A variation in precision (average of 15%) and accuracy (5 to 68%) of 8 radon detectors from 6 vendors at a test level of 10pCi/L was observed. In the majority of U.S. homes the level is about 1 to 2 pCi/L, and the precision and accuracy of radon measurements at this low level is much less. Quality control of radon detectors is performed at 3 sites in the U.S., none of which check the meters at the lower levels which are the norm in homes. It is better for homeowners to use duplicate detectors and take multiple measurements of radon levels at different times and different sites within opposite seasons since there is also a variability of radon levels over time. The observed values can be averaged and compared to the EPA limit of 4pCi/L.


The prediction of refractive index from silicate analyses increases the scope of Mathews9 arc fusion method for the determination of fine-grained igneous rocks. This is possible by replacing the specific gravity factor in the classical Larsen (Gladstone) equation by a set of empirically derived coefficients for the major oxides. This yields the new equation where ( n ) is the refractive index, ( n − 1) the refractivity, and (W.F.) the weight fraction of the oxides present. Calculations of ( n − 1) values for test samples are precise to ± 0.007 which is about the same as the estimated error at source due to in-homogeneities in the prepared glass. The refractive index of rock glass is a measure of basicity that provides a ready means of linking microscope observations with chemical composition to assist classification, petrological interpretation, and mapping of volcanic or other aphanitic igneous rocks.


The airplane is gradually creating a completely new spatial pattern as did other kinds of transportation modes in the past. Successively, international airports have gone through a morphogenesis from original pure infrastructure facilities into multimodal and multilayered spatial growth poles and center of competences. Landside infrastructure investments have converted airports and their hinterland into spaces of highest accessibility. The airports unique locational advantages and the growing segment of non-aviation activities on the part of the airport operators have made airports an advantageous business location for knowledge-intensive industries. At the same time airports have become a crucial asset for city-regions especially those competing on a European or international spatial level for future-oriented enterprises and highly skilled employees. The paper asks about the general interplay between airports, air transport and the knowledge economy. What are the contributions of the knowledge economy that explain the economic effects of airports on the spatial structure? What kinds of knowledge economy linked locational patterns have already emerged around airports? What is their spatial relationship to more traditional locations for example within the core cities? Why does an array of knowledge-based companies relocate their business activities at spaces of highest accessibility such as international airports? This paper analyzes aviation induced spatial patterns and processes of specialization around European airports, especially around those with hub function. First results show that airports and their vicinities have become attractive sites for real estate developments and property-led capital accumulation. Locations directly at or close by international airports are notably in demand among highly globalized sectors characterized by their need for frequent face-to-face interaction, high value products and services. As the traditional role of airports is redefined a new spatial quality and entity within the city regions is evolving.


Hereditary hemorrhagic teleangiectasia, or Rendu-Osler-Weber syndrome, is an autosomal dominant inherited disease characterized by vascular derangement in many organs. The vascular derangement includes teleangiectases, arteriovenous fistulas and aneurysms. Liver involvement in hereditary hemormagic teleangiectasia is a rare and sometimes severe disease which was unknown and mostly detected at autopsy until a few decades ago. Typical findings are vascular malformations and connective tissue formation with fibrosis and atypical cirrhosis. In the last years we observed five Osler patients with exclusive or prevailing involvement of the liver. An unambiguous diagnosis can be ascertained by means of a hazardous liver puncture with typical histological findings. Angiography allows a reliable identification of even minor vascular deformities. The present study was undertaken to demonstrate the courses of disease, the techniques of examination and the therapeutical options of this rare manifestation of Osler-disease In every case one could observe hepatic malformations which were established as typical Osler findings with the assistance of histological and above all sonographical/color-Doppler-sonographical devices. These special sonographic/color-Doppler-sonographic features make it possible to give up the histological diagnostics or exhaustive investigations by means of angiography, computertomography or MRI.


Most 3D vector field visualization techniques suffer from the problem of visual clutter, and it remains a challenging task to effectively convey both directional and structural information of 3D vector fields. In this paper, we present a novel visualization framework that combines the advantages of clustering methods and illustrative rendering techniques to generate a concise and informative depiction of complex flow structures. Given a 3D vector field, we first generate a number of streamlines covering the important regions based on an entropy measurement. Then we decompose the streamlines into different groups based on a categorization of vector information, wherein the streamline pattern in each group is ensured to be coherent or nearly coherent. For each group, we select a set of representative streamlines and render them in an illustrative fashion to enhance depth cues and succinctly show local flow characteristics. The results demonstrate that our approach can generate a visualization that is relatively free of visual clutter while facilitating perception of salient information of complex vector fields.


We present a class of pneumatic haptic devices that use the input motion from a user to pump fluid in a closed pneumatic circuit, meaning that the pneumatic devices require no external pressure supply. The user is coupled to a pneumatic actuator in one direction such that user motion drives fluid from the coupling device to an accumulator. When released, fluid passively returns to the user coupling until a pressure equilibrium is reached. The stiffness felt by the user is changed by opening and closing a valve between the user coupling and the accumulator. We present and experimentally validate models that characterize the system in terms of the impedance felt by the user and the speed at which the coupling refills after it has been compressed, which gives a measure of the bandwidth of the system. We give two demonstrations: one where we modulate the resistance to finger bending, and another where we enable a small actuator worn on the fingertip to create button-like haptic sensations when pressed on a flat surface.


The variability of total column ozone (TCO) and tropospheric column ozone (TrCO) was examined in Central Asia. Measurements were conducted at the Lidar Station Teplokluchenka in eastern Kyrgyzstan for one year, July 2008–July 2009. TCO was obtained using a handheld Microtops II Ozonometer (TCO-MII) and from the Aura OMI (TCO-OMI) satellite. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and formaldehyde concentrations also were obtained from the OMI satellite. Formaldehyde was used as a surrogate for volatile organic compounds. TrCO was estimated by the difference between TCO-OMI and stratospheric column ozone retrieved from the MLS satellite. Comparison of the ground-based TCO-MII with TCO-OMI showed good agreement (r 2 = 0.93), and linear regression between these was used to estimate missing values in the TCO-MII dataset. The contribution of TrCO to TCO varied from 15% in summertime to 5% in winter. High values of TrCO were observed during summer (July: 45 DU) and low values during winter (December: 15 DU), as is typically observed. The average values of TrCO for summer, autumn, winter, and spring were equal to 42, 27, 20, and 30 DU, respectively. Seasonal variability of TrCO corresponded to solar intensity, indicating that TrCO is likely to form through photochemical means rather than stratospheric intrusion. The spatial distribution of NO2 and VOC were examined to better understand the regional sources of these ozone precursors. Transport from highly populated areas of the Ferghana Valley and Tashkent in Uzbekistan contributed to the TrCO concentrations observed in this work. The HCHO/NO2 ratio, an indicator of the ozone production rate, suggested that reducing NO2 would be more effective in reducing TrCO during most of the year, except summer, when reductions of both would likely be needed.


We derive the joint equilibrium distribution of queue sizes in a network of queues containing N service centers and R classes of customers. The equilibrium state probabilities have the general form: P(S) - Cd(S) $f_1$($x_1$)$f_2$($x_2$)...$f_N$($x_N$) where S is the state of the system, $x_i$ is the configuration of customers at the ith service center, d(S) is a function of the state of the model, $f_i$ is a function that depends on the type of the ith service center, and C is a normalizing constant. We consider four types of service centers to model central processors, data channels, terminals, and routing delays. The queueing disciplines associated with these service centers include first-come-first-served, processor sharing, no queueing, and last-come-first-served. Each customer belongs to a single class of customers while awaiting or receiving service at a service center but may change classes and service centers according to fixed probabilities at the completion of a service request. For open networks we consider state dependent arrival processes. Closed networks are those with no arrivals. A network may be closed with respect to some classes of customers and open with respect to other classes of customers. At three of the four types of service centers, the service times of customers are governed by probability distributions having rational Laplace transforms, different classes of customers having different distributions. At first-come-first-served type service centers the service time distribution must be identical and exponential for all classes of customers. Many of the network results of Jackson on arrival and service rate dependencies, of Posner and Bernholtz on different classes of customers, and of Chandy on different types of service centers are combined and extended in this paper. The results become special cases of the model presented here. An example shows how different classes of customers can affect models of computer systems. Finally, we show that an equivalent model encompassing all of the results involves only classes of customers with identical exponentially distributed service times. All of the other structure of the first model can be absorbed into the fixed probabilities governing the change of class and change of service center of each class of customers.


With the advance of personal and customized fabrication techniques, the capability to embed information in physical objects becomes evermore crucial. We present LayerCode, a tagging scheme that embeds a carefully designed barcode pattern in 3D printed objects as a deliberate byproduct of the 3D printing process. The LayerCode concept is inspired by the structural resemblance between the parallel black and white bars of the standard barcode and the universal layer-by-layer approach of 3D printing. We introduce an encoding algorithm that enables the 3D printing layers to carry information without altering the object geometry. We also introduce a decoding algorithm that reads the LayerCode tag of a physical object by just taking a photo. The physical deployment of LayerCode tags is realized on various types of 3D printers, including Fused Deposition Modeling printers as well as Stereolithography based printers. Each offers its own advantages and tradeoffs. We show that LayerCode tags can work on complex, nontrivial shapes, on which all previous tagging mechanisms may fail. To evaluate LayerCode thoroughly, we further stress test it with a large dataset of complex shapes using virtual rendering. Among 4,835 tested shapes, we successfully encode and decode on more than 99% of the shapes.


Given today's systematic approach to project and risk management, it is tempting to believe that projects are not only fail-safe, but also executed within budget, on schedule and are of the intended scope. Unfortunately this is not always the case, and as a result many projects and companies fail due to unforeseen and unidentified risks during the entire life cycle of projects. Current methods, although advanced and thoroughly thought through, have a number of shortcomings when it comes to project risk. The consequences of these shortcomings are numerous and often troublesome.


Glioblastoma (GBM) is a highly invasive and challenging primary tumor of the central nervous system (CNS), and currently available treatments provide limited benefits to patients with this disease. Therefore, the development of novel therapeutic targets and effective treatment strategies is essential. Nimustine hydrochloride (ACNU) is widely used as the standard chemotherapeutic agent and is frequently administered together with other chemotherapeutic agents in clinical studies. Curcumin, a natural polyphenolic compound, could potentially be combined with chemotherapeutics for cancer treatment; however, there are no reports of studies where ACNU and curcumin were combined for GBM treatment, and the mechanisms underlying their activity remain poorly understood. In the present study, we investigated the effects of combined treatment with curcumin and ACNU on GBM cells and found that it significantly enhanced the inhibition of cell proliferation, colony formation, migration, and invasion. In addition, co-treatment with curcumin increased ACNU-induced apoptosis through enhancing the release of cytochrome c from the mitochondrial intermembrane space into the cytosol. Further, curcumin and ACNU acted synergistically in their antitumor effects by targeting N-cadherin/MMP2/9, PI3K/AKT, and NF-κB/COX-2 signaling. These results indicate that curcumin can enhance the anti-proliferation, anti-migration, and proapoptotic activities of ACNU against GBM, and provide strong evidence that combined treatment with curcumin and ACNU has the potential to be an effective therapeutic option for GBM.


We propose a new tetrahedral meshing method, fTetWild, to convert triangle soups into high-quality tetrahedral meshes. Our method builds on the TetWild algorithm, replacing the rational triangle insertion with a new incremental approach to construct and optimize the output mesh, interleaving triangle insertion and mesh optimization. Our approach makes it possible to maintain a valid floating-point tetrahedral mesh at all algorithmic stages, eliminating the need for costly constructions with rational numbers used by TetWild, while maintaining full robustness and similar output quality. This allows us to improve on TetWild in two ways. First, our algorithm is significantly faster, with running time comparable to less robust Delaunay-based tetrahedralization algorithms. Second, our algorithm is guaranteed to produce a valid tetrahedral mesh with floating-point vertex coordinates, while TetWild produces a valid mesh with rational coordinates which is not guaranteed to be valid after floating-point conversion. As a trade-off, our algorithm no longer guarantees that all input triangles are present in the output mesh, but in practice, as confirmed by our tests on the Thingi10k dataset, the algorithm always succeeds in inserting all input triangles.


This paper surveys visualization and interaction techniques for geospatial networks from a total of 95 papers. Geospatial networks are graphs where nodes and links can be associated with geographic locations. Examples can include social networks, trade and migration, as well as traffic and transport networks. Visualizing geospatial networks poses numerous challenges around the integration of both network and geographical information as well as additional information such as node and link attributes, time and uncertainty. Our overview analyses existing techniques along four dimensions: (i) the representation of geographical information, (ii) the representation of network information, (iii) the visual integration of both and (iv) the use of interaction. These four dimensions allow us to discuss techniques with respect to the trade‐offs they make between showing information across all these dimensions and how they solve the problem of showing as much information as necessary while maintaining readability of the visualization. https://geonetworks.github.io.


We apply the regression kink design to the Swedish grant system and estimate causal effects of intergovernmental grants on local public employment. Our robust conclusion is that grants do not stimulate local public employment. We find no statistically significant effects on total local public employment, and we can exclude even moderate effects. When disaggregating the total effect by sector, we find that personnel in the traditional welfare sectors are unaffected, a conclusion which applies to both publicly and privately employed in these sectors. The only positive and statistically significant effect of grants is that on administrative personnel.


Illicit opioid abuse and ensuing mortality has substantially increased over the past decade in the U.S. Sources of opioid use include prescription pain medications, substitute therapies, and illicit drugs. Buprenorphine is part of the mixed narcotic agonist-antagonists drug class and is used to treat opioid dependence among individuals. Another class of drugs referred to as Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPI) are commonly prescribed to individuals in order to reduce gastric acid production. Drug-drug interactions may occur when Buprenorphine and a PPI are prescribed simultaneously, inhibiting the body's cytochrome P450 family enzymes from breaking down the drugs into sub-toxic levels. The cytochrome P450 family enzymes are xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes located in the liv er, small intestine, and large intestine. These enzymes are mainly comprised of a polypeptide chain and heme cofactor. Once the heme binds with oxygen, cytochrome P450 utilizes nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) as an H+ energy source for oxidation of buprenorphine via the NADPH-cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase. Therefore, NADPH acts as the energy source for studying the drug interactions of Buprenorphine and Proton-Pump Inhibitors. Our objective was to study the time-dependent inhibition that Cimetidine and Rabeprazole, both proton pump inhibitors, have on the metabolism of buprenorphine via the cytochrome P450 enzymes.


This paper focuses on a nonlinear frequency response of a rotor system with power of Hertz contact and piecewise nonlinearities of bearing clearance. A complex equation of motion for this rotor system was deduced using the Lagrange equation. The natural frequency and phase portraits of the unperturbed rotor system were obtained to demonstrate hardening stiffness characteristics. The amplitude frequency and attraction basins of multiple solutions for the perturbed rotatory system without clearance were investigated. The analytical forms of amplitude frequency of the perturbed system with clearance were analyzed. Through numerical simulation, the correctness of the theoretical formula is verified, and it is in good agreement with the numerical results.


ABSTRACT Teachers' professional knowledge is considered one of the most important predictors of instructional quality. According to Shulman, such professional knowledge includes content, pedagogical content and pedagogical knowledge. Although recent research shed some light on the structure of the dimensions of professional knowledge, little is known how teacher education impacts pre-service physics teachers' professional knowledge. In an effort to address this issue, we examined the content, pedagogical content and pedagogical knowledge of N = 200 pre-service physics teachers enrolled in different years of teacher education at 12 major teacher education universities in Germany. We used structural equation modelling (1) to examine the relations amongst pre-service physics teachers' content, pedagogical content and pedagogical knowledge, (2) to explore how the three kinds of knowledge and their relations differ across different stages of teacher education and (3) to identify factors affecting the level of each component of professional knowledge. Our findings suggest that content, pedagogical content and pedagogical knowledge represent distinct types of knowledge. Furthermore, our findings show that in the first years of professional education, pedagogical content knowledge is more closely related with general pedagogical knowledge while in later years, it is more closely related with content knowledge, suggesting that it develops from a general knowledge about teaching and learning into knowledge about the teaching and learning of specific content. Finally, beyond school achievement and years of enrolment as predictors, we find in particular the amount of classroom observations to have a positive impact on the professional knowledge of pre-service physics teachers.


E. Fermi, J. Pasta and S. Ulam introduced the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam lattice in the 1950s as a classical mechanical model for a mono-atomic crystal or a one-dimensional continuum. The model consisted of a discrete number of equal point masses that interact with their nearest neighbours only. On the basis of statistical mechanics, they expected that when the interparticle forces were anharmonic, the lattice would reach a thermal equilibrium. This means that averaged over time, its initial energy would be equipartitioned among all its Fourier modes. The famous computer experiment that they performed in Los Alamos in 1955, was intended to investigate in what manner and at what time-scale the equipartitioning would take place. The result was astonishing: the lattice did not come close to thermal equilibrium, but behaved more or less quasi-periodically. Only when the initial energy was larger than a certain threshold, did the lattice seem to `thermalise'. This paradox is nowadays known as the `Fermi-Pasta-Ulam problem'.
The observations of Fermi, Pasta and Ulam were a great impulse for nonlinear dynamics. One possible explanation for the quasi-periodic behaviour of the FPU system, is based on the Kolmogorov-Arnol'd-Moser theorem, which states that most of the invariant Lagrangean tori of a Liouville integrable Hamiltonian system survive under small perturbations. It is required though for the KAM theorem that the integrable system satisfies a nondegeneracy condition. Unfortunately, it has for a long time been unclear how the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam lattice can be viewed as a perturbation of a nondegenerate integrable system.
 Nishida in 1971 and Sanders in 1977, investigated a Birkhoff normal form for the FPU lattice. Under the assumption of a rather strong nonresonance condition on the linear frequencies $\omega_k = 2 \sin (k\pi/n)$ of the lattice, they showed that this Birkhoff normal form is integrable and nondegenerate. This means that the KAM theorem can indeed be applied. The problem is of course that their required nonresonance condition is usually not met. This leaves a large gap in the proofs. The new idea in this thesis is to incorporate the discrete symmetries of the lattice in the argument. It turns out that this enables us to show that the nonresonance condition of Nishida and Sanders is not needed: every resonance is overruled by a symmetry. Hence the Birkhoff normal form is integrable and this proves the applicability of the KAM theorem.
Moreover, much attention is paid to the analysis of exact and approximate solutions of the lattice equations. New exact solutions and invariant manifolds are found in the fixed point sets of the symmetries of the lattice. Also, the Birkhoff normal reveals approximate integrals and solutions in the low energy domain of the phase space. The analysis makes use of invariant theory and singular reduction. One of the conclusions is that the lattice with an even number of particles contains travelling wave solutions that change their direction. Moreover the integrable normal form contains nontrivial monodromy, meaning that it does not allow global action-angle variables


Objective: Several studies have reported that care and support staff has a tendency to ignore recognising violence against women with mental illness, which lead to increased feelings of stigma in these women. Today there is a lack of in-depth knowledge about factors that may influence care providers attitudes in encounters with these women. The aim of this qualitative study was to describe how staff experience and understand their everyday work with abused women with mental illness.Methods: 13 professionals who in their working practice encountered women with mental illness and experience of abuse were interviewed by means of unstructured thematic interviews. Data were analysed by using latent content analysis in order to identify categories a nd themes.Results: Participating staff found it hard to understand abuse against women with mental illness. They lack knowledge about how to handle and interpret this phenomenon and developed personal frames of interpretations and strategies for handling the women's needs. They experienced their everyday work with these women as painful and ambiguous and made them act pragmatic mainly in a practical way that sometimes included assertive attitudes.Conclusion: Staff working with abused women with mental illness is in a vulnerable position due to lack of understanding and knowledge about the phenomenon. In such position it is at risk to adopt stigmatised attitudes against the women and thereby challenge the professionals' occupational safety.


The Forestry Organization is one of the oldest and most well-established author- ities in Turkey. After the Republic of Turkey was founded, laws were passed to prohibit the free exploitation of forests and to only authorize the State exploita- tion of timber. The law no. 4785 was then issued in 1945 to expropriate all forests. Since the Forestry Organization was in charge of enforcing these laws, its rela- tionship with people deteriorated in time. The relationship between the Forestry Organization and people has not been restored yet, mainly because rural people still suffer from poverty and mainly live in or around forests. The area of study of this article is composed of seven provinces of the Black Sea Region in Turkey, where there are 3,228,904 inhabitants, corresponding to 5% of the total Turkish population. Approximately 51% of this local population live in rural areas, a per- centage that is much higher than the national average (34%). Eighty-two forest villages located within twenty-five boroughs and seven cities in the Eastern Black Sea Region have been selected to be studied. Rural poverty is more dominant in these villages than in the rest of the area. A questionnaire containing 111 questions was designed to find out the type of relationship existing between rural people and the Forestry Organization. A poll was held to examine the effects of two variables: the province of origin and the personal thoughts on official forestry policy. The Simple Correspondence Analysis (SCA) technique was employed in this study. On the basis of the results of this study, the authors suggest measures to take.


Targeted therapy is not yet approved for esophageal cancer (EC). In this study, we first evaluated EGFR gene and protein expression in 70 Chinese EC patient tumor samples collected during surgery. We then established 23 patient-derived EC xenograft (PDECX) models and assessed the efficacy of theliatinib, a potent and highly selective EGFR inhibitor currently in Phase I clinical study, in 9 PDECX models exhibiting various EGFR expression levels. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that 50 patient tumor samples (71.4%) had high EGFR expression. Quantitative PCR showed that eight tumors (11.6%) had EGFR gene copy number gain, and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) revealed that four tumors had EGFR gene amplification. These results suggest that EGFR protein may be overexpressed in many EC tumors without gene amplification. Also detected were rare hot-spot mutations in EGFR and PIK3CA, whereas no mutations were found in K-Ras or B-Raf. Theliatinib exhibited strong antitumor activity in PDECX models with high EGFR expression, including remarkable tumor regression in two PDECX models with both EGFR gene amplification and protein overexpression. However, the efficacy of theliatinib was diminished in models with PI3KCA mutations or FGFR1 overexpression in addition to high EGFR expression. This study demonstrates that theliatinib could potentially benefit EC patients with high EGFR protein expression without mutations or aberrant activities of associated factors, such as PI3KCA or FGFR1.


On basis of the data from tests, FE nonlinear analysis mode on the multi-planar CHS KK-joints with in-plane gap and out-of-plane overlap (KK-OPOv) was advanced and validated in terms of failure mode, ultimate bearing capacity and etc. And the adaptability is reasonable. Moreover, FE nonlinear analysis for the joint on the typical load-displacement curve, failure behavior, failure mechanism and etc was conducted. The study suggests that the multi-planar KK-OPOv joints appear mainly in the CLD1 failure mode; at the time of failure, the tube wall deformations on the chords of multi-planar KK-OPOv joints and the corresponding planar K-Gap joints are coincide with each other basically. Both of these two types of joints are of a same failure mechanism; the multi-planar parameter ζt influences, to a certain extent, the ultimate bearing capacity on joints. That is, as the overlapping ratio of the out-of-plane braces is higher (namely, the absolute value of ζt increases), the ultimate bearing capacity of the joints decreases.


In the cultured in vitro human blood lymphocytes treated with 5-bromodeoxycytidine (BrdC) plus thymidine (dT) in concentrations of 0.05 mM and 0.4 mM, respectively, metaphases of the second division, containing chromosomes with differentially stained sister chromatids appear after a 30 hours treatment, attaining 85 per cent at 36 hours. Under the treatment with BrdC or BrdU alone, the similar percentage of metaphases is observed at 28 hours. Similar results are obtained if, at 16--18 hours, the culture medium, containing BrdC plus dT is either replaced with a medium free of both the precursors, or supplied once more vith (0.05 mM) or dC(0.05 mM). The The observed slowing movement of cells through out the cell cycle, due to the treatment with BrdC plus dT, is explained by the inhibitory effect of dT on DNA synthesis which is manifested as BrdC catabolism. It is concluded that BrdC administered together with the cell cycle-slowing doses of thymidine is predominantly incorporated into cytosine of DNA.


Purpose
Given the growing importance of cryptocurrencies and the technique called "SegWit" that allows to compile more transactions in a mined block, the electricity consumed per block might potentially decrease. The purpose of this study is to consider that the difficulty to mine a block might be a better indicator of the Bitcoin\Ether's electricity consumption.

Design/methodology/approach
This study applies the vector error correction model to investigate data related to primary energy consumption and electricity production, supply and consumption for Bitcoin and Ether hashrates from 2016M1 to 2021M5.

Findings
The hashrate (difficulty of solving the cryptographic problem related to the validation of a transaction) is found to have a positive cointegration with energy and electricity consumption. Despite the launch of the Segregation Witness (SegWit) mechanism allowing blocks to handle a higher number of transactions per block, this Bitcoin and Ether growing need in electricity has significantly been increasing since October 2019.

Originality/value
The major contribution of this study is to investigate a more relevant indicator, namely, hashrate (computational difficulty to solve cryptographic enigma associated with cryptocurrencies-related transaction). The approach of this study can be justified by the fact that there exists a technical solution consisting in increasing the number of transactions per blocks so that less electricity might be required to validate a transaction.


As Saudi Arabia strives to position itself strategically in global markets in
response to globalization, education has become one of the most important tools
to achieve this aim. While demands for reform in Western countries have
fostered new notions of school excellence, equivalent concepts have to date
received little attention in Saudi Arabia. This study aims to fill this gap by
exploring the nature of outstanding schools in Saudi Arabia, and thus claims to
be an original and important contribution to the understanding of this
phenomenon.
A qualitative case-study approach was used drawing on data from three high
schools in Saudi Arabia, each having been rated outstanding by the city's local
authority. Principals, Deputies and Social Instructors from the three schools were
interviewed (n=9), while group interviews were conducted with the majority of
teachers from each school (n=68; 25 out of 26 teachers from school 1; 20 out of
24 teachers from school 2 and 23 out of 28 from school 3. In addition, the daily
work of Principals in each school was observed and relevant documents were
collected. The resulting data were thematically analysed using a framework
based on the inter-related concepts of leadership practices, culture and
professional development
The findings reveal that leadership practices in these outstanding schools
included a number of common features, such as establishing school vision,
restructuring the organisation, leadership distribution, effective communication,
strategic planning and quality assurance. Cultural aspects revealed the effect of
both macro-level cultures: global and national cultures on these schools, as well as micro-scale effects. Professional development was perceived to be important,
and both leaders and teachers engaged in training opportunities. While these
results cannot be generalised, it is hoped that they will be important to inform
practitioners, policy makers and researchers about the nature of outstanding
schools in Saudi Arabia.


Abstract The mixing of magmas of distinct temperature, bulk composition, mineralogy, and physical properties plays a central role in explaining the diversity of magma types on Earth and in explaining the growth of continental and oceanic crust. Magma mixing is also of practical importance. For example, the mixing of distinct magmas has been cited as an important process in creation of economically important horizons in layered intrusions as well as a triggering mechanism for initiation of volcanic eruptions. The motivation for better quantifying the dynamics and thermodynamics of magma mixing and its attendant plutonic and volcanic products is clear. The degree of magma mixing, which spans a continuum from mingling to complete hybridization, depends upon initial and boundary conditions, magma properties, driving forces, and time available for mixing. Magma mingling produces a heterogeneous mixture of discrete clumps of the end-member magmas, whereas complete hybridization involves the thermodynamic equilibration of two distinct magmas to form a third. Qualitatively, mixing occurs via reduction in the size of compositional heterogeneities (i.e., clumps) through stretching and folding by viscous flow, followed by homogenization, once shear has reduced the size of compositional anomalies to diffusive length scales. Quantification of this process relies on two statistical measures: the linear scale of segregation (Λ) defined as the spatial integral of the compositional correlation function related to the size-distribution of the segregated clumps within the mixture, and the intensity of segregation (I) a measure that quantifies how much the composition at each location differs from the average. The mixing dynamics of a layered system are analyzed in terms of the parameters governing mixing (Rayleigh, Lewis, and buoyancy numbers and viscosity ratio) to estimate how the timescale for magma hybridization, τH, compares to solidification, recharge, diffusive, and assimilation timescales. This analysis illustrates that hybridization times can be shorter than or comparable to thermal, solidification, and replenishment timescales; thus, formation of hybridized or nearly hybridized magmas is one anticipated outcome of mixing. The machinery of thermodynamics can be used to compute the hybrid magma state. An exploratory model for the thermochemistry of hybridization is developed based on binary eutectic phase relations and thermodynamics. Eight thermodynamic parameters define the phase diagram and associated energetics, and six parameters (initial temperatures, compositions, mass ratio of mixing magmas, and an enthalpy parameter) are necessary and sufficient to determine the state of hybrid magma uniquely. While relevant combinations of 14 thermodynamic and mixing parameters might suggest that the number of mixing outcomes (i.e., products) is too high to systematize, Monte Carlo simulations using the exploratory model document how millions of arbitrary initial states evolve into five possible final (mixed) states. Such an analysis implies that a magma mixing taxonomy that defines possible mixed product states can be developed and tied to petrologic indicators of mixing. Additional insights gained from this exploratory model that are supported by independent results from a multicomponent, multiphase thermodynamic model of magma mixing (Magma Chamber Simulator) include: (1) the proclivity of invariant point hybrid states, which may explain some instances of compositionally monotonous melts associated with mixed magma eruptions; (2) a surprising thermal effect such that the temperature of hybridized magma can be significantly less than the initial temperature of either of the mixing magmas. This type of magma mixing may result in crystal resorption, thus invalidating an assumption that resorption textures in crystals are typically the result of a magma heating event; (3) illustration of the differing effects of stoped block temperature and composition on hybrid magma temperature and phase state; and (4) illustration of a cessation of crystallization effect that may pertain to the MORB pyroxene "paradox." Differences between adiabatic or R-hybridization and diabatic or RFC-hybridization are also explored. The model can be used to elucidate the thermodynamic principles underlying magma mixing in the hybridization limit. These principles are of general applicability and carry over to more compositionally complicated systems.


Some ecological restoration projects include elements of trial and error where new measures are repeatedly tried, evaluated, and modified until satisfactory results are achieved. Thereafter, the resulting methods may be applied on larger scales. A difficult step is judging whether developed "best-practice" methods have become reasonably ecologically functional or whether further experimentation "demonstration" methods can lead to yet better results. Here, we use a stream restoration project as a case study for evaluating methods and abiotic effects and outlining stakeholder support for demonstration restoration measures, rather than only using best-practice methods. Our work was located in the Vindel River system, a free-flowing river that is part of the Natura 2000 network. The river was exploited for timber floating from 1850–1976, and rapids in the main channel and tributaries below timberline were channelized to increase timber transport capacity. Several side channels in multi-channeled rapids were blocked and the flow was concentrated to a single channel from which boulders and large wood were removed. Hence, previously heterogeneous environments were replaced by more homogeneous systems with limited habitat for riverine species. The restoration project strives to alleviate the effects of fragmentation and channelization in affected rapids by returning coarse sediment from channel margins to the main channel. However, only smaller, angular sediment is available given blasting of large boulders, and large (old-growth) wood is largely absent; therefore, original levels of large boulders and large wood in channels cannot be achieved with standard restoration practices. In 10 demonstration sites, we compensated for this by adding large boulders and large wood (i.e., entire trees) from adjacent upland areas to previously best-practice restored reaches and compared their hydraulic characteristics with 10 other best-practice sites. The demonstration sites exhibited significantly reduced and more variable current velocities, and wider channels, but with less variation than pre-restoration. The ecological response to this restoration has not yet been studied, but potential outcomes are discussed.


An approach to symbolic contour extraction is described that consists of three stages: enhancement, detection, and extraction of contours and corners. Contours and corners are enhanced by models of monkey cortical complex and endstopped cells. Detection of corners and local contour maxima is performed by selection of local maxima in both contour and corner enhanced images. These maxima form the anchor points of a greedy contour following algorithm that extracts the contours. This algorithm is based on the idea of spatially linking neurons along a contour that fire in synchrony to indicate an extracted contour. The extracted contours and detected corners represent the symbolic representation of the image. The advantage of the proposed model over other models is that the same low constant thresholds for corner and local contour maxima detection are used for different images. Closed contours are guaranteed by the contour following algorithm to yield a fully symbolic representation which is more suitable for reasoning and recognition. In this respect our methodology is unique, and clearly different from the standard (edge) contour detection methods. The results of the extracted contours (when displayed as being detected) show similar or better results compared to the SUSAN and Canny-CSS detectors.


With energy and environmental issues outstanding, electric vehicles have got much room for developments, which also brings a lot of security risks different from the traditional internal combustion engine vehicle such as the electrolyte spillage; toxic fumes; electric shock and so on. This paper simulates the progress of a electric bus side collision with LS-DYNA, and analyzes its security mainly from aspects of the electrical injury and electrochemical injury: internal short-circuit occurs in battery monomer, external short-circuit outside the battery pack occurs or even cause a fire, BMS, fast fuse and other electronic components with too large deformation in a collision will lose its ability of monitoring external short-circuit of battery pack. Meanwhile, we analyze reasons for the three phenomena above and propose measures for improvement, fix methods and structure of the weak components in collision zone have been improved. Then this paper verifies vehicle security after improvement reducing the electrical injury and electrochemical injury the vehicle on passengers.


Cyclosporine A (CsA) effectively controls psoriasis, however, its long-term continuous use is not recommended. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of week-end CsA microemulsion for the reduction of relapse rate in patients with chronic plaque psoriasis who had achieved clinical remission following continuous CsA therapy. The PREWENT (Psoriasis Relapse Evaluation with Week-End Neoral Treatment) study was a 24-week, randomized, double-blind, multicenter study, carried out in 22 Italian hospital or university Dermatology units. CsA was discontinued for 8 days previous to the patients being randomized to oral CsA 5 mg/kg/day or placebo for two consecutive days/week, for a total period of 24 weeks. The primary endpoint was clinical success rate at week 24, defined as the proportion of patients with no clinical worsening (no relapse or a Psoriasis Area and Severity Index [PASI] <75% of pre-treatment PASI). A total of 162 patients were randomized to CsA and 81 to placebo. Clinical success rates at 24 weeks were 66.9% and 53.2% with CsA and placebo, respectively (p = 0.072). Time to first relapse was significantly prolonged with CsA versus placebo (p = 0.023), and PASI was significantly lower from weeks 4 to 16 in CsA recipients. In patients with moderate-severe psoriasis, the clinical success rate was significantly increased with CsA compared to placebo (69.9% vs 46.3%; p = 0.011), and significantly lower increases in PASI were observed from week 4 to week 24 (p < 0.05 vs placebo). CsA was well tolerated, with no differences in mean blood creatinine or blood pressure between CsA and placebo recipients. However, the high withdrawal rate (22.2% of randomized patients), which was not related to side effects, may have led to an overestimation of efficacy, but the study had a good statistical power (88% greater than that observed in similar studies, i.e. 80%). Week-end CsA administration was shown to prolong safely and effectively the time to first relapse in psoriasis patients.


ABSTRACT Satin spar (fibrous gypsum) veins occur in rocks overlying evaporites in the Amadeus Basin, Australia; Appalachian Basin, USA; Cheshire Basin, England; Elk Point Basin, Canada; Palo Duro Basin, USA; Paradox Basin, USA, and Zechstein Basin, England. These antitaxial veins, which are characterized by central partings and near-vertical fibers, fill horizontal and inclined fractures. Most satin spar veins occur in highly fractured or brecciated clastic strata that overlie or are associated with bedded halite, anhydrite, and gypsum. Saline springs are commonly present, indicating that halite dissolution is active. The similarities in morphology and occurrences of these veins suggest a common genesis. Satin spar veins result from several simultaneously active processes. Recharge of low-salinity surface water results in dissolution of shallow ( 200 m to 750 m deep) halite, development of cavernous porosity, and formation of extensional fractures in the rock column overlying salt-dissolution zones. Greater solubility of anhydrite than gypsum at low temperatures and at salinities below halite saturation causes hydration of anhydrite to gypsum, which takes place without significant volume change. Once groundwater is saturated with respect to gypsum, any further anhydrite hydration and solution must result in supersaturation, and the excess CaSO4 carried by ground water flowin from dissolution zones precipitates as gypsum in open, high-permeability fractures.


Whilst it is widely recognised that attachment is a fundamental aspect of psychological wellbeing, there is little research on attachment in specific psychopathological conditions, in middle childhood and early adolescence. This study seeks to evaluate the role of attachment in patients (8-15 years) with somatic symptom disorders (SSDs) and with disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs). A battery of assessments was completed: Child Attachment Interview, Separation Anxiety Test, and Kerns Security Scale. Findings on "attachment models" showed an over-representation of insecure attachment patterns with a preponderance of disorganized attachment in both clinical groups. On "perceived security," SSD participants viewed their parents as safer than DBD participants, but, regarding "separation anxiety," they did not show higher separation anxiety. Therefore, a multi-assessment approach is likely to yield a more accurate picture of attachment organization at this age, and to capture attachment processes in SSDs and DBDs.


Direct detection of gravitational radiation, predicted by Einstein's general theory of relativity, remains one of the most exciting challenges in experimental physics. Due to their relatively weak interaction with matter, gravitational waves promise to allow exploration of hitherto inaccessible objects and epochs. Unfortunately, this weak coupling also hinders detection with strain amplitudes at the Earth estimated to be of order 10^−21.

Due to their wide bandwidth and theoretical sensitivity, kilometre-scale Michelson style interferometers have become the preferred instrument with which to attempt ground based detection. A worldwide network of first generation instruments has been constructed and prodigious volumes of data recorded. Despite each instrument approaching or having reached its design sensitivity, a confirmed detection remains elusive.

Planned upgrades to these instruments aim to increase strain sensitivity by an order of magnitude, commencing the era of second generation detectors. Entry into this regime will be accompanied by an entirely new set of challenges, two of which are addressed in this work.

As advanced interferometers are commissioned, instrumental artifacts will give way to fundamental noise sources. In the region of peak sensitivity it is expected that thermal noise in the interferometers' dielectric mirror coatings will be the principal source of displacement noise. Theory suggests that increasing the spot size of laser light incident on these mirrors will reduce the measured thermal noise. In the first part of this work we examine one method of realising larger spots.

By adopting non-spherical mirrors in the interferometers' arms it is possible to create resonators which support a wide, flat-topped field known as the mesa beam. This beam has been shown to theoretically reduce all forms of mirror thermal noise without being significantly more difficult to control. In this work we investigate these claims using a bespoke prototype mirror. The first results regarding a non-Gaussian beam created in a manner applicable to a gravitational wave interferometer are presented.

A common theme among all second generation interferometer designs is the desire to maximise circulating power. This increased power is partnered by commensurately increased thermal perturbations. Since the attractive properties of the mesa beam are produced by the fine structure of its supporting mirrors, it is important that we understand the effects absorption of stored optical power could have on mesa fields. In the second part of this work we report on numerical evaluations of measured thermal noise and mesa beam intensity profile as a function of absorbed power.

Increased optical power also has less obvious consequences. As a result of radiation pressure, there exists a pathway between optical energy stored in an interferometer's arms and mechanical energy stored in the acoustic modes of its test masses. Under appropriate conditions, this coupling can excite one or more test masses to such a degree that interferometer operation becomes impossible. In the final part of this work we determine whether it is possible to mitigate these parametric instabilities using electrostatic actuators originally designed to control the position and orientation of the test masses.


The activity of stress-activated protein (SAP) kinase is stimulated by diverse agents such as tumor necrosis factor, UV light, and protein synthesis inhibitors. The present study demonstrates that ionizing radiation (IR) exposure is also associated with the induction of SAP kinase activity. Cells derived from patients with ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T) are characterized by hypersensitivity to IR. In this study, we demonstrate that IR-induced activation of SAP kinase is defective in A-T cells. In contrast, exposure of A-T cells to UV light or anisomycin results in the induction of SAP kinase activity. These findings indicate that IR-induced signals involved in SAP kinase activation are defective in A-T cells.


Fe-rich Oxisols on mafic rocks in Brazil generally have high magnetic susceptibility with high contents of some trace elements. These are taxonomically similar soils; however, differences in magnetic and geochemical properties may affect agricultural or environmental usability and subsequent management. This study investigated the pedogenesis of Fe-rich Oxisols from various parent materials and evaluated the lithogenetic influence on magnetic susceptibility and trace elements contents. Soil samples were collected from Bw horizons in 13 Rhodic Oxisols and a Typic Oxisol developed from several parent materials in Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Soils were analyzed by X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and magnetometry. Soil chemical analyses consisted of sulfuric and total (tri-acid) digestions and selective Fe oxides dissolutions and statistical correlations were determined. Fe-rich Oxisols presented a typical mineralogical composition of highly weathered soils with structural stability. The results confirm the difficulty to identify accurately magnetic minerals in different grain sizes using XRD. However, coarse fractions still exert dominant influence on the magnetic properties of the Fe-rich Rhodic Oxisols. In addition, coarse fractions probably contribute to the enrichment of superparamagnetic particles for the clay fraction. Although highly weathered, Fe-rich Oxisols may have their geochemical attributes still controlled by the parent material, where trace elements seem to be correlated with the magnetic minerals in the coarse fractions. Thus, the natural replacement of some trace elements from soil-solution equilibrium reactions during plant development could be more effective in soils with higher magnetic particles concentrations in the coarse fractions.


The purposes of this study are to conduct paleodemographic and paleopathological analyses of medieval human skeletons from Japan and to clarify their life and death situations. The materials used here were individuals from the Yuigahama-chusei-shudan-bochi site (Seika-ichiba location) (i.e. YCSB-SI), located along the Yuigahama seashore of the southern end of Kamakura City. Several new findings regarding the life and death situations of YCSB-SI were obtained: (1) YCSB-SI exhibited a younger age-at-death distribution than other skeletal series; (2) the frequency of caries lesions in YCSB-SI was 5%, females exhibited more caries lesions than males and this group exhibited the lowest caries prevalence rate among Japanese populations; (3) the frequencies of enamel hypoplasia were 67% in the upper central incisors and 73% in the lower canines, which were almost equal to those of non-medieval series; and (4) the presence of weapon-related traumas on the cranium and limb bones from YCSB-SI was demonstrated. It is inferred from the present and previously reported data that population concentration in Kamakura impacted negatively on the lives of the inhabitants, possibly by malnutrition, increase of infectious diseases, and occasionally death by violence, and that all the results can be consistently explained by assuming urbanization and severe living conditions in medieval Kamakura.


OBJECTIVES
To investigate the clinical characteristics of patients with tuberculous myositis.

METHODS
From January 1996 to March 2001, patients with positive cultures of Mycobacterium tuberculosis or histology-proven caseous granulomatous inflammation from muscular specimens were identified and their medical records were reviewed.

RESULTS
Thirty-five patients were identified. Infection-related myositis was initially suspected in 20 patients (57.1%). The routes of infection were contiguous spread in 22 patients (62.8%), haematogenous spread in 10 (28.6%) and traumatic inoculation in three (8.6%). Five patients (14.3%), including the three who had received corticosteroids, died of uncontrolled sepsis. The computed tomography or the magnetic resonance imaging of the involved muscles showed findings suggestive of tuberculous myositis in 15 patients (42.9%).

CONCLUSIONS
Tuberculosis should be considered as one of the possible aetiologies of myositis, especially among patients with suggestive radiographic findings or in endemic areas of tuberculosis. Patients who develop tuberculous myositis after using corticosteroids have poor prognoses.


Abstract. Lake Karakul, located in the eastern Pamir Mountains, Tajikistan, is today dominated by the Westerlies. It is a matter of debate whether the Indian Monsoon influenced the region in the past. We analysed an 11.25 m sediment core covering the last 29,000 years to assess and separate lake-internal and lake-external processes, and to infer changes in the predominant atmospheric circulation. Among the parameters indicating lake-external processes, high values in grain-size end-member (EM) 3 (wide grain-size distribution, marking fluvial input) and Sr/Rb and Zr/Rb ratios (coinciding with coarse grain sizes, implying increased physical weathering) are interpreted as a strong monsoonal impact. High values in EM1, EM2 (peaking at small grain sizes reflecting Westerlies-derived dust) and TiO2 (terrigenous input) are assumed to reflect a strong influence of Westerlies. High input of far-transported dust from the pre-Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to the late glacial reflects the Westerlies influence, while peaks in fluvial input suggest monsoonal influence. The early to early-mid Holocene is characterised by coarse mean grain sizes, increased physical weathering and constantly high fluvial input indicating a strengthened Indian Monsoon that reached further north into the Karakul region. A steady increase in terrigenous dust, decrease in fluvial input and physical weathering from 6.7 cal kyr BP onwards signals that Westerlies became the predominant atmospheric circulation and brought an arid climate to the region. Proxies for productivity (TOC, C/N, TOCBr), redox potential (Fe/Mn) and changes in the endogenic carbonate precipitation (TIC) indicate lake-internal changes. Low productivity characterised the lake from the late Pleistocene until 6.7 cal kyr BP and rapidly increased afterwards. The lake level remained low until the LGM, but water depth increased during the late glacial, reaching a high-stand during the early Holocene. Subsequently, the water level decreased until its present state. Today the lake system is mainly climatically controlled but the depositional regime is also driven by lake-internal limnogeological processes.


A drawback of available portfolio credit risk models is that they fail to allow for default risk dependency across loans other than through common risk factors. Thereby, these models ignore that close ties can exist between companies due to legal, financial and business relations. In this paper, we integrate the insights from theoretical models of default correlation into a commonly used model of default and portfolio credit risk by allowing for dependency between firm default risk through both common factors and industry specific errors in a duration model. An application using pooled data from two Swedish banks' business loan portfolios over the period 1996-2000 shows that estimates of individual default risk are little affected by including industry specific errors. However, accounting for these industry effects increases VaR estimates by 50-200 percent. A traditional model with only systematic factors, although able to fit the broad trends in credit losses, cannot match these fluctuations bacuse it fails to capture credit losses in bad times, when banks are typically hit by large unexpected credit losses. The model we propose manages to follow both the trend in credit losses and produce industry driven, time-varying, fluctuations in losses around that trend. Consequently, this model will better aid banks and regulators in determining the appropriate size of economic capital requirements. Capital buffers derived from our model will be larger for periods with large "aggregate" disturbances and smaller in better times, and avoid both overcapitalization in good times and undercapitalization in bad times. JEL classification: C34, C35, D61, D81, G21


The authors empirically examine the hypothesis that access to deposits with inelastic rates (core deposits) permits a bank to make contractual agreements with borrowers that are infeasible if the bank must pay market rates for its funds. Access to core deposits insulates a bank's costs of funds from exogenous shocks, allowing the bank to insulate its borrowers against exogenous credit shocks. The authors find that, controlling for competitive conditions in loan markets, banks funded more heavily with core deposits provide more smoothing of loan rates in response to exogenous changes in aggregate credit risk. This suggests that a distinctive feature of bank lending is that firms and banks form multiperiod lending relationships in which loans need not break even period by period. It also partially explains the declining share of bank loans (or near substitutes for bank loans) in credit markets. As banks have increasingly been forced to pay market rates for an increasing share of their funds, multiperiod relationship lending has become increasingly less feasible and bank loans have lost some of their comparative advantage over securities. The authors' results suggest that access to core deposits is one of the foundations of relationship lending.


The road freight sector is responsible for a large and growing share of greenhouse gas emissions, but reliable data on the amount of freight that is moved on roads in many parts of the world are scarce. Many low- and middle-income countries have limited ground-based traffic monitoring and freight surveying activities. In this proof of concept, we show that we can use an object detection network to count trucks in satellite images and predict average annual daily truck traffic from those counts. We describe a complete model, test the uncertainty of the estimation, and discuss the transfer to developing countries.


A new control strategy for three-phase current-source inverters is proposed based on a model of the converter in the rotating dq frame. The control equations are derived by making use of Lyapunovpsilas direct method. It is shown analytically that a globally stable operation is possible for the closed-loop system. The amplitude of the dc current is adjusted by employing a proportional-integral regulator in the output voltage control loop. The correct operation of the proposed strategy is verified through simulations. Results pertinent to a step load change indicate that reasonably fast responses of the output voltage without large distortion can be obtained.


Winnie and Wilbur love their vegetables. They are regulars at the weekly farmers' market to stock up on their greens, but bringing them back home on a broomstick proves to be rather hazardous. So Winnie decides to grow her own and digs a vegetable patch in her garden. Not having the patience of a true gardener, she uses a little magic to speed up the growing process ...only to end up with a garden overrun by enormous vegetables. She uses her giant pumpkin to make pumpkin pies, pumpkin scones, creamy pumpkin soup for Wilbur, and dish after dish of roast pumpkin. She invites all her neighbours to help themselves to pumpkin, too. Eventually the yummy orange flesh is all gone but the shell remains. What can Winnie do with it? She waves her wand, shouts 'Abracadabra!', and something amazing happens ...This edition comes with an audio CD where the story is narrated over an imaginative soundtrack of music and effects.


Background: A review by the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of the United Kingdom (UK) in 2018 recommended moving cannabis-based products (CBP) from Schedule 1 of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 into Schedule 2, allowing CBP to be prescribed for medicinal purposes under controlled conditions by doctors on the Specialist Register of the General Medical Council. This prompted the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to develop guidance on prescribing CBP for medicinal use, which Fibromyalgia Action UK were invited to comment on. Anecdotally, we know that some people with fibromyalgia use CBP to help with pain relief; however, we wanted to explore these experiences further, while summarising people's thoughts of the draft scope guidelines. Objectives: The aim of the survey was to understand experiences of CBP among people with fibromyalgia, including people's opinions of the NICE draft scope guidelines. Methods: An online survey, hosted through Microsoft Forms, was disseminated via social media and Fibromyalgia Action UK's website between November and December 2018. Results: A total of 69 people initially responded; with 66 eligible to participate. The average time to complete was 14:05 minutes. Over three-quarters (77%) reported using CBP. The types of CBP that people had used are shown in Fig 1. Over half reported using Cannabidiol (CBD)/Hemp oil (55%), currently marketed as a food supplement. Around one quarter (26%) used herbal cannabis, with few reporting use of plant-derived/synthetic delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) or THC/CBD sprays (3-5%). Of the 50 who responded, 52% reported using CBP for medicinal purposes on a daily basis; 28% stated they used CBP during a fibromyalgia flare. While some people did not report any benefits, one of the clear benefits reported by people was pain relief. People also reported improved sleep and mood, less fatigue, and reduced anxiety. When asked to score the current NICE draft scope guidelines, 48 people responded, with an average rating of 3.88 (1=very poor; 5 = excellent). Some felt that the scope was quite vague, difficult to digest, unclear as to who should and shouldn't be prescribed CBP, and lacked specific reference to conditions like fibromyalgia. There were also concerns in the time it takes to develop guidance. When asked about confusion among society distinguishing CBP for medicinal purposes from food supplements marketed as CBD/Hemp oil, of 63 respondents, 86% felt there was confusion which needs addressing. Individuals felt that alternative treatment options like CBP should be available to people with fibromyalgia, with additional research to identify the evidence for its potential benefit and safety. Conclusion: The survey highlights that people with fibromyalgia are using CBP, but not necessarily those that are prescribed by a medical professional. There is an appetite among patients with fibromyalgia to explore the option of alternative treatment using CBP. There is widespread confusion among society distinguishing CBP from CBD/Hemp oil marketed as food supplements, which could be leaving certain individuals vulnerable. The development of national guidance is welcomed; however, investment in research to prove the efficacy and safety of CBP in people with fibromyalgia is also needed, to ensure that patients have appropriate access to safe treatments.Fig 1 Types of CBP used by people with fibromyalgia in this survey. References [1] Davies, S.C. "Cannabis Scheduling Review Part 1, The therapeutic and medicinal benefits of Cannabis based products – a review of recent evidence" London: Department of Health and Social Care (2018). Acknowledgement: Thank you to those who took part in the survey. Disclosure of Interests: Simon Stones Consultant for: SS has provided consultancy services to Envision Pharma Group, though this is not related to the contents of this abstract., Speakers bureau: SS has undertaken speaking engagements for Actelion, eyeforpharma, Four Health, Janssen and Roche, though these are not related to the contents of this abstract., Des Quinn: None declared


A sample of 206 Mexican-heritage 7th-grade adolescents attending predominantly Mexican-heritage schools in Arizona was assessed on their linguistic acculturation, perceived parental monitoring, and substance use. One of their parents also reported on their own parental level of acculturation. While greater parental acculturation predicted greater marijuana use, the acculturation gap (child's level of acculturation over and above that of the parent) was not predictive of substance use. There was a significant acculturation gap by parental monitoring interaction for marijuana use, where the negative correlation between parental monitoring and marijuana use was attenuated for parent-youth dyads that exhibited the largest acculturation gap. This suggests that a greater parent-youth cultural distance (the acculturation gap) attenuates that protective effect of parental monitoring on youth marijuana use. Results are discussed in terms of how the acculturation gap increases the risk for problem behaviors in Mexican American adolescents through its effect on family processes.


The dioxin receptor is a ligand-dependent transcription factor that binds to target DNA sequences (xenobiotic responsive elements, XREs) following ligand-dependent dimerization with its partner factor, Arnt (aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator). Both factors contain an N-terminal basic region helix-loop-helix motif mediating dimerization and subsequent DNA binding. In this study we investigate the possible role of Arnt in agonistic and antagonistic effects of the dioxin receptor ligand a-naphthoflavone (ANI?). Using specific antisera for the ligand binding dioxin receptor and Arnt, respectively, we show that exposure of the dioxin receptor to ANJ? in vitro induced recruitment of Arnt, thus stimulating binding of the heteromeric complex to XRE. In transient ransfection assays, ANF at high concentrations stimulated expression of an XRE-driven reporter gene. This agonistic effect of ANF is, therefore, most likely attributable to ANF stimulation of dioxin receptor-Arnt heterodimerization and subsequent binding of the complex to XRE. Using a minimal XRE-driven reporter gene construct, we could further confirm earlier studies showing that ANF antagonizes the effect of a dioxin receptor agonist, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin. Next we employed chimeric receptor constructs containing amino acids 1-500 of the human glucocorticoid receptor fused to dioxin receptor fragments lacking the very N-terminal basic region helix-loop-helix dimerization and DNA binding motif. These chimeric receptor constructs show dioxin responsiveness upon transient transfection into mutant Arnt-deficient hepatoma cells and are, thus, functionally uncoupled from Arnt. Importantly, dioxin-dependent activation of the chimeric receptors was inhibited in the presence of A N F , demonstrating that dimerization of dioxin receptor with Arnt was not necessary for manifestation of the antagonistic effect of ANF. Rather, dioxin receptor sequences, which confer dioxin regulation upon a heterologous DNA binding and transactivating domain, also mediated the antagonistic effects of ANF.


Parkinson's disease is characterized by the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the nigrostriatal pathway accompanied by the presence of intracellular cytoplasmic inclusions, termed Lewy bodies. Fibrillized α‐synuclein forms the major component of Lewy bodies. We reported a specific interaction between rat α‐synuclein and tat binding protein 1, a subunit of PA700, the regulatory complex of the 26S proteasome. It has been demonstrated that PA700 prevents the aggregation of misfolded, nonubiquinated substrates. In this study, we examine the effect of PA700 on the aggregation of wild‐type and A53T mutant α‐synuclein. PA700 inhibits both wild‐type and A53T α‐synuclein fibril formation as measured by Thioflavin T fluorescence. Using size exclusion chromatography, we present evidence for a stable PA700–α‐synuclein complex. Sedimentation analyses reveal that PA700 sequesters α‐synuclein in an assembly incompetent form. Analysis of the morphology of wild‐type and A53T α‐synuclein aggregates during the course of fibrillization by electron microscopy demonstrate the formation of amyloid‐like fibrils. Secondary structure analyses of wild‐type and A53T α‐synuclein assembled in the presence of PA700 revealed a decrease in the overall amount of assembled α‐synuclein with no significant change in protein conformation. Thus, PA700 acts on α‐synuclein assembly and not on the structure of fibrils. We hypothesize that PA700 sequesters α‐synuclein oligomeric species that are the precursors of the fibrillar form of the protein, thus preventing its assembly into fibrils.


Averrhoa bilimbi, L. (bimbuli) and Averrhoa carambola (star fruit) (Oxalidaceae) are widely cultivated throughout tropical countries for their fruits. This study provides morphological and biochemical characteristics of mature Averrhoa fruits. Physical features such as color, texture, length, width, volume, weight, moisture and number of seeds and ridges of mature fruits were noted. The fruits are acidic and pH was low in bilimbi compared to star fruit. Oxalic acid is the main acid in Averrhoa sps. Greenish yellow mature fruits were dried and studied for proximate composition and minerals. Except for protein content all other biochemical nutrients studied were higher in carambola. Mature Averrhoa fruits are good source of minerals such as potassium, calcium, phosphorous and iron. Averrhoa fruits are low in calorie, sodium and lipids which qualifies it as an excellent source of natural antioxidants and minerals.


Consensus, or state machine replication is a foundational building block of distributed systems and modern cryptography. Consensus in the classical, "permissioned" setting has been extensively studied in the 30 years of distributed systems literature. Recent developments in Bitcoin and other decentralized cryptocurrencies popularized a new form of consensus in a "permissionless" setting, where anyone can join and leave dynamically, and there is no a-priori knowledge of the number of consensus nodes. So far, however, all known permissionless consensus protocols assume network synchrony, i.e., the protocol must know an upper bound of the network's delay, and transactions confirm slower than this a-priori upper bound.

We initiate the study of the feasibilities and infeasibilities of achieving responsiveness in permissionless consensus. In a responsive protocol, the transaction confirmation time depends only on the actual network delay, but not on any a-priori known upper bound such as a synchronous round. Classical protocols in the partial synchronous and asynchronous models naturally achieve responsiveness, since the protocol does not even know any delay upper bound. Unfortunately, we show that in the permissionless setting, consensus is impossible in the asynchronous or partially synchronous models.

On the positive side, we construct a protocol called Hybrid Consensus by combining classical-style and blockchain-style consensus. Hybrid Consensus shows that responsiveness is nonetheless possible to achieve in permissionless consensus (assuming proof-of-work) when 1) the protocol knows an upper bound on the network delay; 2) we allow a non-responsive warmup period after which transaction confirmation can become responsive; 3) honesty has some stickiness, i.e., it takes a short while for an adversary to corrupt a node or put it to sleep; and 4) less than 1/3 of the nodes are corrupt. We show that all these conditions are in fact necessary - if only one of them is violated, responsiveness would have been impossible. Our work makes a step forward in our understanding of the permissionless model and its differences and relations to classical consensus.


This study seeks to document and detail the historical narrative and experience of the Sicilian peasantry at the time of Italian unification or, as the entire movement is commonly called, il Risorgimento. Focusing principally on the period between Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi's successful expedition in the first few days of April 1860, throughout the next six months during his brief prodictatorship and on into the months and years immediately following Sicily's annexation to Piedmont-Sardinia, this thesis represents a much-needed contribution to the new school of revisionist scholarship on il Risorgimento. It does not refute the findings of previous revisionist interpretations of this movement, and indeed reiterates the conclusions of a number of scholars and historians' works before it in that it finds that the actions and liberal policy decisions of Garibaldi's prodictatorial regime resulted in the further perpetuation of the already-impoverished status of the peasantry in Sicilian society. However, it does draw upon new sources to assert that the peasantry's choice to revolt in April 1860 as well as in the six years following the annexation to Piedmont-Sardinia in October was indeed a rational decision, and one that signals the achievement of some level of political and social consciousness that was not present or realized before this time. These sources include the correspondence of the British consuls stationed in Sicily at this time, a series of agricultural reports commissioned by the Italian parliament and a diary from one of Garibaldi's troops, as well as a range of secondary literatures. This thesis also offers a critique of the essentialist practices and scholarship of proponents of meridionalismo, or the rough equivalent of Edward Said's 'orientalism' as manifested in the southern half of the Italian peninsula. It also presents the theoretical concept of a 'collective social defense mechanism' embedded in Sicilian society, which has been brought to life and cemented at the center of Sicilian culture by a number of actors and occupying powers throughout history. This mechanism accounts for the state of poverty endured by the Sicilian peasantry throughout much of the nineteenth century as well as the gross levels of crime, corruption and injustice that are still apparent on the island to this day.


Based on the WOCE (1988–1993) and RAPID (2004–2006) instrumental data, seasonal and synoptic variability of the currents' vertical structure in the western part of the Northern Subtropical Anticyclonic Circulation (NSAC) is analyzed and its contribution to formation of the meridian heat transport is defined. Maximum of the seasonal cycle annual harmonic is observed in summer–autumn and its minimum – in winter – spring. The secondary maximums are revealed in late spring and mid autumn. Approximately 40 % of total variability of the currents' field falls on the superposition of the annual and semi-annual harmonics. Synoptic fluctuations with the periods 3–30 and 51–135 days condition a substantial portion (up to 50–60 %) of hydrothermodynamic parameters' variability in the upper and intermediate layers. A portion of variability with the period 31–50 days does not exceed 10 % of total dispersion. Influence of synoptic-scale vortex transports on the meridian thermohaline circulation and the associated meridian heat transport is most significant in the thermocline. With the seasonal variations taken into account, the synoptic vortices' contribution to the integral heat transport in the western part of NSAC (in vicinity of 26 °N) estimated by the RAPID instrumental data does not exceed 5 %.


BACKGROUND: Exercise-related cognitive errors (ECEs) represent a bias in information processing which distorts individuals' view of exercise. Such thinking can inhibit individuals' behaviour change efforts. Reframing is an evidence-based counselling strategy used to help individuals evaluate the evidence for and against their biased thoughts. The goal of reframing is to modify biased cognitions not to directly change an outcome behaviour for which behavioural strategies would be used.
OBJECTIVE: To examine reframing as a pre-intervention strategy to attenuate ECE thinking as individuals begin a diet and exercise diabetes prevention program.
METHODS: Prior to beginning a 3-week program, individuals diagnosed with prediabetes (N = 26, 18 female, Mage=58) were randomized to either 15-minutes of reframing counselling (REF) or attention control (AC). Those receiving REF were prompted to identify, challenge, and reframe their negative exercise thoughts. Changes in ECEs were measured at pre-test, post-test, and 4 weeks post-program using the exercise-related cognitive errors scale (range: 1-9).
RESULTS: REF participants (n=14) experienced greater decreases in their ECE scores compared to AC (n=12) from baseline (REF =5.2, AC=5.0) to immediately post-program (REF=4.4, AC=5.1) and 4-weeks post-program (REF=3.2, AC=4.1). There was a significant main effect for time (p=.001, partial eta squared=.43). Those in REF experienced a greater ECE decrease across the study (Cohen's d =.71).
CONCLUSION: A reduction in ECEs was observed immediately post-program for REF. The REF group also experienced greater reductions 4 weeks post-program. REF may be an effective means to help individuals reduce their biased exercise thoughts when making behaviour change efforts.Acknowledgments: Diabetes Canada Postdoctoral Fellowship; Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Postdoctoral Fellowship


Similarity matrices have become an important tool in music audio analysis. However, the quadratic time and space complexity as well as the intricacy of extracting the desired structural information from these matrices are often prohibitive with regard to real-world applications. In this paper, we describe an approach for enhancing the structural properties of similarity matrices based on two concepts: first, we introduce a new class of robust and scalable audio features which absorb local temporal variations. As a second contribution, we then incorporate contextual information into the local similarity measure. The resulting enhancement leads to significant reduction in matrix size and also eases the structure extraction step. As an example, we sketch the application of our techniques to the problems of audio summarization and audio synchronization, obtaining effective and computationally feasible algorithms


Consumption of diets containing medium chain triglycerides have been shown to confer neuroprotective and behavior modulating effects. We aimed to identify metabolic and microbiome perturbations in feces that are associated with consumption of a medium chain triglyceride ketogenic diet (MCT-KD) in dogs with idiopathic epilepsy. We used 16S rRNA gene sequencing to generate microbiome profiles and ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) to generate lipidomic profiles of canine feces. We made comparisons between the MCT-KD, standardized placebo diet and baseline pre-trial diet phases. Consumption of the MCT-KD resulted in a significant increase in the species richness (α-diversity) of bacterial communities found in the feces when compared to the baseline diet. However, phylogenetical diversity between samples (beta-diversity) was not affected by diet. An unnamed Bacteroidaceae species within genus 5-7N15 was identified by LEfSe as a potential biomarker associated with consumption of the MCT-KD, showing an increased abundance (p = 0.005, q = 0.230) during consumption of MCT-KD. In addition, unclassified members of families Erysipelotrichaceae (p = 0.013, q = 0.335) and Fusobacteriaceae (p = 0.022, q = 0.358) were significantly increased during MCT-KD consumption compared to baseline. Blautia sp. and Megamonas sp. instead were decreased during consumption of either placebo or MCT-KD (p = 0.045, q = 0.449, and p = 0.039, q = 0.449, respectively). Bacteroidaceae, including genus 5-7N15, have previously been associated with non-aggressive behavior in dogs. In addition, 5-7N15 is correlated in humans with Akkermansia, a genus known to be involved in the neuroprotective effect of ketogenic diets in mice models of seizures. Five metabolite features, tentatively identified as long chain triglycerides, were significantly higher after consumption of the placebo diet, but no unique features were identified after consumption of the MCT-KD. The data presented in this study highlight significant changes shown in both the fecal microbiome and lipidome as a result of consumption of the MCT-KD. Elucidating the global canine gut response to MCT consumption will improve our understanding of the potential mechanisms which confer anti-seizure and behavior modulating effects. Further studies should aim to characterize the gut microbiome of both dogs with epilepsy and healthy controls.


Abstract. The irrigation districts need high-resolution spatial distribution information of irrigated fields to manage irrigation water effectively and achieve sustainable water resources management, especially for fragmented croplands such as China. However, most irrigated area mapping methods by remote sensing are based on MODIS time series with a relatively low resolution of 250–1000 m. To fill this gap, this study attempted to use pixel-based random forest to map irrigated areas based on two multi-spectral images from GF-1 satellite with a resolution of 16 m in an irrigated district of China, during the winter-spring irrigation period of 2018. Accuracy of the retrieved 16-m map was assessed by accuracy error matrix using 210 ground-truth samples. The result had an overall accuracy of 93.33% with a Kappa Coefficient of 0.9164. The 16-m resulting map shows that the area of irrigated wheat, rain-fed wheat, irrigated fruit tree, and fallow croplands in the study area were 52066.48 ha, 12932.33 ha, 18104.32 ha, and 4641.25 ha respectively, accounting for 52.57%, 13.06%, 18.28% and 4.69% of the total study area, which are basically consistent with those obtained from field investigations. Compared with SVM, the random forest results are more accurate with fewer misclassifications. The pixel-based random forest for irrigated area mapping at high resolution can obtain more refined spatial distribution of irrigated areas than low-resolution images, which is suitable for fragmented croplands. Besides, this method can effectively distinguish irrigated crops from rain-fed crops, proving the classification ability of random forest in high-resolution irrigation area mapping only by two images.


According to tranditional philosophical terminology and to most interpretations of Cartesianism, Descartes is a dualist. This dualism is expressed in his fundamental distinction between two substances—mind and matter—and, though admitted to be full of difficulties and by many to be untenable, it has very generally been regarded as at least a clearly intelligible doctrine, consistently held by Descartes. That this is not so has been shown by Professor Boyce Gibson in his able and careful analysis of Cartesianism. The aim of the present essay is to draw attention to another difficulty that has not been sufficiently noticed; whether it is an actual one or only an apparent one due to a misunderstanding of Descartes is a question that may be left to those who read him differently and who may be able to remove one more charge of inconsistency. The general contention is that Descartes—and this point is conceded in expositions of Descartes—seeks to prove that there are material bodies, that material bodies are necessary for his own account of the physical universe, and that yet his own theory of matter as extension, even combined with motion, makes the existence of bodies (in the plural) impossible and hence any proof of such existence impossible. In fact, the employment of the idea of motion only serves to emphasize the difficulty and inconsistency of the theory.


This paper proposes new control method of maximum power point tracking for the tidal energy generation system using the duty ratio control of buck type DC-DC converter. An advantage of new MPPT(Maximum Power Point Tracking) control method presented in this paper is not necessary to use the tidal turbine characteristic at various tidal speed and measure the tidal speed or/and the rotation speed of tidal turbine for generation. Therefore the resulting system has the characteristics of lower cost, higher efficiency and lower complexity. Proposed control method was analyzed mathematically and tested by computer simulation using Matlab Simulink . And the fuzzy controller was applied for regulation of duty ratio.


Sewage treatment results in two components: the effluent which is usually disposed of at the required regulatory standards; and sludge which is disposed of by utilization in Agriculture, tipping on controlled landfill sites, disposal at sea or by incineration. The application of sewage sludge to land is an effective disposal method. Not only does it provide a solution to the sludge disposal problem, but it is beneficial to agricultural productivity. Typically, large volumes of sludge are produced in sewage treatment plants which is sold to farmers at cheap prices. Despite the perception of sewage sludge being 'dirty fertilizer' it contains useful amounts of plant nutrients such as carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous. When used, less chemical fertilizers are required and the nutrients are released gradually for plant uptake as compared to the more soluble chemical fertilizers. On the other hand, sewage sludge contains toxic heavy metals that may have adverse effects to human life when consumed. Phytoextraction is a process in which certain plants have the ability to absorb, translocate and store toxic contaminants from a soil matrix into their root and shoot tissue. Conventional met hods of removing heavy metals are locally inaccessible, phytoextraction is useful technology for local removal of heavy metals in manure sewage sludge. Atomic absorption spectroscopy analysis was used to determine the phytoextraction capability of sunflowers growing in controlled sludge amended soils. Results indicate a significant reduction in heavy metal levels after the phytoextraction process. Keywords:  Hyperaccumulator, phytoextraction, phytoremediation, sewage sludge, sunflower


The quality of software projects always plays an important role in the whole complex program. In order to solve certain problems in software development, this paper try to give new resolution for the corporations in this field by using different types of methods, such as: Quantitative Analysis of Software Quality, Software Quality Management Standard, Quality Assurance System and Software Engineering Methods. In this paper, we investigate the multiple attribute decision making problems for evaluating the software quality with hesitant triangular fuzzy information. We utilize the hesitant triangular fuzzy weighted averaging (HTFWA) operator to aggregate the hesitant triangular fuzzy information corresponding to each alternative and get the overall value of the software systems, then rank the software systems and select the most desirable one (s) by using the formula of the degree of possibility for the comparison between two triangular fuzzy variables. Finally, an illustrative example for evaluating the software quality is given to verify the developed approach


Background: When someone suffers a spinal cord injury, the nerve impulses between the brain, the muscles and the skin are intercepted, thereby resulting in motion and sensory loss. During the recovery process, healthcare professionals play a vital role in ensuring that the patients have a positive experience of care, recovery and rehabilitation.Aim: The aim of this study is to determine how patients at a rehabilitation clinic in Sweden experienced the following: The patient's experience of how well they were received by staff, the staff's ability to explain and inform the patient of important details concerning their care and the staff's ability to involve the patients in their own care.Method: A qualitative interview approach was used when undertaking this study. Six patients at the rehabilitation clinic were interviewed, and the interviews were later analyzed using qualitative content analysis.Result: The collected material was divided into ten categories that were sorted into three subheadings: reception of staff, information and involvement. Reception of staff, with categories: helpfulness, commitment, consideration, professionalism and reception. Information, with categories: if the patients felt well-informed. Involvement, with categories: perception of level of involvement, how encouraged they felt to participate (both on an individual level and by staff), and suggestions to increase the level of improvement.Conclusion: It became clear that the patients regarded the above three categories as important aspects of their care, and that the healthcare professionals were perceived as considerate, committed, helpful, and professional. The healthcare professionals participated in making the patients more involved, and were able to inform their patients in a relevant manner.


We analyze the emergence of large-scale education systems by modeling the incentives that the economic elite could have (collectively) to accept taxation destined to finance the education of credit-constrained workers. Contrary to previous work, in our model this incentive does not arise from a complementarity between physical and human capital in manufacturing. Instead, we emphasize the demand for human-capital-intensive services by high-income groups. Our model seems capable to account for salient features of the development of Latin America in the 19th century, where, in particular, land-rich countries such as Argentina established an extensive public education system and developed a sophisticated service sector before starting significant manufacturing activities.


New Mexico is a land with two faces. It is a land of enchantment, legendary for its natural beauty and rich cultural heritage. But it is also a land of paradox. In America, New Mexico, Robert Leonard Reid explores deep inside New Mexico's landscape to find the real New Mexico with all of its gifts and challenges within. Having traveled and hiked countless miles throughout the state, Reid knows New Mexico's breathtaking landscape intimately. But he knows the human landscape as well: its artists and poets, medicine men and businessmen, preachers and politicians, Hispanics and Anglos. He knows that amid the glittering mansions of Santa Fe there are homeless shelters, that the Indians of myth and legend combat alcoholism and poverty, and that toxic waste lurks beneath a land of almost surreal beauty. America, New Mexico is a book about land, sky, and hope by a writer whose passion and inspiring prose invite us to see the promise and possibilities of reconnecting with the natural world. It is unflinching in its depiction of the adversities facing New Mexicans and indeed all Americans. But above all, it searches behind and beyond these troubling issues to find, standing staunchly against them, a quiet and unshakable confidence rooted in New Mexico's natural world. For anyone who has ever been moved by the incomparable beauty of New Mexico, for anyone concerned with the landscape in which all Americans live, America, New Mexico is an unforgettable book.


Application of beta-adrenoreceptor blockers in asthmatic patients increases broncho-constriction, and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors may induce cough. In either case life quality of asthmatics may deteriorate. Increased sympathetic activityplays a significant role in the development and maintenance of arterial hypertension. Recently imidazoline receptor agonists have been used in the treatment of hypertension. The action of these drugs results in modification of the vegetative nervous system due to a decreased activity of the adrenergic system. Such modification could be disadvantageous in asthmatic patients in whom an increased parasympathetic tonus is an important mechanism of bronchoconstriction. The aim of the paper was to assess the autonomic nervous system during spontaneous overnight sleep in 10 mild or moderate asthmatic women in a stable stage of the disease; they were all treated for mild or moderate arterial hypertension with Tenaxum 1 mg daily. The examination consisted in spectral analysis of the heart rate variability of 10 min. periods repeated every five minutes.The following parameters of the spectral power were studied: high frequency components (HF) reflecting parasympathetic activity, low frequency components (LF) representing sympathetic activity, as well as the LF/HF ratio. The investigations, including spirometry, were performed before and on the 3 r d and 21" day of treatment. Arterial tension was brought to normal in 7 out of 10 patients.Spirometric parameters (VC, FEV 1 , MEF 5 0 % F V C , MEF 2 5 % F V C ) did not undergo any significant changes, however a significantly increased parasympathetic activity (HF) in the studied patients was found on day 21. The results of our investigations indicate that Tenaxum can be a safe therapeutic agent in the treatment of mild or moderate arterial hypertension in asthmatics.


Data analysis and graphing workspace was used to determine the optimum solar photovoltaic performance conditions in composite climate for multicrystalline technology. An effort has been made to develop a relation with the given data, where tests are operated in the site of NISE, Haryana (North Latitude 28.47 o N, East Longitude 77.03 o E and Elevation from sea level is 216m) as specific composite climate environment. Here data are shown considering average values of the variables (Efficiency with module temperature and irradiation) for a period of three years (2010-2013). The objective of this study is to determine the best set of parameters such that the regression model used in the study predicts experimental values of the dependent variable (efficiency of PV module) as accurately as possible (i.e. calculated values of efficiency of PV module should be close to experimental values). Here the regression model itself is verified to fit the observed experimental data choosing the correct mathematical form of it. The analysis indicates that both the variables (module temperature and irradiation) can be used to optimize efficiency of PV module for potential commercial applications.