The objective of this handbook is to provide a description of practical methods for designing and executing effective environmental assessments (EAs) to those who are involved in various aspects of road projects, from planning to construction to maintenance. This handbook consists of two parts. Part I provides an overview of the EA process in the context of road planning and construction and also describes the detailed methodological steps of the EA process. Part II provides a more detailed, in-depth discussion of each of the major factors involved in environmental assessment of road projects, including impact mitigation. Each chapter covers one component of the environment and provides a description of possible impacts, the nature and scale of the impacts, and some practical information on common mitigation options. This is followed in each chapter by a checklist which suggests common ways of minimizing the impacts on the component. Each chapter ends with a list of information sources.


Based on the experience from the storage and operation of the gas masks canisters and filter canisters for collective protection, an overview has been made of one of the main disadvantages of the gas mask carbons used of type ASC Whetlerite, the declining of their protective properties as a result of the "aging' process. The "aging' factors of the gas mask carbons have been considered and mechanisms adopted for deactivation of their active phases. It has been demonstrated that the inclusion of ТЕDА and derivatives of pyridine in the active phase of the gas mask carbons of the type ASC Whetlerite, only partially solves the problem with the increase of the robustness against "aging" in the conditions of increased atmospheric humidity in operation and storage and for the overall solution, gas mask carbons need to be developed based on impregnation compositions other than of the ASC Whetlerite.


In postcolonial literary criticism, Bangladeshi writing in English has not received the scholarly attention or the recognition it deserves. However, there is an irony here because colonial Bengal was perhaps the first among the British colonies to embrace English education and its people had early working experiences with the British. Moreover, this literary tradition claims some of the earliest writers of literature written in English outside the British and American canons. In the present time, it has gained renewed vibrancy as writers both in Bangladesh and in the diaspora, especially in the UK, have produced English works both in the original and in translation. Considering the rich background, sophistication and huge potential of Bangladeshi writing in English, in this article we will provide a historical overview and the varying strands of this literary tradition. As editors of this special journal issue, we will also attempt a general outline of the articles included in it and consider the main themes they explicate.


The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 imposed significant strain on critical care services worldwide. The South London region experienced the largest numbers of critical care admissions in the United Kingdom with King's College Hospital one of the busiest centres. This article outlines, using a descriptive narrative, the significant changes that occurred within King's Critical Care as a result of the pandemic and the decisions that were taken to provide effective co-ordination and control to the expanded service, in part drawing on the military experience of two of the authors. The wider context of crisis and major incident leadership and management is also discussed contrasting different approaches used in civilian and military settings.


Positive glacier-mass balances in the Karakoram region during the last decade have fostered stable and advancing glacier termini positions, while glaciers in the adjacent mountain ranges have been affected by glacier recession and thinning. In addition to fluctuations induced solely by climate, the Karakoram is known for a large number of surge-type glaciers. The present study provides an updated and extended inventory on advancing, stable, retreating, and surge-type glaciers using Landsat imagery from 1976 to 2012. Out of 1219 glaciers the vast majority showed a stable terminus (969) during the observation period. Sixty-five glaciers advanced, 93 glaciers retreated, and 101 surge-type glaciers were identified, of which 10 are new observations. The dimensional and topographic characteristics of each glacier class were calculated and analyzed. Ninety percent of nonsurge-type glaciers are shorter than 10 km, whereas surge-type glaciers are, in general, longer. We report short response times of glaciers in the Karakoram and suggest a shift from negative to balanced/positive mass budgets in the 1980s or 1990s. Additionally, we present glacier surface velocities derived from different SAR (synthetic aperture radar) sensors and different years for a Karakoram-wide coverage. High-resolution SAR data enables the investigation of small and relatively fast-flowing glaciers (e.g., up to 1.8 m day −1 during an active phase of a surge). The combination of multitemporal optical imagery and SAR-based surface velocities enables an improved, Karakoram-wide glacier inventory and hence, provides relevant new observational information on the current state of glaciers in the Karakoram.


Choosing a coursebook for a particular group of students involves adapting the material against the context in which it is going to be used because it is easy to understand that most text books are produced for large-scale, commercial use, and therefore are not always suitable for the needs of one's local, particular group. The teacher then, according to Hutchinson and Tones, "becomes little more than a cipher for a prepared text" (Hutchinson and Tones, 1994 in Tomlinson, 2003, p347). This statement very well refers to Bangladeshi university teachers as most of them have become familiar with using Western textbooks like New Headway, Cutting Age, English for Life, etc. Be that as it may, we should remember that ii this case the teachers might not feel comfortable about using these texts because of the mismatch of the global material and local needs of the learners. Therefore, the situation implies that, as teachers, it is important for us to evaluate teaching materials and then adapt them as toils to help our teachers. But the question is how far our teachers are aware of the need for adaptation of these EFL materials in order to make it context specific and student friendly. This paper presents EFL teachers' awareness of adapting ELT coursebooks at the tertiary level in Bangladesh. In addition, it focuses on teachers' opportunities and challenges of adapting ELT coursebooks. It is based on a criterion driven questionnaire.


This paper explores the underpinning concepts commonly associated with technological implementation in Higher Education. Technological implementation in Higher Education is driven by assumptions from earlier work exploring the potential demands of the "Net Generation" in terms of access to and engagement with technologies. Whilst presenting valid considerations, more contemporary research suggests limitations of this earlier work, in favour of recognition of the individual nature of technological use in practice. Using person-environment fit theory to underpin the discussion, this paper explores how mis-mathed expectations between institutions and users, can create conflict, stress and behaviours that detract from the learning experience. Current conflicts within Higher Education are used to illustrate the need for an holistic approach to implementation planning, considering the wider educational context and sphere of influence.


Mechanisms of interaction between laser radiation and biological tissue are reviewed. Scattering and absorption determine the penetration of radiation into tissue; the heterogeneity of tissues prevents exact model calculations of in-depth energy deposition. The high irradiances, achievable with pulsed lasers, can induce nonlinear absorption, optical breakdown and plasma formation in tissues. Heat conduction and heat convection as well as the build-up and propagation of pressure transients damage tissue outside of the absorbing volume. The limitations to the validity of the first-order rate processes as a description for thermal tissue coagulation and the possibilities for novel photochemistry are discussed.


Based on our experience, hospitalization in intensive care units of patients with systemic diseases occurs several years after diagnosis. Though mortality ranges from 30 to 45%, it is not statistically different from that in unselected patients. Outcome is clearly related to controllable infectious complications. Three other prognosis factors are the gravity of the patient's status at admission (APACHE or IGS scores), corticosteroid therapy and prior health status. Long-term prognosis for patients discharged from intensive care is good with a 30% mortality at 5 years despite the irreversible nature of their disease.


This document describes a password authentication mechanism, called
YAP-SHA-256, for use in protocols which support Simple Authentication
and Security Layer (SASL) framework. The mechanism relies on security
services provided by a lower layer, such as Transport Layer Security
(TLS), to protect the authentication exchange, and subsequent
application data exchange, from common attacks. The YAP-SHA-256
mechanism may be viewed as an alternative to other password-based SASL
mechanism, such as PLAIN, CRAM-MD5, and DIGEST-MD5.


The so called Forestier-Rotes Querol's disease or diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis can affect the neck caused by osteophytos and ossification-calcification of the vertebral ligaments. The location in that region can produce dysphagia or hoarseness, among other symptoms, so that the patient can assist or be sent to ENT valoration. We are reporting a case of this pathology which was diagnosed in our hospital. Finally a bibliographic review is performed.


Eucalyptus wood is among the most important biomass resource in the world. Wood mechanical defibration and fibrillation are energy-intensive processes utilized not only to produce pulp for papermaking, but also to produce reinforcement fibers for biocomposites, nanocellulose, or pretreat lignocellulosic material for biofuels production. The structural features of different Eucalyptus hybrids affecting the refining energy consumption and produced fiber furnish properties were evaluated. The defibration and fiber development were performed using an alkaline peroxide mechanical pulping (APMP) process, which included chelation followed by an alkaline peroxide treatment prior to wood chip defibration. Despite the similar wood densities and chemical compositions of different Eucalyptus hybrids, there was a clear difference in the extent of defibration and fibrillation among the hybrids. The high energy consumption was related to a high amount of guaiacyl lignin. This observation is of major importance when considering the optimal wood hybrids for mechanical wood defibration and for understanding the fundamental phenomena taking place in chemi-mechanical defibration of wood.


Purpose : This investigation evaluated the inhibitory effect of S-2- (3-aminopropylamino)-ethylphosphorothioic acid (WR-2721) against the initiation of mammary tumourigenesis by irradiation, and the antipromotion activity of tamoxifen in the development of radiation-initiated mammary tumours. Materials and methods : Lactating rats were injected with WR-2721 and then irradiated with γ-rays (1.5 Gy) at day 21 of lactation. The rats were divided into three groups 1 month after irradiation and were implanted with a pellet either of cholesterol as an inert control, diethylstilbestrol (DES) as a tumour-promoting agent, or DES combined with tamoxifen. For the control experiments, non-irradiated and irradiated rats receiving saline instead of WR-2721 were treated with a pellet by the same procedures. Results : The highest incidence (85%) for tumourigenesis of mammary glands was observed in the irradiated rats that had been previously injected with saline following treatment with DES Administration of WR-2721 prior to the irradiation significantly decreased the incidence of mammary tumours to 52.2%. The treatment with DES pellets combined with tamoxifen in the irradiated rats previously injected with saline also markedly suppressed the incidence of mammary tumours even further to 4.4%. Also, the development of mammary tumours was completely prevented in the rats treated with WR-2721 prior to irradiation and then implanted with DES pellets combined with tamoxifen. Conclusions : These results suggest that the administration of WR2721 prior to irradiation has an inhibitory effect on the initiation phase, resulting in a partial reduction of mammary tumour development, and that the combination of WR-2721 at the initiation phase with tamoxifen at the promotion phase is quite effective in preventing mammary tumourigenesis induced by radiation.


This paper presents a new system configuration for integrating a grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) system together with a self-supported dynamic voltage restorer (DVR). The proposed system termed as a "six-port converter," consists of nine semiconductor switches in total. The proposed configuration retains all the essential features of normal PV and DVR systems while reducing the overall switch count from twelve to nine. In addition, the dual functionality feature significantly enhances the system robustness against severe symmetrical/asymmetrical grid faults and voltage dips. A detailed study on all the possible operational modes of six-port converter is presented. An appropriate control algorithm is developed and the validity of the proposed configuration is verified through extensive simulation as well as experimental studies under different operating conditions.


Ignition conditions and risks of ignition on a permissible value of hydrogen concentration in purge gas prescribed by HFCV-GTR were reevaluated. Experiments were conducted to investigate burning behavior and thermal influence of continuous evacuation of hydrogen under continuous purge of air / hydrogen premixed gas, which is close to an actual purge condition of FCV, and thermal evacuation of hydrogen. As a result of the reevaluation, it was shown from the viewpoint of safety that the permissible value of hydrogen concentration in purge gas prescribed by the current HFCV GTR is appropriate.


Studies examining the relative cost-effectiveness of surgical procedures and surgery-related interventions for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) remain limited. This dearth of studies hampers decision-makers' assessment of surgery-related interventions for IBD patients. The purpose of this study was to conduct a scoping review of available literature for cost-effectiveness analyses of IBD-related surgery.

 We performed a comprehensive search of English-language articles in MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Reviews, and Scopus from each database's inception to May 1, 2022. Preplanned controlled vocabulary related to IBD and its subtypes, surgery, and measures of costs were used. We defined study selection criteria to include all IBD-related surgical interventions (including preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative) in all age groups that also reported a measure of costs of care. Studies comparing medical versus surgical interventions for refractory IBD were excluded. All search findings were screened by two reviewers using titles, abstracts, and ultimately full-length manuscripts. Full screened studies were then extracted for study characteristics and findings to facilitate a qualitative synthesis of results.

 We identified 1,804 citations for screening and ultimately found 10 formal cost-effectiveness studies and 56 cost-only studies. Cost-effectiveness studies assessed intraoperative (50%) and postoperative interventions (50%) mostly in patients with Crohn's disease (60%). Topics included comparisons of surgical approach (50%), venous thromboembolism prophylaxis (30%), and surveillance for postoperative recurrence (2%). Of the cost-only studies, the majority focused on intraoperative interventions (89%), particularly in ulcerative colitis patients (60%). Areas of interest included costs associated with healthcare resource utilization during a surgery-related admission (89%), venous thromboembolism prophylaxis (4%), and others (7%). Pre-defined areas of interest with no reported interventions included IBD-specific roles of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery interventions such as alvimopan, robotic surgery, timing to surgery, surgical therapies for perianal disease, pediatric Crohn's Disease, and genetic testing.

 A scoping review found minimal literature using cost-effectiveness techniques to inform IBD-related surgical care. There are many more cost-only than cost-effectiveness studies related to these clinical topics. This asymmetry highlights immediately available opportunities for broadening the use of cost-effectiveness analysis of IBD-related surgical interventions.


Summary

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of pea (Pisum sativum L.)-originated asparaginase on acrylamide formation in white wheat, wheat bran and whole-grain wheat breads. Two-day germinated pea flour was used at 0%, 1%, 3% and 5% levels for each bread type. Acrylamide analysis was performed with liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry. Besides, colour and sensory properties of the breads were evaluated to search out the effects of pea flour substitution on the consumer acceptance. Reduction of acrylamide in white wheat bread was not found significant and addition of pea flour decreased the acceptance. However, it was found that acrylamide level can be reduced by 57% and 68% with addition of 5% pea flour in wheat bran and whole-grain breads, respectively, without any negative impact on colour and sensory properties.


Objective: To explore the anti-inflammatory mechanism of IGF1R inhibitor in diabetic nephropathy. Methods: C57/BL6 mice were reared with high-fat diet for 8 weeks, then were injected 30 mg/kg streptozotocin intraperitoneally to induce type 2 diabetes. After 8 weeks, the type 2 diabetes nephropathy model was successfully set up the different drugs were administrated to mice with diabetes (insulin 1–2 U/day, benazepril 10 mg/kg per day intragastrically, IGF-1R inhibitor 30 mg/kg per day intragastrically). After 8 weeks drugs administration, all mice were collected the kidney tissue, measured levels of inflammatory factor (F4/80, TLR4and CD68) and fibrosis markers( α SMA, E-cadherin and SR) using immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization. Results: The type 2 diabetes nephropathy model was built successfully, which along with increased urinary protein excretion rate and increased inflammatory infiltration, and the correlation was char-acterized by increased CD68 + , F4/80 + cells and increased TLR4, α SMA, SR expression. IGF-1R inhibitors reversed this changes, but benazepril and insulin were without significant changes. The insulin decreased the expression level of IGF-1, and increased the levels of suppressor of cytokine signaling 2 (SOCS2). Benazepril and IGF-1R inhibitor were no significant changes like insulin. Conclusion: Inhibition of IGF1R was a more effective choice for inflammation treatment than Ben or Ins in diabetic kidney disease (DKD). The IGF1R inhibitor blocked pathological changes induced by the over-expression of IGF1 in DKD without up-regulating SOCS2 protein levels.


OBJECTIVE
The potential association between thyroid hormones and breast cancer has been investigated in a large number of studies without conclusive results. This study investigated triiodothyronine (T3) levels in relation to breast cancer mortality in a population with no breast cancer patients at baseline. An additional aim was to study T3 levels in relation to mortality from other cancers and all-cause mortality.

DESIGN AND METHODS
This was a population-based prospective cohort study including 2185 women in whom T3 levels were measured as part of a preventive health project, i.e. before diagnosis in women who later developed breast cancer. Mean follow-up was 24.1 years and record-linkage to The Swedish Cause-of-Death registry identified 471 women who died: 26 out of breast cancer and 182 from other cancers. Mortality was assessed using a Cox's analysis, yielding hazard ratios (HRs), with 95% confidence intervals. Analyses of T3 as a continuous variable were repeated for pre- and peri/postmenopausal women separately.

RESULTS
T3 levels were positively associated with the risk of breast cancer-specific death in the age-adjusted analysis: HR for T3 as a continuous variable was 2.80 (1.26-6.25). However, the crude analysis did not reach statistical significance. Breast cancer mortality was even higher in postmenopausal women: 3.73 (1.69-8.22), but stratified analyses included few events. There were no statistically significant associations between T3 levels and deaths from other cancers, age-adjusted HR: 1.09 (0.72-1.65) or all-cause mortality (1.25:0.97-1.60).

CONCLUSIONS
This study, the first of its kind on prospectively measured T3 levels, indicates that T3 levels are positively associated with breast cancer-specific mortality and that this is not related to a general effect on all-cause mortality.


Networks describe a broad range of systems across a wide variety of topics from social and economic interactions over technical infrastructures such as power grids and the internet to biological contexts such as food webs or neural networks. A number of large scale failures and events in these interconnected systems in recent years has shown that understanding the behavior of individual units of these networks is not necessarily sufficient to handle the increasing complexity of these systems. Many theoretical models have been studied to understand the fundamental mechanisms underlying the formation and function of networked systems and a general framework was developed to describe and understand networked systems. However, most of these models ignore a constraint that affects almost all realistic systems: limited resources. In this thesis I study the effects of economic constraints, such as a limited budget or cost minimization, both on the control of network formation and dynamics as well as on network formation itself. I introduce and analyze a new coupling scheme for coupled dynamical systems, showing that synchronization of chaotic units can be enhanced by restricting the interactions based on the states of the individual units, thus saving interactions costs. This new interaction scheme guarantees synchronizability of arbitrary networks of coupled chaotic oscillators, independent of the network topology even with strongly limited interactions. I then propose a new order parameter to measure the degree of phase coherence of networks of coupled phase oscillators. This new order parameter accurately describes the phase coherence in all stages of incoherent movement, partial and full phase locking up to full synchrony. Importantly, I analytically relate this order parameter directly to the stability of the phase locked state. In the second part, I consider the formation of networks under economic constraints from two different points of view. First I study the effects of explicitly limited resources on the control of random percolation, showing that optimal control can have undesired side effects. Specifically, maximal delay of percolation with a limited budget results in a discontinuous percolation transition, making the transition itself uncontrollable in the sense that a single link can have a macroscopic effect on the connectivity. Finally, I propose a model where network formation is driven by cost minimization of the individual nodes in the network. Based on a simple economically motivated supply problem, the resulting network structure is given as the solution of a large number of individual but interaction optimization problem. I show that these network states directly correspond to the final states of a local percolation algorithm and analyze the effects of local optimization on the network formation process.
 Overall, I reveal mechanisms and phenomena introduced by these economic constraints that are typically not considered in the standard models, showing that economic constraints can strongly alter the formation and function of networked systems. Thereby, I extend the theoretical understanding that we have of networked systems to economic considerations. I hope that this thesis enables better prediction and control networked systems in realistic settings.


The work described in this thesis is concerned with studies on various aspects of infection with one of the most common and pathogenic of the equine helminths, Strongylus vulgaris. In order to facilitate these experimental studies, an efficient technique was developed for the production of large numbers of S. vulgaris infective larvae in pure culture; in this, third stage S. vulgaris larvae were obtained by surgically transferring adult worms, collected from horses immediately after slaughter, directly into the caeca of worm-free yearling ponies. Subsequently, various investigations on the life-cycle, pathogenesis, epidemiology and immunity of S. vulgaris infection were carried out. Considerable controversy existed concerning the migratory route taken by developing parasitic larval stages of S. vulgaris in the tissues of the host. In order to elucidate this, worm-free pony foals were infected with a pure culture of infective larvae and killed at intervals over a period of 9 months. The results showed that infective larvae exsheathed and penetrated the intestine within a few days of infection. These larvae then moulted in the sub-mucosa, penetrated small arteries and had migrated within the lumina of the intestinal arteries to the anterior mesenteric site by 14 days after infection; in this predilection site larvae developed from early to late fourth stage. After a period of 3 - 4 months the fourth moult was completed and the young adults returned to the intestine again via the lumina of the arteries. Nodules were formed with the subsequent release of young adults into the intestinal lumen. The pre-patent period was 6-7 months. Studies on the pathogenesis of S. vulgaris infection showed that a distinct clinical syndrome occurred within 3-4 weeks of infection in foals given doses of 750 infective larvae. This syndrome was one of pyrexia, anorexia and colic associated with the presence of fourth stage larvae in the intestine and mesenteric arteries. Examination of tissues taken from foals killed over a period of 9 months demonstrated the sequence of pathological changes. During the course of these studies infected foals showed a marked polymorphonuclear leucocytosis and an eosinophilia together with an increase in the serum globulin levels; the latter appeared to be due mainly to increases in the p -globulin levels. Subsequently using 125I labelled albumin and 51Cr labelled red blood cells it was shown that the rate of albumin catabolism was increased and the red cell survival time reduced in ponies with patent infections. The epidemiology of equine helminthiasis was studied in 2 separate systems of management over 2 years. Basically 2 regimens were employed: one where untreated mares and foals went out in the spring to pastures never previously grazed by horses while in the other, mares, regularly treated with anthelmintics, and their foals grazed contaminated pasture. These systems allowed 2 sources of infection for susceptible foals: where mares were treated, the main source of infection was from overwintered larvae; where infected mares went out to clean pasture infection of the foals could only occur from larvae which developed from eggs passed in the faeces of the mare. The results demonstrated the following points. First, foals going out to grass in the spring can be infected by both overwintered larvae and by eggs passed in the faeces of their dams but the latter is by far the more important source of infection. Secondly, where horses remain untreated throughout the grazing season high levels of third stage strongyle larvae develop on pasture, whereas regular anthelmintic treatment at intervals of 2 - 4 weeks reduces pasture contamination to a minimum. Thirdly, although high levels of infective larvae may occur on pasture grazed by infected animals during the summer and autumn, these levels fall during the winter and by May the following year virtually no third stage larvae can be recovered from these pastures. The results of a series of experiments on the immunity to S. vulgaris infection provided the following Information. First, an age immunity was demonstrated when S-year-old worm-free ponies were infected with S. vulgaris larvae. No clinical signs or gross arterial lesions developed in these animals and no fourth stage larvae were recovered at necropsy. Secondly, a degree of acquired immunity in terms of resistance to reinfection was demonstrated in groups of naturally and experimentally infected animals. Finally, the results of a preliminary vaccination experiment have shown that the arterial lesions are less severe and that there is an 80% reduction in larval numbers in vaccinated foals compared to challenge controls.


A creep Deformation Mechanism Map (DMM) of an engineering alloy can be an effective tool for developing physics based prognostics systems. Many classical diffusion based rate equations have been developed for time dependent plastic flow where dislocation glide, dislocation glide-plus-climb and vacancy diffusion driven grain boundary migration (diffusion creep) are rate controlling. Long term creep testing and analysis of complex engineering alloys has shown that power law breakdown phenomenon is related to the dominance of Grain Boundary Sliding (GBS) as opposed to diffusion creep. Rate equations are now available for GBS in complex alloys and, in this paper, a DMM is constructed for Waspaloy (a Nickel-Based Superalloy) and validated by comparison with a collection of experimental data obtained from the literature. The GBS accommodated by wedge type cracking is considered dominant at low homologous temperatures (0.3 to 0.5Tm temperature in Kelvin) whereas GBS accommodated by power-law or cavitations creep dominates above 0.55Tm. ∗(Correspondence Author, cross-affiliation with Materials Eng. Dept. The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1Z4, Canada) NOMENCLATURE DMM: Deformation Mechanisms Map. GBS: Grain Boundary Sliding. PLC: Power Law Creep. PLB: Power Law Breakdown. IG: Intra-Granular. W-Type: Wedge type cracking. R-type: Cavitation type Cracking. 4D: 4 Dimensional. Tm: Melting Temperature in Kelvin. T Tm : Homologous Temperature. σ σ0 : Normalized Stress.


Background Domestic carnivores can introduce rabies into disease-free countries or areas if they are incubating the disease and transported during the pre-symptomatic period. For pets moved into the European Union, the European Commission decided to establish a system of community approval of laboratories willing to carry out the rabies serological controls to guarantee an effective control system. As the specific institute to coordinate the approval of the laboratories, designated by the European Commission in 2000, our laboratory organizes annual proficiency tests (PT) for laboratories already agreed or willing to be agreed to perform rabies serological controls (by detecting rabies virus neutralizing antibodies only) in the frame of international trade. Methodology/Principal findings The assessment criteria of this PT rely on the analysis of the specificity and the intra-laboratory consistency. The approach used to evaluate the degree of laboratory consistency is based on the use of compiled data obtained from previous PT campaigns, and is measured by the quality of a regression model. By using historical data for calculating assigned values and associated standard deviations, instead of values obtained from only one campaign, they became robust without any additional statistical treatment. In the present paper, more than 800 historical values were compiled for each of the regression parameters. Conclusions/Significance Since the beginning of these PT schemes in 1999, the overall percentage of failing laboratories remained stable over the years (4.1%) while the number of participants increased to 79 in 2018. This highlighted the robustness and the consistency of the statistical analyses used to assess the laboratory's performance over the years. The improvements carried out and the consistency of our statistical analyses have resulted in the compliance of the rabies serology PT with the ISO/IEC 17043 and ISO 13528:2015 International Standards.


This paper provides an overview of the telecommunications policy environment in Canada. Like Milner's (2009) article on New Zealand, this paper offers insights on international approaches to telecommunications policy. Canada's telecommunications history reveals a mix of private and public sector investment in regionally-based service providers. Canada did not have a single, publicly owned telecommunications carrier as was the case in Australia. Liberalisation of the telecommunications marketplace encouraged the development of competing infrastructures, with cable companies (traditionally focused on broadcasting distribution) and telephone companies now both providing wireline and wireless, voice, Internet and television services. Competition for wireline services remains regionally based, while wireless providers compete nationally.

Although competition is intense, the broadband and wireless markets are highly concentrated. Competition in these markets has not resulted in extensive consumer choice, low prices or innovative services. Most Canadian consumers have access to broadband connectivity, but uptake rates now lag other OECD countries, for services that are slower and more expensive than those available in many other locations. Mobile phone penetration in Canada is on par with that of developing nations. The paper explores the characteristics of Canada's telecommunication markets, discusses the policy environment and notes that government has not offered a vision of a digital future for Canada.


Reliability cost/reliability worth assessment plays an important role in electric power system planning and operation. The paper proposes a technique for evaluating the costs of interruption and hence, the reliability worth in a composite power system network with time varying loads at load buses using sequential Monte Carlo simulation. A generalized methodology of determining the interruption costs, without considering the time varying aspect of the loads is discussed and the results are compared with those obtained by utilizing a load duration curve to represent the time dependent loads. Case studies conducted on the IEEE Reliability Test System (IEEE-RTS) are presented and discussed.


Systemic vasculitis, which can involve the brain, may be one of the causes of stroke in young adults; therefore, a test panel for systemic vasculitis is considered for some young stroke patients. However, little is known about this test's yield as a screening test in young adults with ischemic stroke. We evaluated the yield of a panel for systemic vasculitis as a screening test in young patients with ischemic stroke. Consecutive patients aged 18–45 years with ischemic stroke between January 2010 and December 2017 were included. They all underwent screening tests for systemic vasculitis including rheumatoid factor, antinuclear antibody, antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies, anticardiolipin antibody, lupus anticoagulant, anti-DNA antibody, and anti-Ro/SSA and La/SSB antibodies. Among 3,593 consecutive patients with acute ischemic stroke during the study period, 198 (5.5%) were aged 18–45 years. Only 4 patients (2.0%) were diagnosed with systemic vasculitis; 2 had systemic lupus erythematosus, 1 had Sjogren's syndrome, and 1 had Churg-Strauss syndrome. Vasculitis panel screening in every young ischemic stroke patient is not of high yield unless a vasculitic process is highly suspected based on other systemic symptoms or signs of vasculitis. Screening should be targeted toward persons with clinical suspicion.


This paper reports a pilot study on the thermoluminescence (TL) of carbonate minerals of carp otoliths from the heavily polluted Baiyangdian Lake (BYD) in Hebei Province and non-polluted Miyun Water Reservoir (MY) in Beijing Municipality of China. Analyses on trace elements of otoliths and water show that the heavy metal elements of BYD were much higher than those of MY, particularly on chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), zinc (Zn) and rubidium (Rb) concentrations. These heavy metal elements could infiltrate into the otolith crystals as impurities or defeats, and were responsible for the different TL parameters and TL glow curves between BYD and MY samples. Such differences in carp otoliths would be applicable to other lakes or water reservoirs, and the TL technique could be used as "fingerprint" in identification of polluted and non-polluted lakes. Also, the TL characteristics of fish otoliths may provide a quick and qualitative means for environmental assessments in lake pollution. Key words: Thermoluminescence, fish otolith, heavy-metal elements, lake, pollution.


Title

 An Application on a Research About to Determine Some Factors of the Choices Cripto-money by Using Analytical
Hierarchical Process
Abstract
The success of crypto money has still been away from reality. Many people have thought that crypto money is a tulip mania
or it is a technology development like the internet. Some alternatives of bitcoin have appeared since 2011 and new ones are
added every day. Bitcoin alternatives has been known as altcoin, are common names is given to all other crypto currencies
except bitcoin. In this study, it is aimed to evaluate the market capitalization from the crypto parcels whose numbers are over
1,500 by using the Analytical Hierarchy Process according to the determined criteria by selecting the top ten crypto-
moneys.

 Editor: H. Kemal Ilter, Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University, Turkey

 Received: August 19, 2018, Accepted: October 18, 2018, Published: November 10, 2018
Copyright: © 2018 IMISC Genc et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author
and source are credited.


This article argues that dreams are an important and deliberate part of Shakespeare's conception of tragedy in Richard III . Shakespeare, when composing this play, exploited the uncertainty in his time about whether dreams were natural or supernatural phenomena in order to deploy dream devices as a form of commentary on the material as well as spiritual implications of his characters' actions. As a result, dreams ultimately sharpen the play's focus on human agency by amplifying the characters' ambitions, crimes, and guilty consciences.


BACKGROUND & AIMS
Combination therapy with interferon alpha (IFN-alpha) and ribavirin (RBV) or pegylated IFN-alpha (PEG-IFN-alpha)/RBV for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection often causes anemia, prompting RBV dose reduction/discontinuation. This study assessed whether epoetin alfa could maintain RBV dose, improve quality of life (QOL), and increase hemoglobin (Hb) in anemic HCV-infected patients.

METHODS
HCV-infected patients (n = 185) on combination therapy who developed anemia (Hb < or = 12 g/dL) were randomized into a U. S. multicenter, placebo-controlled, clinical trial of epoetin alfa, 40,000 U subcutaneously, once weekly vs. matching placebo. The study design used an 8-week, double-blind phase (DBP) followed by an 8-week, open-label phase (OLP), in which placebo patients were crossed over to epoetin alfa.

RESULTS
At the end of the DBP, RBV doses were maintained in 88% of patients receiving epoetin alfa vs. 60% of patients receiving placebo (P < 0.001). Mean QOL scores at the end of the DBP improved significantly on all domains of the Linear Analog Scale Assessment (LASA) and on 7 of the 8 domains of the Short Form-36, version 2 (SF-36v2). Mean Hb increased by 2.2 +/- 1.3 g/dL (epoetin alfa) and by 0.1 +/- 1.0 g/dL (placebo) in the DBP (P < 0.001). Similar results were demonstrated in patients who switched from placebo to epoetin alfa in the OLP. Epoetin alfa was well tolerated; the most common adverse effects were headache and nausea.

CONCLUSIONS
Epoetin alfa maintained RBV dose and improved QOL and Hb in anemic HCV-infected patients receiving combination therapy.


PURPOSE
This article reports the first United Kingdom study to examine the prevalence of psychological distress in men with breast cancer and the factors associated with increased distress.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
One hundred and sixty-one men with breast cancer completed a cross-sectional questionnaire that included measures of anxiety and depressive symptoms, cancer-specific distress, body image, coping, information and support needs, and clinical and demographic variables.

RESULTS
Clinical levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms were reported by 6% and 1% of men, respectively, while 23% reported high levels of cancer-specific distress. Anxiety was most strongly associated with avoidance coping and fear and uncertainty about the future (42% of the variance in anxiety scores, P < .001). Depressive symptoms were associated with altered body image (35% of the variance, P < .001). Body image, avoidance coping, referral to the study by a clinician, fear and uncertainty, and wanting to receive more gender-specific information together explained 51% of the variance in cancer-related distress (P < .001). Clinical and demographic factors did not account for a significant proportion of the variance in any of the distress measures.

CONCLUSION
Although the prevalence of clinical anxiety and depressive symptoms were low in this sample, almost a quarter of men experienced traumatic stress symptoms specific to breast cancer. Potential risk factors for distress include the use of avoidant coping strategies, negative body image, feelings of fear and uncertainty in relation to breast cancer, and unmet information needs. Suggestions are made for improving the information and support available to men with breast cancer.


The heart is an organ heavily dependent on exogenous lipids for the oxidative production of adenosine-triphosphate (ATP) and therefore maintenance of normal cellular energy homeostasis. However, high energy flux organs such as the heart must closely match lipid import and utilization or otherwise lipids will accumulate in the cardiomyocytes. Intracellular lipid accumulation has detrimental effects on cardiomyocyte function and viability and results in development of lipotoxic cardiomyopathy. Different pathophysiological states such as congestive heart failure (CHF), myocardial ischemia and hypertrophy are associated with myocardial lipid accumulation. The heart, however, produces and secretes apolipoprotein B containing lipoproteins (apoB), which enables the cardiomyocyte to export lipids. It has been proposed that apoB may be involved in cardioprotection by means of elimination of toxic intracellular lipids. An important part of the patologic cardiac remodelling in CHF is disturbed myocardial energy metabolism. The failing myocardium contains low levels of creatine (Cr), phosphocreatine (PCr), and ATP. Cr depletion in the heart may result in disturbed energy production, transfer and utilisation of chemical energy and therefore compromised left ventricular function. Growth hormone (GH) has been shown to exert numerous positive effects on the failing and remodelled heart suggesting that GH may be an additional agent in the treatment of CHF and myocardial infarction (MI). The aims of this thesis were: I. To investigate in vivo the effects of Cr depletion in mice on left ventricular function and morphology, energy metabolism and myocardial lipids. II. To investigate importance of endogenous lipoproteins in the heart for cardiac function, morphology and survival in the settings of acute and chronic myocardial infarction and doxorubicine induced acute heart failure. III. To investigate the effects of Growth hormone on arrhythmogenesis IV. To evaluate the predictive value of native cardiac reserve on outcome after myocardial infarction in mice Using a mouse model of chemically-induced Cr depletion we show in vivo that myocardial Cr depletion leads to disturbed energy metabolism, left ventricular dysfunction, pathologic remodeling and accumulation of intracellular triglycerides. These alterations are reversible upon the normalization of the creatine levels suggesting that creatine metabolism may be an important target for pharmacological interventions. Using transgenic animals we show that myocardial apoB may be a cardioprotective system which is activated during ischemia, pathologic remodeling and heart failure and may be important for survival in myocardial infarction and heart failure. We show that GH possess novel antiarrhythmic properties in the setting of acute MI which adds further evidence to the concept of GH as an additional pharmacological agent in the treatment of CHF and MI. We demonstrate that native cardiac reserve is a predictor of post-MI survival.


We compare the efficiency of Islamic and conventional banks during the period 2004–2009 using data envelopment analysis (DEA) and meta-frontier analysis (MFA). The use of the non-parametric MFA allows for the decomposition of gross efficiency (i.e. the efficiency of banks when measured relative to a common frontier) into 2 components: net efficiency (the efficiency of banks measured relative to their own bank type frontier) and type efficiency (the efficiency which relates to modus operandi). This approach is new to the Islamic banking literature. The analysis is performed in two stages. The first stage employs DEA and MFA to compare banks on the basis of gross efficiency and its components (net and type). We find that Islamic banks are typically on a par with conventional ones in terms of gross efficiency, significantly higher on net efficiency and significantly lower on type efficiency. Second stage analyses, which account for banking environment and bank-level characteristics, confirm these results. The low type efficiency of Islamic banks could be attributed to lack of product standardization whereas high net efficiency reflects high managerial capability in Islamic banks. These findings are relevant to both policy-makers and regulators. In particular, Islamic banks should explore the benefits of moving to a more standardized system of banking, while the underperformance of conventional bank managers could be examined in the context of the on-going remuneration culture. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.


This study aims to discuss and quantify the reaction of a market or a population to perturbations assuming that their behaviour is governed by a differential equation containing a memory formalism modelling their evolution. A perturbation acts on a market, as well as on a population, as the delta function to generate the Green function. In both cases the memory has a stabilising effect. In the case of markets it is seen how the memory formalisms will definitely stabilise the market when the intensity of the perturbation is small relative to the effect of the memory; when the intensity of the perturbation is larger the market may lead to an extreme event. The same would be true also for populations. As practical cases we consider the people of Polesine (Italy) returning to their homes after leaving as a consequence of the 1951 Po River flood, then we consider the variation of the number of Revenue Passenger Miles (RPM) in the US after the 2001 September 11th terrorist attack in New York and finally the number of abortions in Italy following the 1978 law legalising the abortions. It is seen that in the three cases, in spite of the differences, the return to normality had similar features: the number of individuals affected by the extreme event had an initial sudden variation followed by oscillations of decreasing amplitude. A table with the values of the parameters tentatively obtained from the population data is finally presented.


Crystal structures and microstructural features, such as structural phase transitions, defect structures, chemical and structural inhomogeneities, are known to have profound effects on the physical properties of superconducting materials. Recently, a large amount of works on the structural properties of Fe-based high-Tc superconductors have been published. This review article will mainly focus on typical microstructural features in samples that have been well characterized by physical measurements. (a) Certain common structural features are discussed. In particular, crystal structural features for different superconducting families, local structural distortions in the Fe2Pn2 (Pn=P, As, Sb) or Fe2Ch2 (Ch=S, Se, Te) blocks, and structural transformations in the 122 system. (b) In FeTe(Se) (11-family), the superconductivity, chemical and structural inhomogeneities are investigated and discussed in correlation with superconductivity. (c) In K0.8Fe1.6+xSe2 system, we focus on typical compounds with emphasis on Fe-vacancy order and phase separations. The microstructural features in other superconducting materials are also briefly discussed.


Abstract States have increased the pace and scale of conservation efforts in recent years as they strive to meet ambitious terrestrial and marine protected area targets. The ecological gains made in this push for protections, however, seem to be no better than if governments designated protected areas at random. Many critics point to states prioritizing quantity over quality of protections—rightly so—but this point does not fully explain the shortcomings of the global biodiversity network. The problem is more deeply rooted in the processes through which governments designate protected areas. Governments prioritize minimizing short-term commercial losses over maximizing long-term ecological gains in conservation policy processes, leading to two predominant types of protected area: residual and paper park. The causal mechanism driving these processes is how salient industry interests are in an area targeted for protections, which predicts government policy response, demonstrated here through case studies in Australia and the United States.


This article examines a successful terrorist attack and failed missions in the United States to inform counterterrorism. Six case studies were selected based on groups of terrorists (three or more) who conducted or planned an attack within the United States. The variables measured were the organizational learning cycles of the terrorists, and the financial, community, and security institutions they used. The learning cycles revealed that success was a function of experience and training so learning deficits made detection possible. The failed cells lacked funding which increased their vulnerability when they sought financing. Supportive community institutions and their effective use made plot detection difficult. Terrorists who ineffectively used and leveraged security institutions were more likely to fail. The United States should continue the preemptive use of undercover agents/informants to detect terrorist plots.


The reduction of fuel consumption and the reduction of toxic emissions are the main goals of research and development in the area of internal combustion engines. The use of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) to come further in that direction is today an established method for diesel engines. EGR reduces the emissions of nitrogen oxides with a low penalty in fuel consumption.The increasingly hard regulations on emissions put high pressure on the manufacturers to improve these systems. The present work aims at increasing the knowledge in the area of EGR. Two of the main challenges when applying EGR are addressed, efficiency and mixing.The efficiency of the EGR-system is analyzed, focusing on keeping the fuel penalty low for a given EGR-rate. Different layouts of the EGR system are studied and compared regarding their stationary and transient properties. Exergy analysis is used to show the potential for improvement in different system components. In the same time, exergy analysis as a tool is introduced and compared to energy analysis of a system. The usefulness of exergy analysis of the entire gas exchange is shown by the example of a heavy-duty diesel engine.The problem of EGR and air mixing is approached by a detailed study of the mixing process in a heavy-duty diesel engine. Different methods for the measurement of EGR distribution are presented and compared. Additionally, the possibility to predict the mixing effects by 1-D and 3-D simulation is assessed. It is shown that the mixing between air and EGR is highly dependent on the pulsating nature of the flow. The EGR is shown to be transported in packets in the air flow. This leads to the conclusion that mixing not only at the mixing point, but also mixing in flow direction needs to be optimized, as the distribution of EGR between the cylinders is dependent on the timing between the passage of the EGR packets and the valve opening time.


The main objective of this essay is to analyze the challenges caused by today's modern phenomenon of change in our society and to discuss it in relationship to the process of migration. In doing so I focus on questions like, "what does it really mean when a person becomes a migrant and what does it mean to be the host country?" Becoming a migrant or a host country is a complex process which involves variety of challenges both for individuals and the locality. New inventions are made in the field of science and technology. Societies and social institutions are subjected to change and we undergo several changes or modifications to fit in to this changing system. This makes integration process more tedious and complex. I feel that the process of accepting and adopting begins from the very first moment in the new society. The one who comes in also brings in new cultural perspectives, new ideologies and beliefs. This establishes the background of plurality which has both positive and negative consequences. I believe that every factor from bigger social institutions to minute incidents associated with an individual are of equal importance in understanding society as a whole. So I approach my research question here by considering both micro and macro theorists. I have also referred to migrations history of Sweden which provides general idea of types and mode of migration in the past few decades.


Acute pancreatitis is an inflammatory condition of the pancreas which can lead to morbidity. Formation of pancreatic pseudocyst is one of the well-known complication. While small pseudocyts are asymptomatic, large ones can become symptomatic and cause several complications including infection, rupture, bleeding, biliary complications and portal hypertension1,2. Various interventions are available for the management of symptomatic pancreatic pseudocysts. Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) guided cystogastrostomy is a choice for treatment of large pseudocyts, witch bulge into gastric lumen2,3. In this paper we present a case of large sized who was managed with argon plasma coagulation probe and without endoscopic ultrasonography.


'Macoun'/Budagovsky 9 apple (Malus xdomestica Borkh.) trees were planted in May 1998 in one of four preplant treatments that were soil incorporation of: 1) control, no phosphorus (P); 2) 90 g P per tree; 3) 128 kg compost per tree; and 4) 90 g P and 128 kg compost per tree. Preplant addition of P had no effect on soil organic matter, P, magnesium (Mg), and calcium (Ca) in the first three seasons after planting, but lowered soil potassium (K) in the second season. Foliar nutrients, tree growth and flowering were also not affected by P. The addition of compost increased soil organic matter and P in the first season after planting, and pH, K, Mg, and Ca in the first three seasons. The addition of compost increased foliar nitrogen and K in all three seasons, and decreased foliar Mg in the first season. Compost incorporation increased shoot length in the first season, trunk cross-sectional area in the first two seasons, tree height and the number of growing points in third season, and flowering in the third and fourth seasons. Compost addition was more effective than P fertilization for increasing tree growth during the establishment years.


The two most common display technologies used in augmented reality head-mounted displays are optical see-through and video see-through. In this paper I demonstrate a third alternative: reconstructive see-through. By using a commodity depth camera to construct a dense 3D model of the world and rendering this to the user, distracting latency and position discrepancies between real and virtual objects can be reduced.


By manipulating the kinetics of seeded growth through judicious control of reaction conditions, edge-selective metal deposition can be achieved to synthesize new Au nanostructures with face-centered concavities, referred to herein as Au overgrown trisoctahedra. These nanostructures display higher sensitivity to changes in refractive index compared to both Au traditional trisoctahedra and the Au nanocube seeds from which they are grown. Often, concave nanostructures are achieved by selective etching processes or corner-selective overgrowth and adopt a stellated profile rather than a profile with face-centered concavities. The presented results illustrate another strategy toward concave nanostructures and can facilitate the synthesis of new concave nanostructures for applications in catalysis and chemical sensing.


OBJECTIVE
To determine effects of sedation achieved by xylazine (XYL) or acepromazine (ACE) on cardiopulmonary function and uterine blood flow in cows in late gestation.

ANIMALS
8 cows between 219 and 241 days of gestation.

PROCEDURE
Doses of ACE (0.02 mg/kg) or XYL (0.04 mg/kg) were administered IV. Measurements were obtained to determine cardiopulmonary effects and oxygen delivery to the uterus.

RESULTS
Heart rate was not significantly affected by administration of ACE, but it decreased markedly after administration of XYL. Uterine artery flow was decreased at all times by XYL and was always less than for ACE. Xylazine increased uterine vascular resistance through 30 minutes and caused reduced PaO2 and increased PaCO2 at all time periods. Acepromazine caused a 5% decrease in PaO2 only at 5 minutes. Xylazine reduced oxygen delivery by 59% at 5 minutes and 32% at 45 minutes. In contrast, ACE caused a nonsignificant reduction of oxygen delivery by 16% at 15 minutes and a return to baseline values by 45 minutes

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Xylazine markedly reduces flow and availability of oxygenated blood to the uterus, which may critically impair delivery of oxygen to the fetus at a stressful and important time of development or delivery. Acepromazine was associated with slight reductions of much shorter duration. When XYL is used to sedate pregnant cows, it could impose physiologic distress on the fetus and potentially increase fetal morbidity and mortality. When sedation of the dam is desirable, ACE could be an alternative to XYL.


Both cognitive and behavioural factors are linked to the experience of pain as well as its interference with quality of life. Psychological distress has been shown to be associated to several emotional and social impairments. Although, the association between pain and mental health has been widely discussed, the understanding of life interference and outcome is not fully understood. This study examined the association of pain dimension and mental health domain in 16,051 participants of the EPIC-Norfolk cohort (mean age = 58.9 ± 9.1 years). Study outcomes were depressive or anxious behaviour and limitations due to emotional problems and impairments in social functioning (mental functional health components of the Short Form-36 (SF-36)). Logistic regression models were constructed controlling for the potentially confounding factors including socio-economic variables (occupational social class, deprivation, marital status, education), lifestyle behaviour (physical activity, smoking, alcohol, dietary) and previous medical history. Strong interference in quality of life due to pain (bottom 20% of pain dimension score of SF-36) was significantly associated with poor MH in men and women (odds ratios (ORs) (95% confidence intervals (CIs)): 1.35 (1.19, 1.54) and 1.39 (1.25, 1.55), respectively; p < 0.0001) in fully adjusted models. Moreover, strong interference due to pain was also significantly associated with poor overall MH including emotional and social functioning (ORs (95% CIs): 1.42 (1.25, 1.62) and 1.39 (1.25, 1.55) respectively; p < 0.0001) in fully adjusted models; subsidiary analysis using linear regression models demonstrated similar results for these domains. Although a strong association has been shown, further research is needed to provide information on the different site and/or causes of pain which would allow stratification. Moreover, assuming a bi-directional nature of both domains, systematic assessment and management of pain have a lot of potential to improve the MH-related quality of life in the general population and vice versa.


We report a genetic algorithm approach combined with ab initio calculations to determine the structure of hydrogenated 〈110〉 Si nanowires. As the number of atoms per length increases, we find that the cross section of the nanowire evolves from chains of six-atom rings to fused pairs of such chains to hexagons bounded by {001} and {111} facets. Our calculations predict that hexagonal wires become stable starting at about 1.2 nm diameter, which is consistent with recent experimental reports of nanowires with diameters of about 3 nm.


With an incidence of approx. 2% among newborns, meningomyelocele is a rarely encountered condition. Its clinical manifestations vary within very wide limits, ranging from minor disability to extremely severe limitation of physical function. The function of the trunk muscles and of the lower extremities, and especially that of the hip joints, is impaired to different degrees in the patients affected, depending on the severity of the paralysis. The changes associated with meningomyelocele are typical, and the therapeutic principles adopted will usually depend on individual findings. Taking the disability into account, the primary goal must be to achieve optimal function. The value of imaging procedures is secondary to this consideration. In recent years a number of conventional therapeutic principles have undergone substantial modifications.


In this study a theoretical flutter model has been used in MATLAB to obtain flutter speeds for subsequent use in ANSYS analysis. The geometry of the fin was created in Solid works CAD platform and exported to ANSYS fluent, where input of influence parameters were made and analyzed for aerodynamic pressures.nbsp These were then mapped to the structural fin in ANSYS mechanical and the resulting deformations viewed. The aerodynamic behaviors of rocket fin were studied and the results before the flutter speed, at the flutter regime and after the flutter speed were displayed. The aerodynamic pressure is found to be highest at the leading edge and the deformation turns from bending to torsion as the flutter speed increases.nbsp The post-critical flutter records the highest displacement.nbsp The work also showed the modal analysis of the rocket fin with the natural frequencies which were validated with data from Falcon V launch.

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The synthesis of fuels from CO2 has made tremendous progress in recent years, although practical applications remain limited. Herein, we describe a cyclic process that produces MeOH from CO2via formamide intermediates, which are initially reduced using NaBH4 to form methanol and concomitantly release the corresponding amine, from which the formamide is subsequently regenerated in the presence of CO2/NaBH4. By tuning the substituents on the formamide/amine, the selectivity of both steps can be controlled, allowing the process to proceed in high yields, either in two separate steps or in a single step process. The observed trends in reactivity were rationalized with a resonance model of the formamide, which supports the observed trends in reactivity, and further consolidated by spectroscopy and calculations.


Transverse non-linear vibration is investigated in principal parametric resonance of an axially accelerating viscoelastic beam. The axial speed is characterized as a simple harmonic variation about a constant mean speed. The material time derivative isused inthe viscoelasticconstitutive relation. Thetransverse motion canbe governed by anon-linear partial-differential equation or a non-linear integro-partial-differential equation. The method of multiple scales is applied to the governing equations to determine steady-state responses. It is confirmed that the mode uninvolved in the resonance has no effect on the steady-state response. The differential quadrature schemes are developed to verify results via the method of multiple scales. It is demonstrated that the straight equilibrium configuration becomes unstable and a stable steady-state emerges when the axial speed variation frequency is close to twice any linear natural frequency. The results derived for two governing equations are qualitatively the same, but quantitatively different. Numerical simulations are presented to examine the effects of the mean speed and the variation of the amplitude of the axial speed, the dynamic viscosity, the non-linear coefficients, and the boundary constraint stiffness on the instability interval and the steady-state response amplitude.


Dr. John Richardson was foremost among a special breed of men, the surgeon-naturalists, one of whom accompanied every exploration party sent out by Great Britain. In addition to performing medical duties, the surgeon-naturalist was expected to identify and collect specimens of plants, animals, and rocks. Dr. Richardson was a member of two of the arctic expeditions led by Sir John Franklin, and participated in the search for the long-overdue third Franklin expedition.


The paper explores dualizing differential graded (DG) modules over DG algebras. The focus is on DG algebras that are commutative local, and finite. One of the main results established is that, for this class of DG algebras, a finite DG module is dualizing precisely when its Bass number is 1. As a corollary, one obtains that the Avramov–Foxby notion of Gorenstein DG algebras coincides with that due to Frankild and Jørgensen. One other key result is that, under suitable hypotheses, any two dualizing DG modules are quasiisomorphic up to a suspension. In addition, it is established that a number of naturally occurring DG algebras possess dualizing DG modules.


Self-employed tradespeople, like many business owners, face income uncertainty risk. In Australia, self-employed people are excluded from compulsory superannuation. We quantify financial decisions self-employed tradespeople make in retirement preparation, relative to employed tradespeople. We find that they are less likely to hold superannuation assets and more likely to hold business assets and trusts. They also have higher levels of wealth in family homes, other property and equities. We argue that while self-employed tradespeople are relatively wealthier, superannuation exclusion has macroeconomic impacts, like higher charge rates for construction. Moreover, self-employed tradespeople are vulnerable to market conditions when liquidating their business assets.


The myelographic results of 30 cases in each group using myodil and omnipaque respectively were compared. As far as intraspinal extramedullary lesions were concerned, the diagnostic value of either contrast medium was almost the same. If CT scan was used along with omnipaque myelography, the fine structural changes could better be observed. As to the intramedullary lesions of the spinal cord, both contrast media seemed to be of less diagnostic value even though CT scan was used together. This was especially true in cases of demyelinating lesions. But it seemed to the authors that the number of the cases studied was too small to draw a definite conclusion. The side effects and toxicity of omnipaque as a contrast medium in myelography were less than those of myodil. However, myodil myelography might be useful and not abandoned in those areas where local economic conditions and facilities were less favorable.


Greenwashing as an Example of Ecological Marketing Misleading Practices Nowadays, world-wide recognized corporations seek methods and instruments which enable them an effective flow of information concerning their actions as far as environment and sustainable development issues are concerned. It seems that marketing tools work well within this field. That is how ecological marketing (EM) originated with its advantages and drawbacks including greenwashing. The paper is committed to the analysis of this phenomenon, used to describe the unjustified appropriation of environmental virtue by a company to create a pro-environmental image. The article also presents common mechanisms of EM, shows how greenwashing works in practice and shares research results concerning purchasing habits (focusing on environmental issues) in China, USA and Great Britain


The discipline of psychology and its sub-disciplines of social, cognitive, and industrial psychology undertake to identify taxonomies that help to identify, understand, and explain human behavior. In consideration of the traumatic effects of narcissistic parenting, this paper will discuss a single case analysis of patient A. In light of this patient's upbringing, I will discuss two main personality theorists, Freud and Jung, to describe patient A's self-reported personal identity, as he understands himself. I will describe the milestones that helped to formulate his beliefs, values and behaviors, familial and interpersonal relationships. The goal I will accomplish is to formulate a developmental assessment to support my theoretical perspectives of patient A.


The psychomotor symptoms of Huntington's disease (HD) are linked to degeneration of the basal ganglia indirect pathway. To determine how this pathway is perturbed prior to cell loss, optogenetic- and reporter-guided electrophysiological interrogation approaches were applied to early symptomatic 6-month-old Q175 HD mice. Although cortical activity was unaffected, indirect pathway striatal projection neurons were hypoactive in vivo, consistent with reduced cortical input strength and dendritic excitability. Downstream parvalbumin-expressing prototypic external globus pallidus (GPe) neurons were hyperactive in vivo and exhibited elevated autonomous firing ex vivo. Optogenetic inhibition of prototypic GPe neurons ameliorated the abnormal hypoactivity of postsynaptic subthalamic nucleus (STN) and putative arkypallidal neurons in vivo. In contrast to STN neurons, autonomous arkypallidal activity was unimpaired ex vivo. Together with previous studies, these findings demonstrate that basal ganglia indirect pathway neurons are highly dysregulated in Q175 mice through changes in presynaptic activity and/or intrinsic properties 6-12 months before cell loss.


PURPOSE
To determine whether oxidative adduct formation or heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) expression are altered in retinal ganglion cell (RGC) cultures exposed to elevated hydrostatic pressure and in a mouse model of glaucoma.

METHODS
Cultured RGC-5 cells were subjected to 0, 30, 60, or 100 mm Hg hydrostatic pressure for 2 hours, and the cells were harvested. Parallel experiments examined the recovery from this stress, the effect of direct 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE) treatment, and the effect of pretreatment with resveratrol or quercetin. Mice were anesthetized and intraocular pressure was increased to 30, 60, or 100 mm Hg for 1 hour; then the retinas were harvested. HNE adduct formation and HO-1 expression were assessed by immunocytochemistry and immunoblotting.

RESULTS
Increases of HNE-protein adducts (up to 5-fold) and HO-1 expression (up to 2.5 fold) in pressure-treated RGC-5 cells were dose dependent. During recovery experiments, HNE-protein adducts continued to increase for up to 10 hours; in contrast, HO-1 expression decreased immediately. HNE, at a concentration as low as 5 muM, led to neurotoxicity in RGC-5 cells. HNE adducts and HO-1 expression increased in the mouse retina and optic nerve after acute IOP elevation up to 5.5-fold and 2-fold, respectively. Antioxidant treatment reduced the oxidative stress level in pressure-treated RGC-5 cells.

CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrates that oxidative stress is an early event in hydrostatic pressure/IOP-induced neuronal damage. These findings support the view that oxidative damage contributes early to glaucomatous optic neuropathy.


Methods and sources for conducting research in biotechnology. Use of primary sources, data collection techniques, and ethical conduct of research will be emphasized.


1 In conscious unrestrained cats noradrenaline, α‐methylnoradrenaline and clonidine, infused into the lateral cerebral ventricles (i.c.v.) caused dose‐related falls in blood pressure and heart rate; both effects were abolished after i.c.v. phentolamine. 2 In 12 out of 20 cats, i.c.v. isoprenaline and salbutamol when given caused dose‐related pressor responses and tachycardias. These effects were abolished after i.c.v. β‐adrenoceptor blocking drugs but were unaffected by α‐adrenoceptor blocking agents. 3 In 5 out of 20 cats, i.c.v. isoprenaline regularly produced dose‐related falls in blood pressure with associated tachycardias; both effects were abolished after i.c.v. β‐adrenoceptor blocking agents. 4 Intracerebroventricular dopamine produced cardiovascular responses which were qualitatively similar to those produced by i.c.v. isoprenaline. 5 Intracerebroventricular adrenaline produced complex responses in untreated animals but typical α‐effects were obtained after prior i.c.v. treatment with a β‐adrenoceptor blocking agent and typical β‐effects after i.c.v. pretreatment with an α‐adrenoceptor blocking agent. 6 The cardiovascular changes produced by i.c.v. β‐adrenoceptor agonists were abolished after systemic administration of hexamethonium or bethanidine. 7 The results are discussed in the light of the mode of action of β‐adrenoceptor stimulants and β‐adrenoceptor blocking agents in the treatment of hypertension.


Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is the biggest problem in the prevention and eradication of TB world. Indonesia is ranked eighth out of 27 countries with the highest incidence of MDR-TB in the world. MDR-TB is a disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis that at least resistant to rifampicin and ionized. This study is aimed to develop model base on various risk factors of MDR-TB in RSUD Dok II Jayapura. This study was conducted in RSUD Dok II Jayapura. The method used is observational case control study design. The population of the case is resistant positive and population control is resistant negative. Data were analyzed using chi-square test and multiple logistic regression. Out of 19 variables analyzed, there were 13 variables prove as risk factors that associated to the incidence of Multidrug-Resistant (MDR-TB) that is (1) the family expenses (OR = 4.297; 95% CI: 1.1413 to 13.068), (2) the difficulty of transportation costs (OR = 4.000; 95% CI: 1.272 to 12.578), (3) difficulty related to the distance of residence (OR = 4.000; 95% CI: 1.272 to 12.578), (4) no fixed residence (OR = 8.636; 95% CI: 2.566 to 29.073 ), (5) a companion to take medication (OR = 6.000; 95% CI: 1.172 to 30.725), (6) treatment compliance (OR = 67.667; 95% CI: 7.954 to 575.677), (7) the side effects of drugs (OR = 2.500; 95% CI: 1.780 to 3.511), (8) contact history (OR = 20,000; 95% CI: 5.384 to 74.298), (9) a history of smoking (OR = 3.500; 95% CI: 1.201 to 10.196), ( 10) a history of drinking alcohol (OR = 10.266; 95% CI: 2.557 to 41.372), (11) the knowledge about the causes of disease (OR = 7.000; 95% CI: 1.381 to 35.478), (12) the knowledge of the consequences if not treated with complete (OR = 8.105; 95% CI: 1.612 to 40.766), (13) the knowledge of the duration of treatment (OR = 6.000; 95% CI: 1.482 to 24.299). -----------------------------------------------------------------------* Corresponding author. International Journal of Sciences: Basic and Applied Research (IJSBAR)(2017) Volume 31, No 2, pp 237-248 238 And the dominant factor affecting the incidence of MDR-TB were treatment adherence (OR = 48.495; 95% CI: 3.105 to 757.515), contact history (OR = 47.540; 95% CI: 3.657 to 617.986), and no fixed residence (OR = 20.795; 95% CI: 1.589 to 272.068). In conclusion, model building in this study were Risk Factor Model based on OR, Risk Factors Model based on Subject probability, and Scoring Card Model. Risk factors of MDR-TB in RSUD Dok II Jayapura were the family expenses, difficulties in transportation costs, the difficulty of the distance residence, no fixed residence, a companion to take medication, treatment compliance, drug side effects, contact history, history of smoking, alcohol drinking history, knowledge about the causes of disease, knowledge about the consequences if not treated thoroughly, and knowledge of the long treatment of disease. It is recommended that the need for increased understanding of the dangers of disease transmission of Tuberculosis and Multidrug-resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB), both to patients and healthcare workers.


It is accepted that interprofessional education (IPE) has positive benefits for health profession students, including effective communication, increased teamwork skills, and better appreciation for the roles of other health professions. However, the question remains of how to effectively deliver IPE for health professions students in an educational environment. To address this problem, the University of Texas Southwestern School of Health Professions developed an IPE course, Interdisciplinary Development, Education, and Active Learning (IDEAL), incorporating seven disciplines represented within the school. The hypothesis was that a two-semester exposure to the new curriculum and related activities would have a significant positive influence on students' understanding of the elements required for effective communication (e.g., listening and interpersonal skills), teamwork skills, and understanding the roles of other health professions. An assessment of a student's understanding of communication and teamwork skills was administered on the first and last day of the IDEAL course to test the hypothesis and determine if course objectives of improving student's communication and teamwork skills were met. Questions were divided into three focus areas of teamwork, listening, and interpersonal communication. Findings showed a significant (p < 0.016) increase in scores for all three areas, the largest being in teamwork. Also, results from an anonymous, open-ended survey of the overall IDEAL course at the end of the course showed overwhelming consensus regarding the success and effectiveness of the healthcare team grand rounds presentations from which the students learned about other professions and their roles on the healthcare team in a case-based format.


Chile has more than two decades of assessing the quality of education through a national censal system called SIMCE. However, there are scarce studies that address this assessment system from an up-to-date concept of validity. The aim of this study wasto critically analyse the validity of SIMCE, consideringthe unitary concept of validity, the argument-based approach, the consideration of the whole process involved in the assessment system, the inclusion of the interpretations of all the stakeholders involved in the process, and threats to validity. Interviews to key stake holders were carried out along with analyses of official documents about SIMCE. An iterative analysis was executed onthe basis of the theoretical considerations, focusing on the fairness of the assessment system as understood in international standards. Some of the main findings indicate SIMCE lacks fitness-for-purpose in relation to its aim ofimproving the equity of the education system. It generates negative consequences which can be detrimental to students with more learning difficulties and from more vulnerable groups. And, it does not consider in its construction the diversity of students who have to take the tests.


The verdict of not guilty for reason of insanity in the 1982 trial of John Hinckley, Jr. for his attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan stunned and outraged many Americans. An ABC News poll taken the day after the verdict showed 83% of those polled thought justice was not done in the Hinckley case. Some people - without much evidence - attributed the verdict to an anti-Reagan bias on the part the Washington, D. C. jury of eleven blacks and one white. Many more people, however, blamed a legal system that they claimed made it too easy for juries to return not guilty verdicts in insanity cases - despite the fact that such pleas were made in only 2% of felony cases and failed over 75% of the time. Public pressure resulting from the Hinckley verdict spurred Congress and most states into enacting major reforms of laws governing the use of the insanity defense. The Hinckley trial highlights the difficulty of a system that forces jurors to label a defendant either sane or insane when the defendant may in fact be close to the middle on a spectrum ranging from Star Trek's Mr. Spock to the person who strangles his wife thinking that he's squeezing a grapefruit. Any objective evaluation of John Hinckley's mental condition shows him to be a troubled young man - not, as one prosecution witness described him, a normal, All-American boy. But how troubled? The prosecution contended that Hinckley suffered only from personality disorders of the type affecting five to ten percent of the population, whereas the defense saw the same evidence as demonstrating Hinckley's serious mental illness. The Hinckley trial, perhaps better than any other famous trial, reveals the difficulty of ascertaining what exactly is going on in the head of another human being - and then in using that imperfect knowledge to answer a legal question that reduces complex and changing mental states to two oversimplified categories.


This research focuses on two studies: a development towards a DART-mass spectral database for 3D-printed firearm polymers, and a test for airborne mercury concentrations at three lakes in North Mississippi. With the relatively recent developments in 3D-printing technology, 3D-printed firearms have become increasingly prevalent as they have become more accessible to the public. Despite its growing popularity, little research has been done regarding the forensic analysis of evidence from 3D-printed firearms. Using DART-MS in conjunction with thermal desorption techniques, we obtained the mass spectra for 50 different commercially available 3D-printing polymers. Chemometric analysis was done to account for the high variance among DART-MS data for polymer samples. By generating multiple principal component analysis plots, the high dimensionality of the DART-MS data was greatly reduced, allowing us to successfully classify the samples by polymer type. Samples were then further classified by manufacturer and by color. By doing this, we have made the first contribution toward a database of polymer spectra, which can be used to help identify and find the source of unknown 3D-printed firearm-related crime evidence.

 The second portion of this research was done in response to an advisory from the Mississippi State Department of Health suggesting that fish in Grenada and Enid Lakes held high concentrations of mercury, a toxic heavy metal. In this study, we measured the atmospheric mercury concentrations at Grenada, Enid, and Sardis Lakes using Mercury Passive Air Samplers, each containing an activated carbon powder to adsorb gaseous mercury. After deploying the samplers and allowing atmospheric mercury to accumulate over time, the samplers were taken back to the lab, where the mercury concentration for each sample was obtained using a Direct Mercury Analyzer. This was done for one-week, two-week, three-week, and four-week intervals. Though we hypothesized that point sources near Grenada Lake would result in it having the highest atmospheric mercury concentrations, with Enid Lake having the second highest and Sardis Lake having the lowest, our results suggested the opposite. While we suspect this to have been a result of the proximity to industrial areas north of the lakes, the reasons remain unclear, and further research is needed.


This thesis aims at providing comprehensive descriptions of Vafab and Wuhan household waste management systems and comparing the two systems for the purpose of better understanding over the similarities and differences between these two cases. Literature study, semi-structured interviews and field studies have been applied as methods to describe both Vafab and Wuhan municipal solid waste management ("MSWM") from the past to the future. A primary feasibility study is also presented to further evaluate the possibility for Wuhan to implement Vafab's household waste management strategy to improve Wuhan MSWM current status quo from legal, social and technical perspectives. The problems in Wuhan MSWM system are able to be identified and suggestions are provided based on Vafab MSWM model. This thesis also determines legal, social and technical barriers existed in Wuhan MSWM.


This article offers an overview of the life and work of Gerald N. Grob. As part of a generation of scholars intent on overturning the old "Whig history" of medicine, Grob pioneered the use of institutional history as an analytical tool. His work on American psychiatry combined a formidable command of archival sources with a strong commitment to putting medical practice in social context. Grob's personal and political views put him at odds with other scholars of the asylum; he conducted some very public feuds with David Rothman and Andrew Scull. At the same time, he showed a more benevolent side to younger historians interested in psychiatry; he took particular pains to encourage women (including the authors of this introduction) to enter a historical specialty then dominated by men. To honor Grob's legacy as a scholar and a person, this special issue features articles written by several generations of scholars influenced and inspired by his work.


Cogent is a restricted functional language designed to reduce the cost of developing verified systems code. Because of its sometimes-onerous restrictions, such as the lack of support for recursion and its strict uniqueness type system, Cogent provides an escape hatch in the form of a foreign function interface (FFI) to C code. This poses a problem when verifying Cogent programs, as imported C components do not enjoy the same level of static guarantees that Cogent does. Previous verification of file systems implemented in Cogent merely assumed that their C components were correct and that they preserved the invariants of Cogent's type system. In this paper, we instead prove such obligations. We demonstrate how they smoothly compose with existing Cogent theorems, and result in a correctness theorem of the overall Cogent-C system. The Cogent FFI constraints ensure that key invariants of Cogent's type system are maintained even when calling C code. We verify reusable higher-order and polymorphic functions including a generic loop combinator and array iterators and demonstrate their application to several examples including binary search and the BilbyFs file system. We demonstrate the feasibility of verification of mixed Cogent-C systems, and provide some insight into verification of software comprised of code in multiple languages with differing levels of static guarantees.


The experience of the last ten years of global environmental negotiations suggests that a new and different approach to international cooperation is required if we are to achieve sustainable development. While multilateral environmental agreements have provided a valuable framework for building a consensus on broad objectives, their implementation requires a focus on the underlying activities that cause environmental degradation. Moreover, globalization encourages the development and use of innovative technologies, leading to a large degree of overlap between global environmental concerns and national sustainable development objectives. These shifts require wholly new perspectives that are based less on determining responsibilities and more on supporting mutually reinforcing transformations. The new approach also looks beyond the state to other stakeholders as contributors to achieving sustainable development.


We extend the traditional tax evasion model to take account of the interaction between individual compliance decisions and perceived detection probabilities. The generalization provides a rationale for "anti-tax revolutions" characterized by a sudden shift of a significant fraction of the tax paying citizenry from compliance to tax evasion with unchanged fundamentals and monitoring rules. We establish, with an application to hyperinflation, the possibility of multiple compliance equilibria with lock-in effects. Finally, we demonstrate the potential cost effectiveness of "symbolic prosecution" as an equilibrium shifting device in preference to permanent changes the monitoring process.


first time in 15 years," although with difficulty because of the short leg and stiffness. The dose was reduced to 75 mg. daily, and this was given for another month, at the end of which time there was no oedema and only slight discoloration around the ankles. Treatment was then discontinued, and there has been no change in the patient's condition since. In this case there appears to have been both arterial and venous insufficiency in the legs present for at least 15 years, and considerable improvement after four weeks' treatment. -I am, etc.,


Vytautas Magnus University South Korea's experience wielding soft power is usually associated with the Korean Wave, which swept the Asian region off its feet predominantly during the first decade of this century. In this article I will however argue that the phenomenon of the Korean Wave has never been intended as a calculated attempt on the part of the South Korean government to enhance the overall South Korean image worldwide and thus increase South Korean international might and prestige. To prove the validity of this hypothesis, I will provide a concise historical overview of the inception, development and spread of South Korean popular culture, while at the same time tracing its underlying soft power implications. I will likewise attempt to discuss the popular reception of the Korean Wave in three East Asian countries, i.e. Mainland China, Taiwan and Japan, and one European country, i.e. Lithuania. The scope of the endeavour has been largely restricted to the cinematic aspect of the Korean Wave, for I consider the creation of motion pictures and drama serials to be by far the most precious, influential and revealing form of art.


In spite of numerous traditional and agile software project management models proposed, process and project modeling still remains an open issue. This paper proposes a Bayesian network (BN) approach for modeling software project management antipatterns. This approach provides a framework for project managers, who would like to model the cause-effect relationships that underlie an antipattern, taking into account the inherent uncertainty of a software project. The approach is exemplified through a specific BN model of an antipattern. The antipattern is modeled using the empirical results of a controlled experiment on extreme programming (XP) that investigated the impact of developer personalities and temperaments on communication, collaboration-pair viability and effectiveness in pair programming. The resulting BN model provides the precise mathematical model of a project management antipattern and can be used to measure and handle uncertainty in mathematical terms


Background: Serious mental illness (SMI) reduces life expectancy, primarily due to somatic comorbidity linked to obesity. Meta-analyses have found beneficial effects of lifestyle interventions in people with SMI and recommended their implementation to manage obesity. Objective: The objective of this systematic review was to assess the benefits and harms of individualized lifestyle interventions for weight in people diagnosed with SMI and to explore potential mediators and moderators of the effect. Methods: The protocol was registered at PROSPERO (CRD42016049093). Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) assessing the effect of individualized lifestyle interventions on weight management in people with SMI were included. Primary outcomes were differences in endpoint body mass index (BMI) and the proportion achieving clinically relevant weight loss (≥5%). Secondary outcomes included quality of life, cardiometabolic risk factors, and adverse effects. Results: We included 41 RCTs (n = 4,267). All trials were at high risk of bias according to the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. The experimental interventions reduced the mean difference in BMI by –0.63 kg/m2 (95% confidence interval [CI] = –1.02 to –0.23; p = 0.002; I2 = 70.7%) compared to the control groups. At postintervention follow-up (17 RCTs), the effect size remained similar but was no longer significant (BMI = –0.63 kg/m2; 95% CI = –1.30 to 0.04; p = 0.07; I2 = 48.8%). The risk ratio for losing ≥5% of baseline weight was 1.51 (95% CI = 1.07–2.13; p = 0.02) compared to the control groups. GRADE showed very low or low quality of evidence. Conclusion: There is a statistically significant, but clinically insignificant, mean effect of individualized lifestyle interventions for weight reduction in people with SMI.


INTRODUCTION – Magnetic susceptibility is an intrinsic physical tissue property, which recently became accessible in vivo by quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) [1]. The practical applicability of QSM, however, is currently hampered by the enormous numerical complexity and computational cost associated with the QSM reconstruction including phase unwrapping, background correction, and field-to-source inversion. Computation times between 30 minutes and several hours for a single dataset currently impede clinical routine application and hinder promising applications, such as QSM-based quantitative fMRI. In this study, we present and analyze a novel QSM framework, Superfast Dipole Inversion (SDI), that not only allows reconstruction of susceptibility maps from raw (wrapped) gradient-echo (GRE) phase data in near real-time, but also enables processing of phase images with open-ended fringe lines [2], which often occur in practice due to improper combination of multichannel images and which have hitherto hindered QSM. In addition, an approach is presented that allows compensating for intrinsic underestimation of susceptibilities, which has been reported by several authors (e.g. [3]). SDI was evaluated with respect to computation time and reconstruction accuracy based on numerical simulation and volunteer data. MATERIALS AND METHODS – Algorithm: SDI relies on an extension of the background field correction algorithm SHARP [1] and on a combination of SHARP with Thresholded K-Space Division (TKD) [3] for field-to-source inversion. Schweser et al. [4] have recently demonstrated that SHARP may be improved by using the Laplacian kernel instead of a solid sphere kernel during the convolution and deconvolution steps. Schofield and Zhu [5] have shown that the Laplacian φ 2 ∇ of the phase may be calculated directly from wrapped phase images, w φ , by using a special non-linear operator L1: w L φ φ 1 2 = ∇ . The first


When the air-breathing pulse detonation engine (APDE) is with the central cone-scales valve(CCSV), the effect of equivalent ratios and operating frequencies has been studied, under the working condition of the gasoline as the fuel and the oxygen content coefficient of 5%. The experimental results shows that with the equivalent ratio increased from 0.97 to 1.26, the detonation wave's peak pressure, the propagation velocity and the ignition time will increase, but the effective thrust will increase first and then decrease. Moreover, when the operating frequency is increased from 8 to 18 Hz, the ignition time will decreases, and however, the effect thrust will almost linearly increase with the operating frequency, and the average thrust of a single waveform is almost equivalent to 5.2〜5.5N.


Diagnostic procedures for skin melanoma in regional lymph nodes were compared in 250 patients. Doppler effect examination and sentinel biopsy were carried out in 60 patients with primary skin melanoma and clinically intact lymph nodes. Identical examination and regional lymphadenectomy were used in 80 patients with clinically detectable metastases to regional lymph nodes. The same procedures were performed in 110 healthy controls. Histological findings fully confirmed Doppler effect evidence. Regional lymphadenectomy was indicated only in patients with verified Doppler effect-related metastatic lesions to the lymph nodes.