Abstract Electoral politics in Taiwan reflects the popular ambivalence in articulation of its political and national identity. This ambivalence is testing the strength of nascent domestic democratic institutions. Taiwanese democratisation has also introduced a new variable in cross-strait relations that China and the US both have to contend with. Greater democratisation of Taiwanese politics and the struggle over the country's national and cultural identity is making the management of cross-strait relations more complex for all three parties, i.e., Taipei, Beijing and Washington.


We investigated an effect of sputtering gas species Ar, Kr, and Xe for deposition of a W insertion layer W(Ar, Kr, and Xe) in the synthetic ferrimagnetic reference layer consisting of [Co/Pt] multilayer/Ru/[Co/Pt] multilayer/W/CoFeB on magnetic properties of the reference layer and tunnel magnetoresistance ratio (TMR ratio) of magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) stacks with the reference layer. In all the cases, the TMR ratio increased with the increase of the W insertion layer thickness <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$t_{\mathrm {W}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and showed a maximum at certain <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$t_{W}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. Although the maximum TMR ratio is almost the same for all the cases, <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$t_{\mathrm {W}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> range in which we observed the maximum TMR ratio is dependent on the gas species; <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$t_{W} = 0.2$ </tex-math></inline-formula> nm for Ar, <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$t_{\mathrm {W}} = 0.2$ </tex-math></inline-formula>–0.4 nm for Kr, and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$t_{\mathrm {W}} = 0.2$ </tex-math></inline-formula>–0.5 nm for Xe, indicating that <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$t_{\mathrm {W}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> margin giving high-TMR ratio becomes wider with increasing atomic number of the gas species. The lower TMR ratio for W (Ar) at larger <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$t_{\mathrm {W}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> region is due to the degradation of ferromagnetic coupling between the CoFeB and Co/Pt multilayer sandwiching W, resulting in canting of magnetization in the CoFeB layer. We found that an intermixing of Pt atoms in the Co/Pt multilayer occurred in the MTJ stack with W (Ar), whereas it did not intermix with W (Kr), indicating that the Pt interdiffusion caused the degradation of ferromagnetic coupling through W layer.


This article examines the governing initial norms, namely explicitness and euphemism in English source texts and Ndebele translations, focusing on how these norms influenced the strategies chosen by the Ndebele translators in the translation of taboo terms. In the article, a corpus-based approach is used to identify head words and their translations. Interviews were carried out to determine public views on the translation of taboo terms in HIV texts in Ndebele. The majority of interviewed participants criticised the use of explicit terms in the texts they were given to read, arguing that the use of explicit terms contravenes their culture. This finding endorses the argument that selected strategies have the capacity to influence the linguistic and cultural acceptability and/or non-acceptability of translated texts. Most Ndebele translators selected strategies that promoted the target norm of euphemism, namely cultural substitution, using a general word, using a neutral or less expressive word, and paraphrasing; only a few translators opted for the source norm of explicitness. The study recommends that translators should always take the needs of their target culture readers into consideration because a transparent text that shocks sensitive readers is not linguistically effective if it is not culturally accepted.


Type Ia supernovae are important, but mysterious cosmological tools. Their standard brightnesses have enabled cosmologists to measure extreme distances and to discover dark energy. However, the nature of their progenitor mechanisms remains elusive, with many competing models offering only partial clues to their origins. Here, type Ia supernova delay times are explored using analytical models. Combined with a new observation technique, this model places new constraints on the characteristic time delay between the formation of stars and the first type Ia supernovae. This derived delay time (500 million years) implies low-mass companions for single degenerate progenitor scenarios. In the latter portions of this dissertation, two progenitor mechanisms are simulated in detail; white dwarf collisions and mergers. From the first of these simulations, it is evident that white dwarf collisions offer a viable and unique pathway to producing type Ia supernovae. Many of the combinations of masses simulated produce sufficient quantities of 56Ni (up to 0.51 solar masses) to masquerade as normal type Ia supernovae. Other combinations of masses produce 56Ni yields that span the entire range of supernova brightnesses, from the very dim and underluminous, with 0.14 solar masses, to the over-bright and superluminous, with up to 1.71 solar masses. The 56Ni yield in the collision simulations depends non-linearly on total system mass, mass ratio, and impact parameter. Using the same numerical tools as in the collisions examination, white dwarf mergers are studied in detail. Nearly all of the simulations produce merger remnants consisting of a cold, degenerate core surrounded by a hot accretion disk. The properties of these disks have strong implications for various viscosity treatments that have attempted to pin down the accretion times. Some mass combinations produce super-Chandrasekhar cores on shorter time scales than viscosity driven accretion. A handful of simulations also exhibit helium detonations on the surface of the primary that bear a resemblance to helium novae. Finally, some of the preliminary groundwork that has been laid for constructing a new numerical tool is discussed. This new tool advances the merger simulations further than any research group has done before, and has the potential to answer some of the lingering questions that the merger study has uncovered. The results of thermal diffusion tests using this tool have a remarkable correspondence to analytical predictions.


TNF-α, produced by most malignant cells, orchestrates the interplay between malignant cells and myeloid cells, which have been linked to tumor growth and metastasis. Although TNF-α can exist as one of two isoforms, a 26-kDa membrane tethered form (mTNF-α) or a soluble 17-kDa cytokine (sTNF-α), the vast majority of published studies have only investigated the biologic effects of the soluble form. We show for the first time that membrane and soluble isoforms have diametrically opposing effects on both tumor growth and myeloid content. Mouse lung and melanoma tumor lines expressing mTNF-α generated small tumors devoid of monocytes versus respective control lines or lines expressing sTNF-α. The lack of myeloid cells was due to a direct effect of mTNF-α on myeloid survival via induction of cell necrosis by increasing reactive oxygen species. Human non-small cell lung carcinoma expressed varying levels of both soluble and membrane TNF-α, and gene expression patterns favoring mTNF-α were predictive of improved lung cancer survival. These data suggest that there are significant differences in the role of different TNF-α isoforms in tumor progression and the bioavailability of each isoform may distinctly regulate tumor progression. This insight is critical for effective intervention in cancer therapy with the available TNF-α inhibitors, which can block both TNF-α isoforms.


Summary The energy transition from fossil and nuclear energy towards an energy supply system from renewable sources will require an enormous extension of the existing energy storage capacity. For this intention depleted oil and gas reservoirs could play a key role when they are used as storage reservoirs for hydrogen or other energy carriers in a seasonal or more frequent cycle. In previous studies it was shown that chemical reactions catalyzed by anaerobic microorganisms and mixing phenomena between gases with different composition have important influences in underground storage of hydrogen. In particular hydrogenotrophic microorganisms could produce methane by metabolizing hydrogen and carbon dioxide. To describe these effects a model was developed which couples the compositional two-phase transport of gas and water to microbial population dynamics and bio-chemical reactions. In this work the numerical model was applied to a field scale storage scenario using a real geological model and several storage operation wells. The complex multi-physical model applied on around 200.000 grid cells results in approximately 2 million degrees of freedom. In addition the strong coupling between the microbial population dynamics and transport of chemical components is numerically difficult to handle and consequently small times steps not larger than one or two days have to be calculated. To overcome the computational effort the simulation study was executed on a high performance computing cluster. The interpretation of the simulation results shows that a significant amount of the stored hydrogen was transformed into methane due to the bio-chemical reactions. In addition it was demonstrated that the produced gas contains H2S in the range of some parts per thousand when sulfate reducing bacteria were present.


Abstract Shrimp shells were used to prepare chitosan as an adsorbent for reactive red 198 dye removal. The adsorption of reactive red 198 (RR-198) on chitosan has found to be dependent on some parameters such as pH, concentration, and temperature. These parameters were studied in the batch system to study the optimum adsorption conditions. The experimental result follows Langmuir isotherm model and the adsorption ability was found to be 357.1 mg/g. The pseudo-second-order equation was the best applicable model to describe the adsorption. Finally, the effect of different parameters affecting the adsorption was studied using central composite design matrix coupled with response surface methodology. Overall, this work shows that chitosan material based shrimp shells have countless potential to be used for dyes removal in wastewater treatment plants. Further fine-tuning of this material may open the field of their application.


PURPOSE
Semiconductor detectors are increasingly considered as alternatives to scintillation crystals for nuclear imaging applications such as positron emission tomography (PET) or single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). One of the most prominent detector materials is cadmium zinc telluride (CZT), which is currently used in several application-specific nuclear imaging systems. In this work, the charge-transport effects in pixelated CZT detectors in relation to detector pixel size and thickness are investigated for pixels sizes from 0.4 up to 1.6 mm.

METHODS
The determination of an optimum pixel size and thickness for use with photon energies of 140 and 511 keV, suitable for SPECT and PET studies, is attempted using photon detection efficiency and energy resolution as figures of merit. The Monte Carlo method combined with detailed finite element analysis was utilized to realistically model photon interactions in the detector and the signal generation process. The GEANT4 Application for Tomographic Emission (GATE) toolkit was used for photon irradiation and interaction simulations. The COMSOL MULTIPHYSICS software application was used to create finite element models of the detector that included charge drift, diffusion, trapping, and generation. Data obtained from the two methods were combined to generate accurate signal induction at the detector pixels. The energy resolution was calculated as the full width at half maximum of the energy spectrum photopeak. Photon detection efficiency was also calculated. The effects of charge transport within the detector and photon escape from primary pixel of interaction were investigated; the extent of diffusion to lateral pixels was also assessed.

RESULTS
Charge transport and signal induction were affected by the position of a pixel in the detector. Edge and corner pixels were less susceptible to lateral diffusion than pixels located in the inner part of the detector. Higher detection efficiency and increased photon escape from primary interaction pixel were observed for thicker detectors. Energy resolution achieved better values in 0.7 and 1.0 mm pixel size for 5 mm detector thickness and 1.6 mm pixel size for 10 mm thickness.

CONCLUSIONS
Selection of pixel size and thickness depends on the imaging application and photon energy utilized. For systems that integrate two nuclear imaging modalities (i.e., combined SPECT/PET), the pixel size should offer an appropriate balance of the effects that take place in the detector, based on the results of the current work. This allows for a system to be designed with the same detector material and the same geometrical configuration for both modalities.


We have found that for large varieties of one-dimensional arrangements of Josephson junctions, such as discrete Josephson transmission lines, stable vortex-anti-vortex structures may be spontaneously created. These highly complex stable, spatial configurations of Josephson vortices and anti-vortices also display fractal features in both the energy spectrum and the spatial ordering of the superconducting phase differences associated with different junctions. These vortex structures are related to an exponential number of local minima that are separated by very large barriers within the highly complex energy landscape. The novel Josephson vortex glass arises without any disorder, whilst the fractal energy spectrum involves weak interactions of Josephson vortices. The Josephson glass and its associated fractal properties may be experimentally detected by measuring the switching current distribution.


Most tabletop research presents findings from lab-based user studies, focusing on specific interaction techniques. This means we still know little about how these new interfaces perform in real life settings and how users appropriate them. This paper presents findings from a field study of an existing interactive table in a museum of natural history. Visitors were found to employ a wide variety of gestures for interacting; different interface elements invited different types of gesture. The analysis highlights challenges and design conflicts in the design of tabletop interfaces for public settings, such as latency times and side-effects of dasiaframe-lesspsila content, which had some users struggling to learn how to interact. While the majority of visitors engaged at least briefly with the table, which enabled browsing question-answer text about animal species, talk amongst visitors dealt mainly with how to interact and evoked few comments, indicating shallow engagement with content.


Soluble proteins retained in the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) contain a carboxyl-terminal tetrapeptide sequence that functions presumably to recycle these proteins from a subsequent compartment. Biochemical and genetic evidence indicate that the ERD2 gene product is the receptor for these ER retention signals. Here we report the identification of a cDNA clone from Arabidopsis thaliana (aERD2) similar in sequence and size to members of the ERD2 gene family. Southern and Northern blot analyses indicate that Arabidopsis contains a single aERD2 gene which is expressed at different levels in various plant tissues. A functional assay demonstrates that the Arabidopsis homologue, unlike the mammalian protein, can complement the lethal phenotype of the erd2 deletion mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, indicating that this protein may have a similar function in plants. As the plant protein may have a binding specificity similar to the human Erd2 protein but can function in yeast, we suggest that the plant homologue is the functional link between yeast and animals.


Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ), "the Inuit way of knowing," and science each approach observation of the natural and physical world from shared yet different epistemologies. Studies that integrate IQ and science demonstrate the inherent value of using observations and findings from both to understand Arctic systems. Yet holders of IQ and scientists often do not fully comprehend the practice of the other because they think and approach observation and knowledge differently. Using the concept of Isumaqatigingniq, or "thinking together," we will form an educational program, Isumaqatigingniq-Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, (I-STEM), that will highlight and integrate studies of the narwhal and the Arctic environment undertaken with contributions from IQ and science. Program outreach will target high school students from both Inuit and non-Inuit backgrounds. Understanding existing efforts that combine these knowledge frames will hopefully inspire future collaborations by these groups. Learning through I-STEM will better equip students to address scientific themes that design, optimize, and implement collaborative observation systems. Inuit and scientific research efforts are essential for a deeper understanding of the Arctic environment. Implementing an active educational program that engages high school youth to understand the value of incorporating these two ways of knowing will help foster a future educational environment of collaboration. The educational I-STEM model will bring a new Inuit perspective to formal scientific education programs and share perspectives of science and Inuit knowledge within Inuit educational programs. Isumaqatigingniq can continue growing, incorporating new perspectives on Arctic observations and knowledge.


X-ray observations provide a powerful tool to probe the central engines of active galactic nuclei (AGN). A hard X-ray continuum is produced from deep within the accretion flow onto the supermassive black hole, and all optically thick structures in the AGN (the dusty torus of AGN unification schemes, broad emission line clouds, and the black hole accretion disk) "light up" in response to irradiation by this continuum. This White Paper describes the prospects for probing AGN physics using observations of these X-ray reflection signatures. High-resolution SXS spectroscopy of the resulting fluorescent iron line in type-2 AGN will give us an unprecedented view of the obscuring torus, allowing us to assess its dynamics (through line broadening) and geometry (through the line profile as well as observations of the "Compton shoulder"). The broad-band view obtained by combining all of the ASTRO-H instruments will fully characterize the shape of the underlying continuum (which may be heavily absorbed) and reflection/scattering, providing crucial constraints on models for the Cosmic X-ray Background with a subsequent impact on understanding of supermassive black hole evolution. ASTRO-H will also permit the relativistically broadened reflection spectrum from the inner accretion disk to be robustly studied, even in complex systems with, for example, warm absorption and composite soft excesses. Finally, the HXI will allow the detection and study of reverberation delays between the continuum and the Compton reflection hump from the inner disk.


A novel, persistent, electrochemically active perchlorinated triphenylmethyl (PTM) radical with a diazonium functionality has been covalently attached to highly ordered pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) by electrografting in a single-step process. Electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy (EC-STM) and Raman spectroscopy measurements revealed that PTM molecules had a higher tendency to covalently react at the HOPG step edges. The cross-section profiles from EC-STM images showed that there was current enhancement at the functionalized areas, which could be explained by redox-mediated electron tunneling through surface-confined redox-active molecules. Cyclic voltammetry clearly demonstrated that the intrinsic properties of the organic radical were preserved upon grafting and DFT calculations also revealed that the magnetic character of the PTM radical was preserved.


Aim: We respectively examined the independent relationship of hypertension, body mass index, and cigarette smoking with the danger of renal cell carcinoma in the middle of males and females.
Methods: The recorded of 30 patients who underwent radical nephrectomy between February 2018 to September 2019.
Results: In a retrospective study (file of patients) the average age was 43.4 years. In women 14% described a history of hypertension, 26% were smokers and BMI was 25 kg/m2 in 28.0% and 30 kg/m2 in 8.1% of the patients. In males 12% described a history of hypertension, 41.8% were smokers and the BMI was 25 kg/m2 in 52.5% and 30 kg/m2 in 7.8% of the patients. We confirmed the diagnosis of renal cell carcinoma in 16 females and 14 males alternatively, our pathology the common of cases were defined as strong cell carcinoma (60%), papillary cell carcinoma (15%) and unclassified (25%).
Conclusion: Identification of hypertension, developed BMI and increasing pack-years of cigarette smoking perform to independently grow the danger of renal cell carcinoma and also renal cell carcinoma more communal in females because of hypertension and obesity more in the females.


Knowledge of reproductive biology is essential to understanding population dynam- ics and ecological processes in corals. Sexual condition and the reproductive cycle of the Mediter- ranean endemic scleractinian Cladocora caespitosa was assessed through histological analyses. Our results showed that this species is gonochoric in the Western Mediterranean Sea. Oocytes and spermaries were detected annually from March to October, reaching their maximum size between July and August coincidentally with the highest seawater temperatures. A drastic decrease in gametes between August and October indicated that spawning occurred at the end of summer. These results differ from those obtained for the Adriatic Sea, where this species was described as hermaphroditic and spawning occurred at the beginning of summer. The unusual plasticity of this temperate coral and the endangered condition of C. caespitosa bioconstructions in the Mediter- ranean highlight the need for further research on this topic.


Human perceptual sensitivity of various types of forces, e.g., stiffness and friction, is important for surgeons during robotic surgeries such as needle insertion and palpation. However, force feedback from robot end-effector is usually a combination of desired and undesired force components which could have an effect on the perceptual sensitivity of the desired one. In presence of undesired forces, to improve perceptual sensitivity of desired force could benefit robotic surgical outcomes. In this paper, we investigate how users' perceptual sensitivity of friction and stiffness can be improved by taking advantage of kinematic redundancy of a user interface. Experimental results indicated that the perceptual sensitivity of both friction and stiffness can be significantly improved by maximizing the effective manipulability of the redundant user interface in its null space. The positive results provide a promising perspective to enhance surgeons' haptic perceptual ability by making use of the robot redundancy.


The work described within this dissertation investigates the general hypothesis that post-translational modifications of α-Tm elicit a progression of a pathophysiological phenotype through a mechanism involving altered redox signals. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a genetic disease of the sarcomere that ultimately results in left ventricular hypertrophy and diastolic dysfunction. This disease affects 1 in 500 and is the leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young, especially athletes. The exact mechanism by which these mutations elicit hypertrophy is unknown. In order to gain a better understanding of this disorder and how to devise effective treatments, a mouse model has been generated that mimics human HCM where cardiac specific α-tropomyosin (α-Tm) glutamic acid (E) at position 180 was exchanged with uncharged glycine (G) (α-cMyBP-C). This well characterized model displays severely enlarged left atria, fibrosis, myocyte disarray, hypertrophy, and diastolic dysfunction associated with an increased Ca2+-sensitivity of myofilaments. Human HCM hearts have been shown to exhibit increases in oxidation that inappropriately activate kinases and phosphatases. When we examined the HCM myofibrils, we detected an increase in oxidative markers that target myofilament proteins. Moreover, in the adult stages of this model, the 30-60% reduction in the phosphorylation status of α-Tm was not evident compared to non-transgenic (NTG) littermates. Collectively these data led us to hypothesize that decreasing phosphorylation of α-Tm at S283 would facilitate the rescue of the phenotype, including preventing the oxidative modifications associated with cMyBP-C. We further hypothesized that antioxidant treatment using N-acetylcysteine (NAC) would reverse the HCM phenotype.
Experiments reported in chapter one uses a double mutant transgenic (DMTG) mouse model incorporating α-cMyBP-C with dephosphorylated α-Tm (S283A) to understand the role phosphorylation plays in disease progression. Dephosphorylation prevented the hypertrophic remodeling, decreased the Ca2+ sensitivity, improved relaxation, and reduced oxidative glutathionylation of myosin binding protein C (cMyBP-C) and carbonylation of myofibrillar proteins. These data suggest that altered charge status and post-translational modification of α-Tm causes a strain on the heart that elicits oxidative modifications.
Chapter two examines the direct functional effect and specific sites of glutathionylation of myofilament proteins. Employing Western blotting and mass spectrometry, we induced glutathionylation in vitro by treatment of isolated myofibrils and detergent extracted fiber bundles (skinned fibers) with oxidized glutathione (GSSG). Results indicate that there are at least three cysteines on cMyBP-C that are susceptible to oxidative modification. Force generating skinned fiber bundles showed an increase in Ca2+-sensitivity when treated with oxidized glutathione, which was reversed with the reducing agent, dithiothreitol. These results indicated that antioxidants would be beneficial to reduce Ca2+-sensitivity in HCM.
The object of experiments reported in chapter three aimed to determine whether antioxidant treatment could reverse HCM. In our approach, we treated NTG and cMyBP-C mice with N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) for one month. NAC is a precursor to the major intracellular antioxidant glutathione. Glutathione is found in every mammalian cell at a concentration between 1-10 mM.
Oxidative stress has been demonstrated to decrease the cellular antioxidant capacity and alter the redox potential. We found that oral administration of NAC reverses redox mediated hypertrophic signaling, remodeling, and improves the relaxation kinetics by a mechanism that involves modifying key sarcomeric and Ca2+ handling proteins that mediate contraction and relaxation.
 Our findings provide a new appreciation of the role of tropomyosin phosphorylation in control of hypertrophic and oxidative signaling. Results of this thesis work show the complexity of the relation between myofilament modifications, oxidative stress, and the hypertrophic phenotype in HCM. HCM mutations inducing oxidative myofilament modifications could be resolved by treatment with antioxidants that relieve the constraint placed on the molecular motors that drive the cardiac cycle.


Designed both for experimentalists who study rough surfaces and the dynamics of thin film growth using diffraction techniques and for theorists who wish to learn of such rough surfaces and dynamic behavior in Fourier space, this monograph quickly brings the readers to forefront research in the area of the dynamics of interface growth. Graduate and advanced undergraduate students as well as those readers who have very little prior knowledge of diffraction can pick up the subject matter with little difficulty.This monograph gives a brief review and summary at the end of each chapter. After the introduction of the elementary theory of diffraction in Chapter I, Chapter II discusses the various parameters and correlation functions that are essential in describing a rough surface. In Chapter III, the authors not only show analytical forms of the diffraction structure factor for both rough crystalline and non-crystalline surfaces, but also outline the methods of extracting the interface width, the lateral correlation length and the roughness parameter from the diffraction structure factor. To present the basic physical concepts underlying the scaling hypothesis during dynamic growth, in Chapter IV, a detailed description of the dynamic scaling properties of the height-height correlation function, the height difference function and the structure factor is given. The structure factor from a dynamic growth front is derived in Chapter V. An example of a quantitative measurement of the dynamic growth front of an epitaxial system is also given in this chapter. In Chapter VI, a particular type of rough surfaces having a diverging interface width associated with an equilibrium surface roughening transition is discussed. A comparison of the diffraction characteristics from divergent and non-divergent interface is also summarized.


In this paper we compute the effective action at finite temperature and density for the dual fermion condensate in curved space with the fermions described by an effective field theory with four-point interactions. The approach we adopt refines a technique developed earlier to study chiral symmetry breaking in curved space and it is generalized here to include the U$(1)$-valued boundary conditions necessary to define the dual condensate. The method we present is general, includes the coupling between the fermion condensate and the Polyakov loop, and applies to any ultrastatic background spacetime with a nonsingular base. It also allows one to include inhomogeneous and anisotropic phases and therefore it is suitable to study situations where the geometry is not homogeneous. We first illustrate a procedure, based on heat kernels, useful to deal with situations where the dual and chiral condensates (as well as any smooth background field eventually present) are slowly or rapidly varying functions in space. Then we discuss a different approach based on the density of states method and on the use of Tauberian theorems to handle the case of arbitrary chemical potentials. As a trial application, we consider the case of constant curvature spacetimes and show how to compute numerically the dual fermion condensate in the case of both homogeneous and inhomogeneous phases.


Mathematical and computational oncology has increased the pace of cancer research towards the advancement of personalized therapy. Serving the pressing need to exploit the large amounts of currently underutilized data, such approaches bring a significant clinical advantage in tailoring the therapy. CHIMERA is a novel system that combines mechanistic modelling and machine learning for personalized chemotherapy and surgery sequencing in breast cancer. It optimizes decision-making in personalized breast cancer therapy by connecting tumor growth behaviour and chemotherapy effects through predictive modelling and learning. We demonstrate the capabilities of CHIMERA in learning simultaneously the tumor growth patterns, across several types of breast cancer, and the pharmacokinetics of a typical breast cancer chemotoxic drug. The learnt functions are subsequently used to predict how to sequence the intervention. We demonstrate the versatility of CHIMERA in learning from tumor growth and pharmacokinetics data to provide robust predictions under two, typically used, chemotherapy protocol hypotheses.


Two medical specialties have seen technological advances that have major impacts on society: assisted reproduction and neonatology. The former is responsible for a 400% increase in multiple pregnancies of three or more. Prematurity and severe birth complications have gone up proportionally. Micropreemies are born as early as 23 weeks of gestational age, weighing about 700 grams. Neonatology endeavors to keep these micropreemies alive with a rising rate of success. For micropreemies, life from birth onwards is charged with continuous traumatic stress physically, emotionally, and psychologically. In the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), the heroics of the medical staff are possible because of their dedication, modern technologies, and pharmaceuticals as described in the book Baby ER by Edward Humes. The preemies who do survive suffer endlessly through medical emergency procedures, surgeries, tests, transfusions, and toxic medications, etc. Especially the micropreemies, fed by gavage tubes inserted directly into their stomachs, hooked on ventilators, oxygen tubes, pumps, intravenous lines, sense pads, and other wires, go through near death experiences while in the NICU for months on end. Parents are not able to deal with extremely and very prematurely born children. Beyond the visible and easily discernible disabilities such as seizures, cerebral palsy, organ damage, retinopathy, etc., studies are finally catching up in showing that developmental delays, motor, speech, cognitive, and behavioral problems show up later to varying degrees. Still missing in the literature are anecdotal testimonies from the micropreemies grown into maturity.


Chronic total coronary occlusion (CTO) remains a major problem for percutaneous revascularization, with relatively low primary success rates and a high incidence of restenosis and reocclusion compared with those of subtotal stenoses. No reproducible animal model simulating human CTOs has previously been developed. We hypothesized that an apatite‐coated bioabsorbable polymer sponge could be implanted to produce calcified CTO lesions in animal coronary arteries/peripheral arteries. A total of 10 swine and six rabbits were used for this study. The apatite‐coated bioabsorbable polymer sponges were implanted into a preselected segment of coronary and peripheral arteries. Four weeks after implantation, both angiography and histopathology were performed to document the presence or absence of CTO lesions. We could reproducibly develop CTO lesions in animal coronary/peripheral arteries that mimic human CTO lesions. These lesions were found to have microvascular channels and microcalcification similar to those of human older CTO lesions and demonstrate the development of adventitial arterioles, a consistent finding in human CTO. This CTO model might provide a platform for evaluating future CTO technologies as well as contributing to a better understanding of CTOs in both educational and practical terms. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


We used ultrasound-microwave comodification and enzyme modification (cellulase and hemicellulase) methods to extract soluble dietary fibers (SDFs) from black soybean hulls. Moreover, the structure, physical, and chemical properties, as well as the cholesterol-binding capacity of SDFs before and after modification were analyzed. The average molecular weight of SDFs extracted from raw black soybean hulls was 2.815 × 105  Da. By comparison, the average molecular weight of SDFs from ultrasound-microwave comodified hulls and enzyme-modified hulls decreased by 33.21% and 45.29%, respectively. The water-holding capacity (WHC), water-swelling capacity (WSC), and oil-holding capacity (OHC) of the extracted SDFs modified by the ultrasound-microwave method were 3.79 g/g, 1.39 mL/g, and 1.14 g/g, respectively, a 9.54%, 23.01%, and 17.53% increase from the values of raw SDF. The WHC, WSC, and OHC of SDFs modified via the enzyme method were 3.59 g/g, 1.25 mL/g, and 1.03 g/g, respectively, with a 3.76%, 10.62%, and 6.19% increase when compared to raw SDFs. The cholesterol-binding capacity of SDFs modified via the ultrasound-microwave and enzyme methods was 13.82 and 12.34 mg/g, respectively, with an increase of 47.98% and 32.20% when compared to raw SDFs. The changes in structure and physical and chemical properties were shown to be closely related to the significantly improved cholesterol-binding capacity of the SDFs from modified black soybean hulls. This provides a theoretical basis for subsequent research and development of black soybean hulls products. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: At present, the black soybean hull, a byproduct of general grains, is usually abandoned, but black soybean hull is rich in dietary fiber. Enzymatic modification and ultrasound-microwave comodification were used to treat black soybean hull to prepare small molecular weight, highly active soluble dietary fiber. This research is of great significance to the deep processing of black soybean hull and improvement of the economic benefits of black soybean byproducts.


Summary: Both pathogenic and normal enteric microflora can induce and perpetuate chronic intestinal inflammation with systemic manifestations in genetically susceptible hosts. At the present time, there is no convincing indication that the majority of cases of ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease is caused by persistent infection by Mycobacterium paratuberculosis, measles, Listeria monocytogenes, or Helicobacter species, but this possibility remains a valid hypothesis. Transient infection with any of a number of pathogens including upper respiratory tract infections and common enteric pathogens could provide one of the environmental triggers that initiate or reactivate IBD, which is then perpetuated in susceptible hosts by resident (not pathogenic) commensal luminal bacteria. Recent results in animal models demonstrate the absence of colitis, gastritis, and arthritis in a sterile (germ‐free) environment, showing the importance of resident bacteria as persistent antigenic stimuli in the genetically susceptible hosts. Furthermore, there is an indication that not all normal luminal bacteria have equal capacities to induce mucosal injury, since some species can induce inflammation (Bacteroides), some are neutral (E. coli) and others may be protective (Lactobacilli). These observations have important therapeutic implications, such that altering luminal bacterial components and thereby decreasing the persistent antigenic drive offer alternative or adjuvant approaches to ongoing efforts to block mucosal immune responses to these stimuli.


In this paper, we show how a 3D Morphable Model (i.e. a statistical model of the 3D shape of a class of objects such as faces) can be used to spatially transform input data as a module (a 3DMM-STN) within a convolutional neural network. This is an extension of the original spatial transformer network in that we are able to interpret and normalise 3D pose changes and self-occlusions. The trained localisation part of the network is independently useful since it learns to fit a 3D morphable model to a single image. We show that the localiser can be trained using only simple geometric loss functions on a relatively small dataset yet is able to perform robust normalisation on highly uncontrolled images including occlusion, self-occlusion and large pose changes.


A gas chromatography/ion trap mass spectrometry method was used for the trace analysis of atrazine and its deethylated degradation product deethylatrazine in environmental water and sediment samples. The isotope dilution technique was applied for the quantitative analysis of atrazine at parts-per-trillion levels. Water samples were pre-concentrated by solid-phase extraction using a C18 cartridge while the sediment samples were extracted by sonication with methanol. The concentrated extracts were analysed by a GC/ion trap MS operated in the MS/MS method. The extraction recoveries for the analytes were better than 83% when 1 L of water or 10 g of sediment was analysed. The method detection limits were 0.75 ng/L and 0.13 ng/g for atrazine and deethylatrazine detected in water and sediment, respectively. The precisions of the method represented by the relative standard deviation were in the range of 3.2-16.1%. The method was successfully applied to analyse surface water and sediment samples collected from Beijing Guanting reservoir. Trace levels of atrazine at 35.9-217.3 ng/L and 2.4-8.4 ng/g were detected in the water and sediment samples, respectively. The levels of deethylatrazine were five to 20 times lower that those of atrazine.


Financial firms and family offices are increasingly affected by and involved with the personal and relationship issues of client family. This reality challenges a firm to help families in a way that is very different from providing financial services. For most relationship managers (RMs) who are the interface between the client and the firm, this is a new area in which they are neither trained nor comfortable. This article outlines the ways that family-dynamics issues impact multigenerational family decisions and how the RM becomes involved in these decisions. The authors present a typography of the competencies needed by RMs to serve families in this way. Next, they explore how the RM can develop these client relationship skills and define the key elements needed so that an RM is competent in handling these issues as they arise. Finally, the authors look at the challenges that arise within the financial firms and family offices as they support their client families with these services. We suggest some ways that RMs and their firms can effectively combine family-dynamics services with their financial advising.


Engaging parents and families to help make education more aligned with innovative pedagogy is critical if change efforts to education are to be sustained. Therefore, building trusting relationships and confidence among parents to participate in the education process is essential. This Spotlight project aims to identify and promote impactful and scalable solutions that support the engagement of parents with their child's education. This project is a collaboration between HundrED, Kidsburgh, the Center for Universal Education (CUE) at Brookings, and IDEO with financial support provided by The Grable Foundation.


This article offers a theory of the notion 'reference culture' by taking as major examples modernity and Europe. Both constitute reference cultures and while different are closely related. A certain entanglement took place between the emergence of modernity and the formation of European culture whereby the latter came to be one of the main carriers of modernity. However, they need to be separated in that Europe, while being the first major expression of modernity, is not the only embodiment of modernity. Modernity can be termed a first-order reference culture and Europe a second-order one. While there have been many second-order reference cultures, the European one was an influential and powerful one, but it was also a temporary one. This article sets out the main features that define the specificity of Europe. Against accounts that emphasize a master narrative or an underlying cultural unity to Europe, it is argued that crucial to the making of Europe was the formation of modes of communication that enabled common practices to develop across a range of different cultures. In this way, it is argued, Europe consolidated as a consequence less of endogenous factors than exogenous ones. Important, too, was the mobile nature of European culture which facilitated translation into other cultures and which was also receptive to modernity. The twentieth century has witnessed the emergence of other varieties of modernity and the global decline of the European model.


Japan, throughout her history has long dealt with disasters, has recorded disasters, developed technologies to confront disasters. Even in recent two centuries when modern scientific observation was introduced, has accumulated experience of confronting with typhoons, earthquakes and tsunamis. rough these bier experiences, Japan was prepared against strong M8 class earthquakes and tsunamis of 30 to 150 year return period. However the 11 March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake was brought by a crustal movement far greater than the Jogan Earthquake 1100 years back in history. On the other hand, structural and non-structural earthquake countermeasures based on the experiences previous earthquakes have proven to be effective in earthquake disaster risk reduction. New technologies based on the latest scientific knowledge have proven its great value. ese experiences are being shared with the international comunity and will be further shared on the occasion of the ird WCDRR in March 2015.


Abstract Context: Commiphora myrrha (Burseraceae), a shrub resembling a small tree, has been used for several centuries for the treatment of various diseases. Objective: This study investigates the hepatoprotective activity of C. myrrha ethanol extract against d-galactosamine/lipopolysaccharide (d-GalN/LPS)-induced acute hepatic injury in an animal model. Materials and methods: Rats were pretreated with ethanolic extract C. myrrha (250 and 500 mg/kg; p.o.) for 7 d prior to the induction of an acute phase response by d-GalN/LPS. Animals were sacrificed 24 h after d-GalN/LPS (800 mg/kg and 50 µg/kg i.p.) administration for the biochemical and histological analyses. Results: The administration of d-GalN/LPS increased plasma aminotransferases (174.47 ± 4.5761 and 260.96 ± 1.9839 µkat/l) and total bilirubin levels (1.012 ± 0.0288 mg/dl), which were attenuated by C. myrrha treatment. Hepatic lipid peroxidation activity and nitric oxide content also increased, while the antioxidant activity measured by GSH (0.76 nmol/g protein), SOD (81.91 U/mg protein), and CAT (15.78 U/mg protein) was reduced. Commiphora myrrha provided significant restoration of GSH (0.815 nmol/gm protein), SOD (140.57 U/mg protein), and CAT (27.02 U/mg protein) levels. Furthermore, the acute phase response elicited by d-GalN/LPS administration enhanced mRNA expressions of TNF-α, IL-6, IL-10, iNOS-2, and HO-1, which were ameliorated by C. myrrha treatment. Discussion and conclusion: These findings indicate that C. myrrha considerably reduces the oxidative stress of d-GalN/LPS-induced hepatic injury via multiple pathways including adown regulation of inflammatory mediators and cytokines. Such a property might be sufficient to combat cellular damage caused by various conditions that resemble fulminant hepatitis and could be of a potential clinical application.


This paper presents a number of experimental and theoretical investigations into the structural behaviour of cold-formed steel structures with bolted connections. Firstly, the basic deformation characteristics of bolted fastenings between cold-formed steel strips in lap shear tests is described, and advanced finite element modelling with solid elements as well as contact elements is carried out for comparison. Secondly, the structural behaviour of lapped Z sections with bolted moment connections is reported, and both analytical and numerical predictions on strength and stiffness of lapped Z sections are presented. Finally, the structural performance of double span lapped Z purlins is investigated numerically where the effects of lapped Z sections over internal supports on the internal force distributions along the purlin members are examined. The description is intended to provide both analysis and design methods as well as understandings to structural engineers, enabling them to design and build cold-formed steel structures rationally with improved structural performance.


Weibull distribution is the most popular distribution in wind speed energy literature. However, in real life, the wind speed data may not always modelled by Weibull distribution. An alternative in modeling wind speed data is the inverse Weibull distribution. Inverse Weibull distribution is modifications from the Weibull distribution with the transformation variables. Marshall and Olkin (1997) introduced an interesting method of adding a parameter to a well established distribution so we extend the Invers Weibull distribution by the Marshall-Olkin method (IWMO). The probability density function (pdf), cumulative distribution function (cdf), hazard rate, survival function, moment and quantiles of IWMO are derived. We also discuss the estimation of the model parameters by maximum likelihood. The IWMO distribution was applied to wind speed data. The results were given which illustrate the IWMO distribution and were compared to Weibull distribution and Inverse Weibull distribution. Model comparison using the log likelihood, AIC, and BIC showed that IWMO fit the data better than the other distributions.


Sport hunting has provided important economic incentives for conserving large predators since the early 1970's, but wildlife managers also face substantial pressure to reduce depredation. Sport hunting is an inherently risky strategy for controlling predators as carnivore populations are difficult to monitor and some species show a propensity for infanticide that is exacerbated by removing adult males. Simulation models predict population declines from even moderate levels of hunting in infanticidal species, and harvest data suggest that African countries and U.S. states with the highest intensity of sport hunting have shown the steepest population declines in African lions and cougars over the past 25 yrs. Similar effects in African leopards may have been masked by mesopredator release owing to declines in sympatric lion populations, whereas there is no evidence of overhunting in non-infanticidal populations of American black bears. Effective conservation of these animals will require new harvest strategies and improved monitoring to counter demands for predator control by livestock producers and local communities.


We describe and analyze two receivers for turbo space-time codes. These are doubly-iterative, and include iterations for turbo decoding as well as for spatial-interference canceling. The first receiver has a minimum-mean-square-error filter preceding the canceler, while in the second one the filter follows the canceler. The latter outperforms the former at the price of a modest complexity increase.


Two methods of detoxification were administered to 149 heroin addicts in an ambulatory hospital setting—a self-determined reduction schedule and a standard physician-administered schedule. Twice as many of the self-regulated group completed detoxification as the physician-controlled group, irrespective of initial dose levels. The mean time taken for the self-regulated group was 22 days. Implications of these results are discussed in terms of the addicts' involvement in a self-regulated treatment and the limitations of the federal guidelines for methadone use.


Gothic aesthetics features a series of motifs such as darkness, horror, and the use of space and time in the form of graveyards, cemeteries, or ancient torn castles to reflect upon the forces of destruction and dominance that mirror vampires' personality. Whereas former traditional vampires of the eighteenth and nineteenth-century Gothic literature predominantly depict Freudian elements when building their persona, contemporary vampire forms arise from more complex discourses of gender and racial nature that explain the evolution of vampire personality within the Gothic framework. Such external construction of Gothic imagery responds to a gender and race discourse of Gothic vampires' white masculine personality and its evolution into new discourses of morality, ethics, and symbiotic behavior that alter the traditional conceptions of masculinity in order to redefine new grounds in terms of diluted images of masculinity that help shape the vampire beyond its traditional image.


Process Model and Control System for the Glass Fiber Drawing Process Songke Liu Drawing of glass fibers is an important industrial process used for manufacture of a variety of materials ranging from optical communications cables to fiber filter media. A variety of machines exist for performing the drawing function, but all share similar problems with control of the fiber diameters and breakage of the fibers during the extrusion process. In many cases, control systems are not configured to monitor the most critical process variables-temperature of molten glass in the furnace, but instead use only furnace crown temperature. Upsets in disturbance variables such as ambient temperature are compensated manually by operators, usually only after significant problems with fiber breakage occur. This work seeks to provide better understanding of the effects of important process variables on the key quality and production parameters such as fiber diameter and production rates, and to develop an effective control model to monitor molten glass temperature and winder speed for good production quality even if some disturbance happens. First an analytical model of the glass fiber based primarily on Glicksman's work was developed, with the addition of a radiative heat transfer component and the addition of temperature-dependent relationships for physical properties of soda-lime glass. The model is valid for fibers in the central attenuation region, where most of fiber attenuation and breakage happens. Parametric studies have been done using the model to evaluate the effects of variation in the ambient temperature and variation of the molten glass depth in the furnace. These studies have shown that even modest changes ambient temperature and molten glass depth can generate significant changes in the final diameter of the glass fibers. Based on those results, a state space model of the furnace has been constructed and used as the basis of a state reduced-order estimator to provide an accurate estimate of the temperature of the molten glass at the furnace bottom. A LQR controller with a reference input was applied in the model for bottom glass temperature control. A winder speed controller has been developed in parallel in order to compensate for the long time delay between application of burner firing rate changes and the response of the thermal system. Then multivariable control analysis was done on variation of ambient temperature and variation of molten glass depth. The control model manipulates both the winder speed and the burner firing rate, bringing the process back to design conditions even if some disturbance occurs, and allows greater flexibility and more accurate quality control for the glass fiber drawing process. Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Songke Liu


Approximately 30 percent of epilepsy patients suffer from refractory temporal lobe epilepsy which is commonly treated with resection of the epileptogenic tissue. However, surgical treatment presents many challenges in locating the epileptogenic focus and thus not all patients become seizure-free following surgery. Advances in techniques can lead to improved localization of the epileptogenic zone and may be validated by correlating MRI with neuropathology of the excised cortical tissue. Focal cortical dysplasias are a neuropathological group of cortical malformations that are often found in cases of refractory epilepsy, however, they are subtle and difficult to quantify. The purpose of this research is to employ histology image analysis techniques to better characterize these abnormalities at the neuronal and laminar level, allowing for correlative MRI-histology studies and improved lesion detection in medically intractable TLE.


Purpose Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an ongoing infectious disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) agent, and is generally known as novel coronavirus. The impact of the disease has had apparent effects on health, social, and economic levels. This study aimed to investigate the epidemiologic features, clinical presentations, laboratory examination, and outcomes of COVID-19 patients in Jordan. Patients and Methods This retrospective study included all COVID-19 patients admitted to the quarantine center at King Abdullah University Hospital in Jordan between March 16 and May 21, 2020. Patient information was abstracted from hospital electronic records and included patient demographics, symptoms, comorbidities, laboratory tests, infection period, and outcome. Results Approximately 42% of the quarantined individuals were asymptomatic. The majority of symptomatic patients had mild to moderate symptoms of the disease. Only ten patients (9.3%) had severe symptoms, with one of them progressed to a critical stage and died 15 days after admission. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and D-dimer levels were significantly elevated in many patients. More than two-thirds (69.8%) of the symptomatic patients were females. Elevated ESR and LDH levels, along with longer periods of infection, were significantly associated with symptomatic patients. Conclusion A large proportion of Jordanian patients were asymptomatic carriers of the virus. This finding emphasizes the importance of a continuous surveillance process to discover these contagious carriers to control the disease spread. Additionally, we suggest that future analyses should investigate for sexual variation in the inflammatory response to this viral infection since most of our symptomatic patients were females. Finally, the role of ESR and LDH biomarkers should be investigated further for the possibility of earlier identification of patients with greater risk.


Although ambiguous and conflicting sensory information from different sensory modalities is common, people seldom experience perceptual ambiguities or conflict between senses. Just as the retinal nerve blind spot is "filled in" and seldom seen, conflicting or otherwise confusing sensory information is resolved in favor of the most appropriate modality, eliminating the confusion from conscious experience. The ventriloquism effect and auditory driving are two examples of perceptual phenomena arising from this sensory override. This research explores the hypothesis that velocity perception is subject to the same effects. Subjects were presented with two bimodal (auditory-visual) stimulus pairs and asked to determine which of the visual stimuli was moving faster. In a V2A2/V2A1 condition, participants responded significantly more frequently that the first visual stimulus was faster than in any non-target condition. This effect was not found for V2A2/V2A3 trials.


Whangarei City has a dying Commercial Centre. This has resulted from population shifts that have occurred over time. Significant issues have driven movement of people toward much larger cities (seeking better economic, cultural and social outcomes) and more spacious urban fringes (seeking improved environmental outcomes). The Whangarei CBD incorporates both the dying Commercial Centre and a thriving Town Basin which is the centre for Arts and Recreation within the city. The two areas are a juxtaposition. The investigation reveals reasons why two such contrasting areas exist and defines a design solution that seeks to resolve this and leverages the success of the Town Basin to revive the Commercial Centre. The aim of this thesis is to investigate ways that architecture can be used to invigorate Whangarei's dying Commercial Centre by creating a place of activity, engagement and informal learning and by re-establishing the important connection Whangarei has with its river as well as other positives within the city.   Thesis objectives:  • Identify the reasons for the decline of the Commercial Centre and the success of the Town Basin and how a connection can be established between the two.  • Establish a beating heart within the dying Commercial Centre and provide a life source in the form of people movement into the centre from all parts of the city.  • Provide dynamic spaces which encourage informal learning, social interaction, playfulness and creativity that will engage the people of Whangarei including youth and children.  • Use the natural environment as a means of engaging people of all ages by weaving together water, a restored ecology and architecture.


Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic is an international public health crisis without precedent in the last century. The novelty and rapid spread of the virus have added a new urgency to the availability and distribution of reliable information to help curb its fatal potential. As seasoned and trusted purveyors of reliable public information, librarians have attempted to respond to the "infodemic" of fake news, disinformation, and propaganda with a variety of strategies, but the COVID-19 pandemic presents a unique challenge because of the deadly stakes involved. The seriousness of the current situation requires that librarians and associated professionals re-evaluate the ethical basis of their approach to information provision to counter the growing prominence of conspiracy theories in the public sphere and official decision making. This paper analyzes the conspiracy mindset and specific COVID-19 conspiracy theories in discussing how libraries might address the problems of truth and untruth in ethically sound ways. As a contribution to the re-evaluation we propose, the paper presents an ethical framework based on alethic rights—or rights to truth—as conceived by Italian philosopher Franca D'Agostini and how these might inform professional approaches that support personal safety, open knowledge, and social justice.


A new vibroseis acquisition technique, which uses HFVS (High Fidelity Vibrator Seismic) separation with continuous sweeping, results in unsurpassed production rates and at the same time excellent data quality. With Continuous HFVS, there is no waiting for between sweep listening times or for between vibrator slip times. All vibrators sweep simultaneously using a long segmented sweep and then move to the next shot points. Calculated production rates are as great or greater than other high productivity methods, particularly with multi-fleet flip-flop operations. In processing, each long data record is parsed into individual segments and separated with the HFVS technique. Separation with C-HFVS is as good as standard HFVS separation. Cross contamination of signal from the vibrator points being acquired simultaneously is not observable in the output records. As long as the sweep segment length is greater than 1.5 times the listening time, the noise quality is comparable to that of HFVS, since harmonic interference noise from sweeping during the listening time is limited to times near the end of the sweep segment.


Fiduxosin is an alpha(1)-adrenoceptor antagonist with higher affinity for alpha(1A)-adrenoceptors and for alpha(1D)-adrenoceptors than for alpha(1B)-adrenoceptors. Our hypothesis is that such a compound with higher affinity for subtypes implicated in the control of lower urinary tract function and lower affinity for a subtype implicated in the control of arterial pressure could result in a superior clinical profile for the treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms suggestive of benign prostatic obstruction. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potency and selectivity of fiduxosin for effects on prostatic intraurethral pressure (IUP) versus mean arterial pressure (MAP) relative to current clinical standards, terazosin and tamsulosin, in conscious dogs. Phenylephrine (PE)-induced increases in IUP and MAP were determined before and at various time points after an oral dose of each antagonist. Hypotensive potency was also determined. All three antagonists caused dose- and time-dependent blockade of the IUP and MAP pressor effects of PE. The IUP ED(50) values of fiduxosin, tamsulosin, and terazosin were 0.24, 0.004, and 0.23 mg/kg p.o., respectively. The corresponding MAP ED(50) values were 1.79, 0.006, and 0.09 mg/kg p.o. The rank order of IUP selectivity (ratio) was fiduxosin (7.5-fold), tamsulosin (1.5-fold), and terazosin (0.4 = 2.5-fold MAP-selective). Tamsulosin and terazosin caused dose-dependent hypotension, whereas no change in arterial pressure was seen after fiduxosin. These data, illustrating a superior selectivity profile of fiduxosin, are consistent with our hypothesis.


Aspartic proteases are common in eukaryotes and retroviruses but are relatively rare among bacteria (N. D. Rawlings and A. Bateman, BMC Genomics 10:437, 2009, https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2164-10-437). In contrast to eukaryotic aspartic proteases, bacterial aspartic proteases are generally located in the cytoplasm. We have identified a surface-associated mycobacterial aspartic protease, PecA, which cleaves itself and many other type VII secretion substrates of the PE_PGRS family. PecA is present in most pathogenic mycobacterial species, including M. tuberculosis. In addition, pathogenicity of M. marinum is reduced in the ΔpecA mutant, indicating that PecA contributes to virulence. ABSTRACT Tuberculosis, one of the world's most severe infectious diseases, is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. A major weapon of this pathogen is a unique cell wall that protects the pathogen from eradication by the immune system. Mycobacteria have specialized secretion systems, e.g., type VII secretion or ESX systems, to transport substrates across this cell wall. The largest group of proteins that are secreted by these ESX systems are the PE proteins. Previously, it was shown that the N-terminal PE domain of about 100 amino acids is required for secretion. Here, we describe the identification of an aspartic protease, designated PecA, that removes (part of) this PE domain at the cell surface. Nearly all of the observed PE_PGRS proteins are processed by PecA. Interestingly, the protease itself is also a secreted PE protein and subject to self-cleavage. Furthermore, a defect in surface processing has no effect on the activity of the PE lipase protein LipY but does seem to affect the functioning of other virulence factors, as a pecA mutant strain of Mycobacterium marinum shows moderate attenuation in zebrafish larvae. In conclusion, our results reveal the presence of a functional aspartic acid protease in M. marinum that cleaves LipY, itself as well as other members of the PE_PGRS family. Finally, mutants lacking PecA show growth attenuation in vivo, suggesting that PecA plays a role during infection. IMPORTANCE Aspartic proteases are common in eukaryotes and retroviruses but are relatively rare among bacteria (N. D. Rawlings and A. Bateman, BMC Genomics 10:437, 2009, https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2164-10-437). In contrast to eukaryotic aspartic proteases, bacterial aspartic proteases are generally located in the cytoplasm. We have identified a surface-associated mycobacterial aspartic protease, PecA, which cleaves itself and many other type VII secretion substrates of the PE_PGRS family. PecA is present in most pathogenic mycobacterial species, including M. tuberculosis. In addition, pathogenicity of M. marinum is reduced in the ΔpecA mutant, indicating that PecA contributes to virulence.


The outcome of a major evolutionary transition is the aggregation of independent entities into a new synergetic level of organisation. Classical models involve either pairwise interactions between individuals or a linear superposition of these interactions. However, major evolutionary transitions display synergetic effects: their outcome is not just the sum of its parts. Multiplayer games can display such synergies, as their payoff can be different from the sum of any collection of two-player interactions. Assuming that all interactions start from pairs, how can synergetic multiplayer games emerge from simpler pairwise interaction? Here, we present a mathematical model that captures the transition from pairwise interactions to synergetic multiplayer ones. We assume that different social groups have different breaking rates. We show that non-uniform breaking rates do foster the emergence of synergy, even though individuals always interact in pairs. Our work sheds new light on the mechanisms underlying a major evolutionary transition.


OBJECTIVE
Current molecular characterization of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) does not incorporate the host reaction to cancer cells and cannot predict the response to chemo- or immunotherapy. Leptin is an adipokine involved in regulating energy balance with a possible role in the development of obesity-associated cancers, but its relationship with other pathways in pancreatic carcinogenesis has not been established yet. The aim of this prospective study was to assess the involvement of leptin and phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) in the survival of overweight and/or diabetic patients with PDAC.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
A total of 112 patients were included, 56 diagnosed with PDAC and 56 age and sex-matched healthy controls, with a maximum follow-up of 24-months. The circulating leptin, interleukin 1-beta, tumor factor necrosis-alpha, and PI3K were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A multivariate Cox regression model was used to determine the factors influencing survival.

RESULTS
The serum levels of leptin [38.5 (31.6-47.0) pg/ml] and other cytokines in PDAC patients were similar to controls, irrespective of the presence of diabetes. No significant correlation between the biomarkers was found. In obese and overweight patients, the leptin level and survival rate were lower than in non-obese patients.

CONCLUSIONS
The leptin level was not associated with the presence of PDAC, although it was lower in obese and overweight patients who had lower survival. No association with inflammatory biomarkers or PI3K was noted. Furthermore, leptin levels had no independent role in survival, suggesting that the prognostic role of obesity in PDAC is based on a different pathway.


The 'Hong Kong' halo-pelvic traction frame is widely used for correcting spinal deformation and as a holding apparatus for spinal operations. A study at Queen Mary's Hospital for Children, Carshalton, suggested that there were considerable possibilities for improvement. Firstly the supporting rods are cranked and do not apply the forces in a linear mode, whilst a reduction in the number of flexible joints would improve stability. Secondly, and more important, the accuracy of the measurement of forces applied is capable of considerable improvement and this would markedly reduce the possibility that undesirably large forces could be used. An improved frame has now been designed, manufactured and tested intensively. In this new design the supporting rods are straight whilst the forces applied are measured by means of potentiometric sensor in each rod, with read-out on a meter calibrated in kilograms. The frame has been fitted to one patient with satisfactory results.


Background and aim Hypothermia is limiting neurological sequela after perinatal asphyxia. Still a significant number of infants have minimal effect of the treatment. Adjuvant neuroprotective strategies are therefore needed. In animal studies the phytocannabinoid Cannabidiol (CBD) has shown great promise as a neuroprotective agent. The aim of this study was to explore the neuroprotective properties of CBD after hypoxia ischemia in newborn piglets. Materials and method 54 anaesthetised piglets (age 12–36 h) were randomised to either undergo global hypoxia (n = 48) until the base excess reached -20 mmol/L or the mean arterial blood pressure dropped below 20 mm Hg or to the SHAM group (n = 6). After hypoxia piglets were randomised to the different study groups : Hypoxia+CBD (1 mg/kg) (n = 12), Hypoxia+CBD(1 mg/kg)+hypothermia (n = 12), hypoxia (n = 12) or hypoxia+hypothermia (n = 12). 9,5 h after end of hypoxia the piglets were euthanized and samples from hippocampus were snap frozen in liquid nitrogen. Levels of lactate (lac), n-acetylaspartate (NAA) and glutamate (glu) were measured by proton-magnetic-resonance-spectroscopy (H±-MRS)- and ratios predictive of neurodevelopmental outcome after hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy in newborns where calculated (lac/NAA and glu/NAA). Outliers > 2,5 SD away from mean were removed before analysis. Results Abstract PO-0483d Figure 1 Abstract PO-0483d Figure 2 Discussion Hypoxia significantly increased both Lac/NAA and Glu/NAA ratios. Hypothermia groups were comparable to SHAM while there were no significant effects of CBD on these MRS biomarkers. The difference in the way of inducing and the severity of hypoxia-ischemia in our model might explain this lack of effect compared to previously published studies.


We report precision Doppler measurements of three intermediate-mass subgiants obtained at Lick and Keck Observatories. All three stars show variability in their radial velocities consistent with planet-mass companions in Keplerian orbits. We find a planet with a minimum mass MP sin i = 2.5 MJ in a 351.5 day orbit around HD 192699, a planet with a minimum mass of 2.0 MJ in a 341.1 day orbit around HD 210702, and a planet with a minimum mass of 0.61 MJ in a 297.3 day orbit around HD 175541. Mass estimates from stellar interior models indicate that all three stars were formerly A-type, main-sequence dwarfs with masses ranging from 1.65 to 1.85 M☉. These three long-period planets would not have been detectable during their stars' main-sequence phases due to the large rotational velocities and stellar jitter exhibited by early-type dwarfs. There are now nine "retired" (evolved) A-type stars (M* > 1.6 M☉) with known planets. All nine planets orbit at distances a ≥ 0.78 AU, which is significantly different from the semimajor axis distribution of planets around lower mass stars.


In recent years, the multi-cores and General-Purpose GPU (GPGPU) architectures have become general platforms for various of parallel applications, with lots of parallel algorithms being proposed for this interesting persperctive. In this report, we study and develop a particular kind of artificial neural network (ANN), in hopfield model, to solve some optimization problems, since it has a highly parallel nature. Section 1 introduces the context of the problem and the linked topics of this internship. In Section 2, we synthesize some previous work in this domain. In section 3, we study the parallel mechanism and propose the algorithm to realize this neural network. Section 4 interprets the method we use to map the neural network structure. Section 5 discusses the implementation details of simulations of hopfield networks on GPU. In section 6, we comment on the results and the performances compared with the CPU implementation.


Recent incidents outside Canada prompted the Canadian Energy Regulator (CER), the British Columbia Oil & Gas Commission (BCOGC) and the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) to advise pipeline operators regarding the possibility of girth weld strain-induced failures in high strength pipe. In early 2020, the CER issued a Safety Advisory (SA) relating to the possibility of girth weld strain-induced failures in high strength (Grade X 70 or higher) steel line pipe. There was a concern that similar incidents could occur in Canada, given comparable conditions. Furthermore, the SA stated that.... "The CER expects that regulated companies can demonstrate that longitudinal strains resulting from loadings such as those described in Section 4.2.4 of CSA Z662-19 [essentially external loading over and above typical operating loads] have been accounted for in the design, construction and operation of pipelines where strain could potentially accumulate in under-matched girth welds".
 With respect to the SA, the failure causes were consistently linked to combinations of:
 i) high strength pipe with a minimum tensile strength exceeding actual weld strength values,
 ii) girth weld HAZ softening as a result of the welding process,
 iii) loads applied to the pipeline causing additional longitudinal strain, and
 iv) pipes welded with a standard bevel and alignment of approximately 45° between the heat affected zone (HAZ) and the root bead.
 Emera New Brunswick (Emera) initiated an assessment of the 30 inch diameter, 145 km long, API 5L Grade X70 Brunswick Pipeline that evaluated:
 i) pipeline material, welding and construction records with respect to specified requirements, and
 ii) the propensity of the pipeline to external loading via the analysis of repeat inertial measurement unit (IMU) data and a geohazard review of locations exhibiting bending strain to understand the stability of the pipeline in relation to potential external loading.
 This paper describes the systematic approach taken to address the potential concerns, the key results and recommendations of the study and how Emera has incorporated those findings into processes within its management system and protection programs.


The use of chemically modified XAD-4-1,2-bis (o-aminophenylthio) ethane chelating resin for preconcentrating Cr6+, Mn2+, Fe3+, Co2+, Cu2+, Cd2+, Zn2+, Pb2+, and Ni2+ was studied using flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) for metal monitoring in environmental samples. Cd2+, Zn2+, Pb2+, and Ni2+ ions were quantitatively recovered at the rate of 96.0%, 101.0%, 101.0%, and 95.0%, respectively (RSD < 5%), from the studied solutions. The procedure is based on the retention of analytes on a short column of 1,2-bis (o-aminophenylthio) ethane-XAD-4 chelating resin from a buffered sample solution and subsequent elution with 1 M HNO3. Various parameters, such as pH, eluent type, and concentration, flow rate of sample solution and matrix interference effect on the retention of the metal ions have been studied. The optimum pH for the sorption of the above-mentioned metal ions was about 6. The adsorption and batch capacity of adsorbent and loading half time (t1/2) for Ni2+, Zn2+, Cd2+, and Pb2+ were established. The limit of detection was 3.0 m g L-1 for Pb2+ and Ni2+, 0.6 m g L-1 for Cd2+, and 0.3 m g L-1 for Zn2+. The validation of the procedure was carried out by analysis of certified reference materials and standard addition. The proposed enrichment method was applied to environmental samples from Trabzon.


Abstract The paper considers the transition of an economy from non-renewable to renewable energy. We set up a canonical growth model with damages in the household's welfare function and two energy sources – non-renewable and renewable energy. To produce renewable energy a capital stock must be built up. A socially optimal solution is considered that takes into account the negative externality from the non-renewable energy. We also study how the optimal solution can be mimicked in a market economy by policies using subsidies and tax rates. To solve the model numerically, we use Nonlinear Model Predictive Control. We study when a transition to renewable energy takes place and whether it occurs before the non-renewable resource is exhausted. In addition, we analyze the impact of the initial values of the non-renewable resource and of the capital stock on the time of paths of the variables.


Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) as with most engineering disciplines can be incorporated in a cost effective manner if thought of early in the design stage of the project. Whether the project is focused on PC board design or large scale facility design, properly applying EMC basic practices as early as possible will minimize the costs and issues associated with having to address EMC after the project has been completed. Numerous cases have shown that EMC field problems are primarily attributed to the lack of attention to basic EMC practices during initial design. In may cases the EMC practices have been misapplied or neglected all together. This paper covers some practices associated with basic EMC facility design. These basic practices include grounding, cable management, and cable terminations.


All the citizens are engaged in various activities depending on the knowledge availability of funds and feasibility of return from the activities to generate income for meeting the basic requirements of the human being. After meeting the basic requirements if there is any balance, it is kept as the saving which can be utilized for the future requirement. If the saving of the individual is kept in the home or locker, there will not be any return from the saving. Instead of keeping the savings idle without any income. If is invested in the outside, adequate income may be generated from the savings. Hence all the people try to invest the amount saved in various nature of investment to get maximum return. The investors based on their choice select different area for investment share market is considered one of the best are of investment. Normally in all business goods and services are bought and sold. While in the share market shares, debentures and bonds issued by the Government and Public limited companies are bought and sold. In olden days due to lake of adequate literacy the awareness about the share market was very poor. After some time some of the people entered in share market business directly. Some of item involved in share business with the help of agents and brokers. All most all business there is a possibility for getting profit or loss in the business. But in most of the business if it is managed properly with planned mechanism, surely we can expect considerable return from the business based on the volume of capital invested in it. We have developed well in all business when compared with the status of business development at the time of independence. Government employees in Madurai have considerable savings as the cost of living of the City is comparatively less than other cities in Tamil Nadu and also in India. Further nowadays the government offers better salary to the government employees due to the policy of pay commission of the government of India. After meeting the family requirement every month considerable amount is kept for savings they prefer to utilize their savings in investment where they can get more rate of return for their investment. Most of the government employees are well educated and have more experience in various fields. But they do not have thorough knowledge in the investment area to get return for their investment. They must be given awareness about the area of investment and rate of return from various nature of investment. Hence a study was undertaken by the researchers in the above topic "INVESTMENT PATTERN OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES IN MADURAI CITY".


The innate and adaptive immune systems are both crucial to oral disease mechanisms and their impact on systemic health status. Greater understanding of these interrelationships will yield opportunities to identify new therapeutic targets to modulate disease processes and/or increase host resistance to infectious or inflammatory insult. The topics addressed reflect the latest advances in our knowledge of the role of innate and adaptive immune systems and inflammatory mechanisms in infectious diseases affecting the oral cavity, including periodontitis and candidiasis. In addition, several potential links with systemic inflammatory conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, are explored. The findings elucidate some of the defense mechanisms utilized by host tissues, including the role of IL-17 in providing immunity to oral candidiasis, the antimicrobial defense of mucosal epithelial cells, and the pro-resolution effects of the natural inflammatory regulators, proresolvins and lipoxins. They also describe the role of immune cells in mediating pathologic bone resorption in periodontal disease. These insights highlight the potential for therapeutic benefit of immunomodulatory interventions that bolster or modulate host defense mechanisms in both oral and systemic disease. Among the promising new therapeutic approaches discussed here are epithelial cell gene therapy, passive immunization against immune cell targets, and the use of proresolvin agents.


How cells with different genetic makeups compete in tissues is an outstanding question in developmental biology and cancer research. Studies in recent years have revealed two fundamental mechanisms of cell competition, driven by short-range biochemical signaling or by long-range mechanical stresses within the tissue. In both scenarios, the outcome of cell competition has generally been characterised using population-scale metrics. However, the underlying strategies for competitive interactions at the single-cell level remain elusive. Here, we develop a cell-based computational model for competition assays informed by high-throughput timelapse imaging experiments. By integrating physical cell interactions with cellular automata rules for proliferation and apoptosis, we find that the emergent modes of cell competition are determined by a trade-off between entropic and energetic properties of the mixed tissue. While biochemical competition is strongly sensitive to local tissue organisation, mechanical competition is largely driven by the difference in homeostatic pressures of the two competing cell types. These findings suggest that competitive cell interactions arise when the local tissue free energy is high, and proceed until free energy is minimised.


F-doped TiO2 catalysts were obtained by sol process,in which tetrabutyl titanate was used as precursor and hydrofluoric acid as iondonors. The photodegradation experimental results showed that photoeatalytic activity of the F-doped catalyst is higher than that of the un-doped ones,the F-doped catalyst with 1:4(F:Ti molar ratio) fluorine at 40 was the highest catalytic efficiency under simulant sun's rays irradiation. The doped catalysts in anatase phase own higher photocatalysis characterized by XRD and BET. Effects of properties on the F-doped TiO2 catalysts were developed.


Paroxysmal torticollis of infancy (PT) was first described by Snyder in 1969. 1 The 12 patients he described began having recurrent attacks of head tilt between 2 and 8 months of age. The spells lasted from a few hours to three days and were sometimes accompanied by pallor, vomiting, and agitation. Between episodes the infants were normal, and the attacks ceased prior to 5 years of age. Since Snyder's description there have been few additional reports of PT, and to date no familial cases have been described. This communication presents our findings in two siblings with PT of infancy. Report of Cases .—An 11-week-old boy was seen at University of Wisconsin Hospitals for evaluation of episodic torticollis. He was born of a 24-year-old gravida 3, para 3, whose pregnancy, labor, and delivery were reportedly uncomplicated. The infant weighed 4,363 gm at birth and was well until 14 days of age


Due to the limited heating efficiency of available magnetic nanoparticles, it is difficult to achieve therapeutic temperatures above 44 °C in relatively inaccessible tumors during magnetic hyperthermia following systemic administration of nanoparticles at clinical dosage (≤10 mg kg−1). To address this, a method for the preparation of magnetic nanoparticles with ultrahigh heating capacity in the presence of an alternating magnetic field (AMF) is presented. The low nitrogen flow rate of 10 mL min−1 during the thermal decomposition reaction results in cobalt‐doped nanoparticles with a magnetite (Fe3O4) core and a maghemite (γ‐Fe2O3) shell that exhibit the highest intrinsic loss power reported to date of 47.5 nH m2 kg−1. The heating efficiency of these nanoparticles correlates positively with increasing shell thickness, which can be controlled by the flow rate of nitrogen. Intravenous injection of nanoparticles at a low dose of 4 mg kg−1 elevates intratumoral temperatures to 50 °C in mice‐bearing subcutaneous and metastatic cancer grafts during exposure to AMF. This approach can also be applied to the synthesis of other metal‐doped nanoparticles with core–shell structures. Consequently, this method can potentially be used for the development of novel nanoparticles with high heating performance, further advancing systemic magnetic hyperthermia for cancer treatment.


Recently, high-level languages such as MATLAB have become popular in prototyping algorithms in domains such as signal and image processing. Many of these applications whose subtasks have diverse execution requirements, often employ distributed, heterogeneous, reconfigurable systems. These systems consist of an interconnected set of heterogeneous processing resources that provide a variety of architectural capabilities. The objective of the MATCH (MATLAB Compiler for Heterogeneous Computing Systems) compiler project at Northwestern University is to make it easier for the users to develop efficient code for distributed heterogeneous, reconfigurable computing systems. Towards this end we are implementing and evaluating an experimental prototype of a software system that will take MATLAB descriptions of various applications, and automatically map them on to a distributed computing environment consisting of embedded processors, digital signal processors and field-programmable gale arrays built from commercial off-the-shelf components. We provide an overview of the MATCH compiler and discuss the testbed which is being used to demonstrate our ideas. We present preliminary experimental results on some benchmark MATLAB programs with the use of the MATCH compiler.


The AN/FPS-85 radar system is part of the overall Space Detection and Tracking system of the Air Force. This radar is a phased array system incorporating many advanced techniques. It is completely computer controlled to take advantage of the inertialess scanning beams of the phased array. This paper will discuss techniques being used and show pictures of the installation and hardware. Features include: a. Long Range Detection Capability b. High Transmitted power c. Inertialess Electronic Beam Steering d. Multiple Receiving Beam Capability e. High Reliability f. Extreme Flexibility g. Determination of Target Trajectories and Orbits and Maintenance of Ephemerides on Large Numbers of Satellites.


Gastric volvulus is a rare condition in pediatric population in which there is an abnormal rotation of one part of the stomach around itself. Its a surgical emergency. We report a six year old female admitted in the emergency due to up- per abdominal distention, nausea without vomiting, physical exam re- vealed upper abdominal distention and abdominal tenderness, no bowel sounds. Laparotomy was performed and a gastric volvulus with occlusive vas- cular involvement was found. In the post operative period she required a second laparotomy due to adhesions in small bowel.


With the monthly data of RMB real effective exchange rate and ZhangzhouÂ's trade balance from Aug,2006 to Sep,2011, we make empirical analysis of each economic variable relationship through establishing vector regression models. The result indicates that the RMB real effective exchange rate and ZhangzhouÂ's trade balance has the longterm cointegration relationship, but the relationship is not very significant. In other words, the RMB real exchange rate is not the main factor to affect the ZhangzhouÂ's trade balance. ItÂ's not obvious to improve the ZhangzhouÂ's trade balance through exchange rate balance


Metal sulphides are important semiconductor materials, which are useful in various applications such as solar cells, optical coatings, photoconductors, and transductors. In this study, several metal dithiocarbamates have been synthesized as single source
 precursors for metal sulphides production. The preparation of metal dithiocarbamate was done from the reaction between N-ethylcyclohexanamine with carbon disulphide and metal salt in alkaline media. Some difficulties related to high reaction temperatures, precursors instability, and difficult synthetic procedures have somewhat limited the synthesis of single precursor to certain metal complexes. These compounds
 were found to be effective precursors for nanomaterial fabrication by thermal decomposition of metal dithiocarbamates in a tube furnace. Considering the wide scope of the subject, current research is restricted to the dithiocarbamates with eight metals,namely, zinc(II), nickel(II), copper(II), cobalt(II), cadmium(II), indium(III),antimony(III), and bismuth(III). Besides, no surfactant was used in this study due to the toxicity although many researchers preferred to use surfactants to control the sizes and shapes of the final product. All metal complexes were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and sulphur (CHNS) analyses, direct injection mass spectrometry (DIMS) analysis, thermal gravimetric and differential thermal gravimetric (TGA/DTG) analyses, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), inductively coupled plasma (ICP) and single crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The physical and elemental analyses of Zn, Cd, Cu dan Ni dithiocarbamates (DTC) complexes were confirmed to have the molecular formula of C18H32N2S4M (where M is for Zn, Cd, Cu and Ni metal). On the other hand, the molecular formula of C27H48N3S6M was confirmed for Co, Sb, In, and Bi-DTC. The formation of Zn, Ni, Cu and Sb-DTC crystals were analyzed by single crystal X-ray
 diffraction analysis to determine the detailed molecular geometry and intermolecular interaction. Thermal study indicated the percentages of residues left were close to the theoretical values attributed to the decomposition of the organic species of the complex.
 The synthesized metal dithiocarbamates were subjected to thermal treatment at different calcination durations for the preparation of nano metal sulphides. The properties of the metal sulphides were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive Xray (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) reflectance spectroscopy. From XRD spectra, metal sulphides were obtained after heat
 treatment of metal dithiocarbamates for 2, 4 and 6 h at temperature 400 °C. No impurities were observed from the spectra indicated the purity of the product. Different
 calcination durations did not affect the crystalline phase but only cause a slight change in the peak intensities. FESEM and TEM showed some of the metal sulphides were in the form of nanoparticles, nanowhiskers, and nanorods. However some of them were
 agglomerated. Energy Dispersive X-Ray (EDX) analysis showed the composition of metal sulphides were close to the theoretical values. The direct band gap observed for
 all metal sulphides except for cadmium sulphide indicated the blue shift if compared to the bulk sample. The band gap energies of the resultant metal sulphides could possess interesting optical properties and might have significance for future nanoscale device applications.


How to Win the Nobel Prize An Unexpected Life in Science. by J. Michael Bishop. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 2003. 287 pp., illus. $27.95, £18.50, €27.95. ISBN 0-674-00880-4. Offering more than an account of his path to Stockholm, Bishop weaves together an autobiography and histories of efforts to control infectious diseases and to identify and control the causes of cancer.


Power is becoming an increasingly important concern for large-scale cloud computing systems. Meanwhile, cloud service providers leverage virtualization technologies to facilitate service consolidation and enhance resource utilization. However, the introduction of virtualization makes the cloud infrastructure more complex, and thus challenges cloud power management. In a virtualized environment, resource needs to be configured at runtime at the cloud, server and virtual machine levels to achieve high power efficiency. In addition, cloud power management should guarantee high users' SLA (service level agreement) satisfaction. In this paper, we present an adaptive power management framework in the cloud to achieve autonomic resource configuration. We propose a software and lightweight approach to accurately estimate the power usage of virtual machines and cloud servers. It explores hypervisor-observable performance metrics to build the power usage model. To configure cloud resources, we consider both the system power usage and the SLA requirements, and leverage learning techniques to achieve autonomic resource allocation and optimal power efficiency. We implement a prototype of the proposed power management system and test it on a cloud testbed. Experimental results show the high accuracy (over 90%) of our power usage estimation mechanism and our resource configuration approach achieves the lowest energy usage among the compared four approaches.


Sleep disorders are quite common in adolescents and sleep disturbances occur most often during the mid-adolescent years. These disorders result in considerable negative consequences in terms of increased accidents, decreased academic performance, and increased behavioral difficulties. Over the past 25 years, the evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of sleep-related breathing disorders has undergone dramatic changes. The diagnosis and treatment of pediatric sleep disorders are now the focus of more complex and collaborative research efforts. This article discusses the differences between childhood and adolescent sleep cycles, delayed sleep phase syndrome, sleep-related breathing disorders, narcolepsy, parasomnias, and behavior-related sleep problems.


: As hospitals search for means of financing renovation during the next decade, physicians will represent a source of capital through tax-shelter financing. Limited partnerships, condominiums , and joint ventures in acquiring medical equipment or syndicating existing facilities are among the most promising investment vehicles for taking advantage of tax benefits that normally do not apply to nonprofit institutions. In a hospital-physician limited partnership, tax deductions are passed through to the partners, of which there are two kinds: general partners and limited partners. Income (or loss) and tax credits from the entire venture can be divided among the partners and reflected on an individual limited partner's tax return. Rather than shouldering the whole cost of renovating a medical office building, thereby losing the potential tax credit, a hospital could carry out the renovation through a limited partnership with physicians. This would reduce the hospital's capital costs and debt requirements, maintain its credit, and enable it to take advantage of the depreciation deduction. In a condominium venture, the individual physician actually owns the office within which he or she works. As with the limited partnership, the hospital will want to restrict physicians' ability to dispose of their ownership interests.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)