Introduction CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA) is the recommended imaging modality for suspected pulmonary embolism (PE). Current NICE guidelines recommend using clinical prediction scoring systems to estimate the probability of PE and guide further investigation[i]. A low or intermediate probability score, coupled with a negative D-dimer, reliably excludes PE, thereby avoiding the need for CTPA. Objectives We undertook a retrospective audit to examine adherence to NICE guidelines for diagnosis of suspected PE in patients admitted to a district general hospital, and identify patients who may have undergone unnecessary CTPA. Methods We obtained a list of all CTPAs undertaken in our hospital between December 2012 and February 2013. D-dimer tests are poorly specific within hospitalised patients; therefore, we excluded post-surgical and obstetric patients, and pre-existing inpatients where primary admission was not for suspected PE. We also excluded outpatient CTPAs. We searched the records for contemporaneous PE probability scores and D-dimer results. For patients without a probability score result, we reviewed the clinical notes and calculated a probability score retrospectively using a local scoring system adapted from BTS guidelines. Results There were 115 CTPAs during the study period – 36 were excluded and 4 patients' case notes were unavailable. 75 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria (mean age 68.2 years), and PE was confirmed in 20%. 50 patients (66.7%) had a contemporaneous documented clinical probability score. There were 5 patients (6.7%) with a low/intermediate probability score and negative D-dimer, who underwent unnecessary CTPA (PE excluded in each case). There were 9 patients (12%) with retrospectively calculated low/intermediate clinical probability scores and no D-dimer result, who may have avoided CTPA had D-dimer been undertaken (CTPA excluded PE in each case). Conclusions In our district general hospital, the underuse of clinical probability scoring and D-dimer testing in patients with suspected PE is contributing to unnecessary CTPAs. Introducing mandatory documentation of PE clinical probability score on CTPA request forms may reduce the number of unnecessary CTPAs. References National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (2012) Venous thromboembolic diseases: the management of venous thromboembolic diseases and the role of thrombophilia testing. Clinical Guideline 144. London: NICE.


Breastfeeding is the best nutrition in quantity and quality for optimally baby's growth. A Cross sectional study combaining quatitative and qualitative approaches was conducted at Sukoharjo Kota subdistrict. The objective of this study is to investigate exclusive breast feeding practices among female factory workers and housewives and to explore internal and external factors influencing exclusive breast feeding practices among female factory workers. The study shows that only 9.5 % infant were exclusively breastfeeded among female factory workers, and statistical difference was found as compared to housewives. Among the workers, level of education had a significant relationship with exclusive breast feeding pattern. Factory policy does not consistenly support exclusive breast feeding practices, despite the fact that this policy may effect exclusive breast feeding practices if it is supported means of transportation and short distance to the workers houses. In addition, health personal indirectly encourages mothers to use milk formula Keyword : Exclusive breast feeding practice – female factory workers – Cross sectional study – qualitative study.


ABSTRACT To be acceptable for use in cervical cancer screening, a new assay that detects DNA of high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) types must demonstrate high reproducibility and performance not inferior to that of a clinically validated HPV test. In the present study, a real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) assay targeting the E6 and E7 genes of hrHPV was compared with Hybrid Capture 2 (hc2) in a Belgian cervical cancer screening setting. In women >30 years old, the sensitivity and specificity for intraepithelial neoplasias of grade 2 or worse (93 cases of cervical intraepithelial neoplasias of grade 2 or worse (CIN2+) and 1,207 cases of no CIN or CIN1) were 93.6% and 95.6%, respectively, and those of hc2 were 83.9% and 94.5%, respectively {relative sensitivity of qPCR/hc2 = 1.12 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.01 to 1.23]; relative specificity = 1.01 [95% CI, 0.99 to 1.03]}. A score test showed that the sensitivity (P < 0.0001) and specificity (P < 0.0001) of the qPCR assay were not inferior to those of hc2 at the required thresholds of 90% and 98%, respectively. The overall agreement of hrHPV positivity between the two runs of the qPCR tests was 98.7% (95% CI, 97.5 to 99.4%), with a kappa value of 0.96 (95% CI, 0.83 to 1.00). The qPCR assay used in this study can be considered a reliable HPV assay that fulfills the clinical validation criteria defined for use in cervical cancer screening.


This essay seeks to examine the concept of mateship from the perspectives of consequentialist and virtue ethics. It is suggested that mateship is a prominent concept in the way Australians think of themselves. However it is also suggested that mateship is linked to solidarity and commitment in time of war. It is suggested that what we should recognize mateship is one of the factors that facilitates and perpetuates war. It is suggested that mateship is also questionable as a character virtue, given what mateship entails. It is suggested that ultimately we need to examine more closely the consequences of the solidarity that we define as mateship, and we need to query more closely what we regard as virtues.


Microbiological analyses of commercial sprout seeds indicated aerobic plate counts (APC) and confirmed coliforms ranging from < 30 × 102 to 40 × 103 and from 0 to > 11 × 103/g, respectively. Fecal coliforms were detected in the range from 7.3 to 11 × 102/g; Listeria or Salmonella were not detected. Seeds, pregerminated in potable water (16-18 h, 20-22°C), contained an APC ca. 1 logarithm higher than the corresponding dry seeds. Increased levels of confirmed and fecal coliforms were also detected as a result of soaking. The APC of retail sprouts ranged from 3.6 × 103 to 3.7 × 109/g. All samples contained confirmed and fecal coliforms. Coagulase positive staphylococci were detected in ca. 24% of samples analyzed.


Fruits of Viburnum opulus (highbush cranberry, guelder rose) ripen in the fall and remain uneaten throughout the winter months. To investigate the fruiting strategy of this plant, I described the natural history of fruit removal from V. opulus shrubs in central New York and investigated nutritional mechanisms for the phenology of fruit re- moval by its principal disperser. Viburnum opulus fruit crops were often completely con- sumed in April and May, almost exclusively by Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum). Sugar solute concentration of V. opulus fruit pulp increased over the winter season through dehydration. When wild Cedar Waxwings were presented with early-season (removed and frozen in December) and remnant late-season (April) fruits, they strongly preferred early- season fruits. This result demonstrated that springtime consumption of V. opuius fruits by Cedar Waxwings is not caused by chemical changes in the fruit pulp during the winter months that enhance fruit palatability. Cedar Waxwings often fed intermittently on the male catkins of eastern cottonwoods (Populus deltoides) when eating V. opulus fruits. Feeding experiments with captive wax- wings showed that birds lost body mass on either V. opulus fruits or P. deltoides catkins alone, but maintained or gained body mass when offered both foods simultaneously. The combined diet provided Cedar Waxwings with nutritionally sufficient amounts of energy from fruit sugars and protein from pollen. Two chemical characteristics of V. opulus fruits were implicated in creating a short-term demand for supplemental protein: an especially low nitrogen/carbohydrate ratio and secondary compounds. The pulp of V. opulus fruits contains secondary compounds that make this fruit very acidic, presenting consumers with the challenge of maintaining acid/base homeostasis. Elevated nitrogen losses by waxwings eating only V. opulus fruits were consistent with the hypothesis that birds catabolized protein to produce bicarbonate as an acid buffer. Secondary compounds may play a central role in the evolution of plant fruiting syndromes because of their dual effects on microbes, me- diating persistence of fruits in the environment, and palatability of fruits to seed dispersers, presumably because they exact a protein cost from consumers. These results showed that nutritional interactions of seasonally ephemeral food items can determine temporal patterns of fruit consumption. The well-defended fruits of V. opulus are eaten when more palatable fruits no longer remain and when a complementary protein source becomes available. This fruiting strategy can result in wholesale seed dispersal. The restricted nature of the mutualism between waxwings and V. opulus appears to be a result of the extraordinary persistence of these fruits and the unique dietary habits of waxwings. Viburnum opulus fruits remain uneaten until the spring months, when waxwings are scav- enging remnant crops of sugary fruits and most other avian frugivores have switched to animal foods.


OBJECTIVES
The complications of diabetes have the potential to greatly impact the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of patients with type 2 diabetes. The effect of diabetic complications on HRQOL was assessed in 1233 patients with type 2 diabetes who were not using insulin.

METHODS AND DATA
Patients were aged 35 and older and had stable fasting serum glucose (FSG) after washout of antidiabetic therapy. Patients who required insulin or suffered from severe cardiovascular or hepatic disease, neuropathy, or retinopathy were excluded. Patients completed the SF-36 generic quality of life questionnaire. Demographic data, including body mass index (BMI), blood glucose hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), FSG, and the presence and severity of eight specified diabetic complications were also collected. A linear regression analysis was performed for each of the SF-36 domains and for the physical and mental health summary scales.

RESULTS
The most prevalent diabetic complications were hypertension (46% of patients), peripheral sensory neuropathy (PSN; 12%), coronary artery disease (CAD; 8%), retinopathy (8%), and peripheral vascular disease (PVD; 7%). Most (73%) of the complications were assessed to be mild. PSN was associated with significantly lower scores (i.e., worse quality of life) in the mental health scale; CAD was associated with significant reductions of all but role-emotional and mental health scales of the SF-36; and PVD was associated with significantly lower physical and social functioning scales. Hypertension did not have an independent effect on HRQOL.

CONCLUSIONS
The presence of even mild diabetic complications has a significant impact on patients' quality of life. Early diagnosis and treatment is essential to help prevent deterioration of HRQOL in these patients.


Knowledge of the anatomy and variations of the nerves of the oral cavity is important to surgeons who operate this region. Herein, we report a rare case of a buccal nerve with two distinct roots. The anatomy of this case and its clinical applications is discussed.


Conjugated polymers are biomaterials with high conductivity characteristics because of their molecular composition. However, they are too rigid and brittle for medical applications and therefore need to be combined with non-conductive polymers to overcome or lessen these drawbacks. This work has, consequently, focused on the development of three-dimensional scaffolds where conductive and non-conductive polymers have been produced by combining polycaprolactone (PCL) and polyaniline (PANI) by means of supercritical CO2 foaming techniques. To evaluate their therapeutic potential as implants, a series of experiments have been designed to determine the most influential variables in the production of the three-dimensional scaffolds, including temperature, pressure, polymer ratio and depressurization rate. Internal morphology, porosity, expansion factor, PANI loads, biodegradability, mechanical and electrical properties have been taken as the response variables. The results revealed a strong influence from all the input variables studied, as well as from their interactions. The best operating conditions tested were 70 °C, 100 bar, a ratio of 5:1 (PCL:PANI), a depressurization rate of 20 bar/min and a contact time of 1 h.


Kudaisya's biography explores all the aspects of this legendary figure. Elegantly written, it reconstructs Birla's eventful public and private life drawing upon the rich historical evidence available in his private papers. Kudaisya was the first scholar to have unrestricted access to these papers. This book is not simply a story of onr of the greatest Indians of our times, but also provides a window on the transformation which India has witnessed during the twentieth century. It shows how Birla's life was marked by a complex interplay of profit, power and piety.


Adenovirus infections are ubiquitous in commercially farmed birds, and probably in all avian species. There is a wide range of virulence, in some cases even within the same serotype. While many infections are subclinical and appear to be of little economic or welfare importance, significant outbreaks of disease associated with adenovirus do occur. These diseases are not of public health significance.


This review gives an overview of the recent progress in vacuum-based n-type transition metal oxide (TMO) thin film transistors (TFTs). Several excellent review papers regarding metal oxide TFTs in terms of fundamental electron structure, device process and reliability have been published. In particular, the required field-effect mobility of TMO TFTs has been increasing rapidly to meet the demands of the ultra-high-resolution, large panel size and three dimensional visual effects as a megatrend of flat panel displays, such as liquid crystal displays, organic light emitting diodes and flexible displays. In this regard, the effects of the TMO composition on the performance of the resulting oxide TFTs has been reviewed, and classified into binary, ternary and quaternary composition systems. In addition, the new strategic approaches including zinc oxynitride materials, double channel structures, and composite structures have been proposed recently, and were not covered in detail in previous review papers. Special attention is given to the advanced device architecture of TMO TFTs, such as back-channel-etch and self-aligned coplanar structure, which is a key technology because of their advantages including low cost fabrication, high driving speed and unwanted visual artifact-free high quality imaging. The integration process and related issues, such as etching, post treatment, low ohmic contact and Cu interconnection, required for realizing these advanced architectures are also discussed.


The study sheds light on the concept of AI technology in healthcare and its importance to improve the patient's conditions. Artificial intelligence and its usage in healthcare is the main focus of the research article. It is identified that most healthcare institutions are using AI-based devices nowadays to enhance sustainability and provide better healthcare service to the patients. The AI-based machines or devices that help the nurses to gain basic medical information about the patients are presented in the research article. Apart from that, the usage of published journals and articles helped to gain data and information about AI technology in healthcare.


OBJECTIVE
To improve a method of a new hydrogen sulfide slow-releasing donor, to observe its cellular toxicity in HepG2 cells and tissue distribution and metabolic pathway after administration of the donor by intraperitoneal injection in ICR mice and to afford experimental evidences for rationally using this donor in hydrogen sulfide research.

METHODS
We synthesized the new chemical compound which slowly released hydrogen sulfide. After administration of the donor, the cell toxicity was evaluated for cell viability using trypan blue staining in HepG2 cells and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity in culture medium. After administration of this donor by intrasperitoneal injection, we measured the tissue hydrogen sulfide content in the liver, heart, kidney and brain using sensitive-sulfur electrode assay.

RESULTS
We successfully prepared the donor which could release hydrogen sulfide. The releasing ability of the donor solution stored at 4 °C or 20 °C did not change as compared with the freshly-prepared one. Treated at various concentrations of the donor (0.062 5, 0.125, 0.25, 0.5, 1 and 2 mmol/L) for 24 hours in HepG2 cells, the cell viability and LDH leak from the cells were not different as compared with the controls. The donor (2 mmol/L) was administrated everyday and the culture medium was changed every 3 days. After 9 days, the cell viability and LDH leak did not change. Administration of the donor (200 μmol/kg) quickly increased the tissue hydrogen sulfide concentrations in the liver and heart and maintained about 20 min; the hydrogen sulfide level in the kidney elevated and maintained a longer time, then recovered after 2 hours, which implicated that the donor might exclude the kidney; the hydrogen sulfide concentration in the brain did not change in the present study, which suggested that the donor could not pass the blood-brain barrier. Long time (4 weeks) treatment with this compound might induce hepatic or cutaneous injury.

CONCLUSION
The new chemical compound is a relative stable, slow-releasing donor of hydrogen sulfide with low cellular toxicity, which may be used to study the regulatory role of hydrogen sulfide in the cellular physiological and pathophysiological mechanism of the animal model with acute diseases.


Abstract : In this paper the self-consistent solution of Schrodinger and Poisson equations is applied to single and double gate SOI MOS structures. The reasons for possible advantages related to the presence of the two symmetric gates in the latter case are investigated.


As of late, with the progression of AI and man-made brainpower, there has been a developing spotlight on versatile e-learning. As all ways to deal with e-learning lose their allure and the level of online courses builds, they move towards more customized versatile learning so as to collaborate with students and achieve better learning results. The schools focus on the examination, mindfulness, and arranging techniques that infuse innovation into the vision and educational program. E-learning issues are a standard examination issue for us all. The motivation behind this research analysis is to separate the potential outcomes of assessing e-learning models utilizing AI strategies such as Supervised, Semi Supervised, Reinforced Learning advances by investigating upsides and downsides of various methods organization. The literature review methodology is to review the cross sectional impacts of e-learning and Machine learning algorithms from existing literatures from the year 1993 to 2020 and to assess the essentialness of e-learning features to optimize the e-learning models with available Machine learning techniques from peer-inspected journals, capable destinations, and books. Second, it legitimizes the chances of e-learning structures introduction, and changes demonstrated through AI and Machine Learning algorithms. This examination assists in providing helpful new highlights to analysts, researchers and academicians. It gives an exhaustive structure of existing e-learning frameworks for the most recent innovations identified with learning framework capacities and learning tasks to envision ML research openings in appropriate spaces. The survey paper identifies and demonstrates the important role of different types of e-learning features such as Individual pertinent feature, Course pertinent feature, Context pertinent feature and Technology pertinent feature in framework performance tuning. The performance of Machine Learning algorithms to optimize the features of E-Learning models were reviewed in previous literatures and Support Vector Machine technique was found to be the one of the best to predict the input and output parameters of e-learning models and it is found that Fuzzy C Means, Deep Learning algorithms are producing better results for Big Data sets.


This paper extends optimal location problems for emergency facilities to multiobjective programming problems by considering the following two objectives: one is to minimize the maximal distance of paths from emergency facilities to hospitals via accidents, and the other is to maximize frequency of accidents that emergency facilities can respond quickly. In order to find a satisfying solution of the formulated problems, an interactive fuzzy satisfying method with particle swarm optimization is proposed. Computational results for applying the method to examples of multiobjective emergency facility location problems are shown


Background Newborn screening (NBS) for cystic fibrosis (CF) has been available throughout the UK since 2007. Such screening is only justified if it improves outcome. NBS offers the potential for early intervention in order to preserve lung function and nutritional status. There are few, if any, ways of satisfactorily monitoring such babies non-invasively. To date the feasibility of recruiting newborn babies to invasive studies within the first few weeks following diagnosis is unknown. Aim To assess the feasibility of recruiting and retaining infants diagnosed by NBS to an invasive observational study, prior to proposing an interventional study. Methods All children presenting from the CF NBS programme from six centres comprising the London CF Collaboration (LCFC: Great Ormond St, Royal Brompton, Kings College, Royal London, Lewisham University and Epsom and St Helier's Hospitals) are being invited to participate in a study which involves infant lung function under sedation at ∼3 and 12 months plus a combined CT, bronchoscopy and BAL under GA at ∼12 months, within 3 weeks after the lung function test. Results Since commencement of this study, 63 infants have screened positive for CF of whom five were ineligible (co-existent morbidities or moving away from area). Of the 58 eligible babies, seven have either declined (6) or withdrawn (1), eight families are currently considering participation and 43 have consented to participate. Infant lung function at 3 months has been undertaken in 43 babies (mean age at test 10.8 (SD 2.4) weeks. Of the 16 babies that have now reached one year of age, all have completed their follow-up lung function test and 15 have had their CT and BAL, with one awaiting an appointment. To date, parents' attitudes to taking part in this study have been universally positive. Conclusions Despite initial concerns from some reviewers regarding the ability to recruit and retain families whose infants have been diagnosed with CF by NBS into clinical studies with invasive outcomes, these preliminary data indicate that it is possible to recruit a high proportion of babies to such a study. These results suggest that future interventional studies will be feasible.


This study aims to identify and explain the principles of anti-corruption in the various rules that can be used as the foundation of reconstruction prevention of Corruption. This research is a normative law. Data collection techniques used were interviews and by library research. The data analysis was conducted through qualitative analysis methods. This analysis was performed using analysis of the theoretical basis as the knife in explaining the phenomena that are the focus of this study. The results show that the strategy of eradication of corruption can be performed on the elements of legal substance, that is to revise the existing weaknesses in the legal substance of the Law on Corruption Eradication, setting sanctions, in the form of illicit enrichment, the clarity of the regulation on the system the best evidence and clarity regarding setting minimum sanctions. Elements of the legal structure relating to the selection mechanism of political will by the organizers state apparatus, trustworthy leadership, coordination, synchronization authority of law enforcement agencies. Elements of legal culture through the establishment of standards of conduct and operational standards of service and strengthen community participation in combating corruption. Keywords: Corruption, Legal Culture, Law Reform, Law Enforcement


Abstract. To examine the role of renal excretory function for erythropoietin (EPO) formation we have determined the kinetics of plasma immunoreactive EPO (irEPO) in patients with end‐stage renal disease undergoing renal allotransplantation (RTX).


We report adenocarcinoma of the lung in seven patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. We compared age, clinical findings and survival data with a sex-matched control group of HIV-negative patients with adenocarcinoma of the lung. Median age of HIV-infected patients with lung cancer was lower than in control patients with lung cancer. The HIV-infected patients had more systemic symptoms and abnormal physical findings than control subjects. Both groups had smoking histories. Laboratory data were similar but control subjects had lower blood oxygen tensions than did HIV patients; HIV patients had more abnormalities on chest roentgenograms and computed tomography scans than did control subjects. All HIV-infected patients were stage IV. Median survival was 4 weeks. For control patients, 50 percent had stage IV disease; median survival was 25.5 weeks. Thus, patients with HIV infection develop lung cancer at a younger age than sex-matched control subjects and undergo a more fulminant course with shortened survivals.


In this paper various topologies on closed subsets of a topological space are considered. The interrelationships between these topologies are explored, and several applications are given. The methods of proof as well as some intrinsic definitions assume a familiarity with A. Robinson's nonstandard analysis. E. Michael (Topologies of spaces of subsets, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 71 (1951), 152-182), K. Kuratowski (Topology, Vols. I and II, Academic Press, New York, 1968), L. Vietoris (Berichezweiter Ordnung, Monatsh. Math.-Phys. 33 (1923), 49—62), and others have considered methods of putting topologies on closed subsets of a topological space. These topologies have the property that if the underlying topological space is compact then the topology of closed subsets is also compact. In general, however, these topologies of closed subsets are not compact. In this paper, a topology of closed subsets of a topological space is constructed that is always compact. This topology is called the compact topology and has many pleasant features. For closed subsets of compact Hausdorff spaces, this topology agrees with Vietoris' topology. For arbitrary spaces, there are interesting connections between the compact topology and topological convergence of subsets, including generalized versions of the Bolzano-Weierstrass theorem. 1. Preliminaries. Throughout this paper topologies are specified by giving a set together with its closed subsets. Thus, if (X, V) is a topological space, then "X" will denote a set and 'T" will denote the family of closed subsets of X. If (X, D is a topological space and A C X then Ac will denote the closure of A, and A the complement of A in X. We will basically follow A. Robinson's treatment of topological spaces that is given in [8]. (The symbol " =^ ", however, has a specialized use.) Among the more important concepts of nonstandard analysis that will be used in this paper are the following:' (1) Concurrent relations. The relation R(x, y) is said to be a concurrent relation if and only if for each finite set A, if for each a £ A there is a y such that R(a, y), then there is a z such that for each a £ A, R(a, z). Received by the editors September 1, 1970. AMS (MOS) subject classifications (1970). Primary 02H25, 54A20, 54J05; Secondary 54A10.


We design a pulsed power source based on the technique for explosive-driven demagnetization. The physical process and geometry structure of this power source are described in detail and several formulae are deduced to predict some important properties of the power source. With a Φ 40 mm×20 mm×10 mm cylindrical magnet, the maximum output voltage and current reaches 125.5 V and 862.9 A, respectively. The rise time of the front edge of the output voltage is about 264 ns. On the 0.05 Ω simulative load, the net power is 37 kW.


A perfect storm is brewing that may make ophthalmologists and office staff, with networked equipment, easy targets for cyber criminals. In a matter of days, cyber criminals can infect computers around the world. Sure, you can pay the ransom, but HIPAA fines and consultant fees, recovering from the damage to your reputation, loss of patients, and all the time and energy lost could bankrupt your practice.


In this paper, we analyze the security problem of user information associated key generation (UIAKG) systems. We consider three kinds of attacks from the hacker: the exhaustive search attack, the authentic key statistics attack and the device key statistics attack. Under each attack, we give the estimate of the number of guesses the hacker has to make in order to access the system. Such analysis provides useful guidelines in designing a UIAKG system. The analysis also suggests that a user-dependent UIAKG is more secure than a user-independent one. Two UIAKG systems using face images as inputs are designed and compared to support the above theoretical analysis.


Genetic programming is applied to the synthesis of arbitrary logic expressions. As a new method of logic synthesis, this technique is uniquely advantageous in its flexibility for both problem applicability and optimization criterion. A number of experiments were conducted exploring this method with different types of logic gates and population sizes. While complete function coverage is not guaranteed, the best experimental test results over eight randomly designed functions, of four to seven input variables, have produced logic equations with a 98.4% function coverage. In addition, the relation between the training set size for the genetic program and function coverage was also empirically explored. These experiments showed that only small training sets were necessary for function recognition.


Single and fractionated doses of radioimmunotherapy (RAIT) and standard chemotherapy (0.6 mg 5-FU/day and 0.36 leucovorin/day on days 1-5) result in decreases in vascular permeability (VP) in the GW-39 human colonic xenograft. The effect of a single dose of RAIT (MN-14 anticarcinoembryonic antigen, Mu-9 anticolon-specific antigen, PAM-4 anti-MUC-1, RS-7 and RS-11 antiepithelial glycoprotein labeled with 131I) has also been evaluated in 10 other tumors. Fourteen days after a fixed 1,500-cGy dose of RAIT, 3 colonic tumors (LS174T, HT-29 and MOSER) all exhibited decreases in VP (58, 75 and 70%, respectively). Two colonic (LoVo and GS-7) and 1 breast tumor (MDA-468) did not exhibit any change in VP, and 1 lung (CALU-3), 1 cervical (ME-180), 1 pancreatic (CaPan-1) and 1 breast cancer line (ZR-75) exhibited increases in tumor VP (214, 289, 170 and 139%, respectively). The differences in VP response to RAIT do not appear to be related to the type of tumor, the size of tumor or the antigen being targeted by RAIT. The differences in tumor VP response to RAIT are discussed in terms of the ability to achieve significant tumor accretion of a second dose of radioantibody on a multiple-dosing regimen. We have begun to investigate the mechanism(s) which regulate the varying responses of tumor VP to RAIT by assessing the role that nitric oxide plays. Administration of arginine, a substrate for nitric oxide synthase, results in increases in both baseline and RAIT-modified VP in GW-39 and ME-180 tumors.


Protein chemical studies of NAD(+)-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH; EC 126.96.36.199) from Clostridium symbiosum indicate only two cysteine residues/subunit, in good agreement with the gene sequence. Experiments with various thiol-modifying reagents reveal that in native clostridial GDH only one of these two cysteines is accessible for reaction. This residue does not react with iodoacetate, iodoacetamide, N-ethylmaleimide or N-phenylmaleimide, but reaction with either p-chloromercuribenzene sulphonate or 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) causes complete inactivation, preventable by NAD+ or NADH but not by glutamate or 2-oxoglutarate. Protection studies with combinations of substrates show that glutamate enhances protection by NADH, whereas 2-oxoglutarate diminishes it. These studies were also used to determine a dissociation constant (0.69 mM) for the enzyme-NAD+ complex. Similar data for NADH indicated mildly cooperative binding with a Hill coefficient of 1.32. The significance of these results is discussed in the light of the high-resolution crystallographic structure for clostridial GDH and in relation to information for GDH from other sources.


Adiponectin (APN), an adipokine produced by adipocytes, has been shown to have a critical role in the pathogenesis of obesity-associated malignancies. Through its receptor interactions, APN may exert its anti-carcinogenic effects including regulating cell survival, apoptosis and metastasis via a plethora of signalling pathways. Despite the strong evidence supporting this notion, some work may indicate otherwise. Our review addresses all controversies critically. On the whole, hypoadiponectinaemia is associated with increased risk of several malignancies and poor prognosis. In addition, various genetic polymorphisms may predispose individuals to increased risk of obesity-associated malignancies. We also provide an updated summary on therapeutic interventions to increase APN levels that are of key interest in this field. To date efforts to manipulate APN levels have been promising, but much work remains to be done.


Irradiation of CpRh(PMe3)(C2H4) (1; Cp = η5-C5H5) in the presence of pentafluoropyridine in hexane solution at low temperature yields an isolable η2-C,C-coordinated pentafluoropyridine complex, CpRh(PMe3)(η2-C,C-C5NF4) (2). The molecular structure of 2 was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, showing coordination by C3–C4, unlike previous structures of pentafluoropyridine complexes that show N-coordination. Corresponding experiments with 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoropyridine yield the C–H oxidative addition product CpRh(PMe3)(C5NF4)H (3). In contrast, UV irradiation of 1 in hexane, in the presence of 4-substituted tetrafluoropyridines C5NF4X, where X = NMe2, OMe, results in elimination of C2H4 and HF to form the metallacycles CpRh(PMe3)(κ2-C,C-CH2N(CH3)C5NF3) (4) and CpRh(PMe3)(κ2-C,C-CH2OC5NF3) (5), respectively. The X-ray structure of 4 shows a planar RhCCNC-five-membered ring. Complexes 2–5 may also be formed by thermal reaction of CpRh(PMe3)(Ph)H with the respective pyridines at 50 °C.


Synopsis A traverse through steeply inclined rocks north-west from Birnam is the equivalent of a vertical section at one point through the Tay Nappe. This traverse demonstrates increasing complexity and intensity of deformation at successively lower structural levels in the nappe. It suggests that the second episode of deformation (D2) at a low level was largely responsible for the emplacement of the nappe by simple shear, and that displacements of the order of 6 km during this episode can be demonstrated in the limited thickness of rocks exposed in the district. The earliest deformation (D1) induced two cleavages in the Southern Highland (Upper) Dalradian sandstones—one analogous to slaty cleavage and the other a tectonic striping produced by pressure solution. One set of folds, now downward-facing following D4 downbending, is associated with these cleavages. D2 deformation strongly modified the limbs and 'facing' characteristics of the D1 folds.


Experimental and clinical studies have shown that trimetazidine has a number of potentially useful cytoprotective features. The drug has been reported to limit intracellular acidosis, sodium and calcium accumulation, to preserve contractile function and to limit cytolysis and membrane damage caused by oxygen free radicals. All these effects contribute towards reducing the deleterious effects of ischaemic insult. Improved cellular function during ischaemia could explain the beneficial effects of trimetazidine on resting and dobutamine-induced myocardial ischaemic dysfunction. Preserving mitochondrial function and energy metabolism from chronic oxygen deprivation may reduce ischaemic left ventricular dysfunction. Experimental studies also suggest that trimetazidine acts by affecting myocardial substrate utilization because the drug inhibits oxidative phosphorylation and utilization of fatty acid substrates and shifts metabolism from fatty acid to glucose oxidation. As these effects occur in the absence of detectable changes in systemic and coronary haemodynamics, the in vivo effects of trimetazidine on ischaemic myocardium are likely to depend on direct cytoprotection.


A study was carried out in the greenhouse at the Faculty of Sustainable Agriculture at University Malaysia Sabah, Sandakan campus to investigate the effects of NPK fertilizer rate (90:30:20, 120:60:40 and 150:90:60) incorporated with an application rate of vermicompost (4, 5, and 6 ton ha-1). The objective of the study is to determine optimum rate for NPK and vermicompost towards growth and yields of planted sweetcom hybrid in Silabukan soil and determine nutrients content that exist on Silabukan soil before and after study. The research site is located at Sungai Batang, Sandakan, Sabah. This study has started on April 12th 2015 until September 12th 2015. The design of the study use Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Each treatment has three replications. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA. Results for vegetative growth showed N3B3 has the highest plant height that is 132cm. While, N2Bl treatment showed highest diameter that is 6.33cm. Treatment N2B2 and N3B2 showing the highest number of leaves per plant which, 16.33cm. All treatments have the same amount of cobs that are one cob per plant Treatment Nl83 showed the highest distance of cob from soil surface, 46.17cm. Ear of com length show that N3B2 has longest ear length, 16.83 cm and the diameter of cob show NIB3 treatment is topmost with 12.93 cm. Treatment N381 showed highest ear number per plant that is 12. 93cm. Total grain com showed that treatment N3Bl is the highest at 185.67g and
treatment N3B3 treatment showed the highest weight of 100 grains of maize which, is 8. 97g. N3Bl treatment is treatment of the highest com yield forecast of maize grain yield, 0.34 ton ha-1 and the result's corncob 1.06 tons ha-J • Treatment of soil analysis shows that N3B3 have the highest pH value of 4.8 and the percentage of organic ingredients of the highest of 6.643%. N3B2 treatment contains the highest amount of total nitrogen 0.32%. NIB3 treatment produces high available phosphorus of 4.35ppm. Therefore, the use of vermicompost and NPK on Silabukan soil is the best on N383 treatment for producing higher plant height, higher length of the cob, greater weight of 100 grains of maize cobs per hectare yield and a high percentage of organic material. Meanwhile, the second proposal suggested is N3Bl for producing com grain yield per hectare is the highest, com tree circumference, and the highest number of leaves. This study indicated that there is a significant difference between the use of NPK rates and vermicompost which differ on income and growth of hybrid com. Therefore, further study has to be conducted to prove this observation.


This article reports on a study that was designed to provide insight about the barriers that limit families with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from visiting fine arts museums. Parents (N=54), and staff and volunteers (N=62) at the museum completed a questionnaire about their perceptions of the participation of children with ASD in museum activities. Some significant differences in responses were found between parents and museum staff and volunteers. Parents reported being thankful for the sense of community that Autism Awareness Family Celebrations provide, but were frustrated with reactions from others during typical museum experiences. Museum staff and volunteers expressed that museum participation was important, but responses were split between those who desired to learn more about ASD in order to create an optimal museum experience, and those who preferred not to take on this initiative. Studies such as this help museums become more inclusive.


We have proposed a novel Call Admission Control (CAC) to maximize total user satisfaction in a heterogeneous traffic network and showed the effectiveness of our CAC by using optimal-threshold from numerical analysis[1]. In our previous CAC, when a new broadband flow arrived and if total accommodated bandwidth was more than or equal to the threshold, the arriving new broadband flow was rejected. In actual networks, however, users may accept to wait for a certain period until the broadband flow, such as video, begins to play. In this paper, when total accommodated bandwidth was more than or equal to the threshold, arriving broadband flows wait instead being rejected. As a result, we can greatly improve total user satisfaction.


A horizontal liquid film of infinite extent is bounded below by a rigid plane and above by free surface, rotating about a vertical axis. Advective flow is set by imposing a constant temperature gradient on both boundaries. In the framework of Boussinesq approximation, we obtain an exact stationary solution of Navier–Stokes equations. The linear theory of stability for such flow is numerically investigated by reducing the initial system to the boundary problem for linear one-dimensional partial differential equations. The neutral stability flow states for normal perturbations are carried out; then the critical flow parameters allow us to get the dependence between the critical Grashof number and the wave number for various Taylor ones at a fixed Prandtl number, Pr=6.7.


Aeromedical evacuation, an important component in the care of many patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI), particularly in war zones, exposes them to prolonged periods of hypobaria. The effects of such exposure on pathophysiological changes and outcome after TBI are largely unexplored. The objective of this study was to investigate whether prolonged hypobaria in rats subjected to TBI alters behavioral and histological outcomes. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats underwent fluid percussion induced injury at 1.5-1.9 atmospheres of pressure. The effects of hypobaric exposure (6 h duration; equivalent to 0.75 atmospheres) at 6, 24, and 72 h, or 7 days after TBI were evaluated with regard to sensorimotor, cognitive, and histological changes. Additional groups were evaluated to determine the effects of two hypobaric exposures after TBI, representing primary simulated aeromedical evacuation (6 h duration at 24 h after injury) and secondary evacuation (10 h duration at 72 h after injury), as well as the effects of 100% inspired oxygen concentrations during simulated evacuation. Hypobaric exposure up to 7 days after injury significantly worsened cognitive deficits, hippocampal neuronal loss, and microglial/astrocyte activation in comparison with injured controls not exposed to hypobaria. Hyperoxia during hypobaric exposure or two exposures to prolonged hypobaric conditions further exacerbated spatial memory deficits. These findings indicate that exposure to prolonged hypobaria up to 7 days after TBI, even while maintaining physiological oxygen concentration, worsens long-term cognitive function and neuroinflammation. Multiple exposures or use of 100% oxygen further exacerbates these pathophysiological effects.


The objective of this paper is to investigate the effects of laminate scheme, crack ratio (a/h) and crack position (L1/L) on the free vibration and lateral buckling of a cantilever slender rectangular beam such as an airplane wing or a wind turbine blade with a single edge crack. The local flexibility approach is adopted to model the crack, based on linear fracture mechanics and the Castigliano theorem. The governing matrix equations for free vibration and buckling load are derived from the standard beam element and cracked beam element combined with the local flexibility concept. The results are obtained numerically using the finite element method, based on the energy approach and are given for crack ratios up to 0.5 at crack positions up to 0.9 ratio. Polynomial approximation for displacements gives results with reasonable accuracy.


We employ a set of recent, theoretically motivated fits to nonperturbative unquenched gluon propagators to check on how far double gluon exchange can be used to describe the soft sector of pp scattering data (total and differential cross section). In particular, we use the refined Gribov-Zwanziger gluon propagator (as arising from dealing with the Gribov gauge fixing ambiguity) and the massive Cornwall-type gluon propagator (as motivated from Dyson-Schwinger equations) in conjunction with a perturbative quark-gluon vertex, next to a model based on the nonperturbative quark-gluon Maris-Tandy vertex, popular from Bethe-Salpeter descriptions of hadronic bound states. We compare the cross sections arising from these models with older ISR and more recent TOTEM and ATLAS data. The lower the value of total energy root s, the better the results appear to be.


Purpose: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) continues to be a disease that kills thousands of individuals each year. The HIV infection is incurable. However, HIV infection has turned into a treatable chronic health condition because of improved access to efficient HIV prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and care. Transmission Electron Microscopy's (TEM) ability to directly visualize virus particles and distinguish ultrastructure morphology at the nanometer scale, makes it useful in HIV-1 research where it is used for assessing the actions of inhibitors that obstruct the maturation and morphogenesis phases of the virus lifecycle. Hence with its use, the disease's serious stage can be avoided by receiving an early diagnosis.
Materials and Methods: Through the dedicated use of computer vision frameworks and machine learning techniques, we have developed an optimized low-computational-cost 8-layer Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) backbone capable of classifying HIV-1 virions at various stages of maturity and morphogenesis. The dataset including TEM images of HIV-1 viral life cycle phases is analysed and augmented through various techniques to make the framework robust in real-time. The CNN layers then extract pertinent disease traits from TEM images and utilise them to provide diagnostic predictions.
Results: It was discovered that the framework performed with an accuracy of 99.76% on the training set, 85.83% on the validation set, and 91.33% on the test set, after being trained on a wide range of micrographs which comprised of different experimental samples and magnifications.
Conclusion: The suggested network's performance was compared to that of other state-of-the-art networks, and it was discovered that the proposed model was undisputed for classifying TEM images of unseen HIV-1 virion and required less time to train and tweak its weights. The framework can operate more effectively than machine learning algorithms that consume a lot of resources and can be deployed with limited computation and memory resource requirements.


Summary

Selected steps in the establishment of an enzyme-immuno-assay (EIA) are shown with an EIA for detection of antibodies against avian reoviruses of chicken. The centre of this work is to show the various possibilities of calculation and interpretation of the test results.

The definition of the cut-off-value is the basis for the interpretation of the assay and the consequences for the veterinarians in the field and the animal owners. Basic parameters (sensitivity, specificity, predication value, prevalence) of the test validation are discussed with the example of the examination of a new hen flock in the EIA, compared to serum neutralisation test.


Clear cell renal cell carcinomas (ccRCCs) are highly immune infiltrates, and many of them respond to immunotherapy with checkpoint inhibitors including anti-PD-L1 or anti-PD1 agents. However, the effect of immune genes on clinical outcomes in ccRCCs has not been fully studied. Here, we show in this study that an immune-associated gene panel has a prognostic value for clear cell renal cell carcinomas. We performed single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) and cell type identification by estimating subsets of RNA transcripts (CIBERSORT) algorithms on patient-matched normal renal and RCC tissues to characterize two immunophenotypes and immunological characteristic subpopulations. Furthermore, LASSO Cox regression was applied to develop a novel prognosis-associated model for ccRCC patients based on an immune-gene panel. The results were verified by the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) dataset and coordinated with the clinicopathological characteristics of ccRCCs, along with genomic signatures. Finally, based on the above perspectives, we generated a nomogram with a high prognostic efficiency for ccRCC patients. Overall, this study offers a unique perspective that can contribute to improving the accuracy of prognosis prediction and treatment with immunotherapy.


The posterior drawer test is an accurate clinical test to diagnose posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), indicating laxity of the PCL that allows posterior tibial translation. This study aimed to determine whether posterior tibial translation relative to the femur on routine MRI could serve as an additional sign of PCL tear. Routine knee MRI in eleven patients (7 males, 4 females) with arthroscopically confirmed isolated PCL tears were reviewed independently by two musculoskeletal radiologists. Measurements of tibial translation were made in the medial and lateral compartments of patients and controls (10 males, 12 females) without clinical or MRI evidence of ligament injury. Significant medial compartment posterior tibial translation was present in patients with PCL tear compared to controls (+2.93 mm versus +0.03 mm, P = 0.002) with excellent interobserver agreement (intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.94). No significant difference in lateral compartment tibial translation was observed (+0.17 mm versus −0.57 mm, P = 0.366) despite excellent interobserver agreement (ICC = 0.96). Posterior tibial translation in the midmedial compartment may be a secondary sign of isolated PCL tear on routine knee MRI with passive extension without manipulation or weight bearing. Additional work in a larger cohort may better address the accuracy of this finding.


Hybrid zinc nanoparticles were synthesized by adding thioglycolic acid (TGA) into a ZnO-particle synthesis procedure. Compared to the ZnO particles prepared without TGA, the hybrid nanoparticles are markedly different in their morphology, chemical composition, and growth kinetics. Moreover, they display colloidal stability and appropriate surface properties for bioconjugation. To demonstrate their biosensing application, the hybrid nanoparticles were conjugated and applied as biolabels or signal transducers in a sandwich immunoassay for mouse IgG. The immunoassay fluorescence signal was obtained by releasing zinc ions from these nanoparticle labels and further incubating the released zinc ions with zinc-sensitive fluorescence indicator Fluozin-3. The immunoassay presents a dynamic detection range from 10 pM to 1 nM.


In this study, six aircraft noise reduction strategies including the optimization of aircraft type, regulation of night flight number, optimization of flight procedure, modification of operating runway, land use planning and installation of sound insulation windows were proposed to alleviate the harmful impact of aircraft noise on the local area and population near Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (BIA) in China. The effects of all proposed strategies except for land use planning and sound insulation windows were simulated and analyzed using CadnaA software. The results indicate that these noise reduction strategies have their own advantages and each of them can serve as an effective noise reduction measure for different applications. For instance, the replacement of noisy aircraft with low-noise aircraft can simultaneously reduce the area and population exposed to a high noise level, while the optimization of flight procedure can only reduce the population exposed under relatively low noise levels (70 ≤LWECPN ≤ 75 dB). Nevertheless, the modification of operating runway is more effective in reducing the population suffering under high noise levels (LWECPN > 85 dB). Among these strategies, reducing the number of night flights is found to be most effective in reducing the overall noise-exposed area and population. Additionally, with the assistance of noise mapping, proper land use planning was suggested according to national standards, and the installation of sound insulation windows with different sound reduction grades can be determined for different areas impacted by the aircraft noise of BIA. It is believed that the results of this study can be applied as a reference in selecting suitable noise reduction strategies to improve the acoustic environment of a specific airport.


Transgenic Tg.AC mice carry a v-Ha-ras coding region flanked by a ζ-globin promoter and an SV40 polyadenylation signal sequence. These mice respond to carcinogens by developing epidermal papillomas. In some cases, malignancies develop at the sites of these papillomas. Various patterns of squamous cell differentiation were observed in these malignancies. One malignancy that developed at the site of the papillomas was composed of bundles of spindle cells. This lesion is difficult to distinguish from fibrosarcomas by light microscopy. We characterized 16 of these malignancies (tentatively classified as spindle cell tumors) to determine if they were of epithelial or mesenchymal origin. Papillomas were induced in Tg.AC mice by full thickness wounding, 12-O-tetradec-anoyl-13-phorbol acetate treatment, or ultraviolet radiation. With time, some papillomas became broad-based, downwardly invading lesions. These lesions were examined by light microscopy with immunohistochemical analysis for cytokeratins and by electron microscopy. Immunohistochemical examination with a polyclonal anti-cytokeratin antibody demonstrated various degrees of keratin staining in all tumors examined. Attenuated desmosomes were also observed in these lesions by electron microscopy. These results indicate an epithelial origin for these malignancies; therefore, they should be classified as spindle cell carcinomas.


ABSTRACT Introduction Endogenous or exogenous (corticosteroid-induced) glucocorticoids (GCs) excess represents, together with diabetes, the most common cause of secondary osteoporosis. Areas covered We present a comprehensive overview about the pathophysiology, clinical management and treatment of GCs induced osteoporosis (GIOP). According to PRISMA guidelines, a literature search identifying articles about bone and GCs was done. Expert opinion Despite the progress over the years and the increase in therapeutic options, there still are controversial issues about the management of GIOP. These mainly include the failure of BMD or FRAX to completely account for the rapid increase in fracture risk of most GC-treated patients, the understanding about the independent contribution on bone fragility of the underlying disease requiring GCs therapy, and the necessity of clearer information about the anti-fracture efficacy and long term-safety of most therapeutic options. Moreover, there are no specific indications for the management of bone fragility in endogenous hypercortisolism. Notwithstanding the above limitations there is a general consensus to recommend an assessment of fracture risk in all individuals >40 years committed to receive (or continuing) high dose (>7.5 mg of prednisone equivalent) GCs for ≥3 months and in all patients with fragility fracture history.


The belief in the freedom of human will has experienced a resurgence of interest in the past years, following important contributions from the physiological study of decision-making and voluntary control of action. Neuroscience shows that the brain initiates and determines the course of motor actions even before the ego becomes aware of them. This result flies in the face of our intimate conviction that we are in control of what we do and seems to undermine the very foundation of our society based on moral responsibility. In this article, we argue that if free will is an illusion, it is a necessary and paradoxical one that stems from a resolution of opposites, determinism and indeterminism, control and choice. In this light, the psychological experience of free will is grounded in the process whereby egoconsciousness does not break its bond from all determination, but becomes subordinate to something greater than itself that Jung called the Self. We review Jung's position on free will, further illustrating it with a physical phenomenon inspired by quantum mechanics. In a second step, we report on modern studies on the quantum structure of cognition, which supports Jung's insight that there is an ineradicable level of indeterminism in the psyche, a creative place within us which places us in the vicinity of the wisdom of nature.


Computer supported collaborative applications on overlay networks are gaining popularity among users who are geographically dispersed. Examples of these kinds of applications include video-conferencing, collaborative design and simulation, distance learning, and online games. One of the important issues in collaborative applications is floor control wherein the end-users coordinate among themselves to gain exclusive access to the communication channel. An end-user who wins the floor, sends message to all other participating end-users. In this paper, to solve the floor control problem we present an implementation and evaluation of ALOHA and distributed queue dual bus (DQDB) distributed MAC (medium access control) protocols on overlay networks. As an initial step in the implementation of these MAC protocols, we propose an algorithm to construct an efficient communication channel among the Network Service Nodes (NSNs) in the overlay network. We also show that our implementation scheme (first one among decentralized floor control protocols) preserves the causal ordering of messages. We compare the efficiencies of the proposed implementation of floor control protocols using an analytical model that is verified using extensive simulation experiments


In this article, Timothy O'Toole discusses critical steps to mitigate supply chain risk under export controls and sanctions laws. "Recent reports in the international media have demonstrated that US export controls and economic sanctions laws reach well beyond the United States. A host of European financial institutions have [been] handed massive fines, reaching in to the billions of dollars for transactions that took place entirely, or almost entirely, outside the United States," O'Toole said. Providing examples of problems in supply chain review, O'Toole offers suggestions for what a proper review should entail. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," he said. "In the long run, the alternative -facing enforcement actions and potential criminal liability -is far more costly and burdensome."


: The one-step ficoll-verographin density-gradient centrifugation was first used for isolating mononuclear cells from human bone marrow. Children suffering from various hemoblastoses were donors. The morphological control of the cells isolated from the interface layer and May-Grunwald stained showed a high efficiency of the procedure proposed. Due to the nosological form of malignancy mononuclears composed from 100% (in the relapse of acute lymphocytic leukemia) to 81% (in hemoblastosis with "intact" bone marrow: lymphogranulomatosis and lymphosarcoma without leukemization) among the isolated cells. Thus, the one-step ficoll-verographin density-gradient centrifugation may be used for extensive clinical research, permitting more time-consuming procedures to be avoided.


SAGD ESPs run at the highest motor temperatures current technology allows. However, they cool very rapidly when shutdown. High cooling rates promote motor oil volumetric contraction, eventually leading to wellbore fluid ingress and short-circuited motors. The Paper presents successful field tests designed to decrease ESP cooling rates by inducing controlled deadheads, rather than shutting down ESPs. Various extended deadhead field trials (up to 70+ days duration) validated the approach, while confirming that no deadhead related ESP damage was induced.
 ESP temperature changes were measured using fiber optics strings installed as part of the usual completion in 60+ wells, during a four week-long field-wide plant maintenance turn-around. While cooling rates varied somewhat from well to well, they all showed very similar behavior and were very well fitted with a log-normal distribution, R2factor > 95%. Most ESP temperatures decreased between 50°C to 120°C in a week. This data was used as a general baseline to support the deadheading field trials.
 An ESP was fitted internally with an RTD at the base of the motor and externally with a clamped fiber optics string. This ESP was operated normally at 55 Hz for a few months. An 8-hour shut down test established an initial base line cooling rate of 6.6°C/hour. Subsequent 6-hour deadhead tests at 30Hz and 45 Hz showed decreased cooling rates of 4.0°C/hour and 2.2°C/hour, respectively. This result clearly established the potential to deadhead at different frequencies to obtain different lower cooling rates.
 Finally, two extended deadhead tests (3 and 10 weeks in duration) were executed to help determine if it was possible to induce damage in SAGD ESPs by deadheading, as is usually the case in most non-thermal applications. These ESPs operated normally after the extended tests and one was dismantled upon failure, looking for any signs of deadhead damage.
 Results presented show that deadheading SAGD ESPs provides the opportunity to safely minimize ESP thermal cycles, which could lead to a significant improvement in ESP run life.


Interpretations of the General Comments to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) — that command the abolition of the insanity defense and the incompetency status — make no theoretical or conceptual sense, disregard the history of how society has treated persons with serious mental disabilities who are charged with crime, and will lead to predictable torture of this population in prison, at the hands of both prison guards and other prisoners. Such interpretation also flies in the face of every precept of therapeutic jurisprudence. Support of this position exhibits a startling lack of understanding of the treatment of this population in prison settings, and ignores other articles of that Convention that support the continuation of this defense and this status, as well as other international human rights conventions that speak to the right to a "fair trial." The abolition position is short-sighted and will lead to a worsening of the lives of an especially-marginalized and ignored segment of the population of persons with disabilities.This paper (a version of which was presented as a keynote address at the fourth international therapeutic jurisprudence conference at the University of Auckland, NZ) first discusses the significance of the CRPD, and why, when it is read as an integrated document, the interpretations in the General Comment and the supporting literature must be unequivocally rejected, looking at other Articles and other foundational documents of international human rights law. It then looks at the singular role of the insanity defense and incompetency status in legal history, (1) acknowledging that, while pleading insanity may be a bad option, it is still one that needs to be retained, and (2) pointing out that raising the incompetency status is not an admission of factual guilt (in contrast to the insanity defense, which is), and that trying a person who is unable to cooperate with her counsel and rationally understand the proceedings against her makes it more likely that she will be convicted of crimes of which she may not be guilty, a base and basic violation of human decency.It then considers the Comment that is at the center of this controversy, concluding that it makes no conceptual sense, and that, if implemented, it would violate due process, dignity and fair trial mandates, and, inevitably, lead to the torture of persons with mental disabilities who are charged with and convicted of crimes (in the case of those who "should be" found incompetent to stand trial, including those who are factually innocent), a denouement that is even more staggering when we realize that there is no indication that this outcome was ever in the minds of the drafters, that it was never debated, and that there is nothing to suggest that the populations in question were ever consulted.Finally, the abolition of the defense and status violates every precept of therapeutic jurisprudence, the aim of which is to determine whether legal rules, procedures, and lawyer roles can or should be reshaped to enhance their therapeutic potential while not subordinating due process principles, premised on the core values of voice, validation and voluntariness. Elimination of the insanity defense and incompetency status make it virtually impossible that these values will be privileged, and make it more likely that sanist values in jails and prisons will fester to an even greater extent than they do now.


The spectral efficiency gain achieved through a cell-by-cell dynamic spectrum allocation scheme is investigated in this work. A WCDMA hierarchical cell structure comprising (micro) UMTS and (macro) DVB-T cells is considered in the study and a simulator has been developed and implemented in C++. Both, temporal and spatial traffic load distributions are considered simultaneously in the cell-by-cell dynamic spectrum allocation scheme. The temporal traffic load distribution is predicted based on the real life spectrum occupancy measurements, taken in New York City in 2004. Simulation results show, under the defined scenarios, an increase of 39% in spectrum efficiency over the conventional fixed allocation scheme and a 9% increase over the previously studied contiguous dynamic spectrum allocation scheme.


The Balanced Scorecard is one of the most important quantitative tool for the business strategic planning. Its implementation usually concerns the construction and analysis of proper weighted averages of the so-called Key Performance Indicators (KPI); these are either objective or subjective evaluations of the performance levels attained by the various sub-systems constituting a business organization. Recent evolutions of the model are considered and a particular version of the Balanced Scorecard, based on Structural Equation Models with Latent Variables, is introduced.


Abstract Surface coatings of nanoparticles (NPs) are known to influence advantageous features of NPs as well as potential toxicity. Iron oxide (Fe3O4) NPs are applied for both medical diagnostics and targeted drug delivery. We investigated the potential cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of uncoated iron oxide (U-Fe3O4) NPs in comparison with oleate-coated iron oxide (OC-Fe3O4) NPs. Testing was performed in vitro in human lymphoblastoid TK6 cells and in primary human blood cells. For cytotoxicity testing, relative growth activity, trypan blue exclusion, 3H-thymidine incorporation and cytokinesis-block proliferation index were assessed. Genotoxicity was evaluated by the alkaline comet assay for detection of strand breaks and oxidized purines. Particle characterization was performed in the culture medium. Cellular uptake, morphology and pathology were evaluated by electron microscopy. U-Fe3O4 NPs were found not to be cytotoxic (considering interference of NPs with proliferation test) or genotoxic under our experimental conditions. In contrast, OC-Fe3O4 NPs were cytotoxic in a dose-dependent manner, and also induced DNA damage, indicating genotoxic potential. Intrinsic properties of sodium oleate were excluded as a cause of the toxic effect. Electron microscopy data were consistent with the cytotoxicity results. Coating clearly changed the behaviour and cellular uptake of the NPs, inducing pathological morphological changes in the cells.


Background Tunicates are the closest relatives of vertebrates and are widely used as models to study the evolutionary developmental biology of chordates. Their phylogeny, however, remains poorly understood and to date, only the 18S rRNA nuclear gene and mitogenomes have been used to delineate the major groups of tunicates. To further resolve their evolutionary relationships and provide a first estimate of their divergence times, we used a transcriptomic approach to build a supermatrix consisting of 258 evolutionarily conserved orthologous genes from representative species of all major tunicate lineages. Results Phylogenetic analyses using site-heterogeneous CAT mixture models of amino acid sequence evolution resulted in a strongly supported tree topology resolving the relationships among four major tunicate clades: 1) Appendicularia, 2) Thaliacea + Phlebobranchia + Aplousobranchia, 3) Molgulidae, and 4) Styelidae + Pyuridae. Notably, the morphologically derived Thaliacea are confirmed as the sister-group of the clade uniting Phlebobranchia + Aplousobranchia within which the precise position of the model ascidian genus Ciona remains uncertain. Relaxed molecular clock analyses accommodating the accelerated evolutionary rate of tunicates reveal ancient diversification (∼450-350 million years ago) among the major groups and allow comparing their evolutionary age with respect to the major vertebrate model lineages. Conclusions Our study represents the most comprehensive phylogenomic dataset so far available for tunicates. It offers a reference phylogenetic framework and first tentative timescale for tunicates, allowing a direct comparison with vertebrate model species in future comparative genomics and evolutionary developmental biology studies.


This paper is to predict the behaviour of clostridium transport in heterogeneous lithostratification depositions. Heterogeneity of the concentration were also monitored, fluctuation were observed base on the pressure from several phase considered in the system to monitor the transport process of these type of microbial specie. The depositions of this contaminant were observed to experiences lots of vacillations base on the deposition of substrate in the strata through their migration process. Partial mobile velocity was also observed in the system in most structured deposition of the formation thus affect the transport by developing accumulation of the contaminant in some deposited strata. These were observed to reflect on degree of porosity pressure including stratification variation experiences in the study area. simulation were carried out for validation of the derived model for the study, theoretical values generated were compared with experimental data, and both parameters developed best fits expressing validation of the model. The study is imperative because it has reflected in the behaviour of the clostridium under the influences of micronutrient, this affect its rate of concentration on ground water quality, experts in the field will definitely find these model useful in monitoring and investigation of ground water quality in deltaic environment.


In nuclear engineering, modeling and simulations (M&Ss) are widely applied to support risk-informed safety analysis. Since nuclear safety analysis has important implications, a convincing validation process is needed to assess simulation adequacy, i.e., the degree to which M&S tools can adequately represent the system quantities of interest. However, due to data gaps, validation becomes a decision-making process under uncertainties. Expert knowledge and judgments are required to collect, choose, characterize, and integrate evidence toward the final adequacy decision. However, in validation frameworks, CSAU: code scaling, applicability, and uncertainty (NUREG/CR-5249) and EMDAP: evaluation model development and assessment process regulatory guide (RG 1.203), such a decision-making process is largely implicit and obscure. When scenarios are complex, knowledge biases and unreliable judgments can be overlooked, which could increase uncertainty in the simulation adequacy result and the corresponding risks. Therefore, a framework is required to formalize the decision-making process for simulation adequacy in a practical, transparent, and consistent manner. This paper suggests a framework—"Predictive capability maturity quantification using Bayesian network (PCMQBN)"—as a quantified framework for assessing simulation adequacy based on information collected from validation activities. A case study is prepared for evaluating the adequacy of a Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamic simulation in predicting the hydrodynamic forces onto static structures during an external flooding scenario. Comparing to the qualitative and implicit adequacy assessment, PCMQBN is able to improve confidence in the simulation adequacy result and to reduce expected loss in the risk-informed safety analysis.


Pd-catalyzed Suzuki–Miyaura reaction of aryl chlorides was accomplished through the use of an active ferrocene-based triarylphosphine ligand. This air- and moisture-stable ligand was found to be effective for the cross-coupling of aryl halides at room temperature to 115 °C.


This article describes a new simple approach to produce poly(divinylbenzene) and carbon micrometre-sized magnetic composite particles of narrow size distribution. For this purpose, uniform porous poly(divinylbenzene) microspheres were prepared by a single-step swelling of uniform polystyrene microspheres with divinylbenzene and benzoyl peroxide, followed by polymerization of the divinylbenzene within the swollen polystyrene particles. Uniform porous poly(divinylbenzene) microspheres were then formed by dissolution of the polystyrene part of the polystyrene–poly(divinylbenzene) composite particles. Iron salts, e.g., FeCl2·4H2O, dissolved in an organic continuous phase were then entrapped by vacuum within the pores of the cross-linked poly(divinylbenzene) microspheres. The obtained microspheres containing the iron salts were then annealed at 250 °C under ambient atmosphere. The formed magnetic microspheres were then annealed at 500 and 800 °C, respectively, under inert atmosphere. The annealing temperature allowed for control of the composition, crystallinity, size and size distribution and the magnetic properties of the obtained microspheres. Magnetic PDVB–α-Fe2O3 microspheres were obtained at 250 °C, while annealing of these microspheres at 500 and 800 °C under inert atmosphere leads to carbonization of the particles, and thereby the formation of C–Fe3O4 and air stable C–Fe microspheres, respectively. The magnetic moment of the C–Fe microspheres is notably high, 106.5 emu g−1. HR-TEM combined with STEM for elemental Fe mapping and imaging illustrated that by increasing the annealing temperature the size of the composite particles significantly decreased, while at the same time the size of the magnetic grains entrapped within the particles increased. Characterization of the various microspheres was also accomplished by other routine methods such as XRD, EDS, TGA, DSC, SQUID and Mossbauer spectroscopy.


Land use regression (LUR) is used to map spatial variability in air pollutant concentrations for risk assessment epidemiology, and air quality management. Conventional LUR requires long-term measurements at multiple locations, so application to particulate matter has been limited. Here we use mobile monitoring to characterize spatial variability in black carbon concentrations for LUR modeling. A particle soot absorption photometer in a moving vehicle was used to measure the absorption coefficient (sigma(ap)) during summertime periods of peak afternoon traffic at 39 locations. LUR was used to model the mean and 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentile values of the distribution of 10 s measurements at each location. Model performance (measured by R2) was higher for the 25th and 50th percentiles (0.72 and 0.68, respectively) than for the mean, 75th and 90th percentiles (0.51, 0.55, and 0.54, respectively). Performance was similar to that reported for conventional LUR models of NO2 and NO in this region (116 sites) and better than that for mean sigma(ap) from fixed-location samplers (25 sites). Models of the mean, 75th, and 90th percentiles favored predictors describing truck, rather than total, traffic. This approach is applicable to other urban areas to facilitate the development of LUR models for particulate matter.


Hybrid systems theorem proving provides strong correctness guarantees about the interacting discrete and continuous dynamics of cyber-physical systems. The trustworthiness of proofs rests on the soundness of the proof calculus and its correct implementation in a theorem prover. Correctness is easier to achieve with a soundness-critical core that is stripped to the bare minimum, but, as a consequence, proof convenience has to be regained outside the soundness-critical core with proof management techniques. We present modeling and proof management techniques that are built on top of the soundness-critical core of KeYmaera X to enable expanding definitions, parametric proofs, lemmas, and other useful proof techniques in hybrid systems proofs. Our techniques steer the uniform substitution implementation of the differential dynamic logic proof calculus in KeYmaera X to allow users choose when and how in a proof abstract formulas, terms, or programs become expanded to their concrete definitions, and when and how lemmas and sub-proofs are combined to a full proof. The same techniques are exploited in implicit sub-proofs (without making such sub-proofs explicit to the user) to provide proof features, such as temporarily hiding formulas, which are notoriously difficult to get right when implemented in the prover core, but become trustworthy as proof management techniques outside the core. We illustrate our approach with several useful proof techniques and discuss their presentation on the KeYmaera X user interface.


The purpose of this paper is to examine the legal implications of the continuing rise in the number of school children diagnosed with behaviour disorders. Not only are teachers now subject to a dense grid of legal regulation, they are also increasingly vulnerable to actions in tort. It will be argued here that as more and more children are labelled 'disordered', then the concomitant duty of care requirements for teachers becomes more onerous. As a consequence, teachers are less likely to be able to defend themselves against claims of
negligence. It is concluded that while the schooling system needs to retain a healthy scepticism about each new pathologising disorder that seeks special status for its sufferers, it also needs to provide greater training and resources for teachers regarding disorder management. It is also concluded that recent changes to negligence law regarding the issue of 'reasonable foreseeability' within breach of duty of care, may not be as significant as
might have been hoped by the teaching community. Indeed, the elevated standard of care, as required by increasing numbers of disordered pupils, place teachers in an ever more difficult legal position.


This paper reports a new type of degenerate mode gyroscope with measured Q-factor of > 100,000 on both modes at a compact size of 1760 μm diameter. The toroidal ring gyroscope consists of an outer anchor ring, concentric rings nested inside the anchor ring and an electrode assembly at the inner core. Current implementation uses n = 3 wineglass mode, which is inherently robust to fabrication asymmetries. Devices were fabricated using high-temperature, ultra-clean epitaxial silicon encapsulation (EpiSeal) process. Over the 4 devices tested, lowest as fabricated frequency split was found to be 8.5 Hz (122 ppm) with a mean of 21 Hz (Δf/f = 300 ppm). Further electrostatic tuning brought the frequency split below 100 mHz (<; 2 ppm). Whole angle mechanization and pattern angle was demonstrated using a high speed DSP control system. Characterization of the gyro performance using force-rebalance mechanization revealed ARW of 0.047°/√hr and an in-run bias stability of 0.65 deg/hr. Due to the high Q-factor and robust support structure, the device can potentially be instrumented in whole angle mechanization for applications which require high rate sensitivity and robustness to g-forces.


Schlieren techniques are valuable tools for the qualitative and quantitative visualizations of flows in a wide range of scientific and engineering disciplines. A large number of schlieren systems have been developed and documented in the literature; majority of applications involve flows of gases, typically air. In this work, a schlieren technique is applied to visualize the buoyancy-induced flow inside vertical ribbed channels using water as convective fluid. The test section consists of a vertical plate made of two thin sheets of chrome-plated copper with a foil heater sandwiched between them; the external sides of the plate are roughened with transverse, square-cross-sectioned ribs. Two parallel vertical walls, smooth and unheated, form with the heated ribbed plate two adjacent, identical and asymmetrically heated, vertical channels. Results include flow schlieren visualizations with colour-band filters, reconstructions of the local heat transfer coefficient distributions along the ribbed surfaces and comparisons with past experiments performed using air as working fluid.


Torsion or rupture of an ovarian cyst may present as an acute abdomen. A case is presented where the diagnosis was made at laparoscopy and laparoscopic resection was done. Controlled aspiration of the cyst contents allowed the cyst to be easily removed from the abdomen.


The goldfish (Carassius auratus auratus; Cyprinidae) is not only an important ornamental fish species, but also a useful model for biological studies. The sequence of goldfish genes present in the public database was searched for short tandem repeats, and 11 polymorphic microsatellites were detected within eight important genes. Two microsatellites were located in coding regions of the c-myc and GAP-43 genes, respectively, whereas the others were mainly located in 5′ and 3′ untranscribed regions of other genes, such as gonadotropin and activin. The average allele number of these microsatellites was 5.5 per locus with a range between 3 and 9. These microsatellites will be useful for ecological and population genetic studies of this species, as well as for the ornamental fish industry.


We present an efficient and robust ray-casting algorithm for directly rendering a curvilinear volume of arbitrarily-shaped cells. By projecting cell-faces onto the image plane, we have effectively addressed three critical steps of the ray-casting process, namely finding the entry cell-faces for a ray, traversing along the ray from one cell to another, and reconstructing data values at the ray/cell-face intersections. Our algorithm significantly reduces rendering time, alleviates memory space consumption, and overcomes the conventional limitation requiring cells to be convex. Application of this algorithm to several commonly used curvilinear data sets has produced a favorable performance when compared with recently reported algorithms.


The microstructural evolution of the as-cast large size AA2014 aluminum alloy ingot prepared by direct chill (DC) casting during homogenization was investigated by OM, SEM, EDS, DSC, EBSD, TEM and tensile tests. The results showed that serious dendrite segregation and numerous coarse nonequilibrium eutectics existed in the as-cast alloy were dramatically eliminated, while a small amount of Fe-rich phase was still present along the grain boundaries when the alloys were subjected to the optimized two-step homogenization. Compared with the nonhomogenized alloys, homogenization treatment can effectively reduce grain and second phase particles size, and increase the fraction of precipitates and high angle grain boundaries (HAGBs) during the hot deformation and T6 treatment. Besides, recrystallized grains with random orientation are formed due to dynamic recrystallization (DRX) for the alloys with hot deformation and T6 treatment. Additionally, the strength and elongation of the alloys were simultaneously improved with the application of optimum two-step homogenization because of the more homogeneous structures, finer grain and particles size, higher fraction of HAGBs and fine and uniformly distributed precipitates. The suitable homogenization schedule of the AA2014 aluminum alloy is 490°C © 10 h + 530°C © 8 h. [doi:10.2320/matertrans.MT-M2019256]


Environmental Impacts of Events This paper considers the sustainable planning and developmental principles of events, mainly festivals. It examines the most important services of environment conscious events. The environmental impacts caused by festivals will be analyzed through example of Sziget Festival in Hungary. The aim is to provide a conceptual framework emergent from existing principles and guidance that will underpin the importance of sustainable event management. Introduction The event industry is fast becoming one of the most important sectors of the world economy, which can have both positive and negative effects on the surrounding environment and local communities. Controllable events can be a viable option only if the short and long term interests of the environment are taken into consideration. If conscious planning and development is not taken into account so sustainable event management development could take an undesirable turn (Puczko-Ratz 2002, 2005, Vargane 2005). Thus during the planning and development phases the application of a conscious event planning and development attitude is required. Events have direct and indirect connections with the environment. From the moment of decision making about travelling, people make some kind of impact on the environment. Natural resources, such as physical factors can be grouped into two larger sets (Puczko-Ratz 2002, 2005): * Natural environment, which contains traceable lifeless natural resources, the flora and fauna, as well as the landscape. * Man-made environment, which contains everything that has been introduced or built in a given area by humans. Environmental Impacts When analyzing the relationship between events and its environment the literature differentiates between the following groups of physical environmental factors from the point of view of impacts made on them (on the basis of Mathieson-Wall 1982; Jenner-Smith 1991; Boers-Bosch 1994, Puczko-Ratz 2002, 2005): * Impacts on the natural environment: air quality, geological factors, water quality, depletion of natural resources, flora and fauna * Impacts on the man-made environment: buildings and visual impacts, changes in the land-use, infrastructure * Impacts on the ecosystem The psychical impacts--like other impacts on the environment--are complex: there can be local and global impacts, direct and indirect impacts, reversible and irreversible, favourable (positive) and unfavourable (negative) impacts. In the following section the most important environmental impacts of events will be summarised (Puczko-Ratz 2002, 2005; Michalko 2007): Air quality Events involve a number of air polluting exhaust gas and steam emitting activities such as road and air transport. Moreover, there are significant emissions at catering and accommodation establishments, as well as during events. Consequently an increase in C[O.sub.2] , CO and N[O.sub.2] and different Freon derivatives are emitted, which swell the greenhouse effect. Noise pollution, which may result from transportation, the hospitality industry or from the operation of entertainment facilities, also belongs to the impacts that influence air quality. The increase in facilities, participants and business in a given area, the more intense the air polluting impacts become. Geological condition One of the impacts on the geological environment made by events is littering. Aesthetically, non-removed rubbish makes an unpleasant sight. Moreover, decomposition of litter may release toxic material into the soil. Unfavourable geological impacts may be caused by heavy metals, which are released into the air by the ever-growing traffic and washed into the surrounding vegetation, flora and fauna. Additionally, untreated sewage leaks can affect not only the soil itself but also the subsurface and underground waters. …


The integration of multiple steam nozzles with the first-stage annular-gas nozzle to form a binary-flow system in a reheat-gas turbine is presented whereby steam is first used as an internal vane coolant before being expanded and accelerated for work extraction. Steam nozzles are located in "fat-body" type vanes. Trailing-edge impingement followed by reverse-serpentine-flow cooling takes place. Internal trailing-edge-steam nozzles produce either diffusion or shock-wave boundary-layer disturbance inside the trailing edge to enhance heat transfer. Externally, steam blanketing reduces nozzle-profile loss and improves film cooling effectiveness by reducing the surface viscosity and secondly by controlling suction-side aft-shock-wave development. A new vane shape coupled with a gas-turning-combustor system is suggested to improve vane-film-cooling effectiveness further.Copyright © 1984 by ASME


This article explores how the topics of gender and diversity are being taught and defined in accredited marriage and family therapy programs through syllabi content analysis and interviews with selected faculty. We examined findings by program (master's and doctoral) and type of training (those that taught specific gender and culture courses and those that attempted to infuse gender and culture throughout the curriculum). We examined 39 syllabi from 21 master's and 18 doctoral training programs. In addition, we conducted 20 interviews with faculty members. (Eighteen were White/Caucasian, one was African American and one was Asian Indian.) Some variation in topic areas was found between master's and doctoral programs and between those programs that offered specific course content and those that offered infused course content. However, qualitative interview data reflected many similarities. Particularly apparent was the level of commitment, transparency, and experiential learning methods professors used, regardless of program level or type.


Concentrations of Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Ga, Ge, As, Sb, W, Re, Ir, Pt and Au of two ungrouped iron meteorites, Grove Mountains (GRV) 98003 from Antarctica and Ujimqin, were measured using instrumental neutron activation analysis. According to the bulk chemistry, GRV 98003 is classified as a member of lAB group,and Ujimqin as a unique one of IAB iron meteorite complex. The elemental abundance pattern and correlation between elements (e. g. Ni-Au, Co-Au, As-Au, W-Au, Cu-Au, Sb-Au) of GRV 98003 are similar with those of NAW 468 (IAB), but significantly depleted in refractory siderophile elements (Re, It) and moderate volatile elements (Ga, Ge) relative to the latter. In addition, we reclassify Nantan (Ⅱ-ICD) as a member of IAB main group (MG) and Yongning (IA) as a unique iron meteorite related with IAB iron meteorite complex.


Space Traffic Management (STM) is being developed to deal mainly with the problems of satellite operations and space debris. Therefore, it is currently being examined separately from air traffic management (ATM). However, the advent of reusable space vehicles (RLVs) and the increase of private spaceflight operations calls for a joined examination of the STM with ATM. Among others, airspace will be shared by both aircraft and RLVs, while outer space traffic in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) will increase and begin resembling air traffic. At the same time, modernization of ATM worldwide focuses also on satellite-based navigation. Therefore, developing a comprehensive AeroSpace Traffic Management (ASTM), to include both aviation and LEO space flights, could be useful. In this regard, some core concepts and technologies already developed or under development for ATM could set a useful example. The Automatic Depended Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) technology uses satellite navigation to locate the position of a given aircraft and the aircraft flying nearby, and transmit it to other aircraft and the Air Traffic Control (ATC). The 4d-trajectory management is based on the integration of time into the 3D aircraft trajectory, to ensure flight on a practically unrestricted, optimum trajectory for as long as possible, provided that the aircraft meets accurately an arrival time over a designated point. The System Wide Information Management (SWIM) concept envisages prompt and efficient data sharing among airspace users and Air Navigation Services Providers (ANSPs) through a wide-array network or a centralized flight data processing system. Such concepts and technologies could prove useful to regulate spaceflight traffic to and from LEO, as well as coordinate such traffic effectively with air traffic. Moreover, developing an efficient ASTM system requires designating competent authorities, which will supervise the service providers. The nature of outer space as res nullius is similar to international airspace, which falls under the jurisdiction of no State. Air traffic in such airspace is controlled through air navigation regional agreements, which designate a specific national or transnational authority as responsible to control the airspace and ensure flight safety, without affecting the international status of the airspace. Similarly, LEO could be divided into zones, for each of which a competent authority can be designated through special international agreements. Such authorities could be linked to a SWIM, which would include both air traffic and space traffic data available to all affected authorities, service providers and aerospace users.


Alley cropping may prove useful in the Southeast United States, providing multiple products and income streams, as well as affording sustainable land use alternatives to conventional farming. An alley-cropping system may be a good alternative in agriculture because of the benefits provided by trees to crops and soils, as well as the income generated from wood products and timber. In the current study triple row single-species strips of cherrybark oak (Quercus pagoda Raf.), loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.), or longleaf pine (P. palustris Mill.) were planted separated by 12- or 24-m wide areas of agricultural crops. Survival, seedling height, and diameter growth were measured in the first and second year of the study. Cherrybark oak, loblolly pine, and longleaf pine seedlings all had over 80 percent survival rates and showed positive height and diameter growth over the first two growing seasons.


The objective of this paper is to disseminate the technique of fuzzy regression and to give a practical example of its use. To this end, classical regression is compared to several fuzzy regression models on a problem concerning the consumer confidence index with respect to the dollar rate, the latter taken as the independent variable. A brief introduction is given to each of the different methodologies employed. The results obtained using the regression algorithms, one with ordinary least squares and another two with fuzzy regression, are presented. The instances generated using the official historical data for the problem are given and the numerical results obtained with the regression methods are reported.


In this work, we develop a vision for entangled ethnography, where constellations of people, artefacts, algorithms and data come together to collectively make sense of the relations between people and objects. This is grounded in New Materialism's picture of a world understood through entanglement, through resonant constellations, through a multiplicity of unique individual viewpoints and their relationships. These perspectives are especially relevant for design ethnography, in particular for research around smart connected products, which collect data about their environment, the networks they are a part of, and the ways they are used. However, we are concerned about the current trend of many connected systems towards surveillance capitalism, as data is colonised, machinations are hidden, and a narrow definition of value is extracted. There is a key tension that while design, particularly of networked objects, attempts to go beyond human centeredness, the infrastructures that support it are moving towards a less than human perspective in their race to accumulate and dispossess. Our work tries to imagine the situations where participants in networked systems are richly engaged, rather than exploited. We hope for a future where human agency is central to a respectful and acceptable collaborative development of understanding.


This paper presents a neural network model to generate virtual violinist's 3-D skeleton movements from music audio. Improved from the conventional recurrent neural network models for generating 2-D skeleton data in previous works, the proposed model incorporates an encoder-decoder architecture, as well as the self-attention mechanism to model the complicated dynamics in body movement sequences. To facilitate the optimization of self-attention model, beat tracking is applied to determine effective sizes and boundaries of the training examples. The decoder is accompanied with a refining network and a bowing attack inference mechanism to emphasize the right-hand behavior and bowing attack timing. Both objective and subjective evaluations reveal that the proposed model outperforms the state-of-the-art methods. To the best of our knowledge, this work represents the first attempt to generate 3-D violinists? body movements considering key features in musical body movement.