In this work we study interactions of double patterning technology (DPT) with lithography, masks synthesis and physical design flows for the 22nm device node. DPT methods decompose the original design intent into two individual masking layers which are each patterned using single exposures and existing 193nm lithography tools. Double exposure and etch patterning steps create complexity for both process and design flows. DPT decomposition is a critical software step which will be performed in physical design and also in mask synthesis. Decomposition includes cutting (splitting) of original design intent polygons into multiple polygons where required; and coloring of the resulting polygons. We evaluate the ability to meet key physical design goals such as: reduce circuit area; minimize rework; ensure DPT compliance; guarantee patterning robustness on individual layer targets; ensure symmetric wafer results; and create uniform wafer density for the individual patterning layers.


Background Our national Lupus support and education program is offered to people with lupus and their families in underserved Latino and African American communities. As part of our community service plan, we have collaborated with an affiliated urban medical center's pediatric rheumatology department, and our internal dept. of public and patient education's nutrition education program designed to provide culturally sensitive education to children and their families. Objectives Health disparities (our targeted community is 71% Hispanic, with higher rates of obesity and lower SES than overall city rates) combined with increased risks (CVD, osteoporosis) related to SLE and its treatment indicate the need for sound nutritional practice. The goal of our needs assessment was to get a better understanding of teens and their parents' nutritional choices, knowledge and values, along with potential barriers, to assess the efficacy of a further intervention. Methods Written surveys were administered through telephone interviews (English/Spanish), with 48 questions (teens) and 55 questions (parents) of our lupus support program. The survey design incorporated assessment tools from the Dept. of Agriculture for a better understanding of the nutritional value, knowledge and practices of teens. The survey had 7 sections: demographics, home environment, food intake, knowledge of food pyramid/healthy diet/food labels, exercise, and interest in an educational intervention. Also, teen and parent focus groups were conducted for a more detailed understanding of survey results. Results We contacted 90 teens and parents; 35 (11 parents: mean age 46 and 24 teens: mean age 17) completed the phone interview. 46% were Latino; 83% female. 60% reported household income < $30,000/yr. and 34% reported Spanish as the primary language spoken at home. Although 63%of parents and 42% of teens say "the things I eat and drink now are healthy so there is no reason for me to make changes" 82% of parents and 33% of teens eat at fast food places 1-3 times per week. Importantly, 55%of parents strongly disagree that what one eats or drinks can affect lupus, yet 100% of parents know of health conditions related to eating too much fat (i.e Obesity, CVD). Almost 40% of teens did not know of any health conditions related to insufficient calcium; one quarter of teens did not know of any health conditions related to eating too much salt. Although 88% of teens felt reading food labels is important, many teens in our focus group felt that price and taste were more important, and food labels were hard to understand. They also felt that their neighborhoods didn't have a lot of "healthy" foods Conclusions Our phone survey and focus group results indicated a desire for a nutritional intervention that parents and teens they would attend together. These findings, revealing incongruities between conveying socially acceptable responses and actual behaviors, as well as gaps in knowledge and access, are the first step in informing the development of an educational intervention that meets our community's needs. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


Plasma based reconfigurable RF devices are always being a research interest because of its innovative range of applications and potential advantages over the conventional RF devices. It has unprecedented applications in the field of defense electronics and communication. The reconfigurable RF/Microwave Plasma Photonic Crystal (PPC) and antenna are devices similar like mantellic antenna, where plasma is used as a guiding medium for the propagation of EM waves. The characteristic of plasma based RF devices can be reconfigured by changing the plasma properties. Plasma is basically pre-ionized gas that contains equal numbers of positive and negative charged particles whose collective behavior is neutral. The physical properties of plasma like permittivity, permeability, conductivity etc. mainly depends on the plasma density which can be dynamically changed with the change of ionization potential and gas pressure. Therefore, characteristics of PPC and plasma antenna can be electronically controlled. In our experiments, we have developed a plasma column which has been used as a PPC and plasma antenna. Plasma sustained inside the column in two different states in which one state is full length plasma and another state is plasma striations called plasma blobs. These states can be achieved by having critical combination of power and gas pressure. The characteristics of PPC and plasma antenna depend on the numbers of blobs and plasma properties which has been tested by using RF coupling and verified for its reconfigurable behavior. The test results reveal the interesting behavior of the plasma antenna in its reconfigurability sense. A photograph of the experimental setup is shown in Fig. 1. The developed setup includes plasma and vacuum setup, RF signal source and automated radiation measurement system. Presentation includes the comprehensive discussion on the development of plasma antenna and PPC with the help of experimental setup.


The paper analyses the dynamic performance of polyphase reluctance motors using damping and synchronising torques. A numerical algorithm has been applied to obtain these torque components in the time domain using detailed nonlinear models of reluctance motors. The effects of all electrical motor parameters have been examined and the optimum values of parameters, which give maximum damping of hunting oscillations, have been obtained. It has also been demonstrated that these optimum parameters substantially improve the dynamic performance of reluctance motors. The presented results form a guide to the production of reluctance motors with well-damped oscillations and improved dynamic performance.


We evaluated the use of flexible biosensors based on Ni-coordinated, vertically aligned carbon nanotubes on a flexible graphite substrate (Ni/VCNTs/G) for the nonenzymatic electrochemical detection of glucose. The Ni/VCNTs/G electrodes were fabricated by a simple process of radiofrequency sputtering and plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition. We performed cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry for electrochemical characterization of the Ni/VCNTs/G electrodes. In addition, we examined the effect of mechanical bending on their sensing performance. The electrodes exhibited enhanced electrocatalytic activity toward the oxidation of glucose in alkaline solution compared to the bare graphite, Ni particles, and vertically aligned CNTs on graphite. They also exhibited a sensitivity of 950.6 μA mM−1 cm−2 to glucose with a linear range of 0.05 to 1.0 mM and a detection limit of 30 μM. In particular, there was no significant change in the amperometric signal of the electrodes, showing a sensitivity of 910.7 μA mM−1 cm−2 (only a 4% decrease in the initial response) after the 200th bending. Moreover, the Ni/VCNTs/G electrodes were less sensitive to common interfering species such as ascorbic acid, uric acid, galactose, and xylose than to glucose. To summarize, our Ni/VCNTs/G electrodes exhibited enhanced electrocatalytic activity, good sensitivity, a fast response, high selectivity, and excellent mechanical stability. Therefore, we expect that our flexible, nonenzymatic glucose biosensor based on this electrode will open exciting opportunities for wearable, real-time, and/or on-site applications in fields ranging from clinical analysis to industry.


Abstract : Most current real-time operating systems contain the same basic paradigms found in timesharing operating systems and are simply stripped down and optimized versions of timesharing operating systems. For example, while they stress fast mechanisms such as a fast context switch and the ability to respond to external interrupts quickly, they retain the main abstractions of timesharing operating systems. In addition, very often today's real-time kernels use priority scheduling. Priority scheduling is a mechanism which provides no direct support for meeting timing constraints. For example, the current technology burdens the designer with unenviable task of mapping a set of specific constraints on task executions into task priorities in such a manner that all tasks will meet their deadlines. Thus, when using the current paradigms together with priority scheduling it is difficult to predict how tasks, dynamically invoked, interact with other active tasks, where blocking over resources will occur, and what the subsequent effect of this interaction and blocking is on the timing constraints of all the tasks. Basically, currently used scheduling policies are inadequate for three main reasons: (1) they do not address the need for an integrated central processing unit scheduling and resource allocation scheme, (2) they don't handle the end-to-end scheduling problem, and (3) they are not used in a planning mode, thereby, containing a myopic view of the system capabilities.


Cluster bean [Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub.] is one of the important legume and vegetable crop in of India in recent years. A roving survey was conducted to assess the severity of anthracnose of cluster bean during kharif 2017 in Morena, Bhind, Shivpuri, Datia and Gwalior districts of northern Madhya Pradesh. Among the surveyed districts, highest severity of anthracnose was observed in Gwalior (19.23%) district followed by Datia (2.87%) while the lowest severity was observed in Bhind (0.1%) district.


Organizations respond to opportunities and risks by strategic decisions. Strategic decisions ensure the sustainable existence of organizations, but require continuous organizational change. Organizational change includes the redesign of business processes. Processes are subject to internal and external requirements. Requirements include the alignment to strategic goals, the effective and efficient use of resources and the compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Their achievement is assured by embedding internal controls into processes. Many controls can be incorporated into supporting systems, as their access control functions allow the modeling of authorization and segregation of duties. A model for the annotation of processes with controls, permissions and roles based on BPMN, COSO and XACML is presented. Additionally, a Service Oriented Architecture for the automated monitoring of controls and the timely communication of thereby detected control exceptions is proposed. The benefits of the approach are demonstrated in a prototype implementation and a corresponding case study.


Context – Serological methods have become to use first turn before all methods of clinical laboratory diagnostics, and they stay remain extremely relevant to the present day. Serologic methods are used for diagnostics as infectious (bacterial, viral, fungal, parasitic), and non-infectious (oncological, endocrine, allergic) diseases. A significant proportion of diagnostic examinations carried out by the laboratory service relates precisely to serological tests. Serologic methods remain an indispensable part of ensuring the sanitary and epidemiological well-being of each country. Development of serological diagnostics products is the subject of immunobiotechnology – a section of biotechnology, which aims to create diagnostic and immune preparations for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of human and animal diseases. Products for serological diagnostics belong to a class of medical devises. Obviously, the problem solved by such medical products is extremely responsible, because the health and life of the patient depends on the correctness of the outcome of the laboratory study. That is why, at the present stage, special attention is paid to the quality of medical devises for in vitro diagnostics, which, in turn, is connected with questions of standardization and technical regulation. A review of the medical and biological characteristics of the main common serological methods of diagnosis was made. The modern scientific and regulatory requirements for the analytical quality of products for serological in vitro diagnostics were summarized.


This article describes a distributed classroom experiment carried out by five universities in the US and Europe at the beginning of 2007. This experiment was motivated by the emergence of new digital media technology supporting uncompressed high-definition video capture, transport and display as well as the networking services required for its deployment across wide distances. The participating institutes have designed a distributed collaborative environment centered around the new technology and applied it to join the five sites into a single virtual classroom where a real course has been offered to the registered students. Here we are presenting the technologies utilized in the experiment, the results of a technology evaluation done with the help of the participating students and we identify areas of future improvements of the system. While there are a few hurdles in the path of successfully deploying this technology on a large scale, our experiment shows that the new technology is sustainable and the significant quality improvements brought by it can help build an effective distributed and collaborative classroom environment.


The paper describes the circumstances in which digital technology arises; the change is recognized in the literature as the basis of digital transformation. This transformation is understood as a deterministic economic process. However, the analysis of the deeper circumstances of this process shows that we are dealing with a vast change in the ways of understanding and describing the world, i.e. with an epistemological change. This change concerns, on the one hand, the method of creating general mathematical (including geometric) structures that are the basis of models used to describe the world, and on the other hand—tools for its description, e.g. network theory, systems theory, complexity theory. Such a broadly understood change makes the deterministic description proposed by the digital transformation too simple and shallow. Instead, the concept of predigital transformation is proposed. It includes not only the omitted historical part but also creates better and richer conditions for understanding the digital transformation process, as well as for developing appropriate conceptual tools for its use.


The traumatic event in the author's life – a mock execution – has found its way into his works, both fiction and non-fiction, in an almost obsessively repetitious manner. Dostoevsky finds this original trauma analogous to many kinds of "threshold" events in which the moment before the final crossing over – be it murder, confession or a proposal of marriage – is experienced similarly as one of heightened awareness and acute intensity. The paper explores such "threshold" events in Dostoevsky's opus.


We investigated the I-V characteristics of the double barrier stair-well structure. Resonant tunneling current is achieved by application of an electric field, which increases the transmission under positive bias and decreases it under the reverse bias. This asymmetry can be used for rectification and the device works as a quantum diode. Furthermore, the same structure can perform, under negative bias, resonant tunneling processes with different characteristics.


Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA

The majority of prognostic studies has highlighted a positive impact of intratumoral T cells on the survival of patients affected by solid tumors. The high reproducibility of these data strongly support the idea that one should take into account immune criteria for the prognostic staging of neoplastic lesions. Several studies have indeed reported a favorable clinical outcome for lung cancers patients whose neoplastic lesions contain a high density of CD8+ T cells. Moreover, we recently showed that mature dendritic cells (DC) were selectively detected in tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) in lung cancer. We showed that TLS exhibit strong structural analogies with canonical secondary lymphoid organs with clusters of mature DC and T cells surrounded by B cell follicles. Lung cancer-associated TLS also present features of an ongoing immune reaction site. Interestingly, we reported that a high density of mature DC is correlated with the long-term survival of patients affected by early-stage, advanced and metastatic lung cancer. The combination of mature DC and CD8+ T cells allows the identification of patients with the highest risk of death. Thus, the survival of lung cancer patients appears to be positively influenced by the abundance of both cell types. This raises the question of evaluating the clinical impact of these tumor-infiltrating immune cells in combination with pathological parameters in lung cancer patients.

A total of 372 patients operated for a lung cancer were enrolled in a retrospective study. Using immunohistochemistry, we demonstrated that combination of the density of mature DC and CD8+ T cells, with the pT stage better predicts the overall survival of lung cancer patients than the gold standard pT stage alone. The DC/CD8 score with the N stage allow a better discrimination of patients with high- versus low-risk of death, especially in the group of patients with lymph node invasion. We also demonstrated that the combination of DC/CD8 and emboli parameters allow a better stratification of lung cancer patients for survival. Finally, the DC/CD8 score enhances the prognostic value of the TNM stage. Combining DC/CD8 score with the pTNM stage yields a more refined view of the prognosis of lung cancer patients.

In conclusion, DC/CD8 score becomes prognosticator of survival for patients with first signs of metastasis (lymph node involvement, vascular and/or lymphatic tumor invasion). This study contributes to a better understanding of beneficial elements of immune responses to tumors. Combining DC/CD8 score with the stage of the tumor could guide better treatment choices.

Citation Format: Marie-Caroline Dieu-Nosjean, Jeremy GOC, Claire GERMAIN, Samantha KNOCKAERT, Marco Alifano, Audrey LUPO, Diane Damotte, Pierre Validire, Scott SA HAMMOND, Wolf-Herman Fridman, Catherine Sautes-Fridman. Prognostic importance of both stage of the disease and immune infiltrate in the outcome of NSCLC patients. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 1650. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-1650


Abstract Backgrounds. A focus on psychiatric rehabilitation in order to support recovery among persons with severe mental illness (SMI) has been given great attention in research and mental health policy, but less impact on clinical practice. Despite the potential impact of psychiatric rehabilitation on health and wellbeing, there is a lack of research regarding the model called the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Approach from Boston University (BPR). Aim: The aim was to investigate the outcome of the BPR intervention regarding changes in life situation, use of healthcare services, quality of life, health, psychosocial functioning and empowerment. Methods: The study has a prospective longitudinal design and the setting was seven mental health services who worked with the BPR in the county of Halland in Sweden. In total, 71 clients completed the assessment at baseline and of these 49 completed the 2-year follow-up assessments. Results: The most significant finding was an improved psychosocial functioning at the follow-up assessment. Furthermore, 65% of the clients reported that they had mainly or almost completely achieved their self-formulated rehabilitation goals at the 2-year follow-up. There were significant differences with regard to health, empowerment, quality of life and psychosocial functioning for those who reported that they had mainly/completely had achieved their self-formulated rehabilitation goals compared to those who reported that they only had to a small extent or not at all reached their goals. Conclusions: Our results indicate that the BPR approach has impact on clients' health, empowerment, quality of life and in particular concerning psychosocial functioning.


Economic efficiency is a major argument for the inclusion of an international emission permit trading system under the Kyoto Protocol. Using a partial equilibrium framework, energy system models have shown that implementing tradable permits for greenhouse gases internationally could reduce compliance costs associated with the emission targets. However, we show that international emission trading could be welfare decreasing under a general equilibrium framework. We describe a case of immiserizing growth in the sense of Bhagwati where the negative terms of trade and tax-interaction effects wipe out the primary income gains from emission trading. Immiserizing emission trading occurs only when there are pre-existing distortions in the economy. Simulation results based on a CGE model developed at MIT, the EPPA model, show that under an EU-wide emission trading regime the introduction of a permit trading system cause welfare losses for some of the trading countries.


*This article abstract was originally published in English. This translation has not been verified and should not be relied upon—it is provided for reference purposes only. The Publishers, Editors and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine have not checked this translation and accept no liability for completeness or accuracy of this translation or the use of this translation for whatever purpose. This translation may be incomplete and inaccurate in whole or in part. If you need to rely upon a translation of this abstract, a professional human translator should be engaged to supply an accurate translation of the original English. When referencing articles from this journal, please always refer to the original English version, rather than a translated equivalent. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine The Author 2017; all rights reserved. Health Policy and Planning 2017;30:1–5 doi:10.1093/heapol/czx068


Objective The purpose of this study was to document sleep quality and assess its sociodemographic, behavioral (i.e., tobacco use, alcohol use, and screen time), and mental-health-related indicators (i.e., anxiety and depression) in adults aged 30-59 years across three states of India, and to geo-locate state and district-level findings of sleep quality during the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods From October 2020 to April 2021, residents (aged 30-59 years) of Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, and Delhi completed a web-based survey that included sociodemographic and behavioral factors, clinical history of COVID-19, and mental health screening instruments for anxiety and depression, namely the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 2-item (GAD-2) and Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2). The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to evaluate the quality of sleep. Average PSQI scores were geo-mapped. Results Of the 694 participants who responded, 647 completed the PSQI. The mean (SD) global PSQI score was 5.99 (3.2), with approximately 54% of participants reporting poor sleep quality (PSQI Score>5). Eight hotspot districts with severe sleep disturbances (mean score PSQI>6.5) were identified. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that compared to Madhya Pradesh, participants from Kerala and Delhi had 62% and 33% lower chances of having poor sleep quality, respectively. Those who screened positive for anxiety had higher odds of having poor sleep quality (adjusted odds ratio {aOR}=2.4, P=0.006*). Conclusion Overall, sleep quality was poor during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic (October 2020-April 2021), especially among those who reported high levels of anxiety. Among the three included states, there were differences in sleep quality.


Based on the concept of student learning styles, students have strengths and weaknesses in learning. When the teacher applies learning methods that are not in accordance with their learning style, it will affect learning outcomes. The selection of the science learning method can be done by adjusting the student's learning style as a first step before carrying out the learning process. The purpose of this research is to identify profiles of students' learning styles in order to be able to choose appropriate learning methods. This research is a qualitative descriptive study, using a purposive sampling technique. The research subjects consisted of 32 students of class X Culinary 2 at SMK Negeri 6 Semarang. The learning styles studied focus on visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning styles. Data collection techniques using questionnaires to identify student learning styles and observation. The data obtained were analyzed qualitatively. The results obtained are that students are more inclined to the visual learning style by 47%, while the auditory is 16.2% and the kinesthetic is 36.8%. So it can be concluded that students in the class have diverse learning styles. Teachers cannot emphasize only one learning style so that the learning methods applied must be varied and adapted to the learning styles possessed by students.


The immune system appears to have evolved a mechanism to detect prokaryotic nucleic acids based on their content of unmethylated CpG dinucleotides in particular base contexts. This response promotes the activation of antigen-specific B cells and the secretion of T helper-1-like cytokines. Preliminary animal studies indicate the potential therapeutic utility of CpG DNA as a vaccine adjuvant, and for the immunotherapy of cancer and allergic diseases. On the other hand, CpG DNA can also serve as a trigger for the sepsis syndrome and may have a pathogenic role in certain inflammatory immune-mediated diseases.


Abstract Boron derivatives are becoming key reagents in radical chemistry. Here, we describe reactions where an organoboron derivative is used as a radical initiator, a chain-transfer reagent, and a radical precursor. For instance, B-alkylcatecholboranes, easily prepared by hydroboration of alkenes, represent a very efficient source of primary, secondary, and tertiary alkyl radicals. Their very high sensitivity toward oxygen- and heteroatom-centered radicals makes them particularly attractive for the development of radical chain processes such as conjugate addition, allylation, alkenylation, and alkynylation. Boron derivatives have also been used to develop an attractive new procedure for the reduction of radicals with alcohols and water. The selected examples presented here demonstrate that boron-containing reagents can efficiently replace tin derivatives in a wide range of radical reactions.


Abstract The solid pseudopapillary epithelial neoplasm (SPEN) of the pancreas is a relatively uncommon entity. The aim of the present study was to summarize our experiences with regard to diagnostic dilemma, surgery, postoperative follow-up, and management. This retrospective data were collected during the period from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2020. A total of four patients (three females and one male) were identified within an age range of 13 to 25 years. All the patients were presented with nonspecific symptoms such as abdomen lumps, swelling in the abdomen, and abdominal pain. To reach a definite diagnosis, imaging studies were conducted along with endoscopic ultrasound fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) and biopsy. After confirmation of SPEN on biopsy, all the patients underwent surgery without any complications. Patients are on follow-up, and to date, no metastasis has been detected. SPEN is a rare pancreatic tumor with unusual pathological features leading to a diagnostic dilemma. The pathologist should be familiar with SPEN and its salient histological characteristics that differentiate it from other look-alike pancreatic tumors and can help in timely surgery and management.


Abstract : This monograph examines the impact of future U.S. military force reductions in Europe upon the Maritime Component of U.S. National Military Strategy. A chain reaction of historic events in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union has dramatically altered the strategic paradigm of East-West relationships. If the Cold War is over, as many pundits and policymakers would argue, then a major strategic reassessment is in order. This research attempts to define those key tenets of America's current maritime strategy which will have continuing relevance in a changing geopolitical environment. The monograph lays the theoretical and historical foundations of U.S. maritime strategy as currently written. It also discusses the forces of change which are driving troop reductions in Europe. The U.S. maritime strategy is one element of a national security strategy based on deterrence, forward defense and alliance solidarity. American defense policy has been focused toward the Soviet Union for over 40 years, and logically the Maritime Component of U.S. National Military Strategy has evolved to meet this threat.


Measurement of the matched spot size in the hydrogen-filled capillary discharge waveguide based on the spot size oscillation of a collimated laser is presented in this paper. The spot size oscillation trace is retrieved from the laser modes measured at the exits of discharged capillaries of different lengths under the same discharge conditions. With the gas pressure, peak discharge electric current and capillary radius fixed, the radial density profiles are identical in all the discharged capillaries. The measured laser modes are equivalent to the evolution at discrete positions in a long plasma channel. Compared to former researches based on the spot size at the capillary exit, this method is not affected by the multiple solution problem. The use of a collimated laser eliminates the influences of the divergence angle on the fitting accuracy. By this means, the matched spot sizes of hydrogen-filled capillary discharge waveguides under different gas pressures (5-20mbar) are measured. The results can provide a spot size reference for the laser wakefield accelerator guided in a plasma channel.Measurement of the matched spot size in the hydrogen-filled capillary discharge waveguide based on the spot size oscillation of a collimated laser is presented in this paper. The spot size oscillation trace is retrieved from the laser modes measured at the exits of discharged capillaries of different lengths under the same discharge conditions. With the gas pressure, peak discharge electric current and capillary radius fixed, the radial density profiles are identical in all the discharged capillaries. The measured laser modes are equivalent to the evolution at discrete positions in a long plasma channel. Compared to former researches based on the spot size at the capillary exit, this method is not affected by the multiple solution problem. The use of a collimated laser eliminates the influences of the divergence angle on the fitting accuracy. By this means, the matched spot sizes of hydrogen-filled capillary discharge waveguides under different gas pressures (5-20mbar) are measured. The results can provid...


Continuous ganglion block is increasingly being used to help manage ventricular tachyarrhythmias. We present the cases of 2 patients in whom we used continuous left thoracic paravertebral block to achieve sympathetic denervation and improvement in drug-refractory ventricular tachyarrhythmias. Whether as destination therapy or bridging therapy, we conclude that the block is safe, improves patients' comfort, and is superior in several ways to stellate ganglion block and other single-injection techniques.


Abstract Carbonates of the magnesite-siderite series have been found and analysed in carbonatites from the Lueshe, Newania, Kangankunde, and Chipman Lake complexes. This series has been represented until now only by a few X-ray identifications of magnesite and three published analyses of siderite and breunnerite (magnesian siderite). Most of the siderite identified in carbonatites in the past has proved to be ankerite, but the new data define the complete solid-solution series from magnesite to siderite. They occur together with dolomite and ankerite and in one rock with calcite. The magnesites, ferroan magnesites and some magnesian siderites may be metasomatic/hydrothermal in origin but magnesian siderite from Chipman Lake appears to have crystallized in the two-phase calcite + siderite field in the subsolidus CaCO3-MgCO3-FeCO3 system. Textural evidence in Newania carbonatites indicates that ferroan magnesite, which co-exists with ankerite, is a primary liquidus phase and it is proposed that the Newania carbonatite evolved directly from a Ca-poor, Mg-rich carbonatitic liquid generated by partial melting of phlogopite-carbonate peridotite in the mantle at pressures >32 kbar.


Crystalline yttria-stabilized zirconia oxide (YSZ) film was successfully deposited on a silicon wafer without an interfacial amorphous SiO2 layer. The film with equivalent oxide thickness teox down to 1.77 nm shows negligible hysteresis and low interface state density, less than 3×1011 cm-2 eV-1. The leakage current density for teox = 1.77 nm film, 1.5×10-5 A cm-2 at 1 V bias voltage, is five orders of magnitude lower than that for SiO2 with the same equivalent oxide thickness. The results demonstrate that an ultra-thin YSZ film has sufficient resistivity against the formation of an underlying amorphous layer, and can be a promising gate dielectric replacing SiO2 to reduce the feature size of devices.


Several prophecies of the late fifteenth-century visionary Tecla Servent involved her in the politics of her day. When the Duke of Gandia took a wife, his mother-in-law and later the Duchess herself sent for Tecla and asked her to pray that God bless the marriage with children. In one of her ensuing visions, Tecla saw the Lord place a child among the Duchess's skirts. Inasmuch as the Duchess of Gandia was a cousin of Ferdinand the Catholic and the Duke was the Pope's son, the conception of an heir was of utmost importance to papal-Aragonese relations. Through Tecla's prophecies, the private sphere of the visionary intersected with the public sphere of international politics.


Questionnaire-based surveys of homeowners revealed that ants were the most economically important and abundant household pest after mosquitoes and cockroaches in Malaysia. Twenty-five species of ants were found indoors and outside buildings; all species nest outdoors except Monomorium pharaonis, Monomorium floricola , Tapinoma melanocephalum , and Solenopsis molesta . Surveys of houses and food stores indicated the most common species were Pheidole sp., T. melanocephalum , Monomorium destructor, and Paratrechina longicornis. A survey of homeowners' attitudes and knowledge of ants showed that 62% found ants daily in their homes. Most respondents tolerated < 50 ants indoors; 65% used aerosol sprays for control, 6% used ant baits. Homeowners were not aware that ants can mechanically vector pathogenic organisms. Bacteria, fungi, and yeasts were isolated from ants collected from food outlets. Most ant species responded to peanut butter attractant, except P. longicornis and T. melanocephalum , which preferred honey. Attractancy to peanut butter and honey changed in an 18-month study of M. pharaonis. All species, except Pheidole sp. preferred liquid bait. Foraging of P. longicornis, M. pharaonis, and Solenopsis geminata was negatively correlated with temperature; their peak activity was 2-4 hours after sunset. Most baits gave >75% reduction after one week post-treatment.


A tensegrity structure is a prestressed pin-jointed structure consisting of continuously connected tensile members (cables) and disjoint compressive members (struts). This paper addresses topology optimization of tensegrity structures subjected to self-weight loads, where the compliance, i.e., the strain energy at the equilibrium state, is to be minimized. It is shown that the optimization problem can be formulated as a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) problem. The proposed method does not require connectivity relation of cables and struts of a tensegrity structure to be known in advance. Numerical experiments illustrate that various tensegrity structures can be found by solving the presented MILP problem.


The characteristic features of the interaction of metal sulphides in sintering, fusion, and coprecipitation from their solutions are discussed in this review. It is shown that the formation of solid substitutional solutions at elevated temperatures is due to the similarity of the effective radii of the metals, determined taking into account the degree of covalence of the M–S bond. It has been found that, as the composition of the reacting sulphides becomes more complicated, their miscibility increases and that the greater the similarity of the ionic radii of the metals the easier the formation of solid solutions of the sulphides when the latter are coprecipitated from solution. The bibliography incorporates 213 references.


We report the spectroscopic properties and thermal stability of Tm3+-doped Ga2O3–GeO2–Bi2O3–PbO(PbF2) glasses for 1.47-μm optical amplifications. Effects of PbF2 doping on the optical properties and thermal stability of Tm3+-doped gallate–germanium–bismuth–lead glass are investigated. The measured peak wavelength and full width at half-maximum of the fluorescence are 1465 nm and ~120 nm, respectively. Significant enhancement of the 1.47-μm emission and the lifetime of a 3H4 level with increasing PbF2 doping have been observed. The presence of GeO2 provides two potentials of increasing the thermal stability and shortening the ultraviolet cutoff band of host glasses.


BACKGROUND
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major public health burden in Western countries but little is known about its impact in developing countries. We estimated the prevalence and absolute burden of CKD in the general adult population in China.

METHODS
A cross-sectional survey was conducted in a nationally representative sample of 15,540 Chinese adults aged 35 to 74 years in 2000 and 2001. Serum creatinine was measured using the modified kinetic Jaffe reaction method at a central laboratory calibrated to the Cleveland Clinic Foundation laboratory. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was estimated using the simplified equation developed by the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease study. CKD was defined as an estimated GFR <60 mL/min/1.73m2.

RESULTS
Overall, the age-standardized prevalences of GFR 60 to 89, 30 to 59, and <30 mL/min/1.73m2 were 39.4%, 2.4%, and 0.14%, respectively, in Chinese adults aged 35 to 74 years. The overall prevalence of CKD (GFR <60 mL/min/1.73m2) was 2.53%, representing 11,966,653 persons (1.31% or 3,185,330 men and 3.82% or 8,781,323 women). The age-specific prevalence of CKD was 0.71%, 1.69%, 3.91%, and 8.14% among persons 35 to 44, 45 to 54, 55 to 64, and 65 to 74 years old, respectively. The age-standardized prevalence of CKD was similar in urban (2.60%) and rural (2.52%) residents but was higher in south China (3.05%) than in north China (1.78%) residents.

CONCLUSION
Although the prevalence of CKD in China was relatively low, the population absolute burden is substantial. These data warrant a national program aimed at detection, prevention, and treatment of CKD in China.


For years it has been known that certain cyclic derivatives of aliphatic acids show hormone activity as growth regulators for some plants, and popular acceptance and application of the regulators has been remarkably rapid. Two commercially available growth regulating substances are indoleacetic acid and phenylacetic acid. Others also include indolebutyric acid and naphthaleneacetic acids (13). There are also certain phenoxy derivatives of acetic acid such as 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (commonly called 2,4 D), which have specific destructive effects to growing plants. Many derivatives of phenoxyacetic acid have been prepared, their physical properties determined, and an attempt made to correlate molecular structure and physical properties. Among the physical properties determined, the degree of ionization (strength of the acid) is thought to be an essential factor. Hayes and Bran h investigated the degree of ionization and determined the ionization constants of phenoxyacetic acid and many of its derivatives. In the present investigation, the degree of ionization of a series of cyclohexane derivatives of -substituted aliphatic acids was studied, since these compounds are comparable in structure to the derivatives mentioned and may have some properties in common.


Late Paleocene planktic foraminifera exhibit strong positive correlations between carbon isotopic values and test mass, but negative correlations between oxygen isotopic values and test mass. Based on analogy with modern taxa, these trends are probably ecotypic and may or may not apply to an ontogenetic series. Among Acarinina and Morozovella species, the magnitude and direction of these trends resemble those of modern planktic foraminifera with dinoflagellate photosymbionts. This is consistent with current models of photosymbiosis and calcification in planktic foraminifera and suggests that Acarinina and Morozovella relied heavily on photosymbionts for nutrition. Acarinina and Morozovella species resemble modern, strongly photosymbiotic taxa in their association with low and mid latitude nearsurface water masses. However, their test morphologies differ greatly from those of extant taxa that bear obligate photosymbionts. Earliest Paleocene taxa that exhibit a similar paleohabitat association and similar size-related isotopic trends are characterized by still different test morphologies. These comparisons suggest that (1) throughout geologic time, strong reliance on photosymbiont activity has been closely linked to habitat, but not to test morphology; (2) photosymbiosis has been a common and convergently evolved strategy of planktic foraminifera over geologic time, and (3) modern relationships between planktic foraminiferal test morphology and photosymbiont dependence are largely an artifact of geologically recent phylogenetic relationships and shared ecologic strategies. Intersite comparison suggests that the stable isotopic signals of narrowly constrained size fractions of a late Paleocene Acarinina or Morozovella species can be used to reconstruct the magnitude and direction of relative variation in equilibrium stable isotopic values throughout its geographic and temporal range. This is supported by analogy with extant photosymbiotic taxa. However, since photosynthetic depletion of 12C leaves 13C-enriched HCO3-for calcification, the carbon isotopic values of Acarinina and Morozovella tests may have been consistently greater than paleoseawater values. Failure to account for this effect could lead to overestimation of late Paleocene marine productivity.


Introduction The geographical, cultural and socio-economic diversity of India implies that coverage of immunisation programmes and uptake varies between rural and urban areas, among different geographical regions and states. It has been seen that mother's migration is an important determinant of child immunisation uptake. This study examines the individual and community level explanatory factors associated with child immunisation differentials between migrant and non-migrant mothers groups in two states that is, Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Kerala of India. These two Indian states one in South (Kerala, where immunisation coverage is about 80%) and another in North (UP- immunisation coverage is below 50%) have different socio-economic, demographic and cultural characteristics. Methods The data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) has been used in this study. The study is limited to children born during the 59 months before the interview. Multiple logistic regression analyses have been carried out to assess the relative contribution of independent variables on immunisation status. Results The results indicate that Individual and community level variables are strongly associated with the likelihood of receiving full immunisation among migrant groups. The likelihood of full immunisation was higher for children of urban non-migrant mothers compared to children of rural-urban migrant mothers in UP while in Kerala, the vice-versa is true. Conclusion Even after the enormous efforts by the government to popularise childhood immunisation, the lack of awareness among the parents, especially the mothers, remained a dominant reason for not vaccinating the child.


This article offers a critical review of the efforts made by Chinese historians since the 1980s to reconceptualize and reconstruct world history from a global perspective as well as the complex ideological, institutional, and sociopsychological issues that hindered their efforts. It argues that the success and failure of their work were in many ways related to the extent to which they were able (or unable) to overcome these barriers. The article discusses the new theoretical framework that Chinese historians developed, newly published world history texts, and reactions to recent Western scholarship. It concludes that, despite various problems, the Chinese historians' efforts signifi ed an important step in their long endeavor to envision a world history with Chinese characteristics.


The objective of the present study was to evaluate soil collected from a laying-hen farm and bird manure according to the season of the year and sampling site. Soil samples were taken at the poultry facility wall and at the distances of 15 m and 45 m from the building. Bird feces samples were collected inside the poultry house at the entrance and at 1/4 and 1/2 length of the building. Soil and bird feces samples were evaluated by bacteriological qualitative and quantitative analyses. The largest bacterial load was determined in the samples taken at the poultry facility wall in December/January. Soil microbial contamination degree was low. The highest bacterial count in bird manure was found in the samples collected at 1/2 length of the hen house at the end of December/January. The qualitative study of bird feces showed the presence of E. coli bacteria all through the research period and Enterobacter spp. in the samples taken from July until September. Microbial contamination of soil environment and bird feces is most likely to be affected by winter period as at that time the highest microbial population can be determined. This fact may be linked to the prevailing climatic and microclimatic conditions.


This study was conducted to investigate the effects of raw material, pork and beef meat, ratio on the physicochemical characteristics of emulsion-type sausage. Five different frankfurter formulations were calculated as follows: B100 (40% beef meat); B75 (30% beef and 10% pork meat); B50 (20% beef and 20% pork meat); B25 (10% beef and 30% pork meat) and B0 (40% pork meat). Frankfurters made solely from beef meat (B100) showed significantly better emulsion stability than those made with pork meat (B0). The increase in the fat content also decreased gel strength, leading to lower values of hardness, cohesiveness, gumminess and chewiness. The optimal ratios between pork and beef meat to enhance the textural properties of frankfurters were B50 and B75. The lightness values (L*) increased with increasing pork meat content, while the redness values (a*) demonstrated the opposite trend. Protein, fat and total pigments displayed a positive relation, whereas water content exhibited a negative relation with a* values.


Antarctic sea ice is an essential component of the global climate system. Reconstructions of Antarctic sea ice from marine sediment cores are a vital resource to improve the representation of Antarctic sea ice in climate models and to better understand natural variability in sea ice over centennial and sub-centennial timescales. The Thomas et al. (2019) review of Antarctic sea ice reconstructions from ice and marine cores highlighted the prominence of diatom-based proxies in this research. Here, focusing solely on the diatom-based proxy records in marine sediments, we review the composition of proxies, their advantages and limitations, as well as the spatial and temporal cover of the records over the past 2 ka in order to assess the scope for future assimilation and standardization. The archive comprises 112 records from 68 marine cores, with proxies based on more than 30 different combinations of diatom taxa as well as the relatively new, highly branched isoprenoid (HBI) biomarkers.


Copyright © 2019 Marmara University Press DOI:10.5152/clinexphealthsci.2018.1239 Clin Exp Health Sci 2019; 9: 63-68 ISSN:2459-1459 ABSTRACT Objective: Colorectal cancer is one of the first lines when examined the death cause of cancer. It is well known that family history, and racial and ethnic background and daily life are related with colorectal cancer and its treatment options are surgery, chemotherapeutic agents, and radiotherapy. One of the factors that play a critical role in the development of colorectal cancer is the oxidative stress. In this research, we aimed to investigate the association of level of glutathione peroxidase 1 (GPX1) and selenium element with colon cancer. Methods: In this study, we aimed to determine expression levels of GPX1 genes and selenium that maintain protection against oxidative stress, with 35 colon cancer patients and their normal and tumor tissues associated with clinical and prognostic aspects by using qRT-PCR and atomic absorption methods. Results: The results of our study showed that GPX1 gene expression were found to be statistically significantly different (two-fold greater in normal tissue; p < 0.05) between normal and tumor tissue. Although there was a positive correlation between serum GPX1 and selenium levels and increase in expression of GPX1 gene and serum GPX1 levels, there was no statistical significance (p>0,05). Conclusion: Colorectal cancer, that many factors are involved in its etiology, we have found that our preliminary studies results might show the potential role of association between GPX1 gene expressions and selenium levels. For this reason, it has been suggested that the subject should be supported by a large-scale group of patients.


The concept of free volume is useful for explaining aspects of the chain mobility and permeability of polymers, even though its precise definition is subject to debate. Polymers that trap a large amount of interconnected free volume in the glassy state behave in many respects like microporous materials and potentially find application in membrane separations and heterogeneous catalysis. The development is outlined of a new type of polymer, for which the molecular structure contains sites of contortion (e.g. spiro-centres) within a rigid backbone (e.g. ladder polymer). These polymers of intrinsic microporosity (PIMs) include both insoluble network polymers and soluble non-network polymers that may be processed into membranes or other useful forms. Experimental methods are discussed for elucidating the free volume or micropore distribution, and the behaviour of PIMs is compared with that of the ultrapermeable polymer poly(1-trimethylsilyl-1-propyne).


It is now established that probiotics are strain-dependent, to further advance the concept of probiotic in the maintenance of health and treatment of dysbiosis, the scope of personalized probiotics need to be defined. Currently, probiotic products are marketed worldwide, with the assumption that probiotics with demonstrated health effects work on all people, irrespective of the genetic (ethnicity), environment (geographical location), dietary habit and life style. The effectiveness of probiotics are determined by 1) interactions with prevailing gastrointestinal (GI) commensal microbes, in promoting the establishment of beneficial microbes and elimination of pathogens, 2) Interaction with the host, in achieving a desirable probiotic effect, 3) Interaction with diet, to survive, proliferate and colonize GI, albeit temporary, and in the production of beneficial bioactive metabolites, such as short-chain-fatty acids (e.g. butyric acid), bile acid derivatives and trimethylamines. The benefits acquired from a probiotic are personal, depending on the health status, dietary habit and prevailing GI microbiota. Personalized probiotics should be established to achieve precision administration of specific probiotic effects for targeted population. Globalization and urbanization of human activities have led to merging of dietary habit, thus effective probiotics should evolve in tandem. Ultimately the probiotics of choice should be directed at specific physiological stage, health condition and targeted diseases.


The image reconstruction algorithm plays an important role in electrical capacitance tomography systems. The linear back-projection method is simple and fast, but the reconstructed image is blurred, A method based on revised regularization is introduced in this paper. The preliminary experimental results show the method to have advantages as regards the quality of the reconstruction image and the reconstruction rate.


The conditions that contribute to institutional robustness of community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) regimes are well understood; however, there is much less systematic evidence regarding whether and how CBNRM regimes adapt to changing environments. We address this question by exploring drought adaptation of 37 irrigation associations in northern Spain. For this purpose, we adopt the distinction between "generic" and "specific adaptation institutions" and explore whether and how these institutions combine across different types of irrigation systems. We obtained data from a survey delivered to the 37 associations, governmental records, and interviews with representatives of the associations and public officials. We then used hierarchical cluster analysis to classify the irrigation systems into types, followed by qualitative comparative analysis to explore associations between the adaptation institutions and drought adaptation across the types of systems. According our results, CBNRM regimes adapt to droughts through different combinations of institutions (i.e., different paths to drought adaptation). However, specific adaptation institutions such as water transfers are more relevant during droughts (i.e., to allocate scarcity), whereas generic adaptation institutions such as monitoring and collective choice arrangements play a role both during and in the aftermath of droughts (i.e., to build compliance with and redesign specific adaptation institutions). Also, we did not find an alignment between the two types of institutions and types of irrigation system; however, one type of system (i.e., the "Asian" type) shows a larger number of drought adaptation paths than the other (i.e., the "American" type).


Natural vegetation is one of the key factors in the conservation of biological diversity and desertification control. In order to study the physical and chemical properties of soil and their effects on the growth of Populus euphratica in desertification-prone areas, this paper took Tarim National Nature Reserve as the research area. Through the field investigation and sample collection, the results by analyzing and comparing indicated as following: Soil grain in the south bank of middle reach of Tarim River mainly composed of silt particles, however, fine sand particles preponderated in the north bank. Populus euphratica grew well in the silty loam and sandy loam; the pH value of soil between 7.83 and 8.00 was suitable for the growth of Populus euphratica; the soil salinity totality of 0~20 cm deep was greater than 0.4%, and the content of soil organic matters was between 0.33%~0.80% in the studied area; the salt took hydrosoluble sulfate and chloride as the principal substance; they were statistically different in the soil physical and chemical properties of different regions. In the middle reach of Tarim River, soil salinization and alkalization were the dominant factors inhibiting the growth of Populus euphratica forest. Reducing the salt amount in soil was a preferential measure for ecological recovery.

Keywords: Desertification; soil properties; Populus euphratica; Tarim River

References:
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The research, undertaken in two different stages, was aimed at establishing an understanding of how consumers dispose of fashion products and how to increase sustainable consumption. Increasing volumes of textiles are being produced, purchased and disposed of in landfill sites, which affect the environment. Research has identified the influences in increased purchase behaviour and the tendency to keep clothing for a shorter time. A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods was used to undertake this exploratory research. Consumer focus groups and interviews were conducted initially to identify the main themes relating to fashion consumption and disposition. These were followed by a survey administered to young females to ratify the qualitative findings and to ascertain the extent of textile reuse and recycling. This study identifies consumers' lack of understanding of how this behaviour affects the environment and suggests ways of addressing the growing problem of textile waste and how fashion consumption could become more sustainable.


Water, the very basis of life and the single most important feature of our planet, is the most threatened resource today. In rainfed areas watershed management is the approach used for conservation of water and other natural resources as well as for sustainable management of natural resources. A watershed is a hydrologically defined area that is drained by a network of streams, which meet together in such a way that the water leaves through a common point. A watershed is made up of soil, vegetation and water along with the people and animals who are the integral part of the system. Sustainable management of a watershed thus entails the rational utilization of land and water resources for optimum production but minimum hazard to natural and human resources. Therefore, watershed management is the process of guiding and organizing land use and use of other resources in a watershed to provide desired goods and services to people while enhancing the resource base without adversely affecting natural resources and the……………….


The evolution of a supernova remnant through the transition from an adiabatic Sedov-Taylor blast wave to a radiative pressure-driven snowplow phase is studied using one- and two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations. This transition is marked by a catastrophic collapse of the postshock gas, forming a thin, dense shell behind the forward shock. After the transition, the shock front is characterized by a deceleration parameter, Vt/R ≈ 0.33, which is considerably higher than the analytic estimate of for a pressure-driven snowplow. In two dimensions, the catastrophic collapse is accompanied by violent dynamical instabilities of the thin, cool shell. The violence of the collapse and the subsequent instability of the shell increase with increasing ambient density. Preshock density perturbations as small as 1% in an ambient medium with density of 100 cm-3 can lead to distortions of the shock front larger than 10% of the radius of the remnant.


This is a new edition of John Leonard's popular London's Parish Churches , first published in 1997. With over 200 new colour photographs by the author, it provides both an historical account of churches in the capital from Anglo-Saxon beginnings to the dawn of the twenty-first century and also an invaluable guide to over 120 of the finest parish churches. London contains a high proportion of the greatest post-Reformation churches in the country and all the surviving medieval and Wren churches in the City of London are here with plans of many by Wren and Hawksmoor. The book concludes with a generous selection of the best modern churches. John Leonard, a Londoner by birth, is a retired consultant physician from Manchester who has written widely about parish churches.


Bacteria are microscopic living organisms. All bacteria are not detrimental to animal health. In fact, many bacteria are beneficial and necessary for such processes as food digestion, manufacturing of some dairy products, etc. Classification of bacteria into species is done so disease producing organisms may be separated from those that are harmless or beneficial. Successful control of bacterial diseases entails isolating and identifying disease-producing species, if present, and preventing multiplication and spread of the organism within the animal's body or to other animals.


ONE OF THE great problems in developing a presentation of any given subject matter in continuing medical education is that of securing agreement on just what the proper essentials of good clinical management are. There are, in fact, no well-defined criteria of high quality performance of the diagnostic and therapeutic processes. There may be great variation from center to center in how any particular problem may be handled. The science and the art of medical practice do find expression in the medical literature, but for the most part they really depend upon guided learning, which is based on repetitive clinical experiences in which the physician acquires a certain amount of knowledge, some technical skills and some rather definite attitudes towards the problems of medicine. There is not objective uniformity either in the content or the process of this learning experience. What is really learned by the young physician is an


For the past several years, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), U. S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR), and the University of Colorado's Center for Advanced Decision Support for Water and Environmental Systems (CADSWES) have partnered to develop a software package called RiverWare for use in modeling multipurpose reservoir systems. RiverWare now offers three different modeling approaches: interactive simulation, rulebased simulation, and optimization. TVA implemented the interactive simulation software in April 1996 for scheduling both power and nonpower reservoirs in the TVA system. In May 2000, TVA implemented optimization modeling for scheduling the reservoir system. Prior to this, optimization modeling had been used in parallel with interactive simulation modeling in scheduling the system for about two years. The optimization modeling approach takes into account not only the power economics of the hydro system, but also other demands placed on the reservoir system. These demands, which include flood control, navigation, recreation, and water quality, as well as special operations for maintenance and community events, are defined in RiverWare as prioritized constraints. The optimization routine uses goal programming to satisfy all of the constraints in order of priority to the extent possible, and then with any remaining flexibility, optimizes hydropower operations to reduce the total integrated system power supply cost. Hydropower operations are optimized by maximizing the combined value of energy generated during the forecast period and water reserved in storage for future generation. TVA's RiverWare optimization model is typically run using 6 hour timesteps for a forecast period of one week. The optimization model can be run several times per day as forecasts of power demands or operational constraints change. There are several advantages to using RiverWare for optimizing TVA's reservoir system. First, the optimization model ensures that all of the operational objectives of the reservoir system are met to the extent possible. Then, with the physical and policy constraints satisfied, the timing of hydro generation can be improved to maximize the dollar value of the hydro system to TVA. Finally, RiverWare allows the user great flexibility in scheduling the system. The user can interactively define operating policy in the form of constraints, quickly and easily manipulate input data, and use the objective function value to compare the cost difference of various operating scenarios.


In this paper, we present a method for symbol description based on both spatio-structural and statistical features computed on elementary visual parts, called 'vocabulary'. This extracted vocabulary is grouped by type (e.g., circle, corner) and serves as a basis for an attributed relational graph where spatial relational descriptors formalise the links between the vertices, formed by these types, labelled with global shape descriptors. The obtained attributed relational graph description has interesting properties that allows it to be used efficiently for recognis-ing structure and by comparing its attribute signatures. The method is experimentally validated in the context of electrical symbol recognition from wiring diagrams.


Simple and effective models for the equivalent circuit parameters of waveguide E-plane metal septum are presented. It makes the design of E-plane bandpass filters very easy. The computer-predicted frequency responses were found to be in good agreement with the measurements.


In this paper, we address the problem of reasonably arranging the streaming data rate so as to exploit better efficiency of the multimedia services in a workflow. We first focus on the fundamental models, sequence model and parallel model, to cover the essence of the problem. Other types of models could then be deduced by compositions of these two models. Based on the queuing theory, we get the video streaming data rate prediction model. Our evaluations show that this model could predict multimedia streaming data rate very well. This work is important because with this prediction, better allocation of system resource can be done.


INTRODUCTION
Implantation of a penile prosthesis into fibrosed corpora cavernosa is a difficult and risky procedure. Specialized instruments that assist safer and more efficient excavation include Otis Urethrotome and various cavernotomes, all of which operate underneath the tunica albuginea, out of sight. The blind use of such instruments can result in perforation of the tunica albuginea or injury to the urethra.

AIM
This work describes the utility of ultrasonography for adding visual monitoring to any of the above-mentioned instruments, maintaining them in the mid-corpus cavernosum position to avoid perforation, and describes the application of alternative sheathed, sharp instruments that allow fast, efficient, and visually monitored drilling into fibrous tissue.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Clinical outcome data were examined.

METHODS
Surgery was performed on five cases with extensive fibrosis of the penis. Initial blunt dilatation by Hegar dilators faced considerable resistance. An ultrasound probe was applied to the ventral aspect of the penis. A laparoscopy sheath was advanced under ultrasound guidance up to the fibrous tissue. A sharp laparoscopy trochar was inserted through the sheath. Its tip was oriented in the mid-corpus cavernosum by longitudinal and transverse sonography sections, as it drilled into the fibrous tissue. Laparoscopy scissors were used in the same fashion to cut fibrous tissue lumps. After full excavation, penile prosthesis was implanted.

RESULTS
All implants survived adequately. No complications occurred following implantation. Operative time ranged from 50 to 60 minutes. No difficulty was encountered at excavation.

CONCLUSION
Ultrasound guidance can be a handy adjunct to any of the available techniques developed for excavating the fibrosed corpora cavernosa, with a possible decrease in difficulty and complication rate of the procedure. Utility of sheathed, sharp instruments guided by sonography is an alternative to the cavernotomes, allowing fast and efficient drilling into fibrous tissue.


Vietnam is a coastal country located along the Vietnamese East Sea, has a coastline longer than 3,260 km, with two archipelagoes of Hoang Sa (Paracel islands) and Truong Sa (Spratly islands) and more than 3,000 big and small islands, with 28 coastal provinces and cities of 63 provinces and cities of the country. The coastal area accounts for 17% of the total area of the country, and is inhabited by more than 20 million people, with the average population density of about 267 people per km2, 1.2 times higher than average density of the country. Marine resources and advantages promise great prospects for the development of ocean and coastal economies of the country. However, along with the development and some achieved successes, we also face to many serious problems and challenges in marine environment, that tends to increase. Therefore, the application of integrated coastal management approach is of paramount importance for the sustainable development of ocean and coastal economic of Vietnam. In recent years, with the support of the international organizations and countries from ASEAN region, Vietnam has been trying to enhance the application of integrated coastal management for the entire coastal area. Beside the achievements, practical application of integrated coastal management also indicates many difficulties and challenges, required to make timely solutions. In this paper, we are looking forward to sharing information and the experience of integrated coastal management in Vietnam and do hope to receiving more supports from international and regional organizations for Vietnam to adopt successfully and efficiently integrated ocean and coastal management approach, and implement Vietnam's commitments in the implementation of sustainable development strategy for the East Asian Sea (SDS-SEA).


This paper examines the Australian experience of a global transition towards less carbon and petroleum intensive energy sources. First the paper sets out Australia's current energy situation and the current patterns of energy use and dependence. The paper then identifies how Australian urban transport systems are highly oil dependent and describes the social consequences of these patterns. Third, the paper then considers national energy policy and the balance significance of energy exports in shaping this policy. Finally the paper assesses how metropolitan plans responding to energy imperatives and describes recent local government moves to accelerate progress on energy transition issues.


A mobile solar-photovoltaic (solar-PV) demonstration and experimentation system has been developed for hands-on learning and curriculum development for grades K-12. The final design and design process is presented in detail, along with an assessment of the perceived technical effectiveness in meeting our original project goals. In tandem with the robust teaching tool, a curriculum was developed to compliment learning about solar-PV systems, but also to meet the needs of basic science, math and engineering teaching objectives in an integrated and hands-on way. Overall successes, failures, and a projected path forward are discussed.Copyright © 2011 by ASME


Companies nowadays prioritizes employee's experience in work. This is shown from the employee's productivity that is influenced by the non-physical work environment and the quality of information within the company. Employee productivity is also influenced by the ability to adapt to its work. This study examines the influence of Non Physical Work Environment and the quality of information on employee productivity with adaptive behavior as intervening variable. The method used in this study is to use multiple linear regression to test the direct hypothesis and path analysis to test the indirect influence of the hypothesis tested. The results of this research indicate a significant positive influence between non-physical work environment with adaptive behavior, quality of information with adaptive behavior, adaptive behavior with employee productivity and non-physical work environment with employee productivity, while the quality of information with employee productivity has positive but not significant influence. In conclusion, this research is able to prove the proposed hypothesis.


ABSTRACT This paper traces the evolution of the European Union's (EU) and Russian Federation's discourse on the Eastern Partnership (EaP) along four frames – economic, (geo)political, normative, and security. We discover the dynamic of the EaP discourse in Brussels and Moscow, developing from an economic and political initiative to an adversarial security understanding, underpinned by logics of geopolitical and normative competition. With this study, we illuminate the misalignment of the EU and Russia's interpretations of neighbourhood policy and show how it underpinned mutual mistrust and the clash over the future of the region.


Two players share a connected graph with non-negative weights on the vertices. They alternately take the vertices (one in each turn) and collect their weights. The rule they have to obey is that the remaining part of the graph must be connected after each move. We conjecture that the first player can get at least half of the weight of any tree with an even number of vertices. We provide a strategy for the first player to get at least 1/4 of an even tree. Moreover, we confirm the conjecture for subdivided stars. The parity condition is necessary: Alice gets nothing on a three-vertex path with all the weight at the middle. We suspect a kind of general parity phenomenon, namely, that the first player can gather a substantial portion of the weight of any 'simple enough' graph with an even number of vertices.


The addition of structural defects modifies the intrinsic properties of graphene–the two dimensional allotrope of carbon. The controlled introduction of such defects is therefore desired to realise specific functions. For instance, the grain boundaries formed between epitaxial grown graphene domains has been observed to mimic a metallic wire. By contrast, the presence of point defects in a graphene channel affects the carrier transport significantly in a manner such as the Fermi-level pinning, transport-gap widening and Anderson localization. Incorporating these defects into conventional device structures can open up a new horizon for device engineering. In this work, I propose and explore the defect engineering of graphene devices via ion bombardment using a helium ion microscope (HIM). The lithographic advantage of HIM is demonstrated for various graphene nanostructures such as fully gated 20nm double quantum dots and 10nm nanoribbons, upon which a hybrid EBL-HIM fabrication technique is developed for device integration. Graphene irradiated with HIM up to 5×1014 cm-2 shows a transition from Stage 1 to Stage 2 disorder as probed by confocal Raman spectroscopy. For the first time, the damage of ion-beam-milling on a graphene-onsubstrate sample is visualised. The spatially resolved Raman map shows that the beam damage can extend to a few hundred nm around the 30nm cut, which is attributed to the damage due to backscattered helium ions and recoils from the substrate. Furthermore, the electrical properties of irradiated graphene nanoribbons (iGNR) is characterised. As irradiation dose increases, the iGNR devices shows an abrupt decrease in mobility and interestingly an asymmetric decrease of conductance in the electron and hole conduction branches. This is then related to the pinning of Fermi level in iGNR, a unique property caused by irradiation. This is believed to be associated with additional dangling bonds (scattering centres) created by irradiation, as supported by XPS analysis. Based on these properties, a new graphene device structure is explored, in which irradiated regions are used as energy barriers. The temperature-dependent conductance shows the signature of thermal-activated variable range hopping (VRH) at intermediate temperature. The localisation lengths extracted from hopping temperature showed good agreement with that from length-dependent conductance. Furthermore, the activationless VRH is observed for relatively high electric field.


We study the Brown-Peterson (co)homology of a product of two real projective spaces via the Landweber short exact sequence. The image of the tensor product is well understood. Our contribution is to understand those elements not in the tensor product and to show how they behave under maps. The results are partially extended to the case where one of the factors is replaced by a 2 e -torsion lens space.


This study was performed in order to determine
visitation at remote areas that would be unaffordable due to logistic reasons. Four
TrafxTM vehicle counters, each programmed with different settings, were placed
along the lone access road to remotely sense the daily use activities and count
accuracy at the New Underwood Lake Public Water Access Area. Use was
corroborated during daylight hours with game cameras. Data was stratified
between weekdays/weekends due to differences between the two periods. Two
counter settings, threshold and delay, were best when set at a value of 8, but
a value of 16 for delay provided almost equal results. Overall, there were 38
counts of use per day for a total of 2318 over the 61 day period. This study
demonstrated how vehicle counters, in combination with game cameras for
verification, can aid managers for determining use in remote access areas. Future
work may lead to identifying details for producing a surrogate to traditional
angler use surveys.


Widgeon Grass ( Ruppia maritima ) is an aquatic vascular plant (Ruppiaceae) which has been the source for rare balls of plant material found at the shores of lakes on four continents. In North America, the lakes involved were in North Dakota, Oregon, and now northern and southern Saskatchewan. The formation of the balls has not been observed in nature, but similar balls have been produced in other studies with Posidonia or Turtle Grass (Hydrocharitaceae) fibers under the wavelike action in a washing machine. Our samples are from a saline lake in southern Saskatchewan (49°N), and an over 40-year-old sample from an unknown lake north of the boreal transition zone (52°N). Comparisons of the plant material with herbarium specimens confirm that the balls are almost entirely comprised of Ruppia maritima , with minor items including invertebrate animal parts, sand pebbles and feathers. The context in which the material was found is consistent with the proposition that they are formed by Ruppia inflorescences breaking apart, drifting to near shore due to wind and being rolled into balls by wave action.


This paper is focused on the effects of sharing knowledge and collaboration of multiple heterogeneous, intelligent agents (hardware or software) which work together to learn a task. As each agent employs a different machine learning technique, the system consists of multiple knowledge sources and their respective heterogeneous knowledge representations. Collaboration between agents involves sharing knowledge to both speed up team learning, as well as refine the team's overall performance and group behavior. Experiments have been performed that vary the team composition in terms of machine learning algorithms, learning strategies employed by the agents, and sharing frequency for a predator-prey cooperative pursuit task. For lifelong learning, heterogeneous learning teams were more successful than homogeneous learning counterparts. Interestingly, sharing increased the learning rate, but sharing with higher frequency showed diminishing results. Lastly, knowledge conflicts are reduced over time the more sharing takes place. These results support further investigation of the merits of heterogeneous learning. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


BACKGROUND
Although fall-induced injuries among older adults are said to be a major public health concern in modern societies with aging populations, reliable epidemiologic information on their secular trends is limited.

METHODS
We determined the current trend in the number and incidence (per 100,000 persons) of fall-induced severe cervical spine injuries (fracture, cord injury, or both) of older adults in Finland, a European Union country with a well-defined white population of 5.2 million, by taking into account all persons aged 50 years or older who were admitted to all Finnish hospitals for primary treatment of such injury in 1970-2004. Similar patients aged 20-49 years served as a reference group.

RESULTS
The number and raw incidence of fall-induced cervical spine injury among Finns aged 50 years or older rose considerably between the years 1970 and 2004, from 59 (number) and 5.2 (incidence) in 1970 to 228 and 12.0 in 2004. The relative increases were 286% and 131%, respectively. Throughout the study period, the age-standardized incidence of injury was higher in men than women, and showed a clear increase in both sexes in 1970-2004 from 8.5 to 17.4 in men (105% increase), and from 2.8 to 6.4 in women (129% increase). A similar finding was observed in the age-specific incidences of the study group. In the reference group, the annual number and incidence of injury decreased slightly over time. Assuming that the observed increase in the age-standardized or age-specific injury incidence continues in Finns aged 50 years or older and the size of this population increases as predicted, the annual number of fall-induced cervical spine injuries in this population will be about 100% higher in the year 2030 (about 400 injuries annually) than it was during 2000-2004 (about 200 injuries annually).

CONCLUSIONS
In Finnish persons aged 50 years or older, the number of fall-induced severe cervical spine injuries seems to show an alarming rise with a rate that cannot be explained merely by demographic changes. The finding underscores an increasing influence of falls on health and well-being of our older adults; therefore, wide-scale fall-prevention measures should be urgently adopted to control this development.


Ectonucleoside Triphosphate Diphosphohydrolase 5 (ENTPD5) has been shown to be important in maintaining cellular function in cancer, and its expression is upregulated through multiple, unique pathways in certain cancers, including laryngeal, glioblastoma multiforme, breast, testicular, and prostate. ENTPD5 supports cancer growth by promoting the import of UDP-glucose, a metabolite used for protein glycosylation and hence proper glycoprotein folding, into the ER by providing the counter molecule, UMP, to the ER antiporter. Despite its cancer-supporting function, no small molecule inhibitors of ENTPD5 are commercially available, and few studies have been performed in tissue culture to understand the effects of chemical inhibition of ENTPD5. We performed a high-throughput screen (HTS) of 21,120 compounds to identify small molecule inhibitors of ENPTD5 activity. Two hits were identified, and we performed a structure activity relationship (SAR) screen around these hits. Further validation of these probes were done in an orthogonal assay and then assayed in cell culture to assess their effect on prostate cancer cell lines. Notably, treatment with the novel ENTPD5 inhibitor reduced the amount of glycoprotein produced in treated cells, consistent with the hypothesis that ENTPD5 is important for glycoprotein folding. This work serves as an important step in designing new molecular probes for ENTPD5 as well as further probing the utility of targeting ENTPD5 to combat cancer cell proliferation.


Identification of methylation-silenced genes in colorectal cancer (CRC) is of great importance. We employed oligonucleotide microarrays to identify differences in global gene expression of five CRC cell lines (HCT116, RKO, Colo320, SW480 and HT29) that were analyzed before and after treatment with 5-aza-2'-deoxycitidine. Selected candidates were subjected to methylation-specific PCR and real-time quantitative reverse transcription-PCR using 15 CRC cell lines and 23 paired tumor and normal samples from CRC patients. After 5-aza-2'-deoxycitidine treatment, 139 genes were re-expressed in all 5 CRC cell lines collectively with a fold change of more than 1.5 in at least one cell line. These genes include known methylated and silenced genes in CRC. After applying study selection criteria we identified 20 candidates. The GADD45B and THSD1 genes were selected for further analysis. Among 15 colon cancer cell lines, methylation was only identified in THSD1 (27%). THSD1 methylation was subsequently investigated in 23 colorectal tumors and methylation was detected in 9% of the analyzed samples; the observed promoter hypermethylation was cancer-specific. THSD1 mRNA down-regulation was observed in tumor tissues. This genome-wide screening led to the identification of genes putatively affected by methylation in CRC. The THSD1 gene may play a role in the tumorigenesis of CRC.


OBJECTIVE
To improve the poor mechanical strength of porous ceramic scaffold, an integrated method based on three-dimensional (3-D) printing technique is developed to incorporate the controlled double-channel porous structure into the polylactic acid/beta-tricalcium phosphate (PLA/beta-TCP) reinforced composite scaffolds (double-channel composite scaffold) to improve their tissue regeneration capability and the mechanical properties.

METHODS
The designed double-channel structure inside the ceramic scaffold consisted of both primary and secondary micropipes, which parallel but un-connected. The set of primary channels was used for cell ingrowth, while the set of secondary channels was used for the PLA perfusion. Integration technology of 3-D printing technique and gel-casting was firstly used to fabricate the double-channel ceramic scaffolds. PLA/beta-TCP composite scaffolds were obtained by the polymer gravity perfusion process to pour PLA solution into the double-channel ceramic scaffolds through the secondary channel set. Microscope, porosity, and mechanical experiments for the standard samples were used to evaluate the composite properties. The ceramic scaffold with only the primary channel (single-channel scaffold) was also prepared as a control.

RESULTS
Morphology observation results showed that there was no PLA inside the primary channels of the double-channel composite scaffolds but a dense interface layer between PLA and beta-TCP obviously formed on the inner wall of the secondary channels by the PLA penetration during the perfusion process. Finite element simulation found that the compressive strength of the double-channel composite scaffold was less than that of the single-channel scaffold; however, mechanical tests found that the maximum compressive strength of the double-channel composite scaffold [(21.25 +/- 1.15) MPa] was higher than that of the single-channel scaffold[ (9.76 +/- 0.64) MPa].

CONCLUSION
The double-channel composite scaffolds fabricated by 3-D printing technique have controlled complex micropipes and can significantly enhance mechanical properties, which is a promising strategy to solve the contradiction of strength and high-porosity of the ceramic scaffolds for the bone tissue engineering application.


Abstract. In the double-lobed Fanaroff-Riley type-II radio galaxy 3C328, one lobe is devoid of a hotspot. We carried out the VLBA observations of the central component of 3C328 and we found there a jet pointing towards the lobe without a hotspot. We suggest that this is because the nucleus of 3C328 remained in off-state for some time in the recent past. No jets were produced during that period so both hotspots faded out. However, under the assumption that one lobe is much farther from the observer than the other, the hotspot of the far-side lobe can be perceived as not decayed yet due to the light-travel lag. Since activity of the nucleus has been restored, we obtain a proof that it is recurrent. It follows that the orientation of the jet is not a paradox.


The electrochemical polymerization of azure A has been carried out using repeated potential cycling. The scan potential is set between −0.2 and 1.3 V (vs. Ag/AgCl). The electrolytic solution consisted of 5 mmol dm−3 azure A and 0.5 mol dm−3 Na2SO4 with pH 6.0. The temperature for polymerization was controlled at 50°C. An anodic peak and a cathodic peak appear at 0.38 and 0.23 V, respectively, on the cyclic voltammogram of poly(azure A) in 0.5 mol dm−3 Na2SO4 solution of pH 1.0. Their peak potentials shift toward the negative direction as pH value increases from 1.0 to 4.0. Poly(azure A) has good electrochemical activity and stability in the aqueous solution at the above pH range. The UV-visible spectrum and FTIR spectrum of poly(azure A) are different from those of azure A. The FTIR spectrum of poly(azure A) indicates that no anions were doped into the oxidation form of poly(azure A). © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 88: 1218–1224, 2003


This thesis deals with various issues regarding determinants of US corporate credit spreads. These spreads are estimated as the difference between yields to maturity for corporate bonds and default-free instruments (Treasury bonds) of the same maturity. Corporate credit spreads are considered as measures of default risk. However, the premium required by investors for holding risky rather than risk-free bonds will incorporate a compensation not only for the default risk but also for other factors related to corporate bonds such as market liquidity or tax differential between corporate and Treasury bonds. In this study we firstly examine the relationship between bond ratings and credit spreads given that bond rating changes are expected to carry some informational value for debt investors. The findings indicate that bond ratings generally carry some informational value for corporate bond investors. The Granger causal relationship is more evident for negative watch lists and during periods of uncertainty in financial markets. In line with previous studies, our results suggest that changes in credit spreads are significantly related to interest rate levels, systematic risk factors (Fama and French) factors and equity returns.


Abstract Five-month-old Cleopatra mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) (CM) and Volkamer lemon (Citrus volkameriana Ten. and Pasq.) (VL) seedlings were grown in a glasshouse in 2·3-1 pots of Candler fine sand. Plants were irrigated with either non-saline (ECe = 0·23 dS m-1) or saline (6·13 dS m-1) water using 3:1 NaCl:CaCl2 solution over a 4-week period. A single application of K15NO3 (19·64 atom % excess 15N) at 212 mg N1-1, was substituted for a normal weekly fertilization after 3 weeks and plants were harvested 7 d later. The transpiration rate, uptake of nitrogen, growth and nitrogen-use efficiency (NUE) on a dry weight basis (mg d. wt mg-1 N) of both species was reduced by salinity. Based on growth, water-use and chloride (Cl) accumulation in leaves, VL was more salt-sensitive than CM, but 15N uptake was equally reduced by salinity in both species. Salinity reduced 15N uptake relatively more than shoot growth over the 7-d period, such that the 15NUE (mg d. wt μg-115N) of new shoot growth of both species increased. There was no evidence of Cl antagonism of nitrate (NO3) uptake but total plant 15NO3 uptake was positively correlated with whole plant transpiration in both species. Thus, it appears that reductions in NO3 uptake are more strongly related to reduced water use than to Cl antagonism from salt stress.


Understanding high impact land-affecting tropical cyclones (TCs) is of crucial importance due to its potential to cause high socioeconomic damages and losses to many coastal areas.  However, due to the rarity of extreme severe TCs and the lack of persistent long-term meteorological observations, it is difficult to construct a robust risk assessment of high impact TCs based solely on historical records.  This poses a problem from the disaster risk reduction (DDR) perspective, e.g. for the development of financial instruments, as the estimate of occurrence probabilities above damage relevant thresholds remains highly uncertain. In this study, we present an overview and first results of our current project – INtegrated threshold development for PArametric Insurance Solutions (INPAIS), which demonstrates a way forward to improve expected occurrence probabilities of those events for the Western North Pacific (WNP).

We introduce a new approach to construct a TC event set for the WNP based on multi-model ensemble global forecasts – the THORPEX Interactive Grand Global Ensemble (TIGGE) dataset in combination with an impact-based tracking algorithm for Typhoons. This event set contains physically consistent events, which were forecasted but not necessarily realised in the observed past. With respect to the physical characteristics of these forecasted, but not realised events, they are not distinguishable from real TC events. This approach will allow to analyse data equivalent to more than 10,000 years.

In addition to the TC-related wind information, the TC-related precipitation, which is physically consistent with the associated TC, can also be obtained. This provides an opportunity to analyse the compound TC risk (wind and precipitation) using physically consistent data for the WNP. We further demonstrate how this information can be used to improve existing financial instrument for DRR, e.g. parametric insurance solution which is offered by many re-insurance companies, such that resilience and post-disaster recovery speed of society can be improved.