Five new species of anilline ground beetles (Carabidae: Trechinae: Bembidiini) are described from the Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont Plateau of eastern United States. Two species, Anillinus unicoi n. sp. (from the Unicoi Mountains, North Carolina) and A. carltoni n. sp. (from the Great Smoky Mountains, North Carolina/ Tennessee), inhabit the crests of adjacent mountain ranges, and share similarities with A. moseleyae Sokolov and Carlton. These three comprise a high-altitude group of species in the region. The third species A. chilhowee n. sp. is one of the smallest representatives of the loweae-group of species. It differs from its relatives in characters of male genitalia and inhabits the isolated Chilhowee Mountain ridge between Ocoee and Hiwassee Rivers (Polk County, Tennessee). The fourth and fifth species possess complex arrays of spines on the internal sac of the aedeagus, similar to A. valentinei (Jeannel) from caves of Alabama. In the case of A. smokiensis n. sp. (Gregory Cave, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee), the aedeagal similarity suggests a close relationship with A. valentinei. Anillinus chandleri n. sp. from the Piedmont Plateau (Sumter National Forest, South Carolina) is similar to A. cornelli Sokolov and Carlton, also described from the Carolina Piedmont region. Keys are provided for the new species, where possible.


We have tested the ability of four commonly used density functionals (three of which are semilocal and one of which is nonlocal) to outperform accurate pairwise additive approximations in the prediction of binding energies for a series of water clusters ranging in size from dimer to pentamer. Comparison to results obtained with the Weizmann-1 (W1) level of wave function theory shows that while all density functionals are capable of outperforming the accurate pairwise data, the choice of basis set used is crucial to the performance of the method, and if a poor choice of basis set is made the errors obtained with density functional theory (DFT) can be larger than those obtained with the simple pairwise approximation. We have also compared the binding energies and many-body terms determined with DFT to those obtained with W1, and have found that all semilocal functionals have significant errors in the many-body components of the full interactions energy. Despite this limitation, however, we have found that, of the four functionals tested, PBE1W/MG3S is the most accurate for predicting the binding energies of the clusters.


: The population prevalence of congenital hypertrophic pyloric stenosis in Donetsk region in the course of 11 years (1989-1999) has been descriptively studied. Its frequency is 0.73:1000 or 1:1370 newborn infants annual with range of 0.54 to 1.01:1000. It is somewhat lower than that of more wide spread congenital diseases: labial cleft and hemochromatoses. Pyloric stenosis is detected in 42 of 43 populations of Donetsk region. There is a population nonuniformity of the case rate: from 0.19 to 1.9:1000 newborn infants, that the authors are inclined to explain by dissimilarity of a gene pool in the populations due to random migration of the population.


Early-stage degradation of metals due to fatigue includes the generation of dislocation substructures and their accumulation near grain boundaries produces local plasticity and micro-cracks. In theoretical, computational, and experimental nonlinear ultrasonics studies, the early stage damages are assumed as quadratic, cubic, and hysteretic nonlinearities. Interaction of a single frequency ultrasonic wave with hysteretic nonlinearity generates only odd harmonics (3f, 5f, 7f,…). A single pulse containing two input frequencies (f1, f2) passed through hysteretic material generates sum (f1 + f2, 2f1+ f2, f1 + 2f2,….) and difference frequencies (f1 - f2, 2f1 - f2, f1 - 2f2,….) along with the corresponding odd harmonics (3f1, 5f1, 7f1,…, 3f2, 5f2, 7f2,…). In this computational study, wave mixing due to two consecutive short pulses is implemented to generate only a specific set of mixed frequencies. A spatial domain is discretized as a long chain of a spring-mass system with a hysteretic spring element modeled as Reid's hysteresis model. Care is taken to ensure spatial resolution and time stepping to achieve stability and convergence of the study based on the CFL condition. The proposed approach to solve this problem is very simple in understanding and takes less computational resources and computational time. Two consecutive Gaussian pulses of two frequencies (f1, f2) and amplitude ratio (A1 = 6A2) are sent through one end of a long chain with a specified time delay between two pulses. Wave mixing due to the memory effect generates only a specific sum (3f1 + f2) and (f1 + 3f2), and difference (3f1 - f2) frequencies which are not seen in the case of a single pulse with two input frequencies. Also, the corresponding odd harmonics (3f1, 5f1, 3f2, 7f1) of both the input frequencies are observed. The dominant sum and difference frequencies are sensitive to the amplitudes (A1, A2), input frequencies (f1, f2), and the time delay between two pulses. The hysteretic loops observed in various combinations are significantly different (triangular and pinched, translated triangular and pinched, and non-triangular and non-pinched or open) than each other showing their unique characteristics for both the Gaussian and sinusoidal input pulses. This study shows the effectiveness of the considered wave-mixing technique for the quantification of early-stage hysteretic damage in actual practice using nonlinear ultrasonics.


This study investigates the impact of the electronic communication and anonymity capabilities of a group support system (GSS) on group polarization. Three support levels were studied: verbal support, identified GSS support, and anonymous GSS support. Information exposure was varied at two levels: exposure to positions without arguments and exposure to positions with arguments. The dependent variables were preference change and choice shift. Anonymous GSS groups produced higher choice shift than verbal groups. Anonymous GSS groups who were exposed to positions with arguments also had higher preference change than groups in other treatments. These results indicate that the anonymity and electronic communication capabilities of a GSS can be used conjointly to stimulate group polarization, especially when groups exchange mutual positions and arguments.


AbstractThis study aims to describe the concept of togetherness in the film "Aisha Let Us Be Brothers" by Herwin Novianto. This research is a qualitative research. Data is collected using audio visual methods, namely by seeing and hearing an object from pictures and sounds. Meanwhile, data collection techniques use the technique of listening and note taking. Data were analyzed descriptively according to Koeswara's concept of human existence which includes four types, namely togetherness and love, opposition, alienation and loneliness, and death. The results showed that the concept of togetherness in the film "Aisyah Let Us Be Brothers" by Herwin Novianto includes intimacy, mutual assistance / cooperation, advising, mutual respect and respect, attention, responsibility, openness, compassion, compassion, belief, and joked.Keywords: concept of togetherness, love, films, Aisyah Biarkan Kami Bersaudara


Education brought nationalism from Western Europe to the nineteenth century Balkans, upsetting the theocratic order of the Ottoman Empire. The children of Christian merchants journeyed abroad for better education and many returned imbued with nationalism and a determination to agitate against Ottoman rule. The Ottoman Empire's structure permitted Christians to educate themselves, allowing the educated returnees to inspire future generations. The educated generations made vital contributions to the revolutionary uprisings in Serbia, Greece and Bulgaria, which led to independence. However, no one nation dominated the mixed population of Ottoman Macedonia. Competition from neighbouring states intensified after 1878 with teachers arriving to vie for the loyalty of the population. This "Education Race" produced new generations of patriots for the rival nations. Additionally, a group of Macedonian Slavs emerged who declared "Macedonia for the Macedonians," and initiated an armed uprising in 1903 that marked the onset of the Macedonian Struggle of 1903-1 908.


As a child, my bedroom was adorned with NASA posters, and I would lay awake at night dreaming of space exploration. Growing up in Wisconsin – far away from the Space Coast – I never would have imagined that I would make my way to Florida fresh out of college to work with NASA on the Space Shuttle Program, and now the Space Launch System (SLS).


Six heathland sites were studied in Cooloola National Park, south-eastern Queensland. Vegetation composition (species present and numbers) and structure (plant density, cover, height and vertical foliage density) were examined at each site with respect to time since last fire (0.5-10.5 years) and the two recognised microhabitat types (dry and wet). No significant change in species numbers or composition was detected in sites more than 1 year after fire, although the changing physical status (density and cover) of some plants could give the impression of species being 'lost' or 'gained' over time. On the basis of the structural attributes of the heathlands, and the maintenance of several obligate seed regenerator species, a minimum fire-free interval of 8 or 10 years is suggested for subtropical heathlands. Results from this study are compared with data collected from other Australian heathlands. In composition and structure, the temporal responses to fire in the Cooloola heathlands are similar to those in southern heathlands, albeit occurring at a possibly faster rate.


In this paper, the effects of carbon black (CB) mass fraction on volume resistivity and electromagnetic shielding effectiveness (SE) of CB/Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) composites were studied. The results indicated that when CB mass fraction was over 15 wt%, the volume resistivity dropped sharply and when it rose to 35 wt%, the volume resistivity achieved the lowest value about 103Ω·cm. In addition, there are two obvious percolation effect at 15∼20 wt% and 25∼35 wt% CB respectively in the course of the volume resistivity changing. Titanate coupling agent could greatly improve conduction and SE of CB/ABS composites. Lastly, the SE of CB/ABS composites was investigated by experimental observation.


The people of far-flung rural areas still depend to a large extent upon plants and household remedies for curing veterinary ailments. The folk knowledge of ethnoveterinary medicine and its significance has been identified by the traditional communities through a process of experience over hundreds of years. The paper deals with 34 ailments commonly found in nine different categories of livestock/animals (i e. buffalo, cow, oxen, sheep, goat, horse, mule, dog and cat) and their treatment with 73 medicinal plant species belonging to 70 genera and 45 families that occur in forests as well as close vicinity of the rural settlements. Out of the total population, majority of the people (more than 80%) was found dependent on traditional (herbal) system of treatments practiced by local herbal healers (Pashu Vaidyas), while rest of the people preferred modern (allopathic) system of treatments for curing veterinary ailments. In this study we observed that old aged people have more knowledge and experience particularly in remote areas for curing veterinary ailments. The traditional system of treatment is one of the most important prevailing systems in the area where modern veterinary health care facilities are rare or in very poor conditions.


Building content damage can cause significant economic loss in major earthquakes. This paper quantifies the contents damage to structures with similar backbone hysteresis curves, but with different unloading and reloading characteristics under both impulse and earthquake excitations scaled to the design level for Wellington. These sliding demands are expressed in terms of sliding spectra and they show that the amount of sliding depends on the shape of the hysteresis curve used. Two simple explanations are proposed and evaluated to determine which hysteresis loops would result in the greatest sliding damage. It is shown that a sudden increase in stiffness when the structure is moving at a high velocity is not the key factor. Instead, the velocity at the time of sliding initiation seems to correlate better with the calculated sliding distance.


Dengue Fever is a debilitating mosquito-borne disease, causing sudden fever, leading to fatality in many cases. A Dengue patient is diagnosed by the physicians by looking at the various signs, symptoms and risk factors of this disease. However, these signs, symptoms and the risk factors cannot be measured with 100% certainty since various types of uncertainties such as imprecision, vagueness, ambiguity, and ignorance are associated with them. Hence, it is difficult for the physicians to diagnose the dengue patient accurately since they don't consider the uncertainties as mentioned. Therefore, this paper presents the design, development and applications of an expert system by incorporating belief rule base as the knowledge representation schema as well as the evidential reasoning as the inference mechanism with the capability of handling various types of uncertainties to diagnose dengue fever. The results generated from the expert system are more reliable than from fuzzy rule based system or from human expert.


Jakarta as the capital city is viewed as the barometer of every city in Indonesia. The city preparedness to face VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity) caused by Covid-19 pandemic is also in the national spotlight. One of the main solutions to face VUCA is Computational Thinking (CT). CT provides the ability to approach VUCA characteristics by systematically ingraining abstraction, algorithmic thinking, decomposition, and pattern recognition in mind. For this reason, Jakarta plans to disseminate this concept to students as early as possible, namely by embedding CT to every subject in primary and secondary schools. The activity began with online CT socialization, which was attended by 1,761 teachers, of which 238 via Google Meet and 1,523 via live streaming. In this activity we also distributed questionnaires to 258 elementary and junior high school teachers spread across 41 sub-districts of 44 sub-districts in Jakarta. The result is that 93.8% of teachers in Jakarta do not understand CT, excitingly 69.4% of teachers wish to teach CT in the subjects they can afford even though it is not compulsory, but if it is obligatory then all teachers will implement it.


A technique using rapid-scan Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy to observe reversible dynamic changes of systems under an externally applied perturbation is introduced. The technique does not require a lock-in amplifier or synchronization between the applied perturbation and the spectral acquisition. With the use of a carefully designed sampling rate with respect to the perturbation period and reconstruction of the observed spectral intensities, dynamic spectral intensities of the system are obtained. Due to the repeated behavior, the reconstructed spectral intensities can be used to represent the dynamic characteristic of the system. The experimentation time of the rapid-scan technique is significantly shorter than that of the step-scan technique. The influences of noise and experimental parameters on the observed spectral intensities are verified. Applications of the technique to systems with sinusoidal dynamic changes and exponentially decaying dynamic changes are demonstrated.


Fish scales are an abundant biowaste apparently unused, except for isolating major components as feedstocks, sacrificing the useful properties inherent to scales. We modified scale surfaces using hydrophilic and hydrophobic (meth)acrylates and tetraethylorthosilicate with in situ polymerization, and partial degradation of the biomineral or collagen layer. Chemical changes were assessed qualitatively by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and quantitatively by nanomechanical analysis. No modification was selective but they were "preferential". Hydrophobic modifications were inefficient and reduced scale modulus. Inorganic and hydrophilic modifications were efficient and increased modulus. On adding sodium-citrate-modified scales to a weak alginate hydrogel, rheology showed an order of magnitude increase in storage modulus compared to alginate with no or unmodified scale reinforcement. Fish scales can be a useful new reinforcement. This work highlights simple pathways to manipulate surface composition and modulus of waste fish scale to enhance composite properties. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 42868.


Summary In the area of Birtavarre (eastern Troms) evidence of nappe tectonics exist at all scales. The preferred orientation of the c-axis of quartz shows a monoclinic symmetry and consists of a girdle containing Y and oblique to Z. The obliquity of the girdle-angle ϑ between the c-axis girdle and the YZ plane-is interpreted in terms of simple shear, and the strain is calculated from these data. The results from this study are: (1) almost all the quartz-bearing samples give a consistent sense of simple shear (movement towards the SE) except for some gneisses supposed to be allochthonous Precambrian. (2) the calculated strain is too low to explain the displacement of the nappes (more than 40 km for a 2 km thick unit): X/Z ratio is less than 10 on the average. Possible reasons for this are discussed.


Milner's great study, first published in 1950, discusses the nature of creativity and those forces which prevent its expression. In focusing on her own beginner's efforts to draw and paint, she analyses not the mysterious and elusive ability of the genius but – as the title suggests – the all too common and distressing situation of 'not being able' to create.

With a new introduction by Janet Sayers, this edition of On Not Being Able to Paint brings the text to the present generation of readers in the fields of psychoanalysis, education and all those, specialist and general audiences alike, with an interest or involvement in the creative process and those impulses impeding it in many fields.


—Whereas it is known that executive function abilities are often impaired in clients having neurogenic communication disorders, few assessments of this cognitive domain are available that consider the speech and language deficits of this population. This article provides an overview of current procedures for assessing executive functions including a discussion of team approaches to assessment, a review of currently available neuropsychological and functional tests of executive function abilities, as well as a critique of those assessment procedures. In addition, suggestions are provided for how best to use or modify appropriately current tests of executive functioning for clients having acquired speech and language disorders as a result of brain damage.


We would define the security of silicone gel prostheses for the mother, the effects of an eventual contamination of maternal milk, if this condition is associate with elevate concentrations of silicone in the blood of their sons and if the silicon presence in correlate with immune pathology in the newborn. The aim of our study is to give an answer to these questions. From the December 2014 to December 2015, we were selected 20 women with ending pregnancy and mammary silicone gel prostheses. A commonly instruments were used to evaluate the concentration of antibodies, the silicone concentration was evaluated by spectroscopic analysis and devices silicone free were used. The tests results was elaborates statistically to verify the relation coefficient between the prostheses presence and the values of tests. The antibodies rate in all groups was compared and the difference wasn't significant. The evaluation of the concentration of inflammatory proteins in the newborn blood was performed at the start of the breast-feeding. The results were compared by t Student test. Our results concord with the other present in literature. The search of haematic and antibody markers, helpful in the diagnosis of immune pathology, not put in evidence a peculiar relation cause-effect and it's absolute not specific. The same result is observe in the analysis of the newborns antibody rates in A group that in all tests haven't a statistic significance. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2015.v4n2s2p247


This study examined the clinical utility of the recently revised Leiter International Performance Scale (Leiter-R) with a sample of children with fragile-X syndrome. The sample included 25 male children ranging in age from 4.0 to 12.8 years and was 92% European American. All subjects were administered the entire Attention and Memory Battery, and the four subtests from the Visualization and Reasoning Battery that comprise the Brief IQ composite. These tasks were selected to address specific concerns pertaining to memory and attention in individuals with fragile-X. Initial examination of the data revealed that all of the children completed the subtests comprising the Brief IQ and, outside of the Attention Divided subtest, over 80% of the children completed most of the subtests on the Attention and Memory Battery. Findings from the Leiter-R were generally consistent with previously reported assessment results with this population. Overall, the sample fell within the mild to moderate range of mental retardation, with over 80% of the group at or below this range of functioning. As a group, relative difficulty was noted on tasks tapping selective attention and working memory. Ipsatively, a relative strength was apparent across cases on the Associated Pairs subtest. Chronological age had a significant moderate positive correlation with the Leiter-R growth score for the composite scales and a significant strong negative correlation with the age-based standard score for Brief IQ. These findings are discussed with respect to the clinical and research applications of the Leiter-R for children with fragile-X as well as for children with other developmental disabilities.


ABSTRACT Over the last ten years there has been growing interest in the judgement and decision making (JDM) of outdoor professionals, though research to date has focused on the JDM processes of experts. In contrast, this study examined the JDM of less experienced, competent, but fully qualified outdoor instructors (N = 9) and the development of their JDM skills. Using semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis, we identified two overarching themes: Firstly, managing the cognitive load (relating to instructor JDM), and secondly social experiential learning (relating to instructor JDM development). We found these outdoor instructors needed to manage complex situational demands and high cognitive loads, while balancing the safety of their group with the development of their own JDM. We propose that a combination of challenging formative experiences, community of practice interactions, and explicit development of metacognition are essential to outdoor instructors JDM development. Implications for training, and future research are discussed.


A diverse microvertebrate fauna is described from the Virgin Hills and Napier formations, Bugle Gap Limestone Canning Basin, Western Australia. Measured sections at Horse Spring and Casey Falls (Virgin Hills Formation) and South Oscar Range (Napier Formation) comprise proximal to distal slope carbonates ranging in age from the Late Devonian Frasnian to middle Famennian. A total of 18 chondrichthyan taxa are identified based on teeth, including the first record of Thrinacodus tranquillus , Cladoides wildungensis , Protacrodus serra and Lissodus lusavorichi from the Canning Basin. A new species, Diademodus dominicus sp. nov. is also described and provides the first record of this genus outside of Laurussia. In addition, the upper range of Australolepis seddoni has been extended to Late Devonian conodont Zone 11, making it the youngest known occurrence for this species. The Virgin Hills and Napier formations microvertebrate faunas show close affinities to faunas recovered from other areas of Gondwana, including eastern Australia, Iran, Morocco and South China, which is consistent with known conodont and trilobite faunas of the same age.


SystemC is an IEEE standard system-level language used in hardware/software co-design and has been widely adopted in the industry. This paper describes a formal approach to verifying SystemC codes by providing a mapping to the process algebra mCRL2. The outstanding advantages of mCRL2 are the support for different data types and a powerful tool-set for model reduction and analysis. A tool is implemented to automatically perform the proposed mapping. This translation enabled us to exploit process-algebraic verification techniques to analyze a number of case-studies, including the formal analysis of a single-cycle and a pipelined MIPS processor specified in SystemC.


The developmental interplay between nature and nurture is discussed, with particular reference to implications for research in developmental psychopathology. The general principles include individual differences in reactivity to the environment, two-way interplay between intraindividual biology and environmental influences, and the need to consider broader social contextual features. Individuals actively process their experiences; they also act on their environment to shape and select their experiences, and individual characteristics change over time. Key findings on genetic effects include their ubiquitous influence, the multifactorial origin of most psychopathology, the involvement of several genes in most mental disorders, some genetic effects operate through dimensional risk features rather than directly on disorder, some genetic effects are dependent on gene–environment correlations and interactions, and genetic effects increase with age. Key findings on environmental effects include their ubiquitous influence, the genetic mediation of some supposed environmental effects, the importance of passive gene–environment correlations, the paucity of evidence regarding environmental effects on lifetime liability to psychopathology, the lack of understanding of environmental effects on the organism, and the importance of nonshared environmental effects. Research strategies to investigate environmental risk mediation include the range of genetically sensitive designs, migration studies, secular trend investigations, studies of nonfamilial environments, and examination of intraindividual change in relation to measured environmental alterations. Proximal processes involved in person–environment interplay are discussed in relation to person–environment interactions and evocative and active person–environment correlations.


Familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is most commonly caused by mutations in sarcomeric proteins; however, a unifying mechanism of disease pathogenesis has yet to be identified. Beyond the sarcomere, mutations in the gene (PRKAG2) encoding the γ2 subunit of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), an enzyme involved in energy balance regulation and cell signalling, cause ventricular hypertrophy and contractile dysfunction mimicking HCM. These AMPK γ2 mutations also result in glycogen accumulation and aberrant electrical conduction, obfuscating the cause of hypertrophy and dysfunction. Given our recent finding that cardiac troponin I (cTnI) is phosphorylated by AMPK at S150 and this phosphorylation enhances Ca2+ sensitivity of activation, we hypothesise that alterations at the myofilament level may contribute to disease pathogenesis in PRKAG2 cardiomyopathy as they do in HCM.

To test this, we have used a mouse model possessing an AMPK γ2 mutation (R299Q knock-in) and measured demembranated trabeculae mechanics and cardiomyocyte contractility using heterozygous and homozygous male mice, along with littermate wild type controls, between 6-8 weeks of age (prior to hypertrophy and significant glycogen accumulation). In trabeculae, we observed increased Ca2+ sensitivity of force production in fibres from mutant mice (ΔpCa50 = +0.05 (Het) and +0.06 (Homo), p < 0.01). After treating fibres with protein kinase A (PKA), no differences in Ca2+ sensitivity of force production were observed between WT and mutant groups. Intact cardiomyocytes isolated from mutant hearts exhibited little difference in shortening or Ca2+ transient magnitudes but significantly slowed kinetics of both contraction and relaxation. Cardiomyocytes from mutant mice exhibited a greater response to isoproterenol. Biochemical analyses of untreated tissues indicated reduced phosphorylation of cTnI S23/S24 (Δmol P/mol TnI = -0.17 (Het) and -0.28 (Homo), p < 0.05) and phospholamban S16, indicating reduced basal PKA activity in mutant animals.

This work provides evidence that the R299Q PRKAG2 mutation causes altered cardiac contractile function irrespective of glycogen accumulation and therefore supports the hypothesis that impaired contractility contributes to disease pathogenesis. Further, the observed Ca2+ sensitization and reduction in phosphorylation of PKA target sites mimics similar alterations found in HCM caused by sarcomeric mutations. The reduction in PKA activity in the mutant hearts may be caused by novel crosstalk between the AMPK and PKA pathways, in particular as this occurs prior to hypertrophy.


This paper discusses the impact of globalization on public health practice. Neoliberal supremacy has resulted in both greater interdependence between countries and increasing inequalities. Globalization of health risks and the dependence of local health conditions on external forces precludes the use of local/national solutions for global problems. In this context, the classical organization of public health services in a hierarchical pyramid based on geographically defined areas (from the local to the regional and national levels) no longer makes sense. We thus suggest some characteristics of a different type of organization based on new information technologies: a transnational network, horizontally shaped, more independent from political power, allowing for exchange of information and good practices, promoting dissemination of knowledge and producing "glocal" solutions. Through the creation of work opportunities between health professionals, the model will permit the creation of common strategies and increase the power of their political demands, perhaps allowing for the collective development of a more equitable world.


It was only twenty years after the 1979 Revolution that local Islamic councils were legalized and launched everywhere in Iran as part of reforms to strengthen
decentralization and enhance people's participation in policy planning. However, although these councils comprise elected members, they have not been fully institutionalized within the local government system and within Iran's hierarchy of power. Local councils, therefore, have not led to the greater empowerment of people. This study assesses the decentralization process within the power structure after the Iranian Revolution. The research aims to provide insights into these key questions: how was the structure of the post-revolution decentralization system different from that of the previous regime? Why has the policy of decentralization not led to the sort of devolution that would enable people to participate in decision-making? What are the political obstacles to the empowerment of the people, a professed goal of the postrevolution government? A qualitative research method involving a multiple case study approach is used here. Urban and rural communities were selected for assessment through purposive sampling. Easton's theory of political system was applied as it provides an effective conceptual framework to examine and explain the data. The results indicate that the post-revolution system is one that can be classified as a filtered democracy. In this type of political system, inputs from society have to pass through filters created by power elites. The feedback loop within society does not connect the inputs to the outputs. Demands from society, therefore, are not the basis for decision-taking at the top level of the political system. Only certain urban-based councils, particularly those in Tehran, showed degrees of power devolution. In Tehran, the councils have moved from beyond their defined legal functions. The whole decentralization process faces a series of political obstacles that cannot be removed until the system reforms its centralized hierarchy of power. There is a tightly controlled hierarchy of government bodies, from the center down to the provinces, townships, districts and villages, in all parts of this filtered democracy. The councils are not institutionalized in the political system. The decentralized councils are only connected to municipalities that are responsible for certain municipal services. These councils are not decision-making organisms, rendering invalid the post-revolution objective of people empowerment.


Geophysical investigations documenting enhanced magnetic susceptibility (MS) within the water table fluctuation zone at hydrocarbon contaminated sites suggest that MS can be used as a proxy for investigating microbial mediated iron reduction during intrinsic bioremediation. Here, we investigated the microbial community composition over a 5-year period at a hydrocarbon-contaminated site that exhibited transient elevated MS responses. Our objective was to determine the key microbial populations in zones of elevated MS. We retrieved sediment cores from the petroleum-contaminated site near Bemidji, MN, United States, and performed MS measurements on these cores. We also characterized the microbial community composition by high-throughput 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing from samples collected along the complete core length. Our spatial and temporal analysis revealed that the microbial community composition was generally stable throughout the period of investigation. In addition, we observed distinct vertical redox zonations extending from the upper vadose zone into the saturated zone. These distinct redox zonations were concomitant with the dominant microbial metabolic processes as follows: (1) the upper vadose zone was dominated by aerobic microbial populations; (2) the lower vadose zone was dominated by methanotrophic populations, iron reducers and iron oxidizers; (3) the smear zone was dominated by iron reducers; and (4) the free product zone was dominated by syntrophic and methanogenic populations. Although the common notion is that high MS values are caused by high magnetite concentrations that can be biotically formed through the activities of iron-reducing bacteria, here we show that the highest magnetic susceptibilities were measured in the free-phase petroleum zone, where a methanogenic community was predominant. This field study may contribute to the emerging knowledge that methanogens can switch their metabolism from methanogenesis to iron reduction with associated magnetite precipitation in hydrocarbon contaminated sediments. Thus, geophysical methods such as MS may help to identify zones where iron cycling/reduction by methanogens is occurring.


The FRAND contract gives an implementer the right to obtain an offer to license a portfolio of standard-essential patents (SEPs) on fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory (FRAND) terms. By making a FRAND offer, the SEP holder gives the implementer the power to accept and execute that offer in a binding license agreement on FRAND terms. If the implementer rejects the SEP holder's FRAND offer, either explicitly or by operation of law, the implementer extinguishes its rights as an intended third-party beneficiary of the FRAND contract and thereafter has no rights under the FRAND contract. After the unlicensed implementer has extinguished its rights as a third-party beneficiary, the SEP holder may request and obtain an injunction against the implementer, charge the implementer more than a FRAND royalty, or refuse to license its SEPs to the implementer. The implementer also may not invoke the FRAND contract to demand extraneous license terms. The FRAND contract gives the implementer no more rights to SEPs than what the SEP holder intends to convey to a third-party beneficiary. In particular, there is no evidence that the SEP holder intended to give the implementer the right to demand à la carte licensing of individual SEPs. For a court to construe the FRAND contract otherwise — so as to compel the SEP holder to license its SEPs individually on demand — is to assume that the SEP holder and the SSO would not have cared about the absurdly high transactions costs of licensing that such a contractual provision would cause. The SEP holder, of course, never would have found it commercially reasonable to agree to make that duty part of its FRAND commitment to the SSO. For the same economic reason, the observed norm within a standardized industry such as mobile telecommunications — the usage of trade, in the parlance of contract interpretation — is that SEP holders license their SEPs in portfolios.


To assess the influence of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) on recurrent leukemia and survival after allogeneic marrow transplantation, we studied 1,202 patients with acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANL), acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), and chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) given unmodified marrow grafts from HLA-identical siblings. Proportional hazards regression models using acute GVHD and chronic GVHD as time-dependent covariates demonstrated a significant association of GVHD with a decreased relative risk (RR, 0.33 to 0.42) of relapse in patients with ANL, ALL, and CML transplanted in advanced disease. Among patients developing either acute or chronic GVHD, treatment failure (that is, mortality or relapse) was decreased in patients with ALL transplanted in relapse (RR = 0.70, P less than .033) and CML in blast crisis (RR = 0.37, P less than .009). This effect was independent of age, sex, preparative regimen, GVHD prophylaxis, or length of follow-up. Five-year actuarial estimates were derived for the subset of 657 patients who survived in remission 150 days after transplant and were at risk for development of chronic GVHD. Among patients with ANL in first remission or CML in chronic phase, GVHD had an adverse effect on survival and no apparent influence on relapse. Among patients with ANL and ALL transplanted in relapse, the probability of relapse after day 150 was 74% without [corrected] GVHD, 45% with acute and chronic GVHD, 35% with [corrected] only acute GVHD, and 34% with only chronic GVHD (P less than .001). Actuarial survival in these four GVHD groups was 25%, 34%, 59%, and 62%, respectively (P less than .009). Among patients with CML in acceleration or blast crisis, the probability of relapse after day 150 was 65% without GVHD and 36% with acute and/or chronic GVHD (P less than .017). We conclude that acute and chronic GVHD were associated with a durable antileukemic effect and improved survival in patients transplanted in advanced stages of ALL and CML.


The distinction between subjective and objective risk tolerance is illustrated by expected utility analyses of portfolios. Optimal portfolios were derived for one, 5, and 20 year investment horizons for 6 major financial asset categories. The important aspects of objective risk tolerance are the proportion of an investor's total wealth (including human wealth) in financial assets, and the investment horizon. Even investors with very low subjective risk tolerance levels should have aggressive portfolios if their horizons are 20 years or more.


Abstract Communication is a key factor in containing a pandemic. Fragmented information may affect people's perceptions and behaviors, especially in times of governmental miscommunication, potentially jeopardizing efforts aimed at containing the spread of the disease. To test whether and how people have been sensitive to broken information during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil, we performed a randomized survey experiment on a sample of 571 respondents. We found that more pessimistic or more optimistic fragmented messages about the pandemic have no overall significant average effect on perceptions and planned behavior of the respondents. The exploratory analyses showed that particular sociodemographic groups are more sensitive to these fragmented messages. While less educated people react to more pessimistic messages with an increased likelihood to intensify prevention measures, people aged 60 or older - the high-risk group for COVID-19 complications - react to more optimistic messages with a reduced probability to intensify prevention measures. Besides providing insights to the public administration literature on disaster management, the results reinforce the need for governments to consistently centralize communication efforts to guarantee that people are equipped with complete and accurate information to form their perceptions and adequate their behaviors towards a health crisis.


would have been detected. An alternative cut-off value of 35 U/ml would have resulted in a detection rate of 33%. Conclusions: Transvaginal ultrasonography can effectively detect intra-ovarian cancer and tumours of borderline malignancy in women with a family history of the disease. The level of serum CA125 can be used to select women for ultrasonography, but the detection rate for early cancers would be reduced.


Background: Hailey-Hailey disease (familial benign chronic pemphigus) of the vulva is a rare autosomal dominant dermatosis characterized by malformation of desmosomes and bullae, particularly in intertriginous areas. Cases: We reviewed the cases of 5 women followed at a single academic institution over a period of 17 years. Of the 5 patients, 4 carried a diagnosis of Hailey-Hailey at the time of presentation to our institution, and one was diagnosed on biopsy. 3 were members of a family group. Initial treatment of choice was a topical steroid (betamethasone in 3, fluocinonide and hydrocortisone in 1 each), vulvar skin guidelines, tepid soaks, a skin protectant (A&D ointment, zinc oxide) and additional treatment (crotamiton in 1, clotrimazole in 2, and Polysporin in 1). Final treatment regimens in 3 patients followed long term were zinc oxide/A&D and betamethasone-clotrimazole ointment in all 3, nystatin-triamcinolone ointment in 2, oral minocycline in 1, oral fluconazole prn in 1, and topical tacrolimus in 1. Treatment courses were complicated by superimposed fungal infections, superimposed bacterial infections, and lichen simplex chronicus flares. These were treated with antifungals, topical clindamycin and metronidazole, and steroid-antifungal bursts, respectively. Three of five patients followed long term achieved successful remission with occasional flares. Discussion: Treatment of Hailey-Hailey disease must be tailored to the individual patient. Adherence to vulvar skin care guidelines is critical for the remission of Hailey-Hailey disease. Treatment is long-term and may be complicated by episodes of fungal and bacterial superinfection and lichen simplex chronicus.


The production of biodiesel by the transesterification reaction of glycerides (rapeseed oil) with methanol, in a continuous-flow fixed-bed catalytic reactor was explored. Based on data in the literature, lanthanum oxide and strontium oxide (SrO) catalyst systems were selected for this work. In preliminary experiments in a batch reactor (300 cm3; with 160 cm3 of oil), ceramic monoliths (61 cells cm-2; hydraulic cell diameter = 1.1 mm) acted as catalyst supports. At the conditions tested (T= 120oC; P = 8 bar(g); molar ratio methanol:oil = 6:1), the monoliths coated with SrO (19.6 wt% SrO), were found to be sufficiently active to proceed to the continuous flow fixed-bed trials. A study of the solubility of methanol in oil, showed that in a pressurized autoclave at 100oC, the methanol dissolved at a 6:1 molar ratio, and at 120oC this increased up to 9:1, providing useful information for the design of a continuous flow reactor. The SrO slurry coated monolith was then tested in a single-tube fixed-bed reactor (i.d. = 6.2 mm; L = 200 mm). In experiments at a 7:1 molar ratio of methanol:oil, at T = 195 oC, and P = 20 bar(g), although catalytic activity was cyclic in nature, it was maintained over a 300 h period (not continuous) of operation. This led to the performance of experiments in a multi-tubular reactor, which consisted of 5 tubes, connected in series (each tube with an i.d. = 22 mm; L = 550 mm). It was now possible to perform experiments with a longer overall length of monolith sections, and to take samples between each tube. Experiments were performed with a monolith bed length of 2300 mm and a molar ratio of methanol:oil = 7:1 (T = 150oC, P = 15 bar(g)), with overall conversions ranging from 20 to 50%.


We have devised a unified framework with which we can make predictions about several types of human error—omissions, perseverations, and PCE—across multiple tasks with data collected from multiple labs. Previously we have demonstrated this model for PCE from two tasks (Tamborello & Trafton, 2013). Now we demonstrate it for omissions and perseverations in Altmann, Trafton and Hambrick's (Altmann, Trafton, & Hambrick, 2014) UNRAVEL task.


Aim: Evaluate the effectiveness of intradiscal electrothermal therapy in treating discogenic low back pain.

Methods: Using three data bases (PubMed, Cochrane and Scopus) we searched for clinical studies evaluating non-operative methods of treating discogenic back pain that were published between 2004-2012. Only systematic reviews and meta-analysis were included. Inclusion criteria: included if they met the following inclusion criteria: patients were at least 18 years of age; they were written in English and involved patients with chronic non-malignant
pain who had never been surgical managed, after removal of duplicate citations only 4 articles were selected.

Results: The two systematic reviews and two meta-analyzes whose objective were to establish the IDET roll in the improvement of discogenic pain, did not find statistically significant evidence to recommend this treatment. Only one study established a possible improvement of discogenic pain at 6 months with acceptable evidence quality.

Conclusion: The current studies provide contradictory evidence of it benefit and it remains unclear whether these interventions confer stable long-term benefit. Thus, physicians must exercise caution in recommending this treatment for patients with discogenic chronic back pain.


Dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) is applied to enhance the signal of solid-state NMR spectra of metal-organic framework (MOF) materials. The signal enhancement enables the acquisition of high-quality 1D 13C solid-state NMR spectra, 2D 1H-13C dipolar HETCOR and 1D 15N solid-state NMR spectra with natural isotopic abundance in experiment times on the order of minutes.


The study of host-ectoparasites relationships in bats was conducted in Gomantong Forest Reserve, Sabah on December 2007 and December 2008 focusing on the patterns of ectoparasites distribution in bat hosts. This study examined if morphological characteristics of the host bats influence the levels of parasitism. The bats were captured using mist-nets and were examined for ectoparasite by screening the wing membranes and body. Sex, weight, forearm length, and
reproductive stage were recorded for each bat. There were 288 individual bats in the sample that belong to eleven species i.e. Myotis muricola, Hipposideros cervinus, Balionyderis maculata, Rhinolophus arcuatus, Hipposideros diadema, Kerivoula papillosa, Cynopterus brachyotis, Rhinolophus creagh;' Rhinolophus philipinensis, Hipposideros dyacorum, and Cynopterus horsfieldi. The bats hosted
404 individuals of ectoparasites from six families i.e. Streblidae, Nycteribiidae, Spintumicidae, Laelapidae, Psoroptidae, and Ixodidae. Seven individuals (1.7%) of
ectoparasites were unidentified, which were even to five mites, a larva and an insect. Three groups of ectoparasites were detected, which were bat flies, mites, and ticks. No lice and fleas had been recorded from this study. Bat flies attributed for the highest infestation as against mites and ticks. The overall prevalence was 50.69 %. The highest infestation rate was seen in Rhinolophus arcuatus i.e. 92.86
% while the most preferable host for many kinds of ectoparasites families was Myotis muricola. There were Significant differences in the infestation rates due to
bats speCies, bats sex, bats reproductive stages, body size of bats, and also with emerging-arrival time. The levels of parasitism in bats were not related to parasite species on host, locality, distance from riparian area, canopy cover, or weather conditions. Ectoparasites from the family Nycteribiidae infected most of the host species, whereas the most dominant ectoparasites in terms of individual numbers
were ectoparasites from the family Streblidae.


The movement protein of red clover necrotic mosaic virus (RCNMV) was expressed in Escherichia coli as a fusion with a maltose-binding protein using the vector pMAL-cRI and used to produce an antiserum. The RCNMV movement protein was detected in a cell wall fraction obtained from infected Nicotiana clevelandii leaf tissue by immunoblotting using the movement protein antiserum. The movement protein could be detected 6 h after inoculation and reached a maximum after 24 h. In contrast, the virus capsid protein, detected in a soluble fraction by immunoblotting using a capsid antiserum, continued to increase for 72 h after inoculation.


Keyframes are still images, which best represent the content of the video sequence in an abstracted manner, and may be extracted from original compressed data. Keyframes are frequently used to supplement the text of a video log, but there has been little progress in identifying them automatically. The challenge is that the extraction of keyframes needs to be automatic and content based so that they maintain the important content of the video while removing all redundancy. Up to now, more and more video materials are stored and transmitted in the compression data, so it is practical to study a unified approach to extraction of keyframes based on compressed video data. In this paper, we present a system for extraction of keyframes, which is based on different formulae comparing discrete cosine transform(DCT) direct current(DC) coefficients over the I frames in MPEG video stream, and for which only minimal decoding is needed. In theory semantic primitives of the video, such as interesting objects, actions and events should be used. However, because such general semantic analysis is not currently feasible, we explore two methods instead, in which one is from the idea of dot in mass, and the other is based on the number of unequal macro blocks.


The relaxation processes of a wide variety of soft materials frequently contain one or more broad regions of power-law like or stretched exponential relaxation in time and frequency. Fractional constitutive equations have been shown to be excellent models for capturing the linear viscoelastic behavior of such materials, and their relaxation modulus can be quantitatively described very generally in terms of a Mittag–Leffler function. However, these fractional constitutive models cannot describe the nonlinear behavior of such power-law materials. We use the example of Xanthan gum to show how predictions of nonlinear viscometric properties, such as shear-thinning in the viscosity and in the first normal stress coefficient, can be quantitatively described in terms a nonlinear fractional constitutive model. We adopt an integral K-BKZ framework and suitably modify it for power-law materials exhibiting Mittag–Leffler type relaxation dynamics at small strains. Only one additional parameter is needed to predict nonlinear rheology, which is introduced through an experimentally measured damping function. Empirical rules such as the Cox–Merz rule and Gleissle mirror relations are frequently used to estimate the nonlinear response of complex fluids from linear rheological data. We use the fractional model framework to assess the performance of such heuristic rules and quantify the systematic offsets, or shift factors, that can be observed between experimental data and the predicted nonlinear response. We also demonstrate how an appropriate choice of fractional constitutive model and damping function results in a nonlinear viscoelastic constitutive model that predicts a flow curve identical to the elastic Herschel-Bulkley model. This new constitutive equation satisfies the Rutgers-Delaware rule, which is appropriate for yielding materials. This K-BKZ framework can be used to generate canonical three-element mechanical models that provide nonlinear viscoelastic generalizations of other empirical inelastic models such as the Cross model. In addition to describing nonlinear viscometric responses, we are also able to provide accurate expressions for the linear viscoelastic behavior of complex materials that exhibit strongly shear-thinning Cross-type or Carreau-type flow curves. The findings in this work provide a coherent and quantitative way of translating between the linear and nonlinear rheology of multiscale materials, using a constitutive modeling approach that involves only a few material parameters.


We propose semi-random features for nonlinear function approximation. The flexibility of semi-random feature lies between the fully adjustable units in deep learning and the random features used in kernel methods. For one hidden layer models with semi-random features, we prove with no unrealistic assumptions that the model classes contain an arbitrarily good function as the width increases (universality), and despite non-convexity, we can find such a good function (optimization theory) that generalizes to unseen new data (generalization bound). For deep models, with no unrealistic assumptions, we prove universal approximation ability, a lower bound on approximation error, a partial optimization guarantee, and a generalization bound. Depending on the problems, the generalization bound of deep semi-random features can be exponentially better than the known bounds of deep ReLU nets; our generalization error bound can be independent of the depth, the number of trainable weights as well as the input dimensionality. In experiments, we show that semi-random features can match the performance of neural networks by using slightly more units, and it outperforms random features by using significantly fewer units. Moreover, we introduce a new implicit ensemble method by using semi-random features.


In 1919, Andre Breton -- a young psychiatrist, future leader of the surrealist movement -- invents a new mode of expression to accurately convey the functioning of human thought: automatic writing. An automatic text is a monologue "on which the critical sense of the subject does not give any judgement" and which is "as exactly as possible the pronounced thought." He carries out his invention in writing in cooperation with Philippe Soupault. Their work entitled The Magnetic Fields is a book "without precedent", according to one of their friends, Louis Aragon. What is this work like, in which the "told" and the "written" are inseparably mixed? Is it rather an oral text or a written one? Does writing prove to be sufficient to convey the automatic act of oral nature? These are the questions which this paper attempts to answer.


Magic-lens style augmented reality applications allow users to control camera pose easily by manipulating a portable hand-held device and provide immediate visual feedback. However, strategic vantage points must often be revisited repeatedly, adding time and error and taxing memory. We describe a new approach that allows users to take snapshots of augmented scenes that can be virtually revisited at later times. The system stores still images of scenes along with camera poses, so that augmentations remain dynamic and interactive. Users can manipulate virtual objects while viewing snapshots, instead of moving to real-world views. We present a study comparing performance in snapshot and live mode conditions in a task in which a virtual object must be aligned with two pairs of physical objects. Proper alignment requires sequentially visiting two viewpoints. Participants completed the alignment task significantly faster and more accurately using snapshots than when using the live mode. Moreover, participants preferred manipulating virtual objects using snapshots to the live mode.


In Creative Evolution (1911) Henri Bergson studied the mechanics of thought and illusion and articulated the concept of nothing in relation to problems of existence. He placed particular importance on creative activity as this is unquantifiable, complex and multi-layered but aspirational in the labouring and permutations of art and its making (Deleuze 1966, p. 38). In this project, Bergson's key principles of movement, duration, intuition and becoming are applied to abstract painting in order to frame a new ontological perspective.

The project draws from a specific lineage of abstract painting beginning with Kazimir Malevich's notion of New Realism which emphasises process and creation. This lineage has been applied to Bergson's notion of Creative Evolution in order to re-envisage abstract painting. Referred to as Expanded Abstract Painting, it provides a foundation for the practical research as an umbrella term and a vehicle for expression. Expanded Abstract Painting advocates an innate search for something where there may actually be only nothing. It has characteristics, such as those evident in digital media, print media and sculpture, not conventionally associated with the medium of painting.

Bergson's principle of movement as a shifting multiplicity of ideas and perceptions is applied to this conundrum. Movement is a key strategy within this project as it mirrors the ontology of perception. In the course of this research it has been split into three categories: perceptual, actual and ideological. This division is reflected in the practical research as composite experience through the presentation of painted works made from or juxtaposed as multiple parts. With these layers of thinking in mind, the practical research demonstrates a multiplicity of consciousness and of experiences.

Duration is understood and perceived through processes of movement. Through the presentation of composite experience, the practical research expands the convention of abstract painting and reveals how duration is multiplicitous and divergent due to changing temporal conditions. Intuition is articulated and researched as method. Within the research intuition demonstrates a degree of pre-determined thought which in turn creates space for experimentation and openness. Other strategies such as not-thinking, not knowing and the deferral of consciousness inform the characteristics of intuition. Furthermore, the project demonstrates the application of intuitive strategy through mediated and un-mediated means. This is pursued through a performative studio-based approach and through the mediated use of image reproduction technologies such as scanners and photocopiers. Both approaches reveal how an Expanded Abstract Painting practice can create space for improvisation and lived experience.

The practical research is divided into four different series, in the chronological order they were made. The shift in approaches of these bodies of work within the project is framed as becoming; a state of transition and change; an unfolding of experience subject to multiplicity. Becoming is also framed in the project as a conflation of Bergson's other philosophical principles: movement, duration and intuition.

Through the application of Bergson's principles this research establishes a new ontological reading of abstract painting as expanded. The ingredients of this expansion are significant for their specific characteristics have currency; that is, the mix of old and new technology is indicative of present circumstance. It positions abstract painting as an alternative to deterministic thinking in a period where imaging technology offers greater control than ever before. Life force or 'elan vital' in the practical research is representative of a desire for freedom of expression.

As an evolved methodology this project demonstrates an important insight into a contemplation of phenomena and how we navigate ourselves in time. The significance of the ontology resides in the experiential analysis of Bergson's memory and matter dualism through studio engagement. There is always something other than what is simply there. The investigation of Bergson's paradoxes as visual art creates a sensation of doubt and anxiety but these are absorbed into process as motivations for transformation and change. These factors, as an ontological condition are part of a larger becoming. As was the case with Kazimir Malevich's notion of New Realism, there is an ongoing and unfolding revolution of consciousness through movement.


The NOD mouse develops spontaneous type 1 diabetes, with some features of disease that are very similar to the human disease. However, a proportion of NOD mice are naturally protected from developing diabetes, and currently, studies characterizing this cohort are very limited. Here, using both immunofluorescence and multiparameter flow cytometry, we focus on the pancreatic islet morphology and immune infiltrate observed in naturally protected NOD mice. We show that naturally protected NOD mice are characterized by an increased frequency of insulin-containing, smaller-sized, pancreatic islets. Although mice remain diabetes free, florid immune infiltrate remains. However, this immune infiltrate is skewed toward a regulatory phenotype in both T- and B-cell compartments. Pancreatic islets have an increased frequency of IL-10–producing B cells and associated cell surface markers. Resident memory CD69+CD8+ T cells show a significant shift toward reduced CD103 expression, while CD4+ T cells have increased FoxP3+CTLA4+ expression. These data indicate that naturally protected NOD mice have a unique islet signature and provide new insight into regulatory mechanisms within pancreatic islets.


Factitious disorder can present in multiple health care settings, with patients intentionally producing symptoms to assume the sick role. This assumption of the sick role can result in multiple hospitalizations with unnecessary diagnostic workup, as well as invasive diagnostic procedures that can lead to worrisome side effects. Differential diagnoses that should be ruled out include malingering, somatic symptom disorder, and anxiety disorders. For many providers, patients with factitious disorder can be a challenge to treat because the etiology of the disorder remains unclear. There are multiple psychological theories that attempt to explain the motivation and thought process behind the voluntary production of symptoms. Some of these theories have addressed disruptive attachments during childhood, possible intergenerational transfer of the disorder, personal identity conflicts, somatic illness as a form of masochistic activity toward oneself, and intrapsychic conflicts. Confrontation and psychotherapy with a multidisciplinary team has been proposed as a form of treatment. An understanding of the psychological factors associated with factitious disorder can help providers understand the rationale behind the patient's presentation and aid in the formulation of a treatment plan.


The recent GPT-3 model (Brown et al., 2020) achieves remarkable few-shot performance solely by leveraging a natural-language prompt and a few task demonstrations as input context. Inspired by their findings, we study few-shot learning in a more practical scenario, where we use smaller language models for which fine-tuning is computationally efficient. We present LM-BFF—better few-shot fine-tuning of language models—a suite of simple and complementary techniques for fine-tuning language models on a small number of annotated examples. Our approach includes (1) prompt-based fine-tuning together with a novel pipeline for automating prompt generation; and (2) a refined strategy for dynamically and selectively incorporating demonstrations into each context. Finally, we present a systematic evaluation for analyzing few-shot performance on a range of NLP tasks, including classification and regression. Our experiments demonstrate that our methods combine to dramatically outperform standard fine-tuning procedures in this low resource setting, achieving up to 30% absolute improvement, and 11% on average across all tasks. Our approach makes minimal assumptions on task resources and domain expertise, and hence constitutes a strong task-agnostic method for few-shot learning.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to assess mortality and causes of death in subjects with visual impairment caused by diabetic retinopathy (DR). Only limited data are available concerning the mortality of subjects with DR, and to our knowledge, no data so far have been published on the mortality of subjects with visual impairment caused by DR.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
We identified 34 men and 73 women living in northern Finland with visual impairment caused by DR on 31 December 1993. The median age of the subjects was 71 years (range 27-88). The mortality of these 107 diabetic subjects was followed up for 4 years, until 31 December 1997, and compared with the mortality rates of 3 age- and sex-matched control groups. The first control group consisted of subjects treated for DR by laser coagulation from 1990 to 1993. The second control group consisted of diabetic subjects who had had fundus photographs taken from 1991 to 1992. The third control group comprised nondiabetic subjects selected from the population register. Information on deaths was obtained from official death certificates.

RESULTS
A total of 91 diabetic and 10 nondiabetic subjects died during the follow-up. Of the deaths, 51 occurred in the subjects with visual impairment caused by DR, with a 4-year mortality rate of 477/1,000 (95% CI 382-571/1,000). Mortality rates were 224/1,000 (145-303/1,000) for the diabetic subjects with retinopathy treated by laser coagulation; 150/1,000 (82-217/1,000) for the diabetic subjects who had undergone fundus photography; and 94/1,000 (46-165/1,000) for the nondiabetic subjects. Cardiovascular diseases were the underlying cause of death in 55% of the subjects with visual impairment. Nephropathy was mentioned as the immediate cause of death for only 10% of the subjects. Compared with the nondiabetic control subjects, the odds ratios (ORs) for all-cause mortality were 5.1 (2.6-11) in the diabetic subjects with visual impairment caused by DR, and 5.6 (2.1-19) for mortality caused by diseases of the circulatory system. The ORs for all-cause mortality were 2.4 (1.1-5.6) in the diabetic subjects with retinopathy treated by laser coagulation and 1.6 (0.68-4.0) in the diabetic subjects with fundus photographs taken.

CONCLUSIONS
The survival of diabetic subjects with visual impairment caused by DR was poor. The high mortality rate was attributed mainly to cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, severe retinopathy proves to be a risk marker of cardiovascular death in diabetic patients.


In elastic optical networks, a connection may occupy a frequency slot that spreads over m adjacent frequency slot units (FSUs). Such connection (called m-slot connection) also must be realized in optical nodes used in these networks. The paper considers two architectures of the three-stage switching fabric that can be used in such network nodes. The switching fabric applies space switching in the first and the third stages and wavelength switching in the second stage [the space-wavelength-space (S-W-S) switching fabric]. For both architectures, denoted by SWS1 and SWS2, we derived and proved the strict-sense nonblocking conditions when m-slot connections are set up. The number of center stage wavelength switches is calculated and evaluated. The switching fabrics are compared with the strict-sense nonblocking wavelength-space-wavelength (W-S-W) switching fabric. It is shown that the number of center stage switches does not depend on the number of FSUs available in input and output fibers but only on the maximum number of FSUs, which can be used by one connection and the number of input/output fibers in one input/ output space switch. When the number of FSUs in one connection is, for instance, limited to 5, only 11 center stage switches are needed for nonblocking operation in one of the architectures. Moreover, for switching fabrics with a greater number of maximum FSUs in one connection and a greater number of FSUs in one input or output fiber, the S-W-S switching fabrics can be practically realized, unlike the W-S-W switching fabric.


Calm Technology characterizes those technologies that move forth and back between the center and periphery of our attention. That is, while center denotes what one is currently focused on, periphery denotes what one is attuned to without focusing on it explicitly. Context-aware computing exploits such a concept by allowing applications to adapt their behavior (i.e. the center) in response to the context sensed within the environment (i.e. the periphery). An application in this setting should have minimal assumptions in order to operate while being able to dynamically adapt to and learn what the surrounding context offers.In this paper we discuss ongoing work in designing an event-based model that allows applications to egocentrically perceive the periphery and evaluate its relevance and uncertainty with respect to the center of the application attention. In particular we discuss our ongoing work in designing and developing ECHOES, an uncertain event-model for Egocentric computing. Characteristics of ECHOES are (a) departing from usual conjunctive pattern-matching algorithms implemented in event-notification models and, (b) achieving event correlation through the use of complex filters defined by means of Fuzzy Logic formulas. The paper introduces the specification of ECHOES as well as the design of an early prototype developed as a modified implementation of the SIENA Publish/Subscribe Middleware.


Owing to observational difficulties the distinction between a 'suspended' load of solids transported by a stream and a ' bed-load ' has long remained undefined. Recently, however, certain critical experiments have thrown much light on the nature of bed-load transport. In particular, it has been shown that bed-load transport, by saltation, occurs in the absence of fluid turbulence and must therefore be due to a separate dynamic process from that of transport in suspension by the internal eddy motion of a turbulent fluid. It has been further shown that the forward motion of saltating solids is opposed by a frictional force of the same order as the immersed weight of the solids, the friction coefficient approximating to that given by the angle of slip. The maintenance of steady motion therefore requires a predictable rate of energy dissipation by the transporting fluid. The fluid thrust necessary to maintain the motion is shown to be exerted by virtue of a mean slip velocity which is predictable in the same way as, and approxim ates to, the terminal fall velocity of the solid. The mean thrust, and therefore the transport rate of saltating solids, are therefore predictable in terms of the fluid velocity close to the bed, at a distance from it, within the saltation zone, of a 'centre of fluid thrust' analogous to the 'centre of pressure'. This velocity, which is not directly measurable in water streams, can be got from a knowledge of stream depth and mean flow velocity. Thus a basic energy equation is obtained relating the rate of transporting work done to available fluid transporting power. This is shown to be applicable to the transport both of wind-blown sand, and of water-driven solids of all sizes and larger than that of medium sand. Though the mean flow velocity is itself unpredictable, the total stream power, which is the product of this quantity times the bed shear stress, is readily measurable. But since the mean flow velocity is an increasing function of flow depth, the transport of solids expressed in terms of total stream power must decrease with increasing flow depth/grain size ratio. This considerable variation with flow depth has not been previously recognised. It explains the gross inconsistencies found in the existing experimental data. The theoretical variation is shown to approximate very closely to that found in recent critical experiments in which transport rates were measured at different constant flow depths. The theory, which is largely confirmed by these and other earlier experiments, indicates that suspension by fluid turbulence of mineral solids larger than those of medium sands does not become appreciable until the bed shear stress is increased to a value exceeding 12 times its threshold value for the bed material considered. This range of unsuspended transport decreases rapidly, however, as the grain size is reduced till, at a certain critical size, suspension should occur at the threshold of bed movement.


ABSTRACT This article examines the lives of late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century lawn tennis coaching-professionals, notably Tom Burke, Harry Cowdrey, Charles Haggett and George Kerr. These men, considered equally if not more gifted than the first-ranked amateur players of the period, have received scant attention or recognition, either as 'expert' players or for their role as coaches/instructors within the 'amateur' game. Ostensibly, these working-class boys/men sought employment in clubs, as ball-boys, groundskeepers, stringers and instructors, but, being immediately classified as 'professionals', were subsequently marginalised within clubs and barred from amateur competitions. Few outside of the club environs encountered them, few observed or learned of their skills, and fewer still reported their exploits. While many of the top amateur players of the period recognised the need for coaching-professionals, the British Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) was intransigent. They staunchly refused to sanction professional competitions in Britain, fearing they would provide a pathway away from amateurism, and propel the amateur to seek remuneration from their tennis. Coaching-professionals had little choice but to remain as 'servants' within their clubs, confined by the rigid class system and unyielding amateur ethos. Hitherto largely ignored within lawn tennis historiography, these men are the 'ghosts' of lawn tennis past.


The standard deviational ellipse is useful to analyze the shape and the length of a tropical cyclone (TC) track. Cyclone intensity at each six-hour position is used as the weight at that location. Only named cyclones in the Indian Ocean since 1981 are considered for this study. The K-means clustering algorithm is used to cluster Indian Ocean cyclones based on the five parameters: x-y coordinates of the mean center, variances along zonal and meridional directions, and covariance between zonal and meridional locations of the cyclone track. Four clusters are identified across the Indian Ocean; among them, only one cluster is in the North Indian Ocean (NIO) and the rest of them are in the South Indian Ocean (SIO). Other characteristics associated with each cluster, such as wind speed, lifespan, track length, track orientation, seasonality, landfall, category during landfall, total accumulated cyclone energy (ACE), and cyclone trend, are analyzed and discussed. Cyclone frequency and energy of Cluster 4 (in the NIO) have been following a linear increasing trend. Cluster 4 also has a higher number of landfall cyclones compared to other clusters. Cluster 2, located in the middle of the SIO, is characterized by the long track, high intensity, long lifespan, and high accumulated energy. Sea surface temperature (SST) and outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) associated with genesis of TCs are also examined in each cluster. Cyclone genesis is co-located with the negative OLR anomaly and the positive SST anomaly. Localized SST anomalies are associated with clusters in the SIO; however, TC geneses of Cluster 4 are associated with SSTA all over the Indian Ocean (IO).


Mycosis fungoides is a low-grade cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Early treatment often involves the use of topical chemotherapy such as mechlorethamine or carmustine although single-agent oral chemotherapy with alkylators is common for advanced disease. Recently, in a Phase I study of the new alkylating agent temozolomide, two mycosis fungoides patients experienced a complete response. The mechanism of resistance to alkylating drugs such as temozolomide is thought to be due to the presence in tumor cells of the DNA repair protein, O6-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase (AGT). The protein mediates a reaction with the O6-position of guanine in DNA, removing the lesion and leaving guanine intact. We, therefore, examined the levels of AGT in CD4+ T lymphocytes obtained by negative antibody selection from the blood of noncancerous individuals and mycosis fungoides patients, and in paraffin-embedded sections from mycosis fungoides patch, plaque, or tumor lesions and cells from involved lymph nodes. AGT protein levels were measured by quantitative immunofluorescence microscopy using a monoclonal antibody against human AGT. Using this approach, the mean level of our positive control (AGT-expressing cells) was 84,807 molecules/nucleus; values below 5,000 molecules/nucleus are considered very low. The mean AGT level in CD4+ T lymphocytes from noncancerous and cancerous individuals was 18,618 (n = 12) and 8,593 (n = 5), respectively. The mean fraction of outliers in circulating CD4+ T lymphocytes from mycosis fungoides patients was statistically significantly lower than T cells in lymph nodes. AGT molecules/nucleus from lymph node biopsies from 8 of 10 patients showed low (< 10,000 molecules/nucleus) or undetectable levels (n = 5) of AGT. The mean AGT level from samples of mycosis fungoides patch/plaque and tumor was also low at 221 (n = 4) and 2,363 (n = 6), respectively. Surprisingly, Hut78, a mycosis fungoides T-cell lymphoma cell line, was positive for AGT activity (median: 77,700 molecules/nucleus), and Hut102--another mycosis fungoides cell line--was low (median: 5,990 molecules/nucleus). Because AGT is a primary means of cell resistance to alkylating agents, the low level of AGT in neoplastic T lymphocytes from patients with mycosis fungoides suggests that treatment with alkylating agents producing O6-alkylguanine adducts, such as carmustine or temozolomide, may produce improved clinical outcomes.


Combinations of penicillins with beta-lactamase inhibitors have become acceptable treatments for mixed bacterial infections. The objective of this multicenter, randomized, open-label study was to compare the efficacy, safety, and tolerance of ticarcillin/clavulanate with clindamycin/gentamicin (with or without ampicillin) when administered to adult and pediatric patients with intra-abdominal infections. A total of 993 patients 2 years of age or older were entered in this trial if they had suspected or bacteriologically documented intra-abdominal infection. Of these, 341 were determined at the time of operation to have intra-abdominal infection. Cure rates at the time of final assessment were 79%, 80%, and 82% for ticarcillin/clavulanate, and clindamycin/gentamicin without or with ampicillin, respectively (P = 0.829, Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel). The most frequent reason for failure was development of an intra-abdominal abscess (6% of patients overall), followed by wound infections (4%), and persistent fever (3%). Two patients who had received ticarcillin/clavulanate and five who had received clindamycin/gentamicin required discontinuation of the study regimen because of adverse drug reactions. The bacteria isolated most frequently from study failures were E. coli, B. fragilis, Pseudomonas, and Streptococci. In this study, ticarcillin/clavulanate was as effective as the combination of clindamycin/gentamicin for the treatment of intra-abdominal infections.


THE SUCCESS achieved with hyperbaria in the treatment of anaerobic bacterial infections has explained neither the mechanism of anaerobic toxicity, nor the mode of action of the treatment. Investigations in both of these areas are being pursued in our laboratory. The present study is one of a series on the mechanism of clostridial toxicity (exotoxin shock). It has long been believed that certain vital organs play a more critical role in clostridial toxicity than do others. The concept of target organ toxicity, whether applied to exotoxin or endotoxin shock, is not new, but the evidence thus far accumulated to support this concept is not conclusive. It is evident that all vital organs are affected to varying degrees by any toxicity, but the possibility remains that the effects on specific organs may decide the nature of the clinical response, and consequently affect the treatment. A number of isolated findings, if taken


This thesis is about business incubators and focused on factors which are necessary to be considered to function properly as a business incubator. Furthermore, the focus of this thesis was to identify which practical challenges they face related to these factors and the differences between them. The problem area of our research relates to whether the specific situation of an incubator can affects its business model. The purpose of this research was to gain more insights on the needs of business incubators. Specifically, this was attempted by seeking relations between the different identified factors and their related problems. In order to achieve this, research has been conducted inductively. The empirical study was conducted through in-depth semi-structured interviews. These types of interviews provide the research detailed information and, at the same time, have a proper focus on relevant topics. This was necessary to identify valuable relationships and patterns. The interviews were conducted in Brazil, Sweden and the UK with five incubator managers and one business coach.(two research participants in each country). Next, the literature study was conducted focused on the relevant topics derived from the empirical research. As a research strategy , a multiple case study was chosen because the strength of a case study strategy lies in the fact that it can focus on the uniqueness of the case and develop a deeper understanding of its complexity. This fits our research since it was important to have a deep understanding of the specific situation of the business incubators to understand their needs and, therefore, the multiple case study strategy seemed to be in alignment with our research and appropriate to use. Based on the empirical research and the literature study factors were identified that are influencing an incubator's success. The factors were chosen to be divided into internal factor and external factors. The external factors have a stronger relation with the external environment of the incubator and are; (1) external funding, (2) networking & partnerships, (3) clear plan, and (4) location. The internal factors apply to the internal management of the incubator and relate more the incubatees and are as following; (1) selection incubatees, (2) internal management and (3) integration incubatees. The interpretation of these factors can differ per incubator. Our research identified the following elements which can influences this interpretation;government, development agencies, private companies, universities (external funding), national/international cooperation, private businesses, development agencies, other incubators, government (networking & partnerships), types of incubatees, types of services for incubatees, needs local of area (clear plan), high density population, high skill workforce, high number of SMEs, recognition of entrepreneurs, sources of technology and funding for incubatees (location), entrepreneur or idea focused, strict/flexible selection (selection incubatees), level of interaction with incubatees, on-site management (internal management), design of incubator, balanced mixing incubatees (integrating incubatees).These are the elements related to each factors which according to our findings can influence the business incubator model depending on their specific situation. Furthermore, our findings indicate that the view of the incubator itself on its role in the incubation process significantly can influence the business incubator model. Finally, one of our most important findings indicate it is highly beneficial for incubator to become self-funded. Therefore, this needs to be looked upon as a separate process and be incorporated in the business incubator model as well.


Bimetallic catalysts of Pd-Mo supported on g-Al2O3 were prepared to study the interaction of Pd-Mo in terms of their structural properties and their catalytic activity for the reaction of oxidative dehydrogenation of propane (ODHP). The catalysts contain distributions of PdMo loads between 0 and 5 wt %, and were characterized by total surface area (TSA), total pore volume (TPV), active surface area (ASA), XRD, and TEM-EDS. The results indicate that the addition of Mo to catalysts of Pd/g-Al2O3 modifies its catalytic activity for the ODHP reaction. The influence of the load relationship Pd-Mo in the catalytic activity was determined. Monometallic catalysts were prepared for purposes of comparison.


Recent demand for decentralized renewable energy on a small scale has led to the advancement of micro-wind turbines and customized control systems. In this work, the arising need for an innovative control system for small scale wind turbines particularly suited to a low wind speed urban environment has been addressed.
This work focuses on the stand-alone application of a vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT)
cross-flow prototype with the prospect of being able to grid-tie the system without any major modification to the control system. This constraint has led to the inclusion of a
magnetic brake with various advantages over conventional braking methods which are addressed in the literature review of this thesis. Furthermore, the latter revealed lack of
computerized models for the setup described, therefore it has been decided in this work to
focus on software-based controller development utilizing models which have been validated
by various experiments.
In the first development stage, a novel test bench prototype has been developed for prior
evaluation of the brake characteristics. The prototype has been utilized for deriving a model
dedicated to the low-speed region and for developing an efficient design strategy to be able to customize control systems for future small scale wind turbines.
The second development stage has been dedicated to the development of a suitable model
for the wind turbine. Different modelling strategies are evaluated, i. e. the use of look-up tables (LUT), analytical models and CFD models, and the most suitable selected. This work
uses an analytical model based on experimental data.
The third and last development stage leads to a software-based controller development
approach with emphasis on two control modes common in variable speed wind turbine control: a. braking to a reference speed once the maximum allowable rotor speed has been reached or exceeded and b. braking to track the maximum power point when a turbine has not yet reached its rated power. A supervisory control template is given for future development for use in an embedded microcontroller design.


By means of artificial neural network and Levenberg-Marquardt back-propagation training algorithm, the three components of vitamin B1, B2, B6 were determined simultaneously, in which the spectra overlapped. In the range of 390-520 nm, the fluorescence intensities at 15 wavelengths were taken as a character of the artificial neural network, and samples were arranged by the method of equality design. The mean recoveries of vitamin B1, vitamin B2, and vitamin B6 were 99.86%, 99.60% and 99.49% respectively. The RSDs of the results were 1.7%, 1.6%, and 1.7%.


Introduction: Acute hyperthermia is a common complication in the first 24 hours after open heart surgery with the incidence of 12% to 73%. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of postoperative peritoneal dialysis for controlling acute hyperthermia in pediatrics undergoing on-pump heart surgery. Methods: We reviewed clinical outcomes of 40 infants who underwent congenital surgery from August 2016 to August 2017. Patients were divided into two groups in terms of peritoneal dialysis requirement as group A and B. Demographic data, intraoperative and postoperative variables were compared between the patients. Results: Among the 40 high risk infants who underwent cardiac surgery, 20 patients were treated with peritoneal dialysis (group A). Mean rectal temperature and incidence of acute hyperthermia in 24h after surgery were higher in group A compared to group B (p ˂ 0.05). Infants in group A were younger, lighter and showed lower BSA compare to group B (p < 0.05). Also, higher concentration of serum potassium and lower urinary output were seen in group A compared to group B (p = 0.05). The incidence of neurological events was significantly higher in patients of group A (p < 0.05). Intubation time and intensive care unit stay was significantly more prolonged in the group A with peritoneal dialysis (p ˂ 0.05). Conclusion: Peritoneal dialysis performance was effective in treatment of induced hyperthermia in the first 24 h after operation. Indeed, younger age and lighter weight children are more prone to postoperative complication related to cardiopulmonary bypass surgery.


From an environmental, safety and economic perspective water should be the solvent of choice for electrophoretic deposition under industrial circumstances. However, because of the electrolytic decomposition of water under the influence of direct current, the majority of EPD is carried out in non-aqueous solvents. In this work, experiments prove that deposits can be obtained from aqueous alumina suspensions while avoiding electrolysis of the medium by using unbalanced alternating current fields [1]. In addition it is shown that the formed deposits have a green density which is intrinsically higher than those formed by traditional DC EPD from ethanol based suspensions. A theoretical basis for both electrophoretic deposition by means of unbalanced alternating fields and the higher density of deposits formed by application of such fields is provided.


Abstract This paper examines the interview narratives of bereaved individuals in Japan, drawing attention to the diversity of ways they attempted to achieve a good death for their loved ones. Such diversity, which has been perceived to reflect the multicultural and individualistic nature of post-modern Western, Anglophone societies, is also apparent in the Japanese context, a society that is post-modern, yet non-Western, with a strong sense of traditional and cultural hegemony. Such a culture, in which traditional forms continue to shape contemporary deathways, brings into sharp focus the way more generalised cultural norms find expression in the particularities and contingencies of daily living. In a system of medicalised dying, participants reinterpreted traditional deathways to incorporate more individualistic conceptions of personhood and negotiated contemporary approaches to accommodate traditional values. In emphasising the nature of the dying space, the demeanour of the dying person and their own role in the dying process, they negotiated competing demands of institutional dying, family loyalty, religious and spiritual values and personal autonomy. The variety of positions they adopted in relation to available cultural messages demonstrated the role of individuals in perpetuating, adapting, redefining or rejecting these to accommodate personal circumstances and priorities.


A concerted effort has been devoted to diversifying law schools. However, the focus has been almost exclusively on increasing the structural diversity of the student body rather than increasing diverse interactions. This study investigates the types of activities and experiences in law school that relate with more frequent diverse interactions. Findings illustrate several other factors, in addition to structural diversity, are related with more frequent diverse interactions. These factors include perceptions of a supportive and friendly law school environment, interactions with faculty members, positive relationships with other students, pro bono work, and being a member of a student organization.


Intended for readers new to the field, "Neurobiology of Alzheimer's Disease" also covers an extensive range of themes for those with in-depth knowledge of Alzheimer's disease. It will therefore act either as an introduction to the whole field of neurodegeneration or it will help experienced researchers to access the latest research in specialist topics. Each chapter is written by eminent scientists leading their fields in neuropathology, clinical practice and molecular neurobiology; appendices detail disease-associate proteins, their sequences, familial mutations and known structures.


Direct cell-to-cell spread of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) between T cells at the virological synapse (VS) is an efficient mechanism of viral dissemination. Tetherin (BST-2/CD317) is an interferon-induced, antiretroviral restriction factor that inhibits nascent cell-free particle release. The HIV-1 Vpu protein antagonizes tetherin activity; however, whether tetherin also restricts cell-cell spread is unclear. We performed quantitative cell-to-cell transfer analysis of wild-type (WT) or Vpu-defective HIV-1 in Jurkat and primary CD4 (cid:1) T cells, both of which express endogenous levels of tetherin. We found that Vpu-defective HIV-1 appeared to disseminate more efficiently by cell-to-cell contact between Jurkat cells under conditions where tetherin restricted cell-free virion release. In T cells infected with Vpu-defective HIV-1, tetherin was enriched at the VS, and VS formation was increased compared to the WT, correlating with an accumulation of virus envelope proteins on the cell surface. Increasing tetherin expression with type I interferon had only minor effects on cell-to-cell transmission. Furthermore, small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated depletion of teth- erin decreased VS formation and cell-to-cell transmission of both Vpu-defective and WT HIV-1. Taken together, these data demonstrate that tetherin does not restrict VS-mediated T cell-to-T cell transfer of Vpu-defective HIV-1 and suggest that under some circumstances tetherin might promote cell-to-cell transfer, either by mediating the accumulation of virions on the cell surface or by regulating integrity of the VS. If so, inhibition of tetherin activity by Vpu may balance requirements for efficient cell-free virion production and cell-to-cell transfer of HIV-1 in the face of antiviral immune responses.


For reduction of postoperative hernia relapses rate the technique of the autodermal plastics and transposition of musculus rectus abdominalis (MRA) was developed. This technique consists of two-sided transection of the lateral abdominal muscles (oblique and transverse) on the pararectal line, transposition of MRA together with their sheaths medially by autodermal continuous lacing to complete adaptation of the edges. Closing of the lateral muscle-aponeurotic defects was carried out with use of the double autodermal grafts which were prepared by Yanov's technique. This technique is indicated for giant postoperative hernias and pronounced diastase of the MRA in people with well developed abdominal muscles. This technique was used in 11 patients without complications after surgery. Long-term results are available for all the patients. The relapses were absent. The technique, developed by us, provides first of all restoration of physiological function of the MRA, and also closing of the abdominal wall muscle-aponeurotic defect.


A series of vanadium complexes bearing tridentate constrained cyclic β-enaminoketonato ligands, [RC6H3-(O)C=C(CH2)nCH=NC6H4SPh]VCl2(THF) (2a, n =1, R = H; 2b, n =1, R = C6H5; 2c, n = 2, R = C6H5; 2d, n = 3, R = C6H5), were synthesized and characterized, and the molecular structures of complexes 2b and 2c were further confirmed by X-ray crystal analysis. In the presence of ethyl trichloroacetate as reactivating agent, Et2AlCl activated vanadium complexes produced polyethylenes with unimodal distribution (PDI = 1.4-1.8) in high activities (107-108 gPE/molV•h). Complex 2b bearing phenyl at R position showed higher catalytic activity than complex 2a without bulky R group, and the catalytic properties of these catalysts could be easily tuned by varying the ligand structure and polymerization conditions. These tridentate vanadium complexes showed promising thermal stabilities and did not deactivate in 30 minutes. The copolymerization of ethylene with norbornene (NBE) and exo-1,4,4a,9,9a,10-hexahy-dro-9,10(1′,2′)-benzeno-1,4-methanoanthracene (HBM) were also efficiently catalyzed by these vanadium catalysts, and copolymers possessing high comonomer incorporations (NBE: 45.2 mol%; HBM: 25.2 mol%) and high glass transition temperature (NBE: 113°C; HBM: 191 °C) were obtained.


A new advanced plasma control system for the TCV Tokamak has been implemented based on an in-house developed high performance DSPs-based VME system, specially designed for real-time plasma control and event detection on fusion experiments. This paper describes the software architecture of the digital system as well as the integration of the physicists control algorithms in the DSPs software. The integration conditions on the TCV control system and the first results of the real-time control operation are also presented. Finally, a critical analysis of the system performance and the experimental operation of TCV APCS is discussed.