Continuous-wave green laser-crystallized (CLC) single-grainlike polycrystalline silicon n-channel thin-film transistors (poly-Si n-TFTs) exhibit the higher electron mobility and turn-on current than excimer laser annealing (ELA) poly-Si n-TFTs. Furthermore, high drain voltage accelerates the flowing electrons in n-type channel, and hence the energized electrons possibly cause a serious damage near the drain region and deteriorate the source/drain (S/D) current. Using this good reliability metrology to verify the quality of CLC n-TFTs was adopted. The degradation mechanisms of S/D current for CLC poly-Si n-TFTs were firstly investigated by measuring the gate-to-drain overlap capacitor, and with the drain-avalanche hot-carrier stresses at 2VGS = VDS =14 V and 2VGS =VDS =18 V in temperature environment, 25 oC and 50 oC.


Abstract The Amami Plateau, Daito Ridge, and Oki-Daito Ridge of the northwestern Philippine Sea Plate are remnants of Mesozoic island arcs. We have newly recovered samples of peridotite and peridotite-derived minerals from the Daito Ridge. The peridotite samples are composed of serpentinized/altered olivines, orthopyroxene porphyroclasts, small clinopyroxenes, and spinels, indicating a harzburgitic origin. Chondrite- and primitive mantle-normalized trace-element patterns for clinopyroxenes are characterized by a steep positive slope from middle rare earth elements to heavy rare earth elements (HREEs) plus yttrium. The light rare earth elements (LREEs) and Sr and Zr contents of clinopyroxenes vary in abundance, and some crystals have high LREE/HREE ratios coupled with positive Sr and Zr anomalies. These petrological and geochemical characteristics are not consistent with the Daito peridotites being the residue of a single partial melting event including melt extraction expected for mid-ocean ridge mantle. Instead, the peridotite source must have been enriched with slab-derived components, which are associated with arc-related magma. Thus, it is concluded that the studied peridotite fragments belong to an exhumed mantle section of a remnant proto-Philippine Sea island arc.


Intracranial electroencephalography is a standard tool in clinical evaluation of patients with focal epilepsy. Various early electrographic seizure patterns differing in frequency, amplitude, and waveform of the oscillations are observed. The pattern most common in the areas of seizure propagation is the so-called theta-alpha activity (TAA), whose defining features are oscillations in the θ – α range and gradually increasing amplitude. A deeper understanding of the mechanism underlying the generation of the TAA pattern is however lacking. In this work we evaluate the hypothesis that the TAA patterns are caused by seizures spreading across the cortex. To do so, we perform simulations of seizure dynamics on detailed patient-derived cortical surfaces using the spreading seizure model as well as reference models with one or two homogeneous sources. We then detect the occurrences of the TAA patterns both in the simulated stereo-electroencephalographic signals and in the signals of recorded epileptic seizures from a cohort of fifty patients, and we compare the features of the groups of detected TAA patterns to assess the plausibility of the different models. Our results show that spreading seizure hypothesis is qualitatively consistent with the evidence available in the seizure recordings, and it can explain the features of the detected TAA groups best among the examined models.


The study used Waixuan35, a blast resistant rice material adopted widely previously in South China, Yuexiangzhan, a rice variety with the largest planting area in Guangdong Province at present and with the characteristics of horizontal blast resistance and high harvest index, and Qisizhan, the earliest good eating quality variety in Guangdong Province as parent materials, and created an important material systems for studying agricultural characters such as rice blast resistance genes, their resistance mechanisms and quality by hybridization offspring single grain transfer method and DNA hybridization method, namely recombination inbred line RIL, extend recombination inbred line ERIL and transferred-mutant recombination inbred line TRIL assemblages. In RIL assemblage, various materials of resistance gene combinations for identifying rice blast pathogen strains had been identified from the material system, providing direct material evidence for gene to gene theory. Using the same control and same method, in ERIL assemblage, it was proved that there were several main resistance genes and several minor resistance genes in horizontal resistant Yuexiangzhan,providing preliminary evidences for multigene control in horizontal resistance. A set of stable material assemblage for studying future horizontal resistance had been created. A mutation material of Yuexiangzhan from horizontal resistance to vertical resistance was obtained by wild rice external DNA electric stimulation introduction, and variation in mutation assemblage was certified by SSLP. These studies and materials provided important new materials for studying rice blast resistance mechanisms, gene cloning, resistance genes especially horizontal resistance.


NosL is a member of a family of radical S-adenosylmethionine enzymes that catalyze the cleavage of the Cα-Cβ bond of aromatic amino acids. In this paper, we describe a set of experiments with substrate analogues and mutants for probing the early steps of the NosL mechanism. We provide biochemical evidence in support of the structural studies showing that the 5'-deoxyadenosyl radical abstracts a hydrogen atom from the amino group of tryptophan. We demonstrate that d-tryptophan is a substrate for NosL but shows relaxed regio control of the first β-scission reaction. Mutagenesis studies confirm that Arg323 is important for controlling the regiochemistry of the β-scission reaction and that Ser340 binds the substrate by hydrogen bonding to the indolic N1 atom.


Panoptic segmentation has become a new standard of visual recognition task by unifying previous semantic segmentation and instance segmentation tasks in concert. In this paper, we propose and explore a new video extension of this task, called video panoptic segmentation. The task requires generating consistent panoptic segmentation as well as an association of instance ids across video frames. To invigorate research on this new task, we present two types of video panoptic datasets. The first is a re-organization of the synthetic VIPER dataset into the video panoptic format to exploit its large-scale pixel annotations. The second is a temporal extension on the Cityscapes val. set, by providing new video panoptic annotations (Cityscapes-VPS). Moreover, we propose a novel video panoptic segmentation network (VPSNet) which jointly predicts object classes, bounding boxes, masks, instance id tracking, and semantic segmentation in video frames. To provide appropriate metrics for this task, we propose a video panoptic quality (VPQ) metric and evaluate our method and several other baselines. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the presented two datasets. We achieve state-of-the-art results in image PQ on Cityscapes and also in VPQ on Cityscapes-VPS and VIPER datasets.


Abstract : In this report we describe a compact, easily deployed, moored system for oceanographic and meteorological observations in the coastal ocean. The system consists of a surface and subsurface mooring pair deployed adjacent to one another. Compared to a single catenary surface mooring, this arrangement allows the entire water column to be instrumented. All of the instruments in the system log high resolution time series data. Additionally, the mooring line instruments periodically report averaged data to the buoys via inductive modems. On the subsurface mooring, this averaged data is sent to the surface buoy using an acoustic modem. Inductively coupled mooring line instrumentation includes conductivity, temperature, and pressure sensors, acoustic current meters, and optical backscattering and absorption sensors. In addition to mooring line instruments, the surface buoy collects averaged data from meteorological sensors, including wind speed and direction, barometric pressure, relative humidity, air temperature, precipitation, longwave and shortwave radiation, sea surface temperature and conductivity, and wave height and period. Data from both mooring lines and from the surface meteorological sensors is telemetered to shore via line-of-sight radio and satellite. The entire system, including buoys, moorings, instruments, launch and recovery gear, telemetry receive, and data processing facilities can be packed into a single 20 foot shipping container. The system was successfully deployed to provide environmental monitoring for Kernel Blitz 2001, a U.S. Navy fleet exercise off southern California. Results from the deployment are presented.


OBJECTIVE
Both periodontal disease and peripheral neuropathy are complications associated with poorly controlled diabetes. This study aimed to determine whether periodontal disease was more prevalent and more severe among patients with severe diabetic peripheral neuropathy.

METHODS
A case-control study was performed; 46 patients with and 48 without the slipping slipper sign (SSS)-a surrogate clinical marker for severe peripheral neuropathy-were recruited from a diabetic outpatient clinic. Demography and data from the Basic Periodontal Examination (BPE) were assessed, in addition to the patients' periodontal health by 2 examiners blinded to patients' SSS status. Multivariate logistic regression was used to evaluate the associations between the risk factors for and the presence of the SSS, adjusting for age, gender, and ethnicity.

RESULTS
The mean age of the sample was 55.8 years (±10.69 years). Most of the participants (77.7%) had either never been to a dentist or had last attended a dental clinic more than a year before this examination, and 83% did not have a dentist. Periodontal disease was advanced in 61.7%, and there was no association between the SSS and periodontal disease. Dental-service utilization variables were significantly associated with the SSS. Patients who did not have a regular dentist were more than 7 times more likely to have the SSS than were those who did (OR = 7.70; 95% CI: 1.12 53.21).

CONCLUSION
In diabetic patients, oral health-related risk factors, such as not having a dentist, wearing a denture or dentures, and visiting a dentist once a year or more, may be associated with systemic complications, including peripheral neuropathy. Early collaboration between dentists and doctors on the care of patients with diabetes is recommended.


A miniature accelerometer based on silicon microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) fabrication technology has been developed. Using a beam-suspended proof mass and a Fabry-Peacuterot sensing gap, this accelerometer is fiber coupled to a miniature, multichannel, optical readout system which was developed for application in compact optical sensor systems. The approximately 4 mmtimes7 mmtimes2 mm accelerometer can be tailored to cover milli-g to kilo-g acceleration ranges. The miniature readout system is enclosed in approximately a 2 cmtimes8 cmtimes1 cm package, one of the smallest ever reported, and implements the complete optical path for a three-channel embodiment of a multichannel, highly sensitive and accurate, in-phase and quadrature (IQ) optical measurement system for Fabry-Peacuterot sensors. A variety of fiber-based sensors (temperature, strain, pressure, etc.) are commercially available using this Fabry-Peacuterot technique. The complete measurement system with the accelerometer was tested using a shaker table. Sample results are presented for 100 Hz, 10-g peak-peak acceleration


Diabetes includes a group of metabolic disorders in which there is hyperglycemia. This can be due to impaired insulin secretion, insulin action or both. Chronic hyperglycemia is associated with serious long-term complications in several organs, especially in the eyes, kidneys, nerves, heart and blood vessels. In our country this disorder affects 13.8% of the population. There are several types of diabetes although most patients suffer type 2 diabetes. We set out to review the diagnostic process, screening recommendations, prevention strategies, initial assessment upon diagnosis, therapeutic targets regarding both blood glucose levels and the other vascular risk factors while also considering healthy lifestyles and brief references to medications recommended in each section. Keywords: prisons; diabetes mellitus; prediabetic state; diagnosis; straining; hypertension; dyslipidemia; obesity; Spain.


In the present work, an attempt has been made to produce a wax blend which could offer a better surface finish. Experiments were conducted with different types of waxes namely paraffin wax, bees wax, montan wax, carnabua wax and ceresin wax by varying their proportions. In each case the surface roughness of wax pattern was determined. The experimental data obtained were used to optimize the quantity of the waxes to form a blend having minimum surface roughness. The effect of varying proportions of the aforesaid waxes on the surface roughness of the wax blends was investigated. Taguchi method was used to optimize the required composition of the waxes. Taguchi method has successfully suggested the required proportions of the aforesaid waxes for the blend which could offer the minimum surface roughness.


Rationale and objectives Obliterative bronchiolitis (OB) is a rare disease with a small number of established occupational aetiologies. We describe a case series of severe OB in workers making glass-reinforced plastics. Methods Workplace exposures were the likely cause after the independent diagnosis of OB in two workers laying up the fibreglass hulls of yachts; the second worker took over the job of the first after he left following a lung transplant. Presentation of these two cases at international meetings led to others identifying similar workers. Main results We identified six workers with good evidence of OB. All were involved in preparing fibreglass with styrene resins, five as boat builders laying up fibreglass hulls and one during cooling-tower fabrication. The disease came on rapidly without unusual acute exposures. Two patients had lung transplants, while another died while waiting for one. Histology confirmed OB in the four with biopsies/post-mortem examinations or explanted lungs. Conclusions A rare, potentially fatal disease occurring in six workers laying up fibreglass with styrene resins from five different worksites suggests that work exposures were the cause of their OB. The precise agent responsible awaits identification.


Ever decreasing efficiency of antibiotic treatment due to growing antibiotic resistance of pathogenic bacteria is a critical issue in clinical practice. The two generally accepted major approaches to this problem are the search for new antibiotics and the development of antibiotic adjuvants to enhance the antimicrobial activity of known compounds. It was therefore the aim of the present study to test whether alkylresorcinols, a class of phenolic lipids, can be used as adjuvants to potentiate the effect of various classes of antibiotics. Alkylresorcinols were combined with 12 clinically used antibiotics. Growth-inhibiting activity against a broad range of pro- and eukaryotic microorganisms was determined. Test organisms did comprise 10 bacterial and 2 fungal collection strains, including E. coli and S. aureus, and clinical isolates of K. pneumoniae. The highest adjuvant activity was observed in the case of 4-hexylresorcinol (4-HR), a natural compound found in plants with antimicrobial activity. 50% of the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 4-HR caused an up to 50-fold decrease in the MIC of antibiotics of various classes. Application of 4-HR as an adjuvant revealed its efficiency against germination of bacterial dormant forms (spores) and prevented formation of antibiotic-tolerant persister cells. Using an in vivo mouse model of K. pneumoniae-induced sepsis, we could demonstrate that the combination of 4-HR and polymyxin was highly effective. 75% of animals were free of infection after treatment as compared to none of the animals receiving the antibiotic alone. We conclude that alkylresorcinols such as 4-HR can be used as an adjuvant to increase the efficiency of several known antibiotics. We suggest that by this approach the risk for development of genetically determined antibiotic resistance can be minimized due to the multimodal mode of action of 4-HR.


A small-deformation perturbation analysis is developed to describe the effect of a uniform electric field on drop deformation and orientation in linear flows and emulsion shear rheology. All media are treated as leaky dielectrics, and fluid motion is described by the Stokes equations. The one-particle contribution to the effective stress of a dilute emulsion is obtained from the drop stresslet. Analytical solutions are derived as regular perturbations in the limits of small capillary number and large viscosity ratio. The results show that both shape distortion and charge convection modify emulsion rheology. Drop deformation due to application of an electric field in a direction perpendicular to the shear flow gives rise to normal stresses and may lead to shear thickening or shear thinning, depending on the electric properties of the fluids. Charge convection due to the imposed shear affects both the shear viscosity and normal stresses.


Bauhinia variegata Linn. (Kanchnar / Rakta kanchan), is a widely used medicinal plant by the tribals throughout India and popular in various indigenous system of medicine like Ayurveda, Unani and Homoeopathy. Following the various traditional claims on utility of this plant in curing number of diseases, considerable efforts have been made by researchers to varify its utility through scientific pharmacological screenings. The notable biological activities reported are antitumour, antimicrobial, antiinflammatory, antigoitrogenic, hepatoprotective and haemagglutination. Industrially, the plant is widely used for the manufacture of woodwool board, production of gum and fibres. The plant is also utilized for afforestation to conserve the nature. This review presents a detailed survey of the literature on pharmacognosy, phytochemistry, traditional and biologically evaluated medicinal uses of B. variegata.


The carbonatites are essentially carbonate-silicate rock with a great variety of other minerals. In this review the writer stresses the field and geochemical relationships of the carbonatites and alkalic igneous rocks and concludes that carbonatites were deposited by carbonatic solutions having a wide range of temperature, pressure, and concentration and derived from alkalic magmas during the process of silicate crystallization. Brogger9s concept of carbonate magma is evaluated in the light of more recent field and laboratory investigations, and the conclusion is reached that a carbonate magma in the normal sense is less likely to exist than carbonate-rich solutions which at elevated temperature and pressure can have a higher concentration of dissolved ingredients than normally believed for hydrothermal solutions. At many localities the carbonatites occur as veinlike or dikelike bodies or as cores in volcanic plugs of alkalic rocks. Recent investigations indicate that the carbonatites and related alkalic rocks represent a relatively unevaluated category of ore deposits that contain an impressive reserve of such rare commodities as niobium (columbium), titanium, zirconium, rare earths, barium, strontium, uranium, magnetite, phosphate, vermiculite, and agricultural lime.


Keeping a record of operator experience remains a challenge to operation management and a major source of inefficiency in information management. The objective is to develop a framework that enables an explicit presentation of experience based on information use. A purposive sampling method is used to select four small and medium-sized enterprises as case studies. The unit of analysis is the production process in the machine shop. Data collection is by structured interview, observation and documentation. A comparative case analysis is applied. The findings suggest experience is an accumulation of tacit information feedback, which can be made explicit in information use interoperatability matrix. The matrix is conditioned upon information use typology, which is strategic in waste reduction. The limitations include difficulty of participant anonymity where the organisation nominates a participant. Areas for further research include application of the concepts to knowledge management and shop floor resource management.


Grounded in the learning literature, this study examines: 1) the effect of downstream internationalization and upstream internationalization on the acquisition of market knowledge and technological knowledge in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), and 2) the moderating role of SME prior knowledge on these relationships. Using longitudinal data on SMEs, the results show that international downstream operations directly and positively impact the acquisition of market and technological knowledge. Prior knowledge does not moderate these relationships. The study shows that SMEs acquire new knowledge also from upstream international activities; and that this process is facilitated by the firm's prior knowledge.


Decentralized management and citizen participation have been central tenets of water governance reform over the last two decades. However, representation and process in the bottom of the bottom-up transformation of urban watershed management too often replicate the values of the top-down administration it was meant to replace: economic efficiency and rational utilitarianism as understood by well-resourced political elites. This article presents an argument for building the capacity to accomplish equity in urban watershed management via experiential, symbolic, and identity-based means of social engagement. The watershed movement is spurred on by placebased activism, motivated by geographically rooted identification with a watershed's intrinsic value and worth. If equity matters in urban watershed management, then it matters profoundly who has the opportunity to form place-based relationships with urban waterways and their riverbanks and lakeshores. Drawing on examples from fieldwork in Los Angeles, this article argues that broadening the base and political power of urban watershed activism—and thus the equity of decentralized modes of urban watershed management— will rely upon diversifying the ranks of urban citizens who are deeply place-attached to the watershed.


Prosociality is a social and individual virtue, which evokes mixed feelings in the modern world. Generally, prosociality behavior is defined as "actions taken for the benefit of one or more other persons" (Wispe, 1972). The Digital Revolution and the birth of artificial intelligence, such as the Google Mini, allowed the transition from elitist experience to mass experience. The study has an exploratory function and starts from the Man-AI interaction, in a provocative and oppositional conversational context created by the Human Being. In the research, it is hypothesized, therefore, that the synthesis of the artificial voice does not allow to characterize all the facets of the tone and the emotionality of the prosociality. As a result, Artificial Intelligence is programmed to always respond in a "gentle" way, putting in place different facets of prosociality, which are well detected in the emotionality and prosodic analysis, above all in the recognition of "pitch" speech pattern. While emotional tone analysis confirms the "understanding" of reading the communicative context of Artificial Intelligence. Among future perspectives it is highlighted how the study of these vocal patterns of artificial prosociality can be a springboard for research on bullying, using the Google Mini Prosocial tool.


Extensive computer use is creating a society where its citizens are communicating outside the norm of real life. These diversions from real life communication behavior have been named the Online Disinhibition Effect (ODE). The effect is a psychological model that is structured with different types of elements which can be triggered by different communication mediums. There are two sides of the effect; a benign, where compassion and a reveal of emotions are more likely, and a toxic, where anger, frustration and threats are in focus. In the online video game industry, ODE is active, but as the medium is different than regular internet use the effects are different as well. This paper looks at how online video games are affected by ODE. By using the most current disinhibition model made by Suler and looking at modern cyberpsychology in online games, this paper found eight features that have the possibility to decrease disinhibition amongst users. This paper concludes with a warning that games are becoming more immersive and without the proper authority features, games will increase their disinhibition effect amongst its users.


Abstract New materials obtained by pyrolysis of gelatine (G) and poly(1,2-dimethylsilazane) (PSN) (weight ratio: G/PSN 70/30) at temperatures 700 and 900 °C were characterized by SEM and Raman spectroscopy. The presence of ceramics influences on the cluster size of the materials. Electrochemical tests were performed by cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic cyclic polarization. The capacity of G/PSN was 464 and 527 mAh/g for materials pyrolysed at 700 and 900 °C. The capacity fading was 1 % after 17th cycle for G/PSN at 900 °C. This value is higher of 185 mAh/g in comparison to capacity of gelatine pyrolysed at the same conditions.


Abstract Background The standard treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC) consists of a surgical resection of the colonic segment with the tumor, followed by a reconnection of the remaining bowel ends, or "anastomosis". The anastomosis may fail to heal in up to 20% of patients, which leads to anastomotic leak, a major complication that increases postoperative morbidity and mortality. This complication is unpredictable and its causes remain poorly understood. Purpose The objective of this study is to investigate the possible role of the gut microbiome in anastomotic healing after surgery in patients with CRC. Method We collected preoperative fecal samples and intraoperative mucosal samples from CRC patients undergoing surgery with anastomosis. The gut microbiota of patients with AL and of others that presented optimal healing after surgery was analyzed and compared using the Anchor 16S pipeline. To assess the role of the patients' microbiota in healing, fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) was performed in mice using preoperative fecal samples from CRC patients with and without AL. Mice were then subjected to colonic surgery using a colonic anastomosis model. Six days after surgery, anastomotic healing was assessed macroscopically and microscopically. The gut barrier function was also assessed. The gut microbiota composition was compared between the groups colonized with samples from patients with and without AL to detect potential differences. Result(s) Mice colonized by FMT with the microbiota of donors with AL displayed poor anastomotic healing macroscopically, and a weaker wound microscopically. These same mice displayed a weaker gut barrier, as objectified by higher bacterial translocation to the spleen. The anastomoses of mice receiving the microbiota of AL donors displayed lower concentrations of collagen and fibronectin and higher inflammatory cytokines and collagenolytic enzymes, indicating poor extracellular matrix formation and collagen degradation locally.The beta-diversity of the gut microbiota was significantly different between mice receiving the microbiota of donors with and without AL, and several bacterial species were differentially abundant between the two groups. Conclusion(s) The preoperative gut microbiota in CRC patients who experience anastomotic leak after surgery induces poor anastomotic healing in mice and a weaker gut barrier after colonic surgery. Several bacterial species were found to be associated with the healing process. Please acknowledge all funding agencies by checking the applicable boxes below CIHR, Other Please indicate your source of funding; NSERC, FRQS, New Frontiers in Research, Montreal Cancer Institute. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


In this paper the trade of the Hungarian cereal and oil crops from 2000 and 2010 are introduced. The general attributes of the Hungarian crop sector are analyzed and a specific picture from aspect of the trade in Hungarian cereal and oilseed sector, with a focus on the quantity of the export and import of wheat, maize, rapeseed, sunflower and other crops and their main target countries. This article also aims to show the impacts of the changes in the EU's intervention rules and provide analysis.


We evaluate the potential impacts and measure the potential limits of adaptation of agri culture to climate change. Pressures on land and water resources are expected to intensify existing risks in low latitude areas – e.g., South-East Asia deltas – and in regions with current water scarcity – e.g. Mediterranean, and create new opportunities in some northern temperate areas – e.g., Northern Russia, Northern Europe. The need to respond to these risks and opportunities is addressed by evaluating the costs and benefits of a number of technical and policy actions. The discussion aims to assist stakeholders facing the adaptation challenge and develop measures to reduce the vulnerability of the sector to climate change.


This paper explores how did the World War I influence the content and the visual form of the Estonian core dailies Postimees, Paewaleht and Tallinna Teataja in 1914–1917. The beginning of the war brought about several rapid changes in Estonian newspapers. The vast majority of editorial content was made up of war information. War was brought close to the reader as the fate and activities of common Estonian soldiers were constantly discussed. At the same time, newspaper readers were united with the allied war forces by the use of the inclusive 'we' in offi cial war reports. War was seen through the eyes of the Russian Empire and their allies. War was presented using more varied newspaper genres. However, newspapers did not modernise their news genres, e.g. use more modern, hierarchical news structures, such as the inverted pyramid. Instead, the use of combined genres, which included elements of short news, commentary and reportage, increased. This was the result of an over-abundance of information. Journalists became more active in acquiring information and explaining offi cial news to their readers (e.g. explaining in detail the locations of war events). In newspaper design, the techniques which were previously used only for extraordinary events were now introduced on a daily basis. This increased the quality of information presentation. In order to emphasize essential information, each issue of a newspaper started with the listing of important war events, war news was transferred 115 to the front page, there were many more headlined news stories, and a few single war stories were wholly or partially set in bigger and/or bolder typefaces. The domination of war information, the introduction of war topics and news as the focus of the newspaper were directly connected to the war. News value became the main factor in news selection and in how news items were presented. The growth of general variability was directly related to the fact that the variability of information sources grew considerably. Information was obtained from official news bulletins as well as from private letters of civilians and soldiers. Two innovations introduced during World War I were maintained in newspapers after the war. Firstly, news remained at the front page of the newspaper, starting the era of news journalism in Estonia (replacing the previous enlightening-instructive journalism). Secondly, headlined news stories did not disappear from newspapers; rather, headlines grew bigger and became more precise. Lasting changes were related to the visual form of newspapers, whereas contextual and topical changes were temporary, related to the progress of World War I. Keywords war, Estonian journalism, news genres, journalistic photos, visual form of newspapers, Estonian language


Epithelial ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecologic malignancy, despite advances in treatment. The most common histological type, high-grade ovarian serous carcinoma (OSC) is usually diagnosed at an advanced stage, and although these types of tumors frequently respond to surgery and platinum-based chemotherapy, they usually recur. Ovarian clear cell carcinoma (OCCC) is an unusual histological type, which is known to be intrinsically chemoresistant and is associated with poor prognosis in advanced stages. In recent years, genetic alterations and epigenetic modulation of signaling pathways have been reported in OSC and OCCC, including the overexpression of Notch pathway elements and histone deacetylases. Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACis), including vorinostat (suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid), alter the transcription of genes involved in cell growth, survival and apoptosis, and have become an attractive therapeutic approach. However, no previous work has addressed the effect of HDACis, and in particular vorinostat, on Notch signaling in ovarian cancer. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the modulation of the Notch pathway by vorinostat in ovarian cancer. Using immunofluorescence and quantitative polymerase chain reaction, the present results revealed that vorinostat activated the Notch pathway in OCCC and OSC cell lines, through different Notch ligands. In OCCC, the activation of the Notch pathway appeared to occur through Delta-like (Dll) ligands 1, 2 and 3, whereas in OSC Dll1 and Jagged 1 and 2 ligands were involved. The activation of the Notch pathway by vorinostat, in OCCC and OSC cell lines, culminated in the increased expression of the same downstream transcription factors, hairy enhancer of split (Hes) 1 and 5, and Hes-related proteins 1 and 2. In conclusion, vorinostat modulates the expression of several downstream targets of the Notch pathway and independent Notch receptors and ligands that are expressed in OSC and OCCC. This upregulation of the Notch pathway may explain why vorinostat therapy fails in ovarian carcinoma treatment, as shown in certain clinical trials.


BACKGROUND
Previous studies showed severe biochemical and functional damage to platelets in patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass for cardiac surgery, and suggested that this derived from the proteolytic action of plasmin on the platelet surface.

METHODS
A double-blind study was carried out to compare platelet function and composition in patients randomized to receive the protease inhibitor aprotinin or placebo during reoperation for valvular prosthesis replacement or coronary artery bypass grafting.

RESULTS
Flow cytometry with specific monoclonal antibodies and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis did not show any significant proteolysis of platelet glycoprotein Ib and IIb-IIIa either in the placebo or the aprotinin group. Functional studies were consistent with these results, since ristocetin-induced platelet agglutination was unchanged and platelet aggregation and ATP release induced by collagen and ADP were only slightly reduced by cardiopulmonary bypass. These mild defects in platelet function were partially prevented by aprotinin infusion.

CONCLUSIONS
On the basis of our data and those from literature, we suggest that platelets may be affected very little or severely damaged during cardiopulmonary bypass for cardiac surgery, probably depending on some aspects of the technical procedure which remain to be identified. Aprotinin infusion significantly protects platelets in the latter condition, while its role is obviously slight in the former.


Study Design: A retrospective study. Objective: To evaluate the feasibility, efficacy, and safety of laminoplasty with plate fixation at alternating levels through radiologic analysis of the enlarged spinal canal and clinical follow-up. Summary of Background Data: Laminoplasty is commonly used to manage cervical myelopathy. Because of the absence of rigid fixation, traditional laminoplasty commonly results in complications, including secondary narrowing of the spinal canal and neurological deterioration. At present, miniplate fixation is promising to prevent reclosure of the opened lamina efficiently by applying plates at each level. However, plates are also used at alternating levels (ie, C3, C5, C7) in clinical settings to reduce the cost of patients. To date, no thorough studies on plates used at alternating levels have been published. Methods: Forty-two consecutive patients who underwent cervical laminoplasty for the treatment of cervical spondylotic myelopathy with plate fixation at alternating levels between January 2008 and April 2011 were reviewed for this study. Clinical and radiologic outcomes were assessed. Results: Lateral cervical spine x-rays showed improvements in anteroposterior diameter (APD) of the spinal canal in all levels. No difference of APD was found between alternating fixed levels and unfixed levels preoperatively. Postoperative increased APD in alternating fixed levels was larger than unfixed levels. The mean increased APD in C6 level was smaller than C3, C5, and C7 level (P<0.05). However, there was no difference of the mean increased APD between C4 and C6 levels. Similar results were seen for the mean open angle from computed tomography scan. The mean Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) improvement rate was 58.9%±17.8% on follow-up. However, the available JOA data from all 4 patients with insufficient open angle in unfixed levels exhibited limited improvement of neurological deficit. Conclusions: Laminoplasty with plate fixation at alternating levels is a safe, relatively fast, and cost-effective surgical method for most patients with cervical myelopathy. However, unfixed levels (C4 and C6) still have the risk of closure of open angle, which could be associated with remaining spinal cord compression. C6 is a much higher risk level compared with C4.


One of the main factors contributing to radiometric distortion on remote sensing data is topographic effect, but it can be reduced by applying topographic correction. This study identifies the effect of topographic correction on canopy density mapping in Menoreh Mountains, Indonesia. Topographic correction methods examined in this research are C-Correction, Minnaert, and Sun-Canopy-Sensor+C (SCS+C). Canopy density estimation was approached using vegetation indices, i.e. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Modified Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (MSAVI), Aerosol Free Vegetation Index (AFRI) 1.6, and AFRI 2.1 derived from Landsat-8 OLI imagery. We evaluated the performance of topographic correction by visual and statistical analysis prior to comparing the accuracy of canopy density estimation of different vegetation indices and correction methods. The results showed that topographic normalization is able to increase the accuracy of canopy density mapping. The most significant improvement is the model using MSAVI which increases 1.207% using Minnaert method to reach 86.692% accuracy. Meanwhile, NDVI, AFRI 1.6, and AFRI 2.1 have less significant improvement with the maximum increase of 0.241%, 0.057%, and 0.032% using SCS+C method, reaching the accuracy of 88.980%, 83.303%, and 82.308%, respectively. The accuracies were slightly improved since the algorithms have already reduced the effect of topography which are categorized as ratio vegetation indices. SCS+C is the best topographic correction method, because of not only the appropriate assumption of canopy normalization but also its consistency and better accuracy in canopy density estimation among other methods.


From extensive literature research a total quality management ( TQM) model is developed. This model describes the basic elements of the concept of TQM. It also provides the way in which the basic elements can be made operational in practice. Based on this model a quality-diagnostical instrument is developed to establish the actual TQM-situation in an organization. The instrument has been tested in two cases in an existing company and the results look promising for purposes of using the instrument in the process of realizing TQM and 'measuring' and stimulating continuous quality improvement.


Is Web 2.0 more than a buzzword? In recent years, technologists and others have heatedly debated this question, even in Wikipedia, itself an example of Web 2.0. From the perspective of the present study, Web 2.0 may indeed be a buzzword, but more substantially it is also an example of an organizing vision that drives a community's discourse about certain new Information Technology (IT), serving to advance the technology's adoption and diffusion. Every organizing vision has a career that reflects its construction over time, and in the present study we examine Web 2.0's career as captured in its Wikipedia entry over a 5‐year period, finding that it falls into three distinct periods termed Germination, Growth, and Maturation. The findings reveal how Wikipedia, as a discourse vehicle, treats new IT and its many buzzwords, and more broadly captures the careers of their organizing visions. Too, they further our understanding of Wikipedia as a new encyclopedic form, providing novel insights into its uses, its community of contributors, and their editing activities, as well as the dynamics of article construction.


An increasing demand exists for biomaterials that are able to actively participate in the process of repair and regeneration of damaged or diseased organs and tissues. Patterning of surfaces of biomaterials with distinct chemical or physical cues is an attractive way to obtain spatial control over their interactions with the biological system. In the current study, micromoulding in capillaries method was used to pattern silicon substrates with bioinert yttria-stabilised zirconia or with bioactive calcium phosphate ceramics, both widely used biomaterials in orthopaedics and dentistry. Micrometer-scale patterns consisted of parallel lines with varying width and spacing. Both ceramics were successfully deposited on the substrate in a pattern defined by the mould. While the yttria-stabilised zirconia pattern was highly homogenous and smooth (Rq = 5.5 nm), the calcium phosphate pattern, consisting of dicalcium phosphate anhydrous before, and of β-tricalcium phosphate after annealing, exhibited a less homogenous morphology and higher roughness (Rq = 893 nm). Both materials allowed attachment and proliferation of the MG-63 osteosarcoma cell line, independent of the pattern used. While a preferential orientation of cells in the direction of the pattern lines was observed for all patterns, this effect was more pronounced on the lines with a width of up to 20 μm on both yttria-stabilised zirconia and calcium phosphate ceramics, as compared to wider patterns. Furthermore, the cells retained an elongated morphology for a longer period of time on narrow patterns. Micromoulding in capillaries appeared to be a suitable method to pattern both types of ceramics, however further optimisation is needed to improve homogeneity and obtain better control over the chemical phase and crystalline structure of calcium phosphate patterns.


Abstract "You must have had the experience of burying someone dear to you," wrote Gustav Mahler in a letter explaining his Second Symphony to the music critic Max Marschalk, suggesting that the critic9s own experiences with death might help him better understand the symphony. Inversely, if listeners bring personal losses to bear on the piece, Mahler9s Second Symphony offers one possible model for coping with death. If we take the distinction that Sigmund Freud draws between two responses to loss—melancholia and mourning—as a discursive frame, Mahler9s Second Symphony may be heard as an attempt to come to terms with the death of a loved one by moving gradually from melancholia to mourning. According to Freud, a melancholic subject cannot truly cope with the traumatic experience and instead reenacts it, but someone who mourns truly remembers the loss and thus commemorates the dead, allowing them to live on, if only in memory. Framed in such a way, the early movements of Mahler9s Second Symphony—characterized by the alternation between halting sections that dissolve almost as soon as they begin and long-breathed melodies that seem to unfold effortlessly—suggest the melancholic subject9s struggle between despair in the face of abject meaninglessness and a manic euphoria, neither of which addresses the loss. By contrast, the text in the symphony9s final movement, adapted by Mahler from Friedrich Klopstock9s chorale on the resurrection of the dead, encourages true remembrance of the deceased as a figure beyond death. Heard as a musical enactment of mourning, the final movement suggests that the dead who are mourned are resurrected through remembrance. Forcing us to acknowledge Mahler9s death on some level, the final movement completes the work of mourning by engendering the composer9s own resurrection in our memories as we witness each performance of his Second Symphony.


The fatigue strength of TiAl intermetallic alloy coated with TiAlN film was studied in vacuum at 1073K using a SEM-servo testing machine. In addition, three kinds of TiAlN films were given by physical vapor deposition (1, 3, and 10μ m). The fatigue strength of 3μ m was highest. Also, the fatigue strength of 1μ m was lowest. From this result, existence of optimum film thickness was suggested because the difference of fatigue strength arose in each film thickness. The justification for existence of optimum film thickness is competition of 45-degree crack and 90-degree crack. The 45-degree crack is phenomenon seen in the thin film (1μ m), and is caused by plastic deformation of TiAl substrate. The 45-degree crack is the factor of the fatigue strength fall by the side of thin film. In contrast, the 90-degree crack is phenomenon in the thick film (10μ m), and is caused as result of reaction against load to film. The 90-degree crack is the factor of the fatigue strength fall by the side of thick film. In conclusion, the optimum film thickness can perform meso fracture control, and improves fatigue strength.


Customer relationship management (CRM) has become one of the leading business strategies in the new economy. The effectiveness of CRM can be measured as a satisfaction level achieved by CRM activities. CRM has emerged as a major business strategy for e-business, but little research has been done in evaluating the effectiveness of CRM because of its complexity. In this paper, on the basis of building a CRM evaluation index system, we propose neural networks based integrated evaluation method for the effectiveness of CRM. It can simulate evaluation made by experts and avoid subjective mistakes. The results from the simulation are satisfied.


ABSTRACT Social support at university is key for student wellbeing and retention. The majority of undergraduate students live with same-age housemates, so examining the relationship that students have with their housemates may be critical for understanding student adjustment. However, to date, social relationships within university accommodation have not been examined in detail. In the current study, N = 90 undergraduates at universities across the UK took part in an online qualitative study examining the relationships that students have with their housemates, and the role that this might play in student wellbeing. Four themes were constructed from the data using inductive qualitative content analysis: Proximity and shared experience; Emotional and practical support; Conflict stems from disrespect; and Loneliness, isolation and distress. Together, the themes demonstrate the divergent impact that housemates can have on student wellbeing: they can be a source of immense support or great unhappiness. The findings could have practical implications for how to foster more positive or functional peer relationships in university accommodation (such as mediation services), which could enhance and support student wellbeing.


Ediacaran Siberia was at tropical paleolatitudes when the glacigenic strata of the Goloustnaya Formation (Baikal Group, Siberia) were deposited at sea level. The presence of such deposits (at tropical latitudes) is at the core of the snowball Earth hypothesis, which is generally accepted for the previous Cryogenian glaciations. To test this hypothesis for the Ediacaran Period, we determined concentrations of platinum group elements (PGE) in the transitional unit between glacigenic conglomerates and postglacial cap carbonates of the Goloustnaya Formation. We speculate that if oceans were completely covered by ice during the glaciation, the ice prevented accumulation of PGE-rich cosmic dust and micrometeorites during that period, i.e., the snowball Earth stage. Such particles would have accumulated rapidly on the ocean floor at the ice-melting event, providing a geochemical signal; however, unlike the previous Cryogenian glaciations, this signal is at a background level, and we conclude that either the Ediacaran glaciation did not reach the snowball stage, or it was of very short duration.


Early stone tools found in India alter our view of how a key technology spread from Africa. South Asia has rarely featured in recent discussions of paleoanthropology. On page 1596 of this issue, however, Pappu et al. (1) report a breakthrough, showing that an assemblage of Acheulian stone tools found in India can be dated to at least 1 million years ago (Ma) and are perhaps as ancient as ∼1.5 Ma— far older than previously shown. Acheulian tools are the product of a distinctive set of tool-making techniques that originated in Africa and then spread to Europe and Asia. The exact chronology of this spread, however, has been a long-standing puzzle. In India, researchers recently dated a few sites with Acheulian tools to more than 0.6 Ma (2, 3), but these dates are problematic (4). At the same time, most of the few dates available for Indian Acheulian sites were obtained years ago through a method that measures isotopes of thorium and uranium (230Th/234U) (5), and there are good reasons to suspect that it seriously underestimated their true ages. Pappu's team has performed a notable service in demonstrating unequivocally that the South Asian Acheulian extends back into the Early Pleistocene, more than 0.78 Ma.


AbstractBackground: A standardized extract of cultured Lentinula edodes mycelia (ECLM), an extract from cultured Lentinula edodes, has been reported to suppress breast cancer stem cell proliferation by regulating microRNA (miR) expression. Natural antisense RNAs (ASs), a type of protein non-coding RNA, can regulate the expression of protein-coding genes by acting as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) that adsorbs miRNAs, resulting in the prevention of mRNA degradation, and can also form a transient RNA duplex with mRNA. EphA2, a receptor tyrosine kinase, is typically expressed at low levels in normal epithelial cells, whereas its overexpression has been widely observed in numerous solid tumors and is associated with cell transformation, primary tumor initiation, and tumor progression. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of ECLM on the expression of both EphA2 mRNA and endogenous AS to this mRNA, which could negatively affect human breast carcinoma cell proliferation. Methods: We used MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 human breast carcinoma cells, which were sub-cultured three times in the presence of optimized concentrations of ECLM. The effect of ECLM on the expression of EphA2 AS and mRNA was analyzed by RT-qPCR. miRNAs targeting both EphA2 AS and EphA2 mRNA and their RNA miR response elements (MREs) were predicted and analyzed by RT-qPCR and luciferase reporter assays. Results: ECLM suppressed the proliferation of MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 cells in a dose-dependent manner. In cells for which proliferation was negatively affected by ECLM, EphA2 AS and mRNA expression was also significantly inhibited by ECLM. Although neutralization of miR-335 led to the de-repression of both EphA2 AS and mRNA, results did not fully support the possibility that EphA2 AS might function as a ceRNA to regulate EphA2 mRNA levels. Conclusion: ECLM suppressed the proliferation of breast carcinoma cells in a specific dose-dependent manner. This suppressive effect was associated with a concordant reduction in both EphA2 AS and mRNA expression. These effects were not thought to occur via the reported ceRNA effect. These results thus suggest that ECLM could regulate EphA2 AS and mRNA expression by forming a transient RNA duplex formation, thereby stabilizing EphA2 mRNA. Keywords: ECLM, regulatory RNA, antisense RNA, microRNA, EphA2


This book is presented in a well-organized, easily readable fashion. The author is obviously a strong multidisciplinarian, even stating at one point that "audiology cannot be practiced properly by a single person...it must be the work of a multidiseiplinary team." He then proceeds to list the members of such a team and describe the contributions of each professional specialist to pediatric audiology. While such a "team" approach is certainly optimal, in practice, facilities housing such a diverse group of professionals are very rare indeed. Although this text may be of interest to any one of the professionals on Dr Fisch's "team," in truth, some chapters would be of little practical value to anyone other than the audiologist or otologist because of the detailed technical discussion of such topics as the audiology testing center and the audiometer.


As the complexity and abundance of consumer electronic devices rises with the fast pace, efficient and reliable methods of their verification on the production line are extensively researched. This paper presents a novel concept of electrical stimulation of touchscreens which aims to fully automate the verification of devices with touchscreens on the final production line. Without mechanical moving parts, this approach is based on a stimulation board which constantly touches the entire screen and produces the required touches on the desired screen coordinates while being controlled by electric means only. Experiments were performed to choose the optimal material for the touch surfaces and determine the optimal size and separaton of the touch surfaces. Furthermore, the system for automated verification of touchscreen-based devices based on the proposed concept is described. The system supports single and multiple touches, line movements and multiple line movements. The system achieved more than 99 % reliability in producing controlled touches on screens up to a size of a tablet. DOI: 10.5755/j01.eie.25.2.23204


Early Carboniferous (latest Visean) seep deposits occur on top of the drowned Middle Devonian–Late Devonian Iberg atoll reef, Harz Mountains, Germany. These deposits include limestone with a low-diversity but high-abundance fauna of rhynchonellid brachiopods and rare solemyid bivalves, as well as microbial limestone. Rhynchonellids form dense, autochthonous shell accumulations and are generally articulated. They are closely associated with hydrocarbon-derived carbonates. The carbonates exhibit δ 13 C values as low as −32‰, relative to the Peedee belemnite standard, revealing that they are predominantly hydrocarbon derived. The fauna, carbonate fabrics, and isotope signatures provide unequivocal evidence for a seep origin of the Visean deposit. The occurrence of solemyid bivalves supports this interpretation as members of this family (1) are well known for their relationship with chemoautotrophic bacteria and (2) have been reported from ancient and modern seeps. Possible hydrocarbon sources are thermogenic methane derived from the volcanic base of the Iberg reef or methane from a petroleum reservoir.


Family friendly policy is workplace policies that assist employees in combining family and work responsibilities. Significant and dominant feature of the contemporary Lithuanian labour market is women's increasing participation while they still predominantly hold domestic role. The focus of reconciling work and family has traditionally been concentrated on women. The article deals with work-family models and a typology of workplace policies that show different approach to problems of reconciling work and family. Traditional views that family and workplace are separate spheres and family life should not intrude on the workplace are being eroded but the process is very slow. There is limited date available on the views of employers on flexible working arrangements, the benefits of such practices to employers or employees or the evaluation of existing schemes in meeting employer and employee needs.


The hydrogenation of coal model compounds using molten potassium and ethanol was carried out with and without ultrasonic irradiation. Aromatic ethers and ploynuclear hydrocarbons were employed as coal model compounds. The cleavage of carbon-oxygen bonds was dominant for the aromatic ethers, whereas main products obtained from the polynuclear hydrocarbons were compounds derived from hydrogenation of the aromatic nucleus. The reaction mechanism was affected by the structure of the substrate: one-electron and/ or two-electron reaction. The effect of ultrasonic irradiation is very small in the reaction of the hydrocarbons. On the other hand, striking effect caused by the ultrasonic irradiation, such as an inccrease of the rate, an increase of the final conversion, and the promotion of sidereactions, ware observed for the reaction of the ethers.


This paper novelly breaks down with ignorable loss an RNN layer into a sequence of simple RNNs, each of which can be further rewritten into a lightweight positional encoding matrix of a self-attention, named the Recurrence Encoding Matrix (REM). Thus, recurrent dynamics introduced by the RNN layer can be encapsulated into the positional encodings of a multihead self-attention, and this makes it possible to seamlessly incorporate these recurrent dynamics into a Transformer, leading to a new module, Self-Attention with Recurrence (RSA). The proposed module can leverage the recurrent inductive bias of REMs to achieve a better sample efficiency than its corresponding baseline Transformer, while the self-attention is used to model the remaining non-recurrent signals. The relative proportions of these two components are controlled by a data-driven gated mechanism, and the effectiveness of RSA modules are demonstrated by four sequential learning tasks.


Molecular dynamics simulations are performed to study the frictional behavior of graphene. It is found that the friction between a diamond tip and graphene decreases with increasing number of graphene layers. This behavior is also affected by the graphene sheet size; specifically, the effect of the number of layers on friction becomes significant only when the modeled graphene sheets exceed a critical length. We further show that the frictional behavior can be directly correlated to the height of near-contact wrinkles that resist sliding. These observations are rationalized in terms of the ability of multiple sheets to act as a single material as they resist wrinkle formation.


The paper intends to bring out a real life experience encountered during actual implementation of a large scale Tier-1 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system in a multi-location, discrete manufacturing organization in India, involved in manufacturing of auto components and aggregates. The business complexities, prior to the implementation of ERP, include multiproduct with hierarchical product structures, geographically distributed multiple plant locations with disparate business practices, lack of inter-plant broadband connectivity, existence of disparate legacy applications for different business functions, and nonstandardized codifications of products, machines, employees, and accounts apart from others. On the other hand, the manufacturing environment consisted of processes like Assemble-to-Order (ATO), Make-to-Stock (MTS), and Engineer-to-Order (ETO) with a mix of discrete and process operations. The paper has highlighted various business plan areas and concerns, prior to the implementation, with specific focus on strategic issues and objectives. Subsequently, it has dealt with the complete process of ERP implementation, starting from strategic planning, project planning, resource mobilization, and finally, the program execution. The step-by-step process provides a very good learning opportunity about the implementation methodology. At the end, various organizational challenges and lessons emerged, which will act as guidelines and checklist for organizations to successfully align and implement ERP and achieve their business objectives. Keywords—ERP, ATO, MTS, ETO, discrete manufacturing, strategic planning.


"What is left of socialism ?" This question, too, must be answered in a "project left." Certainly, socialism is no longer an accomplished or well-known model of society to tend tothrough daily political action. It can only be conceived as an uninterrupted search for the liberation of the person and his capacity for self-realization. It should be possible introducing elements of socialism into concrete society such as: equal opportunities, community welfare, control over the organization of work, the diffusion of knowledge as an instrument of freedom. This would overcome, from time to time, the contradictions and failures of capitalism and the market economy, making the person, and not only the classes, the keystone of civil coexistence. (From the cover of the first edition).


Aluminides and silicides are receiving much attention as high-temperature structural materials having high oxidation resistance and consequently the oxidation resistance of these intermetallics has been investigated extensively. This review focuses on the oxidation behavior of Ni-aluminides, Ti-aluminides and Mo-silicides. The topics in Ni-aluminides are the time-depending change in the scale structure and the void formation at the scale/substrate interface. In Ti-aluminides, the modification of the scale structure by alloying additions and the effects of atmospheres on the oxidation behavior are described. The topic in Mo-suicides is the effects of defects and H2O vapor on the accelerated oxidation.


During the process of high-efficiency cutting Ti6Al4V the material presents serrated chips. Periodic high-frequency serrated ship will cause fluctuations in the cutting force, which then affect the tool wear and surface integrity of workpiece and so on. On the basis of experiment of turning Ti6Al4V, the frequency and the geometric characteristics of serrated chip has been analyzed through observing the microstructure of chip using optical microscope and SEM. The results show that cutting speed and feed rate have great influence on the frequency and the geometric characteristics of serrated chip. Involving low-speed, large feed and large cutting depth can reduce the generated frequency of serrated chip.


A Co-20at%Ni polycrystal produced by electrodeposition was studied in its detail using orientation microscopy. By analyzing the local crystallographic texture, grain morphology and the grain boundary character on three distinct sections of the film, we have obtained a complete understanding of its microstructure. The microstructure and grain morphology is very complex, consisting of grains elongated in deposit direction, clusters of coarse and fine grains and further very fine structures. The deposition parameters generate a strong (1120)//ND texture and the columnar grain reveals inner orientation gradients along the growth direction


To attain sustainable logistics in food production, shortening transport from food production source to the place of consumption, is emerging as a major topic in food supply. First literature on local food distribution is reviewed. Based on this review a single case study of local food supply in the Norwegian town of Narvik is described. The case concerns accordingly a municipality. Inquiry involves a case study including a triangulation of in-depth interviews with producers, retailers and a consumer survey. Findings provide understanding of how to define "local foods" as well as the importance of this form of food distribution. The study underpins the growing importance of this form of food distribution. It also reveals how local foods involve using complex marketing channels even though distance is small. This means that a wide range of logistics solutions is feasible. Other than the "short transport" feature, there is accordingly no clear-cut form of logistics for the distribution of local foods.


In several gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) excess emission, in addition to the standard synchrotron afterglow spectrum, has been discovered in the early-time X-ray observations. It has been proposed that this excess comes from blackbody emission, which may be related to the shock breakout of a supernova in the GRBs progenitor star. This hypothesis is supported by the discovery of excess emission in several GRBs with an associated supernova. Using mock spectra we show that it is only likely to detect such a component, similar to the one proposed in GRB 101219B, at low redshift and in low absorption environments. We also perform a systematic search for blackbody components in all the GRBs observed with the Swift satellite and find six bursts (GRBs 061021, 061110A, 081109, 090814A, 100621A and 110715A) with possible blackbody components. Under the assumption that their excess emission is due to a blackbody component we present radii, temperatures and luminosities of the emitting components. We also show that detection of blackbody components only is possible in a fraction of the Swift bursts.


The current article contains compilation of significant contributions done by theorists over the years about the phenomenon of perinatal loss. The objective of this paper is to provide information about important emotional and psychological consequences on parents who suffer stillbirth. This article addresses identity issues of the mother, father, and their relationship as a couple. It also provides information on the psychological, emotional, and legal aftermath of healthcare professionals who assist during the process of loss.


Some fuzzy technique based segmentation methods are studied and implemented and some fuzzy c means clustering based segmentation algorithms are developed in this thesis to suppress high and low uniform random noise. The reason for not developing fuzzy rule based segmentation method is that they are application dependent
In many occasions, the images in real life are affected with noise. Fuzzy c means clustering based segmentation does not give good segmentation result under such condition. Various extension of the FCM method for segmentation are present in the literature. But most of them modify the objective function hence changing the basic FCM algorithm present in MATLAB toolboxes. Hence efforts have been made to develop FCM algorithm without modifying their objective function for better segmentation .
The fuzzy technique based segmentation methods that are studied and developed are summarized here.

(A) Fuzzy edge detection based segmentation: Two fuzzy edge detection methods are studied and implemented for segmentation: (i) FIS based edge detection and (ii) Fast multilevel fuzzy edge detector (FMFED).
(i): The Fuzzy Inference system (FIS) based edge detector consists of some fuzzy inference rules which are defined in such a way that the FIS system output ("edges") is high only for those pixels belonging to edges in the input image. A robustness to contrast and lightining variations were also taken into consideration while developing these rules.The output of the FIS based edge detector is then compared with the existing Sobel, LoG and Canny edge detector results. The algorithm is seen to be application dependent and time consuming.
(ii) Fast Multilevel Fuzzy Edge Detector: To realise the fast and accurate detection of edges, the FMFED algorithm is proposed. It first enhances the image contrast by means of a fast multilevel fuzzy enhancement algorithm using simple transformation function based on two image thresholds. Second, the edges are extracted from the enhanced image by using a two stage edge detector operator that identifies the edge candidates based on local characteristics of the image and then determines the true edge pixels using edge detector operator based on extremum of the gradient values.
Finally the segmentation of the edge image is done by morphological operator by edge linking.

(B) FCM based segmentation: Two fuzzy clustering based segmentation methods are developed: (i) Modified Spatial Fuzzy c-Means (MSFCM) (ii) Neighbourhood Attraction Fuzzy c-Means (NAFCM). .

(i) Contrast-Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization Fuzzy c-Means (CLAHEFCM): This proposed algorithm presents a color segmentation process for low contrast images or unevenly illuminated images. The algorithm presented in this paper first enhances the contrast of the image by using contrast limited adaptive histogram equalization. After the enhancement of the image this method divides the color space into a given number of clusters, the number of cluster are fixed initially. The image is converted from RGB color space to LAB color space before the clustering process. Clustering is done here by using Fuzzy c means algorithm. The image is segmented based on color of a region, that is, areas having same color are grouped together. The image segmentation is done by taking into consideration, to which cluster a given pixel belongs the most. The method has been applied on a number of color test images and it is observed to give good segmentation results
(ii) Modified Spatial Fuzzy c-means (MSFCM): The proposed algorithm divides the color space into a given number of clusters, the number of cluster are fixed initially. The image is converted from RGB color space to LAB color space before the clustering process. A robust segmentation technique based on extension to the traditional fuzzy c-means (FCM) clustering algorithm is proposed. The spatial information of each pixel in an image has been taken into consideration to get a noise free segmentation result. The image is segmented based on color of a region, that is, areas having same color are grouped together. The image segmentation is done by taking into consideration, to which cluster a given pixel belongs the most. The method has been applied to some color test images and its performance has been compared to FCM and FCM based methods to show its superiority over them. The proposed technique is observed to be an efficient and easy method for segmentation of noisy images.

(iv) Neighbourhood Attraction Fuzzy c Means Algorithm: A new algorithm based on the IFCM neighbourhood attraction is used without changing the distance function of the FCM and hence avoiding an extra neural network optimization step for the adjusting parameters of the distance function, it is called Neighborhood Atrraction FCM (NAFCM). During clustering, each pixel attempts to attract its neighbouring pixels towards its own cluster. This neighbourhood attraction depends on two factors: the pixel intensities or feature attraction, and the spatial position of the neighbours or distance attraction, which also depends on neighbourhood structure. The NAFCM algorithm is tested on a synthetic image (chapter 6, figure 6.3-6.6) and a number of skin tumor images. It is observed to produce excellent clustering result under high noise condition when compared with the other FCM based clustering methods.


Background: As the number of drugs available in the market are increasing, there arises a need to detect their adverse drug reactions and report them on time so that further harm can be avoided. The level of underreporting of adverse drug reactions is very high. Therefore, present study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of pharmacovigilance among the various health care professionals and suggest ways to improve them. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional survey was done on 215 health care personnels working in a medical college in Jaipur. They were subjected to KAP questionnaire consisted of knowledge, attitude and practice based questions, designed specifically to assess the awareness about pharmacovigilance. Results and conclusion: The mean KAP scores of physicians were found to be 5.75, 4.44 and 1.75 respectively. The KAP score of postgraduate students was 5.5, 4.25 and 1.5 respectively. The KAP score of final year MBBS students was 5, 3.4, and 1.4 respectively, and that of interns was 4, 4.2 and 1.4 respectively. The KAP score of pharmacists was 3.5, 2 and 1 respectively, and that of nurses was 2.75, 2.25 and 0.8 respectively. It was found that mean score of physicians and postgraduate students was higher than interns and final year MBBS and much higher than nurses and pharmacists. Still they all fall under the poor score range to unsatisfactory score range which suggest that there is an urgent need for ongoing educational programs to train health care professionals about pharmacovigilance.


Objective: To perform a nutritional assessment of the dietary model in a group of primary school students (9-12 years) with a normal nutritional status. Material and methods: Recording of food consumption of two consecutive school days in a sample of 353 primary school students (188 boys and 165 girls) with normal nutritional situation. The intake of energy, macronutrients, minerals, and vitamins was calculated and compared with the recommended intakes. Results: The mean value of daily caloric intake was 2,066.9 kcal. Grains (33%), dairy products (19%) and meats (17%) represented 70% of the total caloric intake. Proteins contributed with 20.3% of the caloric intake, sugars 48.8%, lipids 30.9%, and saturated fats 12.6%. Cholesterol intake was excessive and 2/3 of the caloric intake was of animal origin. The mean intake of calcium, iodine and A, D and E vitamins were lower than de recommended dietary intakes. Conclusions: The dietary model of the primary school students with normal nutritional status varies from the Mediterranean prototype, with an excessive intake of meats, limited intake of grains and dairy products, and deficient intake of vegetables, fruits, legumes, and fishes. This leads to an increase in the intake of proteins and fats from animals with a detriment of complex carbohydrates and a deficient intake of calcium, iodine, and vitamins A, D y E.


A prominent weakness of dynamic programming methods is that they perform operations throughout the entire set of states in a Markov decision process in every updating phase. This paper proposes a novel chaos-based method to solve the problem. For this purpose, a chaotic system is first initialized, and the resultant numbers are mapped onto the environment states through initial processing. In each traverse of the policy iteration method, policy evaluation is performed only once, and only a few states are updated. These states are proposed by the chaos system. In this method, the policy evaluation and improvement cycle lasts until an optimal policy is formulated in the environment. The same procedure is performed in the value iteration method, and only the values of a few states proposed by the chaos are updated in each traverse, whereas the values of other states are left unchanged. Unlike the conventional methods, an optimal solution can be obtained in the proposed method by only updating a limited number of states which are properly distributed all over the environment by chaos. The test results indicate the improved speed and efficiency of chaotic dynamic programming methods in obtaining the optimal solution in different grid environments.


The disposable electrochemical sensors with platinum composite electrode were successfully used for amperometric measurement of thiocholine produced from butyrylthiocholine by enzyme hydrolysis with butyrylcholinesterase (BChE, EC 184.108.40.206). The optimum potential was +500 mV vs the internal Ag/AgI/iodide (1 mmol/l) reference electrode. BChE was crosslinked with albumin and glutaraldehyde over the working electrode. Thus obtained biosensor was tested in various organic solvents (values of the hydrophobicity parameter log P from -1 to 5), no loss of activity was detected after a 5 min incubation in the solvents with log P greater than 2.5. The inhibition of the biosensor with paraoxon was studied in water, toluene, hexane, heptane and nonane. The extent of inhibition increased with solvent hydrophobicity (toluene > hexane > heptane), the inhibition obtained in water was similar as in heptane. Lower response than expected was obtained in nonane. The liquid-liquid extraction of paraoxon from aqueous samples to heptane provided significant improvement of sensitivity of the method. By this method, the lowest detected concentration of paraoxon was 0.03 μmol/l, resulting in the 20% inhibition of the biosensor signal after 5 min preincubation in the heptane extract.


Obviously, if you anticipate trouble, you will book a bed for the patient in hospital for everyone's convenience; but the rules need not be hard and fast. A primigravida anxious to have her child at home will be told that she may make arrangements for a home confinement, but that if the labour gives any cause for anxiety it may be more convenient for her to be delivered in hospital. This in turn means that there must be real co-operation between general practitioner and hospital. In other words, every domiciliary confinement concerns the hospital as well as the general practitioner. The shame is that domiciliary confinements are being actively encouraged before this co-operation is secured.I am, etc.,


Independent language learning is an essential complement to classroom-based learning, both for reasons of efficiency in learning and as a means to develop learner autonomy. In an effort to encourage out-of-class learning, many institutions in the last ten years have established language resource centres where learners are encouraged to learn independently. This article reports on an investigation of the perceptions and practices of a group of learners enrolled in an intensive English course in relation to their out-of-class language learning. The investigation included an evaluation of the self-access resources in terms of their efficiency and effectiveness as welll as an investigation of learners' understanding of the concepts involved in independent learning. It was found that learners hold positive attitudes towards independent learning, and a number of factors contributing to these perceptions were identified. However, it was also found that these attitudes were based on a rather shallow awareness of what independent learning entails.


Recently The Lancet contained "A Dialogue of Tomorrow" by a Peripatetic Correspondent 1 : Sir, can you tell me the meaning of an obsolete word? I know medical history is a hobby of yours. I'll try. What word? Auscultation. It meant listening. Listening to what, Sir? Sounds made by the human body... I thought you'd be puzzled. Doctors used to listen to their patients' bodies, and palpate them directly, too. Directly? You mean they used some simpler kind of palpating machine than ours? No, really directly... I see I'll have to demonstrate. Come here. Put your hand on my wrist—right on it, skin to skin. May I really, Sir? Yes, yes: no-one's looking. Now in the old days, if you were the doctor and I the patient, that would have been the usual thing. Television wasn't used in medicine at all; you wouldn't have been lying in your helicopter; you'd have


Petungan weton* in marriage is a matter of days of birth and the market
from both the bridegroom and women. The goal for the concerned to avoid
problems that can affect housewifery. The meaning of petungan weton matching
is a good housewifery, while the meaning of petungan weton that didn't match
was housewifery will be fraught with difficulties up to the divorce. The purpose of
this study to determine the relationship between Javanese culture petungan weton
with divorce phenomenon based on transcultural nursing in Sidoarjo. Design used
in this study was descriptive analytic with cross sectional approach. The
population were husband or wife at Pengadilan Agama Sidoarjo. Total sampel
were 25 respondent who met inclusion criteria. The independent variabel was
petungan weton. The dependent variabel was divorce phenomenon. Data were
collected by using identity form respondent. Data were then analyzed by using
correlation chi square test with significance level of p = 0,05. Result showed that
petungan weton hasn't correlation with divorce phenomenon (p = 0,588). It can be
concluded Javanese culture petungan weton and divorce phenomenon hasn't
correlation. Nurses communities, especially family caregivers based on
transcultural nursing, can perform the intervention planning that is negotiated
petungan weton culture in the Java community. Further research needs to study
with qualitative methods.
*) Javanese culture that used in weddings
Keywords: divorce phenomenon, petungan weton, , theory transcultural nursing


Total RNA extracted from a rat liver cell line (BRL 3A) that synthesizes rat insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) was translated in a reticulocyte lysate cell-free system. Incubation of the translation products with antisera to mature rat IGF-II (Mr 8700) selectively immunoprecipitated a Mr 21,600 protein. We propose that this protein represents pre-pro-IGF-II.


Trilobites are a minor component of Permian benthic marine faunas, which explains why they remain poorly known. For example, only two specimens have been found in the highly fossiliferous and extensively studied Middle- Upper Permian Pamucak Formation (Antalya Province, Turkey). These two complete enrolled trilobites of Wordian age are described herein. The diagnosis of the subgenus Pseudophillipsia (Nodiphillipsia) Kobayashi & Hamada 1984a is emended and its occurrence outside of eastern Asia is reported for the first time. The second specimen represents a new species, Pseudophillipsia (Carniphillipsia) kemerensis sp. nov. Its discovery in the Wordian of Turkey suggests that Pseudophillipsia (Carniphillipsia) is no less diversified in the Middle Permian than in the Early Permian. Both specimens exhibit a particular enrollment posture, with the anterior part of the pygidium located within the cephalic cavity, while its posterior part is adpressed against the anterior cephalic doublure. The advantages of this style of enrollment are discussed, especially with regards to resistance of the enrolled body to external pressures, and rare examples of similar postures in older trilobites are reported. These two specimens are the first Permian trilobites from Turkey to be described, thus complementing the poor fossil record of these organisms in the Permian of southwestern Asia.


Homoallylglycine N-carboxyanhydride, Hag NCA, monomers were synthesized and used to prepare polypeptides containing Hag segments with controllable lengths of up to 245 repeats. Poly(l-homoallylglycine), GHA, was found to adopt an α-helical conformation, which provided good solubility in organic solvents and allowed high yield functionalization of its alkene side-chains via radical promoted addition of thiols. The conformations of these derivatives were shown to be switchable between α-helical and disordered states in aqueous media using thioether alkylation or oxidation reactions. Incorporation of GHA segments into block copolymers with poly(l-methionine), M, segments provided a means to orthogonally modify thioether side-chains different ways in separate copolypeptide domains. This approach allows preparation of functional polypeptides containing discrete domains of oxidized and alkylated thioether containing residues, where chain conformation and functionality of each domain can be independently modified.


FOUNDATION OF FUZZY SYSTEMS Definition of Fuzzy Sets Basic Operations of Fuzzy Sets The Resolution Theorem A Representation Theorem Extension Principles References DETERMINATION OF MEMBERSHIP FUNCTIONS A General Method for Determining Membership Functions The Three-Phase Method The Incremental Method The Multiphase Fuzzy Statistical Method The Method of Comparisons The Absolute Comparison Method The Set-Valued Statistical Iteration Method Ordering by Precedence Relations The Relative Comparison Method and the Mean Pairwise Comparison Method References MATHEMATICAL ESSENCE AND STRUCTURES OF FEEDFORWARD ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS Introduction Mathematical Neurons and Mathematical Neural Networks The Interpolation Mechanism of Feedforward Neural Networks A Three-Layer Feedforward Neural Network with Two Inputs, One Output Analysis of Steepest Descent Learning Algorithms of Feedforward Neural Networks Feedforward Neural Networks with Multi-Input One Output and Their Learning Algorithm Feedforward Neural Networks with One Input Multi-Output and Their Learning Algorithm Feedforward Neural Networks with Multi-Input Multi-Output and Their Learning Algorithm A Note on the Learning Algorithm of Feedforward Neural Networks Conclusions References FUNCTIONAL-LINK NEURAL NETWORKS AND VISUALIZATION MEANS OF SOME MATHEMATICAL METHODS Discussion of the XOR Problem Mathematical Essence of Functional-Link Neural Networks A Visualization Means of Some Mathematical Methods Neural Network Representation of Linear Programming Neural Network Representation of Fuzzy Linear Programming Conclusions References FLAT NEURAL NETWORKS AND RAPID LEARNING ALGORITHMS Introduction The Linear System Equation of the Functional-Link Network Pseudoinverse and Stepwise Updating Training with Weighted Least Square Refine the Model Time-Series Applications Examples and Discussion Conclusions References BASIC STRUCTURE OF FUZZY NEURAL NETWORKS Definition of Fuzzy Neurons Fuzzy Neural Networks A Fuzzy d Learning Algorithm The Convergence of Fuzzy d Learning Rule Conclusions References MATHEMATICAL ESSENCE AND STRUCTURES OF FEEDBACK NEURAL NETWORKS AND WEIGHT MATRIX DESIGN Introduction A General Criterion on the Stability of Networks Generalized Energy Function Learning Algorithm of Discrete Feedback Neural Networks Design Method of Weight Matrices Based on Multifactorial Functions Conclusions References GENERALIZED ADDITIVE MULTIFACTORIAL FUNCTION AND ITS APPLICATIONS TO FUZZY INFERENCE AND NEURAL NETWORKS Introduction On Multifactorial Functions Generalized Additive Weighted Multifactorial Functions Infinite Dimensional Multifactorial Functions M (-,T) and Fuzzy Integral Application in Fuzzy Inference Conclusions References THE INTERPOLATION MECHANISM OF FUZZY CONTROL Preliminary The Interpolation Mechanism of Mamdanian Algorithm with One Input and One Output The Interpolation Mechanism of Mamdanian Algorithm with Two Inputs and One Output A Note on Completeness of Inference Rules The Interpolation Mechanism of (+, o)-Centroid Algorithm The Interpolation Mechanism of Simple Inference Algorithm The Interpolation Mechanism of Function Inference Algorithm A General Fuzzy Control Algorithm Conclusions References THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FUZZY CONTROLLERS AND PID CONTROLLERS Introduction The Relationship of Fuzzy Controllers with One Input One Output and P Controllers The Relationship of Fuzzy Controllers with Two Inputs One Output and PD (or PI) Controllers The Relationship of Fuzzy Controllers with Three Inputs One Output and PID Controllers The Difference Schemes of Fuzzy Controllers with Three Inputs and One Output Conclusions References ADAPTIVE FUZZY CONTROLLERS BASED ON VARIABLE UNIVERSES The Monotonicity of Control Rules and the Monotonicity of Control Functions The Contraction-Expansion Factors of Variable Universes The Structure of Adaptive Fuzzy Controllers Based on Variable Universes Adaptive Fuzzy Controllers with One Input and One Output Adaptive Fuzzy Controllers with Two Inputs and One Output Conclusions References THE BASICS OF FACTOR SPACES What are "Factors"? The State Space of Factors Relations and Operations of Factors Axiomatic Definition of Factor Spaces A Note on the Definition of Factor Spaces Concept Description in a Factor Space The Projection and Cylindrical Extension of the Representation Extension Some Properties of the Projection and Cylindrical Extension Factor Sufficiency The Rank of a Concept Atomic Factor Spaces Conclusions References NEURON MODELS BASED ON FACTOR SPACES THEORY AND FACTOR SPACE CANES Neuron Mechanism of Factor Spaces The Models of Neurons without Respect to Time The Models of Neurons Concerned with Time The Models of Neurons Based in Variable Weights Naive Thoughts of Factor Space Canes Melon-Type Factor Space Canes Chain-Type Factor Space Canes Switch Factors and Growth Relations Class Partition and Class Concepts Conclusions References FOUNDATION OF NEURO-FUZZY SYSTEMS AND AN ENGINEERING APPLICATION Introduction Takagi, Sugeno, and Kang Fuzzy Model Adaptive Network-Based Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) Hybrid Learning Algorithm for ANFIS Estimation of Lot Processing Time in an IC Fabrication Conclusions References DATA PREPROCESSING Introduction Data Preprocessing Algorithms Conclusions Appendix: MATLAB(R) Programs References CONTROL OF A FLEXIBLE ROBOT ARM USING A SIMPLIFIED FUZZY CONTROLLER Introduction Modeling of the Flexible Arm Simplified Fuzzy Controller Self-Organizing Fuzzy Control Simulation Results Conclusions References APPLICATION OF NEURO-FUZZY SYSTEMS: DEVELOPMENT OF A FUZZY LEARNING DECISION TREE AND APPLICATION TO TACTILE RECOGNITION Introduction Tactile Sensors and a Tactile Sensing and Recognition System Development of a Fuzzy Learning Decision Tree Experiments Conclusions References FUZZY ASSESSMENT SYSTEMS OF REHABILITATIVE PROCESS FOR CVA PATIENTS Introduction COP Signals Feature Extraction Relationship between COP Signals and FIM Scores Construction of Kinetic State Assessment System Results of Kinetic State Assessment System Conclusions References A DSP-BASED NEURAL CONTROLLER FOR A MULTI-DEGREE PROSTHETIC HAND Introduction EMG Discriminative System DSP-Based Prosthetic Controller Implementation and Results of the DSP-Based Controller Conclusions References INDEX


Electrospun nanofiber is widely used in cartilage tissue engineering to fabricate the replacement for the lost or damaged tissues and organs.The recent research has showed that the fiber diameter plays an important role in the scaffold degradation rate and growth rate of the planting cells,therefore whether the fiber diameter could be controllable or not is related to the further development of cartilage repairment engineering. For that sake,this paper suggested a control method basing on the finite element numerical simulation,which could be seen as an experiment plotform,furthermore the controller is trained according to the data collected from the model,and the control effect is examed and fixed as well.This method broke through the traditional type to exercise controllor that basing on identifide transformation model,it promotes the accuracy of the controllor to a large degree. After all,it is also an effective job to realize the flexible production and manufacturing of the equipments.


Particularly throughout the 1990s, one important strategy relied on by countries lacking capital or seeking to improve their access to technology by attracting investors has been to conclude international investment agreements (IIAs). Such treaties usually include provisions relating to the scope and definition of foreign investment ; admission and establishment ; national treatment in the post-establishment phase (a guarantee of non-discrimination against the investor of the other Party established in one Party); the most-favoured nation clause (ensuring that the investor of the other Party will benefit from the same treatment as any other foreign investor) ; fair and equitable treatment, including a protection from expriopriation ; guarantees of free transfers of funds and repatriation of capitals and profits ; and dispute settlement provisions (State-State and State-investor). But how successful was such a strategy? Did it succeed in attracting investment? And even if it did, how can we assess the 'sovereignty costs', or the loss of 'policy space', associated with the conclusion of IIAs? If countries indeed compete for the arrival of foreign investment and if the conclusion of such agreements is one tool they rely on to gain an advantage on potential competitors, does this entail the risk that the concesssions they make will go too far, for example by renouncing the possibility of imposing performance requirements on the investor (though this could arguably strengthen the linkages with the host economy), by guaranteeing a freeze in the regulatory framework applicable to the investment, or by authorizing transfer pricing between the local subsidiary and the foreign-based parent, thereby reducing the fiscal revenues that could be gained from the arrival of the foreign investor? By concluding an investment agreement, a country signals its intention to respect the rights of investors and to create a legal and policy framework that will provide the kind of stability they usually expect. But could it be that, while it may be understandable for each country considered individually to seek to conclude IIAs with a view to attracting investors, the result is collectively sub-optimal, as the IIAs lose their "signalling" function once they come to be generalized?We conclude that IIAs are not decisive in attracting investment. FDI inflows are generally dependent on other variables, especially the size of the market in the host country or trade openness ; and although a predictable and safe legal environment does matter to the investor, such predictability can be provided by other means (the more a country's traditional respect for the rule of law is established, the less it shall have to resort to investment treaties that protect the rights of investors). Moreover, if IIAs make any difference, it is especially in the extractive industry where very large investments are made, that are 'sunk' at the early stages of the project, and that are only profitable after a long period of time, leading the investor to be particularly risk-averse. It would therefore be ill-advised for countries seeking to attract investment to do so by providing incentives in investment agreements, especially where such incentives are designed in a way that could be interpreted as exempting the investor from having to comply with requirements linked to human rights, or to social and environmental considerations. Such incentives are no substitute for the establishment of an attractive macro-economic and business climate, and they may in fact even be counter-productive as regards the immediate aim of attracting investors (let alone as regards the more ambitious aim of human development) if, as a result of entering the country, the investor would be risking its reputation and subject itself to criticism because of the laxity of the standards applied. It is therefore entirely justified, even from the point of view of the attractiveness of a country to investors, to seek to explore which safeguards should be established under the domestic law of host countries in order to ensure that the arrival of FDI shall not negatively affect the rights of the local population, and shall instead contribute positively to human development indicators in the country ; and it is fitting for capital-exporting countries and for agencies such as export credit agencies or multilateral lending institutions to support this effort. Far from limiting the sovereignty of the countries seeking to attract investment, these tools are used in order to strengthen the bargaining position of these countries: they are a way to support them in making the choices that should benefit their populations most, when these countries could otherwise be tempted to 'signal' their willingness to attract investors by providing far-reaching forms of protection that reduce their policy space, or to offer advantages that will annul, or at least seriously diminish, the benefits they have a right to expect from the arrival of FDI.


Sections of tissues containing lingual and extra-lingual taste buds were evaluated with monoclonal antibodies against cytokeratins. In the caudal third of the rat's tongue, keratin 20 immunoreactivity was restricted to taste buds, whereas keratins 7, 8, 18, and 19 were expressed in vallate and foliate taste buds and in cells of salivary ducts that merge with these taste epithelia. Hence, antibodies against keratin 20 most clearly distinguished differentiated taste cells from all other cells. In rat epiglottis, taste buds and isolated bipolar cells were keratin-20-positive. In rat nasopalatine papilla and palate, antibodies against keratin 20 identified Merkel cells, none of which was near to the keratin-20-negative taste buds. Nor were Merkel cells present at epiglottal taste buds or the keratin-20-negative fungiform taste buds or elsewhere in rat tongue. Hence, Merkel cells make no contribution to rat fungiform, epiglottal, nasopalatine, or palatal taste buds. Human and rat keratin-20-positive tissues are reported to be endodermal derivatives with the exception of Merkel cells and luminal urothelial cells. In rats the distribution of keratin-20-positive taste buds was in full agreement with the classical view that the posterior third of the tongue is derived from endoderm (keratin-20-positive taste buds), whereas the anterior two-thirds of the tongue is derived from stomadeal ectoderm (keratin-20-negative taste buds). The equally intense keratin 20 immunoreactivity of human fungiform and vallate taste buds violates this traditional rostro-caudal segregation and suggests that endodermally derived tissues may be present in the tip of the human tongue.


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