Phytophthora root and stem rot, caused by Phytophthora megasperma Drechs. f. sp. Glycinea Kuan & Erwin, is an important disease of soybean in several major growing areas across the world. Susceptible genotypes can be completely devastated, but cultivars with a high level of field resistance are available. Although high soil moisture is known to predispose to infection by Phytophthora, in the absence of this disease soybean is relatively tolerant to soil waterlogging, and has been shown to respond positively to continuous watering in the Saturated Soil Culture (SSC) system. The impact of Phytophthora on plants grown in SSC was investigated at two sites in south-east Queensland. At both sites, there were no differences between plants grown in SSC and conventional furrow-irrigated treatments in the rate or ultimate extent of disease development: susceptible cultivars succumbed to the disease, while cultivars with field resistance remained free of symptoms. A fungicidal seed dressing improved emergence and reduced initial disease infection, and improved seed yield in some cultivars. It was concluded that Phytophthora root and stem rot is not a limitation to the use of Saturated Soil Culture in soybean providing resistant cultivars are available.


Prostatic calculi occur very often in men, but exceptionally they cause an almost total destruction of the prostatic parenchyma. Preferred treatment in order to obtain complete resolution is either transurethral resection or suprapubic simple prostatectomy. We report for the first time a radical prostatectomy as a unique chance for huge prostatic stones in a 56-years old man with severe urinary symptoms. We perform a retropubic radical prostatectomy using a nerve sparing technique. There were no intraoperative or postoperative complications. Though radical prostatectomy is an invasive approach to treat a young man affected by prostatic stones and without prostate cancer, we chose to perform it because of the impossibility to obtain complete recovery with transurethral or suprapubic simple prostatectomy.


The computer screen processing based machine learning algorithms is envisaged for future knowledge management applications. The front end based information retrieval is quite similar to human method of information access from computer. The proposed architecture is highly computational intensive and mostly performs image processing algorithms for extracting the information from the screen image. An FPGA based hardware accelerator is proposed for this application. The Xilinx Spartan-6 FPGA board is used for realizing morphological image processing modules along with Microblaze soft core. The Microblaze software performs the control operation and provides 100 Mbps Ethernet access to PC. The image processing modules are verified working at 100 MHz clock with chipscope occupying 70% of the selected Spartan-6 LX45 device along with Microblaze soft core. Keywordsknowledge management, machine learning, computer screen processing, morphological image processing


The study examines students' perceptions of the effectiveness of teaching and learning in business studies programs in the polytechnic institutions in Ghana. This research is a replica study (Hamid and Pihie, 2004). Two major factors are employed to measure students' perceptions of effective teaching and learning. They are Lecturers' Characteristics and Teaching Methodology. Findings of the study show how respondents perceive the qualities possessed and exhibited by lecturers with regard to the two main constructs. Descriptive and inferential statistics are reported. F ratio and ANOVA were used to show the significant differences in students' perceptions of the two factors based on age, class, and department. There were significant differences in the perceptions of overall Lecturer Characteristics, and in the perceptions of Teaching Methodology based on these variables. The study revealed high students' perception of teaching quality and learning in the Polytechnics in Ghana. The significant differences found were related to age, class and departments


INTRODUCTION: Until 20th century, bladder stones were one of the most prevalent disorders among the poor class and the incidence was especially high in childhood and adolescent.1 The decrease in incidence of bladder calculi is attributed mainly to dietary and nutritional progress especially in children.2 A solitary bladder calculus is usual, although multiple stones are found in 25% of cases.3 Bladder stones are rare, and they constitute about 5% of all urinary stones, 4, 5 it is classified as migrated from upper urinary tract, primary idiopathic, or secondary calculi.6 Bladder stones are managed by Extracorporeal Shockwave Lithotripsy (ESWL), endourology procedures, or open surgery. We report an unusual case of giant vesical calculus weighing 600grams in a 55 year old female with no evidence of hematuria, urinary retention, and dysuria.


Litchi pulp was treated with various concentration levels of hydrolytic enzymes viz. pectinase (0-0.133%w/w), cellulase (0-0.266%w/w) and hemicellulase (0-0.20%w/w) for different durations (30-150 min) at 45°C. The effect of enzyme treatment conditions was studied on yield, clarity, apparent viscosity and total soluble solids (TSS) of juice obtained from the pulp. The optimum process conditions were determined by employing a second order central composite rotatable design in combination with response surface methodology. Yield, clarity and TSS of juice were found to increase and apparent viscosity was found to decrease significantly by enzymatic treatment. The optimum conditions for enzymatic treatment of pulp obtained after a 2 sided desirability function with the responses juice yield, clarity and TSS to be maximized and viscosity to be minimized were 0.076% (w/w) pectinase, 0.138% (w/w) cellulase, 0.107% (w/w) hemicellulase and incubation time of 106.5 min. The predicted values for juice yield, clarity, viscosity and TSS under optimized conditions were 77.19%, 93.53%, 1.359mPa s and 19.68°brix which showed a good agreement with the experimental values under same set of conditions.


Employing multiple paths for achieving high capability and robustness has
 some obvious benefits. New wireless technologies are giving more Internet
 access modes for notebooks and smart phones. However, most multipath
 protocols may not get acceptable throughput if reliable transmission is
 guaranteed. For some cases, the situation may even worse than using single
 path only. The main reason has strong relationship with the principal of
 multipath transmission. Motivated by these facts, specific analytical
 mechanisms are proposed to analyze the potential problems which may lead to
 serious performance decrease. Following that, we investigate how to use
 multiple paths legitimately when network environments are fluctuating. In our
 simulation, topologies for multiple paths and single path are set up for
 evaluating our analytical methods. Some distinguished scenarios are chosen
 from different perspectives. The results have revealed some throughput
 critical conditions and could be helpful in designing scheduling schemes for
 multipath protocols.


The examinations of gaze and optokinetic nystagmus were porformed at bed side before and after craniotomy. Gaze nystagmus were observed regularly in 120 cases who got the intracranial surgical procedures in Nagoya university hospital. Postoperative nystagmus which were not seen before operation appeared in 16 cases of 91 patients with supratentorial lesions and 24 cases of 27 patients with infratentorial lesions. These postoperative nystagmus continued for from 3 days to 21 days. The state of the direction of spontaneous horizontal nystagmus and directional preponderance were examined on 23 cases who were diagnosed as having unilateral lesion. In the cases with supratentorial lesion, the nystagmus appeared to be dominant toward the affected side, while in patients with infratentorial lesion, it had a tendency to be dominant toward the intact side. The mechanism of spontaneous and gaze nystagmus was discussed. The investigation could not conform whether nystagmus in supratentorial lesion was caused due to disturbance of the cerebral cortex or secondary disturbance of the brain stem. The postoperative nystagmus in the infratentorial lesion was possibly caused by the potoperative edema, operative injury, circulatory disturbance, and anoxia. Examinations of the optokinetic nystagmus had been done with hand-made drum at bed side for several weeks until the patients were stabilized. In most of 52 cases, horizontal optokinetic nystagmus were decreased in their frequency after craniotomy and gradually increased again. The similar observations were done in both supra- and infratentorial lesions. The optokinetic directional preponderance was examined on 30 cases diagnosed as having unilateral lesion. Eight supratentorial cases showed the decrease of intact side nystagmus and 2 infratentorial cases showed the decrease of affected side. The change of postoperative transient gaze nystagmus and horizontal optokinetic nystagmus were thought to be the functional alteration of the cerebral hemisphere and the brain stem. The examinations of gaze nystagmus and optokinetic nystagmus were harmless, simple and could be repeated at bed side easily, so these examinations were reliable for the expectation of the postoperative status of the brain stem as well as cerebral hemisphere and the necessity of neurosurgical examination.


A path-integral quantum Monte Carlo method is applied to the two-dimensional single-polaron Holstein model. Simulation data are shown to exhibit -scaling with the number of imaginary-time slices M used in the Trotter decomposition. Numerical extrapolation to yields very accurate estimation of polaron energetic characteristics. Kinetic, potential and total energy are calculated as functions of the electron - phonon coupling strength for different phonon frequencies. The small-polaron regime is found in the strong-coupling limit for all of the frequencies studied. The transition to the polaron state is sharp in the adiabatic regime but broadens as the frequency increases. In the adiabatic limit the polaron forms at .


Telemedicine appears in a context of limited resources, and the economic evaluation of the telemedicine becomes a need to justify allocation choices between various existing projects. Economic assessment of telemedicine is based only on cost-effectiveness methods. The principal criterion of efficiency is the saved transport costs, compared with the costs of investment and maintenance. And, even if the majority of the projects are not profitable, we observe that telemedicine practice diffuses to the detriment of the economic conclusions. Thus, it is undeniable that other benefits appear and are not taken into account by this method, mainly human factors (measurement of patient satisfaction, quality of life, accessibility and organizational impact). In this paper, we propose to examine two others approaches to evaluate this complex medical practice: the contingent valuation and the multi-criteria decision making method. We try to propose a comprehensive framework of telemedicine evaluation and to apply it to the perinatality sector in Brittany.


Naturally deformed biotite in contact-metamorphosed slates affected by a shear zone of the Southern Iberian Massif near Jaén (SE Spain) were studied by X-ray diffraction, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, electron probe microanalysis and high-resolution transmission and analytical electron microscopy. Biotite is found in the contact metamorphism aureole produced by the intrusion of a granodioritic stock, but shear strain caused its deformation. The southern part of the shear band is strongly deformed, containing thick clay gouge zones. The northern part is less deformed and develops weaker planar-linear fabrics. X-ray diffraction data reveal the predominance of the 2M1 biotite in the undeformed samples whereas the 1M polytype is predominant in the sheared samples. Chemical data and electron images of the biotite from unsheared slates do not show the presence of intercalated phases. This biotite is almost defect-free and electron diffraction patterns have sharp reflections indicating a two-layer polytype (probably 2M1). Back-scattered electron images from the deformed biotite in the moderate deformation part of the shear zone do not reveal intergrown minerals, but the electron microprobe analyses show some Fe- and Mg-enriched compositions. Transmission electron microscopy indicates that disordered polytype packets are predominant (probably 1Md). Their electron diffraction patterns have diffuse streaking along c*. These packets have high dislocation densities, microcavities with ∼5 Å latticefringe regions (probably brucite-like sheets) and interlayering of chlorite-berthierine. Kaolinized biotite can be observed in the clay gouges from the strongly deformed south part of the shear zone. The degree of streaking, as an indication of the intensity of deformation, revealed that the disordered polytype packets are more deformed than the two-layer polytype packets. The microcavities of the disordered polytype packets could act as potential channels for transport of fluids during the shearing stage and serve as sites for chloritization of biotite, producing chlorite-berthierine domains within biotite. Berthierine is an intermediate metastable phase replaced by chlorite with along-layer transitions.


OBJECTIVE
The present article reports how a dental implant with an internal port dental implant valve approach (DIVA) can be utilized as oroantral port to treat chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) in a minimally invasive manner.

METHOD AND MATERIALS
Eleven patients (age mean 68.1 years) with CRS were subjected to the transimplant lavage technique. For three patients the CRS treatment was performed via previously installed dental implants, and for another eight patients the implantation procedure was combined with the CRS treatment. The moment the implant was fully installed, the sinus membrane was punctured via the implant channel. Upon completion of the pus drainage the sinus was irrigated with normal saline, followed by the injection of a steroid solution (100 mg hydrocortisone).

RESULTS
Patients began to report symptomatic improvement from the first day after the first-session procedure. Nine patients had complete relief of most of their symptoms (nasal obstruction/discharge, anosmia/hyposmia) at day 30. The follow- up nasal endoscopy demonstrated no evidence of active sinus disease. All the implants used were found to be well-osseointegrated and still in use for prosthetic purposes. Clinical and radiologic results showed stability and no recurrence in the follow-up period.

CONCLUSION
The dental implant with an internal central port and integral dedicated sealing screw may be used for irrigation, observation, and further treatment of the maxillary sinus in cases of CRS.


Objectives. The ongoing Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has disrupted healthcare systems worldwide. This study aimed to document the effect of COVID-19 on osteosarcoma treatment pathways in the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) and determine if there were any delays.
Method. A retrospective review of osteosarcoma patients treated at the PGH from January 1, 2019 – January 1, 2020 (pre-COVID-19) was compared to those treated during the COVID-19 pandemic from March 1, 2020 – September 1, 2020. Rates of diagnosed osteosarcoma, admission for chemotherapy, admission for surgery, treatment abandonment, metastatic disease on presentation, 1-year mortality, and amputation were calculated and compared between the two groups.
Results. From March to September 2020, 11 newly diagnosed osteosarcoma patients sought consult at the PGH. Only one patient sought consult during the initial 3-4 months of the study, suggesting that patients delayed seeking healthcare during the period of enhanced community quarantine. Patients seen during the pandemic had a higher rate of metastatic disease on presentation, reflecting the delay in diagnosis. Due to COVID-19 restrictions early in the pandemic, osteosarcoma patients were coordinated and referred to outside hospitals for intravenous chemotherapy and surgery. Normalization of services (hospital admissions, limb salvage surgeries) were seen at the later stages of the study, corresponding to the loosening of the quarantine.
Conclusions. Osteosarcoma patients experienced delays in seeking consult, diagnosis, and treatment at the PGH due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Early indicators suggest worse outcomes for these patients due to the delays. Strategies employed during the pandemic, such as networking of care and telemedicine, may help in future outbreaks.


In Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts, growth factor-stimulated progression from G1 to S phase involves activation of the Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent serine/threonine-specific protein phosphatase 2B (calcineurin). Here we report that both cobalt and the calcium chelator EGTA, inhibitors of calcium uptake, as well as cyclosporin A and FK-506, specific inhibitors of calcineurin function, abolished fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-induced expression of cyclins A and E, but not cyclin D1. At 0.1 microM concentration cyclosporin A completely blocked FGF-induced expression of cyclins E and A and it inhibited FGF-stimulated DNA synthesis by 40%; full inhibition of DNA synthesis required 10 microM cyclosporin A. PD 98059, an inhibitor of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase kinase, and hemicholinium-3, an inhibitor of FGF-induced MAP kinase activity, did not inhibit the stimulatory effect of FGF on the expression of cyclin E. On the other hand, the inhibitory effect of 0.1 microM cyclosporin A on FGF-stimulated DNA synthesis was additive with that of hemicholinium-3, suggesting that the two inhibitors acted by different mechanisms. The inhibitors of calcineurin and calcium uptake also completely blocked the stimulatory effects of lysophosphatidic acid on the expression of cyclins E and A, but not cyclin D1. The results suggest that FGF- or lysophosphatidic acid-induced transcription of cyclin A and cyclin E genes is mediated by calcineurin involving a MAP kinase-independent mechanism and that increased expression of cyclins A and E is required for the maximal stimulatory effects of these mitogens on DNA synthesis.


Amorphization by solid-state interdiffusion of bilayers consisting of a Ni single crystal and polycrystalline Zr has been studied by Rutherford-backscattering spectrometry and X-ray diffraction analysis. This type of bilayer samples forms an amorphous phase, starting at the interface in the same way as polycrystalline diffusion couples. The lack of a significant nucleation barrier is in contrast to the recently reported study, where a Zr single crystal and a polycrystalline Ni film did not interdiffuse.


Baghdad City suffers from a continual horizontal urban expansion causing a multitude of urban problems that limit sustainable development. This paper presents an applied study to monitor the stages of urban sprawl of the Al-Zawra area, located on the outskirts of Baghdad City. This study is conducted by following the urban sprawl changes during the period between 2000 and 2020. This study assumes the adoption of the control strategy called urban inverse densification according to the principles of sustainable urban development. The study used the descriptive method and the statistical analytical approach to data extracted from satellite images and topographic maps collected from various sources. The results showed that the population growth distribution indicator in the sprawl phenomenon (Ps) reached 80.71 %, compared to the densification phenomenon (Pd) 13.62 %. While the gross per capita urban land indicator in the sprawl (Ds) reached 19.29 %, compared to densification (Dd) 86.38 %. Therefore, there is an inverse relationship between the population and density indicators and their effect on urban sprawl and urban densification. The results showed the efficacy of an analytical statistical model for rehabilitating urban sprawl areas and reducing pressure on the outskirts of big cities through sustainable inverse densification.


This is a new edition to the classic title in "Young Reading Series Two", which is aimed at children whose reading ability and confidence allows them to tackle longer and more complex stories. It smells horrible and look disgusting, but rubbish hasn't always been a problem. Some of it can even be useful. You can squelch through its intriguing story, past ancient animal droppings, stinking sewers and dirty nappies. It is developed in consultation with Alison Kelly, who is a senior lecturer in education and an early reading specialist from Roehampton University.


This paper is devoted to the mechanism of particle acceleration via resonant interaction with the electromagnetic circular wave propagating along the inhomogeneous background magnetic field in the presence of a plasma flow. We consider the system where the plasma flow velocity is large enough to change the direction of wave propagation in the rest frame. This system mimics a magnetic field configuration typical for inner structure of a quasi-parallel shock wave. We consider conditions of gyroresonant interaction when the force corresponding to an inhomogeneity of the background magnetic field is compensated by the Lorentz force of the wave-magnetic field. The wave-amplitude is assumed to be about 10% of the background magnetic field. We show that particles can gain energy if kvsw>ω>kvsw−Ωc where k is the wave number, vsw is a plasma flow velocity, and ω and Ωc are the wave frequency and the particle gyrofrequency, respectively. This mechanism of acceleration resembles the gyrosurfing mechanism, but the ef...


Whether therapeutic drug monitoring is beneficial for imatinib mesylate used in the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia is currently under investigation(1), but most previous studies have indicated a significant association between trough serum concentrations greater than 1000 ng/mL and positive clinical response(2). In this issue, a mass spectrometry (MS)-based method for determination of imatinib concentrations in human serum is presented(3). While MS is often regarded as a difficult and expensive technique, requiring highly skilled personnel, the authors have chosen a robust and economical single-quadrupole instrument that is appropriate for the clinical lab setting. However, although compatible methods have been reported(4), most MS-based procedures, including the earliest reported assays(5,6), have required tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS)(2), a technique for which single-quadrupole mass spectrometers are not well-suited. Therefore, new methods for imatinib quantitation compatible with low-cost single-quadrupole instruments are clearly valuable, especially in light of the expected increase in demand if therapeutic drug monitoring does become standard practice.

Selectivity is often advanced to justify using MS for therapeutic drug monitoring. Improved selectivity, by enabling analyte quantitation in more complex matrices, allows sample preparation procedures to be simplified, which can reduce bias and total analysis time. Only protein removal by methanol precipitation was required in the presented method. MS is most powerful when combined with an appropriate separation. While gas chromatography is important for volatile molecules, liquid chromatography (LC) has wider applicability. Electrospray ionization (ESI) is the LC-MS interface of choice since the predominance of molecular ions simplifies data analysis. Sensitivity is enhanced by techniques like selected ion monitoring (SIM), where the instrument acts as a filter allowing only a single ion to reach the detector. SIM can be extended, by switching rapidly between targeted ions, to allow small numbers of components to be simultaneously monitored. Calibration curves must be established for the matrix in question to allow absolute quantitation. The presented method follows this SIM approach, targeting imatinib, the imatinib metabolite CGP 74588, and an internal standard. While not required in the presented method, the instrument used is capable of concurrent SIM of more than three analytes. Furthermore, simultaneous analysis is often unnecessary because an ion need only be targeted around the expected elution time, increasing the number of compounds that can be monitored.

A further advantage of MS is that isotopically labeled analogs of targeted analytes can be used as internal standards. Deuterated analogs behave nearly identically to targets, while using heavier isotopes (e.g., 13C, 15N, 18O) results in standards that are essentially indistinguishable until a mass spectrum is recorded. However, deuterated analogs are usually the more economical choice (imatinib-D8 was used in the presented method). In contrast to most other methods, where similar compounds must be used, the use of isotopically labeled standards gives greater confidence in assessments of sample preparation losses and biases. While LC-MS with SIM can often be sufficient, as it was in the presented method, interfering species having similar mass-to-charge (m/z) ratios and elution times to targets will sometimes be encountered. If modifications to the chromatographic method are not successful in separating target from interfering molecules, selected reaction monitoring (SRM) can be used. SRM relies on MS/MS to distinguish ions having the same or similar m/z ratios. In this technique, characteristic fragment ions are monitored in addition to the molecular ion. By following a number of fragments (or transitions) for each analyte, exceptional selectivity can be achieved. However, as mentioned above, single-quadrupole instruments, such as that used in the presented method, are not appropriate for this approach (in-source fragmentation MS/MS is possible in single-quadrupole mass spectrometers, but targeted ions cannot be isolated prior to fragmentation).

As referred to previously, the chief drawbacks of LC-MS approaches are often held to be cost and the requirement for highly skilled personnel. Furthermore, sample preparation protocols designed for other detection methods can sometimes be difficult to adapt for MS (e.g., ESI is incompatible with detergents). While current single-quadrupole instruments are among the most robust and accessible mass spectrometers available, training requirements are certainly more demanding than for techniques like LC with absorbance detection. However, well-designed software can somewhat alleviate such concerns. In the future, cost-control may be enhanced through innovative solutions where, for example, multiple chromatographic systems share a single mass spectrometer(7). Runs on each LC system are staggered, with eluate only directed toward the MS interface when targeted peaks are expected. Since elution windows for key peaks are often only a small fraction of the total operating cycle time, sample throughput can be greatly increased without requiring additional MS instrumentation.


In recent years, the use of plant fibers were widely implemented in polymer composites materials with their advantages to provide high specific strength and low density. This paper introduces the application of sisal fiber mesh to reinforce wall sandwich concrete panel for housing and building industries. The fibers were tested initially to obtain its properties included tensile strength. Ten concrete walls were designed and investigated under axial and flexural loading. The walls consisted of sandwich walls and normal walls with three various types were considered. The wall section was 300x100 mm and 300x70 mm with length of 700 mm. The sisal fiber mesh reinforcements were embedded in two sides of wall by about 15 mm from the outer surface of the wall. Experimental results showed that the axial compression did not affect by the presence of sisal fiber mesh. However, flexural strength of the wall increased 80% and 32% for normal wall and sandwich wall respectively. The thickness of the wall has also identified had significant effect to the flexural strength. Increasing wall thickness from 70 mm to 100 mm will improve flexural strength to 1.43 and 1.98 for sandwich fibers wall and normal wall respectively.


The accumulation of wastes of domestic and industrial processes in the nearby water bodies results in water pollution. The wastewater discharged into the water bodies are hazardous to environment and cause various health problems in human beings. Eutrophication is one such major environmental problem caused due to the discharge of nutrient rich wastewater into the nearby water bodies. Excessive pollutants including nutrients affect aquatic lives and environment in various ways. There are certain plants capable of removing pollutants from water. Phytoremediation is an alternate way to reduce nutrients from contaminated medium. Microalgae can be used for phytoremediation to reduce the nutrient content in the wastewater due to the algae's ability to assimilate nutrients into the cells. The microalga Chlorella vulgaris can utilize the nitrogen and phosphorus in wastewater for its growth. Hence in the present study, microalga Chlorella vulgaris was used to determine the removal efficiencies of pollutants, such as chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP). The Chlorella vulgaris was cultured in the shake flasks that contained wastewater in the presence of artificial light in the laboratory. It removes the maximum percentage of TN and TP were within 82.1% and 90.9%, respectively. The Chlorella vulgaris which could not only bioremediate the wastewater, but also produce plenty of the microalga biomass that could be used for the exploitation of fertilizers, feed additives and biofuels. The optimum detention period for the maximum phytoremediation is found to vary within 10 and 14 days. Based on the laboratory scale study under controlled environment, it can be concluded that Chlorella vulgaris has the potential to reduce nutrient content of wastewater.


There exist intricate geometric relations between multiple views of a 3D scene. These relations are related to the camera motion and calibration as well as to the scene structure. In this chapter we introduce these concepts and discuss how they can be applied to recover 3D models from images. In Section 3.2 a rather thorough description of projective geometry is given. Section 3.3 gives a short introduction to tensor calculus and Section 3.4 describes in detail the camera model used. In Section 3.5 a modern approach to multiple view geometry is presented and in Section 3.6 simple structure and motion algorithms are presented. In Section 3.7 more advanced algorithms are presented that are suited for automatic processing on real image data. Section 3.8 discusses the possibility of calibrating the camera from images. Section 3.9 describes how the depth can be computed for most image pixels and Section 3.10 presents how the results of the previous sections can be combined to yield 3D models, render novel views or combine real and virtual elements in video. 45


Shanghai Laser Electron Gamma Source, a γ-ray beam line of 10MeV order was proposed recently. The beam line is expected to generate γ-ray with maximum energy of 22MeV by backward Compton scattering between CO2 laser and electron in the 3.5GeV storage ring of future Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility. The flux of non-collimated γ-ray can be 10 ∼ 10 s if a commercial CO2 laser of 100W order output power is employed and injected with optimized settings.


This paper explores the relationships between extent of video display terminal usage, perceptions of the physical work environment, task characteristics, and workers' health and well-being among a group of 1032 female office clerical workers. Data are drawn from responses to a 30-minute questionnaire administered at four employment sites during 1981 and 1982. All-day terminal users reported significantly higher levels of job and physical environment stressors than part-day VDT users, typists and non machine-interactive clerical workers. Reports of musculo-skeletal strain and dissatisfaction were also highest among all day terminal users. Part-day VDT users, typists and clerks all reported relatively similar levels of job and physical working conditions, health symptoms and job satisfaction. No significant differences between any of the groups were observed for gastrointestinal, respiratory, psychological and other non-specific health complaints. Typists and clerical workers who also held supervisory positions reported fewer stressors and greater job satisfaction than workers with no supervisory tasks; however there were no such differences between supervisors and non-supervisors engaged in all-day VDT work.

Implications of these findings for further research and for job redesign strategies to alleviate the potentially stressful aspects of office automation are discussed.


Limited space permits description of only two examples of Kevlar applications research. There are numerous others. In the early product development there were some indications that Kevlar would go mainly into tire reinforcement. This has turned out not to be true. In the mid-seventies Kevlar was participating in only ten market segments and less than fifty specific applications, but today, it is in more than twenty market segments, serving more than two hundred applications, and continued growth is anticipated. Kevlar is produced in a 45 million pound plant in Richmond, VA, USA. In 1988, a second plant was started up in Northern Ireland and plans for a third plant in Japan were announced. The Kevlar innovation story exemplifies the kind of obstacles, interdisciplinary skills and systems approach involved in bringing a laboratory discovery to commercial reality. The story is still unfolding and applications currently not envisioned will undoubtedly become important in the future.

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The joint transformation of methanol and n-butane fed into a fixed-bed reactor on a HZSM-5 zeolite catalyst has been studied under energy neutral conditions (methanol/n-butane molar ratio of 3/1). The kinetic scheme of lumps proposed integrates the reaction steps corresponding to the individual reactions (cracking of n-butane and MTO process at high-temperature) and takes into account the synergies between the steps of both reactions. The deactivation by coke deposition has been quantified by an expression dependent on the concentration of the components in the reaction medium, which is evidence that oxygenates are the main coke precursors. The concentration of the components in the reaction medium (methanol, dimethyl ether, n-butane, C2C4 paraffins, C2C4 olefins, C5C10 lump, and methane) is satisfactorily calculated in a wide range of conditions (between 400 and 550°C, up to 9.5 (g of catalyst) h (mol CH2)−1 and with a time on stream of 5 h) by combining the equation of deactivation with the kinetic model of the main integrated process. © 2010 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2011


Daxx, a human cell death-associated protein, was isolated as a Tcf4-interacting protein, using a yeast two-hybrid screen. Co-immunoprecipitation in HEK-293T cells and yeast two-hybrid screen in Y190 cells were performed to identify the interaction between Tcf4 with Daxx and to map the binding regions of Tcf4. In the nucleus, Daxx reduced DNA binding activity of Tcf4 and repressed Tcf4 transcriptional activity. Overexpression of Daxx altered the expression of genes downstream of Tcf4, including cyclin D1 and Hath-1, and induced G1 phase arrest in colon cancer cells. A reduction in Daxx protein expression was also observed in colon adenocarcinoma tissue when compared with normal colon tissue. This evidence suggests a possible physiological function of Daxx, via interaction with Tcf4, to regulate proliferation and differentiation of colon cells.


The unsupervised Pretraining method has been widely used in aiding human action recognition. However, existing methods focus on reconstructing the already present frames rather than generating frames which happen in this http URL this paper, We propose an improved Variantial Autoencoder model to extract the features with a high connection to the coming scenarios, also known as Predictive Learning. Our framework lists as following: two steam 3D-convolution neural networks are used to extract both spatial and temporal information as latent variables. Then a resample method is introduced to create new normal distribution probabilistic latent variables and finally, the deconvolution neural network will use these latent variables generate next frames. Through this possess, we train the model to focus more on how to generate the future and thus it will extract the future high connected features. In the experiment stage, A large number of experiments on UT and UCF101 datasets reveal that future generation aids Prediction does improve the performance. Moreover, the Future Representation Learning Network reach a higher score than other methods when in half observation. This means that Future Representation Learning is better than the traditional Representation Learning and other state- of-the-art methods in solving the human action prediction problems to some extends.


While methane hydrates (MHs) can be present in various forms in deep seabeds or permafrost regions, this paper deals with MH‐bearing sediments (MHBS) where the MH has formed bonds between sand grains. A bond model based on experimentally validated contact laws for cemented granules is introduced to describe the mechanical behavior of the MH bonds. The model parameters were derived from measured values of temperature, water pressure and MH density. Bond width and thickness adopted for each bond of the MHBS were selected based on the degree of MH saturation. The model was implemented into a 2D distinct element method code. A series of numerical biaxial standard compression tests were carried out for various degrees of MH saturation. A comparison with available experimental data shows that the model can effectively capture the essential features of the mechanical behavior of MHBS for a wide range of levels of hydrate saturation under drained and undrained conditions. In addition, the analyses presented here shed light on the following: (1) the relationship between level of cementation and debonding mechanisms taking place at the microscopic level and the observed macro‐mechanical behavior of MHBS and (2) the relationship between spatial distribution of bond breakages and contact force chains with the observed strength, dilatancy and deformability of the samples. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Industrial network, often referred to as fieldbus, becomes an indispensable component for intelligent manufacturing systems. Thus, in order to satisfy the real-time requirements of field devices such as sensors, actuators, and controllers, numerous fieldbus protocols have been developed. But, the application of fieldbus has been limited due to the high cost of hardware and the difficulty in interfacing with multi-vendor products. As an alternative to fieldbus, the Ethernet (IEEE 802.3) technology is being adapted to the industrial environment. However, the crucial technical obstacle of Ethernet is its non-deterministic behavior that cannot satisfy the real-time requirements. Recently, the EtherCAT protocol becomes a very promising alternative for real-time industrial application due to the elimination of uncertainties in Ethernet. This paper focuses on the implementation of the IEC 61800 based real-time EtherCAT network for multi-axis smart driver. To demonstrate the feasibility of the implemented EtherCAT slave module, its synchronization performance is evaluated on the experimental EtherCAT testbed with a single axis smart driver.


Using longitudinal data from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY), we examined career choices after each completed mathematics course beginning with the seventh grade, and college major choices in relation to each completed mathematics course in the twelfth grade. Mathematics coursework did have isolated but important effects on the status of students' career and college major choices. Algebra II was identified as a critical filter for the career choices of males, whereas calculus was identified as a critical filter that screened females from science and engineering majors and into majors in liberal arts. Mathematics coursework had no identifiable impact on the career choices of females, and mathematics coursework was secondary to mathematics achievement in terms of the impact on college major choices of males.


It is known that the achievable data rate per user can be increased when relays are deployed in wireless networks. However, the drawback of this solution is that some of the network resources should be allocated to the relays. In this paper, we consider a two-tier network where all users should send/receive data in two hops. Applying vector quantization, we approximate the best relays' locations. The relays' locations are also computed analytically when the number of relays is less than six. Having the relays' locations, the network average transmission rate is evaluated in terms of a set of network parameters. Then, in the space of these network parameters, we introduce the concept of neutrality-surface. The neutrality-surfaceis defined such that the performance of any relay network operating below this surface is inferior to that of a no-relay network with the same parameters. Finally, we study the relative relaying gain for different network configurations.


The aim of this work is to review current publications on the non-antibacterial effects of macrolides. Macrolides are among the most widely prescribed broad-spectrum antibacterial drugs, especially in patients with respiratory infections. It is now recognized that drugs of this group, in particular azithromycin, also have an immunomodulatory effect, which leads to their therapeutic effect not only in infectious but in other chronic inflammatory diseases also. However, the frequent and prolonged use of macrolides in the treatment of respiratory tract diseases, and recently azithromycin in the treatment of COVID-19, has led to an increase in bacterial resistance to antibiotics of this group. Results: it was shown that one of the key aspects of the development of chronic inflammation of the respiratory tract (for instance, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) is the loss of the protective epithelial barrier due to the effects of pathogens and pollutants. Azithromycin has been shown to enhance the barrier properties of airway epithelial cells over time, which makes an important contribution to its therapeutic effectiveness. The main non-antibacterial effects of macrolides are considered, which in the future can be applied in treatment of inflammatory diseases associated with airway epithelium damage.


Background: A high incidence of errors occur while filling up death certificates in hospitals. The purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of an educational intervention on errors in death certification in an intensive care unit (ICU). Patients admitted to ICUs by virtue of being critically ill have a higher mortality than other hospitalized patients. This study was designed to see if any improvement could be brought about in filling death certificates. Materials and Methods: Educating sessions, interactive workshops, and monthly audits for the department resident doctors were conducted. One hundred and fifty death certificates were audited for major and minor errors (75 before and 75 after the educational intervention) over a period of 18 months. Fisher's exact test was applied to statistically analyze the data. Results: There was a significant decrease in major errors like mechanism without underlying cause of death (60.0 vs. 14.6%, P < 0.001), competing causes (88.0 vs. 13.3%, P < 0.001), and improper sequencing (89.3 vs. 36.0%, P < 0.001). There was also a significant decrease in minor errors such as use of abbreviations (89.3 vs. 29.3%, P < 0.001) and no time intervals (100.0 vs. 22.6%, P < 0.001). Conclusion: Authors conclude that death certification errors can be significantly reduced by educational interventional programs.


Fats provide the body's most concentrated source of energy. They also supply essential fatty acids required for good health and enable you to absorb certain vitamins (A, D, E, and K). However, most of us tend to consume too much fat since it can be found in many foods. "Visible" fats account for half of all the fats we eat, such as butter, cream, oil and salad dressings. The rest we cannot see—the fat in a well-marbled meat, eggs, liver, coconut, milk, luncheon meat and cheese. These "invisible" fats are also found in our favorite goodies, such as ice cream, cookies, pastries and crackers. There are three basic types of fats: Monounsaturated fats, saturated fats, and polyunsaturated fats. Monounsaturated fats have little effect on blood cholesterol levels. They neither increase or decrease it. Olive and peanut oils are high in monounsaturated fats. Saturated fats are usually fats of animal origin and are solid at room temperature. These fats may tend to increase blood cholesterol levels. Fats in meat and dairy fats are highly saturated. A few vegetable sources such as coconut and coconut oil, palm oil and cocoa butter (found in chocolate) contain high amounts of saturated fats. Polyunsaturated fats are usually fats of plant origin and are liquid at room temperature. These fats help decrease the cholesterol level in your blood. Vegetable oils vary in the degree of unsaturation, with safflower oil being the highest in polyunsaturates. Other polyunsaturated vegetable oils are sunflower, corn, cottonseed, soy and sesame seed. Remember, not all vegetable oils are high in polyunsaturated fats: for example, olive, peanut, coconut and palm oils are not. Hydrogenated fats are liquid oils which have been chemically changed into more saturated solid fats, such as shortening or some margarines.


The new foraminiferal genus Vasiglobulina comprises polymorphine species which possess an apertural system of hollow tubules radiating outward from the distal end of the final chamber lumen to the exterior surface of the test. The type species, Vasiglobulina alabamensis (Cushman and McGlamery), occurs in Gulf Coast sedimentary rocks which were deposited under shallow marine conditions during the upper Eocene to lower Miocene Epochs. It is ornamented by exterior spines which penetrate mollusc fragments, establishing a unique mode of permanent epifaunal attachment. These unusual morphological features furnish the bases for significant paleoecological and functional inferences. Five previously described species from Gulf Coast and European Tertiary localities are assigned to Vasiglobulina, establishing its known geologic range as upper Eocene to Pliocene.


In this paper, authors propose a new power multilevel converter topology that is very competitive compared to the existing ones. It consists of packed U cells (PUC). Each U cell consists of an arrangement of two power switches and one capacitor. It offers high-energy conversion quality using a small number of capacitors and power devices and consequently, has a very low production cost. An averaged model of the topology is detailed. The operating principle of the transformerless seven-level inverter is analyzed and detailed. The multilevel sinusoidal modulation has been adapted for use with the PUC-based structure. The control strategy has been designed to reduce the harmonic contents of the load voltage. With such converters, filters' rating is considerably reduced. A comparative study is performed to highlight the advantages of the new packed U cells topology. The operation of the proposed converter topology has been verified through simulation. Experimental validation was performed using DS1103 DSP of dSpace.


The question of how to ameliorate health inequities is one of the main challenges facing the public health workforce. How might differences in health be addressed, which have their roots in poverty and social exclusion? What training do public health workers need to design effective programs and interventions for disadvantaged populations?


The aim of the present study was to evaluate the toxicity and efficacy of the FOLFOX-4 regimen as adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with gastric cancer after radical surgery. Fifty-four patients (1 stage Ib, 6 stage II, 22 stage IIIa, 14 stage IIIb and 11 stage IV) received 8-12 cycles of FOLFOX-4 (oxaliplatin 85 mg/m(2), Day 1; leucovorin 100 mg/m(2) i.v., Days 1 and 2; 5-fluorouracil 400 mg/m(2) i.v. bolus, Days 1 and 2 and 600 mg/m(2) in 22 h i.v. continuous infusion, Days 1 and 2; every 14 days). Toxicity was recorded at each cycle according to the National Cancer Institute Common Toxicity Criteria. Disease-free (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were calculated according to the Kaplan-Meier method. Thirty-eight patients (70.4%) completed the prescribed number of cycles of chemotherapy. The toxicity was mild. Grade 3-4 neutropenia occurred in 57% of patients, thrombocytopenia and anemia in 2% of cases. Peripheral neuropathy was experienced by 46% of the patients (grade 4 in 2% of cases). Five patients experienced grade 3 gastrointestinal toxicity. After a median follow-up of 33.1 months, 17 patients relapsed and 17 succumbed to the disease. The mean observed DFS and OS were 49.7 months (range 40.7-58.8) and 57.9 months (range 49.6-66.2), respectively. At univariate analysis, females and patients who had received <8 cycles of chemotherapy had a significantly worse probability of DFS and OS. The Cox model showed gender to be independent of the factors affecting DFS. Adjuvant FOLFOX-4 is feasible and well-tolerated in patients radically resected for gastric cancer. Receiving <4 months of adjuvant FOLFOX-4 could be detrimental to prognosis.


The RADARSAT-2 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) processor processes RADARSAT-2 signal data into georeferenced and geocoded imagery. The processor is a subsystem of the RADARSAT-2 ground segment and is referred to as the processing and distribution subsystem (PDS). This paper provides an overview of the PDS, including descriptions of the system context, system heritage, functionality, architecture, and processing algorithms. The output product format is also summarized.


Changes in density, structure and species composition of the woody component of the two predominant savanna types in Tarangire National Park, northern Tanzania, during a period of 25 y were investigated. The park is known for its large, increasing elephant numbers and high frequency of fires. In 1996 a study on woody species density, composition and age structure, which was first performed in 1971, was repeated, using the same transects and method. Access to the original data of 1971 allowed for a full comparison of the changes and an investigation whether these could be related to changes in elephant numbers and fire frequency. The total tree density declined during the 25 y, but the decline was not evenly distributed over the different height classes. Although the density of trees taller than 5 m declined significantly, the greatest decline occurred in the density of trees shorter than 1 m. The density of trees in the intermediate height class of 1–5 m did not decline. Although damage to trees by elephants increased during the 25-y period, c. 25% showed no browse damage and, except for some severely damaged trees, elephant damage was not found to reduce tree vigour. Elephants affected the size distribution of the savanna woody component much more than the density, while the data suggest no significant effect of fire on changes in tree density. The large decline in density of small trees was attributed to a severe drought in 1993. Based on large numbers of elephants during the past decades and on relatively low elephant impact on the total tree density, the present study suggests that the current elephant number of 2300 can be sustained in the park without causing detrimental effects, provided that their current range is maintained.


Background: Recent research indicates irrational use of herbal medicine (HM) during pregnancy that can be harmful to the mother and development of baby. However, no study has been conducted to explore the use of HM among pregnant women in a conflict region. Methods: This was a cross-sectional research conducted in July and August in the year 2017, at three hospitals in Sana'a, Yemen. Postpartum women were interviewed via the structured instrument to collect data on patterns of HM used during pregnancy. Results: A total of three hundred postpartum women participated in the study, with 59.3% (178) of them using at least one modality of HM in the previous pregnancy. Cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum L), ginger (Zingiber officinale Z), barley (Hordeum vulgare P), and garlic (Allium sativum A) were the most commonly used HM. Statistical analysis showed that consumers of HM had a higher rate of caesarian section and complications during and after the delivery. Conclusion: Consumption of HM during pregnancy was high including contraindicated modalities such as cinnamon (C. verum L) and barley (H. vulgare P). The use of potentially harmful modalities and association with complications pose a threat to the well-being of mothers and newborns. Further studies in this area will be helpful to generate evidence for the rational use of HM during pregnancy.


Thank you very much for downloading performance of nonlinear approximate adaptive controllers. Maybe you have knowledge that, people have look numerous times for their chosen novels like this performance of nonlinear approximate adaptive controllers, but end up in harmful downloads. Rather than reading a good book with a cup of coffee in the afternoon, instead they juggled with some infectious bugs inside their desktop computer.


In this paper, we focus on distributed systems sub ject to security issues. Such systems are usually composed of two entities: a high level user and a low level user that can both do some actions. The security properties we consider are non-interference properties. A system is non-interferent if the low level user cannot deduce any information by playing its low level actions. Various notions of non-interference have been defined in the literature, and in this paper we focus on two of them: one trace-based property (SNNI) and another bisimulation-based property (BSNNI). For these properties we study the problems of synthesis of a high level user so that the system is non-interferent. We prove that a most permissive high level user can be computed when one exists.


Deep neural networks trained to inpaint partially occluded images show a deep understanding of image composition and have even been shown to remove objects from images convincingly. In this work, we investigate how this implicit knowledge of image composition can be be used to separate cells in densely populated microscopy images. We propose a measure for the independence of two image regions given a fully selfsupervised inpainting network and separate objects by maximizing this independence. We evaluate our method on two cell segmentation datasets and show that cells can be separated without any supervision. Furthermore, combined with simple foreground detection, our method yields instance segmentation of similar quality to fully supervised methods.


One-dimensional nonlinear Schr\"odinger equations are derived to describe the axial effective dynamics of cigar-shaped atomic repulsive Bose-Einstein condensates trapped with anharmonic transverse potentials. The accuracy of these equations in the perturbative, Thomas-Fermi, and crossover regimes were verified numerically by comparing the ground-state profiles, transverse chemical potentials and oscillation patterns with those results obtained for the full three-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation. This procedure allows us to derive different patterns of 1D nonlinear models by the control of the transverse confinement.


This article presents findings pertinent to the relationship between on-the-job barriers and job satisfaction among employed people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Fifty-nine adults with MS (N =5 9), who self-initiated a telephone call to an employment hotline for assistance in managing their MS on the job, participated in structured job accommodation interviews (Work Experience Survey - WES). Respondents reported few worksite accessibility problems, a moderate number of performance difficulties, few job mastery problems, and relatively high levels of job satisfaction. Restricted range in the job mastery variable precluded its contribution to the hypothesized regression equation predicting job satisfaction, but the total number of worksite accessibility and essential function barriers correlated significantly and negatively with job satisfaction ( r = �0.33, r 2 =0 .11, p< 0.015). A rationale for early intervention to reduce workplace barriers is presented, grounded in these findings and career development theory.


This research aimed at gaining teenage's interpretation regarding pornography through sex sites in online media. Besides this research also wishes to know how teenage's attitude to pornography and how their behavior to sex sites in online media. This research represent research qualitative by using reception analysis where audience seen as individual which active always in perception order and produce meaning, not just becoming passive individual which accept off hand meaning which produced by mass media. This research has location in Municipality of Surabaya by using circumstantial interview (in-depth interview) to adolescent that is have age to 17 – 25 year. This matter with consideration that teenage have radical open characteristic and even in accepting change, specially in themes attitude which is previous to be assumed by taboo, that is themes of sexualities. Result of from this research indicate that teenage mean pornography as everything able to stimulate and awaken sexual passion, good in the form of silent picture (still images) and or peripatetic picture (moving image) and also in the form of article. Teenage assume pornography as dissolute something that and impinge value and norm going into effect in Indonesia society. Although that way, pornography seen as something that cannot avoid by its existence. Teenage chosen to behave in order not to prohibit existence of pornography in internet and assuming it as just valid something that, so that its better exploiting also if delivered to responsibility of each individual. Pursuant to the mentioned hence teenage have freedom in have my behavior to sex sites in Internet. The mentioned shown that they were still active in accessing sex sites although of that activity is oftentimes conducted secretly because assessment of society assuming pornography as something wrong and is


In this paper, a quaternion boundary element method (BEM) is proposed to solve the magnetostatic problem. The present quaternion-valued BEM is developed by discretizing the quaternion-valued boundary integral equation (BIE). The quaternion-valued BIE can be seen as an extension of the generalized complex variable BIE in 3-D space. In other words, quaternion algebra is an extension of the complex variable in 3-D space. To derive quaternion-valued BIEs, the quaternion-valued Stokes' theorem is utilized. The quaternion-valued BIEs are noted for singularity, which exists in the sense of the Cauchy principal value (CPV). An analytical scheme is developed to evaluate the CPV by introducing a simple quaternion-valued harmonic function. For the domain points close to the boundary, some sorts of analogous, nearly singular, so-called "numerical boundary layer" phenomena appear and are remedied by using a similar analytic evaluation. The quaternion BEM features the oriented surface element, combining the unit outward normal vector with the ordinary surface element. It is noted that all derivations are done in quaternion algebra. In addition, quaternion algebra is more flexible than vector algebra in solving some 3-D problems from the point view of algebraic space. In deriving BIEs for exterior fields, the conditions at infinity for the quaternion-valued functions are carefully examined. Later, a magnetic sphere in a uniform magnetic field is considered. This problem is a magnetostatic problem of coupled exterior and interior magnetostatic fields. Finally, we apply the present approach to solve the magnetostatic problem. By comparing with exact solutions, the validity of the present approach is checked.


In this paper, we extend price wars to supply chain networks (SCNs), focusing on how price wars affect the performance of SCNs and how to contain a price war. We propose a computational model in which the price competition is modelled as a multistage evolutionary prisoner's dilemma game between business-related neighbors in each stage of the SCN, and the temptation to defect of the prisoner's dilemma game is modelled as a function of the quotation price, which couples the price competition and the dynamic of the SCN. It is found that the price defectors' exposure rate is the key factor causing price war of the SCN, and only a large proportion of firms in a closely related industry join the price alliance, and the price war in the SCN can be contained effectively.


We develop a dynamic model that can explain identity switching activities among a stereotyped population, such as passing and selective out-migration, based on the group reputation model developed in Kim and Loury (2008). The more talented members of the population, who gain more by separating themselves from the masses, have a greater incentive to pass for an advantaged group with a higher collective reputation (incurring some cost of switching) or differentiate themselves by adopting the cultural traits of a better-off subgroup to send signals of their higher productivity to employers. We also show how an elite subgroup may grow autonomously out of the stereotyped population, when the most talented members adopt the cultural indices that are not affordable to other members of the population. Those cultural traits or indices are not necessarily relevant for productivity, but should be observable so that they can supplement the imperfect information about the workers' true productivity, as discussed in Fang (2001). We plan to merge this development with our previous work in Kim and Loury (2008) in the future.


We have examined the presence of mind in phylogenetic primitive and evolved species using as criteria the objective presence of a nervous system that in man is strictly associated with mental capacities, and the likewise objective presence of sensory receptors that are strictly involved in the generation of mental images or qualia. The former criterion has indicated that mental capacities of progressively simpler nature are present in all vertebrate and invertebrate species, while the second criterion has further extended the mental domain to plants, protists and prokaryotes. Having reached the biological divide, the primitive mental capacities of prokaryotes appeared emerging from their mindless progenitors. This radical shifting was nonetheless analogous to that of systems which display different properties from their constituent subunits, as it occurs in molecules compared to their atoms. For instance, the different properties of water with regard to the constituent atoms are plainly due to the newly acquired configuration of electrons and nuclei. Accordingly, the primitive mental capacities of prokaryotes were attributed to the different 'configuration' acquired by the primordial mental aspects of their progenitors. When the same reasoning was applied to progressively more elementary components (atoms, nuclei, quarks) the ultimate source of mental capacities appeared to reside in the elementary particles. Since they are likely to be the first entities of the universe and the ultimate constituents of all bodies, mind should be considered the only substance of the universe. Indeed, elementary particles and quantum entities are fields of energy and information that lack the res extensa qualities that have supported its role of additional material substance.


Ni and Pt structures evaporated onto a TiO2(110) surface premodified with ortho-mercaptobenzoic acid (o-MBA) were studied using polarization-dependent total reflection fluorescence X-ray absorption fine structure analysis to determine the effects of the premodification on the dispersion of the metal atoms over the TiO2(110) surface. Ni was found to be atomically dispersed with the formation of S–Ni–O bonds (where the S is provided by the o-MBA and the O is present in the TiO2 lattice) on the surface. In contrast, Pt underwent aggregation to form small clusters. The varying behavior of these metals on the o-MBA-modified TiO2(110) surface is discussed based on the energy difference between sulfur–metal–oxygen and metal–metal bond formations, and we propose a new indicator for single metal dispersion on the TiO2(110) surface.


Corresponding author: Najat Hamza Hassan Email: firstname.lastname@example.com Community Health Department Karbala Technical Institute Al-Furat Al-Awsat Technical University Iraq. ABSTRACT Objective: This study aims to determination the effect of cinnamon on hemoglobin level after menstruation. Methods: A case control study, a purposive sample of (60) women from AL-Hindia city; (30) women as a study group and (30) women as a control group. The study group was given cinnamon for 12 days (A maximum of 1.2 tsp. of cinnamon powder per day for 5 days, followed by 2 days of rest and return to take cinnamon for another five days to be safe and without side effects) and hemoglobin test twice before and after cinnamon was given on the first day of the cycle and re-examination on the 12th day. At the same time, the hemoglobin level of control group was also examined in the same period to be compared. Results: The age group was (15-24) for both groups (56.7%) for the study group and (53.3%) for the control group. The hemoglobin test in the study sample was (Hb 12.0-12.4) where the percentage of the study group was (50%) while the control group (60%). And that there is an increase in the level of hemoglobin after cinnamon was given to the study group where it became (10.55±1.07) ( g/dL) after it was (10.36±1.09) ( g/dL) before giving cinnamon. Age of study samples was reported a non-significant differences at P>0.05, between the observed frequency's distributions compared with expected at the two groups. In addition to that, hemoglobin level was reported a highly significant different at P<0.01 at the study group compared with the control. Conclusion: The results of the study showed that cinnamon has an effect on increasing the level of hemoglobin in women when given during the menstrual cycle.


The soluble byproducts formed during the hydrothermal conversion of cellulose catalyzed by solid tungstated alumina (AlW) were analyzed by LC–MS and LC–MS2 to determine their formulas and possible structures. These identified soluble compounds could be roughly divided into four species of carboxylic acids, α-carbonyl aldehydes, carbocyclic compounds, and furanic compounds with molecular mass in the range of 90–220 Da. Compared with the noncatalytic condition, the addition of AlW could increase the selectivity of carboxylic acids (especially α-hydroxy acid) from cellulose and suppress the formation of furanic compounds, carbocyclic compounds, and hydrochar. Based on the product distribution, the hydrothermal conversion route of glucose was proposed by regarding the formed α-carbonyl aldehydes as the key intermediates for formation of carboxylic acids, carbocyclic compounds, and furanic compounds.


Objectives To determine whether food bank provision of self-management support and diabetes-appropriate food improves glycemic control among clients with diabetes. Methods We screened 5329 adults for diabetes at food pantries (n = 27) affiliated with food banks in Oakland, California; Detroit, Michigan; and Houston, Texas, between October 2015 and September 2016. We individually randomized 568 participants with hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) 7.5% or greater to waitlist control or 6-month intervention including food, diabetes education, health care referral, and glucose monitoring. The primary outcome was HbA1c at 6 months. Results Food security (relative risk [RR] = 0.85; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.73, 0.98), food stability (RR = 0.77; 95% CI = 0.64, 0.93), and fruit and vegetable intake (risk difference [RD] = 0.34; 95% CI = 0.34, 0.34) significantly improved among intervention participants. There were no differences in self-management (depressive symptoms, diabetes distress, self-care, hypoglycemia, self-efficacy) or HbA1c (RD = 0.24; 95% CI = −0.09, 0.58). Conclusions Food banks are ideally situated to provide diabetes-appropriate food to food-insecure households. Effective strategies for food banks to support improvements in diabetes clinical outcomes require additional study. Public Health Implications Moving chronic disease support from clinics into communities expands reach into vulnerable populations. However, it is unclear how community interventions should be integrated with clinical care to improve disease outcomes. Trial Registration Number NCT02569060


A new two-moment cloud microphysics scheme predicting the mixing ratios and number concentrations of five species (i.e., cloud droplets, cloud ice, snow, rain, and graupel) has been implemented into the Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF). This scheme is used to investigate the formation and evolution of trailing stratiform precipitation in an idealized two-dimensional squall line. Results are compared to those using a one-moment version of the scheme that predicts only the mixing ratios of the species, and diagnoses the number concentrations from the specified size distribution intercept parameter and predicted mixing ratio. The overall structure of the storm is similar using either the one- or two-moment schemes, although there are notable differences. The two-moment (2-M) scheme produces a widespread region of trailing stratiform precipitation within several hours of the storm formation. In contrast, there is negligible trailing stratiform precipitation using the one-moment (1-M) scheme. The primary reason for this difference are reduced rain evaporation rates in 2-M compared to 1-M in the trailing stratiform region, leading directly to greater rain mixing ratios and surface rainfall rates. Second, increased rain evaporation rates in 2-M compared to 1-M in the convective region at midlevels result in weaker convective updraft cells and increased midlevel detrainment and flux of positively buoyant air from the convective into the stratiform region. This flux is in turn associated with a stronger mesoscale updraft in the stratiform region and enhanced ice growth rates. The reduced (increased) rates of rain evaporation in the stratiform (convective) regions in 2-M are associated with differences in the predicted rain size distribution intercept parameter (which was specified as a constant in 1-M) between the two regions. This variability is consistent with surface disdrometer measurements in previous studies that show a rapid decrease of the rain intercept parameter during the transition from convective to stratiform rainfall.


The article continues the series of the author publications, which considers the main provisions of the "Clutch-to-Clutch Shifts" (CTC) technology — technology for automatic controlling the switching of automatic transmission (AT) stages, used in the global mass production of vehicles, hybrid and battery electric vehicles. It provides high-quality shifts, brought to the level of continuously variable transmissions. Development of power units in recent years has led to a rapid increase in the number of AT stages, which is accompanied by a complication of kinematic schemes, designs, control algorithms and, in general, an increase in the role of mechatronic control systems (MCS) in ensuring their high technical level. Effectiveness of the CTC technology depends on the perfection of the algorithms used. But their composition is not specified, which, with a large amount of information, makes it difficult for potential users to navigate in this set. In this paper, we propose (for the first time in the Russian language) the generalized structure of a set of standard algorithms necessary for the implementation of this technology in the AT MCS, which is developed on the basis of their selection from a pre-formed database of patents and publications on the theory and technology of AT control, following classification and grouping by functional purpose. For each item of the structure, there are links to patents with matching names. Detailed descriptions of several typical CTC algorithms in the AT MCS of General Motors patents are given.


We investigated the role of the 5-hydroxytryptamine3 (5-HT3) receptor in the regulation of gastric emptying in rats using various 5-HT3 receptor antagonists, including GK128, a novel and selective 5-HT3 receptor antagonist. GK128 dose-dependently accelerated gastric emptying in rats. The accelerating effect of GK128 on gastric emptying was more potent than that of the other 5-HT3 receptor antagonists used in this study. However, the rank order of potency of the selective 5-HT3 receptor antagonists, except for the benzamide derivatives, on the accelerating effect of gastric emptying, was not consistent with that of their 5-HT3 receptor-binding affinity in the rat cortex. GK128 improved the gastric emptying delayed by m-chlorophenylbiguanide, a 5-HT3 receptor agonist, and by cisplatin, which is known to cause damage to the small intestine and to release 5-HT from enterochromaffin cells. Furthermore, 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine, an indoleamine neurotoxin known to destroy 5-HT-containing neurons, significantly accelerated gastric emptying, and no further acceleration was observed after administration of GK128. These results may suggest that 5-HT3 receptor antagonists induce, at least in part, the acceleration of gastric emptying in rats via a peripheral mechanism, and that endogenous serotonin has an inhibitory regulatory effect on gastric emptying in rats. Furthermore, the difference in rank order between the accelerating effect of gastric emptying and the 5-HT3 receptor antagonistic potencies in the cortex suggests that the 5-HT3-like receptor, modulating gastric emptying, is not identical to the classically defined 5-HT3 receptor.


Objective: Ionizing radiation (IR) is utilized in diagnostic and therapeutic medical applications, but is also a well-recognized mutagen. The in vivo genetic events promoting malignancy formation after IR exposure are not understood in detail. The mutational landscape of IR-induced tumorigenesis may yield insights into how IR-induced genomic injury leads to cancer and the important endogenous mechanisms that safeguard genomic integrity. We previously developed mouse models of IR-induced malignancies initiated by focal, fractionated irradiation similar to clinical radiotherapy. Whole exome sequencing (WES) of these mouse model-derived malignancies revealed stable trinucleotide-based (comprised of a somatic single nucleotide variant and the 59 and 39 flanking bases) mutational signatures that were independent of tumor type or genetic background, suggestive of a unique IR-specific imprint on tumor exomes. On the basis of these findings, we hypothesized that clinically derived IR-induced malignancies (secondary cancers, distinguishable from recurrent primary cancers) from patients also harbor distinct mutational signatures mirroring those identified in our mouse models. Our goal is to determine whether IR-induced malignancies from patients harbor mutational signatures similar to experimentally derived IR-induced malignancies arising in mice. Methods: WES was performed on genomic DNA isolated from two separate clinical IR-induced malignancies, both sarcomas arising in patients who were survivors of pediatric cancers. Radiotherapy exposure was verified by review of volumetric dosimetry. A UV-induced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (clinical patient sample) was included as a negative control and also analyzed by WES utilizing the same bioinformatics pipeline. Matched germline and tumor DNA were analyzed. Exome capture, high throughput sequencing (Illumina), read alignment and variant calling were performed using standard industry-accepted approaches. IR-induced tumors from mice and clinical samples were analyzed separately, then pooled into a single analysis to identify mutational signatures common to mice and humans. For all samples, single nucleotide variants (SNVs) were analyzed using non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) to estimate trinucleotide-based mutational signatures. Results: The two IR-induced clinical malignancies harbored 194 somatic SNVs and 361 somatic SNVs. The UV-induced cutaneous carcinoma harbored 2,113 somatic SNVs. NMF analysis of the pooled somatic SNVs from human tumor samples only support the extraction of two signatures, one of which clearly is exclusive to the UV-induced skin cancer, while the other is present almost exclusively in IR-induced malignancies (the number of mutations assigned to the signatures differs between the skin cancer and IR samples with p-value = 8.3x10-179 by a likelihood ratio test). Despite being extracted from a single tumor sample, the UV signature was virtually identical to previously published UV signature. To determine whether IR-associated mutational signatures were stable across species we pooled mouse and human IR-induced tumor SNVs for NMF analysis, which identified common signatures that are not highly correlated with each other, suggesting that they represent separate biological processes. Conclusions: IR-induced tumorigenesis is associated with stable trinucleotide-based mutational signatures that are conserved in human malignancies and mouse malignancies. These signatures are highly distinguishable from that associated with UV. These conserved signatures, developing in multiple irradiated tissue types, may reflect mutational processes associated with in vivo IR exposure and possibly demonstrate non-lethal but pathogenic somatic variants related to DNA repair. This abstract is also being presented as Poster B42. Citation Format: Philip Davidson, Amy Sherborne, Barry Taylor, Alice Nakamura, Jean Nakamura. Ionizing radiation-induced tumorigenesis is associated with exome-wide mutational signatures conserved in mice and humans [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on DNA Repair: Tumor Development and Therapeutic Response; 2016 Nov 2-5; Montreal, QC, Canada. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Res 2017;15(4_Suppl):Abstract nr PR10.


different, of course: whether one accepts or does not accept Kossinna's SiedlungsarchaoZogie as a means of identifying prehistoric 'nations' supposedly linguistically and culturally and genetically homogeneous. The author herself should not be too much blamed for this approach. It is common in the enormous Central European literature on prehistory; and it is practical because it throws no shadow of doubt on the correctness of the existing frames of linguistic and conventional history. The choice by the editor of titles like The Balts will invite an approach like thiscreating among the general public an impression that such ethno-archaeological identification is possible. A bQok on the prehistory of Latvia, Lithuania and East Prussia could have had another character. Nevertheless, the actually published work contains interesting information on finds, folklore and history in this Baltic area and in its surroundings. Even those readers who find it difficult to accept this as a prehistory of 'the Balts' will find it useful to have the information collected. And the personal touch given to it by a distinguished scholar, faithful to her original environment, should be appreciated. CARL-AXEL M O B E R G


Bottom head flange leaks on coke drums are a too common occurrence for coke drum operators. This paper discusses why these complex joints leak, exploring phenomena such as bolt relaxation, flange rotation, bolt hole cracking, plastic deformation of a flange face due to cyclic thermal transients, as well as investigating the effects of gasket stress variation which can lead to gasket movement and distortion during successive drum cycles. The industry trend is to install automatic bottom un-heading devices (BUDs) to facilitate safe, reliable coke removal and to increase production through shortening un-heading operations. A case study is reviewed which shows how a new drum flange, coupled to a BUD, has been optimized using Finite Element Analysis (FEA). The findings show adequate flange thickness and optimized hub dimensions are required to combat plastic deformation of the flange ring and reduce gasket stress variation. Five designs are modelled, varying the flange thickness, outside diameter and hub geometry. Due to the close proximity of a new side nozzle, the full lower section of the drum has been modelled using quarter and half symmetry FEA with applied temperature distributions from each phase of a typical coke drum cycle; heating, coking and quench. This has allowed for nozzle loadings to be evaluated and the location of the flange weld to be optimized to give the greatest fatigue life. An explanation into why periodic re-tightening is required to keep these joints tight is provided along with recommendations on suitable joint assembly techniques using a combination of bolt load verification and alternative bolting patterns from ASME PCC-1.


The crystallographic and microstructural characteristics of liquid phase epitaxy lattice-matched In{sub x}Ga{sub (1{minus}x)}As{sub y}Sb{sub (1{minus}y)}/GaSb (100) heterostructures is presented. Using both transmission electron microscopy and high resolution X-ray diffraction, a variety of diffusional based phase transformations in the epitaxial films are observed, including: spinodal decomposition, compositional modulations of the order of 30 nm, and weak long range ordering. These results are interpreted in terms of the possible influence of substrate surface structure on the phase stability of epitaxial layers.


We give a covariant and deductive algorithm to determine, for every Petrov type, the geometric elements associated with the Weyl tensor: principal and other characteristic 2-forms, Debever null directions and canonical frames. We show the usefulness of these results by applying them in giving the explicit characterization of two families of metrics: static type I spacetimes and type III metrics with a hypersurface-orthogonal Killing vector. PACS numbers: 0240M, 0420C


Experimental results of planar asymmetrically and symmetrically shaped hot carrier microwave detectors having five delta-doped GaAs layers are presented. The results are compared with the detectors having the same geometrical shape but only homogeneously doped GaAs layer of submicrometric thickness. DC measurements showed that the structure with delta-doped layers had slightly lower resistance than the detector with homogeneously doped layer due to higher carrier mobility in the delta-doped structure. Increase in carrier mobility corresponded to higher voltage sensitivity, which is essential parameter of a microwave detector. Voltage power characteristics of the detectors of both types were linear up to 10 mW of microwave power, whereas at higher powers they became super-linear or sub-linear with the following change in polarity of the detected voltage. Distinctive dependence of the detected voltage on microwave power at strong electric field is attributed to intervalley transfer of charge carriers. Experimental results of voltage sensitivity in microwave frequency range showed that drop-off of sensitivity going from Ka range to W range for both types of detectors is not larger than 3 dB, suggesting their use for wide frequency detection.


B.S. Johnson's The Unfortunates (1969) is British fiction's predominant attempt to embrace aleatorism and to subvert linear causality: the chapters are unbound, and the text invites the reader to shuffle them before reading. Narrative can be understood as a means of containing the ever-present risk of death, of disease, of loss, and has as its impetus a curative trajectory: recuperation is, perhaps, implicit in narrative. The Unfortunates, however, defiantly refuses such comfort. Johnson, this essay asserts, uses his form to cancel the consolations of narrative construction, taking the infectious chains of narrative and repudiating any doctorial/authorial urge to trace the spread of disease/narrative. The anti-linear narrative is inextricable from the type of mourning it enacts, and from the aetiology of the disease that it displays, but declines to track: a type of mourning that refuses movement through time, and the story of a disease that refuses to certify its own development. These refusals, I suggest, are embedded in the grammar and syntax of Johnson's prose. In The Unfortunates the full stops are nodal points of anxiety and loss, an expression of the novel's mortal anxiety. Johnson's final, missing full stop, the novel's aterminal terminus, offers a defiant refusal of recuperation of any kind.


Besides being a distribution medium for up-to-date information, the Internet provides professional communities of users with an infrastructure for collaborative work. An important problem, however, is that groups working over the Internet often fail to accomplish their goals. In this paper our focus is on one category of professional communities, namely research networks. These are networks of professionals collaborating to produce joint artifacts, such as groups reports or journal publications. Although it is often assumed that Internet information tools greatly improve the productivity of research groups, in practice many applications are not very successful. The key questions which we concentrate on in this paper are: what are possible explanations for failures of Internet-mediated research collaboration and, just as important, can something be done to improve on this? One hypothesis, which is the basis of the RENISYS specification method for research network information systems, is that the user-drive co-evolution of requirements and tools will lead to more adequate network information systems, which in turn should facilitate better network collaboration. In this paper we reflect on this assumption using contemporary ideas from organizational sociology. Instead of seeing a research network as a static form of organization, it should be approached as a process of organizing which is continuous and never complete or finished. We conclude the paper by drawing attention to the continuous legitimacy of the structure of a network information system as a crucial condition for its success.


ALTHOUGH none of the work done by the eighteenth-century scientists forms a direct link with anaesthesia, yet knowledge of any kind is bound to influence the future. The discovery of gases in the second half of the century was not only of profound consequence to chemistry, but also to medicine and the world. In order to understand how the discovery of anaesthesia is placed in history, it is necessary to know something of the medical and scientific background from which it evolved. In this connection the work of Priestley, Beddoes and Davy is of paramount importance. Pneumatic medicine—the treatment of disease by the inhalation of gases—arose out of gas (or "pneumatic") chemistry and foremost in this study was the dissenting minister, Joseph Priestley (1733-1804). Like so many intellectual men of his time, his interests were wide. He concerned himself not only with theology and philosophy, but also with chemistry and physics, and he had his own laboratory. It was through his work on gases that many advances in chemistry were made possible, but he himself was hampered by being a staunch believer in the Phlogiston Theory.* He discovered both nitrous oxide and oxygen: the first though it supported the flame of a candle yet destroyed animal life; but the second not only rekindled a glowing taper, but caused it to burn with a flame of extraordinary brilliance. Finding that mice lived a long time in it, Priestley (Vol. 2, p. 102) then had the temerity to breathe this gas himself. He fancied that his breast felt "peculiarly light and easy for some time afterwards", and this experience convinced him of the


Background/Aim: Since circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are precursors of metastatic lesions, extracting CTCs from whole blood is useful in obtaining information for cancer treatment. One of the CTC isolation methods is the size selection method; however, since the conventional methods are expensive and cumbersome, we developed an affordable and simple filter, whose usefulness is verified in this study. Materials and Methods: The new filter [hereafter, soft micropore filter (S-MPF)] is made up of a polyethylene film with a thickness of 15 μm and conical pores having a diameter of 8-10 μm, which are opened uniformly (opening rate, 20%). This filter can filter whole blood by free-falling under gravity. The possibilities of the filter's usage for model CTC isolation, immunostaining, short-term cell culture, and gene mutation detection in extracted model CTCs were verified. Results: S-MPF was able to extract model CTCs with an isolation rate of up to 15%. These model CTCs were detected by cytology, immunostaining, and culture by short-term incubation of filtered cells. Furthermore, genetic mutations were identified in the cultured cells. In addition, CTC isolation from the peripheral blood of patients with lung cancer was demonstrated by setting the volume of collected blood to 15 ml to prevent a low recovery rate. Conclusion: The S-MPF can be used to extract model CTCs quickly and easily. Moreover, cytological diagnosis, immunostaining, short-term culture, and gene mutation search are possible with this filter. Given its proven applicability in clinical samples, this filter can be used in clinical settings.


It is a well known fact that the system of the official communication of the Roman Empire had undergone a striking change after Diocletian's accession (284): Latin came into prominence and was used exclusively in the Eastern imperial administration where Greek had played an important role before Diocletian. So far this prominence of Latin has commonly been interpreted as an effect of a radical change in the language policy of the Roman state, claiming that Diocletian and Constantine I had introduced a new intolerant and aggressive language policy in the framework of the rehabilitation of the Roman Empire. In my paper I try to demonstrate that this alleged aggressive language policy never existed and that the prominence of Latin in the Eastern part of the Empire spontaneously resulted from the bureaucratic and governmental transformation of the Roman Empire that significantly increased the prestige of the Latin language.


Background Many published studies compare the prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) antibody in women with Tubal Factor Infertility (TFI) and a control group. In principle these studies can be used to estimate the attributable fraction of TFI caused by CT, however it is necessary to account for the sensitivity and specificity of the antibody tests employed. Methods We use sensitivity and specificity estimates from a discrepancy analysis by Morre (2002), and a study by Wills (2009) in which specificity of antibody test results was assessed in children, to derive estimates of the resolving power of three peptide-based assays and MIF; this is a reflection of the difference between sensitivity and false positive rates. Based on studies of antibody levels in different settings we adopt a model which assumes that antibody levels in women whose TFI is caused by CT are higher than levels in control women or those whose TFI has other causes. Applying this model to the data from Land (2003) we find strong support for the hypothesis of higher antibody levels in CT-related TFI, and for the estimates of test resolution from earlier studies. Using a range of assumptions about cumulative incidence of CT in the control group we were able to derive a range of estimates for the proportion of TFI cases caused by CT. Results Our results suggest that the sensitivity of antibody tests in women whose TFI was caused by CT is higher than in women who have previously had CT but whose TFI was due to another cause and control women. Based on our estimates of the resolving power of the tests from the Morre (2002) and Wills (2009) studies we estimate the proportion of TFI episodes that are due to Chlamydia to be between 20% and 45%. Conclusions By adjusting for the sensitivity and specificity of tests it is possible to derive a quantitative estimate of the causal rate of CT in TFI. Taken together with other findings our results suggests that detailed studies of antibody levels can be used to shed further light on the causal rate of CT.


Ethical climate in several studies differently suggests likely to have a clear understanding of developing ethical behavior to be expected to their organization. Contribution to work behavior as evidence and indicating among employees tend to lead by ethical code. Hierarchy way from highest to the lowest position must lead to work together and construct developing an ethical climate. Thus, this conservative way could be the efficient and most expected value on the organization. In this research, the ethical climate is implemented by the environmental performance results of the civil servant in the Sidoarjo district. This research-based on three variable concepts by each ethical climate, ethical strength, and ethical leadership. This research utilizes a qualitative comparative method with collecting data as a literature study. The Index Satisfaction of Civil Servant in Sidoarjo District as the prime references compared to the issues and variables.


s: The 7th Symposium on Conformal and Probabilistic Prediction with Applications The 2018 University of London Kolmogorov Lecture Rethinking Statistical Learning Theory: Learning Using Statistical Invariants (LUSI) Prof. Vladimir Vapnik (Facebook, Royal Holloway University of London, Columbia University) Abstract The talk introduces a new learning paradigm, called Learning Using Statistical Invariants (LUSI), which is different from the classical one. In the classical paradigm, learning machine constructs, using data, a classification rule that minimizes frequency of training error; it is data-driven model of learning. In the LUSI paradigm, in order to construct the desired classification rule using data, learning machine introduces statistical invariants that are specific for the problem, and then constructs the rule that then minimizes the frequency of training error and preserves these invariants; it is thus both dataand invariant-driven learning. New paradigm allow learning machine to extract more information from available training data. From a mathematical point of view, methods of the classical paradigm employ mechanisms of strong convergence of approximations to the desired function, whereas methods of the new paradigm employ both strong and weak convergence mechanisms. This can significantly increase the rate of convergence.The talk introduces a new learning paradigm, called Learning Using Statistical Invariants (LUSI), which is different from the classical one. In the classical paradigm, learning machine constructs, using data, a classification rule that minimizes frequency of training error; it is data-driven model of learning. In the LUSI paradigm, in order to construct the desired classification rule using data, learning machine introduces statistical invariants that are specific for the problem, and then constructs the rule that then minimizes the frequency of training error and preserves these invariants; it is thus both dataand invariant-driven learning. New paradigm allow learning machine to extract more information from available training data. From a mathematical point of view, methods of the classical paradigm employ mechanisms of strong convergence of approximations to the desired function, whereas methods of the new paradigm employ both strong and weak convergence mechanisms. This can significantly increase the rate of convergence.


A thermal/viscous instability of the accretion disc arising when hydrogen is partially ionized is the most popular explanation of the outbursts of both dwarf novae (DN) and soft X-ray transients (SXT). During an outburst, the disc expands and may reach the 3:1 resonance radius, triggering the so-called tidal instability. The consequences of such an instability are still debated; it is generally accepted that it results in the observed periodic modulation in SU UMa systems, and to large amplitude outbursts in these systems, the latter being more controversial. We discuss both the theoretical and observational evidences for such radius variations in DNs and SXTs, and the consequences of the application of the tidal instability in SXT.


The objectives of this study were to determine fluoride intake and urinary fluoride excretion levels in children exposed to fluoride from diet and dentifrice. Data were obtained from 31 children from a day care located in Maracay, Aragua State, Venezuela. Fluoride intake from diet was determined by using the "duplicate plate technique", and estimation of the ingested from dentifrice was made by the difference between fluoride in toothpaste taken for use and the fluoride in toothpaste used but not swallowed. Samples of foods, beverages and dentifrices were analyzed using the micro diffusion method. The results showed that children have a mean daily total fluoride intake for 15 - 35, 36 - 47 and 48 - 72 months-old of 0.07 ± 0.03; 0.09 ± 0.03 and 0.08 ± 0.02 mg/kg /day. Mean urinary fluoride concentrations values were 0.79 ± 0.51, 0.92 ± 0.30 and 0.83 ± 0.40 mg/L in 15 - 35, 36 - 47 and >48 months-old children and were not significantly different (p ≤ 0.05) when data from the three groups of children were compared. Age and gender did not affect urine total volume, urinary flow rate, urinary fluoride concentration and fluoride excretion rate (P > 0.05). The results from our study indicate that children have a mean fluoride intake and excretion within the expected value for optimally fluoridated areas.

 Key words: Fluoride intake, dental fluorosis, rate fluoride excretion, children.