Socio-economical and technological developments have prompted electric power systems to move forward to an era of Smart Grids. This mainstream concept has a strong interdisciplinary nature by using state-of-the-art technologies in the fields of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), power electronics, and control systems. Modeling and simulation are fundamental steps to accomplish possible applications of this complex and integrated scheme. However, most of the existing simulation platforms, either commercial or free and open source packages, hardly adapt to this requirements of Smart Grids. This paper presents an on-going framework which integrates open source software, OpenDSS, to provide different web services for end-users. This application aims to create a robust computation platform to support customers in making decisions. Different network functions can be verified in this assessment context tool. Working as a social network, this program will empower end-users with an interaction interface to make them fully aware of Smart Grid applications.


Abstract In proposing a searching strategy in a hypertext environment, we have considered three criteria: (1) the retrieval process should use multiple sources of evidence, including multiple indexing schemes and multiple search mechanisms; (2) the hypertext links should be exploited in order to find more relevant material and "good" starting points for browsing; and (3) the user's information need must be easily expressed. To satisfy these three criteria, we have implemented a hypertext system where the user, instead of writing a formal query, just selects relevant terms and/or documents. Based on multiple indexing schemes, Bayesian networks are used to manage the indexing spaces and to store the user's information need. To combine multiple search techniques, the hypergraph is also composed of implicit links (bibliographic coupling, co-citation, etc.), and computed links storing the nearest neighbors of each node. Using link semantics, a constrained spreading activation retrieves relevant nodes for browsing.


This paper considers on a number of issues that arise when a trainable machine vision system learns directly from humans. We contrast this to the ldquonormalrdquo situation where machine learning (ML) techniques are applied to a ldquocleanedrdquo data set which is considered to be perfectly labeled with complete accuracy. This paper is done within the context of a generic system for the visual surface inspection of manufactured parts; however, the issues treated are relevant not only to wider computer vision applications such as medical image screening but also to classification more generally. Many of the issues we consider arise from the nature of humans themselves: They will be not only internally inconsistent but also will often not be completely confident about their decisions, particularly if they are making decisions rapidly. People will also often differ systematically from each other in the decisions they make. Other issues may arise from the nature of the process, which may require the ML to have the capacity for real-time online adaptation in response to users' input. Because of this, it may be that the users cannot always provide input to a consistent level of detail. We describe how all of these issues may be tackled within a coherent methodology. By using a range of classifiers trained on data sets from a compact disc imprint production process, we present results which demonstrate that training methods designed to take proper consideration of these issues may actually lead to improved performance.


Nowadays, EEG signals are highly used in the field of medical research, such as the treatment of epilepsy, and in the brain–computer interface systems. In this paper, our previously proposed Signal-to-Image Transformation (StIT) method is used for classification of EEG signals. StIT is a kind of finite transformation based on the detection of local maximum and minimum points on an EEG signal. This paper consists of four main stages. In the first stage, arbitrary time domain EEG signals are converted to two-dimensional finite images; in the second stage, principal component analysis is employed for feature extraction; in the third stage, k-nearest neighbour (k-NN), support vector machine, and artificial neural network methods are applied for the classification. The performance of the proposed method is over 94% and the results are better compared to most of the previous ones. The obtained results also show that the EEG signals are quite successfully classified by using the transformation.


Abstract The rapid development of nanotechnology offers a variety of potential therapeutic strategies for cancer treatment. High atomic element nanomaterials are often utilized as radiosensitizers due to their unique photoelectric decay characteristics. Among them, gold nanoparticles (GNPs) are one of the most widely investigated and are considered to be an ideal radiosensitizers for radiotherapy due to their high X-ray absorption and unique physicochemical properties. Over the last few decades, multi-disciplinary studies have focused on the design and optimization of GNPs to achieve greater dosing capability and higher therapeutic effects and highlight potential mechanisms for radiosensitization of GNPs. Although the radiosensitizing potential of GNPs has been widely recognized, its clinical translation still faces many challenges. This review analyses the different roles of GNPs as radiosensitizers in cancer radiotherapy and summarizes recent advances. In addition, the underlying mechanisms of GNP radiosensitization, including physical, chemical and biological mechanisms are discussed, which may provide new directions for the optimization and clinical transformation of next-generation GNPs.


OBJECTIVE
To examine factors associated with perinatal HIV-1 transmission among twins.

METHODS
We identified twins delivered by a population-based cohort of HIV-infected mothers on New York State Medicaid. Tested algorithms were applied to Medicaid files to identify HIV infection in mothers and twins. The HIV transmission rate 3 years after delivery was assessed from Kaplan-Meier curves. Proportional hazards models with adjustment for twin clustering were used to determine the relative hazard (RH) of transmission.

RESULTS
In 35 twin pairs, transmission was 20.5%. The risk of transmission was increased significantly for advanced maternal HIV infection (rh = 10.8, 95% confidence interval 2.11, 54.9). We found no association of birth order with twin HIV status.

CONCLUSIONS
These data suggest that maternal stage of disease plays a greater role in vertical HIV transmission than birth order. To prevent maternal-child HIV transmission, reducing maternal viral load is likely to have a greater impact than modifying delivery factors.


The 1D multilayered physical snowpack model Snow Metamorphism and Albedo Process (SMAP), which was originally designed for climate studies, is now updated by incorporating a detailed water movement scheme, realistic snow settlement process and limitation for the Richardson number to ensure minimum turbulent exchanges even under highly stable atmospheric conditions. The evaluation of the updated version of SMAP was first performed using the data obtained at Sapporo, Japan, during the 20072009 winters and the effectiveness of these updates was demonstrated in terms of snow depth and snow surface temperature. However, we pointed out that the choice of maximum Richardson number should be further examined. To test the reliability of SMAP under different climate conditions, we applied it to Naga oka, Japan, during the 2011-2012 winter. At Nagaoka, we performed snow-soil-coupled simulations, because ground heat flux was not available during the study period. For this purpose, we developed a soil submodel for SMAP. Consequently, we confirmed that the updated version performed better than the old version in terms of mass balance simulations at Nagaoka too. Although mass balance-related parameters of the snowpack simulated by the updated version agreed well with observations during the accumulation period, the model substantially overestimated snow depth, as well as column-integrated snow water equivalent during the ablation period. By discussing the reasons for these discrepancies, we highlighted that further investigation on snow-melt processes for thick seasonal snowpack is necessary.


Railroad network is the main freight transportation systems in the US, with 40 percent of the total freight traffic being transported by rail. More than 50% of the railroad bridges in North America are over 100 years old. Nowadays, train loadings on bridges are higher than what they were designed to be in the past. Railroad bridges have been capable to adapt to new loads and successfully ensure safe operations by proper maintenance and repair since their inception, including continuous monitoring to proactively prevent any disruption in the transportation. Railroad managers have indicated that measuring the transverse displacement of the bridges under train crossing events can be used to quantify their proper performance and to inform management or repair decisions with objective data. Traditionally, Linear variable differential transformer (LVDTs) and other types of sensors are used to obtain the displacement data of the train, but these methods need human forces for their installation. Additionally, some parts of the bridges are not accessible or easy to reach for these types of inspections. Thus, aerial and remote sensing have become more popular. However, current methods for using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to monitoring railroad bridges rely on cameras or lasers which are either technologically complex or economically unaffordable at large scale. This paper explains the development of a new hybrid sensing method to obtain total dynamic displacement using UAV. Sensors collecting displacements include lasers, cameras, and dynamic 3D cloud data acquisition. Displacement of the bridge is collected with the use of a low-cost laser sensor on the UAS with a camera attached to it. Then, the new algorithm extracts the hovering of the UAS and correct the laser displacement to obtain the displacement of the bridge under load. The results are compared to LVDT displacement for validation. The paper also identifies the priorities of North American Railroad owners regarding how the proposed technology can be implemented for new cost-effective management of railroad bridges maintenance.


Erythrocyte aggregation is an important determinant of the rheological behavior of blood and may play a critical role in nutritive tissue perfusion at the level of the microcirculation, particularly in situations of low flow. Thus, abnormal red blood cell aggregation may contribute to the pathophysiology of a variety of vascular diseases with associated microcirculatory disturbances. The action of serotonergic antagonists has a hemorheological component, although red blood cell aggregation specifically has not been addressed previously. Therefore, the effect of naftidrofuryl, a 5-hydroxytryptamine-2 receptor antagonist (5-HT2), on erythrocyte aggregation was studied in whole blood obtained from adult human volunteers. Red blood cell aggregation was measured using a Myrenne aggregometer the operation of which is based on nephelometric principles. The results demonstrate that red blood cell aggregation is significantly reduced in comparison to controls on incubation of whole blood in the presence of naftidrofuryl. This inhibitory effect is concentration dependent and reaches a maximum (approximately 30%) between 1 and 10 μM naftidrofuryl. Furthermore, naftidrofuryl (5 μM) also inhibits red blood cell aggregation in the presence of exogenously added serotonin (1 μM) on average by approximately 18%. Significant inhibition of red blood cell aggregation could not be observed in similar experiments using whole blood suspensions essentially devoid of platelets, suggesting that these blood cellular elements are involved in mediating the effects of naftidrofuryl.


In this paper, it is advocated that the feedback loop between learners and teachers could be improved by making use of augmented reality ( AR) techniques. The bidirectional communication between teacher and learners is sometimes hampered by students' fear of showing themselves up in front of their classmates. In order to overcome this problem, a system is proposed whereby teachers receive immediate and private feedback both individualised for each student as well as aggregated for the whole class. With that purpose, the teacher, who is equipped with a head-mounted AR display, can visualise symbols that represent the status students have stated using private devices in relation to the lecture content. In order to explore the possibilities of this approach, an experience was conducted in a lecture on a university course. The results are encouraging and suggest that as this technology matures and less intrusive AR display models become available, it could provide effective support to improve communication and interaction during lectures. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUCkNkuAiK8 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]


Lakes Koronia and Volvi, located within the Mygdonia Basin in northern Greece, comprise an internationally protected wetland. The lakes support major industrial and agricultural activities, and a population of 45,000. Consequently, both sites have been greatly impacted by the conversion of marshland to farmland, water losses to irrigation, and pollution discharges including raw sewage, agricultural run-off, and industrial wastes. Sediment chronology and accumulation rates have been determined in cores from multiple sites within the lakes using 210Pb dating techniques. Bulk sediment elemental composition (organic carbon content, C/N ratios, etc.) and trace metal concentrations have been measured to provide critical evidence for variations in land-use within watersheds. Stratigraphic variations in the carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratio of sedimented organic matter have been measured to determine changes in aquatic ecosystem productivity. The geochemical results will be compared to historical records to determine the relative importance of disturbances caused by urban, agricultural, and industrial activities.


The development of information and communication technologies has produced massive human sensing data sets, such as point of interest, mobile phone data, and social media data sets. These data sets provide alternative human perceptions of urban spaces; therefore, they have become effective supplements for remote sensing tasks. This letter presents an exploratory framework to examine the scale effect of fusing remote sensing and human sensing. The physical and social semantics are extracted from raw remote sensing images and human sensing data, respectively. A dynamic weighting strategy is developed to explore the fusion of remote sensing and human sensing. Taking urban function inference as an example, the scale effect is evaluated by weighting remote sensing and human sensing. The experiment demonstrates that fusing remote sensing and human sensing enables us to recognize multiple types of urban functions. Meanwhile, the results are significantly affected by the scale.


BACKGROUND
Data on COVID-19 in immunocompromised kidney transplant recipients (KTR) remain scanty. Although markers of inflammation, cardiac injury, and coagulopathy have been previously associated with mortality in the general population of patients with COVID-19, their prognostic impact amongst KTR with SARS-CoV-2 infection has not been specifically investigated.

METHODS
We conducted a cohort study of 49 KTR who presented with COVID-19. Clinical and laboratory risk factors for severe disease and mortality were prospectively collected and analyzed with respect to outcomes. The study participants were divided into 3 groups: 1) mild disease manageable in an outpatient setting (n = 8), 2) nonsevere disease requiring hospitalization (n = 21), and 3) severe disease (n = 20).

RESULTS
Gastrointestinal manifestations were common at diagnosis. The 30-day mortality rate in hospitalized patients was 19.5%. Early elevations of C-reactive protein (>100 mg/L) and interleukin-6 (>65 ng/L) followed by increases in high-sensitivity troponin I (>30 ng/L) and D-dimer (>960 ng/mL) were significantly associated with severe disease and mortality. Viral load did not have prognostic significance in our sample, suggesting that outcomes were chiefly driven by a cytokine release syndrome (CRS).

CONCLUSION
Regular monitoring of CRS biomarkers in KTR with COVID-19 is paramount to improve clinical outcomes.


The pattern of appearance of myelin‐associated proteins in the visual system of the Brazilian opossum Monodelphis domestica is described. Whole mounts of optic nerve, chiasm, and optic tract were sectioned horizontally and incubated with antibodies to myelin basic protein (MBP), proteolipid protein (PLP), myelin‐associated glycoprotein, (MAG), "Rip," and the neurite inhibitory protein (IN‐1), followed by visualization with diaminobenzidine and a peroxidase‐conjugated secondary antibody. PLP is first detectable 24 days after birth (P24) at the centre of the optic chiasm. MBP, MAG, Rip, and IN‐1 appear first in the same area at P26. By P28 the distribution of all proteins is similar, occupying the entire chiasm, optic tracts, and prechiasmatic portion of the optic nerves. Protein expression progresses along the optic nerve to reach the lamina cribrosa by P34, coincident with the time of eye opening. A critical period in which the retinofugal pathway has a regenerative capacity has recently been observed in Monodelphis. This period ends at P12, 2 weeks before the appearance of the myelin‐associated inhibitory proteins MAG and IN‐1. These results therefore suggest that regeneration in the developing retinofugal projection of the opossum is restricted by an earlier non‐myelin factor, which is in contrast to current literature on the spinal cord. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Sound change in Bernese German – Illustrated by Staub's Law
The atlas of German-speaking Switzerland (SDS) was published in 8 volumes between 1962 and 1997, containing more than 1500 dialect maps. In order to describe the variety spoken in the greater area of Bern (Berner Mittelland), Hotzenkocherle et al. collected data in 20 different towns and villages by questioning mainly NORMs, but some women have also been taken into account. In the SDS we find data on the greater area of Bern (Berner Mittelland), collected around 1944. Since then, only very specific factors of this particular linguistic variety have been examined, e.g. Hodler 1969 on Bernese German syntax, Marti 1976 on Bernese German grammar more generally or Siebenhaar 2000 on social varieties in the city of Bern, but the dialect has not been examined in its entirety. In my PhD project, I collect new data for Bern and its greater area according to selected variables already surveyed in the SDS, and compare them to the original data. My main focus is on sound changes and reasons for these changes. Moreover, I try to find out to what extent the high prestige variation of the city of Bern is spreading to the surrounding rural areas.
Staub's law (/n/ → o_fricative; with vowel lengthening and/or diphthongisation) was postulated by Friedrich Staub in 1874, when he tried to explain the loss of /n/ in some Swiss German dialects. In the Berner Mittelland, sound changes according to Staub's law are documented in the SDS rather frequently, but mainly for rural areas where dialects with a slightly lower social prestige are spoken. Werlen (1977) points out that the pronunciation according to Staub's law is declining because of:
a) The coexistence of Standard German words which do not undergo sound change according to Staub's law and
b) The low social prestige of diphthongs, which normally result from changes according to Staub's law.
Therefore, we can expect to find less evidence of Staub's law in a contemporary data collection as in the historic data of the SDS. First analyses of the new data confirm Werlen's assumption of 1977, as the following table shows:
 Bern Belp Worb
SDS data tɾɪŋkxə tɾɪ:xə tɾɛixə
New data tɾɪŋkxə tɾɪŋkxə tɾɪŋkxə

Whereas the SDS clearly documents variation in the pronunciation of the Standard German variable trinken (to drink) for the examined places, the contemporary data collection shows the already predicted decline in variation.
Currently, more variables and places are examined in order to present the shift of the isogloss as soon as possible.

References:
Baumgartner Heinrich, Hotzenkocherle Rudolf (1962-2003). Sprachatlas der deutschen Schweiz. Bern, Basel: Francke Verlag
Baumgartner, Heinrich (1940). Stadtmundart : Stadt- und Landmundart : Beitrage zur bernischen Mundartgeographie. Bern: Lang
Christen Helen, Glaser Elvira und Friedli Matthias (2012). Kleiner Sprachatlas der deutschen Schweiz. Frauenfeld: Verlag Huber
Hodler, Werner (1969). Berndeutsche Syntax. Bern: Francke Verlag,
Marti, Werner (1985). Berndeutsch-Grammatik fur die heutige Mundart zwischen Thun und Jura. Bern: A. Francke
Siebenhaar Beat, Staheli Fredy, Ris Roland (2000). Stadtberndeutsch : Sprachportrats aus der Stadt Bern. Murten: Licorne-Verlag
Staub, Friedrich (1874): Die Vokalisierung des n bei den schweizerischen Alemannen. Halle: Buchdruckerei des Waisenhauses.
Werlen, Iwar (1977): "Das 'Staubsche Gesetz' im Schweizerdeutschen". In: Schmidt, Jurgen Erich (Hrsg.): Zeitschrift fur Dialektologie und Linguistik. Jahrgang 44, Heft 3. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 257-281.


Infants with congenital muscular torticollis (CMT) are at increased risk for developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH), which has led to increased use of diagnostic procedures. Our goal in this study was to establish indications for imaging the hips of infants presenting with CMT. We reviewed the cases of 292 patients with the diagnosis of CMT, 16 of whom were found to have DDH. Each patient with DDH had an abnormal clinical hip examination. Our study results demonstrate that, despite the association of these disorders, an infant presenting with CMT does not require routine hip imaging in light of a normal clinical hip examination. The coexistence rate for CMT and DDH requiring treatment is 4.5%, which is lower than the commonly accepted 20%.


Stem cell biology is one of the most rapidly developing and exciting fields in the Life Sciences. The biology of embryonic and adult stem cells is critically important for understanding development, tissue homeostasis, reprogramming and cancer. Stem cells are characterised by their capacity to self-renew and differentiate into one or several cell types and hold great promise for regenerative medicine. The purification and tissue localization of stem cells, as well as identification of intrinsic and extrinsic factors regulating their functions, are central topics in stem cell biology. Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are one of the best studied models and represent a key paradigm for analysis of various stem cell types. The availability of antibodies recognizing surface markers has been instrumental for enrichment and localization of HSCs. In vivo and in vitro assays offer researchers the possibility to study hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells at the functional level. For several decades bone marrow and more recently cord blood HSCs have been used for treatment of patients with hematopoietic disorders such as leukemia.


During the 1990s, governments and the education profession noticed that boys were lagging behind girls academically. Reading, or the lack or it was pinpointed as a major cause and it was observed in an Auckland high school library that significantly more books were issued to girls than boys over a six month period in 2004. The purpose of this study was to achieve a deeper understanding of how a purposefully selected sample of school librarians has successfully encouraged boys to read. A qualitative approach was employed using two methods of data collection: a questionnaire to gather largely statistical data and in-depth interviews to gather data about participants' experiences, knowledge and opinions. The study found that school librarians use a variety of strategies to promote reading to boys. A school library needs to be well stocked with a wide range of current, appealing, reading materials as boys are discerning, hybrid readers. Knowing the students and the library collection was central to matching boys with books and the library needs to be more than a book repository. It is concluded that Ranganathan's 'Five laws of library science' are still applicable today in the school library and school librarians need to be a professional, visible and approachable presence in the school.


We propose a new point of view for regularizing deep neural networks by using the norm of a reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS). Even though this norm cannot be computed, it admits upper and lower approximations leading to various practical strategies. Specifically, this perspective (i) provides a common umbrella for many existing regularization principles, including spectral norm and gradient penalties, or adversarial training, (ii) leads to new effective regularization penalties, and (iii) suggests hybrid strategies combining lower and upper bounds to get better approximations of the RKHS norm. We experimentally show this approach to be effective when learning on small datasets, or to obtain adversarially robust models.


To investigate the new constituents (I-V) from aerial parts of Cansjera rheedii J.Gmelin. 1D and 2D NMR spectra were recorded and the chemical shifts (ppm) are related to (CH3)4Si as TMS as internal standard. Optical rotations were determined on Polarimeter in MeOH. Elemental analyses by CHNSO Analyser. IR spectra were recorded on a FTIR spectrometer. UV-Visible spectrophotometer of each compound was determined in MeOH and after addition of different shift reagents such as AlCl3, AlCl3/HCl, CH3COONa, CH3COONa/H3 BO4 and NaOMe at 190-500nm. Mass spectra were recorded on GCMS. Melting point determinations by Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC-60). Open column chromatography was carried out on Sephadex LH-20 as packing material and Whatmann No.1 filter paper and TLC-Silica gel 60 F254 sheets. A Phytochemical study of an ethanol extract from the aerial parts of Cansjera rheedii J.Gmelin (Opiliaceae), a traditional Indian medicinal plant, led to the isolation of 5 compounds, including a mixture of phenyl propenoic acid derivatives and flavonols glycosides viz: 3, 4-dihydroxy cinnamic acid(Caffeic acid) (I), 4-hydroxy 3methoxy cinnamic acid (Ferulic acid) (II), 3, 5, 7, 3', 4'-pentahydroxy flavone (quercetin) (III), 5, 7, 3', 4'tetrahydroxy -3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl flavones (quercetin-3-O-β-glucoside) (IV) and 5, 7, 3', 4'-tetrahydroxy3-O-(6-O-α-L-rhamnopyanosyl)-β-D-glucopyranosyl flavone (quercetin-3-O-β-rutinoside (or) Rutin) (V). Structures of all these compounds were unambiguously established by spectral and chemical methods. This is the first report of the above 5 compounds from the plant.


In England the new Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) were given a unique opportunity to shape EU investment in their local areas; they were given the task of producing European Structural and Investment Funds strategies to help ensure EU investment meets local need. However, while this appears to be a case of localism in action, the LEPs faced a number of constraints. These challenges include LEPs' relative infancy, a lack of capacity, centralisation and uncertainty about funding arrangements.


Xylometazoline is a drug which is used as a topical nasal decongestant. It is applied directly into the nose, either as a spray or as drops. Xylometazoline is an imidazole derivative which is designed to mimic the molecular shape of adrenaline. It binds to alpha-adrenergic receptors in the nasal mucosa. Due to its sympathomimetic effects, it should not be used by people with high blood pressure, or other heart problems. In this report, At the first compounds [C60Xylometazoline -C65-X] (X=F, Cl, Br) were optimized, then NMR calculations have been done. The results indicate In all noticed carbons atoms Chemical shielding tensor (σ) is lowest and chemical shift tensor(б) is highest in R-F. On the other hand with increasing electroneativity in substituted atom, NICS Index shows this trend: RF>R-Cl>R-Br. nucleic independent chemical shift (NICS) is considered for Aromaticity. If aromaticity is increased, so , stability is increased and reactivity is increased. All calculations is performed in 6-31g* basis set in HF method and in gas phase.


We present a Monte Carlo simulation study of chiral nematic liquid crystals confined in torus-shaped and cylindrical cavities. For an achiral nematic with planar degenerate anchoring confined to a toroidal or cylindrical cavity, the ground state is defect free, with an untwisted director field. As chirality is introduced, the ground state remains defect free but the director field becomes twisted within the cavity. For homeotropic anchoring, the ground state for an achiral nematic within a toroidal cavity consists of two disclination rings, one large and one small, that follow the major circumference of the torus. As chirality is introduced and increased, this ground state becomes unstable with respect to twisted configurations. The closed nature of the toroidal cavity requires that only a half integer number of twists can be formed and this leads to the ground state being either a single disclination line that encircles the torus twice or a pair of intertwined disclination rings forming stable, knotted defect structures.


: A 46-year-old Caucasian man was admitted with a history of dog-bite in a foreign country six months previously. He presented with multisystem complaints, died suddenly soon after admission and the only significant finding at post-mortem was a ruptured oesophagus. Immunological tests confirmed rabies.


Most of the recent researches have determined that finger-vein identification systems have begun to change their direction from hand-crafted feature extraction to automatic feature extraction methods, such as convolutional neural networks (CNN). Although a few ongoing studies still concern handcrafted features, most of the recent works focus on automatic feature extraction via CNN-based algorithms, which has achieved breakthrough results. However, benchmark databases for finger-vein identification have a limited sample size per individual, which makes it difficult for them to capture the best representations in an individuals finger vein. Additionally, with the rise of spoofing attacks, obtaining the best representation of the finger vein has become even more important. Even though these algorithms adapt transfer learning by using pre-trained ImageNet weights, which create a general image feature space, it may be not the most optimal space for finger-vein identification. From this point of view, this paper firstly aims to use Capsule Network to take advantage of using convolutions with a limited number of samples on four finger-vein benchmark sub-databases. Moreover, it aims to extract finger-vein features that are more definable and rationally augments without using any pre-trained weights. Secondly, it compares the CNN-based equivalent and LeNet-5 models to show how Capsule Network is better at approaching representing features. This capsule-based finger-vein identification approach using 32x32 image resolutions achieves an average 95.5% accuracy on four benchmark sub-databases.


The power consumed by recharging Electric Vehicles (EVs) can significantly impact the electric grid. EV charging can potentially cause a sharp increase in electricity demand at the end of every workday as EV owners begin charging their cars upon returning home. Having an accurate short-term forecast of EV power consumption can mitigate some of these impacts. One way of improving forecast accuracy is to develop a Markov Chain model of the underlying process. This research develops a Markov Chain model of hourly aggregate EV power consumption based on EV charging data from the Puget Sound region in Washington State during the year 2012.  A Markov Chain model is a discrete time stochastic process where the future evolution of the process is conditionally independent of the past given the present.  Aggregate EV charging power consumption exhibits strong diurnal trends—low in morning and increasing over the evening as drivers return home to recharge their vehicles. To represent these characteristics, the Markov Chain model was partitioned into three segments based upon the time of day. Within each segment, there are four distinct states, each corresponding to a range of power consumption. Transition probabilities between the states within each segment were computed. This model was used to simulate aggregate EV power consumption over a 24-hour period.


This document presents two bilingual phrase-based alignment methods handling syntactic constituents (sub-sentential components) of parallel sentences. The methods rely on an asymmetrical parsing of both languages: Light part-of-speech tagging for the target language, syntactic tree building for the 'source' language and the complexity of each is studied. One of their benefits is that they do not require lexical knowledge for granting alignment. Another is that they align constituents of variable length and structure, thus providing information about divergent translations. Their originality rely on the fact that parsing of the supposed source language is reused both in resource building and alignment process. The models and methods can be seen as a subclass of Example Based Machine Translation.


Numerous studies on machinability of titanium and its alloys have been conducted in
the past few decades with the main objective of reducing cost of machining especially
of aerospace alloys. Though classified as "difficult-to-cut" materials, titanium and its
alloys are attractive materials due to their unique high strength-weight ratio, which is
maintained up to elevated temperatures and their exceptional corrosion resistance. In
this work, an experimental investigation of the influence of workpiece preheating
using induction heating has been conducted for improvements of machinability of
titanium alloy Ti-6A1-4V ASTM B348. The inserts used were uncoated cemented
carbide filled into a 16 mm diameter end mill tool. The cutting speeds used in these
experiments were 40, 80, 120 and 160 m/min; the depths of cut were 1 and 1.5 mm
and the feed rates were 0.1 and 0.15 mm/rev. Thermo-couples were used in measuring
the surface temperature of work material during machining. The experiments of end
milling operation conducted on Vertical Machining Center (VMC) were designed to
look into the effect of preheating on chip serration and chatter, cutting force and
torque, tool wear and surface finish. A comparison of the above criteria for room
temperature and preheated machining was made. The results show that preheating
machining improves the machinability of titanium alloy. Increased plasticity of the
work material during preheating reduces the frictional forces on the tool face and the
fluctuation of cutting force and also contributes to improved damping capacity of the
system. As a result preheated machining results in reduction in vibration amplitudes at
resonance frequencies up to 67%. An increase in cutting force and torque mean value
leads to the formation of relatively thicker chips, which in turn leads to an increase in
chip-tool contact length. The hottest spot on the tool is thus shifted away from the
cutting edge leading to a more favourable temperature distribution in the tool. More
stable cutting, longer chip-tool contact length and favourable temperature distribution
in the tool helps in reducing the dynamic stresses acting on the tool. This in turn
reduces the enhances of micro and macro chipping of the tool. This leads to uniform
and much lower tool wear up to three times reduction in flank wear has been achieved.
Lower tools wear, helps in maintaining a sharp cutting edge at the nose section and the
flank areas of the tool resulting in smoother surface roughness values during preheated
machining.


OBJECTIVE
Sleep disturbance may limit improvement in pain outcomes if not directly addressed in treatment. Moreover, sleep problems may be exacerbated by opioid therapy. This study examined the effects of baseline sleep disturbance on improvement in pain outcomes using data from the Strategies for Prescribing Analgesics Comparative Effectiveness (SPACE) trial, a pragmatic 12-month randomized trial of opioid vs nonopioid medication therapy.

DESIGN
Participants with chronic back pain or hip or knee osteoarthritis pain were randomized to either opioid therapy (N = 120) or nonopioid medication therapy (N = 120).

METHODS
We used mixed models for repeated measures to 1) test whether baseline sleep disturbance scores modified the effect of opioid vs nonopioid treatment on pain outcomes and 2) test baseline sleep disturbance scores as a predictor of less improvement in pain outcomes across both treatment groups.

RESULTS
The tests for interaction of sleep disturbance by treatment group were not significant. Higher sleep disturbance scores at baseline predicted less improvement in Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) interference (β = 0.058, P = 0.0002) and BPI severity (β = 0.026, P = 0.0164).

CONCLUSIONS
Baseline sleep disturbance adversely affects pain response to treatment regardless of analgesic regimen. Recognition and treatment of sleep impairments that frequently co-occur with pain may optimize outcomes.


The main objective of this study was to evaluate the curriculum for BS degree program in Human Nutrition & Dietetics in Pakistan. For this purpose, a working group comprising of experts in the field from NEAT (a Pakistan based registered organization: www.neat.org.pk ) was assigned the responsibility to evaluate the curriculum. As suggested by the working group, a modified Delphi technique was used and a group of expert panelists (n=46) was identified. Three main 'areas of enquiry' '(AE)' were proposed, where the responses from the panels were requested: AE(1) evaluated the curriculum against a set of 15 characteristics reported in the literature; AE(2) evaluated the curriculum against 32-item 'knowledge areas' based on findings of a recent investigation. AE(3): scored the course contents of individual courses against a 'perceived standards' in light of a 14-item Battery. For AE(1) and (2) and (3), the panelists responded, respectively, on scoring scale (0 – 4) and ticked any one from 1 -3. The data were analyzed for mean and median scores for each individual item. Findings of AE(1) suggest that majority of the panelists agreed that the curriculum 'adequately'/'excellently' highlighted the fifteen criteria set-forth. Findings of AE(2) suggest 8 out of 32 'knowledge areas' being 'poorly' reflected in the curriculum. Findings of AE(3) suggest majority (28/43: 65%) of courses fulfill the perceived standards except 2 courses ("Nutrition through Life Cycle"; and "Research Methods in Nutrition") fulfilling <50% of the required standards. In all, the findings are of suggestive that the curriculum is 'good' except certain shortfalls. It was recommended that the deficiencies may be addressed in the coming revision.


This article discusses the popular weekly AgroShopping market in Asuncion, Paraguay, which merges the atmosphere of a farmer9s market with markers of gastronomic and cultural diversity and national identity. Located in the parking lot of a modern shopping mall, AgroShopping provides urban dwellers with the opportunity to buy fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses, and other agricultural or artisanal products, as well as a range of prepared foods from various culinary traditions. At least some of the agricultural products can be purchased directly from producers. Thus, while shoppers at supermarkets or street stalls may not be able to ascertain the origins of some fresh foods, at AgroShopping, consumers can speak directly with producers in order to learn more about when something was picked, produced, or packaged. AgroShopping vendors may also choose to highlight the Paraguayan origin of their products by drawing on traditional markers of national identity. The AgroShopping slogan, Una costumbre natural , highlights the market9s attempt to position itself as drawing on the agricultural history of Paraguay, and as helping to maintain contemporary field-to-table relationships with food producers.


Abstract More than thirty years after Hungary's transition to democracy and the change of territorial governance model, the time is now right to assess the outcome. This paper is primarily an assessment, concluding that the deadlock of the Hungarian local government system can be explained not only by the centralisation efforts of the governing and opposition political elites or the continuous decline of the budgetary position, but also by the indifference of local society. The fact is that the Hungarian local governments were not protected from being squeezed out of a significant part of public services, from a narrowing of their room to manoeuvre and from their authority position being weakened, by the general constitutional provisions introduced in 1990. An important proposition of this paper is that (local) society, although still more trusting of local governments than the central government according to various surveys, has not been able to become an 'ally' of local governments. The question rightly posed in the title of the paper is, whose interest is the local government system, who finds the values of self ‑governance important? The paper seeks (based mainly on academic literature and on its own and secondary analyses) the reasons/changes that have led to the stalemate of Hungarian local governments despite their initially strong mandate.


GaN films were deposited on wet-etched GaN templates having various etch pit sizes. Improved optical characteristics of the overgrown GaN films were observed including a remarkable increment in photoluminescence (PL) intensity and a considerable reduction in emission linewidth of the near bandedge (BE) emission. Improvement of the optical property of an overgrown GaN film is attributed to a selective elimination of threading dislocations (TDs) which results in a reduction of etching pit density (EPD) count of the overgrown GaN film.


Epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFRs) are highly conserved members of the tyrosine kinase receptor superfamily found in metazoans and plants. In arthropods, EGFRs are vital for the proper development of embryos and of adult limbs, gonads, and eyes as well as affecting body size. In searching for genes involved in the growth and development of our model organism, the decapod crustacean (Macrobrachium rosenbergii), a comprehensive transcript library was established using next-generation sequencing. Using this library, the expression of several genes assigned to the signal transduction pathways mediated by EGFRs was observed, including a transcript encoding M. rosenbergii EGFR (Mr-EGFR), several potential ligands upstream to the receptor, and most of the putative downstream signal transducer genes. The deduced protein encoded by Mr-EGFR, representing the first such receptor reported thus far in crustaceans, shows sequence similarity to other arthropod EGFRs. The M. rosenbergii gene is expressed in most tested tissues. The role of Mr-EGFR was revealed by temporarily silencing the transcript through weekly injections of double-stranded Mr-EGFR RNA. Such treatment resulted in a significant reduction in growth and a delay in the appearance of a male secondary sexual characteristic, namely the appendix masculina. An additional function of Mr-EGFR was revealed with respect to eye development. Although the optic ganglion appeared to have retained its normal morphology, Mr-EGFR-silenced individuals developed abnormal eyes that presented irregular organization of the ommatidia, reflected by unorganized receptor cells occupying large areas of the dioptric portion and by a shortened crystalline tract layer.


PURPOSE
Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are common in elderly men. Radical prostatectomy may relieve obstructive symptoms, whereas radiation therapy may exacerbate obstructive or irritative symptoms. Baseline LUTS rates are unknown in populations screened for prostate cancer (PCa). Thus, it is difficult to determine the changes in LUTS that can be attributed to PCa treatment. Therefore, we assessed baseline rates of LUTS in a PCa screening cohort and assessed which of the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) symptoms had the most detrimental effect on quality of life (QoL).

METHODS
The IPSS was completed by 1273 men without clinical evidence of PCa who participated in an annual PCa screening event. Presence of irritative or obstructive symptoms was considered when they were reported at least two of five times. Using linear regression analyses, we evaluated the effect of each questionnaire symptom on the IPSS QoL domain.

RESULTS
Mean age was 57.6 years (range 40-89 years). Of all in the cohort, 40% (n = 472) reported moderate to severe LUTS (IPSS score > or =8), and 21% (n = 255) were mostly dissatisfied with this condition. Irritative symptoms were reported by 39% (n = 495) and obstructive symptoms by 37%. Of all IPSS symptoms, urinary straining was associated with the least favorable QoL, followed by urinary frequency.

CONCLUSION
More than one-third of persons at risk of PCa are affected by either irritative or obstructive symptoms, and one in five of these men is bothered by LUTS. Because PCa treatment may exacerbate LUTS, the severity and impact on QoL should be considered carefully before diagnosis and/or treatment.


BREEAM is a voluntary environmental certification, which covers all aspects of the construction of a building. A BREEAM building also referred to as a green building. In Norway BREEAM is the dominant environmental certification scheme.In the survey carried out among brokers and building owners in the Norwegian market 97.5% of respondents responds that they know or have good knowledge of BREEAM certification.In recent years, one has recorded an increase in the number of buildings that are BREEAM certified in Norway. How does BREEAM certification affect the market value of a building? By using traditional models for valuation (discounted cash flow analysis) one can, by including the building performance and the market performance, calculate the value added. This market performance can be translated into higher rental income, higher occupancy, lower operating costs or lower risk premium.In the survey carried out 68% responding that they think a BREEAM certified building has a higher value. The calculation that has been carried out shows that this is very likely, but that the size of the value added depends on risk assessment, as well as how the market reacts to the green building.The biggest drivers of the continuous development of BREEAM in the Norwegian market is, according to the survey, that BREEAM buildings have higher value, transaction market demand it, image and internal value of the tenants , environmental requirements and less risk in terms of future regulatory requirements.


A sonicated dispersion of the novel lipid A analog, E5531, was feeze-dried in the presence of various additives such as saccharides and polyalcohols, and their cryoprotective effects were investigated. Fusion of the vesicles was examined by measuring fluorescence energy transfer and size distribution. The ability as cryoprotectants differed among the addtive species. The addition of polyalcohols led to considerable fusion. Although monosaccharides, similar to disaccharides, completely prevented the fusion of the vesicles during lyophilization, they showed far less ability to retain the entrapped calcein in the vesicles compared to disaccharides. Differential scanning calorimetry heating profiles of vesicles that had been lyophilized with various additives were obtained. Disaccharides and monosaccharides again resulted in markedly different thermal properties of the vesicles. This variety in cryoprotective ability of saccharide species can be attributed to differences in their interaction with the E5531 head group.


Extracted from text ... The raising of the Flag Boshielo
Dam in the Olifants River
that is currently under way
on the border of Limpopo and
Mpumalanga provinces is one
element of an integrated water
resource development process
being coordinated by the
Department of Water Affairs
and Forestry (DWAF) within
the Olifants River catchment
MINING AND AGRICULTURAL
USAGE
Raising the supply level of the dam is
motivated primarily by the water needs of
existing and future mining developments in
the region. These mining activities already
contribute to the economic development
of the region, employ local labour, earn
foreign exchange and result in substantial
tax revenue. ..


The 21st century will challenge agriculture to feed and fuel a growing world while conserving the environment1,2. Modern production techniques have facilitated tremendous gains in crop yields, allowing farmers to feed a significant portion of the world. However, these increases in yields have relied heavily on intensive use of fertilizer and pesticides1, which have polluted some ground and surface waters (http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa). At the same time, the footprint of agriculture has expanded to cover nearly 40 percent of the earth's ice-free surface2. This simultaneous intensification and expansion of agriculture has caused losses in biodiversity and reduced habitat for beneficial organisms like insect pollinators and predators3,4. Increasingly, our society is also demanding that farmland produce bioenergy as a clean, domestic source of energy. For example, the U.S. Energy Independence and Security Act sets the goal of producing 46 billion gallons of biofuels by 2022. This begs the question: How can agriculture produce bioenergy, feed a growing world population and do so in a sustainable way? A key part of the answer may be an increased focus on the full set of ecosystem services that agricultural landscapes provide.


Strong connection between the single-particle excitation and the collective excitation stands out as one of the features of Bose–Einstein condensates (BECs). We discuss theoretically these single-particle and density excitations of BECs focusing on the exact properties of the one-body and two-body Green's functions developed by Gavoret and Nozières. We also investigate these excitations by using the many-body approximation theory at nonzero temperatures. First, we revisited the earlier study presented by Gavoret and Nozières, involving the subsequent results given by Nepomnyashchii and Nepomnyashchii, in terms of the matrix formalism representation. This matrix formalism is an extension of the Nambu representation for the single-particle Green's function of BECs to discuss the density and current response functions efficiently. We describe the exact low-energy properties of the correlation functions and the vertex functions, and discuss the correspondence of the spectra between the single-particle excitation and the density excitation in the low-energy and low-momentum limits at T = 0. After deriving the exact low-energy structures of the one-body and two-body Green's functions, we develop a many-body approximation theory of BECs with making the use of the matrix formalism for describing the single-particle Green's function and the density response function at nonzero temperatures. We show how the peaks of the single-particle spectral function and the density response function behave with an increasing temperature. Many-body effect on the single-particle spectral function and the density response function is included within a random phase approximation, where satellite structures emerge because of beyond-mean-field effects. Criticisms are also made on recent theories casting doubt upon the conventional wisdom of the BEC: the equivalence of the dispersion relations between the single-particle excitation and the collective excitation in the low-energy and low-momentum regime.


Fully-nonlocal two-projector norm-conserving pseudopotentials are shown to be compatible with a systematic approach to the optimization of convergence with the size of the plane-wave basis. A new formulation of the optimization is developed, including the ability to apply it to positive-energy atomic scattering states, and to enforce greater continuity in the pseudopotential. The generalization of norm-conservation to multiple projectors is reviewed and recast for the present purposes. Comparisons among the results of all-electron and one- and two-projector norm-conserving pseudopotential calculations of lattice constants and bulk moduli are made for a group of solids chosen to represent a variety of types of bonding and a sampling of the periodic table.


rot. x-cut wafer was used as the substrate of SAW gas sensor. Dual delay line SAW device with IDTs which consist of the reference delay line and the sensing delay line was fabricated using photolithigraphy. Each IDTs had 10 finger pairs and finger spacing is 10 microns. One delay line channel is the reference, while the second is the sensing channel with Pb-phthalocyanine film in the propagation path. Pb-phthalocyanine film which is p-type organic semiconductor was evaporated in torr vacuum using shadow mask selectively. Dual delay line oscillator was constructed by using the rf amplifier and AGC. Frequency of the IDTs had the range of MHz oscillation frequency. Oscillation frequency shifts were investigated as a function of the temperature and the concentration of gas.


Jose Legaspi is president of The Legaspi Company, an Hispanic retail consulting firm and a partner in Hispanic Retail Group.


Particle Imaging Velocimetry (PIV) has been recognized as an essential and very useful technique for analyzing twoor threedimensional complex flow fields and two-phase fluid flows. PIV techniques promise to give improved results because they provide a visual solution taking the total field into account. In addition, PIV offers many advantages for the study of fluid flow. PIV is a measuring technique that allows us to capture the flow velocity of whole flow fields in a fraction of a second. Hence, PIV has become more and more popular and it has rapidly spread in the world being recognized as the most advanced flow velocimetry because of its strong merits. Its application ranges have been expanding to measure turbulent flow, multiphase flow, internal flow of fluid machines, bioengineering, medical engineering, environmental engineering, energy engineering, development of new materials, sports science, life science, mechatronics, robotics and so on. Furthermore, PIV has been recognized as a powerful new measuring tool in thermal and fluid engineering fields including multiphase flows. Thus, PIV is a very promising powerful tool in the study of the structure of flows. In this paper, the principles and the typically used methods of PIV measurement are summarized. The classification of PIV methods is also explained.


Context: Photon-counting detectors and breast computed tomography imaging have been an active area of research. With these detectors, photons are assigned an equal weight and weighting schemes can be enabled. More weight can be assigned to lower energies, resulting in an increase in the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR). Aims: The aim of this study is to develop and evaluate an energy weighting imaging technique to improve the CNR of simulated breast phantoms and to improve tumour detection. Materials and Methods: Breast phantoms consisting of adipose, glandular, malignant tissues and iodine contrast were constructed with BreastSimulator software. The phantoms were used in egs_cbct simulations for energies ranging between 20 and 65 keV from which multiple images were reconstructed. A new CNR-based image weighting method was proposed based on the CNR values obtained from the images. This method improves on previous methods and can be applied to complicated phantoms since no structural information is needed. Results: An increase in the CNR can be seen for lower energies. A sharp increase in the CNR is seen just above the K-edge for the phantoms with the iodine contrast. The CNR-based image weighting leads to a 68.47% (1.68-fold) increase in the CNR for the malignant tissue without iodine. For the malignant tissue with iodine contrast, the increase in the CNR was 96.14% (1.96-fold). Conclusions: The new proposed CNR-based image weighting scheme is easy to implement and can be used for complicated phantoms with varying structures. A large increase in the CNR is seen with or without the use of iodine contrast.


This paper evaluates the management of urban transportation infrastructure in Nigeria. It does so by defining transport infrastructure to include both the locative and distributional role of transport. The argument is general because transportation is similar in most cities, except in Lagos and Abuja with greater coordination and control. Nigeria's urban transportation is driven by the private sector, and should be regulated, but it is not. There is confusion in its management partly because the sector is in the jurisdiction of state and local government thereby constraining full federal intervention, as all tiers of government perform different functions in the sector. Excessive traffic demand is choking most cities even when car ownership is moderate due to poor city structure and narrow roads. Further increased traffic demand is expected in over 23 cities by the year 2030. Reforms are therefore needed to introduce economic regulation, corporatize public transportation, and adopt transport demand management measures in most cities. The creation of the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority LAMATA is highlighted as a model which other cities could adapt as an institutional framework for economic regulation and the management of transport demand. Keywords: urban transportation, infrastructure, transport demand, economic regulation,


Data stream processing addresses a huge variety of application, ranging from processing complex-structured business events to high-volume RFID tag info streams. Some application areas, especially in telecommunication or manufacturing, require guarantees with regard to pre-defined service constraints. In this paper, we outline the cornerstones of a QoS-aware data model comprising functional as well as non-functional properties to describe quality constraints. We will look at the model from a structural point of view as well as from the operational perspective. Since the proposed model is specific with regard to QoS constraint and generic with regard to specific operators, it may serve as a blue-print for a broad spectrum of data stream systems.


Although simulator sickness is known to increase with protracted exposure and to diminish with repeated sessions, limited systematic research has been performed in these areas. This study reviewed the few studies with sufficient information available to determine the effect that exposure duration and repeated exposure have on motion sickness. This evaluation confirmed that longer exposures produce more symptoms and that total sickness subsides over repeated exposures. Additional evaluation was performed to investigate the precise form of this relationship and to determine whether the same form was generalizable across varied simulator environments. The results indicated that exposure duration and repeated exposures are significantly linearly related to sickness outcomes (duration being positively related and repetition negatively related to total sickness). This was true over diverse systems and large subject pools. This result verified the generalizability of the relationships among sickness, exposure duration, and repeated exposures. Additional research is indicated to determine the optimal length of a single exposure and the optimal intersession interval to facilitate adaptation.


[2.2]Paracyclophane (pCp) scaffolds, unlike many π-conjugated building blocks, have been rarely explored in supramolecular self-assembly. Herein we report the synthesis and characterization of two ligands, pCpd3py and pCpd4py, composed of a pCp core functionalized at its 7- and 15-positions respectively with 3-pyridyl and 4-pyridyl units. The self-assembly of pCpd4py with Pd2+ metal ions afforded a [Pd3(pCpd4py)6]6+ cage structure, pCpd4py-Pd, where the six pCpd4py ligands doubly bridge each edge of the Pd3 triangular core. The ligand pCpd4py and the palladium cage pCpd4py-Pd have been characterized by NMR spectroscopy, ESI-MS spectrometry and X-ray diffraction analyses and their photophysical properties investigated by steady-state and time-resolved emission spectroscopy as well as time-dependent density functional theory calculations.


: This paper presents the results of the systemic approach to the protection of health and prophylaxis of disability in the workers of industrial enterprises. The leading role in the technologies of rehabilitation (both short-term and long-term one) is played by the natural and physical therapeutic factors. The priority in the implementation of the therapeutic and health-promoting measures is given to the treatment based on the spa and health resort facilities as well as the factory health centers.


This article, being the final one in a series of three for this journal, is concerned with trainee teachers' changing perceptions of their learners and focuses on two areas: trainees' perceptions of their learners' abilities and how they are formed by their own experiences as learners; and the changes in trainees' perceptions over the duration of their two year Initial Teacher Education (ITE) course in the Lifelong Learning Sector (LLS). Working within a multi-method approach to action research, this small-scale study found that trainees' perceptions were influenced not so much by their own identities and habitus, although social capital was a prominent feature, but by a problematic mix of competing cultures and the impact of casualisation in the sector.


Abstract Novel N-tuple topological/geometric cutoffs to consider specific inter-atomic relations in the QuBiLS-MIDAS framework are introduced in this manuscript. These molecular cutoffs permit the taking into account of relations between more than two atoms by using (dis-)similarity multi-metrics and the concepts related with topological and Euclidean-geometric distances. To this end, the kth two-, three- and four-tuple topological and geometric neighbourhood quotient (NQ) total (or local-fragment) spatial-(dis)similarity matrices are defined, to represent 3D information corresponding to the relations between two, three and four atoms of the molecular structures that satisfy certain cutoff criteria. First, an analysis of a diverse chemical space for the most common values of topological/Euclidean-geometric distances, bond/dihedral angles, triangle/quadrilateral perimeters, triangle area and volume was performed in order to determine the intervals to take into account in the cutoff procedures. A variability analysis based on Shannon's entropy reveals that better distribution patterns are attained with the descriptors based on the cutoffs proposed (QuBiLS-MIDAS NQ-MDs) with regard to the results obtained when all inter-atomic relations are considered (QuBiLS-MIDAS KA-MDs – 'Keep All'). A principal component analysis shows that the novel molecular cutoffs codify chemical information captured by the respective QuBiLS-MIDAS KA-MDs, as well as information not captured by the latter. Lastly, a QSAR study to obtain deeper knowledge of the contribution of the proposed methods was carried out, using four molecular datasets (steroids (STER), angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE), thermolysin inhibitors (THER) and thrombin inhibitors (THR)) widely used as benchmarks in the evaluation of several methodologies. One to four variable QSAR models based on multiple linear regression were developed for each compound dataset following the original division into training and test sets. The results obtained reveal that the novel cutoff procedures yield superior performances relative to those of the QuBiLS-MIDAS KA-MDs in the prediction of the biological activities considered. From the results achieved, it can be suggested that the proposed N-tuple topological/geometric cutoffs constitute a relevant criteria for generating MDs codifying particular atomic relations, ultimately useful in enhancing the modelling capacity of the QuBiLS-MIDAS 3D-MDs.


SaPIN2a, the proteinase inhibitor of nightshade (Solanum americanum), has been proposed to regulate proteolysis in phloem development. In this study, we expressed and characterized recombinant SaPIN2a in Escherichia coli. Purified recombinant SaPIN2a (rSaPIN2a) had a strong inhibitory effect on serine proteinase chymotrypsin (IC50 36.1 nmol/L), but its inhibitory activities toward trypsin (IC50 398.6 nmol/L) and especially toward subtilisin (IC50 5004 nmol/L) were low. It did not inhibit cysteine proteinase papain and aspartic proteinase cathepsin D. rSaPIN2a was a competitive inhibitor of trypsin, and a noncompetitive inhibitor of chymotrypsin and subtilisin.


This paper is an extension of a previous work where a diagonally implicit harmonic balance method was developed and applied to simulate oscillatory motions of pitching airfoil and wing. A more detailed study on the accuracy, convergence, and the efficiency of the method is carried out in the current paperby varying the number of harmonics in the solution approximation. As the main advantage of the method is itsusage for the design optimization of the unsteady problems, its application to more practical case of rotor flow analysis during forward flight is carried out and compared with flight test data and time-accurate computation results. Keywords—Design optimization, Implicit harmonic balance method, number of harmonics, rotor flows


ABSTRACT Following its move to VH1 in 2017, Season 9 of RuPaul's Drag Race (RPDR) was positioned to capture a larger audience than ever before, boasting the strongest field of competitors in its 'herstory'. This article maps the career trajectory of Season 9 winner Sasha Velour to determine how she distinguishes herself from previous champions. While winners of RPDR are expected to possess the virtues of charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent, Velour's articulation of fame post RPDR has been informed by charisma and uniqueness, coupled with a consistent performance of an 'authentic' persona. Since winning Season 9, Velour has been an outspoken advocate for the transgender community and the need to diversify drag, in addition to drawing attention from the mainstream fashion industry for her art and style. Drawing inspiration from RPDR's virtues, I argue that the performance of charisma and uniqueness are essential to interpreting the success of the drag celebrity persona as part of the 'fame cycle' beyond RPDR. Velour's star image is distinctive for centring art and activist performance as vital to her public persona across transmedia platforms, allowing for the promotion of positive change for the LGBTQIA community worldwide.


At present, the popularity of tennis in colleges and universities is gradually deepening, when the traditional teaching theory of tennis is hard to meet the actual teaching requirement of tennis. Under this background, this paper is going to give a deep research and analysis on tennis teaching at colleges and universities, take multiple intelligence theory as the basic theory guidance, and adopt the methods of literature review, survey report and math statistics analysis to explore the objective law of tennis teaching at China's colleges and universities. Through the research, this paper finds out that the guidance of multiple intelligence theory can promote tennis teaching efficiency of at college's PE major. Therefore, it can be seen that adopting teaching method of multiple intelligence can promote students' activity accordingly and improve students' comprehensive quality roundly in the teaching process of tennis at college's PE major.


The development of organic agriculture in Bangladesh has been slow. According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (2018), approximately 12,000 farmers in Bangladesh produce organic crops on around 7,000 hectares of land. The transition from conventional to organic farming has been an issue of debate, especially in the context of developing nations such as Bangladesh. The debate stresses the urgency for the transition to preserve environment and health and to ensure a safe, sustainable and environmentally friendly food production system, but also emphasizes the pressure of maintaining food production for a large growing population. We focus on the debate in the context of Bangladesh, and question whether it is the proper time and stage in the development process to attempt the transition from conventional to organic food production systems. We ask why the organic rice market is not expanding in Bangladesh and explain the slow market growth through the two main factors of income constraint and lack of awareness among people about the environmental and health detriments of non-organic farming. The exploratory study finds that it is not mainly the lack of awareness but the income constraint that can be principally attributed to the slow expansion of the organic rice market in Bangladesh. Through exploring consumers' awareness about organic farming methods and their demand for organic products, this study shows how income as a major constraint, besides price, affects consumers demand for organic and non-organic rice in Bangladesh. Income being identified as the major barrier reveals the potential of the organic rice market to grow in the future, as Bangladesh continues its journey towards becoming a middle-income country.


This guidelines outlines one management tool, strategic adaptive management, that has been developed by the staff and managers of Kruger National Park. This approach recognises and is responsive to global change factors in a realistic and practical manner. The guideline aims to present an overview of strategic adaptive management practice, or SAM, as it has emerged within the specific context of Kruger National Park. The specific illustrative context that we use is that of rivers which have undergone enormous change.


In Medellin v. Texas, the Supreme Court permitted Texas to proceed with the execution of a Mexican national who had not been given timely notice of his right of consular notification and consultation in violation of the United States' obligations under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. It did so despite its finding that the United States had an obligation under treaty law to comply with an order of the International Court of Justice that Medellin's case be granted review and reconsideration. The international obligation, the Court found, was not domestically enforceable because the treaties at issue were not self-executing. The five Justices who signed the Chief Justice's Majority opinion, including the Court's self-proclaimed originalists, thus joined an opinion that construed the Constitution's Supremacy Clause without any serious consideration of its language or the history of its drafting, ignoring evidence of the Supremacy Clause's original meaning cited by the dissenting Justices. This Article explores the meaning of originalism in the context of the Court's Medellin decision and contends that the Majority's opinion, while perhaps defensible on other grounds, cannot be reconciled with any identifiable version of originalism. Rather it is best understood as a decision reflecting the conservative Majority's political commitment to favor principles of U.S. sovereignty and federalism over compliance with international obligations, even when the consequences of such a commitment is to enable state governments to undermine the foreign policy decisions of the political branches of the federal government. Ultimately, however, the Article concludes that Medellin's case never should have come before the Court. The President has a duty to take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed. The Court determined that the Bush administration did not satisfy this duty by issuing an Executive Memorandum directing states to comply with the judgment of the International Court of Justice. That being the case, the President now must comply with his Take Care Clause duties by working with Congress to make certain that federal law compels compliance with the International Court of Justice's judgment. Indeed, this Article contends that the Medellin case is emblematic of the U.S. executive branch's broader failure to ensure that all treaties requiring domestic implementation are in fact implemented so as to avoid placing the United States in violation of its international obligations.


Can private sector participation (PSP) in the piped water sector improve child health? I use child-level data from 39 African countries during 1986-2010 to show that PSP decreases diarrhea among urban-dwelling, under-five children by 2.6 percentage points, or 16% of its mean prevalence. Children from the poorest households benefit most. PSP is also associated with a 7.8 percentage point increase in school attendance of 7-17 year olds. Importantly, PSP increases usage of piped water by 9.7 percentage points, suggesting a possible causal channel explaining health improvements. To attribute causality, I exploit time-variation in the private water market share controlled by African countries' former colonizers. A placebo analysis reveals that PSP does not affect respiratory illness, nor does it affect a control group of rural children.


The study evaluated the effect of essential oils from lavender (Lavandula stoaches)  (LEO), on growth performance, carcass quality and antioxidant status of broilers.  Three nutritionally adequate diets were composed with the addition of LEO at 0, 24, and 48 mg/kg of feed. The diets were fed as mash in the starter (d 0–21) and grower (d 22–39) phases. A total of 405 day-old chicks (Ross-308) were allocated to the three dietary treatments, each with three replicate pens with 45 birds per pen. After the first 21-day feeding period, the bodyweight of chicks fed 24 mg/kg LEO was higher (P <0.01) than the 48 mg/kg LEO treatment, but only slightly higher than that of the untreated group. Diets with 24 and 48 mg/kg of LEO tended to increase final bodyweight of birds at 39 days old. No differences were observed for feed intake (FI), feed conversion ratio (FCR) and mortality among treatments. Feeding chickens on a diet with added LEO significantly reduced the relative weight of liver (P <0.01) compared with the control (CNT) group. Percentage of spleen weight of birds fed 24 mg/kg LEO was lower (P <0.05) than for those who received 48 mg/kg LEO. However, it was similar to that of the CNT. Birds fed diets supplemented with 24 and 48 mg/kg LEO had breast meat with higher brightness (L* value) and higher concentration of superoxide dismutase (SOD) compared with birds that did not receive LEO. Based on the data, it can be concluded that LEO could be used as a growth promoter in broiler nutrition with potential improvements in breast meat quality. ______________________________________________________________________________________ Keywords : Antioxidative activity, broiler, growth promoting effects, lavender oil, meat yield,


Proximate composition of small catfish, Mystus bleekeri , from Nala Daik, Sialkot, Pakistan was investigated and fluctuation in relation to body size and condition factor was carried out. Mean percentages for water, fat, protein and ash contents in the whole wet body weight of wild M. bleekeri were 77.87, 3.26, 15.01 and 3.87%, respectively. Body composition of the fish was effected by body size; however, condition factor remains constant with observed body constituents (% water, fat, protein, ash and organic contents). Highly significant (P<0.001) correlation Found between percentage water and percentage fat, protein, ash and organic contents in both wet and dry body weight. Investigation of body size on body constituents Reflected decrease in relative amount of water, skeleton (wet and dry weight), increase in fat (dry weight), protein, organic contents (wet and dry weight), and no effect on fat (wet weight) with growth of fish. Additionally, the first reference for proximate composition for M. bleekeri is provided. Key words : Proximate composition, body size, condition factor, predictive equation, catfish, Mystus bleekeri.


The aim of the study was to compare the influence of fat supplementation in the form of full-fat soybean seeds and hydrolyzed palm oil as energy sources for dairy cows in early lactation. During the first 8 lactation weeks, 17 dairy cows divided into group S (n = 8) and group C (n = 9) were observed. The basic diet was the same for both groups. The differences were in the composition of the concentrate mixture, which had a balanced content of nutrients. In group S the fat source was heat-treated soybean seeds, while in group C the fat source used was hydrolyzed palm oil. The two diets started to be fed on the day of calving. Blood samples were taken weekly (1st–5th week) and 8 weeks after delivery. At the end of the experiment ruminal fluid was taken. During the experiment BCS in both groups deteriorated similarly. In group S it decreased from 3.8 ± 0.2 to 3.3 ± 0.3 and in group C from 3.5 ± 0.4 to 3.1 ± 0.4. A better performance of hepatic metabolism was proved in group S. In group S lower concentrations of non-esterified fatty acids were identified in the 3 rd (0.96 ± 0.38 vs. 1.76 ± 0.63 mmol·l-1; p < 0.01) and 8th (0.32 ± 0.29 vs. 0.78 ± 0.48 mmol·l -1 ; p < 0.05) week after calving. The gamma-glutamyl transferase (EC 18.104.22.168) activity in serum indicates a better liver parenchyma condition in group S where no increased activity was identified above the reference range. An increased activity was identified in group C from the 2nd week with a significant difference between groups detected in the 2 nd (0.41 ± 0.07 vs. 0.66 ± 0.25 µkat·l -1 ; p < 0.05) and 4 th (0.42 ± 0.05 vs. 0.64 ± 0.25 µkat·l -1 ; p < 0.05) weeks after delivery. There were no significant differences found between groups in bilirubin and aspartate transaminase (EC 188.8.131.52) but a general tendency toward lower values is apparent in group S. No significant differences were found between groups by the examination of ruminal fluid. Based on these results we can conclude that full-fat soy was better utilised than hydrolysed palm oil and represents a suitable alternative for increasing energy concentration in the diet for dairy cows. On the other hand, the development of liver steatosis in cows make controversial the usage of fat as an energy source for fresh cows even if their BCS is around 3.5–3.8 and it may not be recommended generally.


> Eric D. Green, M.D., Ph.D. is the Director of the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). This editorial is written as a letter to his daughter, Abbey, who will graduate from high school in June 2018 .

To Abbey, My Remarkable Daughter:

In a few weeks, you will graduate from high school and begin the next phase of your life journey. Reflecting on this milestone, I am struck by how your life has paralleled spectacular advances in an area of biology that I have worked in for my entire career—genomics, the study of all the DNA of a living organism.

When you were born in 1999, I and thousands of other genomics researchers around the world were working intensely on the Human Genome Project, a 13-year odyssey to "decode" the human genome (that is, to determine the order of the roughly 3 billion "letters" in human DNA). While you were finger-painting and napping in pre-school in 2003, we completed that effort. As you moved through grade school and middle school, we worked diligently to make sense of our genome's code by analyzing all those …


This paper describes a system design concept to enable automated sample acquisition on planetary surfaces without the use of additional sensor information such as cameras and force/torque sensors. A simple and robust solution is presented to the unique problems encountered in in situ science applications with its tight constraints on mass, power, computing resources and lack of flight-qualified hardware. Problems addressed include end-effector contact detection, trajectory generation, hardware fault monitoring and autonomous determination of terrain profile.


The authors report a case of a right hemispheric ischemic infarction on a 77-year-old patient that was monitored with an extradural intracranial pressure monitor (Ladd device). We show the huge intracranial hypertension that the brain was submitted despite of the medical treatment. The treatment of hemispheric strokes can be very challenging. The usual antiedema drugs very often prove to be of no help against the mass effect and the high intracranial pressure that some patients present. More recently reports on the literature are showing good results following a decompressive surgery on such ischemic infarcts.


This article examines the role of languages and language learning when adult migrants are narrating their integration and construction of identities in the new country, in particular, in work and professional communities, education and social life. We focus on two narratives by Russian-speaking women who migrated in Finland in the 2000s from Russia and Ukraine. Both of them have worked in various jobs and studied in different degree programs. The analysis reveals the importance of gaining opportunities to learn Finnish both formally as well as informally at work and in social life. The narratives also show that an adult migrant needs to be determined in learning Finnish independently even though it might cause emotional stress especially in the beginning. Finally, the article discusses some implications concerning language opportunities and barriers experienced by participants when dealing with their professional career paths and how these experiences are intertwined with integration policy.


The fastest generally-recognized algorithms for computing the reliability of consecutive-k-out-of-n:F systems require O(n) time, for both the linear and circular systems. The authors' new algorithm requires O(k/sup 3/spl middot/log(n/k)) time. The algorithm can be extended to yield an O(n/spl middot/max{k/sup 3/spl middot/log(n/k), log(n))} total time procedure for solving the combinatorial problem of counting the number of working states, with w working and n-w failed components, w=1,2,...,n. >


The premise of this article is that climate effects on lakes can be quantified most effectively by the integration of process‐oriented limnological studies with paleolimnological research, particularly when both disciplines operate within a common conceptual framework. To this end, the energy (E)‐mass (m) flux framework (Em flux) is developed and applied to selected retrospective studies to demonstrate that climate variability regulates lake structure and function over diverse temporal and spatial scales through four main pathways: rapid direct transfer of E to the lake surface by irradiance, heat, and wind; slow indirect effects of E via changes in terrestrial development and subsequent m subsidies to lakes; direct influx of m as precipitation, particles, and solutes from the atmosphere; and indirect influx of water, suspended particles, and dissolved substances from the catchment. Sedimentary analyses are used to illustrate the unique effects of each pathway on lakes but suggest that interactions among mechanisms are complex and depend on the landscape position of lakes, catchment characteristics, the range of temporal variation of individual pathways, ontogenetic changes in lake basins, and the selective effects of humans on m transfers. In particular, preliminary synthesis suggests that m influx can overwhelm the direct effects of E transfer to lakes, especially when anthropogenic activities alter m subsidies from catchments.


The present doctoral thesis aims to contribute to the field of organic semiconductor physics and technology, both of which have become fast growing disciplines. Two technological applications are emerging from these research efforts: Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and organic field-effect transistors (OFETs). OLEDs are already being fabricated on an industrial level today, while some fundamental issues still remain to be resolved for OFETs. During the last ten years, research interest has been continuously shifting from the bulk properties of organic semiconductors to their interfaces. Such issues are in fact addressed in this thesis work and include different interactions of thin organic layers with their environments. In the field of OLEDs, a multitude of issues have been investigated here. Most importantly and in contrast to most publications in this field, OLED's with complex device architectures that fully compete with standard devices performancewise have been fabricated and characterized. An oxygen plasma treatment of indium-tin-oxide anode has been shown to reduce the injection performance while enhancing the quantum efficiency. Two different mechanisms are proposed to explain this. Going a step further, the life-time behavior of such devices has been examined. Different aging mechanisms were identified: in short term and intermediate term aging, an oxygen plasma treatment of anode clearly reduces the operational voltage. Bulk degradation of the organic electroluminescent layer then becomes predominant for long term aging. Another important finding concerns the formation of exciplexes at organic/organic heterojunctions: In devices comprising a high hole injection barrier between the hole-transport and the electron-transport layer, the dominant formation of exciplexes is identified by a red-shifted shoulder in the electroluminescent spectrum and a low quantum yield. In contrast to that, the quantum efficiency is increased markedly by minimizing this hole barrier. In such devices, the formation of exciplexes is beneficial for device performance, since it facilitates hole transfer across the heterojunction. For the first time, the operational currents could be divided into different radiative and non-radiative recombination channels of exciplexes and excitons respectively. This quantification was further developed to simulate current-versus-voltage behavior and quantum efficiency. The work on pentacene based devices was initiated by fabricating ultrathin pentacene films on polished sapphire and by characterizing them with a temperature variable four probe setup. Oxygen plasma treatment of the substrate introduces oxygen radicals onto the surface and subsequent pentacene deposition leads to electron extraction from the pentacene molecules to defects at the oxide surface. Such an increase of charge carrier density within the semiconducting layer enhances its conductivity. Using a thick, aliphatic self-assembled monolayer (SAM) as an intermediate layer, both the activation energy and the film resistance increase by at least an order of magnitude compared to devices without SAM. Hence, charge transfer to the substrate is inhibited. The OFETs fabricated for this thesis work are all based on pentacene as a semiconductor and the gate interface was the focus of interest. Two different device types were fabricated: One device category comprises ultra-thin film OFETs (10nm). In such devices contact resistance is negligible. This gives rise to a dependence of device behavior on the gate interface. For this reason, the dielectric constant of the gate insulator was varied by changing the gate materials: the hole mobility is enhanced four-fold by using an aliphatic SAM at the gate interface instead of an oxygen plasma treated alumina (Al2O3). This effect has been interpreted in terms of self-trapping at the interface and its reduction by a low-k dielectric gate. In addition the on-off ratio was enhanced by a factor of 20, thanks to the SAM-inhibited pentacene doping due to a reduced semiconductor/substrate interaction. The second OFETdevice category was based on thicker (80nm) pentacene films. Their behavior is injection controlled. This finding originates in the application of a top contact configuration which implies that the carriers cross the granular material to reach the channel. Impedance spectroscopic measurements on different metal-insulator-semiconductor diodes unveiled a morphology dependent transveral mobility, which is linked to the degree of structural disorder in the film. In conclusion: Understanding of the various physical processes occurring at the different interfaces (anode and organic/organic interfaces in OLEDs, gate interface in OFETs) has considerably improved the performance of organic semiconductor based devices.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Primary central nervous system lymphomas (PCNSLs) are usually high-grade and are rarely low-grade non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHLs). On MR imaging, PCNSLs typically present as contrast-enhancing lesions in contact with the subarachnoid space without evidence of necrosis. We evaluated the radiologic morphology and clinical characteristics of low-grade PCNSLs, hypothesizing that they may differ from high-grade PCNSLs.

METHODS
Records were reviewed from 332 patients screened for inclusion in 3 multicenter prospective trials. MR imaging scans were obtained from all patients and were centrally reviewed by 2 consultant neuroradiologists.

RESULTS
Ten patients (3%) with low-grade PCNSLs (7 men and 3 women; median age, 59 years; age range, 19-61 years) were identified. Four patients had one lesion, 2 patients 2 lesions, and 4 patients had multiple lesions. The following radiologic features infrequently seen in high-grade PCNSLs were found in a substantial proportion of patients: location in deep structures or spine (n = 6); lack of periventricular location (n = 5); hyperintensity on T2-weighted images (n = 10); moderate or absent contrast enhancement (n = 6); and heterogeneous contrast enhancement (n = 5). In 8 patients, >2 of these features were present in at least one lesion, and, thus, the radiologic appearance was assessed atypical of high-grade PCNSLs. The atypical radiologic appearance in combination with atypical or mild symptoms resulted in a false or delayed diagnosis.

CONCLUSION
Low-grade PCNSLs may have a variable and atypical radiologic morphology compared with high-grade PCNSLs with the risk of false or delayed diagnosis.


One of the most important concerns of Islamists in responding to the retardation of Islamic societies is the issue of government. This concern became more evident in the new wave of popular uprisings in Arab countries in 2011. In Tunisia, with the collapse of Ben Ali and the power of Al-Nahda under the leadership of Rashed Ghannouchi, various theoretical analyzes of the future of the political system and the ideal government in this country became the focus of political attention. This paper seeks to address the question of "what is the conceptual transformation of a ideal government in the political views and ideas of Rashed Ghannouchi?" In order to answer this question, this paper has used intentionality hermeneutics method of Skinner in analyzing political thought.
The findings indicate that the ideal government in Ghannouchi's political thought has undergone a conceptual transformation in three periods: In the first period, he seeks for Islamic-based democracy. In Second period , after the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, he seeks Islam as a specific social agenda for governance. In the third period after 2011, Ghannouchi's ideal government transformed from Islamic democracy to Muslim democracy.


orderly and balanced presentation of evidence relating to the presence or absence of a relationship between cancer and trauma, an ill-digested assortment of facts from good and bad studies are put down. This, together with many minor errors, makes it an unsuit able volume for the lawyer who may, however, wish to use it as reference source. Unfortunately, many of those references to malignant cell behaviour and tumour spread are out of date.


Simple, accurate, precise, linear and reproducible method was developed for the estimation of Eletriptan hydrobromide pharmaceutical dosage forms by UV-Visible spectrophotometric method. The stock solutions were prepared by using combination of ethanol and distilled water. The absorbance of Eletriptan hydrobromide was found to be at 221nm. The calibration curve was plotted in the concentration range of 1-10µg/ml. In tablets Eletriptan hydrobromide percentage purity was estimated to be 99.65%. The results of analysis were validated according to ICH guidelines and were found to be satisfactory. Hence, present studies give excellent method for the determination of Eletriptan hydrobromide tablets.


The endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus play key roles in regulating the folding, assembly, and transport of newly synthesized proteins along the secretory pathway. We find that the divalent cation manganese disrupts the Golgi apparatus and endoplasmic reticulum (ER). The Golgi apparatus is fragmented into smaller dispersed structures upon manganese treatment. Golgi residents, such as TGN46, beta1,4-galactosyltransferase, giantin, and GM130, are still segregated and partitioned correctly into smaller stacked fragments in manganese-treated cells. The mesh-like ER network is substantially affected and peripheral ER elements are collapsed. These effects are consistent with manganese-mediated inhibition of motor proteins that link membrane organelles along the secretory pathway to the cytoskeleton. This divalent cation thus represents a new tool for studying protein secretion and membrane dynamics along the secretory pathway.


Abstract This paper gives a mathematical model for spur gears with asymmetric involute teeth based on the gear theory and generating mechanism. The equations of designed profile of rack cutter with asymmetric teeth, the principle of coordinate transformation, the theory of differential geometry, and the theory of gearing are applied. Trochoidal envelope traced by cutter during generating process is also investigated. Computer graphs of asymmetric involute spur gears are presented based on the given model, and also generation simulation is illustrated. The results of this research should be helpful in the design and manufacture of asymmetric gears.


This work reports the use of new non-Cartesian k-space trajectories whose improved efficiency allows to significantly reduce MR scan time with minimum deterioration of image quality. Instead of using simple geometrical patterns, we introduce an approach inspired from stippling techniques, which automatically designs optimized sampling patterns along any distribution by taking full advantage of the hardware capabilities. Our strategy leads to drastically accelerated acquisitions, as demonstrated by our experimental results at 7T on in vivo human brains. We compare our method to widely-used non-Cartesian trajectories (spiral,radial) and demonstrate its superiority regarding image quality and robustness to system imperfections.


Abstract : The document is concerned with asynchrony as a method of sequencing information to improve learning efficiency. It refers to the pattern of changes in critical and non-critical stimuli in moving from one presentation to the next. Two programs in microeconomics were developed--one which maximized asynchronous sequencing and one which minimized it. The specific method of sequencing is explained. The programs were tested on 28 college girls using a computer-assisted instructional system which presented information, processed students' constructed responses, recorded correctness and response time, provided feedback and branched the student to new material. (Author)


: We examined the effectiveness of self-managed individual and group contingency procedures in improving the completion and accuracy rates of daily mathematics homework assignments. A group of sixth-grade students having homework dif fi culties in mathematics were selected for the study. There was substantial improvement in the amount of homework completed over baseline for a majority of the students, whereas the results for accuracy were mixed. Students who participated in the self-management training made signi fi cant gains on standardized measures of academic achievement and curriculum-based measures of classroom performance. Parents also reported signi fi cantly fewer problems associated with homework completion following the intervention. Students who were allowed to select their own performance goals made superior improvements in the number of homework assignments returned compared to students who were given a speci fi ed goal by the classroom teacher. Parents, subjects, and the classroom teacher responded positively on consumer satisfaction measures following termination of the study.


We examined the effect of habitual regulation of massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) playing on the problematic (addictive) usage and excessiveness of gaming (time that user spent playing weekly, per session, and in relation to his other leisure activities). We developed the approach to assess the strength of habitual regulation that was based on sensitivity to situational cues. We defined cues as real-life or in-game conditions (e.g., work to be done, activities with friends or family, need to relax, new game expansion) that usually promote gaming (proplay cues) or prevent it (contraplay cues). Using a sample of 377 MMORPG players, we analyzed relationships between variables through partial least squares path modeling. We found that proplay cues sensitivity significantly positively affected the excessiveness of gaming (playing time) as well as the occurrence of problematic usage symptoms. Conversely, contraplay cues sensitivity functioned as a protective factor from these conditions; significant negative effects were found for playing time and problematic usage. Playing time was confirmed to be a mediating variable, affected by cues sensitivity and at the same time affecting problematic usage symptoms. We obtained moderately strong coefficients of determination for both endogenous variables (R(2) = 0.28 for playing time; R(2) = 0.31 for problematic usage) suggesting that the proposed variables possess good explanatory power. Based on our results, we argue that the strength of habitual regulation within MMORPG usage has both positive and negative effects on excessive and problematic usage, which is a new and important finding within the area of Internet gaming addiction.