In this work a novel detector setup for PALS-studies on biomolecular materials is presented. When pursuing optimal detecting efficiency and lifetime component resolution one must make compromises when using only one detector pair. With smaller scintillation heads the resolution is higher, but the detecting efficiency decreases and vice versa. When measuring biological materials that do not withstand long measurement periods, sacrifices are made for gaining efficiency. The price of this optimization is low resolution of the lifetime components, namely separating the always present water's lifetime component of ~1.8 ns from the actual material's lifetime component, typically >2 ns. A solution to this problem is measuring the annihilation spectra with two individual detector pairs simultaneously. Using analog setup, it would require duplicate ADC-hardware that are both expensive and degrade by time. With a fully digital setup, the need for hardware is smaller and the precision of the setup is constant during its service life.


Parenteral fluid administration has been definitely established in the past three decades as a major therapeutic measure in preserving life and lessening morbidity in a great variety of pathologic states. These conditions include patients in both the so-called medical and surgical categories who present a common background of dehydration, starvation and acid-base imbalance. The value of this form of therapy lies in the ability to administer necessary fluid, electrolytes, and nutrients to patients in whom the normal gastro-intestinal function is temporarily in abeyance or relatively unable to supply the organism with adequate amounts. Ordinarily, the procedure has been carried on for short periods ranging from a few hours to a few days, but cases have been recorded of practically complete parenteral nutrition over a period of several weeks. The routes most commonly used are the intravenous and subcutaneous, but under special conditions the intraperitoneal, intrathecal, and intramedullary routes have also been utilized. The intravenous route is by far the most practical of these since it is readily available, and its use offers a minimum of discomfort to the patient. Since the infused fluid becomes quickly diluted in the veins, it is possible to administer both hypertonic and isotonic solutions with a considerable range in hydrogen ion concentration both above and below the plasma level. Fluids used subcutaneously must be isotonic and adjusted to a normal hydrogen ion concentration of tissue fluid in order to prevent local tissue irritation and damage.


The PDO "Vastedda della valle del Belìce" is a Sicilian pasta filata sheep cheese, made from raw milk without starter addition. It is a small round cheese without rind, weighing about 500-700 g. It is cheese is marketed also out of Sicily to allow its marketing and to prolong its shelf-life. The aim of this work was to evaluate the variation of microbiological parameters during the shelf-life period. Then 162 Vastedda cheeses from 18 cheese-making processes in 7 farms have been analysed at different times of storage at 4°C (0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90, 105, 120 days). Coliforms and E. coli were detected into 7/18 cheese-making processes and their count decreased during the storage period. Enterococci were more resistant to high temperature achieved during the stretching and their were rather stable during storage period (10 5 cfu/g). The concentration of total Bacterial Count and Mesophilic Lactococci were around 10 7 cfu/g, while the concentration of Thermophilic Lactococci was higher (10 8 cfu/g) probably due to the stretching at 90°C. In conclusion, this study shows the good sanitary conditions of cheeses. Overall, the lactic flora was kept alive and vital at high concentration (> 10 7 cfu/g) until 120 days of storage.


This paper examines some of the international implications of the U.S. Grokster litigation and the parallel Kazaa case that was recently decided by the Federal Court of Australia. Neither court addressed the international aspects of the holdings. This is a significant gap: P2P products and services are disseminated globally; many of the users of these products and services and a number of the defendants in the cases were located beyond the forum; P2P business models often involve division of corporate activities between different jurisdictions; and the files that are shared on P2P networks often traverse international borders. The paper analyzes Australian and U.S. copyright legislation and doctrine to assess what the law on P2P products and services might look like if courts confronted more directly the international character of copyright issues that arise in the P2P context. It then identifies a distinction between de jure and de facto extraterritoriality. De jure extraterritorial application of domestic copyright law occurs when legislatures and courts develop liability theories that involve the direct application of one nation's copyright laws to activities that occur in foreign territories. The communication tort recently enacted into Australian copyright law is an example of de jure extraterritoriality: Australian copyright law expressly applies to communication of copyright protected material to and from Australia - thereby offering the potential for Australian copyright law to apply to communication of copyright material that reaches the public in foreign jurisdictions. The concept of de facto' extraterritoriality is illustrated by Justice Breyer's Grokster concurrence. Justice Breyer's concurrence suggests that the Sony safe harbor should be capacious, with the probable result of more unlicensed circulation of copyright protected works. One problem with Justice Breyers approach, a problem not addressed in the Grokster opinions, is that circulation of copyright protected works on networks with global reach may have the effect of imposing a policy balance that is struck with U.S. conditions in mind on the rest of the world - including countries in which the balance between technological development and copyright protection is viewed differently. The paper concludes by suggesting that the Berne Convention offers legal actors a source for principles that might assist in resolving the tension between extraterritorial application of domestic copyright law and territorial sovereignty. This paper was presented at the Santa Clara University School of Law Conference on Third Party Liability in Intellectual Property Law on October 7, 2005, and will be published in a Symposium issue of the Santa Clara Computer & High Technology Law Journal in 2006.


We propose a method of changing the units of input features from states used conventionally to phonemes and moras to reduce the computational cost of deep neural networks (DNNs) with a hidden semi-Markov model structure for speech synthesis, which can model acoustic features and a temporal structure in a unified framework. Neural networks with very deep and wide structures have recently been applied successfully in the field of speech synthesis. However, such models have very high computational cost, so they are not being applied on platforms with limited resources. To solve this problem, we increased the length of time of DNN input units. We used phoneme or mora units, which are longer than the state units used conventionally. Increasing the length in time of units of input features reduces the number of DNN forward propagations required for speech synthesis, reducing the computational cost. Since a mora in Japanese exhibits isochronism, the duration can be represented more appropriately than the phoneme units expressing consonants and vowels of different lengths with one neural network. Experimental results indicate that compared with speech synthesis based on a DNN with frame inputs, computational cost can be reduced by 97% without degrading the naturalness of the synthesized speech with the proposed method.


In this study, Stockwell transform and artificial neural network were used in determining the inrush current and the internal current fault based on the power transformer protection. The S-transform is a robust transform that incorporates the time and frequency characteristics used in the analysis of non-stationary short term transient signals. It is used for pattern recognition for distinction between internal faults and inrush current. Time-frequency images were obtained by using S-transform, and the obtained images were observed to be different in internal faults and inrush current. The feature extraction is based on statistical methods, standard deviation and average value, the classification process was performed with the multilayer feed forward artificial neural network. The classification performance is calculated at a hundred percent accuracy.


ABSTRACT Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of augmented bilateral lateral rectus recession in the treatment of consecutive exotropia. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed records of nine patients who underwent augmented bilateral lateral rectus recession for consecutive exotropia with minimal adduction deficits. Our normal surgical dosing tables for bilateral lateral rectus recession were augmented by adding 1.5–2 mm. All patients had been measured preoperatively using prism and alternate cover testing (PACT), except for one patient in whom Krimsky measurements were performed because of amblyopia. Surgery was deemed successful if postoperative alignment fell within a potential monofixation range of ±10 prism diopters (PD) by PACT at the final postoperative examination. Results: Eight out of nine patients (89%) had a successful outcome. One patient was surgically undercorrected. Despite successful realignment to a state of monofixation syndrome in most patients, there was no significant restoration of stereopsis following strabismus surgery. Conclusions: Surgical augmentation of bilateral lateral rectus recession standard dosing by 1.5–2 mm is efficacious for restoring binocular alignment for both distance and near fixation. This surgical approach may be preferable to bimedial advancements in patients with minimal preoperative adduction deficits who show no significant increase in exotropia during near fixation.


This article presents the concept of geohistory, as developed by the French historian Fernand Braudel in his text "Geohistoire: la societe, l'espace et le temps", written while he was imprisoned during the Second World War. The concept expresses his criticism of the boundaries of academic disciplines, and the importance of geography in the construction of his long-term history. Inspired both by the study of relations between society and environment based on the work of French geographers, and by the triangular link of space-economy-society of German geographers, Braudel's geohistory presents an approach more consistent and more complex than Lucien Febvre's theses found in The earth and human evolution: e geographical introduction to history.


In the decade since their discovery, the two major breast cancer susceptibility genes BRCA1 and BRCA2, have been shown conclusively to be involved in a significant fraction of families segregating breast and ovarian cancer. However, it has become equally clear that a large proportion of families segregating breast cancer alone are not caused by mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2. Unfortunately, despite intensive effort, the identification of additional breast cancer predisposition genes has so far been unsuccessful, presumably because of genetic heterogeneity, low penetrance, or recessive/polygenic mechanisms. These non-BRCA1/2 breast cancer families (termed BRCAx families) comprise a histopathologically heterogeneous group, further supporting their origin from multiple genetic events. Accordingly, the identification of a method to successfully subdivide BRCAx families into recognizable groups could be of considerable value to further genetic analysis. We have previously shown that global gene expression analysis can identify unique and distinct expression profiles in breast tumors from BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers. Here we show that gene expression profiling can discover novel classes among BRCAx tumors, and differentiate them from BRCA1 and BRCA2 tumors. Moreover, microarray-based comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) to cDNA arrays revealed specific somatic genetic alterations within the BRCAx subgroups. These findings illustrate that, when gene expression-based classifications are used, BRCAx families can be grouped into homogeneous subsets, thereby potentially increasing the power of conventional genetic analysis.


The focus of this thesis is the critical review of Additive Printing (AP) or 3D-printing, and optimization strategies for the introduction of new materials. During the course of tenure, four classes of solids were investigated to determine the hurdles presented from each system. Specifically, the investigation developed techniques for optimization of ink production, greenfilm deposition, and laser sintering parameters surrounding the Optomec AJP system (AJP). In the assessment, statistical experimental design, analysis and material characterization techniques have been utilized. Final recommendations disseminate current best practices for new ink and material development, along with factor analysis of input variables for phase and material properties, along with insights for future research of these systems. The first chapter provides a general introduction to the field of AP. The second chapter focuses specifically on Optomec aerosol-jet process (AJP) techniques, and expands the discussion to process parameters, information concerning the fabrication/characterization procedure followed for each system, and includes: a detailed description of the materials investigated. This is important because printing parameters, optimization, and approach may be divergent for optimization within each strain; and is meant as an aid to resolve some technical issues for future investigators. The third chapter is fully dedicated to the results concerning the fabrication and the characterization of amorphous boron powder to film. Chapter four discusses future research options, ideas and directions. Appendices are provided for any which wish to investigate the orthogonal arrays used, or the combinatory effects resulting in the attributes of the material system final products.


Some of the most significant changes in women's statuses and roles have occurred over the last eight decades. These changes in women's lives have been precipitated by social, economic, political, and cultural arrangements and technological developments. In varying degrees, some of the most significant of these events have had the effect of transforming women's lives in this century. Since these events have also led to shifts in perceptions of feminine status, roles, and sexuality that mirror and reinforce women's changing reality, we might anticipate a parallel transformation in cultural representations of feminine sexuality. This study relies on two popular women's periodicals for uncovering cultural messages about feminine sexuality--Ladies Home Journal and Mademoiselle. A total of 55 issues were included in the sample. The analysis focuses on 598 "special" and "regular" feature articles from this sample. While certainly theme shifts in how to look and be occur over several decades, these are embedded within two overarching meanings or paradigms of feminine sexuality--a modern, or "self actualizing" paradigm, and a traditional, or "other" focused paradigm. Thus, what has changed is the package (i.e., how to look and be), not the meaning of the feminine sexual ideal. The feminine sexual ideal that permeates all eight decades is presented as either sexually available, but deferent, or sexually chaste; her demeanor toward a romantic partner is "sweet," receptive, and supportive; to look at she is "pretty," "graceful," "decorative," and "soft.". While women since the 1970's have been presented with "new" choices in how to look and be it cannot be said that the cultural messages of feminine sexuality reflect the "increased choice" that is assumed to characterize women's lives over the last century. After all, there is no real choice in how to look and be when the very meaning of those prescriptions do not change. Considering the very significant transformations in women's social status and roles over the last eight decades, the finding that one of these paradigms of feminine sexuality permeates all eight decades is nothing less than striking. In my attempts to understand this perplexity, I have relied on contextualizing these messages with considerations of social, economic, political, and cultural organization, and developments in reproductive technology and law. I have argued that, while the emergence of the modern meaning of feminine sexuality might be explained by shifts in gender ideology that were the consequence of a number of events, the persistent presence of the traditional paradigm might best be interpreted as a response to rapid social change or to tensions resulting from those very transformations that have occurred in women's roles.


Objectives: Tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) echocardiography is a novel imaging tool that allows quantification of a modified fetal myocardial performance index (MPI) in transversal four chamber view in fetuses with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). The aim of this study was to compare fetal cardiac function in pregnancies complicated by IUGR with normal controls. Methods: A prospective study was performed on fetuses with IUGR (n = 37, group 1) and normal fetuses (n = 60, group 2) between the 20th and 40th week of gestation by transversal four chamber view colour TDI raw data. Isovolemic contraction time (ICT), isovolemic relaxation time (IRT) and ejection time (ET) were measured offline with TDIQ-Software (Toshiba Medical Systems). The MPI was calculated by the formula (ICT + IRT)/ET for the left (LV) and right ventricle (RV). Results: The measurements were feasible in all cases. The MPI of group 1 was significant elevated in both ventricles (LV: group 1 0.59 ± 0.21/group 2 0.46 ± 0.13, P < 0.0001; RV: group 1 0.68 ± 0.15/group 2 0.47 ± 0.15, P < 0.0001). We identified cut off values for a suspected significant elevated MPI in IUGR fetuses (LV 0.55, specificity 70%, sensitivity 70%, ROC: area under curve 0.73/RV 0.60, specificity 83%, sensitivity 71%, ROC: area under curve 0.85). Conclusions: This is the first report of quantification of radial modified MPI by TDI in IUGR fetuses and normal controls. IUGR fetuses showed signs of fetal myocardial dysfunction. TDI is a useful new ultrasound tool for quantification and monitoring of abnormal myocardial function in high-risk pregnancies.


Forest management has the potential to increase the terrestrial C pool. According to the rules of the Kyoto Protocol and of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, forestry can generate a sink for greenhouse gases that can contribute to meeting the national commitment to emissions reductions. Afforestation is a common strategy that over the course of decades leads to the incorporation of carbon dioxide (CO2) in plant biomass. However, site types such as wetlands and peatlands may even be a source of greenhouse gases when they are afforested. Adapted management of existing forests may have a less obvious or slower effect on the terrestrial C pool. It is mainly relevant in countries that already have a large forest cover. We analysed the effects of harvesting, rotation length, thinning, fertilizer application and tree-species selection. All these treatments have an impact on the forest productivity and consequently on C sequestration in the ecosystem. Many forest treatments are already an integral part of sustainable forestry practice. In the context of C sequestration and its accounting in national greenhouse-gas budgets, ecosystem stability is highly rated. Forests that are robust against disturbances up to a certain degree of severity are better suited for political commitments than stands of maximum productivity with a high risk of damages.


More than 600 participants attended the Berlin International Conference on Science and Peace in October 2005. Thinking Beyond Einstein means to confront his questions and answers with today's scientific identity. Weapons of mass destruction and current threats still require an active policy of peace and disarmament. Einstein's fighting pacifism and his committed stand against nuclear weapons are important points of reference to think beyond in order to name wrong developments in time and to point out alternatives. The conference was particularly influenced by the death of Joseph Rotblat, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and founder of the Pugwash movement, to whom this book is dedicated.


Abstract The simple salt approximation for the lattice energy of double salts is used to provide an estimate of their molar solubilities. These calculations are compared with solubilities obtained from literature thermodynamic data and are within an order of magnitude for about 75% of the 81 minerals and other double salts examined. The solubilities of about two-thirds of the double salts are similar to the solubilities of the less soluble simple salt .constituents,. and the solubilities of the other one-third lie between the solubilities of the .constituents.. In general, the solubilities of a series of salts with different stoichiometries containing the same ions are dependent on both the stoichiometry of the salt and the proportion of the less soluble constituent. This generalization is rationalized with the simple salt approximation and is used to explain the observed stoichiometries of a variety of minerals.


A procedure for modeling P and PL waves recorded on long-period WWSSN instruments at ranges 1° to 12° is presented. Following the experience gained by modeling explosions (Helmberger, 1972), we demonstrate that these long-period phases are adequately treated by a single crustal layer for most of Western United States. After generating the Green's functions at the various ranges for the three fundamental dislocation types, we need only construct linear combinations of these vectors to represent any arbitrary oriented earthquake. The waveform patterns produced from the various fault types are quite diagnostic with the dip-slip orientations showing a strong ringing nature which is caused by the vertical SV lobes. To test the usefulness of this technique, we construct synthetics for some well-studied west coast earthquakes where the orientation, time history, and moment have been determined independently. Comparing the predicted seismograms with observations, we find good agreement in waveshapes and amplitudes.


To disguise themselves on Earth, Raxacoricofallapatorians hid in suits of human skin using a compression field worn around their necks. Over time, developments in their technology allowed them to fit into average sized humans, as opposed to obese humans used previously. We calculated the pressure exerted on the inside of the skin as 75,000 Pa for an average human and 64,300 Pa for an obese human, both significantly beneath the ultimate tensile strength of human skin. We calculated the force from the compression fields to be 272,000 N and 233,000 N for average and obese humans respectively.


Double-cropping systems have been suggested as a way to increase annual dry matter production per hectare, while simultaneously delivering environmental benefits. Past research seems to indicate that there is a genotypic effect for the suitability of a crop for use within double-cropping systems; however, despite sorghum's [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] diverse genetic background, there has not been a great deal ofwork done to explore this response for this crop. Twelve sorghum varieties were grown as sole crops and within a double-cropping system with winter triticale [x Triticosecale Wittmack] in central and northern Iowa. Results showed that although the single-cropping system produced slightly higher biomass yields, there were no significant differences in total production between the two systems for several of the sorghum varieties. These varieties were characterized as earlier maturing ones that had nearly maximized dry matter production at the time of harvest for the double-cropping system, and thus, any potential loss in sorghum yield was supplemented by the biomass production from the triticale crop. However when the chemical composition of the crops was considered, the theoretical ethanol yield of the single-cropping system was greater than the double-cropping system for all sorghum varieties. Although triticale was capable of offsetting any potential loss in dry matter, as an ethanol feedstock it was inferior to sorghum.


This research explores the role of identity in relation to the social construction of reality and collective images of the future, in that it focuses on the extent that futures images create a social identity, and conversely, the extent by which a transformed social identity creates a social destination. Thus, the paper introduces the concept of "destination identity" in the context of social foresight. It also uncovers the role of the core narrative or national myth of a society in the transformation of national identity and compares identity through the three time frames of past, present, and future. Finally, it explores the capacity this new perception of "destination identity" has to create solidarity and a renewed social identity (as well as issues of compatibility) for a humanity and civilization in transition.


Theoretical and practical considerations for optimized laser microsurgery on semiconductor devices are presented and discussed. Various commercially available lasers suitable for microsurgery are described, although the present work centers around the use of a xenon laser. Along with a thorough discussion of the xenon lasers operating characteristics, a number of novel xenon laser-based failure analysis techniques developed in the wafer scale integration program at Trilogy Systems Corp. are reported. Over the past 10 to 15 years, laser technology has been used in semiconductor manufacturing technology to solve an increasing number of problems to which it is uniquely suited. Lasers have been successfully used in the areas of photomask repair, resistor trimming, cutting of redundant circuit links, laser formed connections, and failure analysis (1-4). The property of laser technology which makes it so useful is the ability to apply a relatively uniform dose of photonic energy (0.01 - 1.5 mJ) in a very short time (1nS - 1.5µS) to the microscopic areas of interest in integrated circuits (1 Am2 - 100 Am2) using more or less standard optical components. In this paper, several laser based techniques which have proven exceptionally useful in the production of fully functional wafer scale integrated circuit prototypes at Trilogy Systems Corp. are reported as well as the results of a study of the operating characteristics of the Florod L.F.A. xenon laser system used in this study.


AIM
To describe the and the factors that influence their occurrence.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
A prospective study was performed over a year in the Ophthalmology clinic of Aristide le DANTEC Hospital, including 112 eyes of chronic renal failure patients followed up in the internal medicine unit of the same hospital. For each patient data of his follow up in the nephrology ward were recorded, even as the ophthalmological clinical examination which included colour test and angiography. All the lesions found were recorded on a questionnaire, seeking for any influence as far as age, sex, duration of signs, dialysis, and general complications were concerned. The analysis was performed using the 2005 Epi-info 6.0 software.

RESULTS
Sex ratio was 1.54. 70% were above 40 years old. Blindness was found on 44.6% of the eyes. There were 20.5% cases of eye lids oedema, 15.8% conjunctival calcifications, 26.8% cataracts, 3 cases of ocular hypertension, 7.1% corneal lesions. Hypertensive retinopathy was found on 75.9% of the cases, amongst 14.3% classified stage 3, and retinal oedema signs associated on 13.8%, arteriosclerosis on 14.3% of the cases. 88.1% had confirmed signs of dyschromatopsia. On angiography, there was evidence of chorioretinal lesions due to high blood pressure, including decrease of the choroidal blood flow, choroidal ischemic areas, and halo peripapillary oedema. Age was a risk factor for eye lid oedema. Corneal and conjunctival lesions, even as eye lid oedema and hypertensive retinopathy were more frequent on patients, sick for less than a year. High blood pressure was a risk factor for papillary lesions, hypertensive retinopathy, and dyschromatopsia. Corneal and conjunctival calcifications were found mostly on patients on dialysis, whereas they had less eye lid oedema, hypertensive retinopathy, and maculopathy.

CONCLUSION
Retinal lesion, especially due to high blood pressure is the most described. It permits to establish the prognostic of the disease. Patients on dialysis show a decrease of that retinopathy, but some sequels might persist which are invalidating, irreversible and may lead to blindness. This can be prevented by early screening of high blood pressure and an adequate treatment of chronic renal failure. Ophthalmologic examination remains a cheap and simple method to prevent the complications.


Although many tropical countries have functional wind farms, most of the information on their impact on bat populations has come from temperate zones. Our study is based on a 5-year study (2009–2013) of bat captures using mist nets, acoustic recordings, and carcass searches at a wind farm in tropical southern Mexico. We investigated the composition of bat species, estimated the number of bat fatalities per turbine, and assessed the effect of the spatial attributes of vegetation cover near turbines on numbers of bat carcasses recovered by trophic guild. We recorded 29 bat species at the wind farm. The family Phyllostomidae was best represented in terms of number of species and individuals captured. Glossophaga soricina and G. morenoi exhibited the highest relative abundance, whereas Balantiopteryx plicata had the highest acoustic activity. We found 203 carcasses, including 73 Pteronotus davyi individuals (35.9%); other frequent species were Mormoops megalophylla, Molossus sinaloae, and Lasiurus intermedius. The total number of carcasses found within a year ranged from 17 to 83 (2012 and 2009, respectively), with the corrected estimates ranging from 410 to 1,980, or 4.18–20.20 fatalities/turbine. The number of carcasses recorded was positively correlated with secondary vegetation surrounding turbines but negatively correlated with agricultural fields. The spatial attributes of vegetation surrounding turbines influenced numbers of bat carcasses differentially depending on the bats' trophic guild and habitat use. Contrary to findings from United States and Canadian wind farms, most of the carcasses observed in our study were resident species. Notably, the most commonly captured and acoustically active species were not the most commonly found in carcass searches. To obtain more accurate information about the most vulnerable species and how to reduce the impact on bat mortality, we advise the use of alternative monitoring methods in pre-construction studies.


In this paper, we address an important practical situation, namely where the usual replenishment lead time (when the supplier's production facility is operating) is a random variable and the supplier shuts down for an interval of known duration (for maintenance, vacation, etc.) each year. The demand rate is constant and any demand when out of stock is assumed to be lost. Under such circumstances we develop a heuristic procedure to decide when to initiate replenishment as well as the associated order-up-to-levels. Through the use of simulation (which accurately estimates the average costs per unit time), the heuristic is shown to perform excellently in a selection of small size problems when one can find the optimal solution. For a large number of problems of more realistic size, the use of simulation reveals that the heuristic achieves substantial cost savings when compared with a simpler, baseline approach. The heuristic itself does not require the use of simulation. The sensitivity of total expected costs to various parameters (such as the length of the shutdown interval and characteristics of the lead time distribution) is discussed.


PURPOSE
Prior studies have suggested that melatonin, a frequently used integrative medicine, can attenuate weight loss, anorexia, and fatigue in patients with cancer. These studies were limited by a lack of blinding and absence of placebo controls. The primary purpose of this study was to compare melatonin with placebo for appetite improvement in patients with cancer cachexia.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
We performed a randomized, double-blind, 28-day trial of melatonin 20 mg versus placebo in patients with advanced lung or GI cancer, appetite scores ≥ 4 on a 0 to 10 scale (10 = worst appetite), and history of weight loss ≥ 5%. Assessments included weight, symptoms by the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale, and quality of life by the Functional Assessment of Anorexia/Cachexia Therapy (FAACT) questionnaire. Differences between groups from baseline to day 28 were analyzed using one-sided, two-sample t tests or Wilcoxon two-sample tests. Interim analysis halfway through the trial had a Lan-DeMets monitoring boundary with an O'Brien-Fleming stopping rule. Decision boundaries were to accept the null hypothesis of futility if the test statistic z < 0.39 (P ≥ .348) and reject the null hypothesis if z > 2.54 (P ≤ .0056).

RESULTS
After interim analysis of 48 patients, the study was closed for futility. There were no significant differences between groups for appetite (P = .78) or other symptoms, weight (P = .17), FAACT score (P = .95), toxicity, or survival from baseline to day 28.

CONCLUSION
In cachectic patients with advanced cancer, oral melatonin 20 mg at night did not improve appetite, weight, or quality of life compared with placebo.


In Brazil, Afro-descendant quilombola communities were for the first time in history recognised as legal rights-holders to land in the 1988 constitution – 100 years after the abolition of slavery. Drawing on fieldwork in the quilombo Bombas in the state of São Paulo, and a review of relevant literature, this contribution explores the historical trajectory of the constitutional quilombo provision and how it has been translated into practice. Combining a discussion of the use of self-identification and the concepts of 'regulation', 'force', 'market' and 'legitimation' when analysing the dynamics of access and exclusion, we show how struggles over land are simultaneously enacted in controversies over the meanings of quilombola identity and its implications.


Gene cloning, or molecular cloning, has several different meanings to a molecular biologist. A clone is an exact copy, or replica, of something. Molecular biologists exploit the replicative ability of cultured cells to clone genes. Recent advances in the Restriction enzymes technologies have opened up new opportunities in biotechnology and facilitate the way to isolate any gene from any source of cells. Many types of restriction enzymes cleave DNA away from their recognition site. By using the type III restriction enzyme, we provide evidence to show that an intact recognition site on the cleaved DNA sequesters the restriction. We isolated and cloned the IGF-1 R gene from DNA by subjecting DNA with one pair of restriction enzyme ( EcoRI + Hind III) and followed by ligation and transformation with the suitable vector. The pair of restriction enzymes ( EcoRI + Hind III) which subjected to DNA template before the ligation process was the only pair which had success to liberate IGF-1R fragment from the transformed vector rather than other two pairs of restriction enzymes ( EcoRI + Xho I) or ( Hind III + Xho I) although this two pair of restriction enzymes have recognition sites in the vector. Moreover we have studied the effect of DNA template size on the action of the restriction enzymes. Where less DNA size, more efficient of the restriction enzyme action. This study is rapid and useful new technology for isolation, cloning and sequencing the gene of interest to be ready for further investigations as gene transfection


Using the chemical reduction method, silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were effectively synthesized into the zeolite framework in the absence of any heat treatment. Zeolite, silver nitrate, and sodium borohydride were used as an inorganic solid support, a silver precursor, and a chemical reduction agent, respectively. Silver ions were introduced into the porous zeolite lattice by an ion-exchange path. After the reduction process, Ag NPs formed in the zeolite framework, with a mean diameter of about 2.12–3.11 nm. The most favorable experimental condition for the synthesis of Ag/zeolite nanocomposites (NCs) is described in terms of the initial concentration of AgNO3. The Ag/zeolite NCs were characterized by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence, and Fourier transform infrared. The results show that Ag NPs form a spherical shape with uniform homogeneity in the particle size. The antibacterial activity of Ag NPs in zeolites was investigated against Gram-negative bacteria (ie, Escherichia coli and Shigella dysentriae) and Gram-positive bacteria (ie, Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) by disk diffusion method using Mueller–Hinton agar at different sizes of Ag NPs. All of the synthesized Ag/zeolite NCs were found to have antibacterial activity. These results show that Ag NPs in the zeolite framework can be useful in different biological research and biomedical applications.


Intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) was induced in rats by uterine artery ligation according to Wigglesworth. Control and growth-retarded animals were studied at days 21 and 22 of fetal life and 2 h after spontaneous birth. Fetuses with IUGR, when compared to controls, showed significantly lower glycemia and insulinemia levels. Newborn rats with IUGR had reduced glycemia levels but identical insulin values in comparison to controls. Dysmature and control animals had significantly different absolute weights of endocrine pancreas, but they had equal amounts of endocrine pancreatic tissue in proportion to their total body weight. Within the endocrine pancreas the same number of islet cells was counted in dysmature and control animals, but the animals with IUGR ended up with a reduced percentage of insulin-containing granulated B cells after birth.


We investigate the dynamics of localized solutions of the relativistic cold-fluid plasma model in the small but finite amplitude limit, for slightly overcritical plasma density. Adopting a multiple scale analysis, we derive a perturbed nonlinear Schrodinger equation that describes the evolution of the envelope of circularly polarized electromagnetic field. Retaining terms up to fifth order in the small perturbation parameter, we derive a self-consistent framework for the description of the plasma response in the presence of localized electromagnetic field. The formalism is applied to standing electromagnetic soliton interactions and the results are validated by simulations of the full cold-fluid model. To lowest order, a cubic nonlinear Schrodinger equation with a focusing nonlinearity is recovered. Classical quasiparticle theory is used to obtain analytical estimates for the collision time and minimum distance of approach between solitons. For larger soliton amplitudes the inclusion of the fifth-order terms is essential for a qualitatively correct description of soliton interactions. The defocusing quintic nonlinearity leads to inelastic soliton collisions, while bound states of solitons do not persist under perturbations in the initial phase or amplitude


Rhamnolipids (RLs) and fengycins (FGs) are amphiphilic lipid compounds from bacteria secretomes proposed to replace synthetic pesticides for crop protection. They both display plant defense triggering properties and direct antimicrobial activities. In particular, they have well reported antifungal effects against phytopathogenic fungi. RLs and FGs are considered to act through a direct interaction with membrane lipids and a destabilization of microorganism plasma membrane, thereby limiting the risk of resistance emergence. The main objective of this work was to gain insights in the antimycelial mode of action of these metabolites to promote them as environment and human health friendly biocontrol solutions. Their biocidal effects were studied on two Sclerotiniaceae fungi responsible for diseases in numerous plant species worldwide. We show here that different strains of Botrytis cinerea and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum have opposite sensitivities to RLs and FGs on plate experiments. Overall, B. cinerea is more sensitive to FGs while S. sclerotiorum is more sensitive to RLs. Electron microscopy observations demonstrated that RLs induce mycelial destructuring by asperities emergence and hyphal fusions whereas FGs promote swelling and formation of vesicle-like structures due to vacuole fusions and autophagy. Permeability studies, phosphatidylserine externalization and reactive oxygen species production assessments showed a programmed cell death triggering by RLs at medium concentrations (until 50 μg mL−1) and necrosis characteristics at higher concentration. Programmed cell death was always observed on hyphae treated with FGs. Quantifications of mycelial ergosterol content indicated that a higher ergosterol rate in S. sclerotiorum correlates with increasing sensitivity to RLs. Oppositely, a lower ergosterol rate in B. cinerea correlates with increasing sensitivity to FGs, which was confirmed by ergosterol biosynthesis inhibition with tebuconazole. This gain of knowledge will help to better understand the mode of action of RLs and FGs to fight specific plant fungal diseases.


This paper focused on the modeling of integrated building to propose a Framework for Information Modeling (FIM) method for integrated building. This method combines BIM technology of construction with several modeling methods in manufacturing industry, such as top-down design, variant configuration and parametric modeling etc.; the FIM method has been successfully applied in the process of building modeling. Initial cases of integrated building demonstrated the effectiveness of FIM method. The method greatly shortened the development time of modeling, and dramatically improved the efficiency.


A grid of synthetic horizontal-branch (SHB) models based on horizontal-branch (HB) evolutionary tracks with improved physics has been constructed to reconsider the theoretical calibration of the dependence of Mv(RR) on metallicity in globular clusters and the slope of the mean ⟨MV(RR)⟩-[Fe/H] relation. The SHB models confirm Lee's earlier finding that the slope of the ⟨MV(RR)⟩-[Fe/H] relation is itself a function of the metallicity range considered and that, in addition, for a given [Fe/H] RR Lyrae luminosities depend on HB morphology. This is due to the fact that HB stars pass through the RR Lyrae instability strip at different evolutionary stages, depending on their original position on the HB. At [Fe/H] = -1.9, and for HB type 0, the models yield MV(RR) = 0.47 ± 0.10. The mean slope for the zero-age HB models is 0.204. Since there is no simple universal relation between Mv(RR) and metallicity that is applicable to all globular clusters, the HB morphology of each individual cluster must be taken into account, in addition to [Fe/H], in deriving the appropriate Mv(RR). Taking HB morphology into account, we find that the slope of the mean ⟨MV(RR)⟩-[Fe/H] relation varies between 0.36 for the clusters with Galactocentric distances Rgc less than 6 kpc and 0.22 for clusters with 6 kpc < Rgc ≤ 20 kpc. Implications for interpreting observations of field RR Lyrae variables and for absolute globular cluster ages and Galactic chronology are briefly discussed.


Electrified biotrickling filters represent sustainable microbial electrochemical technology for treating organic carbon-deficient ammonium-contaminated waters. However, information on the microbiome of the conductive granule bed cathode remains inexistent. For uncovering this black box and for identifying key process parameters, minimally invasive sampling units were introduced, allowing for the extraction of granules from different reactor layers during reactor operation. Sampled granules were analyzed using cyclic voltammetry and molecular biological tools. Two main redox sites [−288 ± 18 mV and −206 ± 21 mV vs. standard hydrogen electrode (SHE)] related to bioelectrochemical denitrification were identified, exhibiting high activity in a broad pH range (pH 6–10). A genome-centric analysis revealed a complex nitrogen food web and the presence of typical denitrifiers like Pseudomonas nitroreducens and Paracoccus versutus with none of these species being identified as electroactive microorganism so far. These are the first results to provide insights into microbial structure-function relationships within electrified biotrickling filters and underline the robustness and application potential of bioelectrochemical denitrification for environmental remediation.


A new type of air speed meter is described which was designed by the technical staff of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. The instrument consists essentially of a tight metal diaphragm of high natural period which is acted upon by the pressure difference of a pitot-static head. The resulting deflection of this diaphragm is recorded optically on a moving film.


Compilation techniques in planning reformulate a problem into an alternative encoding for which efficient, off-the-shelf solvers are available. In this work, we present a novel mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) compilation for cost-optimal numeric planning with instantaneous actions. While recent works on the problem are restricted to actions that modify variables present in simple numeric conditions, our MILP formulation, in addition, handles linear conditions and linear action effects on numeric state variables. Such problems are particularly challenging due to the state-dependency of the action effects. Experiments show that our approach, in addition to being the state of the art for the more general problem class, is competitive with heuristic search-based planners on domains with only simple numeric conditions.


This work concerns efforts to improve or replace noble-metal based catalysts used for car exhaust purification. Various oxide based catalysts have been prepared by impregnating washcoats such as (-Al2O3 and SiO2 with appropriate metal ions, and assemblies calcinated at elevated temperatures have been tested for catalytic activity in the oxidation of CO and C3H6 and reduction of NO. SEM-EDS, ATEM-EDS and XRD have been used for phase analysis and for studies of the morphology of catalysts prepared in situ. The perovskite compounds La1-xSrxMe1-2yCuyRuyO3 with Me = Al and Ga have been prepared, in situ and ex situ [SGIW1]respectively, and tested for catalytic activity. Changes in cell parameters and catalytic activity of in-situ LaAl1-xCuxO3 when exposed alternatingly to oxidising and reducing car exhaust atmospheres have been studied. The catalytic activity of various transition metal oxides with and without addition of Pt/Rh or Pd have also been tested.


We demonstrate in these preclinical studies that all severe combined immunodeficient mice injected with the human B-cell lymphoma cell line Ramos are cured when treated with a combination of anti-CD19, -CD22, and -CD38-saporin immunotoxins (ITs; termed 3BIT). Each component IT used individually did not cure the majority of animals but did significantly prolong their survival compared with PBS sham-treated controls, although the majority succumbed eventually to disease. The very significant improvement obtained with the three-IT combination 3BIT was not due to an antibody or antibody-plus-IT effect. We postulate that by targeting against these three cell surface molecules, we have effectively ensured delivery of saporin to each lymphoma cell with growth potential within the tumor, thus overcoming the problems of heterogeneity of target antigen expression that can limit the therapeutic efficacy of single-IT therapy or even two-IT combination therapy. These "proof of principle" findings have an obvious important bearing on antibody-based therapies for cancer and provide the rationale needed for the design and implementation of clinical trials with such combinations.


It is easy to imagine frictionless scenarios where giving intelligence to the tools we use only results in positive additions to our creative experiences. But as soon as we venture further than systems of recommendation and give our machine agency to enact the suggestions they formulate, we must take into account a power equation that is not a zero sum game. In creative networks of humans and machines, performing an action can be seen as imposing a limit on the process as it unfolds. The tools we use today already impose limits on our process, and these very limitations can be conducive to creativity. Therefore, the question of how to handle limitations could be a useful way of framing our design process when developing the intelligent machines of the future.


This study aimed to investigate the embassies between Saljūq and Byzantium. This article will try to clarify the reasons behind establishing those embassies, and when they have started, their aims and what were the results. Also, their effects on the relations between the Abbāsid caliphate, which was the Saljuk protectors and Byzantium, were studied. Moreover, the study attempts to show these embassies effects on the relations with the Fatimid State, the main Islamic power then in the Islamic world.


The development of the nervous system, termed neurogenesis, has been studied in detail on a morphological level in insects, crustaceans and recently also in chelicerates, however, comparable data is missing from myriapods. In addition, nothing is known about the molecules involved in neurogenesis in this group. One reason for this lack of information is that there is no established model system for the study of myriapod development. Thus, before investigating myriapod neurogenesis, I had to decide on a model organism and to establish numerous basic protocols for the intended studies. I chose the millipede Glomeris marginata because adults and eggs are locally available and the embryonic development of this species has been described in detail. After this, I analysed the morphology of the ventral neuroectoderm of G. marginata embryos stained with various markers on whole mounts and serial sections. I found that groups of neural precursors invaginate from the apical surface of the ventral neuroectoderm in a stereotypic pattern, which is comparable to what I observed in a distantly related diplopod, Archispirostreptus sp. Neural precursors arise sequentially in four waves, however, ultimately, all cells of the neurogenic region enter the neural pathway. Thus the mode of neurogenesis found in millipedes is similar to what has been reported for spiders. The major difference is that in G. marginata, cell divisions are associated with the invaginating cell groups, implying that stem cells are present in the ventral neuroectoderm. The molecular part of my research involved the isolation and the analysis of G. marginata homologues of genes that are necessary for neurogenesis in other arthropods. Genes isolated included proneural genes involved in early neurogenesis, neurogenic genes, dorso-ventral patterning genes and markers of later cell fate specification. The expression patterns of these genes was compared to that of homologues in other arthropod species, and, if available, to data from the spider Cupiennius salei. I found that genes are expressed in the expected domains, implying that there is a conserved genetic network controlling the development of the nervous system in arthropods.


This paper presents an approach to planning compliant grasps and fixtures in which the object exhibits minimal deflection under external disturbances. The approach, which applies to general two- and three-dimensional grasps and fixtures represented by any quasi-rigid compliance model, employs a quality measure that characterises the grasped or fixtured object's worst-case deflection caused by disturbing wrenches lying in the unit wrench ball. To ensure well-defined notions of deflection and wrench balls, frame-invariant rigid body velocity and wrench norms are used. As illustrated by its application to fixtures of polygonal objects, our minimum-deflection approach can be effectively applied to planning grasps and fixtures where deflection significantly influences performance.


We present OpenQuake-Hazard: the seismic hazard calculator of the OpenQuake engine, the seismic risk platform promoted and developed by the Global Earthquake Model initiative. OpenQuake-Hazard is designed to be an open, transparent, and community driven tool for seismic hazard analysis. The source code is hosted on public repositories that allow for distributed development and it's implemented following modern software design principles like test driven development and continuous integration. It uses an XML-based data exchange format (called NRML, 'Natural hazard' Risk Markup Language) and its design reflects the analysis of seismic hazard models produced for different regions of the world (it's therefore not tight to the needs of a particular geographical/tectonic region).


One of Da Costa's motives when he constructed the paraconsistent logic Cw was to dualise the negation of intuitionistic logic. In this paper I explore a different way of going about this task. A logic is defined by taking the Kripke semantics for intuitionistic logic, and dualising the truth conditions for negation. Various properties of the logic are established, including its relation to CWo Tableau and natural deduction systems for the logic are produced, as are appropriate algebraic structures. The paper then investigates dualising the intuitionistic conditional in the same way. This establishes various connections between the logic, and a logic called in the literature 'Brouwerian logic' or 'closed-set logic'.


: The authors report 18 cases of Felty's syndrome followed, in an average, for 5 years (1 to 12 years). There were 3 deaths, 9 patients are in complete remission, 6 others still show signs of the disease: splenomegaly (4 cases), leucopenia (1 case) and only one complete Felty's syndrome. Steroid therapy has proved to be effective regardless of the mechanism of the neutropenia specified in 9 cases by an isotopic study. Prognosis and infectious risk are difficult to determine but the overall course was rather favorable.


This paper presents a multidimensional performance analysis of existing Mobile Broadband (MBB), Third Generation (3G) and Fourth Generation (4G) networks, of rural morphology in Malaysia. The MBB performance analysis is carried out based on measurement data obtained through Drive Tests (DT) conducted in rural areas located in three Malaysian states: Johor, Sarawak, and Sabah. The measurement data pertains to the performance of three national Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) in rural areas: Maxis, Celcom, and DiGi. The MBB performance measurement data was collected between January and February using modified Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone handsets. The measurement data of the 3G and 4G MBB networks are associated with four performance metrics (coverage, latency, satisfaction, and speed) for two MBB services: web browsing and video streaming. During the measurements, each smartphone collected the performance data of only one MBB service. Several classifications were identified to comprehensively monitor the performance of the two MBB services. For the data measurement of the MBB video streaming service, the same YouTube video was alternately played by the same smartphone, but with two different resolutions: 720p (low) and 1080p (high). For the data measurement of the MBB video streaming service, three different webpages (i.e., google, Instagram, and mstar) are sequentially browsed in a loop using another smartphone. This research work is designed to mimic real scenarios where the smartphone in use is not exclusively locked to a single technology while streaming a video or browsing a website. This allows the identification of the coverage for 2G, 3G, and/or 4G technologies within the tested areas. Due to the small amounts of 2G data, we omitted the analysis of 2G technology in the present study. The MBB performance analysis shows that, on average, the 4G network performed much better than the 3G network for all three MNOs throughout all measurement areas considered in this research. For instance, the 4G technology achieved a minimum of 42.4 ms on the web ping average RTT latency, while the 3G only achieved a minimum of 69.9 ms. For the average E2E RTT ping server latency, 4G achieved as low as 33.27 ms, while 3G obtained a minimum of 122.98 ms. The vMOS scores for 4G technology for both web browsing and video streaming services are larger than 3, while the 3G technology had a score of less than 3. The 4G technology can provide an improvement up to a factor of 4.2 and 1.6 in the download speed when browsing a web and streaming a video, respectively, in comparison to the 3G technology. These observations were found to be consistent across all mobile operators. This is unsurprising because we would expect consumers to experience a noticeable improvement when using a mobile broadband service over a 4G network as compared to a 3G network. The presented results provide a general direction for efficiently planning the Fifth Generation (5G) network in rural areas.


The relationship between emotion management skills and the use of the Internet was examined in this study to determine whether or not the emotion management skills of university students are a predictor of Internet addiction. The study was conducted in the 2008/2009 academic year with 345 students from different departments of a university in Turkey. Data were collected using the Emotion Management Skills Inventory (Cecen, 2006) and the Problematic Internet Usage Scale (Ceyhan, Ceyhan, & Gurcan, 2007). Results of regression analysis showed that the total measure of emotion management skills predicted the levels of Internet addiction.


Femtosecond laser pulse induced filamentation in atmosphere is susceptible to a number of input laser, focusing optics and medium characteristics. Filamentation of fs pulses in atmosphere is an intense propagation regime where the focusing geometry used to focus the fs laser pulses play an important role influencing the filament intensity and the associated supercontinuum. We identified different optical elements used for focusing the fs laser pulses leading to filamentation in air and classified them according to the induced aberrations. To clearly identify the role of aberrations, all the optical elements were taken to have same focal length. The subsequent filament structure and emissions from the filament were correlated with the aberrations induced by optical element revealed stark differences. The onset of the filamentation, its longitudinal intensity and the associated supercontinuum emission (SCE) have varied drastically with the aberrations induced by the focusing optics. A systematic study directed to choose and identify suitable optical elements according to the usage of the fs pulses for a specific filamentation regime is presented.


Arterial stiffness is an important biometric in predicting cardiovascular diseases, since mechanical properties serve as indicators of several pathologies such as e.g. atherosclerosis. Shear Wave Elastography (SWE) could serve as a valuable non-invasive diagnostic tool for assessing arterial stiffness, with the technique proven efficient in large homogeneous tissue. However the accuracy within arterial applications is still uncertain, following the lack of proper validation. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of SWE in arterial phantoms of poly(vinyl alcohol) cryogel by developing an experimental setup with an additional mechanical testing setup as a reference method. The two setups were developed to generate identical stress states on the mounted phantoms, with a combination of axial loads and static intraluminal pressures. The acquired radiofrequency-data was analysed in the frequency domain with retrieved dispersion curves fitted to a Lamb-wave based wave propagation model. The results indicated a significant correlation between SWE and mechanical measurements for the arterial phantoms, with an average relative error of 10 % for elastic shear moduli in the range of 23 to 108 kPa. The performed accuracy quantification implies a satisfactory performance level and as well as a general feasibility of SWE in arterial vessels, indicating the potential of SWE as a future cardiovascular diagnostic tool.


Background: Tolerance can be defined as the ability of bacteria to grow in the presence of high concentrations of bactericide antimicrobics, so that the killing action of the drug is avoided but the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) remains the same. We investigated vancomycin tolerance in the Enterococcus faecium and Enterococcus faecalis strains isolated from different clinical specimens. Methods: Vancomycin was obtained from Sigma Chemical Co. We studied 100 enterococci strains. Fifty-six and 44 of Enterococcus strains were idendified as E. feacalis and E. faecium, respectively. To determine MICs and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC), we inoculated strains from an overnight agar culture to Müller-Hinton broth and incubated them for 4–6 h at 37°C with shaking to obtain a logarithmic phase culture. The inoculum was controlled by performing a colony count for each test. We determined MBC values and MBC/MIC ratios to study tolerance to vancomycin. Vancomycin tolerance was defined as a high MBC value and an MBC/MIC ratio ≧32. Results: Fifty-six and 44 of the Enterococcus strains were identified as E. faecium and E. faecalis, respectively. Thirty-one E. faecium and 48 E. faecalis were found to be susceptible to vancomycin and these susceptible strains were included in this study. The MICs of susceptible strains ranged from ≤1 to 4 mg/l, the MBCs were ≧512 mg/l. Tolerance was detected in all E. faecalis and E. faecium strains. The standard E. faecalis 21913 strain also exhibited tolerance according to the high MBC value and the MBC/MIC ratio. We defined the tolerant strains as having no bactericidal effect and MBC/MIC ≧32. We found that a 100% tolerance was present in susceptible strains. Conclusions: One of the hypotheses for tolerance is that tolerant cells fail to mobilize or create the autolysins needed for enlargement and division. Our data suggests that tolerance may compromise glycopeptide therapy of serious enterococci infections. To add an aminoglycoside to the glycopeptide therapy unless MBCs are unavailable can be useful in the effective treatment of serious Enterococcus infections.


The purpose of this study is to find out (i) whether the use of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) facilitates the students to have better achievement in English language learning at the English Department of UNM, and (ii) their preferences in terms of teaching delivery modes. The subjects of the study were the second semester students selected purposively. Two kinds of instruments were used, namely questionnaires and tests. The data were analyzed by using frequency and percentage distribution, mean analysis, t-test, and ANOVA. The findings of the study indicated that the use of computer to aid the EFL teaching contributed to the students' English achievement. In terms of teaching deliveries, most students preferred CALL-Classroom mode, which means that the students could much more benefit from the use of CALL programs in English learning.


The novel life cycle assessment (LCA)-based carbon handprint indicator represents a potential carbon footprint reduction that producers/products create for customers who use the(ir) product instead of a baseline product. The research question is how to consider a situation in which multiple customers use a product for different purposes to provide a carbon handprint quantification and the associated communication. The study further provides new insight into the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction potential within the mobile telecommunications and energy sectors. The carbon handprint of a novel Finnish liquid-cooled base station technology is quantified. The liquid-cooled base station provides a telecommunications service and waste heat that is recoverable through the cooling liquid for heating purposes. The baseline solutions are an air-cooled base station, and district and electrical heating. The liquid-cooled base station creates a carbon handprint, both through energy savings in telecommunications and additional waste heat reuse, replacing other energy production methods. A large-scale climate change mitigation potential through a liquid-cooled base station expansion could be significant. Different supply chain operators' contributions to the total carbon handprint could be terminologically distinguished in communications to emphasize their roles in a shared handprint. The handprint should be transparently communicated for each customer and function.


6DOF pose estimation of objects in robotics is nowadays an active field of research under different approaches. The solution of this problem depends directly on many aspects, such as the geometry of the object to be located, the flexibility of the solution needed, or the 3D sensors used. Reaching a robust and reliable solution to this problem is essential, being this the first step in present research in industrial robotics, where advanced manipulation and identification of complex objects is fundamental. This paper presents different results obtained solving the 6DOF pose estimation problem, using different software libraries and the Microsoft Kinect as 3D acquisition system to capture the scene.


Speed enforcement on public roadways is an important issue in order to guarantee road security and to reduce the number and seriousness of traffic accidents. Traditionally, this task has been partially solved using radar and/or laser technologies and, more recently, using video-camera based systems. All these systems have significant shortcomings that have yet to be overcome. The main drawback of classical Doppler radar technology is that the velocity measurement fails when several vehicles are in the radars beam. Modern radar systems are able to measure speed and range between vehicle and radar. However, this is not enough to discriminate the lane where the vehicle is driving on. The limitation of several vehicles in the beam is overcome using laser technology. However, laser systems have another important limitation: They cannot measure the speed of several vehicles simultaneously. Novel video-camera systems, based on license plate identification, solve the previous drawbacks, but they have the problem that they can only measure average speed but never top-speed. This paper studies the feasibility of using an interferometric linear frequency modulated continuous wave radar to improve top-speed enforcement on roadways. Two different systems based on down-the-road and across-the-road radar configurations are presented. The main advantage of the proposed solutions is they can simultaneously measure speed, range, and lane of several vehicles, allowing the univocal identification of the offenders. A detailed analysis about the operation and accuracy of these solutions is reported. In addition, the feasibility of the proposed techniques has been demonstrated with simulations and real experiments using a Ka-band interferometric radar developed by our research group.


Dopamine transmission in the nucleus accumbens can be activated by drugs, stress, or motivated behaviors, and repeated exposure to these stimuli can sensitize this dopamine response. The objectives of this study were to determine whether female sexual behavior activates nucleus accumbens neurons and whether past sexual experience cross-sensitizes neuronal responses in the nucleus accumbens to amphetamine. Using immunocytochemical labeling, c-Fos expression in different subregions (shell vs core at the rostral, middle, and caudal levels) of the nucleus accumbens was examined in female hamsters that had varying amounts of sexual experience. Female hamsters, given either 6 weeks of sexual experience or remaining sexually naive, were tested for sexual behavior by exposure to adult male hamsters. Previous sexual experience increased c-Fos labeling in the rostral and caudal levels but not in the middle levels of the nucleus accumbens. Testing for sexual behavior increased labeling in the core, but not the shell, of the nucleus accumbens. To validate that female sexual behavior can sensitize neurons in the mesolimbic dopamine pathway, the locomotor responses of sexually experienced and sexually naive females to an amphetamine injection were then compared. Amphetamine increased general locomotor activity in all females. However, sexually experienced animals responded sooner to amphetamine than did sexually naive animals. These data indicate that female sexual behavior can activate neurons in the nucleus accumbens and that sexual experience can cross-sensitize neuronal responses to amphetamine. In addition, these results provide additional evidence for functional differences between the shell and core of the nucleus accumbens and across its anteroposterior axis.


MIMO sonar systems can offer great capabilities for area surveillance especially in very shallow water with heavy cluttered environment. We present here a MIMO simulator which can compute synthetic raw data for any transmitter/receiver pair in multipath and cluttered environment. Synthetic moving targets such as boats or AUVs can also be introduced into the environment. For the harbour surveillance problem we are interested in tracking all moving objects in a particular area. So far the tracking filter of choice for multistatic systems has been the MHT (Multiple Hypothesis Tracker). The reason behind this choice is its capability to propagate track identities at each iteration. The MHT is an extension of a mono object tracker to a multi object problem and therefore suffers from a number of drawbacks: the number of targets should be known and the birth or death of new tracks are based on heuristics. A fine ad hoc parameter tuning is then required and there is a lack of adaptivity in this process. To overcome those restrictions we will be using the HISP (Hypothesised multi-object filter for Independent Stochastic Population) filter recently developed by [1]. The HISP filter relies on a generalisation of the concept of point process that integrates a representation of distinguishability. As a consequence, this filter deals directly with the multi-object estimation problem, while maintaining track identities through time without using heuristics. While filters track the objects after processing in the digital domain, we show as well in this paper that we can adapt acoustical time reversal techniques to track an underwater target directly with the MIMO system. We will show that the proposed modified DORT technique matches the prediction / data update steps of a tracking filter.


Mode propagation through first-order systems with loss or gain is derived based on a canonical transform theory developed recently. In analogy to quantum theory, creation and annihilation operators are defined for the construction of high-order modes. The evolution of these mode-generation operators through an optical system is shown to describe the propagation of the actual fields that are parameterized by two raylike labels—two guiding rays. The mode-generating operators create a set of generalized modes that may be reduced to the ordinary Her-mite–Gaussian modes only in a lossless system. Many characteristics of these generalized modes are evaluated by operator algebraic manipulations without the need for the explicit form of the actual modes that are shown also to be Hermite–Gaussian but involve complex scaling parameters.


An analysis of Mark Twain's The Innocents Abroad with its emphasis on cultural representations in the American culture, touches very significantly upon the question of the rising of the American identity and its connection with the American Travel Narrative in the nineteenth century. While it is believed that the novel produces "pure" "true knowledge", or "a neutral exercise" of basic facts and realties, we argue that Twain's narrative entails a genre of political knowledge that is premised on the basic requirement of self/other constructions. The ideological apparatus of Americanized emerging identity, nationalism, power and authority are fundamental issues in the Twains narrative. Furthermore, it is not only the personal motif that is the basis of Twain's The Innocents Abroad , as he claims in his preface, nor is it a "Great Pleasure Excursion," as he pretends.  The novel structures relations according to the rising American norms and values in the nineteenth century clearly acquired and absorbed by the American travelers in The Innocents Abroad . It also subscribes to the complication of the American character in order to develop, process and reconstruct cultural relations in the narrative. In this sense, we argue that Twain's narrative raises discursive ideological questions about the rising of the American national identity and its connection with other cultural components, the Oriental, in particular.


Background: Surgical interventions allow for tailoring of treatment to individual patients and implementation may vary with surgeon and healthcare provider. In addition, in clinical trials assessing two competing surgical interventions, the treatments may be accompanied by co-interventions. Aims: This study explores the use of causal mediation analysis to (1) delineate the treatment effect that results directly from the surgical intervention under study and the indirect effect acting through a co-intervention and (2) to evaluate the benefit of the surgical intervention if either everybody in the trial population received the co-intervention or nobody received it. Methods: Within a counterfactual framework, relevant direct and indirect effects of a surgical intervention are estimated and adjusted for confounding via parametric regression models, for the situation where both mediator and outcome are binary, with baseline stratification factors included as fixed effects and surgeons as random intercepts. The causal difference in probability of a successful outcome (estimand of interest) is calculated using Monte Carlo simulation with bootstrapping for confidence intervals. Packages for estimation within standard statistical software are reviewed briefly. A step by step application of methods is illustrated using the Amaze randomised trial of ablation as an adjunct to cardiac surgery in patients with irregular heart rhythm, with a co-intervention (removal of the left atrial appendage) administered to a subset of participants at the surgeon's discretion. The primary outcome was return to normal heart rhythm at one year post surgery. Results: In Amaze, 17% (95% confidence interval: 6%, 28%) more patients in the active arm had a successful outcome, but there was a large difference between active and control arms in the proportion of patients who received the co-intervention (55% and 30%, respectively). Causal mediation analysis suggested that around 1% of the treatment effect was attributable to the co-intervention (16% natural direct effect). The controlled direct effect ranged from 18% (6%, 30%) if the co-intervention were mandated, to 14% (2%, 25%) if it were prohibited. Including age as a moderator of the mediation effects showed that the natural direct effect of ablation appeared to decrease with age. Conclusions: Causal mediation analysis is a useful quantitative tool to explore mediating effects of co-interventions in surgical trials. In Amaze, investigators could be reassured that the effect of the active treatment, not explainable by differential use of the co-intervention, was significant across analyses.


Intranasal administration of plasmid DNA encoding glycoprotein B of pseudorabies virus into mice induced both serum and secretory antibody responses. These mice resisted intranasal challenge with lethal dose of the virus, but did not intraperitoneal challenge. On the other hand, intramuscular injection of the plasmid induced less secretory and higher serum antibody responses than those of intranasally vaccinated mice. None of them was protected from virus challenge. The present results suggest that administration of plasmid DNA encoding glycoprotein B by respiratory mucosal route generates local secretory antibodies which serve to protect animals from pseudorabies virus infection.


Abstract This paper investigates the interaction of monoenergetic, 100-MeV protons with aluminum, enriched B4C, and C29H28O8 polymer and their effectiveness for shielding silicon-based electronics. Although not representative of an actual space radiation energy spectrum, the 100-MeV protons are suitable to investigate important modes of interaction with potential shielding materials, including the production and attenuation of secondary particles. The calculated shielding effectiveness of these materials is compared with that of the lunar regolith. The components of the total energy deposition in a 1-cm-diam sphere of silicon, representing an electronic device, are calculated as functions of the type and thickness of the shield material. The major contributors to the displacement energy deposition in the silicon sphere are by far the incident protons and the secondary protons and neutrons generated in the spallation reactions of incident protons with the nuclei of the elements in the shield materials. The primary and secondary protons are also the major contributors to the ionizing energy deposition, which is several orders of magnitude higher than the displacement energy deposition; other secondary particles contribute minimally (<5%). While the regolith is an effective shielding material, the C29H28O8 polymer is best for protecting electronics from incident high-energy protons.


Drought has severe consequences for humans and their environment, yet we have a limited understanding of the drivers of drought across the full range of time scales on which it occurs. Here, the atmosphere and ocean conditions that drive this continuum of drought variability in southwestern North America (SWNA) are studied using the latest observationally based products, paleoclimate reconstructions, and state-of-the-art Earth system model simulations of the last millennium. A novel application of the self-organizing maps (SOM) methodology allows for a visualization of the continuum of climate states coinciding with thousands of droughts of varying lengths in last millennium simulations from the Community Earth System Model (CESM), the Goddard Institute for Space Studies Model E2-R (GISS E2-R), and eight other members from phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5). It is found that most droughts are associated with a cool Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO) pattern, but persistent droughts can coincide with a variety of ocean–atmosphere states, including time periods showing a warm PDO or weak ocean–atmosphere anomalies. Many CMIP5 models simulate similar SWNA teleconnection patterns, but the SOM analysis demonstrates that models simulate different continuums of ocean–atmosphere states coinciding with droughts of different lengths, suggesting fundamental differences in their drought dynamics. These findings have important implications for our understanding and simulation of the drivers of persistent drought, and for their potential predictability.


From August 1989 to August 1990 in the municipio of Chicomuselo, State of Chiapas--an area with a high incidence of tuberculosis--health promoters were trained to carry out priority actions as part of the National Campaign Against Tuberculosis. A program to provide training, semi-monthly evaluation of the work carried out, detection of new cases, treatment supervision, and contact tracing was established utilizing the structure and resources of the Campaign. The health promoters were assigned the following functions: searching for patients with respiratory symptoms and conducting sputum smear examinations, examining postvaccination scars in persons under 15 years of age, and tracing tuberculosis patient contacts. In total, 1,778 doses of BCG vaccine were administered to individuals under 15 years of age in 35 communities; 144 patients with respiratory symptoms were studied; 257 sputum smear examinations were carried out; and 26 cases of tuberculosis were diagnosed. The most affected age group consisted of those 15 to 45 years old. Patients were monitored during treatment through sputum smear examinations. Twenty-nine persons started the treatment and 24 completed it; 24 were cured, five did not complete the treatment, two abandoned it, and three died. There were no treatment failures. The efficiency of the program was 82% and its effectiveness, 100%. The results show that it is possible to utilize the human resources in a community to carry out health programs. The community members' acceptance of and support for the program was due in part to that fact that their interests were taken into account in its implementation.


This looks at the main current Lifelong Learning educational models , in their theoretical aspects, from the guidelines outlined in "Democracy and Education" by John Dewey one hundred years ago. Afterwards their evolution in the policies of international organizations and the European Union is broadly discussed. It is then brought about the current debate, with particular regard to the stance of some significant critical opinions towards the tendency to interpret Lifelong Learning as an adjustment to the demands of market economy. Facing today great economic and social changes, a proposal is put forward focusing on the individual and citizen's educational perspectives, in the light of a critical openness to change.


This is an exciting era in cell-cycle research. We are now uncovering the molecular details of a critical pathway which regulates early cell-cycle progression by integrating signals emanating from proteins that drive the cell cycle with the transcription apparatus and the consequent control of target genes. Molecules that function to positively regulate, such as cyclin-cdk complexes, and negatively regulate, such as the cdk inhibitors, converge on the pathway and, in turn, regulate the activity of pRb and related proteins. A principal role of pRb is in the regulation of the E2F family of transcription factors, and activity of which determines cell-cycle progression. Importantly, many of the proteins in this pathway are encoded by genes which are frequently mutated in tumour cells, a feature which emphasizes the pathway's critical role in orchestrating early cell-cycle control. In fact, it seems likely that the pathway is, at some point, aberrantly regulated in most, if not all, human tumour cells. It is principally E2F that pRb seeks out to exert its effect on the cell cycle. However, it is unclear why there is such a plethora of E2F/DP heterodimers under the E2F umbrella: different genes, different targets or different pathways of control? In human tumour cells, why is Rb so frequently mutated, whereas the genes encoding p107 and p130 apparently not so? Does this imply that the physiological roles of p107 and p130 are of overwhelming importance that cells cannot accommodate mutation in either gene, or do they take on such minor roles that their mutation in tumour cells would be of incidental consequence? These questions, and many others, remain to be resolved. Finally, we should never forget that the increasing knowledge of cell-cycle control has profound implications for the treatment of proliferative disease. The progress and insights into the physiological pathways which regulate cell-cycle progression offer a new and exciting range of realistic targets through which oncogenesis may, in the near future, be effectively treated. The mechanistic and structural information that is rapidly accumulating offers new promise in the search for small-molecule clinically viable drugs.


Many commentators fear the detrimental effects of a hung parliament on the speed and depth of fiscal adjustment. Yet an election that fails to deliver a clear majority for a single party need not spell fiscal disaster, says Joachim Wehner – it all depends on how the resulting government manages the situation.


Declining crop yield due to weeds and their resistance to herbicides are major constraint for successful crop productions. Milk thistle ( Silybum marianum ) is common weed species in Australian cropping rotation. Allelopathic potentiality of milk thistle on different crops has been documented sporadically, but there is no literature on about ryegrass and canola. Therefore, a laboratory based allelopathic extracts bioassay was conducted. The hot water extracts was prepared from milk thistle plant parts added into water with ration of 1: 10 (plant sample: distilled water) where mixture was heated 10 minutes. After heat treatment samples was immediately sieved and centrifuged and the resulted solution was treated as 100% concentration. Separately, to get the fresh water extract plant sample was added into water (1:10) and kept 24 hours in room temperature. After 24 hours, the sample was sieved and centrifuged and collected samples result was treated 100% concentrations. To obtain 50% concentration, both hot and fresh samples were diluted with distilled water. Therefore the experiment was conducted with five different treatment concentrations (0, 50% hot water extracts, 50% fresh water extracts, 100% hot water extracts and 100% fresh water extracts). The experiment was comprised with RCBD design with three replications under control conditions. During experimental period the allelopathic effects of donor species on germination and seedling growth of ryegrass and canola was observed. Results shows, germination and seedling growth of both receiver species are inhibited by milk thistle extracts. Extracts from fresh water at 100% was more toxic to receiver species followed by 50% concentration of fresh and 100% from hot water extracts. This concentration reduced the root, shoot growth of ryegrass and canola 84.971%, 84.269% and 89.898%, 87.394%, respectively. The result also revealed that allelopathic pattern of hot water extracts was same however; it is less toxic to both receiver species. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/ijarit.v2i1.14007 Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 2 (1): 62-67, June, 2012


This article discusses the ambivalent role of U.S. non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in shaping Hong Kong's institutions of higher education in the 1950s. Cold War concerns about Communist expansion induced the NGOs to pursue ideological goals that were not part of their main mission, even as they continued policy directions that superseded and sometimes unintentionally counteracted Cold War thinking and strategies. Hong Kong, as a site important but marginal to both China and Britain, had strategic value in the Cold War and as such impelled many different forces to contest it. By examining how U.S. NGO educational work in Hong Kong both reinforced and destabilized Cold War ideology, one gains a clearer picture not only of Hong Kong's cultural significance in Cold War politics but also the ambiguity of Cold War intellectual paradigms of culture and education.


Cloud storage systems are able to provide low-cost and convenient network storage service for users, which makes them more and more popular. However, the storage pressure on cloud storage system caused by the explosive growth of data is growing by the day, especially a vast amount of data waste plenty of storage space. Data deduplication can effectively reduce the size of data by eliminating redundant data in storage systems. However, current researches on data deduplication, which mainly focus on the static scenes such as the backup and archive systems, are not suitable for cloud storage system due to the dynamic nature of data. In this paper, we propose the architecture of deduplication system for cloud storage environment and give the process of avoiding duplication at the file-level and chunk-level on the client side. In the storage nodes (Snodes), DelayDedupe, a delayed target deduplication scheme based on the chunk-level deduplication and the access frequency of chunks, are proposed to reduce the response time. Combined with replica management, this method determines whether new duplicated chunks for data modification are hot and removes the hot duplicated chucks when they aren"t hot. The experiment results demonstrate that the DelayDedupe mechanism can effectively reduce the response time and achieve the storage load of Snodes more balanced.


In numerical modeling of structures, it is necessary to model the soil on which the structures rest. This soil simulation is performed through the Winkler springs model. In the simplest case of shallow foundations, this is done through the coefficient of soil reaction. Since a large number of authors have dealt with this topic, for the needs of a more reliable modeling, the SE_Calc software solution has been developed. The subgrade reaction is calculated on the templates of several authors in order to graphically display their relationships.


Summary 1. Predicting which species are more likely to invade a region presents significant difficulties to researchers and government agencies. Methods for estimating the risk of establishment are often qualitative and rely on consultation with experts and stakeholders. The inherent subjectivity of this process can lead to ambiguities in any estimate of a species' risk of establishment. 2. Using global presence ⁄ absence data of insect crop pests employed a self-organizing map (SOM) to categorize regions based on similarities in species assemblages. This technique enabled them to generate a list of species and rank them based on an index of the risk of establishment. However, the sensitivity of this risk list to errors in the presence ⁄ absence data has never been tested. 3. We evaluated the sensitivity of the SOM method by altering the original presence ⁄ absence data by increasing amounts and compared estimates of risk with those generated by a national coordinating body (Plant Health Australia) utilizing expert stakeholder opinion. 4. The risk list was unaffected by alterations of up to 20% of data over all regions. The error rate we detected in the data was within these limits. 5. Comparison with the expert stakeholder methodology revealed significant differences in the estimates of establishment risk. Further analysis of the Australian data revealed that a number of regions with strong trade links to Australia supported species assemblages similar to those in Australia, suggesting they are possible sources of pest species with high probability of establishment. 6. Synthesis and applications. This analysis confirms that the SOM methodology is a robust tool in the quantification of risk of establishment. In addition, SOMs can deliver a level of objectivity, which can complement current consultative processes employed by many biosecurity agencies around the world, providing a better overall assessment of invasion risk. This assessment can inform research and development funding decisions and incursion management plans for both government and host industries. While SOMs are utilized in this work for the prioritization of pest insects they can potentially be applied to any taxa (pest or native) or at any scale in which the data are available.


"Landscape is not architecture, urbanism , agronomy, ecology, and is not geography, or semiotics, or engineering ... but it is all at the same time, in an increasingly different location combination for the place, its properties being obvious or hidden, shout or reticent" (Zagari, 2013). The intellectual and professional figure of landscaper of which there is need today, it should be a designer figure with specific knowledge and skills that are related to the construction of the space itself. However, these skills have become so strictly defined and specific, it can no longer only be formed through a general culture but require, now, an university education of first, second and third cycle. Open Sessions on Landscape, is a project of 10 international conferences promoted by PhD in Landscape Architecture of Florence, and it was born as a 'tool' in-depth knowledge both of the major schools of European and extra-European Landscape Architecture, both the innovations methodological, conceptual and representation of the construction processes of the landscape project in the various systems and territorial contexts.


The nature of exchange, dynamic correlation (DC) and left-right correlation (LRC) is considered in density functional theory and wavefunction-based quantum chemistry. The presence of LRC in approximate exchange density functionals is highlighted and the separation of LRC and DC is considered. For H2, the Heitler-London approach is shown to include the essential elements of exchange and LRC. The arguments are illustrated by a comparison of Gaussian orbital s-optimised Heitler-London and OPTX potential energy curves. They agree well near equilibrium, but differ at large distances due to the inability of the OPTX form to describe the dissociation process. LRC and DC values determined using the two approaches are compared. The influence of higher angular momentum functions in the Heitler-London approach is then investigated (commonly called self-consistent valence bond); the agreement with OPTX degrades, leading to a larger value of LRC and a smaller value of DC at H(2) equilibrium. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem 111: 563-569, 2011


To determine whether parents who deliver albuterol treatments in a pediatric emergency department with a metered dose inhaler with a spacer device (MDIS) report better adherence to MDIS use at home compared to parents whose children undergo standard nebulizer therapy. Children aged 1-5 years were randomized by day to usual treatment with nebulized albuterol (40 children) or to treatment by the parent with albuterol with an MDIS (46 children). All caregivers received standard discharge instructions, a spacer and an MDI. Two weeks following the visit, a trained research assistant blinded to the child's group status, administered a brief telephone questionnaire to each caretaker. At follow-up, children in the MDIS group were 7.5 times more likely to be using the MDIS for their albuterol treatments (95%CI 1.6-35.6). Involving parents in treatment of asthma exacerbations in the emergency department using an MDIS may improve adherence to MDIS use at home.


Thrombotic thrombocytopenia purpura (TTP) in the background of systemic lupus erythematous (SLE) remains rare with an incidence of about 2%. Both conditions have overlapping features and can thus be difficult to differentiate and diagnose. A careful review of the peripheral blood smear remain essential often providing many clues. The diagnosis of TTP is a medical emergency and therapy should be instituted immediately. We present one such challenging case where a delay in diagnosis due to limited resources could have proven fatal for our patient.


Previously unobtainable measurements of alveolar pH were obtained using an endoscope-deployable optrode. The pH sensing was achieved using functionalized gold nanoshell sensors and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). The optrode consisted of an asymmetric dual-core optical fiber designed for spatially separating the optical pump delivery and signal collection, in order to circumvent the unwanted Raman signal generated within the fiber. Using this approach, we demonstrate a ~100-fold increase in SERS signal-to-fiber background ratio, and demonstrate multiple site pH sensing with a measurement accuracy of ± 0.07 pH units in the respiratory acini of an ex vivo ovine lung model. We also demonstrate that alveolar pH changes in response to ventilation.


Pedestrian Dead Reckoning (PDR) helps to realize step frequency detection, step estimation and direction estimation through data collected by inertial sensors such as accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, etc. The initial positioning information is used to calculate the position of pedestrians at any time, which can be applied to indoor positioning technology researching. In order to improve the position accuracy of pedestrian track estimation, this paper improves the step frequency detection, step size estimation and direction detection in PDR, and proposes a particle swarm optimization particle filter (PSO-PF) PDR location algorithm. Using the built-in accelerometer information of the smart phone to carry out the step frequency detection, the step frequency parameter construction model is introduced to carry out the step estimation, the direction estimation is performed by the Kalman filter fusion gyroscope and the magnetometer information, and the positioning data is merged by using the particle filter. The fitness function in the particle swarm optimization process is changed in the localization algorithm to improve particle diversity and position estimation. The experimental results show that the error rate of the improved step frequency detection method is reduced by about 2.1% compared with the traditional method. The angle accuracy of the direction estimation is about 4.12° higher than the traditional method. The overall positioning accuracy is improved.