A new type of a flexible printed circuit board with landless vias is developed using a novel method called interconnection via nanoporous structure (INPS). This method can make wires and vias of the printed circuit board simultaneously by a single photo-exposure process. A new photo-induced selective plating method was used to impregnate a nanoporous substrate with copper, and a new photomask was designed, which constitutes of a completely vacant large hole for via and aggregation patterns of very fine holes for wire. Because of the simple process, the INPS board is characterized by landless vias and very fine circuit. Owing to the structure, it is also characterized by flexibility and detachable wires.


Consumption of leafy vegetables provides health benefits but sometimes may turn out to be the cause of certain health problems. Thus, adequate toxicological screening is needed to ensure safety of their consumption. Aqueous extracts of Corchorus olitorius L., Celosia argentea L., and Ocimum gratissimum L. were evaluated for cyto-genotoxic effects on Allium cepa L. root cells using 0.5, 1.0, 2.5, 5.0, 10.0, 25.0 and 50.0 part per thousand (ppt), each of the vegetable extracts. The levels of macronutrients (moisture, ash, protein, fibre, fat and carbohydrate) in the vegetables and some minerals (cadmium, copper, iron, lead, magnesium, nickel and zinc) of their aqueous extracts were determined. The carbohydrate values were in the order O. gratissimum > C. olitorius > C. argentea with 48.17% as the highest. The values obtained for ash, protein, fat, Mg and Zn contents were in the order C. argentea > C. olitorius > O. gratissimum , with the highest values of 19.98%, 30.79%,, 0.22% , 226.4 mg/L and 2.57mg/L, respectively obtained for C. argentea . The concentration of Cu and Pb were in the order of O.gratissium > C. argentea > C. olitorius with 0.67 and 0.21mg/L obtained for O.gratissium ( P <0.05). The aqueous extracts of the three vegetables inhibited root growth and cell division in the A. cepa root tips, with the highest inhibitory effects observed in C. argentea at 50.0 ppt. Induced chromosomal aberrations were significant only at 1.0 and 25 ppt of O. gratissimum , whereas there were no significant differences in aberrant cells in C. olitorius and C. argentea compared to the control. Chromosomal aberrations observed in the treated A. cepa roots include c-mitosis, Chromosome bridge and sticky chromosome. The results showed that the three vegetables have nutritive qualities but with root growth and mitotic inhibitory activities, which were severe in C. argentea . Although the result indicates that chromosomal aberrations might be induced at higher concentrations, the antimitotic potential of the extract of C. argentea may favour its uses in the development of drugs to prevent the uncontrolled proliferation of cancer cells of which investigation is required. Keywords: Cytogenotoxicity, minerals, proximate, aberration, Allium African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development , Volume 13 No. 2, April 2013


Remote sensing is an innovative science and technology that is aiding in numerous modes of transportation. Almost every aspect of transportation can benefit from utilizing imagery and data. Specifically, these technologies can be applied to planning, environmental impact assessment, hazard and disaster response, infrastructure management, traffic assessment, and homeland security planning ("Transportation and Remote Sensing," 1999). The United States transportation system is a critical component of our economy and mobility (Williamson, Morain, Budge, & Hepner, 2002). There are millions of miles of roadways and bridges to monitor and maintain. In addition, remote sensing can be utilized towards the development and planning of new infrastructure and transportation systems. Remote sensing provides the unique ability to detect changes in our transportation system on a real-time basis. Imagery can be collected from multiple platforms, including satellite, aircraft-based, and ground-based, which allows data collection to be tailored to a particular transportation application. This paper will provide an overview of some of the potential applications of remote sensing in transportation. Due to the broad scope of this topic, several modes will not be discussed including aviation and marine. The main focus will be on ground transportation, infrastructure, and homeland security as it relates to transportation applications. Emerging technologies, such as hyperspectral remote sensing and LIDAR, will also be discussed. In addition, the Nebraska Airborne Remote Sensing Facility, one of only a few operating in the United States will be described. Two tribal communities in Nebraska are utilizing the data collected from the facility to address transportation issues. An Assessment of Remote Sensing Applications in Transportation


The scandate cathode has excellent electron emission capability. However, applications in vacuum electron devices are limited because of nonuniform emission and weak resistance to ion bombardment. A new method has been adopted for making scandate cathode. This type of scandate cathode showed more uniform emission and fast recovery characteristics after ion bombardment comparing with conventional impregnated scandate cathode. The results of XPS analysis before and after ion bombardment are presented.


successful design of folding bicycle should take into account the function, material properties, and fabrication process. There are some other factors that should be considered in anticipating the behavior of materials for folding bicycle. In order to understand the relationship between material properties and design of a folding bicycle and also for the future direction in new materials with new design, a comprehensive study on the design under different conditions are essential. Therefore, a systematic study on the relationship between material properties and design for folding bicycle has been performed. The advantages and disadvantages matrix between conventional bicycle and folding bicycle is presented for better understanding of the materials properties and design. It was found that the materials properties of the folding bicycle frame such as fatigue and tensile strength are the important properties for the better performance of the frame. The relationship between materials properties and design is not straight forward because the behavior of the material in the finished product could be different from that of the raw material. The swing hinge technique could be a better technique in the design for the folding bicycle frame.


This review focuses on state-of-the-art research and development in the areas of flexible and stretchable inorganic solar cells, explains the principles behind the main technologies, highlights their key applications, and discusses future challenges. Flexible and stretchable solar cells have gained a growing attention in the last decade due to their ever-expanding range of applications from foldable electronics and robotics to wearables, transportation, and buildings. In this review, we discuss the different absorber and substrate materials in addition to the techniques that have been developed to achieve conformal and elastic inorganic solar cells which show improved efficiencies and enhanced reliabilities compared with their organic counterparts. The reviewed absorber materials range from thin films, including a-Si, copper indium gallium selenide, cadmium telluride, SiGe/III–V, and inorganic perovskite to low-dimensional and bulk materials. The development techniques are generally based on either the transfer-printing of thin cells onto various flexible substrates (e.g., metal foils, polymers, and thin glass) with or without shape engineering, the direct deposition of thin films on flexible substrates, or the etch-based corrugation technique applied on originally rigid cells. The advantages and disadvantages of each of these approaches are analyzed in terms of achieved efficiency, thermal and mechanical reliability, flexibility/stretchability, and economical sustainability.


the analysis and experimental work difficult to carry out. The book is, therefore, a welcome addition to the library and should provide a useful reference on the subject. Published under the auspices of the International Centre of Mechanical Sciences (Courses and Lectures No. 236), its presentation does not follow the traditional text book pattern. The book is written around selected research papers by various authors and indeed it is evident that the authors themselves have been active in this research field. As an example of the way in which the material is presented, a section on thin cylinders under axial loads begins (after some preliminary remarks) with a discussion of various experimental investigations. The large difference between classical theoretical buckling loads and experimental values is explained by reference to observed postbuckling behaviour, whilst the corresponding theoretical section consists of a discussion of the main findings, and methods of analyses, of a number of important theoretical papers. An interesting story results from this, but the reader will have to consult the relevant references for more detailed information.


Generally the non-current assets, and especially the tangible assets, are held by the entity (as it results from their very definition) in order to be used in the production of goods or for services, to be rented to the thirds or to be used for administrative purposes during several periods. For the time interval that a non-current asset is not classified as being held for sale, its recognition and implicitly its assessment will be done in accordance with the provisions of the applicable International Financial Reporting Standards; after the classification of the respective asset as being held with the intention of subsequent sale there will be applicable the provisions of the contemporary IFRS norm 5 "Non-current assets held for sale and discontinued activities".


Dyes used in the coloration of textiles, paper, and other products are highly visible, sometimes toxic, and sometimes resistant to biological breakdown; thus it is important to minimize their release into aqueous environments. This review article considers how biosorption of dyes onto cellulose-related materials has the potential to address such concerns. Numerous publications have described how a variety of biomass-derived substrates can be used to absorb different classes of dyestuff from dilute aqueous solutions. Progress also has been achieved in understanding the thermodynamics, kinetics, and chemical factors that control the uptake of dyes. Important questions remain to be more fully investigated, such as those involving the full life-cycle of cellulosic substrates that are used for the collection of dyes. Also, more work needs to be done in order to establish whether biosorption should be implemented as a separate unit operation, or whether it ought to be integrated with other water treatment technologies, including the enzymatic breakdown of chromophores.


It is a pleasure to see a new edition of this comprehensive pain medicine review, as the first edition received widespread acclamation among pain specialists, fellows, and residents. The authors' goal is to provide a concise but comprehensive review of the latest theories and modalities available in pain medicine that have practical value in daily pain practice. They deserve congratulations in fulfilling their mission. This edition encompasses a total of 430 pages covering 36 chapters in 6 parts. Current practice includes a wide spectrum of approaches to care. While some practitioners choose the conservative end of this spectrum, others tend to be more invasive. One of the strong points of the second edition is the collaboration of 72 different pain medicine authorities that represent a variety of views. Despite the numerous authors, the style, message, and flow of the book have not been jeopardized. For example, the chapter on neuropathic pain clearly describes and differentiates central versus peripheral nervous system pain and briefly explains the main characteristics of each pathologic condition. It also touches on a range of therapeutic options, from conservative approaches such as acupuncture and physical therapy for phantom limb pain, to invasive interventional techniques such as gasserian ganglion block for trigeminal neuralgia. The book begins by introducing the basics of pain medicine to the reader and smoothly builds up his or her knowledge of acute and chronic pain syndromes, evaluation and investigation of pain patients, and modalities of pain management. The majority of chapters are equipped with highly informative tables and schematic illustrations that summarize each chapter reliably, but the paucity of fluoroscopic imaging is a limitation. Visualization of the actual fluoroscopic images could have been of great assistance for readers in addition to the well-described theoretical points of interventional pain management techniques. Inclusion of fluoroscopic views could have made the book more powerful. Although the breadth of coverage is for the most part admirable, it is perhaps inevitable in such a diverse field that some topics receive incomplete coverage. For example, spinal cord stimulators originally were designed for management of the reflex sympathetic dystrophy and neuropathic pain. Currently, the indications for spinal cord stimulators have expanded to include conditions such as failed back surgery syndrome, inoperable peripheral vascular disorders, ischemic heart disease, and others. Unfortunately, this book does not quench the thirst of an enthusiastic reader to learn the basics of spinal cord stimulators and their indications, placement, and complications. However, deficiencies such as this are few. Chronic pain management is a complex and delicate matter. A large number of patients live with years of suffering and disappointment. Long-term suffering and work-related issues may make certain individuals litigious. Therefore, medicolegal issues are becoming more prominent in pain medicine, and they must be properly addressed. That is why part 6 (special situations) of this book is an invaluable addition. It focuses on economics of pain medicine, pain medicine and the legal system, ethical issues in pain management, and other sensitive areas that are crucial for a successful practice. In summary, this is a priceless review book for your library no matter the level of your knowledge and training. As a resident, you can review this book quickly to get an idea about the daily practice of pain medicine. As a pain fellow, you can use this book to summarize your readings before sitting for the boards. As a practicing pain specialist, you are simply obligated to own all of Dr. Raj's works!


To determine if infection with herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 2 is associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1 infection among patients attending sexually transmitted diseases clinics, a case-control study was done on coded sera from 179 HIV-1-infected patients and 367 age-, race-, and gender-matched HIV-1-seronegative patients. Although only 13 (2.3%) of 546 patients had a history of genital herpes treatment, 72% and 56.6%, respectively, had serologic evidence of prior infection with HSV-1 and -2. HSV-1 antibody prevalence was similar among both patient groups; however, HSV-2 antibodies were more common among those infected with HIV-1. Among heterosexual men, 62.7% of those infected with HIV-1 had HSV-2 antibodies compared with 46.7% of those not infected (P less than .01). The HSV-2 seroprevalence among women with or without HIV infection was 78.1% and 57.7%, respectively (P less than .02). A history of intravenous drug use and a reactive serologic test for syphilis were each independently associated with HIV-1 infection in heterosexuals. These data suggest that the two most common causes of genital ulcerative disease in the United States, genital herpes and syphilis, may contribute to increased risk for HIV-1 infection among heterosexuals.


Most of the major groundwater contamination in California, including that inundating the San Fernando, San Gabriel and San Bernadino Valleys, will be addressed using some variation of the pump-and-treat technology. The pump-and-treat strategy is often judged to be unsuccessful because of difficulties encountered in recovering the contaminants from relatively stagnant zones within stratified aquifer systems. These zones can exist at the particle scale, as intraparticle or intra-aggregate porosity, and at the larger scales, as low permeability layers or lenses interspersed in substantially more permeable layers. This work focuses first on achieving an efficient numerical solution to a system of groundwater flow and contaminant transport equations that sufficiently captures the dynamics of slow desorption in a two-dimensional porous medium. The upstreamweighted, multiple cell balance (UMCB) method is developed and verified here to provide such a solution. Next, this work focuses on coupling the simulation model with a management model to provide a design tool for pump-and-treat remediation of real aquifer systme. Zeroth, first and second moments are calculated for mobile and immobile aqueous concentration distributions, and tested as potential design objectives. In a departure from conventional approaches, spatial moment analysis is also applied to local differences between simulated mobile and immobile aqueous concentrations. Results suggest that pump-and-treat systems in heterogeneous domains might best be designed as two phase operation. The first phase addresses the early time removal of mobile (i.e., readily accessible) phase contaminant, and suggests the conventional approach of placing extraction wells slightly downgradient of the plume centroid. The second attacks fractions of the contaminant plume that are either harbored within immobile porosity, or that have penetrated impermeable layers. The latter stage can be accomplished through maximizing the desorption driving force distribution, or be minimizing the spreading (variance) of this distribution. It is recommended that the techniques developed in this research be applied to one or more of California's on-going pump-and-treat systems.


In animals, personality variations in response to stress and energy demands have been established. Cognitive processing of negative stimuli correlates with stress response patterns. Still, the relative contribution of cognitive appraisal or physiological demands to the behavioural output needs to be clarified. In this study we utilized reactive (high-responsive, HR) and proactive (low-responsive, LR) rainbow trout strains to investigate how contrasting reactions to hypoxia are related to individual variation in metabolism and/or cognition. The HR-LR strains did not differ in standard metabolic rate or hypoxia tolerance. HR trout displayed more pronounced avoidance to a signal cue after being conditioned with hypoxia, suggesting that they experienced this stimulus more aversive than LR trout. Together with differences in forebrain c-fos activation patterns in dorsomedial pallium, these results suggest cognitive differences between the strains. These results demonstrate that differences in personality/stress coping style can be related to contrasts in cognition, which are independent of metabolic differences.


Being part of a larger research program, this paper focuses on the impacts of so-called 'Digital Video Recorders' (DVRs) on the video content services industry. First, it gives a succinct definition of the video content services industry using the value chain as a metaphor. After laying a brief theoretical foundation on technological change and adoption, it considers the technological factors 'increased broadband connectivity to the home' and 'increased storage capacities' as change drivers in the video content services industry. The paper then highlights DVRs in detail (features, history, evolution, and viewer behavior) and investigates implications of a DVR roll-out for the different value propositions of players in the industry. It concludes with a brief outlook for the industry in the light of new technological developments.


As wireless local area networks (WLANs) become a part of our network infrastructure, it is critical that we understand both the performance provided to the end users and the capacity of these WLANs in terms of the number of supported flows (calls). Since it is clear that video traffic, as well as voice and data, will be carried by these networks, it is particularly important that we investigate these issues for packetized video. In this paper, we investigate the video user capacity of wireless networks subject to a multiuser perceptual quality constraint. As a particular example, we study the transmission of AVC/H.264 coded video streams over an IEEE 802.11a WLAN subject to a constraint on the quality of the delivered video experienced by r% (75%, for example) of the users of the WLAN. This work appears to be the first such effort to address this difficult but important problem. Furthermore, the methodology employed is perfectly general and can be used for different networks, video codecs, transmission channels, protocols, and perceptual quality measures.


Despite research carried out around the world since the 1950s, no industrial application of fusion to energy production has yet succeeded, apart from nuclear weapons with the H-bomb, since this application does not aims at containing and controlling the reaction produced. There are, however, some other less mediated uses, such as neutron generators. The fusion of light nuclei releases enormous amounts of energy from the attraction between the nucleons due to the strong interaction (nuclear binding energy). Fusion it is with nuclear fission one of the two main types of nuclear reactions applied. The mass of the new atom obtained by the fusion is less than the sum of the masses of the two light atoms. In the process of fusion, part of the mass is transformed into energy in its simplest form: Heat. This loss is explained by the Einstein known formula E = mc2. Unlike nuclear fission, the fusion products themselves (mainly helium 4) are not radioactive, but when the reaction is used to emit fast neutrons, they can transform the nuclei that capture them into isotopes that some of them can be radioactive. In order to be able to start and to be maintained with the success the nuclear fusion reactions, it is first necessary to know all this reactions very well. This means that it is necessary to know both the main reactions that may take place in a nuclear reactor and their sense and effects. The main aim is to choose and coupling the most convenient reactions, forcing by technical means for their production in the reactor. Taking into account that there are a multitude of possible variants, it is necessary to consider in advance the solutions that we consider them optimal. The paper takes into account both variants of nuclear fusion and cold and hot. For each variant will be mentioned the minimum necessary specifications.


Periodontal disease is the result of a complex interaction between microbial plaque, the host's inflammatory response to the plaque, and host modifying factors (e.g., smoking, diabetes, genetics) that may have an impact on the disease process. It is known that plaque initiates periodontal disease but that the host response is responsible for the destruction of periodontal tissues. This article describes why host response modifiers may be used to help control inflammation and tissue destruction as part of the initial phase of periodontal therapy in selected patient groups.


Abstract The advent of whole-genome sequencing has provided an unprecedented detail about the evolution and genetic significance of species-specific variations across the whole Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex. However, little attention has been focused on understanding the functional roles of these variations in the protein coding sequences. In this work, we compare the coding sequences from 74 sequenced mycobacterial species including M. africanum, M. bovis, M. canettii, M. caprae, M. orygis, and M. tuberculosis. Results show that albeit protein variations affect all functional classes, those proteins involved in lipid and intermediary metabolism and respiration have accumulated mutations during evolution. To understand the impact of these mutations on protein functionality, we explored their implications on protein ductility/disorder, a yet unexplored feature of mycobacterial proteomes. In agreement with previous studies, we found that a Gly71Ile substitution in the PhoPR virulence system severely affects the ductility of its nearby region in M. africanum and animal-adapted species. In the same line of evidence, the SmtB transcriptional regulator shows amino acid variations specific to the Beijing lineage, which affects the flexibility of the N-terminal trans-activation domain. Furthermore, despite the fact that MTBC epitopes are evolutionary hyperconserved, we identify strain- and lineage-specific amino acid mutations affecting previously known T-cell epitopes such as EsxH and FbpA (Ag85A). Interestingly, in silico studies reveal that these variations result in differential interaction of epitopes with the main HLA haplogroups.


In experiments on 340 primigravida Wistar rats and 1557 young rats of the first generation a study was made of toxicity and radioprotective efficiency of single subcutaneous injection of 100 mg/kg cystamine on days 3, 11 and 19 of pregnancy. In the control animals, the preparation caused different changes in the pregnancy course, delivery and postnatal development of posterity. The radioprotective properties of the preparation were only manifested when embryos were exposed to 3 Gy radiation (a lethal dose) during the preimplantation period, and it was less effective during the periods of organogenesis and fetus formation.


While it is clear that some T cells have the capacity for almost indefinite proliferation in vitro, it is a controversial issue how much of this proliferative capacity is utilized by T cells in a response to antigen in vivo. In the framework of a strict clonal selection model the functional activities of normal and immune lymphocyte populations are essentially determined by the frequencies of antigen-specific cells which are clonally expanded after recognition of antigen. In contrast, our group has proposed a network model in which the more prominent effect of immunization is a release of antigen-specific T cells from a state of suppression (= derepression) which exists in the non-immune situation and which is generated through interactions between T cells involving their antigen-specific receptors. In this model, derepression is achieved by competition of antigen with the interactions among T cells through which suppression is exerted. To test our model, we analyze in this paper how much of the immune response to keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) in draining lymph nodes is accounted for by an increase in the numbers of KLH-reactive T cells or by their derepression. To this end, we immunize mice subcutaneously with KLH in CFA. For a period of 14 days after immunization draining lymph nodes are removed, and the frequencies of KLH-reactive proliferating T cells and of KLH-reactive helper T cells determined. We find that proliferating T cells increase 5 to 8 fold in frequency from day 1 to 4 after immunization (approximately 1/30,000 to approximately 1/5000) and no evidence for suppression of these T cells in the non-immune situation can be obtained. In contrast, T helper cells are strongly suppressed in non-immune lymph nodes and become derepressed suddenly between days 3 and 4 following immunization. From day 0 to day 3 T helper cell frequencies are in the order of 1/14,000-1/38,000, then increase suddenly approximately 3-6 fold within 1 day from 1/16,000-1/8,000 to 1/3,000-1/5,000 with no further change until day 14. Thus, helper T cell immunity in draining lymph nodes appears to be generated by a combination of increased frequencies of specific T cells with their release from suppression. In addition, we have reasons to suspect that we overestimate the increase in T cell frequencies. We therefore think that derepression is a major factor in the response of T helper cells to antigen.


When building virtual reality applications teams must choose between different configurations of the hardware and/or software aspects, and other factors, of the experience. In this paper we extend a framework for assessing how these factors contribute to quality of experience in an example evaluation. We consider how four factors related to avatar expressiveness affect quality of experience: Eye Gaze, Eye Blinking, Mouth Animation, and Microexpressions. 55 participants experienced an avatar delivering a presentation in virtual reality. At fixed times participants had the opportunity to spend a virtual budget to modify the factors to incrementally improve their quality of experience. They could stop making transitions when they felt further changes would make no further difference. From these transitions a Markov matrix was built, along with probabilities of a factor being present at a given level on participants' final configurations. Most participants did not spend the full budget, suggesting that there was a point of equilibrium which did not require maximizing all factor levels. We discuss that point of equilibrium and present this work as an extended contribution to the evaluation of people's responses to immersive virtual environments.


Form dictates content, and the manner of recordkeeping imposed on us probably influences how we think about patients. At The New York Hospital, physicians began to maintain permanent patient case records in the early 1800s. Originally proposed and valued as teaching cases for medical students, these freeform patient records varied in quality and often reflected not just the medical care of the time but also the personalities of the physicians composing them. At the end of the 19th century, the change from retrospective to real-time recording of cases and the imposition of a fixed chart structure through the use of forms dramatically reduced the narrative dimension of the hospital course. Gradually, physicians found ways to circumvent these restrictions. Changes in record format, designed to manage increasing volumes of data, and physicians' responses to those changes parallel some of the contemporary threats to documentation posed by the electronic health record.


This paper reviews, and proposes revisions to, the government's Corporate Leniency Policy, which confers leniency upon the first member of a price-fixing cartel to expose the illegal activity to the DOJ's Antitrust Division. Three important limitations apply. First, the ringleader of the cartel is ineligible for immunity. Second, leniency is not automatic if the government has its own internal investigation significantly underway. Third, a firm must confess "promptly" in order to qualify for amnesty. This paper proposes doing away with these limitations. It may seem counter-intuitive to enact policies that make it easier for the worst antitrust criminals to escape all criminal and most civil liability. Yet this paper argues that extending amnesty eligibility to cartel ringleaders (who have often profited the most from the illegal activity, sometimes for decades) makes cartels more fragile. Perhaps even more counter-intuitively, the paper shows that an antitrust leniency program would have a greater destabilizing effect on price-fixing cartels if the first firm to confess receives full amnesty automatically even if it did not do so "promptly" and even though antitrust prosecutors through their own investigation prior to any confession had already acquired sufficient evidence to convict the firm of criminal price-fixing. While the short-term effect would allow some price-fixers to escape criminal liability, in the long-run extending amnesty should increase deterrence of future cartels and destabilize existing ones.


Traditionally, inertial measurement units- (IMU) based human joint angle estimation requires a priori knowledge about sensor alignment or specific calibration motions. Furthermore, magnetometer measurements can become unreliable indoors. Without magnetometers, however, IMUs lack a heading reference, which leads to unobservability issues. This paper proposes a magnetometer-free estimation method, which provides desirable observability qualities under joint kinematics that sufficiently excite the lower body degrees of freedom. The proposed lower body model expands on the current self-calibrating human-IMU estimation literature and demonstrates a novel knee hinge model, the inclusion of segment length anthropometry, segment cross-leg length discrepancy, and the relationship between the knee axis and femur/tibia segment. The maximum a posteriori problem is formulated as a factor graph and inference is performed via post-hoc, on-manifold global optimization. The method is evaluated (N = 12) for a prescribed human motion profile task. Accuracy of derived knee flexion/extension angle (4.34∘ root mean square error (RMSE)) without magnetometers is similar to current state-of-the-art with magnetometer use. The developed framework can be expanded for modeling additional joints and constraints.


Short sellers borrow stock, sell it, and hope to profit if they can buy back the same number of shares later at a lower price. In effect, a short sale is a bet that a stock's price will fall. A short sale is said to be "naked" if the broker does not in fact borrow shares to deliver to the buyer. When executed on a large scale, naked short sales can equal a large portion of total shares outstanding, and can put serious downward pressure on a stock's price. Critics of the practice characterize it as a form of illegal price manipulation. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently adopted rules designed to control short selling abuses, but calls for further restrictions on the practice continue. This report describes the mechanics of short selling, summarizes the new SEC rule, and analyzes the impact of short selling in the marketplace. It will be updated if events warrant.


This paper describes an architecture model for multiagent systems that was developed in the European project LEAP (Lightweight Extensible Agent Platform). Its main feature is a set of generic services that are implemented independently of the agents and can be installed into the agents by the application developer in a flexible way. Moreover, two applications using this architecture model are described that were also developed within the LEAP project. The application domain is the support of mobile, virtual teams for the German automobile club ADAC and for British Telecommunications.


In real life many agencies are using the flexible foundation as a base of support, such as ship hull or deck, the chassis of car, and machine tools work on stairs. With the traditional theory, the mathematical model between machine and based simplified as single-degree-of-freedom, assuming foundation is a rigid, and many investigate for a single machine, ignoring the dynamic coupling of base and the coupling characteristics between vibrators. This paper build a dynamics model with flexible basis and multiple machines, it's multi-degrees-of-freedom model. The foundation is flexibled. On this basis builiding a model about multiple machines, flexible foundation and vibration isolation system. This paper resolve to the problem of the machine work on stair, research the system include vibrator, actuators, and flexible foundation. Using Lagrange equation deduce dynamics equation. Express every factor in eqution,deduced the state and space expression.Take prepare for optimal and system simulation.


Allospecific CTL can function as cellular effectors of solid organ graft rejection; however, the specific mechanisms of cell damage remain undetermined. In this study we examined the role of CD8+ T cells in apoptosis and rejection of small intestinal allografts. ACI rat intestinal grafts transplanted into Lewis rat recipients showed apoptosis of epithelial crypt cells on day 3 posttransplant as determined by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick end labeling staining. By day 7 numerous apoptotic crypt cells were detected in allografts, but were rarely observed in FK506-treated allograft recipients, isografts, or native intestine of allograft recipients. To further investigate the mechanism of rejection, recipient rats were depleted of CD8+ cells by treatment with OX-8 mAbs the day before and the day after transplantation of rat small intestinal allografts. Depletion of CD8+ cells from allograft recipients did not alter the tempo or the histologic features of rejection compared with those in the control (IgG-treated) group. Moreover, there was no difference in the number of apoptotic crypt epithelial cells in the grafts of control and CD8-depleted rats. Reverse transcriptase-PCR analyses determined there were similar levels of transcripts for Fas, Fas ligand, perforin, and granzyme B in control and CD8-depleted allograft recipients. By Western blot it was determined that the levels of Fas ligand protein were increased in the CD8-depleted group compared with those in control and FK506-treated allograft recipients. These data suggest that CD8 cells are not required for tissue injury or apoptotic cell death in small intestine allograft rejection.


Background: To estimate Software Code Size early in the development process is important both for Cost/Effort estimation and electronic hardware design reasons. The COSMIC FSM (Functional Size Measurement) method treats the intended software to be measured as a black box, and measures CFP (COSMIC Function Points) based only on data movement in and out of the software. Therefore, CFP can be measured on requirements defined early, and be used to estimate Code Size if there exists a strong correlation between CFP and Code Size. We have conducted four experiments in the automotive industry showing strong correlation between CFP and implemented Code Size in Bytes. All four experiments, of which two have not been published before, show equally strong correlation but the linear relationship is different between the experiments.
 Goal: This paper aims to identify the factors affecting the linear relationship. With these factors, we can categorize new requirements to be measured and select the proper linear relationship to convert CFP into Bytes, i.e. estimate Code Size.
 Method: We replicate our earlier experiments with software components of new types, and review the results from all our experiments. Potential factors affecting implemented Code Size are identified by performing open-ended interviews with domain experts.
 Results: We have in the automotive industry identified a set of factors that can be used to categorize the software components we want to measure; functionality type, quality constraints, and development methods and tools.
 Conclusions: COSMIC can produce accurate Code Size Estimates provided that sub-sets of cohesive and uniform requirements can be identified. Moreover, similar requirements must have been measured before to establish the linear relationship between CFP and Bytes. Finally, the sub-sets of requirements need to be able to categorize based on factors that affect the linear relationship. With this approach, even complex calculations can be measured, provided that they are proportional to the number of data movements.


Rice is one of the most important staple cereal foods in human nutrition and a major food grain for about 75% of the world's population. Rice has become a major staple food in Ghana, being the second most important cereal crop after corn. Inorganic, organic and bio fertilizers are the main plant nutrient sources for replenishing agricultural soils. In this study the effect of compost as an organic fertilizer and NPK inorganic fertilizer was evaluated on the growth of rice plants. The experiment was conducted in pots in a greenhouse environment at Gunnarsholt, Iceland, during the 2019 growing season. The major objective was to evaluate the effect of compost as an organic fertilizer and NPK as an inorganic fertilizer used in the growing of rice varieties. The experiment was laid out in a 3 × 4 factorial design with the levels of fertilizers at the full rate of inorganic fertilizer (NPK 90 60 60 kg/ha), compost 12 t/ha, 1⁄2 (compost 12 t/ha) + 1⁄2 (inorganic fertilizer) and control. The three rice varieties were APO, IR 55419 and UPL R1 7. The full rate of inorganic fertilizer NPK 90 60 60 kg/ha was used as a check for comparison. Results collected at 7 and 9 weeks after planting showed that varieties and fertilizer levels had a positive influence on plant height. The leaf chlorophyll at 9 weeks after planting also responded positively to fertilizer level and varieties, whereas root length was influenced only by varieties. Plant dry biomass did not respond to the fertilizer treatments. A significant difference was obtained between the control, inorganic and organic fertilizers as well as between the APO and IR 55419 varieties. It can be concluded from the findings that use of a quality rice variety and the application of compost, sole or as a complement to chemical fertilizer, has the potential of producing a high yield compared to a full rate of inorganic fertilizer. Land Restoration Training Programme Keldnaholt, 112 Reykjavik, Iceland UNU Land Restoration Training Programme ii


Over the years there have been many Transport Infrastructure models developed and implemented, however these models are quite generic and do not totally satisfy the ever continuously changing Transport Infrastructure Environment for dispersed cities. This paper will propose a robust and sequential Transport Infrastructure Development Modelling (TIDM) mechanism especially for dispersed cities. Furthermore, this proposed TIDM utilises the Comprehensive Mobility Plans (CMP) technique together with, Traffic Analysis (collection and analysis of the existing urban transport environment), Transportation planning (including urban use and strategy) and various Implementation programs. In addition, this paper considers more technical Traffic ngineering concepts such as Volume to Capacity ratio. Moreover, the proposed TIDM will be implemented on Melbourne (Australia) as a preliminary case study and the initial results will be reviewed and discussed. The conclusion of this paper, will consist of the preliminary findings and outcome of the TIDM, will then be critiqued and discussed.


Drawing on the experiences of two case study participants who were international multilingual graduate students, I argue that multilingual graduate writers' budding identities as disciplinary experts sometimes hampered them from recognizing the kind of writing support they needed. As their identities shifted between expert and novice, disciplinary outsider and disciplinary insider, their perceived needs from writing centers changed as well. I suggest ways that writing centers may consider shifting their practices in order to meet multilingual graduate writers' needs, wherever they are in their writing development.


The hydrodesulfurization (HDS) activity of molybdenum sulfide-based catalysts is localized to the edges of this layered solid and is, therefore, highly dependent on the technique used to prepare the material. Here, ultrasonic spray pyrolysis (USP) was used to synthesize porous, nanostructured MoS2. Low surface area powders, not useful for catalysis, are generally produced by USP. This work shows that when combined with a dissolvable template, USP is capable of producing high surface area materials. An aqueous solution of ammonium tetrathiomolybdate and colloidal silica was nebulized and pyrolyzed to give a MoS2/SiO2 composite material. Leaching with HF removed the sacrificial SiO2, resulting in a highly porous MoS2 network with surface areas as high as 250 m2/g. Cobalt-promoted MoS2 networks were also synthesized. The thiophene HDS activities of these materials were substantially higher than those of unsupported MoS2 and RuS2 standards, illustrating the enhanced dispersion of the HDS active phase achieved by this synthetic technique.


Thiazole derivatives are known to have wide spectrum of antibacterial activity. So, N-(substituted benzoyl) morpholine/piperidine/N-methyl piperazine carbothioamide (3) were prepared by condensing substituted benzoyl isothiocyanate (2) with different secondary heterocyclic amines, like morpholine/piperidine/N-methyl piperazine. Nsubstituted Carbothioamide (3) on treatment with 2, 5-dimethoxyphenacyl bromide (4) affords 2, 4, 5-trisubstituted thiazoles (5a-h).The newly synthesized compounds were characterized by IR, 1H NMR and Mass spectral studies. The newly synthesized thiazole derivatives were screened for in vitro anti bacterial activity against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Micrococcus luteus, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus cereus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacterial strains by paper disc diffusion method. All the compounds show moderate to good anti bacterial activity. Among the tested compounds (5f) thiazole carrying 2-piperidino, 4-phenyl, 4-nitrobenzoyl is showing good activity against all the tested species.


The three studies in this dissertation bring together quantitative and qualitative methods in order to understand L2 learning of derivational morphology. By using measures of derivational knowledge developed from L1 research, Study 1 provides a foundation for in-class research by assessing what L2 learners know and do not know about derivational morphology in comparison to adult native English speakers and how factors such as L1 background and L2 proficiency shape L2 knowledge of derivational morphology. Results show that L2 learners have poor knowledge of derivational morphology regardless of L1 background or L2 proficiency.Study 2 follows from these results and investigates the effects of input-processing versus pushed output instruction on the development of productive and receptive morphological abilities. The results of this study support the hypothesis that instruction is beneficial for L2 derivational learning; however, results do not support the hypothesis that pushed output instruction leads to better immediate and long-term learning than the input-processing condition. In fact, results suggest that equivalent learning occurs between the two conditions across all measures of derivational knowledge.Finally, Study 3 was a qualitative investigation of learners' attitudes, actions, and motivations towards the learning of derivational morphology over the course of Study 2. Using activity theory, this study describes how students' initial actions, which were not aligned with the goal of morphological learning, were transformed over the course of the study as students came to realize the importance of derivational morphology for their success in English. The results of this study are also important because they offer an alternative explanation for why the hypotheses in Study 2 regarding the effectiveness of output were not supported. Specifically, many participants in this study became aware of derivational morphology for the first time as a result of this study; therefore, a "novelty effect" (cf. Tulving & Kroll, 1995) may have overridden any potential benefit of the output treatment over the input treatment.


Freely accessible online, with a wide set of authors and a wider readership, First Monday can be seen as striving for global knowledge on the social aspects of the Internet. In a meta-analysis now underway, we found First Monday to be the third most prolific journal on a particular subject: local communities' uses of information technology. Our study also sheds some light on what constitutes global knowledge. The data suggests that a synthesis of English-language published knowledge is a first step. It points to a bigger agenda: reaching into the world's local settings in a proportionate and representative way. That would mean publishers outside the U.S. and U.K.; scholars in other countries; and studies in other languages. This is what it would take to learn from all our cultures and countries.


Surgery is a common treatment for low back pain, but is a significant undertaking. An emerging non – surgical alternative, noted as spinal decompression therapy has evolved into an effective non – surgical treatment. This research focuses on the development and implementation of a user driven non – surgical spinal decompression (USD) system, a first of its kind prototype. The USD system's function is validated through experiments performed on a dummy subject. In addition, a pilot study was performed on 4 human participants analyzing performance results and user feedback in regards to pedaling options, loading characteristics, restraint combinations, human response characteristics and overall comfort. Users imparted an average rating of 7.5 on a scale of 1 to 10 in terms of ease of utilization. In addition, 75% of users indicated the therapy underwent in the USD system felt like mild exercise, while 25% indicated it felt like a relaxation session.


Along with the rapid development of campus information technology, many universities precipitates a great deal of information resources, how well make use of existing resources to build a centralized information resource management system is a serious problem. This paper designs a deep integration architecture of campus information based on SOA, adopts middleware technology to implement the integration scheme that highly requires a real-time data exchanging. The paper constructs a central database, which can synchronize its data to the corresponding application databases. Through the secure and reliable public data exchanging, all applications can be integrated on the basis of sharing public data and the data integrity, the data accuracy and the data consistency can be effectively ensured .


Policy regularization methods such as maximum entropy regularization are widely used in reinforcement learning to improve the robustness of a learned policy. In this paper, we show how this robustness arises from hedging against worst-case perturbations of the reward function, which are chosen from a limited set by an imagined adversary. Using convex duality, we characterize this robust set of adversarial reward perturbations under KL and alpha-divergence regularization, which includes Shannon and Tsallis entropy regularization as special cases. Importantly, generalization guarantees can be given within this robust set. We provide detailed discussion of the worst-case reward perturbations, and present intuitive empirical examples to illustrate this robustness and its relationship with generalization. Finally, we discuss how our analysis complements and extends previous results on adversarial reward robustness and path consistency optimality conditions.


Advanced industrial robots are commanded to accomplish different tasks with program sequences that are executed in digital computers. The operating software within these computers provides users with information on positions and orientations of the end effectors by computing them as functions of the joint variables. These functions are generally not exact enough such that differences between the computed and the actual positions can be significant. Error sources that contribute to these differences for robots with rotary joints are examined. The effects of these errors are parameterized and measurement data are fitted to obtain the values of these parameters. It is concluded that with sufficient but not exhaustive detail in the error modeling the differences can be reduced significantly from 5.9-mm mean error with nominal model down to 0.28-mm mean error after error compensation.


Background: H2O2 is supposed to be part of the laboratory test panel for assessment of oxidative stress. This molecule contributes to oxidative stress by reacting with Fe2+ ions to produce hydroxyl radicals. Anticoagulants, including citrate and EDTA chelate Fe2+, possibly have implications in oxidative stress studies especially when H2O2 is measured. Objective: This brief commentary is on the measurability of H2O2 in citrated and EDTA blood samples. Method: Laboratory evaluation was performed using blood samples of 30 sheep collected in EDTA and citrate tubes. Samples were centrifuged, and plasma separated. H2O2 was determined using the Biotech H2O2 560 assay protocol on plasma. The ratio of EDTA to iron was also estimated to help interpret levels of H2O2 in EDTA blood. Results: There was measurable H2O2 reaction in citrate samples, but not in the EDTA blood. Based on brand sterile hematology tubes containing 1.8 mg EDTA per mL blood; approximately 4:1 ratio of EDTA to iron is estimated. Presuming this calculated ratio is a reflection of the true iron levels in the sheep's blood, the test results support the suggestion that ratio of EDTA to iron is greater than 1:1. Conclusion: Evidence is hereby presented to advance that EDTA anticoagulant is unsuitable for laboratory testing of H2O2 in plasma. Further studies may be needed to ascertain the effects of different anticoagulants on H2O2 in whole blood and haemolysate to see how these can be compared to plasma. This is relevant to establish a standard protocol for integration of H2O2 test for assessment of full oxidative stress panel in clinical practice.


ABSTRACT Halite cement in a coarse sandstone channel-fill and long curving ribbons of fibrous halite have been observed during investigations of archaeology and geology in the Fag-el-Gamous area in the eastern Fayum depression, west of the Nile Valley, 100 km south of Cairo, Egypt. Curved ribbons of sodium chloride found in tombs are tens of centimeters long and are highly unusual halite crystal forms. The salt has several possible origins: 1) it may have been leached from surrounding Eocene formations, 2) it may be related to shore-line evaporation of Holocene lakes in the Fayum depression, 3) it may have been concentrated from wind-transported salt from the west and northwest, or 4) it may be the result of deliberate human activities. None of these possibilities can be clearly disregarded or proven, but the salt is interpreted as probably a result of human activities. Salt may have been used to stabilize sand in the area of chamber tombs cut into deposits of the Eocene Gehannam Formation. It may also have been used to seal the tombs to all but aggressive plunderers, and against moisture.


Background Adult patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) report substantial disease- and treatment-related impacts on their health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Patient-reported information (PRI) shared on social media may provide a distinct opportunity to understand the patient experience outside of formal research contexts and help inform the development of novel therapies. Objective This qualitative social media review aimed to assess PRI shared on social media websites to gain a better understanding of the symptom, HRQOL, and treatment impacts on individuals with ALL. Methods We identified English-language posts on 3 patient advocacy websites (Patient Power, The Patient Story, and Leukaemia Care) and YouTube that included PRI about experiences with ALL or ALL treatments shared by adults (aged ≥18 years) with a self-reported ALL diagnosis. Patients' demographic and disease characteristics were extracted from posts (where available), and the posts were analyzed thematically. A network analysis was conducted to delineate possible associations among ALL symptoms, HRQOL impacts, and treatment-related symptoms and impacts. Results Of the 935 social media posts identified, 63 (7%) met the review criteria, including 40 (63%) videos, 5 (8%) comments posted in response to videos, and 18 (29%) blog posts. The 63 posts were contributed by 41 patients comprised of 21 (51%) males, 18 females (44%), and 2 (5%) whose gender was not reported. Among the patients, 13 (32%) contributed >1 source of data. Fatigue (n=20, 49%), shortness of breath (n=13, 32%), and bruising (n=12, 29%) were the symptoms prior to treatment most frequently discussed by patients. Patients also reported impacts on personal relationships (n=26, 63%), psychological and emotional well-being (n=25, 61%), and work (n=16, 39%). Although inpatient treatment reportedly restricted patients' independence and social functioning, it also provided a few patients with a sense of safety. Patients frequently relied on their doctors to drive their treatment decisions but were also influenced by family members. The network analysis indicated that disease-related symptoms were primarily associated with patients' physical functioning, activities of daily living, and ability to work, while treatment-related symptoms were primarily associated with emotional well-being. Conclusions This social media review explored PRI through a thematic analysis of patient-contributed content on patient advocacy websites and YouTube to identify and contextualize emergent themes in patient experiences with ALL and its treatments. To our knowledge, this is the first study to leverage this novel tool to generate new insights into patients' experiences with ALL. Patients' social media posts suggest that inpatient care for ALL is associated with restricted independence and social functioning. However, inpatient care also provided a sense of safety for some patients. Studies such as this one that capture patients' experiences in their own words are valuable tools to further our knowledge of patient outcomes with ALL.


Because of the inadequate performance of speech recognition systems, an accurate confidence scoring mechanism should be employed to understand user requests correctly. To determine a confidence score for a hypothesis, certain confidence features are combined. The performance of filler-model based confidence features have been investigated. Five types of filler model networks were defined: triphone-network; phone-network; phone-class network; 5-state catch-all model; 3-state catch-all model. First, all models were evaluated in a Turkish speech recognition task in terms of their ability to tag correctly (recognition-error or correct) recognition hypotheses. The best performance was obtained from the triphone recognition network. Then, the performances of reliable combinations of these models were investigated and it was observed that certain combinations of filler models could significantly improve the accuracy of the confidence annotation.


As the computer hardware has become more powerful the parallel and distributed programming has become increasingly popular. The debugging of these systems are however complex. It is common that when debugging such systems only print-statements are used since debugging environments may be hard, or impossible to run on the target systems. The aim of this thesis is to provide an understanding of debugger architecture and the most commonly used debugging techniques and where these are used. This will not give a complete understanding of them, but hopefully questions will be raised that may aid users to expand their debugging operations and question the techniques that they use. Some of these debugging techniques will be applied to give suggestion of a method which allow debugging of systems with several processes where dependencies between the processes are high. This method is presented in chapter 4 and involves a remote debugging solution using the GDB debugger as a back-end debugger.


Rotaviruses are major causes of infectious gastroenteritis in humans and other animals. We found that a variety of protease inhibitors suppressed the replication of the SA-11 strain of rotavirus in MA-104 cell cultures. Three of these compounds, leupeptin, pentamidine, and bis (5-amidino-2-benzimidazolyl) methane (BABIM) also restricted the intestinal replication of the murine strain of rotavirus when protease inhibitor and virus were administered simultaneously to suckling mice. Repeated administration of BABIM resulted in significantly reduced levels of intestinal rotaviral antigen even if administration of the compound was begun as late as 48 h after viral inoculation. Additionally, BABIM-treated animals had significantly less intestinal replication of rotavirus than did placebo-treated controls when placed in a heavily rotavirus-contaminated environment. The use of protease inhibitors represents a novel approach to the control of this important gastrointestinal pathogen and is a potential modality for the prevention and treatment of diseases caused by other enteric viruses, for which proteolytic cleavage is necessary for efficient replication.


A case is presented of a 12-year-old, black male, who had a full permanent dentition except for retaining the two maxillary primary central incisors. A radiographic examination revealed the presence of two supernumerary teeth interfering with the eruption of the permanent central incisors. Space was orthodontically created for the permanent central incisors, the primary central incisors and supernumerary teeth were removed, and the permanent central incisors were orthodontically brought into proper alignment.


Abstract : New dispersion relations are derived for the s-wave pion-nucleon scattering amplitudes. These relations are specifically chosen to facilitate the task of separating the two-pion exchange term from the other effects contributing to low energy pion-nucleon scattering. In these equations the contribution from the unknown short range terms is markedly suppressed, a greater emphasis is placed on the experimentally better established very low energy pion-nucleon data, (in particular, on the scattering lengths), and in the contribution of the twopion exchange term, the lower energies are more heavily stressed. The terms due to the two-pion exchange, which we isolate, are very clearly recognized by their characteristic energy dependences. The two-pion exchange terms are analyzed in terms of the interaction between the two pions. The values obtained for these terms are made to yield information about the phaseshifts for pion-pion scattering in the T=1 and T=0 states. In the T=1 state the data are well fitted with a narrow resonance in the pion-pion system at 750 Mev. Taking the results of electron-nucleon scattering experiments in conjunction with the present data, the half-width of this resonance is found to lie between 40 and 60 Mev, in agreement with the experimental data for the observed P-meson. (Author)


This thesis examines the Latin American avant-garde movements of the 1920s and 1930s not through the usual focus, poetry, but through narrative fiction. I am working here with three 1930's novels that portray profound ideological concerns that had not often been considered in earlier Latin American avant-garde narratives. El tungsteno, by Peruvian Cesar Vallejo, is a mining novel that includes indigenous issues. Parque industrial, by Brazilian Patricia Galvao, is a gender-based novel with urban and proletarian themes. And Cubagua, by the Venezuelan Enrique Bernardo Nunez, is an historical novel, confronting the trauma of neo/colonization with the beginning of the populist modernization project.The beginning of the 1930s provides an important perspective from which to focus on the literary development of the continent. This is because it was not only a powerful world-changing moment but also, as I argue, an opportunity for a rupture within the institutions of literature. After the world political, social, and economic crises of 1928-1929, the Latin American avant-garde had to search for other ideological and aesthetic tactics to participate in the debates about national configurations in the international context, that reflect the emerge of definitive new social forces. My proposal is to explore the literary tensions of these Latin-American narratives, suggesting that it is possible to identify in them concerns such as the influences of mass movements within "peripheral" societies. I argue that despite their different responses to the literary-historical conjuncture, each of the texts chosen exhibited conflictive components which I call "contaminatory": that is to say, an unstable (even contradictory) mixture of political as well as literary elements from very different origins. One of the means of accomplishing this, after a review and critique of some key avant-garde concepts, is through an analysis of the relationship between Vallejo's cultural essays (including his USSR travel books) and El tungsteno. Then, in the case of Parque industrial, I evaluate the links with other Brazilian works and "female voices" of the time. Finally, I assess the relationships between Cubagua and some of his historical works, before summing up the different "contaminatory" strategies of the era in my conclusion.


Abstract Many neuroimaging studies interpret the commonly reported findings of age-related increases in frontal response and/or increased bilateral activation as suggestive of compensatory neural recruitment. However, it is often unclear whether differences are due to compensation or reflective of other cognitive or physiological processes. This study aimed to determine whether there are compensatory age-related changes in brain systems supporting successful associative encoding while taking into account potentially confounding factors including age-related differences in task performance, atrophy, and resting perfusion. Brain response during encoding of face-name pairs was measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging in 10 older and nine young adults and was correlated with memory performance. During successful encoding, older adults demonstrated increased frontal and decreased occipital activity as well as greater bilateral involvement relative to the young. Findings remained significant after controlling for age-related cortical atrophy and hypoperfusion. Among the older adults, greater response was associated with better memory performance. Cognitive aging may involve recruitment of compensatory mechanisms to improve performance or prevent impairment. Results extend previous findings by suggesting that age-related alterations in activation cannot be attributed to the commonly observed findings of poorer task performance, reduced resting perfusion, or cortical atrophy among older adults. (JINS, 2012, 18, 402–413)


This dissertation aims to explore Internet of Things (IoT) sensor nodes in various application scenarios with different design requirements. The research provides a comprehensive exploration of all the IoT layers composing an advanced device, from transducers to on-board processing, through low power hardware schemes and wireless protocols for wide area networks.
Nowadays, spreading and massive utilization of wireless sensor nodes pushes research and industries to overcome the main limitations of such constrained devices, aiming to make them easily deployable at a lower cost. Significant challenges involve the battery lifetime that directly affects the device operativity and the wireless communication bandwidth. Factors that commonly contrast the system scalability and the energy per bit, as well as the maximum coverage.
This thesis aims to serve as a reference and guideline document for future IoT projects, where results are structured following a conventional development pipeline. They usually consider communication standards and sensing as project requirements and low power operation as a necessity.
A detailed overview of five leading IoT wireless protocols, together with custom solutions to overcome the throughput limitations and decrease the power consumption, are some of the topic discussed. Low power hardware engineering in multiple applications is also introduced, especially focusing on improving the trade-off between energy, functionality, and on-board processing capabilities. To enhance these features and to provide a bottom-top overview of an IoT sensor node, an innovative and low-cost transducer for structural health monitoring is presented. Lastly, the high-performance computing at the extreme edge of the IoT framework is addressed, with special attention to image processing algorithms running on state of the art RISC-V architecture. As a specific deployment scenario, an OpenCV-based stack, together with a convolutional neural network, is assessed on the octa-core PULP SoC.


Trypodendron laeve Eggers, 1939 is a species of ambrosia beetle much less known than the other three Trypodendron species occurring in Europe. Its status (native or alien) in Central Europe has been a subject of debate over the past two decades. In Romania, the species was discovered in 2008 and the aim of the research presented in this paper was to investigate its distribution in the Carpathians, mainly at high altitudes (>800 m), in tree stands with Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] H. Karst). Panel intercept traps baited with synthetic pheromone for Trypodendron lineatum (Olivier, 1795) were used in the spring of 2015, at 31 locations. Adults of T. laeve were caught in 20 of them. Additional observations were made within some studies using similar baits and T. laeve specimens were caught in eight locations. T. laeve was always trapped together with T. lineatum, and at some locations also together with T. domesticum (Linnaeus, 1758) and T. signatum (Fabricius, 1787). In all traps, fewer specimens of T. laeve were caught compared to T. lineatum. The species has a widespread distribution in the mountain regions, within forests composed of native tree species and generally located far away from commercial routes. There, it occurs together with other native species of the same taxonomic genus. It seems to be more abundant at high altitudes, but overall its populations are less abundant than those of T. lineatum.


Chloride-induced corrosion causes significant deterioration in transportation structures where uncoated reinforcing steel is used. Concretes having a very low permeability are used to prevent the intrusion of chlorides into concrete to the level of the reinforcing steel. This study evaluates the strength and permeability of various combinations of silica fume and slag in concrete. It was determined that when silica fume is added in small amounts (3 to 5 percent) to concretes that have up to 47 percent slag at a water-cement ratio of 0.40 and 0.45, economical concretes with very low permeability and adequate strengths can be produced.


The paper is concerned with a description of a complex of psychological methods in detecting and assessing labour orientation of schizophrenic patients. The use of these approaches in experimental psychological examination in 58 schizophrenic patients permitted to distinguish the existence of preserved, disturbed labour orientation, as well as their complete absence in different forms and variants in the development of the schizophrenic process. The found criteria of different types of labor orientation may facilitate a better prognosis in the socio-labor readaptation of schizophrenic patients.


Background Hypertension prevalence increases when socioeconomic status decreases but gender differences in the relationship between socioeconomic status and hypertension have been less studied. This work aimed to explore the pattern of associations between three indicators of socioeconomic status at individual, household, and municipal levels with hypertension across genders in a large sample of French adults from the CONSTANCES cohort. Methods Using data at inclusion from 59 805 participants (52% women) aged 25–69 years and recruited between 2012 and 2015, multilevel log-Poisson regressions with robust variance estimates were used to assess the associations of Relative Index of Inequality in education, monthly income per consumption unit and residential deprivation with hypertension. Modifying effects of gender and age in those associations were tested. Results Hypertension prevalence was higher in men than in women. Steep socioeconomic gradients of hypertension were observed for the three socioeconomic indicators in both genders and from the youngest to the oldest age class. Socioeconomic inequalities, especially educational inequalities, were larger among women than men: Relative Index of Inequality for highest versus lowest education among the 25–34 years were 0.43 [95%-confidence interval = 0.28–0.67] in women and 0.70 [95%-confidence interval = 0.53–0.92] in men. With increasing age, socioeconomic gradients of hypertension eased in men and even more in women so that gender differences decreased. Conclusions In this cross-sectional analysis of a large sample of adults, prevalence of hypertension was higher in men than in women. Moreover, socioeconomic status and especially education displayed a stronger association with hypertension prevalence in women compared to men. Reducing inequalities in hypertension may require gender-specific approaches.


Abstract:Despite the increasing visibility of sex in Africa's tourism industry, the continent is typically neglected in global narratives about sex tourism. The quintessential image of sex tourism is that of Global North tourists traveling to "exotic" locations in the Global South such as East Asia, Latin America, or the Caribbean. Yet, Africa has been experiencing a growth in sex tourism bolstered by an increase in globalization-led tourism development. The continent was identified as the second-fastest growing tourism region in the world in 2019—after the Asia Pacific region—with an estimated 67 million visitors annually, and some of those tourists are bound to engage in sex tourism. Literature examining the global inequalities that inform sex tourism in the African economy using the perspectives of dependency theories and postcolonial theories is sparse but warranted. Expanding on these critiques of the politics of race, class, gender, and imperialism, this article explores interactions between Global North sex tourists and Global South hosts in the sex tourism industry in Africa. The article contends that the tourist gaze on sex workers in Africa's sex tourism industry is informed by representations of Africa and African sexuality in pop culture rooted in the colonial project and by contemporary power imbalances in the global tourism industry, which organizes raced, gendered, and classed tourist experiences.


In this work C. A. Patrides examines the Renaissance vision of a comely method and proportion" throughout the universe, whether in the vertical arrangement of the created order "from the Mushrome to the Angels" or the horizontal progress of history along a linear path from the Creation to the Last Judgment.Originally published in 1982.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.


Power electronic converters are significant contributors to system mass, system loss, and system cost in the all-electric ship, and are, therefore, a significant area of interest. This paper investigates the reduction of switching losses in high power (MW level) converters. These losses remain a major obstacle to the development of converters capable of operating at higher frequencies and higher power densities using silicon power electronics. The Auxiliary Resonant Commutated Pole (ARCP) soft-switching converter topology offers the potential for minimization of switching losses, but has some inherent limitations. This paper examines two new converter designs based on the ARCP soft-switching topology that allow for more compact converter units by reducing the semiconductor switching losses generated within them. These concepts have been proven with simulation and laboratory testing of a sub-scale 20 kW test converter configurable in four distinct modes of operation. Efficiency has been measured for the two new ARCP topologies, as well as the original ARCP and standard hard-switching (conventional) technology using an induction motor as a load. New control algorithms to drive the ARCPs switches have also been developed, which improve the performance and reduce the amount of sensors that are required. The new proposed topologies are described and experimental waveforms and efficiency measurements are given.


This paper proposes an argumentation based tool for the selection of mutual funds and then the composition of efficient portfolios based on the performance persistence of the mutual funds. Argumentation allows for combining different contexts and preferences in a way that can be optimized. It allows for defining a set of different investment policy scenarios and supports the investor/portfolio manager in composing efficient portfolios that meet his profile. Moreover, the proposed methodological approach and the obtained portfolios are validated through their comparison to the return of the Market Index and with portfolios obtained using a traditional performance index. This approach is applied on data of Greek domestic equity mutual funds over the period 2000-2011 with encouraging results.


Author(s): TenBrook, Patti L. | Abstract: Rice (Oryza sativa), early watergrass (Echinochloa oryzoides); EWG; biotypes resistant (R) and susceptible (S) to thiocarbamates and aryloxyphenoxy propionate herbicides), and late watergrass (Echinochloa phyllopogon; LWG; R and S biotypes) were exposed to clomazone for 7 d. Whole-plant change in fresh weight and B-carotene concentrations were measured. For growth, the No Observed Effect Concentrations (NOECs) were 7.9, 0.21, 0.21, 0.46, and 0.46 µM clomazone for rice, EWG (R), EWG (S), LWG (R), and LWG (S), respectively, while the concentrations causing 25% inhibition in response (IC25s) were 5.6, 0.46, 0.42, 0.92 and 0.79 µM clomazone, respectively. For rice, EWG (R), EWG (S), LWG (R), and LWG (S), the B-carotene NOECs were 0.21, l 0.08, l 0.08, 0.08 and 0.46 µM clomazone, respectively and IC25s were 0.42, 0.08, 0.08, 0.33 and 0.54 µM, respectively. At a field-relevant clomazone application rate resistance to clomazone was observed in EWG (R) and LWG (R) as measured by growth and B-carotene, respectively. Due to similar sensitivity between rice and late watergrass, use of clomazone in rice culture may require the use of a safening technique.Rice and EWG (S) were exposed to 14C-labeled clomazone to determine accumulation, biotransformation and mass balance. In terms of extractable 14C, rice contained more total residues than EWG (p l 0.05), but the concentration in EWG was significantly higher (p l 0.01). More metabolized residue was measured in EWG compared to rice (p l 0.01). Both species produced hydroxylated forms of clomazone, B-D-glucoside conjugates, and unidentified polar metabolites. The suspected active metabolite, 5-ketoclomazone, was found at a significantly higher concentration in EWG vs. rice (21 ± 2 vs. 5.7 ± 0.5 pmol g-1, respectively; p l 0.01). Qualitatively and quantitatively, more clomazone metabolism was observed in the relatively sensitive EWG compared to rice.R and S biotypes of EWG and LWG were exposed to clomazone alone and in combination with P450 inhibitors. Growth reduction (GR25, GR50, and GR75) values were lower for S biotypes than for R biotypes (p l 0.05) with exposure to clomazone alone indicating resistance to clomazone in the R biotypes. In combination with clomazone disulfoton increased 20-d growth in LWG (R) by as much as 5-fold, compared to application of clomazone alone. Oxydemeton methyl increased 20-d growth by as much as 6-fold. Disulfoton and oxydemeton methyl reduced !)-carotene levels compared to treatment with clomazone alone. For EWG (S), disulfoton increased 4-d growth by 46% and increased B-carotene levels by 52%. Demeton-S increased B-carotene levels by 48%. At 6800 g ai ha-1 PBO increased growth and B-carotene levels by 28 and 48%, respectively. These results indicate that P450 enzymes serve both to activate and detoxify clomazone.


Importance
Untreated primary hyperparathyroidism impairs quality of life and incurs substantial costs. Parathyroidectomy is a low-risk, high-success, definitive intervention.

Objectives
To determine the appropriateness of diagnostic evaluation for primary hyperparathyroidism in patients with hypercalcemia and the use of parathyroidectomy for the treatment of primary hyperparathyroidism across the Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system.

Design, Setting, and Participants
A retrospective cohort study of veterans with hypercalcemia and primary hyperparathyroidism was conducted from January 1, 2000, through September 30, 2015, using the VA Corporate Data Warehouse, a national electronic health record-based repository. The study included 371 370 veterans with chronic hypercalcemia and 47 158 veterans with biochemical evidence of primary hyperparathyroidism diagnosed by hypercalcemia, elevated serum parathyroid hormone levels, and near-normal serum creatinine levels. Statistical analysis was performed from April 21, 2017, to April 10, 2019.

Main Outcomes and Measures
The proportion of veterans with hypercalcemia who have parathyroid hormone levels evaluated, the proportion of veterans with hyperparathyroidism who are treated surgically, and the factors associated with parathyroidectomy using generalized linear latent and mixed model regression.

Results
Of 371 370 patients with chronic hypercalcemia, 86 887 (23.4%) received further testing with parathyroid hormone level. Of 47 158 patients meeting diagnostic criteria for primary hyperparathyroidism (42 737 men [90.6%] and 4421 women [9.4%]; mean [SD] age, 67.3 [11.8] years), 6048 (12.8%) underwent parathyroidectomy. Of 5793 patients with primary hyperparathyroidism presenting with a serum calcium level more than 1 mg/dL above the upper limit of normal, 1501 (25.9%) underwent parathyroidectomy. There was a decreasing trend in the use of parathyroidectomy over time. Factors positively associated with parathyroidectomy were nephrolithiasis (odds ratio [OR], 2.23; 95% CI, 1.90-2.61) and non-Hispanic white race/ethnicity (OR, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.17-1.46), while age (OR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.95-0.96), Elixhauser Comorbidity Index score (OR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.72-0.80), decreased estimated glomerular filtration rate (OR, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.45-0.60), and diagnosis of osteoporosis (OR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.52-0.80) were inversely related to surgery.

Conclusions and Relevance
From this study's findings, parathyroid hormone level is infrequently tested in patients with hypercalcemia, suggesting underdiagnosis of primary hyperparathyroidism. Patients meeting diagnostic criteria for primary hyperparathyroidism are undertreated with recommended parathyroidectomy. Similar gaps have previously been observed in non-VA care of primary hyperparathyroidism, suggesting the need for a systematic evaluation of barriers to diagnosis and treatment that informs intervention design.


Recursive neural network models and their accompanying vector representations for words have seen success in an array of increasingly semantically sophisticated tasks, but almost nothing is known about their ability to accurately capture the aspects of linguistic meaning that are necessary for interpretation or reasoning. To evaluate this, I train a recursive model on a new corpus of constructed examples of logical reasoning in short sentences, like the inference of "some animal walks" from "some dog walks" or "some cat walks," given that dogs and cats are animals. This model learns representations that generalize well to new types of reasoning pattern in all but a few cases, a result which is promising for the ability of learned representation models to capture logical reasoning.


Gastric mucosae were isolated from the European frog, R. temporaria, and after 5-7 h, stimulated with histamine (10(-4) M) and theophylline (5 mM). Acid secretion increased about fourfold, and this was accompanied by a threefold increase in secretory surface of the oxyntic cells, as determined in electron micrographs with conventional morphometric techniques. At the same time phosphatase activity of the secretory surface increased. Other experiments showed that the latter was due to an acid phosphatase, with pH optimum near 3. It appears that the increase in surface phosphatase with stimulation can be attributed to a diminished local pH and not to the increase in surface area demonstrated in this study.


Polymer brush coatings are frequently prepared by radical polymerization, a notoriously oxygen sensitive process. Glucose oxidase (GOx) can inexpensively enable radical polymerization in solution by enzymatically consuming oxygen as it oxidizes glucose. Here, we report the growth of polymeric brushes using GOx-assisted atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) from a surface while open to air. Specifically, we grew a set of biomedically relevant polymer brushes, including poly(oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylate) (POEGMA), poly(2-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA), poly(sulfobetaine methacrylate) (PSBMA), and poly(2-(methylsulfinyl)ethyl acrylate (PMSEA). For each of these polymers, we monitored GOx-assisted and GOx-free ATRP reaction kinetics in real time using quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) and verified findings with localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR). We modeled brush growth kinetics considering bimolecular termination. This model fit our data well ( r2 > 0.987 for all samples) and shows the addition of GOx increased effective kinetic chain lengths, propagation rates, and reproducibility. We tested the antifouling properties of the polymer brush coatings against human blood plasma and were surprised to find that coatings prepared with GOx repelled more plasma proteins in all cases than their GOx-free counterparts.


Age old classical problems of the theory of society have a contemporary new dimension with the advent of computer-mediated communication. New communications rapidly transformed the internet introducing the idea of the social web. The concept of social machines as socio-technical systems, in whose machinery both humans and technology play participatory roles has given a new definition of what is meant by the term 'social'. In this contemporary context of social machines, we intend to develop the concept of a social automaton based on a formal approach to a theory of society. The research presented is a result of analytic inquiry into the origin of society and not historical or empirical inquiry. We ask an ontological question what is the stuff of which society is made of? After all society is objectified as an entity, to which individuals belong and which somehow is constructed/constituted by individuals. As a result of our inquiry, we present a symbolic automaton of an individual based on Buddhist Abhidhamma formal ontology of the individual. Further, by focusing on individual's action we develop a social automaton which is capable of handling social objects like persona, roles, relations, manners, rituals etc. Such an automaton would contribute to evolving a wholesome idea of social machine which have human as well as technology components. With a bottom up approach, we first start by understanding the fabric of an individual human being who is the basic component of a society. We establish that for understanding social reality it is imperative to begin with the formal framework of individual which accommodates this reality. To understand the framework of individual, we take inspiration from Buddhist Abhidhamma theory which provides a formal model of man as a stream of consciousness. With this groundwork, we develop a computational model of an individual as a stochastic automaton. Based on our individual automaton model, we establish that psychological processes within an individual create scope for generation of social objects. As a computational use case, we populate the automaton model with social media data of the individual and provide a machine learning module to identify mental states from social media data. We then introduce the idea of dynamic evolving persona to personality mining, by analyzing the user's personality in terms of evolving mental factors. Once we lay the foundation for an individual as psychological being, we then proceed to give an in-depth analysis of action in an individual. With action as the key synthetic signature of the individual


OBJECTIVE: The present study was under taken to determine the anti-fungal effect of Silver Nano partial coating in concentrations of 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.5% and 1% on heat cure acrylic denture through diffusion disc method. Poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) or simply acrylic is most commonly used material for construction of complete dentures. Denture stomatitis is an inflammatory disorder of oral mucosa, frequently observed in denture wearers. The unpolished intaglio surface of PMMA base dentures coupled with adverse conditions such as poor hygiene, dry mouth and compromised immune system leads to denture related stomatitis in 50-70% of complete denture wearers. Antifungal agents such as silver have been added to acrylic denture bases to in part self-disinfect property. METHODOLOGY: The supplied modeling wax sheet was cut in to 25 specimens of dimensions 10x10x 2mm with help of wax knife. The wax sheet was invested in stone plaster with in metal flask using open flasking method for mould formation. Heat cured acrylic resin polymer and monomer (Meadway Royale Heat Cure, MR. Dental, and UK) was mixed according to manufacturer's instructions of 2.5gm powder to 1ml monomer. The mixed acrylic was packed in dough stage followed by pressure packing in hydraulic bench press for 30 minutes under 9.8 MPa. Curing was done by placing the flask in water at room temperature until boiling. It remained in boiling water for 45 minutes and then allowed to cool down in water bath. A total of 25 acrylic plates were recovered from the flask and divided into five groups. Group A have no coating , group B coated with 0.1% sliver nano particles, group C coated with 0.2% silver nano particles, group D coated with 0.5% silver nano particles and group E coated with 1% silver nano particles solution. Each specimen was cut in to 6mm disc by Laser Engraving Machine. These discs were utilized for calculating zone of inhibition through diffusion disc method in agar media. RESULTS: The diameter of zone of inhibition increased with the increasing concentrations of silver nano particles. When the concentration of silver nano particles was 1%, the zone of inhibition size was maximum (20.48mm). When the concentration was 0.1%, the size of zone of inhibition was minimum (10.02mm) .This difference was statistically found to be highly significant (0.005). CONCLUSION: This study results demonstrate that silver nano-particles have good antifungal activity against Candida Albicans when used as surface coating. This antifungal property is directly influenced by the concentration of silver nano particles used. KEY WORDS: Antifungal property, Silver nano particles (AgNPs), Candida Albicans (CA).


The study examined agricultural land use and adopted conservation measures in Lafia local government Area of Nasarawa state. The data were collected by oral interview and structured questionnaire. Two hundred farmers were randomly selected across the local government area. The field survey revealed that 42% of the farmers are at the range of 35-45 years of age. 60% of the farmers within the study area don't practice irrigation farming. The results also showed that 58% of the farmers have attended post primary school. 66% of the land area is relatively flat thereby leading to moderate erosion. 88% of the farmers used local methods of cultivation leading to small area (1-4ha) of land being cultivated per a farmer. 44% of the farmers experienced sheet erosion on their farm lands leading to 40% of low yield. 22% of the farmers practiced most of the conservation practices on the land to minimize soil degradation and nutrient restoration. 40% of farmers surveyed encountered problem of high cost of labour and 46% of them obtained loan from the agricultural bank to solve some of the problems encountered. It is therefore recommended among other things that agricultural land use should be studied and conservation methods should be adopted to increase agricultural production in the study area.


The social sustainability of information and communication technology for development (ICT4D) projects such as e-government in developing nations remains a vexing issue. Particularly pertinent to the concept of e-government is that of electronic participation (e-participation) of citizens in services offered over an e-government platform, yet studies claim that such initiatives exacerbate the social exclusion problem. Globally, and specifically in Africa, the ineffective participation of citizens is marked by waning confidence in service delivery capabilities of political institutions, yet e-government is considered as one of the reform instrument for the attainment of good governance. Governments and pressure groups in many countries are realizing that these trends are problematic and are seeking to broaden and deepen citizen participation in governance, notably through the use of mobile technologies that continues to play a vital role in the trajectory of ICT development in Africa. This study advances the prominent role that mobile technology will play in anchoring e-participation strategies and policies to improve the social sustainability of ICT4D projects geared toward improving governance. The paper presents the results of cluster analysis of a survey aimed at assessing the accessibility, attitudes and the skills necessary for embedding mobile technology as part of an e-participation strategy.


Professor Alan Bromberg was the foremost authority in the law of Rule 10b-5. In this article, the author Professor Marc Steinberg, Professor Bromberg's colleague for 25 years, highlights Professor Bromberg's scholarship in this area. Focusing on key U.S. Supreme Court decisions and congressional legislation, Professor Steinberg reflects on the dialogue that he had with Professor Bromberg through the years on these developments. As this article illustrates, Professor Bromberg enjoyed a truly impressive academic career.


We have investigated the temperature dependence and the effect of hydrogen on the CO response of MISiC field effect device sensors. The evolution of adsorbates on a model sensor was studied by in situ DRIFT spectroscopy and correlated to sensor response measurements at similar conditions. A strong correlation between the CO coverage of the sensor surface and the sensor response was found. The temperature dependence and hydrogen sensitivity are partly in agreement with these observations, however at low temperatures it is difficult to explain the observed increase in sensor response with increasing temperature. This may be explained by the reduction of a surface oxide or removal of oxygen from the Pt/SiO2 interface at increasing temperatures. The sensing mechanism of MISiC field effect sensors is likely complex, involving several of the factors discussed in this paper.


BACKGROUND
Amotosalen treatment of plasma and cryopreservation of platelets affect the quality and potentially the interplay between platelets and coagulation factors. We set up an experimental clot formation study to test the hypothesis that amotosalen treatment of plasma affects the interaction with different platelet preparations.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Pooled plasma units (n=16) were subjected to coagulation tests before and after pathogen inactivation with amotosalen treatment (PI) and aliquots were frozen at -80°C. Fresh and cryopreserved platelets were analyzed for phenotypic and activity markers. Finally, coagulation properties of different combinations of platelets and plasma, before and after PI, were analyzed by viscoelastography (ROTEM).

RESULTS
PI of plasma reduced the concentration of several coagulation factors (p<0.01). Cryopreservation altered phenotypic expression and reduced the platelets' ability to respond to agonists (p<0.0001). The interplay between all plasma derivatives and cryopreserved platelets resulted in shortened coagulation time (p<0.0001) but prolonged clot formation time and reduced clot strength (p<0.0001) as compared to the interaction between fresh platelets with different plasma variants. PI of the plasma does not seem to have a major impact on coagulation time, clot formation time or clot strength.

DISCUSSION
Our data show that the reduced concentration of coagulation factors after PI treatment of plasma are negligible measured by viscoelastography, with fresh and cryopreserved platelets in this experimental clot formation setup, and that platelets play a more pronounced role. Cryopreserved platelets are more activated and result in reduced clot stability.


We propose a branch-and-bound algorithm to obtain the globally optimal relative rotation between a camera and the rotation sensor attached to it. Compared to previous methods, our approach directly minimizes the image space error related to the measurements which is very natural for camera-based systems. Our algorithm is based on the observation that we may evaluate the residual when the rotation matrix is known. We propose a feasibility test algorithm for the branch-and-bound to efficiently reduce the search volume of the rotation domain. Experimental results are provided using synthetic and real data sets.