This paper addresses the problem of quality of service (QoS) differentiation of sub-wavelength level label switched path (LSP) requests considering both differentiated survivability services and transmission quality in terms of end-to-end delay requirements of requests. We define different classes of LSP requests and propose a novel QoS differentiation scheme for IP-over-WDM networks. The scheme adopts a multi-layer protection approach consists of dedicated lightpath protection, shared lightpath protection, and shared LSP protection methods. The inter-class backup resource sharing technique is used to improve the performance of different classes of traffic. The routing strategies consider efficient resource utilization and end-to-end delay requirements of different priority requests. In this work, LSPs belonging to different classes with different protection requirements are allowed to traverse the same lightpath to use resources effectively. This grooming approach is efficient in terms of resource usage and it poses several challenges: 1) lightpath protection can be used or modified to satisfy the protection requirement of a newly traversed LSP, and 2) when and how the protection resources are released or updated when an LSP is released while preserving the other LSPs' protection needs. An effective way of distributing signaling messages for failure recovery should also be considered as different protection methods are used. We address all these issues in the proposed scheme. Through simulation experiments, we investigate the impacts of the backup sharing strategies and the routing strategies on connections acceptance rate for different classes of traffic and end-to-end delay requirements of different priority requests. Based on simulation results we demonstrate how the selection of a suitable sharing strategy and a routing strategy can be done that gives the best performance for all the classes and show the effectiveness of the scheme in satisfying both users' QoS requirements and network services providers' requirements.


We studied a total of 177 patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia or invasive carcinoma to evaluate the clinical implications of a positive endocervical curettage. All patients underwent cervical conization. One hundred and ten women had unsatisfactory colposcopy; 67 had satisfactory colposcopy. Patients with unsatisfactory colposcopy had a higher frequency of invasive lesions in the endocervix (9 versus 1.5%, P less than .05) and involvement of internal cone margins (12 versus 0%, P less than .01); they were also more likely to require additional, frequent treatment for persistent or recurrent disease (9 versus 1%, P less than .05) than patients with satisfactory colposcopy. Histologic review of the cone specimens in patients with satisfactory colposcopy revealed no lesion deeper in the endocervical canal than was predicted by colposcopic examination. These observations suggest that selected patients with positive endocervical curettage may be managed without diagnostic conization, if they had a satisfactory colposcopic examination.


Since the non point source is unspecified and estimating the degree of occurrence or identifying causing factors are difficult, it is not easy to control. Road runoff is considered a major source of pollution in developed urban sites. Road surfaces accumulate significant quantities of pollutants including nutrients, heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs). Many studies have characterized the constituents of stormwater. These constituents include polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs). Urban non-point source pollutant reducing treatment System is a part of the road runoff treatment which expanded polypropylene(EPP) media with a large surface area to treating the first flush of stormwater from road in field. Urban non-point source pollutant reducing treatment System consist of a container, a total 8.89m2 volume(3.6m(L), 1.3m(W), 1.9m(H)) which is made up of two element; sedimentation chamber of storage tank and filter tank. Under the operating conditions with 0.55h hydraulic retention time(HRT) and a capable of treating a maximum road runoff of 9.5m3/hr, the mean residual total PAHs were 0.699~1.339 µg /L and the percentage mean removal values were 61.4~69.7%, respectively.


Many features of pediatric ulcerative colitis (UC) are similar to adult-onset disease, but the rate of extensive disease is doubled in children. It is, therefore, not surprising that the admission rate for severe UC is higher in childhood-onset UC, reaching 28% by the age of 16 years. Approximately 30–40% of children will fail corticosteroids and require second-line medical therapy or colectomy. A pediatric UC activity index (PUCAI) score of >65 indicates severe disease and the index can assist in determining the need and timing of second-line medical therapy or colectomy early during the admission. A PUCAI score of >45 points on day 3 identify patients likely to fail corticosteroids (negative predictive value 90–95%), and a score >70 points on day 5 identify patients who will require short-term treatment escalation (positive predicting value 95–100%). Data in children are limited, but it seems that cyclosporine, tacrolimus and infliximab achieve a similar short-term response rate, in the range of 60–80%. Infliximab has the advantage that it may be given for a prolonged period of time while calcineurin inhibitors should not be used for more than 3–4 months, bridging to a thiopurine regimen. Colectomy is indicated in toxic megacolon or in cases refractory to one salvage therapy. The choice of colectomy in other cases should carefully consider its effect on the patient's quality of life, its impact on the physical and emotional development at a critical age of personality development, and its association with a high infertility rate in females undergoing pouch procedure before childbearing age.


N-([1-14C]-palmitoyl)-ethanolamine distribution was studied in the rat tissues. The following sequence of the label inclusion into tissues by the way of decreasing the radio activity: adrenal >> diaphragm > spleen > kidney > testis > lung > liver > heart > brain > plasma > erythrocytes was obtained.


Intrapersonal split alliances were defined as discrepancies in how group members perceived their positive bonding relationships with the group leader, the other group members, and the group-as-a-whole, and were related to group members' outcome. Participants were 168 patients (116 women and 52 men) diagnosed as overweight or obese who participated in 1 of 20, 12-session, therapy groups for weight management. Group members completed the Outcome Questionnaire-45 (OQ-45, Lambert et al., 2004) pre- and posttreatment and the Group Questionnaire (GQ, Krogel et al., 2013) at early, middle and late group sessions. Early, middle, and late ratings were aggregated because bond scores were consistent across time. Two-level (members within groups), polynomial regressions and response surface analyses were used to examine congruency and discrepancy in ratings of Positive Bonding Relationships to the leader, group members, and group-as-a-whole. When the discrepancy between positive bonding relationships with the leader and positive bonding relationships with the group members increased, and when the discrepancy between positive bonding relationships with the group members and positive bonding relationships with the group-as-a-whole increased, there was less symptom improvement. The findings show that, like interpersonal split alliances, intrapersonal split alliances are harmful for treatment progress and need to be recognized and addressed by the group leader.


With the beginning of the feminist movement, gender studies developed over the "woman phenomenon" and focused only on woman researches for many years. Gender and media relations investigated in the main axis of "women's representation in the media". The "representation of women in media texts" tried to problematized in the perspective of content analysis, discourse analysis and semiology and over these representation forms, "the image of women in patriarchal society" tried to be revealed. In recent years, as the stereotyped roles attached to man and woman underwent a change, the concept of gender has begun to be examined in different dimensions. Researches about media professionals show the existence of a male dominated media structure is still out there. As of March 2014, according to bianet.org and based on mastheads, women journalists were represented by 19% whereas men 81% in Turkish newspapers. Therefore, the news language still regenerates sexist representations as it carries masculine characteristics. The columns, that the agenda is interpreted from different angles and presented to the readers, are accepted as an important and effective content of the newspapers. Columnists examine the agenda, propose solutions to problems and present their ideas in a specific narrative and linguistic style of their own. This study studies how male and female stereotypes attributed to man and woman in social life are represented by columnists. A specialized corpus, named "TS Column Corpus" was build by 9982 columns harvested from online versions of Turkish Internet Newspapers between 2014 and 2015. The data studied over the frequency of word choices by male and female columnists and analyzed by using corpus linguistics, content and discourse analysis methods, to figure out the reflections of masculine and feminine features in the texts.


Abstract. Enteric fever remains a major public health problem in the developing world. With the emergence of antimicrobial resistance, disease prevention is becoming essential. There is evidence that improvement of contextual factors, such as socioeconomic development and water supply and sanitation, reduce the burden of this disease. However, such positive results are not universal. This study describes enteric fever trends in Bangladesh along with these factors' progress between 1990 and 2014. Retrospective enteric fever data were collected from Dhaka Shishu (children) Hospital (DSH), Shishu Shasthya Foundation Hospital (SSFH), International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh, and Popular Diagnostic Center (PDC). Contextual factors data were gathered from relevant organizations and their websites and plotted against time to see trends. During 2001–2014, data for a total of 131,449 blood cultures were available at DSH, SSFH, and PDC. Of those, 7,100 (isolation rate 5.4%) yielded either Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi or Salmonella enterica serovar Paratyphi growth without visible change in isolation rate trends. Contextual factors data were reported from 1990 to 2014. There were significant developments for sanitation facilities, drinking water supply, female literacy, and reduction in poverty head count ratio. During this time period, population density also increased significantly. Despite improvements in these contextual factors in Bangladesh, the enteric fever trend seems steady, possibly because of high population density and unplanned development of water supply and sewerage system. Although proper development of these two factors is important, immunization with an effective vaccine is instrumental to prevent this disease immediately in endemic countries such as Bangladesh, specifically to overcome the challenge of emerging resistance to available antibiotics.


The identification, quantitation and global characterisation of all proteins within a given proteome are extremely challenging. This is due to the absolute detection limits of technology as well as the dynamic range in expression of proteins; and the extreme diversity and heterogeneity of the proteome. To overcome such issues, the use of separation technologies has played a critical role in reducing sample complexity. To date, a plethora of chromatographic and electrophoretic fractionation tools have evolved over the years assisting in simplifying complex protein and peptide mixtures. Here, we review a range of these technologies highlighting the challenges of protein and peptide analysis in the context of proteome research and some of the advantages and disadvantages of present techniques.


A new luminescent composite material GQD@ZIF-8 was obtained by incorporating edge-sulfonated graphene quantum dots (GQDs) as an active fluorescent species into nanocrystals of the zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-8) as both a stabilizer and a carrier by a simple, rapid, and eco-friendly approach. The as-synthesized GQD@ZIF-8 composite not only exhibits excellent fluorescence properties in aqueous solutions but can also emit bright fluorescence in the solid state due to the effective encapsulation by ZIF-8. The GQD@ZIF-8 nanocomposite was used as a novel yellow phosphor in the fabrication of white light-emitting diodes (WLEDs) based on a blue-light LED chip with a proximate CIE coordinate (0.33, 0.33) of highly pure white light and a relatively high color-rendering index.


The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of peptic ulcer among rural population in various regions of Poland and to analyse the conditions influencing the prevalence of the disease. For organizational reasons, the division of the territory of Poland into eight regions was adopted for the study. The study covered a representative group of 6,512 rural inhabitants, comprising 3,107 males (47.7%) and 3405 women (52.3%), aged 20-64, selected by two-stage stratified sampling. At the first stage of the study all health centres (3,286) were classified into 150 groups and in each group two prevention-treatment regions were selected by means of stratified sampling. The second-stage samples were selected based on communes where the health centres classified for the study were located. People selected for the study were subject to examinations which covered: a specially designed questionnaire form, detailed physical examination, and the necessary specialist tests. The obtained results were recorded in a questionnaire form, which additionally contained questions concerning detailed demographic and social data, hazardous factors present in the working environment, as well as data pertaining to housing conditions, nutrition and habits. Among the rural population under study, peptic ulcer was found in 8.0% of males and 2.9% of females, gastric ulcer was observed in 1.2% of people under study, duodenal ulcer - in 3.2%, gastric and duodenal ulcer - in 0.2%, whereas patients who underwent surgical procedures due to peptic ulcer constituted 0.7% of respondents. Territorial differences were noted in the prevalence of peptic ulcer among Polish rural population. The highest peptic ulcer incidence rates were observed in Macroregion I (western Poland) - where the disease was diagnosed in 7.2% of people under study (Northern Region - 8.1%, Southern Region - 7.4%, and South-Western Region - 6.4%), while the lowest rates were noted in Macroregion II (central and eastern Poland), where peptic ulcer occurred among 4.7% of respondents (South-Eastern Region - 4.4%, North-Eastern Region - 4.5%, Middle-Eastern Region - 4.7%, Middle- Western Region - 4.8%, and Central Region - 5.1%). In regions where the highest incidence rates were noted, the greatest numbers of divorcees, widows and widowers were observed. An analysis by occupational groups showed that in these regions there were more unskilled and skilled workers, employees of services, and the largest number of people performed non-agricultural occupations. Cigarette smoking habit was also more prevalent in these regions.


While Classical Greek has a particularly rich complementation system, in later times there is a tendency towards the use of finite complementation. In this context, Cristofaro (1996) has claimed that the Classical opposition whereby the accusative and infinitive is used for non-factive complements, and ὅτι with the indicative and the accusative and participle for factive ones, is disappearing, ὅτι being used as a 'generic' complementiser. In this article, I investigate to what extent Cristofaro's (1996) claim of the pragmatic neutralisation of complementation patterns can be upheld, and whether it could be claimed that a new pragmatic opposition, in terms of 'register', is being established. For this purpose, I turn towards documentary papyri, a corpus which is particularly fruitful for socio-historical investigations.


The emergence of several diseases affecting amphibian populations worldwide has prompted investigations into determinants of the occurrence and abundance of parasites in frogs. To understand the spatial scales and identify specific environmental factors that determine risks of parasitism in frogs, helminth communities in metamorphic frogs of the northern leopard frog (Rana pipiens) were examined in relation to wetland and landscape factors at local (1 km) and regional (10 km) spatial extents in an agricultural region of Minnesota (USA) using regression analyses, ordination, and variance partitioning techniques. Greater amounts of forested and woody wetland habitats, shorter distances between woody wetlands, and smaller-sized open water patches in surrounding landscapes were the most consistently positive correlates with the abundances, richness, and diversity of helminths found in the frogs. Wetland and local landscape variables were suggested as most important for larval trematode abundances, whereas local and regional landscape variables appeared most important for adult helminths. As previously reported, the sum concentration of atrazine and its metabolite desethylatrazine, was the strongest predictor of larval trematode communities. In this report, we highlight the additional influences of landscape factors. In particular, our data suggest that anthropogenic activities that have resulted in the loss of the availability and connectivity of suitable habitats in the surrounding landscapes of wetlands are associated with declines in helminth richness and abundance, but that alteration of wetland water quality through eutrophication or pesticide contamination may facilitate the transmission of certain parasite taxa when they are present at wetlands. Although additional research is needed to quantify the negative effects of parasitism on frog populations, efforts to reduce inputs of agrochemicals into wetlands to limit larval trematode infections may be warranted, given the current high rates of amphibian declines and extinction events.


How do species coexist? A framework known as Modern Coexistence Theory measures mechanisms of coexistence by comparing a species perturbed to low density (the invader) to other species that remain at their typical densities (the residents); this invader-resident comparison measures a rare-species advantage that results from specialization. However, there are several reasonable ways (i.e., methods) to compare invaders and residents, each differing in practicality and biological interpretation. Here, using theoretical arguments and case studies, we compare four such methods for calculating coexistence mechanisms: 1) Scaling factors, the traditional approach where resident growth rates are scaled by a measure of relative sensitivity to competition, obtained by solving a system of linear equations; 2) The simple comparison, which gives equal weight to all resident species; 3) Speed conversion factors, a novel method in which resident growth rates are scaled by a ratio of generation times, and; 4) The invader-invader comparison, another novel method in which a focal species is compared to itself at high vs. low density. We conclude that the conventional scaling factors can be useful in some theoretical research, but are not recommended for empirical applications, i.e., determining the mechanisms of coexistence in real communities. Instead, we recommend the simple comparison and speed conversion factor methods. The speed conversion factors are most useful when comparing species with dissimilar generation times. However, ecologists often study coexistence in guilds of species with similar life-histories, and therefore, similar generation times. In such scenarios, the easier-to-use simple comparison method is reasonable.


Abstract. Images captured by Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and processed by Structure from Motion (SfM) photogrammetry are increasingly used in geomorphology to obtain high resolution topography data. Conventional georeferencing using ground control points (GCPs) provides reliable positioning but the geometrical accuracy critically depends on the number and spatial layout of the GCPs. This limits the time- and cost-effectiveness. Direct georeferencing of the UAV images with differential GNSS, such as PPK (Post-Processing Kinematic), may overcome these limitations by providing accurate and directly georeferenced surveys. To investigate the positional accuracy, repeatability and reproducibility of digital surface models (DSMs) generated by a UAV-PPK-SfM workflow, we carried out multiple flight missions with different camera/UAV systems. Our analysis showed that the PPK solution provides the same accuracy (mean: ca. 0.01 m, RMSE: ca. 0.03 m) as the GCP method. Furthermore, our results indicated that camera properties (i.e., focal length, resolution, sensor quality) have an impact on the accuracy but planimetric and altimetric errors remained in the range of 0.011 to 0.024 m. By analysing the repeatability of DSM construction over a time period of a few months, our study demonstrates that a UAV-PPK-SfM workflow can provide consistent, repeatable 4D data with an accuracy of a few centimetres without the use of GCPs. An uncertainty analysis showed that the minimum level of topographical change detection was ca. ±0.04 m for a high-end DSLR camera and ca. ±0.08 m for an action camera (for a flight height of 45 m). The level of detection substantially improved when reducing the UAV flight height. This study demonstrates the repeatability, reproducibility and efficiency of a PPK-SfM workflow in the context of 4D earth surface monitoring with time-laps SfM photogrammetry. As such, it should be considered as an efficient tool to monitor geomorphic processes accurately and quickly at a very high spatial and temporal resolution.


Recently, product images have gained increasing attention in clothing recommendation since the visual appearance of clothing products has a significant impact on consumers' decision. Most existing methods rely on conventional features to represent an image, such as the visual features extracted by convolutional neural networks (CNN features) and the scale-invariant feature transform algorithm (SIFT features), color histograms, and so on. Nevertheless, one important type of features, the aesthetic features , is seldom considered. It plays a vital role in clothing recommendation since a users' decision depends largely on whether the clothing is in line with her aesthetics, however the conventional image features cannot por-tray this directly. To bridge this gap, we propose to introduce the aesthetic information, which is highly relevant with user preference, into clothing recommender systems. To achieve this, we first present the aesthetic features extracted by a pre-trained neural network, which is a brain-inspired deep structure trained for the aesthetic assessment task. Considering that the aesthetic preference varies significantly from user to user and by time, we then propose a new tensor factorization model to incorporate the aesthetic features in a personalized manner. We conduct extensive experiments on real-world datasets, which demonstrate that our approach can capture the aesthetic preference of users and significantly outperform several state-of-the-art recommendation methods.


Currently, people with non-binary gender identities – those who identify as either both genders or neither - are gaining more social visibility, suggesting that changes in social understandings of gender are beginning to occur. Facebook, for example, has introduced a range of gender options for user profile pages, Australia has introduced the option for "non-specific" gender on Australian passports and India now legally recognises "third gender" identities. Internet blogs, forums, and other social media are typical spaces where narratives of non-binary gender identities are being constructed. However, these have yet to be explored. This paper begins to address this gap through a discussion of research findings from a qualitative study of non-binary gender identity narratives in the blogosphere. The paper outlines a rationale for doing social research on internet blogs, which remain an under-used resource within the social sciences, and highlights some of the issues that need to be considered in relation to the research process. It then explores some key features of non-binary gender identity narratives as they appear within a sample of blogs, and critically discusses how the stories told there have implications for "performance" understandings of gender identity that remain popular within transgender studies and gender studies more broadly.


OBJECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE: To describe the use of a new imaging tool, angiographic computed tomography, for visualization of cell opening and strut prolapse of a Neuroform 2 stent (Boston Scientific/Target, Fremont, CA) placed in curved vasculature for treatment of a basilar tip aneurysm. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: A 46-year-old woman presented with an unruptured 8-mm basilar tip aneurysm with a wide patulous neck. INTERVENTION: A 4 × 20-mm Neuroform 2 stent was placed across the aneurysm neck. Angiographic computed tomographic scanning was performed using a flat detector biplane angiographic system with new commercially available software (Dyna-CT; Siemens Medical Solution, Forchheim, Germany) and the following parameters: 20-second acquisition, 0.4-degree increment, 512 matrix in projections, 220-degree total angle, 20 degree/s, and approximately 15 to 30 frames/s, for a total of 538 projections. Image postprocessing was performed to correct scattered radiation, beam hardening, and ring artifacts on a commercially available workstation (Leonardo, Siemens Medical Solutions, Erlangen, Germany). The aneurysm was coiled in a second session, using bare platinum coils without clinical sequelae. CONCLUSION: Increased opening of cells and prolapsing of struts of an open cell design stent can occur after placement in a curved vessel across an aneurysm orifice. Angiographic computed tomography is a new imaging tool that provides visualization of intracranial stents that is superior to digital subtraction angiogram or nonsubtracted images. It will enhance our understanding of stent behavior in clinical practice and improve the efficacy and safety of intracranial stent placement. Further in vitro and in vivo imaging studies of intracranial stents are necessary to assess the value of this promising new technique.


A causal link between morphology and performance is a central tenet of ecomorphological analyses, but there are few detailed analyses of exactly how morphological variation within a hatchling cohort maps onto locomotor performance, and especially whether or not different tasks favour different morphologies (or vice versa). We measured morphological traits (including body . length, mass, head size, limb proportions and fluctuating asymmetry [FA]) on a large sample of laboratory-incubated hatchling lizards (Amphibolurus muricatus, Agamidae), and used principal component analysis to reduce this data set to four major axes of variation (size, shape and two FA axes). Running speeds of each lizard were measured on raceways at four inclines, from level (0°) through to steep (45°). Unsurprisingly, steeper inclines reduced locomotor speeds. Absolute body size was the only morphological trait that was consistently related to sprinting performance, and the relationships were similar at each incline. Within-cohort variation in body shape and FA among this large sample was unrelated to locomotor speeds, thus challenging the common assumption of a causal link between these variables. The only exception was a weak trend for greater hind limb length to enhance locomotor performance more at steep inclines than at shallower angles. In general, our data suggest that different morphological traits do not differentially maximize locomotor performance up variable inclines. Overall, our data provide a cautionary note about the generality of causal connections between within-cohort morphological variation and locomotor performance under different environmental contexts.


In wireless ATM systems, the introduction of an error control scheme at the air interface is mandatory in order to meet the constraints on the cell loss rate. Error control must be able to cope with the characteristics of the radio channel which is usually a channel with memory characterized by burst of errors, commonly modeled as a Gilbert-Elliott channel. Common approaches to the problem include standard forward error correction (FEC) techniques with bit interleaving implemented at the physical layer, and ARQ (automatic repeat request) techniques implemented at the MAC/DLC layer for non real-time applications only. However, the peculiar characteristics of the Gilbert-Elliott channel, for an extended range of channel parameters, are better exploited by other approaches. In this paper, we consider a wireless ATM access interface based on a TDMA scheme and real-time services with stringent delay constraints. The efficiencies of three error control schemes are compared: the classical FEC plus bit interleaving, a scheme based on block erasure codes, and a real-time ARQ scheme proposed in a previous paper. It turns out that the delay constraints can severely limit the performance of the FEC with respect to the other approaches.


In this document the application of open information technology to assist in reforming healthcare systems of countries is being discussed. Present technologies demonstrated by HANSA in Western and Eastern Europe enable the integration of electronic patient records in existing systems, provide for flexibility and support the interoperability of different applications. However, computers and IT must not drive the required process of change. This is the responsibility of top management.


: The haemodynamic effect of isosorbide-5-mononitrate (ISMN) was studied in 20 patients with coronary heart disease. Three hours after the first and single dose of 50 mg ISMN, both at rest and on exercise there was a significant decrease in pulmonary artery mean pressure of 30%, while heart rate and systemic blood was an anti-anginal effect, as objectified by the angina threshold and return to normal of previously depressed S-T segments during exercise. After administration of 50 mg ISMN, three times daily for seven days, a single dose of 50 mg ISMN on the eighth day produced a fall in pulmonary artery mean pressure three hours after administration, of only 25% at rest and 20% on exercise, while the anti-anginal effect remained unchanged. Six hours after administration there were no significant changes in haemodynamic variables compared with the initial values. The reduced fall in pulmonary artery mean pressure during chronic administration is interpreted as the development of tolerance with decreased venous pooling, while the unchanged anti-anginal effect is explained by the site of action of the nitrate on the coronary arteries and on the collateral circulation with positive blood redistribution.


In wireless ad hoc networks, nodes communicate with far off destinations using intermediate nodes as relays. Since wireless nodes are energy constrained, it may not be in the best interest of a node to always accept relay requests. On the other hand, if all nodes decide not to expend energy in relaying, then network throughput will drop dramatically. Both these extreme scenarios (complete cooperation and complete noncooperation) are inimical to the interests of a user. In this paper, we address the issue of user cooperation in ad hoc networks. We assume that nodes are rational, i.e., their actions are strictly determined by self interest, and that each node is associated with a minimum lifetime constraint. Given these lifetime constraints and the assumption of rational behavior, we are able to determine the optimal share of service that each node should receive. We define this to be the rational Pareto optimal operating point. We then propose a distributed and scalable acceptance algorithm called Generous TIT-FOR-TAT (GTFT). The acceptance algorithm is used by the nodes to decide whether to accept or reject a relay request. We show that GTFT results in a Nash equilibrium and prove that the system converges to the rational and optimal operating point.


The general problem addressed in this book is a large and important one: how to usefully deal with huge storehouses of complex information about real-world situations. Every one of the major modes of interacting with such storehouses querying, data mining, data analysis is addressed by current technologies only in very limited and unsatisfactory ways. The impact of a solution to this problem would be huge and pervasive, as the domains of human pursuit to which such storehouses are acutely relevant is numerous and rapidly growing. Finally, we give a more detailed treatment of one potential solution with this class, based on our prior work with the Probabilistic Logic Networks (PLN) formalism. We show how PLN can be used to carry out realworld reasoning, by means of a number of practical examples of reasoning regarding human activities inreal-world situations.


Certificate-based cryptosystem can eliminate the private key escrow problem inherent in the identity-based cryptosystem and can simplify the costly certificate management in the traditional public key cryptosystem. In 2016, Lu et al. raised an open problem of whether the certificate-based signature (CBS) scheme can be proved secure against the malicious-but-passive certifier attack. In this study, the authors try to solve this problem. They give an enhanced security model of the CBS scheme which can resist the malicious-but-passive certifier attack. Then they propose a concrete CBS scheme in the standard model by using bilinear pairings. They prove the scheme to be secure in the enhanced security model under the Squ-CDH assumption. In this way, the authors give an affirmative answer to the above open problem. Finally, the authors evaluate the efficiency of the scheme which shows it to be practical. In addition, they find that malicious-but-passive certifier security cannot coexist with super adversary security in a CBS scheme in the standard model.


With respect to different weather and sea conditions, the acoustic model under ocean environment was proposed by analyzing the interaction characteristics between sonar and environment. Based on the sonar equation, the performance mathematical models of active and passive sonar were produced with considering acoustic characteristics of the target and parameters of the marine environment. Simulation results of target detection performance for different target types, sonar parameters and sea conditions show the validity of the proposed model.


This paper highlights a historical account of forest fires in the western Himalayan region of Uttarakhand. Journey goes back to colonial rule in India when Britishers had started viewing Indian forest wealth as a much beneficial commercial venture. While doing so they completely overlooked even the basic customary and traditional rights of its Indigenous people. Paper features the regulatory rules imposed by the colonial rulers and their repercussion on the forest health of the region. Forests which were taken as a community asset during the regime of local rulers gradually started coming under the crownÂ's property through various settlements and classifications. This triggered an unrestrained expression of emotion by the villagers which virtually shattered the whole of the western Himalayan belt of India. The author proposes, through this paper, that the present relationship between the forest and its dependent communities is in no way better than what it had been hundred years before and suggests few strong corrective measures to turn foes into friends, for a much wider cause of protection of unique Himalayan ecosystem.


The measurement of beauty might be a problem when a person claimed about the value of beauty. This had brought the issue of Islamic aesthetics (which was expressed in the works of art), less appreciated and mired in the stagnation for centuries. While in the West, the aesthetic value had been trapped in the dichotomy of subjectivity and objectivity and had led to the relativistic subjectivity by marginalizing metaphysical approach. Polarization of Islamic aesthetics on geometric themes, arabas and calligraphy had put the creativity of Muslim artists in the stocks, even up to the understanding of the aesthetic itself. Iconoclastic of the mainstream of Islamic artistic should have been one option only. As a product of classical thought and compliance, the iconoclastic should have no longer been representing the needs and been existing in the present context. This study was trying to make arguments both longstanding and recent findings. Realism became researchers' choice, because realism had the richest footing both in the Qur'an and scientific findings. This study expected to break the shell of orthodoxy about the size of aesthetics in the frame of Islam and gave hope to both the perpetrators and the art connoisseur to the ultimate point


1. What can we learn from a family history? 2. How can a patient's chromosomes be studied? 3. How do genes work? 4. How can a patient's DNA be studied? 5. How can we check a patient's DNA for gene mutations? 6. What do mutations do? 7. What is epigenetics? 8. How do genes affect our metabolism, drug responses and immune system? 9. How do researchers identify genes for mendelian diseases? 10. Why are some conditions common and others rare? 11. When is screening useful? 12. Is cancer genetic? 13. Should we be testing for genetic susceptibility to common diseases? 14. What services are available for families with genetic disorders? Guidance for self-assessment questions Glossary Index


Host-side SSD caches represent a powerful knob for improving and controlling storage performance and improve performance isolation. We present Centaur, as a host-side SSD caching solution that uses cache sizing as a control knob to achieve storage performance goals. Centaur implements dynamically partitioned per-VM caches with per-partition local replacement to provide both lower cache miss rate, better performance isolation and performance control for VM workloads. It uses SSD cache sizing as a universal knob for meeting a variety of workload-specific goals including per-VM latency and IOPS reservations, proportional share fairness, and aggregate optimizations such as minimizing the average latency across VMs. We implemented Centaur for the VMware ESX hyper visor. With Centaur, times for simultaneously booting 28 virtual desktops improve by 42% relative to a non-caching system and by 18% relative to a unified caching system. Centaur also implements per-VM shares for latency with less than 5% error when running micro benchmarks, and enforces latency and IOPS reservations on OLTP workloads with less than 10% error.


Balancing content and students' participation in the mathematics classroom is an area of both practical and theoretical interest. In this article we relate and contribute to these two interests by analyzing classroom data from an intervention project aiming at teaching mathematics through problem solving. The study shows that several aspects such as mediating tools, the teacher's conceptual accountability and interactional moves play important roles in the nature of the co-construction of critical dimensions of variation. We therefore suggest that an analysis of content and participation in the mathematics classroom would benefit from drawing on several theoretical sources. As such, the study could be seen as a contribution to recent elaborations on developing variation theory for analyzing the enacted object of learning.


'It seems to me that the moralist is the most useless and contemptible of creatures. He is useless in that he would expend his energies upon making judgments rather than upon gaining knowledge, for the reason that judgment is easy and knowledge is difficult. He is contemptible in that his judgments reflect a vision of himself which in his ignorance and pride he would impose upon the world. I implore you, do not become a moralist; you will destroy your art and your mind.' John Williams, Augustus


In recent years a myriad of studies have been performed investigating the effects on flap survival of various pharmacologic agents. One class of agents, however, that has received relatively little attention is the inhalational anesthetics. Yet, they are widely used during reconstructive efforts using skin flaps and they possess several pharmacologic properties shown to affect flap survival. Using a dorsally based random skin flap model in 28 swine, the influence of nitrous oxide and isoflurane on skin flap survival was examined. The mean area of skin flap survival in the isoflurane, nitrous oxide, euoxemic control, and hyperoxygenated control groups was 79.4%, 29.7%, 42.0%, and 28.6%, respectively. A significant improvement in flap viability was seen only in the group using isoflurane as the anesthetic agent. Arterial blood gas content (PO2, PCO2, and HCO3), respiratory rate, acid-base balance, blood pressure, pulse, and temperature were monitored. Improved survival of the isoflurane group was independent of these parameters. These data suggest that the choice of anesthetic agent may effect random skin flap survival with isoflurane providing the greatest benefit of the agents tested in this model.


Erythema gyratum repens is a rare dermatologic manifestation of systemic diseases mainly secondary to neoplastic conditions. We report a case of an 80 year-old patient who was admitted to the hospital for prolonged fever, general status alteration, and pruritic skin lesion. He was known to have lymphoma in the past and current myelodysplastic syndrome. Physical examination revealed multiple, annular, rapidly growing erythematous plaques over the right thigh. Bone marrow aspirate and biopsy revealed Acute Myeloblastic Leukemia (AML). Diagnosis of Erythema Gyratum Repens (EGR) was made on clinical ground and it was secondary to AML after excluding others possible diagnosis.


Research productivity indicators tend to ignore online and social media writing of academics, nevertheless, many academics for instance tweet and blog. It thus seems that there is additional value for writing in these genres. This study sets out to explore what roles writing in these hybrid online genres plays in relation to academics' research activities. Drawing on in-depth research interviews with 29 academics with various L1s from three different disciplines, the study focuses on the participants' perceptions of tweeting and blogging, and how they value writing in these genres in relation to core research-writing genres in their fields. Besides some differences in the evaluations between the disciplines, in general the academics expressed a strong orientation towards evaluative regimes related to writing in their core genres, particularly institutional merit systems and peer review systems. At the same time, the hybrid genres seemed to gain value beyond these systems in providing opportunities for self-actualisation and communicating on one's own terms. The findings provide important insights into the ecology of genres academics make use of in the process of knowledge production.


Background Patients with oral mucositis often present painful ulcerative lesions that hamper the administration of drugs. The development of dosage forms that promote the comfort of the patient may be an alternative to the currently available solutions. The initial formulation of nystatin pastilles and lidocaine1 was flavoured with sucrose, an excipient not recommended for patients with an increased risk of oral infections. In accordance, it is important to develop a new sugar-free formulation as well as to study its palatability and texture behaviour during its dissolution. Purpose Development, characterisation and stability study of a new formulation of nystatin and lidocaine sugar-free pastilles. Material and methods The nystatin and lidocaine pastilles were formulated from raw material without sucrose in its constitution. Studies included optimisation of the physicochemical properties of the pastilles (evaluation of their behaviour by texturometry after partial dissolution in artificial saliva, assessing the compatibility between active excipients and substances, and antifungal activity against Candida albicans ATCC 10231).2 Physicochemical and microbiological stability was assessed for a period of 60 days. After informed written consent, 35 volunteers rated the palatability, aspect and flavour of the pastilles by answering a questionnaire. Results The texture profile analysis after dissolution showed a decrease in hardness, gumminess and chewiness of the pastilles and an increase in mucoadhesion. No chemical interactions were detected between active substances and excipients, and the formulation proved to be effective in inhibiting the growth of C albicans. The stability test supports a period of use of 60 days at 5 ± 3°C and protected from light. The questionnaire results showed that 76% would take the pastille if prescribed. Conclusion The newly developed formulation had suitable characteristics for oral administration. The behaviour of the pastilles after partial dissolution in saliva is clearly advantageous in terms of its smooth texture which facilitates use by the patient with oral mucositis, contributing to comfort and improving therapeutic adherence. Furthermore, the increased mucoadhesion property makes it the most effective topical action in relation to the often used mouthwash. References and/or Acknowledgements Lozenges: Innovation in the treatment of oral mucositis. EAHP poster. Hamburg, 2015 European Pharmacopoeia 8.6. 2014, 8th edn No conflict of interest.


The thesis deals with the effect that microstructural defects have on the magneticproperties and martensitic transformation in Ni-Mn-Z (Z = Ga, In, Sn)and Ni-Fe-Ga alloys. For this purpose, along with the standard characterizationtechniques, two additional specific nuclear techniques have been employed; 119SnMossbauer Spectroscopy and Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy, PALS.For the consecution of this thesis one PALS spectrometer has been designed, builtand optimized. For offline emission Mossbuauer experiments, a setup has been alsobuilt for measuring ion implanted samples. Finally, a high temperature annealingfurnace has been designed and built to carry out the annealing of powdered samplesunder controllable atmosphere. // The thesis deals with the effect that microstructural defects have on the magneticproperties and martensitic transformation in Ni-Mn-Z (Z = Ga, In, Sn)and Ni-Fe-Ga alloys. For this purpose, along with the standard characterizationtechniques, two additional specific nuclear techniques have been employed; 119SnMossbauer Spectroscopy and Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy, PALS.For the consecution of this thesis one PALS spectrometer has been designed, builtand optimized. For offline emission Mossbuauer experiments, a setup has been alsobuilt for measuring ion implanted samples. Finally, a high temperature annealingfurnace has been designed and built to carry out the annealing of powdered samplesunder controllable atmosphere.


It is increasingly clear that plant genomes encode numerous complex multidomain proteins that harbor functional adenylyl cyclase (AC) centers. These AC containing proteins have well-documented roles in development and responses to the environment. However, it is only for a few of these proteins that we are beginning to understand the intramolecular mechanisms that govern their cellular and biological functions, as detailed characterizations are biochemically and structurally challenging given that these poorly conserved AC centers typically constitute only a small fraction (<10%) of complex plant proteins. Here, we offer fresh perspectives on their seemingly cryptic activities specifically showing evidence for the presence of multiple functional AC centers in a single protein and linking their catalytic strengths to the Mg2+/Mn2+-binding amino acids. We used a previously described computational approach to identify candidate multidomain proteins from Arabidopsis thaliana that contain multiple AC centers and show, using an Arabidopsis leucine-rich repeat containing protein (TAIR ID: At3g14460; AtLRRAC1) as example, biochemical evidence for multienzymatic activities. Importantly, all AC-containing fragments of this protein can complement the AC-deficient mutant cyaA in Escherichia coli, while structural modeling coupled with molecular docking simulations supports catalytic feasibility albeit to varying degrees as determined by the frequency of suitable substrate binding poses predicted for the AC sites. This statistic correlates well with the enzymatic assays, which implied that the greatly reduced AC activities is due to the absence of the negatively charged [DE] amino acids previously assigned to cation-, in particular Mg2+/Mn2+-binding roles in ACs.


Many predictions of how the COVID-19 pandemic will reshape the world have focused on a tension at the heart of international affairs. On the one hand, countries have turned inwards to deal with the pandemic, closing their borders and asserting their sovereignty. Nationalism is on the rise. On the other hand, there is a recognition that transnational problems like the pandemic require transnational solutions. Global governance must be reinvigorated. This tension between nationalism and cosmopolitanism is also reflected in other opposing positions that have defined the study of international relations: isolationism versus internationalism; realism versus idealism; competition versus interdependence; and the list goes on. This article suggests that the tension can also be conceived as existing between politics and policy. Dividing politics and policy in this way helps to explain the influence of different actors on international negotiations and the prospects and pitfalls of international cooperation.


This paper aims to contribute to the debate regarding quantitative and qualitative appreciation of cyber power. It will do so by: (1) deriving a thorough foundation for the cyber power discussion from the 20th century power debate; (2) presenting a comprehensive framework for analysing (cyber) power; and (3) positioning cyber capacities within this framework. Revamping the 20th century power discussion is necessary as the current cyber power debate focuses much on the 'means' component of power (e.g. DDoS capacity, network infrastructure spending, malware acquisition budgets, etc.). This view of power is very similar to the pre-World War II approach to assessing power. The power theorists, however, have shied away from this approach as it proved to be too narrow. Primarily because it failed to capture why a more resourceful actor sometimes fails to ascertain its objectives or preferred outcomes vis-a-vis a smaller actor (e.g. the United States' experience in Vietnam). In order to fill this lacuna, this paper offers a more comprehensive approach to power, including all dimensions of (cyber) power, being: scope, domain, weight, costs and means.


Purpose of reviewThe review summarizes and discusses the proposed new definitions for sarcopenia and cachexia. It also highlights the overlapping of both conditions and the fact that these conditions frequently occur in elderly patients. Recent findingsSarcopenia is now recognized as a multifactorial geriatric syndrome. Cachexia is defined as a metabolic syndrome in which inflammation is the key feature and so cachexia can be an underlying condition of sarcopenia. Recently, cachexia has been defined as 'a complex metabolic syndrome associated with underlying illness and characterized by loss of muscle mass with or without loss of fat mass. The prominent clinical feature of cachexia is weight loss in adults'. Different recommendations have been proposed for the diagnosis of sarcopenia. At present, all definitions combine an assessment of muscle mass and muscle function (strength or physical performances such as gait speed). However, the relevance and the validation of these evolving definitions need to be assessed in future studies. SummaryAlthough the recent definitions of sarcopenia and cachexia boost research in the field and define distinct entities, the cause behind the loss of muscle mass (whether cachexia or sarcopenia) may, however, be indistinguishable in clinical practice. Therefore, new therapeutic approaches, alone or in combination, could be targeted on both conditions.


Synthesizing high-resolution realistic images from text descriptions is a challenging task. Almost all existing text-to-image methods employ stacked generative adversarial networks as the backbone, utilize cross-modal attention mechanisms to fuse text and image features, and use extra networks to ensure text-image semantic consistency. The existing text-to-image models have three problems: 1) For the backbone, there are multiple generators and discriminators stacked for generating different scales of images making the training process slow and inefficient. 2) For semantic consistency, the existing models employ extra networks to ensure the semantic consistency increasing the training complexity and bringing an additional computational cost. 3) For the text-image feature fusion method, cross-modal attention is only applied a few times during the generation process due to its computational cost impeding fusing the text and image features deeply. To solve these limitations, we propose 1) a novel simplified text-to-image backbone which is able to synthesize high-quality images directly by one pair of generator and discriminator, 2) a novel regularization method called Matching-Aware zero-centered Gradient Penalty which promotes the generator to synthesize more realistic and text-image semantic consistent images without introducing extra networks, 3) a novel fusion module called Deep Text-Image Fusion Block which can exploit the semantics of text descriptions effectively and fuse text and image features deeply during the generation process. Compared with the previous text-to-image models, our DF-GAN is simpler and more efficient and achieves better performance. Extensive experiments and ablation studies on both Caltech-UCSD Birds 200 and COCO datasets demonstrate the superiority of the proposed model in comparison to state-of-the-art models.


Pus samples of 30 patients with closed dentoalveolar abscesses who had not received antimicrobial therapy for at last two months were screened for the presence of beta-lactamase-producing anaerobic bacteria. From these 30 pus samples, a total of 112 bacterial strains were isolated; 83 of them were strict anaerobes and 29 were aerobes. beta-lactamases activity of the selected anaerobic bacteria was tested after identification of the isolates and was detected in 5 of the total 83 (6%) strict anaerobic isolates, whereas these 5 strains were isolated in 4 of the 30 (13.3%) pus samples. The species with beta-lactamase activity were in the Prevotella intermedia (4 from 14 isolates) and the Fusobacterium nucleatum (1 from 9 isolates) groups. None of the gram-positive and the other gram-negative anaerobic strains were beta-lactamase positive.


For given acoustic frequencies of premixed gas-turbine combustors, a classical method not currently in use is explored for assessing whether acoustically driven oscillatory combustion will occur. The method involves cataloging linear amplification and attenuation mechanisms and estimating magnitudes of their rates. Linear approximations to nonlinear mechanisms are included in an effort to obtain a reasonably complete description. A stability index is defined such that oscillation is predicted to occur when the value of the index exceeds unity. The method is tested on the basis of new experiments and experimental data available in literature. Moderate success is achieved in rationalizing these experimental results. The objective of the method is to enable quick and inexpensive decisions to be made for a wide variety of potential design configurations and operating conditions, without the complexity of computational fluid dynamics. The approach therefore may complement other approaches already in use.


The subdiffusion equation with a Caputo fractional derivative of order α∈(0,1) in time arises in a wide variety of practical applications, and it is often adopted to model anomalous subdiffusion processes in heterogeneous media. The L1 scheme is one of the most popular and successful numerical methods for discretizing the Caputo fractional derivative in time. The scheme was analysed earlier independently by Lin and Xu (2007, Finite difference/spectral approximations for the time-fractional diffusion equation. J. Comput. Phys., 225, 1533–1552) and Sun and Wu (2006, A fully discrete scheme for a diffusion wave system. Appl. Numer. Math., 56, 193–209), and an O(τ2−α) convergence rate was established, under the assumption that the solution is twice continuously differentiable in time. However, in view of the smoothing property of the subdiffusion equation, this regularity condition is restrictive, since it does not hold even for the homogeneous problem with a smooth initial data. In this work, we revisit the error analysis of the scheme, and establish an O(τ) convergence rate for both smooth and nonsmooth initial data. The analysis is valid for more general sectorial operators. In particular, the L1 scheme is applied to one-dimensional space-time fractional diffusion equations, which involves also a Riemann–Liouville derivative of order β∈(32,2) in space, and error estimates are provided for the fully discrete scheme. Numerical experiments are provided to verify the sharpness of the error estimates, and robustness of the scheme with respect to data regularity.


Micromorphological characters from fruit surface of 24 species and seed coat of 21 species, 6 subgenera of Rhododendron from China, i.e., Azaleastrum, Hymenanthes, Pentanthera, Rhododendron, Therorhodion and Tsutsusi, were examined under the scanning electron microscope. Ledum palustre was also examined to compare with the species of Rhododendron. The micromorphological characters of fruit surface and seed coat in Rhododendron are described in this paper. Different types are distinguished here on the basis of morphological characters such as scale, trichome, stomatal apparatus of fruit surface, and ornamentation of seed coat. Compared with seeds of extant and fossil Rhododendron species, some new seed types in Rhododendron species from South China are found. R. redowskianum of subgen. Therorhodion has sparse short setas on the fruit surface without stomatal apparatus. Outline of its slightly flattened and unwinged seed is narrowly oblong. Subgen. Rhododendron, the lepidote rhododendron, with scales on fruit surface, as well as brain-line ridge on the seed coat, differs distinctly from the elepidote rhododendron. Fruit surface of the species in subgen. Hymenanthes belongs to R. fortunei-type, which is characterized as the irregular cuticular membrane without trichome, with stomatal apparatus rarely seen. In the species of subgen. Tsutsusi, the type of fruit surface belongs to R. mariae-type, which is characterized as the compact cuticular membrane with thick trichomes. As far as seed coat is concerned, only one type is found in subgen. Hymenanthes (i.e., R. fortunei-type), whereas two types occur in subgen. Tsutsusi (i.e., R. meridionale-type and R. mariae-type). The species of subgen. Azaleastrum show the great divergence on morphological characters. Separately, sect. Choniastrum and sect. Tsutsusi exhibit their own micromorphological characters. According to the morphological characters of fruit surface, R. molle of subgen. Pentanthera differs distinctly from the species of other subgenera. However, its R. molle-type seed is similar to R. fortunei-type seed. The above-mentioned morphological characters support the results frommolecular systematic studies: except for subgen. Therorhodion, the lepidote rhododendron (subgen. Rhododendron) plus Ledum, is monophyletic; subgen. Tsutsusi from China and subgen. Hymenanthes are both monophyletic; subgenera Azaleastrum and Pentanthera are both polyphyletic; and in subgen. Azaleastrum, sect. Choniastrum and Tsutsusi are both monophyletic. Furthermore, the relationships between the closely related taxa are also inferred from micromorphological characters and molecular data. This study provides micromorphological evidence to support the separation of R. bachii from R. ovatum as a distinct species.


Trade liberalisation over the last two decades in Eastern Africa has been pronounced, and has resulted in significant increases in exports and imports both through inter-regional trade and intra-regional trade. Measures of diversification show that trade liberalisation has resulted in a more diversified export structure, however the regions comparative advantage has not changed significantly. There is still scope for pursuing further trade liberalisation especially regional integration as a way to diversify export markets. Ambitious regional trade liberalisation programs, such as the Tripartite Agreement between COMESA/EAC/SADC, undoubtedly have the potential to change the economic geography of the region and inducing greater structural change. A GTAP computable general equilibrium model was used to evaluate the possible trade and welfare effects of the proposed Tripartite Agreement. Simulation results showed increased net welfare gains and higher levels of aggregate industrial production and realignment of production between countries in the region. The Tripartite would result in increased aggregate regional demand which in turn would lead to higher industrial production in the region.


: Fitness of dot immuno-analysis for detection of Brucella antigens labeled with colloid silver is evaluated. Soluble lipopolysaccharides and protein-saccharide antigen and corpuscular antigens of 22 Brucella strains (7 species) pathogenic for humans and animals in the S and R forms were used. The specificity of the method was tested on 10 heterologous microorganisms whose antigens were closely related. The suggested test system is simple, economic, highly sensitive (from 62 thousands to 8 million CFU/ml) and specific, requires no expensive equipment, and is an alternative to enzyme immuno-assay and dot immuno-analysis with gold immunosole.


The popular media have publicized the idea that social networking Web sites (e.g., Facebook) may enrich the interpersonal lives of people who struggle to make social connections. The opportunity that such sites provide for self-disclosure—a necessary component in the development of intimacy—could be especially beneficial for people with low self-esteem, who are normally hesitant to self-disclose and who have difficulty maintaining satisfying relationships. We suspected that posting on Facebook would reduce the perceived riskiness of self-disclosure, thus encouraging people with low self-esteem to express themselves more openly. In three studies, we examined whether such individuals see Facebook as a safe and appealing medium for self-disclosure, and whether their actual Facebook posts enabled them to reap social rewards. We found that although people with low self-esteem considered Facebook an appealing venue for self-disclosure, the low positivity and high negativity of their disclosures elicited undesirable responses from other people.


Typical modem fighter aircraft use two-spool, low by-pass ratio, turbojet engines to provide
the thrust needed to carry out the combat manoeuvres required
by present-day air warfare
tactics. The dynamic characteristics of such aircraft engines are complex and non-linear.
The need for fast, accurate control of the engine throughout the flight envelope is of
paramount importance and this research was concerned with the study of such problems and
subsequent design of an optimal linear control which would improve the engine's dynamic response and provide the required correspondence between the output from the engine and
the values commanded by a pilot.
A detailed mathematical model was derived which, in accuracy and complexity of
representation, was a large improvement upon existing analytical models, which assume
linear operation over a very small region of the state space, and which was simpler than the
large non-analytic representations, which are based on matching operational data. The
non-linear model used in this work was based upon information obtained from DYNGEN, a
computer program which is used to calculate the steady-state and transient responses of
turbojet and turbofan engines. It is a model of fifth order which, it is shown, correctly
models the qualitative behaviour of a representative jet engine. A number of operating points
were selected to define the boundaries used for the flight envelope. For each point a
performance investigation was carried out and a related linear model was established. By
posing the problem of engine control as a linear quadratic problem, in which the constraint
was the state equation of the linear model, control laws appropriate for each operating point
were obtained. A single control was effective with the linear model at every point. The same
control laws were then applied to the non-linear mathematical model adjusted for each
operating point, and the resulting responses were carefully studied to determine if one single
control law could be used with all operating points. Such a law was established. This led,
naturally, to the determination of an optimal linear tracking control law, and a further
investigation to determine whether there existed an optimal non-linear control law for the
non-linear model. In the work presented in this dissertation these points are fully discussed
and the reasons for choosing to find an optimal linear control law for the non-linear model by
solving the related two-point, boundary value problem using the method of quasilinearisation
are presented. A comparison of the effectiveness of the respective optimal control laws, based
upon digital simulation, is made before suggestions and recommendations for further work
are presented.


Piscirickettsia salmonis is the bacterium that causes Piscirickettsiosis, a systemic disease of salmonid fish responsible for significant economic losses within the aquaculture industry worldwide. The growth of the bacterium for vaccine formulation has been traditionally accomplished by infecting eukaryotic cell lines, a process that involves high production costs and is time-consuming. Recent research has demonstrated that it is possible to culture pure P. salmonis in a blood containing (cell-free) medium. In the present work we demonstrate the growth of P. salmonis in a liquid medium free from blood and serum components, thus establishing a novel and simplified bacteriological medium. Additionally, the new media reported provides improved growth conditions for P. salmonis, where biomass concentrations of approximately 800 mg cell dry weight L−1 were obtained, about eight times higher than those reported for the blood containing medium. A 2- level full factorial design was employed to evaluate the significance of the main medium components on cell growth and an optimal temperature range of 23–27°C was determined for the microorganism to grow in the novel liquid media. Therefore, these results represent a breakthrough regarding P. salmonis research in order to optimize pure P. salmonis growth in liquid blood and serum free medium.


The three dimensional finite element model of composite laminates made of carbon fiber reinforced bismaleimide resin is built, and the stress state of the composite laminates under unidirectional tensile force is presented based on finite element analysis. The strength criterion and initial damage mode are given based on the stresses of material principal direction. The three dimensional finite element model of the same laminates with non-penetrating damage repaired by scarf bonding method is built, and the stress state is also analyzed. Annular solids are used to simulate the resin between the mother laminates and the patches. The strength criterion and the damage mode of the scarf bonding composite laminates are also given. The strength and the damage mode of original laminates are compared with that of the repaired laminates. The influence of the annular shape resin is considered in the repaired model. It is showed that the three dimensional models can simulate the geometric and physical features of the real composite laminates. It is concluded that the original composite laminates and the repaired one both damage first in the laminar whose second material principal direction coincides with the axial tensile force. And the damage mode is resin crack under tensile stress. The strength of the bonding patches is higher than the repaired laminates. After scarf bonding repairing, the strength of the damaged laminates can recover up to about 88%.


The stratigraphy within coastal river valleys in south-central Chile clarifies and extends the region's history of large, earthquakes and accompanying tsunamis. Our site at Quidico (38.1°S, 73.3°W) is located in an overlap zone between ruptures of magnitude 8–9 earthquakes in 1960 and 2010, and, therefore, records tsunamis originating from subduction-zone ruptures north and south of the city of Concepción. Hand-dug pits and cores in a 3-m-thick sequence of freshwater peat in an abandoned meander (a little-examined depositional environment for tsunami deposits) and exposures along the Quidico River show five sand beds that extend as much as 1.2 km inland. Evidence for deposition of the beds by tsunamis includes tabular sand beds that are laterally extensive (>100 m), well sorted, fine upward, have sharp lower contacts, and contain diatom assemblages dominated by brackish and marine taxa. Using eyewitness accounts of tsunami inundation, 137Cs analyses, and 14C dating, we matched the upper four sand beds with historical tsunamis in 2010, 1960, 1835, and 1751. The oldest prehistoric bed dates to 1445–1490 CE and correlates with lacustrine and coastal records of similar-aged earthquakes and tsunamis in south-central Chile.


Why are some people poor? Why does absolute poverty persist despite substantial economic growth? What types of late economic development or 'catch-up' capitalism are associated with different poverty outcomes? Global Poverty addresses these apparently simple questions and the extent to which the answers may be shifting. One might expect global poverty to be focused in the world's poorest countries, usually defined as low-income countries, or least developed countries, or 'fragile states'. However, most of the world's absolute poor by monetary or multi-dimensional poverty - up to a billion people - live in growing and largely stable middle-income countries. At the same time, poverty has not fallen as much as the substantial economic growth would warrant. As a consequence, and as domestic resources have grown, much of global poverty has become less about a lack of domestic resources and more about questions of national inequality, social policy and welfare regimes, and patterns of economic development pursued.


Unit nonresponse in panel data sets is often a source of bias. Why certain individuals attrite from longitudinal studies and how to minimize this phenomenon have been examined by researchers. However, this research has typically focused on data sets collected via telephone, postal mail, or face-to-face interviews. Moreover, this research usually focuses on using demographic characteristics such as educational attainment or income to explain variation in the incidence of unit nonresponse. We make two contributions to the existing literature. First, we examine the incidence of unit nonresponse in an Internet panel, a relatively new, and hence understudied, approach to gathering longitudinal data. Second, we hypothesize that personality traits, which typically remain unobserved and unmeasured in many data sets, affect the likelihood of unit nonresponse. Using data from an Internet panel that includes self-reported measures of personality in its baseline survey, we find that conscientiousness and openness to experience predict the incidence of unit nonresponse in subsequent survey waves, even after controlling for cognitive ability and demographic characteristics that are usually available and used by researchers to correct for unit nonresponse. We also test the potential to use paradata as proxies for personality traits related to unit nonresponse. Although we show that these proxies are correlated with personality traits and predict unit nonresponse in the same way as self-reported measures of personality traits, it is also possible that they capture other idiosyncrasies related to future survey completion. Our results suggest that obtaining explicit measures of personality traits or finding better proxies for them could be valuable for more fully addressing the potential bias that may arise as a result of unit nonresponse.


A technique for biological verification of aflatoxin B(1) was developed based on toxin-mediated induction of lysis in a lysogenic strain of Bacillus megaterium NNRL B-3695. Reduction of culture turbidity was determined at various concentrations of toxin. Incubation of 1.1 x 10(-4) g (dry weight) of cells/ml of growth medium containing 25 mug of B(1) per ml at 37 C reduced initial turbidity 0.20 absorbance units in 4 hr. If the bacterial lysate of the lysogenic strain, after a 2-hr incubation with 25 mug of B(1) per ml, was plated with a sensitive B. megaterium strain (NRRL B-3694), plaque-forming units increased approximately 150 times relative to the control. Comparable testing of the effects of aflatoxin on the nonlysogenic, sensitive strain demonstrated that 75 mug of B(1) per ml neither induced lysis nor plaque-forming units. Although induction is not an exclusive property of aflatoxin B(1), the differential response of the lysogenic and sensitive Bacillus strains to B(1) offers a unique and rapid technique for biological verification of the toxin.


In response to rising parental incarceration, some correctional facilities and outside organizations offer family literacy programs for parents in prison. However, research on these correctional education initiatives is scant. This paper uses qualitative data to analyze how 11 fathers in a rural Pennsylvania prison were involved in their children's literacy, learning, and education before and during incarceration and through the Read to Your Child/ Grandchild (RYCG) program. Before RYCG, most fathers had taken steps such as reading to children, teaching reading and math, attending parent-teacher conferences, helping with homework, and singing and rhyming—and then sought to continue supporting their children's learning from within prison. Fathers used RYCG materials (video-recorded book reading, children's book, scrapbook) to emphasize the importance of education, literacies, and numeracy. They also created personalized scrapbooks that cultivated their children's literate abilities and cognitive, academic, and socio-emotional development. This research contributes to the nascent literature on family literacy for incarcerated parents.


Ever increasing requirements to machine tool performance lead to a shift from regular roller bearing towards hydrostatic guideways. These have many advantageous properties, such as non-existent stick and slip, nearly no wear, while increasing dampening and stiffness. Compared to traditional guideways, hydrostatic have a constant energy demand, resulting from pump losses. The pump losses are composed out of the pressure and the flow rate of the fluid. The flowrate can be influenced with the third power via the fluid film thickness. For this, a novel micro gap design is proposed and tested. The static and dynamic stiffness and the power consumption are analysed and compared.


The stress concentration of the circular hole within the mechanical mart can easily derived by the photo-elastic technique if the testing specimen is sufficiently developed. The testing specimen using the characteristic of the photo-elastic coefficient, with actual form like the mechanical part by rapid prototyping forming is thus used in this paper. The rapid mold for prototype is made by the RTV-2 silicone gel associated with the vacuum chamber to remove the air within it. The testing scheme is by way of the simply supported beam where the load is imposed on the middle of the specimen. Results show that the smaller diameter of hole on specimen provides a larger stress concentration effect. When the diameter of the hole is small, the stress concentration effects caused by the machined hole and the forming hole have almost no difference. However, the stress concentration effects of the larger diameter of the machined hole and of the formed hole give significant difference, the stress concentration caused by the machined hole is much greater than one of the formed hole. In this paper, the actual shape of the specimen which is as same as the original mechanical components can be quickly obtained by the rapid prototyping technology for the photoelastic technique to reveal the experimental mechanics of real applications.


A mutant of thermotolerant Aureobasidium pullulans was isolated using growth inhibitors viz. nystatin and deoxyglucose in the growth medium. An improved mutant strain, RG-5, was developed using methyl methane sulfonate (MMS) (0.5%) for 5 minutes, having killing rate of 70% level, produced 6 g l-1 higher pullulan as compared to the wild type without loosing thermotolerant and non-melanin producing ability. The mutant required 15 rpm higher agitation as compared to the wild type and consumed 1% and 0.1% less sucrose and ammonium sulphate, respectively than the wild strain with lesser incubation period (12h), and with slight increase of pH optima (6.5) in a fed-batch fermentation process. This mutant is very stable and producing significantly higher pullulan with lesser carbon and nitrogen as well as pH tolerance capacity along with lesser incubation period. Therefore, the mutant can be used for industrial production in order to reduce the cost of production.


Objectives Exposure to fine particles (PM2.5) in urban air has been associated with increased risk of hospitalisation and death from cardiovascular diseases. The endothelium is an important transmitter of signals in the cardiovascular system, and dysfunction of the endothelium is an early marker of increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Workers in metal smelters are occupationally exposed to fine and ultrafine particles in a much higher concentration than from levels in the polluted urban air. Few studies of cardiovascular effects from fine particles have been performed in a working environment. The aim of this study was to examine the association between exposure to different particle size fractions in manganese smelters and endothelial function. Methods We examined 40 workers in two Norwegian manganese smelters after a working day in the furnace hall, and after at least two consecutive days off work. On the working day, exposure to different particle size fractions was assessed with personal sampling using respirable cyclones and five-stage Sioutas cascade impactors. Endothelial function measured with Endo-PAT2000 (Itamar Medical Ltd.). Associations between the mass of different particle size fractions and endothelial function were assessed using mixed model regression. Results Reactive hyperemia index (LnRHI) was reduced with increasing levels of particles in the three finest fractions (<0.25 μm, 0.25–0.50 μm, and 0.50–1 μm, respectively), and with total respirable dust. After adjustment for physical activity, the associations were still statistically significant for the two smallest size fractions. Non-significant associations were observed with coarser fractions of particles (1–2.5 μm, and 2.5–10 μm). Conclusion Exposure to fine particles in the manganese industry is associated with reduced endothelial function.


Lord Perry of Walton died suddenly on 17 July 2003, at the age of 82 years. Walter Laing Macdonald Perry was a native of Dundee, educated at Morgan Academy Dundee, Ayr Academy, Dundee High School and St Andrews University (MB ChB, MD and DSc), winning the Rutherford Silver Medal for his MD thesis and the Sykes Gold Medal for his DSc thesis. After Casualty Officer and House Surgeon posts in 1943–44, he served as a Medical Officer in the Colonial Medical Service in Nigeria in 1944–46, then briefly as a Medical Officer in the RAF, 1946–47, before embarking on a scientific career on the staff of the Medical Research Council at the National Institute for Medical Research from 1947 to 1958, serving as Director of the Department of Biological Standards from 1952 to 1958. Professionally, he achieved MRCP (Ed) in 1963 and was elected FRCPE in 1967, FRCP in 1978, FRSE in 1960 and FRS in 1985.


Glue sniffing, more commonly called volatile substance abuse (VSA) refers to the deliberate inhalation of volatile solvents, commonly found in adhesives, for the purpose of intoxication. The globally increasing prevalence of glue sniffing suggests that physicians will encounter many such patients some time during their practice. This review with two unusual cases aims to bring current issues related to VSA, such as compounds most commonly abused, the methods of abuse, and its direct effects along with management. Aim is to spread awareness among clinicians and practitioners treating children and adolescent identify and work effectively with young people who are abusing or at risk of abusing volatile substances.


Dynamic spectrum policies combined with software defined radio are powerful means to improve the overall spectral efficiency allowing the development of new wireless services and technologies. Medium Access Control (MAC) protocols exploit sensing stimuli to build up a spectrum opportunity map (cognitive sensing). Available resources are scheduled (dynamic spectrum allocation), improving coexistence between users that belong to heterogeneous systems (dynamic spectrum sharing). Furthermore, MAC protocols may allow cognitive users to vacate selected channels when their quality becomes unacceptable (dynamic spectrum mobility). The contribution of this survey is threefold. First, we show the fundamental role of the MAC layer and identify its functionalities in a cognitive radio (CR) network. Second, a classification of cognitive MAC protocols is proposed. Third, advantages, drawbacks, and further design challenges of cognitive MAC protocols are discussed.


Background & Study Aim: The delay in the motor development of disabled people results from a lack of experience, rather than a loss of an ability. Thus, disabled people should be provided with suitable exercise environment, motivated to participate in physical activities and even encouraged to do sports for rehabilitation. The purpose of this study is the effect of 4-week-long preparation period of the judo training programs on the respiratory functions, inspiratory and expiratory muscle strength of male and female hearing impaired judokas. Material & Methods: A total of 27 hearing impaired judokas, 13 male and 14 female, participated in the study voluntarily. Measurements were made 2 days before the training program started and 2 days after the training program ended. The indicators obtained from these measurements were maximal inspiratory pressure (MIP), maximal expiratory pressure (MEP), vital capacity (VC), tidal volume (TV), forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), FEV1/FVC, forced inspiratory vital capacity (FIVC), maximal voluntary ventilation (MVV) and respiratory rate (RR). A paired samples t-test was used for pre-test post-test differences, while an independent samples t-test was used for differences between genders. Results: Statistical significance was found in all respiration indicators measured in the analysis of pre-test and post-test differences within groups (p<0.05). No statistically significant difference was found in analysis results between groups in terms of gender. A 4-week-long preparation period training program had a positive effect on the respiration indicators and respiratory muscle strength of male and female athletes. A training program had similar effects on the examined indicators in terms of the variable of gender. Conclusion: Since the individuals with hearing impaired formed the experimental group, the benefits of judo training applied to individuals with hearing impaired will be important for the literature and may inspire other researchers in the future.


Introduction Epilepsy (EP) is one of the entities that are developing in children withperinatal brain lesions (PBL). An early and accurate diagnosis of EP is important because EP has major socioeconomic consequences for both the individual patient and society. The purpose of the study:we aimed toelucidate the significance of perinatal brain damage in childhood epilepsy. Research methodology we performed a longitudinal prospective case-control study of 1036 children with PBL withvarious degrees of severity, followedbetween the age of 1–3 months and 48±12 months. Two hundred and fifty-ninechildren from study group (25%; 95CI23,65–26,35)developed EP. The control group included 334 healthy children. EEG examination and MRI brain imaging was performed. Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) was used to assess the concentrations of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) in the serum in all children. Statistical analyses were obtained using Statistics 7.0 software (StatSoftInc) and Excel. Results: Of all cases of EP- 211 (81,47%; 95 CI 79,06–83,88) were generalised forms; 48 (18,5±2,41%; 95CI16,09–20,91)– focalforms. In 89 cases (34,4%; 95CI31,45–37,35) neonatal seizures preceded EP, in the rest 234 cases (90.3% 95 CI 88.47 to 92.13) EP started at infant age, preferentially between 3 and 6 months – 89 (34,4%; 95CI31,45–37,35). We obtained strong correlations between imaging examinations andpharmacoresistant EP (rxy=-0,72)and middle correlations (rxy=-0,53) with controlled EP. EEG changes comprised approximately 9–11 types of routes and have correlated with the type of seizures (rxy=-0,72). Some patterns (isolated slow activity, diffuse slow activity, grouped generalised peaks) werepreceding the epileptiformchanges(rxy=-0,42).The observedcorrelations between low absoluteserum levels of neurotrophic factors(NF) (at 1–3 months) and EEG changes: BDNF (rxy=-0,72) andCNTF (rxy=-0,74), suggestthe development of pharmacoresistant EP and its progress to epileptic encephalopathies with sever neurophysiological processes disturbance. Conclusions PBL has an important role in child EP. EP is associated withstructural brain abnormalities, variable electroencephalographic changes that strongly correlate with NF deficit, suggesting a reserved prognosis and evolution towards epileptic encephalopathies. NF study allowed the understanding of the pathogeneticaspects of EP, thus forming the basis for the potential neuroprotective strategies and the need for future studies.


We report on the clinical features of a distinct group of DOK 7 negative limb girdle congenital myasthenic syndrome (LG-CMS), the cause of which has only recently been unravelled. Congenital myasthenic syndromes are a rare group of inherited neuromuscular disorders associated with distinct clinical and genetic abnormalities, in which neuromuscular transmission is impaired. An interesting and often difficult group to recognise is the LG-CMS. This typically manifests with shoulder and pelvic girdle muscle weakness with or without additional features including ocular and bulbar involvement. Until recently, DOK 7 gene mutations have been the only recognised genetic cause of this phenotype and were found in half of all LG-CMS patients. Mutations in a novel CMS gene (GFPT1) were recently implicated in an undiagnosed, DOK 7 negative, LG-CMS cohort of 24 patients. All patients had proximal limb weakness with no ocular or bulbar features and showed a positive response to pyridostigmine. Although age of onset of disease was usually in early childhood, a great number of patients presented to medical attention well into adulthood. Furthermore, tubular aggregates arising from the sarcoplasmic reticulum were seen in the majority of patients.


Summary

A 22-year-old Quarter Horse mare exhibited neurological signs consisting of head pressing, central blindness, minimal ataxia and dysphagia. Despite treatment, the mare collapsed and died shortly after onset of signs. On necropsy, there were approximately 15 l of free blood in the abdominal cavity. A 12 × 4 cm diameter, irregularly-shaped, nodular, firm, tan/yellow mass was found adhered to the outer surface of the right lateral aspect of the caudal abdominal aorta. A similar mass also affected the caudal aspect of the right kidney. Histopathology of the aortic and renal masses revealed multiple coalescing granulomas containing intralesional nematodes compatible with Halicephalobus gingivalis. Inflammatory cells disrupted the aortic tunica adventitia as well as the outer tunica media. Similar exudate also affected the cerebrum, cerebellum and brainstem. Polymerase chain reaction amplification and sequencing of a portion of the large subunit ribosomal ribonucleic acid gene were performed using previously published primers for H. gingivalis to confirm the identity of the nematode. Although rupture of a blood vessel could not be demonstrated grossly, the histological findings suggest that inflammation may have breached a small calibre artery and caused the haemoabdomen.


We report investigations of MOS and MOSFET devices using a gate oxide grown in the presence of sintered alumina. In contrast to conventionally grown dry or wet oxides these oxides contain orders of magnitude lower density of near-interface traps at the SiO2/SiC interface. The reduction of interface traps is correlated with enhanced oxidation rate. The absence of near-interface traps makes possible fabrication of Si face 4H-SiC MOSFETs with peak field effect mobility of about 150 cm2/Vs. A clear correlation is observed between the field effect mobility in n-channel MOSFETs and the density of interface states near the SiC conduction band edge in n-type MOS capacitors. Stable operation of such normally-off 4H-SiC MOSFET transistors is observed from room temperature up to 150°C with positive threshold voltage shift less than 1 V. A small decrease in current with temperature up to 150°C is related to a decrease in the field effect mobility due to phonon scattering. However, the gate oxides contain sodium, which originates from the sintered alumina, resulting in severe device instabilities during negative gate bias stressing.


In response to acidosis, renal ammoniagenesis is stimulated, enhancing urinary buffering power, while hepatic ammoniagenesis and ureagenesis decrease, so as to spare bicarbonate consumed in the urea cycle. 2-Oxoglutarate (2-OG) levels can regulate ammoniagenesis in kidney and gluconeogenesis in liver and kidney. Since the activity of 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase (2-OGDH) has an important influence on cellular levels of 2-OG, this study evaluated the effects of pH on 2-OGDH in liver and kidney and found that: (1) the isolated enzyme from both organs has the same pH-sensitivity; (2) 2-OGDH flux measured in intact mitochondria was inhibited by increasing H+ in liver, but stimulated in kidney; (3) transport of 2-OG into the mitochondria was not rate-limiting; (4) liver mitochondrial 2-OGDH exhibited a strong preference for 2-OG generated within the mitochondria from glutamate-oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT), suggesting that channelling between GOT and 2-OGDH occurs. Since complexation between 2-OGDH and GOT occurs in vitro, we propose that the degree of complexation is higher in liver than in kidney, such that most of the 2-OGDH may be complexed to GOT in liver. In the liver the inherent H(+)-sensitivity of 2-OGDH is masked by the pH-sensitivity of GOT and the glutamate-aspartate carrier.


We use both Bayesian and neural models to dissect a data set of Chinese learners' pre- and post-interventional responses to two tests measuring their understanding of English prepositions. The results mostly replicate previous findings from frequentist analyses and newly reveal crucial interactions between student ability, task type, and stimulus sentence. Given the sparsity of the data as well as high diversity among learners, the Bayesian method proves most useful; but we also see potential in using language model probabilities as predictors of grammaticality and learnability.


Information Technology (IT) is viewed as one of the capabilities in organizations that support its business model. Software Defined Networking (SDN) has become an important and integral part of the latest technology such as IoT and cloud computing because of its advantages. However, despite all the benefits, implementation of SDN is full of challenges. PT XYZ as a case study, has implemented SDN for their internal use. This study aims to make a case how PT XYZ implement SDN in general and how they cope with the challenges of implementing it. Interview and simple scoring of SDN challenge satisfaction were used in this study. It showed that the lowest score of challenge satisfaction was business dimension with score of 2.13 of 3, meanwhile the highest score was operational dimension with score of 2.88 of 3. The result of score indicate that PT XYZ are currently in the early stage of SDN implementation. They are mainly focused on making sure that the challenges in operational of SDN is handled well.


We used standard microelectrode techniques to study alpha-1 adrenergic modulation of repolarization in canine Purkinje fibers. Our objectives were to subtype this alpha-1 receptor response pharmacologically, to determine whether alpha-1 adrenergic modulation of repolarization is dependent on the function of a pertussis toxin-sensitive G protein and to identify developmental changes in this alpha-1 response. Phenylephrine (Phe) induced a dose-dependent increase in transmembrane action potential duration at 50% (APD50) and 90% (APD90) repolarization. For the adult fibers, control APD50 and APD90 were 310 +/- 5 and 407 +/- 5 msec; after superfusion with Phe, 1 x 10(-6) M, the values were 350 +/- 6 and 468 +/- 8 msec, respectively (P less than .05). In 2- to 3-week-old dogs, control APD50 and APD90 were 170 +/- 14 and 255 +/- 10 msec; after superfusion with Phe, the values were 228 +/- 10 and 305 +/- 16 msec, respectively (P less than .05). Propranolol, 2 x 10(-7) M, did not affect the response to Phe. The alpha-1 blocker prazosin, 1 x 10(-7) M, and the alpha-1 receptor subtype selective antagonist, WB 4101, 1 x 10(-7) M, suppressed the response to Phe, but no effect on the response to Phe was seen with the subtype selective antagonist, chloroethylclonidine. In vivo pretreatment of dogs with pertussis toxin, 30 micrograms/kg i.v., decreased markedly the amount of G protein substrate available for subsequent in vitro ADP-ribosylation by pertussis toxin and [32P]NAD (from 7039 +/- 713 to 537 +/- 50 fmol/mg of protein in adult fibers and from 1134 to 62 fmol/mg of proteins in pooled young fibers). Pertussis toxin pretreatment increased the Phe-induced prolongation of APD50 and APD90 in the young and adult fibers.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


The Egyptian community in its path for rapid development is endeavouring to make all necessary and appropriate measures to enhance the efficiency of energy utilisation and increase the beneficiation of the energy resources. The energy production, transmission, distribution and utilisation efficiency becomes a vital factor and measure of national development. Governmental organisations were established earlier to be responsible for energy planning and efficient utilisation, information dissemination and capacity building as well as devising the necessary codes and standards. Throughout the Nation, Energy resources are widely used and consumption rates are in general exceeding the International accepted values. Energy rationalisation and audit exercises were developed and monitored by OEP, Universities and Research centres through the past two decades with a definitive positive energy reduction and beneficiation. The development of the relevant codes for Residential and Commercial Energy Efficiency in Building is underway. The Housing & Building Research Center HBRC is a governmental Body responsible for the research and development in the building Technology sector and is the umbrella under which the Egyptian National Codes are developed and issued. A proposed new Energy Performance in Buildings Directive would fulfil the following main targets of Energy Performance Directive: 1. "Legestilative authorities shall ensure that, when buildings are constructed, sold or rented out, an energy performance certificate is made available to the owner or by the owner to the prospective buyer or tenant, as the case might be. … 2. The energy performance certificate for buildings shall include reference values such as currant legal standards and benchmarks in order to make it possible for consumers to compare and assess the energy performance of the building. The certificate shall be accompanied by recommendations for cost-effective improvement of the energy performance…" The following steps are required for the energy certification: 1. Develop methodologies for energy declaration of the residential and commercial buildings 2. Develop reference values (key numbers) and /or systems for benchmarking 3. Provide a labelling system for selected buildings