OBJECTIVE
To determine the safety of laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) compared with open distal gastrectomy (ODG) in patients with clinical stage I gastric cancer in Korea.

BACKGROUND
There is still a lack of large-scale, multicenter randomized trials regarding the safety of LADG.

METHODS
A large-scale, phase 3, multicenter, prospective randomized controlled trial was conducted. The primary end point was 5-year overall survival. Morbidity within 30 postoperative days and surgical mortality were compared to evaluate the safety of LADG as a secondary end point

RESULTS
: A total of 1416 patients were randomly assigned to the LADG group (n = 705) or the ODG group (n = 711) between February 1, 2006, and August 31, 2010, and 1384 patients were analyzed for modified intention-to-treat analysis (ITT) and 1256 were eligible for per protocol (PP) analysis (644 and 612, respectively). In the PP analysis, 6 patients (0.9%) needed open conversion in the LADG group. The overall complication rate was significantly lower in the LADG group (LADG vs ODG; 13.0% vs 19.9%, P = 0.001). In detail, the wound complication rate of the LADG group was significantly lower than that of the ODG group (3.1% vs 7.7%, P < 0.001). The major intra-abdominal complication (7.6% vs 10.3%, P = 0.095) and mortality rates (0.6% vs 0.3%, P = 0.687) were similar between the 2 groups. Modified ITT analysis showed similar results with PP analysis.

CONCLUSIONS
LADG for patients with clinical stage I gastric cancer is safe and has a benefit of lower occurrence of wound complication compared with conventional ODG.


The need for alternative fuels to replace liquid petroleum-based fuels has been accelerated in recent years by environmental concerns, concerns of shortage of imported liquid hydrocarbon, and congressional prompting. The fact is accepted that natural gas is the cheapest, most domestically abundant, and cleanest burning of fossil fuels. However, socio-economical and technical handicaps associated with the safety and efficiency of on-board fuel storage inhibit its practical use in vehicles as an alternative fuel. A concept is presented for safely storing fuel at low pressures in the form of hydrates in natural gas vehicles. Experimental results lead to gas storage capacities of 143 to 159 volumes/volume. Vehicle travel range could be up to 204 mi. Controlled decomposition rate of hydrates is possible for feeding an automotive vehicle. Upon sudden pressure decrease in the event of a vehicle accident, the rate of release of hydrocarbons from the hydrates at constant temperature is 2.63 to 12.50 percent per min, slow enough to prevent an explosion or a fireball. A model is given for predicting the rates of gas release from hydrates in a vehicle wreck. A storage tank design is proposed and a process is suggested for forming and decomposing hydrates on-board vehicles. A consistent fuel composition is obtained with hydrates.


Cast and deformed microcomposites such as Cu-Nb multifilamentary composites have been reported as ultra-high strength wires which exhibits anomalous increase in tensile strength with heavy deformation. To apply this procedure to aluminum based wires, powder metallurgy process is an attractive alternative to avoid interfacial reaction between chemically reactive Al and secondary elements. The present study is aimed at fabrication of such a heavily deformed in-situ composite wire based on Al and evaluation of its mechanical properties. Tensile strength is of particular interests, especially from the viewpoint of relationship with microstructures. Al powder and Nb powder are mixed, uni-axially pressed, and swaged with two restacking steps employed to obtain high drawing strain. All processes including the pressing are performed in room temperature air. Metal filaments get finer and closer together as the drawing strain increases, and uniformity of the filament distribution also increases with deformation. Tensile strength increases to 1063 MPa at drawing strain of 14.6, which is the maximum drawing strain in this study. The dependence of ultimate tensile strengths of the composites on the mean filamentary spacing is investigated. There is a good correlation with the Hall-Petch type relationship. This result suggests that the filaments acts as barriers against dislocation motion, and that shear modulus of the second phase barrier is a predominant parameter for the strengthening of the wire.


The literature on the influence of aortocoronary bypass surgery is reviewed with respect to life expectancy and symptoms. Preliminary results of the European prospective randomized coronary study are also presented. There was no significant difference in clinical or angiographic criteria as between the medically and surgically treated patient groups. For the total cohorts, survival did not significantly differ, though in patients with 3-vessel disease, mortality was significantly higher in the medically treated group. This observation requires confirmation before it is allowed to influence our decisions. In the same prospective trial, surgery improved symptoms in 4/5 of the patients and eliminated angina in half. With medical treatment, fewer than half of the patients experienced further improvement during the same time period and only 15% became symptom-free.


: Antibody titers measured by hemagglutination inhibition testing were determined in previously vaccinated dogs at the time of booster vaccination and 2 weeks later. All vaccines consisted of modified live panleukopenia virus. The booster injection was administered approximately 6 months after the initial parvovirus vaccination series was given. Fecal and serum specimens were collected immediately before and 2 weeks after administration of the booster vaccine for hemagglutination and hemagglutination inhibition testing, respectively. All dogs were privately owned and were from the Columbus, Ohio, area but were from environments with various exposure potentials to canine parvovirus. Results of hemagglutination (HA) testing on feces were negative in all dogs before and after booster vaccination. Therefore, these vaccinations did not interfere with interpretation of HA testing of feces. Results of serum hemagglutination inhibition (HI) testing indicated that 50% of the dogs had serum titers less than 1:80 prior to vaccination and that, of these dogs, 65.2% still had serum titers less than 1:80 2 weeks after the booster vaccination. Only 10.9% of all dogs had a marked increase in serum HI titer after the booster vaccination, indicating that overall serologic response to vaccination was poor. High HI titers (greater than or equal to 1:640) were associated with exposure to other dogs and cats in the neighborhood or to dogs suspected of having had parvovirus infection.


ABSTRACT The Nearctic genera Orectoderus Uhler, Pronotocrepis Knight, and Teleorhinus Uhler are revised. One new species from Texas, Teleorhinus crataegi, sp. nov., is described. Teleorhinus oregoni Knight, 1968 is transferred to Orectoderus Uhler. The following new synonyms are proposed (senior synonym first): O. arcuatus Knight = O. schuhi Knight; O. montanus Knight = O. utahensis Knight, O. Salicis Knight, and O. cockerelli Knight; O. obliquus Uhler = O. ruckesi Knight; P. clavicornis Knight = P. ribesi Knight and P. ruber Knight; T. cyaneus Uhler = T. brindleyi Knight and T. nigricornis Knight; T. tephrosicola Knight = T. floridanus Blatchley and T. utahensis Knight; O. bakeri Knight = T. oregoni Knight Orectoderus and Teleorhinus are transferred from the Hallodapini Van Duzee to the Pronotocrepini Knight. The Palearctic genus Ethelastia Reuter, 1876, is reviewed and transferred from the Phylini to the Pronotocrepini. A rediagnosis for the tribe Pronotocrepini, a key to the included genera, keys to males and females, illustrations of male and female genitalia, except for the female of Teleorhinus crataegi, new species, dorsal habitus photographs, scanning micrographs of selected structures, and new locality and host-plant records are included for all species.


A new method of modeling friction forces that impede the motion of parts of dynamic mechanical systems is described. Conventional methods in which the friction effect is assumed a constant force, or torque, in a direction opposite to the relative motion, are applicable only to those cases where applied forces are large in comparison to the friction, and where there is little interest in system behavior close to the times of transitions through zero velocity. This article describes a new algorithm that provides accurate determination of friction forces over a wide range of applied force and velocity conditions. The method avoids the simulation errors resulting from a finite integration interval used in connection with a conventional friction model, as is the case in many digital computerbased simulations. The new algorithm incorporates a predictive calculation based on initial conditions of motion, externally applied forces, inertia, and integration step size. The predictive calculation in connection with an external integration process provides an accurate determination of both static and Coulomb friction forces and resulting motions in dynamic simulations. Accuracy of the results is improved over that obtained with conventional methods and a relatively large integration step size is permitted. A function block for incorporation in a specific simulation program is described. The general form of the algorithm facilitates implementation with various programming languages such as Fortran or C, as well as with other simulation programs.


We have studied the detection and classification of genetic variants of human serum albumin by electrophoresis. Samples from 10 patients who were heterozygous for eight differentalbuminvariants were studied by two methods. In agarose gel electrophoresis, each of these variants has an abnormal mobility and can be classified on the basis that structural changes at the N-terminus abolish eaNi binding. In sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrytamide gel electrophoresis of whole serum, glycosylated variants are easily detected because of their greater apparent molecular mass.


A theory based on property rights, predicting relationships between corporate governance mechanisms and corporate entrepreneurship, is developed in order to explain the entrepreneurial propensity of democratic member-based associations. The theory is tested on riding school associations. The findings indicate that the risk attitude of an association is influenced by the size of the market for managerial labour and the methods used in order to develop the manager of the organisation.


Background: PDE-5 inhibitors are effective treatments for erectile dysfunction and are one of the best selling drugs. Like most drugs they have side effects, and permanent vision loss due to nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) has been reported with the ingestion of these medications. Several case reports have shown a correlation between the two, but with lack of clinical trials there is no clear evidence of its existence. Can PDE-5 inhibitors increase the risk of developing NAION in males with erectile dysfunction? Methods: An exhaustive literature search using MEDLINE-Ovid, MEDLINE-PubMed, Web of Science, ClinicalKey, and CINAHL was performed using keywords: PDE-5 inhibitors, ischemic optic neuropathy, and NAION. These were screened with eligibility criteria. The resulting study and case reviews were then appraised and assessed for quality with GRADE. Results: One observational study and two case reviews were included in this systematic review. The observational study looked at 40 cases with intermittent PDE-5 inhibitor exposure in the 30 days prior to NAION onset. This study showed a twofold-increased risk of acute NAION within 5 half-lives of PDE-5 inhibitor use. The case reviews revealed the same results, but with co-morbidities. Conclusion: PDE-5 inhibitors have been successful in providing relief to patients who suffer from erectile dysfunction; however, the permanent loss of vision is alarming, and needs to be further investigated. Additional research into the effects of this medication is essential to healthcare providers when they decide to prescribe this drug.


Microcontact printing (mCP) and dip-pen nanolithography (DPN) are versatile techniques for the creation of patterned surfaces. They commonly employ the transfer of an ink (e.g. a thiol) onto a surface (e.g. a gold-coated substrate) thus forming a self-assembled monolayer (SAM). Resolution of these techniques is typically around 200 nm, diffusion of the ink during the printing or writing stage being the main limiting factor. We have shown that nanoparticles can be coated with catalytically active acid groups to hydrolyze protecting silyl ether groups on a homogeneous SAM when transferred onto this SAM by mCP. The present study will show examples of novel strategies for eliminating diffusion as an underlying principle of mCP and DPN. The preparation and use of catalytically active stamps will be shown with a catalyst attached directly to the stamp surface. These stamps provide an ink-free mCP scheme allowing more versatile catalytic reactions. Furthermore, an extension to catalytic probe lithography will be given. Here we will show line patterns with sub-100 nm widths created by scanning a catalytically active tip functionalized with a catalyst across a reactive SAM substrate.


Kosciuszko National Park is the largest protected area in NSW and the only reserve in the State containing alpine vegetation. Diseases and pests of plants in the park are poorly known and, until recently, were thought to be benign and rare because of the cold climate. Surveys after the 2003 fire that burnt about 70% of the park detected dieback in both unburnt and regenerating burnt shrubs and trees. Since then, 36 species of Phytophthora have been identified in the park. Some perhaps do not persist but at least two ( P. gregata and P. cambivora ) are affecting the survival of two native shrub species. The fungus Armillaria luteobubalina also has been isolated from dying shrubs. Many insects and a mite have been identified on shrubs and trees in poor health. Although some of the invertebrate and disease syndromes are likely to be cyclic and natural, their interaction with climate change and invasive species may interrupt such cycles. One threatened species, Eucalyptus saxatilis , is in severe decline at some sites because of insect herbivory perhaps in conjunction with unusual climatic events. Climate change is also likely to allow the invasion or expansion of non-native and native pathogens and invertebrates with unpredictable consequences.


"A welcome and timely addition to college and public library international studies shelves." * The Midwest Book Review Recent tensions between the U.S. and Europe seem to have opened up an insuperable rift, while Americanization, deplored by some, welcomed by others, seems to progress unabated. This volume explores, for the first time and in a comparative manner, the role American culture and anti-Americanism play in eleven representative European countries, including major powers like Great Britain, France, (West) Germany, Russia/Soviet Union, and Italy as well as smaller countries like Austria, Denmark, Greece, Spain, Sweden, and Poland. Each contributor to the volume, all of them highly respected experts in their field, was asked to address the following four topics: the role of American public diplomacy, the transfer of American "high culture," the impact of "popular culture" ranging from Hollywood movies and TV to pop music and life-style issues, and the country specific features and history of anti-Americanism. The volume is enhanced by a substantial introduction by the editor, which looks both at the general "culture clash" between the United States and Europe and at adaptations and blending processes that seem to have occurred in individual countries. Alexander Stephan is Professor of German, Ohio Eminent Scholar, and Senior Fellow of the Mershon Center for International Security Studies at Ohio State University, where he directs a project on American culture and anti-Americanism in Europe and the world. Other Titles from Berghahn Books by Alexander Stephan: Americanization and Anti-Americanism


An overview is given of the Aquarius project at Berkeley, which is centered on the high-performance execution of logic programs in general and Prolog in particular. Its goal is to determine how a very large improvement in performance can be achieved in a machine specialized to solve difficult problems characterized by symbolic and numerical calculations, both within a search space. The particular problem domain of this type that is of current concern is design automation of single VLSI chip microprocessors. The processors support Prolog execution and the design tools are written in Prolog, as are the high-level specifications of the processors. Thus, high-performance processors are being developed in VLSI to help execute the design automation tools that are being used to help design these same processors.<<ETX>>


The calibration using orthogonal line is one of the basic approaches of camera calibration, but it requires the orthogonal line be accurately detected, which makes results of error increases. This paper propose a novel camera self-calibration technique using plane lattices and virtual orthogonal line. The rigorous analytical relations among the feature point coordinates of the plane lattice, the corresponding image point coordinate, intrinsic parameters, relative pose are induced according to homography matrix of the central projection. Let a slope of non-parallel and non-orthogonal virtual line in the lattice plane, and the slope of its orthonormal line can be calculated. In at least three photographs taken, vanishing points can be solved in two groups of orthogonal directions by using the homography matrix, so the camera intrinsic parameters are linearly figured out. This method has both simple principle and convenient pattern manufacture, and does not involve image matching, besides having no requirement concerning camera motion. Simulation experiments and real data show that this algorithm is feasible, and provides a higher accuracy and robustness.


Cervical stump cancer is a rare type of disease as total hysterectomies are performed infrequently. The purpose of this retrospective study was to assess the diagnosis, treatment, follow-up methods and complications of 10 patients with cervical stump carcinoma treated with surgery in Anhui Provincial Hospital affiliated to Anhui Medical University (Hefei, China). From January 2006 to October 2016 a total of 10 patients underwent surgery for carcinoma of the cervical stump. The pathological reports revealed 80% of cases were squamous cell carcinoma and 20% of cases were adenocarcinoma. The FIGO stage distribution was as follows: Carcinoma in situ (10%); IB1 (70%); IIA (20%). The patients received a transvaginal trachelectomy or a radical trachelectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy (either laparoscopic or laparotomic abdominal); four of the patients were treated with adjuvant chemotherapy, and two with concurrent chemoradiotherapy. The parametrial and resection margin infiltration, lymph node metastasis and lymph vascular space invasion (LVSI) were negative in all patients, and the deep stromal invasion rate was 66.7% (6/9). No incidences of recurrence or mortality were recorded during the follow-up interval of 6-120 months. Compared with the four patients who received laparotomic abdominal surgery, significantly less blood loss was recorded for the five patients who underwent laparoscopic surgery (P<0.01). There was no significant difference observed in the surgery time (P>0.01) or in the hospital stay duration (P>0.01) for the patients treated with laparotomic abdominal surgery and laparoscopic surgery. One patient experienced bladder fistula due to bladder over-dilation, but recovered quickly after the catheter was reinserted. Surgery for cervical stump cancer at an early-stage is a viable and safer procedure, particularly the laparoscopic approach.


SUMMARY

A high-rate injection of 20 000 m3 of water into granite between 2.8 and 3.4 km depth at the Soultz hot dry rock (HDR) test site in France in 1993 September led to a 200-fold increase in borehole transmissivity and produced a subvertical cloud of microseismicity of dimensions 0.5 km wide, 1.2 km long, 1.5 km high and oriented 25°NW. The resulting data set is unusually complete and well suited to studying permeability creation/enhancement processes in crystalline rock and the utility of microseismic data for revealing them. Although the microseismic cloud defined using joint hypocentre determination (JHD) locations was diffuse and showed little structure, application of the collapsing method showed it to be composed largely of discrete tubes and planes that propagated coherently. One prominent structure that extended 350 m downwards from the vicinity of a flow inlet early in the injection and that appears to contain a major flow path was subjected to detailed investigation to establish its hydrogeologic nature and the mechanisms underpinning its inferred permeability enhancement. High-resolution microseismic mapping techniques (i.e. multiplets and clustering) showed it to be a subvertical, NNW–SSE striking, fracture zone of width 10–20 m. The strike and scale of the structure identifies it as a member of a family of hydrothermally altered, cataclastic shear structures that constitute the primary permeable paths for fluid migration within the rock mass, both under ambient and forced fluid flow conditions. The microseismicity occurred on subvertical, small-scale fractures within the cataclastic shear zone whose azimuths scatter within 22° of parallel to the parent structure. Although the structure is likely to have been naturally permeable to some degree, its permeability appears to have been significantly enhanced as a consequence of the injection. The most likely mechanism of permeability enhancement, which is in accord with the strong preference for the microseismicity to grow downwards, involves strike-slip shearing, which produced the opening of vertical tubes at along-strike jogs in the fault (the so-called Hill mesh). Seismic moment release averaged over the structure suggests shear displacements of at least 0.3 mm occurred, which are sufficient to generate aperture changes that are hydraulically significant. The preponderance of discrete structures within the microseismic cloud after collapsing suggests that significant flow and permeability enhancement (i.e. stimulation) within the rock mass is largely confined to the interiors of shear zones that appear to have a spacing of approximately 100 m.


Exploration of large unknown planetary environments will rely on rovers that can autonomously cover distances of kilometres and maintain precise information about their location with respect to local features. During such traversals, the rovers will create photo-realistic three dimensional (3D) models of visited sites for autonomous operations on-site and mission planning on Earth. Currently rover position is estimated using wheel odometry, which is sucient for short traversals but as error accumulates quickly, it is unsuitable for long distances. At MD Robotics, we are working on imaging technologies for future planetary rover missions. Two complementary technologies are currently investigated: a stereo based vision system and a scanning time-of-flight LIDAR system. Both imaging systems have been installed on board of two experimental rovers and tested in laboratory and outdoor environments. With stereo cameras, the rover can create photo-realistic 3D model as well as provide visual odometry that is more accurate than the rover dead reckoning. With the LIDAR, the rover can match 3D scans to estimate the relative location to improve the wheel and visual odometry.


To quantify uncertainties in inverse problems of partial differential equations (PDEs), we formulate them into statistical inference problems using Bayes' formula. Recently, well-justified infinite-dimensional Bayesian analysis methods have been developed to construct dimension-independent algorithms. However, there are three challenges for these infinite-dimensional Bayesian methods: prior measures usually act as regularizers and are not able to incorporate prior information efficiently; complex noises, such as more practical non-i.i.d. distributed noises, are rarely considered; and time-consuming forward PDE solvers are needed to estimate posterior statistical quantities. To address these issues, an infinite-dimensional inference framework has been proposed based on the infinite-dimensional variational inference method and deep generative models. Specifically, by introducing some measure equivalence assumptions, we derive the evidence lower bound in the infinite-dimensional setting and provide possible parametric strategies that yield a general inference framework called the Variational Inverting Network (VINet). This inference framework can encode prior and noise information from learning examples. In addition, relying on the power of deep neural networks, the posterior mean and variance can be efficiently and explicitly generated in the inference stage. In numerical experiments, we design specific network structures that yield a computable VINet from the general inference framework. Numerical examples of linear inverse problems of an elliptic equation and the Helmholtz equation are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed inference framework.


Safe and Efficient Transportation Act of 2011 - Allows a state to authorize a vehicle with a maximum gross weight (including enforcement tolerances) exceeding certain federal weight limitations to operate on Interstate Highway System (IHS) routes in the state if: (1) the vehicle is equipped with at least six axles, (2) the weight of any single axle does not exceed 20,000 pounds, (3) the weight of any tandem axle does not exceed 34,000 pounds, (4) the weight of any group of 3 or more axles does not exceed 51,000 pounds, and (5) the gross weight of the vehicle does not exceed 97,000 pounds. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish a safe and efficient vehicle bridge infrastructure improvement program. Requires the Secretary to apportion amounts from the Safe and Efficient Vehicle Trust Fund to states for eligible bridge replacement or rehabilitation projects. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) impose a tax on any vehicles that exceed federal weight limitations operating on the IHS, and (2) establish the Safe and Efficient Vehicle Trust Fund.


A systematic review, using the guideline of the Joanna Briggs Institute, was conducted to explore the effect of working in palliative care settings, compared with other settings, on burnout among health care professionals. Multiple databases were searched—CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus, and SciELO—as well as gray literature for studies published since 1975 that compared health professionals caring for patients older than 18 years in specialized palliative care settings (palliative care units, home care, or hospices) with health professionals working in other settings. Of the 539 studies retrieved, 7 cross-sectional studies were included in this review. Of these, six were conducted with nurses, and six used the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Working in palliative care (palliative care unit or hospices) was associated with lower levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, as well as higher levels of personal accomplishment, compared with working in other settings. Evidence indicates that burnout levels seem to be lower among professionals working in palliative care compared with professionals working in other settings. Further research is needed to explore the strategies used by nurses working in palliative care that help them deal with burnout and to apply these same strategies to professionals working in other settings.


Objectives The overall aim of this comprehensive systematic review was to identify the best available evidence on the effect of team characteristics, processes, structure and composition within the context of collaborative practice among nursing teams that create a healthy work environment. Search strategy The search strategy sought to find both published and unpublished studies and papers written in the English language. An initial limited search of Medline and CINAHL databases was undertaken to identify optimal search terms. A second extensive search using all identified keywords and index terms was then undertaken. Methodological quality Two independent reviewers assessed the methodological quality of retrieved papers using the corresponding checklist from the System for the Unified Management, Assessment and Review of Information (SUMARI) package. Results The papers included in the review included nine experimental or quasi‐experimental studies, 11 descriptive studies and four qualitative studies. A variety of different team structures such as interdisciplinary teams, primary nursing, team nursing, multidisciplinary models of care delivery and the use of a Partner in Patient Care model were investigated. Team characteristics should include accountability, commitment, enthusiasm and motivation. Social support within a team from a supervisor or colleague increased satisfaction levels of staff. Conclusion The results of the review lead to the development of a number of recommendations for practice that could assist with creating a health work environment.


Effectiveness of fibrolytic enzymes supplementing a range of forage to concentrate (F:C) diets was assessed with goat (G) or cow (C) inoculum using the gas production (GP) technique. Four F:C diets were evaluated: forage (1:0), high forage (0.7:0.3), medium forage (0.5:0.5) and low forage (0.3:0.7) diets, supplemented or not with Promote(TM) (PRO) at 1 or 2 ml/kg dry matter (DM). The GP kinetic was different between F:C (1:0 < 0.7:0.3 < 0.5:0.5 < 0.3:0.7) and inoculum. Responses to enzyme were positively related to forage level and differed with inoculum. The neutral detergent fibre and acid detergent fibre degradation were depressed by the concentrate in the substrates fermented with C and were not altered or even enhanced in G sets. Results confirm that increasing starch proportion modified the pattern of microbial fermentation, while no influences were detected in the improvement of cell wall degradation with fibrolytic enzymes. Another in vitro experiment was conducted to investigate factors by which endo-beta-1,4-glucanase activity (EA) of PRO is compromised in a factorial design (3 x 4 x 3) for three pH (4.0, 5.5 and 6.5), four temperatures (30, 40, 50 and 70 degrees C) and three doses (1, 2 and 3 ml/kg DM of substrate). Maximum EA were obtained for pH 4.0, 50 degrees C and 3 ml/kg DM. Optimal conditions for PRO proved to be outside the normal ranges in ruminal environment.


ABSTRACT Nucleosome assembly protein 1 (Nap1) is widely conserved from yeasts to humans and facilitates nucleosome formation in vitro as a histone chaperone. Nap1 is generally localized in the cytoplasm, except that subcellular localization of Drosophila melanogaster Nap1 is dynamically regulated between the cytoplasm and nucleus during early development. The cytoplasmic localization of Nap1 is seemingly incompatible with the proposed role of Nap1 in nucleosome formation, which should occur in the nucleus. Here, we have examined the roles of a putative nuclear export signal (NES) sequence in yeast Nap1 (yNap1). yNap1 mutants lacking the NES-like sequence were localized predominantly in the nucleus. Deletion of NAP1 in cells harboring a single mitotic cyclin gene is known to cause mitotic delay and temperature-sensitive growth. A wild-type NAP1 complemented these phenotypes while nap1 mutant genes lacking the NES-like sequence or carboxy-terminal region did not. These and other results suggest that yNap1 is a nucleocytoplasmic shuttling protein and that its shuttling is important for yNap1 function during mitotic progression. This study also provides a possible explanation for Nap1's involvement in nucleosome assembly and/or remodeling in the nucleus.


Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) strain imaging of the luminal layer in coronary arteries, coined as IVUS palpography, utilizes conventional radio frequency (RF) signals acquired at 2 different levels of a compressional load. The signals are cross-correlated to obtain the microscopic tissue displacements, which can be directly translated into local strain of the vessel wall. However, (apparent) tissue motion and nonuniform deformation of the vessel wall, due to catheter wiggling, reduce signal correlation and result in invalid strain estimates. Implications of probe motion were studied on the tissue-mimicking phantom. The measured circumferential tissue displacement and level of the speckle decorrelation amounted to 12deg and 0.58, respectively, for the catheter displacement of 456 mum. To compensate for the motion artifacts in IVUS palpography, a novel method based on the feature-based scale-space optical flow (OF), and classical block matching (BM) algorithm, were employed. The computed OF vector and BM displacement fields quantify the amount of local tissue misalignment in consecutive frames. Subsequently, the extracted circumferential displacements are used to realign the signals before strain computation. Motion compensation reduces the RF signal decorrelation and increases the number of valid strain estimates. The advantage of applying the motion correction in IVUS palpography was demonstrated in a midscale validation study on 14 in vivo pullbacks. Both methods substantially increase the number of valid strain estimates in the partial and compounded palpograms. Mean relative improvement in the number of valid strain estimates with motion compensation in comparison to one without motion compensation amounts to 28% and 14%, respectively. Implementation of motion compensation methods boosts the diagnostic value of IVUS palpography.


Causalists and Evidentialists can agree about the right course of action in an (apparent) Newcomb problem, if the causal facts are not as initially they seem. If declining $1,000 causes the Predictor to have placed $1m in the opaque box, CDT agrees with EDT that one-boxing is rational. This creates a difficulty for Causalists. We explain the problem with reference to Dummett's work on backward causation and Lewis's on chance and crystal balls. We show that the possibility that the causal facts might be properly judged to be non-standard in Newcomb problems leads to a dilemma for Causalism. One horn embraces a subjectivist understanding of causation, in a sense analogous to Lewis's own subjectivist conception of objective chance. In this case the analogy with chance reveals a terminological choice point, such that either (i) CDT is completely reconciled with EDT, or (ii) EDT takes precedence in the cases in which the two theories give different recommendations. The other horn of the dilemma rejects subjectivism, but now the analogy with chance suggests that it is simply mysterious why causation so construed should constrain rational action.


Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was applied to paraffin-embedded wood sections to study the histopathology of pine seedlings inoculated with the pinewood nematode (PWN), Bursaphelenchus xylophilus. The sections, which had been previously prepared and observed by light microscopy (LM) on glass slides, were originally obtained from experiments in which pine seedlings had been inoculated with PWN. The cover glass was removed by soaking the glass slide in xylene for 3 to 5 days. The glass slides were cut into small pieces so that each piece contained one wood section. Each piece of the glass slide was attached with double adhesive tape to an aluminum stub. The specimens were sputter-coated with gold and examined with a scanning electron microscope (JEOL-JSM 5200). Compared to LM (as documented in previous reports) SEM provided greater depth of focus and resolution of the damaged wood tissues, nematodes and associated bacteria. SEM made it possible to observe the relationship between bacterial distribution and nematode distribution in wood tissues. SEM observations also suggested the possibility of documenting the death of ray cells and other parenchyma cells in relation to disease development. Finally, the current study of PWN in pine seedlings demonstrated that glass slides prepared for LM observations more than 25 years earlier could be successfully processed for examination by SEM.


Abstract This paper investigates how exposure to sunshine affects the suicide rate in Japan, especially in relation to economic variables. Using prefecturebased data on socioeconomic variables for the years 1993–2009, the paper confirms existing research in finding a significant correlation between suicides and unemployment, for both men and women. The interaction between sunshine and unemployment is also significant, and further analysis reveals that unemployment is not an important factor for suicide in high-sunshine prefectures, whereas in low-sunshine areas the effect of unemployment on the suicide rate rises. The divorce rate is highly significant and positive for men, but significant and negative for women, suggesting that many Japanese women consider divorce liberating. Current suicide research in Japan with its strong emphasis on economic variables may benefit from an inclusion of measures of general well-being.


Abstract. In August 2018, the European Space Agency (ESA) launched the first Doppler wind lidar into space, which has since then been providing continuous
profiles of the horizontal line-of-sight wind component at a global scale. Aeolus data have been successfully assimilated into several numerical
weather prediction (NWP) models and demonstrated a positive impact on the quality of the weather forecasts. To provide valuable input data for NWP
models, a detailed characterization of the Aeolus instrumental performance as well as the realization and minimization of systematic error sources
is crucial. In this paper, Aeolus interferometer spectral drifts and their potential as systematic error sources for the aerosol and wind products
are investigated by means of instrument spectral registration (ISR) measurements that are performed on a weekly basis. During these measurements,
the laser frequency is scanned over a range of 11 GHz in steps of 25 MHz and thus spectrally resolves the transmission curves of the
Fizeau interferometer and the Fabry–Pérot interferometers (FPIs) used in Aeolus. Mathematical model functions are derived to analyze the
measured transmission curves by means of non-linear fit procedures. The obtained fit parameters are used to draw conclusions about the Aeolus
instrumental alignment and potentially ongoing drifts. The introduced instrumental functions and analysis tools may also be applied for upcoming
missions using similar spectrometers as for instance EarthCARE (ESA), which is based on the Aeolus FPI design.


Ultrasound excited thermography allows for defect selective imaging using thermal waves that are generated by elastic waves. The mechanism involved is local friction or hysteresis which turns a dynamically loaded defect into a heat source which is identified by a thermography system. If the excitation frequency matches to a resonance of the vibrating system, temperature patterns can occur that are caused by standing elastic waves. This undesirable patterns can affect the detection of damages in a negative way. We describe a technique how the defect detectability of ultrasound activated thermography can be improved. With the objective of a preferably diffuse distributed sonic field we applied frequency modulated ultrasound to the material. That way the standing waves can be eliminated or reduced and the detectability is improved.


Using wireless sensor network technology in structure health monitoring applications results in generating large amount of data. To sift through this data and extract useful information an extensive data analysis should be applied. In this paper, a Wireless Sensor Network (WSNs) is proposed for the oil pipeline monitoring system with proposed method for event detection and classification. The method depends on the Principal Component Analysis (PCA). It applied to features extracted from vibration signals of the monitored pipeline. These vibration signals are collected while applying damage events (knocking and drilling) to the oil pipeline. PCA is applied to features extracted from both time domain and frequency domain. The results manifest that this method is able to detect the existence of damage and also to distinguish between the different levels of harmful events applied to the pipeline.


OBJECTIVE
To review clinicopathological features of all cases diagnosed as idiopathic granulomatous lobular mastitis (IGLM) in our hospital and compare them with other data from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

METHODS
Reports of all breast specimens received in histopathology laboratory in Qatif Central Hospital, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia over a 14 year period (1988 through to 2002) were collected and those diagnosed as IGLM were selected for analysis of both pathological material and clinical data.

RESULTS
Eleven patients representing 1.6% of all breast specimens were diagnosed as IGLM. The mean age was 35 years (range 25-50). Both breasts were equally affected. The most frequent presenting symptom was a breast mass of 2-22 weeks duration. The most common clinical diagnosis was chronic abscess (5 patients). Relation to pregnancy, lactation or oral contraceptives pills was elicited in 4 patients. Recurrence at different time intervals occurred in 3 patients. Microscopically there was an evident granulomatous inflammation mostly in lobular distribution. Ductal inflammation with epithelial changes was noted in most cases. Staining and cultures were negative for both mycobacterium and fungal organisms.

CONCLUSION
Granulomatous mastitis is not unheard of and clinicians should keep it in their list of differential diagnosis of breast lumps so appropriate handling of breast specimens including microbiological studies can be pursued. Utility of fine needle aspiration biopsy as a diagnostic tool is to be considered.


An experimental investigation of the influence of polarity on high-voltage discharges is reported in this paper. Particular attention is given to those discharges used in high-voltage measurements. A theory of the formation of Lichtenberg figures is given together with experimental evidence upon which it is based. A polarity indicator utilizing visual Lichtenberg figures is described. Results of 60-cycle and impulse tests on various types of gaps are given. It is shown that polarity has a distinct effect upon the sparking voltages of all types of gaps. Impulse measurements with grounded sphere-gaps are shown to be subject to serious error unless the polarity effects are taken into consideration. An explanation of the influence of polarity on spark-over is proposed.


ABSTRACT This article explores the topic of scientific discovery in two cases of intersections between imaging technologies and sleight-of-hand magic in the domain of nontheatrical film and media. The first case is the French psychologist Alfred Binet's use of chronophotography to study magicians in the 1890s. The second is the reanimation of Binet's study by cognitive (neuro)scientists beginning in the early 2000s using eye-tracking cameras and other digital-imaging devices. The author focuses on how both cases treat the magician as a medium of discovery and how both use optical devices to "see" visual processes related to the experience of wonder.


Nuclear power plants are intense sources of antineutrinos. Their energy spectrum and emitted flux depend on the composition of the nuclear fuel and on the thermal power of the reactor. These properties led to potential applications of neutrino physics: they could be used to non intrusively monitor a nuclear reactor. To this purpose, a better knowledge of the antineutrino energy spectra arising from uranium and plutonium isotope fission is necessary. In these proceedings we relate about on-going simulation efforts aiming at reducing the errors associated to these spectra. The generic tools under development and presented below will allow to perform scenario studies on the feasibility of using antineutrinos to measure thermal power and to test to which precision the fuel composition can be deduced using these particles.


In this paper, we propose a novel architecture for next-generation orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA)-based passive optical networks (PON's), referred to as ROFPON. Besides carrying local broadband OFDMA data, ROFPON seamlessly supports radio-over-fiber (RoF) transports between the central office and multiple remote antennas at end users without using costly WDM lasers. We analytically and experimentally study the receiver sensitivity to OFDMA signals and the radio frequency (RF) signal's performance. By corroborating simulation results with experimental results, we discuss the determination of crucial system parameters, such as the optimal broadband-to-radio power ratio, and the exploitation of a notch filter for removing RF interference. Experimental results show that the integrated 10 Gb/s OFDMA and three 20 MHz RF signals are successfully transported both downstream and upstream over a 20 km single-mode-fiber PON. Finally, experimental results demonstrate that QPSK-encoded WiMAX format RF signals are transmitted/relayed upstream with E-O-E conversion at each optical network unit (ONU), and received error-free at the optical line terminal after cascading 32 ONU's.


The first measurements of the scattering parameters of $\Lambda$K pairs in all three charge combinations ($\Lambda$K$^{+}$, $\Lambda$K$^{-}$, and $\Lambda\mathrm{K^{0}_{S}}$) are presented. The results are achieved through a femtoscopic analysis of $\Lambda$K correlations in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}$ = 2.76 TeV recorded by ALICE at the LHC. The femtoscopic correlations result from strong final-state interactions, and are fit with a parametrization allowing for both the characterization of the pair emission source and the measurement of the scattering parameters for the particle pairs. Extensive studies with the THERMINATOR 2 event generator provide a good description of the non-femtoscopic background, which results mainly from collective effects, with unprecedented precision. Furthermore, together with HIJING simulations, this model is used to account for contributions from residual correlations induced by feed-down from particle decays. The extracted scattering parameters indicate that the strong force is repulsive in the $\Lambda\rm{K}^{+}$ interaction and attractive in the $\Lambda\rm{K}^{-}$ interaction. The data hint that the and $\Lambda\rm{K}^{0}_{S}$ interaction is attractive, however the uncertainty of the result does not permit such a decisive conclusion. The results suggest an effect arising either from different quark-antiquark interactions between the pairs ($\rm s\overline{s}$ in $\Lambda$K$^{+}$ and $\rm u\overline{u}$ in $\Lambda$K$^{-}$) or from different net strangeness for each system (S = 0 for $\Lambda$K$^{+}$, and S = $-2$ for $\Lambda$K$^{-}$). Finally, the $\Lambda$K systems exhibit source radii larger than expected from extrapolation from identical particle femtoscopic studies. This effect is interpreted as resulting from the separation in space-time of the single-particle $\Lambda$ and K source distributions.


The financial services industry is undergoing a massive transformation similar to what was observed when other industries underwent digitization. The FinTech revolution has given rise to a vast number of technology-oriented market entrants who challenge many parts of the financial services industry. This research seeks to provide a better understanding of how FinTechs across various business functions fundamentally impact the value chain in this industry. To this end, we built on top of financial intermediation theory, and developed a taxonomy of FinTechs' intermediating functions. The following hierarchical clustering analysis identified six archetypes of FinTech intermediaries as observed in the real world, i.e. the different ways in which FinTechs across business functions act as financial intermediaries by transforming assets, reducing transaction cost, and alleviating information asymmetries. Finally, we discuss how FinTechs impact financial
intermediation in itself, and to what extent the notion of FinTechs disintermediating the financial value chain is accurate.


The relationship of membrane potential to motility and chemotaxis of Bacillus subtilis has been tested by using the fluorescence of a cyanine dye as a probe of the potential. The dye fluorescence was found to be an indicator of membrane potential by correlation with triphenylmethylphosphonium ion distribution and with changes due to anaerobicity and ionophore addition. When the potential was sufficient for motility and constant over time, it was found that the absolute level of the potential did not affect the swimming behavior of the bacteria. Transient alteration of the membrane potential did, however, lead to changes in swimming behavior. Attractants were found to alter the swimming behavior of the bacteria without altering the membrane potential. Thus, change of the overall membrane potential of a normal B. subtilis is not required for chemotaxis, but such a change is sensed by the bacteria just as changing levels of attractants and repellents are sensed.


In this paper T will always be a countable ℵ0-stable theory, and in this introduction a model of T will mean a countable model. One of the main notions we introduce is that of almost homogeneous model: we say that a model M of T is almost homogeneous if for all ā and finite sequences of elements in M, if the strong type of ā is the same as the strong type of (i.e. for all equivalence relations E, definable over the empty set and with a finite number of equivalence classes, ā and are in the same equivalence class), then there is an automorphism of M taking ā to . Although this is a weaker notion than homogeneity, these models have strong properties, and it can be seen easily that the Scott formula of any almost homogeneous model is in L1. In fact, Pillay [Pi.] has shown that almost homogeneous models are characterized by the set of types they realize. The motivation of this research is to distinguish two classes of ℵ0-Stable theories: (1) theories such that all models are almost homogeneous; (2) theories with 2ℵ0 nonalmost homogeneous models. The example of theories with Skolem functions [L. 1] (almost homogeneous is then equivalent to homogeneous) seems to indicate a link between these properties and the notion of multidimensionality, and that nonmultidimensional theories are in the first case.


Establishing a case retrieval algorithm is the key step of the high-rise structure intelligent form optimization (IFO) based on case based reasoning (CBR). First, analyzes the defects of the traditional case retrieval method (CRM) based on typical distance and the characteristics of architecture structure case retrieval, an improved BP-based intelligent CRM was established and the topological structure and algorithm of the neural network was presented. Next, based on four target cases and twenty-five source cases, the training and forecast of the improved BP-based case retrieval was provided. Finally, the engineering application was given. The result shows: this intelligent CRM can overcome such shortcomings as poor learning ability, low searching efficiency and intelligent level, etc., providing comparatively more scientific method for the CRM of high-rise structure IFO


ABSTRACT Genotypic antiretroviral testing is now widely used for the management of patients who are undergoing antiretroviral therapy for human immunodeficiency virus infection. The assays are complex, and there is considerable potential for variation between laboratories. Informative and ongoing quality assessment programs (QAPs) which address all aspects of testing are required. The panel distribution of clinical material is a critical component of QAPs. We report on the results and data from a recent panel. Four cryopreserved plasma samples from treated donors were distributed to nine laboratories. Three laboratories performed testing by commercial assays, and six laboratories used in-house assays, with one laboratory reporting results from two in-house assays. There was complete concordance between results for 95.9% of the nucleotide sequence and 94.5% of the amino acid sequence. Despite this overall high level of concordance, the degree of concordance at drug resistance mutation (DRM) sites when DRMs were present was considerably less (38% of DRM sites). Consequently, only 3 of the 10 methods reported 100% of DRMs as present. This elevated discrepancy rate is almost certainly a result of variability in the identification of mixtures of nucleotides (mixtures) at any site within the sequence. In addition, laboratories differed in the number of codons in the reverse transcriptase gene that were sequenced and their ability to amplify all samples. This panel distribution demonstrated a requirement for laboratory participation in ongoing QAPs and the optimization of assays with standards that contain mixtures.


Abstract This paper presents an analysis of the energy transported by disturbances in gaseous combustion. It extends the previous work of Myers (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 226, 1991, 383–400) and so includes non-zero mean-flow quantities, large-amplitude disturbances, varying specific heats and chemical non-equilibrium. This extended form of Myers' 'disturbance energy' then enables complete identification of the conditions under which the famous Rayleigh source term can be derived from the equations governing combusting gas motion. These are: small disturbances in an irrotational, homentropic, non-diffusive (in terms of species, momentum and energy) and stationary mean flow at chemical equilibrium. Under these assumptions, the Rayleigh source term becomes the sole source term in a conservation equation for the classical acoustic energy. It is also argued that the exact disturbance energy flux should become an acoustic energy flux in the far-field surrounding a (reacting or non-reacting) jet. In this case, the volume integral of the disturbance energy source terms are then directly related to the area-averaged far-field sound produced by the jet. This is demonstrated by closing the disturbance energy budget over a set of aeroacoustic, direct numerical simulations of a forced, low-Mach-number, laminar, premixed flame. These budgets show that several source terms are significant, including those involving the mean-flow and entropy fields. This demonstrates that the energetics of sound generation cannot be examined by considering the Rayleigh source term alone.


The carbon isotopic fractionation of phytoplankton photosynthesis (e p ) has been interpreted by previous authors as inconsistent with active bicarbonate uptake. This interpretation contradicts the results of numerous physiological studies demonstrating significant active bicarbonate uptake in phytoplankton. Using a simple model of cellular regulation of carbon acquisition we show that an upward curvature of e p as a function of the ratio of growth rate to carbon dioxide concentration does not exclude active bicarbonate uptake. Our model describes adequately published carbon isotope data for cyanobacteria, diatoms, and coccolithophores consistent with active bicarbonate uptake.


Approximately one billion users have access to mobile broadband, through which they intend to obtain the same data they can reach using a wired connection. Because of the cost of transmitting data over a mobile-broadband connection and given that 3G networks are quickly reaching their data-transfer capacity, some researchers envision the inter-connection of mobile devices using Wi-Fi, forming a challenged network. Such networks suffer from high latency, low data rates, and frequent disconnections; because end to end paths between pairs of nodes may not always exist, a mobile device must store content before delivering it to the intended receivers. We designed the content-optimal delivery algorithm (CODA) for distributing named data over a delay-tolerant network (DTN), which is a network of challenged networks. Current content-dissemination techniques for DTNs consist mainly of the following items: a content store, for caching and indexing retrieved content, and a query and response mechanism to search the network for matching content. Some algorithms attempt to optimize an objective function, such as the total delivery-delay. While disseminating content, CODA maximizes the network throughput by computing the utility of each item published: a device with a full buffer drops content in order of increasing utility and transmits content in order de- creasing utility. We implemented CODA over the CCNx protocol, which provides the basic tools for querying, caching, and transmitting content.


Computational models for human decision making are typically based on the properties of bistable dynamical systems where each attractor represents a different decision. A limitation of these models is that they do not readily account for the fragilities of human decision making, such as "choking under pressure", indecisiveness and the role of past experiences on current decision making. Here we examine the dynamics of a model of two interacting neural populations with mutual time–delayed inhibition. When the input to each population is sufficiently high, there is bistability and the dynamics is determined by the relationship of the initial function to the separatrix (the stable manifold of a saddle point) that separates the basins of attraction of two co–existing attractors. The consequences for decision making include long periods of indecisiveness in which trajectories are confined in the neighborhood of the separatrix and wrong decision making, particularly when the effects of past history and irrelevant information ("noise") are included. Since the effects of delay, past history and noise on bistable dynamical systems are generic, we anticipate that similar phenomena will arise in the setting of other physical, chemical and neural time–delayed systems which exhibit bistability.


Sir,-After reading the paper by Jarad et al (1992;49:811-14) on the changes in circulating natural killer cells in subjects exposed to asbestos, and in particular the last inevitable sentence, "This reduction may be at least partially responsible for the increased susceptibility to development of malignancies in asbestos workers," we have an urge to comment. Firstly, definite proof for such a conclusion can only originate from a prospective study of asbestos workers. With regard to asbestosis or development of malignancy, only post hoc analysis of the number and proportion of CD 16 positive cells will show the predictive value (sensitivity) and specificity of this biological indicator. Secondly, this study was done on workers with asbestosis and workers without asbestosis and as such can only report differences in a biomarker either caused by asbestosis or susceptibility. Clearly the authors report no difference in CD 16 number or proportion between the two groups of exposed workers. On the other hand in the total asbestos group (with and without asbestosis) a decrease in CD 16 positive cells was found with increasing duration of exposure. We are interested to know what differences existed in duration of exposure between both asbestos exposed groups, as generally workers without asbestosis are less exposed to asbestos compared with subjects with asbestosis. Also, fibre-years rather than duration of exposure should be applied as a measure of asbestos dose. As such we claim that the concluding suggestions of Jarad and colleagises should be considered with reservation: number of CD positive cells could also prove to be an exposure index of asbestos dose or asbestosis instead of an indicator of susceptibility. In that context, we also do not understand why subjects with asbestosis were studied when asbestos related malignancies were of greatest interest. Cross sectional studies often report the expression of biomolecular mechanisms in occupational settings, and it seems a trend to end such papers with concluding remarks on variations in susceptibility or on predictive power of such indicators. Unfortunately however, a thorough follow up design, the only empirical method to prove such hypotheses, is mostly lacking. Currently our group is evaluating several cross sectional studies that were performed in 1987 in coal miners with regard to development and progression of coal workers' pneumoconiosis. ' This follow up will probably enable us to show whether or not and to what degree tumour necrosis factor ox and type III procollagen peptide can be used as predictive biological markers for pulmonary fibrosis in coal miners.2 As such, our awareness of the importance and relevance of this field of biological research, which we usually refer to as molecular epidemiology,' has increased. Also, of course, we have become familiar with major methodology, the statistical limitations, and the pitfalls in such studies, and as such, we stress that a statistical approach, epidemiological methodology, and terminology in general discussion should be used unambiguously. We believe that much more attention should be paid to the actual follow up of subjects involved in studies that generate hypotheses regarding the predictive power of biological markers. Only in this way can markers of susceptibility be used in occupational or environmental settings as a powerful tool better to understand, and maybe even to control, the interindividual variation in health prognosis in populations at risk. PJABORM P F R SCHINS Department of Health Risk Analysis and Toxicology, University of Limburg, PO Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands


Purpose: The objective of this paper is to better understand the factors that influence consumers' responses toward gift promotions. Specifically, the aim is to analyse four variables: the nature of the promoted product, the fit between the product and the gift, the type of brand used in the promotion and the deal-proneness. Design/methodology/approach: In an experimental context, 247 subjects were randomly assigned to a 2 (product type: utilitarian vs hedonic)×2 (gift type: utilitarian vs hedonic)×2 (brand type: high equity vs medium equity) between-subjects factorial design. Findings: Results indicate that the nature of the promoted product does not influence consumer response. Overall evaluation of gift promotions is more favourable when simultaneously the brand promoted has high equity and the fit between the promoted product and the gift is high. Offering a gift that fits with the product and using high equity brands is a wise strategy to positively influence purchase intentions. Findings also show that deal proneness has a positive impact on purchase intentions. Research limitations/implications: A limited set of product categories, gifts and brands were used. Future research should also examine other variables and use a representative sample. Practical implications: Findings provide useful guidelines for the design of gift promotions. Originality/value: Most previous research has focused on monetary promotions with little about non-monetary promotions. This paper addresses this gap by analysing consumers' responses to gift promotions incorporating key determinants in the analysis.


OBJECTIVES
Primary cutaneous clear cell sarcoma (PCS) is a rare malignancy and difficult to differentiate from melanoma. We investigated factors influencing survival and recurrence.

METHODS
An institutional cancer registry and literature search were used for a retrospective study. Only clear cell sarcoma cases with a primary site of skin and subcutaneous tissue were included. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses were used to assess survival time and hazard ratios.

RESULTS
Three eligible cases were identified at our institution. In addition, the PubMed and Google Scholar reviews identified 1,878 items, with 23 patients with PCS. The median age was 25 years with 62% female. The tumors ranged in size from 0.4 to 4.5 cm. Cytogenetics showed t(12;22)(q13;q12) in all cases and a unique variant of t(2;22)(q32.3;q12) in one case. Surgery was the most common treatment, followed by chemotherapy/radiation. PCS recurred in 46% of patients with a median relapse-free survival time of 15 months. Only two known PCS-related mortalities were recorded, at 38 and 60 months following initial diagnosis. Smaller tumor size and negative sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) status were significantly associated with a better disease-free survival.

CONCLUSIONS
Tumor size and SLNB status influence PCS survival and recurrence. More research is needed due to the rarity of this disease.

KEY POINTS
1. Primary cutaneous clear cell sarcoma (PCS) has features that overlap with primary melanoma mostly without an epidermal component, making it a diagnostic challenge; however, it has a better prognosis.2. Tumor size and sentinel lymph nodes biopsy status were the most influential factors for survival in patients with PCS.3. Nearly half of patients showed recurrence; therefore, clinical monitoring is recommended.


Food safety hazards threaten the health and market access of smallholder farming households. Smallholders face a number of barriers to improving food safety and quality, including low awareness, high input costs, and the failure of premium prices to pass through to producers. In this paper we examine how lifting these barriers affects Ghanaian groundnut farmers' adoption of low-tech, low-cost post-harvest practices that reduce aflatoxin contamination. We conduct a randomized controlled trial in northern Ghana over the course of two seasons to test three interventions: (1) training on aflatoxin and its prevention, (2) distribution of free drying sheets, and (3) a price premium for groundnuts that comply with local aflatoxin regulations. In the first year we test for effects on post-harvest practices and aflatoxin levels, and in the second we test for effects on aflatoxin levels only. We find that training farmers substantially improves post-harvest practices. Drying sheet distribution and to a lesser extent the premium price lead to further improvements. We find substantial corresponding decreases in aflatoxin levels from drying sheet provision in the study region where background aflatoxin levels were highest. Beyond regional differences, benefits are higher for households with higher aflatoxin at baseline, more members, and young children. The estimated impacts of the price premium intervention are of similar magnitude, but not statistically significant.


Research into the effects of nicotine and smoking on cognition has largely confirmed the subjective reports of smoking in smokers on mental functions, showing smoking abstinence to disrupt and smoking/nicotine to restore cognitive functioning. Evidence of performance improvements in nonsmokers has provided partial support for the absolute effects of nicotine on cognitive processes, which are independent of withdrawal relief, but the mechanisms underlying its pro-cognitive properties still remain elusive. The attentional facilitation frequently reported with smoking/nicotine may be indirectly related to its diffuse arousal-enhancing actions, as evidenced by electroencephalographic (EEG) fast frequency power increments, or it may reflect nicotine's direct modulating effects on specific neural processes governing stimulus encoding, selection and rejection. Event-related potential (ERP) components extracted during the performance of cognitive tasks have proven to be sensitive to early pre-attentive and later attention-dependent processes that are not otherwise reflected in behavioral probes. To date, the majority of ERP studies have been conducted with smokers using passive non-task paradigms or relatively non-demanding "oddball" tasks. This paper will emphasize our recent ERP investigations with acute nicotine polacrilex (6 mg) administered to nonsmokers, and with a battery of ERP and behavioral performance paradigms focusing on intra- and inter-modal selective attention and distraction processes. These ERP findings of nicotine-augmented early attentional processing add support to the contention that nicotine may be be used by smokers as a "pharmacological tool" for tuning cognitive functions relating to the automatic and controlled aspects of sensory input detection and selection.


Against the framework of international human rights law, this article studies the regulatory approach towards the exercise of the human right to freedom of expression on the Internet in the legal system of the Central Asian state of Uzbekistan. The mechanisms of state censorship of Internet communication for Uzbek citizens and the restrictions that narrow the scope of freedom of expression in the context of the Internet are the issues in focus. The article argues that the Uzbek government, although publicly committed to democracy and respect for the rule of law under the Constitution, favors regulation that undermines the human right to freedom of expression on both legal and ideological grounds—namely, by enforcing the legal rules on information security and the ideological 'idea of national independence'. The article demonstrates that the absence of legal guarantees of the effective exercise of freedom of expression on the Internet reflects upon the general weakness of Uzbekistan's domestic system of human rights protection. This system gives absolute priority to state interests in legitimizing restrictions upon human rights. The article concludes that the impairment of the right to freedom of expression is inevitable in Uzbekistan unless the government makes an effort to pay full respect to human rights and implement in practice its obligations under international human rights law.


Objectives This study analyzed the associations between mobile phone call frequency and duration with non-specific symptoms. Methods This study was conducted with a population group including 532 non-patient adults established by the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study. The pattern of phone call using a mobile phone was investigated through face-to-face interview. Structured methods applied to quantitatively assess health effects are Headache Impact Test-6 (HIT-6), Psychosocial Well-being Index-Short Form, Beck Depression Inventory, Korean-Instrumental Activities of Daily Living, Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and 12-item Short Form Health Survey where a higher score represents a higher greater health effect. Results The average daily phone call frequency showed a significant correlation with the PSS score in female subjects. Increases in the average duration of one phone call were significantly correlated with increases in the severity of headaches in both sexes. The mean (standard deviation) HIT-6 score in the subgroup of subjects whose average duration of one phone call was five minutes or longer was 45.98 (8.15), as compared with 42.48 (7.20) in those whose average duration of one phone call was <5 minutes. The severity of headaches was divided into three levels according to the HIT-6 score (little or no impact/moderate impact/substantial or severe impact), and a logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate the association between an increased phone call duration and the headache severity. When the average duration of one phone call was five minutes or longer, the odds ratio (ORs) and the 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the moderate impact group were 2.22 and 1.18 to 4.19, respectively. The OR and 95% CI for the substantial or severe impact group were 4.44 and 2.11 to 8.90, respectively. Conclusions Mobile phone call duration was not significantly associated with stress, sleep, cognitive function, or depression, but was associated with the severity of headaches.


The pastoral care that the Church is able to give nowadays to migrants is the result of a long-standing experience that has been able to invent, to test and to perfect structures that are increasingly suitable for satisfying the needs of the pastoral care of mobility and that proves to be effective when it promotes the mobility of pastoral care. Thanks to the Second Vatican Council, which posed the basis of an actual revolution in the pastoral care of migrants, as it gradually emerged from the post-conciliar documents, and thanks to the CIC and the CCEO, which have systematized and translated into a legal-institutional language these innovations, the Church can count on a structured pastoral care of the migrants, whose organisation after the promulgation of the Code is included in the instruction titled Erga migrantes carists Christi, which has promulgated norms regarding the pastoral care of migrants. The contribution includes the innovations of the instruction, its strengths and weaknesses. From a comprehensive examination, it emerges that the Church has developed a specific pastoral care of migrants, both of those who belong to the Latin rite and of those who belong to the Oriental rites, and it has tested flexible pastoral structures that are attentive to a pastoral care on the move. The specific pastoral care is not an anomaly that must be tolerated; the inclusion of migrants in the host ecclesial community must be carried out gradually, involving the community of departure and the one of arrival, under the responsibility of the Pastors.

Keywords: Migrants; pastoral care; Code of Canon Law; Code of Canons of Oriental Churches; instruction Erga migrantes caritas Christi.


Induction of unscheduled DNA synthesis (UDS) by 8-methoxypsoralen (8-MOP) plus ultraviolet A (UV-A) (PUVA) was investigated in the epidermis of female hairless mice by means of an in vivo--in vitro assay using a liquid scintillation counting method. Groups of three to five 8-week-old female hairless mice had 8-MOP applied once onto two areas of the back after stripping of the stratum corneum with adhesive tape to enhance skin penetration, and were irradiated with UV-A. Skin samples were taken and cultured in a medium containing [3H]thymidine with or without hydroxyurea (HU) for 2 hr. DNA of the epidermis was extracted, and the incorporation of [3H]thymidine into DNA and the DNA content were determined with a liquid scintillation counter and a fluorescence spectrophotometer, respectively. Induction of UDS was judged in terms of the UDS index [(the ratio of DNA synthesis in the presence of HU to that in its absence) x 100]. In a time-course study, the UDS index was increased at 1, 2 and 24 hr after 1 x 10(5) J/m2 UV-A irradiation with 0.001% 8-MOP, reaching the maximum level at 24 hr. In a dose-response study, it was significantly increased at the dose of 1 x 10(5) J/m2 of UV-A at 24 hr with 0.001% 8-MOP, but showed no significant change at the doses of 0.5 x 10(5), 2 x 10(5) and 4 x 10(5) J/m2. In a further study on the effect of varying the dose of 8-MOP, the UDS index was significantly increased at 0.001 and 0.002% 8-MOP at 24 hr after 1 x 10(5) J/m2 UV-A irradiation, reaching the maximum level with 0.002% 8-MOP. The increase of the UDS index in these studies was less than 3-fold. These results show that PUVA causes a small induction of UDS, which might be due to slow DNA excision repair over a long period.


2010 marks the 30th anniversary of the IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence (TPAMI), although the precise timing is a matter of some debate (overly meticulous readers might point out that the first issue appeared in January 1979). However, it is indisputable that TPAMI celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2000, and the author will follow this tradition and declare this year to be our 30th anniversary. An anniversary, of course, is traditionally an occasion to look at the past for perspective and also to think about the future. For the 20th anniversary, TPAMI published a series of survey articles, and it is instructive to consider the areas represented: statistical pattern recognition, document image analysis, handwriting recognition, medical image analysis, sensing for ubiquitous computing, and content-based image retrieval. While many of these areas remain important, perhaps the most striking development of the last decade has been the growth of areas at the intersection of computer vision and other fields. Machine learning, of course, is the preeminent example, but graphics and discrete optimization have also gained considerable importance. Turning to the current state of the journal, TPAMI is in excellent shape. The standard way of measuring the overall excellence of a journal is the Thompson-ISI impact factor, and TPAMI in 2008 has surpassed even its impressive 2007 performance. The impact factor is now 5.96, and there were 24,674 total citations in 2008. This makes TPAMI not only the #1 IEEE (and thus IEEE CS) publication, but also #1 in both electrical engineering and artificial intelligence, as well as #3 in all of computer science. These numbers are all-time highs. The situation for journals in 2010 poses some obvious challenges, such as the growing popularity of new ways to disseminate research results, even within traditionalist institutions such as universities. Yet TPAMI is well positioned due to its nonprofit status, along with its long-established tradition of publishing high-impact papers. We can all look forward to the many exciting research developments that will no doubt appear in TPAMI in the coming decade.


A new series of topsentin analogs, in which the central imidazole ring of the natural lead was replaced by a 1,2,4‐oxadiazole moiety, was efficiently synthesized. All derivatives were pre‐screened for antiproliferative activity against the National Cancer Institute (NCI‐60) cell lines panel. The five most potent compounds were further investigated in various pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cell lines, including SUIT‐2, Capan‐1, and Panc‐1 cells, eliciting EC50 values in the micromolar and sub‐micromolar range, associated with significant reduction of cell migration. These remarkable results might be explained by the effects of these new topsentin analogues on epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition markers, including SNAIL‐1/2 and metalloproteinase‐9. Moreover, flow cytometric analysis after Annexin V‐FITC and propidium iodide staining demonstrated that these derivatives enhanced apoptosis of PDAC cells. Keeping with these data, the PathScan intracellular signaling and ELISA array revealed cleavage of caspase‐3 and PARP and a significant inhibition of GSK3β phosphorylation, suggesting this kinase as a potential downstream target of our novel compounds. This was further supported by a specific assay for the evaluation of GSK3β activity, showing IC50 values for the most active compounds against this enzyme in the micromolar range.


Objective To describe the presence of practice effects in persons with Alzheimer disease (AD) or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and to evaluate how practice effects affect cognitive progression and the outcome of clinical trials. Methods Using data from a meta-database consisting of 18 studies including participants from the Alzheimer disease Cooperative Study (ADCS) and the Alzheimer Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) with ADAS-Cog11 as the primary outcome, we defined practice effects based on the improvement in the first two ADAS-Cog11 scores and then estimated the presence of practice effects and compared the cognitive progression between participants with and without practice effects. The robustness of practice effects was investigated using CDR SB, an outcome independent the definition itself. Furthermore, we evaluated how practice effects can affect sample size estimation. Results The overall percent of practice effects for AD participants was 39.0% and 53.3% for MCI participants. For AD studies, the mean change from baseline to 2 years was 12.8 points for the non-practice effects group vs 7.4 for the practice effects group; whereas for MCI studies, it was 4.1 for non-practice effects group vs 0.2 for the practice effects group. AD participants without practice effects progressed 0.9 points faster than those with practice effects over a period of 2 years in CDR-SB; whereas for MCI participants, the difference is 0.7 points. The sample sizes can be different by over 35% when estimated based on participants with/without practice effects. Conclusion Practice effects were prevalent and robust in persons with AD or MCI and affected the cognitive progression and sample size estimation. Planning of future AD or MCI clinical trials should account for practice effects to avoid underpower or considers target trials or stratification analysis based on practice effects.


Study was conducted in main turmeric producing pocket of Pakistan to estimate cost of turmeric production, assess issues in cultivation and marketing sectors and work out feasibility of establishing turmeric grinding units. For this purpose, primary data with the help of well-structured questionnaires covering cultivation and marketing aspects of turmeric were collected from 50 turmeric farmers. Focused group discussions with 10 processors from local trade market were also arranged in order to supplement the sampled data particularly helping in feasibility analysis of grinding unit. Descriptive statistics, economic analysis and feasibility analysis of turmeric grinding unit were performed. Results indicate that output prices of turmeric remain highly un-stable during the season affecting production and processing to a great extent. Cost of production estimates across small as well large farm categories reflects that cultivation of turmeric despite the seasons' lowest market prices (Rupees 696 per maund) of raw turmeric is profitable only to owners of land from both small and large farming categories. In other words, when output prices of raw turmeric in the past were reasonably higher (up to Rs.1000 per maund) then all types of farmers i.e. land owners as well as owner cum tenant had earned almost double returns than costs. On one hand, un-predictable and fluctuating trend in output prices and under-weighing practices by the commission agents and on the other hand, existence of profit margin in processing were inducing growers and processors to add value to raw turmeric for their enhanced incomes. Moreover, processing trend was increasing day-by-day in the study area. Therefore, market linkages need revival among stakeholders. Similarly, national sensitization on turmeric processing could help create awareness and get the attention of government for policy drive.


The concept of humanization is broad and it encompasses a set of knowledge, practices, attitudes, and relations. It involves the effective participation of professionals, managers, users, and social movements so that shared experiences can provide an improved quality of healthcare. This study aimed to analyze the perception of physicians and nurses from outpatient medical care units (AMA) facilities regarding humanization in health services. This is a qualitative research, with a cross-sectional design, carried out by means of semi-structured interviews, from October 2010 to May 2011, and the sample representativeness criterion to stop collecting data was discourse saturation. It was found out that the professionals' perception regarding humanization has various senses and meanings, allowing the construction of empirical categories: concern for the other – otherness, users' rights, users' information and autonomy, and risk assessment. Usual and particular situations experienced on a daily basis in outpatient medical care units facilities, such as direct contact to health issues that involve greater risks to users, seem to influence the professionals' perception regarding humanization, and they can affect the preservation of rights and relations established between professionals and users.


UDT does not have its specific security mechanism. It depends on the
application to provide authentication and lower layer to provide
security mechanisms[GG07]. However, UDT implementations should check
each arrived packets are from the expected source, since UDP is
connectionless. This document proposes evaluation of security
requirements for UDT, or UDP based Data Transfer considered as an
alternative data transfer protocol for the situation when TCP does not
work well.The objective is to achieve a wide class of security methods
used on existing mature protocols such as UDP and TCP.


Background : We sometimes want to include in a meta-analysis data from studies where results are presented as medians and ranges or interquartile ranges rather than as means and standard deviations. In this paper I extend a method of Hozo et al. to estimate mean and standard deviation from median, minimum, and maximum to the case where quartiles are also available. Methods : Inequalities are developed for each observation using upper and lower limits derived from the minimum, the three quartiles, and the maximum. These are summed to give bounds for the sum and hence the mean of the observations, the average of these bounds in the estimate. A similar estimate is found for the sum of the observations squared and hence for the variance and standard deviation. Results : For data from a Normal distribution, the extended method using quartiles gives good estimates of sample means but sample standard deviations are overestimated. For data from a Lognormal distribution, both sample mean and standard deviation are overestimated. Overestimation is worse for larger samples and for highly skewed parent distributions. The extended estimates using quartiles are always superior in both bias and precision to those without. Conclusions : The estimates have the advantage of being extremely simple to carry out. I argue that as, in practice, such methods will be applied to small samples, the overestimation may not be a serious problem.


Summary form only given. Integer programming is the problem of maximizing a linear function over the integer vectors which satisfy a given set of inequalities. A wide range of combinatorial optimization problems can be modeled as integer programming problems. But integer programming is not only related to combinatorics. The greatest common divisor of two integers a and b is the smallest integer combination xa+yb such that xa+yb g 1. This is an integer program in two variables. This fact links integer programming also to the algorithmic theory of numbers. In this talk, we review Lenstra 's algorithm for integer programming in fixed dimension, which runs in time O(mφ + φ2), where m is the number of constraints and each constraint has encoding length at most φ. We then show that an integer programming problem in fixed dimension with a fixed number of constraints can be solved in linear time. This matches with the complexity of the Euclidean algorithm. It follows that an integer program in fixed dimension can be solved in an expected running time of O(m + (logm)φ)


Two sets of processed jute fabric, viz. alkaline scoured-bleached and bioscoured -bleached jute fabrics, have been dyed separately with two neucleophilic substitution type (bis- triazinyl type) of reactive dyes, namely Procion Blue HERD and Procion Green HE4BD dyes. It is observed that bioscoured - bleached- reactive dyed jute fabric shows higher dye uptake than that produced by alkaline scoured-bleached-reactive dyed jute fabric in case of both the reactive dyes. Bio-treatment results in improvement of handle and wash fastness properties of jute fabric. Brightness of the shade is also improved in case of biotreated-bleached-reactive dyed jute fabric.


ABSTRACT:It is often argued that there is an intimate connection between Islamic philosophy and Shi͑i culture. It is certainly true that most Islamic philosophers were Shi͑i, and parts of the Shi͑i world appear to be far more sympathetic to philosophical enquiry than is the case in a Sunni environment. An explanation of this could be that most Islamic philosophers are from the Persian cultural sphere, which became Shi͑i, and those national origins and not the doctrinal divide could be the relevant factor. It could also be that since some of the Sunni world became antagonistic to philosophy, enthusiasm for it was a potent way to oppose that world. Finally, it is sometimes argued that Shi͑ism is particularly close to mysticism and so to philosophy, but this is difficult to accept since all kinds of Muslims have been attracted to taṣawwuf and the latter does not seem to be linked with any particular doctrinal division in Islam. The conclusion is that there is no discernible reason for the apparent fact that philosophy is more integrated in the Shi͑a as compared with the Sunni world.


Orientation mapping based on EBSD technique was applied to analyze the rules of orientation evolution of grains in AZ31 magnesium alloy. Results show that not only under deformation strain rate of 1×10-2s-1, but under 4×10-4s-1(the superplastic deformation condition), grains in all samples with initial textures rotate gradually to near basal orientation ({0002} || compression plane) at different ways, and basal texture becomes stronger with increasing strain, which indicates plastic slip plays an important role during hot deformation. Otherwise, no evident non-basal pyramidal slip of  as some studies mentioned was observed in the sample with the initial basal texture, and the basal orientation is kept unchanged during the deformation process, which suggests that basal slip is the uppermost plastic slip mechanism in this sample. In addition, the phenomenon of viscous laminar flow was observed in the sample with initial basal texture.


Abstract:  Psychological stress is known to aggravate inflammatory skin diseases such as atopic dermatitis, psoriasis and contact sensitivity by altering the cellular constituents of the immune system. The skin appendages function dually as prominent targets and sources of the peripheral corticotropin‐releasing hormone–proopiomelanocortin (CRH‐POMC) axis. In this study, we examined the expression level of CRH‐POMC axis constituents in psoriasis, a well‐known stress‐related inflammatory skin disease. The 15 psoriasis patients and six normal controls were retrospectively selected after extensive review of their clinical records and skin biopsy specimens. We immunohistochemically analysed the expressivity of CRH, adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) and α‐melanocyte‐stimulating hormone (α‐MSH) in various types of psoriatic lesions and control skin. A significant increase of CRH expression was observed in psoriatic lesions, which involved the entire epidermis (upper layer in particular), hair follicles and sweat glands compared with controls. Expression of ACTH and α‐MSH was clearly stimulated in a subset of psoriasis patients compared with controls, but on the whole, lacked statistical significance. The immunoreactivity of CRH, ACTH and α‐MSH in psoriasis was not dependent on its clinical subtype, duration or number of previous treatments. Compared with the definite increase of CRH expression in psoriasis, the expression of the POMC peptides was heterogenous with no overall significance. From the findings, we suggest that CRH, a key stress hormone, may play an important role in the pathomechanism of psoriasis.


Communication may be the process whereby a source encodes a message and sends it through a medium to a receiver. It may even involve the sending of a feedback by the receiver to the source; however, effective communication goes far beyond this level. It has been observed that the fact that a receiver receives the actual message does not guarantee that he interprets it in the way intended by the source. Any message received is interpreted in the light of the perception of the receiver. This study therefore examines the relevance and significance of perception to communication. It also examines what communication is, and how the process is mediated by the perceptual process. A Perceptual Communication Model is proposed in the study to explain the relationship between communication and perception. The study concludes by suggesting that communicators should design messages in terms of their receivers' perceptual inclination rather than focusing entirely on the elements of the communication SOPHIA: An African Journal of Philosophy Vol. 9 (1) 2006: pp. 148-153


Film and television production are important components of the Canadian economy. In Vancouver, popular American television series like The X-Files and Canadian series like Da Vinci's Inquest have boosted the city's profile as a centre for international and domestic productions. Serra Tinic's On Location is the first empirical analysis of regional Canadian television producers in the context of developing global media markets. Tinic observes that global television production in Vancouver has been a contradictory process that has, on one level, led to the homogenization of culturally specific storylines, while simultaneously facilitating the development of new avenues for international ventures. The author explains how federal and regional network considerations, funding guidelines, and partnerships with international co-producers affect the capacity of Canadian television producers to negotiate culturally specific storylines in the development process. She further interrogates the concepts of globalization, culture, and national identity, and their relationship to broadcasting from the perspectives of members of the television industry themselves, highlighting the extent to which industry practices in Vancouver epitomize current trends in global television production. On Location fills a major gap in contemporary media and cultural studies debates that question the connections between the politics of place, culture, and commerce within the larger context of cultural globalization.


In this paper we propose to exploit cellular neural networks (CNNs) as a computational tool to obtain real-time compression of video sequences. In particular, we present a CNN-based architecture, which combines object-oriented CNN algorithms and basic coding/decoding MPEG capabilities. The proposed real-time compression architecture has been tested using standard benchmarking video sequences. Simulation results, in terms of compression ratio and peak to signal noise ratio, show that the proposed approach enables CNN-based real-time coding systems with satisfying compression ratios and good visual appearance.


[1] This study utilized a new method for future surface temperature changes constrained by model performance in the late 20th century (20C) climate. We applied the singular value decomposition method to investigate covariance between future and present climates in a multimodel ensemble. We established a transfer function between the expansion coefficients of the present and future climate modes. By projecting the observations onto the present modes and using the transfer function, we obtained the best estimates of the future projection. In this study, we extracted the first two significant leading modes. The first mode showed inter-model variation in spatial patterns of temperature change, with Arctic amplification in the future, and the second mode showed variability in temperature change occurring in the southern marginal regions of sea ice in the Arctic for the 20C simulation. Our evaluation suggests that the future warming of the ensemble mean projection underestimated, particularly in the Arctic region. The estimated temperature change depends mainly on the 20C state of the sea ice and surface temperature in the northern North Atlantic Ocean, which are strongly expressed in the first mode of the 20C climate simulation. The leave-one-out cross-validation indicated that our estimation can improve multimodel mean estimates of temperature change in the higher-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.


The problem of guidance and attitude control for a land-survey satellite at a scanning stereoscopic imagery is considered. The synthesis of the satellite angular guidance law is based on relations that bind the image motion with the kinematic parameters of the satellite spatial motion relative to the Earth's surface, ensuring constant values of the observation distance and angle of convergence during a scanning from two perspectives. We present the developed methods and the results of the simulation of the stereoscopic imagery fulfilled by a satellite in a sun-synchronous orbit.