubMed, and Scopus. They were limited to articles explaining TKIs as first-line therapy, written in English, not a systematic review or meta-analysis, and not containing incomplete text. Electronic data-based search produced 112 articles, with 21 articles matched the title and abstract, yet only nine articles met the inclusion and exclusion to be reviewed. In general, the impact of HRQOL on TKIs is better than platinum and placebo-based chemotherapy. Afatinib, erlotinib, and gefitinib further improved HRQOL compared to platinum and placebo-based chemotherapy seen from the improvements in symptoms, physical function, and social function scale. However, gefitinib vs erlotinib showed no significant difference in patients' the quality of life. TKIs provide better HRQOL than platinum and placebo-based chemotherapy.


We report on multifrequency radio observations made with the Effelsberg 100-m telescope, the IRAM 30-m telescope and the Green Bank Interferometer between 1992 and 1994 of the $\gamma$-ray quasar 0528+134. We present a new VLBI based map of 0518+134 at 22 GHz with sub-mas angular resolution observed in November 1992, which shows a one-sided core jet structure of $\sim$ 5 mas length. One component, seen also previously at 8.4 GHz & 22 GHz, shows apparent superluminal motion with $\beta_{app}$=4.4$\pm$1.7. In summer 1993 we observed a major outburst at all frequencies higher than a few GHz, which peaked a few months after a strong outburst in high energy $\gamma$-rays and showed the canonical time evolution of a cooling and/or expanding electron distribution. Our data indicate that the outburst in the EGRET range originated very close to the central object of the AGN and that a remnant of this outburst moved further outward in the jet until it became optically thin at radio frequencies after a few months. During the flare in July 1993 we observed with the Effelsberg 100-m telescope an unusually strong decrease of the flux density by about 50% at 4.75 GHz and 10.55 GHz and slightly less at 2.695 GHz. This behaviour is also seen in the monitoring data at 2.25 GHz and 8.3 GHz taken with the Green Bank Interferometer (NRL-GBI). An extreme scattering event by a small dense plasma cloud in the line of sight is able to match the observed time lag in the lightcurves if we take into account the mas-structure of the source and different spectra of the components on the basis of their brightness in the VLBI maps.


While hopes have risen that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will eliminate screening health disparities, we argue that disparities will persist. In this session we will discuss differences in mortality by age and race for breast cancer, colon, and cervical cancer. Let9s be clear, however, that differences are not disparities. Biologic differences may account for some differences in morbidity and mortality and these causes cannot be addressed by screening alone. In this discussion we use the term disparity as suggested by Health People 2020 to mean differences due to "a particular type of health difference that is closely linked with social, economic, and/or environmental disadvantage". Though 20 million people have gained coverage under the ACA, that coverage alone will not eliminate health disparities because that is only one factor in a multilevel problem. Factors in multilevel problems interact with each other so the ACA is a major step forward that will affect the healthcare environment in states, healthcare organizations, provider teams and the mind of individuals seeking health. But that is exactly why the ACA is only a start; the ACA will not eliminate the other socio-economic barriers that still exist at those levels and will even increase barriers in some cases; state policies, organizational culture and assets, medical team practices and functioning, and individual attitudes all must be addressed to eliminate differential screening rates and reduce disparities in cancer morbidity and mortality. There has been progress in reducing disparities in screening rates for breast, colorectal, and cervical cancer by some criteria. Screening rates for breast, colorectal, and cervical cancer across race have narrowed according National Health Interview Data through 2011. For example, for breast cancer screening, the proportion of women with a mammogram in the previous 18 months was 37.5% in 2000 for Non-Hispanic Asian Americans and 53.9% for Non-Hispanic Whites. By 2011 the proportions had converged to between 50% and 55% across Hispanic, Non-Hispanic Black, Non-Hispanic White, and Non-Hispanic Asians. A similar convergence is seen for cervical cancer screening as well (40-60%), though the spread across race was less dramatic in 2000 for this cancer. Colon cancer screening rates in the previous year are lowest among the three cancers but the same trend occurs; screening rates varied from 18% among Non-Hispanic Asians to 25% among Non Hispanic Whites in 2000, and converged to 24% and 25% respectively in 2011. Across all three cancers screening rates remained lowest for American Indians and Alaska Natives. The single most important disparity is differential screening rates across educational levels, and educational attainment will not be addressed by the ACA. To reduce health disparities we must take advantage of the major change that the ACA represents but not assume it will fix the problem of differential screening and mortality due to cancer of the breast, cervix, colon and rectum among people living in the United States. The undocumented aliens in the US will have increased challenges seeking care because they are not eligible for coverage through the ACA. The 22 states that do not expand Medicaid coverage will have persistent health care access issues for low-income women. Furthermore, there are challenges to using our care system and seeking screening once people have coverage. In studies of late-stage breast and invasive cervical cancers occurring among people enrolled in 7 managed care plans for at least 3 years, living in areas of high poverty or having low educational levels were associated with higher risks of invasive cervical cancer (1.72, 95% CI 1.11-2.67; 1.52, 95% CI 1.07-2.16 for high poverty and low income respectively). To address disparities in screening we must address the underlying issues associated with poverty, and low education. More research is needed to understand these associations and consider factors such as organizational culture, physical distance, and social support as they may become more salient determinants of differential screening rates as financial barriers are reduced. We must also, however, continue to recognize that financial barriers exist for some populations, and for some where screening is coverage by diagnostic processes are not. Citation Format: Stephen Taplin, Ekland Abdiwahab, Felisa Gonzales. Con: The ACA will not eliminate disparities in cancer screening. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Seventh AACR Conference on The Science of Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; Nov 9-12, 2014; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2015;24(10 Suppl):Abstract nr IA32.


Background and objectives Recent evidence indicates that cerebral palsy is connected to specific autonomic dysregulation between sympathetic and parasympathetic efferent pathways, likely linked to hemispheric influences. These findings suggest a hypothesis that contralateral interhemispheric disinhibition, which may occur on various levels of brain processing including motor functions, could be linked to specific functional dysregulation and structural lesions, which may play a specific role in the modulation of autonomic functions and lead to autonomic dysregulation in cerebral palsy. Method With the aim of comparing autonomic functions as they relate to interhemispheric modulatory influences during therapeutically indicated stereotactic cerebellar stimulation, we have performed bilateral electrodermal activity measurement and calculations of pointwise transinformation (PTI) in a patient with cerebral palsy. Measurement was performed during therapeutic deep cerebellar stimulation in two cerebellar areas in anterior cerebellar lobe–culmen (left electrode) and central lobule–superior cerebellar peduncle (right electrode). Results The results indicate that information transference (PTI) is able to distinguish the states related to specific cerebellar stimulations and that lowest levels of the PTI have been found during stimulation of the central lobule–superior cerebellar peduncle (electrode deepest contact 1), indicating a significantly increased level of inhibition between the left and right sides. Conclusion The results may present potentially useful clinical findings indicating that increased PTI calculated from electrodermal activity could indirectly indicate disinhibitory activity as a possible indicator of a failure of interhemispheric communication that could explain some specific pathogenetic mechanisms in cerebral palsy. Nevertheless, these results need detailed confirmation in further research, as well as reliable clinical evaluation of their usefulness in the therapy of cerebral palsy.


Selective inhibition of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) might avoid the side effects of current available nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs while retaining their therapeutic efficacy. A novel variable selection and modeling method based on prediction is developed to construct the quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR) between the molecular electronegativity distance vector (MEDV) based on 13 atomic types and the biological activities of a set of selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitory molecules, 3,4-diarylcycloxazolones (DAA) plus indomethacin,naproxen, and celecoxib. Using multiple linear regression, a 5-variable linear model is developed with the calibrated correlation coefficient of 0.9271 and root mean square error of 0.17 in modeling stage and the validated correlation coefficient of 0.9030 and root mean square error of 0.20 in leave-one-out validation step, respectively. To further test the predictive ability of the model, 20 DAA compounds are picked up to construct a training set which is used to build a QSAR model and then the model is employed to predict the biological activities of the balance compounds. The predicted correlation coefficient and root mean square error are 0.9332 and 0.19, respectively.


Bulgaria has a long tradition of smallholder farming, predominantly producing for self-consumption. As a result of land reform and farm restructuring, many rural households received agricultural land. Some developed commercial farms but most households stayed as subsistence farmers and used their small pieces of land to produce for self-consumption and market the excess output to top up their non-farm incomes or meagre pensions. They had little capital and insecure access to markets. The paper employs semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 10 smallholders for obtaining detailed information about individuals' behaviour and exploring issues in greater detail. In particular, the study looks at the drivers of the diverse strategies pursued by smallholder farms, their importance for household food security and incomes, and the prospects of smallholder farms in the future, especially the possibilities for productivity increases. The Bulgarian study on contemporary smallholder farms shows that subsistence production constitutes a valuable safety net for households with low incomes, and therefore, it acts as an extension of the limited social security system of the country. Despite all the challenges faced by smallholders, half of the interviewed households succeeded to commercialise and increase marketable surplus. Policies for increased commercialisation of smallholder farms and a structural change in agriculture should address, besides market factors, the socioeconomic aspects which contribute to the persistence of subsistence farming. Furthermore, when prioritising different policies, the chosen livelihood strategies of the households should be taken into account.


Emerging real-time and multimedia applications in IP over ATM networks are becoming an indispensable part of the networking world. Considering the different and essential natures of IP and ATM, it seems that they complement each other. Although several approaches have been proposed for IP and ATM integration, so far a key problem (i.e., Quality of Service support) in foreseeable future networking applications remains unsolved. This paper describes a new extension to Classical IP and ARP over ATM (CLIP) protocol, Real-time and Multimedia services using CLIP (RMCLIP), providing ATM service classes to the IP end users. It defines that different service classes are mapped to the associated IP addresses. It enables different IP end user applications (e.g., real-time video, voice and data) to obtain their own dedicated VCs.


This opinion article applauds the recent introduction of a new dental accreditation standard addressing critical thinking and problem-solving, but expresses a need for additional means for dental schools to demonstrate they are meeting the new standard because articulated outcomes, learning models, and assessments of competence are still being developed. Validated, research-based learning models are needed to define reference points against which schools can design and assess the education they provide to their students. This article presents one possible learning model for this purpose and calls for national experts from within and outside dental education to develop models that will help schools define outcomes and assess performance in educating their students to become practitioners who are effective critical thinkers and problem-solvers.


This RISC microprocessor is a new, high-performance, PowerPC microprocessor designed specifically for the mobile and high volume desktop personal computer markets. It is an advanced superscalar design with six execution units, aggressive upstream branch processing, out-of-order instruction execution, and a tightly integrated "backside" L2 cache. This dual-issue engine has a four-stage pipeline with dual 32-kB eight-way set-associative L1 caches and an integrated L2 controller with on-chip L2 tag supporting up to 1 MB of external SRAM. A thermal assist unit and an instruction cache throttling mechanism are included for thermal management in mobile applications. A 60X system bus and L2 interface speeds of 100 and 250 MHz are achieved, respectively. This microprocessor achieves workstation class performance (estimated 10 SPECint95 and 9 SPECfp95) while only dissipating 5 W at 250 MHz. The 6.35-million transistor 66.5-mm/sup 2/ die is fabricated in a 2.5-V, 0.3-/spl mu/m, five-layer metal CMOS process.


Many reports have shown that the expression of transglutaminase 2 (TG 2) is increased in inflammatory diseases. Although during the last several decades multiple physiological roles for TG 2 have been demonstrated in various cell types, its role in the inflammatory process is not yet clear. TG 2 is a crosslinking enzyme that is widely used in many biological systems for tissue stabilization purposes and immediate defense against injury or infection. Aberrant activation of TG 2 activity in tissues contributes to a variety of diseases including neurodegenerative diseases, autoimmune diseases, and cancers. In most cases, TG 2 appears to form an inappropriate protein aggregate that may be cytotoxic enough to trigger inflammation and/or apoptosis. In some cases, such as celiac disease and rheumatoid arthritis, TG 2 is also associated with the pathogenic progression, as well as in the generation of autoantibodies. Recently, we discovered that increased TG 2 activity triggers NF-kappaB activation without I-kappaBalpha kinase signaling. TG 2 induces the polymerization of I-kappaBalpha rather than stimulating I-kappaBalpha kinase. This polymerization of I-kappaB results in the direct activation of NF-kappaB in various cell lines. We also found that TG inhibition reverses NF-kappaB activation. Interestingly, this coincides with the reversal of inflammation in conjunctivitis models by treatment with TG 2 inhibitors. Here, I introduce a new role for TG 2 as a signal modulator, which may suggest a new paradigm for the inflammatory process.


Millions of gallons of oil restfully end up in the seas every year. The early detection and identification of oil spills are critical prerequisites for performing cost effective maritime salvage operations. To overcome this illicit pollution, an oil spill detection method is proposed by Satellite Image Processing Technology. This paper presents a new approach for distinguishing oil spills that are produced by stationary offshore sources, during their early phase of occurrence. The result was reached after analyzing over acquired data that were produced by passive optical sensors like the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). The developed processing scheme involves optimal thresholding of the MODIS images by three algorithms namely Thresholding – By Index, By Value and By Function followed by the integration of all algorithms for detection of possible oil spills. Then segmentation is performed for the separation of look- alikes and oil spill features for the oil spill extraction. The validity of this new empirical algorithm, Thresholding - By Index, By Value, By Function depends upon the difference of RGB color and threshold value of an image. It can also be shown that unique texture differences can be revealed between oil spill and other features by applying Edge Detection Methodology and therefore the reduction of false positives is achieved. The developed algorithm's efficiency for real time oil spill detection and monitoring was also tested for 93% accuracy and experimentally evaluated by the generation of reports.


Tallgrass prairies, which once occupied a large swath of central North America, face the combined challenges of habitat loss and fragmentation. In Missouri, where less than 1% the historical prairie remains, prairies are being reconstructed from agricultural or wooded land. Invertebrates are often assumed to colonise reconstructions if native vegetation returns; however, the limited mobility of many invertebrates, the isolation of many tallgrass remnants, and the difficulty in establishing prairie plants raise serious questions as to whether invertebrate communities on reconstructed prairies are and will be equivalent to those found on remnant prairies. Grasshoppers (Acrididae) display a range of dispersal capabilities and may be valuable for assessing the success of prairie restoration for invertebrates. Our first objective was to compare grasshopper communities on reconstructed and remnant prairies and, if differences existed, identify species or functional groups associated with each habitat type. The second objective was to evaluate the effect of time because prairie reconstruction on grasshopper communities to determine if communities on reconstructions are converging with communities on remnants. Our results suggest that prairie reconstructions in Missouri do not support the same communities of grasshoppers as prairie remnants. Grasshopper diversity was generally greater on remnants. Many species had not colonised nearby reconstructions. Communities on prairie reconstructions were characterised by a few long‐winged, generalist species that are typically successful in agroecosystems. Further investigation into the habitat disparities driving low grasshopper diversity on reconstructions could help restore the grasshopper community of reconstructions.


Normothermic Machine Perfusion (NMP) has been established in the field of solid organ transplantation for both liver and kidney allografts. The ability to perfuse organs at body temperature enables viability assessment as well as optimisation prior to implantation.

 A recent in vitro report of the use of Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) in the use of a normothermic lung perfusion circuit has raised the possibility of their use in solid organ transplantation. The aim of this short review is to outline the potential uses of bone marrow derived MSCs for their use in renal allograft ex vivo NMP. An overview is provided of current literature of NMP as well as theorised uses for MSCs.


Subdural empyema (SDE) and cerebrovascular accident (CVA) are uncommon life-threatening complications of bacterial meningitis, which require urgent neurosurgical intervention to prevent adverse outcomes. Clinicians must be vigilant of the onset of focal neurologic deficits or seizure activity to establish the diagnosis of SDE. Streptococcus pneumoniae accounts for <1% of pyogenic brain abscesses. This case describes a presentation of community acquired pneumococcal pneumonia in which the diagnosis of SDE with vasculitis induced CVA was confounded by concomitant substance abuse and sedation.


This paper establishes a methodology for the validation of a whole federation of simulation models which represent the reality of the supply chain in the context of the aerospace industry. There are many possible ways to address this problem, among these, the simplest way appears to be the analysis of the real-life situation, based on historical data. The use of historical data is not always a viable approach, due to the lack of a sufficiently extensive pool of reliable data. Therefore a simulation-based VV&A approach is often required before the operative use of models. Historical data is reproduced through a long series of runs of a simulation meta-model. The major issue associated to the validation of a federation of simulation models is that each simulation model needs to be validated as stand-alone and at the same time it needs to be validated as a member of the whole federation, or of a portion of it.


The growth potential of local chickens in Malawi was evaluated by comparing their growth performance under cage-fed and free-range management conditions. Chicks (n = 106) were collected from 39 farmers in 19 villages and individually raised in cages from an average age of 9 weeks to 20 weeks. On- farm made growers mash (17 % CP) was fed and birds were treated against common diseases and parasites. Hatch mates (n = 141) of cage-raised chicks remained on farmer household flocks and were raised by their dam hens under scavenging conditions. These birds were raised in two batches between October and December 2002, and between January and March 2003, which were corresponding with hot-dry and warm-wet seasons, respectively. Sex of chickens, village, management and management x batc h interaction significantly (p<0.05) influenced growth traits. The values for birds under cage-managed conditions were significantly (p<0.05) 27, 39, 42, 25 and 41% higher than for birds under scavenging conditions, for weight at 20 weeks, overall daily weight gains, specific growth rate and growth efficiency, respectively. Phenotypic variance for daily weight gains and specific growth rates were 17 and 21%, respectively lower for cage-fed than for free range birds. Correlation coefficients of growth traits measured between cage-fed and scavenging conditions were low (r = 0.21-0.53, p<0.05), indicating possible genotype by environment interaction. Gross margin over feed costs was MK26.00 per bird (SD, MK27.00). This was 35 % rate of return on feed costs (SD, 38 %) or 24 % rate of return on initial bird value plus feed cost (SD, =26). It is concluded that growth potential of local chickens is only partially exploited under scavenging conditions primarily due to feed constraints.


A usable website is a key to ensuring user satisfaction whiles an unusable website brings about frustration and user dissatisfaction. Usability testing has been identified as a great way to check how usable products are to users. This is however ignored by many designers during the designing stage of products such as websites. This in the long run makes the user experience difficulties, errors, and frustration because the product was not created with the user needs in mind. Usability testing is a great way to explore the needs of users and also identify problems and challenges that users encounter while using a product. Involving users in usability testing helps to produce user-centered websites. This study therefore is an attempt to examine the Jiangsu University English Library Website which was designed for international students. Thus the study seeks to identify the needs of the international students as well as problems the users face whiles using the academic library website by involving them in the usability test. A user evaluation usability test with the Morae software was used in this study to analyze data. The study involves twenty international student participants of whom ten were from Asian Countries outside China and the other ten were from African countries and compared usability issues encountered by the groups when using the JUELW. According to the rule of the thumb 5 users are enough to help explore the usability issues. This study therefore serves as a guide for various libraries to use while conducting usability tests for their users and also makes recommendation for libraries to consider when designing library websites for their users especially international student.


Background/Aim: Technology is gaining importance in medical education, along with distance learning and technology-enhanced learning systems. In certain conditions, such as the Covid-19 outbreak, adapting technology to our medical education is essential. Computer-based simulation is one of those technologies that can be used in medical education. We aimed to measure the contribution of computer-based simulation to students' knowledge of cardiac rhythms in the advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) curriculum, compared to the classic educational method. Methods: Interns (6 th -grade medical students) were included in this observational study and divided into a study group and a control group. Both groups received a 2.5-hour-long ACLS rhythms lecture. Afterward, case studies were completed with a computer-based simulation program in the study group and with the classical didactic method in the control group. The participants took a multiple-choice test to measure the level of knowledge before (pre-test) and 4 weeks after (post-test) the training. "ACLS Simulator 2016" licensed program was used. Results: A total number of 80 medical students were included in the study. There were 35 (43.75%) males and 45 (56.25%) females, with a mean age of 23.7 (1.1) years. The mean number of correct answers in the pre-training test was 12.6 (3.2), and similar between the two groups ( P= 0.131), but significantly increased to 15.7 (3.3) ( P< 0.001) after the training. In the post-training test, the study and the control groups answered 16.0 (3.6) and 15.5 (3.1) questions correctly, respectively ( P= 0.477). Conclusion: Adapting a computer-based simulation program improves students' level of knowledge. Case scenario training with a computer-based simulation is as effective as the classical method.


In managing shipping business, the concept of seaworthiness of the vessel has developed in accordance with the development of the shipping industry. However, despite of the development of the vessel's seaworthiness, marine accident has continuously occurred at sea. International Maritime Organization(IMO) has paid attention to the research and investigation of Human Error in shipping operations in addition to physical seaworthiness of the vessel. In 1994, IMO adopted the "International Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention(ISM code)" of "SOLAS 1974" Annex, to take countermeasure against this human error. In 1999, Korea adopted the 'ISM Code' and then enacted the Maritime Safety Act (previously Maritime Traffic Safety Act). The Maritime Safety Act regulates necessary qualifications of the Human Resources of shipping companies for establishment and implementation of the safety management system. However, there has been a discrepancy between shipowners and ship management companies in interpreting the legislative texts, finally causing confusion. In this paper, I would like to examine the deficiencies in the regulation on the standard of qualifications of the Designated Person under the Maritime Safety Act and thereby suggest any possible improvements in it.


Mood disorders represent the most widespread prevalent and expensive psychiatric disorders. For a long time, the neuroendocrine system and the distribution of hormones through the brain and their modulatory role and influence in behavior and mood have been studied. The most important changes associated with mood disorders concern the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA), the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid (HPT), the hypothalamic-pituitary-GH (HP-GH) and the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPGn) axes. The intriguing data obtained from studies focusing on central neuropeptidergic circuits and peripheral hormone systems have been very useful in understanding the pathophysiology of mood disorders, although additional researches are needed to confirm these findings. All these data underline the importance of neuroendocrine dysfunctions in both pathophysiology of mood disorders and in the development of new pharmacotherapies.


Ga-prostate-specific membrane antigen (Ga-PSMA) PET/CT has shown excellent results in imaging of prostate cancer. Some nonprostatic malignancies can also demonstrate Ga-PSMA uptake, including primary lung adenocarcinoma. However, no such data are present for small cell lung cancer. We present the case of a 59-year-old man, where a second primary metastatic small cell lung cancer was discovered on Ga-PSMA PET/CT done for suspected recurrence of prostate cancer.


Nutrition is one of the most important factors in prevention of various diseases as well as improving the health care in preschool children. The HACCP system and other standards can be applied in every phase of the food chain starting from primary production with final consump-tion so as to eliminate hazards to human health caused by food.
The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of HACCP standard efficiency verification on managing the health safety of the meals along with determining the correlation between the influence of good manufacturing and sanitary practices application to reduction of risks to preschool-age children's health. Moreover, the objective of this research was a multidisciplinary observation of the risk management issues in providing safe food intended for preschool-age children.
The research was conducted in the preschool children's institution "Pcelica" in Nis and in the Public Health Institute Nis. The research in the preschool children's institution "Pcelica" included: implementation and analysis of the principles of HACCP standards through a specific control of one meal (beans with salad) and sensory analysis of that meal and selected food (apples). We have conducted the analysis of the influence of temperature as the critical control point, as well as the analyses of the partial change of the technological process in terms of extending the cooking time and adding some ingredients to the recipe. At the Institute of Public Health Nis, in accredited testing laboratories of the Center for Hygiene and Human Ecology, there were conducted quarterly food testings in the period from 2011 to 2014. There were used dietary surveys and meals chemical analysis, as well as inspection of sanitary and hygienic conditions.
The sensory analysis findings showed that all the parameters were bet-ter after a partial change of the technological process in terms of ex-tending the cooking time as well as different combinations of ingredi-
ents and times when they are added to the main dish. Dietary test find-ings show somewhat greater level of proteins regarding the energy val-ue of meals, whereas fats and carbohydrates have somewhat lower val-ues as to those prescribed by the norms. As for the mineral substances, the level of calcium is slightly lower than prescribed as well as the lev-els of phosphorus, potassium and copper. The level of natrium was in-creased whereas levels of magnesium and iron were slightly below the prescribed norms. Testing vitamin contents in an average children's meal has shown that the level of vitamin B1 was slightly below the norm as well as the levels of vitamin PP. Level of vitamin C was slightly above the prescribed value. The results of the chemical analy-sis of the meal showed that the daily meal mass was within the stand-ard limits, the energy value was satisfactory. The level of proteins was somewhat higher whereas the level of fats and carbohydrates was so-mewhat lower than the prescribed norms for the chemical composition of the meal. The analysis of the macronutrient ratio in the total energy value of meals shows that the ratio of proteins, fats and carbohydrates was optimal. By analyzing the results of bacteriological analysis of swabs we find that in a given period there was the average of 0,55% of contaminated smears.
With regard to the conducted research we can conclude that the re-search objectives have been achieved in terms of a multidisciplinary approach to the problem of nutrition of the preschool children. It also shows the effectiveness of HACCP standards in improving the safety of the final product and adequate risk management.


Di-cysteine substituted hypocrellin B (DCHB) is a new water-soluble photosensitizer with significantly enhanced red absorption at wavelengths longer than 600 nm over the parent compound hypocrellin B (HB). The photosensitizing properties (Type I and/or Type II mechanisms) of DCHB have been investigated in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) and aqueous solution (pH 7.4) using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and spectrophotometric methods. In anaerobic DMSO solution, the semiquinone anion radical of DCHB (DCHB-) is predominantly photoproduced via self-electron transfer between excited- and ground-state DCHB species. The presence of an electron donor significantly promotes the formation of the reduced form of DCHB. When a deoxygenated aqueous solution of DCHB and an electron door are irradiated with 532 nm light, the hydroquinone of DCHB (DCHBH2) is formed via the disproportionation of the first-formed DCHB- and second electron transfer to DCHB- and second electron transfer to DCHB- from the electron donor. When oxygen is present, singlet oxygen (1 O2), superoxide anion radical (O2-) and hydroxyl radical (OH) are produced. The quantum yield of 1 O2 generation by DCHB photosensitization is estimated to be 0.54 using Rose Bengal as a reference, a little lower than that of HB (0.76). The superoxide anion radical is also significantly enhanced by the presence of electron donors. Moreover, O2- upon disproportionation generated H2O2 and ultimately the highly reactive OH via the Haber-Weiss reaction pathway. The efficiency of O2- generation by DCHB is obviously enhanced over that of HB. These findings suggest that the photodynamic actions of DCHB may proceed via type I and Type II mechanisms and that this new photosensitizer retains photosensitizing activity after photodynamic therapy-oriented chemical modification.


In the last years, some companies have implemented a new transport sharing system in cities based on a one-way trip with electric scooters with the advantage that they can be parked wherever in the streets. Such an implementation has not been realized in Gavle until now. The main objective of this thesis is to study the impact of electric scooters (ES) to the environment and compare their emissions with other modes of transport. First, this thesis realize a study of the transport trends of people in the city of study, i.e. Gavle. Next, it is connected with a study of how a company like this will work in this city and which characteristics such as the operating area and the fleet number should it has. Finally, it is performed a full life cycle analysis of these scooters with the actual charging system and, also, how it would be if the actual collection and redistribution of the scooters at night is changed for a battery replacement. The main objective of that change is that the collectors will not need to collect the scooters at night in a big fueled vehicle and they will change it for a small EV or a simple bike in where carry the fully charged batteries. In addition, it has been calculated how the recycling of the batteries would affect to the total emissions compared with the disposal to the landfill. The LCA of the ES has been compared with EV and ICE cars in order to know how effects to the transport emissions the implementation of a rental scooter company. The total emission for kilometer of electric scooters are higher than EV but lower than ICE vehicles. The results show that electric scooters from a rental company are only reducing carbon emissions only if they replace car trips. At the moment that these scooters replace other modes of transport such as bus, bike or walking, it becomes a less clean option. Therefore, this company implementation does not reduce the CO2 emissions.


A rapid-plate hemagglutination (HA) test to detect infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) in allantoic fluid of embryonated eggs was introduced into routine procedures for IBV identification. This system was tested in 468 diagnostic cases received by the Poultry Diagnostic and Research Center at the University of Georgia. Allantoic fluids from inoculated embryos were harvested and treated with commercially available neuraminidase enzyme. IBV in neuraminidase-treated allantoic fluid was identified by clear and consistent HA of chicken red blood cells within 1 min of incubation. The specificity of the neuraminidase rapid-plate HA assay was examined with other avian viruses in individual and dual embryonic infections. Sensitivity of this test was compared with embryo lesions and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The rapid-plate HA assay of neuraminidase-treated allantoic fluid correlated with the RT-PCR during the early stages of IBV detection, identification, and isolation in embryonated eggs.


This review focuses on the recent progress in shape-controlled synthesis and exposed facets-dependent catalytic properties of widely used nanostructured noble metals (Pd, Pt, and Au), bimetallic alloys involving one noble metal, and oxides of first row d-block elements such as titanium oxide (TiO₂), vanadium oxide (V₂O5), chromium oxide (Cr₂O₃), manganese oxide (MnO₂), iron oxide (Fe₂O₃), cobalt oxide (Co₃O₄), nickel oxide (NiO), copper oxide (Cu₂O), and zinc oxide (ZnO). The major emphasis is given on the role of shape-controlling agents and experimental parameters to control the exposed facets of the nanocrystals. The importance of different high-index and high-energy exposed facets of noble metals and metal oxides with larger number of unsaturated atoms, edges, vertices, in different catalytic applications is presented. Furthermore, the synergy of both low-energy and high-energy exposed facets for efficient electron-hole separation for enhanced photocatalytic activity is discussed.


The 1H MR signal arising from flowing extracellular media in a perfused, microbead‐adherent cultured cell system can be suppressed with a slice‐selective, spin‐echo pulse sequence. The signal from intracellular water can, thus, be selectively monitored. Herein, this technique was combined with pulsed field gradients (PFGs) to quantify intracellular water diffusion in HeLa cells. The intracellular water MR diffusion‐signal attenuation at various diffusion times was well described by a biophysical model that characterizes the incoherent displacement of intracellular water as a truncated Gaussian distribution of apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs). At short diffusion times, the water "free" diffusion coefficient and the surface‐to‐volume ratio of HeLa cells were estimated and were, 2.0 ± 0.3 μm2/ms and 0.48 ± 0.1 μm−1 (mean ± SD), respectively. At long diffusion times, the cell radius of 10.1 ± 0.4 μm was inferred and was consistent with that measured by optical microscopy. In summary: 1) intracellular water "free" diffusion in HeLa cells was rapid, two‐thirds that of pure water; and 2) the cell radius inferred from modeling the incoherent displacement of intracellular water by a truncated Gaussian distribution of ADCs was confirmed by independent optical microscopy measures. Magn Reson Med 57, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Stream restoration involves the application of disciplines such as hydrology, fluvial geomorphology, ecology, engineering, and landscape architecture, so education should arguably replicate the transdisciplinary, collaborative approach ideally found in practice. We report on our experience teaching a studio course on ecological factors in planning and design, in which we use urban streams in northern California as sites. The course is organized into three distinct phases: inventory/analysis, planning, and design. First, students survey the channel, map and measure vegetation, document traces of wildlife, map human uses and access points, and analyze the surrounding landscape (such as storm drain networks and local schools). Next, in the master plan phase, teams of three to four students work at the scale of the entire study reach (10–20 km) to tackle issues such as integrated trail systems, improving public access, or restoring native vegetation. In the third phase, students develop individual projects for specific sites consistent with their master plans, making tangible the overall concepts. Field data collection and analysis force students to reconcile the relationship between science and design, fostering critical thinking about scientific methods and scales of operation. The studio seeks to train students in a holistic, evidence-based, process-oriented approach to stream restoration.


This paper proposes single phase AC-DC SEPIC converter using closed loop techniques for domestic and industrial applications. The Single Ended Primary Inductor Converter (SEPIC) is a type of DC-DC converter allowing the electrical potential (voltage) at its output to be greater then, less then, or equal to that of its input. A SEPIC converter is similar to the BUCK-BOOST and BOOST-BUCK converter, but has advantages of having non-inverted output (The polarity of the output voltage is same as that of the input). There are two types of techniques, open loop and closed loop technique. In open loop, a non-isolated SEPIC converter is used. This has lower power factor and high THD. Hence the closed loop technique is used to improve power factor and THD. The control techniques are voltage follower approach and average current control technique. By using the above techniques the power quality parameters will be improved when compared to open loop. The simulation of SEPIC converter is done by using the software tool PSIM (Power Simulation).


OBJECT
There is presently no specific information available concerning the nature and course of cognitive deficits caused by intracranial meningiomas. In this prospective study the authors examined the cognitive functioning of patients with frontal meningiomas.

METHODS
Fifty-four patients with frontal meningiomas were examined neuropsychologically before and after neurosurgery. The test battery consisted of standardized instruments including those assessing memory, attention, visuoconstructive abilities, and executive functions. The time period between pre-and postoperative assessment ranged from 4 to 9 months. The patients' performance was compared with the results in 54 healthy adults who were also assessed twice by using the same test battery in a period ranging from 4 to 9 months. In addition, the effect on cognition of meningioma lateralization, localization, lesion size, edema, brain compression, time course, and the occurrence of preoperative seizures was analyzed.

CONCLUSIONS
Except in the case of working memory, comparisons of pre- and postoperative assessments of cognition revealed no differences in memory, visuoconstructive abilities, or executive functions, although a postoperative improvement in attentional functions was observed. The results of this study indicate that the surgical removal of frontal meningiomas does not impair patients' cognitive functioning. Furthermore, improvements in attentional functions may occur in these patients.


Objectives
Research on fear of crime (FOC) in adulthood has often shown a positive age relation, whereas the risk of criminal victimization decreases with age. The present study distinguishes three dimensions of FOC (affective, cognitive, and behavioral component) and attempts to investigate possible explanations for differential age correlations by referring to processes of adaptation and resilience. In particular, the functionality of FOC and its impact on the individual's well-being is assumed to be influenced by the individual's capacity to accommodate to adverse circumstances.

Method
These hypotheses are investigated within a cross-sectional assessment using questionnaire data (1,792 participants between 18 and 98 years of age).

Results
As predicted, age was a strong predictor of the behavioral but not affective and cognitive component of FOC. In particular, the results support a twofold adaptive function of accommodation: Accommodation facilitates cautious behavior with increasing age and, at the same time, dampens the impact of FOC on depressivity.

Discussion
The adaptive role of cautious behavior in advanced age and accommodation is discussed within a developmental regulation framework.


Chronic diseases are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally. Yet, the majority of them have unknown etiologies, and genetic contribution is weak. In addition, many of the chronic diseases go through the cycles of relapse and remission, during which the genomic DNA does not change. This strongly suggests that human gene expression is the main driver of chronic disease onset and relapses. To identify the etiology of chronic diseases and develop more effective preventative measures, a comprehensive gene expression analysis of the human body is needed. Blood tissue is easy to access and contains a large number of expressed genes involved in many fundamental aspects of our physiology. We report here the development of a whole blood transcriptome clinical test that is high throughput, automated, inexpensive, and clinically validated. The test requires only 50 microliters of blood from a finger prick, enabling access by diverse populations that have been traditionally under-represented in clinical research. The transcripts in the samples are preserved at the time of collection and can be stored and/or transported at ambient temperatures for up to 28 days. The sample preservative protects integrity, while also inactivating all pathogens (bacteria, fungi, and viruses), enabling safe transportation globally. Given its unique set of usability features and clinical performance, this test should be integrated into longitudinal, population-scale, systems biology studies.


Banks in carrying out their operations are certainly not free from various kinds of risks. Bank business risk is the uncertainty regarding an outcome that is expected or expected to be received. Non Performing Loan (NPL) Is a financial ratio related to credit risk. Loan to Deposit Ratio (LDR) is a ratio that measures a Bank's ability to meet its obligations. This study aims to determine the effect of credit risk (NPL), liquidity risk (LDR) partially and simultaneously on profitability as indicated by the ROA (Return to Assets) ratio using multiple linear regression tests for state-owned banks listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange for the period 2015- 2019. This type of research is descriptive research with secondary data derived from the financial statements of listed BUMN banks and obtained directly from the website on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. This study uses data from 2015-2019 with a sample size of 4 Bumn Banks from a total population of 20 Bumn Banks. The results of this study indicate that; 1) Credit Risk (NPL) simultaneously affects profitability partially; 2) Partially liquidity risk (LDR) has no effect on profitability; and 3) Credit Risk and Liquidity Risk simultaneously affect profitability.


This paper analyzes the specialties and teaching status of Experiment Design and Data Processing in biological engineering,and provides a series of reformation suggestions about teachers,teaching objectives,teaching contents and methods,checking methods in this course.


Inhibition of reproduction occurs in colonies of the Damaraland mole-rat (Cryptomys damarensis), where one female and usually one male are reproductively active. They remain the sole reproductive animals thoughout their stay in the colony, which in the field may exceed five years.

An 18-month study on a captive colony of C. damarensis shows that non-reproductive females remain anovulatory and always have concentrations of urinary progesterone lower than that of the reproductive female 10.7 8.8 nmols/mmol creatinine (n = 85), although their progesterone concentrations are slightly elevated when the reproductive female is early in pregnancy. In contrast the reproductively active female has elevated concentrations of progesterone 63.3 70.1 nmols/mmol creatinine (n= 14).

Standard histological together with immunohistochemical examination of the ovarian structure shows that follicular development in the non-reproductive females is halted at varying stages prior to ovulation and that the unruptured follicles luteinize. These unruptured luteinized follicles stain positive for 3β hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase—the enzyme catalysing the synthesis of progesterone from pregnenolone. It is possible that the low levels of circulating progesterone produced by the luteinized follicles in the non-reproductive females in the colony are sufficient to feedback on the hypothalamo-pituitary axis and prevent the surge of LH necessary for ovulation.

Behavioural studies provide corroborative evidence for sexual suppression. Thus the non-reproductive females in the colony are never involved in courtship or copulatory behaviour. nor do they actively solicit males in the colony. The reproductive female, however, plays an active role in mate selection and is the initiator in courtship behaviour.

The suppression of ovulation in non-reproductivc females is maintained for as long as there is a reproductive female in the colony.


Theory of artificial enabled social engineering attacking risk factors are employed in this study to determine the impact that disturbed the personal productivity of higher learning institute of the user towards the AI enable SoE attacking. Five independent variable which are threat, vulnerability, valuation, countermeasure and personal disturbance factors using in this paper. Moreover using as an indicator in determining disturbance of personal productivity in an higher learning institute. Since multiple regression by using Structural Equation Modelling –Partial Least Square (SEM-PLS) is used to examine the collection of data by a questionnaire which is relevant with AI enable SE attacking risk. And the resulting point out three independent variable significantly influences the personal productivity in higher learning institute. As a matter of fact this study concludes that the foremost influence factor on disturbance of personal productivity in higher learning institute towards the AI enables SoE attacking risk factors such as threat, vulnerability, valuation and countermeasure. This study contributes to introductory study but vibrant understanding in stimulating the higher learning institute to become a worldwide institution. Journal of Applied & Computational Mathematics J o u r n a l o f A pp lie d & Computional M th e m a t i c s ISSN: 2168-9679


This paper explores how middle-class Taiwanese immigrant mothers in the United States defined the benefits of placing their children in predominantly White American childcare centers instead of using more culturally familiar forms of care. From in-depth interviews with seven Taiwanese immigrant mothers, it was learned that they viewed these settings positively, even though their children were not in cultural environments that mirrored their homes and ethnic communities. Mothers explained that they purposefully chose this type of setting because 1) they desired to develop their children's social competency in U.S. society; 2) they perceived U.S. childcare settings as multicultural and accepting of diverse cultures even if they were in the minority; and 3) they were confident that their children's participation in their own Taiwanese ethnic community would ensure the maintenance of their children's ethnic identity and knowledge of their parents' culture. For these reasons, they did not seek out race matching or cultural congruity between childcare centers and their homes. Instead, mothers viewed the childcare center as part of their overall socialization strategy for developing their children's bicultural competency in both their heritage culture as well as U.S. society.


Purpose of review Ocular inflammation is a common and important manifestation of disease in patients with seronegative spondyloarthropathy. Recent findings Anterior uveitis is among the most common manifestations of eye disease in patients with seronegative spondyloarthropathies. Additionally, a strong correlation exists among such affected patients and the presence of the HLA-B27 gene. Steroid treatment is often effective for uveitis associated with spondyloarthropathies. Patients with ocular inflammation that is chronic in nature or uncontrolled by steroid treatment have shown good response to immunosuppressive agents known to be effective for articular inflammation, such as methotrexate. Recent studies have shown the possible benefits of tumor necrosis factor-alpha inhibitors, such as infliximab and etanercept. Summary Uveitis, a leading cause of blindness, is among the most common eye manifestations in patients affected by seronegative spondyloarthropathies. Evidence suggests both genetic and environmental factors in its pathogenesis. Immunomodulator treatments, including the recently popular biologics, may be effective in the control of chronic uveitis in patients with spondyloarthropathy. Ocular surgery is often needed in these patients, and appropriate cautions are required in order to achieve successful vision rehabilitation.


Objective: To determine the relationship of baseline quantitative BCR ABL1 gene percentage and therapeutic response i.e. Early Molecular Response (EMR) at 3 months with first generation Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (Imatinib) in patients with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) in chronic phase (CP).
Study Design: Prospective observational study.
Place and Duration of Study: Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, and Armed Forces Institute of Pathology Rawalpindi, Pakistan from Oct 2017 to Oct 2019.
Methodology: One hundred and seventy patients, 18 years of age or older with newly diagnosed Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) in chronic phase (CP) with quantitative baseline BCR-ABL (IS) transcript were included in the study. All enrolled patients were placed on Imatinib therapy (400 mg/day) and Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for BCR ABL transcript was repeated at 3 months to document EMR (BCR-ABL (IS) <10%). Patients who were in accelerated/blast phase, or already taking any Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKI) or chemotherapy were excluded from the study.
 Results: In our study 101 (59.4%) patients achieved early molecular response. Out of these 80 (70.8%) patients with BCR-ABL 50% at baseline achieved early molecular response (p-value <0.001).
Conclusion: A significant number of patients achieved early molecular response with Imatinib therapy that had BCR ABL below 50%, however those with baseline BCR ABL >50%, the rate of EMR was comparatively lower.


OBJECTIVE
To explore the clinical manifestations, the diagnosis and the treatment of bronchopulmonary sequestration.

METHODS
Twenty-seven cases of bronchopulmonary sequestration confirmed by histopathological studies were analyzed and related literatures were reviewed.

RESULTS
Among the 27 cases of bronchopulmonary sequestration, 22 were intralobar type, and 5 were extralobar type. All the patients with intralobar type had symptoms including cough, expectoration, fever, hemoptysis, but the 5 cases of extralobar type had no symptoms. Twenty cases were confirmed before operation by chest radiography, plain CT scan, enhanced CT scan, CT angiography, MR angiography, or selective arteriography. Chest operation was performed in all the cases, with successfully recovery after the operation, and no relapse was found.

CONCLUSIONS
The clinical manifestations of bronchopulmonary sequestration are nonspecific. Selective arteriography, although invasive, plays a pivotal role in the diagnosis. Non-invasive angiography including enhanced CT scan, CT angiography, and MR angiography have become important supplements to selective arteriography. Surgery is the optimal treatment, while the effect of interventional therapy needs further study.


A series of novel zinc oxide / Poly (methyl methacrylate) nanocomposite films with different ZnO contents were prepared through inclusion of pre-synthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles. The physical composition and morphology of the as-prepared nanocomposites were studied by XRD and TEM. The TEM analyses revealed that the zinc oxide nanoparticles have a particle size of ~3–5 nm. X-ray diffraction proved the presence of the amorphous PMMA in the nanocomposites. The intermolecular interactions within the polymer nanocomposites were explored by FTIR and XRD. FTIR spectra confirmed the dispersion of the zinc oxide nanoparticles in the Poly (methyl methacrylate) i.e. PMMA matrices. The UV-Vis absorption measurements of the ZnO/PMMA nanocomposites proved their potential optical properties.


We present a systematic study on the extraordinary resonant scattering in imperfect acoustic cloak by means of acoustic scattering theory. Analysis results demonstrate that the resonances are inevitable due to the perturbation to the ideal cloak, and specific resonance modes are excited by specific order waves. The strength of resonance is determined by the magnitude of perturbation and each order wave's sensitivity to the perturbation. Further studies reveal the unique scattering characters of different resonance modes.


We describe the case of a 18-year-old male patient presenting primary pleural metastasis with osteosarcoma at the proximal right tibia. Clinical signs, therapy and imaging methods are demonstrated. Differential diagnosis is described.


Vast quantities of person-generated health data (wearables) are collected but the process of annotating to feed to machine learning models is impractical. This paper discusses ways in which self-supervised approaches that use contrastive losses, such as SimCLR and BYOL, previously applied to the vision domain, can be applied to high-dimensional health signals for downstream classification tasks of various diseases spanning sleep, heart, and metabolic conditions. To this end, we adapt the data augmentation step and the overall architecture to suit the temporal nature of the data (wearable traces) and evaluate on 5 downstream tasks by comparing other state-of-the-art methods including supervised learning and an adversarial unsupervised representation learning method. We show that SimCLR outperforms the adversarial method and a fully-supervised method in the majority of the downstream evaluation tasks, and that all self-supervised methods outperform the fully-supervised methods. This work provides a comprehensive benchmark for contrastive methods applied to the wearable time-series domain, showing the promise of task-agnostic representations for downstream clinical outcomes.


The aim of this paper is to discuss briefly how the EU rules on jurisdiction, choice of law and alternative dispute resolution in civil and commercial matters operate in the context of mobile computing. The article first looks at rules on jurisdiction in commercial disputes, both between businesses and between businesses and consumers. It then discusses the choice-of-law issues applicable to mobile computing. Finally, there is an examination of alternative dispute resolution as an alternative to regular courts in transactions involving mobile computing.


Urban regeneration is occuring in cities across the world, as cities increase in scale and complexity. This chapter argues that in planning public spaces, greater consideration should be paid to sociability through consideration of the affective dimension of urban life.


Chloroplast trnL/F and nuclear ribosomal ITS and ETS sequence data were used to analyze phylogenetic relationships among members of tribe Mimuleae (Scrophulariaceae) and other closely related families in Lamiales. The results of these analyses led to the following conclusions. (1) The Australian genera Glossostigma and Peplidium and the taxonomically isolated Phryma join four genera of tribe Mimuleae to form a well-supported clade that is distinct from other families in the Lamiales. We refer to that clade as the subfamily Phrymoideae. (2) The genera Mazus and Lancea (tribe Mimuleae) together form a well-supported clade that we recognize as the subfamily Mazoideae. Mazoideae is weakly supported as sister to Phrymoideae. We assign Mazoideae and Phrymoideae to a redefined family Phrymaceae. (3) Mimulus is not monophyletic, because members of at least six other genera have been derived from within it. In light of the molecular evidence, it is clear that species of Phrymaceae (about 190 species) have undergone two geographically distinct radiations; one in western North America (about 130 species) and another in Australia (about 30 species). Phylogenetic interpretations of morphological evolution and biogeographical patterns are discussed.


The operation On the basis of the share purchase agreement concluded between Dalkia Morava, a.s. ("Dalkia") as a buyer and Ostrava municipality as a seller, Dalkia acquired 95% of shares in…


This paper discusses in way in which partisan influence upon public policy, and wider historical, political and institutional pressures, can operate on a regional level and can lead to divergent policies existing within a nation-state. It offers an empirical discussion of two policy areas (education and childcare) at the regional Level (the level of the Lander) in Germany, confirming that both the partisan composition of regional government, and also wider institutional and historical pressures, exert a clear influence upon policy, lead to sharply variations in policy within the nation state. Two conclusions can be drawn: that the region cab be an important unit of analysis in Political Science and Public Policy, and that scholars of policy change may find the regional level fertile ground in analysing wider political phenomena.


Amidst the globalization trend and increasing economic integration in the Southeast and East Asian region, this book assesses the trade liberalization experience of the Philippines focusing on its impact on competition. It covers not only the overall manufacturing industry but also a case study of the cement industry where an alleged cartel is known to operate. From the fifties till the seventies, Philippine manufacturing received heavy protection from high tariffs, import controls and restrictions. Government-sanctioned monopolies and cartels were allowed along with price controls and entry regulations. In the 1980s up to the mid 1990s, substantial trade reforms were pursued leading to reduced industry protection. After more than twenty years of unilateral trade reforms, it is important to ask whether this has led to reduced market power and increased domestic competition. Are imports effective in disciplining an industry particularly those characterized by collusive behavior such as cement? What lessons can be drawn from Philippine experience? What policy suggestions can be made to improve competition and reap the benefits from opening-up markets?


Abstract Background: Over the last several years, the approval of new pharmacotherapies, changes to health plan formularies limiting treatment access, the emergence of new evidence related to medication safety and effectiveness, and updates to clinical practice guidelines may have influenced osteoporosis treatment patterns. Sankey visualizations were used to depict postmenopausal (PM) women's osteoporosis treatment journeys, from treatment uptake, patterns of transition, to persistence. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of all PM women (aged 55+) who newly initiated five antiresorptive treatments between October 1, 2010 and September 30, 2015 using patient and prescription data from the Truven Health Analytics MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters and Medicare Supplemental databases. We identified women who were continuously enrolled in the health plan for one year prior to the date of treatment initiation (index date) and were treatment-free during this period. Treatment states were evaluated cross-sectionally at six-month time points; treatment switches and gaps in therapy between time points were not captured. Persistence was defined as a patient being on the same treatment at a given follow-up time point as compared to the treatment they were on at the index date. Results: Among women newly initiating any of the five antiresorptive therapies, alendronate (53%) remained the most commonly prescribed therapy, followed by ibandronate (13 %), zoledronic acid-ZA (12%), risedronate (11 %), and denosumab (11%). New initiation of alendronate was high across all age, prior fracture history, and osteoporosis diagnosis subgroups (range: 45–68%). From 2010 to 2015, new uptake of denosumab increased by 13%, while ZA uptake declined by 10%. A higher proportion of denosumab users were ≥ 65 years (denosumab: 59%; ZA: 54%; alendronate: 46%) and had a prior history of fracture (denosumab: 30%, ZA: 25%; alendronate: 19%) compared to bisphosphonate users. Two-year persistence was highest among women initiating denosumab (58%), followed by ZA (48%), alendronate (32%), ibandronate (30%), and risedronate (25%). Persistence was lowest for oral bisphosphonate users (alendronate range: 30–33%), irregular among ZA users (range: 29–49%) and higher for denosumab users across all subgroups (range: 46–59%). From 2010 to 2014, persistence improved for all therapies, except among ZA users, which declined by 9%. Conclusions: Little has changed in the prescribing patterns and patient profiles of PM women newly initiating antiresorptive therapies over five years from 2010–2015. Alendronate remained the most commonly prescribed therapy despite lower rates of persistence, with similarly high uptake regardless of risk for fracture. Denosumab was primarily prescribed to women at higher risk for fracture, and persistence was higher compared to other therapies across all subgroups.


A fully distributed algorithm that established a globally consistent order of discrete events in a distributed robotic system (DRS) is presented. It is assumed that discrete events can be consistently identified, but robots may have inconsistent opinions on the chronological order of them. The execution of the algorithm on a robot consists of three conceptually concurrent tasks, of which two are based on distributed mutual exclusion (DME).<<ETX>>


Understanding the work habits, attitudes, and experiences of women physicians is critical for optimal patient care. An analysis of the medical literature (1990–2017) was undertaken to answer the following question: how are women physicians' work habits viewed within the framework of women's attitudes and experiences? A literature review was performed to identify gaps in past research and help design a longitudinal qualitative analysis of the work experiences and perceptions of women physicians. Published studies were located using search engines, review of article references, consultation with experts, and relevant Mesh terms. Of 1185 listings, 354 studies and abstracts were evaluated, and 44 articles were selected based on cultural context by three reviewers. Four themes emerged—practice styles, productivity, prevailing attitudes, and the workplace environment. Comparing women physicians to male colleagues as a standard for evaluating performance undervalues unique characteristics women bring to medicine. Productivity models typically focus on quantitative measures (e.g., work hours, procedures, and publications) that do not encompass the full scope of patient care. Qualitative data suggest need for further modification in physician training and in practice settings. Studies seldom capture the differing work habits, effects of workplace attitudes, and distinctive obstacles faced by women doctors. Solutions offered have been mainly designed to help women physicians fit into existing gendered workplace environments, but traditionally available ''adapt or exit'' options in response to challenges faced appear insufficient. A gender equity perspective helps to explain findings and suggests ways to reshape the health care workplace to better understand, utilize, and retain women physicians.


This thesis is concerned with the Quaternary deposits of the King Valley in western
Tasmania, Australia. The aims of the study were to describe the character and map the
extent of the glacial deposits, to determine the stratigraphy and age of the deposits
associated with each glacial advance, to compare the inferred processes and patterns of
sediment genesis with the depositional processes observed at the margins of modern
glaciers, and to formulate a model of environmental changes associated with the glaciations.
Deposits were mapped at a scale 1: 25,000 using morphostratigraphic, lithostratigraphic
and biostratigraphic units. The stratigraphic classification and mapping defined thirteen
formations from four glaciations. The last or Margaret Glaciation consisted of two main ice
advances. The first appears to have occurred before 48ka; the second culminated after 191ca
and had ended by 12ka. The Henty Glaciation, of middle Pleistocene age consisted of three
ice advances. Two of the advances are separated by a long interval of lake sedimentation.
The preceding Governor Glaciation, also of middle Pleistocene age, consisted of two ice
advances. The glacial sediments are separated by organic sediments that record an
interstadial climate. The Linda Glaciation is probably early Pleistocene in age. Its deposits
are separated from younger glacial sediments by organic sediments that record the
sucessional development of temperate rainforest during the Regency Interglacial. Linda
Glaciation deposits are underlain by non-glacial sediments that are probably of late Pliocene
age.
Detailed descriptions of the glacial sediments on which the stratigraphy was based have
enabled elements of the dynamics and debris paths of the King Glacier to be reconstructed.
These reconstructions suggest that the dominant sedimentary environment was supraglacial
and that the debris was derived from the basal transport zone. Two of the more unusual
patterns in the sediments are lithological stratification of erratic clasts in some tills and a
widespread series of sedimentary wedges that resemble but differ from ice-wedge casts. The chronology of the King Valley glaciations is estimated using a variety of relative dating
methods that were applied to the deposits in their stratigraphic setting. The absence of
reliable dating methods has meant that correlation of glacial events in Tasmania is largely
based on comparing weathering characteristics. Wider correlation with glacial events in
other Southern Hemisphere mid-latitude areas is not possible without accurate dating of the
events.


The aim of this study was to evaluate the inferior alveolar nerve's (IAN) intraosseous position within the inferior alveolar canal (IAC) using a 3D double-echo steady-state MRI sequence (3D-DESS). The IAN position was prospectively evaluated in 19 patients undergoing mandibular third molar (MTM) surgery. In the coronal reference layer, the IAC was divided into six segments. These segments were checked for the presence of hyperintense tubular MRI signals representing the IAN's nervous tissue and assessed as visible/non-visible. Furthermore, the IAN in MRI and the IAC in MRI and CBCT were segmented at the third and second molar, determining the maximum diameter in all planes and a conversion factor between the imaging modalities. Regardless of the positional relationship at the third and second molar, the IAN showed the highest localization probability in the central segments (segment 2: 97.4% vs. 94.4%, segment 5: 100% vs. 91.6%). The conversion factors from IAC in CBCT and MRI to IAN in MRI, respectively, were the following: axial (2.04 ± 1.95, 2.37 ± 2.41), sagittal (1.86 ± 0.96, 1.76 ± 0.74), and coronal (1.26 ± 0.39, 1.37 ± 0.25). This radiation-free imaging modality, demonstrating good feasibility of accurate visualization of nervous tissue within the nerve canal's osseous boundaries, may benefit preoperative assessment before complex surgical procedures are performed near the IAC.


Although there is increasing recognition that traditional ecological knowledge can make important contributions to environmental and resource-management issues, there are also indications that its use in co-management committees has not been straightforward. Three main sets of challenges have been documented — differences in knowledge systems between western scientific and traditional ecological knowledge, the relatively powerful position of western science and scientists in comparison to traditional ecological knowledge and its users, and challenges in documenting and presenting traditional ecological knowledge. This paper reports the results of a study that surveyed members of co-management committees established in Nunavik, northern Quebec, pursuant to the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement to explore their perspectives on these issues. Three elements emerged from this study. They are the complex and sometimes contradictory nature of the views that committee members held about traditional ecological knowledge, the active role of the Inuit in attempting to shape how traditional ecological knowledge is used in decision-making, and the need for documentation of, and research funding for, the collection of traditional ecological knowledge.


After more than ten years of political and economic transformation in Ukraine, trade unions are among the marginalized and peripheral actors. This also applies to the miners' unions in the Donbass, the formerly relevant coal mining area of the Soviet Union and the showcase of socialism. This diagnosis might come as a surprise because one might assume that trade unions play an important role in the transformation of an old industrial region. This contribution strives to prove the contrary and provides explanations for this contra intuitive phenomenon. It is led by the thesis that the powerlessness of the trade unions is an expression of the Soviet legacy of a "weak" society and owes to the predominance and structural and symbolic control strategies of powerful regional actors. The continuing cooptation by the political and economic establishment prevents social interests from taking effect.


This paper discusses the work done by the Interservice Radio Propagation Laboratory during World War II. The circumstances leading to the establishment of IRPL are described and the problems which are faced are stated. The measures taken in the solutions of these problems are outlined, and some of the results are presented. Specific services performed by IRPL during the war for the armed forces and commercial companies are recounted.


Co-crystallization of 2-amino-6-methyl-1,3-benzothiazole with decanedioic acid under hydrothermal conditions afforded the title 2:1 co-crystal, 2C8H8N2S·C10H18O4. The decanedioic acid molecule is located on an inversion centre. In the crystal, intermolecular N—H⋯O and O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds connect the components into a two-dimensional wave-like layer structure extending parallel to (100).


ABSTRACT Background This study seeks to examine if and how the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted changes in the use and uptake of a national out-of-hours (OOH) telephone triage service by younger and older patients seeking non-urgent unplanned care in Flanders (Belgium). Methods A descriptive study was conducted using registry data obtained from the 1733 OOH telephone triage service in a Flemish region of Belgium. All calls received between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2020 were analyzed. Results A significant association was found between patient age and period of call (χ2 = 594.54, p < .001). Calls made to the 1733 OOH telephone triage service were significantly less likely to be dispatched to a higher level of urgency by operators compared to calls made before the COVID-19 period (OR = 0.80, 95% CI [0.74–0.85]). While calls concerning older adults were significantly more likely to be dispatched to a higher level of urgency by operators compared to younger adults (regardless of period of call) (65 to 74 yrs: OR = 5.75, 95% CI [4.86–6.80]; 75 to 84 yrs: OR = 15.21, 95% CI [13.18–17.56]; ≥ 85 yrs: OR = 28.77, 95% CI [25.01–33.09]), only 6.7% of all COVID-19 related calls involved older adults over 65 years of age. Conclusion Findings showed that there was a general decline in the number of calls dispatched to a higher level of urgency by operators during the COVID-19 period but that there were differences in the use and uptake of these services by younger and older age segments.


This paper evaluates perceived barriers to cover crop adoption, using data from an original survey of farmers in two US states. Barriers are compared in a high adoption state (Maryland) and a more typical adoption state (Ohio). Although 25.5% in Maryland and 22.3% in Ohio reported no barriers, the remainder reported at least one barrier. Financial barriers are most frequently cited (investment return, seed cost, labor cost, and equipment needs), while barriers related to education and information are mentioned less frequently (doubts on cover crop importance, knowledge issues, and risk). Multivariate probit regressions explain how farm characteristics and cover crop information sources influence these barriers, while allowing perceived adoption barriers to be related in unobservable yet systematic ways. Results show that these effects differ systematically across states. For example, barriers related to investment return are more commonly cited by large-acreage farmers in Ohio who use conservation or conventional tillage, relative to no-till. Contrasting results are found in Maryland, where there is no acreage pattern and the use of no-till increases concern about investment return. The findings on the importance of financial barriers suggest the importance of cost-share in encouraging adoption, access to which should be emphasized in educational programming. If educators believe farmers' perceptions of financial barriers do not match scientific results—say because farmers' financial fears are myopic—then the design and targeting of educational materials such as enterprise budgets may allay financial concerns.


We report on our investigation of the capacity region of a Gaussian multiple access channel with two independent transmitters for the case where the receiver's antenna spacing is very small (compared to the wavelength). In contrast to common belief, we find that a rectangular capacity region can be maintained even as the distance of the antennas approaches zero. Moreover, the size of the capacity region even increases as the antenna separation is reduced. Therefore, high-performance multiple access is perfectly possible in confined space situations such as in hand-held mobile devices using standard frequencies for mobile communications.


Waltham, Mass.-based Palleon Pharmaceuticals has launched with $47.6 million in series A funding to develop immuno-oncology drugs based on cancer glycans—the sugar molecules that protrude from tumors and are used to avoid immune system surveillance. The approach is reminiscent of checkpoint inhibitor therapies, which jump-start the immune system's ability to target tumors, but Palleon's drugs will take aim at immune cell receptors that get misdirected by tumor glycans. Palleon's scientific cofounders include Stanford University chemist Carolyn Bertozzi and University of Dundee glycoimmunologist Paul Crocker.


Biometrics is one of the primary key concepts of real application domains such as aadhar card, passport, pan card, etc. In such applications user can provide two to three biometrics patterns like face, finger, palm, signature, iris data, and so on. We considered face and finger patterns for encoding and then also for verification. Using this data we proposed a novel model for authentication in multimodal biometrics often called Context-Sensitive Exponent Associative Memory Model (CSEAM). It provides different stages of security for biometrics patterns. In stage 1, face and finger patterns can be fusion through Principal Component Analysis (PCA), in stage 2 by applying SVD decomposition to generate keys from the fusion data and preprocessed face pattern and then in stage 3, using CSEAM model the generated keys can be encoded. The final key will be stored in the smart cards. In CSEAM model, exponential kronecker product plays a critical role for encoding and also for verification to verify the chosen samples from the users. This paper discusses by considering realistic biometric data in terms of time and space.


There are several lasers that can provide high-power radiation at deep-UV wavelengths. The only laser that has been successfully used in semiconductor manufacturing as a source for lithography is the excimer laser Excimer lasers provide direct deep-UV light, are scalable in energy and power, and are capable of operating with narrow spectral widths. Also, by providing three wavelengths at 248, 193, and 157 nm, excimer lasers span three generations. They have large beams and a low degree of coherence. Their physics and chemistry are well understood. Thanks to major technical developments, these lasers have kept up with the ever-tightening specifications of the lithography industry. We will discuss what these specifications are and the advances that have been made in laser technology to meet these. We will also identify any possible future limitation in this technology. The success behind the microelectronics explosion is attributed to many factors. The excimer laser is one of them.


We present an automated ontology matching methodology, supported by various machine learning techniques, as implemented in the system MoTo. The methodology is two-tiered. On the first stage it uses a meta-learner to elicit certain mappings from those predicted by single matchers induced by a specific base-learner. Then, uncertain mappings are recovered passing through a validation process, followed by the aggregation of the individual predictions through linguistic quantifiers. Experiments on benchmark ontologies demonstrate the effectiveness of the methodology.


The d6-Co(III)-species [tripodCo-(ortho-(X.)(Y)C6H4)]+ (X, Y = O, S, tripod = CH3C(CH2PPh2)3) 1 are reversibly reduced to the neutral d7-Co(II)-compounds [tripodCo-(ortho-(X)(Y)C6H4)] (X, Y = O, S) 2. Both species show fivefold coordination of cobalt with coordination polyhedra in between the limits of the square pyramid and the trigonal bipyramid respectively. The low-spin d7-species 2 give clearly resolved ESR-spectra revealing the coexistence of two geometric isomers above -8 0 °C, with only one isomer persistent at temperatures around 100 K. As an analogous d5-system [benzyltripodFe-(ortho-(S)(S)C()H4)]+ 3 (benzyltripod = C6H5CH2C(CH2PPh2)3) has been obtained from [öe«z_y/rr//70ö?Fe(NCCH3)3]2+ and C6H6S2. Alternatively complexes of this type, e.g. [m poJFe-(orf/io-(S)(S)C6H4)]+ 4, may be prepared from Fe(H 2Ö )6(BF4)2/rnpod/C6H6S2 when the reaction mixture is activated by acidification with HBF4. The geometry of the ds-species 3 and 4 is close to a trigonal bipyramid.


edu.cn Abstract-The current router or switch products provide Gigabit Ethernet interfaces. High-speed FPGA design technology is used to achieve full line rate Gigabit Ethernet testing, this paper describes the software and hardware design of technical solutions, and FPGA design of the main idea of the internal procedures is described in more detail. Test results show that the design ideas and solutions can meet the requirement on the full line rate Gigabit Ethernet performance testing.


Background: The caecal microbiota and its modulation play an important role in animal health, productivity and disease control in poultry production. In this sense, it could be considered as a biomarker of poultry health. Furthermore, due to the emergence of resistant bacteria and the increasing social pressure to establish animal-friendly management on farms, producers are motivated to select more extensive and antibiotic-free breeds. It is therefore necessary to gain better knowledge on the development of major bacteria in healthy broilers, both in commercial fast-growing and in new slow-growing breeds. Hence, the aim of this study was to characterise caecal microbiota in two genetic poultry breeds throughout the growing period using 16S rRNA sequencing analysis. Results: A total of 50 caecal pools (25 per breed) were sequenced by the 16S rRNA method. The complexity of caecal microbiota composition increased significantly as animals grew. Furthermore, there were statistical differences between breeds at the end of the growing period. The dominant phyla throughout the production cycle were Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria. The predominantly identified genera were Ruminococcus spp., Lactobacillus spp. and Bacteroides spp.Conclusion: The results showed that the main caecal bacteria for both breeds were similar. Thus, these phyla or genera should be considered as biomarkers of poultry health in the evaluation of different treatments applied to animals.