This thesis describes a way of modeling viscoelasticity in deformable solids for interactive haptic and display purposes. The model is based on elastostatic deformation characterized by a discrete Green's function matrix, which is extended using a viscoelastic add-on. The underlying idea is to replace the linear, time-independent relationships between the matrix entries, force, and displacement with non-linear, time-dependent relationships. A general framework is given, in which different viscoelastic models can be devised. One such model based on physical measurements is discussed in detail. Finally, the details and results of a system that implements this model are described.


A channel model has been established by analyzing the characteristics of the non-line-of-sight (NLOS) environment in a domestic airport surface and referencing mobile communication and air channel research. Through deducing the analytical formula of Doppler spectrum that incident angle in Gaussian distribution, we got the spread of frequency that produced by relative motion, and we assess the communication performance of the channel by contrasting the bit error rate of some channel. Channel evaluation also by analyzing channel capacity in different antenna configuration to compare priori knowledge. The simulation results show that the established channel model can accurately describe the characteristics of the non-line-of-sight environment in the airport surface, and it can be used for the design of multilateration (MLAT) system and the research of time difference of arrival (TDOA) localization algorithm. Index Terms – Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS), Channel Model, Multilateration (MLAT), Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA)


Uranium deposits occur in association with igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. The bulk of low-cost reserves, however, occurs in Precambrian rocks or in Phanerozoic sediments immediately overlying the basement. In basement rocks, as well as in more recent rocks, major uranium deposits are spatially associated with leucogranites. In Phanerozoic sediments, close to the basement uranium is enriched in continental clastic formations under reducing conditions. Favourable lithologies are alternating horizons of clay and sandstone containing carbonaceous matter. Metamorphic developments are associated with zones of crustal thickening with a world-wide era of concentration at around 1900-1700 Ma ago. Uranium is also enriched in more recent metamorphosed clastic sediments. Deposits directly associated with igneous rocks tend to occur in unsaturated facies rich in volatiles. Granitic and alaskitic pegmatites also carry economic amounts of uranium. The most important secondary deposits of recent origin are those occurring in carbonateor sulphate-cemented sediments.


In an effort to generate titanium surfaces for implants with improved osseointegration, we used direct laser interference patterning (DLIP) to modify the surface of pure titanium grade 4 of four different structures. We assessed in vitro cytoxicity and cell attachment, as well as the viability and proliferation of cells cultured directly on the surfaces. Attachment of the cells to the modified surfaces was comparably good compared to that of cells on grit-blasted and acid-etched reference titanium surfaces. In concordance with this, viability and proliferation of the cells directly cultured on the specimens were similar on all the titanium surfaces, regardless of the laser modification, indicating good cytocompatibility.


Causal processes can give rise to distinctive distributions in the linguistic variables that they affect. Consequently, a secure understanding of a variable's distribution can hold a key to understanding the forces that have causally shaped it. A storied distribution in linguistics has been Zipf's law, a kind of power law. In the wake of a major debate in the sciences around power-law hypotheses and the unreliability of earlier methods of evaluating them, here we re-evaluate the distributions claimed to characterize phoneme frequencies. We infer the fit of power laws and three alternative distributions to 166 Australian languages, using a maximum likelihood framework. We find evidence supporting earlier results, but also nuancing them and increasing our understanding of them. Most notably, phonemic inventories appear to have a Zipfian-like frequency structure among their most-frequent members (though perhaps also a lognormal structure) but a geometric (or exponential) structure among the least-frequent. We compare these new insights the kinds of causal processes that affect the evolution of phonemic inventories over time, and identify a potential account for why, despite there being an important role for phonetic substance in phonemic change, we could still expect inventories with highly diverse phonetic content to share similar distributions of phoneme frequencies. We conclude with priorities for future work in this promising program of research.


ABSTRACT This article measures and explains the technical efficiency (TE) of 371 dairy farms located in 17 districts in East African countries. Three output and 10 input types were used to calculate the efficiency score for each farm. A two-stage analysis was conducted to measure and explain the efficiency scores. Firstly, the efficiency scores were measured by a data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach, which was implemented using a linear programming (LP) method. About 18 per cent of the farms were fully productive, each with an efficiency score of unity, which means this group is currently operating on the production possibility frontier. About 32 per cent of the farms had efficiency scores below 0.25, which means that about a third of the dairy farms would need to expand their dairy production by at least 75 per cent from the current level without any increase in the level of inputs. Secondly, a fractional regression method was used to explain the efficiency scores by relating them to a range of explanatory variables. The findings indicate that technology adoption factors, such as the existence of improved breeds, and feed and fodder innovations (e.g., growing legumes), have positive and statistically significant effects on the level of efficiency. Similarly, zero-grazing seems to have positive and highly significant effects. As far as marketing variables are concerned, selling milk to individual consumers or organisations seems to contribute positively and more significantly to dairy efficiency than other marketing outlets such as traders or chilling plants. Membership of a dairy cooperative has a positive effect but is not statistically significant.


This paper reports on digital transmitter architecture for the 450 MHz band using an envelope delta-sigma modulator realized in CMOS and a voltage-mode class-S (VMCS) power amplifier (PA) based on GaN monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs). The class-S PA is characterized for narrowband single-tone signals and a single- as well as a four-carrier downlink wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) signal with a peak-to-average power ratio of 7.5 dB. Using single-tone excitation the PA shows a maximum drain efficiency of 86% and a peak output power of 4.4 W. At 6 and 10 dB back-off, 59 and 36% efficiency are achieved, respectively. With the single- and four-carrier WCDMA input signals maximum drain efficiencies of 64 and 53% are reached, respectively, and peak output power is 0.7 W. The adjacent channel leakage ratio shows values of about −34 dBc (5 MHz) and −38 dBc (10 MHz) for single-carrier WCDMA excitation. This is the first complete VMCS PA chain characterized with standard communication signals.


This essay reviews two recent books, Vincent Chiao's Criminal Law in the Age of the Administrative State (2018) and Erin Kelly's The Limits of Blame: Rethinking Punishment and Responsibility (2018).

The predominant approach to criminal law theory sees criminal law as divorced from core questions of political theory. These books by Chiao and Kelly exemplify an alternative approach to that sees criminal law theory as a topic in political theory. On this alternative approach, criminal justice institutions raise core questions about coercion and legitimacy that apply to other political institutions and call for evaluation based on generally-applicable principles of political justification.

This essay first examines the main arguments of Chiao's and Kelly's books, then sketches some analytic implications for theorizing criminal law as a topic in political theory.


In this paper, a pipeline Reed-Solomon decoder based on time domain decoding technique is presented. High throughput is achieved by parallel computation in the modified Euclid algorithm block, and the complex control circuit is simplified by a switch box strategy. In addition, the constant finite field multiplier is optimized to reduce the chip area, thus making the decoder suitable for HDTV.


1 The Purpose of This Book. Part I: Equal Employment Opportunity Law . 2 The 1964 Civil Rights Act: The EEOC and the Mandate for Equal Employment Opportunity. 3 Evidence and Proof in Equal Employment Opportunity Cases. 4 Gender and Leave Issues in Employment. 5 Other Equal Employment Opportunity Classifications: Age, Religion, and National Origin Discrimination. 6 Courts and Affirmative Action. 7 Employment of the Handicapped. Part II: Health and Safety. 8 Occupational Safety and Health. 9 Workers' Compensation. Part III: New Developments . 10 The Law of Unjust Discharge. 11 Employee Privacy. 12 Drug Testing and the Law. Index


order. reveal. relationship ~ bacterial community structure, halophytic vegetation succession, high-throughput sequencing technology. used. investigate. composition, distribution. soil bacterial community structure under bare land, four halophytic vegetation types (saline seepweed angiospermae imperata cylindrica,. venetum L). Yellow River Delta. about 31976 valid sequences. obtained from 5 vegetation types, Bacteria. classified. 27 phyla 62 classes 78 orders 196 families, 569 genera. proteobacteria. dominant phyla. four types. halophytic vegetation. relative abundance. 36.4 ~ 53.2% while Bacteroidetes. dominant community. bare land. relative abundance. 46.2%. Soil quality, bacterial communitY diversity and abundance showwed an increase trend with the positive success of halal vegetation, and the content of soil organic carbon was positively related with OTU numbers, Ace index and Shannon index of bacteria. RDA analysis showold that the community structure of soil has a great similarity. with the positive success of halal vegetation, the electrical conductivity decline, and the contents of organic carbon, active organic matter and alkali nitrite created.


Liver resection provides one of the best oncological outcomes for liver metastases in patients with colorectal cancer. However, long‐term results concerning laparoscopic resection versus open hepatectomy for stage IV colon cancer are still limited. The aim of this study is to compare the survival outcome of laparoscopic liver resection with open liver resection for colorectal metastases.


Background:  The recommended intake of fortified milk can substantially decrease the children's ailment, increase growth rate and appears an economically beneficial strategy in the general Pakistani population aged over 6-24 months. Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the influence of fortified milk on children's health in Pakistan. Study Design: Randomized controlled trial. Settings: Department of Economics, GC University, Faisalabad-Pakistan. Duration: April 2019 to August 2019. Sample Size: Consisted of 100 individuals. Sampling Technique: Snowball technique was used to collect data. Data Analysis: Pretest and posttest data were analyzed with the help of t-test, paired sample t-test, and cross-tabulation. Results: It was found that there was a significant difference between the mean difference in age, height ratio of participants from their pretest and post-test scores. Conclusion: Fortified milk brings positive changes in growth of children in terms of weight & height. Suggestions: The mass should have awareness regarding fortified complementary foods.


Auto-localization in wireless acoustic sensor networks (WASNs) can be achieved by time-of-arrival (TOA) measurements between sensors and sources. Most existing approaches are centralized, and they require a fusion center to communicate with other nodes. In practice, WASN topologies are time-varying with nodes joining or leaving the network, which poses scalability issues for such algorithms. In particular, for an increasing number of nodes, the total transmission power required to reach the fusion center increases. Therefore, in order to facilitate scalability, we present a structured total least squares (STLS) based internal delay estimation for distributed microphone localization where the internal delay refers to the time taken for a source signal reaching a sensor to that it is registered as received by the capture device. Each node only needs to communicate with its neighbors instead of with a remote host, and they run an STLS algorithm locally to estimate local internal delays and positions (i.e., its own and those of its neighbors), such that the original centralized computation is divided into many subproblems. Experiments demonstrate that the decentralized internal delay estimation converges to the centralized results with increasing signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). More importantly, less computational complexity and transmission power are required to obtain comparable localization accuracy.


The purpose of this study was to determine the potential role of positron emission tomography (PET) using 2-[18F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) for the evaluation of bony metastasis compared with 99Tcm-methylene diphosphonate (99Tcm-MDP) bone scintigraphy in patients with breast cancer. Fifty-one female patients with breast cancer who had PET together with a bone scan within 1 month between September 1994 and March 1997 were included in this study. The median age was 49 years (range 29-79 years). The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of the bone scan were 77.7%, 80.9% and 80.3%, respectively. On the other hand, for the detection of bone metastases PET had a sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of 77.7%, 97.6% and 94.1%, respectively. In the diagnosis of bony metastasis derived from breast cancer, FDG-PET was statistically superior to bone scintigraphy in its specificity. In conclusion, FDG-PET appears to be a powerful tool not only in the diagnosis of the primary lesion and soft tissue metastasis, but also in the diagnosis of bony metastasis among patients with breast cancer.


A linear-systems matrix-based mathematical formulation for predicting continuous particulate air monitor (CPAM) responses when monitoring a system of compartments served by an HVAC system is developed. The CPAM responses, for both fixed- and moving-filter monitors, are found using a "quasi-numerical" approach, combining numerical eigenvector/eigenvalues with closed-form analytical solutions, for sources with exponential time-dependence. This formulation is general and can handle complex or simple systems with no changes to the mathematics. Parent-progeny (decay chain) nuclides, with branching, are handled directly. The monitor responses are found via several alternative methods. The computations are readily mechanized, providing a valuable analytical tool for the efficient analysis of many CPAM applications. Two example cases are presented: 1) a multicompartment, multisource system, for a single nuclide; 2) a two-compartment, /sup 88/Kr-/sup 88/Rb decay chain system, as found in an actual PWR containment building.


Dismantling the Welfare State? is a modern classic in the welfare state literature. Yet although the book is widely known, the 'Piersonian argument' as it is typically referred to today bears limited resemblance to the book's highly nuanced and thought-provoking ideas. This review revisits the book and explores some of the lessons it still holds for the research community.


The catalytic oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) to C2 hydrocarbons with oxygen (O 2 -OCM) has garnered renewed worldwide interest in the past decade due to the emergence of enormous new shale gas resources. However, the C2 selectivity of typical OCM processes is significantly challenged by overoxidation to CO x products. Other gaseous reagents such as N 2 O, CO 2 , and S 2 have been investigated to a far lesser extent as alternative, milder oxidants to replace O 2 . Although several authoritative review articles have summarized OCM research progress in depth, recent oxidative coupling developments using alternative oxidants (X-OCM) have not been overviewed in detail. In this perspective, we review and analyze OCM research results reporting the implementation of N 2 O, CO 2 , S 2 , and other non-O 2 oxidants, highlighting the unique chemistries of these systems and their advantages/challenges compared to O 2 -OCM. Current outlook and potential areas for future study are also discussed.


Gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) is an inexpensive, photocrosslinkable, cell-responsive hydrogel which has drawn attention for a wide range of tissue engineering applications. The potential of GelMA scaffolds was demonstrated to be tunable for different tissue engineering (TE) applications through modifying the polymer concentration, methacrylation degree, or UV light intensity. Despite the promising results of GelMA hydrogels in tissue engineering, the influence of polymer concentration for bone tissue engineering (BTE) scaffolds was not established yet. Thus, in this study, we have demonstrated the effect of polymer concentration in GelMA scaffolds on osteogenic differentiation. We prepared GelMA scaffolds with 5 and 10% polymer concentrations and characterized the scaffolds in terms of porosity, pore size, swelling characteristics, and mechanical properties. Subsequent to the scaffolds characterization, the scaffolds were seeded with bone marrow derived rat mesenchymal stem cells and cultured in osteogenic media to evaluate the possible osteogenic differentiation effect exerted by the polymer concentration. After 7, 14, 21, and 28 days, DNA content, calcium deposition, and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity of scaffolds were evaluated quantitatively by colorimetric bioassays. Furthermore, the distribution of the calcium deposition within the scaffolds was attained qualitatively and quantitatively by microcomputer tomography (µCT). Our data suggest that GelMA hydrogels prepared with 5% polymer concentration has promoted homogeneous extracellular matrix calcification and it is a great candidate for BTE applications. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 106A: 201-209, 2018.


Abstract This study develops a household enterprise model extended to encompass recent advances in collective theory. We use a simulation model in which production and consumption‐leisure choices are represented along with the rule governing intra‐household resource allocation, to analyze the income and wage responses of each family member. The household is treated as an equilibrium model whose accounts are based on a collective household accounting matrix, with the social dimension being the wife/husband classes. The simulation analysis illustrates the policy relevance of the collective approach to household behavior for inferring the impact of economic policies on individual behavior and welfare. We also propose insightful comparisons with the unitary model to make the behavioral and welfare policy relevance of the collective approach evident.


A miniature and broadband, K-band p-HEMT LNA MMIC, that incorporates simple lumped matching elements and series bias topologies, has been developed for LMDS (Local Multi-point Distribution Service) and satellite communication. The gain and noise figure is 14.5+/-1.5 dB and 1.7+/-0.2 dB, respectively, at frequencies between 23 and 30 GHz. The die size of the MMIC is 0.9 mm/sup 2/, the gain-density of this MMIC is as high as 14.4 dB/mm/sup 2/, which is more than two times larger than that of previously reported.


Ecklonia cava (E. cava) and Chrysanthemum indicum Linne (C. indicum) are natural raw materials known to have beneficial effects on inflammatory-related diseases, as evidenced by various sources in the literature. This study aimed to investigate the airway-protective effects of a formulation called ED, comprising E. cava and C. indicum, by evaluating its potential anti-inflammatory properties. Methods: The major components of ED were analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and its anti-inflammatory activity was assessed in RAW 264.7 cells through measurements of nitric oxide's (NO) inhibitory effect, cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 protein expression, and the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway. Additionally, the anti-inflammatory effect of ED was evaluated in an ovalbumin-induced asthma model by measuring cytokine levels in serum, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), and lung tissue. Through HPLC analysis, the major components of ED, dieckol and luteolin, were identified. ED demonstrated no cytotoxicity and effectively reduced NO production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW 264.7 cells. Moreover, ED downregulated COX-2 expression through the MAPK signaling pathway in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells. In the ovalbumin-induced asthma model, the ED-treated group exhibited reduced levels of inflammatory cytokines in lung tissue. Furthermore, the ED-treated group showed a decrease in the number of inflammatory cells in BALF and lower serum interleukin (IL)-6 levels compared to the ovalbumin-treated group. These results suggest that ED has the potential to be a novel therapeutic agent for improving inflammatory respiratory diseases.


In this paper we discuss the impact of redesigning a lecturer professional development course with the aim of embedding a community of practice (COP) model supported by the use of mobile web 2.0 technologies. This approach was based upon a model developed to support 30 mlearning projects between 2006 and 2010, which also informed the institutions' new elearning strategy developed in 2009. Participating lecturers were brought into the course as participants in an intentional COP investigating the pedagogical application of social learning theories and frameworks, facilitated by the course lecturers who took on the role of technology stewards guiding the COP in the appropriation of mobile web 2.0. Three examples of participants' journeys of discovery throughout the course are highlighted to illustrate the impact of this approach to professional development. Reflections on the first 2010 iteration of the course are then used to inform the following iterations in 2011. Keywords: professional development; communities of practice; social learning theories; pedagogy-andragogy-heutagogy continuum


This in vitro study investigated the external disinfection of two needle-free connection devices (NFC) using Octeniderm® (spraying and wiping technique) vs. Descoderm® pads (wiping technique). The split-septum membrane of the NFC was contaminated with >105 CFU K. pneumoniae or S. epidermidis. The efficacy of the disinfection at 30 sec. exposure time was controlled by taking a swab sample and by flushing the NFC with sterile 0.9% sodium chloride solution. Disinfection with octenidine dihydrochloride 0.1 g, 1-Propanol 30.0 g, and 2-Propanol 45.0 g in 100 g solution was highly effective (CFU reduction ≥4 log) against both microorganisms, whereas the use of 63.1 g 2-Propanol in 100 ml solution led to residual contamination with S. epidermidis. Our investigation underlines that (i) in clinical practice disinfection of NFCs before use is mandatory, and that (ii) details of disinfection technique are of utmost importance regarding their efficacy. Our investigation revealed no significant differences between both split-septum NFC types. Clinical studies are needed to confirm a possible superiority of disinfectants with long-lasting residual antimicrobial activity.


The contemporary focus on high fidelity implementation of research-based practices often creates tensions for educators who seek to balance fidelity with needed flexibility as they strive to improve learner outcomes. In an effort to improve how decisions are made such that flexibility is achieved while fidelity to core components is maintained, this chapter begins with a discussion of the role of fidelity in research and practice. Particular attention is given to current conceptualizations of fidelity that may help inform theoretically and empirically driven adaptations to research-based practices. Specifically, we describe adaptations based on the instructional context for implementation and the characteristics of the individual learners. A framework for adapting research-based practices is then presented with relevant examples from research designed to optimize learner responsiveness without sacrificing fidelity to core components. The chapter ends with implications and future directions for research and practice.


Topological semantics for modal logic based on the Cantor derivative operator gives rise to derivative logics, also referred to as $d$-logics. Unlike logics based on the topological closure operator, $d$-logics have not previously been studied in the framework of dynamical systems, which are pairs $(X,f)$ consisting of a topological space $X$ equipped with a continuous function $f\colon X\to X$. We introduce the logics $\bf{wK4C}$, $\bf{K4C}$ and $\bf{GLC}$ and show that they all have the finite Kripke model property and are sound and complete with respect to the $d$-semantics in this dynamical setting. In particular, we prove that $\bf{wK4C}$ is the $d$-logic of all dynamic topological systems, $\bf{K4C}$ is the $d$-logic of all $T_D$ dynamic topological systems, and $\bf{GLC}$ is the $d$-logic of all dynamic topological systems based on a scattered space. We also prove a general result for the case where $f$ is a homeomorphism, which in particular yields soundness and completeness for the corresponding systems $\bf{wK4H}$, $\bf{K4H}$ and $\bf{GLH}$. The main contribution of this work is the foundation of a general proof method for finite model property and completeness of dynamic topological $d$-logics. Furthermore, our result for $\bf{GLC}$ constitutes the first step towards a proof of completeness for the trimodal topo-temporal language with respect to a finite axiomatisation -- something known to be impossible over the class of all spaces.


Numerous underlying molecular events have been described in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), but still, the fundamental disease mechanisms are poorly understood. Several targeted therapies have been investigated for improved AML therapy but have not succeeded to date, likely due to the inability to identify the patient subgroups that are most likely to benefit. Here, we describe functional profiling of AML patient cells ex vivo with a drug sensitivity and resistance (DSRT) platform in order to distinguish disease- and patient-specific molecular vulnerabilities and individualized therapeutic strategies. The oncology drug collection covers 306 anti-cancer agents including 131 approved, 107 investigational and 68 experimental compounds. Each compound is tested in a dose response series allowing for calculation of drug sensitivity scores. The functional exploration of AML patient samples was accompanied with comprehensive molecular profiling and clinical background data to link drug sensitivities to molecular aberrations and predictive biomarkers. Comparison of the drug sensitivity profiles of 24 AML patient and 5 control samples revealed that targeted inhibitors often exhibit no to little effect in the controls and the majority of AML patient samples with only a subset of patients showing very selective responses, indicating that cancer specific vulnerabilities can be detected with the DSRT platform. Clustering of the drug responses among patient and control samples identified distinct subgroups of patients and drugs. Each of these groups could be defined by a separate drug class, implying that the linked samples were addicted to the corresponding signaling networks. Specifically, we saw select addictions to drug classes such as dasatinib/VEGFR TKIs, MEK inhibitors, rapalogs, JAK inhibitors, mTOR inhibitors in 6 (25 %), 5 (21%), 5 (21%), 5 (21%), and 6 (25%) of the patients, respectively. Together, these sensitivities highlight a set of disease-specific and individualized signaling nodes that can serve as starting points for personalized combination therapy strategies in AML. Further, integration of DSRT results with molecular and clinical profiling link some of the selective drug responses to clinically actionable markers. For example, dasatinib sensitivity was found to be predominant in AML M5 patients, suggesting that this drug is a promising therapeutic candidate for relapsed and refractory AML M5 patients. In conclusion, the DSRT platform can be used as a functional interrogation of patient cells leading to the identification of druggable vulnerabilities that can be used for personalized medicine strategies. Furthermore, insight into disease-specific signal addictions and establishment of how these are linked can aid in deconvoluting the complex molecular disease mechanisms of cancers and generate strategies for novel drug development. Citation Format: Tea Pemovska, Bhagwan Yadav, Riikka Karjalainen, Evgeny Kulesskiy, Mika Kontro, Muntasir Mamun Majumder, Laura Turunen, Ida Lindenschmidt, Anna Lehto, Jonathan Knowles, Caroline Heckman, Kimmo Porkka, Tero Aittokallio, Olli Kallioniemi, Krister Wennerberg. Functional drug sensitivity and resistance profiling of AML patient cells defines a disease-specific combination of druggable signal addictions. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 5588. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-5588


This study employed social cognitive theory and social cognitive career theory (SCCT) as foundations to explore the influence of high school students' beliefs about female gender roles and female engineer role models on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) self-efficacy and professional commitment to engineering. A total of 88 students from a national girls' high school participated in STEM project-based learning. A survey questionnaire named The STEM Self-efficacy and Professional Commitment to Engineering Questionnaire, developed by the researchers, was administered to collect data, and a structured equation model was employed to confirm the multi-theoretical model developed in this study. The results of this study show that enhancing the gender role beliefs and engineer role models of female students may increase their STEM self-efficacy and professional commitment to engineering. In other words, the female high school students' professional commitment to engineering model can explain students' intentions for future engineering careers. Thus, this study suggests integrating STEM project-based learning into the curricula of various schools and integrating female engineer role models into STEM project-based learning activities for female students, which can enhance female high school students' STEM self-efficacy and professional commitment to engineering.


In this paper, we present an algorithm for optimizing reservoir production using smart well technology. The term smart well is used to indicate an unconventional well equipped with down hole inflow control valves (ICVs) and instrumentation. This additional instrumentation extends the degree of freedom in the field production planning, since production can be efficiently distributed on the different well segments available. By proper utilization of the ICVs through optimal production planning, an increased oil recovery for the reservoir can be expected. We propose a method for optimal closed-loop production known from control theory as model predictive control (MPC). A commercial reservoir simulator, ECLIPSE, is used for modeling and predictions. MPC is chosen for its ability to provide an optimal solution for the constrained multivariable control problem. To compute the optimal ICV settings, we propose using a nonlinear MPC (NMPC) application, which can handle the severe nonlinearities found in reservoir models. The NMPC uses a single shooting multi-step quasi-Newton (SSMQN) method to solve the optimization problem. As the term multistep suggests, this is an iterative method which solves a sequence of quadratic problems (QPs) in each time step. We apply our method to a benchmark reservoir model with multiple geostatistical realizations. This model has already proven potential for increased oil recovery by using optimization techniques. We show an even additional increase over the former approach in production totals, using the SSMQN method, with as much as 68% increase in one case, and 30% on average compared to a reference case.


This chapter follows on from research and publication by this author on the form and placing of Anglo-Norman castles situated within the northern Anglo-Welsh medieval borderland, recently interpreted and newly termed the Irish Sea Cultural Zone (Swallow 2016). This interpretation argues for the Anglo-Normans' reuse of pre-existing monuments dating from the prehistoric and Romano-British periods for the deliberate placing of their castle builds. Dodleston Castle was situated within the fluctuating borders of this frontier borderlands zone, and, it is argued, played a significant role in the continuity of strategic and commercial movement along the entirety of the Anglo-Welsh border and the Irish Sea Region. Within this context, and taking a cross-period and interdisciplinary research approach to re-examine the earthworks and landscape of Dodleston Castle in more detail than hitherto, the earthworks at Dodleston may reveal a meeting point of significance over millennia. It will be demonstrated, for instance, that Dodleston's earthworks likely represent an Anglo-Saxon assembly site situated at the meeting points of important medieval administrative boundaries within the Irish Sea Cultural Zone. By considering the wider spatial significance of Dodleston beyond the temporal confines of the Anglo-Norman period, it is therefore possible to understand better, and reinterpret, the form of the castle earthworks as they exist in the landscape today.


Background : Colour vision is important in everyday life and colour vision deficiency generally lowers the quality of life. The objective of the study was to perform tests and measurements to investigate the prevalence of colour vision abnormalities within a normal sample population of the University of Jos. Methodology : Colour vision measurements were carried out using the Ishihara and Dvorine colour test plates. The visual acuity measurements were obtained using the Snellen letters. A total number of 115 subjects were tested. Results : A nalysis of the data resulted in a new empirical relationship for the Colour Deficiency Index (CDI) which was found to be equal to the product of the number of Ishihara plates missed (I) and the number of Dvorine plates missed (D) divided by the coded Visual Acuity number (A) given by the equation This relationship, indicated a colour problem for a CDI of more than 3, while an index of less than 3 indicated a 'normal' colour condition. The results of the physical measurements showed a prevalence of 9.6% colour vision deficiency. Conclusion : The percentage is high compared to the civilized world having 8.5% , primarily due to the fact that most were acquired and indicated a poor health care.


This article discusses problems concerning the use of colour in botanical illustrations, focusing on a specific species, the Orchis ustulata (Burnt Orchid). In 1901-1905 the Swedish botanist Carl Lindman (1856-1928) was responsible for the publication of the Swedish flora Bilder ur Nordens flora, that was, in some ways, a reworking of J. W. Palmstruch's Svensk botanik (1802-1843). Palmstruch's hand-coloured copper plates were to be transferred to chromolithographs by the artist and scientific illustrator Axel Ekblom. The text was to be completely revised by Lindman, whereas the illustrations were considered to be still valid and the original plan was simply to transfer the pictures to the new medium. Eventually Lindman, who was a skilful painter himself, was not satisfied with the old pictures, and so ended up taking a great part in the pictorial process as well. The old drawings were meticulously examined, corrected and often supplied with new, extremely magnified details. In this context of intensively studying the species Orchis ustulata, and the colouring of it, Lindman discussed its Swedish names with A.G. Nathorst, a botanist colleague. Lindman was not satisfied with the old name, Brunsvedt nyckelblomster, which indicates that the flower is brown. As he saw it, that name did not correspond to the pigments he had to use when colouring the flowers - purple rather than brown. He suggested instead that the old provincial name, Krutbrannare (roughly "burnt gunpowder"), noted by Linnaeus on his tour of the island of Oland in 1741, be applied. Linnaeus sometimes designated the colour of the plant in the text, and/or in the descriptive epithet, but he did not use colour as a distinctive feature for classifying purposes. In spite of this, botanical prints in colour were and are continuously used in publications. (Less)


The effects of sulfate and methanesulfonate anions during electroless nickel plating from a medium phosphorus solution containing either are presented. At the early stages of aging the solutions, the effects of the sulfate and methanesulfonate anions on the deposition rate, internal stress, microstructure, crystallization behavior and appearance are similar. The deposits plated from the methanesulfonate solution are harder than the sulfate deposits. After eight metal turnovers, the surfaces of both EN deposits were nodular, the coatings exhibited tensile stresses and the plating rates dropped to about 70 percent of their original rates. Treatment of the EN solutions with calcium to remove orthophosphite results in smooth and compressively stressed coatings and high deposition rates from the methanesulfonate solution, but poor quality coatings and continued slower plating rates from the sulfate-based solution.


A system is subject to shocks that arrive according to a non-homogeneous Poisson process. As these shocks occur, the system experiences one of two types of failures: a type-I failure (minor), rectified by a minimal repair; or a type-II failure (catastrophic) that calls for a replacement. In this paper, we consider a periodic replacement model with minimal repair based on a cumulative repair-cost limit. Under such a policy, the system is anticipatively replaced at the n -th type-I failure, or at the k-th type-I failure (k <; n) at which the accumulated repair cost exceeds the pre-determined limit, or at any type-II failure, whichever occurs first. The minimum-cost replacement policy is studied by showing its existence, uniqueness, and structural properties. Our model is a generalization of several classical models in maintenance literature. Some numerical analyses are also presented.


BACKGROUND
Little is known about the determinants of parental response when children appear to have a respiratory tract infection (RTI). Our objective was to identify what factors predict that parents will seek medical consultation.

METHODS
In a prospective cohort study we consecutively recruited 400 children aged 2 months to 12 years from the urban, largely middle-class, primary-care practices of 7 pediatricians in Toronto. Baseline demographic data were collected and the children followed by telephone inquiry until an RTI developed or 6 months elapsed. Data about any medical consultation for the RTI were collected. The parents completed a questionnaire on clinical features and parental interpretations and concerns. Potential predictors of consultation were organized into 4 domains: family factors, principal complaints, functional burden of illness (determined with a validated measure, the Canadian Acute Respiratory Illness and Flu Scale [CARIFS]) and parental interpretation of the illness. Key variables for each domain were derived by endorsement, correlation and combination, and univariate association with the outcome (medical consultation). A model was created to identify independent predictors of consultation.

RESULTS
Of the 383 children (96%) for whom the study was completed, 275 (72%) had symptoms of an RTI within 6 months after recruitment. Medical consultation was sought for 140 (56%) of the 251 for whom further data were available. The questionnaire data and follow up were complete for 197 (78%) of the 251. Children with earaches compared to children without were more likely to be taken to a physician (odds ratio [OR] 10.2; 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.8-37.4), as were children with high fever (temperature > 40 degrees C) compared to children with no fever or fever < or = 40 degrees C (OR 3.2; 95% CI 1.2-8.6). Parents who rated their children as having a complaint that was severe or persisting for more than 24 hours were more likely to see a physician than parents who rated their children as having no complaints (OR 8.5; 95% CI 2.3-32.0). Parental concern that the illness had an unusual course, with prolonged duration or deterioration (OR 5.7; 95% CI 1.3-24.8), that the child had a specific illness (OR 2.9; 95% CI 1.1-7.7) or that specific treatment was needed (OR 5.0; 95% CI 1.1-23.1), compared to children with no illnesses or need for treatment, also predicted consultation with a physician. Parents' postsecondary education (OR 4.0; 95% CI 1.1-14.6), compared to parents with less than postsecondary education, was the only parental factor that independently predicted taking a child to see a physician. Child's age 48 months or less was the only child factor that independently predicted physician consultation (0-6 months, OR 9.2, 95% CI 1.4-58.1; 7-12 months, OR 17.3, 95% CI 2.0-147.2; 13-24 months, OR 9.2, 95% CI 1.3-63.6; 25-48 months, OR 5.2, 95% CI 0.8-34.4). Neither family demographics nor functional burden of illness predicted consultation.

INTERPRETATION
Generally, parents choose reasonable criteria for seeking physician advice. However, their perceptions and interpretations may be based in part on limited understanding of some factors. Further research is necessary to determine how these findings can be used to improve anticipatory guidance to parents and better address parental concerns.


Atmospheric muons can be used to image a volume due to multiple Coulomb scattering and absorption of different materials. This work presents the design and GEANT4 simulation of a prototype tomographer composed of two detectors, each made of two planes of an array of sensors. The sensors are based on plastic scintillators and silicon photomultipliers targeting new and costaffordable technology. In order to image a volumewe study the possibility to discriminate different materials (e.g. lead, concrete, iron, water, aluminum) by measuring the absorption and incoming and outgoing angles of muons passing through these materials. We optimize the geometry and angular resolution of the array using simulations with the aim to scan structures such as large buildings and natural formations with muon tomography.


Previous research on the probative power of evidence in persuasive communication has focused on the impact of high-quality evidence. Results have indicated that inclusion of high-quality evidence enhances the communicator's credibility and increase:. the impact of an initially low-credibility communicator. This study examined the effect of defective evidence, evidence from questionable sources, and evidence not relevant to the issue discussed. Results indicated that inclusion of defective evidence retarded positive attitude change, particularly for a communicator with moderate initial credibility, and that inclusion of defective evidence led to significantly. less positive perceptions of the communicator.


Semantic segmentation is an important and well-known task in the field of computer vision, in which we attempt to assign a corresponding semantic class to each input element. When it comes to semantic segmentation of 2D images, the input elements are pixels. On the other hand, the input can also be a point cloud, where one input element represents one point in the input point cloud. By the term point cloud, we refer to a set of points defined by spatial coordinates with respect to some reference coordinate system. In addition to the position of points in space, other features can also be defined for each point, such as RGB components. In this paper, we conduct semantic segmentation on the S3DIS dataset, where each point cloud represents one room. We train models on the S3DIS dataset, namely PointCNN, PointNet++, Cylinder3D, Point Transformer, and RepSurf. We compare the obtained results with respect to standard evaluation metrics for semantic segmentation and present a comparison of the models based on inference speed.


A new porous coordination polymer (PCP/MOF), ZRTE-10, based on a tetrahedral 1,3,5,7-tetra(carboxyphenyl)benzene ligand (H4L4) was synthesized using formic or acetic acids as modulators. The low symmetry (C2/c) framework, [Zr6(μ3-O)4(μ3-OH)4(L4)(HL4)2(OH)2(H2O)2], is built upon a rare 10-connected Zr6 cluster. Two-thirds of the ligands bear one nondeprotonated carboxy group, and the framework has a complex trinodal 3,4,10-c, {414.624.87}{43}2{45.6}, underlying net. Supercritical CO2 drying and mild degassing at 120 °C yielded a porous material with SBET = 1190 m2 g-1. When heated up to ∼200 °C, ZRTE-10 converts to another crystalline framework, ZRTE-11. The latter was identified to be identical to the expected fluorite (flu) observed previously for other tetrahedral ligands. The high symmetry (I4/m) framework is built upon 8-connected Zr6 clusters and has a formula of [Zr6(μ3-O)4(μ3-OH)4(OH)4(L4)2]. The complicated trinodal network of ZRTE-10 and the simple flu net in ZRTE-11 are topologically interrelated via the operation of the merging of two neighbor three-connected nodes to one four-connected one. The thermally induced conversion of ZRTE-10 proceeds with expulsion of one ligand per Zr6 node in the pores of the framework, resulting in a relatively low SBET = 585 m2 g-1 for the activated H4L4@ZRTE-11. A mixed ligand approach for ZRTE-10,11 was attempted using 1,3,5-tetra(carboxyphenyl)benzene (H3L3), which is a truncated analog of H4L4 with one missing branch. The monocrystalline sample of ZRTE-10 obtained in small yields demonstrated only minor inclusion of H3L3. However, the high-yielding (∼80%) procedure with HCl as a modulator allows near proportional incorporation of the ligands. The formed materials are semiamorphous with powder XRDs intermediary between pure ZRTE-10 and -11. Thermal treatment of the semiamorphous materials increases their crystallinity and allows SBET = 400-550 m2 g-1 surface areas to be reached for pure H4L4 and H3L3 or their mixture alike. The approach proposes a viewpoint on the H3L3 trifunctional ligand as a model of a ligand platform, suitable for bearing a large functionality on the fourth "truncated" branch. The significance of ZRTE-10 as a material for postsynthetic introduction of metal-based cluster functionality and as a model of functionality encapsulation, an alternative to the ship-in-the-bottle method, is discussed.


Single-crystalline laterally graded GeSn-on-insulator (GeSnOI) structures are essential to achieve novel device-arrays with various direct-energy-band gaps, which can be merged with high-density Si large-scale-integrated-circuits. We investigate the seeding rapid-melting-growth of narrow stripes with a-Ge/Sn/a-Ge stacked-structures. This achieves laterally graded GeSn crystalline layers on Si substrates covered with SiO2 films. Stripe-length dependent GeSn lateral-profiles are quantitatively explained by Scheil equation, which enables precise designing of GeSn lateral-profiles. High-crystallinity GeSn stripes without dislocations or stacking faults are also demonstrated.


ABSTRACT This contribution examines how feminist economists have conceptualized sex work and trafficking through the lens of agency and stigma. The ongoing debate about legalization has focused on sex workers' agency and choice, and on the role of stigma in shaping the supply of and demand for sex work. Building on the analysis advanced by contributions to this special issue, this study contends that theoretical and policy debates about sex work are dominated by false dichotomies of agency and stigma. It argues that the relationship between stigma and agency operates along a continuum of contractual arrangements that underpins a high degree of segmentation in the industry. The higher the stigma, the lower tends to be the agency. Current policies toward sex work therefore need reconsideration – especially mounting support for criminalization of clients, which, by increasing stigma, is likely to detract from the agency and the well-being of sex workers, however unintentionally.


Melanoma-associated antigen D2 (MAGED2), a member of the MAGE-II cancer testis antigen family, is expressed by almost all normal tissues and many different cancer tissues. Although it has been reported that MAGE proteins have a pro-survival role in cancer cells such as malignant mast cells, the potential biological significance of MAGE proteins in melanoma remains to be established. Here, we show that MAGED2 is involved in the protection of melanoma cells against apoptosis induced by TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) through suppressing the expression of TRAIL-R2, the major TRAIL death receptor that mediates TRAIL-induced apoptosis in melanoma. siRNA knockdown of MAGED2 sensitised melanoma cells to apoptosis induced by TRAIL. This was associated with enhanced activation of the caspase cascade and formation of the TRAIL death-inducing signalling complex (DISC), suggesting that MAGED2 acts at or above the DISC to protect melanoma cells against TRAIL-induced apoptosis. Indeed, inhibition of MAGED2 by siRNA resulted in up-regulation of TRAIL-R2 on the melanoma cell surface, which appeared to be specific, because knockdown of MAGED2 did not impinge on the expression of other TNF receptor family members, nor did it up-regulate TRAIL-R2 in melanocytes. Up-regulation of TRAIL-R2 by inhibition of MAGED2 was mediated by a p53-responsive transcriptional increase, in that p53 was also up-regulated in melanoma cells with MAGED2 knocked down, and that knockdown of MAGED2 did not up-regulate TRAIL-R2 in melanoma cells deficient in p53. In summary, our results identify MAGED2 as an important mechanism that suppresses TRAIL-R2 expression, thus protecting melanoma cells from TRAIL-induced apoptosis. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 253. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-253


ABSTRACT Problems can arise in crystallographic databases with errors and omissions in the representation of data that impede searches, and with errors in the actual data. While the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre with its Improvement Projects has solved many of the first category of problems, errors in atomic coordinates and other crystallographic data are surprisingly common. Although modern software warns of many types of error, such errors appear even in recently deposited Crystallographic Information Files. Richard Marsh found many examples of missed symmetry in assignment of the space group; such errors are now waning. Hydrogen atoms are commonly placed in calculated positions. Particularly for OH and NH groups involved in hydrogen bonds, occupancy factors may need to be reduced to 0.5 or the hydrogen atom positions may require amendment. Examples of acids and imidazole derivatives are provided, showing that sometimes only consideration of bond distances and angles at the heteroatom can distinguish between OH or NH and unprotonated O or N. Significant work by other researchers correcting mis-positioned hydrogen atoms in dihydrogen phosphates and water aggregates as well as mis-identified elements is also summarized. This review concludes with some suggestions for more comprehensive detection and correction of errors in deposited data.


Semi-intensive equine breeding system favors gastrointestinal nematode infections. The treatment of these infections is based on the use of anthelmintics. However, the inappropriate use of these drugs has led to parasitic resistance to the available active principles. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the main classes of antiparasitic (ATP) used in control in adult and young animals, including: benzimidazoles (fenbendazole), pyrimidines (pyrantel pamoate), macrocyclic lactones (ivermectin and moxidectin), as well as the combination of active ingredients (ivermectin + pyrantel pamoate). The study was carried out in two military establishments, located in Rio Grande do Sul (RS), from January to December, 2018. The intervals between the treatments of the animals were performed from 30 to 90 days. Coproparasitological evaluations were determined by the egg count reduction in the faeces. Cyatostomine larvae were identified in pre and post-treatment cultures. The results demonstrated the multiple parasitic resistance of cyathostomins to fenbendazole, moxidectin in young animals, and to fenbendazole, pyrantel pamoate in adult animals. Thus, it is necessary to define or diagnose parasitic resistance to assist in the creation of prophylactic parasitic control, using suppressive treatment with ATP associated with integrated alternatives. The progress of parasitic resistance can be slowed.


This paper focuses on the incorporation of active learning techniques and collaborative problemsolving teams in an introductory sophomore-level Material and Energy Balances course. It details a course redesign and evolution over a five-year period from the perspective of a new instructor. Major outcomes of the course redesign, including midterm and final exams and homework grades, are followed throughout the study and are interpreted in terms of statistical differences in performance between the annual course offerings.


This research was conducted on ICONinety9 Shop In Mall SKA and CIPUTRA in order to analyze the influence of lifestyle variable by consist of activity, interest and opinion on the purchasing decision of ICONinety9 Products In Pekanbaru. Intake number of samples was done by using a formula approach Hair by respondents as many as 102 people and using purposive sampling and proportionate stratified sampling techniques. The analytical method used is descriptive method, the data analysis carried out simultaneously and partial (multiple linear regression analysis with SPSS version 18.0). From the results of simultaneous testing (test F) known that Fhitung (28,955) > Ftabel (2,697). It means that all independent variables studied, namely activity, interest and opinion has a significant effect on the dependent variable is the purchase decision. Partial regression test (test t) showed that the opinion variable is the variable that most influence the purchase decisions of ICONinety9 Products when compared with variable activity and interest. The magnitude of the effect caused by the three independent variables on the dependent variable was (0,454) this means that the variable activity, interest and opinion jointly influence the purchase decision variable percentage of 45,4%. While 54,6% is influenced by other variables that are not addressed in this research. It can be concluded that the variable activity, interest and opinion simultaneously and partially positive and significant impact on the purchasing decisions of ICONinety9 Products In Pekanbaru. Keywords: Activity, Interest, Opinion and Purchase Decision


Mitochondrial and peroxisomal fatty acid oxidation were compared in whole liver homogenates. Oxidation of 0.2 mM palmitoyl-CoA or oleate by mitochondria increased rapidly with increasing molar substrate:albumin ratios and became saturated at ratios below 3, while peroxisomal oxidation increased more slowly and continued to rise to reach maximal activity in the absence of albumin. Under the latter condition mitochondrial oxidation was severely depressed. In homogenates from normal liver peroxisomal oxidation was lower than mitochondrial oxidation at all ratios tested except when albumin was absent. In contrast with mitochondrial oxidation, peroxisomal oxidation did not produce ketones, was cyanide-insensitive, was not dependent on carnitine, and was not inhibited by (+)-octanoylcarnitine, malonyl-CoA and 4-pentenoate. Mitochondrial oxidation was inhibited by CoASH concentrations that were optimal for peroxisomal oxidation. In the presence of albumin, peroxisomal oxidation was stimulated by Triton X-100 but unaffected by freeze-thawing; both treatments suppressed mitochondrial oxidation. Clofibrate treatment increased mitochondrial and peroxisomal oxidation 2- and 6- to 8-fold, respectively. Peroxisomal oxidation remained unchanged in starvation and diabetes. Fatty acid oxidation was severely depressed by cyanide and (+)-octanoylcarnitine in hepatocytes from normal rats. Hepatocytes from clofibrate-treated rats, which displayed a 3- to 4-fold increase in fatty acid oxidation, were less inhibited by (+)-octanoylcarnitine. Hydrogen peroxide production was severalfold higher in hepatocytes from treated animals oxidizing fatty acids than in control hepatocytes. Assuming that all H2O2 produced during fatty acid oxidation was due to peroxisomal oxidation, it was calculated that the contribution of the peroxisomes to fatty acid oxidation was less than 10% both in cells from control and clofibrate-treated animals.


In this paper, we discuss the product selection problem of the information security technology system under the conditions of existing cooperatively in the security products. We introduce the conception of cooperative performance-price ratio of products in the system and establish the corresponding mathematical model. With this problem, we designed the dependent arithmetic based on the Genetic Algorithm. The result of the numerical testing indicates that the new arithmetic is effective.


To satisfy the increasingly complex demands of the Internet of Things (IoT) applications, multiclouds are a promising solution that can provide scalable, various, and abundant resources. However, in multiclouds, each cloud has its specific virtual machine (VM) type and pricing scheme. In addition, the request arrival, network bandwidth, and VM's price all vary with time and are hardly predicted. In such cases, the request scheduling and resource provisioning (RSRP) for cost efficiency becomes a highly challenging work. In this article, to capture the dynamics in the multiclouds environment, we formulate a stochastic optimization problem where the aim is to minimize the system cost and guarantee the IoT applications' queueing delay. By applying stochastic optimization theory, the original problem is transformed into a deterministic optimization problem in each slot, and then the deterministic problem is further decomposed into three independent subproblems. An online RSRP algorithm is devised to obtain these subproblems' optimal solutions. Mathematical analysis shows that RSRP can approach the optimal system cost while bounding the queueing delay, and make an arbitrary tradeoff between system cost and queueing delay as well. Moreover, trace-driven simulation results show the effectiveness of RRSP.


Abstract. Atmospheric aerosol particles that can nucleate ice are referred to as ice-nucleating particles (INPs). Recent studies have confirmed that aerosol
particles emitted by the oceans can act as INPs. This very relevant information
can be included in climate and weather models to predict the formation of ice
in clouds, given that most of them do not consider oceans as a source of
INPs. Very few studies that sample INPs have been carried out in tropical
latitudes, and there is a need to evaluate their availability to understand
the potential role that marine aerosol may play in the hydrological cycle of
tropical regions. This study presents results from the first measurements obtained during a
field campaign conducted in the tropical village of Sisal, located on the
coast of the Gulf of Mexico of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico in
January–February 2017, and one of the few data sets currently available at
such latitudes (i.e., 21∘ N). Aerosol particles sampled in Sisal
are shown to be very efficient INPs in the immersion freezing mode, with
onset freezing temperatures in some cases as high as −3 ∘C,
similarly to the onset temperature from Pseudomonas syringae. The results
show that the INP concentration in Sisal was higher than at other locations
sampled with the same type of INP counter. Air masses arriving in Sisal after
the passage of cold fronts have surprisingly higher INP concentrations than
the campaign average, despite their lower total aerosol concentration. The high concentrations of INPs at warmer ice nucleation temperatures (T>-15 ∘C) and the supermicron size of the INPs suggest that
biological particles may have been a significant contributor to the INP
population in Sisal during this study. However, our observations also suggest
that at temperatures ranging between −20 and −30 ∘C
mineral dust particles are the likely source of the measured INPs.


The Higgs boson may dominantly decay to four light jets through a light pseudoscalar intermediary: h{yields}2{eta}{yields}4j, making reconstruction at the LHC particularly challenging. We explore the phenomenology of such ''buried Higgs'' scenarios in which the primary discovery channel of the Higgs is in cascade decays of superpartners. QCD backgrounds that would otherwise overwhelm the Higgs decay are suppressed by the requirement of high p{sub T} jets and large missing transverse momentum that are the typical signatures of TeV scale supersymmetry. Utilizing jet substructure techniques, we find that for buried Higgses in the 100-120 GeV range, a 5{sigma} discovery can be expected with roughly 10-25 fb{sup -1} of data at E{sub CM}=14 TeV. For lighter Higgs bosons, the signal is contaminated by hadronically decaying W bosons, and discovery remains an unsolved challenge.


In this paper, a method to create an application which is competent of replacing the traditional input device (mouse) by using human facial features is proposed. Distinctively, using real time videos of the user's face extracted from the video sequence obtained using an off-the-shelf web-camera. It can be applied as an optional input source for those who cannot use their hands due to disabilities or patients who cannot use their hands. In the proposed technique, a method that combines both feature-based and image-based approach is used. The fundamental approach for detection is fast extraction of face candidates using Six-Segmented Rectangular (SSR) filter and then pass them to Support Vector Machine for face verification. In face tracking, the patterns of between-the-eyes are tracked with update template matching. A window that has the feature's template size is scanned over the Region of Interest (ROI) and then calculates the Sum of Squared Difference between a frame that has the feature's template and the current frame. Experiments show that 90% of the system behaves satisfactory for a web-camera at frame rate of 15 fps with the image resolution of 320 times 240 frame size. The system consumes little amount of CPU resources allowing other processors to run smoothly.


Chromosome mis-segregation during mitosis leads to daughter cells with deviant karyotypes (aneuploidy) and an increased mutational burden through chromothripsis of mis-segregated chromosomes. The rate of mis-segregation and the aneuploidy state are hallmarks of cancer and linked to cancer genome evolution. Errors can manifest as "lagging chromosomes" in anaphase, although the mechanistic origins and likelihood of correction are incompletely understood. Here we combine lattice light sheet microscopy, endogenous protein labelling and computational analysis to define the life history of > 104 kinetochores throughout metaphase and anaphase from over 200 cells. By defining the "laziness" of kinetochores in anaphase, we reveal that chromosomes are at a considerable and continual risk of mis-segregation. We show that the majority of kinetochores are corrected rapidly in early anaphase through an Aurora B dependent process. Moreover, quantitative analyses of the kinetochore life histories reveal a unique dynamic signature of metaphase kinetochore oscillations that forecasts their fate in the subsequent anaphase. We propose that in diploid human cells chromosome segregation is fundamentally error prone, with a new layer of early anaphase error correction required for stable karyotype propagation.


Transmission loss and load flow allocations become important issues under deregulation system. Due to nonlinear nature of power flow, tracing the loss and power flow through the mesh network becomes more complicated. Since the complexity of electricity transmission system, it is not straightforward to determine the contribution of particular generator to a particular line loss and/ or load. This paper will discuss load flow and loss allocation using Genetic Algorithm (GA) technique. GA is one of the optimization techniques that apply natural phenomena, viz. genetic inheritance and Darwinian strive for survival. Transmission loss and load flow allocations problem will be treated as an optimization problem. In this paper, Ward-Hale 6-bus test system will be used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the technique and validated by IEEE 30-bus test system. Comparison with other method is also given.


Background/Objectives: The study aims to determine the Turkic origins of the traditional Kazakh historical thought and Islamic influence on its formation and to provide a scientific reconstruction of the Kazakh Khanate's history. Methods: Methodological analysis of the medieval-era written sources presupposes the usage of the methods of forecasting and assumption, comparison and scientific reconstruction, aimed at the disclosure of the content of scientifically-confirmed events and facts that can be found in genealogical tables, genealogies, and traditional written sources. Genealogy is used as an auxiliary method. Findings: As a result, the functions of genealogical data as a unique historical source that reveals the essence of the social and political relationships and social institutions of the traditional Kazakh society were classified. Thus, greater emphasis was placed on the religious and spiritual aspects of ethno-political processes in the society, which previously were not covered in the fundamental studies based on ideological postulates. The paper also provides the periodization of the Kazakh historical thought formation and development, systematizes the process of integration of the Islamic historical thought and the foundations of the Turkic worldview into the genealogical data that strengthened the tribal structure of the Kazakh society. For the first time, the concept of transformation of the ancient Turkic notion of the sacredness of the authority over the Islamic spiritual and political values advocated by the Turko-Islamic Sufi Ahmad Yasawi as a basis of the state ideology of the Kazakh Khanate was proposed. The Kazakh shezhire (genealogy) as a genre of oral history was evaluated methodologically. Applications/Improvements: The results of this study can be used in teaching relevant disciplines such as history, sociology, political science, etc. at higher educational institutions, and as sources for research papers and dissertations. *Author for correspondence


In this paper, we construct and verify the asymptotic expansion for the spectrum of a boundary-value problem in a unit circle periodically perforated along the boundary. It is assumed that the size of perforation and the distance to the boundary of the circle are of the same smallness. As an application of the obtained results, the asymptotic behavior of the best constant in a Friedrichs-type inequality is investigated.


This paper presents a VLSI implementation of a high throughput MIMO-OFDM system in wireless communications. We explore the optimum parameters in a new packet OFDM frame by expanding the IEEE802.11a standard. The proposed system provides a maximum of 600 Mbps by use of an 80-MHz baseband bandwidth and a 2 times 2 MIMO scheme. The proposed system is implemented into hardware according to a full-pipelined architecture. In the MIMO detection circuit, we adopt a low latency architecture to satisfy the timing constraint required for real-time MIMO detection. In a 90-nm CMOS technology, the system performing MMSE-V-BLAST detection has 3.9 millions in logic gates and consumes 584 mW in power dissipation


The number of catastrophic multiple-death fires in the United States rose in 1993 from the record low of 1992 to a level more consistent with that of recent years. Despite our efforts to highlight risk factors, we continue to see the same problems year after year.


This Knowledge and Learning Note discusses regional collaboration on education in the Arab world. Regional collaboration on Education is arguably more challenging, comparatively speaking, in the Arab World than in other regions of the world. There are many reasons for this which this brief spells out. In education, it is true the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region had initially made great strides after Independence in improving access, equity, and completion outcomes. However, as far as regional collaboration on education is concerned, national policymakers largely worked to address domestic concerns alone with only little external assistance, mostly because the education sector was considered to be entwined in national interest and identity. This brief offers current trends and examples of the state of education in the MENA region including examples of programs and main focal points to achieve higher educational standards.


Rites of passage, in some form, are universal to the experience of adolescence. Certain elements are common to all rites of passage. Other elements occur most often in the context of a formalized ceremony. The specifics of the ceremony are based on tradition, but alterations may be made to keep them relevant to the present culture. Rites from Africa and the North and South Americas are reviewed here in terms of their shared elements. Their understanding may be beneficial when dealing with adolescents. Various programs in the black community have been developed along these lines, and the issue has been raised in the therapeutic community as well. Further, bibliotherapy may be a way to incorporate the exploration of rites of passage into the educational system.


BACKGROUND: Membrane filtration has the potential for purification of oligosaccharide mixtures. However, single stage performance is limited by the relatively low yield and purity that can be achieved. This paper explores the potential of a three-stage pilot-scale spiral wound membrane filtration cascade for the removal of monosaccharides and disaccharides from a galacto-oligosaccharide mixture. RESULTS: Two three-stage cascaded configurations with GH membranes were tested, one ideal-like configuration (cascade 1) and one adapted configuration (cascade 2). Cascade 1 performed well with regard to oligosaccharide yield (e.g. yield 84%, purity 0.46), while cascade 2 performed better in terms of oligosaccharide purity (e.g. yield 62%, purity 0.58). This might be compared with conventional single stage concentration which resulted in an oligosaccharide yield of 56% with a purity of 0.53. In addition these cascade configurations were explored using different membranes (GE and GK membranes) in each stage. CONCLUSION: The yield and purity in the cascaded systems were higher than the yield and purity of a single stage system with volume reduction. The yield and purity can be further enhanced by using an inhomogeneous cascade with different membranes in each stage.


A new ionic conjugated polymer with pentafluorobenzoyl moieties, poly(2-ethynyl-N-pentafluorobenzoylpyridinium chloride) [PEPBPC], was synthesized via the non-catalyst polymerization of 2-ethynylpyridine using pentafluorobenzoyl chloride. The polymerization proceeded well to provide a high yield of polymer. The chemical structure of PEPBPC was characterized by such instrumental methods as NMR (1H- and 13C-), IR, and UV-visible spectroscopies to have a conjugated polymer backbone system with N-pentafluorobenzoylpyridinium chloride as substituents. Photoluminescence maximum peak of PEPBPC was located at 627 nm, which corresponds to the photon energy of 1.98 eV. Cyclic voltammograms of polymer exhibited the electrochemically stable window in the range of −1.25 to 1.75V.


Recently we have shown the self-healing ability of a poly(urea-urethane) elastomer reversibly cured with aromatic disulfide bridges. Here we show that although being chemically crosslinked, such materials can be easily reprocessed by applying heat and pressure to obtain any desired form. This offers a unique paradigm towards thermoset processing and recycling, as well as for isocyanate-free manipulation of polyurethanes.


The present status of investigations concerning active control of the H-mode is discussed, including density control for steady H-mode operation, control of heat flux to lower the divertor heat load, and control of the transport barrier for further improvement of confinement and MHD stability. Control of ELM activity is extremely important for density control in the H-mode. Some examples of controlling ELMs are discussed. The remote radiative cooling of the main plasma and the divertor plasma is necessary to lower the divertor heat load. Since the heat flux across the separatrix to keep the H-mode has to be higher than the threshold power for the HL transition, the feasibility of cooling the H-mode plasma with the main radiation loss depends on the ratio of the threshold power to the total heating power. Control of the edge transport barrier with plasma shaping has been demonstrated. The toroidal field dependence of the threshold power for an internal transport barrier (ITB) formation of the high- mode is significantly different from that for an edge transport barrier formation in the H-mode, indicating the transition physics might be different. Formation of an ITB was successfully demonstrated by ion Bernstein wave resonant heating and by negative magnetic shear.


This paper presents experimental investigation for
particles breakage for natural sand. The particle breakage was induced by
subjecting the sample to one dimensional compression. Grain size analyses were
performed before and after induced breakage. Thereafter, the sand shear
strength parameters were assessed using direct shear box tests and the coefficient
of permeability was assessed using constant head permeameter. Examining the obtained
results revealed that the amount of breakage due to one dimensional compression was of order higher than the amount occurring during direct shear test.
Peak shear strength parameters decreased with the particles
breakage increasing. Moreover, dilation angle of shear strength pronouncedly
decreases with the amount of particles breakage increasing. Crushing has
obvious effect on the evaluated coefficient of permeability.


This is a schools brief style of introduction to evolutionary economics. It addresses the nature of evolutionary theory in relation to economics, and examines why evolutionary economists argue that market-capitalism is an evolutionary system. Finally, it argues that liberal economic philosophy has much stronger and more direct relationship with evolutionary economic analysis than neoclassical economic analysis.


Capillary hemangioma is a rare entity among testicular tumors. We demonstrate the case of an 18-year-old patient with palpatoric and sonographic conspicuous left testicle and negative serum tumor markers (α-fetoprotein, β-human chorionic gonadotropin, and lactate dehydrogenase). Ultrasound (US) imaging represented an isoechogenic lesion with high vascularization in both power Doppler and microflow imaging with central feeding artery. Both strain elastography and shear wave elastography demonstrated a stiff lesion compared to surrounding testicular tissue. While contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) clearly depicted high vascular load, time intensity curve (TIC) analysis was able to show shorter median transit time, higher peak enhancement, and higher wash-in area under the curve compared to regular testicular tissue. Histopathological examination revealed a lobular constructed and rich vascularized proliferation without cellular atypia and feeder vessels with positive reaction to CD34, CD31, CD99, and Vimentin. Proliferative activity was quantified to 3–5% by Ki-67 index. Two days after surgery, the patient could leave the hospital in subjective wellbeing. While histology remains the gold standard to make a precise diagnosis of capillary hemangiomas due to small case numbers and variety of this benign tumor, the combination of multiparametric US and clinical information may be a promising future tool in preoperative assessment.


'Nominals' examines and evaluates inflectional patterns for unproblematic nouns, adjectives, pronouns and demonstratives. The section on suffixal derivation of ordinary nominals evaluates the productivity and markedness of noun and adjective forming suffixes. An entire chapter demonstrates how the suffix +sion++e+ varies in words such nação 'nation' and nacional 'national'. Problematic phenomena concerning gender and number occur when specific deriving suffixes attach or fail to attach to specific nominals. Diminutive and augmentative suffixes not only convey affect, they also work as deriving morphemes. Prefixes have a major role in nominal formation. Compound nominals are either true or semi-compounds, lexical or grammatical. Each chapter provides a grammar of the phenomena examined.


Human prion diseases present substantial scientific and public health challenges. They are unique in being sporadic, infectious and inherited, and their pathogen is distinct from all other pathogens in lacking nucleic acids. Despite progress in understanding the molecular structure of prions, their initial cerebral pathophysiology and the loci of cerebral injury are poorly understood. As part of a large prospective study, we analysed early diffusion MRI scans of 14 patients with the E200K genetic form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, 20 healthy carriers of this mutation that causes the disease and 20 controls without the mutation from the same families. Cerebral diffusion was quantified by the Apparent Diffusion Coefficient, and analysed by voxel-wise statistical parametric mapping technique. Compared to the mutation-negative controls, diffusion was significantly reduced in a thalamic-striatal network, comprising the putamen and mediodorsal, ventrolateral and pulvinar thalamic nuclei, in both the patients and the healthy mutation carriers. With disease onset, these diffusion reductions intensified, but did not spread to other areas. The caudate nucleus was reduced only after symptomatic onset. These findings indicate that cerebral diffusion reductions can be detected early in the course of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, and years before symptomatic onset in mutation carriers, in a distinct subcortical network. We suggest that this network is centrally involved in the pathogenesis of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, and its anatomical connections are sufficient to account for the common symptoms of this disease. Further, we suggest that the abnormalities in healthy mutation-carrying subjects may reflect the accumulation of abnormal prion protein and/or associated vacuolation at this time, temporally close to disease onset.


A type of novel retention aid, cross-linked gelatin, was prepared using low-grade industrial gelatin as the raw material and glutaraldehyde as the crosslinking agent. The structure of cross-linked gelatin was characterized according to the crosslinking degree, isoelectric point, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. The results indicated that the crosslinking reaction was successfully performed between the primary amine group of gelatin and the aldehyde group of glutaraldehyde, resulting in the formation of a Schiff base structure. The retention test showed that the addition of cross-linked gelatin remarkably improved the retention of filler. This effect was mainly attributed to the fact that cross-linked gelatin, with a high molecular weight and highly branched structure, exhibited favorable bridging flocculation and induced filler aggregation into the flocs, which were retained in the paper sheet. The drainage test showed that the cross-linked gelatin exhibited a poor drainage effect, which was attributed to the synergic effects of excellent hydrophilicity, film forming property, and sealing property.


BACKGROUND
Interleukin-12 is a novel heterodimeric cytokine that stimulates the proliferation of activated T and NK cells and induces lymphokine-activated killer cell activity in vitro. To investigate the biological effects of recombinant human IL-12 (rHuIL-12) in vivo, two exploratory studies were conducted in squirrel monkeys (Sciureus saimiri), which have been shown to be pharmacologically responsive to rHuIL-12 in vitro.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
In the first study, 18 monkeys (3/sex/group) were given daily subcutaneous injections of 0 (vehicle control), 10, or 50 micrograms/kg/day rHuIL-12 for 14 days. In the second study, 18 monkeys were given 0, 0.1, or 1 micrograms/kg/day rHuIL-12 for 14 days The animals were monitored for clinical signs, hematology and clinical chemistry changes, and sacrificed on day 15 to evaluate gross and histopathologic changes. One monkey in the high dose group was sacrificed moribund on day 14.

RESULTS
Monkeys given rHuIL-12 had dose-related hematologic changes characterized by mild to moderate anemia and leukocytosis. Serum chemistry changes included hypoproteinemia, hypoalbuminemia, hypophosphatemia, and hypocalcemia. Gross pathologic findings included generalized lymph node enlargement and splenomegaly with pulmonary edema and peritoneal effusions in two high dose monkeys. Dose-related histopathologic findings included thymic cortical atrophy, splenic lymphoid hyperplasia with histiocytic hyperplasia and extramedullary hematopoiesis of red pulp, Kupffer cell hypertrophy and hyperplasia, trilineage bone marrow hyperplasia, and reactive hyperplasia of lymph nodes. Animals in the 10 and 50 micrograms/kg/day dose groups developed high titers of anti-rHuIL-12 antibodies by day 15.

CONCLUSIONS
These studies indicate that rHuIL-12 is bioactive over a wide dose range and induces prominent hyperplasia of hematopoietic and lymphohistiocytic tissues in squirrel monkeys. Moreover, positive immunomodulatory activity (enhanced lymphocyte lytic activity) was detected at a dose of rHuIL-12 that is 500-fold less than the dose causing severe toxicity.


Early detection of breast cancer is crucial for better prognosis and successful treatment of the patients. Development of novel methods for screening for breast cancer is needed for early detection and diagnosis. The human immune system responds to tumor-specific antigens in the pre-malignant stage of breast cancer and produces specific antibodies, which can be detected as potential breast cancer biomarkers. Due to the limited availability of well-annotated pre-cancer and post-cancer sera from human subjects, we performed serial serum collection in a neu transgenic mouse model from the age of 10 weeks to the terminal stage of disease. Using a technique called serological screening of cDNA expression library (SEREX), a high-throughput method to rapidly screen recombinant proteins expressed in a bacteriophage-based cDNA library, we have previously identified tumor antigens in the late stage of neu breast cancers. The mouse tumors have similar immunogenicity as their human counterparts due to the fact that some of these antigens are also immunogenic in human. Indeed, we have found that one mouse antigen called gelsolin, shares 93% homology with human gelsolin and has the highest response to human serum antibody among other antigens. In an ELISA analysis using the serum samples from 50 breast cancer cases and 50 normal donors, the area-under-curve (AUC) value of the receiver-operating-characteristic (ROC) curve of gelsolin ELISA detects more than 70% of cancer patients. Using the SEREX technique, we sought to further identify the early-stage serum antibody biomarkers by comparing the pre-cancer, early stage, and late stage sera from the same mouse. We have identified three early-stage biomarkers, A20/TNFaip3, Rpl5, and Pdhx, in neu mice. In summary, we conclude that identification of tumor antigens in the neu transgenic animal model is useful for the discovery of serum antibody biomarkers for early detection and diagnosis. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2742.


eScholarship provides open access, scholarly publishing services to the University of California and delivers a dynamic research platform to scholars worldwide. Abstract: This research examines educational stratification cross-nationally through the context of German division and unity. Drawing on representative German Social Survey (ALLBUS) data from 1991-1998 on cohorts schooled in the 1980s and 1990s, the analysis explores educational inequality at the secondary school level with respect to social origins and gender in four settings: the late state socialist German Democratic Republic, the immediate pre-unification setting Federal Republic of Germany, and the two halves of a now-united Germany. The paper includes a discussion of possible underlying reasons for the major finding of the descriptive analysis: a lack of variation in the parameters of educational inequality, despite varied and changing institutions and ideologies. Abstract This research examines educational stratification cross-nationally through the context of German division and unity. Drawing on representative German Social Survey (ALLBUS) data from 1991–1998 on cohorts schooled in the 1980s and 1990s, the analysis explores educational inequality at the secondary-school level with respect to social origins and gender in four settings: the late state socialist German Democratic Republic, the immediate pre-unification Federal Republic of Germany, and the two halves of a now-united Germany. The pre-unification settings differ structurally—in the extent and timing of educational differentiation—and ideologically. Post-unification eastern Germany is a case of sudden, top-down structural reform, with a high degree of cultural continuity and continuity of teaching personnel. The study finds that women's disadvantage in educational attainment has disappeared at the secondary level; indeed, men now face a disadvantage at this level. However, no major changes have occurred with respect to social origins. The children of workers and less educated parents were extremely disadvantaged in both East and West Germany prior to unification, surprisingly perhaps even more so in East Germany. Despite dramatic reform and expansion of the university-preparatory curriculum in eastern states since unification, inequality in educational attainment remains stable. Interestingly, the children of small-scale proprietors were particularly advantaged under German state socialism, and in eastern states in the 1990s they maintain a substantial but more moderate advantage over working-class peers. The paper concludes with a discussion of possible underlying reasons for the lack of variation in the parameters of educational inequality in the face of such varied and changing institutions and ideologies.


DNA-Damage-Inducible Transcript 4-Like (DDiT4L) protein regulates mTOR signaling in skeletal muscle, however its role in the heart is unknown. Here we investigated the role of DDiT4L in regulating mTOR signaling in cardiomyocytes. We show that DDiT4L differentially regulates mTORC1 and mTORC2 signaling in cardiomyocytes and regulates autophagy in an mTOR dependent, TSC2 independent manner. We studied DDiT4L regulation in the heart using murine models of cardiomyopathy and isolated rat neonatal cardiomyocytes (NRVMs). The functional role of DDiT4L was assessed with loss and gain of function approaches in NRVMs, and an HA-DDiT4L cardiac specific conditional transgenic mouse using Western blotting, PCR, ECHO and confocal imaging. DDiT4L expression increased in mouse models of pathological (pressure overload hypertrophy and dilated cardiomyopathy (myosin heavy chain F764L knock in) n=3-5, p


A new class of continuous distributions called the generalized Burr X-G family is introduced. Some special models of the new family are provided. Some of its mathematical properties including explicit expressions for the quantile and generating functions, ordinary and incomplete moments, order statistics and Rényi entropy are derived. The maximum likelihood is used for estimating the model parameters. The flexibility of the generated family is illustrated by means of two applications to real data sets.


In this contribution, we examine the effect of imper- fect channel estimation on the bit error rate (BER) performance of square orthogonal space-time block codes (OSTBCs). The propagation channels from the Nt transmit antennas to each of the Nr receive antennas are assumed to be affected by (possibly correlated) flat block fading with an arbitrary distribution. The transmitted symbols belong to a PAM or QAM constellation. The resulting average BER can easily be written as an expectation over 4NtNr real-valued random variables, but the computing time needed for its numerical evaluation increases exponentially with Nt and Nr. However, we point out that expressing the BER in terms of the distribution of the Frobenius norm of the channel matrix, allows to reduce the BER expression for any number of receive antennas to an expectation over only 2Ns +2 random variables (with Ns denoting the number of information symbols in the OSTBC matrix). Due to the high diversity order of OSTBCs, the numerical evaluation of this expectation is much less time-consuming than a straightforward computer simulation. Moreover, the presented BER expression is useful not only when the fading distribution is given in closed form, but also when only experimental data (e.g. a histogram) on the fading are available.


Conditioning of morphology is an effective technique to enhance secondary metabolite production by Streptomyces. Here we report a novel conditioning method employing glass marbles in batch cultures to enhance secondary metabolite production by Streptomyces sp. The marbles seem to spatially separate aerial and submerged mycelia in the flask which was necessary for the qualitative and quantitative enhancement of metabolite production of secondary metabolites. The method also offers shorter incubation period compared to conventional methods for effective production. Further, using a combination of this method and response surface methodology we could enhance the production of antimycobacterial molecules chrysomycin A and B significantly. Importance Rediscovery of existing molecules and lack of techniques to induce production of secondary metabolites are the major bottlenecks associated with drug discovery of novel bioactive molecules from Streptomyces, the major source of marketable drugs today. We found a new method to increase the diversity and quantity of secondary metabolites in two Streptomyces species. This method thus enhances the chance of finding novel active principles from Streptomyces.


The literature regarding the effects of managerial optimism concentrates on CEOs, all but neglecting the broader executive team. We evaluate the interplay of the optimism levels of the CEOs and CFOs of listed real estate investment trusts, and study the commercial real estate transactions made by the firms led by these teams. We find that firms led by optimistic executive teams pay 2.7% more than their peers for their private asset acquisitions if the cash ratio increase by one percentage point. These firms also exhibit inferior stock performance following their asset acquisitions. Conversely, diverse opinions in the boardroom prevent firms from overpaying on their asset transactions, improving their stock performance relative to optimistic teams. Our findings suggest that diversity in terms of executive optimism is a soft governance mechanism with salience to firm performance.


Optical diffraction patterns from electron micrographs of both longitudinal and cross sections of normal and anomalous canine cardiac Z bands have been compared. The data indicate that anomalous cardiac Z bands resembling nemaline rods are structurally related to Z bands in showing a repeating lattice common to both. In thin sections transverse to the myofibril axis, both electron micrographs and optical diffraction patterns of the Z structure reveal a square lattice of 24 nm. This lattice is simple at the edge of each I band and centered in the interior of the Z band, where two distinct lattice forms have been observed. In longitudinal sections, oblique filaments visible in the electron micrographs correspond to a 38-nm axial periodicity in diffraction patterns of both Z band and Z rod. We conclude that the Z rods will be useful for further analysis and reconstruction of the Z lattice by optical diffraction techniques.


During the past two decades, improved understanding of the fundamental magnetic behavior of Fe-Ni alloys has made them one of the most versatile class of soft magnetic materials. No longer is the concern limited to high permeability and low coercfve force at room temperature. Alloys have now been custom-crafted to meet high permeability requirements at cryogenic temperatures, exhibit a skewed hysteresis loop for pulse transformer use, or a square hysteresis loop combined with stress insensitivity and controlled coercive force for memory applications. These examples are discussed in terms of the relationship of magnetic properties to structure and composition in Fe-Ni alloys.


The value of nuclear parameters were determined using interactive computer image analysis system on 100 preoperative FNAC smears of breast carcinoma where radical mastectomy was performed subsequently. Twenty cases of benign breast lesion were taken as control. The lymph node status was correlated with the nuclear and nucleolar variables. It is found that few nuclear parameters have good discriminatory power. Computerised interactive morphometry proved to be far superior to eye-piece measurements with respect to accuracy, reproducibility and time taken for parameter estimation which leads to the determination of better prognostic indicator .


Large-scale atomistic simulations are performed using both the molecular dynamics and direct simulation Monte Carlo algorithms. These simulations are used to investigate several aspects of turbulent behavior, focusing on the Rayleigh-Taylor instability, in which a heavy fluid lies on top of a light fluid in the presence of a gravitational field. The use of atomistic techniques allows us to capture various physical effects not resolved by more traditional continuum methods, such as the discontinuous breakup of flow features, and the effects of micro-scale fluctuations. In addition, we compare with both experiment and continuum simulations such properties as the initial growth spectrum of the interface, and the development in time of the mixing zone width.


The volume of malware and the number of attacks in IoT devices are rising everyday, which encourages security professionals to continually enhance their malware analysis tools. Researchers in the field of cyber security have extensively explored the usage of sophisticated analytics and the efficiency of malware detection. With the introduction of new malware kinds and attack routes, security experts confront considerable challenges in developing efficient malware detection and analysis solutions. In this paper, a different view of malware analysis is considered and the risk level of each sample feature is computed, and based on that the risk level of that sample is calculated. In this way, a criterion is introduced that is used together with accuracy and FPR criteria for malware analysis in IoT environment. In this paper, three malware detection methods based on visualization techniques called the clustering approach, the probabilistic approach, and the deep learning approach are proposed. Then, in addition to the usual machine learning criteria namely accuracy and FPR, a proposed criterion based on the risk of samples has also been used for comparison, with the results showing that the deep learning approach performed better in detecting malware


The goal of lifetime clustering is to develop an inductive model that maps subjects into $K$ clusters according to their underlying (unobserved) lifetime distribution. We introduce a neural-network based lifetime clustering model that can find cluster assignments by directly maximizing the divergence between the empirical lifetime distributions of the clusters. Accordingly, we define a novel clustering loss function over the lifetime distributions (of entire clusters) based on a tight upper bound of the two-sample Kuiper test p-value. The resultant model is robust to the modeling issues associated with the unobservability of termination signals, and does not assume proportional hazards. Our results in real and synthetic datasets show significantly better lifetime clusters (as evaluated by C-index, Brier Score, Logrank score and adjusted Rand index) as compared to competing approaches.