Table of contents image taken by Ivan Fric during the filming in summer 1944 in Theresienstadt. Courtesy Ivan Fric Archive, published on the DVD  Truth and Lies  2013.


Background and Aims: Post-craniotomy pain has often been overlooked and undertreated. Various classes of analgesic drugs have been used, not without limitations. Therefore, we planned to study the novel technique of wound instillation of ropivacaine through the surgical drain in patients undergoing supratentorial craniotomy to study its effect on post-craniotomy pain, analgesic requirement in the post-operative period along with the recovery profile of the patient and the side effects. Methods: This prospective, randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blinded study enroled 50 patients of either gender, scheduled to undergo elective craniotomy, under general anaesthesia. They were randomly divided into two groups and received either 12 ml of 0.25% ropivacaine (group R) or 12 ml of normal saline (group NS), through the subgaleal drain, after the closure of the dura. Pain scores were assessed at 1, 2, 4, 8 and 24 hours post-operatively. Student's t-test was used for comparison of continuous variables and the Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test was used for comparing the nominal categorical data. Results: The visual analogue scale score was higher in group NS than in group R, and the difference was statistically significant (P = 0.012, 0.016, and 0.005 at 0, 1, and 2 post-operative hours, respectively). The difference in the mean emergence time in the two groups was 1.12 minutes (P = 0.024). Conclusion: Single-time wound instillation of ropivacaine (12 ml of 0.25%) through surgical (subgaleal) drain during wound closure is an effective and simple technique for reducing post-operative pain and analgesic consumption and early emergence in neurosurgical patients undergoing supratentorial craniotomy.


Aim: This study aims to evaluate and compare the shear bond strength (SBS) of three different resin cements - total etch and rinse, self-etch and self-adhesive resin cements, used to bond the lithium disilicate restorations to human dentin. Settings and Design: Comparative -Invitro study design. Materials and Methods: Forty-five lithium disilicate (IPS E.max) discs (4 mm in diameter and 3 mm thick) were fabricated and randomly divided into three groups (n = 15). The occlusal surfaces of 45 extracted human maxillary premolars were ground flat. Fifteen specimens were luted, under a constant load, with each of the following resin cement: Variolink N (Group VN), Multilink N (Group MN), and Multilink Speed (Group MS). All cemented specimens were stored in distilled water for 1-week following which, they were tested under shear loading at a constant crosshead speed of 1 mm/min until fracture on a universal testing machine; the load at fracture was reported in megapascals (MPa) as the bond strength. Fractured specimens were also inspected by the scanning electron microscopy. Statistical analysis of the collected data was performed using one-way ANOVA test, post hoc Bonferroni test, and Chi-square test (α =0.05). Statistical Analysis Used: Oneway ANOVA test and post hoc Bonferroni test. Results: Mean SBS data of the groups in MPa were: Variolink N (Group VN): 14.19 ± 0.76; Multilink N (Group MN): 10.702 ± 0.75; and Multilink Speed (Group MS): 5.462 ± 0.66. Significant differences in SBS (P < 0.001) of the three resin cement were found. Intergroup comparison revealed statistically significant differences in SBS between Groups VN and MN (P < 0.001), Groups B and C (P < 0.001), and Groups VN and MS (P < 0.001). Chi-square test used to compare the distribution of mode of bond failure among the three groups delineated that the cohesive failure was significantly more among Group VN, whereas adhesive failure was significantly more among Group MN and MS. Conclusion: Total etch and rinse resin cement, i.e., Variolink N (Group VN) produced significantly higher bond strength of all-ceramics to dentin surfaces than did the self-etch and self-adhesive resin cements, i.e., Multilink N and Multilink Speed, respectively.


Introduction: The ATR measure is one of the most important clinical measurement of scoliosis patients. It is the most Important Information for screening and fundamental also for therapy management The ATR is a clinical sign considered closely related to rotation of the vertebrae interested by the scoliotic curves. The ATR assessment is performed with the patient in forward bending of the trunk, to make appear the hump. Objectives: The purpose of the study is to understand better the real value of the hump assessed In the classical position (forward bending of the trunk), compared with the measurement performed with the patient in standing position. Another aim is to assess the real association of the vertebral rotation measured on the X-ray and its hypothetical clinical correspondent represented by the hump. Methods: 40 female adolescents at their first evaluation before any treatment were recruited for the study. A series of measures has been carried out: ATR with patient in forward bending of the trunk. ATR with patient in standing position, using a Formetric Diers (standing ATR). Measurement of the real height difference of the two side portions of the trunk, similar to the measure of the classical hump. The humps were assessed in the same area of the hump measured in forward bending. Measurements of the vertebral rotation using the Raimondi method. This group of humps was divided into two subgroups: thoracic hump (25 patients) and lumbar hump (18) to understand if there are significant differences between the correlation analysis of the two subgroups. The statistical analysis was performed using the Pearson index and the T-test Results: The average results were: ATR 9.80°±3.5°; ATR in standing 7.75°±3.1°; vertebral rotation 14.68°±7.6° The correlation between the ATR and the standing ATR is weak 0:24 (p = 0.0002). While the measure of the hump assessed in standing position and the corresponding vertebral rotation, measured on the X-ray, shows a moderate correlation: 0:47 (p = 8.38849E-08) Subgroup analysis: The 25 thoracic ATR (9.92°±3.5°) and standing ATR(7.28°±3.06°) doesn't shows any correlation: -0.03 (p-value = 0.01) while the standing ATR and the corresponding vertebral rotation shows a moderate correlation: 0:56 (p = 7.69) The 18 lumbar ATR (average 9.62°±3.4°) and standing ATR (average 8.2°±3.2°) show a strong correlation: 0.72 (p value = 0.09) while the standing ATR and the corresponding vertebral rotation show a weak correlation: 0:31 (p value = 0.0002).


Auxotrophs of various species of Bacillus have been isolated by several workers using a variety of techniques (Iyer, J. Bacteriol. 79:309, 1960; Zamenhof, Genetics 46:101, 1960; Wachsman and 1langalo, J. Bacteriol. 83:35, 1962; Nester, Schafer, and Lederberg, Genetics 48:529, 1963). Bott and Lundgren (Can. J. M\icrobiol. 8:281, 1962) were the first to report the isolation of auxotrophs of B. cereus. Their technique, utilizing the antibiotic methicillin, yielded only auxotrophs requiring amino acids containing sulfur. This report is concerned with the isolation of auxotrophs of B. ceretis with a variety of nutritional requirements. Nishioka (personal coimwunication) has described a simple technique utilizing diethyl sulfate for the isolation of auxotrophs of Escherichia coli. We have adapted this technique to several strains of B. cereus, including NRRL B-569, ATCC 6464, ATCC 9139, and ATCC 7064 (B. siamensis). Most of our work was performed with a minimal medium of the following composition (grams pet liter) plrepalred in distilled water: (NH4)2S04, 2; KH2P04, 6; K2HP04, 14; sodium citrate2120, 1; AMIgSO47H20, 0.2; FeCl36H20, 0.04; M\nS04 H20, 0.00025; glucose, 2; L-glutamic acid, 2; agar (Difco), 15; pH 7.0. M\inimal agar


CFT columns have structural advantages over other members and are widely used, they are classified as non-fireproof in Korea because the steel tubes are directly exposed to a fire. This study suggests composite columns with reduced coating to enable improved fire-resistance performance for 2∼3 hours. Axial deformation-time relationship and in-plane temperatures are compared to evaluate the fire resistance performance of the specimens associated with variables. Suggested from the fact that the interior anchors exposed to fire exert influence on fire resistance performance due to thermal expansion, the reinforcements using Intumescent paint are verified to mitigate contraction and improve fire resistance performance.


Based on the structures and principles of Turbo coding and decoding, schemes for specifying or estimating temination status of received information frames are discussed. Then the influence of different frame termination scheme to Turbo decoding performance when it is used in short frame communication systems is researched. Finally, simulation results are carried out and analyzed comparatively.


A first polarizer having a polarization axis; A second polarizer having a polarization axis crossing the polarizing axis of the first polarizer; The first polarizer a first substrate having a plurality of protrusions that form the angle of 0 ° ~ 90 ° range with respect to the polarization axis and the polarization axis of the second polarizer; A plurality of second substrate having a pixel electrode; And multi including a liquid crystal layer filled between the first substrate and the second substrate, discloses a domain vertical alignment liquid crystal display device. Thus, the present invention provides light which is generated around the protrusions in the upper domain division substrate to reduce leakage, and can improve the image quality of the liquid crystal display device. A liquid crystal display device, the domain vertical alignment, light-leakage, the pixel electrode, the substrate


The traveling salesman problem (TSP) has been studied for many years. In particular, the multimodal optimization of the TSP is important for practical applications, because decision-makers can select the best candidate based on current conditions and requirements. In the Euclidean TSP, there are <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$n$ </tex-math></inline-formula> points in <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathbb {R}^{d}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> space with Euclidean distance between any two points, that is, <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$d(x, y) =||x-y||_{2}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. The goal is to find a tour of minimum length visiting each point. In this article, we only focus on the case that <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$d=2$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. Recently, in order to efficiently handle the multimodal optimization of the TSP, some methods have been developed to deal with it. Nevertheless, these methods usually perform poorly for large-scale cases. In this article, we propose a niching regression adaptive memetic algorithm (MA) to handle the multimodal optimization of the Euclidean TSP. We use the MA as the baseline algorithm and incorporate the neighborhood strategy to maintain the population diversity. In addition, we design a novel regression partition initialization and adaptive parameter control to enhance our algorithm, and propose the concept of the redundant individual to improve the search efficiency. To validate the performance of the proposed algorithm, we comprehensively conduct experiments on the multimodal optimization of TSP benchmark and the well-known TSPLIB library. The experimental results reveal that the proposed method outperforms other methods, especially for large-scale cases.


The SEA method can do effectiveness analysis of SoS(system of systems) for airborne electronic warfare by combining with top-down decomposition of mission and bottom-up polymerization of ability,and the method eliminate limitations of original static effectiveness evaluation.The SEA(system effectiveness analysis) method is used to constitute the airborne electronic warfare effectiveness evaluation model and corresponding the equipment performance to the mission,which has some theoretical significance to the accurate assessment of combat capability of SoS for airborne electronic warfare system.


A method to synthesize a suboptimal digital control law for secondary mirrors of fully rotatable ground reflector tracking systems is presented.


Reinforcement learning is emerging to achieve real-time response and near-optimization for solving the flexible job shop scheduling problem (FJSP), an important and NP-hard problem for intelligent manufacturing systems. Although some methods based on reinforcement learning have been proposed to solve the FJSP, there's still room for improvement. In this paper, we propose a new approach called reinforcement learning with the generative adversarial network (RLGAN) based on the parallel learning framework. A simulation-based artificial workshop system is established to generate a large number of sample plans as a training set for RLGAN to develop a near-optimal scheduling model. The case study shows that an implementation of our proposed method, QTRAN-GAN, can generate near-optimal plans and outperforms the corresponding pure reinforcement learning method, QTRAN.


mediation in biogenic aragonite com- pared with geological aragonite; J. Arias (Universidad de Chile), in his work char- acterizing the microstructure of the bar-nacle shell; E. Donnelly (Cornell), in her investigations of collagen content and organization related to bone nanome- chanical properties; and A. Woesz (MPI), in his examination of bone replacement materials with designed architecture. the phase and assembly of silica. Symposium Support: AFOSR and Cytoskeleton. Speakers in Symposium X presented overviews of their fields, covering a blend of science and art, flavors and fragrances, biomineralization, silicon sculpturing, and correlated electrons, as well as a special feature on nanoscience centers at U.S. national laboratories. In his presentation on "The Magic World of Flavors and Fragrances," said that flavors and fragrances act in a very primitive level in the human brain, eliciting emotional reactions. Although extensive research has been conducted, a lot of details remain unknown, including a thorough analysis of smells and flavors. Although chemicals can be analyzed with continually greater accuracy and greater sensitivity, smell can still not be described by an analyti- cal measure, and some smells are detected by the human nose at doses where the most sophisticated instruments fail. Flavor, Mahaim is a complex combination of smell, taste, and "mouthfeel" (i.e., fat, temperature, and texture). In the $11 billion business of flavors and fragrances (in which Firmenich is the third leader, with a $2 billion share), the application of taste and smell in consumer products is very diverse, from laundry powders to luxury perfumes, from very simple natural citrus essen- tial oils to complex meat flavors encapsulated to ensure the proper delivery in a difficult food application. In coming the industry will face three major challenges: delivery systems, and regulations the the faces and interfaces. A unique aspect of this symposium was the cross-disciplinary nature of the talks that spanned materials involving block copolymers, polymer brushes, single-stranded DNA, thin-film silicon, colloidal particles, self-assembled monolayers, and small molecules. Appli- cations including lithography, catalysis, microelectronics, wettability, and nanoscale chemistry, to name a few, were described. new generation of novel micro- to nano- multifunctional devices. Several presen-ters addressed issues related to the synthe- sis and characterization of different forms of diamond thin films and their properties and application to multifunctional micro-and nanodevices.Highlights talks discussions of tetrahedral carbon films for MEMS; tribological studies of surfaces at properties of films in mechanical, biocompatible substrates; and nanocrys- talline diamond-based nanomechanical resonators, including unique integration of oxide piezoelectric thin films with nanocrystalline diamond layers. Munasinghe reported on an interrupted MBE growth technique for optimizing the visible luminescence from europium-doped GaN thin films. This technique may have important implications for preparing better phosphors used in visi- ble displays. Two talks described methods for producing rare-earth-doped GaN powders. Preliminary data indicate high potential for novel photonic applications.


Electronic commerce is terms of traditional retail commerce. More than a sales tool, the Internet has shown to be business compliment to enterprises as well as making new ones possible. People nowadays suffer from lack of time to search for products on several shops, contrasting with facility and quantity of products offered by this "new" means of business achievement are big differentials. Internet allows for some comfort and convenience as attracting factors for the customers, among them the ease and speed in finding information and and the joining of the requested information in a short period of time. In preparing this work, first, was performed a literature review that addressed the topics: the context of the beginning of commerce, comprising the industrial revolution, globalization and the opening of the Brazilian market, and the origin and the concept of electronic commerce and the Current e-commerce. Next, it was made a case study related to the adoption of electronic commerce in drugstores and pharmacies located in the city of Volta Redonda, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, aiming to analyze the degree of customer satisfaction with the kind of attention they have received and the interest in buying in drugs on-line, with the application of 96 questionnaires and a research and comparison of prices. The benefits perceived by customers as the use of electronic commerce for the purchase of medicines, and other research results can be observed in the stages of description and analysis ofthe case study.


Torr), and characteristics of Y2O2S:Eu phosphors, including brightness and wavelength data, are presented and discussed. The red emission brightness for the Y2O2S:Eu phosphor screens can be significantly improved by adjustment of the Eu additions, which decrease the x coordinate slightly, while having no significant influence on the color performance. Considering the effects of Eu concentrations on red light emission spectra and brightness for Y2O2S:Eu phosphor screens, it is found that brightness for Y 2O2S:Eu phosphor screens could be obtained up to 120 cd/m 2 with chromaticity of x 5 0.63 and y 5 0.36, and the Eu dopant concentration is suggested to be in the range 6-7.5 wt %.


Demons of Domesticity, a pseudonym for ladies who worked as demonstrators of gas appliances, is a challenging and thoughtful volume that intersects women's and business history. An easier read for those who are familiar with women's history, it is nevertheless an essential tool for understanding the emergence of the English gas industry as a modern consumer industry. For some readers the significance of this study will lie in its recovery of missing information about the breakthrough of women workers in a male sphere of activity and their relative success in establishing a gendersegregated white-collar profession. For other readers the monograph will provide new insights into the development of the gas industry from its early production and distribution as a means of lighting for private homes, public streets and industries to a more modern fuel that powered heating and cooking appliances. This 'make-over' was in part the result of advances in gas technology and in part the result of new approaches to sales and a greater awareness of the importance of advertising. The contribution of women to this complex change in the early twentieth century offers insights into the numerous ways in which consumerism became a dominant force in shaping the social and economic past. The demons themselves were few and far between. Their cohort was always small. Though female replacement workers rose to nearly 5,000 during the First World War and clearly displayed women's diverse capabilities, there were only about 150 'home service' women active in and about London by the late 1930s. Nevertheless this workforce reached thousands of housewives in the course of its activities of home visits, public exhibitions, club meetings, public lectures and demonstrations in gas appliance and department shops. Indeed gas women were the main conduit through which their sex learned about the benefits of new household technologies that had the potential to save time and labour as well as to improve living conditions. Whether the gas cookers were rented or bought the demons gave other women the confidence firstly to use the appliances without undue concern about dangers and injuries and then to enjoy the benefits that came with cleaner and better-regulated equipment and with more reliable hot water systems. As mediators of improved household arrangements, they often became involved with broader social welfare issues and perceived their occupation to be altruistic. Indeed many demonstrators were active in female networks that fought for women's rights, whether these were political, civil or human. As feminists of the maternal rather than the equal rights variety, they hoped to promote a social reform agenda that emphasized domestic nurturing, even though as professional women they themselves were perceived to be different role models. Indeed they were primarily salespersons. As retailers they helped transform gas from a producer to a consumer industry and in so doing they engendered a new form of professionalism. If gas was to become necessary to good household management, then consumers had to be convinced that it was a worthwhile product. The industry thus needed to modernize its commercial strategies by giving increased attention to customer services and to advertising. This became even more essential as electricity also offered domestic fuel and some of the same appliances. Gas saleswomen were much more effective than their male colleagues in marketing household equipment, especially cookers, because they could demonstrate how to use and care for the stoves. Trained in home economics, they were experts in domestic scientific management. They thus fitted the Edwardian progressive ethos of educated professionalism. They knew, however, that they skirted on the Business History, Vol. 48, No. 2, April 2006, 281–307


Background: Women often have many reproductive health problems in developing countries. Economic and social factors play a vital role in health outcomes. This study aimed-predict women's reproductive health from socio-economic status in Ardabil City, Iran in 2020. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted based on a prospective cohort study in Ardabil in March 2020. Out of 9,000 eligible participants (35-70 years old and living in Ardabil), 368 women were included in the study with systematic random sampling. A checklist was used-collect all patient information from the Ardabil Persian Cohort study. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, logistic regression, and multivariate regression analysis. The significance level was 5%. Data were examined using statistical SPSS software, version 21. Results: The results showed a significant statistical relationship between socio-economic status and women's reproductive health (P<0.001). Women with higher socio-economic status had fewer reproductive health issues, such as infertility (P<0.001), and tubectomy (P=0.004), abortion (P<0.001), stillbirth (P<0.001), atypical menopause (P<0.001) and hysterectomy (P=0.021). Conclusion: The findings showed a significant inequality in reproductive health status among women who were at different socio-economic levels. Policymakers should consider these results-promote women's reproductive health.


The spatial and temporal variations of soil phosphorus under different land uses in a watershed (12.10 km 2 ) in the hilly area of central Sichuan Basin, China were investigated using conventional statistics, geostatistics and geographical information systems (GIS) to produce nutrient maps and to provide information for land management and control of environmental issues. Surface soil samples (0-15 cm) from 276 sites within the watershed were collected at April and August and analyzed for soil total phosphorus (STP). The spatial heterogeneities of STP under different land use and the temporal variation of soil nutrients in dry season and rainy season were characterized and analyzed. The result showed that (1) the concentrations of STP were deeply influenced by land use, the mean of STP values ranged from 0.42 to 0.73 g/kg, and mean STP content under different land use followed the order paddy field > upland field > forest land; (2) No significant difference was observed on STP contents between April and August under same land use; (3) The geostatistics information of STP in the agricultural land generally showed moderate spatial dependence and the strong spatial dependence in forest land can be explained by intrinsic factors due to rare human disturbance. We conclude that the obvious spatial and temporal patterns of phosphorus under different land use must be considered in identifying sites which are at risk of P loading, and evaluate their potential to generate diffuse pollution. Taking land use into account is essential for land management and environmental restoration.


Two voltammertic techniques, cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronocoulometry (CC), were employed to investigate the redox characteristics of two organic semiconductors in organic light-emitting diodes (OLED), fac-tris(2-phenylpyridine)iridium (Ir(ppy)3) and N,N ′-di(1-naphthyl)-N,N ′ -diphenyl-(1,1 ′biphenyl)-4,4 ′ -diamine (NPB). The electron-transfer characteristics including of oxidation formal potentials (E o '), diffusion coefficients (Do), electron-transfer rate constants (k o ') were estimated by the combination of CV and CC measurements. The energy level of the highest-occupied molecular-orbital (EHOMO) was also found by quantitative relationship between the oxidation potential and the ionization energy.


In the beginning of a user centered agile development process, three important elements have to be defined. 1) A software product with a defined set of features, 2) the intended usage context and 3) the future software product user. The clear definition of these elements right from project start will lead to a more accurately developed software product. A combination of well-known tools like "personas" and sketches of the context of use as well as requirements as persona driven user stories make a comprehensive basis. During an iterative visioning phase, also referred to as sprint 0, directly before starting the first sprint, those tools can be integrated to assure a complete software product definition process. That will ensure that, even in this early stage, the agile project is focused on user needs represented by "personas".


Palpi head, thorax and primaries light brownish ochreous, the latter deepest in color along the basal half of costa. Maculation very indistinct, indicated merely in a shade of color slightly deeper than that of the remainder of the wing; orbicular recumbent, oval, reniform rather small, upright; t. a. line scarcely perceptible, rounded outwardly; t. p. line fairly clear, even, parallel to outer margin to beyond cell, bending inward strongly to base of vein 2, and then perpendicular to inner margin with a slight outward angle in the fold; two pale points on each side of this line on costa and another siimilar one above reniform; traces of a dark submarginal band, most distinct on costa where it forms a slight apical dark blotch; faint broken smoky terminal line; fringes dirty whiite, cut by a darker line near base.


ABSTRACT Pesticide metabolite identification is gaining increased attention because of the interest in potential metabolite toxicity. Azoxystrobin is one of the most prevalent pesticide residues in foods in Europe. The majority of azoxystrobin metabolites have been identified using radiolabelled standards, which are either expensive or not readily available. Thus, alternative approaches for metabolite identification are desirable. Here, an LC-MS/MS method for quantifying azoxystrobin and identifying its metabolites using quadrupole-linear ion trap mass spectrometry is reported. Seven metabolites of azoxystrobin were identified 2 and 4 weeks after spraying lettuce with azoxystrobin. Among them, two metabolites are reported for the first time. The hydrolysis, reduction, hydroxylation, photoisomerisation and hydrolytic cleavage of ether bonds are identified as biotransformation processes involved in azoxystrobin metabolism in lettuce.


Paper describes solutions to the following problems: centralized documenting of the network cables, continuous monitoring of communication lines state, early detecting degradation and damage of optic fibers for subsequent their repair.


In this paper, the classical RANSAC approach is considered for robust matching to remove mismatches (outliers) in a list of putative correspondences. We will examine the justification for using the minimal size of sample set in a RANSAC trial and propose that the size of the sample set should be varied dynamically depending on the noise and data set. Using larger sample set will not increase the number of iterations dramatically but it can provide a more reliable solution. A new adjusting factor is added into the original RANSAC sampling equation such that the equation can model the noisy world better. In the proposed method, the noise variances, percentage of outliers and number of iterations are all estimated iteratively. Experimental results show that the estimated parameters are close to the ground truth. The modification can also be applied to any sampling consensus methods extended from RANSAC.


Antioxidants are compounds that can prevent or inhibit the oxidation process. This study was conducted to determine the total polyphenol, test the antioxidant activity against free radicals (DPPH), determine IC50 of ethanol extract from several cocoa(Theobroma cacao) clones that is KDI-3, PA-300, PA-310, and NA-34. The study samples were made with unfermented condition. Each clone was extracted with hexane and ethanol 70%. The results showed polyphenol total of ethanol extract from cocoa seed for KD1-3, PA-300, PA-310, and NA-34 are 84 mg/g, 65.92 mg/g, 86,11mg/g, and 49,25mg/g respectively. The IC50 for KDI-3, PA-300, PA 310, and NA-34 are 9.30 pm, 8.50 ppm, 6.40 ppm, and 10.23 ppm respectively. The results described each clone of cocoa beans has a different total polyphenol content, antioxidant activity against free radicals, and IC50, but they still showed the percentage inhibition of DPPH free radicals above 80 % at a concentration of 25 ppm and showed a very strong antioxidant activity with IC50<50. The total antioxidant activity and the highest polyphenol were indicated by the PA-310 clone.


Eighth graders (N = 136) were divided into two groups: students who had participated in at least one interscholastic sport and were classified as athletes (n = 73), and students who not participated in interscholastic sports and were classified as nonathletes (n = 63). The mean grade point average (GPA) for each group and subgroup was computed and compared by group, subgroup, and sex. There were 6 categoies of sports participation, rangingfiom no sports to 5 sports. As interscholastic sports participation increased, GPAs improved.


In the transistor having a top gate structure, a portion of the gate insulating film is formed by a coating method. In this case, appropriately setting the size of the semiconductor thin film formed on the coating film, to correspond to the characteristics of the liquid coating, coating conditions, and film thickness required in the coating film. Improved electrical characteristics and reliability of the transistor.


This paper describes how modern developments in the analysis of risks associated with public investment can be applied to questions of the desirability and optimal size of a Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). Some preliminary quantitative results and directions for further research to refine the results are presented. It is assumed throughout that investment in an SPR is a proper function of government because of social costs and benefits of oil inventory management that are not included in private calculations of profit and loss. In this paper we assume that world oil prices, in normal and disrupted periods, depend on the level of US oil imports; that to make possible releases designed to hold down prices during a disruption, stocks during normal periods must be larger than the levels private traders will hold; and that the requisite additional stocks are acquired through direct government purchase for an SPR. A simple two-period framework, stockpile policy is described that is optimal in terms of expected value maximization. This is the standard framework for analysis of optimal stockpile size and involves ignoring issues of attitude toward risk. The opposite extreme of what might be called the price diversification benefits of the SPR is analyzed.more » It is assumed that the level of stocks has no influence on oil prices and evaluates the risk premium associated with stocks of any given size. These two perspectives are considered jointly and the optimal size of the SPR is examined, given both risk attributes and price effects. 14 refs., 4 tabs.« less


Agriculture, along with energy and materials use, is one of the three key sectors of human economic activity that is currently causing many environmental problems in Europe. The focus of this study is on the effects resulting from the excessive use of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers, and the inefficient use of animal manure as a source of fertilizer. Numerous studies have identified the leaching of nitrogen into aquatic systems as the cause of dangerously high levels of nitrates in drinking waters, eutrophication and anoxia in surface waters, and disruption of the food web in coastal marine waters. This study not only cites the current problems, but also provides an evolutionary perspective, based on an analysis of past problems, the processes which shape the kind of changes that have occurred, and a scenario of problems that might emerge in the future.

Current agricultural problems exist because farmers, and agricultural planners in government and the agro-industry focused too much attention on the benefits of intensive application of nitrogen fertilizers (i.e., spectacular increases in yields of agricultural crops), and did not foresee the environmental problems caused by intensification. The authors of this paper project the effects of fertilizer use to the year 2010, based on the assumption that current trends will continue. They clearly demonstrate that such a trend is not ecologically sustainable, and analyze how future problems can be mitigated by the use of new technologies, and strategies for the more efficient use of animal manure.

This paper is a valuable contribution to IIASA's study, "The Future Environments for Europe: Some Implications for Alternative Development Paths."


Classification algorithms are widely applied to predict failures and detect anomalies in various application areas. It is common to assume that the data and labels are correct when training, but this is challenging to guarantee in the real world. If there are erroneous labels in the training data, a model can easily overfit to these, resulting in poor performance. How to handle label noise has been previously researched, however, few works focus on label noise in anomaly detection. In this work, we propose LDAAD, a novel algorithm framework for label de-noising for anomaly detection that combines unsupervised learning and semi-supervised learning methods. Specifically, we apply anomaly detection to partition the training data into low-risk and high-risk sets. We subsequently build upon ideas from cross-validation and train multiple classification models on segments of the low-risk data. The models are used both to relabel the samples in the high-risk set and to filter the low-risk samples. Finally, we merge the two sets to obtain a final sample set with more confident labels. We evaluate LDAAD on multiple real-world datasets and show that LDAAD achieves robust results that outperform the benchmark methods. Specifically, LDAAD achieves a 5% accuracy improvement over the second-best method for symmetric noise while having a minimal detrimental impact when no label noise is present.


We operated on 2 joints for stage III idiopathic osteonecrosis of femoral condyle and on 3 joints for stage IV during 7 years from 1984.Now we compared their post-operative clinical signs, femorotibial angles and roentgenographical changes of necrosed tissue with pre-operative ones. Results were as follows.The mean femoro-tibial angle improved after high-tibial osteotomy from 161° to 167°.Mean JOA score also improved remarkably from 56 to 94.The necrosed tissues were healing in all cases, especially in 2 joints of stage III which had high-tibial osteotomy with drilling but one healed perfectly.


By means of identification method, a mathematical model of man's response under the shoot-off ejection acceleration based on the experimental data is built in this paper. Moreover, three methods 1) RLS method, 2) RELS method, 3) RIV method are compared with each other. Some results have been obtained by these identification models.


Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a chronic autoimmune disease in which b cells are destroyed. Islet transplantation is the most promising therapeutic treatment for T1D pa- tients. However, allograft rejection and autoimmune reac- tion have been recognized as primary causes of graft loss after transplantation. Alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT) is an im- portant serine protease inhibitor in serum. AAT is char- acterized by anti-inflammation, anti-apoptosis, and induction-specific immunological tolerance. In this study, we successfully established NIT-hAAT cell lines, which are murine islet b cell lines with stable expression of hu- man AAT (hAAT) gene. These NIT-hAAT cells were transplanted under the left kidney capsule of BALB/c diabetic mice. Interestingly, the sustained expression of hAAT in vivo can block the inflammatory cell infiltration and reduce the production of proinflammatory cytokines to effectively prevent nonspecific inflammation. Results showed that hAAT can inhibit the proliferation of lym- phocytes, shift the balance between Th17 and Treg, and suppress the maturation of dendritic cells. Therefore,


This paper discusses the museum as a means of cultural da'wah. There are 2 main problems namely; how to interest visitors to the museum as a cultural propaganda suggestion and how is the intention of the museum visitors as a means of cultural propaganda? This study uses quantitative research types with analysis of cultural anthropological research and the science of da'wah. To measure the progress of this cultural propaganda can be seen through the level of visitor interest in Islamic artifacts and the level of visitor visits. The method and sample conducted a survey of 25 visitors using a questionnaire.
The results found that the level of interest on Islamic artifacts and culture that are influenced by Islam with intention of visiting visitors in the museum showed the interest and intentions of cultural da'wah because of intense communication according to the communication patterns or da'wa patterns prevailing in the museum where a person or group of people came, observed, studied and understood everything related to Islam and culture that has been influenced by Islam through artifacts in the Central Sulawesi Museum over and over again.


Retention of cured color and shelf life of sliced bologna manufactured with various erythorbate levels and packaged with different films and vacuum levels were studied. Good barrier films (7.0 ml/m2/24 hr or less oxygen permeability), film rigidity, and high vacuum levels (686-737 mm) are most critical for less faded color, higher cured pigment conversion, and lower TBA numbers. Erythorbate aided curing developments but could not compensate for low barrier films or low vacuum levels during storage.


Aim To determine whether changes in the serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) after thalidomide therapy will affect the peripapillary retinal thickness (pRT) associated with optic disc oedema (ODE) in patients with polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, monoclonal gammopathy and skin changes (POEMS) syndrome. Methods This was a retrospective, observational case series of 23 right eyes of 23 treatment-naïve patients with POEMS syndrome and ODE whose intracranial pressure was within the normal range. The pRT was determined by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography, and the serum level of VEGF was determined by ELISA at baseline and 6 months after the thalidomide therapy. We determined whether a change in the pRT from baseline was significantly correlated with the serum level of VEGF from that at 6 months after the thalidomide treatment. Results Six months after treatment, the mean serum level of VEGF was significantly reduced from 7153±4214 pg/mL to 1067±769 pg/mL (p<0.001), and the pRT was significantly decreased from 471.2±203 µm to 318.1±53.9 µm (p<0.001). The change in the pRT from baseline was significantly and linearly correlated with the change in the serum level of VEGF from that at 6 months after treatment (r=0.67, p=0.00039). Conclusions The close relationship between the pRT and the serum level of VEGF may offer clues on the pathogenesis of POEMS syndrome and potentially add a new candidate cause for the pathogenesis of ODE.


Background: Bronchogenic carcinoma with spread along the mucosal plane presents as an exophytic mass. Most of the submucosal and peribronchial patterns of this malignancy are harder to detect by standard diagnostic procedures such as bronchial washing, brushing and forceps biopsy. We sought to investigate the utility of transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) in the diagnosis of bronchogenic carcinoma without intraluminal mass, through prospective analysis of routine diagnostic bronchoscopies performed in a 24-month period, at a tertiary care hospital. Methods: Patients with suspected bronchogenic carcinoma (clinical and radiological) underwent standard computed tomography (CT) of thorax. Further the patients were subjected to conventional TBNA, singly, and in combination with bronchial washings and brushings. The results were analyzed statistically for the diagnostic yield of TBNA. Results: Among the 42 patients assessed, 29 had malignancy confirmed by forceps biopsy or CT guided Fine Needle aspiration cytology or biopsy and bronchoscopy. Among them, 17 cases were detected by a combination of the results of bronchial washing, brushing and TBNA. The individual sensitivities amounted to 3.4% (n=1), 51.72% (n=15) and 27.6% (n=8), respectively. There were no false positive results. Concerning different bronchoscopic sampling techniques, 9 cases were diagnosed solely by bronchial brushings and 2 cases by TBNA alone. No periprocedural complications were encountered. Conclusions: Value of bronchial brushing in the diagnosis of bronchogenic carcinoma without bronchoscopically visible intraluminal mass is above that of conventional TBNA. Addition of bronchial washings, to bronchial brushings and TBNA has an insignificant impact on the diagnosis.


The frequency of azure-winged magpies Cyanopica cyana that nest in association with breeding Japanese lesser sparrowhawks Accipiter gularis was compared between the 1990s and 2000s. During 1990–1994 azure-winged magpies nested within 50 m of their nests in all of the hawk nest sites studied. During 2005–2006, however, the magpies nested in only two of nine hawk nest sites. During the 1990s Japanese lesser sparrowhawks chased jungle crows away when they intruded within 50 m of their nest. During the 2000s, on the other hand, the hawks attempted to expel few crows at a distance of more than 10 m from their nest. As a result of it, the predation rate of simulated magpie nests located in the hawk nest sites was significantly higher during the 2000s. This suggests that the magpies have the ability to assess the defending behavior of the hawks and judge whether they can rely on their defense. Most azure-winged magpies may stop nesting in association with breeding Japanese lesser sparrowhawks because of the reduced defending range of their nest sites.


In the past few decades, gas sensitive nanomaterials are usually deposited on specific area of the wafer by drop-casting or inkjet printing for application in gas sensor fabrication. However, wafer-level patterning of sensing materials with satisfactory reproducibility still encounters challenge. In this letter, we propose a facile 'top-down' strategy to manufacture wafer-scale gas sensing chips with high-throughput by photolithography using a well-mixed photoresist-nanomaterial suspension, followed by calcination. The fabricated gas sensors based on the proposed approach yield excellent reproducibility and uniformity of sensing response to ethanol detection with a relative standard deviation (RSD) <4.5 %, suggesting promising application for high-volume production of MEMS compatible gas sensors.


Estimation of gross primary production (GPP) from remote sensing data is an important approach to study regional or global carbon cycle. In this study, a satellite-driven model, vegetation photosynthesis model (VPM) was introduced to estimate gross primary production (GPP) of the semi-arid grassland ecosystem for the growing season (2006) in North China. Meanwhile, observed GPP derived from eddy covariance flux data were used to critically evaluate the performance of the model. As defined by the input variables of VPM, two improved vegetation indices (enhanced vegetation index (EVI) and land surface water index (LSWI)) derived from the standard data product MOD09A1 of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradimeter (MODIS), air temperature and photosynthetic active radiation at the flux site, were included for the model calculating. The seasonal dynamics of GPP predicted by the VPM model agreed well with estimated GPP from the eddy flux tower, and simulation with time step of 8-day was better than with 1-day time step. Results of this study demonstrate that the satellite-driven VPM has potential for estimating site-level or regional grassland GPP, and might be an effective tool for scaling-up carbon fluxes.


Context: According to published articles, thrombosis is the main reason for death all over of the world. With stroke time missing is
brain missing, therefore, the FDA-approved drug r-TPA, could be administered as initial IV bolus in less than 3 - 4.5 hours from onset
of Acute Ischemic Stroke (AIS). The aim of this review was to provide updated pharmacotherapy related to r-TPA in AIS.
Evidence Acquisition: Searches for associated published articles were conducted in major databases until September 2015. The
main terms used in the search were a combination of words and phrases such as ischemic stroke and tissue plasminogen activator.
Results: Age, time of onset, systolic blood pressure, diabetes, stroke severity, co-morbidities and premorbid medical situation,
stroke scale according to national institute of health and outcomes related to CT (head, angiogram and perfusion) were considered
when determining successful treatment by endovascular thrombectomy. According to the 2015 guidelines, strategies related
to successful pharmacotherapy management should be based on class I evidence-care on a stroke unit, IV-r-TPA within 3 - 4.5 hours
of stroke onset, aspirin commenced within 48 hours of stroke onset, and decompressive cranioctomy for supratentorial malignant
hemispheric cerebral infarction. Hemorrhagic stroke (intraparenchymal, subarachnoid, intraventricular, intracerebral such
as orolingual angioedema), hematoma(epidural and subdural) and head trauma are the absolute contraindications related to r-TPA
prescription.
Conclusions: Due to considerable inter- and intra- heterogeneity among studies performed by other centers such as differences
in study project, background, and population features, determining a pharmacotherapy model based on Safe Implementation of
Treatments in stroke or SITS seem advantageous.


key issue within the emissions trading system is how tradable emissions permits (TEPs) are initially allocated among a set of entities. This study proposes an approach based on the proportional allocation concept to allocate TEPs among a set of decision making units (DMUs). We firstly deduce a TEP allocation set based on the rule that the TEPs allocated to DMUs should be proportional to their environmental contribution. We then obtain the allocation intervals of DMUs from the set, expressing the allocation as the convex combination between the upper and the lower bound. Finally, we define the satisfaction degree as the coefficient of the convex combination, and propose an algorithm based on the max-min fairness of satisfaction degrees to obtain a unique TEP allocation plan. To illustrate our approach, we provide the example of how TEPs are allocated among 30 provincial administrative regions in China. Our findings indicate that our allocation method can be helpful for achieving a saving in energy consumption and reducing emissions. In addition, from the data envelopment analysis perspective, the TEP allocation set can ensure that both each individual DMU and the organization as a whole become efficient under a common set of variable weights.


The source described is based on the principle of replacement of the usual "source slit" by a demagnified image of the ionizing filament. Using a 0.030 in. wide filament and 0.040 in. wide slits an effective source width of 0.003 in. has been obtained.


Work-related musculoskeletal disorders are a group of syndromes characterized by soft tissue discomfort caused or aggravated by workplace exposures. Previous research has shown an increasing concern about musculoskeletal symptoms among diagnostic medical sonographers. The authors' purpose, with this study, is to describe the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and related work and personal factors among diagnostic medical sonographers. Data were gathered through a survey distributed to randomly selected members of the professional sonographer registry in the United States. Eighty-one percent reported musculoskeletal pain or discomfort that they associated with the work tasks of scanning. The neck, shoulder, wrist, hand/fingers, and back were where pain was reported most often, and the specific activities of manipulating the transducer while sustaining applied pressure, shoulder abduction, and sustained twisting of the neck/trunk were the key activities that aggravated the pain and discomfort. Among those reporting pain and discomfort, a small minority were absent from work. The remainder reported working in pain. Respondents indicated increased work periods without rest breaks and an inability to control work flow to take breaks. However, they indicated general satisfaction with their work environment and corporate culture. Further analyses are required to investigate the strength of relation between musculoskeletal disorders, work, and personal factors.


The author traces transformations of the national idea between the XIX century, when it connected to the processes of industrialization and the modernization of social relations, and the XX century, when its continuation was cast in the setting of globalization and the emergence of a new, planetary system. The author focuses attention on the conflicts generated by national and ethnic bases of social integration, by the absence of an overlap between territorial state and national community, as well as between the progressive globalization of inter-human dependence and the rise of nationalist sentiments. The last part of the study is dedicated to the hopes associated with the project of the European Union, their prospects, and the conceivable alternatives to the national principle of social integration. The study is grounded in the comparative research of the dynamics of national conflicts after the Second World War.


: When Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCRs) of high energetic particles originating from within and outside our universe impinges into the earth's atmosphere, the environment is polluted physically, chemically and biologically. The pollution of this GCRs in the earth's atmospheric environment was achieved statistically using excel spread sheets. The characterizations of the GCRs and the Surface Average Temperature (SAT) in the earth's environment were conspicuously shown. They indicate a simultaneous relationship which shows that the GCRs gives rise to SAT. The events showed correlation coefficient (r) levels ranging from 0.01 to 0.99, which showed that GCRs contributes significantly to the earth's environmental pollution.


The increase in the use of musical devices for personal use (DMUP) allows visualizing that in the future, it will be a serious health problem. Objective: To determine what factors influence on hearing of pre-university students users of DMUP, evaluated by acumetria, Materials and methods: Cross-sectional analytical study in 150 students of the pre-university academy Vesalius in which, after selecting the sample of 54 adolescents, surveys and acumetria tests were applied. Results: 51.85% of women and 85.19% of men were users of DMUP. 80% of adolescents used their cell phone as DMUP Approximately 40% used their DMUPs at a volume between 80 to 100% of their capacity. 42.55% of pre-university students used their DMUPs between 2 and 4 days a week and 43.7% of them used them more than two hours a day. 48.9% of students preferred intraauricular headphones. Conclusions: The factors that influence the hearing of pre-university students users of DMUP are: type of player, volume percentage, hours per days of use, type of hearing aid and days per week of use, the first three being statistically significant factors


This paper is a meta-analysis of a series of theatre program evaluations carried out at the Museum of Science in Boston, Massachusetts over ten years. The evaluations, conducted independently of each other, had varying goals and used a range of methodologies. Nonetheless, looked at together, the aggregate results of these evaluations reflect a compelling, positive theatre experience for visitors. There is collective evidence of cognitive gain for visitors attending performances. In summary, the overview of ten years of evaluations portrays theater as a successful format for communicating information and ideas on many levels, which visitors enjoy and remember. Much remains to be learned about the effectiveness and impact of theater in museums. It is the intention of this paper to use the collective results of these studies as a foundation, and to move the conversation from basic evaluation to further research examining the learning potential of this medium in greater depth.


3 Introduction 4 Enhanced flexibility for E-class gas turbines 5 Power Limit Increase 6 Wet Compression 7 Enhanced flexibility for F-class gas turbines 8 Advanced Stability Margin Controller 9 Advanced Compressor Mass Flow Increase 9 Turn Down 10 Turn Up 11 Wet Compression 12 Operational Flexibility Upgrade 12 Conclusion 13 References 13 Permission for use 13 Disclaimer 13 Copyright © Siemens AG 2012. All rights reserved.


It has often been claimed that deficits in nonspeec h auditory abilities can be responsible for various language disorders, especially for specific languag e impairment (SLI). We have thus investigated the auditory perceptual skills of two teenage boys with very different language disorders. 'AZ' has a severe language impairment (probably of genetic ori gin), but otherwise normal (or above normal) cognitive abilities. 'W' has Landau-Kleffner syndro me, an aphasia acquired in childhood, and typically associated with auditory verbal agnosia a nd abnormal EEG. Two nonspeech auditory tasks were used (temporal order judgement and backward masking), because they have been claimed to differentiate SLI from control children in previous studies. In addition, a simple same/different word discrimination task was run. 'W' showed essentially normal performance on the temporal order judgement task, but much more susceptibility to bac kward masking than a control group. He also exhibited what appeared to be diminished frequency selectivity. 'W' also made a significant number of errors on the same/different speech task, but im proved on this task when the stimuli were artificially lengthened. At least part of his langu age problem thus appears to be auditory. 'AZ', on t he other hand, showed essentially normal performance i n all tasks. Thus, SLI can occur in the absence of any auditory disability, lending support to the claim (when placed in the context of other evidence) that SLI can be caused by a highly specif ic deficit in a language "module".


The invention provides a preparation method for monochasma sauatieri franch black tea. The preparation method comprises the following steps: (1) selecting materials: picking wild monochasma sauatieri franch leaves, tender shoots and inflorescences as monochasma sauatieri franch materials; picking fresh tea leaves with two leaves and one core; (2) mixing and standing; (3) synchronously rolling; (4) fermenting; (5) carrying out three-segment type drying; (6) sieving. According to the preparation method, a summarized folk traditional production experience is improved to establish a set of complete large-scale production and processing flow. The monochasma sauatieri franch summer-heat relieving black tea with the health-care functions of helping to digest and promoting the spleen, eliminating summer-heat by cooling, removing flatulence and appetizing, promoting blood circulation to remove blood stasis, promoting antisepsis and anti-inflammation and the like is prepared so that tea products are enriched and pure natural health-care resources of mountains and plains are developed; the income increment of forest workers is promoted.


Mexican agriculture has been greatly transformed by the widespread introduction of 'Green Revolution' technologies (irrigation, chemical fertilizers, and improved seeds), through land reform, and by land use policies oriented to export crops and grain production. Drought prone Mexico provides an excellent case to study how technological and social changes alter the impact of drought on food and agricultural system. A goal is to document and understand how relationships between climate and agriculture in Mexico have changed in the last fifty years. The results for several locations will be interpreted in light of the prospects of regional climate change due to global warming. This analysis will be complimented by four case studies of vulnerability to drought which will use local records and interviews to try and show how environmental, technological, and social changes may have altered the impacts of climate on local agricultural systems.


Childcare has become a much-debated issue in all developed countries. Who should care for children, how, how much and for how long are the questions at the centre of value conflicts that shape not only policies and struggles around policies, but also individual and family choices. This article contributes to the debate in two ways. First, it presents an up-to-date overview of the different childcare packages offered by the 27 EU countries, indicating how they represent quite different understandings of proper care, as well as of proper behaviour by mothers and fathers. Second, it attempts to unravel the different dimensions implicated in the debate, going beyond the simplification of the mother's care vs non-family care dichotomy. It concludes that an integrated research agenda, focusing both on the outcomes for labour markets and for children's well-being, is necessary in order to develop policies that address the complex issues of choice, rights and social inequality involved in child-caring patterns.


In recent years, terms such as crisis, at-risk, marginal, and endangered have been used with increasing regularity to describe the plight and condition of black males. Though the origins of this terminology are distinctly North American (U.S.) (Taylor-Gibbs, 1988; Kunjufu, 1985; Anderson, E., 1990), in Britain, Canada, and increasingly, throughout the Anglophone Caribbean, expressions of this kind have begun to find their way into the popular culture and, increasingly, into the vernacular of social science (Miller, 1986; Small, 1994). The rationale for using such stark and ominous descriptions of conditions facing black males is provided by a broad array of social and economic indicators, all of which point to the undeniable fact that large numbers of individuals who fall within these two social categories, black and male, are in deep trouble. While acknowledging the extreme nature of the many problems disproportionately confronting black males, this article seeks to interrogate the validity of this particular formulation and to posit an alternative strategy for understanding the set of phenomena in question. Three questions will be employed to guide this analysis and to generate an alternative interpretation of the social phenomenon under study. First, why are race and gender treated as salient to the understanding of the various complex issues and problems confronting individuals who happen to be black and male? That is, to what extent does a racialized and genderized conception of the problem exaggerate the importance of these factors and negate the significance of others? Second, if we accept the argument that many black males are experiencing severe economic and social hardships and have become increasingly marginal to their families, communities, the labor market, and social institutions, how do we explain the relative prominence and high visibility of black males in public life? In the United States several major politicians, a number of highly visible entertainers and celebrities, and individuals with wealth and status are black and male. Does the notoriety of such individuals suggest that some black males may be immune from the crisis? If so, which ones, and what might this tell us about the nature of the problem? Finally, if the black male is in a state of crisis, what does this mean for black women? Have black women also been affected by this crisis or have the hardships facing black males resulted in improved social and economic status for black women? Does the crisis afflicting certain black males imply that patriarchy as a cultural system and the norms and values associated with it are in decline among black Americans? Or is it that the troubles facing black males are of a different order and perhaps even more severe than those facing black women? Or, could it be that the problems confronting black males are merely symptoms of broader problems confronting black people or poor people generally? If so, why does it appear as though the troubles confronting black males are overshadowing those facing black females? I will attempt to answer these questions in the pages ahead and, in so doing, suggest another way of interpreting this and related phenomena. Evidence of the "Crisis" The most obvious problem with the notion of a crisis confronting black males has to do with the term "crisis." First, the term implies a deviation from a more stable norm. It suggests a period of temporary urgency, or even a short-term emergency, and not a prolonged and persistent degenerative condition. Second, the term also suggests that a better and more secure period preceded the present condition, and that once the crisis is over, conditions will return to the former state, which, even if not ideal, was clearly superior to the way things are at the moment. For males of African descent in the U.S., there is no evidence to indicate that present conditions are temporary, or that by some means presently unknown, they will eventually improve. …


PURPOSE
The conventional dual energy CT (DECT) requires two full CT scans at different energy levels, resulting in dose increase as well as imaging errors from patient motion between the two scans. To shorten the scan time of DECT and thus overcome these drawbacks, we propose a new DECT algorithm using one full scan and a second scan with very few projections by preserving structural information.

METHODS
We first reconstruct a CT image on the full scan using a standard filtered-backprojection (FBP) algorithm. We then use a compressed sensing (CS) based iterative algorithm on the second scan for reconstruction from very few projections. The edges extracted from the first scan are used as weights in the Objectives: function of the CS-based reconstruction to substantially improve the image quality of CT reconstruction. The basis material images are then obtained by an iterative image-domain decomposition method and an electron density map is finally calculated. The proposed method is evaluated on phantoms.

RESULTS
On the Catphan 600 phantom, the CT reconstruction mean error using the proposed method on 20 and 5 projections are 4.76% and 5.02%, respectively. Compared with conventional iterative reconstruction, the proposed edge weighting preserves object structures and achieves a better spatial resolution. With basis materials of Iodine and Teflon, our method on 20 projections obtains similar quality of decomposed material images compared with FBP on a full scan and the mean error of electron density in the selected regions of interest is 0.29%.

CONCLUSION
We propose an effective method for reducing projections and therefore scan time in DECT. We show that a full scan plus a 20-projection scan are sufficient to provide DECT images and electron density with similar quality compared with two full scans. Our future work includes more phantom studies to validate the performance of our method.


A single antenna interference cancellation (SAIC) scheme is proposed. The scheme is motivated by the challenging asynchronous and non-stationary interference cancellation problem in wireless communications. Suppose the existence of the single-user region (SUR) of the desired signal, we propose to first recognize the SUR via a novel detection scheme. The SUR detection scheme proposed consists of the pseudo-observation matrix construction and the information theoretic criterion-based source number estimation. A basis set for the desired signal is then learnt over the SUR, via dictionary learning techniques. In the final signal recovery stage, a novel constrained sparse coding (CSC) process is proposed. The CSC reforms the conventional sparse coding (SC) via incorporating signal-specific constraints. Unlike existing SAIC algorithms, the proposed scheme is completely independent of a prior knowledge on the interferences. Numerical results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the above proposed schemes under varied interference intensities and environmental noise levels. The proposed scheme outperformed competing SAIC schemes by about 5dB signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) improvement. The proposed CSC scheme outperformed the conventional SC by about 9dB SINR improvement, besides the superior recovery fidelity of signal property.


Results: MobileElementFinder was applied to analyse the mobilome of 1725 sequenced Salmonella enterica isolates of animal origin from Denmark, Germany and the USA. We found that the MGEs were seemingly conserved according to multilocus ST and not restricted to either the host or the country of origin. Moreover, we identified putative translocatable units for specific aminoglycoside, sulphonamide and tetracycline genes. Several putative composite transposons were predicted that could mobilize, among others, AMR, metal resistance and phosphodiesterase genes associated with macrophage survivability. This is, to our knowledge, the first time the phosphodiesterase-like pdeL has been found to be potentially mobilized into S. enterica.


Objective To investigate the influence on blood coagulation function,liver function and blood lipids of high dose oral estradiol valerate(10 mg/day).Methods Periodical or continuous oral treatment of estradiol valerate(10 mg/day) were given to 28 cases of severe intrauterine adhesions with transcervical resection of adhesions and intrauterine device insertion.The prothrombin time(PT),activated partial thromboplastin time(APTT),thrombin time(TT),fibrinogen(Fib),alanine aminotransferase(ALT),aspartate aminotransferase(AST),triglyceride(TG) and total cholesterol(TC) before treatment and every 3 months after taking estradiol valerate were recorded.Results There was no significant alteration in the coagulation or liver function 3,6 and 9 months after treatment;neither any adverse event was reported.Conclusion There is no adverse effect on blood coagulation function or liver function of high dose oral estradiol valerate within 9 months.


On the perennial fascination with league tables, we have Ying Cheng and Nian Cai Liu (2008) Examining major rankings according to the Berlin Principles, Higher Education in Europe, 33(2-3), 201–208. Apparently the International Ranking Expert Group (I wonder who sets its performance indicators?) has come up with a guideline document entitled The Berlin Principles on Ranking of Higher Education Institutions, which comprises sixteen descriptive and prescriptive principles for ranking, covering four key aspects: the purpose of the ranking exercise; the design and weighting of the indicators used; the collection and processing of the data required; and the presentation of the results. The paper examines various ranking schemes against these principles, and then goes on to propose 'Fourteen Criteria' which allegedly would enhance the quality of the rankings' game ...


We statistically analyze 230,000 intervals between internal transitions of single, laser-driven strontium ions, and over 240,000 intervals in simultaneously trapped ions. Our results are consistent with no short- or long-term correlations in the transition times.


Mangroves are one of the productive and highly adaptive ecosystems on the Earth, and provide invaluable services to the coastal communities. Ecological and sustainable management of the mangrove ecosystem requires crucial knowledge of variability and dynamics over a time and space. There are no reliable recent spatial extent estimates of mangroves or trend of coverage in West coast. The mapping from medium spatial resolution remote sensing data often leads to the underestimation of spatial extent. An attempt has been made to provide detailed information of mangroves species distribution using remote sensing data of high spatial resolution integrated with the other collateral field information through GIS. The coastline changes and the mangrove dynamics during 1989–2010 were assessed using supervised classifier technique provided the spatial distribution of mangrove species namely Rhizophora mucronata, Sonneratia caseolaris, Avicennia officinalis, Sonneratia alba, and Kandelia candel with classification good accuracy. Delineation of mangroves at species wise records based on extensive field data will be invaluable for appropriate management (e.g. plantation, eco-tourism) and conservation measures for estuaries of Central Western Ghats. Mangroves play pivotal role in providing vital ecosystem goods and services, but are under threat due to anthropogenic activities, affecting habitat for specialised fauna and food resources for humans, birds and fish. This necessitates interventions of regulatory authorities to partner with the local communities in the restoration and conservation of mangrove habitats.


Female breeding tract disease is common in small psittacine clinical practice. The author makes a brief introduction to these issues, followed by a case report. In the latest, it is described the surgical resolution of oviduct impaction in a female budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus).


The roles of plant-based systems and plant-based research and development for management of dryland salinity in southern Australia vary over a range of biophysical and socio-economic conditions, and differ according to the resources at risk (protection of water resources, biodiversity, infrastructure, dispersed assets such as agricultural land, and salt-affected land). Recommended responses are sensitive to a range of biophysical and socio-economic conditions. Extension and incentives to promote currently available perennials or salt-tolerant plants are only appropriate as the main policy response in a minority of cases. Regulation or permits to limit planting of perennials can be justified in certain areas of high-water-yielding catchments. For the majority of agricultural land that is at risk or is contributing to dryland salinity, the most logical policy response is to invest in development to improve salinity management technologies, including research and development into new plant-based systems. Situations where plant-based RD (ii) to protect infrastructure and biodiversity where there is relatively high responsiveness of groundwater and the urgency of response is low; (iii) to protect dispersed assets (e.g. agricultural land, most remnant vegetation on farms, flood risk mitigation) where profitable perennial plant options are lacking; and (iv) for land that is already salt affected.


This chapter focuses on medieval biography in the Latin world, with a special focus on the period c. 1050–c. 1220. An overwhelmingly large part of the life-writing that survives from the medieval West—whether in chronicles, fictional narratives, letters, or Lives—sets out to display virtues as a source of admiration and inspiration. Such Lives presented ideals that were held up as a high standard and as an entirely positive focus point for the cultural memory of a group. It is shown, however, that especially the inspiration from Sallust's Jugurtha and Catilina facilitated more complex portraits, especially in historiography, here exemplified through Adam of Bremen's portrait of archbishop Adalbert of Hamburg-Bremen (1043–1072). The power and persistance of classical Latin 'anthropological' concepts are furthermore demonstrated through a comparison of William of Tyre's ruler portraits in his Chronicon (c. 1184) and its French translation, Éracles (c. 1220).


Multi-scale context information has proven to be essential for object segmentation tasks. Recent works construct the multi-scale context by aggregating convolutional feature maps extracted by different levels of a deep neural network. This is typically done by propagating and fusing features in a one-directional, top-down and bottom-up, manner. In this work, we introduce ZigZagNet, which aggregates a richer multi-context feature map by using not only dense top-down and bottom-up propagation, but also by introducing pathways crossing between different levels of the top-down and the bottom-up hierarchies, in a zig-zag fashion. Furthermore, the context information is exchanged and aggregated over multiple stages, where the fused feature maps from one stage are fed into the next one, yielding a more comprehensive context for improved segmentation performance. Our extensive evaluation on the public benchmarks demonstrates that ZigZagNet surpasses the state-of-the-art accuracy for both semantic segmentation and instance segmentation tasks.


As a popular consumable, fruit juice plays a very important part in the global food consumption. China is one of the main exporting countries of concentrated fruit juice. With the increase in the output of Chinese fruit juice, the requirement for the product's quality in the international market is becoming more and more strict. In the paper, the Codex Alimentarius, the International Federation of Fruit Juice Producers (IFU), the Association of the Industry of Juices and Nectars from Fruits and Vegetables of the European Union (AIJN) and the PSK Value, together with their major contents, are described. Moreover, the current problems existing in the fruit juice standard system in China and the effect of international fruit juice standards on this standard system are discussed.


Background and Aims:Ensuring adequate analgesia in the post-operative period is an indispensable part of a balanced anesthesia technique with increasing scope of day care surgery and emphasis on early discharge. In children undergoing infraumbilical and lower limb surgeries, caudal block is a reliable and safe technique that can be used with general anesthesia for intra and post-operative analgesia. The present study was designed to compare the analgesic efficacy of ketamine and fentanyl as additives to bupivacaine given caudally in children undergoing lower abdominal and lower limb surgery. Materials and Methods:A total of 60 children aged 1-5 years undergoing lower abdominal and lower limb surgery were included in this randomized, controlled, double-blind study. Three groups of 20 each were assigned to receive caudal block with bupivacaine 0.25% 0.5 ml/kg alone (group A) or along with 1 ml/kg fentanyl (group B) or 0.5 mg/kg ketamine (group C). Assessment of post-operative pain was done using the Objective Pain Scale. Requirement of rescue analgesia and side effects were also noted. Results:Children who received ketamine with bupivacaine caudally (group C) had the longest duration of post-operative analgesia [Group A vs. Group C: 150 min (p=0.32) vs. 180 min (p=0.00)] and requirement of first dose of analgesia in groups A, B and C ranged from 183±16.5 min, 350±2.5 min and 594±148.12 min respectively. The mean number of doses of rescue analgesia that patients received in 24 hours in group A, B and C were 6.0, 1.63 and 1.40 respectively. Conclusion:Caudally administered Ketamine in the dose of 0.5 mg/kg with bupivacaine provides prolonged post-operative analgesia in comparison to fenatnyl 1 μg/kg with bupivacaine with minimal side effects.


Linearity, along with efficiency and bandwidth, belongs to the fundamental requirements of power amplifiers for nowadays communications systems. This paper discusses how to bring together these partly contradictory goals in power amplifier design. Continuous class-J PAs provide a constant efficiency over a large bandwidth. However, the linearity is not constant due to the unequal current and voltage waveforms along the design space of the continuum. Nevertheless, it is possible to equalize linearity of such a PA over the desired bandwidth. For the PA presented, -50 dBc ACLR with an average power of 38 dBm and an average efficiency of 21.5 % were achieved at 2.14 GHz using a WCDMA test signal. For CW measurements, 48.5 dBm maximum power and 63 % peak drain-efficiency were reached.


The key technologies of DDR2 SDRAM controller such as structure,interface and timing are explored in this paper.By top-down method,several functional modules of controller are designed by Verilog HDL.The design is simulated and verified by Modelsim 6.1 and synthesized by Synopsys Design Compiler,and then implemented by Altera FPGA.The simulation results show that the controller is fully suitable for the DDR2 SDRAM control.


Mesoscale silicon pillars are formed when silicon wafers are irradiated by a nanosecond excimer laser operating at 308 nm and incident fluence of ∼3 J cm−2. The morphology of the pillars responds to the chemical composition of the gas phase above the Si surface. Postprocessing can also be used to change the structure of the pillars. We demonstrate using Raman spectroscopy that the pillars can be covered with a nanocrystalline porous layer as the result of chemical etching. A stain etchant produces brilliant reddish-orange photoluminescent films. Porous pillars of this type are interesting candidates for use as drug and DNA delivery vehicles.


Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) is a syndrome hipometabolizma with insufficient production or inadequate action of thyroid hormones. Most infants with normal CH looks and show no signs of hypothyroidism. Unrecognized and not treated in time CH has serious consequences in the psycho-physical development of the newborn are included in the form of mental and physical retardation of varying degrees. CH is not common, the incidence of her 1 / 3000-4000 newborns, but it is important to detect it in time and prevent its consequences. In terms of prevention and early detection in many countries introduced newborn screening at the CH. Screening involves a systematic search of the entire population of newborns specific regions or entire countries, for the diseases that are accessible treatment, which can not be clinically recognized early enough. In Republika Srpska neonatal screening for congenital hipotireize (NSCH) was introduced for all newborns since 2007. In the world, in order to implement different protocols NSCH concentration measurements Tireo stimulating hormone (TSH) and thyroxine (T4) in blood. Measurement of TSH is more specific in the diagnosis of KH, while the more sensitive measurement of T4, but more expensive and less specific in frequent false-positive findings in premature infants and infants with low birth weight. In the Republika Srpska in order to NSCH determines the concentration of TSH in the blood of newborn structural differences of 3-5. days after birth. A retrospective study of data NS CH in Republika Srpska for the period 2007-2012. year showed that in 24 out of 58 680 infants found elevated TSH, which is a further clinical trial demonstrated the existence of CH. The incidence of CH in Republika Srpska 1/2445, but the ratio is 2: 1 in favor of males, with an unequal representation in municipalities. By introducing timely saplementne therapy (thyroxine) in neonates with CH provided them a normal psychological and physical development, which confirms the importance of NS in diagnosing congenital hypothyroidism.


The time has surely come when deafmutism should no longer be a specialty within a specialty, but that all otologists, instead of a small majority, should turn their serious attention to its study. It is time that everyone of us should possess a practical knowledge not only of the causes which lead to deafmutism, but also of the psychic problems presented by the deafmute and of the methods of dealing with him educationally. The entrancing interest which the study of the deaf child carries with it would arouse every otologist to a sense of the grave <luty which falls upon him in the prevention of educational deafness and, armed with a practical knowledge of the subject, he would be in a position to cooperate with the eugenist, the hygienist and the legislator to put into motion such machincrry as would diminish the number of deafmutes, congenital and acquired. in the community. Such a movement should be international, and T have, therefore, brought the matter forward at this congress, in the hope that some pronouncement upon it may be made officially by so authoritative a body. Hut although a lively sense of his duty to the deaf child requires to be awakened in many otologists, that is not all: the general practitioner must be roused from his slumber also and taught that the same duty exists for him, and that it carries with it more onerous responsibilities even than it does for the specialist, because it is the general practitioner who sees the potential deafmute first and has the opportunity for preventing the establishment of the defect. It is to him that the parents turn for advice and, instead of putting them off with an indefinite promise that the child will "grow out of ;1" or that he '\vill hear in seven years," he should be both able and ready to give them practical advice and help, either to save


Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread quickly among the crowd and brought serious global impact since December 2019. However, there were considerable geographical disparities in the distribution of the COVID-19 incidence among different cities. In this study, we aimed to explore the effect of sociodemographic factors on COVID-19 incidence of 342 cities in China from the geographic perspective.Methods: The official surveillance data about the COVID-19 and sociodemographic information in the 342 cities of China were collected. Local GWPR model and global GLM Poisson regression model were compared to find the optimal one for analysis. Results: A significantly lower AICc in the GWPR model was shown compared with the GLM Poisson regression model (43218.9 in GWPR vs. 61953.0 in GLM, respectively). Any spatial auto-correlations of residuals were not found in the GWPR model (global Moran's I = -0.005, p = 0.468), representing the spatial auto-correlation had been captured by the GWPR model. These cities with higher GDP, limited health resources, and shorter distance to Wuhan, were at higher risk for COVID-19. As population density increased, the incidence of COVID-19 decreased for most of the cities, except parts of the southeastern cities. Conclusions: There are potential effects of the sociodemographic factors on the COVID-19 incidence. Furthermore, the findings and methodology in our study could be used as a guide to other countries to help understand the local transmission of COVID-19 and tailor site-specific intervention strategies.


THE purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility of increasing or maximizing validity of an existing multiple-choice test by altering the time limit. Interest was directed to tests containing heterogeneous items ordered as to difficulty. This is an important problem because it is often felt necessary to impose time limits on tests, usually because of administrative convenience. A common procedure is to set a time limit that allows an extremely large percentage of subjects to attempt all items. The reasoning seems to be that a


Ed Friedland is a contributing editor and monthly columnist for Bass Player magazine. He has taught at Berklee College of Music, Boston College, and Arizona State University, and is a frequent guest clinician around the country. He has written several best-selling titles for the Hal Leonard Bass Builders series, as well as creating the new Slap Bass DVD. Equally adept on electric and upright bass, Ed has performed with some of the top names in jazz, blues, and R&B, as well as playing studio dates, theatre, and show-biz gigs. His performance credits include: Larry Coryell, Michal Urbaniak, Robben Ford, Wycliffe Gordon, Stacey Kent, Teirney Sutton, Ann Hampton Calloway, Bud Shank, Paul Horn, Johnny Adams, Robert Junior Lockwood, Linda Hopkins, Martha & The Vandellas, the Drifters, the Patters, the Marvellettes, Steve Allen, the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, the Opera Company of Boston, Little Shop of Horrors, Mamma Mia, 42nd Street, and others! BOOK 1 Book 1 teaches: tuning; playing position; musical symbols; notes within the first five frets; common bass lines, patterns and rhythms; rhythms through eighth notes; playing tips and techniques; more than 100 great songs, riffs, and examples; and more! The CD includes 44 full-band tracks for demonstration or play-along. ______00695067 Book Only ..........................$5.95 ______00695068 Book/CD Pack....................$9.95


A PLC receiver based on a StrongArm Latch with tunable hysteresis is developed to realize a supply line embedded transceiver for automotive application. Modern cars are complex systems with a huge number of distributed Electronic Control Units (ECUs) with several sensors and actuators. As automotive systems became more complex, new solutions to drastically reduce the amount of cabling must be developed. A supply embedded communication method can be used to decrease weight, cost, and raw materials usage. A key block of the required transceiver is the here proposed receiver that is based on a StrongArm Latch with tunable hysteresis to guarantee performance robustness and circuit sensitivity. A differential buffer and an input divider are used in front of the Latch to provide a fast, stable, and manageable signal. The full transceiver is developed in a 180nm CMOS SOI technology. Extended simulations in an automotive environment model validate the receiver proposal.


37 Background: identification of arrhythmogenic regions remains a challenge in persistent atrial 38 fibrillation (persAF). Frequency and phase analysis allows identification of potential ablation 39 targets. 40 Objective: This study aims to investigate the spatiotemporal association between dominant 41 frequency (DF) and re-entrant phase activation areas. 42 Methods: Eight persAF patients undergoing first-time catheter ablation procedure were enrolled. 43 A non-contact array catheter was deployed into the left atrium (LA) and 2048 AF electrograms 44 (AEG) were acquired for 15 seconds following ventricular far-field cancellation. DF and phase 45 singularity (PS) points were identified from the AEGs and tracked over consecutive frames. The 46 spatiotemporal correlation of high DF areas and PS points was investigated and the organization 47 index of high DF areas was compared with their periphery. 48 Results: The phase maps presented multiple simultaneous PS points that drift over the LA, with 49 preferential locations. Regions displaying higher PS concentration showed a degree of co- 50 localization with DF sites, with PS and DF regions being neighbors in 61.8% and with PS and DF 51 regions overlapping 36.8% of the time windows. Sites with highest DF showed a greater degree 52 of organization at their core (CG) compared to their periphery. After ablation, the PS incidence 53 reduced over the entire LA (36.2±23.2%, p<0.05), but especially at the pulmonary veins (PVs) 54 (78.6±22.2%, p<0.05). 55 Conclusions : Multiple PS points drifting over the LA were identified with their clusters correlating 56 spatially with the DF regions. After PV isolation, the PS's complexity was reduced, which supports 57 the notion that PS sites represent areas of relevance to the atrial substrate.


An important problem in passive filter synthesis is the calculation of accurate element values. For example, in some synthesis procedures up to a decimal digit of accuracy can be lost during each element calculation. To improve accuracy, cascade synthesis can be used. This method gives two estimates of each element value, and also allows flexibility in the order of removal of elements. The cascade method was reported by Lind in 1978. The paper showed that very large variations in accuracy exist, depending on the removal order. For example, a 10 element network gave a 10/sup 7/ variation in accuracy! This paper will describe a further accuracy improvement for the cascade synthesis method.


The invention relates to an iron-mine tailing aerated concrete block. The iron-mine tailing aerated concrete block is produced from the following components: 20-50 parts of iron-mine tailings, 20-30 parts of manganese ore slag, 30-45 parts of coal ash, 10-15 parts of cement, 25-35 parts of quick lime, 10-20 parts of cement polished waste materials, 2-4 parts of aluminum powder, 2-4 parts of water glass, 1-1.5 parts of pure alkaline, 5-7 parts of bentonite, 0.3-0.5 part of zinc stearate, 0.05-0.08 part of aluminum hydroxide, 0.05-0.1 part of sodium hexameta phosphate and 2-4 parts of aluminum powder. The iron-mine tailing aerated concrete block has the beneficial effects that compared with the existing novel wall body material, the high-performance aerated block composite material has stable chemical property and excellent physical performance.


ABSTRACT Bernard Lamy (1640–1715) is frequently included among the Cartesian Empiricists of the second half of the seventeenth century. He has also been described as an Augustinian who dabbled in Cartesianism. While acknowledging that there are both empiricist and Augustinian elements in his thought, I argue that it ought not be forgotten that there are central components of his philosophy that are both anti-empiricist and in opposition to Augustine. My aim in this paper, though, is not (merely) critical; I hope to show that Lamy provides us with one more example of the diversity present among the various thinkers labelled as 'Cartesian'.


Salt marshes can maintain themselves during periods of relative sea level (RSL) rise through accumulation of autochthonous plant biomass and by capturing sediments. Lagoonal salt marshes in southeastern North Carolina accumulate 358 g m 2 yr -1 of roots and rhizomes within their sediments. At an average bulk density of 0.3 g cm -3 the marsh can vertically accrete 1.2 mm yr -1 . The average RSL rise for the past 40 years was 1.9mm yr -l , thus these salt marshes cannot maintain themselves through autochthonous production alone. Large quantities of sand are available to these marshes through inlets and historical data show that marshes disappeared when this sediment source was eliminated. The predicted increase in the rate of RSL and the removal of large quantities of sand for beach renourishment on developed barrier islands may significantly hasten the drowning and disappearance of large areas of salt marsh in the lagoons of southeastern North Carolina.


In 1989, the Cleveland based law firm Reminger and Reminger in conjunction with the Personnel Journal conducted a survey on Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) issues facing America. This survey focused on various types of EEO complaints (Reminger, 1991). Of the 653 corporations who participated in the study, approximately 18% reported racial discrimination as their number one EEO problem. The survey revealed that race discrimination complaints were the highest among the government and manufacturing sectors (Reminger, 1991). In the 1990s, racial inequality continues to be of primary concern.


These two volumes are the first to appear in a new series, the Macmillan History of Europe. The aim of the series is clearly to get away from the narrative, heavily political and country-by-country approach which has characterized traditional 'textbooks'. Instead, the approach, avowedly thematic, is very much in line with developments in the teaching of early modern and modern European history in many British universities. Students are increasingly being encouraged to devote less time to particular states and their rulers and more to broader developments which affected wide areas, even the whole continent (albeit at varying levels and at different rates). Implicit in this development is a partial shift of emphasis away from the political although politics, government and international relations still have their place towards economic, social and cultural history. An additional aspect of this broadening of approach, which has yet to be adopted in some universities, is the extension of Europe to include the British Isles a development which may be put down to Britain's changing international role or to the growing willingness of historians of Britain to think in comparative terms. Clearly there is much in this development to be applauded. Many historians and not only those of Britain tend to be insular. Students who study seventeenthand eighteenth-century Europe in essay-sized chunks, focused on single states and conspicuous rulers Louis XIV, Frederick II, Catherine the Great are unlikely to develop a sophisticated sense of change over time. The emphasis on social and cultural history, too, reminds students that the deeds of kings and ministers do not alone


Most of these applications apply the rational choice model that we have been exploring during this course. That is to say, game theory assume that players are "rational" in the sense that they are forward looking and attempt to maximize net benefits (or utility). The game "outcomes" are normally "payoffs" that are characterized with net benefits or utility levels. Each player is assumed to maximize their own utility or net benefits, given what the other players have or might do.


This is the first and overview chapter of Company Law in China (Edward Elgar 2014) provides an overview of the corporate law regime in China, focusing on the newly revised PRC Company Law. It briefly examines the history of China's corporate law development, the structure of the company law, sources of law in the corporate law, corporate governance, corporate finance, and corporate social responsibility in China. It also discusses, from a law and development perspective, the purposes, principles and general trend of direction of China's corporate law system.This accessible book offer a comprehensive and critical introduction to the law on business organizations in the People's Republic of China. The coverage focuses on the 2005-adopted PRC Company Law and the most recent legislative and regulatory developments in the company law landscape in China. The book covers a wide range of topics including the definitions of companies as compared with other forms of business organizations, incorporation, shareholders rights and legal remedies, corporate governance (including the fiduciary and other duties and liabilities of directors, supervisors and managers), corporate finance (including capital and shares offering), fundamental corporate changes (including mergers & acquisitions, and takeovers), and corporate liquidation and bankruptcy. In addition to presenting strong doctrinal analysis, the author also considers China's unique social, political and economic contexts.


Accurate detection of recurrent colorectal carcinoma remains a diagnostic challenge. The purposes of this study were to evaluate the diagnostic value of Positron emission tomography (PET) using fluor‐18‐deoxyglucose (FDG) in recurrent colorectal carcinoma with a meta‐analysis. All the published studies in English relating the diagnostic value of FDG‐PET in the detection of recurrent colorectal carcinoma were collected. Methodological quality of the included studies was evaluated. Pooled sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic odds ratio and SROC (summary receiver operating characteristic curves) were obtained by the statistical software. Twenty‐seven studies were included in the meta‐analysis. The pooled sensitivity and specificity for FDG‐PET detecting distant metastasis or whole body involvement in recurrent colorectal carcinoma were 0.91 (95% CI 0.88–0.92) and 0.83 (95% CI 0.79–0.87), respectively. The pooled sensitivity and specificity for FDG‐PET detecting hepatic metastasis were 0.97 (95% CI 0.95–0.98) and 0.98 (95% CI 0.97–0.99). The pooled sensitivity and specificity for pelvic metastasis or local regional recurrence were 0.94 (95% CI 0.91–0.97) and 0.94 (95% CI 0.92–0.96). FDG‐PET is valuable for the assessment of recurrent colorectal carcinoma. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.