Denote by ν(a1, . . . , an) the number of non-degenerate solutions of (1.1). First, let a1, . . . , an be non-zero rational numbers. In 1965, Mann [2] showed that if (ζ1, . . . , ζn) is a non-degenerate solution of (1.1), then ζ 1 = · · · = ζ n = 1, where d is a product of distinct primes ≤ n+1. From this result it can be deduced that ν(a1, . . . , an) ≤ e1 2 for some absolute constant c1. Later, Conway and Jones [1] showed that for every non-degenerate solution (ζ1, . . . , ζn) of (1.1) one has ζ 1 = · · · = ζ n = 1, where d is the product of distinct primes p1, . . . , pl with ∑l i=1(pi−2) ≤ n−1. This implies that ν(a1, . . . , an) ≤ e2 3/2(log n)1/2 for some absolute constant c2. Schinzel [3] showed that if a1, . . . , an are non-zero and generate an algebraic number field of degree D, then ν(a1, . . . , an) ≤ c2(n,D) for some function c2 depending only on n and D. Later, Zannier [5] gave a different proof of this fact and computed c2 explicitly. Finally, Schlickewei [4] succeeded to derive an upper bound for the number of non-degenerate solutions of (1.1) depending only on n for arbitrary complex coefficients a1, . . . , an.


The authors provide guidelines, based on their own experiences, for planners of community mental health centers. They emphasize the need for sound management principles, and they describe and illustrate five basic tasks in developing a community mental health center: creating an organization, designing a service delivery system, obtaining community sanction, developing trusting relationships with funding agencies, and developing responsive programs.


Transfer path analysis(TPA) is an effective method for structure vibration performance optimization,evaluation and fault diagnosis.The basic theory and characteristic of TPA method is mainly described in the paper.The experiment system is established for TPA method to verify the TPA method.Comparison of simulation calculation value with experiment value shows that simulation result and experiment result are basically consistent.TPA method is used in four improved structures separately and reasonable structure is confirmed.The analytical results showed that the TPA method is a good way to find the vibration transmission path which provides the evidences to control the vibration transmission effectively.


Gastrointestinal diseases pose a serious threat to commercial poultry production. Organic acids and their salts are commonly used to suppress gastrointestinal disorders and thereby improve productivity. In a new commercial study, sodium diformate (NDF) was tested against a positive control (AGP) in order to investigate similar effects in poultry. The trial was conducted under large scale conditions in Ceara, Brazil in 2013 and aimed to test NDF against a commercial broiler diet containing an antibiotic growth promoter (Colistin). Around 500,000 one day old birds from 33 different houses were included in the study and were compared to the same number of birds (from the same houses) and their subsequent performance from the previous year. Performance data were measured at the end of the trial and the European Broiler Index (EBI) was calculated. The average growth period was 45 days. The positive control group used 60 g Colistin per t of feed for the first 21 days, while the treatment group added 0.1% NDF during the same time period. EBI in the houses with 0.1% NDF was increased by 5.1% (P=0.006). Due to the inclusion of sodium diformate, EBI in 10 out of 33 houses reached a value above 300 (max. 331), whereas the Colistin-treated houses attained only a maximum EBI of 297. These findings lead to the conclusion that the addition of 0.1% sodium diformate considerably improves overall broiler performance, combining effects on daily gain, survival and feed efficiency, even when compared to the use of an AGP.


Extant literature extensively articulates the advantages of using remotely piloted aircrafts (RPAs) in a myriad of construction activities. Yet, the barriers that hinder their wider adoption on construction projects have received scant academic attention. This study aims at addressing this gap in the literature.,This study reviews 59 papers published on the use of RPAs for construction activities and offers an evaluation of barriers to widespread adoption throughout the sector.,Barriers are identified, collated and categorized into five thematic groups, namely, technical difficulties, restrictive regulatory environment, site-related problems, weather and organizational barriers.,The paper contributes to knowledge by: signposting a need for reordering priorities when defining future research on RPAs, suggesting measures to address the barriers identified and providing pragmatic guidance for construction companies intending to use RPAs on their projects.,Using the task–technology fit theory, the study uncovers that current RPA technology is an under-fit match for construction activities and represents a prominent barrier to adoption. This is a dissenting finding, given that past studies on RPAs have primarily focused upon addressing public acceptance, concerns and societal consequences. Enablers of the identified barriers are also collated from extant literature and contemporary practice and encapsulated in a conceptual model.


This article investigates Dietrich Bonhoeffer's distinct understanding of the correlation between the church's discipleship and its conformation to Christ's form. Bonhoeffer's thought highlights a provocative question regarding spiritual formation and the life of the church: Is Christian formation the proper aim of discipleship, and thus its product, or is it a consequence of discipleship, and hence its byproduct? Though Bonhoeffer disagreed with the idea that formation occurs as Christians "strive to become like Jesus," he does acknowledge that formation occurs by Christians striving towards something. This article pays particular attention to understanding how this "something" for which Christians strive relates to God's work of conformation and thereby highlights Bonhoeffer's distinct perspective on human and divine agency in the process of Christian formation. The article engages relevant sections of Discipleship to develop core aspects of Bonhoeffer's thought regarding the relationship between the life of the church and the specifically formative nature of Christian existence. This permits me to note the effects of discipleship and how these effects correspond to what the disciple intends in following Christ. On this basis, we recognize the difference between what disciples intend in their obedience to Christ and what God works through their discipleship. This reveals a strict asymmetry within Bonhoeffer's account of Christian life and its effects, and draws attention to God's sole agency in Christian formation. For Bonhoeffer, Christian formation is determined by an asymmetrical agency, in which formation in Christ is a byproduct of the church's discipleship to Christ, even as such formation is not—indeed cannot—be its original objective.


Stochastic Equilibrium on TAP-MP Bilevel Formulation On TAP-MP Bilevel Formulations On (S)TAP-VIP Bilevel Formulations Of (S)TAP-MP Transportation Planning Framework ... Upper level: Minimization of the Expected System Performance Variables: Coefficient to define link travel time variance on selected links A predefined set of selected links, defined by traffic manager, candidates to sensor location


In this paper, author made an attempt to maximize the power output in the different piezoelectric materials in a unimorph cantilever beam configuration. In the present study, an attempt has been made to macro -scale uni-morph piezoelectric power generator prototypes consists of an active piezoelectric layer, silver substrate and Silca base was designed for frequencies 60 Hz 200 Hz. An analytical model of a micro power generator is used to obtain displacement, voltage and generated power which are the figures of merit for energy harvesting. This model is presented for three different piezoelectric materials like, PZT-5H and PMN-PT with and without silica base. The designed unimorph piezo energy harvesting system was modeled using COMSOL multi physics and the observed parameters are compared with analytical results.


In order to reasonably evaluate the ecological environment of Dari County in the source region of the Yellow River, the characteristics and actual conditions of Dari County's ecological environment are taken into account, and the principles of representativeness, scientificity, operability and systematicness of index are followed. An evaluation index system is established for Dari County based on the Pressure-State-Response (PSR) conceptual framework. Combining the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) with the cloud model, an ecological environment evaluation model for Dari County is established, and the ecological environment of Dari County is quantitatively evaluated. The model organically combines the ambiguity and randomness of the uncertainty concept. It not only describes the ambiguity of the evaluation level with a membership function, but also considers the randomness of the membership itself using the concept of superentropy, which is more in line with the actual evaluation object. The results indicate that the ecological situation of Dari County is in a 'general' state that should be urgently protected for sustainable development, and land degradation is the most important factor affecting the ecological environment of Dari County.


Container engines with operating-system virtualization have been widely used and now offer extensions to replace core functionalities that are derived from the host kernel. Because such extensions with an alternate kernel, which is often implemented in a library operating system (libOS), can be designed to have free choice, developers are tempted to take a clean-slate approach, i.e., implement the kernels from scratch. However, this design decision makes it difficult to cover broad features of the original Linux kernel, and some application programs may not work on such kernels. Precise emulation of the huge codebase and rich feature set of the Linux kernel is not easily possible. In this paper, we have tried to improve the level of compatibility in a libOS by using the source code of the Linux kernel as the container kernel. We present µKontainer, an alternate container kernel based on a libOS by extending the existing open-source software, Linux Kernel Library, while preserving the lightweight property of conventional containers. We have studied the level of compatibility with the conformance tests of network protocol implementation of nine different libOSs, and µKontainer performs identically like the Linux kernel. The network-related benchmark shows mostly comparable results with a conventional container and a native Linux host; in the best case, the goodput of the short-sized packet is up to 84% faster than that of a native Linux host. This paper sheds light on the design space of the libOS when we introduced the extended container kernel.


Critical currents of granular Al bridges with different thicknesses and widths have been measured as a function of temperature. The experimental values of critical current were somewhat smaller than the pair-breaking current in the Ginzburg-Landau theory, being proportional to ( T c - T ) 3/2 near the critical temperature T c . In the lower temperature region they became to be proportional to ( T c - T ). It was found from the temperature and thickness dependences that critical current seems to be governed by the mechanism, different from the pair-breaking one. Slightly below T c , appearance of electrical resistance was observed, depending on the bridge thickness, but not on its width. It is suggested that vortices are thermally activated and their flow generates a voltage.


SiC_p-Al composite coating was clad on the surface of ZL102 alloy by CO_2 laser.The microstructure of the laser clad layer was characterized by XRD and SEM.The microhardness and wear resistance of the laser clad layer were examined.The results show that hypereutectic structure with needle-like Si,α-Al+Si eutectic and SiC particles and hypoeutectic structure with dendrite α-Al,α-Al+Si eutectic and SiC particles are obtained on the surface and bottom of the layers,respectively.Orientated growth dendrite perpendicular to substrate is observed between the laser clad layers and substrate.The microhardness of laser clad layer is about 220~280HV,and wear resistance of ZL102 alloy is improved greatly by the laser cladding.


Perpetuum is a provider of information that is used to maximise safety and reliability and reduce costs. Perpetuum's self-powered, wireless sensing technology, combined with its vibration engineering expertise and rich analytics, provides real time information that enables the rail industry to optimise railway operations. Perpetuum was recently selected by Metro Trains Melbourne to monitor the wheel bearings and wheels of some of its passenger fleet. Metro Trains Melbourne is also interested in the opportunity of monitoring the Melbourne track network using this on-board instrumentation. This paper discusses how data obtained with the same Perpetuum equipment used to monitor wheels and bearings is now being leveraged to provide real-time information of changes in track condition, where the methodology and example results are presented.


The American youth-sports movement has changed dramatically in the past 30 years. Whereas adolescent sport was once confined mainly to boys playing on school-sponsored teams such as football, basketball, and track, the sports world for children and adolescents today is markedly different. As of 2006, there were ∼30 million children and adolescents under the age of 18 involved in athletics in the United States. Because of the tremendous success of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, there are nearly equal numbers of males and females currently participating on school-sponsored sports teams.

In addition to the evolution of participant demographics, a number of other changes have occurred also, …

Address correspondence to Jordan D. Metzl, MD, Sports Medicine Institute for Young Athletes, Hospital for Special Surgery, 535 E 70th St, New York, NY 10021. E-mail: metzlj{at}hss.edu


The article considers problems of developing the domestic higher education system in modern conditions, which determine the need for its reforming. It shows that these problems, as in many areas of national socio-economic development, are complex in nature, due to a serious loss of the best traditions of Soviet higher education, illegal copying non-best examples of foreign experience, a significant imbalance in the system of science, higher education and production (economic activity) relationships in the domestic space. The paper highlights key problems of developing the domestic higher education system, and the main trends of its reforming, which meet the challenge of modern society and the needs of the future society. It demonstrates that the need to reform the system of domestic higher education as a response to the modern society challenges today is determined by the urgency of simultaneous implementation of all innovative changes inherent in innovations according to J. Schumpeter in the system of domestic higher education, including the need to change the approach  to selecting the student contingent contributing to choosing the most capable and talented youth for universities; a radial shift as a result of changing the technological structures of the product (goods, works, services) composition, which requires an adequate change in training the university personnel; intensive development of educational  technologies due to new opportunities provided by information technologies; expedient modification of organizational structures in the  higher education system due to the possibilities of digitalization; changing the nature of the "state-university" link interaction forcing universities to prepare universal graduates as the opportunities of employment in a particular profession for graduates of Russian  universities have become probabilistic due to the changed market  conditions. The authors propose an algorithm to form a new methodological approach for adaptive transformations of the higher  education system using end-to-end digital technologies.


Amyloid deposition in the myocardium can cause clinically significant heart failure, which is very difficult to diagnose. The present case reported presented a patient with heart failure, with suspected cause of cardiac amyloidosis, but abdominal fat pad and endomyocardial with Congo red stain biopsies were negative. Due to high suspicion of cardiac amyloidosis, a technetium-99m pyrophosphate (Tc-99m PYP) heart scan was done, which was revealed as strongly suggestive for cardiac transthyretin amyloidosis. So, the patient was sent for genetic testing, and a TTR gene mutation [c.148G>A (p.Val50Met)] was found.

Keywords: Cardiac amyloidosis; Endomyocardial biopsy (EMB); Technetium-99m pyrophosphate (Tc-99m PYP) heart scan; Transthyretin amyloidosis (TTR)


Summary. From its description in 1863 until the 1920s, the authority for the name Spizaetus philippensis was almost universally agreed to be J. H. Gurney, but from the 1930s it has normally been ascribed to J. Gould. This paper demonstrates that this alteration of the authority was incorrect; it should be J. H. Gurney. The two syntypes of the taxon are currently held by the Natural History Museum at Tring.


The complicated curved surface tracking method for welding nuclear power J-type joint belongs to the field of metal welding technology. The method includes the following steps: detecting the welding power source voltage and current output signal and workpiece position zero point signal to set the double servo mechanism motion; comparing the tested arc voltage value and the set parameter to obtain the difference and obtaining the position difference to start the PID controller; setting the PID parameters by means of the double servo mechanism and the programmable controller to realize the fast response and complete the tracking to complicated curved surface for stable welding. The present invention has wide adaptability, and is simple, repeatable and suitable for different arc striking modes.


This retrospective audit will examine the rates of four post-operative stoma complications in 128 patients undergoing elective surgery that required formation of a faecal stoma between 2010 and 2014. This study will correlate the rates of complications in regard to whether the patient had stoma site marking by a stomal therapy nurse (STN) before surgery and will examine the relationship between pre-operative stoma siting and length of hospital stay. Findings included a total of 24% of sited patients who experienced early post-operative stoma complications and 33% of patients who were not sited who experienced complications. The most common post-operative complication experienced was appliance leakage with resultant moisture-associated peristomal skin damage. Elective surgery patients who were not sited pre-operatively had a length of stay three days longer than the patients who were sited preoperatively. Overall, patients seen by an STN prior to surgery have fewer post-operative stoma complications and a decreased length of stay in one tertiary-level hospital.


The hydroalkylation of phenol (1) in the presence of palladium catalyst and fused salt (NaCl-AlCl3) under hydrogen pressure was carried out. By using 1% Pd-Al2O3 (1 g) and the fused salt (1 : 1 mol ratio, 6 g), 4-cyclohexylphenol (6) was obtained selectively from 1 (30 g) in a yield of 31.9% at 120°C for 4.5 h. Cyclohexylphenols were formed by way of 2-cyclohexen-1-ol and 1.


The villager autonomy is great innovation in the rural political system.Since villager autonomy started in the 1990s,the rural economy and social undertakings have been an unprecedented level of sustained,stable and healthy development with remarkable results.However,its implementation brings the vigor and vitality of the grass-roots democratic process but unavoidable and the rural traditional concepts and traditional practices existing contradictions and conflicts.This paper mainly understand the villager autonomy from the various perspective,the process and result of villager autonomy,make a detailed analysis in the process of villager autonomy and study the healthy development of the villager autonomy.


In this paper, the results of experimental studies of elements of the automated system of subjective evaluation of speech intelligibility are presented. Special set of proposed computer programs and diagnostic articulation tables of Ukrainian speech monosyllables of the CVC type is a core of the automated system. The set of computer programs allows distort signals by noise and reverberation in a controlled way, present distorted signals to listeners, record and process the results of listening. Signals listening had been made both through the headphones, and by means of acoustic monitors. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) varied from minus 10 dB to plus 10 dB, and the reverberation time varied from 0.3 s to 2.7 s. Results of testing of developed automated system showed that proposed articulation tables and software can be used as a prototypes upon creation of Ukrainian national standards of the speech quality and intelligibility assessment in communication channels and rooms. Moreover, the results of the testing showed the possibility of significant increasing of the speech intelligibility, from 10–30% to 85–93% for SNR = −10 dB, when listening distorted records through acoustic monitors in place of headphones. It means that listening of noisy records with low SNR through acoustic monitors allowed considerable gain (about 15–17 dB) the SNR. This phenomenon can be explained by the action of three factors: early reflections in small rooms where monitors are placed, usage of two sources of direct sound as well as binaural listening.


11 In this study we document the evolution, the synopt ic trigger and the characteristics of an intense du st 12 event which occurred over the Sahara desert on Augu st 3-5, 2006. The motivation for this study is to 13 highlight the large scale dust production over the Sahara associated with gust fronts of squall lines. 14 The dust emission during this event was initiated b y a large-scale cold pool emanated from a squall 15 line that developed over Niger and Mali on August 3 . We examine the development of this squall line 16 and its subsequent dust lifting using high temporal resolution false color dust product images from th e 17 Meteosat Second Generation Spinning Enhanced Visibl e and Infrared Imager (MSG-SEVIRI). 18 Observations from Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) are 19


An experiment was conducted at the Experimental Farm of Afghanistan National Agricultural Sciences and Technology University (ANASTU), Kandahar during summer 2015 to study the effect of varying nitrogen levels on productivity, profitability and resource use efficiency of mungbean ( Vigna radiata L. Wilczek) in semi-arid region of Kandahar, Afghanistan. Experimental treatments comprised of seven N levels (0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 kg N ha –1 laid-out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The results indicated that application of N @ 30 kg ha –1 exhibited highest root nodule count at maximum flowering, thereafter it decreased. There was a consistent and significant increase in grain and straw yield (1.96, 5.29 t ha –1 ) and production-efficiency (21.7 kg ha –1 day –1 ) upto 30 kg N ha –1 , thereafter it also showed a declining trend upto 60 kg N ha –1 . Higher water use efficiency, production efficiency, and monetary efficiency were recorded when N was applied @ 30 kg ha –1 . However, the optimum nitrogen dose was calculated as 33.47 kg ha –1 . Overall, it can be inferred that the application of N @ 30 kg ha –1 can be used as a blanked recommendation for obtaining higher productivity, resource-use efficiency and profitability in mungbean. But as a site-specific recommendation, the economic optimum N dose for mungbean is 33.47 kg N ha –1 which has great promises in enhancing the productivity, resource-use efficiency and profitability in summer mungbean ( Vigna radiata L. wilczek) under semi-arid conditions of Kandahar region of Afghanistan.


If nonprofit organizations are superior institutions in resolving informational asymmetry and resulting contract failure, why do nonprofit (NPs), for-profit (FPs) and government/public institutions (GPs) survive in the same industry? This article explicitly models the nonconvex budget set for the consumer that arises through the juxtaposition of the inefficiencies and contract failures that occur in the three sectors. Because the consumer is willing to trade quality for efficiency and price, varying market shares for NPs, FPs and GPs can exist in the same industry. The theory offered complements the functionalist explanation of the existence of nonprofits advanced by Weisbrod and Hansmann using a micro-analysis.


Under the existing condition of experiment,maximize students' practical ability and creative ability by organizing the experimental process reasonably and optimizing the quality of experimental teachers,and improve the quality of experimental teaching comprehensively.


The results of Russian activity in 2010 for conducting the bathymetric investigation in the Arctic Ocean, necessary for delineation of the outer limits of the continental shelf according with Article 76 of the UNCLOS are analyzed. The functional features of the available marine information technologies suitable for conducting, processing and delivering the sea bottom digital terrain model are analyzed. The practice of using SIS, CARIS HIPS&SIPS hydrographic package, Fledermause 3D visualization package is discussed on the basis of the experience gained by the author during Russian cruise «SHELF-2010» on board the scientific expedition vessel Academic Fedorov. The bathymetric survey quality control and methodology for bathymetric profile analysis are discussed. Methods for using special mapping and modeling software GeoCAP for implementation of the foot of slope determination and Hedberg Formula Line are also covered. The foot of slope line and Hedberg Formula line are necessary for the seismic reflection survey project 2011 that can provide information for the Gardiner Formula Line.


The present study aims to provide insight into the value of different teacher roles in designing and implementing technology-rich learning activities for early literacy. Three cases, each with a di...


Expressed at the same time as the Westfalian type state and aiming the exclusive prerogative of the State in the exercise of power, sovereignty becomes in the globalized era an concept increasingly controversial, many authors considering that the sovereignty is increasingly insubstantial given that the state has lost its main powers in international relations and would no longer have control over their own destinies under conditions of increasing interdependence (Camilleri, Falk, 1992, p. 12).In our opinion, sovereignty, understood as independence and security, additional to survival, referred as security and prosperity represents the essence, the rationale morality of international relations if we accept that this morality exists. In this article we intend to approach this controversial concept in terms of economic security. Either is accepted the really generally and condensed meaning of the term or the wider and more complex content, the center of gravity is placed more and more in the economic area. Economic security can be understood stricto sensu as the economic foundation of military power or, largo sensu, a complex dimension of security.Welfare is equivalent to the potential for mobilization, if not in the short term, at least in the medium or long term. Economic security is a synergistic type and essential, as it gather around and integrates in the same concept of power all other dimensions - human, cultural, social, informational and military - giving them strength and consistency. The economy, without diminish anything to the role of power and support of the state power and army generator, moves to a new dimension, the internationalization and globalization of power pillars. So far, this internationalization is discontinuous and fractal, but it already outlines a reconfiguration not very reassuring of the new pillars and new areas of power.This reasoning leads to the conclusion that the economic strength of a nation is inevitably a latent threat for opponents of it, and within that logic, we may consider that it is not advisable to contribute to the economic development of the opponents / opponent - but rather to establish them trade embargoes (Mpller, 2004, p. 80).The national sovereignty - national security relationship must be seen, in our view, as an essential factor of the state existence, and in this context, the economic security must be understood as a key factor of the system, which provides resources and dynamic balance of the other components of this system. The limited character and uneven distribution of resources, be it energy resources, raw materials and food and water, seriously damage to the natural balance of the world by environmental degradation, asymmetric development of demographic resources, diseases, extreme poverty, degradation of education or lack of it, acute imbalances between rich countries and poor countries on north-south axis of the planet are as many vulnerabilities with an insufficiently assessed explosive potential, vulnerabilities that manifests themselves in two ways: internally, the consequences can mark increased instability, and externally, their export cannot be stopped, but in the best case, only managed. The economic dimension of security will be determined; it will operate as a national interest of the Procrustean bed (Frunzeti, Zodian, 2011, p. 15).Economic security complexity derives from the multitude of processes and economic, social, financial phenomena and not only, implied as a result of globalization, seen both as a process and systematic and permanent phenomenon acting on national economies. Its dynamism is given by the alert pace of economic processes and phenomena occurring at national and planetary level.From national sovereignty perspective, we believe that the economic security should be viewed primarily of the following ways:* the ability of states to maintain independent production capabilities in a global market;* the possibility that economic dependence on the global market to be used to achieve political goals;* the possibility that the overall market to increase economic inequalities between states;* the risk that economic globalization, which leads to lower economic functions of the state, to generate perverse effects as underground economy, illicit trade, technology traffic, impairment of the environment;* the risk that the global economy is in crisis due to a weak political leadership, weak international institutions, protectionist reactions, financial instability. …


Diplolepis rosae is a new pest on the occurrence of the Kushui rose in Lanzhou.The pests quickly spread with serious damage.The pest hazard causes stinging galls by damaging the plant sprouts,and affecting buds yield.Diplolepis rosae has one generation a year in Lanzhou.The mature larvae habitats in gall to live through the winter.The next April,they are becoming adult and egg in rose bud.In early May the hatched larvae produce galls,and a gall has a larva.Currently it is only found that D.rosae are injurious to the Kushui rose,which have short and long spines of the two different forms of insect galls,and single and multiple parasites of the two kinds of parasitism natural enemies.


The cross-efficiency evaluation is an effective method to evaluate the decision making units (DMUs) with the nonnegative inputs and outputs in data envelopment analysis (DEA) and can be performed with the different formulations. But, in some situations the DMUs encounter with the negative inputs and outputs. This paper generalizes the cross efficiency evaluation for the DMUs with the negative inputs and outputs in DEA environment. To this end, first it defines the cross efficiency for the DMUs with the negative data and then proposes a model using ideal points and range directional model (RDM). Finally, the proposed model is modified to reduce the nonzero weights. To illustrate the proposed models a numerical example is given.


Wire bonding is a process that is used to form solid-state bonds to interconnect metals such as gold wires to metalized pads deposited on silicon integrated circuits. Typically, there are 3 main wire bonding techniques; Thermo-compression, Ultrasonic and Thermosonic. This experiment utilizes thermosonic bonding which applies heat, ultrasonic energy and force on an Au-Al system. Sixteen groups of bonding conditions at various temperature settings were compared to establish the relationship between ball deformation and temperature. The results of this study will clearly indicate the effects of applied bonding temperature towards bond strength and deformation characteristics of gold ball bonding.


Reports preliminary results of study of pollen samples from La Atalaya, La Cofradia and Cerro de Moctehuma archaeological sites. The 4-zone stratified pollen sequence from La Ayala allows the other two sites to be cross-dated.


This paper addresses whether robo-advisors are "fiduciaries." The simple answer is "yes." As registered investment advisers, robo-advisors are deemed to be "fiduciaries" that owe a fiduciary duty of loyalty to their customers and can be liable for breach of fiduciary duty. But that is only half of the equation. Merely labeling robo-advisors as "fiduciaries" does not signify what fiduciary standard of care they are subject to, which should be of most interest to investors and regulators and is the subject of this paper.


For the creation of a successful antibody–drug conjugate (ADC), both scientific and clinical evidence has indicated that highly toxic anticancer agents (ACA) should be conjugated to a monoclonal antibody (mAb) to administer a reasonable amount of ADC to patients without compromising the affinity of the mAb. For ordinary ACA, the conjugation of a mAb to ACA‐loaded micellar nanoparticles is clinically applicable. Tissue factor (TF) is often overexpressed in various cancer cells and tumor vascular endothelium. Accordingly, anti‐TF‐NC‐6300, consisting of epirubicin‐incorporating micelles (NC‐6300) conjugated with the F(ab')2 of anti‐TF mAb was developed. The in vitro and in vivo efficacy and pharmacokinetics of anti‐TF‐NC‐6300 were compared to NC‐6300 using two human pancreatic cancer cell lines, BxPC3 (high TF expression) and SUIT2 (low TF expression), and a gastric cancer cell line, 44As3 (high TF expression). The intracellular uptake of epirubicin was faster and greater in BxPC3 cells treated with anti‐TF‐NC‐6300, compared with NC‐6300. Anti‐TF‐NC‐6300 showed a superior antitumor activity in BxPC3 and 44As3 xenografts, compared with NC‐6300, while the activities of both micelles were similar in the SUIT2 xenograft. A higher tumor accumulation of anti‐TF‐NC‐6300 compared to NC‐6300 was seen, regardless of the TF expression levels. However, anti‐TF‐NC‐6300 appeared to be localized to the tumor cells with high TF expression. These results indicated that the enhanced antitumor effect of anti‐TF‐NC6300 may be independent of the tumor accumulation but may depend on the selective intratumor localization and the preferential internalization of anti‐TF‐NC‐6300 into high TF tumor cells.


This article describes the implementation of an online Open-Source Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software solution to support the laboratory component of the theoretical/laboratory classes of the curricular unit " Information and Communication Technologies in Distribution and Logistics Management " of the degree in " Distribution and Logistics Management " and its contribution to the student assessment process, during the Covid-19 lockdown and resulting restrictions imposed to the normal functioning of presential classroom lessons in the period 2020-2022. The curricular unit's program foresees the use of demonstrative and experimental methods to illustrate the role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) support to the fundamental area of the study cycle. An ERP software solution and a database from a simulation company are normally used in classroom-based classes to carry out laboratory exercises, where it is intended to highlight the role of ICT as a facilitator of supply chain processes and logistical activities. The objective of implementing this online solution was to continue to ensure the teaching of the laboratory component, which was initially limited to use in the classroom. It was thus possible to continue helping students to develop their knowledge and practical technical experience in accordance with the curricular unit´s program. The technological implementation of the solution and the training of the teachers involved had to be carried out in a very short period. From a methodological point of view, an approach based on experiential learning was used and the ePortfolio, as instrument to assess the practical knowledge acquired. Demonstrations of the system with resolution of synchronous online laboratory exercises, online debate and clarification sessions, recordings with resolution of laboratory exercises for asynchronous viewing and the proposal of exercises to be integrated in the ePortfolio were used. This article details the laboratory structure


It was a hot August day during the first week of my placement in the A&E department. I had been sent to X-ray with a patient. The department was busy and we were there for an hour and a half.


The electronic structure of bulk corundum(α‐Al2O3) has been studied by using ab initio cluster model Hartree–Fock self‐consistent‐field (SCF) and configuration interaction (CI) wave functions. An array of optimized point charges surrounding the cluster model is used to represent the Madelung field. Different analyses of the energetic chemical bond contributions and of the wave functions have been performed. These include constrained space orbital variations (CSOV), use of projection operator techniques, the decomposition on the ground state SCF wave function into ionic and charge transfer components, and finally, the effect of the electronic correlation. These analyses enabled us to determine the relationship between each chemical contribution to the energy stabilization of corundum and its effect on the corresponding wave function. All these different analyses are consistent and indicate that the oxygen–aluminium bond is highly ionic in nature, with a net atomic charge for Al not less than +2.7 e.


THE EDINBURGH ROYAL MATERNITY HOSPITAL. The annual imieeting of the Edinburglh Royal Maternity and Simpson Memnorial Hospital was lheld on Marclh 26th, whien Sir Alfred Ewilg, 'K. U.B., Principal of thle University of Edinburgh, presided, and in moving the adoption of tiho report, stated thlat 1,890 cases were treated by tile hospital during 1916,.-being an increase of 123 over1915. Thie numiiber of indoor cases (738) was again a record.The glory of such an instituLtion was that a very large proportion of the cases it had to assist were what might be called difficult cases, in whiclih the need fo'r help was the greatest. The teriible loss of manlhood whiclh the war bad brought about lhad made them realize imore than ever how important it was to make good those losses by aiding and encouraging in every possible way the birth of children. Even now, thouglh far fewer clhildren were born, it was still the unlhappy truth tlhat about one in nine of tlhem failed to survive the first twelve nlontls after birtlh. This was due for thie mIiost part to preventable causes, and tlhe efforts wlhichi thjose concernied witlh infant welfare were nakingcwere directed essentially towards a reduction of tllat figure. The Rev. Canon Stuart seconded, and the report was adopted. Dr. Maxwell Williamson, the city iedical officer, referred first to the falling birtli-rate, and directed attention to tlle fact that it lhad not fallen luore lui-ing wvar years than during the forty-five years immedliately preceding tle wva.. The infantile deathl-rate during 1916 incdicated clearly the necessity for associating a iimaternity witlh a clhild welfare sclhemiie. In Edinburgh 575 infants under one year died during 1916, and of tllese dleatlhs no fewer tlhan 220 werC du1e to premiiaturity and imrlmaturity. An interesting fact in this relation was that 175 deaths occurred during the first four weeks of life, showing the gravity of the neonlatal dleatlh-rate. Tllese figures proved conitlusively that ilutell lhope might be entertained from tlhe association of the hIoyal Maternity HIospital and otlher muaterniity centres w%.ith the Corporation uinder its new schem6 of motlher and chlild welfare.


Shear connectors are mainly used to bear the longitudinal shear force between the reinforced concrete flange plates and steel girder of composite girder structure and are a critical component to ensure steel and concrete composite structure joint force and collaborative deformation. As a new type connector,it made an opening in the top edge of inverted T steel beam web,arranged continuity serpentine steel bar in the top edge of an opening and then poured into concrete. The authors designed and made 15 push-out test samples composed of 7 different groups and accomplished the ultimate bearing capacity tests of the 15 test samples.They also investigated the single factor influencing the ultimate bearing capacity of this shear connectors are the strength of concrete,the opening,perforated rebar,serpentine steel bar and the ratio of stirrup reinforcement.The paper also studied the failure mode and failure process of the samples and obtained a calculation formula and analyzed the bond-slip behavior. The conclusions show that this new type of perforated plate connector has great bearing capacity and good ductility under the same conditions.


The purpose of this study was to investigate the role that fear in childhood plays in socio-emotional functioning in late adolescence. In addition, the role of parental support in this relationship was examined. Participants included 70 college students, ages 18-25 years, who completed measures that assessed their fears and perceptions of social support from parents in childhood, as well as aspects of their present wellbeing (e.g., selfesteem, mood, depressive symptoms). Results interestingly indicated that, "someone in the family dying" was the most highly rated fear in both childhood and late adolescence. Also, fear of family members dying and family members becoming ill were rated higher than personal fears of death, or getting cancer for each age range. Furthermore, there were significant correlations between childhood and late adolescent fear for each of the 74 specific fears assessed. Thus childhood fear and late adolescent fear are directly linked. Lastly, analyses showed that for those with low levels of parental support, childhood fear was associated with lower wellbeing, whereas for those with high levels of parental support, there was no relation between childhood fear and late adolescent wellbeing. Results suggest that high levels of parental support serve as a type of buffer for children with fear, protecting their future wellbeing. Limitations of the present study, as well as future directions for research, are discussed.


The purpose of this action research study was to explore the use of problem-based learning (PBL) in a secondary instrument methods course. Six students enrolled in a woodwind methods course and participated in PBL activities—including video assessment, written scenarios, emergent performance scenarios in the classroom, group activities, and structured peer teaching—aimed at improving their ability to diagnose and solve instrument-specific performance problems. We examined students' perceptions of PBL, including their teaching confidence, retention of course materials, and overall course engagement. The data collected suggest that students perceived themselves to be learning effectively in this PBL environment, and they felt generally confident in their ability to teach woodwinds. In addition, students appreciated opportunities for "real-life" teaching scenarios and expressed high levels of motivation, though they found this approach somewhat haphazard and unstructured. We suggest that PBL may be a viable method for educating preservice music teachers.


The aim of this study was to prepare and characterize liposomes and nanoparticles loaded with epirubicin and further to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of epirubicin in the plasma, lungs, liver, spleen and heart following a single intravenous dose in rats in the form of a free solution, liposomes and nanoparticles. The liposomes were prepared using the film method, and their particle size, drug content and stability were used for characterization. Poly(methyl methacrylate) nanoparticles were obtained and their particle size, adsorption efficiency and epirubicin release were measured. Drug concentrations in different organs were assayed using reversed-phase HPLC, and drug concentration-time data were analyzed by non-compartmental procedure. Remarkable differences in epirubicin levels were found in organs between free and liposome or nanoparticle forms. The area under the curve (AUC) and mean residence time (MRT) were significantly greater in the liver and spleen but lower in the lungs when epirubicin-loaded particles were administered, when compared with free epirubicin. On the contrary, very low AUC and MRT values but higher clearance levels were observed in the heart. These findings suggest selective or targeted drug delivery with microparticle pharmaceutical systems.


Original essays on Cervantes's life and literature: discussions of current theories of fiction, comparative approaches, unique studies on the impact of Cervantine fiction on both Early Modern Spain and contemporary US culture.


Strong epidemiologic evidence linking indicators of geriatric vulnerability to long‐term functional outcomes after major surgery is lacking. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between geriatric vulnerability and the burden of disability after hospital discharge for major surgery.


A uniquely shaped layout of a wideband circularly polarized (CP) printed monopole antenna is planned in this article. The proposed antenna comprises a 7‐shaped slotted radiating patch, tapered feed line, and modified partial ground plane. Multiple parasitic strips are employed at optimum positions on the ground and radiating planes to improve the axial ratio bandwidth (ARBW). The electrical dimension of the designed antenna is 0.49 λ 0 × 0.44 λ 0 × 0.03 λ 0 $0.49{\lambda }_{0}\times 0.44{\lambda }_{0}\times 0.03{\lambda }_{0}$ . The confirmed −10 dB impedance bandwidth (IBW) and 3 dB ARBW are 11.86 GHz (3.14–15 GHz), 130% and 6.32 GHz (4.04–10.36 GHz), 87.78% along with 75 ° $75^\circ $ coverage angle. The proposed antenna is suitable for different applications in communication systems such as WLAN, WiMAX, FM CW altimeter, and satellite for C‐ and X‐ band.


This paper compares the existing estimators of stress-strength reliability under independent exponential model and also under the dependent set up when stress and strength follow Gumbel's bivariate exponential distribution.


This paper focuses on three commonly used high frequency signal injection methods including pulsating square wave injection, rotating sinusoidal injection and pulsating sinusoidal injection which are used in IPMSM sensorless drive. To assess the dynamic performance of the HF injection methods, it seems that further analysis is needed. Some effective motor parameters such as pole number, saliency ratio and saturation effect on sensorless performance are evaluated. Moreover, some drive circuit parameters including current measurement noise and time delay effect due to demodulation process and load disturbance effect are also evaluated. In this work, MTPA strategy has been used to achieve the maximum torque per ampere. Finally, effect of these parameters on sensorless performance of IPMSM drive is evaluated by MATLAB software.


Classification models, whether generated by statistical techniques or mathematical programming (MP) discriminant analysis methods, are often simplified by ad hoc formation of dichotomous categorical variables from the original variables with, for example, a dichotomous variable taking value 1 if the original variable is above a threshold level and 0 otherwise. In this paper an MP discriminant analysis method is developed for forming dichotomous categorical variables in problems with discriminant functions that are monotone in the original variables. For each of the original variables from which dichotomous variables may be formed, a set of possible threshold levels for dichotomous variable formation is defined. An MP model is then used to determine both the threshold level for forming each dichotomous variable and the associated discriminant function coefficient. The proposed MP approach is applied to a published problem and a number of simulated problem sets. It is shown that the discriminant functions in dichotomous categorical variables generated by this new MP approach can in some cases outperform the functions generated by standard MP discriminant analysis models using the original variables. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2004.


Let k -* K be a finite field extension and let us consider the automorphism scheme AutkK. We prove that AutkK is a complete k-group, i.e., it has trivial centre and any automorphism is inner, except for separable extensions of degree 2 or 6. As a consequence, we obtain for finite field extensions K1, K2 of k, not being separable of degree 2 or 6, the following equivalence: K1 K2 X AutkK1 AutkK2.


Based on monthly precipitation in the Dongjiang River Basin from 1956 to 2000,the method of EOF has been employed to analyze the temporal and spatial characteristics of precipitation.The result shows that feature of the precipitation in winter is of large scale while small scale in summer,and the spatial characteristics are changed with different time especially a large change in summer,and the obvious period of spatial characteristics has only been found in autumn in the Dongjiang River Basin.


Pregnant female rats lived in groups of 1, 2, 4, or 8 during the gestational period. Using a systematic analysis, maternal behaviors were observed from Days 2 through 16 postpartum. Both the crowded mothers and their offspring were later tested in a visual exploratory apparatus, and the offspring were also tested in social and open-field situations. The mothers were rebred shortly after termination of testing. The results indicated that the prenatal crowding affected a variety of behaviors in both the mothers and their offspring and that the effects of crowding were not transient.


The evaluation of the impact on poverty of social programs depends on how other programs are treated in the analysis and on the assumptions used for estimating poverty measures. This paper applies a simple yet sound method for allocating between various programs the total poverty reduction obtained from several programs. Estimates of program impacts are also provided for a range of equivalence scales, poverty measures, and poverty lines in both Canada and the United States. Keywords: Poverty, transfers, taxes, Canada, United States JEL Codes: H53, I38 The opinions expressed here are those of the authors and need not represent those of their organizations they work for. The …rst author has bene…tted from the support of the Bureau de la recherche of Université de Sherbrooke, from FQRSC and SSRHC. y Département d'économique and GRÉDI, Université de Sherbrooke, 2500, boulevard de l'Université, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada, J1K 2R1; Email: email@example.com. zDirection de l'analyse et du suivi des …nances publiques, Ministère des Finances du Québec,12 rue St-Louis, étage B, Québec (Québec),G1R 5L3; Courriel: yannick.therrien@…nances.gouv.qc.ca x AFTPM, Banque Mondiale, 1818 H Street, NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA, Courriel: email@example.com.


This study discusses patient-centered communication in the era of national health insurance. The next study aims to determine the supporting factors, inhibiting factors, and the doctor's communication process that is patient-centered in the JKN system in the city of Surakarta , Indonesia. This study uses a case study method with qualitative analysis that emphasizes certain cases that occur in the object of analysis. This method uses descriptive analysis with an inductive approach in analyzing data. The research subjects were BPJS primary health facilities, located in Surakarta City. The results showed that there was a patient-centered communication process in building good and effective relationships between primary health facility physicians and patients. Patient-centered communication has a very important role, as stated by Debra Roter and Judith Hall who have described a patient-centered communication model that includes four key elements and is supported by a focus on remote communication. High context communication that emphasizes the main focus on implicit, unspoken, and nonverbal messages is not explicit and verbal messages, as written in the Handbook of health communication, that the quality of interaction between patients and providers is very important for health outcomes in patients. The interaction between the service provider in the patient and the outcome of the patient determines the step of selecting the patient in the next primary health facility. At the end of the achievement, it will further determine the success of patient-centered communication, so that the relationships that occur will influence the outcome of the primary goal of primary health care services to the health of patients. Keywords: patient-centered communication, national health insurance .


This paper considers the use of composite property mappings for mapping algorithm (MA) cumulant matching. The algorithm makes use of two property mappings corresponding to rank and structure properties of a matrix consisting of MA cumulants. It is proved that these two properties are sufficient to characterise a matrix consisting of true MA cumulants. This result clearly implies that provided that convergence is achieved the composite property mapping algorithm performs some kind of cumulant matching. The issue of convergence is also discussed in the paper. Numerical results are presented to show the performance of the algorithm.


General and Miscellaneous Science and Eastern Orthodoxy: From the Greek Fathers to the Age of Glo- balization. By Efthymios Nicolaidis. Translated by Susan Emanuel. [Medi- cine, Science, and Religion in Historical Context]. (Baltimore:Johns Hopkins University Press. 2011. Pp. xx, 252. $55.00. ISBN 978-1-4214-0298-7.)Recent discussions on the relation between religion and science in various historical contexts have mitigated an earlier view, influenced by Enlightenment anticlericalism, that this encounter was generally inimical.The volume under review offers Greek-speaking Eastern Orthodoxy as an exam- ple inviting further reflection on this problem. It also partly redresses the lack of any monograph on Byzantine science (pp. 197-202), generated by a widely shared perception that Byzantium was marginal to developments in world history and that the Byzantine legacy of the entire Orthodox world (Greek, Slavic, or other) is incompatible with and obstructive to modernity. Accordingly, researching the sciences among Orthodox Christians under Ottoman rule meant measuring Greek progress toward modernity and even- tually explaining what led to the creation of a modern Greek nation-state.The Byzantine period (fourth to fifteenth century) is covered in approxi- mately 100 pages, whereas another 100 are dedicated to subsequent devel- opments among Greek-speaking orthodox Christians until the end of the twentieth century (geopolitically covering the Ottoman lands, Eastern and Western Europe, and Greece since its independence in 1830). Conceived and completed within four years (p. xii), this volume is admirably succinct. Its author, who acknowledges the difficulties generated by the dearth of existing research on the subject and the complexity of the issues involved, deserves gratitude for producing the only comprehensive reference available to schol- ars working both within and outside the fields it directly covers.The volume focuses on the aspects of science where later developments led to the so-called scientific revolution: the constitution of the world as a physical entity and its function in astronomical terms, especially planetary motion. It implicitly assumes that the definition of science and its distinction from "pseudo-science" remained stable throughout the seventeen centuries it covers and was approximately the same as the modern one.The author repeats ideas found in secondary literature instead of scruti- nizing and reformulating them. As a result, the book reproduces earlier inter- pretations of Byzantine culture abandoned by Byzantinists and occasionally includes factual errors. For example, chapter 2 contrasts the spherical uni- verse of a postulated Alexandrian school, derived from "Hellenic" sources and embraced by highbrow culture, with the flat universe of an Antiochian school based on "Asiatic" sources and propagated by monks and the lower clergy in "popular" texts such as lives of saints. This contrast is no longer ten- able, especially since what the author describes as the "popular" and "primi- tive" angelology of the Antiochian school (p. 31) is, in fact, a key ingredient of a particularly highbrow medieval endeavor: the ninth-century translations of Greek material into Arabic by Hunayn b. Ishaq and his associates, who rou- tinely rendered the ancient gods of the pagan texts as angels. This reflected a philosophical tradition embraced by both pagans and Christians in late antiquity and beyond: the derivation of cosmology from the allegorical inter- pretation of ancient mythology. The book's negative assessment of Byzantine culture during iconoclasm (seventh-ninth centuries) ignores its positive re- evaluation by recent scholarship.The account of Byzantine-Arab astrological exchanges during this period is muddled and inaccurate regarding the careers of the elusive Stephen (of Alexandria, Athens, and so forth) and Theophilos of Edessa (not a Greek Orthodox astrologer who immigrated from Byzantium to the caliphate, but a Syrian Christian born in Muslim lands and active at the court of caliph al-Mahdi). …


Referring to hierarchical linear model,the study examines the relationship between teacher quality and student academic achievement in western rural China among primary and secondary schools.The study concludes that teacher's education,teacher's experience,teacher's salary and teacher's training of primary and secondary schools in western rural China had no significant impact on student academic achievement,while teachers' certification had a significant and positive impact on student academic achievement in secondary schools,but had no significant impact on student academic achievement in primary schools.To improve teachers' quality in western rural China,we should strengthen institutional construction for rural teachers,improving teacher training system,promoting teacher certification standards,and establishing compensative institution for teachers of primary and secondary schools in poor rural areas.


5 ISSN 1758-1966 10.2217/LMT.13.75 © 2014 Future Medicine Ltd Lung Cancer Manage. (2014) 3(1), 5–7 Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) accounts for approximately 15% of all lung cancers. Approximately 70% of all newly diagnosed patients with SCLC are 60 years of age or older, and more than 30% are even more than 75 years of age [1]. Since smoking is the major risk factor for SCLC, the majority of elderly SCLC patients have serious comorbid conditions besides SCLC, especially smoking-related diseases, such as cardio vascular diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases and other cancers [2,3]. Prognosis for elderly lung cancer patients is worse compared with younger patients. The poorer prognosis for elderly patients might be explained by several factors: an increased risk of mortality due to co morbid conditions; death from cancer due to less aggressive treatment; or death due to complications of treatment. Although the prevalence of (sometimes life-limiting) comorbidity is high, increased mortality due to comorbidity is probably of less importance in the case of a lethal disease as SCLC [3,4]. Most patients die of lung cancer before they become at risk of dying from the comorbid condition. Death from (tobacco-related) comorbidity only becomes important approximately 5–7 years after diagnosis [5], meaning that this is only relevant for the very small proportion of SCLC patients who have a favorable prognosis. Since death due to comorbidity is of limited relevance among these patients, other explanations for the poorer prognosis for elderly SCLC patients probably play a greater role. Nowadays, the standard treatment for patients with limited disease SCLC who have a good performance score is concomitant chemoradiation, while for those with extensive disease chemotherapy alone is recommended (and depending on locoregional symptoms also thoracic radiotherapy). Prophylactic cranial irradiation is recommended in the case of a good response. Previous studies have shown that elderly patients with limited SCLC receive combined chemoradiation less often than younger patients [1,6–8], and elderly patients with extensive disease receive chemotherapy less often [1]. The most common motives for withholding chemotherapy in elderly


The objective of the study was to design, to investigate and to optimize non-contact fiber delivery system for different clinical applications. This system eliminate the main disadvantages both applied contact and non-contact probes, namely surface contamination with further probes thermal deterioration and large beam divergence, respectively. The main part of the proposed non-contact fiber delivery system is probe made in fused silica or synthetic sapphire which produces quasi-collimated beam with specific outside diameter and power distribution along this beam. These probes were designed for different laser clinical applications, especially for interstitial thermotherapy and photodynamic therapy. Five different types of them were manufactured by InnovaQuartz, Inc. (Phoenix, AZ, USA) and Tochpribor (Kharkiv, Ukraine). To provide comparative analysis and optimization of the optical properties of the novel fiber delivery systems with commercially available ones "steady beam distance"; "steady beam ratio" and "power density efficiency" coefficients are proposed. The improved versions of the commercial urologic devices "transurethral optical laser knife" (Mayo Clinic), TULIP (Intrasonics), UroLase (Bard), SideFire (Myriadlase), ADD (Laserscope), UltraLine (Heraeus Lasersonics), ProLase II (Cytocare) are examined. The received results could provide a tool useful to designers of noncontact fiber delivery systems intended for different clinical applications with cw and pulse lasers.


Early Japanese American literature is not just the sum total of literary works written by the first persons of Japanese descent in the United States. Nor is it just a set of texts where two pre-existing categories of "Japanese" and "American" national literature happened to overlap. Early Japanese American literature is best understood as an ideological terrain, an arena where later, taken-for-granted ideas about the boundaries of identities and literatures known as "Japanese" and "Japanese American" were first constructed.
 Due to the enduring legacies of single-nation and monolingual approaches to the study of modern literatures, only a handful of scholars have devoted serious comparative attention to the long history and formal breadth of literary production by persons of Japanese descent who traveled to or resided within the continental United States. In linguistic terms, early Japanese American literary production includes works written in Japanese, English, and other languages, such as classical Chinese, German, and Russian. In historical terms, the emergence of early Japanese American literature extends from travel narratives produced by castaways in the 1820s to the publication of full-fledged literary magazines and newspaper sections in the 1890s. In formal terms, early Japanese American literature includes literary forms that readers more familiar with European contexts might associate with early modernity, such as phrasebooks, essays on education, spiritual autobiographies, and diplomatic guides.


Objective The aim was to examine the correlations among the anatomic Cotton-Myer classification, pulmonary function tests (PFTs), and patient-perceived dyspnea or dysphonia in patients with subglottic stenosis and identify measurements accurately reflecting treatment effects. Study Design Prospective cohort study. Setting Tertiary referral center. Method Fifty-two adults receiving endoscopic treatment for isolated subglottic stenosis were consecutively included. Correlations were calculated among the preoperative Cotton-Myer scale, PFTs, the Dyspnea Index (DI), and the Voice Handicap Index. Receiver operating characteristic curves were determined for PFT, DI, and Voice Handicap Index pre- and postoperative measurements. Results The Cotton-Myer classification correlated weakly with peak expiratory flow (r = −0.35, P = .012), expiratory disproportion index (r = 0.32, P = .022), peak inspiratory flow (r = −0.32, P = .022), and total peak flow (r = −0.36, P = .01). The DI showed an excellent area under the curve (0.99, P < .001), and among PFTs, the expiratory disproportion index demonstrated the best area under the curve (0.89, P < .001), followed by total peak flow (0.88, P < .001), peak expiratory flow (0.87, P < .001), and peak inspiratory flow (0.84, P < .001). Patients treated endoscopically with balloon dilatation showed a 53% decrease in expiratory disproportion index (95% CI, 41%-66%; P < .001) and a 37% improvement in peak expiratory flow (95% CI, 31%-43%; P < .001). Conclusion Expiratory disproportion index or peak expiratory flow combined with DI was a feasible measurement for the monitoring of adult subglottic stenosis. The percentage deterioration of peak expiratory flow and increase in expiratory disproportion index correlated significantly with a proportional percentage increase in DI.


1Division of Cardiology, University of British Columbia, Canada 2PROOF Centre of Excellence, Vancouver, BC, Canada 3Royal Jubilee Hospital, Victoria, BC, Canada, BC, Canada 4Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada 5Institute for Heart + Lung Health, Vancouver, BC, Canada 6Department of Computer Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada 7Division of Respirology, University of British Columbia 8UBC Centre for Heart Lung Innovation, Vancouver, BC, Canada


Implemented 5-bit 125-MS/s successive approximation register (SAR) analog to digital converter (ADC) on FPGA is presented in this paper.The design and modeling of a high performance SAR analog to digital converter are based on monotonic capacitor switching procedure algorithm .Spartan 3 FPGA is chosen for implementing SAR analog to digital converter algorithm. SAR VHDL program writes in Xilinx and modelsim uses for showing results. Keywords—Analog to digital converter, Successive approximation, Capacitor switching algorithm, FPGA


The limitations imposed by capacitance of long cable lines upon their power transmission capabilities are generally known. Howvever, the limited relief afforded by shunt inductive reactors is not fully appreciated. Quantitative evaluations of various modes of such compensation are provided in graphs and tables for a wide range of line lengths. The advantages of high-voltage d-c transmission, as an alternative system, are also outlined with emphasis on developments necessary to improve its practicability.


IEEE 802.16, popularly known as WiMAX, is one of the most innovative methods developed in recent times to address growing demand for high-speed wireless broadband networks. In this paper, performance of a WiMAX link is evaluated in multipath fading channels. We evaluate the performance of WiMAX channels over Rayleigh and Ricean fading channel models based on various metrics which include Received Signal Strength, Throughput, Signal to noise Ratio.


INTRODUCTION:
 The NorthEast Cerebrovascular Consortium (NECC) was created in 2006 to unite health care providers, public health officials and advocacy organizations in an 8-state region to implement a Stroke Systems of Care Model.

 Hypothesis:
 Implementation of The NECC has been associated with increased participation in Get With the Guidelines - Stroke (GWTG-S) and higher performance ratings of acute care hospitals (ACH) and critical access centers (CAC).

 Methods:
 A two-tiered analysis of all ACH/CACs in The NECC region compared (1): GWTG-S participation and award trends over time in the pre (2005) and post (2006-11) NECC time periods, and (2) The NECC region compared to all other US regions from 2005-11. Analysis used US census data regions stratified as The NECC (CT, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, RI, VT) and Non-NECC regions (PA, South, Midwest, West). ACH/CACs were obtained from CMS. GWTG-S data were used for GWTG-S participation and awards (silver or higher for >1 year indicated sustained performance).

 Results:
 Over the study time period (2005-11) the ACH/CACs per year in The NECC and non-NECC regions were 442.1 + 8.2 and 3958.7 + 204.4. In The NECC region GWTG-S participation increased over time from 22.8% in 2005 to 60.7% in 2011 compared to 10.1% in 2005 to 31.0% in 2011 in non-NECC regions (both analyses p<0.0001, Cochran Armitage Trend test). GWTG-S awards increased over time in The NECC from 0.5% in 2005 to 33.4% in 2011 compared to 0.1% in 2005 to 12.0% in 2011 in non-NECC regions (both analyses p<0.0001, Cochran Armitage Trend test). After adjusting for year, significantly more NECC ACH/CACs participated in GWTG-S and received GWTG-S awards than non-NECC ACH/CACs (both analyses p<0.0001, Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel test). Among ACHs only, the trends for increased GWTG-S participation and awards over time as well as the differences between NECC vs. non-NECC regions remained significant (P<0.0001, Cochran Armitage Trend tests; p<0.0001, Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel tests).

 Conclusions:
 There has been more rapid growth of ACH/CAC participation and achievement in GWTG-S in the Northeast from 2006-11 compared to other regions. The NECC may complement and enhance existing regulatory and advocacy initiatives. Further investigation is merited evaluating regional networks.


Failure analysis (FA) plays an important role in semiconductor industry as the process technology and new packaging are continuously improved. Fault localization is a key step to narrow down the area of failed part and isolate the defective areas, which is prior to destructive failure analysis. This paper will cover some advanced fault localization techniques and tools in package and die/device level failure analysis. Case studies for those techniques will provide a good understanding and illustrate the applications.


It is known that the presence of residual gases during on-ground testing of electric propulsion thrusters can significantly influence the plasma parameters and the quantity of charge-exchange ions obtained in the backflow of the ion source. In the frame of an ESA study dedicated to the "Assessment of Interactions between Spacecraft and Electric Propulsion Systems" (AISEPS) a miniaturized μN-RIT thruster (RIT-4), developed by Giessen University, was tested in the Corona vacuum facility at the ESA Propulsion Laboratory (EPL), ESA-ESTEC. A single filament neutralizer was used for beam neutralization. The main ion beam and backflow properties of the thruster were investigated by means of Faraday probes (FP) and retarding potential analyzers (RPA). The Cathode Reference Potential (CRP) was also investigated. The background pressure in the vacuum facility was increased to assess the influence of the xenon residual neutral density on the plume of the thruster. Different electrical coupling configurations between the thruster and the ground were also studied. The μN-RIT was operated at three different thrust levels ranging from 100 to 500 μN while the neutralizer was operated with constant heating voltage during the entire test campaign to allow emission up to 12 mA depending on the electrical grounding configuration. The background pressure was increased in the main vessel of the Corona facility by injecting an auxiliary xenon flow ranging from 10 to 50 sccm. The influence of the neutralizer was clearly observed on the RPA measurements in the main ion beam. The divergence was also clearly correlated to the grounding configuration of the thruster. However, even if the xenon background pressure increased the backflow ion current it did not have a clear influence on the divergence of the thruster.


The Pao-Sah MOSFET equation is modified so that it applies when the source-body junction is forward biased. The modified equation can be separated into two components: (1) a MOSFET charge-sheet term and (2) a bipolar transistor term. The role of the two components in the variable gain of gated-lateral bipolar transistors (GL-BJT) is discussed.


The effect of viscosity on Dronpa-3 fluorescence protein kinetics is studied using time resolved flow cytometry (TRFC). Phasor analysis and Förster Hoffman relation analysis provide the basis of studying intracellular viscosity in high throughput manner.


Adipic acid was used as a pH regulator, which was added to 0.4 mol/L MEA, DEA and MDEA solvents during CO2 desorption process. It is found that when pH value of the solvents swing between 8-10, CO2 desorption rate enhanced, and energy consumption has declined obviously. This research may have reference significance on optimization of alkanolamine CO2 capture process.


The first chapter addresses the proliferation of tuberculosis in textile factories in Meiji and Taishō era Japan. These factories provided the backbone of the nation's modernization program, but so too were they rife with tuberculosis. This epidemic first affected women, as the workers in these factories were primarily young females, who were seen by many in the government as expendable necessities. There was, therefore, little to no real legal protection for such workers, many of whom would be returned, sick and dying, to their rural homes to infect and affect their villages. These women, many no older than girls, became the cost of modernization.


Abstract We report here that the efficiency of the click chemistry between the terminal azide and alkyne groups of different polymer chains could be drastically increased with the addition of an optimum amount of water into a reaction system. That is, the efficiency was only slightly promoted by the addition of a small amount of water into the reaction mixture. However, the reaction efficiency was increased dramatically near the water volume fraction to lead the reaction mixture into nanosized phase separation. Further increasing in water content caused the polymer(s) to undergo macroscopic phase separation and the click reaction efficiency was decreased once again. The enhanced efficiency of click coupling reaction including conversion and rate was also demonstrated via in-situ 1H-NMR. The reaction kinetics as well as reaction rate constant for these reaction system with typical water content were also evaluated. This finding on enhanced click reaction is of practical value, because click reactions in polymer synthesis are generally more difficult to be carried out and proceed relative slowly at low yield in most case because of the strong steric hindrance effect from "large and long" polymer chains, as compared to "click" reactions which are employed for preparation of the low molecular weight organic compounds.


McCarl and Nelson (MCN) give me the opportunity to reaffirm the importance of dealing properly with multiple optimal solutions in linear programming (LP) and to clarify several misconceptions that still linger on with regard to this topic. McCarl, who is the author of the only empirical work to be found in the literature on multiple optimal solutions, takes issue with my statement that "all empirical studies using LP have neglected the consequences of this aspect of mathematical programming." Because I cited this rare article in the original note, my statement is not contradictory. Although MC discusses multiple optimal solutions, his procedure is intended to circumvent what he perceives as a difficulty, rather than the opportunity to improve the realism, of the LP solution. In the context I proposed, a researcher should not avoid multiple optimal solutions (as, by means of perturbation procedures, McCarl suggested in his note), but rather seek them out as a measure of the informational content of his empirical problem. While I can easily emend my statement to reaccount for McCarl's work, I find it more difficult and indeed impossible to accept MCN's proposition that, "Actually, there have been many papers which deal with this situation." One of their quotes is Schurle and Erven, who investigate the sensitivity of risk frontiers by recomputing the solution after excluding an enterprise activity. This peculiar procedure may seem of interest to MCN as a way to gain some insight of the empirical problem. For one good reason, however, I would not classify this paper under the heading of multiple optimal solutions in LP. In fact, by eliminating one activity at a time, the structure of the various problems solved by Schurle and Erven is not the same. Indeed, these authors exhibit an attitude toward multiple optimal solutions which is similar to that of MCN. They write: "The usefulness and uniqueness of frontiers as a decision aid would be reduced substantially if these near optimal solutions include substantially different enterprise combinations" (p. 506). I can easily agree that in the presence of alternative quasi-optimal solutions, the uniqueness of frontiers may be destroyed. But there is no reason to think that the usefulness of those frontiers as decision aids will be diminished when alternative solutions include different enterprise combinations. Personally, I take the opposite view: alternative optimal solutions with substantially different enterprise combinations convey a great deal of information about the problem's structure. One only needs to adapt the procedure properly for decision making to account for this richness of information. Surprisingly, MCN suggest that multiple objective and goal programming are methods to study alternative optimal solutions in LP. I must disagree since multiple objective programming is a rather different animal from LP, and goal programming (when linear) may or may not exhibit multiple optimal solutions. Furthermore, MCN have cited LP bibliographies but, except for the McCarl's note I originally quoted, they have failed to point out another paper dealing empirically with multiple optimal solutions in LP.


LFY genes are in rucial position in plants flower meristematic tissue formation to maintain the normal function of meristematic tissue of flowers,flowering and prevent the reversal.LFY genes need other flowering genes interact to form a network of gene regulation,and when any gene is inactive,the other gene's function will be part of the compensation.LFY gene expression is affected by carbon addition,plant hormones and other factors.In this paper,authors review the domestic and overseas research progress of the LFY gene and homologous gene,and focus on function,expression and their impact factors of genes in plants flower development,and expect its applications.


Traffic violations are familiar things on the highway. For road users who commit traffic violations will be given sanctions such as reprimands, warnings or given a ticket. The speeding ticket is a medium for the police to write fines and violations against road users who commit traffic violations. In this modern era ideas and ideas have emerged to develop a system or application that can facilitate the performance, needs and human activities through an intermediary smartphone. E-ticketing is a digitization of the manual ticketing process that fills offenders data on the ticketing sheet. The e-ticket helps the police in the ticketing process by entering data in the application, utilizing the Firebase Realtime Database technology through smartphone intermediaries. The purpose of this study is to create a traffic violator or E-ticketing system using the Firebase Realtime Database technology. Then provide attachments to offenders in the form of notifications through the E-ticket application, and assist the police in an effort to deal with traffic offenders. The results of this study showed 80.5% of respondents rated the Application of Firebase Realtime Database on the Android-based Smartphone Mobile E-Ticket Application in accordance with the needs of the police in carrying out the ticketing process.


The invention provides single-nozzle color feeding method and device for a 3D (Three-Dimensional) printer. The method comprises the following steps: determining a demand amount of bar-type pigment sections with various colors and a printing sequence of all the bar-type pigment sections according to a 3D model; cutting the bar-type pigment sections into a corresponding length according to the demand amount of the bar-type pigment sections with various colors; sequentially conveying the cut bar-type pigment sections into a color pigment pipeline connected with a nozzle of the 3D printer according to the printing sequence of all the bar-type pigment sections; pushing the bar-type pigment sections in the color pigment pipeline to the nozzle of the 3D printer for 3D printing. With the adoption of the method provided by the invention, a single-nozzle printing color 3D model can be realized by using the existing single-nozzle printer, so that the defect that the single-nozzle printer only can print in one color b can be overcome; or the single-nozzle printing color 3D model can be realized by using one nozzle of the existing multi-nozzle printer, so that the defect that the multi-nozzle printer has less printing colors due to few nozzles can be overcome.


Introduction Pheromonal signals provide specific information concerning the identity, gender, endocrine, and social status of different members of the population in a variety of mammals [1;2]. Pheromones have been found in saliva, skin gland secretions, and urine. For example, pheromones in urine excreted from male and female rats induce various changes in gonadal functions such as reflex ovulation in the absence of coitus and mounting, a reduction in the oestrous cycle of female rats from 5 to 4 days, and oestrous synchrony among female rats living together. The vomeronasal system is a chemosensory system for receiving pheromones organized in parallel with the main olfactory system in most terrestrial


: The aim of this study is to evaluate acute toxicity and antioxidant potential of bark from Faidherbia albida (Del.) A. Chev. ( Mimosaceae ). The bark of Faidherbia albida is used in traditional medicine in Burkina Faso to treat broncho-pulmonary infections that are cough-related. Aqueous decoction of the bark, which is the form of use recommended by traditional healers, was used for the tests. Acute toxicity was studied in NMRI strain mice. Antioxidant activity was evaluated by the method of reduction of DPPH radical. The aqueous extracts were not toxic at the maximum dose of 2 000 mg/kg of body weight. The extracts presented antioxidant activity with an IC which was 8µg /ml. The extracts showed no bacterial activity on three 50 strains of bacteria tested: Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus . Phytochemicals compounds that we have identified are alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins and phenolics compounds, triterpenoids and steroids


My unshaven cheek rolls away from its safe resting place in my palm, jerking me back into a state I can best describe as 'awake'. I rub what I now know to be my proximal interphalangeal joints around what I now know to be my orbital cavities and quietly panic as I try to recite the muscles and nerves I'm using. I glance briefly at the clock behind me, taking a moment to focus as the fuzzy red blotches become legible numbers. 2:14. In front of me, a copy of Harrison's lies open, accompanied by a half empty mug of lukewarm coffee and a small pool of what I now know came mostly from my submandibular salivary glands. Much criticism has been leveled at the working conditions that doctors are exposed to. Self-neglect through sleep deprivation or excessive stress is of increasing concern within the medical profession. Justifiably so, given their potential to impair doctors' personal wellbeing and compromise patient care. Despite these potentially catastrophic outcomes, self-neglect remains entrenched within the profession. The adaptive responses to the academic demands of medical school may help account for this, as self-neglect becomes habitual within this 'safe' context where patients' wellbeing is not immediately threatened. Indeed, through sleep deprivation, exposure to emotional exhaustion, and risky alcohol use, medical school can be seen to normalise self-neglect, entwining it throughout the medical profession. THE MODERN DOCTOR The stereotypical modern doctor is a goal-oriented figure who absolutely prioritises their patients and their career to the exclusion of all else, including their personal wellbeing. One American study indicated that doctors routinely work between 60 to 130 hours per week during their residency, in


Objective: To investigate if caries in the pre-treatment early mixed dentition is associated with caries development in the permanent dentition during orthodontic treatment. Material and Methods: We included 41 consecutive patients (29 girls, 12 boys) with a pre-treatment documentation in the mixed (mean age 9.4 years) and a post treatment documentation in the permanent dentition (age 14.9 years) (two-phased treatment time 4.5 (±1.6) years). The DMFT/S indices were calculated. High-risk and low-risk groups were defined according to dmfs + DMFS score before treatment. Results: Initial dmft/s + DMFT/S (SD) was 5.15 (3.60) and 8.32 (6.64); final DMFT/S was 2.76 (2.84) and 3.01 (3.20). The missing (because of decay) second deciduous molars were most powerfully associated with caries increment during treatment, showing significant correlations to second premolars (r = 0.47, p = 0.003), while fillings on second deciduous molars seem to influence the prevalence of fillings on permanent molars (r = 0.44, p = 0.001). The increment at surface level was 2.01 (2.61) in the whole sample and 2.60 (3.81) in the high-risk group (4 boys, 6 girls). Compared to the low-risk group (10 girls), post-treatment caries experience was significantly higher in the high-risk group (p = 0.029). Boys were more at risk than girls (p = 0.005). Conclusions: Children with elevated caries experience in the early mixed dentition are exposed to higher caries risk during orthodontic treatment. Thus, in prevision of treatment, caries should already be assessed in the mixed dentition, so that an extended prophylaxis program can be initiated.


Adults oysters (Crassostrea virginica) were exposed to TBT at concentrations of 0 (control), 50, 100, 500, and 1000 ng/l for 8 weeks, Initially of indeterminate sex, all were sexually mature after 2 weeks at 25°C at all TBT concentrations and remained mature throughout the study. Gametes obtained by stripping were mature and generally fertilizable when crossed with gametes from a reference population. The only effect observed which was attributable to TBT was mortality in the high exposure concentration following a brief elevation in concentration due to a failure of water flow.


The reaction C(3PJ)+C2H4(X 1A1)→C3H3+H(2S1/2) has been studied using complementary crossed molecular beam techniques. Integral cross sections have been obtained in the range of relative translational energies ET=0.49–24.9 kJ mol−1 in experiments conducted with pulsed supersonic beams coupled with laser-induced fluorescence detection of H(2S1/2) atoms. The major reaction pathway leading to HCCCH2 (propargyl)+H has been found without any barrier, with relative integral cross sections that are proportional to (ET)−0.60±0.03 below 8 kJ mol−1. Threshold for a minor pathway, leading also to H formation, occurs around 6 kJ mol−1; the relative importance of this second pathway increases with relative translational energy. Differential cross sections have been obtained at three relative translational energies: ET=9.1, 17.2, and 30.8 kJ mol−1 in experiments conducted with continuous supersonic molecular beams coupled with universal mass spectrometric detection and time-of-flight analysis. At the lowest ET of 9.1 kJ...


Since it first became available penicillin has been, and probably remains, the antibiotic of choice in the treatment of gonorrhoea. In recent years, however, the recognition of treatment failures due to less sensitive strains of N. gonorrhoeae (Medical Research Council Working Party Report, 1961) and the increasing risk of serious hypersensitivity reactions in patients given penicillin for a relatively benign infection, have encouraged venereologists to examine the value of other antibiotics in gonorrhoea. Streptomycin is no alternative because many strains of N. gonorrhoeae are now highly resistant and toxic reactions to this antibiotic, although not fatal, can be troublesome. Oral therapy finds no favour with the venereologist whose patients are ambulant and often cannot be relied upon to take pills as prescribed. An injectable tetracycline phosphate (Panmycin) was tried, but pain occurred at the injection site in a third of the patients and daily injection for 2 days was


This data verification program, data verification method and data verification device can increase and output the reliability level of information to be included in a document. This data verification program performs processing (134) on a computer (100) for specifying the reliability level of one site, from which information has been acquired as specific information, out of multiple sites which registered as sources for acquiring the specific information, wherein the reliability level of the site is specified on the basis of the storage content of a storage unit (120) that stores reliability levels associated with each of the multiple sites. Further, this data verification program performs processing (135) on the computer for outputting, together with the specified reliability level, information acquired as the specific information.


Spasticity treatment remains an urgent problem of modern neurorehabilitation. The targeted injection of botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) into the muscle motor points (MPs) is gaining more and more popularity. But there are insufficient data on the position of MPs, while a MP search methodology has not been worked out yet. Most information about MPs has been obtained on cadaveric material using anatomical dissection or Sihler's staining technique. Clinical data on the targeted injection of BoNT into the MPs are contradictory, which may be due to the inaccurate determination of their position.Objective: to verify upper and lower limb muscle MPs through electromyography (EMG).Patients and methods. Forty healthy volunteers were examined and underwent anthropometric assessment. Upper and lower limb muscle projections were completely scanned using EMG and ultrasound.Results and discussion. The anatomical localization of MPs in the upper and lower limb muscles involved in spasticity patterns was determined. The position of MPs was found to populationally identical, to have a slight deviation associated with the limb length, and to be unrelated to gender, age, and limb dominance. Original tables and maps for limb MP localization were created.Conclusion. The findings can enhance the efficiency of BoNT administration and improve the quality of rehabilitation measures, since the use of reliable information on the position of MPs will allow targeted BoNT injection in the immediate vicinity of the site of biological action. In clinical practice, this opens a window of opportunity for the early initiation of rehabilitation measures aimed at restoring movement.


Electron microscopic observations of THP-1iE (an etoposide-resistant human monocytic leuhaemia cell line) showed a remarkable change of mitochondrial structure. Mitochondria were swollen and cristae were relatively intact. There was no difference in the activity of cytochrome oxidase, an enzyme which contains three subunits coded by mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) between THP-l/E and THP-1 (the parent cell of THP-l/E). No measurable quantitative change of mitochondrial RNA was observed, but the level of mtDNA in THP-l/E was increased by a factor of about 4 compared with that of mtDNA in THP-1. These results suggest that, on acquisition of resistance to etoposide, some factors affect mitochondria, change its morphology and amplii its DNA.


Protein kinase C θ (PKCθ) is expressed in NK cells, but its functional role has not been defined. Here, we demonstrate involvement of PKCθ in IL‐12‐induced NK cell IFN‐γ production. NK cells from PKCθ−/− mice produced less IFN‐γ in response to IL‐12 than those from wild‐type (WT) mice. IL‐12‐induced NK cell cytotoxicity was unaffected, and NK cells from PKCθ−/− mice did not display reduced IFN‐γ production in response to IL‐18, indicating a specific role for PKCθ in IL‐12‐induced IFN‐γ production. Under the conditions tested, T cells did not produce IFN‐γ in response to IL‐12 or affect the ability of NK cells to produce the cytokine. PKCθ deficiency did not affect NK cell numbers, granularity, viability, or cytotoxic activity in response to polyinosinic:polycytydylic acid. NK cells from PKCθ−/− mice exhibited normal expression of IL‐12Rβ1 and STAT4 proteins and normal induction of STAT4 phosphorylation in response to IL‐12. Phosphorylation of threonine 538 within the catalytic domain of PKCθ was detectable in NK cells from WT mice but was not enhanced by IL‐12. Transcription of IFN‐γ increased similarly in NK cells from WT and PKCθ−/− mice in response to IL‐12, and there was no difference in IFN‐γ mRNA stability. Taken together, these findings indicate a role for PKCθ in the post‐transcriptional regulation of IL‐12‐induced IFN‐γ production.


Chinais privatization programme was initiated in April 1984 through the State Economic Reform Commission for a gradual transfer of operational control and financial claims over state assets. Yet, after more than twenty yearsi reform process of privatisation, the state continues to be the controlling shareholder by holding majority of stocks in many eprivatizedi companies. The fast-growth economy has created a favourable environment for the private economy to flourish, particularly in real estate sector that has experienced a prolonged boom since 2000. The paper examines the comparative financial performance of Chinese listed property companies in an attempt to assess influence of different ownership structures to performance. The study uses the data of all of the 52 listed property companies on Chinais stock markets, Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange, from 2000 to 2005 to investigate two issues. Initially the research identifies the ownership structure by tracing the ultimate owner, and differentiates them as State Owned Enterprises (SOE) and Private Owned Enterprises (POE). The determinants of the different ownership are also investigated. The business performance of the property companies with different ownership is further analysed and the factors such as the size, sales, efficiency in asset utilization, capital structure, productivity and managerial incentive are investigated.


For field theories with a topological charge Q, it is often of interest to measure the topological susceptibility chi_t = ( - ^2 ) / V. If we manage to perform a Monte Carlo simulation where Q changes frequently, chi_t can be evaluated directly. However, for local update algorithms and fine lattices, the auto-correlation time with respect to Q tends to be extremely long, which invalidates the direct approach. Nevertheless, the measurement of chi_t is still feasible, even when the entire Markov chain is topologically frozen. We test a method for this purpose, based on the correlation of the topological charge density, as suggested by Aoki, Fukaya, Hashimoto and Onogi. Our studies in non-linear sigma-models yield accurate results for chi_t, which confirm that the method is applicable. Unfortunately, for increasing volume the wanted signal gets rapidly suppressed, and this method requires huge statistics.


In this paper, we formulate the recommendation problem as a hybrid combination of one-class classification with collaborative filtering. Specifically, we decompose the recommendation problem into a two-level cascade scheme. In the first level, only desirable items are selected for each user from the large amount of all possible items, taking into account only a small portion of his/her available preferences. This is achieved via a one-class classification scheme trained only with positives examples, i.e. only with desirable items for which users have provided a rating value. In the second level, a collaborative filtering approach is applied to assign a rating degree to the items identified at the first level. The efficiency of our approach is analyzed theoretically in terms of best/worst case scenarios and respective lower/upper mean absolute error (MAE) bounds are computed. Moreover, our approach is experimentally tested against pure collaborative and cascade content-based approaches. The results show that our approach outperforms them in terms of MAE and, moreover, the experimental MAE is close to the theoretical lower bound corresponding to the best case scenario. The superiority of our approach is due to the existence of the one class classifier in the first level of the cascade.