We have studied the magnetic field 50 T dependence of the photoluminescence PL of self-assembled InAs /GaAs quantum dots as a function of temperature T . As the temperature is raised from 4.2 up to 80 K, thermal redistribution causes the PL to be increasingly dominated by dots with a lower PL energy. Magneto-PL demonstrates that these low-energy dots are larger in size only in the growth direction and not in the plane of the sample. At high temperatures T 100 K , a different physical phenomenon emerges: we see an anomalous decrease of the PL shift in magnetic field, which is attributed to field enhancement of the quantum dot barrier potential. This mechanism strongly favors excitons in small dots with a weak PL shift in magnetic field, hence laterally smaller dots increasingly dominate the PL at high temperatures and high fields.


A taxonomic review of the Neotropical satyrine butterfly genus Forsterinaria Gray is presented herein, including a discussion of the classification and geographical distribution of its component species, illustrations of the adults of all taxa and the male genitalia of all species, and descriptions of 12 new species and two new subspecies: Forsterinaria antje sp. n., F. coipa sp. n., F. enjuerma sp. n., F. falcata sp. n., F. guaniloi sp. n., F. itatiaia sp. n., F. pallida sp. n., F. pallida aurita ssp. n., F. pichita sp. n., F. pilosa sp. n., F. punctata sp. n., F. pyrczi sp. n., F. rotunda sp. n., and F. rustica glendita ssp. n. Euptychia stelligera Butler, and E. fabiana Butler are sunk as synonyms (syn. n.) of Forsterinaria quantius (Godart). Euptychia magdalena Hayward, and E. pseudonecys Strand are sunk as synonyms (syn. n.) of F. inornata (C. Felder & R. Felder), and F. necys (Godart), respectively. Lectotypes are designated for 14 nominal taxa. A total of 23 species are recognized. A key for the identification of all taxa is presented.


Objectives
Percutaneous ostium secundum atrial septal defect (ASD II) closure has become the standard of care for treatment of congenital ASD II in adults. Nevertheless, patients are frequently ineligible for this technique due to challenging morphology. In such cases, closure via minimally invasive cardiac surgery (MICS) is an appropriate treatment option. The aim of this study is to compare outcomes of MICS and use of a percutaneous Amplatzer septal occluder (ASO) device for treatment of ASD II in adults.

Methods
From July 2002 to June 2014, 95 patients underwent MICS for congenital ASD II closure. During the same period, 169 patients underwent ASO procedure. Outcomes in terms of remaining ASD II, new onset atrial fibrillation (AF), post-interventional stroke, myocardial infarction and the post procedural implementation of anticoagulation were compared.

Results
Apart from age (38.3 ± 12.7 vs 49.6 ± 15.7 years, P  < 0.0001) the groups did not differ in baseline characteristics. A significantly higher rate of residual ASD II was found in the ASO group at 3 months (0% vs 30.8%, P  < 0.0001), 6 months (0% vs 15.9%, P  < 0.0001) and 12 months follow-up (0% vs 7.1%, P  = 0.005). A significantly higher rate of new-onset AF was seen in the ASO group (0% vs 9.5%, P  = 0.0008).

Conclusions
MICS for ASD II is a safe and reproducible procedure with 0% mortality in our cohort. More complete closure of ASD, decreased rates of new onset AF and decreased need for oral anticoagulation are the advantages of the MICS procedure. Compared with the current standard of care, the MICS approach is feasible regardless of ASD morphology.


Background: We have previously reported that urinary angiotensinogen (AGT) excretion did not have a circadian rhythm and could be a novel biomarker for the activity of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) in kidney. However, there have been few reports investigating the circadian rhythm of plasma AGT in human body. Thus, this study was performed to examine the circadian rhythm in plasma AGT in human. METHODS: Evaluating RAS in clinical practice is generally performed in a recumbent position after a 30-minute stabilization period. However, to determine the necessity of recumbent position, we first compared plasma AGT concentrations measured right after waking up and after a 5-minute sitting rest. Next, we examined the circadian rhythm of plasma AGT in 43 healthy volunteers who had shown no abnormalities in the medical examinations in 2011. Plasma AGT was measured at three time points (9 a.m., 1 p.m., and 4 p.m.) in the above volunteers. Blood was collected by a micro hematocrit capillary tube with heparin, frozen for storage after centrifugation, and thawed for the measurement of plasma AGT using an ELISA kit. Results: There was no significant difference between the plasma AGT values of the two measuring methods (P = 0.1202, n = 5). Based on the result, we performed blood sampling after a 5-minute sitting rest in the volunteers consisting of 17 men and 26 women. Average blood pressure was 116.3/75.1 mmHg at 9 a.m., 116.3/71.9 mmHg at 1 p.m., and 115.5/70.1 mmHg at 4 p.m.; average pulse rate was 78.7/min at 9 a.m., 77.1/min at 1 p.m., and 73.3/min at 4 p.m. Blood pressure and pulse rate did not change throughout the day. Average plasma AGT was 20.4 ± 6.0 ng/ml at 9 a.m., 20.7 ± 5.0 ng/ml at 1 p.m., and 19.8 ± 6.4 ng/ml at 4 p.m. Plasma AGT did not show a circadian rhythm (P = 0.3803). Conclusion: We found in this study that plasma AGT did not have a circadian rhythm. We also found that plasma AGT was not affected by daily life actions. Thus, future patients may not be required to rest nor wait for certain time points before measuring plasma AGT. We also have to unveil the normal AGT levels and the influence on the levels by diseases. As we think that plasma AGT and ratio of urinary AGT to plasma AGT can be a new surrogate marker of hypertension and kidney diseases, we further need to go into this research area.


Cooling towers are industrial cooling units operating to dissipate heat. As with any surface in contact with aqueous systems, biofilm formation appears on the surface of heat exchangers. Although biofilm formation on plastic tower fill in wet cooling towers has been studied widely, no studies were found regarding biofilm formation on steel heat exchangers in closed-loop systems. In this study, heat exchangers were coated with nano-silica, which is known to reduce the formation of biofilm. Natural biofilm formation was monitored for six months. Biofouling was examined monthly using epifluorescence microscopy by assessing the numbers of live and dead bacteria. It was observed that the biofilm layer formed on the nano-silica coated heat exchanger surfaces was significantly lower than on the control surfaces. 3 log microbial reduction was recorded on coated surfaces in the first month. After six months, total biomass on control surfaces reached 1.28 × 1012 cell cm–2, while the biomass on nano-silica coated surfaces was 6.3 × 104 cell cm–2.


Political scientists, in their research work, concentrate on various topics. For some, thoughts and ideas of a famous statesman are fascinating and for others is the future influence of NGO's on local communities. One thing, one time is said to have enough potential to unite attention of most of political scientists, as this is an event when they may observe how matters that they are especially interested in are apprehended. is mentioned event is, in my opinion, what elections indeed are and some may even say that elections are the festival of politics and sometimes of democracy.


The aim of this study is to evaluate the results of total hip arthroplasty in patients with Parkinson's disease during a period of five years, focusing on the assessment of the risks and benefits of surgery. During this period we performed total hip arthroplasty in 14 patients (15 hips) with Parkinson's disease. Patients were evaluated by subjective symptoms and objective findings, with a focus on the use of support while walking and walking distance, severity of Parkinson's disease before surgery and at the time of the last follow-up. During the postoperative period, the following parameters were assessed: length of ICU stay, mobilization, complications, the total duration of hospitalization and follow-up care after discharge. Of the 11 patients (12 hips) followed-up 1-5 years with an average of 3 years after operation 8 cases showed progression of neurological disability. 5 patients (6 hips) showed an increased dependence on the use of support when walking and reduced distance that the patient was able to walk. Subjectively, 10 hip joints were completely painless and 2 patients complained of only occasional mild pain in the operated hip. Complications that were encountered were urinary tract infection (5 patients), cognitive impairment (3 patients) and pressure ulcer (2 patients). We did not observe any infection or dislocation of the prosthesis. Three patients fell and fractured the femur and 3 patients in our cohort died during follow up. Implantation of total replacement is possible with judicious indication after careful evaluation of neurological finding in patients with minimal or mild functional impairment of the locomotor system. Prerequisite for a good result is precise surgical technique and optimal implant position with balanced tension of the muscles and other soft tissues around the hip.


This article summarizes a study that identified and described federal information inventory/locator systems. Such locator systems provide an important means of accessing a range of government information not previously available to the public or other government officials. Overall, the study's goal was to improve access to and use of U.S. government information. The study produced a final report describing study efforts, identifying issues and conclusions, and recommending the design of an networked‐based government‐wide information inventory/locator system (GIILS) (Volume I), the Federal Locator Database (FLD) — a machine‐readable database of descriptive information on some 250 federal databases, of which fifty‐three met the study's criteria as a locator, and a user's guide to that database (Volume II includes a machine‐readable version of the database and the user guide and codebook). The study recommends that the U.S. Office of Management and Budget develop a policy framework requiring agencies to design and maintain machine‐readable locators, meeting certain requirements and standards and that these be accessible over the Internet/NREN.


DevOps is usually an industry approach that is practiced by seasoned and experienced programmers and developers. In most university settings especially in the Philippine context, DevOps is not usually part of the curriculum and in some cases are only introduced to learner programmers as an elective or as bonus material. We refer to these students in computing degree programs starting out in learning programming, as novice programmers. Upon graduation, these developers transition into industry roles where they are expected to be familiar with DevOps practices [18]. In most cases, they are not prepared, and fortunately, a great number of them are given training before fully transitioning into their hired roles. In this paper, we attempt to discover and design an intervention mechanism that can assist and prepare novice programmers to easily learn DevOps at an early stage. We gathered data and insights from novice programmers and inquired into their pains and struggles in learning and practicing DevOps. To help them in this process, we propose Grit, a prototype tool to support novice programmers in integrating DevOps. Initial insights provided affordances and design elements for a version control prototype with targetted intervention features. In the long run we intend to discover more insights involving the other stages in DevOps beyond version control.


Characterised by both great selectivity and flexibility, peptides are also considered safe and usually quite well tolerated by patients. During the past two decades, development of anti-cancer peptide therapeutics has formed sustained activity in the research and development (R&D) departments of pharmaceutical industry. Cancer is the emerging leading cause of death worldwide often without a satisfactory therapeutic option available. To overcome the often-acquired chemotherapeutic resistance and side effects, novel drugs that are specifically attacking cancer cells and less toxic to normal cells are required. Thus, tumour targeting peptides constitute an appealing tool for cancer detection and treatment. In this chapter, we will summarise the identification of novel cancer targeting peptides and also address some of the most promising candidates currently under preclinical investigation.


Ba4Sm9.33Ti18O54 (BST) ceramics were prepared by conventional solid-state reaction method. The effect of CuO-Bi2O3 co-doping on the sintering behavior and microwave dielectric properties of BST ceramics has been investigated. The results indicated that when the total addition of CuO-Bi2O3 doping agent was 1.0wt%, the sintering temperature of BST ceramics was reduced to 1240°C as a result of liquid-phase sintering effect derived from CuBi2O4. When the total addition of CuO-Bi2O3 was fixed at 1.0wt%, the microwave dielelctric properties of BST were improved by adjusting the mass percentage of Bi2O3. With the increase of Bi2O3 amount from 20wt% to 80wt%, the dielectric constant (εr) decreased, the quality factor (Q•f) increased and the temperature coefficient of resonant frequency (τf) shifted from negative value to positive value. The excellent microwave dielectric properties of εr=82.51, Q•f=7878GHz and τf=+6.02ppm/ were obtained for the sample with Bi2O3 amount of 80wt% when sintered at 1240°C for 3h.


Forward is the direction to which research looks. But, scientists read prior literature for background and context, casting a retrospective glance to the past, albeit from a different vantage point. How do we evaluate the value of a scientific paper? Citations? Downloads? Or, more philosophically, the directions of inquiries it potentiated, and areas opened up? In retrospective analysis, counterfactual is the common tool in the social scientist's armamentarium. Natural scientists, on the other hand, glean prospectively. Retrospective in analysis but yet prospective in outlook in what appears as a dichotomy. But, on closer examination, which is in harmony. From the contemporary vintage and using a prospective angle, this commentary casts light on a foundational paper that illuminated hitherto unknown functions of structural maintenance of chromosome (Smc) complex in mediating chromosome integrity and potentiating entry into subsequent phase of the DNA damage response.


The Business School at the University of Hertfordshire (UH) employs approximately 150 academic staff in a state-of-the-art environment located in Hatfield Business Park. It offers 17 undergraduate degree programmes, 21 postgraduate programmes and there are about 80 research students, mostly working at doctoral level. Business School staff are active in research in numerous areas, including complexity theory, institutional economics, economic modelling, efficiency measurement the creative industries, employment studies, finance, accounting, statistical methods and management science.


No journalist is better situated to reckon with the psychology of war than David Finkel. In The Good Soldiers, his bestselling account from the front lines of Baghdad, Finkel shadowed the men of a US infantry battalion as they carried out a gruelling 15-month tour that changed all of them forever. Now, Finkel follows many of those same men back home, in a journey that is less about geography than of psychological terrain, undertaken by people trying to heal or at the very least survive. In Thank You for Your Service, Finkel writes with tremendous compassion about the soldiers, and about their partners and children: the heartbroken wife who wonders privately whether her returned husband is going to get better, or kill her; and the heroic victims, with the fresh taste of a gun in their mouths, who will either make the journey back to sanity or to final ruin. Finkel takes us everywhere that the war is seeping into as it infects America: to the courtrooms that are being filled with divorce and abuse cases, and worse; to bars; and to Fort Riley, in the mental-health clinic to which the army is outsourcing its post-traumatic stress disorder cases. Thank You for Your Service is an immense act of understanding - shocking but always riveting, unflinching but deeply humane.


Hypoxic states and conditions result in complex alterations of the energetics and metabolism at the level of the whole cell and mitochondria, including the modulation of metabolic pathways and activation of transcription factors and signaling events. Common feature of the alterations of mitochondrial functions under hypoxia is the activation of mitochondrial potassium channels. Most studied of mitochondrial potassium channels, ATP-sensitive K+ channel (mKATP channel), is supposed to play important role in the adaptation to hypoxia. However, the main obstacles in the understanding of mKATP channel functions under hypoxic conditions are contradictory data on the direct bioenergetic effects of mKATP channels opening and the lack of knowledge on cell specificity of mKATP channel functioning and of cell signaling pathways triggered by mKATP channels opening. So, the aim of this review was to outline the present knowledge on mKATP channel functions under hypoxia and to discuss how alterations to mitochondrial energetics and metabolism caused by mKATP channels opening (primarily at the level of ROS production and ATP synthesis) could be involved in multiple adaptive responses of a living organism to oxygen deprivation conditions.


Abstract Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of an induced incomplete ossification of the humeral condyle (IOHC) lesion on ex vivo canine humeral condylar biomechanics. Study Design Nine paired cadaveric elbows were collected from mature dogs weighing between 20 and 25 kg. Left and right limbs were randomized to IOHC or normal groups. Limbs were prepared for mechanical testing; ligaments were preserved and an IOHC lesion was created. Elbows were potted, positioned into a biomaterials testing system at an angle of 135 degrees and axially loaded to failure at a rate of 30 mm/minute. Results Induced IOHC lesions reduced peak load (p = 0.02) when compared with an intact humerus. There was no difference between stiffness (p = 0.36) of intact humeri or humeri with an induced IOHC lesion. An induced IOHC lesion increased (p = 0.012) the probability of intracondylar fracture under load. Conclusion Cadaveric humeri are weakened by the creation of an intracondylar osteotomy and fractures secondary to induced IOHC are similar to spontaneous humeral condylar fractures. These findings support the hypothesis that naturally occurring IOHC weakens the humeral condyle and may predispose to humeral condylar fracture.


Enterprise network security management is a vitally important task, more so now than ever before. Networks grow ever larger and more complex, and corporations, universities, government agencies, etc. rely heavily on the availability of these networks. Security in enterprise networks is constantly threatened by thousands of known software vulnerabilities, with thousands more discovered annually in a wide variety of applications. An overwhelming amount of data is relevant to the ongoing protection of an enterprise network.
Previous works have addressed the identification of vulnerabilities in a given network and the aggregated collection of these vulnerabilities in an attack graph, clearly showing how an attacker might gain access to or control over network resources. These works, however, do little to address how to evaluate or properly utilize this information.
I have developed a comprehensive approach to enterprise network security management. Compared with previous methods, my approach realizes these issues as a uniform desire for provable mitigation of risk within an enterprise network. Attack graph simplification is used to improve user comprehension of the graph data and to enable more efficient use of the data in risk assessment. A sound and effective quantification of risk within the network produces values that can form a basis for valuation policies necessary for the application of a SAT solving technique. SAT solving resolves policy conflicts and produces an optimal reconfiguration, based on the provided values, which can be verified by a knowledgeable human user for accuracy and applicability within the context of the enterprise network. Empirical study shows the effectiveness and efficiency of these approaches, and also indicates promising directions for improvements to be explored in future works. Overall, this research comprises an important step toward a more automated security management initiative.


Clinical research laboratories, bioinformatics core facilities, and health science organizations often rely on heavy planning based software development models to propose, build, and distribute software as a consumable product. Projects in non-agile software life cycles tend to have rigid "plan-design-build" milestones, increasing the amount of time needed for software development completion. Though the classic software development approach is needed for large-scale and organizational projects, clinical research laboratories can expedite software development while maintaining quality by using lean prototyping as a condition of project advancement to a committed adaptive software development cycle. Software projects benefit from an agile methodology due to the active and changing requirements often guided by experimental data driven models. We describe a lean to adaptive method used in parallel with laboratory bench work to develop quality software quickly that meets the requirements of a fast-paced research environment and reducing time to production, providing immediate value to the end user, and limiting unnecessary development practices in favor of results.


Wireless sensor networks have been increasingly popular and they have been deployed in a wide range of areas including transportation system, healthcare, robotics, and smart home. Wireless sensor networks have facilitated our life using the remote sensing ability. However, these systems could be taken advantage by the malicious parties to mislead users since they are often not physically secured and are used in hostile environments. We have proposed theoretical and statistical framework for creating data integrity attacks and corresponding security defenses. The data integrity attack is defined as a type of attack that targets to mislead the system by altering some collected data of the system in such a way that to achieve the goal of attackers. We use the Intel lab sensor data and demonstrate that it is easy to attack only a few essential sensors values to change the behavior of system, such as the control of air conditioner. To be more specific, by changing the temperature and humidity data measured by a group of sensors, the attacker can control the air conditioner turning on and off without being detected by correlation check. On the top of data integrity attacks, we have further developed low overhead defense schemes.


We report on optical properties of coupled three-dimensional (3D) Ge quantum dot crystals (QDCs). With increasing the vertical periodic number of the QDCs, the photoluminescence (PL) spectral linewidth decreased exponentially, and so did the peak energy blueshift caused by increasing excitation power, which are attributed to the electronic coupling and thus the formation of miniband. In the PL spectra, the relative intensity of the transverse-optical (TO) phonon replica also decreases with increasing the vertical periodic number, which is attributed to the increased Brillouin-zone folding effect in vertical direction and therewith the relaxation of indirect transition nature of exciton recombination. Besides, the optical reflectivity at the interband transition energy was much more reduced for the QDCs than for the in-plane disordered QDs grown with the same parameters, indicating a higher interband absorption of the QDCs due to the miniband formation.


In this paper, a three-stage softening load transfer model, based on existing experimental data of super-long piles, is proposed; the hyperbola load transfer model is adopted to simulate the nonlinear deformation of pile-tip soil; and the elastic-plastic model of concrete is introduced, giving consideration to the super-long pile shaft deformation under heavy axial loads. Then the models above are implemented into pile-soil load transfer differential equation, and after being solved by iteration method, the nonlinear method for load transfer model of super-long pile in layered soil is established. After that programming of the model calculation is worked out. By comparison with engineering instance, it is shown that the method proposed in this paper is convenient and reliable in engineering practice.


A GaAs buffering circuit LSI for ultra-fast data processing systems has been developed. The LSI with CML compatible interface and +1.5/-3.3-V power supply voltage has successfully achieved 2-ns data cycle time with 4.8-W chip power dissipation. The circuit was designed to accommodate the basic variations in FET parameters over the operating temperature range. Refractory metal gate lightly-doped drain (LDD) MESFET technology was employed. The gate length is 1.0 mu m. WSi-W bilayer metallization system was used to reduce the gate resistance.<<ETX>>


The use of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforcement in concrete structures has been on the rise due to its advantages over conventional steel reinforcement such as corrosion. Reinforcing steel corrosion has been the primary cause of deterioration of reinforced concrete (RC) structures, resulting in tremendous annual repair costs. One application of FRP reinforcement to be further explored is its use in RC frames. Nonetheless, due to FRP`s inherently elastic behavior, FRP-reinforced (FRP-RC) members exhibit low ductility and energy dissipation as well as different damage mechanisms. Furthermore, current design standards for FRP-RC structures do not address seismic design in which the beam-column joint is a key issue. During an earthquake, the safety of beam-column joints is essential to the whole structure integrity. Thus, research is needed to gain better understanding of the behavior of FRP-RC structures and their damage mechanisms under seismic loading. In this study, two full-scale beam-column joint specimens reinforced with steel and GFRP configurations were tested under quasi-static loading. The control steel-reinforced specimen was detailed according to current design code provisions. The GFRP-RC specimen was detailed in a similar scheme. The damage in the two specimens is characterized to compare their performance under simulated seismic loading.


As generic machine translation (MT) quality has improved, the need for targeted benchmarks that explore fine-grained aspects of quality has increased. In particular, gender accuracy in translation can have implications in terms of output fluency, translation accuracy, and ethics. In this paper, we introduce MT-GenEval, a benchmark for evaluating gender accuracy in translation from English into eight widely-spoken languages. MT-GenEval complements existing benchmarks by providing realistic, gender-balanced, counterfactual data in eight language pairs where the gender of individuals is unambiguous in the input segment, including multi-sentence segments requiring inter-sentential gender agreement. Our data and code is publicly available under a CC BY SA 3.0 license.


We apply field–particle correlations – a technique that tracks the time-averaged velocity-space structure of the energy density transfer rate between electromagnetic fields and plasma particles – to data drawn from a hybrid Vlasov–Maxwell simulation of Alfvén-ion cyclotron turbulence. Energy transfer in this system is expected to include both Landau and cyclotron wave–particle resonances, unlike previous systems to which the field–particle correlation technique has been applied. In this simulation, the energy transfer rate mediated by the parallel electric field

 $E_{\Vert }$

 comprises approximately 60 % of the total rate, with the remainder mediated by the perpendicular electric field

 $E_{\bot }$

 . The parallel electric field resonantly couples to protons, with the canonical bipolar velocity-space signature of Landau damping identified at many points throughout the simulation. The energy transfer mediated by

 $E_{\bot }$

 preferentially couples to particles with

 $v_{tp}\lesssim v_{\bot }\lesssim 3v_{tp}$

 , where

 $v_{tp}$

 is the proton thermal speed, in agreement with the expected formation of a cyclotron diffusion plateau. Our results demonstrate clearly that the field–particle correlation technique can distinguish distinct channels of energy transfer using single-point measurements, even at points in which multiple channels act simultaneously, and can be used to determine quantitatively the rates of particle energization in each channel.


Purpose: The advent of electromagnetic navigation bronchoscopy has enabled minimally invasive access to peripheral lung tumors previously inaccessible by optical bronchoscopes. As an adjunct to Stereotactic Ablative Radiosurgery (SABR), implantation of HDR catheters can provide focal treatments for multiple metastases and sites of retreatments. The authors evaluate a procedure to deliver ablative doses via Electromagnetically-Guided HDR (EMG-HDR) to lung metastases, quantify the resulting dosimetry, and assess its role in the comprehensive treatment of lung cancer. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on ten patients, who, from 2009 to 2011, received a hypo-fractionated SABR regimen with 6MV VMAT to lesions in various lobes ranging from 1.5 to 20 cc in volume. A CT visible pathway was delineated for EM guided placement of an HDR applicator (catheter) and dwell times were optimized to ensure at least 98% prescription dose coverage of the GTV. Normal tissue doses were calculated using inhomogeneity corrections via a grid-based Boltzmann solver (Acuros_BV_1.5.0). Results: With EMG-HDR, an average of 83% (+/−9% standard deviation) of each patient's GTV received over 200% of the prescription dose, as compared to SABR where the patients received an average maximum dose of 125% (+/−5%). EMG-HDR enabled a 59% (+/−12%) decrease in the aorta maximum dose, a 63% (+/−26%) decrease in the spinal cord max dose, and 57% (+/−23%) and 70% (+/−17%) decreases in the volume of the body receiving over 50% and 25% of the prescription dose, respectively. Conclusion: EMG-HDR enables delivery of higher ablative doses to the GTV, while concurrently reducing surrounding normal tissue doses. The single catheter approach shown here is limited to targets smaller than 20 cc. As such, the technique enables ablation of small lesions and a potentially safe and effective retreatment option in situations where external beam utility is limited by normal tissue constraints.


Low-amplitude late potentials detected in the terminal part of ventricular activation have been evaluated as a possible means of identifying patients prone to sustained ventricular tachyarrhythmias. These signals are usually absent in those without such arrhythmias and in normal subjects. 67 healthy subjects, with no suggestion of cardiac disease from examination or electrocardiograms, were studied in an effort to report the incidence of late potentials in normal subjects. Three subjects met the criteria for abnormal late potentials (4%); the vectormagnitude complexes of these subjects were indistinguishable from those seen in patients with spontaneous sustained ventricular tachycardia after myocardial infarction. Measured indices from our subjects were compared with those of normal subjects studied by other investigators utilizing similar analytic techniques and similar software and equipment. Explanations are considered for the occurrence of false-positives. It is concluded that the incidence of late potentials in normal subjects is very low and thought to represent some type of false-positive expression related either to the recording or analytic technique. However, in certain instances, the occurrence of late potentials in a seemingly normal person may be a predictor of underlying structural pathology.


An important part of the process that enables us to improve ourselves as musicians in group music making involves developing an awareness of our personal attributes as they are displayed in the rehearsal. In order to help students become more aware of themselves and of their band members' personal attributes as they rehearse, a peer assessment system was established. The project was piloted and developed at Barnsley College and University of Huddersfield (Barnsley Campus) with first year undergraduates on the BA Popular Music course across 2000–2008. Individuals agreed to allow their bands to identify particular personal attributes for each member that, they felt, could be improved and used as peer assessment criteria. In-depth interviews were conducted with 16 students over a 4-year period and the following areas emerged as a focus of these: self-knowledge, feedback, confidence, honesty. The study has implications for devising peer assessment systems that are responsive to individual learners and their unique needs. It also suggests the desirability of providing peer assessment activities that might foster trust among participants and, if so, supports the provision of exceptional feedback. Now in its ninth year, this system has been refined into a model.


Endogenously released cyclooxygenase products modulate the bronchoconstrictor response to various stimuli in asthma. Little is known of the change in airway responsiveness to neurokinin A (NKA) after cyclooxygenase blockade. In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, we have investigated the effect of the potent cyclooxygenase inhibitor, lysine acetylsalicylate (L-ASA) administered by inhalation, on the bronchoconstrictor response both to neurokinin A (NKA) and methacholine in nine asthmatic subjects. Subjects attended the laboratory on four separate occasions to receive nebulized L-ASA (solution of 90 mg.mL-1) or matched placebo (glycine, solution of 30 mg.mL-1) 15 min prior to bronchial challenge with NKA or methacholine, in a randomized, double-blind order. Changes in airway calibre were followed as forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and agonist responsiveness, expressed as the provocative concentration causing a 20% fall in FEV1 from baseline (PC20). L-ASA elicited a significant fall in FEV1 from baseline. When compared with placebo, inhaled L-ASA reduced the airway responsiveness to NKA in 8 of the 9 subjects studied, the geometric mean (range) values for PC20 NKA increasing significantly from 153.2 (52.0-258.9) to 303.1 (83.4-668.5) micrograms.mL-1 after placebo and L-ASA, respectively. However, no significant change in airway responsiveness to methacholine was recorded after L-ASA, their geometric mean (range) PC20 values being 1.60 (0.17-9.59) and 1.53 (0.09-14.01) mg.mL-1 after placebo and L-ASA, respectively. The small decrease in airway responsiveness to neurokinin A after administration of lysine acetylsalicylate by inhalation suggests that endogenous prostaglandins may play a contributory protective role in the airway response to neurokinin A in human asthma.


Objective: To evaluate the therapeutic effects of traditional Chinese medicines Radix astragali (Huangqi, HQ), Ginseng (Renshen, RS), Radix puerariae (Gegen, GG), and Mulberry leaf (Sangye, SY) on diabetic cardiomyopathy (DC) based on bioinformatics and network pharmacology, through gene expression analysis of geo clinical samples, molecular docking of compounds and targets, and molecular dynamics simulation, and to discover new targets for prevention or treatment of DC, in order to facilitate and better serve the discovery of new drugs as well as their application in the clinic.
Materials and Methods: For the initial selection of ingredients and targets using the TCMSP as a starting point, we performed a primary screening of ingredients and targets of the four herbs using tools including Cytoscape, Tbtools, R 4.0.2, Autodock Vina, PyMOL, and GROMACS. To further screen the effective ingredients and targets, we performed protein interaction network (PPI) analysis (gene = 12), gene expression analysis (n = 24) by clinical samples of DCs from the gse26887 dataset, biological process (BP) analysis (FDR ≤ 0.05, gene = 7), KEGG pathway analysis (FDR ≤ 0.05, gene = 7), and ingredient target pathway network analysis (gene = 7) by applying these targets from the screen, Biological processes, disease pathways regulated by targets and the relationship between each component target and pathway were obtained. We further screened the targets and visualized the docking results by precision molecular docking of ingredients and targets, after which we performed molecular dynamics simulation and consulted a large number of relevant literature for validation of the results.
Results: Through screening, analysis and validation of the data, we finally confirmed the presence of 36 active ingredients in HQ, RS, GG, and SY, which mainly act on AKT1, ADRB2, GSK3B, PPARG, and BCL2 targets, and these five targets mainly regulate PI3K-Akt, Adrenergic signaling in cardiomyocytes, AGE-RAGE signaling pathway in diabetic complications, JAK-STAT, cGMP-PKG, AMPK, and mTOR signaling pathway exert preventive or therapeutic effects on DCM. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations revealed that the complex formed by Calycosin, Frutinone A, Puerarin, Inophyllum E, the four active components of HQ, RS, GG, and SY, and the four target proteins ADRB2, PPARG, AKT1, and GSK3B acting on DCS is able to exist in a very stable tertiary structure under human environment.
Conclusion: Our study successfully explains the effective mechanism of HQ, RS, GG, and SY in ameliorating DC, while predicting the potential targets and active components of HQ, RS, GG, and SY in treating DC, which provides a new basis for investigating novel mechanisms of action at the network pharmacology level and a great support for subsequent DC research.


OBJECTIVE
To analyze the clinical outcome of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in patients with previous fertilization failure after conventional IVF.

METHODS
Data from 20 ICSI cases (22 ICSI cycles) with previous complete failure of fertilization or with fertilization rate < or = 20% between January 2002 and December 2004 were retrospectively analyzed. The control group consisted of 100 consecutive ICSI cycles for male factor infertility in the same period.

RESULTS
The fertilization rate dramatically increased from 5.4% after conventional IVF to 76.9% after ICSI treatment (chi-squared = 264.66, P < 0.001). However, the fertilization rate in the subgroup with previous low fertilization was significantly lower than those in the control and in the subgroup without previous fertilization (67.9% vs 77.5%, 67.9% vs 84.2%). Compared with the control group, the subgroup without previous fertilization had a higher pregnancy rate and implantation rate, but only the difference in the implantation rate was statistically significant (40.5% vs 18.9%).

CONCLUSION
ICSI can overcome previous fertilization failure with conventional in vitro fertilization and thus improve the clinical outcome.


Currently, the Internet provides researchers with the opportunity to conduct online surveys in a more efficient and effective way than was previously allowed by traditional means. While the popularity of online data collection methodology has increased, only a limited number of studies have been done related to the topic of using Web-based surveys specifically for academic research. The purpose of this research project-in-progress is twofold. The first objective is to explore potential differences in attitudes toward using Web-based surveys as a tool for academic research among information technology versus non-information technology researchers. The second goal is to investigate the relationship between participants' degree of computer literacy and their acceptance of and trust in Web-based surveys.


We evaluated three methods for isolating ferritin for use as a standard, with respect to purity of the products, ease of preparation, and yield. Examination of the respective products by gel filitration on Sephadex G-200 and Sepharose 6B suggested that the preparations isolated by ammonium sulfate and cadmium sulfate precipitation (Method 1) and by ultracentrifugation (Method 2) were homogeneous, while the product of a procedure including precipitation with ammonium sulfate (Method 3) contained significant amounts of nonferritin protein. The ratios of ferritin as measured by immunoradiometric assay to the amount of protein in the product indicated the ferritin prepared by Method 1 to be the most highly purified. Methods 1 and 2 were both comparatively simple. Although the yield from Method 1 was lowest, it is probably the method of choice, on the basis of the ease of obtaining a highly purified product. The most appropriate method for estimating protein in the isolated preparations appears to be that of Lowry et al.


Abstrac Objective Delayed response to clinical deterioration as a result of intermittent vital sign monitoring is a cause of preventable morbidity and mortality. This review focuses on the clinical impact of multi-parameter continuous non-invasive monitoring of vital signs (CoNiM) in non-intensive care unit patients. Design Systematic review and meta-analysis of primary studies. Embase, MEDLINE, HMIC, PsycINFO and Cochrane were searched from April 1964 to 18 June 2019 with no language restriction. Setting The search was limited to hospitalised, non-intensive care unit adult patients who had two or more vital signs continuously monitored. Participants All primary studies that evaluated the clinical impact of using multi-parameter CoNiM in adult hospital wards outside of the intensive care unit. Main outcome measures Clinical impact of multi-parameter CoNiM. Results This systematic review identified 14 relevant studies from 3846 search results. Five studies were classified as Group A – associations found between measured vital signs and clinical parameters. Nine studies were classified as Group B – comparison between clinical outcomes of patients with and without multi-parameter CoNiM. Vital signs data from CoNiM were found to associate with type of presenting complaint, level of renal function and incidence of major clinical events. CoNiM also assisted in diagnosis by differentiating between patients with acute heart failure, stroke and sepsis (with sub-clustering of septic patients). In the meta-analysis, patients on multi-parameter CoNiM had a 39% decrease in risk of mortality (risk ratio [RR] 0.61; 95% confidence interval [95% CI] -0.39–0.95) when compared to patients with regular intermittent monitoring. There was a trend of reduced intensive care unit transfer (RR 0.86; 95% CI -0.67–1.11) and reduced rapid response team activation (RR 0.61; 95% CI 0.26–1.43). A trend towards reduced hospital length of stay was also found using weighted mean difference (WMD –3.32 days; 95% CI -8.82–2.19 days). Conclusion There is evidence of clinical benefit in implementing CoNiM in non-intensive care unit patients. This review supports the use of multi-parameter CoNiM outside of intensive care unit with further large-scale RCTs required to further affirm clinical impact.


Expert networks are formed by a group of expert-professionals with different specialties to collaboratively resolve specific queries posted to the network. In expert networks, decentralized search, operating purely on each expert's local information without any knowledge of network global structure, represents the most basic and scalable routing mechanism. However, there is still a lack of fundamental understanding of the efficiency of decentralized search. In this regard, we investigate decentralized search by quantifying its performance under a variety of network settings. Our key findings reveal that under certain network conditions, decentralized search can achieve significantly small query routing steps (i.e., between O(log n) and O(log2 n), n: total number of experts in the network). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work studying fundamental behaviors of decentralized search in expert networks.


The voltage-source equivalent was first derived by Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894) in an 1853 paper. Exactly thirty years later in 1883, Leon Charles Thevenin (1857-1926) published the same result, apparently unaware of Helmholtz's work. The generality of the equivalent source network was not appreciated until forty-three years later. Then, in 1926, Edward Lawry Norton (1898-1983) wrote an internal Bell Laboratory technical report that described in passing the usefulness in some applications of using the current-source form of the equivalent circuit. In that same year, Hans Ferdinand Mayer (1895-1980) published the same result and detailed it fully. As detailed subsequently, these people intertwine in interesting ways.


This case explores the effects of stock option awards on companies and their employees. We examine how options likely affect employee wealth by considering tax and cash‐flow effects of the grant and exercise of the option and of the subsequent sale of stock. We also examine how the company reports stockoption transactions in its financial statements and footnotes and how the options affect the company's tax return. These issues are investigated for both incentive stock options and nonqualified stock options. In addition, the case's setting presents the challenges of balancing employee and corporate objectives when structuring this increasingly common form of compensation.


AIM: To assess antianginal and antiischemic effects of trimetazidine and its action on myocardial perfusion in patients with ischemic heart disease and stable angina. MATERIAL: Open trimetazidine was given for 3 months to 53 nitroglycerine and beta-blocker treated men aged 47-69 (mean age 60.2+/-0.85) years with ischemic heart disease and stable angina. Stenoses of 1-3 main coronary arteries were found at angiography in 37 of these patients. METHODS: Registration of frequency of anginal attacks and nitroglycerine consumption, treadmill exercise tests and 24-hour ECG monitoring, assessment of severity of myocardial perfusion defects by scintigraphy with (99m)Tc MIBI were used for elucidation of treatment efficacy. RESULTS: After 3 months number of anginal attacks per week decreased from 9.3+/-0.6 to 4.8+/-05% (-48%, p<0.001), weekly nitroglycerine consumption fell from 9.9+/-0.8 to 4.6+/-0.6 pills (-53%, p<0.001), time to ST-segment depression during exercise on treadmill increased from 6.4+/-0.4 to 7.7+/-0.5 min (+16.9%, p<0.001) and total work performed increased from 7.8+/-0.4 to 9.2+/-0.5 METS (+15.2%, p<0.001). According to 24-hour ECG monitoring numbers of episodes of painful and painless ischemia decreased from 4.1+/-0.9 to 1.9+/-0.7 (-56.3%, p<0.002) and their overall duration shortened from 24.3+/-7.0 to 10.6+/-3.9 min (+56.3%, p<0.02). Analysis of heart rate variability revealed significant augmentation of SDNN in 77.8% of patients (from 130.0+/-6.9 to 145+/-8.1, p<0.05). Severity and extent of myocardial perfusion defects decreased in 87.5% of patients by 24,2% (from 476.1+/-78.5, p<0.01) and 20.3% (from 19.7+/-2.4 to 15.7+/-2.0, p<0.01), respectively. CONCLUSION: The use of trimetazidine as complimentary therapy to nitrates and beta-blockers in patients was associated with additional antianginal and antiischemic effects and improvement of myocardial perfusion.


This essay argues that it is the machine that constitutes the symptom of ethics— "symptom" understood as that excluded "part that has no part" in the system of moral consideration. Ethics, which has been historically organized around a human or at least biological subject, needs the machine to define the proper limits of the moral community even if it simultaneously excludes such mechanisms from any serious claim on moral consideration. The argument will proceed in five steps or movements. The first part will define and characterize "the symptom" as it has been operationalized in the work of Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek. Although Žižek appropriates this term from Jacques Lacan, he develops the concept in a unique way that exceeds Lacan's initial psychoanalytic formulations. The second and third parts will demonstrate how the machine constitutes the symptom of moral philosophy, showing how and why it comprises the always already excluded element necessary to define the proper limits of moral subjectivity. The fourth part will then consider two alternatives that promise, but ultimately fail, to accommodate this symptom. And the final section will draw out the consequences of this analysis for ethics and its excluded others.


Beginning Java 8 Language Features covers essential and advanced features of the Java programming language such as the new lambda expressions (closures), inner classes, threads, I/O, Collections, garbage collection, streams, and more. Author Kishori Sharan provides over 60 diagrams and 290 complete programs to help you visualize and better understand the topics covered in this book. The book starts with a series of chapters on the essential language features provided by Java, including annotations, inner classes, reflection, and generics. These topics are then complemented by details of how to use lambda expressions, allowing you to build powerful and efficient Java programs. The chapter on threads follows this up and discusses everything from the very basic concepts of a thread to the most advanced topics such as synchronizers, the fork/join framework, and atomic variables. This book contains unmatched coverage of Java I/O, including NIO 2.0, the Path API, the File Visitor API, the watch service and asynchronous file I/O. With this in-depth knowledge, your data- and file-management programs will be able to take advantage of every feature of Java's powerful I/O framework. Finally, you'll learn how to use the Stream API, a new, exciting addition to Java 8, to perform aggregate operations on collections of data elements using functional-style programming. You'll examine the details of stream processing such as creating streams from different data sources, learning the difference between sequential and parallel streams, applying the filter-map-reduce pattern, and dealing with optional values. What youll learn How to use essential and advanced features of the Java language How to code Java annotations and inner classes How to work with reflection, generics, and threads What is Java I/O vs. NIO and NIO 2.0 How to work with the garbage collector How to manage streams with the Stream API Who this book is for This book is for those new to Java programming and continues the learning Java journey; it is recommended that you read an introductory Java programming book first, such as Beginning Java Fundamentals, from Apress.


Ferromagnetic shape memory alloy-based actuators offer distintive features that make them advantageous competitors to traditional electromechanical devices. The production of force and motion without contact is one of the most important features. However, the largely non-linear and hysteretic nature of the response of such materials makes them of little use apart from on-off or continuous actuation. In this work we present the results obtained in a laboratory prototype of linear position FSMA actuator, where the active element is a 12 mm long Ni-Mn-Ga single crystal. The crystal expands a maximum of 12 micrometers and in control experiments, is commanded to expand and contract alternatively to reach positions at 5 µm and 8 µm. It shows that the commanded position could be controlled within 20 nm.


In the last decade there has been a significant increase in the use of derivatives as a vehicle to manage financial risk. The sudden spurt of derivatives has resulted in the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) being forced to develop new standards for quantification and disclosure. The financial standard of interest to this study is Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS 133). SFAS 133 requires all derivatives, without exception and regardless of the accounting treatment for the underlying asset, liability, or transaction, to be recognized in the balance sheet as either liabilities or assets. SFAS 133 entitled Accounting for derivative activities and hedging (and SFAS 137, which postponed the implementation of SFAS 133 until June 2000) is different from prior standards in that it requires recognition as opposed to mere disclosure in the notes. The justification given for implementing SFAS 133 was to increase transparency to investors. In this study we empirically investigate this issue with particular focus on whether SFAS 133 provides incremental information above that provided by reported earnings, book value, and proxies for omitted variables. We study commercial banks since they are among the most frequent users of large-scale derivative contracts and their use has increased significantly over the last two decades, and in particular over the last five years. Our findings indicate that information regarding total derivative contracts, when disclosed in the financial statements as required by SFAS 133/137, is value relevant to investors. However, investors view this information negatively, perhaps attributing this to higher risk. Losses on holding derivatives are viewed positively and gains are viewed negatively.


The introduction of new technologies to the educational process, especially virtual learning systems used through the web, is enabling Distance Learning (DL) to become more interactive, bringing a new way of thinking and analyzing and continuously improving the quality of education. This study aims to understand the development of technological competence in DL from the perspective of technology as a practice (Orlikowski, 2000, 2007) and of competence as a practice (Sandberg, 2000; Orlikowski, 2002). It is assumed that the development of technological competence in DL is a recurring and iterative process, in which competence is developed through interaction between agents and artifacts. The analyzed case is a publicly held Brazilian Institution of Higher Education (HEI) with approximately 145,000 students in distance education centers throughout Brazil. Interviews were conducted with DL managers, developers, teachers and tutors to capture their varied views about the process of technology use and the development of technological competence. The research shows that the dynamics of introducing this new type of education has promoted changes in the competence of both the institution and the professors.


In this study the stability of different polymer gel dosimeters is investigated. Further to a previous chemical stability study on a (6%T, 50%C) PAG gel, the change in slope and intercept of the linear part of the R2–dose plot is recorded with time for different gel formulations. In addition to this R2–dose–response stability study, the dose edge of a half-blocked field was recorded with time. Three different PAG type polymer gels, a hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA) gel and two different normoxic polymer gels were investigated. In the PAG type polymer gels, the relative concentration of gelatin and comonomers was varied in order to study the influence of the different components, that constitute the dosimeter, on the stability. It is shown that the R2–dose–response stability is largely determined by the chemical composition of the gel dosimeters. All the PAG gel dosimeters and the normoxic gel dosimeters are found to preserve the integrity of the dose distribution up to 22 days after irradiation. The half-life of the change in dose sensitivity of a MAGIC gel is found to be 18 h compared to 5.7 h for a (6%T, 50%C) PAG gel. A maximum relative decrease in dose sensitivity of 21% was noted for the MAGIC gel compared to an increase of 50% for a (6%T, 50%C) PAG gel. A loss of integrity of the dose distribution was found in the HEA gel.


Abstract Inorganic fertilizer is one of the key technologies that could enhance crop productivity. However, farmers are still using lower than the recommended rates and yet there are a lot of farmers who are not using fertilizers at all. In this study, we analyze determinants and profitability of fertilizer use using a survey data collected from 174 randomly selected maize producers in NonoBenja District, Ethiopia. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Heckman's two-stage model, net profit analysis, and Kendall's coefficient of concordance. Results show that the sampled respondents on average applied 142.8 kg/ha inorganic fertilizer (NPS+Urea) which is only 71.5% of the recommended rate. Age of household head, farm income, and use of input credit affected the probability of fertilizer use positively. Education level of household head, livestock holding and frequency of contact with extension agent positively influenced both the probability and intensity of fertilizer use whereas perception on cost of production influenced both the use and intensity of use negatively. Off-farm income positively influenced the intensity of fertilizer use. Farmers applying the recommended and above the recommended rates of inorganic fertilizer in maize production were more profitable than those applying lower than the recommended rates. Results imply that smallholders should be encouraged to use and enhance their use intensity of inorganic fertilizer in maize production for better productivity and profitability.


Critical and feminist sexuality scholarship contends that many key sexuality concepts are taken-for-granted definitions that have accrued common sense status but are missing an exploration of what these concepts mean to women. For example, sex is treated as synonymous with penile-vaginal intercourse, 'good' and 'bad' sex have implicit meanings in media representations, and consent is often seen as the dividing line between sex and sexual violence. This thesis explores and challenges these dominant constructions of female sexuality through one-on-one in-depth interviews with twenty-four women. Key findings explore how participants resist and recapitulate dominant accounts of what 'counts' as sex, what makes for good and bad sex, and how consent and desire are negotiated in sexual relationships. Given the considerable disparity between mainstream media representations of female sexuality and women's embodied sexual experiences, this research aims to explore women's discursive constructions of their sexual experiences as they elect to define them.


Background: Anxiety and depression as the most common psychological disorders are associated with gynecologic problems. Women, especially in this age usually increasingly tend to be treated with some herbal compounds and nutritional supplements.
Objective: The present study aims to determine the effect of Valerian on anxiety and depressive symptoms in menopausal women referred to Shahrekord medical centers.
Methods: This double-blind clinical trial study was carried out on women referred to Shahrekord medical center. In present study, 48 eligible women aged 45 to 62 years have been divided randomly into two groups (29 in Valerian and 19 in placebo). The information was completed via demographic questionnaire, Hamilton anxiety rating scale, and Beck depression inventory before and 2 months after treatment. The data were analyzed by the Mann-Whitney Tests and Wilcoxon tests using SPSS 11.5 software.
Results: According to the findings of the present study, both groups were match regarding to depression and anxiety levels at the first stages of the study (P> 0.05). After the intervention, anxiety level and depressive symptoms were decreased significantly in valerian group (P=0.001).
Conclusion: The results have shown that Valerian is effective in the treatment of anxiety and depression in menopausal women and could be considered as an alternative treatment.


Abstract This article explores ways pre-service teachers learn to work upon their positive emotional conduct during an initial teacher education course. The article argues that education practice today promotes the acting out of positive emotions, creating conditions within which pre-service teachers ethically shape their emotional conduct. Utilising Foucault's four-part ethical framework, the article draws on longitudinal research of pre-service teachers in Western Australia to analyse the crafting of emotional conduct through techniques of the self. The techniques the participants came to employ during their course learning aligned with a telos of the resourceful, positive, and professional teacher. The article argues that this ethical enterprise relies on a certain model of teacher subjectivity which is inseparably linked with normalising governmental power. Such disciplining of emotions, however, is neither one-dimensional nor deterministic; rather, work at the intersection of the government of others and of oneself. We argue this allows pre-service teachers the freedom to care for the self as they seek to foster their own ethical practices as teachers.


Their high-power-density design combined with their limited space make planetary gear trains often high power losses difficult to dissipate to the surround in time. The thermal network model for temperature prediction in planetary gear trains has been proposed. According to the principle of the conservation of energy, the thermal network model have been built and the model have been employed to analyze the transient temperature of the three stage 2K-H planetary gear trains used in Φ6.3m earth pressure balance(EPB) shield machine in series. The computed temperature results of the proposed TNM were in very good agreement with experimental measurements. It has been shown that this method is capable of performing temperature analysis. The results stemmed from the TNM have been shown that the temperature rise of the sun gears is quicker than the other parts and the PGT doesn't reach thermal balance after the oil temperature reached 90 degrees, so the cooling system should be compelled.


An importance of studying the problem of mon-ocities is defi ned by the fact that such cities are a special form of territorial organization of regional economic systems. Lack of diverse production mo-no-sectoral character of development of a town is a widespread phenomenon that is typical for different countries and causes a number of negative conse-quences. Among those are: dependence of popula-tion on local authorities, the holder of enterprise that forms a town; uniform professional structure of population; low social mobility of residents. Obvi-ously, a closure of the main enterprise can lead to the collapse of the whole city. According to the data of independent scientifi c-educational fund «Expert in-stitute», in Russia 332 settlements of town type and 467 towns can be referred to the number of mono-profi le objects. We can conclude that here we speak of 25 % of the whole urban population of the country that equals 24,5 millions of people and 49 % of gross regional product of Russian Federation. New solutions in fi eld of social policy in terms of monocities are necessary. First of all, we speak of modernization of a mechanism of interaction be-tween different subjects: federal center, regional au-thorities, local self-government, corporations, insti-tutions of civil society. At the national level a state policy on monocities, corresponding long-term federal target programme, macro-tools, aimed for improvement in regional investment climate must be developed. Regions ought to form action plans on preserving and developing speci fi c mono-profi le cities and defi ne a complex of regional preferences. Local authorities are obliged to realize correspond-ing anti-crisis programmes with all necessary at-traction of enterprises that form towns, and their strategies must imply tools to minimize possible social threats.The work is submitted to the International Sci-entifi c Conference «Science and education integra-tion », Australia, on February, 15-22, 2012, came to the editorial offi ce оn 14.02.2012.


The use of deep learning for water extraction requires precise pixel-level labels. However, it is very difficult to label high-resolution remote sensing images at the pixel level. Therefore, we study how to utilize point labels to extract water bodies and propose a novel method called the neighbor feature aggregation network (NFANet). Compared with pixel-level labels, point labels are much easier to obtain, but they will lose much information. In this paper, we take advantage of the similarity between the adjacent pixels of a local water-body, and propose a neighbor sampler to resample remote sensing images. Then, the sampled images are sent to the network for feature aggregation. In addition, we use an improved recursive training algorithm to further improve the extraction accuracy, making the water boundary more natural. Furthermore, our method utilizes neighboring features instead of global or local features to learn more representative features. The experimental results show that the proposed NFANet method not only outperforms other studied weakly supervised approaches, but also obtains similar results as the state-of-the-art ones.


This paper discusses an advanced heat pipe mechanism that has the potential of achieving heat flux capabilities over 250 W/cm/sup 2/. The mechanism utilizes thermally driven pulsating two-phase flow to achieve high heat flux capability and heat transfer coefficient. A simplified hydrodynamic model was developed to guide the proof-of-concept heat pipe design. A more detailed numerical model was also developed and is solved to predict the heat pipe's thermal performance. Test results of proof-of-concept heat pipes verified the heat flux capability of the advanced mechanism and the accuracy of the simplified model. Pulsating heat pipes are feasible approaches to removing increasing heat dissipation densities in electronic equipment.


Background Reducing drug resistance in tumor cells has become an important issue for cancer treatment. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether IL-22 was involved in lung cancer cell resistance to paclitaxel (PTX), and to explore the underlying molecular mechanism. Material/Methods Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell line A549 and the drug resistant cell line A549/PTX were used in the present study. The inhibitory rate of PTX on A549 and A549/PTX cell proliferation was determined by MTT assay and the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) value was calculated. The expression level of IL-22 was detected using Western blot and qRT-PCR. To elucidate the mechanism by which IL-22 is involved in PTX resistance, a stable IL-22-silenced A549/PTX cell line was generated by using IL-22-siRNA. Cell apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry, and the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signal pathway was determined using Western blot analysis. Results We found that IL-22 expression level was markedly higher in A549/PTX cells than in A549 cells, and IL-22 gene knockdown significantly enhanced the cell proliferation inhibition rate of PTX to A549/PTX cells and decreased the IC50 value of PTX to A549/PTX cells, indicating IL-22 was involved in cell PTX resistance. Our findings also suggest that IL-22 knockdown notably increased PTX induced apoptosis in A549/PTX cells. Moreover, the results showed that p-JNK and Caspase 3 expression were significantly increased in IL-22 knockdown A549/PTX cells, while Bcl-2 expression was significantly decreased. Conclusions IL-22 is involved in A549 cell resistance to PTX through regulating cell apoptosis via the JNK signaling pathway.


In this thesis a new method for the numerical solution of coupled systems of ordinary differential equations is investigated. To understand this new method, the workings of existing Waveform iteration methods, in particular the Jacobi and Gaus-Seidel methods were explored first. These methods were introduced to be able to exploit multirate behaviour in systems and use an iterative procedure to successively approximate the solution of the problem. The new multirate time integration method is similar to these methods, but introduces a new way of parallelising the time integration, thereby improving performance over the existing methods. In this work an analysis of the performance of the Jacobi and Gaus-Seidel method when applied to linear systems is done, both for a singlerate setting as well as a multirate setting. This analysis is then compared to numerical simulations of the waveform iteration methods, as well as the new multirate time integration method. The results look promising for the new method, having a superior performance compared to the waveform iteration methods for almost all test cases when applied to the heat equation. (Less)


To determine the prevalence of potential cadaver kidney, eye, and research-tissue donors in a tertiary referral hospital, the charts of 718 patients who died were studied. We found a potential kidney-donor rate of 2.4 per 100 hospital deaths, a potential eye-donor rate of 45.4 per 100 deaths, and a potential pancreas-donor rate of 26.5 per 100 deaths. In the study year, 20 potential cadaver kidney donors were projected, theoretically meeting the needs of the transplantation center. Recognized potential eye and pancreas donors were remarkably numerous. Effective education, surveillance, and procurement programs are necessary to salvage these potential donor tissues. ( JAMA 241:2287-2289, 1979)


The real-space transfer effect in a SiO2∕AlGaN∕GaN metal-oxide-semiconductor heterostructure (MOSH) from the two-dimensional (2D) electron gas at the heterointerface to the oxide-semiconductor interface has been demonstrated and explained. The effect occurs at high positive gate bias and manifests itself as an additional step in the capacitance-voltage (C‐V) characteristic. The real-space transfer effect limits the achievable maximum 2D electron gas density in the device channel. We show that in MOSH structures the maximum electron gas density exceeds up to two times that at the equilibrium (zero bias) condition. Correspondingly, a significant increase in the maximum channel current (up to two times compared to conventional Schottky-gate structures) can be achieved. The real-space charge transfer effect in MOSH structures also opens up a way to design novel devices such as variable capacitors, multistate switches, memory cells, etc.


The Nature Schools movement in Iran commenced in 2014 and expanded steadily for half a decade, growing to almost 100 schools. Emulating similar educational inititives in Europe and North America, Nature Schools offered outdoor educational experiences for pre-school and primary school years, spreading across both metropolitan and regional Iran. Before the first Nature Schools were started, detailed initial planning between academics and the government Environment Department and Education Ministry was undertaken which projected the roll-out of many more Nature Schools. The results of this study demonstrated that the establishment and growth pattern of the Iranian Nature Schools had different causes stimulating its commencement, how these schools released a new pedagogical practice for teachers, children and their families and how this movement offered an alternative curriculum in nature with school children outdoors. Thus, despite the eclipse of the Nature School movement, a longer time-frame indicates positive aspects, including the establishment of green or eco-schools and the institutionalization of the environmental focus in pre-school education. Many educators saw Nature Schools benefitting students' personal learning and academic development. Political concerns after several years of growth led to some closures and slowing down of the growth of Nature Schools in 2018-19. At the same time, a new national environmental curriculum was being embedded across all age-levels of schooling in Iran.


Abstract Using type material from the Österby pegmatite in Dalarna, Sweden, the chemical composition and structural parameters of thalénite-(Y) [ideally Y3Si3O10(OH)] were examined by wavelength dispersive spectroscopy electron microprobe (WDS EMP) analysis and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. High contrast back-scatter electron images of the Österby material show at least two generations of thalénite-(Y). The formula of the primary thalénite-(Y) normalized to 11 anions is (Y2.58Dy0.11Yb0.09Gd0.06Er0.06Ho0.02 Sm0.02Tb0.02Lu0.02Nd0.01Tm0.01)Σ3.00Si3.01O10F0.97OH0.03. The secondary thalénite-(Y), replacing the primary material, is weakly enhanced in Y and depleted in the lightest and the heaviest rare-earth elements, yielding the formula (Y2.63Dy0.12Yb0.06Gd0.06Er0.05Ho0.02Sm0.02Tb0.02Tm0.01Nd0.01Lu0.01)Σ3.00 Si3.01O10F0.98OH0.02. Structural data for thalénite-(Y) from Österby clearly indicate the monoclinic space group P21/n, with a = 7.3464(4), b = 11.1726(5), c = 10.4180(5) Å, β = 97.318(4)°, V = 848.13(7) Å3, Z = 4, which is consistent with previous investigations. The structure was refined from single-crystal X-ray diffraction data to R1 = 0.0371 for 1503 unique observed reflections, and the final chemical composition obtained from the refinement, (Y2.64Dy0.36)Σ3.00F0.987[Si3O10], Z = 4, is in good agreement with the empirical formula resulting from electron microprobe (EMP) analysis. Both techniques reveal a strong dominance of F over OH, which means that the type material actually corresponds to the fluorine analogue. Moreover, new EMP analyses of samples of thalénite-(Y) from an additional seven localities (Å skagen and Reunavare in Sweden; White Cloud and Snow Flake in Colorado, USA; the Guy Hazel claim in Arizona, USA; Suishoyama and Souri in Japan) clearly show the prevalence of F over OH as well. Based on these observations, the Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification of the International Mineralogical Association has recommended a redefinition of the chemical composition of thalénite-(Y) to represent the F-dominant species with the ideal formula Y3Si3O10F, as it has historical priority. Consequently, the later described fluorthalénite-(Y) has to be discredited.


Neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) is one of the defense functions of neutrophils, which has a rapid ability to kill infections and is also crucial in a variety of immune-associated diseases including infections, tumors and autoimmune diseases. Recent studies have shown that NETs are closely related to the development of tumors. The regulatory role of NETs in tumors has been of interest to researchers. In addition to awakening latent tumor cells, NETs can also promote the proliferation and development of tumor cells and their metastasis to other sites. At the same time, NETs also have the effect of inhibiting tumors. At present, there are some new advances in the impact of NETs on tumor development, which will provide a more theoretical basis for developing NET-targeted drugs. Therefore, this review just summarized the formation process of NETs, the regulation of tumor development and the treatment methods based on NETs.


: Endometritis is the most frequent infectious complication of the puerperal period; with the objective to know the clinical characteristics, etiology and evolution of this disease we did a retrospective study of the endometritis cases among the patients of the Instituto Nacional de Perinatologia (INPer) from January 1st, 1990 to May 31, 1991. During the revision period were diagnosed 120 cases, but we were able to examine only 90. In the 90% the resolution of the pregnancy was by means of caesarean. A 24.4% of the patients had premature rupture of the membranes. The 10% had diagnose of chorioamniotis. The latency period to develop postpartum endometritis was 120 +/- 66 hours, and post-caesarean 56 +/- 30 hours (p = 0.001). The symptom most frequent were fever (100), foul-smelling lochia (61.1%) and uterine tenderness (60%). The infection was polymicrobial, being the microorganisms most frequent isolated Staphylococcus coagulase negative, Escherichia coli and Peptostreptococcus. A 3.3% developed pelvi-peritonitis. One patient died.


The net impact of pest-resistant GM crops on the welfare of both producers and consumers in developing countries is currently unknown and subject to speculation. This study uses choice-based conjoint protocol to estimate the net impact of pest-resistant Genetically Modified (GM) cowpea on net social welfare in Benin given price and income risks. Results imply that Bt cowpea will increase expected net social welfare by about $US 50 million per year in Benin given no inefficiencies in the seed sector. If inefficiencies in the seed sector are such that cowpea growers can access Bt cowpea seeds only 50% of the time, net benefits from Bt cowpea drop to about $US 11 million per year.


Pedestrian protection is one of the key topics of discussion in the area of vehicle safety legislation in Europe and Japan. Leg injuries are the most common injuries found in non-fatal pedestrian accidents. The EC regulation and Euro NCAP are evaluating pedestrian leg protection performance in current vehicles. The TRL legform impactor is specified by the EC regulation, where Phase 1 took effect during 2005 and a draft phase 2 is scheduled to take effect in 2013. The global technical regulation (GTR) pedestrian protection test protocol was made basically using the TRL legform impactor. However, a flexible legform impactor has been under development. When the flexible legform impactor development is fully completed and evaluated, it is possible that both legform impactors may be determined to be useful in the GTR. Thus, the objective of this study is to investigate the characteristics of pedestrian leg protection performance of the frontal area of current vehicles using the TRL legform impactor and the flexible legform impactor. Different types of vehicles (sedan, sport utility vehicle (SUV), height wagon, and 1 box car) were used. The center of the bumper and center of the side members (i.e., the vehicles main longitudinal beams) were selected as impact locations for the legform impactors tests. This paper discusses an equivalence of injury assessment between the TRL legform impactor and flexible legform impactor. The full text of this paper may be found at: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/esv/esv21/09-0206.pdf For the covering abstract see ITRD E145407.


This paper explores the idea of romantic and modern painting with the reference of Delacroix's painting "Liberty Leading the People" and Jackson Pollock's painting "Moon Woman Cuts the Circle". Both painters representing different era, portray different styles, background, color, tempo, and textures in their painting. Delacroix's painting expresses inner emotions and realistic world. His painting is emotional, it seems to be natural and exotic. He has used arches, sculptures, and gray color dominantly. In contrast to Delacroix, Pollock's painting is experimental. It has abstraction and two-dimensionality. It looks rational that represents the frustrated and chaotic world in abstract form. In this sense, Delacroix's painting "Liberty Leading the People" represents the liberty, equality, and fraternity. A woman personifying the concept and the goddess of liberty leads the people forward over the bodies of the fallen men holding the flag of the French Revolution. On the other hand, Jackson Pollock's painting "Moon Woman Cuts the Circle" reflects the modern world representing woman the symbol of peace, color tempo suggests the domination of violence and bloodshed. The weapon shows the domination of the power which is violent. Delacroix's painting suggests the hope of change and bright future but Pollock seems to be pessimistic in his painting.


Amorphous
boron-carbon-nitrogen (B-C-N) films with low density are potentially
interesting as alternative low-dielectric-constant (low-κ) materials for future
electronic devices. Such applications require deposition at temperatures below
300 °C, making plasma chemical vapor deposition (plasma CVD) a preferred
deposition method. Plasma CVD of B-C-N films is today typically done with
separate precursors for B, C and N or with precursors containing B–N bonds and
an additional carbon precursor. We present an approach to plasma CVD of B-C-N
films based on triethylboron (B(C2H5)3) a
precursor with B-C bonds in an argon-nitrogen plasma. From quantitative
analysis with Time-of-Flight Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis (ToF-ERDA), we
find that the deposition process can afford B-C-N films with a B/N ratio
between 0.98 and 1.3 and B/C ratios between 3.4 and 8.6 and where the films
contain between 3.6 and 7.8 at. % H and 6.6 and 20 at. % of O. The films have
low density, from 0.32 to 1.6 g/cm3 as determined from cross-section
 scanning electron micrographs and ToF-ERDA
with morphologies ranging from smooth films to separated nanowalls. Scaning
transmission electron microscopy shows that C and BN does not phase seperarte
in the film. The static dielectric constant κ, measured by capacitance–voltage
measurements, varies with the Ar concentration in the range from 3.3 to
35 for low and high Ar concentrations, respectively. We
suggest that this dependence is caused by the energetic bombardment of plasma species during film deposition.


This paper is about to develope the Indonesian anti-corruption teaching model by writing a biographical recension of its fighters. The step refers to the preeliminary investigation of Akker's Educational Design Research with the activity details including questionnaires given to 50 social science Lecturers and 100 students, interviews to three teaching experts, and an analysis of 5 local journals about the existing models and their effectiveness. The results of this initial stage of the research are the teaching model framework that are equipped with the social systems, syntax, principal of reaction, support systems and the impacts. The novelty of this model is the inspiring Indonesian anti-corruption fighters which closely related to the student learning mastery showed in their recensions. The learning information supports and anti-corruption atmosphere possibly set the students to find the spirit and it was matched to the anti-corruption learning objectives.


The concept of deadline dependent coding (DDC) has previously been suggested by the authors for maximizing the probability of delivering the required information before a given deadline in a wireless communication system.. In this paper, these principles are further developed using concatenated codes with iterative decoding, providing a new level of flexibility and robustness for DDC protocols. The strategy of DDC is to combine different coding and decoding methods with automatic repeat request (ARQ) techniques in order to fulfill the application requirements within a wireless realtime communication system. These requirements are formulated as two quality of service (QoS) parameters: deadline (t/sub DL/) and probability of correct delivery before the deadline (P/sub d/), leading to a probabilistic view of realtime communication. An application can negotiate these QoS parameters with the DDC protocol, thus creating a flexible and fault-tolerant scheme.


The unending expansion of Internet-enabled services drives demand for higher speeds and more stringent reliability capabilities in the commercial Internet. Network carriers, driven by these customer demands, increasingly acquire and deploy ever larger routers with an ever growing feature set. The software however, is not currently structured adequately to preserve Non-Stop Operation and is sometimes deployed in non-redundant software configurations. In this dissertation, we look at current Routing Frameworks and address the growing reliability concerns of Future Internet Architectures. We propose and implement a new distributed architecture for next generation core routers by implementing N-Modular Redundancy for Control Plane Processes. We use a distributed key-value data store as a substrate for High Availability (HA) operation and synchronization with different consistency requirements. A new platform is proposed, with many characteristics similar to Software Defined Network, on which the framework is deployed. Our work looks at the feasibility of Non-Stop Routing System Design, where a router can continue to process both control and data messages, even with multiple concurrent software and hardware failures. A thorough discussion on the framework, components, and capabilities is given, and an estimation of overhead, fault recovery and responsiveness is presented. We argue that even though our work is focused in the context of routing, it also applies to any use-case where Non-Stop Real-Time response is required.


It has been my opportunity to examine 3 patients who were in the acute stages of transient myopia associated with retinal edema; apparently, these were the result of oral medication administered by physicians. These 2 complications were associated with acetazolamide and hydrochlorothiazide 1 and most recently with ethoxzolamide as described below. Report of Case A 28-year-old Negro female was seen first on Sept. 7, 1961, at 8 P.M., at which time she complained of having had poor vision since noon the same day. The patient had undergone a myomectomy for a subserous myoma of the uterus, a right oophorectomy for a dermoid cyst of the ovary, and an appendectomy on June 15, 1961. As a dietary supplement she had been receiving medication prescribed by her gynecologist in the form of Mi-Cebrin* (a vitamin-mineral supplement), 1 tablet twice a day since July 21, 1961; Trinsicon Pulvules * (a hematinic concentrate with intrinsic


Over the last decade, warm dark matter (WDM) has been repeatedly proposed as an alternative scenario to the standard cold dark matter (CDM) one, potentially resolving several disagreements between the CDM model and observations on small scales. Here, we reconsider the most important CDM small-scale discrepancies in the light of recent observational constraints on WDM. As a result, we find that a conventional thermal (or thermal-like) WDM cosmology with a particle mass in agreement with Lyman-$\alpha$ is nearly indistinguishable from CDM on the relevant scales and therefore fails to alleviate any of the small-scale problems. The reason for this failure is that the power spectrum of conventional WDM falls off too rapidly. To maintain WDM as a significantly different alternative to CDM, more evolved production mechanisms leading to multiple dark matter components or a gradually decreasing small-scale power spectrum have to be considered.


Storage properties of water-soluble salts in bastion historical brick are presented in this paper. Probably the most important factor affecting the material degradation represents water from rain, snowfalls or ice, which penetrates into the unprotected parts of building. Therefore, the deterioration of building materials is in many cases caused by water-soluble salts. The most common salts are on chloride, sulfate and nitrate origin. The aim of this article is influence of salts ions on masonry from bastions fortifications. The main practical impact will be in providing more precise information about material so it should lead to improvement the quality of reconstruction process of historical buildings.


Increasing complexity of risk management requires the use of more flexible approaches to measure information security risk. Adapting complex risk analysis tools in today's information systems is a very difficult task due to the shortage of reliable data. Analytic Hierarchy Process group decision making (AHP-GDM) offers a technical support for risk analysis by taking the judgements of managers and systematically calculating the relative risk values. This paper presents how Bayesian Prioritization procedure (BPP) provides a more effective way of risk assessment than proposed by the conventional approaches used in AHP-GDM.


Caspase-3 cleaves gasdermin E (GSDME) and converts noninflammatory apoptosis to inflammatory cell death (pyroptosis) in GSDME-expressing cells. GSDME expression is suppressed in many cancer lines and mutated in some others, and reduced GSDME is associated with metastasis and decreased survival in breast cancer, suggesting GSDME might be a tumor suppressor. Here we show reduced GSDME function of 7 of 8 tested cancer-associated mutations. Gsdme knockout in GSDME-expressing tumors enhances, while ectopic expression in Gsdme-repressed tumors inhibits, tumor growth. The GSDME tumor-suppressive effect is cell-extrinsic, mediated by cytotoxic lymphocyte killing and abrogated in perforin-deficient mice or mice lacking lymphocytes. GSDME expression enhances tumor-associated macrophage phagocytosis and the number and functions of tumor-infiltrating NK and CD8+ T lymphocytes. Killer cells also activate GSDME-mediated pyroptosis independently of caspase activation when Granzyme B directly cleaves GSDME at the same site as caspase-3 (Asp270). Thus, GSDME suppresses tumor growth by activating anti-tumor immunity. Citation Format: Zhibin Zhang, Ying Zhang, Shiyu Xia, Qing Kong, Shunying Li, Xing Liu, Caroline Junqueira, James Ansara, Satyaki Sengupta, Yandan Yao, Hao Wu, Judy Lieberman. Gasdermin E suppresses tumor growth by activating antitumor immunity [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2019 Oct 26-30; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2019;18(12 Suppl):Abstract nr A022. doi:10.1158/1535-7163.TARG-19-A022


Exposure to high levels of endogenous or exogenous glucocorticoids suppresses the inflammatory response genes. Excessive endogenous hypercortisolism may mask the active inflammatory diseases. Rebound immune modulation may occur after Cushing's syndrome (CS) remission, leading to the new onset of autoimmune diseases. Here, we report a 27-year-old female patient who was recently diagnosed with sarcoidosis after remission of CS. Normal thorax imaging showed that the patient was free of disease during the course of CS and without any symptoms of sarcoidosis. After complete remission of CS, she was diagnosed with sarcoidosis based on clinical and radiological evidence. Excessive hypercortisolism may suppress the active inflammatory stage of sarcoidosis. However, the disease became apparent after the reduction of cortisol levels following the treatment of CS.


increasing, and also those which have only recently been recognised. As I have pointed out elsewhere,' the first group comprises almost entirely those infections important in past times which attracted notification by traditional methods and in many cases control by vaccination. Of major importance in Britain today are the infections in the latter categories, most of which are not notifiable but can'be recognised only by epidemiologically co-ordinated laboratory investigations, and the vast group of respiratory infections (an unconquered problem in developed countries), viral diarrhoeas, and infections of the fetus. The main problems of infections today thus escape notice by the inadequate information systems of past eras. Planners and administrators are dangerously misled if they rely on conventional notification data, which conceal the real problems, and if they fail to utilise the newer and laboratory based systems such as those being developed by the Communicable Diseases (Scotland) Unit and by the corresponding units of the Public Health Laboratory Service. N R GRIST


We use unique data fromfinancial advisers' professional exam scores and combine it with other variables to create an index of financial sophistication. Using this index to explain long-term stock return expectations, we find that more sophisticated financial advisers tend to have lower return expectations. A one standard deviation increase in the sophistication index reduces expected returns by 1.1 percentage points. The effect is stronger for emerging market stocks (2.3 percentage points). The sophistication effect contributes 60% to the model fit, while employer fixed effects combined contribute less than 30%. These results help understand the formation of potentially excessively optimistic expectations.


Abstract: Coppice management results in profound differences in forest structure and composition, which in turn can modify habitat value for bird species. We measured bird species richness and composition at 50 sample plots in pure oak forest stands in northwestern Turkey, which differed in age, cover and height in association with coppice management. We recorded a total of 38 bird species and 699 individuals across all stands. Regression-based multimodel inference showed that structural features of forest stands strongly affect bird diversity and abundance. While canopy cover and tree height affect bird diversity positively, elevation of sampling plots, tree density and tree diameter at breast height (DBH) had a negative effect. In addition, constrained ordination analyses revealed that canopy cover was the most important factor influencing bird species composition. Forest stands that have 42-85% canopy cover, i.e., a few (2009-2580 oak trees) large tall (13.36-15.78 m) trees, were the most preferred habitat by bird species. However, we also found that different bird species favor different stand structural features. Thus, variation in stand structure from maintaining some coppice management across the landscape may be beneficial for rare or endangered species and result in greater landscape level biodiversity.


The directed divergence, which is a measure based on the discrimination information between two signal classes, is investigated. A simplified expression for computing the directed divergence is derived for comparing two Gaussian autoregressive processes such as those found in speech. This expression alleviates both the computational cost (reduced by two thirds) and the numerical problems encountered in computing the directed divergence. In addition, the simplified expression is compared with the Itakura-Saito distance (which asymptotically approaches the directed divergence). Although the expressions for these two distances closely resemble each other, only moderate correlations between the two were found on a set of actual speech data. >


Kampoosa Bog in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, USA is a 70-ha wetland comprised of calcareous basin fen and red maple swamp bordered, in part, by roads including the Massachusetts Turnpike. High salt concentrations in the ground water (due to the application of deicing salts on the Turnpike) and Phragmites australis colonies appear to be impacting the native vegetation at this site. Sodium and chloride concentrations at Kampoosa Bog are generally below previously published threshold levels for impacting vegetation, although such levels vary by species and in relation to other environmental stress conditions. Giant reed (Phragmites), a salt-tolerant invasive species, invaded the northern portion of the wetland adjacent to the Turnpike and a gas pipeline sometime after they were built in the 1950s. By 1998, Phragmites had formed dense colonies that continued to spread across the wetland, which supports several state-listed rare plant and animal species. High salt concentrations (Na+ > 112 mg/L, Cl >54 mg/L) are present up to 300 meters from the Turnpike. Phragmites colonies occur in areas with high and low salt concentrations, and the species abundance is not well-correlated with elevated salt levels. Although high salt concentrations and Phragmites abundance do not seem to produce an interaction effect on the vegetation of the wetland, the graminoid fen community is impacted by both factors separately. We attribute decreases in the abundance of species between invaded and non-invaded areas to the presence of Phragmites. In the graminoid fen, we attribute decreases in both community measures (richness, evenness, and overall cover) and individual species abundances to high salt concentrations.


INTRODUCTION: Aim of this study was to analyze if, using the Austin technique for correction of hallux valgus deformity, the additional soft tissue procedure is capable to achieve better correction of the sesamoid subluxation, the hallux valgus angle and the intermetatarsal angle. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 19 patients with 20 feet operated according to the original Austin technique and 26 patients with 28 feet operated according to a modified technique with lateral soft tissue release both with a preoperative sesamoid subluxation grade 3 were compared with the help of a standardized questionnaire in respect to clinical and radiological results. RESULTS: Analyzing the clinical outcome of the two procedures, there was no statistical difference. Comparison of the radiological results revealed a significantly better correction of the sesamoid position and a better correction of hallux valgus and intermetatarsal angle by using the additional soft tissue procedure. DISCUSSION: The lateral soft tissue procedure with release of the adductor hallucis, dissection of the deep transverse plantar ligament and mobilisation of the sesamoids is capable of a significantly better correction of the sesamoid position. Only a combination of osseus and soft tissue correction is capable to correct the pathomechanism and to guarantee long lasting results.