It is well documented that diffusion has generally a strong effect on the binding kinetics in the microtiter plate immunoassays. However, a systematic quantitative experimental evaluation of the microspot kinetics is still missing in the literature. Our work aims at filling this important gap of knowledge on the example of antigen binding to antibody microspots. A mathematical model was derived within the framework of two‐compartment model and applied to the quantitative analysis of the experimental data obtained for typical antibody microspot assays. A strong mass‐transport dependence of the antigen‐antibody microspot kinetics was identified to be one of the main restrictions of this new technology. The binding reactions are slowed down in the microspot immunoassays by several orders of magnitude as compared with the corresponding well‐stirred bulk reactions. The task to relax the mass‐transport limitations should thus be one of the most important issues in designing the antibody microarrays. These limitations notwithstanding, the detection range of more than five orders of magnitude and the high sensitivity in the low femtomolar range were experimentally achieved in our study, demonstrating thus an enormous potential of this highly capable technology.


The colon is a major site for fermentation and water absorption in the ostrich. Water absorption along the colon was evaluated and its relationship to osmolality, Na+ concentration, short chain fatty acid (SCFA) concentration and carbohydrate content of digesta analysed. Mean water content decreased from 5.30 +/- 0.99 to 2.51 +/- 0.13 mf/g dry mass in the first 5 m of the colon. Correspondingly, mean carbohydrate content fell from 529.85 +/- 46.61 to 434.99 +/- 29.89 mg/g dry mass. A significant correlation was shown between the decreases in mean carbohydrate and water content along the colon (r2 = 0.997, P < 0.05). Changes in mean osmolality (+/- 10 mOsm/kg) and SCFA concentration (+/- 7 mmol/l) were minimal in comparison to the change in Na+ concentration (-54 mmol/l). These findings reflect a close coupling between SCFA production and absorption on the one hand and water absorption on the other.


It is the chief purpose of this communication to describe a transient postoperative glaucoma observed after uncomplicated intracapsular cataract extraction apparently associated with the use of α-chymotrypsin. My attention was first directed to this phenomenon in February of 1960 when unexplained corneal edema was observed in the first postoperative week and measurement of the intraocular pressure with the Schiotz tonometer revealed the surprisingly high tension of 57 mm Hg. Several similar cases soon followed, and these findings led to the development of a clinical study to attempt to delineate the possible role of α-chymotrypsin in causing this glaucoma. Material and Method Postoperative Schiotz tonometry was performed, beginning on the first day after uncomplicated intracapsular cataract surgery, on 343 nonglaucomatous eyes of private patients operated upon by me using a standard technique. The study was continued on 31 eyes with cataract and known open-angle glaucoma. A fornix-based flap was used, at


We appreciate the reviewers' careful reading of the manuscript and their valuable comments that have led to improvements in the manuscript. The reviewer comments, our replies, and our updates to the manuscript are sequentially listed, as follows: 1. The Hatch-Choate relationships are not defined or referenced, and it is not clear what is meant by saying that the "parameters for the surface and volume distributions satisfy" the relationships. They must, since they are lognormal descriptions of the data, and the Hatch-Choate relationships are defined for lognormal distributions.


breast reduction surgery. Nipple shields are now discussed from a more positive standpoint, with gentle suggestions as to when the use of temporary interventions may be of benefit to maintain lactation. The layout has a modern appearance with an attractive font for mothers' stories. I especially like that the entire Marmet Technique of Manual Expression information is now presented but am concerned about its being missed because of its placement in the back of the book. Inclusion of useful websites is a welcome addition, but the offering is limited. Overall, it is still a wonderful guide for new mothers at a cost that remains reasonable for this timeless classic.


The paper presents a comparative analysis of several methods for recognition of test-object po-sition in a thermal image when setting and testing characteristics of thermal image channels in an automated mode. We consider methods of image recognition based on the correlation image com-parison, Viola-Jones method, LeNet classificatory convolutional neural network, GoogleNet (In-ception v.1) classificatory convolutional neural network, and a deep-learning-based convolutional neural network of Single-Shot Multibox Detector (SSD) VGG16 type. The best performance is reached via using the deep-learning-based convolutional neural network of the VGG16-type. The main advantages of this method include robustness to variations in the test object size; high values of accuracy and recall parameters; and doing without additional methods for RoI (region of inter-est) localization.


High energy physics colliders have been contributing discoveries of and judgments on particles since the early 20th century. One of the well-known high-energy particle colliders is the large hadron collider (LHC), and its proton-proton collision energies have recently been 7, 8 and 13 TeV with the goal of reaching 14 TeV, which is the maximum capacity of the LHC. However, more physics are still to be explored and tested beyond the energy region of the LHC. Therefore, a new collider bigger than the LHC machine, which will be able to collide protons at a 100-TeV center-of-mass energy, is under consideration by the high-energy physics community. To provide insight into the transition from the LHC to the 100-TeV collider, we investigated some properties of the Z process in the collision-energy range from 7 to 100 TeV by using the HERAPDF2.0, MMHT2014, NNPDF3.1 and CT14 next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) parton distribution function (PDF) models at NNLO quantum chromodynamics (QCD). The considered properties are the production rate of the Z boson, the change in the uncertainties caused by the collision energy (PDF, renormalization and factorization scales, strong coupling constant, model and parameterization), the forward-backward asymmetry, and the k-factor of the Z boson.


Atherosclerosis predominantly affects systemic arteries as compared to pulmonary arteries; however, the reasons for this differential predilection are not clear. Oxidative damage caused by free radicals is a key initiating event in atherogenesis and the lungs are able to produce large quantities of free radicals even under physiological conditions. The present study investigated whether pulmonary venous blood reaching the aorta contained greater quantities of lipid peroxides, a marker of oxidative stress, compared to the pulmonary artery. Aortic and pulmonary artery blood samples were collected at the time of cardiac catheterization from 45 consecutive patients (38% female) without acute coronary event and free of other medical disorders, who were scheduled to undergo coronary angiography for anginal chest pain. Lipid peroxides were measured in terms of malondialdehyde (MDA). MDA levels were significantly higher in the aorta compared to the pulmonary artery (4.93±1.97 vs. 3.36±1.14 nmol/ml; P<0.001); the difference was significant in patients with angiographic coronary artery disease (CAD) (P<0.001) compared to the patients without CAD (P=0.071). Higher aortic MDA levels were associated with the presence of CAD even following adjustment for major risk factors. The results of the present study demonstrate that aortic blood contains significantly greater levels of lipid peroxides compared to pulmonary artery. This differential oxidative stress between systemic and pulmonary arteries could provide a mechanistic explanation for their difference in the propensity to develop atherosclerosis.


To the Editor. —The comprehensive and timely article by Drs Manning and Petit1is a welcome explication of continuing medical education (CME) practices, problems, and potential. As a colleague in the field and recent chairman of the Accreditation Council for CME, I applaud their analysis of the evolution of CME and the delineation of methods and policies, some of which continue to inhibit fulfillment of CME potential as an effective force in quality patient care. Three aspects warrant comment. First, accreditation of CME sponsors by the Accreditation Council and by state medical societies, coupled with monitoring of the process by the Council's Committee on Review and Recognition, provides a rational foundation for reasonably uniform standards of CME organization and administration. The Essentials and Guidelines give CME sponsors a systematic process by which to achieve educational integrity for CME offerings. Such accreditation is a necessary "first step." Second, mandatory CME,


Trillium nivale Riddell (TRILLIACEAE)— Rockingham County: Approximately 4.0 km N of Keezletown, off of Mountain Valley Road, at the end of Walnut Hill Drive on forested hillside; 38u26.6509N, 078u46.3179W; elevation ca. 526 m; 30 March 2008. Conley K. McMullen 891 (photo) (JMUH). Significance. This is the first collection of T. nivale (snow trillium) from Rockingham County, and the second report for Virginia. An earlier collection was made near Forks of Waters in Highland County by Charles E. Stevens on 17 April 1983 [Charles E. Stevens 18455 (VPI)]. The specific location listed by Stevens is ''wooded, limestone bluff of South Branch Potomac River ca. 0.15 mi S of where West Virginia line crosses river.'' Stevens lists the elevation as 2330 ft. Trillium nivale is also found in Pendleton County, West Virginia, which borders both Rockingham and Highland Counties. Although considered rare in West Virginia, it is also listed for the counties of Cabell, Grant, Preston, Randolph, and Tucker (Harmon et al. 2006). The Cabell County record was likely planted and has not been observed since the mid-1970s (Paul J. Harmon pers. comm.). Other states reporting T. nivale include Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Wisconsin (Case 2002). This species is found primarily at the southern edge of Pleistocene glaciation, and tends to prefer areas devoid of humus, leaf litter, and other plants (Case 2002). *email address: email@example.com Received May 8, 2008; Accepted July 18, 2008.


Indian Ocean is the home to rare flora and fauna that act as the bio-shield to many coastal communities. Indian Ocean experienced the world's most deadly natural disaster "Tsunami" on 26 December, 2004, which on one hand is unparallel in the history considering its magnitude and devastation and on the other hand, caused an unprecedented impact on the aqua and aqua terrestrial ecosystems. One of the worst effected flora is the mangrove species that is among the richest in the world. There are places where vast pristine tracts of mangroves have been destroyed and it may pose a long-term threat for the region, not only in terms of forest and biodiversity conservation but also in terms of the ability of the ecosystem to support the livelihoods and the coastal communities. The tragedy of Tsunami invoked the rationale for conserving and sustainably managing natural ecosystems among the researchers and scientific community. The present research was carried out to make a post Tsunami evaluation of India's most ecologically fragile areas of Gulf of Mannar and South Andaman Island. Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS 1C) and (IRS 1D) LISS (Linear Imaging Self Scanner)-III and Resourcesat –I LISS IV data have been effectively used to detect, assess and monitor the changes in the mangroves in the Pre and Post Tsunami period using multi-temporal optical satellite data. On-screen visual interpretation was done using FCC of the data to identify the heterogeneous patches for the preliminary classification of fieldwork. A supervised classification was performed using Gaussian Maximum Likelihood (GML) classifier to obtain the pre and post Tsunami land cover maps. Accuracy assessment of the classified maps was performed on pixel level using ground truth. The changes in the pre and post classification maps were performed by comparison of area basis based on different land use classes. The result highlighted the changes in the spatial extent of the mangroves and other land cover categories in the study areas as a result of Tsunami. The Damage map showed the degree (intensity) and extent of damage in mangroves on a qualitative basis.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Plasma phosphate levels display considerable intraindividual variability. The phosphatonin fibroblast growth factor 23 is a central regulator of plasma phosphate levels, and it has been postulated to be a more stable marker than conventional CKD-mineral and bone disorder parameters. Thus, fibroblast growth factor 23 has been hypothesized to reflect time-averaged plasma phosphate levels in CKD patients.

DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS
Among 40 patients from the outpatient dialysis center, serial measurements of plasma calcium and phosphate (before every dialysis session) as well as C-terminal fibroblast growth factor 23, parathyroid hormone, and alkaline phosphatase (one time weekly) were performed over a study period of 4 weeks in November and December of 2011. Intraindividual variability of repeated plasma fibroblast growth factor 23 measurements compared with other CKD-mineral and bone disorder markers was tested, and the association of a single plasma fibroblast growth factor 23 measurement with time-averaged plasma phosphate levels was analyzed.

RESULTS
Against expectations, intraindividual variability of fibroblast growth factor 23 (median coefficient of variation=27%; interquartile range=20-35) was not lower than variability of plasma phosphate (median coefficient of variation=15%; interquartile range=10-20), parathyroid hormone (median coefficient of variation=24%; interquartile range=15-39), plasma calcium (median coefficient of variation=3%; interquartile range=2-4), or alkaline phosphatase (median coefficient of variation=5%; interquartile range=3-10). Moreover, the correlation between the last fibroblast growth factor 23 measurement after 4 weeks and time-averaged plasma phosphate did not surpass the correlation between the last fibroblast growth factor 23 measurement and a single plasma phosphate value (r=0.67, P<0.001; r=0.76, P<0.001, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS
Surprisingly, fibroblast growth factor 23 was not more closely associated to time-averaged plasma phosphate levels than a single plasma phosphate value, and it did not show a lower intraindividual variability than other tested markers of CKD-mineral and bone disorder. Thus, fibroblast growth factor 23 should not be used in clinical practice as a reflector of time-averaged plasma phosphate levels.


In the wake of the Cold War, democracy has gained the status of a mantra. Yet there is no consensus about how to conceptualize and measure regimes such that meaningful comparisons can be made through time and across countries. In this prescriptive article, we argue for a new approach to conceptualization and measurement. We first review some of the weaknesses among traditional approaches. We then lay out our approach, which may be characterized as historical,multidimensional,disaggregated, and transparent. We end by reviewing some of the payoffs such an approach might bring to the study of democracy.


Background: Epithelial iris cysts are derived due to genetic factors or caused by ocular trauma. Case Report: We report the case of a five-year-old boy with blurred vision after a rubber bullet toy hit his left eye. There was a wide iris cyst of more than 180o in extent, attached to the corneal endothelium on the nasal side, with a still clear cornea. His vision in affected eye reduced to hand movement with intraocular pressure of 40 mmHg. The whole cornea was edematous and the iris cyst had grown significantly in terms of size. We performed a successful iris cyst removal followed by Ahmed drainage implant that resulted in moderate visual improvement. Conclusion: Iris cyst can develop secondary to neglected ocular trauma.


Here we derive an approximate turbulent self-similar model for a class of favorable pressure gradient wedge-like flows, focusing on the stagnation point limit. While the self-similar model provides a useful gross flow field estimate this approach must be combined with a near wall model is to determine skin friction and by Reynolds analogy the heat transfer coefficient. The combined approach is developed in detail for the stagnation point flow problem where turbulent skin friction and Nusselt number results are obtained. Comparison to the classical Van Driest (1958) result suggests overall reasonable agreement. Though the model is only valid near the stagnation region of cylinders and spheres it nonetheless provides a reasonable model for overall cylinder and sphere heat transfer. The enhancement effect of free stream turbulence upon the laminar flow is used to derive a similar expression which is valid for turbulent flow. Examination of free stream enhanced laminar flow suggests that the rather than enhancement of a laminar flow behavior free stream disturbance results in early transition to turbulent stagnation point behavior. Excellent agreement is shown between enhanced laminar flow and turbulent flow behavior for high levels, e.g. 5% of free stream turbulence. Finally the blunt body turbulent stagnation results are shown to provide realistic heat transfer results for turbulent jet impingement problems.


A 65-year-old woman with no significant medical history was brought to the emergency room after experiencing 2 weeks of band-like occipital headaches and 2 days of progressive mental status changes. Her neurologic examination was significant for decreased alertness, disorientation to time, confabulation, loss of recent and remote memory, diffuse hyperreflexia, and a left Hoffmann sign. MRI of the brain with contrast showed bilateral subdural hygromas, diffuse enhancement of the dura mater, with mild sagging of the brainstem suggestive of intracranial hypotension (figure 1, A and B). MRI of the spine showed a large collection of CSF in the lumbar epidural space (figure 2A); however, the tear site was not identified. EEG also revealed generalized slowing with no evidence of seizure activity. Her mental status continued to deteriorate despite conservative measures such as aggressive hydration, caffeine intake, and bedrest in the Trendelenburg position. A head CT was ordered for worsening mental status and revealed symmetric hypoattenuation of the bilateral parasagittal occipital cortices consistent with PRES (figure 2B), a finding that was not present on the initial MRI. She then received an emergent lumbar epidural blood patch, resulting in dramatic improvement in mental status several hours later. She was discharged without any focal neurologic deficits. An MRI performed 10 days later revealed no evidence of PRES in the occipital region. An MRI of the lumbar spine performed 5 weeks later showed resolution of the fluid collection (figure 3).


Introduccion: Cytokeratins (CK) are molecules of the cytoskeleton that contribute to the cellular differenciation. We studied the expression of CK1, CK13 and CK14 in thirty-three patients with OLP. The biopsied lesions were located in the dorsal surface of the tongue, the palatal keratinized mucosa and the nonkeratinized buccal mucosa. Objectives: This study aimed to determine the expression of CK1, CK13 and CK14 in oral lichen planus (OLP) and its relations with: clinical patterns, prognosis, drugs and tobacco intake and histopathological features. Study Design: Immunohistochemical analysis, retrospective, descriptive, observational and no randomized study. Results: No significant difference was observed in the expression of CK1 in patients with or without drug treatment. No association was found with the amount of drugs intake or smoking nor with the histopathological features examined. Samples immunostained with CK13 were all positive in the suprabasal layers, and 13 of them in the basal layer. In these last ones, statistical analysis showed significance in the grade of vacuolization of the basal layer (p=0.023) and in the degree of exocytosis (p=0.0025), this, making the degree of affection higher for both parameters. Thirty-two tissue sections were immunostained with CK14. CK14 was expressed in the basal layer in 97% of samples and in the suprabasal layer in 94% of samples. Conclusions: The three CK were altered in OLP. CK1 does not have a direct connection with the presence of orthokeratosis. The finding of the CK13 in the basal layer is related to the agression of the lymphocytic infiltration in the epithelium, due to the basal stratum vacuolization and the increase in lymphocytic exocitosis. The presence of CK14 in the suprabasal stratums is not a parameter to predict malignancy. The CK in OLP do not follow the normal pattern of keratinized or non-keratinized mucosa. Key words:Basal cell vacuolization, CK1, CK13, CK14, cytokeratin, lymphocytic exocytosis, oral lichen planus.


An attempt was made to extend social exchange theory to a situation in which the outcomes available for exchanges were of qualitatively different sorts. Male Ss judged the creativity of sentences constructed by female accomplices under conditions of high versus low 'attractiveness' (presence or absence of smiling and eye contact) of the accomplice and high versus low cost of judgemental accuracy to the S. An interaction between Attractiveness × Cost was predicted and found in experiment 1. Experiment 2 replicated that finding and added two control conditions. The results indicated that for the high attractiveness manipulation the positive reciprocity tendency which occurred under low cost was not found under higher cost. In addition, both studies showed a non-significant negative reciprocity tendency under high attractiveness and high cost. Jones' theory of ingratiation was examined for its relevancy, but it does not appear to be more appropriate in this situation than the reward-cost model.


Although advances in technology and the biological understanding of cancer pathogenesis have brought the goal of personalized cancer medicine closer, important challenges remain in several areas. One such challenge is the reliable and sensitive detection of somatic mutations in clinical tumor specimens. Somatic mutation detection in clinical tumor specimens is confounded by biological variables such as the percentage of tumor cells in a specimen, stromal contamination, sequence quality (particularly in DNA derived from formalin-fixed clinical samples), tumor heterogeneity and ploidy considerations. These and other experimental factors can lead to allele signal ratios very different from the 1:0, 1:1 or 0:1 ratio expected for a classically-defined SNP. Germline genotyping using the Sequenom MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry platform has been used to reliably detect single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in a wide variety of samples. The automated genotype calling algorithm included with the Sequenom platform falters, however, when the ratio of allele peak signals for a given assay in a specific sample do not approximate the native algorithm9s expectations of frequency, confounding accurate genotype calling by the system. We report here a cancer-specific algorithm for sensitive genotype calling of somatic mutations, based on an independent clustering of raw allele peak data for each assay run, and the identification and stratification of outliers from an empirical background ('wildtype') cluster of genotypes. Outliers from this cluster are then evaluated using a number of criteria to determine the quality and performance of the overall assay run, as well as the individual call; these factors include the relative signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of each allele peak, the ratio of variant allele peak height to peak area, the percentage of signal lost in unextended probe (UEP) and relative distance of a putative mutation call from the wildtype cluster In a scatter plot of peak area values. Based on these criteria, a confidence value is assigned to each candidate outlier, allowing for stratification and prioritization of these candidates for validation. We applied the algorithm to samples run against the our OncoMap genotyping panel, comprised of 460 assays interrogating mutations in 33 cancer-associated genes. Candidate mutations produced by this algorithm correlate strongly with those called by users manually, and use of the algorithm increases the sensitivity and reliability of the OncoMap platform to detect somatic mutations in clinical tumor samples, particularly in FFPE-derived material. The algorithm code and documentation will be made publicly available in a form compatible with most Sequenom genotyping platform installations. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3965. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-3965


In this writing, the author does a study about the role of teachers in utilizing learning media as a source of learning for millennial students. This study departs from the anxiety of the author about the condition of the teachers in the digital era. The author sees that at this time some teachers have difficulties in dealing with millennial students. Based on this problem, the authors do a study about the role of teachers in utilizing learning media empirically. Based on the study which did by the authors in this paper, three important point must be done by teachers in dealing with millennial students, that are: first, teachers can take advantage of all forms of technological development. Technological progress is something that cannot be avoided in this life, so the teacher should not be allergic to all forms of development that exist. Second, teachers can understand the power of the media as a source of learning. The benefit of learning media is determining the quality of learning delivered by a teacher. Therefore, teachers need to prepare learning media before teaching in class. After that, the teacher has to understand the needs of the millennial students. The needs of millennial students are not the same, but at least the presence of teachers provides solutions both cognitive, affective and psychomotor. The uniqueness of the teacher, in this case, is a teacher can act as anything as long as it can influence student behavior towards positive actions, even those students can become actors of the progress of the media. This is evident from the student activities that have been narrated in this paper


Naidid worms were sorted from 27 samples of aquatic macrophyta including ceratophyllum demersum , Potamogeton crispus and, Hydrilla verticellat with associated filamentous algae were collected from Euphrates River at Al-Mussayab city, 60 Km southwest Baghdad. The result of sorted worms revealed the presence of eight species of subfamily Naidinae, which are consider as new records for Iraq, including Stephensoniana trivandrana; Paranais frici, Ophidonais serpentine, Specaria josinae, Dero (Dero) evelinae , Dero (Aulophorus) indicus , Nais pseudobtusa and finally N. stolci. This investigation includes morphological descriptions for each species illustrated by identification criteria photos.


Modern microbial and ecosystem sciences require diverse interdisciplinary teams that are often challenged in "speaking" to one another due to different languages and data product types. Here we introduce the IsoGenie Database (IsoGenieDB; https://isogenie-db.asc.ohio-state.edu/), a de novo developed data management and exploration platform, as a solution to this challenge of accurately representing and integrating heterogenous environmental and microbial data across ecosystem scales. The IsoGenieDB is a public and private data infrastructure designed to store and query data generated by the IsoGenie Project, a ~10 year DOE-funded project focused on discovering ecosystem climate feedbacks in a thawing permafrost landscape. The IsoGenieDB provides (i) a platform for IsoGenie Project members to explore the project's interdisciplinary datasets across scales through the inherent relationships among data entities, (ii) a framework to consolidate and harmonize the datasets needed by the team's modelers, and (iii) a public venue that leverages the same spatially explicit, disciplinarily integrated data structure to share published datasets. The IsoGenieDB is also being expanded to cover the NASA-funded Archaea to Atmosphere (A2A) project, which scales the findings of IsoGenie to a broader suite of Arctic peatlands, via the umbrella A2A Database (A2A-DB). The IsoGenieDB's expandability and flexible architecture allow it to serve as an example ecosystems database.


Soccer is as popular as ever, and the sport attracts significant attention from spectators, sponsors, media, and academics. One aspect of the sport that has received relatively little attention, is the effect of the playing surface on the sporting performance of a team. In particular, this paper is concerned with measuring the performance of teams that switch from playing their games on natural grass to playing their games on artificial turf. It is shown that teams, on average, achieve improved results after switching, and that this, at least in part, can be explained by an increased home field advantage.


The representation of the usual integral dispersion relations (IDRs) of scattering theory through series of derivatives of the amplitudes is discussed, extended, simplified, and confirmed as mathematical identities. Forms of derivative dispersion relations (DDRs) valid for the whole energy interval, recently obtained and presented as double infinite series, are simplified through the use of new sum rules of the incomplete Γ functions, being reduced to single summations, where the usual convergence criteria are easily applied. For the forms of the imaginary amplitude used in phenomenology of hadronic scattering at high energies, we show that expressions for the DDR can represent, with absolute accuracy, the IDR of scattering theory, as true mathematical identities. Besides the fact that the algebraic manipulation can be easily understood, numerical examples show the accuracy of these representations up to the maximum available machine precision. As consequence of our work, it is concluded that the standard...


BACKGROUND
The emergence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has brought large challenges to dementia patients. We reviewed the existing literature on COVID-19 to assess the incidence and mortality of dementia comorbidities in COVID-19 patients.

OBJECTIVE
To investigate the impact of pre-existing dementia comorbidities on COVID-19.

METHODS
We searched the PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases for patients with preexisting dementia who were diagnosed with COVID-19. The statistical data on the prevalence and mortality of dementia comorbidities were examined. A fixed-or random-effect model was used to calculate the overall pooled risk estimates. Forest plots were generated to show the summarized results.

RESULTS
A total of 265 articles were retrieved from the three databases. After removing duplicates and performing two screenings, 10 articles were selected for meta-analysis, including 119,218 participants. Overall, the meta-analysis of the 10 studies showed that the incidence of dementia in COVID-19 patients was (R: 9%, [95% CI: 6% to 13%]). Moreover, the meta-analysis of 9 studies showed that the mortality rate of individuals with dementia after being infected with COVID-19 was higher than that of individuals with no dementia (OR: 5.17 [95% CI: 2.31 to 11.59]). Substantial heterogeneity was observed in this meta-analysis. Significant publication bias was also found.

CONCLUSION
Emerging literature shows that dementia comorbidities are a high risk factor for the prevalence and mortality of COVID-19. Our results should have an impact on preventive interventions and encourage more targeted approaches to prioritize older people with specific risk factors, such as dementia.


Consider the problem of allocating goods to buyers through an auction. An auction is efficient if the resulting allocation maximizes total welfare, conditional on the information available. If buyers have private values, the Vickrey-Groves-Clarke mechanism is efficient. If buyers have common values and a buyer's information can be summarized as a one-dimensional signal, Dasgupta and Maskin present an efficient auction. We construct an efficient auction mechanism in case buyer information is multidimensional, for a restricted class of valuation functions, and we prove which of the assumptions made are necessary for the existence of an efficient mechanism.


In the treatment of acute migraine, patients need a drug that provides convenient dosing and consistent effectiveness. All drugs in the triptan class are available in oral formulations, which are more convenient and acceptable than subcutaneous injection. One of these drugs, rizatriptan, is also available as an orally disintegrating tablet, which melts when placed on the tongue. This formulation provides an additional measure of convenience because patients do not need water to help swallow the tablet. Individual patients respond differently to different triptan drugs. For some patients, a specific triptan drug might not be effective for all of their migraine attacks, and a switch to a different drug in the same class might prove beneficial. Patients who do not respond consistently to sumatriptan, for example, might respond better to rizatriptan. Data from clinical trials indicate that rizatriptan may be somewhat more effective than sumatriptan for multiple migraine attacks.


Objective. The incidence of primary thyroid cancer has risen steadily over the past decades because of overdiagnosis and overtreatment through the improvement in imaging techniques for screening, especially in ultrasound examination. Metastatic status of lymph nodes is important for staging the type of primary thyroid cancer. Deep learning algorithms based on ultrasound images were thus developed to assist radiologists on the diagnosis of lymph node metastasis. The objective of this study is to integrate more clinical context (e.g., health records and various image modalities) into, and explore more interpretable patterns discovered by, deep learning algorithms for the prediction of lymph node metastasis in primary thyroid cancer patients. Approach. A deep multimodal learning network was developed in this study with a novel index proposed to compare the contribution of different modalities when making the predictions. Main results. The proposed multimodal network achieved an average F1 score of 0.888 and an average area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) value of 0.973 in two independent validation sets, and the performance was significantly better than that of three single-modality deep learning networks. Moreover, among three modalities used in this study, the deep multimodal learning network relied generally more on image modalities than the data modality of clinic records when making the predictions. Significance. Our work is beneficial to prospective clinic trials of radiologists on the diagnosis of lymph node metastasis in primary thyroid cancer, and will better help them understand how the predictions are made in deep multimodal learning algorithms.


Abstract Lampetra morri belongs to the Petromyzontidae family. It is one of the most important freshwater aquaculture species in China. In this study, the complete sequence of mitochondrial genome of L. morri was 16,451 base pair, including 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes, and 2 repeat regions. The percentage of G + C content was 39.33%. This is the first time of the mitochondrial genome of L. morri being sequenced, and it provides insights into the evolution of Cyclostomata mitochondrial genomes, particular in Lampetra family.


Summary Cryostat sections of livers from rats treated with carbon tetrachloride (CCL4) for 12 weeks were examined by indirect immunofluorescence for reactivity with human serum containing smooth muscle antibody (SMA). Increased binding of SMA serum to hepatocytes was observed as early as the first week of CCI4 treatment and remained enhanced during the 12 weeks of study. No difference in staining intensity was observed between pre‐cirrhotic liver parenchymal cells and hepatocytes in regenerative nodules of frankly cirrhotic livers. In addition, granulation tissue fibroblasts in cirrhotic livers showed strong reactivity with SMA serum. The specificity of the staining reaction for actin was established by its prevention on neutralization absorptions of the serum with homogenates of smooth muscle or extracts containing actin derived from smooth muscle. Circulating SMA was not demonstrated in the serum of rats at any phase of the study. The observations show that there is an increased expression of actin‐like protein in regenerating hepatocytes and granulation tissue fibroblasts in cirrhotic livers.


Histone proteins are subject to dynamic post-translational modifications (PTMs) that cooperatively modulate the chromatin structure and function. Nearly all functional PTMs are found on the N-terminal histone domains (tails) of ∼50 residues protruding from the nucleosome core. Using high-definition differential ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS) with electron transfer dissociation, we demonstrate rapid baseline gas-phase separation and identification of tails involving monomethylation, trimethylation, acetylation, or phosphorylation in biologically relevant positions. These are by far the largest variant peptides resolved by any method, some with PTM contributing just 0.25% to the mass. This opens the door to similar separations for intact proteins and in top-down proteomics. H proteins (H1, H2A, H2B, H3, and H4) are extensively enzymatically modified by post-translational modifications (PTM) such as N-methylation (me), Nacetylation (ac), or O-phosphorylation (p) that regulate chromatin structure and function by recruiting proteins involved in replication, transcription, DNA repair, and chromatin compaction. Interpreting the PTM-mediated protein language necessitates analyses of intact histones or their large domains preserving the co-occurring multisite PTM information. In particular, the N-terminal domains (tails) protruding from the nucleosome core are strongly enriched in PTMs and can be cleaved off by endoproteinase Glu-C enzyme. The staggering challenge here is disentangling numerous isomeric proteoforms that feature the same set of PTMs in different positions (PTM localization variants). While liquid chromatography (LC) techniques such as WCX-HILIC can fractionate histones by me or ac content, many variants still coelute. Tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) by any mechanism could characterize the individual variants, but fails for mixtures of three or more variants, since those with internal PTM positions yield no unique fragments. A growing alternative or complement to LC is ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) based on gas-phase transport properties. Linear IMS approaches (e.g., drift tube or traveling-wave) separate ions by mobility (K) at a moderate electric field (E). While these can resolve many isomers including some localization variants, their power in conjunction with MS is constrained by the intrinsically tight correlation between the mass-to-charge ratio (m/z) and collision cross section within a chemical class. That correlation is much looser for differential or field asymmetric waveform IMS (FAIMS) that sorts ions by the difference of mobilities at high and low field strength. In FAIMS, a gas flow moves ions through a gap between two electrodes. A periodic asymmetric field established there (with a short segment of high positive E and long segment of low negative E) pushes ions toward one of the electrodes, depending on the difference between the mobilities in the two segments. A fixed compensation voltage (CV) superposed on the waveform can equilibrate a given species and let it Received: January 30, 2017 Accepted: April 13, 2017 Published: April 13, 2017 Article


A total of 50 barrows were used to evaluate qualitative feed restriction on digestibility of dietary components, weight of organs of digestive tract, and composition and production of feces. Five experimental diets, with increasing levels of qualitative feed restriction of 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20% were used. There was linear reduction (P<0.001) of all digestibility coefficients on the levels of qualitative feed restriction, except for acid detergent fiber, which presented a quadratic response (P<0.05). Contents of total solids (P<0.01), volatile solids (P<0.05), and total minerals (P<0.001) in the feces augmented with increasing levels of qualitative feed restriction, whereas the levels of K (P<0.05), Cu (P<0.01), N, P, Na, Ca, Mg, Fe, and Zn (P<0.001) presented a quadratic response. Daily feces excretion; and contents of total solids, volatile solids, total minerals, and levels of N, P, K, Mn, and Cu (P<0.001) and Ca, Na, Mg, and Fe (P<0.05) presented a clear increase in function of the qualitative feed restriction level. Qualitative feed restriction can be an alternative for the disposal of agribusiness waste, providing good crop-fertilizing by the use of swine feces.


Eltrombopag is an agonist that binds to the membrane-bound domain of the thrombopoietin receptor used in immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). We conducted a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials to assess the efficacy and safety of eltrombopag in adults and children with refractory ITP. Adults who received eltrombopag had a significantly better platelet response (relative risk [RR], 3.65; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.39–5.55), but there were no differences in the incidence of bleeding (RR, 0.8; 95% CI, 0.52–1.22) and adverse effects (RR, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.55–1.78) compared with the placebo. In children, there was no difference between eltrombopag and placebo for a platelet response >50,000/mm3 (RR, 3.93; 95% CI, 0.56–27.79) and the number of adverse events (RR, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.25–1.49); however, a lower incidence of bleeding was observed (RR, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.27–0.83). Treatment with eltrombopag protected adults and children from severe disease and death.


For improving the insulation level of a 220 kV load-ratio voltage power transformer, two-dimensional and three-dimensional electric fields around the shielding ring of the regulative winding in this transformer have been precisely calculated by the finite element method. The calculated results show that the field intensity at the oil-corner for the shielding ring with the traditional oil-corner design is too high to insure an adequate insulation level for this transformer. Two new shielding ring structures without an oil-corner have been designed by using the finite element method. The maximum field intensity for each new design is reduced to 2.000 kV/mm from 2.633 kV/mm under 100 kV applied voltage. >


We propose a multigrid extension of convolutional neural networks (CNNs). Rather than manipulating representations living on a single spatial grid, our network layers operate across scale space, on a pyramid of grids. They consume multigrid inputs and produce multigrid outputs, convolutional filters themselves have both within-scale and cross-scale extent. This aspect is distinct from simple multiscale designs, which only process the input at different scales. Viewed in terms of information flow, a multigrid network passes messages across a spatial pyramid. As a consequence, receptive field size grows exponentially with depth, facilitating rapid integration of context. Most critically, multigrid structure enables networks to learn internal attention and dynamic routing mechanisms, and use them to accomplish tasks on which modern CNNs fail. Experiments demonstrate wide-ranging performance advantages of multigrid. On CIFAR and ImageNet classification tasks, flipping from a single grid to multigrid within the standard CNN paradigm improves accuracy, while being compute and parameter efficient. Multigrid is independent of other architectural choices, we show synergy in combination with residual connections. Multigrid yields dramatic improvement on a synthetic semantic segmentation dataset. Most strikingly, relatively shallow multigrid networks can learn to directly perform spatial transformation tasks, where, in contrast, current CNNs fail. Together, our results suggest that continuous evolution of features on a multigrid pyramid is a more powerful alternative to existing CNN designs on a flat grid.


Background: Brucella is a gram-negative bacterium, causing acute and chronic infection in humans and animals. Cell-mediated immunity is the main protective immune response against Brucella spp. Activation of macrophages by IFN- γ and generation of reactive oxygen intermediates and nitric oxide are the main immunologic mechanisms responsible for control of Brucella infection. Objective: To investigate the correlation between IFN-γ gene polymorphism and brucellosis. Methods: 195 patients with brucellosis, 186 healthy patients' family members and 82 healthy farmers who kept infected animals and consumed their contaminated dairy products were selected to take part in the study. IFN-γ genotyping at position +874 (T→A) was carried out by allele specific polymerase chain reaction (AS-PCR) method. Results: The frequency of AT and TT genotypes significantly increased in farmers compared to patients with brucellosis (P=0.03) while there was no significant difference in genotype distribution between patients and their healthy family members. Conclusion: IFN-γ (+874) AA genotype is probably a genetic factor that contributes to the susceptibility of the individuals to brucellosis.


Understanding species distribution ecology is essential given the growing need to understand how species will react to climate change and invasion. Understanding the processes by which distribution limits are set is necessary to build accurate distribution models, yet the role of biotic interactions (e.g. competition, predation, disease, parasitism) in determining range limits is uncertain, despite evidence that incorporating biotic information improves the accuracy of these models.

By examining the elevational variability of Afromontane, avian range limits across several communities, we add to reports indicating that environmental conditions are generally more important in determining both high and low stress range limits across an environmental gradient. However, we note that biotic interactions may still be more important at low stress limits than they are at high stress limits and that the processes that limit ranges appear to be different at low and high stress limits. High stress range limits appeared to be much more variable, stimulating new and unexpected questions.

We go on to document how distribution limits of avifauna have shifted in two Ugandan national parks. We tentatively conclude that range shifts may have occurred over the last decade, at a rate faster than one would have expected species to move merely based on the warming that has occurred. This indicated that warming may not be the only factor that is causing species' upper limits to shift upwards in elevation.


We present a conceptual methodology built in the framework of the ongoing EU H2020 Real-time Condition-based Maintenance for Adaptive Aircraft Maintenance Planning project, that leverages structural health monitoring data from different sensing technologies that goes a step beyond damage detection and diagnosis towards the probabilistic remaining useful life estimation in the presence of adverse conditions during flight. The methodology relies in several parallel activities from damage detection and localization to damage identification and severity assessment, sensitiveto- damage feature extraction processes, training methodologies, data fusion and remaining useful life predictions. Various sensing technologies i.e. static and dynamic strain sensing with FBGs, guided waves and acoustic emission are employed. An extensive hierarchical test campaign on test articles of increased complexity based on the building block approach is discussed with details as to the types of damage that are going to be targeted. Single and multi-stringer composite stiffened panels are subjected to realistic loading conditions. Emphasis on impact damage and skin/stringer fatigue disbonding/delamination is given. Last but not least, sophisticated mathematical algorithms are proposed e.g., multi-state degradation models such as Non-Homogeneous Hidden Semi Markov Model in order to deal with the data-driven RUL prediction with uncertainty quantification.


Abstract A quantitative assessment has been made of the surface anticyclone forecast errors found in the operational nested grid model (NGM) run at the National Meteorological Center (NMC). Preliminary results covering a period from 1 December 1988 to 31 August 1989 reveal that the NGM predicts the central pressure of surface anticyclones to be too low over much of central and eastern North America during the winter and spring, especially along the track of transient anticyclones. The NGM tends to predict surface anticyclone pressure to be too high over the eastern Pacific and portions of the western Atlantic during winter, spring and summer. Pressure errors grow by forecast length and season. The 48-h forecast errors are larger in magnitude and better defined than the 24-h forecasts. The winter and spring pressure errors are better organized and have larger magnitudes than in summer. Thickness (1000–500 mb) errors over the anticyclone center indicate an overall warm bias, especially over the North Americ...


We propose a scheme to obtain the Heisenberg-limited parameter estimation precision by immersing atoms in a thermally equilibrated quasi-one-dimensional dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate reservoir. We show that the collisions between the dipolar atoms and the immersed atoms can result in a controllable nonlinear interaction through tuning the relative strength and the sign of the dipolar and contact interaction. We find that the repulsive dipolar interaction reservoir is preferential for the spin squeezing and the appearance of an entangled non-Gaussian state. As a useful resource for quantum metrology, we also show that the non-Gaussian state results in the phase estimation precision in the Heisenberg scaling, outperforming that of the spin-squeezed state.


Web authorization system has been widely used on internet,but there's still a serious problem in the internet services system if the authorization system only verify user name and password.This paper introduces A validation code based method which can enhance the security of web authorization system was introduced.Validation code was based on bitmap and created at random,and the image identification was the key to enhance the security.Web authorization system was applied to practice successfully in several projects,and it's also applicable in other authorization systems for peer-to-peer communication.


Concrete, steel and bricks are commonly used materials in construction practice, of which, bricks are most commonly used constituent. Masonry walls are commonly used in partition thereby large numbers of brick elements are required in construction of building. In this paper, various types of manufacturing of bricks were studied. Optimum percentage of fly ash using various combinations of material in the brick like lime, cement and clay are studied and their effect on different properties of bricks have been discussed. The parameters considered in this study are compressive strength, water absorption and durability of bricks with fly ash, and are checked with codal provisions for brick elements. Keywords: Bricks, fly ash, cement, compressive strength, lime Cite this Article Gadling Pravin P, Varma MB. A Review of Ecofriendly Bricks by Using Fly Ash. Journal of Construction Engineering, Technology & Management . 2017; 7(2): 35–40p.


Enterococci are one of the important causes of urinary tract infections and are inherently resistant to many antimicrobials, including penicillin, clindamycin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and low levels of aminoglycosides. Moreover, they are poorly responsive to cephalosporins in vivo. The study was carried out in "Cantacuzino" National Research Institute on samples received from community. In order to detect resistance in Enterococcus species, a total of 102 Enterococcus species samples were included in the study. Although Enterococcus faecalis (98.03%) was one of the most common species associated with urinary tract infections, we also identified Enterococcus faecium (1.97%), showing the necessity of species level identification in laboratory settings. There were also isolated enterococci from mixture of two or three bacteria. E. faecalis was sensitive to vancomycin (94.10%), ampicillin (50.98%), penicillin (50.98%), linezolid (97.06%), nitrofurantoin (96.07%), levofloxacin (62.74%), ciprofloxacin (62.74%), chloramphenicol (89.22%) and tetracycline (17.65%), and resistant to gentamycin – high level resistance (25%).


BACKGROUND
Nasal congestion at night is thought to have a role in snoring and sleep apnea, but this hypothesis has not previously been tested in a population-based study.

METHODS
Baseline and 5-year follow-up data on self-reported nocturnal nasal congestion and snoring frequency were collected from a population-based sample of 4916 men and women (age range, 30-60 years at baseline) enrolled in the ongoing Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study. In-laboratory polysomnography was performed on a subset (n = 1032) of the study population to determine the frequency of apnea and hypopnea episodes during sleep. Logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios for snoring with chronic nasal congestion at night.

RESULTS
Nocturnal nasal congestion frequency was independently associated with snoring frequency in cross-sectional analyses. The odds ratios (adjusted for sex, age, body habitus, and smoking) for habitual snoring with severe (always or almost always) nasal congestion vs none was 3.0 (95% confidence interval, 2.2-4.0). This association was not explained by habitual snorers with frank sleep apnea (ie, >/=5 apnea and hypopnea episodes per hour of sleep). Prospective analyses showed that persons with chronic severe nasal congestion had a high risk of habitual snoring according to the data from the 5-year follow-up survey: the odds ratio for habitual snoring and reporting congestion always or almost always at both baseline and follow-up was 4.9 (95% confidence interval, 2.8-8.8).

CONCLUSIONS
Nocturnal nasal congestion is a strong independent risk factor for habitual snoring, including snoring without frank sleep apnea. Intervention studies are needed to determine if snoring can be reduced with treatment of nasal congestion.


From February 2004 to March 2005, 140 samples of food handlers – hands and nostrils – (92), raw milk (24), and minas frescal cheese (24) were analyzed for the presence of Escherichia coli in a dairy processing plant of Goiás State. Forty-seven E. coli strains were obtained and compared by DNA macrorestriction patterns obtained from pulsed-field gel electrophoresis following XbaI restriction in order to investigate the possible sources of cheese contaminations. Based on PFGE genotyping, one strain isolated from food the hands of a handler and five strains isolated from raw milk were identical or closely related to six strains from cheese suggesting, in these cases, the probable source of E. coli contamination in cheeses. No strain isolated from the nostrils was related to those found in cheeses or milk strains. The results showed high diversity among the strains, demonstrating a lack of predominance of an endemic clone in the dairy plant. This paper highlights the usefulness of PFGE as an epidemiological tool for determining the source of E. coli contamination in the food industry.


Some time ago, it was recognised that a need existed for higher accuracies in the measurement of AC power and for the establishment of a facility for the measurement of AC energy at the national standard level in South Africa. In 1995 it was decided to establish a new national standard for AC power. This standard is based on the current comparator principle and is intrinsic, which means that traceability for the AC power measurement can be achieved without the need for submitting an artefact for calibration to another laboratory at the national level. It was also decided to establish a facility for the measurement of AC energy. This paper details the history of the AC power standard in South Africa and the process that lead to the establishment of a new standard for AC power and energy. Details are given of the AC power and energy standard.


The etiopathogenesis of the anorexia nervosa is still unknown although several hypotheses have been postulated. Recently it has been postulated that it may be due to biochemical derangement of the serotonin metabolism. Clinically the anorexia nervosa is characterized by an obsessive fear of gaining body weight and, therefore, by a phobic repulsion for the food. It differs, however from the phobic-obsessive psychoneurosis for the constant presence of the amenorrhea. The treatment requires psychopharmacology as well as psychotherapy.


Illusions of memory occur when a person recalls something that did not take place, and may result from processes that systematically bias recall. This paper reports three experiments exploring a novel form of memory bias that can occur when a person is attempting to recall the affective tone of voice in which someone spoke previously. Subjects first studied photographs of faces while listening to sentences spoken in a positive or negative tone of voice. At test, subjects saw brief presentations of faces and were asked to recall the tone of voice in which the pictured person had spoken earlier. Across a variety of study and test conditions a strong recall bias was observed: when faces conveyed either subtle positive or negative affect, subjects tended to recall the pictured person as having spoken with a matching affective tone, regardless of the tone of voice in which the person had actually spoken. It is proposed that this affective recall bias may be the product of a retrieval mechanism that relies on a combination of information from the memory trace and retrieval environment to guide responding.


The phytochemical study of Dorstenia arifolia Lam. (Moraceae) has led to the identification of 18 triterpenes esterified by fatty acids, five triterpenes without esterification, 12 triterpenes esterified by acetic acid, together with a known furanocoumarin: α-amyrin (1), β-amyrin (2) α-amyrin acetate (3) β-amyrin acetate (4), α-amyrin octanoate (5), β-amyrin octanoate (6), α-amyrin decanoate (7), β-amyrin decanoate (8), α-amyrin dodecanoate (9), β-amyrin dodecanoate (10), α-amyrin tetradecanoate (11), β-amyrin tetradecanoate (12), α-amyrin hexadecanoate (13), β-amyrin hexadecanoate (14), glutinol (15), glutinyl acetate (16), 11-oxo-α-amyrin (17), 11-oxo-β-amyrin (18), 11-oxo-α-amyrin acetate (19), 11-oxo-β-amyrin acetate (20) 11-oxo-α-amyrin octanoate (21) 11-oxo-β-amyrin octanoate (22), 11-oxo-α-amyrin decanoate (23), 11-oxo-β-amyrin decanoate (24) 11-oxo-α-amyrin dodecanoate (25) 11-oxo-β-amyrin dodecanoate (26), ursa-9(11),12-dien-3-yl acetate (27), oleana-9(11),12-dien-3-yl acetate (28), ursa-9(11),12-dien-3-yl decanoate (29), oleana-9(11),12-dien-3-yl decanoate (30), 12,13-epoxyolean-3-yl acetate (31), 12,13-epoxyolean-9(11)en-3-yl acetate (32), taraxeryl acetate (33), lupenyl acetate (34), lanosta-8,24-dien-3-yl acetate (35) and psoralen (36). The identification of the triterpene compounds isolated as isomeric mixtures obtained from the hexane extract was based mainly in mass spectra and 13C-NMR data. The long-chain alkanoic acid esters of the triterpenes α- and β-amyrin; 11-oxo-α- and 11-oxo-β-amyrin; ursa- and olean-9(11),12-dien-3-yl; have not been reported before in the literature as constituents of the Dorstenia genus.


The research and management of soil carbon pool and the effect of land-use on it are the key project of study on global change. In this paper, the data of 1,374 soil profiles in the Circum Bohai Region were used to estimate the soil organic carbon (SOC) pool of this region. The results showed that in this region, the total soil organic carbon pool in 1 m depth was 2.1 Pg C, and the biggest SOC pool was brown soil, occupying 55.6% of the total SOC. The second one was moisture soil, accounted for 26.9%. The SOC pools of aeolian sandy soil and dark brown soil were very small, only about 0.1% of the total. However, the soil organic carbon density (OCD) of boggy soil was the biggest (22.90 kg C.m-2), the second was dark brown soil (16.04 kg C.m2), and the lowest were aeolian sandy soil (2.88 kg C.m-2) and solonchak (6.0 kg C.m-2), implying that desertification and salinalization could reduce soil organic carbon. Moreover, the results also suggested that the topsoil held 673.30 Tg C. It meant that there was about one-third of the total SOC could be easy to be disturbed. According to the OCD at its level distribution gradient, it could be divided into four regions, i.e., coastal region, plain region, northwestern region, and hilly region. The order of OCD from high to low was hilly region, northwestern region, plain region, and coastal region. This regulation reflected not only the role of climate and landform, but also the effect of human activity intensification on SOC. Therefore, it was very important to protect and manage the land in this region well for the SOC maintenance and the sustainable land use.


The Pseudomonas multivorans glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (EC 184.108.40.206) active with nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, which is inhibitable by adenosine-5'-triphosphate, was purified approximately 1,000-fold from extracts of glucose-grown bacteria, and characterized with respect to subunit composition, response to different inhibitory ligands, and certain other properties. The enzyme was found to be an oligomer composed of four subunits of about 60,000 molecular weight. Reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate, but not reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, was found to be a potent inhibitor of its activity. The range of concentrations of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate over which inhibition occurred was about 100-fold lower than that for adenosine-5'-triphosphate. The data suggest that reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate may play an important role in regulation of hexose phosphate metabolism in P. multivorans. Antisera prepared against the purified enzyme strongly inhibited its activity, but failed to inhibit the activity of the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-specific glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase which is also present in extracts of this bacterium. Immunodiffusion experiments confirmed the results of the enzyme inhibition studies, and failed to support the idea that the two glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase species from P. multivorans represent different oligomeric forms of the same protein.


THE LEGAL STATUS of the public-school teacher depends upon the terms of his contract, the statute laws relating to the conditions of his employment, the court decisions interpreting the above-mentioned terms and conditions, and the rules and regulations made by the employing board of education acting wholly within its legal authority. Similarly, the teacher or instructor in private or nonpublic institutions must look to his contract for whatever rights he enjoys in the course of his employment in the light of general laws, and rules and regulations of his board of trustees. No complete study covering this subject has appeared during the past three years. Hence it is necessary to infer, deduce, or interpret the teacher's legal status from the various sources available to the worker in this field. Much valuable material was found in the following periodicals: American School Board Journal, Clearing House, and Nation's Schools. These magazines have regular sections devoted to school law, and carry well-selected articles, a number of which will be referred to subsequently. The Research Division and Committee on Tenure of the National Education Association made valuable contributions. However, the Yearbooks of School Law published by the American Council on Education contained particularly wellselected analyses based mostly upon statutory provisions and supreme court decisions.


A larger part of the cooling and heating demand in a renewable fuels plant is accomplished by using air-cooling and steam in several alternating steps. This study examine what opportunities there are for energy efficiency improvements on site, in order to reduce the electricity and fuel consumption in the plant.
The evaluation was done by using pinch tools on three different case studies: theoretical case based on technical specifications, operational case based on averaged measurements from the process and the adjusted operational case with changed temperature targets respectively.
The investigated cases had total heating demands of 18.7 MW, 20.0 MW and 19.2 MW and total cooling demands of 20.4 MW, 18.9 MW and 17.7 MW respectively.
Results from the pinch analysis of the theoretical case indicated that there were three ways to improve energy efficiency in the plant: by removal of pinch rule violations, by optimizing the temperature level at which utility was supplied or increasing methanol condensation temperatures in an integrated HEN (i.e. raising saturation pressure).
Actual temperatures and flows in the operational case were analysed. By changing target temperatures the plant could save 2 123 kW of energy, both from heating and electricity. Assuming the operation would be adjusted accordingly, the adjusted operational case was created. On this case the full pinch analysis with retrofit suggestions was performed, as well as investigating the full potential of optimizing hot utility levels and condensing methanol at a higher temperature.
By performing a retrofit of the existing HEN, 1 517 kW can be heat integrated. This would save the plant 5.54 MSEK annually in reduced utility costs.
By heating the two flows entering the reactors with MP steam before using HP steam, 5 100 kW could be saved. This shift of hot utility level would save the plant 3.74 MSEK annually in reduced steam costs.
By building two new flashing steps at 8 bar, which would supply condensing methanol at 135oC, approximately 2 194 kW would become available. If integrated in such a way that it could replace the corresponding load in MP steam, 15.5 MSEK in eliminated steam costs would be saved annually.
It was recommended that options for flashing methanol at intermediate pressures, combined with a new retrofit investigation, would be the best alternative to investigated further.


The total wind power in-feed in Germany possesses highly predictable seasonal and diurnal patterns. The stochastic variations of wind power have consistent pseudo-cyclic patterns that are related to oscillations of air-pressure systems. The proposed model can replicate the wind power data with the hourly resolution and of time-span of years. The primary purpose of the model is for market applications such as pricing of forward contracts several years ahead. The results of the model may also be used in applications of power system operation such as reliability analysis, day-ahead scheduling, and hour-ahead scheduling.


The subject of the paper is the features of network architecture that built on the concept of Software-Defined Networking (SDN). The main communicating processes of OpenFlow protocol are determined. OpenFlow is one of the most commonly used protocols for communication between controller and forwarding element (OpenFlow switch) in SDN. Efficiency characteristics of an OpenFlow-based network are also identified. Mathematical tools and analytical model for analysis and evaluation such characteristic as performance and reliability of OpenFlow-based network are also suggested in the paper. The proposed model is based on querying theory (M/M/1 queues considered) and distribution information models. The evaluation performance and reliability of network is analyzed due to capture the interaction between the OpenFlow switch and controller. The average packet executed time, sojourn time, waiting probability metrics of control plane are suggested for evaluation.


Networks of reactions on dust-grain surfaces play a crucial role in the chemistry of interstellar clouds, leading to the formation of molecular hydrogen in diffuse clouds as well as various organic molecules in dense molecular clouds. Due to the submicron size of the grains and the low flux, the population of reactive species per grain may be very small and strongly fluctuating. Under these conditions rate equations fail, and the simulation of surface-reaction networks requires stochastic methods such as the master equation. However, the master equation becomes infeasible for complex networks because the number of equations proliferates exponentially. Here we introduce a method based on moment equations for the simulation of reaction networks on small grains. The number of equations is reduced to just one equation per reactive species and one equation per reaction. Nevertheless, the method provides accurate results, which are in excellent agreement with the master equation. The method is demonstrated for the methanol network that has been recently shown to be of crucial importance.


Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the reliability, content and readability of the information available on the Internet related to limb lengthening surgeries, which have recently been progressively in fashion. Methods: The three most commonly used browsers on the Internet were determined and a search term for "Limb Lengthening Surgery" was typed for each browser. The websites were categorized by their type, and the content and the quality of them was evaluated using the DISCERN score, the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmark and the Global Quality Score (GQS). The Flesch Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) and the Flesch Reading Ease Score (FKRS) were used to evaluate the readability. Each website also assessed the presence (or absence) of the Health on Net (HON) code. Results: The academic category was found to be significantly higher than the medical and commercial categories. Mean FKGL and FCRS scores, DISCERN score values, JAMA, GQS and LLCS score values of Websites with HON code were significantly higher than those without. Conclusions: The quality of online information related to limb lengthening was of low quality. Although some websites, especially academic resources, were of higher quality, the readability of their content is just about 2.5 degrees higher than the sixth-grade reading level.


This paper presents the code tracking performance on the use of weighted chip despreading PN sequence in a coherent delay locked tracking scheme for direct-sequence spread-spectrum (DS/SS) systems. In the delay locked loop (DLL), the conventional rectangular chip waveform for early and late despreading PN sequences is replaced by weighted exponential chip waveform. The chip weight (y) is tuned to optimise the DLL performance. The early-late spacing is considered as one chip time. This scheme is analysed for both ideal and band limited received signals in the presence of additive white Gaussian noise.


BACKGROUND Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) specific immune globulin is now being marketed for prevention of RSV infection in ex-preterm infants. However, there are no published UK data on the morbidity or mortality from RSV in these infants. AIMS To determine the morbidity and mortality from RSV infection in a cohort of infants previously treated at a regional neonatal unit, and compare the cost of hospitalisation for RSV with the potential cost of administering RSV immune globulin (RSV-IG) prophylaxis. METHODS Infants born at a gestation of less than 32 weeks were studied. Details of admissions for respiratory illness in the first two years of life were collected from hospital records, referring hospitals, and general practitioners. RESULTS Data on 82 infants were collected. Up to three RSV seasons were encountered. The hospitalisation rate for confirmed RSV infection for the first season encountered was 4%. Rates of ward and paediatric intensive care unit admission were higher for infants with chronic lung disease. There were no deaths from RSV. RSV-IG would not have been cost effective for most infants. CONCLUSION The morbidity and mortality rates from RSV observed in this group do not support the widespread introduction of RSV-IG prophylaxis for ex-preterm infants.


T cell receptor (TCR) are recognized by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) which binds antigenic peptides to activate T cell for prevention of infections and cancers. The T cell activation cascades that result in T cell proliferation, differentiation and cytokine secretions are well studied in the past years. However, the mechanism of T cell receptor triggering is still unclear so far. In this study, we expressed single- chain antibodies (scFv) or single- chain MHC (scMHC) molecules on artificial antigen presenting cell (APCs) and micromanipulating single T cells that bind to the engineered APCs. We found the mechanical force can initiate T cell activation via TCR signaling. In addition, increasing the dimensions of intercellular adhesion molecules-1 (ICAM-1) on the APCs can promote T cell activation by elongating TCR ligands. Our data indicated that ICAM-1 and leukocyte function-associated antigen-1 (LFA-1) interaction may play an important role to regulate the force in TCR triggering.


The purpose of this research is to create a predicting model of banking stability in Indonesia. Authors use a small set of explanatory indicators primarily related to the banking industry and some relevant economic variables. Among the indicators candidate to be used in this study are the indicator of banking industry, the money markets, capital markets and creditors, and the macro-economic indicator. The source of data in this research is obtained from CEIC and SEKI (Indonesian Economic and Financial Statistics) that published by Central Bank of Indonesia from 2004 and 2011. Principal Component Analysis is used to avoid the multi-collinearity problem when construct the model. Authors train the model using Random Forest Regression with data over the 2004-2007 period, and made predictions of global financial crisis that happened in 2008/9. Python 2.7.10 and scikit-learn version 0.20.0 module has been exploited for simulations and evaluation of the model. Numerical illustration is provided to demonstrate the efficiency of proposed model. As the result nine most components analysis obtained as input for the machine learning model with explained variance ratio around 97%, accuracy around 89%, and precision 91% and mean absolute error around 11%.


This paper describes a new way of implementing an intelligent web caching service, based on an analysis of usage. Since the cache size in software is limited, and the search for new information is time-consuming, it becomes interesting to automate the process of selecting the most relevant items for each user. We propose a new generic model based on a client/server collaborative filtering algorithm and a behavior modeling process. In order to highlight the benefits of our solution, we collaborated with a company called ASTRA which is specialized in satellite website broadcasting. ASTRA has finalized a system sponsored by advertisement and supplying to users a high bandwidth access to hundreds of websites for free. Our work has been implemented within its software architecture and, in particular, within its recommender system in order to improve the satisfaction of users. Our solution is particularly designed to address the issues of data sparsity, privacy and scalability. Because of the industrial context, we consider the situation where the set of users is relatively stable, whereas the set of items may vary considerably from an execution to another. In addition to the model and its implementation, we present a performance assessment of our technique in terms of computation time and prediction relevancy.


Human exposure to N-nitroso compounds (NOC) is not to single compounds but to highly complex mixtures such as food or tobacco products which may contain various NOC, NOC precursors and modulators of NOC metabolism in addition to other known carcinogens. Aetiological models also stress the importance of other cofactors. The interrelationship of these cofactors with relevant NOC exposures and the possible influence of confounding factors need to be considered in order to evaluate the risk related to NOC. This task is made more difficult because the levels of human NOC exposure are often low, and some of the relevant exposure is likely to be from endogenously formed NOC. Nonetheless, current hypotheses reviewed here propose a role for NOC in the aetiology of tobacco-related cancers and of cancers of the bladder, stomach, oesophagus and brain. Data implicating tobacco-specific nitrosamines in the aetiology of cancers of the oral cavity among snuff dippers is most convincing. Evidence from epidemiological studies in support of other NOC/cancer hypotheses is circumstantial and much work remains to be done to define the role of NOC and develop strategies for prevention of these tumours.


We previously reported that patients with a clinical complete response (CR) following radiofrequency thermal treatment exhibit significantly increased body temperature compared with other groups, whereas patients with a clinical partial response or stable disease depended on the absence or presence of output limiting symptoms. The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation among treatment response, Hidaka radiofrequency (RF) output classification (HROC: termed by us) and changes in body temperature. From December 2011 to January 2014, 51 consecutive rectal cancer cases were included in this study. All patients underwent 5 RF thermal treatments with concurrent chemoradiation. Patients were classified into three groups based on HROC: with ≤9, 10–16, and ≥17 points, calculated as the sum total points of five treatments. Thirty-three patients received surgery 8 weeks after treatment, and among them, 32 resected specimens were evaluated for histological response. Eighteen patients did not undergo surgery, five because of progressive disease (PD) and 13 refused because of permanent colostomy. We demonstrated that good local control (ypCR + CR + CRPD) was observed in 32.7% of cases in this study. Pathological complete response (ypCR) was observed in 15.7% of the total 51 patients and in 24.2% of the 33 patients who underwent surgery. All ypCR cases had ≥10 points in the HROC, but there were no patients with ypCR among those with ≤9 points in the HROC. Standardization of RF thermal treatment was performed safely, and two types of patients were identified: those without or with increased temperatures, who consequently showed no or some benefit, respectively, for similar RF output thermal treatment. We propose that the HROC is beneficial for evaluating the efficacy of RF thermal treatment with chemoradiation for rectal cancer, and the thermoregulation control mechanism in individual patients may be pivotal in predicting the response to RF thermal treatment.


We present a new class of variational wavefunctions that can be used to investigate quantum antiferromagnetic systems. The states are a natural generalization of the nearest-neighbour dimer phases which have been thoroughly studied in the literature. We describe a one-dimensional class of total-spin-singlet wavefunctions, which include as special cases the two nearest-neighbour dimer phases and the exact solution to the total-spin-two projector Hamiltonian. These different solutions are 'smoothly' interpolated by a range of singlets with short-range correlations. Although the states have only short-range order, we can obtain over 98% of the ground-state energy of the nearest-neighbour Heisenberg model. We apply our basis to the J1-J2 Heisenberg model and the single hole in the t1-t2 infinite-U Hubbard model, successfully predicting the behaviour observed in finite-size scaling calculations.


The application of guar gum for pyrite depression in seawater flotation was assessed through microflotation tests, Focused Beam Reflectance Measurements (FBRM), and Particle Vision Measurements (PVM). Potassium amyl xanthate (PAX) and methyl isobutyl carbinol (MIBC) were used as collector and frother, respectively. Chemical species on the pyrite surface were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectroscopy. The microflotation tests were performed at pH 8, which is the pH at the copper sulfide processing plants that operate with seawater. Pyrite flotation recovery was correlated with FBRM and PVM characterization to delineate the pyrite depression mechanisms by the guar gum. The high flotation recovery of pyrite with PAX was significantly lowered by guar gum, indicating that this polysaccharide could be used as an effective depressant in flotation with sea water. FTIR analysis showed that PAX and guar gum co-adsorbed on the pyrite surface, but the highly hydrophilic nature of the guar gum embedded the hydrophobicity due to the PAX. FBRM and PVM revealed that the guar gum promoted the formation of flocs whose size depended on the addition of guar gum and PAX. It is proposed that the highest pyrite depression occurred not only because of the hydrophilicity induced by the guar gum, but also due to the formation of large flocs, which could not be transported by the bubbles to the froth phase. Furthermore, it is shown that an overdose of guar gum hindered the depression effect due to redispersion of the flocs.


In this paper, we propose a replay attack spoofing detection system for automatic speaker verification using multi-task learning of noise classes. We define the noise that is caused by the replay attack as replay noise. We explore the effectiveness of training a deep neural network simultaneously for replay attack spoofing detection and replay noise classification. The multi-task learning includes classifying the noise of playback devices, recording environments, and recording devices as well as the spoofing detection. Each of the three types of the noise classes also includes a genuine class. The experiment results on the version 1.0 of ASVspoof2017 datasets demonstrate that the performance of our proposed system is improved by 30% relatively on the evaluation set.


Despite the uncertainty surrounding the design of a mechanism which is ultimately accepted by nations worldwide, the necessity to implement regulations to curb emissions of greenhouse gases on a global scale is consensual. The electricity sector plays a fundamental role in this puzzle and countries may soon have to revise their operating policy directives in order to make them compatible with additional constraints imposed by such regulations. We present a modeling approach for greenhouse gas emissions quotas which can be incorporated into a stochastic dual dynamic programming algorithm, commonly used to solve the hydro-thermal scheduling problem. Our approach is flexible and capable of accommodating a detailed representation of emissions and related constraints. A case study based on the Guatemalan power system exemplifies the potential effects of considering these restrictions.


The use of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) in internal combustion engines has significant impacts on engine combustion and emissions. EGR can be used to reduce in-cylinder NOx production, reduce fuel consumption, and enable advanced forms of combustion. To maximize the benefits of EGR, the exhaust gases are often cooled with liquid to gas heat exchangers. However, the build up of a fouling deposit layer from exhaust particulates and volatiles result in the decrease of heat exchanger efficiency, and increase the outlet temperature of the exhaust gases, and decrease the advantages of EGR.This paper presents experimental data from a novel in-situ measurement technique in a visualization rig during the development of a 378 micron thick deposit layer. Measurements were performed every 6 hours for up to 24 hours. Results show a non-linear increase in deposit thickness with an increase in layer surface area as deposition continued. Deposit surface temperature and temperature difference across the thickness of the layer was shown to increase with deposit thickness while heat transfer decreased. The provided measurements combine to produce deposit thermal conductivity.A thorough uncertainty analysis of the in-situ technique is presented and suggests higher measurement accuracy at thicker deposit layers and with larger temperature differences across the layer. The interface and wall temperature measurements are identified as the strongest contributors to the measurement uncertainty. Due to instrument uncertainty, the influence of deposit thickness and temperature could not be determined. At an average deposit thickness of 378 microns and at a temperature of 100°C, the deposit thermal conductivity was determined to be 0.044 ± 0.0062 W/mK at a 90% confidence interval based on instrument accuracy.Copyright © 2015 by ASME


Origins of galactic bulges and bars remain elusive, although they constitute fundamental components of disc galaxies. This paper proposes that the secular evolution process driven by the interstellar gas in galactic discs is closely associated with the formation of bulges and bars, and tries to explain the observed variation of these components along the Hubble morphological sequence.

The ample interstellar medium serves as a coolant which makes the galactic disc gravitationally unstable and induces fragmentation of the disc. The resulting clumps spiral in to the disc centre because of dynamical friction. Efficiency of this process is governed by the gas-richness of the galactic disc, which is in turn controlled by two parameters: (i) the rapidity of the infall of the halo primordial gas to the disc plane and (ii) the amount of total accreted matter.

When these two parameters are appropriately related to the mass and density of the galaxy and the effect of a star formation threshold in the disc is introduced, the gas-driven evolution through disc clumping leads to the appearance of two evolution regimes along the Hubble sequence, separated by the intermediate Hubble type for which the gas-driven mass concentration is minimal. Spiral galaxies of relatively early Hubble type (characterized by large mass and density) experience a rapid clump accumulation to the disc centre in their early evolution phase, which is identified with the formation of a bulge. On the other hand, the evolution of late-type spirals having small mass and density is strongly influenced by the existence of the star formation threshold. The disc in these galaxies becomes gas-rich in a relatively late epoch and experiences a prolonged clump-driven mass accumulation. I argue that this process leads to the formation of not a bulge but a short bar embedded in the galactic disc.

The present scenario provides a natural explanation for the well-known bar dichotomy, namely that galactic bars are divided into two major groups on morphological grounds and each group is associated with different Hubble types.


Pathways of care define in detail the individual components of treatment for a group of patients. A well written pathway can give rise to consistent care or the highest quality. There are both educational and audit advantages to the approach. Details the means by which groups are selected and the care pathways written. Gives an example of the benefits that can accrue, based on the authors' experience at Ashford Hospital, UK of running a pathway for patients having prostate surgery. The pathways are appreciated by patients, nurses, doctors and managers. Care is improved and costs contained.


Advanced numerical analyses were carried out in order to assess the nonlinear dynamical behaviour of the bell tower of Pomposa Abbey in Codigoro, in the province of Ferrara (Italy), by means of the Non‐Smooth Contact Dynamics (NSCD) method. The main purpose of the work is to investigate the capacity of the main mechanical parameter used in the analyses, namely, the friction coefficient, to have effects on the mechanical response of ancient masonry structures undergoing seismic actions. Therefore, the tower was modelled following the discrete element method (DEM) and assembling the masonry texture as rigid bodies tied by frictional joints. Thus a discontinuous approach was used to assess the dynamic properties and the vulnerability of the masonry structure, through large deformations regulated by the Signorini's law, concerning the impenetrability between the rigid bodies; and by the Coulomb's law, regarding the dry‐friction model. Afterward, different values were assigned to the friction coefficient of the models, and a variety of real seismic shocks have been applied in the nonlinear analyses. Finally, it is possible to see different failure mechanisms resulting for each friction value and types of dynamic actions used, as expected.


Environmental variation influences fish assemblage structure; however, fish assemblage composition shifts due to natural or anthropogenic stressors have been observed in marine ecosystems worldwide, altering ecosystem structure and function, and fisheries sustainability. Previous research in waters off North and South Carolina (USA) was limited in scope and repeatability or did not quantify fish assemblages at a scale suitable for monitoring composition shifts. Concurrent chevron traps, underwater video, and environmental data from an annual fishery-independent survey were used to characterize the environment and enumerate demersal reef fishes caught in the traps, and priority fish species observed in video in depths ~15-110 m. Multivariate analyses detected assemblage patterns and environmental influences. An 8-variable (distance to shelf edge, depth, consolidated substrate size, latitude, percent biotic cover, temperature, undercut height, biotic class) model predicted assemblages, while 4 variables explained the greatest variation (distance to shelf edge [19%], depth [15%], consolidated substrate vertical relief [4%], size [4%]). The largest number of discriminator species occurred in mid- to outer shelf areas with greater substrate complexity (i.e. increasing substrate size and relief). Assemblages dominated by Centropristis striata at depths (~15-40 m) with little substrate complexity transitioned towards assemblages dominated by Pagrus pagrus, higher prevalence of larger-bodied predators, and invasive Pterois spp. at depths (~40-110 m) with greater substrate complexity. Understanding baseline assemblage characteristics and natural drivers of variability in fish assemblage structure is vital to conservation and management efforts that monitor changes in population abundance, the presence/absence of key species, and stressor-induced modifications of local assemblages, which are all measures of ecological health that underpin comprehensive assessments and management.


In order to substantiate the applicability of the Takayama-Lin-Liu-Maki model to conducting polymer, the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model is generalized to include the effects of lattice zero-point motions on electronic properties. Beyond the treatment of the white-noise approximation, some significant electronic properties of Peierls-Fröhlich states are documented. The finding shows that the correlation of lattice motions suppresses the effects of zero-point motions on the electronic properties more seriously.


Exposures to mobile source air toxics (MSATs) have been associated with numerous adverse health effects. While thousands of air toxic compounds are emitted from mobile sources, members of a subset of compounds are considered high priority due to their significant contribution to cancer and noncancer health risks and the contribution of mobile sources to total exposure as evaluated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National-Scale Air Toxics Assessments (NATA). These pollutants include benzene, 1,3-butadiene, ethylbenzene, acrolein, acetaldehyde, formaldehyde, naphthalene, polycyclic organic matter, and diesel particulate matter/organic gases. This study provided year-long trends of benzene, 1,3-butadiene, acrolein, acetaldehyde, and formaldehyde in Las Vegas, NV. Results indicated that MSAT concentrations often did not exhibit trends typical of other primary emitted pollutants in this study. Instead, other mobile sources beyond the highway of interest contributed to the measured values, including a major arterial road, a large commercial airport, and a nearby parking lot. The data were compared with relevant census-tract NATA estimates, with estimated ambient 1,3-butadiene concentrations similar to the measured values. Measured benzene values were much lower relative to the NATA total ambient benzene concentrations. Measured acrolein values were much higher relative to the NATA total acrolein concentrations. Measured acetaldehyde and formaldehyde values were also higher relative to the NATA total acetaldehyde and formaldehyde concentrations for all wind conditions and downwind conditions. Some possible explanations for these differences include nearby sources influencing the measured values; meteorological influences that may not be well captured by the NATA modeling regime; chemical reactivity of measured compounds; and additional explanatory variables may be needed for certain urban areas in order to accurately disaggregate anthropogenic air toxics emissions. Implications: Comparison of air toxics concentrations measured at four long-term near-road sites in Las Vegas, NV, show generally good agreement with the EPA 2005 NATA total ambient concentrations. Measured concentrations did not compare as well with EPA 2005 NATA for the on-road mobile portion of the ambient concentrations. This highlights the complexity of air toxic emission sources and impacts in urban areas, especially around large highway facilities; NATA's inability to capture local-scale meteorology and fine-scale ambient gradients; and that additional explanatory variables may be needed for certain urban areas in order to accurately disaggregate anthropogenic air toxics emissions.


This chapter briefly discusses the nature of the international legal system. The premise is that the structure of the international legal system is fundamentally different from that of national legal order: contrary to the vertical structure encountered in domestic settings, in international law the structure is horizontal. States enjoy sovereign equality, while both international law-making and international adjudication are based on the consent of the States. There are various theories that have attempted to describe the nature of the international law, including naturalism, positivism, formalism, and realism. Also significant is the the existence of a certain hierarchy in the international legal system, in the sense that there are some peremptory norms of international law, such as the prohibition of torture and genocide, to which there is no derogation.


While water as setting and as mirror have driven animation technologies in mainstream American animated features (requiring, in Disney's 1937 Snow White, the enormous resources of the multiplane camera), contemporary Indigenous productions activate another relationship of viewer to screen and viewer to water, converging to form a new Indigenous screen imaginary that connects instruction with care. This article traces the integration of North American Indigenous animation aesthetics with interrelated relationships and obligations around water and water protection. Drawing on examples from an expanding corpus of short animated productions, I argue that Indigenous ways of envisioning water present viewers with instruction towards action: water conveys a teaching. Following Lenape critic Joanne Barker's turn to water as an analytic – "a water that (in)forms, a water that instructs" – I explore Indigenous animation of water as both pedagogy and technology, a conjunction that foregrounds human creative authorship even as it decenters the human in favor of water as a teacher.


The diagnostic problem of cyst/tumor/normal variant raised on an excretory urogram leads to a decision to do needle aspiration or renal arteriography. This decision depends critically upon the probability distribution for the three diagnoses. A computerized Bayesian model of a uroradiologist's diagnostic process in solving the problem was developed. The model was based on subjective probabilities supplied by an experienced uroradiologist. The model was evaluated in terms of its ability to decrease the cost of further diagnosis regarding aspiration versus arteriography. The model's output was compared with decisions made by unaided radiologists viewing the same panel of 50 urogram test cases. Results indicate that the model does not improve upon the decisions made by a radiologist highly experienced with this diagnostic problem. However, the decisions made by unaided, less experienced radiologists result in greater cost than those of the model.


The study showed that the majority of people between 14-25 years have information about 5-20 names of phitodrugs. People in active age (between 26-50 years) have got information about 21-40 phitodrugs. Out-patients are interested about all additional information about phytomedicines. Needs to the phytomedicines are varied between two different section of people. People prefer to use ready to use drugs produced at the pharmaceutical plants, because instructions for the preparations of phitodrugs are not informative enough to make phitoforms at home conditions.