Due to technological improvements made during the last decade, bipedal robots today present a surprisingly high level of humanoid skill. Autonomy, with respect to the processing of information, is realized to a relatively high degree. What is mainly lacking in robotics, moving from purely anthropomorphic robots to 'anthropofunctional' machines, is energetic autonomy. In a previously published analysis, we showed that closer attention to the functional morphology of human walking could give robotic engineers the experiences of an at least 6 Myr beta test period on minimization of power requirements for biped locomotion. From our point of view, there are two main features that facilitate sustained walking in modern humans. The first main feature is the existence of 'energetically optimal velocities' provided by the systematic use of various resonance mechanisms: (a) suspended pendula (involving arms as well as legs in the swing phase of the gait cycle) and matching of the pendular length of the upper and lower limbs; (b) inverted pendula (involving the legs in the stance phase), driven by torsional springs around the ankle joints; and (c) torsional springs in the trunk. The second main feature is compensation for undesirable torques induced by the inertial properties of the swinging extremities: (a) mass distribution in the trunk characterized by maximized mass moments of inertia; (b) lever arms of joint forces at the hip and shoulder, which are inversely proportional to their amplitude; and (c) twisting of the trunk, especially torsion. Our qualitative conclusions are three-fold. (1) Human walking is an interplay between masses, gravity and elasticity, which is modulated by musculature. Rigid body mechanics is insufficient to describe human walking. Thus anthropomorphic robots completely following the rules of rigid body mechanics cannot be functionally humanoid. (2) Humans are vertebrates. Thus, anthropomorphic robots that do not use the trunk for purposes of motion are not truly humanoid. (3) The occurrence of a waist, especially characteristic of humans, implies the existence of rotations between the upper trunk (head, neck, pectoral girdle and thorax) and the lower trunk (pelvic girdle) via an elastic joint (spine, paravertebral and abdominal musculature). A torsional twist around longitudinal axes seems to be the most important.


The power clean is a component of the clean and jerk Olympic lift and is also commonly utilised in training programs for several sports. Few studies have explored electromyographical (EMG) activation of the major muscles used during this exercise. The aim of the present study was to examine muscle activation during the power clean for the following muscles: gastrocnemius (GS), vastus lateralis (VL), transversus abdominis (TA), multifidus (MU), erector spinae (ES) and trapezius (TR). Eight experienced lifters performed five maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) exercises followed by three sets of three power clean repetitions at 70%, 80% and 90% 1RM. There was a significant increase with load for peak EMG of ES and GS and mean EMG of GS and VL. This suggests that athletes targeting the ES, GS and VL in their strength training could potentially benefit by increasing intensity from 70 to 90%. There was no evidence to suggest that this intensity increase benefits the TA and MU muscles. The power clean produced significantly higher peak values than the MVC exercises for the MU and ES muscles, suggesting that it could be used as both a strength training exercise for these muscles and an MVC exercise in future studies.


At present, the dynamic analysis for non-stationary stochastic noise of ceramic paste inner stress is a difficult problem because a non-stationary stochastic noise has a time variant model and dynamic characteristics. In this paper, dynamic analysis ability of Short Time Power Spectrum (STPS) was systematically studied and improved in accordance with theoretical research and simulation analysis. The pressure signals between ceramic paste and head inwall of vacuum pug mill were studied so as to obtain the distribution of the ceramic paste inner stress. Experiments about the pressure signals had been carried out to verify the research result. Theoretical analysis and experimental result shows that: STPS with filtering performs well in analyzing non-stationary stochastic noise of ceramic paste inner stress in mutation situation.


This paper focuses on the islanded operation of microgrids. In this mode of operation, the microsources are required to cooperate autonomously to regulate the local grid voltage and frequency. Droop control is typically used to achieve this autonomous voltage and frequency regulation. However, droop control has real and reactive power sharing limitations when there are mismatches between the microsources. This paper analyses the effect due to mismatches in the power line impedances connecting the source inverters to the microgrid. From the simulations results obtained, it was shown that the reactive power demand is unequally shared between the microsource inverters when there are mismatches between the power line impedances. To achieve equal reactive power sharing between the inverters, an external loop requiring low bandwidth communications was implemented in a central controller. Simulation results are presented showing the feasibility of the proposed solution in achieving reactive power sharing between the inverters connected to the microgrid.


BACKGROUND
Although the conservation management of breast cancer has become a routine method of treatment in most centers, there is still considerable controversy surrounding the ultimate minimum treatment required for node-negative breast cancer to achieve adequate local control.

PURPOSE
Our purpose was to assess the value of breast irradiation in reducing breast relapse following conservation surgery for node-negative breast cancer. We attempted to define low-risk groups of women for breast and distant site relapse (i.e., recurrence outside the breast) who might be spared breast irradiation or adjuvant systemic therapy.

METHODS
Eight hundred thirty-seven patients were randomly assigned to receive radiation therapy or no radiation therapy following lumpectomy and axillary dissection for node-negative breast cancer.

RESULTS
Breast irradiation reduced relapse in the breast from 25.7% in the controls to 5.5% in the irradiated patients. There was no difference in survival between the two groups (median follow-up, 43 months). A low-risk group (less than 5% chance of relapse in the breast without irradiation) could not be defined. Tumor size (greater than 2 cm), age (less than 40 years), and poor nuclear grade were important predictors for breast relapse. Age (less than 50 years) and poor nuclear grade were important predictors for mortality. The presence of ductal carcinoma in situ did not predict breast relapse.

CONCLUSIONS
Breast irradiation significantly reduces breast relapse, but it does not influence survival. Important predictors of breast relapse are age, tumor size, and nuclear grade, but not the presence of ductal carcinoma in situ. Age and, in particular, nuclear grade predict survival.

IMPLICATIONS
Further follow-up may define an acceptable low-risk group for breast relapse. Until then, we recommend that all patients receive breast irradiation. Systemic adjuvant therapy should be considered for patients with poor nuclear grade tumors.


With the development of virtualization technology, file protection in virtual machine, especially in guest OS, becomes more and more important. Traditional host-based file protection system resides the critical modules in monitored system, which is easily explored and destroyed by malwares. Moreover, in order to protect the multiple operation systems running on the same platform, it is necessary to install independent file protection system for each of them, which greatly wastes computing resources and brings serious performance overhead. In this paper, a novel VM-based real-time file protection system, named VRFPS, is proposed to solve these problems. First, virtual machine monitor introspects all file operations of guest OS. Then, semantic gap between disk block and logic files is narrowed by blktap. Finally, a virtual sandbox is implemented in privileged domain to prevent protected files in guest domain from modifying illegally. Our approach is highly isolated, transparent and without modification on virtual machine monitor and guest OS. The experimental results show that the presented system is validate and of low performance overhead.


AIM
To determine the association of gap junction protein alpha 3 (GJA3) gene tag single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with susceptibility to age-related cataract (ARC).

METHODS
In total, 486 ARC patients were matched with 500 healthy controls. All the participants underwent complete ophthalmic examinations. Haplotype-tagging SNPs of GJA3 gene were selected from the HapMap Beijing Han Chinese population. Genomic DNA was extracted from the peripheral blood leukocytes of all the subjects. Under three different genetic models: dominant, recessive, and additive, the association between SNPs and ARC was examined. After adjusting for age and sex, the genetic effects of the GJA3 SNPs were evaluated with logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS
Four tag GJA3 SNPs (rs6490519, rs9506430, rs9509053, and rs9552089) were included in the present study. None of the SNPs showed a significant relationship with an altered risk of total ARC under the dominant, recessive, or additive models. In the subgroup analysis, rs9506430 had a significant effect on the formation of a posterior subcapsular cataract (P=0.002, OR: 0.227, 95%CI: 0.088-0.590) under the recessive model.

CONCLUSION
Our study indicates that GJA3 variants may influence the development of posterior subcapsular cataracts. Further studies need to be designed to confirm this possibility.


The dielectric parameter, in the generalised Debye form, of all studied substances (Cole and Cole, 1941) contains a rational power of the imaginary frequency which implies that the index of refraction is a multivalued function of the frequency; the same property, concerning the stress strain relation, also applies to anelastic media (Bagley and Torvik, 1983a,b). The multivalued index of refraction implies then that the free modes of dielectric and anelastic media are split into a number of modes which depend on the exponent of the imaginary frequency. In order to estimate if it is possible to observe this splitting, this note computes the parameters appearing in the generalised Debye form of the dielectric parameters of many substances and also the complex anelastic parameter of an anelastic medium. The analysis of the data indicates that, depending on the accuracy of the experimental data, with few exceptions, the splitting is observable.


Aims: To evaluate the effect of two disinfecting solutions (povidone iodine 10%, ethanol alcohol 100%) on the surface roughness and surface hardness of nylon denture base material. Materials and Method : 40 sample of valplast material were constructed with dimensions of (65mm,10mm,2.5mm) length ,width and thickness respectively. (10) samples were used to measure the surface roughness before and after soaking in (ethanol material 100%) for 5 min., (10) samples were used to measure the surface hardness before and after soaking in (ethanol alcohol 100%) for 5 min., other 20 samples have been used in the same way as the 1st 20 but with iodine disinfectant. Results: Descriptive statistics for indentation hardness of valplast in ethanol and iodine indicate there is no significant difference for each one (P=0.3, P=0.7 respectively).T-test indicate there is no significant difference between them (P=0.3).Descriptive statistics for surface roughness in ethanol indicate there is an increase but it is not significant (P=0.2), while for iodine there is a decrease also it is not significant (P=0.1).T-test indicate no significant difference between them(P=0.07). Conclusion: Hardness of nylon denture base material increased by immersing in each of the ethanol and iodine but their increase is not significant (within 5 min.). Surface Roughness of nylon denture base material increases by immersing in ethanol alcohol while it decreases by immersing in iodine, this increase or decrease is not significant (within 5 min.).


When a firm requires funds for financing operations, managers face several alternatives. Managers may raise funds through the public markets or the private sector. They may issue equity, debt, or a mix of equity and debt. The type of security issued, size of the offering, and the timing and pricing of the issue represent additional options for firm managers. Mangers must consider the costs and benefits for the firm related to each alternative. Influencing the assessment of the costs and benefits are the incentives of the managers, which may or may not align with those of the firm's other stakeholders. This dissertation addresses the decision making process of firm managers when faced with raising funds for firm operations. I examine three broad corporate finance issues by employing a comprehensive hand-collected dataset of firms issuing common stock purchase warrants. These securities, which provide holders the option of buying shares of stock in the issuing firm for an exercise price, possess features that allow me to evaluate research questions related to corporate governance, ownership and liquidity, and the market for corporate control.


Abstract. With underwater photogrammetric mapping becoming more prominent due to the lower costs for waterproof cameras as well as lower costs for underwater platforms, the aim of this research is to investigate chromatic aberration in underwater environments. Chromatic aberration in in-air applications is to be known to systematically influence the observations of up to a few pixels. In order to achieve pixel-level positioning accuracy, this systematic influence needs further investigation. However, while chromatic aberration studies have been performed for in-air environments, there is a lack of research to quantify the influence of chromatic aberration in underwater environments. Using images captured in a water tank from three different GoPro cameras in five datasets, we investigate possible chromatic aberration by running two different adjustments on the extracted red (R), green (G) and blue (B) bands. The first adjustment is an adjustment that calculates the interior orientation parameters for each set of images independently in a free network adjustment. The second adjustment solves for all interior orientation parameters (for R, G, and B channels) in a combined adjustment per camera, constraining the point observations in object space. We were able to quantify significant chromatic aberrations in our evaluation, with the largest aberrations observed for red band followed by green and blue.


An acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is the most ominous manifestation of coronary artery disease (CAD). The burden of ACS and its impact are striking. Cardiovascular disease is now the most common cause of mortality worldwide, and among cardiovascular deaths, the majority are attributable to CAD.1 As a result, although CAD in general is a major global public health concern, ACS is particularly worrisome because it is both prevalent but at the same time portends a poor prognosis. Although advanced therapies may alleviate ACS-related morbidity and mortality in well-served communities located in affluent countries, many persons in less-fortunate situations living in low- and middle-income countries remain exposed to the ravages of this disease.

Despite this outlook, rapid progress is being made in understanding the pathology, in prevention, and in treatment of ACS. As readers will find even by perusing the headings of the articles in this ACS Compendium, there is much to be optimistic about. As Editors of this ACS Compendium, we are privileged to have played a small role in helping to provide the framework for the esteemed authorship groups to leverage their collective expertise and provide for us a definitive overall review of ACS. In working with these world-renown scientists and clinicians on this collection of ACS articles, which also included a cadre of expert reviewers (to who we are especially thankful), we found ourselves in the enviable position of being privy to a deeply insightful, cutting-edge, and forward-looking appraisal of the current state-of-the-science for ACS. Although this fund of knowledge is clearly set out in the articles that follow, several unexpected points arose from these interactions. The most obvious, somewhat surprisingly, was the question of what exactly is an ACS?

The term ACS appeared relatively recently in the medical lexicon. A simple search in PubMed reveals that …


Technological advances in synthesis and preparation of aerogels have resulted in formulations that have the mechanical integrity (while retaining flexibility) to be utilized in a broad range of applications and have overcome the initial brittleness that this class of materials was once known for. Both structural and functional aerogels show a drop in performance when subjected to certain cyclic thermal or impact loading due to the wear and formation of cracks, which reduces their lifespan. Here we present the proof-of-concept of a computational toolset that connects the change in thermal profile to structural failure and degradation. In combination with an appropriate finite element (FEM) solver, we have developed a genetic algorithm that can reconstruct the size and shape of the defective region in silica aerogels given the temperatures from a sensor grid. Results show that a heatmap can be used as the foundation for reconstructing faults and defects in thermally insulating materials. Furthermore, the model developed in this study can be expanded to accommodate other material types. Experimental setup can used to benchmark and refine the computational toolset.


Abstract:Historical institutionalism has demonstrated the value of close analysis of policymaking to illuminate the relationship between institutional change and policy outcomes. This article emphasises the importance of the institutional setting in which state agencies in an authoritarian regime shape the agenda for choice, resolve disagreements and implement decisions. It outlines a model of policymaking and policy implementation in the sphere of labour relations in China by examining these three issue areas: enforcement of labour contract legislation, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and pension reform. In all three, policymaking reflects the interaction of state entities, with minimal participation by non-state actors. However, in China, more than in other post-communist countries, political authority is dispersed across state bodies with overlapping responsibilities and levels of the administrative hierarchy. As a result, new policy initiatives tend to be "layered" on top of older ones rather than displacing them, and implementation tends to be hampered by jurisdictional competition and diverging bureaucratic policy preferences. This pattern helps account for the pattern of incremental change and weak implementation.


Three children with ceroid-lipofuscinosis and their mother wer investigated fluorescein angiographically and electrophysiologically after definitive diagnosis of the oldest child had been made from a brain biopsy specimen studied biochemically, histopathologically, and ultrastructurally. The diagnostic features of the two classes of familial amaurotic idiocy (the gangliosidoses and the ceroidlipofuscinoses) are reviewed with emphasis on the importance of the fundus picture and fluorescein angiographic study in differentiating the two classes of disease and in identifying affected siblings.


Processes of educational decentralisation often arise in the development of institutional autonomy. Through this, a contextualisation of education is sought as well as a greater involvement of its key players. School autonomy has been developing since 1985, when school boards were established and they had to select principals and school managers. Although legislative changes have continued to occur, there has been little progress in curricular autonomy, and the development of organisational and economic-administrative autonomy continues to be a challenge in the Spanish context. The autonomous community management model that has been set up is linked to the choice of principals for a short time. Although the Autonomous Community of Catalonia has developed a more professional proposal, including prior training and presentation of management projects, it certainly continues to be a malfunction in the education system and a cause for constant controversy. This text reviews the creation and development of the proposals that have been made on autonomy and management in the Spanish context.


230 kV optical voltage transducers were constructed and tested. These transducers use three electric field sensors whose positions and outputs are selected and combined, respectively, in accordance with the quadrature method to obtain a voltage measurement. They meet IEC 0.2% class specifications and maintain 0.2% class accuracies even in the presence of electric field disturbances caused by local changes in geometry extemal to the transducer. The local changes in geometry used in the testing mimic those that may occur in a substation, e.g., installation or movement of equipment.


. The joint impacts of electro-osmotic, variable viscosity, magnetic field, chemical reaction, and porosity on blood flow in the artery slant from the axis at an angle with mild stenosis are investigated using Yang transform homotopy perturbation method (YTHPM). The mathematical model, solved by Tripathi and Sharma, is developed by adding the effect of electro-osmosis. The results of axial velocity, concentration, temperature, and the wall shear stress for blood flow are studied in two cases, the absence and presence of electro-osmosis. The results illustrate that an increase in the electro-osmotic parameter and Helmholtz Smoluchowski velocity leads to velocity increases, while the temperature increases when the Joule heating increases with constant values of electro-osmotic parameter and Helmholtz Smoluchowski velocity. On the contrary, it is noted that the electro-osmotic on concentration has no significant effect. Moreover, the importance of applying electro-osmotic is exhibited through proper use and explaining that how it can benefit physicians during surgical operations. Furthermore, a contour plot is created to show the difference in the profile of velocity to the flow of blood when the magnetic field is increased and the altitude of stenosis takes the larger values. The results exhibit that YTHPM is effective in finding the analytical approximate solutions for Newtonian blood flow under the electro-osmotic parameter influence, with good convergence. In addition, the new solutions' graphs demonstrate the truthfulness, utility, and exigency of YTHPM which are in excellent agreement with the results of earlier investigations.


Socio-economic and political turmoil in Indonesia has had an impact on the country's thirty years of progress in social development. However, it has also opened up new avenues for participation and region-specific policy formulation alongside growing demand for new approaches to the monitoring and analysis of social change. This paper examines the Family-in-Focus Approach - a comprehensive lifespan-based concept of human development. This joint initiative from UNICEF, the Government of Indonesia and others, sees families as participants in development rather than passive recipients of programmes. A family focus in the planning of multi-sectoral interventions could ensure better targeting, while building capacity for analysis at Governmental and institutional levels.


We analyze the behavior of the parsec-scale jet of the quasar 3C 454.3 during pronounced flaring in 2005–2008. Three major disturbances propagated down the jet along different trajectories with Lorentz factors Γ > 10. The disturbances show a clear connection with millimeter-wave outbursts, in 2005 May/June, 2007 July, and 2007 December. High-amplitude optical events in the R-band light curve precede peaks of the millimeter-wave outbursts by 15–50 days. Each optical outburst is accompanied by an increase in X-ray activity. We associate the optical outbursts with propagation of the superluminal knots and derive the location of sites of energy dissipation in the form of radiation. The most prominent and long lasting of these, in 2005 May, occurred closer to the black hole, while the outbursts with a shorter duration in 2005 autumn and in 2007 might be connected with the passage of a disturbance through the millimeter-wave core of the jet. The optical outbursts, which coincide with the passage of superluminal radio knots through the core, are accompanied by systematic rotation of the position angle of optical linear polarization. Such rotation appears to be a common feature during the early stages of flares in blazars. We find correlations between optical variations and those at X-ray and γ-ray energies. We conclude that the emergence of a superluminal knot from the core yields a series of optical and high-energy outbursts, and that the millimeter-wave core lies at the end of the jet's acceleration and collimation zone. We infer that the X-ray emission is produced via inverse Compton scattering by relativistic electrons of photons both from within the jet (synchrotron self-Compton) and external to the jet (external Compton, or EC); which one dominates depends on the physical parameters of the jet. A broken power-law model of the γ-ray spectrum reflects a steepening of the synchrotron emission spectrum from near-IR to soft UV wavelengths. We propose that the γ-ray emission is dominated by the EC mechanism, with the sheath of the jet supplying seed photons for γ-ray events that occur near the millimeter-wave core.


ZnO nanostructures were synthesized by a facile wet chemical method using water, ethanol and propanol as solvents. X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) have been used to study the structural properties of the synthesized ZnO nanostructures, while their optical properties have been studied using UV-visible absorption spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activities of the as-synthesized ZnO nanostructures were evaluated by monitoring sunlight driven photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) dyes in water and it was observed that ZnO nanostructures prepared using propanol as a solvent exhibit highly enhanced photocatalytic activity as compared to those prepared using other solvents. The mechanism underlying the photocatalytic activity of ZnO nanostructures towards photocatalytic degradation of dyes is proposed. We attribute the highly enhanced photocatalytic activity of ZnO nanostructures prepared in propanol to the high surface area of nanosheets-like structures formed, which lead to enhanced adsorption of dye molecules resulting in efficient photocatalytic degradation of dyes upon sunlight irradiation. Copyright © 2015 VBRI Press.


We report the spectroscopic confirmation of 22 new multiply lensed sources behind the Hubble Frontier Field (HFF) galaxy cluster MACS~J0416.1$-$2403 (MACS 0416), using archival data from the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) on the VLT. Combining with previous spectroscopic measurements of 15 other multiply imaged sources, we obtain a sample of 102 secure multiple images with measured redshifts, the largest to date in a single strong lensing system. The newly confirmed sources are largely low-luminosity Lyman-$\alpha$ emitters with redshift in the range [3.08-6.15]. With such a large number of secure constraints, and a significantly improved sample of galaxy members in the cluster core, we have improved our previous strong lensing model and obtained a robust determination of the projected total mass distribution of MACS 0416. We find evidence of three cored dark-matter halos, adding to the known complexity of this merging system. The total mass density profile, as well as the sub-halo population, are found in good agreement with previous works. We update and make public the redshift catalog of MACS 0416 from our previous spectroscopic campaign with the new MUSE redshifts. We also release lensing maps (convergence, shear, magnification) in the standard HFF format.


The functional Regulator was developed by Rolf Frankel of Zwickau, Germany in 1966. The Frankel appliance is used to effect changes in sagittal, transverse, and vertical jaw relationships and remove the abnormal muscle forces in the labial and buccal areas that restrict skeletal growth, thereby, providing an environment which maximizes skeletal growth. Four main types of functional regulators have been described by Frankel. They are the FR I, II, III and IV. One of these appliances, the FR-III, is used in the treatment of skeletal Class III malocclusion. This appliance is used during early mixed dentition stage to correct skeletal Class III malocclusion, characterized by maxillary skeletal retrusion and no mandibular prognathism. The correct fabrication of FR-III is required. In order to do it, one must pay attention to the following: mixing the alginate impression material in a thick consistency, optimum vestibular depth, oblique mounting of casts in the vertiiculator, minimum incisal vertical height of construction bite, sufficient working model trimming, rectangular wax relief of the occlusal margin area in the working cast and a palatal bow of 1.2 mm heavy wire. Finally one case is reported.


This paper investigates whether at the interaction between family background and school tracking affects human capital accumulation. Our a priori view is that more tracking should reinforce the role of parental privilege, and thereby reduce equality of opportunity. Compared to the current literature, which focuses on early outcomes, such as test scores at 13 and 15, we look at later outcomes, including literacy, dropout rates, college enrolment, employability and earnings. While we do not confirm previous results that tracking reinforces family background effects on literacy, we do confirm our view when looking at educational attainment and labour market outcomes. When looking at early wages, we find that parental background effects are stronger when tracking starts earlier. We reconcile the apparently contrasting results on literacy, educational attainment and earnings by arguing that the signalling role of formal education – captured by attainment – matters more than actual skills – measured by literacy – in the early stages of labour market experience.


This chapter analyses the regulation of pharmaceuticals in Sweden, with special emphasis on the demonopolization of retail trade in 2009 and the actors and arguments involved in the process. It shows how differences in ideologies and values affect policy outcomes and create different possibilities to organize the market. Furthermore, the chapter discusses the implications of the regulatory changes and looks at how the changes to the organization of Swedish pharmacies have affected ordinary citizens. It is concluded that the regulation of pharmaceuticals has received much political debate in Sweden, but that the issue has nonetheless been hard to resolve. Over time there has been a shift in argumentation from a non-acceptance of profits and an emphasis on safe pharmaceuticals management in the 1970s to the current profit thinking with a view to increasing efficiency, availability and service standards. The Hanner case acted as a catalyst in a period when neither of the political blocs were interested in putting a reformation of pharmacies on the political agenda. The new system has so far improved availability. Expectations of lower prices and greater customer satisfaction have not been met in the same manner.


Kidney function decreases with age and may soon limit millions of lives as the proportion of the population over 70 years of age increases. Glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β) is involved with metabolism and may have a role in kidney senescence, positioning it as a target for complications from chronic kidney disease. However, different studies suggest GSK3 has contrasting effects. In this issue of the JCI, Fang et al. explored the function of GSK3β and the interplay with lithium using human tissue and mouse models. Notably, GSK3β was overexpressed and activated in aging mice, and depleting GSK3β reduced senescence and glomerular aging. In this Commentary, we explore the similarities and differences between Fang et al. and previous findings by Hurcombe et al. These findings should prompt further study of lithium and other GSK3β inhibitors as a means of extending glomerular function in individuals with chronic kidney disease.


We evaluate the interactions in four markets among expert forecasts, futures prices, and realized cash hog prices. Vector autoregression findings indicate a dynamic interaction among futures and cash markets, with some past forecasts affecting cash prices. Contemporaneous causal analysis reveals causation of cash prices by futures prices and by some expert forecasts, and is consistent with the causal ordering of prior-day futures, subsequent forecasts, and cash prices realized one quarter later. Forecast error decompositions indicate expert forecasts are substantially influenced by futures prices, but have more influence on futures and cash hog prices than previously identified.


Educational assessment in the Republic of Korea reflects social and cultural perspectives, as most assessments are considered as a 'gatekeeper' of one's success in life, in terms of entering an elite school or having a better career. This paper presents a profile of the education system, especially focusing on the college entrance examination system in the Republic of Korea, and discusses the washback effect of the high-stake exam, the College Scholastic Ability Test, on stakeholders and the entire society. Furthermore, this paper will discuss the ways to improve the education policy, particularly the college entrance system, with emphasis on implications for future assessment reform from a standardised high-stake test to move towards the formative assessment.


In this paper, we investigate the use of serious gaming as a research tool for design and systems engineering research. Design and systems engineering research produces theories and methods aimed at bettering the engineering process and improving the quality of end products. However, the engineering process is largely human-driven and thus the way in which theories and methods are implemented and used depends greatly on the human element. Serious gaming provides a fully controllable environment in which to test and validate theories and methods against human behavior. To evaluate the viability of serious gaming as a research tool, we construct a game to study the sunk cost effect in the context of a manned Mars mission, and compare game results with results from a survey centered on the scenario. We observe a difference in results between the game and survey; those in the game fall victim to the sunk cost effect despite treatment whereas those in the survey do not fall for the sunk cost effect in a control treatment. We hypothesize that this may be caused by a preference for continued gameplay as opposed to the objectives in the narrative. Therefore, we conclude that gaming, at least in our case, induces behavior that may not be representative of real-world engineer behavior and must be mitigated.Copyright © 2014 by ASME


A novel point absorber wave energy converter with a tuned inertial mass (TIM), which is capable of significantly increasing the energy absorption and broadening the effective bandwidth, is proposed in this paper. The mechanism of the TIM has originally been introduced in the field of civil engineering as a passive energy absorber for structures subjected to external loadings such as earthquakes. It relies on attaching an additional tuning spring and a rotational inertial mass to the primary system, to improve the energy absorption performance by amplifying the displacement of the damper. Thus, considering typical point absorbers modeled as a mass-spring-dashpot system similar way to civil structures, the application of the TIM to wave energy converters can be expected to have a significant effect. In this paper, numerical investigation on the power generation performance of a point absorber with the TIM is conducted under random sea waves. The amplitude response and power generation performance are compared with the conventional point absorber, considering both non-resonant and resonant buoy cases. It is shown that by properly designing the tuning spring stiffness and generator damping, the rotation of the generator can be amplified compared to the buoy, increasing the power absorption drastically.


Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt a certain portion of royalty owner oil production from the windfall profit tax. Limits the amount so exempted per quarter to ten barrels per day. Requires proportionate allocation of any production in excess of ten barrels per day between tier 1 oil, tier 2, and tier 3 oil, and within any tier on the basis of removal prices. Requires allocation of the ten barrel amount among royalty owners who are members of the same related group.


Over the last decade, several investigations have demonstrated a plausible link between surface and near-surface tectonic features and the vertical projection of the Commerce geophysical lineament (CGL), a 5- to 10-km-wide basement magnetic anomaly longer than 600+ km that extends from Arkansas through southeast Missouri and southern Illinois and into Indiana. Structural features interpreted from the Tamms, Illinois high-resolution seismic-reflection survey and supporting microgravity data correlate with anomalous changes in drainage patterns, strikingly linear topographic bluff-front scarps, and the complex faulting and folding of Paleozoic rock.

Post-Devonian displacement associated with the CGL is clearly identified in the Tamms area of southern Illinois. Several imaged faults are traceable to the Paleozoic/Quaternary interface, and, at one site, deformed Quaternary strata may have been faulted upward 5 to 10 m. Based upon the seismic-reflection and microgravity data provided within this paper, we believe that faults associated with the CGL need to be investigated further to determine their potential as hazardous seismic sources outside of the main zones of New Madrid seismicity.


Although there is much research that suggests that alcohol is a causal factor in criminal violence, relatively little is known about the situational factors and management practices that increase the risk o f violence in and around licensed premises.The aim of the present study was to use quantitative methods to clarify the situational and management factors most predictive of violence, and, in particular, to examine the role of intoxication.Visits(N=147) of two hours duration were madeto45siteswithin 36premises in Sydney, AUS in the winter of1991. A totalof102 incidents of aggression were observed,29 (28.4%)involving physical violence. These incidents were concentrated in a small number of premises.A major predictor of physical violence was staff intervention with intoxicated patrons, particularly, refusal of service. Male drunkenness and "drinks in rounds" shouting predicted non-physical aggression more strongly than physical violence,controlling for staff intervention.Prevention strategies should include serious enforcement of legislation prohibiting the sale of alcohol to intoxicated persons, and the use of responsible serving practices in all licensed premises,not just high-risk establishments.Experience from a community intervention program in southeast Queensland highlights the value of a local code of practice for licensed premises,supported by a monitoring committee to encourage: responsible serving and pricing practices; better quality entertainment; and the training of bouncers, bar staff and management in non-violent crowd control techniques.


Brazil's energy options and current outlook are examined, and a summary of known reserves of fossil and renewable energy resources is given. Brazil has abundant renewable energy resources but very modest reserves of fossil fuels. Consequently, the emphasis in the future will have to be on the utilization of solar energy, hydroelectric power, and biomass in a program designed to preserve local traditions and culture.


Advancement of micro‐nanotechnology has accompanied the need for developing new energy sources. Thermopower waves (TWs), which use the combustion of high‐energy‐density fuels surrounding micro‐nanostructured materials, can implement the direct conversion between chemical–thermal–electrical energy on a small scale as a potential energy source for the next‐generation devices. Herein, the enhancement of TWs by the decomposition of sodium nitrate for additional thermal energy and charge suppliers in combustion is reported. The hybrid composites of carbon nanotubes and nitrocellulose with and without NaNO3 crystals are prepared as TWs generators. The thermal energy and electrons supplied through the decomposition of NaNO3 crystals amplify the voltage (≈732 mV at 23.3 Ω electrical resistance) and current by a factor of seven compared to the composite without NaNO3 crystals, while the maximum temperature in combustion is increased by 90 °C. The real‐time analyses of the dynamic change of the internal resistance and current for TWs can elucidate the origin of the enhanced energy generated using the hybrid composites. The advanced TWs obtained by the decomposition of the charge suppliers in this work will contribute to facilitating further development of TW‐based devices and understanding the underlying physics of the interaction between micro‐nanostructured materials and combustion on a small scale.


The population of dimethylsulfide (DMS)-producing bacteria together with the DMS and dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) concentrations were monitored from July 1995 to August 1996 in Tokyo Bay, Japan. The concentration of DMS varied widely in the range from 2 to 130 nM, and the total, dissolved and particulate DMSP concentrations varied from 5 to 220 nM, from below the detection limit to 75 nM, and from 5 to 200 nh4, respectively. The observed particulate DMSP concentration was well explained by the Dh4SP attributable to Dinophyceae, estimated from the species-specific DMSP per cell contents. The population of UMS-producing bactel-ia enumerated by the Most Probable Number method was in the range from 1.6 X 10" to 9.2 X 10' cells ml-' A positive relationship was found between the population of DMS-producing bacteria and the total DMSP concentration in some months, suggesting an important role of bacteria in DMS production. However, some other data points showed the small population of DMS-producing bacteria in spite of the high concentrations of DMS and total DMSP. These data did not agree with the above relationsh~p and suggest a contribution of non-bacterial DMS production under certain circumstances.


In this paper, we propose a novel method for analyzing human interactions based on the walking trajectories of human subjects. Our principal assumption is that an interaction episode is composed of meaningful smaller unit interactions, which we call 'sub-interactions.' The whole interactions are represented by an ordered concatenation or a network of sub-interaction models. From the experiments, we could confirm the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method by analyzing the inner workings of an interaction network and comparing the performance with other previous approaches.


Inhibitors of trypsin (EC 22.214.171.124) and a-amylase (1,4-a-D-glucan glucanohydrolase, EC 220.127.116.11) were purified from seeds of rye and their complete and partial amino-acid sequences, respectively, were determined, in part by homology. The trypsin inhibitor was a single polypeptide chain of Mr 13753. Both proteins exhibited sequence homology with a group of cereal seed proteins that include inhibitors of proteinases and a-amylase. The trypsin inhibitor was most closely related to the barley trypsin inhibitor (76% identity) and the a-amylase inhibitor to CMa of barley (also an inhibitor of a-amylase activity) and to CMl1and CM2 of wheat (no known inhibitory activity). Antisera raised against the two inhibitors did not cross react, but the a-amylase inhibitor reacted with an antiserum raised against the 0.28 a-amylase inhibitor of wheat. The rye inhibitors had similar secondary structure contents with about 36-39% a-helix and 11-19% 13-sheet. These are the first amino-acid sequence and conformation studies reported for enzyme inhibitors from rye. Poly(A)-rich RNA from total polysomes, prepared from rye endosperms, was used as a template for cDNA synthesis and a cDNA library was constructed in AgtlO. The library was screened using two oligonucleotide probes which encoded two regions of the trypsin inhibitor (from amino-acids 38-42 and 44-48).One clone was isolated that hybridised to both probes. The nucleotide sequence of the clone AC(C.In) was determined. 1709 bp were sequenced showing an open reading frame that extended from the 5' end to 1621 and encoded a protein of 540 residues. The predicted amino-acid sequence showed striking sequence similarity to the serine/threonine SNFl subfamily of protein kinases with 62% and 48% identity, respectively, to the catalytic domains of SNFl and niml(^+). The functions of the SNFl subfamily are discussed.


This article presents in detail the relevant facts surrounding CareFirst's failed attempt to convert to for-profit status and be acquired by the for-profit company, Wellpoint Health Networks, Inc. It chronicles events and describes the political environment leading up to the Maryland insurance commissioner's review of the application, the review process and roles played by various stakeholders and the media, the commissioner's decision and rationale, and the aftermath of actions and reactions by various parties, including state legislation to reform CareFirst. This case study was based on interviews with several key players, as well as a review of numerous newspaper articles and the wealth of documents prepared for, and emanating from the review process. Providing an in-depth look at the missteps by CareFirst's board and executives, this article sets the stage for a second one translating these details into lessons for other states and for all types of nonprofit health care organizations involved in any kind of strategic decision making that affects the public interest.


The purpose of this thesis is to give answer to the question: why do riblets stop working for a certain size? Riblets are small surface grooves aligned in the mean direction of an overlying turbulent flow, designed specifically to reduce the friction between the flow and the surface. They were inspired by biological surfaces, like the oriented denticles in the skin of fast-swimming sharks, and were the focus of a significant amount of research in the late eighties and nineties. Although it was found that the drag reduction depends on the riblet size scaled in wall units, the physical mechanisms implicated have not been completely understood up to now. It has been explained how riblets of vanishing size interact with the turbulent flow, producing a change in the drag proportional to their size, but that is not the regime of practical interest. The optimum performance is achieved for larger sizes, once that linear behavior has broken down, but before riblets begin adopting the character of regular roughness and increasing drag. This regime, which is the most relevant from a technological perspective, was precisely the less understood, so we have focused on it. Our efforts have followed three basic directions. First, we have re-assessed the available experimental data, seeking to identify common characteristics in the optimum regime across the different existing riblet geometries. This study has led to the proposal of a new length scale, the square root of the groove cross-section, to substitute the traditional peak-to-peak spacing. Scaling the riblet dimension with this length, the size of breakdown of the linear behavior becomes roughly universal. This suggests that the onset of the breakdown is related to a certain, fixed value of the cross-section of the groove. Second, we have conducted a set of direct numerical simulations of the turbulent flow over riblets, for sizes spanning the full drag reduction range. We have thus been able to reproduce the gradual transition between the different regimes. The spectral analysis of the flows has proven particularly fruitful, since it has made possible to identify spanwise rollers immediately above the riblets, which begin to appear when the riblet size is close to the optimum. This is a quite surprising feature of the flow, not because of the uniqueness of the phenomenon, which had been reported before for other types of complex and porous surfaces, but because most previous studies had focused on the detail of the flow above each riblet as a unit. Our novel approach has provided the adequate tools to capture coherent structures with an extended spanwise support, which interact with the riblets not individually, but collectively. We have also proven that those spanwise structures are responsible for the increase in drag past the viscous breakdown. Finally, we have analyzed the stability of the flow with a simplified model that connects the appearance of rollers to a Kelvin-Helmholtz-like instability, as is the case also for the flow over plant canopies and porous surfaces. In spite of the model emulating the presence of riblets only in an averaged, general fashion, it succeeds to capture the essential attributes of the breakdown, and provides a theoretical justification for the scaling with the groove cross-section.


. In Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), a clustered architecture is generally used to reduce energy consumption irrespectively of the application of the system. We prove in this work that, a clustered network only reduces energy consumption if aggregation or compression functions are enabled. Furthermore, a clustered network would consume much more energy if clustering techniques without the use of aggregation/compression (or a low aggregation coefficient) due to the extra consumption in the cluster formation phase. As an additional feature, a general energy consumption model based on the notion of energy units is developed that can be easily extrapolated to either theoretical or experimental values. Hence, the proposed analytical framework is valid for any commercial node or energy consumption model.


Background:Depression remains a major public health problem that is most often evaluated and treated in primary care settings. The objective of this study was to examine the prevalence, treatment, and control of depressive symptoms in a national data sample using a common primary care screening tool for depression. Methods:We analyzed a sample of adults (n = 4836) from 2005 to 2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) to determine the overall prevalence, rates of treatment, and antidepressant control of mild, moderate, moderately severe, and severe depressive symptoms. Results:Of the sample, 20.1% reported significant depressive symptoms (PHQ-9) score, ≥5), the majority of whom had mild depressive symptoms (PHQ-9) score, 5–9). Even among individuals with severe depressive symptoms, a large percentage (36.9%) received no treatment from a mental health professional or with antidepressant medication. Of those taking antidepressants, 26.4% reported mild depressive symptoms and 18.8% had moderate, moderately severe, or severe depressive symptoms. Conclusions:Despite greater awareness and treatment of depression in primary care settings, the prevalence of depressive symptoms remains high, treatment levels remain low, and control of depressive symptoms are suboptimal. Primary care providers need to continue to focus their efforts on diagnosing and effectively treating this important disease.


This paper reports the findings of a two‐year EPSRC funded research project into relationship and performance strategies in power regimes. The findings from 12 very different industrial and service sector cases studies demonstrate that there is a correlation between the ability to improve the performance of suppliers and the power circumstances that exist between the buyers and suppliers. Buyers appear to be able to achieve improved performance from suppliers in situations of buyer dominance or interdependence. The research also demonstrates that whatever the objective power circumstance managers often subjectively misperceive the appropriate sourcing choices available to them. As a result business relationships can be aligned, but they are often misaligned. Furthermore, misaligned relationships may be "remediable" but they may not.


The cantilevers of atomic force microscope (AFM) are mounted under a certain tilt angle, which is commonly assumed to have negligible effect on friction measurements in AFM. We present a theoretical study of the effect of the tilt angle on AFM based friction measurements. A method for correcting the friction coefficient between sample surfaces and AFM tips is also presented to minimize the effects of the tilt. The frictional forces between a silicon tip and a silicon surface at tilt angles ranging from 5 degrees to 25 degrees were measured. The results show that the measured friction coefficient increases with the tilt angle effectively, whereas the variation range of the corrected friction coefficient is within 10%.


This article clearly defines what economists mean by a sustainable current account. The author provides an estimate of the sustainable current account balance for the U.S. economy and assesses the implications of this estimate for the existing current account and level of foreign indebtedness.


Response Surface Methodology(RSM) was successfully applied to a process simulator for optimization of Generalized Predictive Control(GPC) tuning parameters. Wireless experimental input/output data obtained from process simulator. GPC algorithm which is written in MATLAB is utilized to wireless temperature control experiments achieved by using MATLAB/Simulink program.The efficiency of the GPC is observed by calculating the integral of the square of the error (ISE) and the integral of the absolute value of the error (IAE) from experimental results which was optimized by the application of RSM. The three independent variables, which had been found the most effective variables on the GPC by screening experiments, were determined as NU, N2 and λ as minimum prediction horizon, maximum prediction horizon and control weighting, respectively. The quadratic models were developed through RSM in terms of related independent variables to describe the ISE and IAE as the two response. Based on statistic analysis, optimum GPC tuning parameters of NU (X1), N2 (X2) and λ (X3) for minimize the ISE were determined to be 1.7922, 1.9453 and 0.0642 and for minimize the IAE were determined to be 1.8880, 1.9752 and 0.0612, respectively. Calculated optimum points of GPC tuning parameters are close to based on ISE and IAE results. The data evaluated from the quadratic model were good agreement with those measured experimentally. The wireless temperature control is successfully applied to the process simulator and wireless control technique is proposed for various application areas.


Introduction Female physicians conduct longer visits than male physicians, with negative implications for their compensation. Yet patients often report higher satisfaction with female physicians. It is unknown whether satisfaction scores for female physicians are associated with their visit lengths. Our objective was to characterize the role of the physician and patient gender with respect to visit length and patient satisfaction. Methods We conducted an observational cohort study with patients and physicians of a nationwide telemedicine service between 2016 and 2018. Visit length was measured by the telemedicine system. Patients rated physicians on scales of one to five stars, with five considered "top box" satisfaction. We used logistic regression to estimate differences in patient satisfaction and linear regression to estimate differences in visit length by the physician and patient gender. We tested interactions between physician and patient gender and accounted for clustering by the physician. Results Among 102,664 visits with 405 physicians, the mean visit length was 5.8 minutes. Visits with male physicians were 1.11 minutes shorter than those with female physicians (95% CI:-1.58, -0.65). Controlling for visit length, male physicians were less likely than female physicians to receive top-box satisfaction scores (OR: 0.72; 95% CI: 0.61, 0.85). Visits between female physicians and male patients were the longest and visits between male physicians and female patients were the shortest. Female physicians had longer visits than male physicians but this did not explain their higher satisfaction scores. Conclusions To reduce inequity in compensation resulting from differences in visit length, female physicians could shorten their visits without negative consequences for their satisfaction ratings.


As Canada becomes a more diverse and multicultural country the number of challenges of reflecting this diversity in our society has grown. This is particularly true in the post 9/11 era of counter terrorism, where national security is often used to trump human rights. The position of Muslims in Canadian society and the scope of the duty of reasonable accommodation have become major Canadian issues that have sparked some interesting debates in Quebec, and elsewhere, about the wearing of the hijab and other religious symbols. The Multani decision from the Supreme Court of Canada in 2006 raised the issue of bringing a Sikh dagger (kirpan) to the classroom and the Supreme Court came down on the side of multiculturalism and human rights. There are also pressing concerns about school violence that add a further dimension to the Multani case. The broader issues of human rights in education have also been raised in a series of Supreme Court cases such as Malcolm Ross, Trinity Western University and Chamberlain v. Surrey. All of these cases raise the issue of the comparative roles of school boards, human rights commissions (and tribunals) and the courts, including the appropriate standard of judicial review of administrative decisions. There are also important questions about the extent to which administrative agencies such as school boards and human rights tribunals should consider the Charter of Rights and human rights codes as well as other aspects of the Constitution. The intersection of Administrative law and Constitutional law is a complex and often legalistic area that can challenge seasoned lawyers and academics alike. My article will explore these difficult issues in respect to diversity policies in schools, as a case study in the role of courts and tribunals in promoting human rights and diversity in Canada.


This research is a study to examine whether a "feminization of agriculture" has occurred in the study area through the household survey of the local farming system and the gendered division of agricultural labour and managerial responsibilities at Madi, Chitwan in 2018. According to the household survey (n=60), a strong gendered division of agricultural works exist in this area, thus men and women have clear responsibilities and restrictions. In activities like ploughing, irrigating, threshing and applying chemical fertilizer, men are mostly participated whereas in the most of the other activities like weeding, sowing, collecting firewood, collecting fodder, hoeing, manuring, milking, female are mostly involved. Average of about 208 rupees is paid higher to men than female in some agriculture works. Through the use of various fieldwork methods, it was observed that that women in some cases have to take on tasks that are generally considered "men's work". Although women are in charge of various managerial decisions related to the agricultural production, any major decisions are still controlled by men. The real influence of women as decision makers can therefore be questioned. The effects of different factors like caste, education and training has been analyzed which showed that with the increase of education and training, feminization in decision making role is increased. But if women get more work and just involved in the feminization of labour and no influence in decision-making processes the "feminization of agriculture" will be just a female exploitation not a feminization.Int. J. Appl. Sci. Biotechnol. Vol 6(3): 207-214


The accelerated introduction of information and communications technology into the economy has created numerous challenges for policymakers. This paper describes this New Economy and then proceeds to examine difficulties created for policymakers. The increased flexibility of the new economy argues against trying to use fiscal policy for stabilization and creates both immediate and long-term difficulties for monetary policy. Immediate difficulties concern the problems associated with estimating potential output when the productivity trend is shifting. During periods of transition, it is extremely difficult to distinguish permanent from transitory shifts in output growth, and adjust policy correctly. In the long-term, central banks must face the prospect of a significant decline in the demand for their liabilities, and a resulting loss of their primary interest rate policy instrument. The disappearance of the demand for central bank money for interbank settlement seems very unlikely, and so this concern seems unwarranted.


Swift's A Modest Proposal has always aroused the interest not just of literary critics, but also of linguists and pragmatists. Within the latter approaches, the study of irony, and more concretely, the intentions and attitudes that must have guided the production of such an intricate work, have always been paramount. However, it seems that within pragmatics the analysis has been restricted so far to the 1729 work itself. In the present author's view, it is interesting to contextualise this masterpiece of irony and satire within Swift's wider writing on Ireland, an approach that remains to be carried out. Accordingly, this work sets out to analyse a selection of Swift's Irish Tracts, with a view to tracing the evolution within Swift's literary production of his views and attitudes towards the situation of his homeland. Although different pragmatic approaches are applied, the emphasis is laid upon the contributions that the relevance-theoretical framework and its studies on irony may bring to the understanding of this particular Tract. The works selected are meant to cover and also be representative of the main phases currently distinguished within Swift's writing on the "Irish Question". It is therefore hoped that a deeper analysis of the former works by Swift on this topic will provide new insights for a better understanding of A Modest Proposal.


Most of the research done in the literature are based on statistical approaches and used for deriving reference limits based on lab results. As more data are available to the researchers, ML methods are more effectively used by the clinicians and practitioners to reduce cost and provide more accurate diagnoses. This study aims to contribute to the medical laboratory processes by providing an automated method in order to predict the lab results accurately by machine learning from the previous test results. All patient data obtained have been anonymized, and a total of 449,471 test results have been used to build an integrated dataset. A total of 107,646 unique patients' data has been used. This study aims to predict the value range of the Creatine Kinase tests, which are taken in separate tubes and usually needs more processing time than the other tests do. Using the lab results and the Random Forest Algorithm, this study reports that the outcome of the Creatine Kinase test can be determined with 97% accuracy by using the AST and ALT test values. This is an important achievement for the practitioners and the patients, as this study submits significant reduction in Creating Kinase test evaluation time.


The 2015 edition of the State of the Forests of the Congo Basin is a number issued specifically for the 21th Conference of Parties in Paris. Indeed, it is envisaged that during the conference a global climate agreement could be reached by the international community. To support their participation in the Conference, the countries of the COMIFAC had planned several activities during the year 2015. Among these activities, it was decided to publish a special report on forests and climate change in Central Africa. This report comes thus to support for the negotiations in Paris and focuses on the role of the rain forest in mitigating climate change and the impacts of these changes on the adaptation of populations and ecosystems in Central Africa.


type="main" xml:id="ecpo12049-abs-0001"> This paper proposes a theoretical model that may provide useful insights into the relationship between trade openness and the size of government, as well as a possible explanation for the results of empirical tests of such a relationship. We develop a Hecksher–Ohlin model with publicly provided goods, where the level of publicly provided goods is determined in a probabilistic voting framework. In this context, we show that the start of trade may increase or decrease government size depending on the capital-labor ratio in each country.


Abstract Separated by more than half a century, Garcilaso de la Vega and Luis de Góngora chose the lyric genre to interrogate systems of power and the political and cultural changes that occurred from the early sixteenth century to the beginnings of the seventeenth century. Garcilaso's 'new' poetry and his conflictive engagement with the emerging Spanish empire made manifest the tensions between the epic's externalized political function and the lyrical expression of emotional intimacy. Moreover, the analysis of several sonnets reveals the tensions between spiritual faith and intellectual reason that echoed the period's unorthodox theology and led him to lament imperial power. For his part, Góngora seemed to eschew overt poetic subjectivity, often using his lyric talents to cultivate Spain's most powerful nobles. His involvement in the economics of patronage presented a challenge: how to bridge the tensions between the lyric, with its topoi of desire and the constitution of a poetic self, on the one hand; and on the other, with the epic mode, considered more appropriate for the 'alabanza de los grandes.' In addition its generic hybridity, Góngora's panegyric poetry reveals an at times jaundiced perspective on the mechanisms of power within a unique literary subjectivity.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
To study the prevalence of peripheral retinal disease in patients with Marfan Syndrome (MFS).

PATIENTS AND METHODS
In this observational, cross-sectional case series, patients with MFS were recruited by the Marfan Eye Consortium of Chicago during the National Marfan Foundation's annual conference. Patients underwent a fully dilated exam by vitreoretinal specialists in addition to ultra-widefield fundus photography using a scanning laser ophthalmoscope (Optos 200Tx; Optos PLC, Dunfermline, Scotland, United Kingdom).

RESULTS
Clinical examination revealed posterior segment pathology in 18% of eyes with increased incidence to 70% in patients with a subluxed lens. In six out of 10 subjects in whom the clinical exam was suboptimal (young age, small pupil, and limited cooperation), the Optos provided a superior view of the peripheral retina compared to clinical exam alone.

CONCLUSION
Clinical exam of MFS patients revealed similar posterior segment pathology as noted in previous literature, with improved detection of peripheral retinal disease with the use of ultra-widefield imaging.


Smooth muscle cells with 4C (double diploid) DNA content have been found in major arteries. The proportion of 4C cells increases with normal aging and with hypertension. These cells may represent a state of arrest at the G2 phase of the cell cycle or may be examples of true tetraploidy. Flow cytometric cell sorting was used to isolate 4C smooth muscle cells from the rat aorta, and the cells were cultured. Flow cytometry, Feulgen microdensitometry, and karyotyping of the progeny of the 4C cells established the presence of true tetraploid cells. These findings demonstrate the presence of reproductively viable tetraploid cells in a normal mammalian tissue.


The tonic flexor muscles of the crayfish abdomen respond with a large depolarizing potential to acetylcholine iontophoresed onto a neuromuscular Junction, but not to glutamate. Excitatory junctional potentials are abolished by d-tubocurarine and enhanced by a cholinesterase inhibitor. The membrane is depolarized and the junctional potentials are desensitized by excess acetylcholine. Thus acetylcholine is thought to be the neuromuscular transmitter.


Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and Fas ligand (FasL) play major roles in the homeostasis of the peripheral immune system. This becomes dramatically obvious in the absence of a functional FasL. Mice with such a deficiency develop a profound lymphadenopathy, splenomegaly, hypergammaglobulinemia, and strain-dependent systemic autoimmune disease, and succumb to premature death. It is consequently termed generalized lymphoproliferative disorder (gld). By contrast, TNF deficiency alone does not result in a striking phenotype. Thus, we sought to determine what role TNF might play in contributing to the gld phenotype by creating C57BL/6.gld.TNF−/− mice. Contrary to the expected outcome, mice deficient for both FasL and TNF had a substantially milder gld phenotype with regard to mortality, lymphoaccumulation, germinal center formation, and hypergammaglobulinemia. To confirm these data in a strain highly permissive for the phenotype, C3H/HeJ.gld and C3H.HeJ.lpr mice were treated with a TNF-specific monoclonal antibody. This transient neutralization of TNF also resulted in a significantly attenuated lymphoproliferative phenotype. We conclude that TNF is necessary for the full manifestation of the lymphoproliferative disorder, in particular playing a critical role in lymphoaccumulation. Most importantly, absence of TNF protects gld mice against premature death.


Author(s): Campbell, D. L.; Farley, J. P.; Hegdal, P. L.; Engeman, Richard M.; Krupa, H. W. | Abstract: The effectiveness of bait and the effectiveness of operational baiting were both evaluated for controlling forest pocket gophers (Thomomys spp.) with strychnine oat groat bait and diphacinone paraffin block bait. Radio-telemetry monitoring and recovery of pocket gophers showed that control of individual pocket gophers 1 month after baiting was 72% for strychnine bait and 62% for diphacinone bait. Reduction in pocket gopher activity from operational baiting was based on censusing activity in sample plots. After 1 month the reduction in activity was 61% for strychnine oats and 36% for diphacinone blocks. Bait blocks implanted with radio transmitters were extensively moved and fed on by pocket gophers. Pocket gopher activity was not significantly reduced by either treatment 6 months or 1 year after baiting.


The Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) concept was applied for the first time to four Zambian cattle slaughterhouses to study slaughterhouse hygiene and bacterial contamination of carcasses. Swabs were collected from carcass surfaces and also from the following environmental surfaces, which were likely to come in contact with carcasses: knives, cutting saws, tables, walls, floors, aprons and worker's hands. Samples were collected from animals at the following operational points: before skinning; after skinning; after evisceration; and after carcasses were chilled for 24 hours. At each operational point, four sites were swabbed except for point A were only two sites were swabbed. Similarly, four different sites were swabbed from each environmental surface per visit. A total of 2176 swabs were collected from 72 carcasses, and 96 swabs from the above mentioned environmental surfaces from slaughterhouses A and B. Observational results for various hygiene categories where scored for slaughterhouse A, B, C and D.
Slaughterhouses A and B, in which microbiological contamination analyses were done, had overall mean aerobic plate count, mean total coliform count, and mean coliform count ranges of logio3.67 - 4.14/cm^; logio 1.63 - 2.44/cm^ and logio 1.23 - 1.59/cm^ respectively. Municipal slaughterhouses C and D, with no defined slaughter and dressing procedures, recorded lowest hygiene assessment scores (18.7% and 21.3%) of hygiene satisfaction, respectively). Carcasses that recorded zero duplicate coliform count after skinning were in the range 25 - 30% where as zero duplicates after
evisceration ranged from 15-20.3%, Effect of chilling as a critical control point was better illustrated by changes in means of total coliform count (logio 184 to 0.00) and faecal coliform count data (logw 2.5] to 0.00/cm^) than aerobic plate count data (logw 4.10 to 3.82/cm^). Salmonella was isolated from carcasses at all sampling points with skin samples recording high isolation frequencies.The results of this study indicate that neither aerobic plate count nor total coliform counts alone is sufficient to analyse carcass contamination levels at various operational points but the two, however, are complimentary. This study has also demonstrated high levels of bacterial contamination on carcasses, which is known to be associated with poor hygiene. There appears a need to establish slaughter and dressing procedures, and quality assurance programmes based on risk assessment and maximum utilisation of resources. Meat standards also need to be set and this will need an active legislative support to improve both meat safety and quality, and hygiene standards in Zambian cattle slaughterhouses.


In "The Liberal Commons" Michael Heller and I celebrated commons property types that mainstream property theory obscures notwithstanding their prevalence in contemporary law. In this Essay, prepared for the Cornell Law School Symposium celebrating Greg Alexander's retirement, I maintain that the connection between liberalism and commons property types is more precise and, in a sense, more complicated.

On the one hand, I claim that a liberal property law, which is founded on and thus must be committed to individual self-determination, must proactively facilitate commons property types, in line with what I call property's structural pluralism. On the other hand, I contend that a liberal law should not lend its support to commons property types not only if they undermine the liberal commitment to exit (as discussed in The Liberal Commons), but also if they fail to comply with the prescriptions of property's relational justice. Relational justice, I argue, implies that commoners' right to exclude potential entrants must not be unlimited; it furthermore requires that for law to support a commons property, its internal governance regime must not undermine the equal concern and respect of its members.

Situating commons property types at the core of liberal property law offers a better understanding of the liberal ideal of property as well as of both the promises and the dangers of the commons. Refining the proper role of commons property types and the prerequisites of their legitimacy also sets up a reformist agenda, which can push liberal property law to better comply with its autonomy-based underpinnings. It may further show why – although much of the critique of the realities of property in actual liberal systems is justified – the liberal idea of property must not be too quickly discarded. Properly conceived, I conclude, liberal property both augments people's opportunities for (voluntary) collective self-determination and restrict their opportunities for interpersonal domination.


Artificial intelligence (AI) has been implemented in wider area nowadays. The strong relationship between AI, cognitive science, computer science and psychology emerged in learning domain. One of the tasks which are supported is computer supported learning. In learning, the learner's goal is to improve its knowledge. This conforms to the result of machine learning in AI, which is a knowledge representation form raw data. The new formal education model is that responsibility to improve knowledge should be distributed among the teacher and the students, and not only the teacher's privilege. In other words, there is collective intention between teacher and students to improve knowledge by carrying out collaborative knowledge building. Researches in collaborative plan have proposed a planning model called sharedplan model, formulated in first-order-logic with some addition of meta-predicates. This paper argues that sharedplan model can be exploited to model the collaborative knowledge building. For the future references, this model is expected to become a bridge in implementing any collaborative knowledge based tasks which has distributed participants


The papers in this volume illustrate a number of approaches that are becoming increasingly common and offer the prospect of making signifi cant advances in the broad related topics of the science, hazard, and policy issues of large continental intraplate earthquakes. Plate tectonics offers little direct insight into the earthquakes beyond the fact that they are consequences of slow deformation within plates and, hence, relatively rare. To alleviate these problems, we use space geodesy to defi ne the slowly deforming interiors of plates away from their boundaries, quantify the associated deformation, and assess its possible causes. For eastern North America, by far the strongest signal is vertical motion due to ice-mass unloading following the last glaciation. Surprisingly, the expected intraplate deformation due to regional stresses from plate driving forces or local stresses are not obvious in the data. Several approaches address diffi culties arising from the short history of instrumental seismology compared to the time between major earthquakes, which can bias our views of seismic hazard and earthquake recurrence by focusing attention on presently active features. Comparisons of earthquakes from different areas illustrate cases where earthquakes occur in similar tectonic environments, increasing the data available. Integration of geodetic, seismological, historical, paleoseismic, and other geologic data provides insight into earthquake recurrence and the diffi cult question of why the earthquakes are where they are. Although most earthquakes can be related to structural features, this explanation alone has little predictive value because continents contain many such features, of which a few are the most active. It appears that continental intraplate earthquakes are episodic, clustered, and migrate. Thus on short time scales seismicity continues on structures that are active at present, perhaps in part because many events are aftershocks of larger past events. However after periods of activity these structures may become inactive for a long time, so the locus of at least some of the seismicity migrates to other structures. Analysis of the thermo-mechanical structure of the seismic zones gives insight into their mechanics: whether there is something special about them that results in long-lived weak zones on which intraplate strain release concentrates, or as seems more likely, that they are not that unusual, so seismicity migrates. Accepting our lack of understanding of the underlying causes of E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com. 2 Stein spe425-01 page 2


To minimize the influence of experiential factor and guarantee the software quality from the design phase, with the aid of unified modeling language (UML), an object-oriented design method for PLC program is presented. With UML as design tool, class diagram and state machine diagram are chosen respectively to describe the static structure and dynamic behavior of the PLC based control system, and PLC ladder diagram is acquired from state machine diagram subsequently. With the combination of object-oriented technology, UML and classic PLC design technology, the software reliability of PLC based control system is promoted, and the application area of object-oriented technology and UML is extended.


The present study reveals the ethnobotany and traditional medicinal uses of common medicinal plants of district Bhiwani, Haryana (India) from August 2014 to December 2014. During the survey, 25 villages were visited and 100 people from each village were interviewed. The medicinal plants and their local medicinal uses were documented on the basis of survey. 60 plant species belonging to 36 families were reported which are used by the local inhabitants to cure various ailments like Asthma, urinary disorders, cough and cold, fever, skin diseases and tumor etc. Apocynaceae and Solanaceae families were found to dominate having 5 taxa each followed by Moraceae with 4 taxa, Convolvulaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Malvaceae with 3 taxa each, Amaranthaceae, Caesalpiniaceae, Mimosaceae, Myrtaceae, Poaceae, Polygonaceae, Rutaceae with 2 taxa each and rest of the families having one taxa each. For each plant species necessary informations like botanical name, family of plant species, local name, plant part used and medicinal uses are given.


This study examined the effects of a specific core exercise program, as a re-warm-up regime during the half-time period, on inspiratory (IM) and core (CM) muscle functions, leg perfusion and the team sport-specific sprint performance in the initial stage of the second half of a simulated exercise task. Nine team-sports players performed a simulated team-sport intermittent exercise protocol (IEP) in two phases, on a non-motorized treadmill, interspersed by a 15-min half-time break. During the half-time period subsequent to the 25-min Phase-1 IEP, the players either rested passively or performed 4-min CM exercise concomitant with inspiratory loaded breathing following 11-min passive recovery. The changes in IM and CM functions, leg perfusion and repeated-sprint ability mediated by the two recovery modes were compared. Following Phase-1 IEP, there was a significant decline in IM and CM functions respectively, revealed by the decreases in maximal inspiratory pressure (PImax: -8.1%) and performance of a sport-specific endurance plank test (SEPT: -29.7%, p < 0.05). With the 15-min passive recovery, the decline in IM and CM functions from pre-exercise levels were not restored satisfactorily (PImax: -6.4%, SEPT: -19.0%, p < 0.05). Moreover, repeated-sprint ability during the Phase-2 IEP tended to decrease (peak velocity: -2.3%, mean velocity: -2.1%) from the levels recorded in Phase-1. In contrast, following the re-warm-up exercises during half-time, the restoration of IM and CM function was accelerated (PImax: -0.9%, SEPT: -3.3%, p <0 .05). This was associated with enhanced repeated-sprint ability (peak velocity: +3.0%, mean velocity: +2.0%, p < 0.05) in Phase-2 IEP. Nevertheless, the changes in the anterior thigh muscle perfusion assessed by near-infrared spectroscopy following the re-warm-up exercises was not different from that of passive recovery (p > 0.05). The findings suggest that a brief inspiratory-loaded CM exercise regime appears to be an effective re-warm-up strategy that optimizes second-half repeated-sprint performance and core function of players in team sports.


This research aimed to study the effects of 30 kinds of Chinese herbs on fungi in food. 30 kinds of Chinese herbs and 6 common fungi in food were used as experiment material. The effects of water, ethanol absolute and petroleum ether extracts on fungi were studied by filter paper method. The results showed that water extracts of Coptis chinensis. and Magnolia officinalis Rehd.et Wils., the ethanol extracts of Syzygium aromaticum Thunb., Coptis chinensis, Cinnamomum cassia Presl and Cassia Bark, the petroleum ether extracts of Syzygium aromaticum Thunb. and Cassia Bark had strong antimicrobial ability. The study can provide the scientific basis for exploring natural food preservatives.


After a review of the reasons for the current emphasis on electronic materials, both in civilian industry and in the military, the government-area sponsored research and development program in this is reviewed and its basic objectives outlined. A brief discussion of probable long-term investigations in the area of electronic materials is followed by a listing of immediate materials requirements based on specific recommendations of qualified representatives of the Army, Navy, and Air Force. Emphasis throughout the paper is directed at the need for close cooperation between industry and the military, and two procedures--one conventional and obvious, and the second of a less conventional nature--are proposed as avenues leading toward an improvement in the current materials situation.


Pyrite is the most common sulfide in the Earth. In the presence of arsenopyrite its oxidation is delayed, and instead, the arsenopyrite increases its oxidation rate, releasing As(III) and As(V) species in the medium. DFT/plane waves calculations were performed on pyrite/arsenopyrite interface models to understand the stability, structure, and electronic properties of the interface. This is the first step to understand the influence of the inlaid arsenopyrite in the pyrite oxidation mechanism. The interface is slightly stressed with minor changes in the bond lengths and lattice parameters with respect to the pure phases. The work of adhesion and the formation energy indicate that the miscibility of the two phases is not favorable, explaining the presence of large domains of either pyrite or arsenopyrite forming bulk granular regions. The valence band of the pyrite/arsenopyrite interface has large contributions from the pyrite phase, while the conduction band has large contributions from the arsenopyrite. T...


A rubber vibration isolator is used as a muffler hanger or muffler mount between a car body and a muffler to hang the latter from the former. The isolator includes a body made of rubber-like elastic material whose damping factor is high, two holes, upper and lower, formed in the center of the body of rubber-like elastic material, and a weight provided between the two holes and supported at opposite sides thereof by rubber-like elastic members. The rubber vibration isolator is advantageous in that coefficients of transfer of vibrations of both high and low frequencies, respectively, are lowered.


Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in the world and more prevalent in the female population. Since the cause of the disease remains unknown, early detection and diagnosis is the optimal solution to prevent tumor progression and allow a successful medical intervention, save lives and reduce cost. Mammography is an x-ray of the breasts performed in the absence of symptoms. It can detect very small tumors, even before they are tangible or they manifest other symptoms. Conducted as part of a screening program, mammography is currently the recommended method for early detection of breast cancer in women 50 to 70 years. It can detect very small tumors that generally have not yet formed metastases, which increases the chances of survival and recovery. Mammographic screening has been shown to be effective in reducing breast cancer mortality rates: screening programs have reduced mortality rates by 30-70%. Mammograms are difficult to interpret, especially in the screening context. The sensitivity of screening mammography is affected by image quality and the radiologist's level of expertise. Computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) technology can improve the performance of radiologists, by increasing sensitivity to rates comparable to those obtained by double reading, in a cost-effective manner. This paper presents an overview of digital image processing and pattern analysis techniques to address several areas in CAD of breast cancer, including the four stages of CAD system: image preprocessing, image segmentation, features extraction and selection and image classification.


We study a market where goods are produced under low marginal costs with a poor degree of substitutability among products. In such an environment we ran an experiment in order to explain why prices are interdependent even when preferences are independent. We compare our results to previous theoretical and laboratory experimental literature on price fairness. We find that, even in absence of interaction among subjects, price fairness/unfairness do play a major role in accepting/rejecting a deal. Subjects tend to be more resistant to a price increase and reject a deal when the favourite product is not anchored to price increases of not substitutable products, if these products are considered to be a benchmark for fair conduct. Therefore demand cross elasticity can arise also between products which are not substitutes. This result has an important implication for the delineation of an antitrust market. Due to fairness concerns, in the markets that we consider products which are not interchangeable should be included in the relevant market.


The menace of corruption and the fight against it the world wide has been a major preoccupation amongst pundits and administrators, especially amongst the third world countries. The existence of Anticorruption Agencies virtually in all countries of the world justifies this assertion. While some of these agencies in their countries of operations succeed others are still grabbling with the dynamics and complexities of the scourge thus looking for a durable methodology to curtail it spread. This paper assessed the perception of Nigerian on the strength of the EFCC against its functional responsibilities to determine the adequacy and appropriateness of the powers. The research is a survey type that explored both primary and secondary sources. The primary data were gathered through administration of questionnaire with a content analysis for the secondary data. Relying on Structural Functional theory, the study reveals among other things that, EFCC lacks adequate prosecutorial powers; it also cannot effectively ensure and monitor compliance to the limit of foreign currency transfer ($10000) and the local cash transaction limit; the court system in Nigeria has also frustrated the efforts of the commission in addition to the unruly behavior of some senior legal counsels who often connive with some judges to subvert justice. The paper therefore submits that the EFCC operate within unfavorable legal space that hinders to a large extent its operational success. It is therefore recommended inter alia: a specialized and separate court with specialized judges to handle financial crimes, streamlining the areas of responsibilities to just financial crimes for the EFCC.


Effects of 5 chemicals o the reduction of dormancy and early maturity of peaches were studied for 3 years under the desert climatic condition of Southwest Arizona. CuSO4, urea and particularly hydrogen cyanamide reduced the dormancy and enhanced blooming. Application of hydrogen cyanamide in October induced full bloom in November (1 month after application) and produced fruit. Late November was the most appropriate time for application of hydrogen cyanamide, and fruit were harvested 10 days before nonnal time in April. No difference was found between 5% and 3% (V/V) of hydrogen cyanamide in the time of blooming; however, rate at 5% always caused some phytotaticity. Application of hydrogen cyanamide at 1% before bloom and at full bloom produced the same size of commercially packed fruit as hand -thinned ones.


: Fuzzy logic is relatively young theory. Major advantage of this theory is that it allows the natural description, in linguistic terms, of problems that should be solved rather than in terms of relationships between precise numerical values. This advantage, dealing with the complicated systems in simple way, is the main reason why fuzzy logic theory is widely applied in technique. It is also possible to classify the remotely sensed image (as well as any other digital imagery), in such a way that certain land cover classes are clearly represented in the resulting image. If that's so, can we use fuzzy logic technique to diminish the influence of person dealing with supervised classification? Can we eliminate the prejudice? These questions were the light motive for this paper. In this paper, a priori knowledge about spectral information for certain land cover classes is used in order to classify SPOT image in fuzzy logic classification procedure. Basic idea was to perform the classification procedure first in the supervised and then in fuzzy logic manner. The later was done with ©Matlab's Fuzzy Logic Toolbox. Some information, needed for membership function definition, was taken from supervised maximum likelihood classification. Also, the idea for result comparison came from ©PCI's ImageWorks used for supervised procedure. Results of two procedures, both based on pixel-by-pixel technique, were compared and certain encouraging conclusion remarks come out.


Abstract. The Arctic terrestrial and sub-sea permafrost region contains approximately 30 % of the global carbon stock, and therefore understanding Arctic methane emissions and how they might change with a changing climate is important for quantifying the global methane budget and understanding its growth in the atmosphere. Here we present measurements from a new in situ flux observation system designed for use on a small, low-flying aircraft that was deployed over the North Slope of Alaska during August 2013. The system combines a small methane instrument based on integrated cavity output spectroscopy (ICOS) with an air turbulence probe to calculate methane fluxes based on eddy covariance. We group surface fluxes by land class using a map based on LandSat Thematic Mapper (TM) data with 30 m resolution. We find that wet sedge areas dominate the methane fluxes with a mean flux of 2.1 µg m−2 s−1 during the first part of August. Methane emissions from the Sagavanirktok River have the second highest at almost 1 µg m−2 s−1. During the second half of August, after soil temperatures had cooled by 7 °C, methane emissions fell to between 0 and 0.5 µg m−2 s−1 for all areas measured. We compare the aircraft measurements with an eddy covariance flux tower located in a wet sedge area and show that the two measurements agree quantitatively when the footprints of both overlap. However, fluxes from sedge vary at times by a factor of 2 or more even within a few kilometers of the tower demonstrating the importance of making regional measurements to map out methane emissions spatial heterogeneity. Aircraft measurements of surface flux can play an important role in bridging the gap between ground-based measurements and regional measurements from remote sensing instruments and models.


This paper provides an introduction to recent research that explores the psycho-topographical relationship between bodies of matter, embodied data and data bodies, presenting a contribution to the field of mixed reality art, with a particular focus on postbiological identity. The research presents an exploration of several theoretical discourses, along with introducing a number of new hybrid terms, in order to reposition current discourses relating to this field. Through this, a new speculative and flexible framework is proposed that disrupts existing mixed reality discourses, in order to focus specifically on networked mixed reality art in relation to post-biological identity. While there was a considerable practical contribution to the development of this research being presented, this paper focuses particularly on the development of a theoretical framework for speculatively understanding the field, articulating the background to this process and the resulting hybrid terms that have been established in order to better discuss the field.


Mapping of creative industries is a crucial basis for assessing the creative economy in regions. It ensures the development of creative clusters and the subsequent identification of stakeholders and networks. The present approach is to transfer creative industries research from global cities and urbanized old industrial regions to peripheral rural regions, in our case with preserved ethnographic traditions and crafts and tradition in design and film production which forms the core activities of the region. The article discusses the methods of secondary data quantitative analysis of the commercial creative industries from publicly available sources and reveals shortcomings in databases in the Czech Republic. The mapping takes into account the contribution of time factor within the definition of the creative industries segments, where it reveals significant differences not only between them but also, it shows differentiation between enterprises with employees and non-employing enterprises. The article serves as a foundation for the facilitation of creative clusters and creative industries development strategies as instruments that support competitiveness at the regional level.