Tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and lymphotoxin (LT or TNF-β) are cytokines, best known for their cytotoxic or cytostatic effects on some tumour cells. They are structurally related, compete for a common receptor, and are potent inducers of similar biological responses. TNF-α and LT appear to have distinct three-dimensional structures because they differ greatly in their sensitivity to various proteases and chemical agents, and antibodies raised against one cytokine do not cross-react with the other cytokine. The closely linked TNF-α and LT genes are independently regulated since many cell types produce only TNF-α or LT. Expression of the TNF-α gene can be controlled either at the transcriptional or at the post-transcriptional level. In some cell types, TNF-α and LT induce qualitatively or quantitatively different biological responses, and LT can antagonize the action of TNF-α. The disparate biological activities of TNF-α and LT may be related to their different interactions with a common receptor. It is possible that TNF-α and LT have different physiological roles.


Observation of argyrophilic endocrine cells (AEC) in the digestive system of Rice-paddy eel ( Pisodonophis boro , Hamilton, 1822), an economically important fish, was first examined. The existence of AEC was clearly detected along the digestive system, except for the posterior intestine by the Grumelius silver staining method. Two types of AEC (closed-type cell and open-type cell) were classified and observed within the mucosal layer. The closed-type cell was small and spherical in shape, whereas the open-type cell was triangular or elongated. The AECs in the stomach were detected in both the mucosal layer and the gastric gland, which were higher in abundance than that in the esophagus. The highest numbers of AEC were observed in the anterior intestine, whereas it was not observed in the posterior intestine. In addition, several granules in the hepatocyte and some cells in Langerhan's islets in the pancreas positively reacted with this method. The results indicated that the diges tive tract and especially the anterior intestine may be the main site of AEC relating to the production of digestive hormones.


"G-BOOK" is one of the world's most advanced information services, integrating vehicles and IT. Toyota commercialized the G-BOOK in October 2002, and it has been used in Japan ever since. Undergoing a model change in May 2005, services unique to cars were enhanced, in addition to further functional advances. This paper will outline the new services and applications provided in the latest G-BOOK, as well as the supporting technology.


A reflection-type space-division optical switch is theoretically proposed and experimentally demonstrated based on the electrically tuned Goos–Hänchen effect in a symmetrical metal-cladding waveguide which employs the PMN–PT ceramics as the guiding layer. Owing to the high sensitivity of the ultrahigh-order modes, the variation of refractive index and thickness induced by the exertion of the controlled voltage on the PMN–PT ceramics will easily give rise to a change in the position of the reflected light. In the experiment, a three-pinhole array is put in the reflected light path and a one-to-three optical switch is achieved. The switching time for 10%–90% light intensity change and the optical crosstalk are measured to be lower than 1.63 μs and −29 dB, respectively. Since the Goos–Hänchen shift can reach approximately 1 mm, the number of output ports can be further increased on condition that the utilized incident light has a smaller spot diameter.


This study examines how perceived physical office environment features affect occupants' creativity through positive moods. Based on a sample of 181 occupants in open-plan offices, we found that perceived spatial organization features had a positive relationship with occupants' self-assessed creativity, and this relationship is mediated by positive moods. Although perceived architectonic details of the physical work environment do not have a direct effect on occupants' creativity, there is also a mediating effect through positive moods. A further examination revealed that activated positive mood significantly mediates the relationship between both physical work environment features and occupants' creativity, whereas deactivated positive mood was not significant as a mediator. When occupants perceived the physical work environment to be supportive in providing various workspaces and is well decorated, it is most likely to enhance creativity.


InSn seedlayers for Co∕Pd multilayered media were engineered using dopants (Pd, O) to achieve grain size of 7.8±1.8nm(σ=23%) and virgin magnetic cluster size of less than 65nm. HN=−5kOe and Hc=12.2kOe make this media promising for extremely high-density recording. These parameters were all realized with room-temperature depositions without annealing. Media with O-doped 2‐nm InSn seedlayers without other adhesion layers achieved Hc=6.2kOe, which will be beneficial in reducing spacing loss. There is evidence that the engineered seedlayers also reduce the anisotropy dispersion and therefore the switching field distributions of these media.


This paper analyzed the spatial distribution characteristic of rural residents with unsafe drinking water in China,which was resulted from several factors including natural water quality with excessive drinking water standard,polluted water,water shortage and low insurance probability. Results show that water quality with excessive drinking water standard,including naturally unqualified water quality and man-made pollution,is the biggest problem,and the unsafe population accounts for 70% of the total unsafe population,however,there is a difference of extent in the eastern,central and western parts of China,being 78%,76% and 58% respectively. The remaining unsafe population is due to deficient water quantity,low insurance probability and inconvenient water taking. The ratio of total unsafe rural population to total rural population in the western,central and eastern parts of China is respectively 40%,35% and 27%. According to these,we inferred the problems' trait of safe drinking water in different areas. Furthermore,we analyzed the causes which form high-fluorin water,the high-arsenic water and bitter and salty water,and discussed the main factors which influence safe drinking water.


Objective: To observe the effect of combination of TCM and western medicine on acute ischemic stroke and on serum super sensitive c-reactive protein(hs-CRP),blood rheological indexes.Methods:A total of 180 cases with ischemic stroke were randomly divided into combination treatment(experimental group) and western medicine group(control group),with 90 cases in each group.Patients in experimental group had TCM and acupuncture therapy on the basis of conventional western medicine treatment;patients in control group had conventional western medicine treatment and early rehabilitation exercise.All patients had treatment for 14 d.The course included three sections: 7 d before and after treatment,and 14 d after treatment.United States national institutes of health stroke scale(NIHSS) scores score,modified Rankin scale(MRS) score,blood rheological indexes and serum hs-CRP level were measured and compared.Results:NIHSS score and modified Rankin score was significantly improved after treatment in the experimental group,and the difference was significant as compared with the control group(P0.01).Blood rheological indexes and serum hs-CRP level was significantly improved after treatment in two groups,and the improvement was more significant in experimental group(P0.01).Conclusion:The combination of TCM and western medicine therapy can improve acute ischaemic stroke nerve function defect,reduce acute ischaemic stroke serum hs-CRP level,improve blood dynamic state,and improve the prognosis of patients.


We introduce and prove some new interval oscillation criteria for a general class of forced second-order differential equations (E):\ \ \big(r(t)k_1(x, x')\big)'+p(t)k_2(x, x')x'+q(t)f(x)= e(t), \ t\geq t_0, where the functions $k_1(u, v)$, $k_2(u, v)$ and $f(u)$ satisfy some general conditions. Our interval oscillation criteria and their proofs are different than previously published ones, and it is based on (i): a construction of a global supersolution of the generalized Riccati differential equation $(R)$: $\omega'=A_1(t)|\omega(t)|^\beta+A_2(t)|\omega(t)| ^{;\delta};+B(t)$, $t\geq T$, by using the classic Riccati transformation of a nonoscillatory solution of the main equation $(E)$, on (ii): a construction of a pair of local subsolutions of equation $(R)$ under a new oscillatory condition on the coefficients of the main equation $(E)$ and on (iii): a pointwise comparison principle between all sub- and supersolutions of equation $(R)$.


Cross-modal learning tries to find various types of heterogeneous data (e.g., image) from a given query (e.g., text). Most cross-modal algorithms heavily rely on semantic labels and benefit from a semantic-preserving aggregation of pairs of heterogeneous data. However, the semantic labels are not readily obtained in many real-world applications. This paper studies the aggregation of these pairs unsupervisedly. Apart from lower pairwise correspondences that force the data from one pair to be close to each other, we propose a novel concept, referred as groupwise correspondences, supposing that each paired heterogeneous data are from an identical latent group. We incorporate this groupwise correspondences into canonical correlation analysis (CCA) model, and seek a latent common subspace where data are naturally clustered into several latent groups. To simplify this nonconvex and nonsmooth problem, we introduce a nonnegative orthogonal variable to represent the soft group membership, then two coupled computationally efficient subproblems (a generalized ratio-trace problem and a non-negative problem) are alternatively minimized to guarantee the proposed algorithm converges locally. Experimental results on two benchmark datasets demonstrate that the proposed unsupervised algorithm even achieves comparable performance to some state-of-the-art supervised cross-modal algorithms.


features of the photonuclear giant resonance. Data are presented in tabular form for all nuclei where measurements have been made. ln additlon, a comprehensive, annotated data index and bibliography are given which cover experimental data for the field of photonuclear reactions published in scientific and technical journals in the period from 1955 through 1972. Organized by element and isotope, each entry in the index is for a specific reaction reported in a given reference. Information is given on the type of measurement, excitation energies studied, source type and energies, detector type, and angular ranges covered for each reaction entry. (auth)


The generation of 300 mW of single frequency CW output from a Tm,Ho:YLF laser at room temperature is reported. The line narrowing element used was a single 100 /spl mu/m thick solid etalon, which, via angle tuning, allowed the laser to operate on discrete single frequencies in the wavelength range 2.063-2.067 /spl mu/m.


The main aim of this paper is to empirically test at market level, the investors' differential reaction to information, contribution of their confidence level and adaptive behaviour to excessive market volatility in Indian stock market.,The Bivariate Vector Autoregression and Impulse Response Analysis are used to study whether investors over/under-react to private and public information. EGARCH models are used to study the contribution of investors' over/under-confidence and adaptive behaviour to excessive market volatility.,The investors over-react to private information and under-react to public information during pre-crash period, become overconfident and contribute to excessive volatility. They under-react to both private and public information during after-crash period, become under-confident and also conform to adaptive market hypothesis (AMH).,The empirical results of the study can help investors to minimize the negative impact of over/under-confidence on their expected utility.,The investors shall perform a post-analysis of investment, become aware of their past behavioural mistakes and start adapting to changing market conditions. This shall move the markets towards a new equilibrium in long run thus conforming AMH. However, the investors sometimes display an apparently irrational behaviour during this process.,To the best of the author's knowledge, this is the first study at market level data examining investors' over/under-reaction, over/under-confidence and adaptive behaviour in the context of stock market crash.


Ophiomyia lantanae (Froggatt) and the Calycomyza lantanae Frick were recorded from Lantana camara L. in Chuuk Islands. Both of these agromyzids are native to tropical Americas and were not intentionally introduced and this is the sec- ond report of fortuitous introduction of natural enemies of L. camara in to the Chuuk State possibly from Pohnpei State within the Federal States of Micronesia. Lantana camara L. (Verbenaceae) was introduced to Micronesia probably as an orna- mental plant. It is a native to the neotropical region and it has become a serious invasive weed in most of the tropical and subtropical countries in Africa, Asia and Oceania. It forms bushes and several bushes coalesce to form thickets. It grows in low islands of atolls to higher volcanic islands in the Pacific. In spite of its invasive properties it has been exten- sively used in the ornamental horticulture throughout the world. Holm et al (1977) consider it as one of top ten noxious weeds in the world. Since the beginning of the last century, biological control has been attempted in many parts of the world with varying degrees of success as different cultivars display differences in susceptibility to insect herbivores (Perkins and Swezey, 1924; Ramachandra Rao, 1920; Waterhouse and Norris, 1987). Schreiner (1989) reported the absence of records of insects sent to Chuuk for biological control of lantana. However, Denton et al. (1991) reported the establishment of Teleonemia scrupulosa Stal (Hemiptera: Tingidae), Uroplata girardi Pic. (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), Lantanophaga pusillidactyla Walker (Lepidoptera: Pterophoridae), Salbia haemorrhoidalis Guenee (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) and Epinotia lantana (Busck) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) and suggested that these insects were possibly introduced fortuitously from Pohnpei. In this paper we report further fortuitous establishment of two additional natural enemies in the Chuuk State. In November 2002, one of the authors (RM) conducted a survey of L. camara natural enemies in the island of Wenu, Chuuk State of the Federal States of Micronesia and found establishment of the lantana seedfly, Ophiomyia lantanae (Froggatt) (Diptera: Agromyzidae) and the lantana leaf blotch minor, Calycomyza lantanae Frick (Diptera: Agromyzidae) in addition to the occurrence of all the natural enemies recorded by Denton et al. (1991). In November 2002 only a few plants were infested by T. scrupulosa near the village Peniesene. Both adults and larvae of U. girardi were found on lantana plants growing in the shades of trees at Tunuuk. Other natural enemies reported by Denton et al. (1991) were found in low numbers throughout the Weno island wherever lantana was present. The lantana seedfly, O. lantanae was introduced to Pohnpei from Hawaii in 1948 (Bryan, 1949). Denton et al. (1991) who surveyed lantana natural enemies in Micronesia confirmed


Bone status has not been comprehensively studied in chronic heart failure (CHF). In CHF men, we evaluated bone status, bone loss over time, and their clinical and hormonal determinants.


Abstract We use a discrete-time stochastic hybrid system (dtSHS) to model a networked control system where measures and control signals are exchanged via a single-hop wireless communication channel affected by slow fading. We apply an abstraction algorithm to approximate the infinite dimensional dtSHS as a finite dimensional Markov Decision Process (MDP), and combine standard optimization methods over MDPs and stochastic model checking algorithms to perform power control in order to minimize the energy consumption while satisfying probabilistic safety constraints. We use error bounds on the approximation error induced by the abstraction to validate the effectiveness of the control policy designed over the MDP, when applied to the original dtSHS model.


The optical integrity and the metabolism of the eye depend on the exchange of substances between the blood vessels of the eye and the ocular chambers. The present paper considers the exchange of 3 ions in particular, i.e., sodium, chloride and bicarbonate, in the eye, with particular reference to the role of diffusion and active transport in determining the ionic composition of the various ocular fluids.


Thousands of writers have set their novels in New York City and several anthologies of New York writings have been published recently, establishing the city as a central element in American literature. Considering the particular genre of detective fiction, this is also the case, so to speak. Our contemporary world, mostly urban, has led to a major shift in the genre towards increasing uncertainty and doubt about the traditional detective hero's ability to cope with such a harsh environment. He used to stand as a reassuring heroic figure against the historic background inherited after WWII and then the Cold War and the Vietnam War. Then followed an era of increasing terrorism, globalization and generalized scare; September 11 came as the ultimate manifestation of this threat. In this context, detective fiction mostly evolved towards a much darker path - thriller or noir – whereas other authors created a new branch of the genre by mixing detective fiction patterns with a metaphysical questioning of our contemporary existence - metaphysical detective fiction - which can be illustrated by writers from very different horizons, such as Paul Auster in his New York Trilogy, Jerome Charyn and his Isaac Sidel series or Jonathan Lethem's Motherless Brooklyn. All three have in common their renewal of the detective genre and their deep attachment to New York. The city is the main protagonist of their detective fiction: omnipresent and omnipotent, New York plays a capital role in the narration and stands as a genuine participant in the plot.


Background The use of Autologous Fat Grafting (AFG) in surgical procedures of the female breast has gained enormous international interest over the last decade with indications ranging from aesthetic augmentation to the treatment of postmastectomy-pain-syndromes and breast-reconstructions. One of the most important unanswered questions remains that of oncological-safety, with an almost equal sum of clinical- and basic-science-studies suggesting oncological-safety and an increased risk of oncological recurrence respectively. In this paper the authors aim to provide a comprehensive overview of the overwhelming data currently available on the subject of oncological-safety after AFG for (breast) reconstructive purposes. Method An extensive literature search was performed using the following databases; PubMed, Embase.com, Wiley/Cochrane Library and Web of Science. Original studies reporting on AFG for (breast) reconstructive purposes were included and a tabulated overview of data regarding oncological-safety from either a clinical- or basic-science point-of-view are provided. Results Thirty-five and twenty-one basic-science- and clinical-studies reported on oncological safety respectively. Thirty-one basicscience-studies described the carcinogenic effects of AFG with most reporting the effects of adipocyte-derived-stemcells in stimulating growth, migration, neo-vascularisation, self-renewal or metastatic-capabilities of different breast-cancer-cell-lines through various pathways. A meta-analysis of clinical-studies on oncological-safety after cancer treatment and breast reconstruction with AFG in a total of 2953 patients reported a locoregional-recurrence-rate of 2.5% and a distant-recurrencerate of 2.0% with no difference between mastectomy and breastconserving-therapy patients (p=0.69). However, a significant higher number of locoregional recurrences compared to a control group were found in two sub-cohorts of intra-epithelial neoplasms. Conclusion It is clear that more scientific data from both basic science studies using clinical breast cancer samples with representable ASC concentrations as well as clinicalstudies, preferably RCT's, with a clear distinction between breast cancer types and the recurrence risk after breast-conserving therapy are needed in order to make clear assumptions about oncological safety of AFG.


The utility model discloses a controller interface extension application device. The device is arranged in a control system, a PLC input portion comprises a platform handle operating circuit and a rotary table handle operating circuit, and a PLC output portion comprises a lifting and lowering solenoid valve circuit and an extending and retracting solenoid valve circuit. The device is characterized in that a first relay is connected into the platform operating circuit, a second relay is connected into the rotary table operating circuit, a normally-closed contact of first relay is serially connected between a rotary table operating handle horizontal axis action signal and a PLC input interface, another the normally-closed contact of first relay is serially connected between a SA2 vertical axis action signal and a PLC input interface, a normally-closed contact of the second relay is serially connected between a platform operating handle horizontal axis action signal and PLC input interface, and a normally-closed contact the second relay is serially connected between a SA3 vertical axis action signal and a PLC input interface. The rotary table handle and platform handle horizontal axis action signals are connected to a same interface of a PLC controller, and the rotary table handle and platform handle vertical axis action signals are connected to a same interface of the PLC controller.


interdependence. Some themes, of course, stand out by the very frequency of their recurrence. In Volume IV, for instance, there is the recurrent theme of optical uses for conic sections. Clagett conjectures that concentration on this theme explains the failure to develop the material inherited by the Middle Ages from Archimedes and Eutocius on conic sections. (The main exceptions have already been mentioned -namely the two slender anonymous tracts and the work of Johann Werner.) There is clearly much more to be extracted from Clagett's splendid work than he extracts, but not immediately. It is a chart of an isolated part of an as yet dark continent. It will be drawn upon by future generations in the same way as his Science of Mechanics in the Middle Ages has been drawn upon. In the late sixteenth century Archimedes was a name to be set alongside Aristotle's. In the Middle Ages it was not. We now know pretty accurately how the change came about; but the history of mathematics in the late Middle Ages is concerned with much more than this question, and Archimedes in the Middle Ages is one of the most useful of potential sources of information on the broader issues. Its fate, like that of the medieval Archimedes, is something that only time will decide. J. D. NORTH


Children need numerous opportunities and lots of space to explore moving at different speeds and discover how their bodies work. In this way, they will gradually become more aware of the space and other children around them and how to move safely, especially at high speed.


We isolated a new baculovirus—Pavoenerin orient Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus (PoNPV). The polyhedral IBs range in size from 1.06—2.42μm. The virions are rod-shoped, approximately 385×55μm. The rate of death was 95%when P.orient laraves were infected with PoNPV.


Purpose: To examine the influence of product diversification on financial performance of microfinance institutions in Nairobi County, Kenya.
Methodology: The study applied descriptive research design during the collection of data. The study's target population was 14 microfinance banks. The sample size was selected using simple random sampling method after determination using Kothari (2004) sampling formular to obtain 19 operations managers, 34 tellers, 40 credit officers, and 28 customer care officers. The study collected primary and secondary data. The study conducted a pre-test study of the questionnaires in Cooperative bank and I&M banks in Nairobi County. Further, the study tested reliability and validity. Further, quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS software version 25 to generate descriptive and inferential statistics. The various descriptive analysis was frequencies, percentage and mean, while linear and multiple regression analysis was done as part of inferential statistics analysis.
Results: The questionnaire results disclosed that 87(89%) strongly agreed and 9(9%) agreed (mean of 4.83) that there were efforts from the management to allow the existence of different types of loan products with various requirements. Nevertheless, 21(21%) strongly disagreed and 19(20%) disagreed (mean of 2.92) that the staff were always encouraged to offer suggestions to the management on how products could be improved further to incorporate the needs of each customer. Additionally, under model summary, R was 0.746 and R-square was .557 at a Durbin-Watson value of 1.442. Further, the significance coefficient of ANOVA was 0.001 hence less than 0.05. The results therefore enabled the study reject the null hypothesis.
Unique contribution to theory, policy and practice: The conclusions made on product diversification was that the management failed to incorporate various improvement suggestions made on the different implemented products. The issues gave a major reason why MFIs revenue was declining in Kenya. That is, in as much as they had different products, the specific client needs were not being met and if they were met, it was very expensive to maintain the products. The study recommends that the management of MFIs should commission a special committee of expert to review the requirement of each and every product being offered.


Background: Succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) deficiency is a rare autosomal recessive neurometabolic disorder that causes brain involvement, cardiomyopathy, and/or exercise intolerance. Case Presentation: Here, we report three families who had children with developmental regression, signal changes in brain white matter in MRI, which suspected to leukodystrophy, and elevated level of succinate peak in brain MRS. Due to lack of seizure and normal intellectual abilities, the primary diagnosis was SDH deficiency. Whole Exome sequencing was performed in all patients and three novel variants in SDHAF1 gene were found. After treatment, they showed significant responses in clinical and then in neuroimaging findings. In genetic study, SDH deficiency was confirmed in all three patients. Here, we discuss clinical courses, para clinic studies, treatment and follow up of each patients. Conclusion: According to our findings, SDH deficiency as a treatable neurometabolic disorder should be considered, in any patients with arrest of developmental milestones and regression, accompanied by hyperintensity in white matter. in children [1]. Symptoms may include brain involvement, cardiomyopathy, and/or exercise intolerance. a study, one hundred eight muscle biopsies were evaluated from patients with suspected mitochondrial myopathies. Qualitative histochemical analysis and quantitative biochemical analyses of respiratory-chain enzymes showed that Fifty-two patients had defects in respiratory-chain complexes. Of these patients, 12 (23%) had partial deficiencies in succinate dehydrogenase activity [2]. The three with succinate dehydrogenase


Optimising the supply chain - here only in view of the procurement side - is an established goal for any enterprise. Today new internet technologies and standards have supplied fresh opportunity and life to this end. This paper focuses on the communication side of such internet-based procurement, dealing with the necessary inter-enterprise communication and the intra-enterprise link-up of the employees. As such catalogs are seen as the basis for automated business-to-business exchanges and web browsers as the key user interface for employee enablement. Both aspects combine in modern Operations Resource Management (ORM), and more specifically desktop purchasing systems. Thus information system integration spanning the supply chain is beginning to affect a larger proportion of employees and business exchanges. The text is written from the perspective of one such standard business software (SAP B2B Procurement). This allows the inclusion of a number of screenshots for illustrative purposes on how such an ORM...


There is a historical event in the center theme of most folkloric genres. This historical event is being used as a main theme of poems composed by minstrel-poets. In times, those initially occurred events have been forgotten and the theme becomes unanimous. In times, the poem sung or read in different context, in every different context something new has been added to the poem. In sum, what is called to become folklore is what happened in the past has been turned into an epic, folk story, folk tale etc. upon the change in the narrating context. The minstrel poets are the first narrators of those sayings. It is possible to see the reflection of the social and political occurrences of the time in the minstrel poets own poems or the poems gathered by them from other poets.


The TOEPLITZ package is a collection of Fortran subroutines for the numerical solution of systems of linear equations with coefficient matrices of Toeplitz or circulant form. This report provides a description of the algorithms and software in the package and includes program listings.


This quantitative research was developed with 100 Nursing degree students at a university located in western Santa Catarina State, Brazil. The purpose was to identify the consumption of alcohol among the students. Data was collected through a questionnaire applied and analyzed by the researchers, based on researched literature. The age of students varied from 18 to 31 years old, with the pre dominant age being 21. From 100 students, 90 are female and 10 male. Most of them are single, and the Catholic religion is dominant. It was discovered that 30% of them have never drunk alcoholic beverages. Of those who have, most started drinking at around ages 12 to 16, with exception of four of them, who started when they were six years old, and five of them at age seven. The students first drank within the family environment. 62% of them have gotten drunk, and 57% do not remember how many times. It was also noticed that most of them drink with friends and relatives, mainly in pubs and parties. The most consumed drink is beer, followed by wine and distilled drinks, which are consumed inside the university by students, without any control.


See Article by Kristensen et al

Natriuretic peptides (NPs) are the most established biomarkers in heart failure (HF), routinely used for both their diagnostic and prognostic use in clinical management and clinical trials. It has been consistently shown that levels of NPs are higher in patients with HF who also have atrial fibrillation (AF), compared with those in sinus rhythm. One the one hand, higher NP levels may reflect more advanced HF in patients with concurrent AF. On the other hand, AF itself might cause elevations of NPs, even in the absence of HF.

Irrespective of the cause of higher levels of NPs in patients with both HF and AF, higher NP thresholds are frequently applied to these patients to qualify them for entry into HF clinical trials, compared with patients with HF without AF. But are these different NP thresholds really needed? Kristensen et al1 pooled data from 2 large HF clinical trials (PARADIGM-HF [Prospective Comparison of ARNI With ACEI to Determine Impact on Global Mortality and Morbidity in Heart Failure Trial] and ATMOSPHERE [Aliskiren Trial to Minimize Outcomes in Patients With Heart Failure]), yielding data on the prognostic value of NT-proBNP (N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide) in 14 737 patients with chronic HF with reduced ejection fraction. The aim of this analysis was to compare the prognostic value of NT-proBNP in patients with and without AF. Interestingly, except in the range <400 pg/mL, the prognostic value of NT-proBNP for a given level was similar in patients with and without AF. Based on the present findings, the authors suggest that these …


She had undergone a total thyroidectomy 54 years previously, due to goitre. Hypothyroidism requiring thyrormone supplementation and marginal hypocalcaemia were since reported. Twenty-three years prior to the current admission, she developed hypertension and incipient renal insufficiency. The primary cause was considered to be renovascular disease, but her case was not pursued further. Her recovered follow-up data revealed that 15 years previously, she had a serum creatinine of 1.4 mg/dl, normal urinary sediment, serum calcium of 8.1 mg/dl and serum phosphate of 6.8 mg/dl, while receiving alphacalcidol at 1 mg/day.


The aim of the paper is to identify and evaluate existing and potential EU energy supply risks on the basis of a sector-specific approach. Moving away from common generalisations on security of energy supply as well as from those studies that focus only on one sector, it brings together all types of fuel and analyses the risks related to each of them. The result is a comprehensive picture of the energy security challenges faced by the EU in the long-term. The paper can be seen as a tool to avoid overlapping, incoherence and contradictions in the process of assessing security of supply and aims to formulate a consistent and more unified European energy policy. CEPS Working Documents are intended to give an indication of work being conducted within CEPS research programmes and to stimulate reactions from other experts in the field. Unless otherwise indicated, the views expressed are attributable only to the authors in a personal capacity and not to any institution with which they are associated.


Actuality, Internet provides a convenient way to develop a new communication technology for several applications, for example remote laboratories. The remote access to complex and expensive laboratories offers a cost-effective and flexible means for distance learning, research and remote experimentation. In the literature, some works propose platforms based on the Internet in order to access experimental laboratories; nevertheless it is necessary that the platform provides a good architecture, clear methodology of operation, and it must facilitate the integration between hardware (HW) and software (SW) elements. In this work, we present a platform based on "multitier programming architecture" which allows the easy integration of HW and SW elements and offers several schemes of telepresence: teleoperation, telecontrol and teleprogramming.


Common gear pumps have numerous shortcomings,including poor flow quality,high unbalanced radial force,imbalanced "balanced compound gear pumps" with complex structure,many leakage points,high manufacturing and assembling precision,high cost,and difficulty using in industrial applications.This paper proposed a new design scheme of a parallel gear pump with three sub-structures.Based on the design model,theoretical analysis of structural principles,power density,radial force,flow characteristics,and flow fluctuating were carried out.The result shows the new pump design has the advantages of small axial size,high power density,the initiative gear balanced the gear radial force,and decreased the radial force of the driven gear.By selecting suitable numbers of teeth,it can reduce flow pulsation effectively and improve flow quality.


Bacterial virulence depends upon the ability of bacteria to adhere to mucosal cells. The risk of infection is increased by bacterial factors promoting this adherence and the fact that bacterial surface structures seek epithelial receptors. The host's ability to inactivate bacterial virulence factors and to "mask" its own cell receptors determines whether infections are to be warded off successfully. The current knowledge of these processes is reviewed in this article.


The article based on the catest research results, arranges the research achievements on the concept, category, content system and functions of the library aesthetics.


A new approach for flux imbalance prevention is proposed in this paper. The basic idea is to suppress DC component of the transformer primary voltage using the closed control loop around the hybrid amplifier with the first order low-pass filter and the integrator in the feedback path. The operation of proposed scheme is analyzed in detail analytically and by means of computer simulations. Experimental results are in accordance with simulations and confirm the suitability of the cost effective solution.


Automatic target recognition is a significant function of millimeter-wave body scanner. Based on the principle of saliency and sparse coding, this paper proposes a new method for millimeter-wave body image processing and recognition. According to the characteristics such as shape, texture and gray level of the millimeter wave image, the method realizes automatic recognition for concealed objects. A large number of experiments verify the accuracy of the method on detecting objects concealed in different position of human body.


The effects of impurities, such as Si and Be, on both the creation and the migration of Ga vacancies in annealing of GaAs were investigated by a slow positron beam technique. The results show that vacancies diffuse from the surface during the annealing and one of the dominant types is a monovacancy of Ga, VGa, in Be‐doped GaAs and/or Si‐doped GaAs, while the other is a divacancy of VGa‐VAs in undoped GaAs. In annealing the bilayer structures composed of the Si‐doped layer grown on the Be‐doped layer, it was found that VGa is a major type of defect rather than VGa‐VAs if the Si concentration is higher or lower than the Be one in GaAs, but VGa‐VAs is dominant if the concentrations of the impurities are similar. This proposes that the interaction between Si and Be is stronger than that of VAs‐BeGa and/or VGa‐SiGa. The Ga interstitial IGa is created in the Be‐doped layer where IGa interacts with VGa created from the surface and suppresses the migration of VGa. This supports the validity of the kick‐out mechan...


Abstract In complex manufacturing environments, Cycle Time (CT) reductions obtained at critical production steps could generate considerable productivity improvements and lead to capacity increases at no investment costs. A wet-etch station operating in a real semiconductor manufacturing plant has been modelled to investigate the impact of different assignment strategies on CT performance. Assignment strategies based on the "Earliest Finish" (EF) concept have been developed and their productivity efficiency compared with a workload balance-based strategy. The EF-based strategies differ from each other for both computational complexity and amount of real-time information required. Encouraging results obtained for a high detail level EF strategy have inspired the development of conceptually similar strategies characterised by reduced implementation efforts. Fundamental implementation constraints, suggested by the manufacturing engineers familiar with the wet-etch station, have been taken into account throughout the different stages of this study. CT reductions ranging between 11% and 28% could be achieved at the modelled wet-etch station.


Regarding a corpus of chosen works published in Chile that belongs to the racist and eugenic in literature from the first half of thetwentieth century, this article elaborates on the types of relationships these works established between Chileans and the people and civilizations of Western antiquity. Through the modalities of continuity, parallelism and canonical constitution, the article analyzes in detail the way in which authors such as Nicolas Palacios, Luis Bisquertt, Sara Rojas and Hans Betzhold among others elaborated a link between their racial concerns and antiquity.


A FIB/STEM interfacial study was performed on a TBC/Ti2AlC MAX phase system, oxidized in an aggressive burner rig test (Mach 0.3 at 1300 °C for 500 h). The 7YSZ TBC, α-Al2O3 TGO, and MAXthal 211TM Ti2AlC base were variously characterized by TEM/STEM, EDS, SADP, and HRTEM. The YSZ was a mix of "clean" featureless and "faulted" high contrast grains. The latter exhibited ferro-elastic domains of high Y content tetragonal t″ variants. No martensite was observed. The TGO was essentially a duplex α-Al2O3 structure of inner columnar plus outer equiaxed grains. It maintained a perfectly intact, clean interface with the Ti2AlC substrate. The Ti2AlC substrate exhibited no interfacial Al-depletion zone but, rather, numerous faults along the basal plane of the hexagonal structure. These are believed to offer a means of depleting Al by forming crystallographic, low-Al planar defects, proposed as Ti2.5AlC1.5. These characterizations support and augment prior optical, SEM, and XRD findings that demonstrated remarkable durability for the YSZ/Ti2AlC MAX phase system in aggressive burner tests.


Thin open helicoidal shells are used in machine-building and in civil engineering. The numerical analysis of shell stress-strain state was fulfilled with the help of Runge-Kutta method. The analytical asymptotic method of analysis is presented for thin elastic open helicoidal shallow shells given in curvilinear non-orthogonal conjugate coordinates.


School engagement is a multidimensional construct that refers to student involvement in schools in three dimensions, namely involvement in behavioral, emotional and cognitive aspects. School Engagement Measure is an instrument to measure student engagement in schools that has been widely used in various countries. In order to use the instrument in a culturally different way, an adaptation process is needed so that the adapted instrument is valid and reliable. The purpose of this study was to obtain a standardized version of the School Engagement Measure in Indonesia. The International Test Commission Guidelines (2017) were used in the adaptation process. Based on the results of the CFA analysis using the JASP 0.15.0.0 program, it can be concluded that the overall School Engagement Measure model with indicators consisting of three dimensions, namely behavioral engagement, Emotional engagement and cognitive engagement, has a good fit model. The null hypothesis means that the SEM model is acceptable. This explains that the resulting model can describe the actual conditions.


Ireland has a high rate of doctor emigration. Difficult working conditions, particularly in the hospital sector, are often cited as a driver of doctor emigration. In October 2019, a random sample of Ireland's hospital doctors were invited to participate in an anonymous online survey about their working conditions.

 The survey was distributed via the national Medical Register (with the assistance of the Medical Council of Ireland). Invitations were sent to 5356 hospital doctors, stratified by registration status (including interns, trainees, those not in training and consultants). An overall response rate of 20% was achieved (N = 1070). This paper focusses on responses to two free-text survey questions: (1) Do you have any other comments about your work-life balance? (N = 314). (2) Do you have any other comments on your working conditions as a hospital doctor? (N = 469).

 Respondent hospital doctors, at all levels of seniority, were struggling to achieve a balance between work and life. Of the free-text responses received, 8/10 were negative, with work-life balance/imbalance and work-overload being the issues arising most frequently. Respondents discussed how long and unpredictable working hours, combined with a high level of work intensity, meant that they often spent their personal time recovering from work.

 Poor work-life balance has become normalised within Irish hospital medicine. The findings call to action to critically reflect on the sustainability of this way of working for the individual doctors, the wider workforce and the Irish health system.


FTTH is currently experiencing technological advance that provides enormous bandwidth and long reach offering triple play services such as data, voice and video on a single fiber. Passive Optical Network (PON) is a point to multipoint, fiber to the premises network architecture in which unpowered optical splitters are used to enable a single optical fiber to serve multiple premises, typically 16 to 128. Nowadays, the most used optical fiber access network configuration is Time Division Multiplexing Passive Optical Network (TDMPON), with Ethernet PON (EPON) and Gigabit PON (GPON) as the two important standards. However, it is quite likely that the TDMPONS today cannot support the band width exhausting multimedia services. Another attractive PON solution is the Wavelength Division Multiplexing PON (WDMPON) which offers enough bandwidth for multimedia broadband services and fully utilizes the optical fibre bandwidth. Realization of triple play providing WDMPON architecture is conducted.A detailed analysis of various important performance characteristics of WDMPON technology such as link performance characterization based on BER, linear and nonlinear fiber effects such as dispersion, polarization mode dispersion and Four Wave Mixing were conducted. Simulation model for WDMPON are developed using OPTSIM version 5.3 software.


Study Design. A prospective, consecutive series of 90 patients receiving fulcrum bending radiographs before endoscopic anterior scoliosis correction. Objective. To assess the effectiveness of fulcrum bending radiographs in predicting correction of the structural curve in anterior scoliosis surgery for a series of 90 consecutive patients. Summary of Background Data. The fulcrum bending radiograph is highly predictive of scoliosis curve correction for posterior instrumented fixation. However, its use has been questioned in relation to anterior scoliosis surgery due to the disc removal in anterior procedures. Methods. Fulcrum bending radiographs were performed before endoscopic anterior scoliosis correction following the protocol of Cheung and Luk. All patients received a single anterior rod and vertebral body screws using a standard compression technique. In all cases, cleared disc spaces were packed with mulched femoral head allograft. Surgical correction was assessed using 6- to 8-week postoperative standing radiographs. Paired t tests and least squares linear regression analysis were used to compare the preoperative major Cobb angle achieved on the fulcrum bending radiograph with the postoperative Cobb angles for each patient. Results. Mean (±SD) major curve correction rate was 60.1% ± 12.4%. Mean instrumented curve correction rate was 63.7% ± 11.7%. Mean fulcrum flexibility was 60.8% ± 15.5%. Mean fulcrum bending correction index was 104%. There was no statistically significant difference between the mean fulcrum bending radiograph Cobb angle (20.4 ± 9°) and the mean postoperative major Cobb angle for the structural curve (20.5 ± 7.1°). Conclusion. The results of this study show that fulcrum bending radiographs are predictive of surgical correction for anterior scoliosis surgery.


The outcome of ambulatory patients with chronic heart failure, specifically those with reduced ejection fraction, substantially improved over the last decades due to the widespread introduction of several pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments that were clearly demonstrated by controlled clinical trials to be able to reduce mortality and hospitalizations for worsening heart failure.1,2 As a consequence, these treatments have been included in the current international guidelines with a strong recommendation for their use in patients with this clinical condition.3,4 Despite these remarkable achievements, admissions for heart failure remain the most frequent cause of hospitalization in subjects aged more than 65 years, determining not only a poor quality of life but also very high costs for the different national health systems.5 Despite the clear reduction observed in the last few years in different countries, 1-year all-cause mortality is still occurring in approximately 6–8% of ambulatory patients with heart failure. Further research testing new hypotheses of intervention is obviously very welcome, but appropriate application of what we already have in our hands is mandatory, also considering that the majority of life-saving pharmacological treatments are out-of-patent and, for this reason, relatively inexpensive. Therefore, adherence of doctors and patients to the recommended treatments for heart failure is a public health issue to be tackled in a vigorous and effective way, just as for other chronic cardiovascular conditions for which effective treatments are available, such as arterial hypertension or secondary prevention strategies after an athero-thrombotic event. Actually, some estimates of non-adherence are close to 50%,5,6 and


The invention discloses underwater blasting explosive bin installation equipment and an installation and blasting method in the technical field of water conservancy projects. The equipment consists of two parts, namely a thruster and an explosive bin, wherein the thruster comprises an excitation motor, a global position system (GPS) position indicator, a displacement sensor, a lifting electromagnet and a shell; and the explosive bin comprises explosive, a detonation body, an armature and an explosive bin shell. Operation of combining and separating the thruster and/from the explosive bin is implemented according to the electromagnetic technical principle. The explosive bin can invade a soil body under the actions of excitation force and gravity of the motor of the thruster, after the explosive bin reaches the preset burial depth, the thruster is separated from the explosive bin, and the explosive bin is installed and the thruster is recovered. Therefore, by the underwater blasting explosive bin installation equipment, a construction process of underwater drilling and explosive charging can be eliminated, the working efficiency is improved, the technology is implemented easily, the thruster can be recovered to be repeatedly used, and the construction cost is low.


Shi, Zuo and Zillante explore the planning and implementation of sustainable construction at the programme level. With an increasing number of megaprojects or programmes consisting of a number of sub-projects, there is a growing demand to extend the body of knowledge on sustainable construction from the project level to the programme level. The authors investigated sustainable construction practice in the Shanghai World Expo 2010 in China across the entire programme life-cycle by means of observation, attendance at site meetings, workshops, interviews and a review of project documents. Following this, they have shown that the major benefit of sustainable construction management at the programme level is to coordinate efforts from various stakeholders such as: building common sense and overarching principles of sustainable construction for all sub-project owners, providing a platform for sharing relevant knowledge and information, breaking down inter-project conflicts, etc. They develop a framework and a managerial checklist for implementing sustainable construction at the programme level. In addition, the authors suggest that specific quantitative targets should be defined, in order to assist implementation. However, this requires full authority of the programme manager over the sub-project owners. Boyd and Bentley present a radical challenge to the way we think about design and construction in order to explain the problems of construction and the way numerous solutions have been inadequate. Theirs is a philosophical discourse that uses a case study to argue for new ways of conceptualizing the formation of construction plans that are to be implemented in the future. The authors introduce the term 'pre-conceptualization' for the wider, socially constructed framework in which our specific thinking takes place. Their critique of the current way of thinking shows that it does not adequately deal with futures and has a focus on past causation which induces a climate of blame. The authors explore two alternative preconceptualizations; the first introduces 'evolution' to explain the uncertainty of the future but not improvized actions; the second alternative presents complexity science to account not only for uncertainty but also an active social transformation of the future. It is only the latter that can provide the basis for actual practice and its explanation that allows for better management of projects and so can provide strategies for enduring improvement of the industry. Boyd and Bentley's work helps us to understand the nature of theories of construction improvement as well as whether our focus on the individual as the carrier of knowledge, as in knowledge management, should be replaced by one that starts from a social framework because, as they argue, construction is a social product. Jennings explores why budgeting is prone to overoptimism in mega-events. This work bridges the fields of politics, psychology, economics and project management. Using the case of the budget for the London 2012 Olympics, Jennings tests a number of alternative explanations of the over-run of London's budget from preliminary estimates of less than £2 billion to the current figure of almost £10 billion. Through the method of 'process-tracing', he demonstrates how growth of the budget can be attributed to the intersection of a lack of attention to risk inside British government, cognitive biases in the budgeting process and scope creep in accounting as well as technical specification of projects. This combination of factors better explains the increase in the Olympic budget rather than ascribing it purely to 'over-optimism' at the bid stage. Jennings uses public data from a series of budget forecasts and assessments at significant intervals during the planning, bidding and delivery phases. He traces development of the Olympic budget over time, and makes practical suggestions for the future about how budgeting should be contextual and how due recognition should be given to the problems of decision-making under conditions of uncertainty. Lehtiranta, Kärnä, Junnonen and Julin investigate how satisfaction within multi-firm relationships is reflected in perceptions of construction project success. They aim to demonstrate the usefulness of multi-directional performance measurement as a complementary predictor of success to client satisfaction measurement. The statistical analysis builds on multidirectional performance feedback between the clients, project consultants, designers and contractors in 214 Finnish construction projects. The authors found prominent dependencies between several multi-firm relationships and the owners' perception of project success. These observations endorse the importance of considering construction project success in terms Construction Management and Economics (June 2012) 30, 423–424


This report summarizes the University of New Hampshire Stormwater Center (UNHSC) evaluation of a review of Subsurface Gravel Wetlands design and specifications used by the New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT or Department). Subsurface Gravel Wetlands (SGW) are a stormwater management system that provides nutrient reduction by allowing runoff to flow through a buried horizontal layer of gravel which allows anaerobic microbial treatment of surface runoff. UNHSC evaluated the Department's SGW design parameters for the application of SGWs on linear projects (i.e., roadways) including: underdrain systems for seasonally-high groundwater (SHGW); forebays; multiple inlets; low-flow conveyance and orifices; and leaching chambers (hydraulic inlets). Results of the cost assessment indicates potential construction savings greater than $5,000 per contributing impervious acre.


Background : Many inflammatory mediators and collagenases are involved in the pathogenesis of acute lung injury (ALI) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The increase of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9, gelatinase-B) produced mainly by inflammatory cells was reported in many ALI models and connective tissue cells. In this study, the expression of MMP-9 in ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI) model and the effects of matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor (MMPI) on VILI were investigated. Methods : Eighteen Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three groups: low tidal Volume (LVT, 7mL/Kg tidal volume, 3 PEEP, 40/min), high tidal volume (HVT, 30mL/Kg tidal volume, no PEEP, 40/min) and high tidal volume with MMPI (HVT+MMPI) groups. Mechanical ventilation was performed in room air for 2 hours. The 20 mg/Kg of CMT-3 (chemically modified tetracycline-3, 6-demethyl 6-deoxy 4-dedimethylamino tetracycline) was gavaged as MMPI from three days before mechanical ventilation. The degree of lung injury was measured with wet-to-dry weight ratio and acute lung injury score. Expression of MMP-9 was studied by immunohistochemical stain with a mouse monoclonal anti-rat MMP-9 . Results : In the LVT, HVT and HVT+MMPI groups, the wet-to-dry weight ratio was , and , respectively. In the HVT group, the ratio was significantly higher than other groups (p, and , respectively. The HVT group was significantly damaged by VILI and MMPI protects injuries by mechanical ventilation (p, and , respectively, which were significantly higher in the HVT group (p


There is no question about the importance of the US to the security of the Nordic–Baltic region, but how significant a role has the region played in the overall strategy of the US? This is one of the questions that Dr AnnSofie Dahl seeks to answer in this book. Dahl begins her study by analysing US policies in the Nordic region during the Cold War from the viewpoint of military containment. While the region often played a peripheral role in NATO strategy, it was of greater importance to the US owing to its geographic location between the two superpowers. Dahl points out that the region was more successful in attracting US strategic attention bilaterally than through NATO. However, there were several shifts in US attention, as the region's relevance was highlighted during aggressive Soviet policies. Also the ideological aspects of US policies in the region are examined in Dahl's study. The Nordic countries, divided in their strategic choices, consti tuted ideologically one single region of solid democracies. All were characterized by a certain tendency towards neutralism. Sweden and Finland were officially neutral. In addition, Sweden considered herself a 'moral superpower' and became a vocal critic of the US. Denmark and Norway restricted their membership in NATO, and Denmark became known as a 'footnote member'. Some of these Nordic policies undermined US efforts in the ideological part of the Containment strategy, but the US commitment to the region did not waver. Why? The region simply played such a crucial role in the bipolar strategic setting. The second part of the study deals with the post-Cold War era and includes the three Baltic countries in the analysis. Dahl identifies elements of both change and continuity. The most drastic case of change is the Baltic States' transformation from Soviet Republics to sovereign NATO Allies. Continuity is represented by Finnish and Swedish military non-alignment. The early years of the post-Cold War era were difficult, since the region was characterized by political uncertainty and military instability. The countries in the region worked hard to attract US strategic attention, but did not get more than 'benevolent neglect'. By the late 1990s, however, the Nordic–Baltic region had emerged as one of the key issues in US policy with the pivotal goal of preventing grey zones of security. Dahl provides a


Joint book-reading is an interactive routine with reported benefits for child language development. This study examined communicative behaviours in two different groups of mother-child dyads during joint book-reading; one group consisting of children with typical development and the other group consisting of children with Down Syndrome. Some differences in communicative behaviours were observed between the two groups. The children with Down Syndrome displayed responsiveness in interaction as well as initiation skills. Their mothers were as responsive to their child's behaviours as the mothers of the typically developing children. However, they displayed lower use of positive reinforcement, and used labelling, description, directives and attentional markers with greater frequency. On the other hand, many behaviours were used with broadly comparable frequencies by both groups – including questioning and expansions. One finding of the present study was a large variance in the communicative behaviours of different dyads. Findings and implications are discussed.


Generally, a leakage in a high pressure hose assembly can be determined if hydraulic fluid falls down through fitting which is swaged with a rubber hose. This study tried to visualize leakage, which is considered a failure occurring often in the hydraulic system. In the case of methods which verify leakage paths in the power steering hydraulic system equipped with a high pressure hose assembly, three types of leakage paths, which could be seen by cutting the swaging part, were generally found. However, it was difficult to find out leakage paths by using power steering oil. In this study, four methods, including the thermal burn image method, the hole drilling method of fitting metal, the white paint infiltration method, and the fluorescent infiltration method, were tried to introduce. Reappearance test methods in the high pressure hose assembly, which include a hole drilling, a white paint infiltration, and a fluorescent infiltration method, can be applied to find the failure mode and to approve the test before the mass production of the high pressure hose. Finally, we found the leakage path of the power steering hose by the fluorescent infiltration method and that can be useful to modify and old system.


Those of us who felt that the E. coli outbreak from the contaminated municipal water supply in Walkerton, Ont.,[1][1] was an abrupt wake-up call from the environment have been in a deep sleep. The alarm went off a long time ago. In 1962 Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring provided some of the first


Last year, one monument(so called 'Maxianmonument')was discovered at Maxian riverside, Ji"an city, China. The Chinese scholars claims based on the characters inscribed as 'Muja(戊子)' and 'Jeonglyul(定律)', that it was built in AD.388 by Kuanggyeto the Great, as an monument which herald the law about how handle the grave-caretakers enact, by the command of his late father, king Kogukyang. But such claims are often in doubt in many ways. According to my surveys ascertaining characters on that monument, there are the characters as "Jeongmyonyon Kanseok(丁卯年刊石)" which means that it was built in AD.427 together with the characters as "Muja" on the Maxian monument. Besides, unlike Chinese scholar"s claims there were not the characters as "Jeonglyul" which means that enacts laws on it, and they also misread 'sin(神)' as 'lyul(律)'. I wonder why Chinese scholars stick to only the characters as "Muja" and "Jeonglyul" with hiding the truth? If we accept Chinese scholars" claims, then this monument might be older than the monument of Kuanggaeto the Great in AD.414, which is the oldest until now. But I am sure that it could not be done. If it is not older, then they don"t have any reason to deny the presence of some characters or hide the truth. Of course, it is possible for us to tell this above conclusion under the premise that the Maxian monument is the genuine. But unfortunately there are too many doubts to believe that the monument is authentic. If they are really willing to demonstrate that the monument is authentic, first and foremost, they must open the monument and pursue research in collaboration with international partners. If not, they will become deeply embroiled in controversy over the monument in the future.


K&r7 L. Zerler THE value of easy intelligent speech is coming to be more appreciated in the curriculum of our schools. Formerly more stress was laid upon oral reading but with greater use of the telephone and the introduction of the radio and the talkies, emphasisis upon good speech has increased. Let us consider a speech program in the school as any study, activity, or expression that is related to speech. In the r-lemeutary school, the conversations, reading, lang-uage activities, dramatizat ions, assembly programs, and speech correction work make up a speech program. In the secondary school and college it may include dramatics, public speaking, class office holding, and group discussions. When we think of man as an adaptive mechanism constantly adjusting himself to new situations then it is clear that speech in its broadest sense is adjustment, for it is man's chief way of adapting himself to his environment. Consequently, it is readily seen that speech education and mental hygiene have much in common. It has been interesting to study the speech of children from the mental hy· giene standpoint over a period of several years. A speech defect should be handled as a symptom of some under-


The purpose of this study is to clarify transformation process of townscape by the townscape improvement strongpoint project in Obuse town, Nagano pref. We analyze the following three points.1) We grasp the actual condition of design control of building, change of the usage of building and the open-garden project.2) We analyze townscape policy of local government and residents ' consciousness about townscape transformation.3) We clarify the factor of townscape expansion by the townscape improvement strongpoint project.


Mobile Adhoc Network (MANET) also called as wireless ad hoc network is a self-organizing, self-configuring infrastructure less network containing a group of mobile nodes communicating wirelessly. As the hosts move often resulting in dynamic topology of the network, routing seeks more attention. Therefore, routing protocol using node's location information like LAR (location aided routing) has emerged as potential solution. Here, the route discovery is limited to a small region named as request zone in contrast to blind flooding over the entire network. Also it is noticeable that the shape and size of the request zone play a vital role in enhancing the protocol's performance. After various analyses it was concluded that for higher node density, elliptical shaped request zone performs better than other possible shapes. Further, suitable route must be chosen based on current load status of the network so that successful delivery of packets is ensured. Generally, omni-directional antennas are used for communication between moving motes. The disadvantage of mobile ad hoc networks with omni-directional antenna lies in the limited capacity caused by high interference and low spatial reuse. This paper focuses on obtaining optimal size for request zone in accordance with varying node density. Further, optimal path between source and destination is selected using Dijkstra's algorithm. Our simulation results show that directional antennas outshines the performance of omni-directional antennas in increasing transmission range of nodes, reducing the number of redundant nodes involving in data communication etc.


In modern generation, the applications of MANET are increasing in use. But MANET are more vulnerable to many attacks because of their adhoc nature. The security issue is the main concern in the use of MANET application.Therefor, the selection of efficient methodologies and techniques to protect MANET is an important aspect. Detecting malicious nodes in an open adhoc network in which participating nodes have no previous security associations presents a number of challenges not faced by the traditional wired networks. Traffic monitoring in wired network is usually preferred at switches, routers and gateways, but adhoc network does not have these types of network elements where the Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can collect and analyze audit data for the entire network. This paper presents an approach for determining conditions under which critical nodes should be monitored. Here, we focus on the trigger mechanism for the invocation of critical node test for MANET Intrusion Detection system.


Osteitis fibrosa is a term that has been used for many years to designate any of a heterogeneous group of lesions of bone and is objectionable because it thus lacks any specific connotation. Employment of synonyms, such as von Recklinghausen's disease, fibrocystic disease of the bone, and osteodystrophia fibrosa, has not been helpful, for these designations also have no definite and universally accepted meaning. The first great advance toward clarifying this confusing situation was made when it was recognized that hyperparathyroidism was present in certain cases of so-called osteitis fibrosa. The changes in bone resulting from hyperparathyroidism and those attributable to other types of osteitis fibrosa were found to be dissimilar. It is now possible for roentgenologists to recognize hyperparathyroidism in most cases in which the bones are involved and they do not often confuse changes in bone resulting from that cause with those of other types of osteitis fibrosa. The next contribution toward a better un...


subtruncate; disk coarsely, evenly not densely punctate; antebasal transverse groove not limited a t the sides but extending the full width of thorax, the area behind it with a single transverse row of punctures. Elytra a t middle one-third wider than thorax, humeri rounded; umbones wanting; disk with regular rows of punctured striae, the sutural row extending from base to middle. Abdomen minutely sparsely punctate, each puncture bearing a fine prostrate hair. Length r.31.8 mm. Common a t Miami, less so at Royal Palm Park ; in both places found only on the potato-tree, Solanztutz verbascifoliuvl.2 I,., a common roadside shrub. Allied to atriventris Nelsh., differing in its paler color and distinctly punctate thorax, the basal groove of which is unlimited at the sides. In some of the specimens the elytra are in places vaguely darker, due to the transn~ission of the darker hues of the underlying parts through their translucent texture. (16,020). Chaetocnema quadricollis Sz.-This I found the most common flea-beetle a t Royal Palm Park, occurring in numbers on weeds along the edges of tomato Gelds, also in the hammock. (-1. Longitarsus fuscicornis B1atch.-Of this little flea-beetle only the type seriesT7 from Dunedin was known until last March, when a half dozen were swept from roadside herbage at Royal Palm Park. (16,084). Aphfholza i~zsolita Me1sh.-One example was swept from tall grasses in the everglades at Royal Palm Park. Know in the State heretofore only from Ft. Capron and Miami.


A production function fitted on data for 232 production regions of the South African Agriculture, yielded negative signs for the land and machinery inputs. The inputs were then transformed into standardised orthogonal variates. A production function was derived from the orthogonal variates by dropping components that contributed little to the resource variation. The t-values in the latter function showed a substantial improvement on that of the first function, and the machinery input turned positive. A component analysis on all the input factors, including farm income, indicates that farmers pay a premium for extensive farming land which is not reflected in their income. This may be attributed to more leisure time enjoyed by livestock farmers, or more satisfaction derived from this type of farming.


A recent genome‐wide association study (GWA) in the Mexican population has identified several genetic loci associated with blood lipid levels in adults. The FADS gene cluster has not been studied in youngsters. Our aim was to report the single‐nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the FADS gene cluster associated with high TC, and low HDL‐C in young Mexicans from the college‐age UP‐AMIGOS cohort. Anthropometrics, smoking habits, cardiovascular disease history, and serum lipid profile were determined (n=72, aged 18–21 years). Genotyping was conducted using the Illumina system. Genotype‐phenotype associations were assessed by multiple linear regression models adjusted by sex and age. Genetic variability in the FADS gene was associated with TC (6 SNPs) and HDL‐C (2 SNPs) levels. Our data provides new valuable information for future studies where other environmental factors (diet, exercise) are taken into consideration to better understand the onset of dyslipidemia. It also provides useful data for early identification of individuals at risk and for comparative studies in different population.


The cell parameters and space groups of the potassium, rubidium, and cesium acid chloromaleates grown from aqueous solution are determlned. The results are tabularly presented. (N.W.R.)


A method of tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) is presented to improve the detectability of CO under high temperatures with a mass of interference referred as Dynamic subtract from background technique. By simultaneously fitting both the water background and the 2f-wm-CO curve to the measured (combined) spectrum, the limitation of CO detection is improved at high temperatures using the telecommunication distributed feedback (DFB) lasers. The R14 in the υ=0υ=3 overtone band (1653.6 nm) has been investigated with the dependence of temperatures and water concentrations. Hundreds ppmm of limitation of CO detection can be achieved in media with tens of percent water at 850 °C with an accuracy of a few percent.


A theme which emerges from our simple considerations is that some well-planned early parametric and sensitivity studies, using current-generation coupled Earth system model components, along with simplistic proxy models of terrestrial biospheric and biogeochemical processes, could furnish valuable information to help guide the development of a longer-term plan for research supporting ESM development. This theme is rooted in the premise that the importance of various ESM component processes can be fully assessed only from the perspective of a complete coupling of that process into the ESM context. That is, the question, ``How well must a given process be modelled``? Cannot be answered in isolation, but rather requires a careful blend of process research and coupled model studies.


An x‐ray tube which may be used for the production of monochromatic rays of high intensity is described. The monochromatic beam is obtained by reflection from a crystal mounted within the tube. By a slight modification the tube may also be used for production of fluorescent x‐rays from samples mounted close to the focal spot within the tube.


Measles is a vaccine-preventable disease whose vaccine was introduced in the United Kingdom in 1988, however, Measles outbreaks are still occurring in England. Consequently, the World Health Organization (WHO) removed the UKs elimination status of Measles in 2019. Noticeably, MMR vaccination coverage in England is below the recommended threshold with geographical variations across local authorities (LA). The research into the effect of income disparities on MMR vaccine coverage was insufficiently examined. Therefore, an ecological study will be conducted aiming at determining whether there is a relationship between income deprivation measures and MMR vaccine coverage in upper-tier local authorities in England, using 2019 publicly available data. The effect of spatial clustering of income level on vaccination coverage will also be assessed. Vaccination coverage data will be obtained from "Cover of Vaccination Evaluated Rapidly (COVER)". Income deprivation score, Deprivation gap, and Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index will be obtained from Office for National Statistics and Morans Index will be generated using RStudio. Rural/urban LA classification and mothers education will be included as possible confounding factors. Additionally, the live births rate per mothers age group will be included as a proxy for the mothers age variation in different LA. Multiple linear regression will be used after testing the relevant assumptions, using SPSS software. Morans I together with income deprivation score will be analysed through regression and mediation analysis. This study will help in determining whether income level is a determinant of MMR vaccination uptake and coverage in LA in England which would help policymakers in designing targeted campaigns, thus preventing measles outbreaks in the future.


Foreign direct investment are the net inflows of investment to acquire a lasting management interest which is 10 percent or more of voting stock in an enterprise operating in an economy other than the investor. It is the sum of equity capital, reinvestment of earnings, other long-term capital, and short-term capital as shown in the balance of payments. This paper will discuss the definitions and findings of previous studies regarding Foreign Direct Investment. This paper also will explain about forecasting techniques used in previous studies in forecasting Foreign Direct Investment. Time Series Analysis is used to determine a good model that can be used to forecast business metrics.


Financing is vital for the development of toll highway. The toll model of "governments unify the loan and refund in union" serves as the key solution for the problems encountered in the economic section of highway development. This paper focus on the impact of the toll model on controlling the total sum of investment in toll highway and stabilizing the bank loan. New financing methods for toll highway are also discussed. Experiences and lessons are drawn and summarized from other provinces in China that have launched the specific model in the paper. Methods adopted to carry out this policy of "governments unify the loan and refund in union" are explored.


Obedzinski, R.A.; Schmid, J.M.; Mata, S.A.; Olsen, W.K.; Kessler, R.R. 1999. Growth of ponderosa pine stands in relation to mountain pine beetle susceptibility. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-28. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station.


In recent years, neural networks have been increasingly utilized in safety-critical and mission-critical systems such as autonomous cars and airborne collision avoidance systems. However, verifying the safety of these systems remains a significant challenge. In this work, we focus on neural network control systems (NNCS), where a neural network interacts with a continuous plant, modeled by a simplified hybrid automaton, and aim to make statements about the system's safety by examining the transient behavior of generated trajectories. To achieve this, we employ reachability analysis, a conservative approach that overapproximates the set of reachable states. Furthermore, we extend the reachability analysis definition of neural networks to incorporate the staircase function for classification and introduce an iterative approach to minimize overapproximation errors. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach on multiple benchmarks and various neural network controllers, reporting quantitative results from experiments. Overall, our work provides a comprehensive and computationally efficient algorithm that enables the reachability analysis of NNCS and facilitates the design of safe neural network controllers. Keywords— Neural network control systems, safety verification, reachability analysis, flowpipe construction, over-approximative computation, exact computation


The current state and background of the teaching of fundamental electric circuit is analyzed.Ideas for course reform as combining theories with practice as well as knowledge with abilities are put forward.Effective ideas for reform in the aspects as teaching contents,teaching methods and assessment measures are proposed.


This paper provides a summary of one of the three planned presentations on the topic of "ASSESSMENT OF VOLTAGE STABILITY USING TCSC CONTROLLER". This paper is on Part I of the session and focuses on a summary of the issues and benefits of applying TCSC controllers to AC power systems. The overall process for system studies and analysis associated with TCSC installation projects and the need for FACTS controller models is also discussed. Finally, an introduction to the basic circuits of TCSC controllers is provided with a focus on its system performance characteristics. This paper is designed to be accompanied by the presentation material.


Through the Potted experiments,using round leaf spinach as material,this paper studied the influence of nitrogen utilization on round leaf spinach.The results showed that spinach yields had increased 16 percent to 63 percent with the application of certain amounts of nitrogenous fertilizer.Even though,this increased amount was not synchronous with amounts of nitrogenous fertilizer.With the increasing of nitrogenous fertilizer,and nitrate reductase activity gradually increased.However,the nitrate content was not decreased as nitrate reductase increasing.


In several cases that arose out of Argentina's economic crisis 2001-2002 tribunals have provided divergent interpretations of the relationship between the 'essential security' exception contained in Article XI of the US-Argentina bilateral investment treaty and the customary international law defence of necessity. The tribunal in Continental Casualty v Argentina provided a new understanding that is guided by the WTO's approach under GATT Article XX. This chapter considers the justification advanced by the tribunal for this approach and the legal and systemic issues it raises. It finds the turn to WTO law for purposes of interpreting the 'essential security' clause to be deeply flawed for textual, teleological, and systemic reasons. Alternative legal methodologies that the arbitrators should have considered instead are suggested.


PurposeThe aim of this work is to provide a theoretical model that can help companies to develop a unique approach to achieve both corporate environmental sustainability (CES) and successful customer experience management (CEM).Design/methodology/approachA two-phase study achieved the research aim. The first phase consisted of the analysis of contemporary theoretical contributions with a focus on CES and CEM. In the second phase, taking a qualitative approach, the key dimensions identified in the initial analysis were investigated to explore the dominant perceptions of practitioners and to hone the theoretical categories.FindingsFive innovative pathways emerged from the study to inform decision-making while maintaining the dual objectives of CES and successful CEM. These pathways are combined to offer a strategic tool for managers and for research advances. This original integrated model also offers six novel theoretical propositions that describe how to shape corporate decisions to achieve environmental sustainability in CEM.Research limitations/implicationsFirms can benefit from an approach that integrates CES and CEM to develop a new mindset for an innovative and valuable decision-making process and to design more captivating experiences for customers. Nevertheless, the efficacy and generalizability of the theoretical framework and propositions require empirical testing.Originality/valueThis paper makes an original contribution to the environmental sustainability and marketing literature by bringing together all elements in these fields of research in a conceptual model. Moreover, this paper proposes theoretical propositions that advance knowledge of the subject and offer ideas for future research and managers.


We compute the complete one-loop contributions to low-energy charged current weak interaction observables in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). We obtain the constraints on the MSSM parameter space which arise when precision low-energy charged current (CC) data are analyzed in tandem with measurements of the muon anomaly. The data imply a pattern of mass splittings among first and second generation sleptons and squarks which contradicts predictions of widely used models for supersymmetry breaking mediation. We also discuss the implications of these constraints on the SUSY one-loop contributions to the (anti)neutrino-nucleus deep inelastic scattering. We consider the ratios of neutral current to charged current cross sections, and compare with the deviations of these quantities from the Standard Model predictions implied by the recent NuTeV measurement. We discuss one scenario in which a right-sign effect arises, and show that it is ruled out by the CC data. We also study R parity-violating contributions. Although such effects can account for the violation of the first row CKM unitarity, they can not reproduce the NuTeV anomaly. If NuTeV anomaly is ultimately explained within the SM, R parity-violating resolution of the CKM unitarity problem can be tested in parity-violating electron scattering experiments at SLAC and TJNAF.


A circuit is described for recording the low intensity flashes of light of luminous animals, with examples of its application to the firefly flash. Between an alternating current source and a high gain a.c. amplifier, a photo‐cell bridge circuit is introduced which is capable of blocking the a.c. signal when the photo‐cells are dark. Light falling on the photo‐cells allows the a.c. signal to pass the bridge, the output of the bridge being amplified and recorded photographically by the use of the cathode‐ray oscilloscope.


We prove that the Fukaya-Seidel categories of a certain family of Lefschetz fibrations on $\mathbb{C}^2$ are equivalent to the perfect derived categories of Auslander algebras of Dynkin type $\mathbb{A}$. We give an explicit equivalence between these categories and the partially wrapped Fukaya categories considered by Dyckerhoff-Jasso-Lekili. We provide a complete description of the Milnor fibre of such fibrations.


Although face recognition has been improved much as the development of Deep Neural Networks, SIPP(Single Image Per Person) problem in face recognition has not been better solved, especially in practical applications where searching over complicated database. In this paper, a combination of modified mean search and LSH method would be introduced orderly to improve the precision and recall of SIPP face recognition without retrain of the DNN model. First, a modified SVD based augmentation method would be introduced to get more intra-class variations even for person with only one image. Second, an unique rule based combination of modified mean search and LSH method was proposed the first time to help get the most similar personID in a complicated dataset, and some theoretical explaining followed. Third, we would like to emphasize, no need to retrain of the DNN model and would easy to be extended without much efforts. We do some practical testing in competition of Msceleb challenge-2 2017 which was hold by Microsoft Research, great improvement of coverage from 13.39% to 19.25%, 29.94%, 42.11%, 47.52% at precision 99%(P99) would be shown latter, coverage reach 94.2% and 100% at precision 97%(P97) and 95%(P95) respectively. As far as we known, this is the only paper who do not fine-tuning on competition dataset and ranked top-10. A similar test on CASIA WebFace dataset also demonstrated the same improvements on both precision and recall.


The black hole at the centre of our galaxy has a strong influence on its surroundings. Astronomers cannot yet see this 3.6 million solar mass behemoth directly but they have now witnessed flashes of infrared light emitted breathtakingly close to its event horizon – the virtual membrane that forever separates the world within it from the universe in which we live. Remarkably, these bursts of radiation pulse with a 17 minute beat, which is synchronized to the motion of matter orbiting just above the precipice.


In the poetic circles of the Qianlong-Jiajing period,Chen Wenshu was the faithful follower of Yuan Mei.Te association of the two was set up by deep culture connotation.Chen's following Yuan embodied the local culture of the doctrine of "mind wit",expressing that the trend of thought of "mind wit" did not die with Yuan's passing away.His reservation of Yuan's features and inharmonity with the atmosphere of the time expressed the insufficiency of the doctrine of "mind wit".His praise and affirmation of women poets became a motive force for women's pioneering in literary circles.


We added novel submicron-sized particles into carbonyl-iron (CI) suspension to improve the sedimentation problem. The added string-like graphite nano-fiber enhanced the resistance to sedimentation and improved flocculation stability without macroscopically noticeable change in the magnetorheological behaviors. This gap-filling submicron-sized particle between /spl mu/m-sized CI spheres reduced the physical contact of CI particles, and reduced the caking behavior. These systems with and without additives were investigated and compared via a rotational rheometer by accurately controlling the magnetic field strengths.


Dense populations of phytoplankton in a lake tend to deplete inorganic carbon, with an associated rising of pH that is usually above 8. So the major form of inorganic carbon is HCO-3. Algae which can utilize bicarbonate as inorganic carbon source become dominant in eutrophic water. Microcystis aeruginosa and Scenedesmus quadricauda both have the ability to use HCO-3. To understand the effects of alkalinity on growth and competition of M. aeruginosa and S. quadricauda, the experiments were conducted on BG11 medium with different concentrations of bicarbonate. The results showed that the two algae both grew well in the separate experiments because they can directly or indirectly use bicarbonate as inorganic carbon source in photosynthesis. The optimal alkalinity for growth of M. aeruginosa was about 2.4 mmol·L-1. And a lag phenomenon occurred during the growth beginning of M. aeruginosa at high alkalinity. The density of S. quadricauda cells increased with increasing of bicarbonate levels. In competition experiments, the density of two algae cells both decreased compared to that in separate experiment. If without other restricting factors such as nutrients and temperature, the competition ability of M. aeruginosa was higher than that of S. quadricauda in the lowest alkalinity level, but less than that of S. quadricauda in the high alkalinity condition.


April 2012. Gregory J. Anderson, Professor Emeritus at the University of Connecticut and the 2012 New England Botanical Club distinguished speaker, delivered a fascinating factand humor-filled presentation, ''What Is So Paradoxical About the Nightshades (Solanaceae)?'' This lecture was in tribute to Dr. Anderson's well-known mentor, Dr. Charles Heiser, who passed away at the age 89 in 2010. The title of Dr. Anderson's talk is derived from Dr. Heiser's book, Nightshades, the Paradoxical Plants. Though the nightshades (Solanaceae) are only a moderately sized plant family with approximately 90 genera and 3000 species, this group has had a disproportionate effect on human welfare. The influence of this family has been both positive and negative on the human race, hence the ''paradox.'' The tendrils of the Solanaceae reach into a wide variety of human affairs, including culture, politics, government, taxes, food, commerce, economics, and human population dynamics. The nightshades have also swayed human thinking on crop origins, crop evolution, nutrition, laws of economic botany, literature, myth, and legend. The Solanaceae have had a positive impact in terms of the wide variety of edible plants they have provided to humanity. The New World generated a plethora of esculent and piquant species that are now used globally, including peppers, tomatoes, and potatoes. A myriad of minor domesticates, such as tomatillos, tree tomatoes, and pepinos, were selected by Native Americans, adding to the gustatory experience of the human palate. Eggplants are the Old World's contribution to the planet's plate. The nightshades are the ''princesses'' of the edible plant calorie world, just below the ''kings'' (Poaceae), which provide the highest number of calories to people in the form of grains, and the ''queens'' (the legumes). In Europe, nightshades were not readily adopted as edible plants because of the close morphological resemblance to their poisonous relatives indigenous to that continent. However, once adopted, the Solanaceae domesticates became a staple, especially in northern Europe. This new food source enabled human populations to increase in these regions and people became particularly dependent on the potato as a primary food source. Then, a combination of low genetic diversity and wet-weather years resulted in outbreaks of late blight that inflicted severe hardship and widespread hunger. Ireland RHODORA, Vol. 114, No. 959, pp. 342–346, 2012 E Copyright 2012 by the New England Botanical Club


This paper deals with the synchronization problem of video object watermarking. We propose to employ the 3-D eigenvectors of the video object to determine the orientation of the object's 2-D eigenvectors, and then align the coordinate axes with the calibrated 2-D eigenvectors to implicitly synchronize the geometric distortion. Furthermore, we utilize the eigenvectors to decompose each object into regions, and embed watermark patterns into the decomposed regions individually. We have performed a series of experiments to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed synchronizing scheme by 2-D and 3-D eigenvectors. The experimental results demonstrate that our algorithm is robust against RST geometric attacks and general image process attacks.


AbstractAdding phase-change material (PCM) into the asphalt mixture has the potential to solve the temperature-related problem of asphalt pavement. During the phase transformation, NiTi alloy is st...


Iron–dextran (1 mmol Fe/kg) was used as an intravascular, paramagnetic contrast agent in rat and cat brain in conventional spin‐echo T2‐weighted (TR 2800/TE 100) 1H magnetic resonance imaging. The resulting images displayed differential decreases (30–50%) in intensity whose pattern was similar to that obtained with the superparamagnetic particulate iron oxide AMI‐25 (0.18 mmol Fe/kg). Postcontrast images displayed improved anatomic detail, and contrast effects were observed to be greater in cortical and subcortical gray matter than in adjacent white matter. Intravenous injection of acetazolamide after administration of iron‐dextran caused a small additional decrease in image intensity. Measurement of whole blood and plasma at 5 min postinjection of either contrast agent revealed significant increases in their volume magnetic susceptibilities. The contrast effect appears to be related to magnetic susceptibility changes brought about by the iron–dextran it has both blood volume and blood flow components. The static model of magnetic susceptibility effects in brain capillaries is modified to include bolus flow of erythrocytes, providing a mechanism for the observed flow effects. © 1992 Academic Press, Inc.


Human pregnancy-specific β 1-glycoprotein (βSPl) is detected in increasing concentration in maternal serum starting from the first 2–3 weeks of pregnancy. Decreased levels of this protein are often associated with fetal distress or ectopic pregnancy. It is not detectable in the healthy male and in the nonpregnant female. The protein has Mr of 90,000. Its structure and function is unknown. Cloning of the cDNA of this protein will permit characterization of its structure and study of its function and regulation throughout pregnancy. Rabbit antihuman β SP1 antibody was absorbed with other placental proteins and affinity purified. The 1–125 labeled antibody was used as probe to screen a human placental cDNA expression library in bacteriophage λgt 11 provided by Dr. Brian Knoll. Six positive clones were identified. Lysates of bacteria carrying these 6 recombinant phage were prepared and analyzed by Western blot. A slow moving protein band hybridizing with the probe was identified in lysates. No such bands were observed in lysates of the host bacteria or the wild type λgt 11 lysogen. These results confirmed that in all cases the antibody recognized the cDNA translation product and not a phage or bacterial protein. Eco RI digestion of the recombinant phage DNA showed inserts of size varying from 415 to 2803 bp with two internal Eco RI sites in the 2803 bp insert. We thank Dr. Hans Bohn of Behringwerke for the purified β SPl and Drs. Dominic Chung and Earl Davie for their help and advice. (Supported in part by NIH grant HD 16730).


REVO five-axis system, designed for the orthogonal coordinate measuring machines, must be reconfigured for the application in the non-orthogonal coordinate measuring machines. First, in this article, error sources of the system and components of measurement data are analyzed; then, scale values of coordinate measuring machine axes, which are essential to derive the coordinates of measured points in non-orthogonal coordinate measuring machine, are separated out. Besides, the mathematical model of REVO is established based on the quasi-rigid body theory, from which the measurement results can be evaluated by data derived instead of that returned by the system. The effectiveness of both separation of scale values and mathematical model of REVO is proved by experiments and practice. The research of this article is of great significance to the application of REVO five-axis system in the non-orthogonal coordinate measuring machine.