Purpose: The use of medical images to detect and classify disease involves interpretation of images with spatially correlated variability. These variations can arise from physical processes in detection such as electronic and quantum noise, from patient to patient variability (often referred to as "patient structured" or "anatomical" noise), and from image processing algorithms such as image reconstruction and contrast enhancement. A number of linear observer models have been suggested as predictive of human observer performance for the purposes of optimizing imaging systems for diagnostic performance in noise limited tasks. We investigate some of these models in three simple detection tasks in Gaussian textures with lowpass, highpass, and uncorrelated (white) power spectra. Method and Materials: We use a recently developed methodology to directly estimate a linear observer template in two-alternative forced-choice (2AFC) detection tasks with white noise, lowpass noise, and highpass Gaussian noise. In all cases the signal to be detected was a small Gaussian "lesion". After training, three human observers participated in the studies which involved 2,000 2AFC trials per condition. Results: The observed linear templates exhibit a bandpass structure in all cases. The peak of the spatial frequency band used by observer's shifts under different correlation structures. Various models, including Hotelling, Channelized Hotelling, Nonprewhitening, and Eye-filtered Nonprewhiteing models were compared to the human observer data. Conclusion: Human observers adopt different visual strategies in response to the correlation structure of images that is reasonably well modeled as a bandpass filter. Many suggested models of detection performance do not fully capture this filter.


Negative thought patterns can make you miserable. This article describes two ways your thoughts may be hurting you, and how you can change them.


Various su lpha drugs i.e. sulphaacetamide. sul phathiazole, su lphadiazine and sulphamerazine arc coupled with 9chloro-2,4(un )subst ituted acridines and 9isothiocyallato-2, 4(ull) substituted acridines to give corresponding coup led products 3a-r and 4a-h respecti vely. The structu rcs or a ll sy nthes ized compou nds have beem confirmed by spectroscopi c methods. Anti-inllammatory ac ti vity evaluation or 3a,b,c and 4a-h was carried out and compounds 4a, 4d, 4g and 4h showcd 8,13,22 and 3% activity rcspcctively at 100mgl kg p.o. Ana lgesic activi ty evaluation of 3a,b,c and 4a-h indicated that these compounds posscss 25.75,50. 25. 50,50, O. 75, 50, 50 and 50% analges ic ac ti vity at 100mg/kg p.o. Anticancer ac ti vity eva luat ion or 3a-r and 4a-h agai nst a small panel or seven cancer eell lines consisting of lung (NCI H 460);colon (HT 29): melanoma (LOX); breast (MCF 7 and MCF 7 I ADR) ; prostate (DU 145) and CNS (U25 1) tumors was carried out. Best GI,o (concen tration which inhibits the ce ll growth by 50%) values are shown by 4b, 0.4 11M (lung carcinoma, ce ll line NCl H 460): 4b , 0.3 11M (colon tumor, cell line HT29); 3c, 7.2~lm (melanoma tumor, cell line LOX): 4b, 0.711M (breast tumor, cell linc MCF7); 4c, 1 .9 ~lM (breast tumor, cell linc MCF7/ ADR); 4b, 0.8 11M (prostate tumor, ccll line DU 145) and 4b, 1.4 ~lM ( CNS tumor. cell line U251) rcspectively. Out or all the compounds reported hcre Giso va lue shown by 4c i.e. 1.9 11M against breast tumor (MCF7/ADR) is qu ite close to the Giso va lue i.e. 1.2 ~lM of the sta ndard drug doxorubicin. Also it is worthwhil e to ment ion here that compound 4b, has shown good anticancer activ ity against fou r tumor cell lines i.e. Gisil value < 111M.


Intensive rearing of leaf-mining sawflies from woody plants in Central Europe by Dr E. Altenhofer has recently made available adult material correlated with biological data. The significance of small differences in morphology which would often appear as 'variation' in specimens caught in the field can be assessed more easily. Additionally, study of leaf-mining sawflies has been comparatively neglected because of the small size of adults and their scarcity in collections. Altenhofer & Zombori (1987) published the taxonomic results of these rearings for the group ol Heterarthrus Stephens on Acer, and an overview of the taxonomy of all the species reared is given by Pschorn-Walcher & Altenhofer (1989). This paper is concerned with the group of species at present collectively identified as Kaliofenusa (or Fenusa) ulmi (Sundevall). It is concluded that three closely related Kaliofenusa exist in Europe, two of which were previously undescribed. Each seems to be monophagous on a different elm species. This result is put in context with a brief review of known foodplant associations in other leaf-mining sawflies in the same tribe (Fenusini, Blennocampinae).


During the Ming dynasty, Amoy (today Xiamen) had steadily grown to become the centre of the maritime trade to the Nanyang, the littoral states of the South China Sea. This was despite the government, concerned with maritime defence, banning such trade and making an outlaw of every Chinese who ventured overseas. However, the ban on Chinese emigration was never strictly enforced. Britain abolished slavery in the 1830s just as a surge in demand for sugar resulted in a requirement for additional labour to work on newly established sugar estates in the West Indies. This was a problem not just for the British, but also for French, Dutch and Spanish sugar-growing areas. With the opening of China to the West following the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842, the French ran two ships from Amoy to the island of Bourbon, now R union, in the Indian Ocean in 1846. Spain swiftly followed suit in 1847 with two shipments to Cuba on British ships from Amoy in 1847.


This article is a natural extension of the work by A.N. Tikhonov, where the idea of a finite-dimensional approximation of the regularization problem was first formulated. However, the conditions, offered for operators, are difficult to verify. In the present work we offer other conditions, which are easier to use in practice, and use it to prove the theorem of convergence of the finitedimensional approximation for the Tikhonov regularization method. Application of the described method is demonstrated by the example with the Fredholm equation of the first kind.


When Su-Infante Shanqi was above ground, the Qing dynasty was falling into severe crisis and would be collapsed. To stick up for the reign of the dynasty, Shanqi appointed new officials and took a lot of reforms vigorously and speedily, such as rectifying the policemen in Beijing, setting down the rules of newspapers and publication and making autonomy preparation of the capital. To certain extent these measures represented the appeals of reformists and request of age, gave some stimulus to the capital development and new politics.


The Heliothine complex (bollworm and tobacco budworm) are primary pests of cotton in Arkansas, with much of the state's acreage requiring control measures each year. Due to insecticide resistance issues with these pests, it is necessary to evaluate new chemistry in order to maintain effective control measures. Research is needed to verify the efficacy of potential new control materials and determine their feasibility for use in cotton production systems.


ethics that the similarity demands to be noted? If so, is one really commending virtue ethics or a new view of the ethics of Matthew and Paul? Is Matthew a virtue writer, or is virtue a prototype of Matthean ecclesiology? If the conclusion is simply that a virtue ethic needs a central place for Christ, grace, and forgiveness, is a detailed study of Matthew and Paul really required? Since Kotva is setting out primarily to 'draw parallels' there is some uncertainty over whether he is arguing a point, or simply illustrating it. Perhaps what appears to be Kotva's weakness is in fact his strength. His style is so clear, and his structure so tidy, that his conclusions seem modest. But this hides his achievement. What


Brando Skyhorse's first novel, The Madonnas of Echo Park, set in Echo Park, Los Angeles, portrays the lives, thoughts and feelings of eight different and diverse characters. All of them expose their direct link to the space they inhabit: the barrio. Parting from the premise that the link between space and identity is inextricable, and the fact that the general living conditions and access to different resources is scarce in many U.S. Latino quarters, the aim of this essay is to observe whether the way the characters experience this space affects their personal identity and relation to dignity and honor. Particularly, the way barrio life affects and shapes the personality of male characters. For this purpose, we will employ Alfredo Mirande's conceptualization of Chicano masculinity, characterized by a strong sense of honor, dignity and pride, among other things. We thus will observe whether a tough environment produces tough men.


The distinguished astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, in his book Truth and Beauty (1990), related that themost shattering experience of his scientific life had been the realisation 'that an exact solution of Einstein's equations of general relativity . . . provides the absolute exact representation of untold numbers of massive black holes that populate the universe. This ''shuddering before the beautiful'', this incredible fact that a discovery motivated by a search after the beautiful in mathematics shouldfind its exact replica inNature,' persuadedhimthat 'beauty is that to which the human mind responds at its deepest and most profound'. There are a number of very important points contained in these statements. The first is that mathematical equations themselves possess a quality that human beings refer to as beauty. Abstract and even esoteric this may be, but a wide agreement is found among mathematicians and physicists about its presence. A second point is that certain of these mathematical forms, which we might well have imagined as purely idea-like and intrinsically mental in their nature, are found to be implanted in the world of physics as physical structures and laws. Nature therefore shares in the beauty of the ideas, manifests them, and asserts their objectivity. A third aspect of beauty in physical laws, building on the first two but by no means logically implied by them, is the universality of the manifestation of these orderly mathematical forms in Nature. In other words, the same physical laws apply everywhere. Impressive in itself, this presents a declaration of unity to the universe in which we live, and further increases our sense of wonder. This leads to a fourth important point – that the human mind can respond to, recognise and acknowledge all of this. Why should this be? This might be considered a greater wonder still. Einstein had in fact gone further. 'The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious', he wrote in an essay in 1931. 'It is the fundamental notion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science.' It is a 'knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, our perceptions of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty, which only in their most primitive forms are accessible to our minds . . .'. With words such as these coming from some of the greatest scientists, and expressing in Einstein's case a feeling resembling religious awe, there is very good reason to explore the nature of beauty in physics more widely, and to try to connect the beauty found in physical nature with the beauty that humans themselves create, embodied in works of art. This is the aim of J.R. Leibowitz's short volume. He believes that the practice of physics and the creation of works of art both represent an attempt to get beneath the surface appearances and reveal an underlying meaning to things. With this in mind, he picks up in particular the ideas of symmetry, perfect or broken, and the notion of openness, such that what is seen in the specific instance points somehow beyond itself. There is between art and physics a 'commonality of form'. Form is indeed at the centre of physics and of most art, and Leibowitz presents a brief outline of how physics developed over the centuries, with a focus on mathematics, together with descriptions of how a number of paintings and sculptures illustrate the presence of formal aspects of art. He quotes the view expressed by Henri Poincaré that the scientist takes pleasure in science because it is beautiful, and that this is 'the intimate beauty that comes from the harmonious order of its parts and that a pure intelligence can grasp'.


The local supply of power using micro-grids, to the consumer provides an effective way for reducing the stress on the grid. However, in connecting the micro-grids to the utility grid problems, such as power quality, load sharing, etc. arises. This paper presents a converter based interfacing approach for power sharing between the utility grid and the AC micro-grid. The proposed approach provides accurate real and reactive power sharing by adjusting two independent quantities, namely, phase angle and magnitude of the voltage. The interfacing converter provides the bidirectional power sharing between the existing and micro-grids. It protects the grid from the frequent load changes, along with keeping the power quality. In comparison to the existing approach, the proposed approach allows a) Current injection by different phases, b) different phase voltage control, and c) immunity from frequent load variations. The results show the suitability of the proposed method for interfacing the micro-grid with the utility grid.


I have written in the past on disparate topics such as postmodernism, the history of humor, complexity theory, the different models of moral reasoning, and the relationship between art and life. Yet perhaps because we live in an age that values the making of connections between apparently unrelated things, I have always been intrigued by the linkages between the nature of comedy, chaos theory, and casuistry in our postmodern culture. I have not been alone in seeing such an intriguing relationship, as evidenced by Waleed Salameh's recent work on the conceptual alignment of "humor, wellness, and chaos."1 However, since my interest has always been the interface of philosophy and art, I prefer to examine this peculiar congruence of comedy, chaos, and casuistry in Tom Stoppard's theatrical masterpiece, Arcadia. First, I will explore the recent theoretical discussions surrounding these concepts. Then I will consider the implications of their interdependent nature. Finally, I will provide an analysis of Stoppard's play in light of these interrelated concepts. The Paradoxes of Comedy In Umberto Eco's postmodern masterpiece, The Name of the Rose, he presents two divergent assessments of the value of laughter.2 Knowing full well that scripture never mentions that Jesus ever laughed, Jorge follows the Benedictine tradition in his mistrust of laughter. He acknowledges that carnival can be a time for purging unhealthy emotions in simple peasant folk, but laughter as such is dangerous, for him, since it can lead to a mockery of truth. William of Baskerville, on the contrary, is a Franciscan who champions Aristotle's affirmation of laughter. For him, it can be therapeutic in pointing out the vices of ordinary people and thus serve as an ally of truth. Yet William also acknowledges that we can laugh at our very obsession for absolute truth. Thus Eco reveals comedy's double nature: it can ridicule deviations from the norm as well as undermine our very confidence in justifying the existence of objective norms. Perhaps that is why Jorge sees laughter as such a dangerous phenomenon in human affairs. Eco's novel reflects the divided nature of current scholarship on the significance of humor. For example, Fritz Graf, discussing Roman humor, argues that "comedy is, like satire, basically very conservative, tending everywhere to correct deviant behavior by ridiculing it."3 Jan Bremmer, on the other hand, would argue that this fact is in keeping with the way laughter was regarded in ancient Greece, though he points out that there was also a growing opposition to unbridled jesting in Athens.4 And Jacques Le Goff posits such a development in medieval culture's acceptance of laughter.5 According to him, in the early Middle Ages, the Benedictine suspicion and repression of humor prevails. Then there develops a greater appreciation for the value of laughter as revelatory of human folly, followed by the formation of a scholastic "casuistry of laughter" to ensure its propriety. Finally, in the Renaissance, we have the full liberation of laughter as a critique of society itself, if Mikhail Bakhtin's theories are to be believed. However, Christopher Herbert rejects this historical description by insisting that comedy in every age is constituted by this tension between the poles of virtue and pleasure.6 Consequently, according to Herbert, this fact should explain why theories of humor often become polarized into the following two camps.7 The standard interpretation of comedy sees it as an ally of "conservatism, order, [and] the golden mean," while the alternative viewpoint sees it as a promoter of "revolutionary anarchy." The standard theory sees comedy's function to be a moral corrective of socially deviant behavior in the interest of forging a stable sense of community. The alternative theory sees comedy's role to be the mocking of repressive authority and the glorification of worldly pleasure and delight. While one sees humor as a kind of moral judgment, the other sees it as promoting an attitude of tolerance. …


The ALICE silicon pixel detector (SPD) constitutes the two innermost layers of the inner tracking system (ITS). The basic building block of the SPD is the half-stave carrying two detector ladders. The half-stave is equipped with a multi-chip module (MCM) and an optical fibre link for control and readout. A 5-layer aluminium/polyimide bus ensures the distribution of power and signals on each half-stave. The half-staves are mounted on a light-weight carbon-fibre structure with an integrated evaporative cooling system. An overview of the SPD development and the current status of the construction are presented.


Welding is an important technology of joint in engineering structures. In addition to a residual stress influence to a quality of joint, an obstacle in welding analysis are complex phenomena including phase transformation, thermal cycle and microstructure kinetics. The influence appears in microstructure development, formation of defects and in transformation of metallurgy in a welded zone. This article experimentally defines thermal cycles and shows the results in study of peculiar properties of austenite decomposition kinetics when using the technology of laser-hybrid welding in combination with multiple arc automatic sub-merged welding. There defined the rates of cooling influencing the change of properties of welded joints from tube assortment steel of K60 strength class. We found that the result of impact of laser-hybrid welding process in a heat-affected zone is that the austenite decomposition in studied steels flows in martensite area generally. The hardness of seam metal and heat-affected zone of the studied steels is of range 350-360 HV, which increases a probability of crack-like, defects formation. We revealed the normative value of hardness, which can be provided if a metal cooling rate in laser-hybrid welding is about 20 °C/s.


Abstract Populism has been considered as a complex phenomenon, a syndrome, and more recently as an ideology. This contribution gives some methodological indications in order to analyze populism as a particular kind of ideology. It is based on the morphological approach. This approach permits to find the core of populism and a cluster of central and peripheral concepts. The most important principle of the morphological approach is the de-contestation. As Michael Freeden showed, the de-contestation concerns the competition of the meaning given to the conceptual combination of the terms of the political sphere. This article assumes populism as a weak ideology with a strong core : the concept of popular sovereignty; an ideology very close to democracy, and to other non democratic ideologies.


The broad objective of this study is to analyze the economics of horizontal integration in poultry production in some selected local government areas in south-west, Nigeria. Data was collected from 61 fish farmers, 40 poultry farmers and 53 integrated fish and poultry farms, making a sample size of 154 farmers using purposive-snowball sampling process. Descriptive statistics, gross margin analysis and stochastic cost frontier were employed for data analysis. Analysis of socio-economic characteristics shows that most of the farmers in the study area are males, young within the age range of 30-<60 years and had formal education. Most of the farms are solely owned and some of the farmers are part-time farmers. Analysis of cost shows that feed account for 55.8, 68.2 and 78.9% of variable cost of production for sole fish farming, integrated poultry and fishery as well as sole poultry farming respectively. Followed closely in the same order is the cost of labour which account for 26, 6.4 and 3.7% cost of production respectively. The gross margin analysis shows that horizontally integrated poultry farms have highest gross margin (₦ 1,994,792.88) while the sole fish enterprise records the least gross margin of ₦ 556,516.32. This confirms the economic importance of horizontal integration in poultry industry in terms of profitability. The price of eggs, flock size, stocked fingerlings, quantity of feed and cost of intermediate materials are the explanatory variables that influence the production cost while age of the farmers, vertical integration and sole fish farming are the determinants of economic efficiency.


Abstract While chlamydial genital disease in female koalas has been extensively studied, there are only a few reports of male associated urethritis and or prostatitis. The scarcity of information of chlamydial genital disease in males compared to females appears to be a consistent feature across mammals generally. This thesis systematically reviewed the literature on chlamydial genital disease in non-human mammals, noting the pathology of the organism in the genital tract and semen of mammals. To date, there has been no report on whether chlamydia can infect the testis and or epididymis of the koala. The first experimental chapter of this thesis investigated the presence of chlamydia in the reproductive tract (testis, epididymis and prostate) of 18 koalas presented to koala hospitals with clinical signs of disease. The Clearview Chlamydia MF (CV) test was validated for fresh and frozen tissue and then used as a rapid screening test for the presence of chlamydia antigen. Immunohistochemistry (IHC), using a chlamydia specific antibody was used to locate chlamydial inclusions within positive testicular and epididymal tissues. Quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) test was also used to detect for the possibility of a low level of infection in apparently healthy tissues and to determine whether these were infected with either Chlamydia pecorum or Chlamydia pneumoniae. The results of these investigations revealed that chlamydia was detected in the testis of two animals and the epididymis of one animal by all three diagnostic tests. While chlamydia antigen was localised within the seminiferous tubules in the right testis of one animal by IHC, there was no evidence of the presence of chlamydia inclusions in the interstitium of this testis. Although the left testis of this animal showed negative results by IHC and CV, it showed positive results by qPCR. Chlamydia inclusions were also observed inside the mononuclear cell infiltrates which were organised as granulomas in the epididymis from the same animal. IHC also localised chlamydia inclusions in the granulomatous lesions, which obliterated the seminiferous tubules in the testis of another animal; the epididymis from this animal did not show any positive results. While CV has identified chlamydia in the prostate of 8 animals, the prostate of all animals was negative by IHC and qPCR. The discrepancy in the results of the former test and the latter two tests may be due to the method of collection and the type of specimen analysed. While swabs were taken from fresh tissues for the CV, IHC and qPCR were conducted using formalin fixed wax embedded tissue biopsies; consequently, there is a possibility that chlamydia may not be present in some thin sections. While C. pecorum could be detected by qPCR from the testes of one animal, C. pneumoniae was not detected in any reproductive tissue from the animals in this study. In the second experiment, histopathology resulting from chlamydia infection was described from two koala testes and one epididymis; this also included a transmission electron microscopic examination from one koala. In the same study, koalas showing clinical signs of chlamydia urogenital disease or which were being treated for chlamydia infection were also examined to explore any potential negative effect on semen quality; these animals were assessed for sperm motility and DNA fragmentation. Histopathological examination revealed that chlamydia appeared to cause chronic fibrosis in the testis of one koala and granulomatous orchitis in the testis of another koala. The epididymis of the former animal possessed focal granulomas, which obliterated epididymal tubular structure; the epididymis from the other animal had interstitial fibrosis but the tubules appeared histologically normal with no sperm in the lumen. In the testis with chronic fibrotic orchitis, the seminiferous epithelium was completely degenerated, yet the basement membrane was intact in most tubules. The interstitium had mild mononuclear cell infiltration, which was found to migrate into tubules without an intact basement membrane. Ultrastructural studies showed chlamydia-like bodies within the Sertoli cells in the seminiferous tubules but all spermatogenic cells were found to be degenerated. Although the histopathological findings suggest that the infection may develop from acute to chronic fibrosis or granulomatous inflammation, it is still unclear whether chlamydia can potentially infect the seminiferous epithelium in the early stages of infection and then subsequently affects sperm morphology. While progressive motility was affected by the presence of pathology of the urogenital tract in 3 out of 4 koalas destined for euthanasia, DNA fragmentation was in the normal range in all four koalas. All other koalas under treatment or before and after treatment also showed normal sperm DNA fragmentation. As there was a concern that the assay was not working optimally, further investigations in the impact of chlamydial genital infection on sperm motility and DNA are recommended. The results of this thesis have shown for the first time that chlamydia infection can cause sterility in the male koala and thereby highlights the potential adverse impact of this disease on male koala reproduction. In order to better establish the underlying incidence of this disease in the wild population, it is recommended that all males presenting to koala hospitals with clinical signs of cystitis be routinely screened for the presence of the organism and associated reproductive pathology. The thesis also proposes a diagnostic key that can be used by the koala hospitals in order to screen the koala gonads and semen for chlamydia. Further studies are required to confirm the route of testicular infection (ascending or haematogenous) and whether the presence of chlamydia has any negative impact on koala semen quality. The results of this thesis also indicate that semen recovery from diseased koalas, can potentially be used in a genome resource bank (GRB), but it will also be important to have a sensitive screening mechanism for chlamydia antigen in place to manage this activity.


A levitation alloying calorimeter (LAC) was developed by us and has been used frequently to measure the mixing enthalpies of high-melting binary liquid alloys. Performing a gradually alloying of small solid secondary samples into a liquid basis sample which is levitated in the electromagnetic field of a levitation coil, we were able to determine the mixing enthalpies containerless and economically in comparison with conventional calorimetric methods. An error occurs particularly in systems with intermetallic compounds because we have neglected the excess heat capacity during the evaluation. The presented mathematical method takes the excess heat capacity into account and results in a substantial improvement on the applicability of the LAC method


BACKGROUND: The direct transfusion of thawed hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) is associated to transfusion‐related side effects that are thought to be dose‐dependent on the infused dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). Both the effectiveness of a fully automated cell processing device to washing out DMSO and the effects of DMSO elimination over the recovered cells were evaluated.


This chapter examines why Yemen's constitutional transition during the period 2011–15 failed. In 2011 a popular uprising forced Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to resign. Neighboring Arab countries soon got involved in steering the constitutional process, which included a National Dialogue to address the design of a new constitution. The dialogue recommended a new federal regime, but failed to resolve the critical issue of the number and boundaries of states. The document presented in January 2015 by the Constitutional Drafting Committee tasked to draft a new constitution was deeply flawed and became the trigger for civil war. The chapter first considers the context leading up to the National Dialogue before discussing the outcomes of the constitutional process and three lessons that can be drawn from it: the role and design of sub-national governance arrangements; political legitimacy and process in a constitutional transition; and a more integrated approach to transitions.


The valence band discontinuity ΔEv of (110) and (100) oriented heterojunctions made by growth of GaAs onto Ge (GaAs–Ge) is found to decrease with time after interface formation (on a scale of tens of hours). The thin, abrupt heterojunction samples were prepared by molecular beam epitaxy techniques and characterized by x‐ray photoemission spectroscopy. The final room temperature value of ΔEv(GaAs–Ge) is >0.2 eV lower than the ∼0.56 eV value for the stable Ge–GaAs (reverse growth sequence) interface. Annealing a sample for several minutes in vacuum at the growth temperature increases ΔEv(GaAs–Ge) to approximately the Ge–GaAs value. By control of anneal time and an accompanying As overpressure, ΔEv(GaAs–Ge) can be cycled by >0.2 eV. This variation in an interface electrostatic dipole is apparently related to a variable amount of electrically active As that is located at the heterojunction interface. The dipole formation mechanism involved may require the presence of the antiphase disorder that is expected fo...


TMPROVEMENT in any crop depends on the breadth of -*• variation available for manipulation. Possibilities for the development of varieties of bluestem superior in seed and forage characteristics are greatly enhanced by considering together big bluestem and sand bluestem, two of the important tall grasses of the prairies and plains. Hybrids have been obtained by crossing clones of diverse genotype selected from the taxonomic groups comprising big bluestem, Andropogon gerardi Vitman, and sand bluestem, A. hallii Hack. That these groups freely intercross has been established in a previous paper (3).


In our study, we present a case that developed orbital apex syndrome after strabismus surgery. Nineteen years old female patient referred to our clinic with a decrease of vision, ptosis, limitation of eye movements and pain on left eye that began 5 days ago. There was a strabismus surgery history about 4 months ago on left eye. With ophthalmologic examination, best corrected visual acuity was 10/10, intraocular pressure was 15 mmHg, eyelids, eye movements, anterior segment and fundus was normal on the right eye. On the left eye, best corrected visual acuity was 5/10, intraocular pressure was 23 mmHg. There was ptosis that close approximately 2/3 of pupil field. At the evaluation of extraocular muscle movements, there was limitation while looking up, down, in, and out. At the examination of the anterior segment, pupil was dilated; there was no direct and indirect light reflex. Fundus examination of left eye was normal. With remaining findings, we diagnosed the object as orbital apex syndrome and planned the treatment. Orbital apex syndrome after strabismus surgery has not been described yet. For this reason, this case report has been found worth to present.


This paper presents a novel method for multiple classifier fusion. The classifier combiner operates on the single classifier outputs, which consist of vectors of pairs (c, d), with c being a class name and d the confidence degree with which a pattern is recognized as belonging to class c. The main idea of the combiner is to exploit the knowledge of the statistical behavior of the single classifiers on the training set to re-calculate a global recognition confidence degree based on the a posteriori probability that the input pattern belongs to a given class conditioned by the specific responses of the classifiers. Applying the Bayes's theorem we can also easily adapt our classifier combiner to a specific application. We compare our model with some popular techniques for classifier fusion on the Satimage and Phoneme data sets from. the database ELENA.. We show that our method is in most cases superior (or substantially equivalent) to the other techniques on both data sets.


The utility model discloses a cleaning device assembly. The cleaning device assembly comprises a mop bucket and a mop head, wherein the mop bucket comprises a bucket body, a vertical run-through supporting barrel and a vertical run-through supporting frame; the supporting barrel is positioned above the bucket body and is provided with a guide rail; the upper part of the supporting frame extends along the horizontal plane to form a supporting edge; the lower part of the supporting edge is matched with the guide rail; the inner edge of the supporting edge is uniformly provided with three supporting blocks; the lower part of the mop head is provided with clamping grooves which are matched with the supporting blocks. The cleaning device assembly has the advantages of simple structure and convenience in use.


By taking a micro-gas turbine engine developed by MIT as a prototype,the theory and process of virtual assembly technology were depicted,and its three-dimensional micro-combustor was constructed successfully in SolidWorks after analyzing the traditional approaches to geometric modeling in Computing Fluid Dynamics(CFD).The results show that the created method for micro-combustor based on the virtual assembly technology is prior to the traditional modeling approaches,which can decrease the cost of products in Power MEMS and can promote their industrialization.


changing nature of value over time by examining the transformation of computers from objects of everyday use to artifacts of adoration. Though older computers no longer have mainstream economic value, a new form of cultural value has taken their place. Silicon Valley not only produces much of the world's computer technology but is becoming home to a number of technology and computer museums and impressive private collections. Artifacts gives special consideration to the personal stories behind these collections, stories that would not be evident if only the material objects were excavated far in the future. Though Finn addresses material objects, she gives careful attention to social context in order to preserve various layers of embedded meaning. These personal histories lead into other facets of American computer culture, such as the legendary "Homebrew" computer club, cult hacker movies like War Games, and the fanaticism surrounding Apple computers. Additionally, they are a window into the creative drive that leads so many software engineers to spend countless hours interacting with computers, whether it be for hobbyist pleasure, or to ensure the success of an internet startup, or merely as "cubicle work" for some corporation. Artifacts is concerned with what archaeology misses when it only has silent objects to decipher and decode. As an archaeologist of the present, Finn traces a narrative that highlights the personal relationship between people and objects. She spends only minimal time with the working class and its experiences with the material world of Silicon Valley. Regrettably, too, she does not offer more concrete arguments for what characterizes or unifies the region known as Silicon Valley, or what the emergence of the computer as an artifact says about the changing nature of computers in society. The stories are delightful, but readers are left to muse over their larger significance on their own.


Arnold LM, Clauw DJ, McCarberg BH: Improving the recognition and diagnosis of fibromyalgia. Mayo Clin Proc 86: 457–464, 2011 Despite greater interest in and increasing awareness of fibromyalgia (FM) and its pathophysiological underpinnings, FM is still underdiagnosed and undertreated. This article provides a concise up-to-date review focussing on the broad variety of clinical aspects of the disorder. A proposed diagnostic flow chart includes recommendations on when and how to initiate treatment. It balances diagnostic steps and tools from both 1990 and 2010 ACR criteria, emphasizing that these criteria do not exclude each other, but that both can be used for establishing the diagnosis. The authors conclude that the diagnosis has not to be confirmed by a specialist. This may be different in other countries than the United States, according to different rules in different healthcare systems.


Megavolt x-ray computed tomography (CT) is a powerful tool for three-dimensional characterization. However, its utility is limited for large objects composed of high-atomic number (Z) materials, where x rays fail to penetrate. Information from fast neutron CT (FNCT) can complement x-ray CT reconstructions since fast neutrons can more readily penetrate high-Z objects. Here, we demonstrate a method for combining FNCT and x-ray CT data to create a single reconstruction, more accurate than could be achieved with either x rays or fast neutrons alone. The algorithm was tested on an exemplar comprising multiple concentric, nested cylinders of different materials. Simulated and empirical x-ray CT data were acquired for the exemplar using a 9 MV bremsstrahlung spectrum. Additional simulated and empirical FNCT data were acquired using an accelerator based fast neutron source. The FNCT data were used to synthesize x-ray CT data and augment the x-ray CT data missing due to lack of penetration. This approach mitigates artifacts that would otherwise negatively affect the accuracy and resolution of a single-modality reconstructed volume.


Abstract Neurosciences in Buddhist era was mainly based on power of mind and thoughts. It emphasized mainly about the power of mind, control of thoughts, purification, and modifications of erroneous thought process, which should result in truthful and correct practices and subsequent actions by human beings to remain happy. Buddhism believes that most diseases of human body are secondary to mind and that these can be healed by controlling the erroneous thoughts and practices of Dhamma. Though the treatment for neurologic disorders such as headache, stress, and anxiety was primitive, it was mainly based on purification of mind and righteous pathway of Dhamma followed by medicines, modification in dietary and other living habits, etc. Enough evidence (including operated case-based commentary) shows that cranial surgery was also performed following appropriate diagnosis. The concept of diagnosis, preoperative evaluation, explanation to the patient, operative procedure, perioperative care, and follow-up was also present in that era.


Lack of knowledge of citizens about the food they consume daily, as well as mostpeople are still using less salt isnot iodized feasible and less good for health makes theauthor moved to the extension of the benefits of the food consumed daily as well as thebenefits of iodized salt.The program is carried out as much as six timesandthe face toface for 2 hours. This extension materials are as follows: 4 healthy 5 perfect food, thebenefits of eating agricultural produce Hamlet Cangkol Duwur terms of health, thebenefits of iodized salt, as well as the testing of samples of salt with iodine-test to provethat iodizedsalt or not.The result of this program goes well and fluently. In addition,people are also very happy and excited in receiving the material. author sincerely hopethrough this program, citizens have the knowledge of the benefits of the food theyconsumeeveryday and consume iodized salt.


To simulate the snowing scene,presents a real-time simulation method of snowing scene based on GPU.As the important portion of natural environment effects,snowing scene simulation is a hot topic in the field of virtual reality.Describes the simulation method of snowing scene based on GPU in details,including snow particle generation,snow particle initialization,snow particle attributes update,snow particle deposition,snow particle rendering,etc.Provides the experiment results.Realizes the snowing scene and snow deposition and our system is rendering in real-time.The experiment proves that this method is feasible and valid.


Background: Despite the recognized benefits of physical exercise, including a reduction of health risk factor indicators, illness and death related to Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) (cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, cancer), the extent of its recognition and use as a prevention strategy by healthcare professionals working in Ethiopian referral hospitals is unknown.
Objective: This study explored healthcare professionals' use of Physical exercise as a non-communicable disease Prevention Strategies in the Ethiopian public sector Healthcare System.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among (N=312) health care professionals (nurses, physicians and medical managers) in 13 Ethiopian referral hospitals.
Results: The results indicated thatthree quarters (78%) of healthcare professionals working in Ethiopian hospitals are not using physical exercise as a strategy to prevent NCDs. Increased specialization (AOR=20.203, p<0.001), many service years (AOR=0.041, p=0.014), young age (AOR=19.871, p<0.001), and being men (AOR=0.269, p<0.001) were predictors of using physical exercise as a strategy for NCDs prevention.
Conclusion: Healthcare professionals' utilization of physical exercise as a strategy for NCDs prevention was inadequate in Ethiopia. Given the increasing burden of NCD disease in Ethiopia, training nurses, physicians and medical managers to use physical exercise as an NCD prevention strategy is essential at undergraduate level for as well as through specialized courses once they are qualified.


You'll be teaching a mixed curriculum to Tanzanian children aged 6-14. You'll get to shadow a local teacher before leading your own lessons and games.


Federal and state policies do not apply the same logic and expectations to conservation as to other energy resources. The authors see an inadequate conventional understanding of conservation and an erroneous relationship between deregulation and conservation. They suggest that (1) fuel prices are a poor predictor of energy conservation; (2) energy conservation to date does not represent a structural adaptation towards greater efficiency; and (3) assumptions about the consequences of deregulation are based upon an inaccurate understanding of the circumstances that have historically shaped the political economy of energy. They propose a transition to an energy-efficient society that requires a change in the criteria used for evaluating energy options and a recognition of conservation as a real addition to future supplies. 16 references, 4 tables.


The stately pace of the quarterly journal makes it almost impossible to reflect on current events in a timely fashion. By the time one's words appear in print, they will already have been overtaken by events. The horizon of recent history and imminent possibility, the context of choice and decision making will have changed in unforeseeable ways. What point, then, could there be in producing a timely utterance that will be outdated by the time it is heard?1


That was detailed introduces the principle and range of speed measure based on three familiar digital speed measure methods(M method,T method and M/T method).It also designs the hardware of digital speed measure system and completes the precision measure of the speed especial low speed of motor based on M/T method.


CHURCH AND STATE always went hand in hand in the ceremonial of the Venetian Republic. The Church's reasons for using ritual are well known and require no discussion; but in Venice, the needs of the State were just as great. In any republic having an elected Head of State, the problem of continuity demands more than usual care, and ceremonial helps always to focus the attention not so much on the individuals holding office, as on the meaning of the office itself. The processions and festivals celebrated with great sumptuousness helped to make Venetians continually aware of the Republic's own past and present greatness. The pomp was symbolically connected with Venetian history, and saints' days were accounted good opportunities for the display of temporal power as well as religious fervour. St. Mark's Day was celebrated as the day of the city's patron, whose bones were under its most beautiful church; the visit of the Doge to the Church of the Redeemer on the Giudecca was an act of


Results on lanthanum-modified lead zirconate-titanates (PLZTs) have revealed a pressure-induced crossover from a normal ferroelectric to a relaxor state and the continuous evolution of the dynamics and energetics of the relaxation process. This crossover appears to be a general feature of soft mode ferroelectrics with random site dipolar impurities or polar nanodomains and results from a large decrease in the correlation radius among polar nanodomains -- a unique property of soft mode ferroelectrics.


Green nanocatalysts play a crucial role in organic synthesis. In this study, a novel approach utilizing marine diatom extract is presented for the production of tin oxide nanoparticles (SnO2 NPs). These NPs possess distinctive characteristics, including crystalline properties, a spherical shape, and an average size of 20 ± 2 nm. The reduction and surface coating of the NPs involve organic components derived from marine sources. The resulting SnO2 NPs serve as highly effective catalysts for the synthesis of chromeno[4,3‐b]quinoline derivatives, facilitated by ultrasound‐assisted reactions. This process demonstrates remarkable efficiency, yielding a variety of organic products with impressive results, reaching yields of 82–97% and requiring short reaction times. Moreover, the SnO2 nanocatalyst employed exhibits advantageous properties, such as low loading, durability, and the ability to be reused up to six cycles.


In this paper, using the first-principles calculations, we study the crystal structure effect on the superconductivity in CaAlSi. It is proposed that an AF-like superstructure model for Al (or Si) atoms arranged along the c direction may mediate the inconsistency of the electron-phonon coupling estimated from theory and experiment, and explain the anomalous superconductivity in CaAlSi.


In this study, a modified adaptive-gain super-twisting sliding mode guidance law with finite time convergence is proposed to intercept targets with impact angle constraint. The proposed guidance law introduces a linear term and an inner negative feedback so as to restrain the overshoot and enhance the performance of faster convergence. Furthermore, the adaptive-gain schedule can attenuate the chattering in the presence of the perturbations with the unknown boundaries. The finite time stability of the guidance law is analyzed. Simulation results show that the proposed guidance law is able to achieve more satisfactory interception.


The following theorem is proved: Let R be an algebra with involution over an uncountable field F. Then if the symmetric elements of R are algebraic, R is algebraic. In this paper we consider the following question: "Let R be an algebra with involution over a field F, and assume that the symmetric elements S of R are algebraic over F. Is R algebraic over F?" Previous results related to this question have been obtained by restricting the kind of algebraic relationships satisfied by the symmetric elements. For example, it was shown by Baxter and Martindale [1] for fields of characteristic not 2, and later by the author [5] for arbitrary fields, that if the symmetric elements are algebraic of bounded degree (or more generally, satisfy a polynomial identity), then R must be algebraic. Another such result concerns rings whose symmetric elements are periodic (that is, for each seS, there is some integer n(s)> 1 such that sn(s)=s). In this case, the author has shown [6], [7] that R must be algebraic; in fact R satisfies a polynomial identity. When R is a division ring, much more can be said: I. N. Herstein and the author [2] have shown that R must actually be commutative. Finally, it has been shown by Osborn [8] that if S is nil and F is uncountable, then R is nil. This answers for uncountable fields a question of McCrimmon [4, p. 391]: "If S is nil, is R nil?" An affirmative answer to this question in general would follow from an affirmative answer to the first question. For, as has been observed by both McCrimmon [4, p. 390] and Osborn [8, p. 306], if S is nil then R must be a radical ring. But if R is algebraic, every element of the radical is nil; thus R would be nil. The result presented here differs from those described above in that no additional restrictions are imposed on the symmetric elements. We prove: THEOREM. Let R be an algebra with involution over an uncountable field F. Then if the symmetric elements of R are algebraic, R is algebraic. Received by the editors January 8, 1971. AMS 1969 subject classifications. Primary 1658.


Expressions for various effects are simplified. Six independent constants and matrix for the case of permissible transitions are analyzed. (R.V.J.)


This paper presents a multidisciplinary framework for a design under uncertainty that leverages surrogate models trained using risk-adaptive statistical learning. The hydrodynamic and structural fe...


Abstract The Late Cenozoic lacustrine and fine‐grained sediments from the south‐central United States should contain abundant, well‐preserved pollen assemblages; unfortunately, many are entirely devoid of pollen, while others contain only corroded pollen in low concentrations. The absence of pollen in the southern Great Plains is widespread, encompassing many lacustrine and alluvial deposits. This absence or poor preservation of pollen and other organic matter within these materials is probably the result of post‐depositional biotic or chemical oxidation, perhaps related to drying out of the deposits and subsequent movement of meteoric or ground water through the sediments. Among southern Plains localities barren of pollen are the type sections of the Clarendonian, Hemphillian, and Blancan North American Land Mammal ages in Texas. Other localities barren of pollen or containing low concentrations of poorly preserved grains include the Laverne (Miocene), Camp Rice (early Pleistocene), and Tule (early‐middl...


I was asked to consider this subject from the perspective of the corporate defendant, the individual defendant, the government, potential third parties and the like, and apart from the fact that there probably isn't time enough to do that, the only experience that I have to bring on this subject deals with the representation of a corporate defendant or defendants in the situation of a criminal trial, and I will try to limit my remarks to that subject. t inevitably will end up talking I think to some degree about the effect of individual defendants in a criminal indictment because that very much bears on the corporation's strategy.


Evolutionary Robotics seeks to use Evolutionary Algorithms for the purpose of creating real and simulated robots. The choice of fitness functions is a key determinant in the evolved behavior exhibited by the robot. The paper introduces energy constraints into the fitness function as a preliminary investigation into seeking to influence how evolved robots resolve tasks rather than what tasks they accomplish. An experiment is described where an artificial Sensor-Motor control system (based on the GasNet model of neuromodulated neural networks), is evolved for a robot whose task is to seek and acquire balls in a physically simulated environment. The results indicate that at least for this simple task a neural network can be evolved that achieves an energy efficient solution that is at least equal in performance to a control study where energy expenditure is not included in the fitness measure. This paper seeks to make out a case for the inclusion of energy expenditures in fitness measures, as agents are under greater selection pressure to make use of available sensory systems. It is hoped that the approach outlined in this paper will be useful in helping to develop energy efficient robots, particularly in applications such as legged locomotion.


These authors studied what amounts to spinal-cord nerve conduction at the time of surgical intervention for cervical spondylotic myelopathy in 129


Originally from Germany, Dr. von Pfeil underwent post-graduate training (internship, residency & fellowship) at Kansasand Michigan State University. During that time he also finished his dissertation on biomechanics of orthopedic implants and obtained the American DVM. Prior to joining Veterinary Specialists of Alaska in 2008, he worked at KSU as assistant professor, teaching orthopedic, soft tissue, oncologic and neurological surgery. He is a double-board certified surgeon and Diplomate of the American and the European Colleges of Veterinary Surgeons, serves as adjunct professor at MSU, and on the board of referees for multiple international peer-reviewed veterinary journals. Nationally and internationally, Dr. von Pfeil is recognized as speaker on various topics in small animal surgery. Dr. von Pfeil has been the driving force to bring minimally invasive surgery to our practice (arthroscopy, laparoscopy, thoracoscopy – see advanced surgery ) and led multiple challenging surgical procedures, among others cardiac pacemaker implantations (view TV report) . He has developed modifications of surgical techniques to treat cranial cruciate ligament rupture ( TPLO ) and laryngeal paralysis . He is also certified in stem cell therapy, focusing on treatment of ligament and joint injuries. Dr. von Pfeil is a member of multiple American and European Veterinary Medical Associations, among others the International Sled Dog Veterinary Medical Association. Over the past years he has been involved as trail or head veterinarian in multiple sled dog races across Alaska. In 2013 he was honored to receive the prestigious " Golden Stethoscope Award ", elected by all mushers of that year's Iditarod race, as best veterinarian on the trail. One of his current research projects is congenital laryngeal paralysis in the Alaskan Husky ("Wheezer-Disease") .


This paper is concerned with the problem of fault detection and isolation (FDI) for uncertain continuous-time state-delayed systems with Markovian jump parameters. The residual generator is constructed based on mode-dependent fault detection filter, i.e. the designed fault detection filter is Markovian jump system as well. The fault detection filter design is formulated as Hinfin filtering problem and the adaptive threshold is adopted to achieve zero false alarm rate in the residual evaluation step. The designed fault detection filter can guarantee the difference between the generated residual signal and the fault signal as small as possible and the robustness of the residual to modelling errors, unknown inputs and control inputs. Sufficient condition for the existence of the above filters is established in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). A numerical example is provided to illustrate the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed method.


e16085 Background: New technologies are often introduced with a significant promise for improving health outcomes, but lack supporting evidence. In the case of prostate cancer, two such technologie...


Growing environmental threats have brought to the fore the need to transition into clean and sustainable economies. Countless ground-breaking technological developments have been made in pursuit of discovering and integrating better energy sources such as electric vehicles for smart grids. This paper aims to study a proposed simulation environment representing a micro-grid containing a fleet of electric vehicles with a limited vehicle-to-grid application. In fact, the discharging mode is only applied in the case of peak demand with a very high response time. The building blocks of this micro-grid are outlined and modeled and a simulation of their operations is presented. The paper delves into the management strategies used to regulate the power in this simulation and investigates further the charging and discharging scenarios.


SUMMARY From an analysis of the design and use of words between tzeltal and tzotzil indigenous of the region Los Altos de Chiapas, this article discusses how the «new life» tzotzil, ach 'kuxlejal, the interpreted incompetent use of language as effect of 'modernity' has led to a perception of another humanity and a questioning of indigenous identity of youth; those branded as «the new growth» (ach 'chieletik) or «the new life» (ach' kuxlejaletik).


There is generally a failure in humoral and cellular immunity in most of the patients with chronic renal failure (CRF). In this study, the rate of response of CRF patients to a double-dose hepatitis vaccination and the effect of renal replacement type on the formation of antibodies have been investigated. In our centre, 51 hemodialysis (HD) and 19 continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients were vaccinated with recombinant hepatitis B in the 0th, 1st, 2nd and 6th months. Antibody titrates over 10 mIU/ml seen 1-3 months after the vaccination were considered as a response to the vaccine. As a result, no meaningful difference has been observed between the responses HD and CAPD patients gave to the vaccine (CAPD 84.2%, HD 78.4%, p=0.591). The effects of the duration of the dialysis, sex, age and hemoglobin, total protein, albumin, c-reactive protein (CRP), total cholesterol and triglyceride levels and the positivity of anti- HCV on hepatitis B seroconversion have also been evaluated. Of all these, only the age being over 50 has been seen to have a relationship with insufficient hepatitis B ceroconversion (p=0.037). The other parameters couldn't be shown to have an effect on the hepatitis B seroconversion (p> 0.05).


The interconnected world helps strengthen global governance via soft law. The phenomenon is in particular outstanding in the field of finance where the boundary between the domestic and the international arena has been blurred. In the field of financial regulation, governments has voluntarily introd...


The scientific project (SP) peer review process (PRP) is reviewed in the context of an virtual project and with the aim to identify the key stumbling blocks in the current practices of such SP reviewing in Croatia. Current practice of the PRP in Croatia is grossly non transparent and reminds of an »old boys club«. It's not known how the project reviewers are chosen and assigned to review certain subject area, there are no publicly available guidelines of what is considered to be important for such a project PRP and there are no guidelines on how to summarize and quantify the end result of such the PRP. The perennial problem of conflict of interest among the peers competing for the same funding sources is neither addressed nor resolved. The results of the reviewing are not sent to the principal investigators and researchers have no chance to confront the unfair project reviewing, or improve and resubmit their project following the reviewer comments. How the quality of the project assessment is transformed into the funds allocated to the project is mystery, and per capita distribution appears to be the decade followed practice regardless of the proclaimed political declarations in support of the scientific project merits. The role of local ethic committees (LEC) on human subject research in project submission procedure is also critically evaluated since there is a tendency for some LEC to act as a self-imposed pre-project reviewer even before the regular PRP. By virtue of having a power of final project submission approval, LEC may impose cen-soring of the strictly scientific issues. Therefore, there should be a chance to appeal such LEC practice and what is now grossly limited by the time frame of the project submission deadlines. Peer reviewing would always be subjective to a certain extent, but the excessive and/or unlimited subjectivity of the reviewer opinion and respective allotted funds should be prevented by carefully structured guidelines and full transparency of the whole process of the project peer-reviewing and funding.


Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) networks can support different traffic classes with diverse flow characteristics and guarantee the different quality of service (QoS) requirements. In this paper, both cell loss probability and maximum cell delay of each traffic class are considered. By exten-ding the Markov Modulated Deterministic Process method to the case of heterogeneous traffic, we develop an efficient algorithm to compute the minimum capacity required to satisfy all the QoS requirements when multiple classes of traffic sources are multi-plexed onto a virtual path (VP). Using the developed algorithm, we propose an iterative method to search for the optimal static VP bandwidth allocation. We then compare the performance of the static schemes to that of a dynamic VP bandwidth allocation scheme. The dynamic scheme makes use of priority handling and allows VP bandwidth to be shared among the VPs. Numerical results of the static and dynamic schemes are com-pared to evaluate their performance difference in terms of the total capacity and the total buffer required.


IP networks are becoming increasingly popular for transporting real-time services like telephony and videophony. In order to dimension the network such that a good quality can be guaranteed to these services delay, jitter and loss have to be kept under control (as these parameters have a considerable impact on the quality). In this paper, we use an accurate heuristic formula to calculate the end-to-end delay for real-time telephony and videophony traffic transported over an IP-based network. Both Head-of-Line (HoL) and Weighted Fair Queuing (WFQ) scheduling are considered. We determine the number of telephony and videophony flows that can be supported by specific IP networks without jeopardizing the quality. Moreover, we also illustrate the effect of the fact that users shift from traditional telephony to videophony on the performance of the real-time services. We also con- sider the impact of the real-time traffic on the other traffic. For WFQ this impact is minimal. For HoL we calcu- late the time the other queues are blocked by the real-time queue.


The tenth-century, Georgian manuscript geo. 49 preserved at the monastery of St. Catherine on Sinai is not a regular codex. What distinguishes this manuscript is that the Georgian scribe Iovane Zosime made use of a large number of reused parchment material that originally belonged to other manuscripts copied in a variety of languages. Some of these manuscripts, in turn, were made from the folios of other manuscripts that had been similarly reused before. As it is often the case with Sinai manuscripts, the codex Sin. geo. 49 is not complete and many of its leaves are missing. This article examines four Syriac undertexts in two previously unexplored membra disjecta—Vat. iber. 4 and HMML Ms. Frag. 32—and demonstrates that the recycled manuscript copies are rare and unique witnesses for the texts they originally contained.


Exponentially growing number of workloads has been transferred from on-premises to the cloud environment during last decade. It incurs a constantly increasing load on the monitoring and troubleshooting capabilities of the platforms that host those applications nowadays. Data mining techniques and use of telemetry data have recently become an unavoidable means for tracking the behavior of cloud services. The research effort elaborated in this paper is focused on exploiting real-world data to build an automatic database troubleshooting system that exploits the combination of the more comprehensive statistical data science models and an expert system to perform the root cause analysis. An extensive evaluation study was conducted during the eight-month period with a plethora of Azure SQL production workloads for a varying number of databases. The obtained results confirmed the viability and cost-effectiveness of such an approach at the scale of the cloud.


During rapid growth, the excretion of pyrimidines, predominantly uracil, is a common phenomenon in procaryotes and eucaryotes. In Escherichia coli, some K-12 strains excrete orotic acid and not uracil. This is caused by a mutation in the pyrF gene.


Due to its advantages of direct heating, high temperature homogeneity, reaction rate enhancement, as well as energy savings, microwave-assisted polymerization has become a fast-growing field of polymer research. This paper reviews microwave-assisted polymerization, with an emphasis on the microwave-assisted ring-opening polymerization, covering both homopolymerization and copolymerization of the cyclic monomers. The advantages of microwave-assisted ring-opening polymerization over conventional polymerization are discussed briefly.


HODGKIN'S disease is used here to describe that particular clinical syndrome, febrile or afebrile in its acute or chronic but always fatal course, which has a rather definite peripheral blood picture and objectively has its beginning in one or more lymph nodes or some part of the auxiliary lymphoid system. It may remain localized or become generalized, presenting a characteristic histopathologic pattern consisting of proliferations of the reticular and endothelial cells, formation of lymphoid cells, characteristic giant cells, and a gradual increase of connective tissue resulting in fibrosis. In 1832, Hodgkin (1) reported seven unusual cases of lymph node enlargement one or two of which (3), perhaps three (4), represented the peculiar and rare disease which in 1856 Wilks (2) described more accurately, and, in his second report in 1865, referred to as Hodgkin's disease. A voluminous literature has grown up about its nature and etiology. It will not be possible here nor desirable to go into minutiae, but cer...


Acknowledgement I would like to express my deep appreciation for Prof. Gabor A. Somorjai for his willingness to take me into his research group and for the wonderful opportunity and passionate guidance he gave me during the five-year training to be a Ph.D. His enthusiasm and interest for science are contagious. I have learned not only scientific techniques from him, but also more importantly, the method of scientific thinking, how to identify a research problem, how to form and carry out a research plan and how to get results. What I have learned at Berkeley will greatly benefit my future careers. Berkeley has a lot to offer for hungry young minds. The close tie of a world-class research university and a famous national lab easily creates a stimulating research environment. Teaching assignments, a variety of classes and seminars offered by UC Berkeley provide the perfect attraction aside research. The deadly combination of California's sunny weather and beautiful sight of the golden bridge and the Pacific Ocean at marina certainly makes doing research at Berkeley a struggle. The diversity and high intellectual level of the city proudly offers another distraction. No wonder there is always future work to do. It is a wonderful place to be. I am grateful to be able to spend time here. I was also lucky to be able to associate myself with the talented and hard working members of past, present and future Somorjai group members. Dr. Aaron Eppler, my mentor in the laboratory, taught me everything I knew about UHV, surface science and catalysis. Two other Nano clan members, Mr. Jeff Grunes, Mr. Anthony Contreras are working towards their Ph.D.s now. Wish them best luck in their research. I will always i


This article examines the careers of Ontario women lawyers who went to law school from the 1970s to the 1990s and self-defined as feminist. The three decades saw a "revolution of numbers" – a dramatic increase in the critical mass of female and feminist lawyers. The author interviewed forty-five women who are self-identified feminists and graduated from law school after 1970 about their experience during those three decades. The article contextualizes the unprecedented "wave" of feminist lawyers, and discusses how women's experience in the legal profession changed. Ontario feminist lawyers generally came from non-wealthy families, and most were first-generation university graduates without lawyers in the family. Their motivations in pursuing a legal career were diverse, as were their paths to embracing feminist politics. Some factors that influenced their choice to study law were reproductive autonomy, postwar economic optimism, the demographic force of the baby boomer generation, parental and sibling influence, inspirational role models, a desire for independence, defiance over sexist treatment, and a variety of social reform objectives. The author shares reflections of what it was like to be a feminist lawyer during the second wave of feminism. Activism required collaborative working relationships, and lawyers were energized by being part of a vibrant feminist community. The respondents' closing comments mirror the passion with which feminist lawyers approached their work.


Because of extensive research and experience with key equipment systems over the past 25 years, the industry has the basic technology to move into deep water. Opportunities and economics, not technology, will limit deep water developments.


Presented Rock complete stress-strain curve and energy terms of rock burst,and the relation-ship between release energy and systematic potential energy in the rock burst is also obtained.


Primary intrahepatic stone is a common disease in China. It is difficult to treat this benign biliary tract disease because it has many complications and the surgery is difficult. Understanding the cause of this disease has important implications in prevention and treatment. This article reviewed the cause of primary intrahepatic stone from four aspects: imbalance of bile components, infection, bile protein, and macromolecular and metabolism of the cells.

Key words:
Primary intrahepatic stone


Postweaning diarrhea or colibacillosis is a costly disease causing substantial mortality, as well as growth retardation, in swine production.1-3 Colibacillosis is typically associated with avid intestinal adhesion and fecal shedding of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC). The ETEC causing diarrhea in postweaning pigs carries the F4 (K88) or F18 fimbrial antigen in most cases.4-6 The F5 (K99) antigen has also been found in postweaning diarrhea in Central China7 as well as in South Korea ( JeongHee Han, unpublished data, 2014), although piglets are less susceptible to ETEC K99 than to K88 with increasing age.8


ABSTRACT Due to the unsuitable train delay prediction methods currently used in the Netherlands, a more accurate delay prediction method is needed. In this work, based on the data provided by the 2018 RAS Problem Solving Competition: Train Delay Forecasting, a data-driven model is established to predict the delay 20 min later. By combining the current delay with the operating conditions, the influencing factors that may influence delay propagation are extracted after analysing the delay propagation mechanisms and train movement data structure. These factors are considered as model input features for random forest regression, via which a prediction model is established. It is found that the random forest model exhibits high prediction accuracy and fast callback in terms of the training model, and ANN, XGBOOST, GBDT, and statistical algorithms are applied as benchmark algorithms. Finally, to complete the study, the importances of different delay influencers are investigated, calculated, and discussed.


The review presents information about the basic knowledge about the regulation of blood flow in the retina, based on data obtained in animal experiments using invasive methods. Along with the well-known instrumental methods for diagnosing vascular pathology of the eye, new high-tech methods for studying the microcirculation of the eye are used, which make it possible to most reliably assess the degree of circulatory disorders in the vessels of the eyeball. Thanks to the development of non-invasive ultrasound research methods, it became possible to study in more detail the state of blood flow in the vessels of the eyeball in people with vascular pathology of the eye. An important feature of the eye hemodynamics is its dependence on intraocular pressure and the presence of self-regulation of blood flow in the retina, including changes in the illumination of the retina, blood pressure, and so on. The blood supply to the eye can also be affected by pharmacological agents that are commonly used in the treatment of systemic diseases.


Lighting device of an aircraft, comprising a body (30) having at least a first, turned towards an interior of an aircraft surface (31) and at least a second direction different from the first surface area (32, 33); a first light source (10) which is arranged such that at least a part of the deliverable from the first light source light (61) incident on the first surface (31); wherein the second surface (32, 33) of the body (30) is arranged such that at least the incident part of a to the second surface (32, 33) of the body (30) light (63, 67) of the first and / or a second light source into the body (30) can be radiated; this light on the first surface (31) and scattered light (69) is discharged; wherein the first surface (31) is designed such that at least a part of the first light source (10) on the first surface of the incident (31) light (61) from the first surface (31) in the ...


This invention provides a belt skirt is provided on both sides of the normal of the conveyor belt, the lower end of the skirt to prevent leakage of unsongmul is down the flow by its own weight without any operations that are always in close contact with the upper surface of the conveyor belt state as implementing the always optimized naktan prevention by maintaining and having, on the skirt unit for a conveyor belt so as to prevent the rapid wear of the belt and meandering of the belt by the excessive contact pressure, In the lower part of the conveyor and is supported by a plurality of rollers installed at a predetermined interval on both sides of the conveyed material, such as coal feed belt, in close contact with support plate coupled to the outer surface chute (Plate Wear) and; The inner cover is tightly coupled to the outside face of the support plate (Inner Cover) and; And a skirt (Skirt) are installed in close contact with the lower end of the projecting state in the inner cover; And outer cover (Outer Cover) in close contact bonded to the side of the skirt outside, is supported by the support plate on the outer surface of the outer cover and by the skirt on the self-weight flow up and down to maintain a state in close contact with the upper surface of the conveyor belt It comprises a link arm (link arm). A conveyor belt, a support plate, the inner cover, outer cover, the skirt, the link arm


Existing commercial finite element analysis (FEA) codes do not exhibit the performance necessary for large scale analysis on parallel computer systems. In this paper, we demonstrate the performance characteristics of a commercial parallel structural analysis code, ADVC, on Blue Gene/L (BG/L). The numerical algorithm of ADVC is described, tuned, and optimized on BG/L, and then a large scale drop impact analysis of a mobile phone is performed. The model of the mobile phone is a nearly-full assembly that includes inner structures. The size of the model we have analyzed has 47 million nodal points and 142 million DOFs. This does not seem exceptionally large, but the dynamic impact analysis of a product model, with the contact condition on the entire surface of the outer case under this size, cannot be handled by other CAE systems. Our analysis is an unprecedented attempt in the electronics industry. It took only half a day, 12.1 hours, for the analysis of about 2.4 milliseconds. The floating point operation performance obtained has been 538 GFLOPS on 4096 node of BG/L.


A small pressure transducer, using the piezoelectric properties of a manufactured ceramic, was designed, constructed and installed in the end plate of the GALCIT 17-inch shock tube to obtain high-speed measurements of the pressure field behind a reflecting shock.

The design problem for piezoceramic pressure transducers and some possible solutions are discussed in detail. Results of transducer calibration and recommendations for improvement of the instrument are presented.

An initial program to determine the curvature of a shock at low initial pressures was run concurrently with calibration of five of the above pressure transducers. The results of this program are described in as much detail as the data obtained to date will permit.

At an initial pressure of 30 microns in the GALCIT 17-inch tube, the shock obtained at a Mach number of about 7.5 in argon is observed to have a total curvature of approximately 10 millimeters, or approximately two per cent of the tube diameter. The shock thickness observed under these conditions is approximately 5 millimeters. These results indicate that it may be entirely possible to obtain good optical measurements inside the shock, but that it may be necessary to resort to special techniques to avoid optical distortion caused by curvature.


Information points: •  In a BMA survey, half of obstetricians and gynaecologists had experienced violence and aggression in the previous year. •  Patients and staff have a right to be treated with respect; staff should not tolerate physical or verbal abuse. •  Communication problems surrounding care and service provision are common causes of conflict. •  Effective antenatal and pre‐admission planning can minimise conflict.


A change to the current ICH S1 guidance on rodent carcinogenicity testing is being considered. The goal of this potential change is to introduce a more comprehensive and integrated approach to address the risk of human carcinogenicity of small molecule pharmaceuticals, and to define conditions under which 2-yr rat carcinogenicity studies add value to that assessment. This effort is not applicable to biotechnology-derived pharmaceuticals that follow the ICH S6(R1) guidance document.


A model to simulate nickel-cadmium battery performance and response in a spacecraft electrical power system energy balance calculation was developed. The voltage of the battery is given as a function of temperature, operating depth-of-charge (DOD), and battery state-of-charge. Also accounted for is charge inefficiency. A battery is modeled by analysis of the results of a multiparameter battery cycling test at various temperatures and DOD's.


The paper discusses selected Lower Sorbian idiomatic expressions with somatic components. The author talks about somatisms and somatic phraseology in general, as well as presents different types of idiomatic motivation. A theoretical section is followed by the presentation of a corpus of somatic idioms taken fromDolnoserbsko-nimski słownik/Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch by Manfred Starosta. The analysis of the idiomatic expressions shows how Lower Sorbian somatic phraseological units make use of somatic lexemes, as well as demonstrates the various types of motivation behind the actual senses of the examined expressions.


For proper communication among manufacturers in many countries and for consumer's convenience in purchasing garments imported from foreign countries, the ISO revised the size designation system in 1969. Since 1970's many countries have revised their standard sizing system by adopting the ISO system. The purpose of this study is to satisfy domestic consumer's needs by developing a sizing system based on that of ISO for Korean men in their twenties, and to contribute to entering the international fashion market by manufacturing high quality apparel products. The results were as follows: By measuring and analyzing of men in their twenties, average height is 172 cm, average chest girth is 92.8 em, average hip girth is 93.4cm and average drop is 15.8. According to the result to analyzing body type of this study, athletic type(drop 18) is 47.8%, regular type (drop 12) is 37.3%, the 2 types covers 85%.


In this paper, a novel overmoded surface wave oscillator (SWO) is proposed, and it could deliver an output power around 40 MW under the condition of 370 kV incident voltage at frequency of about 0.14 THz. The characteristics of surface wave and point operation are crucial to avoid the mode competition. Effects of various operating parameters on the device behavior were investigated, and finally a set of optimal values were achieved.


Endogenic platinoid manifestations in chromite-bearing ultrabasites of the Paleozoic ophiolite association have been well known in the Polar Urals for a long time. Recently discovered low-sulphide Au-Pt shows are confined to the wherlite-clinopyroxenite massif which can not be re-garded as ophiolitic according to its geological structure, chemical composition of rocks and rock-forming minerals. This is a fragment either of a sheeted intrusive or of the ultramafite com-plex of the dunite-pyroxenite-gabbro (Pt-bearing) association. The precious metal mineralization is confined to olivine clinopyroxenes. Natural Au, Ag, and Pt formations, intermetallids of Au, Ag, and platinoids, arsenides, tellurides, antimonides, and Pt-Pb bismuthides have been re-vealed.


Mollaret's meningitis is mostly described in the setting of recurrent attacks of fever along with signs and symptoms of meningitis. It resolves spontaneously without any treatment and in most of the cases no causative organism is identified. Here we present an atypical case of mollaret's meningitis in which the patient presented with headache and meningismus in the absence of fever.


The research consists in substantiation and development of conceptual bases and recommendations on strategy of budgetary policy activization of Ukraine on the basis of investment. Investment analysis is a method of systematic analytical and research work to optimize investment decisions. Its indicators and methods of evaluation and interpretation are used in determining the effectiveness of alternative investment projects when it is necessary to make a choice. The main information and analytical tools for project evaluation: financial indicators of the project; indicators of economic efficiency; sensitivity analysis; break-even analysis; probability estimation. Their use is effective when using the discount method. Revision of the former regulatory system in accordance with the new priorities of economic policy provides assistance to the state in forming the infrastructure of the resource market, developing a network of non-bank financial institutions capable of mobilizing long-term financial resources, restructuring the banking system to implement investment functions of banks in the economy, insurance and investment incentives. The search for a new domestic model of investment development and the current mechanism of the state presence should be carried out taking into account the experience of state regulation of investment processes gained by foreign countries, using its positive aspects in Ukraine. state and administrative-territorial units. The purpose of the work is to study the systematization of the tool base for modelling the mechanism of budget management in the financial and economic system of the state and the development of conceptual approaches to the development of local budgets in the context of financial decentralization in Ukraine. Applied aspects are based on determining the main directions and effectiveness of budget policy in Ukraine for the period 2018-2020 pp. The authors study the structure of the budget mechanism and components of the budget management system as an instrumental basis for the conceptualization of local budgets in the economic system of the state. The practical part of the work is the monitoring of the investment sector of the Odessa region, the study of the dynamics of the main macroeconomic indicators of the region. In general, the implementation of administrative-territorial reform and the introduction of changes in the territorial organization of power in Ukraine have provided an update of the system of revenue generation of local budgets. The analysis of the selected research issues provides a conceptual basis for the formation of an effective mechanism of fiscal policy in Ukraine; forms a platform for developing macroeconomic stabilization policy. Prospects for further research are to improve the mechanism of effective functioning of the budget sphere and the implementation of integrated management analysis.


1. The swelling‐activated chloride current is critical in the homeostatic regulatory volume decrease (RVD) of both excitable and non‐excitable cells. Although not activated by voltage, it displays kinetic behaviour similar to voltage‐gated Shaker‐type potassium currents. We have studied the voltage‐dependent properties of this current in single T84 human cell line epithelial cells using whole‐cell patch clamp methodology. 2. An external anion permeability sequence of I‐ > Cl‐ > methanesulphonate (MeSO3‐) was observed for the swelling‐activated current. Extracellular application of the chloride channel blocker DIDS (100 microM) resulted in approximately 50% block of the current in a voltage‐dependent manner. 3. At positive membrane potentials, the swelling‐activated chloride current undergoes time‐dependent inactivation. Following such inactivation, recovery of both the inward and outward components of the macroscopic current was found to be voltage dependent. The time constants describing these two individual recovery processes were identical over a range of membrane potentials. In addition, the magnitude of current recovery was directly dependent upon the degree prior inactivation of current at positive voltage. 4. We further observed that the swelling‐activated current undergoes a form of steady‐state, voltage‐dependent inactivation that appears to differ from the inactivation observed at positive potentials. This steady‐state inactivation occurred over the physiological voltage range, with a membrane potential at half‐maximal inactivation (V1/2) of ‐72 mV, and differed from the time‐dependent inactivation observed at positive membrane potentials, which occurred with a V1/2 of 40 mV. These observations demonstrate two distinct forms of voltage‐dependent inactivation, probably reflecting two separate gating processes at the level of the channel. 5. These latter properties are thus anticipated to regulate voltage‐dependent chloride efflux under cell swelling conditions and further influence RVD and membrane excitability in cells generating action potentials.


Titan exhibits ample surface and crustal processes including lakes and seas, fluvial erosive features, possibly subsurface reservoirs of liquid, and rainfall. Together these constitute strong evidence for a multicomposition hydrological system, composed mostly of methane and ethane as well as trace amounts of other alkanes. Estimates of the volume of liquid methane required in streams and rainfall to produce erosional features suggest that these could be relatively recent phenomena, perhaps periodically renewed as the overall climate cycles between dry and wet periods. The end state of the longer-term chemical processing of methane in the upper atmosphere is expressed on the surface in the form of deposits of solid organics organized into dunes, and lighter hydrocarbons such as ethane (in the lakes), acetylene, and other hydrocarbons and nitriles. The long-term evolution of the methane cycle may have involved episodic resupply of methane to the surface or gradual depletion of a larger surface reservoir of...


The contents of pigments including chlorophyll,carotenoid and anthocyanin in the leaves of several color-leafed plants such as Prunus×Cistena Pissardii,Prunus×Bliriana MeiRenMei,Cotinus coggygria Royal Purple and Malus spectabilis HongBaoShi were determined using spectrophotometry.The results showed that the contents of all the pigments tested in the leaves of Prunus Cistena Pissardii were the highest.The ratio of chlorophyll a/b of Prunus Cistena Pissardii,Prunus Bliriana MeiRenMei,C.coggygria Royal Purple and M.spectabilis HongBaoShi was lower than 3∶1.The anthocyanin content from high to low in turn was as follows: Prunus×Cistena Pissardii,Prunus×Bliriana MeiRenMei,C.coggygria Royal Purple, M.spectabilis HongBaoShi,C.coggygria and Chaenomeles speciosa. The anthocyanin took a leading role in color emerging of the purple(red)-leafed plants.


The development of an in situ LC-MS instrument for future planetary science missions to icy surfaces that are of high astrobiology and astrochemistry potential will advance our understanding of organics in the solar system.


Abstract Skim milk was homogenized at 0, 7, 14, 21, 28, 71, 106, and 176 kg/cm 2 and inoculated with a lactic culture to determine effect of homogenization on culture agglutination. Top to bottom pH differentials were determined hourly; sediment depth and top to bottom total solids differentials were determined after 4h of incubation. Top to bottom pH differentials decreased as homogenization pressure increased. Culture agglutination increased with time in skim milk homogenized at pressures less than 176 kg/cm 2 . Acid production in the upper portion of skim milk increased as homogenization pressure increased. Top to bottom total solids differentials in skim milk homogenized at pressures of 0, 7, and 14kg/cm 2 were greater than the differential from that homogenized at 176kg/cm 2 . When skim milk was homogenized at pressures greater than 7kg/cm 2 , visible sediment depth decreased linearly. Sediment depth was 2.9% of the total volume for skim milk homogenized at 0kg/cm 2 , peaked at 3% when homogenized at 7kg/cm 2 , and decreased to .34% when homogenized at 176kg/cm 2 . Time from inoculation to the first sign of agglutination (lag time) as measured by pH differential increased as homogenization pressure increased.


THE RECORDS of the United States Patent Office remain largely unexplored by historians of technology despite the fact that they represent a tremendous body of original source material for the years 1790 to the present. Part of the explanation for the comparative neglect is the very volume and complexity of the records; yet other Federal records of greater complexity are not so immune to historical research. Aside from the question of the relative youthfulness of the history of technology, two factors are probably responsible for the little use made of the records. For one thing, they constitute the largest and most significant body of Federal central office records of the past century not yet completely in the National Archives.' Split between three administrative entities, the patent records are, in part, intermingled with trade mark documents; the inter-relations of the various series are not always clear; and there are significant gaps and omissions. Second, and most important, the records are uneven in quality or, rather, one kind of record fruitful for a specific type of research will disappoint a scholar with an entirely different problem. What follows is a general account of the Patent Office archives emphasizing the principal research opportunities afforded by each class of records. But before indulging in specifics, it will be necessary to understand certain characteristics of the patent system and its records. A patent is a special kind of property right, a monopoly grant of limited duration for the material version (i. e., device, process, or combination of matter) of an idea. Not all patents are for great inventions, great in terms of originality or of impact on the economy. The subjects of patents range from abstruse developments in atomic physics, electronics, and chemistry to fortune-telling crystal balls, from revolutionary changes to minor adaptations in existing devices. Nor is there any certainty that a patent will even be used. The issuance of a patent


In this paper we propose an analysis of the semantic structure of modal sentences in English. Central to this analysis is the notion of 'speech act'. The notion of speech act derives principally from the work of J. L. Austin (cf. especially Austin, 1962). Austin is particularly concerned with the use of sentences like I promise to go, I bet you sixpence and I name this ship 'Queen Elizabeth'. One of his main purposes is to show that it is a mistake to class these sentences with sentences like John is running as statements. To utter the sentence I promise to go is not to make a statement about or to report some inner condition of mind or consciousness. It is to perform the act of promising, just as to say I bet you sixpence is to perform the act of betting. Indeed, in the case of these kinds of acts (promising, betting, naming, etc.) it is difficult to see how one could engage in them without using sentences of this kind. Austin calls verbs like promise, bet and name 'performative' verbs. It follows from this account that verbs like say, state and assert are also performative verbs. So that the mistake involved in classing I promise to go with John is running is not that in uttering the first sentence one is performing an act and in uttering the second one is not (ignoring the uninteresting fact that the act of vocalizing is common to both), but that the speaker is performing a different act in each case—in the one case promising and in the other stating. The fact that in the case of the utterance John is running the performative verb state does not occur, so that what Austin terms its 'illocutionary force' is not explicitly marked in the way in which the utterance I promise to go is explicitly marked as having the illocutionary force of a promise by the words I promise, while giving rise to certain difficult problems,2 does not affect Austin's main point, which is that a complete account of the meaning of a sentence cannot be restricted to semantic analyses as these are usually understood and that they must be extended to include information about the kind of speech act involved in uttering the sentence – that is, its illocutionary force.


Background Incorrect inferences drawn from large-scale HIV prevention messages may hinder their efficacy. We examined whether individuals who are told that medical male circumcision (MMC) partially reduces female-to-male HIV transmission also erroneously infer a reduction in male-to-female HIV transmission risk. Methods In 2008, nearly 1,000 men in rural Malawi were randomised to receive the information that MMC reduces female-to-male HIV transmission risk, with follow-up in 2009. Data was collected on perceived HIV transmission risks faced by men and women by the circumcision status of the male partner. Descriptive and multivariate variable regression analyses were used to assess whether beliefs about male circumcision and female HIV risk varied by receipt of information about MMC and by whether individuals believed that that MMC partially protects men from HIV infection. Results Men randomised to information about MMC were more likely to believe that circumcised men faced reduced HIV transmission risks relative to uncircumcised men (50% versus 65%, p < 0.01). They were also more likely to believe that sex with a circumcised male would confer lower transmission risks for women vis-à-vis sex with an uncircumcised male (38% versus 50%, p < 0.01). Multivariate Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression analyses supported these findings and demonstrated that those who internalised beliefs about the risk reduction benefits accruing to men believed, on average, that circumcision conferred a 22 percentage point greater risk reduction (p < 0.01) in the probability of HIV transmission from men to women than men who did not believe that MMC protects men. Moreover, instrumental variable analyses indicated that the result from the OLS regression were an underestimation of the true effect. Conclusions Our results point toward the need for male circumcision campaigns to make explicit that male circumcision does not directly protect women from HIV infection.


Former president of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Patrick Henry Winston, died July 19, 2019. In this article, former students Kenneth D. Forbus and Mark A. Finlayson provide personal reflections on Winston and the impact he had on their lives and careers.


[The almost forgotn ritings (six pamphlets, a play, and four biographies) relating to the notorius Mary Carleton because of their concern with one and the same career, their number, and their variety, make it possible to trace, more precisely than heretofore, how during the Restoration a criminal biografy was composed. These professedly veraeius accounts finally gather in a narrativ which is intentionally almost as much a work of fiction as Moll Flanders; and which, in substance, form, tone, and purpose, reveals so close an approach to the realistic novel of Defoe as to become of historical significance.—Twenty minutes.']