Introduction Russian teachers of the third age are a social group that is currently in a difficult and ambiguous situation. On the one hand, raising the retirement age in Russia sets them the task of further professional development. On the other hand, the level of professional requirements associated with increasing the competitiveness of Russian higher education in the global educational space is sharply increasing. The purpose of the article is to answer the question - how the accumulated social potential of the third age's teachers allows them to adapt to new conditions, to increase the level of competitiveness, to act as a factor in the development of the University teaching community and higher education in general. Materials and methods  The article is based on the materials of research team in the Ural Federal University (2017-2019). The article uses quantitative data of the mass survey of teachers in the Ural Federal district, implemented by the method of questioning. The population is 51 University of the Ural Federal district. Quota sampling was implemented in the study. The volume of the teachers' sample is 810 people. Social community of the third age's teachers was 38.5% of the total sample. The results of research The social potential of University teachers was considered in the context of the following structural elements: professional qualification, innovation, cultural, civil. Teachers of the third age have higher professional and qualification potential (qualification and status characteristics) than other age groups. The innovative potential realized in research activity and educational process is also high. This applies to innovation activity implemented in research projects and scientific communication. Their cultural practices are quite diverse, and the activity of cultural consumption is even higher than that of colleagues of other age groups. Civic activity of the third age's teachers is manifested in various forms of public participation, implemented through interaction with authorities of different levels and public organizations. The specificity of their civic activity is the implementation of expert functions that require high qualification, which has this group of teachers.  At the same time, the teaching community of the third age notes the lack of sufficient institutional conditions for effective development, manifested primarily in the low level of social protection in the professional sphere. General conclusions University teachers of the third age have sufficient adaptive potential in the new challenges of the social environment. At the same time, the basic problem of their development is the creation of institutional conditions for professional activities and the effective realization of their social potential.


Many researchers argue that global consumer culture consumes signs and symbols as well as products and services (Lash and Urry 1994). Others, however, don't think that there is one global mass culture. Different authors have suggested diversity can be seen as outcome of globalization (Bannerjee and Linstead 2001; Robertson 1992). Howes, for example, use the word 'creolization' to describe the processes of 'recontextualization whereby foreign goods are assigned meanings and uses by the culture of reception' (King 2004:36, citing Howes 1996:5). Using examples of residential buildings in Kunming city in Southwest China, I will argue that recontextualization and hybridization happen in two different ways through translation and transcription. Some foreign architectural signs and symbols are interpreted and then restated with signs and symbols in the local language, whereas others are mixing within the local urban fabric without interpretation. Very often those transcribed signs and symbols are used as imported brand images. They therefore are not subject to altering or nativizing.

Many researchers recognize that 'the emergence of a global consumer culture is a homogenizing trend it simultaneously acknowledges and exploits distinct market niches based on culture difference' (King 2004:36, citing Bannerjee and Linstead 2001). I will argue that local markets also exploits and seek various ways of incorporating different cultural concepts and meanings through the process of 'translation' and 'transcription' based on their distinct cultural and social environments.

In Saussy's paper about the media creoles and the invention of the Chinese words for the telephone in the early 20th century, he argues that both translation and transcription are crucial to modernity (Saussy 2008). Saussy suggests that there are means of linguistic and cultural interchange that do not amount to translating, and call this complementary dynamic transcription (ibid.).

One of the English examples for transcription is a borrowed word: Sharawaggi. The word Sharawaggi that was much used in the Architecture Review towards the end of the war had first been translated from the Chinese in 1965 (Farmer 1999: 163-4). According to Farmer, the word had described the deliberate irregularities and contrasts of garden design first, and then was used to describe the pleasing effects to be had from exotic juxtapositions of architectural styles and plant varieties in the eighteenth century. However, the word was thought to be too esoteric and scholarly for discussing widely the role of the picturesque in post-war building construction, and had been eventually replaced by other English words (ibid.).

According to Sussay, by creating a borrowed word, a loan word, we mark the foreign thing with a name that does not come from English, the language in which we are doing the explaining, but rather a name from Chinese was reproduced. In this way, we don't translate, but mimic (Sussay 2008). Sussay explains the difference between translation and transcription by using the loan word as:

"Loan words are an opposite of translation in the following sense: with translation, interpretation always precedes the restatement; but with loan words, incorporation occurs without interpretation. Translation works out what the meaning of the foreign text is, then elaborates a corresponding set of meanings that will suitably address the speakers of the target language" (Sussay 2008:4).

In the process of transformation of residency forms in China, there also exist similarly two kinds of processes of incorporating the external signs and symbols: firstly, transcription or importation represents something that has not originally existing in Chinese architectural tradition before; they were imported in their original foreign forms. On the other hand, translation or innovation expresses the meaning in Chinese architecture of something foreign, accepting the Chinese substitute of a foreign concept. These two processes not only reflected on the names of new building styles, but also reflected on the building forms. The discussion of these processes needs to be set into the context of the urban development in China


Language models are typically applied at the sentence level, without access to the broader document context. We present a neural language model that incorporates document context in the form of a topic model-like architecture, thus providing a succinct representation of the broader document context outside of the current sentence. Experiments over a range of datasets demonstrate that our model outperforms a pure sentence-based model in terms of language model perplexity, and leads to topics that are potentially more coherent than those produced by a standard LDA topic model. Our model also has the ability to generate related sentences for a topic, providing another way to interpret topics.


Prevention policies need to be more effective. Practitioners and decision-makers therefore need to innovate in the field of prevention policies and interventions by adapting methods or strategies used in other domains. Nudges, considered to be an attractive technique in view of its efficacy, are one of these innovations.However, the use of nudges in prevention policies raises ethical debates which will be summarized in this article. After recalling the definition of nudging, this article describes the ethical debates concerning three issues and emphasizes the way they can reflect a beneficial, democratic, freedom-based and autonomous society.In conclusion, this article encourages prevention practitioners and decision-makers to adopt a larger view before transferring strategies from other sectors and especially to consider all ethical issues.


Background There is growing body of evidence that indicates so-called unhealthy commodity industries (UCIs) such as alcohol and tobacco use similar tactics to resist upstream regulation and maximise profits. The media then offers UCIs a potentially important channel for direct lobbying of the public and policy-makers. In March 2016, the UK Government announced a soft drinks industry levy (SDIL) as part of its strategy to combat obesity and non-communicable diseases associated with excessive sugar consumption. The likely effectiveness of this policy has been hotly debated by stakeholders on opposing sides. The aim of this study was to use critical discourse analysis (CDA) to examine how SDIL proponents and opponents sought to influence the public and policy-makers through the news media, during a time of intense policy deliberation. Methods We conducted a content analysis of news articles discussing the SDIL published in 11 UK newspapers between 1 April 2015 and 30 November 2016, identified through the Nexis database. Stakeholder citations were identified and imported into NVivo for qualitative coding according to a thematic typology developed and tested in a previous analysis of alcohol and tobacco industry tactics. CDA was then used to identify the presentation of circumstances, claims, counter-claims, alternative solutions, values, policy goals, means of achieving goals and consequences in order to uncover the argumentation used by opponents and proponents of the SDIL. Results In the final sample of 491 newspaper articles, a range of 287 stakeholders were presented as citing 1761 arguments; 65% for and 35% against the SDIL. We identified three scenarios of argumentation: 1) The soft drinks industry as a public health stakeholder; 2) the SDIL as a small but important step in tackling obesity; and 3) the SDIL as a 'win-win' scenario. Our findings support the concept of a common 'playbook' of arguments used by opponents of the policy. Conversely, SDIL proponents demonstrated three sources of inconsistency: 1) change in ideological stance; 2) pursuit of academic rigour; and 3) inconsistent arguments. Discussion Public health policy advocates engaged in media debates are faced with the direct lobbying and denialism tactics of producers and marketers of unhealthy commodities. These advocates may benefit from increasing awareness of typical UCI tactics, presenting clear and consistent objectives, and supporting arguments with quality evidence. Our CDA contributes to a growing body of literature concerning media debates about upstream legislative public health measures focussing on unhealthy commodities.


Random-valued impulse noise removal from images is a challenging task in the field of image processing and computer vision. In this paper, an effective three-step noise removal method was proposed using local statistics of grayscale images. Unlike most existing denoising algorithms that assume the noise density is known, our method estimated the noise density in the first step. Based on the estimated noise density, a noise detector was implemented to detect corrupted pixels in the second step. Finally, a modified weighted mean filter was utilized to restore the detected noisy pixels while leaving the noise-free pixels unchanged. The noise removal performance of our method was compared with 10 well-known denoising algorithms. Experimental results demonstrated that our proposed method outperformed other denoising algorithms in terms of noise detection and image restoration in the vast majority of the cases. Keywords—Random-valued impulse noise; noise detection; image restoration; modified weighted mean filter


With the explosion of the number of distributed applications, a new dynamic server environment emerged grouping servers into clusters, utilization of which depends on the current demand for the application. To provide reliable and smooth services it is crucial to detect and fix possible erratic behavior of individual servers in these clusters. Use of standard techniques for this purpose requires manual work and delivers sub-optimal results. Using only application agnostic monitoring metrics our machine learning based method analyzes the recent performance of the inspected server as well as the state of the rest of the cluster, thus checking not only the behavior of the single server, but the load on the whole distributed application as well. We have implemented our method in a Spark job running in the CERN MONIT infrastructure. In this contribution we present results of testing multiple machine learning algorithms and pre-processing techniques to identify the servers erratic behavior. We also discuss the challenges of deploying our new method into production.


: The contents of the doctor's bag will be determined by the doctor concerned and will depend on his medical training and specialization, on local conditions, the nature of his field of activity, and on the organization of medical emergency services. A selection of commonly employed preparations, classified by indication is proposed and discussed. In addition to the "drug collection", the essential "hardware" (syringes, stethoscope, etc.) and "software" (prescription forms, accounting forms, list of hospital telephone numbers, etc.) are also listed. The specific demands to be met by the contents of an emergency kit are discussed separately.


Soil degradation and desertification pose a major threat to agricultural production in sub-Saharan Africa. The influence of cropping systems which had been established on selected physical and chemical properties of soil were investigated in Akinyode-Okinni community in Egbedore Local Government Area (LGA) of Osun State, Nigeria. The cropping systems included agri-silviculture (SCM), silvi-pasture (SPC), agri-horti-silviculture (PAH) and agroforestry (AFT) selected from existing farms in the community. The selected plots had cocoa (Theobroma cacao), oil palm (Elais guineensis) and kola-nut (Kola nitida) as permanent crops; coco-yam (Coco nucifera), guinea grass (Panicum maximum), plantain (Musa spp), maize (Zea mays), and cassava (Manihot utilissima) were the annual crops. The experiment was carried out for two cropping seasons. Results showed that in the AFT system bulk density (BD) decreased slightly from 1.22 to 1.16 g/cm3 in the top soil and from 1.18 to 1.09 g/cm3 in the subsoil after two seasons of crop growth. The pH varied between 6.40 and 7.05 in the first season and between 7.05 and 7.29 after two seasons. On average, the topsoil contained more organic carbon (OC) in the SPC (38 g kg-1) and SCM (36 g kg-1) systems than in the PAH and AFT systems. Similarly, the total phosphorus content was higher in the topsoil of SPC and SCM systems than in the other systems. There was a slight reduction in soil acidity and no significant changes occurred in the concentrations of exchangeable bases after two cropping seasons. Conclusively, these cropping systems have the potential to reduce soil deterioration and thus, further studies to develop appropriate management strategies are necessary.

 Key words: Cropping systems, exchangeable bases, organic carbon, silviculture, soil degradation.


Follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC) is the second most common cancer of the thyroid gland, accounting for up to 20% of all primary malignant tumors in iodine-replete areas. The diagnostic work-up, staging, risk stratification, management, and follow-up strategies in patients who have FTC are modeled after those of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), even though FTC is more aggressive. FTC has a greater propensity for haematogenous metastasis than PTC. Furthermore, FTC is a phenotypically and genotypically heterogeneous disease. The diagnosis and identification of markers of an aggressive FTC depend on the expertise and thoroughness of pathologists during histopathological analysis. An untreated or metastatic FTC is likely to de-differentiate and become poorly differentiated or undifferentiated and resistant to standard treatment. While thyroid lobectomy is adequate for the treatment of selected patients who have low-risk FTC, it is not advisable for patients whose tumor is larger than 4 cm in diameter or has extensive extra-thyroidal extension. Lobectomy is also not adequate for tumors that have aggressive mutations. Although the prognosis for over 80% of PTC and FTC is good, nearly 20% of the tumors behave aggressively. The introduction of radiomics, pathomics, genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, and liquid biopsy have led to improvements in the understanding of tumorigenesis, progression, treatment response, and prognostication of thyroid cancer. The article reviews the challenges that are encountered during the diagnostic work-up, staging, risk stratification, management, and follow-up of patients who have FTC. How the application of multi-omics can strengthen decision-making during the management of follicular carcinoma is also discussed.


Objective: To report results from a national survey of coordinators and managers of clinical research studies in the US on their perceptions of and experiences with scientific misconduct. Methods: Data were collected using the Scientific Misconduct Questionnaire-Revised. Eligible responses were received from 1645 of 5302 (31%) surveys sent to members of the Association of Clinical Research Professionals and to subscribers of Research Practitioner, published by the Center for Clinical Research Practice, between February 2004 and January 2005. Findings: Overall, the perceived frequency of misconduct was low. Differences were noted between workplaces with regard to perceived pressures on investigators and research coordinators, and on the effectiveness of the regulatory environment in reducing misconduct. First-hand experience with an incident of misconduct was reported by 18% of respondents. Those with first-hand knowledge of misconduct were more likely to report working in an academic medical setting, and to report that a typical research coordinator would probably do nothing if aware that a principal investigator or research staff member was involved in an incident of misconduct. Conclusion: These findings expand the knowledge on scientific misconduct by adding new information from the perspective of research coordinators. The findings provide some data supporting the influence of workplace climate on misconduct and also on the perceived effectiveness of institutional policies to reduce scientific misconduct.


The influence of environmental policy on innovative behaviour of companies has so far recieved little attention in scientific discourse. Based on recent literature, the paper analyses the impact of requirements, levies, permits, liability laws, and the EC-eco- audit regulation with respect to the generation of environmentally benign innovations. Most theoretical studies come to the conclusion that direct requirements provide little incentives for dynamic effects and that emission taxes and permits are better instruments to promote innovations. However, the empirical studies show that the dynamic effects of environmental policy instruments in practice partly differ from the ideal instruments analyzed in theoretical studies.


Pressure-flow relationships (P/F) in the renal circulation were determined in 62 swine, aged 1 day-2 mo, anesthetized with pentobarbital sodium. Aortic and inferior vena caval pressures and renal and femoral arterial flows were recorded. Blood gas composition and pH and body temperature were monitored. The P/F was first determined while perfusion pressure was decreased for 2 min at each pressure by suprarenal aortic occlusion. The left renal artery in 38 of these animals was then cannulated for in situ perfusion of the kidney with blood withdrawn from a carotid artery by a Masterflex pump. The P/F was subsequently determined by changing pump flow for 2 min at each flow while recording perfusion pressure. Records were analyzed for transient and steady-state effects. Readjustments in renal vascular resistance (RVR) were apparent within 5 s after changing pressure or flow. The RVR stabilized at a new level within 2 min. Graphs of steady-state data delineated an autoregulatory range in the P/F for animals as young as 2 wk of age. We conclude that renal blood flow autoregulation in this mammal is negligible at birth and develops progressively during the first postnatal month.


Smalltalk is not only an object-oriented programming language; it is also known for its extensive integrated development environment supporting interactive and dynamic programming. While the default tools are adequate for browsing the code and developing applications, it is often cumbersome to extend the environment to support new language constructs or to build additional tools supporting new ways of navigating and presenting source code. In this paper, we present the OmniBrowser, a browser framework that supports the definition of browsers based on an explicit metamodel. With OmniBrowser a domain model is described in a graph and the navigation in this graph is specified in its associated metagraph. We present how new browsers are built from predefined parts and how new tools are easily described. The browser framework is implemented in the Squeak Smalltalk environment. This paper shows several concrete instantiations of the framework: a remake of the ubiquitous Smalltalk System Browser, and a coverage browser.


A new optimal distributed linear averaging (ODLA) problem is presented in this paper. This problem is motivated from the distributed averaging problem which arises in the context of distributed algorithms in computer science and coordination of groups of autonomous agents in engineering. The aim of the ODLA problem is to compute the average of the initial values at nodes of a graph through an optimal distributed algorithm in which the nodes in the graph can only communicate with their neighbors. Optimality is given by a minimization problem of a quadratic cost functional under infinite horizon. We show that this problem has a very close relationship with the notion of semistability. By developing new necessary and sufficient conditions for semistability of linear discrete-time systems, we convert the original ODLA problem into two equivalent optimization problems. These two problems are convex optimization problems and can be solved by using some numerical techniques.


Background This study aims to investigate whether the coexistence of advanced renal cell carcinoma and inferior vena cava tumor thrombus could be treated with a multidisciplinary approach and teamwork and to evaluate early and mid-term results. Methods Between January 2017 and December 2020, a total of 33 patients (28 males, 5 females; mean age: 55.8±13.2 years; range, 27 to 76 years) who underwent radical nephrectomy and thrombectomy of the inferior vena cava were retrospectively analyzed. Demographic characteristics of the patients, types of operations, postoperative data, mortality and morbidity rates were recorded. Results Of the patients, 12% (n=4) had Stage 2 tumor thrombus, 60.6% (n=20) had Stage 3 tumor thrombus, and 27% (n=9) had Stage 4 tumor thrombus. A total of 55% (n=19) of the patients had right-sided renal cell carcinoma, while 45% (n=14) of them had a left-sided mass. Totally, 66% (n=22) of the patients underwent primary inferior vena cava repair. The thrombectomy procedure and a Dacron® patch was applied with patch plasty in 24% (n=8) of the patients, and Dacron® graft interposition was applied to the inferior vena cava in 9% (n=3) of the patients. The mean follow-up was 20.3±13.0 (range, 2 to 70) months. Deep vein thrombosis was detected in the follow-up of seven (21%) patients, and no pulmonary thromboembolism was observed during the postoperative follow-up period. The mean length of stay in the intensive care unit was 1.39±0.6 (range, 1 to 3) days. The 30-day mortality rate was 3%, due to the loss of one patient from massive pulmonary embolism intraoperatively. Conclusion Vascular surgical procedures performed regardless of the stage of the tumor thrombus provide satisfactory mid-term results in patients with advanced renal cell cancer.


Abstract Background Giardia lamblia is a pathogenic intestinal protozoan with high prevalence in developing countries, especially among children. Molecular characterization has revealed the existence of eight assemblages, with A and B being more commonly described in human infections. Despite its importance, to our knowledge this is the first published molecular analysis of G. lamblia assemblages in Angola. Methods The present study aimed to identify the assemblages of G. lamblia in children with acute diarrhoea presenting at the Bengo General Hospital, Angola. A stool sample was collected and microscopy and immunochromatographic tests were used. DNA was extracted and assemblage determination was performed through amplification of the gene fragment ssu-rRNA (175 bp) and β-giardin (511 bp) through polymerase chain reaction and DNA sequencing. Results Of the 16 stool samples screened, 12 were successfully sequenced. Eleven isolates were assigned to assemblage B and one to assemblage A. Subassemblage determination was not possible for assemblage B, while the single isolate assigned to assemblage A was identified as belonging to subassemblage A3. Conclusion This study provides information about G. lamblia assemblages in Bengo Province, Angola and may contribute as a first step in understanding the molecular epidemiology of this protozoan in the country. GenBank accession numbers for the ssur-RNA gene: MF479750, MF479751, MF479752, MF479753, MF479754, MF479755, MF479756, MF479757, MF479758, MF479759, MF479760, MF479761. GenBank accession numbers for the β-giardin gene: MF565378, MF565379, MF565380, MF565381.


This paper describes how to use the command hapipf and introduces the command profhap written for Stata that analyzes population-based genetic data. For these studies, association can be linkage disequilibrium within a set of loci or al-lelic/haplotype association with disease status. Confidence intervals for odds ratios are calculated with or without adjustment for possible factors that are confounding the relationship. Additionally, this command allows the specification of many models of association that are not widely implemented.


The rising economic value of wind resources in recent years has introduced some perplexing new property law questions. For example, what exactly are "wind rights", and are they legally cognizable real property interests? Should landowners be liable if wind turbines on their parcels disrupt the energy productivity of wind flowing onto downwind property? Can landowners legally sever a "wind estate" from their land and transfer it separately from the surface rights, like a mineral estate? And should a wind energy restriction that effectively appropriates private airspace for a specific government entity's own use trigger a compensable regulatory taking?Although a handful of state legislatures have recently enacted laws seeking to clarify the nature and scope of wind rights, significant uncertainty surrounding these rights remains. Such uncertainty can deter investment in wind farms and impede wind energy development. In an era of shrinking state budgets and dwindling government subsidies for alternative energy, laws that provide greater certainty regarding wind rights are a low-cost way for states to promote wind energy development within their jurisdictions. This short magazine article examines a handful of unresolved property law issues involving wind energy and briefly describes some potential policy strategies for addressing these issues.


We present MeerKAT neutral hydrogen (H I) observations of the Fornax A group, which is likely falling into the Fornax cluster for the first time. Our H I image is sensitive to 1.4 × 1019 atoms cm−2 over 44.1 km s−1, where we detect H I in 10 galaxies and a total of (1.12 ± 0.02) × 109 M⊙ of H I in the intra-group medium (IGM). We search for signs of pre-processing in the 12 group galaxies with confirmed optical redshifts that reside within the sensitivity limit of our H I image. There are 9 galaxies that show evidence of pre-processing and we classify each galaxy into their respective pre-processing category, according to their H I morphology and gas (atomic and molecular) scaling relations. Galaxies that have not yet experienced pre-processing have extended H I discs and a high H I content with a H2-to-H I ratio that is an order of magnitude lower than the median for their stellar mass. Galaxies that are currently being pre-processed display H I tails, truncated H I discs with typical gas fractions, and H2-to-H I ratios. Galaxies in the advanced stages of pre-processing are the most H I deficient. If there is any H I, they have lost their outer H I disc and efficiently converted their H I to H2, resulting in H2-to-H I ratios that are an order of magnitude higher than the median for their stellar mass. The central, massive galaxy in our group (NGC 1316) underwent a 10:1 merger ∼2 Gyr ago and ejected 6.6−11.2 × 108 M⊙ of H I, which we detect as clouds and streams in the IGM, some of which form coherent structures up to ∼220 kpc in length. We also detect giant (∼100 kpc) ionised hydrogen (Hα) filaments in the IGM, likely from cool gas being removed (and subsequently ionised) from an in-falling satellite. The Hα filaments are situated within the hot halo of NGC 1316 and there are localised regions that contain H I. We speculate that the Hα and multiphase gas is supported by magnetic pressure (possibly assisted by the NGC 1316 AGN), such that the hot gas can condense and form H I that survives in the hot halo for cosmological timescales.


This paper articulates and applies frameworks for examining whether consumption is excessive. We consider two criteria for the possible excessiveness (or insufficiency) of current consumption. One is an intertemporal utility-maximization criterion: actual current consumption is deemed excessive if it is higher than the level of current consumption on the consumption path that maximizes the present discounted value of utility. The other is a sustainability criterion, which requires that current consumption be consistent with non-declining living standards over time. We extend previous theoretical approaches by offering a formula for the sustainability criterion that accounts for population growth and technological change. In applying this formula, we find that some poor regions of the world are failing to meet the sustainability criterion: in these regions, genuine wealth per capita is falling as investments in human and manufactured capital are not sufficient to offset the depletion of natural capital.


A review of flood disasters in China during the past five decades has shown a steady increase in the disaster toll due to rapid urbanization, especially through landscape urbanization in metropolitan areas. This paper illustrates the relationship and the interactions between urbanization in the metropolis and the process of flood disaster changes. Furthermore, a solution is proposed to alleviate fluctuations in flood disasters through the adjustment of the land use structure and pattern in metropolitan areas. Based on the solution, the authors conclude that the proportion of 'ecological land' in metropolitan areas should not be lower than 40%. The proportion of water and wetlands in ecological land should not be lower than their area in the years of average precipitation and water level. This means that in the Pearl River Metropolitan Area and the Yangtze River Delta Metropolitan Area, the proportion of water and wetlands in ecological land should be more than 25%. Moreover, the authors propose constituting a regional management mode which combines government, society, and insurance companies for controlling flood risk in metropolitan areas.

http://drr.upeace.org/english/documents/references/topic 2-nature of risks and hazards//shi 2005 inegrated risk mgt in china.pdf


Abstract In 2018, the University of Pennsylvania received a level 2 arboretum accreditation. This new status provides incentive for establishing rigorous tree protection protocols and policies. To preserve and protect a healthy urban forest, it is necessary to develop a plant health care and maintenance program, which can be a costly process. By appraising Penn's campus tree population, and by determining the monetary benefits trees provide through their environmental and ecosystem services, we can advocate for a tree care budget that is consistent with the value of the asset. We used methods outlined in the Council for Tree and Landscape Appraisal's (CTLA) Guide to Plant Appraisal to appraise a sample of Penn's campus trees. This process involved collecting data on the size, species, condition, and location of trees around campus. Additionally, an estimate of the environmental and ecosystem services rendered by these trees was generated using the i-Tree Eco program. The appraised value for Penn's campus trees was $12.6 million dollars and the environmental benefits totaled approximately $161,000 dollars. The figure for environmental benefits is likely an underestimate, because we only included the minimum data required to run the i-Tree model. In the future, including interpretative signage on or around trees that mentions their appraised value and environmental benefits, may assist in educating the Penn and greater Philadelphia communities about the importance of trees in urban environments. ABSTRACT: In 2018, the University of Pennsylvania received a level 2 arboretum accreditation. This new status provides incentive for establishing rigorous tree protection protocols and policies. To preserve and protect a healthy urban forest, it is necessary to develop a plant health care and maintenance program, which can be a costly process. By appraising Penn's campus tree population, and by determining the monetary benefits trees provide through their environmental and ecosystem services, we can advocate for a tree care budget that is consistent with the value of the asset. We used methods outlined in the Council for Tree and Landscape Appraisal's (CTLA) Guide to Plant Appraisal to appraise a sample of Penn's campus trees. This process involved collecting data on the size, species, condition, and location of trees around campus. Additionally, an estimate of the environmental and ecosystem services rendered by these trees was generated using the i-Tree Eco program.


During the transition period in dairy cows, high circulating concentrations of nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA) increase hepatic lipid deposits and are considered a major pathological factor for liver damage. We investigated whether AdipoRon, a synthetic small-molecule agonist of adiponectin receptors 1 and 2 shown to prevent liver lipid accumulation in nonruminants, could alleviate NEFA-induced lipid accumulation and mitochondrial dysfunction. Bovine hepatocytes were isolated from 5 healthy Holstein female newborn calves (1 d of age, 30-40 kg, fasting), and independently isolated hepatocytes from at least 3 different calves were used for each subsequent experiment. The composition and concentration of NEFA used in this study were selected according to hematological criteria of dairy cows with fatty liver or ketosis. First, hepatocytes were cultured with various concentrations of NEFA (0, 0.6, 1.2, or 2.4 mM) for 12 h. In a second experiment, hepatocytes were treated with AdipoRon at different concentrations (0, 5, 25, or 50 μM for 12 h) and times (25 μM for 0, 6, 12, or 24 h) with or without NEFA (1.2 mM) treatment. In the last experiment, hepatocytes were treated with AdipoRon (25 μM), NEFA (1.2 mM), or both for 12 h after treatment with or without the autophagy inhibitor chloroquine. Hepatocytes treated with NEFA had increased protein abundance of sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1c (SREBP-1c) and mRNA abundance of acetyl-CoA carboxylase 1 (ACACA), and decreased protein abundance of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARA), proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator-1 α (PGC-1α), mitofusin 2 (MFN2), cytochrome c oxidase subunit IV (COX IV), and mRNA abundance of carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1A (CPT1A), along with lower ATP concentrations. AdipoRon treatment reversed these effects, suggesting this compound had a positive effect on lipid metabolism and mitochondrial dysfunction during the NEFA challenge. In addition, upregulated expression of microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3-II (LC3-II, encoded by MAP1LC3) and downregulated expression of sequestosome-1 (SQSTM1, also called p62) indicated that AdipoRon enhanced autophagic activity in hepatocytes. The fact that chloroquine impeded the beneficial effects of AdipoRon on lipid accumulation and mitochondrial dysfunction suggested a direct role for autophagy during NEFA challenge. Our results suggest that autophagy is an important cellular mechanism to prevent NEFA-induced lipid accumulation and mitochondrial dysfunction in bovine hepatocytes, which is consistent with other studies. Overall, AdipoRon may represent a promising therapeutic agent to maintain hepatic lipid homeostasis and mitochondrial function in dairy cows during the transition period.


The process of combining two views of a scene in order to obtain depth information is called stereo vision. When the same is done using a computer it is then called computer stereo vision. Stereo vision is used in robotic application where depth of an object plays a role. Two cameras mounted on a rig is called a stereo camera system. Such a system is able to capture two views and enable robotic application to use the depth information to complete tasks. Anomalies are bound to occur in such a stereo rig, when both the cameras are not parallel to each other. Mounting of the cameras on a rig accurately has physical alignment limitations. Images taken from such a rig has inaccurate depth information and has to be rectified. Therefore rectification is a pre-requisite to computer stereo vision. One such a stereo rig used in this thesis is the GIMME2 stereo camera system. The system has two 10 mega-pixel cameras with on-board FPGA, RAM, processor running Linux operating system, multiple Ethernet ports and an SD card feature amongst others. Stereo rectification on memory constrained hardware is a challenging task as the process itself requires both the images to be stored in the memory. The FPGA on the GIMME2 systems must be used in order to achieve the best possible speed. Programming a system that does not have a display and for used for a specific purpose is called embedded programming. The purpose of this system is distance estimation and working with such a system falls in the Embedded Systems program. This thesis presents a method that makes rectification a step ahead for this particular system. The functionality of the algorithm is shown in MATLAB and using VHDL and is compared to available tools and systems.


Colorization is a user-assisted color manipulation mechanism for changing grayscale images into colored ones. Several colorization algorithms have been constructed, and these methods are able to produce appropriately colorized images given a surprisingly sparse set of hints supplied by the user. But these color images may not in fact look realistic. Moreover, the contrast in the colorized image may not match the gradient perceived in the original grayscale image. We argue that it is this departure from the original gradient that contributes to the un-real appearance in some colorizations. To correct this, we make use of the Di Zenzo gradient of a color image derived from the structure tensor, and adjust the colorized correlate such that the Di Zenzo definition of the maximum-contrast gradient agrees with the gradient in the original gray image. This tends to result in more natural-looking images in color. In particular, "hotspots" of un-realistic color are subdued into regions of more realistic color.


: Urethritis is either gonococcal or non-gonococcal. This paper describes the investigation of 286 cases of urethral or vaginal discharges, dysuria or urethral irritation. Non-gonococcal urethritis (NGU) was found to be the commonest form of urethritis accounting for 65.05 per cent of cases. Gonococcal urethritis (GU) and abacterial urethritis were accounted for 24.47 per cent and 10.48 per cent of cases respectively. No history of sexual exposure was found in 21.27 per cent of cases with NGU, whereas this was invariably present in cases of GU. This may indicate that in at least some of the patients with NGU, the disease may not be sexually transmitted. This point needs further study.


The main focus of this article is on concept of smart specialisation. The analysis justifies the industrial structure of the state and its regions as one of the most important preconditions for smart specialization while choosing priority sectors to specialise. The importance of analyses of the industrial structure has been argued. The article aims at highlighting characteristics of Lithuania regions' industrial structure as important preconditions for smart specialization. During the regional level analysis of selected industrial sectors (food, clothing, furniture, and rubber and plastic products) and their interfaces with directions of Lithuanian smart specialization strategy has been observed that, the same industry localized in a different regions have different characteristics (measured in terms of productivity, efficiency, value-added, a critical mass of companies, etc.). So the article concludes that the smart specialization strategy and its implementation in different regions would lead to different results by different priority sectors. This must be taken into an account in the preparation and implementation of smart specialization strategies at regional and state levels. The analysis of regional industrial structure allows to assess the challenges facing the industry sector operating in specific regions, thus creating preconditions for the solution of problems through smart specialization strategy for supporting innovation and scientific research. Based on the research of regional industrial structure the insights highlighting Lithuanian smart specialization directions are provided. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ppaa.14.1.10155


The response to small peptides such as Arg-vasopressin, oxytocin and tachykinins was investigated in cultured porcine aortic endothelial cells. The production of endothelium-derived nitric oxide was assessed indirectly by the accumulation of cyclic GMP, a response that is due to the increased activity of soluble guanylate cyclase of the endothelial cells after release of the mediator. Arg-vasopressin, oxytocin, substance P and physalae-min (an analog of substance P, pGlu-Ala-Asp-Pro-Asn-Lys-Phe-Tyr-Gly-Leu-Met-NH2) markedly and transiently stimulated the production of cyclic GMP without affecting that of cyclic AMP. Treatment of endothelial cells with either hemoglobin or methylene blue reduced significantly both the basal and stimulated level of cyclic GMP. The production of cyclic GMP evoked by Arg-vasopressin and substance P was inhibited selectively by NG-monomethyl-L-arginine but not by its D-enantiomer. The neurohypophyseal hormones and related peptides stimulated the accumulation of cyclic GMP in a concentration-dependent manner, with the following relative order of potency: oxytocin greater than Lys-vasopressin greater than Arg-vasopressin much greater than [deamino-Cys1, D-Arg8]-vasopressin. The production of cyclic GMP evoked by oxytocin was inhibited selectively by [d(CH2)5, Tyr(OMe)2, Orn8]-vasotocin, an oxytocin antagonist. The production of cyclic GMP evoked by Arg-vasopressin and Lys-vasopressin was inhibited by [beta-mercapto-beta, beta-cyclopentamethylene-propionyl1, O-Me-Tyr2, Arg8]-vasopressin, a selective V1-receptor antagonist. The moderate production of cyclic GMP evoked by [deamino-Cys1, D-Arg8]-vasopressin was inhibited significantly by the V1-receptor antagonist. The peptide antagonists affected only minimally or not at all the production of cyclic GMP evoked by a donor of nitric oxide, SIN-1 (3-Morpholino-Sydnonimine). These observations indicate that 1) neurohypophyseal hormones and tachykinins stimulate the accumulation of cyclic GMP in cultured porcine aortic endothelial cells by increasing the production of endothelial-derived nitric oxide, which in turn enhances the activity of soluble guanylate cyclase; 2) the production of cyclic GMP in response to oxytocin is due to activation of oxytocinergic receptors; and 3) the production of cyclic GMP evoked by Arg-vasopressin and Lys-vasopressin is due mostly to activation of V1-vasopressinergic receptors.


Why do governments and militaries publicly condemn and prosecute particular forms of abuse? This article explores the Sri Lankan government's decision to promote limited legal accountability for state-perpetrated rape committed in a country otherwise renowned for widespread impunity. We argue that rather than representing a turn against impunity, the symbolic stance against conflict-related sexual violence in a small number of high-profile cases served an explicitly politico-military agenda. The state deployed legal accountability in specific cases to garner political legitimacy among key domestic audiences. The Sri Lankan government drew on the symbolism of female victimhood to mobilize support at a time when support for military counterinsurgency was waning. We show that governments can uniquely instrumentalize sexual violence cases to establish moral authority and territorial legitimacy. Through an examination of the domestic legal response to state-perpetrated human rights abuses, we illustrate the many ways in which women's bodies—and the law—can be mobilized in war to serve military ends.


Conditions have been established for the electrogeneration of MnIII from MnII in a sulphuric acid medium. The MnIII formed was identified and characterized by ultraviolet spectra. The stability of standard solutions of manganese(III) sulphate at various concentrations of H+, MnII and acetic acid and in the presence of the complexing agents P2O74–, Cl– and F– was studied and conditions for the potentiometric determination of thiosemicarbazide (TSC), its metal complexes, M(TSC)2SO4, and its thiosemicarbazone derivatives, propanal thiosemicarbazone (PTSC) and benzaldehyde thiosemicarbazone (BTSC), have been investigated. Thiosemicarbazide in H2SO4 underwent a six-electron oxidation. The M(TSC)2SO4 complex participates in a 12-electron redox process, indicative of the number of TSC ligands present in the complex. The PTSC in an H2SO4–HOAc (20% v/v) medium underwent oxidation in two stages, namely, six-electron oxidation of TSC with the regeneration of propionaldehyde and two-electron oxidation of the aldehyde to the corresponding carboxylic acid. The benzaldehyde regenerated from BTSC did not undergo further oxidation. Above 40% HOAc, a reproducible four-electron stoichiometry was achieved thereby showing the selectivity of MnIII as an oxidizing agent. The formal redox potential of the MnIII–MnII couple with and without the complexing agents and at various concentrations of H+ was determined. Addition of complexing agents decreased the formal redox potential of the MnIII–MnII couple, thereby reducing the oxidation rate, but did not alter the over-all stoichiometry of the electron transfer process.


STATED in its simplest terms, the subject of my remarks today is the definition of the nature and significance of an image: the image of the physician in his patient's mind. The image, I believe, is the reflection of a subtle and complex relationship between physician and patient that is both ambivalent and inevitable. The image is paradoxical, and the relationship from which it springs has at times been the source of misunderstanding, but both the image and the relationship have been an inseparable part of the essence of medicine. This image and its source would be an intriguing subject to explore merely because of one's curiosity about the affairs of man's mind, but the motivation for probing them goes beyond abstract curiosity since they have lately become parts of problems that are current, concrete, and portentous for the future of medicine. It is difficult to judge relationship without perspective,


Constantinescu and Storer (1994) introduced a single-pass vector quantization algorithm that with no specific training or prior knowledge of the data was able to achieve better compression results with respect to the JPEG standard, along with a number of computational advances such as: adjustable fidelity/compression tradeoff, precise guarantees on any l/spl times/l sub-block of the image, and fast table-lookup decoding. We improve that basic algorithm by blending it with the mean shape-gain vector quantization (MSGVQ) compression scheme. This blending allows a slightly better performance in terms of compression and a clear improvement in visual quality.


This paper describes use of a novel exponential approximation for designing dB-linear variable gain amplifiers (VGAs). The exponential function is accurately generated using a simple error-compensation technique. The dB-linear gain is controlled linearly by the gate voltage, resulting in a simple and robust VGA. The proposed dB-linear VGA fabricated in a 65-nm CMOS process achieves a total variable gain range of 76 dB and dB-linear range greater than 50 dB with ±0.5-dB gain error. Under a 1.2-V supply voltage, the current consumption of the VGA is 1.8 mA and that of the output buffer is 1.4 mA. The input-referred in-band noise density is 3.5 nV/√{Hz} and the in-band OIP3 is 11.5 dBm. Due to the very simple circuit topology, the total active area of the VGA and the output buffer is extremely small, 0.01 mm2.


Classification systems are ubiquitous, and the design of effective classification algorithms has been an even more active area of research since the emergence of machine learning techniques. Despite the significant efforts devoted to training and feature selection in classification systems, misclassifications do occur and their effects can be critical in various applications. The central goal of this thesis is to analyze classification problems in human-driven and data-driven systems, with potentially unreliable components and design effective strategies to ensure reliable and effective classification algorithms in such systems. The components/agents in the system can be machines and/or humans. The system components can be unreliable due to a variety of reasons such as faulty machines, security attacks causing machines to send falsified information, unskilled human workers sending imperfect information, or human workers providing random responses. This thesis first quantifies the effect of such unreliable agents on the classification performance of the systems and then designs schemes that mitigate misclassifications and their effects by adapting the behavior of the classifier on samples from machines and/or humans and ensure an effective and reliable overall classification. In the first part of this thesis, we study the case when only humans are present in the systems, and consider crowdsourcing systems. Human workers in crowdsourcing systems observe the data and respond individually by providing label related information to a fusion center in a distributed manner. In such systems, we consider the presence of unskilled human workers where they have a reject option so that they may choose not to provide information regarding the label of the data. To maximize the classification performance at the fusion center, an optimal aggregation rule is proposed to fuse the human workers' responses in a weighted majority voting manner. Next, the presence of unreliable human workers, referred to as spammers, is considered. Spammers are human workers that provide random guesses regarding the data label information to the fusion center in crowdsourcing systems. The effect of spammers on the overall classification performance is characterized when the spammers can strategically respond to maximize their reward in reward-based crowdsourcing systems. For such systems, an optimal aggregation rule is proposed by adapting the classifier based on the responses from the workers. The next line of human-driven classification is considered in the context of social networks. The classification problem is studied to classify a human whether he/she is influential or not in propagating information in social networks. Since the knowledge of social network structures is not always available, the influential agent classification problem without knowing the social network structure is studied. A multi-task low rank linear influence model is proposed to exploit the relationships between different information topics. The proposed approach can simultaneously predict the volume of information diffusion for each topic and automatically classify the influential nodes for each topic. In the third part of the thesis, a data-driven decentralized classification framework is developed where machines interact with each other to perform complex classification tasks. However, the machines in the system can be unreliable due to a variety of reasons such as noise, faults and attacks. Providing erroneous updates leads the classification process in a wrong direction, and degrades the performance of decentralized classification algorithms. First, the effect of erroneous updates on the convergence of the classification algorithm is analyzed, and it is shown that the algorithm linearly converges to a neighborhood of the optimal classification solution. Next, guidelines are provided for network design to achieve faster convergence. Finally, to mitigate the impact of unreliable machines, a robust variant of ADMM is proposed, and its resilience to unreliable machines is shown with an exact convergence to the optimal classification result. The final part of research in this thesis considers machine-only data-driven classification problems. First, the fundamentals of classification are studied in an information theoretic framework. We investigate the nonparametric classification problem for arbitrary unknown composite distributions in the asymptotic regime where both the sample size and the number of classes grow exponentially large. The notion of discrimination capacity is introduced, which captures the largest exponential growth rate of the number of classes relative to the samples size so that there exists a test with asymptotically vanishing probability of error. Error exponent analysis using the maximum mean discrepancy is provided and the discrimination rate, i.e., lower bound on the discrimination capacity is characterized. Furthermore, an upper bound on the discrimination capacity based on Fano's inequality is developed.


Black-hole binaries are important sources through which studying accretion onto compact objects. In the X/γ-ray domain, these objects show several and complex spectral behaviours and transitions. Based on INTEGRAL observations collected during the last eight years, we have now a new view on the high energy emission of black-hole binary. An additional component above 200 keV has been observed in a few systems, during either hard/intermediate or low/hard states. The nature of this hard-tail is still debated, as also the one observed in soft states. However, among a number of models, it is usually attributed to the presence of a small fraction of non-thermal electrons in a hot-Comptonising plasma. I review the high energy emission from black hole binary systems and report on some INTEGRAL observations of three different objects: 1E 1740.7–2942, GX 339–4, Cyg X–1.


PURPOSE
The purpose of this paper is to outline research which aimed to explore psychotherapists' experience of working with despair, in the UK prison setting, through a qualitative phenomenological approach. Within the forensic psychological literature, despair is considered a pathology, associated with suicide and self-harm, resulting from the prisoners histories and the coercive prison setting. In turn, therapeutic writings outline the importance of therapy in the prison setting with despair in providing coping skills, containment and learning opportunities for the prisoners involved.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH
Within the study, ten psychotherapists were interviewed as to their experience of working with clients in despair in the prison setting. The data were analysed via the phenomenological research method Empirical Phenomenological Analysis (EPA), and a secondary analysis through reverie.

FINDINGS
Through the analysis by EPA, despair emerged in the prison setting as a destabilising phenomenon to which there was no protocol for working with it. Participants also described the prisoners' despair and the despairing prison setting, touching on their own sense of vulnerability and despair. However, drawing on the secondary analysis by reverie, the researcher also became aware of how the phenomenon of despair emerged not simply through the said, but also through the intersubjective.

ORIGINALITY/VALUE
It was therefore through the secondary analysis by reverie that the importance of the attendance to aspects of intersubjectivity in prison research emerged. This paper contributes to the therapeutic writings on despair in the prison setting, alongside holding implications for qualitative research in the prison setting.


SIGNIFICANCE
Oxygen metabolism and iron homeostasis are closely linked. Iron facilitates the oxygen-carrying capacity of blood, and its deficiency causes anaemia. Conversely, excess free iron is detrimental for stimulating the formation of reactive oxygen species, causing tissue damage. The amount and distribution of iron thus need to be tightly regulated by the liver-expressed hormone hepcidin. This review analyses the roles of key oxygen-sensing pathways in cellular and systemic regulation of iron homeostasis; specifically, the prolyl hydroxylase domain (PHD)/ hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) and the KEAP1/NRF2 pathways, which mediate tissue adaptation to low and high oxygen, respectively. Recent Advances: In macrophages, NRF2 regulates genes involved in haemoglobin catabolism, iron storage, and iron export. NRF2 was recently identified as the molecular sensor of iron-induced oxidative stress and is responsible for BMP6 expression by liver sinusoidal endothelial cells, which in turn activates hepcidin synthesis by hepatocytes to restore systemic iron levels. Moreover, NRF2 orchestrates the activation of antioxidant defences that are crucial to protect against iron toxicity. On the other hand, low iron/hypoxia stabilize renal HIF-2α via inactivation of iron-dependent PHD dioxygenases, causing an erythropoietic stimulus that represses hepcidin via an inhibitory effect of erythroferrone on bone morphogenetic proteins. Intestinal HIF-2α is also stabilized, increasing the expression of genes involved in dietary iron absorption.

CRITICAL ISSUES
An intimate crosstalk between oxygen-sensing pathways and iron regulatory mechanisms ensures that fluctuations in systemic iron levels are promptly detected and restored.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS
The realization that redox-sensitive transcription factors regulate systemic iron levels suggests novel therapeutic approaches.


Background Evidence suggests that increasing intensity of rehabilitation results in better motor recovery. Limited evidence is available on the effectiveness of an interactive virtual reality gaming system for stroke rehabilitation. EVREST was designed to evaluate feasibility, safety and efficacy of using the Nintendo Wii gaming virtual reality (VRWii) technology to improve arm recovery in stroke patients. Methods Pilot randomized study comparing, VRWii versus recreational therapy (RT) in patients receiving standard rehabilitation within six months of stroke with a motor deficit of ≥3 on the Chedoke-McMaster Scale (arm). In this study we expect to randomize 20 patients. All participants (age 18–85) will receive customary rehabilitative treatment consistent of a standardized protocol (eight sessions, 60 min each, over a two-week period). Outcome measures The primary feasibility outcome is the total time receiving the intervention. The primary safety outcome is the proportion of patients experiencing intervention-related adverse events during the study period. Efficacy, a secondary outcome measure, will be measured by the Wolf Motor Function Test, Box and Block Test, and Stroke Impact Scale at the four-week follow-up visit. From November, 2008 to September, 2009 21 patients were randomized to VRWii or RT. Mean age, 61 (range 41–83) years. Mean time from stroke onset 25 (range 10–56) days. Conclusions EVREST is the first randomized parallel controlled trial assessing the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of virtual reality using Wii gaming technology in stroke rehabilitation. The results of this study will serve as the basis for a larger multicentre trial. ClinicalTrials.gov registration# NTC692523


This paper deploys gait analysis for subject identification in multi-camera surveillance scenarios. We present a new method for viewpoint independent markerless gait analysis that does not require camera calibration and works with a wide range of directions of walking. These properties make the proposed method particularly suitable for gait identification in real surveillance scenarios where people and their behaviour need to be tracked across a set of cameras. Tests on 300 synthetic and real video sequences, with subjects walking freely along different walking directions, have been performed. Since the choice of the cameras' characteristics is a key-point for the development of a smart surveillance system, the performance of the proposed approach is measured with respect to different video properties: spatial resolution, frame-rate, data compression and image quality. The obtained results show that markerless gait analysis can be achieved without any knowledge of camera's position and subject's pose. The extracted gait parameters allow recognition of people walking from different views with a mean recognition rate of 92.2% and confirm that gait can be effectively used for subjects' identification in a multi-camera surveillance scenario.


Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is emerging as a key mediator of activity-dependent modifications of synaptic strength in the CNS. We investigated the hypothesis that BDNF enhances quantal neurotransmitter release by modulating the distribution of synaptic vesicles within presynaptic terminals using organotypic slice cultures of postnatal rat hippocampus. BDNF specifically increased the number of docked vesicles at the active zone of excitatory synapses on CA1 dendritic spines, with only a small increase in active zone size. In agreement with the hypothesis that an increased docked vesicle density enhances quantal neurotransmitter release, BDNF increased the frequency, but not the amplitude, of AMPA receptor-mediated miniature EPSCs (mEPSCs) recorded from CA1 pyramidal neurons in hippocampal slices. Synapse number, independently estimated from dendritic spine density and electron microscopy measurements, was also increased after BDNF treatment, indicating that the actions of BNDF on mEPSC frequency can be partially attributed to an increased synaptic density. Our results further suggest that all these actions were mediated via tyrosine kinase B (TrkB) receptor activation, established by inhibition of plasma membrane tyrosine kinases with K-252a. These results provide additional evidence of a fundamental role of the BDNF–TrkB signaling cascade in synaptic transmission, as well as in cellular models of hippocampus-dependent learning and memory.


USB has become a popular interface for exchanging data between PC's and peripherals. An increasing number of portable peripherals are using the USB interface to communicate with the PC.The design and implementation of a synthesizable model of the USB 1.1 protocol engine is presented in this report The PHY is compatible with the USB 1.1 transceiver macrocell interface (UTMI) specification and the simulation test confirmed the successful operation of circuits for both full speed (12 Mbps) and low speed (1.5 Mbps) data transmission. the model is written completely in behavioral verilog with a top down approach and the model was verified and validated.


The experiments on dogs have demonstrated that lung contusion and injury of the rib cage cause the increase in overall oxygen consumption and lung oxygen consumption within the first hours after trauma. During the next week in dogs with contusion lung gradual recovery of the initial levels is observed. In convalescents with rib cage injury the indices in this period remain increased, reaching maximal level in animals with fatal outcome several hours before death. The authors believe that the early posttraumatic period in closed chest trauma is characterized by the increase in the lung oxygen consumption.


A nutrition trial was carried out to investigate the effects of inclusion of Ulva meal at different dietary lipid levels on growth performance, feed utilization and body composition of juvenile gilthead seabream, Sparus aurata. In this study, gilthead seabream with an average weight of 8.5±0.01 g were fed experimental diets for 7 weeks. The Eight isonitrogenous diets (crude protein 50%) were designed to provide 13% (13), 16% (16), 19% (19) and 22% (22) crude lipid with or without 4% inclusion of Ulva meal (13U, 16U, 19U and 22U). Final mean weight and specific growth rate (SGR) of gilthead seabream fed 22L-U were higher than that of 13L and 13L-U groups. The mean feed conversion ratio varied from 0.92 (22LU) and 1.33 (13L and 13L-U). The present study shows that dietary low level (4%) Ulva meal at all dietary lipid levels could be used in juvenile gilthead seabream without causing any adverse effects on growth and feed utilization.


Health-care providers in China are facing an exponential increase in HIV testing and HIV-positive patients. A total of 1101 service providers were recruited to examine attitudes toward people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in China. Logistic regression models were used to assess factors associated with providers' attitudes toward mandatory HIV testing. Providers were most likely to endorse mandatory HIV testing for patients with high-risk behaviour and for all patients before surgery. Over 43% of providers endorsed mandatory testing for anyone admitted to hospital. Controlling for demographics, multivariate analyses indicated that providers with higher perceived risk of HIV infection at work, higher general prejudicial attitudes toward PLWHA, and previous contact with HIV patients were more likely to endorse mandatory HIV testing for anyone admitted to hospital. Results underscore the importance of implementing universal precautions in health-care settings and call attention to social and ethical issues associated with HIV/AIDS control and treatment in China.


Most businesses in the UK have under 250 employees and thus count as SMEs. SMEs account for a significant proportion of greenhouse gas emissions and so there is a need for urgent action to be taken by SMEs in the journey to achieve net zero. This is currently recognised by SMEs as they are increasingly taking up decarbonisation actions, but their efforts are impeded by several barriers. Our research sought to provide insights into the barriers SMEs face when decarbonising business operations through an online survey and interview. Although our research confirms that financial constraints has been identified as the principal barrier to decarbonisation from SMEs perspectives, more than half of SMEs confirmed they lack the knowledge (34%, n=33) and skill (21%, n=20) was the main reason for not measing their carbon emission and starting their journey towards decarbonisation.
Keywords: SMEs, Barriers, decarbonisation journey, Net Zero.


Traditional remedies are part of the cultural and religious life in Palestine. In this survey, herbal products used in folk medicine were investigated and recorded. A total of two hundred and sixteen (216) different plant species, sixty (60) inorganic resources, and fifty two (52) animal products were in use. Among these medicinal plants, twenty one (21) were used for their hypoglycemic effects, eleven (11) were used for their hypotensive effects, and forty (40) were used for their diuretic effects. Reservation of endangered medicinal plant species as well as clinical investigation of these plants is required.


In this paper, we consider the implications of a commitment to acknowledging the role of context within a research practice partnership. We outline the approach to doing so within a design-based research intervention with 42 schools across three Pacific Island countries to improve literacy learning and language development. In doing so, the paper identifies context as a central concern for student and teacher learning, for schools as organisations and for intervention implementation. We draw on theories of context from each of these research bases to consider how aid interventions can best contribute to enhancing student learning outcomes across varied student populations in a way that is contextually appropriate, and builds sustainable local capability for ongoing improvement.  In considering these concerns we argue for the potential of a design-based research approach, based on the Learning Schools Model (McNaughton, Lai, Jesson & Wilson, 2013) to incorporate 'co-design' of the intervention.  We exemplify how the process of jointly designing the content and implementation within preset phases of implementation is possible in ways that draw on the varied expertise of in-country and external partners. The focus on collective knowledge building, collective problem solving and sharing practice within trusting relationships is considered to foster capacity for sustained adaptation and improvement at local levels. We believe such an approach is relevant to the challenges faced by Pacific Island Ministries of Education and their aid donor partners in designing effective interventions for learning improvement.


The spherical harmonics $m$-mode decomposition is a powerful sky map reconstruction method suitable for radio interferometers operating in transit mode. It can be applied to various configurations, including dish arrays and cylinders. We describe the computation of the instrument response function, the point spread function (PSF), transfer function, the noise covariance matrix and noise power spectrum. The analysis in this paper is focused on dish arrays operating in transit mode. We show that arrays with regular spacing have more pronounced side lobes as well as structures in their noise power spectrum, compared to arrays with irregular spacing, specially in the north-south direction. A good knowledge of the noise power spectrum $C^{\mathrm{noise}}(\ell)$ is essential for intensity mapping experiments as non uniform $C^{\mathrm{noise}}(\ell)$ is a potential problem for the measurement of the HI power spectrum. Different configurations have been studied to optimise the PAON-4 and Tianlai dish array layouts. We present their expected performance and their sensitivities to the 21-cm emission of the Milky Way and local extragalactic HI clumps


T he incidence, morbidity, and mortality of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) have remained constant in high-income countries, with less hypertension-associated and more antithrombotic-associated ICH over time. 1 The prevalence of ICH risk factors including older age, hyperten-sion, diabetes mellitus, and obesity are increasing, and ICH case fatality remains high with an overall rate of 40% at 1 month. 1 3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme-A inhibitor, that is, statin usage has modestly increased over time in ICH patients, despite reports suggesting that statins could increase the risk for ICH. 2–4 Other studies have, on the contrary, found statins to be associated with reduced disability and mortality after ICH. Also low serum cholesterol, 7 low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, 7–10 and triglyceride levels 7 were associated with an increased risk of ICH and ICH mortality, although not in all studies. 4 Because of these controversial results, we decided to study the associations of premorbid statin usage and baseline lipid profiles on the functional outcome and mortality in consecutive ICH patients. 11 We analyzed only patients with data on pre-ICH statin use. Patients having multiple ICH during the study period were included only once. Fasting blood tests for lipid levels that is, total cholesterol, LDL, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglyceride levels were drawn on the first working-day morning after admission. Initial stroke severity was assessed on the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), and baseline ICH volume was calculated. Good outcome was defined as modified Background and Purpose—It is unclear whether blood lipid profiles and statin use before intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) are associated with its outcome. Methods—The Helsinki ICH Study, a single-center observational registry of consecutive ICH patients, was used to study the associations between premorbid statin use, baseline lipid levels, and clinical outcome. Results—The registry includes 964 ICH patients. Statin users (n=187; 19%) were significantly older, had more frequent comorbidities and medication, lower lipid levels, and higher admission Glasgow Coma Scale compared with nonusers. Modified Rankin Scale at discharge or mortality did not differ between statin users and nonusers. Compared with survivors, significantly lower total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were observed in patients who died in After adjusting for known ICH prognostic factors based on univariate analysis that is, age, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, Glasgow Coma Scale, ICH volume, and intraventricular location, lower low-density lipoprotein levels were independently associated with in-hospital mortality (odds ratio, 0.54 [95% confidence interval, …


Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) 15 (human homolog, FGF19) is an endocrine FGF highly expressed in the small intestine of mice. Emerging evidence suggests that FGF15 is critical for regulating hepatic functions; however, the role of FGF15 in liver regeneration is unclear. This study assessed whether liver regeneration is altered in FGF15 knockout (KO) mice following 2/3 partial hepatectomy (PHx). The results showed that FGF15 KO mice had marked mortality, with the survival rate influenced by genetic background. Compared with wild-type mice, the KO mice displayed extensive liver necrosis and marked elevation of serum bile acids and bilirubin. Furthermore, hepatocyte proliferation was reduced in the KO mice because of impaired cell cycle progression. After PHx, the KO mice had weaker activation of signaling pathways that are important for liver regeneration, including signal transducer and activator of transcription 3, nuclear factor-κB, and mitogen-activated protein kinase. Examination of the KO mice at early time points after PHx revealed a reduced and/or delayed induction of immediate-early response genes, including growth-control transcription factors that are critical for liver regeneration. In conclusion, the results suggest that FGF15 deficiency severely impairs liver regeneration in mice after PHx. The underlying mechanism is likely the result of disrupted bile acid homeostasis and impaired priming of hepatocyte proliferation.


We provide a comprehensive survey of the recent literature on the link between productive government expenditure and economic growth. Starting with the seminal paper of Robert Barro (1990) we show that an understanding of the core results of the ensuing contributions can be gained from the study of their respective Euler equations. We argue that the existing literature incorporates many relevant aspects, however, policy recommendations tend to hinge on several knife-edge assumptions. Therefore, future research ought to focus more on idea-based endogenous growth models to check the robustness of policy recommendations. Moreover, the inclusion of hitherto unexplored types of government expenditure, e. g., on the "rule of law", would be desirable.


This work shows that hollow and microporous organic polymers (H-MOPs) are good templating materials for the synthesis of inorganic material-carbon nanocomposites. The precursor compound, (NH4)2MoS4, was incorporated into H-MOPs. Heat treatment under argon resulted in the formation of hollow MoS2-carbon nanocomposites (MSC). According to microscopic analysis, the MoS2 in the MSC has a layered structure with an elongated interlayer distance. The MSC showed high reversible discharge capacities up to 802 mA h g(-1) after 30 cycles and excellent rate performance for lithium ion batteries. The promising electrochemical performance of the MSC is attributed to the very thin and disordered nature of MoS2 in the carbon skeleton. The role of chemical components of the MSC in the electrochemical process was suggested.


The main obstacle to a wide use of dc-Decay tests lies in the necessity to align the rotor with the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$d$</tex-math></inline-formula>- or <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$q$</tex-math> </inline-formula>-axis, which is very difficult to perform for high-power units. The goal of this paper is to propose and validate standstill dc-Decay measuring methods for a rotor in arbitrary position, which consist of generalizations of the existing methods with the rotor aligned with one axis. The first new method (dc-Decay I) delivers the equivalent circuit with a few measurements. The second new method (dc-Decay II) permits to determine the full equivalent circuit of both axes by performing only one measurement, which is unique and a breakthrough in parameter identification. The field current measurement enables obtaining the characteristic reactance <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$x_{c}$</tex-math></inline-formula>. A new method (dc-Decay III) is used to get the rotor angle. To extract the time constants and the reactances, an enhancement of the existing parameter identification algorithms using curve fitting is presented (used for the dc-Decay I method). Simulation and experimental results validate as good as possible the new methods and show their accuracy as well as their drawback.


Single vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) were isolated from the caudal artery and vein and studied after 2 or 3 days in culture. Current clamp with intracellular microelectrodes and "whole-cell" voltage-clamp techniques were used. Also, scanning and transmission electron microscopy studies were performed, revealing morphological characteristics of smooth muscle in culture. Cells could contract in response to electrical and chemical stimuli. The passive membrane properties recorded with intracellular microelectrodes in a mammalian saline were as follows: 1) for artery, resting potential Vm = -56 +/- 5 mV (mean +/- SD), input resistance Rin = 590 +/- 35 M omega, membrane time constant tau m = 19 +/- 2 ms, membrane capacity C/cm2 = 1.3 +/- 0.2 microF/cm2, and length constant lambda = 900 +/- 40 micron; and 2) for vein, Vm = -66 +/- 3 mV, Rin = 450 +/- 25 M omega, tau m = 19 +/- 2 ms, C/cm2 = 1.0 +/- 0.1 microF/cm2, and lambda = 1,300 +/- 200 micron. The values calculated for a short cable and the observed change of the membrane potential as a single exponential, in response to hyperpolarizing pulses of current, both indicate that the cell membrane behaves as an isopotential surface. With hyperpolarizing pulses, both cell types gave linear voltage-current (V-I) relationships with a constant slope, Rin. On the other hand, depolarizing pulses elicited outward rectification. Voltage-clamp experiments show an outward voltage-dependent K+ current (IK) when the cell membrane is depolarized beyond approximately equal to -40 mV from holding levels approximately equal to -60 mV. Maximum slope conductances were of approximately 120 microS/cm2. Blocking of K+ channels with tetraethylammonium ions did not unmask an inward current. These results indicate that VSMC from rat caudal artery and vein in culture have K+ channels responsible for the graded depolarization of the cell membrane in response to an electrical stimulus. Furthermore, this experimental approach seems to be adequate to further study the electrical responses of VSMC from vessels at distinct stages of development, and to follow these responses as the cells change in a defined environment.


When the returns from two or more targets interfere (i.e., the signals are not resolved in the frequency or time domains) in an amplitude comparison monopulse radar system, the direction of arrival estimate indicated by the monopulse ratio can wander far beyond the angular separation of the targets. The failure to detect the presence of the interference can be catastrophic to the performance of the tracking algorithm. The detection of the presence of unresolved Rayleigh targets is considered in the paper. A Neyman-Pearson detection algorithm is developed with density functions that are conditioned on the measured amplitude of the target echoes, which will be shown to define the statistics of each measured monopulse ratio. The algorithm uses both the in-phase and quadrature portions of the monopulse ratios. Receiver operating characteristic curves are given along with simulation results that illustrate the application of the algorithm.


Background Injuries are a serious but preventable health concern in Canada and a growing field of research, attracting a large number of graduate students and other trainees across Canada to identify injury prevention as their field of study. In 2009, the Canadian Institute for Health Research funded a team in Child and Youth (C&Y) Injury Prevention. With this support, the team was able to develop a model of practice involving researchers, stakeholders, knowledge users, and trainees as part of a multidisciplinary approach to reducing the burden of injury in youth. The C&Y team was successful at supporting and highlighting the work of over 40 team trainees. The efforts of this trainee team have resulted in the formation of the Canadian Injury Prevention Trainee Network (CIPTN). Objective The CIPTN aims to build a network of trainees interested in the science and practice of injury prevention (IP) from a multi-disciplinary perspective. Specifically, the goals include increasing opportunities for collaboration, professional development, mentorship and networking. Results The CIPTN has worked to develop a list of learning and research oriented catalyst activities for trainee members. The CIPTN has successfully collaborated with IP experts and organisations from across Canada in the development of a comprehensive IP resource, as well as updating the Canadian Injury Prevention Curriculum, a course for IP practitioners across Canada. Further, an executive board and governance structure has facilitated the identification of future collaborative activities (e.g., bi-monthly seminars, grant writing, and evaluating an injury methods workshop). Conclusions The CIPTN increases opportunities for junior researchers and trainees to work within a network of colleagues to share research, build collaborative projects, expand capacity, and provide training opportunities. This in turn, will develop the quantity and quality of IP science and practice across Canada for future generations.


We theoretically investigate the recent photoemission-type experiment on 40K Fermi gases done by JILA group. Including pairing fluctuations within a strong-coupling T-matrix theory, as well as effects of a harmonic trap within the local density approximation, we calculate photoemission spectra in the BCS (Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer)-BEC (Bose-Einstein condensation) crossover region. We show that the energy resolution of the current photoemission experiment is enough to detect the pseudogap phenomenon. We also show how the pseudogap in single-particle excitations continuously changes into the superfluid gap, as one decreases the temperature below the superfluid phase transition temperature. Our results would be useful for the study of single-particle properties of ultracold Fermi gases in the BCS-BEC crossover.


ABSTRACTAs a common properti, fisheries management in swamps need to be made to provides economic benefits for the parties on the one side (especially the community), and the sustainability of the ecosystem itself on the other side. Current conditions need to be obtained to formulate swamp resource management in a sustainable manner by reducing fishing activities with aquaculture activities. Aquaculture, besides providing greater income, can also control fishing activities and reduce pressure on the swamp ecosystem. The study was conducted in Rawa Deling, Deling Village, Pangkalan Lampam Sub-District, OKI District. Water quality measurements are carried out for 5 months, from March 2018 to July 2018 in 4 stations with differences depth and vegetation. Water quality analysis is carried out to get an overview of the swamp condition. Water quality data will determine the feasibility and treatment needed for aquaculture. The results of water quality measurements showed that temperature parameter values ranging from 28.1 - 32.2 oC, depths of 0.7 - 5 m, brightness of 20 - 50 cm, TDS 17 - 35 mgL-1, pH 4.1 - 5, DO 1 , 7 - 4.1 mgL-1, phosphate <0.060 - <0.090 mgL-1, total nitrogen 12.50 - 38.90 mgL-1, ammonia 0.68 - 0.93 mgL-1. Measuring water quality shows the potential for deling swamps to be developed in an effort to increase fish stocks and aquaculture activities.Keywords : lebak lebung swamps, sustainable fisheries management, swamp water quality


BACKGROUND
Digital applications have been vital to ensuring business continuity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, digital transformation is considered key to shaping Europe's future, including the opportunity for hybrid work. Consequently, a central issue is the experience and perception of workers and the effect on their mental well-being.

OBJECTIVE
Building on the assumption that the more 'digitalized' and 'experienced with working from home (WFH),' the more positive peoples' perceptions are, this paper explores how workers in Italy and Denmark perceived WFH during the first COVID-19 lockdown from a psychosocial perspective and what lessons could be drawn for policy and industry.

METHODS
Ranking top and bottom respectively on the European Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) and different pre-pandemic experiences of WFH, data about WFH perceptions and mental well-being were collected among Danes and Italians via a survey from March to May 2020. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-Tests, and ANOVA.

RESULTS
The combination of high rank and pre-experience of WFH did not result in a positive perception of WFH. Mental well-being of Danes were mostly affected and they experienced WFH to be more challenging than the Italians, where the key disadvantages were related to "Home office constraints" and the isolation that followed.

CONCLUSION
When digitalizing Europe and workplaces are likely to offer people the opportunity to have hybrid work, the results highlight how national conditions affect the prospects of the new ways of working including people's mental well-being and where actions are most needed for policy and industry.


Through its multiple functions, the city creates its own standards of living that are defined in the specificity of the urban milieu, in contrast to the rural milieu, i.e. the creation of a new type of relationship, a different family structure, and new ways of living, working, consuming and dwelling. Through the multiple sociocultural, economic and political particularities it engenders, the city creates a change in traditionally prescribed relationships leading to the relaxing of social constraints, thereby imposing the coexistence of heterogeneous elements: a situation that unfailingly leads to conflicts between different individuals, cultures and groups. For many years, the city has been subjected to very numerous 'inflows' of essentially rural population, little prepared, it is true, for a new urban lifestyle. This mass of country people that nurtured nostalgia for an illusion and had difficulty accepting indifference and detachment, ended up generating a new type of 'city-dweller', half-way between its rural roots that it has not shed, although they are increasingly denied by the new generations, and an urbanity to which everyone ardently aspires. From this cultural duality arose the hybrid concept of the 'rurban'. In this regard, it should be pointed out that, through a rapid and massive concentration of population with country roots, pauperized and weakened in the city, an inescapable and fast-growing phenomenon of ruralization of society has appeared. The ruralization of the city has changed the face of the urban space with a combination of modernity and tradition. Public space continues to be marked by the duality of the population, which attempts to make a place for itself in the city by occupying the social and economic terrain. Public space is taken here as a privileged space for the development of games and stakes that are continuously done and undone at the expense of the marginalized and destitute. The city retains this specificity due to the fact that it remains a meltingpot for creativity, where  tradition and modernity are formed. The city is particularly distinguished by the original construction of the 'Houma' (neighbourhood) which is the public space par excellence where traditional life, based on morals, is perpetuated: respect for neighbours, decency, probity, … a space where social and community ties are redefined.


Providing a fair and secure medium access scheme is a fundamental requirement in centralized wireless networks. However, IEEE 802.11 systems do not provide any fairness control mechanism and assume a cooperative behavior of participating nodes. We tackle the problem of misbehavior on the MAC layer, mainly the backoff manipulation attack, and we propose the Random Backoff Control (RBC) mechanism. This mechanism provides misbehavior detection by controlling the backoff selection process to ensure a fair distribution of network resources. Simulation results based on OMNeT++ show that RBC ensures a reasonable fairness in presence of selfish nodes and is indeed efficient in mitigating misbehavior on the MAC layer.


The role played by "speculators" during the 2007/08 food price spike is lively disputed. Our analysis focuses on the increasing participation of index funds in agricultural commodity futures markets before the food price spike. Our central theme is to determine if their prespike massive entry does prepare the subsequent crisis by maintaining low stock levels. We develop a theoretical model explaining the behaviour of speculators and traders on futures and cash markets. We allow index funds to inflict an informational externality on commercial traders that is supposed to induce a lower desire to hold stock. We find out that, once the production decisions of commercial traders are taken into account into the model, the increased net long position of index funds is inconsistent with lower stocks. We therefore conclude that commodity index funds are not a systematic cause of high market swings and that other relevant causes should be further studied.


The axial skeleton of the anurans has undergone an evolutionary reduction of its bone elements. This structural plan is strongly preserved throughout the order and would have emerged as a highly specialized anatomical adaptation to its locomotor jumping pattern. The development programs that direct the vertebral morphogenesis of the anurans are poorly described and the molecular bases that have caused their pattern to differ from other tetrapods are completely unknown. In this work, we review the ontogeny of the spinal column of the anurans and explore the genetic mechanisms that could explain the morphological difference and the maintenance of the body plan during evolution. Here we propose that the absence of caudal osseous elements, as a consequence of the inability of sclerotomes to form cartilaginous condensations in frogs, could be due to changes in both pattern and expression levels of Hox , Pax1, Pax9 and Uncx4.1 genes along the anteroposterior axis. The anteriorised expression of the Hox genes together with the reduction in the expression levels of Pax1, Pax9 and Uncx4 in the posterior somites could explain, at least partly, the loss of caudal vertebrae in the anurans during the evolution.


The extracted features for recognition are converted to Self Organizing Maps (SOM) where the characters are classified using Kohonen Network algorithm. This character recognition finds applications in document analysis where the handwritten document can be converted to editable printed document. This approach can be extended to recognition and reproduction of hand written documents in South Indian languages. Hand written Tamil Character recognition refers to the process of conversion of handwritten Tamil character into printed Tamil character. The scanned image is segmented into paragraphs using spatial space detection technique, paragraphs into lines using vertical histogram, lines into words using horizontal histogram, and words into character image glyphs using horizontal histogram. Each image glyph is subjected to feature extraction procedure, which extracts the features such as character height, character width, number of horizontal lines(long and short), number of vertical lines(long and short), horizontally oriented curves, the vertically oriented curves, number of circles, number of slope lines, image centroid and special dots.


The evolution of magnetization within a floodplain soil begins with initial deposition of magnetic particles during sedimentation and continues via subsequent alteration and growth of iron‐bearing compounds by pedogenic and biologic processes. Measurements of soil magnetic properties capture information about the developmental history of the soil and are a convenient method by which to investigate environmental change and pedogenesis. Using a range of magnetic measurements, a comprehensive scenario for soil development was constructed for floodplain sediments at the Debra L. Friedkin site, an important archeological site near Buttermilk Creek, Texas. Floodplain deposits have traditionally been avoided for soil magnetism studies because it is thought that the episodic input of sediment would form soils characterized by discrete sedimentary units rather than a continuous record of pedogenesis. We demonstrate that alluvial deposits can sometimes carry a straightforwardly interpretable magnetic signal similar to those typically seen in loess deposits. Smooth variation of rock magnetic parameters as a function of depth also leads us to conclude that the soil at this site is largely undisturbed and that the age of lithic artifacts found within the soil may be interpreted within stratigraphic context.


A method is described for identifying and determining polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in foods, soil and drinking water that, owing to the combination of extractive, chromatographic and spectrophotometric techniques, permits to detect 0,01 microgram of bezo(a)pyrene/kg in the presence of other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The preparation, pretreatment and concentration of the samples depend upon their nature. The isolation and separation of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are achieved with the aid of two consecutive thin-layer chromatographic systems, silica gel and acetylated cellulose. The subsequent identification and determination are based on the ulta-violet spectra (limit of detection, almost 0,5 microgram/ml) and, in the nanogram range, on the in situ fluorescence spectral analysis (limit of detection, 0,005 microgram of benzo(a)pyrene/spot). Fluorescence excitation and emission spectra obtained directly from the acetylated cellulose plate permit not only the reliable identification but also the determination of the polycyclic aromatic hycrocarbons; fluorescence transfer loci obtained under various conditions, the simultaneous determination. Depending upon the kinds of sample material, the recovery values range from 75 to 99.6% with a variation coefficient between 10.3 and 22.1%. Furthermore, a limiting value method is presented that permits to take yes-no decisions, by means of thin-layer chromatographic screening without using complicated measuring techniques, indicating whether or not the respective sample complies with the benzo(a)pyrene standard.


: Clinical and morphological characterization of osteogenic sarcoma (OS) and its lung metastases is presented in 16 patients, of whom 7 have not received preoperational chemotherapy. The morphological structures of the primary tumor and its metastases are shown to be of the same type. In most observations, OS metastases have been found to have no signs of therapeutic pathomorphism and their structures are identical to those of anaplastic polymorphocellular sarcoma with osteoid. The average life span of the patients was 35 months after pulmonary metastases removal.