Helicobacter pyloni infection isassociated withincreased mealstimulated gastrin secretion, but the reason forthisis unknown. Sequence specificradioimmunoassays were usedtomeasure the concentration ofot-amidated gastrin, the totalprogastrin product,and somatostatinin biopsyspecimensof human antral mucosa. Theantral concentrations ofct-amidated gastrin andoftotal progastrinproducts were significantly higherin H pyloni infected patients thaninthose not infectedby thisorganism.In contrast, theantral somatostatin concentration was significantly decreasedin infected patients. Progastrin processing, determinedby gel chromatography, seemedunaffected byH pyloni infection. The results suggestthatthefinding of increasedgastrinsecretion from the antral G cells inH pyloni infected patients may be a result ofreducedinhibition of G-cell secretionbysomatostatin. (Gut1994; 35:615-618)


Cloud computing is the development trend of next generated computing network model.And how to effectively route storage resource in cloud is development's difficulty in ring of industry.Ant colony algorithm is a bionics optimization algorithm based group ants which has many priorities such as intelligent routing,overall optimization,robustness,distributed computing,ability to mix itself with other algorithm.Based on the above two factors,this paper proposed a reasonable algorithm which can find the requiring database rapidly and effectively,and reduce the dynamic routing burdens of cloud database routing,and enhance the efficiency of cloud computing at a large.


-Health maintenance is an important thing in human life and needs of more attention, in particular, heart health. The heart is a vital organ for us. Even the slightest abnormality could make a big influence on our body performance. The heart rate, expressed in rates per minute (bpm), is a parameter to show our heart condition. One way to discover the heart condition is by knowing the heart rate frequency. Heart disease often detected past the symptoms, one being having sporadic heart rates. Therefore, this research aimed to design and build a heart rate monitoring device to detect the blood flow frequency in the pulse. The data then delivered to a communication device using WiFi. Heart rate monitor device contained sensor block, signal conditioner block, and communication block using Wemos D1 ESP8266. This research calculated the number of heart rates from ten respondents to test the device. The pulse sensor detected the respondents' heart rates when strapped. Then, the data converted from analog to digital using Wemos D1 ESP8266. After, Wemos D1 ESP8266 delivered the data to the smartphone. The data also displayed on OLED. The data recorded was saved in the smartphone and can be used as a medical record.


Author for correspondence: Dr. Sayeed Ahmad Department o f Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi-110062, India E-mail: email@example.com Tel.: +91-9891374647 Validated UPLC-Q-TOF-MS method for quantitative determination of emodin in rhizome of Rheum emodi Wall. ex Meissn. and its traditional polyherbal formulation using three different extraction techniques


In the summer of 1981, the author was engaged in pedagogicalresearch in language program development for the governments of Senegaland The Gambia. During that period, he further participated in an eight countrylanguage teaching survey throughout West, Central, and EastAfrica, under the sponsorship of the United States International CommunicationsAgency. Included in that survey was an analysis of the useof radio broadcasts as a means to teach foreign languages. This articlewill describe the language-by-radio programs in four countries, i.e.,Senegal, Burundi, Rwanda, and Kenya. Of special interest is the use ofradio to teach English.


General practice is facing an unprecedented set of challenges, and at the same time radical transformation of the sector is beginning. Exemplary management and leadership will be essential if the sector is to navigate the coming period successfully


A critical aspect of characterization of the amount and species of contamination of a hazardous waste site is the sampling plan developed for that site. If the sampling plan is not thoroughly conceptualized before sampling takes place, then certain critical aspects of the limits of the contamination may be ignored. If a contaminant has both a petroleum and a heavy metal component there may be a separation of components in the subsurface because of interaction with the mineral matter contained in the subsurface environment. The paper presents a discussion of some strategic sampling questions that should be addressed before going into the field to collect data.


We produced homogeneous lines of 227 pea accessions from the Nordic Genetic Resource Center via single seed descent. The genetic diversity among these, mostly Scandinavian accessions, was investigated using three microsatellite markers, A9, AC58 and AA5. The microsatellites were highly informative and separated 153 of 194 accessions on a Neighbor Joining topology. The high polymorphism information content (PIC) values between 0.87 and 0.91 indicated that the gene bank material contains a large number of pea accessions with different breeding histories. The peas were grown in the field for two years and seed protein content showed variation between 9.3% and 34.1% over the years and accessions, respectively. The mean thousand seed weight was 152.05 g. More than 10 accessions had a protein content above 28%, showing that the collection has potential as breeding nursery for high-protein pea cultivars.


A high-frequency a high-power GaN HEMT was analyzed using our full band Cellular Monte Carlo (CMC) simulator, in order to extract small signal parameters and figures of merit, and to correlate them to carrier dynamics and distribution inside the device. A complete RF and DC characterization of the device was performed using experimental data to calibrate the few adjustable parameters of the simulator. Then, gate-related capacitances, such as Cg, Cgd, and Cgs, were directly and indirectly extracted combining small-signal analysis and DC characterization.


A radial nerve injury associated with a humeral shaft fracture is an important injury pattern among trauma patients.
This study is to find out the incidence of radial nerve palsy and to analyze results of treatment of fracture shaft
of Humerus associated with radial nerve injury to improve outcome and avoid long-term morbidity.A total of eighty patients of fractures were
analyzed with twenty immediate and five with secondary radial nerve palsy. Out of 25 patients, 20 presented with primary radial nerve palsy.
18 patients recovered completely.The outcome of radial nerve palsy was not found to be related to age group, sex, side, mechanism of injury,
geometry of fracture, intraoperative condition of nerve, method of treatment of fracture and time of exploration of radial nerve.Our study
recommends a conservative management and a complete recovery of the nerve can be quite delayed, patience is merited before considering
tendon transfers.


Objective To study the sequence of HFRS vaccine strain that is widely used in China. Methods The G1 genome segment of Z10 virus was amplified with RT PCR, and after being identified and purified the products were cloned into pGEM T vector. The clone was sequenced by Sanger's dideoxy chain termination method. Results 1?449 bases of Z10 G1 genome segment, coding for 483 amino acids were determined. The base compositions for the G1 segment RNA determined from cDNA sequence information were 30.8% A, 21.9% G, 19.1% C and 28.2% U. These values were similar to those of the 76/118, Lee and SR virus. As compared to Z10 G1 segment, the sequence homology at the nucleotide level was 87%(76/118, type Ⅰ), 86% (Lee, type Ⅰ),86% (Hojo, type Ⅰ), 67%(R22,type Ⅱ), and 59%(K22, type Ⅲ).The Z10 virus G1 protein had higher amino acid sequence identity with other Hantaan viruses (94% 95% homology) than Seoul type viruses (77% 80%). More amino acid sequence heterogeneity between the Z10 and 76/118 was observed in N terminal, especially cluster of divergence of ten amino acids at position 84 to 93 of the Z10 virus G1 protein. Conclusions (1) Z10 strain is one of the Hantaan viruses. (2) The important region of G1 segment of Z10 was conservative. (3) Although substantial divergence of nucleotide sequences of the G1 genome segment was found between the Z10 strain and other type I Hantaan viruses, relatively high amino acid sequence homology was shown among them. Thus, good immune protection could be obtained with the inactivated vaccine grown on Meriones unguiculatus kidney cells against other strains of Hantaan viruses.


The Neogene Aoshima Formation of the Miyazaki Group, well exposed along the Nichinan coast, has been considered to be a turbidite succession deposited at a forearc basin, although the thickness-frequency distributions and the sedimentary facies of the formation are in disagreement with those of typical turbidite successions. In this study, we investigated the depositional system and the sedimentary environments of the formation, on the basis of the facies of sediment-gravity flow deposits and stratigraphic variations of bed-thickness distributions. From the results, we can classify the sediment-gravity flow deposits of the formation into the following types; Type G: sedimentary structures containing grading beds, whose wavelength is in the range of 0.5-5m; Type I: inverse grading structures composed of a finer lower unit with climbing-ripple cross lamination or HCS-mimics, and a coarser upper unit with massive sandstones; and Type M: massive structureless sandstones. Individual sediment-gravity flow deposits can be correlated over 10 km using key-tuff markers along palaeocurrent directions. Stratigraphic fluctuations of the hemipelagic-mudstone thickness and sediment-gravity flow thickness show that the formation along the Aoshima Island consists of a lower progradational system indicated by a thinning-upward trend of hemipelagic mudstones and an upper system dominated by lobate sand bodies characterized by the cyclic sedimentation of thick-sediment-gravity flow deposits. These results indicate that the depositional setting of the formation is a deep-offshore basin of a fandelta along the south-east coast of the Kyushu Island.


Process simulation programs based on water and steam as a working fluid require the feed of thermodynamic properties during the program runtime. This paper presents the mathematical model necessary to identify the phase and to simulate the thermodynamic properties of water, steam, and wet steam at different temperatures and pressures. The simulated values are compared to the tabulated values and the deviation errors are indicated. A computer program is constructed and visual presentation of the properties on an interactive interface, as well as by plotting on the enthalpyentropy chart, are presented.


There is a common peak-notch pattern in head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) for the median plane, and the pattern provides cues for perceiving the elevation of the sound source. In the present study, to examine morphological features necessary for generating the typical peak-notch pattern, the pinna was modeled as a rectangular plate with a rectangular hole, and then it was modified to generate the pattern. The finite-difference time-domain method was used for calculating HRTFs by numerical simulation. The results of calculations indicated that the first peak was caused by the first closed-open resonance in the medio-lateral direction. On the other hand, the second and third peaks were caused by the first and second closed-closed resonances in the supero-inferior direction, which were also associated with the first notch. These findings implied that the vertical length and geometry of the hole mainly contributed to generating the typical peak-notch pattern, while the depth of the hole determined the first peak frequency.


ABSTRACT Andrei Platonov is known mainly for his larger works, often perceived as a surrealistic critic of revolutionary utopia and the building of communism. This makes it all the more interesting to consider his smaller works, particularly the stories in which he shared in the revolutionary and utopian sentiments of his time, even exceeding them to some extent and presenting them in his own original and distinct way.


The demand for innovative foreign language talents for general purpose is greater than before along with the development of regional economy in Henan Province.Programs of foreign language learning in colleges and universities of Henan Province should form a cultivating mode which suits for the cultivation of such talents and the development of regional economy.Such a deed is of great theoretical and practical significance for the interactive development of Henan regional economy and institutions of higher learning.


Whipple's disease is a consequence of an infection due to a bacteria called Tropheryma whippelii. Endocarditis is frequently described in post mortem studies on this disease but the diagnosis in living patients is uncommon.


This article analyses the transformation of European commissioners' private offices (cabinets) from national enclaves to supporting offices. Structural changes were caused by a reform by then-Commission President Prodi in 1999. To analyse this reform, a typology based on management literature is developed. The reform is characterised as 'big bang': it was strategically planned by a leader, transformational and affected the entire cabinet system. The most important measures were that at least three nationalities and three Commission officials were required in cabinets. These and other measures anticipated changing demands towards cabinets caused by the 2004/7 enlargement and the Kinnock reforms. This article closes a gap in research on the Commission, in which cabinets are seldom analysed in their own right. It complements earlier evidence on change in cabinets by explaining why and how structural changes evoked a functional transformation. This contributes to the broader research agenda on change in the functioning of the Commission. Content analysis of primary sources (Prodi's speeches and publications, expert interviews and a biographic database) and recent academic publications contribute to the analysis.


The thermodynamics of molecular recognition by proteins is a central determinant of complex biochemistry. For over a half-century detailed cryogenic structures have provided deep insight into the energetic contributions to ligand binding by proteins1. More recently, a dynamical proxy based on NMR-relaxation methods has revealed an unexpected richness in the contributions of conformational entropy to the thermodynamics of ligand binding2,3,4,5. There remains, however, a discomforting absence of an understanding of the structural origins of fast internal motion and the conformational entropy that this motion represents. Here we report the pressure-dependence of fast internal motion within the ribonuclease barnase and its complex with the protein barstar. Distinctive clustering of the pressure sensitivity correlates with the presence of small packing defects or voids surrounding affected side chains. Prompted by this observation, we performed an analysis of the voids surrounding over 2,500 methyl-bearing side chains having experimentally determined order parameters. We find that changes in unoccupied volume as small as a single water molecule surrounding buried side chains greatly affects motion on the subnanosecond timescale. The discovered relationship begins to permit construction of a united view of the relationship between changes in the internal energy, as exposed by detailed structural analysis, and the conformational entropy, as represented by fast internal motion, in the thermodynamics of protein function.


This study examined drug abuse among students of Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba Akoko Ondo State, Nigeria. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for this study. Three hundred respondents were randomly selected using multistage sampling technique. The instrument used was a self structured questionnaire. Three experts in health education and test and measurement validated the intrument. The reliability of the questionnaire was established using test-retest method of reliability and a correlation of 0.73 was obtained. Findings revealed that: hallucinogen and analgesics are the mostly abused by the students; age, gender, religion and residence had significant influences on drug abuse among students of Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba Akoko. It was recommended that: Parents should live exemplary lifes so as to be able to control their children's drug use, adequaate drug education program should be integrated into school health program, adequate control measures should be put in place to checkmate sales and illegal assess to drugs of abuse and mass media should be utilized to educate the public on the health implications of drug abuse.


Time series in healthcare practices and biomedical research are typically multivariate, i.e. multiple biomarkers are observed simultaneously at a time. However, they tend to be short, noisy, unaligned, irregularly sampled, partially observed, and with only limited samples. These imperfections pose a challenge for mining information from data. In this work, we propose to use dynamic-based representations to present such imperfect multivariate time series. Specifically, we propose an approach to learn a corresponding Linear Dynamical System (LDS) for a multivariate time series example and use the set of system parameters as a representation for that example. Such a representation is able to capture interactions of different variables and provide a unified view of multivariate time series with different lengths, different missingness mechanisms, and different starting points. Other techniques are then used to mine useful information and perform learning tasks based on the new representation. For example, we use support vector machine classification models with LDS kernels in time series classification tasks. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, we conducted experiments on both synthetic data sets and real-life datasets. The results in synthetic datasets demonstrated that the proposed approach could correctly learn the similarities of underlying linear dynamical systems. Our real-life data sets included human influenza A (H3N2), Rhinovirus (HRV), and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) gene expression time series. The accuracies in the leave-one-out symptomatic/asymptomatic diagnostic tasks showed that our approach outperformed three baseline algorithms. Moreover, in experiments where various levels of imperfections were imposed on the H3N2 dataset, the accuracies of other baseline methods degraded significantly, but the accuracy of our approach remained high.


Human being wants to convey their feelings by interacting with people surrounding them. But this is not a case of speech-hearing impaired people whom we call deaf-dumb. This community face lots of helplessness & discrimination. According to World Federation of the Deaf (WFD), there are approximately 70 million deaf & mute people. Previous research works focused on building a communication system for this community but most are prone to inconveniency, for example, heavyweight, expensive, and user-unfriendly. Our paper focused on introducing a system with simplicity, ease of operability, portability. Overcoming the helplessness, we developed a smart hand talk system through which, hand gestures provided by the user will give text & speech output and send the output to a server for emergency response of doctors or family members. The proposed system can control appliances. It sheds light on measuring actions of deaf-dumb people using flex sensors attached to the glove. The glove is placed in hands, whenever a specific sign/gesture will be commanded for action, the analog value will be obtained and the corresponding function will be identified by the arduino board. A xampp server connected to the system will ensure emergency care by doctors or family members.


The product vs. process controversy enters the Business Writing classroom concerning how class time is spent teaching writing. A product-oriented approach works on the assumption that students already know a great deal about their subjects and about how to write. Class time is spent on lecturing and discussing assigned readings, mostly giving directions for formats and organizational plans. Students are then assigned to write a paper based on their ability to comprehend and assimilate these directions. Such an approach tends to ignore the complexities of the writing process and often yields disappointing results. In contrast, a process-oriented approach devotes class time to small group discussion, collaboration, audience analysis, peer evaluation, multiple drafts, with emphasis on revision and on extensive planning. These are techniques which practicing writers use to produce professional papers. Much more time is devoted to how to write than to what formal or organizational plan the student should use. Such an approach impresses students with the complexities of writing in the professions. Students leaving a process-oriented Business Writing course enter the professional world with a better preparation for the realities of writing on the job.


This paper presents the results of a study on Cu-based shape memory alloys (SMA) elements for energy dissipation in connections under earthquake excitation. The elements include round bars for use as mechanical connectors and plates for ADAS-type energy dissipation devices. The goal of the study is to determine the behaviour of elements with full-scale dimensions, and evaluate possible scale effects on their shape memory or superelastic properties. Two nominal compositions of CuZnAl were used. The study of both compositions in parallel is of interest because of the large energy dissipation capacity of one and the self-centering capability of the other. Both materials may be combined to optimize the behaviour of connections that include elements made of these alloys. Bars of different diameters were fabricated using extrusion and hot-rolling. The mechanical properties (stiffness, martensitic transformation stress, tensile strength, ultimate strain) and equivalent damping of these bars were experimentally determined and their dependency on type, amplitude and frequency of excitation, and working temperature was studied. In addition, four annealed martensite plates (15x12x1 cm) were tested under cyclic out-of-plane flexure. Stable cycles and limited residual deformations were observed up to 20% drift. Equivalent damping ratio increased with larger drift, reaching a maximum of 8% for a 20% drift.


Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS) has emerged as one of the most impactful domains of management scholarship in decades. We are delighted to have an article written by several established POS researchers exploring connections with Management, Spirituality, and Religion (MSR) as our first piece in the new "Invited Features" category of the Journal of Management, Spirituality & Religion. While we have plans for several other papers in coming issues of JMSR ranging from scholarly articles, to essays, to interviewbased pieces, launching the Invited Features category with a review of POS research and synergistic connections with MSR is, in our view, the ideal first step. The Invited Features category builds on a template we used as co-editors (with Kim Cameron and Robert Marx) for a 2006 special issue in JMSR on "Values and Virtues in Organizations" that brought together cutting-edge researchers and visible scholars including Jane Dutton, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, David Cooperrider, Ian Mitroff, Andre Delbecq, Geert Hofstede, and Peter Drucker, to name a few who participated in the special issue (Manz et al. 2006). We are pleased that three of the four authors of this first Invited Features article – Cameron, Bright, and Powley – were contributors to that special issue. Our goal as new co-editors is to identify, invite, and showcase MSR relevant ideas and writing by prominent scholars and others who are doing what we view to be promising work with high potential for impact in the field. We view this overall effort as being consistent with and connected to our 2006 special issue guest editorship, as well as a subsequent book entitled The Virtuous Organization: Insights From Some of the World's Leading Management Thinkers (Manz et al. 2008) that expanded on the special issue and added the work of additional prominent scholars including Fred Luthans, David Whetten, and Rosabeth Moss Kanter. In this new Invited Features category of JMSR, our intent is to continue an effort to facilitate introduction into the field of some of the best thinking related to MSR. In this first Invited Features article, authors Lavine, Bright, Powley, and Cameron address many central POS topics and how existing research in the area might contribute to the MSR literature and vice versa. Writing from a POS perspective "looking outward at MSR", shared criticisms and potential synergies of POS and MSR are explored. The ground they cover includes values and virtuousness, work meaning and meaningfulness, and coping with difficulties and challenges, all of which they discover have significant


In 2014 Xinjiang-born Uyghur dancer Gulmira Mamat (a.k.a. Gulimina, b. 1986) won first place on Zhejiang Satellite TV's popular Chinese television dance show So You Think You Can Dance—China, season 2 (Zhongguo hao wudao).1 In the season finale, she secured her title by performing a Tajik-style choreography, traditionally one of the less commonly taught minority dance forms in professional dance schools in contemporary Xinjiang (figure 27). As the lights come on, a bird's call sounds, and Gulmira sits kneeling, still, with her eyes closed. She holds her elbows out to either side, parallel to the floor, with her hands palm-down, fingertip-to-fingertip in front of her chest.2 She wears a round beaded hat with a red veil down the back, her hair in two long braids. Her dress is bright red with geometrical patterns embroidered along the chest, cuffs, and belt. As a flute plays, her hands begin to shudder, and she raises them slowly above her head, then opens her eyes, smiling. Still kneeling, she performs a series of staccato hand gestures that frame her head and chest, then dips into a deep backbend. A male dancer joins her on stage in a matching costume and circles around her, appearing to play a flute. Flirtatiously, they slide from side to side, looking sideways at one another and bobbing their shoulders in unison. Gulmira pretends to play a drumbeat on the male dancer's back, and they shift around one another to form complementary poses. There is much in Gulmira's dancing that recalls the style of her predecessor, Uyghur dancer Qemberxanim, who began performing modern nationality dances in Xinjiang more than seventy years earlier. The emphasis on face-framing hand and arm movements, the backbends from a kneeling position, the rhythmic use of the upper body, the combination of running footwork and turns, and the charismatic smile and use of the eyes all recall the documentary footage taken during 6


This paper introduces n-channel normally-off Trench-MOSFETs on 4H-SiC featuring a blocking voltage of 600 V and 1200 V. The Trench-MOSFETs exhibit a specific room temperature on-state resistance RDS,on of 1.5 mΩ cm² and 2.7 mΩ cm², respectively. It is shown that a further reduction of the RDS,on by approximately 25 % can be achieved using square-shaped or hexagonal unit cells instead of stripe-shaped unit cells. The Trench-MOSFET switching characteristics using a double pulse setup with a switching current Isw of 100 A and a switching voltage Vsw of 450 V is presented and discussed. The short turn-off and turn-on times in the range of several ten nanoseconds yield large maximum disw/dt and dvsw/dt values, which enable highly efficient power conversion with low switching losses.


ABSTRACT I criticize Brian Earp's 'Some Writing Tips for Philosophy'. Earp's article is useful for someone who wishes to do well in analytic philosophy as currently practised but it also casts doubt on why such analytic philosophy would be of interest to someone who wants to learn something new. In addition to its good tips, Earp's article contains two bad tips which, if followed, will tend to produce a paper that says next to nothing. I list the two faulty tips, show how the practices of great philosophers and scientists contradict them, then set out some contrary good tips for philosophers who aim to write a paper that makes a contribution to our knowledge.


The flow of different suspensions has been studied in literature in order to maximize the transport capacity or to minimize the needed pressure. For concrete, several research projects have been performed, but the question remains if the results for one type of concrete are applicable to another type.
This paper deals mainly with the flow of self-compacting concrete in pipes. It is shown that the flow of this type of concrete is not influenced by friction between the aggregates, but that the material does not remain homogeneous during the flow. By means of full scale experiments, it is shown that the measured pressure losses are lower than the theoretically calculated pressure losses, due to three effects lowering the viscosity near the wall. The results have been compared with the available literature dealing with traditional concrete, showing some major points of difference. Finally, it is assumed that the velocity profile of concrete in a pipe consists of a plug with uniform velocity in the centre, a lubrication layer with a large velocity gradient near the wall and possibly, a part of the homogeneous concrete also being sheared, depending on the rheological properties and the type of concrete. Unfortunately, no direct velocity profile measuring equipment is available.


Biometric systems have been implemented on numerous public facilities that able to enhance the security system. Nowadays, fingerprint and face are the most popular biometric. In addition, emerging technology has introduced potential biometric such as hand geometry, palm print, lips, teeth and vein. However, most of this biometric requires a special device to capture it. This will added more cost to implement the system. Ear is one of emerging biometric and proven having a great potential for identifying a person. Recently, a study shows human ear can easily captured just using an ordinary camera and it can be extracted from existing face profile image. In general, human ear is captured using a camera, after that the ear recognition system will attempt to identify it. Numerous methods have been proposed by the community to establish ear recognition system. Hence, this paper summarized, reviewed and critically discussed various recent advances in 2D ear recognition, in order to find out the research gap.


Objective To compare neurocognitive function in patients with bipolar depression type I(BD),recurrent unipolar depression(UD)and schizophrenia(SZ).And try to explore the relationship between neuropsychological function and clinical features in bipolar.Methods 29 patients with BD,25 with UD,30 with SZ were consecutively recruited from clinics and wards of Peking University Sixth Hospital between September 2010 and April2011,also including 30 controls


The laser damage resistance of optical coatings is a critical point for a large number of applications. However improving this resistance is often hard to obtain because of the large number of parameters in the deposition processes than can modify the laser damage threshold and the lack of detailed and exploitable studies published on this subject. Then, the aim of this work is to test and analyze the laser damage resistance of a usual material for high power applications (silica) deposited in various conditions. The thin films of different thicknesses were specially deposited using different techniques available at the Institut Fresnel: Dual Ion Beam Sputtering, Electron Beam Deposition, Ion Assisted Deposition and Ion Plating. The laser-induced damage thresholds of these coatings were determined at 1064nm and 355nm using nanosecond pulsed YAG lasers, with a 1-on-1 test procedure. Other diagnostic tools were used to complete the study and make potential correlations with laser damage: photothermal techniques, luminescence spectrocopy, optical profilometry, dark field and Nomarski microscopy. The comparative study of these results highlight different laser damage behaviors of the silica coatings that we correlate to the density and the nature of the defects.


Abstract The present work deals with the influence of deformation induced martensite formation and grain size on plain fatigue (PF) (without fretting) and fretting fatigue (FF) behaviour of AISI 304 austenitic stainless steel at room temperature. Two grain sizes, namely 43 and 277 μm, were developed via suitable solution annealing treatments. The martensitic transformation was studied using a ferrite scope, X-ray diffractometry, optical and transmission electron microscopy. More martensite formed in coarse grained (CG) material and at higher cyclic stress levels. Owing to the additional influence of contact stress, more martensite formed in the fretting scar region of FF tested samples compared with that in the PF tested specimens. In PF tests conventional behaviour was observed at higher cyclic stress levels, i.e. fine grained material showed superior fatigue lives. But at lower cyclic stress levels CG material exhibited superior fatigue lives. This was explained in terms of amount and time of martensite formation and whether crack initiation or propagation controlled the fatigue life at a given stress level. Fretting fatigue test results indicated a tendency for cross-over in the stress life plots corresponding to two grain sizes.


ABSTRACT This article assesses the Singapore state's approach towards multiracialism by focusing on the hijab issue. I argue that a combination of elite ideology and regime type can explain the state's overall stances on religion, including the hijab issue. Previously, when the state was hegemonic, its policies were determined solely by the ideologies held by its key elites. However, as the state moves towards competitive authoritarianism with increased electoral competition, the dominant party will no longer be able to act solely based on its ideological predispositions. This explains why a staunch no-hijab stand was held by the state in the past, whereas in recent years, there appears to be a softening of this stance.


Human sera were fractionated into more than twenty separate components by continuous electrophoresis in polyacrylamide of the appropriate pore size. The protein bands were identified immunologicaliy and estimated quantitatively. The values from 312 blood donor sera were used to determine the normal ranges for 21 of the separated proteins. The methodical errors were significantly less than the normal ranges. This method permits a clear differentiation between the genetically dependent haptoglobin and Gc-types. The quality and reproducibility of the electrophoresis were achieved by an improved electrophoresis apparatus and a new type of apparatus for the lateral destaining of the polyacrylamide gels.


The advantages, structural technology and construction features of precast housings are introduced, the differences between precast concrete housings and common housings in lightning protection design such as down-conductor system, equipotential bonding and side stroke prevention are discussed,and the way of reasonably utilizing the reinforcement layout of precast housings in combination with the features thereof to conduct lightning protection design is researched.


The combination of dual-color fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) and two-photon excitation is a powerful tool for probing protein-protein interactions. The submicron resolution and single molecule sensitivity of the technique make it attractive for in vivo applications. However, the strong spectral cross talk between the two emission channels of most fluorescent dye mixtures provides a challenge for the analysis of dual-color FCS experiments. We describe a new technique, dual-color photon counting histogram (PCH) analysis that overcomes some of the challenges associated with spectral cross talk. Dual-color PCH is an extension of regular PCH that simultaneously analyses the photon counts of two detection channels. We demonstrate that dual color PCH quantitatively resolves protein mixtures in vitro. We also apply dual-color PCH to study proteins in biological cells. The fluorescent proteins ECFP and EYFP, which are commonly used for dual-color studies in cells, have significant spectral cross talk. We will discuss the resolvability of these fluorescent proteins and present data that successfully resolve the protein mixtures in vitro and in vivo. Our results show that dual color PCH is a promising technique for the characterization of protein-protein interactions in intact cells.


Introduction: Intraoperative frozen section (FS) is an important tool in the management of neoplastic and non-neoplastic central nervous system (CNS) lesions. Although the final pathological diagnosis is based on the findings in paraffin tissue sessions, interpreting FS of CNS lesion is to assist the neurosurgeon in making the accurate judgment regarding the nature of the lesion and tissue adequacy. This study was to evaluate the agreement between FS and paraffin sections (PS) results; and to highlight the possible causes of error in discrepancy between FS and PS. Materials & Methods: This is a retrospective study of 85 cases of FS. H&E stained sections of both FS and PS of all these cases were reviewed with their histopathological reports. FS and PS results were compared. Possible causes of errors were reviewed and recorded. Results: Out of 85 cases; 76 cases (89.4%) showed no discrepancy, 2 cases (2.4%) minor discrepancy and 7 cases (8.2%) discrepancy. Sensitivity and specificity of FS were 90.1% and 85.7% respectively. Positive predictive value was 97.0% and negative predictive value was 63.1%. The false positive rate was 14.2% and false negative rate was 36.8%. The overall accuracy of FS was 89.4%. Conclusion: Our results showed high accuracy and specificity of FS. Therefore, FS is still useful, an effective tool for neurosurgeon although there are some challenges for histopathologists in reporting FS. The commonest discrepancy was seen between reactive gliosis and low-grade glioma. Over-diagnosis or under-diagnosis of FS can be reduced by closed cooperation among pathologist, neurosurgeon and radiologist.


Background: Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are expressed abundantly in the brain and are implicated in the pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric disease. However, the potential clinical value of circRNAs in major depressive disorder (MDD) remains unclear.

Methods: RNA sequencing was conducted in whole-blood samples in a discovery cohort of highly homogeneous MDD patients and matched healthy controls (HCs). The differential expression of circRNAs was verified in an independent replication cohort. Furthermore, a longitudinal study was conducted to assess the predictive value of circRNAs for antidepressive treatment response.

Findings: Compared with HCs, significantly decreased circFKBP8 levels and significantly elevated circMBNL1 levels were observed in MDD patients. The expression of circMBNL1 was negatively correlated with the 24-item Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD-24) scores in MDD patients. A mediation model indicated that circMBNL1 affected HAMD-24 scores through a mediator, serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). In MDD patients, the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) in the right orbital part middle frontal gyrus (ORBmid) was positively correlated with circFKBP8 and circMBNL1 expression. Furthermore, the longitudinal study demonstrated that antidepressive treatment partly increased circFKBP8 expression and the change in expression of circFKBP8 was predictive of further reduced HAMD-24 scores.

Interpretation: CircFKBP8 and circMBNL1 may be potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of MDD, respectively, and circFKBP8 contributes to the prediction of outcome of antidepressive treatment.

Funding Statement: This study was partly supported by the National Key Research and Development Plan of China (No. 2016YFC1306700), the National Natural Science Key Foundation of China (No. 81830040), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81872709), Science and Technology Program of Guangdong (No. 2018B030334001), Program of Excellent Talents in Medical Science of Jiangsu Province (No. JCRCA2016006), Key Project of the Natural Science Foundation of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions of China (18KJA110004), and Supported by the Program for one thousand Zhongyuan Talents (204200510020).

Declaration of Interests: The authors report no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.

Ethics Approval Statement: The present study was carried out in accordance with the latest version of the Declaration of Helsinki. The ethics committee of the Affiliated Zhongda Hospital of Southeast University and the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University both approved the study (approval ID: 2019ZDSYLL055-P01). All participants, their legal guardians or their legally authorized representatives provided informed consent.


Congressional deliberations over several competing bills on drug-price transparency may generate some useful data but are unlikely to have any effect on prices.


INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE:The development of a new therapeutic strategy against cisplatin (CDDP) resistant metastatic bladder cancer is strongly warranted. Recently, sulfasalazine (SSZ), widely us...


There is provided a method and system for facilitating the validation of the introduction of one or more features in a variant of an electrically driven system. The method comprises the introduction of features in a plurality of electrically powered systems, which are at least partially powered by electricity. Thereafter, data are recorded, at least each of the plurality corresponding to an energy storage system or energy consumption system of electrically powered systems, based on the data that are required for the validation of the inserted into the electrically powered system performance. The collected data, which correspond to the energy storage system and the power consumption system are transmitted to a remote location, thereby enabling the analysis of the data at the remote location to validate the introduction of the at least one service feature in the variant of the powered system.


This study considers the insured party's duties in a generic manner, as context for analyzing the prohibition in liability insurance of the insured to recognize his civil liability or arrive at agreements with third-parties. The general framework of law for the different duties of the insured during the execution performance of the insurance contract is studied, with special emphasis on the liability insurance contract, as this is the type of insurance that carries the prohibition. The way in which the insured party's duties develop primary principles of the insurance contract, such as good faith and the indemnity principle, are analysed, thus identifying their nature and juridical consequences. Three different types of insured's duties in the insurance contract are identified, distinguished by the temporary state of the risk in the aforementioned contract, be they: i) at the moment of transmitting the risk to the insurer, ii) the risk being assumed by the insurer, and iii) the risk having occurred while assumed by the insurer. Risk is the random element in the insurance contract which gives it the unbroken chain character, so that the temporary state of the risk determines the behavior the parties involved must maintain during the execution and performance of the insurance contract, analyzing specifically the insured's behavior as he is the recipient of the prohibition at issue. In some Latin American legislations different consequences have been contemplated for the breach of this prohibition. , In Colombia, loss of the indemnity right is commonly assigned as a consequence; yet the prohibition without establishing a juridical consequence to its breach is also seen. This study proposes that in the Colombian legal system this consequence implies a penalty to bad faith in the insurance claim, therefore inadequate for the breach of the prohibition under discussion. This study analyzes the effects of the insured's breach of the prohibition of civil liability recognition and agreements with third-parties, proposing a consequence considered legally adequate attending to the nature of the insured's prohibition.


Eastern equine encephalomyelitis (EEE) is endemic in the eastern United States. The number of cases during the summer of 1991 reached epizootic proportions in horses, and 2 human cases were diagnosed in Georgia (Fig. 1). In addition, 2 outbreaks of EEE virus infection were diagnosed in swine and confirmed by isolation of EEE virus at the Veterinary Diagnostic and Investigational Laboratory (VDIL) in Tifton, Georgia. Eastern equine encephalomyelitis virus infection in pigs has been described in Georgia, and antibodies to EEE virus in swine have been reported from other states in the USA. The clinical disease in swine probably is underdiagnosed in swine-producing areas with high incidence of EEE in horses or other species because cell lines routinely used to isolate virus from porcine tissues do not readily propagate EEE virus. Financial losses to swine producers due to EEE have not been estimated but were substantial in cases reported in Georgia and in 1994 in Florida. In the Florida outbreak, a 16-year-old farm worker also had clinical signs consistent with EEE virus infection. The objective of this study was to determine prevalence of exposure to EEE virus in selected populations of domestic swine in Georgia and in feral swine on Ossabaw Island, a barrier island in the Atlantic Ocean off the Georgia coast. Serum samples from domestic swine received in accessions for pseudorabies and brucellosis testing at the VDIL from June to September 1991 and from April to July 1992 were analyzed for neutralizing antibodies to EEE virus. An accession is defined as a collection of specimens from 1 locale (farm or stockyard) on 1 date. Accessions were selected nonrandomly for testing to reflect close spatial (same or neighboring county) and temporal (within 1 week) proximity to clinical EEE cases in all species (Fig. 1, 2). A total of 1,247 specimens in 65 accessions were tested: 46 accessions with 1,064 specimens were from 45 farms, 16 accessions with 151 specimens were from 6 stockyards/salesbarns, and 3 acces-


The hallmark evidence of malnutrition in the developing world is starvation the tragic inadequacy of macro- and micronutrients for the energy requirements of a majority of some populations. As an indicator of the short brief leap in perceived economic transition an emerging plague is now recognized in obesity the characteristic malnutrition disease of the developed world. The meta-analysis of trends in Sub-Saharan Africa published in this issue of Nutrition by Walker Walker and Adam examines the rather abrupt nature of this transition in energy imbalance in the process measured as development by most economic indicators. Because many diseases may follow in train behind the underlying debility of malnutrition it is well to look ahead to the spotty nutritional overcorrection occurring in developing world populations to project what further illnesses are becoming more prevalent in the wake of the noveau obesity epidemic. The burden of illness that follows this new wave of malnutrition is much more costly in terms of health manpower and technology investments in the care of a single individual as the model of any first-world hospital filled with the consequences of metabolic cardiovascular central nervous system and renal degenerative disorders would predict. (excerpt)


The article reviews the exhibition "In Search Of..." by artist Matthew Day Jackson at the Museo d'Arte Moderna di Bologna in Bologna, Italy.


Objective To observe the clinical effects of glass fiber post and metal post in anterior teeth restoration. Methods Glass fiber posts(group A, 100 teeth) and metal posts(group B, 100 teeth) were used for 200 anterior teeth restoration. After three-year follow-up, they were observed the restoration effect. Results The treatments of 98 teeth were effective and that of 2 teeth were failure in group A. The treatments of 86 teeth were effective and that of 14 teeth were failure in group B. There was statistically significant difference between two groups(P0.05). Conclusion Glass fiber post is better in convenient handling and good colour for anterior teeth restoration compared with metal post.


SUMMARYSucrose, or starch, hydrolysed with mineral or organic acids is toxic for honeybees, whereas sucrose hydrolysed with invertase is not. The best-known products of the action of acids on hexoses, 5-hydroxymethylfuraldehyde (HMF), laevulinic acid and formic acid were similarly toxic to bees when fed to them, but only if more concentrated than in acid-hydrolysed sucrose. Neither the acids used to hydrolyse the carbohydrates, nor the salts formed by neutralizing them, were toxic, so unknown products of acid hydrolysis must cause most of the harm to bees. Heated honey or old honey was less suitable for bees than fresh honey or sucrose; their suitability was inversely correlated with the concentration in them of HMF, but this was too small to cause the harm observed. Evidently substances that are more toxic than HMF must accumulate along with it in heated honey; these may be similar to those in acid-hydrolysed carbohydrates. Bees fed acid-hydrolysed carbohydrates developed 'dysentery' before they died, po...


Aiming at the change in intake air flow caused by the injection of natural gas in intake manifold ifone simply replaces the gasoline injector with natural gas injector with the installing position of injector in intake manifold unchanged, and also the reflection of gas toward intake manifold inlet resulted from the impingement between the injected large volumetric natural gas jet and intake valve, an impulsively started natural gas jet injected from a gas injector is characterized as a three-dimensional unsteady compressible viscous turbulent flow, based on which its transient development process is numerically analyzed using general-purpose CFD codes. The predicted velocity vector maps show a vortex, which indicates the occurrence of an unsteady state jet region, is formed downstream of the jet. A schlieren apparatus is utilized to get several groups of visible schlieren photographs of natural gas jets. In the experiment, photographs of natural gas jets taken by a CCD camera are laid in a portrait processor where the shapes, tip penetration distance and injection angles of the gas jets are investigated. Comparisons between predicted results and measurements indicate an excellent agreement between simulations and experimental results.


Nowadays, many people work in an office environment. Air pollutants, including particles and gases, are generated by humans and by different devices that are used in offices. Pollutants can also enter an office room with the air supplied from outdoors. It has been established that air pollutants have adverse health effects on human body. Air cleaning devices are commonly marketed as being beneficial for the health by removing air pollutants and consequently improving indoor air quality. The performance of five air cleaning technologies was tested in order to determine the generation of ozone and particles in an office room. The particle removal effectiveness of the technologies was also determined in order to clarify their ability to remove UFPs (ultrafine particles) in the office room. The tested five air cleaning technologies are non-thermal plasma, corona discharge ionizer, portable air purifier, electrostatic fibrous filter and three-dimensional fibrous filter. The interior surfaces of the office room emit low levels of volatile organic compounds, since the office room has not been refurbished for about two decades. The results showed that the particle removal effectiveness of the technologies was ranged between 0.2 and 0.45 for the office room. The three technologies using/generating ozone significantly increased the ozone level in the office room. However, no increase of the UFP concentration was detected.


In this paper,"Land Administration Law of the People's Republic of China"have been compared with some contents about land shadow price in the Economic Evaluation Methods and Parameters for Construction Project(3rd edition).Several issues which are not according to law and statutes,of existence among them,have been pointed out.There are also some recommendations for rectifying and reforming.


Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine and metabolic disorder in premenopausal women. Heterogeneous by its nature, PCOS is defined as combination of signs and symptoms of androgen excess and ovarian dysfunction in the absence of other specific diagnoses. The etiology of the syndrome remains unknown, but evidence suggests that PCOS might be a complex multigenic disorder with strong epigenetic and environmental influences, including diet and lifestyle factors. It affects 8% to 13% of reproductive-aged women. Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is associated with hormonal, biochemical disturbance and adverse cosmetic, reproductive, metabolic, and psychological consequences, resulting in reduced healthrelated quality of life (HRQoL). The most recent international guidelines set lifestyle management as the cornerstone of the PCOS treatment.


Methods: Simulations were conducted using the Edwards Perimount valve geometry and collagen fiber distributions aligned with the circumference direction with the standard deviation of 30◦. There are four main stages in simulating permanent set: 1) modeling the initial state geometry, material properties and collagen fiber architecture, 2) simulation of the BHV using finite element method under physiological transvalvular pressure, 3) updating the material properties for the next time step, and 4) updating the BHV geometry for the next time step. Steps 2-4 are repeated for each subsequent time step until we reach the prechosen maximum number of cardiac cycles.


The soft rock roadway support is an important problem of puzzling production and construction in coal mines.In the paper,the bolt-mesh-spurting supporting based on the wall rock condition of Gubei Coal Mine is analyzed,and the safe reliability of the supporting system is evaluted,There is a reference for design of similar soft rock roadways supporting.


A sub-sea tunnel was constructed with the complex geological condition of the connotative fault,and the crush zone and safety excavation for the zone of unfavorable geology with high external water pressure were key for the safety control of the sub-sea tunnel.Based on the initial construction design of this subsea tunnel,numerical simulations were conducted in the case of different geology to obtain optimal construction sequences and stability analysis,the rock deformation and damage characteristics caused by different construction orders and support parameters were studied,and the mutual effect between the main tunnel and auxiliary tunnel were analyzed to offer quantitative information and technological support for construction decision-making of the sub-sea tunnel.


This work is dedicated to the generalization of the spectroscopic correspondence principle to the time dependence of the evolution of a dipole-allowed quantum transition in a two-level system (TLS) under the action of an electromagnetic pulse (EMP). The formulas for the time dependence of the absorbed EMP energy for excitation of a classical oscillator and an oscillator of a transition in a TLS are derived within the framework of the first order of perturbation theory. It is shown that in the case of zero width of a transition line (or in case of zero damping constant γ for a classical oscillator) classical and quantum approaches give the same results for arbitrary EMP parameters (duration and carrier frequency). A noticeable distinction between the time dependences of the absorbed energy for a classical oscillator and a quantum TLS with a Lorentz spectral profile is observed for sufficiently long pulses.


In order to protect the legitimate rights and interests of students' internship,The University should actively explore the tort liability on the internship students.


Purpose – This paper aims to develop and analyse a new multiple-hypothesis receiver autonomous integrity monitoring (RAIM) algorithm. The proposed algorithm can handle simultaneous multiple failures as well as a single failure. Design/methodology/approach – The proposed algorithm uses measurement residuals and satellite observation matrices of several consecutive epochs for failure detection and exclusion. It detects failures by monitoring the error vector itself instead of monitoring the projection of the error vector. The algorithm reduces the minimum detectable bias via the relative receiver autonomous integrity monitoring (RRAIM) scheme. Findings – The algorithm is able to detect any instance of multiple failures, including failures that are not detected by the conventional RAIM algorithm. It is able to detect multiple failures with magnitudes of several tens of meters, although the algorithm has to solve an ill-conditioning problem. The detection capability of the proposed algorithm is not dependent ...


There are books you enjoy reading, and then there are books you can't wait to tell your friends about. But the best books are the ones you actually buy for your friends to make sure they read them. Michael Lewis' The Undoing Project falls in that latter category.


The present invention relates to a process for synthesizing a porous calcium silicate powder filling modified polyethylene packing boards, belonging to the packaging sheet metal processing art. The method of preparing porous calcium silicate powder is selected mainly synthetic material, dried, and antioxidant properties to improve the decrease of nuclear capability, the surface-modified silane coupling agent, the surface self-assembly, after passing it through the lubrication modified modified powder prepared as porous synthetic calcium silicate, calcium silicate and synthetic porous polyethylene powder and modified through earnest two stage extruder and sheet line forming extruder to prepare a modified synthetic porous calcium silicate powder polyethylene packaging sheet is filled. Synthetic porous calcium silicate modified powder prepared by the present invention is filled polyethylene packaging sheet has a low density, high strength, thermal insulation, sound insulation, and high adsorption characteristics. The preparation method is simple and low equipment requirements, easy operation control is easy to realize industrial production without special equipment.


In this paper the relationship between socio-cultural, socio-economic factors and linguistic variables in a bilingual community in Singapore is examined. The results show that education and socio-economic status correlate significantly with linguistic variables. Socio-economic status and socio-psychological factors best help to explain gender differences in linguistic variation.


OD designations and approvals in the U.S. and in the EU centralized system between August 1, 2000 and December 31, 2007 and compared the characteristics of sponsors, products and indications. METHODS: Data derived from the US FDA and the European Medicines Agency (EMEA). Chi-Square and Fishers' exact tests, and group comparison t-tests were used in the analysis. RESULTS: In the study period, the FDA listed 773 orphan designations and 65 (8.4%) approvals, and the EMEA listed 492 designations and 37 (7.5%) approvals. Orphan designations were granted to 472 sponsors by the FDA and to 293 sponsors by the EMEA. The sponsors included 30 universities, public organizations and individual sponsors in the U.S. and 20 in the EU. The average OD designations per sponsor were 1.64 1.63 in the U.S. and 1.68 1.51 in the EU. 68.9% of sponsors in the U.S. and 65.9% of sponsors in the EU had only 1 OD designation. The time from OD designation to approval was 1.74 1.45 years in the FDA and 2.73 1.43 years in the EMEA (p < 0.001). 98 (14.7%) sponsors had OD designations in both agencies. There were 102 designations in both agencies that had the same sponsor, product and indication; and 76 designations that had the same product and indication and different sponsor. CONCLUSIONS: US had more designations and approvals, but the analysis excludes ODs approved by national European agencies. OD incentives encourage R&D by small sponsors that, otherwise, could not assume the risk and opportunity cost associated with developing such products. The implementation of the FDA/EMEA common OD application in November 26, 2007 aims to reduce the duplication in OD development found in this study.


The Krakatau Islands in the Sunda Strait have been significantly impacted by catastrophic volcanic eruptions in 1883 and 2018. The marine habitats are not well studied, neither in the past nor in the present. This research is a report on the distribution and ecology of corals and sponges in the Krakatau Volcanic Complex at the three islands of Anak Krakatau, Rakata, and Panjang. This study used 100 m transects long in 5–7 m depth. Hard coral and soft coral communities are found to live with a coverage varied between 25-53% and 0-24%. Dead coral skeletons covered 14–40% of the surveyed area and did not seem to affect the abundance of sponges recorded. The Sponges occupied 0–6% of the area, and they often acted as coral competitors, shaping the benthic ecosystems. The recorded sponges only belong to the Demospongiae class, which are the Suberitid species that are commonly found in Indonesian waters, e.g., Amorphinopsis excavans, Protosuberites collaris, and Terpios sp. The excavating sponge Cliona cf. orientalis was frequently found to be a successful competitor of massive Porites sp., aggressively overgrowing live parts of the coral. Two Haliclona species and Mycale relicta colonized dead coral skeleton. Overall, the benthic communities appear healthy and are comparable to other similar locations that are not affected by volcanic activity.


The increase of electrical resistance due to the substitutional impurities of di- or trivalent metal for monovalent metal in dilute solid solution is calculated. In the present paper, two steps are taken as follows: First, a modified screened Coulomb field is exactly obtained from the Thomas-Fermi equation by numerical integration, and second, for the calculation of the cross section, the method of partial wave is used, instead of the Born approximation. The agreement of theoretical results with experiment has been greatly improved by this method in comparison with the results obtained by the use of the Born approximation.


The objectives of the study were to (i) demonstrate that the hybridization data from microarrays can yield information on sequence variation between two inbred lines, an introgression line 'Mogeor' and its genetic background 'Moneymaker'; (ii) characterize, by means of the identified SFPs, the introgressed genomic segments of 'Mogeor', carrying resistance genes; and (iii) deliver a set of genetically anchored SFPs potentially useful for breeding. In this work, the GeSNP software was used to identify SFPs in tomato using Affymetrix data from a previous experiment. Sequencing of 12 putative polymorphism-containing amplicons yielded a SFP probe set validation rate of 90%. In total, 92 Gene Models putatively harbouring SFPs were identified, distributed as following: 61 Gene Models on chromosome 9, and one to eight on the remaining tomato chromosomes apart from chromosomes 7, 8 and 12. Newly discovered SFPs from microarray data can thus provide not only useful information for definition of introgressed genomic regions, but also identification of candidate genes and new markers for MAS.


. This paper finds that, industry agglomeration cannot exert a positive influence on improving EI and CCR energy efficiency, and the promotion effect on EBM energy efficiency is not significant. Government intervention inhibits the energy conservation effect of industrial agglomeration.


Two methods were employed in this work to study the antagonism of 5 strains of Zymomonas mobilis spp. versus Proteus mirabilis and Salmonel/a sp: the classic method of Ritter and a modified ecometric method. The results obtained showed the antagonic effect of Zymomonas mobilis 560, Zymomonas mobilis mobilis 1 and Zymomonas mobilis pomaceae 1 when inhibit the growth of Proteus mirabilis and Salmonel/a sp; antagonism that was corroborated with the modified ecometric method; in which ICA values lower than 2, alternated with inhibition areas that oscillated between the 3 and 10 mm of diameter.


The origin of Earth oceans is controversial. Earth could have acquired its water either from hydrated silicates (wet Earth scenario) or from comets (dry Earth scenario).


This paper presents an approach to assess the cumulative risk associated with overload security for the purposes of midterm power system planning. The work is motivated by a need to refine bulk power system reliability assessment to meet the needs of the restructured industry. There are two main contributions to the work. First, the assessment is performed over a year-long trajectory of hourly operating conditions, resulting in reliability assessment of all expected conditions and not just a limited number of snapshots. Secondly, the assessment is quantified by a risk index comprised of summed products of probability and consequence. This index is a good indicator of the actual reliability level, it is decomposable, and it can be effectively integrated into economic decision-making paradigms. The work is illustrated using the 1996 IEEE Reliability Test System.


The data of 468 human rabies cases from 2004 to 2009 in Henan province were sorted and analyzed in order to analyse the influence factor and characteristics of human rabies during incubation period.All the data were input into database with Epidata3.1 software,and were analyzed with SPSS15.0 software.Nonparametric statistics-rank sum test,semi-parametric statistics-Cox regression method were used in this study.The results showed that the data of rabies during incubation period was positively skew distribution,the skewness was 5.047,the kurtosis was 31.099,the median was sixty-day,and the interval was from 4 to 2465 day.The significant incubation period in single factor analysis were the influence factors,such as age,exposure sort,exposure level,exposure site,treatment post-exposure,clinic grade of treatment,wound wash or not,wound disinfection or not,vaccination or not,the state of infectious sources,and the cause of exposure.The significant influence factors in multi-factor analysis was exposure site and age.In conclusion,the data of rabies incubation period was positively skew distribution.The significant influence factors of incubation period were exposure site and age.


Bayesian Structural Equation Modeling is a new book offered by Sarah Depaoli and is an excellent text on Bayesian structural equation modeling. The book is divided into five parts: 1) introduction, 2) measurement models and related issues, 3) extending the structural model, 4) longitudinal and mixture models, and 5) special topics. The organization of the book is structured for ease of transitioning to more complicated topics and is appropriate for readers who are becoming familiar with structural equation modeling (SEM). The book also includes helpful resources such as R code, a chart of symbols and what they represent, and several example data sets along with an annotated bibliography for select resources at the end of each chapter.


? ?????? ????????????? ?????? ???????????? ???? ???? ?? ???? ??? ? ????????????? ??????. ??????? ???? ????????, ??? ????????? ? ????????????? ???????? ???????? ????????? , ??? ??? ??? ??????? ???????? ???????? ???????????? ?????????? ??? ???????? ?????????????. In article the data research of tests of water from the river Don and gulf of Taganrog is analyzed. By the author it has been revealed that fluctuations in concentration of metals are seasonal as these metals are vital elements for development of a phytoplankton.


Energy metabolism and amino acid transport and incorporation are important components of the pathophysiology of brain tumors. Combination of 18F-FDG and amino acid, especially 11C-MET is more useful than single tracer in the field of brain tumor grading, differential diagnosis recurrent tumor from radiation necrosis and evaluation of prognosis. In addition, 11C-MET is better than 18F-FDG in delineating tumor boundary, so it can provides more exact information in biopsy localization and planning of radiosurgery.


The interaction of a diatomic heteronuclear molecule with strong ultrashort electromagnetic pulses is investigated by direct numerical integration of the nonstationary Schroedinger equation. The direct action of the pulse on the nuclear subsystem of a molecule is considered and both rotational and vibrational degrees of freedom are taken into account. The strong mutual influence of rotational and vibrational dynamics on each other is found and the possibility to provide an efficient rotational excitation and molecular orientation is established. In the case of the 'δ-pulse' action, an analytical approach is developed to describe the ro-vibrational behaviour of the molecule in the after-pulse regime. The features of the field-induced coherent ro-vibrational wave packet are analyzed and the polarization signal at teraherz frequencies is found.


The levels of variance associated with measuring the infiltration process and modelling it by means of a regression model are compared to see which approach yields the best results in terms of effort and accuracy. A nested sampling scheme has been used in the three major physiographic units of central Guyana, South America: 'White Sands'; (Haplic and Ferralic Arenosols), 'Brown Sands' (Haplic Ferrasols) and 'Laterite' (Xanthic and Dystric Leptosols). Cluster analysis yields three sample groups that reflect the sharp landscape boundaries between the units. Multiple regression analysis shows that each unit has a different combination of soil properties that explains the variance in final infiltration rate and sorptivity satisfactorily. Nested analysis of variance indicates that clear spatial patterns with distances of variation of several hundred metres exist for final infiltration rate in White Sands and Laterite. Infiltration rate in Brown Sands and sorptivity in all units have large short-distance variabilities and high 'noise' levels. The correlated independent variables behave accordingly. For the majority of the soil properties, sampling at distances of 100 to 200 m results in variance levels of more than 80 per cent of the total variance, which indicates that only a detailed investigation can assess spatial variation in soil hydrological behaviour. The use of simple soil properties to predict infiltration is only possible in a very general sense and with the acceptance of high variance levels.


Abstract : The Agulhas Current System in the South Indian Ocean (Figure 1a) is one of the strongest western boundary current systems in the world due to its large volume transport (order 70 Sv) and high distribution of mean kinetic energy (up to 500 cm2/s2 in the northern Agulhas Current) (Lutjeharms, 2007). Downstream of the southwestward flowing Agulhas Current, the Agulhas Return Current (ARC) begins at the Agulhas retroflection in the southeast Atlantic and flows eastward in a quasistationary meandering pattern between 38o and 40o S (Boebel et al., 2003). Like the Agulhas Current, the ARC exhibits intense dynamics, strong mean currents, high levels of mesoscale variability and abundant eddy events (Lutjeharms and Ansorge, 2001). In addition, the close contact between subpolar and sub-tropical water masses in this region produces a strong frontal zone that is characterized by the presence of a strong temperature front and is manifested by interleaving thermohaline intrusions at submesoscales.


The creative class theory suggests that society is composed of three social classes: the creative class, the service class, the working class, a different view or classification of the workforce. The boundaries separating the creative class from the upper ruling class and the lower working class rest on occupational premises. This paper examines the construction and tools of the creative class, its human composition as a social class, attending discourses, as well as the shifting foundations of the theory. It underlines the important role of education and research to improve economic development at city or regional level. Unlike economy, or politics, and governance and sustainable development, creativity is among the least regulated human activities.


Improved velocity and density models were developed based on an extensive suite of new data. Nearly 70 gas-free (dead) and gas-charged (live) oil samples provided by industry sponsors were measured at pressures up to 55.2 Mpa (8000 Psi) and temperatures up to 100 C. This new data suggest that the velocity model developed by Batzle and Wang, (1992) overestimates the gas-oil ratio (GOR) effect on velocity of hydrocarbon liquids. Two techniques are employed to fit the data: a model based on engineering concepts of ideal liquids, and on purely empirical forms. These results have been generalized and incorporated in a program (FLAG) to calculate and plot fluid properties as functions of composition, pressure, and temperature.


Cells bearing Fc receptors were studied using a rosette technique with chicken erythrocytes coated with rabbit antibodies (EA). By comparison with other markers and by selective depletion of T and B cells it was demonstrated that EA rosettes were formed by about 10% of the monocytes, 7% of the T lymphocytes, and 45% of the B cells. In addition, 26% of EA‐rosette‐forming cells (EA‐RFC) in the peripheral blood carried no other markers than C3 receptors. Marked differences were found in the percentages of EA‐RFC in cell suspensions from various lymphoid organs: peripheral blood, 15.2%; spleen, 26.6%; bone marrow, 30.9%; lymph nodes, 2.8%; thymus, 0.3%; and tonsils, 0.5%. It was concluded that Fc receptors were present on subsets of different lymphocyte sub‐populations; their presence could not be regarded as a specific marker of one of these subpopulations.


The above Earth scientists participated in a workshop on the Terrestrial Carbon Cycle (TCC), which was held in Washington, D.C. on June 3, 2000. The goal of this meeting was to identify significant research questions and strategies concerning the production, cycling and storage of carbon (and other bioactive elements) at the Earth's surface, with an emphasis on terrestrial settings. The TCC Workshop was organized by Enriqueta Barrera, Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Program on Geology and Paleontology. It also was attended by Herman Zimmerman, Director of the (NSF) Division of Earth Sciences; Donald L. Rice, Director of the NSF Program on Chemical Oceanography; and Lisa Dilling from the Office of Global Programs of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This report provides a synthesis of written comments and group discussion associated with the TCC Workshop and is not intended to be a comprehensive record of group deliberations.


The neutron deficient americium isotope ${}^{236}$Am has been produced via the ${}^{235}$U${(}^{6}$Li, 5$n$) reaction. The reaction products were transported to an ion source of the on-line isotope separator (JAERI-ISOL) by a He/KCl aerosol jet transport system, and americium atoms were successfully ionized and mass-separated. Pu$K$ x rays associated with the EC decay of Am nuclei at the mass fraction of 236 were observed, indicating the definite identification of ${}^{236}$Am. The half-life of ${}^{236}$Am is determined to be 4.4$\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}$0.8 min and the production cross section is estimated to be about 70 $\ensuremath{\mu}$b.


Telemedicine offers benefits to many patients, such as a shorter wait time or treatment without travelling to a remote clinic. Teledermatology, dermatology application of telemedicine, is one of the most often applied telemedicine applications worldwide. It has been practised both in real-time through the use of videoconferencing (synchronus), and as store-and-forward systems (asynchronus). Teledermatology has generally demonstrated high levels of concordance in diagnosis and management plans compared with face-to-face consultations. With the rapid evolution of communications technology leading to decreasing equipment costs, teledermatology holds great potential for revolutionizing the delivery of dermatologic services, especially among rural and remote communities. Potential uses include a supporting role for primary care physicians, more accurate triage of dermatology patients, or an 'advice only' service. High patient satisfaction with teledermatology appears to be a recurring theme throughout a number of studies [1-3]. Clinicians have also generally reported positive experiences with teledermatology. Moreover teledermatology has proved to be a convenient mode of education, academic and research activities and a tool of interaction between Dermatologists at a national and international level. Security concerns have been expressed with regards to maintaining privacy and confidentiality of patient data transmitted via the World Wide Web, encryption however of all sensitive medical information minimises risk. Future studies that focus on cost-effectiveness and patient outcomes will help further define the potential of teledermatology as a means of dermatologic healthcare delivery.


Objective To evaluate curative effect of lyophilized recombinant human brain natriuretic peptide(rh BNP) on heart failure caused by acute ST segment elevation myocardial infarction.Methods 92 patients with heart failure caused by STEMI were randomly divided into Control and Treatment Group, 46 patients in each group. Control Group received intravenous injection of nitroglycerin for 48 hours while Treatment Group received intravenous injection of rh BNP for 48 hours based on routine basic treatment. LAD, LVEDD, LVEF and RWMI before treatment, and 1 week and 4 weeks after treatment were observed; NT-pro BNP, 6 minutes walk test and MACE before and after treatment were also observed. Results The two groups had an equivalent clinical curative effect(P0.05); NT-pro BNP of both groups decreased at 72 h and 1 week after medication compared with that before medication, and Treatment Group had a more significant decrease(P0.05); LAD, LVEDD and RWMI level decreased and LVEF level increased in 1st and 4th week after medication compared with that before medication. LAD, LVEDD and LVEF improvement was more significant in Treatment Group(P0.05); after 4 weeks of medication, RWMI level of Treatment Group was lower than that of Control Group(P0.05); the occurrence of MACE in Treatment Group was lower than that in Control Group within 6 months of observation(21.74% vs 38.64%, P0.05). Conclusion rh BNP can relieve symptoms and improve cardiac function of the patients with heart failure caused by STEMI.


To solve the problem regarding the impact angle of the missile, this paper proposes a novel guidance law, which can control the missile to hit the target at the desired angle. The key of the guidance law is selecting a moving point on the collision line as the virtual target, and the tactical requirements can be fulfilled by the missile directly pursuing the virtual target. The Lyapunov stable theory is used to prove the convergence of the proposed guidance law. The guidance command is generated by a PID controller to make the missile towards the virtual target. The proposed guidance law makes the lateral acceleration of the missile converge to zero, which leads the angle of attack to zero, and it theoretically guarantees the flight path angle equals the attitude angle. Numerical simulations demonstrate this impact angle control guidance law is very accurate and robust. Regardless of whether the initial heading error is large or small, the missile which employs the proposed guidance law can always hit the target from the preset direction and the guidance process is smooth.


In Chinese botanical literature,the term "tropical monsoon forest" is explained and used inconsistently and is of-ten confused with tropical rain forest.My objective is to clarify differences between the two forests.Schimper defined tropical monsoon forest as being more or less leafless during the dry season and considered it a transi-tional vegetation type between tropical rain forest and savanna in terms of physiognomy and distribution.I com-pared tropical monsoon forest and rain forest in physiognomy,floristic composition and geographical elements to describe and characterize the monsoon forest in Yunnan,China.The tropical monsoon forest in Yunnan occurs mainly on river banks and in basins of several large rivers below 1 000 m altitude.The forest has one or two tree layers,and trees of at least the top layer are deciduous in the dry season.In life forms,the forest is rich in hemicryptophytes and relatively rich in geophytes and therophytes,but less rich in woody lianas and almost lacks megaphanerophytes and chamaephytes compared to tropical rain forest.In leaf size and form,the forest has more microphyllous leaves and compound leaves (24% and 44% of tree species,respectively) than tropical rain forest.In terms of floristic elements,the forest has a greater percentage of species of pantropic distribution (30% of the genera) and tropical Asia and tropical Africa disjunct distribution than tropical rain forest.Thus,the tropical mon-soon forest in Yunnan has more diverse geographical elements in its flora and a complicated evolution history.


The government of India moved from a defined benefit pension to a defined contribution based pension system. Apart from offering wide gamut of investment options to employees, this scheme also helps government of India to reduce its pension liabilities.  Government defined contribution based pension system that was launched as on 01.01.2004. Like most other developing countries, India does not have a universal social security system to protect the elderly against economic deprivation.


Purpose: To compare the effectiveness of three root canal irrigants with the influence of activation technique on the depth of sealer penetration into dentinal tubules using a confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM). Materials and Methods: Sixty recently extracted human mandibular premolars with single straight canals (n = 60) were prepared with ProTaper Next NiTi rotary files up to X3. The samples were divided into three groups according to the final irrigation solution (n = 20), 5.25% sodium hypochlorite, 2% chlorhexidine digluconate, 17% ethylene-diamine-tetraacetic acid (EDTA). Each group was further subdivided into two groups according to the ultrasonic activation protocol and then obturated with a single gutta-percha size X3 and labeled sealer mixed with 0.01% fluorescent rhodamine B after the final irrigation protocol. Transverse sections were obtained at 2, 5, and 8 mm from the apex and observed under CLSM. It recorded the maximum penetration depth of both irrigant and sealer. Data were analyzed using a three-way analysis of variance and Tukey test (P = 0.05). Results: 17% EDTA exhibited significantly higher penetration depth with ultrasonic activation than the other groups and also determined (P < 0.011) statistically significant differences at root canal third (coronal, middle, apical; P < 0.011). Conclusions: The dentinal tubule penetration was significantly affected by selecting a root canal irrigant, an ultrasonic activation protocol, and root canal third. 17% EDTA with ultrasonic activation seemed beneficial in dentinal tubule penetration. Hence, the depth of sealer penetration might influence the outcome or success rate of endodontic therapy.


This paper presents simple voltage-mode quadrature sinusoidal oscillator. The proposed oscillator consists of one differential voltage current conveyor Tran conductance amplifier (DVCCTA), one electronic resistor (constructing from two NMOS transistors), and two grounded capacitors. The frequency of oscillation (FO) and condition of oscillation (CO) can be electronically tuned via external bias current which is easily controlled by microcontroller. The PSPICE simulation results using parameters of 0.25us TSMC CMOS technology are included and found that with 10MHz frequency of oscillation, the total harmonic distortions (THDs) for VO1 and VO2 are about 0.643% and 0.489%, respectively. The power consumption is nearly 3.1 mW at ±1.25V power supply voltages. With simple construction, the proposed oscillator is convenient to develop in monolithic chip.


Both endogenous and exogenous GDF-9 led to a promotion in prostate cancer cell adhesion, invasion, motility, and growth. GDF-9 mediated growth promotion was shown to correlate with an increase in cell cycle progression via up-regulation of Cyclin D1, and protection from apoptosis in a Smad-independent manner. Furthermore, GDF-9 associated cell adhesion, motility, and invasion was shown to involve FAK, paxillin, and Rho-ROCK signalling, as well as EMT and its associated inducers. These effects promote the aggressiveness of PC-3 cells, aiding in their progression and possibly metastasis. These results suggest that GDF-9 is involved in prostate cancer progression by activation of a complex network of signalling pathways and molecules. This provides further proof of the importance of BMP signalling, and suggests that perhaps novel treatments for prostate cancer based on BMPs should be investigated. In addition, it sheds some light on the use of BMPs as prognostic indicators of disease, aiding in diagnosis, and perhaps future forms of treatment


Chagas disease is a life-threatening illness caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi . One of the characteristics of chronic chagasic infection is the parasitic persistence in cardiac and smooth muscle tissues.  For this reason etiologic treatment of Chagas disease in all phases of infection is highly recommended. Despite the high number of trypanocidal drugs that have been discovered in the last years, only two compounds, Benznidazole and Nifurtimox remain as the unique drugs approved for Chagas treatment. Far from ideal, these drugs display low sensitivity and specificity resulting in limited applications, mainly in the onset of the acute phase. Thus there is an urgent need to validate new anti- T. cruzi drugs that can be applied even in the cases of chronic patients, those who today have no safe and effective treatment available. This paper reviews the most important compounds that have been tested in clinical trials and the results obtained to date.


To compare the effects of modified atmosphere packaging system and some natural preservatives on freshness keepingquality of chilled fresh pork, four groups of fresh ham butt pork were treated with following several ways respectively: PEpackaging, PE packaging with preservatives, PE/PA modified atmosphere packaging, PE/PA modified atmosphere packagingwith preservatives; and then stored at 0~4℃. The group of PE packaging was controls. During refrigeration storage, every threedays, sensory evaluation was performed, TVB-N values and total bacterial accounts were determined, and protein sediment testwas carried out. Results indicated that the preservatives and the PE/PA modified atmosphere packaging both significantlyprolonged storage life of the chilled fresh pork and their storage time are 9d and 12d, respectively; the PE/PA modified atmospherepackaging with preservatives did better than the others and can extend the storage life to over 15d; and PE/PA modified atmospherepackaging can make the chilled fresh pork to maintain redness stably.


In a room, whether it is an open or closed room, there are various kinds of circumstances or conditions. The condition affects the value contained relativity weather environment around where we are. As well as the normal condition of the human body temperature that ranges between 36.5°C upto 37.5°C, so it should always be monitored and maintained the normal condition, if not then there is an undesirable state such as fever. Normal human body temperature conditions can be determined by using a measuring instrument such as a thermometer. In this paper designed a series of applications used to monitoring the amount of temperature and humidity of an opened and closed rooms. Results from research using SHT11 sensor shows the magnitude of temperature and humidity performed in close room for 12 hours with an average yield of ambient temperature and humidity chamber are -8.79°C and 84.1%.


The invention relates generally to optical agents, including Type 1 phototherapeutic agents, for biomedical applications, such as phototherapy. Provided are fused ring azo and diaza compounds comprising a plurality of fused rings including a first ring having an intra-ring azo or intra-ring diaza group capable of activation upon exposure to electromagnetic radiation in visible and/or infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Optical agents of the invention enable a versatile phototherapy platform for treatment of a range of pathological conditions, including the treatment of cancers, stenosis and inflammation. The invention further provides preparations and formulations comprising the fused ring azo and diaza compounds and methods of making and using the fused ring azo and diaza compounds as optical agents in in vivo or ex vivo biomedical procedures.


Martin Joseph Ponce successfully assembles a diasporic constellation of anglophone Philippine texts and, through "queer reading," tracks its literary history beyond the telos of the nation. Beyond the Nation: Diasporic Filipino Literature and Queer Reading queers the methodological and normative gestalt that the "nation" produces in the ossified literary histories of postcolonial and US minority ethnic canons. Almost ironically it is the recuperation of English that offers an indispensable perspective on what Ponce deems the theoretical crossroads at which Filipino cultural studies is situated. Ponce identifies this crossroads as, on the one hand, the desire to forge a legible Filipino American identity and, on the other, the construction of a "Filipino American critique" that deconstructs identity in favor of interrogating the multiple, historically contingent meanings of "Filipina/o". Both projects succumb to a politics of representation "whose logic abides by the script of U.S. identity politics" (15), and hence nationalism seems destined to frame all our engagements with Filipino studies. Thus the nation emerges as the primordial assumption and "fatal attachment" dictating the terms of Filipino cultural studies (11). Beyond the Nation seeks to question that assumption through a queer diasporic reading practice that does not just read texts and authors that consciously frame themselves outside the Philippine or US nationstates but reads texts constituting a "dispersed and coreless" tradition of Philippine anglophone writing that reveals the inherent queerness of the national project itself. Ponce's painstaking attention to the relationship between English


A vehicle bearing fault diagnosis model has been studied,and then a new method of fault diagnosis based on wavelet packet and SOM neural network has been proposed in the paper.This method was used in the fault diagnosis of vehicle rolling bearing.The test results show that this method not only can diagnose the kind of bearing faults,but also can provide theoretical basis for rotary machine fault diagnosis and fault dynamic monitoring,It has important practical value.


Fortnightly visits were made to an overwintering population of 'Danaus plexippus' (L.) at a site near Spencer, New South Wales from April to September 1979, to monitor breeding activity and adult population dynamics. A large breeding population with an estimated maximum of 348 adults in mid June produced abundant ova and larvae throughout the winter. During July and August the adult population stabilised at about 81-91 individuals before declining rapidly during September. A number of multiple recaptures of specimens during the winter suggested a high fidelity to the breeding site by the adult population, with minimal immigration or emigration. This paper represents the first study made on a winter breeding population of 'D. plexippus' in the Sydney area.


Weight regain or inadequate weight loss following Roux‐en‐Y gastric bypass poses a significant clinical challenge. Our objective was to evaluate various revisional techniques for addressing weight regain and insufficient weight loss after Roux‐en‐Y gastric bypass through a systematic review and meta‐analysis. We performed a literature search (in PubMed and Embase) on revisional interventions in collaboration with a medical information specialist. Measured outcomes included body mass index at intervention, total weight loss during follow‐up, and complications. Random effects models were used to determine pooled effect size and corresponding 95% confidence intervals. Thirty‐nine studies were included: four studies reported on argon plasma coagulation, four studies on transoral outlet reduction, nine studies on transoral outlet reduction + argon plasma coagulation, four studies on pouch/gastrojejunal anastomosis revision, five on laparoscopic gastric banding, two studies on laparoscopic gastric banding + pouch resizing, 10 on distalization‐RYGB, and one on duodenal switch. All techniques resulted in short‐term clinically relevant weight loss. Endoscopic procedures had a short follow‐up and resulted in modest and temporary weight loss. Surgical revision techniques were successful for weight loss in longer term follow‐up, at the expense of high complication rates.


The study reported in this paper is based on two assumptions about the importance of the consistency of a geographical database. Firstly, consistency is an important factor concerning the quality of data. Secondly, consistency of a geographical object requires that the description of the context of the object is a part of the object definition. In object-oriented databases, it is possible to model geographical entities as complex object types whose semantics are captured through constraints on objects and object relationships.This paper examines the modelling of geographical objects and spatial relationships between them. A geometrical object model for geographical entities is presented which consists of 1) the structural definition of the objects, and 2) the enforcement of the implicit structural constraints as object methods. A modelling technique for specifying explicit constraints on spatial relationships between objects is also presented.


In the 50-ies of the XX century A.A. Bogomolets drew the attention on the importance of managing the state of the body's internal environment. The urgent need to develop a method for endoecological rehabilitation (ERL) arose after the Chernobyl disaster to eliminate its consequences. In 1999, the authors of the ERL method in spa, among others V.S. Sevryukova, were awarded a government prize for creating the basics and applying methods of general clinical and preventive lymphology. The ERL is an effective medical and health improving technology based on methods of stimulating fluid transport in organs and tissues of the body, purification of the cell space and lymphastimulation. Adverse environmental factors, stress, metabolic disorders, hypodynamia, overeating, bad habits, age-related accumulation
of slags in the body, sleep disorders, somatic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract or
endocrine system contribute to the special importance of purifying the body for the moment. There is a large endoecological department in the medical and diagnostic center of the Sanatorium-resort complex "DiLUCH", where due to the current trends the ERL became the basis of the DETOX program. The DETOX program includes seven-day procedures, such as: hydro-massage and dry carbonic baths, a swimming pool, a gym, pneumocompression of the limbs, an intravenous laser irradiation of blood; and every second day: liver flush, hydrocolonotherapy. According to the indications a drug infusion therapy or plasmapheresis, a course of skin cleansing in a SPA-salon are prescribed. An evaluation of the effectiveness of treatment in 42 patients before and after the DETOX program was carried out.
Improvement of overall health was noted in 100%, half of patients showed a decrease in body weight from 4 to 8% of the original. Stimulation of lymph drainage led to a decrease in the endotoxicosis manifestations, improvement of the excretory function of the kidneys and liver (triglycerides decreased from 2.5 ± 0.1 mmol / l to 1.7 ± 0.7 mmol / l, p <0.05). DETOX activates biological resources, stimulates adaptation mechanisms, which leads to an increase in the rehabilitation capabilities of the patient. The effectiveness of the system of consecutive detoxification measures of sanatorium treatment used in DETOX, aimed at all levels of detoxification, is proved, providing an integrated approach to the treatment of humans as a
single biological system.