This paper reviews progress in superconductor electronics over the decade since the discovery of the high temperature oxide superconductors (HTS). Almost simultaneously with that discovery was the development of a new process for low temperature superconductor (LTS) devices based on the Nb/AlOx/Mb whole wafer tunnel junction. Both of these developments facilitated a strong growth in applications. We review first the applications based on thin films with no Josephson junctions. This is mostly using HTS, which permits more convenient cooling thus making applications mere commercially viable. With their need for only one or two Josephson junctions, SQUID magnetometers have succeeded to the market place using HTS materials. Finally, we review progress in the volt standard and digital circuits, both of which require large numbers of junctions and at present can only be realized with LTS materials.


It is apparent that there is a strong tendency generally in the medical profession toward a broadening of the indications for the termination of pregnancy. It seems that the wisdom of this can scarcely be questioned. While it may be said that this may open the way for the not overconscientious physician, by distortion of the symptoms and indications, to perform abortion in many unnecessary cases, it is believed that this will not be true to any large extent, as the great majority of physicians are undoubtedly honest in this respect as in other things, and are no more likely to go astray than formerly. Temptation and opportunity are always present for those who may wish to take advantage of it. That errors of judgment or of unintentional misunderstanding may occasionally arise there is no doubt. I believe I am right in stating that it has always formerly been


Comment on Price, David. 2016. Cold War anthropology: The CIA, the Pentagon, and the growth of dual use anthropology. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.


Abstract : The electrical properties of thin silicon films deposited on sapphire differ from those of bulk silicon not only because of crystalline imperfections but also because of the proximity of any point within a film to the silicon/sapphire interface. This interface often has a strong influence on SOS device characteristics, especially on the leakage current of irradiated n-channel MOS/SOS transistors. An important aspect of this program has been to define and develop experimental device structures and measurement techniques which would allow a detailed study of silicon/sapphire interfaces. The structures found most suitable for this purpose were junction field-effect transistors (JFET's) and metal-insulator-semiconductor capacitors using the sapphire substrate as gate insulator (back-gate MIS capacitors). Their design and use is described in this report. It is shown that they complement each other in establishing the pre-irradiation and post-irradiation properties of the silicon-on-sapphire films and silicon/sapphire interfaces. The parameters measured included the impurity concentration and mobility as a function of depth into the silicon films, the pre-irradiation silicon/sapphire interface charge, as well as the radiation induced interface charge and changes in the JFET channel conductance as a function of radiation dose.


The medical treatment of alcoholism is rapidly becoming more important in accomplishing recovery for patients with this disease. Because of the fear and threat that so many alcoholics feel about any treatment, a medical approach seems much more acceptable. With the general feeling of physical well-being, any type of therapy becomes less of a threat and the cooperation of the patient becomes much more possible. It is important, therefore, that the patient be given as healthy a physiological basis as is possible before any type of therapy is applied. With the newer medications at the disposal of the therapist, a medical approach can be used with much better results and fewer untoward side-effects than with the older types of medications. The medical treatment also offers an avenue for many more practitioners to treat alcoholics than heretofore, because the newer drugs allow for a greater feeling of comfort for the patient,


The Chinese online game industry is facing a scarcity of talented professionals and talent mobility. How to recruit and retain talented employees is a tough question that each game company has to face. Presently, most companies adopt high investment in R&D and monetary reward for solving the problem. In this paper, the authors aim to identify factors that contribute to the talent exodus. With the qualitative approaches, the authors aim to find the reasons why employees of different levels leave their working place. In the findings, the authors point out that monetary reward, training, employee involvement and motivation at work are the critical factors for the loss of talented staff and for the adjustment and implementation of the organisation's human resource management strategies. At the end of this paper, some recommendations are put forward in terms of the disadvantages of HR systems of the Chinese online game companies.


U.S. agricultural output more than doubled between 1948 and 2011, with growth averaging 1.49 percent per year. With little growth in total measured use of agricultural inputs, the extraordinary performance of the U.S. farm sector was driven mainly by increases in total factor productivity (TFP—measured as output per unit of aggregate input). Over the last six decades, the mix of agricultural inputs used shifted significantly, with increased use of intermediate goods (e.g., fertilizer and pesticides) and less use of labor and land. The output mix changed as well, with crop production growing faster than livestock production. Based on econometric analysis of updated (1948-2011) TFP data, this study finds no statistical evidence that longrun U.S. agricultural productivity has slowed over time. Model-based projections show that in the future, slow growth in research and development investments may have only minor effects on TFP growth over the next 10 years but will slow TFP growth much more over the long term.


Atrophic age‐related macular degeneration (AMD) is associated with the subretinal accumulation of mononuclear phagocytes (MPs). Their role in promoting or inhibiting retinal degeneration is unknown. We here show that atrophic AMD is associated with increased intraocular CCL2 levels and subretinal CCR2+ inflammatory monocyte infiltration in patients. Using age‐ and light‐induced subretinal inflammation and photoreceptor degeneration in Cx3cr1 knockout mice, we show that subretinal Cx3cr1 deficient MPs overexpress CCL2 and that both the genetic deletion of CCL2 or CCR2 and the pharmacological inhibition of CCR2 prevent inflammatory monocyte recruitment, MP accumulation and photoreceptor degeneration in vivo. Our study shows that contrary to CCR2 and CCL2, CX3CR1 is constitutively expressed in the retina where it represses the expression of CCL2 and the recruitment of neurotoxic inflammatory CCR2+ monocytes. CCL2/CCR2 inhibition might represent a powerful tool for controlling inflammation and neurodegeneration in AMD.


A new rural development paradigm has emerged over the last decade. It is multifaceted by nature, connecting practices of landscape management, agritourism, organic and sustainable farming, and value-chain analysis and management. Increased food production in peri-urban areas in the developed world is typical of this new paradigm. Peri-urban areas are the transitional zones between rural and urban landscapes that experience constant population change and disturbance of traditional social, environmental, and economic characteristics. Sustainable community development initiatives are complicated in these fragmented and often contested landscapes. A case study on Australia's Sunshine Coast analyzes the challenges and opportunities of reconfiguring agri-food production systems to achieve the type of multifunctional landscape preferred by the community and primary producers alike. Scenario analysis, interviews, and surveys of traditional midscale farmers with more recent micro- to small primary producers and food artisans provide insight into the challenges faced at a grassroots level. The role of government in facilitating supportive policy and planning and connecting and building the capacity of key actors involved in local and regional food value chains is reviewed. The paper argues that the government is essential to the successful planning and management of peri-urban areas because of the fragmented and/or contested quality of this unique agri-food landscape. Without further investment in place-based collaborative research, planning, capacity building, and economic development, the local food movement in these peri-urban areas is likely to continue to occupy only a narrow "alternative" cultural and economic space.


The incarcerated in America's cultural imagination. "The Cultural Prison" brings a new dimension to the study of prisoners and punishment by focusing on how the punishment of American offenders is represented and shaped in the mass media through public arguments. The study is based on an analysis of 642 articles collected by the author from American popular journals and magazines, as well as newspaper accounts, films, and public speeches, spanning the years 1950 to 1992. By piecing together and studying these popular narratives, he divides the history of prisoners and punishment into four eras, each marked by a shift in value system. He argues that the discourse, or rhetoric, surrounding prisoners and punishment on the public level works as a historical force that shapes contemporary culture.The author is concerned that the public seems to have an inability or unwillingness to question or resist cultural definitions of normalcy and legal behavior. He explains that ideally moral behavior should be a matter of public debate rather than of unquestioned perpetuation, and he urges increased understanding of institutional and cultural discipline and our questioning the ways in which the constitution of punishment and prisoners influences us culturally.The"cultural prison" refers to the way in which this study acts as an investigation of "the discipline of discipline"; it is an examination of the way in which discipline is shaped and formed in public discourse. The volume concludes with a fascinating account of the move to electronic means of surveillance; coupled with the representations of the prisoner along the lines of race and gender, it explains what these new techniques mean to contemporary culture.


To evaluate performance on a perfusion defect detection task from 540 image pairs of myocardial perfusion SPECT image data we apply the J-optimal channelized quadratic observer (J-CQO). We compare AUC values of the linear Hotelling observer and J-CQO when the defect location is fixed and when it occurs in one of two locations. As expected, when the location is fixed a single channels maximizes AUC; location variability requires multiple channels to maximize the AUC. The AUC is estimated from both the projection data and reconstructed images. J-CQO is quadratic since it uses the first- and second- order statistics of the image data from both classes. The linear data reduction by the channels is described by an L x M channel matrix and in prior work we introduced an iterative gradient-based method for calculating the channel matrix. The dimensionality reduction from M measurements to L channels yields better estimates of these sample statistics from smaller sample sizes, and since the channelized covariance matrix is L x L instead of M x M, the matrix inverse is easier to compute. The novelty of our approach is the use of Jeffrey's divergence (J) as the figure of merit (FOM) for optimizing the channel matrix. We previously showed that the J-optimal channels are also the optimum channels for the AUC and the Bhattacharyya distance when the channel outputs are Gaussian distributed with equal means. This work evaluates the use of J as a surrogate FOM (SFOM) for AUC when these statistical conditions are not satisfied.


This is an in-depth study of the people of Bukhara and their relations with settled peoples and nomads, from Muscovy to China, and Iran to India. By using lesserknown, or hitherto untapped sources, it corrects long-held misapprehensions fostered by historians of hostile states and champions of the Timurid dynasty. Far from being afraid of their powerful Safawid and Mughal counterparts, the Uzbeg rulers of Bukhara caused them much apprehension and even influenced their foreign policies. 'Abbas I concluded a humiliating peace with Turkey because he wanted to recover Khurasan from 'Abdallah II, Akbar could not risk leaving Punjab during 'Abdallah's reign, Safawid and Mughal attempts at conquering the khanate failed dismally. The book deals fully with dynastic, internal and external problems, trade routes, coinage policies and the khans' attempts to encourage trade.


Virtualized data centers became ubiquitous and led to invention of new delivery model called Cloud computing. Cloud service providers pursue high degree of automation for the management processes in order to make their services responsive and inexpensive. One of such critical processes is virtual machine provisioning. This article proposes and evaluates a provisioning model that leverages virtual machine image similarity to reduce the data volume transferred from the storage server to the hypervisor on which the virtual machine is being instantiated. We also present an analytical model of such a provisioning process for a single hypervisor shedding light on the impact of degree of image similarity, system utilization, and hypervisor capacity on the performance of the system. The model is validated using discrete event simulator. The algorithm has been implemented on a testbed system and also extensive simulations of virtualized server clusters were conducted. The proposed provisioning scheme can offer significant (up to 80%) reduction in data transfer between storage server and hypervisors thus significantly reducing provisioning time while also decreasing cost.


Background Coronary artery calcification (CAC) and atherosclerotic inflammation associate with increased risk of myocardial infarction (MI). Vascular calcification is regulated by osteogenic proteins (OPs). It is unknown whether an association exists between CAC and plasma OPs and if they are affected by atherothrombotic inflammation. We tested the association of osteogenic and inflammatory proteins with CAC and assessed these biomarkers after MI. Methods Circulating OPs (osteoprotegerin, RANKL, fetuin-A, Matrix Gla protein [MGP]) and inflammatory proteins (C-reactive protein, oxidized-LDL, tumoral necrosis factor-α, transforming growth factor [TGF]-β1) were compared between stable patients with CAC (CAC ≥ 100 AU, n = 100) and controls (CAC = 0 AU, n = 30). The association between biomarkers and CAC was tested by multivariate analysis. In patients with MI (n = 40), biomarkers were compared between acute phase and 1–2 months post-MI, using controls as a baseline. Results MGP and fetuin-A levels were higher within individuals with CAC. Higher levels of MGP and RANKL were associated with CAC (OR 3.12 [95% CI 1.20–8.11], p = 0.02; and OR 1.75 [95% CI 1.04–2.94] respectively, p = 0.035). After MI, C-reactive protein, OPG and oxidized-LDL levels increased in the acute phase, whereas MGP and TGF-β1 increased 1–2 months post-MI. Conclusions Higher MGP and RANKL levels associate with CAC. These findings highlight the potential role of these proteins as modulators and markers of CAC. In addition, the post-MI increase in OPG and MGP, as well as of inflammatory proteins suggest that the regulation of these OPs is affected by atherothrombotic inflammation.


Ontologies play a crucial role in current web-based biomedical applications for capturing contextual knowledge in the domain of life sciences. Many of the so-called bio-ontologies and controlled vocabularies are known to be seriously defective from both terminological and ontological perspectives, and do not sufficiently comply with the standards to be considered formai ontologies. Therefore, they are continuously evolving in order to fix the problems and provide valid knowledge. Moreover, many problems in ontology evolution often originate from incomplete knowledge about the given domain. As our knowledge improves, the related definitions in the ontologies will be altered.
This problem is inadequately addressed by available tools and algorithms, mostly due to the lack of suitable knowledge representation formalisms to deal with temporal abstract notations, and the overreliance on human factors. Also most of the current approaches have been focused on changes within the internal structure of ontologies, and interactions with other existing ontologies have been widely neglected.
In this research, alter revealing and classifying some of the common alterations in a number of popular biomedical ontologies, we present a novel agent-based framework, RLR (Represent, Legitimate, and Reproduce), to semi-automatically manage the evolution of bio-ontologies, with emphasis on the FungalWeb Ontology, with minimal human intervention. RLR assists and guides ontology engineers through the change management process in general, and aids in tracking and representing the changes, particularly through the use of category theory.
Category theory has been used as a mathematical vehicle for modeling changes in ontologies and representing agents' interactions, independent of any specific choice of ontology language or particular implementation. We have also employed rule-based hierarchical graph transformation techniques to propose a more specific semantics for analyzing ontological changes and transformations between different versions of an ontology, as well as tracking the effects of a change in different levels of abstractions. Thus, the RLR framework enables one to manage changes in ontologies, not as standalone artifacts in isolation, but in contact with other ontologies in an openly distributed semantic web environment. The emphasis upon the generality and abstractness makes RLR more feasible in the multi-disciplinary domain of biomedical Ontology change management.


Objectives: To test the awareness and knowledge regarding epilepsy among II year medical students. Materials and methods: A questionnaire designed to test the knowledge levels of students regarding epilepsy was chosen and administered to students for collecting their responses. The questionnaire was distributed to II year MBBS students, who volunteered to participate in this study. The data collected was summarized to get the final picture of the level of awareness with respect to epilepsy among those students. Results: It was seen that the students had a fair knowledge and awareness regarding epilepsy. Most of them did not believe that epilepsy was a spiritual or a blind belief. Most of them were aware of the scientific reason behind such a condition. Many had clear picture regarding the consequences of such epileptic attacks. Many of them agreed to it that the normal life would not be affected, even though care must be taken. Dealing with the problems during an epileptic attack, the patients are supposed to take of their working conditions and also be prepared for such situations. On a whole, the response from the students on the seven questions with varied aspects on epilepsy and the subdivisions under each of them were summarized. The level of awareness of these students have been summarized and presented in this report. The findings in the report also throw light on the scope of little improvement possible in some of the aspects of student's knowledge and understanding.


To investigate the effect of Fe content on the correlation between the microstructure and mechanical properties in near-b titanium alloys, the Ti-5Al-5Mo-5V-1Cr-xFe alloy system has been characterized in this study. As the Fe content increased, the number of nucleation sites and the volume fraction of the α phase decreased. We observed a significant difference in the shape and size of the α phase in the matrix before and after Fe addition. In addition, these morphological deformations were accompanied by a change in the shape of the α phase, which became increasingly discontinuous, and changed into globular-type α phase in the matrix. These phenomena affected the microstructure and mechanical properties of Ti alloys. Specimen #2 exhibited a high ultimate tensile strength (1071 MPa), which decreased with further addition of Fe.


'Swarnaprashana' as a lehana chikitsa and several Ayurveda Rasayana drugs can boost the immune system in a specific or nonspecific manner including both innate or adaptive arms of the immune response and enhance the body's overall natural resistance to the disease-causing agent rather than directly neutralize the agent itself in children. Aim: To critically review and analyze the role of Ayurveda in the management of childhood immunodeficiency disorders. Method: Various Traditional Ayurveda texts and books, magazines, and research journals as well as PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, Web of Science, Ayush research portal, and Clinical Trial Registry, India are used as a source of information about the immune-enhancing effect of Ayurveda drugs useful in childhood immunodeficiency disorders. Discussion: Immunodeficiency disorders are a group of heterogeneous disorders with immune system abnormalities characterized by various combinations of recurrent infections, autoimmunity, lymphoproliferation, granulomatous process, etc. 'Swarnaprashana' as a lehana chikitsa and Ayurveda Rasayana drug helps the body resist its natural tendency to manage or tolerate the strength, severity, or progression of an illness as well as its natural tendency to prevent the emergence of an illness. 'Swarnaprashana' and Rasayana drugs are used as antioxidants, improving immune status, bactericidal & antimicrobial activity, antiviral, and protectives. It promotes an individual's strength, boosts immunity, and helps to prevent and overcome illness. When the immune system is compromised, it results in immunodeficiency, which leaves the body exposed to a variety of fatal illnesses. 'Swarnaprashana' and Rasayana drugs mentioned in Ayurveda classics are known to boost the immune system. Conclusion: The present paper reveals that 'Swarnaprashana' as lehana chikitsa and Ayurveda Rasayana drugs are effective in treating childhood immunodeficiency disorders.


Sustainability Indicators (economic, environmental and social) are developed here using Irish National Farm Survey (FADN) data over a ten-year period (1996-2006) in an attempt to measure the sustainability of Irish agriculture at the farm-level. The general concept of sustainability is discussed and the development of agricultural sustainability indicators in an Irish context described. Individual indicators are dealt with in turn and the RERC SMILE (microsimulation) model is used to demonstrate how these indicators can be mapped at electoral division level. Economic viability was found to be generally in decline over the ten-year period examined, however, when individual farming systems were taken into account, some were found to perform better than others. Unsurprisingly the more intensive farming systems (primarily dairy) were found to pollute more on average. Irish agriculture is experiencing a period of fundamental change, not least in terms of the ever-changing rural demographic; the challenge therefore lies in ensuring that farms remain economically, environmentally and socially sustainable in the long-term.


Frame semantics is a linguistic theory which is currently gaining ground. The creation of lexical entries for a large number of words presupposes the development of complex lexical acquisition techniques in order to identify the vocabulary for describing the elements of a 'frame'. In this paper, we show how a lexical-semantic database compiled on the basis of a bilingual (English-French) dictionary can be used to identify some general frame elements which are relevant in a frame-semantic approach such as the one adopted in the FrameNet project (Fillmore & Atkins 1998, Gahl 1998). The database has been systematically enriched with explicit lexical-semantic relations holding between some elements of the microstructure of the dictionary entries. The manifold relationships have been labelled in terms of lexical functions, based on Mel'cuk's notion of co-occurrence and lexical-semantic relations in Meaning-Text Theory (Mel'cuk et al. 1984). We show how these lexical functions can be used and refined to extract potential realizations of frame elements such as typical instruments or typical locatives, which are believed to be recurrent elements in a large number of frames. We also show how the database organization of the computational lexicon makes it possible to readily access implicit and translationally-relevant combinatorial information.


Summary The fall is a risky event in the elderly people's daily living, especially the independent living, it often cause serious injury both in physiology and psychology. Wearable sensor based fall detection system had been proved in many experiments for its feasibility and effectiveness, but there remain some crucial problems, include: the people maybe forget to wear the clothes with micro sensors, which device standard should be selected between medical device standard and mass market standard, and how to control the false alarm probability to fit the individualized requirements. To deal with these problems, we think it is a reasonable design to combine micro sensors with an ambulatory daily using device which has a common network interface, and adjust the classification parameters via a remote server. In this paper, we embed a tri-axial accelerometer in a cellphone, connect to Internet via the wireless channel, and using 1-Class SVM (Support Vector Machine) algorithm for the preprocessing, KFD (Kernel Fisher Discriminant) and k-NN (Nearest Neighbour) algorithm for the precise classification. And there were 32 volunteers, 12 elders (age 60-80) and 20 younger (age 20-39), attended our experiments, the results show that this method can detect the falls effectively and make less disturbance to people's daily living than the general wearable sensor based fall detection systems.


Abstract The evidence linking delirium to poor outcomes after critical illness is compelling, including higher mortality, prolonged mechanical ventilation, longer length of intensive care unit stay, and long-term cognitive impairments. The attitude toward delirium in the neurologic community is shifting away from viewing it as an unmodifiable, inevitable consequence of severe illness to treating it is as a neurologic emergency, akin to seizures or encephalitis. Delirium, like other manifestations of critical illness encephalopathy, is an organ dysfunction syndrome. Given the brain's central role in maintaining homeostasis, brain failure may dysregulate many downstream functions of significant consequence in critically ill patients. The diagnosis of delirium may be confounded in patients with primary brain disorders, but nevertheless delirium symptoms in the neurologic population are also independently associated with worse outcomes. There is scant evidence for directed pharmacological treatment of delirium, but multicomponent care bundles that address the management of pain, agitation, sedation, and delirium are effective at reducing the burden of delirium in the general intensive care unit population. The management of delirium in the neurologic intensive care environment is mostly extrapolated from studies on general medical critical illness and noncritically ill neurologic patients. Further investigation into the unique risks and management needs of critically ill neurologic and neurosurgical patients is needed to reduce the burden of delirium in that population.


Super-flexible, electrically and thermally conductive graphene-based papers are in great demand in the fields of electronics and supercapacitors. However, the applications of graphene-based papers are limited either by their brittleness, small scale, or by their unsatisfactory thermal conductivity. Conventionally, such papers are fabricated by vacuum-assisted filtration, direct evaporation, electrospray coating, or wet spinning. Here we propose a novel strategy, namely, direct densification of reduced graphene oxide foam, to fabricate large-scale multifunctional graphene papers. The graphene paper density could be adjusted by applying different loads. The densities of the graphene papers varied from 0.32 g cm−3 to 1.85 g cm−3. The thermal conductivity, tensile stress, electrical conductivity and electromagnetic interface shielding effectiveness increased with an increase in the density of the graphene paper. When the density of the graphene paper reached 1.85 g cm−3, the tensile stress was up to 50.4 MPa with strain of 4%, the thermal conductivity was 1103 W m−1 K−1 at room temperature and there was high electrical conductivity of 1.1 × 105 S m−1, as well as an electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding effectiveness of 77.2 dB. Our new strategy is very promising in terms of controlling the thickness, density, and size of graphene paper. Our graphene paper has very high potential for applications.


A model of household fresh potato consumption incorporating prices, income, family size and other socioeconomic effects is estimated by maximum likelihood Tobit procedures. The effects of truncation bias due to non-purchasing households are evaluated and decompositions of the Tobit elasticities are performed for various sub-groups of the data. The market development implications of this type of disaggregated commodity analysis are explored.


Context: A stroke or cerebrovascular disease is an abrupt onset of neuro logical deficit that is attributable to a focal vascular cause. Antiplatelet drugs, anticoagulants and thrombolytics are used in ischemic stroke. Indrakeeladri, is a village in Andhra Pradesh in India where traditional local practitioners prescription has long been practiced for treatment of stroke by using unknown and undisclosed formulation (gulikalu) without any name and labeling. Patients who have taken treatment at Indrakeeladri have noticed improvement in their symptoms particularly in speech. Aims: We endeavoured to analyze the formulation to know its composition as this analysis might help us in preparation of newer drugs for stroke. Settings and Design: GC MS analysis. Methods and Material: The sample was powdered and tested for its solubility in different solvents of increased polarity strength and then subjected to Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GCMS) analysis in order to know its chemical components. Results: The sample was soluble only in water. The GC-MS analysis of the test sample revealed the presence of methyl tetradecanoate, dodecanoic acid methyl ester and methyl 10-methyl undecanoate as the major constituents. These substances are known to have inhibitory effect on blood coagulation. Conclusions: Further studies need to be carried out to find out whether these components of native medicine have a role in the treatment of stroke or not.


Abstract Atmospheric temperature profiles and integrated water vapor and liquid are retrieved from ground-based microwave radiometric measurements using both nonlinear optimal estimation (NLOE) and statistical inversion (SI) methods. The results obtained from both methods are compared with collocated radiosonde observations during the Canadian Atlantic Storms Program field project in 1986. In general, the NLOE was superior to the SI method when clouds with high liquid water contents or when precipitation was present. Under these conditions, temperature profiles derived using NLOE had smaller root-mean-square differences from radiosonde observations than those retrieved using SI. Also, the overestimation of integrated vapor retrieved using the SI method was eliminated using the NLOE method. The radiometric observations were used in two case studies of winter cyclonic storms striking Atlantic Canada.


A first principles method is proposed to calculate the Frank elastic constants of nematic liquid crystals. These include the constants corresponding to standard splay, twist and bend deformations, and an often-ignored surface-like contribution known as saddle-splay. The proposed approach is implemented on the widely studied Gay-Berne (3, 5, 2, 1) model [J. G. Gay and B. J. Berne, J. Chem. Phys., 1981, 74, 3316], and the effects of temperature and system size on the elastic constants are examined in the nematic phase. The results of simulations for splay, twist, and bend elastic constants are consistent with those from previous literature reports. The method is subsequently applied to the saddle-splay elastic constant k24 which is found to exist at the limits of the Ericksen inequalities governing positive definite free energy. Finally, extensions of the method are discussed that present a new paradigm for in silico measurements of elastic constants.


Pharmaceutical management involves a set of practices aiming at ensuring timely availability and appropriate use of safe, effective and quality pharmaceuticals and services in any health care setting. Rational use of medicines is often associated with efficiency of pharmaceutical supply system that operates in the health care system. Pharmaceutical supply system involves planning and programming for pharmaceutical requirements, procurement, storage and distribution which are the necessary steps towards rational use of medicines. Key words : Pharmaceutical management, pharmaceutical supply system, rational use of medicines


Bryozoan–stromatolite associations (bryostromatolites) formed conspicuous reef structures throughout the Sheinwoodian (Wenlock) to Ludfordian (Ludlow) stratigraphy on Gotland but have not been described so far. They are mainly composed of encrusting bryozoans forming a complex intergrowth with porostromate and spongiostromate microbes and are different from the abundant stromatoporoid–coral–algal reefs with respect to their composition. In the bryostromatolite different growth stages can be identified. The observed succession can be taken as evidence for cyclic environmental changes during reef formation. Stenohaline reef‐dwelling organisms, such as echinoderms, sponges, corals and trilobites, indicate fully marine salinities. Ten localities exposing bryostromatolites were discovered. Individual bryostromatolites are small with few decimetres up to one metre in size, and occur solely in shallow marine areas. Common features of these reefs on Gotland are cauliflower‐like growth, a high bryozoan diversity, a high abundance of phosphatic fossils and components such as bryozoan pearls and inarticulate phosphatic brachiopods, enhanced bioerosion, Palaeomicrocodium crusts, vadose silt and gypsum pseudomorphs. The high abundance of Palaeomicrocodium, as well as the alternation with other crust‐forming contributors, suggest that it could have been formed directly at the palaeo‐sea surface, probably in times of minor but high‐frequency sea‐level fluctuations. Vadose silt and pseudomorphs after gypsum in reef cavities indicate subaerial exposure shortly after reef growth. The high amount of phosphatic components indicates a high nutrient input, probably by dust. All bryostromatolites were formed in times of strongly elevated δ13C values. The unusual combination of sedimentological and palaeoecological features, as well as their occurrence exclusively during strong positive δ13C excursions, are evidence that the bryostromatolite development responded to climatic/oceanographic changes, which may have played an important role in reef control.


Data from the Indonesian Seed and Farmers Technology Association data shows that 22 percent of Indonesian farmers have used smartphones to obtain agricultural information. But many farmers still struggle to get information especially in the pandemic era. This research is to find out how the comparison of information delivery patterns between traditional media and cyber media on farmers in Bangil. Indonesia. This research theory uses the theory of cyber extensions. This research method by, observe online media, interviewing several farmers in Bangil and supported by survey data to 85 farmers in Bangil. The results showed that although cyber media began to enter as one of the sources of information for farmers, only a few were dependent on online, while the rest still relied on information from extension methods. Counselling still needed as a connection between farmers and Internet.


OBJECT
The aim of this study was to develop and characterize a new orthotopic, syngeneic, transplantable mouse brain tumor model by using the cell lines Tu-9648 and Tu-2449, which were previously isolated from tumors that arose spontaneously in glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-v-src transgenic mice.

METHODS
Striatal implantation of a 1-microl suspension of 5000 to 10,000 cells from either clone into syngeneic B6C3F1 mice resulted in tumors that were histologically identified as malignant gliomas. Prior subcutaneous inoculations with irradiated autologous cells inhibited the otherwise robust development of a microscopically infiltrating malignant glioma. Untreated mice with implanted tumor cells were killed 12 days later, when the resultant gliomas were several millimeters in diameter. Immunohistochemically, the gliomas displayed both the astroglial marker GFAP and the oncogenic form of signal transducer and activator of transcription-3 (Stat3). This form is called tyrosine-705 phosphorylated Stat3, and is found in many malignant entities, including human gliomas. Phosphorylated Stat3 was particularly prominent, not only in the nucleus but also in the plasma membrane of peripherally infiltrating glioma cells, reflecting persistent overactivation of the Janus kinase/Stat3 signal transduction pathway. The Tu-2449 cells exhibited three non-random structural chromosomal aberrations, including a deletion of the long arm of chromosome 2 and an apparently balanced translocation between chromosomes 1 and 3. The GFAP-v-src transgene was mapped to the pericentromeric region of chromosome 18.

CONCLUSIONS
The high rate of engraftment, the similarity to the high-grade malignant glioma of origin, and the rapid, locally invasive growth of these tumors should make this murine model useful in testing novel therapies for human malignant gliomas.


The Bayesian solution is known to be optimal for symbol-by-symbol equalizers; however, its computational complexity is usually very high. The signal space partitioning technique has been proposed to reduce complexity. It was shown that the decision boundary of the equalizer consists of a set of hyperplanes. The disadvantage of existing approaches is that the number of hyperplanes cannot be controlled. In addition, a state-search process, that is not efficient for time-varying channels, is required to find these hyperplanes. In this paper, we propose a new algorithm to remedy these problems. We propose an approximate Bayesian criterion that allows the number of hyperplanes to be arbitrarily set. As a consequence, a tradeoff can be made between performance and computational complexity. In many cases, the resulting performance loss is small, whereas the computational complexity reduction can be large. The proposed equalizer consists of a set of parallel linear discriminant functions and a maximum operation. An adaptive method using stochastic gradient descent has been developed to identify the functions. The proposed algorithm is thus inherently applicable to time-varying channels. The computational complexity of this adaptive algorithm is low and suitable for real-world implementation.


Experiments in optics are essential for learning and understanding physical phenomena. The problem with these experiments is that they are generally time consuming for both their construction and their maintenance, potentially dangerous through the use of laser sources, and often expensive due to high technology optical components. We propose to simulate such experiments by way of hybrid systems that exploit both spatial augmented reality and tangible interaction. In particular, we focus on one of the most popular optical experiments: the Michelson interferometer. In our approach, we target a highly interactive system where students are able to interact in real time with the Augmented Michelson Interferometer (AMI) to observe, test hypotheses and then to enhance their comprehension. Compared to a fully digital simulation, we are investigating an approach that benefits from both physical and virtual elements, and where the students experiment by manipulating 3D-printed physical replicas of optical components (e.g. lenses and mirrors). Our objective is twofold. First, we want to ensure that the students will learn with our simulator the same concepts and skills that they learn with traditional methods. Second, we hypothesis that such a system opens new opportunities to teach optics in a way that was not possible before, by manipulating concepts beyond the limits of observable physical phenomena. To reach this goal, we have built a complementary team composed of experts in the field of optics, human-computer interaction, computer graphics, sensors and actuators, and education science.


The goal of this proposed text is to provide a recourse for engineering students interested in the design and operation of solar electric, solar thermal, wind, and other renewable systems. Solar and wind energy systems have flourished throughout the United States in the last few years as the public calls for reduced dependence on foreign oil. Government programs have been established to meet the public demand. Many states have passed legislation that requires electric utilities to include a portfolio of renewable energy sources in their generation mix. The resulting public demand has stimulated the growth of an industry that provides wind and solar systems, and many small businesses have grown to install these systems. Training programs and courses are now ubiquitous as the demand for designers and installer's increases. Almost every educational institution offers renewable energy classes or curriculum. The organization of this book begins with concepts and terminology for power and energy - the basics needed to communicate and understand the subject. Conventional power systems are briefly discussed to understand the concepts used in the integration of renewable power systems. Discussion then moves to the design and installation of a small residential photovoltaic system and wind generator connected to the electric utility grid. With this background, the student is able to begin developing ideas for a class project. The chapters following concepts and background review delve into the details of photovoltaic and wind systems as interconnected or stand-alone designs. Estimating and predicating energy production is presented using industry distribution functions and online programs. Concepts of temperature coefficients, synchronization, power conversion, and system protection are explained and practiced. These concepts are applied to residential and small commercial systems and later extrapolated to large system design. Economic analysis is presented using basic methodologies such as payback and rate of return. The methodology to develop advanced analysis is introduced using spreadsheets. The remainder of the text explores other renewable technologies, energy storage systems, thermal systems, and renewable related topics.


Cerium dioxide (CeO2) is a well-studied oxide because of its technological applications, such as a major component in the catalysts, stable capacitors and so on. CeO2 with a cubic fluorite structure is also expected as the material for simulating behaviors of uranium dioxide under energetic particle irradiation, which leads high burn-up structure attributable to pressure increase in fuel cladding tubes. In this work, the stability of crystal structure and surface morphology change in CeO2 will be clarified. Polycrystalline samples were irradiated with 300 keV Xe+, 18 MeV I5+, 350 keV O+ and 12 MeV O3+ ions at temperatures from 370 to 1000 K. Microstructural evolutions was investigated with Scanning electron microscopy, Raman Spectroscopy and X-ray diffractometry. Irradiation effects at high temperature were observed as surface etching and resulting bubble formation, however blistering was not detected. Raman spectra and diffraction data indicates diffusion of oxygen vacancies is sufficient at 900 K and above.


"Whatever you dream, begin it, for boldness has genius, power and magic in it." -Goethe What qualities brought America to its dominance of world industry? How will American technology fare in the new global marketplace? What upbringing, education, and personal traits are required to produce leaders who can succeed in this new world? Scan the bookstore shelves and you'll see dozens of attempts by authors to capture the essence of leadership and entrepreneurial success. In The Power of Boldness, the answers come from original sources: ten of the country's most successful business leaders, who share their experiences and insights in individual essays that are remarkable for their directness and personal detail. Six of the writers are inventors who created the enterprises to commercialize their ideas--four assumed management of their fathers' companies and moved into new industrial and geographic markets. Born between 1897 and 1962, these outstanding figures collectively chronicle America's industrial rise since World War II--and share their perspectives on what lies ahead in the age of technology. In engaging and often humorous terms, these men describe how they managed to make the most of the economic and social ups and downs of the past decades--how boldness, clear thinking, and a willingness to learn saw them through the bad times and paved the way to their success. No other book gathers so distinguished a group of business figures-- * Stephen D. Bechtel, Jr., of Bechtel Group describes the rise, decline, and rise again of the world's largest heavy construction company. * William M. Haney, III, of Molten Metal Technology--a strong believer in Goethe's maxim--overviews the opportunities in ecotechnology. * Edward C. Johnson 3d, of Fidelity writes on the adventures of a "contrarian" in the financial arena. * Gordon E. Moore of Intel explains how his firm became one of the world's largest producers of microprocessor chips and forecasts the future of the electronics industry. * John F. Taplin, master inventor and founder of a number of companies, writes on the education of an inventor/entrepreneur. Thomas D. Cabot of Cabot Corporation, Robert Galvin of Motorola, George N. Hatsopoulos of Thermo Electron Corporation, and Ralph Landau of Halcon International, round out this group of master builders of America's industrial power. In an introduction and summing-up, Alfred Chandler, Jr., Pulitzer Prize-winning business historian, explores some of the themes that emerge from the personal essays. Capturing the spirit of innovation as well as the practicalities of business decision making, The Power of Boldness will be required reading for business executives, students of business, and anyone interested in the individual success stories behind America's technological leadership.


The phylogeny and evolution of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) genetic variation are poorly understood. EBV latent membrane protein-1 (LMP-1) gene sequences are especially heterogeneous and may be useful as a tool for EBV genotype identification. Therefore, LMP-1 sequences obtained directly from EBV-infected human tissues were examined by PCR amplification and cloning. EBV genotypes were defined as "strains" from among 22 identified LMP-1 sequence patterns. Three molecular mechanisms were identified by which genetic diversity arises in the LMP-1 gene: point mutation, sequence deletion or duplication, and homologous recombination. The rate of LMP-1 gene evolution was found to be accelerated by coinfection with multiple EBV strains. The results of this study refine our understanding of LMP-1 sequence variation and enable accurate discrimination between independent EBV infection events and the consequence of intrahost EBV evolution. Thus, this LMP-1 sequence-based approach to EBV molecular epidemiology will facilitate the study of intrahost EBV infection, coinfection, and persistence.


Today top ranked HPC systems feature several GPUs which present high processing speed at low power budget with various parallel applications. Many scientific applications still claim for even more computing speed than the available today. A general approach to provide more processing speed is to scale the system. However, aspects such as interference, the amount of resources, heterogeneity of resources and failure probabilities hinder the research towards the future HPC systems. For that reason, many research use models to understand and estimate the behavior of the systems. GPUs are present and future of HPC systems, however the community lack of models to fast estimate the behavior of several GPUs with the desired accuracy and scale. The goal of this paper is to characterize the GPU resources to infer models that can be used in large scale simulators. To create this models with the two main concerns in mind, speed and accuracy, we conduct linear regression to estimate the time. Our test show that when the workload is within the range of realistic parameters the error is less than 11 %.


Comparison of aerial photographs and ultrahigh-resolution remote sensing data reveals changes in the geomorphology of a modern carbonate tidal flat. In the 58 yr between acquisition of the two data sets, several tidal channels have extended headward more than 100 m, channel bars have stabilized, the shoreline has eroded as much as 50 m, the inland algal marsh locally has prograded as much as 90 m, and many mangrove ponds have increased in size. These changes over the known time interval allow quantification of the rates of these geomorphic processes and suggest rates of migration of landforms to several meters per year. Some observed rates appear to be different than rates averaged over the past several thousand years, however, possibly because of changes in storm activity or circulation patterns. These data illustrate the dynamic nature of the entire coastal tidal-flat system, not just the shoreline, and reflect the system9s response to factors including relative rises in sea level.


This paper investigates the conditions which led the United States to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade agreement. The funnel of causality framework is used to determine which causes were mostly predominant in leading to this foreign policy decision. The paper will examine the impact of societal sources, specifically public opinion, media coverage, Congressional approval processes, and interest groups. The role of each group is analysed within the context of the 2016 Presidential elections. The paper concludes that public opinion, amplified by media, is the source of Congress' opposition, and having trumped major interest groups, public opinion has evidently contributed to US' withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.


(i) There are a considerable number of research studies that provide information on men and men's practices. Some of these are focused on men; some are gendered but not necessarily in relation to men; some are not focused specifically on men, and either do not discuss in any detail that they are studying men or do not provide a gendered analysis of men. This applies to many studies on history, men's 'misery', lifestyle, alcohol use and working life. Even studies that are more explicitly on gender, for example, on gender in working life, usually do not include an explicit gendered analysis of men and men's practices. The gendered re-examination of this material would be most useful.


Phenytoin-induced gingival overgrowth (PIGO) is a common complication of the continuous use of medications. This paper presents a case of PIGO hindering oral function and compromising oral hygiene and aesthetics, which was treated with a combination of nonsurgical and surgical periodontal therapies. A 39-year-old male patient was referred for dental treatment with several complaints, especially upper and lower gingival overgrowth that hindered speech and swallowing. Generalized deep probing pockets and bone loss were detected. Diagnosis of gingival overgrowth associated with phenytoin and chronic periodontitis was established. The treatment plan consisted of conservative therapy with education on oral health, motivation and meticulous oral hygiene instruction in combination with scaling and root planing. During the revaluation period, a marked reduction in the clinical parameters was noted, particularly probing pocket depth reduction. Surgical therapy for removal of gingival overgrowth was also performed to achieve pocket reduction. Supportive periodontal therapy was proposed and the patient is currently under follow-up for 4 years. Management of PIGO may be obtained by the use of periodontal procedures combined with good oral hygiene and periodontal supportive care.


The first simulation consists of a partial cut-out of gas flow canal between the heat exchanger fins. The simulation is steady state and mainly provides the information about the heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop across the canal. The second simulation takes into account the complete system of rotary heat exchanger. It is a transient simulation with moving mesh. Then the heat transfer and air flow parameters are presented as a porous volume with a heat transfer model and rotational multi zone interface conditions. This simplification is accurate providing much better performance as the number of mesh nodes is much smaller. The methodology of the model setup is presented.


The reproductive biology of the Recent articulate brachiopod Terebratulina retusa (Linnaeus) has been examined in detail. Two populations of T. retusa were sampled. The first from a deep water brachiopod-Modiolus assemblage in the Firth of Lorn and the second from a shallower site at Kenmore Point, Loch Fyne. Limited assessements were made of local environmental conditions, including temperature and current profiles. Aspects of the gross reproductive anatomy and important ultrastructural features of the gonads are documented in addition to detailed ultrastructural descriptions of gametogenesis. Using the information gained from the morphological studies, the reproductive cycles of two geographically separate populations of T. retusa have been analysed using a quantitative stereological technique. T. retusa are dioecious. Maturity in both sexes is achieved when the shell length exceeds approximately 5.5 mm. There is no obvious external sexual dimorphism except for slight differences in the coloration of the gonads; testes are white/cream, ovaries are yellow/orange. The gonads occur as four palmate lobes, a pair in each valve. Gonads are formed within a mantle sinus, the vascula genitalia, which is an anterior extension of the coelom, that opens posteriorly into the visceral cavity and to the exterior via a pair of metanephridia. The latter serve as gonoducts during spawning. Gametes are borne on genital lamellae formed from a reticulate lattice of connective tissue. The lamellae are an extension of the ileoparietal band and are fused along one margin to the inner mantle epithelium. Developing oocytes are closely affixed to the genital lamellae and originate from a pool of proliferating germ cells at its base. Vitellogenic oocytes that are at an advanced stage are released from the genital lamellae, but are retained within the vascula genitalia. Liberated oocytes continue to accumulate yolk and eventually occlude the vascula genitalia, before being spawned. Histochemistry revealed the outer mantle epithelium to contain seasonally variable quantities of protein, glycogen and glycoprotein. Functionally, the outer epithelium is presumed to act as a storage tissue and the cycling of reserves it contains is thought to be intimately associated with reproduction. Two forms of phagocytic cell were identified within the gonads of spent animals. These appear to be actively involved in the resorption of atretic material. Oogenesis has been divided into six stages, defined according to ultrastructural changes. Each stage is thought to be a key factor in the development of the gamete, particularly the process of vitellogenesis. Special attention has been given to the possible mechanisms involved in the aquisition and assimilation of nutrients within the oocyte and the possible physiological consequences. Each vitellogenic oocyte is contained within a follicular envelope. As maturation proceeds, accessory cells proliferate within the follicular envelope. A variety of intra-accessory cell and oocyte/accessory cell communications were identified. The process of elaboration of the oolemma was observed. Lipid was identified as the major nutrient reserve of the oocyte. Late mature oocytes measure approximately 130 um in diameter when spawned. Spermatogenesis was also examined ultrastructurally. As with oogenesis, gametes are derived from a pool of proliferating germ cells which are distinct from other gonial tissues. Primary spermatocytes form clusters at the base of the genital lamellae, giving rise to a short-lived secondary spermatocyte stage which divides again to produce spermatids. The spermatids undergo structural modifications, eventually forming mature sperm. Successive stages of development are displaced from the genital lamella by division of cells beneath. Sperm are of the 'primitive type'. The head consists of an axially displaced acrosome, spherical nucleus and large doughnut-shaped mitochondrion. Stereological analysis revealed a single synchronised spawning event between late November and the end of January in the Firth of Lorn. The Loch Fyne population spawned repeatedly throughout the spring and summer, with the greatest spawning activity occurring in the late autumn. T. retusa from Loch Fyne were more fecund than those from the Firth of Lorn. The initiation of gametogenesis appears to be mediated by the mobilisation of reserves stored in the outer mantle epithelium during the winter. Primary productivity increases dramatically in the spring and both vitellogenesis and spermatogenesis show a corresponding increase. T. retusa from Loch Fyne successfully overwinter gametes and as a consequence are capable of spawning during the spring. The reproductive strategy and the mechanisms of physiological and environmental constraint which may have dictated the adoption of such a strategy are examined. Finally, the limitations and possible evolutionary consequences of brachiopod reproduction are addressed with reference to their palaeoecology.


We present a study of the kinematics of Twist Extrusion (TE) and show that the mode of deformation in ТЕ is a simple shear. Unlike in Equal-Channel Angular Pressing (ECAP), there are two main shear layers perpendicular to the specimen axis. TE has a significant commercial potential due to the following physical effects: intensive grain refinement; homogenization and mixing; intensive powder consolidation. Donetsk Institute for Physics and Engineering created a TE Center to showcase the process and educate investors. Our experience with the center has shown that the most prospective directions are producing ultrafine-grained (UFG) alloys for medical and aircraft applications.


South Korea has long been touted as an outstanding model of economic development. Despite poor resource endowment and a large population, a colonial legacy, the devastation following a civil war, persistent political instability, and the lingering military confrontation with her northern neighbour, Korea's role in the international economic system has rapidly increased in importance since the 1950s. For nearly four decades, Korea has achieved a remarkable economic performance that transformed the country from a typical case of a developing nation trapped in a "vicious circle of underdevelopment", into one of the largest economies in the late 1990s. Several factors account for the Korean economic success, from high levels of domestic investment and savings and a growing volume of exports, to the improvement of the quality of life reflecting decreased poverty levels, longer life expectation and lower fertility rates. Beneath the economic success lays a system of "socialisation of private risk", a particular mode of organising the market, as the "visible hands" of a strong and developmental state was able to accelerate the pace of economic growth by identifying strategic industrial sectors, making discretionary allocation of resources to those sectors, and minimising the collective action dilemmas pervasive in most developing countries. Yet, how the developmental state's policy goals were designed, negotiated and implemented remains much of a "black box". This research argues that to understand the policy process in Korea, it is crucial to examine the central role played by Korean leaders and how their policy choices are shaped by the dynamic interaction of institutions, history, context, ideas and coalition politics.


Marinos. Grupo Científica Lima, Perú. A�������. The 'guano of the islands' in Perú is the excrement of cormorants, boobies and pelicans (guano birds), accumulated in large deposits on islands and headlands. This guano is harvested and marketed by the governmental agency AGRORURAL to meet the demands of local organic agriculture. As part of its management and commercialization plans, AGRORURAL estimates the total quantity of guano built-up on the seabird colonies using a volumetric method. The objective of this research was to propose an alternative geostatistical method that uses the volumetric data collection as baseline but incorporates the slope of the terrain and makes estimations of the total amount and distribution of guano using an interpolation grid model in a Geographic Information System (GIS). The data of the slope of the terrain, depth of guano layer, guano density and proportion guano/rock of georeferenced sampling points (taken with a hand-held GPS) on the island/headland surface were used to interpolate the quantity of guano over the entire surface using a raster kriging model, so that each cell contained an estimated quantity of guano. For this study, six guano bird colonies were visited between June 2014 and February 2018. Based on the geostatistical method, the total quantity of guano estimated varied between 10921 t on Isla Mazorca and 26142 t on Isla Guañape Sur. The GIS grid maps showed that the quantity of guano deposits was not uniformly distributed over the island/headland surface. When the guano total quantity estimates based on the geostatistical method were validated with the amount of guano harvested, the estimation error was less than 18%. This error may decrease with the use of a submetric GPS, ground-penetrating radars and augers. An accurate method of guano volume quantification is crucial for budget, logistic and agencia


A new monotypic genus of flatid planthoppers (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Flatidae), Selizitapia gen. nov., is described for Selizitapia pennyi gen. et sp. nov. (type species) from the island of Madagascar. Habitus, male and female external and internal genital structures of the new species are illustrated and compared with similar taxa. Selizitapia pennyi gen. et sp. nov. is endemic to Madagascar where it is known to date only from one locality in the Central Plateau and is associated with tapia woodland formation.


In this paper, we investigate the relationship between public capital spending and population dynamics at the state level. Empirically, we document two robust facts. First, states with faster population growth do not spend more (per capita) to accommodate the needs of their growing population. Second, states whose population is more likely to leave do tend to spend more per capita than states with low gross emigration rates. To interpret these facts, we introduce an explicit, quantitative political-economy model of government spending determination, where mobility and population growth generate departures from Ricardian equivalence by shifting some of the costs and benefits of public projects to future residents. The magnitude of the empirical response of capital spending to mobility is at the upper end of what can be explained by the theory with a plausible calibration. In the model, more mobile voters favor more spending because the maturity of states' debt is very long term and costs are shifted into the future more than benefits.


Broad absorption-line quasars (commonly termed BALQSOs) contain the most dramatic examples of active galactic nucleus (AGN) driven winds. The high absorbing columns in these winds, ~10^24 cm^-2, ensure that BALQSOs are generally X-ray faint. This high X-ray absorption means that almost all BALQSOs have been discovered through optical surveys, and so what little we know about their X-ray properties is derived from very bright optically selected sources. A small number of X-ray-selected BALQSOs (XBALQSOs) have, however, recently been found in deep X-ray survey fields. In this paper we investigate the X-ray and rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) properties of five XBALQSOs for which we have obtained XMM-Newton EPIC X-ray spectra and deep optical imaging and spectroscopy. We find that, although the XBALQSOs have an αox steeper by ~0.5 than normal QSOs, their median αox is nevertheless flatter by 0.30 than that of a comparable sample of optically selected BALQSOs (OBALQSOs). We rule out the possibility that the higher X-ray to optical flux ratio is due to intrinsic optical extinction. We find that the amount of X-ray and UV absorption due to the wind in XBALQSOs is similar, or perhaps greater than, the corresponding wind absorption in OBALQSOs, so the flatter αox cannot be a result of weaker wind absorption. We conclude that these XBALQSOs have intrinsically higher X-ray to optical flux ratios than the OBALQSO sample with which we compare them.


Polycrystalline Si thin film transistors (TFTs) have been fabricated through solid phase crystallization using field-enhanced rapid thermal annealing (FE-RTA) system. The system consists of inline furnace modules for preheating and cooling of the glass substrates and a process module for rapid radiative heating combined with alternating magnetic field induction. The FE-RTA system enables crystallization of amorphous Si at high throughputs without any glass damages. While the typical grain structures of poly-Si by FE-RTA are similar to those of solid phase crystallization, the residual amorphous Si and intragranular defects are reduced.


Centers have reported superior growth in children on peritoneal dialysis (PD) as compared to hemodialysis (HD). Many factors may influence this outcome including diet, adequacy of dialysis, and control of metabolic acidosis. The role of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and its bioactivity in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) have been recently examined. Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) has been shown to be elevated in ESRD, possibly resulting in inhibition of the bioactivity of IGF-1. Potentially, the removal of IGFBP-3 may improve the bioactivity of IGF-1, with resulting improvement in growth. The molecular weight of IGFBP-3 (30.5 kDa) is in the range of other proteins cleared by PD (e.g., albumin-69 kDa). Therefore, we have analyzed 10 samples of IGFBP-3 in the dialysis effluent of 9 children on peritoneal dialysis, and have found that the mean level +/- SEM was 0.21 +/- 0.03 mg/L, while the 3 analyses of children on standard HD was 0.02 +/- 0.01 mg/L. In addition, the effluent of 2 children on a high-efficiency dialyzer had an IGFBP-3 level of 0.45 +/- 0.25 mg/L. Even though quite preliminary, these data may suggest another reason for improved growth in children on PD and a potential advantage to high-efficiency HD. Further analysis in a larger population of ESRD patients will be needed in order to confirm these preliminary findings.


Although prostate cancer is a major disease, causal factors are only partially understood. We examined occupational risk factors for this disease in a large case control study among U.S. blacks and whites. The study included 981 new pathologically confirmed prostate cancer cases (479 blacks and 502 whites) diagnosed between 1986 and 1989, and 1,315 population controls (594 blacks and 721 whites) who resided in Atlanta, Detroit, and 10 countries in New Jersey, covered by population-based cancer registries. Information on occupation, including a lifetime work history, was collected by in-person interview. No clear patterns of risk were found for U.S. whites versus blacks, nor for white-collar versus blue-collar jobs. Farming was related to prostate cancer (OR = 2.17; 95% CI = 1.18-3.98). Risk was restricted, however, to short-term workers and workers in crop production. Risk was not limited to those farming after 1950, when widespread use of pesticides started. Risks increased with increasing years of employment in firefighting (chi 2trend, p = 0.02) and power plant operations (chi 2trend, p = 0.03), and were elevated among long-term railroad line-haulers (OR = 5.85; 95% CI = 1.25-27.4); jobs with potential polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposures. Risk was elevated among athletes (OR = 5.38; 95% CI = 1.48-19.6). However, most of the cases were athletes before 1960, so the potential use of anabolic steroids was excluded. Although some clues about potential occupational associations were found, the overall results show that occupation is not a major determinant of prostate cancer risk.


Of all the endocrinopathies that may have cutaneous findings, thyroid disease is probably the one most likely to be seen by the practicing physician since the skin readily reflects the functional capacity of the thyroid gland. Cutaneous findings may be the only clue to otherwise silent thyroid disease. Skin changes may precede other clinical and laboratory evidence of thyroid malfunction by months or years. Thus, the skin not only aids in the diagnosis of thyroid dysfunction, but also helps the physician select those high-risk patients in whom thyroid abnormalities may later develop.


With the development of science and technology, the economy increase gradually from relying on the labor, the investment of capital and the low level overlapping production to growing by the science and technology progress to achieve reasonable allocation of economic resources to improve the productive forces. The upgrading of industry structure and the progress of science and technology are supplementing each other. This paper evaluated the development of the industry structure system and the progress of science and technology system separately by the principal component analysis, then using the regression analysis to achieve the quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis of the synergy of the two systems. This paper also uses the data analysis to achieve the cooperative development situation between industry structure and the progress of science and technology system of Shanxi province.


Climate change is projected to increase in vulnerable areas of the world, and marginalized communities residing in rural areas are more vulnerable to the change. The perceptions of climate change and adaptation strategies made by such communities are important considerations in the design of adaptation strategies by policy-makers. We examined the most marginalized indigenous group "Chepang" communities' perceptions towards this change, variability, and their attitudes to adaptations and adapted coping measures in mid-hills of Nepal. We interviewed 155 individuals from two Chepang communities, namely, Shaktikhor and Siddhi in Chitwan district of Nepal. We also analyzed biophysical data to assess the variability. The findings showed that the Chepang community has experienced significant impacts of climate change and variability. They attributed crop disease, insect infestation, human health problem, and weather-related disaster as the impacts of climate change. Strategies they have adopted in response to the change are the use of intense fertilizers in farmland, hybrid seeds cultivation, crop diversification, etc. Local level and national level adaptation policies need to be designed and implemented as soon as possible to help climate vulnerable communities like Chepangs to cope against the impacts of climate change.


Writing is one of the key competences defined by a number of international bodies as being crucial for students' learning and work life qualification. The three Scandinavian countries share a common goal of providing equal education for all and have a history of prioritizing extended essay writing as an assessment format in many subjects. The purpose of this article is to investigate writing in the content areas in Scandinavia by focusing on the connection between macro-level decisions and what actually happens in schools and classrooms. We first look at recent curriculum plans in the three countries and show how they have chosen different ways of encouraging or mandating writing in the disciplines. Three case studies, each based on research projects, exemplify what goes on at the meso/micro level: professionalization of science teachers in using writing in Sweden; student perspectives on the challenges and learning potential in mandated written research projects in Danish secondary and upper secondary schools; and teacher-initiated collaboration across content areas in Norway in order to develop better writing practices. We find that although the Scandinavian tradition of extended writing provides favorable conditions for writing in the content areas, there are problems which must be overcome before a successful integration can be expected. One such hindrance is the association of key competences with basic, instrumental skills, while another is the fact that the idea of writing in the content areas has been introduced top-down. Our conclusion is that a combination of macro-, meso-, and micro-level initiatives (top-down and bottom-up) is needed.


When do autocratic rulers in oil-producing countries support private sector development? We argue that the size of oil rents per capita has an important effect on ruler support for the rule of law, respect for private property rights, and other factors that promote private investment. However, the effect is not linear, but instead resembles a U-curve: Only in countries with middle levels of per capita oil wealthwould we expect the state to repress the private sector. At both low and high levels of oil wealth, autocrats interested in regime preservation would support and promote the private sector. Descriptive analyses of governance measures in Middle Eastern oilproducerssituated in comparative perspective offer empirical support for these propositions. These arguments and findings contradict some of the key claims in the resource curse literature but also differ from arguments that offer historically grounded explanations for development among oil exporters.


In 2012 NHS Highland secured funding from Macmillan Cancer Support in collaboration with The Boots Company PLC to explore a new service delivery model for the rural Skye, Kyle & Lochalsh population. The project would pilot the development of a full-time Macmillan Rural Palliative Care Pharmacist Practitioner (MRPP) within in the area, and test the ability of this post to: develop community pharmacy capacity to effectively, efficiently and safely support the needs of those in this rural community with palliative care needs regardless of care setting; improve service provision/co-ordination of services ensuring opportunities are developed for training and peer support, and; provide quality information to support practice. The Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences (SIPBS) at the University of Strathclyde was commissioned to undertake the project evaluation. This project is seen as a demonstration project to inform national policy with direct alignment to the objectives of the Scottish Government national action plan 'Living and Dying Well' , the Vision and Action Plan: "Prescription for Excellence" and the progressive integration of health and social care services across Scotland (1-3).


Nitric oxide (NO) is known to be expressed in a variety of cell types and exert its effects through autocrine and paracrine mechanisms. To characterize the NO/cGMP pathway in tumor cells of the upper airway tract, we studied the cell lines Detroit 562, FaDu and FAT7. Using isoform-specific antibodies, we were unable to detect expression of NO synthases in the above-mentioned cells lines. To evaluate whether tumor cells respond to NO, we exposed cells to the NO donor sodium nitroprusside (SNP). Stimulation of Detroit 562 and FaDu with SNP (10 µmol/l to 1 mmol/l) led to a concentration-dependent increase in cGMP accumulation. In addition, incubation of cells with SNP, but not 8 Br-cGMP, reduced Detroit 562 cell number. As exposure of cells to SNP decreased 3H-thymidine incorporation without inducing DNA fragmentation, we attributed the observed decrease in cell number to inhibition of cell proliferation rather than induction of apoptosis. On the other hand, exposure of Detroit 562 to high concentrations of SNP (1 mmol/l) led to apoptosis and increased the release of vascular endothelial growth factor. We conclude that, although human cell lines derived from the upper airway tract do not produce NO, they respond to NO released by neighboring cells and that exposure to NO exerts an anti-proliferative/apoptotic effect that is independent of cGMP generation.


Abstract Background: Problem-based learning (PBL) has been widely adopted in medical education. Learners become bored with paper-based cases as they progress through their studies. Aim: To breathe life (i.e. develop virtual patients) into paper-based PBL cases. Methods: The "patients" in paper-based PBL cases in one Year 2 were transformed into virtual patients by simulated patients role-playing and the videos and associated patient data uploaded to Bond's Virtual Hospital, a mobile Application. In unsupervised "clinical teams", second-year students undertook "ward rounds" twice a week, prompted by a virtual consultant and registered nurse. Immediately following the "ward rounds", they met with a clinician facilitator to discuss their "patients". Results: Apart from some minor technical issues, the experience was rated positively by students and clinical facilitators. They claimed that it provided students with a sense of what happens in the real world of medicine. The group work skills students had developed during PBL stood them in good stead to self-manage their "clinical teams". Conclusions: This more authentic PBL experience will be extended to earlier semesters as well as later in the curriculum as the virtual hospital can be used to expose learners to a profile of patients that may not be guaranteed during hospital rounds.


The study is focused into measure as the CCM-N program has impacted where the sustainable forest model and environmental are considered in the analysis. The Balance Carbon tool was used for measuring the climate change mitigation and the approach of the systematization experience for understanding and interpreting the learned lessons. The results show a positive impact on the carbon footprint for mitigating the of greenhouse emissions, however the experiences analyzed on the survey choice indicate that is necessary to make greater organizational efforts for improving the productive process where the forest system will be an axis for the economic activities.


The traditional field of conflict of laws involved clashes of private laws: what law should apply to a vehicular accident that took place in Canada, but involved a victim coming from New York? In the United States, as well as abroad, such clashes involved mostly private actors, and a specific set of rules was developed to address this area of law. More recently, however, a new paradigm has emerged, involving clashes of public laws and regulations, which I refer to as "titans" because they represent what is traditionally known as mandatory law and because they carry implications of state sovereignty and particular regulatory importance with them. Clashes of such titans are not easy to resolve, and often involve not merely economic operators, but also states or state agencies, causing diplomatic tension and foreign relations concerns. Conflict-of-law rules seem ill-adapted for the resolution of this new regulatory puzzle. In the United States, for example, courts and scholars have advocated the need to resort to either territorial-based rules or substance-based rules to resolve clashes of public laws. Under the territorial approach, courts and scholars focus on when a given conduct causes effects or has other links with American territory that would warrant the application of American public laws. Under the substantive approach, courts and scholars determine, by looking at the content of applicable laws and regulations, whether it is reasonable to apply American public laws. However, the general approach followed domestically has been unilateral: the inquiry is to determine simply when American laws and regulations should apply to a given situation. Although the substance-oriented approach gives some thought to global considerations of overlapping regulatory jurisdiction, economic inefficiency, and comity, little concern is raised about possibly harmonizing jurisdiction-allocating rules among multiple countries, so that the clashes themselves can be resolved with more uniformity across the globe. This Article advocates the need to start contemplating the development of global jurisdiction-allocating rules, at least among some countries and at least in some important domains where regulatory clashes frequently occur, such as antitrust, securities and Internet commerce and publishing. Harmonized jurisdiction-allocating rules could decrease instances of overlapping regulatory jurisdiction, thereby increasing predictability of outcomes for economic operators and reducing diplomatic tension caused by some of the important clashes. While challenges to such harmonization seem overwhelming at first, this Article argues that it may be possible to achieve some degree of unification. Some developed countries already have similar jurisdiction-allocating rules, thereby facilitating harmonization among them. Moreover, some domains, such as Internet regulations, may lend themselves better to harmonization. It also may be easier to harmonize jurisdiction-allocating rules that are perceived essentially as procedural, rather than to seek to change substantive regulations themselves. Finally, harmonization may be more easily accomplished within specific fora, such as the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, or similar global bodies. This Article argues that harmonization would work toward the achievement of a global optimum, which would eventually benefit most states and most economic operators.


Portions of the P1 and P2 hepatitis A virus (HAV) polyprotein were generated by in vitro translation of cDNA transcripts and analyzed for a primary cleavage reaction that would release the capsid protein precursor. No autocatalytic activity was observed on either side of the 2A coding sequence. Incubation of these proteins with an extract containing active HAV 3C protease, however, resulted in cleavage at a position approximately 40 amino acids downstream of the previously proposed P1-2A junction. This cleavage site likely accounts for the VP1-containing proteins of approximately 38-40 kDa observed in HAV-infected cells.


Abstract. There is growing interest in the formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) through condensed aqueous-phase reactions. In this study, we use a global model (IMPACT) to investigate the potential formation of SOA in the aqueous phase. We compare results from several multiphase process schemes with detailed aqueous-phase reactions to schemes that use a first-order gas-to-particle formation rate based on uptake coefficients. The predicted net global SOA production rate in cloud water ranges from 13.1 Tg yr−1 to 46.8 Tg yr−1 while that in aerosol water ranges from −0.4 Tg yr−1 to 12.6 Tg yr−1. The predicted global burden of SOA formed in the aqueous phase ranges from 0.09 Tg to 0.51 Tg. A sensitivity test to investigate two representations of cloud water content from two global models shows that increasing cloud water by an average factor of 2.7 can increase the net SOA production rate in cloud water by a factor of 4 at low altitudes (below approximately 900 hPa). We also investigated the importance of including dissolved Fe chemistry in cloud water aqueous reactions. Adding these reactions increases the formation rate of aqueous-phase OH by a factor of 2.6 and decreases the amount of global aqueous SOA formed by 31%. None of the mechanisms discussed here is able to provide a best fit for all observations. Rather, the use of an uptake coefficient method for aerosol water and a multi-phase scheme for cloud water provides the best fit in the Northern Hemisphere and the use of multiphase process scheme for aerosol and cloud water provides the best fit in the tropics. The model with Fe chemistry underpredicts oxalate measurements in all regions. Finally, the comparison of oxygen-to-carbon (O / C) ratios estimated in the model with those estimated from measurements shows that the modeled SOA has a slightly higher O / C ratio than the observed SOA for all cases.


Primary B-cell lymphoma exhibiting a spindle dominant pattern is extremely rare and represents a potential diagnostic pitfall. Here we report two cases of extranodal B cell lymphoma with spindle cell dominant morphology (sp-BCL) of uterus and maxillary sinus. Case 1 was a 54-year-old female with a large mass in the lower uterine segment, inseparable from the wall of the rectum and the urinary bladder. This is the first report of primary sp-BCL arising in the lower uterine segment. Case 2 was a 54-year-old male with a permeative mass involving the maxillary sinus wall with extension into the premaxillary soft tissues. Biopsies of both cases revealed a diffuse infiltration by medium to large atypical spindle cells. A panel of immunohistochemical stains was performed to rule out the possibilities of sarcoma, carcinoma, or melanoma. The final diagnosis was diffuse large B cell lymphoma, germinal center type. This is the first report of sp-BCL incorporating molecular genetic studies and the next-generation sequencing analysis performed on the maxillary lymphoma revealed three genomic alterations in genes of EZH2 (Y646N), IRF8 (S55A), and TNFRSF14 (splice site 304+2T>C). These genes were reported to play important roles in the pathogenesis of diffuse large B cell lymphoma. Both patients achieved complete remission after excision and chemo-radiation therapy despite the extensive local involvement.


Transmission ultrasound computer-assisted tomography has been developed for detection and diagnosis of cancer in the breast. Pulses of ultrasound (8 MHz ±3 MHz) are transmitted through the breast in a coronal plane from a plurality of directions. The received signal is processed for arrival time and for changes in amplitude. The measured values for arrival time and attenuation are used in a convolution-back projection reconstruction algorithm to obtain estimates of the two-dimensional distribution of acoustic speed and attenuation within the scanned planes of the breast. Over 1000 images in breasts of approximately 150 patients have been scanned of whom 30 had biopsy proven cancer. Some common characteristics of the reconstructed images which are associated with cancer are 1) increased speed relative to the embedding tissue associated with 2) decreased attenuation in central region of the lesion usually with 3) a ring of higher attenuation at the border of the lesion. Current estimates of sensitivity and specificity of this system for cancer are approaching those of X-ray mammography techniques.


Recently, European and U.S. officials have made surprising moves toward restricting firms from using above-cost price cuts to drive out entrants. This Article argues that these legal developments likely reflect the fact that scholarly critiques of cost-based tests of predatory pricing have never been satisfactorily addressed, and offers a better explanation about why restrictions on reactive above-cost price cuts are likely to be undesirable. It begins concluding that "costs" should be defined functionally as whichever cost measure assures that prices above costs cannot deter or drive out equally efficient rivals, and shows how applying that functional benchmark resolves numerous apparent anomalies in current predatory pricing law. It then shows that reactive above-cost price cuts do not necessarily indicate an undesirable protection of market power, but rather can be an efficient response to deviations from the output-maximizing price discrimination schedule in competitive markets, particularly in the airline industry that has been the greatest cause of concern. Even when an incumbent does have market power, restrictions on reactive above-cost price cuts have mainly undesirable effects. They fail to encourage entry but do raise post-entry prices in the bulk of cases, where the entrants are or will predictably become as efficient as the incumbent, or would have entered anyway despite relative inefficiency. They can only weakly encourage less efficient entry since the restrictions cannot protect less efficient entrants in the long run, and even in such cases they have mixed effects on post-entry prices since they give incumbents perverse incentives to raise post-entry prices to speed the day when the restriction expires. In all cases, they impose wasteful transition costs and losses in productive efficiency, and they lessen incentives to create more efficient incumbents and entrants. These adverse effects are worsened by implementation difficulties that cannot be avoided no matter how the rules are defined, including that possible definitions of the moment of entry or exit either make the restrictions ineffectual or make their adverse effects last far longer than any benefits from entry, that they will inefficiently increase or decrease innovation rates, and that any price floor or output ceiling will cause inefficiencies because of either great uncertainty or inflexibility in the fact of changing market conditions.


There are hundreds of equipment in a semiconductor factory. In order to increase equipment utilization and improve product quality yield, more reliable services provided by equipment managers are expected. Therefore, it is essential to develop a reliable service management scheme (SMS) for semiconductor factory management systems. In this work, the SMS is developed by applying the Jini and contract technologies. A generic evaluator (GE) is also developed in the SMS to possess error-detection and function-replacement. The GE can also maintain the credit values of all the equipment managers. With the SMS, the process status and parameters of equipment managers in service are stored periodically. If an equipment manager malfunctions, the GE detects and confirms it and sends an event notice to the factory manager. Then, the factory manager finds a spare equipment manager and transfers the backup process status and parameters to the spare equipment manager. Finally, the spare equipment manager can continue monitor the manufacturing process starting from the point where the malfunctioned one left off. Evaluation of reliability improvement and an illustrative example of the SMS are also presented.


Migration is a natural phenomenon in online social networks where users move across virtual spaces within or across platforms. Platforms such as Reddit drive migration behaviour by facilitating the formation of communities around discussion topics. However, migration also occurs in relation to the emergence of cyber-social threats. For example, 'trolling' involves users intentionally moving in and out of spaces to provoke conflict. In extreme cases, platforms move to shut down spaces due to user behaviour, forcing those users to migrate elsewhere. This paper provides a set of methods to help study migration at two scales: micro-scale involving individual users moving between spaces over relatively short time periods (between posts), and macro-scale involving groups of users moving over relatively longer time periods (changing their posting habits). We take Reddit as an example platform due to its community orientation, and COVID-19 as a means of qualitatively illustrating the results of our methods. We show how micro-scale analyses reveal sub-network structures indicative of overlapping user communities and how macroscale analyses provide important context to understand the micro-scale patterns, while also revealing consequences of platform moderation on user migration. For COVID-19, the micro-scale analyses reveal an interplay of controversies, politics and humour, while the macro-scale analyses point to increasing politicisation of the pandemic and a rise of conspiracy theories.


While state-of-the-art kernels for graphs with discrete labels scale well to graphs with thousands of nodes, the few existing kernels for graphs with continuous attributes, unfortunately, do not scale well. To overcome this limitation, we present hash graph kernels, a general framework to derive kernels for graphs with continuous attributes from discrete ones. The idea is to iteratively turn continuous attributes into discrete labels using randomized hash functions. We illustrate hash graph kernels for the Weisfeiler-Lehman subtree kernel and for the shortest-path kernel. The resultingnovel graph kernels are shown to be, both, able to handle graphs with continuous attributes and scalable to large graphs and data sets. This is supported by our theoretical analysis and demonstrated by an extensive experimental evaluation.


Tree planted fallow is an agroforestry system that may restore degraded soils and protect them from erosion. In this study, sandy soils properties of Acacia senegal planted fallows (AF) were assessed and compared to those from the continuous cropped system (CC) in 3 sites from Northern Cameroon in order to determine its suitability to restore soil fertility and sustain crop productivity. Soil samples were collected from the topsoil (0 to 20 cm) and the subsoil (20 to 40 cm) and subjected to physicochemical analyses. The trials were established for 2 consecutive years, respectively with sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata). Results confirmed the sandy (more than 80% of sand) and acidic (4.42 ≤ pH ≤ 6.59) soil characters. In every site, topsoil from AF was relatively more fertile than from CC. Globally, nutrients content were influenced by tree density and fallow duration. The more improved elements were organic matter, nitrogen and pH. Sorghum and cowpea yields were quite variable depending on fallow duration, tree density and conversion form. The highest crop yields (3.4 tha-1 for sorghum and 2.4 tha-1 for cowpea) were obtained in 19 years old AF converted by partial clear-felling. The intercropping process by partial clear-felling of trees was the best conversion form. Overall findings indicated that fallowing with A. senegal can reduce soil acidity, restore nutrients and therefore it constitutes a suitable agroforestry system that may sustain annual crops productivity. However, researches have to determine the best tree density for intercropping and the tools for their sustainable management.

 Key words: Acacia senegal fallow, agroforestry, sandy soils, continuous cropping, North Cameroon.


Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a severe and late complication of diabetes mellitus leading, in a majority of cases, to poor vision and blindness. The pathogenesis of DR and of the main diseases is complicated; many of its chains are not explained until now. Hyperglycemia is the key reason of many metabolic disorders in diabetes mellitus resulting in vascular complications. An irreversible glycosylation of proteins and activation of free-radical lipid peroxidation occur under the conditions of a long-term hyperglycemia; it brings about structural changes in the retinal microvessel walls, disorders of hematoretinal barrier and transcapillary metabolism as well as hemodynamic and vasoocclusive changes provoking the development of retinal ischemia.


This Note will discuss recent US import quotas in light of the United States' obligations under GATT. Part I of this Note will examine the legal frameworks of the US Constitution, GATT, and section 301. Part Ii will focus on the domestic and international conflicts that have stemmed from recent protectionist legislation proposed by Congress. Part III will criticize the conflict between the President and congress, the application of section 301, and the dispute resolution provisions of GATT. Finally, Part IV will propose improvements for the performance of the United States under GATT and section 301. This Note will conclude that the United States must improve its trade policy by coordinating its trade actions with section 301 and GATT. AN ANALYSIS OF THE CONFLICTS BETWEEN CONGRESSIONAL IMPORT QUOTAS AND THE GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TARIFFS AND TRADE


Perceptual skills were evaluated at two intervals of cochlear implant (CI) use in 24 children with prelingual deafness who received the Nucleus multichannel CI. Their performance was compared to that of age-matched children with prelingual profound hearing losses who used conventional hearing aids (HAs). The HA subjects were grouped by unaided thresholds: "gold" subjects (pure tone average of 92 dB hearing level) and "silver" subjects (pure tone average of 104 dB hearing level). The CI users' perceptual abilities increased significantly with time. At the "early" interval (mean, 2 months of CI use), performance of the CI and silver HA groups was similar on measures of phoneme, word, and sentence recognition; the gold HA subjects' performance was superior to that of the other groups. At the "late" interval, (mean, 2.5 years of CI use), CI subjects' performance exceeded that of the silver group on all measures, and was similar to that of the gold group on vowel recognition and auditory-plus-visual sentence recognition measures.