In this study for better analysis of geo-hazard on two parameters were focused: geodynamics and mechanical property of the orogen. The Alborz region in the northern Iran was selected as the study area. The Alborz mountain range in Iran is an ideal object to investigate the potential influence of past tectonic regimes on the future evolution of this long-lived convergence. For this purpose, previous geodynamic results were reviewed and compiled with data on present day tectonic activity at crustal and upper mantle scale. Previously published models indicate that the Iran Plate was subjected to a series of extensional and compressional tectonic regimes, ultimately linked with the opening and closure of the Tethys Ocean and related basins. Two subduction-collision cycles are recognized: one cycle occurred as a result of the subduction of the Iran Plate beneath the Turan Plate and in this cycle the subduction phase ceased in the Cenozoic and since the Cenozoic it is in a collision phase. The other cycle took place as a result of the subduction of the Arabian Plate beneath the Iran Plate, and in this cycle the subduction phase began in the Mesozoic and is ending now. Thus, the current tectonic situation in the Alborz is a direct consequence from the ongoing Cenozoic subduction-collision cycle. GPS and earthquake data indicate that the Alborz region, resulting from the collision of the Iran Plate with the Turan Plate, is still an area of recently active compression. Moho and tomographic data show that there is no connection between slab remnants of the oceanic crust and the Iran Plate. Furthermore, the Moho beneath the central Alborz is about 20 km deeper than in surrounding areas, indicating further advancement of collision there. However, the collision is continuing and the shorted area between the Iran Plate and the Turan Plate may increase. During the crustal thickening, a deep Moho area can also develop. This evolution can be expected in the tectonic cycle between the Arabian Plate and the Iran Plate, and also other places of the Alpine-Himalayan Belt (AHB), such as the Caucasus region.


. Geotechnical design codes, be it reliability-based or otherwise, must cater to diverse local site conditions and diverse local practices that grew and adapted over the years to suit these conditions. One obvious example is that the COVs of geotechnical parameters can vary over a wide range, because diverse property evaluation methodologies exist to cater to these diverse practice and site conditions. Another example is that deep foundations are typically installed in layered soil profiles that vary from site to site. These diverse design settings do not surface in structural engineering. If the performance of geotechnical RBD were to be measured by its ability to achieve a more uniform level of reliability than that implied in existing allowable stress design over these diverse settings (which is recommended in Section D.5, ISO2394:2015), then LRFD and comparable simplified RBD formats widely used in structural design codes are not adequate. While it is understandable for geotechnical RBD to adopt structural LRFD concepts at its initial stage of development over the past decades, it is timely for the geotechnical design code community to look into how we can improve our state of practice in simplified geotechnical RBD. This paper demonstrates that improved formats such as the Quantile Value Method coupled with an effective random dimension (ERD- QVM) can cater to a more realistic and diverse range of design scenarios. Specifically, ERD-QVM can maintain an acceptably uniform level of reliability over a wide range of COVs of geotechnical parameters and a wide range of layered soil profiles. It can achieve this while retaining the simplicity of an algebraic design check similar to the traditional factor of safety format and LRFD. ERD-QVM is a step in the right direction to develop geotechnical RBD for geotechnical engineers. More research is urgently needed for geotechnical RBD to gain wider acceptance among practitioners.


Abstract Significant quantities of silver can be accommodated in galena as a coupled substitution with Ag + Sb and/or Ag + Bi for 2 Pb atoms. The limitations of this solubility are quantified experimentally for the cubic (Fm3̅m) α-galena phase. Above 441.7 °C, the α-galena phase has complete solid solution across the Pb2S2-AgSbS2-AgBiS2 (galena-miargyrite-matildite) ternary. Dry sinter experiments at 400, 375, and 350 °C extend the known miscibility gap on the Pb2S2-AgSbS2 binary into ternary compositions. Phase equilibrium and miscibility gap data and self-consistent thermodynamic data for other high-temperature phases in this system combined with data for other sulfides and sulfosalts are used to constrain an asymmetric regular solution model for the α-galena phase (Pb2,AgSb,AgBi) S2. Phase relations in this system suggest that simple retrograde re-equilibration during cooling can produce phase assemblages and textures commonly observed in Ag-bearing ore deposits. Bulk metal ratios of deposits in conjunction with the application of this thermodynamic model may be used to understand district Ag-distribution or as an exploration tool.


The faeces of 34 horses of the "Bavarian main and state studfarm Schwaiganger" (Group I) and 10 ponies (Group II) from various regions of the Federal Republic of Germany, were examined and 4 834 small strongyles were identified. Three species Cyathostomum catinatum, Cylicostephanus longibursatus and Cylicocylus nassatus, were found to be widely distributed. Although various modern anthelmintics with different effective components were used over the past 20 years, no remarkable change has been brought about in the composition of the parasitic species of the horses in the Federal Republic of Germany.


Abstract. In the recent decades various homogenisation methods have been developed, but the real effects of their application on time series are still not known sufficiently. The ongoing COST action HOME (COST ES0601) is devoted to reveal the real impacts of homogenisation methods more detailed and with higher confidence than earlier. As a part of the COST activity, a benchmark dataset was built whose characteristics approach well the characteristics of real networks of observed time series. This dataset offers much better opportunity than ever before to test the wide variety of homogenisation methods, and analyse the real effects of selected theoretical recommendations. Empirical results show that real observed time series usually include several inhomogeneities of different sizes. Small inhomogeneities often have similar statistical characteristics than natural changes caused by climatic variability, thus the pure application of the classic theory that change-points of observed time series can be found and corrected one-by-one is impossible. However, after homogenisation the linear trends, seasonal changes and long-term fluctuations of time series are usually much closer to the reality than in raw time series. Some problems around detecting multiple structures of inhomogeneities, as well as that of time series comparisons within homogenisation procedures are discussed briefly in the study.


Background: We have recently shown that the transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) is more effective than paracentesis in the treatment of cirrhotic patients with severe ascites and can prolong survival in selected patients. Although an improved quality of life (QOL) has been suggested in these patients after the TIPS procedure, so far there are no data available to substantiate this assumption. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the effect of TIPS on the QOL in cirrhotic patients with refractory or recidivant ascites. Methods: 21 cirrhotic patients who underwent TIPS for refractory or recidivant ascites were investigated. All patients were pretreated with repeated paracentesis for at least 1 year. Before the procedure and at 3 and 6 months during follow-up, the patients themselves rated QOL, fatigue and physical performance on a visual analogue scale (range 0–100). Furthermore, QOL was determined by the QOL index (range 0–10) according to Spitzer. Results: Patients' rating of the QOL on the visual analogue scale significantly increased from 35 ± 25 (baseline) to 64 ± 28 (3 months), and 66 ± 24 (6 months; p = 0.02). Similarly, the QOL index significantly increased from 6.9 ± 2.0 (baseline) to 8.3 ± 2.1 (3 months), and 8.6 ± 1.7 (6 months; p < 0.001). The increase of QOL was more pronounced in patients with complete response to TIPS. Conclusions: We demonstrate that TIPS for refractory or recidivant ascites improves the QOL in patients with cirrhosis. Our data indicates that this improvement is dependent on the response to therapy.


Hair follicle dermal papilla cells (HFDPC) are a specialized cell population located in the bulge of the hair follicle with unique characteristics such as aggregative behavior and the ability to induce new hair follicle formation. However, when expanded in conventional 2D monolayer culture, their hair inductive potency is rapidly lost. Different 3D culture techniques, including cell spheroid formation, have been described to restore, at least partially, their original phenotype, and therefore, their hair inductive ability once transplanted into a recipient skin. Moreover, hair follicle dermal papilla cells have been shown to differentiate into all mesenchymal lineages, but their differentiation potential has only been tested in 2D cultures. In the present work, we have cultured HFDPC in the 3D self-assembling peptide scaffold RAD16-I to test two different tissue engineering scenarios: restoration of HFDPC original phenotype after cell expansion and osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation. Experimental results showed that the 3D environment provided by RAD16-I allowed the restoration of HFDPC signature markers such as alkaline phosphatase, versican and corin. Moreover, RAD16-I supported, in the presence of chemical inductors, three-dimensional osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation. Altogether, this study suggests a potential 3D culture platform based on RAD16-I suitable for the culture, original phenotype recovery and differentiation of HFDPC.


Degradation of device under substrate hot-electron (SHE) and constant voltage direct-tunnelling (CVDT) stresses are studied using NMOSFET with 1.4-nm gate oxides. The degradation of device parameters and the degradation of the stress induced leakage current (SILC) under these two stresses are reported. The emphasis of this paper is on SILC and breakdown of ultra-thin-gate-oxide under these two stresses. SILC increases with stress time and several soft breakdown events occur during direct-tunnelling (DT) stress. During SHE stress, SILC firstly decreases with stress time and suddenly jumps to a high level, and no soft breakdown event is observed. For DT injection, the positive hole trapped in the oxide and hole direct-tunnelling play important roles in the breakdown. For SHE injection, it is because injected hot electrons accelerate the formation of defects and these defects formed by hot electrons induce breakdown.


BACKGROUND
The Arg399Gln polymorphism in the XRCC1 DNA repair gene is likely to be involved with the development of breast cancer (BC). However, there have been inconsistent reports of association. The objective of this study was to systematically evaluate the published papers.

METHODS
We performed a meta-analysis of 44 published case-control studies fitting our eligibility criteria. These studies involved XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphisms in 20,841 BC cases and 22,688 controls in dominant (GlnGln+ArgGln vs. ArgArg), recessive (GlnGln vs. ArgGln+ArgArg), and co-dominant (GlnGln vs. ArgArg) inheritance models. Analyses of Asian, African and Caucasian ethnic subgroups was also conducted. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the strength of associations.

RESULTS
Our overall analyses indicated Arg399Gln to be associated with a trend of increased BC risk when using recessive (OR=1.15, 95%CI: 1.05-1.27), and co-dominant models (OR=1.15, 95%CI: 1.04-1.27) to analyze the data. In ethnic subgroups, Arg399Gln significantly increased BC risk in Asians (OR=1.54, 95%CI: 1.18-2.01) when using recessive model analysis, in Africans (OR=1.30, 95%CI: 1.07-1.60) when using dominant model analysis, and in Asians (OR=1.50, 95%CI: 1.15-1.97) and Africans (OR=1.80, 95%CI: 1.08-3.02) when using the co-dominant model analysis.

CONCLUSIONS
From our meta-analysis of data from 44 publications, we conclude that XRCC1 Arg399Gln allele is a risk factor for the development breast cancer, especially among Asian and African populations.


Global multiregional input‐output databases (GMRIOs) became the standard tool for tracking environmental impacts through global supply chains. To date, several GMRIOs are available, but the numerical results differ. This paper considers how GMRIOs can be made more robust and authoritative. We show that GMRIOs need detail in environmentally relevant sectors. On the basis of a review of earlier work, we conclude that the highest uncertainty in footprint analyses is caused by the environmental data used in a GMRIO, followed by the size of country measured in gross domestic product (GDP) as fraction of the global total, the structure of the national table, and only at the end the structure of trade. We suggest the following to enhance robustness of results. In the short term, we recommend using the Single country National Accounts Consistent footprint approach, that uses official data for extensions and the national table for the country in question, combined with embodiments in imports calculated using a GMRIO. In a time period of 2 to 3 years, we propose work on harmonized environmental data for water, carbon, materials, and land, and use the aggregated Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Inter‐Country Input‐Output GMRIO as default in combination with detailing procedures developed in, for example, the EXIOBASE and Eora projects. In the long term, solutions should be coordinated by the international organizations such as the United Nations (UN) Statistical Division, OECD, and Eurostat. This could ensure that when input‐output tables and trade data of individual countries are combined, that the global totals are consistent and that bilateral trade asymmetries are resolved.


Engineering design research manifests as a platform for exploration, description, arrangement, rationalization, and application of design knowledge. What we can see when we are looking at the research into engineering design is an almost chaotically fragmented picture. Is it possible to have a holistic view on the contents and internal relationships of engineering design research? This paper considers teleology, a reflection of a branch of philosophical speculations, as the doctrine of ordering knowledge of engineering design and structuring engineering design research accordingly. Teleology explains that the ultimate reason behind design is to sustain human existence and well being by virtual creation of artifacts and services for society. To this end, knowledge of engineering research is supposed to be transferred from the platform of scientific/theoretical exploration and comprehension to the platform of technical/pragmatic application. This implies a natural streaming of knowledge of engineering design. In order to make the teleological explanation operational, a framework of reasoning has been constructed by adopting the analogy of the source, channel and sink of a stream. To represent the source, channel and sink categories of engineering design knowledge, the author inaugurated nine categories in the framework. It has been hypothesized that the introduced categories are equally valid for research in engineering design as well as for the knowledge of engineering design. Within each category, research domains and trajectories have been defined. The proposed teleology-based framework lends itself to a better understanding of the disciplinary articulation and intrinsic relationships of engineering design research. It is hoped, among other things, to form a basis for a shared understanding, to make the influence of decisions on research programs more transparent, as well as to facilitate organizing subject materials for various design courses.


Biogels are useful reservoirs for molecular delivery as they can entrap a large variety of compounds in their liquid phase. The delivery kinetics of these molecules is dictated by diffusion laws and thus depends on their molecular size. An original strategy to accelerate the release of large molecules from a gelatin gel is here described. The gel solid network is progressively degraded by enzymes which allows for the delivery of large to very large molecules in a well-controlled way. Diffusion by burst is thus made possible even for very large molecules. Finally, a mathematical model is elaborated to predict the diffusion of molecules entrapped inside a gel undergoing a gel–sol transition.


This paper reviews the literature on the use of hypnosis in the assessment and treatment of eating disorders. It proposes that patients with eating disorders ought to be investigated as to the underlying dynamics behind the eating disorders symptoms. Following a thorough assessment, a number of hypnotherapeutic techniques are explained and discussed, such as: general relaxation and calmness, guided imagery, teaching self-hypnosis, ego-strengthening, direct and indirect suggestions for healing and recovery, cognitive restructuring and reframing, symbolic guided imagery, age progression ("back from the future" technique), metaphorical prescriptions, age regression and abreactions, and ego state therapy. Verbatim examples of these techniques are given as illustrations of how to use them.


In this article, I discuss the tendency of tort theorists to attempt to unify all of tort law. In other words, many scholars have sought to explain torts by the use of a single idea. Originally, scholars attempted a unity of doctrine, such as Holmes' focus on negligence. In the last several decades, scholars have sought to unify torts by rationale. In particular, modern scholars tend to view torts either as a means of deterring injuries or of achieving corrective justice. I argue that both history and doctrine suggest that the attempt to unify all of torts is futile. From a historical perspective, what we now label tort law was created on an ad hoc basis as problems developed in communities in medieval England. The law was developed practically to resolve those problems, not to embody any vision of justice. Furthermore, tort law was the common law's residual area of civil liability, and was not conceived to be a coherent subject matter. Perhaps as a result, concepts from other areas of law have significantly influenced tort doctrines. These imported concepts are based on goals foreign to, and not necessarily consistent with, tort goals. Tort law's doctrine also appears hostile to unification. In assessing whether doctrine might support a unified theory of torts, I compare two doctrinal areas for consistency. If a unified theory of torts cannot encompass two discrete doctrines of torts, of course it cannot encompass all of torts. A cursory examination of automobile accidents and medical malpractice reveals significant differences of reciprocity of risk, causation and the incursion of doctrines foreign to tort law. Based on the comparison, it appears that each of the three traditional tort goals - deterrence, corrective justice and compensation - may be problematic in one doctrine or the other. I thus conclude that a unified theory of torts is not plausible. Based on this conclusion, I argue that scholars should devote their energies to examining the pluralist nature of tort law. In particular, I urge scholars to focus on the contexts of torts. By focusing on the contexts, instead of ignoring them for the sake of cohesion, scholars may be able to determine under what circumstances a particular torts goal should be emphasized.


In this paper, an improved structure of the standard Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), called Fitness Distance Ratio PSO (FDR PSO) is proposed to solve non-smooth test functions. In the conventional PSO method, the particle's velocity is updated using cognition and social components. But it suffers from premature convergence. To overcome this drawback, in the proposed algorithm, in addition to cognitive and social component, each particle also learns from the experience of the neighboring particles that have a better fitness than itself. The demonstration of the FDR PSO algorithm was carried out on six bench mark test functions and a practical Optimal Power flow (OPF) problem. The results of the proposed algorithm outperformed the solution obtained through the standard PSO. The minimum solution of OPF problem is also compared with the results obtained through the other optimization methods.


Banks are definitely the spine within the economic system in the country since they perform an important part within the effort to achieve steady costs, higher level of work as well as sound financial development. The financial organizations within Oman have been witness to a tremendous development these days, primarily because of continual boost within oil costs, initiatives to diversify the actual economic system, execution of huge industrial, real-estate and also infrastructure ventures as well as developing increased exposure of the actual private arena. The actual financial system within Oman have been through numerous rounds of mergers since 1990s having a couple of bank exits as well as new entrants, and as by the end of 2009, the quantity of commercial banks stands with an overall of eighteen, of which seven are regionally integrated, two specialized banks and nine of them are branches of international banks.This paper will take a look on the financial system of two selected Islamic banks, Bank Nizwa and Alizz Islamic Bank. The study reveals that these Islamic banks are stable. However, it is evident that these banks have not yet overpowered the command of other commercial banks existing in their respective regions. Moreover, in comparison to other Islamic banks in regions like Africa, Islamic banks in Oman perform better.


In operation research and computer science, a genetic
 algorithm (GA) is a most powerful meta-heuristic approach,
 its inspired by the process of natural selection. This
 approach is usually applied to generate superior quality
 results to standard and real life functions. Several number
 of researcher has been solved most number of real
 applications related to different fields with the help of this
 technique. After Inspired of these researchers, has been
 also solved the Breast Cancer and Iris data set problems in
 this article using some recent metaheuristics of nature
 inspired. For verification, the solutions are compared with
 some of the most well-known evolutionary trainers: Particle
 Genetic Algorithm (GA), Swarm Optimization (PSO), Ant
 Colony Optimization (ACO), Differential Evolution (DE),
 Personal Best Position Particle Swarm Optimization
 (PBPPSO), Evolutionary Strategy (ES), Biogeographical Based
 Optimization (BBO) and Population based Incremental
 Learning (PBIL). The numerical and statistical solutions show
 that GA algorithm is able to provide very competitive
 solutions in terms of improved local optima avoidance. The
 solutions also reveal a high level of accuracy in
 classification.


The game‐changing role of graphene oxide (GO) in tuning the excitonic behavior of conjugated polymer nanoparticles is described for the first time. This is demonstrated by using poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT) as a benchmark conjugated polymer and employing an in situ reprecipitation approach resulting in P3HT nanoparticles (P3HTNPs) with sizes of 50–100 nm in intimate contact with GO. During the self‐assembly process, GO changes the crystalline packing of P3HT chains in the forming P3HTNPs from H to H/J aggregates exhibiting exciton coupling constants as low as 2 meV, indicating favorable charge separation along the P3HT chains. Concomitantly, π–π interface interactions between the P3HTNPs and GO sheets are established resulting in the creation of P3HTNPs–GO charge‐transfer complexes whose energy bandgaps are lowered by up to 0.5 eV. Moreover, their optoelectronic properties, preestablished in the liquid phase, are retained when processed into thin films from the stable aqueous dispersions, thus eliminating the critical dependency on external processing parameters. These results can be transferred to other types of conjugated polymers. Combined with the possibility of employing water based "green" processing technologies, charge‐transfer complexes of conjugated polymer nanoparticles and GO open new pathways for the fabrication of improved optoelectronic thin film devices.


APPROXIMATELY ONE-THIRD of Australian women have an unplanned pregnancy at some point in their lives.1 Rates are higher for women living in rural areas and those from poorer socioeconomic backgrounds.2 In Australia, the vast majority of women use less efficacious forms of contraception (eg the hormonal contraceptive pill) rather than long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) such as intrauterine devices (IUDs) and the contraceptive implant.3,4 Few women receive preconception care (PCC), despite many having risk factors such as smoking, alcohol use and obesity,5 and/or poorly controlled chronic disease, putting them at increased risk of poor pregnancy outcomes. Preventing unintended pregnancies and optimising maternal and fetal outcomes are important public health imperatives and a key focus of Australia's National Women's Health Strategy.6 Australia's 35,000 general practitioners (GPs)7 are the first point of contact for Australia's 5.57 million women of reproductive age8 for contraception and pregnancy-related issues, whether planned or unplanned. However, complex system, patient and practitioner barriers exist to delivery of best-practice care. General practice is critical to increasing LARC uptake9 as per guideline recommendations.10 However, only 6.9% of all contraception consultations involve LARCs.4 Women's contraceptive choices also play a key part and generally fit their needs, values and preferences,11 but lack of awareness of the range of options open to them and misinformation, particularly in relation to IUDs,12 affect choice. Among GPs, lack of familiarity with LARC and misperceptions about their suitability for young women13 limit women's options.14 Lack of education and training for GPs, lack of follow-up support after training and inadequate remuneration for LARC insertion are also real issues.10 While one in five Australian women will have an abortion in her lifetime,15 access to services, particularly in rural areas, and high out-of-pocket costs remain significant hurdles.16 Better integration of medical abortion services into general practice facilitated by more training and removal of regulatory barriers could help overcome this. Time constraints, lack of knowledge and lack of resources for patients impede PCC.17 In addition, many pregnancies are unplanned, and GPs have limited access to young women to provide such advice despite the fact that women want their GPs to be more proactive in promoting PCC availability.18 A paradigm shift in the way that contraception, abortion and pregnancy planning services are delivered in general practice is therefore required. Structural and policy barriers, together with lack of clinician training, have engendered a siloed form of practice in which these issues are considered in isolation. More preferable is an integrated life course approach facilitated by evidence-based policy and practice innovations to help women achieve their reproductive goals. SPHERE (www.spherecre.org), a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Centre of Research Excellence in Sexual and Reproductive Health Care for Women in Primary Care, has been funded to support primary care to achieve this through better integration of PCC, LARC and medical abortion into the scope of general practice and improved quality care. Improving women's access to essential sexual and reproductive health services (eg LARC insertion and abortion) is also critical. When GPs are trained in effectiveness-based contraceptive counselling (where women are informed of all their contraceptive options, with the most effective ones [LARC] discussed first) and given rapid access to LARC insertion clinics, there is greater LARC uptake by women.19 Other patient-centred approaches that involve ascertaining women's reproductive goals (while recognising that some women can be ambivalent), building open and trusting relationships with patients, asking open-ended questions and prioritising information delivery on the basis of patient preferences are also required.20 Increasing the number of GP providers of medical abortion is also a very important step to ensure accessibility to this service in Australia, particularly for women who are vulnerable and those living in rural areas. Investing in sexual and reproductive health is cost-effective; it minimises future health system costs and brings significant benefits at personal, family and societal levels.21 General practice and primary care is where this investment should occur.


Maps showing Quaternary deposits and active fault traces, paleoseismic trenches, scarp diffusion analyses, and soil characteristics in displaced alluvial surfaces are combined with previous paleoseismic studies to examine the character of late Pleistocene earthquake recurrence and estimate the net extension rate across the interior of the Great Basin of the western United States at the latitude of ~39°N. The study area includes faults bounding the Desatoya, Toiyabe, Monitor, Simpson Park, Toquima, Antelope, Fish Creek, Butte, Egan, and Schell Creek Ranges. The rate of earthquake recurrence is documented to be significantly less than observed within the Walker Lane–Central Nevada seismic belt and along the Wasatch, which respectively define the western and eastern boundaries of the interior of the Great Basin. Late Pleistocene extension across the interior of the Great Basin is calculated to equal ~1 mm/yr across the 450 km transect and is consistent with rates defined by recent geodetic studies. The agreement in extension rate estimates over different time scales indicates that tectonic deformation in the Great Basin has been characterized by relatively slow and consistent extension through the late Pleistocene to the present. The internal deformation of the Great Basin and the pattern of strain release may reflect a broad transition zone from northwest-directed shear in the west to extension along the eastern edge of the Pacific–North American plate boundary.


Bank primary products are collecting funds from the third party and providing loans. The third party funds consist of demand deposit, saving deposit and time deposit. On the other hand, loan is a provision of funds based on the agreement between lender and borrower that will be repaid the by borrower after a certain period with interest. From these two products, banks gain income or also called spread based. Spread based is the difference between deposit interest and loan interest. However, the income from spread based is decreasing due to the competition among banks. Moreover, banks are required to assess the level of soundness to maintain the sustainability of the bank by using Risk-Based Bank Rating (RBBR). Risk-based Bank Rating assessment measures based on four factors, namely risk profile, good corporate governance, earnings, and capital. This research aims to reveal the effect of each component of Risk-based Bank Rating towards earnings on 19 Indonesian commercial banks. Therefore, Fixed Effect Regression is used to find out each component of Risk-Based Bank Rating to earnings. The author used bank health ratio that represent each component of Risk-based Bank Rating and earnings. Return On Asset represents earnings. Liquidity Coverage Ratio, Loan Deposit Ratio, and Non-Performing Loan represent risk profile. Net Interest Margin represents good corporate governance. Capital Adequacy Ratio represents capital. The data of the research obtained from the monthly reports of 19 Indonesian commercial banks from 2005 to 2014. The results show that all ratios except Liquidity Coverage Ratio have a significant effect on earnings. Net Interest Margin and Capital Adequacy Ratio have positive significant towards Return On Asset. While Non-Performing Loan and Loan to Deposit Ratio have negative significant to Return On Asset. Aus. J. Acc. Eco. Fin. Vol 1(1), October 2015, P 56-65


The role of a leader in an organization is very dominant to influence others in this case his subordinates in such a way that the other person is willing to do the will of the leadership even though personally it may not be liked. It can be concluded that the way the company is very dependent on the leader. However, despite the dominant leader's role, a leader should not ignore the importance of the labor force's role. The method used in this research is descriptive method. Data collection techniques with interviews, observations, and questionnaires. While the type of data used is primary data and secondary data. The analytical tool used is narrative descriptive and multiple linear regression analysis. The results show that leadership style has been able to make good communication, confidence and create work environment and good relationship with other employee so that can motivate and finish work well in work. on CV. "Lele Indomaju Bersama", autocratic leadership style, democratic leadership, and laissez-faire leadership simultaneously have a positive effect on work motivation. From the results of the t-test is said partially autocratic leadership, democratic leadership, and laissez-faire leadership have a positive effect on work motivation. Based on the results of t-test then obtained laissez-faire leadership is the most dominant factor on employee motivation of CV. "Lele Indomaju Bersama".


Nonequilibrium models (three-fluid hydrodynamics, UrQMD, and quark molecular dynamics) are used to discuss the uniqueness of often proposed experimental signatures for quark matter formation in relativistic heavy ion collisions from the SPS via RHIC to LHC. It is demonstrated that these models—although they do treat the most interesting early phase of the collisions quite differently (thermalizing QGP vs. coherent color fields with virtual particles)—all yield a reasonable agreement with a large variety of the available heavy ion data. Hadron/hyperon yields, including J/Ψ meson production/suppression, strange matter formation, dileptons, and directed flow (bounce-off and squeeze-out) are investigated. Observations of interesting phenomena in dense matter are reported. However, we emphasize the need for systematic future measurements to search for simultaneous irregularities in the excitation functions of several observables in order to come close to pinning the properties of hot, dense QCD matter from dat...


Abstract Based on the analysis of the Argentinean currency board and the full dollarization scheme in Ecuador this paper argues that an intermediate exchange rate regime (compared to free floating or hard peg) will be a better option for countries subject to external financial shocks and a worldwide export and import structure. It shows that the Argentine convertibility system was successful as an anti-inflationary program. However, the reduction in the inflation rate has been accompanied by a dramatic change in relative prices of tradable and non tradable goods and services, which have caused serious problems in the international competitiveness of the economy. The dollarization regime in Ecuador did not lead, as in Argentina, to a rapid reduction in the inflation rate (in 2001, CPI may still increase 30%); if inflationary inertia persists for too long, Ecuador may witness the same deterioration of relative prices between tradable and non tradable products, negatively affecting its external sector. Price stability is not a synonym of economic stability. The convertibility system generated a paradoxical situation, in which the economy is very stable when judged by the stability of the general price level and the exchange rate, but very unstable, if one looks at the growth rates of the economy. This instability relates to external credit cycles and changes in export income which directly affect the monetary base and hence the level domestic credit. Also, the absence of the adjustment in relative prices between tradables and non-tradables, requires that in the event of an external deficit, the entire burden of adjustment falls on the contraction of the economic activity, since this is the only way to reduce imports. Hard-peg regimes heighten the external sector's influence over the pace of economic activity, even in a country like Argentina, with low coefficients of trade openness (in 2001, importsand exports each represented less than 10% of GDP in current values). In Ecuador, trade openness coefficients are around 30%. Argentina took advantage of the availability of foreign capital that emerging markets enjoyed beginning in 1991-1992. In the first half of the nineties, the capital inflows permitted the financing of the current account deficit and significant pace of economic growth. Nevertheless, it has resulted in high external indebtedness and rising payments of interest and capital income, which, in the absence of a sustained rate of export growth, jeopardized the future viability of the convertibility scheme. A lesson that arises from the Argentine experience is that it is not possible to sustain in the long run a hard peg regime together with long lasting fiscal or current account deficits; either fiscal or current account equilibrium have to be achieved, which as it was seen is not an obvious outcome of hard peg regimes. In Argentina, this simultaneous equilibrium was not attained: when the economy grew, it produced an increase of imports and a trade deficit; when it did not grow, there was a fall in tax revenues, which led to a fiscal deficit. Increasingly since the Mexican crisis, the way to elude this contradiction was the increasing in public external debt. In this sense contrary to what was suggested, the convertibility system stimulated public external indebtedness instead of forcing a move towards fiscal discipline. As a final result, at present Argentina had to face severe deficits both in the fiscal and external sectors. This implies that in the case of Argentina the convertibity law was able to eliminate for several years the devaluation risk, but dramatically increased the default risk, which has proven to be as costly as the former and led to a strong attack to convertibility. It is also shown that for the Argentinean case the automatic adjustment mechanisms implied by hard pegs has not operated in a smooth way. This is due to the fact that international financial markets tend to adjust via quantity rather than via prices: a rise in interest rates does not lead to an increase in capital inflows to a country whose over-indebtedness is already manifest, as is the case of Argentina and Ecuador and they can not rely on a permanent access to the international financial markets at reasonable interest rates. Also, external crisis go hand by hand with domestic banking crisis introducing difficulties in the dynamics of the automatic adjustment. The natural raise in the domestic interest rates to attract external financing has a strong effect in deepening domestic recession and increasing financial cost. These two factors create solvency and liquidity problems in the corporate level, worsening the risk of the banking sector liabilities and driving it towards a banking crisis. As long as the exchange rate regime places limits on the Central Bank to act as a lender of last resort problems of insolvency can spread more easily to the banking system.


Earth-space communications links operating above 10 GHz may be adversely affected by the earth's atmosphere and hydrometeors, particularly rain. These propagation phenomena are usually evaluated only for fading and depolarization effects. However, dispersion is an important factor in wide-band digitally modulated satellite links. In this paper we examine the mechanisms responsible for dispersion over bandwidths as great as 500 MHz in the 10-30 GHz range. The amplitude and phase effects of dispersion are quantified for a wide range of propagation conditions. The resulting propagation model is then used to generate estimates of performance degradation in wide-band QPSK systems through the use of computer simulation.


Students of speech communication need to know why a particular shape of the vocal tract has the resonances (and antiresonances) that it does. They also need to know what will happen to the formants if the vocal tract shape changes in a certain way. It is easiest to begin by studying the resonances of a neutral vocal tract. Having shown why the first three resonances of such a tube are at approximately 500, 1500, and 2500 Hz, the next step is to demonstrate the existence of nodes and antinodes in the pressure and flow waveforms. It is then possible to establish the relation between added constrictions in the vocal tract and changes in the formant frequencies, the easiest to explain being the effect of lip rounding. Another important concept is the way in which part of the vocal tract may act as a Helmholtz resonator, producing the low frequencies often associated with the first formant. All these concepts may be used in an explanation of diagrams showing the relation between formant frequencies and vocal tract shapes such as Fant's nomograms. Finally, the notion of an antiresonance may be used in an explanation of the effects of nasal coupling.


Shallow water, inter-tidal to immediate sub-tidal (< 5 m), archaeological shipwreck sites present unique challenges to geophysical investigation. Retrieval of reliable data is very difficult through the combination of issues of water column bubble turbulence and the simple geometry of the acoustic. This poster will present an acquisition method that tackles both of these problems through the combination of a purpose built, high frequency (150 kHz) narrow beam (3o) transceiver, Real-Time Kinematic (centimetric accuracy) navigation and a non-motorised deployment method.
The test site for this system was the Grace Dieu (1420), the flagship of Henry V, which was scuttled at its berth in the Hamble River (UK). The site is typically covered by a maximum of 2-5 m of water only being exposed at exceptionally low tides during the spring equinox. The site is partially buried within muddy inter-tidal sediments to a maximum depth of 1.5 m.
The marine survey utilised the 150 kHz transceiver mounted on a catamaran along with an Ashtec marine RTK-GPS navigational system and attitude sensor. The catamaran was towed over the site using divers. Close survey line spacing (< 1 m), centimetric accurate navigation and a theoretically < 10 cm vertical and horizontal resolution enable the accurate presentation of a pseudo-3D acoustic image of this buried wreck. A full and pseudo-3D interpretation of the site has been calibrated against known archaeological site investigation data and an RTK-GPS terrestrial survey.
This poster will demonstrate not only the effectiveness of this system for shallow water archaeological survey but also shallow water detection of any buried object.


Many texts on logic are written with a mathematical emphasis, and focus primarily on the development of a formal apparatus and associated techniques. In other, more philosophical texts, the topic is often presented as an indulgent collection of musings on issues for which technical solutions have long since been devised. What has been missing until now is an attempt to unite the motives underlying both approaches. Paul Hoyningen-Huene's Formal Logic seeks to find a balance between the necessity of formal considerations and the importance of full reflection and explanation about the seemingly arbitrary steps that occasionally confound even the most serious student of logic. Alex Levine's artful translation conveys both the content and style of the German edition. Filled with examples, exercises, and a straightforward look at some of the most common problems in teaching the subject, this work is eminently suitable for the classroom.


In this work we propose using word embeddings combined with unsupervised methods suchas clustering for the multi-document summarization task of DUC (Document Understanding Conference) 2002. We aim to find evidence that semantic information is kept in word embeddings and this representation is subject to be grouped based on their similarity, so that main ideas can be identified in sets of documents. We experiment with different clustering methods to extract candidates for the multi-document summarization task. Our experiments show that our method is able to find the prevalent ideas. ROUGE measures of our experiments are similar to the state of the art, despite the fact that not all the main ideas are found; as our method does not require annotated resources, it provides a domain and language independent way to create a summary.


This thesis focuses on possible urban design responses to a worst-case scenario for sea level change: a rise of one metre by the year 2100. Wellington City is comparable to many coastal cities around the world; much of the city sits on lowlying reclaimed land. A rise in sea level of one metre could result in extensive damage to buildings and infrastructure. Scientists predict that seas will rise somewhere between 0.18m and 1.2m by the end of the century. New Zealand's Ministry for the Environment advises local bodies to plan for a rise in sea level of at least 0.8m by the year 2090. Wellington City Council has begun to research the possible effects of sea level rise on the city but has not yet seriously considered design options in response to this. The uncertainties regarding the extent of sea level rise mean its impact on Wellington City could be minimal (0.5 m rise) or extensive (1.5m rise). Dykes, sea walls and levees have been constructed for centuries to protect local populations. These can be detrimental to urban quality, and can impede the connections between cities and their waterfronts. Up until now, their effects on overall urban design have rarely been considered. Urban designs adopted internationally for flood defence were reviewed with regard to Wellington City's needs. A mapping study of three possible scenarios (0.5m, 1.0m, 1.5m) for sea level change in Wellington City has been made, including assessment with respect to urban design principles. This thesis concludes by offering a realistic response to the one metre scenario. Three sections of the city are developed further to demonstrate how a unified response could be developed throughout the city. The chosen response to the problem of sea level rise in Wellington City seeks to preserve sense of place while introducing new urban design concepts. The chosen design uses a sea wall to protect the existing city against a one-metre rise in sea level, and creates an amphibious zone on its seaward side. The sea wall sits inside the city rather than around it. As well as forming a boundary, it is a public structure offering visual connections between city and sea, and maintaining the essential character of the waterfront. The amphibious zone is designed to withstand flooding during storms and high sea surges. Design in this zone includes new building processes that adapt with sea level changes.


Scott's graph model is a lambda-algebra based on the observation that
continuous endofunctions on the lattice of sets of natural numbers can be
represented via their graphs. A graph is a relation mapping finite sets of
input values to output values.
 We consider a similar model based on relations whose input values are finite
sequences rather than sets. This alteration means that we are taking into
account the order in which observations are made. This new notion of graph
gives rise to a model of affine lambda-calculus that admits an interpretation
of imperative constructs including variable assignment, dereferencing and
allocation.
 Extending this untyped model, we construct a category that provides a model
of typed higher-order imperative computation with an affine type system. An
appropriate language of this kind is Reynolds's Syntactic Control of
Interference. Our model turns out to be fully abstract for this language. At a
concrete level, it is the same as Reddy's object spaces model, which was the
first "state-free" model of a higher-order imperative programming language and
an important precursor of games models. The graph model can therefore be seen
as a universal domain for Reddy's model.


Research examining service-learning in honors undergraduate educa- tion is scarce, and there have been no empirical studies that examine the effect of service-learning participation on honors undergraduates' social dominance orientation (SDO). The current study aimed to determine whether 119 first- year undergraduate honors students experienced significant changes in their social dominance orientation after completing required service-learning projects in Title 1 elementary schools. Paired-samples t-tests and ANOVA showed no significant changes between the pre- and post-SDO means in gen- eral and between gender and ethnic groups. Findings are discussed through a comparison to previous literature. Recommendations for practice and further opportunities for research conclude the article.


Eight cases with deep injuries as a result of electric contact burn were repaired with 8 pedicled thin skin flap successfully. The area of pedicled thin skin flap was from 6cm x 4cm to 12cm x 3cm. The pedicles of the flap were divided on 7-10 postoperative days after clamp training of the pedicles, and all the flaps survived. The cosmetic and functional results were all satisfactory. The operative method is described, and the mechanism of skin flap survival is discussed.


: Continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis, peritoneal macrophage, IL-1, IFN-r, TNF, phagocytosis. Peritoneal macrophages (PM) perform first-line defense activity against peritonitis, the most important complication in CAPD therapy. Our longitudinal study compared the PM function in 14 patients in a low peritonitis occurrence group (LPOG) and 6 in a high peritonitis occurrence group (HPOG) before and during peritonitis; all started CAPD therapy after January 1988. The results show that at the onset of peritonitis, PM function including bactericidal killing (BA) activity, phagocytosis index (PI), H2O2 release, interleukin-1 (IL-1) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) secretion can increase rapidly in the LPOG. However, this was absent in the HPOG. Both groups had a decrease of PM immunological function in the initial 7 to 10 days after onset of peritonitis, then PM functions began to return toward their pre-peritonitis state. However, in the HPOG, the recovery of PM function was very slow, resulting in significantly lower PM functions. In vitro, when normal PM were put into peritonitis dialysate, IL-1, TNF production and PI, BA activity of PM were decreased. This suppressor activity was absent in the peritonitis-free dialysate. These results suggest a suppressor factor(s) in the HPOG peritoneal dialysate may decrease the function of PM rather than cause easy peritonitis development.


Introduction Neoadjuvant radiotherapy confers a well-established benefit in locoregional recurrence for patients with locally invasive rectal cancer. However, only around 50% experience significant downstaging of their tumour. Radiation-associated toxicity renders dose escalation unachievable. Dichloroacetate (DCA) is a generic drug shown to modify tumour metabolism reversing the Warburg effect and inducing apoptosis and may potentially enhance the effect of radiation. This study aimed to investigate the effects of DCA at lower doses in combination with radiotherapy on the survival of CRC cell lines, and any possible synergistic DNA damage. Method CRC cells (LoVo) and control cells (HEK 293) treated with DCA (2,5,10 mM) and irradiation (0,4,8 Gy). Influences of the combination treatment on cell survival were analysed using MTT assays and clonogenic assays and the induction of DNA damage by quantifying gamma-H2AX foci. Statistical analyses were performed using GraphPad, differences between DCA-treated and vehicle control groups were assessed using the Mann-Whitney U test. Results DCA (5 mM) significantly reduced the survival of CRC cells in combination with 4 Gy and 8 Gy (P = 0.0244, 0.0078, respectively). DCA (10 mM) significantly reduced survival of CRC cells in in combination with 4 Gy and 8 Gy (P < 0.0001, <0.0001, respectively). DCA (5 mM) significantly increased the mean number of DNA double-strand breaks (DSB) per CRC cell in combination with 4 Gy and 8 Gy (P = 0.0041, 0.023, respectively). In unirradiated CRC cells, all the DCA doses (2, 5, 10 mM) significantly increased the mean number of DSB's per CRC cell (P < 0.0014). In the control cell line DCA (5, 10 mM) significantly increased the mean number of DSB's per cell induced at 4 Gy (P < 0.0001). Conclusion Lower doses of DCA may have an additive killing effect in combination with radiation in CRC cells. A similar picture of sensitivity was seen in normal cell line demonstrating that DCA is not completely harmless. Increasing doses of DCA associated with increased levels of DSB's in CRC cells and it may be a potential mechanism behind DCA. Further research is warranted exploring the mechanism behind the effects of DCA and as a potential adjunct in the management of rectal cancers. Disclosure of interest None Declared.


Aim: The aim of this study is to compare anesthetic, hemodynamic, vasoconstrictive, and SpO2variability of 0.5% ropivacaine to the "gold standard" lignocaine (2%) with epinephrine (1:80,000) during periodontal surgery. Materials and Methods: A total of 20 systemically healthy controls meeting the inclusion criteria were selected from the Outpatient Department of Sri Sai College of Dental Surgery. Preoperatively, all participants were infiltrated with 0.5 ml of 0.5% ropivacaine intradermally as test solution to record any allergic reaction. Open flap debridement was performed using local anesthesia containing 2% lignocaine hydrochloride with 1:80,000 epinephrine or 0.5% ropivacaine. Recordings were made of the time of onset, duration of action, the intensity, and depth of anesthesia and various hemodynamic changes throughout the surgical procedure. In addition, blood loss volume and postoperative pain were also assessed. Results: Ropivacaine showed statistically longer duration of action (mean±SD =5.3±0.71 hrs) than lignocaine with epinephrine (mean=2.14±0.98 hrs). Blood loss during flap surgery was comparatively less when performed under ropivacaine. No statistical differences were observed in systolic BP, diastolic BP, SpO2 and heart rate during different stages of periodontal surgery between either of the local anesthetic agents Conclusion: Ropivacaine demonstrates comparable efficacy as lignocaine with added advantage of longer duration of action and superior postoperative pain control. No adverse events from this newer anesthetic were noted, and hence, it can be used safely as a viable local anesthetic for periodontal surgical procedures.


Progress in clinical intrathecal chemotherapy has been slow, and a number of new problems have been encountered. The most significant recent developments include the: 1) success of adjunctive intrathecal chemotherapy in the prevention of meningeal leukemia; 2) recognition and characterization of a necrotizing leukoencephalopathic reaction associated with intrathecal methotrexate therapy; 3) demonstration of the efficacy of intraventricular chemotherapy via an Ommaya reservoir; 4) delineation of the clinical pharmacology of intralumbar and intraventricular methotrexate; and 5) identification of an urgent need for new drugs and techniques for intrathecal administration.


Information on HPV type distribution in cervical cancer in situ in different populations is needed for evaluation of prophylactic vaccination programs targeting HPV 16 and 18. In our study, the HPV type prevalence in 1,079 Swedish women from multicase families diagnosed with cervical cancer in situ 1965–1993 was investigated using real‐time PCR and archival tissue material. HPV type information was obtained for 974 samples. Among these, HPV 16 (61%) was the dominant type followed by HPV 33/52/58 (24%), HPV 31 (13%) and HPV 18/45 (12%). The detected prevalence of HPV 16 among cancer in situ decreased by 13% over the study period while the group of low frequency high‐risk types increased. Related women were not prone to infection by the same type. These data suggest that the prevalence of individual HPV types has changed over time in Swedish patients with cervical cancer in situ. Large‐scale studies of pathology biobank materials will enable further insight into the temporal changes of individual HPV types, as baseline information to properly evaluate the effect of vaccine programs. The findings also indicate that genetic susceptibility to cervical cancer operates through general and not type specific susceptibility to HPV infection. © 2009 UICC


Microbiological cultivation methods estimate the number of bacteria in water samples mainly as an amount of Colony Forming Units in 100 ml (CFU/100ml) or as a Most Probable Number of fecal bacteria in 100 ml (MPN/100ml). The growing amount of molecular methods for specific detection of fecal bacteria allows rapid measurement without the need for cultivation. These methods could determine the presence of specific genetic markers of fecal bacteria in water expressed in Genomic Equivalent Units per 100 ml (GEU/100ml) or Target Sequence Copy (TSC) per 100 ml. Analysis of enzymes, such as β-Dglucuronidase in indicator bacteria have been used for many years to quantify feces-associated contamination, but the measurement parameter which allows the comparison of the obtained results is not clearly defined. In this work we are introducing a novel parameter: enzymatic activity of beta-D-glucuronidase expressed in Modified Fishman Units per 100 ml of water sample (MFU/100ml). A fully automated device to detect enzymatic activity above 0.001 MFU/100ml in freshwater without sample pretreatment within less than 60 minutes was developed and subjected to field tests. The instrument measures enzymatic activity by detection of accumulated reaction product. Due to the short measurement time, the technology can be used both for water quality monitoring purposes and for process control applications.


We report on simultaneous observations of electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves associated with traveling convection vortex (TCV) events caused by transient solar wind dynamic pressure (Pd) impulse events. The Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) spacecraft located near the magnetopause observed radial fluctuations of the magnetopause, and the GOES spacecraft measured sudden compressions of the magnetosphere in response to sudden increases in Pd. During the transient events, EMIC waves were observed by interhemispheric conjugate ground‐based magnetometer arrays as well as the GOES spacecraft. The spectral structures of the waves appear to be well correlated with the fluctuating motion of the magnetopause, showing compression‐associated wave generation. In addition, the wave features are remarkably similar in conjugate hemispheres in terms of bandwidth, quasiperiodic wave power modulation, and polarization. Proton precipitation was also observed by the DMSP spacecraft during the wave events, from which the wave source region is estimated to be 72°–74° in magnetic latitude, consistent with the TCV center. The confluence of space‐borne and ground instruments including the interhemispheric, high‐latitude, fluxgate/induction coil magnetometer array allows us to constrain the EMIC source region while also confirming the relationship between EMIC waves and the TCV current system.


In analyzing the use of space in American Sign Language (ASL), Liddell (2003) argues convincingly that no account of ASL can be complete without a discussion of how linguistic signs and non-linguistic gestures and gradient phenomena work together to create meaning. This represents a departure from the assumptions of much of linguistic theory, which has attempted to describe purely linguistic phenomena as part of an autonomous system. It also raises the question of whether these phenomena are peculiar to ASL and other sign languages, or if they also apply to spoken language. In this paper, I show how Liddell's approach can be applied to English data to provide a fuller explanation of how speakers create meaning. Specifically, I analyze Jack Lemmons' use of space, gesture, and voice in a scene from the movie "Mr. Roberts".


Abstract. Koenigia chuanzangensis Z. Z. Zhou & Y. J. Min (Polygonaceae) from southeastern Xizang and western Sichuan Provinces, China, is described and illustrated. The new species morphologically resembles K. islandica L. and K. fertilis Maxim., sharing a habit of dwarf annual herbs, the leaf margins entire, pollen echinate and pantoporate, and the achene slightly exceeding a persistent perianth and brown, dull, narrowly ovoid, and biconvex. Koenigia chuanzangensis differs mainly in the pilose indument of its four tepals, tender stems, and leaves. Plants of the new species are usually 1–3 cm tall, commonly as separate plants, and leaf blades are ovate to elliptic and often as several fascicles at branch apices. In contrast, K. islandica and K. fertilis have glabrous plants that are taller, with glabrous adaxial leaf blade surfaces, and tepals that are especially glabrous. Stems of both species are tufted, with alternate leaves and leaf blades that are obovate.


Due to recent tendencies to optimize the use of the discharge lamps and the pollution problem caused by mercury, this paper outlines a simple approach that puts the reuse of tubular fluorescent lamps into perspective. The operation of the lamp is through dielectric barrier discharge which is powered using short pulses voltage. A Class-E converter, which is suitable for dielectric barrier discharge, is also described. Comments on experimental results from a converter working at 100 kHz switching frequency are made at the end.


may be related to this oestrogenic property. We have studied the biological effects of tamoxifen in the rat and found that the compound can inhibit the stimulatory effects of concomitantly administered oestradiol in immature and ovariectomised rats, and similarly in mature animals it will inhibit the oestradiol-stimulated changes in the vaginal smear. What is of particular relevance is the fact that tamoxifen also produces atypical oestrogenic effects when administered alone. ' Radiolabelled tamoxifen has been shown to bind to the cytoplasmic oestrogen receptor:' and initiate the translocation of complexes to the cell nucleus2 but, whereas oestradiol provokes cell division, the stimulatory effects of tamoxifen produce endometrial hypertrophy. The partial uterine growth which results is probably due to the inability of tamoxifen to provoke a prolonged and consistent rise in uterine DNA content.' *! Similar effects have been observed in vitro using cultured human breast cancer cells, where it appears that non-steroidal antioestrogens in general, and tamoxifen in particular, have effects other than a simple antagonism of oestrogen action, as they can reduce the activity of some biochemical processes to below control values. It is therefore apparent that, since tamoxifen can play a positive part in subcellular events as well as being an oestrogen antagonist, then any inappropriate biochemical changes which occur in mammary tumours may have a profound effect on continued growth and homoeostasis. Therefore, even though tamoxifen has the properties of an antioestrogen, its effects as a partial or atypical oestrogen agonist may be of prime importance for its antitumour activity in the post-menopausal patient with breast cancer.


Two on-line algorithms are proposed for modelling and forecasting short-term multiple load demand. First a multivariable time series model is presented with a systematic method for determining its order and estimating its parameters. Another model based on the state variable form is then considered. Two decoupled algorithms, recursive least-squares and adaptive Kalman filtering, are combined in a bootstrap manner to estimate the model parameters and states. The performance of the two methods is compared using data provided by the Ontario Hydro for four loading nodes.


Summary Recently methylglyoxal-bis(guanylhydrazone) elicited considerable interest as an anticancer agent in view of its clinical activity against acute myelocytic leukemia and lymphomatous diseases. The antitumor and toxicological effects of this compound and current pharmacological investigations carried out in this laboratory are reviewed in the present report. The delayed hypoglycemia induced by the drug in rabbits is associated with hepatic necrosis and becomes evident only after depletion of hepatic glycogen. Following administration of glucose or galactose, deposition of glycogen in the liver is inhibited as early as 4 hours after treatment with the drug at a time when hepatic necrosis is not yet histologically evident. The possibility is discussed that inhibition of oxidative phosphorylation by the drug may be related to the hypoglycemia observed. The comparative study of the antitumor and hypoglycemic activity of several closely related analogs of methylglyoxal-bis(guanylhydrazone) revealed that minor modifications in the chemical structure of the parent compound greatly diminish the antitumor potency of the derivative. In contrast, the hypoglycemic effect is maintained provided that the structures contain two unsubstituted symmetric guanidine moieties. The regression of Sarcoma 180 in pyridoxine-deficient HaICR Swiss mice and the allogenic rejection of skin grafts exchanged between AKR and C57BL/6 mice are antagonized by the drug. The effects of methylglyoxal-bis(guanylhydrazone) against leukemia L1210 are prevented by the concurrent administration of spermidine by the same or a different route. The data available are discussed in relation to the possible mechanisms of action of this new antitumor agent.


Salinity of brackish groundwater in the San Joaquin Valley (SJV) is typically in the range of about 3,000 - 30,000 mg/L total dissolved solids (TDS) In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the potential use of membrane desalination technology for reducing the salinity SJV brackish water. Membrane desalination of SJV brackish water would have to be carried out at relatively high water recovery in order to reduce the volume of generated RO concentrate. However, at high water recoveries the concentration of mineral salt ions on the feed-side of the membrane may increase to levels that exceed the solubility limits of various sparingly water-soluble mineral salts (e.g., calcium sulfate, calcium carbonate, and barium sulfate). The ensuing crystallization of these minerals results in scale build-up that leads to permeate flux decline, shortening of membrane life, and thus a reduction in process efficiency and increased operational cost. Therefore, process strategies must be designed to enhance product water recovery, while reducing the potential for mineral salt scaling. Accordingly, the principal objective of the present study was to evaluate the feasibility of RO desalting of SJV brackish water. The present project focused on a systematic evaluation of: (a) the recovery limits for RO desalination of SJV AD water that are imposed by mineral salt scaling, and (b) the integration of accelerated precipitation (AP) of mineral salts with RO desalting to mitigate scaling and enable high RO recovery. AP treatment would serve to demineralize and desupersaturate the RO primary or secondary feed with respect to mineral salt scalants. In the first phase of the project, a systematic analysis based on multi-electrolyte thermodynamic solubility calculations was carried to determine the recovery limits due to mineral scaling. Subsequently, a detailed theoretical analysis and laboratory bench-scale studies were carried out with field water samples to assess mineral scaling propensity for a number of specific SJV water sources. In the second phase of the study, the integration of accelerated precipitation with RO desalting was investigated as a potential approach to lowering source water scaling propensity to enable enhanced water product water recovery. Analysis of historical water quality data and of recently obtained water field samples, from various locations in the San Joaquin Valley, demonstrated a significant variability of water salinity and scaling propensity with respect to calcite, gypsum, barite, and silica. The above analysis and experimental RO scaling tests suggested that the expected range of product water recovery by RO desalting across the SJV can be in the range of 50%-70% for most of the sites, with the exception of the ERR site for which a much higher recovery was estimated (in excess of 90%). The integration of accelerated precipitation with RO desalting was shown to be technically feasible for the range of brackish water quality in the San Joaquin Valley. In this process, the concentrate from primary RO (PRO) desalting would be treated by accelerated precipitation softening (i.e., chemical demineralization) or desupersaturated to lower the scaling propensity of this stream, followed by secondary RO (SRO) desalting. Overall recovery of up to ~90%-95% could be achieved at an estimated cost of $0.56 -$0.98 per m3 product water, with the ACP process accounting for about 15%-25% of the overall water production cost. The present study demonstrated provided a framework for assessing RO recovery limits and thus identifying potential hurdles that should be addressed in pilot studies and ultimately in the design and implementation of large-scale RO desalting processes. It is expected that, the methods developed in the present study for scale characterization, evaluation of accelerated precipitation effectiveness and RO process performance analysis will significantly advance the knowledge base needed to arrive at optimal design and deployment of future RO brackish water desalination strategies for the San Joaquin Valley.


The scientist (the observer, the watcher) is a consistent part of a scientific experiment. He or she observes an experiment and measures it with instruments. Without an observer a scientific experiment cannot exist. When observing the experiment, the observer can also simultaneously observe the way his/her mind elaborates the experiment. He or she becomes aware of how this elaboration influences the experience of the experiment. Mind is an active element of scientific experience, one


Inadequate splanchnic perfusion is associated with increased morbidity and mortality, particularly if liver dysfunction coexists. Heart failure, increased intra-abdominal pressure, haemodialysis and the presence of obstructive sleep apnoea are among the multiple clinical conditions that are associated with impaired splanchnic perfusion in critically ill patients. Total liver blood flow is believed to be relatively protected when gut blood flow decreases, because hepatic arterial flow increases when portal venous flow decreases (the hepatic arterial buffer response [HABR]). However, there is evidence that the HABR is diminished or even abolished during endotoxaemia and when gut blood flow becomes very low. Unfortunately, no drugs are yet available that increase total hepato-splanchnic blood flow selectively and to a clinically relevant extent. The present review discusses old and new concepts of splanchnic vasoregulation from both experimental and clinical viewpoints. Recently published trials in this field are discussed.


CrxN coatings are deposited on the substrates with low temperature using a Teer UDP 550 Close Field Unbalanced Magnetron Sputter Ion Plating system (CFUBMSIP). The effect of applied power on Cr targets related to sample temperature is studied. When the applied power of Cr targets is lower than 1.1KW, the depositing temperature could be controlled at about 180°C. Scratch test shows no coating detachment at the end of scratch track up to 85N load. All results of Rockwell-C indentation indicate that CrxN coating holds good bonding strength. Pin-on-disc tests are performed to evaluate wear resistance of the coatings and no any wear loss can be detected after 6000s and 1800s of running. XRD profile demonstrates that the coating deposited in this study is CrxN.


Ras proteins are members of a large family of GTPase enzymes that are commonly mutated in cancer where they act as dominant oncogenes. We previously developed an irreversible guanosine-derived inhibitor, SML-8-73-1, of mutant G12C RAS that forms a covalent bond with cysteine 12. Here we report exploration of the structure-activity relationships (SAR) of hydrolytically stable analogues of SML-8-73-1 as covalent G12C KRAS inhibitors. We report the discovery of difluoromethylene bisphosphonate analogues such as compound 11, which, despite exhibiting reduced efficiency as covalent G12C KRAS inhibitors, remove the liability of the hydrolytic instability of the diphosphate moiety present in SML-8-73-1 and provide the foundation for development of prodrugs to facilitate cellular uptake. The SAR and crystallographic results reaffirm the exquisite molecular recognition that exists in the diphosphate region of RAS for guanosine nucleotides which must be considered in the design of nucleotide-competitive inhibitors.


The ability to self regulate is a key skill in learning. This is especially relevant for open learning environments such as MOOCs. Metacognitive scaolding refers to computer based support is used to teach and engage users in metacognition and self regulated learning. These techniques have been found very useful in supporting students in e-learning environments. Studies in game based learning suggests game playing engage players in metacogniton as well as self regulated learning. We see great potential in applying Gamication as a form of metacogni- tive scaolding to improve self regulation in learners. Gamication can also provide a framework to personalise self regulated learning support. In this paper, we present our ideas and guidelines for applying Gami- cation as metacognitive scaolding. We will illustrate through examples of how they can be applied and discuss how these concepts can be the foundation for future work.


When logic upsets (faults) affect digital representations of numbers, it is possible to consider their effects in terms of the magnitude of the value deviation they induce. When some upper limit on such a change in value is tolerable, one may consider techniques for encoding to limit value deviations in the presence of faults. Examples of applications with tolerance to value deviation include computer graphics computations, and the computation, communication and storage of analog sensor values in sensor networks. This article presents upper bounds for the achievable efficiency of encoding under the constraint relaxation of a tolerable value deviation. Closed-form expressions and numerical evaluations for upper bounds on the achievable encoding efficiency under a maximum tolerable value deviation, for several different conditions under which logic upsets may occur, are presented. The bounds demonstrate the possibility of significant gains in encoding efficiency, when some semantic deviation of values is tolerable. Lower and upper bounds on the possible absolute value of deviation resulting from a given number of upsets in words of a known size are provided. It is shown that, if possible to bias the physical design of a system such that logic upsets in both high and low logic direction may occur simultaneously (versus only one or the other), the minimum values of the resulting deviations will be reduced.


In our study, we explored the effect of AgIV on carboplatin chemotherapy in prostate cancer cell lines in vitro and in vivo. Cell viability assay, colony formation assay, flow cytometry, western blot, immunohistochemistry (IHC), immunofluorescence and tumor xenograft growth assay were conducted. We found that AgIV significantly decreased the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of carboplatin in prostate cancer cell lines LNCap and PC-3. Moreover, AgIV enhanced the effect of carboplatin in suppressing colony formation and inducing cell apoptosis. A low dose carboplatin treatment upregulated N-cadherin and Vimentin expression and downregulated E-cadherin expression, but this effect was abolished by combining with AgIV. Carboplatin treatment increased the levels of p-AKT and p-p65 and decreased p-IκBα, but AgIV treatment suppressed this. In addition, AgIV synergized with carboplatin to suppress tumor xenograft growth of PC-3 cells, and decreased pAKT and p-p65 levels in vivo. In summary, our results suggested that AgIV enhanced carboplatin sensitivity in prostate cancer cell lines by suppressing AKT/NF-кB signaling, thus suppressed EMT induced by carboplatin. Our findings provided a new mechanism for AgIV in overcoming drug resistance of platinum-based chemotherapy, and suggested a potential combination therapy of AgIV and carboplatin in prostate cancer.


Semidilute polymer solutions differ greatly from dilute solutions in properties such as viscosity, relaxation time, elastic modulus, colloid osmotic pressure, and light scattering. Previously, Matsuoka and Cowman proposed a single semiempirical expression for the nonideality contribution due to the concentration and intrinsic viscosity dependence, which has no other adjustable parameters, but quantitatively fits data for flexible, semiflexible, and rigid polymers in good solvents. In this report, the excluded volume theory as proposed by Ogston and Laurent is generalized to include mutual crowding between identical polymers based on hydrodynamic volumes, and applied to derive the expression for the nonideality contribution to specific viscosity, colloid osmotic pressure, and light scattering. Additionally, consideration of the contribution of mutual macromolecular crowding to the effective solvent viscosity allows prediction of polymer relaxation time and elastic modulus in semidilute solutions. This theoretical approach now allows the prediction of semidilute polymer solution properties based only on concentration and intrinsic viscosity, and conversely allows intrinsic viscosity (and thus average molecular weight) to be calculated from measurements made on semidilute solutions of known concentration. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


FUZZY MATHEMATICAL TECHNIQUES WITH APPLICATIONS by Abraham Kandel Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, USA 1986 (£37.95). This very complete 274 page treatise on fuzzy mathematics is aimed at readers at a graduate level with a strong (repeat strong) mathematical background. The seven chapters are entitled "Fuzzy Sets". "Possibility Theory and Fuzzy Quantification", "Fuzzy Functions", "Fuzzy Events and Fuzzy Statistics", "Fuzzy Relations", "Fuzzy Logics" and "Some Applications". The book is concluded with a 41 page bibliography containing about 1,000 references to fuzzy set theory and its applications. As an exhaustive research monograph this book meets the needs of all students, teachers and researchers interested in the subject of fuzzy mathematics. However, it should not be thought of, nor recommended as, a easy introduction or relaxing guide to the subject of fuzzy mathematics.


Purpose This study aimed to develop a nomogram for predicting pathologic complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) by integrating hematological biomarkers and clinicopathological characteristics. Materials and Methods Between 2003 and 2017, 306 ESCC patients who underwent neoadjuvant CRT followed by esophagectomy were analyzed. Besides clinicopathological factors, hematological parameters before, during, and after CRT were collected. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify predictive factors for pCR. A nomogram model was built and internally validated. Results Absolute lymphocyte count (ALC), lymphocyte to monocyte ratio, albumin, hemoglobin, white blood cell, neutrophil, and platelet count generally declined, whereas neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) increased significantly following neoadjuvant CRT. After surgery, 124 patients (40.5%) achieved a pCR. The pCR group demonstrated significantly more favorable survival than the non-pCR group. On multivariate analysis, significant factors associated with pCR included sex, chemotherapy regimen, post-CRT endoscopic finding, pre-CRT NLR, ALC nadir during CRT, and post-CRT PLR, which were incorporated into the prediction model. The nomogram indicated good accuracy in predicting pCR, with a C-index of 0.75 (95% confidence interval, 0.71 to 0.78). Conclusion Female, chemotherapy regimen of cisplatin/vinorelbine, negative post-CRT endoscopic finding, pre-CRT NLR (≤ 2.1), ALC nadir during CRT (> 0.35×109/L), and post-CRT PLR (≤ 83.0) were significantly associated with pCR in ESCC patients treated with neoadjuvant CRT. A nomogram incorporating hematological biomarkers to predict pCR was developed and internally validated, showing good predictive performance.


Most embedded systems consist of distributed but highly interconnected applications. Lots of resources are invested to design and implement reliable and efficient communication systems. This paper introduces a new approach for the prototyping of communication structures and protocols. The developed methodology was embedded in the IFS-flow (interface synthesis flow) that generates glue logic between incompatible tasks and media. The presented approach allows us to construct complex communication prototypes in restricted embedded systems more efficiently. Therefore, five optimization strategies were defined for the generation of interfaces (IFB). The computation of dedicated protocols between the spread interfaces helps us to overcome structural communication gaps comprising an efficient and reliable communication. An example shows the practicability of the approach and presents achievable advantages.


Studies on pressure dynamics in rats under local anesthesia were carried out to provide background information for subsequent intravital analysis of microvascular behavior in a skeletal muscle. An alpha-chloralose-urethan mixture (1:13.3%) was selected as the general anesthesia having the least effect on systemic pressures in spontaneous hypertensive (SHR) as well as normotensive (WKY), Sprague-Dawley and Wistar-Kyoto rats. Anesthetic agents, in general, lower systemic blood pressure in SHR by 30--50 mmHg and thereby distort microcirculatory flow and blood vessel-diameter relationships. Insertion of a plastic catheter into the trachea of the anesthetized rat, to maintain an open airway, had a complex effect on heart rate and systemic blood pressure and left the pressure in an unstable state. Severity of the change depended on the age of the rat and the anesthetic agent; hypertensive animals were especially vulnerable.


Robert D. Newman describes the Indians in Charles Brockden Brown's 1799 American gothic novel, Edgar Huntly, as "expressionistic symbols rather than characters with any depth" (66). The one exception to this statement is the Delaware or Lenni Lenape Indian character of Old Deb. The minimal critical attention that Old Deb--an elderly and enigmatically powerful matriarch--has received describes her as hardly a character at all. While it is true that she is only presented to the reader through descriptions by other characters, she is nonetheless central to the plot and meaning of the book. The character and influence of Old Deb intertwine with the dark chain of events that Huntly experiences in his search for the killer of his friend Waldegrave. It is also through Old Deb that Brown's commentary on the American treatment of Indians is most apparent and prophetic. Much of the scholarship concerning Old Deb mislabels he,as a comic pseudo-character with evil tendencies and pretensions of royalty. Her identity and presence in the novel are complicated by the facts that she is the only Indian in the book who merits a name (though neither of them truly hers), and that she is presented to the reader only in the form of Huntly and Sarsefield's testimony. She inhabits the shadowy margins of the novel in which her tale is told by the white people who have driven her tribe from their native land. Relatively little criticism has been written concerning this character; indeed more scholarship has been devoted to her "hut" than to the character herself. Leland S. Person, Jr.'s article "`My Good Mamma': Women in Edgar Huntly and Arthur Mervyn" never even mentions Old Deb and in doing so completely ignores perhaps the most influential woman in the novel. When Old Deb is discussed, scholars tend to place her in one or more of three categories: a recalcitrant and devious mastermind of Indian violence (Anderson 469; Newman 66-67; and Hinds 59), "an Indian witch" (Slotkin 388), or a comic yet murderous "vile old Indian woman" (Hughes 186) with "pretensions of royalty and national identity" (Gardner 447, emphasis added). While critics often view Old Deb as a specter of Native American revenge who directs the killings of whites from behind the dark scenes of Pennsylvanian wilderness, these scholarly representations continually ignore the concept of Native American sovereignty that she so capably represents. The purpose of this essay is to address the character of Old Deb not in terms of an evil or insane witch, but as a representative for dispossessed Indian nations and their fight to retain sovereignty over the land that defines their existence. George E. Tinker writes, "Indians want life. We do not just want mere existence, that is, life in the sense of simple biological survival. What we want is life in the sense of self-sufficient, cultural, spiritual, political, and economic sustainability--on our own terms" (170). Perhaps John Mohawk, the Rotinohshonni historian, says it best: "If you want to be sovereign, you have to act sovereign" (Means xii). In the following pages, I will argue that this is exactly what the character of Old Deb does: she acts sovereign to be sovereign. When observed from this viewpoint, her apparent orchestration of the killing of several whites seems less like the vengeful murder of innocent people and more like a desperate attempt to fight back against an invasion that has robbed her and her people of their way of life. By the time of Edgar Huntly's publication in 1799, white settlers had subjected the Delaware Indians to years of mistreatment. Living in Philadelphia, Brown was probably not ignorant of white governmental workings and how they had conspired to mistreat Indians, in particular the Lenni Lenape. In September of 1737, the Delaware Indians lost most of their land in eastern Pennsylvania as a result of signing the "Walking Purchase Deed." This deed stated that the area to be ceded to the English was the distance a man could walk from a given location in one and a half days. …


This thesis explores how the resources of marketing capabilities, business networks, and financial resources, influence the marketing approach of international new ventures. Building on the resource based view, the market entry of firms and how they compete is analyzed by exploring the resources and capabilities of INVs. By using a qualitative research method, this thesis identifies the three resources of marketing capabilities, business networks, and financial resources to be highly influential for INVs' marketing approach. Also there has been shown to be a synergetic effect between the resources, and that the cross-industrial and cross-business type sampling did not entail any divergences, but rather similar patterns. Four main findings can be identified as a result of our analysis. First, market knowledge prior to internationalization is shown to be key. Second, the creation of trust through transparency in business networks spark business network opportunities and long-term relationships. Third, utilizing technological tools for marketing endeavors becomes highly efficient. Fourth, tackling financial limitations through the implementation of a low-cost strategy is shown to be essential. The findings of this research has great potential of contributing to managerial practice when working with marketing aspirations, as well as being a starting point for future research in the field of INVs and the resource based view theory. The study has limitations in regards to the scope of the research.


In Finland higher education system consists of both theoretical universities and universities of applied sciences (UASs). Today students in higher education institutions are encouraged to find their way and teaching and learning occurs in different environments. A scientific conference provides prerequisites for high-quality, working-life based higher education experience as well as familiarizes with research, development and innovation practices. Furthermore, an international conference offers both new possibilities to disseminate one's research and development work and to build international co-operation and new networks. The Finnish Society for Telemedicine and eHealth (FTeHS) works on voluntary basis and needs extra help in conference building. This offers a great opportunity to cooperation with students. The recruitment criteria for the students were e.g. prior experience in conferences or equivalent, and good English language skills. The master level students, five of them, were chosen in late autumn 2017 from the two Universities of Applied sciences. The article enlightens students' experiences related to the preparatory and execution phases of the conference. The instructions are given what the conference work is. The article describes how students are planning, realizing and evaluating the conference in collaboration with conference organizations, and simultaneously having a fruitful and many-sided learning experience. The research data was collected via meeting notes made by the student in meeting's secretary role, students' learning reports, emailing messages and WhatsApp messages. Article focuses on student's learning more than teaching.


We present a method, path-metadynamics, for determining the average transition path and the free energy along this path in the space of selected collective variables. The formalism is based upon a history-dependent bias along a flexible path variable within the metadynamics framework but with a trivial scaling of the computational cost with the number of collective variables. Control of the sampling of the orthogonal modes recovers the average path and the minimum free energy path as the limiting cases. The method is applied to resolve the path and the free energy of a conformational transition in alanine dipeptide. 1


A morphological group ofwhipworm (Trichuris trichiura) eggs, which is detectable in the soil samples from the city's different control lands, shows that their origin is heterogeneous and it is possible to differentiate them by morphometric signs. At the same time is necessary to consider the specific biological factors contributing to soil contamination. Priority in parasitic soil contamination should be given to animals, dogs in particular, which is supported by the fact that the dog walking grounds exhibit the highest contamination rates.


INTRODUCTION
Renal angiomyolipoma is a benign tumour, but its spontaneous rupture may become threatening for patient's live. Both surgery and selective arterial embolization are accepted treatments for this lesion.

OBJECTIVES
Analyze renal angyolipoma treated in our center, their clinical outcome and treatment purposed in each case.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
We retrospectively analyse 20 cases of patients with renal angiomyolipoma treated in our centre from March 1996 to March 2006. We describe tumour characteristics, treatment followed and results obtained.

RESULTS
Patients suffering from tuberous sclerosis (20%) showed multiple bilateral tumours, with size similar to the rest of patients. Diagnosis of tuberous sclerosis was the only factor attached to spontaneous rupture of those lesions. Four of 9 emergency embolized patients (44.4%) required from second treatment because of recurrent haemorrhage, and 4 of the 16 embolization episodes (25%) presented post-embolization syndrome, both with no predicting factors attached. Reduction of less than one third of the inicial diameter was observed in 58.4% of embolized tumours, which used to be multiple, bilateral and of size larger to the rest. No significative differences were observed in plasmatic creatinine after and before treatments.

CONCLUSIONS
Renal angiomyolipoma may behave in an aggressive way in patients with tuberous sclerosis. No predicting factors of recurrent haemorrhage or post-embolization syndrome were observed. Both surgery and arterial embolization have proved not to compromise renal function in treated patients.


Background/aim A wide variety of neurological and psychiatric disorders have been shown to be closely related to changes in hippocampal volume (HV). It appears that hippocampal volumetry will be an indispensable part of clinical practice for a number of neuropsychiatric disorders in the near future. The aim of this study was to establish a normative data set for HV according to age and sex in the general population. Materials and methods Hippocampal magnetic resonance imaging scans of 302 healthy volunteers were obtained using a 1.5 T unit with a 20-channel head coil. The hippocampal volumetric assessment was conducted using the volBrain fully automated segmentation algorithm on coronal oblique T1-weighted magnetization prepared rapid gradient-echo (MP-RAGE) images obtained perpendicular to the long axis of the hippocampus. The mean values of HV of groups according to age and sex were calculated. The associations between HV and age and sex were analyzed. Results The mean HV of the study group was found to be 3.81 ± 0.46 cm3. We found that the mean HV of males (3.94 ± 0.49 cm3) was significantly higher than that of females (3.74 ± 0.42 cm3), and the mean right HV (3.86 ± 0.48 cm3) was significantly higher than that of the left HV (3.78 ± 0.49 cm3) (P = 0.001). Among both females and males, there were statistically significant but poor negative correlations between age and volumetric measurements of both the right and the left hippocampi (P < 0.05). Conclusion The normative hippocampal volumetric data obtained in this study may be beneficial in clinical applications for many neuropsychiatric diseases, especially for mesial temporal sclerosis and cognitive disorders.


Multimedia documents place new requirements on the conventional text retrieval systems. This paper presents a multimedia retrieval system that employs the contentbased strategy to retrieve both text and speech documents. Its input can be a sequence of spoken words which are digitized waveforms or a sequence of characters, and its output is a list of ranked text and/or speech documents. In this system, a new metadata especially designed for both text and speech documents is proposed. The metadata is automatically generated with special consideration of the characteristics of Chinese. The presented approach is very easy to implement and the preliminary tests give very encouraging results.


Abstract This study examines peer collaboration among four pairs of seventh graders who read online to determine what caused the downfall of the Mayan civilization. More and less productive collaborative interactions are presented through snippets of dialogue in which pairs negotiated complex texts. Few examples of how teachers can skillfully facilitate collaborative interactions currently exist, despite the call for these skills in the Common Core State Standards. Teaching ideas that support collaborative online reading are featured. [Supplementary materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of The Educational Forum for the following free supplemental materials: set of printable graphic organizers to support collaborative online reading and cross-curricular web resources to support critical evaluation of online content].


Objective: The local allergen-specific IgE synthesis has been demonstrated via nasal provocation test in patients presented with allergic rhinitis symptoms in the absence of positive skin and specific IgE tests recently. In this study we searched the house dust mite allergy in patients who presented perennial allergic rhinitis symptoms with negative test results by means of nasal provocation test. Materials and Methods: Sixty-five patients presented perennial allergic rhinitis symptoms with negative skin prick test, intradermal test and serum- specific IgE analyses to house dust mites (Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus ve Dermatophagoides farinae) as well as 35 patients allergic to only house dust mites were performed nasal provocation test with D. pteronyssinus. Results: The nasal provocation test with D. pteronyssinus was found to be positive in 8 (12.3%) of the 65 patients with negative allergy tests. All the patients allergic to house dust mites were found to show positive nasal provocation test. Conclusion: The demonstration of the positive nasal provocation test to D. pteronyssinus in a group of patients presenting allergic rhinitis symptoms with negative skin tests and serum specific IgE to D. pteronyssinus supports the development of local allergic reaction in the absence of systemic allergic inflammation.