Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) has been shown to be lower than physiological values during exercise with a strong negative correlation with exercise intensity. Among new markers of renal function, neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) seems to be very promising. It is an early, sensitive and specific marker of acute kidney injury (AKI) with two isoforms: plasma NGAL (pNGAL) and urinary NGAL (uNGAL). The aim of the present study was to assess acute variations in NGAL plasma levels after performing high endurance physical exercise in a group of professional cyclists during the two major European professional cycling competitions (Giro D'Italia and Tour de France). Eighteen professional cyclistis were recruited for the study. A blood sample was collected during rest (after 8 hours fasting) and immediately after the competition (mountain stages) in order to assess the effect of very intense exercise on kidney function by measuring the variations of pNGAL. We also assessed plasma levels of creatinine, creatine-kinase (CK), LDH, transaminases and electrolytes. The results showed that Creatinine, CK and electrolytes levels remained almost stable between rest and post-competition. The levels of transaminases and NGAL showed a mild increase between rest and post-competition, with a significant difference between the two values only for transaminases (p=0.005). However, post-competition values of all investigated variables remained within the physiological range. The results of the present study suggest that even if NGAL values mildly rose after competition, no kidney injury occurred in these highly trained athletes during mountain stages of professional competitions. Other studies in literature confirmed that high endurance physical exercise seems not to cause renal injury in elite athletes. This is probably due to adaptive mechanisms of renal function and to the adaptation to physical stress gained with training.


An HPLC method was developed for the determination of iridoid glycosides (loganin acid, loganin, sweroside) and saponins (asperosaponin Ⅵ) in the wild Dipsacus asper. A total of 108 samples consecutive growing 12 month were collected in 9 plots in Wulong district of Chongqing. Subsequent analysis of the content of loganin acid, loganin, sweroside and asperosaponin Ⅵ was performed by HPLC to evaluate the quality. In addition, 20 climate data provided by the world climate database (http://www.worldclim.org/) was analyzed to deduce the correlation between the growing environment factors and the active ingredient content accumulation of D. asperoides and choose the apposite growing environment for D. asper. The range of active ingredient content in wild D. asper were 0.01%-3.80%(loganin acid), 0.08%-0.62%(loganin), 0.12%-0.78%(sweroside), 0.64%-5.26%(asperosaponin Ⅵ). The highest content of these active ingredients was concentrated from February to April, with 2.64% of loganin acid, 0.36% of loganin), 0.57% of sweroside, and 3.09% of asperosaponin Ⅵ. The method used for determination of the active ingredient content in D. asper was simple and convenient with accurate result. The selection of the quadrats is scientific and reasonable and can be used for the analysis of the contents of the wild D. asper, thus provide a reference for quality evaluation of D. asper and protection of D. asper resources.


Abstract Mixing ratios of stratospheric constituents can be inferred from satellite- or balloon-based infrared solar occultation measurements. The nonlinear system of equations that relates the measurements to the mixing ratios is often solved by the "onion-peeling" technique. We show how to implement onion-peeling with an algorithm in which limb paths are represented by equivalent homogeneous paths. The essential computations are confined to the tangent layers instead of the full multilayer limb paths. The algorithm yields the same solutions as conventional onion-peeling but requires significantly less computation time.


One of the major issues to be solved is the protection from the effects of ionizing radiation. Exploration mission, lasting two to three years in space, represents a very significant step from the point of view of radiation protection: both the duration (up to 5 times) and the intensity (up to 5 times) of the exposure to radiation are increased at the same time with respect to mission on the ISS reaching and sometime exceeding professional career limits. In this ARSSEM report, after reviewing the physics basis of the issue of radiation protection in space, we present results based for the first time on full physics simulation to understand the interplay among the the various factors determining the dose absorbed by the astronauts during a long duration mission: radiation composition and energy spectrum, 3D particle propagation through the magnetic field, secondary production on the spacecraft structural materia, dose sensitivity of the various parts of the human body. As first application of this approach, we use this analysis to study a new magnetic configuration based on Double Helix coil and exhibiting a number of interesting features which are suited to active shield application. The study also proposes a technology R&D roadmap for active radiation shield development which would match ESA decadal development strategy for human exploration of space.


This thesis describes the development of methods for theseparation of DNA sequencing fragments and otheroligonucleotides by capillary gel electrophoresis (CGE), and isbased on live publications.In the first work [Il, an eightfold increase in lifetime ofultra-narrow bore (2-lo-micron ID) gel filled columns comparedto 50-micron ID columns at high electrical field strengths wasexperienced, presumably due to the better heat dissipationobtained in the former columns. Subsequently, the lo-micron IDcolumns were employed for electrophoresis of fluoresceinisothiocyanate-labeled sequencing fragments.The setond [II], and the third [III]publication deal withthe problem of intra-molecular hydrogen bonding duringseparation of DNA sequencing fragments. In publication numbertwo [II], a combined use of chemical denaturants and elevatedtemperature was effective in suppressing anomalies in fragmentmigration, and also, the total analysis time decreased.However, for cross linked gel columns the resolution betweenlong DNA fragments was reduced.In publication number three [III], a cross-linkedpoly(dimethylacrylamide) sieving matrix prepared in an organicsolvent, N-methylformamide (NMF), was employed forelectrophoretic separations of oligonucleotides. Sieving anddenaturing properties similar to those obtained in aqueous,urea saturated, polyacrylamide gels were observed. Additionalresults of unpublished work with NMF based linear polymersolutions have been incorporated in the general part of thethesis.In the fourth article [IV], a new technique is described forthe preparation of on-column detection windows inpolyimide-coated fused-silica capillary columns. A simpletreatment with fuming nitrit acid at room temperature isperformed, which does not damage columns filled within situpolymerized gels. The method can also beutilized for stripping the toating from an array of columns inone step.In publication number tive [VI, the construction andevaluation of a fiber-optic cell for UV absorbance detection incapillary electrophoresis is described. Optical fibers with alarge core diameter were combined with focusing optics in orderto maximize light throughput and to reduce stray light. Thecompact and flexible design of the fiber-optic cell made itsuitable for high speed CGE, utilizing short columns, which isdemonstrated in the paper.Keywords:capillary electrophoresis, capillary gelelectrophoresis, DNA separations, DNA sequencing,oligonucleotide analysis,DNA Sanger fragments, narrow-bore gelcolumns, cross linked polyacrylamide, polymerized gels,confocal laser-induced fluorescence detection, LIF detection,loop-structures in DNA, heat denaturation, poly(N-acryloylaminopropanol), poly(AAP), poly(dimethylacrylamide), poly(DMA),chemical denaturation, N-methylformamide, NMF, NMF based gels,non-aqueous gels, replaceable matrices, poly(ethyleneoxide)(PEO), hydroxethyl cellulose (HEC), poly(vinylpyrrolidone)(PVP), polyimide-toating removal, detection-windows,fiber-optics, absorbance detection cell, focusing optics,circular aperture.© Peter Lindberg, 1998


Objectives This study was designed to test the hypothesis that PJS modulates inflammatory processes to prevent cardiac functional deterioration and reduce ventricular remodelling after MI. Methods Male Sprague-Dawley rats (9-10 weeks) were subjected to sham-MI or MI by ligating the left anterior descending coronary artery for 1 and 4 weeks. The rats were divided into five groups: sham, MI, PJS (3 g/kg/day), PJS (6 g/kg/day), and losartan (an AT1 antagonist, 10 mg/kg/day). The vehicle, PJS, or losartan was given by oral gavage once a day after MI. Cardiac functions were determined by echocardiographic measurements at 1 and 4 weeks after MI. Fibrinogen at the site of infarction and in ischaemic myocardium were determined by Masson staining. Results of quantitative analysis were used to detect the level of hydroxyproline. Monocyte/macrophages expression was detected by immunohistochemistry staining and quantitative analysis. Results 1) The echocardiographic measurement showed that Both LVEDd and LVESd in the PJS-6 and Losartan groups were significantly shorter than in the MI group at both week 1 and week 4 post-MI. Both FS and EF were well-maintained in the PJS-6 and Losartan groups than in the MI group at both week 1 and week 4 post-MI. 2) Masson trichrome staining of cardiac sections: At 1 and 4 weeks after myocardial infarction, fibrinogen proliferation was much more obvious in MI group than in sham operation group.a detectable reduction of fibrinogen with PJS-6 and Losartan groups at the site of infarction was not found but was reduced at ischaemic sites. Results of quantitative analysis shows: compared to the MI group, the PJS-6 and losartan groups significantly decrease at both the infarction and ischaemia areas the level of fibrinogen. 3) Immunohistochemical results of monocyte/macrophages shows: At 1 and 4 weeks after myocardial infarction, monocyte/macrophages was much more obvious in MI group than in sham operation group compared to the MI group, the PJS-6 and losartan groups significantly decrease at both the infarction and ischaemia areas of monocyte/macrophages. Conclusions Our studies demonstrate that the PJS improves cardiac function, inhibits cardiac remodelling and suppresses infiltration of monocyte/macrophages after myocardial infarction. The data indicate that PJS inhibits its ventricular remodelling possibly via inhibiting infiltration of monocyte/macrophages. The results suggest that PJS may have a promising potential for the prevention and treatment of MI.


Operative management of small cell lung cancer generally yields little benefit because these tumors are known for their propensity to disseminate early to regional lymph nodes and distant sites. Primary surgery followed by chemotherapy is however indicated in very early stage tumors where survival approximates that of resected non small cell lung tumors. Surgery as an adjuvant to combination chemotherapy is also advocated by some authors to downstage the tumor and render it resectable. Candidates for salvage procedures include patients who have achieved complete response with chemotherapy, but subsequently relapsed within the chest at the site of the primary tumor. 0 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.


The online media in a context of proximity has experimented in recent years a series of transformations towards new communicative and business models, due to the economic recession and the crisis of the newspapers' traditional model suffered by the media industry. In a global context of crisis in the traditional local media sector, readers express a growing necessity of information about the geographical areas nearest to them. This has favored the proliferation of a great diversity of new communicative spaces on the internet. The online media in a context of proximity tends to be web-native, cover hyperlocal areas and built community projects where citizen participation becomes especially relevant. This research focus on the study of the local and hyperlocal online media of Galicia and Portugal, on the basis of a media of proximity map in the Iberian space that is being developed. In this way, we compare two areas that, although pertaining to different countries, are very close about cultural issues. The main objective of the present study is to measure and check the presence of this type of media on the social networks, observing which are the most used platforms and the importance of the communities that are maintained by the media in those spaces. It is therefore an exploratory and very descriptive work that allows a first approximation to the social networks' functions in the creation of spaces for socialization, participation and debate between the citizens of the local communities.


Joanna Ajdukiewicz joined Exxon Production Research Company in 1980. She was Reservoir Quality Assessment and Prediction team lead there from 1991 to 1995 and at Imperial Oil Research Centre in Calgary from 1995 to 1997. Subsequently, she has worked a variety of Exploration Company assignments in the North Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Middle East. Her current interests are in predicting the distribution of early diagenetic controls on deep reservoir quality. Rob Lander develops diagenetic models for Geocosm LLC. He obtained his Ph.D. in geology from the University of Illinois in 1991, was a research geologist at Exxon Production Research from 1991 to 1993, and worked for Rogaland Research and Geologica AS from 1993 to 2000. He is also a research fellow at the Bureau of Economic Geology.

To guess is cheap; to guess wrongly is expensive (Chinese proverb).

Reservoir-quality predictive models will be a useful element of risk analysis until remote-sensing tools are invented that accurately measure effective porosity and permeability ahead of the bit. This issue of the AAPG Bulletin highlights recent advances in a new generation of reservoir quality models that have successfully predicted porosity and permeability in diverse siliclastic reservoirs under many different burial conditions.

Most previous attempts at predrill reservoir quality prediction have relied on empirical correlations or on first-principle geochemical simulations that incorporate laboratory-derived input parameters (Wood and Byrnes, 1994). The new reservoir quality models differ from previous approaches in that, although incorporating theory-inspired algorithms, they include terms with values that are explicitly designed to be calibrated by, and tested against, data sets of high-quality petrographic analyses that are linked to thermal and effective-stress histories. Petrographic observations therefore provide essential constraints in these models on the types, timing, and rates of key geologic processes affecting sandstone pore systems. This approach avoids the pitfalls inherent …


There is a broad understanding that simplifying tax laws is very important, but attempts to do so in The Netherlands seem to get bogged down in new levels of complexity. So the question is: how can simplification be achieved and maintained? In this article, the author offers a number of touchstones for clarifying and measuring tax complexity and simplicity. He discusses a number of indicators for the complexity of tax laws and analyses developments in the Dutch income tax and corporation tax with a tangible complexity indicator. He also analyses the use of indicators in two tax reforms in The Netherlands.


Computer and Communications equipment are the backbone for any Company (Regardless of their size). These elements allows Enterprises to operate in order to produce goods and services that are then offered to create value and in consequence profits. Those elements are even more relevant for Companies orientated to the Information Technology (I.T.) sector. As any other active, computer equipment depreciates with time, and more important: it gets obsolete very fast, as technological advances are incorporated to the mainstream consume products at an accelerated speed. In the light of the two facts mentioned previously, it becomes vital to the Enterprise to make the best decisions about how to invest its resources in order to make the best from the technology available and at the same time, keep the pace to avoid an "obsolescence cost" if it takes too long to update its equipment. Common practice now is to lease the equipment, in other words: To lease the benefit of the use of the equipment, the operating Lease is a better financial choice. Then it becomes mandatory to establish criteria to perform the more convenient negotiation when financing this kind of operations, is carried out. The current work, proposes to use Information & Communications technology tools in order to help Management to make the best decision regarding costs and convenience comparing two options for lease operations: 3 and 4 Years.


The mechanical properties of open-hole tensile (OHT) specimens made of 3D-printed continuous carbon-fiber-reinforced thermoplastics (CFRTPs) were investigated. The stacking sequence of the OHT specimens were [0/90]2s, and the as-printed specimens possessed higher porosity (15.19%) than conventional fiber reinforced composites. The OHT tests demonstrated that the tensile modulus and fracture strength of the as-printed specimens exhibited 36.7 ± 0.3 GPa and 226.0 ± 9.0 MPa, respectively. To evaluate the effects of voids on the OHT properties, the 3D-printed CFRTPs were hot-pressed, where fiber orientation and porosity (3.41 ± 0.10%) were improved. Additionally, the tensile modulus was increased to 45.1 ± 0.8 GPa, which is 23% higher than the as-printed specimens, even though the fracture strength were comparable or lower than that of as-printed specimens. To validate such OHT properties, a numerical multiscale model was introduced, with a microscale periodic unit cell (PUC) analysis for determining the effective tensile moduli and mesoscale extended finite element method (XFEM) analysis for OHT properties. In the PUC analysis, we considered a two-scale numerical model including a fiber-resin scale with fiber orientation for effective tensile moduli of a CFRTP filament, and filament-void scale for those of a CFRTP laminate. The porosity and fiber orientation were measured by X-ray computed tomography and digital microscopy observations, and the porosity for the 0° specimen were 14.86%. By substituting the effective tensile moduli of the filament-void scale and those of the fiber-resin scale into the XFEM, respectively, the stress-strain responses of the computational OHT models were found to be in good agreement with those of the experimental results of as-printed and hot-pressed CFRTP, respectively. Both the OHT models showed that the Weibull criterion was satisfied without significant delamination at the failure strain, corresponding to the brittle failure mode due to fiber breakage, which agreed reasonably well with the experimental observations.


Continuum manipulator compliance enables operation in delicate environments while challenging the actuation and control approaches. In the case of a catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation, the compliance of the continuum backbone lends an inherent safety to the device. This inherent safety frustrates attempts at precise, accurate, and fast control, limiting the continuum devices to simple and static positioning tasks. This paper develops interleaved continuum-rigid manipulation, by which the hysteretic nonlinearities encountered in tendon-actuated continuum manipulators are compensated by the discrete rigid joints located between the continuum sections. The rigid joints introduce an actuation redundancy, which an interleaved controller may use to avoid the continuum nonlinearities and dynamic excitations, or to prefer particular configurations that may improve task accuracy, permit greater end-effector forces, or avoid environment obstacles. Two experimental systems explore the potential of these joints to: 1) increase the manipulator's dexterous workspace, and 2) correct for actuation nonlinearities and enhance manipulator performance. These experiments also expose important design and control observations that were not apparent in the general robotic and continuum literature.


Summary Ultrasonography as a dynamic and real time imaging method was used to evaluate some of the dynamic features of forefoot architecture during stance and gait in normal and abnormal feet. Standard sonographic technique was used with a section of the transverse arch from the plantar side using the sesamoids of the first metatarsal bone and the head of the fifth metatarsal bone as reference points. A 5-MHz-linear-transducer and a custom-made platform with an integrated gel-pad were employed to obtain reproducible results. The transverse arch was characterized by the 'transverse arch index Q' as the parameter of its relative height. (Special interest was focused on the morphology of the so-called transverse arch in flexible and rigid splay feet versus a control group of normal feet.) Splayfoot has been described as a condition with increased divergence of the metatarsal and lowering of the metatarsal heads II–IV, i.e. flattening of the transverse metatarsal arch, leading to metatarsalgia. Based on the transverse-arch-index Q, splay feet could be statistically separated from normal feet. Grading of splay feet and an evaluation of rigidity/flexibility of the forefoot was performed. In the authors' experience the indications for conservative and operative treatment of splayfoot and metatarsalgia can be guided by ultrasonographic examination and the results of surgical reconstruction can be evaluated and documented sonographically.


After successfully combating a pathogen, a small number of antigen-experienced T cells are retained in the body to offer better protection against future infections by the same agent. In the case of CD8 T cells, the stable maintenance of these memory phenotype T cells critically requires homeostatic turnover driven by cytokines such as IL-7 and IL-15. Intriguingly, CD4 T cells that are deficient in the shared receptor for IL-2, IL-7 and IL-15 – i.e. the cytokine common gamma chain (γc), can still generate memory phenotype (MP) T cells in vivo. Here we show that such naturally generated γc-deficient CD4 MP T cells have a diverse T-cell receptor repertoire usage, despite a profound deficiency in the naïve CD4 T cell compartment in such mice. Furthermore, adoptive transfer experiments show that γc-deficient CD4 MP T cells can be stably maintained even in a competitive environment (of a γc+ host) where other CD4 MP T cells can utilize IL-2, IL-7 and IL-15. CD4 MP T cells from γc-deficient animals also differentiated to IFN-γ producers. Therefore, unlike CD8 memory T cells, the maintenance of a diverse repertoire of CD4 memory T cells is independent of trophic cytokines such as IL-7 and IL-15.


Distributed video coding (DVC) has recently been proposed for emerging scenarios, where sources of correlated video do not communicate, as in some video-surveillance applications, or to simplify the coder for video equipment with power consumption constraints. In this paper we propose and compare different DVC schemes. In particular, we propose the use of the wavelet transform and analyze the performance of encoders based on turbo-codes and on a novel modulo-reduction procedure. The proposed schemes do not need feedback from the receiver and use statistical models for the estimation of the required bit-rate. Experimental results show that the proposed schemes have good performance when compared with similar asymmetric video compression schemes, and that DVC can be an interesting option in appropriate scenarios.


Medium-frequency (MF) ground wave propagation is playing one of the most important roles for a long distance communication. When the surface impedance of the earth along the propagation path changes the ground wave propagation is influenced strongly as it occurs when the radio wave traverses a border from an urban area to a suburban area or viceversa [1]-[4]. The measurements of the ground wave propagation in the urban areas have shown the unexpected high attenuation in some parts of cities and the anomalous variation pattern of the field strength with distance [2], [5][9]. In this paper, we shall examine both experimentally and theoretically the ground wave propagation over the mixed-paths which traverse first the open area along which one can see the transmitting antenna, then the built up area along which the density of the man-made objects is very high, and finally the medium density area. We will show that the experimental results, obtained in the measurements performed in Kanto area including the city of Tokyo in Japan, agree very well with the three-section mixed-path theory [1], [3], [4], [7]-[9].


: F acies architecture and sequence stratigraphic framework of a potential hydrocarbon Prospective Area of Bema Field, Central Swamp Depobelt, Niger Delta was investigated. This study utilized Well Logs, Side Well Samples, Biostratigraphic Data and 3-D Seismic. The study revealed four facies unites, namely, Sandstone facies (SF), Shaly-Sandsone facies (SSF), Mudsone facies (MF), and Heterolithic facies (HF). The Sequence Stratigraphic analysis of the field revealed Nine (9) stratigraphic surfaces, comprising of (Five Maximum Flooding Surfaces (MFSs) with ages ranging from 20.7 to 15.0 Ma, and Four Sequence Boundaries (SBs) with ages between 20.4 and 15.5 Ma respectively). Five Vail's third order depositional sequences (SQ1, SQ2, SQ3, SQ4, and SQ5) and four (4) Galloway's genetic sequences (GQ1, GQ2, GQ3 and GQ4) were recognized within the study area based on Stratigraphic Marker tops and system tracts. Hydrocarbon play assessment revealed that the HST and TST are key reservoir rocks in the study while the shale of the TST therefore forms


Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using Caesalpinia gilliesii (Hook) leaves extract (70% MeOH) for the first time as a reducing agent were investigated for their antimicrobial and cytotoxic activity (using the MTT assay). After exposing the silver ions to C. gilliesii leaves extract, rapid reduction is observed leading to the formation of silver nanoparticles in the solution. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by using UV-visible spectroscopy, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The prepared silver nanoparticles demonstrated promising antimicrobial activity against tested pathogens than hydroalcoholic extract. Cell viability by using the MTT assay demonstrated cytotoxic activity of the synthesized AgNPs with C. gilliesii against normal skin fibroblast (BJ1) and human breast cancer cell (MCF-7) with IC50= 80.1 and 36.5 𝜇g/mL at 48h incubation, respectively. Depending on the phenolic and flavonoid content, C. gilliesii could be used for simple, nonhazardous, eco-friendly, cost-effective and efficient synthesis of AgNPs that can be used for large-scale production in the field of medicine.


Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) create, share and process massive amounts of data which needs to be real-time managed to enable new cooperative and autonomous driving applications. Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communications facilitate information exchange among vehicles and infrastructures using various protocols. By providing computer power, data storage, and low latency capabilities, Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) has become a key enabling technology in the transport industry. The Local Dynamic Map (LDM) concept has consequently been extended to its utilisation in MECs, into an efficient, collaborative, and centralised Edge Dynamic Map (EDM) for C-ITS applications. This research presents an EDM architecture for V2X communications and implements a real-time proof-of-concept using a Time-Series Database (TSDB) engine to store vehicular message information. The performance evaluation includes data insertion and querying, assessing the system's capacity and scale for low-latency Cooperative Awareness Message (CAM) applications. Traffic simulations using SUMO have been employed to generate virtual routes for thousands of vehicles, demonstrating the transmission of virtual CAM messages to the EDM.


Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a progressive disease and affects approximately 10% of the population. The major late pathologic feature of CKD is interstitial fibrosis in the kidney characterized by extracellular matrix deposition but in early stage, several profibrotic and proinflammatory cytokines as well as growth factors are expressed. The renin-angiotensin and ET systems both play an important role in the pathogenesis of CKD and the blockade of these systems has been shown to suppress proinflammatory cytokines and to arrest the progression of CKD. We have demonstrated earlier also the renoprotective effect of physical activity on the experimental CKD progression (Pechter et al., 2003). Aim of the study was to investigate the effects of non-drug treatment, physical activity, to the extent of gene expression in experimental CKD and to compare with endothelin receptor blocker (ERB, sitaxentan) and standard nephroprotective drug, angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB, losartan) treatments. Expression of mRNA was assessed by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. CCL2/MCP-1 and nuclear factor-κB (NFκB) gene expression was measured in whole kidneys. Results revealed that CCL2/MCP-1 gene expression (data presented in poster presentation ASN Renal Week 2010, Pechter et al.) was increased in the 5/6 NPX rat kidneys, and the increase was lessened significantly after physical activity and losartan therapy. ERB treatment appeared less effective. Combined ARB and ERB treatment as well as drugs alone or physical therapy prevented the increase in systemic blood pressure, albuminuria and CCL2/MCP-1 as well as NFκB gene expression. We conclude that non-drug and drug treatments both were effective regarding the rate of the progression of experimental CKD measured by physiological and molecular biomarkers of chronic inflammation in kidney tissue.


In this contribution, we present an overview of our ongoing work in developing an integrated tool support for semantic process model verification. We present some of the requirements and insights gained by the implementation of a platform for semantic process model verification. The platform is based on OWL and SPARQL and provides for a user-friendly way of semantic model verification. First empirical evaluations have been very promising and confirm that the tool can be used to effectively query and verify semi-formal process knowledge.


How particular neural circuits within the brain control cognition and behaviour is one of the major and yet frequently, unanswerable questions within neuroscience. Over recent years, zebrafish have become an increasingly popular model in which to study behavioural neuroscience due to their vast behavioural repertoire, combined with their ease of recording and manipulation. Recently, two independent genetic systems, the exostosin family of glycosyltransferases, encoded by the EXT genes, and the neuropeptide kisspeptin, encoded by the KISS1 gene, have been implicated in a variety of behaviours within mammals, and more recently, zebrafish (ext and Kiss1 respectively). Abnormalities in exostosin1 in humans (EXT1) has been linked to mental retardation (MR) and austistic-like tendencies in mice (Ext1), whereas, preliminary studies in the zebrafish have suggested defects within aggression. The kisspeptin system is a known regulator of reproduction in a wide variety of mammalian species, and dysfunction leads to variety of manifestations, including infertility. Surprisingly, a recent study has detailed the insignificant role of the kisspeptin system in controlling reproduction in zebafish and instead, another study has linked kisspeptin to aberrations in innate fear after exposure to alarm substance (AS).
Inspite of notable findings regarding the behavioural function of the ext2 and Kiss1 genes in zebrafish, an in depth and broader characterization of their function is needed. Using an existing mutant zebrafish line which carries a mutation within the ext2 gene, and robust behavioural assays, I show how heterozygous zebrafish harbouring this mutation, show possible defects in their aggression tendencies, as seen previously, but also within anxiety-like behaviour in the zebrafish.
Furthermore, I employed the Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeat (CRISPR)/Cas9 technology to generate novel mutations within the Kiss1 gene, and its receptor, Kiss1rb. Fish harbouring mutations within kisspeptin 1, were found to have differences compared to control fish in their regulation of fear after exposure to AS. Additionally, mutants also displayed anomalies during the active avoidance paradigm, suggesting that kisspeptin may have a novel role in learning in the zebrafish.
In conclusion, this study details the possible differences seen in behaviour following the manipulation of two discrete genetic systems in the zebrafish.


We present a novel approach for hydrogen gas detection, based on palladium-coated micromechanical resonators. A sequence of thin film techniques allows the large-scale parallel fabrication of free-standing beams, from a counter-electrode by a mesoscopic air gap. The readout principle has been confirmed. The device manifests a resonance frequency drop from 6.5 to 3 MHz as it is exposed to 4 % of H2 during 15 s. The sensor responds within a few seconds to hydrogen gas and has a power consumption of about 10 pW. Preliminary results suggest that this technique can detect very minute concentrations.


Background: The under-representation of Vietnamese ethnic groups in existing genetic databases and studies have undermined our understanding of the genetic variations and associated traits or diseases in the population. Cost and technology limitations remain the challenges in performing large-scale genome sequencing projects in Vietnam and many developing countries. Non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) data offers an alternative untapped resource to study genetic variations in the Vietnamese population. Results: We analyzed the low-coverage genomes of 2,683 pregnant Vietnamese women using their NIPT data and identified a comprehensive set of 8,054,515 single-nucleotide polymorphisms, among which 8.2% were new to the Vietnamese population. Our study also revealed 24,487 disease-associated genetic variants and their allele frequency distribution, especially five pathogenic variants for prevalent genetic disorders in Vietnam. We also observed major discrepancies in the allele frequency distribution of disease-associated genetic variants between the Vietnamese and other populations, thus highlighting a need for genome-wide association studies dedicated to the Vietnamese population. Conclusions: We have demonstrated a successful analysis of NIPT data to reconstruct the Vietnamese genetic profiles. This application provides a powerful yet cost-effective approach for large-scale population genetic studies.


Eliminating irrelevant attributes prior to induction boosts the performance of many learning algorithms. Relevance, however, is no guarantee of usefulness to a particular learner. We test two methods of finding relevant attributes, FOCUS and RELIEF, to see how the attributes they select perform with ID3/C4.5 on two learning problems from a calendar scheduling domain. A more direct attribute selection procedure, hillclimbing in attribute space, finds superior attribute sets.


OBJECTIVE
Ongoing healthcare reforms within the US Military Health System (MHS) are expected to shift >1.9 million MHS beneficiaries from military treatment facilities (MTFs) into local civilian hospitals over the next 1-2 years. The objective of this study was to examine how such healthcare reforms are likely to affect the quality of MHS care.

DATA SOURCES
Adult MHS beneficiaries, aged 18-64 years, treated in MTFs (under a program known as Direct Care) were compared against (1) MHS beneficiaries treated in locally-available civilian hospitals (under a program known as Purchased Care) and (2) similarly-aged adult civilian patients across the United States. MHS beneficiaries in Direct and Purchased Care were identified from fiscal-year 2016-2018 MHS inpatient claims. National inpatients were identified in the 2017 Nationwide Readmissions Database.

STUDY DESIGN
Retrospective cohort DATA COLLECTION: Differences in quality were compared using two sets of quality-metrics endorsed by the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ): Inpatient Quality Indicators, 19 quality-metrics which look at differences in in-hospital mortality, and Patient Safety Indicators, 18 quality-metrics which look at differences in in-hospital morbidity and adverse events. Among MHS beneficiaries (Direct and Purchased Care), we further simulated what changes in quality indicators might look like under various proposed scenarios of reduced access to Direct Care.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS
A total of 502,252 MHS admissions from 37 MTFs and surrounding civilian hospitals were included (326,076 Direct Care, 179,176 Purchased Care). Nationwide, 9.34 million adult admissions from 2,453 hospitals were included. On average, MHS beneficiaries treated in MTFs experienced better inpatient-quality and improved patient-safety compared to MHS beneficiaries treated in locally-available civilian hospitals (e.g. summary observed-to-expected ratio for medical mortality: 0.98 versus 1.03, p<0.001) and adult patients across the United States (0.98 versus 1.02, p<0.001). Simulations of proposed changes resulted in consistently worse outcomes for MHS patients, whether reducing MTF access by 10%, 20%, or 50% nationwide; limiting MTF access to active-duty beneficiaries; or closing MTFs with the worst performance on patient-safety (p<0.001 for overall quality indicators for each).

CONCLUSIONS
Reducing access to MTFs could result in significant harm to MHS patients. The results underscore the importance of health-policy planning based on evidence-based evaluation and need to consider the consequential downstream effects caused by changes in access to care.


The purpose of the present survey is the comparison of the strength and range of motion of ankles' muscles in teenager boys with and without flatfoot. For this purpose, 50 subjects consisted of 25 students who had flexible flat foot, with a mean age, height and weight, 12 ± 0.87 years, 149.84 ± 9.71 cm, 45.92 ± 10.58 kg respectively, and 25 students without flatfoot with a mean age, height and weight, 11.92 ± 0.81 years, 150.88 ± 8.21 cm and 46.28 ± 9.34 kg respectively, participated in the research after medical examination by the physician. The comparison of the strength of ankle's muscles in D.F and P.F, and the ankles' range of motion in dorsiflexion and plantarflexion was evaluated in three conditions of without resistance, under pressure, and with resistance in both healthy and affected groups. Clear universal goniometer was used for measuring the range of motion. Lafayeette hand-held digital dynamometer was used for measuring the strength. All the data was evaluated through SPSS software version 20. Alpha 0.05 was regarded as the level of significance. Independent t-test was used for comparing the aforementioned variables in two groups. To compare the range of motion in D.F and P.F in three evaluating conditions for each of the motions one inter group variable of measurement condition (including 3 levels) and one intra group variable was used based on separated variance analysis. Multiple analysis of variance test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Bonferroni correction was used. The present investigation showed that no significant difference was seen between the aforesaid hypotheses among two healthy and flat foot affected groups.


We introduce a simple new regularizer for auto-encoders whose hidden-unit activation functions contain at least one zero-gradient (saturated) region. This regularizer explicitly encourages activations in the saturated region(s) of the corresponding activation function. We call these Saturating Auto-Encoders (SATAE). We show that the saturation regularizer explicitly limits the SATAE's ability to reconstruct inputs which are not near the data manifold. Furthermore, we show that a wide variety of features can be learned when different activation functions are used. Finally, connections are established with the Contractive and Sparse Auto-Encoders.


Non-data-aided (NDA) parameter estimation is considered for binary-phase-shift-keying transmission in an additive white Gaussian noise channel. Cramer-Rao lower bounds (CRLBs) for signal amplitude, noise standard deviation, channel reliability constant and bit-error rate are derived and it is shown how these parameters relate to the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). An alternative derivation of the iterative maximum likelihood (ML) SNR estimator is presented together with a novel, low complexity NDA SNR estimator. The performance of the proposed estimator is compared to previously suggested estimators and the CRLB. The results show that the proposed estimator performs close to the iterative ML estimator at significantly lower computational complexity


Homo- and hetero- "grossly asymmetric junctions", i.e., "junctions between a heavily doped and a lightly doped layer", are important building blocks of modern p/sup +/-i-n/sup +/ and n/sup +/-i-n/sup +/ diodes, BJTs and MODFETs. We establish a hitherto unhighlighted aspect of the unity underlying the physics of these junctions, based on a simple yet original deduction from available surface field-potential relations. We show that, apart from pursuing the scientific quest for unification, the deduction also leads to three new results of practical significance. Firstly, simple expressions are obtained for important parameters of the space-charge layer of a general grossly asymmetric junction under equilibrium. These parameters include the width of the partially depleted region on the heavily doped side of the junction, that could not be obtained from earlier analyses. Secondly, applying this partial depletion width expression to the MODFET heterojunction, a nonlinear MODFET 2-DEG charge versus gate voltage model is derived, which is very useful for accurately simulating the effects of gradual saturation charge-voltage nonlinearity on dc and ac performance of analogue circuits. This charge-voltage model is expressed directly in terms of device parameters and temperature, unlike earlier nonlinear charge-voltage models whose parameters were empirical and could be extracted only by fitting to experimental data or complex numerical calculations. Thirdly, a new concept has emerged, as per which the effects of electron confinement, partial impurity ionization, Fermi-Dirac statistics and small geometry in a grossly asymmetric junction can be treated simply as apparent band discontinuity narrowing phenomena, and thus represented in an additive form by dimensionally identical parameters. The concept facilitates a comparison of different modulation doped heterojunction systems. We present calculations illustrating the above results.


Contamination of water and sediments by trace metal elements constitutes a risk to water, living species and for human health. The objective of this study is to assess the level of contamination of water and sediments in the Divo mining area with trace elements. Trace elements (CN and Hg) were determined in water and sediments using an Inductive Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometer (ICP-AES). The intensity of sediment contamination was estimated from the calculation of several indices, including the Contamination Factor (FC), the Modified Contamination Degree (DCm) and the Sediment Pollution Index (SPI). The results of the monitoring of the seasonal evolution of TME (CN and Hg), during the months of September 2018 and February 2020 are as follows: In surface water, the metallic concentrations vary from 0 to 4. 98 μg/L for mercury and 0 to 95 μg/l for cyanide. All surface water samples have mercury concentrations lower than the average reference concentration of 6 μg/L. 7% of surface water samples have cyanide concentrations above the average concentration of 70 μg/L. Concerning groundwater, the cyanide concentrations remained below the standards for drinking water over the two seasons. Mercury recorded high concentrations in wells in the department. The sediments were found to be polluted with CN (uncontaminated to low contamination/very heavily contaminated) and Hg (uncontaminated to moderately contaminated/very heavily contaminated). The IPS values show that the surface sediments are moderately polluted except at the HR6 stations (0.07); ZR3 (0.22); AR1 (1.15); R3 (0.96); BRR (0); DRV (0.07) where the sediments are healthy. The inhabitants of mining areas are exposed to the risk of contracting various diseases by consuming this water contaminated with these trace elements.


We discuss our experience improving the speed of Monte Carlo dose distribution calculations with GEANT4. First we customized the core geometry library to navigate voxelized CT volumes more efficiently. This resulted in a speed improvement of more than two orders of magnitude in our case. We then tried to run the simulation in parallel. However, we found that existing parallelizations of GEANT4 such as TOP-C (Task Oriented Parallel C/C++) did not scale well. We determined that the poor performance was due to excessive network traffic. We abandoned the master/slave model employed in TOP-C in favour of "static scheduling" parallelism where the event list is divided evenly among the processes. Our implementation used only a few low-level MPI calls. With this method, we achieved a linear speed improvement on our cluster of 23 machines. The simulation executes efficiently because there is almost no network traffic during the simulation. Using our customized GEANT4 navigation library running on our cluster with our parallelization method, we achieved a combined speed improvement factor of more than 3000, reducing our simulation time from several days to a few minutes. Although we did not consider issues such as fault tolerance or load sharing, our approach is well suited for many kinds of Monte Carlo simulations on a homogenous cluster of local PCs.


The determination of the Ba abundance in globular cluster (GC) stars is a very powerful test to address several issues in the framework of multiple population scenarios. We measured the Ba content for a sample of more than 1200 stars in 15 Galactic GCs, using high-resolution FLAMES/Giraffe spectra. We found no variation in [Ba/Fe] ratios for different stellar populations within each cluster; this means that low-mass asymptotic giant branch stars do not significantly contribute to the intracluster pollution. Very interestingly, we found that the fraction of Ba stars in first generation (FG) stars is close to the values derived for field stars (∼2%); on the other hand, second generation (SG) stars present a significantly lower fraction. An independent and successful test, based on radial velocity variations among giant stars in NGC 6121, confirms our finding: the binary fraction among FG stars is about ∼12%, to be compared with ∼1% of SG stars. This is an evidence that SG stars formed in a denser environment, where infant mortality of binary systems was particularly efficient.


Introduction: Birth weight is an important determinant of infant mortality. Two third of all deaths occurring in first twenty eight days of life happen due to low birth weight. LBW infants suffer higher risk of health complications at adult life. Maternal nutrition maybe the major intrauterine environmental, non-genetic, controllable factor which influences the growth of the fetus. Aim: To evaluate the influence of maternal nutritional status on developmental achievement of neonates in the first thirty days of independent life. Objective: 1. To study the nutritional status of mothers during pregnancy. 2. To evaluate birth weight, 5 min Apgar score, developmental outcome of newborn. 3. To correlate birth weight with health and developmental achievement of neonates in the first 30 days of independent life. Materials and Method: 121 mother-neonate pairs formed study population. Serum total protein, Albumin and Hemoglobin were evaluated for mother's nutritional status. Gestational age, Birth weight, APGAR score and Cord blood Albumin were analyzed for neonates. The overall developmental outcomes were observed for the first 30 days of neonatal life. Results: Mean Birth weight of neonates was in the acceptable range, 39.67% LBW was observed at our hospital. LBW frequency was higher among female infants and small for gestational age. 5min Apgar score was good among ABW, but poor among LBW infants. LBW deliveries were high among mothers having poor nutritional status. LBW babies had low cord albumin levels & had higher frequency of health related problems. Overall developmental growth was poor amongst LBW, low cord albumin level and infants having a low Apgar score. Conclusion: Nutritional status of the mother during pregnancy influences the health and overall development of the newborn observed during first 30days of independent life. Promotion of optimal nutrition may ensure optimal fetal development and reduces the risk of chronic diseases in adulthood.


Abstract. The contribution describes a systematic method to efficiently determine frequency-domain electromagnetic antenna fields and characteristics for a broad spectrum via a single time-domain (e.g., Finite-Difference Time-Domain, FDTD) calculation. From a time-domain simulation of an antenna driven by a wide-band signal, a single modified Fourier transformation yields the frequency-domain multipole amplitudes. The corresponding multipole expansions are valid for the entire spectrum of the input pulse and at any point outside a minimum sphere enclosing the antenna. This allows a computationally cheap and elegant post-processing of arbitrary antenna characteristics. As an example of use the method is applied to determine high-resolution three-dimensional radiation patterns of an antipodal Vivaldi antenna.


Employing wireless communication in industrial applications requires methods that deal with the high fraction of packet errors common to wireless transmissions. At the same time, industrial applications have real-time demands that protocols like TCP are unable to support. This paper combines ARQ (automatic repeat request) with real-time worst-case scheduling analysis to achieve both high reliability and real-time support. One or several retransmission attempts of erroneous data packets are handled, while still not jeopardizing stated delay guarantees of other packets. We present the real-time analysis for a full-duplex link using our retransmission scheme. In simulation studies, we demonstrate a possible reduction of the message error rate by several orders of magnitude for bit error rates typically experienced in wireless communication.


In previous studies we have shown that peripheral tolerance achieved by high dose feeding of OVA to intact OVA-TCR transgenic mice was enhanced when endogenous IL-12 was neutralized simultaneously. To generalize this phenomenon, in the present study we investigated the tolerogenic mechanisms underlying the blockade of IL-12 signaling following oral and systemic Ag delivery. We found that the numbers of Ag-specific T cells in several lymphoid organs were significantly reduced due to T cell apoptosis following oral OVA or systemic OVA administration when combined with anti-IL-12 injection, but there was no decrease in T cell numbers for OVA-fed, OVA-injected, or anti-IL-12 alone-treated mice compared with those in untreated control mice. In addition, mostly Fas+ T cells were subject to apoptotic deletion in the OVA- plus anti-IL-12-treated groups, and an enhanced cell death of T cells upon OVA restimulation in vitro could be partially reversed by blockade of the Fas/Fas ligand interaction. Finally, in a murine model of superantigen-driven T cell expansion and deletion, we observed no deletional effects of anti-IL-12 treatment on CD4+ cells in Fas-deficient (MRL/lpr) mice, but did find these effects in MRL wild-type mice. In summary, our data suggest that in the course of Ag-induced cell proliferation of Th1 cells, signaling through IL-12 is required to prevent an induction of Fas-mediated apoptosis. Thus, the use of anti-IL-12 may be potentially useful in modulating peripheral immune responses by promotion of Fas-mediated cell death.


Periodontitis is the most common cause of periodontium destruction. Regeneration of damaged tissue is the expected treatment goal. However, the regeneration of a functional periodontal ligament (PDL) insertion remains a difficulty, due to complicated factors. Recently, periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) and bone marrow‐derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) have been shown to participate in PDL regeneration, both pathologically and physiologically. Besides, interactions affect the biofunctions of different derived cells during the regenerative process. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to discuss the different derived composite cell aggregate (CA) systems of PDLSCs and BMMSCs (iliac‐derived or jaw‐derived) for periodontium regeneration under regenerative microenvironment reconstruction. Our results showed although all three mono‐MSC CAs were compacted and the cells arranged regularly in them, jaw‐derived BMMSC (JBMMSC) CAs secreted more extracellular matrix than the others. Furthermore, PDLSC/JBMMSC compound CAs highly expressed ALP, Col‐I, fibronectin, integrin‐β1 and periostin, suggesting that their biofunction is more appropriate for periodontal structure regeneration. Inspiringly, PDLSC/JBMMSC compound CAs regenerated more functional PDL‐like tissue insertions in both nude mice ectopic and minipig orthotopic transplantation. The results indicated that the different derived CAs of PDLSCs/JBMMSCs provided an appropriate regenerative microenvironment facilitating a more stable and regular regeneration of functional periodontium tissue. This method may provide a possible strategy to solve periodontium defects in periodontitis and powerful experimental evidence for clinical applications in the future. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Around 1716, the French astronomer and academician Joseph-Nicolas Delisle (1688-1768) took up a new project: the twinned topics of Chinese chronology and astronomy. Unable to access Chinese sources and not knowing any fellow savants who shared this particular interest, Delisle methodically made extracts and compiled data from the existing European literature. Among Delisle's papers at the Observatoire de Paris still exist the results of this research, including a list of the books he found relevant. This paper develops a close reading of Delisle's notes from this period to stage his journey into a recondite arena of technical and textual analysis, and to examine the scholarly practices and generic conventions through which early modern European savants confronted the Chinese astronomical tradition.


Human-like intelligence in a machine is a contentious subject. Whether mankind should or should not pursue the creation of artificial general intelligence is hotly debated. As well, researchers have aligned in opposing factions according to whether mankind can create it. For our purposes, we assume mankind can and will do so. Thus, it becomes necessary to contemplate how to do so in a safe and trusted manner -- enter the idea of boxing or containment. As part of such thinking, we wonder how a phenomenology might be detected given the operational constraints imposed by any potential containment system. Accordingly, this work provides an analysis of existing measures of phenomenology through qualia and extends those ideas into the context of a contained artificial general intelligence.


Abstract The aim of this paper is twofold. First, our purpose is to propose and motivate a novel and scientifically informed variant of cosmopsychism, namely, the view that the experiences of ordinary subjects are ultimately grounded in an all-pervading cosmic consciousness. Second, we will demonstrate that this approach generates promising avenues for addressing familiar problems of phenomenal constitution. We use stochastic electrodynamics (SED) as the physical bedrock of our approach, supplementing it with key insights about the nature of consciousness long emphasized in eastern philosophy and other wisdom traditions. We proceed to show that our approach substantiates an intriguing way of thinking about the dynamical emergence of ordinary consciousness from cosmic consciousness, identifying the latter with the vacuum state of quantum field theory. Finally, we argue that the present approach is well suited to address problems of phenomenal constitution, in particular as they pertain to the qualities and structure of experience and to the generation of subjects.


Cerebral lateralization in visual perception was investigated in 9 severe stuttering, 11 mild stuttering and 48 fluent speakers. The subjects were asked to identify words presented in the left or right visual field for 20 ms. Children responded by pointing to the exposed test word on a response card which contained four different words. Errors committed in the left and right visual fields were analyzed. The data showed a left hemisphere superiority in the processing of words in both the mild stutterers and the fluent speakers, but a right hemisphere advantage in the severe stutterers. The results suggest a close relationship between the severity of stuttering and functional brain organization.


Scaling up the vocabulary and complexity of current visual understanding systems is necessary in order to bridge the gap between human and machine visual intelligence. However, a crucial impediment to this end lies in the difficulty of generalizing to data distributions that come from real-world scenarios. Typically such distributions follow Zipf's law which states that only a small portion of the collected object classes will have abundant examples (head); while most classes will contain just a few (tail). In this paper, we propose to study a novel task concerning the generalization of visual relationships that are on the distribution's tail, i.e. we investigate how to help AI systems to better recognize rare relationships like , where the subject S, predicate P, and/or the object O come from the tail of the corresponding distributions. To achieve this goal, we first introduce two large-scale visual-relationship detection benchmarks built upon the widely used Visual Genome and GQA datasets. We also propose an intuitive evaluation protocol that gives credit to classifiers who prefer concepts that are semantically close to the ground truth class according to wordNet- or word2vec-induced metrics. Finally, we introduce a visiolinguistic version of a Hubless loss which we show experimentally that it consistently encourages classifiers to be more predictive of the tail classes while still being accurate on head classes. Our code and models are available on this http URL.


The analytical forms of the interaction potentials between one pseudo-scalar/vector and one scalar/tensor/axial-vector heavy mesons are deduced based on a chiral quark model. Our results explicitly show the attractive property between the two heavy mesons. Consequently, a series of possible molecular states are obtained. It is expected that our study might shed some light on the popular discussions of the newly observed XYZ states.


The objective of the study is to assess production potential and structure and the economic situation of farms pursuing their activity in areas (in municipalities) with various saturation of High Nature Value farmland (HNVf) areas in Poland. The first part of the study presented a method of designating HNVf areas, designated by the Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation National Research Institute (ISSPC-NRI) and the Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics National Research Institute (IAFE-NRI), in cooperation with the Institute of Technology and Life Sciences (ITLS), the Institute for Agricultural and Forest Environment of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IAFE-PAS), and the Polish Society for the Protection of Birds (PSPB) upon the request of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the European Commission (EC). HNVf areas have been designated on the basis of the adopted criteria of characteristics of extensive agriculture and high nature value areas. On the other hand, the second part of the paper consisted of the organisational and economic assessment of farms from municipalities with various saturation of HNVf areas in Poland, uninterruptedly keeping accounts for the Polish FADN in the years 2016-2018. It was determined that farms from municipalities with a high saturation of HNVf areas, when compared to farms from municipalities with a lower saturation of such areas, being a reference point, have a lower production potential of soils and achieve worse production results. They have, inter alia, a smaller UAA size, smaller labour inputs and smaller capital value, including machinery and equipment. In addition, they have lower income per 1 ha of UAA, which limits their development opportunities.


In communication networks, traffic measurements serve two main purposes: the characterization of traffic load patterns and the monitoring of performances. This paper is a study of the applicability of traffic analysis methods as a mean to detect malfunctions and performance changes in packet data networks, through measurements of selected parameters. The main contribution is of a methodological nature and is motivated by the fact that wavelet analysis, which has come to be regarded as a standard approach, is by no means a straightforward method. Controversial results can be found, which are not always attributable to the complex nature of the measured object. Careful study of the uncertainty of traffic parameter estimates is also an important issue, which turns out to be somewhat neglected in the literature. The aim of the work is twofold: on the one hand, to enhance the model validation process; on the other, to provide for objective assessment of the feasibility of network monitoring procedures that rely on measurement and model-based diagnostics


One of the most common types of pavement on the national highway system is composite asphalt concrete (AC) over portland cement concrete (PCC). With a large percentage of PCC pavements either approaching or at the end of their design lives, AC overlay of PCC pavements has become one of the most common methods of rehabilitation. This has resulted in several thousand kilometers of composite AC/PCC pavements. As the level of heavy truck traffic loading continues to increase on a majority of pavements, it is likely that the total length of composite pavements in the nation will continue to increase considerably in the coming years. A common type of distress that occurs on these composite pavements is reflective cracking. This occurs when the joints or cracks in the underlying PCC pavement reflect through the AC overlay. A performance model that can be used to predict accurately the amount of reflective cracks in composite AC/PCC pavements has enormous potential uses. The development of a mechanistic-based performance model for predicting the amount of reflective cracks in composite AC/PCC pavements is described. Data from the Long-Term Pavement Performance database were used to develop the model. Using the principles of fracture mechanics, it is illustrated that a mechanistic-based model can be developed that closely models the real-life behavior of composite pavements and predicts the amount of reflective cracks. Because of the mechanistic nature of the model, it is particularly effective for performance prediction for design checks and pavement management. Also, since the model can take into account the relative damaging effect of the actual axle loads in any traffic distribution, it has great potential for application in cost allocation.


The distributions of charge and current density resulting from ballistic electrons incident on a two-dimensional parabolic repeller barrier are obtained. Formulae for incidence at an angle are derived, utilizing as initial electron state a wavepacket locating the particle at the source and carrying the electron momentum. Numerical calculations have been performed with expected electron energies below the barrier height so that the transmitted current is of tunnelling origin. When the electrons leave the source at zero speed the resulting distributions are symmetrical about the perpendicular drawn from the source to the barrier axis. The case of incidence at angle pi /3 and a small initial momentum is also studied. Polar diagrams depicting the current field components and the charge distributions round various circles centred at the point of incidence are given. For each circle there are two current maxima, one corresponding to transmission and the other to reflection. The locus of the positions round the various circles where the magnitude of the current field acquires maximum values coincides with the corresponding locus for the charge distribution, apart from a region in the vicinity of the point of incidence in which case the charge distribution does not exhibit distinct maxima in the transmitted region. The hydrodynamic picture obtained for the electron cloud may be useful to experimenters involved in two-dimensional ballistic arrangements, as can be attained at the interface of certain semiconductors.


Many survey researchers believe that the quality of answers to attitude questions may be improved by using no-opinion filters to remove those responses that are not based on true opinions. The authors investigate whether reliability, one aspect of data quality, is greater for filtered questions. Split-ballot experiments from two telephone surveys of the Akron, Ohio metropolitan area are used to estimate the effect of filtered questions on the reliability of items from Srole's anomia scale, Rosenberg's self-esteem scale, and a scale of attitudes toward lawyers. There is no evidence that filtered questions improve reliability, and in the case of self-esteem, reliability may be reduced on the filtered form.


We study the interplay of electron and photon spin in non-reciprocal materials. Traditionally, the primary mechanism to design non-reciprocal photonic devices has been magnetic fields in conjunction with magnetic oxides, such as iron garnets. In this work, we present an alternative paradigm that allows tunability and reconfigurability of the non-reciprocity through spintronic approaches. The proposed design uses the high-spin-orbit coupling of a narrow-band gap semiconductor (InSb) with ferromagnetic dopants. A combination of the intrinsic and a gate-applied electric field gives rise to a strong external Rashba spin-orbit coupling (RSOC) in a magnetically doped InSb film. The RSOC which is gate alterable is shown to adjust the magnetic permeability tensor via the electron g-factor of the medium. We use electronic band structure calculations (k$\cdot$p theory) to show the gate-adjustable RSOC manifest itself in the non-reciprocal coefficient of photon fields via shifts in the Kerr and Faraday rotations. In addition, we show that photon spin properties of dipolar emitters placed in the vicinity of a non-reciprocal electromagnetic environment is distinct from reciprocal counterparts. The Purcell factor (F$_{p}$) of a spin-polarized emitter (right-handed circular dipole) is significantly enhanced due to a larger g-factor while a left-handed dipole remains essentially unaffected. Our work can lead to electron spin controlled reconfigurable non-reciprocal photonic devices.


ABSTRACT Localized aggressive periodontitis (LAP) is a distinct form of early-onset periodontitis linked to periodontal infection with uncontrolled inflammation and leukocyte-mediated tissue destruction. The resolution of inflammation is an active process orchestrated by specialized proresolving lipid mediators (SPMs). Since the level of the Maresin pathway marker 14-hydroxy-docosahexaenoic acid (14-HDHA) was lower in activated peripheral blood from LAP patients, we investigated the Maresin 1 (MaR1) biosynthetic pathway in these subjects and its role in regulating phagocyte functions. Macrophages from LAP patients had a lower level of expression of 12-lipoxygenase (∼30%) and reduced MaR1 (LAP versus healthy controls [HC], 87.8 ± 50 pg/106 cells versus 239.1 ± 32 pg/106 cells). Phagocytosis by LAP macrophages was reduced ∼40% compared to that of HC, and killing of periodontal pathogens, including Porphyromonas gingivalis and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, were similarly reduced. LAP neutrophils also displayed slower kinetics (∼30%) and decreased maximal phagocytosis (∼20% lower) with these pathogens than those of HC. The administration of MaR1 at 1 nM enhanced phagocytosis (31 to 65% increase), intracellular antimicrobial reactive oxygen species production (26 to 71% increase), bacterial killing of these periodontal pathogens (22 to 38% reduction of bacterial titers), and restored impairment of LAP phagocytes. Together, these results suggest that therapeutics targeting the Maresin pathway have clinical utility in treating LAP and other oral diseases associated with infection, inflammation, and altered phagocyte functions.


"Estate topos" is usually considered in the works of authors who had estates or for a long time were living in estates of their relatives and friends. Significantly less attention is paid to the characterization of the "estate topos" in the texts of the authors, who, due to class restrictions, were not the owners of the estates and their frequent guests. In the literature of the Russian Silver Age, these are primarily the poets of the "peasant concord" group: N. Klyuev, S. Ese nin, A. Shiryaevets, S. Klychkov and oth- ers. For them, the most important and often the earliest in time of development of the source of knowledge about the Russian estate was Russian literature. The poets got an idea of estate complexes from personal experience. Elements of these complexes become symbols, each of which has a semantic filling formed over a long period. Revolutionary events of 1917–1921 lead to the rapid death of the estate world. If Klyuev in the early post-revolutionary years welcomed this process, then for Shiryaevets the Russian estate is inseparable from peasant life, Esenin is characterized by the transfer of elements of landlord complexes to the space of the peasant estate, in the heritage of Klychkov, like some other authors, an important role is played by a garden connected not only with the landowner estate, but also with peasant life, with the Garden of Eden.


A chronic and extensive distinctive pruritic vesiculobullous eruption in a young woman resembled dermatitis herpetiformis clinically and erythema multiforme histologically. The most remarkable feature was the regular premenstrual exacerbation. Study revealed that flares could be excited by progesterone and progestational compounds. Within seven hours a single dose of progesterone induced pruritus, and a clinical flare associated with marked degranulation and later disappearance of the circulating basophil leukocytes. In turn, clinical remission could be induced by estinyl estradiol for oral administration in a dosage sufficient to suppress ovulation. Oophorectomy was followed by complete involution of all clinical signs and symptoms. The eruption is viewed as an autoimmune phenomenon triggered premenstrually by endogenous progesterone.


In this paper, we consider the community detection problem under either the stochastic block model (SBM) assumption or the degree-correlated stochastic block model (DCSBM) assumption. The modularity maximization formulation for the community detection problem is NP-hard in general. In this paper, we propose a sparse and low-rank completely positive relaxation for the modularity maximization problem, we then develop an efficient row-by-row (RBR) type block coordinate descent (BCD) algorithm to solve the relaxation and prove an $\mathcal{O}(1/\sqrt{N})$ convergence rate to a stationary point where $N$ is the number of iterations. A fast rounding scheme is constructed to retrieve the community structure from the solution. Non-asymptotic high probability bounds on the misclassification rate are established to justify our approach. We further develop an asynchronous parallel RBR algorithm to speed up the convergence. Extensive numerical experiments on both synthetic and real world networks show that the proposed approach enjoys advantages in both clustering accuracy and numerical efficiency. Our numerical results indicate that the newly proposed method is a quite competitive alternative for community detection on sparse networks with over 50 million nodes.


4th generation mobile communication service is high quality seamless broadband multimedia service, which can be used by less cost and more convenience. This service should be possible with anything, anytime, anywhere, anydevice, anyone (AAAAA). Competition has already been begun. We have enough know-how about 2G and 3G mobile communication systems. With these strengths, if we keep producing and providing highly advanced services using 4 generation mobile communication technologies, our country can make a firm foundation to lead worldwide market in 4 generation mobile communication. In addition, our country will be still one of the most powerful countries in IT area


Polymer matrix composites exhibit nonlinear viscoelastic behavior over a wide range of temperatures and loading frequencies, which requires an elaborate experimental characterization campaign. Methods are now available to accelerate the characterization process and recover elastic modulus from storage modulus (E′). However, these methods are limited to the linear viscoelastic region and need to be expanded to nonlinear viscoelastic problems to enable materials design. The present work aims to build a general machine learning based architecture to accelerate the characterization and materials design process for nonlinear viscoelastic materials using the E′ results. To expand outside the linear viscoelastic region, general relations of viscoelasticity are first developed so the master relation of E′ considering nonlinear viscoelasticity can be transformed to time domain relaxation function. The transform starts with building the master relation by optimizing the artificial neural network (ANN) formulation using Kriging model and genetic algorithm. Then the master relation is transformed to a relaxation function, which can be used to predict the stress response with a given strain history and to further extract the elastic modulus. The transform is tested on high density polyethylene matrix syntactic foams and the accuracy is found by comparing the predicted materials properties with those obtained from tensile tests. The good agreements indicate the transform can predict the elastic modulus under a wide range of temperatures and strain rates for any composition of the composite and can be used for material design problems.


Using propagating surface plasmons (SPs) on a silver nanowire (NW), we demonstrate that a focused laser light at the end of the silver NW can excite a single quantum dot (QD) microns away from the excitation spot. The QD—NW interaction allows the excited QD convert part of its energy into propagating SPs, which then can be detected at remote sites. Simultaneous multi-QD remote excitation and remote detection can also be realized. Furthermore, the tight confinement of the propagating SPs around the NW surface enables the selective excitation of QDs very close in space, which cannot be realized under the conventional excitation condition. This remote excitation and remote detection approach may find applications in optical imaging and the sensing of chemical and biological systems.


SUMMARY This paper was originally presented in memory of Jennifer Fitzgerald, as an address at a Queensland conference. Jennifer Fitzgerald was a lawyer and writer working in the 1990s with Queensland Advocacy Incorporated (QAI), an independent, community-based systems advocacy and legal advocacy organisation for people with disability in Queensland, Australia. As QAI's first bioethics advocacy worker, Jenny insightfully identified the threats posed by areas of biotechnology, for people with disability. Her works include a collection of papers on ethical issues facing people with disability, and "Include Me In: Disability Rights and the Law in Queensland" (1994). She was also a published participant of the first conference on Disability, Health and Spirituality held in Brisbane in 1996.


Hepatitis E is considered an emerging foodborne disease in Europe. Several types of foods are implicated in the transmission of the hepatitis E virus (HEV) to humans, in particular, pork and wild boar products. We developed a parametric stochastic model to estimate the risk of foodborne exposure to HEV in the Italian population and to rank the relevance of pork products with and without liver (PL and PNL, respectively), leafy vegetables, shellfish and raw milk in HEV transmission. Original data on HEV prevalence in different foods were obtained from a recent sampling study conducted in Italy at the retail level. Other data were obtained by publicly available sources and published literature. The model output indicated that the consumption of PNL was associated with the highest number of HEV infections in the population. However, the sensitivity analysis showed that slight variations in the consumption of PL led to an increase in the number of HEV infections much higher than PNL, suggesting that PL at an individual level are the top risky food. Uncertainty analysis underlined that further characterization of the pork products preparation and better assessment of consumption data at a regional level is critical information for fine-tuning the most risky implicated food items in Italy.


Objective To develop an algorithm (sCOVID) to predict the risk of severe complications of COVID-19 in a community-dwelling population to optimise vaccination scenarios. Design Population-based cohort study. Setting 264 Dutch general practices contributing to the NL-COVID database. Participants 6074 people aged 0–99 diagnosed with COVID-19. Main outcomes Severe complications (hospitalisation, institutionalisation, death). The algorithm was developed from a training data set comprising 70% of the patients and validated in the remaining 30%. Potential predictor variables included age, sex, chronic comorbidity score (CCS) based on risk factors for COVID-19 complications, obesity, neighbourhood deprivation score (NDS), first or second COVID-19 wave and confirmation test. Six population vaccination scenarios were explored: (1) random (naive), (2) random for persons above 60 years (60plus), (3) oldest patients first in age band of 5 years (oldest first), (4) target population of the annual influenza vaccination programme (influenza), (5) those 25–65 years of age first (worker), and (6) risk based using the prediction algorithm (sCOVID). Results Severe complications were reported in 243 (4.8%) people with 59 (20.3%) nursing home admissions, 181 (62.2%) hospitalisations and 51 (17.5%) deaths. The algorithm included age, sex, CCS, NDS, wave and confirmation test (c-statistic=0.91, 95% CI 0.88 to 0.94) in the validation set. Applied to different vaccination scenarios, the proportion of people needed to be vaccinated to reach a 50% reduction of severe complications was 67.5%, 50.0%, 26.1%, 16.0%, 10.0% and 8.4% for the worker, naive, influenza, 60plus, oldest first and sCOVID scenarios, respectively. Conclusion The sCOVID algorithm performed well to predict the risk of severe complications of COVID-19 in the first and second waves of COVID-19 infections in this Dutch population. The regression estimates can and need to be adjusted for future predictions. The algorithm can be applied to identify persons with highest risks from data in the electronic health records of general practitioners (GPs).


The article deals with the interaction of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive and the Waste Shipment Regulation, insofar as they both regulate shipments of waste electrical and electronic equipment. While the number of such shipments is increasing rapidly, there is widespread uncertainty among companies and enforcement authorities concerning the interpretation of some of the relevant provisions. In particular, the borderline issues linked to the definition of 'waste' and the distinction between 'waste' and 'product' seem to cause difficulties that could be exploited by companies disguising their waste as 'products' to circumvent EU rules on waste management. Furthermore, the correct classification of waste is not always obvious, which provides for uncertainty as far as the applicable control procedure is concerned. This article analyses the regulatory and non-regulatory steps taken at both European and national levels towards more clarity. It concludes by calling for more coordination at European level in relation to enforcement activities. Furthermore, companies must take a more proactive stance when designing their take-back and waste management plans.


BACKGROUND
Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) plays a central role in converting folate to methyl donor for DNA methylation. Because MTHFR is a key enzyme in folate metabolism, changes in its activity resulting from polymorphisms in the MTHFR gene could modify the susceptibility to cancer. Recently, the C677T and A1298C mutations of MTHFR were discovered to be associated with susceptibility in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

PATIENTS AND METHODS
The association between MTHFR polymorphisms and susceptibility and clinical outcome in ALL was studied in 118 adult ALL patients and matched healthy controls (n =427). DNA samples taken from patients with ALL and controls were analyzed using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assays to detect the MTHFR C677T and A1298C mutations.

RESULTS
No significant difference was found in the development of adult ALL among those with different MTHFR genotypes of the C677T or A1298C polymorphisms. However, the MTHFR 677CT+TT genotype showed a tendency to be associated with adult ALL [crude odds ratio (OR), 0.67; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.44-1.02; adjusted OR, 0.74 95% CI, 0.47-1.14].

CONCLUSION
The MTHFR C677T and A1298C polymorphisms are not significant risk factors in adult acute leukemia in the Korean population.


Women empowerment contributes to the coastal economy and dispositions to household income. This descriptive study aimed to establish women's empowerment and their roles in the overall performance of selected fisheries-related livelihood in coastal towns of Milagros, Cawayan, Placer, and Esperanza, Masbate. It was participated by 81 women beneficiaries. A structured survey questionnaire was utilized to collect information on the sociodemographic profile and adequacy level of empowerment aligned to WEAI-5DE. It was backed up with FGDs and KIIs. The data were treated through descriptive analysis techniques using frequencies and percentages. The respondents mainly belong to the reproductive age group (15-49 years old) and are married individuals (84%). They have resulted in the dismayed of occupation because respondents are mainly housewives. The present study reveals that women achieved an adequate level of control over using income and building relationships or groups within and outside the organization; hence, women are empowered. The study also focused on the need for women's empowerment along with agricultural production, access to and control of productive resources, leadership in the community, and time allocation. These gaps and impediments may be addressed when feasible vocational/TVET training programs are introduced to women, the establishment of collaboration among concerned government agencies to channel fishery products directly to the market, and the inclusion of gender sensitivity activities to lessen gender inequality in the fishery community.


We compare the performance of Bayesian Belief Networks (BBN), Multilayer Perception (MLP) networks and Alternating Decision Trees (ADtree) on separating quasars from stars with the database from the 2MASS and FIRST survey catalogs. Having a training sample of sources of known object types, the classifiers are trained to separate quasars from stars. By the statistical properties of the sample, the features important for classification are selected. We compare the classification results with and without feature selection. Experiments show that the results with feature selection are better than those without feature selection. From the high accuracy found, it is concluded that these automated methods are robust and effective for classifying point sources. They may all be applied to large survey projects (e.g. selecting input catalogs) and for other astronomical issues, such as the parameter measurement of stars and the redshift estimation of galaxies and quasars.


The transcobalamin II (TCN2) 776C>G polymorphism has been reported to be a genetic risk factor for idiopathic recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA). However, the sample size in previous studies was small, and other TCN2 polymorphisms have not been studied. Moreover, the TCN2 67A>G and 776C>G polymorphisms, and the transcobalamin II receptor (TCblR/CD320) 1104C>T polymorphism, have demonstrated associations with immune responses.


We report the case of 5 year-old boy, presenting with acute pericarditis, wandering abdominal tumefaction and high eosinophil blood count. Clinical history and serologic tests arrived at the diagnosis of human hypodermyiasis. Pericardiac manifestations are so scarce in this kind of parasitosis, that we found of interest to relate a new case.


This paper illustrates how wholly owned entry modes of multinational companies (MNCs) are jointly determined by both the strategic objectives of the MNC and the local firms' assets in the creation of value. In particular, the entry mode chosen is based on the potential reciprocal technological spillovers between local firms and MNC subsidiaries. M&As are preferred when host countries exhibit a certain level of development in their local systems of innovation, especially for technologically leading MNCs. Otherwise, for technological laggard MNCs, greenfield investments prevail and M&As may be carried out for meeting demand motives in developing local systems of innovation.


We present a case of hypertensive urgency in a diabetic patient with painful diabetic neuropathy on duloxetine treatment. The patient's blood pressure was high after taking 1-day dose of duloxetine and the patient was diagnosed with hypertensive urgency. The patient was managed with labetalol, leading to reduction in blood pressure. The patient's medication was switched to telmisartan and metoprolol, which leads to resolution of increased blood pressure. This case report is a possible case of hypertensive urgency after the initiation of duloxetine managed with antihypertensives and resolves with the discontinuation of the duloxetine.


Factors involved in the mechanism of soybean resistance to pod sucking bug R. linearis were identified using resistant soybean genotypes, IAC-100, and IAC-80-596-2 and the susceptible variety, Wilis as a check. The role of trichomes in resistance was assayed removing trichomes from the pod shell, and seed coat and the resistance was determined based on the number of stylet punctures made by the bug. Seed of IAC-100 and IAC-596-2 that had longer, denser trichomes, higher crude fiber content and suffered fewer stylet punctures than Wilis. This suggested that denser and longer trichomes interfered with stylet piercing of the pod shell. When the trichomes of IAC-100 and IAC-596-2 were removed these genotypes were more susceptible to insect feeding. In further studies, replacement of IAC-100 and IAC-596-2 seed with seed of Wilis in the pods of resistant genotypes resulted less stylet punctures on the Wilis seed. It was concluded that denser and longer trichomes on pods along with harder pod shells acts as a physical barrier in antixenosis resistance of soybean to the pod sucking bug. Therefore, IAC-100, and IAC-596-2 genotypes have good potential for used as resistant parents in a soybean breeding program.


The 158,000 Mr protein, previously designated C5c, present in fully assembled complement (C) membrane attack complexes (MC5b-9) has been identified as a disulfide-bonded dimer of C9. This conclusion was based on the observations that: (i) a portion of the 125I-radiolabeled precursor C9 incorporated into MC5b-9 complexes comigrated with the 158,000 Mr protein band in NaDodSO4/polyacrylamide slab gels; (ii) monospecific antisera produced against native C9 and the 158,000 Mr protein immunologically crossreacted with monomeric native C9 by double immunodiffusion and with monomeric C9 and the 158,000 Mr protein on immunoreplication procedures; and (iii) two-dimensional NaDodSO4/polyacrylamide slab gel electrophoresis, in which the second dimension was conducted under reducing conditions, revealed that the 158,000 Mr protein contained two identical 71,000 Mr subunits which comigrated with monomeric C9. Molar ratio estimates indicated that 1 mol of C5b, C9 dimer, C6, C7, and C8 and 3-4 mol of C9 monomer were present per MC5b-9 complex. Each fully assembled membrane-bound MC5b-9 complex would therefore have a calculated Mr of 982,000. The presence of C9 dimers in the hemolytically active 29S dimeric form of the MC5b-9 complex and the absence of C9 dimers in the hemolytically inactive 23S monomeric form of the fluid phase SC5b-9 complex strongly suggest an important role for C9 dimer formation in MC5b-9 complex structure and function. The most probable function of C9 dimers would be the formation of intercomplex disulfide crosslinks which would provide a mechanism to stabilize the assembly of MC5b-9 into aggregates of increasing size on the target membrane surface which would thus be responsible for the observed pore size heterogeneity of functional C lesions.


The success of express courier services often depends on both how to assign service centers to consolidation terminals and how to extend their cutoff time (deadline) for direct home deliveries coordinated by service centers near customers. This study suggests an approach to design express courier service networks with respect to assignment of service centers to consolidation terminals and extension of their cutoff times. We propose an integer programming model and a genetic algorithm based solution procedure that allows express couriers to maximize their incremental profit. To demonstrate the practicality and efficiency of the proposed model and its solution procedure, we performed an example problem with reduced data sets from an express courier in Korea.


Approximately half of the houses in Northern Ireland were built before any form of minimum thermal specification (U-value) or energy efficiency standard were available. At present, 44% of households are categorised as being in fuel poverty; spending more than 10% of the household income to heat the house to an acceptable level. This paper presents the results from long term performance monitoring of 4 case study houses that have undergone retrofits to improve energy efficiency in Northern Ireland. There is some uncertainty associated with some of the marketed retrofit measures in terms of their effectiveness in reducing energy usage and their potential to cause detrimental impacts on the internal environment of a house. Using wireless sensor technology internal conditions such as temperature and humidity were measured alongside gas and electricity usage for a year. External weather conditions were also monitored. The paper considers the effectiveness of the different retrofit measures implemented based on the long term data monitoring and short term building performance evaluation tests that were completed.


The Hystricuridae, previously regarded by most workers as a paraphyletic group, is considered on the basis of new and revised silicified species from Utah and Nevada. Major subgroups of hystricurids appear to be monophyletic, but the sister group relationships of several related families require investigation. The Hystricurinae is restricted to Hystricurus Raymond, 1913, Tersella Petrunina, 1973, and Flectihystricurus gen. nov. (type species: Hystricurus flectimembrus Ross, 1951). A new subfamily Hintzecurinae is diagnosed. The subfamily appears to be restricted to the upper Skullrockian Stage, and comprises the new genera Hintzecurus (t.s.: Hystricurus paragenalatus Ross, 1951), Genalaticurus (t.s.: Hystricurus genalatus Ross, 1951), Ibexicurus (t.s.: I. parsonsi sp. nov.), Lavadamia (t.s.: L. joplinae sp. nov.), Politicurus (t.s.: Hystricurus politus Ross, 1951), and Rossicurus (t.s.: Hystricurus lepidus Hintze, 1953). Trilobites, Hystricuridae, Ordovician, Idaho, Utah.


In order to ensure a stable operation of the power system, Transmission System Operators have to balance production and consumption of electiricty continuously. For this purpose balancing services are utilised. With the European objective to migrate to a sustainable power production, a significant share of generation is expected to be from renewable sources, with its inherent production forecast errors. To balance this variable production, the requirement for balancing services increases. The Nordic, particularly the Norwegian hydrobased power system is predestinated of providing such balancing services to the continental European power system.This thesis studies the integration of national regulating power markets, enabling the cross-border exchange of balancing services in Northern Europe. The research encompasses the development of a mathematical model for the regulating power market, which is based on a day-ahead spot market model. Furthermore, data models for the Northern European power system are developed. Succeedingly, these models are utilised for a set of case studies.The first part of the thesis focuses on the model development and implementation of system scenarios. The mathematical model of the regulating power market comprises the procurement as well as activation of regulating reserves and explicitly addresses the exchange of balancing services. This model is used to assess the integration of national regulating power markets.Two detailed data models are compiled, encompassing 2010's and 2020's state of the Northern European power system. For these scenarios the outcome of the the day-ahead spot market is analysed, which shows significant changes in the future system dispatch. Taking the system dispatch as input to the regulating power market model, its market outcome is investigated. The analysis illustrates significant cost savings for the integration of national regulating power markets.The second part of the thesis comprises a set of analyses, executed with the developed models. The increase in power production from renewable energy sources, especially wind power production is taken as a basis for the future development of the power system. With the changes in the power production portfolio in Northern Europe, including higher variability and increased production forecast error, the future outcome of the regulating power market is studied. Moreover, the impact of various forecast horizons for wind power production and the definition of different reserve requirement levels are investigated. In general the analyses illustrate the challenges due to increased power production from renewable sources. These result in higher system imbalances and hence costs in the regulating power market. It is shown, that an integration of national regulating power markets in Northern Europe provides a good possibility to counteract this cost increase, while the system security is enhanced.


This paper describes a frequency-limited derivative technique that has dramatically increased our ability to resolve Fermi-surface discontinuities in our 2D ACAR spectra. The performance of the technique, which involves minimal CPU time, is demonstrated with example applications to both simulated and real 2D ACAR spectra.


Hungarian poet and writer Dezső Kosztolányi edited and translated the first anthology of Chinese classical poetry in the 20th century, entitled Chinese and Japanese Poems, which was published at the end of 1931. But his interest in Chinese culture can be traced back to much earlier, to the first decade of the 20th century. This article takes into consideration all of Kosztolányi's prose writings, articles and translations related to China, Chinese poetry and also the sources of his knowledge about China, published in Hungarian and in english, German and French, such as the books of H. A. Giles, arthur Waley, richard Wilhelms, Paul Claudel and others. The paper also analyzes the role of anthologies of Chinese poetry in foreign languages that Kosztolányi consulted for his translations into Hungarian. in his writings, he depicted a somewhat idealistic picture of Chinese culture, and in spite of some occasional errors, he was successful in describing some important characteristics of Chinese life of the past, and his writings and translations have had a great influence in Hungary.


Occupation fulfillment is all about once feelings for one?s movement. Laborer which conveys satisfaction is said to have a rousing perspective towers the action, not under any condition like a baffled agent who takes undesirable attitude towards the action. A gentleman consuming unfavorable perspective exhibits a character air which is slated to experience nervousness, weight, stress, sensation and torment, somewhere as those with helpful mindset will feel content with themselves, others, besides their work. Workers fulfillment component of saw execution & desire. It?s man?s sentiment delight or displeasure impending nearly for dissimilar an item?s upshot through their desires. In event performance slips blot regarding craving, the representative is sadden & on sour gamble it coordinates the wishes, worker rewarded