Testosterone production by Leydig cells declines during aging in both men and rodent models. Previous results from our lab demonstrated that daily sperm production also declines in aging rats and alterations in the estrogen environment of the testis contribute to this decline. Importantly, estrogen treatment during aging was able to attenuate the age-associated decline in sperm production. However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which estrogen maintains sperm production remain unclear. These experiments were designed to further investigate the effects of estrogen on sperm production in an attempt to further define the cellular mechanisms regulated by estrogen within the testis. This study compared untreated rats at 15 months of age to 18 month old rats that were treated with either vehicle or estradiol-valerate once every third day from 15 to 18 months. The first question addressed was whether the effects of estradiolvalerate were direct or indirect via changes in gonadotropin production. Pituitary concentrations of LH and FSH were quantified, and no significant difference was found between any of the three groups. This suggests that estrogen acts directly at the testis to regulate spermatogenesis. Some reports suggest that Sertoli cell numbers decline with age which would lead to reduced sperm production. Therefore, we next asked if age or treatment with estradiol-valerate affected the number of Sertoli cells. GATA-4 positive Sertoli cells were counted from parallel sections using the physical dissector method to estimate total number of Sertoli cells per testis. While the number of Sertoli cells trended lower in 18 month control animals compared to either 15 month control or 18 month treated animals, these differences were not statistically different. This suggests that spermatogenic efficiency, and not the number of somatic cells to support spermatogenesis, is responsible for differences in sperm production during aging. Our final question asked if the amount of apoptosis within the testis varied by age or treatment. The percentage of seminiferous tubules in which apoptotic cells were observed was similar between all three groups. Collectively, these results suggest that estrogen likely regulates sperm production by affecting germ cell proliferation rates and not germ cell survival. ! ! ! Introduction! ! The testes are a pair of organs that lie in the scrotum of the male, and are the site of spermatogenesis. The testes are also the primary site for androgen production in males. The core of each testis is filled with convoluted structures called seminiferous tubules, which contain two different types of cells. The first type of cells are the germ cells which become sperm through a delicate process of spermatogenesis, and the second type of cells are the sustenacular (sertoli) cells which provide protection and nourishment to the sperm-producing germ cells. These sertoli cells are also connected by tight junctions to form the blood-testis barrier to protect developing sperm from circulating materials in the blood stream [McKinley et al., 2015].! ! Once fully developed, the mature sperm are then released from the sertoli cells into the lumen of the seminiferous tubules, a process called spermiation. In total, it takes about 64 days for a premature spermatogonium to progress from the basement membrane of a seminiferous tubule and become a mature spermatozoan ready to be released in the seminiferous tubule lumen. While traveling from the basement membrane to the lumen, the spermatogonia progresses through various stages before becoming a spermatogonia. This is a continuous process occurring in the tubule, and different germ cells are observed to be at all different stages all throughout the tubule, ensuring that mature spermatozoa are continuously being released into the lumen [Goodman, 2009].! ! Once the mature spermatozoans are released into the lumen, they are then transported via the efferent ductules to the epididymis where they become motile and are stored. Upon arousal of the male, the sperm are transported from the epididymis to the vas deferens, and finally to the urethra for ejaculation [Goodman, 2009; McKinley et al., 2015].! ! Two of the main steroid hormones involved in sexual reproduction, testosterone and estradiol, are also produced in the testis, however they are produced by interstitial (Leydig) cells, which surround the seminiferous tubules. These hormones are pivotal in spermatogenesis, and when the environment of either is altered, disruptions occur in spermatogenesis [Celec and Ostatnikova, 2003; Hess, 2003; McKinley et al., 2015].! ! The two main functions of the testes, spermatogenesis and androgen production, are closely controlled by two pituitary gonadotropic hormones, luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). The release of these two hormones from the anterior pituitary gland is driven by the release of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) from the hypothalamus when stimulated to do so [Goodman, 2009]. The release of GnRH, along with the hormones LH and FSH, is regulated by a negative feedback loop from the testes to the hypothalamus and pituitary gland, collectively referred to as the Hypothalamaic-Pituitary-Gonadal (HPG) Axis [Manetti and Honig, 2010]. LH stimulates the Leydig cells to produce testosterone, whereas FSH stimulates sertoli cells directly to promote spermatogenesis. Testosterone is also converted to dihydroxytestosterone (DHT) and estradiol in the testis, and excess of all three of these steroids negatively feedback directly to the pituitary to inhibit further LH release and to the hypothalamus to inhibit GnRH release. Overall, this decreases the amount of testosterone being produced. During FSH stimulation to the sertoli cells, a glycoprotein byproduct, inhibin, is produced [Goodman, 2009]. Similar to testosterone, DHT, and estradiol, inhibin incorporates a negative feedback mechanism to the pituitary to inhibit further FSH release. However, unlike testosterone, DHT, and estradiol, inhibin does not feedback to the hypothalamus [Manetti and Honig, 2010]. Thus, the HPG axis acts to closely regulate the rate of spermatogenesis along with the amount of androgen formation in order to meet the needs of the testis at a given time.! ! Although testosterone is traditionally considered the primary steroid in males, and estrogen is traditionally considered the primary steroid in females, recent studies have demonstrated the importance of estrogen in males and male fertility. This is observed by Robertson et al. [1999], who reported that aromatase knockout mice were developmentally normal, however they were infertile due to disruption in spermatogenesis. Also, estrogen receptor alpha (ESR1) and beta (ESR2) are expressed in the testis and epididymis of various species including rats and humans [Carreau et al., 2010], further suggesting a regulatory role played by estrogen in the testes with fertility. Furthermore, estrogen receptors (ESR2) have been found directly on spermatids, strongly suggesting that there could be a major regulatory role directly at the sperm themselves [Carreau et al., 2011; Pentikainen et al., 200].! ! As males age, testosterone production by leydig cells declines in both men and rodent models, which is known to secondarily cause decreases in energy, muscle mass, and sex drive. [Tenover, 2003; Zirkin and Tenover, 2012]. Decreased leydig cell function also leads to a decrease in estrogen levels in the testes as well. ! ! Previous results from our lab further demonstrated the importance in the role of estrogen in spermatogenesis. Daily sperm production (DSP) was measured in aging rats, and was observed to be significantly declined in 18 month-old rat models (49.8 ± 2.6 x 106 sperm) compared to 15 month-old rat models (71.0 ± 2.6 x 106 sperm). However, 18 month-old estradiol valerate (EV) treated rat models were significantly higher (60.6 ± 2.6 x 106 sperm) than age-matched controls, indicating that estrogen treatment during aging was able to attenuate the age-associated decline in sperm production significantly. As already discussed, testosterone production is known to decrease in human models after the age of 40, leading to a state of hypogonadism, or low free testosterone levels [Tenover, 2003], and this same trend is observed in aging male rats [Zirkin and Tenover, 2012]. To evaluate its possible effects on spermatogenesis, our lab previously found that testosterone levels dropped from 1.13 ± 0.71 ng/mg protein in 15 month old rats to 0.58 ± 0.25 ng/mg protein in 18 month old rats, and this value was not significantly increased in 18 month old rats with EV treatment (0.71 ± .046 ng/mg protein). Because EV treatment in 18 month old rats was unable to attenuate the testosterone concentration decline, it was suggested that hypogonadism in aging male rats was not the mechanism by which spermatogenesis and DSP are maintained in an aging rat [Clarke and Pearl, 2014]. However, estrogen concentrations were observed to be maintained in aging male rats with EV treatment, and estrogen concentrations were significantly higher in the EV treated 18 month old rats (19.54 ± 1.16 pg/mg protein) compared to their aged matched controls (12.66 ± 0.98 pg/mg protein) [Clarke and Pearl, 2014]. This data further contributes to the observed importance of estrogen in maintaining spermatogenesis.! ! The current experiments were designed to further investigate the effects of estrogen on sperm production in an attempt to identify the cellular mechanisms regulated by estrogen within the testis. First, we aimed to assess whether the effects of estrogen are direct or indirect via changes in gonadotropins, and evaluated this by quantifying LH and FSH in the pituitary. If there were significant changes in gonadotropin levels at the pituitary with aging then it would suggest that estradiol in the testis was limited due to lower gonadotropin levels from the


Securing image content through encryption is sometimes necessary is sensitive data is monitored. The improved Rubik's cube encryption algorithm is a simple yet powerful solution that uses simple functions (such as shuffling, XOR operations with rows and columns and matrix transposition) that operate on a pixel matrix array. The algorithm runs on both the client (performing the encryption) and the server (performing the decryption) communicating through a computer network. The clients are various systems ranging from mobile to desktop systems. The servers where the tests were made were virtualized machines. This paper implements the improved Rubik's cube encryption algorithm in Java and tests its performance on servers running two bare metal hypervisors: VMware ESXi and Microsoft Hyper-V. The performance of the implementation is also compared with the implementation of the original Rubik's cube encryption algorithm.


An experimental and theoretical investigation of rare-gas halide lasers is described. Experiments were conducted in a coaxial, e-beam pumped device and in a transverse, e-beam sustained discharge. Highest laser energy extraction from KrF in the coaxial geometry was 33 J per liter at 12% efficiency. In the transverse device, 29 J per liter was obtained at 11% efficiency. Results are also reported for XeF, XeCl, and Ar-I2. Comprehensive theoretical modeling was performed, including electron and molecular kinetics and optical extraction. Considerations for scaling to higher powers are discussed.


A novel compact dual-mode defected ground structure (DGS) resonator is presented. Full-wave simulation was used to investigate the distinct characteristics of this type of resonator. The results show that it has two operating modes which don't coupled with each other and it is convenient to control the resonant frequency of two modes. Also, an inherent transmission zero could be controlled to locate at the high or low side of the two modes. A bandpass filter, using this type of resonator, has a bandwidth of 5.7% at 2.26 GHz is simulated and fabricated. The results show that this filter not only has an inherent transmission zero near the passband, but also has a very wide upper stopband with rejection better than 20 dB up to about 10 GHz.


During the image,grabbing,the most important thing is the system's real time,Based on these,the plans of hardware's realization and modules realized in FPGA are presented,and in detail the data buffer in FPGA and transferring high speed data by LVDS signal are discussed.


The majority of liquid crystal amplitude spatial light modulators (SLM) in addition to amplitude modulation also produce phase modulation. This additional phase shift depends on a signal value addressed to each SLM pixel. Knowledge of additional phase shift is often necessary for coherent optical systems design. If dependency of phase shift on signal value is known, then the accounting for this additional phase shift during experiments is possible. The results of phase shift measurements of HoloEye LC 2002 SLM, performed by a dual-beam interferometric method are presented. The processing method is based on summation of lines of images of interferometric fringes. Maximum phase shift value detected in experiments was about 0.6π. It was observed with signal value equal to 219. The measurement error is about 0.05π. Implemented techniques can also be used for other amplitude and phase SLMs. The results of using measured dependency of phase shift on signal value in invariant coherent optical correlator design to decrease pattern recognition errors by addition of phase to the output correlation filter in order to compensate for undesired SLM phase shift are presented.


A quarter millenium of morphological Crystal Models – the makers, the materials, the collections – a current project on retrieving their history.Crystal models (CM) and crystal model collections (C ...


ABSTRACT The role of novel metaphors, analogies and figurative devices in generating new frameworks for thought and guiding new scientific discoveries has been one of Evelyn Fox Keller's important contributions to our understanding of the development of genetics in the twentieth century. Here we explore metaphors that are used in the construction of the extended evolutionary synthesis (EES), a theoretical framework that is still very much in the making. The EES challenges mainstream gene-based, 'Modern Synthesis' versions of evolutionary theory and calls for a development- and organism-oriented view of heredity and evolution. We show that at the current unstable and dynamic stage of its construction, the metaphors and analogies that are put forward by advocates of the EES play an important role in defining its boundaries, scope and ambitions, while the aesthetic and ambiguous aspects of these same metaphors are used by opponents to undermine the scientific value of the EES.


Reflection or scattering of acoustical wave on an obstacle at any moment may be considered as interaction of two interconnected vectors: the particle velocity vector of the incident wave and the generated vector of the reflected or scattered wave. In this paper an accurate statistical analysis of the amplitudes and phases of the interconnected vectors for the whole ensemble of the time samples and sources is proposed. We have developed interconnected vector pairs image conditions that give a new look on visualization of acoustical media.


The bond lengths in a series of strained, buried Ga1−xInxAs thin-alloy films grown coherently on InP(001) have been determined by high-resolution extended x-ray absorption fine-structure measurements. Comparison with a random-cluster calculation demonstrates that the external in-plane epitaxial strain imposed by pseudomorphic growth opposes the natural bond-length distortions due to alloying.


The term productivity basically refers to the judicious use of productive resources or the optimization of the utilization of resources, physical as well as mental, in other words it is the one's ability to produce more economically and efficiently. We should, however, note the "Productivity" and "efficiency" are not identical variables, for "efficiency" can notes the competence on capacity of a given input or production unit to produce under given conditions whereas "productivity" refers to the actual results produced by an input or production line under given condition within a given time at given cost. It is without any improvement in its efficiency. Conversely, the efficiency of an input may increase without any simultaneous improvement in its productivity.


The paper is devoted to a reliable information extraction by a passive sodar with a microphone array. The main attention is paid to the efficiency of target bearing estimation algorithms and to the targets resolution. The investigation is carried out in an experimental way by the described measuring set, which includes standard units and a linear microphone array, for narrowband, broadband receiving acoustic signals and for different receiving conditions. Such methods, as Bartlett's, Capone's and the cross-correlation function method are investigated and presented with their bearing characteristics and resolution parameters. The results show that in real acoustic systems for detecting small targets, namely unmanned air vehicles, and defining a bearing on them, the microphone array represents a powerful tool, if acoustic signals are being processed according to the cross-correlation function method of direction-finding. Also it is shown how with the signal filtration to adapt a system to processing broadband acoustic signals in a presence of acoustic noise and interference.


Volume 6 of the Handbook of Mammals of the World (HMW) covers 27 families in two orders, lagomorphs and most of the families of the order Rodentia.


We present, (partially) analyze, and apply an efficient algorithm for the simulation of multivariate Pareto records. A key role is played by minima of the record-setting region (we call these generators) each time a new record is generated, and two highlights of our work are (i) efficient dynamic maintenance of the set of generators and (ii) asymptotic analysis of the expected number of generators at each time.


The novel "Remote Town",written by Congwen Shen, describes a remote, Pastoral world . The tacit agreement and mutual-understanding, transcends the line of ethics between JadeJade and the Grandfather, which results in the tragedy of JadeJade's love.


Abstract:The 'O, o, o, o' that follows Hamlet's 'The rest is silence' in Shakespeare's first folio has often been derided, but this signal is found in five other Shakespeare plays and in the works of dramatists as varied as Jonson, Middleton, Fletcher, Massinger, and Brome to indicate that a figure is dying, mortally wounded, or sick, or to generate a comic effect. Shakespeare was adept at using the tools at hand, but to understand his distinctive implementation of those tools requires a working knowledge of the theatrical vocabulary shared at that time by playwrights, players, and playgoers.


The invention discloses a method for preparing white carbon black by circularly using mother liquor. The method comprises the following steps: a, 1000 parts by weight of sodium silicate solution with the concentration of 12 to 15% is taken, 100 to 120 parts by weight of sodium sulfate is added into the sodium silicate solution, and then mixing is performed fully and uniformly to obtain a mixed solution; b, a sulfuric acid solution with the concentration of 10 to 15% and a hydrochloric acid solution with the concentration of 10 to 12% are added into the mixed solution according to the volume ratio of 1:(1-1.2) to perform reaction until sodium silicate reacts completely; meanwhile, 0.1 to 0.2 part by weight of dimethicone and 0.03 to 0.05 part by weight of polysorbate 80 are added into the mixed solution in a dripping manner and then stirring is continuously performed at the speed of 1200 to 1500 revolutions per minute until sediment appears in the reaction system. According to the invention, since the mother liquor containing the sodium sulfate and the sodium chloride is reused, on one hand, the dispersity of the silicon dioxide is increased, and on the other hand, the discharged mother liquor is reduced; as dimethicone and polysorbate 80 are added, the dispersity of the silicon dioxide is increased, the polymerization of silica particles is performed slowly, the particle size of the white carbon black is reduced, and the specific surface area is increased.


Cynthia Langley was in her 32nd week of pregnancy. She had met with all but one of her obstetricians and was excited about the birth of her first child. At first she considered using a midwife, but none were covered by her insurance plan and she felt more secure with her physician. Nonetheless, Ms. Langley had certain expectations. Even without a midwife, she wanted a natural birth. She drafted a birth plan, reviewing it carefully with each physician during her prenatal visits. She also employed the services of a doula, a birthing assistant, to provide constant support and assist with nonconventional birthing techniques during labor.


Recent advances of diphenyl phosphorazidate (DPPA) as a versatile synthetic reagent was described. It works as an azide anion equivalent, 1,3-dipole, an electrophile, and nitrene. Thus it can be conveniently...


Researchers have been studying malware detection and predictive analysis for more than ten years due to vast growing of media and network vulnerabilities. Intrusion detection systems and packet capture tools have been used for a long time to monitor servers and conduct forensic investigation of network infrastructure (IDS). With the concluding comments, this paper highlights the many elements of malware detection and avoidance methods. Deep learning based on malware datasets collected from actual honeypots and honeynets is used in the proposed study to design and execute an innovative and successful deep learning-based method. In order to train and forecast malware on various criteria, such as error factor, accuracy rate, and overall performance, the suggested artificial neural net-based multilayered method is employed. Density-based clustering has been utilised in the past to identify malware and make predictions, and the resulting accuracy is up to 97 percent. Even when utilising the previous method, the highest accuracy of 97 percent was less than our method's maximum accuracy of 100 percent for several growing datasets.


In an effort to protect groundwater, waste disposal regulations now require the use of composite liners consisting of com pacted soil overlain with a flexible plastic membrane liner in both hazardous and municipal solid waste landfills in the USA. When properly installed, composite liners decrease the convective flux of leachate flowing through flaws in the plas tic ; however, even if all flaws could be eliminated, organic chemicals will diffuse through the liner system. Although actual field measurements are not available on the flux of contaminants through landfill liners, field measurements of leachate concentrations at some landfills, leak rates at other landfills and laboratory data on diffusion coefficients, allow estimation of the flux so that convective and diffusive trans port can be calculated. Calculations were made to estimate the flux of five organic chemicals through liners of various designs. For the flexible membrane liner alone, the flux of organic chemicals is dominated by diffusion, and transport by convective flux through flaws is one or two orders of magni tude less. For a 100 cm thick clay liner alone, the flux of organic chemicals is dominated by convective flow since the long path length limits diffusive flux. For a composite liner including a flexible membrane over a 100 cm thick clay liner, the flux of organic chemicals is dominated by convective transport since the diffusion path length through the compos ite liner is much greater than that through the flexible mem brane liner (FML) alone. For a typical composite liner in which the FML contains 30 holes/ha -1, the convective flux of organic chemicals is typically two orders of magnitude greater than the diffusive flux. A liner consisting of an FML, or an FML combined with a thin layer of low permeability soil, will allow a much greater flux of contaminants than a composite liner consisting of an FML and a thick layer of low permeabil ity soil.


Currently a priority in children Oncology is an organ-preserving treatment. Achieved in recent years advances in chemotherapy of malignant bone tumors, advances in surgical techniques and introduction in onkoortoped.ru of the latest technologies allow to considerably expand the indications to way to organ-saving operations. Peculiarities of hip children should be considered for the application of sliding implants type non-invaziv and mini-invaziv that then allows gradual correction of leg length and avoid various disorders of the musculoskeletal system (LLD, deformities of the spine) thereby improving the quality of life of patients. Key words: arthroplasty in children, sliding (growing) implants treatment of sarcomas of the long bones in children. (Onkopediatriya – Oncopediatrics. 2014; 1: 50-53)


The paper intends to point out the necessity of being attentive to the historicity of the concept of democracy. The perspectives of Norberto Bobbio and Jacques Ranciere in order to illustrate this equivocal issue are contrasted after indicating that such concept recovers disparate, and some times, contradictory meanings. Therefore, a brief incursion is made through the conceptual history of Reinhart Koselleck to indicate that this equivocal issue of the concept of democracy occurs from the sedimentation of its multiple historical experiences. Finally, after being incurred through the conceptual history, some current analyses have been mobilized around the concept of democracy to state its indetermination and complexity.


plea for the value of honey as a food. The Government was spending millions of pounds on a beet sugar scheme, but honey was superior as a food, either to beet or to cane sugar, and, so far as children were concerned, honey could well take the place of butter. The public was not aware, Dr. Macleod continued, that Chinese eggs appeared in this country in various guises, although bacteriological examination had proved them to be highly objectionable.


In recent decades, relatively few experimental studies have been carried out in which the micrometeorological conditions have been studied over different small clearings plots of the forest. As these conditions can significantly affect many processes in the ecosystem, two questions arise: (1) whether and how the microclimatic conditions differ in the clear-cut and the gap, and (2) how heterogeneous the distribution of these conditions is on these plots. The aim of this study was to determine the spatial variation of air temperature on the clear-cut and gap as well as to compare the distribution of thermal and humidity conditions in both areas. The research was carried out in central Poland on a clear-cut with a width of 60 m and on a gap of an ellipsoid shape (40 × 70 m). The measurements were carried out in two series: spring–summer, during the period when the height of the sun during the day conditioned the inflow of direct solar radiation to any surface (May–August 2006), and autumn, when direct radiation was limited by neighbouring stands (October–November 2006). Average values of air temperature on the gap in the spring–summer period differed in individual parts of 2.2 °C, while on the clear-cut by 1.0 °C. In the autumn, thermal diversity on both research plots was similar (average 0.8 °C). The thermal diversity within the research areas was particularly marked in the case of extreme air temperature values. We found the modest spatial diversification of humidity parameters: vapour pressure, relative humidity, and humidity deficit. The particularly large diversification of relativity humidity and vapour pressure deficit occurred during the spring–summer period in the context of heat waves. The least beneficial thermal and humidity conditions for growing plants occurred in the north-eastern (NE) parts of the clear-cut and gap, which is why it is necessary to take particular note of these locations when undertaking silviculture.


Solar cells exploit photovoltaic (PV) energy conversion—the conversion of solar radiation into electricity—and thus offer a renewable energy alternative to address the rising environmental pollution caused by fossil fuels. The majority of solar cells are made of crystalline silicon—a material used for electronic circuits—that has a high production cost ($1.80 per peak watt). By contrast, low-grade silicon is a cheaper alternative that is widely used in thin-film solar cells. However, poor absorption of light and poor collection of resulting electric charge carriers result in a 50% reduction in efficiency compared to crystalline silicon.1 Poor reflection control (light not entering the film) and poor light trapping (light not being absorbed once inside) reduce light absorption. Defects inside the films also annihilate charge carriers before they can contribute to the electrical output, and so reduce the collection efficiency. We therefore added periodic vertical nanostructures2 to improve thin-film solar cells' reflection control, light trapping behavior, and collection efficiency. The vertical nanostructures3 diffract light at oblique angles to the cell surface, allowing light to travel inside the film at angles far from the normal. The distance traveled by the oblique light inside the film is much more than the film's thickness, and so this enhances the absorption probability. We noted that the absorption of red light increased more than that of blue light. Red light has a smaller absorption coefficient than blue and is normally less well absorbed. However, it is more diffracted by the periodic structure, and so the path length also increases more. We produced a number of large-area periodic nanostructures by etching selected patterns onto the substrate (see Figure 1). Figure 1. Scanning electron microscope images of periodic vertical nanostructures designed to enhance photovoltaic energy conversion efficiency within thin films including uniform nanopillars (a), double diameter nanowires (b), conical nanowires (c), and nano hemispheres (d).


# Dealing with research misconduct in the United Kingdom {#article-title-2}

After years of inactivity over the problem of research misconduct in the United Kingdom, there is now an enthusiasm and drive to do something. But how should medical fraud be tackled? Representatives from medical journals (both British and American), the Medical Research Council, a medical school and a medical charity, and a member of the Danish Committee on Medical Dishonesty give their views on this important topic.

# An American perspective on research integrity {#article-title-3}

Editorial by Smith

News by White

An allegation of scientific fraud can ruin the careers of both the accused and the accuser, divide faculties, bring a research institution's functions to a halt, provide a field day for the media, and, when the scientific establishment is unprepared, result in a loss of confidence in the entire research enterprise. Yet, despite repeated demonstrations that this is the case, scientists are still reluctant to face up to such an unpleasant problem. Three years ago, at a meeting on research misconduct held by the BMJ , I warned that many extremely embarrassing incidents at a variety of institutions would be required before anyone took any action in the United Kingdom. This seems to have been borne out. At a meeting organised by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) in London, I was depressed that so few seemed to have paid the slightest attention to the rich, well documented and instructive experience of the United States, where an energetic attempt to face up to the problem has been made. Such parochialism may doom the UK to repeat the many mistakes already made by others.

To the American observer, the news from the UK about incidents of misconduct in research is, as baseball's greatest philosopher, Yogi Berra, remarked, "deja vu all over again." I began to be seriously concerned about the problem in 1979 when, as deputy editor of the …

Correspondence to: Sir Cyril Chantler


Eleocharis acicularis, an aquatic macrophyte of the Cyperaceae family, has been shown to accumulate multiple heavy metals and has great potential for use in the phytoremediation of contaminated soil and water. To investigate the mechanism of accumulation of heavy metals in E. acicularis while excluding biotic and abiotic environmental effects and to acquire homogenous and sufficient populations of E. acicularis, we established an aseptic culture system and analyzed the applicability of this species for phytoremediation. Young ramet bases and stolon tips of E. acicularis grown in the field were sterilized, cultured, and established in an aseptic culture system, and the effective growth conditions of isolated ramets were determined. Isolated ramets grew remarkably well in a medium of pH 4.8 to 5.7 with 0.25 mg/L kinetin as a plant hormone. Furthermore, capacity for the accumulation of heavy metals was examined using E. acicularis subcultured with or without Si. Aseptically cultured E. acicularis showed a sufficient capacity for Cs and Zn accumulation and exceeded the criteria for hyperaccumulator plants in accumulating Pb, Cd, and In regardless of the addition or not of Si during its subculture. The aseptic culture of E. acicularis enhances its capacity for the accumulation of heavy metals and its applicability for phytoremediation.


Zeolite HZSM-5 was pre-treated by oxalic acid and used as support for TiO2 prepared by sol-gel method. Photocatalytic activities of the supported TiO2 on HZSM-5 were investigated with existence of three kinds of electrolytes, ie. NaCl, NaHCO3 and NH4C. The use of these electrolytes encountered very similar influences on adsorption and photocatalytic degradation on HZSM-5 supported TiO2. Methyl orange total decoloration and photocatalytic degradation rates increased with electrolyte concentration when the concentration was lower than 0.1 mol/l. Adsorption of methyl orange of the photocatalyst went up constantly as electrolyte concentration rising from 0 to 1.0 mol/l. Photocatalytic degradation efficiencies undertook a slowly decrease at a long range of electrolyte concentration.


We present a fully operational 77 GHz SiGe mixer assembled in a chip-scale embedded wafer level BGA (eWLB) package. This innovative package has a footprint with a standard pad pitch of 0.5 mm and a standard package height of 0.4 mm. The results demonstrate an excellent potential of the eWLB package concept for mm-wave applications. The measured gain of the packaged mixer is in best case only 1 dB smaller than measured on-wafer. Further, we analyze the transition from the printed circuit board (PCB) to the chip in package. We compare the results of our analysis with the measured performance of the packaged mixers. We achieve a good agreement between simulations and measurements. Finally, we discuss the methods for improving the electrical performance of the packages assembled on the PCB.


We have observed progressive damage due to reabsorption of stimulated emission in optically pumped laser-quality GaInN–GaN multiple quantum wells. The degradation occurred on a time scale consistent with the lifetime of electrically pumped lasers incorporating the same active region, suggesting that the failure mechanism was in part catastrophic optical damage, and not just heating in the p contact and p cladding as is often assumed.


Optical wireless power transmission (OWPT) systems are attractive photonic systems. However, OWPT has safety problems such as unexpected and unnecessary light irradiation. In this report, an improved safety system based on a depth camera is constructed, and response time of less than 60 ms and detection range limit are confirmed.


We investigate a technique to measure low level power line harmonics using adaptive cancellation of the fundamental component. The technique reduces the effect of quantization noise and extends the dynamic range of the analog-to- digital converter (ADC). It also enables good accuracy with a reduced bit ADC.


ID: 453 for Conference for Undergraduate Research at FIU (Auto-Generated June 4, 2019 2:51 pm) Examining outcome expectations of wearable performance device users: A case study of recreational athletes. by Tomas Medina | Thomas


Kidneys are not only organs with an excretory function but they produce their own endocrine factors which are involved in supporting homeostasis in the organism. The kidneys are the organs in which metabolism and biodegradation of many hormones take place. Together with the liver, the kidneys actively take part in the catabolism of hormones.


HM Treasury produced its long-awaited assessment of the five economic tests in June, having signalled the basic decision months in advance. The Treasury sees important impediments to adopting the Euro in UK housing and credit markets, and makes some proposals for further investigation and policy. In this paper, John Muellbauer considers the policy options.


PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop a monocular visual measurement system for autonomous aerial refueling (AAR) for unmanned aerial vehicle, which can process images from an infrared camera to estimate the pose of the drogue in the tanker with high accuracy and real-time performance.Design/methodology/approachMethods and techniques for marker detection, feature matching and pose estimation have been designed and implemented in the visual measurement system.FindingsThe simple blob detection (SBD) method is adopted, which outperforms the Laplacian of Gaussian method. And a novel noise-elimination algorithm is proposed for excluding the noise points. Besides, a novel feature matching algorithm based on perspective transformation is proposed. Comparative experimental results indicated the rapidity and effectiveness of the proposed methods.Practical implicationsThe visual measurement system developed in this paper can be applied to estimate the pose of the drogue with a fast speed and high accuracy and it is a feasible measurement strategy which will considerably increase the autonomy and reliability for AAR.Originality/valueThe SBD method is used to detect the features and a novel noise-elimination algorithm is proposed. Besides, a novel feature matching algorithm based on perspective transformation is proposed which is robust and accurate.


Not only does information about food recalls play a vital role in changing the demand for implicated food products, but it also impacts the demand for close substitutes. The study aims to identify the structural change in demand for cookie dough due to the 2009 cookie dough recall of Brand1, one of the most publicized single brand recalls in recent years. The study utilizes Barten's synthetic differential demand system, and introduces a sentiment analysis technique to identify the tone of media publicity and its effect on demand. The results suggest a spillover effect in the cookie dough market and finds that media sentiment has an effect on consumption.


This thesis describes the application of novel swirl inducing pipe to various pipe configurations, when pumping a range of fluids and fluid / particle mixtures. An extensive experimental programme, incorporating particle image velocimetry and photography, was implemented using a pipe flow loop designed specifically for the purpose.

Experimental data was obtained on the effect of a 4-lobe near-optimal swirl pipe on coal-water, sand-water and magnetite-water slurries of various particle size. Results indicated that swirl induction produced greater benefit for denser slurries and higher concentrations, and that swirl induced into slurries containing larger and denser particles decayed more rapidly. At low velocity, experimental data highlighted a reduction in the total pressure drop experienced across a 3.0m horizontal pipe section, a downward sloping section and vertical pipe bends, when the swirl-inducing pipe was present.

PIV was used to measure the axial and tangential velocity of swirling flows downstream of a near-optimal swirl-inducing pipe. It was confirmed that a significant tangential velocity was generated when pumping water in the turbulent regime, however, when the fluid viscosity was increased, leading to laminar flow, no significant tangential velocity was detected.


In this paper, to obtain a higher information rate in the block fading channel, we propose an LDL-decomposition-based linear precoded faster-than-Nyquist (FTN) signaling with power allocation. We further propose an LDL-decomposition-based linear precoded FTN signaling with truncated power allocation (LDL-TPA-FTN) to extend the application range of the acceleration factor. Moreover, we derive the corresponding maximum average information rate, outage probability, and outage capacity of the proposed schemes. Also, the complexity of the proposed schemes is analyzed theoretically and compared with classic ones, which shows the proposed schemes have lower complexity. Numerical results show that the proposed schemes have higher outage capacity and achievable rate than Nyquist signaling in the block fading channel. Also, the proposed schemes can reduce the incurred inter-symbol interference (ISI) and have the same application range of the acceleration factors as the singular value decomposition-based FTN. Moreover, a trade-off should be made between the side-lobe suppression of the power spectral density of the transmit signal and threshold selection in LDL-TPA-FTN to obtain higher performance gain for small acceleration factors.


Administration of androstenedione (4 or 8 mg/rat/day subcutaneously) on days 2–5 interfered with pregnancy in rats. This effect could be produced in intact, in adrenalectomized or in partially hepatectomized animals. These doses of androstenedione greatly reduced the deciduomal response of the uterus to trauma in pseudopregnant rats. Implantation was prevented, however, not because of the failure of the deciduomal response, but because androstenedione caused expulsion of the developing eggs from the reproductive tract by Day 5 of pregnancy (i.e., before implantation). These effects appear similar to those produced by estrogens, and normal implantation occurred when progesterone was given with androstenedione. Cortisol acetate also tended to prevent the effects of androstenedione on pregnancy in intact and in adrenalectomized, but not in partially hepatectomized rats. This suggests that the protective effect of cortisol is mediated by the liver. In intact or adrenalectomized immature rats, the uterus respo...


Hyperbranched polyester (HBPET) with aliphatic–aromatic structure was synthesized and extruded with recycled poly (ethylene terephthalate) (RPET) chips obtained from used water bottles, with ratio of 0.5% and 1 wt% of HBPET. Filament fibers from pure recycled PET (RPET-0) and (RPET-0.5 and RPET-1) composite were spun using a melt spinning process and drawn by a thermal drawing process to improve their mechanical properties. The effects of addition of HBPET on the properties of produced fibers as well as draw ratio are investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), wide-angle X-ray diffraction (XRD), universal tensile analysis, and sonic velocity. It was found that mechanical properties of the (RPET-0.5 and RPET-1) fibers were improved with respect to pure recycled PET (PET-0) fibers. Moreover, the crystallinity of composites fibers was also increased with an increasing of HBPET content. The improvement in mechanical properties may be due to the increase of orientation of fiber molecules along the fiber axis. Moreover, addition of HBPET serves as lubricant within recycled PET matrix which increased its mechanical properties.


Objective. The report describes options for improving the economic resilience of industrial enterprises by organizing the issuance and circulation of digital financial assets (DFA). Economic resilience is understood as the ability of an enterprise to achieve its strategic goals in a timely manner under the conditions of positive and negative external influences on the enterprise system. In resilience models, an enterprise is presented as a cybernetic system. Methods. The methods of DFA emission based on mining and without mining are considered. DFA circulation options: direct exchange for traditional currencies or using DFA as a medium of exchange in barter transactions. The decision on the release and circulation of DFA is subject to modeling in the framework of the 4x6 matrix resilience model. It is advisable to manage DFA quotes on behalf of a specialized financial company. Results. The proposed DFA solution can be not only a new asset for the purposes of the operating activities of the enterprise, but also a means for filling pension accounts organized for employees of the enterprise. This solution minimizes staff turnover and allows the company to retain the best promising employees. Conclusion. The organization of the issuance and circulation of DFA can have a beneficial stabilizing effect on the organization, similar to how it could be organized by issuing its own corporate securities, but without the costs that accompany these traditional financial instruments.


AIM:To examine whether MCI-186 can act as an antioxidant and prevent oxidative stress-mediated cell damage.METHOD:PC12 cells as the model of neurons were used,in addition to microscopic examination,MTT method,and detemination of lactate dehydrogenase(LDH)activity to observe the effects of MCI-186 on oxidative stress-mediated cell damage induced by H_~2 O_~2 .Moreover,the effect of MCI-186 on the content of hydrogen peroxide in unstimulated PC12 cells was estimated by means of a flow-cytometer and 2′,7′-dichlorofluorescin diacetate(DCFH-DA),a fluorescent dye for intracellular hydrogen peroxide.RESULT:In PC12 cell culture,MCI-186(1×10~-6 mol/L,1×10~-5 mol/L) was able to reduce H_~2 O_~2 -stimulated cell death significantly and to improve the survival by 40.7% and 62.7%,respectively,and MCI-186 at 1×10~-7 mol/L,1×10~-6 mol/L,1×10~-5 mol/L could slightly reduce the DCF fluorescence of PC12 cells.CONCLUSION:Results suggested that MCI-186 might play a certain role in protecting PC12 cells against oxidative stress injury and could reduce the content of hydrogen peroxide or suppress the reactive oxygen species(ROS)formation in brain neurons under the condition of oxidative stress.MCI-186 possesses potent radical scavenging and antioxidant actions which are closely related to its beneficial antiischemic effects.


The present invention relates to a Wi-Fi signal and the method for constructing a map apparatus, particularly to a fingerprint using a Wi-Fi signal unspecified plurality of mobile terminals is collected and provided to the Wi-Fi signal for providing service to build a map means and methods. The present invention particularly relates to the use of the portable terminal (100) collected by the fingerprint method of Wi-Fi location information Wi-Fi repeater (200) is estimated, which provides the following methods: (1) the fingerprint Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi signal collection time information associated with the estimated position information Wi-Fi repeater (200); or (2) is not associated with information Wi-Fi fingerprint signal collection time, but by comparison between fingerprint Wi-Fi user location information estimated position information Wi-Fi repeater (200). Therefore, the driving attacks require huge costs compared to the prior art in the collection of Wi-Fi fingerprinting, has the effect of epoch-making to improve the economy.


CASE HISTORY M is a 52-year-old patient, assigned male sex at birth, with schizophrenia, posttraumatic stress disorder, and cannabis/ synthetic cannabinoid use disorder, with additional medical diagnoses of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis C, and non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, who was transitioned to a group home after a two-year state hospitalization. The patient was referred to an outpatient mental health clinic, in the care of Dr. McGahee. M has a long history of psychotic illness beginning at age 17, with over 40 hospitalizations in private and state institutions for exacerbations of psychosis with belligerence, physical aggression, disorganization, and suicidal or violent ideation. These hospitalizations have frequently been associated with use of substances (marijuana, synthetic cannabinoids, crack cocaine, or alcohol) and with difficulty adhering to psychiatric medications. During periods of better symptom control, the patient is friendly and able to engage with staff and peers. M is artistic and enjoys writing, drawing, singing, and creating music and poetry. During periods of acute illness, however, M's symptoms include prominent paranoid delusions with themes of physical assault, sexual violation, or involuntarymedical procedures. M experiences auditory and visual hallucinations of angels and demons that concurrently comfort and cause torment. M often describes being sexually assaulted at night and awakens in terror, with little response to reassurance by group home staff. When ill, the patient is grandiose, with plans to become a famous recording artist or entertainer,


Abstract : This paper reports a preliminary experimental investigation and characterization of an optical fiber-based submersion sensor sy stem for applications in water flooding and leakage. The sensor system comprises a multi-mode fiber spliced with fiber Bragg grating and an intensity-based interrogator. S ubmersion tests were conducted in water-air and Glycerin-air environments. By the re fractive index of the fiber-probe surrounding materials, the reflectance and the dete cting power level is determined. When the probe is dipped into the water, the optica l output power dramatically decreases from -7.5dBm to -17.5dBm. But, the cente r of Bragg wavelength is not affected in spite of external material changes. Temporal response characteristics of the sensor system is investigated to verify the real-time reaction. When the probe is immersed into the liquid, there is no transition time. Key words :Fiber optic sensors (광섬유 센서), Submersion sensors ( 침수센서), Reflectance (반사도), Multi-mode fiber (다중모드 광섬유), Fiber Bragg grating (광섬유 브래그 격자)


turn Magda Szabo's equally fascinating novel, The Door, into a haunting film in 2011. He also paid homage to his professor and mentor at the film academy, the director Felix Mariassy, with a 2006 remake of another well-known twentieth-century Hungarian novel—Relatives, by Zsigmond Moricz. Mariassy's version came out in 1954. Unfortunately, the Hungarian film industry, and art cinema in particular, has fallen on hard times. Those in charge of the industry believe that a movie should tell a good story, and they have little use for what they consider self-indulgent auteurist exercises.


This article deals with the historiography of Russian culture abroad and reflects the current situation in this field of Russian historical science. Along with featuring the review of the main sources and studies on the issue, the article specifies the subject field of the historiography of Russian culture abroad and focuses on the epistemological aspect of the subject that involves both historical and cultural reality, and its representation. In this article the author states that the historiography of Russian culture abroad is not worked out as whole yet, which makes it an open field for study and research, favors innovative interpretations and pluralistic view. Considering the subject of the study the author points out the dominant tendencies of its research and understanding by contemporaries and descendants, including the phenomenon of human desires and aspirations (the cognitive aspect) and their impact on the society; also the author outlines some development prospects of the historiography of Russian culture abroad as a part of the historiography of Russian culture, the ways to overcome its local framework and integrate it into the net structure global culture.


Seventy‐five patients with equivocal neurologic findings were prospectively evaluated to determine the presence or absence of "neurogenic bladder." All were referred by neurologists or neurosurgeons because of their inability to make a definitive diagnosis of neurologic impairment of bladder function. On the basis of sophisticated urodynamic studies, a definite diagnosis of "neurogenic bladder dysfunction" was made in 23% of the patients. In 40%, the findings were equivocal, and in 37%, "neurogenic bladder" was excluded.


The storage condition of dried wakame, which contained 57.9% alginate, with a Omannuronic acid to L-guluronic acid ratio of 1.92, was investigated. The water sorption isotherms of dried wakame and sodium alginate qualitatively resembled each other, but showed slight quantitative differences above Aw 0.70. The amounts of water sorbed in a monomolecular layer of dried wakame and sodium alginate were 4.4 and 5.1 (g H20• 100 g·1 solids), respectively. It was suggested from the results obtained in this study that the water adsorption of dried wakame was attributable to the presence of alginate, the main structural component of wakame. From the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) thermograms of dried wakame and sodium alginate, only a single endothermic peak was observed between 20 and 90°C for both samples. The endothermic peak temperatures decreased linearly with increasing water activity. The degradation of chlorophyll followed pseudo-first order reaction. The rates of chlorophyll degradation profoundly faster above the DSC endothermic peak temperature of wakame compared with those below the endothermic peak temperature, suggesting that the stability of chlorophyll in wakame depends largely upon the state of alginate.


This study was designed to identify and analyze possible factors that mediate the effect of gender on ninth-grade Turkish students' misconceptions concerning electric circuits. A Simple Electric Circuit Concept Test (SECCT), including items with both practical and theoretical contexts, and an Interest- Experience Questionnaire about Electricity (IEQ) were administered to 1,678 ninth-grade students (764 male, 914 female) after the completion of a unit on electricity to assess students' misconceptions and interests-experiences about electricity. Results of the concept test indicated that general performances of the students were relatively low and that many students had misconceptions in interpreting electric circuits. When the data were analyzed using MANOVA and follow-up ANOVAs, a gender difference for males was observed on the dependent variable of total scores on the 10 practical items; however, there was no signi- ficant gender difference on the dependent variable of total scores on the six theoretical items. Moreover, when the same data were analyzed using MANCOVA and follow-up ANCOVAs, controlling students' age and interest-experience related to electricity, the observed gender difference was mediated on the total scores on the practical items. 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 41: 603-616, 2004 There is a consensus in the literature noting that differences between sexes initiate at birth and proceed through childhood (Bem, 1981; Eccles, Adler, & Meece, 1984; Linn & Hyde, 1989). Historically, two explanations have been suggested to account for the girls' lower performance in achievement: the biological explanation and the sociological explanation. First, gender imbalance was thought to be the result of different brain structures; however, explanations based on gender- specific socialization had displaced the brain difference model. While much of the earlier debate in the 1970s focused on the roles played by biological and sociological factors (Maccoby & Jacklin, 1973; Sherman, 1978), most of the recent research has been directed towards identifying sociocultural factors that contribute to the observed gender differences. Bem (1981), Eccles et al. (1984), and Linn and Hyde (1989) all proposed that early differences between boys and girls in science become magnified by cultural influences from society and school. Related literature has shown that males outperform females (Erickson & Erickson, 1984; Greenfield, 1997; Johnson,


This article describes the nature of the challenges that society is facing as conditions, needs, and development demands change rapidly. The solution to these problems depends not only on the mobilization of all socio-economic resources, but also on the way in which a society or enterprise is governed, the changing behavior of today's leaders, the formation of a modern leader is a complex process. It is scientifically established that these factors can be classified according to their characteristics and characteristics.


This paper analyses the cost of road accidents in Botswana, and outlines a proposal for funding road safety activities through levies, fees and fuel tax. The analysis and proposal were developed in connection with a road safety improvement project funded by the Swedish International Development Authority. The cost analysis indicates that the total cost to Botswana of its road accidents is nearly 2% of its GDP. In order of estimated financial amount, these costs are: (1) property damage; (2) loss of human lives; (3) loss of output; (4) medical costs; (5) administrative costs; (6) miscellaneous costs. Several short-term and long-term proposals for funding are presented. They include: (1) increasing the road safety fund, which is considered to be an efficient tool for directing money to different needs; (2) scrutinising administrative fees for government services, to ensure that they are just; (3) a fuel tax for the future, which could help the rapid development of an efficient infrastructure. The authors consider that the cost-benefit potential of road safety improvements is very high. Paper presented at the Second ECA/OECD African Road Safety Congress, Addis Ababa, 16-20th October 1989.


If X is a separable Banach space with X* nonseparable, then X contains a subspace XO with a Schauder basis with XO' nonseparable. Introduction. At the Kent State conference on Banach spaces and classical analysis in August 1985, V. Zizler asked if a separable Banach space with nonseparable dual had a subspace with a Schauder basis with the same property. In this note we give an affirmative answer to this question by modifying the well-known construction of Stegall [STE]. Stegall showed that if X is separable and X* is not, there is a procedure for constructing a sequence (x,) in X which, among its additional properties, spans a subspace with a nonseparable dual. What is shown here is that this sequence can be chosen in such a way that it is also a Schauder basis. Following the recent trend in discussions of Stegall's result (which is notationally quite messy), we give only the first few steps of the construction, and leave it to the reader to fill in the remaining details. Our notation is standard and undefined notation and concepts are described either in the book of Day [DAY] or of Lindenstrauss and Tzafriri [L-T]. The first uncountable ordinal is denoted by wl. Also, if E is a Banach space, then SE = { e C E: flefl = 1) is the unit sphere of E and BE = {e C E: Ilell 0. Then there exist families { f.: a a. (iii) Every point of { faf: a < ' is a weak* condensation point of { ff: a < co} We use Lemma 1 where Y is a separable subspace of X* which isometrically norms X, i.e. for each x ? X, 11 xli .J ., sup . y ) y v Yl,l _1 y 1) Received by the editors November 8, 1985. 1980 Mathematics Subject Classification (1985 Revision). Primary 46B10, 46B15. ?1987 American Mathematical Society 0002-9939/87 $1.00 + $.25 per page


Every year, lives of millions of people are cut short or considerably affected by road accidents. Most of them happen in urban areas where the speed limit is supposed to be below  $50~km/h$ . Active protection devices (such as airbags) attached at the front of the vehicle can help reduce the severity of injuries inflicted in such circumstances. However, the effectiveness of such strategies depends greatly on how well we can anticipate the impact moment of the accident. The physical principle of capacitive coupling can be used to anticipate the impact by detecting the intrusion of the pedestrian in the detection volume of the probe. However, any intrusion into the sensing volume of probe can increase its capacitance like dust deposits on the surface of the capacitive probe, the variation of the air humidity, the air friction on the car's body, which makes the common voltage float among others that influence the capacitance of the probe and make the voltage carried by the probe vary over time. To overcome this problem, we define the concept of "pedestrian signature." This concept can help us distinguish the presence of a pedestrian in the sensing volume of the probe from any other perturbations. Thus, we can anticipate the moment of impact early enough to trigger protection systems. The analog electronic device, we present in this paper, along with the pedestrian signature can help trigger protection devices to react at the right moment. The same device can also be used as parking aid when the vehicle speed is less than  $10~km/h$ .


The phase composition of spray dry precipitated Fe-Cu-K/SiO 2 catalyst for F-T synthesis was characterized by element analysis, X-ray diffraction and Mssbauer spectroscopy. The content of insoluble carbonaceous deposit and the C/H mole ratio on the catalyst surface increased with the time on stream. α-Fe 2O 3 was found in the fresh catalyst, and α-Fe 2O 3, Fe 3O 4 and χ-Fe 5C 2 were found in the catalyst samples after reaction for 19 and 451 h, respectively. With the increase of time on stream, the content of χ-Fe 5C 2 gradually increased, and the amount of Fe 3O 4 decreased nearly to stability; the content of Fe 3+ in a superparamagnetic state increased first, and then decreased. The formation of insoluble carbonaceous deposit was prior to that of χ-Fe 5C 2 owing to carbonaceous deposit from CO and χ-Fe 5C 2 from α-Fe 2O 3 via Fe 3O 4.


Herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE) followed a biphasic course with relapse in 3 children aged 11 years, 9 months, and 11 months reported from the Hospital for Sick Children, London and South Hampton General Hospital, England. All 3 presented with fever and seizures and relapse was accompanied by generalized or hemi-chorea in 2 patients. All patients received repeat courses of acyclovir, antibiotics and anticonvulsants. Dexamethasone was added in the older patient and the acyclovir course was followed by vidarabine in 2 patients. All patients had residual sequelae at discharge: 1 had a mild right facial weakness and persisting dysphasia, another was severely handicapped with persisting chorea and a third was visually inattentive and had a right hemiplegia and left hemichorea. The


In this thesis a mixture density network has been constructed to predict steel hardenability for a given alloy composition. Throughout the work hardenability is expressed in terms of jominy profile ...


The last sec tion of the hand book deals with is sues of re search, the ory, and train ing in cul tural psy chia try, con sid er ing meth ods of ob ser va tion, sur veys by test ing or ques tion naires, and ex peri ments, com pared with use of ex ist ing eth nographic ar chives. The author re views is sues con cern ing the ex ami na tion of dif fer ent psy chi at ric dis or der cate go ries, the study of their preva lence re lated to mi gra tion, and the pro cess of ad just ment. Fur ther, he em pha sizes the need for stud ies re lated to psy cho ther apy. He ex amines the so cio cul tural im pact on theo reti cal views, stress ing that re vi sion and ex pan sion are needed, be cause most mod ern psy chi at ric knowl edge and hypothe ses were his tori cally de rived from Europe and North Amer ica. Many theories or con cep tual is sues await crosscultural in ves ti ga tion to vali date their crosscultural ap pli ca tion (for ex am ple, the psy chosex ual and psy cho so cial devel op ment the ory and the the ory of defence mecha nisms). The con clud ing out line of cul tural psy chia try train ing con tains method and sub ject sug ges tions that would en hance cul tural sen si tiv ity, em pa thy, and com pe tence.


In this paper, we propose a new algorithm M-SMFTF for adaptive filtering with fast convergence and low complexity. It is the result of a simplified FTF type algorithm, where the adaptation gain is obtained only from the forward prediction variables and using a new recursive method to compute the likelihood variable. The computational complexity was reduced from 7L to 6L, where L is the finite impulse response filter length. Furthermore, this computational complexity can be significantly reduced to (2L+4P) when used with a reduced P-size forward predictor. This algorithm presents a certain interest, for the adaptation of very long filters, like those used in the problems of echo acoustic cancellation, due to its reduced complexity, its numerical stability and its convergence in the presence of the speech signal. The proposed algorithm outperforms the classical adaptive algorithms because of its convergence speed which approaches that of the RLS algorithm and its computational complexity which is slightly greater than the one of the normalized LMS algorithm.


In the operation of a photovoltaic system, one of the most important issues is absorbing maximum power from the PV array under continuous and rapid changing irradiance condition. The sampling points obtained at different moments are not on the PV characteristic curve with the same irradiance, so the MPPT strategy may misjudge. In this paper, a novel method to track the MPP is presented, which is based on three-point disturbance observation. The proposed algorithm utilizes three operating points that work in different duty cycle, using two points to restore a virtual operating point which is the same PV characteristic curve as the rest of the point. The proposed algorithm suppress the oscillation and misjudgment problem of traditional P&O method. And simulation and experimental results validate the performance of the proposed algorithm under continuous and rapidly changing irradiation conditions.


We study the revenue maximization problem of a publisher selling consumer software. We assume that the publisher sells either traditional perpetual licenses, subscription licenses, or both. For our analysis, we employ a game-theoretic model, which enables us to derive the users' equilibrium strategies and the publisher's optimal pricing strategy. Via extensive numerical evaluations, we then demonstrate the sizable impact different pricing strategies have on the publisher's revenue, and we provide comparative statics for the most important settings parameters. Although in practice, many publishers still only sell perceptual licenses, we find that offering a subscription license in addition to a perpetual license typically (but not always) leads to significantly higher revenue than only selling either type of license on its own.


This paper deals with an extension of a previous work [Gravitation & Cosmology, Vol. 4, 1998, pp 107--113] to exact spherical symmetric solutions to the spinor field equations with nonlinear terms which are arbitrary functions of $S=\bar{\psi}\psi $, taking into account their own gravitational field. Equations with power and polynomial nonlinearities are studied in detail. It is shown that the initial set of the Einstein and spinor field equations with a power nonlinearity has regular solutions with spinor field localized energy and charge densities. The total energy and charge are finite. Besides, exact solutions, including soliton - like solutions, to the spinor field equations are also obtained in flat space-time.


In this paper, a method of statistic analysis is suggested for studying and classifying nerve types of children, juveniles and youths. First, a set of effective calculating formulae is established so as to describe nerve types quantitatively. Thus, our analysis of nerve types is based on the experimental data. Since these data can not be considered as normally distributed, even the sampling is sized greatly. This has caused certain difficulties in the data analysis. The Box-Cox Transformation is proposed for the sampling data in this paper. As a result, direr tronsformation all the sets of experimental data can successfully pass Kolmogorov's no rmallsation test. And then, the suitable representative points in normal distribution are sleeted as classifying standards. Once the dividing points for classification are set up, the problem of classifying nerve types is solved successfully.


Study on future is involving a time-span to observe future alternatives as well as to identify the greatest events that are mostly like to occur in future while to assist the policy-makers and curriculum-designers to make decision. Longstreet and Shane (1993) however, emphasized that future planning does not mean to change what currently we already possessed instead of focusing on future-probabilities and the obtained-impacts in better future developments. The first basis, according to Saedah Siraj (2008a), is: future is a changing phenomenon compared to present day. The second, human creates something today and in future with what is planned, future-planning is arranged based on values and belief and the future begins from the present moment. Meanwhile, curriculum, or as clarify by Saedah Siraj (2001), is planning or designing education program. In this regards, the principals' projections on the types of future curriculums and curriculum contents at secondary schools in Malaysia would be the central discussion of this article. This study including earlier studies of Saedah Siraj and Mohd Paris Saleh (2003) and Saedah Siraj and Faridah Abdullah (2005) involved future planning/designing education program or as affirms by Saedah Siraj (2008a) is Future Curriculum. In general, the study goal is an attempt to attain consensus of the principals' projections on the types of future curriculums and curriculum contents at secondary schools in Malaysia where the study findings will also be discussed.


This text is an approach to the aesthetic stage in life in relationship with the differences established between the aesthetical seducer and the unhappy lover from Soren Kierkegaard on. In the introduction, we will present Kierkegaard in the intelectual context of the Denmark of the thinker and with the use of some biographical data and the reference to the stages of life. Later, we will raise three issues: the description of the aesthetic stage of life in relationship with the election, the aesthetic seduction as a fantasy as seen from the seducer and love as melancholy as seen from the unhappy lover.


This paper studies both quantitative and qualitative validation issues arising from the Basel II PD model development. It makes suggestions regarding the validation review process for both regulators and internal auditors who have oversight responsibility to ensure that a validation process is implemented as a key aspect of the Internal Convergence of Capital Measurement and Capital Standards. It examines the current Basel II progress of major commercial banks, especially in the areas of Corporate Governance, Data Collection and Rating Methodology and whether they effectively meet global standards. It also highlights the importance of an independent credit risk control function with emphasis on the Basel II PD model, with strict measures that distinguish good from risky credits rather than the simple use of statistical results such as Gini, ROC, CAP ratios. Furthermore, this paper offers empirical evidence of the importance of cut-off point in respect of the model validation process with simulations and benchmarks of four different kinds of models presented with a long run average PD. It also introduces a Quantitative Impact Study of Korean corporate with long run average PDs using a rigorous simulation model. This paper suggests 21 steps for a robust validation process that can be used by supervisors and IRB applicant banks.


A method of controlling the fueling of a hybrid electric vehicle including an internal combustion engine (10), a motor / generator (12) and a continuously variable transmission (24), the method comprising the steps of: Detecting the throttle position of the engine (10) (98); Increasing the transmission ratio of the continuously variable transmission (24) to a higher gear ratio in response to detecting a closed throttle position (102); Interrupting the fueling of the engine (10) (104); and Parallel switching of the motor / generator (12) to the engine, said motor / generator (12) as the generator is operating (106); marked by: Monitoring the speed of the motor vehicle (124); Completion of the step of the parallel switching of the motor / generator (12) to the engine (10) while the motor / generator operates as a generator, in response to the speed of the motor vehicle, which decreases to a predetermined vehicle speed (126); and then Parallel switching of the motor / generator (12) to the engine (10), said motor / generator (12) as the engine is operating (130) in order to keep the speed (RPM) of the engine (10) is constant (132).


Studies were conducted to see the seasonal population incidence of Dusky Cotton Bug (DCB), Oxycarenus hyalinipennis Costa at the Nuclear Institute for Agriculture & Biology (NIAB), Faisalabad during June, 2015. Data revealed that the incidence of DCB started in the second week of September and reached to the peak level in the first week of October. The population started to decline till first week of November at the termination of the crop. The DCB population recorded low on non-Bt compared to Bt cotton genotypes. The optimum temperature and humidity for DCB was recorded at 35.5 and 41 %, respectively. Moreover, a field bioassay study showed that the mean DCB population remained at 1.8 per boll on imidacloprid, whereas no DCB was recorded on chlorpyriphos after 96 hrs post treatment.


The lead-zinc-silver mineralization zone at the north side of the Gangdise porphyry copper belt is an important component part of the Gangdise metallogenic belt and has great ore potential. Analysis of the S and Pb isotopic compositions of ore minerals in three typical ore deposits in the lead-zinc-silver mineralization zone indicates that the sulfur isotopic compositions of metal sulfides in the three ore deposits are relatively consistent, with their δ34S values ranging from-3.9 to-1.1‰, with a mean of-2.42‰, being close to those of the Gangdise porphyry copper deposits. The 206Pb/204Pb, 207Pb/204Pb and 208Pb/204Pb ratios for ore minerals form the three deposits are in the ranges of 18.51523-19.76144, 15.56129-15.85036 and 38.50412-40.29409 respectively. The Pb isotopic compositions for the deposits are highly varied, implying that the Pb isotopes may have different origins. The data points of the Pb isotopes are mostly deviated from the Pb evolution curve of the orogenic belt but close to the upper crustal Pb evolution curve in the plumbotectonic model. The S and Pb isotope data of the three lead-zinc deposits indicate that the ore materials were mainly derived from the upper crust and have a complex evolutionary history.


Chaenomeles fruits are being applied more frequently, mainly due to its high content of bioactive compounds and their positive effect on health condition. Currently, they are raw materials in pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food industries. The aim of work was to characterize cultivar Cido of Chaenomeles japonica and two varietal hybrids: Chaenomeles x californica Gold Kalif and Chaenomeles x californica Maksim under their content of mineral, vitamins, antiradical capacity, organic acids, phenolic acids and flavonols. The content of individual macroelements varied between tested cultivars. Cido was the cultivar with the highest mineral content. In that cultivar Fe was comprised two-fold higher than in cv. Maksim, and Cu level (1.1 mg/100g) doubled the content of that element in cv. Gold Kalif. FRAP test results ranged between 379 µM FeSO4/g DM for cv. Cido and 403 µM FeSO4/g DM for cv. Maksim. Low content of amygdalin was also confirmed in all studied fruits. The highest amygdalin content was found in Cido (39.49 μg/100g), and Gold Kalif contained the fewest amygdalin (18.42 μg/100 g). All the cultivars tested were characterized by the highest content of malic acid (9.22-11.44 mg / g DM), while the main phenolic acid in quince fruits was chlorogenic acid 6953.9 - 8185.5 μg / g DM. The content of organic and phenolic acids depends on the variety of the quince. Due to the high content of phytochemicals in quince fruit and the low content of amygdalin, it seems reasonable to develop new directions of fruit application in food technology and functional food design.


In article the data about features of gynecologic anamnesis of women, professionally contacting to industrial lubricant oils more than 1 year is cited. Results of research testify that at such women ability to conception authentically decreases and risk of development the gynecologic pathologies, that testifies to oppression of general and local immunity raises.


of byproduct material in certain in vitro clinical or laboratory tests. 5. The number of annual respondents: 87 (7 NRC licensees + 80 Agreement State licensees). 6. The number of hours needed annually to complete the requirement or request: 12.87 hours (1 hour for NRC licensees + 10.7 hours for Agreement State licensees + 1.17 hours recordkeeping). 7. Abstract: Section 31.11 of 10 CFR establishes a general license authorizing any physician, clinical laboratory, veterinarian in the practice of veterinary medicine, or hospital to possess certain small quantities of byproduct material for in vitro clinical or laboratory tests not involving the internal or external administration of the byproduct material or the radiation there from to human beings or animals. Possession of byproduct material under 10 CFR 31.11 is not authorized until the physician, clinical laboratory, veterinarian in the practice of veterinary medicine, or hospital has filed NRC Form 483 and received from the Commission a validated copy of NRC Form 483 with a registration number. Submit, by October 24, 2011, comments that address the following questions: 1. Is the proposed collection of information necessary for the NRC to properly perform its functions? Does the information have practical utility? 2. Is the burden estimate accurate? 3. Is there a way to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected? 4. How can the burden of the information collection be minimized, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology? The public may examine and have copied for a fee publicly available documents, including the draft The document will be available on the NRC home page site for 60 days after the signature date of this notice. Comments submitted in writing or in electronic form will be made available for public inspection. Because your comments will not be edited to remove any identifying or contact information, the NRC cautions you against including any information in your submission that you do not want to be publicly disclosed. Comments submitted should reference Docket No. is publishing this regular biweekly notice. The Act requires the Commission publish notice of any amendments issued, or proposed to be issued and grants the Commission the authority to issue and make immediately effective any amendment to an operating license upon a determination by the Commission that such amendment involves no significant hazards consideration, notwithstanding the pendency before the Commission of a request …


In this paper, a new method is proposed to evaluate the reliability of stochastic mechanical systems. This technique is based on the combination of the probabilistic transformation methods for multiple random variables (MPTM) and the finite element method (FEM). The transformation technique evaluates the Probability Density Function (PDF) of the system response by the use of the Jacobian of the inverse mechanical function. This approach has the advantage of giving directly the whole density function of the response - in a closed form -, which is very helpful in reliability analysis. Many mechanical applications require the consideration of stochastic properties of materials, geometry and loads. The basic representation of uncertain parameters in the underlying models is obtained by introducing random variables or fields. Different kinds of analyses accounting for uncertainties can be carried out. The second moment analysis aims to characterize the means and variances of response quantities (displacements, strain and stress components, etc.) in terms of the input variable moments. The perturbation method (1) and the weighted integral method (2) belong to this category. On the other hand, the reliability methods focus on the calculation of the probability of failure associated with a given limit-state function. First and second order reliability methods (FORM / SORM) and various simulation methods are commonly used in reliability analysis (3). To account for the spatial variability of uncertain quantities (e.g. material properties), a characterization in terms of a random field is usually employed. Through a process of discretization, it is possible to represent the random field by a vector of random variables. One of the methods mentioned above may then be used to carry out second-moment or reliability analyses. The spectral stochastic finite element method (SSFEM) proposed by Ghanem and Spanos (4) is an approach well suited to analyses involving random fields. It is based on two types of discretization of the system of stochastic partial differential equations governing the problem under consideration: one in the spatial domain and one


type="main"> Spain has one of Europe's highest levels of occupational segregation by sex. Using data from the Spanish Working Conditions Survey, this article investigates the determinants of workers' probabilities of employment in male-dominated and female-dominated occupations. Combining Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition technique with counterfactual analysis based on a sample of "hypothetical women", the authors probe the unexplained components of the probability differentials they identify. While gendered labour market dynamics are found to account for the bulk of segregation, the strength of this effect owes more to "positive discrimination" favouring women in female-dominated occupations than to discrimination against women in male-dominated occupations.


AbstractThe performance of tall reinforced concrete core building archetypes in Seattle, Washington, was evaluated for 30 simulated scenarios of a magnitude 9 (M9) Cascadia subduction zone interfac...


FIELD: chemistry. SUBSTANCE: disposable absorbent product (10) extends along a longitudinal axis (10y) between front and back longitudinal ends (21, 23) of the product (10) and along a transverse axis (10x). The product (10) has a top sheet (12) defining an interior face (IF) of the product (10) configured to face a wearer thereof during use, and a back sheet (14) overlaying the top sheet (12), the back sheet (14) defining an exterior face (EF) of the product (10). An absorbent core (16) is placed between the top sheet (12) and the back sheet (14) for storing fluid secreted by the wearer of the product (10). The product (10) also includes a first pair of fastening components (40), each being formed from a partially cut-out portion of the disposable absorbent product (10) so as to be pivotally connected to a remainder of the product (10), such that pivotal movement of the fastening components (40) relative to a remainder of the product (10) defines at least one opening (51) which extends between the interior and exterior faces (IF, EF) of the product (10). EFFECT: improved product. 24 cl, 13 dwg


Objective To analyze the clinical treatment of teeth defect by reparation of Z350 mobility nanometer resin by modified USPHS scoring system.Methods The 120 adjacent holes in the teeth were divided into 2 groups,respectively to the Z350 fluidity nano resin and glass ionomer cement filling restorative tooth.After one years of follow-up of two kinds of treatment after edge sealing case restoration,gingival health,adjacency relation.Results Z350 fluidity nano resin repaired group edge sealing performance was slightly better than that of glass ionomer cement filling group(P0.05).Conclusions Z350 fluidity nano resin reparation has better restoration of posterior teeth with normal adjacency relation than glass ionomer cement filling.


Influence of local air cooling of the bottoms at heat-stressed conditions and deformations of the head of the cylinder of diesel engine D80 is considered. At performance of the calculation analysis experimental data of thermometry of the head of the cylinder are used.


As the important part of the culture,the sports' interaction has been increased with the forming of the single system of politics and economy,the Olympic games has been rapidly developed.However,the globalization may bring lots of influence inmany aspects.This research mainly study how the Olympic games will develop under such internationlal situations.


The nonlinear properties of a metamaterial sample composed of double-layer metallic patterns and voltage controllable diodes are experimentally investigated. Second harmonics and spectrum modulations are clearly observed in a wide band of microwave frequencies, showing that this kind of metamaterial is not only tunable by low dc bias voltage but also behaves strong nonlinear property under a small power incidence. These properties are difficult to be found in normal naturally occurring materials.


Highly accurate prediction of converter molten steel end temperature is important foundation of realizing intelligent smelting in converter procedure. Single model prediction of converter end temperature has problems such as weak generalization ability and difficulty in increasing accuracy. To tackle these problems, this review proposes a modeling method based on Bayesian formula that dynamically integrate multiple models with different features. First, various data patterns and features are explored using different modeling methods and respective prediction model for converter molten steel end temperature is constructed. Then, the value range of the objective is discretized and the confidence levels of the prediction results from different models are computed based on Bayesian formula. Last, the prediction values of different models are weighted according to their confidence level and a comprehensive prediction result is obtained. Testing and comparison are carried out on the integration model and the three single models (support vector regression, random forest, and BP neural network) using actual production data. Results show that the integration model based on Bayesian formula can further increase the prediction accuracy effectively on top of single model prediction accuracy.


The mode change from Taylor cone-jet to dripping in electrospraying has been analytically investigated. The change has been predicted by the dynamic behavior of a liquid drop at the tip of the cone-jet. Conservation laws are applied to determine the upward motion of the drop, and an instability model of electrified jets is used to determine the jet breakup. Finally, for the first time, the analysis enables prediction of the transition in terms of the Weber number and electric Bond number. The predictions are in good agreement with experimental data.


While mature splenic B cells are surface (s)IgM+ and sIgD+, immature, tolerance-susceptible B cells express sIgM and varying levels of sIgD. Differential expression of sIgD on tolerance-susceptible and resistant B cells suggests that sIgM and sIgD may transmit qualitatively different signals. Alternatively, tolerance sensitivity may be associated with intrinsic differences in sIg signaling, regardless of the isotype engaged. Here, we have exploited a stage of B cell development at which immature, tolerance-sensitive B cells co-express sIgD and sIgM. Using these immature stage B cells to evaluate isotypic differences in the ability to induce activation and deletion, we have found that neither ligation of sIgD nor sIgM is capable of inducing proliferation. Moreover, in contrast to mature B cells, both sIgD and sIgM induce apoptosis by immature stage B cells. Importantly, cross-linking sIgD does not protect immature B cells from sIgM-induced apoptosis. Thus, the differences in tolerance susceptibility of immature and mature B cells must be due to intrinsic developmental rather than isotypic differences in Ag receptor signal transduction.


To the contradiction problem of command decision,the paper refers to extension theory and method,adopts matter-element extension transformation,analyses consistency of decision-making system,transforms the contradiction problem into consistency problem,evaluates consumption and effect of scenario according to evaluation rules.If result of decisionmaking consists with target and request,it is taken as the optimum scenario.The simulation experiment of formation air defense validates rationality of the model,and the extension model provides strategy for contradiction problem of command decision.


A series of Mg-ZSM-5 zeolite catalysts were prepared by using solid-state reaction. The structure and surface acidity of thus prepared zeolite catalysts were studied using XRD and NH_3-TPD methods. The results indicate that the structure and crystallinity were not changed in comparison with the parent HZSM-5. However, weak acid sites increased, strong acid sites decreased, and acid distribution was more concentrative. The hybrid catalysts with Mg-ZSM-5 as methanol dehydration components were used for direct synthesis of DME from syngas. The experimental results show that the Mg modification of HZSM-5 improved the catalytic dehydration properties significantly: the selectivity of DME increased from 53.62% to 68.31%, while the selectivities of the undesired side products of CO_2 and hydrocarbons decreased from 41.75% and 0.23% to 27.67% and 0.02%, respectively.


The authors use a wide range of information at the household and individual level, collected from a random sample of 500 households, to analyze change in land tenure patterns resulting from the introduction of sugarcane production, as well as changes in incomes, food expenditure behavior, and time a


Sleep disturbance may result from a range of different cognitive, emotional, behavioural, and physical factors. Poor sleep is commonly reported by people with chronic pain. In a recent study Tang et al. (2007) found that 53 per cent of pain patients met criteria for insomnia in comparison with 3 per cent of pain free controls.


In recent years the use of smartphones has increased because the convergence of technologies related in the development of these mobile devices. This convergence relates to communication, handheld devices and applications. The most common development platforms are Android, iOS, Windows Phone and Symbian. In most cases mobile application developers restrict the development to one or two platforms, since there is not strong multi-platform execution support. For example, an iOS application will not run on Android or another system. One solution is web development, but it presents some problems such as adaptability, overload on servers, low use of device capabilities, and poor code reuse. A better solution is to develop a middleware that helps to develop open applications. This paper gives an analysis of the problems involved in the design of open mobile applications, challenges and some solutions.


Mixtures of trifluoroethanol and water were observed to stabilize certain conformations of peptides and proteins more than 40 years ago. Other fluorinated alcohols are often more potent in this regard. We describe recent results of intermolecular NOE studies of the interaction of hexafluoroisopropanol and other fluoroalcohols with small peptides, including melittin, analogs of angiotensin containing fluorophenylalanine and "trp-cage", a 20-residue peptide designed by N. H. Anderson and co-workers. In many cases, the results provide evidence of strongly preferential interactions of peptides with the fluoro-alcohol component of a solvent mixture.


A model poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)/laponite hybrid material, characterized by a high silicate content, was used to probe the dynamical behavior of polymer chains at the surface with clay platelets. Such a system mimics the intercalated phases that may occur in polymer/clay nanocomposites with usual silicate amounts of 5 wt %. The segmental motions underlying the α-relaxation of fully amorphous PEO chains confined within the nanometer-thick laponite galleries were monitored over the tens of microseconds time scale by means of 13C and 1H solid-state NMR. A significant slowing down of these motions was mostly observed, as compared to the local dynamics in the amorphous phase of neat PEO. Strong dynamical heterogeneities among the intercalated PEO monomer units remain even at room temperature, i.e., more than 50 K above the temperature at which the frequency of the segmental motions displayed by a significant part of the PEO chain segments gets above 52 kHz. Such heterogeneities are related to a pronounced ex...


In order to study the local changes resulting from wearing and IUD, the authors examined the cervicalmucus in 35 cases of women wearing IUDs for 10 months and 32 women of the same age who were not using contraception. Cervical mucus was taken during the ovulatory stage, days 10-14 of the menstrual cycle. The mean weight of midcycle cervical mucus in women wearing IUDs was 275.43 +or- 167.10 mg as compared with that of the controls 226.56 +or- 150.22 mg (P0.2). The clarity, viscosity, spinnbarkeit, and crystallization of the cervical mucus showed no difference in the 2 groups. Radioimmunoassay showed prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) in the cervical mucus of IUD wearing women to be 44.995 +or- 22.06 pg/mg, and that of the control group as 39.115 +or- 27.32 pg/mg (P0.2). PGF2alpha was 66.34 +or- 42.42 pg/mg in the cervical mucus of IUD wearing women, and 73.152 +or- 52.56 pg/mg (P0.5) in the control group. The cervical mucus in the midcycle of IUD wearing women showed little difference from that of the control group both in physical properties and PGE2 and PGF2alpha contents. (author's mofidifed)


Nuclear's main disadvantages are its high capital investment cost and uncertainty in schedule compared with alternatives. Nuclear plant costs continue to rise whereas coal plant investment costs are staying relative steady. Based on average experience, nuclear capital investment costs are nearly double those of coal-fired generation plants. The capital investment cost disadvantage of nuclear is balanced by its fuel cost advantages. New base load nuclear power plants were projected to be competitive with coal-fired plants in most regions of the country. Nuclear power costs wre projected to be significantly less (10% or more) than coal-fired power costs in the South Atlantic region. Coal-fired plants were projected to have a significant economic advantage over nuclear plants in the Central and North Central regions. In the remaining seven regions, the levelized cost of power from either option was projected to be within 10%. Uncertainties in future costs of materials, services, and financing affect the relative economics of the nuclear and coal options significantly. 10 figures.


3333 used during the transcranial sonography procedure? Performing measurement in the same plane is of importance to limit bias. Furthermore, if the measurement of MLS were performed for both sonography and CT at the third ventricle level in the same plane, the conclusion of the article "TCS may be as effective as CT to assess the midline structures shift" should be limited to MLS occurring at the third ventricle level. The authors have not disclosed any potential conflicts of interest.


During development, remodeling of the cellular transcriptome and proteome underlies cell fate decisions and, in somatic lineages, transcription control is a major determinant of fateful biomolecular transitions. By contrast, early germline fate specification in numerous vertebrate and invertebrate species relies extensively on RNA-level regulation, exerted on asymmetrically inherited maternal supplies, with little-to-no zygotic transcription. However delayed, a maternal-to-zygotic transition is nevertheless poised to complete the deployment of pre-gametic programs in the germline. Here, we focused on early germline specification in the tunicate Ciona to study zygotic genome activation. We first demonstrate that a peculiar cellular remodeling event excludes localized postplasmic mRNAs, including Pem-1, which encodes the general inhibitor of transcription. Subsequently, zygotic transcription begins in Pem-1-negative primordial germ cells (PGCs), as revealed by histochemical detection of elongating RNA Polymerase II (RNAPII), and nascent transcripts from the Mef2 locus. Using PGC-specific Mef2 transcription as a read-out, we uncovered a provisional antagonism between JAK and MEK/BMPRI/GSK3 signaling, which controls the onset of zygotic gene expression, following cellular remodeling of PGCs. We propose a 2-step model for the onset of zygotic transcription in the Ciona germline, which relies on successive cellular remodeling and JAK inhibition, and discuss the significance of germ plasm dislocation and remodeling in the context of developmental fate specification.


A class of efficient key agreement protocols proposed by Boyd is examined. An attack is demonstrated on a round-optimal example protocol of this class, and a simple countermeasure is suggested. The whole class is known to be vulnerable to an attack proposed by Bauer, Berson and Feiertag. A new class of key agreement protocols without this vulnerability but having the same advantages in efficiency is identified, and a number of concrete protocols are proposed.