A simple and novel carbon paste sensor containing chemically mixed propolis (bee glue) and graphene oxide (GO) was prepared, then electrochemical deposition of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) was performed to fabricate a selective and sensible electrochemical sensor to detect Daclatasvir (DAC). This drug was newly approved in July 2015 as an essential medicine for Hepatitis C in the USA. A limited study was performed on this drug. The modified synthesized sensor has been characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis and electrochemical experiments. The SNMGOPE (silver nanoparticles modified graphene oxide carbon paste electrode) gives a high electrocatalytic activity for 1.0 mM DAC oxidation in Britton Robinson (BR) buffer of pH = 2.0. The change in DAC concentration (2.5 × 10−8 to 1.2 × 10−5 M) was investigated against current, at 10 mV s−1, using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), giving a detection limit of 1.599 nM. Improvement in the electron transfer process and a decrease in charge transfer resistance were detected. This created a sensor that effectively analyzes DAC concentration in real samples, such as pharmaceutical formulations and human urine samples.


Understanding precision uncertainty in roller measurement values (MV) from continuous compaction control and intelligent compaction vibratory soil and asphalt rollers is required for implementation of roller-based specifications for pavement construction quality control/quality assurance (QC/QA). Accordingly, MV uncertainty can have a significant influence on the acceptance criteria specified in QC/QA. Two pertinent uncertainties are examined within this context: (1) uncertainty in single roller MV data and (2) uncertainty in the difference between roller MVs at the same location from consecutive passes. The uncertainties were estimated from roller MV records using two experimental methods: (1) evaluation of consecutive pass MV records and (2) determination of a nugget variance from geostatistical variogram analysis of a single pass of MV data. The nugget method was found to be dependent on the reporting characteristics of the MV data. A procedure that uses uncertainty analysis to determine malfunctioning roller measurement systems and MVs insensitive to soil properties was demonstrated. The uncertainties from different MVs were found to be similar when evaluated on the same soil. However, MV uncertainty was found to vary between different soils using the same roller. The uncertainty estimated in this study has significant implications on acceptance criteria and nature of QC/QA specification.


OBJECTIVES
To determine whether clinical features can be used in a decision rule to prospectively identify a subgroup of internal jugular catheter placements that are correctly positioned and free from mechanical complications, thus obviating the need for routine postprocedural chest radiographs in selected patients.

DESIGN
Prospective cohort study.

SETTING
Tertiary care teaching hospital.

PATIENTS
A total of 107 consecutive patients who presented to our catheter service for internal jugular catheter insertion because of clinical indications between November 1995 and April 1996. Exclusion criteria were mechanical ventilation, an altered mental status, an age of <15 years, and a height of <152 cm.

INTERVENTIONS
Right or left internal jugular vein catheter placement followed by a postprocedural chest radiograph.

MEASUREMENTS
The operating physician completed a detailed questionnaire for each catheter insertion, designed to detect potential complications and to predict the necessity, or lack of necessity, for a postprocedural chest radiograph. The questionnaire documented patient characteristics, the number of needle passes, difficulty establishing access, operator experience, poor anatomical landmarks, number of previous catheter placements, resistance to wire or catheter advancement, resistance to aspiration of blood or flushing of the catheter ports, sensations in the ear, chest, or arm, and development of signs or symptoms suggestive of pneumothorax. After catheter insertion, chest radiographs were obtained to assess for mechanical complications and malpositioned catheters.

MAIN RESULTS
In 46 cases, the decision rule predicted either a complication or a malposition and, thus, the need for a chest radiograph. In 61 cases, neither was predicted (no chest radiograph was needed). Radiographs confirmed one complication (pneumothorax) and 15 catheter tip malpositions (nine in the right atrium and six in the right axillary vein). Among the 46 cases predicted to have a potential complication or malposition, there were one actual complication (pneumothorax) and six actual malpositions (three axillary vein malpositions and three right atrial malpositions). The positive predictive value of this decision rule is 15%. Among the 61 cases predicted to be free from complications or malpositions and not to require a postprocedural chest radiograph, there were nine unexpected malpositions (three axillary vein malpositions and six right atrial malpositions). The negative predictive value is 85%. The overall sensitivity of the decision rule for detecting complications and malpositions is 44%, and the specificity is 55%.

CONCLUSIONS
In experienced hands, internal jugular venous catheterization is a safe procedure. However, the incidence of axillary vein or right atrial catheter malposition is 14%, and clinical factors alone will not reliably identify malpositioned catheters. Chest radiographs are necessary to ensure correct internal jugular catheter position.


Alexandria is an attractive city for foreign tourists due to its richness as a cultural and recreational destination. Organized tours to Alexandria are quiet successful with different itineraries that covers the touristic sites of Alexandria and its major attractions. These itineraries are well prepared by travel agencies and accompanied by professional tour guides who are highly trained to give information about the touristic sites as well as commenting on modern life. A pilot study was conducted with foreign tourists traveling on their own to Alexandria to explore the obstacles facing them when visiting the city. A problem has been realized which is the insufficient information concerning the precise location of these touristic sites, combined with transportation, routes and lack of guiding panels at sites. This study aims at overcoming these obstacles through investigating the possibility of applying the city bus tour employed in different cities around the world to Alexandria .This bus tour attempts to help tourists travelling on their own in this multifaceted problem, with consideration to freedom and space needed.   That helps to increase tourists' number, satisfaction and duration of stay in Alexandria .The results of questionnaires distributed among a sample of individual tourists revealed the importance of the city bus tour in developing tourism in Alexandria.


We conducted a study in eleven villages in the West Papuan Bird's Head Peninsula to determine hunting returns from indigenous hunting in lowland coastal forests. In each town three collaborative hunters were recruited and trained to complete an information sheet for each hunting trip whether or not they were successful, and if so, how many individuals per species were killed and their common names. The results indicated that hunting returns during seven months of observations were 301 animals comprising of timor deer, wild pig, dusky pademelon, grizzled tree kangaroo and common spotted cuscus. The most commonly hunted were two non-native species-wild pigs and deer with a total of 11,475 kg of dressed weight harvested and which we valued at IDR230,625,000 (US$17,435). A lowland forest ecosystem along the coast provides suitable habitats for the largest animals occurring within the sampled villages, like deer and wild pig. Hunting those species–deer and wild pig may provide conservation benefits to native species. There was little evidence of hunting native species or those of conservation concern. From ecology perspective, prey species and hunting return across the lowland coastal forest of West Papua has introduced wildlife species occurring at degraded habitat. Economically, the number of species hunted within the sampled village areas is determined by the hunter's assessment of profitability.  Deer and wild pig are targeted because they provide a large amount of meat for both subsistence and sale purposes.


Shigella dysentriae and other Gram‐negative human pathogens are able to use iron from heme bound to hemoglobin for growing. We solved at 2.6 Å resolution the 3D structure of the TonB‐dependent heme/hemoglobin outer membrane receptor ShuA from S. dysenteriae. ShuA binds to hemoglobin and transports heme across the outer membrane. The structure consists of a C‐terminal domain that folds into a 22‐stranded transmembrane β‐barrel, which is filled by the N‐terminal plug domain. One distal histidine ligand of heme is located at the apex of the plug, exposed to the solvent. His86 is situated 9.86 Å apart from His420, the second histidine involved in the heme binding. His420 is in the extracellular loop L7. The heme coordination by His86 and His420 involves conformational changes. The comparisons with the hemophore receptor HasR of Serratia marcescens bound to HasA‐Heme suggest an extracellular induced fit mechanism for the heme binding. The loop L7 contains hydrophobic residues which could interact with the hydrophobic porphyring ring of heme. The energy required for the transport by ShuA is derived from the proton motive force after interactions between the periplasmic N‐terminal TonB‐box of ShuA and the inner membrane protein, TonB. In ShuA, the TonB‐box is buried and cannot interact with TonB. The structural comparisons with HasR suggest its conformational change upon the heme binding for interacting with TonB. The signaling of the heme binding could involve a hydrogen bond network going from His86 to the TonB‐box. Proteins 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


As an intern this summer in the GRC Risk Management Office, I have become familiar with the NASA Continuous Risk Management Process. In this process, risk is considered in terms of the probability that an undesired event will occur and the impact of the event, should it occur (ref., NASA-NPG: 7120.5). Risk management belongs in every part of every project and should be ongoing from start to finish. Another key point is that a risk is not a problem until it has happened. With that in mind, there is a six step cycle for continuous risk management that prevents risks from becoming problems. The steps are: identify, analyze, plan, track, control, and communicate & document. Incorporated in the first step are several methods to identify risks such as brainstorming and using lessons learned. Once a risk is identified, a risk statement is made on a risk information sheet consisting of a single condition and one or more consequences. There can also be a context section where the risk is explained in more detail. Additionally there are three main goals of analyzing a risk, which are evaluate, classify, and prioritize. Here is where a value is given to the attributes of a risk &e., probability, impact, and timeframe) based on a multi-level classification system (e.g., low, medium, high). It is important to keep in mind that the definitions of these levels are probably different for each project. Furthermore the risks can be combined into groups. Then, the risks are prioritized to see what risk is necessary to mitigate first. After the risks are analyzed, a plan is made to mitigate as many risks as feasible. Each risk should be assigned to someone in the project with knowledge in the area of the risk. Then the possible approaches to choose from are: research, accept, watch, or mitigate. Next, all risks, mitigated or not, are tracked either individually or in groups. As the plan is executed, risks are re-evaluated, and the attribute values are adjusted as necessary. Metrics are established and monitored as tools for risk tracking. Also a trigger or threshold should be set on the metric data that indicates when an action is needed. Results of this tracking are usually evaluated and reported in a relevant format at weekly or monthly meetings. Choosing controls is the subsequent step, which involves the effects of the tracking. The three basic controls are: close, continue tracking, and re- plan. Finally communicate & document is the last step, but occurs throughout the process. It is vital that main risks, plans, changes, and progress are known by everyone in the project. A good way to keep everyone updated and inform other projects of common issues is by thoroughly documenting project risks. NASA sees value in risk management and believes that projects have greater probability or success by using the NASA Continuous Risk Management Process.


Similar to many other biological molecules, RNA is vulnerable to chemical insults from endogenous and exogenous sources. Noxious agents such as reactive oxygen species or alkylating chemicals have the potential to profoundly affect the chemical properties and hence the function of RNA molecules in the cell. Given the central role of RNA in many fundamental biological processes, including translation and splicing, changes to its chemical composition can have a detrimental impact on cellular fitness, with some evidence suggesting that RNA damage has roles in diseases such as neurodegenerative disorders. We are only just beginning to learn about how cells cope with RNA damage, with recent studies revealing the existence of quality-control processes that are capable of recognizing and degrading or repairing damaged RNA. Here, we begin by reviewing the most abundant types of chemical damage to RNA, including oxidation and alkylation. Focusing on mRNA damage, we then discuss how alterations to this species of RNA affect its function and how cells respond to these challenges to maintain proteostasis. Finally, we briefly discuss how chemical damage to noncoding RNAs such as rRNA, tRNA, small nuclear RNA, and small nucleolar RNA is likely to affect their function.


Author(s): Chacko, Nikhil | Advisor(s): Liebling, Michael | Abstract: Optical microscopy offers the unique possibility to study living samples under conditions akin to their native state. However, the technique is not void of inherent problems such as optical blur due to light diffraction, contamination with out-of-focus light from adjacent focal planes, and spherical aberrations. Furthermore, with a dearth of techniques that are capable of imaging multiple focal sections in quick succession, the multi-dimensional capture of dynamically changing samples remains a challenge of its own. Computational techniques that use auxiliary knowledge about the imaging system and the sample to mitigate these problems are hence of great interest in optical microscopy.The first part of this thesis deals with the design of a discrete model to characterize light propagation. Following the scalar diffraction theory in optics, we propose a discrete algorithm, based on generalized sampling theory, to reverse the coherent diffraction process via back propagation. The algorithm consists of a wavelet-based model for the spherical waves emanating from the object of interest and an optimized multi-rate filtering protocol for reconstruction from the diffraction data recorded by non-ideal detectors. The second part of this thesis describes a spatial registration tool designed for multi-view microscopy. Here, the imaged sample is rotated about a lateral axis for the acquisition of multiple 3D datasets from different views in order to subsequently alleviate the severe axial blur found in each such dataset. Automatic algorithms that only rely on maximizing pixel-based similarity provide poor results in such applications owing to the anisotropic point-spread-function (PSF) of optical microscopes. We propose a pyramid-based spatial registration algorithm that re-blurs the multi-view datasets with transformed forms of the PSF in order to make them comparable, before maximizing their pixel-based similarity for registration.The third part of this thesis describes a fast converging iterative multi-view deconvolution technique that can be applied to the spatially registered forms of the 3D datasets acquired using multi-view microscopy. Our sparsity based algorithm solves a non-linear objective function to jointly deconvolve and fuse the multi-view datasets to finally produce a single deblurred 3D result that has nearly isotropic spatial resolution.The fourth part of this thesis addresses problems due to spherical aberrations encountered during the imaging of thick samples in optical microscopy. The depth-varying nature of the optical blur found in such cases renders fast and efficient shift-invariant deconvolution techniques to be inapplicable. Here, we propose a fast iterative-shrinkage-thresholding shift-variant 3D deconvolution method that uses depth-dependent PSFs to reconstruct a 3D deblurred form of the imaged thick specimen. The final part of this thesis describes a non-rigid temporal registration tool that aids in the multi-dimensional imaging of quasi-periodic processes such as cardiac cycles. We propose a variant of dynamic time warping that is capable of both temporally warping and wrapping an input sequence by allowing for jump discontinuities in the non-linear temporal alignment function akin to those found in wrapped phase functions. This work provides a new set of tools for spatio-temporal reconstruction in optical microscopy and we anticipate them to be useful for a wide range of problems in practice.


A nonliquid reagent for detecting nitrate reduction is described. The reagent contains N-(1-naphthyl)ethylenediamine dihydrochloride as a substitute for the carcinogenic alpha-naphthylamine. The reagent was tested on 135 strains and gave reliable results.


The authors describe the case of an 89-year-old patient with a one-month history of pain in the right knee and a pathological fracture of the distal femur. Excisional biopsy showed a classical osteogenic sarcoma. The patient died after six months of palliative surgical and oncological therapy; her primary disease generalised and progressed with numerous metastases. The authors discuss the possibilities of histological diagnostics of osteogenic sarcoma and its differential diagnosis. They draw attention to a possible occurrence of this type of sarcoma also in elderly patients, and not only in adolescents.


regrettable that the medical profession's journal should publish a leading article containing comments which are bound to give encouragement to that body of 19th-century opinion in the Department of Health and Social Security prepared to condemn disabled persons, able to drive, to be second-class citizens with their isolation still further confirmed by restricting their mobility to a "solo vehicle" that is cheap; while your repeated reference to a "motorised wheelchair"in other words, great-grandfather's Bath chair with some form of power-is an insult to disabled drivers at the close of the 20th century when all the wonders of electronics are available to Government to produce a four-wheel car that at the very least is a twoseater. As for your comment on the need for something cheap to ensure its appeal to the DHSS, this makes sorry reading for disabled pensioners who see the Treasury able to afford huge sums to help subsidise ventures in various Marxist countries in direct competition with Britain's economic interest. Your article gives rightful prominence to the need for recognition by local authorities for house adaptations to suit the disabled, but, although stressing the need for such changes to be "high on any list of sociomedical priorities," it makes no mention of the rights of disabled persons to have the validity of their opinion acknowledged at governmental and local authority levels.


Irbesartan, an angiotensin II receptor antagonist (AIIRA), is an antihypertensive agent that inhibits the activity of angiotensin II by selectively binding to angiotensin II type 1 (AT1) receptors. The new onset of sustained periorbital, facial, and neck edema following the initiation of irbesartan therapy is described in a hypertensive 52-year-old woman. The patient's edema was not life threatening, remained unchanged following discontinuation of the medication, and persisted when treatment with the drug was subsequently reinstituted. Facial edema is a very uncommon adverse event that may occur in patients receiving irbesartan.


This article uses survey experiments to assess whether administrative procedures fix cognitive bias. We focus on two procedural requirements: qualitative reason-giving and quantitative cost-benefit analysis ("CBA"). Both requirements are now firmly entrenched in U.S. federal regulation-making. Multilateral organizations such as the World Bank, OECD, and EU have encouraged their broad diffusion across many national contexts. Yet CBA, in particular, remains controversial. Supporters of CBA claim it leads to more rational regulation, with Sunstein (2000) explicitly proposing that CBA can reduce cognitive biases. By contrast, we argue that procedures should be conceptualized as imperfect substitutes subject to diminishing marginal benefits. To test and illustrate this argument, we examine how each procedure individually and cumulatively modulates the effects of gain-loss framing, partisan motivated reasoning, and scope insensitivity in a nationally representative sample. We find that one or both procedures decrease each cognitive bias. CBA is most helpful against partisan reasoning, where reason-giving does little. Both procedures are comparably effective for combatting the other biases, although in each case only one procedure produces cognitive benefits distinguishable from zero. We only find substantial synergies between the two procedures with respect to gain-loss framing. Layering on the less-useful procedure does not significantly reduce the other two cognitive biases. We hypothesize that procedures will only fix cognitive biases if they disrupt bias-inducing mental processes, and we reconcile this proposition with our findings. We conclude by relating this work to debates about the design of administrative procedures and describe a research agenda based upon rationality-improving procedures.


Objective The paper compares victim group characteristics: we test routine activities theory to compare the differences in online fraud vulnerabilities of victims aged 18–54 and victims of 55 and above. Methods/sample A representative sample of US citizens 18 and above was collected in October 2020. Victims under 55 encompassed 35.3% (n = 915), victims 55 and above 12.9% (n = 334) of the total sample (n = 2,589). We utilized non-parametric statistical methods for testing whether older and younger victims' characteristics can be derived from the same independent variables. Results Computer time, computer familiarity, and technical guardians determine online victimization in older individuals, similarly to younger age groups. However, older victims differ in characteristics from younger victims. Seniors were less likely to apply technical guardians such as camera cover, identity theft monitoring, and credit card freeze, even after experiencing online scams. Being a single parent was a protective factor for older individuals, but having a full-time job made older individuals more prone to experience online fraud victimization compared to being retired. In addition, older victims were less likely to report scams than younger ones. Conclusion/implications Although this research found significant differences between older and younger fraud victims' characteristics, target suitability and capable guardianship must be further investigated and conceptualized when applying routine activities theory for online fraud against older people.


Problem statement: Peat swamp is an important component of the world's wetlands. Once they are disturbed the tendency for the soil degradation is very high. This study compared selected chemical properties of a peat swamp soil before and after timber harvesting. Approach: Peat soil samples were taken at 0-15 cm depth in 6 plots with 0.1 ha each plot at Batang Igan forest at Sibu Sarawak, Malaysia. The soil samples were analyzed for selected soil chemical properties. Data were analyzed by using Statistical Analysis System (SAS) version 9.2. Results: The tropical peat swamp forest indicate its specific natural state such as rich in soil pH KCl and except for C/N ratio, the selected chemical properties such as soil pH water, cation exchange capacity, soil organic matter, total carbon, total nitrogen, total phosphorus and exchangeable potassium were significantly different between before and after timber harvesting. Conclusion: Timber harvesting has significant effect on chemical properties of peat swamp.


The application of the new Water Framework Directive (WFD) of the European Union will require a dense and frequent monitoring of chlorophyll-a near the coast. Not counting the transitional water bodies located in the vicinity of estuaries, not less than seventy four coastal water bodies have to be monitored along the coast of the French Atlantic continental shelf and the English Channel. All the available data have to be gathered to implement a comprehensive monitoring scheme. To this purpose, we evaluate the capacity of ocean colour imagery to complete the conventional in situ data set collected in coastal networks. Satellite-derived chlorophyll-a concentration is obtained by the application of a coastal Look-Up-Table to water-leaving radiance of the Sea-viewing Wide Field Instrument Sensor (SeaWiFS) for the 1998–2004 period. Seven years of satellite-derived and in situ chlorophyll-a concentrations are compared at seven representative stations of different water bodies. These comparisons show that the satellite products are reliable in most of the situations studied and throughout the seasons. Then the satellite imagery is used to classify the coastal waters following the eutrophication risk criterion of the WFD. This classification is made according to the percentile-90 of chlorophyll-a calculated during the productive season, from March to October. Despite a lack of sensor coverage over a small fraction of the near shore waters, this work shows that the satellite monitoring can considerably ease the application of the WFD.


Abstract The overarching objective is to review how early exposure to adversity interacts with inflammation to alter brain maturation. Both adversity and inflammation are significant risk factors for psychopathology. Literature relevant to the effects of adversity in children and adolescents on brain development is reviewed. These studies are supported by research in animals exposed to species-relevant stressors during development. While it is known that exposure to adversity at any age increases inflammation, the effects of inflammation are exacerbated at developmental stages when the immature brain is uniquely sensitive to experiences. Microglia play a vital role in this process, as they scavenge cellular debris and prune synapses to optimize performance. In essence, microglia modify the synapse to match environmental demands, which is necessary for someone with a history of adversity. Overall, by piecing together clinical and preclinical research areas, what emerges is a picture of how adversity uniquely sculpts the brain. Microglia interactions with the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA (specifically, the subtype expressing parvalbumin) are discussed within contexts of development and adversity. A review of inflammation markers in individuals with a history of abuse is combined with preclinical studies to describe their effects on maturation. Inconsistencies within the literature are discussed, with a call for standardizing methodologies relating to the age of assessing adversity effects, measures to quantify stress and inflammation, and more brain-based measures of biochemistry. Preclinical studies pave the way for interventions using anti-inflammation-based agents (COX-2 inhibitors, CB2 agonists, meditation/yoga) by identifying where, when, and how the developmental trajectory goes awry.


The factors that impact attendance at sporting events in general and at small college sporting events in particular have been widely examined by sports marketing academicians. Among the various factors emerging over two decades has been attendance based on identity with individual teams and players, to idiosyncratic factors such as the environment and the entertainment value of the sporting event itself. Less is known, however, about what creates and promotes the desire to attend sporting events associated with historically black colleges and universities (HBCU's). HBCU's, like their other small college athletic departments, are now facing financial difficulties because of dwindling administrator support ensuing from declining state budgets, forcing the athletic directors of these schools to come up with innovative methods to bolster attendance---the primary source of revenue at small colleges. The authors develop and then test a 33 item scale that includes 11 potential factors explaining attendance at HBCU sporting events. Results and conclusions are then reported. As the authors note, the unique role sports plays in the life of the HBCU fan is ripe for further investigation, and practically speaking, is a valuable area of research for those interested in helping preserve the rich heritage of these programs.


The effect of the addition of CaX (X=Cl2, F2 and S) on the viscous behavior and structure of CaO–SiO2–Al2O3–MgO–CaX slag was investigated by measuring its viscosity. The viscosity of the slag without CaX gradually decreased with an increase in the C/S ratio because of the depolymerization of the silicate groups in the slag. While the viscosity of the CaX-bearing slag decreased with an increase in the CaX content, depolymerization was not observed in this case. Three distinct compositional regions for the activation energy of the viscous flow were observed because of the effect of the equilibrium of the polymeric silicate groups. The relaxation effect of the CaX groups on the activation energy was also observed. Raman spectroscopic analysis indicated that the relaxation in the viscosity and activation energy by CaX addition stemmed from the breaking of the NBO-M2+-NBO linkage to form NBO-M2+-F−, NBO-M2+-Cl−, or M2+-S2−. All these results are discussed in detail with the help of a viscous flow model based on the ionic interactions.


We present a case study where an APG (Algorithmic Pattern Generator) based pattern from a memory tester is being converted to run on a logic FA tester. Due to the regular structure of memory patterns, the APG patterns are written in a high-level based language and converted on a real-time basis to be executed on the hardware. A logic analyzer is used to capture the test pattern that is seen by the Device Under Test (DUT). The captured test pattern is then converted to the Standard Test Interface Language (STIL) based pattern format with the help of a scripting language. An existing test program is modified to include the Timing, Levels, Specs and the pin configuration to adapt to the DUT. The failing condition for FA could be exactly reproduced after running the pattern on the FA tester and can be made as a generic solution for similar exercises.


This paper discusses what appears to be a flaw in the current belief, widely held within the gold mining industry and investment community, that the creation of ever-larger gold mining companies is desirable for mining companies and investors alike. The basis of the flaw is in the underlying assumption that very large gold producers can discover or acquire new gold deposits of the size necessary to replace extracted reserves on a year-on-year basis over the intermediate to long term (i.e., five to ten years and longer). As it will be noted in this paper, deposits of the size required to replace annual production of very large gold producers (VLGPs) are relatively few in number. Although discoveries of new gold deposits continue to be made, they are predominantly in the 0.5 to 2.0 million ounce range. Data represented here suggest that, although gold production from individual VLGPs continues to increase, the change is due to merging or acquiring other companies or projects with similar reserve life profiles. Therefore, the reserve life profiles of VLGPs have remained flat or have decreased.

The paper will note recent changes in the industry and the remarkable increase in gold production reported by individual mining companies over the past several years. It will provide an overview of the geographical and geological distribution of known gold deposits and the range of deposit sizes. Finally, the paper will discuss the challenges that face large gold producers in replenishing their reserves that are being depleted at an ever-increasing rate. Unless otherwise stated, all production and reserve data have been taken from company documents in the public domain or publicly available information.


The objective of this work was to evaluate remaining P compared with soil clay content as a P buffer index to classify P extracted by the Mehlich-1 (M1) and Mehlich-3 (M3) methods in soils from the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design with five P2O5 rates (0, 50, 100, 200, and 400 mg kg-1) and two sucessive corn crops, and three replicates, in 20 representative soils of the state. P extracted by M1 and M3 before crop planting was adjusted to P contents in biomass, considering soil buffer capacity. The division of soils into different buffering classes, based on soil clay or remaining P, improved the capacity of estimating soil available P of both methods. However, there was no difference among the correlation coefficients obtained by classifying soils according to the evaluated indexes (remaining P or soil clay) for both M1 and M3 methods. Remaining P is a viable alternative to replace soil clay content to classify soil P extracted with the M1 and M3 methods.


The audio past of the 20th century, as it is stored in both material and digital collections, is largely and almost effortlessly accessible to contemporary audiences. The recycling or revival of former musical pasts seems to be an inescapable and familiar reality (Reynolds, 2011). In light of two case studies borrowed from contemporary British audio culture, I determine how nostalgia has become a strong, yet paradoxical, shaping practice for contemporary independent record labels. The first case study is dedicated to Ghost Box records and examines the prevailing practices of hauntology and sampling. The second case study focuses on hyper-specialised British reissue record label Finders Keepers, which help to salvage and rehabilitate semi-forgotten recordings from bygone eras. In this article, the notion of nostalgia is constructed as a relevant dimension of contemporary audio cultures rather than its superficial (or fashionable) correlative. The links between early phonography as a technology of early presence and the rise of nostalgia are also discussed.


We propose an algorithm that uses Gaussian process regression to learn common hidden structure shared between corresponding sets of heterogenous observations. The observation spaces are linked via a single, reduced-dimensionality latent variable space. We present results from two datasets demonstrating the algorithms's ability to synthesize novel data from learned correspondences. We first show that the method can learn the nonlinear mapping between corresponding views of objects, filling in missing data as needed to synthesize novel views. We then show that the method can learn a mapping between human degrees of freedom and robotic degrees of freedom for a humanoid robot, allowing robotic imitation of human poses from motion capture data.


OBJECTIVE
To describe effects of season on milk production in Holstein dairy cows and to determine the location and effectiveness of fans and sprinklers in the management of stress attributable to season.

DESIGN
Longitudinal observational study.

ANIMALS
141 dairy herds for which owners used the Dairy Herd Improvement Association's database for production and reproduction record keeping.

PROCEDURE
Owners were interviewed to identify location of fans, shade structures, and sprinklers. Production and reproduction data were retrieved from the database, and a mixed model ANOVA was used to estimate effects of season, parity, and use of sprinklers, and fans on milk production.

RESULTS
Daily peak milk production decreased for all parity groups in the summer, but the effect decreased with increasing days in lactation. Use of sprinklers increased peak milk production in parity-1 and -3 or higher cows, but use of fans did not significantly alter effects of season. After calving in the summer, 305-day milk production decreased in parity-2 and -3 cows. This decrease was not significantly modified by the presence of sprinklers or fans.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS
Use of sprinklers may increase peak milk production in high-producing cows and could be recommended for reducing heat and total stress during this time. Production-oriented veterinarians should be cautious when recommending use of sprinklers and fans to increase production because of the wide confidence intervals describing their effectiveness. Management of parity-2 or higher cows so that they calve from October to June could increase 305-day milk production.


Neoadjuvant chemotherapy has become the standard of treatment for patients with locally advanced breast cancer and is now a potential treatment for patients with earlier stage operable disease. Preoperative chemotherapy allows more patients to be treated with breast-conserving surgery and enables direct in vivo assessment of response, which correlates with outcome. The role of imaging is to evaluate the therapeutic response in term of shrinkage of the tumour in order to safely perform breast-conservation surgery. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is also a good model to determine which radiological procedure is the most effective to predict histopathological response.

Although controversial, several articles reported that physical examination correlates best with pathologic findings in the measurement of the primary tumour. Mammography allows monitoring changes in size and density of the tumour, but cannot identify changes in the inner structure. Ultrasound is the most accurate predictor of size for axillary lymph nodes.

Physical examination associated with mammography and ultrasound is a valuable non-invasive combination for assessing tumour dimension. MRI is the best modality for assessment of response in term of tumour size and in the detection of multifocal or multicentric disease. The study of residual tumour vascularity is interesting as the diagnosis is based on the early contrast enhancement. The disappearance of this early contrast enhancement allows correct identification of the response to chemotherapy, even if several studies have reported false negative and false positive cases. Conversely, the detection of a persistent wash out phenomenon in residual tumour permits detection of non-responders. Breast helical CT can be an alternative to breast MRI for the measurement of residual tumour volume and correlation with pathologic findings. Colour Doppler ultrasound and the use of ultrasound contrast agents have given conflicting results because of their operator-dependence.

Other functional imaging modalities have been proposed for the assessment of response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Mammoscintigraphy using 99mTc sestamibi, shows that a rapid clearance of the tracer can predict the lack of tumour response to chemotherapy, however a slower tracer clearance cannot certify an objective response. Positron emission tomography using 18FDG shows significant difference in tracer uptake between responding and non-responding tumours early in the course of therapy. After the second chemotherapeutic cycle, both techniques are able to distinguish between complete, partial or no response. The disadvantage of the 18 FDG PET is the cost of the technique and the problem of access to the machines. It has also a limited spatial resolution. Combined 18FDG PET and MRI provide useful information because of the high spatial resolution of MR imaging.

In conclusion, studying the effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy will demonstrate the accuracy of these complementary functional imaging techniques.


This article presents the theoretical considerations that justify the choice of specific time-frequency transforms for processing nonstationary myoelectric signals as a method of studying fatigue prior to the failure point. It shows some preliminary results obtained by applying these techniques to computer-synthesized realizations of stochastic processes, as well as to real signals detected during different types of dynamic contractions of healthy human volunteers. Five different time-frequency transforms were applied in this study (the Wigner-Ville, the smoothed Wigner-Ville, the Cone kernel, the reduced interference, and the Choi-Williams), but for the sake of brevity, this article reports only the results obtained by applying the Choi-Williams transform, because the authors found it to be the most suitable for processing these specific signals.


We analyzed 3344 publications concerned with the health-related effects of resveratrol that occurs in wine and grapes. We discovered that publication activity increased until 2010 and decreased slightly afterwards. The most frequent author keywords were classified into six groups: (1) beverage-related keywords, (2) compound-related keywords, (3) disease-related keywords, (4) effect-related keywords, (5) mechanism-related keywords, and (6) broader keywords. By means of reference publication year spectroscopy, we analyzed and discussed the most frequently cited references (i.e., key papers) within the publication set. A rather large portion of the key papers exhibit a deliberative or positive attitude and report on the health effects of resveratrol, although limited data in humans preclude drawing unambiguous conclusions on its health-related benefits. From our analysis, we could not identify specific publications that provide a distinct change of direction of the ongoing scientific discourse. Moderate red wine consumption seems to bear the potential of being health promoting, whereas excessive alcohol consumption can induce liver cirrhosis and cancer.


Background: The traditional Neurology exit examination in India has remained unchanged over the last few decades. In developed countries, objective evaluation methods have replaced the traditional ones. A need for such methods has not been explored in India. Objective: We aimed to study the perceptions and key recommendations of Neurology examiners on the existing examination pattern. Material and Methods: We conducted an online survey of examiners perceptions and recommendations using a set of 10 multiple-choice questions and an open-ended question. Results: 46 examiners provided completed responses suitable for analysis. Nearly equal proportions (30%) of the examiners had 10 years, 10–25 years and >25 years' experience. 92% were not satisfied with current system, 95% did not find adequate time for correction of theory scripts, 90% felt that theory questions were random, and 95% had legibility issues. 84% felt that the practical exams do not test true learning, 98% felt the examination stress impairs the performance and 85% felt that there are no objective criteria to pass the candidate. 83% felt the current system-needed changes. The key suggestions provided by the examiners to improve the system included objective assessments like MCQ, OSCE, OSLER and DOPS, inclusion of larger number of short answer type questions and periodic internal assessments of the candidates. Conclusions: A vast majority of examiners favoured changes to the current examination system and provided key recommendations. A larger study is needed to extrapolate these findings to the rest of India.


This study aims to analyze the awareness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) on the importance of applying management control system variables that include strategic planning, decision making, and evaluation and control in managing SMEs. By determining the criteria of certain company size in the process of sampling selection, this study ended up with 55 SMEs in Banyumas as a sample. This study employs both qualitative and quantitative approaches where the questionnaires distribution and interviews were conducted in October and November 2017.  By using a descriptive analysis the findings shows that the owners of SMEs in Banyumas have high awareness on the importance of implementing strategic planning, decision making, and evaluation and control to manage their business. However, there are several weaknesses faced by SMEs to do so, for instance, low understanding of those issues due to low of the education level of the owners of SMEs and limited resources. It is important for Banyumas local government to address these issues so the SMEs will develop well in supporting the local economy.


Prediction problems vary in the extent to which accuracy is rewarded and inaccuracy is penalized—i.e., in their loss functions. Here, we focus on a particular feature of loss functions that controls how much large errors are penalized relative to how much precise correctness is rewarded: convexity. We show that prediction problems with convex loss functions (i.e., those in which large errors are particularly harmful) favor simpler models that tend to be biased, but exhibit low variability. Conversely, problems with concave loss functions (in which precise correctness is particularly rewarded) favor more complex models that are less biased, but exhibit higher variability. We discuss how this relationship between the bias-variance trade-off and the shape of the loss function may help explain features of human psychology, such as dual-process psychology and fast versus slow learning strategies, and inform statistical inference.


In a Rindler-type coordinate system spanned in a region outside of a black hole horizon, we have nonvanishing classical holographic charges as soft hairs on the horizon for stationary black holes. Taking a large black hole mass limit, the spacetimes with the charges are described by asymptotic Rindler metrics. We construct a general theory of gravitational holographic charges for a ($1+3$)-dimensional linearized gravity field in the Minkowski background with Rindler horizons. Although matter crossing a Rindler horizon causes horizon deformation and a time-dependent coordinate shift\char22{}that is, gravitational memory\char22{}the supertranslation and superrotation charges on the horizon can be defined during and after its passage through the horizon. It is generally proven that holographic states on the horizon cannot store any information about absorbed perturbative gravitational waves. However, matter crossing the horizon really excites holographic states. By using gravitational memory operators, which consist of the holographic charge operators, we suggest a resolution of the no-cloning paradox of quantum information between matter falling into the horizon and holographic charges on the horizon from the viewpoint of the contextuality of quantum measurement.


"The Mental Health Act Commission (MHAC) has a major role in protecting the interests of patients who are subject to the provisions of the 1983 Act. Its principal functions are to: • appoint Second Opinion Appointed Doctors • review treatments given under sections 57(2) or 58(3)(b) of the Act, ie treatment that requires a second opinion • visit detained patients and investigate complaints • keep under review the exercise of statutory powers relating to detained patients • submit proposals for a code of practice • look into matters relating to informal patients, when directed to do so by the Secretary of State, and • report to the Secretary of State every two years on the operation of the Act." This is the summary of the functions of the MHAC contained in the Green Paper on Reform of the Mental Health Act 1983. In this brave new world of the Modern NHS, with much enhanced arrangements for local quality assurance and clinical governance, the Commission for Health Improvement, the Commission for Care Standards, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, the establishment of Patient Advocate and Liaison Services, and the numerous other ways of increasing patient participation which are outlined in the National Plan for England, is a successor body to the Mental Health Act Commission really necessary ?


This Library Guide directs you to print and electronic information sources for Native American Literature. The Guide is selective, not comprehensive; the sources listed are representative of their type.


Many search engines are accustomed search anything from anywhere; this method is employed to quick nearest neighbour search using keyword. Existing works primarily target finding top-k Nearest Neighbour s, wherever every node must match the full querying keywords .It doesn't consider the density of information objects within the spatial area. Additionally these strategies are low economical for progressive question. however in supposed system, as an example once there's look for nearest restaurant, rather than considering all the restaurants, a nearest neighbour question would raise the eating house that's, closest among those whose menus contain spicy, liquor all at a similar time, resolution to such queries relies on the IR 2 -tree, however IR 2 -tree having some drawbacks. Potency of IR 2 -tree badly is impacted because of some drawbacks in it. The answer for overcoming this problem ought to be searched. The spatial inverted index is that the technique which can be the answer for this problem.


Introduction: The purpose of this evidence-based Doctor of Nursing Practice project was to implement the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) as part of routine patient assessment at an outpatient mental health practice to increase the likelihood of identifying clients at risk for suicidal behavior and increase provider confidence in screening for suicidal behavior. The study site is a Southern California-based outpatient mental health practice that employs a variety of clinicians, including psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioners, to provide mental health care to clients across the lifespan. Background: Approximately 57% of individuals who die by suicide had at least one contact with mental health providers during their lifetime, and 21% had contact within 1 month of dying. Early detection of suicidal ideation and behavior is key to reducing the occurrence of suicide in patients receiving mental health care. Traditionally, mental health clinicians use a variety of techniques to assess for the presence of suicidal ideation, but comprehensive suicide assessments should also determine whether an individual has intent or a plan to attempt suicide, as well as whether any suicide attempts have been made previously. The C-SSRS has been proven to be an effective tool to reliably screen for suicide risk in a variety of patient populations, with a focus on stratifying risk based on a number of contributing client factors, including previous suicidal behavior, current intent to commit suicide, and the presence of a method and/or plan for suicide. Methods : A small outpatient mental health practice in La Jolla, California was partnered with for this implementation project. From 12/5/2022-2/5/2023, all new patients at the practice received an online version of the C-SSRS to complete prior to their initial evaluation. Those who screened positive for any degree of suicide risk continued to complete the C-SSRS prior to each subsequent visit. Data collected from this intervention period were compared to data collected via chart review for all new patient intakes that occurred over a 2-month preintervention period in fall 2022 to compare and contrast suicide screening rates and processes, as well as to identify themes in suicide assessment between the two samples. Providers at the practice also completed a modified version of the Zero Suicide Workforce Survey prior to receiving a recorded presentation on the C-SSRS and project overview; these providers then completed the same survey at the end of the intervention phase to assess for changes in their confidence in assessing for suicidal behavior. Results: Adding the C-SSRS to new patient intake forms resulted in increased screening for suicidal ideation for new patients and improvements in suicide risk stratification. Providers also reported increased confidence in assessing and treating suicidal behavior. Qualitative evaluation led to identification of several opportunities to improve provider workflows in assessing, documenting, and treating suicide risk in the course of routine outpatient treatment. Evaluation: Implementation of suicide screening with the C-SSRS at the project site led to an increase in suicide risk identification and elevated provider confidence in assessing for suicide risk factors. Accurate and standardized suicide screening is the first step in preventing suicide in outpatient settings. Future projects should be implemented to develop treatment protocols based on identified suicide risk levels and standardize documentation of completed suicide risk assessments.


The growing need for healthcare workers to be given education and training in diabetes care, along with the focus on improving self-management of the condition, prompted The Open University to launch 'Diabetes Care', a 20-week, first-level course, in 2005. The course was designed to meet the needs of lay people as well as those wishing to undertake a nationally accredited programme of study. It was immediately oversubscribed and continues to be extremely popular. The course model is being replicated in the design of two additional courses in preparation, 'Understanding Cardiovascular Diseases' and 'Managing Obesity'. – There is a substantial and growing demand for education and training in diabetes and its self-management, as evidenced by the ongoing popularity of the 'Diabetes Care' (SK120) course offered by The Open University – SK120 is a 20-week, entry-level course providing 15 CATS points that has been offered since September 2005 – It is based on a series of case studies presented via a DVD-ROM, a CD-ROM, a course book and online discussion forums – The model is being replicated in the preparation of two further courses focusing on cardiovascular diseases and the management of obesity


The rate of growth of the chick embryo depends upon an inherent growth rate, probably identical for all breeds. This rate is modified during incubation in direct proportion to a function of egg size. The increments in wet weight of the embryo are proportional to a function of the weight of the yolk sac, from the time of establishment of the circulation to the time of the changes preparatory to hatching. Both function and proportionality are probably identical for all breeds of chicken, regardless of egg size. The growth in weight of the allantois and the yolk sac have been measured quantitatively for the first time. The weight of the allantois in eggs of different sizes is roughly proportional to the two-thirds power of egg weight after the first three or four days of its growth. During the initial period of its development the relative size is apparently independent of breed, egg size, or embryo weight. The yolk-sac weight in eggs of different sizes is roughly proportional to the circumference of the yolk after a similar initial period of independent growth. Inclusion of the living material in the embryonic membranes in calculations of the rate of physiological processes of the embryo indicates that they are probably of the same order of magnitude throughout the incubation period rather than of sharply decreasing magnitude as supposed by some previous workers.


In proactive response to constructing an inclusive music curriculum in HE, the funded-project "Taking Race Live" (2014-2017) seeks to positively validate students' prior experience while ensuring to enhance their engagement through a wider variety of student-led trips, practical learning, alongside a critical discussion of issues central to employability skills. Appointing student partners, the project worked on a principal of distributed leadership, to encourage students to learn a wide range of skills encompassing people-event-time management, which we hoped would impact positively on students' confidence, resilience and sense of inclusion.

Kingston University has a KPI regarding the BAME attainment gap. The work of this project demonstrates, through qualitative/quantitative analysis, that an inclusive curriculum and research with student partners is able to produce significant results. The qualitative feedback conveys a wide variety of benefits regarding employment and critical thinking. This project runs in collaboration between Music and Sociology (to 2016), and has been expanded to encompass both TV and Dance (2016-2017) in order to demonstrate how the methods of the project can be expanded university-wide. Having won the University's "Rose Award" for "Teaching, Learning and Assessment Research" (October 2016), the project has received wide recognition. Initial results were presented as part of the Higher Education Race Action Group (2016), ISME (2016), and used as a HEFCE case study (2015). Now ready to present qualitative/quantitative results of a longitudinal student of level 5 music students, the student focus groups, student data (including retention and retention) and wider staff-student feedback offer significant insights into constructing and applying an inclusive curriculum. This paper critically questions and demonstrates an inclusive HE music curriculum. It concludes with actions for the current academic year and suggestions for the wider HE music context.


The overarching aim of this study is to explore guardianship in terms of its impact on daily lives of adults with intellectual disabilities in Sweden. Based on qualitative interviews, the article focuses on the expected and actual role of limited guardians for people with intellectual disabilities in the context of Swedish laws. Our findings show that the legal definition of limited guardianship is unclear and that this lack of clarity, among other dilemmas, creates conflict among clients, guardians, relatives, professionals and care workers. The guardian may be expected to act as an accountant, a legal advocate, or even a surrogate family member. The result is consistent with previous research in other countries on the consequences of guardianship. The current legislation on limited guardianship is in need of amendment in order to avoid legal uncertainty and ambiguity among clients and their support network.


The analysis and visualization of tensor fields is a central problem in visualization. Topology based methods based on investigating the eigenvector fields of second order tensor fields have gained increasing interest in recent years. In this talk, a method for detecting closed hyperstreamlines in tensor fields as a topological feature will presented. It is based on a special treatment of cases where a hyperstreamline reenters a cell to prevent infinite cycling during hyperstreamline calculation. The algorithm checks for possible exits of a loop of crossed edges and detects structurally stable closed hyperstreamlines. These global features are not detected by conventional topology and feature detection algorithms used for the visualization of second order tensor fields


In this paper, the systematic design and analysis of a CMOS performance-optimized distributed low-noise amplifier (DLNA) comprising bandwidth-enhanced cascode cells will be presented. Each cascode cell employs an inductor between the common-source and common-gate devices to enhance the bandwidth, while reducing the high-frequency input-referred noise. The noise analysis and optimization of the DLNA accurately accounts for the impact of thermal noise of line terminations and all device noise sources of each CMOS cascode cell including flicker noise, correlated gate-induced noise and channel thermal noise on the overall noise figure. A three-stage performance-optimized wideband DLNA has been designed and fabricated in a 0.18-mum SiGe process, where only MOS transistors were utilized. Measurements of the test chip show a flat noise figure of 2.9 dB, a forward gain of 8 dB, and input and output return losses below -12 dB and -10 dB, respectively, across the 7.5 GHz UWB band. The circuit exhibits an average IIP3 of -3.55 dBm. The 872 mum times 872 mum DLNA chip consumes 12 mA of current from a 1.8-V DC voltage.


This Guide will help you research a topic in your health and human performance courses. Included are library resources and tools that assist students in conducting a literature review, managing & organizing sources, and reporting results.


Hormonal studies and human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genotyping were performed in 5 males and 13 females who were demonstrated to have 21-hydroxylase deficiency. The enzymatic deficiency of steroidogenesis was detected by family studies of 10 females who presented with varying symptoms of androgen excess. The 10 index cases had normal genitalia at birth, but virilized to varying degrees postnatally. The additional 8 affected family members had not sought medical care, but some were found to have signs of virilization on physical examination, while others were normal. Thus both late-onset (symptomatic) and cryptic asymptomatic) 21-hydroxylase deficiency occurred in the same pedigree. The hormonal and genetic linkage studies indicate that the late-onset (symptomatic) form of 21-hydroxylase deficiency, like the cryptic (asymptomatic) and classical forms of 21-hydroxylase deficiency, is transmitted by an autosomal recessive gene which is linked to HLA-B. Furthermore, the classical form of 21-hydroxylase deficiency associated with prenatal virilization is transmitted by an allelic variant for steroid 21-hydroxylase different from that of the nonclassical forms, late-onset (symptomatic) and cryptic (asymptomatic) 21-hydroxylase deficiency. Although these latter 2 disorders have different clinical manifestations, they demonstrate a similar degree of steroid 21-hydroxylase deficiency that is less severe than that observed in classical 21-hydroxylase deficiency. The hormonal and genetic linkage data indicate that cryptic (asymptomatic) and late-onset (symptomatic) 21-hydroxylase deficiency result from the same allelic variant at the steroid 21-hydroxylase locus. A glossary of terms is presented to describe the various allelic forms of 21-hydroxylase deficiency with consistency.


This study has been initiated to determine whether proanthocyanidins can protect against doxorubicin-induced mutagenicity in mice and to elucidate the potential mechanism of this protection. Pretreatment of mice with proanthocyanidins (100 mg/kg/day, orally) for 7 days and simultaneously with doxorubicin (12 mg/kg, i.p.) for another day, significantly reduced the frequency of bone marrow DNA strand breaks and micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes compared to doxorubicin-treated mice alone. Furthermore, proanthocyanidins caused a reduction in bone marrow suppression induced by doxorubicin treatment. In male germline, orally administration of proanthocyanidins (100 mg/kg/day, orally) for 7 consecutive days before and 7 consecutive days after treatment with doxorubicin (12 mg/ kg, i.p.), significantly elevated the levels of sperm count and motility reduced by doxorubicin treatment. Furthermore, proanthocyanidins significantly decreased the elevated levels of spermatogonial and spermatocyte chromosomal aberrations and sperm head abnormality induced by doxorubicin. Prior administration of proanthocyanidins ahead of doxorubicin reduced the doxorubicin induced testicular lipid peroxidation and prevented the reduction in testicularnonprotein sulfhydryl significantly. Conclusively, this study provides for the first time that proanthocyanidins have a protective role in the abatement of doxorubicin-induced mutagenesis and cell proliferation changes in germinal cells of mice that reside, at least in part, in their radical scavengeractivity. Therefore, proanthocyanidins can be a promising chemopreventive agent to avert secondary malignancy and abnormal reproductive outcomes risks in cancer patients receiving doxorubicin-involved treatment.


The measurement of lubricant film thickness under elastohydrodynamic (EHL) contact conditions is well established and a variety of experimental techniques have been used, the most accurate and widely used of which is optical interferometry. This lends itself particularly well to the study of the all-important mixed and boundary regimes, since the films are of the same order of magnitude as the wavelength of light. The vast majority of these studies have been made under pure rolling conditions, since the necessary optical coatings preclude the use of high sliding speeds within the critical thin fluid film regime. These conditions are however precisely those required to activate ZDDPs and other antiwear additives, making accurate 'in situ' optical studies of additive film build-up difficult. A modification to the existing MTM (mini-traction machine) has allowed steel on steel contacts to be run under high sliding speed conditions, thereby allowing antiwear additive reactions to occur. By optically measuring the film thickness of these reaction films as they form, in tandem with friction measurements, a full picture of both friction and reaction film build-up can be made. Using a novel LED (light emitting diode) light source and accurate calibration procedures, the film thickness of the whole contact area can be measured down to a few nanometres. This paper presents a study of the behaviour of standard additive combinations under realistic operating conditions and describes the rig in detail.© 2007 ASME


Two novel members of the adipokinetic hormone/red pigment-concentrating hormone family of peptides were identified in dung beetles of the genus Onitis using heterologous (measuring lipid and carbohydrate mobilization in locusts and cockroaches) and a homologous (measuring proline increase in the haemolymph) bioassay(s). Isolation of the peptides was achieved by single-step reverse-phase HPLC of corpora cardiaca extracts. The primary structure was elucidated by automated Edman degradation and by electrospray MS. Both peptides are blocked octapeptides containing three aromatic amino acids. Peptide 1, designated Ona-CC-I, is pGlu-Tyr-Asn-Phe-Ser-Thr-Gly-Trp-NH2, and peptide 2, designated Ona-CC-II, is pGlu-Phe-Asn-Tyr-Ser-Pro-Asp-Trp-NH2. The synthetic peptides were chromatographically indistinguishable from the natural compounds. They both had a hyperprolinaemic effect in the dung beetle. Moreover, flight experiments established that proline is an important fuel to power flight metabolism in Onitis species. Therefore, it is concluded that these novel and unique peptides are involved in regulating proline-based flight metabolism.


By looking at some lesser known writings of Harold Adams Innis - in particular an unpublished speech from 1943 entitled "The Crisis in Public Opinion" - this thesis hopes to bring a few good tools and frameworks to the study of open source, and vice versa. This thesis looks at open source in terms of the tactics and systems - technical and interpersonal - involved, and is premised on the idea that software is a media and communication system. This thesis argues that, according to the open source process, and the writings of political economist and communication theorist Harold Innis, the creative commons is capable of constructing alternatives to "monopolies of knowledge" by protecting conditions for the freedom of thought. Innis spent his academic career mapping economic, political, and communication networks, and throughout his work he makes suggestions about systems (technical and interpersonal) that might intercede against monopoly formation. The communication and collaboration system that is open source is a contemporary manifestation, I think, of the tactics Innis suggests (with his words and actions) for surviving and redirecting our networks' historical tendency toward monopoly and cascading crisis. No One Knows Everything addresses the methods Innis describes for balancing out against monopolies of knowledge, and maps those mechanisms against some of the mechanisms of open source


The effect of two types of intestinal bacterial normal floral ( E.coli and klebsiella ) were tested against 50  bacterial isolates collected from  different infection of  patients and hospital setting ,using inverted disk technique and wells on nutrient agar, the result revealed that the normal flora were affected on 30 bacterial isolates from total 50 isolates .The effect of normal flora were appear on  8 isolates from burns and wounds,5 isolates  from ear infections, 9 isolates from gastrointestinal infections (diarrhea), 8 isolates  from  hospitals delivery rooms E.coli affect on 2 isolate for each of klebsiella and pseudomonas isolated from gastrointestinal infections (diarrhea). In contrast, klebsiella was  affect on 9 isolates of pseudomonas aerogenosa , 6 isolates of klebsiella and 3,3,2,2,1 isolates of staphylococcus aereus , serratia  ,Acinetobacter ,Enterobacter ,E.coli, respectively, isolated from ear infections ,delivery rooms ,gastrointestinal infections, burns and wounds


The biological hypothesis of spinal engine states that the locomotion is mainly achieved by the spine, while legs only serve as assistance. Inspired by this spinal engine hypothesis, a compliant, multi-DOF, biologically inspired spine has been developed and embedded into a quadruped robot without actuation on legs. The experimental results support this spinal engine hypothesis and reveal that this kind of robot can achieve rapid, stable, and even dynamical locomotion by appropriately tuning the spine's morphological parameters, e.g., rearranging the silicone blocks.


One of the most distinctive aspects of modern Chinese politics is the role of "Mao Tse-tung's thought." This study investigates the concrete political and ideological process which gave rise to Mao's thought within the Chinese Communist Party, with special reference to the years 1935-45. This decade, which overlaps the Yenan period in Chinese Communist historiography, opens with Mao Tse-tung's rise to power at the Tsunyi Conference, and closes with the formal incorporation of his thought into the new CCP constitution at the Party's Seventh Congress. In the course of the study, it became apparent that Mao Tse-tung played a strong personal role in fostering the cult of his own person and thought. However, he received the enthusiastic support of a small group of Party intellectuals who gathered around him, of whom the most important is Ch'en Po-ta. Pending further research, conclusions regarding Ch'en's role must remain tentative, hut the initial evidence does suggest his influence on certain aspects of Mao's thinking, and in the formulation of a historio-philosophical rationale for Mao's claim to ideological supremacy. The study falls into two main periods; 1935-40 were years of ideological creativity, when the basic ideas behind Sinified Marxism were worked out by Mao and Ch'en; 1940-45 were years of ideological console idation, when the two men worked to systematize and disseminate Mao's thought as the CCP's official guiding doctrine. The conclusion emerges that the cult of Mao and his thought was not merely a simple concomitant of Mao's rise to power during this period. Rather, the dual cult was consciously created and propagated within and without the CCP as a deliberate act of policy on the part of the ascendant Maoists, with Mao and Ch'en very much at the core of this policy. From time to time, developments within the CCP, in Chinese domestic politics, and in the international arena intervened to accelerate or retard the Maoists' deliberate campaign to foster the ascendancy of Mao's thought. However, by the time of the CCP's Seventh Congress in 1945, the victorious Maoists had succeeded in their joint drive for the ''primitive accumulation" of political and ideological power. Mao's power was by no means absolute, but the Chinese Communist Party -- and shortly the entire nation -- had entered the era of "Mao Tse-tung's thought." In sum, this study contributes to our understanding of the Chinese Communist movement in four areas. It develops previous discussions of the ideological history of the CCP, especially regarding the emergence of the concepts of the "Sinification of Marxism" and "Mao Tse-tung's thought." In using these ideological concepts as points of reference, this thesis also offers a distinctive approach to the study of elite politics within the CCP during the Yenan period. At the same time, Mao Tse-tung's personal role in fostering the twin cult of himself and his thought is brought into sharper focus than in previous studies. Finally, our knowledge of the early career of Ch'en Po-ta is considerably enhanced, particularly regarding his role as Party ideologist and historian in the service of Mao Tse-tung.


Here we investigated whether cADPR and NAADP are synthesized in mitochondria. We found that ADPR-cyclase activity is present in mitochondria. In addition, we describe for the first time synthesis of NAADP in this intracellular organelle. ADPR-cyclase activities (V(MAX)) and NAADP synthesis in mitochondria were about 4-fold lower than that in plasma membranes. Otherwise, ADPR-cyclases in mitochondria and in plasma membranes have similar catalytic properties in terms of apparent K(m) for the substrate NGD and K(i) values for inhibition by dithiotreitol, beta-NAD, and nicotinamide. ADPR-cyclase in plasma membranes and to a lesser degree mitochondrial enzyme, was inhibited by Zn(2+) and Cu(2+); ADPR-cyclase from mitochondria was more stable upon thermal inactivation. CD38 antigen, determined by Western blot, was well-expressed in plasma membranes but was far less so (17-fold less) in mitochondria. The major difference between ADPR-cyclase activity in mitochondria and plasma membranes is that mitochondrial cyclase activity was increased by incubation with nonionic detergents. Conversely, the incubation with phosphatidylinositol-specific phosphodiesterase C (PI-PLC) released ADPR-cyclase activity from plasma membranes, but not from mitochondria. We conclude that ADPR-cyclase in mitochondria and in plasma membranes are both multifunctional enzymes with similar catalytic properties; however, the two ADPR-cyclases differ in the mode of anchoring to the membrane: by glycosylphosphoinositol anchor in plasma membranes and by hydrophobic interactions in mitochondria. In addition, synthesis of NAADP can also be found in intracellular organelles via mitochondria. We propose that independent mitochondrial cADPR and NAADP systems may have an intracrine signaling function that is not dependent on direct input by extracellular hormonal stimuli, but rather responds to changes of intermediary cellular metabolism.


Adipose derived regenerative cells (ADRCs) are a heterogeneous population of cells including multipotent adipose derived stems cells, other progenitor cells, fibroblasts, T-regulatory cells, and macrophages. Preclinical data exist supporting benefits that are predominantly through angiogenesis, modulation of inflammation, and wound remodeling. Such effects are likely paracrine in nature. The application of autologous ADRCs has been investigated across multiple therapeutic areas. While there are numerous publications, there is a relative lack of double-blind, well-controlled, randomized clinical trials in the literature. Nevertheless, a consistency in outcomes and a consistency with preclinical and laboratory studies suggests a true positive effect. The therapeutic areas reported include orthopedics, autoimmune disease, wounds and reconstruction, cardiology, peripheral vascular disease, genitourinary disorders, gastrointestinal fistulas, and neurology. Case reports have documented wound healing in otherwise intractable wounds such as ischemic- and radiation-related cutaneous ulcers and enterocutaneous fistulas. An open label, 12-patient-study indicated substantial improvement in hand manifestations of scleroderma across multiple endpoints. Post-radical prostatectomy urinary incontinence improved in a study of 11 patients with local delivery of ADRCs. Small studies of intramyocardial delivery have been associated with trends towards benefit. The studies also indicate that same day fat harvest through liposuction, cell processing, and cell delivery is feasible and can be performed with an acceptable safety profile. The objective of this review is to highlight the interest, potential, and trends that support the need to continue evaluation and exploration for the role of ADRCs as a therapeutic agent.


Large numbers of input devices are available for human interaction with modern computer systems which are operated by hands and a few of them through gestures made using fingers and body movements. The advancements in assistive technology have proposed many concepts for controlling the input and mouse movements by detecting the basic eye movements of a user with the help of the eye tracking systems. We place our focus on the implementation of the computer mouse which is designed to detect the relative position of the cornea with respect to the initially calibrated centre and calculate the attributes like angle and speed at which the movement of mouse cursor has to be initiated.


Whether or not the Earth's mantle gets stiffer at great depths is an issue that has bitterly divided geophysicists. If it does, the lower mantle may be sealed off from the upper mantle, as the composition of some surface rocks implies; if not, the mantle may mix from top to bottom, as other indicators suggest. A new study settles the issue, showing to most geophysicists' satisfaction that the mantle does stiffen drastically with depth. But this very stiff lower mantle is allowing theorists to find a middle ground between whole-mantle and layered mixing.


One of the main goals of systematics is to reconstruct the tree of life. Half a century ago, the breakthrough of cladistics was a major step towards this objective because it allowed us to assess relatedness patterns among species, an abstract kind of relationship. Unfortunately, the philosophy of cladism forbade to go further and to seek more realistic relationships, like the ancestor-descendant relationship, which is the expected fundamental kind of relationship of the tree of life according to Darwinian evolution. Here, I describe a simple parsimony-based procedure which can be used to transform a classical cladogram into a genuine phylogenetic tree, i.e. a caulogram. It consists in deleting as many unobserved and unnamed nodes as possible and replacing them with observed and named species. A new Bayesian non-stochastic weighting scheme is used to assess character reliability for both this procedure and classical cladogram construction. I illustrate the whole process by assessing the relationships between the species of the moss genus Didymodon sensu lato (Pottiaceae) and discuss the resulting caulogram by confronting it with the previous methodology from the evolutionary literature. I finally argue that strictly adhering to cladist epistemology is untenable and that we must seek new formal methods to find ancestral species as well as ancestral higher taxa.


This paper outlines the development of testing procedures to optimise the stimulation dose form a medium voltage electrical stimulation unit. The aim was to increase the number of carcasses reaching the pH window in compliance with Meat Standards Australia sheep meat eating guidelines which require carcasses to reach pH 6 between a temperature of 8-35°C. Settings tests using a range of current and frequency resulted in variation in pH response from which the optimal pH response was selected. Both abattoirs involved in this study now have electrical stimulation units programmed to an optimal setting and monitoring of product quality under the new setting will be ongoing.


We show that on any abelian scheme over a complex quasi-projective smooth variety, there is a Green current for the zero-section, which is axiomatically determined up to $\partial$ and $\bar\partial$-exact differential forms. This current generalizes the Siegel functions defined on elliptic curves. We prove generalizations of classical properties of Siegel functions, like distribution relations, limit formulae and reciprocity laws.


We present control algorithms for stabilization and asymptotic disturbance rejection for Hammerstein systems with positive real linear dynamics. To do this, we extend the nonlinear controller modification technique of Bernstein and Haddad (1994) to include matched plant disturbances. The controller is based on a Lyapunov function that estimates the disturbance bound. These estimates are then used to construct high-gain switching controllers that guarantee convergence of the plant output while accounting for input nonlinearities.


Despite recent research which more and more stresses the importance of osteocytes in regulating bone and systemic mineral metabolism, current molecular and functional knowledge of osteocyte properties are still incomplete, mostly due to limited availability of in vitro models. Osteocytes are terminally differentiated dendritic cells, and therefore are not easy to obtain and maintain in primary cultures. As an alternative, osteocyte differentiation can be induced by progressive osteoblast embedding in mineralised extracellular matrix. In this model, which is suitable for reproduction of bone development, the presence of calcified matrix prevents several cell biological methods from being used. Therefore, the osteocyte-like MLO-Y4 cell line continues to be the most widely used cellular system. Here we show that treatment of primary osteoblasts or MC3T3-E1 cells with retinoic acid generates a homogeneous population of ramified cells with osteocyte features, as confirmed by morphological and molecular analyses. The first morphological changes are detectable in primary cells after 2 days of treatment, and in the cell line after 4 days of treatment. Differentiation is complete in 5 and 10 days, respectively, with progressive development of dendrites, loss of the ability to produce extracellular matrix, down-regulation of osteoblast markers, and up-regulation of osteocyte-specific molecules, most notably among them sclerostin. Compared to other published protocols, our method has a number of advantages. It is easy to perform and does not require special instrumentation, it is highly reproducible, and rapidly generates a mature osteocyte population in the complete absence of extracellular matrix, allowing the use of these cells for unlimited biological applications.


We perform the experiments to investigate in-situ phase fraction in a jet pump using the electrical resistance tomography (ERT) technique. A new jet pump with ERT sensors is designed to measure in-situ phase fraction and flow regime. The study is based on laboratory experiments that are carried out on a 50-mm vertical flow rig for various gas and liquid phase superficial velocities. The different flow patterns of gas liquid in the jet pump and vertical pipe are studied using the ERT technique. The results suggest that the ERT system can be used to successfully produce images of gas–liquid flow patterns with frames rates of 58 fps and the in-situ phase fraction with frame rates of 5 fps can be obtained. The visualizations of a rapid mixing process in the throat of a jet pump obtained in this work provide a reliable basis for theoretical study and optimal design of jet pumps.


A spoIIA::lacZ gene fusion has been used to investigate the dependence pattern of expression of the spoIIA operon during sporulation in Bacillus subtilis. beta-Galactosidase activity, encoded by the hybrid gene, begins to appear about 30 to 60 min after the induction of sporulation. spoIIA expression is dependent upon the products of all of the known spoO loci but on none of the 'later' loci tested. The beta-galactosidase activity falls after 1.5 h in Spo+ cells and in late-blocked mutants, but continued accumulation of the enzyme occurs in certain stage II mutants. Kinetic experiments suggest that the fall in activity may be, in part, the result of regulation at the level of translation. Mutations in several loci, spo0J, spoIIIF and spoVIC, delay expression of the operon by 1-3 h. The significance of these results in terms of models for the control of gene expression during sporulation is discussed.


The Multilingual Preface and Foreword to the IDA's partnership for poverty reduction - an independent evaluation of fiscal years 1994 - 2000 complements the main report, numbered 23958. This preface and foreword illustrates the theme of the main report. The report recommends that fine-tuning of the replenishment process, perceived to be both over-determined and overloaded, requires stronger connections with all development partners. A long term vision in consultation with borrowers focused on results, while engaging with developing countries could lead to defined commitments in terms of monitoring, and achieving objectives.


There were studied features of the structure of composite materials on the basis of recycled thermoplastic (HDPE, LDPE, PP) modified by components of different composition and dispersion. It was established the hardening effect of the matrix of the composite with the introduction of the highly oriented fragments that preserve the structure after the completion of the technological cycle of manufacturing products by injection molding or extrusion. It was proposed the technology of thermo-mechanical combining of thermoplastic components while simultaneous modifying by components of different composition and structure. When modification of fluorinated nanoparticles ablation products is provided the effect of increasing the rate of extrusion and formation of hydrophobized surface layer of products. Nanoscale silicate modifiers (clay, tripoli, metals phosphates and oxides,) contribute to the thermodynamic compatibility of the matrix and the modifier polymer due to formation of a spatial network of physical binds in the volume of the composite. The obtaining technologies for products based on recycled composites that the parameters of deformation strength and tribological characteristics are not inferior to raw materials, but have a significantly lower cost of production.


Chapter One serves as an introduction to the Thesis. Chapter Two describes the synthesis and characterisation of a series of 3-(pyridin-2-yl)-l,2,4-triazole ligands and the corresponding rhenium(I) tricarbonyl. The structure of the complexes have been determined using NMR and IR spectroscopy. The complexes underwent [Re—>7t*(pyridyl-triazole)] transitions in the 295 - 360 nm region of the absorption spectrum. Emission was observed from all the complexes at 298 K and at 77 K. The absorption and emission properties of the pyridyl-triazole complexes were found to be pH dependent. The complexes underwent an irreversible Re(I)/Re(II) oxidation. The a-donor nature of the triazole ligand results in a blue shift of both the absorption and emission spectra when compared to [Re(CO)3(bpy)Cl].

Chapter Three is discusses the synthesis of the rhenium(I) tricarbonyl complexes of 3-(pyrazin-2-yl)-l,2,4-triazoles, analogous to those described in Chapter Two. The complexes were characterised by NMR and IR spectroscopy. The carbonyl bands are observed at higher frequency compared to the corresponding pyridyltriazole complexes. The UV/vis spectra exhibit [Re—mi* (pyrazyl-triazole)] transitions between 390 and 410 nm. The protonated pyrazyl-triazole complexes are weak emitters at 298 K while emission was detected at room temperature from all of the deprotonated pyrazyl-triazole complexes. Emission was detected from all complexes at 77 K. The strongly 7r-accepting pyrazine results in a red shift of both the absorption and emission spectra when compared to the corresponding pyridyl-triazole complexes. Again, spectroscopic and clcctrochemical studies display a strong pH dependency.

Chapter Four describes the synthesis and characterisation of the homo-nuclear rhenium(I) dimer and the hetero-nuclear ruthenium(H)-rhenium(I) dinuclear complexes bridged by the triazole ligand Hbpt (3,5-bis(pyridin-2-yl)-l,2,4- triazole). The complexes have been studied using UV-vis and emission spectroscopy, lifetime studies and electrochemical measurements. For the ruthenium(II)-rhenium(I) complex, the absorption and emission properties indicate intercomponent energy transfer from the rhenium(I) metal centre to the ruthenium(II) metal centre.

Chapter Five discusses the methylation of the ruthenium(II) bipyridyl complex [Ru(bpy)2phpztr]+, (phpztr = 3-(pyrazin-2-yl)-5-phenyl-l,2,4-triazole). Selective deuteriation of the bipyridyl ligands and the triazole ligand was also employed. The photophysical and electrochemical properties of all complexes were also examined. Methylation of the pyrazyl-triazole ligand was found to quench emission from [Ru(bpy)2phpztr]+. Wavelength dependent ground-state resonace Raman measurements were also carried out in order to elucidate the electronic transitions in the absorption spectra. Chapter Six gives an overview of the experimental conditions used. Chapter Seven summaries results of the work undertaken with suggestions on further possible research directions.


Petroleum and water are at the very heart of success or failure for exploration and production but, being fluids, are not easy to observe or predict in the geological environment. The 'Fluids' Sessions, therefore, dealt with many issues which are both at the forefront of technical developments and commercially topical. A consequence of this was that the number of contributions was fewer than had been hoped, particularly on the subject of overpressure. Some studies, because they are very much in their infancy, could only provide a cursory treatment of the topic.

Fluid formation and movement in basins ultimately govern when and where petroleum accumulations occur, reservoir quality in most instances, and the development of overpressure. The composition of petroleum leaving a source rock is very much a function of source-rock type and the subsequent thermal history. The presence of overpressure can dictate the expulsion direction and thus the overall composition of the hydrocarbons entering a migration pathway from one or more source rocks. Phase changes along the migration pathway, or in the reservoir during uplift or burial, determine the phase(s) of the hydrocarbons retained over geological time and must be evaluated together with, or in the context of, tectonism and faulting.

The importance of understanding overpressured regimes cannot be overemphasized, both from the purely exploration aspect and the issues involving safety and the environment. The papers of Leonard and Garenstroom et al. address the problem. Leonard reviews sub-surface pressure in the Norwegian Central Graben and emphasizes the need to build . . .


Macrophages and dendritic cells derive from a hematopoietic stem cell and the existence of a common committed progenitor has been hypothesized. We have recently found in normal human marrow a subset of CD34+ cells that constitutively expresses HLA-DR and low levels of CD86, a natural ligand for the T cell costimulation receptor CD28. This CD34+ subset can elicit responses from allogeneic T cells. In this study, we show that CD34+/CD86+ cells can also present tetanus toxoid antigen to memory CD4+ T cells. CD86 is expressed at low levels in macrophages and high levels in dendritic cells. Therefore, we have tested the hypothesis that CD34+/CD86+ cells are the common precursors of both macrophages and dendritic cells. CD34+/CD86+ marrow cells cultured in granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF)–generated macrophages. In contrast, CD34+/CD86− cells cultured in GM-CSF generated a predominant population of granulocytes. CD34+/CD86+ cells cultured in GM-CSF plus tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) generated almost exclusively CD1a+/CD83+ dendritic cells. In contrast, CD34+/CD86− cells cultured in GM-CSF plus TNF-α generated a variety of cell types, including a small population of dendritic cells. In addition, CD34+/CD86+ cells cultured in granulocyte colony-stimulating factor failed to generate CD15+granulocytes. Therefore, CD34+/CD86+ cells are committed precursors of both macrophages and dendritic cells. The ontogeny of dendritic cells was recapitulated by stimulation of CD34+/CD86− cells with TNF-α that induced expression of CD86. Subsequent costimulation of CD86+cells with GM-CSF plus TNF-α lead to expression of CD83 and produced terminal dendritic cell differentiation. Thus, expression of CD86 on hematopoietic progenitor cells is regulated by TNF-α and denotes differentiation towards the macrophage or dendritic cell lineages.


Currently there is an issue in the design process of smart city services, where citizens as the main stakeholders are not involved enough in requirements engineering. In this paper, we present a meta-level design science process, based on an extended version of design science research methodology, that can be used to create requirements engineering frameworks to inform smart city service requirements engineering processes. The introduced meta-level process is beneficial as it can be used to ensure that design guideline research processes are rigorous, just as design science process ensures scientific rigor in design research. Additionally, we present a previous case study and frame it using the new meta-level design science process.


We report a novel attack on two CAPTCHAs that have been widely deployed on the Internet, one being Google's home design and the other acquired by Google (i.e. reCAPTCHA). With a minor change, our attack program also works well on the latest ReCAPTCHA version, which uses a new defence mechanism that was unknown to us when we designed our attack. This suggests that our attack works in a fundamental level. Our attack appears to be applicable to a whole family of text CAPTCHAs that build on top of the popular segmentation-resistant mechanism of "crowding character together" for security. Next, we propose a novel framework that guides the application of our well-tested security engineering methodology for evaluating CAPTCHA robustness, and we propose a new general principle for CAPTCHA design.


The nanomechanical properties of various biological and cellular surfaces are increasingly investigated with Scanning Probe Microscopy. Surface stiffness measurements are currently being used to define metastatic properties of various cancerous cell lines and other related biological tissues. Here we present a unique methodology to understand depth dependent nanomechanical variations in stiffness in biopolymers and live cells. In this study we have used A2780 & NIH3T3 cell lines and 0.5% & 1% Agarose to investigate depth dependent stiffness and porosity on nanomechanical properties in different biological systems. This analytical methodology can circumvent the issue associated with the contribution of substrates on cell stiffness. Here we demonstrate that by calculating 'continuous-step-wise-modulus' on force vs. distance curves one can observe minute variation as function of depth. Due to the presence of different kinds of cytoskeletal filament, dissipation of contact force might vary from one portion of a cell to another. On NIH3T3 cell lines, stiffness profile of Circular Dorsal Ruffles could be observed in form of large parabolic feature with changes in stiffness at different depth. In biopolymers like agarose, depending upon the extent of polymerization in there can be increase or decrease in stiffness due variations in pore size and extent to which crosslinking is taking place at different depths. 0.5% agarose showed gradual decrease in stiffness whereas with 1% agarose there was slight increase in stiffness as one indents deeper into its surface.


ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to extend earlier research on environmental uncertainty in public goods dilemmas. The present paper reports the results of an experiment designed to examine the effect of risk aversion on public goods provision. A von Neumann–Morgenstern utility function with constant coefficient of relative risk aversion is used to investigate the impact of risk attitudes within a threshold public goods environment. The outcome of the threshold public goods experiment shows that subjects are indifferent to the changes in environmental conditions. Additionally, the analysis indicates that risk aversion is a significant determinant of voluntary public goods contribution level.


The issue of interference suppression is considered for wireless time-division multiple-access (TDMA) systems equipped with multiple receive antennas in frequency-selective fading channels. A novel scheme is presented to estimate the multipath channel, coherently demodulate information symbols, and meanwhile suppress radio interference. The proposed scheme is simple to implement and able to mitigate interference of various origins, including inter-symbol interference, co-channel interference and others. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the performance of the proposed scheme.


V.V. Kupriyanov (1969) has described a new structural element within the initial segment of lymphatic bed which was given a name of "lymphatic postcapillary". According to the author, the only reliable distinction of lymphatic postcapillary from capillary is the presence of the valve formed by the folds consisting of the endothelial cells. We believe that the formation of the valve is possible only with the participation of connective tissue elements. Therefore, the protrusion of endothelial cells into the lumen of lymphatic capillary could not be considered as a criterion for the descroption of a new structural element called lymphatic postcapillary.