The CO2 laser was used as a multipurpose microsurgical tool. It effectively evacuated cysts, vaporized tumors, coagulated fine blood vessels, abraded and flattened scars and rough tissue, and separated the epidermis from the dermis. Focused and defocused modes were applied to various lesions ranging from cysts to freckles. CO2 laser microsurgery differs from previous methods in that extremely fine and controlled therapy can be conducted with minimal damage to surrounding tissues and organs. Theories, techniques, and several case reports are described.


Fuel cells and metal–air batteries are promising energy storage and conversion devices owing to their ultrahigh theoretical energy density. However, at present, it is still challenging to achieve the super-high energy density in practical applications due to the sluggish electrochemical reaction kinetics on air cathodes, which makes it urgent to exploit high-efficiency electrocatalysts. In the past decade, heteroatom-doped graphene (H-G) materials have drawn extensive attention due to their good catalytic activity, large specific surface area and high electrical conductivity. In this review, we focus on the summary of the latest advances regarding H-G electrocatalysts for air cathode-containing devices, including the synthetic methods of H-G materials and their applications to fuel cells, zinc–air batteries and lithium–air batteries. The working principles and catalytic reaction mechanisms are discussed in detail. Finally, the challenges and perspectives are presented to offer a guideline for the exploration of excellent H-G-based electrocatalysts.


Abstract Consider a distribution of citizens in an urban area in which some services (supermarkets, post offices. . . ) are present. Each citizen, in order to use a service, spends an amount of time which is due both to the travel time to the service and to the queue time waiting in the service. The choice of the service to be used is made by every citizen in order to be served more quickly. Two types of problems can be considered: a global optimization of the total time spent by the citizens of the whole city (we define a global optimum and we study it with techniques from optimal mass transportation) and an individual optimization, in which each citizen chooses the service trying to minimize just his own time expense (we define the concept of equilibrium and we study it with techniques from game theory). In this framework we are also able to exhibit two time-dependent strategies (based on the notions of prudence and memory respectively) which converge to the equilibrium.


The complexity in structure and locomotion of cephalopods, such as the octopus, poses difficulties in modeling and simulation. Their slender arms, being highly agile and dexterous, often involve intense deformations that are hard to simulate accurately, while ensuring numerical stability and low diffusion of the transient motion results. Within the immersedboundary and the finite-volume frameworks, this paper focuses on geometries performing prescribed motions that reflect cephalopod locomotion. Both numerical approaches are used to determine the mesh requirements that must be employed for sufficiently capturing not only the near wall viscous flow but also the off-body vortical flow field in intense forced motions. The objective is to demonstrate and exploit the generality of the immersed boundary approach to complex numerical simulations of deforming geometries. Incorporation of arm deformation appears to increase the output thrust of a single-arm system. It was further found that sculling motion combined with arm undulation is an effective propulsive scheme for a cephalopod-like arm.


ABSTRACT A 31-year-old man had Hodgkin's disease (stage IIA, nodular sclerosis) in apparent remission after radiotherapy. Nine months after the diagnosis of Hodgkin's disease, he developed neoplastic meningitis with eosinophilic pleocytosis and neurologic findings suggestive of peri-fourth ventricle infiltration. Morphologic and surface marker analysis of cerebrospinal fluid cells showed large numbers of Tlymphocytes and Reed-Sternberg variant cells positive for CD 15, the Le x hapten expressed on myeloid cells and on a variety of malignant cells. Therapy with intrathecal methotrexate, oral dexamethasone, and cranial irradiation resulted in prompt resolution of his cerebrospinal fluid abnormalities and neurologic deficits. Ten months after the diagnosis of eosinophilic meningitis, systemic relapse of Hodgkin's disease occurred in right iliac and inguinal lymph nodes. The diagnosis, pathogenesis, and therapy of this unusual complication of Hodgkin's disease are reviewed.


According to the Colorado Constitution: "The general assembly shall provide that after the year eighteen hundred and seventy-six the electors of the electoral college shall be chosen by direct vote of the people." The Colorado Constitution is the only state constitution that guarantees the right to the people to direct election of presidential electors.

In 2019, the general assembly enacted a statute to violate that right. Under the statute, Colorado's presidential electors would not be directly elected by the people of the Colorado. Instead, they would be appointed by a state official. The state official would make the appointment based on votes in other states, rather than on the direct vote of Coloradans.

In other words, even if the majority of the Colorado voters voted for electors pledged to candidate A, the Secretary of State would nevertheless appoint electors pledged to candidate B if candidate B had a plurality of votes nationwide.

Part I of this Article describes constitutional rules for choosing presidential electors, as provided by the U.S. Constitution and the Colorado Constitution.

The Colorado Constitutional rules for electors are contained in the Constitution's Schedule. Part II explains that the Schedule is and always has been a legally enforceable element of the Colorado Constitution. The Schedule's text says so, and so has the Colorado Supreme Court.

Part III examines whether the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (by which Colorado electors would be appointed by a state official) violates the Colorado Constitution guarantee of direct election of the presidential electors. This Article argues the National Popular Vote Compact plainly violates the text of the Colorado Constitution.


In federated learning, heterogeneity among the clients' local datasets results in large variations in the number of local updates performed by each client in a communication round. Simply aggregating such local models into a global model will confine the capacity of the system, that is, the single global model will be restricted from delivering good performance on each client's task. This paper provides a general framework to analyze the convergence of personalized federated learning algorithms. It subsumes previously proposed methods and provides a principled understanding of the computational guarantees. Using insights from this analysis, we propose PFedAtt, a personalized federated learning method that incorporates attention-based grouping to facilitate similar clients' collaborations. Theoretically, we provide the convergence guarantee for the algorithm, and empirical experiments corroborate the competitive performance of PFedAtt on heterogeneous clients.


A computer-aided design procedure for the minimization of multiple-output Boolean functions as encountered in the synthesis of VLSI logic circuits is presented. A fast technique for the determination of essential prime cubes without generating all the prime cubes is among the salient features of the algorithm. A new class of selective prime cubes called valid selective prime cubes is described. This class of prime cubes has proved to be a very powerful tool inasmuch as it guides the algorithm to the minimal set of selective prime cubes while encountering either an independent chain or an interconnected chain of cyclic prime cubes. In many cases, this avoids branching, which is computationally an expensive operation. The algorithm does not generate either the complement or all the prime cubes of the functions. Therefore, it is well suited to minimizing functions with a large complement size and/or a very high number of prime cubes. The algorithm has been implemented in Pascal and evaluated using a large number of programmable logic arrays (PLAs) including those of the Berkeley PLA test set. Results of comparison with ESPRESSO II and McBOOLE indicate that the program produces absolute minimal solutions in most of the cases and near-minimal solutions in a few others. >


The emergence of eusociality ("true sociality") in several insect lineages represents one of the most successful evolutionary adaptations in the animal kingdom in terms of species richness and global biomass. In contrast to solitary insects, eusocial insects evolved a set of unique behavioral and physiological traits such as reproductive division of labor and cooperative brood care, which likely played a major role in their ecological success. The molecular mechanisms that support the social regulation of behavior in eusocial insects, and their evolution, are mostly unknown. The recent whole-genome sequencing of several eusocial insect species set the stage for deciphering the molecular and genetic bases of eusociality, and the possible evolutionary modifications that led to it. Studies of mRNA expression patterns in the brains of diverse eusocial insect species have indicated that specific social behavioral states of individual workers and queens are often associated with particular tissue-specific transcriptional profiles. Here, we discuss recent findings that highlight the role of non-coding microRNAs (miRNAs) in modulating traits associated with reproductive and behavioral divisions of labor in eusocial insects. We provide bioinformatic and phylogenetic data, which suggest that some Hymenoptera-specific miRNA may have contributed to the evolution of traits important for the evolution of eusociality in this group.


The coating of a silica optical fiber with molten tin metal is analyzed rigorously by developing a numerical method based on two- and three-dimensional (2- and 3-D) conduction models. In the analysis, the axial temperature distribution in both the fiber and coating is obtained in terms of the depth the melt and the fiber draw speed. A coating applicator has been designed for tin (Sn) coating and fibers with a coating thickness from 5 to 20 /spl mu/m were fabricated with draw speeds ranging from 50-150 cm/s. The numerical model was found to be in agreement with the experimentally obtained results for various coating conditions and fiber drawing parameters. It is shown that for tin, a low-melting-point metal, the freezing takes place primarily within the coating applicator. As a result of the presence of this "subcoating," additional coating occurs as the fiber leaves the applicator. Since this tin coating is hermetic, a mean failure strength of 8 GPa is measured for these tin-coated fibers by the two-point bending technique rather than the 5.5 GPa normally found for polymer-coated fibers.


We analyze the real option signaling game models of debt financing of a risky project under information asymmetry, where the firm quality is only known to the firm management but not outsiders. The firm decides on the optimal investment timing of the risky project that requires upfront fixed funding cost and subsequent operating costs. The fixed funding cost is financed via either direct bank loan or entering into a three-party equity guarantee swap (EGS) that involves a bank granting the loan and third party guarantor. Under the EGS agreement, the guarantor is obligated to pay all the future coupon stream to the bank upon default of the firm. In return for the provision of the guarantee, the guarantor obtains certain proportional share of equity of the firm at the time when the swap agreement is signed. The share of equity demanded by the guarantor depends on the outside investors' belief on the firm quality. The low-type firm has the incentive to mimic the investment strategy of being high-type in terms of investment timing and share of equity. The high-type firm may adopt the appropriate separating strategy by speeding up investment or choosing an alternative financing choice. The resulting loss of the real option value of the investment opportunity represents the information cost under separating strategies. We examine the incentive compatibility constraints faced by the firm under different quality types and discuss characterization of the separating and pooling equilibriums. Unlike the usual assumption of perpetuity of investment opportunity, our real option model assumes the time window of the investment opportunity to be finite. We explore how the information cost and nature of separating and pooling equilibriums evolves over the finite time span of the investment opportunity. The information costs and investment thresholds exhibit interesting time dependent behaviors. We examine the firm's investment and financing choice between EGS and the direct bank loan against time and other parameters via comparison of the corresponding information costs and investment thresholds.


As in many other fields of science and technology, college students in computer engineering do not come into full contact with the key ideas and challenges of their chosen discipline until the third year of their studies. This situation poses a problem in terms of keeping the students motivated as they labor through their foundational, basic science, and general education coursework. At the University of California, Santa Barbara, the computer engineering program has sought to remedy this problem by offering a required freshman seminar, entitled "ten puzzling problems in computer engineering." This pass/not-pass seminar, which meets once a week and is graded based solely on attendance, introduces the students to some of the most challenging problems faced by computer engineers in their daily professional endeavors and at the frontiers of research. To accomplish this feat in a nontechnical way, these problems are related to popular mathematical and logical puzzles. Each class session (60-75 min) begins by introducing the students to puzzles of a particular kind and letting them participate in formulating solutions. General solution methods for the puzzles are then discussed by the instructor, who then proceeds to demonstrate how the puzzles and their solution strategies are related to real technical challenges in computer engineering. The new one-unit course was well received during its first two offerings in spring 2007 and spring 2008, and its continuation is planned.


The security of food has a direct relationship with consumers' health and safety, which is the most basic material condition for human society's survival and development. In the food market, information asymmetry exists in the entire food supply chain process, and the member companies are in game relationship during the operating process about food safety. The solution to the problem of food depends on the establishment of a reasonable distribution mechanism about food suppliers. Based on game theory, this paper builds and analyzes the profit distribution model of food supply chain and points out that a reasonable profit distribution mechanism plays an important role on the safety of food.


A cross-sectional study was carried out in the Morogoro region, Tanzania, to determine the seroprevalence of canine Leptospira exposure. A total of 232 sera were collected from apparently healthy dogs in Mvomero, Morogoro Urban and Morogoro Rural districts. The microscopic agglutination test (MAT) was performed following standard procedure using panel of six Leptospira serovars. Within the districts, positive reactions against five serovars were detected: Sokoine (4.3%); Pomona (4.3%); Lora (3.0%); Grippotyphosa (2.2%), and Kenya (0.9%). The overall seroprevalence was found to be 9.5%. Male dogs were at significantly greater risk than the female dogs (p 0.05). The growing urbanization, which allows high interaction between different maintenance hosts, may cause infection spill over and consequently a rising prevalence. The presence of Leptospira antibodies suggests that leptospirosis is common in this study area. Therefore, further serological surveys followed by isolation and identification of isolates in this study area and other areas of the country need to be undertaken to report infective serovars in canine population.

 Key words: Seroprevalence, leptospirosis, serovars, epidemiology, dogs.


More and more design researchers and practitioners are expected to design objects that deal not only with the actual but with the imaginary too. Many of them see their practice developing in a reality where alternative facts and fake news complicate any attempts at rationalization. This dissertation attempts to provide a new way of making sense of the real and fictional character of the objects that designers make.

My research question is "What makes design objects real or fictional?" and the research contribution is a design theory of fiction. This research contribution focuses on design researchers and design practitioners. People entangled with the practice of designing. It is structured in three parts:

Part I is called Methodology. It is composed of two chapters. Chapter 1, Path, first develops the ethos that grounds this research endeavor. A description of the rationale and research questions of this research program follows. Then, I proceed to review the methods that have informed my research process and give an account on what a design theory is as opposed to a theory of design. Finally, I argue for the need to deploy a metaphysical workshop where ideas can be built and tested before venturing into theorizing. I call the metaphysical workshop Milieu and, in Chapter 2, I proceed to give a comprehensive description of it.

Part II is called Insight. There is only one chapter in this part and it is called Object. In this chapter I explore and critically analyze all the design objects that I have produced or been part of producing for the last three years. It is structured according to what I have called 'metaphysical probes': research efforts trying to understand what makes design objects real or fictional. Each metaphysical probe is structured by a design event that lead to a final design object. After explaining what each metaphysical probe examines, the design event that served as its vehicle and the final design object that resulted, I reflect on the insights gained.

Part III is called Theory. This is where I develop a design theory of fiction by applying the conceptual tools from Part I to the insights from Part II. There are two chapters in this part. Transitional is the name of Chapter 4 and it is where I develop a set of intermediary concepts that will help me in making a number of arguments in Chapter 5. They are three design theoretical concepts: a principle (Ontoference), an operation (Deswing) and a design object (Offject). In Chapter 5, Induction, I mobilize these transitionals to give an account on real and fictional objects, their interactions, their effects and their influence on each other. Also, I provide a genealogy of the design object of speculation as it has been commonly understood in design. Finally, I rely on my design theory to position myself within three debates that designers dealing with speculative objects normally face: on design objects as props, on make-believe and on fictional worlds.


This paper considers the asymptotic
efficiency of the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) for the Box-Cox
transformation model with heteroscedastic disturbances. The MLE under the
normality assumption (BC MLE) is a consistent and asymptotically efficient
estimator if the "small " condition is satisfied and the number of parameters
is finite. However, the BC MLE cannot be asymptotically efficient and its rate
of convergence is slower than ordinal order when the number of parameters goes
to infinity. Anew consistent estimator of order is proposed. One important
implication of this study is that estimation methods should be carefully chosen
when the model contains many parameters in actual empirical studies.


Edited by William B. Bean, M.D.* On more than one occasion I have commented upon the fact that the capacity of the human mind to deceive itself knows hardly any limit. Perhaps this is only just less cynical than Mencken's hard but shrewd statement that "Nobody ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the American public." Human nature being what it is, the history of mankind reveals that people who want to help their fellow man deceive himself have always been in ample supply. Some even sense a surfeit. The Golden Age of Quackery deals with a phenomenon of self-delusion in the United States which, though not by any means extinguished, passed its high point during the first decade of the present century. Morris Fishbein and many others have waged an effective campaign to expose frauds, quacks, nostrums, and fakes of various kinds. Though diploma mills still operate, "doctors"


[1] We quantify the correlation between spatial patterns of aftershock hypocenter locations and the distribution of coseismic slip and stress drop on a main shock fault plane using two nonstandard statistical tests. Test T1 evaluates if aftershock hypocenters are located in low-slip regions (hypothesis H1), test T2 evaluates if aftershock hypocenters occur in regions of increased shear stress (hypothesis H2). In the tests, we seek to reject the null hypotheses H0: Aftershock hypocenters are not correlated with (1) low-slip regions or (2) regions of increased shear stress, respectively. We tested the hypotheses on four strike-slip events for which multiple earthquake catalogs and multiple finite fault source models of varying accuracy exist. Because we want to retain earthquake clustering as the fundamental feature of aftershock seismicity, we generate slip distributions using a random spatial field model and derive the stress drop distributions instead of generating seismicity catalogs. We account for uncertainties in the aftershock locations by simulating them within their location error bounds. Our findings imply that aftershocks are preferentially located in regions of low-slip (u ≤ umax) and of increased shear stress (Δσ < 0). In particular, the correlation is more significant for relocated than for general network aftershock catalogs. However, the results show that stress drop patterns provide less information content on aftershock locations. This implies that static shear stress change of the main shock may not be the governing process for aftershock genesis.


This paper argues that, both in the natural and life sciences and in the social sciences, we urgently need to develop a trans-disciplinary approach to environmental problems which does away with the presumed differences between "cultural" and "natural" processes. This may usefully be achieved by drawing upon the conceptual apparatus provided by the "Complex Systems" approach. In such a "socio-natural" perspective, the key concept is resilience (rather than sustainability). The resilience of socio-natural systems is in many situations dependent on the capacity of the human societies involved to process in the time available all the information necessary to deal effectively with the complex dynamics of the system as a whole. The paper then sketches how human institutions may be conceived of as self-organising, information processing, flow-structures. It then asks how the dynamics of these affect the resilience of a socio-natural system, and defines a number of parameters that may be used to gauge that resilience. The first group of these concerns all the external parameters of a disturbance, and the second those that relate to the reactivity of the system to such a disturbance. The paper ends with a brief outline of an example Ð the study of two successive crises in the Comtat area in France, one century apart. In the first crisis, the area was very resilient, and in the second it was not. The paper points to a number of the interacting factors that may be held accountable for the difference in response.


Background: Osteoblast apoptosis induced by oxidative stress plays a crucial role in the development and progression of osteoporosis. Curcumin, a natural antioxidant isolated from Curcuma longa, has highly protective effects against osteoporosis. However, the effects of curcumin on oxidative stress-induced osteoblast apoptosis remain unclear. This study aimed to explore the effect of curcumin on hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) induced osteoblast apoptosis and the underlying mechanisms. Methods: An osteoblastic cell line (Saos-2) was exposed to various concentrations of H2O2 with or without curcumin treatment. Cell viability was evaluated by MTT assays. The apoptosis rate was analyzed by flow cytometry and TUNEL assays. Mitochondrial ROS and membrane potential were determined using a fluorescence microscope. Mitochondrial respiratory enzyme activity was measured using a spectrophotometer. Protein levels were detected by western blotting. Results: Curcumin was cytoprotective because it greatly improved the viability of Saos-2 cells exposed to H2O2 and attenuated H2O2-induced apoptosis. Curcumin treatment also preserved the mitochondrial redox potential, decreased the mitochondrial oxidative status, and improved the mitochondrial membrane potential and functions. Furthermore, curcumin treatment markedly increased levels of phosphorylated protein kinase B (Akt) and phosphorylated glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK3β). Conclusion: Curcumin administration ameliorates oxidative stress-induced apoptosis in osteoblasts by preserving mitochondrial functions and activation of Akt-GSK3β signaling. These data provide experimental evidence supporting the clinical use of curcumin for prevention or treatment of osteoporosis.


This study presents a thermo-electric model to implement the energy management system (EMS) of an off-grid system. The EMS is formulated as a unit commitment problem where thermal and electrical components are dispatched simultaneously to minimise system operation costs. Particular attention is paid to the operation of heat pumps. The model contemplates a variable coefficient of performance (COP) of heat pumps. COP is different for the cold water and hot water circuit and depends on the output temperatures of the heat pump and the heat pump operation mode. Furthermore, the heat pumps' ability to switch operation modes is also considered as well as the limitation of heat pumps to operate when hot water thermal energy storage is nearly full. The developed model has been successfully applied to an existing off-grid system at Norvento Enerxia's headquarters in Spain by simulating its operation during a winter week. The impact of modelling multi-mode operation of heat pumps with variable COP has been compared with single-mode operations with either fixed or variable COP. The proposed integrated approach of solving the electrical and thermal dispatch simultaneously has also been compared with a sequential resolution of first the thermal and then the electrical dispatch.


Deleterious mutations in the serine hydrolase DDHD domain containing 1 (DDHD1) cause the SPG28 subtype of the neurological disease hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP), which is characterized by axonal neuropathy and gait impairments. DDHD1 has been shown to display PLA1-type phospholipase activity with a preference for phosphatidic acid. However, the endogenous lipid pathways regulated by DDHD1 in vivo remain poorly understood. Here we use a combination of untargeted and targeted metabolomics to compare the lipid content of brain tissue from DDHD1+/+ and DDHD1-/- mice, revealing that DDHD1 inactivation causes a substantial decrease in the level of polyunsaturated lysophosphatidylinositol (LPI) lipids and a corresponding increase in the level of phosphatidylinositol (PI) lipids. Levels of other phospholipids were mostly unchanged, with the exception of decreases in the levels of select polyunsaturated lysophosphatidylserine (LPS) and lysophosphatidylcholine lipids and a striking remodeling of PI phosphates (e.g., PIP and PIP2) in DDHD1-/- brain tissue. Biochemical assays confirmed that DDHD1 hydrolyzes PI/PS to LPI/LPS with sn-1 selectivity and accounts for a substantial fraction of the PI/PS lipase activity in mouse brain tissue. These data indicate that DDHD1 is a principal regulator of bioactive LPI and other lysophospholipids, as well as PI phosphates, in the mammalian nervous system, pointing to a potential role for these lipid pathways in HSP.


Komatiites are found in most Archean granite-greenstone terranes, but sulfide Ni mineralization associated with these rocks has a very biased distribution. The global endowment of sulfides Ni in Archean komatiites is overwhelmingly dominated by the Kalgoorlie terrane of the Eastern Goldfields Superterrane in the Yilgarn Craton. The question of whether the Kalgoorlie terrane komatiites possess any exceptional attributes which could explain this bias is addressed through an exhaustive compilation of geochemical data from this terrane and a number of others: the southeastern Youanmi terrane of the Yilgarn Craton; the eastern terranes of the Eastern Goldfields superterrane (Kurnalpi, Burtville and others); and the Abitibi greenstone belt of the Superior province.

High MgO komatiite magmas, with MgO in the 25 to 30% range, are found in all the terranes sampled, but the proportion of these compositions appears to be higher in the Kalgoorlie terrane, and the abundance of strongly adcumulate olivine cumulates is much higher. Crustal contamination is apparently more extensive and advanced in the Kalgoorlie terrane than in all the others, but there is no systematic difference in the lithophile trace element (LILE) characteristics and degree of source depletion evident in the most primitive magmas from all the terranes. Consideration of variable-valency transition metals V and Cr indicates there are no systematic variations in oxidation state between the terranes and komatiites uniformly evolved close to the quartz-fayalite-magnetite buffer. Platinum-group element (PGE) variations imply that komatiites in all the terranes were emplaced sulfide undersaturated and were derived from sources with remarkably similar PGE contents. There is no evidence that the Kalgoorlie terrane magmas were in any way exceptional.

The Forrestania and Lake Johnston Belts of the Youanmi terrane include the only known examples of Al-depleted komatiites hosting significant Ni sulfide resources, and they are also the only komatiites of this type that form adcumulate dunite bodies. The presence of adcumulate dunites, formed by high magma fluxes in central conduits, is the common feature between these belts and the Kalgoorlie terrane. Coupled with evidence for higher degrees of contamination in the Kalgoorlie terrane, and the availability of accessible crustal S sources, it appears that magma flux, rather than primitive magma composition, is the critical factor, and that craton-scale deep lithospheric structure is the ultimate control on the rate of magma supply between mantle source and crustal emplacement site. The Kalgoorlie terrane komatiites were emplaced at exceptionally high rates, giving rise to well-developed long-lived magma conduits, either lava tubes or subvolcanic channelized sills, which are interpreted to be the essential condition for forming large deposits.


A metaheuristic is a consistent set of ideas, concepts, and operators to design a heuristic optimization algorithm, that can provide a sufficiently good solution to an optimization problem with incomplete or imperfect information. Modern and emerging power systems, with the growing complexity of distributed and intermittent generation, are an important application for such methods. This book describes the principles of solving various problems in power engineering via the application of selected metaheuristic optimization methods including genetic algorithms, particle swarm optimization, and the gravitational search algorithm. Applications covered include power flow calculation; optimal power flow in transmission networks; optimal reactive power dispatch in transmission networks; combined economic and emission dispatch; optimal power flow in distribution networks; optimal volt/var control in distribution networks; optimal placement and sizing of distributed generation in distribution networks; optimal energy and operation management of microgrids; optimal coordination of directional overcurrent relays; and steady-state analysis of self-excited induction generators.


CD34 is a transmembrane phosphoglycoprotein, first identified on hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. Clinically, it is associated with the selection and enrichment of hematopoietic stem cells for bone marrow transplants. Due to these historical and clinical associations, CD34 expression is almost ubiquitously related to hematopoietic cells, and it is a common misconception that CD34‐positive (CD34+) cells in nonhematopoietic samples represent hematopoietic contamination. The prevailing school of thought states that multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) do not express CD34. However, strong evidence demonstrates CD34 is expressed not only by MSC but by a multitude of other nonhematopoietic cell types including muscle satellite cells, corneal keratocytes, interstitial cells, epithelial progenitors, and vascular endothelial progenitors. In many cases, the CD34+ cells represent a small proportion of the total cell population and also indicate a distinct subset of cells with enhanced progenitor activity. Herein, we explore common traits between cells that express CD34, including associated markers, morphology and differentiation potential. We endeavor to highlight key similarities between CD34+ cells, with a focus on progenitor activity. A common function of CD34 has yet to be elucidated, but by analyzing and understanding links between CD34+ cells, we hope to be able to offer an insight into the overlapping properties of cells that express CD34. Stem Cells 2014;32:1380–1389


The COVID-19 pandemic has renewed a global discussion of the importance of schools and teachers for supporting children social and emotional learning. Policymakers, school administrators, and teachers are working to reconceptualise approaches to teaching and learning that help students develop skills for setting goals, managing behaviour, and building relationships, within and beyond the classroom. In order for education systems to truly develop the broad set of competencies young people need to thrive socially, academically, and professionally, students need to develop a range of social and emotional skills. Social and emotional skills help us to handle our impulses, manage and speak about emotions, and build healthy relationships. After the mass trauma caused by the pandemic, we all need these skills more than ever. But how can we increase social and emotional skills in children throughout the globe in a systematic way? HundrED and The LEGO Foundation have partnered in this Spotlight project to identify impactful and scalable solutions that help parents and educators support the development of children's social and emotional skills.


Space-time adaptive processing (STAP) has become a major research topic in the past decade. Applications are in the areas of clutter suppression for moving radar, mitigation terrain scattered jamming, and jammer rejection in broadband radar. The fundamentals are well understood, however, implementation in radar requires additional effort. There are several specific aspects which are currently under research. Some of them are presented in this paper.


at creating a meeting point of researchers and practitioners that addresses new challenges in geospatial data sens -ing, observation, representation, processing, visualisation, sharing and managing, in all aspects concerning both information and communications technologies (ICTs) as well as management information systems and knowledge-based systems. The


The inside-out ceramic turbine (ICT), a novel microturbine rotor architecture, uses monolithic ceramic turbine blades held in compression by a rotating structural shroud instead of traditional superalloy turbine blades in order to increase its maximum turbine inlet temperature (TIT) and cycle efficiency. Previous work has shown that this microturbine architecture has potential to be viable for long-term operation in normal operating conditions. However, foreign object damage (FOD) has been a major concern for ceramic turbine rotor past development efforts, and its effects on the ICT ceramic turbine blades lifespan have not been studied thus far.
 An experimental approach was used to characterize the effect of the ICT configuration on ceramic turbine blade impact resistance: spherical steel impactors were fired towards silicon nitride specimens simulating blade boundary conditions for both traditional and inside-out turbine layouts. Preload levels ranging from 100 MPa to 400 MPa were applied on the inside-out layout specimens to determine its effect on impact resistance.
 Results indicate that the inside-out turbine configuration increases the resistance to FOD over a traditional turbine configuration. For the specific conditions of this study, the specimens resisted to over five times the impactor energy when fixed at both ends. Also, results show that applying a higher compression preload on the specimens helps to resist higher energy impacts by about 50% when far from the buckling limit.


Despite their presence in Italian football stadiums, the UltraS have been the subject of limited empirical research. I use the capital S to identify neo-fascist oriented fans to distinguish them from the wider football supporters ultra' (Testa and Armstrong 2008; Testa 2009; Testa and Armstrong 2010a). This study is part of a series of publications to fill in this lacuna; it is part of an ethnographic research project carried out from 2003 to 2009. The research aimed to analyze the UltraS social world using as a sample two hardcore subculture of fans at the two main Rome football clubs AS Roma and SS Lazio. With neo-fascist sympathies, these groups -the Boys at Roma and the Irriducibili at Lazioare political and well-organized (Testa and Armstrong, 2010a). The present paper focuses on the relationship between the UltraS and the Italian media; the media are often considered by the UltraS as enemies because believed to be biased against them. To complement the ethnographic data, three renowned Italian sports journalists were interviewed in 2008. One was Franco Arturi, deputy director of La Gazzetta dello Sport, which is the most established and popular of the Italian sport newspapers. Another was Giuseppe Tassi, a sport journalist and deputy director of Quotidiano.net (internet edition of the Resto del Carlino, La Nazione and Il Giorno editorial group). The third was Gabriele Marcotti, journalist for the British The Times and the popular Italian daily IL Corriere dello Sport. Analysis stresses the importance of media coverage in influencing the UltraS deviant dynamics and suggests, considering the experiences of other European countries, a reduction of media attention towards the UltraS as a strategy to contain this phenomenon.


This paper provides a cooperative as well as a non-cooperative analysis of weighted majority games. The cooperative solution concept introduced here, the Stable Demand Set, yields a meaningful selection within the Mas-Colell Bargaining Set, it contains the Core, it eliminates the "dominated" coalition structures, and has sharp implications for weighted majority games: for such games it is non-empty, it predicts a unique stable demand vector for every homogeneous representation, and every agent within the winning coalition is expected to obtain a payoff share proportional to her relative bargaining power. The set of stable demand vectors coincides with the set of balanced aspirations defined in Bennet (1983), but it is obtained in the space of individually rational payoff configurations, rather than restricting attention to the aspirations domain. I then define two different kinds of non-cooperative coalitional bargaining games, showing that the set of Symmetric Stationary Subgame Perfect Equilibria of one of them, and the set of Subgame Perfect Equilibria of the other, have a one-to-one correspondence with the Stable Demand Set for homogeneous weighted majority games.


The last few years have seen the emergence of several open access (OA) options in scholarly communication, which can be grouped broadly into two areas referred to as gold and green roads. Several recent studies have shown how large the extent of OA is, but there have been few studies showing the impact of OA in the visibility of journals covering all scientific fields and geographical regions. This research presents a series of informative analyses providing a broad overview of the degree of proliferation of OA journals in a data sample of about 17,000 active journals indexed in Scopus. This study shows a new approach to scientific visibility from a systematic combination of four databases: Scopus, the Directory of Open Access Journals, Rights Metadata for Open Archiving © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Pattern Recognition Principle Theoretical Model of Mind-Brain Functioning Gilberto de Paiva Abstract: The Computational Theory of Mind and the Connectionist Neural Model are actually the dominant cognitive models in the scientific community. But there is still a discussion about their compatibility as the basis of Cognitive Science. A more fundamental explanation of this two leading cognitive mechanisms in physical basis can give a better explanation of the mind and brain phenomena. I propose the concepts of PATTERN RECOGNITION-PROCESSING-LEARNING as NECESSARY AND SUF- FICIENT PRINCIPLE to build a solid foundation of cognitive science. This encloses a general body-mind, physical, psychological, neural, functional and computational reductionist explanation of the mind cognitive phenomena. Supporting arguments are: 1- Pattern recognition is a necessary principle for cognitive science. It is a key process in many different scientific areas, but no cognitive science model takes it formally for a general brain-mind theory. 2- The equivalence of the physical-neural-computational mechanisms of pattern recognition as the basis of the cognitive phenomena in performing all cognitive functions (sensory, memory, learning, processing, logical, feeling, emotions, thought, consciousness, etc) , which are here demonstrated. 3- I also propose some key biological cognitive processes and strategies strictly related to pattern recognition processing. 4- A definitional-explicative modeling building theory is also shown giving simple, understandable and unambiguous definitions and scientific explanation of most key cognitive concepts like thinking, self and consciousness. Such a theory is of fundamental importance because those type of cognitive concepts lacks even a reasonable definition. With a scientific-objective definitions we can evaluate, compare and estimate its consistency and also propose experimental and empirical experiments. As an example I suggest one preliminary definition of self-consciousness as: "the recognition by the pattern recognition system of the patterns of its own activity". 5- A mathematical-logical formalism study of cognitive pattern recognition is here proposed as theoretical basis. Here a general formal definition of pattern recognition is proposed in the cognitive science scope. 6- With this theoretical formulation we are able to include other cognitive properties to any basic definition as far as needed, demonstrating it as a solid and promising theory. As any candidate as a complete theory of cognitive science, this model allow us to reinterpret all branches of human reasoning, including the philosophy and foundations of science and the human understanding of the universe. With the promising applied pattern recognition technology already in development, this model could help to give some directions to artificial intelligence and also neurobiology and psychology-sociology research.


The purpose of this study was to develop a draft standard model of corporate social reporting, which ensures the disclosure of risks in the activities of oil and gas companies, considering the interests of various groups of stakeholders. The current study covered a retrospective of many studies conducted by international and public organizations for the period from 2015 to 2020, which made it possible to identify issues and trends in disclosure, the relevance of the information for stakeholders, and prospects for standardizing approaches. Taking these results into account, the study developed an approach that considers the level of influence and interests of different stakeholders, based on the proven postulates that shareholders and investors have the greatest influence and interests in the company; state and local authorities have the strongest influence on the company but have low interests in its business activities; residents and society have high interests, but the least impact on the company. The finding of this study is a developed risk-oriented model for disclosing sustainable development indicators in corporate reporting of the oil and gas industry which is proposed for further adaptation and implementation at Petrolimex in Vietnam.


The first main topic of this thesis is the thorough analysis of two families of piecewise linear maps on the unit interval, the α-Luroth and α-Farey maps. Here, α denotes a countably infinite partition of the unit interval whose atoms only accumulate at the origin. The basic properties of these maps will be developed, including that each α-Luroth map (denoted Lα ) gives rise to a series expansion of real numbers in [0,1], a certain type of Generalised Luroth Series. The first example of such an expansion was given by Luroth. The map Lα is the jump transformation of the corresponding α-Farey map Fα . The maps Lα and Fα share the same relationship as the classical Farey and Gauss maps which give rise to the continued fraction expansion of a real number. We also consider the topological properties of Fα and some Diophantine-type sets of numbers expressed in terms of the α-Luroth expansion. Next we investigate certain ergodic-theoretic properties of the maps Lα and Fα . It will turn out that the Lebesgue measure λ is invariant for every map Lα and that there exists a unique Lebesgue-absolutely continuous invariant measure for Fα . We will give a precise expression for the density of this measure. Our main result is that both Lα and Fα are exact, and thus ergodic. The interest in the invariant measure for Fα lies in the fact that under a particular condition on the underlying partition α , the invariant measure associated to the map Fα is infinite. Then we proceed to introduce and examine the sequence of α-sum-level sets arising from the α-Luroth map, for an arbitrary given partition α . These sets can be written dynamically in terms of Fα . The main result concerning the α-sum-level sets is to establish weak and strong renewal laws. Note that for the Farey map and the Gauss map, the analogue of this result has been obtained by Kessebohmer and Stratmann. There the results were derived by using advanced infinite ergodic theory, rather than the strong renewal theorems employed here. This underlines the fact that one of the main ingredients of infinite ergodic theory is provided by some delicate estimates in renewal theory. Our final main result concerning the α-Luroth and α-Farey systems is to provide a fractalgeometric description of the Lyapunov spectra associated with each of the maps Lα and Fα . The Lyapunov spectra for the Farey map and the Gauss map have been investigated in detail by Kessebohmer and Stratmann. The Farey map and the Gauss map are non-linear, whereas the systems we consider are always piecewise linear. However, since our analysis is based on a large family of different partitions of U , the class of maps which we consider in this paper allows us to detect a variety of interesting new phenomena, including that of phase transitions. Finally, we come to the conformal systems of the title. These are the limit sets of discrete subgroups of the group of isometries of the hyperbolic plane. For these so-called Fuchsian groups, our first main result is to establish the Hausdorff dimension of some Diophantine-type sets contained in the limit set that are similar to those considered for the maps Lα . These sets are then used in our second main result to analyse the more geometrically defined strict-Jarnik limit set of a Fuchsian group. Finally, we obtain a "weak multifractal spectrum" for the Patterson measure associated to the Fuchsian group.


Chicken is a main poultry in China. Molecular breeding for disease resistance plays an important role in the control of diseases, especially infectious diseases. Choice of genes for disease resistance is the key technology of molecular breeding. The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is of great interest to poultry breeding scientists for its extraordinary polymorphism and close relation with traits of resistance against infectious diseases. The MHC-B haplotype plays an important role in the study of disease resistance in chicken. The traditional chicken MHC-B haplotype is commonly defined by serologic reactions of erythrocytes and the majority of studies have been conducted in Leghorn and broiler but study about other chicken breeds is little. In this study, firstly, the microsatellite marker LEI0258 which is located within the MHC was sequenced by using target sequence capture assay in different chicken breeds, and then according to the number of repeated structures and polymorphic sequences in microsatellite, sequence information for the region defined by LEI0258 was obtained for different haplotypes. Afterwards, we identified the relation between MHC-B haplotypes and disease resistance. Collectively, these observed results provided the reference data for disease-resistant breeding association with blood type and for further study of MHC gene function in poultry.


This study of exploratory-description type, developed in a quantitative approach with the objectives to identify, in the results of the Project of International Classification on the Nursing Practice in Community Health ("CIPESC" in Portuguese), which could be used by nurses in the care of AIDS carriers, and for confirming this use in the professional nursing practice. Of the 2.754 identified nursing actions in CIPESC Project, 157 were designated as being possible for using it with AIDS carriers. The results of the study pointed to the usage of all of the 157 actions by the nurses. Those actions are, in the majority, in the concepts: assisting (86), informing (25), managing (19), observing (17) and performing (10).


The boundary element method is a numerical technique which consists of sub– dividing the boundary of the body into a series of discrete elements, over which the function can vary.This technique offers important advantages over domain type solutions such as finite elements and finite differences.One of the most important features of this method is the much smaller system of equations and the considerable reduction in data required to run a program. Furthermore, the method is well–suited to problems with an infinite domain.Boundary element methods can be formulated using two different approaches called the 'direct' and the 'indirect' methods.
In this thesis, the direct and indirect boundary element methods have been used for the calculation of the compressible fluid flow around arbitrary bodies.The results obtained using boundary element methods have been compared with analytical solutions.These methods have been implemented with the help of computer programming using FORTRAN 77.
In chapter (1), statement of the problem, literature survey and brief description of the method of solution are discussed.In chapter (2) the fundamental equations for compressible fluid are given and in chapter (3) mathematical formulation of the equation for inviscid compressible fluid flow is given.In chapter (4) the constitutive equations for the boundary element methods for the interior and exterior domains are derived, and in chapter (5) the various types of boundary elements, the matrix formulation for the equation of the direct method.The numerical evaluation of the integrals over an element and the solution of the resultant system of equations are discussed.In chapter (6) the direct and indirect boundary element methods are applied to the three – dimensional potential flow problems and the comparisons of the analytical and computed results are presented.In chapter (7) both the direct and indirect boundary element methods have been used to calculate two dimensional inviscid compressible flow past a symmetric and Joukowski aerofoils.It has been seen that the computed results in all the above mentioned cases are in good agreement with the analytical results. Finally, conclusions and suggestions for future work are given at the end.


Iron-based Fischer–Tropsch synthesis provides a promising alternative as a direct and non-petroleum route for producing olefins from syngas (CO + H2). In general, a promoter is required to regulate the activity and olefin selectivity, and the major challenges come from catalyst deactivation due to carbon deposition and sintering under drastic reaction conditions (340 °C, high pressure). In this study, we show a totally different strategy for solving these problems. We find that the originally large spherical Fe2O3 particles of around 120 nm assisted by graphene without an additional promoter can gradually evolve during the FTS reaction, forming much smaller cylindrical Hagg carbide nanocapsules of about 10 nm with a single (510) crystal facet, that display excellent activity nearly 40 times that of the unmodified one, olefin selectivity of 76% (84% if methane is not considered) and high stability. In contrast, the original Fe2O3 catalyst and carbon-containing polymer material (e.g. PAA, PVP)-modified Fe2O3 catalysts exhibit significantly lower selectivity for olefins and higher selectivity for methane and deactivate rapidly. Different from the above-mentioned peculiar evolution of iron particles, the iron particles over these spent catalysts aggregate into larger ones having multiple crystal facets, e.g. χ-Fe5C2 (510), and χ-Fe5C2 (−202), and at the same time serious carbon deposition is observed, which mainly accounts for catalyst deactivation. In the case of activated carbon and carbon nanofiber supported iron catalysts with initially small iron particles below 10 nm, irregular morphology and multiple crystal facets of iron carbides are also observed over the spent catalysts. DFT calculations demonstrate that the χ-Fe5C2 (510) crystal facet is more active and favorable for the formation of olefins than the χ-Fe5C2 (−202) crystal facet, which is well in accordance with our experimental results. The presented methodology provides a new strategy to control the morphology and crystal facet of iron carbide during the catalytic reaction for solving the toughest problems in heterogeneous catalysis.


A long debate in negotiation research concerns the question of whether gender differences in the propensity to initiate negotiations, in behaviors shown during negotiations, and in negotiation performance actually exist. Whereas past negotiation research suggested that women are less likely to initiate negotiations than men, a recent study by Artz et al. (2018) seems to suggest that women are as likely as men to "ask" for higher pay. However, this finding by Artz et al. (2018) was obtained once the number of weekly hours worked was added as a covariate in the statistical analysis. Following extant work, we suggest that the number of weekly hours worked could be—and, from a theoretical stand-point, perhaps should be—considered a mediator of gender differences. Conducting a Monte Carlo analysis based on the results and statistics provided by Artz et al. (2018) also yielded empirical evidence suggesting that weekly hours could be a mediator. Thus, women may be less likely than men to ask for higher pay, among other potential reasons, because they work fewer weekly hours. Based on this alternative conceptualization of the role of weekly hours, our commentary has theoretical implications for the understanding of gender differences in the propensity to initiate negotiations and practical implications for the effective reduction of gender inequalities.


One sentence abstract Immune modulation by metabolites in plant fungus interaction Abstract Extracellular adenosine 5′-triphosphate (eATP) is an essential signaling molecule that mediates different cellular processes through its interaction with membrane-associated receptor proteins in animals and plants. eATP regulates plant growth, development and responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. Its accumulation in the apoplast induces ROS production and cytoplasmic calcium increase mediating a defense response to invading microbes. We demonstrate that perception of eATP is important in plant-fungus interaction and that during colonization by the beneficial root endophyte Serendipita indica accumulation of eATP in the apoplast occurs at early symbiotic stages. We show by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, cytological and functional analysis that S. indica subvert eATP host response by secreting SiE5'NT, an enzymatically active ecto-5′nucleotidase capable of hydrolyzing eATP to adenosine. A. thaliana lines producing extracellular SiE5'NT are signi?cantly better colonized and have reduced eATP levels and defense signaling, indicating that SiE5'NT functions as a compatibility factor. Our data show that extracellular bioactive nucleotides play an important role in fungus-root interactions and that fungi can modify plant derived metabolites in the apoplast to modulate host immunity.


Vocabulary is really needed by the learners in studying a foreign language because it is an important element to communicate in the target language. Learners will easily use English either actively or passively if they have many vocabularies in their mind. It makes them understand more easily whatthe speakers say and what they will say.
Therefore, vocabulary mastery has an important role in learning English. The more the learners build it, the more easily they will learn.
The objectives of this study were 1) to know the techniques used by the teacher in teaching English vocabulary at Non Formal Education Package C Program Dau Malang, 2) and to know the reasons of choosing such techniques in teaching English vocabulary at Non Formal Education Package C Program Dau Malang.
The design of this study was descriptive research that took an English reacher at non formal education Package C Program Dau Malang as a reseach subject. In collecting the data, the researcher used two kinds of instruments: interview and observation.
The finding showed that the techniques used in teaching English vocabulary were visual, illustrative situation, synonim and definition, example of type, translation and contextual guesswork.
In applying the teachniques, the teacher had her own reasons. She used Visual technique, it made ger easy to deliver the materials and teaching concept. So the materials could be mastered soon. The teacher used Illustrative Situation technique too because she thought that with this technique, the students could be closer with their environment. So the learning could be meaningful. IT motivated the students to master the environmental situation in learrning process. She also used Synonym and Definition technique in teaching English vocabulary to make the students master English vocabulary more and used synosym and definition in learning vocabulary. Besides, she used Translation technique because she expected that the students could really understand the English vocabulary. She alse used Example of the Type technique in teaching vocabulary because this technique was considered able to prevent verbalism and enabled the students to really understand the materials. Contextual guesswork was alse used because this technique was appropriate to make the students learn to master English vocabulary learning. It was also expected that learning while working would make learning more meaningful.


Moral values as commonsense norms shape our everyday individual and community behavior. The possibility to extract moral attitude rapidly from natural language is an appealing perspective that would enable a deeper understanding of social interaction dynamics and the individual cognitive and behavioral dimension. In this work we focus on detecting moral content from natural language and we test our methods on a corpus of tweets previously labeled as containing moral values or violations, according to Moral Foundation Theory. We develop and compare two different approaches: (i) a frame-based symbolic value detector based on knowledge graphs and (ii) a zero-shot machine learning model fine-tuned on a task of Natural Language Inference (NLI) and a task of emotion detection. The final outcome from our work consists in two approaches meant to perform without the need for prior training process on a moral value detection task.


ABSTRACT Users' participation in news media websites has attracted great attention by academia in recent years. Nevertheless, studies about participatory journalism have traditionally been focused on the study of the participatory options offered by news media, or the attitudes of journalists towards the participatory options offered to the users. Just in recent years research started to be focused on the users themselves and their attitudes towards being involved in online participatory practices. This research presents the findings of a qualitative study based on focus groups conducted in Spain about citizens' attitudes in relation to the participatory options offered by news media websites. Results point towards a general critique about how news media are implementing online participation, despite being news media websites "natural" online environments to foster participatory energies and the main spaces where citizens gather information about public issues. Focus groups also showed a minor interest in options of content production or content personalization, together with a higher demand for suitable spaces for public debate and interaction with journalists or the newsroom.


As we enter the 21st century, we confront three global challenges that can be resolved only with forefront science and technology: growing demands for energy, the adverse effects of climate change, and emerging threats to national and global security. Materials science is critical to the fields of research, development, and application that are essential to meeting these challenges. The increasing globalization of scientific research and technology development presents its own challenges at the national level, but also opens the way to new opportunities for fruitful collaboration in materials science.


Hemodynamic studies were made in 42 patients with rheumatic heart disease with various valvular lesions and in different stages of cardiac function. These studies include observations not only at rest, but also during exercise, following the acute administration of Digoxin, and after recovery from failure. The relationship between symptomatology and hemodynamic findings were considered and the importance of differentiating between mechanical block and left ventricular myocardial failure as causes for pulmonary artery hypertension is stressed.


It has been recently demonstrated that yttrium oxyhydride(YHO) films can exhibit reversible photochromic properties when exposed to illumination at ambient conditions. This switchable optical propertyenables their utilization in many technological applications, such as smart windows, sensors, goggles, medical devices, etc. However, how the composition of the films affects their optical properties is not fully clear and therefore demands a straightforward investigation. In this work, the composition of YHO films manufactured by reactive magnetron sputtering under different conditions is deduced in a ternary diagram from Time-of-Flight Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis (ToF-ERDA). The results suggest that stable compounds are formed with a specificchemical formula – YH2-δOδ. In addition, optical and electrical properties of the films are investigated, and a correlation with their compositions is established. The corresponding photochromic response is found in a specific oxygen concentration range (0.45 < δ < 1.5) with maximum and minimum of magnitude on the lower and higher border, respectively.


Sonography of the neck and face is highly suited for confirming visible, palpable or generally tentative findings. A method of performing a systematic examination will be described in detail and followed by numerous examples descriptive of soft tissue pathologies of the face, salivary glands and lymph nodes. The thyroid gland will be dealt with in a different report. The criterion that applied to all masses was that it was only possible to render a tentative diagnosis to be subsequently confirmed by sonography-guided fine-needle aspiration. Histological follow-up, however, was never excluded. If a finding could not be narrowed down by sonography, the next step was to use computerized or nuclear magnetic resonance imaging.


During an attempt to decrease the toxicity of industrial waste (soil) from a chloralkali factory by blue-green algae, the effect of the waste soil mixed in varying proportions with garden soil, on biochemical variables was studied. The nucleic acid, protein and free amino acid content of the algae decreased significantly with increasing time and waste soil concentration. The algae accumulated a substantial amount of mercury from the medium depending on the duration of algal growth and waste soil concentration. An increase in RNA/DNA and a decrease in the ratio of protein/RNA and protein/free amino acids was observed.


In the present study we assessed the effects of Cu supplementation and antler growth stage on mineral composition of serum and hard antler in red deer fed a balanced diet. Correlations between minerals were analysed for serum, for antlers, and between serum versus mature antler. Blood samples were drawn at Days –36, 54, 132 and 197 of the start of antler growth (SAG). Hard antlers were cut at Day 165 from SAG. The Cu supplemented group (n = 9) was injected with 0.83 mg Cu/kg of bodyweight, whereas the control group (n = 9) was injected with a physiological saline solution, both every 42 days between Days –36 (Cu supplied after blood sampling) and 132 from SAG. Supplementation with Cu increased (P < 0.05) the contents of P and Cu in serum but did not affect the antler mineral profile. Serum contents of Mg, Na, S, B and Cu increased during the antler growth, whereas contents of K, Al and Fe decreased in the same period (P < 0.001). At Day 54 from SAG in Cu group, serum P content correlated negatively with antler Ca content whereas Zn of serum and antler correlated positively (P < 0.05). The maximum number of correlations between the mineral profile of serum and hard antler was achieved at Day 132 from SAG (3.3, 4.7 and 12.9% for Days –36, 54 and 132, respectively). In conclusion, the analysis of specific minerals in serum could be used to detect in advance some mineral deficiencies in the antler.


This research focuses on developing a new configuration and optimal design of magneto-rheological (MR) brake for a middle-sized motorcycle which can replace conventional drum-type brake. The proposed MR brake mechanism utilizes a hybrid concept of magnetic circuit (using both axial and radial magnetic flux) to generate braking force. In the optimization, the required braking torque, the temperature due to zero field friction of MR fluid, the mass of the brake system and all significant geometric dimensions are considered. After a brief introduction of the proposed MR brake configuration, the braking torque is derived based on Herschel-Bulkley rheological model of the MR fluid. The optimal design of the MR brake is then analyzed. An optimization procedure based on the finite element analysis (FEA) integrated with an optimization tool is used to obtain optimal geometric dimensions of the MR brake. From the results, discussions on the performance improvement of the optimized MR brake are described.


Animal welfare has become an important issue in poultry production. Concern about poultry welfare has mainly been expressed in industrialised countries. Since trade of poultry products is highly internationalised, welfare aspects have to be considered by all countries involved. This paper reviews the changes in the attitude to animal welfare in Western societies and the related development of regulations and standards, the impact of high welfare standards on production costs and on international trade of poultry products and finally, the influence of different stakeholders on poultry production and marketing. From the 1960s onwards, animal welfare activities have been focused on farm animals kept under 'industrial' conditions, such as caged laying hens. Consequently, the management conditions for laying hens in Europe have been regulated in detail by national laws and EU-Directives. Meanwhile, conventional cages have been banned in the EU and welfare activities are now directed towards other issues, such as beak-trimming and killing day-old chicks of layer lines. All measures which are considered to improve the welfare of animals increase cost of production. Hence, differences in national welfare regulations are expected to relocate poultry production to countries with low welfare standards. There is a tendency that important retailers and food chains use welfare as a marketing argument and establish high price premium labels. Standards which are established and controlled by stakeholders of the poultry market are independent of national welfare legislation. This will lead to harmonisation of welfare standards on an international level. Most welfare labels have been developed by retailers in cooperation with welfare-oriented NGOs. There is a new trend in Germany where retailers and farmers organisations develop welfare schemes and poultry producers are paid an extra allowance for welfare-friendly production. This system ensures that poultry farmers are reimbursed for the welfare-related costs.


This work presents a new method for exploratory analysis of linguistic data. This new method is based on Genetic Algorithm and it is used to improve the performance of linear regression models for predicting the segmental duration of speech. The proposed method was compared with Regression Trees and with a baseline Linear Regression model (a Linear Regression with topologies selected using multivariate analysis of variance). The experimental results has shown that the proposed method presents better generalization performance (properties to deal with database imbalance) than the Regression Trees and the baseline Linear Regression model. All the evaluations presented in this article were carried out using an American English database from the oshiba Speech Technology Laboratory in Cambridge, UK. T


In this paper we concider a reduct part of relation algebras as residuated Lattice and investigate the residual operations through some theorems. We then define different types of deductive systems and give their properties together with some relations among them. We define the prime deductive system on a relation algebra and specify the differences between the definitions of deductive systems and prime deductive systems on lattice and relation algebra. Also the set Ds(A) is defined and investigated if it is a relation algebra.


Background A fundamental clinical and scientific concern is how lytic bacteriophage, as well as antibiotics, impact diagnostic positivity. Methods Cholera was chosen as a model disease to investigate this important question. Patients with diarrheal disease were enrolled at two remote hospitals in Bangladesh. Diagnostic performance was assessed as a function of lytic bacteriophage detection, as well as exposure to the first-line antibiotic azithromycin detected by mass spectrometry. Results Among diarrheal samples positive by nanoliter quantitative PCR for Vibrio cholerae (n=78/849), the odds that a rapid diagnostic test (RDT) or qPCR was positive was reduced by 89% (OR 0.108; 95%CI 0.002-0.872) and 87% (OR 0.130; 95%CI 0.022-0.649) when lytic bacteriophage were detected, respectively. The odds that a rapid diagnostic test (RDT) or qPCR was positive was reduced by more than 99% (OR 0.00; 95% CI: 0.00-0.28) and 89% (OR 0.11; 95% CI: 0.03-0.44) when azithromycin was detected, respectively. Conclusions Estimations of cholera burden may improve by accommodating for the negative effect of antimicrobial exposure on diagnostic positivity. Furthermore, the findings herein challenge our current approach to interpreting and developing bacterial diagnostics given variable rates of lytic bacteriophage and antibiotic exposure.


Abstract This paper presents a fully digital transmitter chain from baseband to antenna, including a modulator, two truly digital (i.e. fully switched) microwave power amplifiers and a transmit/receive switch. Both, amplifier and switch monolithic microwave integrated circuits were implemented in a GaN HEMT process. The novel amplifier design provides greatly reduced complexity, needing only three voltage sources. Measurements were conducted using 5, 20, and 100 MHz wide baseband signals. Carrier frequencies cover the 900 and 2000 MHz bands. For the 5 MHz BB signal an ACLR of over 52 dB is reached, fulfilling the 3GPP specs for base station use while still maintaining a final-stage drain efficiency of 46% at 6.5 dB peak to average power ratio. Full-scale output power at 30 V supply voltage was measured to exceed 3 W at 80% drain efficiency. Further features of this digital amplifier approach include small form factor and frequency agility, making it an ideal candidate for software defined radio.


This research investigates whether first sexual intercourse during adolescence is associated with increased risk of first marriage dissolution and tests whether the results are consistent with causal or selection explanations. Drawing on a sample of 3,793 ever-married women from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth, this study estimated event-history models of first-marriage dissolution. Results indicate that wanted sexual debut in later adolescence does not directly increase the risk of marital dissolution but is linked indirectly as a result of subsequent premarital sexual outcomes. Sexual debut that is not completely wanted or that occurs before age 16 is associated with increased risk of marital dissolution. The results suggest that the timing and context of adolescent sexual debut have important implications for marital stability.


As intricate mental constructions, destination images reflect cultural, intellectual and existential backgrounds of individuals, communities and social groups, as well as marketing strategies. In the case of Banff National Park, for example, marketing strategies have promoted a potential need for wilderness and natural environment related experiences that is expressed in western post‐industrialized societies. However, touristic development often creates places structured to fit suitable images suggested by the market and leads to the co‐existence of multiple images for a single destination. The resulting tourist landscapes very often are divorced from the original setting, atmosphere, and characteristics of the real place.


Purpose The purposes of this study were to use speckle tracking echocardiography to confirm the influence of obesity on cardiac functions and to assess their relationships with leptin and uric acid levels in obese adolescents. Methods Eighty-one participants aged 16–19 years were recruited and classified as either non-obese (n = 30) or obese (n = 51). Global longitudinal strain (GLS), leptin and uric acid levels for each group were assessed and compared. The data from obese participants were then compared based on their leptin levels and analyzed for correlation using regression analysis. Results The obese group had significantly lower absolute GLS compared to the non-obese group (19.10 ± 0.30 versus 21.10 ± 0.30%, p < 0.001). In obese group, subclinical cardiac dysfunction was worse in the hyperleptinemic group than that of the normoleptinemic group (p = 0.03). Multivariate regression analysis showed that leptin and triglyceride levels were negatively associated with absolute GLS. Leptin could predict the absolute GLS with β = −0.35 (p = 0.02). Conclusion Subclinical left ventricular systolic dysfunction was found in obese adolescents, while GLS was worse in the hyperleptinemic subjects. Leptin, but not uric acid, levels were associated with a worsening of GLS.


The objective of this study was to examine the potential utility of a commercially available sperm separation and purification product for the in vitro production of bovine embryos. Bovine oocytes were purchased from a commercial supplier, and matured oocytes were randomly allocated to one of two treatments. Oocytes were co-incubated with frozen-thawed semen washed twice with BoviPureTM (BoviPure group) or with modified Brackett-Oliphant medium (control group). After a 6-hour insemination period, oocytes were cultured in vitro for 8 days. Cleavage rate of embryos was determined 48 hours post-insemination, and blastocyst formation rate was assessed on day 8 of culture. The experiment was replicated three times, and data were analyzed using chi-square analysis. Washing of sperm in BoviPureTM had no effect (P>.05) on either cleavage rate (77.2%) or blastocyst development (21.6%) when compared with controls (71.9% and 17.1%, respectively). These results indicate that, under conditions of our study, the washing of sperm with BoviPureTM did not significantly enhance the ability to produce bovine embryos in vitro.


A field and model investigation has been performed to assess the potential of subsurface temperature (T) measurements for tracing groundwater flow in montane areas. Field measurements included monitoring of soil T at numerous sites and measurement of T-profiles in many wells and boreholes. Field data collection for thermal tracing of groundwater flow is inexpensive and easy to perform relative to standard geophysical techniques for groundwater flow characterization, given wells that are accessible for Tprofile measurement. Modeling investigations include development of a novel, conceptually simple 'black box' subsurface thermal energy balance approach. This robust model approach can be used together with T-profile data to bracket the rate of mountainfront groundwater recharge. Results of the soil T monitoring investigation show a wide range in summer and mean annual soil T between different soil sites. Factors governing the observed inter-site differences in soil T were identified. A model for spatial variability in mean soil T was developed, showing the feasibility of creating maps of mean surface T in the Sierra Nevada using standard GIS land surface attributes. Accurate knowledge of surface T is needed in modeling subsurface heat and water flow, to distinguish spatial changes in T due to groundwater flow from those due to heterogeneity in surface T. T-profiles measured in the Tahoe Basin region indicate that there are substantial areal differences in the rate of high elevation deep bedrock groundwater recharge, and in valley bedrock discharge. Surface T and T-profile measurements together are shown to be useful in defining valley basin-fill aquifer recharge sources. Subsurface heat flow patterns are altered in distinct ways, as reflected in T-profiles, by recharge into the top (soil percolation down to water table), sides (mountain-front recharge) and bottom (mountainblock recharge) of montane valley basin-fill aquifers.


Plasma surface alloying for low alloy high speed power hack saw blades was introduced.The bulk material of the blade is made of low alloy steel, while the teeth of which possess a composition of high speed steel like as a result of surface modification by a plasma surface alloying process.It is a solid diffusion process eliminating method avoids the formation of coarse primary carbides which is a major problem encountered in the production of smelting high speed steel. As a result the carbides in the layer of high speed steel are fine and well-distributed.Therefore,it has not only well wear-resistance but also toughness. Besides, the blade also has the advantages of ease manufacturing and low cost.


Background: Since the emergence of the pandemic caused by Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19), Social isolation is one of the measures adopted by the countries in order to flatten the curve, thus reducing the productive capacity of the affected cities, while allowing health systems to manage care capacity. The objective of this study was to estimate the economic losses due to COVID-19 in Peru. Methods: To estimate the economic loss, direct and indirect costs were determined from the health system perspective. The direct cost was represented by the expenses caused by the care provided by the health facility to the patient and the indirect cost is represented by the loss of economic production. Results: Of a total of 363 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Peru, the percentage of patients requiring hospitalization was 12.3%, and those requiring admission to Intensive Care was 3.9%. The direct cost was $1708 for each patient who received care in a hospital of the Ministry of health through the comprehensive health insurance (SIS); $2,300 if the patient received treatment from Social Security (EsSalud) and US $ 3,192 if he went to a private clinic. In relation to the indirect cost, it ranged from $1447.0 in the patients that are treated by the SIS to $4102.0 for each patient that is attended in private institutions. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that caring for a patient with COVID-19 imposes a heavy economic burden on Peru.


Special Lecture 1. Emerging Another Age of Discovery in Solar System enabled through Round Voyage Technology represented by Hayabusa Mission Junichiro Kawaguchi (Professor, Senior Fellow, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Japan) Moderator: Akira Terano (Chancellor, Dokkyo Group of Academic Institutions, Japan) 2. Medical Treatment—a Most Significant Political Issue Yutaka Komatsu (House of Representatives member, Japan) Moderator: Michio Kaminishi (Director General, Showa General Hospital, Japan)


Introduction: Lack of research uptake and utilisation compared to other Allied Health Professions prompted the publications of four consecutive research strategies by the Society and College of Radiographers in attempts to bridge the gap.
Aims: The aim of this study was to find out perceived barriers to research utilisation amongst diagnostic radiographers in the UK.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2016. A random sample was used to select 1,080 radiographers who were sent a link to the web-based questionnaire.
Results: The response rate was 72.8%. Most radiographers were Band 6 (n=296, 47.0%) holders. The commonly identified perceived barriers to research utilisation included lack of time for research-related activities, how to develop research questions, find relevant literature and lack of authority to change practice.
It was found that 142(50.7%) of BSc and 26(44.0%) of MSc had difficulty in finding relevant literature. Interestingly, 20(40%) of the Band 8 radiographers perceived themselves to lack the authority to change practice. In the area of practice category, sonographers (n=35, 57.4%) were more likely to perceive themselves to lack authority in changing their practice. While there was a positive attitude to research utilisation, 198(31.4%) held the view that research was not in their scope of practice. A further 127(20.2%) felt radiologists and physicists should review research that were relevant to their practice. It emerged that highest educational qualification was associated with a higher probability of knowledge of research skills and attitude to research utilisation.
Conclusions: The study concludes that dissemination mechanisms to facilitate research utilisation are lacking. Radiology service managers and the Society and College of Radiographers have key roles to play in research utilisation in terms of time allocation and training in research skills.


This study aimed to determine the effect of emprit ginger powder (Zingiber officinale var. Amarum)  on the characteristic of sweet orange peel herbal tea (Citrus sinensis L.) as well as the appropriateness of emprit ginger powder for the best characteristic. This study was designed using an experimental method which is Completely Randomized Design with the treatment of adding emprit ginger powder (0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%) that was repeated  3 times  to obtain 15 experimental units. Observed variabels were water content, extract water content, vitamin C, total phenolic, total flavonoid, antioxidant activity, scoring test, and hedonic test. The obtained data were analyzed by using the analysis of variance. If it had a significant effect, it was continued to be tested by using the Duncan Multiple Range Test. The results showed that the addition of  emprit ginger powder had a very significant effect on the water content, vitamin C, total phenolic, total flavonoid, antioxidant activity, aroma (scoring and hedonic test), taste (scoring and hedonic test), and overall acceptance, while extract levels in the water had a significant effect and color (hedonic test) had a non significant effect. Furthermore, it showed that the addition of 20% emprit ginger powder extract was the best treatment with the characteristic as follows: 8.13% w / w water content, 26.93% w / d extract water content, vitamin C 25.56 mg / g tea powder, total phenol 17.86 mg GAE / g tea powder, total flavonoids 1.17 mg QE / g tea powder, and antioxidant activity 56.89%. The characteristics of the tea brewing water involves the distinctive aroma of ginger emprit which is very liked, the color is liked, the taste is not bitter and liked, and overall acceptance is liked.


The connectivity model of a power distribution network can easily become outdated due to system changes occurring in the field. Maintaining and sustaining an accurate connectivity model is a key challenge for distribution utilities worldwide. This work focuses on inferring customer to phase connectivity using machine learning techniques. Using voltage time series measurements collected from customer smart meters as the feature set for training classifiers, we study the performance of supervised, semi-supervised and unsupervised techniques. We report analysis and field validation results based on real smart meter measurements collected from three feeder circuits of a large distribution network in North America.


This paper shows how risk management can be applied to schedule the operation of combined heat and power plants in order to consider process uncertainties. The main innovative point is the consideration of mitigation actions to reduce exposure to the identified risks. Model predictive control is used to select the strategic plan of mitigation actions.


We use a formal theoretical framework to explore the interplay between a government's longevity and its performance. Ministers perform well when their careers are valuable; this is so when the government's duration is expected to be long; the government's survival depends on its popularity; and, finally, that popularity depends on its ministers' performance. The feedback loop between performance and longevity means that multiple rational-expectations equilibria can arise: Ministers work hard for a popular government, but divert efforts elsewhere if they believe the government is doomed; these alternatives are both self-fulfilling prophecies. However, the presence of (perhaps small) random events that buffet the performance and popularity of a government is sufficient to pin down a unique equilibrium. We explore the dynamics that arise: A crisis of confidence involving the rapid collapse of a government's performance is sparked when a sequence of negative shocks push the popularity of the government below a unique critical threshold.


Hypertrophic chondrocytes and osteoblasts produce alkaline phosphatase (ALPase)-enriched matrix vesicles in vivo and in vitro and, along with certain epithelial cell lines and osteoblast precursors, induce bone when implanted in mesenchymal tissues. This study examined whether ALPase-enriched matrix vesicle production in vitro was a general property of cells that induce bone in vivo. Epithelial cell lines FL, WISH, and OK 16; connective tissue cell lines HEPM 1 and HEPM 2; neonatal rat muscle cells; rat costochondral chondrocytes; and human fibroblasts were implanted intramuscularly into nude mice. The FL and WISH cells produced tumors and induced large islands of bone with focal areas of cartilage immediately adjacent to the tumors. The chondrocytes formed cartilage nodules but did not induce bone, indicating that the ability of the cells to form a solid mass was not an a priori requirement for bone formation. No other cell type produced tumors or nodules or induced bone formation, although connective tissue cells have been shown to induce chondrogenesis in vitro and osteogenesis in vivo. Only matrix vesicles from normal chondrocytes, FL, WISH, and OK16 cultures exhibited enriched ALPase-specific activity. Matrix vesicles from FL and WISH cultures exhibited ALPase specific activities similar to those isolated from osteoblast or chondrocyte cultures. These data suggest that the ability to produce ALPase-enriched matrix vesicles in culture may be associated with the ability of cells to induce bone or cartilage in vivo.


As Arctic sea ice extent decreases with increasing greenhouse gases, there is a growing interest in whether there could be a bifurcation associated with its loss, and whether there is significant hysteresis associated with that bifurcation. A challenge in answering this question is that the bifurcation behavior of certain Arctic energy balance models have been shown to be sensitive to how ice-albedo feedback is parameterized. We analyze an Arctic energy balance model in the limit as a smoothing parameter associated with ice-albedo feedback tends to zero, which introduces a discontinuity boundary to the dynamical systems model. Our analysis provides a case study where we use the system in this limit to guide the investigation of bifurcation behavior of the original albedo-smoothed system. In this case study, we demonstrate that certain qualitative bifurcation behaviors of the albedo-smoothed system can have counterparts in the limit with no albedo smoothing. We use this perspective to systematically explore the parameter space of the model. For example, we uncover parameter sets for which the largest transition, with increasing greenhouse gases, is from a perennially ice-covered Arctic to a seasonally ice-free state, an unusual bifurcation scenario that persists even when albedo-smoothing is reintroduced. This analysis provides an alternative perspective on how parameters of the model affect bifurcation behavior. We expect our approach, which exploits the width of repelling sliding intervals for understanding the hysteresis loops, would carry over to other positive feedback systems with a similar natural piecewise-smooth limit, and when the feedback strength is likewise modulated with seasons or other periodic forcing.


Acute stroke is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Stroke-induced immune-inflammatory response occurs in the perilesion areas and the periphery. Although stroke-induced immunosuppression may alleviate brain injury, it hinders brain repair as the immune-inflammatory response plays a bidirectional role after acute stroke. Furthermore, suppression of the systemic immune-inflammatory response increases the risk of life-threatening systemic bacterial infections after acute stroke. Therefore, it is essential to explore the mechanisms that underlie the stroke-induced immune-inflammatory response. Autonomic nervous system (ANS) activation is critical for regulating the local and systemic immune-inflammatory responses and may influence the prognosis of acute stroke. We review the changes in the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems and their influence on the immune-inflammatory response after stroke. Importantly, this article summarizes the mechanisms on how ANS regulates the immune-inflammatory response through neurotransmitters and their receptors in immunocytes and immune organs after stroke. To facilitate translational research, we also discuss the promising therapeutic approaches modulating the activation of the ANS or the immune-inflammatory response to promote neurologic recovery after stroke. © 2022 American Physiological Society. Compr Physiol 12:3665-3704, 2022.


Biochar as a new soil amendment to promote plant growth and disease control

Abstract
The utilization of organic amendments has been proposed to decrease the incidence of plant diseases caused by soilborne pathogens. In this thesis, we first reviewed the limited number of studies present in the literature by analysing the different mechanisms proposed to explain biochar disease suppression. A total of 12 papers were included in this analysis with 18 experimental case studies. The effect of biochar amendment was suppressive in 89% and non-significant in the remaining 11%, with few studies reporting a significant increase of disease incidence. Biochar can be effective against both airborne (e.g. Botrytis cinerea, different species of powdery mildew) and soilborne (e.g. Fusarium spp., Phytophthora spp., Rhizoctonia solani) pathogens. Five different mechanisms have been proposed to explain biochar disease suppression: (i) induction of systemic resistance in host plants; (ii) enhanced abundance and activities of beneficial microbes, including mycorrhizal fungi; (iii) modification of soil quality in terms of nutrient availability and abiotic conditions such as liming effect; (iv) direct fungitoxic effect of biochar; (v) sorption of allelopathic, phytotoxic compounds that can directly harm plant roots and thus promote pathogen attacks. Potential side-effects of biochar have been reported, such as the possibility of absorbing agrochemicals such as herbicides, insecticides and fungicides, thus reducing their efficacy. Results from this review demonstrate that biochar amendments have great potential but, until now, not enough studies are available for a widespread adoption of biochar as a soil amendment in today's agricultural systems. More investigations on the mechanisms underlying biochar disease suppression, as well as long-term field experiments, are needed to make biochar a safe, effective and affordable tool for the control of plant pathogens.
 In this context, we performed a study with the objective to investigate the effects of the biochemical changes of heated plant tissues on plant and microbial growth. In particular, 48 different organic substrates, including heated and untreated materials, were used. Moreover, plant litter types were characterized by classic proximate chemical analyses and, at molecular level, by solid-state 13C-CPMAS NMR.
Fungal growth was consistently higher over untreated plant litter. A dramatic decrease of microbial growth was observed for all species when temperature increased. However, an opposite response of temperature was found on test plant growth. At molecular level, the most significant treatment was at 300°C. It shows a strong degradation of sugars and polysaccharides (O-alkyl-C region) and a contemporary neo-formation of aliphatic and aromatic C compounds.
One of the most significant evidence from this study is that the opposite responses of plant and microbial growth can be the result of the balance between the availability of labile organic C sources and the presence of recalcitrant and/or fungitoxic compounds.
In addition, on the basis of the existing studies and results obtained with the charred litter, we investigated how biochar affects plant growth and microbial activity.
 The aims of this study were i) to detect the chemical changes occurring on different feedstocks when pyrolyzed at two specific temperatures (300 °C and 550 °C) by using 13C-CPMAS NMR spectroscopy and ii) to assess how biochar can influence the growth of fungi, bacteria, and crop plants. In particular,12 different organic materials, including pyrolyzed and untreated materials, were used. The experimental design compared the effect of amendments carried out by using biomasses untreated and the derived biochars. We found that undecomposed organic materials may cause a severe inhibition of plant root growth butor , in some cases have a stimulating effect. However the inhibitory effect largely decreased after pyrolyzation. In contrast to the higher plant, fungi and bacteria throve on most of organic materials and showed a steep decline or a complete growth inhibition on biochars obtained at 300°C and 550°C. One of the most significant evidence from this study is that twelve out of fourteen tested microbes, with the exception of two basidiomycetes, showed a remarkably similar pattern of correlation between growth and organic material quality, as defined by 13C CPMAS NMR. An opposite response was observed for the higher plants Lepidium, Lactuca and Lycopersicon in terms of both chemical quality and its correlation with root growth.


(PhysOrg.com) -Since the early days of quantum mechanics, scientists have been trying to understand the many strange implications of the theory: superpositions, wave-particle duality, and the observer's role in measurements, to name a few. Now, a new proposed law of physics that describes the geometry of physical reality on the cosmological scale might help answer some of these questions. Plus, the new law could give some clues about the role of gravity in quantum physics, possibly pointing the way to a unified theory of physics.