The peripheral myelin protein 22 gene (PMP22) encodes an intrinsic membrane protein of compact myelin. Duplication or deletion of PMP22 causes the most common autosomal dominant neuropathies, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A or hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies. Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A is a hypertrophic de-remyelinating neuropathy manifesting with peroneal muscular atrophy and uniform, marked, slowing of nerve conduction velocities. Hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies is a recurrent focal neuropathy with sausage-like myelin thickening (tomacula) and non-uniform nerve conduction velocity changes. Missense or nonsense mutations also cause more severe Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A forms of infancy or hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies, but they are presumably very rare. We performed a mutational scanning of PMP22 in 229 index patients (46 familial, 183 isolated) referred for suspected inherited neuropathy. The series included 125 cases with hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies (mean age 42.5 years), 47 cases with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A (motor nerve conduction velocities at median nerve below 38 m/s) (mean age 40.7 years) and 57 cases with Charcot-Marie-Tooth with unknown nerve conduction velocities (mean age 43 years). Preliminary molecular studies ruled out PMP22 duplication or deletion or mutations in a comprehensive panel of Charcot-Marie-Tooth genes. Mutational scanning of PMP22 was done by denaturing high performance liquid chromatography and automated nucleotide sequencing. To investigate the molecular basis of phenotype-to-genotype correlations, we performed a transcriptional analysis of PMP22 using reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction in two phenotypically divergent nerve biopsies. Ten patients harboured eight micromutations of PMP22 including four novel changes. In six familial and three sporadic cases, detected mutations caused premature or delayed stop codons and were associated with hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies; the related pathological pictures ranged from classical tomaculous neuropathy to a mild demyelinating neuropathy with atypical non-tomaculous myelin thickenings. In a single family a c.179-2A> G mutation affecting the splice acceptor site of intron 2 cosegregated with a Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A-like syndrome and a peculiar pathological picture of demyelinating neuropathy without Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A-like classical onion bulbs or tomacula. Transcriptional analysis of a novel c.174_178 + 7delAAACGGTGAGGC deletion involving exon 2 and intron 2 demonstrated an unstable mutant transcript leading to a p.Asn59GlyfsX12 change; the mutation represented a null allele and caused a typical tomaculous hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies. The Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1-like c.179-2A > G allele led to a stable transcript with an in-frame deletion of exon 3 (p.Glu60_Ala106del); the predicted shorter protein could exert variable molecular effects. In conclusion, micromutations of PMP22 cause a clinical and pathological continuum of demyelinating neuropathies that may include atypical phenotypes.


Ocular myasthenia gravis resembling the specific brain-stem sign of internuclear ophthalmoplegia has not been described in the literature with the exception of the unique case of Walsh. 1 This interesting motility disturbance has recently been observed in three patients. In each case the peripheral neuromuscular disorder closely mimicked a syndrome pathognomonic of a focal lesion involving the medial longitudinal fasciculus. The purpose of this report is to present the unusual ocular motility found in these three cases and to emphasize the importance of an antimyasthenic agent in this differential diagnosis. Report of Cases Case 1. —A 25-year-old Negro woman was seen with asthenopic symptoms of two months' duration. No history of ptosis, diplopia, or fatigability could be elicited. On examination a mild right ptosis was noted. The pupils were normal as were other parameters of ocular function, with the exception of extraocular movements which were of great interest. The patient


Matched‐field processing results are presented which compare the resolution (in range, depth, and azimuth) and peak‐to‐sidelobe ratios obtained using a bottom‐mounted horizontal line array and a tilted vertical line array. The arrays were deployed in the May 1996 shallow water evaluation cell experiment (SWellEx‐96) carried out west of Point Loma in 200‐m water of complex bathymetry. Results are presented for a towed source transmitting signals between 49 and 388 Hz at ranges between 0.7 and 6 km and at bearings between broadside and endfire. [Work sponsored by Office of Naval Research, Code 321(US).]


Fenton reagent has been in existence for more than 100 years, but interest in investigating the feasibility of Fenton reagent in degrading different organics is quite recent (about 20 years). The purpose of this study is to conduct experimental tests employing the Fenton oxidation process in treating the industrial detergent wastewater with the presence of UV-light. In order to achieve the objective of the research study, several scopes have been identified: to characterize and analyze the industrial detergent wastewater before and after Fenton process, to study the effect of ultraviolet exposure on Fenton process in treating industrial detergent wastewater, and to investigate the optimal process parameters (H2O2 2+dosage, Feconcentrations, optimal Fe2+/H2O2 molar ratios), and mineralization rates as well as the overall process efficiency. From the result obtained, the optimum operating condition of photo-Fenton oxidation process were involve 1500mg/L FeSO₄.7H₂O & 0.1M H₂O₂, (comply with Standard B) which COD achieve 23mg/L (98.7%) and turbidity reduction exceed 99%, optimum molar ratio more than 1 (COD removal > 94 %), X25 dilution factor (WW concentration to distilled water) and pH under 3. 1500 mg/L H₂O₂ was chosen as the best result of all the experiment. Total COD reduction of COD was up until 94%, while the turbidity reduce was 99.6%, and the color become totally clear. As conclusion, the treated wastewater is up to standard of Department of Environment Malaysia (DOE) 1974, which is comply the discharge permit of Standard B, means it is safe to be discharge to the river/downstream because it will not harm the environment, or else to undergo the next mineralization process, such as membrane filtration.


Aim: The aim of the study was to evaluate in-vitro α-amylase inhibitory activity, α-glucosidase inhibitory activity and glucose diffusion inhibition activity of various leaf extracts of Phoenix roebelenii. Materials and Methods: P. roebelenii leaf extracts were prepared by maceration in ethanol, methanol, water, acetone, and petroleum ether. The extracts were used for evaluating their α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity using dinitrosalicylic acid method. The results were compared with standard drug acarbose. Glucose diffusion was studied using dialysis membrane method. Results: The ethanolic extract showed maximum inhibitory activity for both α-amylase (75.5 ± 0.66%) and α-glucosidase (77.5 ± 1.07%) at 400 μg/ml in a concentration dependent manner. Methanolic extract showed nearly similar activity. Acarbose showed 80.7 ± 0.74% inhibition for α-amylase and 80.2 ± 0.23% for α-glucosidase at 400 μg/ml. The ethanolic and methanolic extracts also showed a significant amount of inhibition of glucose across a dialysis membrane. Conclusion: The plant can be further studied to isolate the compound(s) responsible for the antidiabetic properties.


Background. The aim of the study was to determine the clinical and social characteristics of minors using alcohol and drugs for inebriation, and the same for those using them for suicide.Methods. This study includes an analysis of case histories of adolescents hospitalized in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit because of acute alcohol or/and drug intoxication in 2014–2016. Two groups (group I: inebriation, and group II: suicide) were compared on age, sex, severity of intoxication, used substances, presence of other self-harm evidence, and social status.Results. A total of 390 cases were registered: 78.21% in Group I and 21.79% in Group II. The Glasgow-Coma-Scale scores showed that patients from Group I were more severely intoxicated, with an average score of 11.47, whereas patients from Group II averaged 13.45 (P < 0.001). Self-harm was more prominent among minors from Group II, with an incidence of up to 65.09%. The most common substance used to become inebriated was alcohol (72.79%), and for committing suicide was medication (88.24%). Patients who were living in children's care homes composed 13.33% of all cases included into the study, despite the low frequency of these minors in Lithuania (0.8%).Conclusions. The substance used for deliberate intoxication was mostly alcohol. Minors experiencing inebriation were hospitalized in worse clinical condition in comparison to those who had attempted suicide. Other signs of self-harm were significantly more common among suicidal minors. Living in children's care homes is a possible risk factor for deliberate intoxication among young people in Lithuania.


In order to analyze the possible epigenetic regulation mechanism of mll-af4 gene expression and find the possible microRNA regulating mll-af4 gene expression, targetscan software was used to analyze potential microRNA target sites in 3'-UTR of mll-af4. 3'-UTR fragment of mll-af4 was amplified by PCR. PCR products were cloned into EcoR Ⅰ/Pst Ⅰ-digested pGL3-M reporter vector, placing the 3'-UTR with potential microRNA binding site downstream of coding sequence of luciferase. The construct was cotransfected in 293T cells with control plasmid or plasmids expressing microRNAs regulating mll-af4 potentially. Western blot and RT-PCR were used to detect the expression level of mll-af4 protein and mRNA in RS4; 11 cells after transfection of miR-142-3p, respectively. The results showed that the pGL3-AF4-3'UTR of luciferase reporter recombinant plasmid containg the 3'UTR sequence of mll-af4 gene with 1935 bp, 2104 bp and 1371 bp was constructed successfully and was confirmed by enzyme digestion and gene sequencing. The luciferase assay revealed that overexpression of miR-142 could reduce the luciferase activity from the reporter construct containing the mll-af4 3'-UTR significantly. Protein and mRNA expressions of mll-af4 were found to be downregulated by miR-142-3p. It is concluded that miR-142-3p regulates the expression of mll-af4 through target binding the mll-af4 gene 3'UTR site.


In parcel delivery, the "last mile" from the parcel hub to the customer is costly, especially for time-sensitive delivery tasks that have to be completed within hours after arrival. Recently, crowdshipping has attracted increased attention as a new alternative to traditional delivery modes. In crowdshipping, private citizens ("the crowd") perform short detours in their daily lives to contribute to parcel delivery in exchange for small incentives. However, achieving desirable crowd behavior is challenging as the crowd is highly dynamic and consists of autonomous, self-interested individuals. Leveraging crowdshipping for time-sensitive deliveries remains an open challenge. In this paper, we present an agent-based approach to on-time parcel delivery with crowds. Our system performs data stream processing on the couriers' smartphone sensor data to predict delivery delays. Whenever a delay is predicted, the system attempts to forge an agreement for transferring the parcel from the current deliverer to a more promising courier nearby. Our experiments show that through accurate delay predictions and purposeful task transfers many delays can be prevented that would occur without our approach.


Numerous drugs are chiral, generally only one enantiomer is therapeutically active while the other antipode is completely inactive or shows often undesired and/or toxic side effects. For this reason, all new chiral drugs are now formulated in enantiopure form. Non-steroidal anticancer and antifungal drugs contain the same chemical structure e.g. Bifonazole 6a and non-steroidal aromatase inhibitors such as the Menarini anticancer drug 18. They are characterized by the presence of single chiral centre in benzhydrilic position. The present work was aimed at new procedures for the synthesis of both Bifonazole 6a and the Menarini aromatase inhibitors 18 in enantiomeric pure form. In order to prepare enantiopure synthons and final products several synthetic methods were developed. A chiral lithium aluminiumhydride complex with (R)-(-)-2-isoindolinyl-butan-1-ol (R)-(-)-24 as auxiliary was used for the asymmetric reduction of ketones 25a-d and 26a,c in order to obtain the corresponding enantiopure alcohols. Racemic and enantiopure alcohols 27a-c,g,m and 31a-1 were used as starting materials in multi-step syntheses for the corresponding N-imidazole derivatives in racemic and enantiopure forms. Involved are three reaction steps: (a) Mitsunobu reaction with 4,5-dicyano imidazole to obtain the N-4,5-dicyanoimidazole derivatives 33a-m; (b) hydrolyses of the N-imidazole-4,5-dicarbonitrile derivatives 33a-m to the corresponding diacids 34a-m, (c) thermic decarboxylation of the diacids 34a-m to the final N-imidazole derivatives 35a-d. This synthetic procedure was exceptionally well suited for the production of enantiopure N-alkyl imidazole derivatives 34a,b, instead gave high chemical yield but complete racemic products with benzylic alcohols 31d and benzhydroles 27a-c. Using a modified Marckwald procedure starting from chiral amines (S)-(+)-44 and (S)-(+)-51 it was possible to synthesize the imidazole ring and to obtain the corresponding enantiopure (S)-(+)-1-(2-octyl) imidazole (S)-(+)-35a and (S)-(+)-1-phenyl-1-ethyl imidazole (S)-(+)-54. (S)-(+)-35a presented an identical specific rotation as the corresponding compound obtained from the three step synthesis discussed above and proved the inversion of the configuration during the Mitsunobu reaction. In order to obtain the enantiopure aryl-2-benzo[b]furan methanols 27 a new synthetic method was considered instead of the asymmetric reduction of the corresponding ketones that lead to poor results. The use of the lipase SAMII allowed the synthesis of enantiopure 1-aryl-2-propyn-1-ols (R)-(-)-58a-c,e,h-l in high enantiomeric excesses and good chemical yields via hydrolysis of corresponding racemic acetates 60a-c and chloroacetates 61a-l (Scheme 7.4). The racemic and enantiopure 1-aryl-2-propyn-1-ols 58 a-l were cyclized with 2-iodophenol to the corresponding aryl-2-benzo[b]furan carbinols 27g-h and 63a-d and with 2-N-Mesyl iodoaniline to aryl-2-(N-mesyl)indol carbinols 64a-g using Pd(0) as catalyst. Both products were obtained in high e.e. and chemical yield. These constitute the first applications of Pd catalyses with enantiopure arylpropynols. The reaction conditions were optimized in order to maximize chemical yields and enantiomeric excesses. Finally an hypothesis for the mechanism of cyclization was formulated. The first step is the Pd 0 catalyzed addition of the acetylenic compound to the 2-iodophenol leading to 62; the second step is the CuI catalyzed cyclization to benzo[b]furane derivatives 27 or to N-Ms-indol derivatives 64. In conclusion the present work led to advances in the stereoselective synthesis of antifungal agents such as bifonazole 6a and the aromatase inhibitors 18; in fact the application of the described methodology to an enantiopure amine may probably lead to the target molecule in enantiopure form.


There is currently considerable interest in the whole field of microencapsulation for the development of new and enhanced materials and products across a wide range of technology sectors. Within this broader interest, the application of so-called 'colloidosome' technology for the production of capsules has attracted a great deal of academic research. In this short review, we present the current state of knowledge for colloidosome microcapsule technology covering both their synthesis and manufacture. The challenges associated with using colloidosomes to encapsulate active ingredients are also reviewed and the likely applications of these materials as capsules are then discussed.


Noninvasive near-infrared fluorescence reflectance imaging (FRI) is an in vivo technique to assess physiological and molecular processes in the intact organism. Here we describe a method to assess gastric emptying in mice. TentaGel™ beads with covalently bound cyanine dye (Cy5.5) conjugates as fluorescent probe were administered by oral gavage. The amount of intragastric beads/label was derived from the fluorescence signal intensity measured in a region of interest corresponding to the mouse stomach. The FRI signal intensity decreased as a function of time reflecting gastric emptying. In control mice, the gastric half-emptying time was in agreement with literature data. Pharmacological modulation of gastric motility allowed the evaluation of the sensitivity of the FRI-based method. Gastric emptying was either stimulated or inhibited by treatment with the 5-HT4 receptor agonists tegaserod (Zelnorm®) and cisapride or the α2-receptor agonist clonidine, respectively. Tegaserod and cisapride dose-dependently accelerated gastric emptying. In contrast, clonidine dose-dependently delayed gastric emptying. In conclusion, FRI using fluorescently labeled beads allows the reliable determination of gastric emptying as well as the assessment of pharmacological interventions. The technique thus offers the potential to characterize molecular targets and pathways involved in physiological regulation and pharmacological modulation of gastric emptying.


Aim/Purpose: In this study, the researchers investigated whether the out-of-class learning approach could help the students to attain any valuable learning outcomes for cybersecurity learning and could enhance the perceived value of cybersecurity education among the students.

Background: Cybersecurity learning poses challenges for its students to learn a complicated subject matter and the students may be intimidated by the challenging courses in cybersecurity programs. Therefore, it is essential for the faculty members to devise some mechanisms to promote cybersecurity learning to increase its student retention. The mechanism suggested by this study was the out-of-class learning approach.

Methodology: The researchers in this study employed a content analysis and adopted a semiotic method to analyze qualitative data. The researchers also conducted crosstabulation analyses using chi-square tests to detect the significant differences in the emerging learning outcomes from the two different out-of-class learning activities investigated in this study.

Contribution: This study addressed the difficulty of cybersecurity education and proposed a viable mechanism to promote the student learning in such a complicated subject matter.

Findings: For cybersecurity education, the out-of-class learning approach is a viable pedagogical mechanism that could lead the students to several learning outcomes, including connecting them to the real-life scenarios related to the cybersecurity profession, guiding them to their career choices and development, stimulating their intellectual growth, creating their justification of learning, and raising their cybersecurity awareness.

Recommendations for Practitioners: The instructors of any cybersecurity programs should incorporate some out-of-class learning activities into the courses in their programs, especially the introductory-level courses. Additionally, it is important to coordinate the out-of-class learning activities with the in-class lessons to enable the students to justify what they have learned in their classrooms and motivate them to learn more.

Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers could look beyond in-class learning and laboratory learning to investigate the impacts of out-of-class learning activities on cybersecurity education to help the students to attain better learning outcomes.

Impact on Society: By promoting cybersecurity education, universities and colleges could attain a higher retention rate of the students in their cybersecurity programs. The higher retention rate of the students in cybersecurity programs would help to ease the critical shortage of cybersecurity talent.

Future Research: Future research could explore the impacts of other out-of-class learning activities on cybersecurity learning; for example: job shadowing, attending cybersecurity conferences, internship, developing cybersecurity systems or tools for actual customers, working on cybersecurity research with faculty members. Additionally, future studies could investigate the effects of the out-of-class learning approach on promoting other academic programs that are characterized by intensely complex and technical nature, similar to cybersecurity programs.


The spectatorship of portraits by naive viewers (beholders) was explored in a single experiment. Twenty-five participants rated their liking for 142 portraits painted by Courbet (36 paintings), Fantin-Latour (36 paintings) and Manet (70 paintings) on a 4-point Likert scale. The portraits were classified in terms of focussed versus ambiguous nature of sitter gaze and the presence of salient features in the context beyond sitters. Participants rated portraits while having their eye movements recorded. The portraits were split into regions of interest (ROIs) defined by faces, bodies and context. Participants also completed individual difference measures of attention and task focus. Results showed naive spectatorship to be subject to attentional capture by faces. Paradoxically, the presence of salient features in the context amplified the attentional capture by faces through increasing participants liking of portraits. Attentional capture by faces was also influenced by sitter gaze and task focus. Unsurprisingly, the spectatorship of portraits by naive beholders is dominated by faces, but the extent of this dominance is influenced by exogenous and endogenous attentional factors.


The most common image of the European Quarter of Brussels is built on the idea of a clean, free, safe and controlled space that attracts people with high economic, social and cultural capital, and a growing number of "passing" users (tourists or consumers). Against this background, our research aimed to investigate the nexus between the material, symbolic, normative and discursive construction of the EU district time-space, on one hand, and everyday life, on the other. To do so, we explored the potential of a rhythmic and nonrepresentational approach in deconstructing dominant socio-spatial-temporal representations, scraping off the layers of the commonly-known to unveil alternative chronotopes. In this article, we present and discuss a reinterpretation of our experience and discuss the results of our analysis through four chronotopes linked to the spatio-temporal rhythms we observed, rhythms we have called Public time-space, Interstices, Intersections and Traces-as-remains.


A green method for the deoxygenation of graphene oxide (GO) was developed using K2CO3 as a reusable reduction agent. The size and thickness of the reduced GO are less than 1 μm and around 0.85 nm, respectively. Carbon dioxide is the only byproduct during this process. The reduction mechanism of the graphene oxide includes two reduction steps. On the one hand, ionic oxygen generated from the electrochemical reaction between hydroxyl ions and oxygen in the presence of K2CO3 reacts with carbonyl groups attached to the GO layers at 50 °C. On the other hand, ionic oxygen attacks hydroxyl and epoxide groups, which become carbonyl groups and then are converted to carbon dioxide by K2CO3 at 90 °C. These oxygenous groups are finally converted to CO2 from graphene layers, leading to the formation of graphene sheets. Headspace solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry detected the existence of n-dodecanal and 4-ethylbenzoic acid cyclopentyl ester during the reduction, suggesting that oxygen functional groups on the GO layers are not only aligned, but randomly dispersed in some areas based on the proposed mechanism.


At its inception in 1978 the advanced trauma life support (ATLS) course was revolutionary for its contents and its educational format. Its rapid and ongoing dissemination notwithstanding ATLS ® has also met with criticism; aimed in particular at the relative lack of opportunity to practice and at the "unrealistic format" of 1 doctor working with 1 non-obstructive nurse. In the Netherlands this issue has led to the development of a new format that was first used for Refresher courses, and later, after the addition of a locally developed extensive e-learning module, as a new standard for the Provider course. Earlier the Dutch ATLS Foundation had already developed an on-site training course for Trauma Teams (doctors, nurses and technicians) with an emphasis on Crew Resource Management (CRM). Elements of the latter were also used, after the introduction of the new provider format, for the development of a new format for the Refresher course. Details of the Provider, Refresher and Trauma Team Training courses that are in use at present in the Netherlands, are given, together with some "results".


'Understanding Drug War Statistics, Part 1: Declare a Perpetual Crisis' is one of a seven-part Series of essays, including: 1 - Declare a Perpetual Crisis; 2 - Big Lies and Bullies Trump Research in the War on Drugs; 3 - Junk Science Drives Policy; 4 - Outcome Obfuscation; 5 - Denominator Abuse; 6 - Flash Trash; 7 - Shock Schlock


Abstract Foraging patterns, behaviour and the distribution of animals are affected by the availability and distribution of food in the landscape. Increasing numbers of ungulates may also be in conflict with agriculture, timber, infrastructure and conservation interests. Understanding foraging habits of ungulates and how these are affected by a change in forage availability or composition are, therefore, issues of major importance both from ecological and management perspectives. Supplementary feeding (i.e. artificial supply of food) is being used to improve local habitat, and thereby affecting ungulate movements, habitat choice and migration patterns. We experimentally tested the predictions that supplementary feeding redistributes moose Alces alces during two different migration phases (early, i.e. during the onset of migration and late, i.e. in the wintering areas). We used individually marked moose and pellet group counts to investigate the effect of supplementary feeding both at the individual and population level. We monitored 30 moose with GPS-collars before, during and after the supplementary feeding experiment, corresponding to 8-10% of the moose population in two different valleys in Northern Scandinavia. During early migration, moose ignored supplementary feeding sites even though migration routes were close to the sites. At the end of the migration route, supplementary feeding affected moose movement, distribution and behaviour. In conclusion, we suggest that there is a clear difference in response to supplementary feeding by moose due to the phase of migration. We conclude that supplementary feeding can be used under certain conditions to redistribute moose in relation to browsing, or to traffic, preferably at the end-point of migration.


Hoofdstuk in Progression in forensic Psychiatry: About Boundaries van prof. mr. Marc Groenhuijsen en prof. dr. T.I. Oei.
As a young adolescent the man started using soft drugs and as a result was expelled from
school. Following a registration with RIAGG he was placed in a children's home for some
years. From the age of twenty he was a frequent substance user. He got hold of these
substances because his father was a dealer. There were contacts with psychiatrists and
psychologists and he was on an anti-psychotic medication that is prescribed with schizophrenia.
Over a period of eight years he was admitted eight times to a psychiatric hospital
with diagnoses such as recurring paranoid schizophrenia, recurring poly-hard drugs use and
ADHD. During his hospitalizations he took no medication, did not satisfactorily comply
with agreements and frequently withdrew from treatment prematurely in spite of advice to
the contrary. He was ultimately given Tbs (1).
In the introduction of a theme issue on Mental Health Care and Justice of
Justitiele Verkenningen [Judicial explorations] from 1991 concerning such a track
record it was stated that many stories can be told about it. "Two of them have farreaching
consequences. From the point of view of the judiciary the track record is
evaluated as to the degree of guilt casu quo attribution and the need to make
society secure. From the point of view of mental health care a person with a
mental disorder committed an offence as a result of his condition and needs
help" (2) Dangerous or mad, that is the division that is sectorially made.


In this paper, we present numerical and experimental results on optical properties of a multi-resonant UT-shaped plasmonic nanoaperture antenna for enhanced optical transmission and near-field resolution. We propose different structure designs in order to prove the effect of geometry on resonance spectrum and near-field enhancement. Theoretical calculations of transmission spectra and field distributions of UT-shaped nano-apertures are performed by using three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain method. The results of these numerical calculations show that transmission through the apertures is indeed concentrated in the gap region. In addition to theoretical calculations, we also performed a lift-off free plasmonic device fabrication technique based on positive resist electron beam lithography (EBL) and reactive ion etching in order to fabricate UT-shaped nanostructures. For further confirmation of the multiresonant behavior, we checked the individual U-and T-shaped nano-aperture antenna responses. We also studied the parameter dependence of the structure to determine the control mechanism of the spectral response. Theoretical calculations are supported with experimental results to prove the enhanced field distribution and multi-resonant behavior which can be suitable for infrared detection of biomolecules, wavelength-tunable filters, optical modulators, and ultrafast switching devices.teInp


Loran-C transmitters are grouped into different chains, each with a specified group repetition interval (GRI) or group repetition rate (1/GRI). Currently, Loran-C transmitters in different chains are not tightly synchronized. Consequently, Loran receivers can compute time differences only between signals with the same GRI. In other words, they require at least two received signals from each GRI they wish to use. If the receiver can receive many stations within a GRI, this limitation is not troublesome. However, if the receiver is near the edge of coverage or if a transmitter has failed, it can be helpful to remove this limitation and allow the receiver to compute cross-rate time differences. The time transfer capability of GPS is one way of accomplishing the required cross-rate synchronization. In this paper, we examine (by example) the impact of cross-rate synchronization on Loran-C coverage. We do this by developing a Loran accuracy model and considering Loran coverage in the U.S. and Canadian West after the "mid-continent gap" has been filled. We find that cross-rate synchronization would be helpful in general, and especially valuable if a transmitter has failed.


Alloglossidium hirudicola sp. n. is described from adult specimens recovered from the ceca of leeches, Haemopis sp., purchased from a commercial source. It differs from A. corti (Lamont, 1921) Van Cleave and Mueller, 1934, and from A. geminus (Mueller, 1930) Van Cleave and Mueller, 1934, in having shorter ceca, smaller cirrus pouch, and in distribution of cuticular spines.


Objective To examine whether dietary intake of specific flavonoid subclasses (including flavonols, flavones, flavanones, flavan-3-ols, anthocyanins, and flavonoid polymers) is associated with weight change over time. Design Three prospective cohort studies. Setting Health professionals in the United States. Participants 124 086 men and women participating in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS), Nurses' Health Study (NHS), and Nurses' Health Study II (NHS II). Main outcome measure Self reported change in weight over multiple four year time intervals between 1986 and 2011. Results Increased consumption of most flavonoid subclasses, including flavonols, flavan-3-ols, anthocyanins, and flavonoid polymers, was inversely associated with weight change over four year time intervals, after adjustment for simultaneous changes in other lifestyle factors including other aspects of diet, smoking status, and physical activity. In the pooled results, the greatest magnitude of association was observed for anthocyanins (−0.23 (95% confidence interval −0.30 to −0.15) lbs per additional standard deviation/day, 10 mg), flavonoid polymers (−0.18 (−0.28 to −0.08) lbs per additional SD/day, 138 mg), and flavonols (−0.16 (−0.26 to −0.06) lbs per additional SD/day, 7 mg). After additional adjustment for fiber intake, associations remained significant for anthocyanins, proanthocyanidins, and total flavonoid polymers but were attenuated and no longer statistically significant for other subclasses. Conclusions Higher intake of foods rich in flavonols, flavan-3-ols, anthocyanins, and flavonoid polymers may contribute to weight maintenance in adulthood and may help to refine dietary recommendations for the prevention of obesity and its potential consequences.


2SD for breast fed) and for magnesium as 1 * 42. All cases had one or both ions below these levels. 39 of the 75 cases showed hypomagnesaemia with hypocalcaemia and 5 had hypomagnesaemia alone. 33 were treated with magnesium and calcium and 9 with magnesium alone. There were 9 infants who showed the hypotonic normo-alerted clinical picture of hypermagnesaemia as a result of therapy. CSF calcium and magnesium levels were significantly lowered (p < 0 005 Mg, < 0-0025 Ca). The infants were fed on full-cream Regal milk which has a high phosphate (90 mg./100 ml.) and a high osmolality.


A new linearly polarized eleven feed for operation between 1 and 10 GHz is presented. This frequency band is higher than the realized before, and the input reflection coefficient is better than ${-}8$ dB over the frequency range, which also is an improvement over previous models. The log-periodic dipole petals have been designed by using a simple one-by-one parameter optimization scheme with a simulation tool based on moment method. The final analysis has been improved by applying an finite-difference time-domain (FDTD)-based solver for the central part of the feed and then a circuit network program to combine the results of the center part with the result of the dipole panels. The antenna has been manufactured by printed circuit board (PCB) technology on a metalized Kevlar sheet in order to obtain better tolerances and smaller dimensions than in previous models. Measurements show agreement with the analysis.


After the revolutionary period of 1910-1920, Mexico developed a number of social protection programs to support workers in public and private sectors and to establish safeguards for the poor and the aged. These included pensions, healthcare, and worker's compensation. The new welfare programs were the product of a complex interrelationship of corporate, labor, and political actors. In this unique dynamic, cross-class coalitions maintained both an authoritarian regime and social protection system for some seventy years, despite the ebb and flow of political and economic tides. By focusing on organized labor, and its powerful role in effecting institutional change, "Workers and Welfare" chronicles the development and evolution of Mexican social insurance institutions in the twentieth century. Beginning with the antecedents of social insurance and the adoption of pension programs for central government workers in 1925, Dion's analysis shows how the labor movement, up until the 1990s, was instrumental in expanding welfare programs, but has since become largely ineffective. Despite stepped-up efforts, labor has seen the retrenchment of many benefits. Meanwhile, Dion cites the debt crisis, neoliberal reform, and resulting changes in the labor market as all contributing to a rise in poverty. Today, Mexican welfare programs emphasize poverty alleviation, in a marked shift away from social insurance benefits for the working class.


he Falkland Islands are probably best known for their unspoilt countryside, abundant wildlife, and the war between Argentina and the UK in 1982.


This thesis is an investigation into the influence of Weimar Berlin's culture on British popular music
of the 1970 and 1980s. The two eras are studied historically and artistically though the constant and
ever-changing backdrop of the city of Berlin. The retrospective significance in postmodern terms is
examined through music of David Bowie, Lou Reed and Kraftwerk and of the subcultures of punk and post-punk; their respective incorporation of elements, usually associated with 'others', reveals an alternative approach to artistic production in response to the 'authentic' American model. The breakdown of the divisions between diametrically opposed principles and ideologies is featured as artists consistently sought to erode boundaries. Chapter 1'Beyond Divine Symmetry' looks at radical ideas in philosophy, politics and arts in the late-nineteenth century and World War I and the
challenges brought to conservative forces. 2 'Willkommen in Berlin' focuses on post-World War I socio-economic and political ramifications, on Berlin and corresponding art and leisure industries. 3 'Out and About' continues reviewing the arts and culture of Weimar Berlin and the impact of new forms of art and technologies had on the city 4 'Officially Degenerate' looks at art, music and other elements deemed 'degenerate' under the Third Reich, 5 'Traveling in Time' compares the opposing ideologies of the East and West and the role of Berlin during the Cold War, 6 'David Bowie: The Changing Face of Influence' refers to Bowie's glam period and his most obvious use of references to Weimar, 7 'Berlin Personified: Lou Reed' analyses Reed's seminal albums of Transformer and
Berlin 8 'German Irony: Kraftwerk' scrutinizes the band's inference that they were a continuance of Bauhaus, 9 'David Bowie: About Face' looks at the artist's years living and working in Berlin in the mid-1970s, 10 'England's Projecting: Punk' attempts to reveal why the subculture saw Weimar Berlin as comparable to mid-1970s London and 11 'Eye to I: Post-punk' demonstrates how the
evolved subculture created their musical-art by incorporating ideas from Berlin's inter-war years to express Cold War induced anxiety.


Heterocyclic-substituted N,N'-diphenylurea derivatives (I) are new. Urea derivatives of formula (I) and their enantiomers, diastereomers and acid or base addition salts are new. R1 - R4 = H, halo, alkyl, alkoxy, OH, alkylthio, SH, CN, NH2, mono- or dialkylamino, NO2, COOH, alkoxycarbonyl, CONH2 or mono- or dialkylaminocarbonyl; or two adjacent groups together complete a fused benzene ring or a 5-7 membered heteroaryl ring containing 1-3 of N, O and/ore S as heteroatoms; L1, L2 = H or together form CH2CH2; X1 = direct bond (bonded in the 2- or 3-position of the ring); and X2 = H, halo, alkyl, alkoxy, OH, NO2, CN, NH2 or mono- or dialkylamino; or X1 + X2 = group forming a 4-7C ring with the C atoms in the 3- and 4-positions of the ring, 1 or 2 CH2 units of the ring optionally being replaced by O, NH or N(alkyl) and G being bonded to a ring C; X3 = H, halo, alkyl, alkoxy, OH, NO2, CN, NH2 or mono- or dialkylamino; G = heterocyclic group of formula (G1)-(G3); dotted line = optional bond; Alk = 1-6C alkylene, which must be bonded at the 2-position in an imidazoline ring of (G1); n, m = 0 or 1; T3, T4 = alkyl; or aryl, arylalkyl, heteroaryl or heteroarylalkyl (all optionally ring-substituted by one or more of halo, alkyl, alkoxy, OH, SH, alkylthio, CN, NH2, mono- or dialkylamino, NO2, COOH, alkoxycarbonyl, CONH2 or mono- or dialkylaminocarbonyl; heteroaryl rings may additionally be mono-substituted by oxo); aryl moieties = phenyl, naphthyl or biphenylyl; heteroaryl moieties = mono- or bicyclic group in which at least one ring is aromatic, containing 1-5 of N, O and/or S as heteroatom(s); alkyl moieties have 1-6C. Independent claims are included for the preparation of (I).


Voltage fluctuations leading to lamp flicker can propagate from the point of origin to various parts of the power system with some attenuation depending on the system impedances and load composition. Field measurements and theoretical studies suggest that the industrial loads containing large proportions of induction motors assist in attenuating flicker compared to residential loads consisting of passive devices. This paper describes a frequency domain approach which can be used to determine the propagation of voltage fluctuations when there are induction motor loads in the vicinity of the disturbing load. The method involves linearization of the network in d-q domain to evaluate various voltage transfer coefficients. Induction motor loads are modelled as a matrix of transfer functions developed between node voltages and currents. The proposed method has been applied to a simple meshed system and the results clearly show the influence of the induction motors on flicker attenuation and the dependency of the flicker transfer coefficient on the frequency of voltage fluctuations. Results are in close agreement with results obtained from time domain simulations.


Abstract The rapid transformation of museums over the last twenty years, both in Canada and around the world, has provoked numerous commentaries and interpretations. It has also fanned the flames of an argument that began three hundred years ago. The quarrel of the ancients and the moderns on the question of "museumfication" continues today. The quarrel is now not so much about problem of works and objects being placed in a kind of thesaurus, removed from their true context and accessible to only a limited public, but rather about the mummification of living traditions, intangible heritage, public spaces, and certain cities or their neighborhoods. The museum networks is growing extremely quickly, while at the same time becoming part of today9s mass media universe. These changes are received enthusiastically by some, but are met with disapproval by others. Communication, theatrical presentation, the exchange and sharing of works, and the increased forging of links between institutions throughout the world have all contributed to making museums places of encounter and debate. As a result, museums now are among the liveliest and most productive cultural industries in the Western world. This hypermediatization has also brought about internal changes in museums. The goal of the museum has not necessarily been modified, but the ways of managing the institution have definitely undergone a transformation. What is the place of historians and researchers in this shifting world? Are they still welcome there?


BACKGROUND
 Accurate and timely diagnosis and effective prognosis of the disease is important to provide the best possible care for patients with COVID-19 and reduce the burden on the health care system. Machine learning methods can play a vital role in the diagnosis of COVID-19 by processing chest x-ray images.

 OBJECTIVE
 The aim of this study is to summarize information on the use of intelligent models for the diagnosis and prognosis of COVID-19 to help with early and timely diagnosis, minimize prolonged diagnosis, and improve overall health care.

 METHODS
 A systematic search of databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, IEEE, ProQuest, Scopus, bioRxiv, and medRxiv, was performed for COVID-19–related studies published up to May 24, 2020. This study was performed in accordance with the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses) guidelines. All original research articles describing the application of image processing for the prediction and diagnosis of COVID-19 were considered in the analysis. Two reviewers independently assessed the published papers to determine eligibility for inclusion in the analysis. Risk of bias was evaluated using the Prediction Model Risk of Bias Assessment Tool.

 RESULTS
 Of the 629 articles retrieved, 44 articles were included. We identified 4 prognosis models for calculating prediction of disease severity and estimation of confinement time for individual patients, and 40 diagnostic models for detecting COVID-19 from normal or other pneumonias. Most included studies used deep learning methods based on convolutional neural networks, which have been widely used as a classification algorithm. The most frequently reported predictors of prognosis in patients with COVID-19 included age, computed tomography data, gender, comorbidities, symptoms, and laboratory findings. Deep convolutional neural networks obtained better results compared with non–neural network–based methods. Moreover, all of the models were found to be at high risk of bias due to the lack of information about the study population, intended groups, and inappropriate reporting.

 CONCLUSIONS
 Machine learning models used for the diagnosis and prognosis of COVID-19 showed excellent discriminative performance. However, these models were at high risk of bias, because of various reasons such as inadequate information about study participants, randomization process, and the lack of external validation, which may have resulted in the optimistic reporting of these models. Hence, our findings do not recommend any of the current models to be used in practice for the diagnosis and prognosis of COVID-19.


Previous studies indicate that while transgenic mice with ATXN1[30Q]-D776-induced disease share pathological features caused by ATXN1[82Q] having an expanded polyglutamine tract, they fail to manifest the age-related progressive neurodegeneration seen in spinocerebellar ataxia type 1. The shared features include morphological alterations in climbing fiber (CF) innervation of Purkinje cells (PCs). To further investigate the ability of ataxin-1 (ATXN1) to impact CF/PC innervation, this study used morphological and functional approaches to examine CF/PC innervation during postnatal development in ATXN1[30Q]-D776 and ATXN1[82Q] cerebella. Notably, ATXN1[30Q]-D776 induced morphological alterations consistent with the development of the innervation of PCs by CFs being compromised, including a reduction of CF translocation along the PC dendritic tree, and decreased pruning of CF terminals from the PC soma. As previously shown for ATXN1[82Q], ATXN1[30Q]-D776 must enter the nucleus of PCs to induce these alterations. Experiments using conditional ATXN1[30Q]-D776 mice demonstrate that both the levels and specific timing of mutant ATXN1 expression are critical for alteration of the CF–PC synapse. Together these observations suggest that ATXN1, expressed exclusively in PCs, alters expression of a gene(s) in the postsynaptic PC that are critical for its innervation by CFs. To investigate whether ATXN1[30Q]-D776 curbs the progressive disease in ATXN1[82Q]-S776 mice, we crossed ATXN1[30Q]-D776 and ATXN1[82Q]-S776 mice and found that double transgenic mice developed progressive PC atrophy. Thus, the results also show that to develop progressive cerebellar degeneration requires expressing ATXN1 with an expanded polyglutamine tract.


Jumping out of water is a phenomenon exhibited by a variety of aquatic and semi-aquatic animals. Yet, there is no common groundwork that clarifies the physical constraints required to jump out of water. In this study, we elucidate the physical conditions required for an animal to jump out of water. More than 100 jumps are analysed over five taxonomic groups. By balancing the power produced by animals with drag-induced dissipation, we expect that maximum jumping height, H, scales with body length, L, as H/L ∼ L−1/3 ∼ Fr2, where the Froude number, Fr, is a ratio of inertia to gravity. To identify jumping regimes, simplified experiments are conducted by shooting axisymmetric bodies through the water surface. Here, we see a transition in which partial exits scale as H/L ∼ Fr and complete exits scale as H/L ∼ Fr2. A bioinspired robotic flapping mechanism was designed to mimic the fast motion of impulsive jumping animals. When exiting water, the robot carries a large volume of fluid referred to as an entrained mass. A theoretical model is developed to predict the jumping height of various water-exiting bodies, which shows that the mass of the entrained fluid relative to the mass of the body limits the maximum jumping height. We conclude that the lack of entrained fluid allows animals to reach extraordinary heights compared to our water-exiting robots.


SummaryThe effect of insect visits on seed production was studied in 9 cruciferous and 4 umbelliferous crop species at Hissar, India, by comparing several yield parameters in open-pollinated plants and plants in cages or with stems bagged. Bees (Apis dorsata, A. florea, A. mellifera and 6 solitary species) were the dominant flower visitors, and were the only species which collected pollen and acted as potential pollinators. Weight of seeds per plant and weight of seeds per ha were significantly greater in open plots of both cruciferous and umbelliferous species than in caged plots. Mean pod (silique) length and numbers of seeds set per pod in open plots of cruciferous plants, and numbers of seeds set per plant in open plots of umbelliferous plants, were significantly greater than in caged plots. Seed size (weight/1000 seeds) was greater in caged plots of umbelliferous plants than in open plots. Per cent seed germination did not differ significantly between treatments. The management of bees for seed produ...


Introduction: Elevation of serum ferritin levels can result in major health issues. Increased oxidative stress, inflammation, and endothelial damage are all linked to elevated serum ferritin levels, which in turn raises the risk of hypertension. Aim: Serum ferritin levels in patients with high blood pressure and a healthy control group were measured and compared in this study. Material and Methods: The present study was a hospital-based observational and analytical study. The study was conducted over a period of 1 year on 60 patients. The study group comprised of 30 patients (not diagnosed with hypertension or on any treatment) and the control group comprised of 30 (age and gender matched) individuals. The levels of serum ferritin were analysed by the chemiluminescent method. Result: The results of the present study showed that, the mean value of serum ferritin was 313.17 ± 173.86 ng/ml in study group and 169.50 ± 105.66 ng/ml in control group. The mean SBP was 137.53 ± 14.32 mm/Hg in study group and 121.60 ± 8.09 mm/Hg in control group. The mean DBP was 87.73 ± 8.83 mm/Hg in study group and 71.03 ± 9.56 mm/Hg in control group. The results of the present study indicate that the difference between the mean serum ferritin and mean SBP, mean DBP among the study group and control group was found to be significant statistically (p=<0.005). Conclusion: The current study found a positive association between the mean serum ferritin levels and high blood pressure among the study participants.


Kepler-22b is the first transiting planet to have been detected in the habitable zone of its host star. At 2.4 R⊕, Kepler-22b is too large to be considered an Earth analog, but should the planet host a moon large enough to maintain an atmosphere, then the Kepler-22 system may yet possess a telluric world. Aside from being within the habitable zone, the target is attractive due to the availability of previously measured precise radial velocities and low intrinsic photometric noise, which has also enabled asteroseismology studies of the star. For these reasons, Kepler-22b was selected as a target-of-opportunity by the "Hunt for Exomoons with Kepler" (HEK) project. In this work, we conduct a photodynamical search for an exomoon around Kepler-22b leveraging the transits, radial velocities, and asteroseismology plus several new tools developed by the HEK project to improve exomoon searches. We find no evidence for an exomoon around the planet and exclude moons of mass MS > 0.5 M⊕ to 95% confidence. By signal injection and blind retrieval, we demonstrate that an Earth-like moon is easily detected for this planet even when the time-correlated noise of the data set is taken into account. We provide updated parameters for the planet Kepler-22b, including a revised mass of MP < 53 M⊕ to 95% confidence and an eccentricity of by exploiting Single-body Asterodensity Profiling. Finally, we show that Kepler-22b has a >95% probability of being within the empirical habitable zone but a <5% probability of being within the conservative habitable zone.


From visual perception to language, sensory stimuli change their meaning depending on prior experience. Recurrent neural dynamics can interpret stimuli based on externally cued context, but it is unknown whether similar dynamics can compute and employ internal hypotheses to resolve ambiguities. Here, we show that mouse retrosplenial cortex (RSC) can form hypotheses over time and perform spatial reasoning through recurrent dynamics. In our task, mice navigated using ambiguous landmarks that are identified through their mutual spatial relationship, requiring sequential refinement of hypotheses. Neurons in RSC and in artificial neural networks encoded mixtures of hypotheses, location, and sensory information, and were constrained by robust low dimensional dynamics. RSC encoded hypotheses as locations in activity space with divergent trajectories for identical sensory inputs, enabling their correct interpretation. Our results indicate that interactions between internal hypotheses and external sensory data in recurrent circuits can provide a substrate for complex sequential cognitive reasoning.


The relaxation of a dissipative system to its equilibrium state often shows a multiexponential pattern with relaxation rates, which are typically considered to be an intrinsic property of the system, independent of the initial condition and given by the spectrum of a Hermitian operator to which the initial Fokker-Planck operator is transformed by a similarity transformation. We show that this is not always the case. Considering the exactly solvable examples of standard and generalized L\'evy Ornstein-Uhlenbeck processes with \alpha-stable initial distributions we show that the relaxation rates belong the spectrum of the corresponding quantum harmonic oscillator Hamiltonian only if the initial distribution belongs to the domain of attraction of the stable distribution defining the noise. Thus, in case of the standard Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process, broad \alpha-stable initial distributions show a different relaxation pattern, and this pattern can persist as a long transient even for truncated stable initial distributions.


Abstract UK professionals use a range of intervention approaches to promote communication development in pre-school deaf children by influencing the familys' interaction style. This investigation surveyed the approaches used and explored how these translated into specific practices. An online questionnaire was developed and reviewed by a panel of experts. Part 1 explored professional background and approaches used. Findings showed that the main approaches were: auditory verbal therapy, Hanen, 'Parent–child interaction therapy' (PCIT), and guidance from the Monitoring Protocol for deaf babies and children (GMP). Of the 158 professionals who completed Part 1, 142 used a combination of these approaches, with each approach selected at least ninety-three times. When participants were asked which approach or combination of approaches influenced their practice most strongly, over 25 per cent chose GMP (mainly teachers of the deaf) and over 25 per cent chose Hanen and/or PCIT (mainly speech and language therapists). Part 2, completed by 117 professionals, required participants to rate how frequently they suggested particular strategies to parents and how frequently they used particular methods to encourage parents to adopt those strategies. There was no evidence of an association between the approaches selected and methods used and very little evidence of an association between the approaches and strategies selected. Many professionals were recommending similar strategies and using similar methods but there was also some variation in practice. The overall findings suggest that future research comparing named approaches may be of less value than studies that seek to explore the potential effectiveness of particular strategies and methods.


This paper focuses on the decision evaluation of different response strategies in emergency management utilizing decision analysis with imprecise information. A method for the selection of response strategies in emergency management, as well as a model for the representation of catastrophic consequences, are proposed. In emergency management decision problems, the available estimates of probabilities, utilities, costs, and priority weights are often subject to large degrees of uncertainty and imprecision. When uncertainty prevails in the input data and large societal values are at stake, coping with this lack of precision becomes very important in decision making processes. The method employs representation of imprecision in probabilities, utilities, and weights on attributes in the form of interval statements and comparisons together with a formal, comprehensive, and comprehensible description of a catastrophic consequence facilitating the use of preferential statements between catastrophic consequences. The method proposed can be viewed as a more frugal decision analysis method, decreasing the efforts needed in elicitation of input statements which often is a cumbersome threshold for the use of decision analysis techniques. It is suggested as a complement to cost/benefit approaches and other approaches relying on inaccessible probabilistic data either when probability assessments regarding catastrophic events are too uncertain or when pure monetary scales are deemed inadequate.


Objectives: The aim of this study was to use late gadolinium hyper-enhancement cardiac magnetic resonance (LGE-CMR) imaging to determine if a 72-h troponin-I measurement would provide a more accurate estimation of infarct size and microvascular obstruction (MVO) than serial creatine kinase (CK) or early troponin-I values. Methods: LGE-CMR was performed 3.7±1.4 days after medical treatment for acute ST elevation or non-ST elevation myocardial infarction. Infarct size and MVO were measured and correlated with serum troponin-I concentrations, which were sampled 12 h and 72 h after admission, in addition to serial CK levels. Results: Ninety-three patients, of whom 71 had received thrombolysis for ST elevation myocardial infarction, completed the CMR study. Peak CK, 12-h troponin-I, and 72-h troponin-I were related to infarct size by LGE-CMR (r = 0.75, p<0.0001; r = 0.56, p = 0.0003; r = 0.62, p<0.0001 respectively). Serum biomarkers demonstrated higher values in the group with MVO compared with those without MVO (Peak CK 3085±1531 vs 1471±1135, p<0.001; 12-h troponin-I 58.3±46.9 vs 33.4±40.0, p = 0.13; 72-h troponin-I 11.5±9.9 vs 5.5±4.6, p<0.005). The correlation between the extent of MVO and 12-h troponin-I was not significant (r = 0.16), in contrast to the other serum biomarkers (peak CK r = 0.44, p<0.0001; 72-h troponin-I r = 0.46, p = 0.0002). Conclusion: A single measurement of 72-h troponin-I is similar to serial CK measurements in the estimation of both myocardial infarct size and extent of MVO, and is superior to 12-h troponin-I measurements.


The Sudanese population has suffered from years of conflict, and deep-seated security issues have severely hampered Sudan's long-term economic stability and social development. As a consequence, Sudan is struggling to meet its MDGs. Since the secession of South Sudan, Sudan has lost a considerable part of its oil production and fiscal revenues. At the same time, the Government recognizes social safety nets as important instruments for reducing poverty. This report provides an analysis of the state of social safety nets in Sudan which shows that Sudan's existing safety net programs are limited in coverage, lack coordination, as well as monitoring and evaluation. The report suggests (i) reallocation of savings from the fuel subsidy reform to targeted pro-poor safety net programs; (ii) strengthening of the existing safety net through monitoring the outcomes, strong controls and social accountability, and a culture of evaluation, and (iii) development of a coherent National Social Protection Policy.


The purpose of this study was to clarify the differences in reaction time, stepping frequency and stepping endurance estimated by chronological age compared to skeletal age. The participants were 76 well-trained soccer players aged from 9.7 to 14.8 years old . Height and weight were measured before training. Their skeletal ages were evaluated by RUS score of TW II method . RUS score was calculated for skeletal age by Murata's method. Reaction time, stepping frequency and endurance were measured by Talent-Diagnose-System (Werthner Sports Consulting , KEG, Co, Ltd.). For chronological age, height increased linearly from 9 to 14. Height estimated by skeletal age increased slowly from 8 to 10, then increased drastically between the ages of 10 to 15. Significant change was shown between the ages of 12 and 13 (p<0.01) . Complex reaction time (CRT) estimated from chronological age developed linearly from 9 to 14 years of age. However for skeletal age, CRT at 10 was slower than at 8 and 9 years of age. Then it developed significantly between the ages of 10 and 11 (p<0.05). On the other hand, stepping frequency and endurance did not show as remarkable a change with increasing age as reaction time . The results of this present study indicate that in adolescent soccer players, there are some differences between skeletal age and chronological age in cross-sectional change of reaction time. Moreover, skeletal age did not affect the development of stepping frequency and endurance. (Jpn. J. Phys. Fitness Sports Med. 2002, 51: 299•`306) key word : adolescent soccer player , skeletal age, chronological age, reaction time, stepping


Objectives The objective of this study is to use latent class analysis of up to 20 comorbidities in patients with a diagnosis of ischaemic heart disease (IHD) to identify clusters of comorbidities and to examine the associations between these clusters and mortality. Methods Longitudinal analysis of electronic health records in the health improvement network (THIN), a UK primary care database including 92 186 men and women aged ≥18 years with IHD and a median of 2 (IQR 1–3) comorbidities. Results Latent class analysis revealed five clusters with half categorised as a low-burden comorbidity group. After a median follow-up of 3.2 (IQR 1.4–5.8) years, 17 645 patients died. Compared with the low-burden comorbidity group, two groups of patients with a high-burden of comorbidities had the highest adjusted HR for mortality: those with vascular and musculoskeletal conditions, HR 2.38 (95% CI 2.28 to 2.49) and those with respiratory and musculoskeletal conditions, HR 2.62 (95% CI 2.45 to 2.79). Hazards of mortality in two other groups of patients characterised by cardiometabolic and mental health comorbidities were also higher than the low-burden comorbidity group; HR 1.46 (95% CI 1.39 to 1.52) and 1.55 (95% CI 1.46 to 1.64), respectively. Conclusions This analysis has identified five distinct comorbidity clusters in patients with IHD that were differentially associated with risk of mortality. These analyses should be replicated in other large datasets, and this may help shape the development of future interventions or health services that take into account the impact of these comorbidity clusters.


This study aimed to prove the influence of training of playing pretense game in increasing mother's interaction with her mentally-retarded child. There were eight mothers who have under-five-year children with mental retardation participating in the research. They were randomly chosen. The research design used pre-test and post-test control group. Four mothers belonged to the control group and the other four to the treatment group. The training of playing pretense game with children was conducted in four stages. The first and second stages were done in group while the third and fourth were individual. Mother and child interaction scale was used to measure the differences of the interaction before and after the training. The follow-up research was done thirteen days after the training. The results showed the pretense game played by a mother and her mentally-retarded child can make their interaction become more meaningful.
Keywords: mother and mentally-retarded child interaction, pretense game training


The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) as a source for full-thickness cartilage repair in an animal model. Autologous ADSCs were isolated and induced with growth medium and placed in a fibrin glue scaffold and into 3-mm x 4-mm full-thickness chondral defects in rabbits with negative controls. Specimens were evaluated for early healing using immunostaining, Western blotting, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, transfection with the Lac Z gene, and quantitative assessment. Twelve of 12 (100%) articular surface defects containing tissue-engineered stem cell constructs healed with hyaline-like cartilage, versus 1 of 12 (8%) in the control group (p < .001). There was complete healing to subchondral bone in 12 of 12 experimental defects (100%), and 10 of 12 (83%) had seamless annealing to the native cartilage. Aggrecan, superficial zone protein, collagen type II messenger ribonucleic acid, and Lac-Z gene products were identified in 12 of 12 experimental specimens, which exhibited a collagen type II:I protein ratio similar to that of normal rabbit cartilage. Quantitative histologic analysis revealed an average score of 18.2 of 21 in the experimental group, compared with 10.0 in the controls (p = .001). Induced ADSCs supported in a fibrin glue matrix are a promising cell source for cartilage tissue engineering.


This paper presents a performance evaluation of multiphase flow models when using these models on Virtual Flow Meters (VFM). Recently, VFM simulators have been identified as a technology capable of provide metering backup, monitoring for abnormalities of physical multiphase flow meters and also for production well allocation. Nevertheless, there are just a few studies found in the literature analysing the accuracy of different VFM models applied to multiphase flow metering. In the oil and gas industry it is essential to accurately measure the amount of oil, gas and water being produced by individual wells. Prior to the 1980s, single-phase measurements alone were sufficient to meet the industry standards. However, with the advent of deepwater exploration and production, multiple wells comingling to a single production separator is a common practice in petroleum production for offshore systems. Therefore, the use of multiphase flow meters to account for the production of oil, gas and water from individual wells became evident. This investigation uses field data for more than one well to evaluate the performance VFM simulators. The results obtained from this study shows that VFM models can provide accurate predictions for multiphase flow metering. The simulators evaluated in this study could predict flow rates of oil, gas and water within acceptable levels of uncertainty, with an average absolute error of 20%.


Z-source neutral-point-clamped (NPC) inverter has recently been proposed as an alternative three-level buck-boost power conversion solution with an improved output waveform quality. In principle, the designed Z-source inverter functions by selectively "shooting through" its power sources, coupled to the inverter using two unique Z-source impedance networks, to boost the inverter three-level output waveform. Proper modulation of the new inverter would therefore require careful integration of the selective shoot-through process to the basic switching concepts to achieve maximal voltage-boost, minimal harmonic distortion, lower semiconductor stress, and minimal number of device commutations per switching cycle. To date, the theoretical background on Z-source NPC modulation has not been fully established, and it is the theme of this paper to propose a number of enhanced voltage-boost pulsewidth modulation (PWM) strategies for controlling the Z-source NPC inverter. While developing the PWM techniques, attention has been devoted to carefully derive them from a common generic basis for improved portability, easier implementation, and most importantly, assisting readers in understanding all concepts that have been presented. The presented strategies are also comparatively evaluated to identify their individual advantages and disadvantages, which are subsequently summarized in a comprehensive reference table. Last, simulation and experimental results are included for validating the performances and practicalities of the presented modulation schemes


Much previous scholarly work has noted the gendered nature of humor and the notion that women use comedy in a different way than do their male peers. Drawing on prior work on gender and humor, and my ethnographic work on teen girl cultures, I explore in this article how young women utilize popular cultural texts as well as everyday and staged comedy as part of a gendered resource that provides potential sites for sex-gender transgression and conformity. Through a series of vignettes, I explore how girls do funny and provide a backdrop to perform youthful gendered identities, as well as establish, maintain, and transgress cultural and social boundaries. Moving on to explore young women and stand-up I question the potential in mobilizing humor as an educational resource and a site in which to explore sex-gender norms with young people.


An X-ray photon-quantum-noise-limited voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO)-based pixel architecture in amorphous-silicon (a-Si) technology is reported for large-area digital medical imaging applications. In this research, the X-ray generated input charge on the input capacitor is converted into an oscillating frequency signal output at the pixel level. The VCO pixel is fabricated in-house using a-Si technology, and experimental results are presented. Readout circuitry is proposed which can be optimized to reduce the fixed pattern noise and fringing effects in an imaging array containing many such VCO pixels. The phase noise and stability performance of the single-pixel VCO are measured and analyzed. This architecture has the lowest input referred noise among all reported a-Si pixel architectures and is the first photon-quantum-noise-limited pixel architecture in a-Si technology. The pixel's valid input range is measured to be 120 e- all the way to 5 ×106 e-. This shows that the pixel has a very high dynamic range. The proposed architecture is particularly promising for large-area photon-quantum-noise-limited digital imaging applications (e.g., protein crystallography) due to its small input referred electronic noise, high sensitivity, and ease of fabrication in large-area a-Si technology.


In this brief, we report on how controllable process parameters such as metal-gate physical thickness and interfacial-layer-formation method affect the electrical and structural properties of TiN/HfO2/SiO2 gate stacks. We found evidence that Hf is diffusing into chemically formed SiO2 interfacial layers during device processing. The latter is not seen when SiO2 is formed thermally. We show that the interfacial layer is thinner when the physical thickness of TiN is reduced from 7 to 3 nm, resulting in electrically thinner gate stacks by 2 Aring. An electrical thickness in inversion as low as 11.4 Aring with gate-leakage-current density equal to 3.5 A/cm2 at 1 V was obtained for spike-annealed thin TiN/HfO2 stacks on chemically grown interfaces. Hf-rich chemical interfacial oxides do not degrade device performance. A small reduction in transconductance is only seen for physically thinner interfacial layers.


The viral theory of tumor origin has proved to be an important factor of accumulation of fresh evidence and working out new methods and approaches. The paper contains a summary of this evidence and discusses the problem of the indirect co-carcinogenic effect of tumor-inducing agents. Sometimes it is due to their activation of specific oncogenic viruses. In other cases, as the author suggests, it may be caused by the activation of potential oncogenes (protooncogenes) or normal cells. There are viral and non-viral tumors and human tumors are apparently chiefly non-viral. The author suggests that it is an endogenous disease (protooncogenes and their endogenous activators). The author considers his hypothesis (1962) on the cellular origin of oncogenes and the similarity of their transmission by viruses to microorganism transduction. A similar suggestion was made by P. Vogt and A. D. Altstein ten years later and it has been supported by some findings ever since. The viral theory cannot be regarded as the sole fundamental theory of carcinogenesis.


A cellular automaton (CA)-based model for two-dimensional simulation of the dendritic morphology of magnesium alloys was developed. The model considers solving the solute and heat conservation equations in the modeling domain, including calculation of the solid fraction, the tip velocity, and the solute diffusion process, all of which have significant influence on the dendrite evolution. The microstructure of a step-shape die cast part of AZ91D magnesium alloys was investigated utilizing SEM-EBSD analysis. The microstructure simulation results were compared with the experimental results and they were in good agreement on grain size.


This paper presents our submitted system to SemEval 2021 Task 4: Reading Comprehension of Abstract Meaning. Our system uses a large pre-trained language model as the encoder and an additional dual multi-head co-attention layer to strengthen the relationship between passages and question-answer pairs, following the current state-of-the-art model DUMA. The main difference is that we stack the passage-question and question-passage attention modules instead of calculating parallelly to simulate re-considering process. We also add a layer normalization module to improve the performance of our model. Furthermore, to incorporate our known knowledge about abstract concepts, we retrieve the definitions of candidate answers from WordNet and feed them to the model as extra inputs. Our system, called WordNet-enhanced DUal Multi-head Co-Attention (WN-DUMA), achieves 86.67% and 89.99% accuracy on the official blind test set of subtask 1 and subtask 2 respectively.


Thiol-Michael reactions have become the subject of increased interest due to their "click" nature, meaning they are broadly applicable, rapid, tolerant of many different reaction conditions, and high yielding. These reactions have proven to be useful in organic materials synthesis. To gain more knowledge of specific thiol-Michael reactions which yield highly selective products in a short amount of time, an investigation of ternary reactions between a single Michael acceptor and two thiols was conducted. All possible ternary combinations of six Michael acceptors and five thiols were attempted using three initiators in two solvents. The relative ratios of each product were compared using H NMR spectroscopy. Results indicated a similar number of highly selective ternary combinations in both solvents. Analysis of the results of these combinations resulted in the development and optimization of quaternary reactions, involving two thiols and two Michael-acceptors, to yield only two selective products. A combination of these ternary and quaternary results might allow for the creation of large multi-functionalized pendant polymers, dendrimers, and other macromolecules with fewer intermediate steps and minimal purification.


Objective: To obtain mathematical model and parameters of poorly understood and imprecisely known plant/process. Methods: One solution to this problem is to obtain these using identification techniques. Process identification is a technique where a mathematical model of the process under study is build from process input-output data. Several autoregressive models are used to estimate the present value of the model using its past values of the process. Initially, the data set is generated for the given system and the auto regressive model is fitted to it, for the estimation of the model parameters. Residual error for a system is calculated using auto regression model parameters. Findings: A mathematical model for plant under study can be formulated with different system identification using Linear Regression methods like Auto Regressive eXogenous variable (ARX), Auto Regressive Moving Average with an eXogenous variable (ARMAX), Output Error (OE) and Box-Jenkins (BJ). For high model order ARX model is preferred and takes low computations but only suitable for white noise. The ARMAX model considers disturbance affecting process and provides higher performance index i.e. fitness which reveals percentage variation in output estimated by respective model. The Output-Error (OE) model estimates process model but cannot model disturbance features. The residual analysis of Box- Jenkins model shows that the prediction error is not auto-correlated, correlated and is uncorrelated with the input applied to process, thus showing Box- Jenkins model ability to capture noise dynamics of process. Applications/Improvements: The process model can be identified for the unknown, poorly known or partially known system and formulated model can be used in model Predictive controller design and Adaptive control techniques.


We present a performance analysis and benchmarking study of the OP2 "active" library, which provides an abstraction framework for the solution of parallel unstructured mesh applications. OP2 aims to decouple the scientific specification of the application from its parallel implementation, achieving code longevity and near-optimal performance through re-targeting the back-end to different hardware.
 Runtime performance results are presented for a representative unstructured mesh application written using OP2 on a variety of many-core processor systems, including the traditional X86 architectures from Intel (Xeon based on the older Penryn and current Nehalem micro-architectures) and GPU offerings from NVIDIA (GTX260, Tesla C2050). Our analysis demonstrates the contrasting performance between the use of CPU (OpenMP) and GPU (CUDA) parallel implementations for the solution on an industrial sized unstructured mesh consisting of about 1.5 million edges.
 Results show the significance of choosing the correct partition and thread-block configuration, the factors limiting the GPU performance and insights into optimizations for improved performance.


whole subject of diabetes, e.g. a straightforward case of diabetic pregnancy is used to describe the White classification. When multiple choice type questions are used the answers should be authoritative and acceptable, but here some are questionable whilst others rely on a quixotically-chosen reference as if the authors doubted their own experience and opinion. It is difficult to see what advantages the present format has over a textbook or review of recent advances and in my opinion this book falls very heavily between all stools. The list of cases and index give no useful guide as to the book's content so that it cannot be used as a source of quick reference, yet numerous, oddly-chosen and often out-of-date references are included. The level is uneven, the text repetitive and inconsistent and the price high. D A PYKE Diabetic Department, King's College Hospital


Ostreopsis spp. has been reported for the first time from the Egyptian Mediterranean waters. Macroalgal samples were collected monthly between June 2005 and December 2007, from the rocks at Abu Qir, from less than 1.5 m depth, and their associated microalgae examined. Populations of two Ostreopsis morphotypes were found to occur in this location, east of Alexandria, viz., O . cf ovata Fukuyo and Ostreopsis morph1. The Ostreopsis spp. was abundant and dominant during the summer. They were more abundant as epiphytes of the brown algae Padina sp. and Sargassum sp., less abundant on the red algae Corallina sp., Jania sp., Laurencia sp. and even less so on the green algae Ulva spp. Ostreopsis cf. ovata was also identified during the summer months on the same macroalgal species, although in a much lower abundance. Ostreopsis spp. alternated in dominance with the benthic cyanobacteria Oscillatoria spp. and the diatom Licmophora sp. Other benthic dinoflagellates recorded at low abundance included Amphidinium carterae , Gymnodinium sp. and Prorocentrum lima .


This is a review paper that includes original calculations and figures. The drone retina is composed of two essentially uniform populations of cells, the photoreceptors and the glial cells. The photoreceptors contain many mitochondria but no glycogen has been detected; the glial cells contain much glycogen and very few mitochondria. The oxygen consumption of the photoreceptors in the dark is 20 microliters min-1 per g of retinal tissue and in response to a single flash of light there is an extra consumption that reaches a maximum of 40 microliters min-1 per g. In addition, light stimulation of the photoreceptors leads to changes in the glycogen metabolism of the glial cells, and to movements of K+. Measurements with intracellular K+-sensitive micro-electrodes showed that during light stimulation with a series of flashes the K+ activity (alpha K) in the photoreceptors fell by an average of 27% while in the glial cells alpha K rose by an amount that is estimated to correspond to most of the quantity of K+ lost by the photoreceptors. The relative contributions to the clearance of extracellular K+ of extracellular diffusion, spatial buffering and possible net K+ uptake by glial cells are discussed.


Abstract Magnesite (MgCO3) is an important phase for the carbon cycle in and out of the Earth's mantle. Its comparably large P-T stability has been inferred for several years based on the absence of its decomposition in experiments. Here we report the first experimental evidence for synthesis of magnesite out of its oxide components (MgO and CO2) at P-T conditions relevant to the Earth's mantle. Magnesite formation was observed in situ using synchrotron X-ray diffraction, coupled with laserheated diamond-anvil cells (DACs), at pressures and temperatures of Earth's mantle. Despite the existence of multiple high-pressure CO2 polymorphs, the magnesite-forming reaction was observed to proceed at pressures ranging from 5 to 40 GPa and temperatures between 1400 and 1800 K. No other pressure-quenchable materials were observed to form via the MgO + CO2 = MgCO3 reaction. This work further strengthens the notion that magnesite may indeed be the primary host phase for oxidized carbon in the deep Earth


In a series of 320 consecutive patients referred because of precordial pain, the costosternal syndrome was found to be the underlying cause in 21, while in nine others, this syndrome was found to be coexisting with coronary heart disease. In our opinion, because of the current readiness to diagnose coronary artery disease, local causes for chest pain often are overlooked. The frequency of this syndrome is relatively high, both as a sole cause of chest pain and combined with coronary artery disease. Local injection of steroids was followed by improvement in the majority of our patients.


The prevalence and intensity of parasitic infection often increases in animals when they are reproducing. This may be a consequence of increased rates of parasite transmission due to reproductive effort. Alternatively, endocrine changes associated with reproduction can lead to immunosuppression. Here we provide support for a third potential mechanism: reduced immunocompetence as a consequence of adaptive reallocation of resources in times of increased energetic demand. In captive zebra finches Taeniopygia guttata, reproductive effort was manipulated through brood size. Enhanced effort was found to affect the production of antibodies towards sheep red blood cells. In addition, activity of zebra finches was manipulated independently of parental care. Experimentally increased daily workloads in activity reward schedules also suppressed antibody production. Thus, we show that not just the reproductive state, but the increased activity that accompanies reproduction is associated with immunocompetence. This mechanism may be sufficient to explain the increased parasitism observed in reproducing animals. We suggest that reduced immunocompetence as a consequence of increased reproductive effort may be an important pathway for the life history cost of reproduction.


This paper develops a theoretical model of voters' and politicians' behavior based on the notion that voters focus disproportionately on, and hence overweight, certain attributes of policies. We assume that policies have two attributes and that voters focus more on the attribute in which their options differ more. First, we consider exogenous policies and show that voters' focusing polarizes the electorate. Second, we consider the endogenous supply of policies by office-motivated politicians who take voters' distorted focus into account. We show that focusing leads to inefficient policies, which cater excessively to a subset of voters: social groups that are larger, have more distorted focus, are more moderate, and are more sensitive to changes in a single attribute are more in uential. Finally, we show that augmenting the classical models of voting and electoral competition with focusing can contribute to explain puzzling stylized facts as the inverse correlation between income inequality and redistribution or the backlash effect of extreme policies. JEL Codes: D03, D72, D78 Keywords: Focus; Attention; Salience; Political Polarization; Probabilistic Voting Model; Electoral Competition; Behavioral Political Economy; Income Inequality; Redistribution


The eighth chapter of book L could be one of the most paradigmatic writings contained in the Metaphysics. The most widely spread interpretation of this chapter is proposed by W. Jaeger, who identifies a logic contradiction between the content of this chapter and the rest of the book. This leads him to the conclusion that the text is a neoplatonic writing which was later added. Personally, I think that through the understanding of the Aristotelian concept άϊδιον it is possible to clarify this apparently contradictory relation.


Tuning Mesopores Porous materials are of interest for catalysis and filtration because the open channels lend themselves to separating materials or function. Suteewong et al. (p. 337) report on a method to make branched mesoporous silica nanoparticles that contain cubic (core) and hexagonally structured (branch) parts within one particle. Controlling the extent of the branched structure is achieved by tuning the concentration of additives in a simple, one-pot reaction system. A one-pot synthesis method furnishes mesoporous silica nanoparticles with both cubic and hexagonally structured compartments. Mesoporous nanomaterials have attracted widespread interest because of their structural versatility for applications including catalysis, separation, and nanomedicine. We report a one-pot synthesis method for a class of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) containing both cubic and hexagonally structured compartments within one particle. These multicompartment MSNs (mc-MSNs) consist of a core with cage-like cubic mesoporous morphology and up to four branches with hexagonally packed cylindrical mesopores epitaxially growing out of the cubic core vertices. The extent of cylindrical mesostructure growth can be controlled via a single additive in the synthesis. Results suggest a path toward high levels of architectural complexity in locally amorphous, mesostructured nanoparticles, which could enable tuning of different pore environments of the same particle for specific chemistries in catalysis or drug delivery.


Historic records and research have suggested that the 1783–1784 eruption of the Laki fissure volcano in Iceland impacted Northern Hemisphere climate significantly, probably as a result of the direct injection of volcanic materials into the stratosphere where the volcanic aerosols would linger for years to cause surface cooling across the Northern Hemisphere. However, recent modeling work indicates the Laki climatic impact was limited to the Northern Hemisphere and only in the second half of 1783. We measured sulfur‐33 isotope excess (Δ33S) in volcanic sulfate of historical eruptions including Laki found in Summit, Greenland ice cores. No Δ33S excess is found in sulfate of apparently tropospheric eruptions, while sulfate of stratospheric eruptions is characterized by significant Δ33S excess and a positive‐to‐negative change in Δ33S during its gradual removal from the atmosphere. Because the same characteristics have been previously found in volcanic sulfate in Antarctica snow, the results from Greenland indicate similar global processes of stratospheric chemical conversion of SO2 to sulfate. The isotopic composition of Laki sulfate is essentially normal and shows no characteristics of sulfate produced by stratospheric photochemical reactions. This clearly indicates that the Laki plume did not reach altitudes of the stratospheric ozone layer. Further, the short aerosol residence time (<6 months) suggests that the bulk of the Laki plume and subsequent aerosols were probably confined to the middle and upper troposphere. These conclusions support the hypothesis of D'Arrigo and colleagues that the unusually cold winter of 1783–1784 was not caused by Laki.


Plasmid constitutions of Aeromonas salmonicida isolates were characterised by flat-bed and pulsed field gel electrophoresis. Resolution of plasmids by pulsed field gel electrophoresis was greater and more consistent than that achieved by flat-bed gel electrophoresis. The number of plasmids separated by pulsed field gel electrophoresis varied between A. salmonicida isolates, with five being the most common number present in the isolates used in this study. Plasmid profiles were diverse and the reproducibility of the distances migrated facilitated the use of principal components analysis for the characterisation of the isolates. Isolates were grouped according to the number of plasmids supported. Further principal components analysis of groups of isolates supporting five and seven plasmids showed a spatial separation of plasmids based upon distance migrated. Principal components analysis of plasmid profiles and antimicrobial minimum inhibitory concentrations could not be correlated suggesting that resistance to antimicrobial agents is not associated with either one plasmid or a particular plasmid constitution.


Automated, underground freight transport should enable sustainable economic growth in the Amsterdam area in the Netherlands. An innovative transport system, which guarantees reliable logistics and which avoids congestion problems, is currently being developed. This logistics system will be highly automated, using AGVs (Automatic Guided Vehicles) for transport and automated loading and unloading equipment. It is unique in its scale, covering a 15-25 km tube system, and in its complexity, using 200-300 small truck size AGVs in a multi-terminal setting. It requires considerable innovations in technology, especially in AGV control and AGV fleet controL Decisions about the implementation of such a system are characterized by a high uncertainty. Object-oriented simulations have been used to get insight in a multitude of design and management options. In this way, we could clarifY the relations between logistics system performance and resource capacities, such as the number of docks and parking spaces per terminal and the number of AGVs for various demand scenario's. Furthermore, we compared several possible layouts, both at the total system and at the terminal level, leading to design optimization. The control structure - e.g. intelligent empty AGV management and intelligent traffic rules - has a noticeable effect on the performance of the system. We showed that the investment costs could be reduced by ±20% by including two-way tube sections in the design, with only a slight, acceptable decrease in logistics performance. The strict use of generic object classes in the simulation provided the flexibility to address the changing user demands during the project. The simulations are advanced to the level that simulated and real objects can be mixed. Simulation control structures are currently used for testing prototype AGVs on a test-site. In this way, the risks of using the new technology can be reduced. Furthermore, the development time of the logistical control systems can be reduced considerably.


The objectives of this study were to investigate the thermally activated building system (TABS) mechanism for appropriate use of the system and to apply the proper concept of TABS for each zone by using different TABS control strategies. In order to examine the TABS mechanism, dynamic simulation with EnergyPlus was used to model the office building with TABS, because the radiant heat exchange characteristics of the TABS according to the time variable was critical. The typical control concept of TABS, self-regulation, was applied in the simulation by setting the supply water temperature as room setpoint temperature. As a result, the advantage of self-regulation can be amplified by utilizing the entire thermal mass of the TABS, which can be executed by customizing to target a specific type of load. Since the large area of the office building may comprise different loads in different zones, the TABS control according to the different zone loads were proposed. By separating the control strategy from zone to zone, the proposed control strategy improved the thermal comfort by 5%, reduced peak heating load by 10%, reduced cooling load by 36%, and decrease the total energy consumption by 13%. This study demonstrated a possible improvement on self-regulation of TABS with separate zone controls.


of assigned to People are at are assigned according to stereotypical of while people who are at are assigned to act according to stereotypical expectations of People who comfortable living as the gender they were assigned at birth are cisgender. People who do not feel comfortable living as the gender they were assigned at are a to 1.4 people in the or 0.6 percent of the people intersex, or people whose bodies do conform with stereotypical expectations of or a


Evaluation of oxygen distribution during aeration in landfill was very important to determine the design parameters of injection well. The coupling model described gas preferential transport in landfill was developed, which linked the effect of advection-diffusion and oxidation reaction and mass exchange between the fracture and matrix system. Combined with the typical cases in field site, the quantitative simulation of the variation of gases distribution during vertical well aeration in short term was presented. The sensitivity of the parameters in the coupling model to gas transport was addressed. The simulation result shown that the oxygen and methane concentration during aeration was represented by using the dual advective-diffusive model (DAD model). The aeration radius achieved by DAD model was closer to the measurement value. It was underestimated by single advective-diffusive model (SAD model). The mass transfer volume between the fracture and matrix system greatly contributes to gas preferential flow effect in landfill. The aeration radius (AR) was obviously influenced by the diffusion coefficient. It will provided evidence for optimum design of gas injection well in aerobic landfill.


TreeTops True Stories are exciting, motivating non-fiction books which will broaden your pupils' reading experience. They are part of a structured reading programme for juniors. In the plethora of imagery surrounding the American Wild West, we are used to the heroes of cowboy films and the stuff of legends like Dances with Wolves being portrayed exclusively as white colonisers. Here is a story of a real character who was half African-American, being born to a slave mother and white land-owning father. James Tomahawk Beckwourth has rightly been claimed as a black hero in America, and yet the first Hollywood movie about him saw him played by a white actor! He led a colourful and adventure-packed life, and this story is retold in the first person with photos and beautiful artwork of the flora and fauna of untamed America. Books contain inside cover notes to support children in their reading. Help with children's reading development also available at www.oxfordowl.co.uk. This book is also available as part of a mixed pack of 6 different books or a class pack of 36 books of the same Oxford Reading Tree level.


A receiver autonomous integrity monitoring (RAIM) algorithm is proposed, and used to analyze the integrity monitoring capabilities of potential sole-means (or stand-alone) systems based on integrated use of GPS and GLONASS, GPS supplemented with a geostationary overlay, and enhanced GPS constellations. As in the other RAIM algorithms, the idea is to take advantage of the redundant measurements. Our focus, however, is on the quality of the position estimate, rather than on diagnosing whether the system is working as intended.

The proposed approach uses the redundant measurements to generate a position estimate and a measure of its quality. The latter, called integrity level, is denned as an upper bound on the position error. The estimation of the integrity level is the main innovation in the proposed scheme. The RAIM algorithm is tailored to an abundant redundancy of the measurements, and addresses the following issue: Given a snapshot of the pseudorange measurements, one of which may be in error, can we compute a position estimate that can be shown with high confidence to meet the user's accuracy requirement?