High-voltage high-frequency power supply using voltage-fed load resonant inverter with a series-compensated resonant inductor has been developed for efficient atmospheric surface glow barrier discharges(ASGBD). It produces a controllable frequency and sinusoidal alternating voltage output. The maximum output voltage is about 6 kV peak to peak. Resonant power converter can be tune easily to the resonant frequency of the load. Operating frequency varies according to the load and voltage level typically in the range of 10 kHz and 1 MHz range. The output voltage is controlled by using pulse width modulation technique. The power supply developed in this paper is applied successfully for ozoniser that can produce high concentrate ozone by using ASGBD for agricultural industry applications.


In the spirit of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, the #1 nationwide bestseller, First Things First is a revolutionary guide to managing your time by learning how to balance your life. Traditional time management suggests that working harder, smarter, and faster will help you gain control over your life, and that increased control will bring peace and fulfillment. The authors of First Things First disagree. In the first real breakthrough in time management in years, Stephen R. Covey, A. Roger Merrill, and Rebecca R. Merrill apply the insights of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People to the daily problems of people who must struggle with the ever-increasing demands of work and home life. Rather than focusing on time and things, First Things First emphasizes relationships and results. And instead of efficiency, this new approach emphasizes effectiveness. First Things First shows why we feel a gap between how we spend our time and what's deeply important to us; how focusing on efficiency and control increases the gap instead of closing it; how to determine if what you're doing is really important - or only urgent; why your inner compass is more important than any clock; how to set and achieve principle-centered goals; how to turn your weeks into an upward spiral of learning and living; how to overcome the tremendous gravity of habit; how to turn your resolutions into reality; how to put people ahead of schedules; and how to lead your life, not just manage your time. First Things First offers a principle-centered approach that will transform the quality of everything you do by showing how it involves the need to live, to love, to learn, and to leave a legacy. With the wisdom andinsight that made The 7 Habits of Highly Effective people a #1 bestseller, First Things First empowers readers to define what is truly important; to accomplish worthwhile goals; and to lead rich, rewarding, and balanced lives.


Extracellular-signal regulated kinase (ERK) signaling is required for a multitude of physiological and patho-physiological processes. However, the identities of the proteins that ERK phosphorylates to elicit these responses are incompletely known. Using an affinity purification methodology of general utility, here we identify cytoplasmic dynein intermediate chain 2 (DYNC1I-2, IC-2) as a novel substrate for ERK following epidermal growth factor receptor stimulation of fibroblasts. IC-2 is a subunit of cytoplasmic dynein, a minus-end directed motor protein necessary for transport of diverse cargos along microtubules. Emerging data support the hypothesis that post-translational modification regulates dynein but the signaling mechanisms used are currently unknown. We find that ERK phosphorylates IC-2 on a novel, highly conserved Serine residue proximal to the binding site for the p150Glued subunit of the cargo adapter dynactin. Surprisingly, neither constitutive phosphorylation nor a phosphomimetic substitution of this Serine influences binding of p150Glued to IC-2. These data suggest that ERK phosphorylation of IC-2 regulates dynein function through mechanisms other than its interaction with dynactin.


Aortic valve (AV) disease is a major cause of cardiovascular-linked deaths globally. In addition, AV disease is a strong risk factor for additional cardiovascular events; however, the mechanism by which it initiates and progresses is not well-understood. We hypothesize that low and oscillatory flow is present on the fibrosa side of the AV and stimulates ECs to differentially regulate microRNA (miRNA) and mRNAs and influence AV disease progression. This hypothesis was tested employing both in vitro and in vivo approaches, high throughput microarray and pathway analyses, as well as a variety of functional assays. First, we isolated and characterized side-dependent, human aortic valvular endothelial cells (HAVECs). We found that HAVECs express both endothelial cell markers (VE-Cadherin, vWF, and PECAM) as well as smooth muscle cell markers (SMA and basic calponin). Using microarray analysis on sheared, side-specific HAVECs, we identified side- and shear-induced changes in miRNA and mRNA expression profiles. More specifically, we identified over 1000 shear-responsive mRNAs which showed robust validation (93% of those tested). We then used Ingenuity Pathway Analysis to identify key miRNAs, including those with many relationships to other genes (for example, thrombospondin and I&B) and those that are members of over-represented pathways and processes (for example, sulfur metabolism). Furthermore, we validated five shear-sensitive miRNAs: miR-139-3p, miR-148a, miR-187, miR-192, and miR-486-5p and one side-dependent miRNA, miR-370. To prioritize these miRNAs, we performed in silico analysis to group these key miRNAs by cellular functions related to AV disease (including tissue remodeling, inflammation, and calcification). Next, to compare our in vitro HAVEC results in vivo, we developed a method to isolate endothelial-enriched, side-dependent total RNA and identify and validate side-dependent (fibrosa vs. ventricularis) miRNAs in porcine aortic valvular endothelium. From this analysis, we discovered and validated eight side-dependent miRNAs in porcine endothelial-enriched AV RNA, including one miRNA previously identified in vitro, miR-486-5p. Lastly, we determined the relationship between important miRNAs (specifically miR-187 and miR-486-5p) and AV disease by modulating levels of miRNAs and performing functional assays. Preliminary studies overexpressing miR-187 in HAVECs have shown a reduction in inflammatory state through monocyte adhesion (p<0.05). Further, miR-486-5p overexpression reveals an increase in migration (p<0.05) and a trend for a decrease in early apoptosis, linking miR-486-5p to tissue remodeling in the AV. Better understanding of AV biology and disease in terms of gene-regulation under different hemodynamic conditions will facilitate the design of a tissue-engineered valve and provide alternative treatment options.


Baicalin shows excellent protective effects against Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) induced inflammatory injury as discussed in our previous studies. However, the physiological effects of baicalin are notable in contrast to its low bioavailability, and the critical mechanism for the protective effects of baicalin against MG infection is still unclear. The main objective of this study was to investigate whether baicalin alleviates MG-induced lung inflammatory injury through regulating gut microbiota. Using an MG infection model, results showed that baicalin treatment significantly reduced MG colonization and ameliorated the abnormal pathological changes in the lung. Baicalin treatment also reduced the level of proinflammatory cytokines and suppressed proinflammatory protein expression. Notably, MG infection changed the gut microbiota composition, however, the abnormal gut microbiota composition was partially alleviated by baicalin treatment. Baicalin significantly enriched the commensal bacterium Bacteroides fragilis, and gavaged with Bacteroides fragilis alleviating MG infection-induced inflammatory injury in the lung. In addition, baicalin reversed peripheral accumulation of phenylalanine induced by MG infection. Importantly, increased phenylalanine induced excessive necroptosis through the modulation of gga-miR-190a-3p-Fas-associated protein with death domain (FADD) axis in HD11 macrophages. Together, our findings highlighted the role of gut microbiota and phenylalanine metabolism in MG infection and confirmed that baicalin could effectively inhibit MG-induced inflammatory injury in the lung by remodeling the gut microbiota and phenylalanine metabolism.


Filipino Veterans Fairness Act of 2011 - Deems certain service performed before July 1, 1946, in the organized military forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Scouts as active military service for purposes of eligibility for veterans' benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in determining eligibility under this Act, to take into account any relevant service documentation, including documentation other than the Missouri List (the list of all discharged and deceased veterans from the 20th century).


The study investigated the influence of teacher's participation in Decision Making on their job performances in public secondary schools in Kilombero district. The study identified job performance of teachers in secondary schools. Four research questions and objectives were formulated. Data for the study were collected by using interviews, questionnaires and documentation. The study revealed that teachers in public secondary schools participate less in decision making. In public secondary schools, the Ministry of Educations influences most of the decisions. The study also revealed that participation in decision making can influence performance as teachers who participate in decision making tend to perform better than those who do not participate or participate less in decision making in secondary school. It is also recommended that turnover can be reduced when teachers participate in decision making and it helps teachers to be motivated and self-commitment to work. It is therefore recommended by the researcher that staff should be encouraged to have a say in school governance. The Ministry of Education should device a means to encourage staff in public secondary schools to participate in decisions that affect the school and their performance.


The dynamics of the vortex structures appearing in an oscillatory boundary layer (Stokes boundary layer), when the flow departs from the laminar regime, is investigated by means of flow visualizations and a quantitative analysis of the velocity and vorticity fields. The data are obtained by means of direct numerical simulations of the Navier–Stokes and continuity equations. The wall is flat but characterized by small imperfections. The analysis is aimed at identifying points in common and differences between wall turbulence in unsteady flows and the well-investigated turbulence structure in the steady case. As in Jimenez & Moin (1991), the goal is to isolate the basic flow unit and to study its morphology and dynamics. Therefore, the computational domain is kept as small as possible. The elementary process which maintains turbulence in oscillatory boundary layers is found to be similar to that of steady flows. Indeed, when turbulence is generated, a sequence of events similar to those observed in steady boundary layers is observed. However, these events do not occur randomly in time but with a repetition time scale which is about half the period of fluid oscillations. At the end of the accelerating phases of the cycle, low-speed streaks appear close to the wall. During the early part of the decelerating phases the strength of the low-speed streaks grows. Then the streaks twist, oscillate and eventually break, originating small-scale vortices. Far from the wall, the analysis of the vorticity field has revealed the existence of a sequence of streamwise vortices of alternating circulation pumping low-speed fluid far from the wall as suggested by Sendstad & Moin (1992) for steady flows. The vortex structures observed far from the wall disappear when too small a computational domain is used, even though turbulence is self-sustaining. The present results suggest that the streak instability mechanism is the dominant mechanism generating and maintaining turbulence; no evidence of the well-known parent vortex structures spawning offspring vortices is found. Although wall imperfections are necessary to trigger transition to turbulence, the characteristics of the coherent vortex structures, for example the spacing of the low-speed streaks, are found to be independent of wall imperfections.


This article argues that the prevailing discourses of transitions and of social exclusion are no longer adequate to describe or explain the experiences of a substantial minority of young people. Reporting on a study of 800 16–19-year-olds, it is argued that an extensively diversified market in post-16 options produces instability and dislocation. Some young people are able to normalize these experiences of serial short-life engagements with courses and jobs into emergent new subjectivities, constructed around highly interdependent modes of studentship, employment and consumption. For others (the poorest students, those with special needs, some racialized groups) these subjectivities are not available.


The authors describe a simulation environment for reliability prediction of VLSI designs. Specifically, the effect of electromigration on the time-to-failure is investigated. The capabilities of the environment are illustrated with a case study of a microprocessor intended for control applications. The system under investigation is first simulated at the switch level and trace data on the switching activity is collected. This data is then used along with Monte Carlo simulation to model wear-out at the chip-level.<<ETX>>


Anovel voltammetric sensor for the determination of isoprenaline (ISP) was fabricated based on a ferrocene-multiwalled carbon nanotubes (Fc- MWCNTs) composite paste electrode. Then the electrochemical behavior of this sensor was investigated in detail by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The kinetic parameters such as electron transfer coefficient, ii, and apparent rate constant for the redox reaction between ISP and the Fc-MWCNTs paste electrode were also determined using electrochemical approaches. The sensor displayed highly sensitive electrocatalytic activity towards the oxidation of ISP, and under the optimized conditions, its electrocatalytic oxidation peak current showed two linear concentration range from5.0 to 50.0 i€ imol L-1 and 500.0 to 2000.0 imolL-1with a detection limit (S/N=3) of 0.1 imolL-1 ISP using the differential pulse voltammetric (DPV) method. The proposed method was applied for the sensitive and selective determination of ISP in the pharmaceutical formulations and human urine samples with satisfactory results.


Indirect immunofluorescence (II), enzyme-labelled antibodies (ELA), immune blotting (IB) were used for serological evaluation of 74 patients with Lyme disease living in the North-West and Central regions of Russia. Both acute and chronic borreliosis can be seropositive or seronegative. As shown by II and ELA, these patients had a moderate humoral response, high titers of the specific antibodies being a rare finding. The range of anti-Borrelia antibodies (ABA) identified by IB is limited and, as a rule, includes antibodies to no more than 5 proteins of Borrelia burgdorferi. The highest ABA levels were associated with locomotor lesions and were significantly greater of the above levels in patients with migrating erythema. Informative value of II and ELA in Lyme's disease diagnosis according to this study is equal because ELA is more sensitive, while II is more specific. They are both of little help in atypical borreliosis presentation. Most available of other adequate serological tests is IB.


The purpose of this study was to examine what factors increase the likelihood that a sex offender will complete a correctional sex offender treatment program. Participants were 179 incarcerated adult male sex offenders who volunteered to participate in a sex offender treatment program. The two groups evaluated were treatment completers and noncompleters. By examining archival records the following data were collected: scores on the Multiphasic Sex Inventory II (MSI II), the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), the Abel and Becker Adult Sexual Interest Card Sort, and plethysmograph. Demographic information was obtained from presentence investigation reports. Results from a logistic regression indicate that more years of education, not having a history of sexual victimization, and lower levels of minimizing or excusing sexual crimes predict treatment completion (p < .05). These results suggest that it is possible to predict which incarcerated sex offenders are likely to complete a prison-based sex offender treatment program.


Radiation therapy is widely used for cancer treatment. Medical application of ionizing radiation can cause different responses in human depending on individual radiosensitivity. Therefore, assessment of individual radiosensitivity could be proposed as assistant tool in optimizing radiotherapy. The cytokinesis- block micronucleus and G2 chromosomal radiosensitivity assays were proposed as appropriate methods for assessment of individual radiosensitivity. In current study we carried out a pilot cytokinesis-block micronucleus and G2 chromosomal radiosensitivity assays comparison by evaluating specificity of chromatid breaks yield and micronuclei frequency in peripheral blood lymphocytes as biomarkers of individual radiosensitivity in three cancer patients treated with radiotherapy. Our study revealed positive correlation between higher increase in frequency of micronuclei and chromatid breaks after in vitro irradiation in radiotherapy patients peripheral blood lymphocytes with occurrence of adverse radiation effects in tissue which are not being targeted. G2 assay appeared to be more sensitive than micronuclei assay for assessment of irradiation-induced alterations in individual radiosensitivity during the radiotherapy that could affect development of treatment side effects. Therefore, further investigations involving more radiotherapy patients as well as healthy donors are required to select the most sensitive method and reveal the possible correlation between individual radiosensitivity and adverse effect of radiotherapy.


This guide provides information on the 6th edition of the APA citation style as used at Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. This guide will be updated to the 7th edition in Fall 2020.


ABSTRACT Background: Recent legislation in Pennsylvania allows police officers to administer naloxone to individuals in an opioid overdose. Pressure has subsequently been placed on police departments to adopt naloxone programs. Objective: To survey Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police regarding potential obstacles to officer-administered naloxone, and their overall opinion toward such programs. Methods: A confidential survey was administered at the Annual Conference for the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association and online over the organization's listserv. Respondents rated their level of concern toward four potential obstacles on a Likert scale from 1 to 5. A fifth question asked the degree to which they agree that the benefits of naloxone programs outweigh the risks. Results: Of 180 attendees, 36 Chiefs of Police responded at the conference and 48 to the online survey. The potential agitation of revived victims was their largest reported concern, with 60% responding either a 4 or 5; this was followed by officers correctly identifying situations to use naloxone (42%), the cost of the medication (38%), and the additional administrative duties of the department (32%). Overall 60% responded they "Strongly Agree" or "Agree" the benefits of naloxone programs outweigh the risks, while 23% responded "Strongly Disagree" or "Disagree." No significant differences were seen when separating participants from rural and urban counties or from counties with high, medium, and low rates of overdose fatalities. Conclusions: The results suggest that although a significant subset shows concern for the above obstacles, the majority of Chiefs of Police believe that the benefits of equipping officers with naloxone outweigh the risks.


This work studies the design of neural networks that can process the weights or gradients of other neural networks, which we refer to as neural functional networks (NFNs). Despite a wide range of potential applications, including learned optimization, processing implicit neural representations, network editing, and policy evaluation, there are few unifying principles for designing effective architectures that process the weights of other networks. We approach the design of neural functionals through the lens of symmetry, in particular by focusing on the permutation symmetries that arise in the weights of deep feedforward networks because hidden layer neurons have no inherent order. We introduce a framework for building permutation equivariant neural functionals, whose architectures encode these symmetries as an inductive bias. The key building blocks of this framework are NF-Layers (neural functional layers) that we constrain to be permutation equivariant through an appropriate parameter sharing scheme. In our experiments, we find that permutation equivariant neural functionals are effective on a diverse set of tasks that require processing the weights of MLPs and CNNs, such as predicting classifier generalization, producing"winning ticket"sparsity masks for initializations, and classifying or editing implicit neural representations (INRs). In addition, we provide code for our models and experiments at https://github.com/AllanYangZhou/nfn.


In this study we presented kinematic and kinetic data of foot joints by using passive elastic characteristics of joints during gait. During the calculation process we used approximate equations and partial plantar pressures. The maximum angular displacements of each tarsometatarsal joint ranged from 4o to 7o and the maximum moments were from 200N⋅cm to 1500N⋅cm. It was relatively wide distribution. Foot kinematic data calculated from the approximated equations, which were represented by the correlation between moment and angular displacement, and the data from motion analysis were very similar. We found that the movements of foot joints were mainly decided by the passive characteristics of the joints when ground reaction force acts. The kinematic and kinetic analysis using approximated equations which is presented in this study can be usefully applied to describing the movements of foot joints during gait.


The treatment of poisoned patients is still largely defined by history, clinical assessment and interpretation of ancillary investigations. Measurement of drug concentrations is clinically important for relatively few compounds. Most measurements form an adjunct to and should not be considered a substitute for clinical assessment. Drug concentrations are particularly important for those compounds where the concentration is predictive of serious toxicity in an otherwise asymptomatic patient.


RuleML is a family of XML languages whose modular system of schemas permits high-precision (Web) rule interchange. The family's top-level distinction is deliberation rules vs. reaction rules. In this paper we address the Reaction RuleML subfamily of RuleML and survey related work. Reaction RuleML is a standardized rule markup/serialization language and semantic interchange format for reaction rules and rulebased event processing. Reaction rules include distributed Complex Event Processing (CEP), Knowledge Representation (KR) calculi, as well as Event-Condition-Action (ECA) rules, Production (CA) rules, and Trigger (EA) rules. Reaction RuleML 1.0 incorporates this reactive spectrum of rules into RuleML employing a system of step-wise extensions of the Deliberation RuleML 1.0 foundation.


In the domain of desertification and climate change an important amount of new knowledge and research material has been obtained from the many projects carried out in the EU-DG12 Environment and Climate programme. However, so far little effort has gone into making this scientific material available as part of practical planning or management tools for regional public policy makers. In this presentation, we will dwell on the experiences gathered in developing a generic spatial Decision Support System for integrated environmental policy-making at the regional level. The experiences are taken from a two year EC-project, MODULUS. In this project models and scientific material from 4 past EU-projects are integrated that represent the climatological, physical, economic and social aspects of land degradation and desertification in the Northern Mediterranean. The individual models operate at very different temporal and geographical scales. At the most detailed temporal scale, processes taking few minutes are represented, and, at the most detailed geographical scale dynamic models running on top of raster-GIS layers are implemented. The MODULUS DSS is developed as a very interactive, transparent and (geo)graphical instrument. It runs on PC machines under Windows NT and makes extensive use of Active X and component technology. In order to demonstrate its generic applicability the MODULUS DSS is applied to two case regions: the Argolid (Greece) and the Marina Baixa (Spain). In the presentation we will dwell on the practical and scientific lessons learned from the project, and more in particular on the difficulties involved in adapting scientific material to the needs of integrated policy-making.


Aim: Preoperative fasting is an established procedure to be practiced for patients before surgery, but optimal preoperative fasting time still remains controversial. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of "shortened preoperative fasting time" on the change in the amount of total body water (TBW) in elective surgical patients. TBW was measured by multi-frequency impedance method. Methods: The patients, who were scheduled to undergo surgery for stomach cancer, were divided into two groups of 15 patients each. Before surgery, patients in the control group were managed with conventional preoperative fasting time, while patients in the "enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS)" group were managed with "shortened preoperative fasting time" and "reduced laxative medication." TBW was measured on the day before surgery and the day of surgery before entering the operating room. Defecation times and anesthesia-related vomiting and aspiration were monitored. Results: TBW values on the day of surgery showed changes in both groups as compared with those on the day before surgery, but the rate of change was smaller in the ERAS group than in the control group (2.4±6.8% [12 patients] vs. −10.6±4.6% [14 patients], p<0.001). Defecation times were less in the ERAS group. Vomiting and aspiration were not observed in either group. Conclusion: The results suggest that preoperative management with "shorted preoperative fasting time" and "reduced administration of laxatives" is effective in the maintenance of TBW in elective surgical patients.


This paper provides an overview of the evolution of income inequality in China from 1987 to 2002, employing three series of data sets. Our focus is on both urban and rural inequality, as well as the urban-rural gap, with the objective of summarizing several "first-order" empirical patterns concerning the trajectory of inequality through the reform period. We document significant increases of inequality within China's urban and rural populations. In rural areas, increased inequality is primarily related to the dis-equalizing role of non-agricultural self-employment income and slow growth in agricultural income from the mid-1990s onward. Poverty persists, and tied in part to slow growth in agricultural commodity prices. In urban areas, the declining role of subsidies and entitlements, the increase in wage inequality and the layoffs during restructuring, have fueled the growth in inequality within urban areas. Poverty levels, however, are very low. We find that spatial (regional) dimensions of inequality are significant, but are much less important than commonly believed for both the urban and rural populations, and for differences between urban and rural areas. Accounting for urban-rural reclassification, which otherwise exaggerates the rising urban-rural gap, we find a relatively stable ratio of urban to rural incomes. This hides some geographical variation, however: The urban-rural gap is increasing more rapidly in interior provinces, where SOE's had a more dominant role in economic activity in urban areas, than in coastal provinces where the non-state sector was more important earlier in the reform period.


Molecular chaperones and their associated co-chaperones play an important role in preserving and regulating the active conformational state of cellular proteins. The chaperone complement of the Indonesian Coelacanth, Latimeria menadoensis, was elucidated using transcriptomic sequences. Heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) and heat shock protein 40 (Hsp40) chaperones, and associated co-chaperones were focused on, and homologous human sequences were used to search the sequence databases. Coelacanth homologs of the cytosolic, mitochondrial and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) homologs of human Hsp90 were identified, as well as all of the major co-chaperones of the cytosolic isoform. Most of the human Hsp40s were found to have coelacanth homologs, and the data suggested that all of the chaperone machinery for protein folding at the ribosome, protein translocation to cellular compartments such as the ER and protein degradation were conserved. Some interesting similarities and differences were identified when interrogating human, mouse, and zebrafish homologs. For example, DnaJB13 is predicted to be a non-functional Hsp40 in humans, mouse, and zebrafish due to a corrupted histidine-proline-aspartic acid (HPD) motif, while the coelacanth homolog has an intact HPD. These and other comparisons enabled important functional and evolutionary questions to be posed for future experimental studies.


Evolutionary medicine has proven helpful to understand the origin of human disease, e.g. in identifying causal roles of recent environmental changes impacting on human physiology (environment-phenotype mismatch). In contrast, diseases affecting only a limited number of members of a species often originate from evolutionary trade-offs for usually physiologic adaptations assuring reproductive success in the context of extrinsic threats. For example, the G1 and G2 variants of the APOL1 gene supporting control of Trypanosoma infection come with the trade-off that they promote the progression of kidney disease. In this review we extend the concept of evolutionary nephrology by discussing how the physiologic adaptations (danger responses) to tissue injury create evolutionary trade-offs that drive histopathological changes underlying acute and chronic kidney diseases. The evolution of multicellular organisms positively selected a number of danger response programs for their overwhelming benefits in assuring survival such as clotting, inflammation, epithelial healing and mesenchymal healing, i.e. fibrosis and sclerosis. Upon kidney injury these danger programs often present as pathomechanisms driving persistent nephron loss and renal failure. We explore how classic kidney disease entities involve insufficient or overshooting activation of these danger response programs for which the underlying genetic basis remains largely to be defined. Dissecting the causative and hierarchical relationships between danger programs should help to identify molecular targets to control kidney injury and to improve disease outcomes.


Product development involves several processes in which product planning is the first one. Several tasks normally are required to be conducted in the product-planning process and one of them is to determine settings of design attributes for products. Facing with fierce competition in marketplaces, companies try to determine the settings such that the best customer satisfaction of products could be obtained. To achieve this, models that relate customer satisfaction to design attributes need to be developed first. Previous research has adopted various modelling techniques to develop the models, but those models are not able to address interaction terms or higher-order terms in relating customer satisfaction to design attributes, or they are the black-box type models. In this paper, a method based on genetic programming (GP) is presented to generate models for relating customer satisfaction to design attributes. The GP is first used to construct branches of a tree representing structures of a model where interaction terms and higher-order terms can be addressed. Then an orthogonal least-squares algorithm is used to determine the coefficients of the model. The models thus developed are explicit and consist of interaction terms and higher-order terms in relating customer satisfaction to design attributes. A case study of a digital camera design is used to illustrate the proposed method.


Introduction Latissimus dorsi (LD) flap has been used for reconstructive purposes in oncoplastic breast surgery. Using large part of the muscle as a flap leads to a residual functional loss. Muscle sparing and mini LD flaps can be used with no functional sequelae. However, the design of such flap presents a challenge. Methods Twenty cadavers were dissected on both sides to identify the different vascular patterns of the thoracodorsal (TD) pedicle. The vessels were counted, and the following measurements were taken: diameter, length, distance from inferior angel of scapula, and vertebral level. Data were collected and entered into the personal computer. Statistical analysis was done using (SPSS/version 20) software. Results Five vascular patterns of TD pedicle were found. Type 1: a long vertically descending pedicle giving 3 to 4 transverse medial branches to LD in 40%. Type 2: a short pedicle terminating into 1 to 2 serratus anterior collaterals and 1 to 2 transverse lateral branches to LD in 10%. Type 3: a long vertically descending pedicle giving 2 to 3 small lateral branches to upper part of LD and terminating into medial and lateral branches in the lower part of LD in 10%. Type 4: a short pedicle that gives 4 to 5 terminal branches to LD, one of them is a long vertically descending branch to lower part of LD in 20%. Type 5: a short pedicle that terminates into a transverse medial and a long vertical branch to LD in 20%. Conclusion The classically described pattern of TD pedicle (type 5) was found in 20% of cases, whereas the most commonly found pattern was type 1. This means that the pattern of TD branching is unpredictable, and a preoperative ultrasound is essential to define the existing pattern and plan the best LD flap design for each patient. In types 1 and 5, the flap can be designed using the transverse medial branch or branches. In type 2, one of the lateral transverse branches can be used. In types 3, 4, and 5, the long descending vertical branch can be used. It has a sizeable diameter (1.80.23 mm), length (12.31.64 cm), and can be located 6.50.96 cm below the inferior angle of scapula.


Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) provides vital support for the brain. Abnormal CSF accumulation is deleterious for perinatal neurodevelopment, but how CSF leaves the brain during this critical period is unknown. We found in mice a postnatal neurodevelopmental transition phase featuring precipitous CSF K+ clearance, accompanied by water, through the choroid plexus (ChP). The period corresponds to a human fetal stage when canonical CSF clearance pathways have yet to form and congenital hydrocephalus begins to manifest. Unbiased ChP metabolic and ribosomal profiling highlighted this transition phase with increased ATP yield and activated energy-dependent K+ transporters, in particular the Na+-K+-Cl− and water cotransporter NKCC1. ChP-targeted NKCC1 overexpression enhanced K+-driven CSF clearance and enabled more permissive cerebral hydrodynamics. Moreover, ventriculomegaly in an obstructive hydrocephalus model was improved by ChP-targeted NKCC1 overexpression. Collectively, we identified K+-driven CSF clearance through ChP during a transient but critical neurodevelopmental phase, with translational value for pathologic conditions.


BACKGROUND
During orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT), liver graft ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) triggers a cytokine-mediated systemic inflammatory response, which impairs graft function and disrupts distal organ homeostasis. The objective of this prospective, observational trial was to assess the effects of IRI on lung and chest wall mechanics in the intraoperative period of patients undergoing OLT.

METHODS
In 26 patients undergoing OLT, we measured elastance of the respiratory system (ERS), partitioned into lung (EL) and chest wall (ECW), hemodynamics, and fluid and blood product intake before laparotomy (T1), after portal/caval surgical clamp (T2), and immediately (T3) and, at 90 and 180 minutes post-reperfusion (T4 and T5, respectively). Interleukin-6 (IL-6), monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1), IL-1β and tumor necrosis factor-α plasma concentrations were assessed at T1, T4 and T5.

RESULTS
EL significantly decreased from T1 to T2 (13.5±4.4 vs 9.7±4.8 cmH2O/L, P<0.05), remained stable at T3, while at T4 (12.3±4.4 cmH2O/L, P<0.05) was well above levels recorded at T2, reaching its highest value at T5 (15±3.9 cmH2O/L, P<0.05). Variations in ERS, EL, driving pressure (∆P) and trans-pulmonary pressure (∆PL) significantly correlated with changes in IL-6 and MCP-1 plasma concentrations, but not with changes in wedge pressure, fluid amounts, and red blood cells and platelets administered. No correlation was found between changes in cytokine concentrations and ECW.

CONCLUSIONS
We found that EL, ECW, ∆P and ∆PL underwent significant variations during the OLT procedure. Further, we documented a significant association between the respiratory mechanics changes and the inflammatory response following liver graft reperfusion.


. Optimizing resource utilization in target platforms is key to achieving high performance during DNN inference. While optimizations have been proposed for inference latency, memory footprint, and energy consumption, prior hardware-aware neural architecture search (NAS) methods have omitted resource utilization, preventing DNNs to take full advantage of the target inference platforms. Modeling resource utilization efficiently and accurately is challenging, especially for widely-used array-based inference accelerators such as Google TPU. In this work, we propose a novel hardware-aware NAS framework that does not only optimize for task accuracy and inference latency, but also for resource utilization. We also propose and validate a new computational model for resource utilization in inference accelerators. By using the proposed NAS framework and the proposed resource utilization model, we achieve 2 . 8 − 4 × speedup for DNN inference compared to prior hardware-aware NAS methods while attaining similar or improved accuracy in image classification on CIFAR-10 and Imagenet-100 datasets. 1


In the experiment that we are conducting is to determine the answer of the question of "Why do some bodies of water have less dissolved oxygen than others?" (French 2014). Our hypothesis is that water will have less dissolved oxygen in it when decomposers and pollutants are present in the water source because decomposers use more oxygen then the algae in the water can produce. We tested this by having samples of clean and polluted water both containing a decomposer and either an organic or inorganic compound. Our hypothesis is supported from our tests because decomposers use oxygen in the water rather than produce oxygen, therefore lowering the amount of DO in the water.


One of the widespread types of crime is child kidnapping where the number of cases is increasing each year. With the modern telecommunication technology, the child protection should be better now than before. This paper presents a preliminary study on routing protocol for child tracking using combined infrastructure of Wireless Sensor Network and Cellular Network. The real-time application in these networks would help the related parties to track the location of the missing child. From proactive point of view, the application would act as a preventive tool for child kidnapping. When the sensors in a Wireless Sensor Network detect child's presence, they have to transmit the data to an Access Point or the sink node in the network. Many routing protocols have been developed in the past, and all of them have their advantages and disadvantages. This paper shows the selection of a few routing protocols that are suitable for child tracking in Wireless Sensor Network, which will be improved and suggested for the use in the application.


A cellular manufacturing system is a kind of lean and flexible manufacturing systems in which a worker or a group of workers carry out all assembly processes of a product. Assembly times of workers are generally improved in an exponential manner by repeating same assembly processes. However, the workers in the cellular manufacturing system are not provided with enough time to learn the assembly processes, since product mixes and production volumes are changeable in a short period of time. The objective of this study is to propose a work instruction system for untrained workers in assembly cells to understand the assembly processes quickly and reduce their assembly times of products without repeating same assembly processes. This study firstly records workers' assembly processes by using video equipment and analyzes the learning processes of the workers in order to propose an effective strategy for the workers to reduce the assembly processes in the cellular manufacturing system. According to the proposed strategy, a prototype of a work instruction system is developed for untrained workers in assembly cells. The prototype system provides graphical user interfaces explaining the information of assembly processes for the workers to facilitate understanding the assembly processes. Some experiments are carried out for assembling same toy cars built with Lego blocks in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the developed work instruction system. Experimental results of the proposed work instruction system are compared with the ones of a simple work instruction system. Through the comparison, it is recognized that the proposed work instruction system is superior to the simple work instruction system from the viewpoint of the reduction of assembly times. At the last part of this study, we propose a prediction method of assembly times of workers by measuring biological information as a heart rate, in order to carry out dynamic production management through the work instruction system.


The recently celebrated division into 'easy' and 'hard' problems of consciousness is unfortunate and misleading. Built on functionalist grounds, it carves up the subject matter by declaring that the most elusive parts need a fundamentally and intrinsically different solution. What we have, rather, are 'difficult' problems of conscious experience, but problems that are not difficult per se. Their difficulty is relative, among other things, to the kind of solution one is looking for and the tools used to accomplish the task. I argue that the study of conscious experience in our scientific and philosophical tradition is a very difficult problem because it has been addressed with inappropriate tools: with harmful long-lasting and inadequate dogmas that have dogged science for centuries. I describe five of these dogmas, which are: (1) the existence of an objective reality independent of human understanding; (2) the subordination of epistemology to ontology; (3) the restricted view of the objectivist- subjectivist dichotomy; (4) the exclusion of the body from the study of the mind; and (5) the idea of explaining the mind in terms of the neurophysiological processes of individual brains. I claim that conscious experience is not a transcendental, paranatural, mystic or magic phenomenon. It is tractable and approachable with scientific methods. However, one must look not only for non-reductionist views to approach it, but also for views that avoid the dogmas here described. Conscious experience is a living phenomenon and it has to be understood as such. Accordingly, our understanding of it has to make sense at several levels, from evolution to morphophysiology, from neuroanatomy to language. I put forward an approach to conscious experience which is free of the dogmas that make the study of conscious experience so difficult. This view, called ecological naturalism, is a non-functionalist and non-reductive view that provides an naturalistic account of the mind. It also puts special emphasis on irreducible supra-individual biological (SIB) processes that are essential in the realization of mental phenomena and therefore conscious experience.


A microscopic method to inspect isolated sub 100 nm scale structures made of silicon is presented. This method is based upon an analysis of light intensity distributions at defocused images obtained along the optical axis normal to the sample plane. Experimental measurements of calibrated lines (height 50 nm, length 100 μm, and widths of 40-150 nm in 10 nm steps) on top of a monocrystalline silicon substrate are presented. Library of defocused images of calibrated lines is obtained experimentally and numerically with accordance to experimental setup parameters and measurements conditions. Processing of the measured defocused images and comparison with simulated ones from library allow one to distinguish between objects with a 10 nm change in width. It is shown that influence of optical system aberrations must be taken into account in order to achieve coincidence between simulation and measured results and increase accuracy of line width inspection accuracy. The limits of accuracy for object width measurements using this optical method are discussed.


Defensive strategies have been in high demand since the Global Financial Crisis. For almost a decade, investors mainly had two traditional strategies from which to choose: minimum volatility and low volatility. Buffer strategies have become a third option, using derivatives to create known payoffs at maturity. The author demonstrates that volatility targeting is an effective fourth option. Although the payoff certainty of the buffer strategy at maturity may appeal to some investors, the equivocal decision to allocate to one monthly series versus another may leave investors with uncertainty. Backtested simulations highlight the restrictive upside participation of the buffer series, with only the July series delivering investors a higher Sharpe ratio than the three other defensive strategies. Finally, factor replicated portfolios demonstrate that volatility targeting is not synonymous with either low/minimum volatility or buffer-type strategies but, rather, has characteristics of all three, making it an effective, best-of-both-worlds allocation tool for defensive investors going forward, especially given the current level of interest rates. TOPICS: Portfolio construction, derivatives, options, simulations, performance measurement Key Findings ▪ Ambiguous portfolio characteristics result in uncertainty regarding which monthly buffer series is optimal for portfolio allocation. ▪ Risk control circumvents many disadvantages of other defensive strategies (including interest rate risk) while also providing additional tail-risk benefits. ▪ A risk control series can be replicated from factor exposures strictly from a mixture of a buffer series and two traditional defensive series (low volatility and minimum volatility), indicating a best-of-both-worlds strategy.


Managed care is notably affecting the practice of surgery in the United States. Four principal elements are subject to change: (1) patient care patterns, (2) ethics, (3) education and research, and (4) surgeon compensation. The Virginia Mason Clinic, a multispecialty group practice, is adapting to the demands of managed and capitated care. With the patient as the primary focus of effort, the goal is to create optimum value in health care. The principles of Continuous Quality Improvement are used to increase value in health care by ensuring appropriate treatment with optimum outcome at reasonable cost. Practice patterns are shifting to provide value to patients and payers. Ethical conflicts threaten but have been avoided. Surgical education remains unaffected, but future funding is problematic. The emphasis in surgical research has shifted toward outcome-based studies. The conflict between work effort and resource conservation as determinants of physician compensation is less for surgical than for medical practitioners. Although the principal benefactors of the shift toward managed care have been the payers, patients have gained modestly through efficiencies in the health care process and more stable insurance premiums. The satisfaction level of the surgeons in our multispecialty group practice remains high. Surgical research is thriving, volumes and case mix remain excellent, and changes in practice pattern have enabled us to increase efficiency without compromising patient care.


In this paper we discuss several variants of the acceleration technique known as Iterated Defect Correction (IDeC) for the numerical solution of initial value problems for ODEs. A first approximation, computed by a low order basic method, is iteratively improved to obtain higher order solutions. We propose new versions of the IDeC algorithm with maximal achievable (super-)convergence order twice as high as in the classical setting. Moreover, if the basic numerical method is designed for a special type of ODE only, as it is the case for many geometric integrators, the idea of classical IDeC is not applicable in a straightforward way. Our approach enables the application of the defect correction principle in such cases as well. Key-Words: Iterated defect correction, splitting methods, geometric integration, superconvergent collocation.


OBJECTIVE
To reveal the factors that affect the contents of volatile oil and beta-elemene in oil in Sarcandrae and to provide scientific basis for Sarcandrae's reasonable exploitation and quality assessment.

METHOD
A GC method was established and the contents of volatile oil and beta-elemene were determined in Sarcandrae from different length of time to grow, different medicament portions, different collection periods and different length of time to dry.

RESULT
The length of time to grow had no significant effect and the collection periods had effect on the volatile oil yield and content of beta-elemene. The volatile oil yield and content of beta-elemene were the highest in Sarcandrae harvested in December. The yield of volatile oil in different medicament portions descended in an order of roots, leaves and stems. The content of beta-elemene was the highest in leaves and the lowest in stems. With the increasing of the length of time to dry, the volatile oil yield and content of beta-elemene decreased calculated on an anhydrous basis.

CONCLUSION
The established method is simple, accurate and repeatable. It can be used for the quality control of beta-elemene in Sarcandrae. The study provides a valuable basis for the quality assessment, the development and utilization of Sarcandrae.


We consider the application of passivity theory to the problem of voltage stabilization in DC microgrids, which are composed of distributed generation units, dynamic RLC lines, and nonlinear ZIP (constant impedance, constant current, and constant power) loads. To this aim, we first study the stable interconnections of constrained passive systems and later consider its applications to microgrids. More specifically, we consider the decentralized multivariable PI controllers proposed in [29], and show that they passivate the generation units and the associated loads under certain conditions. To prove voltage stability in the closed-loop microgrid, we exploit properties of interconnection, passivity of individual components, and the LaSalle's invariance theorem. Moreover, we provide explicit inequalities on control gains to design stabilizing controllers. Control synthesis requires only the knowledge of local parameters and is always feasible allowing removal and addition of DGUs in a plug-n-play fashion. Theoretical results are backed up by simulations in PSCAD.


The purpose of the study was to compare the nutritional state in a group of hospitalised patients aged over 65 years and a group of younger patients. Information about body height, body weight, body mass index (BMI), weight index (WI), percent weight loss and energy intake was obtained from 89 elderly and 55 younger patients. We found no significant difference in the prevalence of malnutrition (BMI < or = 18.5 kg/m2 and/or WI < or = 80%) or underweight (BMI < 20 kg/m2) among the elderly patients compared to younger. However, significantly more elderly patients had lost more than 5% of their body weight (52.1% vs. 10.0%, p < 0.001). Also, the elderly patients had had a significantly longer hospital stay before the survey started (14 days vs. 4 days, p < 0.001). The prevalence of weight loss was higher (74% vs. 30%, chi 2 = 8.1, p < 0.01) among the elderly with the longest stay (18 days vs. 4 days). Therefore, special attention must be directed towards the nutritional status of the elderly patient in order to initiate nutritional support in time.


A historic warm episode occurred over much of eastern North America in March 2012, resulting in the warmest March on record over the contiguous United States. The impact of this warm episode on fruit crops in the Midwest was substantial, as early blossoming followed by an April freeze resulted in the loss of over 90% of some crops. Additionally, the ridge responsible for the warm episode also resulted in a pattern favorable for flooding and severe weather across the southeastern United States. This event was characterized by an anomalous ridge over eastern North America, with standardized anomalies suggesting that 500-hPa heights and 850-hPa temperatures were as high as has been documented in the past 30 yr. Although standard teleconnection indices were not significant during this event, a connection to the phase of the Madden-Julian Oscillation is shown. From a standardized anomaly approach, this event also was found to be very predictable by deterministic and ensemble guidance at lead times of up to 10 days. The breadth and persistence of positive height and temperature anomalies provided increased confidence in this record-setting event.


Since 2010 the University of Tasmania, Architecture & Design has fabricated structures using a custom sheetbased digital fabrication construction system. This paper highlights how present and emergent digital technologies have
been applied to the design, fabrication and assembly of a small experimental structure known as the Digished. The DigiShed
has been designed to optimise the characteristics of wood-based sheet products processed with CNC-driven digital
fabrication. An analytic comparison is made with an equivalent lightweight timber framed structure. Augmented Reality has
been used to communicate each component's physical location within the structure and the overall assembly sequence.
The assembled DigiShed has subsequently been used as a canvas for students to investigate design parameters for a
cladding system using Incremental Sheet Forming (ISF), a process where a robot arm deforms a flat metal sheet into a
three-dimensional form. The paper speculates how the results of the research might be applied to larger and more complex
structures.


Development has remained elusive in Africa. Through theoretical contributions and case studies focusing on Southern Africa's former white settler states, South Africa and Zimbabwe, this volume responds to the current need to rethink (and unthink) development in the region. The authors explore how Africa can adapt Western development models suited to its political, economic, social and cultural circumstances, while rejecting development practices and discourses based on exploitative capitalist and colonial tendencies. Beyond the legacies of colonialism, the volume also explores other factors impacting development, including regional politics, corruption, poor policies on empowerment and indigenization, and socio-economic and cultural barriers.


This paper presents the results of a study carried out to determine the change in wave climate around an array of hypothetical wave devices. The main objective of this work is to investigate the change in wave height in the upstream and downstream of the devices for different levels of wave absorption. This is achieved by modeling the wave devices as porous structures with different porosity levels, with the inclusion of partial reflection and partial transmission. The MIKE 21 suite wave models, (i) Spectral wave and (ii) Boussinesq wave are used for this purpose. The former wave model is employed for the estimation of various phase averaged wave parameters for the Orkney Islands. These wave parameters are then used as input to the Boussinesq model to study wave-device array interactions. The results are presented in the form of wave disturbance coefficients defined as a ratio of the significant wave height at a particular location relative to the incoming or input significant wave height. This study illustrates how the variations in wave absorption by the devices affect the degree of wave reflection and transmission around the devices.


The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of the dietary inclusion of calcium anacardate on the performance, diarrhea incidence, blood parameters, intestinal morphometry, and pH of gastrointestinal contents in piglets from 21 to 42 days of age. Sixty weaned Topigs piglets, with initial weight of 6.049±0.311 kg, were distributed in the following treatments: diet with or without antibiotic growth promoter (zinc bacitracin) and diets supplemented with increasing levels of calcium anacardate (0.4, 0.8, and 1.2%), with six replicates and two animals per experimental unit. No differences in performance (21 to 42 days of age), blood parameters, and villus height:crypt depth ratio were found between piglets fed diets containing calcium anacardate or antibiotic growth promoter. The replacement of the antibiotic growth promoter zinc bacitracin by calcium anacardate results in similar performance in piglets from 21 to 42 days of age, without changes in blood parameters and in the villus height:crypt depth ratio. The dietary inclusion of calcium anacardate does not decrease diarrhea incidence compared with the antibiotic zinc bacitracin.


In irrigated desert areas of the southwestern USA, fruiting of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) typically peaks in July. Water management during the fruiting period can influence cotton lint yields. This study tested the hypothesis that small frequent irrigations during the July peak fruiting stage would increase fruit set and yields compared with the same amount of water applied less frequently. During 3 yr under a short-season production system, irrigation intervals of 5-d with 42 mm of water applied at each of six irrigations increased lint yield by 5 to 11% compared with irrigation intervals of 10- and 15-d with 81 and 130 mm of water applied at each of three and two irrigations, respectively. Average stomatal conductance of 1989 and 1991 was higher for the 5-d-irrigation interval than for 10- or 15-d intervals. For 1990 and 1991 average leaf water potentials were higher and average leaf temperatures were lower for the 5-d-irrigation interval than for the other two irrigation intervals. The results show that with the same amount of water conventionally applied through furrow irrigation, small frequent irrigations during cotton fruiting were effective in reducing water deficit during critical growth stages and increasing lint production. The small frequent irrigations did not increase soil salt content in the top 15 cm of soil after 3 yr of study.


Objective To compare prevalence of anaemia and haemoglobin (Hb) levels in pregnant women in the fi ve Brazilian regions, before and after the forti fi cation of fl ours with iron


14 Using tissue culture techniques, the C-thymidine incorporation of peripheral lymphocytes in 17 Hodgkin's patients was tested before and after splenectomy under stimulation with phytohemagglutinin and pokeweed. Incorporation under phytohemagglutinin stimulation about 10 days after splenectomy was not affected in Hodgkin's patients with pathologic stages I and II, but was significantly (p <0.005) increased in those with stages III and IV. The total PHA stimulation potency, i.e. the product of the lymphocyte count and PHA stimulation, increased slightly in both groups. Incorporation under pokeweed stimulation after splenectomy did not significantly differ from that before the operation in the two groups. Although the number of cases studied is rather small, it is concluded that splenectomy causes no demonstrable untoward effect on the cellular immunologic potency. The immunologic state is more likely to be favourably influenced than unfavourably.


Topology optimization is broadly recognized as a design approach to generate high-performance conceptual designs suitable for freeform fabrication, e.g., additive manufacturing. When other fabrication methods are considered, topology optimization must integrate manufacturing constraints. The integration of constraints for extrusion and casting has been addressed in the past by a few researcher groups. In this work, extrusion and casting constraints are revisited and extended to include plastic injection. The proposed method relies on the use of intersection planes and the definition of a parting line within the planes. The resulting topologies can be injected in a two-plate mold without the use of inserts. The implementation and results of the proposed approach are demonstrated in classic three-dimensional problems that include a cantilevered beam with different load conditions.


This study aims to acquire the functional image of the rat brain, small animal positron emission tomography (microPET) with high resolution and sensitivity is adopted to assess the metabolic activity corresponding to the neuronal activity induced by the electrical stimulation of the rat tail using [18F] fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) as the radiotracer. The microPET imaging technology can provide anatomical and functional information on neuronal activity used to analyze responses in pathway sequence relationships between the thalamus and the cerebral cortex.


The large quantities of wastewater produced throughout the lifetime of a shale gas well can contain heavy metals and other regulated potentially toxic elements. These can be mobilised from the target formation by some of the additives present in the hydraulic fracturing fluids (HFF). High levels of inorganic geogenic chemicals may pose a hazard to the environment through accidental releases such as spills of untreated wastewater. The concentration of mobilised elements and the hazard they pose is uncertain and is likely dependant on the chemical agents used in HFF, groundwater composition and the trace element content of targeted shale gas formation. Laboratory protocols were developed to investigate the release of inorganic contaminants of potential concern (e.g. As, Co, Cu, Pb, Se) from shale gas formations around the world. Powdered rock samples were leached for up to 360 hours at elevated temperature (80°C) and a range of pressures (1-200 bar), with synthetic HFF and synthetic groundwater (SGW). Elemental concentrations released into solution were generally much higher in the HFF leachates than in the SGW treatments, indicating that the chemical additives in the HFF influenced element mobilisation. SEM and EDX images show substantial mineral etching and precipitation of secondary phases on shale chips leached for 360 hours with HFF at 80°C and ~180 bar when compared to the SGW experiment. Time-series data also show evidence of mineral dissolution and subsequent precipitation of new phases, which resulted in sequestration of a number of trace elements that were initially mobilised into the solution. We also observed that the carbonate content of the unreacted shale sample had a strong control on the final pH of the HFF leachates. This study shows that additives can enhance the release of geogenic chemicals, but also that subsequent precipitation within the fracture system could limit ultimate release to surface.


We propose an alternative Redundant array of independent disks (RAID) data layout, Asymmetrical grouping data organization (AGDO), for object-based data de-duplication backup system. Object-based data deduplication is an effective solution for detecting duplicate data for compound files. We designed an asymmetrical grouping strategy, the disk in the array are partitioned into different groups, and in each group parallelism data access scheme is adopted, different types of objects are stored in different groups with maybe different group size, it can set and manage dynamic group size by using dynamic disk group adjustment algorithms. The performance of AGDO is evaluated and proved to be sufficient for the continuous storage application. The result is that disk accesses are concentrated in a part of the disks over a long time period and reduces the power consumption to 25% in a 10 disk configuration. Moreover, object-based de-duplication combined with AGDO has great potential in increasing data restoration speed for compound files. We have shown that this combination makes average restoration speed improved 11%.


Identification of causative genes for hereditary dystonia and elucidation of their functions are crucial for better understanding of dystonia pathogenesis. As seen in other hereditary neurologic disorders, intra- and inter-familial clinical variations have been demonstrated in hereditary dystonia. Asymptomatic carriers can be found due to alterations in penetrance, generally reduced in succeeding generations. Current known dystonia genes include those related to dopamine metabolism, transcription factor, cytoskeleton, transport of glucose and sodium ion, etc. It has been reported that effects of deep brain stimulation can vary significantly depending on genotype. Accumulation of genotype-outcome correlations would contribute to treatment decisions for dystonia patients.


Linguistic anthropology is the study of language as social action. Linguistic anthropologists study how people use language, and how, in using language, people are also defining and displaying who they are, enacting their membership in particular groups, and bringing various types of truths into being. Language, then, is a set of practices that people engage in every day in numerous forms, which helps to define their positions in their families, communities, workplaces, schools, and even nation-states. How one speaks is not only who one is—it is what one does. This is possible because language is multifunctional, that is, it works in many different ways to connect people, convey meanings and feelings, move people to action, and define who they are. The major functions of language are the referential function, the emotive function, the conative function, the poetic function, the phatic function, the metalinguistic function, and the indexical function, which often overlap when people use language and are shaped by language ideologies, that is, the beliefs and attitudes that shape speakers' relationships to their own and others' languages, mediating between the social practice of language and the socioeconomic, historical, and political structures within which it occurs. Language use is part of what makes humans human, and as anthropologists, focused on how humans live and make sense of each other and the world, language should always be part of what anthropologists attend to and investigate.


This article explores some limitations of the claims made for Big Data, particularly in the work of Alex Pentland, as providing a universal method for understanding and managing the social. It does so by analysing Pentland's social physics in the light of the work of Gilbert Simondon. It argues that Pentland's social theory is essentially cybernetic and thus open to Simondon's criticisms of this schema of understanding. Additionally, it questions the way social physics leads to the development of hypertelic social structures; its lack of ability for theorizing invention, teleology and open systems; and queries the social ontology it has developed. Simondon's reformed notion of information, situated as it is, between determinism and indeterminism, may not disagree with Pentland's claim that "we're going to reinvent what it means to have a human society," but understands the nature of this claim in a radically different way. Where Pentland's work points towards yet another phase of the control revolution, this article asserts that it misses the more important question of how it theorizes indeterminacy and omits consideration of the transindividual as a mode of the social.


In this article, we examine philosophy of sport as a field of study in Japan, its history, characteristics, and future prospects, as part of a contribution to the international development of the discipline of sport philosophy. The Japan Society for the Philosophy of Sport and Physical Education has been holding an annual sport philosophy conference every year since its inception in 1978. Nevertheless, the trends of sport philosophy in Japan have not been conveyed abroad. The language barrier between Japanese and English as an international communication tool makes it difficult to spread our work on the philosophy of sport throughout the world. The question arises as to whether the philosophy of sport in Japan has the same trends as those in the Western countries. Is it reasonable to assume that it has different aspects and interests than philosophy of sport in English-speaking countries? We will also try to address these questions for our audience


The magnetic field is one of the most important parameters in solar physics, and a polarimeter is the key device to measure the solar magnetic field. Liquid crystals based Stokes polarimeter is a novel technology, and will be applied for magnetic field measurement in the first space-based solar observatory satellite developed by China, Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory. However, the liquid crystals based Stokes polarimeter in space is not a mature technology. Therefore, it is of great scientific significance to study the control method and characteristics of the device. The retardation produced by a liquid crystal variable retarder is sensitive to the temperature, and the retardation changes 0.09° per 0.1° C. The error in polarization measurement caused by this change is 0.016, which affects the accuracy of magnetic field measurement. In order to ensure the stability of its performance, this paper proposes a high-precision temperature control system for liquid crystals based Stokes polarimeter in space. In order to optimize the structure design and temperature control system, the temperature field of liquid crystals based Stokes polarimeter is analyzed by the finite element method, and the influence of light on the temperature field of the liquid crystal variable retarder is analyzed theoretically. By analyzing the principle of high-precision temperature measurement in space, a high-precision temperature measurement circuit based on integrated operational amplifier, programmable amplifier and 12 bit A/D is designed, and a high-precision space temperature control system is developed by applying the integral separation PI temperature control algorithm and PWM driving heating films. The experimental results show that the effect of temperature control is accurate and stable, whenever the liquid crystals based Stokes polarimeter is either in the air or vacuum. The temperature stability is within ±0.015° C, which demonstrates greatly improved stability for the liquid crystals based Stokes polarimeter.


ABSTRACT The persistent debate over the timing of initial Arabia–Eurasia collision has eluded consensus for decades, with most estimates ranging widely from ~50 to 10 Ma along both the Anatolian and Zagros segments of the orogen. Here, we independently evaluate the timing and location of initial collision using a quantitative plate tectonic reconstruction that is the first to include the entire Arabian microcontinent and regions to the north in eastern Anatolia, northwestern Iran, and the Caucasus. The reconstruction combines new kinematic constraints from recent global plate models with a synthesis of available constraints on crustal shortening and continental and back-arc subduction to restore the pre-collisional geometries of the Arabian and Eurasian continental margins and to track their interaction through time. Our preferred model suggests that initial continental underthrusting, or soft collision, of the relatively thin Arabian passive margin with Eurasia occurred by ca. 42 Ma along the eastern Bitlis suture zone and began transmitting strain across central and eastern Anatolia, the Caucasus, and northwestern Iran. Collision inception then propagated westward into central Anatolia and southeastward into the northwestern Zagros Mountains by late Eocene time (ca. 40–35 Ma), the central Zagros by latest Eocene to early Oligocene time, (ca. 35–25 Ma), and finally the southeastern Zagros by latest Oligocene to middle Miocene time (ca. 25–15 Ma). The diachroneity of Arabia collision led to widespread upper-plate (Eurasian) contraction and a similarly time-transgressive magmatic lull that lagged behind the onset of collision by ~2–12 Myr. By incorporating the entire Arabian microcontinent and regions to the north, this new tectonic reconstruction highlights the diachronous nature of Arabia–Eurasia collision that occurred first along the Bitlis suture zone in eastern Anatolia during late middle Eocene time and became progressively younger to the southeast along strike of the Zagros suture zone. Graphical Abstract


Bangkok, February 12, 1994 Ladies and gentlemen, A few days ago in India I reiterated an opinion I have often expressed, that after the collapse of colonialism, and later of communism which shared some of the characteristics of colonialism the world has embarked on a new era, an era that is multicultural and multipolar. In all other such epochs in the past, when many different cultures and civilizations existed simultaneously, none of them alone could influence the fate of our planet. The era we are entering today, however, is marked by the profound interrelatedness of all its cultures, because they all exist within the framework of a single global civilization. Any conflict between these cultures can therefore as could never have happened in times past have a fundamental impact on the fate of humanity as a whole. The great task we face now is finding a way of coexistence among the different cultures and powers of the world that will not threaten the future of the earth. In other words, the challenge facing our time is to create a multicultural and multipolar environment within a single global civilization. This, however, is easier said than done. With your permission, I would like to use this occasion, when you have done me the great honor of conferring on me an honorary doctorate from the Chulalongkorn University, to make several observations on that theme. It cannot be hoped that the mere invention and improvement of mechanisms, technologies, systems, and forms of worldwide cooperation will be enough to save the world from all the dangers threatening it today from conflicts between cultures, ethnic or religious groups, the deepening gulf between the prosperous and the so-called developing countries, the population explosion, to the wide spectrum of ecological dangers we face. Yes, the creation of such systemic means of change is extremely important, but this approach can only be effective if it expresses a new type of thinking, if it is permeated with a new spirit, if it reflects a new ethos. Thought, as we know, always precedes action. This new spirit must grow out of a deep understanding of the broader interconnectedness of human activity, from the awareness of how everything in this world is related to everything else, from the knowledge that whatever anyone does anywhere has consequences, direct or indirect, for everyone. For the first time in its history, humanity finds itself in a situation where it can be demonstrated, in quite specific ways, that human actions have a universal impact. We may observe, for instance, that although all religions are in essence universalistic, and their God is understood to be the God of everyone, conflicts still arise from religious differences. Many people apparently think that if their God is everyone's God, then those who believe in a different God must be infidels and wrongdoers. Religious universalism, however, must now be understood ecumenically. What must be sought out and emphasized is what is common to all religions. There is much common ground, and that ground must be built on together, while fully respecting everything that makes religions different from one another, because that is a natural consequence of the plurality of the human world. Religious cultures are not better or worse than one another; there are only different cultures, because people are different. What I say here about religion applies, in another form, to everything else: to diversities of national characteristics, historical and cultural traditions, manners of thinking, ideology, even to the traditional ways in which societies organize themselves. In all of this, a social minimum must be found that is acceptable to everyone and evidently good. Then, through peaceful dialogue, this minimum must be cultivated while fully respecting the differences as well as the equality of all those who belong to those diverse cultures. The time has come for a new global universalism, one that is more modest, but with a greater chance of success than those which have expansively presented themselves as the norm whether to general delight or antipathy for all. …


When one considers the price, $11.92, for a monograph on a relatively obscure but interesting subject, it may be of concern that the basic message in the book is covered in the first 49 pages (41% of the book length). A study of 27 patients with pulmonary arterial venous fistula (PAF) and a discussion of its interesting relationship to hereditary telangiectasia is a subject of great historical and eponymic interest, however. The clinical and laboratory analysis of these 36 individual instances makes up the remainder of the monograph. Central themes come through: the classic features of dyspnea on exertion, clubbing, cyanosis, and polycythemia are really uncommon manifestations of the disease complex, the disease is only diagnosed if suspected, and the asymptomatic state is important and can be diagnosed readily with modern angiographic and blood gas determination techniques. The fact that the severity of disease relates to the degree of right-to-left


We measured body size (snout-vent length, SVL) for three populations of Ommatotriton ophryticus newts in Turkey and estimated age using the skeletochronological method. Age was determined by counting the lines of arrested growth in cross-sections taken from phalanges. SVL was similar among populations and ranged between 58.41 and 85.78 mm in males and 50.33 and 71.56 mm in females. Males were significantly larger than females in all populations. Age at maturity was 4-6 years in males and 5-6 years in females. The average age of males and females did not differ significantly. Maximum age ranged from 9 to 12 years in males and from 9 to 11 years in females. Positive correlation was found between SVL and age for both sexes in all populations. A significant difference was observed among populations in terms of both age and body size (6-, 7-, and 8-year-old age classes). The demographic traits of the studied populations are the result of the interaction of multiple factors, including altitude, geographical location, and ecological factors.


* A facsimile collection of six household and cookery manuals published in mid-Victorian Britain. * An extremely valuable source of information for those studying Victorian life / culture and history of women. From the preface by Nicola Humble--- The nineteenth century saw a dramatic increase in the number of manuals of cookery and household management published in Britain, with such books becoming a significant part of the publishing industry, the mainstay of many an entrepreneurial publisher's list. The most famous is Beeton's Book of Household Management (1861), which sold more than 60,000 copies in its first year of publication and nearly two million by 1868, but many other such manuals appeared in this century, particularly in the period from the 1840s to the 1880s. Works such as Eliza Acton's Modern Cookery for Private Families (1845) (from which Isabella Beeton copied widely and unashamedly), Alexis Soyer's The Modern Housewife (1849), and Henry Southgate's Things a Lady Would Like to Know (1874). A new market for such books existed because of the extreme and all-embracing social changes that took place during these decades. More and more of the population moved into large towns or to the rapidly growing suburbs on their outskirts. They lost touch with the rural economy with its virtuous circle of food production and consumption and were faced with a vast and increasing array of commercial food products, many imported from the colonies. The new rising middle class, to whom most of these publications were addressed, lived very different lives from their parents and grandparents, in tall narrow townhouses, where the industrial soot and grime necessitated extra cleaning, where food of unknown origin was supplied by numerous, potentially unreliable tradespeople, and where neighbours were strangers to each other unless an elaborate system of calls was initiated. Husbands travelled into the centre of London and other large cities to work and took their midday and often their evening meal in town, in the chop-houses that were growing up to service this new commuter class. Women in the mid-century needed advice on how to manage every detail of their homes and lives because it was all so unfamiliar, and the well-meaning guidance of the past simply did not apply any more. The new household manuals speak to that anxiety, reassuring and explaining, offering new systems and strategies, and dealing with the all-important task of managing servants. The middle class tripled in size between 1851 and 1871 and the vast majority of these newly middle-class people were at the very lowest end of the middle class, living on annual household incomes of between GBP100 and GBP300. They were almost certainly the first generation of their families to have employed servants, and were extremely anxious about the process. One of the main functions of the household manual was to simplify and demystify this new role. Another major function of the household manual was also intimately connected to class: that of consolidating and maintaining the family's social position. It was very clear to all mid-Victorians that economic and social status could 'turn on a sixpence': that a calamitous fall in social status was as likely as a miraculous rise. Household manuals and cookbooks for the middle classes devote a considerable amount of space to the activity of entertaining, which was seen as a crucial element in advancing both the husband's career and the social status of the family. A significant proportion of the household's monthly income would be devoted to this activity, and enormous anxiety is felt, not unreasonably, about getting it right. It is for this reason that there are so many scenes of disastrous dinner parties in Victorian novels - not because the dinner party was a commonplace event, but precisely because it was new and awkward and desperately important - a key social ritual for which the rules were still evolving. Household manuals seek to lay down those rules, to determine the right way of doing it, and to remove some of the anxiety from the proceedings (though the very detailed instructions seem as likely to have had the opposite effect). The household manuals and cook books of the nineteenth century are unlike their modern equivalents in their inclusivity. They are more like bibles than coffee-table books in that each aims to cover every possible eventuality: every household query, every possible dish. Their publishers could not have foreseen the modern market in which consumers buy multitudes of cook books and hardly cook from them at all. The Victorian household was assumed to need only one household manual: and each manual aimed to be the one that they needed. This accounts for two elements we find in these books: both the encyclopaedic impulse that leads many of them to include every possible topic, however vaguely related to their central concerns, and the impulse that leads them to compete with their earlier rivals by incorporation, lifting their recipes and much of their material wholesale. This procedure - to us simply naked plagiarism - is complained of by Eliza Acton in her preface to Modern Cookery, but such complaints were clearly not taken seriously, and for the next decades writers and publishers happily borrow from each other with seeming impunity. Indeed, the authorship of these manuals is much less clear cut than we might expect. Many are put together as 'packages' by publishers, pulling together the work of a number of contributors, and many - including Beeton's book - are derived from material first published in periodicals, with recipes often collected from readers' contributions. The Practical Housewife (1855), published by Ward, Lock (who were later to amass a considerable fortune when they bought the rights to Household Management from a grieving Sam Beeton after his wife's premature death), is 'written' by the unnamed editors of The Family Friend periodical and is declared on its title page to be 'the result of hundreds of valued contributions accumulated and approved during the last seven years'. Regardless if written by one author or many, the voice of these books is broadly similar: they aim for a matronly authority, a measured, experienced domestic wisdom which is often dramatically at odds with the real lives of the actual authors. There is a key paradox in the fact that these texts, which so firmly establish the notion of domestic labour as appropriate and fulfilling work for women are written mostly by women who lived very different lives, working as journalists and editors, often unmarried, and rarely possessed of the wealth of domestic experience their books imply. This disparity points to a fact that we must always bear in mind when reading cookbooks and household manuals: that they are texts, constructed discourses, not clear windows onto the households of the past. These books cannot be used as straightforward guides to the diet or social and domestic practices of nineteenth century Britain. They are not descriptions of living practices, rather, they are interventions, attempts to alter domestic practices, to lay down new rules, to offer a wealth of new dishes. We might note, for example, just how many English cookbooks down the centuries begin their chapter on soup with a description of the highly superior soup-making culture of the French and a suggestion that the British should imitate their example: this is not a reflection of current practice, it is an attempt to get readers to change their domestic habits: to do better. We cannot know if many people followed the advice or cooked the recipes in these books, though it is my contention that people actually cook far fewer recipes than we would expect from cook books. So why and how should we read these texts, and what can they tell us? I think that they tell us a great deal about the fears and fantasies of their readers. As a highly market-led form, these books are very responsive to the immediate needs of their readers, and often reflect their concerns in a very naked form. The snobberies and social tensions, the fears (of adulterated foods, of deceitful shop-keepers, of dishonest or vicious servants) and the dearly-held ambitions of the mid-Victorians speak to us very directly from the pages of these books. The tension between their nascent religious faith and the rapid, contradictory advance of science; their obsessive interest in and respect for history; the growing desire of women to work, to be educated, to hold a larger place in the world; the intensely contradictory feelings - torn between fear and pity - of the middle classes for the poor: all of Victorian culture is here, buried amid the recipes and the advice.


Continuing to learn is universally accepted and expected by professionals and other stakeholders in professional practice. However, despite changes in undergraduate professional education in response to research findings, most continuing professional development (CPD) practices focus on delivery of content rather than on learning. Professional development still largely consists of brief, didactic episodes, often separated from practice or ongoing support. In exploring reasons for the lack of significant change in support for continuing learning, scant research was found about how professionals experience learning through their working lives. This study explores how allied health professionals learn in the current changing work context. The aim of the study is to enhance understanding about continuing learning so that support for professionals can improve. The findings have implications for learning in health and other professions. Using a phenomenological framework, continuing professional learning (CPL) is conceptualised in this study as part of the professionals' lived experience of everyday practice. This conceptualisation challenges the problematic way in which much previous research views professional knowledge as a commodity that can be transferred and accumulated, separate from the professionals' working context. Rich and diverse descriptions of learning were gained from interviews with sixteen therapists, contextualised through worksite visits, network meetings and relevant policy documents. These data were analysed using Giorgi's empirical phenomenological methodology. A key finding of this study is the identification of significant dissonance between the reality of the professionals' experiences of learning and the rhetoric of stakeholders' expectations about professional development. The main focus of previous research, on the implementation and outcomes of CPD activities, fails to acknowledge the complex, diverse, multifaceted and idiosyncratic nature of professional learning experiences. Professional responsibilities with respect to CPD are linked to supervision of standards, monitoring of accountability and promotion of evidencebased practice. As this study clearly reveals, the participants are enthusiastic learners who take these professional responsibilities seriously, but consider that their continuing learning is richer than this narrow CPD interpretation. The findings are reported in two phases. The first describes commonalities across diverse experiences of CPL, in terms of four inter-related constituents: understanding, engagement, interconnection and openness. Within the complexity of descriptions of CPL, tensions are revealed, particularly between the openness and uncertainty of learning, and the constraints and regulation of context. How tensions are resolved depends on each person's way of being a professional, so that each professional's learning has a unique quality permeating what is essentially a shared experience. The second phase of the findings draws on phenomenological philosophy to interpret the shared experience of CPL. The key argument of this phase is that the dissonance between rhetoric and reality in CPL is largely hidden from public discourse, being mainly voiced between professionals in supportive environments. It is argued that the hidden nature of this dissonance is one reason for the lack of significant change in CPD practices, in that few professionals publicly question CPD practices or the current context for learning. Within the usual CPD discourse, learning is viewed in epistemological terms as change in professional practice knowledge, with the professional viewed as deficient and in need of developing. In this study, the ontological dimension of CPL is highlighted, in that who the professional is shapes and directs what and how the professional learns. The ontological dimension of learning and the impact of context on learning are overlooked in most CPD practices. It is important that learning providers are cognisant of the complex, diverse nature of CPL so that innovative ways of supporting professionals to learn can be encouraged. Although CPL can't be controlled, it can be supported, so that professionals can continue to learn in their own authentic way, whilst taking into account the expectations of their working contexts. In seeking a balance between responsibility and agency in CPL, a framework of "Authentic Professional Learning" is proposed as congruent with, and supportive of, professionals' experiences of learning, yet cognisant of the realities of the workplace with respect to accountability. Constructive strategies are developed from this framework to enable change from the current practice of CPD to that of authenticity in CPL. This study integrates, empirically confirms and extends research in higher education, workplace learning and adult education. The contribution made to understanding and supporting CPL is both theoretical and practical. Furthermore, demonstration of the value of a phenomenological framework as an alternative approach to researching continuing learning makes a methodological contribution to research in this area.


Pulpal temperature changes induced by modern high powered light emitting diodes (LEDs) are of concern when used to cure composite resins. This study showed an increase in pulp chamber temperature with an increase in power density for all light cure units (LCU) when used to bulk cure composite resin. Amongst the three LEDs tested, the Elipar Freelight-2 recorded the highest temperature changes. Bulk curing recorded a significantly larger rise in pulp chamber temperature change than incrementally cured resin for all light types except for the Smartligh PS. Both the high powered LED and the conventional curing units can generate heat. Though this temperature rise may not be sufficient to cause irreversible pulpal damage, it would be safer to incrementally cure resins.


Coronalmass ejections (CMEs) and the solar wind are the two main demonstrations of solar activity. These events can drive a shock wave. The shock wave occurs where the solar wind changes from being supersonic (with respect to the surrounding interplanetary medium) to subsonic. The main purpose of this study is to apply the algorithm and the results given in our recent papers to the shock wave that happened after the December 13, 2006 CME, and evaluate the behavior of entropy during this solar activity.


For cognitive radios (CRs), compressive sampling (CS) techniques have been utilized for spectrum sensing in order to alleviate the high signal acquisition costs in the wideband regime. Given the desired sensing performance, the fundamental limit on the sampling rates is determined by the actual sparsity order S_{nz} of the signal spectrum, which can be considerably lower than the Nyquist sampling rate. However, S_{nz} is time-varying and hence unknown a priori for a dynamic CR network, and is typically available in the form of its statistical upper bound S_{max}. When the practical sampling rate is chosen according to S_{max} in lieu of S_{nz}, this rate is unnecessarily high for accurate spectrum sensing and hence wasteful of the sensing resources. To circumvent this problem, this paper develops a two-step compressed spectrum sensing (TS-CSS) scheme for efficient wideband sensing. The first step quickly estimates the actual sparsity order of the wide spectrum of interest using a small number of samples, and the second step adjusts the total number of samples collected according to the estimated signal sparsity order. By doing so, the overall sampling rate is minimized adaptively. The cornerstone of this work is the fact that the number of measurements required for estimating the signal sparsity order is (much) smaller than that for reconstructing the sparse signal itself. The gap between these two numbers is delineated in this paper in closed form, which offers valuable design guideline. Validated by simulations, the proposed TS-CSS scheme achieves the desired sensing performance at considerably reduced sensing costs, using a lowered average sampling rate compared with traditional one-step compressive sampling schemes.


Mycotoxins are ubiquitous, moldproduced toxins that contaminate a wide variety of foods and feeds. Ingestion of mycotoxins cause a range of toxic responses, from acute toxicity to longterm or chronic health disorders. Some mycotoxins have caused outbreaks of human toxicoses, and at least one mycotoxin, aflatoxin B1, is a presumed human hepatocarcinogen. As part of a comprehensive effort to curtail the adverse health effects posed by mycotoxins, substantial research has been conducted to determine the mechanism of action of mycotoxins in animals. This review presents some of the current knowledge on the biological action of four diverse classes of mycotoxinsaflatoxin B1, tricothecenes, zearalenone, and fumonisin B1-with particular emphasis on mechanisms of action. (