Liberalization and data generation has attracted many overseas banks to India, thereby establishing supermarkets, new merchandise and green transport channels for the banking industry. within the improvement of Indian financial system, Banking sector performs a completely essential and vital position. With the usage of era there have been an boom in penetration, productiveness and performance. It has no longer only multiplied the value effectiveness however additionall y has helped in making small cost transactions feasible. It additionally complements alternatives, creates new markets, and improves productiveness and performance. it has been observed that monetary markets have changed into a purchaser's markets in India. Industrial Banks in India at the moment are turning into a one-forestall grocery store. the point of interest is transferring from mass banking to magnificence banking with the advent of fee added and custom designed products. generation allows banks to create what looks like a branch in a business constructing's foyer while not having to lease manpower for manual operations. The branches are walking ion the concept of 24 X 7 operating, made feasible by using the usage of Tele banking, ATMs, internet banking, cell banking and Ebanking. those technology pushed shipping channels are getting used to attain out to the greatest number of customers at decrease fee and in maximum green manner. The splendor of those banking improvements is that it places both banker and customer in a win- win state of affairs. effective use of era has a multiplier impact ion increase and development. For the reason that technological improvements in the banking area in industrialized nations were proven to boom productivity of this enterprise around the sector, then why did India pull away from adopting this technology until the Nineteen Nineties. Why has India been a overdue adopter of generation in the banking enterprise while it could have reaped the advantages from the existing R&D information developed by way of innovators and early adopters. this newsletter charts out the direction of technological innovation in the Indian banking enterprise submit-economic liberalization (1991-2) and identifies initial conditions in phrases of competitive environment and regulatory pressures that have contributed to the diffusion of those improvements. the thing highlights the function of labor unions in public quarter banks and their preliminary competition to technological adoption. The empirical evaluation demonstrates the superior overall performance of the early adopters of technology (private area and foreign banks) as measured with the aid of productivity, returns on equity, and marketplace proportion, in comparison to the late or passive adopters (public sector banks).


The dark web is a section of the Internet that is not accessible to search engines and requires an anonymizing browser called Tor. Its hidden network and anonymity pave the way for illegal activities and help cybercriminals to execute well-planned, coordinated, and malicious cyberattacks. Cyber security experts agree that online criminal activities are increasing exponentially, and they are also becoming more rampant and intensified. These illegal cyber activities include various destructive crimes that may target a single person or a whole nation, for example, data breaches, ransomware attacks, black markets, mafias, and terrorist attacks. So, maintaining data privacy and secrecy is the new dilemma of the era. This paper has extensively reviewed various attacks and attack patterns commonly applied in the dark web. We have also classified these attacks in our unique trilogies classification system. Furthermore, a detailed overview of existing threat detection techniques and their limitations is discussed for anonymity providing services like Tor, I2P, and Freenet. Finally, the paper has identified significant weaknesses that make the dark web vulnerable to different attacks.


The ability to visualize breast lesion vascularity and quantify the vascular heterogeneity using contrast-enhanced 3-D nonlinear ultrasound imaging was investigated in a clinical population. Patients (n = 236) identified with breast lesions on mammography were scanned using power Doppler imaging, contrast-enhanced 3D HI, and 3D SHI on a modified Logiq 9 scanner (GE Healthcare). Time-intensity curve volumes were developed corresponding to ultrasound contrast agent flow in the lesions after being identified in 4DView (GE Medical Systems). Time-points corresponding to baseline, peak intensity and complete washout of contrast were identified to generate vascular heterogeneity plots of the lesion volume (in the center and periphery as well as the ratio of the two). Vascularity was observed with power Doppler imaging in 93 lesions (69 benign and 24 malignant). The 3D HI showed flow in 8 lesions (5 benign and 3 malignant), whereas 3D SHI visualized flow in 83 lesions (58 benign and 25 malignant). Parametric volumes, that contained a single parametric value for every voxel within the 3D volume, were generated based on perfusion (PER) and area under the curve (AUC). ROC analysis and reverse, step-wise logistical regression were used to assess diagnostic accuracy with biopsy results as the reference. Analysis of vascular heterogeneity in the 3D SHI volumes found benign lesions having a significant difference in vascularity between central and peripheral sections (1.8 ± 0.16 vs. 1.2 ± 0.09 dB, p = 0.0003, respectively), whereas malignant lesions showed no difference (1.7 ± 0.33 vs. 1.3 ± 0.21 dB, p = 0.23), indicative of more vascular coverage. Diagnostic accuracy (i.e., area under the ROC curve) for heterogeneity, PER and AUC ranged from 0.52 to 0.75. The best logistical regression model (heterogeneity ratio, PER central and AUC central) achieved an area of 0.88. In conclusion, 3D SHI is able to detect UCA flow in vascular breast masses. Evaluation of vascular heterogeneity and parametric maps suggests such quantitative parameters might aid in the characterization of breast lesions.


Optimal and simultaneous siting and sizing of distributed generators and capacitor banks in distribution systems have attracted a lot of attention from distribution companies. The placement and capacity of these devices have direct effects on the system's performance. This paper presents a model for the simultaneous allocation of capacitor banks and distributed generation, which takes into account the stochastic nature of distributed generation. To solve the model presented, we propose an efficient hybrid method based on Tabu search and genetic algorithms. The hybrid method is applied to a well-known system in literature.


: Workers exposed to carbon monoxide (CO) at a concentration of 26.8mg/m3 at an altitude of 2,300 metres above sea level were compared with a control group of local inhabitants. There were significant differences in symptoms of headache, vertige fatigue and weakness memory impairment, insomnia, palpitation and neurobehavioral functions. CO concentration in respiratory air and HbCO in blood was higher but partial pressure of oxygen (PO2) and saturation of oxygen (SaO2) in blood was lower in the exposed group than the control group. Self-comparison of CO in respiratory air and HbCO in blood was higher after work than before work. Neurasthenia rate was significantly higher but PO2 and SaO2 significantly lower at high altitude than in the plain. The results indicated that under same CO concentrations the hazards to workers at high altitude were greater than to those working in the plain. The author recommends that at high altitude the CO permissible level should be appropriately lowered.


This article critically explores John Rawls's contention that the personal assets of individuals, i.e. their mental and bodily powers, should not determine the size of their holdings. Since such an argument may have several forms, the first task is to establish which of them Rawls himself advocates. He relies, it is argued, on a version that attempts to convince us that personal assets should not play a decisive distributive role because they are undeserved. This account is then formally reconstructed, making all the relevant premises visible and preparing the ground for a critique that concentrates on the argument's separate steps. Coming under attack first is the claim that everything should be deserved. The discussion examines next the premise urging us to find an ultimate, indisputable ground for desert-claims. Debate about this issue reveals some fundamental weaknesses in Rawls's position: that he demands too much and is inconsistent; that some strong counter-intuitive consequences follow from his demands; and that his entire project, were such a criterion taken seriously, is undermined. Final comments are directed against the assertion that the community should own everything an individual does not deserve, showing that this does not remove moral arbitrariness, allows for the use of some persons as resources for others, and cannot plausibly limit its range of application. Most of these criticisms are not original, but are in accord with this paper's main intention of combining as many good points against Rawls as possible.


Software systems are often very complex because of their huge size and the tremendous number of interactions between their components. However, understanding relations between software elements is crucial to optimize the development and the maintenance process. A good way to ease this understanding of software relations is to use advanced visualization techniques to graphically see interactions between elements. Nevertheless representing those software relations is not an easy task and often leads to hard to understand clutter. We believe that combining both edge clustering techniques and real-world metaphors can help address this issue, producing easier-to-read visualizations that ease the cognitive process and thus significantly help understanding the underlying software. In this paper, we explain how we adapted the existing 2D Hierarchical Edge bundles technique to represent relations in a 3D space on top of city metaphors.


Smart home gateway has to process different types of network traffic generated from several devices in an optimal way to meet their QoS requirements. However, the fluctuation of network traffic distributions results in packets concurrency. Current QoS-aware scheduling methods in the smart home networks do not consider concurrent traffic in their scheduling solutions. This paper presents an analytic model for a QoS-aware scheduling optimization of concurrent smart home network traffic with mixed arrival distributions and using probabilistic queuing disciplines. We formulate a hybrid QoS-aware scheduling problem for concurrent traffics in smart home network, and propose an innovative queuing design based on the auction economic model of game theory to provide a fair multiple access over different communication channels/ports. Our experiments show the proposed solution achieves an improvement of 14% of packets that meet their required delay and 57% of delay for different number of concurrent flows in the system.


ABSTRACT: In cognitivist Second Language Acquisition (SLA), attention and noticing are described as psycholinguistic processes that (may) have a role in language learning. The operationalization of such constructs, however, poses methodological challenges, since neither online nor off‐line measures are coextensive with these cognitive processes that occur in the individual mind–brain. In contrast with such a perspective, the present conversation‐analytic study re‐specifies attention in social terms, as a nexus of publicly displayed actions that are jointly achieved by college level students of Italian as a foreign language as they engage in collaborative writing while planning for a group presentation to be performed in the second language (L2). More specifically, the article describes gender‐focusing sequences that are initiated by attention‐mobilizing turns with which a student directs her coparticipants' attention to an oral or written item that is oriented to as possibly inaccurate in terms of gender assignment. The study shows the agentive role of students in identifying learnables and solving language‐related issues and provides an example of how participants do learning as a socially situated and collaborative activity by enacting immanent pedagogies (Lindwall & Lymer, 2005). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]


Embedded multicore processors represented by FPGAs and GPUs have lately attracted considerable attention for their potential computation ability and power consumption. Recent FPGAs have hundreds of embedded DSP slices and block RAMs. For example, Xilinx Virtex-6 Family FPGAs have a DSP48E1 slice, which is a configurable logic block equipped with fast multipliers, adders, pipeline registers, and so on. They also have a dual-port memory with 18Kbits as a block RAM. Meanwhile, recent GPUs can be used for general purpose computation. Users can develop parallel programs running on GPUs using programming architecture called CUDA provided by NVIDIA. The main contribution of this paper is to present two implementations of the Hough transform on the FPGA and the GPU. The first idea of the implementations is an efficient usage of DSP slices and block RAMs for FPGAs, and the shared memory for GPUs. The second idea is to partition the voting space in the Hough transform and the voting operation is performed in parallel. The implementation results show that the Hough transform for a 512 A— 512 image with 33232 edge points can be done in 135.75 I¼s and 637.88 I¼s on the FPGA and the GPU, respectively. On the other hand, a conventional CPU implementation runs in 37.10 ms . Thus, both implementations achieve a sufficient speed-up.Â


Citrate plays a pivotal role not only in the generation of metabolic energy but also in the synthesis of fatty acids, isoprenoids, and cholesterol in mammalian cells. Plasma levels of citrate are the highest (∼135 μm) among the intermediates of the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Here we report on the cloning and functional characterization of a plasma membrane transporter (NaCT for Na+-coupled citrate transporter) from rat brain that mediates uphill cellular uptake of citrate coupled to an electrochemical Na+ gradient. NaCT consists of 572 amino acids and exhibits structural similarity to the members of the Na+-dicarboxylate cotransporter/Na+-sulfate cotransporter (NaDC/NaSi) gene family including the recently identifiedDrosophila Indy. In rat, the expression of NaCT is restricted to liver, testis, and brain. When expressed heterologously in mammalian cells, rat NaCT mediates the transport of citrate with high affinity (Michaelis-Menten constant, ∼20 μm) and with a Na+:citrate stoichiometry of 4:1. The transporter does interact with other dicarboxylates and tricarboxylates but with considerably lower affinity. In mouse brain, the expression of NaCT mRNA is evident in the cerebral cortex, cerebellum, hippocampus, and olfactory bulb. NaCT represents the first transporter to be identified in mammalian cells that shows preference for citrate over dicarboxylates. This transporter is likely to play an important role in the cellular utilization of citrate in blood for the synthesis of fatty acids and cholesterol (liver) and for the generation of energy (liver and brain). NaCT thus constitutes a potential therapeutic target for the control of body weight, cholesterol levels, and energy homeostasis.


Multi-exit architectures, in which a sequence of intermediate classifiers are introduced at different depths of the feature layers, perform adaptive computation by early exiting ``easy" samples to speed up the inference. In this paper, a novel Harmonized Dense Knowledge Distillation (HDKD) training method for multi-exit architecture is designed to encourage each exit to flexibly learn from all its later exits. In particular, a general dense knowledge distillation training objective is proposed to incorporate all possible beneficial supervision information for multi-exit learning, where a harmonized weighting scheme is designed for the multi-objective optimization problem consisting of multi-exit classification loss and dense distillation loss. A bilevel optimization algorithm is introduced for alternatively updating the weights of multiple objectives and the multi-exit network parameters. Specifically, the loss weighting parameters are optimized with respect to its performance on validation set by gradient descent. Experiments on CIFAR100 and ImageNet show that the HDKD strategy harmoniously improves the performance of the state-of-the-art multi-exit neural networks. Moreover, this method does not require within architecture modifications and can be effectively combined with other previously-proposed training techniques and further boosts the performance.


This paper presents measures characterizing the information content of remote observations of ground scenes imaged via optical and infrared sensors. Object recognition is posed in the context of deformable templates; the special Euclidean group is used to accommodate geometric variation of object pose. Principal component analysis of object signatures is used to represent and efficiently accommodate variation in object signature due to changes in the thermal state of the object surface. Mutual information measures, which are independent of the recognition system, are calculated quantifying both the information gain due to remote observations of the scene and the information loss due to signature variability. Signature model mismatch is quantitatively examined using the Kullback-Leibler divergence. Expressions are derived quadratically approximating the posterior conditional entropy on the orthogonal group for high signal-to-noise ratio. It is demonstrated that quadratic modules accurately characterize the posterior entropy for broad ranges of signal-to-mise ratio. Information gain in multiple-sensor scenarios is quantified, and it is demonstrated that the cost of signature uncertainty for the Comanche series of FLIR images collected by the US Army Night Vision Electronic Sensors Directorate is approximately 0.8 bits with an associated near doubling of mean-squared error uncertainty in pose.


Government surplus forecasts comove strongly with nominal and real exchange rates. They are the best explanatory variable of exchange rate movements at semi-annual frequency in my post-2008 sample. In comparison, the comovement between government surplus forecasts and price level movements is much weaker. I develop a model to show how price stickiness can reconcile these findings. Because prices are sticky while exchange rates are flexible, nominal and real exchange rates adjust in response to fiscal shocks. This model connects exchange rates to the fiscal side of economic fundamentals, and provides a more realistic fiscal theory of currency value.


This study aimed to evaluate the physical and chemical quality of processed passion fruit and peach nectar flavors and sold in supermarkets in the city of Cuiaba-MT. We evaluated the physicochemical parameters total acidity, citric acid, pH, vitamin C content, soluble solids (° Brix) SS/acidity total, reducing and non-reducing and total carbohydrates, as the Institute Adolf Lutz standards. The mean values were subjected to analysis of variance and were submitted to the Scott-Knott test at 5% significance level. The total acidity (g.100g-1) to B and D showed statistically equal averages. However, passion fruit flavor of the brand B showed higher pH value (3.27 ± 0.02a). There was no statistically significant difference in soluble solids / titratable acidity (SS / TA) between the marks for the analyzed flavors. For vitamin C all values were below prescribed by legislation. For total soluble solids the average observed for the passion fruit flavor met the minimum established by legislation. However, for the peach flavor, the marks A and B showed lower values and they were smaller than the minimum values established by legislation. Regarding the parameter non-reducing sugar, the brand presented the biggest nonreducing sugar values for the flavors to analyzed. We concluded that not all analyzed parameters meet the current legislation. Vitamin C and soluble solids were below the established by legislation. There is no standard of identity and quality for non-reducing sugar as sucrose, so important parameter as a criterion of a healthy food.


Compressive and tensile properties of non-twisted and twisted carbon nanotube (CNT) bundles are studied using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The results reveal that non-twisted CNT bundles exhibit better compressive and tensile properties than twisted CNT bundles. When the twist angle of a CNT bundle is greater than 60°, its buckling load dropped considerably due to the significant curve geometries of the surrounding single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). Twisted CNT bundles also do not demonstrate good tensile properties. During tensile loading, the intertube distance in CNT bundle with twisting angle greater than 75° will decrease as the strain increases. This gives rise to increasing intertube van der Waals forces until the intertube distance falls below 2.0Å. At this time, the repulsive force between the SWCNTs suddenly increases causing the SWCNTs to repel one another at junction areas where they overlap. As a result, twisted CNT bundles tend to fail at these junction areas with lower failure load and strain.


Disclosed herein is a method for forming an isolation film of a Semiconductor memory device. According to the disclo Sure, in a pre-treatment cleaning proceSS performed before a tunnel oxide film is formed, a SC-1 cleaning proceSS is performed at a temperature ranging from 60° C. to 70° C. Therefore, oxide films in a cell region and a peripheral region are recessed even in the SC-1 cleaning process as well as a DHF cleaning process. A DHF cleaning time can be thus reduced. Accordingly, the method can minimize loSS of a silicon substrate by DHF and can thus control the depth of a moat.


The systematic subsidization and exploitation of agriculture by developed and developing countries respectively, has generated a policy paradox for which there is no satisfactory explanation. This paper attempts to provide an explanation of this policy paradox. It first develops a simple political economy model which treats an interest group's relative political weight as endogenous. Interest groups compete in the political market to improve their relative political weight. This relative political weight appears as a parameter in the government's political preference function. The government maximizes the value of this function subject to the constraints imposed by the economic market to determine the level of a policy. The model is then estimated for wheat using data for twelve developed and thirteen developing countries from 1958 to 1987.The estimation results for developed and developing countries provide empirical support for the theoretical conjectures. The results suggest that sustainable policy reform in agriculture may not be possible if the political economy of agriculture price policies in developed and developing countries are ignored.(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)


Purpose. For breast cancer survivors, after-effects of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy can be substantial, and recurrence is a concern requiring constant surveillance. National healthcare organizations have promulgated guidelines that include providing individualized survivorship care plans (SCP's). At a northern California oncology department, SCP's will be prepared for breast cancer patients and delivered in-person by the oncology nurse navigator (ONN). Method. The author worked with the ONN to develop the format and content requirements for the SCP's. The ONN prepared individualized plans for patients and scheduled in-person appointments to deliver the SCP's. A feedback survey to assess preliminary impact was then administered to patients. The ten-question survey used a five-point Likert scale and allowed opportunity for qualitative feedback. Follow-up surveys were planned 4 to 6 weeks later. Results . Twelve patients completed the initial survey five of whom also completed the follow-up survey. Most patients strongly agreed ("5" on a "1 to 5" scale) with positive statements about the ONN and the usefulness of their SCP's. Notably, two patients initially indicated mild agreement ("4") as to "I will use the survivorship plan to help self-manage my wellness" but on follow-up changed their responses to strong agreement ("5"). Qualitative data was positive with some feedback that the nutrition/diet element of the SCP's needs attention. Conclusion. Patient feedback was consistent with evidence-based practice that SCP's can provide measurable benefits. Minimizing the risk of recurrence is a substantial benefit that justifies continued use of SCP's for breast cancer patients and expanding to other cancer patients.


18S rRNA gene sequences (SSU rDNA) in gregarines are problematic for phylogenetic analysis, mainly due to artifacts related to long branch attraction (LBA). In this study, we sequenced 18S rRNA (SSU rRNA), 5.8S rRNA, and 28S rRNA (LSU rRNA) genes of two gregarine species from crustacean hosts (gregarine superfamily Cephaloidophoroidea): Cephaloidophora cf. communis from a marine cirripedian Balanus balanus (White Sea), and Heliospora cf. longissima from the freshwater amphipods, Eulimnogammarus verrucosus and E. vittatus (Lake Baikal). Phylogenetic analyses of SSU rDNA sequences failed to produce a robust tree topology, for a limited taxon sample (31 operational taxonomic units (OTU), based on 1,604 sites), while LSU (2,869 sites), and concatenated dataset based on SSU, 5.8S, and LSU (4,627 sites) produced more consistent tree topologies for the same taxon sample. Analyses testing for LBA-influence were negative, therefore we suggested that the main reason of the failed topologies in SSU rDNA analyses is insufficient data (insufficient taxon sampling and limited molecular data), rather than LBA. Possible advantages of Bayesian analyses, compared to Maximum Likelihood, and usage of LSU rDNA within the context of apicomplexan phylogenetics were discussed. One of the advantages of LSU is likely its lower rate of evolution in long-branching apicomplexans (e.g., gregarines), relative to other (non-long-branching) apicomplexans, compared to SSU rDNA. Ultrastructure of the epicytic folds was studied. There are 3 to 5 apical arcs (also known as rippled dense structures) and 2 to 5 apical filaments in the tops of the folds. This small number of the apical structures fits into morphological diversity of the epicyte in other Cephaloidophoroidea, but this is not a synapomorphy of the group because this was also detected in several unrelated gregarines. C. cf. communis was found to contain a septum between the epimerite and the protomerite, which has not been reported in other gregarines. More exact terminology, which takes into account number of body sections and septa, is proposed for morphological descriptions of trophozoites and free mature gamonts of gregarines. In accordance with this, C. cf. communis gamonts are tricystid and biseptate, whereas H. cf. longis sima gamonts are tricystid and uniseptate, similar to other eugregarines.


Ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) is a geophysical technique widely used to study the shallow subsurface and identify various sediment features that reflect electromagnetic waves. However, little is known about the exact cause of GPR reflections because few studies have coupled wave theory to petrophysical data. In this study, a 100‐ and 200‐MHz GPR survey was conducted on aeolian deposits in a quarry. Time‐domain reflectometry (TDR) was used to obtain detailed information on the product of relative permittivity (ɛr) and relative magnetic permeability (μr), which mainly controls the GPR contrast parameter in the subsurface. Combining TDR data and lacquer peels from the quarry wall allowed the identification of various relationships between sediment characteristics and ɛrμr. Synthetic radar traces, constructed using the TDR logs and sedimentological data from the lacquer peels, were compared with the actual GPR sections. Numerous peaks in ɛrμr, which are superimposed on a baseline value of 4 for dry sand, are caused by potential GPR reflectors. These increases in ɛrμr coincide with the presence of either organic material, having a higher water content and relative permittivity than the surrounding sediment, or iron oxide bands, enhancing relative magnetic permeability and causing water to stagnate on top of them. Sedimentary structures, as reflected in textural change, only result in possible GPR reflections when the volumetric water content exceeds 0·055. The synthetic radar traces provide an improved insight into the behaviour of radar waves and show that GPR results may be ambiguous because of multiples and interference.


P15. Depression is an undertreated problem in nursing home (NH) residents with dementia (RwD), associated with increased mortality and low quality of life. Our previous research on a multidisciplinary depression care program suggested that NH staff might change their behaviour towards a RwD alongside or in place of an official treatment after a depression has been diagnosed. A carer can act deliberately (intentionally) or intuitively (spontaneously, e.g. a spontaneous hug to comfort a sad RwD). Research on such informal Deliberate and Intuitive Antidepressant Strategies (DIAS) is lacking. We conducted a Group Concept Mapping to reveal potential DIAS that professional carers might use alongside or in place of an official treatment. We used an online package to combine qualitative and quantitative approaches for generating and structuring content. Individual coding schemes were aggregated across professional carers (N=15) to objectively reveal thematic clusters. First, participants provided their ideas on DIAS. Second, they sorted the strategies and rated them on feasibility and importance to reduce depression in RwD. The hierarchical cluster analysis revealed seven categories: Planned Activities (e.g. painting, petting animals); Physical Contact (e.g. holding hands); Physical Involvement (e.g. involvement in housekeeping activities); Family Input and Reminiscence (e.g. using familiar items in the residents' room); Acknowledging Emotions (e.g. listening to the RwD); Empathetic and Structuring Actions of Carers (e.g. providing structure); and Pleasant and Stable Environment (e.g. pleasant odours in the living area). Surprisingly, carers rated Planned Activities as the least important and least feasible, while the category Pleasant and Stable Environment was rated as most important and Acknowledging Emotions as most feasible to reduce depression in RwD. It is necessary to repeat this study with a larger group of participants to seek confirmation of the DIAS categories. Further research is needed to explore which strategies are the most effective for reducing depression in RwD. Furthermore, more insight is needed to understand whether our results reflect the attitudes of NH staff that may affect their deliberate or intuitive actions.


The present paper tends to analyze the procedure of intersemiotic translation of ancient myth of Phaedra, in its written version by Euripides (Hippolytus), into the contemporary stage production of Phaedra by Maja Kleczewska. The analysis of the performance is preceded by the extended introduction regarding reception of myth in general, and reception of Phaedra myth in particular. In this context, theories of Hans Blumenberg and Gilbert Durand are recalled in order to establish the understanding of myth's transformation. Myth of Phaedra is scrutinized diachronically and synchronically within the background of Maurice Merleau-Ponty's idea of body and sexuality. The theatre production is explored with reference to its textual basis (Euripides, Seneca, Tasnadi, Enquist) on the one hand, and in relation to the contemporary theories of actor's body (Erika Fischer-Lichte, Hans-Thies Lehmann). The overarching goal of the paper is to analyze the procedure of intersemiotic translation of the mythical core of Phaedra myth (defined in terms of body) into actor's body on stage (defined in its phenomenology).


Ground-based observations of exoplanet eclipses provide important clues to the planets' atmospheric physics, yet systematics in light curve analyses are not fully understood. It is unknown if measurements suggesting near-infrared flux densities brighter than models predict are real, or artifacts of the analysis processes. We created a large suite of model light curves, using both synthetic and real noise, and tested the common process of light curve modeling and parameter optimization with a Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm. With synthetic white noise models, we find that input eclipse signals are generally recovered within 10% accuracy for eclipse depths greater than the noise amplitude, and to smaller depths for higher sampling rates and longer baselines. Red noise models see greater discrepancies between input and measured eclipse signals, often biased in one direction. Finally, we find that in real data, systematic biases result even with a complex model to account for trends, and significant false eclipse signals may appear in a non-Gaussian distribution. To quantify the bias and validate an eclipse measurement, we compare both the planet-hosting star and several of its neighbors to a separately chosen control sample of field stars. Re-examining the Rogers et al. Ks-band measurement of CoRoT-1b finds an eclipse ppm deep centered at ϕme = . Finally, we provide and recommend the use of selected data sets we generated as a benchmark test for eclipse modeling and analysis routines, and propose criteria to verify eclipse detections.


Background and Purpose: Nanotechnology principles are extensively utilized in the development of various drugs which exhibit the improved spectrum of activity with the less side effects. Among the various nanoparticles (NPs), protein-based nanomaterial gains recent attention because of the high rate of efficacy, delivery, and less side effects. In this study, the antibacterial antibiotics cefpirome has been formulated with biocompatible ovalbumin (OVA) NPs and the nanodrug conjugate was evaluated against improved antibacterial activity, in vitro control release and nontarget toxicity against Vero cells and blood cells. Materials and Methods: The methods for the preparation of phycocyanin functionalized OVA NPs were optimized with various parameters adapting coacervation technique. The nanodrug conjugate prepared using the optimized condition was characterized using electron microscopy studies, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and in vitro controlled drug release by continuous dialysis method, antibacterial activity against human pathogenic bacterial strains by well diffusion, liquid colorimetric assays, and biofilm inhibition assays. Nontarget toxicity study was conducted by determination of cytotoxicity against Vero cell line and human peripheral blood cells under laboratory condition. Results: Phycocyanin functionalized nanodrug conjugate was prepared under optimum condition characterized by electron microscopy studies reveals nanosphere is in the range of 100-200 nm. The drug loading efficiency and entrapment efficiency were found to be 85.0% and 90.5%. The in vitro drug release profile showed a steady rate of release and maximum release of 99.0% during 20 h. Antibacterial activity against human pathogenic bacteria showed improved spectrum of activity against all the tested pathogenic bacteria as dose-dependent manner. Microtiter plate and nitrocellulose membrane assay were adapted to study the biofilm inhibition of pathogenic bacteria which revealed all the tested bacterial biofilm was highly inhibited in both the tested assays as concentration-dependent manner. Effect of drug conjugate on dynamic growth curve of tested bacteria also showed the drastic reduction of growth inhibition. The antibacterial activity of nanodrug conjugate was found to be retained all the tested temperature against all the tested bacterial organism. Nontarget toxicity studies showed there was no distinct toxic effect on Vero and blood cells. Conclusion: Effective inhibition of pathogenic bacteria and best biocompatibility of nanoformulated cefpirome would suggest the possible utilization of the formulation as an antibacterial agent to fight against human pathogenic bacteria in modern medicine.


We propose planning strategies for a shuttle-based warehousing system. Within this system, goods are not only transported by, but also stored on shuttles. This allows the simultaneous motion of all goods without preparation time. We exploit these properties to improve both space- and energy efficiency compared to conventional storage systems while maintaining fast access to all goods. We present a framework to manage the shuttles in a very high density environment, allowing efficient in- and output, storage, and sequencing. The proposed framework is conflict-free, space- and energy efficient and its practical applicability is demonstrated in a simulative analysis based on a real-world problem. In our sample application holding 1950 shuttles we achieve storage densities of approximately 88% while maintaining efficient access to all goods.


[1] In the boreal forest, high-intensity crown fires account for an overwhelming proportion of the area burned yearly. Quantifying the amount of black carbon (BC) from boreal crown fires in Canada is essential for assessing the effect on regional climate from natural wildfire aerosol emissions versus that from anthropogenic activities. This is particularly relevant because climate change will likely lead to increased wildfire activity in northern Canada. During 4–5 July 1998, two controlled fires in Northwest Territories, Canada, were conducted as part of the International Crown Fire Modeling Experiment. We report here the BC and organic carbon (OC) compositions of aerosols produced during the flaming and smoldering stages of burning. Particles were collected on back-to-back quartz-fiber filters by helicopter with a hi-vol sampler and at ground level with a dichotomous sampler to separate the fine (≤2.5 μm diameter) and coarse (2.5–10 μm diameter) particle fractions. An analysis of the back filter in relation to the front filter from the dichot sampler for both the fine and coarse fractions provided a means to correct for the adsorption of gas-phase organic compounds on filters (positive artifact) and for the loss of particulate carbon from filters by volatilization (negative artifact). BC and OC masses, which combine here to give total carbon (TC), were determined by the thermal-optical method. The BC to TC ratio for the flaming stage was 0.085 ± 0.032 ( ± ksn−1/2, k = 2, n = 2), based on aerial sampling of the dark plume 300–500 m above the flame front. BC/TC for the smoldering stage was 0.0087 ± 0.0046 from ground-based sampling. Uncertainties consist of the combined variances in measurement and sampling and in emissions from different fires. These averages and uncertainties serve as important aerosol data input for predictions of climate change on both global and regional scales.


Theoretical limits on time-of-arrival (equivalently, range) estimation are derived for multicarrier systems in the presence of interference. Specifically, closed-form expressions are obtained for Cramer-Rao bounds (CRBs) in various scenarios. In addition, based on CRB expressions, an optimal power allocation (or, spectrum shaping) strategy is proposed. This strategy considers the constraints not only from the sensed interference level but also from the regulatory emission mask. Numerical results are presented to illustrate the improvements achievable with the optimal power allocation scheme, and a maximum likelihood time-of-arrival estimation algorithm is studied to assess the effects of the proposed approach in practical estimators.


Humanitarian and disaster management actors have increasingly adopted cash transfer as an approach to reduce the suffering and vulnerability of the survivors. Cash transfers have also been used as a key instrument in the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This article uses an exploratory research strategy to understand how non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and governments implement humanitarian cash transfer in a post-disaster setting. This article asks: what are the institutional constraints and opportunities faced by humanitarian emergency responders in ensuring an effective humanitarian cash transfer, and how do humanitarian actors address such institutional constraints? In this article, we have introduced a new conceptual framework, namely the humanitarian and disaster management ecosystem for cash transfer. This framework allows non-governmental actors to restore complex relations amongst state, disaster survivors (citizen), local market economy and civil society. Mixed methods and multistage research strategies were used to collect and analyse primary and secondary data. The authors conclude that by implementing cash transfers in the context of post-tsunamigenic earthquakes and liquefaction hazards, NGOs must co-create an ecosystem of response that aims to restore disaster-affected people's access to cash and basic needs. However, in order to ensure such access to basic needs, the responders must first restore relations between the states and their citizens before linking the at-risk communities with the private sectors to jump-start local livelihoods and market economy.


Background: In Canada, primary care practitioners provide the majority of care for elderly patients. Increasing volume and complexity of care compounded by a shortage of specialized geriatric services has lead to problems of fragmented, inefficient,and often ineffective service for this population. Integrated models that bridge primary and secondary care have emerged as a major theme in health reform to address such challenges for care of the elderly. Although primary care practitioners are important stakeholders necessary for successful uptake and sustainability of such integrated models, this perspective has been largely unexplore d. Methods and Findings: We used a qualitative thematic approach to bring forward front-line perspectives of nurses and physicians who referred their patients to a newly developed integrated, multidisciplinary program for seniors that was introduced into their primary care clinic. Referrers experienced improved care processes, improved quality of care, as well as an enhanced experience when managing their elderly patients. Unclear assignment of roles and responsibilities created confusion for referring practitioners and their patients. Conclusions : Understanding benefits, limitations, and changes to front-line practitioner experience provides insight into important factors contributing to buy-in and sustainability of integrated programming for the elderly in this setting.


This paper presents a framework of traffic control in high-speed ATM networks on both connection level and cell level. On the connection level, we consider traffic classification, bandwidth allocation, call admission control, and billing method. On the cell level we examine a queueing architecture, flow control, and scheduling. We also capture the interdependencies among various traffic control aspects to ensure a proper network operation. The key contribution of this paper is an integrated methodology to handle bursty data traffic. Based on the per-VC queueing architecture, we introduce (1) a simple bandwidth allocation mechanism which requires no complex computation for call admission control, (2) an improved credit-based flow control scheme which ensures lossless and congestion-free cell transport, (3) an innovative scheduling algorithm with throughput guarantee, and (4) an easy billing method which imposes tariff on bursty data flows without real-time measurement and processing.


We study sets of bounded remainder for the two-dimensional continuous irrational rotation $(\{x_1+t\}, \{x_2+t\alpha \})_{t \geq 0}$ in the unit square. In particular, we show that for almost all $\alpha$ and every starting point $(x_1, x_2)$, every polygon $S$ with no edge of slope $\alpha$ is a set of bounded remainder. Moreover, every convex set $S$ whose boundary is twice continuously differentiable with positive curvature at every point is a bounded remainder set for almost all $\alpha$ and every starting point $(x_1, x_2)$. Finally we show that these assertions are, in some sense, best possible.


Major traumatic injury is a leading cause of death in younger age groups, but increasingly older people are affected also. Adverse outcomes, both physical and psychological, are associated with injury in the older population. This review aims to locate and describe the evidence relating to older people and major trauma in order to inform policy, practice, research and education. The published research and systematic reviews fall into three main topics: mechanism of traumatic injury in older people, the effects of co-morbidities on older trauma patients and outcomes following serious traumatic injury in older people. The psychological impact of traumatic injury and the resulting functional alteration cannot be underestimated in this group of patients


Objective. This study explored if and to what extent the laws of U.S. states mirrored the U.S. federal laws for responding to nuclear-radiological emergencies (NREs). Methods. Emergency laws from a 12-state sample and the federal government were retrieved and translated into numeric codes representing acting agents, their partner agents, and the purposes of activity in terms of preparedness, response, and recovery. We used network analysis to explore the relationships among agents in terms of legally directed NRE activities. Results. States' legal networks for NREs appear as not highly inclusive, involving an average of 28% of agents among those specified in the federal laws. Certain agents are highly central in NRE networks, so that their capacity and effectiveness might strongly influence an NRE response. Conclusions. State-level lawmakers and planners might consider whether or not greater inclusion of agents, modeled on the federal government laws, would enhance their NRE laws and if more agents should be engaged in planning and policy-making for NRE incidents. Further research should explore if and to what extent legislated NRE directives impose constraints on practical response activities including emergency planning.


Development of dendritic arbors is crucial for nervous system assembly, but the intracellular mechanisms that govern these processes remain incompletely understood. Here we show that the complex dendritic trees of PVD somatosensory neurons in Caenorhabditis elegans are patterned by distinct pathways downstream of the DMA-1 leucine rich transmembrane (LRR-TM) receptor. The guanine nucleotide exchange factor tiam-1/GEF and act-4/Actin function with the DMA-1/LRR-TM to pattern 4° higher order branches by localizing F-actin to the distal ends of developing dendrites. Biochemical experiments show that DMA-1/LRR-TM is part of a biochemical complex with TIAM-1/GEF and ACT-4/Actin. Surprisingly, TIAM-1/GEF appears to function independently of Rac1 guanine nucleotide exchange factor activity. Additionally, another pathway dependent on HPO-30/Claudin and TIAM-1/GEF is required for formation of 2° and 3° branches. Collectively, our experiments suggest that the DMA-1/LRR-TM receptor on PVD dendrites may control aspects of dendrite patterning by directly modulating F-actin dynamics, independently of TIAM-1/GEF enzymatic activity.


Background This study investigated the effect of accumulated doses on radio-photoluminescence glass dosimeters (RPLGDs) from measurements involving mega-voltage photons. Methods Forty-five commercially available RPLGDs were irradiated to estimate their dose responses. Photon beams of 6, 10, and 15 MV were irradiated onto the RPLGDs inside a phantom, which were divided into five groups with different doses and energies. Groups 1 and 2 were irradiated at 1, 5, 10, 50, and 100 Gy in a sequential manner; Group 3 was irradiated 10 times with a dose of 10 Gy; and Groups 4 and 5 followed the same method as that of Group 3, but with doses of 50 Gy and 100 Gy, respectively. Results For the annealed Group 1, RPLGD exhibited a linearity response with variance within 5%. For the non-annealed Group 2, readings demonstrated hyperlinearity at 6 MV and 10 MV, and linearity at 15 MV. Following the 100 Gy irradiation, the readings for Group 2 were 118.7 ± 1.9%, 112.2 ± 2.7%, and 101.5 ± 2.3% at 6, 10, and 15 MV, respectively. For Groups 3, 4, and 5, the responsiveness of the RPLGDs gradually decreased as the number of repeated irradiations increased. The percentage readings for the 10th beam irradiation with respect to the readings for the primary beam irradiation were 84.6 ± 1.9%, 87.5 ± 2.4%, and 93.0 ± 3.0% at 6 MV, 10 MV, and 15 MV, respectively. Conclusions The non-annealed RPLGD response to dose was hyperlinear for the 6 MV and 10 MV photon beams but not for the 15 MV photon beam. Additionally, the annealed RPLGD exhibited a fading phenomenon when the measurement was repeated several times and demonstrated a relatively large fading effect at low energies than at high energies.


In 1939, Baruch Goldstein was a religiously observant adolescent resident of the Jewish community in Mlawa, a town that was then in East Prussia. After war broke out, the Jewish community there was relatively sheltered, as that region was incorporated into the German Reich rather than into the General Government (the German-run fragment of pre-war Poland, where conditions were harsh for everyone). However in 1942, Goldstein was sent to Auschwitz, where he stayed two-and-a-half years. His family was scattered all to their deaths, but he survived the war - barely. "For Decades I Was Silent" is an account of life in a small Polish-German town and provides information on the religious life of the Jewish citizens. This book creates a direct sense of the random, mystifying personal violence individuals felt at the hands of Germans - not the anonymous industrial death machine, but immediate, face-to-face violence.After the war, Goldstein drifted as a refugee to UNRR camps in Italy. Over time, young Goldstein had to face the fact that all of his extended family was lost and he had only the possibilities of Palestine or help from distant relatives in the United States as a future. His American relatives urged him to enter the United States as a yeshiva student, and eventually he became a rabbi and started a family. As a young rabbinical student, and then as a rabbi, Goldstein was forced to confront the events of the Holocaust and the damage done to his faith. This well-written and evocative book eloquently handles Goldstein's story.


Over the past decade, medical and surgical approaches to the patient with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) have improved dramatically. Proton pump inhibitors have become the dominant medical therapy because of their high efficacy and safety. Laparoscopic surgical approaches have improved concomitantly with the advances in medical therapy, resulting in the perception that either continuous medical therapy or surgery are appropriate options for long-term maintenance of this chronic disorder. Recent approval of new endoscopic treatments for GERD has generated considerable interest, but acceptance of these techniques should be limited by the small number of patients studied to date, the lack of placebo controls, and the short duration of follow-up.


The intracellular transport process plays an important role in delivering essential materials throughout branched geometries of neurons for their survival and function. Many neurodegenerative diseases have been associated with the disruption of transport. Therefore, it is essential to study how neurons control the transport process to localize materials to necessary locations. Here, we develop a novel optimization model to simulate the traffic regulation mechanism of material transport in complex geometries of neurons. The transport is controlled to avoid traffic jam of materials by minimizing a pre-defined objective function. The optimization subjects to a set of partial differential equation (PDE) constraints that describe the material transport process based on a macroscopic molecular-motor-assisted transport model of intracellular particles. The proposed PDE-constrained optimization model is solved in complex tree structures by using isogeometric analysis (IGA). Different simulation parameters are used to introduce traffic jams and study how neurons handle the transport issue. Specifically, we successfully model and explain the traffic jam caused by reduced number of microtubules (MTs) and MT swirls. In summary, our model effectively simulates the material transport process in healthy neurons and also explain the formation of a traffic jam in abnormal neurons. Our results demonstrate that both geometry and MT structure play important roles in achieving an optimal transport process in neuron.


BACKGROUND
Coeliac patients often have nutrient malabsorption with nutritional status impairment, but no report on their energy requirements is available. In this study body composition, dietary habits, basal energy expenditure, and substrate oxidation were investigated in patients with the classic form of coeliac disease.

METHODS
Sixteen untreated and 18 adult coeliac patients on a gluten-free diet participated in the study. Body composition was assessed by anthropometry and bioimpedance. Energy expenditure was measured by indirect calorimetry. A food diary over 7 days was collected.

RESULTS
Coeliac patients showed reduced body weight components but not a different fat-free mass percentage compared with age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers. Basal metabolic rate normalized by fat-free mass (BMR/FFM) was higher in coeliac patients than in controls. Untreated patients showed a significantly higher non-protein respiratory quotient with regard to both treated patients (P < 0.01) and controls (P < 0.05), an increased percentage of carbohydrate intake, and a good correlation between lipid faecal loss and carbohydrate oxidation (Spearman R = 0.74; P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS
Both groups of patients had lower fat mass and FFM content than controls. The preferential carbohydrate oxidation in untreated patients might be a result of both lipid malabsorption and high carbohydrate intake.


Abstract Volatile compounds produced during ripening of strawberry are key determinants of fruit quality and consumer preference. Strawberry volatiles are largely esters which are synthesized by alcohol acyltransferases (AATs) and degraded by carboxylesterases (CXEs). Although CXE activity can have a marked influence on volatile contents in ripe strawberry fruits, CXE function and regulation in them are poorly known. Here, we report the biochemical and functional characterization of the fruit receptacle-specific and ripening-related carboxylesterase FanCXE1. The expression of the corresponding gene was found to be antagonistically regulated by auxins and abscisic acid, key hormones that regulate fruit growth and ripening in strawberry. In vitro, FanCXE1 was able to hydrolyze artificial ester substrates similar to those produced by ripe strawberry fruits. Transient suppression of the FanCXE1 gene by RNAi resulted in an increase of important volatile esters such as methyl hexanoate, methyl butanoate and ethyl hexanoate as well as a decrease of the alcohols hexenol and linanool. The results of this work enhance our understanding of the molecular basis for volatile syntheses and facilitate production of better flavored strawberry fruits by introduction of the relevant alleles into common cultivars.


The author discusses an architectural installation incorporating the holographic shadows of water installed in a miniature townscape as part of a collaborative, developmental, group exhibition. The installation concept is outlined and its impact on the ability to stimulate architectural interventions, which would not normally be possible within a full-scale environment, is considered. The influence of a major large-scale holographic installation is outlined and the requirement to suspend belief, within the current exhibition, is discussed.


2618 Background: Immunotherapy targeting PD-(L)1 has become indispensable in the treatment of many malignant tumors. Recently, checkpoint inhibition using anti-PD-1 in combination with anti-CTLA-4 was proved to be effective in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). However, the minority of patients benefit from this treatment. The lack of immunotherapy efficacy in the majority of patients with mesothelioma can be explained by the fact that mesothelioma is a tumor with an "immune-desert" phenotype, meaning a non-inflamed tumor characterized by low T-cell infiltration. By administration of dendritic cells (DCs), which were cultured, activated, and exposed to antigens ex-vivo, this "immune-desert" phenotype might be turned into an "inflamed" phenotype. Previously, we performed and published three phase I trials using activated DCs, which support this concept. Here, we report the long-term survival of the patients treated with DCs in these three phase 1 studies. Methods: We collected the survival data of the phase 1 trials using DC therapy in patients with MPM. In the first two trials, DCs loaded with autologous tumor lysate were used, while in the third allogeneic tumor lysate was used to load the DCs (Mesopher). Results: Between 2006 and 2015, in the three studies combined, 29 patients with MPM were treated with DC vaccination. At data cut-off, the median OS was 27 months (95% confidence interval (CI): 21 – 47 months). OS at 2 years was 55.2% (95% CI: 39.7%-76.6%), OS at 5 years was 20.7% (95% CI: 10.1%-42.2%). Conclusions: The long-term follow up of MPM patients treated with DC vaccination in the three separate phase 1 trials show a promising signal, with a 2-year OS of over 50% and a 5-year OS of over 20%. In addition, 2 patients are alive after 10 years of treatment. In our opinion, these findings show the potency of DC vaccination therapy in long-term activation of the immune system. DC vaccination therapy in patients with MPM is currently being investigated in a large, randomized phase II-III trial (NCT03610360) and in pancreatic cancer. Additional biomarker studies, as well as treatment combinations with for example ICI, could further improve the outcomes of DC-vaccination therapy. Clinical trial information: NCT02395679. [Table: see text]


Acute and chronic respiratory complications are the leading cause of mortality after spinal cord injury (SCI). Patients with SCI may be able to breathe spontaneously without the need for mechanical ventilatory support via the diaphragmatic pacing system. Respiratory rehabilitation during this period aims to provide more effective device function and speed up the familiarization of the patient with the device. The aim of our case report was to investigate the efficiency of preoperative and postoperative respiratory rehabilitation in a patient with cervical SCI undergoing diaphragmatic pacing.


The Kontum massif in central Vietnam consists of low-grade schists and amphibolite- to granulite-facies metamorphic rocks, that have been intruded by S-type and I-type granites. This terrane was formerly considered to be composed mainly of Archean granulites (the Kannak Complex), Proterozoic amphibolite-facies metamorphic rocks (the Ngoc Linh Complex) and low-grade schists (the Kham Duc Complex). They were thought to be the basement of the Indochina Craton in south-east Asia.    The Kannak Complex is dominated by pelitic-semipelitic gneisses metamorphosed under high- to ultrahigh-temperature (UHT) conditions into granulite-facies. A minor amount of mafic and calc-silicate rocks are also intercalated within the gneisses. The major types of ultrahigh-temperature pelitic metamorphic rocks in this complex are garnet-orthopyroxene-sillimanite-cordierite gneiss, orthopyroxene-bearing garnet-cordierite-silliamnite-biotite gneiss and garnet-orthopyroxene charnockitic gneiss. The highest-grade metamorphic condition is determined from garnet-orthopyroxene-sillimanite-cordierite gneiss, which indicates that multi-stage symplectite formation during retrograde stage started from isothermal decompression in UHT condition (1000°C<). Because of the high amount of pyrope (up to 59 mole%) in garnet and high-Al2O3 in orthopyroxene (up to 10 wt%) , these minerals were unstable in the P-T conditions during the retrograde stage.    On the other hand, the newly found garnet-clinopyroxene-orthopyroxene granulites (eclogitic ultrahigh-temperature mafic granulite) from the Ngoc Linh Complex shows a series of changes in divariant assemblages from garnet-clinopyroxene-quartz to hornblende-quartz through clinopyroxene-orthopyroxene-plagioclase-(garnet). It was identified that these rocks were formed as a result of their metamorphic evolution of isothermal decompression followed by nearly isobaric cooling.    The ultrahigh-temperature metamorphic rocks in the Kontum massif, which are exposed along the Dac To Kan shear zone, show a clockwise pressure-temperature path with the peak metamorphic condition of ca. 12 kbar and ca. 1050°C (M1 metamorphism). High-pressure M0 metamorphism (ca. 17 kbar<, ca. 1000°C) as part of the prograde metamorphism and low-pressure (but still ultrahigh-temperature) M2 metamorphism (9-10 kbar, ca. 1000°C) as part of the retrograde metamorphism during the clockwise pressure-temperature evolution are also recognized. The widely reported Permo-Triassic metamorphic event (ca. 240-260 Ma) from the ultrahigh-temperature metamorphic rocks would indicate a rapid metamorphic evolution from M0 stage to low-pressure and low-temperature retrograde stage (later M2 stage). The recently determined Sm-Nd internal isochron age of 670 Ma for the garnet amphibolite and monazite-CHIME age of ca. 480-500 Ma for the pelitic granulites from the Kannak Complex would also indicate that the Kontum massif had also undergone the Pan-African metamorphic event. The present results indicate that ultrahigh-temperature metamorphic rocks from the Kontum massif are remnants of previously metamorphosed rocks that might be derived from the Gondwana super continent and then re-metamorphosed by the Permo-Triassic metamorphism during the continents collision in eastern Asia.


As pipelines age, a flaw population that varies initially along the pipeline can advance in size and number. Analysis of the serviceability of pipelines based on either inline inspection or hydrotesting can lead to overly conservative decisions or an excessive risk of failure when the random nature of this population and the pipeline's properties are represented by a "typical" flaw and "average" properties. It follows that decisions on serviceability should reflect the random nature of the variables involved or be justified by demonstrating that the uncertainty in these parameters does not adversely affect cost and safety. This is the first in series of two papers generated from a recent study on risk-based analysis for developing strategies to ensure pipeline integrity. In this paper (Part I—Theory), a new probabilistic methodology is developed to conduct fracture evaluations of pipelines subjected to ductile flaw growth in service. The study is made under the assumption that continuing serviceability is based on the use of hydrotesting. The analysis involves time-dependent elastic-plastic fracture mechanics for the underlying deterministic model, and Monte Carlo simulation for structural reliability analysis. Using these models, pipe fracture evaluations will be conducted in the light of a hydrotest-based approach to ensure pipeline integrity. They will be discussed in the companion paper, Part II—Applications (Rahman and Leis, 1994).


The problem of obtaining an output from a given plant or transducer which is as close as possible to some desired output is considered. The best possible performance that can be attained can be improved through the use of feedback only if the behavior of the transducer is not completely known. An uncertain transducer can be conveniently described by permitting its instantaneous impulse response to be anywhere between prescribed limits. An optimum control system for such a transducer is derived. The response includes an error component which is proportional to the transducer impulse response uncertainty area.


At Saturn's orbital distance of ~ 9.5 AU, the low solar wind dynamic pressure and weak interplanetary magnetic field interact with the planet to create a magnetosphere that dwarfs Earth's magnetosphere. While the form of Saturn's magnetospheric cavity is still the result of solar wind stresses, many properties of the Kronian magnetosphere are determined largely by internal processes associated with the planet's rapid rotation and the stresses arising from internal plasma sources dominated by the icy moon, Enceladus. Coupling between the planetary ionosphere and the magnetosphere through electric currents plays a vital role in determining the global configuration and dynamics of Saturn's magnetosphere. To understand the large-scale behavior of the solar wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere interaction, we have applied the global MHD model, BATSRUS, to Saturn that self-consistently couples the solar wind, the magnetosphere, and the ionosphere and incorporates key mass-loading processes associated with Enceladus and its extended neutral cloud. Here we present results from our global simulations carried out to understand how the various internally and externally driven processes influence Saturn's magnetosphere, and discuss their implications for interpreting Cassin in-situ observations. We will also show results from an atmospheric vortex model we have developed that offers valuable insight into the physical processes that drive the ubiquitous periodic modulations of particles and fields properties observed by Cassini throughout the Saturnian magnetosphere. Implications of our Saturn simulations for another giant planet, Jupiter, will also be discussed.


It is of paramount importance to understand the nature and characteristics of the flow in hard disk drives (HDDs), and the aerodynamic mechanisms that drive structural vibrations. It is also of interest to develop the capability to assess aerodynamic disturbances in different flow environments. Research of the flow and flow-induced vibration in HDDs has been carried out in configurations of varying degrees of geometric complexity. In this paper, the results of an experimental investigation of the effects of E-block arm thickness on the head off-track vibration and the airflow in a modeled HDD are presented.


Background: Alisertib is an investigational, oral, selective AAK inhibitor that has shown antitumor activity in both the PIC and enteric-coated tablet formulations in previously reported clinical trials. A prototype OS formulation of alisertib has been developed for patient populations unable to swallow solid dosage forms (e.g. pediatric patients, patients with feeding tubes). We report preliminary data on safety and the relative bioavailability of alisertib OS in reference to PIC. Methods: Patients ≥18 y with advanced solid tumors, ECOG PS 0–1, measurable disease by RECIST, and adequate hematologic, renal, and hepatic function were eligible. After initial safety evaluation of a single 15 mg dose of alisertib OS in 4 patients, subsequent patients enrolled to the relative bioavailability cohort received a single dose of alisertib as either 25 mg OS or 50 mg PIC on day 1 of cycle 1 (receiving alternative formulation on day 1 of cycle 2) on an empty stomach. Patients then continued on PIC 40 mg BID on days 3–9, followed by 14 days9 rest (23-day cycles). From cycle 3 onwards, patients received alisertib PIC 40 or 50 mg BID for 7 days followed by 14 days9 rest (21-day cycles) until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. The relative bioavailability of the OS in reference to PIC was estimated as the ratio of geometric mean of dose-normalized (DN) AUC0−inf (OS vs PIC) and associated 2-sided 90% CI. AEs were graded according to NCI-CTCAE v3.0. Response was assessed by RECIST v1.1 after every 2 cycles. Results: 19 patients were enrolled; 63% were male, 89% white, median age 58 y, mean weight 83.4 kg, and mean BSA 2.0 m2. The most common tumor types included colorectal (n=7), kidney (n=2), and NSCLC (n=2). Pharmacokinetic parameters were evaluable in 15 patients. Following single oral dosing of alisertib, observed median Tmax was ∼1 hour for OS and ∼2 hours for PIC. The terminal half-life (T1/2) was similar following single dosing of OS or PIC (mean T1/2 ∼14 hours for OS; ∼16 hours for PIC). The geometric mean of DN AUCinf following single dose 25 mg OS was ∼135% of that following single dose 50 mg PIC (90% CI: 117, 156). The geometric mean of DN Cmax was 178% of that following single PIC dosing (90% CI: 143, 220). Patients received a median of 2 cycles (range 1–8). Dose-limiting toxicities were observed in 2 patients (PIC/OS): Gr 4 febrile neutropenia/Gr 3 oral mucositis and Gr 4 thrombocytopenia. Drug-related Gr ≥3 AEs occurred in 5 patients; the most common were neutropenia (n=3) and leukopenia (n=2). Most common drug-related AEs of any grade were fatigue (n=6); neutropenia, leukopenia, diarrhea, nausea (n=5 each); vomiting, and anorexia (n=4). All patients evaluable for taste assessment (cycle 1/2: n=12/n=5) indicated that the taste of alisertib OS was "tolerable". Four patients (ovarian, colorectal, colon, NSCLC) had a best response of stable disease; maximum duration of SD was 4.5 months. Conclusions: The relative bioavailability (geometric mean AUC) of alisertib OS is approximately 135% in reference to PIC. The prototype alisertib OS was generally well tolerated and the safety profile was consistent with that observed to date with solid formulations. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2011 Nov 12-16; San Francisco, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2011;10(11 Suppl):Abstract nr B194.


ABSTRACT In Phenomenology of Perception (1945) Maurice Merleau-Ponty warns against considering depth and breadth as interchangeable. Rather than following Merleau-Ponty's thinking, this article considers the productive potential of equating depth with breadth, citing works by British painters Jane Harris, Beth Harland and John Wilkins. The tableau is proposed in this context as a holding apparatus, one that facilitates and contains a switch and shift between positions and dimensions. Holding is considered in three key ways: holding back, holding fast and holding attention, each one describing both the internal mechanisms of the tableau and its external relations with an observer. This holding characteristic is put forward as part of the constraints and potential of addressing a pictorial form, and connected to Michael Fried's writing, and the absorbed and diverted attention described by Jonathan Crary. George Berkeley's theories of vision are discussed via Merleau-Ponty, with breadth offered as a sideways version of depth, exposing the space between things and implying a repositioning of an observer to facilitate visibility. Although Meleau-Ponty outlines this exchangeability in order to discount it, this flexibility between one position and another, thinking oneself into a position rather than being there, is considered here as an active part of a pictorial practice, one that can inform a stand off between oppositional terms.


The kinetics of leaching of sodium has been studied on undisturbed columns of alkaline soil (pH=8.2) of Kota region of Rajasthan, India. NaCl has been taken as the source of added sodium. Initial leaching rates (LRobs) have been calculated using Latshow method and linear power form equation (LRobs = k[Na+ ]i ) has been derived for dependence of LRobs on leachable concentration of Na present initially in the column during leaching. Effect of Ca-hardness of extractant and that of temperature in the range of 20- 500 C on [Na+ ]i and LRobs was also studied. Experimental data, when fitted on various kinetic data showed the first order kinetic model to be most suited, while others viz. zero, second, parabolic diffusion and elovich equations were rejected.


The corpus luteum is formed from the pre-ovulatory follicle under the action of the mid-cycle LH surge. LH is the main luteotrophic hormone in women controlling luteal structure and function during the normal menstrual cycle. Local factors, however, including progesterone are also involved. If conception does not take place, luteolysis occurs as a physiological apoptotic process. Human chorionic gonadotrophin, secreted after implantation, is able to rescue the corpus luteum and extend its lifespan. In ovulation-induction cycles, the negative feedback effect of the ovarian steroids on the pituitary is markedly potentiated, leading to the suppression of endogenous LH secretion during the whole menstrual cycle. The marked suppression of LH secretion disrupts corpus luteum function regardless of the treatment regimen.


Research on international business negotiation has been underway for 35 years. It has developed within two major paradigms: the macro-strategic, which focuses on organizational wholes, and the micro-behavioral, which focuses on individuals. The former further divides into business-government relations and interfirm relationship streams, while the latter branches into comparative and intercultural studies. While this article summarizes these bodies of literature, its main purpose is to offer a critique of this research, consider its contribution to practice and to the field of international negotiation, and stimulate ideas for future research.


Cretaceous through Eocene strata of the Four Corners region provide an excellent record of changes in sediment provenance from Sevier thin-skinned thrusting through the formation of Laramide block uplifts and intra-foreland basins. During the ca. 125–50 Ma timespan, the San Juan Basin was flanked by the Sevier thrust belt to the west, the Mogollon highlands rift shoulder to the southwest, and was influenced by (ca. 75–50 Ma) Laramide tectonism, ultimately preserving a >6000 ft (>2000 m) sequence of continental, marginalmarine, and offshore marine sediments. In order to decipher the influences of these tectonic features on sediment delivery to the area, we evaluated 3228 U-Pb laser analyses from 32 detrital-zircon samples from across the entire San Juan Basin, of which 1520 analyses from 16 samples are newly reported herein. The detrital-zircon results indicate four stratigraphic intervals with internally consistent age peaks: (1) Lower Cretaceous Burro Canyon Formation, (2) Turonian (93.9–89.8 Ma) Gallup Sandstone through Campanian (83.6– 72.1 Ma) Lewis Shale, (3) Campanian Pictured Cliffs Sandstone through Campanian Fruitland Formation, and (4) Campanian Kirtland Sandstone through Lower Eocene (56.0–47.8 Ma) San Jose Formation. Statistical analysis of the detrital-zircon results, in conjunction with paleocurrent data, reveals three distinct changes in sediment provenance. The first transition, between the Burro Canyon Formation and the Gallup Sandstone, reflects a change from predominantly reworked sediment from the Sevier thrust front, including uplifted Paleozoic sediments and Mesozoic eolian sandstones, to a mixed signature indicating both Sevier and Mogollon derivation. Deposition of the Pictured Cliffs Sandstone at ca. 75 Ma marks the beginning of the second transition and is indicated by the spate of near-depositional-age zircons, likely derived from the Laramide porphyry copper province of southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. Paleoflow indicators suggest the third change in provenance was complete by 65 Ma as recorded by the deposition of the Paleocene Ojo Alamo Sandstone. However, our new U-Pb detrital-zircon results indicate this transition initiated ~8 m.y. earlier during deposition of the Campanian Kirtland Formation beginning ca. 73 Ma. This final change in provenance is interpreted to reflect the unroofing of surrounding Laramide basement blocks and a switch to local derivation. At this time, sediment entering the San Juan Basin was largely being generated from the nearby San Juan Mountains to the north-northwest, including uplift associated with early phases of Colorado mineral belt magmatism. Thus, the detrital-zircon spectra in the San Juan Basin document the transition from initial reworking of the Paleozoic and Mesozoic cratonal blanket to unroofing of distant basement-cored uplifts and Laramide plutonic rocks, then to more local Laramide uplifts.


The study was carried out to access the "City Greening: A House a Tree" programme of the Ondo state government. Multistage and simple random sampling techniques were used to select 80 respondents utilized for the study while frequency counts and percentages, as well as Pearson Product Moment Correlation, were used in data analysis. The study shows that most of the respondents interviewed were young, married, literate and dominated by Male headed households. Most of them were aware of the tree planting programme through Government officials/ Agricultural Extension agents. The various levels of participation include obtaining seedlings from Ministry of Environment (MOE), Sensitization and Mobilization, Planting of trees, watering of trees and given moral support. Tree species mostly planted are Step by step ( Terminalia mentabris ) and Tropical Almond ( terminalia catapa ). Others are meilgna tree ( Gmeligna arborea ), fruits /Oranges, ( thuja orientals ) and Masquerade tree ( polyathia longifolia ). Most of them planted three to six seedlings, and the rate of survival was very high. The benefits derived from the trees includes: protecting the building from been blown off by wind and reducing excessive environmental heat. It also helped in reducing erosion, creating the opportunity for pleasure and providing food for man/ animals respectively. The highest constraints to the survival of tree planting programme in Ondo state is destruction by domestic animals, followed by lateness in obtaining seedlings from the MOE. The study established a significant relationship between city greening program and sustainable ecosystem management. The study recommends continuous promotion of the program through the use of extension agents, television and radio programmes and the enforcement of Legislations for sustainable ecosystem management.


Many millennial Animal Crossing players will experience the joy of paying off their beautiful three-floor in-game home only to have that joy cut short by the crushing realization that they may never experience homeownership in real life. Who do we then take that anger and disappointment out on? The capitalists with a stranglehold on the housing market? The governments and companies holding our lives hostage for student loan debt? Our landlords who take most of our income each month so we can keep a roof over our heads? Our bosses who are criminally underpaying us for our labour? Or is it a fictional racoon? Arguments about the ethics of Animal Crossing's non-playable character Tom Nook are inescapable in online discussions about the Animal Crossing series. These discussions generally have two sides: either Tom Nook is a capitalistic villain who exploits the player's labour for housing, or he is a benevolent landowner who helps the player out in hard times. Vossen first sets the stage by discussing the cultural significance of both the Animal Crossing series, focusing in on Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020), and the millennial housing crisis. She then examines the many tweets, memes, comics, and articles that vilify Tom Nook (and a few that defend him) and asks: are we really mad at Tom, or are we mad at the cruelty and greed of the billionaires, bosses, and landowners in our real lives? Vossen argues that what she calls "Nook discourse" represents the radical social potential of Animal Crossing to facilitate large-scale real-world conversations about housing, economic precarity, class, and labour that could help change hearts and minds about the nature of wealth.


Objectives: In previous Nordic studies it has been reported that the overall cancer incidence is lower among the Sami compared to the rest of the population living in the same area. But the relative risk varies among different Sami groups with a lower overall risk among reindeer herders compared to other Sami groups. Diet and lifestyle factors such as physical activity has been suggested to explain these differences together with genetical factors. The objective of this study is to describe the cancer incidence among different Sami groups in Sweden between 1961 and 2003 and to evaluate the effect of demographical changes on risk factors related to Sami lifestyle and heritage. Study Design: Prospective cohort study Methods: The study cohort constitutes of a total of 7 482 reindeer herders and 34 239 non-herders from which subgroups were genealogically defined, carrying with them assumptions of different levels of influence of a traditional Sami life style. Follow up was from 1961 to 2003 and standard incidence ratios (SIR) were calculated using a demographically matched control population as the standard of comparison. Results:Overall lower cancer risk was observed for reindeer herding men compared to the control population while the relative risk for non-herding women was significantly higher. Significantly lower rates of prostate was observed among reindeer herders and higher rates of stomach and ovary was observed among non-herding women. Conclusions: Protective factors in an active, more traditional life style in combination with genertical factors is suggested to explain the lower cancer rates among reindeer herding men. An assumption of declining protective influence of a traditional life style in different Sami groups is supported by an demographical and genealogical analysis of the constitution of different Sami groups. It is indicated that demographical changes resulting in various levels of integration and/or assimilation should be considered when analysing the health status of the Sami.


Application of a temporal logic to forensic analysis, especially in answering certain investigative questions relating to time-sensitive information, is presented. A set of temporal facts is taken from the London bombing incident that took place on July 7, 2005, to illustrate the approach. The information used in the illustration is gathered through the online news sites. A hypothetical investigation on the information is carried out to identify certain time intervals of potential interest to crime investigators. A software tool called Temper that implements temporal logic is used.


In this research, combustion characteristics of lignocellulose biomass (hazelnut shell) and three main components (cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin) were investigated using thermogravimetry (TGA-DTG) technique at different heating rates. The ignition, peak, burn-out temperatures, and the heat liberation of lignocellulose biomass and three main components were also measured. Two different model-free kinetic methods, known as Ozawa– Flynn–Wall (OFW) and Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose (KAS), were used in order to determine the activation energy values. Throughout the study, it is observed that the activation energy values of the biomass compounds varied between 83.8 and 191.7 kJ/mol for OFW and KAS methods, respectively.


OBJECTIVE
To examine default mode and salience network functional connectivity as a function of APOE ε4 status in a group of cognitively normal age-, sex-, and education-matched older adults.

DESIGN
Case-control study.

SUBJECTS
Fifty-six cognitively normal APOE ε4 carriers and 56 age-, sex- and education-matched cognitively normal APOE ε4 noncarriers.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE
Alterations in in-phase default mode and salience network connectivity in APOE ε4 carriers compared with APOE ε4 noncarriers ranging from 63 to 91 years of age.

RESULTS
A posterior cingulate seed revealed decreased in-phase connectivity in regions of the posterior default mode network that included the left inferior parietal lobe, left middle temporal gyrus, and bilateral anterior temporal lobes in the ε4 carriers relative to APOE ε4 noncarriers. An anterior cingulate seed showed greater in-phase connectivity in the salience network including the cingulate gyrus, medial prefrontal cortex, bilateral insular cortex, striatum, and thalamus in APOE ε4 carriers vs noncarriers. There were no groupwise differences in brain anatomy.

CONCLUSIONS
The observation of functional alterations in default mode and salience network connectivity in the absence of structural changes between APOE ε4 carriers and noncarriers suggests that alterations in connectivity may have the potential to serve as an early biomarker.


The ability of metal ionophores to induce cellular metal hyperaccumulation endows them with potent antimicrobial activity; however, the targets and mechanisms behind these outcomes are not well understood. This work describes the first utilization of proteome-wide measurements of protein folding stability in combination with protein expression level analysis to identify protein targets of copper, thereby providing new insight into ionophore-induced copper toxicity in E. coli. The protein folding stability analysis employed a one-pot protocol for pulse proteolysis (PP) in combination with a semi-tryptic peptide enrichment strategy for proteolysis procedures (STEPP) to generate stability profiles for proteins in cell lysates derived from E. coli exposed to copper with and without two ionophores, the antimicrobial agent pyrithione and its β-lactamase-activated prodrug, PcephPT. As part of this work, the above cell lysates were also subject to protein expression level analysis using conventional quantitative bottom-up proteomic methods. The protein folding stability and expression level profiles generated here enabled the effects of ionophore vs copper to be distinguished and revealed copper-driven stability changes in proteins involved in processes spanning metabolism, translation, and cell redox homeostasis. The 159 differentially stabilized proteins identified in this analysis were significantly more numerous (∼3×) than the 53 proteins identified with differential expression levels. These results illustrate the unique information that protein stability measurements can provide to decipher metal-dependent processes in drug mode of action studies.


Information of water quality and pollution sources is important for the implementation of sustainable water resource management strategies. In this research, to evaluate spatial variation and the interpretation of large complex water quality data taken at seven different sites along Gorganrood River were subjected to multivariate statistical analysis. The factor analysis generated two significant factors explaining 97.80% of the variance in data sets. Factor 1 and 2 explained 86.27 and 15.76% of the total variance in water quality data sets. Principle components analysis results revealed that surface water quality was mainly controlled by Ca and pH parameters. In next step, information entropy theory applied to interpret the stability of surface water quality variation in each factors and each parameters. Overall results revealed instability in data recorded in Tamar and Galikesh sites. In factor 2, EC and TDS, Lazoreh has highest instability. With a well knowing the factor score and overlaying entropy, infactor 1, Mg and Cl had highest stability. The ranks of information entropy values for Mg parameter at Galikesh, Tagi Abad, Basir Abad, Ramian and Tangrah sites vary noticeably due to geological formation. In general, sampling uncertainties are highly site specific.


The authors encountered an unusual case of recurrent trismus in a patient who had oral synechia, cleft lip and palate, digital anomalies, and external genital anomaly. Mandibular movement was severely restricted by congenital soft-tissue adhesion in the retromolar region. Despite aggressive surgical efforts and postoperative manipulations, limitation of mouth opening recurred soon after each operation. Furthermore, congenital and postoperative soft-tissue adhesion resulted in severe subsequent jaw deformities, which needed combined maxillary and mandibular advancement.


There is a perception in Western Australia that some regions do not have many farmer groups and that there are large numbers of farmers who aren't involved with group activities. This was seen to be a problem for government and industry research organisations that are attempting to encourage change in rural communities through group processes. This perception was not supported by the results of a study of in which 172 south western grain belt farmers were surveyed at three major field days in WA during 2002. With 79% of those surveyed currently involved in an average of 1.7 farmer groups, it can be argued they are heavily involved with group activities. Interestingly older farmers tended to be involved in more groups. Those that are involved in groups do so to gain information, social interaction and to improve themselves, their enterprise and the community; whereas those not involved said they have other sources of information, limited time and the groups offered were not perceived to be applicable. Another trend emerging in WA is the increasing role and membership of farmer initiated and managed groups.


Sm(III) chelates of lawsone(LW: 2 hydroxy 1,4 napht hoquinone), juglone(JU: 5 hydroxy 1,4 naphthoquinon e), phthiocol(PH: 2 hydroxy, 3 methyl 1,4 naphthoquinon e) and plumbagin(PL: 5 hydroxy, 2 methyl 1,4 naphthoquinone)which are called as Sm(III)juglonate s, are studied by using Far IR, XRD and SEM. Kineti c parameters of the chelates are reported by using Co ats and Redfern equation. Antifungal activity of th e chelates against S. Cerevisiae, A. Flavus and C. Albicans is studied and the results are compared within isom eric pairs of chelates.


Measurements were made of the flux of tritiated water across various marine, freshwater and euryhaline teleosts. The effects of temperature, body size, species differences, salinity, stress and anaesthetization were studied. 2. The Q 10 of the flux of water across teleosts is approximately 1·90 and the flux is related to the 0·88 power of the body weight. 3. All of the freshwater species studied were more permeable to water than the marine species. Euryhaline teleosts appear to have about the same permeability as species to which they are most closely related. 4. While the flounder and the yellow eel are more permeable to water in fresh water than in sea water, the silver eel and the brown trout do not change their permeability and the 3-spined stickleback is less permeable to water in fresh water than in sea water. 5. While stress markedly increases the permeability to water of large brown trout, it has no effect on small brown trout and seems to decrease the water permeability of the plaice. 6. Anaesthetization has no effect on the water permeability of the goldfish but markedly increases the permeability to water of the silver eel. 7. The relationship between the flux of water and either the drinking rate in sea water or the urine flow in fresh water is discussed.


Background Given the emotional demanding nature of social services, we developed a brief daily body-mind-spirit (BMS) program and successfully piloted it with workers at elderly services. The proposed study focuses on community mental health workers who are often under chronic stress and vulnerable to burnout. Methods The study aims to evaluate the program for fostering sustainable emotional capacity and work engagement for community mental health workers. A multi-site randomized controlled trial design is adopted. All the 24 the Integrated Community Centre for Mental Wellness (ICCMW of Hong Kong will be approached to join this program. Assuming conservatively, 60% ICCWM (14 centers) will respond and participate. At each site, a pair of intervention and control groups will be run. The targeted total sample size is 224. To investigate the course of changes in burnout and engagement, each group will last 6 months, including 3-month intervention and 3-month follow-up. Measures will be taken at monthly intervals. Discussion In light of literature and the pilot trial's findings, participants in the Brief Daily BMS intervention group are expected to have a reduced burnout level and a narrowing of range in work engagement during the 3 months intervention. And within the 3 months post-intervention period, a rebound of burnout level and a widening of range in work engagement are expected to be observed in the same group of participants. Hopefully, this study will contribute to the deeper understanding of burnout and work engagement, and shed light on sustainable intervention for emotionally demanding workplaces. Clinical Trial Registration The trial has been registered in the Clinical Trials Centre of the University of Hong Kong. HKUCTR-2763 Registered 27 December 2019 – Retrospectively registered, http://www.hkuctr.com/Study/Show/eb930d24e2c647afb7a922055163f24b.


The effect of eosin Y (2',4',5',7'-tetrabromofluorescin) on basic kinetic parameters of the reaction of Mg2+ -dependent hydrolysis of ATP catalysed "basal" Mg2+ -ATPase myometrial cells plasma membrane has been studied. The eosin Y (10-100 microM) inhibited initial maximal velocity of the "basal" Mg2+ -ATPase of plasma membrane assayed for Mg2+ and ATP. At the same time the given inhibitor reduces the affinity of Mg2+ -ATPase for ATP. However, the difficult effect of the inhibitor action is observed for Mg ions: eosin Y in concentration of 10-50 microM increases the enzyme affinity for the ion-activator, while in concentration of 100 microM the affinity of Mg2+ -ATPase for Mg2+ is reduced. An analysis of eosin Y effect on catalytic efficiency of "basal" Mg2+ -ATPase of plasma membrane has shown, that at saturating concentrations of ATP (1 mM) the enzyme activity is less sensitive to the action of inhibitor. On this basis the conclusion is made that ATP in high concentrations can compete with eosin Y for active centre of Mg2+ -ATPase of smooth muscle cells plasma membrane.


Mathematical models are utilized to approximate various highly complex engineering, physical, environmental, social, and economic phenomena. Model parameters exerting the most influence on model results are identified through a 'sensitivity analysis'. A comprehensive review is presented of more than a dozen sensitivity analysis methods. This review is intended for those not intimately familiar with statistics or the techniques utilized for sensitivity analysis of computer models. The most fundamental of sensitivity techniques utilizes partial differentiation whereas the simplest approach requires varying parameter values one-at-a-time. Correlation analysis is used to determine relationships between independent and dependent variables. Regression analysis provides the most comprehensive sensitivity measure and is commonly utilized to build response surfaces that approximate complex models.


I develop a model of statistical arbitrage trading in an environment with "fat-tailed" information. If risk-neutral arbitrageurs are uncertain about the variance of fat-tail shocks and if they implement max-min robust optimization, they will choose to ignore a wide range of pricing errors. Although model risk hinders their willingness to trade, arbitrageurs can capture the most profitable opportunities because they follow a linear momentum strategy beyond the inaction zone. This is equivalent to a machine-learning algorithm called LASSO. Arbitrageurs can also amass market power due to conservative trading under this strategy. Their uncoordinated exercise of robust control facilitates tacit collusion, protecting their profits from being competed away even if their number goes to infinity. In an extended model where an insider strategically interacts with those arbitrageurs, the insider can induce them to trade too aggressively, giving herself a reversal trading opportunity. Doing so distorts price informativeness and threatens market stability.