New δ 15 N data suggest the retention of an indigenous signal in ancient high molecular weight organic material. These data open the possibility of obtaining new paleoecological information, based on isotopic analyses, on ancient, well-preserved fossil communities. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses were performed on high molecular weight organic material isolated from 22 taxa of Late Cretaceous vertebrates (Judith River Formation, Alberta,Canada). The majority of δ 13 C and δ 15 N values (-27‰ to -23‰ and 4‰ to 12‰, for δ 13 C and δ 15 N, respectively) are similar to those reported for modern consumers. An assessment of trophic levels based on δ 15 N is consistent with previous interpretations of food web structure derived from paleoecological interpretations. Among terrestrial consumers, carnivorous theropods (tyrannosaurids and dromaeosaurids) have high δ 15 N values (6.6‰ ±0.4‰ and 7.9‰, respectively) relative to those of the dominant megaherbivore (hadrosaurids, 4.7‰ ±0.5‰). Within aquatic environments, the values of δ 15 N of the bowfin Amia (11.6‰) and plesiosaur (11.0‰),distinguish the piscivorous tendencies of these organisms from those of tower trophic level consumers such as the benthic feeding sturgeon Acipenser and the turtle Aspideretes (δ 15 N = 5.1‰ and 4.5‰, respectively). The correlation in trophic position between δ 15 N values and paleoecological evidence is unlikely to be coincidental.


In orthodontic cases where the regional anatomy provides limited room for eruption, there is etiologically a higher occurrence of tipped/impacted second molars. Although second molar extraction with third molar replacement is a useful option, the "Pivot Arm Appliance" encourages the uprighting of the second molar as a preferred treatment. The most unique and important attribute of the "Pivot Arm Appliance" is the rotating tube. In cases of access limitation, the disto-occlusal surface of the molar presents as one area that is accessible. Other features of the "Pivot Arm Appliance" include: The position of the rotator tube delivers optimal rotational force through the pivoting action of the tube/arm complex. The "Pivot Arm Appliance" takes advantage of the efficiency and simplicity of a Class I lever system. The anatomical fulcrum being the dense cortical bone located anterior to the ascending ramus. The vertical spring system is compact, reliable and delivers gentle controlled force in rotational direction. The lingual location of the "Pivot Arm Appliance" does not hinder the function of the tongue, impinge on the soft tissue or interfere with normal masticatory function. The ease of placement of the rotator tube and subsequent insertion of the spring. It is well to note the uprighting appliance provides a very useful and practical approach to the unique problem of severely tipped second molars with limited buccal access. The "Pivot Arm Appliance" does not function only in these situations but can be used in all cases of second molar uprighting of a moderate to severe nature.


Homogeneous Cop/Cu coating alloys were fabricated by laser cladding rapid solidification technique and their microstructures were investigated, with the emphasis on the influence of processing on microstructure. The experimental results showed that a Cop/Cu composite coating can be successfully in situ synthesized when the processing conditions were controlled. The as-solidified microstructures were characterized by a homogeneous distribution of small spherical Co-rich particles dispersed in the Cu-rich matrix. The Cop/Cu coating was consisted of γ-Co, Cu-rich solution and et al. With the increasing of line energy, the spherical particles diameter in coating was increasing. The structural evolution and refining mechanism of the Cop/Cu coating were also discussed.


Background and aims Serum levels of gastrin-17 (S-G-17) and pepsinogen I (S-PGI) are biomarkers of gastric antral and corpus mucosa, respectively. In a prospective multicentre investigation, we determined whether these tests, together with the assay of Helicobacter pylori antibodies, are a non-endoscopic tool for the diagnosis of atrophic gastritis. Materials and methods The series comprised 404 consecutive adult outpatients undergoing diagnostic upper-gastrointestinal endoscopy for various dyspeptic symptoms in five outpatient clinics. Gastric biopsies from the antrum and corpus (at least two biopsies from both sites) were available from all patients, and they were evaluated according to the guidelines of the updated Sydney system. S-PGI and S-G-17 were assayed with ELISA methods using monoclonal antibodies to pepsinogen I and amidated gastrin-17. In addition to the fasting level (S-G-17fast), a postprandial S-G-17 (S-G-17prand) level was measured 20 min after ingestion of a protein-rich drink. H. pylori antibodies were determined using a polyclonal EIA method. Results S-G-17prand (and S-G-17fast) and S-PGI levels decreased with increasing grade of atrophy of the antrum or corpus, respectively. S-G-17prand levels were significantly lower in patients with advanced (moderate or severe) atrophic antral H. pylori gastritis than in those with non-atrophic H. pylori gastritis. All patients with a resected antrum demonstrated S-G-17prand levels that were almost undetectable. Of the nine patients with an H. pylori-positive moderate or severe atrophic antral gastritis, six had S-G-17prand levels below 5 pmol/l. Similarly, S-PGI levels were significantly lower in patients with advanced corpus atrophy than in those without. Of the 45 patients with moderate or severe corpus atrophy in endoscopic biopsies, 35 patients had S-PGI levels < 25 μg/l. By using the cut-off levels for S-G-17prand and S-PGI with the best discrimination, the sensitivity and specificity of the blood test panel in delineation of patients with advanced atrophic gastritis (either in the antrum or the corpus, or both) were 83% and 95%, respectively. The predictive values of the positive and negative test results were 75% and 97%, respectively. In the diagnosis of atrophic gastritis, the application of S-G-17fast showed a slightly lower sensitivity and specificity than the application of S-G-17prand as a biomarker for antral atrophy. Conclusions The diagnosis of atrophic gastritis obtained with the blood test panel of S-G-17, S-PGI and H. pylori antibodies is in good agreement with the endoscopic and biopsy findings. The panel is a tool for non-endoscopic diagnosis and screening of atrophic gastritis.


The structural and thickness homogeneity of different biofunctional surfaces after coating an Au substrate was studied by infrared spectroscopic ellipsometry (IRSE). Monolayer coverage was achieved by washing the samples in aqueous solution. A selected cysteine‐modified CHL peptide and an anti‐glutathione S‐transfer (GST) antibody produced a characteristic change in the IR ellipsometric spectra after peptide and antibody adsorption, confirming the biosensing ability of this technique. IR ellipsometric mapping at the synchrotron storage ring BESSY II in Berlin allowed laterally resolved characterization of the protein films. The IR ellipsometric tanΨ and Δ maps revealed that the protein films are inhomogeneous in structure and thickness after adsorption of the peptide and antibody. The absolute thickness of the protein films varied considerably by up to 3 to 7 nm. We also studied cytosine films with different thicknesses (d = 58 nm and 125 nm) and a guanine film (d = 84 nm). For the two cytosine films the synchrotron spectra revealed that the thicker film in particular was rather homogeneous in thickness but inhomogeneous in structure. For the guanine film the shape of vibrational bands in the ellipsometric spectra correlated with anisotropic molecular orientations.


The current study was part of activities in a Work in Progress paper presented at the 41st Frontiers in Education Conference that focused on activity Phase 2. This study evaluated students' metacognition using the Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) framework while learning electric circuit concepts. Two research questions guided this study: (1) Was there any improvement in metacognitive self-regulation skills while learning using the enhanced guided notes (EGN) throughout the semester?, and (2) To what degree were students' monitoring strategies reflected in regulating strategies at the beginning and end of the semester? The subjects for this study were engineering students enrolled in the Fundamental Electronics for Engineers course at Utah State University during the fall 2011. Thirteen sets of EGN were developed and used in the semester. A survey instrument developed using Butler and Cartier's SRL model was used to capture students' metacognitive self-regulated learning strategies. Participants were asked to complete the survey twice; at the beginning and end of semester. Descriptive statistics and mean differences of SRL features were used to analyze survey data. Mean differences were conducted in two ways: (1) comparing mean values of the same SRL items, and (2) comparing the level/quality between SRL features for two themes (i.e., knowledge acquisition and problem solving) at the beginning and end of the semester. The findings suggested that there were improvements in some aspects of monitoring and regulating strategies. Comparison of SRL item mean values revealed that there was increasing awareness on specific SRL items. Students did a good job in monitoring and regulating strategies for knowledge acquisition and problem solving. They successfully improved the quality of SRL feature in knowledge acquisition and maintained the quality level in problem solving. This article will also discuss the potential implications for electric circuit concepts instruction.


The expression 'chalk and talk' has been used synonymously for boring and old-fashioned teaching style, but
this approach can have advantages over more 'modern' teaching styles, notably the use of slides and
asynchronous online delivery of lectures (for review see Seth 2010). However, a major disadvantage of this
teaching style is the transient nature of the notes scribbled on the board: once the notes and explanations
have been wiped off, they are gone, persisting only in the more or less complete notes of the students. As a
result students focus their attention predominantly on trying to keep up with copying the notes from the
board while at the same time listening to the lecturer, which can easily lead to cognitive load (Mayer 2003). It
is not a surprise that many students find it challenging to engage with the topic while anxiously trying to get a
complete set of notes and at the same time listening to the lecturer. In my view, students should focus on the
development of the topic rather than copying the board contents. It was important to me to improve the
learning experience and to provide accessible, flexible and diverse learning opportunities that improve
student engagement with their studies.


INTRODUCTION
Evidence-based plastic surgery guidelines support the effectiveness of once daily enoxaparin prophylaxis. Despite prophylaxis, one in 25 highest risk patients has a VTE event. We examined the pharmacodynamics of standard enoxaparin doses in plastic surgery patients to examine whether patient-level factors predict enoxaparin metabolism, whether inadequate enoxaparin dose predicts downstream VTE events, and whether a pharmacist-driven dose adjustment protocol was effective.

METHODS
We recruited adult plastic surgery patients who received post-operative enoxaparin at 40mg daily. Steady state peak anti-Factor Xa (aFXa) levels, a marker of enoxaparin effectiveness and safety, were drawn. Patients with out of range aFXa levels had real-time dose adjustment based on a written protocol. Patients were followed for 90-day VTE events.

RESULTS
94 patients were recruited, and 44% had in range peak aFXa levels in response to standard enoxaparin dosing. Patient-level factors including extent of surgical injury and gross weight were independent predictors of enoxaparin metabolism. Patients with low aFXa levels were significantly more likely to have 90-day VTE (10.2% vs. 0%, p=0.041). Real time dose adjustment allowed a significantly increased proportion of patients to have in range levels (67.1% vs. 44.3%, p=0.002).

CONCLUSION
Based on pharmacodynamic data, the majority of plastic surgery patients receive inadequate enoxaparin prophylaxis using fixed dosing. Patient-level factors can predict how patients will metabolize enoxaparin, and patients who receive inadequate enoxaparin prophylaxis are significantly more likely to have downstream VTE events. Individualization of enoxaparin prophylaxis may minimize peri-operative VTE risk and further improve patient safety after plastic and reconstructive surgery procedures.


The economic well-being of most U.S. farm households depends on income from both onfarm and off-farm activities. Consequently, for many farm households, economic decisions (including technology adoption and other production decisions) are likely to be shaped by the allocation of managerial time among such activities. While time allocation decisions are usually not measured directly, we observe the outcomes of such decisions, such as onfarm and off-farm income. This report finds that a farm operator's off-farm employment and off-farm income vary inversely with the size of the farm. Operators of smaller farm operations improve their economic performance by compensating for the scale disadvantages of their farm business with more off-farm involvement. Off-farm work reduces farm-level technical efficiency, but increases household-level technical efficiency. And adoption of agricultural innovations that save managerial time is associated with higher off-farm income.


Drawing on data—including survey responses, interviews, documents, and participant observation—collected during a 26-month ethnography of refugees in a northeastern U.S. city, I examine how recently arrived refugees create and access new employment opportunities. I utilize actor-network theory (ANT) to examine refugees' linkages as emerging, temporal, and fluid. I empirically trace the drawing together of, and interaction among, individual refugees, formal organizations, new cultural ideas, and a myriad of material objects. I examine the connections between the uncertainties about actors, action, and agency that point to the need to understand society as sociomaterial networks. I analyze the controversies that are deployed in an emerging assemblage as the refugees entered the paid workforce in the United States. I am guided by a broad question: How are meaning, knowledge, and facts that come to make up a network actually made, maintained, remade, and, sometimes, undone? I demonstrate that putting assemblage to work offers insights into the ways in which heterogeneous elements come together in often unanticipated ways to create stable, even if temporary, employment networks for refugees in the United States.


A electrochemical theory of the surface glycocalyx on capillary endothelial cells is presented which models the structure as a matrix of electrostatically charged macromolecules hydrated in an electrolytic Newtonian fluid. In equilibrium it is assumed that a state of electroneutrality exists such that positively charged ions in the fluid balance the fixed negative charges bound to the macromolecules of the glycocalyx. Disturbances arising from mechanical deformation, flow, and chemical and/or electric potentials are introduced as perturbations away from the electroneutral equilibrium environment. In the presence of charged fluorescent macromolecules injected into the capillary lumen, the model predicts that chemical and electric potentials would result in a flux of ions and macromolecules into the layer at size- and charge-dependent rates until a new electroneutral environment is achieved that is in equilibrium with the solution in the capillary lumen. Model predictions are compared with experimental results and used to estimate the fixed-charge density of tile solid-bound charges in the endothelial-cell glycocalyx and the state of tension in the solid matrix in the equilibrium configuration.


EDrTOR,-The three cases of accidental hypothermia successfully resuscitated without neurological deficit using cardiopulmonary bypass reported by Ireland et all provide a timely reminder that circulatory collapse in severe hypothermia must be treated with active rewarming (by whatever technique). Such patients, however, also require appropriate supportive critical care. In two of the patients reported, ventilatory support appears to have been inappropriate or delayed. In case 2, the patient was successfully resuscitated from a VF arrest but then left self ventilating through a T piece in spite of an unstable cardiac rhythm, severe hypothermia, and presumably acidosis and hypoxaemia. This is likely to be unsatisfactory both in terms of missing the opportunity to centrally rewarm using warmed humidified gases via a ventilator and in providing increased respiratory work (caused by the resistance of the tube and loss of intrinsic PEEP). Low volume ventilation with warmed 100% oxygen would have ensured better oxygen delivery and reduced respiratory muscle oxygen consumption, and would have contributed to the rewarming process. In case 3, a patient with severe hypothermia, a GCS of 6/15 and "poor respiratory effort" was treated with high flow oxygen until some time after admission, when he developed an unrecordable blood pressure, bradycardia, and anuria, upon which he was intubated and ventilated. Many critical care authorities now recommend that hypothermic patients with a decreased conscious level and impaired airway reflexes or inadequate gas exchange require early intubation and ventilation.2 This patient would have benefited from ventilatory support with warmed humidified oxygen from the time of arrival in the A&E department. Cardiopulmonary bypass may have a place as a means of active rewarming where available, when other methods have failed, and in the presence of severe circulatory disturbance. Such highly complex techniques should not, however, detract from a basic ABC approach to resuscitation, and adequate ventilatory support must not be neglected in the haste to restore an adequate circulation and rewarm the patient if late deaths from multiple organ failure are to be minimised.


A 30-year-old Javanese-Indonesian man was admitted with complaints of 3 months persistent fever, weight loss, and fatigue. He had never known his past history of unprotected HIV until the admission. His only risk factor is unsafe sex. The patient seemed well nourished. Physical examination revealed blood pressure 100/60 mmHg, pulse 100 beats per minute, respiratory rate 20 times per minute, and temperature 38.8°C. Multiple cervical and inguinal lymphadenopathies were also found. Electrocardiogram showed anterolateral ischemic finding, whereas chest X-ray were normal. Laboratory test results revealed pancytopenia with hemoglobin of 8.2 g/dL, leucocyte count 2000 cells/mm3, platelet 78000 cells/mm3, hematocrit 25.8%, AST 162 IU/L, ALT 81 IU/L, decreased albumin of 2.72 g/dL. The clinical differential diagnosis were lymphoma or tuberculosis lymphadenopathy.


The beginning of the 21st century in Mexico saw an increase in neoliberalism politics, including city planning strategies – at national and local levels. Leading sociologist and anthropologist Bartra says that Mexico now is the last wagon train of neoliberalism in Latin America. Cultural resources were also included in these politics with drastic changes –like a sudden increase of loss of built heritage. The positivist projects in the new urban designs – based on economics – may tear down some important historic buildings recently, ignoring also social aspects of the city. Besides this, the city now experiments with new urban centralities –basically corporate centralities – that become new economic poles, fragmenting the historic centre. Some of the macro urban planning projects in Mexico, like the Macro Plaza in Monterrey, the historic centre of Guadalajara and the urban projects of the main Zocalo in Mexico City, are examples of the great scale urban projects that change historic geographies. The new renovation project of Patria Square in Aguascalientes City focuses on the centenary year of the Mexican Revolution Convention of 1914 that took place in the Morelos Theatre. Now, one hundred years after this event, we face a new fragmentation of the old city infrastructure and architecture. The study of urban imaginaries, the macro urban renovations in the historic centre and the new urban centralities of the city could contribute to design good practices for the preservation and sustainability of built heritage. Also, the analysis of new urban corporate centralities versus the old centrality could determine if sustainable urban management can be achieved. The results of the paper show that tearing down buildings is not the best solution in historic preservation. Also there are some


The aim of this work is devoted to exploring recycling and application of the waste deep frying oil in the leather industry as a fatliquoring agent. Acid activated local bentonite clay (~ 8N acid concentration) has been investigated in order to verify its impurities absorbent capacity in the deep frying oil bleaching. The activated sample achieved the ideal bleaching capacity (88.9%) at 3% bentonite dose (based on weight of oil).The bleached oil is sulfated at optimal conditions (15% sulfuric acid based on the weight of oil, 30°C and 2 h stirring time). Sulfated oil is evaluated in order to verify their capacity to be used as a leather fatliquoring agent. The analytical data reveal that the desirable ratio of SO 3 (5.5%) that needed to running the sulfated oil in the fatliquoring process has been attained. The aqueous solution of 10 % sulfated oil (fatliquor emulsion) show a high degree of stability against metallic ions and p H as well as great ability to penetrate the chrome tanned leather, adding mass to the leather. The mechanical properties enhancement, what are recommended to be in the fatliquored leather has been reached. The microscopic examination of the fatliquored leather surface and fiber bundles shows that the tiny fibers are actually coated with a thin film of fat-liquor.


There is a strong interest in hydrogen as an energy source to contribute to combatting climate change. Hydrogen diffusion into the steel with assistance through various mechanisms of corrosion and pressure will degrade the mechanical properties, primarily critical ductility properties of fracture toughness and fatigue, through embrittlement or hydrogen induced cracking. Fracture toughness as a measure of crack arrest performance through required Charpy (TCVN) performance represents a principal mechanical property requirement of the pipeline. Ductility performance, regardless of the environment, which consists of % RA, fracture toughness, fatigue, etc. is driven primarily by metallurgical components of the through-thickness microstructure such as average high angle grain boundary (HAGB) size and homogeneity of the HAGB's . A relationship can perhaps be developed of ductility attributes such as TCVN performance in air vs. fracture toughness ductility performance in hydrogen. This relationship of TCVN ductility performance in conjunction with through-thickness microstructural components with fracture toughness performance in hydrogen will be used to propose an additional "Option C" qualification to the ASME B31.12 Code for Hydrogen Piping and Pipelines. This paper will present the background analysis, evaluation, development of the logic, proposed B31.12 code language and how to implement the logic.


Marfan's syndrome (MFS) is an autosomal dominant connective tissue disorder where ophthalmic problems are often the presenting symptom in childhood. Diagnosis is based on established criteria outlined by expert opinion in 1996, known as the Ghent criteria. These criteria have recently been revised, and place more weight on two cardinal features of MFS: ophthalmological and cardiovascular pathology. Ophthalmologists thus have a prominent role to play in both diagnosis and lifelong care for MFS patients. This article aims to outline the presentations of ocular pathology and diagnostic challenges for aspiring ophthalmologists who will be key members of the multi-disciplinary team in future. In light of the revised Ghent classification, ophthalmology trainees must have a low threshold for investigation of a suspected MFS patient with a working knowledge of the diagnostic criteria. This will allow prompt correction of the sight threatening complications of MFS and early initiation of long- term monitoring of the life-threatening cardiovascular complications.


Devoting time to off-farm activities, while complementing agricultural incomes, may be constrained by labor availability and financial capacity. This paper assesses the importance of rainfall patterns, which condition the availability of agricultural labor, and financial constraints on off-farm employment decisions. Using panel data from Ethiopia, which include experimental rate-of-time preference measures, we found that these and rainfall are significant determinants off-farm employment. Rural development policies should take into account the financial capacity of households and the role of off-farm opportunities as safety nets in the face of weather uncertainty.


We studied the doping dependence of a nano-gap thermophotovoltaic device that utilises a p-on-n Si photovoltaic cell. The concentration of acceptor dopants, Na in the emitter region was varied from 1023 m−3 to 1025 m−3 while the donor concentration, Nd in the absorber region was varied from 1021 m−3 to 1024 m−3. The combination of Na and Nd that produces the highest conversion efficiency is Na = 1023 m−3 and Nd = 1022 m−3. However, the absorber doping concentration that produces the greatest output power is around 1023 m−3 at all Na values. It is discovered that at higher Na values, the optical response of the device is less sensitive to Nd. It is shown that a decreasing diffusion length does not necessarily jeopardise performance especially when it already exceeds the absorber region thickness. This is due to the positive effects of a decreasing diffusion coefficient.


The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of autolyzed yeast on performance, cecal microbiota, and leukogram of weaned piglets. A total of 96 piglets of commercial line weaned at 21-day-old were used. The experimental design was a randomized block design with four treatments (diets containing 0.0%, 0.3%, 0.6%, and 0.9% autolyzed yeast), eight replicates, and three animals per pen in order to evaluate daily weight gain, daily feed intake, and feed conversion in periods of 0 to 15, 0 to 26, and 0 to 36 days. Quadratic effects of autolyzed yeast inclusion were observed on the feed conversion from 0 to 15 days, on daily weight gain from 0 to 15 days, 0 to 26 days and, 0 to 36 days, indicating an autolyzed yeast optimal inclusion level between 0.4% and 0.5%. No effect from autolyzed yeast addition was observed on piglet daily feed intake, cecal microbiota, and leukogram; however, i.m. application of E. coli lipopolysaccharide reduced the values of total leukocytes and their fractions (neutrophils, eosinophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, and rods). Therefore, autolyzed yeast when provided at levels between 0.4% and 0.5% improved weaned piglets' performance.


Turkey, with important cultural heritage and rich history and enormous plant diversityhas poor agricultural practices that are making difficult to conserve many of the endemic local plant taxon. The soil conservation practices are not sufficient as the farming practices are more often sowing of soil depleting rather conserving. Allium tuncelianum (Kollman) Ozhatay, Matthew & S iranecivernacular "Tuncelisarmsağ" is an endemic specie of garlic native to the Eastern Anatolian province Tunceli, where temperate climate is dominant and the people in general and farmers in particular are not well aware of good farming practices. There is need to develop and introduce more new practical propagation and multiplication approaches for its conservation at naturalhabitat and outside without endangering surrounding environment. This study reports effect of four planting densities andintra-row spacingon some agronomical characteristics of A. tuncelianum yield and some agronomic characteristics. The study was carried under warm semi-arid ecological climatic conditions of Southeast Anatolia ensuring minimum soil depletion effects on the environment. Yield components like plant height, leaf length, leaf width, bulb diameter, flower inflorescence, bulb weight and number of scales onbulb changedsignificantly with range of 101.3-115.8 cm, 37.2-40.4 cm, 2.55-1.61 cm, 3.47-3.85 cm, 8.90-8.87 cm, 36.0-48.1 g and 1.67-1.71 respectively. These values did not show a significant difference with the yield component values at original habitat of the plant at Tunceli. The results of the study are very encouraging and suggest that the plant has large and increased plasticity with easy tolerance and adjustment for differences in climatic without significant loss in yield.


Though the principle of reciprocity was invented by Hermann von Helmholtz already over 150 years ago, and though it is a very powerful tool in solving various important problems in bioelectromagnetism, it is not generally used. In impedance tomography the measurement sensitivity distribution has generally been misunderstood. This can be easily demonstrated with the principle of reciprocity. Some other applications of the principle of reciprocity are also discussed.


The Thai economy has experienced rapid changes in the underlying factors that determine demand for meat and livestock products. GDP growth has remained at over 8% over the last decade and has not fallen below 5% in the last 30 years. Incomes have grown at a faster rate than other ASEAN countries and the development of a new urban-based middle class has stimulated a westernisation of tastes and preferences (Sindelar, 1996; Hassalls & Associates, 1996). These changes have, in some cases, stimulated extensive development in Thailand's domestic and international trade in meat and livestock products. While some rural industry sectors have been able to adapt to demand changes for their products others have been slower to respond. This paper will focus on recent trends in the trade of meat and livestock products in Thailand. To provide a more comprehensive understanding of these trends, some discussion of the constraints to domestic production and marketing, raised in earlier papers, will be necessary.


We investigate sonic cues for binaural sound localiza- tion within classrooms and present a structural model for the same. Two of the primary cues for localization, interaural time difference (ITD) and interaural level difference (ILD) created between the two ears by sounds from a particular point in space, are used. Although these cues do not lend any information about the elevation of a sound source, the torso, head, and outer ear carry out elevation dependent spectral filtering of sounds before they reach the inner ear. This effect is commonly captured in head related transfer function (HRTF) which aids in resolving the ambiguity from the ITDs and ILDs alone and helps localize sounds in free space. The proposed structural model of HRTF produces well controlled horizontal as well as vertical effects. The implemented HRTF is a signal processing model which tries to mimic the physical effects of the sounds interacting with different parts of the body. The effectiveness of the method is tested by synthesizing spatial audio, in MATLAB, for use in listening tests with human subjects and is found to yield satisfactory results in comparison with existing models.


The purpose of this study is to present a business case for a comprehensive employee and supervisor development program that can be implemented within organizations. Concerns about newly hired employees who may lack the skills required in a changing work environment are addressed. In addition, this study examines the phenomenon in which employees are promoted into supervisory positions based solely on technical ability and not on the supervisory potential and "soft skills" that are necessary for leading teams and supervising employees. Finally, this study addresses issues related to supervising a diverse workforce and transforming an ad-hoc supervisor and manager training program into a formal program. The implications of the study were that business leaders must continue to invest in employee development during financial crisis to maintain competitive advantage. Recommendations for future qualitative research were made as a result of this study.


A slow-wave structure (SWS) consisting of a planar helix with straight-edge connections and incorporating a coplanar waveguide feed has been designed for operation at W-band and has been fabricated using microfabrication technique. On-wafer cold measurements have been carried out on a number of fabricated SWSs, and the results are reported here for the first time. The parameters measured are return loss, attenuation, and phase velocity, and the results cover a frequency range of 70-100 GHz. Cold-test parameters of the SWS have been also obtained using simulations, and the effects of fabrication, such as surface roughness, have been accounted for by estimating effective conductivity of different parts of the microfabricated structures. The measured and simulated results match well. The effects of silicon wafer resistivity have been also discussed. Planar helical SWSs fabricated in this manner have application in traveling-wave tubes operating at millimeter wave and higher frequencies.


Abstract:Both John Chrysostom and Augustine of Hippo find in the story of Jonah and the Ninevites an invitation to reflect upon the moral and political challenges undergone by cities facing the possibility of disaster. While Nineveh was threatened with destruction at the hands of the divine, cities like Constantinople and Rome were instead threatened with disaster of a natural or military kind, ranging from earthquakes to invasions. Regardless, both Chrysostom and Augustine thought the lessons of Jonah could be applied to contemporary crises. The two pastoral preachers did so in quite different ways, however. For Chrysostom, the repentance of the Ninevites in the face of a divine threat served as a model for his own congregation. For Augustine, however, the divine was incapable of uttering threats, and so Jonah's prophecy had to come true: Nineveh had to be overturned. In order to make this case, Augustine reconfigured the meaning of the word "overturning" (euersio), so that he could make the case that the repentance of the Ninevites was driven not by their fear, but rather by the combined agency of divine grace and political coercion.


The Heston stochastic volatility process, which is widely used as an asset price model in mathematical finance, is a paradigm for a degenerate diffusion process where the degeneracy in the diffusion coefficient is proportional to the square root of the distance to the boundary of the half-plane. The generator of this process with killing, called the elliptic Heston operator, is a second-order, degenerate-elliptic partial differential operator whose coefficients have linear growth in the spatial variables and where the degeneracy in the operator symbol is proportional to the distance to the boundary of the half-plane. With the aid of weighted Sobolev spaces, we prove supremum bounds, a Harnack inequality, and H\"older continuity near the boundary for solutions to variational equations defined by the elliptic Heston operator, as well as H\"older continuity up to the boundary for solutions to variational inequalities defined by the elliptic Heston operator. In mathematical finance, solutions to obstacle problems for the elliptic Heston operator correspond to value functions for perpetual American-style options on the underlying asset.


The bioecological parameters which are of special importance in the epidemiology of Dengue, Yellow Fever, and other arboviruses are discussed. Three levels are retained: the nature of Aedes aegypti-man contacts, the susceptibility of the mosquito to the pathogen and multiplication of the latter, and the transmission. The trophic preferences, the density variations, the daily survival rate, the egg diapause, and man influences are the main vector-dependent ecological factors. Temperature and genetical nature of viral and mosquito strains are particularly important in susceptibility and multiplication studies. Efficacy of the oral transmission is also temperature-dependent and mainly genetically determined. The true natural role of transovarial transmission is not yet well understood. Thus, the breaking up and/or prevention of epidemics would be possible only with a thorough knowledge of the relation between the above biological factors and the epidemiological situation. A list is provided of the naturally or experimentally Aedes aegypti transmitted arboviruses (103), protozoans (5) and filaria (20).


ABSTRACT Purpose of Review: High-resolution ultrasound has made it possible to view most nerves and muscles in real time and to identify pathologic change in size, echo texture, and vascularity. This article focuses on the principles underlying ultrasound imaging and the application of ultrasound imaging to clinical disorders commonly seen in an electrodiagnostic laboratory. Recent Findings: Ultrasound is a sensitive and specific tool for evaluating myopathic and neurogenic muscle disease. It provides useful information about muscles difficult to study with other technologies, such as the tongue and diaphragm, and is also helpful in evaluating smaller muscles in the hands or feet where correlation with electrodiagnostic studies is possible. For nerves, the resolution of ultrasound is such that it can sensitively identify focal nerve enlargement, which is accurate in the diagnosis of entrapment neuropathies. Furthermore, it can recognize diffuse or multifocal nerve enlargement seen in hereditary and inflammatory neuropathies. Summary: Neuromuscular ultrasound is an informative noninvasive tool for evaluating nerve and muscle disease. As the technology continues to advance and becomes widely available, it may become a routine part of residency training, neuromuscular research, and clinical practice.


Bioethics as a distinctive field is undergoing a critical turn. It may be a quiet revolution, but a growing body of scholarship illustrates a perceived need for a rethink of the scope of the field and the approaches and priorities that have carried bioethicists through many heady years of success. Few areas of bioethical practice have been left unexamined, ranging from questions as to the sustainability of the discipline in its current form to the "expertise" of its practitioners; the legitimacy of bioethics in the realms of policymaking; its relationship to philosophy; the purchase of empirical and interdisciplinary method; the relationship of bioethics to the real world; bioethical understandings of the concept of "health" (and methods of attainment); its agenda, priorities, and inclusiveness right up to what might be the overarching question: "What is bioethics all about?" Unsurprisingly, these questions elicit varied responses. Scholars from various disciplines have critiqued fundamental tenets of the "ethics" business, albeit as claims of its "conservatism," "corruption," and its questionable "usefulness" suggest, not always with a charitable or constructive eye. But quite crucially and often overlooked, bioethics itself has not shied away from the question as to what bioethics is and what it should become; increasingly apparent is that this kind of self-conscious and reflexive theorizing is regarded as a key priority for taking contemporary ethics forward.


In this study, the effects of counter ion valency of the electrolyte on the colloidal repulsion between two parallel cylindrical particles were investigated. Electrostatic interactions of the cylindrical particles were calculated with the variation of counter ion valency. To calculate the electrical repulsive energy working between these two cylindrical particles, Derjaguin approximation was applied. The electrostatic potential profiles were obtained numerically by solving nonlinear Poission-Boltzmann (P-B) equation and calculating middle point potential and repulsive energy working between interacting surfaces. The electrical potential and repulsive energy were influenced by counter ion valency, Debye length, and surface potential. The potential profile and middle point potential decayed with the counter ion valency due to the promoted shielding of electrical charge. On the while, the repulsive energy increased with the counter ion valency at a short separation distance. These behaviors of electrostatic interaction agreed with previous results on planar or spherical surfaces.


The concept of developing the country without taking into consideration the development of the rural areas is meaningless. [United Nations (1968)] . More than 70 percent of the population in Pakistan lives in the rural areas. Therefore, there is a need to place greater emphasis on the development of these areas. One sector which needs special attention is housing. Analysing the housing situation in the rural areas, one has to take into account the structure of agricultural land ownership in the country as well as population growth. This is because rural poverty is intensified by the land tenure system which gives rise to a large number of landless labour households [Irfan and Arif (1988)] . One-third of the rural households, associated with agriculture, have access to a very small segment of cultivated land because of uneven land distribution [Government of Pakistan (1980)]. Besides this, low agricultural productivity is also an impediment to better rural housing. In this situation, the poor rural population, which cannot afford to own houses reside in the shelters provided to them by their respective landlords. A number of studies by Sandhu (1972); Ashfaq (1974) and Zaki (1981), have analysed housing issues in Pakistan but these studies, contribute towards understanding the housing problems in urban areas only as, they shed no light on the issues of rural housing in Pakistan where more than 70 percent of Pakistan's population live in sub-standard housing facilities. The present study gives an econometric analysis of rural homelessness in Pakistan.


The interest in random fiber lasers (RFLs), first demonstrated one decade ago, is still growing and their basic characteristics have been studied by several authors. RFLs are open systems that present instabilities in the intensity fluctuations due to the energy exchange among their non-orthogonal quasi-modes. In this work, we present a review of the recent investigations on the output characteristics of a continuous-wave erbium-doped RFL, with an emphasis on the statistical behavior of the emitted intensity fluctuations. A progression from the Gaussian to Levy and back to the Gaussian statistical regime was observed by increasing the excitation laser power from below to above the RFL threshold. By analyzing the RFL output intensity fluctuations, the probability density function of emission intensities was determined, and its correspondence with the experimental results was identified, enabling a clear demonstration of the analogy between the RFL phenomenon and the spin-glass phase transition in disordered magnetic systems. A replica-symmetry-breaking phase above the RFL threshold was characterized and the glassy behavior of the emitted light was established. We also discuss perspectives for future investigations on RFL systems.


In this paper we propose a method for classifying regions of images and videos frames into text and non-text regions using support vector machine (SVM). Different features are proposed to characterise the texture formed by text characters and background. SVM has an advantage that it is insensitive to the relative numbers of training examples in positive and negative classes. This advantage is are illustrated by comparing results with those obtained using a multiple layer perceptrons (MLP).


Learning strong feature representations from large scale supervision has achieved remarkable success in computer vision as the emergence of deep learning techniques. It is driven by big visual data with rich annotations. This paper contributes a large-scale object attribute database that contains rich attribute annotations (over 300 attributes) for ~180k samples and 494 object classes. Based on the ImageNet object detection dataset, it annotates the rotation, viewpoint, object part location, part occlusion, part existence, common attributes, and class-specific attributes. Then we use this dataset to train deep representations and extensively evaluate how these attributes are useful on the general object detection task. In order to make better use of the attribute annotations, a deep learning scheme is proposed by modeling the relationship of attributes and hierarchically clustering them into semantically meaningful mixture types. Experimental results show that the attributes are helpful in learning better features and improving the object detection accuracy by 2.6% in mAP on the ILSVRC 2014 object detection dataset and 2.4% in mAP on PASCAL VOC 2007 object detection dataset. Such improvement is well generalized across datasets.


Between March 2006 and April 2007 in order to assess the prevalence of E. granulosus in livestock
animals of Sardinia, liver and lungs from 770 sheep, 229 cattle, 95 horses, 46 donkeys and 2,672 pigs
(2,330 from intensive farming and 342 from home slaughtering) were examined. Another survey was
carried out on 461wild boars caught during hunting seasons 2005-2007 in north and central Sardinia.
Viscera were examined to determine number, location and type of hydatids, which were then classified
as fertile and sterile. DNA from 100 samples of cystic material (sheep 39, cattle 14, horses 8, pigs 39,
wild boars 3) was extracted and isolates were then genotyped through PCR of mitochondrial genes
ND1 and CO1 and then sequenced. The investigation lead us to highlight a CE prevalence of 75.3% in
sheep with 10.4% of fertility. Sequencing of mitochondrial genes showed that all sheep were infected
by the G1 strain of E. granulosus. Prevalence in cattle was 41.5%, with 2.6% fertility. G7 strain (pig
strain) was recovered only in 2 cattle, while G1 (sheep strain) was found in all other specimens. In
horses, hydatids were recovered in 4 out of 95 horses examined (P 4.2%). Hydatids from the positive
animals showed a different morphology, and these differences were confirmed by the results of
sequencing and genotyping. DNA extracted from hydatids of the 3 horses that harboured small sterile
cysts, were identified as belonging to G1strain, while DNA isolated from the other positive horse
showed a 100% homology with the G4 strain (horse strain). The survey carried out on pigs from
intensive farming allowed us to detect the absence of E. granulosus infection, while a total CE
prevalence of 11.1% in pigs home slaughtered was detected, with a fertility of 7.6%. An overall
prevalence of 3.7% was found in the wild boars examined. Out of 39 pig isolates sequenced 5.1%
belonged to G7 (pig strain) while 94.9% belonged to sheep strain. All isolates from wild boars were
found belonging to G1strain.


In recent years, technology has become truly pervasive in everyday life. Technological advancement can be found in many facets of life, including personal computers, mobile devices, wearables, cloud services, video gaming, web-powered messaging, social media, Internet-connected devices, etc. This technological influence has resulted in these technologies being employed by criminals to conduct a range of crimes — both online and offline. Both the number of cases requiring digital forensic analysis and the sheer volume of information to be processed in each case has increased rapidly in recent years. As a result, the requirement for digital forensic investigation has ballooned, and law enforcement agencies throughout the world are scrambling to address this demand. While more and more members of law enforcement are being trained to perform the required investigations, the supply is not keeping up with the demand. Current digital forensic techniques are arduously time-consuming and require a significant amount of man power to execute. This paper discusses a novel solution to combat the digital forensic backlog. This solution leverages a deduplication-based paradigm to eliminate the reacquisition, redundant storage, and reanalysis of previously processed data.


The authors investigated in CBA mice the suppressor cell formation in spleen, induced by injection of a supraoptimal dose of sheep red blood cells and assessed their activity in a passive transfer experiment in animals with liver injury, caused by carbon tetrachloride treatment. The influence of liver explants from mice, treated with carbon tetrachloride, on antigen-induced cells, cultivated together in diffusion chambers, was also studied. It was shown that carbon tetrachloride administration inhibited the antigen-induced suppressor cells formation in murine spleen. Splenocytes, containing antigen-induced suppressor cells from mice treated with carbon tetrachloride, transferred to syngeneic mice together with an immunogeneic dose of sheep red blood cells, caused a smaller decrease of the number of antibody-forming cells in the spleen of recipients than cells from normal mice. The liver explant damaged by carbon tetrachloride, influenced splenocytes, containing antigen-induced suppressor cells (AISC). This influence depended on the degree of liver injury. These data demonstrate the role of liver injury modifying the suppressor activity of splenocytes. The decrease of suppressor cell activity may be one of the mechanisms of enhanced antibody formation in patients with liver diseases.


Background: Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by inflammation of joints, with associated joints pain, swellings, damage and disability. Adherence to these prescribed drugs is important to improve joint function, productivity of work, and health-associated quality of life. This approach may also reduce likability of joint damage, disability, and morbidity, with improvement in life expectancy. Objective: To understand the determinants of adherences to treatment with disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (cDMARDs) in Rheumatoid arthritis patients. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Rheumatology and Immunology department of Shaikh Zayed Hospital Lahore Pakistan for three months. Total of 163 RA patients were enrolled after following inclusion and exclusion criteria. After taking the informed consent, multiple questionnaires were filled by the patients. All the data was entered and analyzed using SPSS 23. The p value of < 0.05 was taken as significant. Results: The mean age of the patients was 43.11 ± 12.11 years. There were 31(19%) male and 132 (81%) female patients. MARS score was high in females than males. Low disease activity groups had lowest MARS score with statistically significant difference from other disease activity group (p = 0.045; p < 0.05). Conclusion: Female rheumatoid arthritis patients had significantly higher adherence scores than males. All factors of BMQ and SIMS and feature of emotional representation from IPQ show significant difference with regard to gender. Corresponding Author | Dr. Javed Iqbal, Fellow Rheumatology, Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Shaikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore Email: email@example.com


The newest Tacoma Narrows Bridge will be the largest suspension bridge built in the United States in 40 years. It will also be the first project completed under Washington State's Public-Private Initiatives Act. This study outlines the documentation plan for the design and construction of the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge. The plan includes research task orders associated with the design and construction of the bridge relative to: public relations/educational opportunities, written documentation, and potential research.


It is accepted that the umbilical cord should be clamped early in known and suspected cases of erythroblastosis. When isoimmunization is not a factor, some advocate late clamping to effect a physiologic transfusion. Others say this produces excessive blood volume, which may be a causative factor in the respiratory-distress syndrome. Studies by umbilical-vein catheterization thus far have failed to show an association between high venous pressure and increased mortality. Aspiration of the stomach is being performed routinely in many centers. No convincing controlled studies are available to show that this procedure has lowered mortality or morbidity. Resuscitation of the newborn continues to be a problem. The trend is toward more vigorous measures more promptly applied, to produce and maintain an airway, and thus facilitate initial expansion of the lungs. Nasopharyngeal suction is adequate in most instances. Infants who do not breathe spontaneously may benefit from direct laryngoscopy, clearance of the airway and artificial respiration. Morphine antagonists may be given if narcosis is evident following use of narcotics during delivery. Initial heat loss is greater in prematures than in full-term newborns. The rate of fail of body temperature is maximal during the first hour of life when the infant is exposed to labor-room temperatures while being resuscitated. Swaddling, effective against heat loss, has the disadvantage of interfering with direct observation of the infant. The answer to this problem may be infra-red heat lamps built into one corner of the labor room. The use of glucose has been mentioned but not enough information is available. There is a growing trend toward the omission of silver nitrate for prophylaxis in the eyes in newborns.


We will show that semantically annotated paths lead to discovering meaningful, non-trivial relations and connections between multiple resources in large online datasets such as the Web of Data. Graph algorithms have always been key in pathnding applications (e.g., navigation systems). They make optimal use of available computation resources to nd paths in structured data. Applying these algorithms to Linked Data can facilitate the resolving of complex queries that involve the semantics of the relations between resources. In this paper, we introduce a new approach for nding paths in Linked Data that takes into account the meaning of the connections and also deals with scalability. An ecient technique combining pre-processing and indexing of datasets is used for nding paths between two resources in large datasets within a couple of seconds. To demonstrate our approach, we have implemented a testcase using the DBpedia dataset.


ABSTRACT: [Purpose] The aim of the present investigation was to discover which afferent signals (from crural muscle spindle or ankle joint) contribute to dynamic standing postural control. [Subjects] Ten male subjects (23–35 years) stood with eyes-closed on a movable platform. [Methods] Vibrators (92 Hz) were tightly fixed bilaterally to the Achilles and tibialis anterior (TA) tendons or to the lateral and medial malleolies. The maximum displacements and time of center of gravity (COGy) and center of pressure (COPy) of the anterior-posterior axis were examined under control, crural vibration (CV) and malleoli vibration (MV) conditions on the moving platform. [Results] When the platform moved backward, peak times of COGy and COPy in MV were significantly delayed compared to the control condition (p<0.05). The maximum displacement of COGy in MV increased significantly compared to the control condition (p<0.05). When the platform moved forward, peak time of COPy in MV were significantly delayed compared to the control condition (p<0.05). [Conclusion] We think that the afferent signal from the ankle joint rather than the afferent signal from the soleus (Sol) muscle spindle contributed to COGy and COPy displacements when the platform moved backward. We also think that COGy and COPy were controlled by the compensatory activities of other muscles except for TA when the platform moved forward, though TA activity depended on the afferent signal from the ankle joint as well as Sol.


Two professors provide a duography of their former faculty-student relationship that confronted existing mentoring practices. They explore duography as an arts-based form of qualitative research to extend ways of thinking about and practicing the mentorship of graduate students. Duography is defined as a retrospective written account that two people provide of selected events or ideas taken from their lives. The authors trace their mentor-dissertation candidate relationship as it eiolved from a mentor-mentee relationship to a co-authoring form of post-mentorship in which the participants listen to each other's visual voice and imagery. The authors found that mentorship can evolve into partnership by taking turns in leading conceptualizing, writing, and presenting; they suggest that the development of graduate students as emerging researchers may be promoted through the use of duography as joint inquiry. (Contains 62 references.) (Author/NAV) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ***********************************************************************


Samuel Butler (1835-1902), Victorian satirist, critic, and visual artist, possessed one of the most original and inquiring imaginations of his age. The author of two satires, Erewhon (1872) and The Way of All Flesh (1903), Butler's intellectually adventurous explorations along the cultural frontiers of his time appeared in volume after eccentric volume. Author of four works on evolution, he was one of the most prolific evolutionary speculators of his time. He was an innovative travel writer and art historian who used the creative insights of his own painting, photography, and local knowledge to invent, in works like Alps and Sanctuaries (1881), a vibrant Italian culture that contrasted with the spiritually frigid experience of his High Church upbringing. Despite his range and achievement, there remains surprisingly little contemporary analytical commentary on Butler's work. Samuel Butler, Victorian against the Grain is an interdisciplinary collection of essays that provides a critical overview of Butler's career, one which places his multifaceted body of work within the cultural framework of the Victorian age. The essays, taken together, discuss the formation of Victorian England's ultimate polymath, an artistic and intellectual ventriloquist who assumed an extraordinary range of roles - as satirist, novelist, evolutionist, natural theologian, travel writer, art historian, biographer, classicist, painter, and photographer.


Durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) is commonly grown in mediterranean conditions, where temperature stress during grain filling can limit productivity. This study was conducted to assess the effect of optimal and too high temperature during grain filling on the patterns of accumulation of dry matter and N of durum wheat plants grown at different levels of N fertilization. Two durum wheat varieties, Appio and Creso, were grown in controlled environment conditions and in pots with three rates of nitrogen fertilizer (not applied, normal amount, and high amount) and two air temperature regimes during grain filling (20/15 °C and 28/23 °C day/night). Results showed that the duration of the intervals between the main maturity stages within grain filling were both genotype-specific and temperature-dependent, while N rate did not modify the timing of grain development. The two genotypes responded to temperature by increasing the rate of development, but the thermal timing of development was unchanged with the two temperature regimes. The higher temperature reduced grain growth and increased N accumulation in grain. However, these effects were recorded only in fertilized plants. Nitrogen availability modified the growth of the plant during the whole cycle, in that increased N fertilizer at seeding resulted in a greater plant size at anthesis and in a greater accumulation rate of dry matter and N in grain during grain filling. Grain yield and kernel weight were better expressed at 20/15 °C, while grain protein concentration was favoured under the 28/23 °C temperature regime. Nitrogen fertilization increased the sensitivity of plants to high temperature. Thus, the role of N fertilization under heat stress may be more important than under optimal temperatures.


Web services (WS) enables agile application development by orchestrating the existing service components. However, the dynamically constructed service-based system has to be tested dynamically and automatically at runtime without human intervention. To address the challenges of automatic WS test case generation, this paper proposes a model driven ontology-based approach with the purpose of improving test formalism and test intelligence. The semantic WS specification OWL-S is used to describe the application logic of composite service process. A Petri-Net model is created to provide a formal representation of the OWL-S (Web Ontology Language for Web service) process model. The Petri-net ontology is defined to incorporate the operation and IOPE (inputs, outputs, preconditions, and effects) semantics for test generation. Test cases are generated from two aspects. Test steps are generated by traversing various execution paths of the Petri-net graph. Test data are generated by reasoning over the IOPE ontology


The authors describe an autonomous embedded expert system for satellite-based electronic control systems using multiple sensors. The autonomous expert control system methodology was developed with emphasis on expert system verification. It was demonstrated with a multisensor satellite thermal control subsystem responsible for real-time health and status monitoring, subsystem commanding, and decision assistance. A propositional logic rule base was used to create a rule structure that can be verified and easily transferred into a hardware implementation. The 400 propositional logic rule demonstration of the thermal control subsystem showed the feasibility and testability of the compact expert system approach for autonomous embedded applications.<<ETX>>


Today's Enterprises exist in highly dynamic environment. Simulation could be used to reveal complex dynamic behavior of enterprise, especially for playing out dynamic what-if scenarios, in determining enterprise's response to a change. Instead of relying on guidelines for simulating prescriptive models of enterprise as in other approaches including our own in which we simulated intentional models of enterprise, we propose a comprehensive metamodel of system dynamics and provide relation-based mapping to intentional metamodel. Ongoing explorations suggest that while several challenges of simulating enterprise aspects for what-if analyses remain unaddressed, in the least we take a step toward making simulation of intentional models more structured.


We propose here a novel approach to solve robot planning problems based on spiking neural network models. The method is motivated by recent neuroscience findings on how rodents create mental plans for maze navigation and is grounded in the framework of planning as probabilistic inference. In this thesis, we demonstrate that the proposed spiking neural network is a suitable alternative to classical approaches and comes with interesting features. Neural networks can be used in massive parallel computing, e.g., when implemented in neuromorphic hardware. These brain-like chips consist of thousands of memory and processing units operating in parallel. However, we are lacking suitable learning rules and algorithms. The developments in this thesis provide first testable algorithms for real-world robot planning applications. Arbitrary complex functions can be learned such as dynamic or kinematic models. For that, a spike dependent version of contrastive divergence was derived to learn non-linear functions with kinesthetic teaching. We show that these models can scale to a six-dimensional KUKA robot system, where in addition to an existing two-dimensional task space planning model two additional models were developed. One of these models can be queried in both directions, enabling that forward and inverse models can be learned at the same time. Obstacles of arbitrary shape can be encoded in form of repelling forces through synaptic inhibition. Sampling of movement plans is done 4− 60 times faster than real-time, which allows for foraging robot control, preparing multiple alternative solutions and deciding online which plan to execute. With the additionally implemented online rejection sampling, we could achieve target reaching errors of 4% in the modelled operational area. Furthermore, the generated movement trajectories did not require any post processing. Using bidirectional feedback between task and joint space during planning, smooth and goal-directed movements were computed at the same time.


The recording of micro holographic storage is performed by the superposition of two tightly focused counter-propagating beams. The micrograting is affected by misalignment in the z -direction during the recording and read-out processes. Thus, the diffraction efficiency (DE) can be reduced by the defocusing of the micrograting. In this paper, we investigate the recording characteristics of a defocused micrograting. An optical system with a numerical aperture (NA) of 0.60 and a wavelength of 532 nm was designed for micro holographic recording. The recording tolerance was formulated by using vector diffraction theory. The recording tolerance was determined by using the Mahajan's Strehl ratio (SR) of the DE. The DE was dramatically reduced at the ±0.4λ defocusing position and we determined that the ±0.4λ was the recording tolerance in the defocusing direction. In addition, we propose a precise detection method to obtain a focus error signal (FES) within the recording tolerance range. Finally, the numerical results of a defocused micrograting were experimentally verified.


In November 2012, RF Minister of Defense Anatoly Serdiukov, accused of abetting corruption in his ministry, was sacked from office; former Deputy Minister of Regional Development was arrested; criminal proceedings against the managers of Rostelekom and the former top officials of the RF Ministry of Agriculture began to be pursued more vigorously. All those developments were comprehensively covered and commented on by the news media, which indicates that the authorities are anxious to increase their popularity by demonstrating a resolve to press ahead with both self-purification and war on corruption. Although the post of Minister of Defense was given to Sergey Shoigu, one of the few politicians with high approval ratings, it is unlikely that he will pursue any radical reforms in his sphere of competence. The RF Government managed to dissuade Vladimir Putin from transferring state-owned energy assets into the control of Rosneftegaz, a conglomerate headed by Igor Sechin.


Solanum species belong to the family Solanaceae, with over 1500 species, worldwide. This type of species also contains medicinal plants such as tomato, potato, eggplant, bell, chilli, peppers and many species such as tropical Mapple, aquatic soda apple and sea walnut etc. Plants in this type of species, the family are usually rough hairy and often prickly, with a distinctive part of plants like flower, seed and fruits, and these numerous types of plants occurring from Solanaceae made up of rich sources of biotin, minerals, vitamins, iron and potassium salts. Mainly Solanum species plants contain steroidal glycoalkaloidal constituents and they are responsible for the various effectiveness in disease and disorders, most of plants contain solasodine and solamargine and both are possessing anticonvulsants effects. During the study of many review and research, most of solanum plants contain steroidal glycosides and they exert the anti-seizure effect because of the solasodine, solmine, solamarginine etc. which inhibit the increment of sodium voltage ions which is responsible for the convulsion.


Insulin-producing cells derived from in vitro differentiation of stem cells and non-stem cells by using different factors can spare the need for genetic manipulation and provide a cure for diabetes. In this context, pancreatic progenitors differentiating to b-like cells garner increasing attention as b-cell replacement source. This kind of cell therapy has the potential to cure diabetes, but is still on its way of being clinically useful. The primary restriction for in vitro production of mature and functional b-cells is developing a physiologically relevant in vitro culture system which can mimic in vivo pathways of islet development. In order to achieve this target, different approaches have been attempted for the differentiation of pancreatic stem/progenitor cells to b-like cells. Here, we will review some of the state-of-the-art protocols for the differentiation of pancreatic progenitors and differentiated pancreatic cells into b-like cells with a focus on pancreatic duct cells. (Folia Histochemica et Cytobiologica 2019, Vol. 57, No. 3, 101–115)


An estimated 3.7 million people inject drugs in Eurasia, representing the second highest prevalence of injecting drug use worldwide. Around one in four people who inject drugs in the region are living with HIV. From 2000 to 2010, the number of people living with HIV has increased by 250% in Eurasia, and the spread of HIV remains concentrated among people who inject drugs and their sexual partners. Drug injection is also one of the main drivers of hepatitis C in the region, with the prevalence among people who inject drugs ranging from 30% in Azerbaijan to 95% in Lithuania. These trends clearly show the need for governments to prioritise the delivery of comprehensive HIV prevention services targeting people who inject drugs, including needle and syringe programmes (NSPs) and opiate substitution therapy (OST) in the region. However, since the beginning of the HIV epidemic in the mid-1990s, governments have given little or no political support to harm September 2012 reduction. As a result, these services often rely on limited financial support and operate under hostile political environments, while the overall regional approach to drug control has been focused on severe drug laws and their enforcement towards people who use drugs. This focus on repression has led to numerous examples of police practice undermining the health and social programmes that are designed to reduce drug problems in the region. The purpose of this briefing paper, written by IDPC in collaboration with the Eurasian Harm Reduction Network, is to review up-to-date evidence on the institutionalisation of police violence toward people who use drugs across the region and the implications of these practices for public health and society. The review relies on data collected from several Eurasian countries and depicts instances of police abuse against people who use drugs as systematic practices widespread across the region. The paper concludes that the quantity and quality of interactions with the police profoundly shape the behaviour of people who use drugs and result in poor public health outcomes.


Over the last decades, the negative impacts of fossil fuel on the environment and increasing demand for energy due to the unavoidable depletion of fossil fuels, has transformed the world's interests towards alternative fuels. In particular, bioethanol production from cellulosic biomass for the transportation sector has been incrementing since the last decade. The bacterial pathway for bioethanol production is a relatively novel concept and the present study focused on the isolation of potential "cellulase-producing" bacteria from cow dung, compost soil, and termite gut and isolating sugar fermenting bacteria from palm wine. To select potential candidates for cellulase enzyme production, primary and secondary assays were conducted using the Gram's iodine stain in Carboxy Methyl Cellulose (CMC) medium and the Dinitrosalicylic acid (DNS) assays, respectively. Durham tube assay and Solid-Phase Micro-Extraction (SPME) coupled with Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to evaluate the sugar fermenting efficiency of the isolated bacteria. Out of 48 bacterial isolates, 27 showed cellulase activity where Nocardiopsis sp. (S-6) demonstrated the highest extracellular crude enzyme activity of endoglucanase (1.56±0.021 U) and total cellulase activity (0.93±0.012 U). The second-highest extracellular crude enzyme activity of endoglucanase (0.21±0.021 U) and total cellulase activity (0.35±0.021 U) was recorded by Bacillus sp. (T-4). Out of a total of 8 bacterial isolates, Achromobacter sp. (PW-7) was positive for sugar fermentation resulting in 3.07% of ethanol in broth medium at 48 h incubation. The results of the study revealed that Nocardiopsis sp. (S-6) had the highest cellulase enzyme activity. However, the highest ethanol percentage was achieved with by having both Bacillus sp. (T-4) and Achromobacter sp. (PW-7) for the simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) method, as compared to separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) methodologies.


ABSTRACT The paucity of critical results in the field sciences is partly the result of ineffective data collection. Multiple samples must be collected to take advantage of the power of inferential statistics, but the number of samples needed may be minimized by using efficient sampling methods. This study shows that for gravel river bars characterized by the presence of several unevenly distributed facies, the grid technique for sample selection is one of the best and easiest to use in the field. A special combination of grid and random techniques, known as systematic unaligned sampling, performs slightly better, but site selection and navigation in the field are more complex. Random sampling performs less well than either of the other methods. If the sampling question requires estimation of a statistic to represent the entire area or volume, rather than estimates of the variability within and between different zones of the area or volume, then the use of composite sampling further reduces the sampling effort required. A few replications of these composite samples will provide an estimate of the mean and standard deviation of a population statistic which can be used to construct confidence limits about the estimated statistic.


This study examines Commonwealth of Pennsylvania state prison data on inmates released to a term of residential community corrections in either a publicly or privately managed institution (n = 7,204). Analyses indicate significant associations of race, facility orderliness, extent of educational/vocational programming, and type of facility management (Commonwealth or a private provider) with an offender's subsequent reincarceration. Results demonstrate that private entity cost efficiency and effectiveness claims are not supported, and the growth of the private sector in Pennsylvania residential community corrections may even be having a detrimental effect on desistence efforts.


Abstract Early observations on endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) associated these with significant changes in the nature and diversity of animal populations, through environmental exposures. In human populations, dietary exposures to EDCs may be even more important. Most EDCs are classified as non-genotoxic and appear to interact with hormone receptors to disrupt normal differentiation of sex organs, leading to sexual dimorphism and undermasculinisation. Both animal and human populations show variations in susceptibility to endocrine disruption, which have been related to the frequencies of specific variant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and trinucleotide repeats. Microarray technologies, especially using animal models, permit measurement of multiple effects of EDCs on the expression of genes in a tissue-and time-specific manner. Hierarchical gene network analyses reveal impacts on interlinking networks of genes, increasing the activity of some and decreasing that of others. Such approaches will continue to be important to understand the mechanism of new and novel EDCs, but are not appropriate to mass screening. Knowledge of the genes whose expression is impacted has been used to develop reporter gene assays to permit high numbers of chemicals to be interrogated for EDC capability. While such changes in gene expression may sometimes reflect classic mutational changes, there is increasing evidence to suggest that the major mechanism is epigenetic, via DNA methylation changes. The association with transgenerational effects suggests that new strategies of study, such as ChIP-chip arrays that combine chromatin immunoprecipitation with microarrays, may become an important approach to future understanding of the importance and mechanistic basis of this important group of chemicals.


Pyrethrum is a natural neurotoxic insecticide which is obtained from the flowers of Chrysanthemum cinerariaefolium plant. Pyrethrum extract causes DNA damage, genotoxic effect, induction of autophagy and apoptosis, mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, inhibition of biochemical processes. The greater wax moth Galleria mellonella L. (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) is gaining increasing attention in immunity studies as an invertebrate model organism. Melanization, which is the most important response of invertebrate humoral immunity, occurs when inactive prophenoloxidase turns into phenoloxidase enzyme. Changes in phenoloxidase enzyme activity are an important marker for humoral immunity. In our study, the phenoloxidase enzyme activity of hemolymph collected from G. mellonella larvae treated with different doses of pyrethrum extract was determined by reading against a certain absorbance in an ELISA microplate reader. The findings obtained from this study showed that 0.6 mg/ml pyrethrum extract increased phenoloxidase enzyme activity. Doses above and below this dose did not cause a significant change in phenoloxidase activity compared to control groups. In the evaluation made in terms of the change of enzyme activity over time, while the enzyme activity increased rapidly in the first 15 minutes, the enzyme activity rate decreased after the 20th minute. The effect of pyrethrum extract on phenoloxidase enzyme activity in G. mellonella larval hemolymph at a certain dose is consistent with the literature. The reason for this effect of the extract is closely related to its genotoxic and cytotoxic effects.


The paper considers the relation between on-line monitoring and diagnostics on the one hand and high-voltage (HV) withstand and partial discharge (PD) on-site testing on the other. HV testing supplies the basic data (fingerprints) for diagnostics. In case of warnings by on-line diagnostic systems, off-line withstand and PD testing delivers the best possible information about defects and enables the classification of the risk. Because alternating voltage (AC) is the most important test voltage, the AC generation on site is considered. frequency tuned resonant (ACRF) test systems are best adapted to on-site conditions. They can be simply combined with PD measuring equipment. The available ACRF test systems and their application to electric power equipment -from cable systems to power transformers - is described.


In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in object-oriented distributed computing since it is better equipped to deal with complex systems while providing extensibility, maintainability and reusability. At the same time, several new high-speed network technologies have emerged for local- and wide-area networks. However, the performance of networking software is not improving as fast as that of the networking hardware and the workstation microprocessors. This paper gives an overview and evaluates the performance of the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) standard in a distributed computing environment at NASA Ames Research Center. The environment consists of two testbeds of SGI workstations connected by four networks: Ethernet, FDDI, HiPPI and ATM. The performance results for three communication software systems are presented, analyzed and compared. These systems are: BSD socket programming interface, IONA's Orbix, an implementation of the CORBA specification, and the PVM message-passing library. The results show that high-level communication interfaces, such as CORBA and PVM, can achieve reasonable performance under certain conditions.


Reviews on test-driven development (TDD) studies suggest that the conflicting results reported in the literature are due to unobserved factors, such as the tasks used in the experiments, and highlight that there are very few industry experiments conducted with professionals. The goal of this study is to investigate the impact of a new factor, the chosen <italic>task</italic>, and the <italic>development approach</italic> on external quality in an industrial experimental setting with 17 professionals. The participants are junior to senior developers in programming with Java, beginner to novice in unit testing, JUnit, and they have no prior experience in TDD. The experimental design is a <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$2\times 2$</tex-math><alternatives><mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mn>2</mml:mn><mml:mo>×</mml:mo><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:math><inline-graphic xlink:href="tosunmisirli-ieq1-2949811.gif"/></alternatives></inline-formula> cross-over, i.e., we use two tasks for each of the two approaches, namely TDD and incremental test-last development (ITLD). Our results reveal that both <italic>development approach</italic> and <italic>task</italic> are significant factors with regards to the external quality achieved by the participants. More specifically, the participants produce higher quality code during ITLD in which splitting user stories into subtasks, coding, and testing activities are followed, compared to TDD. The results also indicate that the participants produce higher quality code during the implementation of Bowling Score Keeper, compared to that of Mars Rover API, although they perceived both tasks as of similar complexity. An interaction between the <italic>development approach</italic> and <italic>task</italic> could not be observed in this experiment. We conclude that variables that have not been explored so often, such as the extent to which the task is specified in terms of smaller subtasks, and developers' unit testing experience might be critical factors in TDD experiments. The real-world appliance of TDD and its implications on external quality still remain to be challenging unless these uncontrolled and unconsidered factors are further investigated by researchers in both academic and industrial settings.


Engineered superparamagnetic nanoparticles (NPs) have broad potential in biotechnologies, high contrast magnetic resonance imaging, and advanced environmental sensing and remediation technologies, among others. For successful environmental, aqueous-based applications, particle stability (as highly monodisperse and single domain nanocrystals) and specific surface functionality are critical to control. In this report, aqueous stabilization of 8 nm superparamagnetic iron oxide NPs is described and optimized using a series of surface engineered bilayers, exploring 13 ionic surfactants, which are systematically varied with regard to hydrophobic tail (size and properties) and polar head groups. As monodispersed aqueous suspensions, material libraries were evaluated through particle–particle aggregation kinetics (with varied ionic types and strengths) and long-term aqueous stabilities (up to one year). Optimal phase transfer approaches are presented, along with corresponding particle stability characterization data sets for each of the 13 ligands studied, which, when taken together, allow for flexible surface design strategies for a variety of superparamagnetic particle-based aqueous applications.


The Faculty of Law at Ryerson University has undertaken extensive curricular reforms aimed at engaging with technology as a central requirement of legal practice. These reforms reflect an undertaking to develop practice-based education and an undertaking to teach students to think critically about the impact of automating and mechanizing legal information. Teaching students to identify how to use technology, how to design it, and how to challenge its effects are key to providing a systemic approach to law and technology. This is an approach that teaches students to identify how law and legal services can be fundamentally altered by computational analysis. This article is available in Osgoode Hall Law Journal: https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/ohlj/vol58/iss1/4


BackgroundEtomidate exerts a mild, positive inotropic effect in rat ventricular myocardium, yet has a negative inotropic effect in isolated rabbit ventricular myocardium. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanisms of etomidate's inotropic effect and its underlying mechanism in Isolated ferret ventricular myocardium (which shows similar physiologic characteristics as human ventricular myocardium) and in frog ventricular myocardium, in which Ca++ ions for myofibrillar activation are derived almost entirely from transsarcolemmal influx. MethodsThe authors analyzed the effects of etomidate after β-adrenoceptor blockade on variables of contractility and relaxation, and on the free intracellular Ca++ transient detected with the Ca++-regulated photoprotein aequorin. Etomidate's effects were also evaluated in ferret right ventricular papillary muscles in which the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) function was impaired by ryanodine, and in frog ventricular strips with little or no SR function. ResultsAt concentrations ≥ 3 μg/ml, which by far exceed the clinically useful concentration range, etomidate decreased contractility and the amplitude of the intracellular Ca++ transient. At equal peak force, control peak aequorin luminescence in [Ca++]o = 2.25 mM and peak aequorin luminescence in etomidate 10 μg/ml and [Ca++]o > 2.25 mM did not differ, which indicates that etomidate does not alter myofibrillar Ca++ sensitivity. After inactivation of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca++ release with ryanodine 10–6 M, a condition in which myofibrillar activation depends almost exclusively on transsarcolemmal Ca++ influx, etomidate caused a decrease in contractility and in the amplitude of the intracellular Ca++ transient, and etomidate's relative negative Inotropic effect was not different from that in control muscles not exposed to ryanodine. Etomidate 10 μg/ml decreased contractility in frog ventricular myocardium. ConclusionsThese findings indicate that the direct negative Inotropic effect of etomidate results from a decrease in intracellular Ca++ availability with no changes in myofibrillar Ca++ sensitivity. At least part of etomidate's action is caused by inhibition of transsarcolemmal Ca++ influx. Yet, these effects become apparent only at concentrations that are at least one order of magnitude larger than those encountered in clinical practice.


EuroSciCon takes great pride in announcing the success of   " Euro Vaccines 2019 " which was held during 11-12 July in Prague Czech Republic. Euro Vaccines 2019 witnessed a combination of peerless speakers who enlightened the crowd with their knowledge and confabulated on various new-fangled issues related to the field of Vaccines & Vaccination. The extremely illustrious conference hosted by EuroSciCon was marked with the attendance of young and brilliant researchers, experienced professors, delegates and talented student communities representing their countries around the world.


Existing scholarship points to gender patterns in diplomacy. This study examines such gender patterns in new ways, expecting women to be less likely to be ambassadors in states with more economic clout and in conflict-affected states, but more likely to serve as ambassadors in more gender-equal states. Most importantly, we examine whether these gender differences diminish over time. New data on ambassador appointments for Denmark, Sweden, the UK and the US spanning the period 1970–2015 reveal that whereas there are no gender differences with respect to postings to gender-equal states or states with domestic conflict, women are indeed less likely to be ambassadors in economically significant states and in states in inter-state conflict. Crucially, these patterns are not diminishing over time. This study opens up for future investigation into underlying mechanisms that explain the persistence of some gender patterns and the absence of others.Key messagesGender differences in ambassador appointments persist over time.Female ambassadors are less likely than men to be posted to states with higher economic status.Female ambassadors are less likely than men to be posted to countries with inter-state conflict, but there are no such patterns for intra-state conflict.There are no gender patterns in ambassador appointments to more gender-equal states.


Reflecting on my own experiences conducting ethnographic fieldwork within the international backpacking community and the metaphorical (as well as physical) journey this entailed, this article provides an account of the fieldwork process as it is lived and focuses on the interplay between the academic as observer and the academic as observed. In particular, drawing on key excerpts from the author's fieldnotes, the article opens up the fieldwork process to closer scrutiny, examining the emotional, corporeal and social dimensions of research. In so doing, the article explores some of the tensions that can emerge for the tourism studies scholar, who as researcher, traveller and tourist may frequently occupy multiple roles and identities within an individual research project. However, rather than viewing these convergences as an obstacle or limitation, I suggest that when viewed through the methodological approach of autoethnography, they are in fact conducive to developing a more reflexive and critically orientated approach to tourism studies.


The present paper is centred on the issue of social (or public) acceptance of renewable energy. Due to the climate change at global level, governments are showing an increasing interest in the adoption of renewable energy policies. Nonetheless, social acceptance to renewable energy still represents an obstacle to these policies. This is particularly true for wind energy. Generally, a wind farm project could alter the aesthetic view of a territory and rise an active opposition to its development. Furthermore, the lack of knowledge and the lack of trust towards the technology and the institutions could undermine a wind energy project. The paper critically reviews the public acceptance of renewable energy with a particular emphasis on wind energy, and examines the main factors determining the success or the failure of a wind energy project and their importance to support the decision making process. The issue of social acceptance is studied through a survey carried out in the regions of Apulia and Basilicata, in the South of Italy. The rationale behind the choice of these regions is that they are represent, particularly in the case of Apulia, a large portion of the wind energy installation capacity in Italy. Additionally, an ANOVA analysis is performed to assess whether similarities exist across these regions. Finally, the social acceptance of wind energy is discussed in the light of the particular territorial context of the two regions.


Deep learning has been widely recognized as a promising approach in different computer vision applications. Specifically, one-stage object detector and two-stage object detector are regarded as the most important two groups of Convolutional Neural Network based object detection methods. One-stage object detector could usually outperform two-stage object detector in speed; However, it normally trails in detection accuracy, compared with two-stage object detectors. In this study, focal loss based RetinaNet, which works as one-stage object detector, is utilized to be able to well match the speed of regular one-stage detectors and also defeat two-stage detectors in accuracy, for vehicle detection. State-of-the-art performance result has been showed on the DETRAC vehicle dataset.


This article provides a brief overview of the effect of economic globalization on Asia, presents occupational health issues from select countries, and discusses challenges and opportunities for occupational health nurses.


Human perception is supported by regions of ventral visual cortex that become active when specific types of information appear in the environment. This coupling has led to a common assumption in cognitive neuroscience that stimulus-evoked activity in these regions only reflects information about the current stimulus. Here we challenge this assumption for how scenes are represented in a scene-selective region of parahippocampal cortex. This region treated two identical scenes as more similar when they were preceded in time by the same stimuli compared to when they were preceded by different stimuli. These findings suggest that parahippocampal cortex embeds scenes in their temporal context to determine what they represent. By integrating the past and present, such representations may support the encoding and navigation of complex environments.


In this paper, we present a novel Ad hoc network management mechanism UANM to provide unified management functionalities for nodes in an Ad hoc network. UANM adopts a cross layer cooperating management scheme to coordinate the pertinent behaviors of routing and application layer modules. It employs manager and agent model as SNMP. Nevertheless, when manager node needs to send management data packets to agent nodes and there is no available communication route, it will send out the management data packets in the process of route discovery. Thus manager node can finish part of the management work with much less delay and there will be significant energy consumption reduction for the nodes that are involved in the related communications. The simulation results verified the efficiency of UANM.


Following the selection of The Gravitational Universe by ESA, and the successful flight of LISA Pathfinder, the LISA Consortium now proposes a 4 year mission in response to ESA's call for missions for L3. The observatory will be based on three arms with six active laser links, between three identical spacecraft in a triangular formation separated by 2.5 million km. LISA is an all-sky monitor and will offer a wide view of a dynamic cosmos using Gravitational Waves as new and unique messengers to unveil The Gravitational Universe. It provides the closest ever view of the infant Universe at TeV energy scales, has known sources in the form of verification binaries in the Milky Way, and can probe the entire Universe, from its smallest scales near the horizons of black holes, all the way to cosmological scales. The LISA mission will scan the entire sky as it follows behind the Earth in its orbit, obtaining both polarisations of the Gravitational Waves simultaneously, and will measure source parameters with astrophysically relevant sensitivity in a band from below $10^{-4}\,$Hz to above $10^{-1}\,$Hz.


BACKGROUND
Significantly increased plasma and CSF IL-6 levels reflect underlying tissue damage following clinical and experimental traumatic brain injury (TBI). Catecholamines, used under clinical conditions to maintain adequate cerebral perfusion pressure, induce a sustained IL-6 release. Thus an additional elevation in IL-6 could aggravate brain edema in the acute posttraumatic phase. We studied the changes in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) IL-6 levels 4 and 24 hours after experimental TBI and assessed possible time-dependent effects of norepinephrine infusion on IL-6 and brain edema.

MATERIAL/METHODS
Paired plasma and CSF IL-6 measured at 4 and 24 hours following TBI (n=10) were compared to levels in non-traumatized rats (n=5). In a placebo-controlled trial, 20 brain-injured male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized to receive norepinephrine or NaCl for 90 minutes at 4 or 24 hours after TBI. Plasma IL-6 was measured before, during, and after the infusion period. One hour after stopping the infusion, CSF IL-6 and hemispheric swelling were determined.

RESULTS
During the first posttraumatic day, plasma and CSF IL-6 levels were significantly increased compared to non-traumatized rats, reaching the highest values at 24 hours (p<0.05). Norepinephrine infusion significantly increased plasma IL-6 at 7 and 27 hours after TBI; IL-6 was significantly elevated in CSF only at 7 hours (p<0.05). Brain edema was not aggravated.

CONCLUSIONS
The norepinephrine-induced increase in plasma and CSF IL-6 suggests that concomitant norepinephrine administration needs to be considered when interpreting systemic and local changes in IL-6 levels in TBI patients.


The (Ti,Cr)2AlC/Al2O3 solid solution composite has been synthesized by in situ aluminothermic reduction of the blend powders of Ti, Al, Cr2O3 and carbon black. The phase evolution during the formation of the composite was examined at the temperatures from 700 °C to 1400 °C. Based on the results of X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), a possible reaction mechanism was brought forward to explain the formation of (Ti,Cr)2AlC/Al2O3 solid solution composite. Above the melting point of aluminum, liquid Al reacted with titanium to form the intermetallic compound of TiAl. As the temperature increased to 900 °C, the intermetallic compound of TiAl reacted with TiC to form Ti2AlC. The microstructures of the as prepared samples were also analyzed by the scanning electron microscope (SEM) together with the election dispersive spectroscopy (EDS).