SUMMARY Cepheid variables are a class of pulsating variable stars with the useful property that their periods of variability are strongly correlated with their absolute luminosity. Once this relationship has been calibrated, knowledge of the period gives knowledge of the luminosity. This makes these stars useful as "standard candles" for estimating distances in the universe. This paper updates and expands work reported by Jefferys and Barnes (1999). We consider fully Bayesian inference using reversible-jump MCMC simulation that takes as data photometric and velocity information and gives as output posterior inference for useful physical information such as the absolute luminosity of the star, its distance, its radius, and other parameters. We model the photometry and velocities as Fourier polynomials with an unknown or selectable number of terms; the photometry and velocities are connected by nonlinear relations involving the physical parameters of interest. From amongst these models with varying numbers of Fourier coefficients we select models with the highest posterior probability, and obtain information on the physical parameters averaged over the models, with weights proportional to the posterior probabilities of the models. We discuss issues concerning priors, effectiveness of the sampling, and the practical results of our research program. We briefly discuss alternative photometric and velocity models using wavelets instead of Fourier polynomials, and alternative approaches to the priors.


—The determination and application of optimal disinfection parameters during the post-harvest process of fruits and vegetables is essential, it keeps the product in good condition and ensures that it does not constitute a risk to the consumer's health. This research was focused on guaranteeing the quality and safety of agricultural products, specifically passion fruit, lemon and avocado, produced in the La Era neighborhood of the Catamayo Canton, province of Loja. For this, a sample size of 68 units per product was determined, subsequently preliminary tests were developed using five concentrations of Bioperac disinfectant (0.25; 0.50; 1.00; 1.50 and 2.00%) and by means of an organoleptic analysis established the definitive treatments; quality characteristics were evaluated in these: organoleptic, physical-chemical and microbiological; Finally, the production costs required in the post-harvest handling of the products were determined. The results obtained regarding the quality and safety analyzes of the definitive treatments indicated that the optimal disinfection factors for passion fruit, lemon and avocado correspond to 1.00% Bioperac, with a contact time of 3 minutes, at a temperature of refrigerated at 7 ºC, packed in polyethylene (lemon) and polypropylene (passion fruit and avocado) bags. The shelf life for passion fruit and avocado was 35 days, while for lemon it was 49 days, whose production costs are lower than those offered by supermarkets in the city of Loja.


Iron has been electropolished over a range of voltage and current in the acetic acid–perchloric acid bath. Under optimum conditions an "atomically smooth" surface has been obtained as evidenced by marked refraction effects in the electron diffraction patterns. There is also evidence for a thin film on the electropolished surface which thickens on further exposure to air to form a preferentially oriented cubic iron oxide. Light etching in nitric acid removed the film and formed a surface which, on diffraction, gave the more normal spot pattern of iron.


Preface, Rudolph P. Byrd Part I, Autobiographical Acts Charles Johnson: An Autobiographical Essay, Charles Johnson Part II, Fiction First Words: Excerpts from the Early Fiction, Charles Johnson Literary Outtakes: More from Oxherding Tale, (1990) Charles Johnson Kwoon, (1991) Charles Johnson The Writer's Notebook, (1992) Charles Johnson The Work of the World, Charles Johnson Part III, Essays and Addresses Philosophy and Black Fiction, (1980) Charles Johnson Whole Sight: Notes on New Black Fiction, (1984) Charles Johnson Where Fiction and Philosophy Meet, (1988) Charles Johnson Novelists of Memory, (1989) Charles Johnson A Phenomenology of the Black Body, (1993) Charles Johnson On Writers and Writing, (1993) Charles Johnson Black Images and Their Global Impact, (1993) Charles Johnson Northwestern Commencement Address, (1994) Charles Johnson What is Man, (1995) Charles Johnson Journal Entries on the Death of John Gardner, (1995) Charles Johnson Part IV, Reviews and Cultural Criticism One Meaning of "Mo' Better Blues," (1991) Charles Johnson Black Fiction's Father Figure, (1991) Charles Johnson Spike Lee Does the Right Thing, (1992) Charles Johnson Inventing Africa, (1992) Charles Johnson Widening the Racial Divide, (1995) Charles Johnson The King We Left Behind, (1996) Charles Johnson Part V, Charlie's Pad A Capsule History of Blacks in Comics, Charles Johnson Selected Cartoons Part VI, Interviews/Conversations An Interview with Charles Johnson, (1993) Jonathan Little Critic, Not Cynic: Charles Johnson and Stanley Crouch (1995) VII, Reading Charles Johnson On Faith and the Good Thing John McComber, Philosophy and Hydrology: Situating Discourse in Charles Johnson's Faith and the Good Thing On Oxherding Tale Stanley Crouch, Charles Johnson: Free At Last! Vera M. Kutzinski, Johnson Revises Johnson: Oxherding Tale and The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man Jeffrey B. Leak, Wrestling With Desire: Slavery and Masculinities in Oxherding Tale Rudolph P. Byrd, Oxherding Tale and Siddhartha: Philosophy, Fiction, and the Emergence of a Hidden Tradition On Being and Race: Black Writing Since 1970 Michael Boccia, Charles Johnson and the Philosopher's Ghost: The Phenomenological Thinking in Being and Race On The Sorcerer's Apprentice Rudolph P. Byrd, It Rests By Changing: Process in The Sorcerer's Apprentice On Middle Passage Daniel M. Scott, Interrogating Identity: Appropriation and Transformation in Middle Passage Ashraf H.A. Rushdy, The Phenomenology of the Allumersi: Charles Johnson and the Subject of the Narrative of Slavery Bibliography


The 'Natural Philosophy' of the Atomist Democritus, a Greek thinker from the fifth century BCE, introduced the hypothesis of images or idols (eidola), a kind of emanation from external objects, whi...


This research has proposed a Hybrid Fiber Coax headend system (HFC) which is integrated in the Fiber to the Home (FTTH) network. HFC Headend Implementation on FTTH network aims to add Analog Broadcast TV service so that by using one antenna can serve many users by using the same wavelength at 1550 nm. The proposed network implementation using FTTH devices includes OLT, ODC, and passive splitter, patch core, and rosette devices. The FTTH network will be integrated with the HFC network with the devices used namely fiber transmitters, fiber nodes, tv tuners, antennas, and amplifiers. The system test results show that the antenna receive power value has good service quality with a value of -40 dB. The sensitivity value of the device receiving fiber node is -5 dBm up to -27 dBm with the resulting CNR value of -47.7 dB.


Finding suitable health insurance coverage can be challenging for individuals and small enterprises in the USA. The Health Insurance Exchange Public Use Files (Exchange PUFs) dataset provided by CMS offers valuable information on health and dental policies [1]. In this paper, we leverage machine learning algorithms to predict if a health insurance plan covers routine dental services for adults. By analyzing plan type, region, deductibles, out-of-pocket maximums, and copayments, we employ Logistic Regression, Decision Tree, Random Forest, Gradient Boost, Factorization Model and Support Vector Machine algorithms. Our goal is to provide a clinical strategy for individuals and families to select the most suitable insurance plan based on income and expenses.


Objective: To analyze the quality of safflower( Carthamus tinctorius) from several main producing regions of Xinjiang according to Chinese Pharmacopoeia. Methods: The contents of moisture, ash, acid insoluble ash, red pigment absorbance,extract,hydroxysafflor yellow A were measured according to Chinese pharmacopoeia( 2010 edition). Results:The content of water,extract and hydroxysafflor yellow A in 24 batch of safflower sample from different producing regions of Xinjiang met the requirements of Chinese Pharmacopoeia. For samples from Hetian,the total ash content ranged from 17. 69%~ 25. 48% and acid insoluble ash content 10. 29% ~ 17. 05%,much higher than the standard of Chinese Pharmacopoeia.And the red pigment absorbance of the partial samples ranged from 0. 140 3 ~ 0. 180 4, lower than the standard of Pharmacopoeia. Other samples met the requirements. Conclusion: We found that safflower in Hetian were clustered into a separate category and other origin samples were clustered into one category by Cluster analysis. The samples from Changji and Tacheng were similar,and different from the samples from Yili. So Hetian is not suitable for large-scale cultivation of safflower.


Remote consultations were introduced widely in community mental health services in the initial peak of the covid-19 pandemic.1 Salisbury explains why teleconsultations are suboptimal for many patients in primary care.2 In an era of social distancing, psychiatrists and other mental health practitioners have …


Significance It is well known that ribosomal RNA processing is directly impacted by the rate of transcription elongation by RNA polymerase I (Pol I). To understand how these processes are orchestrated, we must carefully define transcription elongation properties in vitro and in living cells. Here, we characterize DNA sequence elements that pause and terminate Pol I transcription in vitro. We also establish methods for analyzing Pol I transcription elongation properties in vivo using native elongating transcript sequencing (NETSeq). Our NETSeq data revealed frequent pausing by Pol I and decreased Pol I occupancy at G residues, suggesting unequal rates of nucleotide incorporation by the enzyme. These findings redefine our understanding of Pol I transcription elongation and its heterogeneity in vivo. DNA sequence motifs that affect RNA polymerase transcription elongation are well studied in prokaryotic organisms and contribute directly to regulation of gene expression. Despite significant work on the regulation of eukaryotic transcription, the effect of DNA template sequence on RNA polymerase I (Pol I) transcription elongation remains unknown. In this study, we examined the effects of DNA sequence motifs on Pol I transcription elongation kinetics in vitro and in vivo. Specifically, we characterized how the spy rho-independent terminator motif from Escherichia coli directly affects Saccharomyces cerevisiae Pol I activity, demonstrating evolutionary conservation of sequence-specific effects on transcription. The insight gained from this analysis led to the identification of a homologous sequence in the ribosomal DNA of S. cerevisiae. We then used native elongating transcript sequencing (NETSeq) to determine whether Pol I encounters pause-inducing sequences in vivo. We found hundreds of positions within the ribosomal DNA (rDNA) that reproducibly induce pausing in vivo. We also observed significantly lower Pol I occupancy at G residues in the rDNA, independent of other sequence context, indicating differential nucleotide incorporation rates for Pol I in vivo. These data demonstrate that DNA template sequence elements directly influence Pol I transcription elongation. Furthermore, we have developed the necessary experimental and analytical methods to investigate these perturbations in living cells going forward.


Spin-polarized density functional theory is used to investigate the stability and electronic properties of vacancies, antisites, and substitutional Si and C in zigzag and armchair GaN nanotubes. Antisites and vacancies present lower formation energies as compared with their counterparts in the bulk GaN system, introducing localized electronic levels within the nanotube band gap. For vacancy systems in the neutral charge state the defective levels present a spin splitting giving rise to a net magnetic moment of 1 μB. Substitutional Si and C in the Ga site have the lowest formation energy and exhibit donor properties, suggesting the formation of defect-induced n-type GaN nanotubes. Our calculated formation energies for charged defects indicate that the neutral charge states are present for all the studied defects, thus suggesting a different picture for those defects in nanotube systems when compared with their counterparts in the bulk phase.


Development of new joining glasses tailored to layered all-ceramic dental restoration systems is described. These new glasses were developed to meet the requirements for dental restorations, including coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) matching in the 100°–500°C range, wetting characteristics, densification temperature for fritted glass layers, radio-opacity, color, and lead-free composition. Glasses in the BaO–Al2O3–Na2O–B2O3–SiO2 system were investigated for their biocompatibility, chemical stability, and suitable calculated glass transition temperature (Tg), and dilatometric softening point (Td). Appen additivity factors and Fluegal's database were used to estimate CTE, Tg, Td, and E (elastic modulus) and select compositions in the CTE range 6.00 × 10−6–10.4 × 10−6/K for application to common dental alumina and zirconia ceramic systems. A sol–gel approach was used to produce homogenous glass precursors covering a wide range of compositions. Melting, firing, and quenching the compositions were required to form dense, uniform, transparent layers.


Management of organic waste is a difficult, complex and intractable in Moldova, according to international standards. Acute problem of organic matter from livestock sector waste is generated by storing them in unauthorized areas. Organic waste management strategies require different methods. One of them is organic waste bio conversion technology by worm's cultivation. Wormculture is biological method converting the organic wastes with the help of worms (wormgrowing), which use organic wastes as food and vital environment. Before, organic wastes must be held to fermentation, in order to regulate the level of active acidity and of the content of azoth – ammoniac. The investigation performed bellow has the goal of showing how the ecological situation can be improved through wormculture, meaning the bioconversion of organic offal. This can be achieved by obtaining valuable organic fertilizers and ecological agricultural production by wormculture. Tecnology of wormculture included: the preparation of nutritional substratum; the production of worm's compost and wormculture; the utiluzation of worm's compost. The object of technology: the complexe bioconversion of wastes; obtaining organic enrichemnts with long-time action; the reanimation of damaged soils; the growth of the agricultural production; obtaining ecological production; the protection of the environment. In order to improve the ecological, sanitary-veterinary, epidemiological and epizootic situation, the bioconversion of organic wastes through wormculture method is strongly recommended.


THE INFLUENCE OF ONLINE READING ON FACEBOOK AND MOTIVATION TOWARD NARRATIVE READING ACHIEVEMENT  OF THE EIGHTH GRADE STUDENTS OF MUHAMMADIYAH JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL 7 OF PALEMBANG IN ACADEMIC YEAR OF 2013/2014


At the beginning of 2015, the Laboratorio de Paleontologia e Evolucao (Labpaleoevo) of the Goias Federal University (UFG), Aparecida de Goiânia Campus, added to its collection 335 specimens of fossils. Most specimens are from the sedimentary basins of Araripe, Sao Jose de Itaborai, and Parana, located at the states of Ceara, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and Goias. This collection is still in process of implementation and institutionalization, proper methods for curating the paleontological material are being applied. The present paper aims to present the institutionalization process of Labpaleoevo and its fossil collection, which has the potential for revealing new data important to the Brazilian Paleontology. As a consequence, this process will give the UFG's Geology Course support to the curation of fossil specimens, and may enhance many paleontological studies in Goias State as well.


Using an artificial light source, the effect of natural twilight irradiance intensity on the photoperiodic responses of autumnflowering chrysanthemum was examined. When exposed to light from a red fluorescent lamp, four cultivars of chrysanthemum exhibited a higher inhibitory effect on flowering in the morning than in the evening under the same irradiance. When exposed to light from a red (R) light-emitting diode (LED) lamp, the threshold irradiance of the chrysanthemum cultivar 'Jimba' was less than 10 mW・m–2 in the morning and approximately 70 mW・m–2 in the evening. The effects of R and R + far red (FR) light were also investigated in 'Jimba'. There was a difference in the morning treatment; however, there was no difference in the evening treatment. It was considered that the FR light did not influence the threshold of R light. In 'Jimba', the threshold irradiance for the photoperiodic flowering response increased with the age of the plant. The natural twilight irradiance was measured for 102 d in Ibusuki City. The results revealed that the sunrise and sunset light intensities changed for about 20 min each morning and evening owing to the influence of the terrain and weather. Using the threshold irradiance for the photoperiodic response with R light, we estimated the illuminance in the morning and evening in the dark period of 'Jimba'. The results revealed that less than 8 lx in the morning and 54 lx in the evening are the light and dark thresholds for photoperiodic flowering. However, this estimate may vary depending on the weather factors and test environment conditions (place, cropping type, and growing environment).


The field of academic general internal medicine has enjoyed a long and distinguished history of health care, education, and research in the hospital. Increasingly, however, its attention is focused on the outpatient setting. The reasons for this trend correspond roughly to the three legs of the academic stool.1 First, as economic and technological change narrowed the gate to hospitalization over the past decade, we found ourselves caring for more and sicker patients in our outpatient practices. At the same time, many academic medical centers embarked on a strategic path of growing their primary care bases,2 leaving divisions of general internal medicine scurrying to increase their ambulatory clinical capacity. Second, we have recognized that the training of those students and housestaff destined to practice general internal medicine (and many medical specialties) needs to be based primarily on ambulatory care.3 Finally, the research agenda of general internal medicine has increasingly focused on ambulatory disorders and preventive practices long neglected by academia.4 As a result of those forces, many academic divisions of general internal medicine have, to a large extent, changed into divisions of primary care.


Qinguang nectarine was used to investigate the effects of 1-MCP (an inhibitor of ethylene) on softening of nectarine induced by exogenous ethylene during fruit ripening. The results showed that 1-MCP treatment could delay the loss of fruit firmness induced by exogenous ethylene and retarded the hydrolysis of starch, cellulose, alkaline-insoluble pectin and the increase of water-soluble pectin for 2 days.1-MCP can postpone the appearing time of the peak of amylase, cellulose and PG enzyme activities relating to fruit softening for 2 days, and reduced the peak of PG enzyme activities induced by exogenous ethylene.


The Semantic Web was designed to represent the enormous data that is existing on the World Wide Web in a machine readable format. The research shows the long period of time that was spent on the Emails for communication and information exchange. Adding the semantics to the existing Email systems could not only provide for the valuable usage of time and resources, but also refreshes the meaning of Email communication. The presented research work examines the ontology extraction process from the Email systems adopting scalable pattern rules that is based on the extracted techniques. The proposed architecture is designed to handle the unstructured Emails and the ontologies that are extracted from the Email which is divided into four main components as follows: the Ontology Learning Component, the Management Component, the Semantic Email Component and the Client Side Plugin.


Polyaromatic proton exchange membranes (PEMs) are considered an ideal alternative to perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) membranes because of their low-cost and intrinsic low permeability. However, PEM fuel cell's performance and stability...


Liquid Xenon (LXe) appears to be an ideal solvent for the study of reactive intermediates in photochemical reactions because of its complete inertness and transparency in both the IR and UV/Visible spectral regions. Photolysis of a H2-doped solution of W(CO)6 in LXe at 193 K leads to the formation of W(CO)5H2 having CO stretching modes at 2098.4 (A21), 1972.2 (E) and 1970.5 cm−1 (A11) and v(H-H) at 2707 cm−1. From a comparison of these CO stretching frequencies with those of other W(CO)5L complexes it is concluded that the W(dπ) H2(σ*u) interaction is stronger than expected theoretically.


Post-transcriptional modification such as N6-methyladenosine (m6A) has a crucial role in the stability and regulation of gene expression. Therefore, the identification of m6A is highly required for understanding the functional mechanisms of biological processes. Several machine learning techniques based on handy craft feature extraction methods have been proposed to facilitate the laborious work. However, due to the inefficient feature extraction, these techniques increase the computational complexity and thereby affect the identification accuracy of m6A.This paper proposes a fast and reliable predictive model for the identification of m6A sites. The proposed model is based on the convolutional neural network (CNN) which extracts the most significant features from the RNA sequences encoded by concatenating one-hot and nucleotide chemical properties. The proposed model is applied and tested on multiple species benchmark datasets and evaluated against the state-of-art predictive models. The results indicate that the proposed model achieves high accuracy of 93.6 %, 93.8 %, 85.0 % and 92.5 % on the benchmark datasets of Homo sapiens (H.sapien), Mus musculus (M.musculs), Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S.cerevisiae), and Arabidopsis thaliana (A.thaliana), respectively.The proposed model could be used to facilitate the researcher's community in m6A identification. In addition, an easy to use web server is made available at https://home.jbnu.ac.kr/NSCL/pm6acnn.htm.


Mere knowledge that the company has acquired own shares is not always of great importance. Information on the acquisition of own shares from dissenting shareholders or the squeeze-out of minority shareholders is not of great importance to the users of financial statements. In the first case, it is far more significant to disclose the significant event that allowed dissenting shareholders to resign from the company. However, the purchase of own shares due to certain reasons, such as the purchase of own shares at a premium in order to influence the market value of shares, the repurchase focused on preventing greater harm to the company, which is especially true at a time of financial crisis, or the repurchase of own shares as a means of disbursing shareholders, is of great importance to the users of financial statements. Therefore, modern legislation in developed countries obliges companies to disclose a range of information regarding own shares, including the reasons for the acquisition. The above is also proscribed by the relevant EU directives and national legislation. The paper points out that the legal norms governing the obligation of reporting on own shares in Serbia are not harmonized and that most public companies in Serbia, despite the legal obligation, do not disclose the reasons for the acquisition of own shares.


This study was a comparison of reported methods of extraction of IgY from hen egg yolk. Four methods of lipid removal were compared, followed by a method of immunoglobulin precipitation. The results showed that the method of water-caprylic acid was the best one, the extraction ratio of IgY was 93.4%, and the yield was 4.67mg/mL yolk, the purity was 85%.


We examine if macroeconomic factors impact cash holdings and how it influences the speed of adjustment of cash to target levels using the Arellano-Bover/Blundell-Bond dynamic panel model. We analyse a balanced panel and find that exchange rate, stock market index and oil price shocks impact cash holdings positively. We also observe that firms hold more cash in expectation of GDP growth, oil price shocks, increase in credit spread, budget deficit and hold marketable securities in expectation of inflationary conditions in the economy, while they hold less cash in expectation of an increase in exchange rate and increase in long-term and short-term bond rates. We further substantiate that cash holdings in firms adjust to target cash reserves in a dynamic process. We provide strong evidence that macroeconomic policy decisions impact cash levels in firms.


In this study, the determination of the human thermal comfort situation in the Goller District (in the Mediterranean Region) of Turkey has been aimed. In the direction of the aim, the air temperature and relative humidity data of total 11 meteorology stations have been examined according to The Thermo-hygrometric Index (THI) and the New Summer Simmer Index (SSI). According to this, it has been determined that the thermal comfort conditions are not appropriate in the period of October-May on average monthly. The months of June and September are the most appropriate to almost all kinds of tourism and recreation activities in the outdoor in terms of thermal comfort. When THI and SSI indices' values are evaluated together, the periods between 5th – 25th June and 29th August-16th September are the most appropriate periods in the study area on average in terms of the thermal comfort for the tourism and recreation activities in the outdoor. Keywords: Thermal comfort, human health, The Thermo-Hygrometric Index, The Summer Simmer Index, Goller District, Turkey.


Apo2L/TRAIL is a member of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) family of cytokines that induces death of cancer cells but not normal cells. Its potent apoptotic activity is mediated through its cell surface death domain‐containing receptors, DR4 and DR5. Apo2L/TRAIL interacts also with 3 "decoy" receptors that do not induce apoptosis, DcR1, DcR2, which lack functional death domains, and osteoprotegerin (OPG). The aim of our study was to investigate the cytotoxic activity of Apo2L/TRAIL on established osteogenic sarcoma cell lines (BTK‐143, HOS, MG‐63, SJSA‐1, G‐292 and SAOS2) and in primary cultures of normal human bone (NHB) cells. When used alone, Apo2L/TRAIL at 100 ng/ml for 24 hr induced greater than 80% cell death in only 1 (BTK‐143) of the 6 osteogenic sarcoma cell lines. In contrast, Apo2L/TRAIL‐resistant cells were susceptible to Apo2L/TRAIL‐mediated apoptosis in the presence of the anticancer drugs, Doxorubicin (DOX), Cisplatin (CDDP) and Etoposide (ETP) but not Methotrexate (MTX) or Cyclophosphamide (CPM). Importantly, neither Apo2L/TRAIL alone nor in combination with any of these drugs affected primary normal human bone cells under equivalent conditions. Apo2L/TRAIL‐induced apoptosis, and its augmentation by chemotherapy in the resistant cell lines was mediated through caspase‐8 and caspase‐3 activation. Furthermore, Apo2L/TRAIL‐induced apoptosis and its augmentation by chemotherapy was effectively inhibited by caspase‐8 zIETD‐fmk and caspase‐3 zDEVD‐fmk protease inhibitors and by the pan‐caspase inhibitor zVAD‐fmk. The pattern of basal Apo2L/TRAIL receptor mRNA expression, or expression of the intracellular caspase inhibitor FLICE‐inhibitory protein, FLIP, could not be readily correlated with resistance or sensitivity to Apo2L/TRAIL‐induced apoptosis. However, the augmentation of Apo2L/TRAIL effects by chemotherapy was associated with drug‐induced up‐regulation of death receptors DR4 and DR5 mRNA and protein. No obvious correlation was seen between the expression of OPG mRNA or protein and susceptibility of cells to Apo2L/TRAIL‐induced apoptosis. Stable over‐expression of a dominant negative form of the Fas‐associated death domain protein (FADD) in the Apo2L/TRAIL‐sensitive BTK‐143 cells completely inhibited Apo2L/TRAIL‐induced cell death. Our results indicate that chemotherapy and Apo2L/TRAIL act synergistically to kill cancer cells but not normal bone‐derived osteoblast‐like cells, which has implications for future therapy of osteosarcoma. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Thank you for reading the life of a style beginnings and endings in the narrative history of art. As you may know, people have look hundreds times for their favorite novels like this the life of a style beginnings and endings in the narrative history of art, but end up in malicious downloads. Rather than reading a good book with a cup of coffee in the afternoon, instead they juggled with some infectious bugs inside their laptop.


In this paper, an analytical expression of normalized spatial correlation of a hierarchical angle structure for 3GPP Spatial Channel Model (SCM) is derived. Most of the existing formulas of the normalized spatial correlation were derived by simplifying the angle structure. In the paper, the hierarchical angle is considered as a function of multiple random variables, which can include those simplified angle structures as special cases. A closed-form expression of the probability density function of the hierarchical angle for uniform linear array is developed that can yield the analytical formula of normalized spatial correlation. Computer evaluation shows that the derived formula matches well with the simulated correlations generated from the 3GPP SCM.


Amyloidosis is a broad spectrum of heterogeneous diseases, characterized by the accumulation and extracellular deposit of misfolded proteins, resulting in organs' thickening and dysfunction. Cardiac amyloidosis (CA) is common and represents an important key factor in patients' prognosis. Our study aims to depict the profile of patients with CA, so as present their therapeutic management and outcomes.

 We retrospectively carried out a descriptive study between 2015 and 2022, including all patients admitted to our department for systemic amyloidosis (SA) with confirmed cardiac involvement on echocardiography (TTE) and/or cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR).

 31 patients were enrolled. The sex ratio (M/F) was 0.93 and the mean age was 62 ± 15 years (26-86). Past history included multiple myeloma (n = 7), monoclonal gammapathy of undetermined significance (n = 1), T lymphoma (n = 1), and systemic amyloidosis (n = 1). Cardiovascular risk factors comprised high blood pressure (25%), type 2 diabetes (15%), dyslipidemia (9%), and smoking (8%). Patients presented after a mean of 12 ± 4 months since the onset, with peripheral edema (68%) and other signs of right (53%) and global heart failure (19%). Concomitant extracardiac involvements were mainly renal (55%), mucocutaneous (20%), and neurological (16%). Electrocardiogram showed low-voltage (41%), poor R-wave progression (23%), atrial fibrillation (10%), atrioventricular block (6%), right bundle branch block (6%), left bundle branch block (6%), junctional tachycardia (6%), and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) (6%). On TTE, the features observed were the altered longitudinal global strain (93%) with a bull's eye pattern (90%), LVH (90%), valvular and septal hypertrophy (88%), sparkling myocardium (65%), pericardial effusion (54%), diastolic dysfunction (37%), dilated cavities (35%), pulmonary hypertension (29%), and aortic stenosis (3%). Systolic function was mostly conserved (73%), at a mean of 53 ± 10%. The most recurrent signs on CMR were: late enhancement (90%), LVH (80%), and abnormalities in myocardium nulling (25%). Cardiac biomarkers included a Troponin of 0.35 ng/ml [0.13; 506] and BNP of 4895 pg/ml [1588; 13 224]. BS showed positive cardiac fixation (grade 2 or 3) in six cases, confirming ATTR-CA. Peripheral biopsies, serum and urine immunofixation, free light chains assays, and medullar investigations demonstrated AL in 23 patients. Two cases of AA were confirmed on immunohistochemistry, complicating sarcoidosis (n = 1) and ankylosing spondylitis (n = 1). Patients were treated with chemotherapy (n = 11), Tafamidis (n = 3), and Infliximab (n = 2). The outcomes documented were complete remission (n = 1), partial remission (n = 3), and death (n = 9) with a median survival of 7 months.

 Our study highlights the grim prognosis still carried by CA patients. Although increased awareness is noticed among physicians, the disease is often discovered at a late stage or even overlooked. Further understanding of CA and prompt screening of at-risk patients are thus crucial for early diagnosis and management, in order to improve patients' outcomes.
 Disclosure
 S. Chadli: None. M. Maamar: None. H. Khibri: None. N. Moatassim: None. W. Ammouri: None. H. Harmouche: None. M. Adnaoui: None. Z. Tazi Mezalek: None.


For languages with significant inflectional morphology, development of a morphological parser is often a prerequisite to further computational linguistic capabilities. We focus on two difficulties for this development: the short lifetime of software such as parsing engines, and the difficulty of porting grammars to new parsing engines. We describe a methodology we have developed to promote portability, using a formal declarative grammar written in XML, which we supplement with a traditional descriptive grammar. The two grammars are combined into a single document using Literate Programming. The formal grammar is designed to be independent of a particular parsing engine's programming language, thus helping solve the software lifetime and portability problems. 1 Grammar Development After decades of widespread effort in computational linguistics, it is clear that progress has been made in areas ranging from the building computational lexical resources, to applications such as machine translation. While all this is beneficial, it is not without drawbacks: some resources which were developed at great expense, and which proved useful in the past, are no longer usable. This is perhaps nowhere more true than with grammars. Numerous computationally implemented grammars have been written, often at great expense; but nearly all of these grammars are tied to particular parsing engines, and their usefulness ends with the obsolescence of that parsing engine. Recently, many computational linguists have turned from hand-crafted, labor intensive grammars to grammars automatically induced from annotated corpora, particularly in syntax. When the grammar is learned from a corpus, the obsolescence of a parsing engine may be a lesser issue, because when someone invents a better parsing tool, a grammar for that new tool can be induced from the same annotated corpus. This changes the issue from the obsolescence of grammars to the obsolescence of annotated corpora, and progress has been made in this area. Automatic grammar induction has been more popular for syntax than for morphology. This is not to say that there has been no research into the learning of morphology; see for example Creutz and Lagus 2007, Goldsmith 2001, Goldsmith and Hu 2004, and the papers in Maxwell 2002. But research on morphology learning has not had the same impact that syntax learning has had. Accordingly, most wide coverage morphological parsers for languages with significant amounts of inflectional morphology are probably still built by hand; and barring a breakthrough, this seems likely to continue, at least for the near future. Thus, for languages with significant inflectional morphology, a morphological parser is a prerequisite to serious natural language processing. And to the degree that a language has complex morphology, the grammars for these parsers are difficult and time-consuming to build. One would therefore like to preserve this investment. Unfortunately, the development of computerprocessable morphological grammars is often tied to the programming language of a particular morphological parser, or to a general purpose computer programming language, such as Prolog or Haskel (see e.g. the papers at http://www.cs.chalmers.se/ ~markus/FM/index.html). If the particular morphological parser (or transducer) never became obsolescent, or if there were a standard descriptive lan1 One commonly builds a morphological transducer, that is, a program which functions to both parse and generate inflected words. However, because it is more familiar, in this paper we will use the term 'parser.' guage that all parsers used, this might not be problematic. But neither of these conditions is true. In the past 25 years, there have been at least half a dozen mutually incompatible morphological parsing languages, ranging from SIL's AMPLE (Weber Black and McConnel 1988) and PC-KIMMO (Antworth 1990) to Xerox PARC's xfst (Beesley and Karttunen 2003) Nor have developers of morphological parsing engines agreed upon a common language; two recent entries, the Stuttgart Finite State Transducer (http://www.ims.uni-stuttgart.de/ projekte/gramotron/SOFTWARE/SFST.html) and the OpenFst Library (http://www.openfst.org) provide still different programming languages. Some changes are motivated by enhanced capabilities, but others seem to be more an issue of style. Two problems arise out of the mutual incompatibility of programming languages for different parsing programs: an Interoperability Problem, and a Half-Life Problem. The Interoperability Problem refers to the fact that a grammar written for one parsing engine cannot be used in another parser without re-writing; and for now, at least, that rewriting must be done by hand, since there are no automatic interpreters between parsing engine languages. A grammar written for the Xerox transducer, for example, will not run on the Stuttgart transducer without considerable modification. The Half-Life Problem arises from the fact that software (in particular, parsers) becomes obsolete. While we are not aware of formal investigations, we estimate the average lifetime for languagebased computational tools at five or ten years. In part, this is due to the (lack of) longevity of the underlying software. Software obsolescence can be postponed by the judicious choice of programming languages, avoiding OS-specific commands, the use of Open Source software, and the use of OS emulators. However, this can only prolong the life of a program, not extend it indefinitely. Few if any programs that were written in 1980 (twenty-seven years ago) still run on today's computers. One might argue that software half-life is unimportant, since twenty years from now it may be 2 The first author, (Maxwell) was involved in a project in which two of the programming languages became defunct before the program was even complete; the cost of porting to alternative dialects of the programming languages was deemed prohibitive. possible to generate a morphological parser automatically from a corpus. Perhaps, but this remains to be seen. Meanwhile, the time and effort that go into writing grammars mandates that the grammars be usable long after the project is completed. Another motivation for building longevity into parsing tools is that they constitute a description of (part of) the grammar of a language, in two senses. First, the grammar the parser uses constitutes a formal description of the language's morphology or syntax. Second, it can be used to analyze language texts, and—if it supports a generation mode—to produce paradigms. That is, a parser is an active description, not just a static one. But in their seminal paper, Bird and Simons 2003 point out that language data in computer-readable form can become unusable much more quickly than printed descriptions. In contrast, scholars of today can understand grammars and corpora penned thousands of years ago. Thus, while a parser constitutes a description of a language, it is—at present—an ephemeral description. There is little doubt that future parsing engines will be improvements upon today's parsers. We are not suggesting that we need to build parsing engines which will continue to be used decades from now. Rather, we are suggesting that the languagespecific information that goes into a parser—the grammar—should be written in such a way that it can be easily ported to future parsing engines. From this perspective, the Half-life Problem is really the Interoperability Problem in a different guise: interoperability between grammars written today, and tools which are yet to be built. In summary, the problem is that while computational grammars have real worth, each parsing engine uses a different programming language. One might therefore conclude that there is no hope of providing a generic programming language for grammars. We claim that this conclusion is wrong; it is time now to think how we can write such grammars that will not only be interoperable with today's parsers, but with future parsing engines; and we provide a first cut at what such a programming language for morphology could look like. One reason for optimism is the fact that morphological parsing tools now incorporate most of the capabilities that linguists have found necessary for morphology and phonology (albeit clumsily in some cases, e.g. morphosyntactic features), and that a morphological grammar written in a generic way can therefore be compiled into the programming language of current morphological parsers. At first glance, it might seem that this claim is simply wrong, because linguists have yet to come to agreement on the correct theory; like software, linguistic theories have a short half-life! Since the mid-1950s, there have been several generations of theories about what the phonological 'atoms' are, how many levels of structure are important, and how representations are translated between those levels. Atomic phonemes of the 1950s were replaced by distinctive feature matrices, which were in turn superseded by autosegmental representations. Nevertheless, these changes were primarily postulated to explain generalizations—generalizations which can be stated, if not explained so elegantly, with atomic phonemes. For example, a rule which spreads a feature of nasalization across vowels can be expressed as a rule that converts /a/ to /ã/, /o/ to /õ/, /u/ to /ũ/, etc. Phonological rules, and the natural classes used in those rules, can therefore be written in terms of atomic phonemes. Similarly, while Optimality Theory (the current popular approach to phonology) holds that the phonetic form of words is determined by ranked constraints rather than rules, there is little if any empirical data that cannot be accounted for by a more traditional rule-based approach. In summary, while we may expect theories of morphology and phonology to continue to evolve, in practice it is quite feasible to do morphology and phonology using today's theories—or even yesterday


Objective To investigate the effects of propofol on platelet(Plt) activation in burn patients.Methods Peripheral venous blood samples were taken from 12 severely burned patients and 6 healthy adult volunteers(group C) and platelets were separated and washed.Twenlve severely burned patients were divided into two groups of B1 and B2 with 6 cases each.The Plt in group B1 was incubated with normal saline and in group B2 was incubated with propofol 20 μg/ml.The productions of TXA2 and IP3 were detected and Plt aggregation was measured.Results The contents of TXA2 and IP3 and the rate of Plt aggregation in groups of B1 and B2 were significantly higher than those in group C(P0.05).The contents of TXA2 and IP3 were significantly lower in group B2 than those in group B1 [(182 ±15.12) ng/109Plt vs.(243.90±21.52) ng/109Plt,(6.75±1.93) pmol/109Plt vs.(8.05±2.17) pmol/109Plt](P0.05).So did the rate of Plt aggregation(P0.05).ConclusionPropofol can inhibit Plt activation in severely burned patients.


The present invention discloses a method and system for generating a thumbnail of a video. The method includes the steps as follows: identifying faces of various figures of all key frames by extracting the all key frames of a video and finding out key figures; finding out continuous key frame segments with longest beginning and ending time, wherein, all key figures occur on the continuous key frame segments at the same time, and finding out a key frame having maximum area of the human face with highest human face distribution rate from the continuous key frame segments with longest beginning and ending time as the human face key frame; finding out an overlap region of a beginning and ending time frame of a subtitle corresponding to the human face key frame and the continuous key frame segment with longest beginning and ending time as a key scenario; finding out a corresponding best effect frame as the thumbnail of the video according to the human face distribution rate and corresponding human face area of all key figures in each frame of the key scenario. The thumbnail includes the important scenario of interaction of key figures and directly reflects the key information of the video, and the method and system for generating the thumbnail of the video bring a lot of convenience to people.


The utility model discloses a die capable of one-step demolding, which is used for molding a wax pattern provided with a lug on the inner wall thereof. The die core comprises a main body matched with the shape of the wax pattern, a movable block and a driving part, wherein an accommodating groove is formed at the lower part of the main body, a guide hole communicated with the accommodating groove and used for guiding the driving part to slide is formed at the upper part of the main body, and the accommodating groove comprises a transverse groove for allowing the movable block to slide and a molding groove which is positioned on the surface of the main body and consistent with the shape of the lug; and a sealing relationship is respectively adopted between the movable block and the transverse groove as well as between the bottom of the driving part and the movable block, an inclined surface is formed on the surface of the movable block relative to the driving part, an inclined end surface matched with the inclined surface and used for pushing the inclined surface is formed on the surface of the driving part relative to the movable block, and a meshing structure for dragging the movable block through the driving part is also formed between the inclined end surface of the driving part and the inclined surface of the movable block. The utility model can complete the demolding working procedure at a time, thereby having the advantages of simple demolding procedures and high demolding efficiency.


Title Type moon under water george orwell essays PDF literary paths to religious understanding essays on dryden pope keats george eliot joyce ts PDF learn malayalam in 30 days through english a mathew PDF women work in industrial england regional and local perspectives local population s PDF local modelling of non local dependencies in syntax PDF the genius of george washington the third george rogers clark lecture PDF history nz governance PDF cpa australia ethics and governance PDF world governance indicators PDF sercice excellence in governance PDF corporate governance s and answers PDF corporate governance questions and answers PDF what is corporate governance yahoo answers PDF corporate governance reseach papers PDF world bank governance indicators PDF cpa australia ethics and governance manual PDF corporate governance exam questions and answers PDF cpa australia ethics and governance exam notes PDF business ethics exam s and answers governance PDF ican study pack management governance ethics pdf PDF corporate governance final exam answers 3013 PDF student governance and institutional policy formation and implementation PDF network governance alliances cooperatives and franchise chains PDF business ethics exam questions and answers governance PDF ethics and governance multiple choice questions answers PDF public ethics and governance standards and practices in comparative perspective PDF transnational actors in global governance patterns explanations and implications PDF polycentric governance and development readings from the workshop in political theory and policy ana PDF medical technology in healthcare and society a sociology of devices innovation and governance he PDF networked governance and transatlantic relations building bridges through science diplomacy PDF outlines and highlights for corporate governance competition and political parties explaining corp PDF grade 12 business studies essays possible essays PDF dc 37 local 375 PDF pnj local obituaries PDF what is local in vccv or vcv PDF water governance in motion towards socially and environmentally sustainable water laws 1st edition PDF zimsec licked local PDF local electronics repair PDF local 3 elevator division PDF


Pindolol, a beta adrenergic blocking agent, was given intravenously to 30 patients with cardiac arrhythmias. A rapid ventricular rate was slowed in 7 patients with atrial fibrillation, with later spontaneous conversion to sinus rhythm in 2 patients. A rapid ventricular rate was slowed in 6 of 7 patients with atrial flutter. In 3 of these 7 patients, the rhythm converted to atrial fibrillation. In 2 of these 3 patients, the rhythm later converted to sinus rhythm, probably due to drug in one patient. One patient with atrial tachycardia became hypotensive after a second dose of pindolol. Atrioventricular junctional tachycardia was converted to sinus rhythm in 2 patients, one with digitalis toxicity. Sinus tachycardia was converted to sinus rhythm in 3 patients. Paroxysmal repetitive ventricular tachycardia due to digitalis toxicity was abolished in one patient. Pindolol abolished or greatly mduced frequent premature ventricular beats in 10 patients, 6 with definite or possible digitalis toxicity. Pindolol had no effect on frequent ventricular premature beats in 4 patients, none receiving digitalis. Pindolol abolished frequent atrial premature beats in 3 patients, one with definite and one with possible digitalis toxicity. The pindolol was useful in the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias in 24 of these 30 patients.


Defining engineering behavior of rock masses is strongly dependent on observations made in situ and the following rock mass geotechnical classification. Nowadays, the most widely used classifications are rock mass rating (RMR) and the rock mass quality (Q). Because the rock mass characterization is normally done in terms of one (or rarely more than one) of these systems, and because different mechanical assessment tools used in this and later stages of mining design are typically expressed in any of the systems, it is important to be able to properly correlate rock mass classification ratings in at least the most used rock mass classification systems. In this paper new relationships for correlation of mentioned ratings are proposed. Data used was collected from active mines at Chépica mining district, located in the Maule region of central Chile. Results are compared with similar proposals from various authors and statistically evaluated to show that the proposed correlation equation is accurate and useful when applied to volcanic lithologies with rock masses in the range of fair to good.


This paper focuses on the flexural strength of steel wide‐flange members that have holes in the tension flange. A comparison of the scant experimental data in literature with the strength predicted using the 2016 American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) Specification shows that the predictions are not very accurate and most of the time are quite conservative. The research presented in this paper discusses a parametric analysis performed numerically in an effort to develop a design equation that better fits experimental data, without compromising the safety of flexural members. Extant literature already attempted proposing replacement design equations to address this issue. This paper proposes new design equations and compares all proposed replacements against experimental data augmented by the results of a series of numerical analyses aimed at filling the gaps in the available experimental datasets. These analyses were performed accounting for damage initiation in the finite element models, in an attempt to establish the bending moment at which fracture initiates and were calibrated against known experimental results. It is concluded that the introduction of the concept of a net plastic section modulus, calculated across the cross‐section containing the tension flange holes, provides the best practical approach to attain an accurate, yet conservative, estimate of the effective flexural capacity of a beam with holes in the tension flange.


Novel is a long narrative, normally in prose, which describes fictional characters and events, usually in the form of sequential story. Kaleidoscope is a novel for adults that talks about the journey of life. This novel is written by a famous novelist Danielle Steel. In this novel we can see a lot of tragedy and drama, the characters are a little bit over the top but the overall story of this novel always makes us curious about the ending of the story.


We report a study of a defect responsible for the ''g'' bound exciton line at 1.5112 eV that is frequently detected in photoluminescence spectra of GaAs grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). A direct correlation has been observed between this line and a transition at 1.4946 eV, which is shown to result from a conduction band‐to‐acceptor recombination involving a shallow, unidentified acceptorlike defect that is labeled ''A.'' The activation energy of the defect is 24.8±0.2 meV, about 1.7 meV lower than that of CAs acceptor. Upon hydrogenation the defect is passivated more extensively than any known shallow acceptor species in GaAs. This result is analyzed in terms of a passivation model, from which it can be inferred that the A defect is not due to a simple substitutional Group II impurity on a Ga site. Incorporation of the A defect strongly affects the luminescence properties of the material. An almost complete quenching of the donor‐bound exciton lines, profound changes in the line shape and relative i...


The temporal evolution of nonequilibrium phonon populations in LaF 3 :Pr 3+ is investigated at low temperatures (1.8 K) utilizing pulsed, tunable, monochromatic generation and time-resolved, tunable, narrow-band detection. High-occupation-number, narrow-band phonon populations are generated via far-infrared pupping of defect-induced one-phonon absorption. Time-resolved, frequency-selective detection is provided by optical sideband absorption. Nonequilibrium phonon decay times are measured and attributed to anharmonic decay


The Eastern Province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is home to almost 5,000,000 people and is a major contributor to Saudi Arabia's economic strength. The area has experienced population growth of about 3.5% per year and rapid urbanization over the past few decades. With this increase in population has come a significant escalation in automobile traffic, which, in turn, has contributed to poor air quality in the province. Two of the major cities in the area were listed on the World Health Organization's 2016 top 15 cities with the worst air pollution. Local studies have shown that vehicle traffic is a significant contributor to poor air quality and thus, eventually, climate change. Public transportation could alleviate some of the pollution. Unfortunately, overall past perceptions of public transportation and its negative connotations within the Saudi Arabian cultural setting have discouraged previous attempts to develop public transit services. Currently, KSA is progressing with metro works in the capital city of Riyadh and is considering what services to offer in the Eastern Province. This research involved surveying over 800 Eastern Province residents to determine whether they would use public transportation if it was offered, and what type of service they would expect. The response was positive and provided initial indications that public transportation is needed and would be utilized.


Objective To investigate the effect between recombinant human brain natriuretic peptide(rh BNP) and sodium nitroprusside on refractory heart failure and summarize the corresponding nursing method. Methods 100 cases with refractory heart failure admitted in Department of Cardiology of our hospital from December 2012 to January 2015 were randomly divided into the observation group and the control group with 50 cases in each. Both groups were given the conventional treatment for heart failure, in addition, patients in the observation group were given rh BNP, and those in the control group were given sodium nitroprusside. The clinical symptoms and efficacy during the treatment were closely observed. And the nursing points were recorded. Results After treatment, the clinical symptoms improved in both groups. The overall response rate of the observation group was much higher than that of the control group(P0.05). The systolic pressure and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, respiration, urinary volume, and blood oxygen saturation improved significantly in both groups after treatment compared with those before treatment(P0.05), moreover, the improvement was more obviously in the observation group(P0.05). Conclusion For patients with refractory heart failure, conventional treatment plus rh BNP or sodium nitroprusside can improve the heart function and the quality of life, but the former has better effect and higher safety, so it should be introduced in the treatment of refractory heart failure.


(First paragraph) School engagement and academic success are vital components of well-being for youth in foster care. The educational gap between foster youth and the general population is great. There is an overall achievement gap of close to one school year between youth in foster care and the general population (Smithgall, Gladden, Howard, Goerge, & Courtney, 2004). Between 30% and 60% of foster youth are enrolled in special education (Choice et al., 2001; Courtney, Terao, & Bost, 2004). Further, foster care youth are less likely than youth in the general population to graduate from high school (Courtney & Dworsky, 2006), twice as likely to repeat a grade (Smithgall et al., 2004), and significantly less likely to attend college (Pecora et al., 2005). The academic vulnerability of youth in foster care is a serious concern, especially because well-being in adulthood is dependent on educational achievements.


Signal acquisition is a critical step for the ultrawideband (UWB) communication link to be set up, thus, accurate acquisition performance analysis is of practical importance. In this paper, we analyze the pulse-level acquisition performance of differential coherent and noncoherent acquisition schemes combined with a novel hopping method, nonconsecutive search (NCS) and path diversity (PD) for fast and low-complexity UWB acquisition over multipath channels. We derive the receiver output statistics and acquisition probabilities valid for arbitrary order of path diversity and for both differential and noncoherent acquisitions. Furthermore, using a generating function (GF)-based method, we accurately evaluate the mean, variance and the distribution function of the acquisition time TA, accounting for the effect of multiple co-channel interferers and multipath fading channels. Simulation and numerical results verify our analysis and show the large performance enhancement realized by NCS/PD than the serial search.


In actual processing, processing mould of complicated mould cavity generally applies software program of CAD/ CAM, with many processing methods. Method selection directly determines the processing efficiency and affects durability of machine tools and abrasion of cutters. The mould cavity with pattern drawing is generally processed with the solid modeling. Upon the comparative analysis of plan on surface of oval knob mould cavity, the programming time and processing time can be obviously shortened, and the precision of machine tools can be completely utilized without making solid modeling.


Soil is the largest carbon reservoir on the terrestrial surface. Soil organic carbon (SOC) not only regulates global climate change, but also indicates soil fertility level in croplands. SOC prediction based on remote sensing images has generated great interest in the research field of digital soil mapping. The short revisiting time and wide spectral bands available from Sentinel-2A (S2A) remote sensing data can provide a useful data resource for soil property prediction. However, dense soil surface coverage reduces the direct relationship between soil properties and S2A spectral reflectance such that it is difficult to achieve a successful SOC prediction model. Observations of bare cropland in autumn provide the possibility to establish accurate SOC retrieval models using the S2A super-spectral reflectance. Therefore, in this study, we collected 225 topsoil samples from bare cropland in autumn and measured the SOC content. We also obtained S2A spectral images of the western Guanzhong Plain, China. We established four SOC prediction models, including random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), partial least-squares regression (PLSR), and artificial neural network (ANN) based on 15 variables retrieved from the S2A images, and compared the prediction accuracy using RMSE (root mean square error), R2 (coefficient of determination), and RPD (ratio of performance to deviation). Based on the optimal model, the spatial distribution of SOC was mapped and analyzed. The results indicated that the inversion model with the RF algorithm achieved the highest accuracy, with an R2 of 0.8581, RPD of 2.1313, and RMSE of 1.07. The variables retrieved from the shortwave infrared (SWIR) bands (B11 and B12) usually had higher variable importance, except for the ANN model. SOC content mapped with the RF model gradually decreased with increasing distance from the Wei river, and values were higher in the west than in the east. These results matched the SOC distribution based on measurements at the sample sites. This research provides evidence that soil properties such as SOC can be retrieved and spatially mapped based on S2A images that are obtained from bare cropland in autumn.


The magnitude and the dispersion of the cubic susceptibility of pseudoisocyanine J-aggregates entrapped in polyvinylpyrrolidone thin films have been determined. (chi) (3)((lambda) ) and (chi) (3)((Delta) (lambda) ) have been measured by four-wave mixing in both degenerate and non-degenerate cases. Z-scan technique was used to separate the Re(chi) (3)((lambda) ) and Im(chi) (3)((lambda) ) contributions to the absolute value of (chi) (3) (DOT) (chi) (3) was found to be approximately (2 divided by 6) 10-6 esu and the relaxation time was 10-13 - 10-12 s.


Louise van Schaik, Marcel Kok & Maarten Hajer argue that the EU can play an impor¬tant role in promoting sustainable development, countering global warming, protecting biodiversity and reducing poverty. They do this by analysing the strategic orientation and the EU's administrative capabilities on these topics. The European goals for 2050 are ambitious and the way leading to them is not without difficulties. First of all, as a non-state actor, the EU has limited legislative powers. European policy has to share its place with national policy and there is no clear indicator what the combined effect of both is. Furthermore, the lack of European legitimacy makes it unlikely for the EU to take drastic measures which have an impact on the personal life of the average European. Apart from these drawbacks decision making in the EU is done on the basis of consensus and with a limited number of instruments within a divided governance structure. Although difficult, the authors conclude that action has to be taken quickly for the EU to reach its sustainable development goals.


Single-crystalline In2O3 nanowires were synthesized and then utilized to construct field-effect transistors consisting of individual nanowires. These nanowire transistors exhibited nice n-type semiconductor characteristics with well-defined linear and saturation regimes, and on/off ratios as high as 104 were observed at room temperature. The temperature dependence of the conductance revealed thermal emission as the dominating transport mechanism. Oxygen molecules adsorbed on the nanowire surface were found to have profound effects, as manifested by a substantial improvement of the device performance in high vacuum. Our work paved the way for In2O3 nanowires to be used as nanoelectronic building blocks and nanosensors.


Objective
To report a case of peripheral neuropathy secondary to copper deficiency (CD) by long-term decoppering chelation in Wilson′s disease (WD) to enhance understanding of the disease, and to pay more attention to individualized treatment of WD.

Methods
A case of WD diagnosed 12 years ago confirmed by gene detection and since then treated with anti-copper agent was diagnosed as CD based peripheral neuropathy and significant neutropenia and followed up for six months, and the clinical manifestations, laboratory examination, electrophysiology, imaging features were summarized. The related literatures were reviewed.

Results
A total of 16 cases of WD complicated with CD were reviewed and analyzed, including seven males and nine females aged 13-56 years. All of them were treated with zinc for 1-38 years, and nine cases with peripheral neuropathy. Hematological indicators can be significantly improved and neurological symptoms can be partially alleviated after stopping copper removal treatment.

Conclusions
Peripheral neuropathy in a WD with treatment-related CD may occur in blind treatment, irregular treatment monitoring and without individualized treatment adjustment. It is necessary to monitor blood routine, copper and zinc metabolism regularly and advocate individualized treatment of WD.

Key words:
Wilson disease; Hepatolenticular degeneration; Copper; Peripheral neuropathy; Neutropenia


In liver grafts that will fail as a result of storage injury, reperfusion activates Kupffer cells. Overproduction of tumor necrosis factor by activated Kupffer cells may cause primary graft nonfunction, multiple organ failure and, eventually, death of graft recipients. Carolina rinse solution, adenosine, nisoldipine, pentoxifylline and prostaglandin E1 reduce graft failure from storage/reperfusion injury. To test the hypothesis that these agents act by suppressing cytokine release by activated Kupffer cells, we assessed the effect of each drug on tumor necrosis factor released from cultured rat Kupffer cells stimulated with lipopolysaccharide. Adenosine, nisoldipine and prostaglandin E1 each suppressed lipopolysaccharide‐stimulated tumor necrosis factor release. The adenosine A2 receptor agonists. 5‐n‐ethylcarboxamidadenosine, 2‐chloro‐adenosine and R‐phenylisopropyl adenosine also blocked tumor necrosis factor release in a potency suggestive of A2 receptor activity. Xanthine amine congener, a specific A1 receptor antagonist, failed to reverse the suppression by adenosine of tumor necrosis factor release, whereas CGS15943A, an A2 receptor antagonist, did reverse suppression by adenosine and 5‐n‐ethylcarboxamidadenosine. CGS15943A had no effect on suppression of lipopolysaccharide‐stimulated tumor necrosis factor release by nisoldipine or prostaglandin E1. Dibutyryl‐cyclicAMP also suppressed tumor necrosis factor release. Adenosine, 5‐n‐ethylcarboxamidadenosine, prostaglandin E1 and pentoxifylline increased cyclicAMP levels in cultured Kupffer cells, but nisoldipine did not. We conclude that (a) adenosine A2 receptors exist on Kupffer cells, (b) the suppression of tumor necrosis factor release by adenosine occurs by way of a cyclicAMP‐dependent adenosine A2 receptor mechanism, (c) prostaglandin E1 and nisoldipine also suppress tumor necrosis factor release but do not act through adenosine receptors and (d) because agents that suppress tumor necrosis factor release by Kupffer cells also reduce graft failure after liver transplantation, activation of Kupffer cells and release of tumor necrosis factor may be involved in storage/reperfusion injury to liver grafts. (HEPATOLOGY 1994;19:1445–1452.)


Walking in the streets of Moscow I always wondered about the people who spoke languages different from Russian and who sometimes wore non-Western clothes. From where did they come? Why were they he...


We consider non-singular intersections of three real five-dimensional quadrics. They are referred to for brevity as real three-dimensional triquadrics. We calculate the dimensions of the cohomology spaces of triquadrics with coefficients in the field of two elements.


The creation of a simple or an interactive multimedia (MM) system can improve the presentation of a project and, in the case of the conservation of energy, it can highlight the numerous possibilities of the RES and help non-expert users be acquainted with them. The use of text, graphics, images, animations, video, and sound provides a more impressive and more complete way of presentation. This paper focuses on the development and implementation of an MM application for the saving of energy in a working place through the use of photovoltaic elements, a wind generator and geothermal heat exchanger. In particular, the mentioned RES, the MM applications together with all the special features that safeguard their proper function are illustrated and included in the present application. The study reveals: - The importance of RES. - The appropriateness of the MM presentation for informing potential users. - The appropriateness of the MM application in physics classes related to RES resources and RES exploitation.


A flexible manufacturing system design and evaluation package which consists of three programs, the component library manager, the plan design program, and the simulator program, was developed. The library manager contains both shape and characteristics of the components. The plan design program permits the location of components extracted from a library, its connection through transportation elements, the drawing of a layout, and the storing of its map for possible future modification. The simulation program consists of a process description and a simulation. The simulation is made through a specially designed program developed in C language.<<ETX>>


e15585Background: Loss or mutation of p53 gene is the most frequent genetic lesion in late-stage colon cancers. The optimal management of p53 mutant (p53M) colorectal cancer (CRC) remains a therape...


Abstract Cyclic diaryl ethers are present in multiple natural compounds, organic pollutants as well as in π-conjugated organic molecular materials. This short review aims at overviewing the main synthetic advances in the O-annulation methods for preparing five-, six-, and seven-membered rings through C–H cleavage. 1 Introduction 2 Five-Membered Rings: The Dibenzofuran (DBF) Motif 2.1 Palladium-Catalysed C–H Activation 2.2 Copper-Catalysed C–H Activation 2.3 Non-CH Activation Oxidant-Mediated Cyclisation 2.4 Light-Mediated Cyclisation 2.5 Acid-catalysed C–O Cleavage/C–O Formation 3 Six-Membered Rings: DBX, PXX, Xanthone, and Their Derivatives 3.1 Dibenzoxanthene (DBX) 3.2 Peri-Xanthenoxanthene (PXX) 3.3 Xanthones 3.4 Miscellaneous 4 Seven-Membered Rings: Cularine 5 Conclusion


Buildings are responsible for 40% of the total energy consumption, which is critical for global warming. Thus, our buildings are expected to be renovated following the zero-energy building (ZEB) strategies. In the context of ZEB strategies, renewable energy sources are crucial. It is necessary to understand their role in a nearly-ZEB for future scenarios. This research aims to find out the thermal, daylight, and energy performance of thin-film amorphous-silicon (a-Si) photovoltaic (PV) glass on an architecture studio of an education building at Izmir Institute of Technology (IZTECH) Campus in Izmir, Turkey. Simulation modeling and field measurements have become the methods applied in three scenarios to test the benefits of such a PV glass in terms of thermal and lighting energy consumption and comfort levels. Scenarios included a-Si thin-film modules in three transmittance values modeled in existing windows. Research findings propose that PV glasses have the potential to balance the room's lighting loads in a range between 15.1-and 20.3%. They improved occupant thermal and visual comfort by preventing overheating and glare risks. They also decreased cooling loads. However, an essential development could not be achieved in reducing heating loads since new PV glasses absorb less heat due to a lower g-value.


The realization mechanism of the Direct Kernel Object Manipulation(DKOM) and call gate are analyzed and proposed.By using call gate,it can promote the program's privilege to modify the kernel's process list to hide the process without the driver.A Trojan program is designed and implemented,and the hidden and survival functions are verified in experimental conditions based on the proposal.The experiments have proved that the Trojan can hide the process effectively and escape the detection and killing of the common security software.It also analyzes the Trojan program's detection method.


The present invention relates to a patient positioning imaging device for positioning a patient in a hadron therapy device with a rotating gantry (20). Patient positioning imaging apparatus, imaging beam source is arranged so as to connect (121) the extension boom or collapsible swivel rotating structure comprising an arm (12) and (10), imaging beam receiver (141) arranged to support has been extended type structure or collapsible swivel structure comprises a (14). Rotation Structure (10), the patient is arranged to take a patient CBCT shots while being positioned in an offset position relative to the isocenter of the hadron therapy device, the offset position, the rotation axis of the rotating gantry (20) in the direction of. Rotation Structure (10), during the rotating gantry (20) remains fixed, and extended type or pivoting arm (12) and extension type or pivoting structure (14) is in a position that is not the, or folded extension during, it is arranged to rotate.


Background: Disorders of sex development (DSD) is a congenital condition in which there are disorders of sex development on chromosomes, gonads, and anatomy. The spectrum of these disorders is very broad, so that its incidence and characteristics are difficult to identify. The aim was to describe the characteristics of DSD patients at our institution. Methods: This is a retrospective descriptive of patients diagnosed with DSD in the period January 2017 December 2019. Data were taken from medical records including ages, type of DSD and their management. Results: There were 70 patients with DSD, with a mean age of 6,74 years (range 0-19 years). Sixty four patients (91,42%) were raised as boys, with genotype 46 XY 90,62%, 46 XX 4,68%, 45 XO-46 XY 3,12%, and 47 XXY 1,56%. A total of 6 patients with genotype 46 XX (8,57%) were raised as girls. Four cases were DSD 46 XX (CAH 2,8%), DSD 46 XY was present in 54 cases, while chromosomal DSD was present in 4 cases including ovotesticular type, testicular type, Klinefelter Syndrome, embryogenic testis regression, and persistent Mullerian Tract Syndrome. A total of 2,8% experienced gender reassignment to become girls and 2,8% become boys. There were 78,57% who had undergone masculinized genitoplasty, 7,14% had undergone feminization genitoplasty, 14,28% had not undergone surgery, and 2,8% had not yet determined their gender. Summary: DSD patients at our institution presented in preschool, with a predominantly 46 XY genotype, most of whom did not undergo gender reassignment, and surgical management was gender-adjusted.


In NC machining,applying reasonable processing arrangement on parts by flexibly using compensation value of tool radius can not only save the program but also increase the processing efficiency.


Today's increased demand for fast and secure transfer of big data applications and files, has motivated researchers to develop novel algorithms within the framework of existing protocol limitations. Transferring big data datasets (e.g. Big Genomic Datasets) over the network has always been an interesting and challenging research area. This is because all data transfer protocols, such as HTTP and FTP, use the standard content-encoding schemes, namely ASCII, which offer little or no compression or data minimization. The purpose of this work is to design and implement a novel Fourier-based data minimization algorithm to decrease the required time to transfer multi-dimensional big datasets over conventional networks. In addition, we increased security in the event of a data breach. Moreover, it will introduce a generic concept that can be used by cloud-based applications to secure data that is being exchanged remotely. One and two-dimensional result show how the method could effectively be used in different data minimization scenarios.


Conventional oxidation processes are used in water treatment to disinfect water, to reduce toxins, odour and colour or to reduce manganese and iron levels in potable water. These processes may not destroy all toxins and have the potential to create dangerous disinfection by-products (DBPs). Advanced oxidation process (AOP) utilises the strong oxidising power of hydroxyl radicals that can reduce organic compounds to harmless end products such as carbon dioxide and water. The hydroxyl radicals can be generated by different oxidation processes, such as ozone (O3), ultraviolet (UV), Hydrogen peroxide combined with ultraviolet radiation (H2O2/UV), Fenton reagent (Fe2+/H2O2) photoFenton process (Pignatello,1992), O3/UV , O3/H2O2 and heterogeneous photo catalysis using semiconductors such as zinc oxide (ZnO) but mainly titanium dioxide (TiO2) TiO2/UV and (H2O2/UV) process Ultrasonic technology as an innovative technology may be used for water and wastewater treatment for pollution removal. This technology acts as an advanced oxidation process. Application of this technology leads to the decomposition of many complex organic compounds to much simpler compounds during physical and chemical compounds during cavitation process. Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOP) using ozone, H2O2, ultrasound (US), ultraviolet radiation (UV), Fenton's reagent (FeII+H2O2) alone or in combination involving hydroxyl radicals are considered as possible methods of clean and ecologically safe remedial treatment for the degradation of organics. Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOP) involving hydroxyl radicals, which are one of the strongest inorganic oxidants next to elemental fluorine, have been extremely effective in the destruction of organic pollutants. These advanced oxidation process (AOP) generally use a combination of oxidation agents (such as H2O2 or O3), irradiation (such as UV or ultrasound), catalysts (such as metal ions or photo catalysts) and radiolysis (such as gamma irradiation or electron beam) as a means to generate hydroxyl radicals .


Preface Acknowledgements Notes on the Contributors Introduction PART I: OVERVIEW OF PUBLIC SECTOR REFORM IN THE OECD Comparing Public Sector Reform in the OECD J.Halligan PART II: NATIONAL PUBLIC SECTOR REFORM Public Management and Reform in the United States C.A.Newland Australian Public Sector Reform V.L.Meek A Partnership Approach to Change: The Civil Service Reform Programme in the Republic of Ireland R.Boyle Administrative Reforms in Scandinavia: Testing the Cooperative Model P.Loegreid PART III: SECTORAL CASE STUDIES The Reform of State Education in Australia A.Barcan Ethics as a Change Strategy in Policing in the United Kingdom J.Gregory & B.Harding Reform of Higher Education in the United Kingdom G.Parry PART IV: ORGANIZATIONAL ADAPTATIONS TO PUBLIC SECTOR REFORM The Union's Response to Change in the Public Sector C.Brewer, M.Dempsey & A.Hegewisch Impact of the New Public Management on Higher Education Reform in Australia G.Harman Towards Electronic Service Delivery: Canadian, Australian and United Kingdom Government Initiatives N.Korac-Kakabadse, A.Korac-Kakabadse & A.Zouzmin CONCLUSION Themes and Future Directions of Public Sector Reform B.Nolan Bibliography Index


The seed medium of TQ2223,one L-Trp producing strain,was optimized by orthogonal design experiment.Meanwhile the seed culture conditions such as temperature and aeration were also studied to confirm the optimal culture conditions.


Analysis procedures for determining the type and polymeric content of styrene-butadiene-styrene (sbs) and atactic polypropylene (app) modified bitumens are described. Infra-red spectra are used to determine the type of polymer where the absorption bands are different. Once sbs has been identified the analysis is carried out by a selective dissolution, the incorporation of an internal standard and the recording of the infra-red spectrum of the new mixture thus obtained. Tests on various mixtures showed a 10 per cent precision. Because the polypropylenes available are variable and complex, and absorption bands can be of a low intensity compared with that of the bitumen, a procedure based on a selective solubilisation of the app is carried out. Results from five polypropylenes studied showed that the content of insoluble material could vary from 43 to 70 per cent. Consequently the amount measured must be corrected by a factor depending upon the content of insoluble material characterising the app used. However, the solubilisation of the binder of some app based membranes required special treatments which are being studied at present. This paper was originally published in French in: bitumen, flexible and durable. 3rd eurobitume symposium, The Hague, September 11-13 1985, volume 1, paper IV.4, p494-499.


Objective To establish an ultra pressure liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method for the simultaneous determination of zeranol and related analogues(α-zearalanol, β-zearalanol, α-zearalenol, β-zearalenol, zearalanone and zearalenone) in pork. Methods After β-glucosidase/sulfatase enzymolysis, the samples were extracted by diethyl ether anhydrous, followed by liquid-liquid extraction with sodium hydrate solution, finally enriched and purified by HLB solid-phase extraction cartridge, and determined by UPLC-MS/MS, quantified by matrix matched external standard method. Results The calibration curves of the 6 compounds showed a good linearity between the peak areas and the concentrations of 1.0~250 μg/L with r 0.990. The limits of detection of the 6 compounds were 0.4 μg/kg. The mean recoveries of the 6 compounds ranged from 66.0% to 79.5% spiked at three concentration levels (add 1.0, 5.0 μg/kg and 20 μg/kg), with the relative standard deviations (RSD) less than 10%. Conclusion The established method has good recovery and precision, high accuracy and sensitivity, and comply with the regulations for the determination of zeranol and related analogues trace contaminants residues in pork, provided more sensitive and efficient technical support of the large throughput sample for food safety determination.


Developing service outsourcing industry is one of the most way of upgrading the economic transforming and adjusting of economic structure.This article analyzes the status of Jinhua service outsourcing industry,based on the GEM model,five grades of industry competitiveness are given out,accordingly evaluation of Jinhua service outsourcing industrial competitiveness comes forward.The research shows that Jinhua is at the average level of service outsourcing industry,and proposes great challenges for developing this industry.


The music of verse is a hackneyed notion. Most of the time this concept is tackled only as part of rythmic studies which elude the organisation of the set of consonants and vowels withen a verse which can constitute a coherent whole. Even these rythmic studies always remain theoretical. That is why the first part of the present study is devoted to rythmic analysis and aims at showing the rythmic structure of the contemporary poem from an analysis of each kind of rythm: metric, strers and timber. These analyses the way to a euphonic system which constitutes the second part of the present study. The euphonic cut-out of each level (linear, serial, combinative and vertical) for each verse of the poem shows the fundamental role of sounds in poetic text. The technical study of both the rythmic and euphonic structures disclases stylistic processes which ted us to make an analysis of the stylistic consequences of rythm and euphony. The thrid part shows the functioning of both structures in the message and brings out the "surmessage" after having identified the "surcodes".


Nondestructive weak measurements (WMs) made on a quantum particle are useful in order to extract information as the particle evolves from a prepared state to a finally detected state. The physical meaning of this information has been open to debate, particularly in view of the apparent discontinuous trajectories of the particle recorded by WMs. In this work we investigate the properties of vanishing weak values for projection operators as well as general observables. We then analyze the implications when inferring the past of a quantum particle. We provide a nonoptical example for which apparent discontinuous trajectories are obtained by WMs. Our approach is compared to previous results.


Shyamal Kumar Mukerjea ("Sam") was born in Calcutta, qualifying there in 1960. He was a popular registrar in orthopaedics at Lister Hospital in Hitchin, where I first met him in 1967. The …


Nowadays, the term millennial has been heard very often. Millennials or Generation Y are the generation born in the 1980s - early 2000s. At this time, the millennial generation has an age range of 25-40 years and is in the position of the sandwich generation. The sandwich generation itself is the people who are squeezed between the demands of two generations at once, namely parents and children plus the demands of their own life. The sandwich generation now carries a fairly heavy burden considering their lifetimes that have passed the generational transition line which is quite extreme. This study aims: 1) To know the definition of millennials and the sandwich generation in depth. 2) Studying more about the role of millennials who are also the sandwich generation. 3) Knowing the adaptation pattern of the millennial generation and the sandwich generation in the industrial 4.0 era. And this writing uses a descriptive qualitative research methodology by using many data variables that are appropriate in order to produce directed and accountable writing. As technology is developing, everything is moving fast. Likewise, the current generation must adapt to conditions that are far different from the early life they lived. So that this significant difference affects many social aspects in terms of the intergenerational relationship which then gives birth to a mindset and parenting pattern that is qualified by the times.


We report on optical beam self-action in a waveguide made of poly(methyl methacrylate) doped with laser dye DCM upon its upconverted photobleaching produced by radiation of a low power CW He-Ne laser. Nonlinear effects of self-action produce spatially stable beam structures usually interpreted as dark spatial solitons in media with negative Kerr-like nonlinearity. We demonstrate experimentally that the proposed mechanism of self-action is more likely upconverted photobleaching, i.e. photobleaching by short wavelength radiation resulting from frequency upconversion of the primary red laser light. Upconversion is not a multi-photon process. It possibly occurs as a result of inhomogeneous line broadening and excitation of thermally populated higher vibrational energy states in the ground state of the dye molecules. Theoretical model of beam propagation is based on the Shrodinger-type nonlinear propagation equation complemented by the rate equation for photobleaching. The result of simulations are in good agreement with experimental data. Possible applications of the studied effects include photonic switching and optical interconnects.


Compared with single-modal sensorimotor task, cross-modal sensorimotor tasks such as Tai Chi are more complex because they require simultaneous control of joint motion and respiration. In this paper, we compared the performance of single and multi-sensory cues in single-modal and cross-modal tasks. The experimental results showed that for single-modal task of two joint motions, the performance of using both audio and vibrotactile cues was slightly worse than that of using single-sensory cues where both joints were guided by vibrotactile cues, which implied that the single-sensory cue was more suitable for the single-modal motor tasks while the multi-sensory cues might produce distraction to participants. For simultaneous control of joint motion and respiration, the multiple sensory cues produced better performance than the single sensory cues. The results implied that multi-sensory cues were more effective than single sensory cues in reducing mental workload when learning complex cross-modal motor tasks.


We suggest that the ultrarelativistic collisions of heavy ions provide the simplest situation for the study of strong interactions which can be understood from first principles and without any model assumptions about the microscopic structure of the colliding nuclei. We argue that the boost-invariant geometry of the collision, and the existence of hard partons in the final states, both supported by the data, make a sufficient basis for the quantum theory of the phenomenon. We conclude that the quantum nature of the entire process is defined by its global geometry, which is enforced by a macroscopic finite size of the colliding objects. In this paper, we study the qualitative aspects of the theory and review its development in two subsequent papers. Our key result is that the effective mass of the quark in the expanding system formed in the collision of the two nuclei is gradually built up reaching its maximum by the time the quark mode becomes sufficiently localized. The chromo-magneto-static interaction of the color currents flowing in the rapidity direction is the main mechanism which is responsible for the generation of the effective mass of the soft quark mode and, therefore, for the physical scale at the earliest more » stage of the collision. « less


The report is an evaluation of the effectiveness of the 12 instructional units developed around the use of the Briggs-Stratton Model 80302, 3HP, 8 cu. in. displacement engine having a fuel induction system similar in construction to farm tractor types. The evaluation procedure used was the "one-group Pre-test and Post-test" research method. The evaluation instrument used in the testing program consisted of 45 selected multiple choice questions drawn from the original 60 questions used in the pilot testing program. In general, there was an overall improvement from pretest to posttest in a student's performance indicating that instructional material was effective. Lists of student reference literature, basic tool sets, secondary tool sets, special laboratory equipment, the evaluation instrument, and a nine-item bibliography conclude the document. (Author/BP)


An understanding of core journal collections is important for the development and management of periodical collections. This investigation explores the structure of a core journal collection related to the Journal of Early Christian Studies, a relatively new periodical in the sub-discipline of church history. Citations of journals extracted from three randomly selected volumes were tabulated and ranked. Library of Congress subject headings were used to categorize the subjects covered by the top-ranked cited journals. It was concluded that a core of nine journals contributed twenty-five percent of all citations. Church history journals predominated as the source of cited material; Roman and Byzantine subject journals were also highly cited. The core journal collection is concentrated around these three subject domains and, wherever early Christian studies is a prominent curricular focus, it is recommended that these nine journals be available in the library.


A small group of editors of general medical journals met informally in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1978 to establish guidelines for the format of manuscripts submitted to their journals. The group became known as the Vancouver Group. Its requirements for manuscripts, including formats for bibliographic references developed by the USA National Library of Medicine, were first published in 1979. The Vancouver Group expanded and evolved into the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), which meets annually. The ICMJE gradually has broadened its concerns to include ethical principles related to publication in biomedical journals.
The total content of the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals may be reproduced for educational, not-for-profit purposes without regard for copyright; the committee encourages distribution of the material.


According to the requirement of developing function model for Management Information System(MIS) system. The paper presents a technique of software reuse based on inheritance of object-oriented ,then researches and implements it through some instance.


Editors, We thank Teng et al1,2 for their Letter regarding our paper. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a complex and heterogeneous malignancy involving different pathogenic factors, including hepatitis B and C and alcoholic steatohepatitis.3 It is commonly known that liver transplantation, liver resection (LRE) and microwave ablation (MWA) are major curative treatments for patients with earlystage HCCs.4,5 Several staging systems have their own definitions of 'ideal candidates for LRE or ablation'; however, appropriate treatment modalities for patients with earlystage HCCs remain controversial.6,7 Therefore, it is of great importance to determine the optimal approach for those patients. In our previous study,2 LREtreated patients meeting the criteria of 'ideal candidates for ablation' per the BCLC staging system had better recurrencefree survival, similar overall survival, and similar procedurerelated complication rates than patients treated with MWA. We found that not all patients with early disease are 'ideal candidates' for ablation. However, patients with BCLC0 may be the optimal population for MWA. Similarly, Zhong et al8 investigated the 'ideal candidates' with recurrent HCC for radiofrequency ablation (RFA). Their study demonstrates that for patients with serum albumin <35 g/L, multiple tumours or time to recurrence <12 months, RFA may be the superior option for safety reasons, although the two treatments were associated with similar rates of second recurrencefree survival and overall survival. We agree with the authors that it is also important to determine the optimal approach for patients with recurrent HCC, because HCC is a heterogeneous disease with high recurrence rate, even with curative treatment. Ultimately, the definition of 'ideal candidate for ablation' in the current guidelines may need to be further studied in prospective studies. Due to the heterogeneity of HCC, patients may benefit from personalised therapy. AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS Yao Tong: Resources (lead); writing – original draft (lead). DeHua Chang: Supervision (equal); writing – review and editing (equal). YuDong Xiao: Conceptualization (lead); writing – review and editing (equal).


About midway through Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel Oryx and Crake, the protagonist Jimmy (later known as Snowman, survivor of a genetically engineered global epidemic induced by his childhood friend, Crake) leaves home for the university, or in this case for the Martha Graham Academy. In a culture driven by the collusion of technology and capital it's not surprising that the best students are sent to lavish technical universities (Crake attends the Watson–Crick Institute), while arts and humanities students listlessly rusticate at Martha Graham, learning the pointless yet "vital arts" of "acting, singing, dancing, and so forth" and how to deploy them in the service of commodity culture (Jimmy's skill with language leads him to major in Applied Rhetoric, eventually writing advertising copy for Crake's new life forms). Like much else in Oryx and Crake, Atwood's vision jibes chillingly enough with the rhetoric of today's corporate university: compared to jet propulsion, cancer research, or even the battle of Appomattox (on my campus, history is a social science), the arts and humanities can be made to seem "like studying Latin, or book binding: pleasant to contemplate in its way, but no longer central to anything" (187).