The experiment was carried out using factorial combination of two tomato varieties, two processing methods and three honey and one sugar concentrations with three replications. Tomato ketchups prepared from Melkashola subjected to pre-heat treatment before cooking exhibited higher total soluble solids, reducing and total sugars, as well as lower microbiological load. However, heat treatment significantly influenced the color of ketchups. Variety and processing methods significantly (P ≤ 0.01) affected the physico-chemical, microbiological and sensory qualities of the ketchup. Also, honey concentration treatment improved the quality of ketchup. Addition of honey at 500 ml level resulted in higher reducing sugar, total sugar, titratable acidity and total soluble solids content. However, this treatment led to lower moisture content, pH and microbial activity of tomato ketchup. The interaction between variety and processing methods combined with honey concentration treatments were significant at P < 0.01 level. Similarly, the combined effect of variety, processing method and honey concentration resulted in higher moisture content, pH and reduction in microbial population, while it maintained higher total soluble solid, total sugar, reducing sugar, titratable acidity and ascorbic acid of the ketchups. Ketchups manufactured from fresh juice of Marglobe and Melkashola had good color. The taste and flavor of ketchups that received high concentration of honey had higher score when compared to the control without honey.


The fifty-six-page report, a summary of a book by the same name, presents the findings of ""a systematic assessment of the current state of world Jewish affairs"" carried out by a team of seventeen experts headed by Professor Sergio DellaPergola of Hebrew University. The study was commissioned by the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute (JPPPI), a think tank established in February 2002 by the Jewish Agency for Israel; former U.S. Middle East envoy Dennis Ross is the chairman of the JPPPI's board. According to the Jewish weekly Forward (30 July), the report was presented to Prime Minister Sharon and his cabinet on 27 June and debated there, with the prime minister promising to set up a task force to implement its recommendations. A recurring theme throughout the report is the need for greater coordination among Diaspora groups as well as between Israel and the Diaspora, with more weight given to the latter in Israeli policy formation. The report is divided into three sections: a comprehensive evaluation of internal and external trends affecting the Jewish people in the present and near future; a survey of Jewish communities on a country-by-country basis; and ""Recommendations for a Strategic Agenda."" The full report is available online at www.jpppi.org.il.


By the 1880s, emigration to North America was rapidly exceeding the entire rural exodus in England and Wales and 'the reserves of potential migration in the rural areas were much reduced'. By then most British emigrants were urban people. In the British case there is a crucial question about the extent of internal mobility in the home context, studied most influentially by Clark and Souden. The campsites, despite their diversity, align in the conditions favourable to migration and emigration, and therefore encourage broader explanations of the British discontinuity. In terms of the structural underpinnings of population mobility and its eventual expression in actual emigration, there are long lines of causation as well as matters of contingency in the story. In the end the rural sector expanded positively and unprecedentedly, to the demands generated by the essential needs of the expanded and industrialising population of the country.


"Many Jamaicans are seeking empirical data from the period of the trade in Africans to justify the case for reparation. This book should provide them with much of what they need to understand this crime against humanity."--Verene A. Shepherd, University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica. "This book makes a very significant contribution to the literature on the Atlantic Slave Trade and on its impact in Jamaica. It is a highly original study and addresses the important issue of the demography of the enslaved as well as emphasizing their humanity."--Gad Heuman, University of Warwick. Rich with historical sketches of the life and experiences of slaves in Africa, on slave ships, and in Jamaica, this volume illustrates the way enslaved Africans lived and helped to shape Jamaican society in the three decades before British abolition of the slave trade. Audra Diptee's in-depth investigations reveal unexpected insights into the demographics of those captured in Africa and legally transported on British slave ships. For example, there is a commonly held belief that slave traders had a preference for adult males. In fact, the practicalities of slave raiding meant that women, children, and large groups of the elderly were particularly vulnerable during raids and were more often captured and made available for sale in the Caribbean. From Africa to Jamaica offers a new look at the Atlantic slave trade in its final years, fleshing out the historical portrait of the African men, women, and children who were sold in Jamaica and were thus among the last of the enslaved to put their stamp on Jamaican society. There is no comparable study that takes such a comprehensive approach, looking at both the African and Jamaican sides of the trade system.


Doubly fed induction generators (DFIGs) are an economic variable-speed solution for large wind turbines while high-voltage dc (HVdc) transmission is being considered for the grid connection of some offshore wind farms. This paper analyzes the need for coordinating the control of the DFIGs and the HVdc link so that the two topologies can work together, giving system designers and operators a choice that may be useful in some applications. It is desired that individual generators be controlled for power tracking in a way similar to that used when they are connected directly to an ac grid, although a grid voltage reference for the DFIG control is no longer available as an independent source in this case. The study shows that machine control should explicitly maintain the flux level, which then allows the HVdc link to regulate the local system frequency and, indirectly, voltage amplitude. Interactions between DFIGs and the HVdc link are investigated and simulations performed to verify the proposed control strategy.


This study examines the evolution of social networking sites (SNSs) from a networked audience duplication perspective. Guided by social network theory, the theory of double jeopardy, and niche theory, this study proposes an integrated framework to explain the evolution of SNS choices of the US audience between 2016 and 2019. Shared traffic data were retrieved from comScore's Media Metrix Multi-Platform database. The empirical results of the separable temporal exponential random graph model (STERGM) confirm that preferential attachment, audience size, and niche width significantly drive the likelihood of tie formation and dissolution in the evolving audience duplication network. These effects hold true even when other endogenous structural features and exogenous nodal attributes are taken into account. Theoretical implications for the networked media landscape are discussed.


Objectives The objective of this study was to investigate whether the regimen of Saizen, a recombinant human somatropin, in combination Stilamin, a somatostatin analog, exerts synergistic effect on intestinal mucosa of a rabbit model of severe acute pancreatitis. Methods The rabbits were randomly divided into 3 groups: group A without any treatment, group B with single treatment of Stilamin, and group C with treatment of Saizen combined with Stilamin. The blood levels of D-lactate, insulinlike growth factor 1, prealbumin, and albumin were detected at the 6th, 12th, 24th, 48th, and 72nd hours after modeling. The pathological changes in terms of the villus height, crypt depth, and mucosal thickness were observed. The caspase 3 expression and apoptotic indices were evaluated. Results The blood levels of D-lactate at the 48th hour; insulinlike growth factor 1 at the 24th and 48th hours; prealbumin at the 24th, 48th, and 72nd hours; and albumin at the 48th hour in group C were significantly higher than these in the other 2 groups. Pathological changes in group C were slighter; the level of caspase 3 and apoptotic index in group C were significantly lower than those in the other 2 groups. Conclusions The combination of Saizen with Stilamin can enhance intestinal mucosa barrier function.


The Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) is created in a magnetic trap in the Quadrupole-Ioffe configuration (QUIC). This kind of trap combines an anti-Helmholtz quadrupole field with an offset field produced by a single coil perpendicular to the quadrupole field axis to suppress Majorana transitions. In the quadrupole trap evaporative cooling is performed by using radio frequency, reaching the phase transition to a BEC in the QUIC trap. By using Time of Flight (TOF) technique, the expansion velocity is measured with  and  which lead to temperature of  and  It is roughly around the recoil temperature.


Popova, Z., Ivanova, M., Dimitrov, E., & Varlev, I. (2020). Climatic and soil characteristics and crop parameters of optimized agro-climatic regions for maize. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 26 (6), 1232–1246 The objectives of the study are to discuss and provide appropriate climatic and soil characteristics and crop parameters for decision making on maize irrigation relative to five agro-climatic regions in the form of: a) quantiles of inter-annual and interregional variability of precipitation and ET0; b).Bulgarian maps with average precipitation and average reference evapotranspiration ET0; c) Bulgarian soil classes in terms of texture, field capacity, wilting point and total available soil water (mm m-1); d) validated crop ET modelling parameters, as limiting dates of local maize development stages, appropriate crop coefficients Kc and soil water depletion fractions for no stress p. Finally, the conventional maize irrigation depths are compared with that simulated through the validated soil water balance (SWB) WinISAREG model application to identified agro-climatic regions. Considered ET0 and precipitation are the main climate variables that influence crop water requirements for irrigation. However, irrigation requirements are also influenced by soil characteristics, mainly FC, WP and TAW, and crop parameters, as rooting zone depth, validated Kc coefficients and p – fractions relative to the crop development stages and respective limiting dates. All these parameters are also required input for SWB and irrigation scheduling WinISAREG, PILOTE and others model application. Map of Bulgarian soils and results of previous studies support identification of soil classes of small, average and large water holding capacity for each agro-climatic regions.


PURPOSE
To investigate the diagnostic accuracy of faecal occult blood test (FOBT) for anal diseases and to evaluate the relationship of this disorder to the results of FOBT.

METHODS
In a hospital-based retrospective study, FOBT using faecal samples collected on two consecutive days was performed on patients with anal disease, such as internal as well as external haemorrhoids and anal fissure, patients with colorectal cancer and healthy subjects to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of FOBT. In a screening-programme-based cross-sectional study, the subjects who underwent colorectal cancer screening by FOBT using the 2-day method were divided into two groups according to the results of a questionnaire on anal diseases; the positive rate of FOBT as well as the predictive value for colorectal cancer were determined in the two groups.

RESULTS
Among 300 cases, including 100 anal diseases, 100 colorectal cancers and 100 healthy subjects, the test was positive in 12 anal diseases, 82 colorectal cancers and six healthy subjects. The sensitivity to anal diseases and colorectal cancer was calculated to be 12% and 82%, respectively, and the specificity was 95%. A significant difference was noted in the sensitivity between anal diseases and colorectal cancer (P < 0.001). Among 21,724 subjects, who underwent colorectal cancer screening, 2395 subjects were positive for anal diseases, and 19,329 subjects were negative. The positive rate of FOBT was 7.2 for the anal diseases group and 6.8 for the non-anal diseases group, and the predictive value for colorectal cancer was 2.9 and 3.0, indicating no substantial difference between the two groups.

CONCLUSIONS
These results reveal that FOBT is inferior for the diagnosis of anal diseases, and anal diseases have little relationship to the results of FOBT.


We present a general approach to construct a class of generalized topological field theories with constraints by means of generalized differential calculus and its application to connection theory. It turns out that not only the ordinary BF formulations of general relativity and Yang-Mills theories, but also the N=1,2 chiral supergravities can be reformulated as these constrained generalized topological field theories once the free parameters in the Lagrangian are specially chosen. We also show that the Chern-Simons action on the boundary may naturally be induced from the generalized topological action in the bulk, rather than introduced by hand.


Abstract Typically when we work with kingdoms in homeopathy, we consider animal, plant and mineral separately…first identifying the themes in the case, then matching those to the broad themes of the three kingdoms and then the more specific themes of periodic table rows, animal species and plant sensation. This case reflects an expansion of this kingdom approach based on work by Dr. Shachindra and Dr. Bhawisha Joshi. The client is a woman with an obsessive need to work, even as she ages, develops physical structural problems and exhausts herself. For many years, remedies of Row 4 of the periodic table helped her tremendously…and yet never quite cleared the unhealthy patterns she had. The Joshis recognised that similarities exist in the patterns of mineral kingdom rows and patterns of various animal species. Using this paradigm, the client experienced a deep and lasting improvement in her overall health after doses of a 'Row 4 animal', Formica rufa.


In this paper we present an adaptive Routing in Adhoc networks using modified AODV and compared with AODV using the parameters Aggregate Interface Queue Length and Node Remaining Energy. Differently from exciting approaches , we made changes to the AODV routing protocol in such a way that only destination node can respond to a route request. This greatly reduces the control data packets sent in the network. We also evaluated the performance of modified AODV based on metrics like average end-to-end delay, throughput and energy consumption.


The CO2 compressor control is one of the most important issues to operate a Supercritical CO2 (S-CO2) Brayton cycle with a high thermal efficiency because it is operated near the critical point to reduce the compressing work. Therefore, our research team has accumulated the CO2 compressor data from the S-CO2 compressor test facility called SCO2PE (Supercritical CO2 Pressurizing Experiment). The data can be obtained under various compressor inlet conditions, especially near the critical point of CO2.Despite the growing interest in the S-CO2 Brayton cycle, research on the cycle transient analysis, especially in case of CO2 compressor inlet condition variation, is still in its early stage. So, in this study, the validation and verification of the gas system transient analysis code GAMMA+ is carried out by utilizing the experimental data of SCO2PE. To simulate the SCO2PE by the GAMMA+ code, the code was revised to reflect the compressor performance and add an expansion valve option. Moreover, the NIST database was connected to the GAMMA+ code for more accurate CO2 properties near the critical point. Prior to the transient analysis with the whole SCO2PE loop, major components such as a compressor and a heat exchanger were separately tested with the steady state data of SCO2PE. The loss of cooling water accident was assumed as the transient situation by observing the operating condition variations of the SCO2PE while the mass flow rate of water loop was decreased. Thus, the experimental data of SCO2PE was compared with the revised GAMMA+ code under the planned transient.Copyright © 2015 by ASME


We have used detailed Monte Carlo simulations to study search strategies for Higgs bosons at high energy e/sup +/e/sup /minus// colliders. We extend an earlier study of the minimal single-Higgs-doublet model at a center-of-mass energy of 1 TeV to examine the effects of b-quark tagging and jet counting. It is found that these techniques can increase the signal-to-noise ratio substantially in the mass range around the W mass. In addition, we have studied this model at a center-of-mass energy of 400 GeV and found that an e/sup +/e/sup /minus// collider in this region would be sensitive to a Higgs boson with mass up to twice the Z/degree/ mass. We have also considered a nonminimal two-doublet model for the Higgs sector by extending a study of charged Higgs boson searches to include a mass very close to the mass of the W/sup +-/. We demonstrate that techniques which include b-quark tagging can be utilized to extract a significant signal. In addition, we have examined the prospects for detecting nonminimal neutral Higgs bosons at 1 TeV. We conclude that it would be possible to detect the CP-even and CP-odd neutral Higgs bosons when they are pair-produced in e/sup +/e/sup /minus// annihilation over more » a limited mass range. However, in some scenarios of supersymmetry, the charged Higgs boson constitutes a significant background to the CP-odd and the more massive CP-even neutral Higgs boson. 16 refs., 13 figs., 2 tabs. « less


Several farm sector econometric models are reviewed initially and the aggregation problem highlighted. A thirty-equation model of the Australian agricultural sector is specified in which farm output, stocks and exports and the domestic demand for farm products are endogenous, as well as farm, export and retail prices. Disaggregation is into food and non-food components of unprocessed output, and the processing of food is traced through to final demand. The model is estimated by a modified 2SLS procedure using quarterly data covering the period 1960-1970.


T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is an aggressive cancer frequently associated with activating NOTCH1 mutations and dysregulation of MYC. We performed two complementary screens to identify novel agents with activity against T-ALL: i) a zebrafish screen for small molecules toxic to MYC-overexpressing thymocytes, and ii) a human T-ALL cell line screen for small molecules that synergize with Notch inhibitors. "Hits" common to both screens included perphenazine, a phenothiazine antipsychotic that induced apoptosis of fish, mouse, and human T-ALL cells. Using ligand-affinity chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry, we identified protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) as the critical perphenazine target. In line with this finding, T-ALL cell lines treated with perphenazine underwent apoptosis associated with rapid dephosphorylation of multiple PP2A substrates, indicating that perphenazine binds and activates the PP2A tumor supressor. Moreover, shRNA knockdown of the scaffolding or catalytic subunits of PP2A attenuated the activity of perphenazine, indicating that PP2A is required for its antileukemic activity. Finally, treatment of primary human T-ALLs with pherphenazine suppressed cell growth and caused dephosphorylated of PP2A targets in vitro and in vivo. Our findings provide a mechanistic explanation for the recurrent "rediscovery" of phenothiazines as a class of drugs with anti-cancer effects and highlight the therapeutic potential of pharmacologic PP2A activation in T-ALL and other cancers driven by hyperphosphorylated PP2A substrates. Citation Format: Alejandro Gutierrez, Li Pan, Richard Groen, Frederic Baleydier, Alex Kentsis, Jason Marineau, Ruta Grebliunaite, Elena Kozakewich, Casie Reed, Francoise Pflumio, Sandrine Poglio, Benjamin Uzan, Paul Clemons, Lynn Verplank, Frank An, Jason Burbank, Stephanie Norton, Nicola Tolliday, Hanno Steen, Andrew P. Weng, Huipin Yuan, James E. Bradner, Constantine Mitsiades, A. Thomas Look, Jon C. Aster. A new class of drugs active in T-ALL is revealed in a zebrafish screen. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: The Translational Impact of Model Organisms in Cancer; Nov 5-8, 2013; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Res 2014;12(11 Suppl):Abstract nr IA8.


The article regards the study of employment in the informal sector of the Russian economy. The main attention is focused on identifying the factors that determine the level of employment in the informal sector across the regions of the Russian Federation. To this end, within the frameworks of the selected groups of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, an analysis for the presence of a relationship between social and economic indicators and the level of employment in the informal sector of the regional economy has been carried out. The proposed methodological approach allows us to identify the factors and their dominant groups that form the territorial differences in employment within the informal sector of the Russian economy.


An overview is presented of recent results on the creation of electric fields in the edge of limiter or divertor tokamaks. The practical implementation and theoretical basis of several schemes, generating radial and/or poloidal fields, are outlined. The manipulation of edge and scrape-off-layer profiles and the control of particle exhaust is discussed. Contributions of biasing experiments to H-mode physics are highlighted. Some prospects for biasing in next generation tokamaks are finally given.


A series of InSb bars were doped with Sn donors by subjecting them to a thermal neutron flux. Reactor locations with different thermal/fast-neutron flux ratios were used, permitting some assessment of the type of damage emanating from fast-neutron exposure. Various figures of merit for the quality of the sample, such as the total electron concentration n, electrical mobility mu and the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T1, are discussed for samples with reactor exposure times ranging up to several hours. The study attempts to quantify the advantages to be gained from sample irradiation in reactor locations with favourable thermal/fast-neutron flux ratios. The indications are that fast-neutron damage has a detrimental effect on the induced electron concentration.


Bird and bat fatalities from wind energy projects are an environmental and public concern, with post-construction fatalities sometimes differing from predictions. Siting facilities in this context can be a challenge. In March 2012 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) released Land-based Wind Energy Guidelines to assess collision fatalities and other potential impacts to species of concern and their habitats to aid in siting and management. The Guidelines recommend a tiered approach for assessing risk to wildlife, including a preliminary site evaluation that may evaluate alternative sites, a site characterization, field studies to document wildlife and habitat and to predict project impacts, post construction studies to estimate impacts, and other post construction studies. We applied the tiered assessment framework to a case study site, the Mount Storm Wind Energy Facility in Grant County, West Virginia, USA, to demonstrate the use of the USFWS assessment approach, to indicate how the use of a tiered assessment framework might have altered outputs of wildlife assessments previously undertaken for the case study site, and to assess benefits of a tiered ecological assessment framework for siting wind energy facilities. The conclusions of this tiered assessment for birds are similar to those of previous environmental assessmentsmore » for Mount Storm. This assessment found risk to individual migratory tree-roosting bats that was not emphasized in previous preconstruction assessments. Differences compared to previous environmental assessments are more related to knowledge accrued in the past 10 years rather than to the tiered structure of the Guidelines. Benefits of the tiered assessment framework include good communication among stakeholders, clear decision points, a standard assessment trajectory, narrowing the list of species of concern, improving study protocols, promoting consideration of population-level effects, promoting adaptive management through post-construction assessment and mitigation, and sharing information that can be used in other assessments.« less


Many authors have proposed using byte code rewriting as a way of adapting or extending the behaviour of Java classes. There are toolkits available that simplify this process and raise the level of abstraction above byte code. However, to the best of our knowledge, none of these toolkits provide a complete model of behavioural reflection for Java. In this paper, we describe how we have used load-time byte code rewriting techniques to construct a run-time metaobject protocol for Java that can be used to adapt and customise the behaviour of Java classes in a more flexible and abstract way. Apart from providing a better semantic basis for byte code rewriting techniques, our approach also has the advantage over other reflective Java implementations that it doesn't require a modified compiler or JVM, can operate on byte code rather than source code and cannot be bypassed. In this paper we describe the implementation of Kava, our reflective implementation of Java, and discuss some of the linguistic issues and technical challenges involved in implementing such a tool on top of a standard JVM. Kava is available from http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/research/dependability/reflection.


The knowledge of regional wave regimes is critical for coastal zone planning, protection, and management. In this study, the influence of the offshore current regime on surface gravity waves on the southwest Western Australian (SWWA) continental shelf was examined. This was achieved by coupling the three dimensional, free surface, terrain-following hydrodynamic Regional Ocean Modelling System (ROMS) and the third generation wave model Simulating WAves Nearshore (SWAN) using the Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere-WaveSediment Transport (COAWST) model. Different representative states of the Leeuwin Current (LC), a strong pole-ward flowing boundary current with a persistent eddy field along the SWWA shelf edge were simulated and used to investigate their influence on different large wave events. The coupled wave-current simulations were compared to wave only simulations, which represented scenarios in the absence of a background current field. Results showed that the LC and the eddy field significantly impact SWWA waves. Significant wave heights increased (decreased) when currents were opposing (aligning with) the incoming wave directions. During a fully developed LC system significant wave heights were altered by up to ±25% and wave directions by up to ±20°. The change in wave direction indicates that the LC may modify nearshore wave dynamics and consequently alter sediment patterns. Operational regional wave forecasts and hindcasts may give flawed predictions if wave-current interaction is not properly accounted for.


The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of economic development on democracy with the data for the period 2001-2016 in 24 emerging market economies. This article develops a new methodology and analyzes the impact of openness, economic, social and financial development indicators on the level of democracy. We used the panel ordered qualitative choice analysis method to estimate the relationship between democracy and economic development. We have concluded that economic development is more effective at higher levels of democracy and is higher likely to affect the higher level of democracy. We have shown that economic development raises the level of democracy.


Heterozygosity at loci affecting resistance against parasites can benefit host fitness. We predict that, in haplodiploid species, haploid males will suffer decreased parasite resistance relative to diploid females. We suggest that elevated susceptibility in haploid males has shaped the evolution of social behaviour in haplodiploid species. Male susceptibility will select for behavioural adaptations that limit males' exposure to pathogens and that limit male transmission of pathogens within and between colonies. The relatedness–asymmetry hypothesis that has been advanced to explain female–only workers does not make these predictions. We review the relevant evidence for genetic effects on parasite resistance in insects and summarize empirical evidence that relates to the haploid–susceptibility hypothesis.


Through completing an underspecified probability model, Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) supports non-monotonic inferences. Some major aspects of how this is done by MaxEnt can be understood from the background of two principles of rational decision: the concept of Indifference and the concept of Independence. In a formal specification MaxEnt can be viewed as (conservative) extension of these principles; so these principles shed light on the `magical' decisions of MaxEnt. But the other direction is true as well: Since MaxEnt is a `correct' representation of the set of models (Concentration Theorem), it elucidates these two principles (e.g. it can be shown, that the knowledge of independences can be of very different information-theoretic value). These principles and their calculi are not just arbitrary ideas: When extended to work with qualitative constraints which are modelled by probability intervals, each calculus can be successfully applied to V. Lifschitz's Benchmarks of Non-Monotonic Reasoning and is able to infer some instances of them. Since MaxEnt is strictly stronger than the combination of the two principles, it yields a powerful tool for decisions in situations of incomplete knowledge. To give an example, a well-known problem of statistical inference (Simpson's Paradox) will serve as an illustration throughout the paper.


Generalisation of deep neural networks becomes vulnerable when distribution shifts are encountered between train (source) and test (target) domain data. Few-shot domain adaptation mitigates this issue by adapting deep neural networks pre-trained on the source domain to the target domain using a randomly selected and annotated support set from the target domain. This paper argues that randomly selecting the support set can be further improved for effectively adapting the pre-trained source models to the target domain. Alternatively, we propose SelectNAdapt, an algorithm to curate the selection of the target domain samples, which are then annotated and included in the support set. In particular, for the K-shot adaptation problem, we first leverage self-supervision to learn features of the target domain data. Then, we propose a per-class clustering scheme of the learned target domain features and select K representative target samples using a distance-based scoring function. Finally, we bring our selection setup towards a practical ground by relying on pseudo-labels for clustering semantically similar target domain samples. Our experiments show promising results on three few-shot domain adaptation benchmarks for image recognition compared to related approaches and the standard random selection.


This project was commissioned by the Children Acts Advisory Board (CAAB) with the overall aim of assisting the CAAB to develop initiatives to make research evidence more accessible to practitioners.

The specific objectives were to:
a. Provide a review of literature on the barriers and facilitators to research use.
b. Consult with staff employed in children's services to establish the extent of research use in practice, the barriers and facilitators to its use, preferred methods of dissemination and most relevant topics.
c. Report on knowledge brokering mechanisms used by relevant services internationally.
d. Draw conclusions from the foregoing and make recommendations to promote greater use of research in practice.

The methods employed were designed to achieve these objectives. Firstly, a review of international literature on research utilisation and evidence informed practice was undertaken. Secondly, a consultation process was carried out involving staff (managers and practitioners) from four sectors: health, welfare, justice, and community and voluntary organisations. The consultation was carried out by means of a survey and focus groups. A total of 155 staff completed questionnaires at four separate seminars organised by the CAAB, and 122 staff participated in a total of 13 focus groups at the same events. Thirdly, a review was undertaken of products and services provided by Irish and international organisations dedicated to research dissemination and utilisation.


Tourism is a typical cross-cultural communication activity, and is very important for globalization. And tourism English translation is an important connection in cross-culture communication. With the development of international tourist trade, more and more materials concerning it need to be translated into English, of course scenic spots translation included. Among the existing versions, especially materials about the scenic spots, there are a large number of examples. But at the same time, still a great deal of mistakes can be found in the translation of scenic spots which make it difficult for the foreigners to learn Chinese culture, and it is a major obstacle to promote Chinese culture to the world. As for many reasons, there exist many problems in the tourism English translation of our country. Especially because most of the translators don't have a cross-cultural awareness, and what they translate always causes great difficult for foreign scholars and visitors to understand, so how to do with this problem is pretty significant and emergency. Because traveling is cross-culture activity, translation of texts at scenic spots must be dealt with from a cross-cultural perspective,thus makes it more difficult for translators to manage the tasks. It not only acquires translators to have keep knowledge of literary language, but also know very well both cultures. In this article, the author explores this issue from the following aspect: different linguistic and stylistic characteristics of tourist texts between Chinese and English translation of the names of scenic spots and personal names, translation of historical and cultural names, and translation of Chinese poetry in texts; how these differences affect the translation materials; later get some suggestions to wish to raise the translators' professionalism to eliminate the large barriers.


We report the proof-of-principle demonstration of a methodology, called Metal-Assisted and Microwave-Accelerated Germination, to modulate the germination of plant seeds and growth of plants using gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) and microwave heating. As a model plant seed, basil seeds were heated in a solution of 20 nm Au NPs using a microwave waveguide fiber connected to a solid-state microwave operating at 8 GHz at 20 W, which resulted in the development of longer basil gum as observed by optical microscopy. In control experiments, Au NPs or microwave heating was omitted to establish a baseline growth level under standard experimental conditions (no microwave heating or no Au NPs). Our results also show that hydroponic growth and soil growth of basil plants can be delayed with the use of 20 nm Au NPs at room temperature without microwave heating. The combined use of 20 nm Au NPs and microwave heating at 10 W for 6 minutes results in accelerated growth prolonged life of basil plants.


Background. The Universal Health Care (UHC) Act seeks to delineate the roles of key agencies and stakeholders towards equity in access to quality and affordable health care. Under the pillar of health regulation, the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation is mandated to recognize third party accreditation mechanisms as a basis for granting incentives to health facilities that provide better service quality, efficiency, and equity.
Methods. A systematic review of literature was conducted to generate a policy brief that outlined the strengths and weaknesses of the current accreditation system, and how to address arising fragmentation issues in implementation based on international and local evidence. To generate recommendations from a multi-stakeholder approach, a roundtable discussion enjoined by all major stakeholders of the policy issue was conducted by the University of the Philippines Manila Health Policy Development Hub in collaboration with the Department of Health. Thematic analysis of the RTD and the literature review were utilized in crafting the position statement with the general aim of producing consensus policy recommendations, as inputs in the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Act.
Results. Policy analysis using results of literature review and policy discussion was crafted, with thematically arranged recommendations in the domains of leadership and governance, financing and sustainability, standards development, program development, and continuing quality improvement that could help the national health system in determining third party accreditation mechanisms set forth by the UHC Act. Significant issues raised was the composition and requirements of the third party accreditor and the risks in transition.
Conclusion and Recommendation. With the PhilHealth Benchbook setting the standards and with the expressed commitment of stakeholders for third party accreditation, it is an opportune time for the UHC Act to institutionalize the accreditation mechanisms that will address existing challenges of PhilHealth accreditation. The literature review and discussion bring forth the proposed tool for the criteria in selecting third party accreditors.


Lipoid proteinosis (LiP) (OMIM 247100) is a rare autosomal recessive disease caused by loss of function mutations in the extracellular matrix protein 1 gene, ECM1, on chromosome 1q21. Clinically characterized by hoarseness in early infancy, followed by waxy papules and plaques on the face and body along with pox-like and acneiform scars. We report here a 6-year-old female child with LiP, who presented to our OPD for recurrent vesicullobullous lesions and beaded lesions over eyelid margins.


There is recent evidence that males and females view robots differently, from the way robots are conceptualized, to the way humans respond when they interact with them. In this paper, we further explore gender-based differences in human-robot interaction. Moreover, we provide the first available evidence for sex-related differences in reactions to gendered synthetic voices that are either disembodied or physically embodied within a robot. Results indicate that physical embodiment and perceived entity gender may interact with human sex-related characteristics and pre-experimental attitudes in determining how people respond to artificial entities.


We extend the class of control problems that can be modeled by Petri nets considering the notion of weak terminal behavior. Deterministic weak languages represent closed-loop terminal behaviors that may be enforced by nonblocking Petri net supervisors if controllable. The class of deterministic weak PN languages is not closed under the supremal controllable sublanguage operator. >


Background Behçet's disease (BD) is a multisystemic inflammatory chronic disease. There is a wide variation in the clinical features of BD among geographical groups. Objectives To determine the demographic and clinical characteristics of BD in a defined area of northwestern Spain (Vigo). Methods Patients with BD (International Criteria BD) and seen in the University Hospital of Vigo in Spain, from 1994 to 2016, were retrospectively enrolled. Demographic, clinical, treatment and evolution data were recorded and analyzed using SPSS 22.0. Results Our patients were 26 male and 25 female. The mean age at the onset of the disease was 33±11.95 years (11–62). Oral and genital ulcers were seen in 100% and 84.3% respectively and skin lesions in 88.2%. Ocular involvement occurred in 35.3%, neurological disease in 39.2% and gastrointestinal involvement in 29.4% (the area worst affected was colon and small bowel). Vascular disease was present in 33.3%. See table 1. Pathergy test was performed in 18 patients (35.29%) and 10 (55.5%) were positives. HLA B51 was studied in only 13 patients (25.5%) and 8 (61.5%) were positives. 62.7% of patients had no cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF), 27.4% were smokers, 7.8% were hypertensive and 3.9% were hyperlipidemic and diabetic respectively. CVRF were not related to thrombotic events (p>0.05). In regard to gender influence, only pseudofolliculitis was significantly more frequent in men (p<0.001). There was a trend for increased prevalence of ocular disease and elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate/serum C-reactive protein in men, and anemia in women, which, however, did not reach statistical significance. Treatment consisted of corticosteroids (92.2%), colchicine (68.6.%) and another immunosuppressive agent (35.3%). During the disease course 78.4% of the patients had an outbreak, 45.1% initiated or changed to immunosuppressive agent and 19.6% used biological drugs. Most of our patients (92.1%) were admitted to hospital and these constitute an evident bias. Two patients died during the followup period, but only one in relation of BD (upper gastrointestinal bleeding and seizures).Table 1. Clinical manifestation of our BD patients Skin lesions Ocular disease Neurologic disease Vascular disease Gastrointestinal involvement 41/55 (88.2%) 18/51 (35.3%) 20/51 (39.2%) 17/51 (33.3%) 15/51 (29.4%) Pseudofolliculitis 58.8% Uveitis 23.5% Aseptic meningitis 11.7% Venous thrombosis 21.6% Pain 11.7% Erythema nodosum 39.2% Retinal vasculitis 5.9% Seizures 7.8% Arterial thrombosis 7.8% Bleeding 9.8% Leukocytoclastic vasculitis 5.9% Episcleritis 3.9% Cerebral venous thrombosis 5.9% Mixed thrombosis 2% Diarrhea 5.9% Vascular occlusion 2% White matter lesions 5.9% Aneurysm 2% Fever 2% Stroke 3.9% Paresthesias 3.9% Others 5.9% Conclusions Our series has some particular aspects especially the high frequency of gastrointestinal lesions and neurologic involvement. CVRF do not seem to play a role in the development of thrombotic events. Our results confirm the ethnic and geographic variation of BD expression. Disclosure of Interest None declared


Abstract. The Labrador Sea is important for the modern global
thermohaline circulation system through the formation of intermediate
Labrador Sea Water (LSW) that has been hypothesized to stabilize the modern
mode of North Atlantic deep-water circulation. The rate of LSW formation is
controlled by the amount of winter heat loss to the atmosphere, the expanse
of freshwater in the convection region and the inflow of saline waters from
the Atlantic. The Labrador Sea, today, receives freshwater through the East
and West Greenland currents (EGC, WGC) and the Labrador Current (LC).
Several studies have suggested the WGC to be the main supplier of freshwater
to the Labrador Sea, but the role of the southward flowing LC in Labrador
Sea convection is still debated. At the same time, many paleoceanographic
reconstructions from the Labrador Shelf focussed on late deglacial to early
Holocene meltwater run-off from the Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS), whereas
little information exists about LC variability since the final melting of
the LIS about 7000 years ago. In order to enable better assessment of the
role of the LC in deep-water formation and its importance for Holocene
climate variability in Atlantic Canada, this study presents high-resolution
middle to late Holocene records of sea surface and bottom water
temperatures, freshening, and sea ice cover on the Labrador Shelf during the
last 6000 years. Our records reveal that the LC underwent three major
oceanographic phases from the mid- to late Holocene. From 6.2 to 5.6 ka,
the LC experienced a cold episode that was followed by warmer conditions
between 5.6 and 2.1 ka, possibly associated with the late Holocene
thermal maximum. While surface waters on the Labrador Shelf cooled
gradually after 3 ka in response to the neoglaciation, Labrador Shelf
subsurface or bottom waters show a shift to warmer temperatures after 2.1 ka. Although such an inverse stratification by cooling of surface and
warming of subsurface waters on the Labrador Shelf would suggest a
diminished convection during the last 2 millennia compared to the
mid-Holocene, it remains difficult to assess whether hydrographic conditions
in the LC have had a significant impact on Labrador Sea deep-water
formation.


This paper investigates the use of discrete couplings in series elastic actuation in order to increase variability of dynamic legged robot locomotion. The couplings are capable of engaging and disengaging the connection between an actuation element and a mechanical spring in real time such that the series elasticity could be used to load, store, and retain energy, and release it in the necessary timings. Such a mechanism is particularly beneficial for hopping or running locomotion, because it allows preloading of spring in flight phase. Through a series of simulated and physical robot experiments, this paper explains how such variability of actuation dynamics can improve performance of hopping locomotion under the limitation of actuator forces, as well as the controllability of behaviors. Compared to the conventional hopping robots, the proposed control strategy makes locomotion robots capable of higher hopping without larger actuation forces, and changing behaviors for more aggressive manoeuvres.


Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and the nexus approach are tools to identify solutions for water problems across interdependent sectors with interacting social and natural systems. Although both tools aim at solutions for complex water issues using an interdisciplinary approach, IWRM is a management process and the nexus approach is a systems tool to characterize problems. By clarifying their attributes and providing examples, instructors can use them to explain broad social problems and offer practical frameworks for problem-solving. Given their breadth, IWRM and the nexus approach can seem vague and attract criticism, but if they are replaced, the need for them will endure. The concepts are explained, and similarities between them are explored in the paper. Case study sources for them are identified, and the cases are classified by the processes of water resources management as applied across related sectors. How the concepts and their corresponding case studies can be used will vary by context. Suggestions are made for interdisciplinary instruction and discussions in disciplinary settings.


An efficient palladium-catalyzed synthesis of N-functionalized multisubstituted indoles from easily accessible ortho-haloarylallenes and primary amines has been developed. A wide range of electronically and structurally varied nitrogen fragments could be introduced through this tandem C-N bond-forming process by tuning the reaction conditions.


DSM-III-R and proposed DSM-IV schemes for the diagnosis of psychoactive substance use disorders are based largely on the dependence syndrome concept. However, there is an absence of empirical support for the generalizability of the dependence syndrome across substances. This study examines how consistently proposed DSM-IV dependence criteria function to measure dependence across seven substances: alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, stimulants, hallucinogens, sedatives and opiates. Using structured research diagnostic interviews, dependence diagnoses were determined for 295 American subjects in treatment for alcohol/drug problems. Several factor analytic techniques were used to assess whether criteria formed single dimensions and how consistently individual criteria measured dependence across substances. The ability and consistency of criteria to measure a continuum of severity across substances were also assessed. Only subjects who used the substance at least six times were entered in the analyses. Overall, results provide strong support for the DSM approach for alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, stimulants, sedatives and opiates, but not for hallucinogens. Results indicate that a single strong factor adequately described the criteria for these six substances. All criteria loaded strongly and uniformly on single factors indicating that all were good measures of dependence. Criteria provided a dimensional measure of severity based on several indices for these substances. In addition, four criteria provided relatively stable indicators of high or low severity across these substances. Results did not support the use of dependence criteria for hallucinogens as these criteria did not form a single factor. Results suggest that very few hallucinogen users experience an inability to cut down or control use, a key indicator of loss of control.


This paper attempts to classify the loan words in Penang Peranakan Hokkien, a creole variety of Hokkien, according to classifications as objects and formal grammatical categories. The study is based on a word list of about 400 Malay words taken from a Penang Peranakan family and commonly found in this variety. The paper concludes with some observations of current trends in Penang Peranakan Hokkien.


Protein lysine side chain Nε-acylation and -deacylation play an important regulatory role in both epigenetic and non-epigenetic processes via a structural and functional regulation of histone and non-histone proteins. The enzymes catalyzing deacylation were traditionally termed as the histone deacetylases (HDACs) since histone proteins were the first substrates identified and the deacetylation was the first type of deacylation identified. However, it has now been known that, besides the seven sirtuins (i.e. SIRT1-7, theβ-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (β-NAD+)-dependent class III HDACs), several of the other eleven members of the mammalian HDAC family (i.e. HDAC1-11, the zinc-dependent classes I, II, and IV HDACs) have been found to also accept non-histone proteins as native substrates and to also catalyze the removal of the acyl groups other than acetyl, such as formyl, crotonyl, and myristoyl. In this mini-review, I will first integrate the current literature coverage on the non-histone substrates and the catalytic deacylation (beyond deacetylation) of the zinc-dependent HDACs, which will be followed by an address on the functional interrogation and pharmacological exploitation (inhibitor design) of the zinc-dependent HDAC-catalyzed deacylation (beyond deacetylation).


Large Eddy Simulations (LES) of an evaporating spray jet is performed using an explicit filtering approach for carrier phase equations. Droplets are treated as representative point particles without any modeling of particle sub-grid-scale (SGS) evolution. The simulation of a recent benchmark dilute acetone spray experiment showed that close quantitative agreement could be obtained of the downstream self-preserving turbulent state. Several other simulations are performed to understand the effect of inflow fluctuation level, evaporation and droplet size on the relaxation to the self-preserving state.


Particularly challenging classes of heterogeneous surfaces are ones where strong secondary circulations are generated, potentially dominating the flow dynamics. In this study, we focus on land‐sea breeze circulations (LSBs) resulting from surface thermal contrasts, in the presence of increasing synoptic pressure forcing. The relative importance and orientation of the thermal and synoptic forcings are measured through two dimensionless parameters: a heterogeneity Richardson number (measures the relative strength of geostrophic wind and convection induced by buoyancy), and the angle α between the shore and geostrophic wind. Large eddy simulations reveal the emergence of various regimes where the dynamics are asymmetric with respect to α. Along‐shore cases result in deep LSBs similar to the scenario with no synoptic background, irrespective of the geostrophic wind strength. Across‐shore simulations exhibit a circulation cell that decreases in height with increasing synoptic forcing. However, at the highest synoptic winds simulated, the circulation cell is advected away with sea‐to‐land winds, while a shallow circulation persists for land‐to‐sea cases. Scaling analysis that relates the internal parameters Qshore (net shore volumetric flux) and qshore (net shore advected kinematic heat flux) to the external input parameters results in a succinct model of the shore fluxes that also helps explain the physical implications of the identified LSBs. Finally, the vertical profiles of the shore‐normal velocity and shore‐advected heat flux are used, with the aid of k‐means clustering, to independently classify the LSBs into four regimes (canonical, sea‐driven, land‐driven, and advected), corroborating our visual categorization.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


INTRODUCTION
Patients receiving radiation therapy due to oral cancer develop complications such as hyposalivation, mucositis, oral infections, dental hypersensitivity and caries. Mouthrinses can alleviate some of these problems.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
To investigate the in vitro antimicrobial properties and cytotoxicity of an experimental mouthrinse.

METHODS
The mouthrinse contained 30% hexylene glycol (glycerine), 7% potassium nitrate and 0.025% sodium fluoride. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of these ingredients and the mixture was determined for C. albicans, S. aureus and S. mutans over 24 hours at different concentrations. The MICs of two commercial mouthrinses, Corsodyl and Plax, were also determined using the same organisms. All mouthrinses were then tested to determine the percentage kill over 1, 2, and 3 minutes.

RESULTS
The MICs for hexylene glycol were 10%, 30% and 10% for C. albicans, S. aureus and S. mutons respectively. Potassium nitrate and sodium fluoride had no antimicrobial effects. The MIC of Corsodyl was 0.016 mg/ml for all the test organisms. The MIC for Plax varied from 0.0002 mg/ml to 0.001 mg/ml. The kill rates for all mouthrinses were acceptable, with no statistical differences between them. The experimental mouthrinse was not toxic to human oesophageal SCC cells after 1 minute exposure. At the time of the experiment, the costs of a similar quantity of the experimental mouthrinse, Corsodyl and Plax were R5.24, R30.00 and R10.00 respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
The experimental mouthrinse was cost-effective and proved to have an antimicrobial effect and could be used safely to alleviate oral infections, desensitize teeth, improve oral hygiene and control dental caries in cancer patients after radiation therapy.


Metabolic engineering has become a rational alternative to classical strain improvement in optimisation of beta-lactam production. In metabolic engineering directed genetic modification are introduced to improve the cellular properties of the production strains. This has resulted in substantial increases in the existing beta-lactam production processes. Furthermore, pathway extension, by heterologous expression of novel genes in well-characterised strains, has led to introduction of new fermentation processes that replace environmentally damaging chemical methods. This minireview discusses the recent developments in metabolic engineering and the applications of this approach for improving beta-lactam production.


Tetrahydroprotoberberines (THPBs) are plant-specific alkaloids with significant medicinal value. They are present in trace amounts in plants and are difficult to chemically synthesize due to stereoselectivity and an unfavorable environment. In this study, a selective methylation strategy was developed for the biocatalysis of seven high-value-added THPB compounds using 4'-O-methyltransferase (Cj4'OMT), norcoclaurine 6-O-methyltransferase (Cj6OMT), and (S)-scoulerine 9-O-methyltransferase (SiSOMT and PsSOMT) in engineered E. coli. The methyltransferases Cj4'OMT, Cj6OMT, PsSOMT, and SiSOMT were expressed heterologously in E. coli. Compound 1 (10-methoxy-2,3,9-tetrahydroxyberbine) was synthesized using the recombinant E. coli strain Cj4'OMT and the substrate 2,3,9,10-tetrahydroxyberbine. Compound 2 (9-methoxy-2,3,10-tetrahydroxyberbine) was produced in the recombinant Escherichia coli (E. coli) strain PsSOMT, and compounds 2 and 3 (discretamine) were produced in the recombinant E. coli strain SiSOMT. Compounds 4 (9,10-methoxy-2,3-tetrahydroxyberbine) and 5 (corypalmine) were obtained by co-culturing the recombinant strains Cj4'OMT and SiSOMT with substrate. Compounds 6 (scoulerine) and 7 (isoscoulerine) were produced by co-culturing the substrate with the recombinant strains Cj4'OMT and Cj6OMT. To increase the yield of novel compound 2, the flask culture conditions of the engineered SiSOMT strain were optimized, resulting in the production of 165.74 mg/L of this compound. This study thus presents an enzymatic approach to the synthesis of high-value-added THPBs with minimum environmental wastage.


The Human Genome Project has issued guidelines to ensure that sequencing is done on DNA from diverse sources who have given informed consent and are anonymous. Most current sources don't meet those criteria, however. The DNA of major clone libraries now being fed into high-volume robotized labs appears to come primarily from four subjects, two of whommay not have been informed in advance that their genome would become part of a public database. Worse, not all the donors appear to be anonymous: Sequencers in U.S. labs say theyknow the names of two of them, because they are colleagues.


ABSTRACT Lactic acid bacteria play a key role in human health. These friendly bacteria as a part of the microflora of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) have a beneficial influence on microbial balance. The probiotic cultures stimulate the growth of beneficial microorganisms, crowd out potentially harmful bacteria and reinforce the body's natural defense mechanisms. Recent data improve the positive effects of probiotics and stimulate research for discovering of new lactic acid bacteria strains with probiotic properties. In present work the probiotic potential of 23 strains lactic acid bacteria, isolated from Bulgarian rye sourdoughs from different geographical regions was studied in vitro. Their affiliation to the genus Lactobacillus and Pediococcus was determined by classical phenotyping methods. Screening of the strains at selecting factors high acidity and different concentrations of bile salts was first accomplished. In addition, susceptibility to antibiotics, production of hydrogen peroxide and spectrum of antimicrobial activity were determined. After primary selection, 8 strains were chosen and they were tested in a model system for in vitro simulation of the conditions into the human GIT. As a result, two strains with high probiotic potential were found.


A nontuberculous Mycobacterium ulcerans-like organism was identified as the causative agent of an epizootic of mycobacteriosis in a colony of African tropical clawed frogs, Xenopus (Silurana) tropicalis, at the University of California, Berkeley. Diverse clinical signs of disease were observed, including lethargy, excess buoyancy, coelomic effusion, cutaneous ulcers, and granulomas. Visceral granulomas, ulcerative and granulomatous dermatitis, coelomitis, and septicemia were common findings at necropsy. Identification of M. ulcerans-like organisms was based on molecular and phenotypical characteristics. The findings of this investigation indicate that this M. ulcerans-like organism is a primary cause of morbidity and mortality in aquatic anurans and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of coelomic effusion in amphibians. Furthermore, if this Mycobacterium species ultimately is identified as M. ulcerans, X. tropicalis should be considered a potential source of this important public health pathogen.


This paper presents a method for automated orthogonal edge routing of directed layered graphs using the described edge crossings reduction heuristic algorithm. The method assumes the nodes are pre-arranged on a rectangular grid composed of layers across the flow direction and lanes along the flow direction. Both layers and lanes are separated by rectangular areas defined as pipes. Each pipe has associated segment tracks. The edges are represented as orthogonal polylines consisting of line segments and routed along the shortest paths. Each segment is assigned to a pipe and to a segment track in it. The edge crossings reduction uses an iterative algorithm to resolve crossings between segments. Conflicting segments are reassigned to adjacent segment tracks, either by swapping with adjacent segments, or by inserting new tracks and calculating the shortest paths of edges. The algorithm proved to be efficient and was implemented in an interactive graph design tool.


A technique for controlling the flow to a vortex zone trapped between the top of a shallow submerged slot outlet, the free surface, and two lateral wing-walls is examined experimentally to show that it may be used to control the flow pattern near the slot outlet. The range of wing-wall crest elevations for which flow patterns may be controlled is shown to be a function of wing-wall length. The stability of the flow pattern is also examined experimentally and found to depend, for a particular wing-wall spacing, on the submergence of the slot outlet and on a Froude number based on average outlet velocity and wall spacing. The flow pattern control technique may have value in back-fitting some existing outfalls on thermal power plant outlets where strict temperature control is required.


ABSTRACT Gluconobacter oxydans is known for its incomplete oxidation of a wide range of alcohols, sugars, and acids in a bioprocess. The corresponding oxidation products are secreted almost completely into the medium. Here, we present the high-quality draft genome sequence of G. oxydans WSH-003, an industrial strain with both high l-sorbose productivity and extreme tolerance to saccharides and alditols.


Although a lot of interface crack problems were previously treated, few solutions are available under arbitrary material combination. This paper deals with a central interface crack in a bonded infinite plate and finite plate. Then, the effects of material combination on the stress intensity factors are discussed. A useful method to calculate the stress intensity factor of interface crack is presented with focusing on the stress at the crack tip calculated by the finite element method. For the central interface crack, it is found that the results of bonded infinite plate under remote uni-axial tension are always depending on the Dunders' parameters α, β and different from the well-known solution of the central interface crack under internal pressure that is only depending on β . Besides, it is shown that the stress intensity factor of bonded infinite plate can be estimated from the stress of crack tip in the bonded plate when there is no crack. It is also found that dimensionless stress intensity factor FI 0, FI >1 when (α+2β)(α-2β) <0, and FI =1 when (α+2β)(α-2β) =0.


Human-robot interaction most challenging task such as control, monitoring and navigation. We explore the unique challenges posed by the remote operation of robots. Teleoperation widely make use of short messaging service, this method not efficient for robotic control, monitoring and navigation. Rapid development in robotic technology effective monitoring, control and automated navigation are need, this paper we developed a system for the remote operation in robots is based on GPRS for monitoring and control. Robot act as artificial intelligent agent to avoid obstacle by using artificial intelligence approach namely machine learning algorithm called decision tree learning for automated navigation during absence of remote operator.


Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate if 2 common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the interleukin-13 (IL-13) gene, rs1800925 and rs20541 are associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) risk. Case–control association studies were retrieved systematically from PubMed, Scopus, ISI Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Wanfang databases using standardized subject terms. Eleven studies including 3077 participants (1896 cases and 1181 controls) were analyzed. Evidence for a positive association between the T allele of the IL-13 SNP rs1800925 and COPD risk was found in the overall population (odds ratio [OR] = 1.57, 95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 1.21–2.04, Pz = .001). In subgroup analysis according to ethnicity, the T allele of rs1800925 was associated with an increased risk of COPD in Asians (OR = 1.88, 95% CI: 1.23–2.87, Pz = .004) and Caucasians (OR = 1.30, 95% CI: 1.01–1.67, Pz = .041), respectively. For rs20541, the results suggested an association between rs20541 and COPD risk in Caucasians under the recessive model (OR = 2.79, 95% CI: 1.13–6.92, Pz = .026), whereas this SNP was not associated with COPD in Asians. This meta-analysis suggests that the T allele of rs1800925 is associated with the increased risk of COPD in both Asians and Caucasians, whereas rs20541 is associated with the risk of COPD in Caucasians but not in Asians.


Helix stabilising nucleoid protein (HSNP-C') from an acidothermophilic archaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldarius has been characterised with respect to interaction with nucleic acids by gel retardation assay, binding to nucleic acid columns, fluorescence titrations and electron microscopy. The protein exists in solution as very large multimeric aggregates as indicated by cross-linking studies. The protein binds strongly and co-operatively to double stranded DNA. Electron microscopy of the complexes of the protein with DNA shows compact structures suggesting that the protein condenses DNA.


Segmentation or the delineation of object boundaries in medical images remains a necessary step to obtain qualitative and quantitative measurements. Among these images, Ultrasound images plays a crucial role because the acquisition of these images is non invasive, cheap and does not require ionizing radiations compared to other medical imaging techniques. Due to acoustic interferences and artifacts, the automatic segmentation of anatomical structures in ultrasound imagery becomes a real challenge. Thus, to enhance the capabilities of ultrasound as a qualitative tool in clinical medicine, here we discuss the ultrasound image segmentation methods, focusing on techniques developed for medical. First, we discuss the formation of ultrasound images and conventional methods of image segmentation. After that we present the formulated methods for ultrasound image segmentation concerning the three largest areas of ultrasound imaging. Next section explains the validation degree that has been done in different application areas of ultrasound. In last section we conclude by referencing some papers which have introduced original ideas that exhibited particular usefulness in clinical domain specific to the ultrasound segmentation problem.


M cells located in the follicle-associated epithelium of Peyer's patches (PP) are shown to be the principal sites for the sampling of gut luminal antigens. Thus, PP have long been considered the gatekeepers of the mucosal immune system. Here, we report a distinct gateway for the uptake of gut bacteria: clusters of non-follicle-associated epithelium-associated Ulex europaeus agglutinin (UEA)-1(+) cells, which we have designated intestinal villous M cells. Interestingly, villous M cells are developed in various PP [or gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT)]-null mice, such as in utero lymphotoxin beta receptor (LTbetaR)-Ig-treated, lymphotoxin alpha (LTalpha)(-/-), tumor necrosis factor/LTalpha(-/-), and inhibition of differentiation 2 (Id2)(-/-) mice. Intestinal villous M cells have been observed to take up GFP-expressing Salmonella, Yersinia, and Escherichia coli-expressing invasin, as well as gut bacterial antigen for subsequent induction of antigen-specific immune responses. Thus, the identified villous M cells could be an alternative and PP-independent gateway for the induction of antigen-specific immune responses by means of the mucosal compartment.


Transmission lines deliver electricity that is generated at power plants to loads. When there is not sufficient transmission capacity to schedule or transport all desired electricity transfers, the transmission system is constrained, and the particular line, flowgate or interface is congested. While it is useful to measure congestion for several reasons—to identify where and how much congestion exists and how this changes over time, to determine whether or what to do about it, and to assess the effectiveness of actions taken—it is challenging to measure congestion in a meaningful and consistent way across markets or over time in the same market. This paper examines current public reporting of congestion measures for organized markets in the U.S., and what these measures can and cannot tell us about congestion across regions or over time in the same region.


Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 45, 2004

2019

We reported that safingol (L-threo-dihydrosphingosine) synergized the cytotoxicity of the ceramide-generating retinoid, N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)retinamide (fenretinide, 4-HPR) in human cancer cell lines in vitro. The mechanism by which safingol synergized 4-HPR cytotoxicity is not known. Safingol inhibited protein kinase C activity, and D,L-threo-dihydrosphingosine inhibited sphingosine kinase, in platelets, in cell extracts, or in short-term (minutes) drug exposures. However, the significance of these observations to chronic exposure in whole cells is not clear, and in rodent cells, safingol was metabolized to L-threo-ceramide and L-threo-glucosylceramides. Determining safingol metabolism in human cancer cells is crucial to understanding the mechanism of safingol + 4-HPR cytotoxic synergy, and to optimize clinical strategies for safingol administration. Using 3H-safingol, we determined the uptake and metabolism of safingol in human neuroblastoma cell line, CHLA-90, and ALL leukemia cell line, MOLT-4. Safingol and its metabolites were analyzed by thin-layer chromatography and scintillography, cell viability was measured using DIMSCAN analysis. To partially mimic infusional delivery, cells were incubated with 1 uM and 3 uM safingol for 24 hrs. Lipid analysis showed that safingol was acylated to L-threo-dihydroceramide (L-t-(DH)cer) and L-threo-dihydrosphingomyelin (L-t-(DH)SM). No safingol-derived ceramides or glucosylceramide were detected. At +4 hrs in 1 and 3 uM safingol in CHLA-90 cells, free safingol was 47% and 53%, L-t-(DH)cer was 47% and 44%, and L-t-(DH)SM was 6% and 3%, of remaining label, respectively. At +4 hrs in 1 and 3 uM safingol in MOLT-4 cells, free safingol was 20% and 60%, L-t-(DH)cer was 70% and 30%, and L-t-(DH)SM was 10% and 10%, of remaining label, respectively. To mimic a bolus delivery, cells were incubated with 6 uM safingol for 2 hrs and then medium was changed. In CHLA-90, at +4 and +24 hrs after washout, free safingol was 35% and 10%, L-t-(DH)cer was 50% and 30%, and L-t-(DH)SM was 15% and 60%, of remaining label, respectively. In contrast, in MOLT-4, at +4 and +24 hrs after washout, free safingol was 55% and 15%, L-t-(DH)cer was 42% and 75%, and L-t-(DH)SM was 3% and 10% of remaining label, respectively. Short chain L-t-(DH)ceramides (C2, C6 and C8) did not increase 4-HPR cytotoxicity in CHLA-90 and MOLT-4 cells. We conclude that 1) safingol was not metabolized to L-threo-ceramide or L-threo-glucosylceramide in two human cancer cell lines; 2) safingol metabolism differed somewhat in two human cancer cell lines; 3) L-t-(DH)cer most likely does not synergize 4-HPR cytotoxicity; 4) free safingol likely synergizes 4-HPR cytotoxicity; 5) delivery schedule may affect the kinetics of cellular safingol levels. This study has partially clarified the mechanism of safingol + 4-HPR cytotoxic synergy, and provided crucial information to optimize safingol delivery for in vivo efficacy studies.


AIM
We examined the effect of "IkiIki Hyakusai Taiso" as way to prevent the physical decline in community-dwelling elderly in Nose Town, Osaka Prefecture.

METHODS
Participants were community-dwelling elderly who participated in the Preventive Care program "IkiIki Hyakusai Taiso" from October 2015 to June 2019 in Nose Town, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. They performed exercises once a week. An assessment of the physical function, basic health checklist, and questionnaire about daily life were collected. Frailty was determined based on responses to the basic health checklist.

RESULTS
A total of 1,028 community-dwelling elderly people participated in this project. There were 766 (74.5%) women. The mean age of the participants was 72.6±8.0 years old, and 506 participants (49.2%) were part of the young-old generation. The physical function measurement values, including the 5-meter walking speed, time up and go test (TUG), 5 times sit to stand, and grip strength all significantly improved. Ninety percent of the participants participated in this program every time it was held. Regarding the self-rated health questionnaire, the rate of "feeling good due to participating in the program" increased from 29.1% to 45.4% after participating in this program for 6 months. The prevalence of partial social activities was mostly an increasing trend among the participants of this program.

CONCLUSION
Our findings showed that "IkiIki Hyakusai Taiso" improves and maintains the physical function and self-rated health among community-dwelling elderly individuals. Therefore, "IkiIki Hyakusai Taiso" seems to be a very useful preventive care program in the community.


It is rather generally acknowledged that a microscopic examination should precede treatment in all cases of hookworm disease. This view is based on sound experience and sound theory. The microscopic examination is especially important if carbon tetrachloride is to be used in treatment, for if the case is complicated with Ascaris infection, the clinician should know this fact before treatment is instituted. Opinion is perhaps not nearly so unanimous as to whether one is justified in drawing conclusions regarding the status of hookworm disease on the basis of symptoms observed in a brief inspection of school children unless the diagnosis is made and confirmed in the individual cases by microscopic examination. My position in this matter is that any person experienced in the clinical side of this infection is thoroughly justified by a brief inspection (sometimes referred to as "street car diagnosis") of white children in arriving at conclusions as


We estimate a time series model of voter turnout for 34 US presidential elections, 1880–2012. Employing a variety of econometric techniques, our major results are as follows. (1) A negative and significant structural shift in voter turnout occurs in 1972 and is too large to be explained by the lowering of the voting age. (2) The 1972 shift is the only statistically significant structural shift to occur since the first decade of the twentieth century. (3) Short-term macroeconomic conditions significantly impact turnout, with unemployment having a positive effect. (4) Turnout in recent presidential elections has not deviated significantly from the post-1972 norm. (5) Turnout is positively related to the expected closeness of the election outcome, but contrary to some theoretical predictions, closeness exhibits no trend over time.


The opening of a new site for the production of aggregates has both direct and indirectimpacts on the environment. The indirect impacts include changes in the environmental costs of hauling aggregates and possible changes in the level of construction activity. In this note, we show that the most likely effect of a new aggregate site is to reduce the truck miles used for aggregate hauling, which is an environmental benefit. We also show that the change in construction activity induced by a new site is likely to be extremely small.


Amorphous surface oxides of III-V semiconductors are harmful in many contexts of device development. Using low-energy electron diffraction and photoelectron spectroscopy, we demonstrate that surface oxides formed at Sn-capped GaAs(100) and InAs(100) surfaces in air are effectively removed by heating. This Sn-mediated oxide desorption procedure results in the initial well-defined Sn-stabilized (1x2) surface even for samples exposed to air for a prolonged time. Based on ab initio calculations we propose that the phenomenon is due to indirect and direct effects of Sn. The Sn-induced surface composition weakens oxygen adsorption.


Even simple circuits containing only one op amp and linear resistors can have multiple d.c. operating points. Using a realistic non-linear d.c. op-amp model which includes the saturation characteristics, this paper gives the necessary and sufficient conditions for an arbitrary op-amp circuit (containing op amps, linear resistors, strictly-increasing non-linear resistors and independent sources) to have a unique solution for all values of circuit parameters. These conditions are remarkable because they are couched strictly in topological terms. For many op-amp circuits (e.g. those containing only one op amp), the necessary and sufficient conditions can be checked by inspection.


Many researches to elucidate the mechanism of gravity sense and its response in the living cells have been advanced. But it has not yet identified that key molecule or signal transduction pathway related to gravity sense and its response. Our goal is to clarify the mechanism of gravity sense, especially the point of gravity sense. First, we have investigated about differences of gene expression level (mRNA) of the endothelial cells cultivated under vector-averaged gravity condition (Clinorotation). The Differential Display pattern showed that expression level of several genes had changed between clinorotated condition and control. The homologues of these fragments were searched on the BLAST database. From BLAST database searching results, GEF and cell adhesion protein effected by clinorotaion. Moreover, morphological and immunological techniques data showed that the cytoskeletal formation of actin, tubulin, etc. or localization in cell of Rho protein were changed. These results suggested that signal transduction pathway through Rho played an important role in the gravity sense mechanism of endothelial cells. Furthermore, we are going to investigate relation between gene expression and morphological data.


Recurrence is one of the most common phenomena in natural and engineering systems. Process monitoring of dynamic transitions in nonlinear and nonstationary systems is more concerned with aperiodic recurrences and recurrence variations. However, little has been done to investigate the heterogeneous recurrence variations and link with the objectives of process monitoring and anomaly detection. Notably, nonlinear recurrence methodologies are based on homogeneous recurrences, which treat all recurrence states in the same way as black dots, and non-recurrence is white in recurrence plots. Heterogeneous recurrences are more concerned about the variations of recurrence states in terms of state properties (e.g., values and relative locations) and the evolving dynamics (e.g., sequential state transitions). This paper presents a novel approach of heterogeneous recurrence analysis that utilizes a new fractal representation to delineate heterogeneous recurrence states in multiple scales, including the recurrences of both single states and multi-state sequences. Further, we developed a new set of heterogeneous recurrence quantifiers that are extracted from fractal representation in the transformed space. To that end, we integrated multivariate statistical control charts with heterogeneous recurrence analysis to simultaneously monitor two or more related quantifiers. Experimental results on nonlinear stochastic processes show that the proposed approach not only captures heterogeneous recurrence patterns in the fractal representation but also effectively monitors the changes in the dynamics of a complex system.


In the Author's note, written in 1920 in regard to his important novel The shadow line: a confession, Joseph Conrad makes some significant remarks on the relation between nature, senses and emotions. The article aims to identify the emotional space, between Mood and Stimmung, that Conrad finds in the human soul. This space, although "literary", is not fictional, but assumes the aspect of a genuine sentimental truth that places humanity in his proper world.


Multidrug resistance (MDR) is one of the critical reasons for the failure of cancer chemotherapy. To overcome MDR, we have developed redox-responsive doxorubicin prodrug (DEX-PEI(-SS-DOX)) micelles based on dextran-poly(ethylene imine) copolymers (DEX-PEI). The DEX-PEI(-SS-DOX) conjugates were conveniently prepared by grafting PEI to dextran, and then the anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX) was conjugated to DEX-PEI through redox-responsive cleavable disulfide linkers. The amphiphilic DOX prodrug self-assembled into micelles in aqueous solution and the micelles showed an average size of 100–140 nm with a uniform spherical morphology. In vitro drug release studies showed that the prodrug micelles accomplished rapid drug release under reducing conditions. Confocal images revealed that the micelles enhance the cellular accumulation of DOX and achieve endosomal escape in human breast carcinoma multidrug resistant (MCF-7/ADR) cells. The therapeutic efficacy of the self-assembled DOX prodrug micelles against MCF-7/ADR cells in vitro was evaluated through the MTT assay. The results showed that the therapeutic efficacy of DOX prodrug micelles against MCF-7/ADR cells was remarkably enhanced compared with free DOX. These results indicate that the redox-responsive DOX prodrug micelles could be a promising delivery system for overcoming MDR.


Fixation of CO on human blood or rabbit blood in presence of NO in similar concentrations is diminished by the formation of methemoglobin and nitrite methemoglobin. NO is oxidised in nitrate. Furthermore, it appears that oxidation of nitrite in nitrate is realised by red-blood cells. Spectrography study of blood trated by NO indicates presence of methemoglobin, nitrite methemoglobin.


The purpose of this study is to measure the financial performance of PT. Kalbe Farma Tbk in the period 2018 - June 2021 based on analysis of financial statements using the financial ratio method. This research was conducted at the company PT. Kalbe Farma Tbk. This research method uses quantitative desriptive. The data collection technique in this study is a documentation study. The type of data used by this study is qualitative data in the form of information about companies and quantitative data in the form of financial statements derived from the Indonesia stock exchange. As well as the data analysis technique used is financial ratio analysis. Based on the results of the analysis, the results of the liquidity ratio research in 2018 - June 2021 are good because the ratio results are above 100%. Solvency ratio is good because the ratio results below 100%. The activity ratio is still relatively good because it is above 1. And the profitability ratio is not good because it has decreased.


Power efficiency and variability, currently, are the main aspects of concern of nanometer-scale CMOS technology. Both issues have been widely studied and described in the literature, and various options for their independent management are available. Unfortunately, their exacerbation on sub-40 nm processes will require new design solutions for concurrent optimization. This paper moves towards this objective, and presents a new, fully-automated, design methodology, based on the Monitor and Control paradigm, able to improve the timing yield of a system making use of traditional power-gating (PG) as a knob for controlling power consumption and performance. In particular, the design and implementation of tunable-size sleep transistors is described, as well as a methodology for inserting them in a row-based layout. In order to keep under control both area and power overhead that come from the insertion of the sleep transistors, this paper also proposes a new strategy for clustering and power-gating only the timing critical cells. The experimental results are extremely promising. In fact, the proposed approach guarantees 100% of the timing yield with average leakage-power savings of about 29%.


Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is a poorly understood oral pain disorder characterized by a painful burning sensation in the oral cavity without any mucosal abnormalities. In this study, we evaluated the salivary cortisol and chromogranin A (CgA) levels of patients with BMS in comparison with age-matched controls. Subjects (n = 114) included 81 BMS patients and 33 controls. Patients with BMS were further classified into a subgroup of subjects who occasionally feel a burning sensation (BMS 1), and a subgroup of subjects who always feel a burning sensation (BMS 2). Salivary cortisol and CgA levels were measured using ELISA kits. All individuals with BMS had significantly higher cortisol and CgA levels than the controls did. Furthermore, when comparing the controls with each BMS subgroup, salivary levels of cortisol were significantly higher in both subgroups than controls. In contrast, the level of CgA was significantly higher in the BMS 2 subgroup only. Multiple regression analysis revealed a significant independent association between salivary levels of cortisol and BMS even after adjustment for gender, antidepressant or antianxiety drug use and hypertension (drug-treated). The study revealed that a significant association was observed between salivary cortisol levels and BMS.


Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management are part of the ERP-solution provided by Microsoft. With Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce it is now also possible to define a channel in the ERP-system that represents an online store. Often, one or more third-party storefronts have to be used that require data about listings, saved in an ERP-system, in their own systems, and the stores also generate data that has to be transferred to the ERP-system. Incorrect synchronization results in either integrity problems or data that is difficult to maintain. Currently, there is no research on how to achieve such a synchronization with multiple shop platforms in Dynamics 365. This thesis evaluates possible implementations of such a synchronization between Dynamics 365 and third-party storefronts and suggests a most appropriate approach that can easily include multiple storefronts. The data transfer capabilities are evaluated for such an implementation, as well as technologies that can be used for best results, including Dynamics 365, Microsoft Azure, and Amazon Web Services. In the end, a combination of Business Events, Service Buses, Azure Functions and e-Commerce SDK was chosen to ensure successful bi-directional synchronization. The performance, scalability and extension aspect for multichannel was provided by the final implementation and resulted in a successful solution and synchronization.


Since its maturity four or five years ago, portal has become the common practice in organizations. A portal strategy is a way in which a Web site is customized that provides people easy access to most of the information, tools and applications they need to use—all with a single sign-on. Portal has been growing rapidly within organizations. META Group's Worldwide IT Benchmark Report 2004 confirms this trend, showing that 46% of their respondents spent more on portals in 2003 than they did in 2002 (36% spent the same, 18% spent less) (cited in Roth, 2004). More and more organizations begin to adopt portal strategies to facilitate knowledge acquisition and transfer within and across organizations. Because an effective portal strategy allows people to make better use of rich knowledge and information resources across the organization, enhances ability to better connect with prospective users, and thereby contributes to enhanced service, improved communication and increased efficiency. For instance, Compaq applies two forms of portals in its knowledge management: enterprise portal services (EPS) and the Package Portal Solution (McKellar, 2000). The purpose of using knowledge management portals is to let employees (customers or partners) find the knowledge they want at the right time and at the right place. Several researchers (e.g., Hoffman, 2002) identify the benefits that are reaped by using portals in knowledge management which include reducing lost time, loss of intelligent assets, cost of rework, and cost of redundancy. However, it is not well understood how appropriate portal strategies should be adopted and implemented for organizations with different focuses of knowledge. Therefore, we propose to address this gap in our research. In order to further understand the role of the portal strategies in organizational knowledge management, we investigate the advantages and disadvantages of portal strategies. In particular, the article intends to address the following research questions:


The antidermatophytic activity of interpolar methanolic and low polar petroleum ether soxhlet extracts of Sterculia foetida seed was evaluated by agar well diffusion method, The maximum activity was observed in interpolar methanolic extract against C .albicans followed by E. coli, B. Subtilis, P. aeruginosa, S. aureus, T. rubrum, M.gypseum, T.mentagrophytes and T.tonsurans. When compared to low polar petroleum ether extract. The Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC), minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) were determined using broth dilution method. The preliminary phytochemical tests for secondary metabolites were carried out in both the extracts but the results indicated presence of alkaloids, phenols, flavonoids and triterpenoids in the interpolar extract. This study provides a basis for the isolation and purification of anti-dermatophytic compound(s) from the seeds of S. foetida.


Approaches for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from motor vehicles include more-efficient vehicles, lower-carbon fuels, and reducing vehicle-kilometers traveled (VKT). Many U.S. states are considering steps to reduce emissions through actions in one or more of these areas. We model several technology and policy options for reducing GHGs from motor vehicles in Minnesota. Considerable analysis of transportation GHGs has been done for California, which has a large population and vehicle fleet and can enact unique emissions regulations; Minnesota represents a more typical state with respect to many demographic and transportation parameters. We conclude that Minnesota has a viable approach to meeting its stated GHG reduction targets (15% by 2015 and 30% by 2025, relative to year 2005) only if advancements are made in all three areas-vehicle efficiency, carbon content of fuels, and VKT. If policies focus on only one or two areas, potential improvements may be negated by backsliding in another area (e.g., increasing VKT offsetting improvements in vehicle efficiency).


The queued-arbitrated (QA) protocol of the distributed queue dual bus (DQDB) has several drawbacks, such as unfairness of access opportunities and inefficiency of priority scheme in the multipriority environment. A modified version of the basic distributed queuing algorithm is presented to solve these problems. Simulation results indicate that the proposed strategy provides fairer access opportunities as well as more efficient priority transmissions compared to the current algorithm.<<ETX>>


Importance–Performance Analysis (IPA) is an efficient method for measuring two dimensions of a person's attitude on a given topic. The current study added a third dimension, Expectation, to determine if an individual's expectation about a cultural tourism experience impacts their rating of that experience's performance. The study, based in Havana, Cuba, gathered impressions from international visitors regarding 30 types of cultural tourism activities and amenities through an intercept survey. Results indicated that many Expectation and Performance scores were correlated. Additionally, some differences arose in Expectations and perceived Performance among varying age groups and length of stay. The use of this new scale (EIPA) would be valuable to local tourism managers as well as tourism researchers wishing to explore expanded uses of IPA, and should be tested in a variety of cultural contexts.


AbstractFor a cross-section of 123 European regions, a positive causal e ect of generalised truston innovation activity is identi ed using a set of geographic instrumental variables fromclimate and soil data. The geographic instrumental variables are de ned and discussed.The popular explanation for spatial clustering of innovation by \interregional knowledgespillovers" is empirically tested. It is found that spatial clustering of innovation activitycan be better explained by a positive inuence of trust on innovation combined with thefact that neighboring regions typically show similar levels of trust.JEL Classi cation: O31, R11, R12, Z13Keywords: Social Capital, Trust, Innovation, Regional Economics, Europe University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Faculty of Law, Business and Economics, Chair of Social Policy, Find-elgasse 7/9, 90402 Nuremberg, Germany, e-mail: email@example.com,Phone: +49-911-5302-954, Fax: +49-911-5302-953.The author would like to thank Uwe Blien, Thiess Buttner, Franz Todtling and Matthias Wrede as well asparticipants of the Winter Seminar of the German Speaking Section of the European Regional Science Associa-tion (ERSA) in Matrei, Austria, March 2012. The author would like to thank the German Science Foundationfor nancial support (DFG SPP 1142).


A small triple-band receiving active antenna for VHF, UHF, and L-band broadcasting that can be used for mobile handsets is presented. This antenna consists of a small single passive helical antenna and a triple-band low noise amplifier (LNA). The design procedure of this antenna, in which the passive antenna shows very different impedances at each band, is also presented. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the proposed configuration can be used as a triple-band receiving active antenna for VHF (174-216 MHz), UHF (470-806 MHz), and L-band (1450-1492 MHz).


We present an approach where a robot patrols a fixed path through an environment, autonomously locating suspicious or anomalous objects. To learn, the robot patrols this environment building a dictionary describing what is present. The dictionary is built by clustering features from a deep neural network. The objects present vary depending on the scene, which means that an object that is anomalous in one scene may be completely normal in another. To reason about this, the robot uses a computational cognitive model to learn the dictionary elements that are typically found in each scene. Once the dictionary and model has been built, the robot can patrol the environment matching objects against the dictionary, and querying the model to find the most likely objects present and to determine which objects (if any) are anomalous. We demonstrate our approach by patrolling two indoor and one outdoor environments.


We have performed a study of charge transport in lambda-DNA using a recently developed model based on Marcus theory and dynamic Monte Carlo simulations. The model accounts for charge delocalization over multiple adjacent identical nucleobases. Such delocalized states are found to act as traps for charge transport and therefore have a negative impact on the charge carrier (hole) mobility. Both the electric field and temperature dependence of the mobility in lambda-DNA is reported in this paper. Furthermore, the detailed information produced by the simulation allow us to plot the progress of a hole propagating through the DNA sequence and this is used to identify the bottlenecks that limits the charge transport process.


Due to its high computational speed and accuracy compared to ab-initio quantum chemistry and forcefield modeling, the prediction of molecular properties using machine learning has received great attention in the fields of materials design and drug discovery. A main ingredient required for machine learning is a training dataset consisting of molecular features\textemdash for example fingerprint bits, chemical descriptors, etc. that adequately characterize the corresponding molecules. However, choosing features for any application is highly non-trivial. No "universal" method for feature selection exists. In this work, we propose a data fusion framework that uses Independent Vector Analysis to exploit underlying complementary information contained in different molecular featurization methods, bringing us a step closer to automated feature generation. Our approach takes an arbitrary number of individual feature vectors and automatically generates a single, compact (low dimensional) set of molecular features that can be used to enhance the prediction performance of regression models. At the same time our methodology retains the possibility of interpreting the generated features to discover relationships between molecular structures and properties. We demonstrate this on the QM7b dataset for the prediction of several properties such as atomization energy, polarizability, frontier orbital eigenvalues, ionization potential, electron affinity, and excitation energies. In addition, we show how our method helps improve the prediction of experimental binding affinities for a set of human BACE-1 inhibitors. To encourage more widespread use of IVA we have developed the PyIVA Python package, an open source code which is available for download on Github.