Increasing interest in computer-based surgical simulators as time- and cost-efficient training tools has introduced a new problem: objective evaluation of surgical performance based on scoring metrics provided by surgical simulators. This project employed fuzzy set theory to design a classifier for performance of a subject training on a surgical simulator, using three categories: novice, intermediate, and expert. The MIST-VR simulator was used in a user study of 26 subjects with three different surgical skill levels: 8 experienced laparoscopic surgeons (experts), 8 surgical assistants (intermediates), and 10 nurses (novices). Subjects were required to perform four trials of a suturing task and a knot-tying task on the simulator. The performance data were then used to train and test two fuzzy classifiers for each task. The fuzzy classifier was able to classify the users of the system. The models presented a highly nonlinear relationship between the inputs (performance metrics) and output (fuzzy score) of the system, which may not be effectively captured with classical classification approaches. Fuzzy classifiers, however, can offer effective tools to handle the complexity and fuzziness of objective evaluation of surgical performances.


The eight presidential addresses included in this essay, delivered between 1923 and 2009, focus wholly or partly on education politics and policy. Although they reflect their different intellectual and social times, they share a dominant theme in documenting the shifting and uneasy relationship between research and education policy. Presidents have expressed faith in both as resources to achieve an equal and democratic education for all children. Still that faith, expressed most strongly in the early years, has been mixed with strong doses of skepticism and caution.


By means of the vibrating reed technique, measurements of internal friction have been performed in the temperature range of 120 K < T < Tg (= glass temperature) on two amorphous alloys, each produced as ribbon and bulk material. The different contents of free volume result in an only slight shift of the onset of irreversible structural relaxation to lower temperatures (i.e., lower activation energies) for the ribbons, while considerably different amounts of structural relaxation occur. After correcting for the thermoelastic effect, the reversible structural relaxation, i.e., an approximately exponential increase of damping with rising temperature, is well described by KWW kinetics (β ≈ 0.3). For the Zr-based alloy only, a clear relaxation peak occurs in the range from 270 K to 320 K (for the first flexural vibration mode between 100 Hz and 400 Hz) induced by hydrogenation. In addition, the effect of plastic deformation on the damping behavior by cold rolling of the bulk materials has been examined.


After spinal cord transection in cats and rats, the activity of many sympathetic nerves is not entirely lost, and firing of other nerves continues unabated or is increased. This study was done to evaluate the importance of dorsal root afferent discharge on the generation of tonic sympathetic activity in renal and mesenteric postganglionic nerves in spinal rats and in rats with intact neuraxes. Sympathetic discharge was recorded in anesthetized rats, and peripheral afferent influences were eliminated by dorsal rhizotomy from T4 to L2. Activity of renal and mesenteric nerves was well maintained after high cervical and thoracic (T4) cord transections. Rhizotomy had no effect on sympathetic discharge in rats with intact neuraxes but decreased renal nerve activity significantly (-25%) in spinal rats. Because rhizotomy decreased mesenteric discharge in only three of six spinal rats, mean mesenteric nerve discharge was not decreased significantly. The decreased renal nerve discharge after dorsal rhizotomy could not be attributed to input from any specific spinal segment, and ipsilateral input was no greater than contralateral input. After rhizotomy, both renal and mesenteric nerves had substantial excitatory drive from the transected, deafferented spinal cord. These findings demonstrate that dorsal root afferent influences on spinal neurons can contribute to the generation of tonic discharge in some sympathetic nerves in spinal animals.


We propose a new Iteratively Reweighted Least Squares (IRLS) algorithm for the problem of completing or denoising low-rank matrices that are structured, e.g., that possess a Hankel, Toeplitz or block-Hankel/Toeplitz structure. The algorithm optimizes an objective based on a non-convex surrogate of the rank by solving a sequence of quadratic problems. Our strategy combines computational efficiency, as it operates on a lower dimensional generator space of the structured matrices, with high statistical accuracy which can be observed in experiments on hard estimation and completion tasks. Our experiments show that the proposed algorithm StrucHMIRLS exhibits an empirical recovery probability close to 1 from fewer samples than the state-of-the-art in a Hankel matrix completion task arising from the problem of spectral super-resolution of badly separated frequencies. Furthermore, we explain how the proposed algorithm for structured low-rank recovery can be used as preprocessing step for improved robustness in frequency or line spectrum estimation problems.


In this paper, the problem of automatic scheduling of computational tasks in integrated modular avionics (IMA) systems is addressed. This problem breaks down into: (1) assigning the partitions (groups of related tasks) to processor cores of different IMA modules, and (2) constructing sets of task execution windows for all cores, along with defining the tasks' priorities. For the first subproblem, a greedy algorithm which minimizes the intermodule data exchange is presented. For the second subproblem, an algorithm is presented which constructs a schedule conforming to a set of constraints imposed by the IMA architecture and specifics of the target system. Results of experimental evaluation of these algorithms are presented. The algorithms are implemented in a tool system for scheduling of computations in IMA systems. Vasily V. Balashov, Vadim A. Balakhanov and Valery A. Kostenko


An efficient microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) technique was developed to extract polysaccharides from Enteromorpha prolifera (PEP). The operating parameters, such as microwave power, liquid/material ratio, temperature and extraction time, were optimized using orthogonal array design coupled with single factor method. PEP yield was determined by the phenol-sulfuric acid method. The optimum extraction conditions were determined as follows: microwave power, 700 W; liquid/material ratio, 40:1 (mL/g); temperature, 70 °C; and extraction time, 25 min. Under such conditions, PEP yield reached to 10.79 %. In comparison with conventional hot water extraction and ultrasonic-assisted extraction, MAE showed obvious advantages in terms of high extraction efficiency, saving energy, rapidity, solvent consumption, and so on. The data demonstrated that MAE could be a fast and reliable method for quantitative analysis of PEP. The scavenging capability of PEP to DPPH/hydroxyl radical reached to 65.2 % and 41.2 % at the concentration of 0.5 mg/mL. The reducing power of PEP was 0.354. Compared with butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and gallic acid (GA), the experimental results showed that DPPH radical scavenging activity of PEP was higher than that of BHT. Thus, PEP had good potential as a natural antioxidant used in functional food or medicine industries.


The present study is an experience report that analyzes the perception of the medical students of Unigranrio, Barra da Tijuca, regarding the performance of the psychiatrist, in the field of specialty practice in primary care and in the psychiatric emergency service, and in relation to the insertion of the non-teaching of medical education, as well as basic themes in mental health, highlighting the feelings about the contact and approach of the patient with mental disorders and self-perception of the medical student's mental health, allowing reflections on the problem of existing non-teaching doctor. It carried out an evaluation in order to bring contributions to mental health education, detecting the presence of erroneous concepts, stereotypes and perceptions related to the subject in the formation of the student, at the same time as it discussed the need of forms of intervention to overcome challenges that involve obstacles and methodologies of mental health teaching in the medical course. The project leads to reflections on teachers and students, the possibility of mobilization at improving the future formation of the doctor, in a view of the magnification and relevance of psychiatry teaching. The construction of the project made it possible to highlight a different perspective for insertion and expansion of mental health to medical students, and for analysis of the Psychiatric Reform process, as well as questions about the need for changes in the medical curriculum formation, about concepts, sensations, misconceptions, prejudices, fears and anxieties related to the care of the psychiatric patient.


When trying to gain better visibility into a machine learning model in order to understand and mitigate the associated risks, a potentially valuable source of evidence is: which training examples most contribute to a given behavior? Influence functions aim to answer a counterfactual: how would the model's parameters (and hence its outputs) change if a given sequence were added to the training set? While influence functions have produced insights for small models, they are difficult to scale to large language models (LLMs) due to the difficulty of computing an inverse-Hessian-vector product (IHVP). We use the Eigenvalue-corrected Kronecker-Factored Approximate Curvature (EK-FAC) approximation to scale influence functions up to LLMs with up to 52 billion parameters. In our experiments, EK-FAC achieves similar accuracy to traditional influence function estimators despite the IHVP computation being orders of magnitude faster. We investigate two algorithmic techniques to reduce the cost of computing gradients of candidate training sequences: TF-IDF filtering and query batching. We use influence functions to investigate the generalization patterns of LLMs, including the sparsity of the influence patterns, increasing abstraction with scale, math and programming abilities, cross-lingual generalization, and role-playing behavior. Despite many apparently sophisticated forms of generalization, we identify a surprising limitation: influences decay to near-zero when the order of key phrases is flipped. Overall, influence functions give us a powerful new tool for studying the generalization properties of LLMs.


Variant selection rule of plate martensite in a coarse-grained Fe-28.5at.%Ni alloy was investigated. Crystallographic analysis of martensite plates was carried out by electron back scattering diffraction (EBSD) analysis in a scanning electron microscope with a field emission type gun (FE-SEM). Certain variant selections were recognized for martensite plates in the Fe-28.5at.%Ni alloy. Equivalent strain, which was calculated from the shape strain of each variant, was used to evaluate the accommodation of the shear strain induced by martensite transformation. Variant selection was ruled not only by the shear strain accommodation but also by the ngle between habit planes of adjacent martensite plates.


Due to its destructive effect, a disaster always raises questions about its causes. In the case of the earthquake that occurred in Mexico City on September 19, 2017, one of the most surprising and astonishing situations was buildings that were damaged or collapsed by the earthquake, but which had been recently constructed. These had been built 9 months up to 12 years before, and others were still not inhabited. On the other hand, as in 1985, public spaces have been playing a key role both in the emergency phase and in the recon struction phase. However, the new public spaces that accompany the most recent hous - ing projects have lost much of their quality. What factors have influenced these urban processes? What are the stakeholders that produce both the new urban forms and the new public spaces? Are there ways to measure the quality of these new public spaces? We depart from the hypothesis that the recomposition of territories of opportunity in Mexico City has been based on the adoption of trends supported by the economy, rather than in the needs of the population, resulting in exclusionary and uninhabitable public spaces in case of disaster.


ABSTRACT Biodiversity of Phenanthrene by Alcanivorak borkumensis M5 Isolated from Teluk Jakarta. Phenantrene is one of the most persistent organic substances in environment. Alcanivorax Borkumensis M5 was isolated from sea water, and able to degrade phenantrene after 5 hours. About 75 % of phenantrene was degraded after 12 hours. This isolate grew optimum at 300C, pH 7.8 with a doubling time of 14.5 hours and specific growth rate of 0.0476/hour. Polyhydroxybutirate (PHB) was produced during culture growth, but the synthesis was inversely correlated with the cell growth. The relation between PHB synthesis and phenantrene degradation is due required further investigation. Keywords: Phenanthrene, degradation ,bacteria Kata kunci: Phenantren, degradasi, bakteri


Interest management provides scalable data distribution for large-scale distributed virtual environments by filtering irrelevant messages on the network. The interest matching process is essential for most of the interest management schemes which determines what data should be sent to the participants as well as what data should be filtered. Most of the existing interest matching approaches focus on reducing the computational overhead of the matching process. However, they have a fundamental disadvantage - they perform interest matching at discrete time intervals. As a result, they would fail to report events between two consecutive time-steps of simulation. If participants ignore these missing events, they would most likely perform incorrect simulations. This paper presents a new algorithm for continuous interest matching which aims to capture missing events between discrete time-steps. Although our approach requires additional matching steps, we employ a efficient algorithm to significantly reduce this overhead.


The conceptualization and empirical knowledge base related to major depression has increased dramatically in recent years. We now have well-developed and validated models of depression from a range of theoretical perspectives. These models have significantly enhanced the development of effective treatments and preventative interventions. Although various prevention programs are available, Web-based protocols can enhance accessibility to evidence-based prevention programs. The current study involved a randomized controlled trial focused on the prevention and treatment of depression in high-risk first- and second-year undergraduate students. Three Internet-delivered preventative programs were compared: cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT; MoodGym), attentional bias modification, and an active attentional control condition. Participants (n = 350) completed symptom measurement pre- and post-intervention (6 weeks) and again at a 4-month follow-up, when they were also administered a structured diagnostic interview. Participants in the CBT condition showed more dramatic and continuous depressive symptom improvement between baseline and follow-up than did participants in the other two conditions. In addition, significantly fewer individuals in CBT condition met diagnostic criteria for major depression at follow-up than in the other conditions. These findings have important implications for future early intervention research and practice.


Structural stability and hydrogen adsorption capacity are two key quantities in evaluating the potential of metal-adatom decorated graphene for hydrogen storage and related devices. We have carried out extensive density functional theory calculations for the adsorption of hydrogen molecules on 12 different adatom (Ag, Au, Ca, Li, Mg, Pd, Pt, Sc, Sr, Ti, Y, and Zr) decorated graphene surfaces where the adatoms are found to be stabilized on double carbon vacancies, thus overcoming the ``clustering problem'' that occurs for adatoms on pristine graphene. Ca and Sr are predicted to bind the greatest number, namely six, of H${}_{2}$ molecules. We find an interesting correlation between the hydrogen capacity and the change of charge distribution with increasing H${}_{2}$ adsorption, where Ca, Li, Mg, Sc, Ti, Y, Sr, and Zr adatoms are partial electron donors and Ag, Au, Pd, and Pt are partial electron acceptors. The ``18-electron rule'' for predicting maximum hydrogen capacity is found not to be a reliable indicator for these systems.


Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) technology, which is one of the implementation of the infrastructure of Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), is put forward to solve various heterogeneous problems in enterprise information sharing and the management system integration. First, this paper introduces the definition and technical features of ESB and then, shows the design and implementation of an ESB-based Manufacturing Business Collaboration Platform (MBCP), which is used to solve the problems of the business integration in manufacturing industry area. Finally, we presented the application of MBCP in a steel plant as an example to illustrate the effectiveness of MBCP.


In this text the difference between two cultural matrixes is being examined: the culture of Polis and the culture of Megalopolis. Taking for example Ducic and his glorification of social life in big cities, dating from 1902, the roots of the culture of polis in Serbian culture are being shown. It stands against the dominant romantic matrix but not in a way that denies national identity deriving from that matrix, but in a way that recognizes a set of civil and modern values within the national culture and identity. As opposed to this, the culture of Megalopolis turns a citizen into a consumer, characterized by feeling of radical emptiness. By using brands, it turns him or her into a virtual citizen of Megalopolis who has negative sentiments towards its own cultural tradition because he/she experiences it as something that prevents his/her connection with the Megalopolis. Thus this cultural matrix acts as an instrument of separation of an individual and his or her cultural tradition, by which he or she is turned into a virtual resident of Megalopolis. Therefore it supports the turnover of a national state into suburbia which is entirely at the disposal of Megalopolis.


Cell therapy has emerged as a treatment of many endocrine disorders. Microfluidics has been developed for a myriad of biological applications and the intrinsic capability of controlling and interrogating the cellular microenvironment with unrivalled precision. Development of microfluidic technologies has potentials to address cell-relevant biological phenomena, and aligns capabilities with translational challenges and goals.
 Human islet transplantation is a promising cell-based therapy for Type I diabetes mellitus (TIDM). We developed a pumpless liquid delivery system driven by surface tension to significantly simplify the microfluidic operation for islet in vitro study. With the new device, an improvement can be achieved with lower material consumption, increased assay sensitivity, accuracy, and higher spatiotemporal resolution.
 Hypoparathyroidism is an uncommon condition associated with abnormally low levels of parathyroid hormone (PTH), leading to low calcium levels in blood and bones and to an increase of serum phosphorus. Allotransplantation of encapsulated parathyroid cells is an alternative treatment without immunosuppressants, while avoiding complications of supplemental therapy. We are able to manipulate the flow in microfluidic channels of our new microencapsulator device and efficiently generate the micro-encapsulated cells (with the size of <100 µm), which can be the answer to the future cell therapy of hypoparathyroidism.
 Furthermore, cell therapy treatment strategies also include isolation and transfer of specific stem cell populations, administration of effector cells, induction of mature cells to become pluripotent cells, and reprogramming of mature cells. To acquire the sufficient information of cell reprogramming, understand the cell physiological mechanisms, and test the function of potential cellular products, we designed a new perfusion chamber device allowing us to perform the efficient perfusion at the single cell level.


AIM
To compare thickness and reflectivity spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) findings in patients with idiopathic epiretinal membranes (ERMs), before and after ERM peeling surgery, with normal controls.

METHODS
A retrospective study analyzed SD-OCTs of eyes with ERMs undergoing ERM peeling surgery by one surgeon from 2008 to 2010 and normal control eyes. SD-OCTs were analyzed using a customized algorithm to measure reflectivity and thickness. The relationship between the SD-OCT findings and best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) outcomes was also studied.

RESULTS
Thirty-four ERM eyes and 12 normal eyes were identified. Preoperative eyes had high reflectivity and thickness of the group of layers from the internal limiting membrane (ILM) to the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and the group of layers from the ILM to the external limiting membrane (ELM). The values of reflectivity of these two groups of layers decreased postoperatively, but were still higher than normal eyes. In contrast, preoperative eyes had lower reflectivity of two 10×15 pixel regions of interest (ROIs) incorporating: 1) ELM + outer nuclear layer (ONL) and 2) photoreceptor layer (PRL) + RPE, compared to controls. The values of reflectivity of these ROIs increased postoperatively, but were still lower than normal controls. A larger improvement in BCVA postoperatively was correlated with a greater degree of abnormal preoperative reflectivity and thickness findings.

CONCLUSION
Quantitative differences in reflectivity and thickness between preoperative, postoperative, and normal SD-OCTs allow assessment of changes in the retina secondary to ERM. Our study identified hyperreflective inner retina changes and hyporeflective outer retina changes in patients with ERMs. SD-OCT quantitative measures of reflectivity and/or thickness of specific groups of retinal layers and/or ROIs correlate with improvement in BCVA.


The numerical model PSEM_2D is applied to reproduce the rill experiments described by Elliot et al. (1989) for five different textured soils. PSEM_2D is a two‐dimensional water flow and erosion model incorporating the first‐order detachment‐transport coupling model. The infiltration parameters and the friction factor are calibrated to reproduce both the flow discharges and the flow velocities measured by Elliot et al. (1989). Values of the determined friction factors are higher for the cohesive soils compared to the noncohesive soils. Four sediment transport capacity formulae for rills are tested: the Yalin, the Low, the unit stream power (Govers USP), and the effective stream power (Govers ESP) equations. These equations do not require any calibration. The erosion parameters for the first‐order detachment‐transport coupling model come from the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) database. They were calibrated by Elliot et al. (1989) using observed data and the rill component of WEPP. The Govers USP formula gives the best results for the cohesive soils. Nevertheless, none of the equations performs well for the noncohesive soils. The study also focuses on the results obtained for the Barnes_ND, the Bonifay, and the Collamer soils to explore the implication of the detachment‐transport coupling model on the spatial erosion patterns along the rills. A detachment‐limiting regime is produced over the whole rill for the Barnes_ND soil, a transport‐limiting regime is reached over a very short flow distance for the Bonifay soil, and a detachment‐limiting regime in the upper part along with a transport‐limiting regime in the lower part of the rills is experienced for the Collamer soil.


Asset pricing is the topic of the 2001 Eastern Finance Association Symposium and the five papers selected for this collection, which are summarized below, span a broad range of subjects that fall under the umbrella of the determinants of market prices. For example, the Schwartz and Moon article that introduces the symposium uses real options methodology to value firms whose cash flows are subject to multiple sources of uncertainty while the Luders and Peisl and Mixon analytical models that close the selections incorporate dual stochastic processes to derive relationships between information flow, trading volume and price volatility that are consistent with empirical evidence. In between, Mishra and O'Brien present new evidence on the important of index and factor selection when estimating the required return on equity and Spahr and Schwebach revisit the issue of time diversification by reintroducing a statistical construct from earlier times. Each of the works included here makes an important contribution to our understanding of the asset pricing process in a distinct area and opens new doors onto avenues for future research.


The molecular structure of a mouse immunoglobulin D from a plasmacytoma tumor and that of the normal mouse gene coding for immunoglobulin D are presented. The DNA sequence results indicate an unusual structure for the tumor delta chain in two respects: (i) Only two constant (C) region domains, termed C delta 1 and C delta 3 by homology considerations, are found; the two domains are separated by an unusual hinge region C delta H that lacks cysteine residues and thus cannot provide the covalent cross-links between heavy chains typically seen in immunoglobulins. The two domains and hinge are all coded on separate exons. (ii) At the carboxyl end of the delta chain there is a stretch of 26 amino acids that is coded from an exon located 2750 to 4600 base pairs downstream from the rest of the gene. Analogy with immunoglobulin M suggests that this distally coded segment C delta DC may have a membrane-binding function; however, it is only moderately hydrophobic. A fifth potential exon (C delta AC), located adjacent to the 3' (carboxyl) end of C delta 3, could code for a stretch of 49 amino acids. The tumor's expression of the delta gene may be aberrant, but the simplest interpretation would be that this tumor expresses one of the several biologically significant forms of the delta chain.


In this paper, we report on a reconfigurable bandpass filter for X-band applications. The filter is composed of coupled X/2 microstrip line resonators. Center frequency tuning of each resonator is achieved using an RF switch based on a phase change chalcogenide compound, germanium telluride, which switches in and out a loading capacitor. A combination of electric and magnetic coupling between the resonators realizes a near constant absolute-bandwidth as the filter is tuned. The center frequency of the filter is switched between 7.45 and 8.07 GHz, with a 3-dB bandwidth of ~ 500 MHz, insertion loss of less than 3.2 dB, and return loss of better than 18 dB. The measured third-order intermodulation intercept point (IIP3) and 1-dB power compression point (P1dB) are better than 30 dBm at frequency offset of 1 kHz and 25 dBm, respectively. Measured and simulated results are in good agreement. To our best knowledge, this is the first time implementation of a tunable filter using germanium telluride based phase change switches.


Gastric perforation in neonates is a very rare surgical emergency and life-threatening condition with uncertain etiology till date. Despite having high mortality rate, pathogenesis and etiology are greatly debated. Because of its high mortality rate, prompt diagnosis and urgent surgical intervention is mandatory. Herewith we report a case of neonatal gastric perforation having no apparent etiology. A 3 day old full term twin delivery male baby with neonatal gastric perforation presented with abdominal distention and respiratory distress. Baby was with low birth weight and was in septicemia during admission. He was diagnosed radiologically on X ray abdomen showing 'saddle bag' appearance and demonstrating gas out lining falciform ligament and managed by resuscitation and surgery. On exploration there was a 1 cm x 1 cm perforation seen on the fundic region along the greater curvature which was circular with pouting mucosa through it, surrounding serosa was hyperemic, no evidence of necrosis or petechial hemorrhage around perforation; primary repair was done. Postoperatively, despite of intensive care by means of invasive ventilation, intravenous fluids and broad spectrum antibiotics, condition of baby started deteriorating and he expired 40 hours after operation. Cause of death was septicemia secondary to peritonitis in low birth weight baby.


SIR, We read with interest the article by Norton on the rheumatic manifestations of brucellosis.' We reported our experience with 304 patients infected with Brucella melitensis in 1982.2 Recently we have completed a prospective evaluation of 194 additional patients. Of these 498 patients, 180 (36%) presented with arthritis. In contrast to Norton's findings, sacoiliitis and peripheral arthritis were the most common forms of joint involvement, accounting for 90% of all the arthritis cases. Spondylitis was seen in only 18 patients (10%). As reported by others3 4 these patients were predominantly middle aged and older males with chronic brucellosis. The discrepancy can be explained by the different age distribution of the populations studied. Only one of the 55 patients reported by Norton was younger than 15, while in our group 354 patients (71%) were younger than 35 and 125 (25%) younger than 15. We agree with Norton in that immune abnormalities occur in human brucellosis, particularly during periods of active disease. Low titres of antinuclear antibodies were present in 25% and rheumatoid factor in 37-5% of a group of patients evaluated by US.5 Circulating immune complexes were detected by the Raji cell assay in 91.5%. As in other infectious diseases6 7 infectious and reactive arthritis occur in human brucellosis. In our series, using a selective culture medium for brucella,8 one third of the patients had sterile synovial fluids fulfilling the definition of reactive arthritis.9 Furthermore, the arthritis was non-destructive and resolved spontaneously in most of these patients, an event not commonly seen in infectious arthritis.'0 Interestingly, in one of the patients described by Norton the arthritis resolved after an intra-articular injection of corticosteroids.' The immune abnormalities described above strongly suggest that an immune mechanism plays a part in the arthritis of these patients.


The occurrence ofOxyuris vermicularisin the vermiform appendix of the human species has been frequently described in the literature. The description of parasites in this structure dates back to Fabricius, in 1634, and Santorini, in 1724. Metchnikoff1was the first to lay stress on the relationship of intestinal parasites to appendicitis. Even though many reports, chiefly of single instances, have appeared from various centers, especially abroad, over a considerable period of time, and form in their aggregate quite a voluminous literature, nevertheless, the role of the oxyuris as a causative factor of appendicitis has received little consideration. The reasons for such a condition are probably twofold: (1) the failure of proper clinical and pathologic observations as to the extent of their occurrence in appendical involvements; (2) the difference of opinion existing relative to the pathogenic role played by these nematodes in such lesions. Unless the pathologist directs specific


Learn, prepare, and practice for CISSP exam success with the CISSP Cert Guide from Pearson IT Certification, a leader in IT Certification. Master CISSP exam topics Assess your knowledge with chapter-ending quizzes Review key concepts with exam preparation tasks Practice with realistic exam questions on the CD CISSP Cert Guide is a best-of-breed exam study guide. Leading IT certification experts Troy McMillan and Robin Abernathy share preparation hints and test-taking tips, helping you identify areas of weakness and improve both your conceptual knowledge and hands-on skills. Material is presented in a concise manner, focusing on increasing your understanding and retention of exam topics. You'll get a complete test preparation routine organized around proven series elements and techniques. Exam topic lists make referencing easy. Chapter-ending Exam Preparation Tasks help you drill on key concepts you must know thoroughly. Review questions help you assess your knowledge, and a final preparation chapter guides you through tools and resources to help you craft your final study plan. The companion CD contains the powerful Pearson IT Certification Practice Test engine, complete with hundreds of exam-realistic questions. The assessment engine offers you a wealth of customization options and reporting features, laying out a complete assessment of your knowledge to help you focus your study where it is needed most, so you can succeed on the exam the first time. This study guide helps you master all the topics on the CISSP exam, including Access control Telecommunications and network security Information security governance and risk management Software development security Cryptography Security architecture and design Operation security Business continuity and disaster recovery planning Legal, regulations, investigations, and compliance Physical (environmental) security Troy McMillan, Product Developer and Technical Editor at Kaplan Cert Prep, specializes in creating certification practice tests and study guides. He has 12 years of experience teaching Cisco, Microsoft, CompTIA, and Security classes for top training companies, including Global Knowledge and New Horizons. He holds more than 20 certifications from Microsoft, Cisco, VMware, and other leading technology organizations. Robin M. Abernathy has more than a decade of experience in IT certification prep. For Kaplan IT Certification Preparation, she has written and edited preparation materials for many (ISC)2, Microsoft, CompTIA, PMI, Cisco, and ITIL certifications. She holds multiple IT certifications from these vendors. Companion CD The CD contains two free, complete practice exams, plus memory tables and answers to help you study more efficiently and effectively. Pearson IT Certification Practice Test minimum system requirements: Windows XP (SP3), Windows Vista (SP2), Windows 7, or Windows 8; Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 Client; Pentium-class 1GHz processor (or equivalent); 512MB RAM; 650MB disk space plus 50MB for each downloaded practice exam; access to the Internet to register and download exam databases


The conjugate additions of homochiral lithium (R)-N-benzyl-N-α-methyl-4-methoxybenzylamide to tert-butyl 3-(3-pyridyl)- and tert-butyl 3-(4-pyridyl)-prop-2-enoates proceed in 84% de, and after subsequent recrystallisation and oxidative N-deprotection furnish the (S)-3-(3-pyridyl)- and (S)-3-(4-pyridyl)-β-amino acid derivatives in 97% ee and 98% ee respectively. Conjugate additions of lithium N-benzyl-N-α-methyl-4-methoxybenzylamide to tert-butyl 3-(2-pyridyl)prop-2-enoates proceed with low levels of diastereoselectivity unless the 3-(2-pyridyl) ring is substituted. Application of this methodology allows the asymmetric synthesis of (R)-tert-butyl 3-(2-chloro-3-methoxymethoxy-6-pyridyl)-3-aminopropanoate, the protected β-amino ester component of kedarcidin, in 97% ee.


Sanfilippo syndrome type III B (MPS III B) is an inherited disorder characterized by a deficiency of ?-N-acetylglucosaminidase (Naglu) enzyme leading to accumulation of heparan sulfate in lysosomes and severe neurological deficits. We have previously shown that a single administration of human umbilical cord mononuclear cells (hUCB MNC) into Nagluknockout mice decreased behavioral abnormalities and tissue pathology. In this study, we tested whether repeated doses of hUCB MNCs would be more beneficial than a single dose of cells. Naglumice at 3 months of age were randomly assigned to either a Media only group, or one of three hUCB MNC treatment groups - single low dose (3x106 cells), single high dose (1.8x107 cells) or multiple doses (3x106 cells monthly for 6 months) delivered intravenously (i.v.); cyclosporine was injected i.p. to immune suppress the mice for the duration of the study. An additional control group of wild type mice was also used. We measured anxiety in an open field test and cognition inactive avoidance test prior to treatment and then at monthly intervals for 6 months. hUCB MNCs restored normal anxiety-like behavior in these mice (p < 0.001). The repeated cell administrations also restored hippocampal cytoarchitecture, protected the dendritic tree, decreased GM3 ganglioside accumulation and decreased microglial activation, particularly in hippocampus and cortex. These data suggest that the neuroprotective effect of hUCB MNCs can be enhanced by repeated cell administrations.


ABSTRACT This study examined the effect of inducing a defensive attitude (fake good) in children on their responses to the Tell Me a Story test (TEMAS; Costantino, Malgady, & Rogler, 1988). Different story elicitation procedures were employed to explore their efficacy for inducing a defensive response style in children. Eighty-four Italian children aged 8 to 10 years old completed the TEMAS and the L scale of the Behavioral Assessment Scale for Children–2 (BASC–2; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2004), which were used to detect the adoption of a defensive attitude. Children completed the tests under 1 of 3 conditions: (a) honest condition, (b) fake good with verbal instructions, and (c) fake good with verbal instructions and visual stimuli illustrating what was verbally explained. Using simultaneous verbal instructions and visual stimuli facilitated children's understanding of the researcher's instructions compared to using verbal stimuli alone. Results showed that children instructed to fake good used less time to tell stories and tended to modify the simpler and more face valid aspects of their stories. Still, 29 out of 47 children failed to fake good on the BASC–2 L scale. More complex TEMAS variables showed no significant difference between story elicitation conditions.


This chapter investigates critical criminology. The strands that are widely regarded as most important in the development of critical criminology are labelling perspectives, Marxist-inspired critical theories, power perspectives, and feminist perspectives. The ideas and insights contained within these theories inspired and prepared the ground for more recent developments in the field, including cultural criminology and convict criminology. Critical criminology not only suggests that we make small alterations to criminal justice systems; instead, it requires us to question everything we think we 'know' about these systems and the societies and communities in which we live. It questions how and why we control behaviour, looks at power from the perspective of the oppressed or the powerless, and suggests alternative narratives that should be part of our accepted knowledge base.


Human T-lymphotropic viruses type 1 and 2 (HTLV-1/2) are prevalent in endemic clusters globally, and HTLV-1 infects at least 5 to 10 million individuals. Infection can lead to inflammation in the spinal cord, resulting in HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP), or adult T cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL). ABSTRACT Human T-lymphotropic viruses type 1 and 2 (HTLV-1/2) are prevalent in endemic clusters globally, and HTLV-1 infects at least 5 to 10 million individuals. Infection can lead to inflammation in the spinal cord, resulting in HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP), or adult T cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL). Obtaining venous blood for serological screening, typically performed using enzyme immunoassays (EIAs), is invasive, sometimes socially unacceptable, and has restricted large-scale seroprevalence studies. Collecting oral fluid (OF) is a noninvasive alternative to venesection. In this study, an IgG antibody capture EIA was developed and validated to detect anti-HTLV-1/2 IgG in OF. OF and plasma specimens were obtained from seropositive HTLV-1/2-infected patients attending the National Centre for Human Retrovirology (n = 131) and from HTLV-1/2-uninfected individuals (n = 64). The assay showed good reproducibility and high diagnostic sensitivity (100%) and specificity (100%) using both OF and plasma. The Murex HTLV I+II commercial assay was evaluated and did not detect anti-HTLV-1/2 IgG in 14% (5/36) of OF specimens from seropositive donors. The reactivities of OF and plasma in the IgG capture correlated strongly (r = 0.9290) and were not significantly affected by delayed extraction when held between 3°C and 45°C for up to 7 days to simulate field testing. The use of OF serological screening for HTLV-1/2 infection could facilitate large-scale seroprevalence studies, enabling active surveillance of infection on a population level.


This article reports on an m-learning research agenda instituted at our university in order to explore how mobile technology can enhance active, experiential learning. Details of the implementation and results of four areas of m-learning are presented: mobile supported fieldwork, fostering interactivity in large lectures with mobile technology, using mobile devices to learn about mobile technology and, finally, podcasting. These directions are informed by a concern for achieving m-learning practices consistent with sound educational theory and the needs of the contemporary, technologically aware student body. All four implementations have been successfully embedded in mainstream subjects on a continuing basis. Therefore they represent a departure from the project based approach of much m-learning reported in the literature. This outcome was achieved through a focus on the economic sustainability and feasibility of each case. An evaluation focusing on how well each case assisted students' learning found that, with the exception of lecture podcasting, all supported high quality experiential learning.


This thesis describes the design of low noise amplifier (LNA) for the international Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project. LNAs in radio astronomy receivers play an important role of amplifying very weak signals from the Universe and the significance of the LNAs become more crucial in the SKA which is the largest and most sensitive radio telescope in the World. The aperture array (AA) system proposed for SKA is projected to deploy tens of millions of LNAs in a receiver system to survey large areas of the sky simultaneously over the frequency bands of 70-450MHz and 400-1400MHz. Hence LNA power efficiency has a significant implication in the SKA AA system due to the large number of the LNAs required. This thesis describes the design of 9 LNAs for the SKA. Seven LNAs with very low power consumption were designed, fabricated and characterised for SKA AA system using MIC technology by employing COTS components. Single ended and differential to single ended configurations were used for the lower frequency band of SKA AA system. Low noise figures (noise temperatures) of 0.6dB (43K) were achieved with high gain of more than 30dB at a power consumptions of less than 25mW for lower frequency band of AA. The LNAs designed to perform at 400-1400MHz have a very low power consumption of 28mW with an average noise figure (noise temperature) of 0.45dB (32K). Two MMIC LNAs based on low noise TQP13N pHEMT process of TriQuint Semiconductors with gate length of 130nm were designed for the low (0.7-1.8GHz) and high (8-10GHz) frequency ends of the SKA. The packaging and housing solutions of the SKA LNAs were implemented.The work described in this thesis shows low noise figures (noise temperatures) with high gains are achieved at a very low power consumption of less than 30mW for the MIC LNAs in the SKA AA system by using commercially available components.


BACKGROUND
The effect of regionalized trauma care (RT) on hospital-based outcomes for traumatic spine injury (TSI) in the United States is unknown.

OBJECTIVE
To test the hypothesis that RT would be associated with earlier time to surgery and decreased length of stay (LOS).

METHODS
TSI patients >14 yr were identified using International Classification of Diseases Ninth Revision Clinical Modification diagnostic codes. Data from 2008 through 2012 were analyzed before and after RT in 2010.

RESULTS
A total of 4072 patients were identified; 1904 (47%) pre-RT and 2168 (53%) post-RT. Injury severity scores, Spine Abbreviated Injury Scale scores, and the percentage of TSIs with spinal cord injury (tSCI) were similar between time periods. Post-RT TSIs demonstrated a lower median intensive care unit (ICU) LOS (0 vs 1 d; P < 0.0001), underwent spine surgery more frequently (13% vs 11%; P = 0.01), and had a higher rate of spine surgery performed within 24 h of admission (65% vs 55%; P = 0.02). In patients with tSCI post-RT, ICU LOS was decreased (1 vs 2 d; P < 0.0001) and ventilator days were reduced (average days: 2 vs 3; P = 0.006). The post-RT time period was an independent predictor for spine surgery performed in less than 24 h for all TSIs (odds ratio [OR] 1.52, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.04-2.22, C-stat = 0.65). Multivariate linear regression analysis demonstrated an independent effect on reduced ICU LOS post-RT for TSIs (OR -1.68; 95% CI: -2.98 to 0.39; R2 = 0.74) and tSCIs (OR -2.42, 95% CI: -3.99-0.85; R2 = 0.72).

CONCLUSION
RT is associated with increased surgical rates, earlier time to surgery, and decreased ICU LOS for patients with TSI.


We investigated the effect of color-vision deficiency on reaction times and accuracy of identification of traffic light signals. Participants were 20 color-normal and 49 color-deficient males, the latter divided into subgroups of different severity and type. Participants performed a tracking task. At random intervals, stimuli simulating standard traffic light signals were presented against a white background at 5° to right or left. Participants identified stimulus color (red/yellow/green) by pressing an appropriate response button. Mean response times for color normals were 525, 410, and 450 ms for red, yellow, and green lights, respectively. For color deficients, response times to red lights increased with increase in severity of color deficiency, with deutans performing worse than protans of similar severity: response times of deuteranopes and protanopes were 53% and 35% longer than those of color normals. A similar pattern occurred for yellow lights, with deuteranopes and protanopes having increased times of 85% and 53% respectively. For green lights, response times of all groups were similar. Error rates showed patterns similar to those of response times. Contrary to previous studies, deutans performed much worse than protans of similar severity. Actual or potential applications of this research include traffic signal design and driver licensing.


This study assessed the effectiveness of " Adopted Villages Scheme " as an approach to improved technology dissemination among beneficiaries in Borno State, Nigeria. Structured interview schedules were used to obtain information from all the thirty (30) participants in Dalori and Dusuman adopted villages of Lake Chad Research Institute (LCRI) Maiduguri. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive (frequencies percentages and mean scores) and inferential statistics (chi-square analysis). The results showed that there was high awareness (more than 80%) of improved technologies by respondents. Findings also revealed that most (70%) of the respondents became aware of improved farm technologies on monthly basis. The level of participation of respondents in trial of improved technologies being disseminated was high in both the high yielding (=2.836) and early maturing (=2.60) millet varieties. Result and method demonstration was the most effective (=2.93) technique used in disseminating improved farm technologies to the respondents. The result equally indicated that result/method demonstration and farmer field school were statistically significant; X 2 calculated (9.800) and (6.812) > P-value (5.991) and (5.991) respectively in effectiveness of dissemination of improved farm technologies in the study area. Lack of finance (=2.96) was the major problem affecting the effectiveness of the scheme. It was recommended that loan disbursement under the scheme and basic inputs such as fertilizer, chemicals and implements, be made adequate at the right and at subsidized rates to the beneficiaries.


Consider a massive crowd who gathered together to convey their common voice to public, e.g., supporters of a team sitting together in a stadium, people doing a candlelight vigil in a public square, and so on. Imagine that they hold up their smartphone displays which collectively compose a huge public screen; the crowd's messages are now shown big on the top of them. We present CaaS [3], a mobile service to realize such an instant, massive, collective visualization with commodity smartphones and cloud services. In this demo, we demonstrate the collective localization feature of CaaS so that the audience can watch a given pattern or symbol collectively displayed on top of arbitrarily positioned phones (See the video demo, https://goo.gl/GfsORc).


A 40-year-old man had experienced headaches for 6 days and a 51-year-old man (2 weeks after an operation for perianal abscess) had experienced tingling sensations in the left hand for 10 days. After an epileptic seizure both underwent a CT scan of the brain. On these an abnormality was visible, probably a malignant astrocytoma. After several days of complaint reduction with dexamethasone, drowsiness and leftsided hemiparesis occurred. Emergency operations revealed a brain abscess. In the younger patient drainage and the administration of antibiotics were followed by fatal brain oedema. In the eldest drainage and the administration of antibiotics were followed by the extraction of infected teeth; he recovered with a slight loss of strength in the left hand. Brain abscesses are rare in the Netherlands. The diagnosis can be difficult because clinical signs and symptoms are not specific and because an underlying systemic infection is often not apparent. Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging can nowadays differentiate purulent brain processes from cystic brain tumors. Early treatment (burr hole aspiration and antibiotics) is usually curative. Nevertheless, mortality continues to be almost 10% and (permanent) morbidity 45%.


There are millions of landmines deadly weapons still buried in various countries around the world. Unfortunately, landmines make the correct detection of humanitarian organizations very difficult. For this purpose, new technologies such as improved sensors, efficient manipulators and mobile robots are needed. Our effort is to develop a small mobile robot for landmine detection. The mobile robot consists of sensor module, GPS, RF communications equipment, IR camera, motors and controller etc. This paper describes the current configuration of development in landmine detecting mobile robot. Specifically we are concerned with the sensor module of the mobile robot. Our results show that graphs have measured a small metal instead of a real landmine because it is greatly dangerous that students experiment on detection with real landmines.


Introduction: The aim of this article is to provide a perspective of prenatal chromosomal diagnosis (PCD) derived from a single center's evolving experience from ∼90,000 consecutive prenatal cases and to highlight important issues and current dilemmas. Materials and Methods: Prenatal cases in this study (1985-2013) were referred for various indications, and PCD was performed by standard karyotype in 84,255 cases, multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) panel in 3,010 cases and standalone array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) in 3,122 cases. Results: Classic karyotype revealed 1.7 and 7.9% of pathological cases in amniotic fluid and CVS samples, respectively, with common aneuploidies accounting for 59.6 and 64.3% of the total abnormal. Molecular approaches increased the diagnostic yield by 0.6% for MLPA and 1.6% for aCGH, uncovering pathogenic chromosomal abnormalities undetectable by karyotype analysis. Conclusions: Current molecular diagnostic capabilities and the recent introduction of noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) point to one current major dilemma in PCD, with serious implications in genetic counseling, relating on the one hand to reaping the benefits from the high detection rate afforded through aCGH but accepting an invasive risk, and on the other hand, offering a lower detection rate practically only for Down syndrome, with minimal invasive risk.


Open Set Domain Adaptation (OSDA) transfers the model from a label-rich domain to a label-free one containing novel-class samples. Existing OSDA works overlook abundant novel-class semantics hidden in the source domain, leading to a biased model learning and transfer. Although the causality has been studied to remove the semantic-level bias, the non-available novel-class samples result in the failure of existing causal solutions in OSDA. To break through this barrier, we propose a novel causality-driven solution with the unexplored front-door adjustment theory, and then implement it with a theoretically grounded framework, coined Adjustment and Alignment (ANNA), to achieve an unbiased OSDA. In a nutshell, ANNA consists of Front-Door Adjustment (FDA) to correct the biased learning in the source domain and Decoupled Causal Alignment (DCA) to transfer the model unbiasedly. On the one hand, FDA delves into fine-grained visual blocks to discover novel-class regions hidden in the base-class image. Then, it corrects the biased model optimization by implementing causal debiasing. On the other hand, DCA disentangles the base-class and novel-class regions with orthogonal masks, and then adapts the decoupled distribution for an unbiased model transfer. Extensive experiments show that ANNA achieves state-of-the-art results. The code is available at https://github.com/CityU-AIM-Group/Anna.


The case is reported of a 78-year-old woman with a false aneurysm of the external iliac artery following double cup arthroplasty of the left hip. Possible causes of the false aneurysm are discussed and the importance of its early recognition is stressed.


Growth of the zooplanktivorous bay anchovy Anchoa mitchilli and its potential to con- trol plankton communities were investigated in estuarine mesocosms. The effects of mesocosm dimensions (size and shape) on anchovy growth and grazing impact were evaluated in 2 experi- ments, of 6 and 15 wk duration, respectively. Estuarine mesocosms of 1 and 10 m 3 volume and 2 shapes were used. The size-shape differences provided mesocosms with 3 volume-to-wall area ratios that determined how 'pelagic' the enclosures were. Anchovy growth rates scaled directly with meso- cosm size and with mesocosm volume:wall area ratio. Growth was slowest in the least 'pelagic' enclo- sures, and fastest in the most 'pelagic' enclosures. The fish had a clear top-down impact on copepod populations. Mesocosms without fish supported copepods that were larger in size and of higher com- munity biomass. Highest anchovy growth rates (and presumed consumption) occurred in mesocosms with lower mean copepod biomasses, further suggesting top-down control. Although not conclusive, trends in trophic relationships were consistent and supportive of the trophic cascade hypothesis. Mesocosms with high mean copepod biomasses tended to have low mean phytoplankton densities, and mesocosms with high anchovy growth rates tended to have high phytoplankton densities. There was no consistent evidence that top-down control by bay anchovy was related to mesocosm sizes or dimensions.


In this paper, a VAR model is used to study the effects of monetary policy shocks in seven East Asian economies. For each economy, the same identification scheme is imposed and the dynamic responses to a monetary shock are examined in the light of the predictions of monetary theory. The results suggest that the VAR model produces sensible impulse response functions for most of the economies, especially for the sample that ends before the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Given the openness of these economies, the exchange rate plays a significant role in the formulation of monetary policy. In order to capture explicitly the importance of the exchange rate in these economies, plausible weights are also imposed on the exchange rate to identify the model.


PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES
To investigate knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of nursing and midwifery students regarding breast self-examination (BSE).

DESIGN
Descriptive, cross-sectional.

SETTING
Aydin School of Health at Adnan Menderes University in Aydin, Turkey.

SAMPLE
244 female students of nursing and midwifery.

METHODS
Data were collected with a questionnaire.

MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES
BSE-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors.

FINDINGS
More than half of the study participants stated they had sufficient information about BSE from varied sources, primarily from school curricula. The students were knowledgeable about who should perform BSE and its recommended frequency; however, their knowledge of BSE techniques was limited. First-year students had negative attitudes about BSE but became more positive as they progressed in their education. Half of the study sample stated they performed BSE at recommended times and intervals, but only one-fifth used recommended BSE positions and techniques. The main reasons for not performing BSE included not knowing how to perform it (57%), not having any history of problems in the breast (39%), and forgetfulness (18%).

CONCLUSIONS
The results demonstrate that nursing and midwifery education has a positive effect on students' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding BSE.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING
The findings suggest that nursing and midwifery students should be thoroughly prepared to perform BSE on themselves so they can educate other women about this important preventive procedure.


Nowadays, the business of processing fruit flesh into various snacks has been done a lot, but still, a few are starting to look at the use of fruit skins. If usually people are only interested in the use of fruit flesh, creative people will start to be interested in utilizing the fruit skin waste that people usually throw away. One of them is the use of mango peels into fruit chips. By frying and varying the taste of the mango peel, it can create a snack that is different from the others. So that it attracts consumers to consume this snack. The processing of fruit into chips needs technological support so that the quality of the chips produced is acceptable to consumers. One of the ways to produce healthy food without changing its original form is to use vacuum frying technology. Compared to conventional frying, the vacuum system produces a much better product in terms of appearance, color, aroma, and taste. Based on the above, this study discusses the performance test of vacuum frying technology in the utilization of abundant mango peel waste into products that have selling value. height and longer shelf life by making the mango peel into chips so that the economic value of the fruit can be increased. In this study, researchers used direct observation for data collection techniques from the results of research, namely a technique or data collection method by making direct observations on the Vacuum Frying Machine which was tested by recording the results of the observations. The research was conducted in 2 stages, namely preliminary research and main research. Preliminary research was conducted to determine the optimal temperature and frying time range for the mango peel chips used in the frying process. The observations made in the preliminary study were subjective observations of the color and crunch of the mango skin chips. The best results from the preliminary research are used in the main study. Determination of the best frying temperature and time from the results of the organoleptic test by weighing test. In the organoleptic test, the panelists were asked for their opinion regarding the level of their preference for mango skin chip products. The organoleptic test in this study used 15 panelists with the preference test covering 4 quality parameters, namely aroma, taste, crispness, and color.


Being able to hold politicians accountable is the hallmark of democracy, and central to this is the notion that politicians can run for reelection. Most research on reelection incentives compare politicians who are term-limited with those who are not. These studies concentrate mostly on relatively senior politicians in candidate-centered electoral systems. This article leverages a quasi-natural experiment posed by the staggered implementation of the 2014 Mexican Electoral Reform, which lifted an eighty-year-old ban on reelection. The author conducts a difference-in-differences analysis of the hypothesis that reelection encourages legislators to focus more on policies with the highest "electoral yield"—namely, particularistic legislation. Applying a correlated topic model to a new collection of transcripts from 6,890 legislative sessions in 20 Mexican states between 2012 and 2018, this article presents compelling evidence that it does, that the effect is synchronized with the electoral cycle, and that it is larger when the legislators' political horizons are longer.


Although olfactory disorders are not at the forefront of the clinical description of Alzheimer's disease (AD), they are common and often overlooked by clinicians and by patients who are largely unaware of their deficits. The past 30 years, the literature has shown early olfactory deficits in AD that is spreading across the olfactory spectrum with disease worsening. Partial overlap between brain areas implies both in olfaction and AD especially limbic system motivating these researches. This study describes olfactory parameters and tests using to investigate peripheral (odor threshold) and central (hedonicity, familiarity, intensity, discrimination, identification, olfactory memory) levels. Besides, this article takes an inventory of olfactory disorders in AD including odor threshold, discrimination, identification and olfactory memory capacities with controversial results observed t, we


Continuous-wave (CW) single-frequency terahertz (THz) waves were generated using difference-frequency generation via excitation of phonon-polaritons in GaP. The two pump sources were an external cavity laser diode (LD) and an LD-pumped Nd : YAG laser. The power density of the latter beam was enhanced by using a ytterbium-doped fiber amplifier. The two incident beams were focused to near the wavelength of THz waves. This optical alignment enabled us to generate frequency-tunable CW THz waves in the 0.69-2.74 THz range. With a fixed angle between the pump beams, we obtained a frequency bandwidth as large as 600 GHz


Salt plays an important functional role in foods. However, dietary recommendations imply the need for sodium reduction due to the health risk connected to its consumption, including cardio-vascular diseases and increased blood pressure. Bread and cereals are major sources of salt in the western diet and are therefore relevant for salt reduction studies. Furthermore, studies have indicated a connection between salt perception and its distribution. The aim of this study was to compare the salt distribution and mobility of traditional French breads with different types of salt with varying crystal size, liquid salt or encapsulation of the salt by means of 23Na Double Quantum Filtering NMR spectroscopy, Significantly higher molar concentrations of restricted sodium were observed in breads salted with the standard crystal size than in breads salted with encapsulated salt, either used alone or in combination with the standard crystal salt. Encapsulation oils are generally dissolved during the baking step, thus leading to a delay in solubility of the encapsulated salt. This could explain lower concentrations of restricted sodium in the encapsulated samples. The standard salt showed a higher restricted fraction than the large crystal salted and encapsulated salted breads. Also, more restricted sodium was observed if the salt was added at the end of the kneading cycle. Relaxation times and optimal creation times measurements indicated that the mobility of salt was affected by salt encapsulation. The study showed that the type of salt and its state influences both the distribution and mobility of the salt in bread.


Connecting glass with heat bonds is a way to create all-transparent glass structures. Two methods have been researched in theory and practice, glass welding, through local heating, and glass fusion through global heating. Both methods have been applied to produce 10 mm thick T-sections of soda lime glass while preventing thermal shock failure and minimizing residual stress. These specimen, and specimen with an adhesive joint, have been tested destructively. It is concluded that it is possible to connect 10 mm thick soda lime glass by welding, if the glass is preheated and the surrounding temperature remains elevated during the welding process. Additionally, glass fusion of a similar product through global heating is possible for the applied temperature schedule. The mould has a paramount influence on the quality of the product. For both production methods, the annealing schedule was adequate to reduce residual stress. The average strength of the fused specimen was 44% larger. The standard deviation of the welded specimen was smaller: the standard deviation relative to the mean value was 9% for the welded specimen and 60% for the fused specimen. However, the amount of tested specimen is little. This research is a proof of concept for heat bonding soda lime glass of a structurally relevant thickness.


The anterior part of the sewer system consists of a system of gully pots and lateral (house) connections that drain to main sewers. The total length of lateral house connections can be similar to the total length of the sewers they drain to. In addition, there are 7 million gully pots with corresponding lateral connections in the Netherlands alone. Considering the potential consequences of a lateral house connection blockage, proper functioning of these system components is essential. Analysis of literature on main sewer infrastructure strongly related to lateral (house) connections indicate these components to be more susceptible to shared failure mechanisms. Both incorrect use by citizens and the structural condition seem to influence the blockage propensity. Furthermore, recent research has revealed gully pot blockages to make larger contributions to flooding in public spaces than intense storm events and main sewer blockages. Gully pots are equipped with a sand trap to prevent solids from being transported to the downstream water infrastructure. The continuous trapping of solids may eventually impair the hydraulic performance. Lack of knowledge on the condition of the anterior part of a sewer system has led to the prevalence of reactive strategies, where activities are undertaken after the consequences of an operational failure becomes apparent. Next to being more costly, these strategies expose citizens to the consequences of a failure such as tangible damages and health risks. Alternatively, proactive strategies are characterised by activities that are undertaken before a failure occurs. Preserving the functionality of lateral (house) connections and gully pots, given the available resources, calls for knowledge on the effectiveness of proactive strategies and information on blockage prone components to balance proactive and reactive activities. To this end, the general objective of this thesis is to provide a methodology that supports the optimisation of management strategies for the anterior part of the sewer system.


ABSTRACT: We posit that a change in analyst interest in a firm is an early indicator of the firm's future fundamentals, capital market activities, and stock returns. We measure increases in analyst interest by obser.ving analysts who do not cover a firm but participate in that firm's earnings conference call, and we measure decreases in analyst interest by observing analysts who cover a firm, yet are absent from that firm's call. We find that increases in analyst interest are positively associated with future changes in firm fundamentals and capital market activities, while decreases in analyst interest are negatively associated with capital market activities. We also find that increases (decreases) in analyst interest are positively (negatively) correlated with future stock returns over the next three months and that a hedge portfolio yields a significant abnormal return. Overall, our study shows that analyst interest is a novel and early indicator of future firm fundamentals and capital market consequen...


C-Face (Contour-Face) is an ear-mounted wearable sensing technology that uses two miniature cameras to continuously reconstruct facial expressions by deep learning contours of the face. When facial muscles move, the contours of the face change from the point of view of the ear-mounted cameras. These subtle changes are fed into a deep learning model which continuously outputs 42 facial feature points representing the shapes and positions of the mouth, eyes and eyebrows. To evaluate C-Face, we embedded our technology into headphones and earphones. We conducted a user study with nine participants. In this study, we compared the output of our system to the feature points outputted by a state of the art computer vision library (Dlib) from a font facing camera. We found that the mean error of all 42 feature points was 0.77 mm for earphones and 0.74 mm for headphones. The mean error for 20 major feature points capturing the most active areas of the face was 1.43 mm for earphones and 1.39 mm for headphones. The ability to continuously reconstruct facial expressions introduces new opportunities in a variety of applications. As a demonstration, we implemented and evaluated C-Face for two applications: facial expression detection (outputting emojis) and silent speech recognition. We further discuss the opportunities and challenges of deploying C-Face in real-world applications.


The communication module was designed based on DeviceNet bus technology in this paper, which had the circuit-breaker used in the DeviceNet. So the intelligence of circuit-breaker was improved. Firstly applied PIC18F458 single chip as control chip in hardware design and proposed the power source, dial switch and LED interface circuit design scheme based on DeviceNet protocol specification. Secondly proposed the soft design scheme, included established module and I/O information communication. At last SST-DN3-PCU-1 main station card was 阿applied as network analyzer to analyze the communication data detail.


Abstract The EFSA Panel on Plant Health performed the pest categorisation of the ulluco weevil, Amathynetoides nitidiventris (Hustache), for the EU territory. This species is not included in EU Commission Implementing Regulation 2019/2072. However, its only substantiated host, ulluco (Ullucus tuberosus), is included in Annex I of Regulation EU 2018/2019 as a high risk plant prohibited from entering the EU, pending risk assessment. In its native Andean region, A. nitidiventris is univoltine, with a lifecycle highly synchronised with the phenology of its host, reproduction and development take place during the development of tubers. Oviposition occurs in the soil. Larvae feed by tunnelling into the tubers, which most of them abandon to pupate in the soil. A minority pupates in the tubers. Because adult A. nitidiventris are often found in other crops due to crop rotations and crop associations, this species has been mistakenly identified as a pest of other crops. In principle soil and tubers of ulluco could provide a pathway for A. nitidiventris into the EU. However, the soil pathway is closed and ulluco tubers are regulated as high risk plants. There are no EU records of interception. Should this weevil enter the EU, the rarity of its host, which is not known to be cultivated in EU MSs, would hamper establishment, spread, and impact. As a consequence, A. nitidiventris does not satisfy all the criteria that are within the remit of EFSA to assess for it to be regarded as a potential Union quarantine pest. The criteria that are not met are the potential for establishment, spread, and economic or environmental consequences in the EU.


Automatic synthesis of communication protocols represents an important alternative to the classical analytic approaches based on exhaustive analysis, where the fundamental drawback is the exponential growth of reachable states. We present a new method for synthesizing protocol specifications from service specifications in an interpreted Petri net model. Our approach handles simultaneously: control flow, data flow, distributed choice and data coherency constraints. In other words, we propose a good compromise between the expressiveness power of the service specification model and the synthesis power. An important aspect which characterizes our approach is that the synthesis is based on stepwise refinement rules. This gives it the ability to be an extensible approach.


The authors develop a simple model for the effects of a buffer layer on free-carrier depletion from a conductive semiconductor layer. Poisson's equation is solved in the depletion approximation to give an expression for the sheet free-carrier charge transferred from a conductive semiconductor layer to acceptor (or donor) states at interfaces or in the bulk material. The principal goal is to show that a relatively thin, undoped buffer layer between the substrate and active layer can dramatically lower the free-carrier loss to substrate interface states. Data on molecular-beam epitaxial, n-type GaAs agrees well with the theory, but show that there still is some loss at the interface between the active layer and buffer layer. >


Various formalisms deal with time, and each of them has its own notion of time. When designing a system, it is often desirable to combine several of these formalisms to model different parts. Therefore one has to reconcile execution traces that may use different kinds of time (discrete, continuous, periodic) and different time scales (e.g. minutes, microseconds or even angles in degrees). In this article, we present a deterministic model of time which allows the specification of the coincidence of events that occur on different time scales, as well as instantaneous causality between events. This model supports both event-driven and time-driven specifications.


Hatchability is an important trait for the chicken industry because of its high impact on chicken output. The embryonic survival ability in fertile eggs is greatly influenced by the offspring genotype and the quality of the egg environment, especially egg yolk metabolites. This study is aimed at estimating genetic parameters of hatchability traits and determining the relationship between yolk nutrients and chicken embryonic survival ability in order to identify important metabolites for the embryonic health of chickens and other species.
In chapter 2, the functions of egg yolk metabolites were further discussed. We summarized the literature from the past decades on finding metabolites in egg yolk and albumen that impact embryonic survival ability and on determining the function of different nutritional components during distinct stages of incubation. The function of fatty acids, carbohydrates, amino acids, vitamins and steroids were introduced in detail in this chapter. In general, fatty acids related pathways are most active during middle and late incubation stages and associated with chicken embryonic energy metabolism, neural system development, immune ability and lipid uptake. Carbohydrates are an important energy source when embryonic oxygen consumption is insufficient. Essential amino acids control protein synthesis and impact chicken embryonic growth rate. Vitamins with strong anti-oxidation ability could inhibit toxic effect of avidin in the egg. Steroids such as cholesterol are important hormone precursors. A good nutritional status of the parent birds is crucial for the transfer of an adequate, balanced supply of nutrients required to the egg for a normal development of the embryo. The consequences to the embryo may be lethal if the egg contains inadequate, excessive, or imbalanced levels of nutrients.
In chapter 3, we estimated the genetic parameters of hatchability traits: Fertility (FER) hatchability of total eggs set (HTE) and fertilized eggs (HFE) and susceptibilities to early (EES), middle (MES), late (LES) embryonic survival ability, external pipping ability (EXP) and internal pipping ability (INP). 5,983 hatching egg records obtained from 100 unselected Brown layer hens (BL) and 99 White layer hens (WL) from Friedrich Loeffler Institute and 80,916 egg records selected from 2909 Brown layer hens (BLC) and 3319 white laying hens (WLC) from Lohmann company were included in this study. To determine the time of embryonic mortality, eggs not exhibiting a viable embryo at candling on days 7 and 18 of incubation and eggs that did not hatch were opened and examined macroscopically to assess their true fertility and estimate the time of embryonic death. Heritabilities were estimated using a generalized linear animal model and results suggest that heritability for fertility (FER), hatchability of total eggs (HTE), hatchability of fertilised eggs (HFE), early embryonic survival ability (EES), middle embryonic survival ability (MES), late embryonic survival ability (LES), external pipping ability (EXP) and internal pipping ability (INP) exhibit ranges of 0.10-0.13, 0.04-0.08, 0.05-0.06, 0.03-0.10, 0.01-0.18, 0.02-0.09, 0.001-0-083 and 0.001-0.11, respectively. The estimated genetic correlations between different reproductive traits for all breeding lines were positive ranging from 0.15 to 0.94. The ranges between minimum and maximum breeding values of HTE and HFE were large and on average approximately 30%. The low heritabilities found for these traits led to the conclusion that the potential selection response is expected to be limited. Taking into consideration the very high reproductive ability and the short generation interval in chicken, it appears still feasible to select animals for improved hatchability.
Based on an estimation of the hatchability of all egg set (HTE) breeding values from the results in chapter 3, chicken from 4 lines were divided into high and low hatchability groups and used to determine the metabolite profile in chapter 4. Generalized linear mixed models were applied in association analysis between metabolites and hatchability traits (HTE and 5 other traits). We found, in total, 24 fatty acids, 4 vitamins, 10 steroids, and 7 amino acids to be significantly related to the hatching traits (P≤0.05). Fatty acids usually had the greatest impact on hatchability among these egg yolk nutrient groups. Four branched-chain fatty acids (hexadecanoic acid, 14-methyl; pentadecanoic acid, 14-methyl; tetradecanoic acid, 12-methyl; and tetradecanoic acid, 13-methyl) were associated with hatching traits in the brown lines. Two monounsaturated fatty acids (9-hexadecenoic acid and 9-octadecenoic acid) and 9, 12-octadecadienoic acid impeded embryonic survival in the Lohmann brown line but had the opposite effect in the other lines. Five polyunsaturated fatty acids (docosahexaenoic acid, docosapentaenoic acid, docosatetraenoic acid, eicosatetraenoic acid; and eicosatrienoic acid) promoted hatchability and hatchability traits in specific lines.
In conclusion, genetic parameter estimation results suggest that heritabilities for FER, HTE, HFE, EES, MES, LES, EXP and INP are generally low. These results seem to lead to the expectation that the potential selection response will be limited. However, considering the high reproductive performance and low generation interval in chickens and the wide range of estimated breeding values for hatchability, successfully selecting animals for increased embryonic survival appears to be a feasible endeavour. Certain types of egg yolk nutrients among the amino acids, vitamins, steroids and fatty acids were related to embryonic development in chicken, with fatty acids being the most important ones. These identified metabolites may be useful for improving the embryonic health of chickens and other species.


Many businesses are concerned only by the benefits they gain, regardless of the threat posed to environmental sustainability. Entrepreneurial sustainability is one form of effort to reduce the impact of environmental damage that we can do today. The entrepreneurs who have business activities based on environmentally friendly movement is often assumed as a green entrepreneur, ecopreneur, or sustainable entrepreneurship. Based on Braun's (2010) study using NEP (New Ecological Paradigm) to measure attitudes toward the environment said that women are more tied to the issue of 'green' than men, so this study also uses NEP as a measurement. Samples taken as many as 100 students with the composition of 50 male students and 50 female students. Hypothesis tested by t test to explore the difference of ecofriendly attitude on the green entrepreneur intention of male and female student. From this study it can be concluded that the average of the two groups studied were 8 identical NEPs and 5 identical NEPs. The average difference between the two groups was not significant at 12 NEP and only 1 NEP, the NEP7, was significant. So it can be concluded that today the interest of men and women to become an green entrepreneur is not identical, but the difference is not significant.


Cephalopods' visually driven, dynamic and diverse skin display makes them a key animal model in sensory ethology and camouflage research. Development of novel methods is critically important in order to monitor and objectively quantify cephalopod behavior. In this work, the development of Cephalopod Experimental Projected Habitat (CEPH) is described. This newly developed experimental design bridges computational and ethological sciences, providing a visually controlled arena which requires limited physical space and minimal previous technical background. Created from relatively inexpensive and readily available materials, the experimental apparatus utilizes reflected light which closely resembles natural settings. Preliminary results suggest the experimental design reproducibly challenges marine organisms with visually dynamic surroundings, including videos of prey and predator. This new approach should offer new avenues for marine organism sensory research and may serve researchers from various fields.


We present a model for empirically reproducing line profiles of molecular hydrogen emission in bow shocks. The model takes into account bow velocity, dissociation limit, a cooling function, viewing angle, bow shape and a limited form of extinction. Our results show that both geometrical factors and shock physics can significantly affect the profile morphology. In a companion paper we will apply this model to Fabry-Perot observations of bow shocks in the Orion BN-KL outflow.


Distributed video coding is the promising solution for emerging applications such as wireless video surveillance, wireless video sensor networks that have not been supported by traditional video coding standards. Success of distributed video coding is based on exploiting the source statistics at the decoder with availability of some side information. The better the quality of side information, the higher the performance of the distributed video coding system. In this paper, a novel side information creation method is proposed by using different block sizes based on the residual information at the encoder. The proposed solution is compared with the previous PRISM solution and simulated results show that the proposed solution robustly improves the coding performance in some cases of test sequences.


Teachers' personality competence is the personal ability that reflects the personality of steady, stable, adult, wise and prestigious, to be noble and a model for students. The mastery of teachers' personality competence is significance, both for school and especially for the students. By the teachers' personality competence, the teachers can not be separated from the hard working of students in learning that can be demonstrated through an attitude while teaching-learning activities ( KBM) , student activity, student achievement, the value in Civics subject which is packaged in the form of number such as the value of student report cards of Civics subject. The purpose of this research is to understand the relationship of teachers' personality competence with students' learning achievement. The population of this research is all students of the 7 th graders of SMP Muhammadiyah 2 Kalasan in the academic year of 2012/ 2013 totaling of 140 students. The samples of this research are 100 students that divided into four classes. The researcher collects the data by a questionnaire which is used to measure teachers' personality competence of Civics teacher and it uses documentation in the form of report cards of grades in Civics subjects. The data analysis method which used is correlation analysis product moment then examines by t-test so that it can be seen that the relationship of positive and significant of two variables. Based on the results of the data analysis, the researcher concludes that the correlation between teachers' personality competence with students' learning achievement is 0.518. It means that there is a positive and significant relationship between teachers' personality competence with students' learning achievement in Civics of the 7 th graders of SMP Muhammadiyah 2 Kalasan in the academic year of 2012/ 2013.


Background: Experimental evidences have shown that tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α may play a role in the pathogenesis of nonsegmental vitiligo, and successful cases of vitiligo treated with TNF-α inhibitors have been recently reported. Materials and methods: Two cases of refractory generalized vitiligo, which showed high tissue levels of TNF-α, were commenced anti-TNF-α antibody etanercept 50 mg weekly. A retrospective study, considering chart review and immunohistochemical staining for TNF-α, was then carried out on eight additional patients affected by untreated vitiligo. Results: Etanercept achieved improvement of vitiligo in two patients at 6-month follow-up. Five out of eight specimens showed a strong cytoplasmic staining for TNF-α. Considering all 10 cases, patients with a strong TNF-α staining were characterized by a higher vitiligo disease activity score than patients with a weak staining. Discussion: These findings, albeit limited in significance by the low number of cases and the retrospective nature of the study, confirm a probable role of TNF-α in the pathogenesis of vitiligo. The intensity of TNF-α staining in vitiligo lesions may be worth to be further studied as a biomarker for potentially successful anti-TNF-α treatment of nonsegmental vitiligo in cases refractory to conventional treatment.


Four proteins, which have been designated A, B, C and D, have been purified from human parotid saliva. These proteins are the major constituents of parotid saliva which migrate rapidly to the anode in polyacrylamide electrophoresis at pH9.5. Gel filtration and polyacrylamide electrophoresis were employed in the purification procedures. After purification all four preparations were tested for homogeneity by electrophoresis at pH2.8 and 9.5, by isoelectric focusing in the pH range 3-10, by immunodiffusion, and by sedimentation in the analytical ultracentrifuge. None of the proteins showed significant activity in assays for amylase, acid and alkaline phosphatase, protease, lysozyme, ribonuclease, peroxidase, beta-glucuronidase, beta-galactosidase, iron-binding activity and esterase. No cross-reactions were detected with antisera specific for lactoferrin and 15 serum proteins. All four proteins were rich in glutamic acid, proline and glycine and were lacking completely the sulphur-containing amino acids. Proteins A and C contained no threonine or tyrosine. Carbohydrate could be demonstrated only in protein A at a concentration of 4% of the total protein.


Several epidemiological and clinical studies, carried over the past 30 years, have unequivocally shown that high blood pressure is an important risk factor for development of myocardial infarction. The risk level, which has been documented for an increase both in systolic and diastolic blood pressure values, further increases when hypertension is accompanied with other conditions (e.g. hyperlipidemia, diabetes, cigarette smoking) well-known to adversely affect the cardiovascular system. Antihypertensive treatment significantly decreases, although without normalizing, the incidence of coronary events in the hypertensive patient, the reasons for this only partial cardioprotection being so far largely unknown. More complex and less documented are the relationships between hypertension and myocardial reinfarction. Although there is no doubt that high blood pressure levels increase the incidence of reinfarction, it should be emphasized that no study so far has been undertaken to clarify the effectiveness of antihypertensive treatment in reducing the risk of myocardial infarction and in improving the prognosis of the disease.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the association between potential risk factors and incident clinical fractures in Japanese patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

METHODS
A total of 1733 female patients with RA over age 50 years were enrolled in a prospective observational cohort study. Participants were followed for 54 months from October 2000 to March 2005, and classified into 4 groups according to incident fracture status since baseline: those without a new fracture; those with a new clinically recognized vertebral fracture; those with an incident nonvertebral fracture at the wrist, hip, humerus, pelvis, or ribs (main nonvertebral fracture); and those with any new nonvertebral fracture. Cox proportional hazard models were used to analyze independent contributions of various risk factors to fracture incidence.

RESULTS
During the followup period, 33, 34, and 98 patients developed a vertebral, a main nonvertebral, and any nonvertebral fracture, respectively. The Japanese Health Assessment Questionnaire (J-HAQ) score was associated with relative risks (RR) of 2.42 (95% confidence interval 1.42-4.14), 1.76 (95% CI 1.07-2.89), and 1.73 (95% CI 1.29-2.32) for vertebral, main nonvertebral, and all nonvertebral fractures. The risks of vertebral and any nonvertebral fractures were increased for age over 70 years compared with age in the 50s (RR 3.25, 95% CI 1.19-8.86; and RR 2.22, 95% CI 1.20-4.10, respectively). Clinical variables and medications were associated with a new fracture.

CONCLUSION
HAQ, age, history of any prior fracture, and orthopedic surgery for RA appear to be associated with fractures in Japanese women with RA.


We review recent work on holographic aspects of electric-magnetic dualities in theories that involve conformally coupled scalars and abelian gauge fields in asymptotically AdS4 spaces. Such models are relevant for the holographic description of M-theory. We also briefly comment on some new results on the holographic properties of generalized electricmagnetic duality in gravity.


Abstract. We report on quasi-parallel whistler emissions detected by the near-earth satellites of the THEMIS mission before, during, and after local dipolarization. These emissions are associated with an electron temperature anisotropy α=T⊥e/T||e>1 consistent with the linear theory of whistler mode anisotropy instability. When the whistler mode emissions are observed the measured electron anisotropy varies inversely with β||e (the ratio of the electron parallel pressure to the magnetic pressure) as predicted by Gary and Wang (1996). Narrow band whistler emissions correspond to the small α existing before dipolarization whereas the broad band emissions correspond to large α observed during and after dipolarization. The energy in the whistler mode is leaving the current sheet and is propagating along the background magnetic field, towards the Earth. A simple time-independent description based on the Liouville's theorem indicates that the electron temperature anisotropy decreases with the distance along the magnetic field from the equator. Once this variation of α is taken into account, the linear theory predicts an equatorial origin for the whistler mode. The linear theory is also consistent with the observed bandwidth of wave emissions. Yet, the anisotropy required to be fully consistent with the observations is somewhat larger than the measured one. Although the discrepancy remains within the instrumental error bars, this could be due to time-dependent effects which have been neglected. The possible role of the whistler waves in the substorm process is discussed.


This chapter traces changes in EU-official discourse around EU legitimacy since the 1950s, relating them to the trajectory described by Pierre Rosanvallon in Democratic Legitimacy (2011a). Accordingly, the legitimacy of modern democracies broke down in the 1980s owing to a loss of faith in its two main foundations in elections and bureaucracy. This gave rise to the emergence of alternative modes of legitimation, classed under the ideal types of impartiality, reflexivity, and proximity. This chapter plays Rosanvallon's analysis, which draws on national experiences, against the EU context. It finds important differences, in particular regarding the balance between electoral and bureaucratic legitimacy in the earlier years of integration - as well as significant similarities and interaction, manifested in a striking resonance between particular strands in EU-official legitimation strategies and Rosanvallon's ideal types. The ways in which they played out in the case of the EU point to dangers inherent to them; of highlighting proximity over actual influence and control; making democratic forms so complex and 'reflexive' that they become unintelligible, and unaccountable; or replicating bureaucratic thinking that obscures choices and judgments behind claims to independence and impartiality. What is more, the discursive history of contests over EU legitimacy illustrates a predisposition of Rosanvallon's account of democratic legitimacy towards "unpolitical democracy", rooted in its attempt to contain the threat of populism. His goal is to politicise the indirect institutions of impartiality, reflexivity and proximity rather than democratic procedures such as voting and majority rule, with the effect that deliberation is used strategically as an alternative to electoral and partisan democracy.


Polysaccharide-degrading enzymes of the anaerobic rumen bacterium Ruminococcus flavefaciens strain 17 were exmined. This work demonstrated that R. flavefaciens strain 17 produces a complex array of enzymes active against cellulose, hemicellulose (xylan) and lignin. These enzymes are xylanase, avicellase, acid-swollen cellulase, carboxymethyl cellulase (CMCase), pNP- cellobiosidase (pNPC), pNP-glucopyranosidase (pNPG), pNP-xylopyranosidase (pNPX) and pNP-arabinofuranosidase (pNPA). Although R. flavefaciens is an anaerobic bacterium, its enzymes worked optimally under aerobic conditions and with dithiothreitol (DTT), except in the case of pNP-xylopyranosidase. pNP-xylopyranosidase exhibited a higher level of activity under anaerobic conditions with DTT. It was demonstrated that the cross-links between arabinose side chains, which esterified via ferulic acid and p- coumaric acid, were cleaved by R. flavefaciens esterase and α-arabinofuranosidase.


Thank you for downloading of god who comes to mind. Maybe you have knowledge that, people have look numerous times for their favorite novels like this of god who comes to mind, but end up in harmful downloads. Rather than enjoying a good book with a cup of coffee in the afternoon, instead they juggled with some harmful virus inside their laptop. of god who comes to mind is available in our digital library an online access to it is set as public so you can download it instantly. Our book servers hosts in multiple countries, allowing you to get the most less latency time to download any of our books like this one. Kindly say, the of god who comes to mind is universally compatible with any devices to read.


The nitrogenated diamond-like carbon films (a-C:H:N) were deposited on Si-wafer by the rf-PECVD method with the addition of nitrogen to the mixture gas of methane and hydrogen. We were investigating the effect of the additive nitrogen gases and annealing in relationship between bonding structure and electrical properties of the deposited films. The electrical conductivity of films increased with the flow rate of nitrogen increasing up to 10 sccm. Also as annealing temperature was increased, the electrical conductivity of films increased. The structure analysis results show that an increase of the flow rate of nitrogen and annealing temperature favor the formation of sp2 bonding in the films. Therefore, we confirmed that the increase of the electrical conductivity is due to structure change by graphitization of the films.