Increasing the share of fluctuating renewables will require additional flexibility in the electricity system. In this paper, we present a model-based approach on how to measure the effect of additional flexibility. The agent-based market simulation model PowerACE has been enhanced to make use of optimization methods (MILP) for the unit commitment of the agents enabling us to quantify the economic benefit of flexibility at agent level. In this analysis, we compare the flexibility offered by thermal power plants to that offered by storage units for the case of existing power plant portfolios of the major German electricity generating companies. We find that for the medium-term (2020), additional storage units up to a total output of 2,000 megawatts and up to a total storage capacity of some 16,000 megawatt hours are economically more viable than gas or other fossil fuel fired power plants as they allow power plants to be dispatched in a more efficient way, i.e. less operation in part load and less start-up and shut-down events occur.


Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disorder leading to skeletal muscle weakness and fatigability. MG subgroups are defined according to pathogenetic autoantibody (against acetylcholine receptor, muscle‐specific tyrosine kinase or lipoprotein receptor‐related protein 4), thymus pathology and clinical manifestations. MG patients have an increased risk for concordant autoimmune disease, in particular with early onset MG. Most common comorbidities are thyroid disease, systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis. Cardiomyositis and subclinical heart dysfunction have been described in patients with thymoma MG and late onset MG but represent no major threat. A thymic lymphoepithelioma implies an increased risk for another cancer. Autoimmune MG represents no distinct cancer risk factor, although lymphomas and a few other cancer types have been reported with slightly increased frequency. Severe MG‐related muscle weakness means a risk for respiratory failure and respiratory tract infection. Drug MG treatment can lead to side‐effects. Thymectomy is regarded as a safe procedure both short and long term. Non‐MG‐related comorbidity represents a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge, especially in elderly patients. Diagnostic accuracy and optimal follow‐up is necessary to identify and treat all types of coexisting disease in MG.


Introduction: This study examines whether neoadjuvant chemoradiationtherapy combined with surgery improves survival rates when compared with other treatment strategies. Methods: We analysed 225 NSCLC patients with positive N2-nodes, who received various treatment between 2009 and 2014. Median follow-up and overall survival (OS) were defined from date of diagnosis to last known contact. Overall survival was estimated using Kaplan-Meier methods. Results: Mean age was 70 +/- 10 years. 13 patients received only radiationtherapy (RT), 36 patients neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapie and surgery (CRT-S), 38 patients were primary operated and received adjuvant chemoradiotherapie (S-CRT), 120 patients received chemotherapy (CTX) and 18 patients received best supportive care (BSC). Median follow-up was 15.1 month. Overall survival is represented in figure 1. Median overall survival in CRT-S group was 522.5 days (average 763 days), in CTX group was 283 days (average 424 days), in S-CRT group was 287.5 days (average 515.8 days), in RT group was 318 days (average 370.8 days), in BSC group was 12.5 days (average 50 days). Conclusion: This study demonstrates that therapy of choice for NSCLC patients with N2 positive nodes (both IIIA and IIIB clinical stage) is neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by radical surgery for improved overall survival.


In well drilling activities, the execution of a sequence of operations defined in a well project is a central task. In order to provide proper monitoring, the operations executed during the drilling procedures are reported in Daily Drilling Reports (DDRs). Technologies capable of assisting the fulfillment of such reports represent valuable contributions. An approach using Machine Learning and Sequence Mining algorithms is proposed for predicting the next operation and classifying it based on textual descriptions.
 Nowadays, artificial intelligence (AI) applications play a key role in digital transformation process and is a very broad area, with various branches. Machine Learning techniques provide systems the ability to automatically learn and improve from experience without explicit instructions. Sequence Mining can be broadly defined as the task of finding statistical relevant patterns between samples modeled in a sequence. In our approach, the operations reported in DDRs are analyzed by Sequence Mining algorithms for predicting the next operation, whereas Machine Learning methods are used for automatically classifying the operations according to predefined ontologies based on textual descriptions.
 The proposed approach was experimentally validated using a real-world dataset composed of drilling reports with approximately 90K entries. Various sequence prediction algorithms are considered, more specifically: CPT+(Compact Prediction Tree+), DG (Dependency Graph), AKOM (All-k Order Markov), LZ78, PPM (Prediction by Partial Matching), and TDAG (Transitional Directed Acyclic Graph). For the classification tasks, approaches based on word embeddings and CRF (Conditional Random Fields) are exploited. Experimental results achieved high-accurate results, of 89% for the classification task. The promising results indicate that such strategies can be successfully exploited in the evaluated scenarios. Additionally, the positive results also encourage the investigation of its use in other oil and gas applications, since the reports organized through chronological order consists of a common scenario.
 The main contribution to the oil and gas industry consists of using artificial intelligence strategies in tasks associated with DDRs, saving human efforts and improving operational efficiency. Although the Sequence Mining and Machine Learning algorithms have been extensively used in different applications, the novelty of our work consists in the use of such approaches on the tasks of extracting useful information from the DDRs.


This note is in part a response to Alastair Hannay's review discussion, 'A Kind of Philosopher: Comments in Connection with Some Recent Books on Kierkegaard' (Inquiry, Vol. 18 [1975], No. 3). In his review, Hannay states that Kierkegaard and philosophy appear to be on the road to a reconciliation, and asks What is behind this get‐together if it is one?'. I suggest that in some remarks touching on Kierkegaard's theory of Truth, Hannay has touched on the ground for that 'get‐together', a Pyrrhonian scepticism.


Background: LncRNA PSMG3‑AS1 plays oncogenic role in breast cancer. However, its role in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is hardly known. We then studied the role of PSMG3‑AS1 in NSCLC.Methods: RT-qPCR was performed to determine the expression of PSMG3‑AS1 in NSCLC and non-tumor tissues from 60 NSCLC patients. A survival analysis was carried out to visit patients for 5 years to study the role PSMG3‑AS1 in prediction the survival of NSCLC. NSCLC cells were overexpressed with miR-340 or PSMG3‑AS1 to analyze the crosstalk between PSMG3‑AS1 and miR-340. MSP was performed to analyze the methylation of miR-340 miRNA gene. The invasion and migration abilities of cells were determind by Transwell assays.Results: PSMG3‑AS1 was highly expressed in NSCLC and was closely correlated poor survival. PSMG3‑AS1 and miR340 were inversely correlated. In NSCLC cells, PSMG3‑AS1 decreased the expression of miR-340 and increased methylation of miR-340 gene. However, miR-340 overexpression did not significantly affect the expression of PSMG3‑AS1. In addition, PSMG3‑AS1 overexpression resulted in upregulated expression of ROCK1. PSMG3‑AS1 and ROCK1 overexpression increased cell invasion and migration rates. MiR-340 overexpression suppressed cell behaviors and inhibited the role of PSMG3‑AS1.Conclusions: PSMG3‑AS1 may downregulate miR-340 through methylation to upregulate ROCK1 and promote cell invasion and migration in NSCLC.


Machine learning-based remote-sensing techniques have been widely used for the production of specific land cover maps at a fine scale. P-learning is a collection of machine learning techniques for training the class descriptors on the positive samples only. Panax notoginseng is a rare medicinal plant, which also has been a highly regarded traditional Chinese medicine resource in China for hundreds of years. Until now, Panax notoginseng has scarcely been observed and monitored from space. Remote sensing of natural resources provides us new insights into the resource inventory of Chinese materia medica resources, particularly of Panax notoginseng. Generally, land-cover mapping involves focusing on a number of landscape classes. However, sometimes a subset or one of the classes will be the only part of interest. In term of this study, the Panax notoginseng field is the right unit class. Such a situation makes single-class data descriptors (SCDDs) especially significant for specific land-cover interpretation. In this paper, we delineated the application such that a stack of SCDDs were trained for remote-sensing mapping of Panax notoginseng fields through P-learning. We employed and compared SCDDs, i.e., the simple Gaussian target distribution, the robust Gaussian target distribution, the minimum covariance determinant Gaussian, the mixture of Gaussian, the auto-encoder neural network, the k-means clustering, the self-organizing map, the minimum spanning tree, the k-nearest neighbor, the incremental support vector data description, the Parzen density estimator, and the principal component analysis; as well as three ensemble classifiers, i.e., the mean, median, and voting combiners. Experiments demonstrate that most SCDDs could achieve promising classification performance. Furthermore, this work utilized a set of the elaborate samples manually collected at a pixel-level by experts, which was intended to be a benchmark dataset for the future work. The measuring performance of SCDDs gives us challenging insights to define the selection criteria and scoring proof for choosing a fine SCDD in mapping a specific landscape class. With the increment of remotely sensed satellite data of the study area, the spatial distribution of Panax notoginseng could be continuously derived in the local area on the basis of SCDDs.


It is an effective strategy to develop novel electrocatalysts with controllable defects to enhance their electrocatalytic activity and stability. However, how to precisely design these catalysts on the atom scale remains very difficult. Herein, several vacancy-dependent CoZnx Mn2-x O4 catalysts are prepared through tailoring the concentration of Zn ions. The in situ activation of the obtained products accelerates the surface reconstruction. The superior electrocatalytic performance can be ascribed to the formations of MOOH (Mn, Co) active species and abundant oxygen vacancies, which are comparable to noble IrO2 and Pt/C catalysts. Zn-CoMn2 O4 -1.5 catalyst delivers a cell voltage of 1.63 V and long durability. Density functional theory calculations demonstrate that the appropriate Zn ion doping can improve the density states of p electron on the surface of catalysts significantly and benefit the d-band center closing to Fermi level, suggesting their high charge carrier density and low adsorption energy.


Channel models are widely used to test receiver algorithms and, therefore, should model the propagation behavior as completely as possible. A promising type of channel model is the geometry-based stochastic channel model (GSCM), which represents the propagation channel by placing equivalent scatterers (ES) within a simulated geometry. Each of these ES is associated to a propagation path between the transmitter and the receiver. The propagation length of a modeled path can be calculated in a straightforward manner knowing the ES, the transmitter, and receiver locations by simple distance calculations. If the receiver is moving, an ES may change its location in order to model a propagation path accurately. However, this movement has not been sufficiently taken into account so far. Within this contribution, we show that the movement of an ES lies on a trajectory described by an ellipse or hyperbola when the receiver is in motion. Based on this derivation, a modeling approach for a propagation path resulting from multiple reflections is given, where at least one reflector is geometrically static in its position. Our description supports the simulation of an arbitrary receiver movement. Finally, we provide an example from an outdoor-to-indoor measurement campaign that confirms the movement of the ES.


BACKGROUND
Noise and lighting are prime factors of poor sleep quality in critically ill patients, which impair recovery and increase the risk of delirium or complications.

AIMS
To identify and rank the effectiveness of sound and darkness interventions on the sleep quality of critically ill patients.

METHODS
This systematic review and component network meta-analysis was based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews incorporating the Network Meta-Analyses (PRISMA-NMA) Statement. The Embase, MEDLINE, Cochrane CENTRAL, CINAHL, Airiti Library, and Google Scholar databases were searched from inception to August 10, 2021, for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on sound and darkness interventions targeting critically ill patients' sleep quality. We applied standard and component NMA to determine the effects of interventions. The certainty of evidence was evaluated using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool (V.2.0) and the online Confidence in Network Meta-Analysis (CINeMA) application.

RESULTS
Twenty-four RCTs with 1507 participants who used combined interventions constituting seven competing interventions were included in the standard NMA. The combination of earplugs, eye masks, and music; eye masks alone; earplugs combined with eye masks; and music alone had beneficial intervention effects. The combination of earplugs, eye masks, and music was the best intervention, and these components had no interaction effect. An eye mask had the best relative effect, followed by music, quiet time, and earplugs.

CONCLUSIONS
This study provides clinical evidence of the effectiveness of using eye masks, music, and earplugs to improve sleep quality in critically ill patients. We also recommend future research using bedtime music, nocturnal eye masks, and quiet time, which had the best relative effects on sleep quality.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE
This study provides recommendations for interventions that nurses can use to improve critically ill patients' sleep quality.


Despite a plethora of research, the link between digital-technology use and psychological distress among young adults remains inconclusive. Findings in this area are typically undermined by methodological limitations related to measurement, study design, and statistical analysis. Addressing these limitations, we examined the prospective, within-persons associations between three aspects of objectively measured digital-technology use (duration and frequency of smartphone use, duration of social-media use) and three aspects of psychological distress (depression, anxiety, and social isolation) among a sample of young adults (N = 384). Across 81 different model specifications, we found that most within-persons prospective effects between digital-technology use and psychological distress were statistically nonsignificant, and all were very small—even the largest effects were unlikely to register a meaningful impact on a person's psychological distress. In post hoc subgroup analyses, we found scant evidence for the claim that digital-technology use is more harmful for women and/or younger people.


The combination of fast MR sequences and rapid i.v. injection of paramagnetic contrast media provides information on cerebral perfusion. MR-perfusion imaging primarily depicts the relative cerebral blood volume. The aim of this study was to test whether MR-perfusion imaging with a clinical MR scanner using a standard 2D-FLASH sequence provides clinically relevant information on patients with cerebrovascular diseases and brain tumors. Brain infarctions, lesions in cerebral microangiopathy and occlusions of the carotid artery with very poor collateralization showed definite differences in perfusion imaging compared with normal controls. However, our results show that acceleration of the imaging sequence and optimization of the contrast bolus and data processing are prerequisites for the clinical use of this method, which in principle may provide information on the absolute cerebral blood volume and even blood flow.


Objectives The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes mellitus in patients with newly diagnosed frozen shoulder (FS) and study whether diabetes mellitus increases the severity of FS disease. Methods Patients with newly diagnosed FS were consecutively included in this case-control study. Patients who were not already diagnosed as having diabetes mellitus were invited to be tested with the hemoglobin A1c blood sample test. The study population was compared with a control group, consisting of five individuals from the general population matched on age and sex. The passive range of motion, Oxford Shoulder Score, and visual analog scale (VAS) for average and maximum daily pain was recorded for all of the patients in the study group. Results A total of 235 patients were included, 34 (14%) of whom were diagnosed as having diabetes mellitus before the examination. Of the remaining 201 patients, 122 (61%) agreed to be tested for diabetes mellitus. None of the tested patients had undiagnosed diabetes mellitus. This was not significantly different from the prevalence in the matched control population (P = 0.09). There was no difference between patients with and without diabetes mellitus in average daily VAS (P = 0.46) nor maximum daily VAS (P = 0.44). The Oxford Shoulder Score was similar in the two groups (P = 0.23) as was the range of motion. Conclusions The prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes mellitus is low in patients with FS and does not differ from the general population. Diabetes mellitus does not seem to affect patients' perceived severity of an FS.


Among the diverse factors, bacterial infections in the reproductive tract potentially cause of repeat breeding in dairy cows. The present research was conducted to appraise the uterine organism in healthy fertile cows (HFC) and repeat breeder cows (RBC) and to establish a relationship with previous disease or disease conditions. A total of 43 uterine samples were collected from 10 healthy fertile and 33 RB cows for bacteriological study. Among RBC, 39.4% harbored bacterial isolates of E. coli (30.3%), Staphylococcus aureus (27.3%), Staphylococcus epidermidis (15.2%), and Bacillus spp. (18.2%). Total Viable Count (TVC) of RBC with isolates was higher (1.81 x 1010CFU/mL) than in normal fertile cows (1.3x1010 CFU/mL). No bacterial isolates were recovered from 60.6% RBCs and 80.0% healthy fertile cows. A single, mixed infection of two, three and four bacterial species was observed in the uterine discharge of 12.1%, 9.1%, 12.1% and 6.1% RBC, respectively. From animal demographic data of RBC, the sub-clinical mastitis, acute mastitis, endometritis, dystocia, retention of placenta, and abortion were 42.4%, 39.4%, 39.4%, 12.1%, 9.1%, and 6.1%, respectively. In contrast, the presence of dystocia, endometritis, subclinical mastitis, retention of placenta and abortion was recorded in 50%, 30%, 30.8%, 23.1%, and 15.4% of healthy cows, respectively. This result could help the veterinarian to design the proper antibacterial therapy based on bacteria isolates in RBCs.
J. Bangladesh Acad. Sci. 47(1); 33-42: June 2023


Thallium stable isotope ratio and mass fraction measurements were performed on sixteen geological reference materials spanning three orders of magnitude in thallium mass fraction, including both whole rock and partially separated mineral powders. For stable isotope ratio measurements, a minimum of three independent digestions of each reference material was obtained. High‐precision trace element measurements (including Tl) were also performed for the majority of these RMs. The range of Tl mass fractions represented is 10 ng g−1 to 16 μg g−1, and Tl stable isotope ratios (reported for historical reasons as ε205Tl relative to NIST SRM 997) span the range −4 to +2. With the exception – attributed to between‐bottle heterogeneity – of G‐2, the majority of data are in good agreement with published or certified values, where available. The precision of mean of independent measurement results between independent dissolutions suggests that, for the majority of materials analysed, a minimum digested mass of 100 mg is recommended to mitigate the impact of small‐scale powder heterogeneity. Of the sixteen materials analysed, we therefore recommend for use as Tl reference materials the USGS materials BCR‐2, COQ‐1, GSP‐2 and STM‐1; CRPG materials AL‐I, AN‐G, FK‐N, ISH‐G, MDO‐G, Mica‐Fe, Mica‐Mg and UB‐N; NIST SRM 607 and OREAS14P.


Abstract. Dust aerosol particle size plays a crucial role in determining dust cycle in the atmosphere and the extent of its impact on the other atmospheric parameters. The in-situ measurements of dust particle size are very costly, spatially sparse and time-consuming. This paper presents an algorithm to retrieve effective dust diameter using infrared band brightness temperature from SEVIRI (the Spinning Enhanced Visible and InfaRed Imager) on the Meteosat satellite. An empirical model was constructed that directly relates differences in brightness temperatures of 8.7, 10.8 and 12.0 μm bands to effective dust diameter using the Mie extinction efficiency factor. Three case studies are used to test the model. The results showed consistency between the model and in-situ aircraft measurements. A severe dust storm over the Middle-East is presented to demonstrate the use of the model. This algorithm is expected to contribute to filling the gap created by the discrepancies between the current size distributions retrieval techniques and aircraft measurements. Potential applications include enhancing the accuracy of atmospheric modelling and forecasting horizontal visibility and solar energy system performance over regions affected by dust storms.


Mutations at the PEPD locus cause prolidase deficiency (McKusick 170100), a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by iminodipeptiduria, skin ulcers, mental retardation, and recurrent infections. Four PEPD mutations from five severely affected individuals were characterized by analysis of reverse-transcribed, PCR-amplified (RT-PCR) cDNA. We used SSCP analysis on four overlapping cDNA fragments covering the entire coding region of the PEPD gene and detected abnormal SSCP bands for the fragment spanning all or part of exons 13-15 in three of the probands. Direct sequencing of the mutant cDNAs showed a G-->A, 1342 substitution (G448R) in two patients and a 3-bp deletion (delta E452 or delta E453) in another. In the other two probands the amplified products were of reduced size. Direct sequencing of these mutant cDNAs revealed a deletion of exon 5 in one patient and of exon 7 in the other. Intronic sequences flanking exons 5 and 7 were identified using inverse PCR followed by direct sequencing. Conventional PCR and direct sequencing then established the intron-exon borders of the mutant genomic DNA revealing two splice acceptor mutations: a G-->C substitution at position -1 of intron 4 and an A-->G substitution at position -2 of intron 6. Our results indicate that the severe form of prolidase deficiency is caused by multiple PEPD alleles. In this report we attempt to begin the process of describing these alleles and cataloging their phenotypic expression.


The modelling of cavity surface charge decay through conduction along the cavity wall using the Finite Element Analysis (FEA) method is presented in this paper. A field-dependent cavity surface conductivity is proposed and the Phase-Resolved Partial Discharge (PRPD) patterns obtained from experimental measurements used to validate the simulation results generated using the model. A comparison between the simulation and measurement results has also been undertaken to verify the surface charge decay effect.


Purpose – Building on behavioral agency theory, the authors explore the role played by corporate governance characteristics as drivers of the diversification strategies of family firms. Specifically, this study aims to investigate the effects of board size and board gender diversity on the likelihood that family firms will execute a diversifying acquisition vis-a`-vis a related acquisition. Furthermore, the authors investigate the contingency effects played by foreign directorship and the firm's listing status. Design/methodology/approach – The hypotheses are tested on an original sample of 213 cross-border acquisitions executedbyItalianfamily firmsbetween2008 and 2021. Findings – The findings suggest that both large board sizes and greater gender diversity positively affect the diversification of family firms. While the presence of foreign directors magnifies the positive effect ofboardsize,genderdiversity discourages diversification inthecase oflisted firms. Originality/value – The originality of this study is twofold. First, while prior literature has mostly focused on the family vs nonfamily dichotomy, this paper contributes to an emergent line of research investigating the heterogeneity among family firms' corporate strategy decisions. Second, by exploring the corporate governance-diversification link in the context of family business, the authors answer to recent calls that diversification by family firms deserves further investigation in light of its highly controversial nature in terms of socioemotional wealth implications and potential mismatch among multiple objectives.


When computer architects re-invented parallelism through multi-core processors, application parallelization became mandatory. The challenge of "mass-parallelization" forced the software community to react quickly. Unfortunately, instead of tackling such a large-scale problem in a systematic way, we have rather experienced various random search, non-portable and non-reusable approaches. We believe that the way to effectively address the problem is to limit its scale by splitting the potentially infinite application space into a limited set of application classes. This idea is not entirely new, as a similaritybased taxonomy has been recently proposed. However, in this paper, we purpose a different approach that focuses on a mostly quantitative application characterization. We introduce a set of metrics to characterize applications and we show how they can be evaluated for three case-studies. Once a wide range of applications have been characterized, we can identify a limited number of application classes. Next, for these classes, dedicated programming tools can be used to write high-performance parallel software in a productive way.


Most people know all the services offered by different public bodies and rightfully ours, the purpose of this work is a mobile application that helps citizens to geotag intersectorally all social sector services, according the current location of the city, the most relevant information entities of the country including contact and exact location; at the same time allows a feedback to society, also includes a Business Intelligence solution to guide citizens accommodating utilities, this application developed is freely available for domestic and foreign guests in two Spanish and English.


In Merck & Co. Inc. v. Gilead Sciences Inc., a jury found Gilead liable for infringement of Merck's patents directed to treatment for Hepatitis C and awarded Merck $200 million in damages. Three months later, however, the trial judge found that the patents were unenforceable under the equitable defense of unclean hands and rendered the damages verdict moot. In patent law, "unenforceability" carries immense force, limiting and in some cases barring all remedies for infringement of a valid patent. Five doctrines together make up the defense of "unenforceability" as it was incorporated into the Patent Act in 1952: laches, estoppel, unclean hands, patent misuse, and, according to some, inequitable conduct. Yet in the 70 years since incorporation of equitable defenses into the patent statute, the Supreme Court has not fully illuminated the reach of these equitable defenses. The Court denied certiorari in Merck & Co. Inc. v. Gilead Sciences Inc. in 2019 and sidestepped many salient issues on the equitable defense of laches in its opinion in SCA Hygiene in 2017. A significant question remains unanswered: In what contexts are equitable defenses available to bar damages at law? Several interpretive methods have been proposed for determining the reach of such generally worded statutes: Under a dynamic statutory interpretation like that proposed by Professor William Eskridge, courts would be permitted to develop such statutes in accordance with what the law ought to be. Under a traditional faithful agent approach, in contrast, courts would try to determine the scope as set forth by the legislature, piecing together context and history to frame limited words. The scope of equitable defenses in patent law is an ideal proving ground between these methods, having both historical background for use in traditional approaches and high-stakes social questions that factor into a dynamic approach—what conduct do we allow patentees to engage in before we cut off remedies for infringement on innovations that support our health and modern lifestyle?

Setting the stage of the statutory interpretive battle, this article examines the historical and statutory bases of equitable limits on patent law, with a particular focus on the substantive equitable defenses of unclean hands and patent misuse. It contrasts the history of equitable defenses such as estoppel, which crossed fully into courts of law well before the merger of law and equity and the Patent Act, with equitable defenses such as laches, unclean hands, and misuse. It also explores inequitable conduct. The article walks through these defenses' pre-codification roots and potential statutory interpretations and presents normative and constitutional considerations under the competing interpretive approaches. It also presents a surprising approach to inequitable conduct. This article is the first to provide a comprehensive framework for the analysis of equitable defenses in patent law.


From Borrowed Voices 2002 After Holderlin From Parallax 1970 The Moment of Waking The City, the Tree The Visit Kabul Rescue Whitey The Plane The Non-commercial Traveller Mary Jane Machine Paint From Red Movie and other poems 1972 Balance Bestiary Ward Five On the Track of the Attainable Red Movie From The Blast Area 1974 The Guadalcanal Motel Poem Ending with a Line by Rimbaud Compromise From The Alphabet Murders 1976 The Alphabet Murders 49 From Crying in Early Infancy: 100 Sonnets 1977 Starlight The Bus The Chicago Manual of Style Art Artefact The Moated Grange Ballistics I Know a Man Who Lives in the Dark The Doll The Spy Position: Poet The Painting of the Whole Sky The Blues 1968 By the Pool At the Laundromat From Dazed in the Ladies Lounge 1979 Ode to Col Joye The Un-American Women The Revolutionaries Leavis at The London Hotel Sartre at Surfers' Paradise Foucault at The Forest Lodge Hotel Enzensberger at 'Exiles' Bookshop The Wind The Germ The Great Artist Reconsiders the Homeric Simile From Selected Poems 1982 A Jackeroo in Kensington From Under Berlin 1988 Backyard Country Veranda North Light Widower Debbie & Co. Voodoo Fine Arts The Creature from the Black Lagoon High School Confidential Stratocruiser Laminex Lufthansa On Looking into the American Anthology Shadow Detail Parallel Lines 131 Having Completed My Fortieth Year Boarding School Papyrus After the Dance Haberdashery Poolside At The Newcastle Hotel Affairs of the Heart Lullaby Dirty Weekend La Pulqueria From The Floor of Heaven 1992 Breathless From At The Florida 1993 Journey At The Florida God on a Bicycle Dark Harvest Ariadne on Lesbos Days in the Capital A Marriage Falling Anyone Home? The Romans Storm over Sydney Opus Dei North Woods Con's Cafe At Naxos Two Views of Lake Placid Snap Old Europe Box Contaminant A Plume of Ash Chicken Shack Cable Chimp Bells Under Water Aurora From Different Hands 1998 Neuromancing Miss Stein The Howling Twins From Gasoline Kisses 1997 The Duck Abandons Hollywood From Blackout 2000 Blackout From Ultra 2001 Lavender Ink Black Leather Gallery Halogen Locket Miss Proust My Story Off Radar On the Road Package Tour Per Ardua ad Astra South Farm Under the Trees From Borrowed Voices 2002 After Laforgue Brussels Address to the Reader After Rilke Invitation to America On La Cienega Festival Night Harry's Bar What the Cyclops Said Where the Boys Are Notes from the Late Tang From Studio Moon 2003 Moonshine Sonata The Twilight Guest Paid Meridian The Green Buick Trastevere Radium In Praise of Sandstone Chinese Poem, after Mark Ford Christopher Brennan Epitaphs See Rover Reach Grover Leach Elegy i.m. M.J. The Beach Five Modern Myths Three Poems about Kenneth Koch Black Sugar The New Season's Patterns Like Advertising Rimbaud in Sydney The Waiting Room Amulet The Seasons-Spring The Seasons-Summer The Seasons-Autumn The Seasons-Winter Uncollected Poems 1985-2000 Small Animal Poem The White Hole Paradox Two Haikus Two Short Poems, after Li Po Two Poems for Mr Stevens What Mortal End Her Shy Banjo Fin de Siecle New Poems: The Malley Variations An American in Paris Benzedrine The Master of the Black Stones Flying High Pussy Willow Smaller Women Transatlantic Under Tuscan Skies Year Dot The Urn of Loneliness New Poems: Europe At the Tomb of Napoleon Bats Care and Feeding of a Small Poem Manikin de Vin On a Noted Vista A Poet in the Reading Room Stage Door Thistles Whisper New Poems: Speech to Text Anguish Bottom of the Harbour Deluge Departure Horticulture Lives Marinara Metro Movements Parade Pronto Royalties Scenes Shames Sorehead Story Subcontinent Nocturne Villas New Poems: At the Movies Shadow of a Doubt North by Northwest Dark Passage Girl in Water Black and White From Selected Poems 1982 The Popular Mysteries Acknowledgments Notes: at johntranter.com


This study examines the relationship between the quantity of landfill leachate and attenuation distance of inorganic contaminants in the groundwater of open, semi-open and closed hydrogeological systems. Nearly 2,000 groundwater samples were collected and 12 inorganic chemical parameters were investigated, of which NH4+, K+ and Fe were considered to be the most groundwater polluting chemical parameters. Analytical modelling of pollution migration, multivariate statistical techniques and a single factor pollution index method were applied for data processing. The results showed that irrespective of waste volume, the degradation coefficients of NH4+, K+ and Fe were by 36–90% higher in the groundwater of open hydrogeological systems, where attenuation distances were by 14–56% shorter compared with those in closed hydrogeological systems. Also, the degradation coefficients of NH4+, K+ and Fe+ in the groundwater of very small and small landfills were by 37–90% higher and attenuation distances were by 38–99% shorter compared with those in the groundwater of large and very large landfills. In the groundwater of very small and small landfills the difference between NH4+, Fe and K+ attenuation distance in open and closed hydrogeological systems was about 89–97% lower than the difference in large and very large landfills. This finding indicates that the quantity of leachate is the main factor of attenuation of contaminants in groundwater. The results obtained in this research may be used to predict the dispersion of pollution in the groundwater of landfills located in similar hydrogeological systems and to take environmental protection measures.


The algorithm elaborated to predict the efficacy of restorative surgery makes it possible to determine reliably the viability of the limb on the basis of ordinary clinical data and may be used for selecting a method of surgical intervention in an individual patient with an injured major artery.


Based on technology acceptance theory, the authors examined the effect of perceived enjoyment and gender on the intention to continue using mobile Internet services (MIS) in an everyday life context. A survey was conducted among 623 current MIS users to test the structural equation model. Their findings confirm the effect of perceived enjoyment on MIS continuance intention as well as the moderating effect of gender. Women expressed a stronger need for perceived usefulness and ease-of-use than men, while men expressed a significant need for perceived enjoyment. Interestingly, and somewhat contrary to previous findings, the effect of perceived usefulness on MIS continuance intention was stronger for women; whereas the effect of perceived enjoyment was significantly stronger for men. The authors findings suggest that MIS developers and providers should consider the gender of users when designing and offering MIS. The paper provides some guidelines regarding how MIS can be designed and customized for gender segments.


The fear of being stranded by a depleted electric vehicle (EV) battery is commonly referred to as `range anxiety'. This study explores a future vision for a comprehensive driver alerting algorithm to reduce the range anxiety by increasing the accuracy of the EV range estimation method. The key piece of information required to achieve this is an accurate battery state of charge (SoC) estimation. This study proposes an improved SoC estimation algorithm for implementation using low-cost microcontrollers. A method by which this improved algorithm can be implemented in a distributed battery management system is presented. The improved SoC estimation can be used to provide an enhanced range estimation method that can take into consideration a variety of environmental and behavioural factors. The proposed range estimate is more accurate than when only SoC is considered and can be implemented as part of a comprehensive driver alerting system to alert the EV driver of the expected energy required to reach the destination, the expected range with current SoC, an advisory if charging will be required prior to reaching the destination and the suggested duration of the charging required. By reducing the uncertainty surrounding EV range, it is hoped that the uptake of EVs can be improved.


Commercial formulation of the amitraz is the most used acaricide in the southern region of Rio Grande do Sul State, however scientific data about the efficacy of these products in this region are sparse. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the frequency of R. (B.) microplus populations resistant to amitraz acaricides in the Southern region of Rio Grande do Sul State. So, the efficacies of five commercial products containing amitraz were compared. Results showed that the efficacy of amitraz acaricides was lower than 69% in 23% of studied populations. Nearly 29% of the tick samples showed an acaricide efficacy equal to zero, suggesting the presence of a high level of resistance to amitraz. Moreover, the most used commercial product in the region showed the lowest efficacy index. These results alert about the possible spreading of resistant on tick populations and justify research directed toward the search for alternative products to control this parasite.


OBJECTIVE
To study the clinical effect and safety of dexmedetomidine in children with agitation during ventilator weaning.

METHODS
A prospective open observational study was performed for children who were admitted to the intensive care unit and experienced mechanical ventilation between March 2017 and August 2018. They were given dexmedetomidine due to the failure in the spontaneous breathing test (SBT) caused by agitation. A sedation-agitation scale score of ≥5 was defined as agitation. The children were observed in terms of the sedation state at 0.5, 1, 2, 6, and 12 hours after the administration of dexmedetomidine, blood gas parameters before extubation and at 1, 24, and 48 hours after extubation, vital signs (heart rate, respiratory rate and mean arterial pressure) before SBT, before extubation, and at 10, 60, and 120 minutes and 24 hours after extubation, and incidence rates of adverse events related to the use of dexmedetomidine.

RESULTS
A total of 19 children were enrolled in this study. All the children were in a state of agitation at the time of enrollment. At 0.5, 1, 2, 6, and 12 hours after the administration of dexmedetomidine, 12, 17, 17, 18, and 18 children respectively reached the sedation state. There were no significant differences in the oxygenation index, arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide, heart rate, respiratory rate, and mean arterial pressure at each time point before and after extubation (P>0.05). No adverse events were observed, such as severe hypotension and respiratory depression, and only one child experienced reversible bradycardia.

CONCLUSIONS
Dexmedetomidine is safe and effective in children with agitation during ventilator weaning, but prospective randomized controlled trials are needed for verification.


This work describes the development of a robotic system that acquires knowledge incrementally through human interaction where new tools and motions are taught on the fly. The robotic system developed was one of the five finalists in the KUKA Innovation Award competition and demonstrated during the Hanover Messe 2018 in Germany. The main contributions of the system are a) a novel incremental object learning module - a deep learning based localization and recognition system - that allows a human to teach new objects to the robot, b) an intuitive user interface for specifying 3D motion task associated with the new object, c) a hybrid force-vision control module for performing compliant motion on an unstructured surface. This paper describes the implementation and integration of the main modules of the system and summarizes the lessons learned from the competition.


Background: Animal studies are an indispensable part of fundamental and applied research essential for the advancement of human and veterinary health, including the the current global quest for treatments and a vaccine development to combat the infectious diseases. This necessity is now clearly highlighted by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic More recently a growing number of studies are published on this theme. Therfore, a bibliometric analysis of research on "Animal models in Covid-19" research is necessary and it is likely to focus on current status of research and indicate future direction in this study. Materials and Methods: The India's originated literatures is searched on " Animal Models in Covid-19" using two set of keywords related to Covid-19 and animals in "Keyword" and "Title" (Title of articles) tags to reach the relevant publications. VOSviewer was applied to perform the bibliometric analysis of these articles. Biblio-graphical data obtained from above search strategy was analysed the data by using well-established bibliometric indices. Results: The bibliometric analysis of India's literature on the topic "Animal Models in Covid-19" research indicates that there were 2343 India's publications indexed in Scopus database during 2020-21. The topic witnessed the uneven partici-pation of more than 160 countries, where 88.63% and more than 100.0% share of the global publications and citations share caming from top 10 countries. USA leads the ranking with global publication share of 28.16% share, followed by China (13.30%, U.K. (10.67%), Italy (9.93%). India's research output on this topicr registered 7.46% share to global output. The 496 organizations and 869 authors participated in India's research on "Animal Model in Covid-19", of which the top 25 Indian organizations and 25 authors contributed 46.58% and 22.60% share to India's national publication output and 61.19% and 48.8% share to India's citation output re-spectively. AIIMS - New Delhi , PGIMER- Chandigarh, and IVRI- Bareilly were the most productive organizations (with 118, 115 and 68 publications). IVRI-Bareilly, PGIMER-Chandigarh and College of Veterinary Science, Mathura were the impactful organizations in terms of citation per paper and relative citation index. K. Dharma, R. Tiwari and Y.S. Malik were the most productive authors (with 63, 35 and 27 papers). H. Harapan, A.K.Singh and A Misra were the most impactful authors (with 90.42, 88.20 and 73.31 CPP).. International Journal of Research in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Indian Journal of Medical Research and Diabetes and Metabolic Syndromes. Clinical Research and Review were the most productive journals (with 72, 56 and 50 papers). Conclusion: The paper provides a understanding of the current research on animal models presently used in Covid-19 research in India, identify key players and their collaboration patterns and key sub-fields, which may be useful to practicing scholars and clinicians to advance their future research in a more effective manner and to policy-makers in deciding the area of research to be funded in future. Key words: Covid-19, Animal Models, Global publications, Indian Publications, Bibliometrics, Scientometrics1.


Recent experimental studies show that the restitution curve of cardiac tissue can have a negative slope. We study how the negative slope of the restitution curve can influence basic processes in excitable media, such as periodic forcing of an excitable cell, circulation of a pulse in a ring, and spiral wave rotation in two dimensions. We show that negatively sloped restitution curve can result in instabilities if the slope of the restitution curve is steeper than -1 and report different manifestations of this instability. (c) 2002 American Institute of Physics.


that Gesche Ipsen, one of the founders of Opticon1826 and its original editor-in-chief, commenced the editorial for the journal's inaugural issue in Autumn 2006, offering a prospective readership the first compilation of scholarly and creative musings of UCL staff and students. In the thirteenth issue since then, I hope to do the same by placing the very first printed – not just virtual – Opticon1826 on your tables. (An online version is, of course, available for those further afield.) It is a special issue that brings you a fine selection of papers from the SELCS postgraduate conference Fragile Realities: Intersecting Interpretations of the Real, organised by and for members of the UCL community, and beyond, in July 2012. Carefully investigated and passionately argued by the academics of tomorrow – all authors are PhD candidates at UCL, some in the earlier stages, others in the final stretch of their research projects – the discussion ranges from the potential social impact of a schoolboy's suicide on the screen to the depiction of the complex immigrant reality in painting. Although Fragile Realities is, contrary to tradition for Opticon1826, not a cross-faculty publication, it is very much an interdisciplinary effort that strives to break the chains we so easily impose on our fields and reach further – geographically, thematically, methodologically but also in its intended readership. Echoing Gesche's words, I thus invite you – all members of UCL as well as others, elsewhere – to peruse and enjoy these pages: Here we are, then, again.


The protein composition of the Bacillus subtilis bacteriophage phi29 prohead and virion was determined by combustion of gel bands of (3)H-labeled proteins. Copy numbers of individual proteins were calculated relative to the 12 copies of the head-tail connector protein. The mean numbers of copies of the major capsid protein in the prohead and virion were 241 and 218, respectively, approaching the 235 copies determined previously by cryoelectron microscopy. The mean numbers of copies of the dimeric head fiber on the prohead and virion were 24 and 31, respectively, demonstrating partial occupancy of the 55 fiber binding sites. Measured copies of neck and tail proteins in the virion included 11 of the lower collar, 58 of the appendage, and 9 of the tail; if the true copies of these proteins are 12, 60, and 9, respectively, the entire neck and tail of phi29 has quasi-sixfold symmetry. The mass of the fiberless prohead with pRNA was about 14.2 MDa, and the mass of the prohead determined by scanning transmission electron microscopy was consistent with the biochemical data. The mass of the fiberless virion containing the 12.8-MDa DNA genome was about 30.4 MDa. A full complement of dimeric fibers on the prohead or virion would increase the mass of the particle by about 3.2 MDa. The data complement studies relating the structure of phi29 components to dynamic functions in morphogenesis and infection.


ABSTRACT Intergroup contact reduces prejudice against a variety of social outgroups and seems to be particularly effective at reducing prejudice in individuals most prone to it—those high in right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and social dominance orientation (SDO). The present study examines the moderating roles of RWA and SDO in the contact-prejudice relationship, targeting dissident, dangerous, and derogated outgroups: lesbians and gay men, people with schizophrenia, and Indigenous Australians, respectively. In total, 234 participants self-reported contact and prejudice against these outgroups and completed RWA and SDO scales. Contact predicted less prejudice against lesbians and gay men and Indigenous Australians in participants high in RWA and participants high in SDO. However, contact only predicted less prejudice against people with schizophrenia in participants low in RWA or SDO. The results suggest that the ability for intergroup contact to reduce prejudice in prejudice-prone individuals may depend on the outgroup targeted, specifically the threat they pose and the level of prejudice held against them.


This study attempted to assess the presence of missed opportunity for tetanus toxoid immunization using a Community and Family Survey (CFS) data collected in the five densely populated zones of the SNNPR. The study established the existence of a true missed opportunity for tetanus toxoid immunization among antenatal clients after examining the data for possible sources of biases. A bivariate and multivariate analysis using logistic regression model suggested the absence of both recall and life long protection biases in the data. Accordingly, 11.6% of the women represented a true missed opportunity for tetanus toxoid immunization in the study area. The level of missed opportunity was found to be about 13% in the rural area as compared to only 4% in the urban parts of the study area. Missed opportunity was also high among those women who initiated antenatal visit in their third trimester of pregnancy and those women who had only one visit in the whole course of pregnancy. In the light of the findings, in-depth operational studies are recommended to better understand the reasons behind missed opportunity for tetanus immunization in the study area.
(Ethiopian Journal of Health Development, 2000, 14(2): 135-142)


Setting Reasons for variation in BCG protection against tuberculosis are not well understood. We therefore estimated the protection provided by BCG vaccination against tuberculosis and examined reasons for variation in different settings. Methods We systematically searched English and non-English articles in 10 databases from inception to May 2009 as well as sources such as Google Scholar and trial registers to October 2009. Search terms included tuberculosis, tubercle bacill*, M. tuberculosis, M. bovis, M. africanum, M. canetti, M. microti and M. tuberculosis. Terms for the intervention included BCG Vaccine, BCG, BCG Vacc*, BCG Imm*, bacillus calmette. Two reviewers independently screened studies for inclusion. Data (including results and domains of study quality) were extracted by one reviewer and checked by another. Pooled analyses were based on random and fixed effects meta-analysis. Heterogeneity was quantified using tau-squared (t2) statistics. Random-effects meta-regression was used to investigate associations of study characteristics with intervention effect estimates. Results Of 21,030 references we identified 21 trials reporting tuberculosis outcomes. Protection against tuberculosis disease was variable (t2=0.292). BCG efficacy was high at higher latitude or when BCG was given only to infants (62%, 95% CI 48–72%) or to children after strict screening for tuberculin sensitivity (72% 95% CI 60–81%) Protection against meningeal and miliary tuberculosis combined was higher in infants (90%) and children with stringent testing respectively (92%). The observed protective effect of BCG did not differ by the strain of BCG vaccine used. Stringency of tuberculin testing to exclude those infected or sensitised to mycobacteria explained a good proportion of the observed variation with latitude (t2=0.292 in the null model, 0.100 in the bivariate model). In a multivariable meta-regression analysis there was strong evidence that infant vaccination or stringent prior tuberculin testing before BCG in childhood was associated with increased efficacy (p=0.02) after taking into account latitude and a measure of study quality-diagnostic detection bias. Conclusion BCG protection against tuberculosis varies between settings to an extent which cannot be attributed to chance alone. More efficacious results were seen in studies of individuals screened using stringent criteria (to exclude those already sensitized to mycobacteria), and those at a greater latitude from the equator.


Two duopolists first decide in which proportions to incorporate in their product two different Lancasterian characteristics and then compete in quantities or prices. In the Cournot case, minimum differentiation obtains at equilibrium whatever the degree of substituability between the characteristics. In the Bertrand one, the equilibrium depends crucially on the degree of substituability/complementarity between the two characteristics. Maximal differential obtains if and only if the characteristics are strong enough substitutes. On the contrary as characteristics become closer and closer complements one obtains in the limit a minimal differentiation result.


With the increased use of smart devices, digital cameras and abundance of memory in the devices, the pictures of the same scenes have been taken several times, resulting in a number of images consisting of the same or very similar content in memory. Manually selecting the good ones is time-consuming as well as error prone. In this paper, the features of the images in the data sets were extracted and machine learning algorithms were applied to successfully classify the images as "good" or "bad" with %97.6 precision and %89.3 recall score.


The viewing set-based method has difficulties ensuring that a user will enjoy recommended programs, and the model-based collaborative filtering method contains system-side real-time recommendation problems because most recent ratings cannot be applied in the recommendations and it has increased calculating costs due to the training process. In this paper, we propose a personalized program recommender for smart TVs using memory-based collaborative filtering with a novel similarity method that is robust to cold-start conditions and faster than the often-used, existing similarity method. The proposed method can improve the recommendation performance of electronic program guides and recommender applications for smart TVs. We determined the prediction accuracy of the ratings under various conditions in order to evaluate the proposed method. As a result, we confirmed that the proposed method is effective for cold-start conditions.


ObjectiveThis study aimed to assess the clinical features as well as the functional and psychological status of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia in a real-world setting in China.MethodsA total of 202 inpatients with rheumatoid arthritis from the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology at Peking University People's Hospital were enrolled between December 2018 and April 2019. These inpatients were assessed for the presence of fibromyalgia using the 1990 American College of Rheumatology's classification criteria for fibromyalgia. Disease activity and functional and psychological status were assessed using the Disease Activity Score in 28 Joints (DAS-28), Short Form-36 health survey questionnaire (SF-36), Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and Visual Analog Scale.ResultsOf 202 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, 42 (20.8%) had concurrent fibromyalgia. Compared to patients without fibromyalgia, those with rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia had higher DAS-28 scores (6.0 vs. 4.4, P=0.011) and notably higher tender joint counts (16.5 vs. 4.5, P<0.001). Patients with rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia had worse HAQ scores (1.24 vs. 0.66, P<0.001) and lower SF-36 scores (28.6 vs. 58.2, P<0.001). Additionally, patients with rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia experienced more fatigue (88.1% vs. 50.6%, P<0.001) and had higher anxiety (10 vs. 4, P<0.001) and depression scores (12 vs. 6, P<0.001). No significant differences in erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein concentration, morning stiffness period, or swollen joint counts were identified between the groups.ConclusionsPatients with rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia had higher disease activity, worse functional and psychological status, and poorer quality of life. DAS-28 scores may have been overestimated in these patients. When patients with rheumatoid arthritis do not achieve remission, the possibility of fibromyalgia should be considered.


CONTRIBUTION TO COGNIZANCE OF MICROFAUNA OF KROSNO BEDS The author has investigated the microfauna content in 1867 rock samples collected from sections of the Krosno beds of the Carpathian Central Depression, i.e. the Dukla-Michowa folds and the Inoceramian marginal region (Fig. 1). On the basis of the results of these examinations he asserts that, generally speaking, the discussed beds contain but scanty fossils (see Tables 1 and 1a). It is impossible to speak here of typical faunal horizons nor of distinguishing characteristic - as to their correlation - associations of foraminifers. It seems probable that the scantiness of fauna encountered in the Krosno beds is connected with specific bathythermal conditions which characterized their marine environment, i.e. with a fairly frequent oscillation of the ocean floor which must have resulted in rhytmic faciaI changes (alternating shale and sandstone deposits); and with a fairly low temperature of the ocean waters. Nearly always the rock complexes consisting of alternating thin laminae of shales and sandstones., as well as of arenaceous shales and sandstones, are either sterile or they contain but sporadically a dwindled fauna. On the other hand, the shale strata, sand less, occurring in larger thicknesses, are fairly rich in fossils of microorganisms.


An unsteady state boundary layer model was developed in order to analyse the combustion of single char particles in radiation fields. The model is based on the following assumptions, a spherical char particle with small diameter is combusted at atmospheric pressure, the temperature difference between the surface and the inside of the particle is negligible, particle diameter shrinks due to the reaction on the char surface, the surrounding gas is stagnant, but Stefan flow is taken into consideration and bulk gas flow is neglected. The model predicts the particle temperature increase and the distributions of gas temperature and gas components in the boundary layer. The computed distribution of gas component proves clearly that the reaction rate is mainly controlled by oxygen diffusion in the boundary layer except during the initial heating and reaction. Using the simulation model, the effects of particle size, oxygen content in bulk gas and input laser power is discussed. The results predict that smaller particles heat up faster in initial heating and higher laser input has the same effect. Further, it is shown that a higher oxygen content raises the sustained combustion temperature and shortens the combustion period.


Childhood cancer survivors are at an increased risk of obesity but causes for this elevated risk are uncertain. We evaluated total energy expenditure in childhood cancer survivors using the doubly labeled water method in a cross-sectional study of 17 survivors of pediatric leukemia or lymphoma (median age, 11.5 y). Mean total energy expenditure was 2073 kcal/d, which was nearly 500 kcal/d lower than estimated energy requirements with recommended levels of physical activity. This energy gap is likely to contribute to the risk of obesity in this population and future trials are needed to assess implications and potential treatment strategies.


Salvarsan in its present form can never become a popular remedy. Paul Ehrlich, however, is so ingenious that any day he may invent a modification that will be more easily administered, and will be even less toxic. There are three determinations of salvarsan that are of fundamental imptance; its poisonous action on theSpirochœta pallida; its selective action on epithelial tisue; and its selective action on the tissue of nerves. Its stimulating action on epithelial tissue is shown in the marvelous way mucous patches and leutic ulcers epidermize under its influence. Its selective action on nerve tissue, however, is what immediately interests us in this paper. On the introduction of salvarsan, the attention of observers was fixed on the optic nerve, as it was feared that salvarsan might, like atoxyl, cause amaurosis. But experience accumulated, and as no reports of dissagreable ocular symptomss were at first recorded it wass hoped


The structure of a steady-state surface-wave sustained cylindrical argon plasma is investigated theoretically by taking into account electron heat transport. The radial profiles of the plasma density, temperature, velocity, as well as the the density of the 3p56d excited-state argon atoms are calculated. The effects of different models of the electron heat flux and their boundary conditions are also investigated. The results are compared with existing experiments and theories.


BACKGROUND
Recent researches have demonstrated that human T-cell immunoglobulin mucin 1 (TIM-1) glycoprotein plays important roles in regulation of autoimmune and allergic diseases, as well as in tumor immunity and response to viral infections. Therefore, targeting TIM-1 could be a potential therapeutic approach against such diseases.

OBJECTIVES
In this study, we aimed to express TIM-1 protein on Human Embryonic kidney (HEK) 293T cell line in order to have an available source of the TIM-1 antigen.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The cDNA was synthesized after RNA extraction from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and TIM-1 cDNA was amplified by PCR with specific primers. The PCR product was cloned in pcDNA™3.1/Hygro (+) and transformed in Escherichia coli TOP 10 F'. After cloning, authenticity of DNA sequence was checked and expressed in HEK 293T cells. Finally, expression of TIM-1 was analyzed by flow cytometry and real-time PCR.

RESULTS
The result of DNA sequencing demonstrated correctness of TIM-1 DNA sequence. The flow cytometry results indicated that TIM-1 was expressed in about 90% of transfected HEK 293T cells. The real-time PCR analysis showed TIM-1 mRNA expression increased 195-fold in transfected cells compared with un-transfected cells.

CONCLUSIONS
Findings of present study demonstrated the successful cloning and expression of TIM-1 on HEK 293T cells. These cells could be used as an immunogenic source for production of specific monoclonal antibodies, nanobodies and aptamers against human TIM-1.


Insertion-deletion polymorphism of the gene for the angiotensin-converting enzyme has been investigated in random samples from various age groups in the Moscow population. A statistically significant reduction in the insertion allele frequency has been found in senior age groups.


In this paper, we deal with optical Airy beams propagating in a nonlinear photorefractive crystal. We first study the dynamics of one Airy beam and show that it evolves in two stages: when we apply a focusing nonlinearity on the crystal, the output beam first turns into an off-shooting soliton. Then we observe a relaxation-type dynamics towards a focused redistributed solution where an Airy-like profile and the previous off-shooting soliton are superimposed. In a second step we add a second Airy beam counterpropagating in the nonlinear crystal. We show that the interactions induced by counter-propagating Airy beams allow for achieving complex waveguiding structures that would otherwise require the counter-propagating interactions of more than two Gaussian beams. Finally we present that the stationary waveguide structures shown previously can be switched to spatiotemporally varying structures by tuning the photorefractive nonlinearity of the system. The system dynamically evolves from a steady-state regime to time-dependent stable and turbulent states where the off-shooting solitons begin to move first periodically then erratically around specific Airy-induced output positions. These localized spatiotemporal dynamics are induced by the peculiar energy distribution of the counterpropagating Airy beams.


The volumetric response of compacted bentonites against environmental actions is a key aspect in most designs of nuclear waste repositories. The safety assessment of such repositories must account for robust and reliable models of stress–strain for bentonites. While many models for unsaturated low activity clays take advantage from the use of a generalized effective stress, its application to expansive soils has not found the same degree of success. One of the possible reasons is the complex water retention behaviour of these materials, which only recently has been successfully reproduced by numerical models. Here, by adopting an appropriate water retention model, a coupled hydro-mechanical approach to simulate the volume change behaviour of compacted bentonites is suggested. An explicit distinction between interlayer adsorbed water and capillary water is used to simulate the water retention behaviour. It is then shown that by using a precise water retention formulation, the volumetric behaviour can be interpreted within an effective stress–degree of saturation based framework. Some interesting results derived from the use of the effective stress include the shrinkage limit, the increase in stiffness of the elastic regime and the use of a single elastic coefficient for both wetting–swelling and reloading stress paths.


During the summer of 2000, the Institute for Exploration (IFE) will conduct a major oceanographic expedition in the Black Sea. The main objectives are: (1) To search the shallow shelf along the north coast of Turkey for submerged evidence of ancient humans from more than 7000 years ago when the Black Sea was an inland lake 150 meters below present-day sea level; (2) To search the deep waters for ancient shipwrecks that may have well-preserved wooden structural components due to the anaerobic environment; and (3) to document with video and still images any archaeologically significant discoveries. Woods Hole Marine Systems Inc. (WHMSI) is developing a new suite of deep submergence vehicles and systems that will be devoted to IFE's marine archaeology expeditions in the Black Sea and elsewhere. Two underwater imaging vehicles have already been completed. The first, ARGUS, is an optical tow sled equipped with tilting underwater video and film cameras, HMI lights, an electronic still camera, thrusters to control heading, and a scanning sonar. In addition to its own imaging capabilities, ARGUS is also the depressor for LITTLE HERCULES, a mid-sized fully maneuverable imaging ROV designed to support a High Definition underwater video camera. Each vehicle will transmit real-time images of archaeological sites via a fiber optic umbilical cable to a control room on board the surface ship, where the imagery and data will be viewed, processed, analyzed, and archived. To supplement the lighting during the survey of an archeological site, WHMSI has also built a new offload lighting package.


This document, which is prepared as directed by the Compliance Order on Consent (COOC) issued by the New Mexico Environment Department, identifies and outlines a process to evaluate remedial alternatives to identify a corrective measure for the Sandia National Laboratories/New Mexico Technical Area (TA)-V Groundwater. The COOC provides guidance for implementation of a Corrective Measures Evaluation (CME) for the TA-V Groundwater. This Work Plan documents an initial screening of remedial technologies and presents a list of possible remedial alternatives for those technologies that passed the screening. This Work Plan outlines the methods for evaluating these remedial alternatives and describes possible site-specific evaluation activities necessary to estimate remedy effectiveness and cost. These methods will be reported in the CME Report. This Work Plan outlines the CME Report, including key components and a description of the corrective measures process.


We treated 650 consecutive cases of phacoemulsification with total capsulectomy. More than 91% of cases had best corrected visual acuities of 20/40 or better. In those with vision of 20/100 or less (3.5%) no cause for decreased acuity could be related to the surgery; 94% of cases had less than 1.5 diopters of residual astigmatism. Vitreous loss, occurring in 2.9% of cases, could be related to initial inexperience and errors in technique rather than patient age. Postoperative complications included transient striate keratitis (2.3%), persistent corneal edema (one case), cystoid macular edema (2.8%), and aphakic retinal detachments (2.6%). There were no hyphemas, flat or shallow anterior chambers, or filtering blebs postoperatively. We believe that this technique of total cataract extraction through a 3-mm incision yields the same results as an intracapsular extraction, but with less complications, and all the benefits of a small limbal incision.


Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified several common variants associated with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). However, the etiology behind PCOS remains incomplete. Available evidence suggests a potential genetic correlation between PCOS and type 2 diabetes (T2D). The publicly available data may provide an opportunity to enhance the understanding of the PCOS etiology. Here, we quantified the polygenic overlap between PCOS and T2D using summary statistics of PCOS and T2D and then identified the novel genetic variants associated with PCOS behind this phenotypic association. A bivariate causal mixture model (MiXeR model) found a moderate genetic overlap between PCOS and T2D (Dice coefficient = 44.1% and after adjusting for body mass index, 32.1%). The conditional/conjunctional false discovery rate method identified 11 potential risk variants of PCOS conditional on associations with T2D, 9 of which were novel and 6 of which were jointly associated with two phenotypes. The functional annotation of these genetic variants supports a significant role for genes involved in lipid metabolism, immune response, and the insulin signaling pathway. An expression quantitative trait locus functionality analysis successfully repeated that 5 loci were significantly associated with the expression of candidate genes in many tissues, including the whole blood, subcutaneous adipose, adrenal gland, and cerebellum. We found that SCN2A gene is co-localized with PCOS in subcutaneous adipose using GWAS-eQTL co-localization analyses. A total of 11 candidate genes were differentially expressed in multiple tissues of the PCOS samples. These findings provide a new understanding of the shared genetic architecture between PCOS and T2D and the underlying molecular genetic mechanism of PCOS.


Silyl-substituted aromatic compounds can participate as the electrophilic component in palladium-catalysed cross-couplings, and reactivity is enhanced by a neighbouring silyl-group. Products analogous to those obtained from C-H activation chemistry are accessible by this means with the additional benefit of regiochemistry defined by the site of silyl substitution. DFT studies described here show that the mechanism of C-Si cleavage is distinct from previously recognised mechanisms for C-H cleavage, with a cascade of silyl intermediates en route to a stable product. The amide directing-groups are involved only in the stabilisation of palladacyclic intermediates, and are never disposed to activate silicon directly. 5-Membered and 6-membered palladacycles are known to behave differently in coupling reactions and the calculations reveal underlying reasons in the cationic pathways studied here.


In this work, properties of Calcium alginate-reduced graphene oxide and Barium alginate‐reduced graphene oxide composite films are explored. In addition, the properties of the divalent metal ion-cross-linked alginate composite films are compared to the analogous properties of uncross‐linked Sodium alginate-graphene oxide composite films of the corresponding compositions. As the filler, used in the preparation of the composite films, is obtained by chemical oxidation of graphite, the prevailing knowledge of the process coupled with in situ X-ray diffraction investigation of the samples prepared by such a method is presented as well.


BACKGROUND
Diabetic patients are commonly hyperglycaemic on presentation. Admission hyperglycaemia is associated with adverse outcomes, particularly prolonged hospitalisation. Improving inpatient glycaemia may reduce length of hospital stay (LOS) in diabetic patients.

AIMS
To determine whether in-hospital recognition and treatment of admission hyperglycaemia in diabetic patients is associated with reduced LOS.

METHODS
Medical records were reviewed from 1 November 2011 to 31 May 2012 for 162 diabetic patients admitted with a blood glucose level (BGL) ≥11.1mmol/L. In-hospital outcomes were compared. Stepwise multiple regression was used to evaluate factors contributing to LOS.

RESULTS
Compared to the untreated individuals (n=67), hyperglycaemia treatment (n=95) was associated with a longer LOS (median eight vs. four days, p<0.01), higher HbA1c (9.0 vs. 7.3 per cent, p<0.01), more infections (50 vs. 25 per cent, p<0.01), and more patients with follow-up plans (35 vs. 10 per cent, p<0.01). Higher HbA1c was significantly related to more follow-up (ρs=0.30, n=110, p<0.01) with a trend to lower re-admission in those with follow-up plans (ρs=-1.41, n=162, p=0.07).

CONCLUSION
Recognition and treatment of admission hyperglycaemia in diabetic patients was associated with longer LOS than if untreated. Contributory factors to LOS include: illness severity, infections, and higher HbA1c. Although follow-up plans were few (27 per cent) for diabetic patients with hyperglycaemia, it was significantly more likely in those with higher HbA1c. Diabetic patients' complexities require timely multidisciplinary team involvement. Improved follow-up care, particularly for hospitalised diabetic patients identified to have chronically poor glycaemic control, may help prevent future diabetic patient re-admissions.


Crop water productivity models (CWPMs) are of great importance in evaluating different irrigation programs. The mean  goal of the study was to evaluate the performance of the Jensen, Minhas, Blank, Stewart and Rao CWPMs in predicting  fruit yield of processing tomato. Field experiments were conducted for two consecutive growing seasons. The soil water  stress sensitivity indices of the CWPMs were determined using experimental data from the second crop growing season.  Yields simulated by the CWPMs were compared with the experimental data for the first season. The sensitivity indices  for the crop growth stages were taken into account as appropriate weights of the soil water sensitivity of the vegetative,  flowering, yield formation and ripening stages of the processing tomato crop. The results give evidence that processing  tomato is much more sensitive to soil water stress during flowering and yield formation stages whereas the adverse  impact of water stress on yield is very limited at vegetative stage. The highest modelling efficiency (0.96) between  field-measured and simulated yield by the model, the lowest arithmetic mean of errors (0.04), mean absolute deviation  (0.07), mean square error (0.02), absolute percentage error (12.76), root mean square error (0.15) and coefficient of  residual mass (0.05) were achieved by Minhas model and followed by Rao model based on same parameters of statistical  analyses. Both the Minhas and the Rao models with their soil water stress sensitivity indices generated for the different  growth stages obtained in this study are recommended for the processing tomato in the sub-humid environments.


Objective: This study was to systematically update the economic evaluation evidence of colorectal cancer screening in mainland China. Methods: Based on a systematic review published in 2015, we expanded the scope of retrieval database (PubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CNKI, Wanfang Data, VIP, CBM) and extended it to December 2018. Focusing on the evidence for nearly 10 years (2009-2018), basic characteristics and main results were extracted. Costs were discounted to 2017 using the consumer price index of medical and health care being provided to the residents, and the ratio of incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) to per capita GDP in corresponding years were calculated. Results: A total of 12 articles (8 new ones) were included, of which 9 were population-based (all cross-sectional studies) and 3 were model-based. Most of the initial screening age was 40 years (7 articles), and most of the frequency was once in a lifetime (11 articles). Technologies used for primary screening included: questionnaire assessment, immunological fecal occult blood test (iFOBT) and endoscopy. The most commonly used indicator was the cost per colorectal cancer detected, and the median (range) of the 20 screening schemes was 52 307 Chinese Yuan (12 967-3 769 801, n=20). The cost per adenoma detected was 9 220 Yuan (1 859-40 535, n=10). In 3 articles, the cost per life year saved (compared with noscreening) was mentioned and the ratio of ICER to GDP was 0.673 (-0.013-2.459, n=11), which was considered by WHO as "very cost-effective" ; The range of ratios overlapped greatly among different technologies and screening frequencies, but the initial age for screening seemed more cost-effective at the age of 50 years (0.002, -0.013-0.015, n=3), than at the 40 year-olds (0.781, 0.321-2.459, n=8). Conclusions: Results from the population-based studies showed that the cost per adenoma detected was only 1/6 of the cost per colorectal cancer detected, and limited ICER evidence suggested that screening for colorectal cancer was generally cost-effective in Chinese population. Despite the inconclusiveness of the optimal screening technology, the findings suggested that the initial screening might be more cost-effective at older age. No high-level evidence such as randomized controlled trial evaluation was found.


BACKGROUND
A regimen of multi-drug chemotherapy alternating with split course hyperfractionated radiation therapy (HFRT) was adopted for the treatment of patients with rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS). The purpose of this treatment regimen was to allow for the timely delivery of radiation and chemotherapy, reduce treatment-related toxicity, and improve compliance.

PROCEDURE
Forty-four patients with stages II-IV RMS were treated with HFRT and received 5,400 cGy. The treatment was administered in two courses (3,000 and 2,400 cGy) and separated by a 4-week interval. HFRT consisted of 150 cGy delivered twice a day, 5 days a week with an interfraction interval of 4-6 hours. A limited comparison was made between the HFRT patients and 42 historical patients with comparable clinical characteristics who were treated with similar chemotherapy and conventionally fractionated radiation therapy (CFRT) (median 4,800 cGy, range 4,000-5,680 cGy).

RESULTS
HFRT patients completed radiation therapy in 59.1 +/- 9.4 days (mean +/- SD) and CFRT patients completed treatment in 56.6 +/- 10.5 days compared to an expected 52 and 40 days, respectively. With a median follow-up of 55 months for the HFRT patients and 104 months for the CFRT patients, no differences in local control or survival were noted. Nine of 44 (21%) HFRT and 8/42 (19%) CFRT patients experienced local failure. The median time to local failure was 15 months for patients in the HFRT group and 11 months for patients in the CFRT group.

CONCLUSIONS
The results of the HFRT regimen were acceptable in terms of toxicity and compliance. No improvement in local control was obtained by alternating radiation and chemotherapy. The lack of difference between patients treated with HFRT and CFRT may be related to the lengthened treatment time of the split course regimen, the small difference in total dose, and tumor repopulation.


Supracondylar fracture of the humerus is common among the paediatric population. It accounts for 17.9% of all fractures in children.2 They commonly present in extension type, in which the distal metaphyses are forced into extension resulting from falls on outstretched hands. Due to the close proximity between the proximal fracture fragment and the surrounding soft tissues in extension-type fracture, various neurovascular injuries are often reported. Incidence of nerve injuries has been reported to be 12-20% while up to 20% of patients having vascular compromise in displaced supracondylar humeral fractures. In our country, it is not uncommon for patients to present late to the hospital after an injury. Devnani reported a case series of 28 children who sustained supracondylar humeral fractures and presented late (mean 5.6 days) to the hospital. We present three cases of paediatric neglected humeral supracondylar fracture and their subsequent surgical management. Case Series, Case 1: NAU, a 5-year-old right-hand dominant girl presented with malunion of the left humeral supracondylar fracture for the one month after a fall from bicycle. She underwent open reduction, corrective osteotomy and cross K wire insertion and subsequently recovered. Case 2: MP, a 5-year-old boy presented with neglected left humeral supracondylar fracture for 8 months after a fall on left elbow while playing. He presented with varus deformity of the left elbow with limited range of movement. He underwent open reduction, corrective osteotomy and lateral K wire insertion. He subsequently recovered with good carrying angle and range of movement of the left elbow. Case 3: MS, a 10-year-old right-hand dominant boy presented with a left humeral supracondylar fracture for 14 days after a fall from monkey bar at school. Clinically, the fracture was immobile with callus formation noted on the plain radiograph. He underwent open reduction, callus removal and cross K wire insertion and subsequently recovered. Surgical correction should be used to treat paediatric patients presented with neglected humeral supracondylar humerus fracture to obtain the best functional outcomes.


Tree-structured methodology applied for the GISSI-PSICOLOGIA project, although performed in the framework of earliest GISSI studies, represents a powerful tool to analyze different aspects of cardiologic care. The GISSI-PSICOLOGIA project has delivered a novel methodology based on the joint application of psychometric tools and sophisticated statistical techniques. Its prospective use could allow building effective epidemiological models relevant to the prognosis of the cardiologic patient. The various features of the RECPAM method allow a versatile use in the framework of modern e-health projects. The study used the Cognitive Behavioral Assessment H Form (CBA-H) psychometrics scales. The potential for its future application in the framework of Italian cardiology is relevant and particularly indicated to assist planning of systems for integrated care and routine evaluation of the cardiologic patient.


The relationship between satellite land surface temperature (LST) and ground‐based observations of 2 m air temperature (T2m) is characterized in space and time using >17 years of data. The analysis uses a new monthly LST climate data record (CDR) based on the Along‐Track Scanning Radiometer series, which has been produced within the European Space Agency GlobTemperature project (http://www.globtemperature.info/). Global LST‐T2m differences are analyzed with respect to location, land cover, vegetation fraction, and elevation, all of which are found to be important influencing factors. LSTnight (~10 P.M. local solar time, clear‐sky only) is found to be closely coupled with minimum T2m (Tmin, all‐sky) and the two temperatures generally consistent to within ±5°C (global median LSTnight‐Tmin = 1.8°C, interquartile range = 3.8°C). The LSTday (~10 A.M. local solar time, clear‐sky only)‐maximum T2m (Tmax, all‐sky) variability is higher (global median LSTday‐Tmax = −0.1°C, interquartile range = 8.1°C) because LST is strongly influenced by insolation and surface regime. Correlations for both temperature pairs are typically >0.9 outside of the tropics. The monthly global and regional anomaly time series of LST and T2m—which are completely independent data sets—compare remarkably well. The correlation between the data sets is 0.9 for the globe with 90% of the CDR anomalies falling within the T2m 95% confidence limits. The results presented in this study present a justification for increasing use of satellite LST data in climate and weather science, both as an independent variable, and to augment T2m data acquired at meteorological stations.


Numerical analysis based on CFD steady RANS equations was used to study the  airflow characteristics around and within an isolated gable roof building. Parameters that are the main study focus of this research include: streamlines of normalized velocity, pressure coefficient and ventilation rate. The effect of gable roof with four different roof pitches namely 15º, 25º, 35º & 45 were investigated against varying obstacle heights of 40, 50, 60 & 70 mm. From the simulation results, the streamlines show that larger roof pitch leads to increased velocity at the window and roof openings due to the external and internal pressure difference in the building. The corresponding increment in internal obstacle height on the other hand leads to gradual alteration of airflow direction in front of the obstacle, and also an increase of the pressure coefficient inside the building because of wind blocking effect. This pressure coefficient also sees a reduction in value at the windward and inside of the building with an increase in steepness of the roof pitch due to increasing internal velocity. Hence, airflow behavior and characteristics are clearly dependent on roof pitch and internal obstacle height which indicates a good agreement with the findings from the previous studies. Gable roof with a steeper roof pitch building coupled with lower internal obstacle height will therefore yield better ventilation rates.


: Twenty four hour blood pressure monitoring was carried out in 64 sex concordant pairs of monozygotic and dizygotic hypertensive twins (mean age 52.7-/+3.2 years). Clinico-genetic analysis of quantitative parameters showed that during day awake time systolic, diastolic, and mean blood pressures were mainly determined by environmental factors while pulse pressure and heart rate were predominantly affected by genetic factors. Formation of parameters of variability of blood pressure and its biphasic rhythm were under the influence of random (intrafamily) environmental factors.


In this paper, we show that the objections most frequently raised against the use of Bayesian statistics within the Al-in-medicine community do not seem to hold. In particular, we will show that the independence assumptions required to make Bayesian statistics computationally feasible are not nearly as damaging as has been claimed. We will also argue that Bayesian statistics is perfectly compatible with heuristic solutions to the multiple disease problem.


Pharmaceutical expenditure accounts for approximately 20% of healthcare expenditure across the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. Pharmaceutical products are regulated in all major global markets primarily to ensure product quality but also to regulate the reimbursed prices of insurance companies and central purchasing authorities that dominate this sector. Price regulation is justified as patent protection, which acts as an incentive to invest in R&D given the difficulties in appropriating the returns to such activity and creates monopoly rights to suppliers. Price regulation does itself reduce the ability of producers' to recapture the substantial R&D investment costs incurred. Traditional price regulation through Ramsey pricing and yardstick competition is not efficient given the distortionary impact of insurance holdings, which are extensive in this sector and the inherent uncertainties that characterize Research and Development (R&D) activity. A range of other pricing regulations aimed at establishing pharmaceutical reimbursement that covers both dynamic efficiency (tied to R&D incentives) and static efficiency (tied to reducing monopoly rents) have been suggested. These range from cost-plus pricing, to internal and external reference pricing, rate-of-return pricing and, most recently value-based (essential health benefit maximization) pricing. Reimbursed prices reflecting value based pricing are, in some countries, associated with clinical treatment guidelines and cost-effectiveness analysis. Some countries are also requiring or allowing post-launch price regulation thorough a range of patient access agreements based on predefined population health targets and/or financial incentives. There is no simple, single solution to the determination of dynamic and static efficiency in this sector given the uncertainty associated with innovation, the large monopoly interests in the area, the distortionary impact of health insurance and the informational asymmetries that exist across providers and purchasers.


In this paper, we challenge the popular notion that older people as well as people living in rural areas are poor, therefore older people living in smaller villages are in extreme risk of social exclusion and poverty. We analyse two datasets to test this hypothesis. First, we employ SILC data to show that if various indicators of material deprivations are combined, it is more often older people living in bigger settlements who report problems more often, mainly due to high cost of living and daily expenses. Secondly, we present results of "Quality of life in rural areas in higher age" survey (2016), where more subtle and subjective measures of material deprivation and social exclusion were followed. This data talk more about specific subgroups and challenges in dependence on the rurality type and life-style.


The study explored trends and issues in digital libraries with a view to furnish the expected audience with current happenings in this area of operations and service delivery. The chapter is a detailed review of characteristics of digital libraries considering the creation of digital collections which include conversion of retrospective materials, born digital resources and institutional repositories. The paper considered digital collections and copyright issues, benefits and issues of digital libraries, preservation of digital content. It x-rayed trends in information discovery, access and retrieval in a digital library, human-computer interaction, information organization and categorization of digital library services.


0–3 Piezoceramic polymer composites have attracted immense attention due to the flexibility afforded by the polymer matrix and the strong electromechanical coupling and high dielectric properties of the piezoceramic filler. The majority of research on these materials has focused on the effective piezoelectric properties of the piezoceramic polymer composites. However, the high dielectric strength of the polymer combined with the high permittivity of the ceramic filler make them well suited for use as high energy density capacitors and various pulsed power applications. Current work in this area has focused on the enhancement of the dielectric properties through a variation of nanoparticle composition or surface modifications to the fillers to enhance the energy density of composites. Recently, research and micromechanics modeling have shown that the filler aspect ratio plays an important role in increasing the effective dielectric properties of the composites. Therefore, unlike prior efforts, this work will focus on the effect of filler aspect ratio on the dielectric properties of the bulk nanocomposite. Nanocomposites were synthesized using lead zirconate titanate (PZT) with two different aspect ratio (nanowires, nanorods) fillers at various volume fractions dispersed in a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) matrix. It was shown that the nanocomposites containing PZT nanowires (NWs) significantly increased the energy density compared to those containing lower aspect ratio PZT nanorods (NRs). The permittivity constants of composites containing PZT NWs were higher than those with PZT NRs at the same inclusion volume fraction. The experimental results also indicated that the high frequency loss tangent of nanocomposites with PZT NWs was smaller than those of PZT NRs, demonstrating the high electrical energy storage efficiency of the PZT NW composite. The PZT NW nanocomposites showed a 77.8% increase in energy density over the PZT NR nanocomposites, under an electric field of 15 kV/mm and 50% volume fraction. Because the energy density exhibits a quadratic relationship with the applied electric field, the performance enhancement through the use of NWs is even greater at higher electric fields. These results indicate that higher aspect ratio PZT nanowires shows promising potential to improve the energy density of nanocomposites, leading the development of advanced capacitors with high energy density.Copyright © 2010 by ASME


Sinis area is located in the north western sector of Campidano plain, to the North of the Gulf of Oristano. In that sector of Sardinia underground waters constitute the most important water resource for agriculture. In Sinis area two deep aquifers have been placed. The first, placed in the western part, is constituted by sands and gravels and it is overhung by a very thick clayey marl's layer. The water yeld of the confined aquifer has been determined by pumping tests from which it results that the pumping rate varies between 6 and 13.5 l/sec. The average Transmissivity is 1.7 x 10 -3 m 2 /s. The other aquifer system, already known and studied for a long time, belongs to the alluvial multilayered aquifer of Campidano. It is constituted by very permeable layers of sands and gravels alternated to impervious or semi confining silty clay layers. The Transmissivity of this aquifer results superior to 10 -3 m 2 /sec. Pumping rates are at least 6-7 l/sec. Chemical analysis showed that some samples of water taken in the southern part of Sinis present some anomalous values and they show thermal waters typical characters. This fact is confirmed by the average temperatures around 23 °C. It could be a ground water recharge by deep thermal waters, with which waters coming from Montiferru would be mixed.


This report concludes that thick salt deposits of the Palo Duro basin, and, to a lesser extent, those of the Dalhart basin, have many features that would be favorable for underground storage of radioactive waste. The principal parameters used in evaluating these basins for radioactive-waste storage include salt thickness, depth, tectonic and seismic history, lithology, permeability, proximity to aquifers, mineral-resource content, extent of drilling and mining, and remoteness. Properties of salt (halite) that make it desirable as host rock for underground waste emplacement include its low permeability, low moisture content, high plasticity, and high gamma-ray shielding. A thickness of 200 feet of salt-bearing rock is herein considered minimal for insuring isolation of waste material that is buried 1,000 to 3,000 feet below the surface. Emplacement of radioactive-waste products can be accomplished by forming an underground cavern in a salt bed, using standard mining techniques. By creating the cavern about 1,000 to 3,000 feet below the surface, and by backfilling and sealing the cavern after the waste is emplaced, the radioactive material can be effectively isolated. The Permian salt deposits in about 50,000 square miles of the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma were studied to determine whether the region contained any areas that might be suitable for waste storage. No comprehensive study of the salts in this region had been done previously. A major part of this project involved a study of electric logs and some sample logs for about 300 wells drilled in the region. The results of this geologic study are presented on plates 1 through 8 (in the pocket), and these data are also generalized in a series of figures in the text and show the general character, thickness, distribution, depth, and structure of the salt deposits.