: Despite the intensive study of morphological effects with various on-line techniques such as masked priming, psycholinguistics did not manage so far to present a consensual framework, and are still divided on the nature and the locus of morphology in the mental lexicon. In this contribution, we propose to focus on three issues related to morphological effects which have not been given the right importance so far: the implications of studying morphology through nonwords, the role of frequency of the lexical items used as materials, and finally the role of a novel variable measuring the influence of formally related but morphologically unrelated word forms on processing, i.e. the pseudo-relatives. The experiment presented here provides evidence in favour of these two variables. We propose a revised model of morphological processing, sensitive to lexical ( e.g. frequency) and exo-lexical characteristics of the stimuli ( e.g. pseudofamily size), capable to cope with various effects induced by true morphological relatives and pseudorelatives, as well as for surface effects, such as the pseudoderivation effect. !


Based on the properties of probability distributions of functions of random variables, we proposed earlier a simple stringy mechanism that prefers the meta-stable vacua with a small cosmological constant Λ. As an illustration of this approach, we study in this paper particularly simple but non-trivial models of the Kähler uplift in the large volume flux compactification scenario in Type IIB string theory, where all parameters introduced in the model are treated either as fixed constants motivated by physics, or as random variables with some given uniform probability distributions. We determine the value w0 of the superpotential W0 at the supersymmetric minima, and find that the resulting probability distribution P(w0) peaks at w0 = 0; furthermore, this peaking behavior strengthens as the number of complex structure moduli increases. The resulting probability distribution P(Λ) for meta-stable vacua also peaks as Λ → 0, for both positive and negative Λ. This peaking/divergent behavior of P(Λ) strengthens as the number of moduli increases. In some scenarios for Λ > 0, the likely value of Λ decreases exponentially as the number of moduli increases. The light cosmological moduli issue accompanying a very small Λ is also mentioned.


Attributed to the extensive researches towards the functions of Kv1.5 gene (also known as KCN5A gene), the therapeutic significances of Kv1.5 channel have been paid special attentions to cardiovascular diseases as well as tumor, the top two public-health problems for the aging population. During recent years, the hindrance for developing cardiovascular drugs is how to discriminate their therapeutic effect from cardiotoxicities. Therefore, targeting Kv1.5 gene, which encodes the atrial selective I(Kur) potassium channel, has been confirmed as an appealing strategy for the treatment of atrial diseases. Moreover, the functions of Kv1.5 gene in carcinoma progression have also provoked a flurry of research in the hope of developing adjunctive or combined treatment of Kv1.5 modulators to enhance curative effects of classic chemotherapeutic agents.


The precondition for labour-market competition between immigrants and natives is that both are willing to accept jobs that do not differ in quality. To test this hypothesis, in this paper we compare the working conditions between immigrants and natives in Catalonia. Comparing immigrants' working conditions in relation to their native counterparts is not only a useful analysis for studying the extent to which immigrants and low-skilled native workers are direct competitors in the labour market, but also allows us to contribute to the literature on this issue by moving away from the conventional approach used in previous studies. Our results indicate that: i) natives and immigrants display a different taste for job (dis)amenities; ii) Catalan-born workers might be in direct competition with EU15 immigrants, while non-Catalan Spanish workers might be competing with Latin American immigrants, and; iii) African-born immigrants are the group in the Catalan workforce that by far face the worst working conditions.


The purpose of the study was to examine the biodynamics of the clean and jerk technique of the different gender athletes in weightlifting. Materials and methods. The following methods were used in the study: the study of scientific and methodological literature, Internet resources, pedagogical observations, video recordings of competitions, biomechanical analysis of the structure of the movement of the barbell, methods of mathematical statistics. More than 90 elite weightlifters participated in the research, in the conditions of competitive activity at the World, European and Ukrainian championships during the last ten years. Results and discussion. The analysis of the biodynamic characteristics of the barbell clean and jerk technique shows that the individual values of the force of interaction of athletes with the barbell in weightlifters of different genders and groups of weight categories have some differences: some of them increase with an increase in the body weight of athletes, others decrease, and some do not change, respectively. The biodynamic characteristics of the barbell clean and jerk in female weightlifters in terms of the force of interaction with the barbell have significant differences from the similar strength characteristics of male weightlifters. Tendencies were established to decrease simultaneously with the increase in weight categories of athletes in the magnitude of the force of interaction of athletes with the barbell at the limit moment between the phases of pre-acceleration and the transition phase, in the transition phase (in clean), in the phase of active braking and drive (in women in jerk). The level of force applied to the barbell in the phase of the catch in jerk does not change in all weight category groups of male athletes. A comparative analysis of the biodynamic components of the technique of performing the clean in the different gender weightlifters shows that they have significant differences in the level of manifestation of the force of interaction with the barbell. At the same time, female athletes have higher level of interaction with the barbell than male. Such a conclusion requires coaches to take into account these features during the development of biodynamic characteristics of the technique of performing competitive exercises by athletes of different genders and groups of weight categories, as well as during the process of improving the technique of motor actions. The analysis of the characteristics of the force of interaction with the barbell of different gender athletes in the jerk phases shows that female weightlifters in some phases of the movement apply a higher level of maximum force to the barbell than male athletes, and in others, its level of force is lower, despite of the fact that they lift a barbell of much less weight. Conclusion. Most of the biodynamic components of the technique of lifting the barbell in jerk are significantly higher in women than in men. The vast majority of biodynamic components of the jerk technique among athletes of groups 1-3 of weight categories have significant differences in the magnitude of the force of interaction with the barbell, including depending on the weightlifter's gender


Patients with aortic stenosis are susceptible to myocardial ischemia during hemodynamic stress, which may be caused by two mechanisms. First, vascular abnormalities inherent in myocardial hypertrophy may impair coronary vasodilation, limiting the ability to increase coronary blood flow to meet increased metabolic demands. Second, aortic stenosis itself may cause an imbalance between oxygen supply and demand during hemodynamic stress by decreasing aortic pressure (decreasing coronary perfusion or oxygen supply) and increasing left ventricular pressure (increasing oxygen demand). By decreasing aortic valve gradient without immediately altering ventricular hypertrophy, aortic balloon valvuloplasty offers the opportunity to distinguish these mechanisms. We hypothesized that aortic valvuloplasty would improve the balance between myocardial oxygen supply and demand, especially during isoproterenol infusion. Nine patients undergoing aortic balloon valvuloplasty were assessed at baseline and during isoproterenol infusion (5 +/- 2 micrograms/min, mean +/- SD) before and after valvuloplasty. Valvuloplasty increased myocardial oxygen supply. After valvuloplasty, isoproterenol decreased diastolic pressure time index (DPTI) less and increased coronary sinus blood flow more than before valvuloplasty (-630 +/- 367 vs. -292 +/- 224 mm Hg.sec/min, p = 0.02 and 53 +/- 137 vs. 179 +/- 145 ml/min, p = 0.001, respectively). Valvuloplasty also decreased oxygen demand, decreasing systolic pressure time index (SPTI) from 4,135 +/- 511 to 3,021 +/- 492 mm Hg.sec/min (p = 0.0002). Valvuloplasty improved the balance between myocardial oxygen supply and demand, increasing baseline DPTI:SPTI, decreasing aortocoronary sinus oxygen content difference (0.51 +/- 0.15 to 0.68 +/- 0.14, p = 0.005 and 96 +/- 14 to 78 +/- 15 ml O2/l, p = 0.002, respectively), and decreasing myocardial lactate production during isoproterenol infusion (mean lactate extraction fraction, -0.26 +/- 0.40 to 0.14 +/- 0.17; p = 0.01). We conclude that aortic valvuloplasty improves the balance between myocardial oxygen supply and demand during hemodynamic stress induced by isoproterenol infusion. We speculate that the clinical improvement, which often occurs in these patients after valvuloplasty despite persistence of hemodynamically "critical" aortic stenosis, is in part attributable to immediate improvement in the myocardial oxygen supply:demand ratio.


In the course of the energy transition, novel business models for aggregation are emerging in the Finnish energy sector. To anticipate and govern the energy transition and its sustainability, knowledge on the current state and development of this novel industry is essential. Hence, the aim of the study is to describe novel business models for aggregation and discourses attached to them, to provide an overall picture of the emerging industry and its relation to energy transition. The research aim is approached through the theoretical framework of sustainability transition studies and its recent intersection with business models and discursive legitimation, niche empowerment in especial. Methodologically the study adopts the approach of critical discourse analysis and business models as a unit of analysis. The research data bases on a desk study and interviews of 14 companies. The analysis identifies and generalizes novel business models and empowerment strategies for aggregation. Three general business model archetypes for aggregation are suggested: balance-responsible aggregator, independent aggregator and sub-aggregator. The archetypes differ regarding their market position, customer segments, key resources and motivation to engage in aggregation business. The varying key resources of the archetypes result in interrelated partnerships among the companies. The niche-overarching empowerment strategies favour fit-and-conform legitimation. However, the niche-internal, archetype-specific empowerment strategies are more heterogenous. The balance-responsible aggregator archetype seems to engage in the novel industry to renew and grow its position in the energy sector. The independent aggregator archetype strives to establish a novel market position in the Finnish energy regime, while the strategy of the sub-aggregator archetype is to position in the industry as a technical enabler of others' business models for aggregation. Previous empirical studies on niche empowerment have mostly been longitudinal, largely portraying niches as unanimous. The study positions in certain moment in time, enriching empirical evidence on the heterogeneity of empowerment strategies of niche advocates, which further reflect the heterogeneity of their motivations and capabilities. In the context of the study it seems that the more peripheral the niche advocate companies are to the regime, the more stretch-and-transform legitimation they employ. Overall, though the archetypes engage in aggregation for different strategic reasons, their main motivations seem rather market than sustainability oriented. The role of the aggregation niche can be described as intermediary regarding the energy transition, as the industry seems to support gradual renewal of the energy regime, and the continuity of its current values and principles in the course of the energy transition.


Solving multiagent reinforcement learning problems is a key issue. Indeed, the complexity of deriving multiagent plans, especially when one uses an explicit model of the problem, is dramatically increasing with the number of agents. This papers introduces a general iterative heuristic: at each step one chooses a sub-group of agents and update their policies to optimize the task given the rest of agents have fixed plans. We analyse this process in a general purpose and show how it can be applied to Markov decision processes, partially observable Markov decision processes and decentralized partially observable Markov decision processes.


The adhesion of thin CVD films on polyolefins is often critical due to the low surface free energy of the polymers. In this study, injection moulded PP samples are produced and investigated. The samples are treated in very well-characterized pulsed plasmas before a HMDSO-based coating is applied. The resulting bond strength is analyzed using pull-off tests. The fractured interfaces are characterized with XPS. Oxygen and argon plasma pre-treatments of the PP samples result in a bond strength improvement by a factor of about 2. Comparing oxygen and argon pre-treatments at equal ion fluences to the surface, it can be shown that the bond strength between CVD-coating and polymer is similar.


IL-21, which is produced by activated NKT cells and CD4+ T cells, exhibits pleiotropic effects not only on a variety of immune cells but also on non-immune cells. It has been demonstrated that IL-21 plays significant roles in the process of autoimmune diseases, inflammatory diseases and cancers. This review intends to give the reader an overview of this cytokine and the relationships between IL-21 and the related diseases of different body systems.


Biotic and abiotic heterogeneity in spatial and temporal scales were characterized for two areas of the xerophytic shrubland of the "Pedregal de San Ángel" (REPSA) ecological reserve. Nine floristic groups were identified and they showed a differential distribution of the plant species that inhabit this community. Each one of the groups was named according to the key species, therefore they were considered as determinants in the communities physiognomy. Through the use of multivariate analysis (TWINSPAN and CANOCO) we observed that species composition in the groups is modified in spatial and temporal scales. This study suggests that variation of some abiotic factors such as soil depth and slope influences differentially the systems heterogeneity. Temporal heterogeneity was evident since there was a different floristic composition in this area during the dry and the rainy season.


Abstract Numerous investigations and data on the development of smoke condensate and nicotine in German cigarettes, the changes in the market shares, the length of cigarettes smoked in laboratories and by the average consumer, and the per capita consumption of cigarettes in the Federal Republic of Germany were utilised in calculating the average delivery of smoke condensate and nicotine and for estimating the per capita consumption of moist and dry cigarette smoke condensate and the nicotine contained in it. In the period from 1961 to 1972 (for dry condensate figures are available only for 1966 to 1972) all these figures display a downward trend. Expressed in terms of the total population the reduction in moist condensate is about 28 %, nicotine about 27 % and dry condensate (for the shorter period 1966 to 1972) about 21 %. The percentages of smokers in the German population and among foreign workers, the development and age structure of the resident population and of the percentage of foreign workers were utilised to also ascertain from the above results the development of the condensate and nicotine consumption of the potential and actual smokers. The result is again a reduction of consumption of 27 % each for moist condensate and nicotine and 20 % for dry condensate (in the shorter period 1966 to 1972). If these figures are converted to the equivalent of cigarettes of the type smoked in 1961 the consumption of 22 cigarettes a smoker established for 1972 corresponds to a mere 11 cigarettes of the type smoked in 1961. The actual daily consumption at that time, however, was about 15 cigarettes a smoker


MicroRNAs play critical roles in tumorigenesis and metastasis. Here we report the functions of miR203 in prostate cancer based upon an experimental cell culture model. While highly expressed in prostate epithelial cells, miR203 became completely repressed following their epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT). Forced re-expression of miR203 in the mesenchymal cells induced many epithelial features, including morphological change in 2D and 3D culture, decreased abilities of invasion and migration, as well as increased epithelial markers and decreased mesenchymal markers. By computer prediction combined with microarray profiling and luciferase reporter target assays, we identified SNAI2 as target of miR203. Knock-down of SNAI2 can mimic the epithelial phenotypes induced by miR203. Most of the affected genes by miR203 were also found to be changed with the same pattern by knock-down of SNAI2. Furthermore, P-cadherin (CDH3), an important epithelial adhesion component, was identified as the downstream target of SNAI2. CDH3-promoter-Luc reporter assay demonstrated that 3 E-boxes in the CDH3 promoter mediated direct targeting by SNAI2. Decreased and increased expression of CDH3 were found in culture cells with overexpression and knock-down of SNAI2, respectively. We concluded that miR203 represses SNAI2, thus activating P-cadherin in induction of epithelial features. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4128. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-4128


Calculations of the two-loop β -function for N = 1 supersymmetric electrodynamics are compared for regularizations by higher derivatives and by the dimensional reduction. The renormalized effective action are found to be the same for both regularizations. However, unlike the dimensional reduction, the higher derivative regularization does not lead to anomaly puzzle, because it allows to perform correct calculation of diagrams with insertions of counterterms. In particular, using this method a contribution of diagrams with insertions of counterterms is calculated exactly to all orders. This contribution appears to be 0 if the theory is regularized by the dimensional reduction. We argue, that this result follows from mathematical inconsistency of the dimensional reduction and is responsible for the anomaly puzzle.


OBJECTIVEAge is commonly thought to be a risk factor in defining lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) degenerative or developmental subtypes. This article is a follow-up to a previous article ("Redefining Lumbar Spinal Stenosis as a Developmental Syndrome: An MRI-Based Multivariate Analysis of Findings in 709 Patients Throughout the 16- to 82-Year Age Spectrum") that describes the radiological differences between developmental and degenerative types of LSS. MRI-based analysis of "degeneration" variables and spinal canal morphometric characteristics of LSS segments have been thought to correlate with age at presentation.METHODSThe authors performed a re-analysis of data from their previously reported prospective MRI-based study, stratifying data from the 709 cases into 3 age categories of equal size (instead of the original < 60 vs ≥ 60 years). Relative spinal canal dimensions, as well as radiological degenerative variables from L1 to S1, were analyzed across age groups in a multivariate mode. The total degenerative scale score (TDSS) for each lumbar segment from L1 to S1 was calculated for each patient. The relationships between age and qualitative stenosis grades, TDSS, disc degeneration, and facet degeneration were analyzed using Pearson's product-moment correlation and multiple regression.RESULTSMultivariate analysis of TDSS and spinal canal dimensions revealed highly significant differences across the 3 age groups at L2-3 and L3-4 and a weaker, but still significant, association with changes at L5-S1. Age helped to explain only 9.6% and 12.2% of the variance in TDSS at L1-2 and L2-3, respectively, with a moderate positive correlation, and 7.8%, 1.2%, and 1.9% of the variance in TDSS at L3-4, L4-5, and L5-S1, respectively, with weak positive correlation. Age explained 24%, 26%, and 18.4% of the variance in lumbar intervertebral disc (LID) degeneration at L1-2, L2-3, and L3-4, respectively, while it explained only 6.2% and 7.2% of the variance of LID degeneration at L4-5 and L5-S1, respectively. Age explained only 2.5%, 4.0%, 1.2%, 0.8%, and 0.8% of the variance in facet degeneration at L1-2, L2-3, L3-4, L4-5, and L5-S1, respectively.CONCLUSIONSAge at presentation correlated weakly with degeneration variables and spinal canal morphometries in LSS segments. Age correlated with upper lumbar segment (L1-4) degeneration more than with lower segment (L4-S1) degeneration. The actual chronological age of the patients did not significantly correlate with the extent of degenerative pathology of the lumbar stenosis segments. These study results lend support for a developmental contribution to LSS.


ABSTRACT Objective: A new active safety concept that engages the driver's psychosensory pain-processing mechanism to automatically trigger vigilance enhancement on-demand was proposed in Chang (2012). This concept is based on the hypothesis that a human's pain threshold will decline as he or she becomes drowsy, consequently triggering the vigilance enhancer. The objective of this pilot study was to develop methods to test this hypothesis, the results of which could lead to further refinement of the hypothesis and methods, with the ultimate goal of developing new active safety concepts that exploit the driver's endogenous psychosensory pain-processing mechanisms. Preliminary results from a pilot study designed to test this hypothesis were presented in Chang (2016). This article presents further analysis of the pilot study data. Methods: Perceived pain responses of six healthy male participants were measured when their vigilance would be under stress. A time-varying thermal grill illusion (TGI) of pain was created using a custom steering wheel with an array of Peltier elements held in the participant's palm. The participant's pain responses to the TGI stimulus were recorded while changes in his vigilance were monitored using pre- and post-session Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) tests, in-session Percent Eyelid Closure (PERCLOS), and subjective Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS) ratings. The probability of pain response versus TGI temperature stimulus and vigilance measures were then estimated using logistic regression analysis. Results: The results indicate that the probability of pain response is correlated with the temperature stimuli and the vigilance state. The pain threshold tends to move up or down versus KSS depending on the participant for high-vigilance conditions, but tends to increase when the participant becomes increasing drowsy in low-vigilance conditions. These results were statistically significant for four of the six study participants. Conclusions: This limited pilot study observed that one's pain threshold may or may not initially decrease as originally hypothesized depending on the participant, but then increases as one becomes drowsier. While not definitive, the methods and results of this study may help to refine our hypotheses and design future studies in pursuit of detector-free on-demand driver vigilance enhancement that exploits our body's endogenous alert mechanism.


Objective This study aimed to develop an effective support vector machine (SVM) classifier based on the multi-modal data for detecting the main brain networks involved in group separation of premature ejaculation (PE). Methods A total of fifty-two patients with lifelong PE and 36 matched healthy controls were enrolled in this study. Structural MRI data, functional MRI data, and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data were used to process SPM12, DPABI4.5, and PANDA, respectively. A total of 12,735 features were reduced by the Mann–Whitney U test. The resilience nets method was further used to select features. Results Finally, 36 features (3 structural MRI, 7 functional MRI, and 26 DTI) were chosen in the training dataset. We got the best SVM model with an accuracy of 97.5% and an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.986 in the training dataset as well as an accuracy of 91.4% and an AUC of 0.966 in the testing dataset. Conclusion Our findings showed that the majority of the brain abnormalities for the classification was located within or across several networks. This study may contribute to the neural mechanisms of PE and provide new insights into the pathophysiology of patients with lifelong PE.


We have introduced a new class of stable organometallic Cr reagents (compounds 1-4) that are readily prepared, yet reactive enough to serve as precursors. They were used for ethylene tetramerization catalysis following stoichiometric activation by in situ protonation. This study highlights the importance of balancing stability with reactivity in generating an organometallic precursor that is useful in catalysis. Moreover, precursor 4 allowed for the isolation and crystallographic characterization of a room-temperature stable cationic species, (PNP)CrR2+ (R = o-C6H4(CH2)2OMe, PNP = iPrN(PPh2)2). This complex (5) may be used as a single component precatalyst, without any alkylaluminum reagents. This result provides an unprecedented level of insight into the kind of structures that must be produced from more complicated activation processes.


Zadie Smith's 2008 essay 'Two Paths for the Novel' identified two divergent directions taken by fiction writing of the 2000s. The contrast is drawn by recourse to two novels: Joseph O'Neil's Netherland (2008) is a paradigm of the 'lyrical realism' that Smith finds to be the dominant form of the novel, whereas Tom McCarthy's Remainder (2005) is a 'strong refusal' of this prevalent mode. Whilst acknowledging that Smith's essay is an important and helpful evaluation of the poles around which experimentation has been oriented, this chapter argues that even if these two particular novels might be 'antipodal', many of the important texts of the noughties have attempted, in various ways, to reconcile experimentation and realism. If the 1980s and the 1990s represented the high-water mark of postmodern hyperconscious metafiction and formal deviation, then the 2000s have been a decade in which writers have sought to digest these trends and, in some instances, move beyond them. In this chapter, I look to other models to establish a vocabulary for thinking through the relations between realism and experimentation. In place of Smith's divergent paths, I draw on David Lodge's idea of 'the novelist at the crossroads' and Andrzej Gasiorek's notion of post-war writers attempting to transcend the dichotomy between realism and experimentalism. I assess the ways in which the noughties have witnessed an accommodation of postmodernism. Precisely what it means to be narratologically and formally inventive has shifted for the post-millennial novel. I discuss texts by an established generation of writers who in the 2000s have stepped back from their formerly more explicitly experimental writing, and a younger generation whose innovative writing has come to the fore during this decade.


In order to improve the functional benefits and storage properties of soybean tofu, fermented tofu was developed using Pleurotus eryngii mycelia. The immune activities of water and methanol extracts of the tofu were investigated. The optimal medium for the growth of Pleurotus eryngii mycelia was PD broth medium and the optimal fermentation period for the tofu was 7 days. The water and methanol extracts of the fermented tofu induced the proliferation of spleen cells at above 0.01 μg/mL. The water extract increased IL-2, IFN-γ production, while the methanol extract increased IFN-γ synthesis. The water and methanol extracts of the fermented tofu induced the NO production in RAW264.7 macrophage cells at above 1 μg/mL and above 10 μg/mL concentration, respectively. The extracts also significantly increased the production of IL-6, TNF-α, IL-1β and GM-CSF in the cells. These results suggest that the tofu fermented with Pleurotus eryngii mycelia could be developed as a functional tofu.


We describe the design and performance evaluation of a new digital partial discharge (PD) recording system capable of real-time recording of PD pulse trains for later off-line computerized stochastic analysis. The new recording system consists of a custom two-channel PD digitizer coupled to a new 16-bit parallel digital interface installed in a personal computer. The digitizer is under software control with the resulting data being stored in binary files on the computer's hard disk. Since post-test analysis software run on the computer provides the needed stochastic analysis of the data files, the new system offers a unique capability to perform stochastic analysis on non-stationary PD data such as found in aging studies. By way of illustration, measurements were made of the time-varying stochastic behavior of ac-generated PDs in point-to-dielectric gaps in air where the insulation material was cast epoxy with aluminum oxide filler, extending the work reported previously. Sample analysis results are presented, demonstrating that the new system provides analysis results comparable with the results achieved by the existing NIST analog PD stochastic analysis system. Sample stochastic analysis results are presented demonstrating the additional insights possible with the new system. >


Disorder in chewing food is a major problem in patients with stroke, some of those who suffer from brain lesion, multiple sclerosis, and other diseases such as head and neck cancer. This kind of disorder causes significantly decreased food consumption and consequently malnutrition or dehydration and in severe cases leads to suffocation. It can also increase the rate of death during the first year after the stroke to 45%. Therefore, finding an appropriate and common pattern of cooperation of jaw muscles in the act of chewing can have a very important role in assisting the process of rehabilitation in these patients. In this article, to improve current rehabilitation techniques for patients with chewing problems, attempts have been made to investigate the physiology of human chewing and involved muscles in this process. Extracting synergy patterns of jaw muscles during chewing action was also carried out in this article using analysis of the main components of electromyogram signal and quantification of muscle activity. The results show that each individual applies the same motion during different times for chewing action. Moreover, cooperation and interaction of the involved muscles are maintained in this process during various times in which the share of masseter muscle is more than temporal one in this collaboration.


STUDY OBJECTIVES
To evaluate factors predicting the diagnostic yield of transbronchial biopsy (TBB) using endobronchial ultrasonography with a guide sheath (EBUS-GS) in small peripheral pulmonary lesions (PPLs) </= 30 mm in mean diameter.

DESIGN
Retrospective analysis.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
One hundred fifty-five consecutive patients with 158 small PPLs underwent TBB using EBUS-GS.

RESULTS
A definitive diagnosis was established by TBB using EBUS-GS in 106 PPLs (67%). The diagnostic yield of PPLs </= 15 mm in mean diameter (40%) was significantly lower than that of PPLs > 15 mm and </= 30 mm in mean diameter (76%; p < 0.001). PPLs in which the probe was positioned within the PPL on the endobronchial ultrasonography (EBUS) image had a higher diagnostic yield (83%) than PPLs in which the probe was positioned adjacent to the PPL (61%) or outside the PPL (4%; p < 0.001). There were no significant differences in diagnostic yield for underlying disease, location, CT scan bronchus sign, operator, or type of EBUS probe. In the multivariate analysis, only the position of the probe (within or adjacent to the PPL when judged against outside the PPL) was determined to be a significant factor predicting diagnostic yield. On the other hand, a pathologic diagnosis was established with the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth biopsy specimens in 65%, 80%, 87%, 91%, and 97% of PPLs, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
The position of the probe (ie, within or adjacent to the PPL) is a significant factor in predicting the diagnostic yield of TBB using EBUS-GS for small PPLs; the optimum number of biopsy specimens is at least five.


Objective(s): A combination of biological and microemulsion methods was used to synthesize silver nanoparticles for the first time. The applied method could be referred to as the biomicroemulsion method, which has the advantages of both biological and the microemulsion methods.Materials and Methods: In the present study, silver nanoparticles were synthesized in a water-in-oil biomicroemulsion using silver nitrate, which was solubilized in the water core of one microemulsion as the source of silver ions. In addition, a bacterial culture supernatant solubilized in the water core of another microemulsion was employed as the biological reducing agent, dodecane was used as the oil phase, and sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate was applied as the surfactant. Moreover, the antibacterial activity of the nanoparticles was investigated against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria by disc-diffusion method.Results: The UV-Vis absorption spectra, dynamic light scattering, and transmission electron microscopy were employed to characterize the presence, size distribution, and morphology of the nanoparticles, respectively. According to the results, the nanoparticles had the optimal conditions in terms of the size and distribution at the silver nitrate concentration of 0.001 M. In addition, the analysis of antibacterial activity indicated that the inhibition zone diameter of Staphylococcus aureus was higher compared to Escherichia coli.Conclusion: Silver nanoparticles were synthesized successfully using biomicroemulsion method and showed significant anti-bacterial activities against S. aureus and E. coli.


The applications of real-time systems have dramatically increased over recent years. Requirements for real-time systems need to specify timing constraints. In this paper, we augment the FRORL requirements specification language with constructs specifically geared towards capturing requirements of real-time systems. We give meaning to these constructs through temporal logic. The non-functional aspects of a specification such as temporal properties asserted of a real-time system and the consistency of timing constraints can be verified through model checking and graph-theoretical algorithms.


A voltage-controlled 8415-MHz FET oscillator stabilized by a dielectric resonator is described. The oscillator provides over 3.2-MHz linear electronic tuning range with a flat power output equal to +1.8 dBm (27 degrees C, nominal), a single-sideband noise-to-carrier ratio of -68 dBc/Hz at 1 kHz off carrier, and a frequency-temperature coefficient of 0.54 parts per million/ degrees C over a -24 degrees C to 75 degrees C range. The oscillator withstood 150 Krads (Si) of gamma radiation with no significant performance degradation. The overall performance of the FET oscillator is far superior in many ways to that of an equivalent bipolar oscillator for space applications. For space applications, the FET dielectric resonator oscillator (DRO) is preferred over bipolar DRO because of its lower DC power consumption, better thermal frequency stability, linear electronic tunability. and higher RF output power capability.<<ETX>>


This study aims to identify the effect of remittances on economic growth. The objects used in this study are five ASEAN countries, namely Indonesia, Cambodia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand, for the period 2005 to 2016. There are other variables, namely gross fixed capital formation, household consumption expenditure, trade, and population growth which are used as control variable in this model. This study uses a quantitative approach and panel data methods. As a result, there are significant and negative effects on remittances: significant and positive effects on gross fixed capital formation, significant and positive effects on household consumption expenditures, significant and positive effects on trade, and significant and negative effects on population growth on economic growth in five countries. ASEAN.


Bipolar electrosurgery is part of the customary gynecologic surgical armamentarium providing isolated thermal effects and blood vessel occlusion. However, end points are not always predictable as hemostasis may require contiguous applications and thermal damage can significantly expand beyond the target zone. Unintentional transection of a patent vessel cannot be entirely reduced. Recent advances in bipolar technology provide more predictable vessel occlusion with less thermal damage. To date, there are 3 novel bipolar platforms, using either impedance feedback from the operative site to moderate output as pulsed current with lower voltage or by local regulation using nanotechnology within the jaws.


This paper addresses a data-driven prognostics method for the estimation of the Remaining Useful Life (RUL) and the associated confidence value of bearings. The proposed method is based on the utilization of the Wavelet Packet Decomposition (WPD) technique, and the Mixture of Gaussians Hidden Markov Models (MoG-HMM). The method relies on two phases: an off-line phase, and an on-line phase. During the first phase, the raw data provided by the sensors are first processed to extract features in the form of WPD coefficients. The extracted features are then fed to dedicated learning algorithms to estimate the parameters of a corresponding MoG-HMM, which best fits the degradation phenomenon. The generated model is exploited during the second phase to continuously assess the current health state of the physical component, and to estimate its RUL value with the associated confidence. The developed method is tested on benchmark data taken from the "NASA prognostics data repository" related to several experiments of failures on bearings done under different operating conditions. Furthermore, the method is compared to traditional time-feature prognostics and simulation results are given at the end of the paper. The results of the developed prognostics method, particularly the estimation of the RUL, can help improving the availability, reliability, and security while reducing the maintenance costs. Indeed, the RUL and associated confidence value are relevant information which can be used to take appropriate maintenance and exploitation decisions. In practice, this information may help the maintainers to prepare the necessary material and human resources before the occurrence of a failure. Thus, the traditional maintenance policies involving corrective and preventive maintenance can be replaced by condition based maintenance.


Decreasing waste materials through recycle has in the recent contributed to sustainable manufacturing in many textile industries for better resource utilization in textile mills. This has been given first priority in manufacturing, processing and finishing operations. Most of the time the yarn manufacturing and proper utilization of this material didn't give attention in most companies. Especially yarn length variation of packages, weaving beams and copes have very critical impact on those companies which manufacture and utilize yarn products. This variation problem has great impact on their productivity and profitability. This paper describes the application of a new formula in the yarn packaging process and it is accomplished by derivation a new formula that can determine the radius of any package. The formula has integrated the basic characteristics of yarn and fiber including yarn diameter, yarn/ fiber density and mass of the yarn coiled on the cop. Finally we have concluded that package radius is the quadratic function of yarn density and package mass on the cope.


Zinc tin oxide transparent thin film transistors (ZTO TTFTs) were fabricated by using Si wafers as gate electrodes. Indium (In), aluminum (Al), indium tin oxide (ITO), silver (Ag), and gold (Au) were employed for source and drain electrodes, and the mobility and the threshold voltage of ZTO TTFTs were observed as a function of electrode. The ZTO TTFTs adopting In as electrodes showed the highest mobility and the lowest threshold voltage. It was shown that Ag and Au are not suitable for the electrodes of ZTO TTFTs. As the results of this study, it is considered that the interface properties of electrode/ZTO are more influential in the properties of ZTO TTFTs than the conductivity of electrode.


This paper presents an efficient image sequence tracking method based on multiple cues fusion in the sequential monte carlo method. we combine background-weighted color histogram with edge histogram into sequential monte carlo algorithm for tracking. The color-based histogram is robust against noise and partial occlusion, but suffers from the presence of the confusing colors in the background. So, background-weighted color histogram is used to describe objects color feature. The edge feature may provide complementary information for tracking as well. Color histograms and edge histograms are used to model the object observations likelihoods function. These observations are used to obtain a posterior probability distribution for the location of the object in the sequence images based on sequential Monte Carlo method. The experiments on real image sequences have shown that the combination of color for tracking with other image feature can achieve more robust tracking.


The availability of complete genome sequences from numerous organisms has provided investigators with the challenge of assigning physiologic functions to the encoded gene products. To facilitate this process, multiple technologies have been developed to profile the transcriptome and the proteome, including methods to monitor the function of enzymes in complex biologic systems. These methods typically target specific classes of enzymes and attempt to correlate the enzymatic activity with the specific phenotype of interest. Here, technologies to measure enzymatic activity on a subproteomic scale are reviewed, including the authors' own efforts, which are based on self-assembled microarrays utilizing peptide nucleic acid-encoded small-molecule libraries.


The spark plasma sintering (SPS) method is advantageous for sintering metallic powders due to its ability to produce a sample with fine microstructure without defects and pores even at lower temperature and within a shorter time than that produced by conventional sintering process. It is reported that a degassing treatment prior to sintering by using the SPS method was reported to be a critical step for removing particle-particle boundaries (PBs) effectively. In spite of much research on sintering processes for Mg alloys by using the SPS method, systematic studies on the effect of degassing parameters such as the degree of vacuum, degassing pressure and degassing time, on the microstructural changes and the mechanical properties are lacking. In this study, the microstructural evolution and the mechanical properties of monocrystalline Mg-6% Al alloys were investigated to determine the degassing parameters prior to sintering to remove PBs completely and to obtain a magnesium alloy having high strength and high ductility.


Osteoporosis is characterized by increased bone loss and deterioration of bone microarchitecture, which will lead to reduced bone strength and increased risk of fragility fractures. Previous studies have identified many genetic loci associated with osteoporosis, but functional mechanisms underlying the associations have rarely been explored. In order to explore the potential molecular functional mechanisms underlying the associations for osteoporosis, we performed integrative analyses by using the publically available datasets and resources. We searched 128 identified osteoporosis associated SNPs (P<10−6), and 8 SNPs exert cis-regulation effects on 11 eQTL target genes. Among the 8 SNPs, 2 SNPs (RPL31 rs2278729 and LRP5 rs3736228) were confirmed to impact the expression of 3 genes (RPL31, CPT1A and MTL5) that were differentially expressed between human subjects of high BMD group and low BMD group. All of the functional evidence suggested the important functional mechanisms underlying the associations of the 2 SNPs (rs2278729 and rs3736228) and 3 genes (RPL31, CPT1A and MTL5) with osteoporosis. This study may provide novel insights into the functional mechanisms underlying the osteoporosis associated genetic variants, which will help us to comprehend the potential mechanisms underlying the genetic association for osteoporosis.


Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR T-cell) therapy represents an innovative and transformative therapy for patients with relapsed and/or refractory (R/R) hematological malignancies. CAR T-cell therapy was first approved in R/R diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia, today the use of CAR T-cell therapy has expanded to multiple myeloma and other lymphoma subtypes such as follicular and mantle cell lymphoma. It is also being explored in earlier lines of therapy in DLBCL. CAR T-cell therapy is associated with a unique toxicity profile and development of cytopenias post CAR T-cell therapy has been reported in all pivotal clinical trials and is now considered a related side effect. Here, we provide an in-depth evaluation of etiologies, consequences, and current management strategies for cytopenias following CAR T-cell therapy.


In the summer of 1905, Moritz Bromme, a tubercular factory worker and devoted Social Democrat, closed his autobiography by writing that he did not regard himself "as a martyr of a special kind. I know very well that 1 have hundreds of thousands of suffering comrades who have things just as bad as 1, and that there are many hundred thousands more who have an even worse and harder struggle for existence than I." Bromme was only one of several hundred German workers who left behind autobiographical materials of various kinds during the last two centuries. They are invaluable sources of information on German working class history, and are particularly useful for the study of working class consciousness (or the lack of it). Quantitative studies can reveal a great deal about the lives of workers in the past, but autobiographies are one of the very few sources which present the workers' own perceptions of their lives, and their consciousness of themselves within society. In the following pages I will discuss briefly some of the problems of using these autobiographies, examine two recent collections of workers' life histories, and finally suggest some new uses to which they might be put by social historians. Depending upon the definition of the term, "autobiographies" of German artisans, factory, and farm laborers published since about 1750 number between 150 and 300, about fifty of which are book-length memoirs. Most of these have appeared during the last seventy-five years, and many of them were written or edited by socialists, and published under the auspices of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD). Only a few were written by working women. Obviously most of the authors were literate and quite articulate. All of which raises the question of how representative of the working class as a whole the authors of workers' autobiographies are. Clearly writing and publishing an autobiography was something very few German workers did, and this sets the authors apart from most of their fellows. However, worker autobiographers devote much attention to their childhood, education, religious training, descriptions of work life, pay, housing,-travel, the customs and routine of everyday life. Surely these were common concerns for most working people, and we can learn much about them from the workers' memoirs. It should be emphasized that the autobiographies can best be regarded as useful additions to, rather than substitutes for, demographic and other statistical studies of working class life.


Fatigue, the enduring sensation of weakness, lack of energy, tiredness or exhaustion, is described by 40%-80% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis as their most disabling symptom with wide-ranging consequences for quality of life. Little attention has been paid to its multidimensional nature or to its reliability as a measure to evaluate progression of the disease. Low impact aerobic exercise affects the level of fatigue, and this same level of fatigue influences the exercise itself. We searched Medline, Cochrane Collaboration Register of Controlled Trials (CCRCT), Lilacs, PubMed and Scopus databases for randomized controlled trials (with appropriate description of methods, materials and results) on the assessment of fatigue and exercise. Review articles, case reports, letters to the editor and editorials were excluded. Of 121 references initially identified, 4 randomized controlled trials met the inclusion criteria. Two studies used the MAF scale (Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue), one used the MAC (Mental Adjustment to Cancer) fatigue scale, and all trials used POMS (Profile of Mood States) to assess fatigue. All four trials conducted a 12 week program of two to three times/ week and different periods of follow-up. Two studies used low impact aerobic exercise, one used dance-based exercise, and another study followed a home cardiopulmonary conditioning program using a stationary bicycle. While fatigue appears to be a reliable outcome measure in the clinical management of RA, especially when related to exercise prescription, further research is needed to evaluate the correlation between exercise, fatigue and quality of life, using fatigue scales validated to explore the different components of fatigue and its wide-ranging consequences.


This article provides an overview of the tax-exempt related issues for ambulatory surgery center joint ventures involving tax-exempt entities. The article analyzes the key points of analysis of the guidance released by the IRS, in particular General Counsel Memorandum 39862, Revenue Ruling 98-15, and Redlands Surgical Services v. Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service. These key points include whether the venture results in private inurement to insiders and whether the venture furthers the charitable purposes of the tax-exempt entity. The article also provides practical guidance to analyze the documents and structure of the joint venture to ensure compliance with the IRS guidance. These practical considerations include, among other things, whether the charitable purposes of the tax-exempt entity are clearly expressed in the documents and whether the tax-exempt entity has sufficient control over the joint venture to ensure the charitable purposes are being adhered to.


In this article a drawing by Palma il Giovane, now owned by the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung in Munich, is identified as a study for a painting by the same artist. The present whereabouts of this painting, which early on in the 17th century was in the collection of the Amsterdam merchant and art-lover Hendrick van Os, are unknown. Identification of the drawing was facilitated by the lengthy description of this work in Karel van Mander's biography of Palma Giovane in the Italian Lives of his Schilderboeck (Haarlem 1604). Van Mander describes the painting as showing Venus, Juno and Minerva seated at a table, while the angry Discord has just thrown the apple of discord in their midst. His description of the Van Os painting conforms perfectly, almost down to the smallest detail, with the Munich drawing. Van Mander, during his entire stay in Italy, never visited Venice. For his notion of Venetian painting he relied largely on the information he received from visitors to Venice and its surroundings or on Venetian works he had seen elsewhere, either in other Italian cities or in the Netherlands. For his description of Palma Giovanc's artistic skills Van Mander could rely on his firsthand knowledge of the painting owned by Hendrick van Os.


BACKGROUND
The cardioprotective role of adenosine in various models of ischemia-reperfusion, including adenosine supplementation to cardioplegic formulations, has been studied extensively. The appropriate dose of adenosine in humans is uncertain and could be limited by systemic hypotension or AV block.

METHODS AND RESULTS
An open-label, nonrandomized phase 1 adenosine dose-ranging study was performed. Patients scheduled for primary isolated coronary bypass surgery were eligible for the study. Antegrade warm blood potassium cardioplegia (ratio, 4:1, blood to crystalloid) was administered in the routine fashion, with adenosine added to the initial 1000-mL dose and final 500-mL dose. Patients were studied in blocks of 4 per concentration. An escalating adenosine dosage schedule was planned to produce blood cardioplegia concentrations from 0 to 250 mumol/L, and the blocks were tested sequentially. Stopping rules were defined for systemic hypotension (phenylephrine dose during cardiopulmonary bypass > or = 5.0 mg; phenylephrine dose during cardioplegic induction > or = 800 micrograms) and AV block (permanent pacemaker insertion; temporary pacing dependency for > 90 minutes after cardiopulmonary bypass). Doses of 1, 2.5, 5, 10, and 25 mumol/L were well tolerated. With 50 mumol/L, systemic hypotension occurred during cardioplegic induction in 3 of 4 patients versus 1 of 24 (P < .005) at all lower concentrations (880 +/- 217 versus 297 +/- 286 micrograms phenylephrine per patient). The studies were repeated with an 8:1 blood-to-crystalloid cardioplegia delivery system. Adenosine concentrations of 0 (n = 4), 15 (n = 12), 20 (n = 8), and 25 mumol/L (n = 4) were tested. Hypotension during cardioplegic induction was more prevalent (P = .05) with the higher doses (15 mumol/L, 394 +/- 189 micrograms, 1 of 12 patients; 20 mumol/L, 360 +/- 355 micrograms, 2 of 8 patients; 25 mumol/L, 600 +/- 478 micrograms, 2 of 4 patients). There were no differences with respect to systemic hypotension during cardiopulmonary bypass or for pacing > 90 minutes after discontinuation of cardiopulmonary bypass, and no patient required permanent pacing. There have been no deaths, Q-wave myocardial infarctions, intra-aortic balloon pump insertions, or cerebral infarctions in the total sample of 56 patients.

CONCLUSIONS
Our initial investigations have shown that adenosine can be safely administered during cardiopulmonary bypass. The authors recommend that further studies are warranted using adenosine 15 to 25 mumol/L, depending on the delivery system.


The introduction of naphthol derivatives that exhibit excited-state acidities comparable to strong mineral acids, has opened the way for direct investigation of ultrafast proton-transfer in aqueous solutions and alcohols. We report on the direct measurement of the isotope and temperature effects on 5-cyano-1-naphthol excited-state proton dissociation in the full composition range of water-methanol mixtures. The results indicate that in pure water the proton-transfer rate is almost activationless in the proton coordinate and is mainly controlled by the solvent. In pure methanol the reaction shows down considerably and is mainly controlled by activation along the proton coordinate.


Abstract Due to the rapid increase in the demand for information that supports tourists after, before, and during the trip, many tour systems are available. However, these systems are not able to successfully replace a human facilitator that is expensive to hire. The primary key qualities of a human tourist guide are his/her knowledge, communication skills, and interpretation of destination attractions. Traditional tourist facilitator systems are lacking in these qualities. The main idea of the research is to design an agent to guide tourists, provide them accurate information about visitable places, without having any bound for a specific region and it will have human-like communication skills along with the point of interest knowledge, which depends on its internal knowledge base as well as its online searching techniques.


Desalination was for long considered a technology too expensive to adopt in most arid countries except those with large reserves of fossil fuels and affluent economies. Recent advances in desalination technology have abolished this old paradigm and have increased its market share in many arid and semi-arid countries. Nevertheless, the introduction of a desalination plant will inevitably be associated with several potential adverse environmental impacts particularly on the marine ecosystem as a result of effluent (brine) discharge. This paper focuses on simulating the dispersion of the brine plume in the marine environment by considering the heated effluent from a desalination-power plant in the Gulf region. Various scenarios were defined and simulated using the CORMIX model to compare the mixing behavior and efficiency of surface, submerged single-port as well as submerged multi-port outfalls taking temperature variations as an indicator. The simulations capitalized on the inadequacy of widely used surface channel discharges in achieving the required dilution rates capable of minimizing potential environmental impacts on the Gulf. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to identify most influencing input parameters on simulation results as well as evaluate management options to minimize adverse impacts of desalination-related marine discharge.


Acute hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection could lead to acute liver failure (ALF), which requires liver transplantation (LT). HEV infection could progress to chronic infection in an immunosuppressed host. De novo autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a rare occurrence of AIH during post‐LT immunosuppressive therapy in patients who underwent LT due to not AIH but some other etiology. Here, we report the first case of ALF due to HEV infection, the recurrence of HEV after LT that responded to ribavirin therapy, and then the development of de novo AIH showing a complete response to glucocorticoid therapy but multiple relapses after steroid withdrawal. This peculiar case suggests that HEV could have a pathogenic role in the development of the de novo AIH; additionally, this case report could help clinicians make therapeutic decisions in the post‐LT condition.


In this workshop, participants will gain hands-on experience which will prepare them to lecture and perform active learning exercises with the Ubiquitous Presenter (UP) system. UP (in use by more than 10 faculty at over 6 institutions), is a web-based system which enables instructors (with a Tablet PC) to incorporate the best of chalk and digital presentations and automatically archives materials for student review. Additionally, UP supports a range of active learning, problem-based learning and JITT styles. Students equipped with web-enabled devices (laptops, cell phones, Tablets, etc.) can interact anonymously with instructor provided activities in and outside the classroom. Many modalities of student interaction are supported including multiple choice selection, typed text, and free form ink drawing or writing - allowing students to control and select their preferred form of interaction. Student response to UP has been very positive across a number of engineering courses. Specifically, students indicate that seeing and reviewing other students' anonymously submitted answers both in and outside of class improved their confidence in their abilities in the class.


Energy crisis due to extensive uses of fossil fuel and environmental issues caused by unsustainable uses of energy driving the world and Indonesian government to accelerate the usage of renewable energy such as hydro, wind and solar. One of the government approaches is to implement a program called Independent Energy Village (IEV). Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewables (HOMER) serves to design a micropower systems and to facilitate the comparison between some of power generation technologies. Researcher models the power system based on the physical behavior and overall cost, which are the total cost of installation and operation of the system during operation of the system. HOMER allows researcher to compare various forms of system designs technically and economically. This research was conducted in the village of Lombongo, District Suwawa, in Bone-Bolango Gorontalo. Some of the modeling results showed that the combination of micro-hydro and solar power have the most favorable economic value if operated over 25 years with a Net Present Cost (NPC) is US$ -369,087.00 and a Level Cost of Energy (LCOE) of -0.106 US$/kWh below the level energy costs of PLN at 0.116 US$/kWh in whch made this hybrid plant is very competitive. The hybrid plant has micro-hydro generating capacity of 58,9 kW with annual production of 657,384 kW, while solar power plant with a production capacity of 15,7 kW per year 20.091 kW.


We have measured temperature and magnetic-field dependences of the thermal conductivity of single crystals of the frustrated two-leg spin-ladder system BiCu2PO6 in magnetic fields up to 14 T. It has been found that the temperature dependence of the thermal conductivity along every principal crystallographic axis shows two peaks in zero field but that the magnitude of the thermal conductivity along the b-axis parallel to spin ladders, κb, is significantly larger than those of the thermal conductivity along the a-axis, κa, and along the c- axis, κc, at high temperatures above 7 K. These results suggest that the thermal conductivity due to spins probably exists only in κb. Furthermore, it has been found that both magnetic-field dependences of κa and κb at 3 K show kinks at ~ 7 T and ~ 10 T, where the spin state may change.


This paper introduces a discriminative method for semiautomated segmentation of the tumorous tissues. Due to the large data of 3D MR brain images and the blurry boundary of the pathological tissues, the segmentation is difficult. A non-parametric Bayesian Gaussian process is proposed to be used for the semi-supervised mode. This discriminative method uses both labeled data and a subset of unlabeled data sampling from 2D/3D images to classify the remains, which is called inductive problem. We propose the prior of traditional Gaussian process to be based on graph regularization and develop a new conditional probability named Extended Bernoulli Model to realize the induction. Fast algorithm to speed up the training phase is also implemented. Experimental results show our approach produces satisfactory segmentations corresponding to the manually labeled results by experts.


The growing practice of including intentional injuries (suicide and interpersonal violence) under the injury control umbrella has produced some controversy. The present study was designed to determine whether or not there might be an empirical basis for this initiative from an ecological point of view by examining the associations among unintentional and intentional injuries across 17 geographically defined health regions. The study was set in the Province of Alberta, Canada, where health services were delivered to a population of 2.96 million persons in 1999 through 17 regional health authorities. The results of a principal components analysis showed that nearly all causes of injury-hospitalization loaded on a single factor. It was not possible to produce separate factors for intentional and unintentional injuries. The strong intercorrelation among all measures suggests that there is an empirical basis for the view that intentional and unintentional injuries belong under the same conceptual umbrella, at least at the ecological level.


Magic is a property of quantum states that enables universal fault-tolerant quantum computing using simple sets of gate operations. Understanding the mechanisms by which magic is created or destroyed is, therefore, a crucial step towards efficient and practical fault-tolerant computation. We observe that a random stabilizer code subject to coherent errors exhibits a phase transition in magic, which we characterize through analytic, numeric and experimental probes. Below a critical error rate, stabilizer syndrome measurements remove the accumulated magic in the circuit, effectively protecting against coherent errors; above the critical error rate syndrome measurements concentrate magic. A better understanding of such rich behavior in the resource theory of magic could shed more light on origins of quantum speedup and pave pathways for more efficient magic state generation.


Bjelic-caBrilO, O., D. KOstic, e. POPOvic, M. cirKOvic, N. aleKsic and j. lujic, 2011. Helminth fauna of the bank vole Myodes glareolus (rodentia, arvicolinae) on the territory of Fruska Gora Mountain (serbia) – a potential source of zoonoses. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 17: 829-836 the quantitative and qualitative composition of the helminth fauna of 588 bank voles (Myodes glareolus) from the territory of Fruska Gora Mountain (serbia) were analysed with the aim to determine if the species is a natural reservoir of any zoonotic infection. The presence of nine nematode and five cestodes species was detected. the following roundworm species were revealed: Capillaria murissylvatici (Dieseng, 1851, Nematoda: capillariidae), Trichocephalus muris (schrank, 1788, Nematoda: trichuriidae), Heligmosomoides glareoli (Baylis, 1928, Nematoda: Heligmosomidae), H. polygirus (Dujardin, 1845), Heligmosomum mixtum (schulz, 1954, Nematoda: Heligmosomidae), Aspiculuris tetraptera (Nitzsch, 1821, Nematoda: Oxyuridae), Syphacia petrusewiczi (Bernard, 1996, Nematoda: Oxyuridae), S. stroma (linstow, 1884, Nematoda: Oxyuridae) and Rictularia proni (seurat, 1915, Nematoda: rictulariidae). two species of adult tapeworms parasitized the bank vole: Catenotaenia henttoneni (Kirschenblatt, 1949, cestoda: catenotaeniidae) and Hymenolepis asymmetrica (janicki, 1904, cestoda: Hymenolepididae), and three in the larval stage: Taenia martes (Zeder, 1803, cestoda: taeniidae), Taenia polyacantha (leuckart, 1856, cestoda: taeniidae) and Mesocestoides lineatus (Goeze, 1782, cestoda: Mesocestoididae). the largest number of hosts was infected with Heligmosomoides glareoli and Catenotaenia henttoneni. in addition, three larval tapeworms important for veterinary science and medicine were recovered: Taenia martes, Tatratirotaeina polyacantha and Mesocestoides lineatus. For these, the bank vole is an important intermediate host. Given the fact that, up until now, the bank vole has not been researched for parasite fauna, it is a new host for all determined helminth species. the results obtained contribute to the knowledge on helminth fauna of rodents in serbia, which was not thoroughly studied so far.


Objective: We aimed to assess the cytological findings from fine-needle aspiration (FNA) of breast lesions with conventional smear (CS) and SurePath® (SP) cytology. Study Design: This was a cross-sectional study of women who underwent FNA from January 2012 to June 2013 for breast lesions with benign ultrasonography impressions in Fortaleza, Brazil. Two groups were formed. The first was composed of 102 samples subjected to CS and the second of 65 samples subjected to SP. The number of smears, the cellularity and the diagnostic hypotheses were compared. Fisher's exact tests with 95% confidence intervals were applied. Results: The women ranged in age from 22 to 75 years. SP cytology indicated greater cellularity than CS for the cystic lesions (p < 0.05). In the CS group, 72.5% of the samples required 3-4 slides, but in the SP group, only 9.2% required a second slide. The cellularity of the cystic samples was significantly greater with the SP method (p < 0.01). Conclusion: In FNA cytology of the breast, SP is a tool that is comparable to CS, but with the added benefits of better cellularity results for cystic lesions and requiring fewer slides for analysis.


In hydrocarbon drilling, mud filtrate penetrates permeable formations, and alters the pore fluid characteristics in the immediate vicinity of the borehole. Typically, the prevailing in-situ pore fluids are displaced by the invading mud filtrate, which leads to gradually changing distributions of the fluid and electrical properties. Understanding this invasion process is crucial for the interpretation of logging data and associated reservoir evaluations. Conventional logging methods tend to be inadequate for this purpose as their resolution is too low. We show that invasion depth can be determined from borehole radar data using an optimized antenna configuration and time-lapse measurement mode. A series of parametric sensitivity analyses provide information about the effects of variations of the rock and fluid properties on the identification and extraction of borehole radar signals reflected from the invasion front. Our results suggest that by embedding the radar antennas in cavities filled with an absorbing dielectric material, it is possible to minimize the interference arising from the metal components of the logging tool. In the simulated reservoir scenario, a time-lapse measurement mode with a time interval of at least 6 hours can reliably extract the radar signals reflected from the invasion front, and the proposed borehole radar has a lateral detection range from 0.15 to 1 m. A comprehensive range of parametric sensitivity analyses indicate that the signals reflected from the invasion front are principally influenced by oil viscosity, porosity, and mud and formation water salinity, as well as by molecular diffusion coefficient and cementation exponent. These properties and parameters should be carefully explored and assessed when applying borehole radar to evaluate mud invasion information in a reservoir environment.


list Convention. From it, the casual leader could not obtain an accurate impression of Baptist thought at all. The author, cocksure about nearly everything, allows little room for disagreement, even on matters long debated by Baptists. All of his views are in harmony with the main tenents of fundamentalism. As a matter of fact, like most fundamentalists, while expressing deep concern about the departure of youth from the Baptist fold when they enter college, he answers questions which college students have not asked for a century, if ever.


ABSTRACT Background: In addiction research, outcome measures are often characterized by bimodal distributions. One mode can be for individuals with low substance use and the other mode for individuals with high substance use. Applying standard statistical procedures to bimodal data may result in invalid inference. Mixture models are appropriate for bimodal data because they assume that the sampled population is composed of several underlying subpopulations. Objectives: To introduce a novel mixture modeling approach to analyze bimodal substance use frequency data. Methods: We reviewed existing models used to analyze substance use frequency outcomes and developed multiple alternative variants of a finite mixture model. We applied all methods to data from a randomized controlled study in which 30-day alcohol abstinence was the primary outcome. Study data included 73 individuals (38 men and 35 women). Models were implemented in the software packages SAS, Stata, and Stan. Results: Shortcomings of existing approaches include: 1) inability to model outcomes with multiple modes, 2) invalid statistical inferences, including anti-conservative p-values, 3) sensitivity of results to the arbitrary choice to model days of substance use versus days of substance abstention, and 4) generation of predictions outside the range of common substance use frequency outcomes. Our mixture model variants avoided all of these shortcomings. Conclusions: Standard models of substance use frequency outcomes can be problematic, sometimes overstating treatment effectiveness. The mixture models developed improve the analysis of bimodal substance use frequency.


Cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (CI/R) injury is a serious complication when treating patients experiencing ischemic stroke. Although the microRNA miR-27a-3p reportedly participates in ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury, its actions in CI/R remain unclear. To mimic CI/R in vitro, HT22 cells were subjected to oxygen glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R). The results indicate that OGD inhibited growth and induced apoptosis among HT22 cells. The apoptosis was accompanied by increases in activated caspases 3 and 9 and decreases in Bcl-2. Oxidative stress was also increased, as indicated by increases in ROS and malondialdehyde and decreases in glutathione and superoxide dismutase. In addition, OGD induced G1 arrest in HT22 cells with corresponding upregulation of FOXO1 and p27 Kip1, suggesting the cell cycle arrest was mediated by FOXO1/p27 Kip1 signaling. Notably, FOXO1 was found to be the direct target of miR-27a-3p in HT22 cells. MiR-27a-3p was downregulated in OGD/R-treated HT22 cells, and miR-27a-3p mimics partially or entirely reversed all of the in vitro effects of OGD. Moreover, miR-27a-3p agomir significantly alleviated the symptoms of CI/R in vivo in a rat model of CI/R. Thus, MiR-27a-3p appears to suppress CI/R injury by targeting FOXO1.


Automated immunoaffinity solid-phase extraction followed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and chemical analogue internal standardization is employed to detect and quantify the aflatoxins AFB(1), AFB(2), AFG(1), AFG(2), and the metabolites AFM(1) and AFP(1) in urine. The dynamic range of the method is nearly three orders of magnitude with limits of detection in the low femtogram on column range. The method was validated over a 12-day period by eight analysts. This method is suitable for agricultural, forensic, and public health laboratories during an accidental outbreak or a chemical terrorism event where a rapid and accurate diagnosis of aflatoxicosis is needed.


Heart Disease
Regular physical activity is associated with a lower rate of death from heart disease, but the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Frodermann et al. examined the effect of exercise on cardiovascular inflammation, a known risk factor for atherosclerosis, by studying mice that voluntarily ran for long distances on exercise wheels. They found that these physically active mice had fewer inflammatory cells (leukocytes) than sedentary mice, an effect they traced to diminished activity of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs). The lower activity of HSPCs was due at least in part to exercise-induced reduction in the levels of leptin, a hormone produced by fat tissue that regulates cells within the hematopoietic bone marrow niche.

Nat. Med. 25 , 1761 (2019).


Evaporative water loss is of significant importance in many fields ranging from
hydrology and agriculture, to food science and engineering applications. Water
removal from industrial effluent streams, food processing industry and the biodiesel
conversion process from microalgae is an important step in wastewater and sludge
treatment, harvesting and drying of crops. The purpose of the experiment was to
observe the characteristics of evaporation from class A pan and to enhance the rate
of evaporation flux by using enhanced natural draft that showed Chu et al. in
(2012) by installing wire mesh on the chimney to impede cold inflow. This study
monitors the effect of natural draft flow enhancement on evaporation. Experiments
were conducted in square shape pan at three different. sizes. Dimensions of the
experimental pans were side lengths 1.07m, 0.6m and 0.6m; depth 0.254m,
0.254m and 0.2m respectively. The solid wall type solar irradiated chimney was
used to enhance natural draft in this research. There were two designs of solar
irradiated naturally ventilated pan (SINVAP). The specification for Design-1 category
SINVAP was 0.105m2,0.28m2 and 0.77m for inlet opening area, outlet opening
area and solid wall chimney height respectively. The dimensions 8.65x10-3 m2,
0.26m2 and 1.2m were the corresponding values of Design-2 type SINVAP. A
0.64mmxO6. 4mm size wire mesh was installed at the outlet of the SINVAP to
impede cold inflow in the SINVAP. Over about 100 days evaporation readings were
taken using the different pan configurations. The experimental result showed the
evaporation flux from the SINVAP with wire mesh at outlet opening was around
14% more than the open pan; in the SINVAP without wire mesh at outlet opening
was lower than the open pan evaporation rate. The SINVAP evaporation flux was
found to be moderately influenced by the net radiation, vapor pressure deficit and
natural ventilation draft. The daily average net radiation in the SINVAP water was
reduced due to reflection of incoming global radiation at the transparent plastic
sheet. Reduction of net radiation in the SINVAP could have caused evaporation to
be lower than open pan. The vapor pressure deficit followed the opposite trend of
net radiation; as a result, the evaporation flux from the SINVAP with wire mesh has
been increased. The elevated vapor deficit in the SINVAP with wire mesh could
have caused evaporation to be higher than the open pan. This research found the
average local wind run over the open pan was higher than the SINVAP inlet air
flow. The nature of the local wind flow profile was unsteady and always fluctuated.
However, the inlet air flow profile in the SINVAP was smooth, with little fluctuation.
The smooth inlet air flow in the SINVAP was instrumental in transferring higher
amount of water vapor molecules from the pan into the air. According to the
findings of this study, the use of Chu et al., (2012) enhanced natural draft in the
application fields of pond natural evaporation seems promising. The dimensions if
chosen properly can thus substantially increase evaporation rates.


The paper illustrates the implementation and semantic enhancement of a domain-oriented Question-Answering system based on a pattern-matching chat bot technology, developed within an industrial project, named FRASI. The main difficulty in building a KB for a chat bot is to handwrite all possible question-answer pairs that constitute the KB. The proposed approach simplifies the chat bot realization thanks to two solutions. The first one uses an ontology, which is exploited in a twofold manner: to construct dynamic answers as a result of an inference process about the domain, and to automatically populate, off-line, the chat bot KB with sentences that can be derived from the ontology, describing properties and relations between concepts involved in the dialogue. The second one is to preprocess user sentences, and to reduce them to a simpler structure that can be referred to existing elements of the chat bot KB. The enhanced symbolic reduction of user questions and the automatic population of question templates in the chat bot KB from domain ontology have been implemented as two computational services (external modules).


Abstract Large Australian and Swiss banks have been trimming their workforces since the mid-1990s. With further rounds of downsizing activities predicted, this study sought to identify, examine, and compare the adopted organizational downsizing implementation strategies. The primary purpose of this cross-cultural study was to determine how large Australian and Swiss banks implemented downsizing in their most recent endeavors. The research has revealed three key findings. First, Australian banks primarily adopted workforce reduction strategies, whereas Swiss banks employed a mixture of organization redesign, workforce reduction, and systemic strategies. Second, Australian banks had considerable depth in their downsizing, whereas Swiss banks had more breadth in their overall strategies. Third, Australian banks favored reorientation approaches, whereas Swiss banks embraced reinforcement approaches. It remains unclear as to why large Australian and Swiss banks differed in the selection of implementation strategies and why they diverged in their overall approaches to downsizing. Further research is required to explore aspects that are likely to influence the adoption of downsizing strategies in both Australia and Switzerland.


This paper presents a localization system for mobile robots that are able to navigate autonomously in industrial environments like factory and exhibition halls. Previous approaches show that ceiling structures like beams, pipes and lighting installation are well-suited for self-localization in large halls. With this paper we describe how to use ceiling structures, measured with a 3D laser range sensor, as natural landmarks. Due to the novel relative representation of 3D ceiling features this method can be used in a wide range of industrial halls with sloped, stepped and even curved ceiling structures. In addition to this new algorithm the paper presents experimental results with an autonomous fork lift working without the need for artificial landmarks or extra infrastructure.


Under pathological conditions, the Janus kinase (JAK)/STAT signaling pathway can regulate the proliferation, differentiation and migration of tumor cells, including colorectal cancer (CRC). CRC is the third major types of cancer among males and the second among females worldwide. In China, CRC is the fifth common cancer among both males and females. Western blotting, flow cytometry, RNA interference, immunoprecipitation, xenografts models, and immunohistochemical staining were carried out to evaluate the possible mechanisms of acton of ruxolitinib. The present data suggested that ruxolitinib can suppress CRC cell proliferation by inducing apoptosis. Firstly, JAK1/2-STAT1 was identified as the target of ruxolitinib. Then, ruxolitinib downregulated myeloid cell leukemia-1 (Mcl-1) mRNA level and decreased its protein level, which enabled Bak to trigger CRC apoptosis. Furthermore, ruxolitinib exerted potent activity against CRC xenograft growth in vivo. High expression of phosphorylated STAT1 (S727) was also confirmed in 44 pairs of human colon carcinoma and adjacent normal tissues. Taken together, the results showed that ruxolitinib decreased JAK1/2-STAT1-Mcl-1 protein level and effectively suppressed CRC cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, ruxolitinib could be a promising anticancer agent for CRC treatment.


This study examines 2,933 cases of Japanese investment in 27 provinces and regions in China to identify the role that policy determinants had in influencing the sub-national location decision of Japanese firms in China. The empirical results show that the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and Opening Coastal Cities (OCCs) were a successful policy instrument initially, as SEZs and OCCs had a strong influence on Japanese foreign investment during the early years of China's liberalized foreign investment environment. Since the mid-1990s SEZs and OCCs have attracted proportionally less foreign investment as competition from other special investment zones has intensified in China. From these observations, we discuss the periodic influence of SEZs and OCCs and introduce and review the influence of newly emerging investment zones. We also draw inferences to the location choice literature in terms of understanding the variable influence of policy factors and traditional locational indicators as driven by temporal changes in investor motivations and preferences in a country.


Objective. To determine the effect of laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) on weight loss and the association between initial body mass index (BMI) and successful weight loss, defined as >50% excess weight loss (EWL) among obese Filipino adults at St. Luke's Medical Center. Methodology. Data from 97 patients who were at least 18 years old at the time of gastric banding were reviewed retrospectively. Patient follow-up was poor 2 years post-surgery, which precluded analysis of follow-up data beyond 2 years. Changes in weight loss parameters from baseline to the different observation periods were carried out using paired t- test.  To determine the association of different factors with success in weight loss, Independent t-test and Chi-square tests were used.  A p-value ≤0.05 was considered significant. Results. Majority of the patients were female (61%) and Southeast Asian (77%). Ages ranged from 18 to 68 years. Mean BMI was 44.1 ± 0.1 kg/m 2 and mean excess weight was 61.4 ± 26.5 kg. Excess weight loss of 43.84 ± 25.09% and BMI reduction of 21.54 ± 13.39% were attained at 2 years.  Lower initial BMI with a mean of 38.12±3.28 kg/m 2 was associated with successful weight loss, 1 year after gastric banding (p<0.001). Conclusion.  Patients attained 43.84% EWL 2 years after gastric banding. Those with higher initial BMI were less likely to achieve successful weight loss 1 year after gastric banding.


Antisera prepared against the purified transaldolases of five species of Bifidobacterium were used to establish natural relationships among the 21 species that presently comprise this genus. The degree of phylogenetic relatedness among the respective members of this genus was estimated from the results of qualitative and quantitative immunological procedures in which the enzymes served as an evolutionary marker. The results are presented in the form of a phylogenetic dendrogram.


Cisplatin treatment results in acute kidney injury (AKI) by the phosphorylation of mixed lineage kinase domain-like protein (MLKL). The knockout of MLKL, which is a principle mediator of necroptosis, is believed to alleviate the AKI symptoms. The present study was aimed to improve the therapeutic efficacy in AKI. For this purpose, miR-500a-3P was identified as appropriate miRNA therapeutics and loaded in liposome delivery carrier. The authors have showed that the miR-LIP directly controls the expression of RIPK3 and MLKL - a modulator of necroptosis and thereby reduces the severity of kidney injury. The miR-LIP significantly controlled the phosphorylation of MLKL compared to that of CDDP-treated HK2 cells. Similar results are observed with RIPK3. The miR-LIP has also been demonstrated to control the inflammatory response in tubular cells. Western blot analysis further revealed that the phosphorylation of P-65 was mainly responsible for the inflammatory response and miR-LIP significantly decreased the CDDP-induced NF-kB phosphorylation. Overall, the present study explored the molecular mechanism behind the necroptosis in AKI and potential of miRNA in targeting MLKL pathways. Study further highlights the potential advantage of liposome as a delivery carrier for miRNA therapeutics.


Combinatorial optimization is the search for an optimal configuration of a set of variables to accomplish certain goals. One of the well-known combinatorial optimization problems is the timetabling problem, with a lot of research conducted in the past few decades to investigate a variety of methodologies to solve it. One of the blossoming recent methodologies is hyper-heuristics, which attempts to automate the algorithm design process so that it would be able to work with different sets of problem domains. This paper focuses on the university course timetabling problem (UCTP) as the case of study, and proposes the use of a competitive iterated local search approach strengthened with an add-delete hyper-heuristic. The hyper-heuristic utilizes an adaptive heuristic generation mechanism through a variable-sized list of add and delete operations. The algorithm was enhanced with the use of a novel approach to construct a good feasible initial solution and strengthened with a diversifying mechanism to allow more exploration over large search spaces to find a global rather than local near optimal solution. The proposed work was tested with the ITC2007 benchmark datasets, and experiments show promising results and give better average performance when compared to recent approaches in the literature that work on similar timetabling problems.


We report our investigations on a compact high-performance rubidium (Rb) vapour-cell clock based on microwave-optical double-resonance (DR). These studies are done in both DR continuous-wave (CW) and Ramsey schemes using the same Physics Package (PP), with the same Rb vapour cell and a magnetron-type cavity with only 45 cm3 external volume. In the CW-DR scheme, we demonstrate a DR signal with a contrast of 26% and a linewidth of 334 Hz; in Ramsey-DR mode Ramsey signals with higher contrast up to 35% and a linewidth of 160 Hz have been demonstrated. Short-term stabilities of 1.4×10-13 τ-1/2 and 2.4×10-13 τ-1/2 are measured for CW-DR and Ramsey-DR schemes, respectively. In the Ramsey-DR operation, thanks to the separation of light and microwave interactions in time, the light-shift effect has been suppressed which allows improving the long-term clock stability as compared to CW-DR operation. Implementations in miniature atomic clocks are considered.


Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common leukemia in Western countries, and mainly originates from an accumulation of abnormal B cells caused by the dysregulation of cell proliferation and apoptosis rates. The aberration of apoptosis-related genes in CLL cells results in defective apoptosis of CLL cells in response to traditional therapeutic medicine. Plumbagin (5-hydroxy-2-methyl-1, 4-naphthoquinone), a natural compound from Plumbago zeylinica, has been shown to exhibit pro-apoptotic activities in tumor cells. In the present study, we report that plumbagin effectively inhibited CLL cell viability with a lower dose compared to fludarabine, and inhibited cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, plumbagin promoted accumulation of MEC-1 cells in the S phase, and blocked cell cycle transition of HG3 cells from G0/G1 to S phase. Molecularly, plumbagin markedly induced CLL cell apoptosis through reduction of Bcl-2, but through an increase in the Bax protein level. These results suggest that plumbagin may be considered as a potential anticancer agent for CLL therapy.


"Echoes From Surgery's Valhalla" deals with the founders' group of the Central Surgical Association who now reside in Valhalla, a mythical Nordic resting place assigned to persons of special honor who have left this world. Twelve members of the founders' group are recalled to the meeting, and questions are posed by the president, covering the composition, scope, and administration of the association as these relate to the future. The president extrapolates from the founders' group records on file in theArchives. The philosophy of the president is presented at the conclusion of the interviews with the deceased members of the founders' group. The accomplishments and honors which have accrued to the members of the association are documented.


To many observers, Anastasio Somoza, who ruled Nicaragua from 1936 until his assassination in 1956, personified the worst features of a dictator. While not dismissing these characteristics, Knut Walter argues that the regime was in fact more notable for its achievement of stability, economic growth, and state building than for its personalistic and dictatorial features. Using a wide range of sources in Nicaraguan archives, Walter focuses on institutional and structural developments to explain how Somoza gained and consolidated power. According to Walter, Somoza preferred to resolve conflicts by political means rather than by outright coercion. Specifically, he built his government on agreements negotiated with the country's principal political actors, labor groups, and business organizations. Nicaragua's two traditional parties, one conservative and the other liberal, were included in elections, thus giving the appearance of political pluralism. Partly as a result, the opposition was forced to become increasingly radical, says Walter; eventually, in 1979, Nicaragua produced the only successful revolution in Central America and the first in all of Latin America since Cuba's.


We report a comprehensive study on the surface structural and electronic properties of TaTe2 at room temperature. The surface structure was investigated using both low energy electron diffraction intensity versus voltage and density functional theory calculations. The relaxed structures obtained from the two methods are in good agreement, which is very similar to the bulk, maintaining double zigzag trimer chains. The calculated density of states indicates that such structure originates from the trimer bonding states of the Ta dxz and dxy orbitals. This work will further provide new insights towards the understanding of the charge density wave phase transition in TaTe2 at low temperature.


In this note a method is described for the simultaneous analysis of spectinomycin and lincomycin using the ALEXYS Spectinomycin, Lincomycin Analyzer. The method is based on reversed phase chromatography in combination with a step gradient. Detection is accomplished using post-column addition of sodium hydroxide in combination with pulsed amperometric detection (PAD)[2]. n FlexCell with exchangeable gold electrode


This paper describes the design of a hardware/software system for rendering multi-point, localized vibrotactile feedback in a multi-touch musical interface. A prototype was developed, based on the Madrona Labs Soundplane, which was chosen for it provides easy access to multi-touch data, including force, and its easily expandable layered construction. The proposed solution makes use of several piezo actuator discs, densely arranged in a honeycomb pattern on a thin PCB layer. Based on off-the-shelf components, custom amplifying and routing electronics were designed to drive each piezo element with standard audio signals. Features, as well as electronic and mechanical issues of the current prototype are discussed.


Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. The MIT Faculty has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters. ABSTRACT We present a search for gravitational waves from 116 known millisecond and young pulsars using data from the fifth science run of the LIGO detectors. For this search, ephemerides overlapping the run period were obtained for all pulsars using radio and X-ray observations. We demonstrate an updated search method that allows for small 674 ABBOTT ET AL. Vol. 713 uncertainties in the pulsar phase parameters to be included in the search. We report no signal detection from any of the targets and therefore interpret our results as upper limits on the gravitational wave signal strength. The most interesting limits are those for young pulsars. We present updated limits on gravitational radiation from the Crab pulsar, where the measured limit is now a factor of 7 below the spin-down limit. This limits the power radiated via gravitational waves to be less than ∼2% of the available spin-down power. For the X-ray pulsar J0537−6910 we reach the spin-down limit under the assumption that any gravitational wave signal from it stays phase locked to the X-ray pulses over timing glitches, and for pulsars J1913+1011 and J1952+3252 we are only a factor of a few above the spin-down limit. Of the recycled millisecond pulsars, several of the measured upper limits are only about an order of magnitude above their spin-down limits. For these our best (lowest) upper limit on gravitational wave amplitude is 2.3×10 −26 for J1603−7202 and our best (lowest) limit on the inferred pulsar ellipticity is 7.0×10 −8 for J2124−3358.


This is a documentary research, transversal, descriptive and exploratory. We examined information about syllabus and programs relating to the core curriculum, in order to critically analyze how the teaching of ethics/bioethics and the other humanities is being designed in the course of Medicine UFRN, and which issues are addressed during their education, and the times when such matters are inserted. All required subjects (59 subjects) were analyzed, out of which were obtained the program of 39 (66.1%) and the syllabus of 54 (91.53%). Were detected three important moments in the course in which there was no inclusion of thematics refering to ethics/bioethics and humanities among the activities listed in the programs or syllabi. Doctor-patient relationship and the illegal practice of medicine were the most frequent themes. This research provides an underexplored overview of the teaching of ethics/bioethics and humanities in the medical course of UFRN, serving to support the improvement of education in ours and in other universities.


The participation of people from ethnic minorities in UK higher education is greater than that of White people. Nevertheless, students from ethnic minorities are less likely to obtain 'good' degrees (those awarded with first or upper second-class honours) than are White students. This article discusses some possible causes and implications of this attainment gap. It is equally apparent in graduates who have taken courses by distance learning with the Open University, including those who graduate in psychology, and it is equally apparent in the grades awarded to students who have taken the courses that make up the psychology degree. This pattern may apply to other groups who are the focus of attempts to widen access to UK higher education. It is premature to promote the idea of widening participation in such groups unless they can be guaranteed equity in terms of their subsequent attainment.