Core-binding factors (CBFs) are heterodimeric transcriptional factors consisting of a DNA-binding Runx1 (CBFα) subunit and a CBFβ subunit. Cbfβ allosterically increases the affinity of Runx1 for DNA ~2.5 fold. CBF subunits are encoded by four genes in mammals. RUNX1 (AML1), RUNX2, and RUNX3 encode for CBFα subunits, and CBFB encodes the CBFβ subunit. Homozygous disruption of either the Runx1 or the Cbfb genes in mice results in essentially identical phenotypes: midgestation embryonic lethality accompanied by extensive hemorrhaging and a profound block at the fetal liver stage of hematopoiesis. In humans, chromosomal rearrangements that disrupt the Runx1 and CBFB genes are associated with a significant percentage of leukemias. CBFβ is disrupted in acute myeloid leukemia by inv(16)(p13;q22), t(16;16), and del(16)(q22). These translocations result in the production of novel fusion proteins containing most of the CBFβ protein fused to the C-terminal coiled-coil domain from smooth muscle myosin heavy chain (SMMHC) encoded by the MYH11 gene. A knock-in of the CBFB-MYH11 allele in mice resulted in embryonic lethality with a profound block in hematopoietic development, the same phenotype observed for the Runx1 and Cbfb knockouts. We recently demonstrated that the CBFβ-SMMHC fusion protein binds to the DNA binding Runt domain from Runx1 with both higher affinity and altered stoichiometry relative to native CBFβ. We also provided NMR-based evidence for multiple sites of contact between Runx1 and CBFβ-SMMHC, proving the role of the SMMHC sequence in creating this altered affinity. Here we demonstrate that CBFβ-SMMHC inhibits DNA binding of the Runx1 Runt domain by ~6-fold for the CD4 dual-site silencer element. Cross-saturation NMR mapping on the Runt domain in complex with CBFβ-SMMHC reveals that the SMMHC portion of the oncoprotein makes contacts with β-strands 1 and 2 in the Runt domain. We propose that the inhibition of DNA-binding and increased affinity combine to mediate the dysregulation of Runx-regulated genes caused by CBFβ-SMMHC. These results also clearly suggest that targeting of the CBFβ-SMMHC protein for drug development may well be a viable approach for the treatment of the associated leukemia.


New pillared clay-based adsorbents have been prepared by incorporating a nonionic surfactant of general formula C12–14H25–29O(CH2CH2O)5H (commercial name, Tergitol 15S-5), during the synthesis of the aluminum hydroxide pillaring reagent. Different loadings of surfactant have been examined. The presence of the surfactant enhanced the adsorption capacity of the clay toward 3-monochlorophenol from aqueous solution. On the basis of adsorption results for a series of clays with increasing surfactant loadings, the best adsorbent was obtained at a surfactant loading of 255 mg/g of clay. At this loading, the surfactant occupies the micropores, as well as the mesopores and the external surfaces of the pillared clay. Analysis of the adsorption isotherms for 3-monochlorophenol, 3,5-dichlorophenol, 3,4,5-trichlorophenol and pentachlorophenol at different pH shows that the most energetic adsorption sites are the surfactant-occupied micropores between pillars. Additional binding of chlorinated phenols occurs at surfactant sites on external surfaces and mesopores. Upon calcination at 500°C, the clay is converted to a conventional alumina-pillared clay with a basal spacing near 16 Å. This calcined product can be reused as an adsorbent for chlorinated phenols by readsorbing fresh surfactant. The recycled adsorbent exhibits performance properties comparable to the original adsorbent. These results demonstrate the feasibility of utilizing a surfactant-modified pillared clay as a recyclable adsorbent and combustion catalyst for environmental pollutants.


In competitive settings that entail several populations, individuals often engage in intra- and interpopulation interactions that determine their fitness and evolutionary success. With this simple motivation, we here study a multipopulation model where individuals engage in group interactions within their own population and in pairwise interactions with individuals from different populations. We use the evolutionary public goods game and the prisoner's dilemma game to describe these group and pairwise interactions, respectively. We also take into account asymmetry in the extent to which group and pairwise interactions determine the fitness of individuals. We find that interactions across multiple populations reveal new mechanisms through which the evolution of cooperation can be promoted, but this depends on the level of interaction asymmetry. If inter- and intrapopulation interactions are symmetric, the sole presence of multiple populations promotes the evolution of cooperation. Asymmetry in the interactions can further promote cooperation at the expense of the coexistence of the competing strategies. An in-depth analysis of the spatiotemporal dynamics reveals loop-dominated structures and pattern formation that can explain the various evolutionary outcomes. Thus, complex evolutionary interactions in multiple populations reveal an intricate interplay between cooperation and coexistence, and they also open up the path toward further explorations of multipopulation games and biodiversity.


Health policy is increasingly advocating for involvement of service users and family members in service development. In the present study, we evaluated the impact of a 4-day education programme in co-facilitation skills on clinician and peer (service users and family members) knowledge, confidence, and subsequent experience as co-facilitators. The programme was designed to train peers and clinicians as co-facilitators on a clinician and peer-led information programme for people experiencing mental health problems. The study employed a mixed-methods design involving a pre-post survey with 128 participants, and follow-up qualitative interviews with a sample of 17 participants. To examine changes in levels of knowledge and confidence in facilitating from time 1 (T1) to time 2 (T2), paired sample t-tests were conducted, and thematic analysis was conducted on the interviews. The programme had a statistically-significant positive impact on participants' knowledge, confidence, and skills, with no significant difference between the facilitator groups (i.e. service user, family member, and clinician) in terms of their improvement at the end of the training, indicating that all groups benefited equally from the training. A majority of participants reported a high level of preparedness as co-facilitators and an open and respectful approach towards each other's expertise, and many continued to gain skills and develop their confidence as they co-facilitated the 8-week EOLAS programme ('eolas' is the Irish word for knowledge). The findings also provide evidence of the acceptability and feasibility of the programme, and appears to be the first detailed study reported on a programme of this nature.


Abstract This article explores L. T. Hobhouse's transformation of liberal internationalism at the beginning of the twentieth century. It argues that Hobhouse's thought contributes to understanding dilemmas within the frame of liberal internationalism and the emergence of international functionalism. Using a philosophical approach, Hobhouse tackled international concerns throughout his life, alongside J. A. Hobson, Gilbert Murray, James Bryce, H. N. Brailsford, Norman Angell, and G. L. Dickinson. He restated a belief in human progress and association in ever-greater circles. But he noted, contra former hopes, that nationalism furthered democracy only briefly, and that liberal democracy remained incapable of bringing about effective international cooperation and moral universalism. In order to resolve this impasse, Hobhouse suggested substituting political with economic democracy on an international scale. The aim was to create an international functional organisation consisting of vocational and civic associations and states, which would allow individuals to entertain multiple, overlapping, and transnational loyalties. He thus anticipated proposals for global reform that became increasingly popular after the end of World War II. However, in spite of his concern with domestic social equality and his borrowing from international socialism, Hobhouse failed to qualify his internationalism with an analogous interest in equality.


The study of planetary dynamics and geodesy is a difficult subject. This is so, not simply because of the complexity of the interactions between several scientific disciplines, including geophysics, geology, geochemistry, seismology, celestial mechanics, radar astronomy, and meteoritics, but perhaps more fundamentally, because of a lack of data.

Although it is true that the space age has brought about important new observational techniques, which are responsible in large part for the rapid developments in planetary science over the past decade, and although we should expect to see significant progress in the field over the next few years, it is still a sad fact that data will be severely limited for an indefinite period of time in the future. The basic problem is that we can observe and study, at present, only one planetary system in the universe. This system, our solar system, contains only four major planets, five terrestrial planets, where we are inclined to include the moon but exclude Pluto, and a fairly hmited collection of debris, presumably left over from some inadequately understood formation process. Thus it is impossible to base the study of planets on a significant statistical sample.


The article examines an effectiveness of government monetary and fiscal policy for Uzbekistan by constricting IS-curve for goods market and LM-curve for money market, simultaneously. For the both markets equilibrium interest rate is also determined. The results show that the variables are co integrated, that the variables have long-run or short-run equilibrium relationship between them. According to the empirical results, the long-run equilibrium interest rate for covered period was 22.0% for Uzbekistan, for the current period we recommend the equilibrium interest rate around 15%.


Background: Anorexia nervosa (AN) is the psychiatric disorder with the highest mortality rate, with a standard mortality ratio of 5.86. Despite the large use of psychotropic drugs in the clinical setting, Food and Drug Administration has not approved any psychoactive treatment for AN. Aims: The aim of this study was to perform an updated systematic review and meta-analysis of published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating psychopharmacological treatment in acute-phase AN. Methods: The present paper follows the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) statement. An extensive literature search was performed. All RCTs enrolling patients with acute-phase AN, comparing at least one psychotropic drug with another drug, placebo, treatment-as-usual or no treatment were included. The main outcome was the effect of psychoactive drugs on body mass index (BMI); data on psychopathological outcomes were also collected when available. Results: A total of 19 RCTs met all specified criteria. Of these, 11 were excluded from quantitative analyses. Of the eight studies included in the meta-analyses, five reported data on BMI, showing no significant difference between olanzapine and placebo for weight recovery. No significant result was found for AN psychopathology, depressive and anxious symptoms for any of the molecules studied. Conclusions: RCTs published in this field display methodological biases, low sample sizes and short follow-up periods. Further research efforts are needed in this field as no evidence has been demonstrated for the use of any psychotropic drug in acute-phase AN neither for weight recovery, nor for comorbid psychiatric symptoms.


This paper presents new findings on global inequality dynamics from the World Wealth and Income Database (WID.world), with particular emphasis on the contrast between the trends observed in the United States, China, France, and the United Kingdom. We observe rising top income and wealth shares in nearly all countries in recent decades. But the magnitude of the increase varies substantially, thereby suggesting that different country-specific policies and institutions matter considerably. Long-run wealth inequality dynamics appear to be highly unstable. We stress the need for more democratic transparency on income and wealth dynamics and better access to administrative and financial data.


Although studies have been carried out to assess inhalable dust exposure levels in the rubber manufacturing industry, the levels of exposure in factories in Eastern Europe are less well documented. Routine stationary sampling for compliance testing of inhalable aerosols has however been conducted in a large factory producing tires and tubes in Poland between 1981 and 1996 (N=6,152). This study was conducted to assess historical inhalable aerosol levels in different departments in this rubber plant and to compare the results with estimates based on European data from the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands and Germany, and also Poland (EXASRUB project). Geometric mean (GM) concentrations in the factory ranged from 2.41 mg/m3 to 5.82 mg/m3 and were to a large extent associated to the actual production capacity of the plant and flow of the production process. Whereas 3-4 fold differences between departments existed prior to about 1985, stronger reduction of exposure in the raw materials and finishing departments (-12%/year) compared to other departments (range -5%/yr to -3%/yr), resulted in comparable levels in the 1990s. However, in the pre-treating departments, average concentrations were still about a factor 2-3 higher than in other departments, which could presumably be attributed to the use of anti-tacking agents. GM concentrations have been modelled using (1) stationary measurements collected in the Polish factory only, or (2) all European data collected in the EXASRUB project. Comparison of the estimates showed that these were fairly similar for both datasets. This analysis showed that the levels of inhalable aerosols in the Polish rubber industry have been at least a factor three to four higher than in Western European countries in the 1980s and 1990s, depending on the department, but that these differences were getting smaller in the 1990s. Furthermore, the estimates based on all European data from EXASRUB provides valid estimates compared to factory-specific data.


In this study, Talc and Chrysotile were obtained from Sivas, Turkey and used as adsorbents for the investigation of the adsorption of the basic dye (Astrazon Blue FGRL) from aqueous solutions at various dye concentrations (100–400 mg/L), initial pH (3-7), adsorbent doses (1-4 g/L), contact time (2.5-1400 min) and temperatures (313–333 K). The result showed that the adsorption capacity of the dye increased with increasing initial dye concentration, pH, adsorbent dose and temperature. In addition, three kinetic models; the pseudo first order, pseudo second order and intraparticle diffusion, were used to predict the adsorption rate constants. The results showed that the highest correlation coefficients (R 2 >0.9960) were obtained for pseudo second order kinetics. When the natural clays were compared, it was observed that, Talc showed higher removal efficiencies and adsorption capacity than Chrysotile. The highest adsorption capacity was obtained as 284 mg/g and 169 mg/g for Talc and Chrysotile at pH 7, 298 oK, 300 mg/L of initial dye concentration and 1020 min of agitation time, respectively. The results showed that Talc and Chrysotile have important potentials for removal of basic dyes which are cheap and easy available.


AIM
The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of three different formulations of sodium hypochlorite on the microhardness of root canal dentin in cervical and apical segments.

METHODS
Twenty-four extracted human teeth had their roots sectioned along their long axes in a buccolingual direction. One half of each root was selected, and transversely sectioned resulting in two segments, cervical and apical, with similar lengths. The specimens were divided into three groups (n = 16), according to the sodium hypochlorite formulation used: (a) group 1, 2.5% sodium hypochlorite; (b) group 2, Chlor-XTRA; and (c) group 3, 5.5% sodium hypochlorite gel. These groups were subdivided in two subgroups (n = 8): cervical and apical root segments. Before testing the substances, dentin microhardness was measured on each section, 100 μm from the root canal with a Knoop tester. After 15 min of application, a new measurement was performed on each segment. Data were collected and registered for statistical treatment.

RESULTS
In both segments, the substances reduced dentin microhardness. No differences were observed between the groups, independent of the analyzed segment (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
All substances reduced dentin microhardness. Chlor-XTRA and 5.5% sodium hypochlorite gel promoted a reduction similar to the 2.5% sodium hypochlorite solution.


Deficient lacrimal secretion as a consequence of systemic drug therapy has been reported after the use of phenothiazines, antihistaminics, psychotropic drugs, anesthetics, diuretics, beta-blocking agents, ganglion blockers etc. But topical application of beta-blocking eye drops may also decrease tear production. The study reported here proves that tear production is also decreased if one drop of "Mydriaticum Roche" eye drops is applied. This effect was observed especially in patients who had "normal basic tear production" prior to treatment; however, "Mydriaticum Roche" did not cause a further decrease in tear production during Schirmer's test when the basic tear secretion level was already very low. Therefore, in order to avoid "false positive" results Schirmer's test should always be performed before instillation of atropine-active eye drops such as "Mydriaticum Roche".


Among its many fine offerings, this issue includes two articles that explore nineteenth-century Catholicism and its ongoing negotiation with American society from two vastly different perspectives. In our lead piece, Thomas Stefaniuk (Florida Gulf Coast University) examines debates over Americanization within the German-American community through the career of Fr. Joseph Jessing, an influential newspaper publisher and founder of the Pontifical College Josephinum. Later in the issue, Jamie Starling (University of Texas-Pan American) explores the role of Catholic clergy in maintaining the "structures of peace" in the US-Mexico borderlands at a time when national boundaries were redrawn as a result of the Mexican-American war. Their work is joined by an engaging article by Lance Richey (University of Saint Francis) that calls attention to the significance of one of Dorothy Day's lesser known works, House of Hospitality, to understanding her ongoing spiritual formation. Though lacking the theological sophistication of her later writings, he argues that it provides a "backdrop against which the distinctive spirituality of her mature works is revealed even more fully." In our cover essay, Lou Baldwin, author and veteran reporter for Philadelphia's The Catholic Standard and Times, recounts the story of life at St. Vincent's Home (1920-1952), an orphanage located in the Philadelphia suburb of Drexel Hill. The memories of its former residents capture both the heartbreak and joy experienced by those who found themselves in such institutional care. Many of our local readers will recognize the building that graces our cover by its later incarnation, as home to Archbishop Prendergast High School. Finally, with this issue, we are honored to welcome five new members to our Committee on Publication: Angelyn Dries, OSF (Saint Louis University); Mary L. Gautier (Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate); Paul Lakeland (Fairfield University); Kristy NabhanWarren (University of Iowa); and Angela Alaimo O'Donnell (Fordham University). All of them have been long-standing supporters of American Catholic Studies and together bring a range of disciplinary perspectives to the committee. We're grateful for their willingness to serve in this capacity and look forward to benefitting from their counsel.


In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, governments worldwide introduced vaccine mandates and 'passports', creating tension between individual liberties and public health. This article provides an overview of the history of vaccine mandates in Australia and the United Kingdom, before examining the COVID-19 period, when Australian states introduced various conditional mandates while the United Kingdom largely avoided doing so. This article considers several medico-legal and human rights arguments for and against the imposition of conditional mandates. Although this article concludes that vaccine coercion is both legally and morally justified, it acknowledges the right to refuse medical treatment, freedom of thought, conscience, and opinion, and the right to bodily integrity as important precepts deserving serious consideration. In many cases, alternatives to coercion are preferable. This article has ongoing relevance, both for COVID-19 (as new variants and treatments emerge) and beyond, including for the use of coercion in childhood vaccination and future pandemics.


Recent research on processor microarchitecture suggests using instruction criticality as a metric to guide hardware control policies. Fields et al. [3, 4] have proposed a directed acyclic graph (DAG) model for characterizing program microexecutions on uniprocessors. Under such a model, critical path analysis can be applied and instructions' slack values can be used to quantify instruction criticality. In this paper, we extend the uniprocessor DAG model to characterize parallel program executions on shared memory multiprocessor systems. We describe how critical path analysis can be applied, at a fine grain, in a multiprocessor system running both finite and continuous workloads. We provide detailed evaluations for various aspects of multiprocessor executions under the DAG model. To enable efficient offline critical path analysis, we propose a novel graph reduction technique that reduces a DAG to an equivalent but significantly smaller DAG.


Octocrylene is an organic sunscreen whose main action is to absorb UVB radiation and short UVA wavelengths; it is used in various cosmetic products in order to provide an adequate sun-protection factor or to protect the cosmetic formulations themselves from UV radiation. This filter is believed to be a possible endocrine disruptor and is also questioned due to its allergic and/or photoallergic potential. However, it continues to be widely used, and it has been found in various environments, not least those of swimming pools, where it is evidently released by consumers, to the point that it is now considered an emerging micropollutant. The present investigation presents the possible chemical fate of octocrylene in the typical chlorination conditions of wastewater or swimming pools. A total of 11 disinfection byproducts were identified, and 6 were identified for the first time, and separated by HPLC. These products were identified through careful mass spectrometry studies and 1D and 2D NMR experiments. A formation mechanism has been proposed that justifies the chemical structures of all of the compounds identified. The ecotoxicological assessment of octocrylene and their products was carried out by employing Phaeodactylum tricornutum, Brachionus plicatilis and Aliivibrio fischeri as bioindicators. The ecotoxicity results reveal that toxic byproducts might be generated during the oxidation process, increasing the potential risk to the marine environment.


The superconducting tunnel junction (STJ) is one of the most promising devices to use as a fast detector for heavy ions. The energy deposited due to the passage of a heavy ion through an STJ forms a region called a hot spot, where the superconductivity of the region is broken. As a result, a reduction of the critical current (I/sub c/) in the STJ occurs. If the bias current exceeds this reduced I/sub c/, the output voltage from the STJ switches from 0 V to its gap voltage, which is recognizable as a signal due to the heavy ion passage. Nb-based STJs were fabricated for this heavy ion detector and an experiment was performed at the RIKEN Ring Cyclotron Facility to investigate the response to heavy ions. Instantaneous switching to the voltage state of the STJ in response to the decrease in I/sub c/ induced by a heavy ion beam was successfully observed by introducing /sup 40/Ar particles with a kinetic energy of 95 MeV/nucleon into the STJ.


In the latest phase of globalization, transnational corporations based in the U.S. have worked closely with U.S. foreign policymakers to secure favorable foreign direct investment provisions within U.S. domestic legislation and within U.S. trade agreements. These interactions between transnational firms and the U.S. state have provided many of the preconditions for an expansion of foreign direct investment connected to capital liberalization and the growth of global supply chains from the 1980s to the present. This relationship is best conceptualized as representing a "transnational interest bloc," whose policy objectives are incorporated within investment provisions in US-backed trade and investment agreements.


There are at least two formation scenarios consistent with the first gravitational-wave observations of binary black hole mergers. In field models, black hole binaries are formed from stellar binaries that may undergo common envelope evolution. In dynamic models, black hole binaries are formed through capture events in globular clusters. Both classes of models are subject to significant theoretical uncertainties. Nonetheless, the conventional wisdom holds that the distribution of spin orientations of dynamically merging black holes is nearly isotropic while field-model black holes prefer to spin in alignment with the orbital angular momentum. We present a framework in which observations of black hole mergers can be used to measure ensemble properties of black hole spin such as the typical black hole spin misalignment. We show how to obtain constraints on population hyperparameters using minimal assumptions so that the results are not strongly dependent on the uncertain physics of formation models. These data-driven constraints will facilitate tests of theoretical models and help determine the formation history of binary black holes using information encoded in their observed spins. We demonstrate that the ensemble properties of binary detections can be used to search for and characterize the properties of two distinct populations of black hole mergers.


BACKGROUND
Checkpoint inhibitor (CPI) immunotherapy has revolutionized cancer treatment. However, immune-related adverse events (irAEs) and the risk of infections are not well studied. To assess the infectious risk of CPIs, we evaluated the incidence of infections in lung cancer patients treated with CPIs plus conventional chemotherapy (CC) versus CC alone.

METHODS
We performed a retrospective comparative study of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer who received CPIs combined with CC and those treated with CC alone at our institution during January 2016 to February 2019. We compared clinical characteristics, treatments, and outcomes including infection rate and mortality between the groups.

RESULTS
We identified 123 patients for the CPI group and 147 patients for the control (CC) group. Eighteen patients (15%) in the CPI group and 33 patients (22%) in the control group developed infections (P=0.1). Pneumonia was the most common infection encountered in both groups. Urinary tract infection (UTIs) was higher in CC group (40%) compared to CPI group (9%) (P=0.01). On multivariable analysis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (P=0.024), prior use of corticosteroids (P=0.021), and neutropenia (P<0.001) were independent risk factors for infection and severe infection requiring hospital admission. Chronic kidney disease (P=0.02), prior cancer treatment (P=0.023), and neutropenia (P<0.0001) were identified as independent risk factors for all-cause mortality.

CONCLUSIONS
Lung cancer patients treated with CPIs combined with CC have a comparable risk of infection to those treated with CC alone, although there is a trend towards fewer infections in those given CPIs, particularly when it comes to UTIs.


Foreword: Introduction to the new Series on Minority and Group Rights Table of contents short version Table of contents extended version Notes on contributors Introduction Part I Institutional Focus 'The EU, Double Standards and Minority Protection': A Double Redefinition and Future Prospects' Kristin Henrard 'The Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities and the Law of the European Union' Olivier de Schutter 'Are some States and minorities more equal than others? Double standards and the work of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities' Natalie Sabanadze and Vincent de Graaf 'Reducing the Risk of Differential Standards in Minority Protection : The Holistic Approach of the UN Independent Expert on Minority Issues' Anna Meijnknecht Part II Old v new minorities and minorities within minorities 'The rights of 'new' minorities: scope and restrictions' Asbjorn Eide 'Changing Paradigms in the Traditional Dichotomy of Old and New Minorities' Robberta Medda-Windischer 'Rationalizing the differentiations between 'new' and 'old' minorities? The role of the margin of appreciation doctrine in determining the scope of protection of minority rights' Yutaka Arai-Takahashi 'Do vulnerable groups within ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities need special rights?' Clive Baldwin 'Standards to eliminate compounded discrimination: the case of the intersectionality of 'minorities within minorities' or why universal legal standards must engage with the concept of culture' Tove H Malloy Annexes.


Prompt tuning with large-scale pretrained vision-language models empowers open-vocabulary predictions trained on limited base categories, e.g., object classification and detection. In this paper, we propose compositional prompt tuning with motion cues: an extended prompt tuning paradigm for compositional predictions of video data. In particular, we present Relation Prompt (RePro) for Open-vocabulary Video Visual Relation Detection (Open-VidVRD), where conventional prompt tuning is easily biased to certain subject-object combinations and motion patterns. To this end, RePro addresses the two technical challenges of Open-VidVRD: 1) the prompt tokens should respect the two different semantic roles of subject and object, and 2) the tuning should account for the diverse spatio-temporal motion patterns of the subject-object compositions. Without bells and whistles, our RePro achieves a new state-of-the-art performance on two VidVRD benchmarks of not only the base training object and predicate categories, but also the unseen ones. Extensive ablations also demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed compositional and multi-mode design of prompts. Code is available at https://github.com/Dawn-LX/OpenVoc-VidVRD.


In order to analyze the influence of the personnel flexibility on the flexibility of the production system and optimize the organization and configuration of the production system, this paper puts forward a flexible simulation study of production system personnel based on mixed modeling. Firstly, the flexible evaluation index of production system is constructed from four dimensions: machine utilization ratio, personnel utilization ratio, production and personnel production efficiency. The concrete calculation method is given accordingly. Secondly, the simulation model of discrete event-multibody mixed modeling in production system is established, and the construction principle of the model is given. Thirdly, based on the flexible evaluation index and mixed modeling method, the flexible personnel skills of a motorcycle engine key parts production system are simulated and analyzed, and the comparative analysis of multiple schemes is realized. The simulation results show that multi-energy and personnel cooperation have an important influence on the flexibility of production system. In the medium and large fluctuation production environment, compared with the professional production team, the flexibility of the four dimensions of machine utilization, personnel utilization, production and personnel production efficiency of the multi-energy production team has been significantly improved. The case study also shows that the hybrid modeling simulation model can realize the dynamic configuration and operation evaluation of the flexible personnel elements, and provide a dynamic and quantitative research method for the organizational optimization of the production system.


The search for the optimal choice of treatment time, dose and fractionation regimen is one of the major challenges in radiation therapy. Several aspects of the radiation response of tumours and nor ...


A sensitive method for the determination of six varying polarity pesticides (imidacloprid, acetamiprid, carbendazim, simazine, linuron, and tebufenozide) based on a solid-phase extraction disk with multiwalled nanotubes is proposed.A dispersion of multiwalled nanotubes in a surfactant aqueous solution (Triton X-100) was used for the preparation of the solid-phase extraction disk. The effect of surfactant on the functional groups of multiwalled nanotubes was examined by applying temperature-programmed desorption. It was found that this treatment increased the amount of oxygen groups of treated multiwalled nanotubes comparing with untreated ones. The factors that may influence the adsorption and recovery such as the kind and volume of eluent, volume, flow rate and pH of sample were investigated and optimized. Under the optimized conditions, the maximal enrichment factors for low polar pesticides are ranging from 4000 to 4985 and for more polar are 2250 and 2750. The linear range of calibration curves was 10-500 ng/L with correlation coefficient higher than 0.9960, and the detection limit was 6.2-23.7 ng/L. Finally optimized method was applied for determination trace level of five out of six pesticides in tap and river water samples with good recovery.


Annual bluegrass (AB; Poa annua L.) competition in creeping bentgrass [CB; Agrostis palustris Huds. = A stolonifera var. palustris (Huds.) Farw.] turf under short mowing management is of a primary concern for golf superintendents in the Atlantic region of Canada. The objectives of this study were to (i) characterize relative timing of occurrence of key events in development, and (ii) leaf and internode growth and development of two divergent flowering biotypes of annual bluegrass and two divergent tillering types of creeping bentgrass. Two AB germplasms, early (PAE11) and late (PAL11), and two CB germplasms, UM67-10 (high tillering) and 'Emerald' (low tillering), were examined. Leaf appearance, first tiller appearance, leaf stage (Haun scale), internode elongation, inflorescence appearance, and internode number were monitored throughout the study. Haun scale provided a good baseline for determination of developmental stage, whereas West scale better defined comparative timing for tiller initiation, internode elongation, heading, and flowering. PAE11 produced an inflorescence following the seventh or eighth leaf on the main stem [≈25 d after transplanting (DAT)], with anthesis by 35 DAT. Tiller initiation was earlier for PAL11 and UM67-10 compared with Emerald. Internode elongation was at least 4 d earlier for CB than for AB. Emerald and UM67-10 usually elongated above the third node on the main stem compared with the sixth node for PAL11. At 35 DAT, UM67-10 had reached the greatest leaf stage. PAE11 was highest on the West scale. West scale limitations resulted from lack of reproductive initiation by CB and PAL11. PAL11 had significantly higher root and shoot dry weights, root:shoot ratio, and more adventitious root growth than CB. Earlier internode elongation in CB may have diverted carbohydrates from root and leaf production. Internode lengths were greatest for Emerald, then UM67-10, followed by PAL11. Blade length was least for UM67-10. Sheath length increased with successive leaves. PAL11 had a quicker leaf appearance rate at earlier growth stages than CB. Delayed internode elongation in AB may provide an advantage in establishment from seed in an existing stand.


We investigate the star formation rate and its location in the major merger cluster Abell 2465 at $z$ = 0.245. Optical properties of the cluster are described in Paper I. Measurements of the H$\alpha$ and infrared dust emission of galaxies in the cluster were made with an interference filter centred on the redshifted line at a wavelength of 817 nm and utilized data from the WISE satellite 12 $\mu$m band. Imaging in the Johnson $U$ and $B$ bands was obtained, and along with SDSS $u$ and $r$ was used to study the blue fraction, which appears enhanced, as a further signatures of star formation in the cluster. Star formation rates were calculated using standard calibrations. The total star formation rate normalized by the cluster mass, $\Sigma SFR/M_{cl}$ compared to compilations for other clusters indicate that the components of Abell 2465 lie above the mean $z$ and $M_{cl}$ relations, suggestive that interacting galaxy clusters have enhanced star formation. The projected radial distribution of the star forming galaxies does not follow a NFW profile and is relatively flat indicating that fewer star forming galaxies are in the cluster centre. The morphologies of the H$\alpha$ sources within $R_{200}$ for the cluster as a whole indicate that many are disturbed or merging, suggesting that a combination of merging or harassment is working.


An algorithm is constructed for controlling a non-impact capture of unpredictably moving target by the robotic arm. Capture is performed in a finite time. The solution is obtained without the use of the information on the non-control forces, including the disturbing forces and forces of inertia. The object is achieved in four stages. First, the principal vector of the forces is obtained, which provides movement of the center of mass of the robot body in the mode of persecution on the basis of proportional navigation in the pursuit of the object. Second, the principal moment of the forces about the center of mass of the body is obtained, which provides bringing of the one of the principal central axes of inertia of the moving coordinate system associated with the robot's body, in a position coinciding with the line of sight. Third, an additional driving force is determined, which provides the unstressed bringing of the attachment point of the first link of the arm with a robot body at a distance of "manipulator arm" from the target on the line of sight to provide capture. Fourth, the expression of forces and moments is constructed for the management of the translational and rotational motion of the links of the manipulator relative to each other, allowing bumpless capture of the pursued object. The self-adjusting method is proposed to automatically select the optimal values of the control. It is carried out by the "principle of feedback on the quasi-acceleration" at discrete points in time. This principle was first proposed by I.A. Mukhametzyanov in an article published in the Bulletin of Peoples' Friendship University series "Mathematics. Information Sciences. Physics", No 3, 2013.


Some gases can be formed into hydrate by physical combination with water under appropriate temperature and pressure condition. Besides them, it was found that the pore size of the sediments can affect the formation and dissociation of hydrate. In this study, formation temperatures of carbon dioxide and methane hydrate have been measured using isobaric method to investigate the effects of flow rates of gases on formation condition of hydrate in porous rock samples. The flow rates of gases were controlled using a mass flow controller. To minimize Memory effect, system temperature increased for the dissociation of gas hydrates and re-established the initial saturation. The results show that the formation temperature of hydrate decreases with increasing the injection flow rate of gas. This indicates that the velocity of gas in porous media may act as kinds of inhibitor for the formation of hydrate.


Circadian rhythms of animals are reset by exposure to light as well as dark; however, although the parameters of photic entrainment are well characterized, the phase-shifting actions of dark pulses are poorly understood. Here, we determined the tonic and phasic effects of short (0.25 h), moderate (3 h), and long (6-9 h) duration dark pulses on the wheel-running rhythms of hamsters in constant light. Moderate- and long-duration dark pulses phase dependently reset behavioral rhythms, and the magnitude of these phase shifts increased as a function of the duration of the dark pulse. In contrast, the 0.25-h dark pulses failed to evoke consistent effects at any circadian phase tested. Interestingly, moderate- and long-dark pulses elevated locomotor activity (wheel-running) on the day of treatment. This induced wheel-running was highly correlated with phase shift magnitude when the pulse was given during the subjective day. This, together with the finding that animals pulsed during the subjective day are behaviorally active throughout the pulse, suggests that both locomotor activity and behavioral activation play an important role in the phase-resetting actions of dark pulses. We also found that the robustness of the wheel-running rhythm was weakened, and the amount of wheel-running decreased on the days after exposure to dark pulses; these effects were dependent on pulse duration. In summary, similarly to light, the resetting actions of dark pulses are dependent on both circadian phase and stimulus duration. However, dark pulses appear more complex stimuli, with both photic and nonphotic resetting properties.


A simple method for predicting the traffic load induced settlement of low road embankment on soft subsoil is proposed. The traffic load induced dynamic stress in the subsoil is calculated by multi-layer elastic theory. Then the plastic vertical strain in subsoil is calculated by an empirical equation, in which the constants are related to the physical and mechanical properties of subsoil. The method was applied to analyze a 1.0 km long test section of low road embankment on the soft Ariake clay deposit, Saga prefecture, Japan. The test section had 11 subsections with different construction methods. Four (4) of the subsections were analyzed in this study. It shows that the prediction agreed with the field data reasonably well, and the proposed method is useful for design the road with low embankment on soft subsoil. For the case studied, the depth significantly influenced by traffic load is about 6 m below the base of the embankment. The analyses together with field data indicate that increasing the thickness and stiffness of the subgrade is very effective for reducing the traffic load induced permanent deformation of soft subsoil.


BACKGROUND
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected women are at risk of virologic failure postpartum. We evaluated factors influencing retention in care and viral suppression in postpartum HIV-infected women.

METHODS
We conducted a retrospective cohort analysis (2005-2011) of 695 deliveries involving 561 HIV-infected women in Philadelphia. Multivariable logistic regression evaluated factors, including maternal age, race/ethnicity, substance use, antiretroviral therapy during pregnancy, timing of HIV diagnosis, previous pregnancy with HIV, adequacy of prenatal care, and postpartum HIV care engagement (≥ 1 CD4 count or viral load [VL] test within 90 days of delivery), associated with retention in care (≥ 1 CD4 count or VL test in each 6-month interval of the period with ≥ 60 days between tests) and viral suppression (VL ≤ 200 copies/mL at the last measure in the period) at 1 and 2 years postpartum.

RESULTS
Overall, 38% of women engaged in HIV care within 90 days postpartum; with 39% and 31% retained in care and virally suppressed, respectively, at 1 year postpartum, and 25% and 34% retained in care and virally suppressed, respectively, at 2 years postpartum. In multivariable analyses, women who engaged in HIV care within 90 days of delivery were more likely to be retained (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 11.38; 95% confidence interval [CI], 7.74-16.68) and suppressed (AOR, 2.60 [95% CI, 1.82-3.73]) at 1 year postpartum. This association persisted in the second year postpartum for both retention (AOR, 6.19 [95% CI, 4.04-9.50]) and suppression (AOR, 1.40 [95% CI, 1.01-1.95]).

CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of postpartum HIV-infected women retained in care and maintaining viral suppression is low. Interventions seeking to engage women in care shortly after delivery have the potential to improve clinical outcomes.


This population study includes the majority of all systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients in Iceland (n = 65). The study lists various self-rated pain descriptions both from a 54-item pain questionnaire and from the somatisation section of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS). Results show SLE patients to have significantly more joint and chest pain than does another patient group; to use analgesics more frequently; to have been in hospital more often during the past 10 years and to believe they know the reason for their pain. Also listed are factors that patients have found to increase and decrease SLE pain.


Objectives To analyze the trends in mortality and causes of death among children under 5 years of age in Xuzhou, China between 2016 and 2020, in order to protect children's health and provide a basis for formulating child survival, development, and protection strategies. Methods A population-based epidemiological study was conducted. Data were obtained from the Xuzhou Center for Disease Control Prevention. We input the data into the excel database and analyzed with SPSS20.0. Results There were 1,949 children under 5 years of age died in Xuzhou, The number of deaths from 2016 to 2020 were 573 (29.40%), 577 (29.60%), 371 (19.04%), 334 (17.14%), and 94 (4.82%) respectively, mortality in children showed a downward trend. The number of deaths was relatively high in January (195 cases, 10.01%), February (190 cases, 9.75%), and May (180 cases, 9.24%), while was relatively small in July (147 cases, 7.54%), August (139 cases, 7.13%), and September (118 cases, 6.05%). The leading causes of death (COD) in children under 5 years of age were neonatal suffocation and hypoxia (323 cases, 16.57%). Pizhou (528 cases, 27.09%) showed the highest number of deaths in children under 5 years of age in China, and the Kaifa (25 cases, 1.28%) zone showed the lowest death toll. Conclusions Our research suggested that the current strategies for reducing child mortality should prioritize the actions on neonatal deaths and conduct targeted interventions for the main cause.


There are a number of contexts in transport network design where cost savings arise from providing a dedicated transmission system between two nonadjacent nodes. This occurs when the cost to terminate demands at intermediate cross-connecting and grooming nodes exceeds the alternative of providing a dedicated, perhaps only partly filled, system. Today, dedicated end-to-end "express routes" are usually found where large demands flow between major centers or to/from hubbing sites where traffic can be aggregated to warrant an express system. Smaller demand flows are usually terminated at each flexibility point en route to permit remultiplexing with other demands, thereby keeping the fiber system fill high. We consider a new means to find economic express system opportunities among combinations of the smaller co-routed demands. The hypothesis is that certain collections of demand may warrant express treatment over some common portion of their routes. These demands need not share common end nodes or be aggregated at a hub. Rather, they are discovered among the natural pattern of demand flows as a group of demands that travel together over some sequence of spans on which an express system might be cost-effective. The search problem is to detect the maximally coherent subgroups of demands en route that yield the best economic payback. Test results were obtained in four representative transport network topology and demand matrix models. Assuming a 75% level of system fill in the nonexpress baseline case, opportunities worth up to $45 M in equipment savings, relative to conventional design, were obtained using industry-supplied cost data. The concept of distributed partial-express system design may also be applicable to WDM-based networks to assign OC-n level units of demand to various express or nonexpress wavelengths.


Chronic dermatoses, such as atopic dermatitis, vitiligo, and psoriasis, can affect children. Apart from impacting the pediatric patient's quality of life, these disorders can also have a profound impact on the quality of life of their parents or closest caregivers and other family members. In an effort to better understand the relationship between parental stress and chronic dermatoses in children, we reviewed the available literature, which is scarce. Data indicate that the negative impact that chronic dermasoses in children can have on their parents is often overlooked during dermatologic consultation. Increased parental/caregiver stress can contribute to poor psychological adjustment of the parent to the child, potentially leading to a decreased level of childcare. Financial burden caused by prolonged therapy may further impact the parental care of the child. We as healthcare professionals should address parental and caregiver stress and incorporate appropriate measures to ensure optimal care of children with chronic dermatoses.


In this paper, we assess how social vulnerability to disasters continued into the recovery phase following the April 27, 2011 Tuscaloosa tornado, particularly by examining how social class affected housing availability approximately three years after the storm. Data from multiple sources indicated that apartment complexes that were constructed to replace destroyed or damaged housing are generally demanding higher rents and have fewer units available than the complexes which existed before the storm. Additionally, even as a residential construction boom has occurred in Tuscaloosa following the storm, the new complexes are almost entirely marketed to the college student population, even though none of the multifamily housing complexes destroyed in the storm solely housed college students. These findings support a disaster capitalism model of recovery that has mainly focused on building high-end student housing, resulting in the perpetuation of vulnerability for lower-income, permanent Tuscaloosa residents. We discuss some of the potential consequences of the reconstruction of Tuscaloosa, and propose suggestions to reduce vulnerability in the rebuilding process for cities that have been decimated by natural disasters.


Differential cross sections for electron impact excitation of the , , , and , states of mercury have been measured at the incident energies of 12.2 and 15 eV and over the range of scattering angles from . The cross sections for the 6s6p states at 15 eV are compared with the results of recent relativistic distorted-wave calculations. The integral cross sections for the 6s6p states have also been obtained, and are compared with those used in electron swarm studies of mercury.


Flows in which energy is transported predominantly as Poynting flux are thought to occur in pulsars, gamma-ray bursts, and relativistic jets from compact objects. The fluctuating component of the magnetic field in such a flow can in principle be dissipated by magnetic reconnection and used to accelerate the flow. We investigate how rapidly this transition can take place by implementing into a global MHD model that uses a thermodynamic description of the plasma, explicit, physically motivated prescriptions for the dissipation rate: a lower limit on this rate is given by limiting the maximum drift speed of the current carriers to that of light, an upper limit follows from demanding that the dissipation zone expand only subsonically in the comoving frame, and a further prescription is obtained by assuming that the expansion speed is limited by the growth rate of the relativistic tearing mode. In each case, solutions are presented that give the Lorentz factor of a spherical wind containing a transverse, oscillating magnetic field component as a function of radius. In the case of the Crab Pulsar, we find that the Poynting flux can be dissipated before the wind reaches the inner edge of the Nebula if the pulsar emits electron-positron pairs at a rate ± > 1040 s-1, thus providing a possible solution to the "σ-problem."


Ecological administration is a mode that economic development and environmental resources are in harmony, as well as the relationship between enterprises and society develops sustainablely and harmoniously. This mode integrates the ecological ideas with the whole administration process of pre-inter-post production based on the theory of ecological economics, and establishes the chain of industrial ecology encompasses "producer, consumer and restorer". Sichuan Tuopai Group reengineered the ecological structure of Liquor-making industrial system, and established the harmonious chain of industrial ecology in order to achieve the circulation utilization of materials and energy, thus has formed the harmonious and sustainable Liquor-making industrial system with low consumption and low pollution. It's obviously the vibrant practice of ecological administration in China.


The purpose of this short communication is to demonstrate the importance of numerical analysis and wavelength increment selection when characterizing fluorescent dissolved organic matter (FDOM) using fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (EEM) regional integration. A variety of water samples, representing a landscape gradient and different types of FDOM, were analyzed for their percentage distribution of five operationally defined FDOM fractions (aromatic protein I, aromatic protein II, fulvic acid-like, soluble microbial byproduct-like, and humic acid-like) using three numerical methods in integrating volume under the surface of the fluorescence EEMs: Riemann summation, composite trapezoidal rule, and composite Simpson's rule. The influence of wavelength increment was also examined for the precision of the percentage distribution of each fraction. Our results show that the FDOM fraction estimated by Riemann summation with a 10- or 5-nm excitation wavelength can cause >40% or >5% errors, respectively, when compared with the best estimated values obtained by averaging results from composite trapezoidal rule and composite Simpson's rule with 1-nm excitation wavelength at the same emission increment. Also, our experiments show that fluorescence matrix regional integration could underestimate the two aromatic protein fractions but could overestimate the soluble microbial byproduct-like and humic acid-like fractions if improper increment and integral methods are used. The error can be reduced if a smaller wavelength increment is used. The smallest increment in a spectrofluorometer and composite Simpson's rule should be used for scanning fluorescence EEMs and calculating the percentage distribution of each FDOM fraction. Alternatively, 5-nm wavelength increments with composite Simpson's rule could be cost effective, and the error of each FDOM fraction commonly falls within 5% compared with those estimated by 1-nm increments.


Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) as propagated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in the 1980s in Kenya occurred against a background of the country's declining economic performance, which increased poverty levels. The SAPs further contributed to economic recession resulting in the Government reducing per capita expenditure on education among other social services. The result was the introduction o f cost sharing at all levels of education in Kenya. The cost sharing policy has adversely affected many aspects of education culminating in low enrolment rates at all levels, insufficient provision of learning resources and deterioration in the quality of educational provision. In the past, the state subsidized university education and consequently all students were capable of meeting their needs from the state funds (World bank, 1997). Cost sharing has made the cost of education unaffordable to students from poor backgrounds. The increasing economic difficulties associated with the cost sharing have meant that financing of education has become more costly. This paper provides research findings on tiie phenomenon of university students' involvement in income generating activities (IGAs) on campus as a response to cost sharing. UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI EAST AFRICANA COLLECTION rhese activities are not only time consuming but have direct implications on the students' academic work and social life. A survey at the University o f Nairobi revealed the types of income generating activities (IGAs), reasons for starting IGAs, time spent on IGAs, and the impact of IGAs on students academic work The main finding of the study was that financial assistance to most of the students is inadequate and the quality o f education among the students involved in IGAs is highly compromised. The study recommends that in spite the university initiative to raise funds from students to offer competitive services, it should seek to cater for the poor students through work study programmes that will not distract students from their studies. It also recommends that the government should avail scholarships to finance poor students. The research contributes to both policy and institutional decisions with regard to university education funding.


The simultaneous measurement of different substances from a single sample is an emerging area for achieving efficient and high-throughput detection in several applications. Although immunoanalytical techniques are established and advantageous over alternative screening analytical platforms, one of the challenges for immunoassays is multiplexing. While ELISA is still commonly used to characterise a single analyte, laboratories and organisations are moving towards multiplex immunoassays. The validation of novel biomarkers and their amalgamation into multiplex immunoassays confers the prospects of simultaneous measurement of multiple analytes in a single sample, thereby minimising cost, time and sample. Therefore, the technological advancement in clinical sciences is helpful in the identification of analytes or biomarkers in test samples. However, the analytical bioanalysers are expensive and capable of detecting only a small amount or type of analytes. The simultaneous measurement of different substances from a single sample called multiplexing has become increasingly important for the quantification of pathological or toxicological samples. Although multiplex assays have many advantages over conventional assays, there are also problems that may cause apprehension among clinicians and researchers. Hence, many challenges still remain for these multiplexing systems which are at early stages of development.


Iraq's agricultural sector represents a small, but vital component of Iraq's economy. Over the past several decades agriculture's role in the economy has been heavily influenced by Iraq's involvement in military conflicts, particularly the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War and the 1991 Gulf War, and by varying degrees of government efforts to promote and/or control agricultural production. In the mid-1980s, agriculture accounted for only about 14 percent of the national GDP. After the imposition of U.N. sanctions and the Iraqi government's non-compliance with a proposed U.N. Oil-for-Food program in 1991, agriculture's share of GDP is estimated to have risen to 35 percent by 1992.


Workplace spiritualism (WS), although a newer concept, is seen to have gained tremendous importance in the recent years and is expected to furthermore expand in scope and applicability in future The objective of this research paper is to understand the impact of workplace spiritualism on the degree of job satisfaction of employees with special reference to IT industry. Through this research impact of Workplace Spiritualism on enhancing employee performance was studied. The methodology used was articulating the problem, formulating the hypothesis and collection of facts from survey. An empirical study was carried out to get the results for this research study. A total of 110 completed questionnaires were received. Descriptive Statistics, casual research and correlations were carried out. Four main dimensions used for measuring the spiritualism at the workplace are identified which include meaningful work; sense of community; organizational values as well as compassion. The results of this study showed that all the four dimensions of WS have a significantly strong as well as positive relationship with the level of employee job satisfaction. Sense of community as well as organizational values are the two most important dimensions influencing job satisfaction. The paper recommends that WS should be enhanced in the IT sector since it influences job satisfaction and employee performance. The study would be useful for the policy makers, researchers and HR professionals to understand the importance of WS in IT sector.


OBJECTIVES
We compared use of preventive care among veterans receiving care through the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) plans, and Medicare health maintenance organizations (HMOs).

METHODS
Using both the Costs and Use, and Access to Care files of the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (2000-2003), we performed a cross-sectional analysis examining self-reported use of influenza vaccination, pneumococcal vaccination, serum cholesterol screening, and serum prostate-specific antigen measurement among male veterans 65 years or older. Veterans' care was categorized as received through VHA, Medicare FFS, Medicare HMOs, VHA and Medicare FFS, or VHA and Medicare HMOs.

RESULTS
Veterans receiving care through VHA reported 10% greater use of influenza vaccination (P<.05), 14% greater use of pneumococcal vaccination (P<.01), a nonsignificant 6% greater use of serum cholesterol screening (P=.1), and 15% greater use of prostate cancer screening (P<.01) than did veterans receiving care through Medicare HMOs. Veterans receiving care through Medicare FFS reported less use of all 4 preventive measures (P<.01) than did veterans receiving care through Medicare HMOs.

CONCLUSIONS
Receiving care through VHA was associated with greater use of preventive care.


The antecedents of political disaffection and political activism have been extensively studied in adult populations, producing two models of political protest, the 'dissatisfaction model', suggesting that protest action is rooted in political disaffection, and the 'resource model' which bases interest in politics in a sense of political self-efficacy. There has been a dearth of research extending this theorizing to young people of prevoting age. The present study presents the results of regression analysis applied to longitudinal data collected in a U.K. Programme of research and economic and political socialization, the ESRC 16-19 Initiative. The analysis relates 'lack of interest in politics', 'intention not to vote' and 'political activity', to attitudes, personality characteristics, experience and circumstances measured earlier. It is concluded that political disaffection including lack of interest and intention not to vote, is strongly associated with a growing cynicism about politics rooted in poor educational performance and a working class family background. The connections with activism are negative but much weaker, suggesting the potential for protest activity across a wider spectrum of youth. This lends support to Marsh's (1990) view that given the right circumstances, protest action under both the 'resource model', and the 'dissatisfaction model', can apply.


We determined normative ground reaction force data for able-bodied (AB) and below-knee-amputee (BKA) children during walking. Twenty-two BKA and 225 able-bodied children walked over two adjacent force platforms. Average normalized force-time curves were determined for legs of the children for subjective comparisons, and discrete variables were determined for statistical comparisons. No significant differences existed between (a) right and left legs, (b) gender, and (c) age for the AB children. BKA children had an asymmetrical gait pattern with a dominant role of the nonprosthetic limb. This dominant role was related to a greater rate of loading, magnitude of loading, impulse, and time of loading as compared with prosthetic limbs and with the limbs of AB children.


A new, facile, atom-economical and good regioselective method for the synthesis of benzoin bis-ethers has been developed via directly using readily available alkynes and alcohols as raw materials under visible light irradiation. The protocol utilizes commercial Mes-Acr+ClO4− as an organophotoredox catalyst and air (O2) as a green sustainable reagent. A range of benzoin bis-ether derivatives were easily and efficiently obtained in a one-pot procedure at room temperature, and water is the by-product.


The Earth's primary source of energy is the radiant energy generated by the Sun, which is referred to as solar irradiance, or total solar irradiance (TSI) when all of the radiation is measured. A minor change in the solar irradiance can have a significant impact on the Earth's climate and atmosphere. As a result, studying and measuring solar irradiance is crucial in understanding climate changes and solar variability. Several methods have been developed to reconstruct total solar irradiance for long and short periods of time; however, they are physics-based and rely on the availability of data, which does not go beyond 9,000 years. In this paper we propose a new method, called TSInet, to reconstruct total solar irradiance by deep learning for short and long periods of time that span beyond the physical models' data availability. On the data that are available, our method agrees well with the state-of-the-art physics-based reconstruction models. To our knowledge, this is the first time that deep learning has been used to reconstruct total solar irradiance for more than 9,000 years.


In a paper recently published in this journal, Meyer criticised our study on relationships between channels for colour and spatial frequency for not being able to demonstrate a size aftereffect not specific to colour, a McCollough effect not specific to size, or the functions of cortical colour mechanisms. In fact, our study attempted none of these demonstrations in the sense suggested by Meyer because the first would have been impossible for empirical reasons, the second for conceptual reasons, and the third for methodological reasons. Instead, our study yielded evidence that at least three different types of perceptual channel underlie our capacity to perceive the size and colour of objects.


US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) Standard Review Plan (SRP) 3.6.3, describes the current methodology for leak-before-break (LBB) piping safety assessment. Specifically, it describes a deterministic assessment procedure that can be used to demonstrate compliance with the 10CFR50 Appendix-A, General Design Criterion 4 (GDC-4) requirement that the primary system pressure piping exhibit an extremely low probability of rupture. However, SRP 3.6.3 does not permit assessment of piping systems with active degradation mechanisms, even though it is known that primary water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC) has occurred in systems that have been granted LBB exemptions to remove pipe-whip restraints. To address this need, a program is being conducted with the long-term goal of developing a probabilistic assessment tool that can be used to directly demonstrate compliance with 10CFR50 Appendix–A, GDC-4, a tool that would account for the effects of both active degradation mechanisms and the mitigation activities that are being undertaken to address this degradation. This program has been termed "xLPR" as its goal is to demonstrate an eX tremely L ow P robability of R upture in pressure boundary piping systems. This methodology augments current LBB assessment models (leak rate and crack stability models) through the addition of best estimate models describing the initiation and propagation of flaws due to the various degradation mechanisms (fatigue, PWSCC, intergranular stress corrosion cracking (IGSCC), etc.), inspection models, and mechanical and chemical mitigation/remediation models that describe changes in stress state, pipe material and environment caused by mitigation/remediation efforts. Models currently used in LBB assessment will be updated, or replaced, with best estimate, probabilistic models, including those for leak rate and crack stability assessment. All models should account for the full distribution of input variables (where known) in order to account for both epistemic and aleatory uncertainties in as detailed a manner as feasible. This paper summarizes the structure and current activities of the Modeling Task Group within the framework of the overall xLPR Project, and the methodology used to select and develop the models for the xLPR Pilot Study. Preliminary information on the various models chosen for the Pilot Study, and how they are linked within the structure of the overall xLPR probabilistic code, is also provided.Copyright © 2010 by ASME


With the use of the light and electron microscopes, the chromosomes of Fritillaria lanceolata and Scilla sibirica are shown to differ in respect of the heterochromatin they contain. In root meristems of the former, the heterochromatic regions (H-segments) were recognizable at all phases of the mitotic cycle by their slighter opacity to electrons than that of euchromatic parts. This was due both to less tight packing of the chromatin fibrils and lower opacity of the fibrils themselves, even though both had the same diameter, about 3 nm. In root tips of the Scilla , the heterochromatin was invariably of similar opacity to euchromatin and thus only recognizable at telophase and interphase as large chromocentres. The opacity to electrons in the heterochromatin of the 2 species, was at all times closely paralleled by the staining behaviour seen with the light microscope in sections (0.07-0.5 µm in thickness) stained with toluidine blue. The disparity in the Fritillaria , as seen in sections with the light microscope, in respect of the stainability of the hetero- and euchromatin, was masked in Feulgen squash preparations of root tips from plants grown at 18-20 °C; at metaphase by the thickness of the chromosomes and at interphase by the density of the chromocentres. When, on the other hand, the plants were grown for 4 days at 2 °C, the masking effect of thickness was circumvented in metaphase chromosomes by differential super-contraction in euchromatin. The implications of these findings in respect to previous interpretations of the differential reactivity of H-segments to low temperature, as well as the phenomenon of enhanced and reduced fluorescence in these segments with fluorochromes are discussed.


The templates provide readers easy access to the contents guided by consistent structures. However, for machines, the templates are considered harmful since they degrade the accuracy and performance of web applications due to irrelevant terms in templates. The World Wide Web is a vast and most useful collection of information. To achieve high productivity in publishing the web pages are automatically evaluated using common templates with contents. The pages belong to each group should possess the same structure .This saves the time to find out best templates from a large number of web document and also saves the memory which is required to find out the best template structure. We develop a novel goodness measure with its fast approximation for clustering and provide comprehensive analysis of our algorithm. Our experimental results with real-life data sets confirm the effectiveness and robustness of our algorithm compared to the state of the art for template detection algorithms.


ABSTRACT What are the effects of foreign aid on the perceived legitimacy of recipient states? Different donors adhere to different rules, principles, and operating procedures. The authors theorize that variation in these aid regimes may generate variation in the effects of aid on state legitimacy. To test their theory, they compare aid from the United States to aid from China, its most prominent geopolitical rival. Their research design combines within-country analysis of original surveys, survey experiments, and behavioral games in Liberia with cross-country analysis of existing administrative and Afrobarometer data from six African countries. They exploit multiple proxies for state legitimacy, but focus in particular on tax compliance and morale. Contrary to expectations, the authors find little evidence to suggest that exposure to aid diminishes the legitimacy of African states. If anything, the opposite appears to be true. Their results are consistent across multiple settings, multiple levels of analysis, and multiple measurement and identification strategies, and are unlikely to be artifacts of sample selection, statistical power, or the strength or weakness of particular experimental treatments. The authors conclude that the effects of aid on state legitimacy at the microlevel are largely benign.


We have determined a spectroscopic orbit for SAO 167450, which is the visual secondary of the W UMa-type eclipsing binary AA Cet, and so the system is quadruple. Radial velocities from the coudé feed and 4 m telescopes at Kitt Peak National Observatory produce an orbit with a period of 25.68 days and an eccentricity of 0.50. We classify both the primary and secondary as G0 subgiant/dwarf stars and find that they are somewhat metal rich relative to the Sun. The high lithium abundances of both components argue that the stars are less than 1 Gyr old. If the components are dwarfs, they are pseudosynchronously rotating, while if they are subgiants, they are rotating more slowly than pseudosynchronous. We very roughly estimate a period of 5,000–15,000 yr for the visual pair. Although it has been suggested that in a multiple system, the combination of Kozai cycles and tidal friction may produce contact binaries, the separation between the visual components in this system appears to be much too large to accomplish that result.


Non-accidental injury (NAI) in children under the age of 17 years has an estimated incidence in the USA of 2.5%, and is considered to be on the increase.1 The range of skeletal, intracranial, and orbital manifestations in NAI have been well described.2-8 In comparison, visceral manifestations (excluding the superficial and cutaneous injuries) are much less common and less well recognised; they are considered to contribute less than 2% of injuries in NAI.9

Abdominal injuries in NAI arise mainly from blunt trauma, and include contusion, laceration, and rupture of solid or hollow viscera, for example of the liver, spleen, pancreas, kidneys, and bowel. Duodenal haematomas and mesenteric tears may also occur. Vascular injuries are less common and include avulsion of the superior mesenteric artery and pseudoaneurysms of the abdominal aorta.10 Chylous ascites after abdominal trauma has been described.11

Blunt thoracic injuries commonly result in rib fractures in the infant, but intrathoracic visceral injuries are much less common than abdominal visceral injuries.12 The former include lung contusions, chylothoraces, and cardiac lacerations and rupture.11 13

Superficial and cutaneous injuries, for example, bruises, cuts, burns, injuries to the pinna, frenulum of the mouth, and genitalia can impart information on the mechanisms of injury. They are well described and are not discussed in detail in this paper.

Patients with visceral manifestations of NAI have been selected from a group of 300 patients referred or admitted for alleged physical abuse. The cases include pharyngeal, abdominal, and pelvic trauma. The radiological findings are illustrated and correlated in all cases bar one, with surgical or postmortem findings.

### PATIENT 1: PHARYNGEAL TRAUMA AND PHARYNGEAL FOREIGN BODY

A 7 week old infant was brought by her father to a casualty department with respiratory distress. Stridor, drooling, and mild desaturation were noted. She had blood in the oropharynx, and a soft tissue …


Lentigo maligna can be defined as ''melanoma in situ,'' histologically showing atypical melanocytes confined to the epidermis and appendageal epithelium. The clinical appearance of lentigo maligna features inhomogeneously pigmented, polycyclic macules arising predominantly in sun-exposed areas in elderly whites ( Figure , left). The lesions tend to enlarge slowly in a horizontal direction. They may, within years, give rise to metastatic disease. Complete but conservative excision should be the treatment of choice to achieve accurate microstaging and to reduce the likelihood of recurrence. In patients showing hazardous health conditions due to systemic diseases, malformations, or advanced age, or presenting with large lentigo maligna lesions in cosmetically precarious locations that require flaps or skin grafts, surgical excision may be not be possible. We performed carbon dioxide laser vaporization of histopathologically verified lentigo maligna lesions in four selected patients ( Table ). Materials and Methods. Carbon Dioxide Laser . The carbon dioxide laser emits invisible infrared light


Background: Medical residents are exposed to numerous stressors during their post-graduate training which affects them both physically and emotionally. This stress can have a profound impact on the resident's ability to work and perform activities of daily living.

Objectives: The goals of this study are to (1) estimate the psychological stress in medical post-graduate doctors and (2) study the sociodemographic factors associated with stress in post-graduate doctors.

Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of resident doctors in a tertiary care hospital in Central India. A total of 130 medical residents at a tertiary hospital in Central India were surveyed anonymously using the Kessler psychological distress reporting scale questionnaire (K10) + self-reporting measure. Descriptive statistics as well as Pearson's Chi-square test (χ2) and odds ratios were used to quantify the associations between categorical variables using SPSS v24.0 software. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: A total of 131 (of 138, with a response rate of 95%) medical post-graduate residents were participated in this study. The mean age of study participants was 27 years. The results showed that there was no statistical gender difference when it came to reports of stress among the residents. Moderate amounts of stress were reported by the residents, with some of this stress requiring time off from the residency and/or medical care.

Conclusions: This study has shown that postgraduate medical residents at a tertiary care hospital in Central India experience increased amounts of stress during their residency training.


The concept of choreography has emerged over the past years as a fundamental concept for capturing collaborative processes. The latest version of the Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN 2.0) introduces the choreography diagram as a first-class citizen actor. After having evaluated BPMN 2.0 in a previous work, we discuss here the new challenges, future work and the open questions about the potential choreography standard language. We also describe the ameliorations that will be introduced in the evaluation framework.


Abstract We show that if a partially hyperbolic diffeomorphism of a Seifert manifold induces a map in the base which has a pseudo-Anosov component then it cannot be dynamically coherent. This extends [C. Bonatti, A. Gogolev, A. Hammerlindl and R. Potrie. Anomalous partially hyperbolic diffeomorphisms III: Abundance and incoherence. Geom. Topol., to appear] to the whole isotopy class. We relate the techniques to the study of certain partially hyperbolic diffeomorphisms in hyperbolic 3-manifolds performed in [T. Barthelmé, S. Fenley, S. Frankel and R. Potrie. Partially hyperbolic diffeomorphisms homotopic to the identity in dimension 3, part I: The dynamically coherent case. Preprint, 2019, arXiv:1908.06227; Partially hyperbolic diffeomorphisms homotopic to the identity in dimension 3, part II: Branching foliations. Preprint, 2020, arXiv: 2008.04871]. The appendix reviews some consequences of the Nielsen–Thurston classification of surface homeomorphisms for the dynamics of lifts of such maps to the universal cover.


Purpose In 2000, faced with a national concern over the decreasing number of physician–scientists, Vanderbilt School of Medicine established the institutionally funded Vanderbilt Physician–Scientist Development (VPSD) program to provide centralized oversight and financial support for physician–scientist career development. In 2002, Vanderbilt developed the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded Vanderbilt Clinical Research Scholars (VCRS) program using a similar model of centralized oversight. The authors evaluate the impact of the VPSD and VCRS programs on early career outcomes of physician–scientists. Method Physician–scientists who entered the VPSD or VCRS programs from 2000 through 2006 were compared with Vanderbilt physician–scientists who received NIH career development funding during the same period without participating in the VPSD or VCRS programs. Results Seventy-five percent of VPSD and 60% of VCRS participants achieved individual career award funding at a younger age than the comparison cohort. This shift to career development award funding at a younger age among VPSD and VCRS scholars was accompanied by a 2.6-fold increase in the number of new K awards funded and a rate of growth in K-award dollars at Vanderbilt that outpaced the national rate of growth in K-award funding. Conclusions Analysis of the early outcomes of the VPSD and VCRS programs suggests that centralized oversight can catalyze growth in the number of funded physician–scientists at an institution. Investment in this model of career development for physician–scientists may have had an additive effect on the recruitment and retention of talented trainees and junior faculty.


The sugarcane harvester vibration has a bad effect on the sugarcane cutting quality. The effect of sugarcane field roughness on the sugarcane harvester vibration is much more significant than those of cutting forces and the engine. In order to simulate sugarcane field roughness, a simulated sugarcane field exciter (SSFE) was developed to actuate a self-developed sugarcane harvester experiment platform (SHEP). The dynamics and the mathematical models of the SHEP were established. Simulations of the mathematical model show these two models are reasonable. The dynamic characteristic experiment of the SSFE shows it matches characteristics of sugarcane field roughness, but great lateral oscillations existed when it worked. Then the SSFE II was developed. The dynamic characteristic experiment of the SSFE II shows it matches characteristics of sugarcane field roughness and improves the SSFE. The modal test of the SHEP was done to further study dynamic characteristics of the SSFE II. With the SSFE II, simulated experiments of sugarcane harvesters under complete vibration causing conditions can be done in labs instead of sugarcane fields to avoid the low efficiency, poor security, and bad reliability during experiments in sugarcane fields.


Background: The newly emerging COVID-19 has caused severe anxiety around the world and it is infecting more people each day since there is no preventive measure or definite therapy for the diseases. The present study aimed to evaluate its effect on anxiety and stress of pregnant mothers during perinatal care. Methods: Three–hundred pregnant mothers without COVID–19 infection who were referred to the hospitals affiliated to Iran University of Medical Sciences for delivery during April 2020, based on negative clinical symptoms and the results of polymerase chain reaction (rt-PCR) for COVID–19, were recruited by census method and asked to complete the Persian version of the perceived stress scale (PSS); participants views about their anxiety level and the role of COVID–19 as the source of their stress and worries were recorded. Women who refused to continue the study were excluded. The frequency of variables and mean scores were calculated using SPSS v. 21. Results: Mean age of mothers was 30.20±16.19 years; 31.3% were primigravida and mean gestational age was 38.00±4.14 weeks. Moreover, 16.3% asked for earlier pregnancy termination and 39% requested Cesarean section (C/S). Assessing the mothers' anxiety revealed a high/very high level of anxiety in 51.3%. The majority felt worried and frustrated because of COVID–19 (86.4%). Social media had a great impact on the level of stress among these mothers (60.3%). Conclusion: COVID-19 pandemic is an important source for the increased anxiety and stress among healthy pregnant mothers.


Comparing moral panic with the potential catastrophes of the risk society, Sheldon Ungar contends that new sites of social anxiety emerging around nuclear, medical, environmental and chemical threats have thrown into relief many of the questions motivating moral panic research agendas. He argues that shifting sites of social anxiety necessitate a rethinking of theoretical, methodological and conceptual issues related to processes of social control, claims making and general perceptions of public safety. This paper charts an alternative trajectory, asserting that analytic priority rests not with an understanding of the implications of changing but converging sites of social anxiety. Concentrating on the converging sites of social anxiety in late modernity, the analysis forecasts a proliferation of moral panics as an exaggerated symptom of the heightened sense of uncertainty purported to accompany the ascendency of the risk society.


The purpose of this research is to examine the effect of profitability,
leverage, operation complexity, KAP specialization and audit committee on audit
delay to the manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. The
independent variable in this research is audit delay, while the dependent variable in
this research are profitability, leverage, operation complexity and audit committee.
This study uses secondary data with entire population manufacture
companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (BEI) in 2012 up to 2014. The
research sample are consists of 243 companies. The method used to determine the
sample using purposive sampling. The analysis model in the research is multiple linear
regression analysis.
Based on analytical results shows that variable profitability and audit
committee have significant influence toward audit delay while variable leverage,
operation complexity and KAP specialization have no significant influence toward
audit delay


This paper is directed towards confirming the important role of the consolidity index in the analysis and design of real life systems. Consolidity is an internal property of systems that plays an essential role in governing their parameters changes when subjected to events or varying environments "on and above" their normal operations or original set points. For this purpose the paper is divided into two parts: the analysis and the design. The analysis part we check how the consolidity index is used for appropriate choice of parameters which are selected arbitrarily before. The analysis verification part is demonstrated by solving the problem of selecting the arbitrary matrix in Lyapunov equation for deriving the required stability conditions and also the Kalman Riccati matrix in solving Linear Quadratic Regulation problem based on the consolidity theory. In design part, some free parameters are permitted in the system to obtain the best compromise among system pillars (stability, controllability, and consolidity). As an illustration, two examples of the disk drive system and the national economy system are given to demonstrate how to attain such best compromise. Finally, the attained results confirm the importance of incorporation of the system consolidity as an essential tool in both system analysis and design.


This research is aimed at the early detection of breast cancer. Breast cancer is a form of cancer that is found in the breast tissue. Though mostly common in women, research has shown that it can also be diagnosed in men. The increasing trend in the mortality rate attributable to breast cancer can be traced to inefficient methods of detecting the cancer in its early stage. Current methods involve invasion, exposure of the patient to radiation, and/or compressing the breast. These may cause pain or even invest patient with other forms of ailments. In this work, infrared (IR) thermography has been deployed to detect breast cancer in its early stage. IR thermography uses IR radiation to measure heat patterns of human skin. It is passive in nature and it neither emit harmful radiation nor subject the patient to further risks. The thermograms captured by infrared camera are analysed by a software in stages, viz: extraction of region of interest, detection and masking of warm region among others. The resulting image in grayscale is sampled by comparing the white pixels (warm region) to the dark pixels (cool region). The software subsequently compares the outcome with a predefined threshold to predict the chances of occurrence of cancer and displays result for further diagnosis by medical expert. Our proposed modality is cost effective, safe and user friendly.


Instruction reuse is a microarchitectural technique that improves the execution time of a program by removing redundant computations at run-time. Although this is the job of an optimizing compiler they do not succeed many a time due to limited knowledge of run-time data. In this paper, we examine the instruction reuse of an integer ALU and load instructions in network processing applications. Specifically, this paper attempts to answer the following questions: (1) how much instruction reuse is inherent in network processing applications?; (2) can reuse be improved by reducing interference in the reuse buffer?; (3) what characteristics of network applications can be exploited to improve reuse?; and (4) what is the effect of reuse on resource contention and memory accesses? We propose an aggregation scheme that combines the high-level concept of network traffic, i.e. "flows", with a low level microarchitectural feature of programs, i.e. repetition of instructions and data, along with an architecture that exploits temporal locality in incoming packet data to improve reuse. We find that for the benchmarks considered, 1% to 50% of instructions are reused while the speedup achieved varies between 1% and 24%. As a side effect, instruction reuse reduces memory traffic and can therefore be considered as a scheme for low power.


Aim To investigate the potential tissue-protective effects of antioxidants selenomethionine and D-pantethine applied together with doxorubicin (Dx) on NK/Ly lymphoma-bearing mice. The impact of this chemotherapy scheme on animal survival, blood cell profile, hepatotoxicity, glutathione level, and activity of glutathione-converting enzymes in the liver was compared with the action of Dx applied alone. Methods The hematological profile of animals was studied by the analysis of blood smears under light microscopy. Hepatotoxicity of studied drugs was evaluated measuring the activity of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) enzymes, De Ritis ratio, and coenzyme A fractions by McDougal assay. Glutathione level in animal tissues was measured with Ellman reagent, and the activity of glutathione reductase, transferase, and peroxidase was measured using standard biochemical assays. Results D-pantethine (500 mg/kg) and, to a lower extent, selenomethionine (600 µg/kg) partially reduced the negative side effects (leukocytopenia and erythropenia) of Dx (5 mg/kg) in NK/Ly lymphoma bearing animals on the 14th day of their treatment. This increased animal survival time from 47-48 to 60+ days and improved the quality of their life. This ability of D-pantethine and selenomethionine was realized via hepatoprotective and immunomodulating activities. D-pantethine also restored the levels of acid-soluble and free CoA in the liver of tumor-bearing animals, while selenomethionine caused the recovery of glutathione peroxidase levels in the liver, which was significantly diminished under Dx treatment. Both compounds decreased glutathione level in the liver, which was considerably induced by Dx. Conclusions Antioxidants selenomethionine and D-pantethine partially reversed the negative side effects of Dx in NK/Ly lymphoma-bearing mice and significantly increased the therapeutic efficiency of this drug in tumor treatment.


The introduction of new information technology in organizations seems to lead to mixed results in practice. Innovation adoption success is dependent on user commitment and absorption of the innovation in work processes. For that reason, much can be gained in insights in the role of stakeholders during innovation adoption. In this article we are presenting an evaluation method for stakeholder dynamics during the IT based innovation journey in relation to innovation adoption predictors. The method covers two evaluation elements of these stakeholder dynamics; (a) the changing nature of stakeholder salience and changing role involvements of stakeholders on the one hand, and (b) the changing nature of stakeholder-innovation interaction during the adoption processes on the other. It is argued that a stakeholder's capacity and intentions together determine his role involvement and influence on innovation adoption and thus its decision making unit membership. To further enhance usability of the described method, we propose the use of structured implementation activities and their effect during different phases of the innovation journey on the decision making unit as constructed through stakeholder analysis.


Cynara cardunculus L. is a perennial species, with the autumnal-spring growth cycle and summer quiescence period. It comprises three taxa: C. cardunculus L. subsp. scolymus (L.) Hegi (globe artichoke), C. cardunculus L. var. altilis DC (cultivated cardoon) and C. cardunculus L. var. sylvestris Lam. (wild cardoon). In C. cardunculus the roots play an important role for assimilate accumulation and translocation, in fact they represent the reserve organ of the plant, especially during the summer when the aboveground biomass gets dry. Few information are available about the trend in assimilate accumulation and translocation among the three C. cardunculus taxa. This work aiming to study the genetic variation for dry matter accumulation and translocation in C. cardunculus taxa. To reach the aim of this work, during 2001-2002 growth season, at Catania location, in an experimental design with three replications one globe artichoke, one cultivated cardoon and one wild cardoon were grown. During the biological cycle ten harvests of three plants, for each genotype and replication, were carried out. Corresponding to each harvest in the fields total fresh biomass, was weighted. In laboratory the dry matter (DM) content for each part of biomass was evaluated. The obtained results showed the importance of root as plant reserve organ in all the studied genotypes. In particular, on average of all genotypes, during the first phase of head formation, the roots showed an incidence of 61% on total dry matter, and it reached the 52% at the end of the crop cycle.


Large natural gas fired combined cycle electric power plants, while being an increasingly efficient and cost effective technology, are traditionally large consumers of water resources, while also discharging cooling tower blowdown at a similar rate. Water use is mostly attributed to the heat rejection needs of the gas turbine generator, the steam turbine generator, and the steam cycle condenser. Cooling with air, i.e. dry cooling, instead of water can virtually eliminate the environmental impact associated with water usage. Commissioned in the fall of 2010 with this in mind, the Halton Hills Generating Station located in the Greater Toronto West Area, Ontario, Canada, is a nominally-rated 700 Megawatt combined cycle electric generating station that is 100 percent cooled using various air-cooled heat exchangers. The resulting water consumption and wastewater discharge of this power plant is significantly less than comparably sized electric generating plants that derive cooling from wet methods (i.e, evaporative cooling towers). To incorporate dry cooling into such a power plant, it is necessary to consider several factors that play important roles both during plant design as well as construction and commissioning of the plant equipment, including the dry cooling systems. From the beginning a power plant general arrangement and space must account for dry cooling's increase plot area requirements; constraints therein may render air cooling an impossible solution. Second, air cooling dictates specific parameters of major and auxiliary equipment operation that must be understood and coordinated upon purchase of such equipment. Until recently traditional wet cooling has driven standard designs, which now, in light of dry cooling's increase in use, must be re-evaluated in full prior to purchase. Lastly, the construction and commissioning of air-cooling plant equipment is a significant effort which demands good planning and execution.Copyright © 2011 by ASME


Coarse aggregate settlement may occur during concrete pouring, which affects the ability to resist projectile attack. In order to study the anti-penetration performance of concrete, and obtain high penetration resistance concrete, mesoscale finite element model of different aggregate space distribution of concrete was established, the numerical simulation of long rod rigid projectile penetrating into different concrete was conducted. The results showed that aggregate settlement had great influence on target scabbing; aggregate size and settlement had limited influence on projectile residual velocity.