We propose a kernel-level energy profiling tool KLEP that can work with diverse APIs of Android. KLEP addresses the challenges of the tail energy problem and the complex interrelation between hardware components in the device energy consumption profile. KLEP collects energy-sensitive events in the kernel and measures real energy consumption of the device at the same time, and employs a LSTM neural-network-based model for energy profiling. The preliminary results show that the curves profiled by KLEP can match the actual energy consumption with low error and overhead.


An excess of blood lipids can occur in many conditions, such as alcoholism, starvation, phosphorus poisoning, and asphyxia. Its ocular manifestation, however, in the form of lipemia retinalis are rare, especially so in diseases other than severe diabetic ketosis in which it has been chiefly recorded. 1,2 This report concerns a patient with hyperlipemia and lipemia retinalis provoked by an inordinately large consumption of alcohol of at least several months' duration. Report of a Case A 54-year-old Negro male auto mechanic developed epigastric soreness, upper abdominal swelling, frequent belching, and mild constipation three days prior to his visit. His bowel movements had been variable for the preceding three weeks, as was habitual with this patient after immoderate drinking. He admitted to an intake of approximately one pint of whiskey daily for several months' time. His appetite was poor, and little food was taken. Diabetes mellitus had been present for 14


Study participants (175 men, 230 women) made three wishes and completed measures of the five-factor model of personality, optimism, life satisfaction, and depression. Common wishes were for achievement, affiliation, intimacy, and power as well as for happiness and money. T tests showed women were more likely to wish for improved appearance, happiness, and health; men were more likely to make power wishes and wishes for sex. Among participants who were highly involved in the wishing process, Extraversion was related to making more interpersonal wishes and wishes for positive affect. Neuroticism was related to wishes for emotional stability. Agreeableness and Openness to Experience related to wishes reflective of these traits. Conscientiousness was related to low impulsivity. Depression was related to making highly idiosyncratic, specific wishes, suggesting the use of wishful thinking as a coping mechanism. In addition, happy participants were more likely to rate their wishes as likely to come true. Results indicate that the relatively commonplace process of wishing relates to traits, gender, and well-being.


Nylon–cotton blended fabric (NYCO), commonly used in military uniforms and workwear for its comfort and resilience, presents an inherent fire risk due to its high flammability and high heat release. There are few effective flame retardant treatments for NYCO that are environmentally benign and maintain the hand of the fabric. To solve this problem, a layer‐by‐layer (LbL)‐assembled 15 quadlayer (QL) coating, consisting of chitosan (CH), phytic acid (PA), and tannic acid (TA), is applied to NYCO. Individually pairing TA or PA with CH is not self‐extinguishing, but they work synergistically in the QL system to create an effective intumescent coating. This completely bio‐sourced, water‐based coating self‐extinguishes in a vertical flame test (ASTM D6413), with only 16.6% weight added to NYCO, yielding 91% postburn residue and a 51% decrease in peak heat release rate. This novel coating provides an opportunity to replace environmentally questionable flame retardant treatments with a fully sustainable system.


Non-ionic surfactant nano-emulsions have extensive anti-microbial activity and are biocompatible with skin and mucous membranes at effective concentrations. Two nano-emulsion formulations (8N8 and 20N10) made from soybean oil, tributyl phosphate and Triton X-100, were tested for their ability to prevent murine influenza virus pneumonia in vivo. In the initial study, CD-1 mice were administered various dilutions of the nano-emulsions intranasally, and safe dosages and concentrations were determined. Non-toxic concentrations of the nano-emulsions were then mixed with influenza virus and applied to the nares of mice. Animals receiving mixtures of two different emulsions (8N8 or 20N10) and a LD50 of virus survived the challenge without evidence of viral infection. To determine if the nano-emulsions could prevent influenza virus infection in vivo when used as a prophylactic treatment, the nano-emulsions (8N8 at 1.0% and 20N10 at 1.0% or 0.2%) were applied to mouse nares 90 min before exposure to 5×105 p.f.u./ml virus by nebulized aerosol. Animals pretreated with the nano-emulsions had significantly decreased clinical signs of infection. Only 26.0% (8N8 at 1.0%), 31.25% (20N10 at 1.0%) and 37.0% (20N10 at 0.2%) of animals pretreated with nano-emulsion died from pneumonitis, whereas >80.0% of mock pretreated animals succumbed to infection (P<0.005). These findings suggest that non-ionic surfactant nano-emulsions have therapeutic potential for the prevention of influenza virus infection in vivo.


Isolated barred galaxies evolve by redistributing their internal angular momentum, which is emitted mainly at the inner disc resonances and absorbed mainly at the resonances in the outer disc and the halo. This causes the bar to grow stronger and its pattern speed to decrease with time. A massive, responsive halo enhances this process. I show correlations and trends between the angular momentum absorbed by the halo and the bar strength, pattern speed and morphology. It is thus possible to explain why some disc galaxies are strongly barred, while others have no bar, or only a short bar or an oval. In some cases, a bar is found also in the halo component. This ``halo bar\'\' is triaxial, but more prolate-like, is shorter than the disc bar and rotates with roughly the same pattern speed. I finally discuss whether bars can modify the density cusps found in cosmological CDM simulations of dark matter haloes.


Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the most common type of acute leukemia in adults. It is estimated that 13,410 cases will be diagnosed and 8,990 will die of AML in the United States in 2007 (http://seer.cancer.gov). AML is a genetically diverse hematopoietic malignancy with variable response to treatment. Expression profiling of protein-coding genes using DNA microarray in AML has resulted in inconsistent data from different laboratories. Therefore, further validation of these observations in large cohorts and in independent studies is definitely required before clinical application becomes feasible. Recently, Golub and colleagues described a new, bead-based flow cytometric microRNA (miRNAs, miRs) expression profiling method that could successfully classify tumors. MiRNAs are endogenous ∼22 nucleotide non-coding RNAs, which can function as oncogenes and tumor suppressors. To provide new insights into the complex genetic alterations in leukemogenesis and to identify novel markers for diagnosis and treatment of AML, we performed a genome-wide analysis of miRNA expression profiles using the bead-based method on 54 AML samples with common translocations including t(15;17), t(8;21), inv(16), and 11q23 rearrangement, along with normal controls. In both unsupervised and supervised hierarchical cluster analyses, we observed that t(15;17) samples grouped together as one cluster, as do the 11q23 rearrangement samples. Interestingly, t(8;21) and inv(16), both CBF (core-binding factor) AMLs, grouped together as a unique cluster. Forty-one miRNAs exhibited significantly differential expression between different subtypes of AMLs, and/or between AMLs and normal controls. Notably, expression signature of a minimal number of two, three, and seven miRNAs could be used for class prediction of CBF, t(15;17), and 11q23 rearrangement AMLs, respectively, with an overall diagnostic accuracy of 94–96%. We further showed that overexpression of the two discriminatory miRNAs in CBF AML is associated with epigenetic regulation, rather than DNA copy number amplification. Moreover, several important target genes of these discriminatory miRNAs have also been validated. We are currently exploring the role of these discriminatory miRNAs and their critical target genes in the development of AML using in vitro and in vivo models. This work will enhance our understanding of the biological role of these miRNAs and their targets in leukemogenesis.


This study attempts to increase our understanding of the phenomenon of love specifically in the apparel and grocery retailing contexts. By incorporating "customer love," a construct that helps explain variation in satisfied customers' emotional responses to retailers, this study proposes a mechanism by which love is formed and manifested in the sequence of emotional loyalty articulated by Barnes (2005). The empirical results show that customer love is predicted by perceived relationship investment, hedonic store experience, and symbolic store experience. Customer love and symbolic store experience, in turn, are linked to a higher level of competitive insulation, ultimately leading to action loyalty.


This article investigates the ability of neural network models to predict mispricing of initial public offerings (IPOs). The aim is to improve the modest explanatory power of existing models that are based on the theory of asymmetrically informed economic agents surrounding post-issue market value of IPOs. This study develops and compares linear regression and neural network models. The results show that modelling variable interactions and non-linearity allows a potentially fruitful approach for stagging in IPOs. Neural networks have been criticized for being a black box; however, this paper shows that, by using sensitivity analysis, neural networks can provide a reasonable explanation of their predictive behaviour and direction of association between variables. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The paper presents a set of experiments to characterize the ice front propagation in ex vivo bovine liver samples. Based on previous successful experiments using water and agar-gel as tested materials, the methodology infers the ice evolution in the sample from temperature measures obtained at the cooling device only, with a technique known as mirror image. No analytical or numerical solutions are proposed for the phase change propagation inside the tested material, such as for instance the Stefan approach as a classical free boundary problem for a parabolic partial differential equation. Thermal events inside the tested material, such as the heat flux released during the phase transition, have been deduced by the measured temperatures and the numerical solution of the thermal field inside the cooling device, conceived to mimic some thermal features of an actual cryogenic probe. The application domain for these experiments is in the cryoablative therapy, and the aim is to help providing an increased knowledge on the thermal effects to better deduce the effectiveness of the treatment and reduce recurrences, while at the same time avoid damages in the proximal anatomical structures. Results show that it is possible to detect the triggering of ice formation at the interface between the liver samples and the cooling device and predict the ice front propagation according to a law linear on the heat subtracted per unit of area. In a few tens of seconds, the maximum ice penetration distance is about 2 mm inside the liver tissue, with a penetration rate that goes from 0.2 mm/s to 0.02 mm/s. Moreover, adopting a special sample configured as an agar-gel coating superimposed to an ex vivo liver layer, the arrival time of the ice penetrating the liver and the temperature at the interface between these materials were detected, in order to estimate the part of the heat flux useful to the ice formation with respect to that spent for cooling the surrounding medium. Based on this preliminary result, to improve the cryoablation effectiveness it could be useful to increase the heat flux per unit of surface at the beginning, instead of the ablation duration.


It is generally assumed that multinational enterprises (MNEs) are more volatile than local firms. From the viewpoint of host countries, the volatility of MNE subsidiaries is often seen as a problem. Therefore it becomes relevant to look for ways to reduce the volatility of multinational activity across borders. We review the literature and identify a gap regarding social capital as a potential instrument for reducing the level of volatility. An existing stock of social capital may be advantageous not only to the host country but also to the MNE in the sense that optimal in-company resource allocation and profits could be improved even further. Thus, the dominating theory of FDI (Foreign Direct Investment), the eclectic paradigm as developed by John Dunning, offers a relevant opportunity to fill a gap in the literature and include social capital in FDI decisions as a new location factor.


The purpose of this research was to investigate the influence demographics, gender, faculty, and level of general English has on students' learning styles. Subjects were 410 students representing Accounting, Business Administration, and Economics faculties and studying Business English courses at Bangkok University. A Perceptual Learning Style Preference Questionnaire: PLSPQ (Reid, 1987) was used for collecting data via a five point Likert scale. Data were analyzed and calculated in percentage, mean, standard deviation and Chi-squared test at the level of 0.05.The results show that Bangkok University students do not have a specific style of learning English. The three main forms of learning English are; study in a group, learning and practicing in different situations, and listening respectively. Some results varied based on gender, faculty and levels of academic performance in general English variables. However, the styles of learning English did not.


During commissioning of YiXing pump turbine (Jiangsu province, China) by – at the time – GE Energy Hydro a number of guide vane vibration issues occurred. An investigation was launched to determine the root causes of these vibration incidents including analysis of site measurement data from the incidents and a Computation Fluid Dynamics (CFD) study. Several interesting hydro-dynamic phenomena were discovered during the course of this investigation, notably circumferentially synchronized and amplified von Karman vortices at the guide vane trailing edges in pump mode, unexpected flow attachment to the guide vane trailing edge pump mode resulting in bi-stable flow conditions and a self-excited torsion mode flutter vibration. The latter two phenomena explain the vibration incidents at site. The CFD study helped in identifying and quantifying the geometric parameters that influence torsion mode flutter and therefore enabled a targeted modification of the guide vane profile that is stable with respect to self-excitation. Between May 2009 and April 2010 the modified guide vanes were – now by Andritz Hydro Ltd. – installed in all 4 units of the YiXing pumped storage plant and proved to be successful in eliminating the vibration problems. Opening and closing sequences of the guide vanes – including pump start from closed guide vanes and transition from pump to synchronous condenser operation – could be implemented as required by the contract.


The increasing needs for long links high bit rate telecommunications systems and for sophisticated guided wave arrangements for fiber sensors led to a rapid evolution of the Integrated Optic technology. Briefly speaking, many progresses have been reported in two main directions. In the first, LiNb03 based waveguides by Ti in diffusion were used to demonstrate various components from low loss high speed modulators or matrix switch arrays to specific chips for fiber sensors like the fiber gyroscope. As a matter of fact, several of these devices begin to be commercially available from different companies. In the second, waveguides are fabricated in semiconductor materials and rapid progresses in the growth techniques led to high quality devices in both GaAs and InP systems leading to realistic previsions for complete monolithic integration. The range of devices already demonstrated is quite impressive as it comprises broadband modulators and switches, multiplexers/demultiplexers, tunable filters, frequency shifters, polarization controllers, switching matrices, multifunction chips for sensors and even some first try of real optoelectronic integration. As a matter of fact, many materials have been used and considered for integrated optics applications. If some kind of active device has to be realized, in general, it is necessary to employ basic materials with the desired properties unless "active" overlayers are used (such as non linear organic materials...). In that paper, the basic properties of integrated optic devices will outlined by giving typical examples in the two main present technologies : LiNb03 and semiconductors.


vice versa. The Hospital Doctors' Association has campaigned for two years for a single training grade for all branches of specialist medicine, in which the trainee would spend a shorter time and be more closely supervised than at present. This idea is now being examined by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and piloted by the Royal College of Surgeons. I believe that Brearley is mistaken in seeking to extend the numbering system currently operated by the Royal College of Surgeons. It cannot be right to have two people in essentially the same job on the same rota, with one preselected for promotion and accreditation and the other denied this. Such a system will eventually fall foul of the courts in the United Kingdom or Brussels in the same way that the practices of the Joint Committee on Higher Medical Training have done already. We must stop separating the issues ofmanpower, training, accreditation, and hours of work. They are all intimately linked. We need wholehearted reform of our practices of work and training, and the Hospital Doctors' Association has called for the royal colleges, the General Medical Council, the Department of Health, and the representative associations of the profession to meet and take up the challenge.


Abstract This paper takes as its focus discourses about young people, intercultural citizenship, voice and participation on a range of youth civic websites surveyed during the project CivicWeb. This was a 3-year, seven-country European Commission funded study of young people, the Internet and civic participation. Specifically, it calls upon evidence from qualitative case studies of three contemporary civic websites in Britain, the UK Youth Parliament, European Youth Portal and MuslimYouth.Net, including textual analysis as well as interviews with key producers and young users of these and other civic sites. In light of current debates around the best means of engaging young people in civic activities on- and offline, the paper seeks to answer questions about the potential benefits and dangers of producers' pedagogic styles, ideological perspectives and normative choices in relation to young people's civic motivation and efficacy. Finally the paper looks at the match or disjuncture between the sites' missions for youth citizenship and the actual young people who respond to the sites' address and ethos and asks how more civic producers can move towards a situated, motivating and inclusive model of communication on- and offline.


ABSTRACT Soot emissions from diesel engines and gas turbines are influenced by the combustion environment. Pressure is one of the parameters, which affects particulate emissions, and these effects are poorly understood on soot parameters. In this work, pressurized counterflow diffusion flame of ethane and air has been investigated using two angle light scattering and extinction technique. A counterflow diffusion flame has been stabilized from 2 to 5 atm in a pressure vessel, which can provide optical access from 10 to 165° in angular direction. Global strain rate (a) of 30 s −1 is maintained at all pressures by adjusting the inlet flows. Scattering measurements are performed at two angles (45° and 135°) and Rayleigh-Debye-Gans theory for Fractal Aggregates (RDG-FA) has been used to determine soot parameters from light scattering and extinction data. By combining the scattering at 135° with laser extinction measurements, path averaged soot volume fraction (f v), mean primary particle diameter ( ) and particle number densities (n p), along the axis of the counterflow flame are calculated. Local soot volume fraction (f v,local) profiles are also measured using diffuse light 2D line of sight attenuation technique. Peak value of f v increases from 0.3 to 8 ppm as the pressure is raised from 2 to 5 atm. Primary particle size ( ) also increases with pressure where peak primary particle size of 11 nm at 2 atm rises to 38 nm at 5 atm. Population average radius of gyration (R g) increases with pressure while the number densities (n p) of primary particles decrease due to coalescence.


A method and composition for treating a host infected with hepatitis D comprising administering an effective hepatitis D treatment amount of a described 2'-deoxy-beta-L-erythropentofuranonucleoside or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or prodrug thereof.


Since antiquity, fruits have been served as an important source for human nutrition. Recent development of biological sciences helped to understand the nutritional and medicinal roles of fruits on human life. All the studies are pointing that fruits possess some natural chemicals called secondary metabolites that are biologically active and help to prevent various diseases. In this review paper, medicinal significance of some common fruits such as apple, banana, berries, cherry, citrus, custard apple, gooseberry, grape, mangosteen and pomegranate were discussed. This review suggests that these fruits are excellent source for maintaining human health by providing essential nutrients and preventing diseases.


Surface (0-10m) and vertical (300-0m) plankton samples were collected at seventy stations (116 samples) in the North Atlantic during the summer of 1962. Three faunal provinces were recognized. The subarctic fauna consisted of Globigerina bulloides, G. quinqueloba, and G. pachyderma. The subtropical fauna was typified by Globigerinoides ruber and G. sacculifer. The subarctic-temperate boundary was crossed five times in the western half of the northern traverse from New York to Scotland. The temperate fauna was dominated by End_Page 516------------------------------ Globorotalia inflata (d'Orbigny) but also included subarctic or subtropical species. Highest foraminiferal concentrations were found in the temperate-subarctic zone, and the lowest in the central Sargasso Sea. Bathythermograph temperatures ranged from 4.4°C. to 27.5°C. Temperature inversions occurred at nine stations SE. of Newfoundland. Within the BT range (0-274 m) temperatures fluctuated from 2.2°C. to 10.6°C. Surface salinities varied from 32.58 ^pmil in cold water to 37.59 ^pmil in warm water. Morphological variations resulting from environmental influences were evident in some species. The maximum diameter of Globigerina bulloides was generally less than 0.4 mm above 14°C. Large specimens (0.6+mm) and specimens with the aperture over four chambers were abundant below 12°C. and when the salinity was less than 35.5 ^pmil. Deeper-water samples from stations having temperature inversions contained abundant forms with a reduced final chamber, similar to Globigerina quadrilata Galloway and Wissler. The terminal chamber in some specimens had a secondary aperture. Globigerina cf. quinqueloba, common in waters below 15°C., graded into G. pachyderma with decreasing temperature. Typical G. pachyderma was not found in surface tows. Although encountered rarely, it did appear when water temperatures were below 10°C. Globorotalia inflata was abundant between 13.5°C. and 18°C. Only deep-water tows with temperatures about 10°C. contained small forms with thick tests, a reduced final chamber, and an aberrant aperture. The signal morphological variation was observed from the deepest tow taken (0-1150 m), and contained forms transitional between common Hastigerina pelagica and large, digitate Hastigerinella rhumbleri. That depth and temperature greatly influence the distribution as well as the morphology of planktonic foraminifers is evident. End_of_Article - Last_Page 517------------


Computed tomography has been utilized to guide a needle into central nervous system lesions as small as one centimeter in diameter. Direct puncture has drained many abscesses effectively, provided material for immediate Gram stain and subsequent culture, and permitted irrigation with appropriate antibioties, Multilocular cerebral lesions and loculated extracerebral fluid collections have been aspirated and treated with this technique. Aspiration of known cystic tumors has reduced their mass and obviated some palliative decompressions. Unresectable gliomas and metastases have been biopsied prior to chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Hemorrhage and other rare complications of biopsy may be detected and immediately treated.


Seven samples of peat or wood were collected from four small sedimentary basins on Anthony Island. Elevations of these sites range between 31.1 and 2.5 m above mean sea level. Radiocarbon dates from these indicate that sea level has not exceeded 31.1 m since 12 300 years ago. Furthermore, sea level has been less than 12.7 m above mean sea level since about 4000 BP and has declined at about 2.5 m/1000 years. A well-defined scarp with relict surge channels and sea caves may define the postglacial mean sea-level maximum at about 12–15 m. A date of 1750 ± 120 BP at the base of a pond is particularly significant, since it places a maximum possible age on the Skung-gwai village site (UNESCO World Heritage Site) and other known archaeological sites near present sea level.


Background Breastfeeding duration is associated with improved cognitive development in children, but it is unclear whether this is a causal relationship or due to confounding. This study evaluates whether the observed association is explained by socioeconomic position (SEP) and maternal cognitive ability. Methods Data from 7,855 singletons born in 2000–2002 and followed up to age 14 years within the UK Millennium Cohort Study were analysed. Mothers reported breastfeeding duration, and children's cognitive abilities were assessed at 5, 7, 11, and 14 years using validated measures. Standardised verbal (age 5 to 14) and spatial (age 5 to 11) cognitive scores were compared across breastfeeding duration groups using multivariable linear mixed-effects models (repeated outcome measures). Results At all ages, longer breastfeeding durations were associated with higher cognitive scores after accounting for the child's own characteristics. Adjustment for SEP approximately halved the effect sizes. Further adjustment for maternal cognitive scores removed the remaining associations at age 5, but not at ages 7, 11 and 14 (e.g.: verbal scores, age 14; breastfed ≥12 months vs never breastfed: 0.26 SD; 95%CI: 0.18, 0.34). Conclusion The associations between breastfeeding duration and cognitive scores persist after adjusting for SEP and maternal cognitive ability, however the effect was modest.


This ethnographic case-study examines the impact of asynchronous written feedback comments on the peer feedback process within one doctorate writing group. The doctorate students were interviewed retrospectively about their perceptions of effective feedback comments. Affective components (e.g. hedging devices) and effective components (e.g. revision comments) within the reviewers' feedback comments, and external components (e.g. reviewer competency) that influence the peer feedback process were induced from the interview transcripts using a grounded theory approach. Further evidence that these identified components impact the feedback process appreciably was triangulated from the analysis of two other datasets; the participants' asynchronous written feedback comments and revision plans. The results show that the participants used much affect in their written feedback exchanges, and this affect had a strong impact on the effect of their feedback process. Thus, written affective language can play a significant role in how an author interprets and implements feedback comments. This suggests that affect can play a prominent role in helping to develop more effective feedback practices within writing groups. Helping writing communities develop a better understanding of affect within asynchronous written feedback comments can only help them to develop more useful feedback practices.


ABSTRACT The ubiquitin-proteasome system is involved in cellular endocytosis and maturation of some viruses. In this study, we found that proteasome inhibitors blocked mouse hepatitis virus replication at an early step in the viral life cycle. In the presence of MG132, the entering viruses accumulated in both the endosome and denser lysosome, suggesting that the ubiquitin-proteasome system is involved in the release of virus from the endosome to the cytosol during the virus entry step.


Nonstationary features of knee joint vibroarthrographic (VAG) signals were extracted from their time-frequency distributions (TFDs) obtained using the matching pursuit method. Features computed as marginal calculations of the TFDs were instantaneous energy, instantaneous energy spread, instantaneous mean frequency, and instantaneous mean frequency spread. The features carry information about the combined time-frequency dynamics of the signals. The mean and standard deviation of the features were also computed, and each VAG signal was represented by a set of just 8 parameters. The method was tested on 37 VAG signals (19 normal and 18 abnormal) with no restriction on the type of articular cartilage pathology. Discriminant analysis of the parameters showed an accuracy of 89.5% at the training stage and 77.8% at the test stage. Compared to the authors' previous methods, the proposed method does not need any joint angle and clinical information, and shows good potential for noninvasive diagnosis and monitoring of articular cartilage pathology.


This study aimed to evaluate the surface and pulp temperature rises when teeth are irradiated with Er,Cr:YSGG laser at low fluences, with or without a photosensitizer. It was chosen 81 third molar human teeth which were randomly divided into six groups, according to the Er,Cr:YSGG laser fluences (2.8 J/cm2, 5.6 J/cm2, and 8.5 J/cm2) and the recovering or not of a photosensitizer (a thin layer of coal paste) over enamel surfaces. All samples were irradiated without coolant. The surface temperatures and heat propagation were recorded by thermographic camera, and the pulpal temperatures were registered by type-K thermocouples. After laser irradiation, enamel surfaces were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The intrapulpal temperature increases were below the threshold for pulp damages (5.6°C), and they were dependent on the fluence applied. The surface recovering with coal paste significantly reduced the intrapulpal temperature increments in 8.5 J/cm2 samples. The coal paste also influenced the surface temperatures, which reached 222.6°C when samples were irradiated at fluence of 8.5 J/cm2. The SEM analysis revealed a micro-ablation pattern for all fluences tested. The photosensitizer was efficient for reducing heat transfer to the pulp chamber, increasing laser absorption into the enamel. The fluences of 8.5 J/cm2 was able to achieve surface temperature rises that suggest crystallographic changes on enamel, which could propitiate an increase of acid-resistance of enamel.


Attempted synthesis of the donor-acceptor complex (BDI)Ca+ ←AlI (BDI) complex by reaction of (BDI)Ca+ in the form of its B(C6 F5 )4 - salt with (BDI)AlI in benzene led to dearomatization of the solvent and formation of (BDI)Ca+ (C6 H6 )AlIII (BDI) (BDI=CH[C(CH3 )N-Dipp]2 , Dipp=2,6-diisopropylphenyl). The C6 H6 2- anion is strongly puckered and its boat form features four long (ca. 1.50 Å) and two short (ca. 1.34 Å) C-C bond distances. The flagpole positions of the C6 H6 2- anion chelate an AlIII cation giving a norbornadiene-like fragment with Al in the 7-position. The C=C double bonds of this alumina-norbornadiene strongly coordinate to the Ca2+ metal ion. The complex is stable in solution up to 80 °C. Several mechanisms for its formation are discussed including a highly likely frustrated Lewis pair type mechanism in which benzene is activated by the Lewis acid (BDI)Ca+ followed by nucleophilic attack by the Lewis base (BDI)AlI .


A rising geriatric population remains dentate and requires more dental care to maintain dental health and function. This article discusses psychological aspects of aging and considerations of age-related changes of teeth, oral tissues, nutrition, and metabolism in the elderly. Aging affects all tissues and systems, as do nutritional and metabolic factors. Numerous factors alter healing, host resistance, digestion and absorption, mastication, metabolic competency, renal and hepatic function, and excretory capability. Complex drug regimens further confuse clear diagnoses. Full consideration must be given these factors before treatment plans are formulated.


Lipid and protein oxidation are well-known manifestations of free radical activity and oxidative stress. The current study investigated extermination of Leishmania tropica promastigotes induced by lipid and protein oxidation with reactive oxygen species produced by PEGylated metal-based nanoparticles. The synthesized photodynamic therapy-based doped and nondoped zinc oxide nanoparticles were activated in daylight that produced reactive oxygen species in the immediate environment. Lipid and protein oxidation did not occur in dark. The major lipid peroxidation derivatives comprised of conjugated dienes, lipid hydroperoxides, and malondialdehyde whereas water, ethane, methanol, and ethanol were found as the end products. Proteins were oxidized to carbonyls, hydroperoxides, and thiol degrading products. Interestingly, lipid hydroperoxides were produced by more than twofold of the protein hydroperoxides, indicating higher degradation of lipids compared to proteins. The in vitro evidence represented a significant contribution of the involvement of both lipid and protein oxidation in the annihilated antipromastigote effect of nanoparticles.


This paper presents a novel approach to artificial neural network (ANN) topology optimisation that uses multi-objective genetic algorithm in order to find the best network configuration for the Wisconsin breast cancer database (WBCD) classification problem. The WBCD [Mangasarian, OL., et al., 1995][Mangasarian, OL., et al.][Wolberg, WH., et al., 1995] is a publicly available database composed by 699 cases, each of which is defined by 11 parameters. The former first 10 values of each record account for geometrical features of cells extracted with FNA biopsy. The last parameter represents the nature of the tumour; two classes of tumour are considered in this database: benignant and malignant tumours. An Intelligent System, IDEST, was designed and implemented. At the core of this system there's an Artificial Neural Network that is able to classify cases. The design of such an ANN is a non trivial task and choices incoherent with the problem could lead to instability of the network. For these reasons a fixed topology genetic algorithm (GA) approach was used to find an optimal topology for the given problem. In a second step a multi-objective GA (MOGA) was developed and employed in order to refine the search in the "topology space". Results shown by the IDEST demonstrate the great potentialities of similar approaches.


This article studies the control problem for a class of stochastic nonlinear time-delay systems with uncertain output functions. Under the appropriate assumptions, a stabilization controller is explicitly constructed by applying the adding a power integrator method. Then, using the Lyapunov–Krasovskii functionals to address time-delay, it is proven that the designed controller can guarantee the closed-loop system to be globally asymptotically stable (GAS) in probability. Finally, two simulations show that the control strategy is effective and can be applied to the actual system.


Abstract The paper introduces background extractions with self-adaptive update algorithm and puts forward an improved algorithm based on histogram statistic combining with multi-frame average. It avoids the image trail-blur phenomena using pure multi-frame method on traffic jam, and has relative low computation complexity comparing with the hybrid Gauss model. It can run on the TI DM642 DSP hardware platform, the experimental image shows the fast extraction speed and gets good background image.


The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) is set up to operate as Public Private Partnership and directed at providing accessible, affordable and qualitative healthcare for all Nigerians. The Nigerian health insurance industry is faced with the challenge of developing a sustainable fees structure owing to serious data deficits pervading the Nigerian healthcare system and unreliable critical health statistics. Using the capitation payment mechanism the health care provider assumes that for a given insured population, the provider will cover all health care services for a fixed payment per member per month. However, in this arrangement, payments assumed equal risk level for all subscribers and this may encourage risk selection. This article proposes the development of risk-adjusted capitation framework for the Nigeria National Health Insurance Scheme using generalised linear models. Findings show that the usual normal-based risk adjustment models could lead to further risk selection for highly skewed and heavy tailed data. The use of generalized gamma-based regression model for risk adjustment and determining fair capitation rates is suggested. The study relied on healthcare cost of various diagnoses based on international classification of diseases and information on enrollment to facilities with regards to enrollees characteristics. This framework would allow the healthcare management system to consolidate on the profile of its present and historical data contained in the production system and provides pathways for clinical and administrative information, actuarial valuation and in-depth statistical analysis. This is in tandem with the healthcare delivery agenda of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and sustainable development. Policy implications and recommendation are discussed.


Purpose: To evaluate the effect of JUNCAO-cultivated Ganoderma lucidum spent mushroom substratehot water extract (SMSG-HWE) on murine immunity. Methods: Five groups of mice (n = 10) received water with 0.00, 0.14, 0.28, 0.84, or 1.68 g/kg of SWSG-HWE, respectively, orally for 30 days. Various biochemical parameters of serum and tissues, including spleen and thymus indices, were determined were determined for the mice Results: The following markers were significantly higher in the 0.84 g/kg SMSG-HWE group than in the control group (all p < 0.05): splenic lymphocyte proliferation, a marker of cell-mediate immunity; dinitrofluorobenzene-induced delayed hypersensitivity; and the number of haemolytic plaque-forming cells, as a marker of humoral immunity. Phagocytic rate, which evaluates mononuclear-macrophage function as a marker of innate immunity, was significantly higher in both the 0.84 g/kg HWE and 1.68 g/kg SWSG-HWE groups, while phagocytic index was significantly higher in the 0.28 g/kg SWSG-HWE group, compared to the control group (all p < 0.05). Natural killer cell activity also was significantly enhanced in the 0.84 g/kg and 1.68 g/kg SWSG-HWE groups (p < 0.05). Conclusion: These findings indicate that SWSG-HWE enhances murine immune function, and may be suitable as a potential additive in animal feed. Keywords: Hot water extract, Cell-mediated immune function, Concanavalin A, Mononuclearmacrophage function, Haemolytic plaque, Humoral immunity, Innate immunity, Animal feed additive


Although the retention rate of Aboriginal students has improved over the past fifteen years, it is still significantly less than that for all other students. In fact, very few Aboriginal students are completing twelve full years of schooling. The situation is worse in country schools than in large metropolitan areas. Despite the fact that some Aboriginal students do stay at school and succeed, very little work has been done to identify what factors have helped those Aboriginal students who have done so. In addition, there is relatively little knowledge about how the various school, home, ability and personal factors are interrelated.


Recently, we have proposed a definition for the vacuum and suggest a mechanism for symmetry breaking. In this mechanism extra massless fields, vacuum fields, arise. We apply our method to the standard model of particle physics and obtain vacuum sector of this model. Vacuum field of the standard model is a four-vector with electromagnetic nature. This field is invariant under $ U(1)_{em} $ gauge transformation. We speculate that it could be responsible for many cosmological phenomena like inflation, dark energy and cosmic magnetic fields.


Muscular glycogenosis is a disease resulting from genetical abnormalities altering an enzyme which is involved in glycogen metabolism. In addition to disorders of glycogenosis and glycolysis, there are other pathological processes such as alpha-glycosidase deficiency and diseases associated with abnormal polysaccharide structure. A short review of the various diseases with their particular features is reported.


A general and practical catalytic method has been developed for the rapid synthesis of HCTD (heptacyclo[18.104.22.168(2,6).0(3,13).0(4,11).0(5,9).0(10,14)]tetradecanes) and various new 7,12-disubstituted HCTDs from norbornadienes. Compared to the known approaches, this new protocol avoids stoichiometric metals, utilizes commercially available reagents as catalysts, and affords higher yields and significantly improved selectivity. In addition, quadracyclane was discovered for the first time to undergo a similar endo,cis,endo cycloaddition to give HCTD in a good yield. Derivatization of HCTDs led to efficient preparation of a range of novel homo- and heterobifunctional scaffolds that hold potentials for biological and material applications.


Introduction It was previously believed that the heart was a terminally differentiated organ, with limited or no regenerative capacity. However, over the last decade compelling evidence suggests that the heart does undergo regeneration with a limited population of resident progenitor cells able to replenish cardiomyocytes lost due to injury throughout adult life. The therapeutic manipulation of resident cardiac progenitor cells could transform outcomes in patients with heart failure if these cells can be harnessed for myocardial regeneration. In recent years, the search for cardiac progenitor candidates has gathered momentum, and several populations of resident cardiac progenitor cells have now been isolated in rat, mouse, dog, porcine and human hearts using a variety of stem cell markers. With a variety of cardiac progenitor populations now described it is important that we fully understand the properties and differentiation potential of these progenitor populations. Methods We describe the isolation of c-kit+ potential cardiac progenitor cells from atrial appendages of patients undergoing coronary artery bypass or valve replacement surgery (n=6) and from human fetal hearts (n=6). C-kit+ magnetic activated cell sorting (MACS) was used to isolate c-kit+ cells that were expanded in culture. Immunostaining and fluorescent activated cell sorting (FACS) were used to assess the expression of a variety of markers. Cardiomyocyte and endothelial differentiation techniques were used to assess the differentiation potential the cardiac progenitors. Single-cell gene expression techniques also allowed us to detect variations among cells in seemingly homogenous populations. Results These populations were CD45-, CD34-, but positive for CD146, CD105, KDR and the early cardiac transcription factors Mef2c, GATA4, Nkx2.5 and Isl1. The c-kit+ populations were able to differentiate in vitro to cardiomyocytes and endothelial cells. To improve our understanding of the dynamic networks of transcriptional regulation in cardiac progenitor cells both fetal and adult c-kit+ cardiac progenitors were used as a tool for gene profiling to identify key genetic differences between the populations. This allowed us to detectoverlapping and non-overlapping expression patterns and thus provide novel insights into the complex networks of transcriptional regulation in cardiac progenitor cells. Conclusion Understanding the transcriptional regulation of cardiac progenitor cells will identify novel approaches for cellular reprogramming and permit us to develop robust methods for isolating and expanding these cells for clinical application in the treatment of patients with heart failure.


The focus of this study is the effectiveness of the controller's Unified Power Flow Controller UPFC with the choice of a control strategy. This Unified Power Flow Controller (UPFC) is used to control the power flow in the transmission systems by controlling the impedance, voltage magnitude and phase angle. This controller offers advantages in terms of static and dynamic operation of the power system. It also brings in new challenges in power electronics and power system design. To evaluate the performance and robustness of the system, we proposed a hybrid control combining the concept of identification neural networks with conventional regulators and with the changes in characteristics of the transmission line in order to improve the stability of the electrical power network. With its unique capability to control simultaneously real and reactive power flows on a transmission line as well as to regulate voltage at the bus where it is connected, this device creates a tremendous quality impact on power system stability. The result which has been obtained from using MATLAB and SIMULINK software showed a good agreement with the simulation result.


A high amount of fluctuating dispersed generation units causes voltage problems in supply areas with low load density and long distribution lines. Innovative and smart solutions to these problems must be considered alongside conventional grid expansion in order to achieve an efficient electricity supply. In the context of a research project, which is partly funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, several alternative approaches for solving voltage problems are being identified and evaluated. The different approaches range from voltage control units and reactive power management systems to a change of grid structures. In this paper, several voltage regulation units are proposed and their benefit for distribution grids with a high amount of fluctuating dispersed generation units is evaluated.


In recent years, a greater focus has been placed on the influential power of domain-general psychological properties in second language acquisition and learning. The investigations of these properties, such as grit, academic procrastination and enjoyment etc. have been extensively conducted and are well-documented. Notwithstanding the surge of academic inquiry, the link between psychopathological notions and second language learning has not been adequately established and thoroughly scrutinized. The current study, therefore, aims to broaden the spectrum of second language research and explore the impact of social phobia on willingness to communicate in the second language context. Meanwhile, this research introduces the self-construct, particularly the ideal L2 self to further examine and elucidate the impact. 173 qualified Chinese speakers of L2 English participated in the study. By conducting correlation analysis, regression analysis and structural equation modelling analysis, it was revealed that social phobia had a significant negative impact on L2 willingness to communicate in social situations of meetings and public speaking. Ideal L2 self acted as a complete mediating role in the impact. Pedagogical implications and future directions were proposed and discussed.


This course is a broad introduction to a host of sensor technologies, illustrated by applications drawn from human-computer interfaces and ubiquitous computing. After extensively reviewing electronics for sensor signal conditioning, the lectures cover the principles and operation of a variety of sensor architectures and modalities, including pressure, strain, displacement, proximity, thermal, electric and magnetic field, optical, acoustic, RF, inertial, and bioelectric. Simple sensor processing ...


Biodiversity estimates are typically a function of sampling effort and in this regard it is important to develop an understanding of taxon-specific sampling requirements. Northern hemisphere studies have shown that estimates of riverine fish diversity are related to sampling effort, but such studies are lacking in the southern hemisphere. We used a dataset obtained from boat electro-fishing the fish community along an essentially continuous 13-km reach of the Murrumbidgee River, Australia, to investigate sampling effort effects on fish diversity estimates. This represents the first attempt to investigate relationships between sampling effort and the detection of fish species in a large lowland river in Australia. Seven species were recorded. Species-specific patterns in catch per unit effort were evident and are discussed in terms of solitary and gregarious species, recreational fishing and the monitoring of rare and threatened species. There was a requirement to sample substantial lengths of river to describe total species richness of the fish community in this river reach. To this end, randomly allocated sampling effort and use of species richness estimators produced accurate estimates of species richness without the requirement for excessive levels of effort. Twenty operations were required to estimate species richness at this site, highlighting the need for comparable studies of river fish communities in lowland rivers elsewhere in Australia and the southern hemisphere.


ABSTRACT The musculoskeletal system is important for balancing metabolic activity and maintaining health. Recent studies have shown that distortions in homeostasis of the intestinal microbiota are correlated with or may even contribute to abnormalities in musculoskeletal system function. Research has also shown that the intestinal flora and its secondary metabolites can impact the musculoskeletal system by regulating various phenomena, such as inflammation and immune and metabolic activities. Most of the existing literature supports that reasonable nutritional intervention helps to improve and maintain the homeostasis of intestinal microbiota, and may have a positive impact on musculoskeletal health. The purpose of organizing, summarizing and discussing the existing literature is to explore whether the intervention methods, including nutritional supplement and moderate exercise, can affect the muscle and bone health by regulating the microecology of the intestinal flora. More in-depth efficacy verification experiments will be helpful for clinical applications.


In his renowned essay on 'The New Brutalism' in 1955, Reyner Banham defined as one of its main characteristics the notion of 'image'. He further asserted that only 'conceptual' things might be considered to be 'image-makers'. He cited paintings by Jackson Pollock, the Lever Building, the 1954 Cadillac Cabrio, the roofscape of the Unité in Marseilles and photographs displayed in the Parallel of Life and Art exhibition as examples of contemporary 'images'. This paper proposes to investigate the notion of 'image' propounded by Banham and to assess its importance, in particular for the architectural debate of its time. The first section explores how Reyner Banham undertook an operative re-interpretation of contemporary methodology in the fields of new art history and architectural theory (Panofsky, Wittkower), which used the term 'image' as an expression of 'conceptual' thinking. The second considers in detail how Banham applied the characteristics of these contemporary notions of 'image' (informal, topological, etc.) to architecture. The third and final section seeks to demonstrate that Banham's claim to a contemporary 'image' for the artistic and architectural production of his time, and the examples he cites to this end, cannot be subsumed merely as a desire for formal renewal but must be understood as the expression of a major conceptual shift in architectural theory, one that was profoundly influenced by scientific literature of the postwar period (Law Whyte, Waddington, Medawar, etc.).


Mesenchymal stem cells are a virtually ubiquitous population of adult stem cells, able to differentiate into various tissue lineages. As they are multipotent and easy to grow in culture, they are at present considered very attractive candidates for tissue repair and gene therapy. With the exception of a few reports, mesenchymal stem cell morphology has been widely disregarded in the past years. In this paper we discuss the establishment of mesenchymal stem cell cultures from equine adipose tissue and describe their fine structure by transmission electron microscopy. The cultured cells revealed a fibroblastoid appearance and were characterized by an eccentric nucleus with multiple nucleoli, dense cytoplasm rich in ribosomes, a rough endoplasmic reticulum with dilated cisternae, elongated mitochondria and heterogeneous vacuolar inclusions. In addition, they were often interconnected by adhesion structures located on the cell body and on cytoplasmic processes contacting other cells. The features observed are evocative of an undifferentiated cellular phenotype and of an intense synthetic and metabolic activity.


OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study was to investigate the current impact of dietary counseling on the risk for urolithiasis.

METHODS
A retrospective cohort study of the patients treated in our stone clinics from July 2007 to February 2009 was carried out. Patients' urinary risk factors for stone disease were evaluated with pre- and postintervention 24-hour urine collections. All patients received dietary recommendations from a registered dietician at each visit.

RESULTS
One hundred thirty-seven subjects were identified and managed initially with only dietary interventions to address their urinary stone risk parameters. Average follow-up for this group was 15.19 ± 13.7 months. Subjects showed significant changes in urine volume (71.1%, 1.68 ± 0.68 to 2.59 ± 0.80 L/day, p < 0.0001), urine sodium (58.1%, 229.68 ± 72.51 to 144.65 ± 52.70 mmol/day, p < 0.0001), urine calcium (43.8%, 314.33 ± 95.75 to 216.81 ± 80.90 mg/day, p < 0.0001), urinary uric acid (50%, 0.821 ± 0.210 to 0.622 ± 0.128 g/day, p < 0.0001), urinary citrate (50.7%, 583.19 ± 330.86 to 797.36 ± 412.31, p < 0.0001), and urine oxalate (55.5%, 46.28 ± 10.31 to 32.56 ± 9.02 mg/day, p < 0.0001). The supersaturation for calcium oxalate also decreased significantly from baseline (9.34-5.03, p < 0.0001).

CONCLUSION
Urolithiasis is a multifactorial disease requiring a multidisciplinary approach. Our results support the use of dietary counseling by a registered dietician in the management of urolithiasis.


In-situ non-premixed flames were studied by the combination of laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and machine learning to obtain an accurate depiction of the local structures of diffusion flames. Six candles were utilized as representative sources of the non-premixed flames. The use of the intensity ratio of H/O provided the point information about the distribution of the local fuel to the oxidizer without disturbing the flame. The H/O ratio tends to decrease from the flame centerline to the border. The concentrations of H and C at the flame centerline are high due to the ionization/fragmentation of candle wax molecules. To discriminate the non-premixed flames with the candle as a representative, twenty-nine machine learning classification models of the classification learner app were implemented on LIBS data. The quadratic discriminant analysis and neural network models provided unprecedented optimum results for training and for testing in the case of distinguishing all candles. The cubic support vector machines (SVM) and Neural Network gave the best results for both training (validation) and predicting the spatial positions in a candle flame. The reported procedure can be potentially applied to the aviation, space, and engine manufacturer industries to improve the efficiency of combustion and reduce pollutant emissions.


Incomplete reproductive isolation promotes gene flow between diverging taxa. However, any gene encoding for traits involved in the reproductive barriers will be less prone to introgression than neutral markers. Comparing introgression rates among loci is thus informative of the number and functions of loci involved in the reproductive barriers. This study aimed at identifying possible mechanisms of restriction to gene flow across a zone of recent secondary contact between Larus argentatus and Larus cachinnans by comparing introgression patterns for nine microsatellite loci, a fragment of mitochondrial DNA and a set of phenotypic traits. The low linkage disequilibrium between neutral nuclear markers indicated introgression without any barrier to gene flow. However, asymmetric introgression of mitochondrial DNA suggested that interspecific crosses may be more successful in one direction. The introgression rate for phenotypic traits was variable and low compared to neutral molecular markers. This was particularly evident in colouration of bare parts: individuals with intermediate colouration were scarcer in sympatry than expected if the genomes recombined freely. We hypothesized that one of these variables, the orbital ring colour, may play a role in mate choice, acting as an incomplete premating barrier through assortative mating. This study emphasizes that multilocus approaches are useful to discriminate among possible mechanisms responsible for the maintenance of hybrid zones.


Secretory carcinoma (SC) was originally described as mammary analogue secretory carcinoma (MASC). We present here a case of 33 years old male who came to ENT outpatient department with a complaint of swelling over the left side of his neck for 8 months. On Fine-needle aspiration cytology, an impression of cytomorphological features suggestive of acinic cell carcinoma (Milan category V) was given. Left functional endoscopic sinus surgery was done. On histopathology, a final impression of Secretory carcinoma, the left submandibular gland was given with pathological stage classification as pT2N0Mx. SC of the salivary gland is a rare entity that may pose diagnostic challenges. Awareness of its cytologic features is paramount to achieve an accurate diagnosis. Morphologic interpretation must be supported by an immunohistochemical profile and molecular studies to confirm a diagnosis of SC.


The capital structure of a company is not the result of chance; it is in principle the result of a decision to integrate a whole set of factors. Thus, in order to understand the diversity of debt behavior of companies listed on the BRVM, several factors must be taken into consideration. The main objective of this article is to verify the factors that can influence the financial structure of BRVM-listed firms and to analyze their influence.
 Our study focuses on a sample of 28 BRVM-listed firms over a period of 11 years (2009 to 2019), using panel data.
 Following an econometric study involving the methods of generalized least squares (fixed effect) and generalized method of moments (one-step), we tested the influence of traditional firm-related determinants and corporate governance determinants on leverage.
The results reveal that most of the determinants explain the leverage behavior of firms listed on the BRVM. They show that the variables size, tangibility, cost of financing, tax savings not related to debt is significant and positively influence the level of debt, these results are explained by the trade-off theory. Unlike the variable profitability, the size of the board of directors which are significant and influence negatively the level of debt. These results confirm the predictions of the hierarchical preference theory.
However, the variable growth opportunity, liquidity and power separation are not significant, i.e. they do not explain the debt behavior of our study sample.
The results obtained from this research will help explain the financing policy of firms listed on the BRVM. In addition, they will be used by the managers of the companies to find some answers to their decisions concerning the policy of indebtedness.


Between 1845 and 1855, 2 million Irish men and women fled their famine-ravaged homeland, many to settle in large British and American cities that were already wrestling with a complex array of urban problems. In this innovative work of comparative urban history, Matthew Gallman looks at how two cities, Philadelphia and Liverpool, met the challenges raised by the influx of immigrants. Gallman examines how citizens and policymakers in Philadelphia and Liverpool dealt with such issues as poverty, disease, poor sanitation, crime, sectarian conflict, and juvenile delinquency. By considering how two cities of comparable population and dimensions responded to similar challenges, he sheds new light on familiar questions about distinctive national characteristics--without resorting to claims of "American exceptionalism." In this critical era of urban development, English and American cities often evolved in analogous ways, Gallman notes. But certain crucial differences--in location, material conditions, governmental structures, and voluntaristic traditions, for example--inspired varying approaches to urban problem solving on either side of the Atlantic. |This work of comparative history looks at how two rapidly growing cities, Philadelphia and Liverpool, coped with the urban challenges raised by the influx of Irish immigrants in the mid-nineteenth century.


In this review we discuss general trends in the use of alkali bromide and iodide (ABI) fluxes for exploratory crystal growth. The ABI fluxes are ionic solution fluxes at moderate to high temperatures, 207 to ~1,300°C, which offer a good degree of flexibility in the selection of the temperature profile and solubility. Although their main use is to dissolve and recrystallize "soft" species such as chalcogenides, many compositions with "hard" anions, including oxides and nitrides, have been obtained from the ABI fluxes, highlighting their unique versatility. ABI fluxes can serve to provide a reaction and crystallization medium for different types of starting materials, mostly the elemental and binary compounds. As the use of alkali halide fluxes creates an excess of the alkali cations, these fluxes are often reactive, incorporating one of its components to the final compositions, although some examples of non-reactive ABI fluxes are known.


Lyrics in song are intended to send a message to the audience or music lovers. Composers use figurative language as the media to convey their message. One of the figurative languages that is mostly used in song's lyrics is Metaphor. This study was intended to investigate the types of metaphor used in One Direction Album. The objective of this study to identify the types of metaphor found in the song lyrics and to analyze metaphor meaning in One Direction song. This study adopted a descriptive qualitative research design. Three songs by One Direction had been chosen as the data of this study; Story of My Life, Steal My Girl and Drag Me Down. The data were analyzed its metaphor by using Lakoff and Johnson theory, while in investigating the meaning, Chaer's theory of contextual meaning was used. The result of the study showed that based on the three types of metaphor, structural metaphor becomes the most frequently used in the song lyrics, meanwhile 2 of 3 songs used all of the three types of metaphor; Orientation, Structural and Ontological Metaphor. In answering the second research question about the meaning of each metaphor, each lyric has been analyzed through content analysis to know the true meaning of what the song writer want to express in his/her lyrics and each lyric has different contextual meaning which is elaborated further in this study.


The present study aimed to screen and identify of indole acetic acid (IAA) producing actinomycetes isolates from the rhizosphere of sugarcane and rice and to evaluate the effects of these isolates on plant growth under pot experiment conditions. Out of eleven IAA producing actinomycete isolates, two isolates include AS13-2 and AS14 showed the highest ability to produce IAA 29.02 and 17.17μg/mL respectively. Based on morphological and 16S rDNA sequence analysis indicated these isolates belong to Streptomyces genus. Pot culture experiments revealed that sugarcane seedlings inoculated with the IAA producing Streptomyces sp. AS14-2 gave the best enhancement of plant growth and significantly increased shoot lengths, shoot fresh weight, shoot dry weight, root lengths, root fresh weight and root dry weight compared with un-inoculated control treatments. These results suggest that the IAA producing Streptomyces sp. AS14-2 could be a promising candidate for utilization in growth improvement in sugarcane crop.


This study examined the symmetric and asymmetric effects of military expenditure on the unemployment rate in South Africa using quarterly data from 1994Q1 and 2019Q4. The study adopted the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) and nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) frameworks and accounted for structural breaks in the military expenditure-unemployment nexus. The ARDL results revealed that military spending reduces unemployment in the long run for models with and without structural break but aggravates it in the short-run without a structural break. For the nonlinear ARDL results, irrespective of whether we account for a structural break or not, a positive change in military spending increases unemployment while a negative change in military spending reduces unemployment, especially in the long run. This implies that an increase in military spending is detrimental to unemployment reduction, whereas a reduction in military spending would reduce unemployment. Thus, the policy implication of the study is that the government need to prioritise other forms of spending over military spending in its drive to abate unemployment.


In research study conducted on adoption behaviour of pomegranate growers of Barmer district of Gujaratstate with the major objectives of measuring the personal, socio-economic and situational, extension communication and psychological characteristics of pomegranate growers and their adoption behavior. It was observed that the more than half (52.00 per cent) of the respondents were in middle age group, having (58.00 per cent) primary to secondary level of education and medium size of land holding (61.00 per cent). Near half of the (47.00 per cent) of the respondents possessed more than 75.00 per cent of land under pomegranate cultivation, small size of family (76.00 per cent), having medium level of income (58.00 per cent) and medium level of cropping intensity (68.00 per cent). More than four fifth (82.00 per cent) of the respondents had medium social participation, near to three fourth (72.00 per cent) had medium level of awareness regarding value addition, 76.00 per cent of them had medium pomegranate yield index, more than half (53.00 per cent and 54.00 per cent) of the pomegranate growers had medium extension participation and medium level of mass media exposure, respectively, 67.00 per cent had medium level of extent of adoption, 65.00 per cent were found in medium category of management orientation. More than half (54.00 per cent) of pomegranate growers fell in best level of innovativeness, 84.00 per cent of them were in average level of progressiveness and 74.00 per cent of them had average level of knowledge regarding pomegranate cultivation. In case of the practice wise adoption of improved pomegranate production technology, the practice, viz., variety, planting distance, integrated disease management and integrated insects pests management were highly adopted by the pomegranate growers.


European integration has consequences on national legal systems, and therefore
affects the prefects, since they represent the state on the local level. The treaty
establishing a European Constitution illustrates a further step in the involvement of
prefectoral institutions. Although it does not radically change what exists at present, the
text goes more deeply into European competencies in such a way that areas up to now
governed by prefects according to only national rules and regulations will in future be
subject to Community requirements which prefects will have to take into account.
Moreover, the fact that certain European policies defined in earlier treaties have been
maintained and clarified confirms the importance of the prefectoral relay in the
implementation of important policies (laws concerning foreigners, economic and social
cohesion policy). However, although the treaty establishing a Constitution will bring
about changes in prefects'traditional involvements, changes in internal law are likely to
modify the extent of such changes.


In this paper, we first propose a novel interaction model, CEA (Commands Embedded in Actions). It can explain the way how some existing systems reduce the work-load of their user. We next extend the CEA and build ECEA (Extended CEA) model. The ECEA enables robots to achieve more complicated tasks. On this extension, we employ ACS (Action Coding System) which can describe segmented human acts and clarifies the relationship between user's actions and robot's actions in a task. The ACS utilizes the CEA's strong point which enables a user to send a command to a robot by his/her natural action for the task. The instance of the ECEA led by using the ACS is a temporal extension which has the user keep a final state of a previous his/her action. We apply the temporal extension of the ECEA for a sweeping task. The high-level task, a cooperative task between the user and the robot can be realized. The robot with simple reactive behavior can sweep the region of under an object when the user picks up the object. In addition, we measure user's cognitive loads on the ECEA and a traditional method, DCM (Direct Commanding Method) in the sweeping task, and compare between them. The results show that the ECEA has a lower cognitive load than the DCM significantly.


Classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are widely used to inspect the behavior of zinc(II)-proteins at the atomic level, hence the need to properly model the zinc(II) ion and the interaction with its ligands. Different approaches have been developed to represent zinc(II) sites, with the bonded and nonbonded models being the most used. In the present work, we tested the well-known zinc AMBER force field (ZAFF) and a recently developed nonbonded force field (NBFF) to assess how accurately they reproduce the dynamic behavior of zinc(II)-proteins. For this, we selected as benchmark six zinc-fingers. This superfamily is extremely heterogenous in terms of architecture, binding mode, function, and reactivity. From repeated MD simulations, we computed the order parameter (S2) of all backbone N-H bond vectors in each system. These data were superimposed to heteronuclear Overhauser effect measurements taken by NMR spectroscopy. This provides a quantitative estimate of the accuracy of the FFs in reproducing protein dynamics, leveraging the information about the protein backbone mobility contained in the NMR data. The correlation between the MD-computed S2 and the experimental data indicated that both tested FFs reproduce well the dynamic behavior of zinc(II)-proteins, with comparable accuracy. Thus, along with ZAFF, NBFF represents a useful tool to simulate metalloproteins with the advantage of being extensible to diverse systems such as those bearing dinuclear metal sites.


The issue of groundwater management remains a practical concern in many regions throughout the world, while water managers continue to grapple with the question of how to manage this resource. In this article, we attempt to bring the most advanced and appropriate tools to bear on the issue of resource allocation involving groundwater. Our objective is to demonstrate the state of the art in the literature on ways to think about this complex resource and to deal with the important economic issues emanating from its complexity. We present the conceptual framework within which economists examine the elements interacting in the management of groundwater resources, indicate why the role of the market is limited with respect to the price of this very complex resource, and point to the mechanisms that can pull competitive groundwater price and quality-graded quantity of groundwater in line with their equilibrium levels. In particular, we critically review economic models of groundwater use, examine the potential for groundwater management, discuss the difficulties encountered in the estimation of the relevant control variables of such models, and identify the advantages and limitations of the instruments devised for the efficient use (allocation) of this resource. Finally, we argue that devised regulatory schemes usually ignore the information and knowledge needed for their implementation, and we suggest a core of conditions necessary for successful groundwater management reforms.


Shikimate kinase (SK), the fifth enzyme of the aromatic amino acid biosynthesis, is a recognized target for antibiotic drug discovery. The potential of the distinct dynamic apolar gap, which isolates the natural substrate from the solvent environment for catalysis, and the motion of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Helicobacter pylori SK enzymes, which was observed by molecular dynamics simulations, was explored for inhibition selectivity. The results of the biochemical and computational studies reveal that the incorporation of bulky groups at position C5 of 5-aminoshikimic acid and the natural substrate enhances the selectivity for the H. pylori enzyme due to key motion differences in the shikimic acid binding domain (mainly helix α5). These studies show that the less-exploited motion-based design approach not only is an alternative strategy for the development of competitive inhibitors, but could also be a way to achieve selectivity against a particular enzyme among its homologues.


We conducted a longitudinal evaluation of a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus who constitutively exhibited elevated levels of circulating alpha-interferon (alpha-IFN). This study demonstrated that the serum levels of an activity that renders the endogenous alpha-IFN acid labile are positively correlated with disease activity. This IFN acid lability-inducing activity can also be found in the sera of systemic lupus erythematosus patients who have active disease but who do not have circulating alpha-IFN.


Ninety-four patients with surgical treatment of congenital kyphosis have been reviewed. Of these, 77 had a follow-up of 2 years or more, with an average follow-up of 7 years. The average age at surgery was 15, and the average kyphosis was 75°. Twenty-seven had posterior fusion only, and 48 had combined anterior and posterior fusion. (Two others had anterior fusion only.) The average kyphosis in the two groups was the same, but the anterior and posterior group had a better correction and a better maintenance of correction than the posterior group alone. Kyphosis of less than 55° in growing children often was stabilized successfully by posterior surgery only, but adults and patients with kyphosis greater than 55° required both anterior and posterior fusion. Halo-femoral traction was responsible for two of the three paralyses in this review.


It is shown that the N -dark soliton solutions of the integrable discrete nonlinear Schrodinger (IDNLS) equation are given in terms of the Casorati determinant. The conditions for reduction, complex conjugacy, and regularity for the Casorati determinant solution are also given explicitly. The relationship between the IDNLS and the relativistic Toda lattice is discussed.


Liposomes have been applied to many fields as nanocarriers, especially in drug delivery as active molecules may be entrapped either in their aqueous interior or onto the hydrophobic surface. In this paper we describe the fabrication of layer-by-layer (LbL) films made with liposomes incorporating the anti-inflammatory ibuprofen. The liposomes were made with dipalmitoyl phosphatidyl choline (DPPC), dipalmitoyl phosphatidyl glycerol (DPPG) and palmitoyl oleoyl phosphatidyl glycerol (POPG). LbL films were assembled via alternate adsorption of the polyamidoamine dendrimer (PAMAM), generation 4, and liposomes containing ibuprofen. According to dynamic light scattering measurements, the incorporation of ibuprofen caused DPPC and DPPG liposomes to become more stable, with a decrease in diameter from 140 to 74 nm and 132 to 63 nm, respectively. In contrast, liposomes from POPG became less stable, with an increase in size from 110 to 160 nm after ibuprofen incorporation. These results were confirmed by atomic force microscopy images of LbL films, which showed a large tendency to rupture for POPG liposomes. Film growth was monitored using nanogravimetry and UV-Vis spectroscopy, indicating that growth stops after 10 bilayers. The release of ibuprofen obtained with fluorescence measurements was slower for the liposomes, with decay times of 9.2 and 8.5 h for DPPG and POPG liposomes, respectively, than for the free drug with a decay time of 5.2 h. Ibuprofen could also be released from the LbL films made with DPPG and POPG liposomes, which is promising for further uses in patches.


HLA-Cw belongs to classic HLA-I gene, HLA-Cw molecules have high polymorphism like HLA-A and B molecules. They distribute extensively on the surfaces of karyote, not only presenting endogenetic antigen to CD8+ T cells to induce specific killing effect, but also participating in immunologic reaction as the ligands of killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR). Thus it has been valued for their relations to diseases and the functions in transplantation immunity, anti virus and anti-tumor immunity.


Objective: Women with lipedema have painful excess subcutaneous fat on the limbs sparing the trunk.  The fat in lipedema has fibrosis making it resistant to loss by diet and exercise (persistent fat). People with Dercum disease (DD) have painful masses in their fat tissue on the trunk and limbs.  Lipedema can be confused with DD.  Sympathomimetic amines such as amphetamine, dextroamphetamine or phentermine anecdotally appear to improve weight loss and quality of life in people with lipedema or DD.  The primary objective was to address perceived benefits and downsides of prescribed sympathomimetic amines (SA) including dextroamphetamine, amphetamine or phentermine in women with lipedema and men and women with DD.
Methods: Fifty-four participants with lipedema and 26 with DD prescribed SA for ³3 months were consented to respond to a set of 82 categorical scale and descriptive questions and the validated lower extremity functional scale, based on the clinical experience of one of the authors (XXX) and her patients.  Significance was set at a<0.05.  Data were analyzed by Wilcoxon signed rank tests; continuous data was assessed by t-tests.
Results: Participants with lipedema and DD prescribed SA perceived significant improvements in energy level, ability to exercise, leg heaviness, body pain, functionality, and memory. Average self-reported weight decreased by ~25 kg in participants with DD and ~12 kglothing size  About 90% of participants felt their quality of life improved.  Less than 20% of participants reported side effects from the sympathomimetic amines including insomnia, abdominal pain and visual changes.
Conclusions: People with lipedema and DD report a significant benefit to risk ratio for their fat, pain and quality of life when prescribed sympathomimetic amines. A randomized prospective study would confirm benefits, safety and side effects.


In order to ensure chemical quality of river basins, measures as required in the Water Framework Directive will also have to address contaminated sediments with subsequent monitoring of their successful application. Financial resources need to be allocated as part of a river basin plan to those contaminated sites that pose the biggest risk to the river basin. In order to differentiate between areas with elevated contaminant levels ("areas of concern") and those sites from which contaminated sediments can become resuspended and transported with the river, affecting the water phase and downstream sites in the catchment ("areas of risk"), the dynamics of sediment and suspended matter need to come into focus. Hydrological data have to be combined with concentration of suspended matter and its contaminant concentration to allow assessment of particle bound contaminant load. Each of these kinds of data, however, are subject to uncertainties--e.g. due to natural variability, heterogeneity of the matrix, challenges during sampling and chemical analyses of the suspended matter. Considering these uncertainties throughout the traceability chains of data collection, use of different lines of evidence and tools like fuzzy logic will increase the confidence of potentially costly management decisions.


In this paper, the tribocorrosion behaviour of EH 47 high-strength ship hull steel in a 3.5% NaCl solution was investigated. The tribological and corrosion tests were carried out on a Si3N4 ball-onEH47 high-strength ship hull steel disc tribometer under different sliding time conditions. The disks were continuously immersed in sandy 3.5% NaCl solution during the whole process of the tribological tests. After the tribological tests, electrochemical tests were carried out to obtain typical polarization curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy diagrams. The corrosion experiments were performed to investigate the effect of abrasion on corrosion behaviour by immersing the samples in a container with 3.5% NaCl solution and 5 wt.% silica sand at room temperature for 7, 14, and 49 days. The micrographs, compositions and corrosion products of the worn scars were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) microanalyses.


The Sambyelcho(三別抄) played an active part in Jindo(珍島) and Jejudo(濟州道). The Sambyolcho all collapsed in response to the attack of the Goryeo and Mongol Allies(麗蒙聯合軍). The Goryeo and Mongol Allies mobilized 9,000 persons in jindo and it mobilized 12,000 persons in Jejudo. The Sambyelcho of Jejudo was as strong as Jindo. The Mongol Army led the attack in Jindo. However, the Goryeo Army of the attack was positive in Jejudo. The reason has strengthening and relation of sovereignty. King Wonjong(元宗) of the Goryeo built its national ancestral shrink(太廟) and academies(學堂). And Wonjong protected the property of self-influence. Wonjong expanded military authoriry and it invited the army. After all, the Goryeo Army became the main armies of the Goryeo and Mongol Allies. The suvereignty of Wonjong was fundamentally restrictive. However, the authority of Wonjong was expanded by positive military activities.


This article uses newly available Iraqi records to examine Saddam Hussein's strategic view of Israel, from the time of his political ascendancy in the late 1970s to the Persian Gulf War of 1990–1991. It sheds light on a variety of issues: the sources and motives of Saddam's bitter hostility to Israel, his desire for a bloody war of attrition against the "Zionist entity," the role of Israel in motivating the Iraqi nuclear programme, Iraq–Israel relations during the Iran–Iraq War, Saddam's fears of an Israeli strike in the run-up to the invasion of Kuwait in 1990, and his motives for attacking Israel with SCUD missiles in 1991.


We used a sensitive C1q-binding assay to measure levels of soluble immune complexes in 182 samples of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from control patients and patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Soluble immune complexes in CSF were detected in 16% of patients with progressive MS, 38% of patients with exacerbating-remitting MS, 55% of patients with infectious or inflammatory diseases, 3% of patients with noninflammatory neurologic disorders, and in 0% of control patients with back pain. No correlations were found between the results of the C1q-binding assay and abnormalities of other CSF parameters. These included an elevated level of myelin basic protein, pleocytosis, oligoclonal bands, or an increased IgG level. Because of the lack of correlation to laboratory indexes of disease activity and the nonspecificity of a positive test, the C1q-binding assay seems to have little clinical usefulness in the diagnosis or management of patients with MS.


This paper presents the losses characterization on distribution transformers windings. The losses are determined through the Frequency Response Analysis (FRA), using the Finite Element Method (FEM). The losses on the windings are evaluated on a frequency range established from 100Hz to 2MHz for a specific transformer. Finally, a methodology is proposed, that can be applied to different transformers.


The hyperbolic heat conduction equation is applied to investigate the rapid transient heat conduction in IC chip instead of the classical Fourier equation. The present study applies an analytical method and a hybrid numerical scheme of the Laplace transform technique and the control volume method in conjunction with the hyperbolic shape functions to investigate the present problem. For the numerical scheme, the Laplace transform method is used to remove the time-dependent terms in the governing differential equation and the boundary conditions, and then the transformed equations are discretized by the control volume scheme. The analytical solution is obtained from a simple mathematical analysis. In order to evidence the reliability and accuracy of the present results, a comparison between the present numerical results and the analytical solution is made. The results show that the present numerical results do not exhibit numerical oscillations in the vicinity of the jump discontinuity and agree well with the analytic solution. It can also be observed that the time derivative of the heat generation and the relaxation time play the important role in the present problem and the non-Fourier effects are significant only for short times.


Chemical looping provides an energy- and cost-effective route for alkane utilization. However, there is considerable CO2 co-production caused by kinetically mismatched O2- bulk diffusion and surface reaction in current chemical looping oxidative dehydrogenation systems, rendering a decreased olefin productivity. Sub-monolayer or monolayer vanadia nanostructures are successfully constructed to suppress CO2 production in oxidative dehydrogenation of propane by evading the interference of O2- bulk diffusion (monolayer versus multi-layers). The highly dispersed vanadia nanostructures on titanium dioxide support showed over 90 % propylene selectivity at 500 °C, exhibiting turnover frequency of 1.9×10-2  s-1 , which is over 20 times greater than that of conventional crystalline V2 O5 . Combining in situ spectroscopic characterizations and DFT calculations, we reveal the loading-reaction barrier relationship through the vanadia/titanium interfacial interaction.


A 4-year-old dog presented with lethargy and bradycardia (heart rate 40 bpm). Electrocardiogram diagnosed third-degree atrioventricular block with narrow QRS complexes. An atropine response test did not result in a change of the heart rate. Venous blood gas documented moderate hyperkalaemia and an adrenocorticotrophic hormone stimulation test was consistent with hypoadrenocorticism. The patient repeatedly converted to sinus rhythm with normalisation of serum potassium levels following medical treatment. This is the first report of third-degree atrioventricular block in a patient with hypoadrenocorticism that was not vagally mediated and did not require pacemaker implantation, with conversion to sinus rhythm following treatment of the hyperkalaemia.


UNLABELLED
Permanent cardiac pacing is a widely applied procedure in invasive cardiology. The aim of our study was the analysis of the localisation of the tip of the pacemaker lead and its course in the right ventricle. Research was carried out on a group of 12 patients (5F, 7M), from 40 to 93 years of age (average 70 +/- 15 yrs) with permanent cardiac pacing or implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). Subsequent echocardiographic views were applied: an apical four chamber view, a subcostal one and a parasternal right ventricular inflow tract view. At the level of the tricuspid annulus the electrode was positioned: the anterior leaflet--41.7% (5 pts), the anteroseptal commissure 25% (3 pts), the posterior leaflet 8.3% (1 pt) and the septal one--8.3% (1 pt). In 16.7% (2 patients) the lead was positioned centrally in the right atrioventricular orifice. Regarding the further positioning of the electrode in the ventricle, in 41.7% (5 pts) the leads were placed along the interventricular septum, in 16.7% (2 pts) along the anterior wall of right ventricle and in 41.7% (5 pts) across the centre of the right ventricle. The tip of the lead was positioned in the apex of the right ventricle in 83.4% (10 pts). In the remaining 16.7% (2 pts) the position was not apical--in 1 patient the anterior wall of the right ventricle and in 1 patient the interventricular septum. In the VVI pacing mode the electrode did not lie on the interventricular septum. In contrast to this in 80% of patients (4 pts) having the DDD pacing mode the lead was situated on the interventricular septum on its course downwards to the ventricle.

CONCLUSIONS
1) On the level of the leaflets of the tricuspid valve the lead most often was positioned at the level of the anterior leaflet and the anteroseptal commissure. 2) Most patients had an apical localisation of the tip of the lead. 3) Differences between morphological and echocardiographic studies are related to the intravital and the two-dimensional character of echocardiography, and probably to the small population of the group examined.


In 2014, Berghia marinae Carmona, Pola, Gosliner & Cervera, 2014 from Senegal was described along with the revision of the genus Berghia Trinchese, 1877. In this study, we establish a second record for the senegalese species B. marinae in the Mediterranean Sea, 4,000 Km away from its type location. The morphological mismatch from the original description hampered its identification, and thus, a molecular approach was needed. Multilocus phylogenetic trees were inferred from Maximum-likelihood and Bayesian analyses based on partial DNA sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I and 16S rRNA genes, and the nuclear gene histone-3. Species delimitation analyses were performed to support the phylogenetic results and a new morphological description is provided complementing earlier information on this barely known species.


Within the time permitted it will be necessary to state conclusions somewhat positively without developing the premises on which the conclusions are based. I believe that the basic treatment of pathological drinking should be largely psychological and reeducational and not pharmacological. In my opinion the long list of drugs, to which tetraethylthiuramdisulfide (antabuse®) is a recent addition, has not made much treatment impress on alcoholism. If my hypothesis that pathological drinking is chiefly due to emotional immaturity dated in childhood is correct, then one would scarcely expect drugs to deal successfully with the issue, which is one of psychopathology rather than tissue damage. Incidentally, the use of tetraethylthiuramdisulfide is not without danger, perhaps particularly to the liver, and I have seen it produce severe psychotic reactions. 1 Briefly, I will divide my treatment concept into two subjects—psychological and reeducational conditions of treatment and physical adjuncts. PSYCHOLOGICAL AND REEDUCATIONAL CONDITIONS OF


In this letter, a new derivation of Keldysh's formula is presented and a brief discussion about the comparison between the new derivation and the original one is given.


Children's social interactions with their peers influence their psychosocial adjustment; consequently, the relationship between class-wide peer liking, same-gender peer liking, and school adjustment was explored in two age groups. Peer liking was analysed using the social relations model (SRM). In Study 1, 205 children (103 female and 102 male, M(age) = 7.15, SD= 7 months) completed measures of peer liking and school adjustment, and teachers completed the Short-Form Teacher Rating Scale of School Adjustment (Short-Form TRSSA). In Study 2, 197 children (98 female and 90 male, M(age) = 9.87, SD= 5.9 months) completed measures of peer liking and school adjustment. Both studies yielded evidence of reciprocal liking and individual differences in the ratings of liking awarded to, and elicited from, both peer groups. Multigroup path analysis, with groups created according to gender, revealed that elements of liking predicted different aspects of school adjustment with some variation according to age and gender. Together, these findings suggest that the SRM can be used to examine peer liking and underscore the importance of children's peers for school adjustment.


Real-world talking faces often accompany with natural head movement. However, most existing talking face video generation methods only consider facial animation with fixed head pose. In this paper, we address this problem by proposing a deep neural network model that takes an audio signal A of a source person and a very short video V of a target person as input, and outputs a synthesized high-quality talking face video with personalized head pose (making use of the visual information in V), expression and lip synchronization (by considering both A and V). The most challenging issue in our work is that natural poses often cause in-plane and out-of-plane head rotations, which makes synthesized talking face video far from realistic. To address this challenge, we reconstruct 3D face animation and re-render it into synthesized frames. To fine tune these frames into realistic ones with smooth background transition, we propose a novel memory-augmented GAN module. By first training a general mapping based on a publicly available dataset and fine-tuning the mapping using the input short video of target person, we develop an effective strategy that only requires a small number of frames (about 300 frames) to learn personalized talking behavior including head pose. Extensive experiments and two user studies show that our method can generate high-quality (i.e., personalized head movements, expressions and good lip synchronization) talking face videos, which are naturally looking with more distinguishing head movement effects than the state-of-the-art methods.


Purpose: We report a case demonstrating the importance of trial fitting before the dispensing of prescription contact lenses. Methods: The patient was an 18-year-old computer-using experienced hydrogel lens wearer who ran out of contact lens supply. The patient purchased a brand new box of daily disposable lenses from a retail store having known his back vertex power. No trial fitting of the lenses was performed at the point of sale. Results: After a day of wear of the lenses with significant computer use, the patient removed them and went to bed, but the next morning, presented on an emergency basis with severe pain and blurry vision in both eyes. Slit lamp examination showed significant bilateral corneal erosions that were treated with prophylactic antibiotics, steroids, and lubricants. A bandage contact lens was further given to his right eye. The characteristics of the daily disposable lenses and his computer overuse were viewed as contributing factors to the complication. Conclusions: The dispensing and wear of prescription contact lenses without a proper selection and fit led to bilateral corneal erosions in this patient. Though our case occurred in Taiwan, a jurisdiction where prescription contact lens sale is not regulated, the authors note that such a scenario could occur in jurisdictions where contact lens sale is regulated if, after confirmation of back vertex power, no effort is made to ensure that a purchased lens is safe or appropriate for a patient, such as when lenses are purchased through internet suppliers or in certain commercial retail settings.


THE RELATIONSHIP AMONG EMOTION UNDERSTANDING, LANGUAGE, AND SOCIAL BEHAVIOR IN CHILDREN WITH LANGUAGE IMPAIRMENT Lara L. Goldie Department of Communication Disorders Master of Science This study examines the influence of emotion understanding, language, and working memory on reticence and prosocial behavior in children with language impairment (LI). The Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language (CASL; CarrowWoolfolk, 1999) and The Universal Nonverbal Intelligence Test (UNIT; Bracken & McCallum, 2003) were administered to 39 children with LI and 39 typical age-matched peers. A nonword repetition task and two tasks measuring emotion understanding were also administered. Each of the participant's classroom teachers completed The Teacher Behavioral Rating Scale (TBRS; Hart & Robinson, 1996). Structural equation modeling was used to estimate models of the data using a maximum likelihood procedure for each of the groups. Results showed that for children with typical language skills, both dissemblance and language were negatively linked to reticence. For the children with LI, there was a positive relationship between dissemblance and prosocial behavior and a significant negative relationship between standard language score and prosocial behavior. When the four individual paths were tested one at a time, by constraining the estimates of each of the paths to be equal across groups, only the effect of language on prosocial behavior was significantly different between groups.