This study investigated the social network structure of booking officers at the Honolulu Police Department and how the introduction of an online discussion tool affected knowledge about operation of a booking module. Baseline data provided evidence for collaboration among officers in the same district using e-mail, telephone and face-to-face media but showed minimal collaboration between officers in different districts. On average, knowledge of the booking module was low. After introduction of the online discussion tool the social network structure changed, showing an increase in collaboration between different districts and an increase in knowledge of the booking module, even though frequency of collaboration did not increase significantly. The study suggests that the formation of new collaborative ties and passive participation ("lurking") are more significant for learning through information sharing in social networks than raw frequency of interaction.


Abstract The concept of inclusivity is constantly discussed by a range of stakeholders from strategic to operational levels within arenas such as sport, tourism, the arts and leisure, often without any concrete understanding of the outcomes of such practices. The widest possible access to leisure for all likely participants is now the expectation by society at large and not just an ideal propounded by advocacy groups and people with disabilities. The challenge to operationalise these ideals into successful leisure programs is addressed in this paper through a case-study of a circus program that is creative, innovative and inclusive. The case study reports findings from a program designed for children with intellectual and/or mobility disabilities. It presents the use of circus as a leisure and learning program, developed in an education support unit. The program has had positive outcomes in a range of learning areas relating to cognitive, physical and affective attributes. These achievements include enhanced communication and physical skills, improved self-esteem and self-confidence and positive changes in behaviour patterns. Many of the skills developed relate to lifelong leisure skills learning. These findings are significant for people with disabilities, given the limited supply of leisure opportunities for this and other sectors of the community due to constraints in government, not-for-profit and commercial programs.


Soil properties including micronutrients and their balanced use can significantly affect plant growth and crop production. Hence, the objective of this research was to evaluate the spatial variation of different soil properties including micronutrients in the Dasht-e-Tabriz in the northwest of Iran. Ninety-eight soil sampling sites were selected to collect soil samples from the soil surface layer at a 1000-m distance according to the grid sampling method and analyzed. Soil physical and chemical properties, including the micronutrient concentrations of iron (Fe), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), and zinc (Zn), were measured. Spatial variabilities of soil properties were determined using the statistical software packages Grow and SPSS. The spatial variabilities of micronutrients in the region were a function of sequenced soil sedimentation, high level of underground water, and the differences in the pedogenesis and hydrological processes. Using such analyses, it is possible to plan appropriate soil management practices, including fertilization.


The aim of this study was to evaluate the forage yield of orchargrass (Dactylis glomerata L.) and perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) in monoculture and associated with white clover (Trifolium repens L.), in its second year ofestablisment. The treatments were: 20:40:40, 00:50:50, 40:20:40, 50:00:50, 20:70:10, 70:20:10 and 40:40:20 of orchard grass ( O), perennial ryegrass (BP) and white clover (TB), respectively. These associations were distributed according to a randomized block design with three replications. The variables measured were forage yield, plant height, radiation interception (RI, %) and botanical composition of the harvested fodder (%). All the associations were defoliated by sheep (Suffolk x Dorset) according to each season of the year (five, six and four weeks in autumn, winter and springsummer, respectively). The association 00:50:50 had the highest annual yield (20 309 kg DM ha yr) which could be due to a less competition among plants and to a high white clover contribution to the total yield (12 735 kg DM ha -1 years) equivalent to 63%. It was harvested 24% more of DM with the association 00:50:50, compared with the association 40:40:20 (P <0.05). Seasonal production throughout the year was distributed as follows: in fall-winter 40% and spring-summer 60% (P ≤ 0.05). White


A new method is proposed for determining the optimal ratio of scales for a three-scale single-parameter detection system in which parameter estimation is based on the method of maximum likelihood. Minimum probability of anomalous errors is used as a criterion for optimality of the estimates for a given level of estimation accuracy. The study encompasses a variety of optimal structures, as well as the stability of the optimal solutions against small changes in the structure parameters. Examples of optimal solutions are given.


Oxycera daliensis sp. nov., a distinct new species of the genus Oxycera, is described from Yunnan of Oriental China. Its relationships with the relative species are discussed. An updated key to the species of the genus Oxycera from China is presented.


Current UK and international guidelines advocate the need for multidisciplinary team (MDT) discussion of selected patients undergoing either percutaneous or surgical cardiac procedures to decide the optimal treatment strategy. To date, it is unknown if using videoconference facilities is cost‐effective. Therefore, we performed a cost analysis of using a high‐speed internet video conferencing system compared with conventional face‐to‐face MDT meetings.


Objective To compare quantitatively different recommended goals for cholesterol-lowering treatment in the primary prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Design Outcomes at pretreatment low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol concentrations from 2 to 5 mmol/L and 10-year ASCVD risk from 5% to 30% were modelled, using the decrease in risk ratio per mmol/L reduction in LDL cholesterol derived from randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of cholesterol-lowering medication. Data source Summary statistics from 26 RCTs comparing treatment versus placebo or less versus more effective treatment and 12 RCTs in which statin was compared with a higher dose of the same statin or with a similar statin dose to which an adjunctive cholesterol-lowering drug was added. Setting The different recommended goals are: (1) LDL cholesterol≤2.6 mmol/L (100 mg/dL); (2) LDL cholesterol≤1.8 mmol/L (70 mg/dL); (3) non-high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol decrease of ≥40%; or (4) LDL cholesterol≤1.8 mmol/L (70 mg/dL) or decreased by ≥50% whichever is lower. Participants RCT participants. Interventions Statins alone or in combination with ezetimibe or proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 inhibitors. Main outcome measures For each of the recommended therapeutic goals, our primary outcome was the number of events prevented per 100 people treated for 10 years (N100) and the number of needed to treat (NNT) to prevent one event over 10 years. Results At pretreatment LDL cholesterol 4–5 mmol/L, all four goals provided similar benefit with N100 1.47–16.45 (NNT 6–68), depending on ASCVD risk and pretreatment LDL cholesterol. With initial LDL cholesterol in the range 2–3 mmol/L, the target of 2.6 mmol/L was the least effective with N100 between 0 and 2.84 (NNT 35–infinity). The goal of 1.8 mmol/L was little better. However, reductions in non-HDL cholesterol by ≥40% or of LDL cholesterol to 1.8 mmol/L and/or by 50%, whichever is lower, were more effective, delivering N100 of between 0.9 and 9.33 (NNT 11–111). Percentage decreases in LDL cholesterol or non-HDL cholesterol concentration are more effective targets than absolute change in concentration in people with initial values of <4 mmol/L. Conclusions The LDL cholesterol target of 1.8 mmol/L is most effective when initial LDL cholesterol is >4 mmol/L. The time has probably come for the LDL cholesterol goal of <2.6 mmol/L to be abandoned.


Cuneiform texts of the old Babylonian period from South Mesopotamia contain little information about the social structure of urban societies. Some data on the social status and property of Larsa urban elite — called in the texts "the noble and the great" (kabtū u rabu) — can be found in the contracts of property division (YOS 8 42, 98; TCL 11 224), court decisions (VS II(XVIII)101) and letters (AbB 10 161). Archaeological excavations of one residential quarter of Larsa increase and confirm this information.


Objective To explore the association of the common variations of 11q13.2(rs7931342,G),8q24(rs13252298,G),8q24(rs7837688,T) with prostate cancer(PCa) in Beijing urban population,and to understand the relationship in PCa patients in gene type and clinical,genetic,dietary habits,hobbies,age and so on.Methods A case-control method was performed,and the study population consisted of 124 patients with prostate cancer and 138 age-gender-matched PCa-free healthy controls,the following information of PCa patients were collected:clinical phenotype,genetic profile,dietary habits,hobbies,age and so on.PCR-HRM and DNA sequencing techniques were used to determine the distribution of allele and genotype frequency of 11q13.2(rs7931342,G) and 8q24(rs13252298,G) and 8q24(rs7837688,T).And the relationships among patients' confirmed age,BMI,Gleason score,PSA concentration and tumor stages were discussed,and MDR method was employed to analyze the gene-gene interaction.Results There was no obverse distribution of difference in those four SNPs' allele or genotype frequency or four kinds of haplotype that composed of 8q24(rs13252298,G) and 8q24(rs7837688,T) between case and control groups(P0.05).Analysis showed that 8q24(rs13252298,G) genotype frequency distribution was correlated with age and eating onions(P=0.030,0.040).Binary Logistic analysis showed that there were significant differences between 11q13.2(rs7931342,G) and BMI(P=0.020),8q24(rs13252298,G) and drinking tea,eating bean products and onions(P=0.003,0.048,0.037),8q24(rs7837688,T) and BPH(P=0.039).All data was analyzed by MDR(multifactor dimensionality reduction) method,and the best model included just 11q13.2(rs7931342,G),CV consistency was 10/10,testing balanced accuracy was 0.5420,testing P was 0.6727.Conclusion There is no obvious association of 11q13.2(rs7931342,G),8q24(rs13252298,G) and 8q24(rs7837688,T) with PCa in our sample.They may not be genetic risk factors of PCa in Chinese Beijing population.


A major post-election issue is what to do about the Supreme Court of Canada's judgment in the Carter case last February, which struck down the Criminal Code's prohibition of assisted suicide to allow physician-assisted suicide for certain people in certain circumstances.


In this paper,we give the definitions of second order moment fuzzy stochastic process and its mean square convergence, and prove the Cauchy criterion of mean square convergence of second order moment fuzzy stochastic process, and discuss the properties of mean square convergence of second order momnet fuzzy stochastic process.


Recent reviews of the research on the effectiveness of open eduction continue to reveal the inconclusive nature of the results despite refinements in the methodology of research synthesis. Among the unacknowledged deficiencies in research syntheses that may contribute to the lack of clear-cut findings are the failure to consider discrepancies between the classification of open classrooms and the actual implementation of open education in these classrooms. These discrepancies derive from differences between classrooms in (a) the degree of implementation, and (b) the areas or component dimensions in which openness has been implemented. Evidence is presented that indicates that reliance on the current methods of assessing the implementation of classroom openness is inadequate. Investigating the relationships between the component dimensions of classroom structure and particular outcome variables is suggested as a potential strategy for yielding more meaningful results.


Climate monitoring and environmental modelling are in need of spatial datasets of sunshine duration or surface radiation. Their development is complicated by the coarse resolution of station measurements and the limited temporal extent and consistency of satellite retrievals. We present a method for spatial analysis that combines station and satellite data. Instead of merging contemporaneous measurements from both sources, our approach relies on statistical patterns distilled from satellite data over a limited time period. This permits application outside the satellite period and reduces inconsistencies across satellite generations. The non‐contemporaneous merging builds on principal component analysis and kriging with external drift. Its strengths are in regions of complex orography. We develop the non‐contemporaneous combination to derive km‐scale analyses of relative sunshine duration (monthly and daily) for Switzerland (1971–2012). The monthly analysis has a mean absolute error of 3–5% (per cent relative sunshine duration), and it explains 60–80% of the spatial variance in individual months. Errors of the daily analysis are 7–10% with an explained spatial variance of about 60% but strongly varying from day to day. The integration of satellite data systematically improves the analysis compared to interpolation from station data alone. The improvement is largest in autumn and winter, particularly because of better representation of low‐level stratus. The non‐contemporaneous merging realizes more than half the accuracy gain from satellite data obtained with the more informative contemporaneous merging. Hence, our alternative involves only a moderate compromise for the return of making pre‐satellite Campbell–Stokes measurements exploitable for long‐term grid datasets.


CONTEXT
Retinoid X receptor agonists (rexinoids) have demonstrated benefit in patients with certain malignancies but appear to cause central hypothyroidism in some patients with advanced cancer. The influence of rexinoids on thyroid function in healthy subjects is not clear.

OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to determine the effect of a single dose of bexarotene on levels of TSH, T4, and T3 in healthy subjects.

DESIGN
This study was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial.

SETTING
This study was conducted at the General Clinical Research Center (University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Aurora, CO).

SUBJECTS
Six healthy adults (>18 yr old) were studied.

INTERVENTION
Single-dose rexinoid (bexarotene, 400 mg/m2) or placebo, with TSH measurements at 0, 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 24, and 48 h, were used.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE
The main outcome was the serum TSH level at 24 h.

RESULTS
Single-dose bexarotene suppressed serum TSH (P < 0.001) over time. Compared with placebo, levels of TSH were significantly lower by 12 h (P = 0.043); the nadir of 0.32 +/- 0.02 mU/liter (P < 0.001) was seen at 24 h. Free T4 index and free T3 index were also significantly lower than placebo over time (48 h) (P = 0.029; P = 0.004, respectively). Serum prolactin, cortisol, and triglycerides were not affected (P > 0.05 for all). There was no significant effect of single-dose bexarotene on rT3 or T3/rT3 ratio at 24 h.

CONCLUSION
A single dose of a rexinoid can rapidly and specifically suppress serum TSH levels in healthy subjects. These data provide insight into the mechanisms by which rexinoids cause central hypothyroidism and potential ways this effect can be used for treatment of disorders such as thyroid hormone resistance and TSH-secreting pituitary tumors.


Objective:To evaluate a method for the reconstruction of suprapubic defect in post-adolescent with exstrophy of the bladder by pedicle anterolateral thigh fasciocutanous flap.Methods:From January 1999 to May 2007,pedicled anterolateral thigh fasciocutaneous flap based on the perforates of lateral circumflex femoral antery had been designed and transferred to repair suprapubic defects in 2 post-adolescent patients.Results:Anterolateral thigh fasciocutaneous island flaps were performed with the size ranging from 9 cm×11 cm to 10 cm×15 cm.The flaps healed with satisfactory appearance.Conclusions:There is often no local and nearby flaps which can be used in post-adolescent with exstraphy of the bladder because of several previous repairs.Despite variable vascular anatomy and technical difficulties in elevating the anterolatered thigh flap,the method is a good choice in rotate flap for suprapubic defect reconstruction.


In Muslim majority countries, like those of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), ablution is a necessary component to fulfil religious commitments of prayer, thus a significant amount of water is consumed on daily basis with minimal efforts and measures to manage or conserve that water use. This study aims to highlight the importance of redesigning the appliances in the Mosque for ablution purposes to save scarce water. The study assesses the water usage during ritual ablution (wudu- following Prophet Muhammad's (PBUH) way) in the Mosques of Oman. The findings from this study can have a global impact, as it can set an example for GCC countries as well as other countries all over the world where ablution is being practiced. Total consumption per capita for performing ritual ablution was measured using the normal tap, sensor tap, and pot. The study found that 7 L is being used while using normal and sensor taps of water per ablution while it could be done with 0.6 L of water. The major conclusion of the study is that current water consumption for ablution in Oman is around 8 times more than that of following Prophet Muhammad's (PBUH) way during ablution. Special taps that conserve water and suit the purpose of ablution have to be designed.


Self-clearing metallized film capacitor technology offers the highest energy density among high voltage capacitor technologies. The primary limitation of this technology under pulse discharge conditions is failure of the plasma sprayed end connections. Transient nonlinear finite element analysis with coupled electric and thermal fields is applied to quantify the temperature rise around a contact spot along the end connection as a function of discharge current, contact spot size, time and distance between contact spots along the contact edge. An analytic approximation is developed to compute these parameters which agrees to within a few percent with the finite element analysis.


A concentrating solar collector having about half the material cost of other collectors with similar performance is described. The selected design is a Compound Parabolic Concentrator (CPC) which concentrates solar energy throughout the year without requiring realignment. Output is a fluid heated to 100/sup 0/C with good efficiency. The optical design of the reflector surface was optimized, yielding a 2.0:1 concentration ratio with a 60/sup 0/C acceptance angle and a low profile. Double glazing was chosen consisting of a polyester film outer glazing and an inner glazing of glass tubes around the absorbers. The selectively coated steel absorber tubes are connected in series with flexible plastic tubing. Much development effort went into the materials for the reflector subassembly. A laminate of metalized plastic film over plaster was chosen for the reflective surface. The reflector is rigidized by attaching filled epoxy header plates at each end. Aluminum side rails and an insulating back complete the structure. The finished design resulted in a material cost of $21.40 per square meter in production quantities. Performance testing of a prototype produced a 50% initial efficiency rating. This is somewhat lower than expected, and is due to materials and processes used in the prototype for more » the outer glazing, reflective surface and absorber coating. However, the efficiency curve drops only slightly with increasing temperature differential, showing the inherent advantage of the concentrator over flat plate collectors. « less


This work addresses the preparation of ultrathin (effective oxide thickness, 42 A) interpoly-oxynitride (SiO x N y ) films by annealing thin nitride films with high density N 2 O plasma and N 2 O rapid thermal annealing. The proposed oxynitride dielectrics formed using N 2 O plasma annealing exhibited low gate leakage current, high breakdown electric field, long ten-year lifetime, and large effective barrier height. These superior properties can be attributed to the high concentration of oxygen incorporated in the poly-II/nitride interface and a reduction of the trap density of the interpoly-oxynitride films. The dielectric is a suitable substitute for the inter-polyoxide of electrically-erasable programmable read only memory.


a Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag 2006 Abstract The representatives of modern Neo-Confucianism all greatly value Yi Zhuan and regard it as one of their spiritual resources, and give their own creative interpretations and transformations. Xiong Shili's ontological-cosmological theory takes "qian yuan" as its center; Ma Yifu has a theory of ontology-cultivation centered on "nature-principle"; Fang Dongmei has a metaphysics of production and reproduction; Mou Zongsan takes the view of "completely knowing the fathomless and understanding transformation" as a moral metaphysics; and in Tang Junyi there is a theory of the harmony of doctrines on Heaven and man in which "the knowledge of divine understanding" is its key concept. They employ modern philosophical concepts and thinking to illustrate the cosmology, ontology, theory of life, theory of human nature, theory of spiritual worlds, axiology and their connections in Zhou Yi. They affirm that the characteristics of Chinese philosophy that are different from Western philosophy consist in a naturalist view of vital life, a harmonious view of totality, an axiological view that values exist in natural universe and the world of fact, the pursuit of Good and Beauty, and intuitive experience of inner world. Keywords Zhou Yi; Modern Neo-Confucianism; ontology; cosmology; axiology The representatives of modern Neo-Confucianism all greatly value the Texts of Zhou Yi (The Book of Changes or Yi Jing) and its Commentaries (Yi Zhuan),, especially the Commentaries, regard it as one of their spiritual resources, and give their own creative interpretations and transformations. Generally speaking, in following the line of thinking of Zhou Yi scholars of the Song Dynasty and under the influence of Western philosophy, they provide new perspectives of metaphysics, ontology, cosmology, axiology and methodology to unscramble the Texts and Commentaries.


Traditionally, microclimate, behavior and space design are characterized by a separation among climatologists, behavior researchers and designers. It is also unrealizable to apply the research results to the space design because of the gap created by the interdisciplinarity. In addition, although the relationships among space form, urban microclimate and people are intuitively understood, there are still not reasonable predictions on how a space affects the microclimate, and how the microclimate and space will affect people's sensation and behavior. By recording the microclimate and people's responses, this paper discusses the relationship between people's sensation and microclimate as well as people's behavior and open space in a busy downtown pedestrian street during hot summer. The research finds that shade plays a crucial role in outdoor comfort. All of the other objectively comfortable and acceptable microclimates differ significantly different shade situation. Simultaneously, space contradiction can be considered an essential factor for spatial utilization. This paper also provides proposal on canyon open space design based on this case study.


A set of procedures was presented for characterizing static and dynamic response of tensegrity modules. The procedures were applied to two tensegrity modules: a six-bar spherical module and a two-stage cylindrical module with three bars at each stage. The singular value decomposition of the initial equilibrium matrix revealed prestress and infinitesimal mechanism modes. The prestress stiffening effect of infinitesimal mechanism modes was found to be isotropic at each node. In the initial quasi-static loading, infinitesimal mechanisms exhibited soft response. As the deformation advanced, the stiffness of tensegirty modules increased almost quadratically with infinitesimal mechanism amplitudes. Modal analyses revealed that the lowest modes were those of infinitesimal mechanism modes and their natural frequencies were an order of magnitude smaller than those of higher deformation modes.


McMurrich's Human Embryology.' -In 1902, Dr. McIlurrich published an excellent handbook of human embryology, well adapted to the needs of students of medicine, and it is a matter of gratification to others than the author that its sales have been"''such as to demand a second edition. In the preparation of the new edition, the author has revised the whole, changing the wording here and there, replacing some cuts and adding two others, while in parts the text has been re-wvritten so as to incorporate the results of later investigations. Thus he has added Conklin's explanation of inversion of right and left sides ; the account of the fate of the somatic layer of the myotomie is changed, and with it in other parts modifications in the account of the derma, and in the idea of a segmentation in the skin. There is added an account of the chorionic vessels, and a statement as to the origin of the decidual cells; the account of the heart inuscles has been changed, as has that of the histogenesis of striped muscle, and Minot's work on the sinusoids has been incorporated in the text. There are very considerable changes in the account of the arteries of the trunk and umbilicus ; the section on the metanephros has been re-written, the account of the lymph nodes has been changed, as has that of the relations of the corpus callosum and the fornix. There are also modifications in the statements regarding the endolymph ducts and the formation of the vitreous body. The most extensive and important changes, however, are in those parts which relate to the miusculature of the limbs, where the author has revised the matter in the light of his own researches. Dr. McMUrrich has embraced the opportunity to add slightly (24 titles) to the bibliographies and to correct various typographical and other errors; but as Huxley wrote Foster (-ife, vol. 2, p. 65), we


Device integral management microproduction power. # Said device (1) is a hardware platform with a given schedule which is integrated into a single device control all elements of an installation of micro power (2) and a control over operations of an interconnecting device (3) with main power supply (5) and controlled by a global network manager; so that the slogans of power generation can be set from two distinct systems of decision and coordinated: an internal one based on the interests of the owner of that facility (2) and an external depending on the needs of the rest of the network.


The work to be presented was motivated by a contribution to the design of an optical receiver for use in an all-optical cable television distribution network, and evolves over the field of Linearization of amplifiers based on GaAs MESFET devices. (...) Keywords: amplifiers; linearization; intermodulation; distortion; cable television Ph.D., 1996 more info. http://opac.ua.pt/F/?func=find-b&find_code=SYS&REQUEST=000083904


Objective To establish the relationship of TNF-α and insulin resistance in severely scalded mice. Methods The dynamic changes of TNF-α, glucose, insulin, lactic acid and glucagon in the plasma were investigated in mice after they were inflicted with 30% TBSA full thickness scalding. In addition, the mentinal parameters in both of normal mice injected with recombined human TNF-α (rh-TNF-α) and of scalded mice injected with monodonal antibody against TNF-α(TNF-McAb) were also observed. Results It was found that there was a striking correlation between TNF-α increment and value of multiply glucose and insulin, but there was not significant correlation between TNF-α increment and the level of glucose or insulin, respectively. Moreover, TNF-α administrated to normal mice could induce insulin resistance, which might be reduced by TNF-McAb. Conclusions These findings suggest that the TNF-α is a key component of the insulin resistance after severe burns.


There are expected to be over a million adults living with congenital heart disease (CHD) in the United States. Clinical guidelines recommend specialized care for this complex patient population burdened with life-long morbidity. Despite the growing need to bring quality to CHD care, there are no data demonstrating that specialized adult CHD (ACHD) care can improve outcomes. In this population-based analysis, we examined the impact of specialized care on ACHD mortality. We examined referral rates to specialized ACHD centers and ACHD patient mortality rates between 1990 and 2005 by using the populationbased Quebec Congenital Heart Disease database that includes 71 467 patients. Concurrent with the guideline publication recommending specialized care for ACHD patients, we showed a significant increase in referral rates to specialized ACHD centers associated with a parallel significant reduction in ACHD patient mortality. Independent of age, sex, and comorbidity, specialized ACHD care was associated with reduced odds of death, an effect predominantly driven by patients with severe CHD. To our knowledge, this is the first study to analyze the relationship between specialized ACHD care and mortality. Our findings support the guidelines recommending specialized care for all ACHD patents as a means of improving quality of care and outcomes for this growing patient population. See p 1804.


In content-based image retrieval shape is an important low-level image feature. A shape representation should satisfy several properties such as affine invariance, robustness, compactness, low computation complexity and perceptual similarity measurement. This paper presents several approaches for shape representation and similarity, like Fourier descriptors-based method, turning angle method, centroid-radii method, distance histograms method and centroid-radii and turning angle method. The comparison results are presented, too.


The Undeserving Mothers project, which looked at the plight of young mothers in care, a neglected area of study, was carried out in Victoria, Canada, from 1999 to 2001. The research included three focus groups with practitioners and in-depth interviews with 12 young women in or from care now aged 16-24 and who were 13-18 at the time of their first pregnancy. Between them, they had 14 children, eight of whom were living with their mother at the time of interview. The experiences of mothering while in care were largely negative. The young mothers struggled against all the odds to keep their children, but were rarely successful. They characterised their experience as "prevailing on the edge on my own".


Henry Ford Health System (HFHS) worked with Central Michigan University Research Corporation (CMURC) to investigate new approaches to forecasting patient bed requirements by physician specialty. The association-sequence analysis methodology developed for retail marketing and store layout design provided insight into forecasting future hospital admission distribution.


1. Women in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering: Myths and Realities - Betty Vetter 2. The Schooling of Girls: Optimizing Opportunities or Obstacles? - Jane Butler Kahle 3. Undergraduate Women in Science: Personal and Environmental Influences on the Development of Scientific Talent - Helen S. Astin, Linda Sax 4. Influence on Women Graduate Students in Engineering and Sciences: Rethinking a GAndered Institution - Carol S. Hollenshead, Stacy Wenzel, Barbara B. Lazarus, Indira Nair 5. Diverse Populations of Women and Girls in Science, Mathematics and Engineering - Beatriz Chu Clewell, Angela B. Ginorio 6. Programmatic and Curricular Interventions: What Do We Know? - Cinda-Sue Davis, Sue V. Rosser 7. Women, Academia and Careers in Science and Engineering - Mary Frank Fox 8. Facing Inequity: Women Scientists in Industry - Paula M. Rayman, Jennifer S. Jackson 9. Public Policy and the Health of Science: The Case for Women in Science - Daryl Chubin, Shirley Malcom 10. Visions for the Future: A Research and Policy AgAnda - Carol Hollenshead, Stacy Wenzel, Margaret N. Dykens, Cinda-Sue Davis, Angela B. Ginorio, Barbara B. Lazarus, Paula M. Rayman.


Re-examination of the Diacria quadridentata species group based upon morphology of the shell and zoogeographic data, led to a new classification comprising the recent taxa: D. quadridentata, D. costata with an equatorial and a central water form, D. danae with an equatorial and a central water form, D. schmidti schmidti, D. erythra crassa and the fossil taxa D. schmidti cocidentalis and D. erythra erythra from surface sediments. A method has been developed to estimate the relative age of the population, based on the development of shell and soft parts. Shell growth in the period of minute and adult stages together does not exceed 0.2 mm, and differs from species to species.


Expanding the capabilities of ultrasound for biological and diagnostic imaging requires the development of contrast agents linked to cellular and molecular processes in vivo. In optical imaging this is commonly accomplished using fluorescent biomolecules such as the green fluorescent protein. Analogously, we recently introduced gas vesicles (GVs) as the first acoustic biomolecules for ultrasound. GVs are physically stable gas-filled protein nanostructures (~250 nm) naturally expressed in aquatic photosynthetic microbes as a means to regulate buoyancy. Purified GVs produce robust ultrasound contrast across a range of frequencies at picomolar concentrations, exhibit nonlinear scattering to enable enhanced detection versus background in vivo, and have species-dependent thresholds for pressure-induced collapse to enable multiplexed imaging. Here, I will present our recent progress on understanding the biophysical and acoustic properties of these biomolecular contrast agents, engineering their mechanics and targeting at the genetic level, developing ultrasound pulse sequences to enhance their detection in vivo and expressing them heterologously as acoustic reporter genes. 1. Shapiro, M.G. et al. Nat. Nanotechnol. 9, 311-316 (2014). 2. Cherin, M. et al. U.M.B. (In press). 3. Lakshmanan, A. et al. ACS Nano 10, 7314-7322 (2016). 4. Maresca, D. et al. In revision. 5. Bourdeau, R.W. et al. Submitted. More information at http://shapirolab.caltech.edu.


【Objective】Biosynthesis of chlorophyll comprises a number of challenging topics. Chlorophyll-deficient mutants play an important role in exploring biochemical and molecular aspects of its pathway and regulation. 【Method】Chlorophyll- deficient rice, W1, was analyzed by methods of green gel electrophoresis, SDS-PAGE, Western blotting, Northern blotting and detecting precursors of chlorophyll synthesis.【Result】W1 mutant had a significantly decreased amount of chlorophyll, and so did thylakoid proteins, especially Light-Harvesting-Complex II (LHCII) trimers. Western blotting further revealed that LHCII apoproteins in W1 dropped to 1/3 of its amount in wild type. Northern blotting showed a close transcription ability between W1 and its wild type. The contents of chlorophyll synthesis precursors, from δ-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) to protochlorophyllide (Pchlide), equaled to or were greater than those accumulated in W1. However, its chlorophyllide (Chlide), Chl a and Chl b markedly decreased. 【Conclusion】Analysis has proved that the reason for decreased LHCII level in W1 is not due to the reduced transcription and its mRNA accumulation, a possible inefficient synthesis from Pchlide to Chlide primarily attributed to the lowered chlorophylls in W1.


Breast cancer remains a foremost health problem in women. Nattokinase, produced by Bacillus subtilis, performs therapeutic effects on various diseases including hypertension, vitreoretinal disorders, and Alzheimer disease. Whether nattokinase can inhibit breast cancer growth is unclear. We therefore investigated its inhibitory effect on a murine breast carcinoma. We isolated the cultured supernatant, bacterial suspension, and bacterial pellet of Bacillus subtilis. The supernatant and suspension had higher nattokinase activity than the pellet. Tumor growth was measured by tumor volume and weight. We found that the cultured supernatant and bacterial suspension could inhibit breast cancer growth. The blood vessels in the tumor were distributed with treatment with supernatant and bacterial suspension by contrast-enhanced ultrasound. The supernatant and suspension also reduced the expressions of FOXM1 and MMP2 in the tumor tissue. This study revealed a new potential role of nattokinase in tumor therapy and demonstrated that NCE extended the application of nattokinase.


The invention discloses a use of a reagent for measuring an Alzheimer's disease (AD) marker in preparation of a kit for detecting a tested object suffering from Alzheimer's disease, wherein the Alzheimer's disease marker is at least one of IL-12 (P40), IL-12 (P70), VEGF, sCD40L, GRO and IL-7, and a new blood marker is provided for diagnosis or differential diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. The invention also provides the kit for combined detection of the VEGF marker and the sCD40L marker; especially for senile patients, the kit is convenient to use, has the characteristics of no invassiveness and low test cost, can directly perform peripheral blood tests, has no need of collection of cerebrospinal fluid, relieves patient sampling pain, also has the advantages of good specificity, high sensitivity and good clinical diagnostic value, and lays a foundation for realization of hematology diagnosis of AD.


Microstereolithography is one of micro-fabrication technologies developed from traditional stereolithography.In uSL,the resin will be cured in certain light,the critical exposure(Ec) and the penetration depth(Dp) are two important parameters.The critical exposure and the penetration of the photosensitive resin which mixed with nanosilica at 20 wt% were determined,the critical exposure of the photosensitive resin in the N2 is less than its in air,are 86.5 mJ/cm2 and 5.6 mJ/cm2 respectively.The penetration of the photosensitive resin with doping is less than that without doping,are 60 um and 14 um respectively.According to the two values,a micro-gear is fabricated by projection microstereolithography system using digital micro mirror dynamic mask.


In hotel operations, especially housekeeping, financial and non-financial performance measurement and management to impact employee behaviour to implement the organization's goals is often not systematically and formally applied. The case of the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge hotel is used to show how the implementation of performance measurement and management systems impacted the behaviour of the employees. With more than 1,000 rooms and a high occupancy rate, housekeeping operations are repetitive and high volume processes. They could be viewed to be a service factory. The management control framework by K.A. Merchant and Wim Van der Stede will be used to describe performance measurement and management control systems before and after the implementation. Formerly, housekeeping operations in the case hotel relied primarily on informal action control and personnel control. Then, formal non-financial results control and formal action controls had been implemented. The new management control package resulted in significant changes in employee behaviour and ‐ thus ‐ in the performance of department.


Redistribution of light from a given source in order to create a prescribed intensity pattern on a given set in 3D space is a task arising in numerous applications. Designing optical systems with capabilities to perform such tasks reliably in a wide variety of applications is the overall goal of much of research in optics. An important practical case is the "laser beam shaping problem" which requires transformation of a Gaussian beam from a laser into a beam with "flat top" intensity profile. It has been shown by John A. Hoffnagle and C. Michael Jefferson that a pair of plano-aspheric lenses can be used to transform a collimated, radially symmetric, Gaussian beam to a radially symmetric, collimated beam with "flat-top" intensity profile. Here we discuss this design problem when a priori requirement of radial symmetry is not imposed neither on the input/output radiances nor on the geometry of the input/output beams. The solution in this case is sought among "freeform" optical surfaces.


The department of surgery is the core unit of the patient care system within a hospital. Due to continuous technical and medical developments, such departments are equipped with increasingly high-tech surgery rooms. This provides higher benefits for patient treatment, but also increases the complexity of the procedures' workflow. This also induces the presence of multiple electronic systems providing rich and various information about the surgical processes. The focus of this work is the development of statistical methods that permit the modeling and monitoring of surgical processes, based on signals available in the surgery room. We introduce and formalize the problem of recognizing phases within a workflow, using a representation of interventions in terms of multidimensional time-series formed by synchronized signals acquired over time. We then propose methods for the modeling, offline segmentation and on-line recognition of surgical phases. The main method, a variant of hidden Markov models augmented by phase probability variables, is demonstrated on two medical applications. The first one is the monitoring of endoscopic interventions, using cholecystectomy as illustrative surgery. Phases are recognized using signals indicating tool usage and recorded from real procedures. The second application is the monitoring of a generic surgery room workflow. In this case, phase recognition is performed by using 4D information from surgeries performed in a mock-up operating room in presence of a multi-view reconstruction system


The development and predatory capacity of C. sanguinea and H. convergens fed with A. gossypii on cotton plants in greenhouse was evaluated. Antares, CNPA 7H and DeltaOpal cultivars, at 30 days after emergence, respectivelly, glabrous, hirsute and pilose were infested with A. gossypii . Five days after, one larvae of C. sanguinea or H. convergens was released by plant and the development of these predators was observed daily. For the determination of population reduction of A. gossypii by the lady beetles, each plant at 30 days after emergence was infested with 100 adult aphids. After 2 days, the number of A. gossypii by plant was evaluated and one adult female of each one species of lady bird beetle by plant was released. The trichomes of cotton cultivars did not influence on the development period and predatory capacity of the lady bird beetles in greenhouse. C. sanguinea reduced on average 93.5% the population of the aphid on cultivars, while H. convergens caused 86,9% of population reduction


Thermocompression (TC) bonding is seen as the next-generation packaging technology that will enable faster and more energy efficient devices in the face of slowing cost-performance gains achievable by advancing wafer fabrication technology. TC bonding will enable higher I/O counts and finer pitch interconnections than traditional interconnect methods through better control of the stress and warpage between devices and the substrate. In combination with through-silicon-vias (TSVs), TC bonding allows advanced memory stacks, such as the Hybrid Memory Cube and Wide-I/O memory.


Adaptation of Shakespearean plays for theatrical and film media in India was initiated in the mid-nineteenth century, largely as part of conceited efforts to introduce English education into the colony. The primary reason why, as is popularly believed, Shakespeare's plays have stayed on the mass cultural consciousness is because his plays are universal, bound by no time and space. But what does it mean to be universal, or timeless? Or to put it in other words, if a Shakespearean play is transposed to a radically different time and space does it still remain Shakespearean? Can an adaptation of a certain Shakespearean text still remain Shakespearean in essence in spite of the replacement of the theatrical performativity retained in original text with the dynamics of cinematic performativity inherent in the execution of the medium? In this paper I would like to explore those Indian adaptations of Shakespeare that are without the aid of the "Shakespearean language". I would like to take up Vishal Bhardwaj's adaptation of Macbeth into 'Maqbool' (2004) and Othello into 'Omkara'(2006) in order to investigate and understand how Shakespeare can be and has been appropriated into the national ethos and also fitted into a very typically Indian socio-political setting of Northern India with all its class distinctions and existing social stratums and furthermore, how they can still function as independent works of art, with or without Shakespeare. My attempt will be to assess how Bhardwaj adapts and appropriates the Shakespearean plays to fit into particularized sociological and geopolitical issues of India without compromising the central strains of the plays.


In this article the semantic group «аppearance of the person» is researched from some aspects of modeling and structural typology of common similes in Russian language. The author think that the structure of common similes predetermines their paradigmatic and syntagmatic features, and affects the development of its system, the syntactic functions and specifi cs of the functioning in the literary texts and in colloquial speech. Study on the structual models of common similes is a necessary condition for further analysis of the semantics of common similes and their pragmatic functions.


Syntectonic alluvial fans formed on the northern margin of the Ebro Foreland Basin along the South Pyrenean thrust front during late orogenic thrust movements in the late Oligocene/early Miocene. The present-day geometry, structural relations and sedimentology of one of these fans, the Aguero fan in the province of Huesca, Spain, were studied. Field observations of the architecture of depositional facies and the geometries of syn-tectonic folds and unconformities indicate that the Aguero fan formed as the result of several phases of sedimentation which were primarily controlled by periods of tectonic activity and quiescence. The syntectonic unconformities and growth folds in the fan deposits provide a detailed record of the evolution of a fan adjacent to an active thrust front. Using a computer program to simulate sedimentation and deformation of an alluvial fan it is possible to constrain rates of both sedimentary and tectonic processes by modeling the evolution of the fan body. A facies model for the fan phases indicates that the facies change from proximal (coarse-grained, amalgamated) to distal (finger grained, stacked fining up cycles) in less than 1 km across a fan of radius estimated to be about 2 km.


Three cases of anomalies of intestinal rotation are reported in order to show the difference between chronic and acute presentations of this entity. After a short embryologic review diagnostic difficulties and surgical treatment are discussed.


The invention relates to an electrochemical cell and to a method for separating carrier-free radionuclides from a solution on an electrode. According to the invention, 18F- in an electrochemical cell is precipitated from an aqueous solution on an anode (1), which is diamond-coated. Subsequently, the electrochemical cell is dried and supplied with a fluid containing a transfer catalyst, the anode is preferably switched as cathode and the 18F- is converted to the liquid phase.


BACKGROUND: Patients' conditions can worsen if stress and pain are not appropriately managed. Conventional therapy ignores psychological and spiritual aspects. Both influence the body's response to various stimuli.

AIM: This study aimed to assess how Dreamer's spiritual therapy can affect the cortisol and pain in the intensive care unit (ICU) patients.

METHODS: It involved 86 ICU patients in a true-experimental study. Respondents were divided into the intervention and the control group randomly. The intervention group received Dreamer spiritual therapy (DST) for 30 min but not for the control group. Saliva samples and pain scores were taken from both groups before and after treatment. The comparison of two groups cortisol decreases using Wilcoxon test. Differences in pre- and post-pain scores in each group were analyzed using paired t-test.

RESULTS: According to Levene's test, the two groups were homogeneous (p > 0.05). The Wilcoxon test revealed a statistically significant difference in cortisol level reduction between the intervention (3.88 ng/mL) and control (3.82 ng/ml) groups (p = 0.024), with a large effect size (Cohen's d value = 59.5). The paired t-test revealed a statistically significant decrease in the intervention group's pain score from 2.6 to 1.95 (p = 0.001), with a moderate effect size (Cohen's d value = 0.49). The control group's pain score did not significantly decrease (p = 0.75).

CONCLUSIONS: A DST is effective in reducing salivary cortisol levels and pain scores of ICU patients.


Deoxynivalenol(DON),a trichothecene compound,is a secondary metabolite produced by Fusarium.DON is present in crops,animal feed and human food.A number of reports in the literature indicate that DON has been found in many areas all over the world.Due to its strong toxity,it not only causes severe agricultural economic losses,but also brings serious threat to human and animal health and give rise to a series of adverse reactions such as vomiting,diarrhea,gastrointestinal bleeding and so on.Recent progresses made in the studies of DON toxicity,detectable levels in different areas of the world,factors affecting DON level and DON degradation approaches are reviewed,which will provide some references for further study of DON.


© 2 0 1 9 . T h i e m e . A l l r i g h t s r e s e r v e d . G e o r g T h i e m e V e r l a g K G , R ü d i g e r s t r a ß e 1 4 , 7 0 4 6 9 S t u t t g a r t , G e r m a n y A . N O N O Y A M A * , Y . N A K A I , S . L E E , S . S U Z U K I , T . A N D O , N . F U K U D A , H . T A N A K A , K . T A K A H A S H I ( S U M I T O M O D A I N I P P O N P H A R M A C O . , L T D , O S A K A A N D T O K Y O , J A P A N ) Process Development of an Efficient and Cost-Effective Telescoping Route to a Key Synthetic Precursor for the Preparation of a Renin Inhibitor Org. Process Res. Dev. 2019, 23, 499–511.


Russian regional scientific schools demonstrate examples of applied research at the frontier of sciences, including a combination of accurate / engineering and archaeological research. Vyatka State University has gained some experience in such cooperation. Sources for this work are the archaeological collections of the village. Lalsk, research methods and techniques - archaeological techniques and digital technology. Using digital processing of collections and other archaeological excavations as an example in the northern Vyatka borderlands, computer applications for theoretical analysis of archaeological artifacts and the application of its results are shown. The article presents the algorithms for using digital software. Certain technologies make it possible to reconstruct old household items from fragments, form collections of 3D models, and copy objects with a complex relief or artistic value to preserve the originals. It is indicative of compiling a relief and multidimensional copy of the excavation site, a databank of archaeological objects and some related information. The features of building a virtual archaeological museum and its use by different target groups of the region are outlined - by age and social affiliation. The traditional spheres of using the obtained results — science and education — have been significantly expanded at the expense of cultural, tourism, cadastral and urban planning institutions, and law enforcement agencies. The directions of development of museum and engineering pedagogy are outlined. Digital technologies in archeology allow them to be applied remotely, remotely to small and medium-sized businesses, and to increase the quality of life in the region.


The paper investigates the performance of novice evaluators in usability evaluations by presenting the results of a comparative usability evaluation that was conducted by nine novice evaluator teams. The evaluation teams performed considerably well in terms of the validity of their results, which counts for their participation in usability evaluation projects. The thoroughness of the results obtained was found to be in a relatively stable ratio of about 20-25% of the total number of problems found for eight of the nine teams, which gives a clear indication of the degree to which novice evaluators can identify usability problems. The consistency of the results was not satisfactory, although similar to results of other studies that involve professional evaluators. The paper suggests that when novice evaluators have to be employed for usability evaluations and it is important to find most usability problems then parallel usability evaluations can provide overall valid and thorough results.


This paper derives a new adaptation algorithm named signed correlation algorithm with recursive estimation of signed data covariance (SCA-RESDC) that combines signed correlation algorithm (SCA) for complex-domain adaptive filters with recursive estimation of signed data covariance matrix of a strongly correlated filter reference input process. The SCA-RESDC achieves significant improvement in filter convergence speed of the SCA, while it preserves robustness of the latter algorithm against two types of impulse noise intruding adaptive filtering systems: one in observation noise and another at filter input. Analysis of the SCA-RESDC under Long Filter Assumption is fully developed for theoretically calculating filter convergence. Through experiment with simulations and theoretical calculations of filter convergence for the SCA-RESDC, we demonstrate its effectiveness in making adaptive filters fast convergent and robust in the presence of both types of impulse noise. Good agreement between simulated and theoretical convergence shows the validity of the analysis.


Describes a speech-feedback system called the dynamic orometer, that permits the profoundly deaf to master proper speech reproduction patterns and talk in a relaxed way, that is being developed at the University of Alabama in the USA. The device allows the deaf person to view tongue, jaw, and other vocal-tract movements on a CRT display.


Edward L. Miloslavich, M.D., Director of the Department of Pathology, De Paul Hospital, St. Louis, has devoted most of his medical career to the practice and teaching of pathology both in this country and abroad. Dr. Miloslavich holds honorary degrees from the University of Breslau, Germany, and the University of Vienna in recognition of his scientific work in the field of legal medicine. He is a member of a number of professional societies both in the United States and Europe and has published articles both in this and other scientific journals. His present article is based upon a paper delivered at the Third Annual Meeting of the Academy of Forensic Sciences.-EDITOR.


The decision of the High Court of New Zealand in the case of Pisaina Leilua-Lei Sam v The Council for the Ongoing Government of Tokelau and Faipule Foua Toloa (Sam v COG) provides an opportunity to consider the court system of Tokelau and to glimpse a largely unknown area of the law of New Zealand. It appears that Sam v COG is the first case to be decided by the High Court of New Zealand in the exercise of its jurisdiction as a separate Court of justice for Tokelau. This case note deals in turn with the structure of Tokelau's court system, the judgement in Sam v COG, and the future of the system.


The main purpose of this paper is to formalise the concept of a compromise function. Subsequently, given a compromise function, we define a voting equilibrium and prove the existence of such an equilibrium. Finally, we close our analysis by showing that under some assumptions a voting equilibrium is Pareto optimal.


The curing reaction kinetic of bisphenol A cyanate ester resin modified by phenolic epoxy was studied by differential scanning calorimetry(DSC).According to Kissinger equation the apparent activation energy was 60.81kJ/mol.The reaction order was 0.8846 with Crane theory.The initial temperature,peaking temperature and terminal temperature of the modified cyanate resin in the cure process was 120.00℃,176.67℃ and 226.67℃ respectively.A suitable cure processing for the copolymer was obtained with DSC and rheological properties,furthermore mechanical properties were tested to prove the cure processing was suitable.


The architecture description in Chinese ancient prose is a precious heritage of architecture culture of our country.It first appeared in Zuo Zhuan——Zhen Bo Defeated Duan in Yan.Since the East Han,the architecture description became prospering along with the development of society and architecture art.Ban Gu's "xi du fu" and "dong du fu";Zhang Heng's "xi jing fu","dong jing fu" and "nan du fu";Zuo Si's "san du fu" all expressed the scale and magnificence of the capital city of that time and the consummate architecture art.Wang Xizhi's "The Preface of Lanting Prose Collection" is the excellent prose describing a pavilion.After Tang and Song Dynasties,Chinese ancient architecture became individualized gradually.Du Mu's "eh fang Palace" could be regarded as a summary of the palace architecture before Qin and was a compulsory reading to know something about the history of architecture and the building of palaces before the Qin Dynasty.Wang Bo's "teng wang ge xu",Fan Zongyan's "yue yang lou ji",Ou Yangxiu's "feng le ting ji" and Su Shi's "fang he ting ji" all really reflected pavilions in the period of Tang and Song and expressed their personal feelings.Ming and Qing dynasties were the periods where ancient architecture had developed to its top and was expressed in many writers' articles.Paying attention to the description of architectures in Chinese ancient prose has some revelation to the writers of today in their writing of architectures and offers some reliable materials for the descendents to study Chinese ancient architectures.It is a duty-bound task of the writers,architects and the researchers of literature and ancient architectures to inherit and develop the cultural heritage.


In this paper, a new wireless sensor, designed for a 0.35 µm CMOS technology, is presented. The microchip was designed to be placed on an object for the continuous remote monitoring of its temperature and illumination state. The temperature sensor is based on the temperature dependence of the I-V characteristics of bipolar transistors available in CMOS technology, while the illumination sensor is an integrated p-n junction photodiode. An on-chip 2.5 GHz transmitter, coupled to a mm-sized dipole radiating element fabricated on the same microchip and made in the top metal layer of the same die, sends the collected data wirelessly to a radio receiver using an On-Off Keying (OOK) modulation pattern.


ABSTRACT The physical and mathematical models describing the detonation processes in hydrogen-air mixture in one- and two-dimensional formulation based on the detailed and reduced kinetics models were proposed. Using these models the interaction of a plane and cellular detonation waves with a semi-infinite cloud of inert particles was calculated. Types of detonation flows in the gas suspension in both detailed and reduced kinetics calculations were revealed. Volume concentrations and corresponding particle diameters resulting to detonation wave failure were obtained. Comparison of one-dimensional and two-dimensional approaches showed a quantitative similarity of the integral dependences of the normalized detonation wave velocity and the values of volume fraction and particle diameters at which detonation failure is occurs.


We describe a multivariate version of areal interpolation where both the primary and the secondary cokriging variables can be binomial, negative binomial, or Gaussian. For all data types, we describe model fitting and model diagnostics. Areal kriging can be used as an alternative for traditional choropleth maps because it can better represent the data variability and "hot spots" that are difficult to recognize when the raw data are displayed. Gaussian areal interpolation is the basis for understanding models for count data, and the Gaussian model can be useful for interpolation of air and soil contamination collected in populated places but the exact sample location is unknown. Poisson kriging of count data collected in points and polygons was recently discussed in geostatistical literature. To account for overdispersion in the Poisson process, we extend this model to the negative binomial distribution. Binomial kriging is helpful for interpolation and reaggregation of epidemiological and social data. We show examples of Gaussian, overdispersed Poisson and binomial areal kriging and cokriging interpolation using environmental and epidemiological data. All case studies are prepared using the beta version of ArcGIS Geostatistical Analyst 10.1. The mathematical details of the models described in the main text are provided in the appendix.


When on Christmas Eve 1974 the artists' group Asco shared a meal in the style of the Día de los Muertos, what was disturbing was not only the apparently mistaken interpretation of the Christian calendar of festival days, but also the fact that the meal took place during rush hour on a traffic island in East Los Angeles. The structure and significance of this artistic action, which was deliberately staged for the camera and disseminated as a photograph, can — as I will demonstrate — be fruitfully analyzed according to Michel Foucault's concept of heterotopia. In brief, this term designates actually extant utopias that stand in strong contrast to and provide a commentary on other places in the world. In order to be able to elucidate the heterotopic aspects of the work First Supper (After a Major Riot), I begin with a detailed explanation of the term and then focus on the situation at the time of the artist group Asco, which consisted of immigrants of Mexican origin. On the one hand, I give consideration to their position within the established system of art; on the other hand, I examine the cultural-political role of the Día de los Muertos, whose public festival practice experienced an upsurge at the beginning of the 1970s. The subsequent analysis of the work serves above all the systematic investigation of the medially structured dispositif and gives consideration not only to such on-site media as masquerade and props, but also to photography and film. Finally, the concept of the heterotopia makes it possible to view the individual aspects of First Supper (After a Major Riot) in a structural context and to make statements about the aesthetic character of the work.


Careful examination of the head prior to opening the mouth will often give clues to the oral condition. Palpation of the lymph nodes and skull, especially jaw lines and the temporomandibular joint, should begin your examination. Neurological disorders such as Horner's syndrome, facial (C.N. D nerve paralysis and trigeminal (C.N. J) newe paralysis should be obvious. Noting asymmetry of the head will be important in localizing problems and evaluating malocclusion. Nasal and ocular discharges may indicate primary oral disease.


3,4-dihydro-12-hydroxy-2,2-dimethyl-2 H ,6 H -pyrano[3,2-b]xanthen-6-one (compound 1 ) is a cytotoxic dihydropyranoxanthone exhibiting antiproliferative effects, inducing S-phase cell cycle arrest, and increasing the percentage of apoptotic cells in leukemia cell lines. Nevertheless, the poor aqueous solubility of compound 1 is a major drawback not only for its potential use in therapy but even for the in vitro assessment of its biological activity. Polymeric nanoparticles formulations were developed as potential carriers to overcome problems related with low water solubility of compound 1. The objective of this work was to develop and validate a specific, sensitive and simple HPLC method for the quantitative analysis of the prenylated xanthone (compound 1), which was entrapped in PLGA nanoparticles for the first time. Chromatographic separation was performed with a reversed-phase C18 column, using methanol: water (85:15, v/v) containing 1 % (v/v) acetic acid as a mobile phase at a flow rate of 1 ml/min and quantification was made by UV detection at 254 nm. The isocratic system required 10 minutes of chromatographic run. The method was shown to be linear (r> 0.999) over the concentration range of 0.50-3.00 µg/ml and precise at the intra-day and inter-day levels as reflected by the relative standard deviation values (lower than 1.5% and 1.6%, respectively). The mean recovery ranged from 97.53 to 104.28 % (RSD: 0.027%) and from 98.49 to 101.81% (RSD: 0.019 %) for nanospheres and nanocapsules, respectively. A simple, linear, sensitive, accurate, and precise HPLC method suitable for the quantification of compound 1 incorporated in polymeric nanoparticles was developed and validated.


On the basis of geothermal gradient,geothermal current field,geothermal springs and geothermal anomalies distribution in east Qilian and take Huajialing-Wushan near SN buried deep fault as a boundary,in the east,there are geothermal field higher,more geothermal springs.So it is a mid-low temperature geothermal gield of lifted fault style,but in the west,it is just opposite to the former.The geothermal anomalies show that is subsidence basin style.All of these give an information for developing geothermal field in Lanzhou region.


In this study, we assess the properties of the contact pressure applied by manually operated probes as a function of the operator, probe contact area, and sample stiffness. For this purpose, three different human skin-like phantoms with different well-defined mechanical properties were used. To gain relevant statistics of the contact pressure properties, the study included ten experienced probe operators that were asked to apply gentle contact pressure to the skin-like phantoms by using three different contact area probes. A novel system for rapid simultaneous acquisition of spectra and corresponding contact pressure was used to collect the relevant information. Results show that the variability of the gentle contact pressure significantly depends on the probe operator, sample stiffness and probe contact area.


The study of the sparrow Isospora in cell culture has demonstrated that during the extra-intestine life cycle, sporozoites undergo a primary division, resulting into two similar elements, whereas, in plain intra-intestinal cycle, the sporozoite is straightforwardly transformed into the first generation schizont.


This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact email@example.com Title: The wheat LLM-domain-containing transcription factor TaGATA1


In this paper we present a new technology to improve the reliability evaluation for analog circuits based on fault simulation. A fault simulation framework has been developed and applied to reliability prediction in practice. In contrast to traditional reliability prediction the evaluation is not based on the "serial system approach", which is mostly too pessimistic. Instead, the new approach considers all types of redundant structures within the system, even hidden redundancy and fault tolerance. The reliability prediction is more accurate because it is based on fault simulation results and the quantitative assessment of tolerated faults. This also results in a detailed reliability model related to practical reliability prediction in early design stages. By EDA integration the practical relevance has been highlighted.


This is an extremely important book, which should be read by anyone interested in teaching people to think better or in understanding the nature of people's attitudes or their informal reasoning. The author is a professor at Teachers College, Columbia University, editor of the journal Human Development, and an author of The Development of Scientific Thinking Skills (Kuhn, Amsel, and O'Loughlin, 1988). (Kuhn, 1989, summarizes much of that book and a little of the present book.) The present book reports a well-done empirical study of people's informal reasoning. It goes a long way toward filling the large gap between psychologists, who study in great detail people's reasoning about mostly irrelevant problems, and teachers of informal reasoning, who (in my limited experience) develop elaborate schemes for fixing things (such as the traditional Aristotelian fallacies) that might not be broke. Before we try to teach people to reason better, we need to have not only a conception of how they ought to reason but also an account of where they go astray, and why. This account is what Kuhn helps to provide.


A method for displaying a menu based on service environment analysis and a computer-readable recording medium having a program to implement the same are provided to enhance service extension by including a display menu for a service, which is to be provided in the future, except a display menu corresponding to a service which can be provided currently. A content execution device extracts display menu information from a storage medium by corresponding to a content execution device(S110), and judges whether or not each kind of service corresponding to the display menu included in the extracted menu information can be provided(S130). The content execution device updates menu information based on the judgment(S150), and displays the updated menu information(S170).


Resonance measurements have been performed on single-crystal spheres of the hexagonal planar ferrite Zn 2 Y and Zn 1.5 Mn 0.5 Y from 8.2 to 12.4 Gc/s. The linewidth and the resonant magnetostatic field were measured at room temperature for two different cases: 1) applied magnetostatic field in the easy plane with rotation about an axis parallel to the field, and 2) magnetostatic field at fixed angles with respect to the easy plane with rotation about an axis parallel to the field. Linewidths of approximately 82 Oe and 19 Oe for Zn 2 Y and Zn 1.5 Mn 0.5 Y, respectively, are reported for the first case with approximately a sinusoidal variation in linewidth vs. angular rotation. The amplitude of this sinusoidal variation was 3 to 4 Oe for both materials. For the second case, the linewidth of Zn 1.5 Mn 0.5 Y at 8.9 Gc/s increased from 20 Oe to 90 Oe as the angle between the magnetostatic field and the easy plane increased from 0 to 75 degrees. A comparison is made between theory and experiment for the resonant magnetostatic field vs. frequency for the first case and for the resonant magnetostatic field vs. the angle between the field and the easy plane for the second case.


In order to clearly depict densitometric as well as geometric information in vascular visualization from 3D data such as MR and CT angiographies, a new visualization method called local maximum intensity projection (LMIP) is proposed. LMIP is an extended version of MIP (maximum intensity projection). LMIP diers from MIP in that the latter method selects the maximum value along an optical ray, whereas LMIP selects the rst local maximum value encountered that is larger than a pre-selected threshold value along an optical ray from the viewpoint in the viewing direction. Examples are presented in which LMIP is used to visualize renal vessels from CT angiography data and cerebral vessels in the vicinity of an aneurysm from phase-contrast MR angiography data. It is demonstrated that LMIP can clearly depict geometric information, like shaded surface display (SSD) does, and densitometric information, as is done by volume rendering (VR), in a straightforward and objective manner.


Abstract Margaret Watson (Bodleian Law Library) and Maria Bell (British Library of Political and Economic Science, LSE) write about their role in providing EU information for academic research and examine the issues that exist in this specialist area.


Learning is not found in a specific space but occurs in different places and times. Currently, learning is understood as a continuous conversation that problematizes the naturalized, attending to the constant changes and causing an impact on teachers work. The research focused on analyzing, following a case study methodology with 22 teachers, which are the learning itineraries (spaces, times, contexts, people, etc.) of Primary Education and Early Childhood Education teachers. Among other results, teachers showed that they learn within the school, but also beyond its walls, being able to acquire knowledge in diverse physical and virtual contexts, such as at school, traveling, practicing sports, in training courses, reading, in social networks, and others. Therefore, a union of the formal and informal areas is carried out, linking the professional knowledge with the personal experiences that make up their teaching identity. On the other hand, they also valued that their learning processes are carried out with people, such as family, schoolmates, students, learning communities, and others. On the contrary, teachers found some limitations when it came to learning, such as fear of being judged; as well as conditioning factors, such as motivation.


In previous work, we discovered that: 1) tolC was absolutely required not only for pathogenicity, but also for survival of Xylella fastidiosa (Xf) strain Temecula in Vitis vinifera grapevines; 2) that the loss of multi-drug resistance (MDR) efflux through the Type I secretion system was the primary reason that tolC Temecula could not survive in grapevines, and 3) that gene knockouts of Type I system components associated with offensive Type I effector secretion, including knockouts of associated with colicin V secretion and all three colicin effectors also resulted in significant loss of pathogenicity. This raised the possibilities that 1) colonization and pathogenicity of grapevines by Xf involves the exclusion of other bacteria from the xylem niche by way of these effectors, and/or 2) that these Type I effectors might directly affect plant cells. To test these ideas, PCR primers were designed to amplify all 8 hemolysins and all 3 colicins from Xf Temecula and used to amplify full length genes of all 11 effectors from Temecula. Surprisingly, these same primers were used to amplify 9 equivalent homologs from EB92.1 and the predicted amino acid sequences of all 9 EB92.1 homologs were identical to the corresponding Temecula homologs. This result was confirmed by the results of the draft EB92.1 genomic DNA sequence obtained through funding of a separate project, and extended to include the remaining 2 effectors, which were 100% identical to Temecula. Furthermore, no additional hemolysins or colicins have been found to date in the draft EB92.1 genome that were not found in Temecula, and that genome is 98% complete. These results strongly indicate that although these Type I effectors are important for plant colonization and subsequent development of PD, they are not directly responsible for the overt disease symptoms caused by Temecula (and not caused by biocontrol strain EB92.1, which has all 11 identical effectors). In addition, one hemolysin, one calcium binding hemolysin , all three colicins and uidA (GUS, as a control gene) were separately cloned into plant transient expression vectors and inoculated into tobacco and Vitis vinifera grape plants. GUS expression confirmed that the expression system worked, but no obvious plant responses were observed due to expression of the individual hemolysins or colicins inside the plant cell, further casting doubt on a direct role for these effectors in symptom elicitation.


Treatment depends on the main problem experienced and whether the woman is currently trying to conceive: • Irregular periods are common and can be treated successfully with the contraceptive pill, though this method is only useful for women who do not wish to become pregnant. • Hair growth and acne problems mainly relate to high levels of testosterone in which case the use of anti-androgen such as spironolactone, or oral contraception like Marvelon or Diane 35-ED are effective in milder cases. • Weight loss can be more difficult due to high levels of testosterone, however even a 5% weight loss in women will significantly improve fertility. • Insulin sensitisers such as Metformin, reduce the impact of insulin resistance and can also assist in weight loss. • Ovulation inducing drugs such as Clomiphene can stimulate the ovaries. • IVF treatment may be necessary in very difficult situations. POLYCYSTIC OVARIAN SYNDROME (PCOS)


In this paper we have introduced the notion of firering, subfirering, fireideal and studied some of their properties. We have shown that rings (subfirerings or fireideals) is again a firering (subfirering or fireideal) and justified that the union of two firerings (subfirerings or fireideals) need not be a firering (subfirering or fireideal). Also we have proved that the homomorphic image and pre image of a firering (subfirering or fireideal) is again a firering (subfirering or fireideal).


INTRODUCTION The modernization of the Ukrainian higher education system is based on the introduction of a competency-based paradigm into the educational process. The competency approach refers to the technologies of modeling the quality of graduate training based on the categories of competence and competency. The competency approach complements the educationcentric, systemic, cultural-centric approach to the disclosure of the quality of higher education and considers them as a strategy for the formation of intercultural competence in students of the "Information Technology" branch in the educational environment of the university. The logic of the research involves the analysis of the basic concepts: 'competency' and 'competence'. There is no clear definition of the terms 'competence and 'competency'. Researchers either dilute these concepts or regard them as synonyms, which complicates their understanding. Competency Approach is a model of education that envisages development from an 'educational goal' to an 'educational outcome' that can be identified in the certification tests. The concept of 'competence' was introduced, in particular, by N. Chomsky on the theory of language, namely, transformational grammar. At the same time, a distinction was shown between competence (knowledge of one's language by the speaker – the listener) and use (actual use of language in specific situations), ie, 'use'– is a manifestation of latent, potential competence. Competence-based education began to emerge in the 1970s in America. The Law of Ukraine "On Higher Education" (2014) and the normative documents of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine regarding


Tissue culture of strawberry,including bud induction,differentation,rapid propagation and plantlet root development were studied.The results showed that MS+BA0.5mg/L+IAA0.05mg/L was the favorable medium for bud induction and differentiation with induction ratio reaching by 70%.Abundant plantlets obtained after the shoots were subcultured on MS medium containing with BA 0.2~1.0mg/L about 3 weeks,the prolificationratio could get to 3.2.After 10~15 d cultured,95% of the plantlets treated with 1/2MS and IAA0.5mg/L could develope their roots.


The present article it is about an analysis of the use and occupation of land in the Basin Stream Vinhedo located in Uberlândia, Minas Gerais. To this end, it becomes necessary to provide planning tools that enable to analyze and evaluate the impact of human occupation on the banks of urban streams. The use of geo-technologies like Remote Sensing fits into this kind of work as an indispensable tool in urban planning, since these allow based on the use of satellite images and tools of digital mapping and characterization of watersheds in the country. In this perspective, were used in this work Quickbird satellite imagery of 2007 and Google images of 2010, as well as the tool of digital image processing Spring, in order to make a preliminary diagnosis of urbansprawlfor the period of 2010, Basin Stream Vinhedo, through the characterization of land cover and use, identifying the major biomes and types of construction sites, which ultimately helping to identify and/or prevent potential problems, both environmental and social character, and their possible causes, it helps in creating and implementing measures to prevent or resolve these problems.


This brief proposes a bearing-only collision-free formation coordination strategy for networked heterogeneous robots, where each robot only measures the relative bearings of its neighbors to achieve cooperation. Different from many existing studies that can only guarantee global asymptotic stability (i.e., the formation can only be formed over an infinite settling period), a gradient-descent control protocol is designed to make the robots achieve a target formation within a given finite time. The stability of the multi-robot system is guaranteed via Lyapunov theory, and the convergence time can be defined by users. Moreover, we also present sufficient conditions for collision avoidance. Finally, a simulation case study is provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach.


Breast cancer (BCa) is a disease that affects over a quarter million women in the US every year. Our laboratory studies reprogrammed energy metabolism in BCa, which is an essential hallmark of the disease. Specifically, we focus on the metabolic rewiring events that occur in BCa, intending to identify cancer-associated metabolic vulnerabilities to treat this aggressive disease. Using a global metabolic profiling approach, we have determined that the metabolite N-acetylaspartate (NAA) is highly accumulated in patients with BCa. Prior studies involving NAA in other cancer types have attributed its accumulation to the upregulation of the enzyme N-acetyl transferase (NAT8L), which synthesizes NAA. However, using matched gene expression data, we found that the accumulation of NAA in these BCa tumors rather coincides with the downregulation of aspartoacylase (ASPA), the enzyme that breaks down NAA. To determine the role of NAA in BCa progression, we generated multiple cell line models containing either NAT8L knockdown, ASPA overexpression, or a combination of the two in the cell line MDA-MB231 in a bid to deplete intracellular NAA. We used these models to test for metastasis by tail vein injection in immunocompromised mice. Consistent with our expectations and other reports, NAT8L knockdown resulted in reduced lung metastasis. Interestingly, however, NAA depletion via ASPA overexpression increased metastasis to the lung in vivo. Furthermore, the combination of ASPA overexpression with the knockdown of NAT8L led to a moderate phenotype between the two independent genetic modifications. Our findings of the metastasis-promoting effect of NAA depletion via ASPA overexpression leads to us believe that it is not just the accumulation of NAA but also its utilization that is important for breast cancer progression. Our future experiments are directed towards determining how NAA utilization causes a pro-tumorigenic phenotype. We would also like to study the current inconsistency between ASPA transcript levels in patient tumors and its observed tumor-promoting function in xenograft experiments. Completion of these studies will potentially define the importance of elevated NAA levels in the context of aggressive BCa. Since NAA is a metabolite that can be detected in serum, our study could also lead to the development of NAA as a non-invasive biomarker for early detection of aggressive BCa, thus providing a bigger window for therapeutic intervention. Citation Format: Akhila Balasubramanian, Weijie Zhang, Franklin Gu, Chandra Ambati, Nagireddy Putluri, Xiang Zhang, Aryan Namboodiri, Stefan Ambs, Arun Sreekumar. Role of the metabolite N-acetylaspartate in breast cancer progression [abstract]. In: Abstracts: AACR Special Virtual Conference on Epigenetics and Metabolism; October 15-16, 2020; 2020 Oct 15-16. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(23 Suppl):Abstract nr PO-056.


The purpose of this paper is to focus on the Challenges faced by Small Manufacturers due to the Serialization compliance. Pharmaceutical serialization is the process of assigning unique serial number to each saleable product pack. Each product pack contains information about product source, Global Trade Identification Number (GTIN), Batch number, Expiry date and unique serial number. Pharmaceutical serialization is not new compliance, and it was initially introduced by Turkey in 2010, and other market such as the China and South Korea. Since many years China made compulsory for all supply chain partners to record drug distribution information of individuals drugs units in a traceability system.
As we are approaching to 2023, It will be final phase of 10 yearlong implementation of Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) since compliance enacted in 2013. Verification router services (Saleable Return) is another compliance which was scheduled to enforce on 2020 but it is now push back to 2023 due to Covid-19 impact. Under 2023 DSCSA Act, manufacturers need to provide product tracing information in secure and interoperable manner electronically to distributors and wholesaler in supply chain. Wholesaler must transfer product tracing information to dispensers and pharmacy and verify saleable returns receive from supply chain stakeholders. Dispenser/Pharmacy should be able to receive Electronic Product Code Information Services (EPCIS) and product tracing information electronically and to be able to reconcile physical product unique identifier with electronic records. Finally, everyone in supply chain must be connected electronically through interoperable network which will allow regulatory bodies to track and trace the information's.
The importance of drug traceability has been increasingly emphasized and mandated by several countries across the world. The Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) has been working on a pilot project with big pharmaceutical companies, wholesalers and distributors to design and test interoperable network to trace pharmaceutical prescribed drug electronically at package level. This will help supply chain stakeholders to verify the authenticity of drug in United States.


List of Illustrations ix Preface xi Introduction 1 CHAPTER 1: Law and Social Control 14 CHAPTER 2: Creating Facts 68 CHAPTER 3: Reason, Power, Law 131 CHAPTER 4: Law as Cosmology 169 Conclusion 198 Further Reading 201 Index 213


Background: Heatwaves have become a public health emergency raising great public health concerns. Correspondingly, due to climate change, the increase in extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, floods and hurricanes, is predicted through state-of-the-art models and robust statistical analyses. Since the Mediterranean basin is recognized as the most prominent global climate change hot spot, further scientific research on the future impacts of heatwaves on human mortality, as well as human health and well-being, in the Mediterranean region is critical. Methods: The aim of the present study is to compare the relationship between three different causes of mortality (i.e., cardiological, respiratory and cardiorespiratory) and temperature between two countries (Spain and Greece) and five cities (i.e., Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Attica and Thessaloniki). To compare the five cities under examination, a robust statistical methodological framework (i.e., Threshold Regression Analysis (TRA)) was applied so as to examine the critical value above which the mean temperature affects cardiological, respiratory and cardiorespiratory mortality. Results: Our results prove that the relationship between mortality and temperature is a nonlinear relationship shaping a U- or J-shaped curve, meaning that mortality is affected by temperature in a non-constant way, indicating that mortality increases during both low and high temperatures. Conclusions: By calculating different temperature thresholds for the five cities under examination, we show that different temperature thresholds are more accurate for different climatic conditions. Hence, climatic conditions should be taken into account when examining the impacts of temperature on human health.


Abstract For six vinylidene halides the generalised mean square amplitudes of displacements parallel and perpendicular to the bond for both bonded and non-bonded atom distances are calculated from spectroscopic data using the method of Morino and Hirato. The results are discussed and the mean amplitudes of these molecules (H2C=CX2) are compared with those from electron diffraction data for the similar molecules of the type C2X4.


Tetrops, Turkmenia, Azerbaijan, Аrmenia, Georgia, Ukraine, Russia. Abstract: Three new subspecies are described: Tetrops gilvipes efetovi ssp. n. from Crimea on the base of differently colored specimens with black and yellow elytra; T. g. murzini ssp. n. from Kopet-Dag Ridge (Turkmenia) and Talysh (Azerbaijan) on the base of specimens with black elytra; T. g. adelbaueri ssp. n. from West Europe (type locality: Zavist, Czechia) on the base of specimens with yellow elytra; Tetrops gilvipes niger Kraatz, 1859 is regarded as a subspecies distributed in Italy and France.


5. http://www.cdc.gov/HAI/ca_uti/uti.html References Background: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most common nosocomial infection, accounting for up to 40% of infections reported by acute care hospitals. Up to 80% of UTIs are associated with the presence of an indwelling urinary catheter. Twenty-five percent of inpatients and up to 90% of patients in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) have a urinary catheter during hospitalization, often without an appropriate indication and care and maintenance of existing Foley catheters. Complications associated with Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection (CAUTI) cause discomfort to the patient, prolonged hospital stay, and increased cost and mortality. It has been estimated that each year more than 13000 deaths are associated with UTIs. In the fourth quarter of 2013, the Progressive Care Unit (PCU), Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, had three CAUTIs, which is above the national benchmark of 1.80.


Southern Spaces - An interdisciplinary journal about the regions, places, and cultures of the American South Sujet : Southern Spaces is published in collaboration with the Robert W. Woodruff Library of Emory University. We publish articles, photo essays and images, reviews, presentations, and short videos about real and imagined spaces and places of the U.S. South and their global connections. We intend our audience to be researchers and teachers, students in and out of classrooms, li...


Fanconi anaemia is a genetic disease characterized by congenital abnormalities, progressive bone marrow failure, and a higher predisposition of oral squamous cell carcinoma. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of oral mucosa lesions in patients with Fanconi anaemia without hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).


Yolina libera sp. n. is described from Liberia on the basis of 7 specimens. New faunistic records are: Y. elegantula (Boheman) from Zambia, Y. baerti Bistrom from Angola and Namibia/South West Africa and Y. royi fuscidorsis Bistrom from Ghana, Nigeria and Central African Republic.


In this paper, a new 3-DOF differentially-actuated cable parallel robot is proposed. This mechanism has a hybrid architecture and is driven by a prismatic actuator and three cable differentials. Through this design, the idea of using differentials in the structure of a spatial cable robot is investigated and their differences with architectures using individually-actuated cables are specified. Considering their particular properties, the kinematic analysis of the robot and the relationship between the actuation forces and the external wrench are presented. Then, two indices are defined to evaluate the wrench closure and wrench feasible workspaces of the robot. Using these indices, the robot is subsequently optimized. Finally, the performance of the optimized differentially-driven robot is compared with fully-actuated mechanisms. The results show that through a proper design methodology, the robot can have a larger workspace and better performance using differentials than the fully-driven cable robots using the same number of actuators.


Damage mechanisms in a PolyAmide 6 semi-crystalline polymer were characterized by using Synchrotron Radiation Laminography technique on CT like specimen. Damage appeared as multiple penny shaped crazes. The maximum damage occurred at mid-thickness and located at a small distance from the notch root. An attempt was made to apply local approach of fracture concept thanks to finite element analysis using damage-based constitutive model. FE simulation successfully captured the aforementioned micro-mechanisms of crack initiation, by void coalescence. Further work is carried out to determine the crack dimension corresponding to the maximum net stress: the criterion being used for the global approach of fracture.


It is sometimes argued that, despite abandoning formal organizations, the British remain religious. Beyond churches, sects, and denominations, there is supposedly a deep reservoir of folk religion (which constructs magic rituals from Christian themes and places) and superstition. This chapter examines that case in detail and argues that folk religion has declined as fast as the formal organizations on which it is parasitic. Furthermore, superstition has changed in precisely the same way as has formal religion: what were shared beliefs have become highly personalized rituals, justified not by claims of supernatural power, but by the psychology of reassurance.


A simulation model often has parameters to be calibrated through evaluation against data obtained by experiments. The process could be prohibitively expensive if the execution of the model requires huge computational resources and/or the parameter search space is vast. For technology CAD (TCAD) topography simulation, used in semiconductor manufacturing, this is exactly the case. We present a method to replace the simulation with approximate computation based on Generative Adversarial Network. The method receives pairs of a simulation parameter set and a simulation result image as training examples and learns a model to mimic the simulation. Unlike most GANbased models, its learning is carried out in a supervised manner. We evaluate its performance by cross-validation and comparison with a human expert. Despite the small size of the available dataset, our method successfully generates an image close to the ground truth in 71% of the cases and qualitatively reproduces the educated guesses of the human expert on the behavior of the simulator.


This study advances our understanding of the contribution of type III polyketide synthase (PKS) in phlorotannin biosynthesis of the marine brown algae Ectocarpus. It provides structural insights into the specificity of PKS1 for phloroglucinol formation. The evolution of the type III PKS gene family in Stramenopiles also suggests a lateral gene transfer event from an actinobacterium. Brown algal phlorotannins are structural analogs of condensed tannins in terrestrial plants and, like plant phenols, they have numerous biological functions. Despite their importance in brown algae, phlorotannin biosynthetic pathways have been poorly characterized at the molecular level. We found that a predicted type III polyketide synthase in the genome of the brown alga Ectocarpus siliculosus, PKS1, catalyzes a major step in the biosynthetic pathway of phlorotannins (i.e., the synthesis of phloroglucinol monomers from malonyl-CoA). The crystal structure of PKS1 at 2.85-Å resolution provided a good quality electron density map showing a modified Cys residue, likely connected to a long chain acyl group. An additional pocket not found in other known type III PKSs contains a reaction product that might correspond to a phloroglucinol precursor. In vivo, we also found a positive correlation between the phloroglucinol content and the PKS III gene expression level in cells of a strain of Ectocarpus adapted to freshwater during its reacclimation to seawater. The evolution of the type III PKS gene family in Stramenopiles suggests a lateral gene transfer event from an actinobacterium.


Starting with the era of learning machines, reasons are presented for the current emergence of graphics-oriented interactive pattern analysis and classification systems (IPACS) as a general approach to practical pattern-recognition problems. A number of representative systems and their application to a wide variety of patterns are surveyed. Various aspects of alternative hardware and software implementations are commented upon and computational algorithms and mappings relevant to interactive analysis and classification of patterns are discussed.


Instrumental corrections have been worked out for a gas refractometer of the hollow prism type used in conjunction with a monochromator. Three slits are involved: entrance slit of the monochromator; exit slit of the monochromator, which is also the entrance slit of the refractometer; and exit slit of the refractometer. The treatment constitutes an extension of the familiar slit and aperture correction procedures that have been worked out for a monochromator alone. The specific objective is the accurate determination of the absolute strengths and widths of individual lines in the refraction spectrum of gases. An example is given of this application.