Using the exact Bose-Fermi mapping, we study universal properties of ground-state density distributions and finite-temperature quantum critical behavior of one-dimensional hard-core bosons in trapped incommensurate optical lattices. Through the analysis of universal scaling relations in the quantum critical regime, we demonstrate that the superfluid-to-Bose-glass transition and the general phase diagram of disordered hard-core bosons can be uniquely determined from finite-temperature density distributions of the trapped disordered system.


Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are satellite based systems primarily capable of determining the location of receivers on the Earth. However, these systems can also receive and process bistatically surface reflected signals, studying the scattering from the signal off the reflection surface. In order to achieve these results, accurate and fast technology are necessary. In this work, a Delay-Doppler mapping module of a GNSS system has been implemented in VHDL and synthesized on FPGA Xilinx-Virtex 6 to map the delay and frequency domains of Earth scattered signals. The designed system presents high timing
performance to provide quick and accurate measurements. In this work, a FFT based GNSS mapping algorithms has been designed to process raw samples GNSS data. The remote sensing module has been implemented, generating all the 32 possible C/A codes and then processing the received signal for each of the 32 C/A codes in a pipelined circuit. Once the GNSS power signals have been detected, a final detector is used to compare all the GNSS power signals found with a magnitude twice the noise and with the highest peak to detect the best candidate signal for the Delay Doppler Map (DDM). Different timing delay ranges and Doppler frequency ranges have been considered to compare the performance of the mapping algorithm. The use of an FPGA based algorithm permits significantly higher performance and greater flexibility than software based solutions and opens up the GNSS remote sensing application for integration into real-time instruments.


Korea MVNO market is a multilayer game space where the government, MNOs, MVNOs and consumers affect each other. Here, game among MNOs and MVNOs will be mainly analyzed. Korea regulation authority tried to introduce MVNOs progressively when high communication cost had been a social issue for several years. The government could not help invigorate competition in the telecommunication market and curb monopoly. The necessity of MVNO introduction was recognized in early 2000s but MVNO launched in 2011 when the mobile telecommunication market was fully saturated in Korea. Korean government tried to improve business conditions for MVNOs and presents MVNO Activation Programs every year. But it may say paradoxically that the market is not fair still. MNOs have both network facilities and market power and negotiating power also. The major issues in MVNO game may be whole sale prices, phone supply, subsidy, monthly rate plans, and Mobile Distribution Act. MNOs and MVNOs vary in strategies according to their characteristics. The government has a role to maximize consumer surplus and social welfare through providing fair market condition with understanding the players of the market


867 quirements. A joint radiologist–physicist project would allow for additional benefits. Radiologists by training have always been masters of the radiation environment. With the recent concerns of colleagues, government regulators, and the public about the risks and possible misuses of radiation it is important for the profession to demonstrate that this training is reflected in the day-to-day control of the radiation environment so everyone can have confidence that studies are done effectively and safely. The AJR's recent emphasis on medical physics and informatics reflects these concerns and can be of benefit to radiologists. G. Donald Frey AJR Section Editor, Medical Physics and Informatics Department of Radiation and Radiation Sciences Medical University of South Carolina Charleston, SC 29425 firstname.lastname@example.com


Vanadium dioxide (VO2) is a dark blue inorganic compound and excellent material with a high potential for smart window application due to its characteristic. A research to study the effect of different rotation per minutes (rpm) of spin coater on VO2 thin films was conducted. A suitable precursor was formed by mixed a vanadium oxytripropoxide with isopropanol into the clean beaker and mixed slowly. Part of the process, spin coater and heat treatment were used to form a thin layer of VO2 on ten pieces of quartz substrates by applied a standard operation set up. The samples then were characterized by Field Emission Scanning Electron Spectroscopy (FESEM) for thickness measurement via cross section process and surface morphology of the grains. The range of measured thickness and size of grain were 520nm to 1960nm and 300nm to 349nm respectively. The results shown that, the quality of the fabricated VO2 in terms of thickness and surface morphology were inversely proportional with rpm of the spin coater.


The linearized equations of thermal blooming for an infinite beam in a uniform atmosphere and wind are analytically solved as a perturbation series in blooming for the case of compensated and uncompensated propagation. A Feynman diagram representation of the series is presented. The propagators are used to compute the mutual coherence function (MCF) and Strehl also as a perturbation series in blooming. The dependence of the results on the actuator Fresnel number is discussed along with the relative roles of the phase compensation instability and stimulated thermal Rayleigh scattering. A brief comparison is made with nonlinear numerical simulations to show that the nonlinearities may be neglected.


The purpose of this paper was to examine the joint effects of regulatory focus, entrepreneurial persistence and institutional support on new venture performance.,This paper uses a random survey approach to sample 204 new ventures from Ghana. The moderated mediation method was used to analyse the survey data.,The findings from this paper show that entrepreneurs' promotion focus positively relates to persistence while prevent focus negatively influences persistence. In addition, persistence mediates the link between regulatory focus (promotion and prevention focus) and new venture performance. These relationships are positively moderated by perceived institutional support.,Using data from only the manufacturing sector in Ghana limits the generalisability of this paper. In addition, persistence is not observed or measured directly in this paper but is only used as self-reporting variable that captures an individual's tendency to persist.,The contribution of this paper is threefold. First, this paper contributes to regulatory focus literature by enhancing our knowledge on how self-regulation could help explain entrepreneurial decision-making. Second, this paper broadens self-regulation literature by adding institutional context as a moderating variable. Third, this paper helps clarify the potential role of persistence in entrepreneurship.


This paper discusses the current issues on internet commerce sales tax. The main issue is whether an internet retailer is responsible for collecting sales tax. An out-of-state seller is not required to collect sales tax from buyers who reside in states in which there is no minimum connection between the seller and the state. This paper summaries judiciary decisions in the past and points out that physical presence was the principle to satisfy the requirement of minimum connection. And, in 2008 the New York State legislature enacted the so called 'Amazon tax' that requires an internet retailer to collect sales tax from buyers in New York if the retailer has affiliates in New York that put the retailer's website link on the affiliates' websites so that shoppers could order merchandise from the retailer by using that link. In this case, the minimum connection was extended from the physical presence of the retailer to include the physical presence of the retailer's affiliates. Moreover, in February 2013, a bill the Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013 was introduced in both houses of the Congress that would give states the option to require the collection of sales and use taxes already owed under state law by out-of-state businesses, rather than rely on consumers to remit those taxes to the states.


This study uses database infrastructure, hydrologic models, and geospatial analysis to assess flood inundation areas and their distribution in the Shonai sub-basin, Kasugai City, in western Japan. The proposed method utilizes near-real time data; hence, efficient database processing is an important requirement for the assessment tool. The river hydrological models utilize geometric input flow characteristics and river discharge volume to generate an inundation map. Discharge volume is estimated owing to the lack of data on discharge measurements. Distributions are presented in maps of inundation-susceptibility using an interactive web-based system. The simulated results from the hydrological model indicate that the topographic characteristics (slope and elevation) of the watershed significantly affect the depth of inundation. Hydrological factors (e.g., rainfall and water level) also significantly affect changes in the rate of river discharge. The centralized geo-database can be processed on-the-fly, and it is believed that this approach is reliable and well suited to such a flood alert system. The significant points of this work are to determine a necessary but unknown parameter (discharge volume) via existing data resources, and—ultimately—to make informative mapping data available in a timely manner. The use of a near-real time system ensures that the public and relevant agencies can assess emergency information and initiate appropriate and prompt responses. 


8 ASUBTITLE: WHEN EASTERN AIR LINES CRASHED, IT TOOK ITS EMPLOYEES ALONG WITH IT: SOME OF THEM ARE STILL TRYING TO CRAWL OUT FROM THE WRECKAGE.


Based on the effects due to bridge building which were the main factors of river navigation conditions including the selection of bridge location,the layout of the bridge span and piers,the navigation clearance and so on,the relevant technical requirements and the preventive measures of ship-bridge collision accidents were analyzed comprehensively in this paper.Then the methods for active protection of ship collision from the bridge design viewpoint were proposed.The achievements can be taken as the reference for bridge design.


The tonal quality and temporal complexity of bird vocalizations have long suggested that birds may excel in auditory spectral or temporal processing. However, most psychophysical studies support the notion that birds have spectral and temporal resolving power roughly comparable to that measured in humans. Rarely have such psychophysical tasks involved both frequency and time cues. An intriguing aspect of gap‐detection experiments with sinusoidal markers is the robust dependence on the frequency separation between the markers. In humans, silent gaps become more difficult to discriminate as the frequency difference between the markers increases. This frequency‐dependent pattern of thresholds is well fit with a roex‐filter model. Here, budgerigars were trained by operant conditioning to discriminate a change in the duration of a silent gap between two tonal markers. Frequency separation between the tonal markers had only a small effect on gap discrimination thresholds in budgerigars, suggesting an unusually ...


In this paper,a method of evaluating the metal structure safety of aging aircraft is researched. The index system of safety evaluation is built based on load factors,environment factors and material factors.Then the weights of the indexes are analyzed on rough set,and the model of safety evaluation is built.Finally,the analysis is performed by taking a certain type of aircraft for example.The result shows that the subscribed method is effective in safety evaluation for metal structure safety of the aging aircraft.


Phytosociology is a reference method to classify vegetation that relies on field data. Its classification in hierarchical vegetation units, from plant associations to class level, hierarchically reflects the floristic similarity between different sites on different spatial scales. The development of remotely sensed multispectral platforms as satellites enormously contributes to the detection and mapping of vegetation on all scales. However, the integration between phytosociology and remotely sensed data is rather difficult and little practiced despite being a goal for the modern science of vegetation. In this study, we demonstrate how normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) time series with functional principal component analysis (FPCA) could support the analyses of phytosociologists. The approach supports the recognition and characterization of forest plant communities identified on the ground by the phytosociological approach by using NDVI time series that encode phenological behaviors. The methodology was evaluated in two study areas of central Italy, and it could characterize and discriminate six different forest plant associations that have similar dominant tree species but distinct specific composition: three dominated by black hornbeam (Ostrya carpinifolia) and three dominated by holm oak (Quercus ilex). The methodology was also able to optimize the ground data collection of unexplored areas (from a phytosociological point of view) by using a phenoclustering approach. The obtained results confirmed that by using remote sensing, it is possible to separate and distinguish plant communities in an objective/instrumental way, thus overcoming the subjectivity intrinsic to the phytosociological method. In particular, FPCA functional components (NDVI seasonalities) were significantly correlated with vegetation abundance data variation (Mantel r = 0.76, p < 0.001).


Based on the two investigations in the field,Jan. Aug.,2008,and with the social stratification theory,the author had a deep analysis on the social stratification of the Damasa village in Ximeng Autonomous County at different historical time.


understanding of the Brazilian political system. By exploring the political styles of several Brazilian regimes, this study intends to clarify the bureaucratic behavior of a particular government agency (6). Graham analyzes the Brazilian experience of reforming its federal civil service and attempts to demonstrate the interrelationships which have existed between the ideas and concepts, on which the federal civil service has operated. The basic hypothesis in Graham's study is stated in the following way :


In Colorado, meat processing and packing industries profit from the low-wage labor of foreign born workers and refugees in particular. Scholars and journalists have examined the hazardous and environmentally unjust workplace conditions in meatpacking, and detailed refugee struggles in North American resettlement geographies. Our research builds from this work to examine how multi-scalar geopolitical processes shape processes of refugee resettlement and refugee labor in Colorado's meatpacking industries. Methods for this work include analysis of secondary data and twenty-two semi-structured interviews with various actors knowledgeable about refugee resettlement and/or agricultural production in Colorado. We argue various intersecting geopolitical processes—from immigration raids of meatpacking plants to presidential-level xenophobic discourses and ensuing immigration policies—interact to impact refugee resettlement and participation in the meat production sector. Moreover, while the U.S.'s neoliberal model of outsourcing resettlement to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has been widely critiqued, we argue NGO employees, many of whom identify as foreign-born and/or refugees, work to build connection and belonging among refugees in challenging resettlement environments. We suggest a feminist geopolitics approach, which examines how the "global" and the "intimate" are deeply intertwined, is a useful perspective for understanding complicated racialized spaces in the rural United States, including efforts to build connections and empower refugee identities.


A common refueling station is a place where motor vehicles can get fuel. The Fuel Filling Station is known as SPBU (an abbreviation of the General Fuel Filling Station). MOORA, which is Multi-Objective Optimization on The Basis of Ratio Analysis (MOORA) is one of the MADM methods that can perform calculations on the value of attribute criteria that help decision makers to produce the right decision in public fuel (gas station). Decision Support System is a computer-based system aimed at assisting decision making in utilizing certain data and models to solve various unstructured problems.


Objectives: The aims of the study were to observe the modes o f delivery and fetal outcome in meconium stain liquor. Methodology: This prospective observational study was done fro m June 2015 to June 2016. All the pregnant women more than 37 weeks of gestation, wit h singleton pregnancies, getting admitted in the la bour room with meconium stain liquor were included in th e study. Results: Among 240 patients of meconium stain liquor, 122 patients had normal vaginal delivery, 1 5 patients had instrumental delivery and 103 patien ts were taken up for emergency lower segment caesarean sect ion. Out of 240 newborns, two died in NICU. Hundred three (103) babies were admitted in NICU. Hundred t hirty five (135) babies were healthy and were hande d over to the mother. Conclusion: Meconium stain amniotic fluid was associated with higher rate of caesarean delivery and increased rate of NICU admission due to birth a sphyxia.


It was recently suggested that the reported anomalies in R{sub b} and R{sub c} can be interpreted as the effect of a heavy vector boson that couples to quarks and is universally decoupled from leptons. We examine how an extra gauge boson with this property can arise from superstring derived models. In a specific three generation model we show that the U(1){sub B-L} symmetry combines with the horizontal flavor symmetries to form a universal leptophobic U(1) symmetry. In our model there is an enhancement of the color gauge group from twisted sectors. The enhancement occurs after the breaking of the unifying gauge symmetry by ``Wilson lines.`` The leptophobic U(1) symmetry then becomes a generator of the color SU(4) gauge group. We examine how similar symmetries may appear in other string models without the enhancement. We propose that if the current LEP anomalies persist it may be evidence for a certain class of un-unified superstring models. 15 refs., 4 tabs.


The concept of sustainability in supply chain management refers to a logical balance between economic development, environmental considerations, and social responsibilities. In this paper, a sustainable model has been proposed to design a supply chain network in textile industries considering the key environmental and social factors. Regarding the type of industry and characteristics of the area under study (Zanjan,northwest Iran), minimizing the negative eects of wasteful extraction of ground waters and the environmental pollution resulting from industrial wastewaters and maximizing justicebased employment were considered. The supply chain consists of the following elements: suppliers, plants, distribution centers, water re nery centers, and customer zones. One of the important features of the proposed model is that it considers the lost opportunity cost of facilities and focuses on wastewater recycling in water re neries. To solve the model, theMulti-Objective Vibration Damping Optimization (MOVDO) algorithm has been used. In addition, to evaluate the proposed model, as a case study, the supply chain network design problem was solved in textile industry. In addition, to evaluate the solution performance of the used algorithm in comparison with that of the NSGA-II algorithm, ten random problems with dierent sizes were solved, and the results were analyzed using dierent indexes. All in all, the results show that the proposed method has the necessary performance.


Zika virus (ZIKV) was confirmed to be related to microcephaly in 2016. However, there is still a need for understanding the embryonic morphological changes induced by ZIKV and when they occur. Here, chicken embryos were chosen as experimental model of ZIKV to evaluate virus‐associated morphological alterations that might take place during embryonic development.


In the screening of actinomycetes' culture filtrate for inhibitor of subtilisin and various microbial alkaline proteinases, a novel inhibitor was found in a cultured broth of strain WT-27. This inhibitor was named as MAPI, abbreviation of microbial alkaline proteinase inhibitor.Judging from the morphological and physiological properties of the actinomycetes which produced MAPI, this strain was identified as Streptomyces nigrescens.For the production of MAPI, this strain was aerobically cultured at 25 ~ 27%C in a jar fermentor which contained an optimum medium consisting of polypepton 3 %, meat extract 1%, glucose 1%, NaCl 0.1%, K2HPO4 0.1% and MnSO4·nH2O 0.0001%, pH 7.0. The production of MAPI reached its maximum after 21 ~ 24 hr cultivation.MAPI had an inhibitory activity against various microbial alkaline proteinases, α-chymotrypsin and papain but not against trypsin, kallikrein, thermolysin, or pepsin.


strates which is especially advantageous for plating porous aluminum castings and, blister-free plated alumi num substrates produced thereby, characterized in that the aluminum piece parts are: (i) emulsion cleaned in a room temperature alkaline cleaner; (ii) immersed in a room temperature dilute acid, inorganic, fluoride salt solution to dissolve heavy oxides and surface silicon while minimizing etching and intergranular attack of the aluminum substrate such, for example, as a porous cast aluminum substrate; (iii) immersed in a room tem perature dilute zincate bath for applying a relatively thin zinc protective coating, preferably utilizing a dou ble zincate immersion process with an intermediate prolonged (1-3 min.) nitric acid soak to reduce the zincate deposition rate and to thereby provide im proved zincate adhesion; (iv) plated with a non-porous strike applied directly on the zincate protective coatin g-e.g., by electroplating or by electroless plating methods such, for example, as by immersion in a bath of nickle-hypophosphite material maintained at a tempera ture of approximately 190" F.; and (v), immersed in a metal plating bath such, for example, as a tin plating bath-preferably, a low pH, room temperature acid tin bath-so as to apply a blister-free electrically conduc tive surface on the porous aluminum casting.


"government-protected minimum standards of income, nutrition, health, housing, and education for every citizen, assured to him as a political right, not as charity." 1 More recently, one writer has set as an objective the "citizen right to adequate assistance, protection against arbitrary exercise of au thority, and full participation in American society," but doubts that progress in this direction will be rapid.2 One reason for such pessimism is the assumption that prog ress must come through legislative action or revision of administrative policies rather than through the courts. It is not always realized that judges have the power to make policy decisions not only on the strength of their own individual values but on that of


Object To speed up the artificial propagation of the costly medicinal plant Dendrobium nobile Lindl. Methods The tender stems with lateral buds were tried as the explants and cultured on various culture media with different portions of hormon. Results The best medium for bud induction was the MS basic medium with addition of 6 BA (0.5 mg/L), NAA (0.2 mg/L), while MS with the addition of 6 BA (3.0 mg/L) NAA (0.5 mg/L), was suitable for propagation, MS with addition of IBA (0.3 mg/L), NAA (0.1 mg/L) was better for root growing, the striking growth rate was up to 95%. The young sprout was cultured fine on the base material mixed with coco crumbs, volcanic rocks and brick fragments (1∶1∶ 1) and covered by dried pteridophyte. Conclusion To provide the effective ways to reserve the resources of D. nobile and last its utlization.


The prevalence and significance of web services in our daily lives make it imperative to ensure that they are – as much as possible – free from vulnerabilities. However, developing a complex piece of software free from any security vulnerabilities is hard, if not impossible. One way to progress towards achieving this holy grail is by using static code analysis tools to root out any common or known vulnerabilities that may accidentally be introduced during the development process. Static code analysis tools have significantly contributed to addressing the problem above, but are imperfect. It is conceivable that static code analysis can be improved by using AI-powered tools, which have recently increased in popularity. However, there is still very little work in analysing both types of tools' effectiveness, and this is a research gap that our paper aims to fill. We carried out a study involving 11 static code analysers, and one AI-powered chatbot named ChatGPT, to assess their effectiveness in detecting 92 vulnerabilities representing the top 10 known vulnerability categories in web applications, as classified by OWASP. We particularly focused on PHP vulnerabilities since it is one of the most widely used languages in web applications. However, it has few security mechanisms to help its software developers. We found that the success rate of ChatGPT in terms of finding security vulnerabilities in PHP is around 62-68%. At the same time, the best traditional static code analyser tested has a success rate of 32%. Even combining several traditional static code analysers (with the best features on certain aspects of detection) would only achieve a rate of 53%, which is still significantly lower than ChatGPT's success rate. Nonetheless, ChatGPT has a very high false positive rate of 91%. In comparison, the worst false positive rate of any traditional static code analyser is 82%. These findings highlight the promising potential of ChatGPT for improving the static code analysis process but reveal certain caveats (especially regarding accuracy) in its current state. Our findings suggest that one interesting possibility to explore in future works would be to pick the best of both worlds by combining traditional static code analysers with ChatGPT to find security vulnerabilities more effectively.


This Paper is an account of experiments carried out to determine whether the absorption of gases caused by passing a discharge for some time through vacuum tubes is the result of a chemical action or is a mere physical absorption. In order to eliminate all electrode complications, the electrodeless discharge was used throughout. The bulbs examined were of soda, lead, Bohemia and Jena glass. The absorptions were noted at different pressures and curves plotted. Continued passage of a discharge causes a saturation effect in all the glasses. After two months none of the bulbs had recovered any of their absorptive power. If the action is chemical it is natural to expect various oxidation products to have been formed. Testing these bulbs with hydrogen we should expect a large initial absorption going to reduce these products. This was found to be the case for all the bulbs, the first reading for the soda glass giving 95 per cent. absorption of hydrogen. Having now reduced the oxidation products we should expect a reabsorption of oxygen under the discharge. This was also found to be the case. The series of readings show great regularity, the order of absorption for oxygen holding also for hydrogen. That chemical actions are present is shown by peculiar deposits on the necks of the bulbs, these being unfortunately too small for analysis. The inert gases show correspondingly small absorption, as shown by Soddy and Mackenzie, and therefore the conclusion is that the disappearance is not due to physical absorption, but to definite chemical action.


Yan Emperor(Shen-nong)is one the greatest legendry chieftains of Chinese history who fashioned timber into ploughs, and taught people the art of husbandry. Yan Emperor is also an originator of traditional Chinese medical science, many famous physicians and pharmacologists of Chinese history as Bian Que, Hua Tuo, Zhang Zhongjing, Li Shizhen, etc., are his successors.The Chinese nation is a civilized country with long history, and it is because of the great achievement of agricultural modernization that Chinese have succeeded in economic reform and P.R.C has become prosperous and strong.


ABSTRACT Pilot scale hydrotreating experiments have been conducted on straight run high speed diesel oil (SR HSDO)using commercially available Co-Mo on Al2O3 catalyst. Kinetics of hydro-desulphurization and hydrodenitrogenation are studied using the models that took into account the physical and chemical complexities of the three phase system. Correlations are developed to predict the product properties based on operating conditions. The results show a good agreement with the experimental data.


Nonlinear optical response and optical coherence of excitons in semiconductor dense quantum dots in GaAs single quantum wells has been studied by using photon echo techniques. At low temperatures, the optical coherence is estimated to be 2 ns from the decay curve in the photon echo signal. Rabi oscillations are also observed. Unlike the results for a single quantum dot in the literature to date, the oscillation shows nonlinear behavior affected strongly by the pre-excited carrier density. The results can be explained by the theory of the local field correction originating from exciton-exciton interaction between the inter dots.


With Nigerian novelist Amos Tutuola as primary subject, this paper at[1]tempts to understand the construction of sociocultural identities in Nigeria in the wake of independence. Despite the international success of his literary publications, Tutuola was denied access to the most intimate discourses on the development of African literature by his Nigerian elite contemporaries, who emerged from University College, Ibadan, in the 1950s and early 1960s. Having completed only a few years of colonial schooling, Tutuola was differentiated from his elite literary contemporaries in terms of education. Yet if education represented a rather concrete, institutionalized divide between the elite and the everyday Nigerian, this paper will suggest that the resulting epistemological difference served as a more fluid, ideological divide. Both Western epistemology, rooted in Western academic spaces, and African epistemology, preserved from African traditions like proverbs and storytelling, informed the elite and Tutuola's worldviews. The varying degrees to which one epistemology was privileged over the other reinforced the boundary between Tutuola and the elite. Furthermore, educational experiences and sociocultural identities informed the ways in which independent Nigeria was envisioned by both Tutuola and the elite writers. While the elites' discourse on independence reflected their proximity to Nigeria's political elite, Tutuola positioned himself as a distinctly Yoruba writer in the new Nigeria. He envisioned a state in which traditional knowledge remained central to the African identity. Ultimately, his life and work attest to the endurance of indigenous epistemology through years of European colonialism and into independence. 148 Mackenzie Finley During a lecture series at the University of Palermo, Italy, Nigerian novelist Amos Tutuola presented himself, his work, and his Yoruba heritage to an audience of Italian students and professors of English and Anglophone literatures. During his first lecture, the Yoruba elder asked his audience, "Why are we people afraid to go to the burial ground at night?" An audience member ventured a guess: "Perhaps we are afraid to know what we cannot know." Tutuola replied, "But, you remember, we Africans believe that death is not the end of life. We know that when one dies, that is not the end of his life [. . .] So why are all people afraid to go to the burial ground at night? They're afraid to meet the ghosts from the dead" (emphasis in original).1 Amos Tutuola (1920–1997) was recognized globally for his perpetuation of Yoruba folklore tradition via novels and short stories written in unconventional English. His works, especially The Palm-Wine Drinkard (1952) and My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (1954), were translated into numerous European languages, including Italian. Given the chance to speak directly with an Italian audience at Palermo, Tutuola elaborated on the elements of Yoruba culture that saturated his fiction. His lectures reflected the same sense of purpose that drove his writing. Tutuola explained, "As much as I could [in my novels], I tried my best to bring out for the people to see the secrets of my tribe—I mean, the Yoruba people—and of Nigerian people, and African people as a whole. I'm trying my best to bring out our traditional things for the people to know a little about us, about our beliefs, our character, and so on."2 Tutuola's didactics during the lecture at Palermo reflect his distinct intellectual and cultural commitment to a Yoruba cosmology, one that was not so much learned in his short years of schooling in the colonial education system as it was absorbed from his life of engagement with Yoruba oral tradition. With Tutuola as primary subject, this paper attempts to understand the construction of sociocultural identities in Nigeria in the wake of independence. The educated elite writers, such as Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe, who emerged from University College, Ibadan, during the same time period, will serve as a point of comparison. On October 1, 1960, when Nigeria gained independence from Britain, Tutuola occupied an unusual place relative to the university-educated elite, the semi-literate "average man," the international 1 Alassandra di Maio, Tutuola at the University: The Italian Voice of a Yoruba Ancestor, with an Interview with the Author and an Afterword by Claudio Gorlier (Rome: Bulzoni, 2000), 38. The lecture's transcriber utilized graphic devices (italicized and bolded words, brackets denoting pauses and movements) to preserve the dynamic oral experience of the lecture. However, so that the dialogue reads more easily in the context of this paper, I have removed the graphic devices but maintained what the transcriber presented as Tutuola's emphasized words, simply italicizing what was originally in bold. 2 Di Maio, Tutuola at the University, 148. Constructing Identities 149 stage of literary criticism, and the emerging field of African literature. This position helped shape his sense of identity. Despite the success of his literary publications, Tutuola was not allowed to participate in the most intimate dis[1]courses on the development of African literature by his elite contemporaries. In addition to his lack of access to higher education, Tutuola was differentiated from his elite literary contemporaries on epistemological grounds. If education represented a rather concrete, institutionalized divide between the elite and the everyday Nigerian, an epistemological difference served as a more fluid, ideological divide. Both Western epistemology, rooted in Western academic spaces, and African epistemology, preserved from African traditions like proverbs and storytelling, informed the elite and Tutuola's worldviews. The varying degrees to which one epistemology was privileged over the other reinforced the boundary between the elite and Tutuola. This paper draws largely on correspondence, conference reports, and the personal papers of Tutuola and his elite contemporaries housed at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin, as well as on interviews transcribed by the Transcription Centre in London, the periodical Africa Report (1960–1970), and Robert M. Wren and Claudio Gorlier, concentrating on primary sources produced during the years immediately prior to and shortly after Nigerian independence in 1960. Tutuola's ideas generally did not fit into the sociocultural objectives of his elite counterparts. Though they would come in contact with one another via the world of English-language literature, Tutuola usually remained absent from or relegated to the margins of elite discussions on African creative writing. Accordingly, the historical record has less to say about his intellectual ruminations than about those of his elite contemporaries. Nonetheless, his hand-written drafts, interviews, and correspondences with European agents offer a glimpse at the epistemology and sense of identity of an "average" Nigerian in the aftermath of colonialism and independence.


The discovery of the chemokines and their receptors has dramatically changed our understanding of leukocyte traffic in immune defence and disease. In the past 15years about 50 human chemokines and nearly 20 receptors have been identified and characterised. Early on, chemokines were considered as mediators of inflammation, but with time more and more chemokines were found that function mainly in the basal traffic of leukocytes, lymphocytes in particular. Inflammatory chemokines are expressed in inflamed tissues by resident and infiltrating cells on stimulation with proinflammatory cytokines or microbial products. They are mainly responsible for the recruitment of effector cells including granulocytes, monocytes and effector T cells. In contrast, the homing or homeostatic chemokines are constitutively produced in discrete areas within lymphoid and non-lymphoid tissues. They are involved in maintaining the physiological traffic and positioning of cells largely belonging to adoptive immune system. A very impressive development in the past couple of years was the recognition that T lymphocytes can express most chemokine receptors, but that the expression is strictly regulated and dependent on the state of maturation, priming, activation and differentiation. It has also been shown that chemokine receptors can be used as markers of distinct T cell subsets. In addition, the progress in the chemokine research has opened new perspectives for therapeutic intervention of leukocyte recruitment during inflammatory diseases based on the inhibition of chemokine receptors. I will comment on main contributions to this progress from our laboratory.


The aragonite, an index mineral of glaucophane schist facies, has not been confirmed in the Dabie Mountains high-pressure and ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic belts. The Mulanshan glaucophane schist in Huangpi County, Hubei Province is located in the southwestern Dabie Mountains, Central China.The micron-sized intergranular aragonite is confirmed with optical microscope (OM) and electron probe microaualysis (EPMA) in the glaucophane schist. The submicrometer-sized ellipse aragonite inclusion is observed by using bright-field image ( BFI), X-ray energy-damage spectrograph (EDS) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) with transmission electron microscope in the quartz lens of glaucophane-albite-epidote-chlorite schist from Mulanshan. The presence of aragonite indicates not only the average geothermal gradient of the Mulanshan glaucophane schist less than 10 ℃/km, which is very close to that of eclogite in the Dabie Mountains metamorphic belts, but also the relatively higher concentration of CO2 during the metamorphic process. In addition, the glaucophane schist free of such index minerals as lawsonite, prehnite and pumpellyite, has been attributed to the effect of CO2 on the stability of ca] cium aluminum silicate minerals during the low-grade metamorphism. EDS and SAED analysis results show that the host of aragonite inclusion is amorphous SiO2. The occurrence of amorphous SiO2 indicates a quick cooling process during the exhumation of the Mulanshan glaucophane schist. These results suggest that the rapid exhumation mechanism of the glaucophane schist, the same as that of eclogite in the Dabie Mountains metamorphic belts, occurred in the geodynamic context of subduction-obduction.``


The article attempts to generalize some interpretations of the phenomenon of poverty in Economics. We proceed from the fact that this problem, in addition to its economic dimension, has political, social, legal, historical, cultural and other dimensions. In modern science, there is a pluralism of approaches to the classification of the causes of poverty, depending on the scientific approach, the worldview of the researcher, the purpose of the publication, etc. Addressing the public, the authors of a recent Scottish survey identify, for example, the following causes of poverty: 1) being born into poverty; 2) suffering through domestic abuse which leads to living in poverty due to the person not being in control of his or her income; 3) someone losing their employment, which is more of an issue at the moment due to the current COVID-19 crisis; 4) losing everything due to a partner gambling away the family income and savings; 5) being pressurised into supporting others due to emotional ties, leading to debt or increased debt and potentially the loss of their home. From the scientific point of view, one can distinguish, for example, the economic, political and social causes of poverty. We have introduced our own classification of the causes of poverty, highlighting natural and geographical, historical, hereditary, personal and psychological and, finally, economic factors themselves. It has been proven that poverty can be inherited as well as be the result of certain historical events, e.g. wars or revolutions. Natural factors also influence the level of poverty. We concluded that unemployment, low wages or social benefits, corruption, discrimination, unprofitability of an enterprise or industry, inflation are the economic factors of poverty. However, almost all of them also go beyond the economy itself and have political, social, legal, psychological and other components. According to some researchers, poverty is determined even by the type of housing in which a family lives. In addition to the relatively predictable factors, there are a large number of events that occur suddenly. We cannot predict these factors but they also affect the level of poverty, reducing the income of a population or a family and increasing the number of poor people. The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the factors that increased the number of the poor dramatically. Due to the disease itself and the quarantine restrictions, a large number of branches of national economies were obliged temporarily to suspend operations, and great damage was caused, in particular, to the retail trade, education, and the service sector. Of course, the main factor in the sudden impoverishment of the Ukrainian population is the large-scale invasion by Russia in February 2022. This open military attack has caused the deaths of thousands of civilians and military personnel, the destruction of infrastructure, and the departure of millions of Ukrainians abroad and to other regions of the country. We believe that the post-war restoration of Ukraine is possible only with the comprehensive support of the world community, primarily the developed countries of the West.


Embracing a multicultural education by addressing effective strategies to benefit young childrens learning through applying an emergent curriculum and encouraging a hands-on discovery pedagogy is the objective of this study. Acknowledging and celebrating diversity through interaction and a play-based learning journey, throughout the Early Years, is the way forward, by providing the correct multiculturally oriented learning environment. Exploring diverse cultural approaches for learning through play and encouraging spontaneous child-initiated activities through interaction with the environment aims to enhance experience-based knowledge. Addressing individual learner variability in suitable and stimulating natural environments should encourage children to engage in meaningful, interactive, diverse learning experiences. According to recent research, multicultural learning platforms in the form of an outdoor, sustainable play area would encourage young children to achieve necessary life skills in a more dynamic, hands-on manner. This investigation sets out to explore successful possibilities of improving learning outdoor set-ups in our local schools. Using natural and sustainable materials to set up these outdoor play areas will offer our young children real life experiences while achieving the desired age-appropriate learning milestones.


Nitrogen oxides, or NOx, are widespread pollutants that are emitted by vehicle and industrial combustion and help produce harmful surface-level ozone. However, addressing NOx pollution is complicat...


Flow past rigid sphere in cylindrical tubes filled with shear-thickening power law fluids is simulated by Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) model in steady-state mode with fixed computational domain. The CFD model is validated with previous researchers" work for Newtonian and shear-thinning power law rheologies in both bounded and unbounded mediums. New simulations are executed over flow conditions of Reynolds number, Re:


We propose many contributions related to combinatorial optimization. First, we propose a number of exact methods for a general class of integer programming models, allowing applications to several important combinatorial optimization problems. To evaluate the effectiveness of our methods, we apply them to many well-studied cutting, packing, and scheduling problems, including the classical bin packing problem. The proposed methods could solve a large number of open benchmark instances, becoming the leading algorithms and the new state-of-the-art of all these problems. We also propose contributions to facilitate future research on two-dimensional cutting and packing. Lastly, we solve a complex problem arisen from a real-world case study in the food industry.


Abstract: Were medieval lay Christians forbidden by the Catholic Church to read the Bible in their mother tongue? Were vernacular Bibles a rarity? If vernacular Bibles flourished, as they did, who were the translators, and how were the ancient books of the Bible reworked
 to engage the lay man or woman of a time and culture far removed from the ancient world? Where the Church authorities approved of these Bibles, what were the agendas served?


Now a day's studies in technological know-how is superior and properly evolved, new strategies and strategies have been evolved which helped within side the observe of shape of diverse forms of organisms and their cells. Microscope discovered to observe the minute organisms and additionally minute info of inner shape of organisms and cells. In the observe of biology, diverse new strategies and strategies have evolved, like microscopy, liquid, chromatography, distillation strategies and paper chromatography.


The high chromium white cast iron was carried on wear abrasion test under different loads on the testing machine.The protect affection of the different carbide on matrix and the carbide surface stripped was analyzed.It was shown that the wearing was slow when the load was under a specific value,but it grew fast when the load is upgraded over a specific value.The small size carbide stripped from the surface at first when the load is upgraded,and the big size carbide stripped and mashed when the load keep on increasing.It is demanded that the carbide was distributed well-proportionally and the size suitable.


Many diseases of the Central Nervous System (CNS) require treatment by novel drugs and special techniques (e.g. viral vector). However, the efficiency of the treatment may be hampered by the lack of methods to administer the drug in regions of the brain in therapeutically effective concentration range. The difficulty to deliver drugs in the brain is due to Brain Blood Barrier (BBB) that prohibits large molecules to pass through the capillary bed into the brain. Invasive drug delivery techniques aim at overcoming the BBB by directly injecting large molecules into the brain parenchyma by a catheter [1]. Recently there is interest for treating diseases of CNS with such invasive techniques.


SUBTITLE: REGIONAL AIRLINES ARE BECOMING MORE AND MORE LIKE THEIR MAJOR BRETHREN IN THEIR NEEDS TO TRIM UNNECESSARY COSTS, PRICE COMPETITIVELY, AND MARKET EFFECTIVELY ACROSS BORDERS. SOPHISTICATED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES ARE BECOMING ESSENTIAL TO MODERN REGIONAL CARRIERS.


Graph topology inference in networks with co-evolving and interacting time-series is crucial for network studies. Vector autoregressive models (VAR) are popular approaches for topology inference of directed graphs; however, topology estimation becomes ill-posed in large networks with short time series. The present paper proposes a novel topology inference method for analyzing directed networks with co-evolving nodal processes that solves the ill-posedness problem. The proposed method, large-scale kernelized Granger causality (lsKGC), uses kernel functions to transform data into a low-dimensional feature space, solves the autoregressive problem in the feature space, and then finds the pre-images in the input space to infer the topology. Extensive simulations on synthetic datasets with nonlinear and linear dependencies and known ground-truth demonstrate significant improvement in the Area Under the receiver operating characteristic Curve (AUC) for network recovery compared to existing methods. Furthermore, tests on synthetic semi-realistic datasets from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) demonstrate significant improvement in the AUC for topology inference, enhancing the prior results of the best competing methods by 15.4 percent, which confirms the benefits of the proposed method as compared to existing literature.


Diet surveys constitute an essential part of any complete study of nutritional status of individuals or households, providing necessary information on food and nutrients intake level, food habits and so on. Although anthropometry and clinical indicators are more appropriate for measuring nutritional status, dietary survey is helpful to determine and evaluate intake levels of food and nutrients and special food practices, that is to assess what people eat qualitatively and quantitatively and find out the inadequacies in the existing dietary pattern and habits. Specially designed diet surveys throw up vital information about dietary practices during pregnancy and lactation.


Study design: Psychometrics study. Objectives: To assess the reliability of the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) and Modified Tardieu Scale (MTS) in patients with spinal cord injuries (SCIs). Setting: Inpatient rehabilitation clinics at two state hospitals. Methods: The study included 65 participants aged between 18 and 88 years with SCI with spasticity. All participants were at least 6 months after injury and had an American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale grade of A–D. The MAS and MTS scores were collected from the right hip adductor and hip extensor muscles, right knee extensor and knee flexor muscles and right plantar flexor muscles. Each participant was assessed twice by two experienced physiatrists 1 week apart. The raters were blinded to each other's scores. Results: Inter-rater and test–retest agreement for the MAS scores (κ=0.531–0.774) was moderate to substantial. Inter-rater and test–retest agreement for the MTS X scores (κ=0.692–0.917) was substantial to almost perfect. Inter-rater reliability and test–retest reliability of the MTS R2−R1 was excellent (intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) 0.874–0.973, confidence interval (CI): 0.79–0.98) for all muscles tested. Inter-rater reliability of the MTS R2 for the hip adductor and knee extensor muscles was poor (ICC 0.248, CI: −0.00 to 0.47 and ICC 0.094, CI: −0.16 to 0.34, respectively). The test–retest reliability of the MTS R2 was also poor for the knee extensor muscles (ICC 0.318, CI: −0.06 to 0.53). Conclusion: MAS has adequate reliability for determining lower-extremity spasticity in patients with SCI. The demonstration of excellent inter-rater reliability and test–retest reliability of the MTS R2−R1 suggests its utility as a complementary tool for informing treatment decisions in patients with SCI. Spinal Cord (2017) 55, 944–949; doi:10.1038/sc.2017.48; published online 9 May 2017


How do we understand the experiences of people where the researcher is 'outside' these social groups? How do we undertake research in ways that does not further colonise or disempower these people? This seminar aims to explore issues and approaches to research in contexts where the researcher is 'outside' the social/cultural group of the participants. If research is understood as an act of knowledge production, then both the positioning of the researcher and the act of research are inevitably political, where the power over the representation and categorisation of marginalised peoples and their social experiences is with others not of these groups, (usually aligned with dominant epistemologies). The net result of this kind of research and social activity is the catch cry from marginalised groups, summed up by that now in use in the disability field: 'nothing about us without us'. This paper focuses on the central importance of the meaning making process and offers a method for building meanings and understandings that explicitly draw on the located contexts of their production. The paper offers a set of 'ethics of meaning making' that support appropriate work in these contexts, and focuses on articulating one step of the method that supports these.


Abstract Background Whether the association between pulse pressure (PP) and mortality varies with systolic blood pressure (SBP) in ischaemic heart failure (HF) with left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) is unknown. Objective To evaluate the association between PP and all-cause mortality in ischaemic HF patients with SBP status at admission. Patients and methods This prospective cohort study included 1581 ischaemic HF patients with LVSD. A total of 23.3% (n = 368) and 22.2% (n = 351) of the participants had SBP <110 mmHg and SBP >140 mmHg, respectively, with more than 80% of participants being male. Restricted cubic spline was performed to determine whether a nonlinear relationship existed between PP and all-cause mortality risk. A multivariable Cox proportional hazards model was used to assess the association between PP and all-cause mortality. Results After a median of follow-up of 3.0 years, 257 events (16.4%) were observed in the cohort. There was a J-shaped relationship between PP and all-cause mortality (P value for nonlinearity = 0.020), with a risk nadir of approximately 46–49 mmHg. All-cause mortality risk varied with SBP status. Higher PP was associated with worse prognosis when the SBP was ≥110 mmHg, whereas the relationship did not reach statistical significance when the SBP was <110 mmHg. Conclusion A J-shaped relationship between PP and all-cause mortality was observed in ischaemic HF patients with LVSD, and higher PP was associated with worse prognosis only in those with SBP ≥110 mmHg. Further studies are needed to corroborate these findings. KEY MESSAGES A J-shaped relationship between pulse pressure and all-cause mortality was observed in ischaemic heart failure patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction, with a risk nadir of approximately 46–49 mmHg. All-cause mortality risk varied with systolic blood pressure status, and higher pulse pressure was associated with worse prognosis when systolic blood pressure was above 110 mmHg.


Laparoscopic minimally invasive surgery is increasing, and in the last decade some modifications of the technique have been introduced, especially concerning mesh type, fixation, and peritoneal closure, which are herein individually discussed. Currently, a standard unique technique is still missing, and modifications of the technique might be useful in challenging cases, such as the use of fibrine glue to both fix the mesh and close the peritoneum. The aim of this technical note essay is to discuss and update some tips and tricks as well as recent modifications of the trans-abdominal preperitoneal (TAPP)


The revised standard for the Ada programming language, Ada 9X, extends the Ada tasking model to better support the use of parallelism in real-time systems. These extensions to tasking require new implementations. This paper discusses some of the technical issues and outlines the design of one implementation, the GNu Ada Runtime Library. Two features are discussed in detail: protected objects, which are data objects that are safe for concurrent access by multiple tasks, and asynchronous transfer of control, which allows a task to respond to an asynchronous event by aborting the current computation and transferring control to a recovery point within the task


Abstract : The conference on Interaction Between Operator Theory, Wavelet Theory and Control Theory, was held May 1-2, 1993 in Charlotte NC. The event was organized and hosted by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The main purpose of the conference was to bring researchers together, in so doing, to encourage an interchange of information and stimulation of cooperative efforts.


From 1901 through 1903 Russian liberalism underwent significant changes. Liberals outside the zemstvo began to assume an important role in a movement hitherto led mainly by semtsy. Moreover, the liberals established the Union of Liberation {Soiuz osvohoshdeniia), an underground organization that accepted even Social Democrats and Socialist Revolutionaries into its ranks. Also, they added bold proposals for social and economic reform to their constitutionalist demands and thus expanded the liberal program dramatically. The main problem is to explain this "leftward shift" in liberalism. Vasilii Maklakov has formulated an interpretation that has gained wide acceptance. In his view, the programmatic and organizational changes resulted from a transfer of leadership from moderate "zemstvo liberals" to a radical "political intelligentsia" (politiki-intelligenty) :


Sir, Berthelsen points to the problem of calculating systemic vascular resistance (SVR) in patients on the intra-aortic counterpulsation pump. We can not present a novel method of solving this problem and we do not think that a paper like this is the right place for searching for such solutions. The core of the problem is measuring the middle artery pressure. The two other parameters required for the calculation of the SVR, the central venous pressure and the cardiac output, can be measured. In our clinical practice, we are measuring the MAP proximal to the counterpulsation pump and routinely not distal to the pump. We are fully aware of the fact that these pressures are not identical (but not necessarily too diverging) and that for a petit-maı̂tre wanting to find the true values this might be unacceptable. However, we believe that the use of a reliable method for measuring cardiac output is of great importance in guiding the treatment of hemodynamically unstable patients and that information of an approximation of the SVR is useful for controlling the afterload of the heart.


The viruses titer and the ultrastructure of infected cells of tobacco host (N. tabacum cv. Samsun), doubly infected by potato virus Y necrosis strain (PVY N) and potato virus X (PVX), were studied under greenhouse conditions. The results indicated that PVY N and PVX interact synergistically, and tobacco plants which doubly infected by PVX and PVY N could greatly increased symptom severity as compared with that induced by individual virus. As determined by triple antibody sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (TAS ELISA), the titer of PVX in tobacco leaves infected by both PVY N and PVX was up to 9.10 times higher than the plants infected by PVX only. No significant differences in PVY N titer were detected between singly and doubly infected plants. The enhancement of PVX titer in doubly infected plants was evident in greenhouse and was not influenced by virus strains, tested seasons, intervals between PVY N and PVX inoculation. Sections of doubly infected leaves were examined with an electron microscope. It was found that cells contained pinwheels and large masses of PVX like particles, pinwheels and laminate inclusion, or all three structures, most of them were swollen, and their chloroplast and other organella were damaged heavily. This suggests that doubly infected cells be involved in the enhancement phenomenon, which seems the result of an increase in the amount of PVX synthesized in them.


Objective To investigate the efficacy and safety of tranexamic aeid on perioperative blood loss associated with total knee arthroplasty(TKA). Methods From May 2008 to February 2009, 98 pa-tients (35 males, 63 females) underwent TKA, 66 cases with osteoarthritis, 32 with rheumatoid arthritis. The course of illness ranged from 2 to 12 years (mean, 5 years). They were randomly divided into Group A and B with 49 patients each. The patients in Group A received tranexamic acid, and the patients in Group B re-ceived an equal volume of normal saline, in Group A, 1 g of tranexamic acid dissolved in 250 ml of normal saline was intravenously infused before deflation of the tourniquet; another intravenous administration of the same drug of the same dosage was given 3 h later. In Group B, only 250 ml of normal saline was infused in-travenously. The amounts of intraoperative blood loss, postoperative wound blood loss and blood transfusion,the number of the patients needing blood transfusion and the value of postoperative hemoglobin concentration of all patients were recorded. Fibrinogen, prothrombin time, and activated partial thromboplastin time were also examined before operation, during operation (deflation of the tourniquet), and 3 hours after operation.And they were also observed for whether they had deep vein thrombosis and both lower limbs of all patients were examined by the color Doppler uhrasonography 14 days after operation. Results There was no signifi-cant difference in intraoperative blood loss botween two groups(P >0.05). There were significant differences in the amount of postoperative wound blood loss, blood transfusion, the number of the patients needing blood transfusion and the value of postoperative hemoglobin concentration between two groups, Group A were lower than Group B (P 0.05). And no deep vein thrombosis was found 14 days after operation. Conclusion During and after the TKA, a short-term use of tranexamic acid can significantly decrease blood loss and blood transfusion without increasing risk for venous thrombosis.

Key words:
Arthrnplasty;  replacement;  knee;  Tranexamic acid;  Blood loss;  surgical


Regulating migration is currently one of the most salient issues in Europe. So far, research has overlooked how this politicisation affects attitudes towards migration regimes. This article links the literatures on public opinion and framing effects from a comparative European perspective and presents original data from representative EU-wide vignette experiments conducted in mid-December 2017 (N = 10.827). I show that framing Schengen as a threat to public security or national identity weakens support for the status quo inside Schengen and reaffirms it amongst Schengen outsiders. Regarding Freedom of Movement only negative frames, particularly those referring to labour market risks, have a significant impact. Given the weak public support in several EU member states, these findings have important implications for the future of European migration regimes.


Thin-film superconductors with thickness ∼30–500 nm are used as non-equilibrium quantum detectors for photons, phonons or more exotic particles. One of the most basic questions in determining their limiting sensitivity is the efficiency with which the quanta of interest couple to the detected quasiparticles. As low temperature superconducting resonators, thin films are attractive candidates for producing quantum-sensitive arrayable sensors and the readout uses an additional microwave probe. We have calculated the quasiparticle generation efficiency ηs for low energy photons in a representative, clean thin-film superconductor (Al) operating well below its superconducting transition temperature as a function of film thickness, within the framework of the coupled kinetic equations described by Chang and Scalapino (1978 J. Low Temp. Phys. 31 1–32). We have also included the effect of a lower frequency probe. We show that phonon loss from the thin film reduces ηs by as much as 40% compared to earlier models that considered relatively thick films or infinite volumes. We also show that the presence of the probe and signal enhances the generation efficiency slightly. We conclude that the ultimate limiting noise equivalent power of this class of detector is determined by the thin-film geometry.


A new amino acid, L-N-[2-(3-pyridyl)ethyl]-glutamic acid, was isolated from the poisonous mushroom Clitocybe acromelalga and the structure confirmed by synthesis. Its occurrence in this fungus supports the previously proposed biogenesis of acromelic acids.


Over the past 25 years, Learning Style Models have brought increasing attention to the fact that students have varying learning styles and students may enjoy learning only if teaching learning methodologies adapt to their learning style. There exists a lot of learning style models that determine the learning styles. However, addressing the needs of all styles of students is practically impossible and there is a need to find methodologies that identify major classification of students in a classroom. This research work proposes a classification methodology based on correlation prevailing between various dimensions of the learning models. This work finds the major classifications of learning styles among students and suggests suitable Teaching Learning Strategies. Felder Silverman Learning Style Model (FSLSM) is chosen for this research work and the reliability of this Learning Style Model is tested. A case study was conducted with 45 post graduate students using the proposed methodology and results are discussed.


Griseofulvin and its main metabolite, 6-demethylgriseofulvin (6-DMG), have been administered i.v. to dogs. The plasma data of griseofulvin were found to fit biexponential equations while the urinary excretion rate data of 6-DMG after its i.v. dose (and after griseofulvin administration) were found to fit triexponential equations. When increasing doses of griseofulvin were administered intravenously, some dogs followed dose-independent disposition kinetics, while others showed definite evidence of dose-dependent disposition kinetics. The distribution rate constants and the volume of distribution were found changed with dose in dogs showing dose-dependent disposition kinetics. However, the urinary recovery of the main metabolite, 6-DMG, remained almost constant. It is, therefore, postulated that the dose-dependent disposition kinetics of griseofulvin might be attributed to changes in tissue distribution rather than changes in the intrinsic metabolic activity.


The Valanginian (Lower Cretaceous) Bentheim succession of the Schoonebeek field is deposited in a shallow-marine environment along the southern and southwestern coast of the Lower Saxony Basin in eastern Netherlands. Three cores from Schoonebeek field, selected by NAM (Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij), and a number of samples from an outcrop in the Bentheim Sandstone at Gildehaus were studied. Interpretations of the depositional environments were made based on the three cores. Bioturbated, massive, heterolithic and open marine clastic sediments were distinguished. These categories correspond to those of the new stratigraphical division of the Emsland area. The porosity and permeability of the Bentheim sandstone is largely linked to depositional facies. Diagenesis has affected the petrophysical properties mainly through carbonate cementation and leaching of detrital grains. The effect of mechanical compaction was minor because of the stable (quartz rich) detrital composition of the sand. The early precipitation of calcite cement in a number of thin layers caused the development of impermeable layers. During the maturation of the Berriasian source rocks aggressive pore fluids were expelled, which enhanced the porosity of the Bentheim Sandstone. Later the charging of hydrocarbon into the Bentheim Sandstone initiated the process of blocking "pure" nucleus, which inhibited quartz cementation and authigenic clay precipitation in the sandstones of the Schoonebeek field. The leaching processes, the development of secondary porosity, and the low content of authigenic clay suggest that fluid transport removed ions in a semi-closed or open diagenetic system. The depositional and diagenetic properties have resulted in good reservoir quality of the Bentheim Sandstone, especially within the massive sandstone. The carbonate-cemented layers represent stratabound impermeable layers, which probably were developed by local diffusional redistribution of biogenic carbonate. The abundance of corroded detrital grains and calcite cement in the Bentheim Sandstone suggest that at least the carbonate-cemented layers were more extensive prior to the maturation of hydrocarbon.


From educational speakers and poster sessions to jump-rope competitions and health walks, APHA 2018 was a whirlwind of science and inspiration.


One type of database that can be useful in limiting models of the Mars surface-atmosphere system is the time dependent boundary of CO2 frost for the polar caps. Data acquired by the thermal infrared sensors on spacecraft are not limited by the lighting problems that hamper visual observations. The surface temperature of solid CO2 is limited by Clapeyron's equation as a function of the local partial pressure of CO2 gas. The growth was studied of the Martian south polar cap using the Viking IRTM dataset. These data are available in five bands, four of which should correspond to surface radiation in clear conditions; the 20 micron data was examined in the first phase.


Emperor Kangxi was one of the wisest emperors in Chinese history. He was very positive and promising and initiative all his life. His policy and military achievements were splendid in history. And over 1000 poems he had left are the best annotation of this spirit. His poems about either strengthening the country or accepting new things or opposing alchemists all reflect his positive attitude toward life. His final object was to fulfill his ideal of piping times of peace,after which he diligently strived all his life.


Libraries, commercial sites and other large information sources on the web support their users through facetted search and navigation. A facet corresponds to a dimension in a multidimensional information space. The users are offered values of the facets to refine the query. As the number of results is displayed with each option, the users know in advance how strongly the query will be constrained. Web portals have started to combine facet browsing with interactive maps and other visualizations. Although they can be "fascinating", [Hearst 2008] wonders, they "... are visually engaging but take up a lot of screen space, so it is unclear what their ultimate uptake will be." The poster will discuss further issues that arise when facets shall be combined with interactive geographic maps. The key issue is consistency between the geospatial facets, the content of the map, and the last query with its results. 1. As facets facilitate the users' orientation and offer an alternative input mode when they depend on screen readers or can only use the keypad, facets should always reflect the last query. 2. Facets can only present metadata, their values must be concise and intelligible. Coordinates of places and bounding boxes of maps are not suitable values for facets. Thus, geospatial facets would use a standardized geospatial vocabulary, which should designate a hierarchy of regions and named places in the map. The users should be able to navigate (click through) the map along this hierarchy and, on their way, constrain the query to the selected area, which would then be reflected in the geospatial facets. 3. However, can the users navigate only along this hierarchy, or can they explore the map further? Wouldn't they want to pan and zoom the map or get it placed to an input address? 4. Such arbitrary movements cannot be reflected in the standardized vocabulary of the geospatial facets. So, should navigation in the map and submission of new queries be connected? How else should new queries be submitted from the map? This issue needs further consideration. Take into account that processing a query may require significant response times due to linked displays. The web page may not only show the facets and an interactive map, but a result list and other interactive graphics. When the user points to any visual object in any display, corresponding elements in the other displays should also be highlighted. Response times for this brush and link behavior must be extremely fast, therefore, the correspondences between the visual elements must be computed directly with the results of a new query. 5. As another requirement, all results should be presented equally. Some may be indexed only with a region, and they should be accessible through this region on the map. The others are indexed by some named places. As places are presented by symbols on the map, nearby symbols may obscure or completely hide each other. As a typical solution, nearby places are represented by a "group symbol" that displays further information when selected. But again, this information should not suppress any results and make them accessible along the standardized hierarchy.


Stochastic number generator (SNG) is one important component of stochastic computing (SC). An SNG usually consists of a random number source (RNS) and a probability conversion circuit (PCC). The SNGs occupy a large portion of the total area and power of a stochastic circuit. Thus, it is critical to lower the area and power of the SNGs. The existing methods only focused on simplifying the RNSs inside the SNGs, such as sharing the RNSs and using emerging devices. However, how to reduce the area and power of PCCs is never studied. In this work, we explore this problem and propose a solution that can effectively reduce the area and power of PCCs. We also study the theoretical limit on the cost of SNG and find that our proposed design approaches the limit. The experimental results show that our design can gain up to 2x improvement in power-delay product over the traditional SNGs.


Objective:To analyze the effects of Shengmai injection(SMI) on patients with myocardial infarction combined hyperlipidemia.Methods:Fifty cases with myocardial infarction combined hyperlipidemia were divided into two groups,SMI treated group and Control group.Left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF) were determined.The content of serum CK,CK-MB,LDH,TC,TG,LDL-C were measured.Results:Two weeks after SMI treatment,compared with Control group,LVEF were significantly higher in SMI treated group(P0.05),however,the content of TC,TG,LDL-C were no significant difference between two groups.Twenty-four hours after SMI treatment,the content of serum CK,CK-MB,LDH in the SMI group was lower than those in the control group(P0.05).Conclusion:SMI could rise the LVEF of patients with myocardial infarction combined hyperlipidemia,downregulate the content of serum CK,CK-MB,LDH function and improve the myocardial function,but,SMI has no effect on blood fat.


Arora's introduction of a much-anticipated second edition of Introduction to Optimum Design will not only satisfy established users of his well-received first edition, but moreover, significant updates, supplementary material, and fine-tuning of the pedagogical aspects of the presentation will certainly broaden its appeal. For those unfamiliar with the book, Introduction to Optimum Design is one of a number of contemporary works that provide a basic to intermediate introduction to the theory of optimal design with engineering applications. However, among some of the distinguishing characteristics of Arora's book are its adaptability to audiences with diverse backgrounds, as well as the extent to which it makes the topic clear and approachable. The minimum mathematics prerequisites would include multivariate calculus and some exposure to linear algebra; as such, the book can readily be used with third-year or fourth-year undergraduates in most engineering disciplines. On the other hand, selected topics are treated with sufficient depth and rigor that, when covered at a faster pace, the book is equally well-suited for use at the introductory graduate level. The book would also be excellent as a self-study reference for the practicing engineer. Although perhaps the majority of the applications used in the book are drawn from problems in the civil and mechanical engineering disciplines including a good sampling of structural optimization examples , most examples are framed in such a way that the key concepts can be understood by students from other engineering disciplines. As such, in this reviewer's personal experience, students from chemical, electrical, and industrial engineering have found the book equally useful. In fact, students from industrial engineering often find the presentation of key mathematical concepts much clearer than what is customarily given in most operations research and quantitative analysis texts. The layout of the first 12 chapters of the second edition consists of: "Introduction to Design," "Optimum Design Problem Formulation," "Graphical Optimization," "Optimum Design Concepts," "Linear Programming Methods for Optimum Design," "Numerical Methods for Unconstrained Optimum Design," "Numerical Methods for Constrained Optimum Design," and "Introduction to Optimum Design with MATLAB." Following the basic introduction and description of nomenclature in Chapters 1 and 2, many of the key concepts are introduced for two-variable optimum design problems in Chapter 3 "Graphical Optimization" , which is now an expanded, separate chapter in the revised edition. Improvements in this chapter include examples involving the use of Mathematica and MATLAB for generating graphical solutions. In Chapters 4–11, the basic theoretical and computational aspects of optimization are given in a fashion similar to that of the first edition; however, the key concepts of existence and uniqueness of unconstrained and constrained solutions now Chapters 4 and 5 , umerical methods for linear programming now Chapters 6 and


This book is organized into 16 chapters that are divided into four sections. The first section focuses on a theoretical discussion of the sociocultural dimensions of health. This section includes such topics as race and health care, minority populations' health insurance and access to health care, and a brief discussion on suggested criteria for culturally responsive health care services. Section 2 addresses the topic of health care service issues. In this section, six contributing authors provide research and information on the health care utilization and health care seeking behaviors and practices of African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, and American Indians. The third section of this book is devoted to the complementary, alternative, or integrated medicine found among Mexican Americans, Native Americans, Chinese Americans, and African Americans. The final section of the book discusses future challenges in the area of methodological and research issues. The majority of the content of this text does not meet scholarly nor scientific rigor. For example, I was surprised to find that one of my own publications was incorrectly used by authors Ma and Henderson when discussing the issue of noncompliance. They stated, "Research conducted by Campinha-Bacote and Padgett (1995) addresses parent's understanding and management of treatments for a sick child" (p. 18). The fact is that neither I nor my colleague have conducted this type of research. My article was not a research article but, rather, a theoretical article discussing a conceptual model of cultural competence for nurse researchers. In this article I stated, "Studies conducted by Anderson (1990) and Anderson and Chung (1982) address parents' understanding and management of treatments for a sick child at home" (p. 31). Ma and Henderson failed to cite the appropriate authors of the study, and it appears obvious that they relied on secondary resources. Accurate and current documentation of references is another area reflecting the text's lack of a sound scholarly presentation. Most of the chapters cite outdated references from the mid-1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. For example, in the first chapter, only 7% of the references were between the acceptable span of 1994 to 1999. There were other chapters, such as chapter 7 titled "Communication Between Spanish-Speaking Patients and Their Doctors in Medical Encounters," which did not include any current references. References cited in this chapter were from works dated in the 1970s and 1980s, with only one reference from 1990. This is unacceptable because there is a plethora of recent articles and studies addressing this topic. In addition to the lack of current references, I also noted an incompleteness of documentation. Because I personally enjoy reading articles by Lavizzo-Mourey and noticed she was one of the contributing authors, I attempted to look up her name in the author index. This contributing author was nowhere to be found in the index. Another example that demonstrates the book's incompleteness and lack of scholarly activity is found in chapters 2 and 9. In chapter 2, contributing authors discuss the landmark Tuskegee syphilis study, and they do not cite the primary resource but, rather, a secondary resource by Brandt (1978). Again, in chapter 9, contributing authors Franke and Ohene-Frempong talk about the infamous Tuskegee syphilis study with no citations from the reference section, primary nor secondary. The stated target audience that this book attempts to reach is cross-cultural care providers. Although this is true, the content of this book has limited use for health care professionals in medicine and nursing. Only 1 of the 21 contributing authors is a nurse (Huttlinger). There is also one contributing author that is a physician (Lavizzo-Mourey). This text may have some relevance to transcultural nurses, but it does not add to the body of knowledge in our specialty field. At best, this text can be used as a course supplementary reading for graduate students in transcultural health care and a reference for practitioners. The editors state that, after reading the text, readers may conclude that little attention has been given to transcultural programs. This conclusion is based on their rationale that "there are a relatively small number of successful programs." I feel this rationale is tainted by the fact that the book has not done a rigorous job of reviewing the current literature. Therefore, their initial goal to "provide helpful data and techniques for cross-cultural care providers" (p. xiii) is compromised by this lack of review of extant research on transcultural programs. In conclusion, Rethinking Ethnicity and Health Care: A Sociocultural Perspective lacks scholarly and scientific rigor in presenting information on transcultural health care. I suggest that the editors rethink the actual purpose and credibility of their text.


Propagation delay based cyclic interference alignment design is proposed for general X channels with two transmitters and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$K$ </tex-math></inline-formula> receivers. From the basic case with <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$K=3$ </tex-math></inline-formula> to the general case with arbitrary <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$K$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, the transmit polynomial and the PD feature of the channels are given. The corresponding receive polynomials are deduced, which show that perfect cyclic IA has been performed in <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$K+1$ </tex-math></inline-formula> time-slots to obtain the optimal degrees of freedom <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${2K}/{(K+1)}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. Furthermore, the feasibility analysis of node placement in the Euclidean space is provided, which demonstrates the wide application scope from underwater acoustic to terrestrial radio communications.


The current state of affairs is that as a specialty, we underperform in scholarly and research output compared with our peers in other specialties,[4][1] and although this has been acknowledged for a while,[5][2] improvements in research productivity have been slow. Many barriers remain to the


In an effort to normalise pornography, there are people who point out that porn has been around since ancient times. That might be true, but porn today is like nothing the world has ever seen.


BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE
SET and MYND domain-containing protein 3 (SMYD3) gene was found to encode a histone methyltransferase involved in the proliferation and apoptosis of cancer cells. This study was to detect the expression of SMYD3 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell lines, and reveal its function of regulating proliferation and apoptosis of HCC cell line through gene silencing.

METHODS
The expression of SMYD3 in HCC cell lines HepG2, Hep3B, SMMC7721, and normal hepatic cell line L-02 was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR); its expression in 24 specimens of HCC and peri-cancer tissue was detected by immunohistochemistry. Short hairpin RNA (shRNA) plasmids Pgenesil-1-s1 and Pgenesil-1-s2 (with interfering effect), and Pgenesil-1-hk (without interfering effect) were constructed and transfected into HepG2 cells. Western blot was used to detect the expression of SMYD3 protein after transfection. Cell proliferation was analyzed by MTT assay; cell apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry (FCM) and TUNEL.

RESULTS
SMYD3 was overexpressed in the HCC cell lines and HCC tissue. After transfection with shRNA, SMYD3 expression in HepG2 cells was down-regulated by 75%-85%, and the cell growth was inhibited by 60.95%-72.14%. The apoptosis rate of HepG2 cells was significantly higher in Pgenesil-1-s1 and Pgenesil-1-s2 groups than in Pgenesil-1-hk and Pgenesil-1 groups [(17.68+/-2.36)% and (19.07+/-1.78)%, vs. (1.44+/-0.28)% and (0.47+/-0.12)%, P<0.01].

CONCLUSION
SMYD3 is overexpressed in various HCC cell lines and HCC tissue; RNA interference can down-regulate SMYD3 expression, inhibit proliferation and promote apoptosis of HepG2 cells.


This study was designed to explore the effects of different dosage of allicin on the growth performance and immune function of SPF chickens. A total of 105 7-day-age SPF chickens were randomly divided into three groups:Group A was the control group fed with basic daily diet;Group B and C were the trial groups,fed with adding 150 mg/kg and 300 mg/kg allicin in basal diets,respectively. Each group was weighed at the first to sixth and eighth weeks after fed allicin;antibody againrt Newcastle disease virus (NDV) and H9 subtype avian influenza virus (H9 AIV) in plasma were measured at the third to fifth and the ninth weeks after fed allicin,and the number of erythrocyte,granulocyte and lymphocyte in the whole blood were also measured;6 chickens were randomly picked at the fifth and sixth weeks,and the indexes of the thymus,spleen and bursa of fabricius were measured and compared. The results showed that the weight of group B was higher than others from the forth week after fed allicin,and the weight of group C was always lower than that of group A and B;there was no significant difference among the three groups on antibody levels;The numbers of erythrocyte,granulocyte and lymphocyte of group B and C were higher than group A at the third week (P0.05),and at the fifth week the granulocyte number of group B was obviously higher than group A (P0.05);the bursa of Fabricius and indexes of the thymus of group B were obviously higher than that of group A and C at the fifth and sixth weeks,respectively (P0.05). The results indicated that 150 mg/kg allicin could promote growth performance and immune function of SPF chickens,which were restrained by 300 mg/kg allicin in the basal diets.


Developing sensitive, reliable and simple methods for detection of protein biomarkers in complex biological matrixes is a major challenge in recent years. In most cases, immunoassays are performed in muti-well-plates in well-equipped labs, which is time consuming and expensive. There is great interest in transitioning immunoanalysis from the lab so the analytical capabilities of immunoanalysis can be employed to diagnose disease at the point-of-care and monitor the environment in the field. In immunoassay applications, antibodies are immobilized onto biointerface to capture specific biomarkers. To improve the sensitivity and reduce the size of immunosensor, immobilizing antibody at high density is essential. Here, we developed an easier method to conjugate the antibodies within the chitosan composite film and remove the non-specific binding with electrical field.


Traditionally, solitary waves are generated in the laboratory setups using the Goring's methodology that considers a wave of permanent form during the generation process. In this study, we propose a new methodology for solitary wave generation using piston-type wavemakers by considering the evolving nature of the wave during the generation process. This proposed methodology is tested by conducting a series of experiments in a wave tank. In the experiments, generation of solitary wave profiles predicted by Boussinesq's and Rayleigh's theoretical solutions are accomplished using both the New and Goring methodologies. Waves generated using the Goring methodology served as a benchmark to assess the performance of the proposed New methodology. Comparisons of experimental observations and theoretical solutions for various wave characteristics have shown that the New methodology is capable of generating more accurate solitary waves with less attenuation as waves propagate compared to the Goring methodology. Prop...


Deep neural networks whose parameters are distributed according to typical initialization schemes exhibit undesirable properties that can emerge as the number of layers increases. These issues include a vanishing dependency on the input and a concentration on restrictive families of functions including constant functions. We address these problems by considering the limit of infinite total depth and examine the conditions under which we achieve convergence to well-behaved continuoustime processes. Doing so we establish the connection between infinitely deep residual networks and solutions to stochastic differential equations, i.e. diffusion processes. We show that deep neural networks satisfying such connection don't suffer from the mentioned pathologies and analyze the SDE limits to shed light on their behavior.


Based on narrative approaches, the authors develop an empirical technique to gauge the match between stories told by political actors and voters and assess its effect on voting behavior. Even with other fundamental attitudinal and demographic factors held constant, they hypothesize that voters should prefer parties that hold and communicate similar national narratives. Using data gathered during the 2009 elections to the Israeli Knesset, the authors gauge voter attitudes about fundamental national narratives in Israel and conduct a systematic analysis of parties' discourse in parliamentary speeches to gauge parties' stories. Controlling for demographics and ideology in a series of logistic regressions, the authors find that voting behavior for most parties is significantly affected by the narrative proximity between voters' stories and parties' stories.


Promotion of the utilization of natural energy is urgent as a countermeasure to global warming. There are several kinds of energy resources in the ocean: waves, thermal differences, tidal levels and tidal currents. A feasibility study on tidal current power generation in Kanmon Strait, Japan is introduced in this report. A variable mesh version of the Marine Environmental Committee ocean model is used to reproduce the tidal current and to learn the distribution of tidal kinetic energy. Based on the simulation results, the optimal location for installation of a power plant is determined. The electric power created by a propeller type generator with a 10m diameter is also calculated as the average annual consumption of a household and availability of the power generation by the tidal current in Kanmon Strait is discussed.Copyright © 2003 by ASME


Now the environmental risk assessment is often similar to the safety assessment in some assessment reports,and the value and significance of the environmental risk assessment are decreased consequently.This paper introduces the similarities and differences between two kinds of risk assessment,concentrates on the focus and summarizes the problems in environment risk assessment at the present time.


Earnings management practices result in adverse consequences for investors and have led to increased attention from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). To carry out the SEC's oversight role, the Division of Corporation Finance periodically reviews companies' filings and issues comment letters to monitor and enhance compliance with regulatory disclosure and accounting requirements. We examine whether the SEC's oversight role affects firms' earnings management behavior. We expect that increased firm-specific scrutiny from the SEC, in the form of a comment letter, will increase the cost of accrual-based earnings management (AEM) and induce management to decrease its usage. Because prior literature finds that firms substitute different forms of earnings management as other forms become more costly, we expect that companies will switch to real activities-based earnings management (REM), which is less likely to be scrutinized in the SEC's review process. Consistent with our predictions, we find that AEM decreases and REM increases following the receipt of a comment letter. These results suggest that the comment letter process is effective in constraining AEM but may have the unintended consequence of encouraging companies to switch to REM.


Community-run formal evaluations and manually annotated text corpora are critically important for advancing biomedical text mining research. Recently in BioCreative V, a new challenge was organized for the tasks of disease named entity recognition (DNER) and chemical-induced disease (CID) relation extraction. Given the nature of both tasks, a test collection is required to contain both disease/chemical annotations and relation annotations in the same set of articles. Despite previous efforts in biomedical corpus construction, none were found to be sufficient for the task. Thus, we developed our own corpus during the challenge by inviting a team of expert annotators from both MeSH and the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD), who performed manual annotation of entities (diseases/chemicals) and relations, respectively. To ensure high annotation quality and productivity, detailed annotation guidelines and automatic annotation tools were provided. The resulting corpus consists of 1,500 PubMed articles with 4,409 annotated chemicals, 5,818 diseases, and 3,116 chemical-disease interactions. Each annotation includes both the mention text spans and normalized concept identifiers (MeSH was used as the controlled vocabulary). To ensure accuracy, the entities were captured independently by two annotators; the average inter-annotator agreement (IAA) scores are 88.75% and 96.31% for the disease and chemicals, respectively, in the test set according to the Jaccard similarity coefficient. Our corpus was successfully used for the BioCreative V challenge tasks and should serve as a valuable resource for the text-mining research community.


Teaching and learning science is best done by hands-on experience with real scientific data and real scientific problems. Getting such experiences into public and home-schooling classrooms is a challenge. Here we describe two award-winning multimedia products that embody one successful solution to the problem: Astronomy Village: Investigating the Universe, and Astronomy Village: Investigating the Solar System. Each Village provides a virtual environment for inquiry-based scientific exploration of ten planetary and astronomical problems such as "Mission to Pluto" and "Search for a Supernova." Both Villages are standards-based and classroom tested. Investigating the Solar System is designed for middle and early high school students, while Investigating the Universe is at the high school and introductory college level. The objective of both Villages is to engage students in scientific inquiry by having them acquire, explore, and analyze real scientific data and images drawn from real scientific problems.