A red VCSEL illuminator module demonstrator was manufactured by injection moulding integration. A red VCSEL chip was first attached to a simple FR4 substrate, which contains bonding pads and conducting wires for the VCSEL chip attachment and electrical driving. The substrate was then placed as an insert in an injection mould. The VCSEL chip shielding and optics formation was made in a one-step injection moulding process. The used optical thermoplastic in the processing was polycarbonate (PC). The pursued optical function of the single spherical surface attained in the moulding was to collimate the emitted red light (&lgr;=664.5 nm) from the VCSEL chip. The main critical issue related to the manufacturing of the illuminator module in the injection moulding process was the durability of bonding wire contacts. A single 25 &mgr;m diameter gold wire was used in wire bonding in order to create the upper contact to the chip. The lower contact was processed by attaching the chip to the substrate using conductive epoxy. A test series of 20 modules using FR4 substrate materials were produced. The number of fully operative modules was 12 resulting total module yield of 60%. The main reason for a non-operative module was loosening of the bonding wire during the injection moulding process. The bonding wire durability in the moulding process can be improved by using glob-top shielding of the VCSEL device before injection moulding and using a lower holding pressure in the injection moulding process. A diamond turned insert was used in the mould in order to create a high quality lens surface on the top of the VCSEL chip. The tower average length after one iteration round by mould modification was 8.676 &mgr;m, so the measured value was on average 20 &mgr;m larger than nominal value. The measured RMS roughness of the processed lens surface was 5 ... 7 nm and the radius -3.23 ... 3.83 mm. The radius of the lens and the length of the tower varied depending of the used process parameters. The manufactured illumination module can be integrated with a CMOS image matrix sensor in order to form a compact hologram reader system. The injection moulding integration principle seems to be very promising method to manufacture intelligently integrated and cost-effective optoelectronic products according to experience with this demonstrator.


Abstract Textbooks on the history of biology and evolutionary thought do not mention the evolutionary ideas of Muslim scholars before Darwin's time. This is part of a trend in the West to minimise the contributions of non-Western scientists to biology, human anatomy and evolutionary biology. Therefore, this paper focuses on the contributions of pre-Darwinian Muslim scholars to the history of evolutionary thought. Our review of texts from a wide range of historical times, and written in various languages, reveals that there were in fact several Muslim scholars who postulated evolutionary ideas, some with remarkable similarities to Darwin's theory. These ideas included the adaptation and survival of the fittest, a specific origin of humans from apes/monkeys, the notion of evolutionary constraints, the occurrence of extinctions within taxa and hereditary variability. Moreover, while both the scientific community and the broader public generally base their knowledge on Western textbooks, several parts of the Muslim world have indicated an overall rejection of biological–including human–evolution. Therefore, to improve historical accuracy and create a better understanding of scientific history, the world's diverse civilisations and their philosophies, this untold story should be widely disseminated to the scientific community and the general public.


Over the past century and a half, China has experienced foreign invasion, warfare, political turmoil, and revolution, along with massive economic and technological change. Through all this change, there is one stable element: grandmothers, as child carers, household managers, religious devotees, transmitters of culture, and, above all, sources of love, warmth, and affection. In this interdisciplinary and longitudinal study, China's Grandmothers sheds light on the status and lives of grandmothers in China over the years from the late Qing Dynasty to the twenty-first century. Combining a wide range of historical and biographical materials, Diana Lary explores the changes and continuities in the lives of grandmothers through revolution, wars, and radical upheaval to the present phase of economic growth. Informed by her own experience as a grandchild and grandmother, Lary offers a fresh and compelling way of looking at gender, family, and ageing in modern Chinese society.


A high percentage of newly-constructed commercial office buildings experience energy consumption that exceeds specifications and system failures after being put into use. This problem is even worse for older buildings. We present a new approach, `predictive building energy optimization', which uses machine learning (ML) and automated online evaluation of historical and real-time building data to improve efficiency and reliability of building operations without requiring large amounts of additional capital investment. Our ML approach uses a predictive model to generate accurate energy demand forecasts and automated analyses that can guide optimization of building operations. In parallel, an automated online evaluation system monitors efficiency at multiple stages in the system workflow and provides building operators with continuous feedback. We implemented a prototype of this application in a large commercial building in Manhattan. Our predictive machine learning model applies Support Vector Regression (SVR) to the building's historical energy use and temperature and wet-bulb humidity data from the building's interior and exterior in order to model performance for each day. This predictive model closely approximates actual energy usage values, with some seasonal and occupant-specific variability, and the dependence of the data on day-of-the-week makes the model easily applicable to different types of buildings with minimal adjustment. In parallel, an automated online evaluator monitors the building's internal and external conditions, control actions and the results of those actions. Intelligent real-time data quality analysis components quickly detect anomalies and automatically transmit feedback to building management, who can then take necessary preventive or corrective actions. Our experiments show that this evaluator is responsive and effective in further ensuring reliable and energy-efficient operation of building systems.


Introduction : The frontal and the parietal bones superiorly and the greater wing of the sphenoid and the squamous temporal inferiorly of one side meet at an H-shaped sutural junction termed the pterion. This is an important anatomical and anthropological landmark as it overlies both the anterior branch of middle meningeal artery and the lateral fissure of the cerebral hemisphere. The knowledge of sutural joints between frontal, parietal, sphenoid and temporal bones at pterion is clinically, radiologically and surgically important during surgical interventions involving burr hole surgeries. Materials and Methods : Study performed on 150 dry temporal bones. The pterion, and its sutural articulations with frontal, parietal, sphenoid and temporal bones and also anatomical variations, if any, were studied. Results : Four types of pterion, i.e. sphenoparietal, frontotemporal, stellate and epipteric, were observed. Conclusions : The knowledge of the variations of pterion and its surgical anatomy, in Indian population are important for surgeons operating in the fieldThe present study will also contribute additional information of skull bone fractures in infancy and early childhood, which may be associated with large intersutural bones giving false appearance of fracture radiologically and also during surgical interventions involving burr hole surgeries, as their extensions may lead to continuation of fracture lines.


Knowledge graphs can represent information about the real-world using entities and their relations in a structured and semantically rich manner and they enable a variety of downstream applications such as question-answering, recommendation systems, semantic search, and advanced analytics. However, at the moment, building a knowledge graph involves a lot of manual effort and thus hinders their application in some situations and the automation of this process might benefit especially for small organizations. Automatically generating structured knowledge graphs from a large volume of natural language is still a challenging task and the research on sub-tasks such as named entity extraction, relation extraction, entity and relation linking, and knowledge graph construction aims to improve the state of the art of automatic construction and completion of knowledge graphs from text. The recent advancement of foundation models with billions of parameters trained in a self-supervised manner with large volumes of training data that can be adapted to a variety of downstream tasks has helped to demonstrate high performance on a large range of Natural Language Processing (NLP) tasks. In this context, one emerging paradigm is in-context learning where a language model is used as it is with a prompt that provides instructions and some examples to perform a task without changing the parameters of the model using traditional approaches such as fine-tuning. This way, no computing resources are needed for re-training/fine-tuning the models and the engineering effort is minimal. Thus, it would be beneficial to utilize such capabilities for generating knowledge graphs from text.


To overcome the limitations of differential thermal analysis (DTA) and direct casting experimentation in the measurement and understanding of the solidification phenomena of mold slags, the double and single hot thermocouple techniques (DHTT and SHTT) for the direct observation and measurement of mold slag crystallization were developed. These methods enable the solidification and melting process of transparent slags to be observed "in situ" under conditions where the temperature or temperature gradient can be measured and controlled. The SHTT allows a sample to be subjected to rapid cooling rates or to be held under isothermal conditions. The DHTT allows large temperature gradients to be developed between the two thermocouples and allows a simulation of the transient conditions which can occur in the infiltrated slag film that occurs between the mold and the solidifying shell in the mold of a continuous caster. By these techniques both isothermal and non-isothermal phenomena can be studied. A number of mold slags are optically transparent or translucent at steelmaking temperatures while the crystalline phase which precipitates upon cooling is opaque and can be clearly observed using optical microscopy. Thus the SHTT and DHTT are connected to an image capturing and analysis system that allows the onset and growth of the opaque crystals which precipitate from the slags to be documented. The development and application of these techniques to mold slag crystallization will be discussed in this paper.


In digital age, knowledge is one of the significant dynamics of the globalization and change. In this paper, the distributed findings in literature concerning with knowledge were associated with research subject through summarizing and synthesizing; and also definition, epistemology, operational differences, structure and types of the knowledge were explored. Additionally, explanations were provided regarding the evolution of the knowledge from past to present and its interpretation on networks. Finally, selfcognition and meta-cognition concepts were discussed within this framework.


The Swedish labour market and social policy is aimed at facilitating flexibility in the labour market. The active labour market policy and the design of the social security pension system are two frequently mentioned examples of that policy. This does not necessarily mean that all policy programs are in accordance with the goal of enhancing flexibility. In this paper we analyze one part of the social and occupational (collectively bargained) security system – the compensation at unemployment with special emphasis on the schemes complementing compensation from the unemployment insurance scheme. We focus on the effects of those systems on labour market flexibility. Some parts of these complementing systems support mobility and return to work after layoffs, other parts of the systems may lead to that workers avoid job mobility and to prolonged periods of unemployment. Of special interest is that those complementing systems differ between different sectors of the labour market and that many, especially young people, are not covered.


Summary The mechanism by which frost heave occurs when freezing temperatures, frost-susceptible materials and an adequate supply of water occur simultaneously is outlined. Index tests for identifying frost-susceptible materials (particularly sub-base aggregates) are discussed and emphasis is given to improvements in the Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL) test and the role of suction/permeability relationships. Analysis of the design procedure to prevent frost heave damage highlights the importance of material and environmental factors. Results from homogeneous and composite specimens support this conclusion. A quantitative model has been developed and reasonable agreement obtained between its predictions and the heave observed in a Precise Freezing Cell. The work described is relevant to the improvement of empirical design procedures in the near future as well as the possible introduction of analytical design methods at a later stage.


Abstract High sugar intake has been associated with adverse effects on health, with some types of breakfast being highly linked to overweight and obesity. The aim was to compare the effects of four sugar-free breakfast items, apricot jam with white bread (JWB), white bread (WB), cocoa with fat-free milk (CM), and dried cranberry cereal bar (CB), compared to d-glucose on the glycaemic responses. Using a cross-over design, twelve healthy individuals (25 ± 4 years; BMI 22 ± 2 kg/m2) received isoglucidic test meals (25 g of available carbohydrate) and 25 g glucose reference, in random order. Glycaemic index/load (GI/GL) were calculated, and capillary blood glucose samples were collected at 0–120 min after meal consumption. Subjective appetite was assessed with visual analogue scales. Sugar-free apricot jam and cocoa powder contained traces of available carbohydrates and were consumed along with bread and fat-free milk, respectively. JWB and WB were classified as medium GI, low-to-medium GL; CM as medium GI, low GL; and CB as high GI, low-to-medium GL. Subjective hunger was lower after JWB, fullness was higher after CM and pleasure was higher after CB (P for all < 0⋅05). In conclusion, sugar-free apricot jam with and without WB and cocoa powder with fat-free milk are suitable healthy breakfast options leading to improved glycaemic and subjective appetite responses.


CDMA has been established as a standard multiple access scheme in mobile radio communications. However, high spectral efficiency can only be achieved by applying multi-user detection schemes combatting the inherent multi-user interference. Since the optimum maximum likelihood approach is far too complex for practical implementations, suboptimum iterative strategies are applied. These iterative strategies follow the turbo principle well-known from coding theory and can be analyzed by means of extrinsic information transfer (EXIT) charts. This paper analyzes the performance of iterative multi-user detection schemes by EXIT charts. For simplicity, an AWGN channel and a synchronous transmission are assumed. Starting with optimum APP components, we show that the performance of the iterative scheme is well predictable by the EXIT chart technique. Results for different signal to noise ratios are presented. For non-ideal components like the parallel interference cancellation, the prediction becomes less accurate but is still possible.


Ray (1969) conducted an experiment on multiple stimulus-response relations and selective attention. Ray's (1969) results suggested that stimulus-response relations
function as behavioral units. McIlvane and Dube (1996) indicated that if stimulus-response relations are behavioral units the effects of environmental variables on stimulus-response
relations should be similar to the effects of environmental variables on single response topographies. This experiment analyzed the effects of reinforcement history on the
probability of stimulus-response relations with differing reinforcement histories. In separate conditions random-ratio schedules of reinforcement were contingent on each of
four discriminated responses. To assess the effects of reinforcement, during test conditions stimuli controlling different topographies were present concurrently in composite form. Results show that reinforcement history affects the probability of each response topography and that the association between response topographies and their controlling stimuli tends to remain constant throughout variations in reinforcement probability.


The productive potential of 11 guinea grass forage genotypes was evaluated at harvest intervals of 45 days during the short and long day seasons. Guinea grass genotypes PRPI 3637 and 3622 produced the highest dry matter yields. P. maximun PRPI 12917 (cultivar Makueny) was not different from 3637 or 3622 during short days; however, during long days it differed from cultivar 3637. In vitro true digestibility (IVTD) estimated by the predicting equation of Arroyo-Aguilu and Coward-Lord was similar for most cultivars under evaluation. Cultivar Guadalupe produced the highest IVTD values during both seasons. Among all genotypes, P. maximun 3637 and 3634 consistently had the highest average regrowth percentages and the best capacity to recover.


The Mosaic of Competitiveness is the work of several experienced authors coordinated by a respected editor with a clear vision. A mosaic is something that is made up of several elements, and the picture is complete when viewed from a slightly more distant perspective. This is a definition that this volume clearly meets. It takes a thorough look at the subject of competitiveness, giving scope to different perspectives within each study, but still presenting the different aspects within a coherent value framework. As the editor notes in the introduction, "As you can see from the topics, the book takes a thorough look at competitiveness, returning to the key messages - such as the importance of people, knowledge, innovation and learning. A conscious choice of values is also reflected in the book: an appreciation of performance, an emphasis on quality over quantity in all areas, and the importance of reliability, honesty and trust." (p.15) Hence, it is important to note that the conceptual framework of the book expands the general framework used in Hungarian higher education and highlights the need for economists to interpret concepts broadly and to move beyond the neoliberal worldview in order to contribute to the conceptual framework needed to address current global economic challenges. In this regard, the editor concludes her introductory thoughts with a quote from US President Theodore Roosevelt: "If education gives a man only knowledge, but not values, it is a danger to society." (p.15) After the general introduction, let us now move on to the 13 studies presented in the volume.


Cryptolepine, the major alkaloid of the west African shrub Cryptolepis sanguinolenta, has been shown to induce cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in A549 cells (Zhu and Godderham, 2006). We have also reported the inhibitory effects of this compound on NF-κB in various cell types (Olajide et al., 2007; 2013a; 2013b). In this study, we have investigated whether the apoptosis-inducing action of the compound is mediated through NF-κB signalling. In order to evaluate the effect on cell proliferation, cultured A549 cells were treated with cryptolepine (5-20 μμM) for 24 h, and number of viable cells determined using the MTT assay. Cultured cells pre-treated with cryptolepine (5-20 μM) 30 min prior to stimulation with TNFα (1 nM) were evaluated for levels of caspase 3 using the Caspase-Glo® 3/7 Assay kit (Promega). The effects of cryptolepine on TNFα-induced IκB phosphorylation, NF-κBp65 subunit nuclear translocation, and protein expressions of NF-κB-regulated gene products of apoptosis (cyclin D1, survivin, XIAP, cIAP1, and Bcl-2 were investigated by treating cultured A549 cells with cryptolepine (5-20 μM) 30 min before stimulation with TNFα (1 nM), followed by In Cell western analysis. Results showed that cryptolepine produced dose-dependent and significant (p<0.05) reduction in A549 cell proliferation after 24 h of treatment. At 20 μM of the compound, cell viability was reduced by 62.2±3.3%. Treatment with 10 and 20 μM cryptolepine for 24 h was also found to cause significant (p<0.05) induction of caspase-3. With 10 μM, relative luminescence was 9038±480.5, and at 20 μM, relative luminescence was 9776±266.4, compared with relative luminescence of 1151±74.5 recorded in control cells. Protein analyses revealed that 10 and 20 μM of cryptolepine inhibited TNFα-induced IκB phosphorylation and NF-κBp65 nuclear translocation. Cells stimulated with TNFα (1 nM) showed elevated levels of Bcl-2, cyclin D1, surviving, XIAP and cIAP, which were reduced when pre-treated with cryptolepine (5-20 μM). Our results showed that cryptolepine downregulated the expression of anti-apoptosis proteins. We have also demonstrated that cryptolepine induces apoptosis in A549 lung carcinoma cells by interfering with NF-κB signalling.


When it comes to contraception, we know that reducing barriers related to cost is accompanied by increased uptake of women's preferred methods and, in particular, increased uptake of the most effective modern forms of reversible contraception, namely long-acting reversible contraception (LARC).1 LARC methods, such as intrauterine devices and subdermal hormonal implants, have the advantage of being user-independent in achieving extraordinary effectiveness. Yet, the most commonly used modern form of hormonal birth control remains the contraceptive pill, which is highly user-dependent with adherence directly impacting effectiveness.

For any contemporary health system, the importance of supporting access to the full spectrum of common contraceptive methods, including LARC, can be argued both from a reproductive autonomy and a public health perspective. But for women in the military, actively serving in defence of a nation and potentially in combat zones, the imperative and value is likely magnified. In this journal issue, a situation far from this ideal is presented and explored in the work by Rottenstreich et al . entitled 'Adherence to no-cost oral contraceptives among active-duty servicewomen'.2 This study describes oral contraceptive use in the Israeli military, a young population in a particular situation where this method alone was offered by their healthcare system at no-cost.

This 'Hobson's choice', where contraceptive 'options' means a single, 'take it or leave it' method, unsurprisingly does not meet servicewomen's needs. Using prescription fulfilment data, the authors convincingly …


Subspace estimation plays an important role in, for example, sensor array signal processing. Recursive methods for subspace tracking with application to nonstationary environments have also drawn considerable interest. In this paper, instrumental variable (IV) extensions of the projection approximation subspace tracking (PAST) algorithm are presented. The IV approach is motivated by the fact that PAST gives biased estimates when the noise is not spatially white. The proposed algorithms are based on a projection like unconstrained criterion, with a resulting computational complexity, of 3ml+O(mn), where m is the dimension of the measurement vector; l is the dimension of the IV vector; and n is the subspace dimension. In addition, an extension to a "second order" IV algorithm is proposed, which in certain scenarios is demonstrated to have better tracking properties than the basic IV-PAST algorithms. The performance of the algorithms is demonstrated with a simulation study of a time-varying array processing scenario.


We propose a method that combines single-trial classification and channel/basis selection in a single regularized empirical risk minimization problem. We use the linear sum of the Euclidian norms of the columns of the coefficient matrix as the regularizer. This penalty enables us to select rows and columns of the coefficient matrix, which correspond to a subset of the channels or a subset of basis functions, in a systematic manner. Moreover, the parameter learning can be performed in a convex optimization problem with second order cone constraints. The method is demonstrated on P300 speller dataset (dataset II) from the BCI competition III. The method performs reasonably well with small number of electrodes/basis functions.


Methods for gaining qualitative understanding, in the specific sense defined by Jonathan Kvanvig, of sets of information instantiated in documents, in the context of library/information research, are reviewed and compared. A number of methods are relevant to this kind of study, including critical and systematic reviewing, meta-ethnography, historical analysis, philosophical analysis, content and discourse analysis, and grounded theory. It is concluded that, while such studies are carried out in library/information research, there is no agreement on the most appropriate methods. It is suggested that the most appropriate methodology is based on critical interpretive synthesis, carried out in the style of ethnographic, chronological or conceptual analysis.


Let $mathcal{R}$ be a  commutative ring with identity, let $A$ and $B$ be two $mathcal{R}$-algebras and $varphi:Blongrightarrow A$ be an $mathcal{R}$-additive algebra homomorphism. We introduce a new algebra $Atimes_varphi B$, and give some basic properties of this algebra. Generalized $2$-cocycle derivations on $Atimes_varphi B$ are studied. Accordingly, $Atimes_varphi B$ is considered from the perspective of Banach algebras.


The Laplacian noise has received much attention during the recent years since it affects many communication systems. We consider in this paper the probability of error of an M-ary phase shift keying (PSK) constellation operating over a generalized fading channel in presence of a dominant additive Laplacian noise. In this context, the decision regions of the receiver are determined using the maximum likelihood and the minimum distance detectors. Once the decision regions are extracted, the resulting symbol error rate expressions are computed and averaged over an extended generalized-K fading distribution. Generic closed form expressions of the conditional and the average probability of error are obtained in terms of the Fox's H function. Simplifications for some special cases of fading are presented and the resulting formulas end up being often expressed in terms of well known elementary functions. Finally, the mathematical formalism is validated using some selected analytical-based numerical results as well as Monte-Carlo simulation-based results.


Sophia recommends a supplement in the British Journal of Surgery (2012; 99 (Suppl 1)) devoted to trauma care. Advances in surgical approaches and the use of tourniquets, haemostatic dressings and novel intravenous fluids are discussed in an article heralding the beginning of the end for damage control surgery (2012; 99 (Suppl 1):10–11). Following on, a review of trauma induced coagulopathy speculates that future treatment may be based upon a combination of systemic antifibrinolytics, local haemostatics, and individualised point of care guided rational use of coagulation factor concentrates (Suppl 1:40–50). Indicators of the quality of trauma care are considered later in the supplement (Suppl 1:97–104). Traditional markers of quality have relied upon rates of death/survival in hospital, but it is now acknowledged that these are rather crude measures. Work is under way to develop measures of performance which include morbidity, functional long-term outcomes as well as mortality.

A randomised prospective study compared propofol with ketamine/midazolam sedation in the ED for painful orthopaedic manipulations. Specific comparisons included recovery time, total sedation time, adverse …


The syndrome of male pseudohermaphroditism, caused by a deficiency of the enzyme 5-alpha reductase, results in a selective decrease in dihyrotestosterone. Culture is an important part of the context in which decisions are made on sex assignment of patients with abnormalities of the external genitalia. In Turkey, patients with ambiguious genitalia are diagnosed very late and corrective surgery is usually performed during or after puberty. Here we present a case with 5-alpha reductase deficiency who was diagnosed at puberty and followed-up for 10 years.


Objectives Anomia is one of the most common problems that aphasic patients and therapists are involved with it. Because of the disruptive effect of anomia on communicative efficiency of aphasic patients, this study aimed at examining the effect of errorless naming treatment on naming ability in an aphasic patient. Methods & Materials The subject was selected using purposeful sampling method. This interventional single-subject study with ABA design was implemented on a 69-year-old woman with moderate Broca's aphasia and phonological errors. The participant was a literate, right-handed Persian speaking patient with neither severe motor speech disorder nor significant auditory comprehension deficits. The patient underwent 10 sessions of treatment using errorless naming treatment protocol (Raymer et al., 2012). Based on this method, the patient was given multiple opportunities to rehearse the correct name of a picture supported by repetition and oral reading, while avoiding production of errors during training. Results The effect size in confrontational naming task after intervention in this patient for trained and control words were 5.42 and 2.38, respectively. The linear trend line of correct responses percentage of trained and control words were 7.6 and 4.15, respectively. Improvements in the trained and control word sets remained at a higher level than baseline, one week later. Also improvements in Persian WAB and naming tests were noticed in posttreatment period. Conclusion As a result of errorless naming treatment in the current study, the patient showed significant improvements in naming of trained words but generalization was not noticeable for control words. Based on this finding, this method might be useful as a therapeutic protocol in Persian speaking aphasic patients with anomia. A B S T R A C T


Upon preincubation with halogenated isoxazolyl-penicillins, the activity of Bacillus cereusβ-lactamase is decreased by a factor proportional to the inhibitor concentration. This inactivation, which concerns essentially the catalytic rate constant of the enzyme, occurs only at or above 37°C with cloxacillin and dicloxacillin, and even at 25°C with flucloxacillin. The dependence of the inactivation rate upon inhibitor concentration is consistent, in the former case, with the occurrence of a bimolecular reaction, and in the latter case, with a bimolecular process followed by a monomolecular step.


Objective: To evaluate the incidence and mortality status of thyroid cancer in China, 2013. Methods: Incidence and mortality data of thyroid cancer were derived from 255 population-based cancer registries in China. Age-specific and age standardized incidence and mortality rates of thyroid cancer in different areas (urban and rural) with different gender were calculated based on the stratification of area (urban and rural), gender, age and tumor position. Chinese census in 2000 and the world Segi's population were used for age-standardized incidence/mortality rates. The incident cases and deaths were estimated using age-specific rates and national population data in 2013. Results: The estimates of new cancer incident cases and deaths were 143.9 thousand and 6 500, respectively. The crude incidence rate was 10.58/100 000 (Male 5.12/100 000, Female 16.32/100 000). Age-standardized incidence rates by Chinese standard population (ASIRC, 2000) and by world standard population (ASIRW) were 8.82/100 000 and 7.67/100 000, respectively. Male to female ratio was 1∶3.2. The crude incidence rate in urban and rural areas were 15.03/100 000 and 5.41/100 000, respectively. After adjustment by China standard population, the rate in urban areas was 2.57 times higher than that of rural areas. The crude mortality rate of thyroid cancer was 0.48/100 000 (Male 0.33/100 000, Female 0.63/100 000). Age-standardized mortality rates by Chinese standard population (ASIRC, 2000) and by world standard population (ASIRW) were 0.33/100 000 and 0.32/100 000, respectively. The crude mortality rate in urban and rural areas were 0.57/100 000 and 0.38/100 000, respectively. After adjustment by China standard population, the rate in urban areas was 1.41 times higher than that of rural areas. The cumulative incidence and mortality rates (0-74 years old) were 0.74% and 0.03%, respectively. According to the data from 255 cancer registries, papillary carcinoma is the main pathology type, which accounted for 89.9% of all malignant tumors. Conclusions: The disease burden of thyroid cancer in urban areas is higher than that in rural areas. Females have the higher incidence rate than that of males. The reasons related to the higher incidence rate of thyroid cancer should be further investigated to provide evidence for appropriate cancer control strategies and policies to be made in China.


On-chip integrated network, the so-called network-on-chip (NoC), is becoming a promising communication paradigm for the next-generation embedded core-based system chips. The reuse of the on-chip network as test access mechanism has been recently proposed to handle the growing complexity of testing NoC-based systems. However, the NoC reuse is limited by the on-chip routing resources and various constraints. Therefore, efficient test-scheduling methods are required to deliver feasible test time while meeting all the constraints. In this paper, the authors propose a comprehensive approach to test scheduling in NoC-based systems. The proposed scheduling algorithm is based on the use of dedicated routing path that is suitable for nonpreemptive test. The algorithm is improved by incorporating both preemptive and nonpreemptive tests. In addition, BIST, precedence, and power constraints were taken into consideration. Experimental results for the ITC'02 system-on-chip benchmarks show that the nonpreemptive scheduling based on dedicated path can efficiently reduce test application time compared to previous work, and the improved method provides a practical solution to the real-world NoC-based-system testing with both preemptive and nonpreemptive cores. It is also shown that various constraints can be incorporated to deliver a comprehensive test solution


Five major data sources were used to create the ETOPO2 dataset. These datasets are described in detail at the NGDC website: http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/fliers/01mgg04.html The five major data sources were assembled into the single ETOPO2 2-minute data base without formal edge matching or other methods that alter the data as initially posted. Higher-resolution data take precedence: data derived from GLOBE mask all other data, Smith/Sandwell data come next, followed by IBCAO, with the 5-minute data filling any gaps. Five-minute data from DBDBV and ETOPO5 and 30-second data from GLOBE were regridded to 2 minute spacing by bicubic spline interpolation. IBCAO data were originally gridded in a polar stereographic projection; these data were interpolated along lines of constant latitude at 2 minute steps for every 2 minutes of latitude from 72° North to the pole.


The Norfolk Lunatic Asylum opened in 1814 as a pioneer county pauper institution and in 1998 St Andrew's featured among the last of the large psychiatric hospital closures. This history of one particular place for 'madness' covers changing approaches to insanity and treatments over two centuries. It draws extensively upon archival sources to examine the use of buildings and environments; the regimes of long-serving masters, superintendents and medical superintendents; the patients' own experiences; and the rationales, including cultural and gender issues, which informed therapies, relationships and hospital life. However, the contexts of national policies and economic constraints, professional and therapeutic developments, local economy and society, and current research findings are also acknowledged. Chapters dealing with the asylum's transformation as the 1915-19 Norfolk War Hospital and 1940-47 Emergency Hospital have disturbing revelations concerning wartime mental health care: similarly with the loss of local accountability and the experience of resource control under the National Health Service. Interviews with former staff and current personnel recall first-hand experiences of hospital life since the 1920s, the privations of wartime and the early NHS, hopes for new medications and conflicting views surrounding the closure of St Andrew's and the delivery of community mental health care. STEVEN CHERRY is senior lecturer in history, Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine, University of East Anglia.


The centrohelid heliozoan Raphidocystis contractilis has many radiating axopodia, each containing axopodial microtubules. The axopodia show rapid contraction at nearly a video rate (30 frames per second) in response to mechanical stimuli. The axopodial contraction is accompanied by cytoskeletal microtubule depolymerization, but the molecular mechanism of this phenomenon has not been elucidated. In this study, we performed de novo transcriptome sequencing of R. contractilis to identify genes involved in microtubule dynamics such as the rapid axopodial contraction. The transcriptome sequencing generated 7.15‐Gbp clean reads in total, which were assembled as 31,771 unigenes. Using the obtained gene sets, we identified several microtubule‐severing proteins which might be involved in the rapid axopodial contraction, and kinesin‐like genes that occur in gene duplication. On the other hand, some genes for microtubule motor proteins involved in the formation and motility of flagella were not found in R. contractilis, suggesting that the gene repertoire of R. contractilis reflected the morphological features of nonflagellated protists. Our transcriptome analysis provides basic information for the analysis of the molecular mechanism underlying microtubule dynamics in R. contractilis.


The relevance of the studied problem is determined by the socio-political processes that have embraced the modern Islamic world, connected with the substantial politicization of the Muslim community, religious revival movements and the spread of radical currents. The paper is aimed at studying the public debate in Russia (XIX-early XX century) regarding the future of domestic Muslims. The leading approach to the study of this problem is the concept that modernization attempts in Russia had compensatory nature and were aimed at strengthening the imperial system. Based on the study of the works by the experts of the "Muslim matter", the authors came to the conclusion that the public discussion arrived at a view that it is necessary to strengthen the spiritual and cultural assimilation of foreigners on the ways of activating both administrative and cultural methods. Reliability of the results of the study is determined by the authors' appeal to a representative sample and analysis of the works by Russian scientists and publicists, who most clearly reflected the position of their socio-political group regarding the future of the Muslim community in Russia. Along with the opinions of academic orientalists and Islamologists, the views of representatives of the scientific missionary circles, Muslim modernists, revolutionary democrats, etc. are presented. The materials of the paper can be useful for further development of scientific problems on the history of Islam and Muslim peoples, as well as the history of culture and public thought of the peoples of Russia. Keywords : history, social studies, Islamic studies, Russian empire, "Muslim matter", public discussion.


Objectives: We execute a work in a 3D setting and make projections from solid builders for 3D representations of 3D scenery to transition from 2D displays to 3D models. Methods: Constructional work of area-laying is the 3D model-driven real-world object modelling that starts from the acquisition of data in range format and passing to the transfer of them for transition modelling. Ranging-depth is the key-factor in the factorization of the depth-maps to the iso-surface values. Factorizing to building factors of 3D formation concerns settings of 3D rebuilding. Mid-depth ranging is a key factor in the factorization of iso-value/surface depth mapping. Findings: The dimension exchange transit passes through three axe-transitive passage build-up ranged frames. Multiple dimensions are entered to make a variety of reforms across a 3D overlay created by hand during state change transition.Having factorized to its building-blocks in 3-D, the only left matter to-do in our reform is to regulate the whole worlds of the 3-Dimensional rebuilding. With the state changes that fitting out in time varying mode, we could be able to fully rig-out the complete surface ground.The state change fits the surroundings in the time varying mode with skinning. Directed mapping produces a detailed 3D model of a surface domain area. The 3D modeling of solid objects cannot be finalized until it is made more efficient. Our proposed design approach is adaptively refining also the higher-order multi-variate problems with specially-recreation ways under certain boundary constraints for exceeding the status of former that is passed by our series of proposed techniques in multiphase structured solid work tests. Applications: The speed of reincarnation is in turn altered. This processing lasts shorter period of time at last and it will improve outcomes by transferring triangular structuring tiles faster through refined procedures.


The importance of alignable differences in teaching linear measurement Mee-Kyoung Kwon University of Chicago Susan Cohen Levine University of Chicago Kristin Ratliff University of Chicago Camille Snyder DePaul University Abstract: We examined understanding of linear measurement in 1st and 2nd graders from high-and low-SES families. Children made two kinds of errors on measuring objects not aligned with the beginning of the ruler - reading off the number that corresponded to the rightmost edge of the object (common in low SES children) and counting the number of hatch marks that the length of the ruler encompasses (common in high SES children). Experiment 1 showed that only children who counted hatch marks at pretest learned from training that made use of misaligned ruler items combined with unit chips. Experiment 2 used the same procedure but presented pairs of objects that ended at the same point on the ruler (e.g., 5" and 2" sticks that both aligned with 5" on the ruler). With this training, children benefited regardless of initial error type. These findings indicate that comparisons that highlights alignable differences promote learning.


Hyperthermia treatment incorporating magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) is a hopeful therapy for cancers. Acquiring information about the MNPs' deposition in tumor tissues and modeling magnetic heating in vivo are essential for successful treatment. In this paper, we discuss the inhomogeneous heat generation by MNPs distributed heterogeneously in a liver tumor during arterial embolization hyperthermia (AEH) treatments. In order to more accurately simulate the temperature elevation for an AEH treatment plan, we conducted the following experiments. First, we detected the distribution of magnetic field intensity in the aperture of a ferrite-core applicator. We found that attenuation of the magnetic field focuses mainly on the vertical distance of the aperture, which makes MNPs in tissues have different power loss along the lognitudinal axis. Second, we prepared 20 nm monodisperse lipiodol-soluble MNPs and injected super-selectively through the micro-catheter into the arteries of a rabbit with a VX-2 liver tumor. By histological cuts of the investigated specimen, as well as computed tomography (CT), we found MNPs mainly concentrated on the tumor periphery. Last, from the experimental information, we established a new model for simulating the increasing temperature in the liver tumor based on our inhomogeneous interior-heat-source analysis (IIA). We also compared the simulated results with the two types of homogeneous models. The results showed that IIA gives significantly different results from those for a homogeneous model and thus is preferable when an accurate treatment plan is required during AEH.


The goal of this thesis has been to study the behaviour of the closed loop driver-vehicle-environment in simulation and to find parameters of the synthetic vehicle model, which minimise certain optimisation criteria. A method of optimising parameters using genetic algorithms has been implemented and has proven to work well. Two different driving strategies have been tried in the optimisation of an ISO lane-change manoeuvre. The first approach has simulated a beginner driver and his or her behaviour. The second approach simulates an experienced driver and also the possibility of driver adaption to different vehicle types. The implemented driver model has shown to be sufficient to describe the driver ́s behaviour during lateral manoeuvres. A parameter set which minimises the lateral acceleration response on steering wheel angle has proven to be the optimum. This includes a small steering wheel ratio, and a small but positive under steer gradient. The driver has demonstrated the ability to adapt to different vehicles, and therefore different parameter sets, describing the driver, should be used for different problems.


NASA has selected Dynetics, Inc. of Huntsville, Alabama, to develop and build a universal stage adapter for the agency's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The adapter will connect NASA's Orion spacecraft and provide additional cargo space for the future configurations of the rocket containing an exploration upper stage (EUS).


Faults in power systems cause voltage sags, which, in turn, provoke large current peaks in grid-connected equipment. Then, a complete knowledge of the inverter behaviour is needed to meet fault ride-through capability. The aim of this study is to propose a mathematical model that describes the behaviour of the currents that a three-phase inverter with RL filter injects to a faulty grid with symmetrical and unsymmetrical voltage sags. The voltage recovery process is considered, i.e. the fault is assumed to be cleared in the successive zero-cross instants of the fault current. It gives rise to a voltage recovery in different steps (discrete voltage sag), which differs from the usual model in the literature, where the voltage recovers instantaneously (abrupt voltage sag). The analytical model shows that the fault-clearing process has a strong influence on the injected currents. Different sag durations and depths have also been considered, showing that there exist critical values for these magnitudes, which provoke the highest current peaks. The analytical study is validated through simulations in MATLAB
 TM
 and through experimental results.


Researchers are under increasing pressure to disseminate research more widely with non-academic audiences (efforts we call knowledge mobilization, KMb) and to articulate the value of their research beyond academia to broader society. This study surveyed SSHRC-funded education researchers to explore how universities are supporting researchers with these new demands. Overall, the study found that there are few supports available to researchers to assist them in KMb efforts. Even where supports do exist, they are not heavily accessed by researchers. Researchers spend less than 10% of their time on non-academic outreach. Researchers who do the highest levels of academic publishing also report the highest levels of non-academic dissemination. These findings suggest many opportunities to make improvements at individual and institutional levels. We recommend (a) leveraging intermediaries to improve KMb, (b) creating institutionally embedded KMb capacity, and (c) having funders take a leadership role in training and capacity-building.


In marine seismology two types of transient sound sources are used. Controlled sources such as airguns or explosions are used in seismic reflection and refraction surveys to study geological structure below the seafloor. Naturally occurring earthquakes are also observed and they are used to study tectonic and regional and whole earth structure problems. In both cases three‐component particle motion, either velocity or acceleration, is measured on or within the seafloor. However controlled source studies work in the VLF band (1.0–100 Hz) and earthquake studies generally run in the lower ULF band (0.001–5 Hz). A major advantage of transient sources versus harmonic sources is that multi‐pathing can be distinguished by the time separation of phases. In fact, many schemes for inferring geological structure from transient seismic data are based solely on the arrival times of certain phases. Also time spread (coda or signal‐generated noise) can be observed directly as reverberation after the coherent arrivals. T...


We present an approach combining temporal dynamical systems methods with newly proposed spatial coupling measures – namely, coherence and cross-bicoherence – to identify and quantitatively describe low-dimensional dynamics in transitional open flows. The approach is used to describe a forced mixing layer as a low-dimensional temporal dynamical system and interpret its transitional vortex dynamics. Experiments were performed in an initially laminar plane mixing layer inside an anechoic chamber using forcing of the fundamental instability only; the forcing frequency and amplitude are used as control parameters. Dynamical invariants calculated show that vortex roll-up and the feedback-driven first two pairing dynamics are well-described by one periodic and at least two low-dimensional chaotic attractors; a phase diagram delineating such dynamical states in the control parameter space is presented. The large spatial extents of these feedback-sustained states (verified using coherence and cross-bicoherence), spanning many instability wavelengths downstream, indicate spatial coupling; feedback has also been experimentally verified. At a fixed forcing frequency, as the forcing amplitude is decreased, the spatially coupled, periodic second pairing dynamics becomes chaotic and spatiotemporal (inferred from decay of coherence and cross-bicoherence); the dynamics in the domain that includes the first pairing, however, remains temporal. This loss of spatial coupling is accompanied by a sudden increase in the attractor dimension, and suggests spatiotemporal chaos. The combination of dynamical systems theory and spatial measures seems to be a promising approach to probe spatiotemporal dynamics in other open flows as well.


The development of control strategies for loiasis is of crucial importance in endemic areas and depends heavily on the accurate identification of occult-infected individuals. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and nested polymerase chain reaction (nested PCR) were developed and based on sequences of the repeat 3 region (15r3) of the gene encoding a Loa loa 15-kD protein. The assays was performed on 20 blood samples from occult-infected subjects and 30 from field-collected amicrofilaremic individuals. The size of the initial PCR product was 396 basepairs (bp). When this initial amplification using primers 15r3(1) and 15r3(2) was carried out for 30 cycles, the PCR products from three of the 20 occult-infected and five of the 30 amicrofilaremic individuals were visualized after electrophoresis by staining the gel with ethidium bromide. Subsequent Southern blotting and hybridization with the specific probe revealed hybridization in 19 of 20 occult-infected and 23 of 30 amicrofilaremic samples but only after two days of exposure of the blot to the x-ray film. When the nested PCR was carried out (product size = 366 bp, primers 15r3(3) and 15r3(4)), 19 of 20 occult-infected and 23 of 30 amicrofilaremic samples that were positive by Southern hybridization of the initial PCR products were strongly positive by staining with ethidium bromide. Qualitative Southern blotting of the nested PCR products using the same probe previously described confirmed the ethidium bromide staining results after a very short exposure time of 4 hr. These results demonstrate that the nested PCR amplification product is specific and that its sensitivity in detecting occult loiasis is 95%. This approach has significant promise for the screening of large human populations for active loiasis without the requirement for blotting and hybridization of the PCR products.


ABSTRACT SWI-SNF complexes have been implicated in transcriptional regulation by chromatin remodeling. We have identified an interaction between two components of the mammalian SWI-SNF complex and cyclin E, an essential cell cycle regulatory protein required for G1/S transition. BRG1 and BAF155, mammalian homologs of yeast SWI2 and SWI3, respectively, are found in cyclin E complexes and are phosphorylated by cyclin E-associated kinase activity. In this report, we show that overexpression of BRG1 causes growth arrest and induction of senescence-associated β-galactosidase activity, which can be overcome by cyclin E. Our results suggest that cyclin E may modulate the activity of the SWI-SNF apparatus to maintain the chromatin in a transcriptionally permissive state.


The poor prognosis of patients with advanced bone and soft‐tissue sarcoma has not changed in the past several decades, highlighting the necessity for new therapeutic approaches. Immunotherapies, including oncolytic viral (OV) therapy, have shown great promise in a number of clinical trials for a variety of tumor types. However, the effective application of OV in treating sarcoma still remains to be demonstrated. Although few pre‐clinical studies using distinct OVs have been performed and demonstrated therapeutic benefit in sarcoma models, a side‐by‐side comparison of clinically relevant OV platforms has not been performed. Four clinically relevant OV platforms (Reovirus, Vaccinia virus, Herpes‐simplex virus and Rhabdovirus) were screened for their ability to infect and kill human and canine sarcoma cell lines in vitro, and human sarcoma specimens ex vivo. In vivo treatment efficacy was tested in a murine model. The rhabdovirus MG1 demonstrated the highest potency in vitro. Ex vivo, MG1 productively infected more than 80% of human sarcoma tissues tested, and treatment in vivo led to a significant increase in long‐lasting cures in sarcoma‐bearing mice. Importantly, MG1 treatment induced the generation of memory immune response that provided protection against a subsequent tumor challenge. This study opens the door for the use of MG1‐based oncolytic immunotherapy strategies as treatment for sarcoma or as a component of a combined therapy.


Recent advances in the theoretical and experimental studies of Ge/SiGe quantum wells structures will be presented with a focus on optical telecommunication applications. Firstly, high-speed stand-alone Ge/SiGe QW electro-absorption modulators and photodetectors will be reported. It will be followed by the presentation of different methods for engineering Ge/SiGe QW to tune the operating wavelength to 1.3 μm. Then the demonstration of a strong electro-refraction Ge/SiGe QW will be reported. This effect could be used to achieve optical modulation but requires the embedding of the QWs in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. Finally it will be shown that these active devices can be combined with advanced passive structures using Ge-rich SiGe virtual substrate on graded buffer as a waveguide.


We have designed a series of hydroxy(aryl)-l 3 - iodane-(18)crown-6 complexes, prepared from the corre- sponding iodosylbenzene derivatives and superacids in the presence of (18)crown-6, and have investigated their reactiv- ities in aqueous media. These activated iodosylbenzene monomers are all non-hygroscopic shelf-storable reagents, but they maintain high oxidizing ability in water. The com- plexes are effective for the oxidation of phenols, sulfides, olefins, silyl enol ethers, and alkyl(trifluoro)borates under mild conditions. Furthermore, hydroxy-l 3 -iodane-(18)crown- 6 complexes serve as efficient progenitors for the synthesis of diaryl-, vinyl-, and alkynyl-l 3 -iodanes in water. Other less polar organic solvents, such as methanol, acetonitrile, and dichloromethane, are also usable in some cases.


Various non-invasive vascular studies have been reported to provide valuable data for selection of the optimum level of amputation in limbs in patients who have vascular disease. We evaluated three such methods: (1) measurement of the change in the transcutaneous PO2 after inhalation of oxygen; (2) determination, by the Doppler method, of segmental blood pressure; and (3) measurement of the temperature of the skin. The records of eighty patients (ninety amputations) were retrospectively reviewed for correlations between the results of the vascular studies and the outcome of the amputation. Measurement of transcutaneous PO2 was found to be the most accurate predictor of successful healing of an amputation; the other two measurements were less reliable. The values for transcutaneous PO2 both at rest and after inhalation of oxygen were significantly different (p less than 0.001) for the patients who had a healed amputation compared with those who had a failed amputation. Regardless of the initial value, if, after inhalation of oxygen, the transcutaneous PO2 reached ten millimeters of mercury or more, it predicted healing of the amputation stump with a sensitivity of 98 per cent. When the level of amputation was selected on the basis of clinical judgment at the time of operation, the sensitivity was only 90 per cent.


Supervised deep learning depends on labeled datasets to define objective categorization of subject matter, but annotation is typically quite expensive for specialized domains. The ISIC 2017 skin lesion and BCCD blood cell image datasets are used to represent complex medical annotation scenarios, where domain knowledge is not permitted in either preprocessing or feature extraction. A low complexity supervision method is proposed, based on an iterative machine learning algorithm that fulfills the requirements for cognitive-assisted labeling. The visualization and editing of feature spaces is demanded where new label information must be integrated to improve the embedding quality as feedback mechanism. The annotators ability for fast local homogeneity assessment is leveraged through compound labeling prospects, which is the basis for achieving efficient labeling. Improved unsupervised feature extraction is hypothesized to reduce the labeling burden so the best feature extractors are empirically located at the various depths in ImageNet-pretrained convolutional neural networks, including VGG-16, Inception-v4 and Inception-Resnet-v2. Annotator emulation is performed to simulate upper bounds of achievable labeling efficiency and to explore active learning dynamics. A two-fold increase in efficiency is shown in the case of partial labeling, despite the complexity of the skin lesion data and the marginal improvement with pretrained features.


Traditionally, courts interpreting written contracts focused primarily on the contract's language. Consideration of factors beyond the "four corners" of the document was discouraged. Modern courts construing standard form insurance contracts have deviated from this course and begun aiding the insured against the insurer. One of the methods used to tilt insurance disputes in favor of the insured is the "reasonable expectations doctrine," described by Professor (now Judge) Robert Keeton in this "classic" formulation:1


Heart failure (HF) is a global public health concern that affects millions of people worldwide. While there have been significant therapeutic advancements in HF over the last few decades, there remain major disparities in risk factors, treatment patterns and outcomes across race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, country and region. Recent research has provided insight into many of these disparities, but there remain large gaps in our understanding of worldwide variations in HF care. Although the majority of the global population resides across Asia, Africa and South America, these regions remain poorly represented in epidemiological studies and HF trials. Recent efforts and registries have provided insight into the clinical profiles and outcomes across HF patterns globally. The prevalence of HF and associated risk factors has been reported and varies by country and region ranges, with minimal data on regional variations in treatment patterns and long-term outcomes. It is critical to improve our understanding of the different factors that contribute to global disparities in HF care so we can build interventions that improve our general cardiovascular health and mitigate the social and economic cost of HF. In this narrative review, we hope to provide an overview of the global and regional variations in HF care and outcomes.


60 consecutive patients (mean age: 80,7 yrs; s.d.: 6,1 yrs; range 70-94 yrs) referred to a geriatric medicine department with syncope or dizziness were proposectively compared with 40 age and sex matched controls. A battery of non-invasive investigations including tilt-test, glycemia, 12 lead ecg., eeg, 24 hour ambulatory ecg recording,. M--mode echocardiogram and cervical Doppler velocimetry was applied blindly to patients and controls. The proportion of abnormalities was similar in both groups having sick sinus syndrom or complete atrio-ventricular block versus no control (p less than 0.05). By contrast history-case was of great predictive value: 6 of 13 patients reporting abrupt syncope had a 24 ecg recording showing sick sinus syndrom or complete atrio ventricular block, versus 2 of 47 other patients (p less than 0,01); 11 of 14 patients reporting orhostatic dizziness or syncope had a tilt-test consistent with orthostactic hypotension versus 6 of 46 other patients (p less than 0,01).


The RNA-binding protein RbpD, from the cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. Strain PCC 7120 was expressed in Escherichia coli and successfully purified using the IMPACT I system (New England Biolabs). The rbpD gene was cloned into the pCYBl expression vector by using polymerase chain reaction to introduce Ndel and Sapl restriction sites at the 5' end 3' ends of the gene respectively. The 3'-end mutagenesis also changed the stop codon into a cysteine codon. The resulting gene encoded a fusion protein consisting of RbpD, the Saccharomyces cerevisiae VMA intein and a chitin binding domain. Expression of the fusion protein was observed in E. coli strain MCI 061 but Western blot analysis using an intein-directed antibody indicated that significant in vivo intein-directed splicing of the fusion protein occurred. We were unable to eliminate this problem; no fusion protein expression was observed in 8 other E. coli strains tested. Wild-type RbpD was purified following binding of the fusion protein to a chitin column and overnight cleavage in the presence of a reducing agent, dithiothreitol. A number of modifications to the manufacturer's purification protocol were found to be necessary for successful purification. The NaCl concentration in the cleavage and elution buffer was increased from 50 mM to 500 mM to eliminate problems of RbpD solubility. An increase in the dithiothreitol concentration of the cleavage buffer from 30 mM to 50 mM was required for full cleavage. -- A modified form of RbpD containing an hexa-histidine tag in loop 3 of the RNA recognition motif, RbpDl, was also successfully purified. The rbpDl gene, previously constructed by Cynthia Slade, was cloned into the pTRC99A expression vector. An Ncol site was introduced at the 5'-end of the gene using site-directed mutagenesis. This modification also changed the second codon of the gene from serine to alanine. The RbpDl protein was expressed in E. coli strain BL21(DE3)pLysS following induction with IPTG and purified using a nickel-NTA agarose affinity column. The protein was eluted with 100 mM imidazole and appeared to be pure upon analysis using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. -- The RNA-binding activity of RbpD and RbpDl were first determined using Sepharose-4B-, polyacrylhydrazido-agarose-, or agarose-bound RNA homopolymers. Both proteins bound strongly to poly(U), less strongly to poly(G), weakly to poly(A), and not at all to poly(C). This pattern is consistent with that observed for other cyanobacterial RNA-binding proteins. There was no apparent difference in the binding affinities of RbpD and RbpDl indicating that the presence of the 6x-histidine tag had no effect. Experiments to detect binding between RbpD and a conserved sequence element in the 5'- untranslated region of rbpD using both electrophoretic mobility shift assays and nitrocellulose filter binding were unsuccessful. Similarly, attempts to detect binding between RbpD and size-fractionated radioactively labelled poly(U) by electrophoretic mobility shift assays were unsuccessful. Two SELEX experiments were also unsuccessful. In both cases, no increase in specific binding over background was detected through four rounds of selection.


Two shallow ponds at Cape Evans, Ross Island, were sampled at 1–2 week intervals, during winter freezing throughout the winter and during the subsequent melt period, to examine the physical and chemical conditions imposed on the biota during the year. Liquid water was first detected at the base of the ponds in late December. During the main summer melt period conductivities were less than 10 mS cm−1 with maximum daily temperatures around 5°C. The bottom waters became increasingly saline during freezing and water temperatures decreased below 0°C; by June the remaining water overlying the sediments had conductivities >150 mS cm−1 and temperatures of −13°C. Calcium carbonate, then sodium sulphate precipitated out of solution during early freezing. The dominant nitrogen species was dissolved organic-N which reached 12 g m−3 in Pond 1 just prior to final freeze up. The organic and inorganic forms of nitrogen and dissolved reactive phosphorus increased with increasing conductivity in the ponds. The behaviour of particulate-N and particulate-P mirrored that of chlorophyll a with a peak in March-April and a second higher peak just before final freeze-up. This study provides clear evidence that organisms which persist throughout the year in Antarctic coastal ponds must be capable of surviving much more severe osmotic, pH, temperature and redox conditions than those measured during the summer melt. Deoxygenation, pH decline and H2S production, however, point to continued respiratory activity well into the dark winter months.


Accepted: 27 Jan 2015 Abstract Introduction: Odontogenic infections are one of the common cause of maxillary sinusitis. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between the teeth with periapical lesions or periodontal disease and sinus mucosal thickening using cone-beam computed tomography(CBCT). Methods: This was a retrospective and cross-sectional study. CBCT scans of 97 patients(188 sinuses) were evaluated retrospectively for the presence of periapical lesions and/or periodontal disease in posterior maxillary teeth and associated sinus mucosal thickening. Thickening >2 mm was considered pathological and was categorized by degree(normal, 0-2mm, 2–4 mm, 4–10 mm, and >10 mm). Periodontal bone loss was categorized in 25%, 25-50%, >50%. And for data analysis, Chi squre and Spearman correlation were performed. Results: Mucosal thickening>2 mm was observed in 109 sinuses(58%). Data analysis revealed significant associations between the mucosal thickening>2 mm and sex(males, p=0.001), and age(p<0.001). There was a close relationship between mucosal thickening and periodontal bone loss(p=0.057), also there was a significant association between mucosal thickening and periapical lesions(p=0.001). Conclusions: Sinus mucosal thickening was a common radiographic finding, which was more likely to be observed in males with older age and periapical lesions significantly increased the thickness


We address the optimal energy storage management and sizing problem in the presence of renewable energy and dynamic pricing associated with electricity from the grid. We formulate the problem as a stochastic dynamic program that aims to minimize the long-run average cost of electricity used and investment in storage, if any, while satisfying all the demand. We model storage with ramp constraints, conversion losses, dissipation losses and an investment cost. We prove the existence of an optimal storage management policy under mild assumptions and show that it has a dual threshold structure. Under this policy, we derive structural results, which indicate that the marginal value from storage decreases with its size and that the optimal storage size can be computed efficiently. We prove a rather surprising result, as we characterize the maximum value of storage under constant prices and i.i.d. net-demand processes: if the storage is a profitable investment, then the ratio of the amortized cost of storage to the constant price is less than 1/4. We further perform sensitivity analysis on the size of optimal storage and its gain via a case study. Finally, with a computational study on real data, we demonstrate significant savings with energy storage.


narrowed the field of Ideas. In Ep. VII. 342a-d he finds (p. 141) ' the most catholic list of types of Idea to be found anywhere in Plato'. The chapter on ' The World of Ideas ' (pp. 165 ff) works to a similar conclusion. In the latter part of the book the author studies the problems of Plato's unwritten doctrines, of Aristotle's account of the earlier theory, and of the ' Ideal numbers '. After a masterly discussion of this intricate question he judges it probable that (p. 218) ' Plato did not identify the Ideas with numbers, but assigned numbers to Ideas '. He recognises (p. 243) a ' growing mathematization ' of Plato's system. There will remain doubts felt and problems unsolved; but all Platonists will leave this book with a sense of gratitude to the author, and will return to it many times again. D. TARRANT.


BACKGROUND
Low socioeconomic status (SES) has been associated with abnormal expression of p53 in breast cancer, but this relationship has not been evaluated for colorectal cancer (CRC). A cohort of CRC patients was evaluated to determine if SES is associated with abnormal p53 expression.

METHODS
The study population consisted of 249 patients who underwent curative or palliative resections for CRCs at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital. Measures of SES and potential confounders were abstracted from medical records. Abnormal nuclear accumulation of p53 (p53(nac)) was measured in CRCs by immunohistochemistry. Logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between low SES and p53(nac).

RESULTS
Over half (56.2%) of the patients exhibited p53(nac) in their CRCs. After adjustment, the odds ratio for p53(nac) was 1.28 (95% CI =0.55, 2.99) for Medicaid patients relative to those without Medicaid coverage. There was no association between the prevalence of p53(nac) and unemployment, private insurance coverage, or having Medicare due to disability.

CONCLUSIONS
The odds of having p53(nac) were 1.28 times higher for patients with Medicaid coverage, although these findings were not statistically significant. The results of this pilot study, however, provide evidence of a molecular basis for the decreased survival of low SES patients with CRC.


Transcriptional profiling of lung adenocarcinomas has identified numerous gene expression phenotype (GEP) and risk prediction (RP) signatures associated with patient outcome. However, classification agreement between signatures, underlying transcriptional programs, and independent signature validation are less studied. We classified 2395 transcriptional adenocarcinoma profiles, assembled from 17 public cohorts, using 11 GEP and seven RP signatures, finding that 16 signatures were associated with patient survival in the total cohort and in multiple individual cohorts. For significant signatures, total cohort hazard ratios were ~2 in univariate analyses (mean=1.95, range=1.4-2.6). Strong classification agreement between signatures was observed, especially for predicted low-risk patients by adenocarcinoma-derived signatures. Expression of proliferation-related genes correlated strongly with GEP subtype classifications and RP scores, driving the gene signature association with prognosis. A three-group consensus definition of samples across 10 GEP classifiers demonstrated aggregation of samples with specific smoking patterns, gender, and EGFR/KRAS mutations, while survival differences were only significant when patients were divided into low- or high-risk. In summary, our study demonstrates a consensus between GEPs and RPs in lung adenocarcinoma through a common underlying transcriptional program. This consensus generalizes reported problems with current signatures in a clinical context, stressing development of new adenocarcinoma-specific single sample predictors for clinical use.


Abstract Recent research has shown that the verbal information and vicarious learning pathways to fear create long term fear cognitions and can create cognitive biases and avoidance in children. However, it is unlikely that these pathways operate in isolation in the aetiology of childhood fear and the interaction between these pathways is untested. Three preliminary experiments are reported that explore the combined effect of verbal threat information and vicarious learning on self-reported fear beliefs in 7–9-year-old children. Results showed that prior negative information significantly facilitated the effect of negative vicarious learning on children's fear beliefs (Experiment 1); however, there was not a significant combined effect of verbal threat information and vicarious learning when they the information was presented during (Experiment 2) or after (Experiment 3) vicarious learning. These results support the idea that verbal information can affect CS-US associations formed in subsequent vicarious learning events, but contradict the proposal that it can change fear beliefs already acquired through vicarious learning by changing how a person evaluates the vicarious learning episode.


Machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI) and other modern statistical methods are providing new opportunities to operationalize previously untapped and rapidly growing sources of data for patient benefit. Whilst there is a lot of promising research currently being undertaken, the literature as a whole lacks: transparency; clear reporting to facilitate replicability; exploration for potential ethical concerns; and, clear demonstrations of effectiveness. There are many reasons for why these issues exist, but one of the most important that we provide a preliminary solution for here is the current lack of ML/AI- specific best practice guidance. Although there is no consensus on what best practice looks in this field, we believe that interdisciplinary groups pursuing research and impact projects in the ML/AI for health domain would benefit from answering a series of questions based on the important issues that exist when undertaking work of this nature. Here we present 20 questions that span the entire project life cycle, from inception, data analysis, and model evaluation, to implementation, as a means to facilitate project planning and post-hoc (structured) independent evaluation. By beginning to answer these questions in different settings, we can start to understand what constitutes a good answer, and we expect that the resulting discussion will be central to developing an international consensus framework for transparent, replicable, ethical and effective research in artificial intelligence (AI-TREE) for health.


Abstract. The study examined the spatio-temporal variability, validation and climatological trend of MODIS Terra and Aqua level-2 Dark Target retrieval algorithms 3-km AOD over India region during 2001–2017. Analysis reveal the MODIS AOD shows significant variability in spatial extent; Indo-Gangetic plane having high aerosol loading and Southern peninsula shows relatively low aerosol loading in all seasons. The climatological zonal averaged (throughout India) AOD500 are 0.401 ± 0.23 and 0.324 ± 0.64 for Terra and Aqua respectively whereas the ground measured all stations averaged AOD500 is 0.43 ± 1.2 during study period. For validation we obtained daily AOD data from nine ground network stations across India. MODIS 3-km AOD shows good agreement with ground measurements. A total of 5646 and 4920 data points are utilized for validation of MODIS Terra and Aqua AODs respectively and the overall correlation coefficients and RMSE values are 0.94 & 0.08 and 0.72 & 0.17 for Terra and Aqua over the Indian region. However, during monsoon season, both the MODIS AODs are highly overestimated because of atmospheric noise and turbidity. Trend slopes and significances were calculated using Mann-Kendell test at nine selected stations and whole region. AOD shows a significant positive trend (99.9% confidence level) over India with an increasing rate of 2.35 yr−1 and 2.03 yr−1 for Terra and Aqua respectively. All stations annual AODs shows the increasing trend with different significance levels except Patiala. This study reveals the potential applications of the 3-km AOD product in aerosol climatology over Indian region.


People often feel like their minds and their bodies are in different places. Far from an exotic experience, this phenomenon seems to be a ubiquitous facet of human life (e.g., Killingsworth and Gilbert, 2010). Many times, people's minds seem to go "somewhere else"—attention becomes disconnected from perception, and people's minds wander to times and places removed from the current environment (e.g., Schooler et al., 2004). At other times, however, people's minds may seem to go nowhere at all—they simply disappear. This mental state—mind-blanking—may represent an extreme decoupling of perception and attention, one in which attention fails to bring any stimuli into conscious awareness. In the present research, we outline the properties of mind-blanking, differentiating this mental state from other mental states in terms of phenomenological experience, behavioral outcomes, and underlying cognitive processes. Seven experiments suggest that when the mind seems to disappear, there are times when we have simply failed to monitor its whereabouts—and there are times when it is actually gone.


Immediately after single-stranded break (SSB) and double-stranded break (DSB) formation, the synthesis of poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR) reconfigures the local chromatin environment and initiates recruitment of DNA repair proteins. The degradation of PAR chains by poly(ADP-ribose) glycohydrolase (PARG) is essential for DNA repair progression. Here, we show that pharmacological interference of PAR metabolism disrupts the homology-directed repair (HDR) mechanisms that mediate alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT). Using a proteomics strategy, we uncovered PAR-regulated telomere-associated proteins that coordinate the early stages of the ALT mechanism. These distinct factors exhibit PAR dependency for localization to ALT telomeres in order to orchestrate diverse functions, such as RNA stabilization, actin nucleation, and chromatin remodeling. Most significantly, we identified a key function for PARylation in recruiting the HIRA histone chaperone complex to ALT telomeres, where it is required for deposition of histone H3.3 specifically during G2 Break-Induced Replication (G2-BIR). We propose that HIRA acts to compensate for the loss of a functional ATRX-DAXX complex in ALT cancers and therefore adopts elevated importance in sustaining ALT+ cell viability.


Existing instruments to investigate mental workload are dedicated to specific and existing monitoring jobs. Objective instruments mostly focus on performance or physiological measures. Subjective instruments are more simply applicable, but not suitable to predict mental workload in a nonexistent situation. To overcome these disadvantages Intergo developed OWAT TM (Objective Workload Assessment Technique) to assess mental workload of operators in control rooms. A case study shows the use of OWAT TM in development of scenarios for the near future of the traffic management control room of the city of Amsterdam, when new build tunnels are under supervision of the central traffic management control room of the city of Amsterdam. Prediction of workload was key issue in this scenario development. The jobs assessed are traffic managers of the city of Amsterdam. The OWAT™ assessment made it possible to point out the bottlenecks in workload in current situation and future situation. The highly participative way of assessment of workload was appreciated by participating traffic managers. Results showed that there was an opportunity for a higher ambition in traffic management in the city of Amsterdam.


In the embryonic forebrain, pioneer axons establish a simple topography of dorsoventral and longitudinal tracts. In recent years, considerable progress has been made in elucidating the underlying molecular interactions that mediate pathfinding decisions in the growth cone, primarily through in vitro analyses, and examination of axon trajectories at the ventral midline or in the later-forming retinotectal projection. Despite this, the cues used by axons during the initial formation of the axon scaffold remain largely unknown. I have investigated the axon guidance role of Neogenin, a member of the immunoglobulin (Ig) superfamily with identical secondary structure to the established Netrin receptor, Deleted in Colorectal Cancer (DCC). Neogenin binds to the chemoattractive ligand Netrin-1, as well as to the chemorepulsive ligand Repulsive Guidance Molecule (RGMa). Despite this, an axon guidance role for Neogenin during early forebrain development is yet to be described. In this thesis, the relatively simple and well-characterised development of the Xenopus brain has been utilised to investigate the role of Neogenin in the development of the early scaffold of axon tracts in the vertebrate brain. A Xenopus orthologue of the Neogenin gene was cloned and characterised, and the expression of this gene in relation to the developing axon scaffold in the forebrain was examined. Neogenin was expressed in a principal nucleus of the developing forebrain, and in neuroepithelial cells underlying the main axon tracts. The specific role of Neogenin in the guidance of axons in the forebrain was assessed using a combination of gain-of-function and loss-of-function approaches. Misexpression of Neogenin led to aberrant development of axon tracts emanating from a specific forebrain nucleus, and ectopic differentiation of neurons in the dorsal brain. These results implicated Neogenin in both neuronal differentiation and axon guidance in embryonic vertebrate forebrain. Analysis of loss-of-function embryos generated by morpholino knock down and dominant-negative approaches confirmed that correct spatiotemporal activity of Neogenin was essential for the formation of a specific dorsoventral tract in the forebrain, the supraoptic tract (SOT). In the subsequent chapter, the axon guidance activity of Neogenin was examined in more detail by investigating ligands that could be interacting with Neogenin during axon guidance in the developing vertebrate forebrain. Two Neogenin ligands were examined: RGMa and Netrin-1. Both of these genes were expressed in the developing Xenopus forebrain in patterns that were consistent with their potential role as Neogenin ligands. Morpholino knock down of either Netrin-1 or RGMa produced similar mutant phenotypes in the formation of the SOT to those observed following loss of Neogenin. To examine genetic interactions amongst these genes, I utilised a simultaneous partial knock down approach, which revealed dosage-sensitive interactions and verified that these receptors and ligands were acting in the same pathway. The results confirmed that Neogenin acts as an axon guidance molecule in vivo, and is required for accurate pathfinding by axons navigating the initial axon trajectories. The findings support a model whereby Neogenin-expressing axons respond to a combination of attractive and repulsive cues as they navigate their ventral trajectory. Finally, this thesis describes the identification and initial characterisation of a Neogenin paralogue in Xenopus, termed Neogenin1b. Morpholino knock down analyses suggested that Neogenin1b may function distinctly from its sister gene, despite >90% amino acid identity between them. These results provide the framework for future investigations into the axon guidance role of the Neogenin proteins. Taken together, this thesis demonstrates that Neogenin, RGMa and Netrin-1 contribute to the complement of guidance cues and cellular interactions that are needed for the establishment of the earliest forming axon pathways in the embryonic vertebrate forebrain. Furthermore, this study highlights the remarkable integrative ability of a single axon guidance receptor, which appears to respond to a combination of opposing cues to direct growth along a specific route.


Objectives: The aim of this study is an evaluation of existing dentition reconstructions in HIV-infected patients and definition of prosthetic needs of the examined population. Methods: 49 HIV-infected subjects (19-52 years of age) and 49 non infected patients as the control group. Dental services were evaluated using treatment structure. The analysis of teeth loss was performed by using index created by Rogowiec. The area of prosthetic treatment was also defined. Aquired data were analyzed in examined populations regarding infection's duration time. Results: Analysis of Rogowiec index values showed heavy losses in all anatomic groups of teeth and treatment structure index in the group of HIV infected subjects reached value 71.27%. The percentage of infected patients using prosthetic dentures was two times higher than in control group. In mandible, this difference was more significant. As the HIV infection's duration time increased, the percentage of subjects with prosthetic dentures in both dental arches also increased. Reconstruction of maxilla's dentition was necessary in 38.78% of HIV(+) subjects. In infected group, the necessity of reconstruction of teeth loss in lower dental arch reached 46.94%. As the infection's duration time increased, prosthetic needs of upper dental arch slightly decreased and needs of lower dental arch increased. Conclusion: Using only emergency dental aid by HIV infected people results in significant loss of dentition. Extraction domination over conservative reconstructions in dental treatment, despite of young age of examined subjects, leads to damage of mastication organ. The teeth loss in subjects infected for a longer period of time, results in increased need of prosthetic treatment.


Amphibians and fish show considerable regeneration potential via dedifferentiation of somatic cells into blastemal cells. In terms of dedifferentiation, in vitro cellular reprogramming has been proposed to share common processes with in vivo tissue regeneration, although the details are elusive. Here, we identified the cytoskeletal linker protein desmoplakin (Dsp) as a common factor mediating both reprogramming and regeneration. Our analysis revealed that Dsp expression is elevated in distinct intermediate cells during in vitro reprogramming. Knockdown of Dsp impedes in vitro reprogramming into induced pluripotent stem cells and induced neural stem/progenitor cells as well as in vivo regeneration of zebrafish fins. Notably, reduced Dsp expression impairs formation of the intermediate cells during cellular reprogramming and tissue regeneration. These findings suggest that there is a Dsp-mediated evolutionary link between cellular reprogramming in mammals and tissue regeneration in lower vertebrates and that the intermediate cells may provide alternative approaches for mammalian regenerative therapy.


Background. Abnormalities of face affect naming and face recognition occur in schizophrenia but it is not clear whether the deficits reflect wider underlying impairments of perception, memory, language or executive function. Method. Twenty-six patients with schizophrenia were compared with 23 healthy volunteers on neuropsychological tests and tests of face and affect processing. Face and non-face tests were compared at four levels of processing: visuo-spatial perception, recognition memory, language and naming, and executive function. We examined relationships with drug dose, duration of illness and pre-morbid and current IQ. Results. Patients and controls did not differ in estimated pre-morbid IQ but current IQ was 12 points lower in patients. At each level of processing there were correlated deficits of face and non-face processing in the patients that were mostly independent of IQ decline. Impaired face and non-face visuo-spatial function and recognition performance were generally correlated with drug dose. Impairments in naming face emotions were correlated with other non-face naming tasks independently of drug dose. Patients performed less well than controls in classifying faces by emotion while ignoring identity and this was associated with poorer performance in Wisconsin Card Sorting. Conclusions. The pattern of results suggests that deficits in face processing reflect three wider neuropsychological impairments: a drug-related impairment of visual imagery, and disease-related impairments of semantic retrieval and executive function.


The stability and structure of bluff-body stabilized hydrogen flames were investigated numerically and experimentally. The velocity of coflowing air was varied from subsonic velocity to a supersonic velocity of Mach 1.8. OH PLIF images and Schlieren images were used for analysis. Flame regimes were used to classify the characteristic flame modes according to the variation of the fuel-air velocity ratio, into jet-like flame, central-jet-dominated flame, and recirculation zone flame. Stability curves were drawn to find the blowout regimes and to show the improvement in flame stability with increasing lip thickness of the fuel tube, which acts as a bluff-body. These curves collapse to a single line when the blowout curves are normalized by the size of the bluff-body. The variation of flame length with the increase in air flow rate was also investigated. In the subsonic coflow condition, the flame length decreased significantly, but in the supersonic coflow condition, the flame length increased slowly and finally reached a near-constant value. This phenomenon is attributed to the air-entrainment of subsonic flow and the compressibility effect of supersonic flow. The closed-tip recirculation zone flames in supersonic coflow had a reacting core in the partially premixed zone, where the fuel jet lost its momentum due to the high-pressure zone and followed the recirculation zone; this behavior resulted in the long characteristic time for the fuel-air mixing.


Standard artificial neural networks suffer from the well-known issue of catastrophic forgetting, making continual or lifelong learning difficult for machine learning. In recent years, numerous methods have been proposed for continual learning, but due to differences in evaluation protocols it is difficult to directly compare their performance. To enable more structured comparisons, we describe three continual learning scenarios based on whether at test time task identity is provided and--in case it is not--whether it must be inferred. Any sequence of well-defined tasks can be performed according to each scenario. Using the split and permuted MNIST task protocols, for each scenario we carry out an extensive comparison of recently proposed continual learning methods. We demonstrate substantial differences between the three scenarios in terms of difficulty and in terms of how efficient different methods are. In particular, when task identity must be inferred (i.e., class incremental learning), we find that regularization-based approaches (e.g., elastic weight consolidation) fail and that replaying representations of previous experiences seems required for solving this scenario.


We describe SPACE WARPS, a novel gravitational lens discovery service that yields samples of high purity and completeness through crowdsourced visual inspection. Carefully produced colour composite images are displayed to volunteers via a web-based classification interface, which records their estimates of the positions of candidate lensed features. Images of simulated lenses, as well as real images which lack lenses, are inserted into the image stream at random intervals; this training set is used to give the volunteers instantaneous feedback on their performance, as well as to calibrate a model of the system that provides dynamical updates to the probability that a classified image contains a lens. Low-probability systems are retired from the site periodically, concentrating the sample towards a set of lens candidates. Having divided 160 deg2 of Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey imaging into some 430 000 overlapping 82 by 82 arcsec tiles and displaying them on the site, we were joined by around 37 000 volunteers who contributed 11 million image classifications over the course of eight months. This stage 1 search reduced the sample to 3381 images containing candidates; these were then refined in stage 2 to yield a sample that we expect to be over 90 per cent complete and 30 per cent pure, based on our analysis of the volunteers performance on training images. We comment on the scalability of the SPACE WARPS system to the wide field survey era, based on our projection that searches of 105 images could be performed by a crowd of 105 volunteers


We report the results of ROSAT and ASCA X-ray observations of the supernova remnant N157B (or 30 Dor B, SNR 0539-69.1) in the Large Magellanic Cloud. For comparison, we also briefly describe the results on SNR 0540-69.3, the only confirmed Crab-like remnant in the Cloud. The X-ray emission from N157B can be decomposed into a bright comet-shaped feature, superposed on a diffuse emission region with a dimension of ~20 pc. The flat and nearly featureless spectrum of the remnant is distinctly different from those of young shell-like remnants, suggesting a predominantly Crab-like nature of N157B. Characterized by a power law with an energy slope of ~1.5, the spectrum of N157B above ~2 keV is, however, considerably steeper than that of SNR 0540-69.3, which has a slope of ~1.0. At lower energies, the spectrum of N157B presents marginal evidence for emission lines, which if real most likely arise in hot gas of the diffuse emission region. The hot gas has a characteristic thermal temperature of 0.4-0.7 keV. No significant periodic signal is detected from N157B in the period range of 3×10-3-2000 s. The pulsed fraction is ≲9% (99% confidence) in the 2-7 keV range. We discuss the nature of the individual X-ray components. In particular, we suggest that the synchrotron radiation of relativistic particles from a fast-moving (~103 km s-1) pulsar explains the size, morphology, spectrum, and energetics of the comet-shaped X-ray feature. We infer the age of the remnant as ~5 × 103 yr. The lack of radio polarization of the remnant may be due to Faraday dispersion by foreground H II gas.


The content of direct plaque-forming cells (PFC) in the spleen of sheep erythrocytes immunized mice after a single administration to them of 2.5 mg/kg methotrexate on the 48th or 72nd hour of the immune response was measured. The PFC count was determined every 4 hours for 68 hours after introduction of methotrexate. In either of the cases the curve reflecting changes of the PFC count in the spleen was of an undulating nature. The alternating rises and falls of the PFC number proceeded at a high speed, viz. the time of doubling and half-periods of drop-off on individual lengths of the obtained curves was of the order of 2--4 hours. It is suggested that the PFC population accretion is ensured by a synchronous recruitment from the cells-precursors, antigen activated upon introduction of methotrexate. The decline in the number of PFC is, apparently, dependent upon their destruction due to an "unbalanced growth".


This paper proposes a novel topology optimization method for the material distribution of electrical machines using the Genetic algorithm combined with the cluster of material and the cleaning procedure. The cluster of several kinds of material is newly taken into account not only to form the group of iron and the group of air but also to form the group of the r-oriented, x-oriented and y-oriented magnets. Consideration of the r-oriented magnet gives a surface permanent magnet type rotor, and consideration of the x-oriented and y-oriented magnets gives an interior permanent magnet type rotor.


Hydrographic observations and current measurements with a Shipboard Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler over the continental shelf‐slope junction northeast of Taiwan during 10‐17 August 1994 allow the construction of the mesoscale flow pattern generated by the collision of the Kuroshio and a stretch of the continental shelf that has turned to run nearly east‐west. The pattern is made up of a deflected Kuroshio mainstream to the east, an intrusion of Kuroshio water onto the continental shelf region, a counterclockwise circulation over Mien-Hwa Canyon (MHC) immediately northeast of Taiwan, a deep southwestward countercurrent along the northern wall of MHC, and a seaward outflow of continental shelf water around the northern coast of Taiwan. The hydrography features a cold dome over the west side of MHC that consisted of subsurface Kuroshio water. A temperature‐ salinity plot of all the station data shows the incorporation in the neighborhood of Taiwan of continental shelf water into the Kuroshio.