Reaction of EuCl(3).6H(2)O with 3-phenyl-4-hydroxycyclobut-3-ene-1,2-dione (phenylsquarate) in methanol produces the polymeric complex {Eu(&mgr;-C(6)H(5)C(4)O(3))(2)(C(6)H(5)C(4)O(3))(2)(CH(3)OH)(2)(H(2)O)(2).(CH(3)OH)}(n)() (1) which crystallizes in the space group P2(1)/n with a = 13.4049(5) Å, b = 13.7043(7) Å, c = 18.5026(6) Å, beta = 106.351(4) degrees, and Z = 4. The Eu(III) ion is eight coordinate with two bridging and two pendant phenylsquarate ligands, the coordination polyhedron being completed by two aqua and two methanol ligands. The emission spectra of 1 and the already reported europium(III) squarate, [Eu(H(2)O)(4)](2)(C(4)O(4))(3) (2), and europium(III) (diphenylamino)squarate, {Eu[&mgr;-(C(6)H(5))(2)NC(4)O(3)](2)[(C(6)H(5))(2)NC(4)O(3)][NO(3)][H(2)O](4)}(2).4H(2)O (3) show emissions dominated by the Eu(3+)((5)D(0) --> (7)F(j)) transitions which are typical for Eu(3+) species in low-symmetry sites. For 1 the emission occurs at room temperature and is apparently sensitized by the phenyl substituents on the phenylsquarate ligand groups; for 2 and 3 the emission is only observed at low temperature (77 K). The broad band (370-575 nm) in the excitation spectrum of 3 at 77 K is consistent with excimer formation, which can be attributed to enhanced pi-pi interactions between the C(4)-cycles of neighboring phenylsquarate ligand groups whose centroid.centroid separation decreases from 3.630(7) Å at room temperature (293 K) to 3.565(7) Å at 96 K. The temperature dependence of the luminescence of all three complexes revealed strong Eu.Eu interactions which keep the energy transport process in the dynamic regime.


A novel robust servosystem design method based on the two-degree-of-freedom (TDOF) controller and its application to advanced motion control for a robot manipulator is proposed. This servosystem is derived from the simple parametrization. The command input response and the closed loop characteristics can be specified independently by using two parameters which belong to the ring of stable and proper rational functions. The sensitivity and the complementary sensitivity functions can be determined straightforwardly through the optimization of the two design parameters. The control performance of the servosystem has been demonstrated. A completely decentralized joint control system for multiaxis robut manipulators has been realized. In particular, various kinds of robot motion controls, such as compliance, force, and hybrid controls, are realized in a unified way based on the robust position control. This servosystem has been implemented using DSP. >


Photocatalytic oxidation of neat cyclohexane (CHA) with H2O2 as an oxidant was carried out using gold modified versions of several types of materials, including titania nanotubes (Au/TNT), reduced graphene oxide (Au/RGO) as well as titania nanotubes–multiwalled carbon nanotubes composite (Au/TNT–MWCNT) under UV irradiation (125 W, λ > 296 nm). The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized using physical adsorption of nitrogen, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, and the reaction products were analyzed by GC-MS. Both Au/RGO and Au/TNT–MWCNT catalysts promoted partial CHA oxidation with higher conversion (6–9.0%) and selectivity (60–75%) for cyclohexanone, exceeding Au/TNT, TNT–MWCNT and TNT catalysts (conv. 2.1–4%, sel. 32–55%). Au/TNT–MWCNT synthesized using hydrothermal deposition methods exhibited the highest catalytic activity. This was chiefly attributable to the high surface hydrophobicity of MWCNT that accelerated CHA adsorption, bonding of cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone to TNT as well as decomposition of H2O2 on gold nanoparticles. Increasing the surface area as well as decreasing the average particle size of Au0 to 15 nm of hexagonal shape contributed to the superior catalytic activity of Au/TNT–MWCNT, in achieving an average rate of 0.0035 mmol−1 g−1 min−1 and conversion was 9.0% after 12 h of reaction. The latter catalyst exceeded industrially synthesized Co based catalysts (3.6%) operated at high temperatures. For confirming the autoxidation process, a radical scavenger offered a proof that the oxidation follows a radical-chain mechanism. The differences in surface morphology, light absorption and surface properties of Au/TNT when incorporated with MWCNT were well investigated. The photocatalytic oxidation mechanism elucidated using active scavengers suggested that OH˙ and O2˙− play key roles in the oxidation of CHA.


ABSTRACT Strains of Escherichia coli which lack thedam-encoded adenine methylase are mutators due to a reduction in the efficiency of postreplication mismatch repair. In this study, we show that Dam− strains are also defective in very-short-patch repair, the system which corrects T/G mismatches arising from the deamination of 5-methylcytosine. This defect is associated with decreased levels of Vsr, the endonuclease which initiates short-patch repair. We also show that production of thedcm-encoded cytosine methylase is unaffected in Dam− strains. Since the dcm andvsr genes are cotranscribed, the regulation of Vsr by Dam is probably posttranscriptional.


In this paper, Fin-type silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS) flash memory are fabricated and the electrical characteristics are analyzed. Compared to the planar-type SONOS devices, Fin-type SONOS devices show good short channel effect (SCE) immunity due to the enhanced gate controllability. In memory characteristics such as program/erase speed, endurance and data retention, Fin-type SONOS flash memory are also superior to those of conventional planar-type. In addition, Fin-type SONOS device shows improved SCE immunity in accordance with the decrease of Fin width. This is known to be due to the fully depleted mode operation as the Fin width decreases. In Fin-type, however, the memory characteristic improvement is not shown in narrower Fin width. This is thought to be caused by the Fin structure where the electric field of Fin top can interference with the Fin side electric field and be lowered.


Energy performance of a building is one of the main features to be assessed and optimized in sustainable building designs. While progress in reducing the operating energy is being achieved, the embodied energy remains somewhat high. The building industry is currently using around 40-50% of global raw material that is responsible for the 40-45% of the total worldwide carbon dioxide emissions. Embodied energy and carbon calculations are rather complex since they are related to different combinations of material whether in the structure or the finishing material. Reducing the embodied energy can be done by either varying the structural design, increasing the service of the building, or using recycled material. Conventionally, these calculations are not strictly part of the designer's work during the conceptual design phase; hence, if done, they are calculated during the design evaluation phase when the design decisions have been already set, and change in design decisions is not easy. Under most circumstances, the environmental impact assessment of designs was performed by sustainability consultants who may not be present in many projects. It is better to bring the embodied energy calculations to the conceptual design phase so both the architect and the structural engineer can make informed design decisions for a more sustainable building. Many organizations are using in-house tools to make these calculations, but the tools used are not flexible enough to be adopted by a wide variety of users. A better way is to use the functionality of Building Information Modelling (BIM) software by developing plug-in tools that are simple to use in early stages of conceptual design. This paper explores two existing plug-ins that function with Rhinoceros (Rhino) and Grasshopper (GH) software, where they define a set of parameters to evaluate the embodied energy in the structure of the building. The aim of this paper is to develop a tool that can be used more easily and that adds to the existing parameters to give a more accurate estimation of the building's embodied energy during the conceptual design stage. For this purpose, a comparative analysis will be performed of both plug-ins to determine their best features and to add the missing components concerning the embodied energy of finishing material. The proposed tool will be developed using visual basic scripting language to be used with Rhino and GH. Finally, the prototype will be open sourced for testing and verification while conclusions concerning the limitations and future development opportunities will be discussed.


Abstract : This report is the fourth in a series of CHECO reports on the ROE, summarizing significant events and changes which occurred between October 1972 and August 1973. Throughout this period, the operating authorities formulated by the JCS were in most cases directly related to the peace negotiations conducted in Paris between the United States and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV). Consequently, this report accounts for changes in the ROE, chronologically, as they applied to the different areas of SEA: The Republic of Vietnam (RVN), North Vietnam (NVN), Laos, and Cambodia. This presentation not only provides the reader with significant changes in the ROE between October 1972 and August 1973, but also portrays the close relationship between national policy and the conduct of air operations in SEA. The intensity of bombing, the number of sorties authorized, and the territorial restrictions were constantly changed, particularly through January 1973. Specifically, they followed the negotiating trends and the sincerity, or the lack of it, with which the North Vietnamese approached peace negotiations. These negotiations culminated in the signing of the "Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam" on 27 January 1973 in Paris. Because these changes would be less significant to the reader without some prior knowledge of the ROE, this chapter provides a brief summary of the ROE as they stood in September 1972.


Abstract This paper focuses on the review of electrical geophysical methods such as electrical resistivity and induced polarization as a technique for mineral exploration. It highlights the general fundamental principles of the electrical methods and result from other investigations. Most rock – forming minerals are insulators, and electrical current is carried through rocks mainly by the passage of ions in pore waters. In light of this, most rocks conduct electricity by electrolytic rather than electronic processes. Since metals and most metallic sulphides conduct electricity efficiently by the flow of electrons, electrical method is efficient and important in environmental investigation especially in areas where metallic objects are the targets and also in the search for sulphide ores. The results from various research showed the applicability of these geophysical ground methods, specially the Induce Polarization method, as a support tool in the identification and selection of exploration targets for test drilling.


Typhlitis caused by Balantidium coli and requiring surgical resection occurred in three captive lowland gorillas over a 30-month period. Not one of the other gorillas in the colony or their keepers was ill. B. coli is distributed widely geographically and widely among mammals. Asymptomatic commensalism predominates, but invasion of the colonic mucosa can produce diarrhea and dysentery and set the stage for local or systemic spread.


Dr Elsa Stone, in her usual organized and lucid fashion, has presented the case for inclusion of pediatric nurse practitioners (PNPs) in private pediatric practices. She bases her conclusions on her nearly 10 years of positive experience with a PNP in her own practice in Connecticut. Dr Stone describes the PNP population and demography, describes the training curriculum of PNPs, and discusses the scope of work of these individuals. She concludes that "there is substantial evidence that PNPs provide quality health care and that collaborative teams of pediatricians and PNPs can provide high-quality, cost-effective care to a broader spectrum of children than can be served by either profession alone."
 The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has insisted for several years that there is a shortage of pediatricians to meet the expanding needs of the children of the United States. Furthermore, pediatricians—because of system changes—will be expected increasingly to provide a variety of time-intensive services. Dr Stone believes that many of these services can be well provided by PNPs.
 Within the AAP, there have been some concerns about the role of PNPs. Of particular worry seems to be the possibility that PNPs might decide to practice independently, leading to a lower quality of care for their patients. Less often stated, but clearly an issue, is that PNPs are viewed by some pediatricians as potential competitors. Dr Stone's demographic analysis of what PNPs are currently doing is relevant to these concerns. One third of PNPs work in private pediatric practices or health maintenance organizations.


One of the areas that has a single candidate against the empty box in the 2020 regional elections is Ngawi Regency, which in the election has the support of a political party, the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI). This research aims to find out what motives the Indonesian Solidarity Party has given its support to empty boxes. The method used in this study is qualitative descriptive method. The results of this study revealed that the motive of the Indonesian Solidarity Party supports empty boxes that is because of in order to motive and because motive. In order to motive is first, PSI wants to  convey to the public through political socialization that choosing this empty box is valid and does not violate the law. Second, provide space and containers for the community supporting empty boxes. Third, with PSI supporting this empty box hopes that democracy in Ngawi district will come back to life. Fourth, PSI wants to provide political education to the community. While because motive of the support of DPD PSI Ngawi regency against this empty box is the existence of a Political Dynasty in Ngawi Regency that is controlled by two families, namely the Harsono and Kanang families for approximately 20 years. This support is also motivated by administrators and members who have supported empty boxes first before they enter into the board of DPD PSI Ngawi Regency period 2020-2024.


Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease characterized by joint inflammation that affects approximately 1% of the general population. Itolizumab, a monoclonal antibody specific for the human CD6 molecule mainly expressed on T lymphocytes, has been shown to inhibit proliferation of T cells and proinflammatory cytokine production in psoriasis patients. We have now assessed the immunological effect of itolizumab in combination with methotrexate in rheumatoid arthritis by analyzing clinical samples taken from 30 patients enrolled in a clinical trial. T and B cell subpopulations were measured at different time points of the study. Plasma cytokine levels and anti-idiotypic antibody response to itolizumab were also evaluated. The combined treatment of itolizumab and methotrexate led to a reduction in the frequency of T cell subpopulations, and plasma levels of proinflammatory cytokines showed a significant decrease up to at least 12 weeks after treatment ended. No anti-idiotypic antibody response was detected. These results support the relevance of the CD6 molecule as a therapeutic target for the treatment of this disease.


The El Tatio geothermal field in the Chilean Altiplano contains hydrothermal silica sinter deposits overlaying glacial and volcanic units, providing an opportunity to constrain the timing of deglaciation and volcanic activity in an area with sparse absolute chronologies. We obtained 51 new radiocarbon ages and δ13C values on the organic material trapped in these sinter deposits. Based on the δ13C values, we exclude 29 samples for possible contamination with bacterial mats that incorporate old carbon. We infer that hydrothermal activity initiated ~27 ka ago and has been nearly continuous ever since. The ages of the oldest sinter deposits coincide with ages of moraines that stabilized after the most recent deglaciation. Whereas late Pleistocene sinters are broadly distributed in the field, Holocene deposits are found around active hydrothermal features. Although recent volcanism is absent in the vicinity of El Tatio, persistent hydrothermal discharge implies a long‐lived magmatic heat source.


Background:Science standards of different countries introduced disciplinary core ideas and crosscutting concepts—such as energy—to help students develop a more interconnected science understanding. As previous research has mostly addressed energy learning in specific disciplinary contexts, this study targets students' cross-disciplinary understanding of energy.Material and methods:Since no respective test instrument was available, we present the development and validation of an instrument that can be used to compare students' progressing energy understanding across contexts from biology, chemistry, and physics. In a cross-sectional study, we administered the new instrument to N = 752 students at the end of grades 6, 8, and 10.Results:In addition to a detailed discussion of the instrument's reliability and validity, the study findings compare progressing energy understanding in the three disciplinary contexts.Conclusions:With regard to energy as a crosscutting concept, the results are then used to discuss how students' energy understanding may be connected across disciplinary boundaries.


Parallel sentences play a crucial role in various NLP tasks, particularly for cross-lingual tasks such as machine translation. However, due to the time-consuming and laborious nature of manual construction, many low-resource languages still suffer from a lack of large-scale parallel data. The objective of pseudo-parallel sentence extraction is to automatically identify sentence pairs in different languages that convey similar meanings. Earlier methods heavily relied on parallel data, which is unsuitable for low-resource scenarios. The current mainstream research direction is to use transfer learning or unsupervised learning based on cross-lingual word embeddings and multilingual pre-trained models; however, these methods are ineffective for languages with substantial differences. To address this issue, we propose a sentence extraction method that leverages image information fusion to extract Chinese–Vietnamese pseudo-parallel sentences from collections of bilingual texts. Our method first employs an adaptive image and text feature fusion strategy to efficiently extract the bilingual parallel sentence pair, and then, a multimodal fusion method is presented to balance the information between the image and text modalities. The experiments on multiple benchmarks show that our method achieves promising results compared to a competitive baseline by infusing additional external image information.


In order to effectively distinguish the objects from the background, three transition region feature models were taken into account in this paper, including gradient, local complex and local fuzzy variance. Firstly, three transition region feature models were used to distinguish the transition region and the smooth region. Secondly, experimental results signified that every feature models had effects on extracting the objects from the background and each model had some disadvantages on extracting droplets (or watermarks) from hydrophobic images. Finally, these three models were combined together to form the feature domain for Fuzzy C-means clustering (FCM), and then the FCM was applied in segmentation of hydrophobic images. Experimental results illustrated that the proposed algorithm has a great application in segmentation of hydrophobic images, for its efficiency in extracting shape information of droplets (or watermarks).


The Phage
shock protein (Psp) response is an extracytoplasmic stress response. The
central component of this system is PspA, a protein that mediates the
physiological response to membrane stress. PspA is also involved in regulating
its own transcription and that of the psp operon, forming a positive
feedback loop. PspA has been previously shown to oligomerise into higher-order
species, including a 36-meric species with ring-like structure. In this study, we
demonstrate that the ring-like PspA structures further self-assemble into
rod-shaped complexes. These rod-like structures may play a scaffolding role in
the maintenance of membrane integrity during phage shock protein response.


Recurrence of pterygium is one of the main concerns in pterygium management. Recurrent pterygium is defined as the regrowth of fibrovascular tissue over the previously excised primary pterygium area, extending beyond the limbus and advancing towards the cornea. In most cases, it is characterised by increased conjunctival inflammation, fibroblast proliferation, and a faster progression towards corneal involvement compared to primary pterygium. This rapid regrowth can lead to irregular astigmatism, symblepharon, corneal fibrosis, severe vision impairment, and rarely, blindness. Incomplete removal of the primary pterygium, excessive suturing, the bare sclera technique, smaller conjunctival grafts, thicker conjunctival grafts with Tenon's capsule, and poor control of postoperative inflammation are some of the most common surgical factors contributing to recurrence. Among all surgical procedures, the bare sclera technique has the highest recurrence rate. In the present case series, the author presented three cases of atypical recurrent pterygium and their successful management. The first case involved recurrent double-headed pterygium with severe symblepharon, resulting in lower fornix obliteration, shortening, diplopia, and corneal neovascularisation. The second case featured Grade-IV pterygium covering the pupillary area, and the third case involved a kissing type of doubleheaded pterygium. These cases were complications of the bare sclera technique, leading to blindness. Successful treatment of recurrent pterygium can improve visual and cosmetic outcomes. This case series aimed to highlight the burden and consequences of recurrent pterygium as a cause of avoidable blindness.


In the last two decades, audiovisual translation has come to be employed in an ever-widening range of contexts and media, an expansion which has been more or less reflected in research. Meanwhile, video game localization and the volunteer translation communities responsible for it have become popular research topics around the world. In Turkey, despite the existence of both volunteer communities and professional localization companies, academic studies on video game localization are scarce. To help fill this gap in the literature, the present study aims to explore the potential similarities and differences between community translation processes in volunteer and professional video game localization in Turkey. To this end, two group interviews were carried out: one with members of a volunteer video game localization community operating within the Steam Translation Server, the other with the representatives of a professional localization company in Istanbul, Turkey. The localization processes reported by the respondents were compared in the light of the typologies and processes of community translation presented in the literature. The findings from the interviews indicated that the video game localization processes followed by the two communities resembled one another in terms of management, participation, and closed community structure, but the volunteer community sometimes displayed more flexibility in these aspects and did not seem to set such strict standards. The findings thus suggest that theories of community translation need to take more account of both common and distinguishing features of online communities and offer new categorizations for blended community structures.


Stereoscopic tabletops offer unique visualization capabilities, enabling users to perceive virtual objects as if they were lying above the surface. While allowing virtual objects to coexist with user actions in the physical world, interaction with these virtual objects above the surface presents interesting challenges. In this paper, we aim to understand which approaches to 3D virtual object manipulations are suited to this scenario. To this end, we implemented five different techniques based on the literature. Four are mid-air techniques, while the remainder relies on multi-touch gestures, which act as a baseline. Our setup combines affordable non-intrusive tracking technologies with a multi-touch stereo tabletop, providing head and hands tracking, to improve both depth perception and seamless interactions above the table. We conducted a user evaluation to find out which technique appealed most to participants. Results suggest that mid-air interactions, combining direct manipulation with six degrees of freedom for the dominant hand, are both more satisfying and efficient than the alternatives tested.


The identification of compounds and natural ingredients that can counteract tissue stress and dysfunction induced by aging in skin cells is warranted. Here, we investigated the activity of the secretion from the snail Cryptomphalus aspersa (SCA®), an active compound with well-established beneficial effects on skin integrity and aging. To determinate its senescence-regulation mechanisms, we used a model where damage was induced by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The results showed that SCA® positively modulated factors involved in cell senescence such as β-galactosidase and cell morphology, secretory efficiency markers (SIRT1/6 and carboxymethyl-lysine), and metabolic and redox homeostasis (mTOR and ROS). This study demonstrated a novel compound that is activity-modulating, reduces cell senescence, and increases longevity to maintain skin homeostasis and functionality.


We show that the concept of the Lorentz-invariant mass of groups of particles can be applied to light pulses consisting of very large but finite numbers of noncollinear photons. Explicit expressions are found for the invariant mass of this manifold of photons for the case of diverging Gaussian light pulses propagating in vacuum. As the found invariant mass is finite, the light pulses propagate in vacuum with a speed somewhat smaller than the light speed. A small difference between the light speed and the beam-propagation velocity is found to be directly related to the invariant mass of a pulse. Focusing and/or defocusing light pulses is shown to strengthen the effect in which the pulse slows down while the pulse invariant mass increases. A scheme for measuring these quantities experimentally is proposed and discussed.


Abstract A delirium in patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) is a manifestation of a severe acute dysfunction of the brain. It has a high prevalence and is associated with a relevant increase in morbidity and mortality. A cholinergic deficit and dopaminergic overactivity are considered to be a cause of delirium. Polypharmacy, which is often present before admission to the ICU, especially in the elderly, plays a key role as a trigger. The knowledge and identification of risk factors for delirium is a precondition for the early and effective prevention of delirium. The aim is the pre-operative or pre-interventional optimization of modifiable risk factors. Early and effective prevention of delirium can improve clinical outcome, reduce mortality, and positively impact long-term functional outcome. Non-pharmacological measures are always the basis for the prevention of delirium: maintenance of the day-night rhythm, sleep promotion at night and stimulation during the day, involvement of relatives, the avoidance of dehydration and malnutrition, and others more. They are pharmacologically accompanied by an effective analgesia and a target and symptom-oriented sedation with well controllable, as little as possible delirogenic substances. Interdisciplinary and interprofessional cooperation is essential so that preventive concepts significantly reduce the risk of delirium, even in high-risk patients.


New VR experiences allow users to walk extensively in the virtual space. Bigger tracking spaces, treadmills and redirected walking solutions are now available. Yet, certain connections to the user's movement are still not made. Here, we specifically see a shortcoming of representations of locomotion feedback in state-of-the-art VR setups. As shown in our paper, providing synchronized step sounds is important for involving the user further into the experience and virtual world, but is often neglected. VRsneaky detects the user's gait and plays synchronized gait-aware step sounds accordingly by attaching force sensing resistors (FSR) and accelerometers to the user's shoe. In an exciting bank robbery the user will try to rob the bank behind a guards back. The tension will increase as the user has to be aware of each step in this atmospheric experience. Each step will remind the user to pay attention to every movement, as each step will be represented using adaptive step sounds resulting in different noise levels.


A sound system operator at a wedding celebration in Nogosari, Boyolali, has his own perception in addressing the sound management. One of the operators in this area is Dardi. Neither coming from a family of musicians not having academic background in the field of sound engineering, Dardi is capable of operating the sound system to satisfy his listeners with his performance. As a sound system regulator, Dardi has served sound system service providers at celebrations with puppet shows, dangdut, rebana, and campursari. Each performance is carried out with a different setup. Among the differing setups, Dardi is more competent in the setup of campursari shows. Based on the Dardi's perceptions on sound system regulation, the author is interested in studying the perception of the sound system operator in the sound of campursari music? Based on the findings from the analysis of Dardi's perception as the sound system operator, there are many considerations and adaptations to different places of performance. He initially practiced in the field without being equipped with theory or science, that he tried his best to be approved by following his brother's workflow. Through this process, he slowly learned and perfected his own amplification setup. His habit of listening to the sounds of various musical instruments also helps sharpen his musical sensitivity. The awareness that was built by Dardi was through empirical experience and instinct for the sounds he heard. This makes his sound system settings always changes instead of being fixed.


Introduction Successful endoscopic papillectomy of conventional ampullary adenomas is well described. However, many authors recommend surgical ampullectomy for larger lesions with extra-papillary extension. Our objective was to describe the classification, technique and outcome for the endoscopic resection of giant laterally spreading tumours of the papilla (LST-P). Methods Over a 24-month period to May 2009, patients referred for endoscopic treatment of ampullary adenomas were enrolled prospectively. LST-P lesions were identified as adenomatous tumours arising from the major duodenal papilla, >30 mm, extending beyond the papilla onto the duodenal wall, and involving up to 2/3 of the duodenal circumference. LST-P lesions were classified as per the Paris classification. All patients underwent pre-resection staging. Resection technique: The key aspect was en-bloc excision of the papilla. LST-P lesions with predominant vertical extra papillary extension (Paris 0-Is+IIa) were treated by initial maximal papillectomy. Following papillectomy, EMR of residual adenomatous tissue was performed. LST-P lesions with predominant lateral spreading morphology (Paris 0-IIa+Is) underwent EMR and submucosal injection at one edge to isolate the papilla, this allowed subsequent en-bloc papillectomy. In all these predominant lateral spreading adenomas injection directly placed into the papillary region before adjacent adenoma was removed was avoided as this could cause a sunken papillary region. Argon plasma coagulation was avoided. The aim was to remove all neoplastic tissue with snare resection. For ampullary adenomas <30 mm complete en-bloc resection was performed without submucosal injection. A 5Fr pancreatic stent was attempted after papillectomy in all cases. Follow-up was performed at 3, 6 and 12-month intervals. Results 25 patients with ampullary adenomas were referred. In 10 patients identified with LST-P (mean age 70.2 years; size 30–80 mm) combination EMR and papillectomy was performed in a single session. Median admission duration was 1.0 night (range 0–35). Complications included bleeding (30%) and cholecystitis (10%), with no cases of pancreatitis or perforation. Adenoma recurrence at 3 months was found in one patient (10%). 15 patients were noted to have conventional ampullary adenomas <30 mm (mean age 65). Comparing the bleeding and recurrence rates between the smaller and larger resection groups showed no significant statistical difference between bleeding (30% vs 7.7%: p=0.28) or recurrence (10% vs 23%: p=0.6). Conclusion Endoscopic resection of carefully staged LST-P is a viable therapeutic alternative to surgery. In experienced hands the outcomes are comparable to those for conventional ampullary adenomas.


This paper considers one of the intangible aspect of human capital: the university knowledge accumulation. It is relevant both for academic management and for recruitment world. In the former case it can be an useful guide to identify the characteristics of clever students, while  in the latter case it can be applied to worker selection. Because of the velocity of credit acquisition is not sign of cleverness, it becomes important to analyze different aspects of university human capital accumulation. We will investigate it through latent growth modeling on administrative data come from an Italian university.


Study Design Controlled laboratory study, repeated-measures design. Background Previous studies have reported that the superior and inferior portions of the gluteus maximus have different functional roles. Knowledge of how the different portions of the gluteus maximus are activated during therapeutic exercise may lead to more specific exercise prescription. Objective To compare muscle activation of the superior and inferior portions of the gluteus maximus during commonly used therapeutic exercises. Methods Twenty healthy persons participated. Electromyographic (EMG) signals were obtained from the superior and inferior portions of the gluteus maximus using fine-wire electrodes. Normalized EMG signal amplitudes were compared between the superior and inferior gluteus maximus across 11 exercises using a 2-way repeated-measures analysis of variance. Results The superior portion of the gluteus maximus had significantly greater relative EMG activity than the inferior portion of the gluteus maximus during exercises that incorporated elements of hip abduction and/or external rotation (5 of 11 exercises evaluated). There was no significant difference in activation between the superior and inferior portions of the gluteus maximus during the remaining 6 exercises. Conclusion The results of the present study demonstrate preferential activation of the superior portion of the gluteus maximus during exercises that incorporate elements of hip abduction and/or external rotation. In contrast, exercises that primarily involve hip extension target both portions of the gluteus maximus to a similar extent. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2016;46(9):794-799. Epub 5 Aug 2016. doi:10.2519/jospt.2016.6493.


The major emphasis this quarter has been in two areas. The first is to continue working the bugs out of the new particle pressure transducer. The second was to try and measure the particle pressures generated in a bed of FCC catalyst that is undergoing particulate fluidization. The results indicate that the stabilization of fluidized beds in that regime cannot be explained in terms of particle pressure generation. Instead, consistent with other recent observations,the observations can be explained by a material is that not completely fluidized but, instead, retains much of the properties of a solid and, in particular, can transmit particle pressure like a solid. 2 figs.


Abstract Symbiosis between cyanobacteria and plants is considered pivotal for biological nitrogen deposition in terrestrial ecosystems. Despite extensive knowledge of the ecology of plant–cyanobacterium symbioses, little is known about the molecular mechanisms involved in recognition between partners. Here, we conducted a quantitative sequential window acquisition of all theoretical fragment ion spectra mass spectrometry pipeline to analyze protein changes in Oryza sativa and Nostoc punctiforme during early events of symbiosis. We found differentially expressed proteins in both organisms linked to several biological functions, including signal transduction, adhesion, defense-related proteins and cell wall modification. In N. punctiforme we found increased expression of 62 proteins that have been previously described in other Nostoc–plant symbioses, reinforcing the robustness of our study. Our findings reveal new proteins activated in the early stages of the Nostoc–Oryza symbiosis that might be important for the recognition between the plant and the host. Oryza mutants in genes in the common symbiosis signaling pathway (CSSP) show reduced colonization efficiency, providing first insights on the involvement of the CSSP for the accommodation of N. punctiforme inside the plant cells. This information may have long-term implications for a greater understanding of the symbiotic interaction between Nostoc and land plants.


Background: Seagrass (Enhalus Acoroides) is one of the most widely spread seagrass species in Indonesia and the seeds can be used by the community to be semi-processed product like Tempe (Fermented soyben). Another advantage possessed by Seagrass (Enhalus Acoroides) is that it has quite high nutrition. This research aimed to find out the carbohydrate and fat level on Tempe made from the fermentation of the seagrass seeds (Enhalus acoroides).
Method: The analysis of the level of carbohydrate used by different method while the fat used Soxhlet method.
Result: Based on the result of the research if the seagrass seeds been processed to be tempe, thus the carbohydrate and fat level was increased with the comparison of appropriate yeast. Conclusion: raw seagrass seeds if being processed to be tempe can increase the level of nutrition with the ppropriate amount of the yeast compared to consuming directly.


Background: The rapid transition across time zones also known as jet lag syndrome leads to desynchronization of our endogenous "biological" clock and causes a transient decrease in the adaptation capacity of an athlete.
Objective: The aim of this study was to verify the use of the spectral analysis of heart rate variability (SA HRV) method as a tool for classification of the answer of the body to both the rapid transition across time zones and the training intensity level during the following acclimatization.
Methods: Changes in autonomic activity were assessed by SA HRV during acclimatization after eastward (+6 hours) and westward (-7 hours) flights in two elite athletes.
Results: The results revealed that the athlete, who undertook a flight from Prague to Beijing (China), was able to start with intensive training during the fourth day of his acclimatization. No acute decrease in training ability (adaptability) was found in the athlete after the flight from Prague to Bogota (Columbia). Significant modifications in her training load level were made only on the third day in Columbia. The study confirmed that the reaction of the body to the rapid transition across time zones is highly individual.
Conclusions: Therefore, in the future, the SA HRV method could become a promising tool for solving questions of both the acclimatization strategy and the optimizing of sport performance in elite athletes.


Aiming to get useful steroidal alkaloids by tissue culture of Solanum laciniatum Ait., indefinitely growing callus tissue was prepared from the mother plant. Some nutritional requirements for the growth of the callus tissue were studied. By examining steroidal compounds in callus culture, cholesterol, stigmasterol, ƒÀ-sitosterol, lanosterol, squalene, diosgenin and a new steroidal alkaloid were found to be formed in the callus culture. The new steroidal alkaloid was found to be solasodine derivative containing rhamnose and other unidentified sugars.


Universities are globally and locally recognised for their research production being innovative, essential for producing a scientific body of knowledge and in answer to national, as well as local discourses. In the latter case, it is research within an applied and participatory action paradigm that has a significant problem-solving role to play. This paper forms part of a more comprehensive national study and addresses the current tends of sports-related research in the different fields of scientific inquiry. Qualitative methods that entailed 20 interviews with representatives from relevant sports entities and 19 focus group sessions in which 73 people participated were used. The results demonstrate a trend for individual research to be paramount and focused around niche areas in seven main disciplinary fields (e.g. sports medicine including physiotherapy and biokinetics, sport science, physical activity epidemiology and health or wellness, sport sociology integrated with historical and sport management studies, ergonomics, sport-recreation management and leisure studies, the psycho-social aspects of sport, education and training). Innovation particularly relates to sport medical and sport science research of entrepreneurial nature. A need for collaboration, inter-disciplinary research and grounded research within an African paradigm has been recognised.


In the present investigation, an attempt was made to design and develop of Sustained Release Ambroxol Hydrochloride Matrix Tablets using the combination HPMC k 4 100 and carbopol 940, in order to improve efficacy, reduce the frequency of administration, and better patient compliance. Ambroxol hydrochloride is a potent mucolytic agent capable of inducing bronchial secretions used in the treatment of respiratory disorders. The Sustained release matrix tablets containing Ambroxol hydrochloride were developed using different drug: polymer ratios. Sustained release matrix tablets were prepared by wet granulation method. Granules were prepared and evaluated for loose bulk density, tapped bulk density, compressibility index and angle of repose, shows satisfactory results. The prepared tablets were further evaluated for uniformity of weight, hardness, friability, thickness, content uniformity, In-vitro dissolution, drug-excipients interactions. The FT-IR studies revealed that there was no chemical interaction between drug and excipients. In-vitro release studies were carried out using USP XXII type II (paddle method) dissolution apparatus at 50 rpm by taking 900 ml of 0.1 N HCl (pH 1.2) as dissolution medium for first 2 hours and later replacing it with 900 ml pH 6.8 phosphate buffer solution for rest of the time period at 37 ± 0.50C. The release data was fitted to various mathematical models such as, Higuchi, Korsmeyer-Peppas, First-order, and Zero order to evaluate the kinetics and mechanism of the drug release. Among all the formulations, F 3 shows 98.97 % better controlled release at the end of 11 hr.


We present the results of an investigation of the relation between space-weather parameters and cosmic ray (CR) intensity modulation using algorithm-selected Forbush decreases (FDs) from Moscow (MOSC) and Apatity (APTY) neutron monitor (NM) stations during solar cycle 23. Our FD location program detected 408 and 383 FDs from MOSC and APTY NM stations respectively. A coincident computer code employed in this work detected 229 FDs that were observed at the same Universal Time (UT) at the two stations. Out of the 229 simultaneous FDs, we formed a subset of 139 large FDs(%) ≤ − 4 at the MOSC station. We performed a two-dimensional regression analysis between the FD magnitudes and the space-weather data on the two samples. We find that there were significant space-weather disturbances at the time of the CR flux depressions. The correlation between the space-weather parameters and decreases in galactic cosmic ray (GCR) intensity at the two NM stations is statistically significant. The implications of the present space-weather data on CR intensity depressions are highlighted.


Differentiating between hysteria presenting in an epileptiform manner and epilepsy can present diagnostic difficulties. Differentiation is important, however, since management of the two disorders differs. Electrochemical stimulation of the medial basal hypothalamus in animal models increases prolactin release.' Therefore if the abnormal electrical activity in epilepsy passes through the midbrain it should raise the serum prolactin concentration. This paper reports an investigation of this hypothesis.


In this work, the oxygen transport and hydrodynamic flow of the PBS Vertical-Wheel MINI™ 0.1 bioreactor were characterized using experimental data and computational fluid dynamics simulations. Data acquired from spectroscopy-based oxygenation measurements was compared with data obtained from 3D simulations with a rigid-lid approximation and LES-WALE turbulence modeling, using the open-source software OpenFOAM-8. The mass transfer coefficients were determined for a range of stirring speeds between 10 and 100 rpm and for working volumes between 60 and 100 mL. Additionally, boundary condition, mesh refinement, and temperature variation studies were performed. Lastly, cell size, energy dissipation rate, and shear stress fields were calculated to determine optimal hydrodynamic conditions for culture. The experimental results demonstrate that the kL can be predicted using Sh=1.68Re0.551Sc13G1.18, with a mean absolute error of 2.08%. Using the simulations and a correction factor of 0.473, the expression can be correlated to provide equally valid results. To directly obtain them from simulations, a partial slip boundary condition can be tuned, ensuring better near-surface velocity profiles or, alternatively, by deeply refining the mesh. Temperature variation studies support the use of this correlation for temperatures up to 37 °C by using a Schmidt exponent of 1/3. Finally, the flow was characterized as transitional with diverse mixing mechanisms that ensure homogeneity and suspension quality, and the results obtained are in agreement with previous studies that employed RANS models. Overall, this work provides new data regarding oxygen mass transfer and hydrodynamics in the Vertical-Wheel bioreactor, as well as new insights for air-water mass transfer modeling in systems with low interface deformation, and a computational model that can be used for further studies.


The crack propagation behavior of Al containing Mg–Si clusters is investigated using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to demonstrate the relationship between the natural aging time in Al–Si–Mg alloys and ductility. Experimental results show that the elongation at failure decreases with natural aging. There are few studies on the relationship between natural aging and ductility because of the difficult observation of Mg–Si clusters. To solve the difficulty, cracked Al containing Mg–Si clusters of varying sizes are assumed for the MD simulations. A larger Mg–Si cluster in Al results in earlier crack opening and dislocation emission. Moreover, as the Mg–Si cluster size increases, the stress near the crack tip becomes more concentrated. This causes rapid crack propagation, a similar effect to that of crack tip sharpening. As a result of long-term natural aging, the cracks expand rapidly. The influence of geometry is also investigated. Crack lengthening and thickness reduction negatively impact the fracture toughness, with the former having a larger impact than the latter. Although there are several discrepancies in the practical deformation conditions, the simulation results can help to more thoroughly understand natural aging in Al–Si–Mg alloys.


With the urban regionalization and regional urbanization,cluster space appears in some metropolitan areas as a new urban spatial structure,among which Wuhan can be taken as a typical case.This paper tries to analyze the formation of Wuhan metropolitan cluster space from the perspective of power relationship.The "twin-city" approach is developed in peripheral area caused by the game between different local governments.With the equal development opportunities,the balanced cluster space in Wuhan metropolitan area formed in all directions by the incorporated development of the district governments and different economies.And if there are no huge environmental variations,the cluster space in Wuhan will continue to develop.


Abstract Temporal dominance of sensations (TDS) is a relatively recent method in the sensory field aiming at collecting the sequence of the dominant sensations perceived by the subject during the tasting of a product. For instance, while tasting a piece of chocolate from intake to swallowing, the subject can successively perceive the attributes crunchy, cocoa, fat, cocoa again and melting as the dominant sensations. Since the first communication presenting the method in 2003, many developments have been proposed to define adequate protocols, propose dedicated statistical analyses and interpretations, and even extend the TDS approach to a larger scope. This chapter first introduces the TDS method and its specificities, and describes how to set up a TDS experiment before exploring the analysis part and providing some examples of applications.


Background Cumulative evidence points to abnormal spindle-like microcephaly-associated (ASPM) protein being overexpressed in various cancers, and the aberrant expression of ASPM has been shown to promote cancer tumorigenicity and progression. However, its role and clinical significance in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) remains unclear. This study aimed to determine the expression patterns of ASPM and its clinical significance in LUAD. Methods In total, 4 original worldwide LUAD microarray mRNA expression datasets (N=1,116) with clinical and follow-up annotations were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases. The expression of ASPM protein in LUAD patients was detected by immunohistochemistry. Survival analysis and Cox regression analysis were used to examine the prognostic value of ASPM expression. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was performed to investigate the relationship between ASPM and LUAD. Results Dataset analyses and immunohistochemistry revealed that ASPM expression was significantly higher in the LUAD tissues compared with normal lung tissues, especially in the advanced tumor stage. Additionally, overexpression of ASPM was significantly correlated with shorter overall survival (OS) and relapse-free survival (RFS) in LUAD. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses revealed that the overexpression of ASPM was a potential independent predictor of poor OS and RFS. However, ASPM overexpression was not significantly associated with predicting OS in lung squamous cell carcinoma. GSEA analysis demonstrated that ASPM was significantly enriched in the cell cycle, DNA replication, homologous recombination, RNA degradation, mismatch repair, and p53 signaling pathways. Conclusions These findings demonstrate the important role of ASPM in the tumorigenesis and progression of LUAD.


The internet has revolutionized the way we interact with information and each other. Among the internet's many applications, e-commerce ranks at the top. Businesses derive significant value from a robust online presence which arguably begins with a strong domain name. Websites are identified by internet protocol (IP) addresses which consist of sets of numbers. The Domain Name System (DNS) is the internet's address book. Its function is to allow internet users to identify websites with more memorable indicia than a set of numbers such as words, phrases and acronyms. Given that businesses often devote significant resources to growing brand recognition and the goodwill associated with their trademarks, many of them tend to register domain names under those trademarks. Domain names (unlike trademarks) are unique which further increases a trademark holder's interest in securing ones that consumers would likely associate with its goods or services. Cyber-squatters seek to profit from the DNS by engaging in a form of "online speculation".  They register domain names that are either identical or confusingly similar to trademarks and then attempt to sell the domain name(s) to a legitimate trademark holder for a profit. The current regulatory framework dealing with cyber-squatting comprises of: 1) The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) and variants thereof; 2) The American Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA); and 3) National trademark laws. This paper argues that while partially effective, the current framework is lacking. A review of UDRP panel statistics reveals a steady flow of complaints since 2000 with a marked upswing from 2005 forward. The WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center, the largest UDRP resolution provider, receives between 1700-2600 complaints per year relating to cyber-squatting. Cyber-squatting is therefore clearly an issue that requires further or better regulation. The UDRP, ACPA and trademark statutes all suffer from significant shortcomings. This paper seeks to identify those shortcomings and propose a potential solution: a model law relating to cyber-squatting and other abusive domain name practices. The model law would create specific causes of action for cybersquatting and the abusive practice known as "reverse-domain name hijacking". It would also comport certain key provisions to aid in the harmonization of an internationally accepted body of "domain name law". While a model law approach itself suffers from certain shortcomings (most notably the requirement that it be adopted in a significant number of states to become effective), this paper demonstrates that those shortcomings are far outweighed by its benefits.


One of China's largest producers of window film has equipped it ́s coating process line with the ISRA inspection System SMASH for high level window film inspection. KDX must meet the demanding quality requirements of the market. Therefore, extremely small scratches in the material need to be identified which until now could not be detected. The Chinese company chose ISRA as its partner in order to find the most efficient solution for those challenges, which is the intelligent automated optical inspection system, precisely analyzing and detecting defects.


INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES
Cystic dysplasia of the seminal vesicle represents a rare congenital urologic anomaly of which elective treatment is controversial. We present our experience in the diagnosis and management of this uncommon pathology.

PATIENTS AND METHOD
During the last twelve years we have managed eight patients affected by this pathology. The diagnosis was incidental in the three asymptomatic patients, while the other five consulted because of low urinary tract sympthoms. Ectopic drainage of the ureter in the pathological seminal vesicle was found in three of the patients. Two of these patients presented large pelvic and ureteral ectasy. Other five patients presented renal agenesis.

RESULTS
In asymptomatic patients we adopted an expectant attitude, while the other five patients underwent surgical treatment. We performed open surgery in the two cases presenting ureterohydronephrosis, whereas in the other three we performed transurethral incision of the seminal vesicle. We obtained excellent results in all of them, with no evidence of symptomatic pseudodiverticulum.

CONCLUSIONS
Transurethral incision of the seminal vesicle cyst is a minimal invasive procedure with low morbidity. We have proved in all of our cases that the retraction of the cyst was practically complete, this has led us into believing that transurethral incision is the elective treatment. Therefore, open surgery would only be indicated in cases of failure of the procedure due to existence of symptomatic pseudodiverticulum, or in patients presenting renoureteral ectasy associated.


At macroeconomic level, the Italian competitiveness is very low: the main international rating agencies put our country in the lower positions of the rankings, at the same level of many less-developed-countries. If we analyse the structural characteristics and the economic performances of Italian firms, the differences with the main European countries are not sohigh. It seems that Italian firms have the internal resources to face with the structural adjustment requested by globalization. The efforts made by entrepreneurs in terms of high investments should be supported by product and financial market reforms.


Abstract A state Forest Practices Act and Endangered Species Act combine to protect habitat of state-listed rare flora and fauna during timber harvesting in Massachusetts. In a three-year period, 10.5% of 2041 reviewed harvest operations co-occurred with rare species habitats. Over 60% of these co-occurrences were evaluated by biologists to have no impact on the species or its habitat. For 35% of co-occurrences, additional mitigating measures were recommended by biologists to be included in the harvest plan. The primary species that triggered rare species habitat review were reptiles and amphibians (e.g., Clemmys inscultpa, Ambystoma jeffersonianum), in spite of the fact that habitat of all rare flora and fauna were considered. The rate of co-occurrence is higher than previously documented when only rare wetland fauna were afforded regulatory protection. Recommended mitigating measures primarily focus on restricted timing of operations to frozen conditions and buffers along aquatic habitats. Based on the low rate of co-occurrence, the small portion of co-occurrences that are deemed to have possible impacts and the inexpensive nature of mitigating measures, it does not appear that this level of regulatory protection of rarity represents an obstacle to timber harvesting.


Psoriasis is an inflammatory skin disease, with a polymorphic clinical appearance. Modern techniques for in vivo imaging of skin structure, such as reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) and dermoscopy, could be very useful tools for diagnosis and monitoring of psoriatic lesions. We report a case of psoriasis vulgaris in which we identified certain dermoscopic features suggestive for psoriasis and RCM enabled us to identify in vivo most of the histological features of psoriatic lesions.


A clinical and pathologic comparison of carcinoma of the prostate in a high-risk US (Washington, DC) black population and in a low-risk Nigerian (Ibadan) black population is presented. Fifty-two percent of American patients were in clinical stages I and II, whereas only 10% of Nigerian patients were in the same stages. Testosterone and estradiol blood levels were significantly lower (P less than 0.05) in patients with carcinoma of the prostate from Ibadan compared with American black prostate cancer patients from Washington, DC. Age-standardized incidence rates (world standard) for 1000 autopsies for micro (incidental)-carcinoma were approximately equal in American and African black men. The incidence rate of invasive carcinoma was, however, even after adjustment for age, higher in American black men than in African men.


A wireless sensor network (WSN) consists of distributed autonomous sensors to monitor physical or environmental conditions, such as temperature, sound, pressure, etc. and to cooperatively pass their data through the network to a main location. The main goal of this paper is to analysis and Evaluation of AODV routing protocol for wireless sensor network and compares the Static and Dynamic Scenarios for PDR, e2e Delay and throughput. The goal of this work is to perform a simulation with different metrics, analysis of the results and deriving a conclusion on basis of performance evaluation.


Although the activation of low-molecular weight protein tyrosine phosphatases by certain purines and purine derivatives was first described three decades ago, the mechanism of this rate enhancement was unknown. As an example, adenine activates the yeast low-molecular weight protein tyrosine phosphatase LTP1 more than 30-fold. To examine the structural and mechanistic basis of this phenomenon, we have determined the crystal structure of yeast LTP1 complexed with adenine. In the crystal structure, an adenine molecule is found bound in the active site cavity, sandwiched between the side chains of two large hydrophobic residues at the active site. Hydrogen bonding to the side chains of other active site residues, as well as some water-mediated hydrogen bonds, also helps to fix the position of the bound adenine molecule. An ordered water was found in proximity to the bound phosphate ion present in the active site, held by hydrogen bonding to N3 of adenine and Odelta1 of Asp-132. On the basis of the crystal structure, we propose that this water molecule is the nucleophile that participates in the dephosphorylation of the phosphoenzyme intermediate. Solvent isotope effect studies show that there is no rate-determining transfer of a solvent-derived proton in the transition state for the dephosphorylation of the phosphoenzyme intermediate. Such an absence of general base catalysis of water attack is consistent with the stability of the leaving group, namely, the thiolate anion of Cys-13. Consequently, adenine activates the enzyme by binding and orienting a water nucleophile in proximity to the phosphoryl group of the phosphoenzyme intermediate, thus increasing the rate of the dephosphorylation step, a step that is normally the rate-limiting step of this enzymatic reaction.


Summary The industry for manufactured goods increases extensively world wide in recent years to fulfill the demands from the human beings. Numbers of large scale industries have grown folds in the recent past. Remote sensing and controlling of parameters in industries increase the performance and also can reliably preempt machine failure and diagnose the cause thereby in a position to take immediate corrective action before the failure occurs. This system collects data from various sensors at a factory, plant or in other remote locations and then sends this data to a central computer which then manages and controls the data. The aim of this paper is to develop a RTU system to monitor electrical parameters like Voltage, Current and Temperature, and pass on the data to a supervisory subsystem. Software controlled computer monitors the data and control a Relay for switching action. The monitored data is stored in a database for further action. In order to make things simpler and easier to man we have come up with idea of SCADA [2] , which has even database which is advantageous.


The analysis for unsteady flow is necessary to design the hydraulic structures affected by water level and discharge changes through time. The numerical model has been generally used for unsteady flow analysis, however it is difficult to acquire field data to calibrate and validate the numerical model. Even though it is possible to collect field data for some case, high cost and labor are required and sometimes it is considered that the confidence of measured data is very low. In this case, the experimental data for unsteady flow can be used to calibrate and validate the numerical model as an alternative. Therefore, the discharge-supply system which could generate various type of unsteady flow hydrograph was developed in this study. Also, the accuracy of the unsteady flow hydrograph generated by developed dischargesupply system in the experiment was evaluated by comparing with target hydrograph. Accuracy errors and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) were analyzed for the rectangular-type hydrograph with sudden changes of flow, triangular-type hydrograph with short peak time, and bell-type flood hydrograph. As a result, the generating error of the discharge-supply system for the rectangular-type hydrograph was about 59% which was maximum error among various types. Also, it was represented that RMSE for the triangular-type hydrographs with single and double peaks were approximately corresponding to 10%. However, RMSE for the bell-type flood hydrograph was lower than 2%.


Understanding stakeholder dynamics and their impact on project management is crucial, especially for large and complex projects such as nuclear waste repositories. This study examines the stakeholder dynamics during the project front-end stage of two pioneering nuclear waste repository projects. To analyze changes in stakeholders' importance and position on a project, we propose and apply a new conceptual framework: a stakeholder salience-position matrix. The study explicates how stakeholder dynamics are influenced by the interaction of stakeholders' influence behavior, stakeholder management activities, and the project's contextual conditions. Prior stakeholder literature has rarely conceptualized the elements of stakeholder dynamics in a systematic manner.


Understanding agroecosystem carbon (C) cycle response to climate change and management is vital for maintaining their long-term C storage. We demonstrate this importance through an in-depth examination of a ten-year eddy covariance dataset from a corn–corn–soybean crop rotation grown in the Midwest United States. Ten-year average annual net ecosystem exchange (NEE) showed a net C sink of −0.39 Mg C ha−1 yr−1. However, NEE in 2014 and 2015 from the corn ecosystem was 3.58 and 2.56 Mg C ha−1 yr−1, respectively. Most C loss occurred during the growing season, when photosynthesis should dominate and C fluxes should reflect a net ecosystem gain. Partitioning NEE into gross primary productivity (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (ER) showed this C 'burp' was driven by higher ER, with a 51% (2014) and 57% (2015) increase from the ten-year average (15.84 Mg C ha−1 yr−1). GPP was also higher than average (16.24 Mg C ha−1 yr−1) by 25% (2014) and 37% (2015), but this was not enough to offset the C emitted from ER. This increased ER was likely driven by enhanced soil microbial respiration associated with ideal growing season climate, substrate availability, nutrient additions, and a potential legacy effect from drought.


The immunophenotypic features of lymphoid leukemias and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas are reviewed. Emphasis is placed on the more recent literature, particularly the insights provided by monoclonal antibodies specific for T and B lymphocytes, and the contributions of flow cytometry. Characteristic immunophenotypes for T- and B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, chronic B- and T-cell lymphoproliferative disorders, and multiple myeloma are described. The importance of this information in the diagnostic process and in providing prognostic information concerning disease progression is considered. Limitations associated with monoclonal antibody reagents and flow technology are noted. Representative panels of monoclonal antibodies as used in the author's laboratory for characterizing these disorders are presented and discussed in light of the author's experience.


In groupware, users must communicate about their intentions and maintain common knowledge via communication channels that are explicitly designed into the system. Depending upon the task, generic communication tools like chat or a shared whiteboard may not be sufficient to support effective coordination. We have previously reported on a methodology that helps the designer develop task specific communication tools, called coordinating representations, for groupware systems. Coordinating representations lend structure and persistence to coordinating information. We have shown that coordinating representations are readily adopted by a user population, reduce coordination errors, and improve performance in a domain task. As we show in this article, coordinating representations present a unique opportunity to acquire user information in collaborative, user-adapted systems. Because coordinating representations support the exchange of coordinating information, they offer a window onto task and coordination-specific knowledge that is shared by users. Because they add structure to communication, the information that passes through them can be easily exploited by adaptive technology. This approach provides a simple technique for acquiring user knowledge in collaborative, user-adapted systems. We document our application of this approach to an existing groupware system. Several empirical results are provided. First, we show how information that is made available by a coordinating representation can be used to infer user intentions. We also show how this information can be used to mine free text chat for intent information, and show that this information further enhances intent inference. Empirical data shows that an automatic plan generation component, which is driven by information from a coordinating representation, reduces coordination errors and cognitive effort for its users. Finally, our methodology is summarized, and we present a framework for comparing our approach to other strategies for user knowledge acquisition in adaptive systems.


Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is a temperate plant grown in arid and semi-arid regions of the world, and is the most drought tolerant oilseed crop. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of genotype and plant density on growth, phenology and yield of safflower. Treatments included five safflower genotypes and six plant densities laid out in a randomised block design. Increasing plant density from 62,500 to 100,000 plants ha-1 significantly (P < 0.05) increased leaf area index (LAI), leaf area duration (LAD), total leaf chlorophyll content (Tchl) and net assimilation rate (NAR) at all phenological stages in both winter and summer. For all genotypes, the highest LAI, LAD, Tchl, NAR, total dry matter accumulation (TDM) and seed yield resulted at a plant density of 100,000 plants ha-1. Maximum LAI, LAD, NAR and Tchl were observed at 50% flowering, compared to other phenological stages in all genotypes and plant densities. In general, genotype 'Sina' at 100,000 plants ha-1 significantly (P < 0.05) had the highest LAI, LAD, Tchl, TDM and seed yield compared to other genotypes and plant densities in both summer and winter.


Abstract Calendula officinalis is a member of the richest family of flowering plants, Asteraceae. In this study, the volatile profile of C. officinalis flowers obtained from the Marmara region was determined using SPME-GC/MS-O technique. Antimicrobial effects of essential oil in the C. officinalis flowers against Gram negative and Gram positive bacteria and yeast were determined by disc diffusion method (0.6 mm disc diameter). Six different concentrations (10-200 μg/μL) were studied for the determination of minimum inhibitory concentration. 22 aroma active compounds were identified in the sample of the GC/MS-Olfactometer. Antimicrobial activity was tested against both Gram negative and Gram positive bacteria using essential oil of C. officinalis flowers. As a result, it was found that essential oils of C. officinalis flower had high antimicrobial activity. A total of 21 main essential oils were found in C. officinalis flowers.


The presence of dilute magnetic semiconductors (DMS) enriches the design potential of nano scale barrier devices. Placement of these DMS layers within or adjacent to a barrier can effectively lower or raise the barrier height for carriers of different spin and thereby introduce separate but coupled components of current. The magnetic field in high g-factor devices then can function as a pseudo third terminal. In anticipation of an n-type technology with these materials we examine the development of a barrier device that contains a DMS layer strategically placed so that in the presence of a magnetic field the barrier device is transformed into a double barrier device. The goal of this design is to create a device that will show tunneling resonances. Some early calculations with this structure will be presented showing the possibilities, pitfalls and potential for designing such a structure.


Abstract For well over a century, the human and more-than-human of Central Appalachia have endured oppression and exploitation, primarily due to natural resource extraction. In spring 2008, the author led a dark touri to a mountaintop removal coalmining site in Southern West Virginia for colleagues, which included Dance Professor Deborah McLaughlin. As a result, the two collaborated on three evening-length dance/theater works highlighting social and environmental crises and injustices in the region. The performances incorporated contemporary dance, poetry, the spoken word, and the visual arts, as well as contemporary and traditional music. The first, Eating Appalachia: Selling Out to the Hungry Ghost, focused on mountaintop removal coalmining and its environmental and cultural destruction. With Sounds of Stories Dancing, the duo paid homage to millions of mountain residents forced to leave the region to find stable employment, despite longing to remain. In the final piece, The Shadow Waltz, they honored the lives of coalminers with black lung disease, as well as their families. This essay discusses the challenges of creating art that critiques socially constructed messages portrayed as given truths, as well as the educational and social successes of daring to dance truth to power.


This descriptive study was designed to assess the educational impact of the regional centers on the research, teaching and extension functions of the Colegio de Postgraduados of Mexico. Data were collected by hand-delivered questionnaires and analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-tests, one-way analysis of variance and Pearson's correlation. According to the findings, campus faculty and students participated infrequently in the regional centers. Campus faculty perceived that they did not improve their professional competencies very much as a result of their activities in the regional centers, but regional center faculty felt strongly that they gained knowledge about the regions and practical experiences. Lack of communication among faculty members and lack of institutional support were the main reasons for low participation. There were no significant relationships between faculty perception of basic agricultural education principles and their degree of participation in the regional centers. Students perceived that the Colegio de Postgraduados was following educational principles.


This paper proposes a methodology to assist water resources managers in assessing the hydrological impact of weed control practices in Mediterranean winegrowing catchments. The methodology is based on a spatial representation of practices and its integration in a distributed hydrologic model. The representation is based on the search for indicators that can be used to attribute a distribution of practices to each hydrological unit of the model and a classification of practices according to their effect on soil surface hydraulic conductivity. The observed diversity is integrated in the hydrologic modelling running an existing physical hydrologic model on an elementary experimental catchment.


Since Grab 'n Go's implementation in 2004, members of the Smith College campus community have been concerned with its operational design, as one based on producing large quantities of waste at every meal. This most recent investigation sought to answer questions about basic student behaviors in relation to Grab 'n Go, about the amount of waste generated through the system and to begin investigating solutions to perceived problems. Two senior Environmental Science and Policy (ES+P) seminar students, Camila Fierro and Alana Miller, created a comprehensive survey and conducted statistically significant interviews with students who use Grab 'n Go, as well as interviews with key staff members about the operation. The results show a shocking amount of waste is generated daily by the system, which goes directly to a landfill where it cannot decompose. Interviews indicated that many students use Grab 'n Go for reasons other than its intended purpose (of taking food to-go), that many students are concerned about the environmental impacts of the system, and that the majority of students would be open to alternative, more sustainable solutions. The study's findings fit well within the context of Smith's commitment to sustainability, as well as its responsibility as an institution of higher education to foster awareness of environmental surroundings and critical thinking about community impact and actions.


Uniparental disomy (UPD) is a well-known epigenomic anomaly with both copies of a homologous pair of chromosomes (or part thereof) inherited from the same parent [1]. Unlike numerical or structural chromosomal aberrations, UPD has no effects on chromosome number or structure, thereby escaping cytogenetic detection [1, 2]. However, UPD detection could be performed by the microsatellite analysis or SNP-based chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) method. UPD may cause diseases in humans by disrupting normal allelic expression of genes undergoing genomic imprinting, homozygosity in case of autosomal recessive traits, or mosaic aneuploidy [2]. Here we present the first case of parental UPD for chromosome 7 with a normal phenotype.


The use of deep networks has improved the state of the art in various domains of AI, making practical applications possible. At the same time, there are increasing calls to make learning systems more transparent and explainable, due to concerns that they might develop biases in their internal representations that might lead to unintended discrimination, when applied to sensitive personal decisions. The use of vast subsymbolic distributed representations has made this task very difficult. We suggest that we can learn a lot about the biases and the internal representations of a deep network without having to unravel its connections, but by adopting the old psychological approach of analysing its slips of the tongue. We demonstrate in a practical example that an analysis of the confusion matrix can reveal that a CNN has represented a biological task in a way that reflects our understanding of taxonomy, inferring more structure than it was requested to by the training algorithm. In particular, we show how a CNN trained to recognise animal families, contains also higher order information about taxa such as the superfamily, parvorder, suborder and order for example. We speculate that various forms of psycho-metric testing for neural networks might provide us insight about their inner workings.


Which possibilities are there for cultivating critical, creative, artistic and ethical thinking in collaboration with a major corporation in a student project? The project explored in this article involved first-year students enrolled in a BA product design course at the Oslo Metropolitan University. The research approach combined methods such as practice-led research with students, photo-elicitation interviews, autoethnographic writing and reflections. The article attends to potentials and failures in critical, creative and artistic practices that aim to challenge problematic modes of production in society today. The project initially set out to explore critical modes of creativity and making practices that are different from commercial design. However, the same project was embraced by Ikea, who both sponsored it and exhibited the final results. This embrace may have the effect of zeroing out, countering or incorporating attempts to be critical towards commercial design.


This paper proposes a method to count vehicles from an in-vehicle camera image by regression based on car parts detection. In the case of an in-vehicle camera image, since vehicles are frequently occluded by other vehicles in traffic congestion, it is difficult to accurately count vehicles. Therefore, we propose a method to count vehicles by regression based on the number of visible car parts. For this, we make an estimator by learning the relation between the number of visible car parts and that of vehicles by Support Vector Regression. We evaluated our method using in-vehicle camera images recorded in an actual environment, where the proposed method performed better than counting detected vehicles.


Purpose: This study was conducted to examine the effect of multidimensional program on cognition, physical function and depression among institutionalized elderly and the relationship between study variables and resident's characteristics and health related variables. Method: This study involved a one group pre and post test, comparison of variables over a 12 month period. To investigate this research question, data of 114 residents of a nursing home were analyzed. Results: There was statistically significant difference in MMSE-K (t=-2.63, p=.010), ADL (t=-2.85, p=.005), and depression (t=4.66, p=.000) before and after program participation. Conclusion: These results indicate that, for a year their regular involvement in a broad spectrum of multidimensional program activities can improve in cognitive, physical and emotional perspectives, but the level of IADL decreased significantly (t=-6.72, p=.000). Further testing is required with the control group, to compare with community resident elders in order to explore the effects on social skill of elderly.


The manufacturing organizations today are having a competition of supply chain versus supply chain. Existing research work fails to relate human metrics with supply chain performance. The authors intend to empirically assess the effects of human metrics on supply chain performance in the context of Indian manufacturing organizations. A rigorous literature review has identified 12 variables. The variables are individually measured and later on reduced in number by factor analysis. As a pilot study, primary data is collected from 100 manufacturing organizations by means of a questionnaire, both offline and online, which is administered across India and a scale is developed. t-test and factor analysis resulted in 3 factors related to human metrics. The outcomes of the research work provide valuable implications for the Indian manufacturing organizations to understand the factors affecting supply chain performance.


Background: The discovery of oncogenic mutations as potential targets for cancer therapy has revolutionized the treatment of GIST and other cancers. However, adaptive resistance ultimately develops in nearly all patients, which emphasizes the need for a more detailed understanding of the underlying molecular profile. Methods: Using the Personalis ImmunoID NeXT Platform® (Personalis, Inc.; Menlo Park, CA), an augmented exome/transcriptome platform and analysis pipeline, we performed whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole transcriptome total RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) of paired baseline tumor and normal tissue. NeXT Liquid Biopsy™ (Personalis, Inc.) was used for WES of plasma-derived ctDNA from serially collected samples collected at baseline, after 1 month and at progression to experimental systemic therapies in 15 patients with advanced/metastatic GIST. Results: WES of tumor tissue samples from all 15 patients confirmed underlying KIT mutation in all patients. There was large heterogeneity of other molecular alterations, which included therapeutically relevant molecular alterations, such as microsatellite instability-high (MSI-high) in 1 sample. RNA-Seq of tumor tissue revealed recurrent overexpression of GALR2, NY-ESO-1 and other genes involved in cancer progression, angiogenesis and anticancer immunity. Patients with response to systemic therapies demonstrated lower levels of cytolytic activity measured by CYT score in tumor tissue compared to patients without response (P=0.04). KIT mutations were detected in serially collected ctDNA samples from 12 (80%) of 15 patients. Quantity of KIT and other mutant ctDNA dynamically tracked the clonal evolution and clinical course during systemic therapy. Conclusions: Comprehensive genomic profiling (WES and RNA-Seq) of tumor tissue and WES of serially collected ctDNA is feasible and detects underlying druggable KIT mutations and other molecular alterations. Citation Format: Niamh Coleman, Charles Abbot, Neeta Somaiah, Sarina Piha-Paul, Shubham Pant, Jordi Rodon, S. Greg Call, Sean Boyle, Funda Meric-Bernstam, Filip Janku. Whole exome sequencing of tumor tissue and circulating tumor DNA ingastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2021; 2021 Apr 10-15 and May 17-21. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(13_Suppl):Abstract nr LB057.


ABSTRACT The herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) Us8A gene overlaps the gene that encodes glycoprotein E (gE). Previous studies have investigated the roles of Us8A in HSV-1 infection using null mutations in Us8A and gE; therefore, the role of Us8A remains to be elucidated. In this study, we investigated the function of Us8A and its phosphorylation at serine 61 (Ser-61), which we recently identified as a phosphorylation site by mass spectrometry-based phosphoproteomic analysis of HSV-1-infected cells, in HSV-1 pathogenesis. We observed that (i) the phosphorylation of Us8A Ser-61 in infected cells was dependent on the activity of the virus-encoded Us3 protein kinase; (ii) the Us8A null mutant virus exhibited a 10-fold increase in the 50% lethal dose for virulence in the central nervous system (CNS) of mice following intracranial infection compared with a repaired virus; (iii) replacement of Ser-61 with alanine (S61A) in Us8A had little effect on virulence in the CNS of mice following intracranial infection, whereas it significantly reduced the mortality of mice following ocular infection to levels similar to the Us8A null mutant virus; (iv) the Us8A S61A mutation also significantly reduced viral yields in mice following ocular infection, mainly in the trigeminal ganglia and brains; and (v) a phosphomimetic mutation at Us8A Ser-61 restored wild-type viral yields and virulence. Collectively, these results indicate that Us8A is a novel HSV-1 virulence factor and suggest that the Us3-mediated phosphorylation of Us8A Ser-61 regulates Us8A function for viral invasion into the CNS from peripheral sites. IMPORTANCE The DNA genomes of viruses within the subfamily Alphaherpesvirinae are divided into unique long (UL) and unique short (Us) regions. Us regions contain alphaherpesvirus-specific genes. Recently, high-throughput sequencing of ocular isolates of HSV-1 showed that Us8A was the most highly conserved of 13 herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) genes mapped to the Us region, suggesting Us8A may have an important role in the HSV-1 life cycle. However, the specific role of Us8A in HSV-1 infection remains to be elucidated. Here, we show that Us8A is a virulence factor for HSV-1 infection in mice, and the function of Us8A for viral invasion into the central nervous system from peripheral sites is regulated by Us3-mediated phosphorylation of the protein at Ser-61. This is the first study to report the significance of Us8A and its regulation in HSV-1 infection.


Is water a resource to be used for public benefit or an owned commodity that can be bought and sold? The debate has raged for years. Yet, during that time, little has changed. The need for new water supplies is becoming more critical, and no uniform model that can be used to manage water resources exists. The author encourages the water industry to leave the old debate behind and find a new model that unites a respect for water with options for fair, efficient delivery to all users ‐ agricultural, industrial, and urban. A model called managed stewardship is proposed as a jumping off point for further discussion. Managed stewardship is characterized by a regulatory administrative system that balances demand with long‐term public interest, the management of water use on a watershed basis, the preservation of riparian rights for trustworthy water stewards, increased conservation, creative solutions to the urban‐rural water allocation issue, and the support provided by legislation and consistent funding.


This paper analyzes the current reference calculation for the control of grid-connected voltage source converters meant to operate under voltage unbalanced sags produced by grid faults. The well-known reference calculation method that allows to control the active power ripple produced by the existence of negative-sequence components in the grid voltage is extensively analyzed. A type of voltage sag that produces unfeasible current reference values is identified and a possible workaround is proposed. Also, the need to compensate the power ripple produced by the filter inductance of the converter is demonstrated and an extension of the calculation method to compensate for this is introduced. The theoretical results are confirmed using simulation tools and experimental tests.


The most convincing evidence of the segmental position of disease of the spinal cord is the objective demonstration of a dermatomic level of sensory loss. When such a demonstration is not possible, pain of segmental distribution, localized atrophy and changes in the reflexes may be the deciding factors in determining the site of the lesion. The autonomic nervous system has contributed little to the diagnostic localization of morbid processes affecting the spinal cord. This little understood system has mystified rather than aided the clinicians, a fact which doubtless is the logical corollary of the meager knowledge of the physiology of that system. This study is an effort to determine whether the sympathetic system can be made to assist in the localization of disease in the spinal cord. When the usual response to stimulation of the sympathetic system is known, a deviation from that norm may be interpreted as due to


This paper proposes a novel method based on the time-frequency coherent representation for quantifying synchronization of multi-channel signals with high resolution. The presented wavelet-coherent technique provides the information regarding both the degree of coherence and the relation of phase difference. The wavelet coherence enables to provide the synchronization and the direction of information flow between two-channel signals. In addition, real EEG recordings are collected based on the cognitive targets during sentences identification and the wavelet coherence is employed for the analysis of the multi-channel EEG signals. It is observed from both the magnitude spectra and phase of the wavelet coherence that there are obvious differences between two kinds of cognitive activities. Finally, some results are illustrated with both simulation and real EEG lime series to show the effectiveness of the method.


The main objective of this research work is to study the effect of Silicon Nitride (Si3N4 ) and Flyash on the mechanical and tribological properties of AA 7075 hybrid composite. The Stir casting technique has been used for the fabrication of composite material. sAA 7075 were reinforced with 2 wt. % of Silicon Nitride and 2.5, 5, 7.5 wt. % of Flyash. Pin-on-disc equipment is used to evaluate the wear rate of the base alloy and hybrid composite. Dry sliding wear test were performed with the contact load which is varied by 10, 20 & 30 N. Sliding velocity is varied by 1, 1.5 and 2 m/s. Sliding distance is kept constant at 1000 m. The Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Energy Dispersive X Ray Spectroscopy (EDAX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used for the characterization of the composites. The maximum hardness of 173 HV is achieved for 5 wt% Flyash and 2 wt% of Silicon Nitride addition. The percentage increase in hardness is 155 % above the base metal. AA 7075 with the 5 wt % reinforcement of Flyash shows the minimum wear rate. With respect to the base the wear rate is reduced by 59 %.


Summary. Hereditary bullous epidermolysis (BE) is a group of genetically and clinically heterogeneous diseases characterized by the formation of blisters and erosion due to injury on the skin and mucous membranes. Different forms of BE can be accompanied by various extracutaneous complications, such as blisters and erosion on the cornea and mucous membranes, stenoses and strictures of the respiratory system, gastrointestinal tract, urinary system, muscular dystrophy, and malignant tumors.
Hereditary bullous epidermolysis is divided into three types, depending on the level of blister formation: simple, borderline, and dystrophic. Simple BE is characterized by the stratification of epidermis due to the keratinocyte cytolysis.  Borderline BE means that blisters are formed at the border of the epidermis and dermis due to the splitting of the lamina of the basement membrane (lamina lucida), while dystrophic BE has blisters that are formed under the dense plate of the basement membrane (lamina densa), which exfoliates the dermis.
Currently, mutations have been identified in more than 10 genes encoding the structural proteins of keratinocytes and the basal membrane of the skin and mucous membranes. A common feature of these proteins is their involvement in the formation of strong bonds between the epithelium and the basement membrane. The nature of the mutations and their localization determine the severity of the clinical manifestations of BE. Mutation information is a prerequisite for effective medical and genetic counseling, prenatal and preimplantation DNA diagnosis.
Therefore diagnosis and prescribing appropriate treatment and follow-up care is an important task for neonatologists and pediatric dermatologists. As manifestations of hereditary BE are numerous, a specialized center is required for optimal care, where multidisciplinary care will be provided (neonatologists, pediatric surgeons, pediatric dermatologists, etc.).
The purpose of clinical observation is to pay attention of specialists to this rare disease, and to present 2 clinical cases of bullous epidermolysis in newborns who were admitted to the anesthesiology and intensive care unit of newborns of Vinnytsia Regional Children's Clinical Hospital almost at the same time.


This paper examines the recent literature on meta-cognitive processes in non-human animals, arguing that in each case the data admit of a simpler, purely first-order, explanation. The topics discussed include the alleged monitoring of states of certainty and uncertainty, knowledge-seeking behavior in conditions of uncertainty, and the capacity to know whether or not the information needed to solve some problem is stored in memory. The first-order explanations advanced all assume that beliefs and desires come in various different strengths, or degrees.


Abstract Three perennial C4 rhizomatous species, Cyperus longus L., Spartina cynosuroides and Spartina pectinata Link, were examined as potential renewable energy crops. These species are unusual among C4 plants in showing natural distributions which extend into cool temperate regions. This study examined whether these species could be established in the cool temperate climate of eastern England and whether they could consistently attain the relatively high dry matter yields associated with C4 plants of warmer regions. Clonally produced material was planted in 1986, on two sites with contrasting soil types in Essex, eastern England. Planting was within a randomized-block design incorporating replicated plots of each species, both with and without fertilizer. Survivorship and stem demography were monitored at monthly intervals from 1986 to Jun. 1989 for stem recruitment and to Dec. 1991 for stem density. Yields were determined from 1987 (the year following establishment) to 1993. Survivorship of the planted propagules over the first 12 months was 92% for S. pectinata , 96% for S. cynosuroides and 100% for C. longus. Recruitment of new stems peaked in Apr. of most years, although a significant number of new stems appeared as early as Feb. Stem death peaked in Sep. or early Oct. and all above-ground stems had died by mid-Nov. Stem density trends indicated that 2-4 years were required to reach a steady-state density, depending upon species. The stem density of the two Spartina species had reached more than 1000 m-2 in 1989 although that of S. pectinata fluctuated considerably in the subsequent years. C. longus stem density rose to approx. 600 m-2 by 1988 and did not change significantly in the subsequent years. In the 6 years following establishment, annual yields averaged across all fertilizer treatments and both sites were 1·0, 1·1 and 1·3 kg m-2 for C. longus, S. cynosuroides and S. pectinata, respectively. The average annual yield of all three species at the site with the heavier soil was 1·3 kg m-2. This was significantly greater than the 1·0 kg m-2 on the lighter soil. Nitrogen addition did not significantly increase yield. Even in the absence of any nitrogen addition, the annual yield of S. pectinata averaged 1·2 kg m-2 over the 6 years, with no evidence of any decline with the increasing age of the stands.