The effects of periodontal initial preparation included orthodontic treatment were researched. The changes of the width of keratinized and attached gingiva, and the gain of the attachment level were observed. The subjects were one male and two females having periodontal disease with malalignment. Fore areas of three anterior teeth were reseached. They were treated with periodontal initial preparation and orthodontic treatment. The results were as follow. 1) The keratinized and attached gingiva appeared as a result of orthodontic treatment and initial preparation. 2) The widths of keratinized gingiva and attached gingiva increasing after treatment were enough to maintain the health of the gingiva. 3) The gain of the attachment level on the exposed root surfaces were observed.


This paper indicates that the commercial reasons alone can not explain the existence and develop- ment of Internet-bank.In environment of network-economy,an economic explanation for existence and devel- opment of Internet-Bank has been put forward by way of those three theories:marginal utility,externality,and value chain.


Sauropus androgynus (L) Merr leaf in Indonesia called katuk have strong antioxidant activity with IC50 80,01 ppm. The aims of this research is want to know physical properties of katuk leaf shampo which is formulated in various formulas. In this research katuk was formulated in shampoo with viscocity agent (HPMC, sodium CMC and Carbopol) in various concentration. The result showed that all shampoo formulas had low jasmine smell, but had different in form and colour. Shampoo viscocity increased with increased viscocity agent. The highest viscocity showed by F7 with 0,5% carbopol concentration. pH test showed that the shampoo with HPMC and sodium CMC had pH value 6. pH value of shampoo with carbopol was 5. All of pH formulas meet the requirement of SNI standard. Statistical result showed that the physical properties of foam high, viscocity and pH all formulas had significant difference.


Synthesis of nanocrystalline Y2O3:Eu phosphor by complex based precursor solution method, using triethanolamine (TEA) as complexing agent, has been described. The synthesis of corresponding bulk sample has also been reported. The samples have been characterized through x-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements. The intensity of the nanocrystalline phosphor is found to be maximum when the concentration of Eu is 4 at wt% with respect to Y, after which, 'concentration quenching' starts dominating.


The carbonyl stretching region of fully deuterated acetic acid CD3COOD in D2O has been studied by means of Raman spectroscopy. The number of linearly independent spectral components was determined to be four by factor analysis. Fourier self-deconvolution of the spectra revealed another major component band which was assigned to an overtone and/or combination vibration of the acid monomer. The overall band envelope was fitted with five Gauss–Lorentz functions using a non-linear least squares procedure. The abnormally high intensity of the band assigned to the overtone/combination is discussed in terms of Fermi resonance.


As part of Florida DOT (FDOT)'s Partnering Program, a temporary roadway was designed and constructed using three different pavement sections. The program consisted of pavement construction monitoring and field/laboratory testing during construction, prior to opening to traffic and demolition. The study documents the findings of the ongoing efforts by FDOT to assess the applicability of untreated recycled asphalt pavement (UNRAP) as base course for pavement sections. Three different temporary pavement sections were constructed. Two sections were constructed with UNRAP, one with a stabilized subgrade and the other with a compacted subgrade. The third section was constructed with a limerock base and stabilized subgrade, and was used for comparison purposes. The UNRAP material used in the temporary pavement sections was milled off of the existing roadway. Laboratory and field testing, including Dynaflect and falling weight deflectometer (FWD), were performed and evaluated. The study suggested the UNRAP base p...


1. Fundamentals 2. Urban Sound Evaluation 3. Urban Soundscape 4. Mirco-Scale Acoustic Modelling 5. Macro-Scale Acoustic Modelling 6. Urban Noise Mitigation 7. Sound Environment in Urban Streets and Squares


Previous studies have shown that single-user systems with t antennas at the transmitter and r antennas at the receiver can achieve capacity proportional to min(r, t) assuming a rich scattering environment. In this paper, we study a cellular network with a t-antenna basestation and K r-antenna users. We assume exponentially correlated fading exists either at the basestation or at the users, and the channels of different users change independently. Multiuser diversity is exploited by always allowing the basestation to transmit to the user which channel provides the highest capacity among all users. For this network, we investigate the impact of correlated fading on the network capacity. We find that if both t and r > 1, the impact of correlated fading depends on the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). At the low SNR regime, the capacity will also increase with the correlation coefficient. However, at the high SNR regime, under the condition that one side of the channel having correlated fading has less antennas than the other side, the increase of the correlation coefficient will reduce the capacity. In addition, we find the closed-form solutions for the mean and variance of single-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channel capacities for different cases.


Collectins, present in plasma and on mucosal surfaces, are humoral molecules of the innate immune system. They were discovered a hundred years ago in 1906 as the first association of an animal lectin with the immune system. They are a family of calcium‐dependent lectins that recognize pathogen‐associated molecular patterns. They share a similar modular domain architecture consisting of four regions; a cysteine‐rich N‐terminal domain, a collagen‐like region, an α‐helical neck domain and a C‐terminal carbohydrate recognition domain. There have been eight collectins members defined so far, of which, MBL, SP‐A and SP‐D are the most characterized. Collectins represent the first line of host defense. Upon recognition of the infectious agents, collectins put into action effector mechanisms like direct opsonization, neutralization, agglutination, complement activation and phagocytosis to curb the microbial growth. In addition, they also modulate inflammatory and allergic responses and apoptotic cell clearance. These functions limit infection and subsequently modulate the adaptive immune responses. The role of collectins, their structure, function, characteristics and clinical significance are reviewed in this article. BioEssays 29:452–464, 2007. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


In the analysis of cause‐specific survival, the causes of death must be known. For single‐cancer patients with a known cause of death, the estimation of the cause‐specific survival rate is straightforward. For multiple‐cancer patients with two primary cancers, however, the analysis of cause‐specific survival rates is more complex, particularly if the cancers are of the same primary site. In these situations, a concept of cancer‐specific survival may also be distinguished from cause‐specific survival. Cancer‐specific survival rates are studied here by introducing two models, the primary one where the death from cancer is attributed to one of the cancers, and an alternative where such an attribution is not necessary. The models are illustrated using data on patients with multiple breast cancers. The model‐based survival rates are compared with each other and with the corresponding relative survival rates based on analogous modelling of relative survival. The results show that for the subsequent breast cancer, the cancer‐specific survival rates based on the alternative, where the distinction between the cancers as a cause of death was not necessary, tended to be higher than those based on that distinction. It is thus possible that the subsequent cancer was too often coded as a cause of death, particularly when being localized at diagnosis. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


By monitoring the inhibitory effect on ethanol absorption in rats, new active saponins named elatosides A and B were isolated from the bark of Aralia elata Seem. together with elatosides C and D. The structures of elatosides A, B, C, and D were elucidated on the basis of chemical and physicochemical evidence. The inhibitory effects of several oleanolic acid oligoglycosides on ethanol absorption have been examined and some structure-activity relationships have been found.


The invention relates to a sheet heater composed of a plurality of heating segments, which is provided for radiation heating of a thermal process plant and to a transport plane for to be transported through a conditioning chamber of the process tool in a transport direction along a transport path large area substrates. With the invention, a surface heater is to be provided with a plurality of heating segments for radiation heating of a thermal process plant, with good homogenization of the heat distribution is achieved even with the failure of individual heating segments and which allows to control the distributed over the surface radiant heating targeted to total to achieve a homogenization of the heat distribution. characterized that a plurality of heating segments (3) form in a row alongside each other, a heater group (7) and that each heating segment (3) is reached, the are that the heating segments (3) oriented transversely to the transport direction and arranged in rows one behind the other, in such a way with is connected to an electrical power source.


Methods for assessing the nutritive characteristics of proteins range from feeding trials using practical mixed diets with human and animal subjects to the laboratory evaluation of a single chemical property, such as the methionine content, of a single protein source. Between these two extremes there are, for example, rat and chick assays designed as biological screening tests for single protein sources. Biological tests with these species are relatively expensive and time-consuming, but nevertheless they do encompass digestibility and amino acid availability. The 'available lysine' test of Carpenter, Ellinger, Munro & Rolfe (1957) is so far the only purely chemical test designed to measure available as opposed to total amino acid content, and with the other amino acids the need for a biological test is becoming increasingly apparent. Microbiological assays of intact proteins make it possible to do a large number of rapid and comparatively inexpensive biological assays, with due emphasis on the availability of essential amino acids. The scope and potentialities of such tests have been reviewed by Rosen (1959), Ford (1960) and Rosen, Stott & Smith (1960) and it is sufficient here to emphasize the double role of microbiological assays for measuring either the overall nutritive value of protein or the availability of individual essential amino acids. Previous work demonstrated the ability of Tetrahymena pyriformis W to utilize a wide variety of protein sources, and it was shown that the relative nutritive values of the various types of protein source were generally similar to those for the growing rat (Fernell & Rosen, 1956; Rosen & Fernell, 1956). Modified techniques have since been applied to an extended range of materials and to the study of several aspects of the organism's metabolism and protein nutrition (Rosen et al. 1960). The measurement of organism response adopted by Rosen & Femell(1956) was devised to determine the efficiency of protein utilization as expressed by the ratio of the number of organisms per ml culture medium to the amount of ammonia nitrogen present after 4 days' incubation. This approach was adopted because, under the chosen cultural conditions, a linear relationship between growth and protein level was not obtained. Later


Thank you for reading american scream allen ginsbergs howl and the making of the beat generation. Maybe you have knowledge that, people have search numerous times for their chosen novels like this american scream allen ginsbergs howl and the making of the beat generation, but end up in infectious downloads. Rather than enjoying a good book with a cup of coffee in the afternoon, instead they cope with some infectious bugs inside their desktop computer.


A semiconductor memory device includes a semiconductor substrate having an active region therein, an insulating layer on the substrate, and a lower electrode conductive pad extending through the insulating layer. The lower electrode conductive pad electrically contacts the active region at a lower surface of the lower electrode conductive pad. A lower electrode conductive plug on at least a portion of the lower electrode conductive pad electrically contacts the lower electrode conductive pad at an upper surface and at one sidewall thereof. The semiconductor device may further include a bitline conductor on the substrate adjacent the lower electrode conductive plug and an insulating spacer on a sidewall of the bitline conductor adjacent the lower electrode conductive plug. The insulating spacer may separate the lower electrode conductive plug from the bitline conductor by a distance sufficient to prevent electrical contact therebetween. Related methods are also discussed.


Bamboo polysaccharide,which has obviously anti-cancer activity,is extracted from bamboo leaves as raw material.With the help of microwave-assisted extraction method,the optimum extracting conditions have been investigated through single-factor experiments combined with orthogonal test.The results show that the optimum extraction conditions:ratio of bamboo leaves to water is 1:30,the power of microwave oven is 539W,6 minutes each time and for 4 times.The yield of bamboo polysaccharide is 0.496% under the optimum conditions.


Nilpotent and idempotent adjacency operator methods are applied to the study of random geometric graphs in a discretized, d-dimensional unit cube [0, 1]. Cycles are enumerated, sizes of maximal connected components are computed, and closed formulas are obtained for graph circumference and girth. Expected numbers of k-cycles, expected sizes of maximal components, and expected circumference and girth are also computed by considering powers of adjacency operators.


The biopsy is a major revenue source for dermatology practices, emphasizing the need for correct biopsy billing practices. Dermatology practices tend to make mistakes in two key areas: basing their billing on intent, and in misrepresenting services.


Objective To investigate the effect of insulin resistance(IR) on kidney injury and bone mineral density(BMD) in aged rats with type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM) or simplex insulin resistance(IR).Methods 30 Wistar rats aged 18 months were randomly divided into normal control,DM group and IR group.Euglycemic insulin clamp technique(EICT) was used to determine IR indicated by glucose infusion rate(GIR),dual energy X-ray absorption(DEXA) was used to determine BMD of lumbar spines and femoral.24 h urinary protein were measured by radioimmunoassay.Results GRI in DM and IR group was lower than that in control group(P0.01),while 24 h urinary protein was higher than that in DM group(P=0.008),24 h urinary protein in IR group had ascending trend(P0.05).24 h urinary protein in DM group was higher than IR group(P=0.017 5).BMD in IR group were higher than that in DM group,and lower than that in controls(P0.05).GIR in IM and DM group showed a negative correlation with 24 h urinary protein and positive correlation with BMD.Conclusions IR in T2DM and simplex IR could result in the decline of BMD and kidney injury.


FIELD: food industry. SUBSTANCE: noncohesive chewing gum includes chewing gum ingredients, at least one elastomer and, at least one resin. Resin includes at least one synthetic biologically decomposing homopolymer resin with the amount of the synthetic biologically decomposing homopolymer being between 0.5 wt % and 60 wt % of the chewing gum. EFFECT: combining a biologically decomposing homopolymer and an elastomer in the chewing gum enabled to obtain a product with improved nonadhesiveness as well as with a tolerable taste when chewing. 60 cl, 4 tbl, 12 ex


INTRODUCTION
In the last years, the changes in glial cells during different alterations in the Central Nervous System have been studied. It is known that astrocytes and microglial cells are the glial cells which present the major reactivity.

OBJECTIVE
The aim of this work was to analyze the glial cell changes induced by a lesion.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
We studied the quantitative and morphometric changes observed in glial cells in the different layers of contralateral frontal cortex using micrometric techniques and image analysis.

RESULTS
In contralateral side to the lesions, we observed an increase in the total glial cells in all the cortical layers. The astrocytes only increased their number in cortical layer I, but microglia and oligodendrocytes increased in all the layers. In the cytomorphometric analysis an increase in the nucleus area of astrocytes was observed.

CONCLUSION
The glial cell response to the lesions is different for astrocytes, microglia and oligodendrocytes but these changes affected to all the cortical layers.


The invention discloses a method and system confirming optimal service range of a base station. The method comprises the following steps: acquiring location information of each base station in a pre-arranged area; taking the base stations as base points; generating a Voronoi figure according to the location information of all the base stations, wherein the Voronoi figure is formed by a Voronoi polygon adopting the base stations as generating elements; taking the area where each base station is located in the Voronoi polygon as the optimal service range of the base station in the pre-arranged area. According to the invention, the Voronoi figure is generated according to the location information of the base stations; the optimal service ranges of the base stations are confirmed according to the Voronoi figure; the complex rate of the calculation method is reduced; the calculation period is shortened; the realization cost is reduced.


Several surveys employ a panel design in which respondents are interviewed at multiple points in time ("waves") over the course of several months, or even years, in order to investigate the dynamics of certain life events. Many of these surveys use some form of "dependent" interviewing in which information gathered in one wave is carried over into subsequent waves in an attempt to reduce repetitiveness and burden, aid recall, reduce spurious change, and generally provide a sense of continuity over the life of the survey. Recent efforts to improve the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) have begun to focus on understanding and improving these dependent interviewing techniques. A related research effort has recently begun at the U.S. Census Bureau (which administers the SIPP) regarding its new "Respondent Identification Policy" or RIP. This policy, implemented in 1998, is designed to ensure that responses are not shared among individuals within a household unless the respondent has given consent for this. The implementation of dependent interviewing techniques and the new RIP policy prompted the current research. The main goals were to develop and assess a RIP item – a request for consent to share the respondent's data with other household members during later waves – and to explore respondents' reactions and concerns about dependent interviewing in general. In the service of those goals, the current research had several components. First, respondent debriefings were conducted following a Wave 1 interview to explore: (1) their reactions to the RIP item; and (2) their attitudes toward confidentiality and dependent interviewing. The debriefing findings were used to further refine the RIP item, and then the original and the new RIP item were evaluated in a Wave 2 follow-up debriefing. In addition, Wave 2 cognitive interviews were conducted to assess respondents' overall reactions to dependent interviewing. Results from these exploratory inquiries indicate that some respondents expressed concerns about sharing information with children and about sharing financial information more generally. In general, respondents reacted positively to dependent interviewing techniques and most had no privacy or confidentiality concerns. Among the limitations of the research are: (1) its qualitative nature (testing was conducted on small numbers of respondents not selected at random, and semi-structured interviewing techniques – versus standardized interviewing – were used), (2) the survey context (topics within the SIPP include income, earnings and health insurance; other topics of a more or less sensitive nature may not yield the same results) and (3) the


Welcome to HHS Library's LibGuides! Your one stop for all things research. Get tips and tricks on conducting research and writing papers.


In the study of diatoms, bogs furnish an excellent record of diatom flora during the post glacial period. As a result of the Late Wisconsin glacial activity Northern Indiana was dotted with numerous lakes, many of which are of the kettle-hole type and have become extinct due to deposition of marl and peat. In many bodies of water where diatoms are present, a portion of this sedimentation is composed of the silicified walls of the diatom cells which remain unaltered after the death of the organism. Thus diatoms become deposited and preserved in stratigraphie order.


The increasing demand for radiological examinations increases the need for simple reliable ancillary radiological techniques. Zonography is one of these. The technique has been known for many years (Ziedses des Plantes, 1933) but, as with most variations of standard tomographic technique the method has received scant attention in the English literature (Lindblom, 1955; Ettinger and Faisinger, 1966; Westra, 1966). This is not true of the European literature where within the last few years several articles have appeared describing the advantages of this method (Pignataro, 1961; Westra, 1962; Svoboda, 1965; Swart, 1966). Zonography or small angle tomography is characterised by the extreme "thickness" of the tomographic section. Using a tube swing of between 5 and 10 deg. the nominal thickness of the section ranges from 2 to 6 cm. Linear and circular zonography have been used but the additional mechanical complication of the circular movement limits its availability, whereas linear zonography can be carried o...


Chemotherapy is one of the most widely used treatments of various breast cancers; however, it has been shown that carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) induce chemotherapy resistance of breast cancer cells (BCCs). Previous research has shown that the downregulation of caveolin-1 (cav-1), a structural component of membrane caveolae, promotes a CAF-like phenotype in stromal cells. This study was performed to evaluate the effect that downregulation of caveolin-1 in mammary fibroblasts imparts on chemotherapy resistance in BCCs. To determine the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of chemotherapy agents on BCCs, MDA-MB-231 (MDA) and MCF-7 BCCs were treated for 24 and 48 hours with doxorubicin (DOX) or tamoxifen (TAM), then cell viability was measured. The WST-1 cell viability assay showed significant cytotoxicity after 48 hours for all treatments. MDA BCCs exhibited significant cell death following treatment with 0.9 ug/mL of DOX and 7 uM of TAM. MCF-7 BCC's had significant cell death at 0.92 ug/mL for DOX and 7.5 uM for TAM; however, these results were less consistent when multiple assays were performed on MCF-7 BCCs treated with DOX. Many attempts were made to isolate mammary gland fibroblasts from cav-1 -/and cav-1 +/+ mice with no success. Instead, human mammary fibroblasts (HMFs) were transfected with cav-1 shRNA to induce downregulation of cav-1 protein expression. HMFs transfected with cav-1 shRNA were positively selected with puromycin, then subcultured to ensure only transfected cells remained adherent. After a 72-hour growth period, protein lysate was collected and a western blot was done to assess cav-1 expression. Results showed a significant downregulation of cav-1 in cav-1 shRNA treated samples. Overall, these results indicate that TAM is a strong cytotoxic agent against MDA and MCF-7 BCCs, while DOX is more effective against MDA BCCs. Also, the use of shRNA transfection proved to be a beneficial technique for downregulation of cav-1 in HMFs. Carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) have the largest concentration of all cell types within the breast cancer tumor stroma and have been shown to induce chemotherapy resistance within multiple lines of breast cancer cells (Buchsbaum, R. et al.). CAFs experience a loss of cav-1 through autophagy in response to oxidative stress induced by breast cancer cells (MartinezOutschoorn, U., et al.). Loss of cav-1 in activated CAFs contributes to the secretion of growth factors, cytokines, and metabolites that stimulate breast cancer mitochondrial metabolism, decrease the pH within the breast cancer tumor microenvironment, and stimulate tumorigenesis (Luo, H., et al.). Previous research has also shown that downregulation of cav-1 promotes a CAF-like phenotype in stromal fibroblasts (Casazza, A., et al.). This downregulation of cav-1 at the protein level in stromal fibroblasts has been linked to breast cancer tumor progression and poor patient outcome (Sotgia, F., et al.). Loss of fibroblast cav-1 will induce chemotherapy resistance in breast cancer cells. Experimental Methods Chemotherapy cytotoxicity in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells Cell proliferation analysis of HMF and MDA co-cultures treated with tamoxifen shRNA plasmid DNA transfection of HMFs Breast cancer cells after 48 hours chemotherapy treatment


Julian embarks on a career as an aspiring actor and sometime novelist, supporting himself as a bartender in a seedy pub frequented by other bohemians in London of the 1950s. Through an old school friend, Julian meets Anne and they fall in love. However, things do not go smoothly.


Coronary  artery  disease (CAD) is a major cause of mortality and morbidity in developed countries, affecting as many as one in three individuals before the age of 70 years [1]. Despite a slight decrease in prevalence that has occurred over the past decade, it still contributes to nearly 15% of deaths [2]. Although a wide range of risk factors for coronary artery disease have been identified from population studies, these measures, singly or in combination, are insufficiently powerful to provide a reliable, noninvasive diagnosis of the presence of coronary artery disease [3]. Techniques such as genomics, proteomics and metabonomics (a systems approach to examining the changes in hundreds or thousands of low-molecular-weight metabolites in an intact tissue or bio fluid) offer the prospect of efficiently discriminating individuals who have special disease or toxic states. The NMR based technique offers several clear advantages in the clinical goals. It can be carried out on standard preparations of serum,plasma or urine samples [4-6]. In this work, supervised Kohonen artificial neural networks (SKANN) as a supervised self-organizing map (SOM) [7-12] is used as a non-linear modeling and visualizing method to analyze  proton nuclear magnetic resonance ( 1 H-NMR) spectroscopy  data which obtained from human blood plasma samples in a case control research on coronary artery diseases (CAD). The goal of this study is human disease diagnosis and classifying CAD samples on basis of visualizing the relationship between different spectral patterns. Samples were collected after angiography and included patients with CAD and non-findings individuals(healthy cases) (64 samples with 2 classes). In this study,the partial least squares (PLS) [13, 14] as a linear two-way analysis chemometrics approach was used to reduce dimensionality of data. T o enhance the classification performance , genetic algorithm (GA) applied on PLS latent variables to select discriminant PLS factors. In the next step, the oblique rotation (OR) [15] was implemented on the selected factors to transform them linearly to obtain the optimal discriminative factors. The optimal factors were introduced as input to SKANN [9-12] and also, partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) [11, 16] as non-linear and linear classification methods, restpectively. Classification results were calculated and evaluated by cross validation and external test set and compared together. The best result obtained using SKANN. All the training and cross validated samples were successfully classified using proposed method. Percent of correct classified samples for test samples were 0.92 and 0.86 using SKANN and PLS-DA, respectively. It can be concluded that the combination of chemometrics approaches and 1 H-NMR spectra of human blood plasma can be used as a powerful diagnostic tool to detect CAD and similar diseases which cause changes in metabolic contents of human blood.


A gabbroic body of probable Brasiliano age, cropping out in a 4 km2 area around Amparo, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, was studied under the petrographic microscope and the electron microprobe. The dominant mineral assemblage consists of plagioclase (An 89<x<An98); olivine (Fo68<x<Fo73); amphibole (tschermakitic hornblende, Mg-hornblende and pargasite); OPX (En70<x<En76); spinel (pleonast); CPX (diopside); ilmenite, hematite, magnetite and sulphides. The uniformity of the mineral chemistry points toward a crystallization conditions in equillibrium with the parent magma. Important mineral reactions between olivine and plagioclase imply igneous reaction temperatures ranging from 850oC to 900oC


This article has as object of study the television show Mr. Robot. The series is approached as an example of a narrative that offers a participatory experience while employing resources that produce complexity, typical of neo-baroque aesthetics. From this observation, the work makes a narratological reflection and considers the formal constituent elements of the program as part of a project that has as a principle the search for a deeper engagement. The work seeks to understand the use of devices that encourage audience participation, owing to the progression of the study of complex narratives in the present time.


This study was carried out to determine changes in ovarian and uterine dimensions in Savanna Brown (SB) goats between days 24 and 30 postpartum (pp). The mean (± sem) weight of the right ovary (ROV) was significantly higher (P 0.3 cm in diameter in the ROV was higher (P< 0.05) at day 30 pp than day 26 pp. Mean weight of FF from the left ovary (LOV) was heavier (P< 0.05) than from the ROV during the period of study. The inter-caruncular distance in both the right (Rh) and left (Lh) uterine horns was longer (P< 0.05) at day 30 pp. The left oviduct was longer (P <0.05) than the right oviduct at day 30 pp. It is concluded that pp ovarian follicle activity was higher in the ROV than LOV and inter-carunucular distance and left oviductal length were significantly longer between days 28 and 30 pp.


This paper posits that the problem of political instability and social disorder is closely connected to the problem of unjustifiable inequality in the distribution of benefits and burdens in contemporary African societies. The paper argues that to effectively resolve the problem of socio-political instability and disorder in Africa today, adequate attention must be paid to the question of distributive justice. This work adopts John Rawls' Theory of Justice as his theoretical framework with emphasis laid on his Difference Principle, which prioritizes the demand for social equality over that of liberty. This would reduce the problem of social inequality and its attendant negative consequences, which include widespread poverty and unemployment. Also, this version of the Difference Principle is designed to ensure that social benefits and burdens are distributed equally to the advantage of everyone in the society. The philosophical methods of critical analysis and conceptual clarification are employed, while the significance of this work is to show that equality in the distribution of benefits and burdens would undermine ill-will between the privileged and the less privileged, which is a source of tension that generates political instability and social disorder.


In Central and Eastern Europe, economic reform consistent with Bretton Woods and European Union (EU) demands has replicated not only the rules and institutions that prevail in Western societies but also their patterns of consensus and conflict. Although central bank policy has been largely depoliticized in the 2004 accession states through the institutionalization of central bank independence, agricultural interests were mobilized—in some instances against the EU—in the course of accession negotiations. This article argues that as they engage in the explicit transfer of economic policy to post-communist states, international institutions simultaneously transmit beliefs about who has legitimate claims on the state. The methods through which international institutions help construct new markets in transition states have consequences for the development of domestic cleavages and for the cultivation of political support for economic integration.


Abstract Socially isolated couples play a crucial role in the work of the contemporary lesbian author, Rebecca Brown. The majority of her heroines are trapped in the couple form, a dangerous situation given the violent character of many of these 'love' relations. Brown's portrayals of the risks of becoming isolated in or as a couple may help to counter the current prioritization of the love dyad (a heterosexual trend gays and lesbians are said to follow) and the resultant lack of interest in the wider community. Brown further shows how her (closeted) antagonist characters, who affirm the centrality of the couple and retreat into their homes, actually preserve the public-private dichotomy that guarantees the constant relegation of homosexuality to the domain of the unmentionable. While Brown also depicts queer 'families of choice,' she points out the influence of class and income on the possibility of creating more extensive relations to escape social seclusion, thereby giving voice to the experiences of a poorer (hence, often neglected) segment of the queer population.


Design equations are presented for the calculation of the ultimate lateral resistance of two-pile groups in clay under a general loading direction. Analytical upper bound solutions, numerical upper...


Abstract The thermal performance of the divertor Langmuir probe conceptual design developed for the ITER divertor, which consists of a shielded probe bolted to a copper heat sink, has been predicted by the finite element analysis package ANSYS to have a high risk of damage due to poor heat transfer ability. In order to mitigate this risk, three alternative designs focusing on improving heat conduction have been proposed, and the power-handling abilities, damage risk, and interface challenges of the three designs have been compared. First simulation results indicate that a design involving casting a tungsten probe sensor into a copper heat sink could provide adequate heat-handling capacity. Elasto-plastic stress analysis will be needed to evaluate the thermal stresses at W/Cu interface in our future work. Langmuir probe prototypes will be prepared and high heat flux tests will be performed on electron beam facilities at the Southwestern Institute of Physics to verify the probe functionality once analysis has identified a suitable candidate design.


This study intended to identify the determinants of the audit expectation gap in Malaysia. The expectation gap is defined as the different perspectives of what society thinks and what society wants the auditors to do. Previous Malaysian researchers prove the existence of audit expectations. However, only some studies identify determinants of the audit expectation gap in Malaysia. Recent studies show that the Malaysian public misunderstood auditors' duties and audit scope. This quantitative research addresses the relationship between auditors' skills, auditors' efforts, knowledge of society, and users' needs toward the audit expectation gap. Online questionnaires are used in this study as measuring tools to measure the variables expected to have a significant relationship with the audit expectation gap. The software used to conduct the analysis is SPSS 20 under the linear regression method. There was a total of 108 Malaysian auditors involved in this research. This study shows that auditors' efforts and knowledge of society are significantly related to the audit expectation gap. The rest of the factors were tested, and it was found that they did not significantly affect the audit expectation gap. Therefore, auditors should utilize exemplary efforts and increase public awareness of the audit scope.


In image retrieval, the bag-of-visual-words model-based approaches combined withthe spatial verification (SP) post-processing step have achieved considerableprogress. However, in practice, especially for retrieving landmark images, theauthors have observed that this baseline suffers from the problem of burst matches.This issue is caused by repetitive visual patterns that appear frequently amongimages. Local features derived from these burst patterns can redundantly matchothers, resulting in many invalid matches that vote over-estimated similarity scoresfor irrelevant images. Essentially, this problem can be mainly attributed to tworeasons, (i) the non-exclusive matching leads to one-to-many matches, (ii) the SPfails to filter burst matches that are closely located. To tackle this problem, aburstiness detection approach using geometric and visual word information of localfeatures is proposed. Firstly, a geometric filtering strategy is employed to removematches that are not consistent with global scale variation. Then, the one-to-onematching strategy is applied to detect and eliminate one-to-many matches. Finally,a down-weighting burstiness strategy is adopted to penalise the voting weight ofburst matches. Experimental results on three public datasets demonstrate that theproposed approach can achieve a comparable or even better accuracy over otherpopular approaches.


Recently, stability of Newton-CG under Hessian perturbations, i.e., inexact curvature information, have been extensively studied. Such stability analysis has subsequently been leveraged in designing variants of Newton-CG in which, to reduce the computational costs involving the Hessian matrix, the curvature is suitably approximated. Here, we do that for Newton-MR, which extends Newton-CG in the same manner that MINRES extends CG. Unlike the stability analysis of Newton-CG, which relies on spectrum preserving perturbations in the sense of L\"{o}wner partial order, our work here draws from matrix perturbation theory to estimate the distance between the underlying exact and perturbed sub-spaces. Numerical experiments demonstrate great degree of stability for Newton-MR, amounting to a highly efficient algorithm in large-scale problems.


Asparagus racemosus Willd belongs to family Asparagaceae is a common medicinal plant found in hilly and plane regions of India. The plant has got immense medicinal properties and because of that it has got special importance in ayurvedic system of medicine. In the present investigation attempts were made for study of phytochemical and antibacterial activity of ethanolic extract of root. The study showed presence of primary phytochemicals like steroids, alkaloids, saponins, carbohydrates, flavoniods, amino acids except tannins. Chromatographic analysis (HPTLC) showed presence of seven polyvalent phytochemical compounds with variable Rf valus and concentration. The antimicrobial study of extract showed significant growth inhibition against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The mixture of polyvalent compounds present in the extracts might be responsible for the antibacterial activity against the pyogenic bacteria. The results obtained support the application of Asparagus racemosus in several traditional ethnomedicinal applications. Furthermore HPTLC fingerprint developed may found its application in the correct taxonomical identification of Asparagus racemosus and in detecting adulterations in the crude plant drug.


The purpose of the current research is to elucidate of gene expression of the tooth germ. Fresh permanent incisor and molar teeth germs were extracted from mandibles of 6-month-old pig. Extracted human premolars for orthodontic reasons were used as sample of the completed tooth root. Apical and central samples were prepared from pulp tissue. mRNA expression by RT-PCR and protein expression of BMP in the pulp tissue were detected. DMP1, BMP2 expressions were similar in all samples. OP expression was weaker in centrum of the molar tooth as compared to the other parts. OC was not expressed. BMP4 expression was strong at the incisor apical part, though it was not expressed at the molar central area. BMP5 was weakly expressed at the incisor central and molar apical areas. Though BMP7 expression was remarkably detected at the incisor and molar apexes, its expression was almost absent at the central area. Moreover for examining the specific expression of BMP7 at the apex, central superficial layer corresponding to the neck of the incisor and molar teeth was prepared. The result was that BMP7 was strongly expressed at the apex than in the central superficial layer and only a little expression was detected at central superficial layer of the incisor and molar tooth. In the current research, expressions of OP, DMP, BMP 2, 4, 5, 7 were seen in the tooth germ tissue. Thus the results suggested that expression of these genes played a central role in differentiation of the pulp. BMP7 was also suggested to have a specific role in apex formation (differentiation).


We are grateful for the interest in our published case.1 As Dr. Shubhakaran mentions, the evaluation of transient alterations in awareness can be challenging. Multiple etiologies need to be considered as part of its differential diagnosis, including syncope.1 Semiology and physical examination are of paramount importance; they frequently help distinguish between cardiogenic and noncardiogenic causes of syncope.2 In some rare etiologies, like stretch syncope, a definitive diagnosis may remain elusive despite thorough evaluation.


The stock size of sandfish in the northern Sea of Japan was estimated by a virtual population analysis (VPA) and sensitivity analyses were attempted on the VPA estimate. The stock size estimates were approximately 600–900 million until 1975, but since 1976 they have rapidly decreased. In the sensitivity analyses, the estimates of absolute stock size were not sensitive against the changes in the fishing mortality coefficient for terminal age and the measurement error in catch-at-age. This suggested that the relative stock size remains almost unaffected by the error in the data used in the VPA, if the degree of catch-at-age error and the natural mortality coefficient is correct. The relationships between the biomass estimated by the VPA and the density index from Danish seine fisheries, and between the biomass and the catch per unit effort (CPUE) from the experimental survey using Danish seine nets, were also examined. The density index and the CPUE indicated significant relations with the biomass. Consequently, the CPUE is useful to monitor the relative stock size in a timely manner, and the VPA estimate and the CPUE should be utilized for adjusting the total allowable catch in the multiseasons.


Context: Tachykinins (TKs), an evolutionarily conserved family of peptide hormones, are widely distributed within the peripheral and central nervous systems. TKs exert their biological actions in many processes via three subtypes of transmembrane G-protein coupled receptors, which are NK1R, NK2R, and NK3R. Although the mechanisms that connect TKs peptide activity to physiological processes are currently precise, it has been shown that TKs over-activation is associated with the pathogenesis of many diseases, including pain, emesis, depression, stress, and inflammatory processes, as well as human tumors. Gastrointestinal (GI) cancers refer to malignant conditions of the GI tract, which are among the most prevalent diseases and are the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Recent studies have shown that the binding of TKs to specific cellular receptors mediates a critical GI tumor proliferation pathway via initiation and activation of effector mechanisms, including protein synthesis and progression of the eukaryotic cell cycle. Evidence Acquisition: This study reviewed the role of tachykinins in the initiation and progression of gastrointestinal cancers. In this regard we searched databases such as PubMed, Science Direct, Google Scholar, and Scopus databases by using these keywords "Tachykinins", "Gastrointestinal cancer", "Metastasis", "G-protein coupled receptors", and "pharmacological inhibitor" without any time limit. The relevance of studies was identified by reviewing the titles and the abstracts. A total of 100 English language articles including experimental, observational, molecular, and cellular studies were reviewed. Results: The administration of the gastrointestinal cancer cells with Tk receptor antagonists induces apoptotic cell death through the tachykinin-mediated pathway. The findings showed that the pharmacological inhibition of TKRs with its selective antagonists has a promising prospect for the GI cancers treatment approach, either as a single agent or in combination with other chemotherapeutic agents. Conclusions: In this review, we presented different facts regarding the role of TKs and TKRs in the pathogenesis of GI malignancies for a better understanding and hence better management of these cancers. Therefore, understanding the underlying mechanism of the TK/TKR system can help to have a more excellent clinical vision for the treatment of GI cancers.


Statistical models of non-rigid deformable objects such as Active Appearance Models (AAM) are a popular means of both registration, tracking and synthesis of faces. Due to rapid fitting and good accuracy they are used extensively for facial expression tracking and analysis. A problem facing AAM based face tracking, is their inability to generalise well to unseen faces especially from unseen databases. One way to overcome this problem is through the combined use of various available databases, as some of them capture lighting variations, others pose or expression. In addition, this allows us to capture more variation in ethnicity, gender and age. Use of multiple databases gives us a better opportunity to create person, expression, and pose independent models. A problem arises because of the heterogeneity of the available databases due to use of different lenses, exposure times, external lightning or shadows etc. We describe an approach that leads to improved convergence of AAM fitting at close range when training a model on two different databases. In addition, this approach offers a substantial improvement when fitting images from unseen databases.


In the 1990s, the European Commission initiated the MEANS programme of evaluation guidance for socio-economic programmes, primarily for those co-financed with the Structural Funds. This initiative developed an intervention logic that has remained in place ever since. The Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy has recently been taking a fresh look at the logical framework. We have examined it drawing on experiences from three programming periods: from the perspective of an intensive ex post evaluation of the 2000–06 programming period; from the perspective of reporting on the ongoing performance of current programmes; and from the perspective of designing a policy for 2014–20 with a stronger result orientation. The conclusion of this work is that our intervention logic was never entirely clear. We cannot in practice distinguish between a short-term direct effect (result) and a longer-term, indirect effect (impact). We have never actually measured impacts defined like this. With the increasing focus on outcomes in the international literature and the developments concerning the evaluation of impact – defined as the 'change that can credibly be attributed to an intervention', we realize that we need to clarify our intervention logic. This article outlines the experiences of the Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy and its proposals for a re-articulation of the logic of our interventions and the terminology we use in this regard.


Peoples have shifted from fossil fuel-powered vehicles to electric vehicles these days. It is environmentally friendly and also saves more energy. Electric scooter has two main components which are BLDC motor as a prime mover and battery as energy storage. Therefore, design of monitoring and diagnosing instruments are needed to maintain battery performance. Design of the instrument necessarily arranged to optimize the battery usage, monitor and identify an interruption or damage on battery used in electric scooter. Parameters used in design are voltage, current, temperature, and battery capacity. Furthermore, in optimizing the battery usage, all of the parameters are processed by a Controller Area Network (CAN) protocol. The parameters will be displayed on android smartphone to provide the scooter performance and give an alert if the interruption or damage is occurred such as over temperature and unbalanced cell. Based on the experiment results, it is shown that maximum error for current testing is 2.17% and for voltage testing is 0.09%. Maximum unbalance cell testing value reaches 12 % with an average value over 1 minute is 8.4% while safe limit of unbalance cell is 10%.


This book is a collection of 31 papers on geologic materials and synthetic analogues formed under the high-pressure and/or high-temperature conditions that prevail in the lower crust and the mantle. During the 3-year period 1978–1980, the Japanese government granted roughly $3.5 million for equipment and supplies to several Japanese national universities for the investigations. Scientists of diverse disciplines participated in the program, which was coordinated by the editor of this book, Ichiro Sunagawa (Tohoku University, Japan), an expert on crystal growth. Initially, 40 papers were published in a special issue of a Japanese journal, as the grant reports, and then selected papers were updated and incorporated into this English language volume. The papers are predominantly textbook-style reviews, but some of them present additional new data or interpretations. Three to eight papers are grouped by subject in each of seven chapters.


In this study, we present a new epidemiological model, with contamination from confirmed and unreported. We also compute equilibria and study their stability without intervention strategies. Optimal control theory has proven to be a successful tool in understanding ways to curtail the spread of infectious diseases by devising the optimal disease intervention strategies. We investigate the impact of distancing, case finding, and case holding controls while at the same time, we minimize the number of infected and dead individuals. The method consists of minimizing the cost functional related to infectious, death, and controls through some strategies to reduce the spread of the COVID19 epidemic.


If G/K is a non-compact symmetric space, g = LieG, k = LieK and g = k+p the corresponding Cartan decomposition, then the orbits X = AdG(K)x, x ∈ p, are called real flag manifolds. We take a ⊂ p a maximal abelian subspace and M := ZK(a). Under certain restrictions on G/K (which guarantee that M is connected) we show that the action of M on X is equivariantly formal, i.e. H∗ M (X) ≃ H∗(X) ⊗ H∗ M (pt) as H∗ M (pt)-modules. Under some stronger restrictions, we will give a purely geometric proof of a formula of Hsiang, Palais and Terng concerning H∗(X). In particular, this gives a new (spectral sequence free) proof of Borel's formula for the cohomology rings of adjoint orbits of compact Lie groups. We also conjecture a formula for H∗ M (X).


This paper reports on the progress of an investigation into improving the performance of ozone generators. This has involved the introduction of pulsed power techniques in order to develop ways in which the delicate dielectric barrier, which is so often the cause of failures in conventional ozone generators, can be removed. A feasibility study of pulsed ozone generation has been carried out in order to identify the role of the main electrical parameters upon ozone production. A figure of merit of an ozone generator is the efficiency of ozone production, given in g/kWh, and this has been measured against gas pressure, gas flow rate, the magnitude and polarity of the voltage pulse, the pulse repetition frequency, electrode configuration, pulse length and pulse shape.


Stimuli consisted of CF tone bursts with superimposed increments or decrements in sound intensity. The intensity changes were applied at various time delays from tone onset and the resulting changes in response firing rate were computed from PST histograms. Consistent with previous results [R. L. Smith, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 65, 166–178 (1979)], the change in response was independent of the time delay to the change in intensity, as long as firing rates were averaged over time windows exceeding 10 ms. When the same data was analyzed using windows of less than 2 ms, the initial increment in response caused by an increment in intensity remained independent of time delay. In contrast, the initial decrement in response caused by a decrement in intensity decreased with increasing time delay and appeared to be closely related to the amount of adaptation preceding the decrement. Similar decreases were observed in the response modulation produced by amplitude‐modulated stimuli. Thus, while incremental and decrementa...


Characteristics of the EXTRAP T2R device The EXTRAP T2R reversed field pinch [2] has a major radius R=1.24 m. The plasma limiter minor radius is a=0.183 m. The radius of the thin shell is rw=0.198 m giving a shell proximity of rw/a=1.08. The vertical field penetration time of the shell is τver=6.3 ms. The shell time constant is intermediate in the sense that it is longer than the RFP setting up time, but shorter than the discharge pulse length. The typical global parameters of the T2R device (plasma current Ip=100 kA, toroidal loop voltage Vt=30 V) are similar to those of thick shell RFP devices of the same size. The pulse lengths in this study are typically in the range 12-22 ms which are 2 -3 times longer than the shell time constant. The internally resonant modes exhibit spontaneous fast rotation, which thereby suppresses the associated radial magnetic field perturbation at the wall [3]. The equilibrium and the internal mode dynamics are not noticebly affected by the thin shell in EXTRAP T2R even though the pulse length significantly exceeds the shell time.


A 64-neuron electrically trainable BiCMOS analog neuroprocessor based on three-layered PDP networks is described. The minimum feedforward propagation time is 10 mu s, equivalent to operation speed of 10/sup 8/ multiplications/s. Analog neuroprocessors with a storage capacitor for the synapse have been studied. The short retention time of the synapse weight has been an obstacle to the development of an analog neurochip. A dynamic refresh technique described here increases the retention time of the synapse weight, leading to a practical implementation of the neuroprocessor. The approach is to refresh the weight charge in the same manner as in DRAMs. All outputs from the synapses on the same column are summed and sent to a neuron cell. The weight from an off-chip digital memory is converted to analog form and then written on the storage capacitor of a synapse selected by x and y decoders. This scheme permits updating the weight by addressing the synapses sequentially. Iteration number in backpropagation learning depends on the operation accuracy of a sigmoid function generator and a multiplier. The network is hardly trained when the multiplier error is larger than 20%. To reduce the error, the neuroprocessor is based on a bipolar-MOS analog circuit, using bipolar transistors for both the multiplier and the sigmoid function generator.<<ETX>>


This presentation will provide an overview of the photophysical and photochemical reactions that are known or postulated to occur after absorption of ultraviolet light by abiotic and biotic systems. Emphasis will be placed on the role of indirect or sensitized photooxidative pathways in the transformation and degradation of DOM (POM) and in the production of cellular damage. Techniques that a have been employed to detect and quantify the fluxes of specific transient intermediates produced by UV absorption will be described. The possible impacts of photooxidative processes on abiotic and biotic systems as well as the feedback between these systems will be discussed.


Objects are replicated in order to increase reliability and availability of an object-based system. If a method t is invoked on multiple replicas and each instance of t on the replicas invokes another method u on an object y, the method u is performed multiple times on the object of y although u should be performed just once. Then, the object gets inconsistent. This is redundant invocation. In addition, if each instance of the method t issues a request u to its quorum, more number of the replicas are manipulated than the quorum number of the method u. This is quorum expansion. We discuss a protocol to invoke methods on multiple replicas in a nested manner where the redundant invocation and quorum expansion are resolved. We evaluate the protocol compared with the primary-secondary replication.


Lenders may continue to make Minnesota Mortgage Program (MMP) and Community Activity Set-Aside (CASA) loan commitments through 5:00 p.m. on Monday, December 17. Access to new commitments will end at 5:00 p.m. to allow staff to transition to the new mortgage loan programs in the HDS Single Family Web Application, although lenders will still have access in the system to their pipelines. At 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, December 18, lenders may begin to make loan commitments for the new mortgage loan programs, Start Up and Step Up. Lenders will no longer be able to make new MMP or CASA commitments and will not be permitted to transfer MMP or CASA commitment to Start Up unless an underwriter certifies that the borrower(s) cannot close with MMP or CASA.


Exploration into the nature o f ultrathin, surface-confined films capable of electronic conduction has been the primary purpose of this dissertation. Specifically, the confinement o f pyrrole monomer to Au surfaces through organosulfiir linkages has been investigated. The ^ th e s is o f these new o-(^>pyrrolyl)alkanethiols is described herein. Cyclic voltammetry was utilized in this work to polymerize the monolayers and characterize the resulting films. Voltammetric analysis yielded currents in the correct potential region for polyCAT-all^lpyrrole) charging/discharging. Other electrochemical studies revealed the ability o f strong nucleophiles and electroinactive diluents to quench surface-confined polymer formation though they did not affect oxidation o f the monomer. Exchange experiments performed with an electroactive thiol in solution indicated a much higher degree of monolayer stability to desorption afier electrochemical polymerization o f the monolayer. Infiared reflection-absorption spectroscopy (IRRAS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to characterize the structural changes in the monolayer upon electrochemical polymerization. Inflated analysis yielded the loss o f all pyrrole ring absorbance bands upon polymerization due to changes in the absorption crosssection of the resulting pyrrole units. Additional inflated studies on surface-confined oligomers indicated that some band intensity could be seen for the shorter chains. In agreement with literature reports on bulk species, the infiared intensities o f oxidized (conducting) oligomers was higher than undoped oligomers o f similar length. IRRAS analysis of the methylene stretching region for the alkane chains showed no change in


Grossly visible glands were found in the submucosa of the large intestine of five pigs with dysentery. Some were cystic, some were filled with necrotic debris and some had perforated the serosal surface. The mucosa of the large intestine of all pigs had areas of acute catarrhal inflammation with haemorrhage and focal sloughing of the surface epithelium. Although very distinctive and analogous in most respects to collitis cystica profunda, it was felt that the cystic and hypertrophic glands were a secondary finding and represented involvement of glandular elements present in normal animals. Anaerobic vibrio were recovered from three pigs, but the significance of these isolates is unknown.


In one of several meanings of the word in computing, a hacker is a member of the computer programmer subculture originated in the 1960s in the United States academia, in particular around the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)'s Tech Model Railroad Club (TMRC) and MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Nowadays, this subculture is mainly associated with the free software movement.


Network manufacturing, with the development of network economy, is advanced manufacturing mode. It's applied widely. The engine manufacturing process of advanced motor company is studied and analyzed in this paper. The network system of engine manufacturing process is designed, which is based on the platform of .NET and SQL Server database. The network manufacturing of engine is realized. It reduces production cost and improves company's core competitiveness. Carrying out the system's parted purview management, it's safe and credible.


Biofortification is a promising agricultural approach for addressing micronutrient shortages and increasing the nutritional content of food crops. Micronutrient deficiencies, also known as "hidden hunger," continue to affect many people around the world, particularly in underdeveloped countries. This presentation emphasises the need of biofortification in solving this worldwide health issue. Biofortification tries to improve the level of important micronutrients such as iron, zinc, vitamin A, and iodine in edible plant portions by using traditional breeding techniques or current biotechnological procedures. Iron-fortified beans, zinc-enhanced rice, vitamin A-rich sweet potatoes, and iodine-enriched crops are all examples of successful biofortified crops. To maximise their impact, biofortification programmes must be integrated with nutrition education and agronomic practises, according to the abstract. Governments, research institutes, non-governmental organisations, and the commercial sector must work together to scale up biofortification activities and build healthier, more resilient communities around the world.


Radiation protection of patients and staff during diagnostic imaging procedures is an important aspect of the medical physics profession. Despite the large number of reports and guidelines published by specialized radiation protection organizations and professional societies, there are still some controversies regarding the utility and efficiency of some practices in terms of reducing the dose to patients during typical radiological imaging procedures. It is the role of medical physicists providing physics support to diagnostic imaging facilities and involved in clinical routine activities to debate important issues related to the design of optimal dose reduction strategies with the aims of protecting the patient from unnecessary exposure to ionizing radiation and limiting medically necessary exposure to the minimum required to answer the specific clinical question at hand. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


Two secondary metabolites (diffractaic acid & usnic acid) and extract of a lichen species, Usnea longissima Ach. were tested against adults of Sitophilus granarius (L.) on Petri dishes. After exposure, mortality of the adults was determined at 24 th , 48 th and 96 th h. The results showed that secondary metabolites and extract of U. longissima have an insecticidal effect on adults of Sitophilus granarius (L.) in comparison with controls. The insecticidal effect was influenced by the concentrations of the extracts and the exposure time. Higher concentrations and longer exposure time resulted in maximum toxicity on S. granarius. Treatment with extract and lichen compounds of U. longissima pointed out equal mortality against adults of S. granarius. The mortality rates after 96 h of treatment with the maximum concentration (10 mg mL -1 ) of U. longissima extract, diffractaic acid and usnic acid were determined as 98.98, 91.91 and 94.94% for S. granarius, respectively. However, there was no mortality in the controls. The mortality rates after 96 h of treatment with the 10 mg mL -1 in concentrations of the extract of U. longissima were established and the highest mortality rate was found against S. granarius with 98.98%. © 2012 Friends Science Publishers


This research questions the definition of "home" and "belonging" for the members of the "new" Indian diaspora in Romania, based on a qualitative research study. The issues of "home" and "country" are central in the diaspora research, being connected to the feeling of 'inclusion' or 'exclusion' (Cohen, 1997). As Arjun Appadurai argues, the "delocalization" and multiplication of spaces where the individual places himself / herself is a feature of modernity (1994), transnational communities existing simultaneously in two cultural spaces (Portes, 1996: 74-76). Given that individuals are creating interpersonal relationships inside their social networks, in connection to their activities (see Marinescu, V. 2009), the research focused on questioning what are the professional, social and personal trajectories of Indians living in Romania? What are their strategies of inclusion, inside and outside the Indian community? The "communication" dimension is included in this research as well, considering that the relation between communication, localisation and identity is at the intersection of "imagined communities" (Anderson, 1983) and "imagined worlds" through the ethnoscapes (Appadurai, 1996). What are the communication and meeting spaces, from cricket clubs, restaurants, family bonding, to celebration of different religious festivals (like Ganesh Chaturti on Herăstrău Lake in Bucharest) to online groups dedicated to the Indian diaspora in Romania?


The paper describes simulation result of traveling wave tube(TWT) body temperature, and establishes a temperature measurement system based on the fiber bragg grating(FBG) sensor array. By quasi-distributed FBG sensing, the system can measure TWT body temperature distribution accurately.


The main character of Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange fifteen-year-old Alex is a murderer, a rapist and sadist and he expresses Burgess's own ideas. His violence is both a matter of free choice and an act of rebellion, this freedom of choice and its moral consequences being the main themes of this novel. While reading the novel, the recurrent question, "What's it going to be then, eh?" becomes more difficult to answer since the dilemma posed by the book is a true one. Key-words: criminals, moral consequences, behaviourist methods,society, ideals, violence A Clockwork Orange can be read in conjunction with the main ideas of The American behaviourist psychologist B. F. Skinner, the author of such works as Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity who studied operant conditioning and maintained that behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences and who attempted to explain even complex human behaviour as a series of conditioned responses to outside stimuli. But Burgess seems to have been influenced less by Skinner's ideas than by accounts of behaviorist methods of reforming criminals on trial in American prisons attempting to limit the subjects freedom of choice to what society called "goodness", the novel trying to clarify the issue of using such methods. Thus the novel is interesting not only as a linguistic tour de force. It is an extraordinary piece of social satire , and, like The Wanting Seed, it passes the test of "relevance." As far as the behavioral psychological background is concerned sometimes people seem to fail to understand that that Skinner's ideas of imposing goodness on the human personality are among the less radical than those proposed by behavioral technologists. Burgess"s main character Alex is one of the most murderous creations in twentieth century fiction. He is an ambiguous character and his name suggests ambiguity,too, hinting at a Russian/English identity It fuses the negative prefix a with the word lex which suggests simultaneously an absence of law and a lack of words. Considering Alex"s behavior, lawlessness is obvious but the idea of word lacking is subtler and harder to understand. Either when he speaks to his droogs in nadsat or when he respectfully speaks to his elders in Russianless English he seems to be in full command of language .However, he is lacking words in the sense that he lives his life directly, without Annals of the "Constantin Brâncuși" University of Târgu Jiu, Letters and Social Sciences Series


Stress-modulated surface kinetics offers a possible path to the ultimate fracture of brittle solids. Similarly, it leads to a breakup of growing strained layer into the separate domains- islands. A proposed reduced description of a single growing concavity and an interpolation between small and large amplitude limits lead to a two-parameter model of the islanding precursor: it starts from a smooth boundary and generates a sharp cusp, which enables a further growth of incoherent islands. Within the `local description' approximation we outline a general dynamic behavior of stressed interface, with the possibility of relaxation loops; they may be responsible for the barrierless formation of dislocations and stress relief.


This paper presents a systematic theoretical and simulation study on how scattering bar could impact lithographic performance in the presence of lens aberrations. In particular, the effects of bar size, bar placement and pitch at conventional and annular illuminations are investigated. For the study, a simple 1-D two-bar structure is used. The effects of odd and even aberration terms are studied assuming the presence of either primary coma or primary astigmatism only. Simulations using a set of 37 Zernike coefficients from a state-of-the-art DUV step and scan are also carried out. Pattern asymmetry of the two-bar pattern is used to quantify the effects of odd aberration terms; the root-mean-square value of CD difference through focus of two orthogonal lines is used to quantify the effects of even aberration terms. Results show that scattering bar has a significant impact on the effects of lens aberrations. The magnitude and polarity of this influence depends on the bar size, bar placement, pitch and illumination conditions. Pattern asymmetry under annular illumination is particular sensitive to bar size and bar placement; CD difference through focus under conventional illumination at a range of pitch values decrease significantly with proper bar placement. The trends observed are similar even when a full set of Zernike coefficients are used. A thorough and more complete understanding of how scattering bar impact lens aberration effect for different mask structures and at different illumination conditions is thus needed for low-k1 imaging.


In recent years, Europe has become a home to a thriving philosophy of biology research community. As part of the ongoing endeavor to raise the profile of the field on the Old Continent, five research institutions from across Europe § EGenIS, IHPST, KLI, MPIWG, and SEMM - gathered together in the small italian village of Gorino Sullam (Po Delta) in september 2008 to hold the first European Graduate Meeting in the Philosophy of the Life Sciences (EGMPLS-1).


Although Nigeria is among the leading nations which has ratified various international conventions for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, more emphasis is on civil and political rights entrenched in the Constitution than on the 'third generation rights' which include the right to a clean and healthy environment. The activities of some oil multinational companies, especially the Shell Petroleum Development Company, had started in Nigeria in 1958. However, the present unbearable level of environmental degradation in the major oil producing areas of Nigeria, especially the Ogoniland of Rivers State, has seriously sensitised the people to embark on protests to defend their rights even in the face of government stiff opposition. It was in the course of the people's struggle in Ogoniland that Ken-Saro Wiwa and eight other Ogoni human rights activists were arrested, tried, condemned to death and executed. It is true that the Nigerian Government cannot afford to toil with the production of crude oil since it is the major source of revenue for the country, our contention is that total neglect of the right of the people to a clean and pollution-free environment will be more disastrous to all economic gains which exploitation of crude oil can consolidate.


Variability in flower yield and its components and seed yield was assessed in spiny and nonspiny genotypes to know the extent of diversity for these traits in safflower. High estimates of genotypic and phenotypic coefficients of variation and heritability estimates coupled with high genetic advance as percent of mean were obtained for flower yield/plant, seed yield/plant, number of primary branches/plant, number of capitula/plant, capitulum diameter, number of seeds/capitulum and number of flowers/capitulum. This suggested the presence of a wide variability for these traits. Both flower and seed yields were significantly and positively associated with the number of primary branches/plant, number of capitula/plant, capitulum diameter, number of seeds/capitulum, 100-seed weight, number of flowers/capitulum, corolla tube length, stigma length and petal area/flower. The association between flower yield and seed yield/plant was found to be significant and positive. The nature of gene action for expression of flower and seed yields/plant and their component traits was observed to be both additive and non-additive. To exploit both of these gene actions for different traits it is suggested that hybrid vigour should be harnessed by using existing genetic male sterility systems in the crop as well as by resorting to biparental mating followed by individual plant selections in the crosses showing dominant X recessive gene action. The existence of very high standard heterosis for flower yield (188%), number of capitula/plant (173%), seed yield/plant (171%) and number of seeds/capitulum (63%) further emphasizes the need to exploit hybrid vigour in order to enhance productivity of safflower.


special session InformationWe are witnessing the beginning of a seismic shift in retail due to digitalization. However, what is meant by digitalization is less clear. Sometimes it is understood as ...


We present a visible multi-band photometry of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) observed by the Subaru Telescope in the framework of Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC-SSP) from March in 2014 to September in 2016. We measured the five broad-band (g,


As editors for this issue of Clinical and Applied Thrombosis and Hemostasis, we have selected various topics representing some of the continued controversies in anticoagulant therapy. Many level I clinical trials have been conducted in patients with venous or arterial thrombosis, providing us with firm recommendations for prevention and treatment of these disorders. Nevertheless, a number of controversies remain, and in some of these situations it is unlikely that randomized clinical trials will ever be possible, e.g., in defining the role of inferior vena cava filters or of pulmonary thrombectomy. It is our hope that the following articles will identify areas in which evidence-based recommendations can be made, as well as the various areas that require further clinical trials. We also hope that the presentations will stimulate some debate regarding the controversies and perhaps result in the submission of Letters to the Editor.


ABSTRACT The article addresses the problématique of where mathematization is taught in the educational system, and who teaches it. Mathematization is usually not a part of mathematics programs at the upper secondary level, but we argue that physics teaching has something to offer in this respect, if it focuses on solving so-called unformalized problems, where a major challenge is to formalize the problems in mathematics and physics terms. We analyse four concrete examples of unformalized problems for which the formalization involves different order of mathematization and applying physics to the problem, but all require mathematization. The analysis leads to the formulation of a model by which we attempt to capture the important steps of the process of solving unformalized problems by means of mathematization and physicalization.


This paper introduces a new method(the matrix method) of calculating the highest common factor of polynomials,which figures out the highest common factor of two polynomials of several domain P by the elementary transformation of the matrix.


Morris (1980: 9) established a new monotypic bryozoan genus Boreas, for Boreas voighti (family Hippothoidae), a fossil species from the Upper Campanian in Sweden. Cumberlidge and Sternberg (2002) independently established a new brachyuran genus, Boreas, for a new species, Boreas uglowi Sternberg & Cumberlidge, 2002 (Potamonautidae), from northern Madagascar. The genus remains monotypic. Boreas Morris, 1980, and Boreas Cumberlidge & Sternberg, 2002, are thus homonyms, with the former having priority. I hereby propose Boreathelphusa nom. nov. as a replacement name for Boreas Cumberlidge & Sternberg, 2002, the type species being Boreas uglowi Cumberlidge & Sternberg, 2002. The name Boreathelphusa (gender feminine) comprises Boreas (the husband of Orithyia, the North Wind) with thelphusa, a common suffix for Old World freshwater crabs.


The 2015 Windhoek Show was held from 25 September to 1 October last year. On display were 1 477 smallstock entries, representing nine breeds, from 54 exhibitors. These included the National Kalahari Red, National Damara, and Central Veldmaster champions.


Several synthetic pathways of mesostructured porous silica using nonionic surfactants or copolymers have been reported since the discovery of this new family of materials. We developed a process, which we call a two-step synthesis, that allows us to synthesize MSU-X mesoporous silica, with very good reproducibility and high reaction yields. This reaction implies a first assembly step between silica oligomers and nonionic micelles, followed by a condensation step induced by the addition of sodium fluoride as catalyst. We characterized nanoscopic hybrid objects made of silica and nonionic poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) surfactants obtained once the assembly between silica and surfactants had occurred, as intermediates in the two-step synthesis of mesoporous silica of the MSU-X family. NMR, small-angle X-ray scattering, and dynamic light scattering experiments allowed us to propose a structural model involving nucleophilic participation of external OH groups, where a low-density framework of silica grows out of ...


We report strongly momentum-dependent short-ranged charge screening dynamics in CE-type charge, orbital, and spin ordered La0.5Sr1.5MnO4, based on Mn K-edge resonant inelastic x-ray scattering data. Through a comparison with theoretical calculations, we show that the observed momentum dependence reflects highly localized, nearest-neighbor screening of the transient local charge perturbation in this compound with an excitonlike screening cloud, rather than delocalized screening. The size of the screening cloud is estimated to be about 0.4-0.5 interatomic distances.


The ancient landscapes of the Holy Land and the plants and animals that inhabited them are fascinating subjects for all those Christians and Jews for whom the Bible has deep cultural or religious meaning. It may be of interest, therefore, for the readers of this journal to learn about the first, large-scale attempt to reconstruct some outstanding examples of these landscapes at Neot Kedumim, the Biblical Nature Reserve in the Judean foothills of Israel. Both of the Hebrew words "neot" and "kedumim" have double meanings: "neot" is both a location and a pleasant, green oasis; and "kedumim" has root meanings suggesting both "ancient" and "forward," and implies seeking the roots of the past for the sake of future generations. Neot


The bandwidth of traditional Mean-Shift tracking algorithm can not be adapted to size change of target. To overcome this problem, a new adaptive kernel-bandwidth selection method based on the comparison of Bhattacharyya coefficients is proposed in this paper. In this method, the Bhattacharyya coefficient is calculated by using histograms of target image and target background image, and then, a new Bhattacharyya coefficient is calculated according to the candidate image histogram of the current frame and the target background image during the process of tracking. Judging the changing trend of the target by comparing the two former coefficients and the kernel-bandwidth is expanded or shrunk by 10% according to the judgment. Finally, the target area is specified after the calculation above. The simulation results show that the algorithm proposed in this paper verifies the effectiveness of tracking of the targets with changing scales.


This study examines parenting practices and adolescents' sense of family obligation in promoting resilience in 155 Native Hawaiian youths living in poverty. Two aspects of adolescent well-being, behavioral adjustment and physical health, were studied. Four variables-supportive parenting, punishment, youth respect, and youth support-predicted the likelihood of youths' engagement in internalizing/externalizing problem behaviors and youths' general health status after family demographics, family history of psychosocial risk, and chronic medical conditions were controlled. Results suggest that parenting practices and youths' values of family obligation were significant correlates of youths' behavioral adjustment and well-being. Greater attention should therefore be paid to the protective function of Native Hawaiian families and development of positive family value systems in Native Hawaiian youths.


This study aimed to identify the impact of forest use on people's mental state during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two hundred thirty-eight adult respondents from diverse regions of Korea submitted online self-report questionnaires. The data was analyzed through frequency analysis, Chi-square test, and one-way ANOVA (SPSS ver. 21.0), and the results were as follows. Following the analysis of general features related to the severe impacts on daily life during the COVID-19 pandemic, 80.3% respondents were influenced by the pandemic situation, and respondents in their 30s (p<0.05) and the self-employed (p<0.01) were most affected. Female were less aware of subjective health status than males (p<0.1). For the mental state depending on general features, the male had more insomnia and depression than female (p<0.01), and respondents in their 30s showed the highest depression ratio (p<0.01). The religious group had a lower level of depression than the non-religious group(p<0.001). The respondents who expressed that the pandemic severely interrupted their life had higher anxiety and depression (p<0.001). For the examination of the mental state depending on forest use, respondents with a forest in their living area showed lower anxiety, insomnia, and depression (p<0.01). Forest use for less than 30 minutes and accompanying family member showed the lowest anxiety and depression (p<0.001). Furthermore, meditation activities while using the forest lowered stress levels (p<0.001). The analysis results above indicated that the respondents using the forest or staying close to greens areas during the COVID-19 pandemic maintained a relatively better mental state. In addition, forest use in disaster situation positively benefits the mental state of people with anxiety and depression.


Responsible leadership (RL) behaviour can be transferred across the organisational hierarchy developing a values-centred organisational culture. Using two separate but aligned studies, a conceptual...


: The high strength bolts and nuts are widely used in various fields. To ensure the structure safety, a lot of special bolts and nuts were studied previously. In this paper, a slight pitch difference is considered between the bolt and nut. Here, the pitch of the nut is (cid:3) (cid:10) m larger than the pitch of the bolt. The fatigue experiment is performed for three kinds of specimens with different levels of pitch difference. The obtained S-N curves show that the fatigue life is extended by about 1.5 times by introducing the suitable pitch difference especially under the high stress amplitude. According to the detail investigation on the fractured specimens, it is found that the fractured positions and the crack configuration are totally different by introducing the pitch difference. To find out the mechanism of the improvement of the fatigue strength, the finite element method is also applied to calculate the stress amplitude and mean stress at each bottom of bolt threads.


When platelet‐rich plasma is incubated for 16–20 hours at 37° C. and the platelets are then separated and washed, tissue‐factor activity develops in these platelets. The active platelets accellerate the clotting of plasma samples deficient in Factor XII, XI, IX or VIII, and of normal plasma; the coagulant activity for samples deficient in Factors V, VII and X is much less marked. The activity developed will cause activation of Factor X in a serum eluate, whereas no such activity is evident in platelets separated from plasma immediately after collection from the donor.


The loss of even one vertical support member can lead to catastrophic consequences and the progressive collapse of big portion or even the entire structure of the building. This report presents a computational study of a single-story, non-scaled 3D fragment of a high-rise concrete flat slab structure building with peripheral beams along the facade in case of dynamic failure of a column. The main objective is to examine alternative load paths for the transfer of stress from the peripheral beams to the columns, across the slab and its punching areas. In case of accidental failure of an outer column, the facade beams serve as prevention which reduces the redistribution of loads to the interior, ie. to the columns with critical slab punching areas. Research on the performance of peripheral beams and the key role of corner columns is the focus of this report.


ABSTRACT
 Environmental variables such as temperature are important factors that affect the efficiency of biological control agents. This study examined the effect of temperature on the sex ratio, longevity, oviposition periods, fecundity and life table parameters of the predatory thrips Scohthrips longicornis Priesner (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) fed on twospotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae), at six constant temperatures: 15, 20, 26, 30, 35, and 37°C. Approximately 75% of the progeny were female, except at 37°C, at which temperature the proportion of males increased. Adult longevity as well as the preoviposition, oviposition, and postoviposition periods decreased significantly with temperature. Thus, adults lived for ≈5 wk at 15°C and <1 wk at 37°C with preoviposition, oviposition, and postoviposition periods ranging from 6.4 to 0.4, 24.4–3.1, and 7–0.8 d between the two temperature extremes, respectively. The maximum (56.48 eggs) and minimum (11.69 eggs) value of total fecundity was recorded at 26 and 37°C, respectively. The intrinsic rate of natural increase (rm ) of S. longicornis increased linearly with increasing temperature from 0.056 d-1 at 15°C to 0.310 d-1 at 35°C. The lower temperature threshold for the population increase of S. longicornis was estimated to be around 5°C. The data suggest that the upper temperature threshold for the predatory thrips is ≈37°C. The results showed that populations of S. longicornis are able to develop at a broad range of temperatures and that this predator is well adapted to the high temperatures that occur in the Mediterranean region.


Background: We report on an electronic version of the Psoriatic Arthritis Screening Questionnaire (ePASQ), a sensitive and specific tool for diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in patients with plaque psoriasis. Objective: To validate the ePASQ against the original paper version. Method: The ePASQ scores 15 points on 10 weighted questions and a 68-joint diagram. Data were collected from a prospective cohort of 42 patients with early PsA meeting the Classification Criteria for Psoriatic Arthritis (CASPAR) criteria and from 12 plaque psoriasis patients without PsA. Results: The receiver operating characteristic curves for the ePASQ group yielded an optimal 97.62% sensitivity and 75.00% specificity, for a cutoff score of 7. A cutoff point of 8 yielded 88.10% sensitivity and 75.00% specificity. Concordance of the paper and electronic scores was very high. Conclusion: The ePASQ is a sensitive and specific tool to screen for PsA. The simple electronic administration and automatic scoring minimize clinician involvement and increase the potential for wider distribution.


The pathoiogy of the cervix is one of the most common gynecoiogicai diseases. Changes in cervicai epitheiium increase the risk of dyspiastic and cancerous processes. In addition, the disease aii over the worid are increasingiy occurs in young women, reproductive age. The reasons for this is unknown. Among the most common hypotheses ranks first eariy sexuai activity and, therefore , eariy HPV infection , which today is the oniy proven factor in the deveiopment of cervicai cancer. Aiso the focus is on the iarge number of abortions, injuriesdurig parturition, inadequate treatment of background diseases of the cervix, associated infectious agents. But there is no doubt i one - carcinoma deveiops on the background of pathoiogicai conditions of the cervix, not on the unchanged tissue. Among the virai agents, in addition to the human papiiiomavirus, which affect the the cervix and cervicai canai, virus of simpiex herpes isshouid be noted. Recent studies show that in the deveiopment of cervicai dyspiasia, such co-infection as herpes simpiex virus type г piays a significant roie. The combination of HPV and HSVtype г promotes oncogenic transformation of squamous and coiumnar epitheiium, ieading to dyspiasia and subsequentiy to cervicai cancer pathoiogy.


In particular, the two systems, a method for facilitating the transmission of data between one device and the device in the electronic device is described. Each of the devices may contend for control of the communication link by driving a data signal from the first voltage level. Before the time period has elapsed-mediated changes the data signal or the clock signal, the one or more devices must give up control of the communications link to other gyeonghapja. Different from the arbitration time periods for each gyeonghapja and represents the priority of the message to be transmitted. Shorter intervention time period indicates a higher priority. The arbitration, may be a clock and data signals from the communication link to be described in later or left idle for at least a remaining idle time when no other pre-defined conditions. Minimum idle time may be shorter for a may be different and the high priority messages or nodes for different nodes.


This study aims to critically evaluate the COVID-19 and future post-COVID-19 impacts on office design, location and functioning with respect to government and community occupational health and safety expectations. It aims to assess how office efficiency and cost control agendas intersect with corporate social accountability.,Theoretically informed by governmentality and social accountability through action, it thematically examines research literature and Web-based professional and business reports. It undertakes a timely analysis of historical office trends and emerging practice discourse during the COVID-19 global pandemic's early phase.,COVID-19 has induced a transition to teleworking, impending office design and configuration reversals and office working protocol re-engineering. Management strategies reflect prioritisation choices between occupational health and safety versus financial returns. Beyond formal accountability reports, office management strategy and rationales will become physically observable and accountable to office staff and other parties.,Future research must determine the balance of office change strategies employed and their evident focus on occupational health and safety or cost control and financial returns. Further investigation can reveal the relationship between formal reporting and observed activities.,Organisations face strategic decisions concerning both their balancing of employee and public health and safety against capital expenditure and operation cost commitments to COVID-19 transmission prevention. They also face strategic accountability decisions as to the visibility and correspondence between their observable actions and their formal social responsibility reporting.,Organisations have continued scientific management office cost reduction strategies under the guise of innovative office designs. This historic trend will be tested by a pandemic, which calls for control of its spread, including radical changes to the office at potentially significant cost.,This paper presents one of few office studies in the accounting research literature, recognising it as central to contemporary organisational functioning and revealing the office cost control tradition as a challenge for employee and community health and safety.


This paper proposes a simple design procedure to solve the problem of controlling generator transient stability following large disturbances in power systems. A state-feedback excitation controller and power system stabilizer are designed to guarantee robustness against uncertainty in the system parameters. These controllers ensure satisfactory swing damping and quick decay of the voltage regulation error over a wide range of operating conditions. The controller performance is evaluated in a case study in which a three-phase short-circuit fault near the generator terminals in a four-bus power system is simulated.Copyright © 2010 by ASME


A novel rotary engine called Leaf Spring Rotary Engine was presented. The structure and principle of the engine were introduced. The performance characteristics under ideal condition were acquired and the factors which are related to the performance of the engine were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively based on the thermodynamic model. The work can provide design references for the engine's performance improvement and applications. Results show that with the displacement of 1. 77cm3,output power of one cylinder is 81. 4W and indicative efficiency is 24. 38% at 3000r/min under ideal condition. The energy loss under heat transfer condition is about 18. 34% of the overall energy.Under the leak area of 0. 02mm2,power loss that is induced by the leakage is about 32. 4% of the output power under ideal condition. A reasonable matching of combustion duration and ignition angle can improve output power.


This paper retrospectively investigated the site and the detection method of relapses in children and adolescents with malignant germ cell tumors enrolled in the TCGM‐AIEOP‐2004 Study and subsequently developed a relapse, in order to evaluate a possible reduction in radiological exposure during follow‐up. Including all malignant cases, serum tumor markers identified a relapse in more than 70% and, according to the selection criteria published by Children Oncology Group in 2018, in more than 90% of cases. These results confirm the importance of serum tumor markers as a relapse detection method, with possible reduction of radiology exams in specific subgroups.


This paper shows that the eurozone payment system does not effectively protect member states from speculative attacks. Suspicion of a departure from the common currency induces a terminal outflow of central bank money in weaker member states. TARGET2 cannot inhibit this drain but only protects central bank assets. Evidence presented here suggests that a run on Italy is already on the way. The paper also considers departure strategies of strong and weak member states and the distributive effects of an orderly eurozone dissolution.


Mediterranean ecosystems have been recognized as a priority for biodiversity conservation due to their high levels of species richness and endemism. In South America, these environments are restricted to central Chile and represent a biodiversity hotspot. The study of saproxylic beetles in this area is an unexplored topic, despite the ecological role they play in the ecosystems and their potential usefulness for monitoring the forests conservation degree. The present study highlights the importance of the saproxylic beetles diversity in Mediterranean forests of Chile. These ecosystems are characterized by a high heterogeneity of vegetations and by the presence of fragmented nearly zones that surround the protected areas and show different perturbation degrees. We also enhance the importance of the preservation of old native trees in those fragmented areas that can help sustain the biodiversity and have a significant conservation value for saproxylic fauna.