There are several conventional methods for recycling the membrane electrode assemblies (MEA) found in fuel cells. There are chemical techniques that deal with MEAs in bulk, including a method that dissolves the electrolyte film and a method that recovers the catalyst as a residue after incinerating it harmlessly. There are also physical techniques where the electrodes are detached from the MEA one by one. The former approach has a tendency to ignore the recovery of electrolyte film. Moreover, consideration should be given to the fact that the environmental load increases because it is a high-temperature and high-pressure technique that uses a large quantity of chemicals. The target of the latter approach is mainly on-vehicle fuel cells, and in many cases it is unsuitable for the mass processing of the MEAs on fuel cells used in mobile equipment, which are smaller than the above cells. A physical method that detaches the electrodes in organic solvents, which was an early development, offers a promising way to recover both electrodes and electrolyte films, and it can be used to deal with many small MEAs simultaneously. However, it has been pointed out that it is difficult to reuse the recovered electrolyte films, which are deformed and degraded when this method is used. In this study, the individual recovery of electrodes, which include a platinum group metal (PGM) catalyst, and the electrolyte films from MEAs on fuel cells used in mobile equipment, has been studied by using a milder organic solvent so that the deformation and deterioration of the electrolyte film are minimized.


Fifty-seven rice varieties reported by other workers as possessing some resistance to the yellow borer, Tryporyza incertulas (Walker) and to some other insect pests and diseases of rice were intensively screened in field and greenhouse experiments. Only 6 out of these exhibited some resistance. Two varieties WC 1253 and WC 1251 were consistently more resistant than the others both in terms of larval survival and development. In the field screening, observations made at 35 and 55 days after transplanting were positively correlated. The expression of resistance in the field, however, differed from the observations made in the screenhouse as a result of the complex nature of the borer species in the field.


ABSTRACT A dynamic model was constructed to predict the effects of soil water movement on changes and migration of available mercury (Hg) in various layers of different soil types. Various soil types were placed in large boxes. The available Hg content was then determined in vertical layers of the soils. Simultaneously, changes in the equilibrated available Hg content with evaporation were measured. Capillary water absorption was used to maintain the soil water holding capacity. The results were as follows. 1) Soil available Hg migrated upward or downward along with water movement, achieving a stable downward migration rate of 23.5%–35.3% and an upward migration rate of 17.4%–33.3%. The migration rate of available Hg owing to water movement was in the order of sandy loam > loam > clay loam. 2) Under different soil water holding capacities, when migration reached equilibrium, the increase in the amount of bound Hg, which was desorbed into available Hg, was 1.2%–14.3% of the initial available Hg content, and this increase was in the order of sandy loam > loam > clay loam. Based on these findings, a dynamic model describing the effects of soil moisture on Hg speciation and migration in the plow layer was constructed. The model is a true reflection of the impact of variations in soil characteristics (e.g., particle size, organic matter content, pH value, water movement vector, mineral composition, and colloid properties.) with time. This model can provide new insight into the speciation transformation and distribution of Hg. It can also be applied in risk evaluation in remediation of heavy metal contaminated soils.


This study was performed to investigate whether the gender and sex hormones play a role in susceptibility of the small intestine of mice to peroral infection with Toxoplasma gondii tissue cysts. Female animals died significantly earlier than males, and early mortality of females was associated with greater numbers of tachyzoites and severe necrosis in their small intestines. Treatment of female mice with testosterone resulted in markedly reduced intestinal parasite numbers and pathology. Thus, the gender and sex hormones are important factors for determining susceptibility of the small intestine to T. gondii infection.


In the framework of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, a 42.2-GHz 200-kW continuous-wave/long-pulse gyrotron is envisaged to be indigenously developed. This gyrotron shall employ superconducting magnets at the interaction region and warm coils for the gun and collector region. The Institute for Plasma Research is responsible for the overall design and fabrication of the magnet system along with the required housing cryostat and auxiliary support system. The design of the appropriate magnet system is currently under progress in accordance with gyrotron physics and engineering considerations. This requires a highly homogeneous spatial field profile as well as a very steep gradient as per the compression and velocity ratios between the emission and resonator regions. These aspects demand a very precise winding of the magnets as well as the collinearity of the magnetic axis with that of the beam axis. Several technological aspects, such as accurately designing and positioning of the magnet system in space, to optimize the required field profile have been taken up in the run up to realize a highly homogeneous and stable magnet system. Different design criteria for the theoretical optimization of magnet parameters and their spatial arrangement such that the required axial magnetic field profile can be achieved have been taken up. In addition, finite-element analysis (FEA) of the optimized magnet parameter is done, and the magnetic field profile is compared with the theory. The detailed design of the guiding magnet system, the optimization of coil parameters, and the FEA simulation for the validation of the optimized parameters are presented in this paper.


The accurate repair of DNA double-strand breaks is essential for cell survival and maintenance of genome integrity. Here we describe xlf1+, a gene in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe that is required for repair of double-strand breaks by nonhomologous end joining during G1 phase of the cell cycle. Xlf1 is the ortholog of budding yeast Nej1 and human XLF/Cernunnos proteins.


beta-catenin is a continuously expressed cytoplasmic protein that has an important role is both E-cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion and in activation of Wnt/Wingless transcriptional pathway. The accumulation of stabilized beta-catenin caused by the mutation of the exon 3 of beta-catenin gene can stimulate the T-cell factor/Lymphoid enhancing factor-mediated transcriptional activation. The activation of transcriptional pathway may through oncogenes is an important step of the oncogenesis in solid tumors. In this study we analyzed mutations in exon 3 of the beta-catenin gene in 18 sporadic epithelial ovarian tumors. Three mutations were found from these 18 ovarian tumor samples which contained 8 serous, 3 mucinous, 5 endometrioid, one malignant Brenner-type tumor and one transitional cell carcinoma. Two mutations occurred in endometrioid-type (in 47 and 55 codons) and one in serous-type (in 47 codon) ovarian carcinomas, and both mutations were missense and somatic. The patients with mutated beta-catenin gene appeared from the younger patients under the age of 50. Our results suggest that the stabilization of beta-catenin protein by the mutation of CTNNB1 gene can contribute to the multistep process of the oncogenesis of epithelial ovarian tumors. Furthermore these mutations mostly occurs in the endometrioid-type of EOT, but can appear in other types such as serous-type ovarian tumor.


We experimentally investigate the synchronous response of a semiconductor laser to the injection of a periodic or chaotic oscillating optical signal that is generated by a similar semiconductor laser with optical feedback. We show that there are two different types of synchronous response, appearing in separate regimes of laser frequency detuning and injection strength. They are distinguished by the time lag of the slave-laser response with respect to the injection signal from the output of the master laser. The experimental observations are well described by a numerical model consisting of a set of rate equations. It is revealed that the first type of synchronous response corresponds to the complete synchronization solution of the equations and the second type of response is the result of strong driving. The relevance of these two types of synchronous behavior to a number of recent experiments on chaos synchronization and their implications for data encoding/recovery using chaotic carriers are discussed.


Section headings and selected papers: General Presentation.Motion control: an emergent technology, A. De Carli. Modelling, Simulation and Design. New geometric parameters for the modelling of simple or closed-chain mechanisms, M. Ait-Ahmed & M. Renaud. Instrumentation. Advanced techniques in commercial AC drives, T. H. Chin & K. Matsuse. Instruments and Actuators. Bilinear modelling and state-feedback control of an electrohydraulic drive, X. Yin. Control Strategies. (Plenary Session Papers.) Identification and digital control of electrical drives, T. D. Landau. Control Strategies. Advanced variable structure control of high performance drives, A. Balestrino et al. Drives. Nonlinear torque tracking control of induction motors, C. Canudas De Wit et al. New Control Strategies.Variable structure controllers inmotioncontrol systems, A. Sabanovic. Neuro and Fuzzy Controllers. Steering the state of non linearly perturbed linear systems by learning, P. Lucibello. Microprocessors. Communication techniques for electric drives, G. S. Buja. Variable Structure Systems. Digital sliding mode torque control for induction servo drives, J. Moerschell. Vision Systems. Fast docking of a mobile robot using passive vision, A. A. Holenstein. Mobile Robot Systems. Walking robot adaptation to ground properties using fuzzy control, G. A. De Paula Caurin & S. J. Vestli. Microprocessors. Design and development of fuzzy controlled AC motor drive, E. Cerruto et al.


Sodium valproate is a relatively new compound in the treatment of epilepsy. A female patient was admitted to the hospital after voluntary intake of 30 g sodium valproate. Her serum concentration was 4925 mumol/l, but the course of the intoxication was mild and the patient was soporous for only 12 hours after intake of the compound. Biochemical data may suggest a slight transitory liver affection.


On January 8, 1996, the Geotail satellite skimmed along the dayside magnetopause from the dawnside to the duskside and observed a series of quasi-periodically recurring pulsed boundary layers in the prenoon (∼0900–1000 LT) and the postnoon (∼1400–1500 LT) sectors. For both intervals the interplanetary magnetic field observed by the Wind satellite upstream of the bow shock was inferred to be southward from an estimated convection time between Wind and Geotail. During the pulsed events, Geotail observed bipolar signatures in the magnetic field component normal to the nominal magnetopause. In the prenoon sector the bipolar variation had the inward-then-outward polarity, while in the postnoon sector the polarity was opposite (i.e., outward-then-inward). The plasma flows normal to the nominal magnetopause showed bipolar signatures with the inward-then-outward polarity in the prenoon and postnoon sectors. They were accompanied by sunward flows for the lower-density pulsed events and by tailward flows for the higher-density pulsed events. We have interpreted the sunward flow as the local plasma response to a tailward moving flux tube. This may imply that the sunward plasma flow near the magnetopause does not always reflect the direction of the motion of the flux tube. On the basis of these observations, we suggest that the observed pulsed boundary layers are attributed to the passage of a train of flux transfer events propagating tailward.


In the Next Generation Attenuation West2 (NGA‐West2) project, a 3D subsurface structure model (Japan Seismic Hazard Information Station [J‐SHIS]) was queried to establish depths to 1.0 and 2.5  km/s velocity isosurfaces for sites without depth measurement in Japan. In this article, we evaluate the depth parameters in the J‐SHIS velocity model by comparing them with their corresponding site‐specific depth measurements derived from selected KiK‐net velocity profiles. The comparison indicates that the J‐SHIS model underestimates site depths at shallow sites and overestimates depths at deep sites. Similar issues were also identified in the southern California basin model. Our results also show that these underestimations and overestimations have a potentially significant impact on ground‐motion prediction using NGA‐West2 ground‐motion models (GMMs). Site resonant period may be considered as an alternative to depth parameter in the site term of a GMM.


Sixteen adults from a local day centre were assessed using a first-order representation of false-belief task (Sally-Ann experiment) for their 'theory of mind' abilities (the ability to correctly reason about another's mental state). It was found that only 12.5% of participants could perform this task correctly. The study then went on to establish whether this ability could be trained, retrained and/or transferred. The results showed a significant improvement in participants' performance through training, this improvement was maintained over time and participants appeared to transfer this ability to a similar task. It was concluded that this research puts further doubt on an absence/impaired theory of mind being unique to autism. Implications were discussed in terms of social interaction and people with intellectual disabilities.


The use of 'do not resuscitate' (DNR) orders is widespread in UK hospitals, but until recently there has been no formal policy for this practice. The decision not to resuscitate should be made on ethical and medical grounds. The ethical implications for such decisions are explored. A review of current practice reveals considerable variation in the way in which DNR orders are made.Patients are rarely involved in the decision. There have been failures of communication between doctors and nurses, and between consultants and their juniors. These issues have now come to public and professional attention. There is a need for coherent national and local resuscitation policies that should take into account the medical, ethical and practical aspects of DNR decision making.


To engage multiple missiles in single launcher against multiple targets, launcher system has to operate for optimized launch angle to each target sequentially. If the launch angle sequence is simply defined according to the target assignment order only, overall engagement time would be increased, and even in some engagement scenarios, it could be possible to miss some moving targets being out of proper engagement area. Therefore, the study on methodology for a real-time decision of optimized launch angle sequence is necessary. In this paper, the automatic decision model of launch angle sequence was suggested to minimize total engagement time by analyzing the simulation results of all engagement sequence set for multiple moving target scenario. Performance of proposed methodology for decision of optimal launch angle sequence was verified by comparing with the optimal or suboptimal sequence obtained from simulation results.


It is desirable that the perception system for an autonomous vehicle is implemented as a reactive process which has the necessary expertise to autonomously adjust its perception strategies according to the state of achievement of local perception and navigation goals, and to suggest alterations to vehicle speed or attitude to improve safety, or to maximize the collection of relevant environment data. In this paper, a perception planner is presented, which is based in a distributed decision-making architecture, used to deal with the complex set of decisions involved in the design of such a system. >


Pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) is the major cause of maternal and perinatal morbidity. However, the mechanisms responsible for PIH pathogenesis have not yet been fully elucidated. The known risk factors of PIH development are: multiple pregnancy, masculine sex of fetus, very young age of women (below 18 years), advanced age (above 40 years), and obesity of the pregnant woman. In this article an attempt is made to summarize recent knowledge of the pathogenesis of PIH and, particularly, the postulated link between placental ischemia and microvascular dysfunction. The initiating event in PIH has been implicated to be reduced uteroplacental perfusion as a result of abnormal extravillous cytotrophoblast invasion. Focal ischemia and hypoxia, deportation of hypoxemic trophoblast cells, and abnormal expression of various placental biological molecules, particularly the cytokines, are thought to lead to widespread activation/dysfunction of the maternal vascular endothelium. The increased expression of adhesion molecules on activated endothelium intensifies the inflammation process and causes further endothelial injury. The quantitative importance of the various endothelial and humoral factors in mediating PIH symptoms is still unclear. Some of the factors that activate and damage endothelial cells may be of prognostic significance; however, more intensive research should be performed for a precise description of their predictive value.


Tomorrow's real-time embedded systems will be built upon multicore architectures. This raises two challenges. First, shared resources should be arbitrated in such a way that the WCET of independent threads running concurrently can be computed: in this paper, we assume that time-predictable multicore architectures are available. The second challenge is to develop software that achieves a high level of performance without impairing timing predictability. We investigate parallel software based on the POSIX threads standard and we show how the WCET of a parallel program can be analysed. We report experimental results obtained for typical parallel programs with an extended version of the OTAWA toolset.


Irrigation of wounds to remove bacteria and foreign material is an essential of wound management along with debridement. The effectiveness of saline lavage by high pressure (50 psi) pulsatile jet irrigation has been compared with conventional gravity flow and bulb syringe procedures. Experimental paravertebral incisional surface wounds in 234 randomized rats were either clean or traumatized and soiled. Wounds in 200 of the rats were seeded with E. coli (log 8.80). Swab specimens of each wound were taken at incision, after seeding, after irrigation, and at three, seven, and ten days after closure. Eluates of more than 1600 specimens were cultured. No anaerobes were found. Irrigation diminished bacterial counts in all wounds, but only pulsatile jet irrigation brought about significant (P < 0.05) reduction of bacteria in each type of wound. After three days E. coli was significantly diminished in all wounds, regardless of irrigation or none, owing to host defense mechanisms. Nevertheless, clean contaminated wounds were infected at three days but not at seven days after lavage, while traumatized wounds remained infected at ten days except for those initially irrigated by pulsatile jet. Thus, pulsatile jet irrigation removed bacteria from experimental wounds more efficiently than conventional procedures.


A new medium-sized species of Cybaeus (Araneae: Cybaeidae) from the westernmost part of Honshu, Japan, is described under the name C. akiensis. The species most resembles C. kuramotoi Yaginuma 1963, which is sympatrically found with C. akiensis n. sp., and C. ashikitaensis (Komatsu 1968) inhabiting Kyushu. Local species assemblage of the genus Cybaeus in western Honshu consists of 5 to 6 species with different body sizes. Cybaeus akiensis n. sp. is the second largest species in the five-species assemblage found in the distributional range of the species. Collecting records revealed that the species overwinters as both adults and juveniles and two years are needed from hatching to maturity. Silken retreat of the species bears two terminal openings and a loophole at the bottom, the latter is a feature only rarely found among Japanese species of Cybaeus.


Forty eight ASA I or II patients of either sex between 20-70 years undergoing major upper abdominal surgery were grouped into sixteen each, on complaint of pain. They received an epidural bolus dose, followed by infusion of the assigned drug at 4ml per hour through BARD PCA I pump. Pain assessment, for the first four hours, was hourly, and subsequently at l0th, 16th, 22nd, 28th, 36th and 40th hour by VAS and VRS. The groups matched for demographic distribution. All groups had lower mean pain scores at first hour by VAS and VRS. In Group II and Group III, the difference was significant (<0.05) at the 2nd (VAS) and 4th (VRS) hours. From 16th (VAS) and 22nd (VRS) hours, the mean pain score was less and significant (<0.05) in Group III. In all groups sedation ranged from 0-1. There was hypotension in Group I (2/16).urinary retention in Group II (8/9 not catheterised); unilateral sensory impairment and motor weakness in Group I (3/16) and Group III (1/16). This study showed that continuous infusion of low dose morphine with bupivacaine provides better quality post operative analgesia with fewer side effects than bupivacaine or morphine alone.


Today, under the imperatives of rapidly developing information and communication technologies, the boundaries between real and virtual are blurred leading to profound changes in the way people live and act. To deal with the changes memorable and meaningful experiences are increasingly needed. Cultural tourism – one of the fastest-growing sectors in the world economy, is chosen as a context for researching how historic and cultural past can be experienced through the integration of technologies. The paper considers how through various design means and the use of advanced digital technology, the many dimensions constituting the history of the place can be narrated, visualized and experienced. The hybrid space created by the placement of a digital layer on the physical site holistically represents the bygone while providing a more tangible opportunity for exploration of the historic and social environment in which the heritage has existed. Within this framework, cultural heritage is discussed not as a static concept existing as a frozen point in a given time interval but as a dynamic structure which reflects the evolution of the place over time. The focus is placed on authenticity and the values that can be gained from this new type of interrelationship with the past.


A self-reconfigurable robot is a robotic device that can change its own shape. Self-reconfigurable robots are commonly built from multiple identical modules that can manipulate each other to change the shape of the robot. The robot can also perform tasks such as locomotion without changing shape. We observe that the challenges in programming self-reconfigurable robots are similar to the challenges in programming sensor networks: a large number of lowend embedded systems connected using ad-hoc networking need to gather information using sensors and to communicate information to other systems in the network. However, there are significant differences as well, notably a self-reconfigurable robot must typically function autonomously and the network topology will evolve continuously as the robot changes its shape. Software for self-reconfigurable robots, beyond controlling shape-change and locomotion, remains largely unexplored, but we believe experiences from sensor networks to be applicable within this domain. Moreover, we present an initial design of a middleware for selfreconfigurable robots and relate it to similar solutions for sensor networks.


As the task-complexities demanded of soft robots continue to increase, so too does the need for soft sensorized skins which can provide complex tactile feedback. Here we consider the detection of asymmetric deformations by designing and validating an easy-to-fabricate hydrogel-silicone composite sensor for deployment in an underactuated soft robotic manipulator. For proprioception and exteroception, this skin can sense asymmetric bifurcations in a stretchable skin without affecting functionality. Our method facilitates the sensor's use in a wide range of soft robotic actuators: we present its ability to respond to repeated, incremental, and oscillating stimuli in the soft manipulator, and demonstrate its ease of integration into a closed-loop control system. We experimentally find the sensors capable of withstanding over 200% strain before the onset of delamination.


In this note, we investigate the impacts of the winter Arctic Oscillation (AO) and Siberian High (SH) on the East Asia winter monsoon (EAWM). It is found that the winter AO and the SH are relatively independent of each other in influencing the EAWM. The winter AO influences directly surface air temperature (SAT), sea level pressure (SLP) and the East Asian Trough at 500 hPa over the region northwards of 35°N in East Asia rather than through its impact on the SH. Compared with influences of the winter AO, the SH shows more direct and significant influences on the EAWM, particularly on SLP and northerly wind along the East Asian Coast. Impacts of the SH on the SAT occur primarily in the southwards of 50°N over East Asia, the northwestern Pacific and the South China Sea, because the AO suppresses the SH's influences in high latitudes of Asian Continent and the some subarctic regions.


The priority of scientists and researchers is to provide guaranteed communication everywhere. Different strategic methodologies and schemes have been introduced to connect the entire world. The substantial efforts have been made for optimized and fast data delivery so for. TCP plays pivotal role in information-oriented era. Various TCP flavors are proposed for fast and rapid communication. We simulate TCP Variants on our proposed anchor point node (APN) hybrid network. The simulated scenarios are purely mobility-based and meet the realistic situation; as MANET portion of network covers the rural area and wired-cum-wireless cover city and its suburbs. We use DSR protocol for route discovery in MANET portion. Our main focus is to investigate the fairness of TCP Variants on basis of mobility scenarios to evaluate the throughput, good put and end-to- end delay.


A new class of exact-repair regenerating codes is constructed by combining two layers of erasure correction codes together with combinatorial block designs. The proposed codes have the "uncoded repair" property where the nodes participating in the repair simply transfer part of the stored data directly, without performing any computation. The layered error correction structure results in a low-complexity decoding process. An analysis of our coding scheme is presented. This construction is able to achieve better performance than timesharing between the minimum storage regenerating codes and the minimum repair-bandwidth regenerating codes.


Bi-functional Mo/ZSM-22 catalysts were designed to upgrade palmitic acid and further to isomerize n-alkanes. Besides the effects on acidity, H+ cations might be beneficial for the distribution of MoOx particles, the higher surface Mo/Si ratio and the greater surface Mo4+ content of bi-functional Mo/ZSM-22 catalysts. In the upgrading of palmitic acid, strong acid sites of catalysts were proven to favor hydrodecarbonylation (HDC), isomerization and cracking. Mo6+ (or MoO3) preferred to support the HDC reaction, whereas Mo4+ (or MoO2) suitably improved the hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) reaction without carbon atom loss. That is, the Mo4+/Mo6+ ratio of Mo/ZSM-22 catalysts significantly influenced HDO/HDC selectivity. More importantly the improvement in HDO rather than HDC with the complete conversion of palmitic acid, could significantly decrease the negative effects of strong acid sites (such as HDC and cracking) to facilitate isomerization of n-alkanes to afford more branched alkanes with a higher iso-alkanes/n-alkanes ratio.


The results of treatment of 141 patients with stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who received definitive radiation therapy at Gunma University Hospital between 1976 and 1989 were retrospectively analyzed. Radiation was given with standard fractionation for a planned prophylactic dose of 40 Gy over 4 weeks and a definitive dose of 60 Gy over 6 weeks or more. The two- and five-year survival rates were 27% and 12% for stage IIIA, and 18% and 8% for stage IIIB, respectively (P = 0.052). By univariate analysis, a primary tumor less than 5 cm in diameter was also an important predictor of survival (P = 0.008). As for tumor location, the patients with primary tumors in the upper lobes or the superior segment of the lower lobes of the lung lived longer than those with primary tumors at any other site (P = 0.032). Patients with epidermoid carcinoma had a higher survival rate at 5 years than those with other histologic types (14% vs 3%, P = 0.074). Multivariate analysis showed that among tumor characteristics, the site of the primary tumor, the pattern of tumor spread and N stage were significantly associated with overall survival. Among the patients with stage III NSCLC, those with stage IIIA epidermoid carcinoma in the upper lobe or the superior segment of the lower lobe of the lung were considered to be the most favorable candidates for definitive radiation therapy.


The publication of the Jewish donor inscription from Aphrodisias has gatherer significant attention, most notably because of the 54 men identified as "God-fearers." The initial publication dated the inscription to the early third century. Recent studies, particularly those by M. Bonz and A. Chaniotis, have presented evidence in favor of a date in the fifth century or later. If this dating is correct the Aphrodisias inscription would present an important witness to the ongoing, constructive relations between Jews, pagans, and Christians at a time where other sources register a more hostile environment. This paper argues for an alternative date and thereby renders this conclusion improbable. Two details, heretofore ignored in all previous discussions, Theodotos' service as palatinus and the recognition of three men as proselytes, offer the most secure basis for dating the inscription to the fourth century. Theodotos' position within the Roman imperial administration in particular makes it extremely unlikely that the text was composed in the fifth century, a time when Jews were regularly excluded by Roman law from these post.


We introduce ACER, an AST-based call graph generator framework. ACER leverages tree-sitter to interface with any language. We opted to focus on generators that operate on abstract syntax trees (ASTs) due to their speed and simplicitly in certain scenarios; however, a fully quantified intermediate representation usually provides far better information at the cost of requiring compilation. To evaluate our framework, we created two context-insensitive Java generators and compared them to existing open-source Java generators.


This paper presents a compact X-band antenna with an isoflux radiation pattern and circular polarization. It consists of a miniaturized helix antenna connected to a stripline circuit that provides a sequential rotation feeding. The antenna is arranged over a vertically corrugated ground plane and it has been optimized for a CubeSat 3U nano-satellite platform. Its design, manufacture and results are here presented.


Background: Since potential link between statin and the risk of adverse chronic periodontitis (CP) has been raised, we aimed to validate the associations of statin use on the incidence of CP using a nationwide cohort data. Methods: This longitudinal follow-up study included 169,381 patients who were administered statins matched with an equal number of controls using propensity score from the Korean National Health Insurance Service-Health Screening Cohort database (2002–2015). A Cox proportional hazard model was used to assess the occurrence of CP following statin use after adjusting for multiple covariates.Results: The occurrence of CP was significantly higher with long-term use (1–3 years, 3–5 years, or >5 years) than with short-term use (≤1 year). After adjustment, statin users exhibited a 1.32-fold higher occurrence of CP (95% confidence interval=1.30–1.33) than the matched non-users (incidence: 25.0 and 22.0 per 100 person-years, respectively). Subgroup analyses supported the adverse impact of statins on CP independent of age and sex.Conclusions: Statin use in individuals aged >40 years, of both sexes, may slightly increase the risk of occurrence of CP, especially with long-term use, warranting a caution regarding the onset of CP as a possible adverse effect of long-term statin use.


China is a country with substantial differences in economic development, energy consumption mix, resources, and technologies, as well as the development path at the provincial level. Therefore, China's provinces have different potential and degrees of difficulty to carry out carbon emission reduction (CER) requirements. In addition, interprovincial trade, with a large amount of embodied carbon emissions, has become the fastest growing driver of China's total carbon emissions. A reasonable CER allocation plan is, therefore, crucial for realizing the commitment that China announced in the Paris Agreement. How to determine a fair way to allocate provincial CER duties has become a significant challenge for both policy-makers and researchers. In this paper, ecological network analysis (ENA), combined with a multi-regional input-output model (MRIO), is adopted to build an ecological network of embodied emissions across 30 provinces. Then, by using flow analysis and utility analysis based on the ENA model, the specific relationships among different provinces were determined, and the amount of responsibility that a certain province should take quantified, with respect to the embodied carbon emission (ECE) flows from interprovincial trade. As a result, we suggest a new CER allocation plan, based on the detailed data of interprovincial relationships and ECE flows.


1. It is often assumed that the timing of annual migrations of marine fish to spawning grounds occurs with very little change over time. However, it is unclear how much migration is influenced by climate change in marine species that spawn at sea but spend most time in estuarine conditions, especially as thermal regimes in estuaries may differ significantly from those in the open sea. 2. Migration phenology was studied in a population of flounder, Platichthys flesus (L.) off south-west England using high-temporal resolution trawling data over a 13-year period. 3. Flounder migrated from their estuarine habitat to spawning grounds at sea some 1-2 months earlier in years that were up to 2degreesC cooler. Flounder arrived on the spawning grounds over a shorter time period (2-6 days) when colder than normal conditions prevailed in the estuary, compared to warmer years (12-15 days). This suggests that they were responding to low temperatures by exhibiting a more synchronous, population-level early migration. 4. The timing of migration was earlier when the largest differences in temperatures between near-estuary and offshore environments occurred, differences that were related significantly to cold, negative phases of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). 5. Flounder migration phenology appears to be driven to a large extent by short-term, climate-induced changes in the thermal resources of their overwintering habitat. This suggests that climate fluctuations characterizing the NAO may have significant effects on the timing of the peak abundance of fish populations generally, which, in turn, may have implications for fisheries management.


Nerve growth depends on the delivery of cell body–synthesized material to the growing neuronal processes. The cellular mechanisms that determine the topology of new membrane addition to the axon are not known. Here we describe a technique to visualize the transport and sites of exocytosis of cell body– derived vesicles in growing axons. We found that in Xenopus embryo neurons in culture, cell body–derived vesicles were rapidly transported all the way down to the growth cone region, where they fused with the plasma membrane. Suppression of microtubule (MT) dynamic instability did not interfere with the delivery of new membrane material to the growth cone region; however, the insertion of vesicles into the plasma membrane was dramatically inhibited. Local disassembly of MTs by focal application of nocodazole to the middle axonal segment resulted in the addition of new membrane at the site of drug application. Our results suggest that the local destabilization of axonal MTs is necessary and sufficient for the delivery of membrane material to specific neuronal sites.


the back, the front of the forearm and palm of the hand, or the extensor region of the leg and dorsum of the foot. A complete view of such muscles as the trapezius and latissimus dorsi, or of the gluteal region after reflection of the gluteus maximus muscle, is invaluable. Since these illustrations usually form the first introduction to the student's general conception of the parts under consideration and serve as an example of how the parts should be displayed in a good dissection, their absence must be regarded as a grave defect. Moreover, the technique of the illustrations, as a whole, is much below the modern standard of achievement, and there are numerous crudities of expression-for example, -U.-G. TRACT & CO., or G.-I. TRACT & co.-both in the legends and text, which, combined with a lack of uniformity in spelling, gives an impression of carelessness, in place of one of the most valuable side-issues which arises indirectly from a sound training in anatomy-namely, a scrupulous regard for exactitude in observation and respect for niceties in literary expression. There are also some very important limitations in the scope of the book. Thus, we find no description of the brain or spinal cord, and there is little or no indication, either in the figures or in the text, of the internal structure of such organs as the spleen, liver, salivary or ductless glands. The surroundings of these organs are accurately described, but the contained organ appears to be regarded as a "cast of the mould," and the rea-der is, in one instance, informed that if (he) " makes a ca^reful study of the mould (he) need not devote time to the cast which is but a counterpart of the mould." A " careful study " is, however, advocated and described, for example, of the membranes which surround the brain and of the capsule of the parotid and other glands along with the related nerves and vessels; and if it is borne in mind t-hat the book deals with the form rather than with the internal structure of the organs described it may be recommended as a help to the comprehension of the subject from the mechanical standpoint and as a supplement to those general treatises which give a more complete account of the structure and development of all the important organs and tissues.


Abstract Residential preferences are often treated as exogenous and fixed. Challenging this assumption, this article elaborates how residential preferences are shaped by experienced neighbourhood conditions. In doing so, we acknowledge the mutual dependence of the neighbourhood context, residential preferences, and segregation patterns. Applying multilevel generalized linear latent and mixed logit models to unique, geocoded data from a choice experiment, it is demonstrated how heterogenous evaluations of the social and ethnic composition of available housing alternatives' residential surroundings systematically vary with bespoke but not administrative neighbourhoods. These heterogeneous evaluations are mostly independent of respondents' own social and ethnic background. Controlling for unobserved neighbourhood selection, however, removes the association with bespoke neighbourhoods' composition. Nevertheless, even after accounting for unobserved selection processes, the evaluation of the social and ethnic composition of housing alternatives in the choice experiment systematically varies across bespoke neighbourhoods, pointing to unobserved neighbourhood influences that shape people's residential preferences.


Introduction: One of the main professional groups of workers in cellular radiotelephone communication includes technical specialists who serve and ensure trouble-free operation of radio transmitters of cellular base stations (BS). Transmitting antennas and BS equipment are powerful sources of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF EMFs) and one of the main adverse physical factors of the working environment for technicians. RF EMFs affect the functional state of various systems of the human body including the nervous, cardiovascular, and immune systems. The objective of our study was to assess the exposure to RF EMFs of cellular communication technical specialists and to establish occupations with the highest exposure levels. Materials and methods: Instrumental testing of energy flux density of the electromagnetic wave generated by BS receiving and transmitting equipment was carried out at service sites of cellular communication facilities by technical specialists of the industry. The time spent by technicians at workplaces with high EMF levels during the average work shift was measured. Results: The analysis of collected data showed that 28 % of energy flux density values measured at workplaces exceeded the maximum permissible level for the personnel serving radio transmitters and spending from 12 to 61 % of the work shift in the specified conditions. We established that network construction engineers, network operation engineers, power engineers, technical audit specialists, network development engineers, and mechanics were exposed to increased RF EMF levels. Conclusion: Our findings indicate the necessity to monitor and reduce occupational exposures of technical specialists of cellular communication in order to improve their working conditions and prevent, inter alia, RF EMS-related diseases.


To investigate the cause of the adult-onset primary noncommunicating hydrocele testis, protein expressions of water channel aquaporins (AQPs) 1 and 3 in the tunica vaginalis were assessed. Frozen tunica vaginalis specimens from patients with adult-onset primary hydrocele testis and control male nonhydrocele patients were subjected to Western blot analysis for the detection of AQP1 and AQP3 proteins. Paraffin-embedded sections of tunica vaginalis specimens were histochemically stained with anti-AQP1 and anti-AQP3 antibodies as well as an anti-podoplanin antibody to stain lymphatic endothelia. Hydrocele fluid was subjected to biochemical analysis. AQP1 protein expression in the tunica vaginalis was significantly higher in patients with adult-onset hydrocele testis than in the controls. The AQP3 protein was not detected in the tunica vaginalis. Histochemically, AQP1 expression in the tunica vaginalis was localized in vascular endothelial and smooth muscle cells. The densities of AQP1-expressing capillaries and lymphatic vessels were similar between the tunica vaginalis of the controls and those of hydrocele patients. Sodium levels were higher in the hydrocele fluid than in the serum. In conclusion, overexpression of the AQP1 protein in individual capillary endothelial cells of the tunica vaginalis may contribute to the development of adult-onset primary noncommunicating hydrocele testis as another aquaporin-related disease.


Abstract : The phase-screen method to compute elastic vector wave propagation in three-dimensional heterogeneous media is developed, accounting for the difference in phase velocities of the transverse and longitudinal polarizations. The method replaces the heterogeneous medium with a homogeneous one and a set of phase screens. Between the screens the displacement is propagated by the uniform elastodynamic wave equation. The phase of each polarization of the wave, accumulated from propagating in the z-direction, is corrected at the screens to account for inhomogeneities. Only forward propagation is included in the analysis. A criterion is derived to determine the number of phase screens to be used. The energy fluxes of the S and P waves are also computed. We find that energy conservation requires special consideration for application of the method to vector waves. The method is tested on a two-dimensional problem whose exact solution is also computed. The primary application of the method is to compute vector wave propagation in random media for the purpose of treaty monitoring. In particular, we demonstrate how P-S conversion and SH-SV ratios may be efficiently computed for realistic media by employing the phase-screen method on statistical modeling.


Pulau Bintan is the largest island in the Riau Archipelago, Indonesia. During two brief visits in 2018, a total of eight species new to the island were recorded, increasing the island's bird checklist to 189 species. These new records are Grey Heron Ardea cinerea , Intermediate Egret Ardea intermedia , Red-wattled Lapwing Vanellus indicus , Horsfield's Bronze-cuckoo Chalcites basalis , Tiger Shrike Lanius tigrinus, White-headed Munia Lonchura maja , Sooty-headed Bulbul Pycnonotus aurigaster and Javan Myna Acridotheres javanicus . Three of our new records appear to be new for the Riau Archipelago, increasing the avifaunal checklist for the archipelago to 232 species. Following years of development, little primary vegetation remains on Bintan Island, and our failure to detect any woodpeckers by sight or sound during our visits is worrying in terms of the importance of these birds to ecosystem sustainability. Nonetheless, the island retains sizeable area of natural forests, including some swamp forest patches, and our new and significant records suggest its avifaunal diversity is still understudied and underestimated. We call for relevant Indonesian government agencies and the Bintan Resorts, which manage the northern portion of the island for tourism development, to strengthen efforts in biodiversity research and conservation, as well as habitat restoration, so as to attain the development goal of making Bintan a true "eco-island" for international tourism.


Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) functions as a neurotransmitter involved in a number of physiological and pathological conditions. The actions of VIP are mediated through VPAC1 and VPAC2. In contrast to VPAC1, which has been extensively studied, little is known about the pharmacology of VPAC2. In this study we investigated the VIP pharmacophore for VPAC2 by using alanine and d-amino acid scanning. We found significant species differences, and the human VPAC2 (hVPAC2) expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, which have been used in previous studies, differed significantly from the native hVPAC2 in Sup T1cells and hVPAC2 expressed in PANC1 cells. There was a close agreement between binding affinities and potencies for VPAC2 activation. The amino acids whose backbone or side chain orientations were most important for high affinity potency are Asp3, Phe6, Thr7, Tyr10, Arg12, Tyr22, and Leu23, whereas the side chains of Ser2, Asp8, Asn9, Gln16, Val19, Lys20, Lys21, Asn24, and Ser25 are not essential. Comparison of the VIP pharmacophore between hVPAC1 and hVPAC2 demonstrated that the side chains of Thr7, Tyr10, Thr11, and Tyr22 were much more critical for high affinity for the hVPAC2 than the hVPAC1. In contrast, the orientation of the side chain of Asn24 was more important for high affinity for the hVPAC1. This study shows that in assessing the pharmacophore of VIP analogs for the VPAC2, important species differences need to be considered as well as the expression system used. These results of our study should be useful for designing VPAC subtype-selective analogs, simplified analogs, and possibly metabolically stable analogs.


The ilia were considerably enlarged. The right shoulder girdle was only yery slightly affected. The right humerus was markedlv affected in the head and lower part of the shaft. Ttie upper third of the right ulnaand whole of the right radius' were involved, tlie arm slhowing considerable -bowing. The small bones of the right wrist and hand were not affected in any way. The left shoulder girdle, clavicle, and coracoid were slightly involved; the head of the left humerus and the shaft scarcely at all. The olecranon process and head of the left ulna were involved, but the rest of the bone and the radius had almost entirely escaped. The small bones of the wrist and hand were normal. The head of the right femur was involved to a certain extent, as was the shaft, and the ischium was slightly affected. The lower endof the riglht feniur was markedly affected, as were the tibia and fibula, the lea sh6wing decided bowing. The left pubis ischium and femur were very markedly affected, and there was a decided superimposed arthritis in the left hip-joint. The tibia was very markedly affected and the fibula to a less degree, the knee-joint showing a mild arthritis. Small bones of the an.kle and foot were inot affected, nor were the lower portions of the tibia. The articular surfaces were, on the whole, free, except for the left hip and left knee. These were painiful on extreme movement in any direction, but more particularly in abduction and external rotaticln of the hip. Examination of the heart and lungs was negative. No abnormalities were found in the abdomen, with the exception of slight piles botlh external afid internal. This did not trouble him to any great exteut except for slight bleeding about once in six weeks. The teeth, though many had had fillings, were healthy and the gums showed no pyorrhoea. Mr. Mumford kindly examined tle nose andl throat, and reported as follows: A chronic post-nasal catarrh with chronic pharyngitis. Pus was exuding from the antrum in considerable quanitities. He did not advise operation, as in the porous conidition of the skull bones infection might be spread farther. The tonsils were comparatively healthy. Blood examin'ation slhowed no abnormalities, and the urine examination was negative. The Wassermaun reaction in the blood was negative. The diet had been so varied, owing to his residence in India, Canada, and England, that no conclusions could be drawn. Tlreatnient.-He was given ionization to the left hip, as this bad given him relief before, and he was instructed in the use of nasal antiseptics. After four weeks the pain in the hip was somewhat relieved, but otherwise be remained in statu qu(o.


This study comprises an analysis of how French dairy producers use functional food products in order to strengthen their position toward the retail industry. Its considerable proportions, its excellence and its international orientation motivate the choice of the French dairy industry. Functional food is a group of food products that, in addition to their nutritional values, include a value added, consisting of a documented health effect. They are designed to be consumed as every day products and they are either a food product of a beverage.

The theoretical base in the analysis consists of Michael Porter's framework on strategic competition. A considerable number of stores have been investigated in the Paris area and interviews with executives in the French dairy sector have been conducted to account for the empirical material.

According to this study it seems that functional foods (pff, physiologically functional foods) may be a valuable strategic area for food manufacturers. There is an established and growing market for pff, which entirely is dominated by the manufacturers who are unequivocally superior to the retail industry in developing and marketing pff.
All together 115 dairy products were studied observed in the investigation, where of seven were identified as pff. More than half of the 108 conventional products are sold as private brands. However, none of the seven pff-products belong to any of the private brands.

It seems possible for producers to increase their bargaining power against the retailers by using pff. On the shelves in the stores' dairy sections, manufacturers' pff-products have a far stronger position than what their products have in the dairy segment as a whole. Retailers' private brands make up for about one quarter of the entire turn over in the dairy section, but not for one single pff-product.

Pff call for higher prices than corresponding products without a value added promoting health. The price difference is more prominent the more explicitly a product's health effect is communicated through packaging and campaigns. In other words, the industry has been able to negotiate higher prices for these value added products, thus they include a strategic value for the manufacturers.

Pff are produced by four manufactures; Danone, Nestle, Lactalis and Yakult Honcha. These are all multinational companies that have developed their pff themselves in two of the cases (Danone and Yakult Honcha) or acquired the products from another company (Nestle and Lactalis). Actimel and Bio by Danone are clearly the dominating pff-products. These are being sold in all retail chains, included in the investigation.

The retail chains show considerable interest in pff but have yet not succeeded in launching any such products. However, most of the chains present private brand substitutes to the pff, which are all far from being equally good, considering primarily the health value. The conclusion is that pff may offer to the manufacturing industry strategic values, and may strengthen manufacturers position toward the retail industry.


Between March 1978 and October 1983, 65 patients with locally advanced soft tissue sarcomas were treated at the cyclotron of Louvain-la-Neuve. 46 patients are analysed, 19 patients with intraabdominal or intrathoracic lesions are excluded. After "radical surgery" (no "gross tumour" present at the time of neutron therapy), a local control rate of 93% was achieved (25/27 patients) and the survival was 74%. In a second group of 19 patients with incompletely resected, or recurrent, or inoperable tumour, a local control was obtained in four cases (21%), and 13 patients were alive (69%). The follow-up ranged from three to 65 months (mean: 25,9 months). Ten severe complications were observed (22%); they were related to the field sizes, which reflected the local tumour extent.


Low noise amplifier (LNA) performs as the initial amplification block in the receive path in a radio frequency (RF) receiver. In this work an ultra-wideband 3.1 10.6-GHz LNA is discussed. By using the proposed circuits for RF CMOS LNA and design methodology, the noise from the device is decreased across the ultra wide band (UWB) band. The measured noise figure is 2.66 3 dB over 3.1 10.6-GHz, while the power gain is 14 ± 0.8 dB. It consumes 23.7 mW from a 1.8 V supply. The input and output return losses (S11 & S22) are less than –11 dB over the UWB band. By using the modified derivative superposition method, the third-order intercept point IIP3 is improved noticeably. The complete circuit is based on the 0.18 μm standard RFCMOS technology and simulated with Hspice simulator.


Interspecific associations can arise for varied reasons including reduced predation risk and improved foraging success. In the case of bird–primate associations, birds typically appear to follow primate groups to harvest insects flushed by primates' movements. However, while previous studies have linked temporal changes in bird–primate associations to environmental conditions, few have assessed the additional effects of bird activity patterns and primate group behaviour and none have disentangled their potentially interdependent effects. Here, we test the hypothesis that foraging opportunities can drive interspecific associations in a previously undescribed bird–primate association between rock kestrels Falco rupicolus and chacma baboons Papio ursinus in central Namibia. Data were collected from two baboon groups and associated kestrels using instantaneous scan sampling during full-day follows over a 7-month field period, and analysed using generalized linear mixed models. We found that kestrel associations with baboons vary with season, show diurnal cycles and are more frequent when the baboons are in open desert habitat, engaged in travel foraging and in a large group. These patterns are statistically independent and consistent with the hypothesis that the kestrel–baboon association is driven by the foraging opportunities acquired by the kestrels. As the baboons do not appear to gain any benefits nor incur any costs from the association, we conclude that the kestrels are likely to be commensal with the baboons.


Contrary to international perception party assistance of German political foundations is not confined to the 'partisan approach', but displays a high variety of approaches; in particular they combine political party with civil society assistance. In fact, only about 20% of their efforts are devoted to party aid. Despite the foundation's high degree of versatility in party aid they reveal a crucial weakness: none has a strategic concept to address the particular challenges of African political parties. However, this weakness is neither a problem of the German foundations nor is it confined to Africa; it rather seems to be a general one of party promoters and probably found in other continents as well.


Polystyrene is one of the most commonly used plastics due to its versatility in various industries and inexpensive cost per unit weight. However, its inability to biodegrade is cause for controversy as it commonly finds itself in the form of environmentally hazardous litter. As this controversial polymer has prompted discussions on the possible routes of non-toxic disposal, it has been found that polystyrene readily dissolves in biodiesel, allowing the disposed waste to act as a beneficial fuel additive, increasing energy value and decreasing emissions. The Sustainable Energy Technologies Department at Brookhaven National Laboratory has been tasked with examining the feasibility of combusting polystyrene-biodiesel blends in residential boilers and the factors that must be taken into account for this fuel to be considered a viable energy source. After several preliminary tests, it was determined that the long polymer chains in polystyrene significantly lower the biofuel's ability to atomize well as it passes through a nozzle, unless a change in an experimental factor occurred such as pressure increase, lower blend concentration, or alteration of the fluid properties. Further steps in exploring these solutions that will allow higher concentrations of polystyrene-biodiesel blends to be used as a valuable alternative to biodiesel will continue into the future. It might also be practical to explore alternative combustion options that include the use of diesel engines or air atomized commercial boilers. Keywords: Combustion, Residential boiler and burners, Polystyrene-Biodiesel blends


Strain ARgP5T, an actinobacterium isolated from a root nodule present on an Alnus incana subspecies rugosa shrub growing in Quebec City, Canada, was the subject of polyphasic taxonomic studies to clarify its status within the genus Frankia. 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities and ANI values between ARgP5T and type strains of species of the genus Frankiawith validly published names were 98.8 and 82 % or less, respectively. The in silico DNA G+C content was 72.4 mol%. ARgP5T is characterised by the presence of meso-A2pm, galactose, glucose, mannose, rhamnose (trace), ribose and xylose as whole-organism hydrolysates; MK-9(H8) as predominant menaquinone; diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylglycerol as polar lipids and iso-C16 : 0 and C17 : 1ω8c as major fatty acids. The proteomic results confirmed the distinct position of ARgP5T from its closest neighbours in Frankiacluster 1. ARgP5T was found to be infective on two alder (Alnus glutinosa and Alnusalnobetula subsp. crispa) and on one bayberry (Morella pensylvanica) species and to fix nitrogen in symbiosis and in pure culture. On the basis of phylogenetic (16S rRNA gene sequence), genomic, proteomic and phenotypic results, strain ARgP5T (=DSM 45898=CECT 9033) is considered to represent a novel species within the genus Frankia for which the name Frankia canadensis sp. nov., is proposed.


Herein, we report a mechanistic exploration of the unusual FeCl3-mediated hydroarylation of N-Ac indoles. Electron density topology analysis of a crystal, in situ IR monitoring, Hammett and Taft studies as well as DFT computations allowed us to determine that activation of acetyl with FeCl3 and of the C2[double bond, length as m-dash]C3 bond with a proton is involved.


Agriculture is the main source of support for past, present and future generations who depends on it for sustainable development. Now a day's modern agronomy skills developed plentiful to cater the need of the growing population which is highly encouraged but at the same time it leads to numerous issues like land pollution, negative environmental impacts, toxic problems, proliferation of carcinogenic diseases and so on. One of the main factors which affects our land is the usage of plastics in our regular life. This plastic usage and it improper waste management also plays an consequential role in polluting the soil system. Soil system is chief source for agriculture, if soil system is maintained with good conditions like acidic and basic nature than good yield of crops was expected. This paper mainly focuses on the types of plastics and how it affects the life. Many studies have been done in this area and as an educationalist it is essential to develop positive attitude towards agronomy skills without damaging the soil system. The study also intends to develop positive attitude towards agronomy skills for students and how to prepare soil for better agricultural crops and the main intention of this paper is to reduce the use of plastics to sustain the sustainable generation. Short Communication Marie and Tiwari; AJESS, 12(2): 1-6, 2020; Article no.AJESS.62400 2


In order to examine potential use of infrared (IR) hyperspectral measurements for dust monitoring, a statistical artificial neural network (ANN) approach was taken as an inverse method of retrieving pixel‐level aerosol optical thickness (AOT) and dust height (zdust). The ANN model was trained by relating Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) brightness temperatures across 234 channels, surface elevation, and relative air mass to collocated AOT derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and zdust derived from Cloud Aerosol Lidar Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) observations for Asian dust cases. Results showing correlation coefficients of 0.84 and 0.79, and mean biases of 0.03 and about −0.02 km for AOT and zdust, respectively, suggest that dust retrievals from hyperspectral IR sounder measurements are comparable to MODIS‐derived AOT and CALIPSO‐measured zdust. The pixel‐level retrievals of AOT and zdust during both day and night from IR hyperspectral measurements may offer great potential to improve our ability to monitor and forecast the evolving features of Asian dust.


Background The most of patients with gout have various associated diseases, from which hypertension (HTN) has an important prognostic value. The role of hyperuricemia (HUE) in the development of HTN remains a subject of the discussions. Objectives To study the factors, which participate in the formation of HTN in gout; to determine the associations between the risk factors, parameters of severity of HTN and uricemia. Methods 358 patients with the gouty arthritis (GA), admitted to the Rheumatology Unit during 2009-2012, filled classification criteria of the acute GA (1977, ACR). 285 (79,6%) patients had HTN. The co-morbidities: ischemic heart disease -120 (33,5 %) patients, diabetes-56 (15,6 %) patients, chronic kidney disease - 182 (50,8 %) patients, vascular coronary and cerebral accidents – 41 (11,5 %) patients. We chose 73 patients from the group with primary gout and concomitant HTN (group HTN+) and 73 patients (20,4 %) without HTN ( group HTN-), comparable in sex, age and duration of gout. Characteristics of gout and HTN were compared between the groups HTN+ and HTN-. We studied the correlation links between the serum levels of acid uric and the risk factors, parameters of severity of HTN. Results Among patients with HTN+ diabetes was more often observed, than in group without HTN (OR-2,6; 95%CI, 0,98-6,92; p< 0,05). Compared with patients from group HTN-, patients from group HTN+ had higher rates of ischemic heart disease (OR-3,29; 95 %Cl, 1,5-7,2; p< 0,001). In the patients of group HTN+ we also found statistically higher number of the cases of excess weight and obesity (OR-5,54; 95%CI, 4,90-6,25; p<0,05). No differences between the groups were noted in the serum levels of uric acid (HTN- 576±180 mmol/l vs HTN+ 537±123 mmol/l, p> 0,05). Glomerular filtration rate and the level of the serum creatinine were similar in both groups. We defined the direct statistically significant correlation links between the serum levels of acid uric and triglycerides in the general group (r=0,66) and in the group HTN- (r=0,52). No parameters of characteristics of HTN were correlated with the serum level of acid uric. Conclusions In clinical setting the majority of patients with gouty arthritis have hypertension- 79,6%. The serum level of uric acid in patients with gout is closely linked with the serum level of triglycerides. The development of hypertension in patients with gout is associated with diabetes, excess weight and obesity as well as ischemic heart disease. The direct role of hyperuricemia was not confirmed in it. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


Background: Exposure of the spinal cord in myelomeningocele (MM) throughout gestation increases spinal injury. Astrocyte activation evidenced by glial fibrillary acidic proteins (GFAP) indicates the extent of injury. Corticosteroids modulate GFAP synthesis, but their effect in MM is unclear. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the GFAP expression in a fetal rat model of dysraphism and the effect of corticosteroid treatment on this marker and on clinical neurological disabilities. Methods: Dysraphism was surgically created in 2 groups of 48 rat fetuses; group 1: control, and group 2: treated with corticosteroid. Each group was subdivided into fetuses with surgically created MM, controls and shams on day 18.5 of gestation (term = 22 days). Fetuses were harvested on day 21.5, examined for evidence of neurological deficits, and the following clinical parameters were registered: kyphosis, tail deformities, leg deformities, leg paralysis or paresis and pain perception. The fetuses were fixed for GFAP immunostaining. Results: All fetuses with MM in group 1 presented neurological deficits and glial reactions with GFAP expression, as opposed to controls and shams. In group 2, corticosteroid treatment prevented some neurological deficits (18–25%), reducing glial response and GFAP expression. Conclusions: Experimentally induced dysraphism in the rat fetus is related to glial response and increased GFAP expression in the spinal cord. Corticoid treatment clinically improved nerve injury in some fetuses. It reduced glial reaction and GFAP expression.


OBJECTIVE
Caspase-activated DNase (CAD) is an endonuclease that is activated by active caspase 3 during apoptosis and is responsible for degradation of chromatin into nucleosomal units. These nucleosomal units are then included in apoptotic bodies. The presence of apoptotic bodies is considered important for the generation of autoantigen in autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), that are characterized by the presence of antinuclear antibodies. The present study was carried out to determine the role of CAD in SLE and to investigate the ability of lupus autoantibodies to bind to CAD-deficient or CAD-sufficient apoptotic cells.

METHODS
The Sle1, Sle123, and 3H9 mouse models of SLE, in which autoimmunity is genetically predetermined, were used. To determine the role of chromatin fragmentation in SLE, CAD deficiency was introduced in these mouse models.

RESULTS
Deficiency of CAD resulted in increased anti-double-stranded DNA antibody titers in lupus-prone mice. Surprisingly, the absence of CAD exacerbated only genetically predetermined autoimmune responses. To further determine whether nuclear modifications are needed in order to maintain tolerance to nuclear autoantigens, we used the 3H9 mouse, an anti-DNA heavy chain knockin; in this model, the autoreactive B cells are tolerized by anergy. In accordance with findings in the CAD-mutant Sle1 and Sle123 mice, CAD-deficient 3H9 mice spontaneously generated anti-DNA antibodies. Finally, we showed that autoantibodies with specificities toward histone-DNA complexes bind more to CAD-deficient apoptotic cells than to CAD-sufficient apoptotic cells.

CONCLUSION
We propose that in mice that are genetically predisposed to lupus development, nuclear apoptotic modifications are needed to maintain tolerance. In the absence of these modifications, apoptotic chromatin is abnormally exposed, facilitating the autoimmune response.


Abstract Goat and sheep milk is consumed by human populations throughout the world; as a result, it has been proposed as an alternative, nutrient-rich milk to feed infants allergic to cow's milk. Unfortunately, potentially harmful bacteria have not been thoroughly tested in goat or sheep milk. Listeria monocytogenes is a harmful bacterium that causes adverse health effects if ingested by humans. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence and characterize the phenotype, genotype, virulence factors, biofilm formation, and antibiopotential of Listeria isolated from the milk of goat and sheep. Udder milk samples were collected from 107 goats and 102 sheep and screened for mastitis using the California mastitis test (CMT). Samples were then examined for the presence of pathogenic Listeria spp; if detected, the isolation of pathogenic Listeria (L. monocytogenes and Listeria ivanovii) was completed using isolation and identification techniques recommended by the International Organization for Standards (ISO 11290-1, 1996), in addition to serological, in vitro and in vivo pathogenicity tests. The isolates were subjected to PCR assay for virulence associated genes (hlyA, plcA, actA, and iap). Pathogenic Listeria spp. were isolated from 5·6% of goat and 3·9% sheep milk samples, with 33·3 and 25% of these selected samples respectively containing L. monocytogenes. The results of this study provide evidence of the low-likelihood of contamination leading to the presence of L. monocytogenes in raw goat and sheep milk; however, this study also confirmed a strong in vitro ability for biofilm formation and pathogenic capability of L. monocytogenes if discovered in the milk. L. monocytogenes may be present in goat and sheep milk and in order to reduce the exposure, hygienic milking conditions must be employed for the milk to be considered a safe alternative for human consumption.


Although sex differences in food intake have been observed consistently, contributing factors are not well understood. Using a cross-sectional online survey (n = 306; 151 men, 155 women), this study aimed to assess how sex impacts relationships between food ratings (appeal/desire to eat for high-calorie (HC) and low-calorie (LC) food images) and eating-related attitudes/behaviors, body mass index (BMI), and mood. Across participants, increased state- and trait-based hunger, disinhibition, and cravings were associated with both increased HC appeal and desire (p < 0.001). Increased state-based hunger and cravings were associated with greater LC desire (p < 0.001). Greater satiety was associated with decreased desire for both HC and LC (p < 0.001), while greater anxiety was associated with increased desire for both HC and LC (p < 0.001). Significant associations between BMI and food ratings were not observed. Women reported greater dietary restraint, trait-based hunger, disinhibition, eating disorder-related behaviors, depression, and stress compared to men, in addition to greater appeal and familiarity with LC foods (all p < 0.05). Significant effects of sex on the associations between food ratings and eating-related attitudes/behaviors, BMI, and mood were not observed, however. Findings support the importance of considering mood and eating-related attitudes/behaviors in investigations of food cue responsivity.


Biological transmission of Oropouche (ORO) virus by Culicoides paraensis (Goeldi) has been successfully demonstrated in the laboratory. Adult Culicoides, collected in an area where ORO virus was absent, were infected by feeding on viremic hamsters and then periodically exposed to susceptible hamsters at specific intervals post-infectious blood meal. These C. paraensis were capable of biological transmission of the virus 4-9 days post-feeding on viremic hamsters circulating 6.7-9.9 log10SMLD50/ml virus. Infection rates of 54% and 80% were found for C. paraensis assayed 7 days post-feeding. Virus transmission rates for these experiments were 83% and 25%, respectively. No evidence of mechanical transmission of ORO virus by C. paraensis was observed when interrupted feeding of Culicoides on viremic hamsters was followed by feeding on susceptible hamsters.


The smartphone industry has been one of the fastest growing technological areas in recent years. Naturally, the considerable market share of the Android OS and the diversity of app distribution channels besides the official Google Play Store has attracted the attention of malware authors. To deal with the increasing numbers of malicious Android apps in the wild, malware analysts typically rely on analysis tools to extract characteristic information about an app in an automated fashion. While the importance of such tools has been addressed by the research community [8], [25], [26], [28], the resulting prototypes remain limited in terms of analysis capabilities and availability. In this paper we present ANDRUBIS, a completely automated, publicly available and comprehensive analysis system for Android applications. ANDRUBIS combines static analysis techniques with dynamic analysis on both Dalvik VM and system level, as well as several stimulation techniques to increase code coverage.


Although it is part of core government business to collect information about its citizens, 'big data' has increased the scale, speed and complexity of data collection and use to such an extent that it is arguably qualitatively different from the record-keeping that has gone before it. Big data represents a radical shift in the balance of power between State and citizen. This article argues that embedding big data in government operations masks its deployment as enhancing government power, rather than simply facilitating execution of government activities. In other words, big data is 'disruptive' technology that calls for the examination of the limits of government power. To illustrate this argument, this article examines a selection of recent case studies of attempts by the Australian government to deploy big data as a tool of governance. It identifies the risk to the citizen inherent in the use of big data, to justify review of the bounds of government power in the face of rapid technological change.


The present study characterized the luteal status and the dynamic of the conceptus during the first 20 days of gestation in mares with different ages and degrees of endometrial degeneration. Total area of the corpus luteum (CL), luteal vascularity, CL area with blood signals, progesterone concentrations (P4), embryonic vesicle diameter, number of embryonic location changes, embryonic fixation position and uterine contractility were evaluated. In Experiment 1, mares ≤6 years of age (Young group, 5.6 ± 0.2 years, n = 7 mares) and mares ≥15 years of age (Old group, 17.2 ± 0.9 years, n = 6 mares) were used to investigate the effect of age. In Experiment 2, the luteal and embryonic parameters were compared between mares with minimal (Mild group, endometrial category I, n = 9 mares) and severe (Severe group, endometrial category III, n = 7 mares) endometrial degeneration. The Old and Severe groups had greater (p ≤ 0.04) total CL area and reduced luteal vascularity (p ≤ 0.04) than the Young and Mild groups, respectively. However, P4 levels and CL area with blood signals were similar (p ≥ 0.8) between the groups. A negative effect of age (p < 0.01), but not of endometrial degeneration (p = 0.6), was found for the embryonic vesicle diameter. The conceptus mobility was high (p > 0.1) until day 14 of gestation in the Severe group, while a reduced number of changes of the embryo location was detected earlier (p < 0.05) in the Old group. In conclusion, the newly formed CL of aged mares and mares with severe endometrial degeneration suffered a structural remodelling to safeguard the local blood supply and the continuous P4 output during early gestation. Moreover, an earlier reduction of the embryonic mobility and a delayed development of the conceptus were associated with advanced age, regardless of the degree of endometrial degeneration.


SUMMARY The author has studied the Odonata collected in the Somali Democratic Republic during scientific expeditions organized first by the Institute of Zoology and by the Museum of Zoology of the University of Florence and, presently, by the « Centro di Studio per la Faunistica ed Ecologia Tropicali del C.N.R. ». He has also included a list as complete as possible of all the quotations on Somalian Odonata. According to the literature and specimens studied, the Somalian Dragonflies pertain to seven families, 30 genera (seven of which are new for Somalia) and 53 species (15 Zygoptera and 38 Anisoptera), 12 of which are new for Somalia: Lestes tridens McLachlan, Lestes uncifer Karsch, Agriocnemis exilis Selys, Pseudagrion acaciae Forster, Ictinogomphus ferox (Rambur), Tetrathemis polleni (Selys), Olpogastra lugubris (Karsch), Tholymis tillarga (Fabricius), Tramea basilaris (P. de Beauvois), Tramea limbata (Desjardins), Urothemis edwardsi (Selys), Macrodiplax cora (Brauer).


The method of nickel–ferricyanide catalyst preparation is elaborated. The results of catalytic decomposition of trilon B on the prepared catalyst are presented. The developed method allows performing the efficient decomposition of trilon B (>99,9%) either in acid or in alkaline medium in temperature interval of 37–80°C. Technologically–fit dynamic conditions of the process, providing the intensity of a heterogeneous interaction, are selected and explored, and the nickel–ferricyanide catalyst resistance is achieved. The instrument flowchart of the developed method of catalytic decomposition is introduced for industrial application during the reprocessing of low– and medium–activity effluent, containing complexons.


Abstract Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the third leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, with incidence rising is expected to increase by another 81% by the year 2020, primarily due to the hepatitis C epidemic. The strongest risk factors for the development of HCC is a hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C (HCV) virus infection, as well as cirrhosis of any cause. Other risk factors that have been reported include exposure to aflatoxin, alcohol, tobacco, obesity and diabetes. To detect potentially curable cases of hepatocellular carcinoma, outpatients with chronic liver disease who have been seen at the Dr. Ion Cantacuzino Hospital, since 10 years and examined periodically with real-time ultrasonography and measurement of serum alpha-fetoprotein.We analyzed the data on these patients for risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma. The risk of liver cancer in men was 1.33 times higher than in women; patients in their 60s had significantly higher rate ratios (6.46) than patients in their 40s; patients with liver cirrhosis diagnosed at enrollment had significantly higher rate ratios for liver cancer (1.93) than patients with chronic hepatitis. The high serum alpha-fetoprotein level at enrollment was also confirmed as a significant marker for a high risk, regardless of the stage of disease (chronic hepatitis or liver cirrhosis). The serum markers for hepatitis virus -- HBsAg, and anti-HCV - were significantly associated with the risk of liver cancer: the adjusted rate ratios for HBsAg, anti-HBc, and anti-HCV were estimated to be 6.92, 4.54, and 4.09, respectively. Hepatitis B surface antigen (rate ratio 6,92; 95% CI: 2.92 to 16.39) and hepatitis C antibody (rate ratio 4.09; 95% CI: 1.30 to 12.85) showed the most risk for carcinoma. Further studies are required to clarify the roles of other risk factors, including drinking and smoking habits.


The author presents questions related to the change of legal regulations concerning the selected criminal and security measures. She emphasizes inconsistencies relating to changes in the scope of the obligation to compensate damages, exemplary, forfeiture, protective measures, including addiction treatment. The author welcomes the changes resulting from the amendment of 20th February 2015, but considering the possibility of further changes that lead to more rational normative solutions.


Introduction: The teaching of physical examination is based on medical textbooks. In the era of technology and evidence-based medicine, clinician should be able to perform and accurate physical examination. In this review, we propose a new way of doing physical examination with accuracy. Methods: We searched PubMed from 1980 to 2022. We included studies that compared physical examination with imaging, electrophysiological studies and intraoperative findings. Results: We have identified a bare minimum for head to toes examination. The content is vital signs, eyes inspection, mouth inspection, lymph nodes palpation, thyroid palpation, lungs examination (inspection, percussion and auscultation), heart examination (inspection and auscultation), abdomen (inspection and palpation), vascular examination (dorsalis pedis and posterior tibial artery palpation), neurologic examination (eyes movement, facial strength, tongue, thumb rolling test, ankle reflex, gait). Conclusions: Physical examination of human major systems can be done within 10 minutes with accuracy.


A simple model of a buying-selling cycle is proposed. The model comprises two moves: a rational buying and a random selling. The notion of a profit intensity is introduced. Supply and demand curves and geometrical interpretation are discussed in this context.


Reliable estimates of population parameters are lacking for most cave-dwelling species. This lack of knowledge may hinder the appropriate management of caves and populations of cave-dwelling species. Using monthly capture-recapture data and Cormack-Jolly-Seber models, we (i) estimated the apparent survival of individuals in two cave populations of the harvestman Paranemastoma sillii sillii (Herman, 1871) from the Mehedinti Mountains in south-western Romania; (ii) investigated temporal variation in apparent survival; (iii) tested if surface weather conditions affect apparent survival of cave-dwelling harvestmen through their influence upon cave environmental conditions and (iv) tested for sex differences in apparent survival. Our results show that the apparent monthly survival estimates were high for both studied cave populations and there was a significant sex effect on survival. Males had lower survival than females, and the survival difference between caves was larger in males than in females. Temporal (i.e., monthly) variation in apparent survival was low and the weather conditions at the surface had little influence on apparent survival as the environment inside the caves is well buffered against weather fluctuations outside the caves. Our results indicate that caves stabilize survival of facultative cave-dwelling species and may serve as microrefugia for epigean species. We suggest that caves should be considered for conservation because they may serve as a refuge for some epigean species during harsh weather conditions.


The International Criminal Court (ICC) is established to investigate, prosecute and punish the 'most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole.' In the first few cases before the ICC, the Court has concentrated on use of child soldiers in Democratic Republic of Congo and Northern Uganda, genocide in Darfur, and political violence surrounding elections in Kenya and Ivory Coast. These more obvious and legally defined crimes have grabbed the world's attention and suited Western criminal justice responses. However, perhaps more endemic, but problematic in terms of establishing criminal responsibility, is forced displacement. While forced displacement is secondary to more traditional international crimes, such as mass murder and rape, its ripple effects on communities and perpetrators intent to displace rival ethnic communities, causes widespread victimisation, suggesting its egregious nature should be of greater international concern. This article examines the challenges of investigating and prosecuting forced displacement in the Central African countries of Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, where higher loss of life was caused by forced displacement, than by any other. In the Democratic Republic of Congo armed groups intentionally attacked civilian populations displacing them from their homes, to cut them off from food and medical supplies. In Northern Uganda the government engaged in a forced displacement policy as part of its counter-insurgency against the Lord's Resistance Army, driving the civilian population in 'protected villages,' where at one point the weekly death toll was over 1,000 in these camps. This article critically evaluates how criminal responsibility can be established for forced displacement and alternative approaches to accountability through reparations.


The LBL Magnetic Measurements Engineering (MME) Group has developed a Real-Time Data Acquisition System (DAS) for magnetic measurements. The design objective was for a system that was versatile, "portable," modular, expandable, quickly and easily reconfigurable both in hardware and software, and inexpensive. All objectives except the last were attained. An LSI 11/23 microcomputer is interfaced to a clock-calendar, printer, CRT control terminal, plotter with hard copy, floppy and hard disks, GPIB, and CAMAC buses. Off-the-shelf hardware and software have been used where possible. Operational capabilities include: (1) measurement of high permeability materials, (2) harmonic error analysis of (a) superconducting dipoles and (b) rare earth cobalt (REC) and conventional quadrupole magnets, and (3) 0.1% accuracy x-y mapping with Hall probes. Results are typically presented in both tabular and graphical form during measurements. Only minutes are required to switch from one measurement capability to another. Brief descriptions of the DAS capabilities, some of the special instrumentation developed to implement these capabilities, and planned developments are given below.


This paper examines the evolving state of employment of older Japanese people. Since the rapid increase in population aging, employment options, such as re-employment, are favored over infexible retirement age extension. In order to meet these needs, the Japanese government has created new employment policies. This study shows newer models for the re-employment of the aging population in Japan. Specifcally, it shows that employment practices promoting balance between fexibility and security (i.e., fexicurity) provide successful alternatives to the re-employment of older people. Data are drawn from longitudinal research on employment con-ditions among older people conducted by the Japanese government. Using this data, the prob-ability of being employed and wage rate is ana-lyzed, including the degree of change that each factor has on the probability of older people being employed. Results indicate that super-aged soci-eties, like Japan, should promote labor markets that balance fexibility and security for re-employ-ing older people.


OBJECTIVES
The diagnosis and treatment of cancer is considered a major life stress that has potential effects on one's psychological well-being. This study investigated the possible benefits of a brief psychological intervention based on gratitude and mindfulness for positive and negative affect in patients with cervical cancer and explored the potentially mediating role of rumination and reappraisal.

METHODS
A randomized controlled trial was conducted in 3 public hospitals in China between April 2014 and December 2014. One-hundred twenty postoperative cervical cancer patients were randomly assigned into an intervention group or a wait-list control group. Participants completed self-report measures of positive and negative affect, rumination, and reappraisal before and after the 4-week intervention or waiting period. The outcome effects of the intervention were analyzed by generalized estimating equations (GEE). Mediation analyses were performed using a nonparametric bootstrapping procedure.

RESULTS
GEE results indicated significant Time × Group interaction effects on positive affect (B = 1.60, χ2 = 25.90, p < .001), negative affect (B = -2.13, χ2 = 28.02, p < .001), rumination (B = -2.48, χ2 = 6.48, p = .011), and reappraisal (B = 3.28, χ2 = 41.17, p < .001) for the intervention. The effect of the intervention on positive and negative affect was mediated by changes in rumination and reappraisal respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
The brief psychological intervention improved positive affect and reappraisal and reduced negative affect and rumination in women with cervical cancer. Findings support the beneficial effects for implementing this brief psychological intervention in oncology. (PsycINFO Database Record


Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) is seeing increasing real-world deployment to protect data in use by allowing computation over encrypted data. However, the same malleability that enables homomorphic computations also raises integrity issues, which have so far been mostly overlooked. While FHEs lack of integrity has obvious implications for correctness, it also has severe implications for confidentiality: a malicious server can leverage the lack of integrity to carry out interactive key-recovery attacks. As a result, virtually all FHE schemes and applications assume an honest-but-curious server who does not deviate from the protocol. In practice, however, this assumption is insufficient for a wide range of deployment scenarios. While there has been work that aims to address this gap, these have remained isolated efforts considering only aspects of the overall problem and fail to fully address the needs and characteristics of modern FHE schemes and applications. In this paper, we analyze existing FHE integrity approaches, present attacks that exploit gaps in prior work, and propose a new notion for maliciously-secure verifiable FHE. We then instantiate this new notion with a range of techniques, analyzing them and evaluating their performance in a range of different settings. We highlight their potential but also show where future work on tailored integrity solutions for FHE is still required.


We generalize the non-threshold bound state in type IIB supergravity of the form (NS5, D5, D3) constructed by the present authors (in hep-th/0011236) to non-zero asymptotic value of the axion $(\chi_0$). We identify the decoupling limits corresponding to both the open D3-brane theory and open D5-brane theory for this supergravity solution as expected. However, we do not find any non-commutative Yang-Mills theory (NCYM) limit for this solution in the presence of NS5 branes. We then study the $SL(2, Z)$ duality symmetry of type IIB theory for both OD3-limit and OD5-limit. We find that for OD3 theory, a generic $SL(2, Z)$ duality always gives another OD3-theory irrespective of the value of $\chi_0$ being rational or not. This indicates that OD3-theory is self-dual. But, under a special set of $SL(2, Z)$ transformations for which $\chi_0$ is rational OD3-theory goes over to a 5+1 dimensional NCYM theory and these two theories in this case are related to each other by strong-weak duality symmetry. On the other hand, for OD5-theory, a generic $SL(2, Z)$ duality gives another OD5-theory if $\chi_0$ is irrational, but when $\chi_0$ is rational it gives the little string theory limit indicating that OD5-theory is S-dual to the type IIB little string theory.


The article describes the experience of creating original international Russian-Kazakhstan model of dual diploma master's education based on the development and implementation of combined educational programs on the basis of two different, but similar in the direction of training educational programs: the Russian master's program "Information technologies in education" in the direction "Pedagogical education" and the Kazakhstan master's program "Information systems" in the direction "Technical sciences and technologies". The annotations of the content of academic disciplines that are mutually credited to the students in parallel master's programs are given. Based on the analysis of the long experience in the implementation of the dual diploma master's educational programs, a conclusion is made about assessing the feasibility of this model of the dual diploma master's education, and the organizational and financial-economic aspects of the implementation of this approach based on the use of advanced distance learning technologies are touched upon.


The theme of the Third International Conference on Hate Studies, "The Pursuit of Justice: Understanding Hatred, Confronting Intolerance, Eliminating Inequality," took me immediately to the subject matter of this article: Who is meant to be served by the subthemes of this conference, if not the targets or potential targets of hate crime? An equally important set of questions would ask: What justice looks like from the perspectives of those individuals and groups? What do hate crime victims want, and what do they need? And, what do vulnerable communities want and need?


In the present thesis, I used human dimensions and ecological research techniques to investigate whether recreational fishing poses a threat to American Eel (Anguilla rostrata), an Endangered species in the Canadian province of Ontario and globally (IUCN Red Listed as Endangered). Specifically, in Chapter 2 I explored angler perspectives and behaviour towards the American Eel through interviews. In Chapter 3, I evaluated the effects of simulated catch-and-release angling on American Eel, in terms of mortality and injury over a seven-day holding period. Almost all anglers (90%) who had captured eels in the Ottawa River, Ontario, had released them (Chapter 2), and eels were found to be relatively resilient to catch-and-release events (Chapter 3). Overall, my results suggest that recreational fishing does not pose a threat to American Eel, however this research is only a preliminary assessment and not all variables involved in a true recreational fishing scenario were examined.