We investigate dissipative anomalies in a turbulent fluid governed by the compressible Navier-Stokes equation. We follow an exact approach pioneered by Onsager, which we explain as a non-perturbative application of the principle of renormalization-group invariance. In the limit of high Reynolds and P\'eclet numbers, the flow realizations are found to be described as distributional or "coarse-grained" solutions of the compressible Euler equations, with standard conservation laws broken by turbulent anomalies. The anomalous dissipation of kinetic energy is shown to be due not only to local cascade, but also to a distinct mechanism called pressure-work defect. Irreversible heating in stationary, planar shocks with an ideal-gas equation of state exemplifies the second mechanism. Entropy conservation anomalies are also found to occur by two mechanisms: an anomalous input of negative entropy (negentropy) by pressure-work and a cascade of negentropy to small scales. We derive "4/5th-law"-type expressions for the anomalies, which allow us to characterize the singularities (structure-function scaling exponents) required to sustain the cascades. We compare our approach with alternative theories and empirical evidence. It is argued that the "Big Power-Law in the Sky" observed in electron density scintillations in the interstellar medium is a manifestation of a forward negentropy cascade, or an inverse cascade of usual thermodynamic entropy.


GORDON BROWN'S tenure as prime minister has shown, among other things, his continued commitment to reviving Britishness as a shared civic identity. Brown's vision has been based on the belief that Britishness can be expressed as values such as fair play, tolerance and liberty and that these values form a 'Golden Thread' running through British history. 2 In defining Britishness, Brown has sought to tie it to a post-imperial UK citizenship which seeks to re-envisage boundaries of inclusion and exclusion in response to immigration, terrorism and an increasingly plural British citizenry. As Chris Bryant points out in this issue, Brown has drawn heavily on Linda Colley's celebration of a capacious Britishness in his efforts to shape an inclusive and progressive sense of national identity. 3 Ironically, Brown's model of values and common cultural bonds has been articulated at a time when devolution has provided institutional bases for other party elites to challenge his kind of Britishness.


In the present study sodium clodronate, a well known therapeutic agent from the family of bisphosphonates (BP) was incorporated in an apatite coating, previously formed on the surface of a starch based biomaterial by a sodium silicate methodology, as a strategy to develop a site-specific drug delivery system for bone tissue regeneration. The effects on the resulting apatite coatings were evaluated in terms of morphology, chemistry and structure. As a preliminary approach, this first study aimed at evaluating also the effects of this BP on the viability, growth and function of a human osteoblast cell line, since there is still little information available on the interaction between BPs and this type of cells.


The human beings have the right to be valued for their intrinsic worth, they are born with. They should be treated empathically and ethically. The purpose of the present research is to study the perception of nurses towards their dignity during service. The study has been conceptualized on demographical variables and the factors contributing to nurses' perception towards their dignity. A sample of 99 nurses was randomly taken for the study and SPSS was used to analyse the obtained data. The findings reflect that factors like gender, age, marital status, qualification and number of years of service play an important role in the perception of nurses for their dignity. The effect of these demographical variables was studied on the cognitive and behavioural factors like gesture and respect shown by patients for nursing care, updated knowledge for their profession, trust of patients, discomfort informed by patients during treatment, treated professionally by physicians and other paramedical staff, importance of nursing profession to the health care organization, fear of assault or molestation, honour or praise for their hard-work, dedication towards service. The implication of the study would be that health care organization should be sensitized towards self-dignity amongst nurses and implement appropriate measures to improve the nurses' perception towards self-dignity. Key wordsRespect, gesture, importance, dedication, hard-work, perception of dignity. European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine ISSN 2515-8260 Volume 07, Issue 02, 2020 552


Objectives To develop a lifestyle intervention to improve pregnancy outcome in obese pregnancies. Methods In accord with UK MRC guidelines a phased approach towards development of an randomised controlled trials (RCT) was adopted by a multidisciplinary team. This included Phase I literature review and protocol development; Phase II pilot RCT to assess behavioural change and practicality; Phase III (multicentre RCT; primary outcomes; maternal oral glucose tolerance test; neonatal, macrosomia, n=2700) will follow demonstration of behavioural change in the pilot. Results An intervention based on dietary advice (low glycaemic index, low saturated fat and reduced free sugars) and increased physical activity was developed. Advice is delivered by a health trainer in eight structured sessions between 19 and 28 week's gestation and reinforced by a participant handbook, log book and physical activity DVD. Data are entered on an internet database. Recruitment to the pilot phase is complete. 136 obese pregnant women (body mass index; 36.7±6 kg/m2; 47 nullips,71 multips; age 30±5 years; 69 white; 42 black, 7 other) have been randomised to the intervention or standard antenatal care. Physical activity is monitored by accelerometry (1 week×3) and validated questionnaire, and diet by 24 h food recall (double- pass ×3). A lifestyle questionnaire in used to assess knowledge and attitudes. Behavioural changes will be analysed in Feb 2011 and presented at the meeting. Conclusion A pilot study of a complex intervention has been successfully implemented. This step wise approach has enabled detailed development, refinement and evaluation of each component, leading to an intervention acceptable to obese pregnant women.


preventive health measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus. The quality of life (QOL) of many populations was affected by lockdown and social distancing. The pandemic increased healthcare professionals ' workload and decreased doctors ' QOL. Our study aimed to evaluate the QOL of doctors in southern provinces of Morocco during the COVID-19 directement dans le circuit COVID-19 avaient une pauvre qualit (cid:1) e de vie dans tous les domaines. M ^ eme si les hommes travail- lant dans le circuit COVID-19 avaient des scores inferieurs (cid:3) a 60, ils avaient une qualit (cid:1) e de vie meilleure que les femmes (cid:3) a l ' exception du domaine social. Conclusion. – La qualit (cid:1) e de vie des m (cid:1) edecins exer ¸ cant dans les provinces du sud du Maroc (cid:1) etait diminu (cid:1) ee dans tous les domaines. Les m (cid:1) edecins travaillant dans le circuit COVID-19 avaient une pauvre qualit (cid:1) e de vie, et les scores des femmes (cid:1) etaient plus bas que ceux des hommes.


Conventional methods of map comparison frequently produce unhelpful results for a variety of reasons. In particular, conventional methods usually analyze pixels at a single default scale and frequently insist that each pixel belongs to exactly one category. The purpose of this paper is to offer improved methods so that scientists can obtain more helpful results by performing multiple resolution analysis on pixels that belong simultaneously to several categories. This paper examines the fundamentals of map comparison beginning from the elementary comparison between two pixels that have partial membership to multiple categories. We examine the conceptual foundation of three methods to create a crosstabulation matrix for a single pair of pixels, and then show how to extend those concepts to compare entire maps at multiple spatial resolutions. This approach is important because the crosstabulation matrix is the basis for numerous popular measurements of spatial accuracy. The three methods show the range of possibilities for constructing a crosstabulation matrix based on possible variations in the spatial arrangement of the categories within a single pixel. A smaller range in the possible spatial distribution of categories within the pixel corresponds to more certainty in the crosstabulation matrix. The quantity of each category within each pixel constrains the range for possible arrangements in subpixel mapping, since there is more certainty for pixels that are dominated by a single category. In this respect, the proposed approach is placed in the context of a philosophy of map comparison that focuses on two separable components of information in a map: 1) information concerning the proportional distribution of the quantity of categories, and 2) information concerning the spatial distribution of the location of categories. The methods apply to cases where a scientist needs to compare two maps that show categories, even when the categories in one map are different from the categories in the other map. We offer a fourth method that is designed for the common case where a scientist needs to compare two maps that show the same set of categories. Results show that the methods can produce extremely different measurements, and that it is possible to interpret the differences at multiple resolutions in a manner that reveals patterns in the maps. The method is designed to present the results graphically in order to facilitate communication. We describe the concepts using simplified examples, and then apply the methods to characterize the change in land cover between 1971 and 1999 in Massachusetts, USA.


We perform a hierarchical Bayesian analysis of the GWTC-2 catalog to investigate the mixed scenario in which the merger events are explained by black holes of both astrophysical and primordial origin. For the astrophysical scenario we adopt the phenomenological model used by the LIGO/Virgo collaboration and we include the correlation between different parameters inferred from data, the role of the spins in both the primordial and astrophysical scenarios, and the impact of accretion in the primordial scenario. Our best-fit mixed model has a strong statistical evidence relative to the single-population astrophysical model, thus supporting the coexistence of populations of black-hole mergers of two different origins. In particular, our results indicate that the astrophysical mergers account for roughly four times the number of primordial black hole events and predict that third-generation detectors, such as the Einstein Telescope and Cosmic Explorer, should detect up to hundreds of mergers from primordial black hole binaries at redshift z≳30.


This work advances investigations into the visual media shared by agents in disinformation campaigns by characterizing the images shared by accounts identified by Twitter as being part of such campaigns. Using images shared by US politicians' Twitter accounts as a baseline and training set, we build models for inferring the ideological presentation of accounts using the images they share. Results show that, while our models recover the expected bimodal ideological distribution of US politicians, we find that, on average, four separate influence campaigns -- attributed to Iran, Russia, China, and Venezuela -- all present conservative ideological presentations in the images they share. Given that prior work has shown Twitter accounts used by Russian disinformation agents are ideologically diverse in the text and news they share, these image-oriented findings provide new insights into potential axes of coordination and suggest these accounts may not present consistent ideological positions across modalities.


The design and implementation of a 24 GHz subharmonic mixer-based quadrature direct-conversion receiver is presented. The receiver includes an RF section with an LNA, an improved active balun, multi-phase LO based passive subharmonic mixers, and an LO section containing an octet phase generator obtained from an on-chip integrated quadrature VCO. Fabricated in a 0.13 µm CMOS process, the RF and IF sections consume 48 mA and the LO section consumes 40 mA, using a 1.6 V supply. The measured conversion gain of the receiver was 12.5 dB with a DSB Noise Figure of 7.4 dB.


Various time- and frequency-based approaches have been proposed to measure baroreflex sensitivity. All these methods are block-based ones. This study proposes a novel instantaneous measure of baroreflex sensitivity that enables the investigation of frequency domain characteristics of baroreflex sensitivity. This study was performed using the EUROBAVAR dataset, which consists of 10-12 minute recordings (in both supine and standing positions), acquired from 21 patients (age: 20-68 yrs.; 4 men). The data was obtained non-invasively from the subjects (healthy subjects and unhealthy ones with problems such as hypertension, heart transplant, and diabetes), and consists of the beat-to-beat interval, systolic, diastolic and mean blood pressure values. Instantaneous baroreflex sensitivity was obtained for each subject using a 15- second sliding window, by analyzing the ration between standard deviation of the inter-beat intervals and systolic blood pressure. Frequency characteristics of the instantaneous baroreflex sensitivity was then evaluated using power spectrum analysis. Power spectrum analysis indicated that the percentage of total power of the instantaneous baroreflex sensitivity was concentrated more in the very-low frequency band [0.003 Hz - 0.04 Hz], than the ultra-low frequency band [0.0 Hz - 0.003 Hz], (respectively 71±9 and 15±10%). The average peak frequency was 0.0193±0.008 Hz confirming the existence of an oscillation in the very-low frequency band. Furthermore, significant difference was found between the healthy and unhealthy populations. The proposed instantaneous baroreflex sensitivity measure is simply defined and computed. Results suggest that baroreflex sensitivity presents quasi-periodic fluctuations.


The objective of this study is firstly to investigate the floatability properties of Zilan- Van coal after microwave irradiation and secondly to produce activated carbon from flotation concentrate in order to remove Crystal Violet (CV) from waste water. The flotation experiments showed that microwave heating at 0.9 kW power level for 60 sec exposure time enhanced the hydrophobicity and increased the flotation yield. The activated carbon with remarkable surface area (696 m2/g) was produced from the flotation concentrate and used to adsorb CV from aqueous solution in a batch reactor at different temperature. The adsorption properties of CV onto the activated carbon are discussed in terms of the adsorption isotherms (Langmuir and Freundlich) and found that the experimental results best fitted by the Langmuir model.


Scene understanding in adverse weather conditions (e.g. rainy and foggy days) has drawn increasing attention, arising some specific benchmarks and algorithms. However, scene segmentation under rainy weather is still challenging and under-explored due to the following limitations on the datasets and methods: 1) Manually synthetic rainy samples with empirically settings and human subjective assumptions; 2) Limited rainy conditions, including the rain patterns, intensity, and degradation factors; 3) Separated training manners for image deraining and semantic segmentation. To break these limitations, we pioneer a real, comprehensive, and well-annotated scene understanding dataset under rainy weather, named Rainy WCity. It covers various rain patterns and their bring-in negative visual effects, covering wiper, droplet, reflection, refraction, shadow, windshield-blurring, etc. In addition, to alleviate dependence on paired training samples, we design an unsupervised contrastive learning network for real image deraining and the final rainy scene semantic segmentation via multi-task joint optimization. A comprehensive comparison analysis is also provided, which shows that scene understanding in rainy weather is a largely open problem. Finally, we summarize our general observations, identify open research challenges, and point out future directions.


PURPOSE
To compare 0.5 mg and 0.625 mg of bevacizumab for treating aggressive posterior retinopathy of prematurity (AP-ROP).

METHODS
The medical records of patients with AP-ROP who were administered intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) as a primary treatment at a university clinic were evaluated retrospectively. Five eyes of three patients (Group 1) who received 0.625 mg/0.025 ml IVB and 10 eyes of another five patients (Group 2) who received 0.5 mg/0.02 ml IVB were evaluated. Laser photocoagulation was used as additional treatment after relapses. Anatomic results and complications were evaluated in both groups.

RESULTS
We evaluated 15 eyes of eight patients (four girls and four boys) with a flat demarcation line at posterior zone 2 and plus disease or stage-3 disease in this study. The mean gestational age of the three babies in Group 1 was 26 ± 1 weeks and the mean birth weight was 835.33 ± 48.01 g. The corresponding values were 25.2 ± 1.6 weeks and 724 ± 139.03 g, respectively, for the five babies in Group 2. Retinal vascularization was completed at a mean postmenstrual duration of 53.6 ± 1.5 weeks without additional treatment in the five eyes in Group 1. Laser photocoagulation for relapse was administered to five of the 10 eyes in Group 2. Retinal vascularization was completed at a mean postmenstrual duration of 47.6 ± 1.5 weeks in the remaining five eyes. None of the patients developed complications such as cataract, glaucoma, retinal tear, retinal or vitreous hemorrhage, or retinal detachment.

CONCLUSION
Although lower IVB doses in the treatment of AP-ROP are expected to be safer in terms of local and systemic side effects in premature infants, these patients may require additional treatment with IVB or laser photocoagulation.


This paper put forward a new method of the wavelet neural network model for mid-long term load forecasting. The neural call function is basis of nonlinear wavelets. We overcome the shortcoming of single train set of ANN. It can be seen from the example this method can improve effectively the forecast accuracy and speed. The forecast model was tested and the result showed that it was an effective way to forecast mid-long term electric load.


The analysis of linear time-delay systems has attracted much interest in the literature over last five decade. Two types of stability conditions, namely delay-independent which results guarantee stability for arbitrarily large delays and delay-dependent, results take into account the maximum delay that can be tolerated by the system and, thus, are more useful in applications. The stability in general for linear time-delay systems, can be checked exactly only by eigenvalue considerations. When reasonable chosen with intentional delays, case study effects on time-delay of ankle torque on the stability of quiet standing, it can be used to stabilize and improve the close-loop response of these systems.


The gulf between visionary early adopters of new technologies and the pragmatists who make up the mainstream technology market was made famous by Geoffrey A. Moore in his book "Crossing the Chasm." But strategists who focus on that chasm alone will miss others that loom ahead and present significant challenges. In "Six Chasms in Need of Crossing," Babson College associate professor of marketing Anirudh Dhebar calls attention to the other gaps that business leaders must bridge if they are to implement new technology and achieve long-term success in the marketplace.

Dhebar argues that changing business models can be as difficult as crossing the chasm between early and mainstream markets. This may also be true when moving from an existing technology to one that is improved but incompatible ? or from an existing technology to one that is not initially seen by current customers as an improvement (what management educator and author Clayton Christensen calls a disruptive technology). Transitioning from a product created as an expedient, short-term fix for a customer problem to a product designed to be a strategic, long-term solution is another potential imperative

However, it is the chasm between established ways of thinking and fundamentally new business paradigms that is perhaps the most pervasive. Dhebar encourages managers and academics alike to take account of the broader spectrum of chasms, and he provides guidelines for crossing the chasms impeding technological progress and marketplace success. The guidelines include encouraging imagination in order to see and embrace alternatives to current realities, giving new ideas a fair hearing, working with suppliers of complementary products to build the infrastructure to support new kinds of products ? and developing markets that value the performance and value proposition of disruptive technologies.


Group I metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) induce a form of long-term synaptic depression (mGluR-LTD) in area CA1 of the hippocampus that requires rapid protein synthesis. Although much is known about the mechanisms underlying mGluR-LTD, it is unclear how mGluRs couple to the effectors necessary for translation initiation. A clue comes from work in the mouse model of Fragile X syndrome [Fmr1 knock-out (KO) mice], where group 1 mGluR stimulation of protein synthesis is absent and mGluRs are less associated with the postsynaptic scaffolding protein Homer (Giuffrida et al., 2005). Here, we examined the role of Homer interactions in mGluR-LTD and mGluR signaling to protein synthesis machinery in wild-type and Fmr1 KO animals. A peptide that mimics the C-terminal tail of mGluR5 (mGluR5ct), shown previously to disrupt Homer interactions with mGluRs, blocks mGluR-LTD and mGluR-signaling to protein synthesis initiation in wild-type animals. Disruption of mGluR–Homer interactions selectively blocks mGluR activation of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)-Akt-mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), but not ERK (extracellular signal-regulated kinase), pathway and translation of a 5′ terminal oligopyrimidine tract containing mRNA, Elongation factor 1α. In Fmr1 KO mice, mGluR-LTD is insensitive to disruption of Homer interactions and mGluR activation of PI3K-mTOR is lost. Our results find specific roles for Homer in mGluR signaling and plasticity and suggest that reduced mGluR–Homer interactions in Fmr1 KO mice lead to a deficit in mGluR stimulation of translation initiation.


In accident analysis regarding nuclear power plants, it is very common to use thermal hydraulic system codes, such as TRACE, developed by U.S. NRC. In the case of licensing a power plant, this is one of the necessities. TRACE is a relatively new thermal hydraulic system code and a lot of knowledge is needed to implement it in a correct way, especially in accident analysis, where it is a requirement that the rules and statements in Appendix-K, dealing with criteria for ECCS-models, are modelled. In this thesis an improved model of a Swedish Boiling Water Reactor within TRACE is realized and tested. Afterwards, once a working and representative model has been obtained, a sensitivity study in conducted in order to investigate the sensitivity of TRACE for a couple of thermal hydraulic parameters. The sensitivity study is focussing on the eect of the peak cladding temperature, as well as the coolability of the nuclear fuel in terms of quenching and quench-front velocities. It is found to be hard to say unilaterally what the eect of changing a certain number of parameters on the reactor behaviour is. As it turns out to be, although strongly related, the peak cladding temperatures and the quench phenomena can behave dierently


In late 2020, models predicted that a strong La Niña would take place for the first time since 2013, and we assessed whether physical and biological indicators in 2021 were similar to past La Niñas in the California Current Ecosystem (CCE). The Pacific Decadal Oscillation and Oceanic Niño Index indeed remained negative throughout 2021; the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation Index, however, remained strongly negative. The seventh largest marine heatwave on record was unexpectedly present from April to the end of 2021; however, similar to past La Niñas, this mass of warm water mostly remained seaward of the continental shelf. As expected from past La Niñas, upwelling and chlorophyll were mostly high and sea surface temperature was low throughout the CCE; however, values were close to average south of Point Conception. Similar to past La Niñas, abundances of lipid-rich, northern copepods off Oregon increased. In northern California, unlike past La Niñas, the body size of North Pacific krill (Euphausia pacifica) was close to average. Predictably, overall krill abundance was above average in far northern California but, unexpectedly, below average south of Cape Mendocino. Off Oregon, similar to past La Niñas, larval abundances of three of six coastal species rose, while five of six southern/offshore taxa decreased in 2021. Off California, as expected based on 2020, Northern Anchovy (Engraulis mordax) were very abundant, while Pacific Sardine (Sardinops sagax) were low. Similar to past La Niñas, market squid (Doryteuthis opalescens) and young of the year (YOY) Pacific Hake (Merluccius pacificus), YOY sanddabs (Citharichthys spp.), and YOY rockfishes (Sebastes spp.) increased. Southern mesopelagic (e.g., Panama lightfish Vinciguerria lucetia, Mexican lampfish Triphoturus mexicanus) larvae decreased as expected but were still well above average, while northern mesopelagic (e.g., northern lampfish Stenobrachius leucopsarus) larvae increased but were still below average. In line with predictions, most monitored bird species had above-average reproduction in Oregon and California. California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) pup count, growth, and weight were high given the abundant Anchovy forage. The CCE entered an enduring La Niña in 2021, and assessing the responses of various ecosystem components helped articulate aspects of the system that are well understood and those that need further study.


Background: Information provision is an important step in enabling pediatric patients to participate in healthcare. Storybooks and patient information brochures represent a channel through which children and adolescents with cancer are informed about their illness. However, the use of such written materials has received little academic attention. Objective: The aim of this article was to carry out an exploratory analysis of written information resources for pediatric cancer patients. The potential of these to enhance patient participation will be discussed. Methods: A convenience sample of 16 written resource materials in English and German were chosen for analysis. Thematic coding was carried out to identify major themes. Results: Subthemes were summarized into 3 main categories: information on diagnosis, treatment, and illness experience. Information was provided on, for example, illness name and etiology, diagnostic and treatment procedures, emotions, and coping strategies. Conclusions: Storybooks and other written resources on cancer contain a broad array of information and describe illness-related issues to a varying extent. They represent an excellent possibility to ease patient participation in healthcare by providing them with necessary information while also inviting further discussion. Implications for Practice: Nurses and other healthcare professionals can use written resource materials to engage in discussions with pediatric patients concerning their illness. Nurses should be aware of the information children and adolescents receive in these materials in order to be able to adequately answer questions that may arise or identify misunderstandings as well as lack of information.


This paper reports on the information practices and information literacy (IL) skills of South Korean elementary school students from the perspectives of working teachers. Key to this investigation was the notion of information practice, and how this is shaped by the practice architecture found in an educational setting. A sequential mixed design was undertaken to investigate these ideas which consisted of exploratory interviews with 4 elementary school teachers and was followed by a questionnaire which analysed the responses of 314 elementary school teachers. Findings indicate that in this setting, teachers, students and pre-set curricular content serve as the most frequently used information sources for students during their everyday classes. We pay specific attention to the ongoing centrality of the textbook, in its traditional paper format, to the ways in which teachers design learning activities, and suggest that this limits the diversity of informational approaches to which young South Korean learners are exposed. While these learners are engaged, they are limited in terms of informational genre since teachers and textbooks were found to be dominant information proxies. Activities in which students engage in active seeking or scanning are rarer. Contexts with such a configuration may be hindering the development of critical information literacy skills that are vital in dealing with the abundance of information faced by individuals today.


Power quality embraces problems caused by harmonics, over or under-voltages, or supply discontinuities. Harmonics are caused by all sorts of non-linear loads. In order to fully understand the problems, an effective means of identifying sources of power harmonics is important. In this paper, the authors make use of new developments in wavelets so that each type of current waveform polluted with power harmonics can well be represented by a normalised energy vector consisting of five elements. Furthermore, a mixture of harmonics load can also be represented by a corresponding vector. This paper describes the mathematics and algorithms for arriving at the vectors, forming a strong foundation for real-time harmonics signature recognition, in particular, useful to the re-structuring of the whole electric power industry. The system performs exceptionally well with the aid of an artificial neural network.


The performance of well-trained speech recognizers using high quality full bandwidth speech data is usually degraded when used in real world environments. In particular, telephone speech recognition is extremely difficult due to the limited bandwidth of the transmission channels. In this paper, neural network based adaptation methods are applied to telephone speech recognition and a new unsupervised model adaptation method is proposed. The advantage of the neural network based approach is that the retraining of speech recognizers for telephone speech is avoided. Furthermore, because the multi-layer neural network is able to compute nonlinear functions, it can accommodate for the non-linear mapping between full bandwidth speech and telephone speech. The new unsupervised model adaptation method does not require transcriptions and can be used with the neural networks. Experimental results on TIMIT/NTIMIT corpora show that the performance of the proposed methods is comparable to that of recognizers retained on telephone speech.


Exosomes are extracellular vesicles released by many cells of the body. These small vesicles play an important part in intercellular communication both in the local environment and systemically, facilitating in the transfer of proteins, cytokines as well as miRNA between cells. The observation that exosomes isolated from immune cells such as dendritic cells (DCs) modulate the immune response has paved the way for these structures to be considered as potential immunotherapeutic reagents. Indeed, clinical trials using DC derived exosomes to facilitate immune responses to specific cancer antigens are now underway. Exosomes can also have a negative effect on the immune response and exosomes isolated from regulatory T cells (Tregs) and other subsets of T cells have been shown to have immune suppressive capacities. Here, we review what is currently known about Treg derived exosomes and their contribution to immune regulation, as well as highlighting their possible therapeutic potential for preventing graft rejection, and use as diagnostic tools to assess transplant outcome.


Hearing impairment, the most prevalent sensory deficit, affects more than 466 million people worldwide (WHO). We presently lack causative treatment for the most common form, sensorineural hearing impairment; hearing aids and cochlear implants (CI) remain the only means of hearing restoration. We engaged with CI users to learn about their expectations and their willingness to collaborate with health care professionals on establishing novel therapies. We summarize upcoming CI innovations, gene therapies, and regenerative approaches and evaluate the chances for clinical translation of these novel strategies. We conclude that there remains an unmet medical need for improving hearing restoration and that we are likely to witness the clinical translation of gene therapy and major CI innovations within this decade.


Neural crest-derived (FOb) and mesoderm-derived (POb) calvarial osteoblasts are characterized by distinct differences in their osteogenic potential. We have previously demonstrated that enhanced activation of endogenous FGF and Wnt signaling confers greater osteogenic potential to FOb. Apoptosis, a key player in bone formation, is the main focus of this study. In the current work, we have investigated the apoptotic activity of FOb and POb cells during differentiation. We found that lower apoptosis, as measured by caspase-3 activity is a major feature of neural crest-derived osteoblast which also have higher osteogenic capacity. Further investigation indicated TGF-β signaling as main positive regulator of apoptosis in these two populations of calvarial osteoblasts, while BMP and canonical Wnt signaling negatively regulate the process. By either inducing or inhibiting these signaling pathways we could modulate apoptotic events and improve the osteogenic potential of POb. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that integration of multiple signaling pathways contribute to imparting greater osteogenic potential to FOb by decreasing apoptosis.


In this final paper assigned to students in English 302M, students are asked to select 6 credible sources on a topic of their interest within their discipline, and to synthesize their findings in a researched Literature Review paper. Two items are included in this submission. This assignment and the activities leading up to it support the English 302 Learning Outcomes: critical reading strategies; identify, evaluate, and use research sources; recursive writing; supporting arguments with evidence.
Included files: The Instructor's Notes (ReadyInstructorsNotes), which detail how to incorporate this assignment into the 302 classroom and the assignment prompt distributed to students (ReadyAssignment), which includes instructions for the final paper and for two preliminary activities--the proposal and the poster presentation--as well as an overview of the suggested structure for the paper.


INTRODUCTION
Substance dependence problems are considered to be a relevant issue for a large proportion of the working population and represent a huge health and occupational cost. However, few studies have examined the return to work after addiction problems.

AIMS
This exploratory follow-up study aims to evaluate the return to work, in terms of employment outcomes, perceived work environment and physical and mental health of patients who have completed an addiction rehabilitation program and an employment and social intervention.

METHODS
The sample includes 51 participants with a baseline diagnosis of substance abuse disorder who have completed a rehabilitation and a social-occupational intervention. Patients were assessed by means of self-report questionnaires referring to perceptions of the work environment, individual characteristics and mental and physical health.

RESULTS
The results show that the majority of the sample (88.2%) is employed at follow-up and refers positive perceptions about the psychosocial work environment, the mental and physical health and the stabilization of the change. The factors that significantly influence job satisfaction are work ability (p=0.02), work engagement (p=0.04) and absence of desire (p=0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
The present study shows that many patients some years after the rehabilitation program have kept their job with positive levels of individual and organizational well-being. Work is not perceived as a source of stress but it represents a protective factor for health, personal identity and social integration.


Abstract Background We present a pharmacodynamic model that describes the tumor volume evolution during and after treatment with radiation and in combination with a radiosensitizing agent. A key contribution is the inclusion of a long-term radiation effect, which allows the model to describe distinct tumor behaviors including tumor eradication and tumor regrowth with different growth rates. Additionally, we introduce the concept of TSE (Tumor Static Exposure), the exposures of one or multiple compounds that result in tumor stasis and provide an example of its utility for optimizing drug combinations in oncology. Methods The model was challenged with data from four treatment groups (Vehicle, radiation, radiation + radiosensitizer 25 or 100 mg/kg) in xenograft study using a clinically-relevant administration schedule (6 weeks treatment, 5 days on/2 days off) and a mixed-effects approach was used for model-fitting. The model incorporated a permanent inhibition of the natural growth rate. This step was required to capture the complete tumor eradication and the observed tumor regrowth with different rates with animals having slower regrowth compared to control animals. The presence of a radiosensitizer will lead to the same tumor evolution as if a higher dose of radiation had been administered. The model was applied to predict exposure combinations that result in tumor eradication using the TSE. Results The developed model captured experimental data from all treatment groups adequately, with the parameter estimates taking biologically reasonable values. Model simulation showed that tumor eradication is observed at total radiation dose of 110 Gy, which is reduced to 80 or 30 Gy with co-administration of 25 or 100 mg/kg of a radiosensitizer. Conclusions The new model can describe different tumor dynamics including tumor eradication and tumor regrowth with different rates. The proposed model can be expanded for radiation in combination with chemical interventions or immunotherapy. The model and TSE can be applied to generate treatment predictions for different dosing schedules or determining drug synergies. The translational utility of the TSE concept is currently under investigation. Legal entity responsible for the study Merck Healthcare KGaA. Funding Tim Cardilin was supported by an education Grant from Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. This work was also partially funded by the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (Grant no. AM13-0046). Disclosure S. El Bawab: Full / Part-time employment: Merck Healthcare KGaA. A. Zimmermann: Full / Part-time employment: Merck Healthcare KGaA. F. Lignet: Full / Part-time employment: Merck Healthcare KGaA. All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.


We study disclosure dynamics when the firm value evolves stochastically over time. The presence of litigation risk, arising from the failure to disclose unfavorable information, crowds out positive disclosures. Litigation risk mitigates firms' tendency to use inefficient disclosure policies. From a policy perspective, we show that a stricter legal environment may be an efficient way to stimulate information transmission in capital markets, particularly when the nature of information is proprietary. We model the endogeneity of litigation risk in a dynamic setting and shed light on the empirical controversy regarding whether disclosure preempts or triggers litigation.


La2O3-doped lead-free 0.82Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3-0.18Bi0.5K0.5TiO3 (abbreviated to 0.82BNT-0.18BKT) piezoelectric ceramics were synthesized by the conventional mixed-oxide method, and the effect of La2O3 addition on the dielectric and piezoelectric properties was investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns show that La2O3 diffuses into the lattice of the 0.82BNT-0.18BKT ceramics to form a solid solution with a pure perovskite structure. SEM images indicate that the grain size of the 0.82BNT-0.18BKT ceramics increased with the addition of La2O3 doping. The electrical properties of 0.82BNT-0.18BKT ceramics have been greatly improved by certain amount of La2O3 substitutions. At room temperature, the 0.82BNT-0.18BKT ceramics doped with 0.25 wt. % La2O3 exhibited the optimum properties with high piezoelectric constant (d33 = 142 pC/N) and high planar coupling factor (kp = 0.23).


Forward genetic screens for mutations that rescue the paralysis of ric-8 (Synembryn) reduction-of-function mutations frequently reveal mutations that cause hyperactivation of one or more components of the Gαs pathway. Here, we report that one of these mutations strongly reduces the function of the Dunce cAMP phosphodiesterase PDE-4 by disrupting a conserved active site residue. Loss of function and neural overexpression of PDE-4 have profound and opposite effects on locomotion rate, but drug-response assays suggest that loss of PDE-4 function does not affect steady-state acetylcholine release or reception. Our genetic analysis suggests that PDE-4 regulates both Gαs-dependent and Gαs-independent cAMP pools in the neurons controlling locomotion rate. By immunostaining, PDE-4 is strongly expressed throughout the nervous system, where it localizes to small regions at the outside boundaries of synaptic vesicle clusters as well as intersynaptic regions. The synaptic subregions containing PDE-4 are distinct from those containing active zones, as indicated by costaining with an antibody against the long form of UNC-13. This highly focal subsynaptic localization suggests that PDE-4 may exert its effects by spatially regulating intrasynaptic cAMP pools.


Fatigue failure of metal components containing notches, cracks and other defects has been a very active research topic for well over seven decades because of its important practical and theoretical implications. Recently, Taylor and his colleagues have re-visited this topic and proposed the Theory of Critical Distance (TCD), which summarizes the early work by Neuber, Peterson and others in a unifying theory and predicts fatigue fracture with the use of a critical distance, L0. In this paper, an experimental and numerical study of the fatigue of notched and unnotched 6061 aluminium alloys is used to verify the TCD and some of the limitations of the TCD are discussed on this basis.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the expression of connexin 40 (Cx40) and hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated cation channel 4 (HCN4) in rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) cocultured with the sinoatrial node (SAN) tissues in vitro, so as to evaluate the possibility of BMSCs differentiation into SAN cells.

METHODS
BMSCs were isolated from Sprague Dawley rats (aged 4-6 weeks, male or female) by the adhesive method and cultured; BMSCs at the 3rd passage were marked with carboxyfluorescein succinimidyl ester, and then were incubated on 6-well culture plate; cell climing slices were prepared at the same time. SAN tissue was taken and cut into 0.3 cm x 0.3 cm mass, and then placed into 4 degrees C PBS solution. The SAN tissue mass was cocultured with marked BMSCs at the 3rd passage for 3 weeks as the experimental group, and BMSCs at 3rd passage were cultured alone for 1 week as the control group. At 1, 2, and 3 weeks after coculture, the mean integrated absorbance (MIA) values of Cx40 and HCN4 were measured by Image pro plus 5.0 through the method of immunohistochemistry, and the mRNA expressions of Cx40 and HCN4 were identified by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR.

RESULTS
The MIA values of Cx40 and HCN4 in the experimental group were higher than that in the control group, showing significant differences (P < 0.01). In the experimental group, the expressions of Cx40 and HCN4 increased gradually with time. The longer the culture time was, the higher the expressions of Cx40 and HCN4 were, showing significant differences (P < 0.05). The mRNA expressions of Cx40 and HCN4 in the experimental group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P < 0.01); in the experimental group, the mRNA expressions of Cx40 and HCN4 increased gradually with time, showing significant differences between different time points (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION
The expressions of Cx40 and HCN4 increase obviously after coculturing BMSCs with SAN tissue, indicating that BMSCs could differentiate into SAN cells by coculturing with SAN tissue in vitro.


The National Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa sponsored this project in order to better understand how visitors respond to its Interactive Audience Engagement Devices (IAEDs). To achieve this, we selected three exhibits to study, and through interviews, surveys, observations, and video recordings, evaluated the devices' impact on visitor experience. Upon examination we recommend the museum add on screen instructions to their devices, look into making devices more accessible to their users, and make future devices incorporate aspects such as challenging their users, giving them a personal connection with the content, and providing multiple simultaneous interactions. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS


Author(s): Covey, Mark David | Advisor(s): Brecher, Benjamin | Abstract: The purpose of this document is to provide guidance in the repertoire and performance practice of the art songs of the 16th century Spanish vihuela composers. The document begins with historical information on the music, discussing its specific genres, tablature, and origins. Further, three composers, Luis Milan (1500-1561), Luys de Narvaez (fl. 1526-1549), and Alonso Mudarra (1508-1580), are discussed in detail. This study examines and offers insight into their lives and musical style. Eventually, my work in this area will expand to include the seven major vihuela composers. In later chapters, issues of performance practice are discussed, such as ornamentation, voice type, diction of early Spanish, and choice of instrument. Because so little has been written about this music in comparison to other genres of accompanied solo song, research posed no small challenge. The writings of John Ward and John Griffiths have been especially helpful. Both of these scholars have devoted their lives to this music and remain among the most respected experSts in the field. Their writings extensively informed this study. A unique part of our investigation is a section on the guitarist-singer collaboration. While there are many books dedicated to the pianist-singer collaboration, none familiar to me have been written on the collaboration between guitarist and singer. My own expertise as a performer served as the chief source of information. This section guides people in making the collaboration as effective as possible. Finally, as resource material, this study includes song texts and translations for compositions of the three composers discussed in detail.


The problems stemming from increasing complexity continue to confound our capabilities to deal with systems. In response, many large organisations seek to integrate their existing systems to work together to accomplish capabilities that cannot be achieved by the constituent systems. The integration of these systems is often referred to as a system of systems (SoS). While much has been written about SoS and their associated phenomena, we have not found sufficient exploration to answer some of our most basic questions: where did this concept came from? And when, or has, the peak of the SoS development movement been reached? To answer these questions, this paper has constructed a histogram analysis to trace the history of SoS from 1926–2011. Five hundred different sources have been included in the analysis in an attempt to give a glimpse into the development of the SoS field through the frequency of publications.


Abstract This interview discusses Abbott Lowell Cummings9 life and work as a public historian, focusing in particular on his long career at the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (now Historic New England). It deals with the early history of SPNEA under William Sumner Appleton and Bertram K. Little, but focuses particularly on the post-1955 development of the organization after Cummings9 arrival and on the refinement of SPNEA9s collection of historical buildings through deaccessioning and the establishment of increasingly professionalized standards for preservation, conservation, and interpretation. It also discusses important preservation battles in Boston, such as the fight to preserve the West End from urban renewal and the battle over whether to tear down Victorian architecture on Beacon Hill.


Acts of Corporate Social Responsibility are more often than not portrayed as success-story narratives. A quasi-ethnographic study in Senegal shatters the underlying assumptions of these accounts. First a computer donation from a Northern country is described with all the usual incidents and related vocabulary. Later, during a visit to a Senegalese rubbish dump, the story starts to falter, as countless questions arise about what is actually going on there, and how we can know and represent it (both as a portrayal and as a voice). A tipping point in an interview serves to reveal the ambiguities of the position adopted and the difficulties of expressing oneself in a different language. The CSR language is described as a kind of monolingualism, which employs a particular vocabulary and grammar for what is said or thought. This is the monolingualism of the other. Some of the implications of this monolingualism are examined, and this leads to the conclusion that there is a need to take measures with regard to the CSR language and that more than one language is needed to speak about CSR.


The topic of this paper is the development of sensitivity and uncertainty analysis
capability to the reactor physics code CASMO-4 in the context of the UAM (Uncertainty Analysis
in Best-Estimate Modelling for Design, Operation, and Safety Analysis of LWRs) benchmark.
The sensitivity analysis implementation is based on generalized perturbation theory, which
enables computing the sensitivity profiles of reaction rate ratios efficiently by solving one generalized
adjoint system for each response. Both the theoretical background and the practical
guidelines for modifying a deterministic transport code to compute the generalized adjoint solutions
and sensitivity coefficients are reviewed. The implementation to CASMO-4 is described
in detail. The developed uncertainty analysis methodology is deterministic, meaning that the
uncertainties are computed based on the sensitivity profiles and covariance matrices for the
uncertain nuclear data parameters. The main conclusions related to the approach used for
creating a covariance library compatible with the cross-section libraries of CASMO-4 are presented.
Numerical results are given for a lattice physics test problem representing a BWR, and
the results are compared to the TSUNAMI-2D sequence in SCALE 6.1.


We present a novel and efficient algorithm, Path Covering, for solving the most reliable subgraph problem. A reliable subgraph gives a concise summary of the connectivity between two given individuals in a social network. Formally, the given network is seen as a Bernoulli random graph G, and the objective is to find a subgraph H with at most B edges such that the probability that a path exists in H between the given two individuals is maximized. The algorithm is based on an efficient stochastic search of candidate paths, and the use of Monte-Carlo simulation to cast the problem as a set cover problem. Experimental evaluation on real graphs derived from DBLP bibliography database indicates superior performance of the proposed algorithm.


Background: Face is a reflection of a persons well being, any imperfection or flawed appearance bears potential to become a source of misery(1). The skin lesions affecting face are termed commonly as facial dermatosis [2]With sudden onset of COVID19 pandemic medical and general population were left with no other option than to cover their faces with N95 masks, face shields and goggles, which led to prolonged usage of sometimes single and mostly multiple masks to cover the face to prevent contagion (as SARS – COVID 2 transmits eyes nose & mouth). OBJECTIVES: The PPEs of the face usage and clinical presentation has being evaluated by us in this study to as to narrow down types of skin manifestations associated with PPE's usage of the face. Aim: This is a the clinicoepidemiological ,cross sectional study of facial dermatosis of100 patients attending the OPD of department of DVL, at Shadan Institute of Medical Sciences, Research Center & Teaching Hospital in the COVID 19 phase from1st February 2021 – May 31 2021 prevalent in the surrounding geographical district of Peeramcheru, Hyderabad, Telangana. Results: Among 100 study participants Mask acne[28/100],was the most common followed by Pigmentory conditions[26/100], next was Contact dermatitis[12/100], and Infection[5/100]. Mostly Females are predominant[64/100], common Age group is 20-30 years[38/100], Semi urban areas[76/100] , in Students group[36/100]. Sleep deprivation[22/100] as common triggering factor followed by emotional stress[13/100] Anxiety[11/100]. Itching[47/100] is the common symptom which is followed by Skin lesions [16/100], Pain[13/100], Burning sensation[10/100] and Flushing[8]/100]. Systemic involvement as Thyroid[12/100] and Anemias[10/100] more prevailing. Conclusions: Wearing PPEs of Face [Mask ,goggles, face shields] during the COVID-19 Pandemic increase the Incidence of Dermatological Conditions ,though PPE's of face usage [Face Masks /goggles, face shields] have provided the main form of essential protection to the respiratory system against COVID-19. The rapid global threat COVID-19 is causing skin damage and the risk of infection may be increased through disruptions in the skin barrier as well as self-contamination through mask adjustments. The highly contagious nature of SARS-CoV-2 increases the likelihood that protective measures may stay in place from this day forward; innovation and advancements in PPE need to be sought to protect the skin and to reduce the currently increasing incidence of dermatological conditions among people. Preventive and therapeutic measures should be established in order to avoid "face dermatoses", especially for people with underlying risk factors.


Abstract - The purpose of designing a website-based fingerprint attendance device using the NodeMCU ESP8266 microcontroller was to utilize digitalization technology that could be a solution to minimize errors or fraud and forgery in the process of recording  attendance. Vocational School SMK NU Darussalam Srono was a Vocational School that still applied conventional attendance recording by recording student attendance on the attendance book, so it was urgent to apply computerized recording by apply website-based concepts that were more efficient and facilitated the administrative process. This study used the NodeMCU ESP8266 microcontroller as the control center, the R307 fingerprint sensor and a website-based configuration interface. The process of reporting attendance results were in the form of archive document files that could be downloaded on the website. Based on the implementation of the test, the total average time used to record attendance was 1.2288 seconds while the registration time was 5.496 seconds.
Keywords: Attendance System, NodeMCU ESP8266, Website


Absorption of pure oxygen into aqueous emulsions of n-heptane, n-dodecane, and n-hexadecane, respectively, has been studied at 0 to 100% oil volume fraction in a stirred tank at the stirring speed of 1000 min−1. The volumetric mass transfer coefficient, 𝑘𝐿𝑎, was evaluated from the pressure decrease under isochoric and isothermal (298.2 K) conditions. The O/W emulsions of both n-dodecane and n-hexadecane show a 𝑘𝐿𝑎 maximum at 1-2% oil fraction as reported in several previous studies. Much stronger effects never reported before were observed at high oil fractions. Particularly, all n-heptane emulsions showed higher mass-transfer coefficients than both of the pure phases. The increase is by upto a factor of 38 as compared to pure water at 50% n-heptane. The effect is tentatively interpreted by oil spreading on the bubble surface enabled by a high spreading coefficient. In W/O emulsions of n-heptane and n-dodecane 𝑘𝐿𝑎 increases with the dispersed water volume fraction; the reason for this surprising trend is not clear.


The following report outlines the conjectural basis for an examination of the existing system of architectural production, and the imminent changes that are becoming more evident with the increasing saturation of digital technologies.

Emergence and complexity theory have set the stage for a future of integrated system design. With many of our current modes of production already being heavily influenced by digital design and automated fabrication, the question for the building industry becomes not if, but how shall these systems be integrated in the production of architecture?

Through the execution of an urban design project located at the Alexandra Park housing co-operative, this thesis establishes a commentary based in emergent theory that grounds the speculation of future possibilities in an historical understanding of current changes in contemporary architectural discourse. The exploration of difference as a generator of urban renewal is central to the proposals ability to induce positive change through dynamic emergent behavior.


Strengthening using prestressed CFRP plate is a new developed technology in recent years, which can significantly improve the flexural behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) beams. In this paper, an experimental study including four RC beams stengthened with CFRP plates using self-developed anchorage system was carried out. The nonlinear finite element models of the strengthened beams were constructed to simulate the influence of flexural behavior on RC beams strengthened with CFRP plates under different damage degrees. The experimental results indicated that initial damage degrees have greatly influence on the crack distribution and ductility, deflection and the ultimate flexural strength of the strengthened beams, as well as steel reinforcement strain and CFRP plate strain. Meanwhile, the finite element model can predict accurately performances of strengthened RC beams before CFRP debonding. In addition, the numerical analysis indicated that the sustained loading while strengthening RC beam using prestressed CFRP plates would induce adverse effect, so the live loading should be removed before starting the strengthening works.


I have always been the type of person who wants to create the greatest good for the greatest number of people. This led me to an adventure that started in the fall of 2016 as I entered the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at Hälsohögskolan (the School of Health Sciences) at Jönköping University in Sweden. A goal was set in the back of my mind that I wanted to study abroad in the United States and examine the similarities and differences between care provided in hospitals in the two different countries. For my independent study at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, I had the opportunity to take a deep dive into the area of nursing that interests me the most: adult oncology. Working closely with Ashley Leak Bryant, PhD, RN-BC, OCN®, my mentor in the UNC Chapel Hill School of Nursing, I was provided with several opportunities to learn about oncology nursing practice in the United States.


Artificial valve prostheses are often regarded as a contraindication for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), although preliminary in vitro studies suggested, that patients with these metallic implants might safely undergo MR examination. This study reports on the experience with a group of 89 patients with 100 heart valve prostheses who were examined by spin-echo MR and gradient-echo MR. MR examination was performed in all patients without complications. The spin-echo sequence showed advantages in the depiction of anatomical structures like paravalvular abscesses. Anatomical structures adjacent to the artificial valve were clearly visible and the metal components of the valves showed no or only small artifacts. Artifacts were accentuated when using gradient-echo sequences. Gradient-echo sequences provided valuable information regarding the presence of valvular insufficiency. Physiological valvular regurgitation was easy to differentiate from pathological paravalvular or transvalvular regurgitation. These results demonstrate that patients with artificial valve prostheses can be imaged by MR without risk and that prosthesis-induced artifacts do no interfere with image interpretation.


In 1951, as a student of anthropology in Oregon, Gary Snyder set himself to the task of analyzing the many levels of meaning a single Native American myth might hold. He Who Hunted Birds in His Father's Village is the result of Snyder's critical look at a Haida tale that was told by the great oral poet Ghandl (Walter McGregor) to John Swanton sometime before 1905. A version of the ubiquitous  swan maiden" story, it tells of a chief's son who falls in love with a wild goose-girl, loses her, follows her into the sky, and returns to land as a seagull. Snyder goes deep into the transformations that occur in the myth, considering versions of myth from around the world, and explaining how the story might apply here and now. He writes:To go beyond and become what-a seagull on a reef? Why not. Our nature is no particular nature; look out across the beach at the gulls. For an empty moment while their soar and cry enters your heart like sunshaft through water, you are that, totally. We do this every day. So this is the aspect of mind that gives art, style, and self-transcendence to the inescapable human plantedness in a social and ecological nexus. The challenge is to do it well, by your neighbors and by the trees, and that maybe once in a great while we can get where we see through the same eye at the same time, for a moment. That would be doing it well. Old tales and myths and stories are the k_ans of the human race.


Smartphone can not only be operated under 3G network environment anytime and anyplace but also cost less than the existing photogrammetric UAV since it provides high-resolution image, 3D location and attitude data on a real-time basis from a variety of built-in sensors. This study is aimed to assess the possibility of smartphone as a payload for photogrammetric UAV system. Prior to such assessment, a smartphone-based photogrammetric UAV system application was developed, through which real-time image, location and attitude data was obtained using smartphone under both static and dynamic conditions. Subsequently the accuracy assessment on the location and attitude data obtained and sent by this system was conducted. The smartphone images were converted into ortho-images through image triangulation. The image triangulation was conducted in accordance with presence or absence of consideration of the interior orientation (IO) parameters determined by camera calibration. In case IO parameters were taken into account in the static experiment, the results from triangulation for any smartphone type were within 1.5 pixel (RMSE), which was improved at least by 35% compared to when IO parameters were not taken into account. On the contrary, the improvement effect of considering IO parameters on accuracy in triangulation for smartphone images in dynamic experiment was not significant compared to the static experiment. It was due to the significant impact of vibration and sudden attitude change of UAV on the actuator for automatic focus control within the camera built in smartphone under the dynamic condition. This cause appears to have a negative impact on the image-based DEM generation. Considering these study findings, it is suggested that smartphone is very feasible as a payload for UAV system. It is also expected that smartphone may be loaded onto existing UAV playing direct or indirect roles significantly.


Poverty reduction is a long-standing development objective of many developing countries and their aid donors, including the World Bank. To achieve this goal, these countries and organizations have sought to improve smallholder agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) as part of a broader rural development agenda aimed at providing a minimal basket of goods and services in rural areas to satisfy basic human needs. These goods and services include not only food, health care, and education, but also infrastructure. As a result, rural transport remains a constraint to increasing agricultural productivity, achieving rural growth, and thus alleviating rural poverty. The first major finding of the review of rural transport theory and practice is that many of the approaches needed to improve the impact of rural transport interventions on poverty reduction are known, particularly from the work of the Rural Travel and Transport Program (RTTP) of Sub-Saharan Africa Transport Policy Program (SSATP). Unfortunately, many of the recommended approaches remain untested within Sub-Saharan Africa beyond the pilot scale, notwithstanding their influence on rural transport policy and project design in other operational regions of the Bank. For SSA, these are missed opportunities. Even where SSA countries have applied these approaches, institutional and financial sustainability and scaling up local successes remain significant challenges for both their agriculture and transport sectors. The second key finding is that rural households are rarely the point of focus in the design of rural transport interventions in SSA, even though a methodology to allow this focus has been developed and successfully tested in several pilot projects since the 1980s, the result is that the transport needs of rural households continue to be analyzed and understood by means of an indirect assessment of those needs, which means that most projects have a less than desirable impact on improving the rural access and mobility situation of such households.


The wide range of grouting technology, theory and construction technology are relatively mature, but as a result of the promotion of its application is still uneven, and grouting construction works are hidden, so often cost more is spent in grouting reinforcement work, but the expected results of the problem is not yet achieved. In this paper, it is given a comprehensive summary of the effect of grouting and the application of inspection techniques. It is given analysis of the key issues of technology, and hopes to provide reference with the grouting reinforcement of engineering practice.


n We measured the biological activities of a selected sample (84 crude extracts) of 24 species eaten by wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) in the Kibale National Park, western Uganda, to assess their potential chemotherapeutic values. Antibacterial, antimalarial, and/ or antileishmania activities were observed in some crude extracts, and five of these extracts showed a significant cytotoxicity against human tumor cells. Active compounds isolated from three plant parts occasion- ally ingested by chimpanzees (Diospyros abyssinica (Ebenaceae) bark, Uvariopsis congensis (Annonaceae) leaves, and Trichilia rubescens (Meliaceae) leaves) showed highly significant medicinal properties. Two novel antiparasitic limonoids were isolated from Trichilia rubescens and their molecular structures were determined. In addition to elucidating the natural equilibrium maintained between hosts and pathogens, our investigation of the diet of wild chimpanzees may serve as a guideline to discovering plants with bioactive properties that should be preserved from destruction because of their health maintenance value for great ape populations. Am. J. Primatol. 68:51-71, 2006. r 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Extracranial-intracranial (ECIC) bypass grafts have been assessed postoperatively by various neuroradiologic techniques. The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate postoperative changes in ECIC bypass graft by using superficial temporal artery duplex ultrasonography (STDU). Furthermore, this study assessed the ability of STDU to predict cerebrovascular reserve capacity (CVR). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-five consecutive patients who underwent ECIC bypass procedure for atherosclerotic internal carotid artery occlusion were enrolled in this prospective study. All patients underwent single-photon emission CT and STDU preoperatively, 14 days after, 3 months after, 1 year after, and 2 years after ECIC bypass. RESULTS: The diameter and flow velocities of the ipsilateral superficial temporal artery (STA), and regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) showed increase during the first 2 weeks and then remained stable, whereas CVR showed a constant improvement up to 2 years after surgery. The STA diameter and mean STA flow velocity correlated significantly with CVR at 1 year after surgery (r 2 = 0.1232 and r 2 = 0.08716, respectively; P < .05). A cutoff value of 1.8 mm STA diameter was determined as the most reliable value to predict CVR greater than 10% at 1 year after surgery. The positive predictive value was calculated as 96.6%, the negative predictive value as 43.8%, the sensitivity as 75.7%, the specificity as 87.5%, and the likelihood ratio as 6.056. CONCLUSIONS: ECIC bypass grafts can be assessed postoperatively in a noninvasive fashion with STDU. This technique provides information regarding patency as well as quantitative assessment of bypass function. Moreover, STDU is useful to predict CVR improvement.


Several Swedish sawmill groups have recently developed product-costing systems to possibly compensate for diminishing production knowledge in recently centralized market organizations. The concept of product costs is challenging in sawmilling, since production is of a joint type – each log typically yields many products. The newly developed costing systems rely on traditional accounting-based methods and are of little use in decision-making because the resulting cost figures do not normally estimate actual cost changes.This thesis develops an alternative, theoretically defendable method based on linear programming, and tests it on a pine sawmill. Computer simulations are compared with traditional methods, and to analyze the effects of managing the salesmen by the product costs of the suggested method. The thesis relies on the joint-cost accounting discourse from the 1980s, which was abandoned before any essential application was found. This application has now been found through changes in the sawmill industry, and the discourse is here revived practically and theoretically.The sawmills are modeled with relative capacity restrictions and with constraints on the flexibility of their timber supply. Sales decisions based on product costs from the suggested method seem to successively improve company profit. To be successful, the product costs have to be recalculated regularly. Analyses indicate that with flexibility in purchasing timber and a low cost difference between buying scarce products and selling surplus products externally, the necessary length of the recalculation period and the usefulness of the suggested method both increase markedly.


O ptimizing Compilers for Modern Architectures: A Dependence-Based Approach, Randy Allen and Ken Kennedy. Although modern computer architectures designed with high-speed microprocessors offer potential performance gains, their complexity makes it increasingly difficult to produce efficient code. The authors assert that compilers can play a vital role in addressing this issue. They base their methods on data dependence, a fundamental compiler analysis tool for optimizing programs on high-performance microprocessors and parallel architectures. Allen and Kennedy provide a broad introduction to data dependence, the many transformation strategies it supports , and its application to optimization problems. They apply their techniques to several languages, including Fortran 77, C, hardware description languages, Fortran 90, and High-Performance Fortran. Worked examples demonstrate each compiled transformation , while two case-study compilers implement the theories described in each chapter. S ecure Communicating Systems: Design, Analysis, and Implementation , Michael R.A. Huth. Increasingly , computer professionals must deal with the use, maintenance, or cus-tomization of cryptographic components and certification mechanisms for local or mobile code. Huth explores the essentials of cryptographic systems , security protocols, and secure information flow in programs. Moving beyond this standard material , the author describes NIST's advanced encryption standard, an optimal public-key encryption using RSA that supports semantic security through a theoretical analysis conducted in the random oracle model, a formal method for specifying and debugging security protocols, and other timely topics. Intended for advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students, this text also contains many implementation projects and a proof of primitive roots for prime powers. Huth also examines the moral, legal, and political ramifications of cryptology. and Safwat Zaky. In this updated, first-level electrical, computer engineering, and computer science text, the authors present key computer architectural concepts drawn from commercially successful computers. The first eight chapters cover computer organization, operation, and performance. The remaining four deal with embedded systems , peripheral devices, processor-family evolution patterns, and large computer systems. Hamacher and colleagues use the Motorola 68000, Intel Pentium, and ARM RISC processors to provide detailed examples early in the book. These examples demonstrate how to implement basic concepts in reduced-instruction-set and complex-instruction set computing design styles, making it easier for students to write simple programs. Mutation Testing for the New Century, W. Eric Wong, ed. Mutation testing— based upon applying a mutation operator that seeds the test implementation with a fault, then determining whether testing identifies this fault—has drawn the attention of developers …


Most drug responses are determined by the interplay of several gene products that influence pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, i.e., drug metabolizing enzymes, drug transporters, and drug targets. With the sequencing of the human genome, it has been estimated that approximately 500-1200 genes code for drug transporters. Concerning the effects of genetic polymorphisms on pharmacotherapy, the best characterized drug transporter is the multidrug resistant transporter P-glycoprotein/MDR1, the gene product of MDR1. Little such information is available on other drug transporters. MDR1 is a glycosylated membrane protein of 170 kDa, belonging to the ATP-binding cassette superfamily, and is expressed mainly in intestines, liver, kidneys and brain. A number of various types of structurally unrelated drugs are substrates for MDR1, and their intestinal absorption, hepatobiliary secretion, renal secretion and brain transport are regulated by MDR1. The first investigation on the effects of MDR1 genotypes on pharmacotherapy was reported in 2000: a silent single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), C3435T in exon 26, was found to be associated with the duodenal expression of MDR1, and thereby the plasma concentration of digoxin after oral administration. At present, a total of 28 SNPs have been found at 27 positions on the MDR1 gene. Clinical investigations on the association of MDR1 genotypes with the expression and function of MDR1 in tissues, and with pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics have mainly focused on C3435T; however, there are still discrepancies in the results, suggesting that the haplotype of the gene should be analyzed instead of a SNP. C3435T is also reported to be a risk factor for a certain class of diseases including the inflammatory bowel diseases, Parkinson's disease and renal epithelial tumor, and this also might be explained by the effects on MDR1 expression and function. In this review, the latest reports on the effects of genetic polymorphisms of MDR1 on pharmacotherapy are summarized, and the pharmacogenetics of other transporters is briefly introduced.


An adaptive medium-access control (MAC) protocol for heterogeneous networks with finite population is proposed. Referred to as the multiqueue service room (MQSR) protocol, this scheme is capable of handling users with different quality-of-service (QoS) constraints. By exploiting the multipacket reception (MPR) capability, the MQSR protocol adaptively grants access to the MPR channel to a number of users such that the expected number of successfully received packets is maximized in each slot. The optimal access protocol avoids unnecessary empty slots for light traffic and excessive collisions for heavy traffic. It has superior throughput and delay performance as compared to, for example, the slotted ALOHA with the optimal retransmission probability. This protocol can be applied to random-access networks with multimedia traffic.


This paper describes how Rhetorical Structure Theory (RST) and relational propositions can be used to define a method for rendering and analyzing texts as expressions in propositional logic.  Relational propositions, the implicit assertions that correspond to RST relations, are defined using standard logical operators and rules of inference.  The resulting logical forms are used to construct logical expressions that map to RST tree structures.  The resulting expressions show that inference is pervasive within coherent texts.  To support reasoning over these expressions, a set of rules for negation is defined.  The logical forms and their negation rules can be used to examine the flow of reasoning and the effects of incoherence.  Because there is a correspondence between logical coherence and the functional relationships of RST, an RST analysis that cannot pass the test of logic is indicative either of a problematic analysis or of an incoherent text.  The result is a method for analyzing the logic implicit within discursive reasoning.


Following a request from the European Food Safety Authority, the Panel on Plant Protection Products and their Residues developed an opinion on the science to support the development of a risk assessment scheme of plant (crop) protection products on non-target terrestrial plants (NTTPs). This scientific opinion is largely a literature review on the most up-to-date knowledge of factors influencing phytotoxicity testing and risk assessment of NTTPs. Specific protection goals (SPGs) were defined for off-field, in-field and endangered species. SPGs are closely linked to ecosystem services and functions, and include maintaining provision of water regulation, food web support, aesthetic values, genetic resources and biodiversity. Gaps were identified in standard guidelines currently used in lower tier testing (tier I/II). In these guidelines, tests are conducted at the seedling/juvenile stage using mostly annual crops, and effects are recorded at the juvenile/vegetative stage under greenhouse conditions with plants grown individually or in monoculture. Endpoints measured do not include the overall effect on the whole life cycle (germinating seeds, seedling, juvenile stages, flowering, and seed production and germinability). It is also noted that it is unknown whether the following groups of organisms are covered by the plant risk assessment as it is carried out now: ferns, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, horsetails, lichens or woody species. In terms of exposure, droplet drift is considered to be the most important factor for off-field emissions to non-target areas. Models are available to calculate loadings from spray drift. Higher tier assessment is not required if the risk based on the tier II level can be managed by risk mitigation measures. When required, higher tier tests should be conducted under more realistic conditions. They may include additional laboratory/greenhouse tests (e.g. to measure reproductive endpoints or species interactions), microcosms or field experiments with experimentally or already established species. Other issues were considered, including exposure to mixtures, adjuvants, co-formulants and metabolites. Recommendations for the improvement of current guidelines and the elaboration of new guidelines and risk assessment schemes are provided.


This paper details the design, implementation, simulation, and testing of the Smart Radio Channel Change Protocol (CCP), a primary user avoidance technique for dynamic spectrum sharing cognitive radios in wireless communication networks. The CCP enables a digital cognitive radio to detect the presence of legacy analog or digital radios, and to facilitate channel-change procedures to use an alternate, vacant block of spectrum. This allows primary and secondary users to co-exist in the same band with minimal interference and reductions in quality of service (QoS). The CCP also provides an advantage to other systems' frequency management schemes in terms of simplicity of design and execution. We evaluate the CCP's performance through OMNeT++ simulations and experiments in a five node laboratory network testbed. We present our results in terms of the CCP's ability to detect and avoid the primary user and record its improvement to user QoS.


Five sediment cores from cold seeps at the forearc off Costa Rica were used to explore the relationship between fluid advection, dissolved Ca concentrations in upward migrating fluids, and authigenic CaCO3 precipitation. A numerical transport‐reaction model was used to determine rates of anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM), CaCO3 precipitation, and benthic fluxes of solutes. Production of carbonate alkalinity and formation of authigenic carbonates is most intense at intermediate flow rates (3–40 cm a−1) and reduced under low and high flux conditions (0.1 and 200 cm a−1). Dissolved Ca concentrations observed in the vent fluids off Costa Rica cover a wide range between 4 and 31 mM, clearly exceeding seawater concentrations at two locations. Systematic model runs showed that high Ca concentrations in ascending fluids enhance the rate of authigenic carbonate production at moderate flow rates leading to an almost quantitative fixation of deeply derived Ca in authigenic carbonates. Hence, CaCO3 precipitation is not only controlled by Ca diffusing into the sediment from bottom water, but also by the Ca concentration in ascending fluids. Thus, Ca enriched fluids offer a reason for enhanced subsurface CaCO3 precipitation and the occurrence of carbonate caps on dewatering structures in the Central American fore‐arc. Based on average precipitation rates deduced from the systematic model runs it is possible to give a rough estimate of the global Ca‐fixation at cold seeps (∼2·1010 mol Ca a−1), which suggests that cold seeps are most likely not of key importance with respect to Ca cycling in the ocean.


The purpose of this paper is to outline the core components of a practical navigation system which uses a novel technique for spatial representation in a commercial entertainment product. This paper is based upon the navigation system developed for The World of Zoo (WOZ) by Blue Fang Games, LLC and published by THQ. WOZ placed the following requirement on our in game agents (which are animals, such as tigers and penguins): depending on the animals species they were required to locomote across land, water, exhibit the ability to climb and eventually to fly – all in a seamless manner. Animal locomotion in WOZ is driven by accumulating the root motion of multiple blended animations; this required a unique approach to the spatial representation of our environments. The system needed not only to take into account the defacto static environments that were created by the level designers, but also the dynamic structures that the animals use (depending on the players interactions at that particular moment). There was also the extra challenge of developing a system that was as straightforward as possible for level designers to work within. As Anthony J.D' Angelo so succinctly stated, "Don't reinvent the wheel. Just realign it." It is with this sage advice in mind that we reevaluated traditional navigable representations, in conjunction with how our animals should move through their environments. As important as the navigation framework was to the development of WOZ, the way the thought processes developed preceding the implementation is also of interest; as the re-understanding of what navigation is composed of (in virtually any environment) guided our decisions through the design and implementation stages.


Multi-channel self-steering microphone arrays for hearing aid applications enable the hearing impaired user to follow conversations coming from other directions than the front direction. Binaural connections between left and right hearing aids allow for (i) the estimation of the direction of arrival (DOA) and thus for automatic beam-steering, (ii) a higher noise reduction due to a greater number of sensors, and (iii) the preservation or reconstruction of binaural cues that can be used by the hearing impaired listener for object segregation. Since the microphones are placed near the human head, diffraction and shadowing effects have to be incorporated into the beamformer design as well as into the DOA estimator. In this contribution a combined system of DOA estimation and a head-worn 6-channel binaural noise reduction scheme is presented and evaluated using perceptual measures that are based on auditory models.


Gas within the intracranial cavity (pneumocephalus) commonly results from trauma or after surgery and rarely from infection by gas-forming organisms. The presence of pneumocephalus in the absence of injury or surgery should raise the suspicion of anaerobic infection of the central nervous system. I present a case of pneumocephalus associated with Bacteroides fragilis meningitis where the diagnosis was suspected after CT findings become available. Bacteroides fragilis meningitis is rare and often occurs in premature infants and neonates; only few cases are reported in adults. Pneumocephalus associated with Bacteroides fragilis meningitis is not described in the literature. This case also illustrates the absence of classic findings of meningeal irritation in the elderly. The literature is reviewed.


: To make a differential diagnosis, 274 patients were followed up. Of them 68 patients were further found to have urinary tuberculosis that was verified by hypodermic tuberculin test, 15 patients underwent tuberculin diagnosis without special preparation, and 20 required type 1 ex juvantibus therapy. Challenge treatment with low-spectrum antituberculous agents in usual doses for 2 months confirmed the diagnosis in 3 patients and excluded it in other 3.


Sewing process is one of the most important stages in labor intensive ready-made clothing enterprises. Quality faults occurring during this process adversely affect the product quality and product efficiency, and also increase the production cost. The aim of this study is to investigate whether the knitwear production process is under control in a knitwear production enterprise and to detect the processes with highest rates of sewing faults in sewing department and finally to make suggestions for improving the quality control. Among the Statistical Process Control methods; control list, product control chart were used in the study. "Product control chart" was used to test whether the production process is controlled in the enterprise. Furthermore, the statistical methods were employed to determine the issues that need to be done in the improvement efforts and to detect the relations between the process groups supposedly effective on faults occurring in knitwear production and the amount of faults. Also, the processes with highest amounts of sewing faults and the effects of these processes on fault rates were investigated. As a result, it was concluded that the production process was statistically not under control in the ready-made clothing enterprise. In addition, this study demonstrated that the investigation of each process group by drawing their product control charts would make significant contributions to foresee the results and prepare more effective the improvement plans.


Carboxyheme and metheme states modulate hemostasis in humans and other species. Further, carbon monoxide and/or nitric oxide production increase in inflammatory disorders involving the gastrointestinal tract, with associated hypercoagulability or hypocoagulability. In particular, the horse suffers both thrombotic or coagulopathic complications during acute gastrointestinal disease. This investigation characterized the thrombelastographic response to carboxyheme (via CORM-2) or metheme (via phenylhydroxylamine, PHA) states without/with addition of tissue type plasminogen activator. Citrated plasma was obtained from 14 normal mares and three horses with enteritis. In normal horses, a carboxyheme state did not enhance the velocity of clot growth and minimally enhanced clot strength (9%). In contrast, a metheme state was associated with a decrease in the velocity of clot formation (54%) and clot strength (47%). During fibrinolysis, a carboxyheme state significantly decreased the onset (113%) and velocity (27%) of fibrinolysis; however, in contrast, a metheme state more markedly increased the onset (84%) and velocity (133%) of fibrinolysis. These data support a carbon monoxide-dominant modulation of hemostasis in normal horses. In contrast, an increase in the severity of acute gastrointestinal disease was associated with a likely nitric oxide-mediated, metheme state-induced hypocoagulable/hyperfibrinolytic state. Additional investigation is warranted to determine the role played by carbon monoxide and nitric oxide in equine thrombotic and coagulopathic disease.


Isoxazole is a five membered heterocyclic compound having various pharmacological actions. The great interest associated with isoxazoles and their derivatives is based on their versatility as synthetic building blocks, their latent functionalities as enaminones, 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds, γ-amino alcohols, and β-hydroxy nitriles have been widely exploited for the synthesis of other heterocycles and complex molecules. This review paper comprises of up to date information on isoxazole analogs. More emphasis was given to critical discussion on the synthetic strategy of isoxazole derivative, their utility as building blocks in their transformation to more biologically potent molecules. Results of isoxazole derivatives and their substitutions effect on diverse biological activities also presented.


This work targets the emerging use of software component technology for high-performance scientific parallel and distributed computing. While component software engineering will benefit the construction of complex science applications, its use presents several challenges to performance optimization. A component application is composed of a set of components, thus, application performance depends on the interaction (possibly non-linear) of the component set. Furthermore, a component is a "binary unit of composition" and the only information users have is the interface the component provides to the outside world. An interface for component performance measurement and query is presented to address optimization issues. We describe the performance component design and an example demonstrating its use for runtime performance tuning.


The projected increase in world population and therefore demand for food in the foreseeable future pose some risks on how secure is the food production system today. Millions of people are threatened by malnutrition, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), diabetes, and obesity. This is a multidimensional challenge: the production of food needs to be increased but also the quality of food needs to be improved so less people suffer from undernourishment and CVDs. This hypothesis paper addresses this problem by critically evaluating recent developments on the role of food components against CVDs, presenting recent insights for assessing the nutritional value of food and suggesting novel approaches toward the sustainable production of food that would, in turn, lead to increased food security. The issue of the sustainability of lipid sources and genetically modified crops is also discussed from a food security point of view.


Power electronics is expected to become a major component in the field of the global electric power management, as it is already today within most of electric power applications like variable speed drives or other conventional user applications. From the end of the sixties, up to the beginning of the 21st century, high power electronic converters have been used more and more for many usages connected to the grid, from the reactive power compensation to the long distance transmission lines. More recent examples have shown a large potential of new flexible management systems like UPFC's, or other flexible AC transmission systems. The paper presents the actual state of the art of the use of large power electronic converters within the grid interconnection, and for different fast growing new techniques of decentralized generation and within the context of the integration of renewable energy sources. Dedicated DC grids for energy collection from multiple medium size generators or for electric energy distribution are intended to play a major role in the future, as other new flexible structures based on the use of MF transformations.


Traceability systems have become a dominant component within the production and marketing companies as they can efficiently control the supply chain, minimize the risks of the production process, and help to enhance the consumer/customer reliability on products. Moreover, such systems can be used to meet the requirements of government rules and regulations about safety of the products. The potential of traceability systems to reap multifaceted benefits have been identified by many research works for many years but the apparent anomaly that these business industries do not still feel traceability systems as a catalyst for financial gains inhibits the practical deployment of tractability systems. Moreover, most of such systems could be traced the characteristics of one process or one location. But today, to get the cost benefits, final product may be a collection of intermediate sub products, produced and process in different locations. Efficient system of tracing such types of supply chain and processes are still a challenging issue. This paper we first review the currently available traceability systems and analyze the effectiveness, limitations practical problems of implementation. Most of these systems are less cost effectiveness, lack of accuracy and also lack of technological knowledge of the staff. We focus on a supply chain which has several sub processes and then we focus on the limitations and problems and introduce a traceability system by combination of horizontal and vertical traceability systems. Further, we are going to implement our system with a sales and marketing company business model. Our system mainly addresses the cost effectiveness, accuracy, user friendliness, preciseness and security. Further more, we have planned to implement this system in three phases.


Known only as the "Ex-Colored Man," the protagonist in Johnson's novel is forced to choose between celebrating his African American heritage or "passing" as an average white man in a post-Reconstruction America that is rapidly changing. This Norton Critical Edition is based on the 1912 text. It is accompanied by a detailed introduction, explanatory footnotes, and a note on the text. The appendices that follow the novel include materials available in no other edition: manuscript drafts of the final chapters, including the original lynching scene (chapter 10, ca. 1910) and the original ending (chapter 11, ca. 1908). An unusually rich selection of "Backgrounds and Sources" focuses on Johnson's life; the autobiographical inspirations for The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man; the cultural history of the era in which Johnson lived and wrote; the noteworthy reception history for the 1912, 1927, and 1948 editions; and related writings by Johnson. In addition to Johnson, contributors include Eugene Levy, W. E. B. Du Bois, Carl Van Vechten, Blanche W. Knopf, and Victor Weybright among others. The four critical essays and interpretations in this volume speak to The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man's major themes, among them irony, authorship, passing, and parody. Assessments are provided by Robert B. Stepto, M. Giulia Fabi, Siobhan B. Somerville, and Christina L. Ruotolo. A chronology of Johnson's life and work and a selected bibliography are also included, as well as six images.