This work introduces a transformation-based learner model for classification forests. The weak learner at each split node plays a crucial role in a classification tree. We propose to optimize the splitting objective by learning a linear transformation on subspaces using nuclear norm as the optimization criteria. The learned linear transformation restores a low-rank structure for data from the same class, and, at the same time, maximizes the separation between different classes, thereby improving the performance of the split function. Theoretical and experimental results support the proposed framework.


In today's highly competitive business environment service delivery has become a key issue. Providing quality service could enhance an organisation's competitive advantage with beneficial financial implications. Service delivery requires the full cooperation and commitment of all the employees in the organisation, including management. The culture of the organisation supports this by eliciting a unified response from employees that supports the quality of service rendered to customers. In this regard the paper provides a statistical analysis of the impact of organisational culture on service delivery in a major South African private security company. Due to its applicability the Competing Values Framework (CVF) was instrumental in measuring the culture of the organisation and the award winning Baldrige Award Criteria in ascertaining its levels of service delivery.


The study described here investigated assumptions in the literature about how students model ideas while designing and making. Additionally, it investigated protocol analysis as a methodology for the analysis of designers' strategies. Five Year 7 dyads were video recorded while completing a design and make task. Analysis involved transcribing and segmenting the conversation between subjects and then adding to the protocols a description of their actions. Each period of action was coded and the coded transcripts analysed. Analysis made evident five significant differences between modelling as described in the literature and as used by subjects. First, three-dimensional modelling largely replaced two-dimensional modelling. Second, subjects developed solutions serially rather than producing several solutions at the outset. Third, three-dimensional modelling was used to manifest not only existing ideas but to fuel new ideas. Fourth, modelling was used to develop and also to refine ideas. Fifth, models were evaluated not only upon completion but from the moment that designing and making began. These results suggest it is important to provide students, early in the process of designing and making, an opportunity to explore, develop and communicate their design proposals by modelling ideas in three-dimensional form.


A series of uniform ZnO nanospheres–reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites (ZnO–RGO NCs) with different weight addition ratios of RGO are successfully synthesized via a facile yet efficient method by intimately coating ZnO nanospheres (NSs) with RGO, which is afforded by electrostatic attraction between positively charged ZnO NSs and negatively charged graphene oxide (GO) in an aqueous medium at room temperature. The photocatalytic test of degradation of Rhodamine B shows that the optimal ZnO–10% RGO NCs exhibit a 5-fold enhancement of photoactivity than bare ZnO NSs, which is ascribed to the integrative synergetic effect of enhanced adsorption capacity, the decreased recombination of the electron–hole pairs and the enhanced ultraviolet light absorption intensity. Significantly, the recycled photoactivity tests show that, for ZnO–RGO NCs, the anti-photocorrosion of ZnO NSs is improved remarkably which is attributed to the effective hybridization of ZnO NSs with the RGO sheet via intimate surface coating. Such a significant photoactivity enhancement and anti-photocorrosion phenomenon can not be obtained by simply integrating RGO with ZnO NSs that are not subject to surface charge modification, which thus indicates the importance of intimate surface coating of ZnO with RGO toward the efficiency of enhancement of photoactivity and particularly the anti-photocorrosion of ZnO.


Service-oriented architectures (SOA) enable interaction among multiple entities, loose composition of components, service substitution, dynamic run-time binding, and a network-driven infrastructure. These potential benefits, regardless of the technology providing them, introduce challenges: multiple organizations interacting, behavior that changes at run-time, and "black box" functionality. Service interactions can be governed by service level agreements (SLAs) specifying quality of service standards; meeting these standards is an ongoing challenge.
This dissertation advances the state of the art for configuring, deploying, and managing service systems. First, it demonstrates that authoring a simulation of a service-oriented system need not be prohibitively difficult, and that such simulations can produce a narrative that offers useful and realistic information about the predicted performance of a software system. This is in contrast to the results of a systematic survey of current frameworks. A framework is described and implemented that improves on the state-of-the-art in key areas.
Second, this approach is used to simulate two real-world service systems. They are validated to accurately predict performance, and serve as testbeds for demonstrating simulation-driven methodologies.
Third, a novel view on how service level agreements are negotiated, deployed, and evaluated is described. A simulation-driven methodology and tool allows consumers to explore trade-offs among configuration goals, based on a desire to produce an SLA that maximizes perceived value for the consumer and the provider. Another simulation-driven tool answers questions posed by administrators seeking configurations that will adhere to an SLA. A third tool enables run-time testing and monitoring of a service system. The tools are implemented and tested in both simulated and real scenarios.
Finally, an autonomic manager capable of re-configuring an application at run-time is presented. A decision model is created before the service is deployed by running the simulation (either manually or automatically), collecting traces of performance, and constructing a state-transition model that identifies the (abstract) states of an application and the transitions among them. This is implemented and tested both in simulation and in a real-world cloud computing environment. Questions about the granularity of the abstract states and the size of the state space are asked and answered using empirical results.


Afro-descendant Peoples are an integral part of the history and the economic, political, and social processes of nation-building and development in Latin America and the Caribbean. In fact, national censuses estimate that 21 percent of the region's total population—just over 134 million people—are Afro-descendants. Yet, despite significant legislative progress at the international and national levels recognizing cultural and ethnic diversity and the rights of Afro-descendant Peoples, social and economic conditions are still drastically unequal and there are large information and recognition gaps that affect their rights. This study seeks to raise awareness of the territorial presence of Afro-descendant Peoples in 16 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean*. The aim is to progressively identify the presence, titled and untitled lands, and territories of Afro-descendant Peoples and to advocate for the recognition of their collective tenure rights. Although Afro-descendant Peoples in the region have been fighting for a place in international climate and conservation debates, not having defined boundaries for their ancestral lands has been an obstacle to adequately establishing how important their territories are for protecting biodiversity and dealing with complex challenges such as ecosystem degradation, loss of food systems, and other environmental problems. *The 16 countries studied are: Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.


SUMMARY The therapy of non-caries cervical lesions is an important problem in restorative dentistry, for the ambiguous aetiology, clinical diagnoses and for the selection of restorative procedure. Aim: The aim of this work was to clinically check the efficiency of non-caries cervical lesions restoration depending on materials used for restorative fillings. Materials and methods: Clinical researches covered 62 teeth of different morphology group at the patients of both gender and of different age. The restoration of gingival lesions, with no previous preparation, was done with composite adhesive system SINGLE BOND/Valux Plus (3M) (30 teeth) and with campomer DYRACT AO (Dentsplay) (32 teeth). The fillings were estimated on the checkups which took place on 3,6 and12 months applying modified criteria according to Ridge and Cvar. Results: The acquired results showed that after 3 to 6 months there were no changes at none of examined parameters and all the fillings got maximal mark A. 12 months latter, in the two cases with composite filling, the marginal adaptation got the mark B (607%). The marginal adaptation at two teeth restored with compo-mers got the mark B (6.3%) Postoperative sensitiveness phenomenon, marginal discoloration and secondary caries weren't registered in none of the cases after the observation period of 12 months. Conclusion: For the restoration of non-caries cervical lesions, composite materials with suitable adhesive system and the new generation of compo-mers could be used.


Background: Supracondylar fractures of humerus are one of the largest sources of serious problems and treatment controversy in childhood fractures. The advantages and disadvantages of different methods of treating supracondylar fractures of humerus in children are still evolving and need to be investigated. Objective: To compare the effectiveness of two techniques of treating Gartland type III supracondylar fractures of humerus in children Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental study was carried out at Orthopedic Unit, Jinnah Hospital, Lahore from 22 August 2007 to 31 May 2008. Sixty patients selected by non-probability sampling with Gartland type III supracondylar fracture of humerus were divided in Group A and B with 30 patient in each group. After stabilizing patients, group A was managed with closed reduction and percutaneous pinning and group B with open reduction and internal fixation. Patients were discharged when stable and followed clinically and radiologically for effectiveness of reduction and union of fracture at 2, 4, 8 and 12 weeks. Results: There were 78.3% males and 21.7% were females. Majority of patients (36.7%) were between 5-7 years of age. Right humerus was fractured in 63.3% of patients. Most common mode of injury (40%) was fall during play. Eighty percent of children were presented in 1 24 hour of injury. Sixty percent of children in group A had a hospital stay of 2 days and in group B, 60% had hospital stay of 4-5 days. In group A, 16.6% patients developed postoperation complication and in group B, 46.7% developed complications. Functional outcome was excellent in 73.7% in group A and 60% in group B. Radiologically, callus formation was relatively poor to start in group B. Conclusion: Closed reduction & pining under image intensifier is as good as open reduction and internal fixation for these fractures in children with early callus formation.


The exact full-wave generalization of the azimuthally varying scalar real-argument Laguerre-Gauss beam is obtained. The radiation intensity of the resulting azimuthally varying real-argument Laguerre-Gauss wave is determined. The main characteristics of the radiation intensity pattern are discussed. The total power P(n,m) is determined, where n is the radial mode number and m is the azimuthal mode number. By the use of 1/P(n,m), the characteristics of the quality of the paraxial beam approximation to the real-argument Laguerre-Gauss wave are investigated.


Objective: Recent studies on Long COVID found that patients report prominent emotional distress and significant correlations between distress and cognitive performance have been identified, raising the question of how to manage or treat these issues. To understand psychological functioning in Long COVID further, this study examined personality responses on the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) to compare psychological functioning in a Long COVID group with a post-concussion syndrome (PCS) group, a syndrome with a significant psychological component. Participants and methods: Participants included 201 consecutive Long COVID outpatients (Mean age = 48.87 years, mean education = 14.82, 71.6% Female, 82.6% White) and a comparison group of 102 consecutively referred PCS outpatients (Mean age = 46.08, mean education = 14.17, 63.7% Female, 88.2% White). Effect sizes and t-tests were calculated using the PAI validity, clinical, interpersonal, and treatment consideration scales as well as clinical subscales. Results: The results replicated earlier findings on the PAI in Long COVID by demonstrating that both Long COVID and PCS groups had the highest mean elevations on SOM and DEP scales but no statistically significant between group differences in mean scale elevations. Results support similarities in psychological functioning between Long COVID and PCS patients emphasizing the importance of evaluating psychological functioning in neuropsychological evaluations for these populations. Further, results suggest that psychological treatment strategies for PCS patients may be helpful for Long COVID patients, but more research is needed.


Monodispersive FePt magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) with hydrophobic ligand were chemically synthesized and with controllable surface-functional properties. In order to compare and obtain the high saturation magnetization of FePt NPs, the synthesized solvents were changed from octyl to phenyl ether leading to effectively increase magnetization due to the increased particle size and isolated distance of each NPs. The surface modification of FePt NPs by using mercaptoacetic acid (thiol) and 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid (MUA) as a phase transfer reagent through ligand-exchange turned the NPs hydrophilic, and the FePt NPs were water-dispersible. Transmission electron microscopy images indicate that the NPs are slightly agglomerate after ligand-exchange. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra suggest that thiol and MUA functional group bond to the FePt atoms of the surface. The water-dispersible FePt NPs used as heating agents could reach the demand of biocompatibility and provide heat response for ...


This paper integrates a spatial fire-behavior model and a stochastic dynamic-optimization model to determine the optimal spatial pattern of fuel management and timber harvest. Each year's fire season causes the loss of forest values and lives in the western United States. We use a multi-plot analysis and incorporate uncertainty about fire ignition locations and weather conditions to inform policy by examining the role of spatial endogenous risk—where management actions on one stand affect fire risk in that and adjacent stands. The results support two current strategies, but question two other strategies, for managing forests with fire risk. (JEL Q23)


To acquire the meaning of a verb, language learners not only need to find the correct mapping between a specific verb and an action or event in the world, but also infer the underlying relational meaning that the verb encodes. Most verb naming instances in naturalistic contexts are highly ambiguous as many possible actions can be embedded in the same scenario and many possible verbs can be used to describe those actions. To understand whether learners can find the correct verb meaning from referentially ambiguous learning situations, we conducted three experiments using the Human Simulation Paradigm with adult learners. Our results suggest that although finding the right verb meaning from one learning instance is hard, there is a statistical solution to this problem. When provided with multiple verb learning instances all referring to the same verb, learners are able to aggregate information across situations and gradually converge to the correct semantic space. Even in cases where they may not guess the exact target verb, they can still discover the right meaning by guessing a similar verb that is semantically close to the ground truth.


Spleen cells from athymic nu/nu mice contain two kinds of physically separable active cells that can have very different effects on the generation of CL (cytotoxic lymphocytes) by normal LN cells in an in vitro response against allogeneic stimulator cells. They can provide an accessory cell required for the activation of CLP (cytotoxic lymphocyte precursor cells) which need not be H-2 identical to the CLP and will function normally even when H-2 identical to the stimulator cells. They can also provide a suppressor cell that prevents the activation of CLP that can recognize the H-2 of the nu/nu mouse. Thus, with A, B, and C to represent three H-2 differnt mouse strains, a culture containing CLP from strain A and nu/nu spleen cells from strain B or strain (A x B)F1 will produce CL against strain C or (A x C)F1 stimulator cells but not against strain B or strain (A x B)F1 stimulator cells unless the suppressor cell is first removed. It is proposed that the in vivo role of the suppressor cell in a normal mouse is to prevent the activation of CLP reactive against self.


Background: This retrospective study aimed to investigate the physicochemical properties of drinking water sources in Ethiopia and compare the water quality with the health-based target. For this purpose, the water quality database of Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) from 2010 to 2016 was used. Methods: The concentration and other properties of the water samples were analyzed according to the Standard Methods of Water and Wastewater analysis. Quality control and quality assurance were applied in all stages following our laboratory standard operation procedures (SOPs). Results: The concentration of the selected parameters varied based on the type of water sources. The mean concentration of turbidity was higher in spring water (21.3 NTU) compared to tap (12.6 NTU) and well (3.9 NTU) water sources. The mean concentration of total dissolved solids (TDS), electrical conductivity (EC), sodium (Na+), and sulfate (SO4 -2) was found to be higher in spring water sources than tap and well water sources. Comparably, the concentration of hardness, calcium, and magnesium was found to be higher in well water sources than spring and tap water sources. The bivariate analysis indicated that out of 845 analyzed water samples, more than 50% of the samples from Oromia region had turbidity, pH, TDS, hardness, Ca++, K+, and Na+ within an acceptable limit. In addition, the logistic regression analysis showed that water quality parameters were strongly associated with the type of water sources and regional administration at P<0.05. Conclusion: More than 80% of the samples analyzed from drinking water sources were in agreement with WHO guidelines and national standards. However, the remaining 20% specifically, pH (25%), calcium (20%), hardness (18.1%), TDS (15.5%), and turbidity (13.3%) analyzed from improved water sources did not comply with these recommendations. Due to objectionable or unpleasant taste, people may force to look for alternative unprotected water sources that lead to health concerns.


With the birth and growth of criminology related sub discipline, 'environmental criminology' or in other words, crime designated ecological perspective has gained a wide acceptance among the criminology academia. As a consequent, the immediate surrounding of an individual has been identified as a criminogenic factor. Criminology has been specifically focusing on the characteristics of offenders as well as offences and has been somewhat disregarding the criminogenic spatial factors of crime. Focusing and identifying the designated burglary related ecological factors have been the prime intention of this criminological research study. Thus, a purposive sample of 57 crime scenes under burglary has been observed during a period of two years (2017-2019) within the Western Province of Sri Lanka. Data were retrieved by using qualitative methodology. The research revealed three types of environmental factors linked with the burglary crime scenes namely, natural, built, and social. The built and social eco factors have been main criminogenic features in urban and semi-urban spaces. Specifically, weather, land usage and location could be identified as burglary related environmental factors. Apart from natural environmental factors, architectural and landscape features were recognized as associated-built environmental factors with housebreak. As this is a pioneering research study connected to the environmental aspect of crimes, the study has filled the existing research gap from the Sri Lankan perspective. Measures in controlling and preventing crime can be achieved through the management of environmental elements and using environmental designing with the advanced technology.


The problem of reduction of magnetic and gravity data, when observed on an arbitrary surface in a region of high topographic relief, is studied with equivalent source representation at the points of observation. It is shown that the analytical relationship between the total magnetic field or the gravity effect and equivalent magnetization or density on an arbitrary observational surface is given by a Fredholm integral equation of the second kind. A rapidly convergent iterative scheme is described for the solution of the integral equation, yielding the surface distribution of magnetization or density. With this distribution, the field at any other surface can be easily computed. Then it has been demonstrated with model examples that the gravity or magnetic field observed on a rough terrain can be accurately reduced to a horizontal plane for processing and interpretation.A new method has been suggested for minimization of terrain-induced anomalies on a magnetic or gravity map. This method is based on the concept that when the anomalous field observed on an arbitrary surface is continued to a surface parallel to the topography, the terrain effect in the continued field is sharply reduced relative to the field created by bodies of finite extent in the crust. Model examples are presented to show the accuracy and reliability of the method.


Solitons are peculiar excitations that appear in a wide range of nonlinear systems such as in fluids or optics. We show here that the collective transport of charges observed in charge density wave (CDW) systems can be explained by using a similar theory based on a traveling soliton lattice. Coherent x-ray diffraction experiment performed in the sliding state of a CDW material reveals peculiar diffraction patterns in good agreement with this assumption. Therefore, the collective transport of charges in CDW systems may be due to a nonlinear interaction leading to a self-localized excitation, carrying charges without deformation through the sample, on top of the CDW ground state. This single theory explains why charges remain spatially correlated over very long distances and reconciles the main features of sliding CDW systems, either observed by transport measurements or diffraction.


Objective To investigate the dose-response relationship between radiation to the head and neck regions and damage observed in mice gustatory cells. Materials and Methods A total number of 45 mice (C57BL/6) (aged 8–12 weeks) were enrolled in this study. The head and neck regions of the mice were irradiated at doses of 8 Gy (low-dose group, n = 15), 16 Gy (moderate-dose group, n = 15), and 24 Gy (high-dose group, n = 15). Each time, 3 mice from each group were sacrificed before radiation and then 2-day, 4-day, 7-day, and 14-day post the irradiation, respectively. The immune-histochemical staining method was employed to obtain gustatory papilla tissues and mark gustatory cells. Careful calculation of the numbers of proliferative cells, taste buds, and type II gustatory cells was conducted. Results A decrease in the number of Ki-67-marked proliferative cells was noted at 2 days postirradiation (DPI), and the number of cells was recovered to the normal level at 4-DPI in each group. The number of Ki-67-marked proliferative cells was hypercompensation (significantly higher than normal) in the moderate-dose and high-dose groups at 7-DPI and insufficient compensation (significantly lower than normal) in the high-dose group at 14-DPI. There was a significant reduction of taste buds and type II gustatory cells at 2-DPI and is lowest at 4-DPI in the moderate-dose and high-dose groups, while little change was observed in the low-dose group. Conclusion Damages to Gustatory Cells after head and neck radiation were dose-related and compensation occurred in 14-DPI and may be insufficient when overdosed.


The D1 line spectrally selective pumping process in Doppler-broadened cesium is analyzed by solving the optical Bloch equations. The process, described by a three-level model with the Λ scheme, shows that the saturation intensity of broadened atoms is three orders of magnitude larger than that of resting atoms. The |Fg = 3〉 → |Fe = 4〉 resonance pumping can result in the ground state |Fg = 4, mF = 4〉 sublevel having a maximum population of 0.157 and the population difference would be about 0.01 in two adjacent magnetic sublevels of the hyperfine (HF) state Fg = 4. To enhance the anisotropy in the ground state, we suggest employing dichromatic optical HF pumping by adding a laser to excite D1 line |Fg = 4〉 → |Fe = 3〉 transition, in which the cesium magnetometer sensitivity increases by half a magnitude and is unaffected by the nonlinear Zeeman effect even in Earth's average magnetic field.


We outline the benefits and challenges of using angle diversity in nondirected wireless infrared communications systems. Multiple transmitter beams and multiple narrow-field-of-view receivers reduce the path loss, multipath distortion and background noise of the channel, which leads to improved range. The design and performance of a prototype angle-diversity infrared communication system are discussed. The prototype can maintain 70 Mb/s at a BER of 10/sup -9/ over a 4 m range.


The transformation from business leader to black grouse male: The animal symbolism of the King Black Grouse Hunting Club.This article deals with role-playing within the Swedish business elite as a part of developing an alternative identity. More specifically, the article analyzes a hunting club's attitude to animals. A majority of the members in King Black Grouse Hunting Club were corporate managers. In the club the members assumed the role of black grouse males and imitated the bird's behaviour. The Swedish business elite embraced masculinity and white het- erosexuality. For these men, role-playing was a way to act frivolously and to create a new masculine culture that reminded of homosociality. They described themselves as men who were able to attract and hunt animals, as well as women. The wives of the members were compared to the black grouse hen.King Black Grouse Hunting Society was founded in 1890 and terminated in 1960. The members frequently met for small game hunting. After the hunt, members attended secret ceremonies as well as parties. The hunt was an exclusive show. Expeditions in the woods were dramatized with fictional elements. The transformation from business leaders to black grouse cocks were not just an identity shift. It also reflected the members' attitudes to- wards animals and nature. Their sense of humour, sexual allusions, and ag- gressiveness were ingredients in their encounter with the wilderness. In the 1950s, the younger generation of the hunting club found it difficult to con- tinue the older members' traditions. They found the celebration of the black grouse male ridiculous. Overall, this affected the male bonding culture, and rendered the adaption of the members' alternative identity difficult.


The year 2006 featured a transition, from weak cool (La Niña-like) conditions in the first half of the year, to warm (El Niño-like) conditions in winter (Murphy 2007; Arguez et al. 2007; Mullen and Beard 2006). By the end of August, El Niño conditions were observed across most atmospheric and oceanic indices, and correspondingly, much of Australia had become drier than normal (Murphy 2007). Winter had also brought above average maximum and below average minimum temperatures. During the austral spring of 2006, the El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO) intensified and maintained its warm state. The Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) remained negative throughout the season, while sea-surface temperature (SST) anomaly values were positive in the central and eastern equatorial areas. Subsurface values also remained warmer than normal along the equator east of the date-line. Negative anomalies of outgoing long wave radiation (OLR) highlighted the atmospheric response, with increased cloud activity along the equator close to the date-line. Typically, the maximum extent of the Antarctic ozone hole appears in austral spring. In spring 2005 (Arblaster 2006), the ozone hole was considered the third largest on record, much larger than in spring Aust. Met. Mag. 56 (2007) 203-214


: Meta-analysis of studies of the effectiveness of the Yuzpe regimen indicates that this method of emergency contraception (EC) prevents about 75% of the unplanned pregnancies that would occur in the absence of treatment. Nonetheless, this method remains seriously underutilized in virtually every country in the world. There are 4 barriers to the more widespread use of EC. Product-related obstacles include the need for administration within 3 days of unprotected intercourse, side effects such as nausea and vomiting, and the absence of a dedicated preparation specifically marketed for EC use. The main client-related barrier is women's lack of knowledge of the availability of this option. Providers represent another barrier. They tend not to include information about EC in routine counseling, often because of moral or religious objections. Finally, there are service-related obstacles, including the mistaken belief that EC acts as an abortifacient and the peak need for the method on weekends when clinics and physicians' offices are not open.


Background Ultrasound (US) is an important tool to support the clinician in the diagnosis and treatment monitoring of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The EULAR recommended it for the follow up of RA patients. In spite of the evidence supporting the value of US, the real impact in treatment decisions is not clearly defined. Objectives To investigate the impact of US findings in the treatment decisions of rheumatologists in patients with RA in a real-life setting. Additionally, to verify the US findings that play a role in change of treatment, types of changes and their distribution. Methods RA patients were included. As a first step, the rheumatologist performed a clinical examination (including DAS28) and recorded the treatment approach suggested according his clinical evaluation (i.e. starting, changing or stopping pharmacological medication as well as local injection). In the same day, after the clinical assessment, the patients were sent for an US examination using the 7-joint score, which was performed by an independent rheumatologist sonographer who reported the US findings to the same rheumatologist that previously evaluated clinically the patient. This last decided, according to the US findings to maintain or change the previous suggested therapy. Additionally, the clinical rheumatologist reported the reasons which induced to change or not the treatment after the US examination Results A total of 128 RA patients were included [female 117 (91.4%), male 11 (8.59%)], with mean ± SD disease duration of 9.88±8.22 years. Ninety-four patients (73.4%) had active disease according the DAS 28, whereas 34 (26.5%) were considered in remission. US findings influenced a change in the treatment in 56 cases (43.7%) (47 with clinical active disease and 9 in remission). Among the main reasons that induced a change in the treatment based on the US examinations were: grade of synovitis (25%), higher number of synovitis than clinical examination (16.6%) and presence of power Doppler (PD) (16.7%). The most frequent treatment changes were increasing dose or start a new combination of DMARDs [39 patients (69.5%)]. The multiple logistic regression analysis showed that synovitis of 2nd metacarpophalangeal joint (MCPj) was the US finding with more influence in the decision to change treatment (p=0.016). With respect to distribution, 122 patients (95.3%) had al least one joint with US synovitis and 76 patients (59.3%) had at least one joint with PD. The wrist, 2nd MCPj and 2nd metatarsophalangeal joint (MTPj) were the most affected in terms of synovitis whereas the 5th MTPj showed more erosions (37.7%) and the extensor fingers tendons showed more tenosynovitis (23.02%). Conclusions US demonstrated to play an important role in the treatment decision of RA patients. The impact was more frequent in patients with active disease but also affected the decision in patients considered in clinical remission. Disclosure of Interest None declared


We investigated whether magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) might be applicable to evaluation of the ovarian activity of microminipigs. Firstly, using three mature microminipigs, we confirmed ovarian position and morphology by laparotomy or laparoscopy, and then acquired MRI images in various patterns to determine the most suitable condition for the acquisition. Next, using four microminipigs, we performed daily MRI, starting 10 days after ovulation and ending 10 days after the subsequent ovulation, as the starting day of standing estrus was taken as day 0. While the ovarian structure could not be discriminated on T1-weighted imaging, it was possible to confirm the follicles during estrus as hyperintense regions on T2-weighted imaging. With chronological MRI, 3-5 follicles were visible on T2-weighted imaging during the interval from day -2 to day 1, and their size immediately prior to ovulation was 3-5 mm. However, confirmation of the presence of small follicles and the corpus luteum was difficult.


Numerical approximations of piecewise-deterministic Markov processes based on splitting schemes are introduced, together with their Metropolis-adjusted versions. The unadjusted schemes are shown to have a weak error of order two in the step size in a general framework. Focusing then on unadjusted schemes based on the Bouncy Particle and Zig-Zag samplers, we provide conditions ensuring ergodicity and consider the expansion of the invariant measure in terms of the step size. The dependency of the leading term in this expansion in terms of the refreshment rate, depending of the splitting order, is analyzed. Finally, we present numerical experiments on Gaussian targets, a Bayesian imaging inverse problem and a system of interacting particles.


In the US the Diving Alert Network has a list of physicians for medical consultation. I am one of the cardiologists on the list and I get about a call a day about some cardiac question that raises issues of safety or fitness for diving. I will discuss the commoner categories such as coronary artery disease, congenital heart disease, valvular disorders, arrhythmias, conduction disorders, pacemakers, some of the common cardiac drugs used in the treatment of hypertension and some other relatively benign medical conditions that raise questions about the use of the drugs rather than the condition itself.


The papers presented on the opening morning of the International Neurological Congress at Bern dealt with three phases of the problem of tumors of the brain. In the first four communications certain aspects of the clinical neurologic symptoms of these lesions were considered. In the second group of papers the pathology of tumors of the brain was discussed, together with the variations in position, rapidity of growth and possibilities for complete extirpation without the recurrence noted in different types of tumors. Proper evaluation of these facts has an important bearing on preoperative prognosis and operative procedure. Lastly, mechanical methods of localization, by roentgen changes in the skull produced by the tumor, puncture of the brain and the injection of air or arterial encephalography were outlined, and the usefulness of each method was discussed. In this way the problems that present themselves in an attack on an intracranial tumor were taken


The authors propose the use of a fully integrated case approach to replace the traditional pedagogy of: read the chapter, listen to a lecture, do homework, then parrot back on an exam what was 'remembered'. Students working in teams develop their ability to: analyze financial statement data, research new issues encountered, analyze their research results as it applies to client issues, and determine the impact on client financial statements including required disclosures. Administrators will be provided with a means to evaluate achievement of competencies and assurance of learning requirements including communication skills, critical thinking, decision analysis, and quantitative mastery of the subject matter. Faculty can assist students in developing both written and oral communication skills through playing role of: corporate controller, CPA firm partner, and corporate stockholder at company's annual stockholders' meeting. Concerns of free-riders among the student teams and academic integrity issues involving disclosure of case solutions are addressed.


The aim of this study was to investigate stress coping strategies used in relation to heat and cold pain thresholds in healthy subjects. After using the Jalowiec Coping Scale, cold and heat pain thresholds were examined using the Quantitative Somatosensory Test in 47 healthy subjects. The participants were separated into thermal pain sensitive and insensitive groups, based on thermal pain perception. The results showed that subjects sensitive to thermal pain tended to adopt an emotive stress coping style significantly more commonly than the insensitive subjects. Furthermore, women displayed a marked preference for this style compared to men. The conclusion is that emotional stress coping did play a role in the perception of thermal pain in this group of healthy subjects and that clinical nursing interventions need to focus on the relationship between emotion and coping.


INTRODUCTION:
Medial maxillectomy is a procedure commonly used for the removal of benign and low-grade malignant tumors of the medial aspect of the maxilla, the lateral nasal wall, the ethmoid sinuses, and the lacrimal sac. The endoscopic approach allows superior illumination and magnification, as well as providing the ability to treat diseases that extend beyond the limits of the traditional external medial maxillectomy. Indications for endoscopic medial maxillectomy include sinonasal neoplasms, inverted papilloma, and intractable inflammatory maxillary disease. This is a prospective study conducted between October 2012 to September 2014 where endoscopic medial maxillectomy was done for twenty four patients comprising of thirteen benign tumours and eleven malignancy patients.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:
1. To evaluate the role of endoscopic medial maxillectomy for benign and malignant maxillary sinus tumours.
2. To assess the disease clearance, post operative healing status, recurrence, complications and benefits of the procedure.
3. To study the role of extended medial maxillectomy in adjacent sinuses.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
This is a prospective study conducted in upgraded institute of otorhinolaryngology madras medical college from October 2012 to September 2014.the study was done with the concurrence of oncologist and with ethical clearance. This is a prospective study conducted in our institute between October 2012 to September 2014. Twenty four patients underwent endoscopic medial maxillectomy over the period of two years. There were eleven males and thirteen females. The most common presenting feature was nasal obstruction and swelling in the nasal cavity. The other co morbid conditions include diabetes and hypertension in two patients. The most common clinical finding was mass in the middle meatus.
All the patients underwent clinical examination followed by diagnostic nasal endoscopy. CT scan of the paranasal was performed in all the cases. All the patients had involvement of the maxillary sinus and three patients had involvement anterior ethmoid sinus. One patient had extension of the mass to septum.
All the patients were managed by endoscopic medial maxillectomy. In one patient who had involvement of the septum was in addition to medial maxillectomy partial septal resection was done.
Histopathological examination revealed thirteen patients with inverted papilloma, six patients had adenoid cystic carcinoma, and three patients with squamous cell carcinoma, two patients had adenocarcinoma, Patients with adenoid cystic carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma were subjected to post op radiotherapy. Three patients with adenocarcinoma were subjected to chemo radiation post operatively.
All the patients are under follow up and one patient with adenoid cystic carcinoma had recurrence was subjected to total maxillectomy.
OBSERVATION AND RESULTS:
A total of twenty four patients comprising of thirteen benign tumour patients and eleven malignancy patients were selected for the study. Minimum age group for benign tumour cases was eighteen and maximum was seventy five and for malignancy it was forty one and seventy five.
Nine patients in addition to the other clinical features presented with anemia and lose of weight. six patients had maxillary tenderness, one patient had maxillary swelling, there was neither no loosening or falling of teeth nor palatal anesthesia in any of the selected cases nor palatal anesthesia. The patient with external swelling had infra orbital anesthesia.
All the patient had medial wall of the maxillary sinus involvement, inaddition 27% of the patient with malignancy had inferior wall involvement, 18 % of the patients had anterior ethmoids involvement. the subsite involvement was preoperatively assessed with diagnostic nasal endoscopy which revealed the involvement of ethmoid and other adjacent sinuses, with CT scan and MRI in patients with adenoid cystic carcinoma , the opacification in the maxillary sinus was precisely differentiated into tissue or fluid , also the origin and the extention of the tumour.
Also CT scan analysis of the neck node involvement was done and one patient with squamous cell carcinoma had neck node metastasis. This also helped in the radiotherapy planning. None of the cases had retropharyngeal or other nodes.
CONCLUSION:
Endoscopic medial maxillectomy is by far the best treatment for benign maxillary tumours of the medial wall especially the inverted papilloma. In this study early stage of malignancies of maxillary sinus has been included with good results.
Endoscopic medial maxillectomy is associated with minimum morbidity and is in accordance to oncological principles and preserves the normal physiology of nose and paranasal sinuses.
Endoscopic technique allows for direct visualization of the surgical site and hence precise localization of the pathological lesion and hence adequate excision especially for the posterior aspect of maxillary sinus adjoining ethmoid and frontal sinus with preservation of normal structure if possible, with an average same number or even lower recurrence as with external medial maxillectomy.
Cosmetically it is an excellent treatment for benign tumours for malignancies endoscopic medial maxillectomy offers best surgical approach in terms of tumour clearance and with minimal morbidity. The avoidance of scar and cosmetically better results without compromising the oncologic principles is the main advantage.
The apparent reduction of hospital stay is a major point to be considered in favour of endoscopic medial maxillectomy for both patients and surgeons in the management of tumours of maxillary sinus.
Easy post operative follow up with diagnostic endoscopy as an office procedure also assists the surgeon to pick up early recurrence and treat more radically when needed.
However good results are dependent on appropriate patient selection who are also motivated to comply with regular post operative follow up.


The age structure of the population of Aragon, Spain, its three constituent provinces, and their provincial capitals is first described. The second part of the study examines trends in demographic aging in the region since 1900 and changes in the spatial distribution of the population between 1950 and 1981


By exploring the Anderson type rearrangement reactions, osmium(IV) complexes of the general formula [cation](+)[Os(IV)Cl(5)(Hazole)](-), where [cation](+) = n-Bu(4)N(+), Hazole = 1H-pyrazole (Hpz) (1), 1H-indazole (Hind) (2), 1H-imidazole (Him) (3), 1H-benzimidazole (Hbzim) (4), 1H,2,4-triazole (Htrz) (5), have been synthesized. To improve water solubility of tetrabutylammonium compounds, complexes with [cation](+) = Na(+) [Hazole = Hpz 6), Hind (7), Htrz (8)] or H(2)azole(+) [Hazole = Hpz (9), Hind (10), Htrz (11)] have been also prepared with the aim of testing them for cytotoxicity in cancer cells. In addition, the preparation of the complex {(n-Bu(4)N)(2)[Os(IV)Cl(6)]}(2)[Os(IV)Cl(4)(Him)(2)] (12) is also reported. The compounds have been comprehensively characterized by elemental analysis, electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometry, spectroscopy (IR, UV-vis, 1D and 2D NMR), cyclic voltammetry, X-ray crystallography (1-6 and 12) and magnetic susceptibility (5). Complexes 6, 7, 9 are kinetically inert in aqueous solution and resistant to hydrolysis. Compounds 6-11 were found to possess modest antiproliferative acitivity in vitro against CH1 (ovarian carcinoma), A549 (non-small cell lung carcinoma), and SW480 (colon adenocarcinoma) cells with IC(50) values in the 10(-4) M concentration range. Replacement of azolium cations by sodium had significant effects; cytotoxicity increased in the case of the pyrazole system from 3 (A549) to the 5.5-fold (CH1).


INTRODUCTION
Definitions regarding defunding or abolishing the police are highly contested in the United States. Moreover, adolescents' definitions and how socialization processes shape their definitions are unclear.

METHODS
Within a national sample of 822 adolescents ages 13-17 (49.69% female; 63.22% White, 16.93% Black/African American, 11.01% Hispanic/Latinx) surveyed in July 2020, this study examined how youth define defunding versus abolishing the police, how much parents talk to youth about the police (i.e., "the Talk"), and whether relations emerged between defunding/abolishing the police and "the Talk."

RESULTS
Youth supported defunding more than abolishing (d = 0.57). Support for abolishing was higher for youth who frequently received "the Talk" (b = 0.25). Differences by race and gender were uncovered in how frequently youth received "the Talk."

CONCLUSIONS
Police must recognize that coercion, fear, and biased policing breed discontent and promote families to engage in protective parenting strategies including engaging in "the Talk."


In this article the authors present a comparison of three modes of group-based intervention within an acute psychiatric facility. The group-based interventions were: (1) verbal discussion, (2) verbal discussion with a psychoeducation component, and (3) verbal discussion and psychoeducation within a therapeutically designed occupational environment. Outcome measures were group member participation, perceived social support, and perceived helpfulness of intervention. Researchers conducted retrospective analysis of group records to determine if differences existed among the three modes of interventions. Analysis revealed a significant difference in participation among the interventions. Perceived social support and helpfulness of intervention were high, but not statistically significant among the interventions.


The fluctuations in Tanganyikan fish catches defy standard fisheries planning, management and development practice. For long the available knowledge seemed not adequate to elucidate the Lake's ecosystem functioning and productivity. This project synthesised new insights in the dynamics of the main hydrodynamical, limnological and ecological variables that are crucial to further understand the mechanisms securing the biological basis for fish production. Across the lake we now describe how the seasonal meteorological and hydrodynamical patterns affect the thermal and chemical gradients that in turn, depending on their position and strength, seem crucial for the timing and magnitude of internal nutrient fluxes and algal production, and may regionally determine zooplankton abundance and community assembly. A first comprehensive study on the external nutrient sources showed them also to be significant for the lake's annual primary production. The carbon sources for pelagic fish production were scrutinized, and a new view of Tanganyika's trophic structure emerged. New production and biomass figures of key organisms combined with transfer efficiencies between the main trophic levels of Tanganyika's pelagic foodweb showed no special mechanism needs to be invoked to explain its flourishing fisheries.


In this paper, the highly ill posed Cauchy problem for the Laplace equation is transformed to a classical moment problem whose numerical approximation can be achieved. Proofs on its convergence and stability estimates are given based on the Backus-Gilbert algorithm. For numerical verification, several examples which include random noise in the initial Cauchy data are presented.


The awareness society in zakat payment should be improved, especially in mall zakat payment. For the management and distribution of zakat optimally, its required zakat institution professionally, trustworthy, and transparently. At Yogyakarta, the management of zakat has been managed by BAZNAS Yogyakarta city. It has tried hardly become a zakat institution professionally, trustworthy and transparently. This research aimed for testing a partial and simultaneous the influence of trust, regulation and BAZNAS product on muzakki's interest in zakat payment at BAZNAS Yogyakarta. The amount of respondents are 100 respondents. Besides that, it also analyzes the management of zakat in BAZNAS. This type of research was a field research. The data used in this research was primary and secondary data. The sampling technique used was probability sampling. The data collection method used was spreading the questionnaires, interviews and documentation. Data analysis technique that used was validity test, reliability test, classic assumption test and multiple regression analysis. The results of this research that processed by using SPSS version 17.0 for Windows, with a test model F showed a significant models and the value of F value is 14,601 while the value of F table is 2.463 (F value > F table ), it means the independent variable (trust, regulation and BAZNAS product) were affected the muzakki's interest simultaneously in zakat payment at BAZNAS Yogyakarta. While the results of the partial test (T test) showed that the trust variable (t count > t table = 3.223 > 1,984) and regulation variable (t count > t table = 2.190 > 1,984) have a significant affect. But the product BAZNAS variable (t count < t table = 1.558 < 1984) not a significant affect on the muzakki's interest in zakat payment at BAZNAS Yogyakarta city. Meanwhile, the management of zakat in BAZNAS has meets the standards of existing management.


Purpose
The transistor circuit based on Moore's Law is approaching the performance limit. The three-dimensional integrated circuit (3-D IC) is an important way to implement More than Moore. The main problems in the development of 3-D IC are Joule heating and stress. The stresses and strains generated in 3-D ICs will affect the performance of electronic products, leading to various reliability issues. The intermetallic compound (IMC) joint materials and structures are the main factors affecting 3-D IC stress. The purpose of this paper is to optimize the design of the 3-D IC.

Design/methodology/approach
To optimize the design of 3-D IC, the numerical model of 3-D IC was established. The Taguchi experiment was designed to simulate the influence of IMC joint material, solder joint array and package size on 3-D IC stress.

Findings
The simulation results show that the solder joint array and IMC joint materials have great influence on the equivalent stress. Compared with the original design, the von Mises stress of the optimal design was reduced by 69.96 per cent, the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) was increased by 10.46 dB and the fatigue life of the Sn-3.9Ag-0.6Cu solder joint was increased from 415 to 533 cycles, indicating that the reliability of the 3-D IC has been significantly improved.

Originality/value
It is necessary to study the material properties of the bonded structure since 3-D IC is a new packaging structure. Currently, there is no relevant research on the optimization design of solder joint array in 3-D IC. Therefore, the IMC joint material, the solder joint array, the chip thickness and the substrate thickness are selected as the control factors to analyze the influence of various factors on the 3-D IC stress and design. The orthogonal experiment is used to optimize the structure of the 3-D IC.


This paper highlights the process of political change that led to the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act (MVRMA), an attempt to recognize the legitimacy of indigenous knowledge in resource management. Evidence from ethnographic interviews shows the importance of involving indigenous knowledge holders in local land and resource management decisions, which are grounded in land-claim settlement processes. However, the authority of the Indian and Northern Affairs Canada minister acts as a barrier to genuine involvement of indigenous knowledge and its holders in resource management. True capacity building in the Northwest Territories cannot succeed without devolution of power from the federal government to territorial and First Nations governments.


PURPOSE
To evaluate the effect of UV-C irradiation on the structural properties of alpha-crystallin and its chaperone activity.

METHODS
alpha- and betaL-crystallins were isolated from bovine lenses using gel chromatography. The purified alpha-crystallin was subjected to UV-C irradiation (254 nm; 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 J/cm2). We measured the tryptophan fluorescence, circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy in the far UV, and the chaperone activity of both irradiated and non-irradiated alpha-crystallin.

RESULTS
The tryptophan fluorescence of alpha-crystallin decreased, whereas the N-formylkynurenine fluorescence increased markedly with increasing doses of UV-C irradiation. Both the oxidation of Met1 and the racemization of Asp151 of alphaA-crystallin increased at a dose of 1-2 J/cm2 and then gradually decreased. The CD spectrum showed that the secondary structure of alpha-crystallin altered with increasing radiation dose, and almost all of the beta-sheet structure was lost at doses above 50 J/cm2. The chaperone activity of alpha-crystallin irradiated with doses under 5 J/cm2 remained intact. However, it was reduced to only 40% after irradiation at 10 J/cm2.

CONCLUSIONS
Our study suggests that photo-oxidation of tryptophan residues in alpha-crystallin may be one of the events that affects the three-dimensional packing array and chaperone activity of this lens protein.


A numerical evaluator for the confluent hypergeometric function for complex arguments with large magnitudes using a direct summation of Kummer's series is presented. Extended precision subroutines using large arrays to accumulate a single numerator and denominator are ultimately used in a single division to arrive at the final result. The accuracy has been verified through a variety of tests and they show the evaluator to be consistently accurate to 13 significant figures, and on rare occasion accurate to only 9 for magnitudes of the arguments ranging into the thousands in any quadrant in the complex plane. Because the evaluator automatically determines the number of significant figures of machine precision, and because it is written in FORTRAN 77, tests on various computers have shown the evaluator to provide consistently accurate results, making the evaluator very portable. The principal drawback is that, for certain arguments, the evaluator is slow; however, the evaluator remains valuable as a benchmark even in such cases.


In this communication, we report the first calorimetric data for the standard state enthalpies of a solution of sodium chloride obtained from high dilution, down to (10(-3) m), integral heats of solution measurements to 596.30 K. Although there are no comparable thermodynamic data available at such high dilutions in the literature, the present results for NaCl(aq) can be used for many thermodynamic studies by others to achieve a complete thermodynamic description of this key electrolyte over very wide ranges of concentration. From the recently developed unified theory of electrolytes, the experimental data from this study were used to predict Gibbs free energies of hydration of sodium chloride up to 1100 K. These Gibbs free energies of hydration at different pressures and densities compare well with reported values obtained from ab initio calculations by others.


This study aimed to analyse the test-wiseness of three sets of national examination items for junior high school students, the year of 2016, 2017 and 2018.The reasearcher investigated which test-wiseness subscale(s) appeared, how frequent the test-wiseness appeared, and how item validity, item difficulty, item discrimination, distractor effectiveness and the reliability were related to the items having the test-wiseness for the students studying at higher, middle and lower schools at Kota Malang. The research design was quantitative evaluation research. The steps to conduct this research were 1) determining test-wiseness subscales for ESL/EFL; 2) analysing the data based on the subscales; 3) counting  the appeared subscales and the frequency; 4) checking the item analysis; and 5) drawing conclusion. The findings showed that similar-option, stem-option and item give-away were the appeared subscales. There were 15,3%  items having test-wiseness. The statistical analysis showed that the items having test-wiseness did not have any problems with the validity, the difficulty index, the distractors effectiveness, except from those from the lower level school. This means that test-wiseness do exist in national examination items and the appearance affects the students, especially those coming from high level school who have good cognitive ability. It is suggested to the test developer of national examination and English teachers to carefully develop a test, for the headmaster and English teachers community to hold a teacher training on assessment. For the future researcher, analysing the test-wisenessof the future national examination items with many more new sources and broader population is still worthly needed.


In Reply. —I agree with Dr Gorski that precise definitions of alternative medicine are needed. Unfortunately, a clear and concise definition has yet to be created. The original title of my article was "Alternative/Adjunctive/ Unconventional/ Complementary Medicine," emphasizing the variety of terms applied to this emerging area. The definition I cited was from an article on the current status of alternative health practices. 1 Dr Wayne Jonas, director of the Office of Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health, defines complementary and alternative medicine as "those practices that do not form part of the dominant system for managing health and disease." 2 I prefer the terms "complementary" or "adjunctive" to "alternative", emphasizing the use with, not instead of, medical therapy. Currently, the terms "complementary" and "alternative" are being used. The National Institutes of Health has 42 studies on alternative medicine that have been reviewed and determined worthy of funding. The following


Native species like Hyperthelia dissoluta have great potential in livestock production but not much has been done to improve their contribution to that sector.  This study examined 2 conservation methods (drying and ensiling) and 3 different growth stages, namely: elongation stage (January), early flowering (February) and late flowering stage (March) of H. dissoluta in terms of nutritional composition and digestibility.  The method of conservation had a significant effect (P<0.05) on nutritive value, with silage having more P and CP than hay.  Stage of growth had an effect (P<0.05) on all nutritional properties of both hay and silage:  Phosphorus, Ca and CP concentrations and digestibility of hay and silage decreased with maturity, while NDF and ADF concentrations increased.  Silage pH value was significantly higher at elongation (5.2) and late flowering growth stages (5.7) than at early flowering (4.4).  Dry matter digestibility of the conserved material reached levels as high as 82% for silage made at the elongation stage with all values at least 60%.  We conclude that H. dissoluta can be conserved as both silage and hay to produce a good quality feed.  Harvesting at the early flowering stage would seem to provide a good compromise between quantity (not measured in this study) and quality of harvested forage.  Further studies seem warranted to determine the acceptability and intake of the material by livestock, the advantages of adding fermentable carbohydrates during ensiling and DM yields in different areas and a range of seasonal conditions. Keywords : Air drying, hay, perennial native grasses, plastic bag silo, quality silage. DOI: 10.17138/TGFT(4)179-184


ABSTRACT In varicella-zoster virus (VZV)-infected primary human brain vascular adventitial fibroblasts (BRAFs), levels of beta interferon (IFN-β,) STAT1, and STAT2 transcripts as well as STAT1 and STAT2 protein were decreased. IFN-α transcript levels were increased but not secreted IFN-α protein levels. Compared to IFN-α-treated control results, in VZV-infected BRAFs, phosphorylated STAT1 did not translocate to the nucleus, resulting in impaired downstream expression of interferon-inducible antiviral Mx1. Overall, VZV interference with the type I interferon pathway may promote virus persistence in cerebral arteries.


Were examined 89 patients with ischemic stroke (IS) (mean age 58.54 (55.05, 64.73)), 42 of them with systemic thrombolytic therapy (TLT) (mean age 64.26 )60.58; 68,06)) and 47 patients with IS without TLT (54,52 (47,48, 60,83)). In the subgroup of moderate severity (from 7 to 14 points in NIHSS) included 13 patients after TLT, of severe severity (more than 15 points for NIHSS) included 29 patients after TLT. The determination of platelet hemostasis was carried out by the method of Born and O'Brien with the determination of aggregation, sizes of platelet aggregates for adrenaline, аdenosine diphosphate (ADP), ristomycin, spontaneous aggregation and fibrinogen concentrations on days 1, 7 and 14. Clinical evaluation of the severity of the condition was carried out according to the NIHSS scale. Specific features of changes in platelet hemostasis in inducers (adrenaline, ristomycin, ADP) in patients with IS after TLT at 1, 7 and 14 days in comparison with the indices of patients without TLT and their relationship with the dynamics of neurologic deficit, which allow to clarify the features of the vascular flow process, its forecast.


We present a measurement of the branching fraction and the longitudinal polarization fraction of B-0 -> rho(+)rho(-) decays, as well as the time-dependent CP violating parameters in decays into longitudinally polarized rho(+)rho(-) pairs with Belle's final data set of 772 x 10(6) B (B) over bar pairs, at the Upsilon(4S) resonance, collected at the asymmetric-energy e(+)e(-) collider KEKB. We obtain B(B-0 -> rho(+)rho(-)) = (28.3 +/- 1.5(stat) +/- 1.5(syst)) x 10(-6), f(L) = 0.988 +/- 0.012(stat) +/- 0.023(syst), A(CP) = 0.00 +/- 0.10(stat) +/- 0.06(syst), S-CP = -0.13 +/- 0.15(stat) +/- 0.05(syst). We perform an isospin analysis to constrain the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa angle phi(2) and obtain two solutions with phi(2) = (93.7 +/- 10.6)degrees, being most compatible with other Standard-Model based fits to the data.


Abstract Reconstructive surgery to craniofacial deformities caused by tumor ressections, traumas or congenital malformation are frequent in medicine practice. It aims to provide the patients with better quality of life and functional improvement of speech, breathing, chewing, and swallowing. Many are the techniques described in the literature to recover bone defects. This study evaluated a vascularized galeal and periosteum flap in rabbits, which could possibly substitute the bone graft in reconstructive surgery, especially for facial defects. It involved rabbits, divided into 12 groups, submitted to a surgical procedure to construct the galea and periosteum cranial flap filled with fragments of cranial bone, platelet-rich plasma, mesenchimal stem cells, and hyaluronic acid. The evaluation methods included image examinations and histological analysis. The results demonstrated bone formation with the use of platelet-rich plasma, mesenchimal stem cells, and bone fragments. The use of several enrichment materials of osseous cellular stimulation improved the quality and bone tissue organization. The more enrichment factor used, the better the tissue quality result was. Much research should be done to improve the methods and to analyze if results in human have the same bone formation as it happened in rabbits.


In the fabrication of directional gecko-inspired adhesives, a new capability made possible by the availability of metal molds is hot compression molding. This molding process allows the use of elastomers with much higher toughness than those cast at ambient temperature and pressure, as has been the common case in fabricating adhesives. In addition, it permits fast cycle times (minutes instead of hours), which is useful for volume manufacturing. We present the results of hot compression molding of elastomers in metal molds created with overhanging and tapered microscopic surface features, which give rise to anisotropic adhesion. We show that the adhesive performance so obtained is equivalent to that obtained earlier with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS).


When trying to increase the efficiency of the multipulse speech representation through a reduction in the number of pulses per frame, the use of a pole-zero filter instead of the classical LPC filter appears to be an appropriate choice, for voiced segments. In this paper, the possibility and advantages of using this kind of filter are investigated. The filter design criterion is the minimization of the mean squared error (m.s.e.) between its output and the original voiced signal, when the excitation is a suitable periodic impulse train. This is, however, approximately equivalent to finding the filter that minimizes the m.s.e. between its transfer function and the signal harmonics, at the harmonic frequencies, taking into account both magnitude and phase. Some preliminary results are shown, and the conclusion is drawn that pole-zero filters actually are good candidates for a more efficient multipulse representation of voiced speech. The design of an algorithm for filter computation, and the incorporation of these ideas into the general multipulse framework are also discussed.


Abstract In most experimental designs, the inhibitory effect of water-soluble dietary fibers on lipid absorption is evaluated by the decrease in plasma lipid concentration or the increase in fecal lipid output. The aim of this study was to evaluate the acute effect of a water-soluble polysaccharide, polydextrose, on lipid transport to the mesenteric lymph using lymph-fistula rats. The mesenteric lymph duct of rats was cannulated, and an infusion tube was introduced into the duodenum. After recovery, a lipid emulsion containing radioactive triolein and cholesteryl oleate was infused into the duodenum for 8 hr. The tested group was infused with the lipid emulsion containing 5% or 10% polydextrose as dietary fiber. Samples from the lymph-fistula were collected, and the luminal contents and mucosa were collected at the end of infusion. Lymph flow in the mesenteric lymph decreased in the polydextrose group after the infusion. The amounts of both triglyceride and cholesterol remaining in the lumen were greater In the polydextrose group, due to decreased transport of lipid into the lymph. These effects were dose dependent in the 5% and 10% polydextrose groups. The results of this study indicate that polydextrose retarded the transport of triolein and cholesterol into the mesenteric lymph.


The health of Indigenous girls in Canada is often framed and addressed through health programs and interventions that are based on Western values systems that serve to further colonize girls' health and their bodies. One of the risks of the recent attention paid to Indigenous girls' health needs broadly and to trauma more specifically, is the danger of contributing to the "shock and awe" campaign against Indigenous girls who have experienced violence, and of creating further stigma and marginalization for girls. A focus on trauma as an individual health problem prevents and obscures a more critical, historically-situated focus on social problems under a (neo)colonial state that contribute to violence. There is a need for programs that provide safer spaces for girls that address their intersecting and emergent health needs and do not further the discourse and construction of Indigenous girls as at-risk. The author will present her work with Indigenous girls in an Indigenous girls group that resists medical and individual definitions of trauma, and instead utilizes an Indigenous intersectional framework that assists girls in understanding and locating their coping as responses to larger structural and systemic forces including racism, poverty, sexism, colonialism and a culture of violence enacted through state policy and practices.


One of the effective options to achieve higher power density and lower-weight electric motors for electric vehicle (EV) applications is to replace the conventional winding with a hairpin configuration. This novel concept has several advantages, but the biggest drawback is high AC loss. Therefore, as this type of winding utilizes in EV motors for high-speed application, the correct estimations of this loss are essential during the design procedure. This paper presents three primary approaches to model and calculate the AC loss of hairpin windings: analytical, hybrid model, and FEA methods. In addition, the FEA method is used to validate and evaluate the accuracy of two other methods. Accordingly, both analytical and hybrid model results agree with FEA results. However, the hybrid model has higher accuracy rather than the analytical method.


Abstract for the International Society for Aging and Physical activity's 6th World Congress on Aging and Physical Activity: From Research to Action for an Aging Society London, Ontario, Canada, August 3-7 2004.


Patterned nickel-film anode was used in this study to investigate the local morphological changes of nickel during discharge at TPB three-phase-boundary in solid oxide fuel cell anode. Compared to conventional nickel-yttria-stabilized zirconia composite cermet anode, patterned nickel-film anode has the advantages of direct observations at nickel-yttria-stabilized zirconia interface and at three-phase-boundary so that the local morphological changes of nickel can be characterized by scanning electron microscopy. The phenomena of enhanced nickel wettability on yttria-stabilized zirconia surface and nickel spreading on yttria-stabilized zirconia surface at active three-phase-boundary during discharge operation were observed and explained by a proposed model based on the modification of local nickel surface tension by discharge. The nickel-film anode performances and local nickel morphological changes at three-phase-boundary before and after discharges with different conditions were analyzed. The influences of discharge time and overpotential in discharge on local morphological change of nickel and their influences on nickel-film anode performances were also investigated.


A new species of monstrilloid copepod, Monstrillopsis ferrarii n. sp., based on four adult female specimens collected in the White Sea, northern Russia, is described and illustrated. The new species is most closely related to M. dubia Scott from Scotland and the Mediterranean and M. dubia (sensu Sars, 1921) from Norwegian fjords. The latter is considered to represent a distinct species, described herein as M. dubioides n. sp. It differs from M. dubia in characters related to antennule length compared to body length, but mainly to the shape and relative size of the genital double somite and other urosomal somites. Records of M. dubia in Norway and off Lisbon are referable to M. dubioides n. sp. On the other hand, M. ferrarii n. sp. differs from M. dubia , M. dubioides , and the other species of the genus by a combination of characters, including 1) two rounded protuberances in the cephalic area, flanking the ocelli; 2) a wide zone of transverse cuticular striations encircling the cephalic area; 3) very long exopodal setae on the fifth legs, with no distal elongation of the exopodal lobe beyond the setal bases; 4) a relatively long genital double somite with the margins of the anterior half produced laterally; and 5) the nearly equal sizes of the anal somite and the preceding somite. It is considered that M. dubia and related forms represent a species complex with subtle morphological differences and a wide distribution. This is the first record of a species of Monstrillopsis in Russia and the sixth species of this order to be recorded in polar environments.


This paper first presents a generic geometric prior for the image processing problems. The proposed term allows each individual pixel to automatically choose its own geometric prior. This behavior is fundamentally different from traditional regularizations that use only one prior for all pixels. This term, however, is difficult to be minimized by traditional optimization methods. Therefore, we further propose an iterative image filter to impose this generic geometric prior. Moreover, this proposed filter has a neural network representation, where the kernels in our filter can be learned based on the convolutional neural network. Several numerical experiments are performed to confirm the effectiveness and efficiency of this new filter and its related neural networks.


With the increasing of multi-modal data on the internet, cross-modal retrieval has received a lot of attention in recent years. It aims to use one type of data as query and retrieve results of another type. For different modality data, how to reduce their heterogeneous property and preserve their local relationship are two main challenges. In this paper, we present a novel joint dictionary learning and semantic constrained latent subspace learning method for cross-modal retrieval~(JDSLC) to deal with above two issues. In this unified framework, samples from different modalities are encoded by their corresponding dictionaries to reduce the semantic gap. In the meantime, we learn modality-specific projection matrices to map the sparse coefficients into the shared latent subspace. Meanwhile, we impose a novel cross-modal similarity constraint to make the representations of samples that belong to same class but from different modalities as close as possible in the latent subspace. An efficient algorithm is proposed to jointly optimize the proposed model and learn the optimal dictionary, coefficients and projection matrix for each modality. Extensive experimental results on multiple benchmark datasets show that our method outperforms the state-of-the-art approaches.


A highly testable ASIC for telephone signaling was developed by converting an existing card design into an ASIC. This paper details how the conversion of the design helped in introducing on-line system diagnostic functions. Also during this process various strategies had to be adopted to make the functional and fault simulation time efficient.


Diseases of an autoimmune nature are well recognized in association with primary biliary cirrhosis. Although autoimmune thyroiditis and many rheumatological conditions are well described in primary biliary cirrhosis, autoimmune haematological diseases have been less well reported. We report on a 66 year old North American Indian man with coincident primary biliary cirrhosis and warm antibody haemolytic anaemia. This case report supports the suggestion of an association between autoimmune haemolytic anaemia and primary biliary cirrhosis.


We support some evidence that a long additive MDS code over a finite field must be equivalent to a linear code. More precisely, let $C$ be an $\mathbb F_q$-linear $(n,q^{hk},n-k+1)_{q^h}$ MDS code over $\mathbb F_{q^h}$. If $k=3$, $h \in \{2,3\}$, $n>\max \{q^{h-1},h q -1\} + 3$, and $C$ has three coordinates from which its projections are equivalent to linear codes, we prove that $C$ itself is equivalent to a linear code. If $k>3$, $n>q+k$, and there are two disjoint subsets of coordinates whose combined size is at most $k-2$ from which the projections of $C$ are equivalent to linear codes, we prove that $C$ is equivalent to a code which is linear over a larger field than $\mathbb F_q$.


Soft tissue coverage for traumatic soft tissue loss of upper extremity is challenging with limited local tissues availability. Hence, free tissue transfer is indicated. A patient presented to us with degloving injury of the right dorsum hand and forearm following a road traffic accident. There was large soft tissue defect on the dorsal lateral aspect of the hand and forearm, open comminuted fracture of distal end radius with segmental loss of extensor tendons. After adequate debridement and fracture stabilization with external fixator, soft tissue and extensor tendon reconstruction were performed with conjoined flow-through anterior-lateral thigh and tensor fascia lata free flap. At postoperative three months, there was non union of the distal end of right radius. Flap was re-elevated and non union was corrected with osteotomy, non vascularized bone graft and locking plate. Subsequently, at 1 year follow up revealed limited range of movement at wrist joint (flexion-extension 15 degree), acceptable at metacarpophalangeal of all fingers (hyperextension 15 degree, flexion 60 degree) and interphalangeal joints (PIP joint extension- flexion 0-45 degree, DIP joint extension-flexion 0-15 degree). Hand grip was weak and requires further hand therapy. Anterior lateral thigh flap is a versatile and reliable option for reconstruction of large soft tissue and composite defects of upper extremity with favourable outcome.


The aim of the article is to highlight the concept of 'ritual' in interpreting contemporary Europe. This little explored research path in the field of European Studies pivots on an essential premise: the development of a theoretical perspective, which underlines its inclusive proprieties. The concept of ritual can be applied to a 'weak' identity, such as a 'European identity', only if it is conceived as referred to an inclusive entity. By examining the properties of ritual, three models emerge to explain how it might foster the formation of inclusive social ties: "bridging", "amplification" and "extension".Based on this conceptual framework, the article focuses on two related analytical paths. The first reconstructs critically the use of the concept of ritual within the analytical paradigms of European identity. The second identifies European ritual performances conceived as indicators of styles through which Europe is currently, or in the future will be, perceived by its citizens.


A method of browsing interactive data services with a wireless mobile device using a multi-modal technique for selecting components of an image. The method of browsing is particularly useful with mobile devices operation in accordance with Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) but is not limited thereto. A first mode of selection includes overlaying an image over a grid of cells on the display of the mobile device such as a mobile phone (FIG. 2). The cells are matched to a corresponding key on the keypad of the mobile phone. The user selects the cell containing the portion of the image of interest for further browsing by pressing the appropriate key. The cell contains a pointer to, e.g. a universal resource locator (URL) on the Internet, related information for retrieval and display on the phone. A second mode of selection includes using vocal identifiers matched to specific cells on a voice recognition capable phone or network. When the user speaks a recognized identifier, it is matched to the appropriated cell which is then selected to display the desired information.


Through a reading of Robert A. Rosenstone's book History on Film/Film on History (Pearson, 2006) it seems clear that Rosenstone's contribution to the contemporary understanding of history as more than textual mode of expression is without peer. Rosenstone's epistemic scepticism has squarely confronted conventional historical thinking and practice, elevating issues of narrative construction, authorialism, point of view, and experimentalism to the forefront of concerns for the contemporary historian. Drawing telling parallels between conformist, conventional and intellectually conservative textual expression and film, Rosenstone has almost single-handedly 'turned' the historical profession toward a new understanding of how we can engage with the past—the filmic turn. Key concepts like meaning, interpretation and explanation have been radically rethought through his work.


Social history museums strive to present exhibitions that will connect to their local audience and provoke conversation as well as provide information. The aim of this article is to describe an exhibition about a decommissioned former mental hospital that is still significant for many in the local community. The exhibition consisted of various "collections" of objects and artworks assembled by the researchers in collaboration with museum staff, along with stories collected during our research into the asylum. Some "collections" included historical images and stories from the past alongside others of creative work and technology responding to the present. Community members were keenly interested in the exhibition, but the COVID-19 pandemic and consequent border closures in Australia meant that visitors needed to attend online presentations and virtual tours rather than see the exhibits in person. The use of digital presentations along with physical artefacts brought about a new way of thinking about presenting social history to future audiences.


Motion estimation is the most computational intensive part of H.264 video coding. The motion estimation of H.264 includes integer motion estimation and fractional motion estimation. In this paper, a reusable architecture for both of them is proposed. This architecture can support fractional motion estimation and fast integer motion estimation algorithms including diamond search and cross search. The complexity of the motion estimation algorithm implemented on the proposed architecture can be flexibly controlled to meet variable system requirement. Cycle allocation is used in the algorithm design so that the cycle budget can be fully utilized. Experimental results show that this architecture-algorithm co-design can support HD (1280times720) video real-time encoding at 30 frames per second with 238K logic gates and 117 Mhz operation frequency.


Sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-like lectins, also known as Siglecs, have recently been designated as glyco-immune checkpoints. Through their interactions with sialylated glycan epitopes overexpressed on tumor cells, inhibitory Siglecs on innate and adaptive immune cells modulate signaling cascades to restrain anti-tumor immune responses. However, the mechanisms underlying these processes are just starting to be elucidated. We discover that when human natural killer (NK) cells attack tumor cells, glycan remodeling occurs on the target cells at the immunological synapse. This remodeling occurs through both transfer of sialylated glycans from NK cells to target tumor cells and accelerated de novo synthesis of sialosides on the tumor cell themselves. The functionalization of NK cells with a high-affinity ligand of Siglec-7 leads to multifaceted consequences in modulating Siglec-7-regulated NK-activation. At high levels, the added Siglec-7 ligand suppresses NK-cytotoxicity through the recruitment of Siglec-7, whereas at low levels the same ligand triggers the release of Siglec-7 from the cell surface into the culture medium, preventing Siglec-7-mediated inhibition of NK cytotoxicity. These results suggest that glycan engineering of NK cells may provide a means to boost NK effector functions.


Cadmium chloride (CdCl2) has been reported to cause reproductive toxicity in male rats, mainly through oxidative stress. This study examined its effect on sexual behaviour, as one of the mechanisms of reproductive dysfunction, as well as the possible ameliorative effect of quercetin (QE) on same. Thirty male Wistar rats (10 weeks old), weighing 270–300 g, were used for this study. They were either orally administered 2% DMSO, CdCl2 (5 mg/kg b.w.), QE (20 mg/kg b.w.) or CdCl2+QE, once daily for 4 weeks, before sexual behavioural studies. The 5th group received CdCl2 for 4 weeks and allowed 4‐week recovery period, before sexual behavioural test. Rats were sacrificed after sexual behavioural studies. The blood, testis and penis were collected for biochemical assays. Cadmium increased mount, intromission and ejaculatory latencies, but reduced their frequencies, compared to control. Serum nitric oxide increased, while penile cyclic guanosine monophosphate reduced in the CdCl2‐exposed rats, compared to control. CdCl2 increased testicular cholesterol, but reduced 3β‐hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3β‐HSD) and 17β‐HSD activities, and testosterone concentration. QE better attenuated these negative changes compared to withdrawal of CdCl2 treatment. In conclusion, CdCl2 suppressed steroidogenesis, penile erection and sexual behaviour, with poor reversal following withdrawal, while QE attenuated these effects.


Interferons (IFN) stimulate the expression of a number of genes following interaction with specific high-affinity plasma membrane receptors. The products of these genes either singly or coordinately mediate the antiviral, growth inhibitory or immunoregulatory activities attributed to IFN. While the gene products in some cases have been well characterized, other IFN-regulated genes encode proteins whose functions have yet to be elucidated. A feature common to all IFN-stimulated genes characterized thus far is the presence of a DNA element which constitutes an IFN-responsive enhancer, usually present in the 5' upstream region of the genes. This element, termed interferon-stimulated response element (ISRE) binds a nuclear factor(s) translocated from the cytoplasm to the nucleus following IFN-receptor-triggered signal transduction. The binding of these factors to the ISRE represents the initiating event in stimulating RNA-polymerase-II-mediated transcription from IFN-responsive genes. Depending on the nature of the cells responding to IFN and the genes involved, induced transcription may be prolonged or rapidly terminated. The rapid termination of transcription is dependent in some cases on IFN-induced protein synthesis and also involves factor binding to the ISRE. Recent progress in detailing these events will be discussed including IFN-receptor interactions, signal-transduction pathways, comparing and contrasting IFN-regulated genes and elucidation of IFN-regulated factors.


Autonomous open-ended learning is a relevant approach in machine learning and robotics, allowing the design of artificial agents able to acquire goals and motor skills without the necessity of user assigned tasks. A crucial issue for this approach is to develop strategies to ensure that agents can maximise their competence on as many tasks as possible in the shortest possible time. Intrinsic motivations have proven to generate a task-agnostic signal to properly allocate the training time amongst goals. While the majority of works in the field of intrinsically motivated open-ended learning focus on scenarios where goals are independent from each other, only few of them studied the autonomous acquisition of interdependent tasks, and even fewer tackled scenarios where goals involve non-stationary interdependencies. Building on previous works, we tackle these crucial issues at the level of decision making (i.e., building strategies to properly select between goals), and we propose a hierarchical architecture that treating sub-tasks selection as a Markov Decision Process is able to properly learn interdependent skills on the basis of intrinsically generated motivations. In particular, we first deepen the analysis of a previous system, showing the importance of incorporating information about the rela-tionships between tasks at a higher level of the architecture (that of goal selection). Then we introduce H-GRAIL, a new system that extends the previous one by adding a new learning layer to store the autonomously acquired sequences of tasks to be able to modify them in case the interdependencies are non-stationary. All systems are tested in a real robotic scenario, with a Baxter robot performing multiple interdependent


In order to improve the service offered by the medicine retail enterprises, game theory is utilized to analyze the customers' relationships and the reputation of supply chain enterprises. Equilibrium strategies in the signaling game of catering enterprises and customers are studied theoretically. The reputation model of the supply chain enterprises is built. The reputation of supply chain influenced the judgment of customers and the profit of enterprises directly. When the cost that reduced by the establishment of reputation is greater than the maintenance cost for the catering supply chain, the game between the catering supply chain and customers will bring profit to both sides.


The effect of a regenerative heat exchanger in a gas turbine is analysed using a regenerative Brayton cycle model, where all fluid friction losses in the compressor and turbine are quantified by an isentropic efficiency term and all global irreversibilities in the heat exchanger are taken into account by means of an effective efficiency. This analysis, which generalizes that reported by Gordon and Huleihil for a simple, nonregenerative Brayton cycle, provides a theoretical tool for the selection of optimal operating conditions in a regenerative gas turbine. For a fixed ratio of the compressor inlet temperature to the turbine inlet temperature and in terms of the isentropic and regenerator efficiencies we present explicit results for the behaviour of the maximum efficiency, efficiency at maximum power, maximum power and power at maximum efficiency as well as for the behaviour of the pressure ratios required for maximum efficiency and maximum power.


Background In 2010 recent HIV diagnoses increased in the UK despite 80% of diagnosed HIV+ MSM being on antiretroviral treatment (ART) with undetectable viral load. While undiagnosed HIV infections are thought to account for high proportion of these transmissions; a significant proportion is attributed to diagnosed HIV. We examine factors associated with unprotected anal intercourse with non-concordant partners (ncUAI) among HIV+ MSM and potential for HIV prevention. Methods HIV+ MSM attending a central London HIV clinic completed a computer-assisted survey (May-September 2010). Multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted. Results Median age of 429 men was 43 years. 81% of them were on ART. 17% of men had missed ≥ 1 ART doses in the last two weeks. One in five men believed that being on ART with an undetectable viral load eliminates risk of HIV transmission. 380 men had been sexually active in the last year; 20% of whom had not tested for STI. 25% of those tested had been diagnosed with ≥ 1 STI. 50% of men had a non-concordant primary partner. 50% of men's most recent sex partner was a non-primary non-concordant partner. The prevalence of ncUAI with primary and the most recent non-primary partner was 18% and 16.9 respectively. Duration of partnership, recreational drug use during sex, belief that undetectable viral load eliminates the risk of HIV transmission were all independently associated with ncUAI with a primary partner. Disclosure of HIV status and recreational drug use during sex were independently associated with ncUAI with the most recent non-primary partner. Viral load status was not associated with ncUAI. Conclusions HIV+ MSM attending HIV clinic reported high transmission risk behaviours. Engaging them in combination prevention interventions addressing recreational drug use, adherence to ART, attitudes towards ART for HIV prevention and STI testing during clinic visits provides vital opportunity for HIV/STI prevention.


A hidden door. A magical Staircase. Discover the World of Droon! The sea witch Demither is stirring up a storm in Droon. Keeah has to stop her! This mission could make or break Keeah's wizard training. And Eric, Neal and Julie think they can help their friend. But many surprises await them in Demither's underwater world-and many secrets will be revealed.


In electroencephalograph (EEG) experiment, the measure result are usually influenced by different kinds of noise with high power. Treating an averaged event-related potential (ERP) data is a main approach in recent topics of applying independent component analysis (ICA) to EEG signal processing. By taking the average, the signal-noise ratio (SNR) is increased, however, some important information such as the trial-by-trial variation of the amplitude is lost during the averaging. On the other hand, the analysis of single-trial data is generally hard in the low SNR. This paper presents a robust pre-whitening technique with ICA approach for the unaveraged single-trial EEG data. Our approach is based upon the two techniques: decorrelation with a high-level additive noise reduction and decomposition of individual source components. The results on the unaveraged visual evoked potential (VEP) single-trial data analysis illustrate that not only the behavior and location but also the activity strength (amplitude) and dynamics of the individual evoked response can be visualized by the proposed method.


Manifest contract calculi, which integrate cast-based dynamic contract checking and refinement type systems, have been studied as foundations for hybrid contract checking. In this article, we study techniques to reasoning about a polymorphic manifest contract calculus, including a few program transformations related to static contract verification. We first define a polymorphic manifest contract calculus $\mathrm{F}_{H}$, which is much simpler than a previously studied one with delayed substitution, and a logical relation for it and prove that the logical relation is sound with respect to contextual equivalence. Next, we show that the upcast elimination property, which has been studied as correctness of subtyping-based static cast verification, holds for $\mathrm{F}_{H}$. More specifically, we give a subtyping relation (which is not part of the calculus) for $\mathrm{F}_{H}$ types and prove that a term obtained by eliminating upcasts---casts from one type to a supertype of it---is logically related and so contextually equivalent to the original one. We also justify two other program transformations for casts: selfification and static cast decomposition, which help upcast elimination. A challenge is that, due to the subsumption-free approach to manifest contracts, these program transformations do not always preserve well-typedness of terms. To address it, the logical relation and contextual equivalence in this work are defined as semityped relations: only one side of the relations is required to be well typed and the other side may be ill typed.


Most learning algorithms assume that all the relevant data are available on a single computer site. In the emerging networked environments learning tasks are encountering situations in which the relevant data exists in a number of geographically distributed databases that are connected by communication networks. These databases cannot be moved to other network sites due to security, size, privacy, or data-ownership considerations. In this paper we show how a k-nearest classifier algorithm can be adapted for distributed data situations. The objective of our algorithms is to achieve the learning objectives for any data distribution encountered across the network by exchanging local summaries among the participating nodes.


Evacuated tubular solar collectors are increasingly used all over the world due to their low coefficients of heat losses to the environment. They are presented as a device collecting much larger quantities of solar energy than is usually possible to obtain from typical flat collector. They have, however, unfavorable radiation transmissivity characteristics of transparent shield of absorber. It causes that the profits of energy gain at the operating conditions of typical solar system in our country only slightly dependent on the nature of the solar collectors applied. This article is an attempt to explain this phenomenon through theoretical considerations.