The investment policy of the voluntary pension funds is crucial in achieving a superior performance as their competitors. The investment duration, the target and the taxpayers' typology have an impact on the structure of the selected portfolios and the levels of accepted risk. In this context, the international turmoil in the financial markets was an important determinant of the current investment policy of the voluntary pension funds. The purpose of this paper is to divide the pension funds that are active in the OECD countries by risk levels using cluster analysis. This type of analysis divides data into clusters that are meaningful, useful or both. There are numerous ways in which clusters can be formed, the essential criterion of all the procedures being the attempt to maximize the difference between clusters relative to the variation within the cluster. In order to achieve this goal, secondary date was use, provided by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and covering the 2001-2009 period. The data provide annually information regarding the investments of the pension funds, as a percentage of the GDP and also their structure. The analysis demonstrated that there are mainly two groups, based on the risk profile. Even though the composition of the groups changes along the years due to the changes in the investment strategies of the pension funds, the number of clusters remains the same. The results show that, when selecting and optimizing the financial portfolio, the voluntary pension funds take into account the taxpayers' risk profile.


Objective:To study the value of CT diagnosis of atraumatic acute abdominal disease and how to select CT scan rationally.Methods:The CT diagnosis and findings of 319 cases of atraumatic acute abdominal disease were reviewed restrospectively as a result of the first place of the CT scan.Results:CT is suitable for the atraumatic acute abdominal disease patients with distinct age、sex and examined part (organ).No statiscally difference are found to the sex and examined part.But as age increases,CT can find disease easier.Conclusion:As CT is being perfected day by day,It can widely be used to determine the etiology of the atraumatic acute abdominal isease.CT is becoming a rapied、sensitive and effective means of diagnosis of atraumatic acute abdominal disease at present.


This work includes practical and theorethical part. Theoretical part describes historical developement of organ transplantation and imunosupresive therapy. This work deals with organization of organ extraction and transplantation, list of transplantation centres in Czech republic and main sources of transplantation legislation as well.The last chapture of the work deals with ethical questions considering the transplantation as a definition of brain death, approval with postmortem extraction of organs, ethical principles, alocation of organs, trade with organs and xenotransplantation.The main focus of the practical part is to investigate opinions and attitudes of the society by means of questionaire. The next topic of the practical part are feeligs of the patient after kidney transplantation, which is being investigated by the questionaire as well.


The thoughts and approaches of teacher development have changed in the paradigm transform from teacher education to teacher learning.Teaching feedback system is the fundamental field of teacher learning in the perspective of teacher learning.The system includes various potential forms of teacher learning: a)individual learning,including learning by reflection in action,learning of other's direct or reflective experience,and learning by reflection on action;b)team learning,including single-loop learning and double-loop learning.


This paper focuses on a type of worldwide art investment vehicle in an unexplored yet significant area: the Chinese art fund. It seeks to understand why art funds exploded in China after the 2008 financial crisis and how they have developed new features in the Chinese context. Further, it discusses the relationship between Chinese art funds and the Chinese art world. While these two groups tend to be what sociologists call "hostile worlds" in the West, my study shows that actors in the Chinese art world tend to take a pragmatic attitude toward capital. Thus, art funds face fewer social limitations in the Chinese art world than their Western counterparts. However, Chinese art funds face limitations in terms of accessibility, credibility, and liquidity. These limitations have been caused mainly by a series of regulations launched since 2013, which has primarily resulted in a decline of art funds in China.


We propose a general approach to directly implement rate constraints on the discretization mesh for all collocation methods, for both state and input variables. Unlike conventional approaches that may lead to singular control arcs, the solution of this on-mesh implementation has better properties. Moreover, computational speedups of more than 30% can be achieved by exploiting the properties of the resulting linear constraint equations.


PROJECT DESCRIPTION With their incredible potential to be chemically tuned for specific functions, materials encompass an amazing range of chemical systems from bioactive catalysts and structural matrices to photovoltaics. Despite this success, the "trial & error approach" employed for hard and soft materials has stifled advancements. Demand for further improvements in biomaterials is prompted by an aging global population and by the fact that the majority of people will require treatment for dental caries. The formation of Apatite, A5(XO4)3Z, is one important process for biocompatibility. Apatite is a class of phosphate minerals that can accept varied ion substitutions at the A, X and Z positions. Scientific researchers have used the A and X positions to produce various functions within apatite including ionic conduction and long-term nuclear waste storage. Earth scientists have utilized Z substitutions for petrology indicators within igneous and metamorphic rocks, including lunar research. Z-site substitutions (Z = OH, F or Cl) of hydroxyapatite (HA, Ca5(PO4)3OHX) is essential for calcification within living hard tissues including human dentin and bone, and hypermineralization within crustaceans. Our current research program is directed at inorganic biomaterials of ordered (apatite based) and disordered (bioglass-ceramics) materials to characterize and improve oxide-containing biomaterials used for replacement or regeneration within the dental and medical applications. Using high temperature synthesis, sol-gel or nature (i.e., biominerals) we design and control functionality by studying the underlying localand medium-range solid structure using solidstate nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (SSNMR). Characterizing the structure(s) and measuring the physical properties of these materials offers insight into design and synthesis needed to improve the function of the glass, cements, etc. as better adapt these materials for clinical application. SSNMR is the single most important structural tool we have at our disposal to identify and quantify atomic-level structure in these ordered and disordered solids. Research candidates should have an urge to use chemistry and materials to improve the well-being for all humanity through environmental and social health applications. Interest and skills with high temperature oxide chemistry, biomaterials, glass-ceramics, physical/materials chemistry and/or a background in SSNMR would be valuable assets for this program. Renewable energy areas including catalysis and photovoltaics is also an active stream within the group.


Abstract Historically, less than 2% of steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss stocked in river mouths on Minnesota tributaries to Lake Superior returned as adults. To investigate the influence of stocking location on adult return rates, similar proportions of age-1 steelhead were stocked in the mouth and throughout upstream reaches of the Knife River. A subset of steelhead stocked upstream were implanted with coded wire tags (CWT), which resulted in 18% of all fish stocked, regardless of location, possessing a CWT. A fish trap near the mouth of the river was used to sample emigrating age-0 through age-3 juveniles and returning adults. Of the steelhead stocked upstream 45% survived to emigrate. Electrofishing surveys and trap results indicated no steelhead remained in the river past age 2. No evidence was found that larger age-1 stocked steelhead displaced smaller age-1 wild steelhead. Only 12% of returning adults possessed CWTs, 6% less than the percentage stocked with CWTs (18%). Adult return rates for those stoc...


To study the scattering of anti-plane around the cavity of infinite exponentially graded material,the stress issues at the discontinuous structure of graded material under the effect of dynamic load is taken as the study background. Based on the elastic dynamics theory,the wave function expansion method and the numerical analysis are used to calculate the scattering and dynamic stress concentration of anti-plane around the circular cavity of infinite exponentially graded material,the analytical solution to the problem is obtained,and the numerical solution to the dynamic stress concentration factor around the cavity is presented,and the effect of the incident wave number and the heterogeneous parameter of materials on the dynamic stress concentration factor is analyzed. The analysis indicates that the heterogeneous parameter of graded materials has great influence on the distribution and value of dynamic stress factor around cavity,and the incident wave number of anti-plane shear wave is also an important influence factor on the dynamic stress.


The effect of electron--electron collisions on the electron rate coefficients is studied by solving the Boltzmann equation numerically for Ar, Kr, and Xe with an electric field. The average energy and drift velocity of the electrons, the electron energy balance, and the rate constants for exciting and ionizing atoms from ground and excited states by electron impact are calculated. An increase in the degree of ionization to 10/sup -4/ leads to substantial changes in the electron rate coefficients.


Water vapour, despite being a minor constituent in the Martian atmosphere with its precipitable amount of less than 70 pr. μm, attracts considerable attention in the scientific community because of its potential importance for past life on Mars. The partial pressure of water vapour is highly variable because of its seasonal condensation onto the polar caps and exchange with a subsurface reservoir. It is also known to drive photochemical processes: photolysis of water produces H, OH, HO2 and some other odd hydrogen compounds, which in turn destroy ozone. Consequently, the abundance of water vapour is anti-correlated with ozone abundance.

The Herschel Space Observatory provides for the first time the possibility to retrieve vertical water profiles in the Martian atmosphere. Herschel will contribute to this topic with its guaranteed-time key project called "Water and related chemistry in the solar system". Observations of Mars by Heterodyne Instrument for the Far Infrared (HIFI) and Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) onboard Herschel are planned in the frame of the programme. HIFI with its high spectral resolution enables accurate observations of vertically resolved H2O and temperature profiles in the Martian atmosphere. Unlike HIFI, PACS is not capable of resolving the line-shape of molecular lines. However, our present study of PACS observations for the Martian atmosphere shows that the vertical sensitivity of the PACS observations can be improved by using multiple-line observations with different line opacities. We have investigated the possibility of retrieving vertical profiles of temperature and molecular abundances of minor species including H2O in the Martian atmosphere using PACS. In this paper, we report that PACS is able to provide water vapour vertical profiles for the Martian atmosphere and we present the expected spectra for future PACS observations. We also show that the spectral resolution does not allow the retrieval of several studied minor species, such as H2O2, HCl, NO, SO2, etc.


Objective: To determine efficacy of prophylactic atropine to blunt un-opposed vagal activity in prevention of hypotension associated with caesarean spinal block in first 15 minutes. Study Design & Setting: Randomized controlled interventional study (purposive sampling method) done at Islam Teaching Hospital, Sialkot from 03-3-2021 to 11-8-2021 Methodology: Chairman Ethics Review Board, Islam Medical College, Sialkot vide letter No.2021-04/A, dated 03-3-2021, consented for study. G-power statistics v220.127.116.11, employing chi-square goodness of fit test value of 11.07, total sample was 144 bunched into two prophylactic treatment groups by using computer generated numbers (group-A, Inj. atropine 0.5mg and group-B, Inj. Placebo (control) planned for elective caesarean spinal delivery. Primary study variable being hemodynamic stability (pulse, blood pressure) in first 15 minutes after placing block. Independent-Samples Kruskal-Wallis Test used to compare systolic blood pressures between groups for association. Chi- square hypothesis test, was done with P-value <0.05 considered as statistically significant. SPSS analysis was done with v.21 Results: In Atropine group-A, there was rather a 11% increase in mean heart rate at 15 minutes mark (statistically significant) than the mean baseline value while in group-B (placebo)similar values parameter showed a 4.7% decline in mean heart rate value. In group-A, mean systolic blood pressure value declined only by 12.2% at 15 minutes mark from baseline value whereas in group-B, a decline of 13.2% was noted. Conclusion: Prophylactic bolus of atropine against un-opposed vagal activity provided stable hemodynamic values in cesarean spinal delivery.


This article presents the control of line-of-sight for two-DOF gimbal system. To improve the performance system, the direct identifier-based adaptive controller is proposed. In this strategy, the parameters of controller polynomials are calculated through recursive least square. With respect to the obtained polynomials, the control signal is implemented for both elevation and azimuth axes. This approach is applied to track a target in 3D spaces for two-DOF gimbal system and test both the axes. The simulation results confirm the efficiency of this purposed controller and satisfy the tracking a given target.


We study the determination of the second-order normal form for perturbed Hamiltonians Hϵ=H0+ϵH1+ϵ22H2?>, relative to the periodic flow of the unperturbed Hamiltonian H0. The formalism presented here is global, and can be easily implemented in any computer algebra system. We illustrate it by means of two examples: the Hénon–Heiles and the elastic pendulum Hamiltonians.


Objective To evaluate influence of early enteral nutrition on restoration and complications after pancreaticoduodenectomy in senile patients. Methods Thirty-eight postearly enteral and parenteral nutritional supports respectively 24 hours after the operation. General nutrition condition, complications, days of staying in hospital after the operation and cost of nutritional support were observed and analyzed. Results Both the enteral and parenteral nutritional supports were able to improve the general nutrition condition of the patients. The enteral nutritional support had significantly better effects on resuming N-balance, stimulating gut motion, reducing complications and saving cost of nutritional support compared to the parenteral nutritional support in the patients undergoing pancreaticoduodenectomy ( P0. 05). Conclusion Early post-operative enteral nutrition is safe, cheap and effective in senile patients undergoing pancreaticoduodenectomy.


Hydralazine (C 8 H 8 N 4 .HCl) is chemically known as l-hydrazinophthalazine mono hydrochloride. It is used as an antihypertensive agent. In the present investigation, normal coordinate analysis has been carried out for the molecule of the title compound using fundamental modes of vibration observed in infrared and Raman spectroscopy. The vibrational modes are classified into A' and A" irreducible representations and are distributed as Γ vib =35 A'+19 A" based on C 5 point group symmetry associated with the structures. In the present work, only 18 A' and 12 A" normal modes are considered due to complexity of the molecule. A systematic set of orthonormal symmetry co-ordinates has been constructed. Wilson's F-G matrix method has been adopted for the normal coordinate analysis. A satisfactory vibrational band assignment has been made by using the FTIR and FT Raman spectra of the compounds.


There is growing concern about the increased demand for and limited access to substance abuse treatment in South Africa. The government has responded by allocating more money to the delivery of substance abuse treatment, expanding the number of state-funded treatment slots, and training additional health and social workers to deliver these services, particularly in provinces where the prevalence of substance-related problems is high, such as the Western Cape. While these efforts should be commended and continued, steps to improve service availability have occurred without adequate consideration of the quality of services provided. This is not surprising, as there is little or no routine monitoring and evaluation of substance abuse services in the country. It is also disquieting, as access to treatment is necessary but not sufficient for positive treatment outcomes.


Deep ensembles have been empirically shown to be a promising approach for improving accuracy, uncertainty and out-of-distribution robustness of deep learning models. While deep ensembles were theoretically motivated by the bootstrap, non-bootstrap ensembles trained with just random initialization also perform well in practice, which suggests that there could be other explanations for why deep ensembles work well. Bayesian neural networks, which learn distributions over the parameters of the network, are theoretically well-motivated by Bayesian principles, but do not perform as well as deep ensembles in practice, particularly under dataset shift. One possible explanation for this gap between theory and practice is that popular scalable variational Bayesian methods tend to focus on a single mode, whereas deep ensembles tend to explore diverse modes in function space. We investigate this hypothesis by building on recent work on understanding the loss landscape of neural networks and adding our own exploration to measure the similarity of functions in the space of predictions. Our results show that random initializations explore entirely different modes, while functions along an optimization trajectory or sampled from the subspace thereof cluster within a single mode predictions-wise, while often deviating significantly in the weight space. Developing the concept of the diversity--accuracy plane, we show that the decorrelation power of random initializations is unmatched by popular subspace sampling methods. Finally, we evaluate the relative effects of ensembling, subspace based methods and ensembles of subspace based methods, and the experimental results validate our hypothesis.


A camera scope inspection system with a flexible, tether mounted camera head that is maneuverable in confined internal cavities of power generation machinery. A camera head position sensing system inferentially determines the three dimension (3D) position of the camera head within the inspected machinery. Camera head position data are correlated with camera image data by a controller. In this manner correlated internal inspection image data and corresponding position data are available for future analysis and image tracking.


Abstract We examine the use of forced confinement and isolation to limit the spread of COVID-19 in Ontario prisons and jails. Drawing on interview data, we illustrate how a reliance on forced confinement and isolation has exacerbated harms experienced by prisoners in relation to physical, mental, and social health. Through discourse analysis of grey literature, we then discuss the politics and governance of carceral institutions during the pandemic, focusing on how practices of isolation were legitimized during the pandemic, despite recent rulings establishing isolation and segregation as torture. We close by arguing that the case of isolation during the pandemic is one example which highlights the systemic and ongoing nature of rights violations in Canadian prisons and jails. To address these harms, we must shift focus away from reform and towards decarceration.


In this paper, we propose an adaptive receiver design for OFDM-based cooperative relay systems using two-path conjugate transmission to achieve both diversity reception and intercarrier interference (ICI) cancellation. Considering that the relayed signals are affected by statistically independent channel fading gains and different frequency offsets, the proposed receiver applies not only phase rotations but also an amplitude scaling factor, whose values are optimized based on criteria of maximizing the carrier-to-interference ratio and minimizing the ICI power, respectively, on the two receiving paths to improve ICI cancellation performance. In order to track the channel and frequency offset variations under time-varying environments, we further develop an adaptive normalized block least mean-squared algorithm to update the phase rotations and the amplitude scaling. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed adaptive receiver provides significant performance improvement over related works for OFDM-based cooperative relay systems.


High-velocity and long-lifetime operating conditions of modern high-speed energy storage flywheel rotors may create the necessary conditions for failure modes not included in current quasi-static failure analyses. In the present study, a computational algorithm based on an accepted analytical model was developed to investigate the viscoelastic behavior of carbon fiber reinforced polymer composite flywheel rotors with an aluminum hub assembled via a press-fit. The Tsai-Wu failure criterion was applied to assess failure. Two simulation cases were developed to explore the effects of viscoelasticity on composite flywheel rotors, i.e., a worst-case operating condition and a case akin to realistic flywheel operations. The simulations indicate that viscoelastic effects are likely to reduce peak stresses in the composite rim over time. However, viscoelasticity also affects stresses in the hub and the hub-rim interface in ways that may cause rotor failure. It was further found that charge-discharge cycles of the flywheel energy storage device may create significant fatigue loading conditions. It was therefore concluded that the design of composite flywheel rotors should include viscoelastic and fatigue analyses to ensure safe operation.


The paper proposes a methodology to model the impulse rate of sporadic impulsive noise, namely the impulsive noise that is generated by the transients during the on/off switching of electrical appliances. In particular, it is proposed to exploit the publicly available datasets of power consumption measurements campaigns to derive the instants when a switching on/off event occurs. The statistics of the impulse rate is derived considering the data gathered during a six-month measurement in one of the houses of the GREEND dataset. Furthermore, to define the set of appliances that generate sporadic impulsive noise within the considered house, a noise measurement campaign at the source the corresponding analysis was carried out.


Synopsis: As the first stage of a study on grain size controll in steel-making plant, the authors observed experimentally some problems as stated below, mainly from the view point of grain-growth characteristics of austenite: (i) Change of grain size and grain-growth characteristics during melting and teeming practice, (ii) Relation of grain size and grain-growth characteristics between a ladle sample and a finished product of the same heat, (iii) Dependence of grain-growth characteristics upon the degree of duplication of grains. Results obtained were as follows: (1) In the case of melting of medium-carbon Cr-Mo steel in a basic electric arc furnace, as the reducing proceeds, austenite grains became finer and more uniform, and the coarsening temperature rose. And by the addition of Al, anstenite grains became finer and the coarsening temperature rose higher, but as the time passed on, the coarsening temperature fell.


Three kinds of flaps are described including the musculus trapezius used for the treatment of 20 patients with defects of tissues in the area of head and neck.


Authors' conclusions It was suggested that rigid tubes and 24-mm SEMS should no longer be recommended and bipolar electrocoagulation and ethanol tumour necrosis should not be used for primary palliation. The choice in palliation would between nonstent and 18-mm SEMS treatments, with non-stent therapies being made more available and accessible to reduce delay. A multidisciplinary team approach to palliation is also suggested. A randomised controlled clinical trial of 18-mm SEMS versus non-stent therapies with survival and quality of life end-points would be helpful, as would an audit of palliative patient admissions to determine the reasons and need for inpatient hospital care, with a view to implementing cycle-associated change to reduce inpatient stay. A study of delays in palliative radiotherapy treatment is also suggested, with a view to implementing cycle-associated change to reduce waiting time.


Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in pediatric solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients. However, the impact of asymptomatic CMV infections (ie, DNAemia) on clinical outcomes is not well established.


ABSTRACT Background: Health disparities in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and other sexual and gender minority (LGBTQ+) individuals are well documented, and there is a dearth of primary care providers (PCPs) with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to sensitively care for this diverse population. Purpose: The purpose of this research study was to ask LGBTQ+ patients what qualities they prefer in their PCP. The findings will be used to better prepare nurse practitioners (NPs) to care for this diverse community and inform the training of future NPs to provide patient-centered care to LGBTQ+ individuals. Methodology: In this qualitative descriptive study, four focus groups were conducted remotely between December 2020 and January 2021 with self-identified LGBTQ+ patients of an LGBTQ+ health center in the northeast. Thematic analysis of the data elicited codes, categories, and themes. Strategies were implemented to promote trustworthiness of the results. Results: Twenty-eight participants shared the qualities they value in their PCP. Analysis revealed four themes: "Ditch the white coats"; "Meet me where I am"; "The relationship is key"; and "Be knowledgeable about and comfortable with LGBTQ+ people and their health care needs." Conclusions: The focus groups elucidated important information on caring for the LGTBQ+ communities and insights into what NPs must do to provide patient-centered care to this diverse population. Implications: These findings can improve practice through a better understanding of LGBTQ+ patients' perspectives. Additionally, this study demonstrates the feasibility of directly asking our patients what they want in their health care provider.


A two-microphone algorithm is proposed to improve automatic speech recognition (ASR) rates when target speech is corrupted by directional interferences and diffuse noise simultaneously. The algorithm adopts the time difference of arrival (TDOA) to suppress directional interferences and a TDOA-information based voice activity detector (VAD) to suppress diffuse noise. Simulation results show the proposed algorithm is effective in improving ASR rates in a sound field mixed with a directional interference and diffuse noise. Compared with the phase difference (PD) algorithm, the proposed method gives comparable recognition rates when facing a directional interference and much higher and more robust recognition rates when diffuse noise emerges.


Equal-Expectation Magnitude Quantization (EEM) aims at minimizing the distortion of a quantizer with defined reconstruction points by shifting the deadzone parameter such that the expectation value of the signal equals the reconstructed value. While intuitively clear, this argument is not sufficient to prove rate-distortion optimality. In this work, it is show that the EEM quantizer is rate-distortion optimal up to third order in an expansion in powers of the quantization bucket size in the high-bitrate appoximation, and the approximating series for the optimal quantizer is computed. This result is compared to an even simpler quantization strategy based on the LLoyd-Max quantizer which selectively sets coefficients to zero. It is shown that both strategies lead to the same asymptotic expansion for the threshold parameter, but zeroing coefficients provides optimality in one additional order in the quantization bucket size.


Methods: A prospective case-control study was designed including paediatric patients from one month to with congenital heart disease admitted for surgical treatment during a 3-month period. We studied 44 patients at the pre-operative period and divided them in two groups: 20 with clinical neurological background and 24 without them. Clinical pediatric neurological background variables were obtained, and serum levels of S100Β protein were measured using the ELISA "sandwich" technique.


We report the spectroscopy of 11 electronic states in the radioactive molecule radium monofluoride (RaF). The observed excitation energies are compared with state-of-the-art relativistic Fock-space coupled cluster (FS-RCC) calculations, which achieve an agreement of>99.71% (within ~8 meV) for all states. High-order electron correlation and quantum electrodynamics corrections are found to be important at all energies. Establishing the accuracy of calculations is an important step towards high-precision studies of these molecules, which are proposed for sensitive searches of physics beyond the Standard Model.


Anotea flavida (DC.) Ulbr. has been known previously only from the unpublished plate (no. 376) of Sessé & Mociño, which was based on a plant (no longer extant) collected in Guerrero in 1789. The rediscovery of this species in 1967 in Guerrero permits a more detailed description to be presented. The species has apparently not been re-collected in the intervening 178 years.


Analyses of climate impacts on water resources on regional or national scales, which are needed to give guidelines to future water resources management, are often based on single methods such as trend analyses or scenario approaches. Each single method may not cover the subtleties of processes causing future changes in runoff behaviour on a regional scale. We propose to use a range of complementary methods differing in data and assumptions. In the Austrian case study we apply four different methods: trend analyses, scenario analyses, the elasticity method, which is based on an analysis of the temporal variability of observed data and the "trading space for time" method, which analyses the spatial variability of runoff data. Overall, the four methods give consistent estimates of future runoff changes, but local differences exist. These differences can be explained by the variety of assumption and data the four methods are based on. Consequences for future climate impact analyses are discussed.


s A data warehouse (DW) is a database used for reporting Paper describes Modification Algorithm and implementation on Object Oriented Data Warehousing. A Data Warehouse collects information and data from source data bases to support analytical processing of decision support functions and acts as an information provider. In initial research data warehouses focused on relational data model. In this paper concept of object oriented data warehouse is introduced modification maintenance algorithms and its implementation to maintained consistency between data warehouse and source data base.


Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains to be a worldwide health problem. In Saudi Arabia, HBV is the most predominant type of hepatitis followed by hepatitis C and hepatitis A while little is known about the molecular epidemiology of the prevalence of HBV genotype/subgenotype particularly in Jeddah. Serum samples were collected from HBV chronic patients and subjected to HBsAg gene amplification. Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of the entire HBsAg gene sequences revealed that 11 isolates belonged to HBV/D while 4 isolates were associated with HBV/C. Interestingly, HBV/D subgenotypes identified eight HBV/D present isolates belonged to HBV/D1 while three isolates showed a new cluster supporting by a branch with 99% bootstrap value and 4.3-5.8% nucleotide divergence over the entire HBsAg gene from other known subgenotypes D1 to D10, despite they were appearing more related to HBV/D5. The three strains of the new D subgenotype showed unique amino acid sequences consisting of Thr7non, 75Pro in the preS1 gene, 112Ile, 161Gly in the preS2 gene and 196Glu, 197Ala, 238Ser, 259Cys in the S gene. In addition to three amino acid residues in the S gene (373Ile, 374Ala and 381Thr) were specified S118S isolate. Subsequently, it have been verified that HBV/D1 is the most prevalent HBV subgenotype in Jeddah as well as we proposed a novel subgenotype designated HBV/D11. The identification of HBV/D11 novel subgenotypes in the present study suggested that further studies with a large number of subjects in previously examined and unexamined areas may lead to discovering new HBV strain genotypes and/or subgenotypes circulating in Saudi Arabia.


Bilingual education plays an important role in biotechnology program,but the construction of its curriculum requires further exploration.This paper will discuss the problems emerging in the process of constructing the bilingual education curriculum;meanwhile,measures will be put forward as well.All these will provide clues and basis for future bilingual teaching for biotechnology program.


The utility model discloses a split folding bicycle driven and braked by a transmission bar, which uses a gearwheel and a transmission rod as the transmission mode. The two functions of driving and braking are concentrated in a gearwheel box arranged on a rear axle of a bicycle to accomplish. A front wheel and a back wheel can be separated from a bicycle frame easily. The bicycle frame can be folded into a short and compact bicycle. The bicycle frame and the wheels are arranged in a bicycle bag and the portable purpose is obtained. The utility model is suitable for walking replacing for people, tourism and other purposes.


A robot affects and is affected by its environment, so that typically its behaviour depends on properties of that environment. For verification, we need to formalise those properties. Modelling the environment is very challenging, if not impossible, but we can capture assumptions. Here, we present RoboWorld, a domain-specific controlled natural language with a process algebraic semantics that can be used to define (a) operational requirements, and (b) environment interactions of a robot. RoboWorld is part of the RoboStar framework for verification of robotic systems. In this paper, we define RoboWorld's syntax and hybrid semantics, and illustrate its use for capturing operational requirements, for automatic test generation, and for proof. We also present a tool that supports the writing of RoboWorld documents. Since RoboWorld is a controlled natural language, it complements the other RoboStar notations in being accessible to roboticists, while at the same time benefitting from a formal semantics to support rigorous verification (via testing and proof).


Scholars have compared Joseph Butler and Immanuel Kant's moral theories, claiming that they both center on the concept of autonomy. In this thesis, I argue that, despite this superficial similarity, they disagree about the core commitments of their conceptions of autonomy. Butlerian autonomy relies on inferring from the normative authority of conscience to the descriptive that human nature is adapted to virtue, and from this descriptive claim about human nature to moral obligation. Kant rejects these inferences, and therefore rejects the key components of Butlerian autonomy. Moreover, I argue that Kant's rejection of Butler's conception of human nature renders Butler's stoic conception of virtue unavailable to Kant. INDEX WORDS: Kant, Joseph Butler, Autonomy, Moral Obligation, Stoic Virtue, Moral Philosophy, History of Philosophy, History of Ethics KANT AND JOSEPH BUTLER ON AUTONOMY, MORAL OBLIGATION AND STOIC


Infectious porcine atrophic rhinitis (IPAR) is a common swine respiratory disease which can result in the destruction of the nasal turbinates and associated tissues of affected animals. IPAR causative agents are Pasterella multocida and Bordetella bronchiseptica. Pathomorphological lesions of the infectious porcine atrophic rhinitis are described in article.


The exploitation and opening of Tianjin Binhai New Area has been brought into the country' s "11th 5-year" plan summary. As the leading part of region economy development, the developmen of Binhai New Area has an fundamental influence on the development of the city of Tianjin. The city pattern will have a tremendous change and the economic society will present a brand-new style. It will be a modern city' s rebuilding. And the traffic, which is closely related to the city, is playing an important role in the process of the city' s rebuilding. The all-in-one traffic system and the construction of traffic fundamental establishment will result in great changes in the city configurations.


Imaging of inhomogeneities in a turbid medium with transmitted optical signal represents a crucial technique for optical diagnosis of abnormal cells in human tissues, particularly important for early detection of female breast cancer. In this paper, we present the results of our simulation and experimental studies. In the simulation study, we propose a new technique using transient diffuse photon density waves for imaging reconstruction. In the experimental study, we demonstrate the assistance of ultrasounds to optical imaging through a turbid medium. For the imaging, we basically utilize transmitted ballistic and snake photons.


ABSTRACT This article analyses South Sudan's political and economic challenges as it seeks to become a member of the East African Community (EAC). The first section presents a brief profile of South Sudan, its development challenges, the land tenure system and legal framework governing access to and disposal of land. The second section presents an exposition on the challenges facing the EAC as it seeks to build a monetary union and a political federation. The article critically examines the EAC protocol regarding the monetary union, political federation, the land tenure system in East Africa and its plan for a common citizenship. It reviews and analyses EAC policies such as the elimination of trade barriers such as tariff, non-tariff and other technical barriers, harmonisation of labour policies, programmes, legislation, and social services throughout members' states. The article concludes that the biggest challenge facing the EAC is how


--------------------------------------Theterm 'Fingerprinting' W3S; coined by Alec Jeffreys in i 985 to describe the pattern of highly variable, individual-specific profiles that he and his colleagues saw in Southern blots ofhuman genomic DNA hybridized to a tandemly-arrayed repetitive DNA sequence. Since their discovery, there has been ongoing progression in the technological development and breadth of application of genetic typing methodology. Ibe technique (also known as DNA 'profilitJ.g' ) has been applied to such diverse biological phenomena as tumow biology, genome mapping and ecological population and evolutionary biology.


A new class of geometric intersection searching problems is introduced, which generalizes previously-considered intersection searching problems and is rich in applications. In a standard intersection searching problem, a set S of n geometric objects is to be preprocessed so that the objects that are intersected by a query object q can be reported efficiently. In a generalized problem, the objects in S come aggregated in disjoint groups and what is of interest are the groups, not the objects, that are intersected by q. Although this problem can be solved easily by using an algorithm for the standard problem, the query time can be Ω(n) even though the output size is just O(1). In this paper, algorithms with efficient, output-size-sensitive query times are presented for the generalized versions of a number of intersection searching problems, including: interval intersection searching, orthogonal segment intersection searching, orthogonal range searching, point enclosure searching, rectangle intersection searching, and segment intersection searching. In addition, the algorithms are also space-efficient.


The high rates of sexual violence in the country suggest that people with intellectual disabilities (ID) are likely to be sexually victimised. Rape and sexual assault have negative consequences for survivors, with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) being the most common psychiatric diagnosis used to capture the reaction to this trauma. This study sought to investigate the presence of PTSD symptoms in a group of people with ID who had been sexually abused. The Child PTSD Checklist was administered to 54 individuals with ID — 27 with and 27 without a known history of sexual abuse. The Checklist was also administered to the care-givers of those who had been sexually abused. Higher rates of a PTSD diagnosis and a higher intensity of PTSD symptoms were found in the group with than in the group without a history of sexual abuse. There were no significant differences between self and care-giver reports with respect to the prevalence of a PTSD diagnosis, but there were differences on the different symptom clusters. The results indicate that survivors with ID should be asked directly about their internal subjective experiences, with care-giver reports being used as collateral information, and that therapeutic interventions following sexual abuse should be offered.


This paper describes an analysis of village level data on lease transaction. Viewing these transactions as constituting a market for leased land, the analysis seeks to bring out the variation in "rent per acre" being affected by various factors arising from both demand side and supply side under fixed tenurial arrangement studied from an irrigated village of Hirakud Command area in western Odisha. Applying the Log-Linear regression (OLS) estimation with dummy variables it is found that the quality of land and nature of the tenants are the major factors affecting the rent per acre.


The tibial condylar fractures are characterized by intra-articular extension of fracture line and associated soft tissue injuries, and could affect knee alignment, stability, and range of motion after treatments. Therefore, anatomical reduction and rigid internal fixation is mandatory to get satisfactory results. But this method of treatment can not be always possible due to technical demand of surgical skills and high risk of postoperative infection. The authors analyzed 43 cases of tibial condylar fractures, which were treated at the orthopaedic department of the Dongguk University Hospital from March 1990 to May 1996. Males were 34, and females were 9. Average age of patients was 41.4 years, and average follow up period was 18 months. The most common causes of injuries were traffic accidents (36 cases), and most common type of fracture was Schatzker results could be obtained in patients with tibial condylar fractures by appropriate selection of treatments according to displacement of fracture and associated soft tissue injuries.


Measurements of excess electron mobility are reported for liquid n‐hexane, 2,2,4‐trimethylpentane, and tetramethylsilane for pressures from 1 to 2500 bar and for temperatures from 18 to 120 °C. For tetramethylsilane, a liquid that exhibits a high electron mobility, the mobility at constant density is proportional to T−0.9 between 25 and 100 °C. The results are compared with the Basak–Cohen deformation potential theory. For n‐hexane, where the mobility is low, Arrhenius behavior is observed. The isochoric activation energy increases with density. The results in this case are consistent with both the two‐state and hopping models. In 2,2,4‐trimethylpentane the mobility increases with increasing pressure at room temperature and decreases at high temperature. At 2500 bar and at intermediate temperatures (70–80 °C) the mobility is approximately constant.


ights and Obligations: Their Political and Moral Sources Until the Reformation, western societies proceeded on an assumption that a monarch had a right to rule which was derived from God. This was convenient for those who could trace their ancestry to Adam, or at least persuade others that they could. Their right to rule transcended doubt. The divine right of kings took the occasional knock when one ruler deposed another, and proved the superior lineage that comes with military conquest. The twilight of the idea can be seen in developments in England during the 17th century which dawned in an age of divine right and closed with parliamentary rule firmly established. James I of England, enthroned in 1603, was a fervent proponent of the divine right of kings. His son Charles I was beheaded in 1649. His autocratic rule sparked the civil war after which, in 1688, parliamentary rule in England was assured. Events on the ground were mirrored by developments in philosophical thought: in 1652 Hobbes wrote Leviathan in which he postulated that the natural condition of man was fairly bleak ('solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short'). This could be improved by collectively ceding power to the sovereign so that the sovereign would rule by the collective will of the governed. In 1689, John Locke wrote his Second Treatise on Government, in which he demolished the notion that sovereigns could trace their lineage to Adam, and proposed that the only true authority of the government came from the consent of the governed. More, he reasoned that the obligation to obey the laws of the state was conditional on the state protecting person and property, and that if the sovereign breached the terms of the Social Contract, he could be overthrown. The American colonists expressly adopted Locke's reasoning in their preamble to the 1776 Declaration of Independence:


We have studied magnetotransport in arrays of niobium filled grooves in an InAs/Al(x)Ga(1-x)Sb heterostructure. The critical field of up to 2.6 T permits one to enter the quantum Hall regime. In the superconducting state, we observe strong magnetoresistance oscillations, whose amplitude exceeds the Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations by a factor of about 2, when normalized to the background. Additionally, we find that above a geometry-dependent magnetic field value the sample in the superconducting state has a higher longitudinal resistance than in the normal state. Both observations can be explained with edge channels populated with electrons and Andreev-reflected holes.


ABSTRACT:As Professor of English and Director of the Honors & Scholars Program at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), I have twice selected Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art (1993) as a foundational text in my upper-level, undergraduate seminars on Storytelling & Graphic Narrative. In particular, I have found that it is essential to teach students—and particularly English majors specializing in literary analysis—to resist McCloud's assertion that reading comics is often, if not always, about formulating a sense of "closure."


Many of the problems standing in the way of implementing self-tuning control have been resolved with the introduction of long-range predictive controllers and numerically stable algorithms. Practical improvements such as integral action and anti-windup mechanisms have been added as the result of many industrial trials, and the technology seems to be ready for full scale use. The one area that has received relatively little attention is the software engineering of the self-tuning concept. This is just as important as the other engineering aspects, since without properly designed and tested software, together with verification methods and implementation support tools, the algorithms will not reach a majority of the embedded control systems in the aerospace and commercial process industries. This chapter has considered some of the ways that software engineering can be applied to the design of a self-tuning controller. The need for this engineering will not depart with the advent of automatic code generation schemes such as Auto-Code/Matrix-X (ISI, 1986) which can generate real-time control code directly from block diagram models of the system. Such tools will simplify the interconnection of algorithms and structuring of control systems in much the same way that a full screen text editor facilitates the production of code and documentation. There are still many problems that must be addressed in the implementation of self-tuning control. Further research is needed in the areas of real-time paradigms, multi-tasking controllers, knowledge-based performance monitors and interactive support systems. Most of these lie in the realm of software engineering.


The construction of an inexpensive, highly reliable, millidegree temperature controller and differential thermometer from an extremely stable thermistor and other readily available materials is des...


In the feudal society of ancient China,the populace consciousness had its strong class nature with such too-sided content as how the rulers looked upon the populace and the self-consciousness of the populace themselves.It was these two factors that played very important role in the arising of the "commoner generals and ministers" in Shang Dynasty.We can see it from the following three aspects: the slave-owners' consciousness of the populace was one of the important ideological factors of the arising of commoner generals and ministers in Shang Dynasty;the self-consciousness of the populace was the most fundamental ideological source;how the two-sided consciousness influenced the "commoner generals and ministers" of that time.


Submitted for the SES09 Meeting of The American Physical Society Calibration Procedure of the HKS Time-Of-Flight System1 RAFAEL BADUI, JOERG REINHOLD, Florida International University, JEFFERSON LAB E05-115 (HES/HKS) COLLABORATION — Experiment E05-115 at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility is a spectroscopic study that will measure the excitation spectra of hypernuclei in the (e,e'K+) reaction on light-tomedium mass targets. A time-of-flight system consisting of three scintillator planes (ToF) is part of the particle identification. To achieve the required accuracy, raw time measurements, TDC values, need to be corrected for cable offsets, pulseheight effects (slewing correction) and speed of propagation in the scintillator material. We developed a calibration procedure that analyzes covariances between different detectors to extract a system of linear equation. The latter is then solved by a matrix solver. The mathematical procedure and results achieved with this method will be presented. 1The authors acknowledge support from the DoE FaST program and DoE Grant DE-FG02-99ER41065. This work was in part supported by DOE Contract No. DEAC05-06OR23177. Joerg Reinhold Florida International University Date submitted: 18 Aug 2009 Electronic form version 1.4


Leuproprelin acetate (Lucrin-depot) is an efficacious and safe luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone analogue, the efficiency of which has been proven in a number of large clinical studies. The agent exhibits a sustained release, is easy-to-use and well-tolerated, and causes minimal side effects. Lucrin-depot may be recommended for use as alone and in combination with other hormonal agents in patients with prostate cancer if androgenic deprivation is indicated.


Sensing, understanding and synthesizing humans in images and videos have been a long-pursuing goal of computer vision and graphics, with extensive real-life applications. It is at the core of embodied intelligence. In this talk, I will discuss our work in human-centric visual analysis (of faces, human bodies, scenes, videos and 3D scans), with an emphasis on learning structural deep representations under complex scenarios. I will also discuss the challenges related to naturally-distributed data (e.g. long-tailed and open-ended) emerged from real-world sensors, and how we can overcome these challenges by incorporating new neural computing mechanisms such as dynamic memory and routing. Our approach has shown its effectiveness on both discriminative and generative tasks.


Co-Ni nanowires with composition gradient were grown by template assisted electrochemical deposition. Using PCTE membrane to grow nanowires makes the deposition of an alloy inside the pores more challenging because the growth is affected by the transport of the electroactive ions into the pores. A novel step-wise deposition-stripping strategy was used to grow NWs with controlled composition along the length of nanowire while maintaining constant the electrolyte composition. A detailed electrochemical analysis was performed to understand and control the Co stripping process, and to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method. Redox reactions allow us to create custom deposition-stripping programs that enable us to better select and control the potential used to grow the nanowires of controlled composition. Samples were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and EDS. Quantitative analysis performed on samples has revealed that the designed stripping technique and selected potentials resulted in Co-Ni nanowires with up to 3 times more Ni then the samples obtained from similar electrolyte.


Genetic variability assessed among 32 advanced breeding lines of chickpea for grain yield and early duration suited in randomized block design with three replications. Highest genotypic coefficient of variance (GCV) was studied in seed yield per plant. Heritability is a measure of the extent of phenotypic variation caused by the action of genes. Heritability in broad sense ranged from 55% for total yield (t/ha) followed by 53% for days of 50% flowering, High expected genetic advance coupled with high heritability estimate was obtained for plant height, number of secondary branches per plant, number of pods per plant, and seed yield per plant suggesting the dominant role of additive gene effects in expression of these traits. Grain yield per plant has positive and significant association with biological yield, harvest index, test weight was also estimated.


This study evaluated the effects of dietary Vibrio harveyi lipopolysaccharide (LPS) as immunostimulant given at different frequencies in improving growth performance, immune responses, and disease resistance of post larvae Penaeus monodon against white spot syndrome virus (WSSV). Shrimps were fed with a treatment diet containing Vibrio harveyi LPS at a predetermined dose of 50 mg kg diet given daily or alternatively every 2 , 5, and 7 days. A basal diet was given to the treatment groups when the shrimp were not fed the dietary immunostimulant. The feeding trial that was conducted for 8 weeks resulted in 90-96% survival of the test animals. Weight gain (WG) and specific growth rate (SGR) were significantly enhanced in shrimp fed LPS every 2 days. However, no significant differences were observed in the feed conversion ratio (FCR) of all test groups. Following WSSV challenge, the groups receiving LPS-supplemented diet exhibited increased disease resistance than the control group. Shrimp fed with LPS every 2 days exhibited significantly enhanced survival rate (53%) than the rest of the treatments. The same group consistently showed significantly


Social sharing sites, on the internet, which have millions of users who are able to share information and links within seconds, is of huge importance when looking at its density of usage. It can be/has been observed that according to studies/research conducted around/on social sharing sites, there has not been enough study/research conducted on how people of a higher level of education perceive or use social sharing sites. In this sense, this study is aimed at targeting academic staff to try to determine how they evaluate and use the internet and social sharing sites. In the survey study conducted on 150 academicians, it was aimed to focus on academicians from a similar background in the sense of public and foundation universities and quantitative and verbal working areas. According to results of the study, academicians, in addition to using the internet to access e-mail, frequently visit social sharing sites. Some of the most important results encountered in the study are; Twitter affects/influences opinions more than Facebook and Twitter is more frequently used by academicians whose study area are verbal disciplines. These and other evaluations show that Twitter and Facebook are defined differently in means of perception. Yet, another important result encountered is that communication on social sharing sites is not seen as important as face to face communication.


The effect of partial substitution of Cu in Bi 1.7 Pb 0.3 Sr 2 Ca 2 Cu 3-x Sb x O y at x = 0.0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, and 0.2 levels on the electrical and structural properties was investigated in this work. X-ray diffraction analysis shows that these materials have a multiphase structure. Two different types of particles with different morphologies were observed in scanning electron micrographs, The T c values decreased from 103.5 to 87 K for x = 0.1 Sb substitution level with a subsequent increase to 101 K at x = 0.2.


This paper is devoted to solving the weakly convex dominating set problem and the convex dominating set problem for some classes of planar graphs—convex polytopes. We consider all classes of convex polytopes known from the literature and present exact values of weakly convex and convex domination number for all classes, namely An, Bn, Cn, Dn, En, Rn, R′′ n, Qn, Sn, S′′ n , Tn, T ′′ n and Un. When n is up to 26, the values are confirmed by using the exact method, while for greater values of n theoretical proofs are given.


This paper makes a deep analysis on the 3PL capability maturity through emergence theory. Based on the rigid and flexible capacities' emergence process,the paper makes a simple assumption,then gives out the outcome of the maturity model,in which there are five grades including initial level,growth level,competition level,optimization level and excellent level,and describes each level in detail. Finally,this paper verifies the model of enterprise capability maturity through a case.


In 1933, Ranque discovered a striking phenomenon: When pressurized air is injected tangentially into a pipe and imparted a swirling motion, its total temperature separates into a colder one at the centerline and a warmer one at the periphery. The separation takes place spontaneously, without the aid of any external mechanical work. The effect became popularized after the Second World War by the work of Hilsch; the so‐called Ranque‐Hilsch tube or the vortex tube is now commercially available. Even for inlet air at only a few atmospheric pressure and at room temperature, the total temperature at the tube center can easily become freezingly cold; the total temperature at the periphery exceeds its upstream value correspondingly. Although there exists a general consensus that some unsteadiness is needed to account for this phenomenon, the crucial issue as to the precise form of unsteadiness or its explicit mechanism has never been resolved. Now, it is a known fact that a pure tone of high intensity or vortex w...


The native copper mineralization area is located in Jueluotage tectonic belt,eastern Tianshan,Xinjiang,China.There are 4 main mineralized districts(Shilipo,Heilongfeng,Changchengshan and Dongjianfeng) from west to east.The metallization of native copper occurred in the basalts,amygdaloidal basalts and tuff.Based on the geochemical characteristics,this paper studied the relationship between basalts and mantle plume,the source of basaltic magma,the evolution of magma,and the tectonic setting of diagenesis in the native copper mineralized belt.The results indicated that,there was no connection between the basalts and the mantle plume in the study area,and there wasn' t mantle plume magmatism at Carboniferous- Permian in Tianshan area probably.The basalts originated from the depleted lithospheric mantle and were the production of evolutional magma After built-up,the evolutional basaltic magma did not occur the apparent fractional crystallization and contamination with crustal materials in the magma chamber or during the rising process of magma.Corresponding to the basalts,the high-Mg igneous rocks evolved form the primary magma should exist,and they might be the basic-ultrabasic rocks with Cu-Ni sulphide mineralization in eastern Tianshan area.And these Cu-Ni sulphide deposits had no connection with the mantle plume magmatism probably.The basalts formed at the extensional stage of post-collisional tectonic setting in North Xinjiang.Under the extensional regime,the upwelling of asthenosphere caused the partial melting of lithosphere mantle,and then the primary magma formed.


My parents are known as members of the 'first generation' of Vietnamese refugees, who came to Australia after the Vietnam War. I, however, am known as part of the '1.5 generation'. Born in Vietnam, made in Australia. We are the children of defeated warriors who have tried to come to terms with the present life, and the act of negotiating the past with all its rules and traditions, in the hope that the two very different cultures could blend into one well-adjusted whole. This always seemed better in theory than in practice.


The integration of satellite and terrestrial networks presents new opportunities and challenges for high speed rail (HSR) communications. Since the HSR runs vary fast, user terminals on the HSR have to perform handover authentication when the HSR passes through different terrestrial base stations or satellite coverage areas. To improve the security and robustness of HSR communication services, a fast handover authentication protocol (FHAP) for high-speed mobile terminals in the 5G satellite–terrestrial-integrated networks (STNs) is proposed. In the FHAP, user terminals in the same carriage form a temporary group managed by a relay node. The prehandover authentication mechanism is employed, in which the terrestrial 5G core network configures the preauthentication information to multiple access nodes based on the Chinese Remainder Theorem according to the location information of the HSR. Thus, group members and one of the access nodes can achieve fast handover authentication with the preconfigured information. Considering that HSR has a high running speed, when handover authentication fails, user terminals can perform handover authentication with other access nodes, and the probability of handover authentication failure caused by a single access node can be effectively reduced. We use the protocol verification tool Scyther and the Burrows–Abadi–Needham (BAN) logic to prove the security of the FHAP and compare it with other similar protocols in terms of signaling, bandwidth, and computational overhead. The analysis results show that the FHAP satisfies better security properties and has excellent performance.


Dendritic brushes, which provide higher stability against the aggregation of colloidal suspensions, were investigated using multicolor domain decomposition Monte Carlo simulations. Solvent molecule...


In the aftermath of recent Wall Street scandals, thousands of investors brought class action suits against securities analysts and their broker-dealer employers, claiming that analysts allowed conflicts of interest, such as ownership interest in researched stocks and compensation tied to ability to generate investment banking business, to bias their investment advice. This work exhaustively analyzes federal 10(b) liability for misleading representations and omissions in this context, through the prism of existing general securities fraud precedent, scant existing authority in cases involving communications by analysts and other non-issuers, and the initial district court opinions that have been generated by pending suits. The author identifies the best arguments in support of and against analyst liability in cases of tainted research, opining that reliance and loss causation will serve as the biggest battlegrounds for ongoing litigation, and ultimately concluding that in many of the pending cases the alleged facts will suffice to make a prima facie case for jury consideration.


Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic inflammatory disease with multiple joints involvement. The disease involves inflammation of the synovial membrane, which releases inflammatory cytokines that cause damage to joint components, cartilage and bone, and thus leads to progressive joint destruction. The traditional drugs used for treating RA are known as disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). The limited efficacy and/or side effects of traditional DMARDs limit their use. Although the etiology of RA remains unknown, recent advances in molecular technology have made it possible to identify distinct cell subsets, cell surface markers, and cell products that contribute to the immune-mediated inflammatory responses associated with the disease. This enhanced understanding of the immunopathogenesis of RA provides opportunities to specifically target the immune response pathways using therapies that are more specific. Over the last decade, five novel biological agents for treatment of RA have already been used in practice or on the horizon: interleukin 1 receptor antagonist (anakinra), anti-TNF agents (infliximab, etanercept, adalimumab), anti-CD20 agent (rituximab), selective T-cell co-stimulation modulator (abatacept), and anti-interleukin 6 receptor (tocilizumab). Here, we briefly discuss the targets of these drugs and the roles of these targets in the pathogenesis of RA and review the efficacy of these drugs from the clinical trial data.


The UK National School of Government has formed the following characteristics through the development in the four decades:Serving for government combined with market-orientation;Analyzing and defining training demands and designing training curricula based on capacity framework;Focusing on organization training; Emphasizing consultation;Enforcing personal training program;Focusing on the leadership development and innovating training approaches;And strengthening international cooperation and advancing its international influence.


having an inventive modular system for assembling motor-adjustable support means for upholstery of seating and / or reclining furniture, in particular for mattresses of beds, in which the respective support means in the assembled state at least two mutually adjustable support parts for supporting the padding, at least has a first longitudinal rail assembly (4) and at least one second longitudinal bar assembly to (6), which are detachably by connecting means to form a base body of the supporting means at a lateral distance from each other connected to each other and non-destructively removable. The modular system according to the invention allows a simple and inexpensive way, the mounting particularly bed frames.


February 2020 1 Tao Zhang, MD Chen Juan, MM Wan Cheng Yu, MD Hai Zhou Zhang, MD Cheng Wei Zou, MD A 41-year-old male was admitted to our hospital because of chest distress and thoracodynia. On physical examination, there were significant differences in blood pressure between the limbs: 175/97 mm Hg (right upper limb), 123/100 mm Hg (left upper limb), 117/79 mm Hg (right lower limb), 107/77 mm Hg (left lower limb); transthoracic echocardiography showed no intracardiac deformity; multidetector computed tomography demonstrated severe coarctation of the aorta (COA) between the left common carotid artery; and the left subclavian artery. The arteries of thoracic wall have dilated markedly. The minimum lumen area of coarctation is 1.4×1.3 mm (Figure 1). The procedure was performed under cardiopulmonary bypass. A 14-mm Dacron graft was used for an end-to-side anastomosis to thoracic descending aorta and the right side of the ascending aorta using a continuous 4 to 0 polypropylene suture (Figure 2). Immediately, the anklebrachial pressure gradient has significantly reduced post-operation (preoperative 60 mm Hg versus postoperative 20 mm Hg). The patient was discharged symptom free 7 days post-operation. Post-operative multidetector computed tomography showed the bypass graft was unobstructed (Figure 3).


In this research a model for the rationalization of the assessment in a rent to buy contract has been proposed, in order to contextualize the economic amounts involved in the negotiation according to the specific market risk of the area where the property is located. The paper aims to discuss this issue.,The model borrows the logical principles of operational research, in order to take into account the convenience constraints of the parties involved (seller and buyer) and to determine the minimum amount of the additional annual rent to be charged as down payment on the final sale price, compensating the investment risk. The procedure proposed for the risk assessment combines the discrete modeling of real option analysis and the exponentially weighted moving average method, in order to weigh appropriately the data available for the specific area in the analysis.,Considering the limit conditions of variability of the property market value at the time provided for the notarial deed, the proposed model returns two values (minimum and maximum) for a fixed contract duration and for a specific market area for the annual additional rent, which define the reference range to ensure the compliance with the convenience constraints of the parties involved.,In order to test the reliability of the developed methodology, the model has been implemented to the 24 "microzones" defined by the Italian Revenue Agency for the city of Bari (Southern Italy). The results obtained were then georeferenced, in order to create thematic maps of convenience for the subjects interested in the rent to buy formula. The developed maps define a useful support to be consulted in the negotiation phase between the seller and the buyer, allowing both to verify the investment conveniences within the limits of their disposable incomes and their needs.,The tabulated values of the down-payment amounts and the related thematic maps constitute a valid support for both the parties in the initial negotiation phase of the contractual conditions: in fact, if comparable data for the assessment of the market value and the market rent at the time of the stipulation of the contract are ordinarily available, the increase in the rent, to be charged as the annual down payment on the final purchase price, is generally entrusted to the contractual capabilities of the subjects involved, since there is no market reference that can direct an appropriate assessment.


This paper investigates the integrated modeling of a pultruded NACA0018 blade profile which is a part of the FP7 EU project DeepWind. The pultrusion process simulation is combined with the preliminary subsequent in-service load scenario. In particular, the process induced residual stresses and distortions are predicted by using a new approach combining a 3D Eulerian thermo-chemical analysis, in which the temperature and the cure degree distributions are obtained, and a 2D quasi-static plane strain mechanical analysis. The post-die region where convective cooling prevails is also included in the process model. The bending into shape of the pultruded blade profile is simulated with and without taking the residual stresses into account. The internal stress distribution in the profile is evaluated after the bending analysis and it is found that the process induced residual stresses have the potential to promote or to demote the internal stresses in the structural analysis.


Abstract Lattice parameters of LiCsSO4 have been measured in the temperature range 160–550 K with an X-ray single-crystal Bond diffractometer. The monoclinic angle γ in the low-temperature ferroelastic phase has been interpreted as an order parameter. Detailed results of X-ray studies of the ferroelastic domain structure supported by observations under a polarizing microscope are presented. An earlier report on the existence of an intermediate phase in LiCsSO4 has not been confirmed.


An experimental method to determine the (n,γ) cross section of short‐living s‐process branching points using data of the inverse (γ,n) reaction is presented. The method was used to observe the branching point nucleus 95Zr because the elemental abundance patterns corresponding to this branching point cannot be reproduced by full stellar models and a possible error source is the neutron capture cross section of 95Zr. The analysis of the experiment is still under progress, we will outline the current status in this manuscript.


The Mg(OH)2/PE halogen-free flame-retardant composites were modified by nano-SiO2 in this paper.The effects of different nano-SiO2 contents on the mechanical properties and flame retardance of composites were studied.The results showed that the Mg(OH)2/SiO2/PE composites had better flame retardance than the Mg(OH)2/PE composites as the inorganic filler content was the same.Nano-SiO2 can effectively improve the flame retardance and mechanical properties of Mg(OH)2/PE halogen-free flame-retardant composite.When the Mg(OH)2 /SiO2 content was 40%,the oxygen index of the Mg(OH)2/SiO2/PE composites showed a increase of 74% compared with the pure PE,while the mechanical properties of composite was still good.


The epidemiological picture of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in the general population is largely unknown, even in developed countries. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence and genotype distribution of HCV amongst a large sample of the Italian general population. A total of 3,577 serum samples were collected and screened for anti‐HCV antibodies. ELISA and RIBA tests were used to assess the presence of anti‐HCV. NS5b region sequencing was performed for molecular characterization. Of 3,577 tested sera, 95 (2.7%) were anti‐HCV positive and a genome was detected and sequenced in 50 sera. The age‐adjusted prevalence was 4.4%. Seroprevalence increased with age, following a North‐South gradient, and increased steeply between the 15 and 30 and 31–45 age groups. Subtype 1b showed the highest prevalence in all geographical areas and age groups, followed by subtypes 2c (detected mainly in the elderly population in Southern Italy), 4a/d, and 3a (detected exclusively in adults) and 1a. These findings confirm that Central and Southern Italy are hyperendemic areas. The high prevalence observed in adults over age 30 is mainly attributable to an increase in 1b‐prevalence but also to subtypes 2c‐ and 3/4‐infections. Age‐specific prevalence data and molecular characterization of the virus suggest that two transmission patterns co‐exist in Italy: one characterized by subtype 1b and 2c infections, mainly in adults older than 60 years, and the other by subtype 3 and 4 infections, mainly in the 31–60 year age group, and consistent with intravenous drug use and immigration. J. Med. Virol. 76:327–332, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Air quality monitoring is a long-term assessment of pollutant levels that helps to assess the extent of pollution and provide information about air quality trends [...]


Abstract Background and Aims Several chronic medical conditions appear to increase the risk of severe COVID-19. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients have a high risk of symptomatic infection and severe respiratory symptoms because of chronic inflammation, uremic toxins accumulation, endothelial dysfunction and an impaired immune response. Even though the presence of one or more comorbidities increases the risk of mortality, information of the outcome of COVID-19 in CKD patients is not yet available. The aim of the study is to present the incidence and outcome of COVID-19 in patients referring to our Nephrology Unit considering CKD patients, dialysis patients and kidney transplant recipients.MO520 Table 1. Demographic, clinical and radiological features. Variables Total (n=52) Survivors (n=39) Nonsurvivors(n=13) Age, yr 67.2± 13.8 65± 14 72± 12 Woman 21 (39%) 17 (44.7%) 5 (13%) Comorbidity CV disease 41 (78.8%) 30 (79%) 11(84.6%) DM 22 (42%) 14 (36.8%) 8 (61.5%) Cancer 18 (31%) 12 (31.6%) 6(46.1%) BMI>30 7 (3%) 4(10.5%) 2(15.4%) Dialysis 31(59.5%) 24 (63.1) 6 (46%) Kidney transplantation 16 (30.7%) 11 (29%) 2 (15%) CKD IV-V stage 4 (7%) 2 (5.2%) 1 (7.7%) Onset of Symptoms fever 29 (79%) 22(58%) 7 (13%) cough 3(6%) 2 (5.2%) 1 (7.7%) dyspnea 8 (15.4%) 4 (10.5%) 4 (30.8%) Symptomless 8 (15.4%) 6 (15.8%) 2 (15.4%) Admission HRCT Bilateral peripheral ground-gass opacity 39(81.2%) 31 (79.5%) 8(88.8%) Unilateral opacity 6 (12.5%) 5(12.8%) 1 (11.1) No opacity 3 (6.2%) 3 (7.7%) 0 PaO2/FiO2 ratio 330 ± 102. 376 ±93 286 ±86 Method This study is prospective single centre carried out considering patients referring to the Nephrology Unit of St. Orsola University Hospital in Bologna with COVID 19 diagnosis from 15THMarch to 30THMay 2020. Results Our cohort included 52 patients admitted to our Nephrology Unit because of Sars Cov2 infection confirmed by positive reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction on nasopharyngeal swab. The mean age was 67.2 ± 13.8 years (range, 33-88 years). Demographic, clinical and radiological features in Table 1. Forty-eight patients (92.3%) underwent chest TC. The main findings were: several bilateral interstitial pneumonia (39 patients, 81.2%), monolateral peripheral ground-glass opacities (6 patients, 12.5%), no signs of pneumonia (3 patients, 6.2 %). Clinical course is highly variable: 18 patients (34.6 %) were asymptomatic, 23 patients (44 %) had a mild course requiring low flux oxygen therapy and 11 patients (21%) presented severe pneumonia and respiratory distress that requires ventilatory support in intensive care unit. Forty patients (70%) had hydroxychloroquine-azithromycin dual therapy, 3 patients (6%) had antiviral therapy in addiction. Sixteen patients (31%) with P/F <150 mmHg were treated with Tocilizumab. Heparin Therapy, to prevent the thromboembolic risk of Sars-Cov2 infection, was administered according to the body weight in forty patients (70%);, but not in patients in warfarin therapy (12 patients, 30%). Twenty-six patients (50%) needed antibiotics for bacterial infections combined to the Sars-Cov2 infection. Steroid therapy was added in 40% of cases. The average time of negativization for Sars Cov2, tested with two nasopharyngeal swab specimens made seven days apart, was 31±15 day. Fifty-one patients, 98% of diagnosed cases, required hospitalization with an average stay of 35 ± 26 days. Thirty patients (25%) died. Mean age of non-survivors was 72 ± 11years while mean age of survivors was 64± 11years. No differences in pre-existing comorbidities were observed between survivors and non survivors; oxygen saturation on presentation was statistically lower in non survivors. Conclusion CKD is an independent risk factor for COVID-19 associated in-hospital mortality. The mortality rate (25%), much higher than in general population (1.8-8%) may be explained by the older age of patients and the presence of more pathological conditions, especially cardiovascular disease.


Our initial investigation (Pranulis V. P., Demand and supply of spirituality in the context of marketing: cognitive methodological approach. In Zarządzanie w XXI wieku: koncepcje, trendy, problemy. Wyzsza Szkola Bankowa 2009) related to demand and supply of spirituality in the context of marketing. This paper presents the intermediate results of a pilot study examining theoretical and methodological backgrounds measurement demand of spirituality. The conception and meaning of the terms "need" and "demand" of spirituality, and criteria against which spirituality can be measured are defined. The proposed matrix measurement of demand of spirituality is based on behaviour, internal values, and emotional satisfaction criteria relating to three levels of measurement: personal, social, and universe. The matrix is the tool and framework for what set of primary information could be associated with measurement demand of spirituality of a group or an individual. A questionnaire as a practical tool for collecting primary information is prepared.


In this draft I outline a model of structured deliberation in a heterogeneous social network and study the effects of heterogeneity and network structure on the accuracy of majority voting in the network. I show that diversity increases the accuracy of the majority rule when the voters deliberate beforehand. Without deliberation, diversity can result in inaccurate majority decisions.


The Citarum River is the longest river in West Java Province which is used for various human activities to produce a load of waste input into water bodies which cause changes in the physical and chemical parameters of the waters that will affect the life of aquatic organisms that live in it, one of which is zooplankton. Zooplankton can be used as a water bioindicator because it has a high level of sensitivity to pollution, especially in freshwater. The purpose of this research is to determine the physical-chemical quality of the water in the Citarum River and its influence on the structure of the zooplankton community in this environment. The research was carried out from August 2020 until October 2020 with a purposive sampling method. Sampling was carried out at 5 stations with 6 repetitions every 1 week. The parameters observed were physical and chemical parameters of the waters, an abundance of zooplankton, diversity index, and dominance index. The results showed that the composition of zooplankton in the Upstream Citarum River was 15 genus consisting of 2 phyla. The abundance of zooplankton obtained ranged from 21 - 51 individuals/L. The Simpson diversity index (D) obtained a range between 0.59 - 0.73 for the high category. The dominance index obtained ranges from 0.27 to 0.41 for the low category. Dissolved oxygen and pH are the parameters that most influence the presence of most of the identified zooplankton orders.


Miminary. l Xet sales; net cmiparab r Revised. J "©' for this page. JSee corresponding note on p. S-3. ©Estimates beginning January 1957 reflect certain changes in definitions foi now classified as unemployed (except for the subgroup "in sen MJ! and waiting to s comparable with data shown through 1950, in order as shown above (thous.): 70, vious issues of the SURVEY. 9 Includes data for industries not shown separately. lata through January 1957, which are gross. Comparable figure for November 1950 is $110,044,000. 2 g e c n o t e marked


We used to use Kolmogrov Complexity (KC) to study the EEG mutual information transmission. But while doing this calculation, a series needs coarse graining which usually results in losses of lots of significant details. Therefore, a new measurement of complexity, named C_(0) complexity, is proposed. As we know, complex time series can be considered consisting of regular and random components. Then C_(0) complexity is defined as a ratio of the areas of the random components with time axis and the whole complex series with time axis. This new complexity measurement avoids coarse graining during calculation. It can define better the dynamic nature of the series. The key point calculate C_(0) complexity is how to find the regular time series from a complex one.


The global production and use of plastic is increasing and a substantial part will end up in aquatic environments where it will degrade into micro- and nanoplastic particles (NPPs). NPPs will interact with naturally occurring biomolecules present in aquatic environments which in turn will affect the properties of the particles. The purpose of this study was thus to investigate how organic matter affects the toxicity of 53 nm polystyrene nanoparticles (PS-NPs). The mortality and reproduction of Daphnia magna, exposed to PS-NPs with and without organic matter were observed during short- and long term experiments. Furthermore, the size and aggregation of the PS-NPs, were determined using Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) in a variety of conditions, including organic matter, to evaluate how the organic matter affects the physical properties of the particles. The organic matter reduced the acute toxicity observed at a PS-NP concentration of 3.2 mg/L. The PS-NPs aggregated in the exposure media but were stabilized by the organic matter which limited the diameter of the aggregates to 200 nm – 300 nm. Enhanced mortality was observed at a PS-NP concentration of 0.32 mg/L in the first long term toxicity test but not in the second. The protective effect of the organic matter was not seen in the long term experiments and the reproduction was not affected in any of the treatments. We provide pristine knowledge about how organic matter might reduce the toxicity and affect the properties of NPPs in natural environments and highlight the importance of assessing NPP toxicity under more environmentally realistic conditions. (Less)


Recently, the board-type lightweight material, which make a void space and concrete column in the middle of slab, was developed. It separates slab into top and bottom concrete plate. Each plate can be acted independently. This is because horizontal shear failure have to be considered in connection between concrete columns and plates.


Using a simulated method of moments approach, the author evaluates a representative consumer asset pricing model in which the consumer is assumed to have time nonseparable preferences of several forms. Examining the model's implications for several moments of asset returns, he finds evidence for the local substitution of consumption with habit formation occurring over longer periods of time. The interaction between these two effects is important. The author also shows that, when accounting for sampling error, a model with local substitution and long-run habit persistence is consistent with the Hansen and Jagannathan (1991) bounds. Copyright 1995 by The Econometric Society.


Objectives: To characterize overall drug use in migraine in conjunction with multimodal behavioral treatment.Methods: 76 adults reporting at least two monthly migraine attacks underwent a randomize ...


According to the present invention an impeller includes an upper side which inhales air; a lower side which discharges air; and blades formed between the upper and lower sides. Guide grooves are formed on the upper and lower sides for a balancing of a motor. An electric blower according to the present invention includes a rotation unit and a fixing unit combined to the impeller for operating the impeller. The rotation unit includes a magnet, and the fixing unit is prepared with an electric element comprising a core and coils positioned to face the magnet. Between the rotation unit and the fixing unit, a drive module having an air bearing unit is included.


A new type thermal barrier coating was produced by the continuous evaporation and deposition of the mixture source of A1+Al2O3+ZrO2 with certain fraction ratio onto Ni-based superalloy by means of EB-PVD. The result obtained by SEM with EDS shows that the microstructure of the coating transfers gradually from metallic bond coat to ceramic top-coat and the composition distribution in the coating also changes continuously. The fundamental structure of the coating is NiCoCrAlY/ Ni3Al/ Ni3Al+Al2O3/ Al2O3/ Al2O3+ ZrO2/ ZrO2. The gradient thermal barrier coating has a better resistance to high temperature oxidation at 1050 ℃ than conventional two-layered coating. Subjected to 300 thermal cycling tests performed at 1050 ℃ for 30 min and forced air cooling to room temperature, the coating did not failed and exhibits good resistance to thermal shock.


The present study investigates the turbulence characteristic of turbidity current experimentally. The three-dimensional Acoustic-Doppler Velocimeter (ADV) was used to measure the instantaneous velocity and characteristics of the turbulent flow. The experiments were conducted in a three-dimensional channel for different discharge flows, concentrations, and bed slopes. Results are expressed at various distances from the inlet, for all flow rates, slopes and concentrations as the distribution of turbulence energy, Reynolds stress and the turbulent intensity. It was concluded that the maximum turbulence intensity happens in both the interface and near the wall. Also, it was observed that the turbulence intensity reaches its minimum where maximum velocity occurs.


Fungi have evolved a plethora of functionally diverse secondary metabolites (SMs) to enhance their adaptation to various environments. To understand how structurally diverse metabolites contribute to fungal adaptation, we elucidate fungus-mycohost specific interactions mediated by a family of polypeptides, i.e., peptaibols. We specified that peptaibol structural diversification was attributed to the nonspecific substrate recognition by the highly conserved peptaibol synthetases (PSs) in dead wood inhabiting mycoparasitic fungi from the genus Trichoderma. Exemplified by investigation of T. hypoxylon, we characterized a library of 19 amino acid residue peptaibols, named trichohypolins, containing 42 derivatives synthesized by a single PS enzyme (NPS1Th). Elimination of trichohypolin production by the deletion of nps1Th reduced the inhibitory activities of T. hypoxylon on at least 15 saprotrophic host fungi, indicating that peptaibols are essential for interactions of Trichoderma spp. with their mycohosts. Different antagonistic effects of five trichohypolin subfractions SF1–SF5 and two pure compounds trichohypolins A (1) and B (2) on saprotrophic host fungi revealed specific activities of peptaibol derivatives in mediating fungus-mycohost interaction. Our study provides insights into the role of metabolic diversity of biosynthetic pathways in interfungal interactions.


A three-dimensional model of the human knee joint was built from MRI-images and data captured by a motion analysis system. The joint is modelled by two rigid bodies subjected to unilateral constraints which guide the joint while allowing considerable joint play. The constraints are the two contact conditions of the medial and lateral joint compartment and 25 ligamentous connections. Extended screw theory is employed to determine the instantaneously feasible displacements of the system. Based on this, an algorithm is devised to completely map the boundary of the six-dimensional configuration space B. Variations of the surface geometry are performed to simulate the implantation of endo-prostheses.