This multiauthor textbook, written mainly by the staff of the Indianapolis department, covers the differential diagnosis and management of neonatal lung disease. After introductory chapters on cardiopulmonary physiology there are excellent and practical chapters on resuscitation at birth, hyaline membrane disease, pneumothorax and other disorders of air dissection, surgical problems, congential heart disease, and neonatal apnoea. I particularly liked the practical approach to resuscitation and the emphasis on history taking in infants with respiratory disease. The chapter on radiology benefits from the excellent quality of reproduction of the x-rays. There is comparatively little on aspiration syndromes and pneumonia, though the prevention of lung infection in ventilated infants and the problems of differentiating early onset group B streptococcal disease are adequately covered, if slightly difficult to find in the text. The practicalities of managing severe hypoxaemia in these illnesses is to some extent covered in the one really disappointing and confusing chapter in the book, that on persistent foetal circulation (PFC). In that chapter it is not clear precisely which groups of babies they are discussing-is it just infants with isolated PFC, or are they also describing infants with neonatal lung disease who have severesecondarypulmonaryhypertension? The only thing that was clear from the chapter was that PFC is much more common in Indianapolis than in Britain; is there a message there? The second part of the book deals with the general medical management of infants in respiratory failure; blood gas analysis and monitoring; and the techniques and equipment used in ventilatory support. As in the first part of the book, the chapters are all clear and straightforward. There are only two problems: one is that much of it is written for the respiratory therapist-a subgenus of paramedic, that does not exist in Britainwith the result that the chapters on oxygen therapy and ventilators in particular contain far too much detail for the British market on the insides of bag and mask units, nebulisers, and ventilators; the other is that not only is there too much of this detail, but it does not deal with ventilators or apparatus widely used in Britain, such as that manufactured by British Oxygen, Vickers, and Draeger. Nevertheless, this is a useful book, clearly written by people who are obviously still in at the sharp end of neonatal respiratory care. Why the babies are ill, and what to do with them is clearly and concisely laid out, well referenced, and easy to find from the index. The book could, with advantage, be on the bookshelf of all neonatal intensive care units and be read and kept for reference by all paediatricians working in these.


A method for producing a conductive liquid silicone rubber composition having an excellent storage stability and Suit able for molding a conductive silicone rubber article with an arbitrary speed of curing and with good reproducibility of arbitrarily selected hardness and volume resistivity. The method comprises mixing component (A) which is a mixture of a conductive filler with a liquid diorganopolysiloxane having two or more silicon-bonded alkenyl groups in one molecule, component (B) which is a mixture of a conductive filler with a liquid diorganopolysiloxane having two or more silicon-bonded alkenyl groups in one molecule and a volume resistivity different from that of (A), component (C) a platinum-based catalyst; and component (D) which is a cross-linker that comprises an organopolysiloxane having two or more silicon-bonded hydrogen atoms in one mol ecule.


This study documents growing socio-economic inequalities in educational attainment over four recent U.S. cohort. It considers differential trends in the impact of several components of family background, such as family income, parental occupation, and parental education. Most importantly, this study includes an analysis of the changing importance of parental wealth. Using all waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics since 1984 and drawing on new methods for the comparison of effect sizes in non-linear models, I show that the associations between parental wealth and different measures of educational attainment are strong, that they have grown significantly over recent cohorts, and that they have grown faster than other socio-economic gaps in educational attainment. These results raise serious concerns about the implications of rapidly growing wealth inequality for the educational attainment of today's children.


Abstract It is a fact that the past research has explored service-dominant logic (S-D logic) and value co-creation in music marketing (Choi & Burnes 2013; Gamble & Gilmorex 2013; Gamble 2018; Saragih 2019), yet a key aspect of S-D logic, namely resource integration, is an unexplored territory and a promising phenomenon of study. A scattering of evidence demonstrates how actors, whether individuals or organisations, in the music industry are making value propositions and providing operand resources to users of platforms (Poell, Nieborg, & Van Dijck 2019), which may result in resource integration and commercial success at a quick pace and on a global scale. Using secondary data in an archival research approach (Welch 2000), this paper examines TikTok, a rapidly growing platform where users integrate short (e.g., under 15 s) clips of commercial music into user generated video content in which users dance to, lip-sync with, accept social challenges, integrate hashtags and create memes based on musical content. Further, there is a discussion on evidence about how music is being used by actors on TikTok in order to argue that (a) S-D logic (Vargo & Lusch 2016) is an insightful perspective through which one is able to understand music marketing; (b) music providers essentially make value propositions with their music that other actors, such as music consumers, can integrate into their lives through platforms like TikTok; (c) changes in technology affect such resource integration and how actors in the music industry can adapt to such change; (d) value-in-social-context (Edvardsson, Tronvoll, & Gruber 2010) is a driver of resource integration by users on the platform; and (e) this example of value created by users on TikTok is just one example of the many types of value which guide action and interaction on today's music platforms. The discussion and analysis is concluded with several implications for research and practice.


Objective: To evaluate the sonographic characteristics of the cloacal anomaly on prenatal ultrasound and to correlate with pathologic findings. Methods: From March 1991 to December 2002, eight cases with the persistent cloaca (4 cases in female 1 case in male) and cloacal exstrophy (3 cases) diagnosed by prenatal ultrasound examination were included, and all of them were pathologically confirmed by autopsy. One radiologist retrospectively analyzed the prenatal sonographic findings, including the urinary bladder, kidney, pelvic cyst, abdominal wall defect and amount of amniotic fluid. Results: The ultrasonographic diagnosis was established at 21.8 ± 7.8 weeks of gestation. The prenatal sonographic findings of the persistent cloaca were absent bladder (n = 2), distended bladder (n = 2), and small thick bladder (n = 1). Sonography of kidney showed normal (n = 2), hydronephrosis (n = 1), dysplasia (n = 1), and unilateral hydronephrosis with absent contralateral kidney (n = 1). Four fetuses showed septated pelvic cyst; three fetuses, oligohydramnios. The prenatal sonographic findings of cloacal exstrophy included absent bladder (n = 3), normal kidney (n = 1), hydronephrosis (n = 1), and absent kidney (n = 1). All fetuses with cloacal exstrophy had abdominal wall defect while two of them had ligohydramnios. Conclusions: A prenatal diagnosis of persistent cloaca can be confidently made when there is septated pelvic cyst combined oligohydramnios, sediments within the cyst and intraluminal calcifications. Cloacal exstrophy should be included in diagnosis if there is a low abdominal wall defect with absent urinary bladder.


Adipose tissue is no longer considered a mere energy reserve, but a metabolically and hormonally active organ strongly associated with the regulation of whole-body metabolism. Knowledge of adipose metabolic regulatory function is of great importance in cattle management, as it affects the efficiency and manner with which an animal converts feedstuff to milk, meat and fat. However, the molecular mechanisms regulating metabolism in bovine adipose tissue are still not fully elucidated. The emergence of next-generation sequencing technologies has facilitated the analysis of metabolic function and regulation at the global gene expression level. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of diets differing in protein and energy density level on gene expression in adipose tissue of growing replacement dairy heifers using next-generation RNA sequencing (RNAseq). Norwegian Red heifers were fed either a high- or low-protein concentrate (HP/LP) and a high- or low-energy roughage (HE/LE) diet from 3 months of age until confirmed pregnancy to give four treatments (viz, HPHE, HPLE, LPHE, LPLE) with different growth profiles. Subcutaneous adipose tissue sampled at 12 months of age was analyzed for gene expression differences using RNAseq. The largest difference in gene expression was found between LPHE and LPLE heifers, for which 1092 genes were significantly differentially expressed, representing an up-regulation of mitochondrial function, lipid, carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism as well as changes in the antioxidant system in adipose tissue of LPHE heifers. Differences between HPHE and HPLE heifers were much smaller, and dominated by genes representing NAD biosynthesis, as was the significantly differentially expressed genes (DEG) common to both HE-LE contrasts. Differences between HP and LP groups within each energy treatment were minimal. This study emphasizes the importance of transcriptional regulation of adipose tissue energy metabolism, and identifies candidate genes for further studies on early-stage obesity and glucose load in dairy cattle.


Background Ankle sprains are a prevalent musculoskeletal injury with a high risk of recurrence. This poses significant concern for both population health and athletic performance. Consequently, there is a significant amount of research examining strategies for treating and preventing acute and recurrent sprains. Several systematic reviews evaluating the efficaciousness of numerous different approaches have been undertaken. A single systematic appraisal of the evidence from these reviews is needed to consolidate the current literature and provide appropriate evidence-based guidelines for clinicians. Objective To evaluate and surmise the evidence from systematic reviews on interventions for preventing and treating acute/recurring ankle sprain injury. Design Systematic review. Setting Not applicable. Participants People with an acute/recurrent ankle sprains. Interventions Not applicable. Main outcome measurements Review quality was evaluated using the AMSTAR quality assessment tool. The primary outcomes of interest were injury/re-injury incidence, pain, swelling and function. Results Forty-five review papers (which themselves contained 307 separate reports) were included in this systematic review of reviews. The included reviews had a mean score of 7/11 on the AMSTAR quality assessment tool. There is strong evidence for bracing and moderate evidence for neuromuscular training in preventing recurrence of an ankle sprain injury. For the combined outcomes of pain, swelling and function after an acute sprain there is strong evidence for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and early mobilisation, with moderate evidence supporting neuromuscular training and manual therapy techniques. The efficacy of surgery and acupuncture are controversial in the treatment of acute ankle sprains. There is insufficient evidence to support the use of ultrasound in the treatment of acute ankle sprains. Conclusions This review surmises the evidence base for a number of interventions designed to treat and prevent acute ankle sprain and ankle sprain recurrence. This can guide clinicians to appropriate evidence based practice in the prevention and management of ankle sprain injuries.


Coral reefs are the most biodiverse of all marine ecosystems. Bacteria are known to be abundant and active in seawater around corals, inside coral tissues, and within their surface microlayer. Very little is known, however, about the structure, composition and maintenance of these bacterial communities. In the current study we characterize the culturable bacterial community within the mucus of healthy specimens of the Red Sea solitary coral Fungia scutaria. This was achieved using culture-based methods and molecular techniques for the identification of the bacterial isolates. More than 30% of the isolated bacteria were novel species and a new genus. The culturable heterotrophic bacterial community of the mucus of this coral is composed mainly of the bacterial groups Gammaproteobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria and of Actinobacteria. This study provides the first evidence of actinomycetes isolated from corals.


This dissertation gives the first detailed description of the phonetics and phonology of the intonation system of Unangan (Eastern Aleut), an indigenous Alaskan language. Twelve fluent speakers were recorded giving translations of elicited sentences. The recordings were analyzed instrumentally and the resulting data were 'smoothed' statistically to investigate patterns in the intonation contours. Five types of utterances were investigated: simple declaratives, yes/no questions, two-clause sentences, noun phrases, and focus contrast sentences. Findings include pitch range and distribution for eight of the speakers. Proposed intonation universals supported by Unangan facts are: declination, major syntactic constituency marking by intonation, falling tone associating with closed topics and rising tone associating with open topics, and (possibly) focus marking by pitch prominence. Language specific findings are: the isomorphy of words with intermediate phrases, a characteristic peak-trough contour for words, a characteristic 'cascade' contour for sentences, an apparent syntactic connection between noun phrase structure and intonation, and a sparse use, if any, of pitch accents since there is little evidence of pitch prominence associating with stressed syllables. Declarative and yes-no question contours contrast primarily in sentence-final voicing. A phonological account of the findings is provided using a two-level tone system. The tone inventory includes a H* pitch accent, H, L, LH, and ↑H phrase accents, and L% and H% boundary tones. This research expands the prosodic analysis of the Eskimo/Aleut language family, allowing for comparisons within and outside the family. The findings here for Unangan intonation parallel some aspects of the related language, Central Alaskan Yup'ik: e.g., there is a characteristic contour associated with content words; declaratives and yes-no questions appear to have similar contours.


Dietary zinc deficiency in combination with environmental exposure to methylbenzylnitrosamine (MBN) is associated with an increased incidence of esophageal carcinoma in man. The proposed mechanism of MBN-induced esophageal carcinoma is through metabolic activation of MBN to form benzaldehyde, and a carbonium ion which methylates DNA. MBN is known to methylate DNA forming O6-methylguanine (O6-MeG) adducts. These adducts can induce guanine to adenine point mutations and such mutations are responsible for certain carcinogen-induced tumors. Rats maintained on a zinc-deficient diet exhibit an increased incidence of MBN-induced esophageal carcinoma when compared with ad libitum and pair-fed controls. The caloric restriction of the pair-fed controls was associated with a lower incidence of MBN-induced esophageal carcinoma than was observed in the ad libitum controls. These differences in tumor incidence were associated with alterations in the formation and clearance of MBN-induced esophageal O6-MeG. Weanling male Sprague-Dawley rats were raised on egg protein diets containing 2.3 p.p.m. zinc (low zinc) or 50 p.p.m. zinc (control). One group of control animals was fed the control diet ad libitum and a second group pair-fed the control diet to match the intake of the zinc-deficient group. After 3 weeks on the diets the animals were injected with a single dose of MBN (2.0 mg/kg b.w.) and levels of esophageal O6-MeG were determined after 1, 3, 6 and 24 h. O6-MeG was significantly higher in the zinc-deficient animals than in controls, with the pair-fed controls demonstrating O6-MeG levels lower than the ad libitum controls. Thus, dietary zinc deficiency results in significantly increased levels of MBN-induced esophageal O6-MeG, and caloric restriction results in decreased levels of MBN-induced esophageal O6-MeG. These changes in esophageal O6-MeG may in part explain the increased incidence of MBN-induced esophageal carcinoma observed with dietary zinc deficiency.


This paper utilizes data reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment Survey (OES) to estimate relative cost-of-living (COL) indices for each state. Information Technology (IT) activity (as opposed to industry) is defined by employment in computer and math-related occupations (SOC 15). Occupational location quotients were calculated to identify the current distribution of IT. Money wages for these occupations were deflated by estimated state COL's to obtain real wages. Under the assumption that capital flows respond to relative money wages while labor responds to real salaries, future growth trajectories for currently specialized states as well as potentially specializing states are investigated. Results indicate a likely geographic dispersal of IT. Finally, policy recommendations are made.


Abstract: In order to enhance the content of secondary metabolites patchouli alcohol in Pogostemon cablin, we induced polyploid hairy roots and their plant regeneration, and determined the content of patchouli alcohol through artificial chromosome doubling with colchicine. The highest rate of polyploidy induction was more than 40% when hairy roots were treated with 0.05% colchicine for 36 h. The obtained polyploid hairy roots formed adventitious shoots when cultured in an MS medium with 6-BA 0.2 mg/L and NAA 0.1 mg/L for 60 d. Compared with the control diploid plants, the polyploid hairy root-regenerated plants of P. cablin had more developed root systems, thicker stems, shorter internodes and longer, wider and thicker leaves. Observation of the chromosome number in their root tip cells reveals that the obtained polyploid regenerated plants were tetraploidy, with 128 (4n = 128) chromosomes. The leaves contained around twice as many stomatal guard cells and chloroplasts as the controls, but the stomatal density declined with increasing ploidy. The stomatal density in diploid plants was around 1.67 times of that in polyploid plants. GC-MS analysis shows that the content of patchouli alcholol in the hairy root-derived polyploid plants was about 4.25 mg/g dry weight, which was 2.3 times of that in diploid plants. The present study demonstrates that polyploidization of hairy roots can stimulate the content of patchouli alcholol in medicinal plant of P. cablin.


Several methods for detecting the face and extracting the facial features and components exist in the literature. These methods are different in their complexity, performance , type and nature of the images and the targeted application. The facial features and componentsare used in security applications, robotics and assistance for the disabled. We use these components and characteristics to determine the state of alertness and fatigue for medical diagnoses. In this work we use plain color background images whose color is different from the skin and which contain a single face. We are interested inFPGA implementation of this application. This implementation must meet two const raints, which are the execution time and the FPGA resources. We have selected and have associated a face detection algorithm based on theskin detection (using the RGB space) with a facial-feature extraction algorithm based on trackingthe gradient and the geometric model.


This paper presents a novel bidirectional DC-DC converter with high conversion ratio for the renewable energy systems. The proposed converter uses the coupled-inductor technique to achieve high conversion ratio. Besides, this converter has simple circuit topology and simple control technique. In the discharging mode, the proposed converter likes two stage boost converters and only needs to control one active switch that can achieve high voltage step-up ratio conversion. When the charging mode, it likes two buck converters in cascaded, and the active switches are operated in the same duty cycle that can achieve high voltage step-down ratio conversion. This paper has analyzed the proposed converter operating principles, steady-state circuit characteristics. Eventually, a prototype circuit with conversion voltage 24 V/ 200 V and output power 200 W is implemented to verify the feasibility of the proposed converter. The maximum efficiency is about 94.3 % and 91.6% at discharging and charging mode respectively.


97 cases of typhoid fever in child are reported. This disease remains frequent and even severe in tropical zone where its evolution is of endemoepidemic type. Established fever, in spite of an appropriate treatment, is one of the main features of this disease. A certain number of clinical signs call for it; although classical, some others are less significant. Complications are frequent, without any correlation between the date of hospitalizing and the beginning of the disease. They are sometimes severe but mortality rate during hospitalization is quite low. Leukoneutropenia and thrombopenia are both exceptional. Blood culture and serology are always the background of any diagnosis, the latter appearing to the authors much more valuable than the former. Sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprime is an antibiotic to be recommended in first instance. Precocity of treatment has no influence on the time of apyrexia is appearing. If hopes put on oral vaccine could be confirmed, so it might be used on a large scale for children living in endemia zones.


In altricial birds, nestlings usually respond to the sound and appearance of the provisioning adults by begging for food when the adults arrive at the nest. Nestlings can, however, also beg incorrectly on hearing misleading sounds in the environment and fail to beg when the adult arrives. This study uses the blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus to test the hypotheses that nestling begging strategies are influenced by the reliability of the stimulus to beg, and that nestling motivational state affects the response to different stimuli. Here, we show experimentally that nestling hunger strongly influences the response to stimuli that vary in their reliability. While hunger increases begging rate, it also increases the likelihood that nestlings will beg when the parent is absent. This is in agreement with both the predictions of signal detection theory and recent empirical work on other species. We found, however, no evidence that age-related perceptual constraints influence the begging response of ten day old nestlings to different stimuli.


Simultaneous pre- and postsynaptic recordings from identified glycinergic inhibitory interneurons and the Mauthner cell showed that 25% of the afferents produced no or extremely small postsynaptic responses. Morphological determination of the number of contacts made by these cells on the Mauthner cell revealed a connectivity similar to that of functional neurons which always produce clear inhibitory postsynaptic potentials, suggesting that most of the endings, made by weak interneurons are silent. Intraaxonal injection of 4-aminopyridine or Ca2+ greatly enhanced transmission at functional connections but did not modify those which were ineffective. However, after eighth nerve tetanic stimuli, transmission at the weak connections was unmasked or enhanced for prolonged periods and was twice as likely to be potentiated, with a 6-fold greater mean enhancement than the potent ones. This result provides additional support for long-term potentiation of inhibitory synapses. Furthermore, weakly functional junctions represent a "reserve" pool which can be critical for the expression of plasticity within a network, and, consequently, for setting the threshold of reflex activities such as the escape reaction mediated by the Mauthner cell.


This report documents the design and implementation of a binocular, foveated active vision system as part of the Cog project at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. The active vision system features a three degree of freedom mechanical platform that supports four color cameras, a motion control system, and a parallel network of digital signal processors for image processing. To demonstrate the capabilities of the system, we present results from four sample visual-motor tasks.


New biomarkers are needed to improve knowledge about pathophysiology, in order to provide earlier correct diagnosis and to follow disease progression of the neurodegenerative diseases amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Parkinson's disease (PD). The aim of this thesis was to find new biomarkers for these diseases. First, increased serum levels and unchanged levels in postmortal spinal cord of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were demonstrated. VEGF was not detected in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in ALS. Second, increased levels of fibroblast growth factor 2 were found in the CSF and serum of ALS patients. Both studies used enzyme-linked immunoassays. Third, a proteomics method for CSF analysis was explored, based on tryptic digestion and subsequent separation and detection of the peptides by on-line liquid chromatography-Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry. ALS-specific patterns were observed. Four out of five samples were correctly assigned, but no single protein biomarker could be identified. Fourth, [11C](L)-deprenyl-D2 (DED) positron emission tomography (PET) demonstrated increased retention in the pons and white matter in ALS. DED binds to monoamino oxidase B, which in the brain is primarily located in astrocytes. Thus evidence was provided that astrocytosis may be detected in vivo in ALS. Fifth, normal [11C]-PIB binding in five nondemented patients with PD was reported, in contrast to previous findings of increased retention in Alzheimer's disease reflecting amyloid aggregation. Finally, the combined use of fluorodeoxyglucose and L-[β 11C]-DOPA PET for the differential diagnosis of parkinsonian syndromes was evaluated. PET provided support for the clinical diagnosis in 62 out of 75 patients, and served to exclude suspected diagnoses in another five patients.


Much of the literature on labor supply responsiveness to taxes studies the effects of payroll and income taxes together, usually using income tax changes to identify effects. There is less research on how individuals respond to payroll taxes specifically. Given the salience of the payroll tax relative to other income taxes, it is possible that taxpayers respond differentially than income tax elasticities may suggest. Using data from the Social Security Administration, I exploit two recent short-term changes in payroll taxes to study whether labor earnings responded. The Making Work Pay Tax Credit reduced the payroll tax by 6.2 percentage points up to $6,451 ($12,903 for couples) of earnings in 2009 and 2010. I test for bunching at this kink. In 2011, payroll taxes were reduced by 2 percentage points, changing the incentives to bunch at the taxable earnings maximum. While many papers on bunching must make assumptions on the distribution of earnings in the absence of taxes, an advantage of studying changes in payroll taxes is that it is possible to observe the distribution in different years under different tax regimes. I find evidence of bunching induced by the payroll tax changes. I estimate a tax elasticity of labor earnings of 0.08 at the taxable earnings maximum, suggests that policy proposals to raise or eliminate the payroll tax cap should consider labor supply behavioral responses to this policy. I also estimate larger responsiveness to the Making Work Pay Tax Credit.


Objective. To develop an automated algorithm to quantify background EEG abnormalities in full-term neonates with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. Approach. The algorithm classifies 1 h of continuous neonatal EEG (cEEG) into a mild, moderate or severe background abnormality grade. These classes are well established in the literature and a clinical neurophysiologist labeled 272 1 h cEEG epochs selected from 34 neonates. The algorithm is based on adaptive EEG segmentation and mapping of the segments into the so-called segments' feature space. Three features are suggested and further processing is obtained using a discretized three-dimensional distribution of the segments' features represented as a 3-way data tensor. Further classification has been achieved using recently developed tensor decomposition/classification methods that reduce the size of the model and extract a significant and discriminative set of features. Main results. Effective parameterization of cEEG data has been achieved resulting in high classification accuracy (89%) to grade background EEG abnormalities. Significance. For the first time, the algorithm for the background EEG assessment has been validated on an extensive dataset which contained major artifacts and epileptic seizures. The demonstrated high robustness, while processing real-case EEGs, suggests that the algorithm can be used as an assistive tool to monitor the severity of hypoxic insults in newborns.


Let f(x) be a complex rational function. In this work, we study conditions under which f(x) cannot be written as the composition of two rational functions which are not units under the operation of function composition. In this case, we say that f(x) is prime. We give sufficient conditions for complex rational functions to be prime in terms of their degrees and their critical values, and we derive some conditions for the case of complex polynomials. We consider also the divisibility of integral polynomials, and we present a generalization of a theorem of Nieto. We show that if f(x) and g(x) are integral polynomials such that the content of g divides the content of f and g(n) divides f(n) for an integer n whose absolute value is larger than a certain bound, then g(x) divides f(x) in Z[x]. In addition, given an integral polynomial f(x), we provide a method to determine if f is irreducible over Z, and if not, find one of its divisors in Z[x].


Passive Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags are powered by energy-harvesting charge pumps through AC-to-DC rectification of the wireless RF signal: typically a pulse-interval encoded (PIE) continuous-waveform (CW). These charge pumps are comprised of capacitors and diodes, the latter being the leading barrier of passive tag operation. Specifically, the pump diode turn-on voltage is responsible for limited tag sensitivity, read range, and reliability. The Power Optimized Waveform (POW) is a new, non-invasive transmission signal that improves RFID tag sensitivity by providing higher peak voltages without exceeding Federal Communications Commission (FCC) output power regulations. Two POWs that are tested are the 1-POW, comprised of two sinusoids centered about a carrier signal frequency, and the Square POW, the product of a carrier signal and a voltage modulating square wave. A Dickson charge pump was used to measure the power gain of POW versus CW. Spectral efficiency and charge pump efficiency were calculated at different transmit powers and POW frequency spacing. Positive gain was achieved at low transmit powers (< ~4 dBm), and higher frequency spacing, making POW preferable over CW in low power applications.


Cells in blood vessel walls express connexin (Cx)43, Cx40, and Cx37. We recently characterized gap junction channels in rat basilar artery smooth muscle cells and found features attributable not only to these three connexins but also to an unidentified connexin, including strong voltage dependence and single channel conductance of 30-40 pS. Here, we report data consistent with identification of Cx45. Immunofluorescence using anti-human Cx45 and anti-mouse Cx45 antibodies revealed labeling between alpha-actin-positive cells, and RT-PCR of mRNA from arteries after endothelial destruction yielded amplicons exhibiting 90-98% identity with mouse Cx45 and human Cx45. Dual-perforated patch clamping was performed after exposure to oligopeptides that interfere with docking of Cx43, Cx40, or Cx45. Cell pairs pretreated with blocking peptides for Cx43 and Cx40 exhibited strongly voltage-dependent transjunctional conductances [voltage at which voltage-dependent conductance declines by one-half (V1/2) = +/-18.9 mV] and small single channel conductances (31 pS), consistent with the presence of Cx45, whereas cell pairs pretreated with blocking peptide for Cx45 exhibit weaker voltage-dependent conductances (V1/2 = +/-37.9 mV), consistent with block of Cx45. Our data suggest that Cx45 is transcribed, expressed, and forms functional gap junction channels in rat cerebral arterial smooth muscle.


General circulation models of the atmosphere of hot Jupiters have shown the existence of a supersonic eastward equatorial jet. In this paper, we investigate the effects of compressibility on the atmospheric dynamics by solving the standard Euler equations. This is done by means of a series of simulations performed in the framework of the equatorial beta-plane approximation using the finite volume shock-capturing code RAMSES. At low resolution, we recover the classical results described in the literature: we find a strong and steady supersonic equatorial jet of a few km/s that displays no signature of shocks. We next show that the jet zonal velocity depends significantly on the grid meridional resolution. When that resolution is fine enough to properly resolve the jet, the latter is subject to a Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. The jet zonal mean velocity displays regular oscillations with a typical timescale of few days and a significant amplitude of about 15% of the jet velocity. We also find compelling evidence for the development of a vertical shear instability at pressure levels of a few bars. It seems to be responsible for an increased downward kinetic energy flux, significantly affecting the temperature of the deep atmosphere, and appears to act as a form of drag on the equatorial jet. This instability also creates velocity fluctuations that propagate upward and steepen into weak shocks at pressure levels of a few mbars. We conclude that hot Jupiter equatorial jets are potentially unstable to both a barotropic Kelvin-Helmholtz instability and a vertical shear instability. Upon confirmation using more realistic models, both instabilities could result in significant time variability of the atmospheric winds, may provide a small scale dissipation mechanism in the flow, and might have consequences for the internal evolution of hot Jupiters.


The economic success of state-led forms of capitalism in Russia, China and some other autocracies is one of the most challenging developments for existing typologies of comparative political economy research. For the OECD-World complex theories and models assess the interrelation of polity and economy (e.g., Hall/Soskice), while well defined and systematic approaches for autocracies are seldomly found. Most of the existing work are rather idiosyncratic case studies. We argue that by climbing up the ladder of abstraction (Sartori), we gain analytical leverage and comparability between cases and regions. That's why we've developped an idealtype called "incorporated capitalism." By looking at state-capitalist developments in China, Singapore, Saudi-Arabia or Russia, there is strong empirical evidence for a variety of "incorporated capitalism": bureaucratic market economies and patrimonial market economies. Why are those types of capitalism so successful? In order to answer this question correctly, we have to consider other questions first: 1) Which are the specific patterns of interaction between polity and economy? 2) What are the unique governance mechanisms in those incorporated capitalisms? Using mainly qualitative methods we will empirically proof our theoretical findings in order to decode the special complementarities of the bureaucratic and patrimonial market economy in those four real types mentioned above.


Caching at mobile devices and leveraging device-to-device (D2D) communication are two promising approaches to support massive content delivery over wireless networks. The analysis of cache-enabled wireless networks is usually carried out by assuming that devices are uniformly distributed, however, in social networks, mobile devices are intrinsically grouped into disjoint clusters. In this regards, this paper proposes a spatiotemporal mathematical model that tracks the service requests arrivals and account for the clustered devices geometry. Two kinds of devices are assumed, particularly, content clients and content providers. Content providers are assumed to have a surplus memory which is exploited to proactively cache contents from a known library, following a random probabilistic caching scheme. Content clients can retrieve a requested content from the nearest content provider in their proximity (cluster), or, as a last resort, the base station (BS). The developed spatiotemporal model is leveraged to formulate a joint optimization problem of the content caching and spectrum partitioning in order to minimize the average service delay. Due to the high complexity of the optimization problem, the caching and spectrum partitioning problems are decoupled and solved iteratively using the block coordinate descent (BCD) optimization technique. To this end, an optimal and suboptimal solutions are obtained for the bandwidth partitioning and probabilistic caching subproblems, respectively. Numerical results highlight the superiority of the proposed scheme over conventional caching schemes under equal and optimized bandwidth allocations. Particularly, it is shown that the average service delay is reduced by nearly 100% and 350%, compared to the Zipf and uniform caching schemes under equal bandwidth allocations, respectively.


The performance of any nitrifying wastewater treatment processes are closely linked to the microbial community structure and dynamics. In this work, the effects of low–intermittent DC electrical filed on the change of nitrifying community structure and process performance were examined. Microbial populations and dynamics were characterized using fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) techinque. The results demonstrated that submerged membrane electro– bioreactor (SMEBR) system achieved substantial nitrification rates comparing to conventional MBR system. FISH analysis indicated a dominance of different nitrifiering bacteria in both reactors, which could be a reason for the variation in nitrification performance. In SMEBR system, rapid nitrifiers such as AOB (Nitrosomonas spp.) and NOB (Nitrobacter spp.) were dominated. In contrast, control MBR was occupied by slower nitrifiers groups like AOB (Nitrosospira spp.) and NOB (Nitrospira spp.). Such findings are of importance to design more effective nitrifying–based process, while more cost–saving opportunities are offered.


Many challenging problems of scientific, technological, and societal significance require us to aggregate information supplied by multiple agents into a single piece of information of the same type—the collective information representing the stance of the group as a whole. Examples include expressive forms of voting and democratic decision making (where citizens supply information regarding their preferences), peer evaluation (where participants supply information in the form of assessments of their peers), and crowdsourcing (where volunteers supply information by annotating data). In this position paper, I outline the challenge of modelling, handling, and analysing all of these diverse instances of collective information using a common methodology. Addressing this challenge will facilitate a transfer of knowledge between different application domains, thereby enabling progress in all of them.


There is a large number of roof mounted Photovoltaic (PV) power generation installation systems for domestic applications. However, the roof inclination angle and the direction are not only fixed but also not at the recommended values. As a result, consumers are often misled because the published output power generated from such systems is given for ideal conditions.

The project has investigated the cost and the performance characteristics of two different makes of PV panels and their power output due to variations in inclination angle, direction, temperature, shading and aging effects.

A dual Panel Frame was constructed to carry out the tests on the two different PV modules. The project uses a data acquisition Lab-Jack U6 device to collect data and analyse the effects of the mentioned variables and compares their output with variations.

The need to understand the effects of these variations is important particularly to consumers and engineers and the information in this report is beneficial to them.

While there are some published information, one of the interesting findings in this dissertation is the effects of shading on panels, the report highlights the energy generated from a particular PV module or a system compared to its rated value. Other information presented allows consumers to make better judgement about buying their own PV systems.


Economic theories for policy are naturally biased either to capitalism or socialism, in ideological opposition. The theories are used as rhetorical tools by right or left politicians to argue for less or more government spending. The reality is: most economies are at least to some extent socialist determined by the sizes of their governments. What is the size limit of government above which a capitalist economy transitions to a more recognizably socialist one? This paper determines empirically for a capitalist economy a sustainable upper bound based on the size of government as measured by total expenditure relative to gross domestic product (GDP). It is shown that government total expenditure above 25 percent of GDP usually leads to budget deficits which depress rather than stimulate economic growth, resulting eventually in economic stagnation and potentially collapse.


Abstract Background and purpose: Induced travel demand (ITD) is a phenomenon where road construction increases vehicles' kilometers traveled. It has been approached with econometric models that use elasticities as measure to estimate how much travel demand can be induced by new roads. However, there is a lack of "white-box" models with causal hypotheses that explain the structural complexity underlying this phenomenon. We propose a system dynamics model based on a feedback mechanism to explain structurally ITD. Methodology: A system dynamics methodology was selected to model and simulate ITD. First, a causal loop diagram is proposed to describe the ITD structure in terms of feedback loops. Then a stock-flows diagram is formulated to allow computer simulation. Finally, simulations are run to show the quantitative temporal evolution of the model built. Results: The simulation results show how new roads in the short term induce more kilometers traveled by vehicles already in use; meanwhile, in the medium-term, new traffic is generated. These new car drivers appear when better flow conditions coming from new roads increase attractiveness of car use. More cars added to vehicles already in use produce new traffic congestion, and high travel speeds provided by roads built are absorbed by ITD effects. Conclusion: We concluded that approaching ITD with a systemic perspective allows for identifying leverage points that contribute to design comprehensive policies aimed to cope with ITD. In this sense, the model supports decision- making processes in urban contexts wherein it is still necessary for road construction to guarantee connectivity, such as the case of developing countries.


Monocyte-chemoattractant protein-induced protein 1 (MCPIP1, or Regnase-1) is an endoribonuclease that degrades translationally active mRNA molecules. MCPIP1 is mostly known for its anti-inflammatory actions, but it is also an important regulator of adipogenesis and lipid metabolism. Its overexpression impairs adipogenesis by reducing mRNA levels of C/EBPβ and PPARγ, key transcription factors regulating this process. Although adipocytes overexpressing MCPIP1 are characterised by impaired glucose uptake, the function of MCPIP1 in hepatocyte metabolism remains unknown. In this study, conditional deletion of Zc3h12a in murine liver epithelial cells was used to characterise the role of Mcpip1 in adaptation to 24-hour food restriction. We found that Mcpip1 deficiency in liver epithelial cells (Mcpip1fl/flAlbCre mice) resulted in higher blood glucose levels in response to fasting in comparison to Mcpip1fl/fl counterparts. Hepatic proteome analysis showed 26 down-regulated and 117 up-regulated proteins in Mcpip1fl/flAlbCre animals that were involved in cellular adhesion, extracellular matrix and metabolic processes. In conclusion, our studies provide new insight into the hepatic function of Mcpip1 and its involvement in metabolic control.


On ocean beds around the world sinking particles of residual biomass from animals and vegetation have, over time, accumulated into thick layers of sediment. For researchers these layers of sediment contain valuable information about the earth's past climate, information that can be used to predict future climate change and to estimate natural vs. human causes of today's global warming.The Institute of Geosciences at Stockholm University studies sediment cores that have been acquired with an apparatus called piston corer. For future coring expeditions additional piston corers are needed. However, the dimensions of the current piston corer only allow use of specially ordered polycarbonate pipes which are used as liners. This pipe is relatively expensive compared to pipes of other plastic materials and of standard dimensions. In order to lower the cost of upcoming coring expeditions a new piston corer design, that allows use of standard dimension plastic pipes as liners, is required.The process of redesigning the piston corer offers an opportunity to identify structural disadvantages and generate ideas on improvements that can be accomplished in a new construction. It also offers an opportunity to satisfy a need to increase the dimensions of the liners in order to acquire a larger volume of sediment, thereby increasing the reliability of the information gathered when examining the sediment. This thesis paper presents the process of redesigning and improving the piston corer currently used by Stockholm University. The resulting design allows use of standard dimension PVC pipes as liners. It has also been improved regarding the process of extruding liners after recovering sediment cores as well as performance and handling.


Transfer learning is known to perform efficiently in many applications empirically, yet limited literature reports the mechanism behind the scene. This study establishes both formal derivations and heuristic analysis to formulate the theory of transfer learning in deep learning. Our framework utilizing layer variational analysis proves that the success of transfer learning can be guaranteed with corresponding data conditions. Moreover, our theoretical calculation yields intuitive interpretations towards the knowledge transfer process. Subsequently, an alternative method for network-based transfer learning is derived. The method shows an increase in efficiency and accuracy for domain adaptation. It is particularly advantageous when new domain data is sufficiently sparse during adaptation. Numerical experiments over diverse tasks validated our theory and verified that our analytic expression achieved better performance in domain adaptation than the gradient descent method.


Biopsy precious research has an important relationship with treatment efficiency and side effect complication. Most of the investigation is focus on the non-creatural material which is used to substitute creatural soft tissue for precious research. The aim of this paper is to develop a prescription that can be used for opaque and transparent PVA making which has similar mechanics property to the creatural tissue. The preparation, characteristics, and the results of PVA hydrogel on the composite material are studied as the key investigation. Porcine liver tissue property is also tested as a consultant for PVA material preparation. Comparing with the liver tissue test result, certain component ratio and freezing-thaw circle are determined. This PVA hydrogel material shows big potential in the creatural material substitution application. This research will benefit others who are interested in using non-creatural material to do experiment or surgical technology training.


The prerequisites and consequences of reformed relations between the state and society under the influence of the 4th industrial revolution and the requirements of sustainable development are reviewed in this article. The researchers offer to use the perception of governmental actions by society as a criterion to determine the role of the state in the conditions of digitalization. This allows identifying the features of various state aspects (monopolist, assistant and illusion). The authors identify the best tool which has acquired new social value in Ukraine, the dialogue. Having studied the features of public organizations, the authors structured the primary challenges and summarized the results (both positive and negative) of their activities in the context of digitalization. Special attention was paid to the adaptation of state administration to requirements of the 4th industrial revolution.


Mapping of debris-covered glaciers using remote-sensing techniques is recognized as one of the greatest challenges for generating glacier inventories and automated glacier change analysis. The use of visible (VIS) and near-infrared (NIR) bands does not provide sufficient continual information to detect debris-covered ice with remote-sensing data. This article presents a semi-automated mapping method for the debris-covered glaciers of the Garhwal Himalayas based on an Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) digital elevation model (DEM) and thermal data. Morphometric parameters such as slope, plan curvature and profile curvature were computed by means of the ASTER DEM and organized in similar surface groups using cluster analysis. A thermal mask was generated from a single band of an ASTER thermal image, while the clean-ice glaciers were identified using a band ratio based on ASTER bands 3 and 4. Vector maps were drawn up from the output of the cluster analysis, the thermal mask and the band ratio mask for the preparation of the final outlines of the debris-covered glaciers using geographic information system (GIS) overlay operations. The semi-automated mapped debris-covered glacier outline of Gangotri Glacier derived from 2006 ASTER data varied by about 5% from the manually outlined debris-covered glacier area of the Cartosat-1 high-resolution image from the same year. By contrast, outlines derived from the method developed using the 2001 ASTER DEM and Landsat thermal data varied by only 0.5% from manually digitized outlines based on Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS)-1C panchromatic (PAN) data. We found that post-depositional sedimentation by debris flow/mass movement was a great hindrance in the fully automated mapping of debris-covered glaciers in the polygenetic environment of the Himalayas. In addition, the resolution of ASTER stereo data and thermal band data limits the automated mapping of small debris-covered glaciers with adjacent end moraine. However, the results obtained for Gangotri Glacier confirm the strong potential of the approach presented.


More than any other building type in the twentieth century, the hospital was connected to transformations in the health of populations and expectations of lifespan. From the scale of public health to the level of the individual, the architecture of the modern hospital has reshaped knowledge about health and disease and perceptions of bodily integrity and security. However, the rich and genuinely global architectural history of these hospitals is poorly understood and largely forgotten.

This book explores the rapid evolution of hospital design in the twentieth century, analysing the ways in which architects and other specialists reimagined the modern hospital. It examines how the vast expansion of medical institutions over the course of the century was enabled by new approaches to architectural design and it highlights the emerging political conviction that physical health would become the cornerstone of human welfare.


The Brody hypothesis proposes that alterations in end-diastolic blood volume will produce changes in the magnitude of cardiac electrical potentials recorded at the body surface. To test this hypothesis, several procedures that affect end-diastolic volume were applied in 28 anesthetized domestic piglets. The pig dipole moment magnitude curve is typified by two peaks, designated M2 and M3, which responded to these procedures. Doubling heart rate by electrical pacing or hemorrhage of 20 ml/kg produced reduction in M2 by 30% and 29%, respectively. M3 rose by 27% and 29%, respectively, under these two conditions. Reduction of end-diastolic volume by partial occlusion of the vena cava produced similar effects. Maneuvers increasing end-diastolic volume produced directionally opposite effects. Temporary aortic coarctation of phenylephrine injection caused an increase in M2 with no change in M3, accompanied an acute elevation of arterial pressure. Thus, the pig electrocardiogram shows changes, attributable to adjustments in end-diastolic volume, consistent with the Brody hypothesis, suggesting potentials for this technique in monitoring changes in end-diastolic volume.


BiFeO_3 (BFO) p-type semiconducting nanofibers were deposited on fluorine-doped SnO_2 substrates by a combination of electrospinning (BiFeO_3) and spin-coating (Fe_2O_3) procedures. Photocurrent density values of BFO nanofibers which increased with the annealing temperature to values six times larger were obtained. Different amounts of BFO nanofibers (5,10, and 25 wt%) were also integrated into α -Fe_2O_3 films. The photocurrent density of the α -Fe_2O_3/BFO nanofiber films had the highest value for a 10 wt% BFO nanofibers. The anisotropy in charge transport due to the underlying nanofibrous pathways which prevented the charge carrier recombination was the main cause for the enhancement of the photocurrent density.


In the past, in deciding whether to admit testimony about a particular scientific technique or theory, American courts have largely relied on proxies for the validity of the theory or technique. Rather than directly evaluating the empirical data relevant to the validity question, the courts have turned to surrogates for validity. For example, they have employed such proxies as general acceptance by laypersons in the marketplace, general acceptance by experts in the relevant specialty field, and approval by governmental administrative agencies. To justify such reliance, the American appellate courts have often asserted that trial judges are incompetent to resolve genuine "battles of the experts" and that untrained lay jurors are inclined to overestimate the trustworthiness of expert testimony.This reliance on proxies has been sharply criticized. To begin with, numerous psychological studies have called into question the assertion that lay juries are naively overawed by expert testimony. More importantly, the use of proxies has led to false negatives as well as false positives. Even if a theory lacks the requisite popularity or approval, the available empirical data may demonstrate its validity. Conversely, even when a theory enjoys the required popularity or approval, the data may establish its invalidity. Thus, there is significant tension between the use of proxies and the priority on rectitude of decision under the truth theory of adjudication.In 1993 in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the United States Supreme Court ruled that federal judges may no longer use the proxy of general acceptance by specialists as the test for determining the admissibility of scientific testimony. At the same time, the Court mandated that lower federal courts employ an essentially epistemological approach to determining whether the proffered testimony qualifies as admissible "scientific . . . knowledge" under Federal Rule of Evidence 702. The majority of states have adopted some variation of this test. The Daubert decision is challenging. The courts are writing on a tabula raza because, during the era of proxies, the courts accumulated little experience dealing directly with the empirical data relating to the validity of scientific theories. Daubert now mandates that judges do so.American law has taken several steps to ensure that judges, jurors, and attorneys are up to the challenge assigned them by Daubert. To begin with, many American jurisdictions have greatly expanded the breadth of the pretrial discovery of expert information. This expansion gives the litigant a fair opportunity to critically evaluate the scientific reasoning of the opponent's expert witness. In addition, there has been a proliferation of texts, courses, and continuing education programs designed to familiarize law students, lawyers, and judges with the rudiments of scientific methodology. Further, there has been an increase in the use of court-appointed experts and special masters in cases involving extensive scientific testimony.There is no guarantee that even with the benefit of these measures, the American legal system will meet the challenges posed by the abandonment of proxies. However, there is good reason to be hopeful. In the past, particular segments of American legal practice such as the patent bar have demonstrated their ability to work with sophisticated expert information. In those areas, the bench and bar have proven themselves to be educable. In addition, as Sir Karl Popper famously observed, in the final analysis the scientific method is simply "common sense writ large." This topic is significant for three reasons. First, American litigants offer expert testimony in the vast majority of cases that go to trial. The courts' ability to properly assess the expert testimony can determine the quality of the justice dispensed by the courts. Second, if the doubts about layperson's ability to critically assess evidence have been overstated, it may be time to reconsider some of the other exclusionary rules such as the hearsay doctrine. Finally, the topic has broader implications for the issue of the courts' institutional competence.


Drug dosing in neonates should be based on integrated knowledge concerning the disease to be treated, the physiological characteristics of the neonate, and the pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of a given drug. It is critically important that all sources of information be leveraged to optimize dose selection for neonates. Sources may include data from adult studies, pediatric studies, non-clinical (juvenile) animal models, in vitro studies, and in silico models. Depending on the drug development program, each of these modalities could be used to varying degrees and with varying levels of confidence to guide dosing. This paper aims to illustrate the variability between neonatal drug development programs for neonatal diseases that are similar to those seen in other populations (meropenem), neonatal diseases related but not similar to pediatric or adult populations (clopidogrel, thyroid hormone), and diseases unique to neonates (caffeine, surfactant). Extrapolation of efficacy from older children or adults to neonates is infrequently used. Even if a disease process is similar between neonates and children or adults, such as with anti-infectives, additional dosing and safety information will be necessary for labeling, recognizing that dosing in neonates is confounded by maturational PK in addition to body size.


This paper introduces a simple macroeconomic time series model incorporating a key concept of GDP elasticity with respect to population (population elasticity). Using this model, we conducted empirical analyses of 158 countries each covering 25 to 180 years of history. As a result, we found first that the estimated population elasticity demarcated the countries according to regime, showing clearly whether a country was in the 'Malthusian regime', in the 'modern growth regime' or in the 'postmodern regime'. We found that the poorest countries as well as some oil-rich countries were in the Malthusian regime. The modern growth regime prevailed in most European, Asian and American countries in the 20th century. We then predicted long-term real GDP for each country while they stayed in modern growth regimes. Third, we observed that both Germany and Japan went into a postmodern regime after a demographic transformation. Focusing on Japan, we argued that if the nation remained in the modern growth regime, it would face a precipitous decline in GDP. We suggested that Japan must reduce dependence on population as a source of growth in the postmodern era. This lesson might be important for the two thirds of countries in the world that are expected to enter a postmodern regime around the middle of this century.


Objectives This report from the LEADER (Liraglutide Effect and Action in Diabetes: Evaluation of Cardiovascular Outcome Results) trial describes baseline lipase and amylase activity in type 2 diabetic subjects without acute pancreatitis symptoms before randomization to the glucagonlike peptide analog liraglutide or placebo. Methods The LEADER is an international randomized placebo-controlled trial evaluating the cardiovascular safety of liraglutide in 9340 type 2 diabetic patients at high cardiovascular risk. Fasting lipase and amylase activity was assessed at baseline, before receiving liraglutide or placebo, using a commercial assay (Roche) with upper limit of normal values of 63 U/L for lipase and 100 U/L for amylase. Results Either or both enzymes were above the upper limit of normal in 22.7% of subjects; 16.6% (n = 1540) had an elevated lipase level (including 1.2% >3-fold elevated), and 11.8% (n = 1094) had an elevated amylase level (including 0.2% >3-fold elevated). In multivariable regression models, severely reduced kidney function was associated with the largest effect on increasing activity of both. However, even among subjects with normal kidney function, 12.2% and 7.7% had elevated lipase and amylase levels. Conclusions In this large study of type 2 diabetic patients, nearly 25% had elevated lipase or amylase levels without symptoms of acute pancreatitis. The clinician must take these data into account when evaluating abdominal symptoms in type 2 diabetic patients.


We investigate how sociology students garner recognition from niche field audiences through specialization. Our dataset comprises over 80,000 sociology-related dissertations completed at U.S. universities, as well as data on graduates' pursuant publications. We analyze different facets of how students specialize—topic choice, focus, novelty, and consistency. To measure specialization types within a consistent methodological frame, we utilize structural topic modeling. These measures capture specialization strategies used at an early career stage. We connect them to a crucial long-term outcome in academia: becoming an advisor. Event-history models reveal that specific topic choices and novel combinations exhibit a positive influence, whereas focused theses make no substantial difference. In particular, theses related to the cultural turn, methods, or race are tied to academic careers that lead to mentorship. Thematic consistency of students' publication track also has a strong positive effect on the chances of becoming an advisor. Yet, there are diminishing returns to consistency for highly productive scholars, adding important nuance to the well-known imperative of publish or perish in academic careers.


This paper has presented a discussion of the three overlapping phases in the regulation of psychiatric treatment: consent, patients' rights, and physicians' duties. The concepts of consent are relatively well defined. Still, the courts sometimes utilize the rubric of consent to decide difficult cases (e.g., Clites). One can predict that litigation attempting to further define the specific aspects of consent for high-risk therapies will continue. Because of the court's decision in Youngberg, one can also predict that there will be more litigation as to the constituents of constitutionally-adequate treatment. Given the court's dicta in that case, about deferring to professional judgment, it is impossible to know how these cases will fare if and when they are reviewed by the Supreme Court. Given the court's decisions in Mills and Rennie, it is unlikely that the Supreme Court will be ruling on a broad constitutionally-based right to refuse treatment for some time. The most active interface of psychiatry and law is that detailing physicians' duties. In terms of dangerousness, the majority of cases require that psychiatrists attempt to protect victims, or classes of victims, when they believe that dangerous conduct is apt to occur. Still unclear is the extent to which the courts will inquire specifically into the clinical decision-making process to determine whether the physician "reasonably should have known" that the patient was dangerous. Also unclear is the extent to which the courts will find that physicians owe a duty to an ill-defined class. Still, a reasonable guess would be that other courts will find Lipari persuasive. Finally, with regard to specific treatment modalities, it is evident that physicians are being required to practice with an extra measure of care and caution when prescribing neuroleptics, ECT, or psychosurgery. One final note: Too often, physicians have been leery of the political process. Since many decisions with great impact on patients and practitioners are political, this author would urge physicians to engage in that process to secure more reasonable and more equitable medical regulation.


The book includes one hundred colour plates accompanied by in-depth descriptions, as well as numerous black-and-white photographs of the masks as they are used in religious and secular ceremonies. An introductory text by renowned scholars describes how the masks are made, examines their significance in African culture and offers insight into the universal practice of masquerading. A unique contribution to the literature on African art, this book is also a wonderful introduction to countless fascinating, age-old spiritual traditions still practised today.


Eurasian integration has created a new legal order – the so-called "Union law" of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). This legal order has its own narrative, principles, hierarchy of rules, and innovations such as the direct applicability of decisions of its regulatory body. Russian legal order is generally accommodating towards international law, which is equally applicable to Union law. However, the recent practice of the Russian Constitutional Court has claimed that Russia can set aside international obligations based on national constitution, which indirectly targets the viability of the EAEU legal order. This is further complicated by the Eurasian judiciary, which, as the main interpretative authority within the integration, has tried to take on an activist role, somewhat borrowing approaches from the European Union. In its turn, the Russian Constitutional Court has voiced its differences in certain approaches. This variability of practices and approaches clearly undermines the "unity" of the EAEU legal order and the interweaving of national and regional legal frameworks. This article analyses the relationship of the two legal orders to assess the possibilities for tensions between them. It points out the sources of such tensions, which lie in certain indeterminacies within the EAEU legal order, temptations to assert power, and recent far-reaching practices of the Russian Constitutional Court.


The author analyzed the effectivity of the treatment in 602 patients with delirium tremens observed for three years. The first group, 395 patients, received along with the desintoxicational therapy-neuroleptics (aminazin, tizercin, haloperidol). In the second group (207 patients) the treatment was carried out without neuroleptics, the patients received massive desintoxication in the form of drop infusions of solutions with the inclusion of tranquilizers as well (seduxen). The indices of lethality and the average duration of the stay in hospitals were used as criteria of the treatment efficiency. In the second group these indices were much lower: lethality -- 4,4 times less, the duration of the treatment twice less. The data obtained testify against the use of neuroleptics in the treatment of delirium tremens.


. This research aims are: 1) to improve writing skills again through the application of cooperative learning in the type of think talk write, and 2) to describe the results of the application of cooperative learning in the type of think talk write. This research is a class action research with two cycles. The subjects of this study were 4th grade students at Karangasem III Elementary School Surakarta in the academic year 2019/2020, totaling 31 students. This study uses data collection techniques in the form of interviews, observation, documentation analysis and tests with content validity data analysis, technical triangulation and source triangulation. Analysis of the data used is describing comparative analysis and Miles-Huberman interactive analysis models. The conclusion is that the writing skills of the 4th grade students at Karangasem III Elementary School in Surakarta in the academic year 2019/2020 can be improved through cooperative learning in the type of think talk write. The results of this study have contributed to the world of education as an alternative to solving the psychomotor domain, namely the ability to rewrite narrative texts


Background Cystic fibrosis related diabetes (CFRD) is a combination between reduced insulin secretion and peripheral insulin resistance that only people with cystic fibrosis can get. CFRD is associated with a decline in lung function, poor nutritional status and high mortality rate. Aim Study of the clinical course and therapeutic management in adolescents with CFRD. Methods We present 2 cases of CFRD in a female patient (15 years old) and a male patient (17 years old) hospitalised at the CF Centre. The diagnosis of CF was confirmed by positive sweat test (Macroduct USA), identification of CFTR mutation (F508del/F508del), small amounts of elastase in stool. Confirmation of diabetes was achieved by a blood glucose test, blood glucose profile, glycosylated Hb, C peptide, glucose and ketones in urine. Results On the background of pulmonary exacerbation, both patients had hyperglycemia (9.8/14.1 mmol/l). Subsequently, it triggered clinical syndromes suggestive for diabetes - polydipsia, polyuria, weight loss. Glycemic profile variations 7.8–15.8 mmol/l in boy and 10.4–21.0 mmol/l in girl. Glycosylated Hb values were high (7.3/14.1%) and C-peptide values were low (0.624/0.513). Glucose concentration in urine was 7.3/37.1 g/l and ketones was not detected. Diabetes treatment was performed with Insulin (Glargine, Aspart, Human), which produced clinical benefits by achieving glycemic and clinical syndromes control. Conclusions Patients with CFRD shows a specific clinical framework and require a strict medical diet control and surveillance of the insulin therapy, case that differs from the other types of diabetes. If early introduced, it significantly improves life expectancy towards these patients.


This note presents relevant interventions that have aimed to stimulate rural economies a natural disaster based on case studies from the Philippines, Turkey, and Pakistan. Introducing new, untested infrastructure methods or designs involves careful analysis and may delay reconstruction. If this level of analysis is not completed, the reconstructed infrastructure may not meet expectations. For example, in Turkey, the Erzincan earthquake, new earthquake-resistant barns were built according to designs approved by the state. However, the insulation was insufficient for such an intemperate region so farmers abandoned the barns or used them for other purposes. In reconstruction work, relying on simple, well-tested, and easily scalable solutions may be more efficient if an appropriate level of analysis of innovation is not available. The priority for farmers and for other businesses is to reestablish their livelihoods as soon as possible. For farmers this means getting back to their land and/or livestock to maintain seasonally driven activities. This need to restart economic activities is often more urgent than the reconstruction of dwellings or other critical infrastructure.


In today's industry of highly dependable, unique, complex products, it is a commonplace situation when it is required to obtain an estimate of gamma-percentile storing life (GPSL) or gamma-percentile time to failure (GPTF) (hereinafter referred to as GPL, meaning GPSL or GPTF respectively) based on tests that did not produce any failures. Normally, a test plan is classified as binomial tests or tests with limited time and recovery. GPTF is understood as the operation time during which no failure occurs with the probability γ expressed as percentage. Similarly, GPSL is understood as the total schedule time of product storage during and after which the product is able to perform the required function with the probability γ expressed as percentage. The Aim of this paper is to find such estimate of GPL that would be simple and more efficient as compared to the conventional one and not significantly inferior to the efficient estimate, if such exists, in terms of proximity to the GPL estimate in case a binomial test plan is used. Methods of research. The research of efficient estimates is based on the integrative approach that uses the construction of the choice rule (criterion) of efficient estimate specified on the vertical sum of biases of estimates selected out of a certain set based on the function of the distribution law parameter. Conclusions. The obtained estimate of GPL is simple and more efficient as compared to the conventional one and not significantly inferior to the efficient estimate, if such exists, in terms of proximity to the GPL estimate in case a binomial test plan is used. The obtained estimate of GPL has significant advantages, i.e. the estimate is efficient within a sufficiently wide range of estimates, it allows obtaining a value based on the results of tests that did not produce any failures. The obtained estimate of GPL is recommended for failure-free tests conducted using a binomial plan.


The shallow-water carbonate deposits of the southern Pyrenees host a rich fauna of larger benthic foraminifera that have been widely studied since the latter part of the 19th century. In this paper, two new rotaliids, Rotalispirella acuta n. gen., n. sp., and Suturina globosa n. gen n. sp., have been described from the Campanian–lowermost Maastrichtian interval and their suprageneric assignment is proposed. The age of the new taxa is constrained by means of strontium isotope stratigraphy. The presence of Suturina n. gen. in the Late Maastrichtian of Iran (Tarbur Fm.) reveals a wide distribution of this taxon, as its presence is not restricted to the Pyrenean palaeobioprovince.


This guide is intended as a general introduction to the process of inquiry and as a specific help to students in various disciplines.


Nutraceutical cocrystals are emerging as novel crystalline forms to modify physicochemical properties of pharmaceuticals. In general, various methods of cocrystal preparation including their applicability to nutraceutical are described. Crystal engineering of nutraceuticals can, produce cocrystals and is expected to be the effective way to enhance the solubility and bioavailability of the target flavonoid, herbal and vitamins molecules.


According to the ratio effect, when the difference between two magnitudes is large, the comparison between them is faster. This effect complies with Weber's law and was found for many modalities such as numbers, brightness and musical tones. However, the ratio effect is elusive in ordinal scales (i.e., alphabet). Absolute pitch (AP) is a rare ability to identify musical pitches without an external reference tone; in general, most people use the relations between pitches (relative pitch) in order to process musical information. In the current study two groups of musicians (those with AP and controls without AP) were asked to compare pairs of musical tones that varied in their ratio. Results indicated a significant ratio effect only for the controls. Interestingly, AP possessors didn't show such an effect. Accordingly, we suggest that pitch tones can be represented on ordinal or cardinal scales, contingent on AP ability.


Immunoreactive, multicomponent nanoclusters were assembled through the controlled presentation of a known, synthetic peptide epitope. The epitope comes from the hemagglutanin protein of influenza and is known to bind to a monoclonal anti-HA antibody. Antibody affinity for the immunoreactive MPC was compared to the affinity for traditionally used peptide arrays using the quartz crystal microbalance. The two systems had comparable affinities (Ka), ranging from 0.41 x 10(7) M(-1) to 1.8 x 10(7) M(-1), though the nanocluster used a much lower density of peptide relative to that of the peptide array. These results suggest that functionalized nanoclusters have potential in nanostructure assembly and medical applications. Water-soluble nanoparticles that present known neutralizing peptide epitopes of protein antigens might be used in antiviral influenza vaccines.


This dissertation presents a new parallel object-oriented database system implementation and architecture. The system, parallel ADAMS, we have implemented as appropriate to large-scale scientific database applications, where the retrieval of complex data from very large collections is a primary operation.
Aside from being a parallel implementation, parallel ADAMS differs from typical OODBMSs in three significant ways: (1) it employs the decomposed storage model, rather than contiguous object storage, (2) it is based on a query server architecture, and (3) it employs a shared nothing distributed architecture.
Parallel ADAMS sets are partitioned by oid. In the dissertation, we demonstrate that set operators, and therefore logical query connectives, can be performed in a completely data parallel fashion. More complex queries involving implicit joins require inter-processor communication which is minimized in our implementation.
The implementation runs on general purpose hardware. Results are provided for a group of 1-8 SUN processors. We observe "super-linear" speed up and nearly linear scale up for queries over a one million object (500 megabytes) database. In addition to measuring parallel performance in terms of time, we develop a formal model of behavior which could also be used for other database implementations. We model data movement in terms of primitive operations. Given accurate times of these primitive operations, performance times can be predicted.
We use the model to explain the behavior of the parallel ADAMS system, and use extensive tests of the system to validate the model.
ADAMS is a working system which supports the popular "Oracle of Bacon" web site.


Characteristics of rat ECoG organization before and after vibrissa active movements were studied by means ofmicroelectrode recording. It was shown that different brain structures were recruited to a variable extent in planning and initiation of vibrissae active movements depending on a functional state.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to identify developmental trajectories of problem drinking from adolescence into young adulthood and to determine if alcohol use initiation experiences and family history of alcoholism, as well as their interactions, would predict trajectory group membership.

METHOD
Five waves of data were collected from respondents who were 12 years old at the time of recruitment to the Rutgers Health and Human Development Project and followed until age 31 (n = 438). A standardized measure of problem drinking (Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index) was used to develop trajectories with growth-mixture modeling. Differences across groups in first- use experience (age of onset, pleasantness of the experience, and feeling intoxicated), a family history of alcoholism, and gender were analyzed with chi-square and analysis of variance tests, and logistic regression analyses were used to estimate the odds of group membership.

RESULTS
Three trajectory groups of drinkers were identified: no or low problem (66.2%), adolescence-limited problem (ALP; 21.6%), and escalating problem (EP; 12.1%) drinkers. Age at drinking onset, feeling drunk during the first alcohol experience, and family history of alcoholism were associated with significantly greater odds of being in a problem trajectory group relative to the no or low problem trajectory. Early experiences did not differentiate the ALP and EP trajectories. None of the interactions was significantly associated with membership in any of the groups.

CONCLUSIONS
The levels and patterns of problem drinking during early to mid-adolescence point to a need for secondary prevention efforts that target problematic users in addition to the current emphasis on primary prevention of alcohol consumption. Prevention-based research may benefit from special focus on the meaning and consequences of self-perception of drunkenness when alcohol is first used.


Modern photographic imaging of agricultural crops can pin-point individual weeds, the patterns of which can be analyzed statistically to reveal how they are affected by variation in soil, by competition from other species and by agricultural operations. This contrasts with previous research on the patchiness of weeds that has generally used grid sampling and ignored processes operating at a fine scale. Nevertheless, an understanding of the interaction of biology, environment and management at all scales will be required to underpin robust precise control of weeds. We studied the spatial distributions of six common weed species in a maize field in central Spain. We obtained digital imagery of a rectangular plot 41.0 m by 10.5 m (= 430.5 m2) and from it recorded the exact coordinates of every seedling: more than 82,000 individuals in all. We analyzed the resulting body of data using three techniques: an aggregation analysis of the punctual distributions, a geostatistical analysis of quadrat counts and wavelet analysis of quadrat counts. We found that all species were aggregated with average distances across patches ranging from 3 cm–18 cm. Species with small seeds tended to occur in larger patches than those with large seeds. Several species had aggregation patterns that repeated periodically at right angles to the direction of the crop rows. Wheel tracks favored some species (e.g., thornapple), whereas other species (e.g., johnsongrass) were denser elsewhere. Interactions between species at finer scales (<1 m) were negligible, although a negative correlation between thornapple and cocklebur was evident. We infer that the spatial distributions of weeds at the fine scales are products both of their biology and local environment caused by cultivation, with interactions between species playing a minor role. Spatial analysis of such high-resolution imagery can reveal patterns that are not immediately evident from sampling at coarser scales and aid our understanding of how and why weeds aggregate in patches.


The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of high electrical stimulation rates in cochlear implants (CI) on speech perception. Four participants using Nucleus Freedom CI and five adult participants with normal hearing performed a vowel consonant vowel (VCV) consonant (iCi) recognition task in quiet and a (Bamford-Kowal-Bench) BKB sentence recognition task in noise at +10 dB signal to noise ratio (SNR). The performance of the participants was measured for three stimulation rates, namely 1800 pulses per second per channel (pps/ch), 2400 pps/ch and 3500 pps/ch, with the Advanced Combination Encoder Revised i.e. ACE (RE) speech coding strategy. Participants with normal hearing were also studied to see the effect of overlap on CI acoustic modelling. The speech perception results of the participants using the Nucleus Freedom system were compared with those of participants with normal hearing on CI acoustic modelling. The VCV test scores were further analyzed for feature transmission errors in place and manner of articulation as well as in voicing features. The results showed that there was no advantage of high stimulation rates for both consonant recognition in quiet and sentence recognition in noise. The CI acoustic models were found to be useful in studying the effect of rates in those using a CI. Although CI acoustic model with overlap lead to poor performance in consonant recognition in quiet and sentence recognition in noise test, they seemed to be the better approximation of the scores among the users of CI


Radiation is the most effective method for checking the form of an anode voltage curve in a X-ray tube under the conditions of a therapeutical-and-prophylactic establishment, which is used in the portable and compact [symbol: see text]KP-1 detector. The latter consists of a [symbol: see text]P[symbol: see text] light and X-radiation transducer, a cable, a loader, and an oscillograph. The transducer converts the power of X-radiation power falling on a receiving platform to an electric signal and connects directly to the input of an oscillograph as it is coupled conductively and requires no external sources of supply. The sensitivity of the transducer to X-radiation (R = 10(6) ohms at V = 50 kV) is no less than 0.2 mV.P-1 min.


It is widely recognized that haptic display is one of the key elements for making the virtual reality technology more powerful, and various force and/or tactile display devices have been developed. However, many of these devices are always in touch with the fingers or hands of the operator and it is impossible for an operator to feel the difference between contact and non-contact state with a virtual object directly from sensory channel of touch in his/her fingers or hands. This paper presents a new three-dimensional haptic display device we have developed for providing both touch and force feeling to operator's fingers. This is an extension of our previous device for two-dimensional application. The control algorithm for the new device and some experimental results are also presented.


People differ. Not only do they vote for different parties, buy different products, have different hobbies and use different media. They also differ in their interest in, attitudes on, and behavior towards scientific and environmental issues. This has been shown for people's general assessments of environmental issues (e.g. Eurobarometer, 2017) and of science and research (for an overview see Besley, 2013). It has also been demonstrated for people's attitudes towards more specific topics such as global warming (for an overview see Nisbet & Myers, 2007), nuclear energy (e.g. Kristiansen, Bonfadelli, & Kovic, 2016), nanotechnology (e.g. Scheufele, Corley, Shih, Dalrymple, & Ho, 2009), or biotechnology (e.g. Bonfadelli, 2017). These differences are not randomly distributed across populations. Researchers from the social and behavioral sciences have identified the organizing logics that underlie this diversity, and identified factors which help explain the variation of people's attitudes. They have shown, for example, that perceptual and behavioral differences with regards to scientific and environmental issues are related to people's education, their age, gender, or socio-economic status, among other factors (see, e.g. Besley, 2013; Kawamoto, Nakayama, & Saijo, 2013; Nisbet & Myers, 2007; Research Councils UK, 2008).


Frequent calls for sport for development (SFD) to be reoriented toward transformative social change reflect the extent that policies and programs have instead focused on individualized forms of personal development. However, SFD research has yet to substantially address fundamental ontological assumptions and underlying conceptualizations of transformative social change. To addresses this gap, this article considers how Margaret Archer's Morphogenetic Approach can help explain how transformative social change might occur through SFD activities. Three conceptual contributions are brought into focus: (a) assuming a realist social ontology; (b) making distinctions between structure, culture, and agency; and (c) identifying social change as happening across three temporal phases. The authors conclude by identifying potential benefits and implications of applying the Morphogenetic Approach to consider the potential for SFD to contribute to social change.


Blocking multiple inhibitory receptors on T cells may enable the immune system to more effectively fight cancer and chronic infection. The immune system is often ineffective at eliminating tumor cells. Like a chronic infection, cancer can induce T cell exhaustion, rendering T cells inactive. The abundance of coinhibitory receptors on exhausted T cells is typically high. Functionally blocking these receptors, including programmed death 1 (PD-1) and cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4), have some clinical benefit, but the lack of optimal responses suggest that additional or possibly combined therapeutic approaches are needed (see Pauken and Wherry). Johnston et al. found that targeting an additional coinhibitory receptor called TIGIT (T cell immunoglobulin and ITIM domain) enhanced the antitumor and antiviral activity of CD8+ T cells in mice receiving anti-PD-1 therapy. Compared with T cells from healthy donors or patient-matched circulating T cells, T cells infiltrating tumors in patients with nonsmall cell lung cancer had greater abundance of TIGIT, which correlated with the abundance of PD-1. Mice bearing CD26 colon carcinomas treated with a combination of function-blocking antibodies against TIGIT and PD-1 or its ligand PD-L1 exhibited durable tumor regression. Mice that received the combination therapy and cleared their CT26 cell-derived tumors mounted an immune response when inoculated with new CT26 cells but not with EMT6 mammary carcinoma cells, indicating that treated mice developed tumor antigen-specific immunity. Depleting CD8+ T cells prevented the antitumor response to combined therapy. Coinhibitory receptors can suppress T cell function directly through intracellular mechanisms or indirectly (as does CTLA-4) by inhibiting costimulatory receptors. Time-resolved fluorescence energy transfer (TR-FRET) of mouse CD8+ T cells revealed that TIGIT competed with the costimulatory receptor CD226 for a shared ligand, PVR, and physically prevented CD226 homodimerization. Functionally blocking CD226 prevented combination therapy-induced tumor regression in mice. As in the mouse tumor models, TIGIT had a similar role in suppressing CD8+ T cell function in chronic viral infection models. Mice with T cell-specific deletion of TIGIT (TIGITfl/fl/CD4cre) showed normal T cell development and response to acute infection with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV), but had enhanced T cell responses to chronic LCMV infection. Furthermore, in wild-type mice with existing LCMV infection, treatment with a TIGIT-blocking antibody was ineffective by itself but enhanced the antiviral effects of the PD-1-blocking antibody, suggesting that TIGIT blockade is ineffective against already exhausted T cells. As in the tumor model, blocking CD226 prevented the antiviral effects of combined therapy. Together, the findings suggest that combination therapy targeting PD-1 (or PD-L1) and TIGIT might improve immune system function in patients with cancer or chronic viral infection by enabling stimulatory signaling in T cells. R. J. Johnston, L. Comps-Agrar, J. Hackney, X. Yu, M. Huseni, Y. Yang, S. Park, V. Javinal, H. Chiu, B. Irving, D. L. Eaton, J. L. Grogan, The immunoreceptor TIGIT regulates antitumor and antiviral CD8+ T cell effector function. Cancer Cell 26, 923–937 (2014). [PubMed] K. E. Pauken, E. J. Wherry, TIGIT and CD226: Tipping the balance between costimulatory and coinhibitory molecules to augment the cancer immunotherapy toolkit. Cancer Cell 26, 785–787 (2014). [PubMed]


This paper presents the non-essentializing analysis of ethnic identity formation in comparative research between two groups in the Japanese Canadian community: the Japanese Canadian Sansei and the Ijusha Nisei. Using an oral history approach to understand the development of ethnic identity, I discuss how the social assignment of "otherness" based on the corporeal difference has negatively influenced identity formation in both groups. My comparative analysis further uncovers some of the different strategies that each group takes against the racializing process. Whereas the Japanese Canadian Sansei claim their cultural citizenship in the history of Japanese Canadians by aligning their own personal past with the collective memory of Japanese Canadians, the Ijusha Nisei negotiate it by entitling themselves as a contemporary representative of the ideology of multiculturalism. Finally, understanding the different processes of ethnic identity formation and strategies of negotiation for social inclusion, I discuss the effects of the ideology of multiculturalism on cultural citizenship among Japanese Canadians.


This thesis presents a new method for determining mode II interlaminar fracture toughness in fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) using the essential work of fracture (EWF) method. Fracture tests were performed on a tabbed double edge notched shear (DENS) specimen, made from a unidirectional glass/epoxy laminate, in an Iosipescu fixture. The EWF in mode II was found to agree with the GIIc for fracture initiation value from an ENF test. A finite element model was used to determine mechanisms involved in the DENS specimen. Interlaminar fracture was simulated using cohesive elements and the unstable crack growth path was simulated using the Riks arc length method. The numerical results closely match the empirical results. The model reveals that even though the EWF could be found using the conventional linear extrapolation, elastic strain energy, rather than the usual plastic energy, is the dominant geometry dependent property.


The dichotomic nature of ionic liquids (ILs, simple solvents or supramolecular fluids) induced us to carry out a structural investigation of some mono- and dicationic ionic liquids using 1D and 2D NMR, resonance light scattering, and UV/Vis spectroscopy. Ionic liquids with different cation π-surface areas were used, namely [bmim][NTf2], [Bzmim][NTf2], [Bzbim][NTf2], [p-Xyl-(bim)2][NTf2]2, and [m-Xyl-(bim)2][NTf2]2 [bmim = 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium, Bzmim = 1-benzyl-3-methylimidazolium, Bzbim = 1-benzyl-3-butylimidazolium, NTf2 = bis(trifluoromethansulfonyl)imide]. In order to verify to what extent the structural investigation, coupled with the determination of solvent parameters, could help to rationalize the effects of the solvent media on a given reaction, the thermally induced mononuclear rearrangement of heterocycles was studied. Variation of the cation structure has significant repercussions on the 3D structure of the ILs and on the effect they can exert on a given reaction.


Teratoma of the cervical region is rare. It is encountered primarily in the neonate and infant. There is no apparent sex predilection. This neoplasm is usually associated with the thyroid gland and produces obstructive symptoms in the larynx, trachea, and esophagus. It is noteworthy that no infant has survived these effects unless the tumor was excised.1 In addition, there may be adverse antenatal manifestations of the tumor. Teratoma of the neck, as in many congenital anomalies, may be associated with hydramnios. Depending upon its size, it may also cause hyperextension of the neck and result in malpresentation of the fetus and dystocia. Teratomata of the neck are composed of derivatives of the three primordial germ layers, usually with predominance of neural tissue. Most cervical teratomata have been histologically benign. However, adequate follow-up information, for the most part, is not available.1 An infant with a benign teratoma of the