List of Figures. List of Tables. List of Examples. Foreword. Preface to Volume III. III.1 Bonds and Swaps. III.1.1 Introduction. III.1.2 Interest Rates. III.1.3 Categorization of Bonds. III.1.4 Characteristics of Bonds and Interest Rates. III.1.5 Duration and Convexity. III.1.6 Bonds with Semi-Annual and Floating Coupons. III.1.7 Forward Rate Agreements and Interest Rate Swaps. III.1.8 Present Value of Basis Point. III.1.9 Yield Curve Fitting. III.1.10 Convertible Bonds. III.1.10.1 Characteristics of Convertible Bonds. III.1.10.2 Survey of Pricing Models for Convertible Bonds. III.1.11 Summary and Conclusions. III.2 Futures and Forwards. III.2.1 Introduction. III.2.2 Characteristics of Futures and Forwards. III.2.3 Theoretical Relationships between Spot, Forward and Futures. III.2.4 The Basis. III.2.5 Hedging with Forwards and Futures. III.2.6 Hedging in Practice. III.2.7 Using Futures for Short Term Hedging. III.2.8 Summary and Conclusions. III.3 Options. III.3.1 Introduction. III.3.2 Foundations. III.3.3 Characteristics of Vanilla Options. III.3.4 Hedging Options. III.3.5 Trading Options. III.3.6 The Black-Scholes-Merton Model. III.3.7 The Black-Scholes-Merton Greeks. III.3.8 Interest Rate Options. III.3.9 Pricing Exotic Options. III.3.10 Summary and Conclusions. III.4 Volatility. III.4.1 Introduction. III.4.2 Implied Volatility. III.4.3 Local Volatility. III.4.4 Modelling the Dynamics of Implied Volatility. III.4.5 Stochastic Volatility Models. III.4.6 Scale Invariance and Hedging. III.4.7 Trading Volatility. III.4.8 Summary and Conclusion. III.5 Portfolio Mapping. III.5.1 Introduction. III.5.2 Risk Factors and Risk Factor Sensitivities. III.5.3 Cash Flow Mapping. III.5.4 Applications of Cash Flow Mapping to Market Risk Management. III.5.5 Mapping an Options Portfolio to Price Risk Factors. III.5.6 Mapping Implied Volatility. III.5.7 Case Study: Volatility Risk in FTSE 100 Options. III.5.8 Summary and Conclusions. References. Index.


Abstract Matchmaking on mobile social networks has evolved overthe years since its advent. On MSN, important, personal,private and sensitive information are shared. This hasnecessitated the need for ecient and privacy-preservingmatchmaking protocols so as to prevent unintended per-sons from accessing such information. In most of the ex-isting matchmaking protocols the inputs are private andpersonal. Hence malicious participants may choose theirsets arbitrarily so as to learn more information about theinput of an honest individual. As an improvement onthe existing matchmaking protocols, we propose an au-thenticated hybrid matchmaking protocol that will helpmatch-pair seekers nd the most appropriate pair withoutleaking private and sensitive information to unintendedpersons. In our protocol, attributes used are certi ed by acerti cation authority. Also, the initiator sets a thresholdnumber of common attributes that an individual shouldhave to qualify as a match-pair. With the use of certi- cation of attributes to ensure that the inputs are notarbitrary and a preset threshold number of common at-tributes de ned, an initiator can adequately nd the bestpair(s) without leaking any private and sensitive informa-tion. Furthermore, our protocol has the ability to resistsemi-honest and malicious attacks.Keywords: authentication, certi cation, matchmaking,nonspoofability, user-pro ling


To realise the benefits of new diagnostic techniques for the prediction of oral cancer, further validation and multicentre analyses are needed to determine their clinical impact in contemporary pra...


AIM
Measurement of volatile sulphur compounds (VSC) by portable sulphur monitors (Halimeter, OralChroma) is a common practice for diagnosis of oral malodour. In this study, the clinical value of these devices was examined.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Two hundred and eighty patients with bad breath complaints attending a halitosis consultation were enrolled. Organoleptic scores were given by a trained and calibrated judge, before measurement of the VSC levels (Halimeter, OralChroma), to avoid any bias.

RESULTS
Significant correlations were found between the organoleptic assessment, the Halimeter, and the OralChroma (R=0.74 for organoleptic versus Halimeter; 0.66 for organoleptic versus OralChroma; 0.63 for Halimeterversus OralChroma). The sensitivity and specificity (with regard to the organoleptic score) to detect patients with/without oral malodour for the Halimeter were 63% and 98%, respectively, and for the OralChroma 69% and 100% when using the cutoffs suggested by the manufacturer. By lowering these values, sensitivity could be improved without a significant decrease in specificity (both devices).

CONCLUSIONS
We concluded that the measurement of the VSC levels can be used as an adjunct to the organoleptic assessment. Thresholds should be revisited in order to improve their clinical utility. These devices can prove the absence of malodour in case of pseudo-halitosis.


The pandemic is a stressful time for everyone, including mothers and healthcare providers who are concerned about the best and safest way to feed babies born to mothers with suspected or confirmed COVID-19. There is lack of consensus regarding mother-infant contact, unless the mother definitely has COVID-19 and even then there is a distinct lack of data to devise protocols for everyday clinical practice.1,2.


When the merits of a European Monetary Union were first being debated, many skeptics fell into one of two camps. The first camp consisted of "Keynesians" (for example, Eichengreen and Bayoumi 1997, Salvatore 1997) who, referring to the theory of optimal currency areas, doubted that Europe constituted such an area, and believed that the proposed monetary union would eventually fall victim to country-specific ("idiosyncratic") shocks. Unemployment and other burdens stemming from such shocks would, these critics argued, eventually force the monetary authority to either abandon its commitment to price-level stability in order to offer relief to adversely affected members, or cause the members to abandon the union so as to be able to realign their exchange rates. The other camp was comprised of "Hayekians" who, drawing upon theories of international currency competition, claimed that monetary unification, by reducing the extent of such competition, would give rise to a relatively high seignorage-maximizing eurozone inflation rate, and therefore result in a level of actual eurozone inflation that was bound to disappoint the monetary union's more inflation phobic members. It was in light of such reasoning that British Prime Minister John Major made his alternative proposal for a parallel European currency — the "hard ecu" — to supplement rather than supplant the British pound and other established European currencies. Today the euro is indeed failing. But its failure has in large part been the result of fundamental shortcomings other than those pointed out by either of these prominent camps of early euroskeptics. Rather than merely being wrenched apart by pressure from idiosyncratic shocks, or by disappointments stemming from the ECB's temptation to profit from its monopoly status, the euro is unraveling because commitments upon which its ultimate success depended — commitments that had to be credible if it was to work as intended — have instead proven to be perfectly or almost perfectly incredible. The euro, in other words, was built upon a set of promises that the authorities concerned were unable to keep. Orthodox theory — theory that is neither particularly Keynesian nor Hayekian in flavor — suffices to explain (with the help of hindsight) why the promises in question could not possibly have been kept so long as the EMU's members enjoyed substantial fiscal sovereignty. The combination of effectively unconstrained fiscal sovereignty and a lack of credible commitments to avoid both centralized debt monetization and outright member-state bailouts created a perfect storm of perverse incentives.


To overcome the disadvantages that the neural network forecasting model is prone to local suboptimum, plus the slow training speed in the prediction of nonlinear sequences, the wavelet has, based on the traditional neutral network forecasting model, been introduced as the transfer function of hidden layers, constituting a new forecasting model, which is applied to the forecasting of city gas loads. Based on the historical data of city gas loads in a given area, the fluctuations of weather conditions, dates and other uncertainties are synthesized to train and test models, thereby forecasting the gas load. The results prove that the wavelet neutral network (WNN) forecasting model boasts accurate prediction to the variation trend of city gas loads, characterized by simple structure and quick convergence speed, with high practical application value.


most widely used radiopharipaceuticà l in the world, there exists a relative paucity of information regarding the vascular kinetics of this important compound. As a result of experiments designed to assessthe adminis tration procedures for quantitative organ imaging, the pharmacokinetic behavior of 99mTc04— was analyzed. Of the several reports thai have been publiShed de scribingthedistributionandbiologicalfateof Tc-99m administeredaspertechnetate(i—JO), the experimental approach and data analysis used in this reportapproxi@ mate only that of Welch Ctal. (4). Since ourresultIdiffer from theirs, we report the findings here.


Fe3O4/p-Si and NiFe2O4/p-Si heterostructures were fabricated and their electrotransport and magnetotransport properties were studied. Both heterostructures showed rectifying as well as spin valve property below a critical temperature of 50 K which is independent of Curie temperature of magnetic films. Fe3O4/p-Si and NiFe2O4/p-Si heterostructures show giant positive junction magnetoresistance (JMR) of 2000% and 200% at 10 K, respectively. The JMR for Fe3O4/p-Si saturates at a much lower magnetic field compared to the other heterostructures, thus making it a better choice for magnetic diode.


Mexico A distinguished participant in oral history activities in the United States as well as in Latin America, Eugenia Meyer also delivered a report to the Asheville Colloquium of the Oral History Association. She has added a useful review of work in other Spanish speaking countries to the account of her continuing program at the Museum of Anthropology and the University of Mexico. Published materials from her program are described in the report which follows.


Many abiotic and biotic factors affect the health of roadside vegetation, including the application of magnesium chloride (MgCl2) dust suppression products. Three hundred seventy kilometers (230 mi) of forested, shrubland, meadow, rangeland, riparian, and wetland roadside habitats were surveyed along major nonpaved roads in two Colorado counties. Dominant species composition and visible damages of woody roadside vegetation were quantified. The majority (72.3% to 79.3%) of roadside vegetation surveyed was considered healthy (less than 5% damage to crown or stem), depending on slope position from the road. Severely damaged (greater than 50% damage) vegetation ranged from 6.4% to 11.4% of roadside cover, with the most severely damaged vegetation occurring downslope from the road. Percent of plants with severe or moderate damage increased with increasing MgCl2 application rates for roadside aspen, Engelmann spruce, and lodgepole and ponderosa pines. Further research is needed to determine the distribution of MgCl2 ions, nutrients, and interactions between MgCl2 and incidence of potential biotic damage agents in roadside soils and plants.


The biochemical values, creatinine,blood glucose, blood urea nitrogen, triglycerides, total cholesterol, total protein, albumin, glutamic pyruvic transaminase, glutamic oxalocetic transaminase, lactic dehydrogenase acetylcholinesterase, γ-glutamyltransferase, sodium, potassium,chloride,calcium,carbon dioxde,inorganic phosphorus and magnesium were determinated in 114 samples of European eel. The values were analysed statistically. The range of normal values was estimated. Haematological and biochemical values of European eel was provided.


The present invention relates to lowering the pH of the fluoride ion containing a fluorine ion discharge is 4.0 or less, characterized in that the drain to 4.0 M is added to the complex oxide complex fluorine ions pH


Project failure occurs due to several reasons, but complexity and underestimation of complexity are often seen as the cause. Because of the interdisciplinary character of projects, it seems that project management approaches are not sufficient to deal with the complexity of projects. Therefore the interdisciplinary aspect has to be considered and managed appropriately, which brings us to the following research question: "How can project managers combine tools and techniques from project management approaches and discipline oriented approaches, for managing multidimensional complex projects successfully?" First a number of management approaches are selected and classified, in order to identify the focus and steps of the approaches. Next, complexity is taken into account, where it becomes clear that complexity in construction projects can be assessed by the TOE framework, while on a meta level the complexity elements of the ASC framework can provide insight in the complexity of projects. Expert interviews were conducted to identify the extent to which different management approaches support mapping and managing project complexity elements. The results point out that the Project management body of knowledge scored weak in dealing with actors, support tools and involving the context elements of a project. Finally, some techniques of other management approaches which score better are presented in order to enhance the project management approach for dealing with complex projects.


Lubricating oils and hydraulic fluids may contain additives consisting of metallorganic compounds to achieve the specific product properties. For quality control X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) is a suitable method for measuring elements like calcium, zinc, sulfur or chlorine. Several norms exist which describe methods for quantitative determination of these elements. Mostly a specific internal standard is necessary. Modern spectrometers are equipped with software allowing standardless multielement analyses. For a great variety of lubricants relevant for the German Armed Forces a comparison is carried out between the respective methods showing that standardless analysis is a powerful tool which provides results adequate for quality control in much less time.


The composting of sewage sludge and maize straw was investigated in forced-aeration composting systems at aeration rates of 0.28, 0.56 and 0.83 l min-1 kg-1 organic matter, corresponding to pile A, pile B and pile C. The composting temperature in three piles met the hygienic safety criterion, and final electrical conductivity did not exceed the limit value of 3000 μS cm-1. The final NH4+-N content in pile C exceeded the limit value of 400 mg kg-1. The final NO3--N content, cation exchange capacity and germination index in pile B were superior to those in pile A and pile C.


The results of domestic and foreign research on the activity of the main ecological-trophic groups and the identity of the dominant microorganisms in water-logged soils planted to rice are presented. The role of the microbiological factor in maintaining soil fertility in the rice paddies and opportunities for controlling it to improve nutritional conditions for plants are discussed.


The aim of this study is to bring out the important role that copernicianism played in the replacement in one and a half centuries (1543-1687) of natural
philosophy by modern science. Its main idea is that despite implications that were
theoretically incompatible with traditional natural philosophy, copernicianism only fully
exerted its renovating power because of the arrival of previously unknown observations,
that could not be treated by the old system, or by theoretical initiatives whose development would not have been possible without the conceptual modifications that it implied.
While voluntarily only taking account of the main works of Kepler and Galileo, the study
shows how from these observations and from these initiatives combined with heliocentrism were born ideas and procedures that were radically new and which overturned the
ancient natural philosophy irrevocably.


Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) can easily measure brain activation during rehabilitation exercises. However, irrelevant signals mainly from scalp blood flow change are often observed in NIRS measurements. In this study, we simulate optical diffusion approximation in a four-layered tissue head model and focus on the association of the optical attenuation changes by the scalp blood flow in each probe distance, and propose an algorithm to extract signals derived from the brain activities with a pair of probe distance. We show that the proposed method is effective in removing artifacts by applying the method to the simulation data and the measured data of NIRS.


Rapid, non-linear change is a key feature in today's marketplace. The pace at which knowledge is created, disseminated and rendered obsolete is constantly increasing. Knowledge, therefore, is only a momentary competitive advantage that rapidly becomes a commodity, often in discontinuous iterations. This results in a shift in the nature of value creation away from "knowledge-based application capabilities" and towards "creativity-based transformation capabilities." Marketers, while generally recognizing this direction of change are unclear about how to adapt to it. The objective of this paper is to present a framework to help direct a company's product strategy and value-generating capabilities for the future. To do so, the construct of "imaginative intensity" is introduced and described. Several propositions are advanced to provide a framework for harnessing imagination-based value, which is critical for an organization's product strategy and innovation capabilities. Directions for future research are presented.


Objectives The goal of this research was to determine whether video diary, a qualitative, self-recorded, video-ethnographic method, is feasible for use among older African Americans (AAs) who live alone. The research, which stems from a larger study on aging in place, focuses specifically on the pros and cons of the video diary and provides recommendations for improving the methodology. Methods Twelve participants were engaged in a 90-minute training on how to record videos using tablet computers, seven days of recording video diaries, and one in-person interview. Results While all participants reported being comfortable with using tablet computers to record video diaries, many participants expressed the need for additional training and assistance. In addition, video diaries recorded by participants commonly exhibited issues (e.g. framing, gaze, and audibility) that compromised video quality. Discussion Video diary may be an effective method for collecting information from older African Americans. However, some suggestions for improving this methodology are providing in-depth video diary and additional camera training, establishing multiple points of contact for technical support, and providing male participants with additional practice.


Thepresent study investigated the effects of aqueous Cucurbita pepo Linn seedextract on some haematological parameters and serum electrolyte concentrationof lactating albino rats. A total of twenty five (25) female healthy wistaralbino rats were used for the study. They were assigned into the followinggroups, Group 1, Served as control group and received 1ml of distilled water,Group 2, Received metoclopramide 5mg/kg body weight, Group 3, Received 250mg/kg b w of C. pepo L,. Group 4, Received 500 mg/kg b w of C. pepo L. andGroup 5, Received 1000 mg/kg b w of C. pepo L. All regimen was given orallyonce daily for a period of eight (8) days, starting from day 3 to day 11 oflactation. The acute toxicity and phytochemical screening were carried out. Theresult of acute toxicity studies showed that the aqueous Cucurbita pepo Linnseed extract was safe up to 5000 mg/kg b w. Phytochemical screening of theextract revealed the presence of carbohydrates, glycosides, cardiac glycosides,saponins, tannins, flavanoids and alkaloids. The result obtained from thisstudy showed that the extract significantly decreased (p<0.05) the level ofred cell count in the group treated with 1000 mg/kg b w when compared with thecontrol group. However, total white blood cell count and neutophil counts werestatistically significantly decreased (p<0.05) in the groups treated with1000 and 250 mg/kg b w respectively when compared to the control group.However, there was a significantly decreased (p<0.05) serum sodium ion andpotassium ion level in the groups administered with 500 and 250 mg/kg b wrespectively when compared to the control group. It can be concluded that theplant extract did not produce a significant change on haematological parametersand serum electrolyte profile. However, the red cell count and serum sodium andpotassium ions were significantly altered when compared to the control group.


According to the official documents of the European Union targeting the new programming period (2007-2013), the two CAP Pillars (market policy and rural development) "should decisively contribute to competitiveness increase, to a better integration of the environmental problems, to job creation, to the development of economy and rural society". For this purpose, the rural areas from the EU must be prepared to face the many challenges in relation to sustainable rural development, in the conditions of national identity preservation, as a guarantee to a true REVIVAL of rural communities. This desideratum cannot be reached without reconsidering the role and place of RESEARCH-INNOVATION in this field. The existence of rural networks in France is based upon a solid tradition in the associative movement, and their operation improved by the recent experience accumulated under the EU programs in this field, and by promoting the public-private partnerships, in which the state plays an extremely active role. Regardless the field/territory where they operate, these STRUCTURES benefit from all the advantages of networking and can best carry out the SUPPORT role for the development of research networks.


In order to investigate the effect of Na2O doping (0.75–4.5 mol%) on metal oxide-support interactions, the surface and catalytic properties of the CuO–ZnO/Al2O3 system have been studied using XRD, nitrogen adsorption at -196°C and the catalytic oxidation of CO by O2 at 150–200°C. Pure and doped mixed oxide solid samples were prepared via the wet impregnation method using Al(OH)3, NaNO3. Zn(NO3)2 and Cu(NO3)2 solutions, followed by drying and calcination at 600°C and 700°C.The nominal composition of the solids thus prepared was 0.25CuO:0.06ZnO: Al2O3. The results obtained showed that Na2O doping followed by heating in air at 600°C leads to enhanced crystallization of the CuO crystallites to an extent proportional to the amount of dopant present, while doping followed by heating in air at 700°C hinders the solid–solid interactions between CuO andA12O3, and leads to the production of CuAl2O4. The specific surface area was found to increase progressively as a function of the dopant concentration for the solid calcined at 700°C. The catalytic activity was also found to increase progressively on increasing the amount of dopant added. The maximum increase in the catalytic activity measured at 150, 175 and 200°C over solids calcined at 700°C was 114, 102 and 82%. respectively. The doping process did not modify the mechanism of the catalyzed reaction but rather increased the concentration of catalytically active constituents (surface CuO crystallites) involved in the chemisorption and catalysis of the CO oxidation reaction without affecting their energetic nature.


yV-Nitrosomethyl(2-hydroxyethyl)amine (NMHEA), »henadminis tered by gavage, is a strong liver carcinogen in F344 female rats, but a weak liver carcinogen in male rats. After repeated exposure to NMHEA, either in drinking water or by gavage, female rats accumulated higher levels of DNA-guanine adducts than did their male counterparts, sug gesting a correlation with the observed disparity in carcinogenicity. NMHEA has been shown to alkylate rat liver DNA in vìvoin a dose-dependent manner. Chemical investigations of NMHEA suggest that it becomes a strong electrophile when a good leaving group is substituted on the hydroxyl. \Ve have proposed that NMHEA is activated to its ultimate carcinogenic form by conjugation with sulfate. The sulfate ester was postulated to undergo rapid cyclization to 3-methyl-l,2,3-oxadiazo-liiiiiini ion, which has previously been found to be a potent methylating agent in vitro. The effect of Sulfotransferase inhibitors on the DNA alkylation in rats by NMHEA was studied in vivo. Dichloronitrophenol, a powerful inhibitor of phenol Sulfotransferase, had little effect on the methylation and O 6-hydroxyethylation of DNA guanine in female rats, while depressing the hydroxyethylation of the N-7 position of guanine. Dichloronitrophenol, however, dramatically enhanced the methylation of DNA in male rats. It also slightly inhibited the ¿V-nitrosodimethylamine-induced methylation of DNA. On the other hand, propylene glycol, an alcohol Sulfotransferase inhibitor, had a profound inhibitory effect on DNA methylation induced by NMHEA, very little effect on the formation of jV7-(2-hydroxyethyl)guanine, but a very strong effect on the O6-hydroxyethylguanine lesions. NMHEA-induced alkylation was also stud ied in male and female brachymorphic mice, which are deficient in the ability to synthesize the sulfate donor 3'-phosphoadenosine 5'-phospho-sulfate required for Sulfotransferase activity, and their heterozygous siblings. No significant differences were seen between the heterozygous and brachymorphic mice in overall levels of alkylation, except in the case of 7-hydroxyethylation. In contrast to rats, male mice showed higher levels of formation of all DNA guanine adducts than did the females. However, propylene glycol was found to depress all the levels of alkyla tion in the brachymorphic mice, except for Ar7-(2-hydroxyethyl)guanine, as was observed in rats. Additional DNA alkylation experiments in vitro showed that methylation occurred in a dose-dependent manner with added inorganic sulfate when NMHEA was activated by either freshly isolated primary hepatocytes or intact cultured hepatocytes. Methylation of calf thymus DNA by |mefA>'/-'4C|NMHEA was independently demonstrated by the production of |'4C]7-methylguanine in the presence of 3'-phos-phoadenosine S'-phosphosulfate and rat liver cytosol. These data support the hypothesis that methylation of DNA, at least in part, is due to an intermediate formed by the interaction of NMHEA with sulfate. The Sulfotransferase enzyme responsible for NMHEA conjugation is not inhibited by dichloronitrophenol but is strongly inhibited by propylene glycol. 7-Hydroxyethylation of DNA must occur by a mechanism differ ent from that of methylation or £>*-hydroxyethylation. activity of kinase. methylation cultured cell-free a added inorganic and the O '-alkylguan-ines was carried out by cation-exchange HPLC chromatography with fluorescence detection as previously described (2). Radioactivity was monitored using a model 1C Flo-1 beta radioactive flow detector (Radiomatic Instruments. Tampa, FL). The data were quantified by integration and comparison with calibrated standard solutions of guanine, 7-methyl- and hydroxyethylguanine, and O'-methyl- and hydroxyethylguanine (2). DNA guanine peaks were quantified from the mild acid hydrolysates, and the results are expressed as /jmol alkylated base/ mol guanine. The quantifiable detection limit for all the alkylated bases in this study was approximately 1 /amol base/mol guanine. Statistical Treatment of the Data. Analysis of covariance was used to test the significance of comparisons between data sets. Prior to analysis, some NMHEA alkylation data were transformed by taking their com mon (base 10) logarithms in order to satisfy homogeneity of variance and covariance. SEs were derived from the calculated mean square error for each data set. alkylation levels in brachymorphic


It is shown that the lower‐hybrid current drive density limit can be raised significantly by increasing the frequency of the rf source, while leaving the plasma parameters the same.


Abstract Since its inception in the late 1990s, fragment-based lead discovery (FBLD) has developed into a robust and generic approach for drug discovery. Two clinically approved drugs have been developed using the FBLD approach, and at least 30 FBLD-derived compounds are in various stages of clinical development. Based on the principle of the identification of small (and hence typically low affinity) ligands which make well-defined interactions with the receptor, and the evolution of these initial fragment hits into larger, more potent ligands that maintain these key interactions, FBLD has proven to be a reliable technique which is applicable to wide range of targets. In this chapter, we will discuss the philosophy and rationale underpinning the FBLD approach, theoretical and practical considerations of fragment library design, fragment screening and characterization, and the evolution of initial low molecular weight fragment hits into larger, potent molecules suitable for lead optimization and preclinical development. We will also discuss informative case histories, showing the challenges, pitfalls, and successful approaches, which have been applied to a number of therapeutically relevant targets.


Standardized processes are used to address three contemporary issues in engineering: increasing system complexity, increasing average age within the engineering community, and longer development cycles that result in fewer experiential learning opportunities for young engineers. Heidi Davidz (Davidz 2006), in her doctoral research identified enablers and barriers to systems thinking among engineers. Because most engineering work is completed in teams, this research seeks to build upon Davidz's research and identify enablers and barriers to systems thinking within teams and organizations of engineers. The authors have termed this collaborative systems thinking and have chosen to focus this research study on the role of standardized processes in promoting collaborative systems thinking. Despite anecdotal evidence suggesting standardized processes obscure big picture thinking in favor of facilitating distributed work, initial results from secondary case study analysis suggest the tools and artifacts of standardized processes can enable collaborative systems thinking. These results, along with background information and proposed research methods are presented in this paper. Introduction As stated earlier, this research is motivated in part by the rising average age of engineers in the United States. In a recent report by the National Academies, it is estimated that more than 60% of scientists and engineers in the United States are over the age of 45. In no field is the contrast as stark as within the aerospace field. The current average age of an engineer at NASA is 49 (Lemos 2006). The problem is further aggravated by longer development cycles that results in fewer and fewer opportunities for experiential learning. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 9


In this paper, we shall consider the problem of reconstructing as best as possible an unknown convex set A from three given sets Gi, Ge, and Gb that are known to be subsets of the interior, exterior, and boundary of A, respectively.


Cellular Mobile Communications have become an essential part of the world telecommunications. However, the systems suffer from multipath propagation effects. In this paper, we calculate the probability of symbol error rate and bit error rate of M-ary Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (M-QAM) over slow, flat, identically independently distributed Rayleigh fading and additive white gaussian channels. Since the fading is one of the major constraints in wireless communications, then diversity modulation technique is used for the efficient transfer of message signals. The simulation results show between SER/BER and energy per bit to noise spectral density.


The invention discloses a method for preparing 2,2'-di(4-ketocyclohexyl) propane by catalytic oxidation. The method comprises the following step of: oxidizing hydrogenated bisphenol A into 2,2'-di(4-ketocyclohexyl) propane in an acetonitrile solvent in the presence of an aluminum sesquioxide catalyst. According to the method for preparing the 2,2'-di(4-ketocyclohexyl) propane, hydrogenated bisphenol A is oxidized into 2,2'-di(4-ketocyclohexyl) propane in an acetonitrile solvent by catalyzing, high temperature is not required, the catalyst is cheap, a small number of three wastes are produced,convenience is brought to operate, and the product yield is over 85 percent.


Obesity is caused by excessive accumulation of body fat, which is closely related to complex metabolic diseased. Adipogenesis is a key process in determining the number and size of mature adipocytes in the development of obesity. Curcumin (Cur), has been reported to inhibit on adipocyte differentiation. But other curcuminoids present in turmeric, demethoxycurcumin (DMC) and bisdemethoxycurcumin (BDMC) have not been investigated whether they exhibit anti-adipogenic activity. Here, we investigated the effects of curcuminoids on adipogenesis and the molecular mechanisms in adipocyte differentiation. Our Oil Red O staining result revealed that 25 μM curcuminoids effectively suppressed accumulation of lipid in adipocytes. And BDMC may exerts more potent anti-adipogenic function than DMC and Cur. This anti-adipogenic function of BDMC was largely inhibited the early stage of adipogenesis through prevention of mitotic clonal expansion (MCE). We found that BDMC suppressed MCE was accompanied by reducing the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways activation. In particular, BDMC blocked the cell cycle at G0/G1 phase by regulating the protein expression of cyclin A, cyclin B and p21. Also, BDMC reduced the protein expression level of PPARγ and C/EBPα. Furthermore, we examined the anti-obesity effects of BDMC on obesity animal model. C57BL/6 mice were fed high-fat diet (HFD) and BDMC at same time. The result showed that the HFD supplement with 0.5 % (w/w) BDMC had significantly lower body weight gain and less adipose tissue mass. H & E staining result showed that the mice were fed BDMC could inhibit hypertrophy in adipocyte. In conclusion, BDMC had anti-adipogenic effect in vitro and anti-obesity in vivo. Our results suggested that BDMC has potential to be an anti-obesity functional food.


Objective:To explore the significances of hepatitis B virus(HBV) DNA and Pre-S1 antigen in prenatal examination.Methods:A total of 417 pregnant women with positive HBsAg were screened out among the pregnant women after prenatal examination,and 50 pregnant women with negative HBV serum markers were selected as control group;time-resolved fluorescence immunoassay(TRFIA) was used to detect HBV serum markers,fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction(FQ-PCR) was used to detect HBV DNA,ELISA was used to detect Pre-S1 antigen;the results were compared and analyzed.Results:Among 417 pregnant women with positive HBsAg,there was no statistically significant difference in total positive rates of HBV DNA and pre-S1 antigen(P0.05).The positive rates of HBV DNA and pre-S1 antigen in positive HBsAg group were statistically significantly higher than those in negative HBsAg group(P0.05).Among 185 pregnant women with positive HBV DNA,61 pregnant women were found with negative pre-S1 antigen;among 232 pregnant women with negative HBV DNA,45 pregnant women were found with positive pre-S1 antigen.All the 50 pregnant women with negative HBV serum markers were found with negative HBV DNA and pre-S1 antigen.Conclusion:Adding HBV DNA detection and pre-S1 antigen detection during prenatal examination are good supplements of HBV serum markers,joint detection is helpful to judge whether HBV replication exists in pregnant women,in order to adopt blocking measures timely in clinic and reduce mother-to-fetus transmission of HBV.


Objectives: To provide more organized literature on wireless sensor network. Method: In this paper, the bibliographical survey has been conducted on the types of wireless sensor network, the real application of wireless sensor network, and the performance metrics that are often used by researchers in evaluating the performance of wireless sensor network. The latest information and references have been further analysed in order to extract key information and mapped into respective subsections. Results: This bibliographical survey contains 450 references related to wireless sensor network that covers type of wireless sensor network, applications and most popular performance metrics used by researchers in solving common problems in wireless sensor network. The list of references covers related research works from 2005 until 2016 and grouped into several subsections based on types, applications and performance metrics. Conclusion: This bibliographical survey covers brief information and criteria related to wireless sensor network that includes types, real applications, and the most popular performance metrics that have been widely used. Ultimately, it can be as source of references to the other researchers in finding literatures that are relevant to their research area in wireless sensor network.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the vitamin A nutritional status and its related influencing factors of Chinese 18-60 urban adults by analyzing serum retinol level in 2015.

METHODS
Serum samples of 42 people, half male and half female, were randomly selected in each point, from the 302 monitoring sites of Chinese adult chronic diseases and nutrition surveillance in 2015. The serum retinol levels were determined by high pressure liquid chromatography(HPLC).

RESULTS
A total of 2571 serum samples were detected. The serum retinol level of Chinese urban adults of 18-60 years old was 1.98(1.56-2.53)μmol/L, the deficiency rate was 0.25%, and the marginal deficiency rate was 4.45%. The serum retinol level of male was 2.19(1.75-2.78)μmol/L, the deficiency rate was 0.05%, and the marginal deficiency rate was 2.48%; The serum retinol level of female was 1.80(1.42-2.25)μmol/L, the deficiency rate was 0.46%, and the marginal deficiency rate was 6.51%. The significant differences in serum retinol was observed deficiency rate and marginal deficiency rate between males and females(P<0.01), the nutritional status of males was better than the females. The deficiency rate and marginal deficiency rate of 18-29 years old were the highest, which were 0.34% and 5.81% respectively. The deficiency rate and marginal deficiency rate of over 50 years old were the lowest, which were 0.15% and 2.60% respectively. The vitamin A deficiency rate and marginal deficiency rate of people with body mass index(BMI)<18.5 were 0.95% and 7.24%, 0.33% and 5.85% for BMI=18.5-23.9, 0.13% and 3.27% for BMI=24.0-27.9, respectively. The differences of vitamin A deficiency rate and marginal deficiency rate among different BMI were significant.

CONCLUSION
The vitamin A nutritional status of urban adults in China is good, the vitamin A deficiency rate is very low, and the incidence of vitamin A deficiency is also low. It is basically not a public health problem according the WHO standard.


The present research project was carried out in the wooden furniture company "Alvarez", located in Santo Domingo canton, Province of Santo Domingo de Los Tsachilas, the same one that aims to implement a material requirements planning system, for this, annual sales were identified, in which the main product was selected according to the criterion of greater demand and utility by means of the Pareto chart categorizing them into products A and B, following with an analysis of the processes by means of flowcharts for the obtaining of the finished product for a later planning of tasks by means of the interpretation of Gantt and Pert graphs. For the elaboration of the planning of material requirements, a forecast model was applied to estimate future sales, providing necessary information in the elaboration of the production plans, with which the production planning could be established during a semester in which it details the labor to be hired and investment costs, obtaining how the quantity to be produced per month results, which helped to determine the components to be acquired or manufactured for the calculation of the MRP.

Keywords: Production, Materials, Sales, Forecast, Planning


The phenomenon of twinning has fascinated scientists and others over the centuries. A twin pregnancy has a higher risk of fetal morbidity and mortality than a singleton pregnancy depending on the zygosity and chorionicity of the fetuses. Dizygotic twins originate from two separate ova that are fertilized by two different sperm and are no more alike than any two siblings, and monozygotic twins develop from a single fertilized ovum, develop from one zygote, and are genetically "identical." Recent evidence has shown that "identical twins" are more genetically discordant than originally thought because of epigenetic factors. In addition, twins are more at risk for chromosomal abnormalities and congenital anomalies. In the last century, twins played and continue to play an important role in genetics research. Twin studies are the criterion standard for research on the importance of heritability and environmental influences on behavior and disease.


This study aims to (i) understand how the legacies of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi and its aftermath are transmitted to the next generation within Rwandan families and (ii) explore how institutional support plays a role in the pathways of intergenerational transmission. Through an in-depth analysis of qualitative interviews with 41 mothers and one of their adolescent children, we identified direct and indirect pathways through which the legacies of the genocide are transmitted to the second generation. Direct pathways concern the ways in which the genocide and its aftermath are reflected upon, reconstructed and explicitly communicated or silenced to the second generation. Indirect pathways are ways in which the genocide and its aftermath affect the life circumstances of the children, and through that, the child. Many of the included households had access to at least some kind of support. In general, our results indicate that organisations providing support to families and individuals in post-conflict settings might want to consider focusing explicitly on the identified pathways of intergenerational transmission to improve the living conditions of the next generation(s). Key implications for practice Development organisations that provide support to families in post-conflict settings could specifically address parenting, family relations and family communication and interactions to help participants secure a safe environment for the next generations to grow up in Development organisations in post-conflict settings could specifically facilitate and encourage the interactions of participants with the broader social environment and the community to stimulate cooperation and social support Stimulating the development of economic cooperation among the participants of support programmes in post-conflict settings as well as within their communities may be helpful in reducing intergenerational poverty.


Through effective audit planning and timely information on the financial performance of the company was obtained, it is of vital importance to any entity with economic activity. This project was carried out in order to design audit procedures for the control of investments made by the company CEGRAND SA, in order to verify if the investment made by the company is profitable and provide income to see if in the future using the techniques and procedures of the audit. Audit procedures provide for us is important evidence about the investment because it allows us to verify that type of risk is inherent in the company , using research methodologies as descriptive that merely describes the facts so that the examination of files is done as this facilitates the analysis of the documents obtained from the company that provide information efficiently , it is important to determine the nature , location and availability of files ; another methodology used is the same interview that aims to collect data ; all of the above tools helped to achieve our goal which is to obtain higher returns on financial assets .


Cone penetration testing (CPT) is a common and well-established in-situ investigation method. Thereby, soil properties are derived from the measured tip resistance, sleeve friction and pore water pressures using different correlations and good results for clays and sands, where undrained or drained behaviour governs the penetration process, are provided. However, the interpretation of CPT-data for intermediate soils, as they are typically found in Alpine basins in Austria, is difficult since partial drainage comes into play. In this work, the particle finite element method (G-PFEM) is used for the simulation of such a penetration problem in order to investigate partial drainage. CPT simulations were carried out considering different soil permeabilities showing a clear range for partially drained behaviour. Furthermore, it was found that the resulting qualitative pore pressure distribution strongly depends on the drainage condition and consequently pore pressure measurements at different positions (u1, u2, u3) can be helpful for the interpretation of CPTu in intermediate soils.


Preoperative screening including CT scan, MRI with venous analysis, polysomnography and ophthalmologic examination. Preliminary systematic ENT removal of tonsils and adenoids (if significally present). Preliminary management of Chiari by posterior vault distraction associated to foramen magnum decompression if necessary Prefer primary cases for FFMBA allowing systematic closure of anterior cranial fossa by bilateral anteriorly based pericranial flaps (those flaps rarely available in previously operated patients)This step necessitates frontal bone elevation Use 4 internal distractors with consolidation time of 4–6 months. Sedation of 2–4 days useful in the immediate post-operative period. Slow distraction rate to 0,5mm/day starting at day 3 until completion (20–25 mm). Obtain overcorrection at orbital level, and at dental level if possible. In the very young and very severe, a very early FFMBA could be performed with adjunction of transfacial pin and external traction during one week. Postoperatively, reeducate mouth opening to prevent trismus


The goal of this article is to find a correct approximated solution using a polynomial of sixth degree for the free boundary problem corresponding to the diffusion of oxygen in a spherical medium with simultaneous absorption at a constant rate, and to show some mistakes in previously published solutions.


Rest‐redistribution thallium‐201 imaging is widely used to assess recovery of regional systolic dysfunction in patients with chronic coronary artery disease. In several studies, this technique has demonstrated very high sensitivity but reduced specificity, as reported in general for radionuclide imaging. In clinical terms, this implicates that many dysfunctional territories will not recover after revascularization despite a substantial amount of tracer uptake. Yet, the amount of tracer uptake in a given myocardial segment, although not perfect, remains the best indicator for predicting reversible dysfunction. In fact, the occurrence of redistribution after rest injection is not very common and it does not substantially contribute to the accuracy of the test. However, it is still undetermined whether the presence of redistribution is relevant for prognostic implications.


Isolated cheek teeth from the late Puercan (early Paleocene) Split Lip Flats local fauna, from the head of Willow Wash, Nacimiento Formation, San Juan Basin, represent a new genus and species of hyopsodontid "condylarth", Chacomylus sladei. The teeth are small, bunodont, and are remarkable for the enlargement of the protocone, pronounced exodaenodonty, and high degree of attritional wear caused by transverse shearing or grinding. Although C. sladei bears a superficial resemblance to the apheliscine apheliscid Gingerichia, a preliminary phylogenetic analysis confirms that it is a hyopsodontid, closely related to the Puercan hyopsodontids Valenia wilsoni and Litomylus orthronepius.


The present invention, a neurodegenerative disease, in particular for the preparation of a medicament for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, DEGS interacting molecule, in particular to the use of DEGS inhibitor.


The aim of this article was to evaluate the effect of the National Program for Access and Quality Improvement in Primary Care (PMAQ-AB) on access and quality of Primary Care. Hospitalization for conditions susceptible to Primary Care were used as a dependent variable and indirect indicator of quality and access to that level of care. The quantitative method of study was applied, adopting all Brazilian municipalities as unit of analysis. The study was divided into two phases. The first one performed an exploratory descriptive time series analysis on the Brazilian municipalities for the period from 2010 to 2014. The second phase was characterized for evaluating the effect of the Program, during the same period, on access and quality of Primary Care by means of the statistical regression technique with counting data. The results, analyzed by region, showed that the Program exerts a significant effect on the quality and access of Primary Care, especially in the Northeast region of Brazil. This article contains an important report on health policies in Brazil, and is a mean of instructing managers and the various actors involved in the development and discussion of one of the main programs in Primary Care.


As has been noted since her recovery in the early 1990s by Isobel Armstrong, Angela Leighton, Dorothy Mermin, and others, much of Augusta Webster's poetry revolves around the problem of attenuated, suppressed, or otherwise circumscribed subjectivity. (1) Her work is particularly attentive to the frequency with which individuals could be stripped of their capacity for agency by the competing imperatives--social, material, institutional, and aesthetic--of modern life. Her dramatic poems, for which she is best remembered today, often feature the frustrated monologues of such over-determined individuals, both male, as in "A Painter," and female, as in her most critically discussed poem, "A Castaway." Pragmatic idealists at heart, these and others of Webster's speakers use a range of strategies, with varying degrees of success, to carve out niches of freedom for themselves amid the otherwise suffocating pressures of familial, vocational, and cultural norms. This essay concentrates on one recurrent motif, triangulation, through which Webster explores this problematic in the first two books of poetry that she published under her own name, Dramatic Studies (1866) and A Woman Sold and Other Poems (1867). (2) Collectively, the triadic poems from these two poetic collections represent triangular relations as both unavoidable and fascinatingly varied. Despite their important difference of participants, relations, and motivations, however, all retain the basic configuration, posited most famously in Rene Girard's Deceit, Desire, and the Novel (1965), of two subjects directed towards a third object. The problem, for Webster, lies in the readiness with which anyone occupying any of these three positions can be objectified by his or her participation in the triangle to the point of losing all capacity for independent agency. This risk is most apparent for the desired object, whose field of possibility is, at best, artificially confined to choosing between the two subjects, and, at worst, entirely eliminated by the results of those subjects' competition. Both subjects, however, also radically truncate their own actions by defining themselves oppositionally and teleologically. Whether possessed or bereft of the object at the contest's conclusion, the formerly dynamic subject ends in crippling stasis, one primary source of self-definition--the other subject banished from the scene, and the object of desire evacuated of significance and future potential by its acquisition. Tapping into and radically extending her century's pervasive rhetoric of fallenness, Webster shows that both men and women might "fall," their potential for independent agency equally imperiled by the threat of triangulation. (3) Two dramatic poems from her 1866 book, "The Snow Waste" and "With the Dead," make this point negatively, by featuring male speakers unable to distance themselves from their desires and, who, as a result, degenerate from competitive triadic subjects to damnably objectified souls in torment. Two of the shorter lyrics from among the Other Poems of the 1867 volume, "Too Faithful" and "To One of Many," signal Webster's shift away from compromised male speakers. Finally, in A Woman Sold, Webster offers her most complex, successful, and implicitly political resolution to this same problematic through the liberal intentions of the titular Eleanor-cum-Lady-Boycott. (4) Each of these poems by itself amply repays the detailed attention of careful close reading, which reveals Webster's complex deployment of triangulation at the levels of form, content, plot, and theme. (5) Together, they also work towards her elegant solution, at least at this important early point in her career, to the problem of abrogated, or "fallen" agency, namely emotional self-mastery and intellectual disinterestedness. (6) Competitive Triangulation and Damnation in Dramatic Studies Webster's "The Snow Waste" presents the narrative of an overly assertive subject eternally objectified by the successful prosecution of his own triangulated desire. …


Objectives The purpose of this study is to propose a plan to effectively apply ecological transformation education to the 2022 revised moral education curriculum.
Methods To this end, the concept formation and progress of eco-conversion education and the contents related to eco-conversion education in the 2015 revised moral curriculum were analyzed, and holistic education and the curriculum of local regional offices were explored in relation to eco-conversion education in order to come up with a plan to effectively reflect the ecological transformation education in the 2022 revised moral education curriculum.
Results Although some content elements related to ecological transformation education were reflected in the 2015 revised moral education curriculum, the linkage and systemicity between school levels was found to be low. Therefore, this study developed and proposed two achievement standards for each grade group based on the core ideas and questions in the 'relationship with nature' area presented by the researchers of the 2022 revised moral and curriculum.
Conclusions It is urgent to develop a curriculum that can systematically practice ecological transformation education in consideration of the student development stage by school level and the sequence of learning contents, and it is necessary to select the elements of ecological transformation education suitable for the 2022 moral and curriculum, and to elaborate and present the achievement standards accordingly.


ABSTRACT Public service is the right as well as the responsibility of every citizen. Throughout life, people need the service of others. Local governments are required to provide qualified services to their communities. However, services obtained by the community are often far from expectations. This research wants to answer the question: 1) How to measure non-permit services quality in Cibinong District, Bogor Regency 2) What are the supporting and inhibiting factors of the services? This study aims to analyze the measurement results of non-permit services quality in Cibinong District, Bogor Regency and to know the supporting and inhibiting factors. The measurement employs the Ministerial Decree of the Ministry of Administrative Reform No. 25 of 2004 on General Guidelines of Satisfaction Index for Government Agency. The research is descriptive, with qualitative approach. The informants are selected purposively and accidentally. The data collection is through interview, observation, and documentation study. Data was analyzed by applying six step of testing from MacNab. Data was verified through triangulation. The results of this study indicate that the quality of non-permit services in Cibinong, Bogor Regency is not optimal, so it needs to be improved. Keywords: Measurement, Non-Permit Services, MacNab Six Steps, Satisfaction Index, Cibinong District, Bogor, Local Government


Background: Although warts are common viral infections of the skin, no single optimal treatment has been determined and most warts are resistant to the current treatment modalities. As a result, many patients suffer from viral warts. Nevertheless, there have been few studies on the patients' quality of life and the economic burden associated with viral warts. Objective: The purpose of this study is to assess the quality of life and the economic burden in the population affected by viral warts by administering a survey questionnaire.Methods: A questionnaire quoted from the Dermatology life Quality Index was administered to one hundred twenty patients who had viral warts.Results: The data for the quality of life revealed that warts do not particularly affect the patient's daily living activities nor their psychological status. However, the data indicated that the treatment of warts had significantly negative effects on the quality of life of our patients. With regard to treatment satisfaction, many were unsatisfied with 'the pain associated with treatment'. The estimated cost for the treatment of warts was 45,900 won per treatment and the estimated total treatment expenditure of each patient was 236,800 won.Conclusion: These results suggest that warts significantly affect the patients' quality of life and especially due to its resistance to treatment and the pain associated with the treatment. Moreover, warts can impose a considerable economic burden. (Korean J Dermatol 2010;48(1):33∼38)Key Words: Economic burden, Quality of life, Questionnaire, Wart서 론


IAEA BULLETIN, 39/3/1997 L ike a locomotive climbing mountainside rails, " . the world's regime to disarm the atom has steamed along over the past quarter century, twisting, turning, rolling, rising, sometimes without much fuel and on uneven tracks. Historic events of the past decade have tested the mettle of its frame and engineers. States regard the IAEA as a key part of that global engine. The Agency's international safeguards system the world's first for on-site verification of arms-control commitments — serves to ensure that States comply with their legal undertakings not to develop or produce nuclear weapons. Its elements include technical measures and on-site inspections carried out under safeguards agreements to verify the peaceful nature of nuclear activities.


PurposeTo further improve the branding strategies between single-brand-retailers and multi-brand-retailers, the paper investigates the influence of multiple manufacturer brand images on retailer brand image. It considers the moderating role of the number of offered manufacturer brands.Design/methodology/approachThe research is conducted in the automotive retail context. Based on an online survey (383 respondents), a Partial-Least Squares Modeling, estimated using SmartPLS 3 and a classic partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) algorithm, is used to validate the hypotheses.FindingsThe results reveal that manufacturer brands did not influence the retailer's brand image in all cases since it is only influenced by the manufacturer brand when the retailer offers only one manufacturer brand.Practical implicationsFor retailers offering only one manufacturer brand, the most extensive possible adoption of the corporate identity (CI) specifications prescribed by the manufacturer brands is the prerequisite for a positive image effect. Retailers offering more than one manufacturer brand should create their image based on the retailer's identity. In this context, it is essential to position the retailer brand independently in the market.Originality/valueThis is the first study focuses on retailers with a small or limited number of offered manufacturer brands to answer the question of whether the number of provided manufacturer brands moderates the impact of manufacturer brand images on the retailer's brand image.


A two-phase volume averaging model is used to study centerline macrosegregation in steel continuous casting. Only columnar solidification is considered, and the morphology of the columnar dendrite trunks is simplified as step-wise cylinders, where the growth kinetics is governed by diffusion. The solidified strand moves with predefined velocity following the casting speed and the solid shell deformation (bulging). The bulk and the interdendritic flow, driven by feeding of the solidification shrinkage and by deformation of the solidified shell, is solved in the Eulerian frame of reference. The current paper studies two important flow mechanisms separately: flow caused by feeding, and flow caused by series of bulging along the solidifying strand shell. Simulations are performed for a horizontally-cast steel strand with a simplified geometry. The current model has reproduced the work of previous studies in literature: the feeding flow induces the negative centerline segregation, whereas bulging is responsible for the positive centerline segregation. However, we found that the centerline segregation is the outcome of the sum-up effect by the series of bulging. The quantitative prediction of the centerline segregation is sensitive to the predefined velocity of the deforming solid shell, for which a reliable mechanical deformation model for the semi-solid region is desired. Introduction One of the concerns in steel continuous casting is the centerline macrosegregation [1-3]. Industrial practice has shown that this centerline segregation can be reduced by the so-called softreduction at/near the end of solidification, i.e. the strand is subjected to weak rolling before it is fully solidified [4-11]. However, to get deeper understanding on the formation mechanism of centerline macrosegregation and the effectiveness of softreduction, industry has to rely on exhausting experimental trials to get the reduction parameters (e.g. the softreduction position and rate). Therefore, numerical studies become a more efficient method to achieve deep understanding of this problem [12-16]. Very recently, the current authors [17-18] have developed a volume-averaging-based solidification model for predicting the macrosegregation. With this approach the melt flow caused by shrinkage and thermo-solutal buoyancy, the motion of equiaxed crystals, the progress of a columnar front and columnar-to-equiaxed transition can be modeled. In the present paper only two phases, columnar dendrite drunks and the interdendritic melt, are considered. The velocity field of the solidified columnar phase is predefined, no mechanical deformation model is considered. The idea to describe the velocity of the solidified shell due to bulging, proposed by Miyazawa and Schwerdtfeger [12], is employed and modified. With this two-phase solidification model a benchmark casting (simplified 2D steel slab) is simulated. The aim of


Individuals with choleric temperaments easily get angry and can be problematic if not expressed appropriately. The purpose of this study is to identify gender differences in anger expressions among secondary school students. Respondents were secondary school students in four states in the Northern region of Malaysia. A total of 3348 students were involved, including 1,800 males and 1,548 females. Respondents aged between 13 and 16 were randomly selected from 20 secondary schools. Descriptive analyses and t-test were used to identify anger expressions among secondary school students. Findings showed that 780 respondents agreed that they are hot-tempered, while 2568 others did not. From the 780 hot-tempered respondents, 370 are males and 410 are females. A total of 3160 from the 3348 respondents did not meet their school counsellors for counselling sessions when they had anger problems. The findings also revealed a significant difference in four types of anger expressions between male and female students. They were in aggressive, verbal, intrinsic anger expression, and intrinsic anger control. The findings revealed that school counsellors need to equip students with specific, creative, and innovative interventions to cope with different anger expression.


This poster presents lessons learned from offering three iterations of summer professional development (PD) for rural fourth- to sixth-grade teachers. Participating teachers attended a PD on Utah's new state science standards, computer science concepts, and the integration of computer science within science. With each iteration, the content covered in the PD became more focused, and a higher percentage of teachers expressed intent to integrate CS in their elementary science classrooms. The last year of the PD relied heavily on a Teacher-Learner-Observer model to familiarize teachers with the TIPP&SEE lesson structure before encouraging teachers to modify an existing TIPP&SEE lesson for integration in science. All nine participants in this latest cohort plan to create their own TIPP&SEE lessons; eight of the nine have already completed and taught their lessons by December. The poster shares the PD agenda, links to teacher-developed Scratch lessons integrating CS in elementary science, and lessons learned from three years of workshops delivered to teachers from rural districts.


Vaginocervical stimulation of ovariectomized estradiol‐primed ferrets (which are reflex ovulators) with a glass rod in the presence of a neck‐gripping male induced an increase in plasma luteinizing hormone (LH) from undetectable levels (≤0.50 ng/ml) before stimulation, to 2.4 ± 0.43 ng/ml 75 min after stimulation (stimulated females). Forty‐eight h after stimulation plasma LH returned to baseline levels (post‐stimulated females). A significant decrease in the number of perikarya containing LH‐releasing hormone (LHRH), detected by immunocytochemistry, was associated with the increase in plasma LH following stimulation. Approximately one half of the number of immunoreactive LHRH neurons (243±27) were detected in the forebrain of stimulated females, compared to those detected in the forebrain of post‐stimulated animals (436 ± 88) using antiserum AR 744. Equivalent results were obtained with a different antiserum (RM 1076) capable of detecting the extended decapeptide, or precursor, as well as partially or fully processed decapeptide.


The aim of the present study was to investigate the genetic diversity and structure of eight Trifolium fragiferum populations in Latvia in the context of the Baltic Sea region. In addition, one wild population from Estonia and one from Denmark were analyzed, as well as the commercial cultivar 'Palestine'. The genetic diversity of wild populations was low, compared to the higher diversity in the cultivar 'Palestine'. The wild populations were differentiated into four clusters, separate from the cultivar 'Palestine'. Three of the genetically similar Latvian populations were also geographically proximal, but the four populations geographically located near the capital, Riga, were genetically differentiated from each other. The genetic results were compared to previously published physiological studies of the same populations. The results from this study can be used as a basis for further studies of T. fragiferum populations in the Baltic Sea region, and to develop in situ and ex situ conservation strategies for this crop wild relative species.


DEBORAH MCCORMICK PETERMAN. Implications of Constructivist Pedagogy in Teacher Education: A Comparison of Problem-Based Learning vs. Non-ProblemBased Learning in Teacher Education Programs (under the direction of DR. BETH CHRISTIAN). Traditional instructional strategies practiced in teacher education programs do not generate autonomous and critical thinking. There is limited available research on the effectiveness of the constructivist method of problem-based learning (PBL) in college education courses. The main purpose of this study was to explore differences in the state licensure exam scores (Praxis II Principles of Learning and Teaching, PLT) between preservice teachers who participated in PBL and pre-service teachers who did not participate in PBL in their content courses. The quantitative data for this mixed-methods study with a descriptive causal comparative design came from the PLT raw scores of a convenience sample of 263 pre-service teachers enrolled in seven off-campus cohort groups. The qualitative design for this study was interpretivist and the data stemmed from nine professors who taught content courses at the off-campus sites. Insights from 43 preservice teachers' reflections were also included in the qualitative data in order to support themes found throughout interviews the researcher conducted with participating professors. The conclusion for the group of pre-service teachers who participated in the PBL implementation is that the PBL method of teaching did not help or increase the candidates' content knowledge and pedagogy as measured on the PLT state licensure


The uptake, metabolism, and cellular distribution of [3H]docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in human and monkey retinas were studied with biochemical and autoradiographic techniques. In specimens from two human retina biopsies, incubated for 4 hr or 6 hr with [3H]docosahexaenoic acid (110 nM), 80% of the esterified [3H]fatty acid was recovered in phospholipids and the remainder in triacylglycerols and diacylglycerols. The distribution of [3H]DHA in individual phospholipids (PL) was similar in both retinas, with phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) accounting for most of the label. A similar labeling profile was observed in glycerolipids from monkey retina, and after 1 hr of incubation, high labeling of phosphatidic acid (PA, 11%) and phosphatidylinositol (PI, 20%) was observed.


This colorimeter and calorimetry method involve: extracting a chart area candidate as a candidate for a chart area from an image of a color chart; calculating an evaluation value for this chart area candidate; on the basis of the calculated evaluation value, determining whether the chart area candidate is a chart area; for chart area candidate a determined , as a result of this determination, to be a chart area, calculating locations of a plurality of patches; and measuring the color of each patch at the plurality of calculated locations.


Using a 2-D nonlinear formulation which explicitly considers the plasma edge near a Faraday shield in a self consistent manner, progress is indicated in the modeling of the ion motion for a Faraday shield concept and model suggested by Perkins. Several models are considered which may provide significant insight into the impurities generation for ICRH antennas. 6 refs., 8 figs.


We present an optical imaging tool, the Overlay Imaging Aligner (OIA), developed to aid in the mechanical alignment of antenna components in the mm-wave and low-THz frequency regimes (50-500 GHz) where wavelength size poses significant challenges for alignment. A polarization-selective machine-vision approach used to generate two simultaneous overlaid images along a common axis allows for aligning two antenna components to within fractions of a wavelength. The concept and application examples are presented along with a quantitative assessment of the alignment accuracy in the WR-2.2 band where the OIA alignment is compared to an electrical alignment.


Introduction: Nowadays the food types became so diverse and complicated, so human needs+ professional assistance to make his best choices especially after foods became global parameter. Food Recommendation System is a smart system that provides the best suggestions to the beneficiaries to know the best choices to their needs. Moreover, the human activities and lifestyle are affected by another types of dietaries in other foods. There is need for everybody to know what the nutrition is he/she needs. So, this research responding to these needs. The goal of the proposed system is to propose a system that provides recommendations for foods that are rich in nutritional components that people need in their daily lives based on computational model and expert preferences. Objective: The research aims to design and implement a food recommendation system has the ability to coordinate both user preferences and data clustering techniques to produce high accuracy recommendations. Material and methods: The proposed method focuses on merging computational model and user preferences to give the user the best recommended list of food options. Clustering techniques are approaches used in Recommendation system applications to group different foods according to the similarities in nutrition values.


1. Although women constitute over one-third of the total science graduates and postgraduates, they comprise only 15–20% of the tenured faculty across research institutions and universities in India 2 . Further, the relatively higher representation of women is seen in jobs such as junior/ad-hoc faculty, temporary research associates, postdoctoral fellows, etc. that have been vacated by men. However, as Bal 1 pointed out, a permanent position with an ability to undertake research projects with appropriate institutional facilities, advise doctoral students and publish, are important for a stable career in science. As competition to remain and advance in science careers begin soon after Ph D, it is important for women to establish themselves during their early 30s, a period that coincides with marriage and family commitments for most Indian women. Breaks or temporary research positions of 3–5 years during this period do not offer the advantage of climbing up the ladder at a later stage when family commitments take less time. Thus, a large number of qualified women scientists opt for undergraduate or school-level teaching, whereas others completely drop out of science. Even though there is recognition of this 'winding career path' 3 for women, science policy makers often ignore the willingness and need for women to stay active in research despite other responsibilities. Absence from active research through breaks cannot be compensated for at a later stage in the highly competitive environment of science. Therefore, policies designed to provide extended maternity breaks or temporary research projects may not address the central problem and may instead work against the interests of women. Keeping these factors in mind, a study was sponsored by the Indian Academy of Sciences (IASc), Bangalore in collaboration with the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore to develop a set of recommendations from the data obtained from women scientists who are not a homogenous group 4 . Efforts were made to include women who have continued in science and those who have dropped out. Although several recommendations of this study have appeared in earlier reports, an attempt has been made here to qualify these recommendations with nuanced field data to overcome major hurdles during their implementation.


In order to study the electromagnetic radiations of a PCB (printed circuit board) planar inductor, each turn in the spiral windings of the inductor is taken as a loop antenna based on the antenna theory. Its far-field radiation power is estimated and found to be negligible. Its near-field coupling is discussed based on a passive band-pass filter contained PCB planar inductors. The radiation intensity of one of the inductors in the circuit is measured one by one point and the 3-D plot of it is given by MATLAB. The plot shows that the near-field coupling is only occurring in the area where the inductor is located, which hardly affect the rest of the circuit comparing with the track in the same PCB.


BACKGROUND: Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte is a major pest of corn and causes over a billion dollars of economic loss annually through yield reductions and management costs. Corn producing toxins derived from Bacillus thuringiensis ( Bt ) has beendevelopedtohelpmanage D.v.virgifera .However,previousstudieshavedemonstratedtheabilityofthisspeciestoevolve resistance to Bt toxins in both laboratory and field settings. RESULTS: We used an experimental evolution approach to test the refuge strategies for delaying resistance of D. v. virgifera to corn producing Bt toxin Cry34/35Ab1. In the absence of refuges, D. v. virgifera developed resistance to Bt corn after three generations of selection. In some cases, non- Bt refuges reduced the level of resistance compared with the strain selected in the absence of refuges, but refuge strains did show reduced susceptibility to Bt corn compared with the unselected strain. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, non- Bt refuges delayed resistance to Bt corn by D. v. virgifera in some cases but not others. Combining the refuge strategy with pyramids of multiple Bt toxins and applying other pest management strategies will likely be necessary to delay resistance of D. v. virgifera to Bt corn. (event DAS-59122-7). To examine the evolution of resistance to this toxin, we measured survival of D. v. virgifera to adulthood and the delay in larval development experienced by insects fed Cry34/35Ab1 Measuring delays in larval development is a relevant metric for quantifying resistance to corn producing Bt toxin Cry34/35Ab1, because it is highly cor-related with the capacity of D. virgifera to survive to adulthood on Cry34/35Abl corn. 19 , 34 Measurements of larval developmental rate are currently used as a technique to monitor resistance to Cry34/35Ab1 corn in field populations of D. virgifera. 34 The results of this study provide insights into potential


Cultivated land intensive use is an important way of keeping agricultural sustainable development in rapid urbanization period. Traditional evaluative methods of cultivated land intensive use could not completely express the regional overall difference and partial spatial heterogeneity. This paper takes Hubei Province as study area, constructs the index system of cultivated land intensive use from three aspects of input intensity, use intensity and output efficiency, and uses K-means algorithm to zone the cultivated land intensive use level. The results show: (1) A good zoning result of cultivated land intensive use by using the characteristic of briefness and high-speed has been made. (2)There is a distinct spatial difference of cultivated land intensive use in Hubei Province. The result is zoned by western low-intensive zone, southern middle-intensive zone, eastern high-intensive zone and central fine-farming zone. The corresponding development strategy is also proposed according to the agricultural productive condition of each zone.


Risk communication is a growing specialty field in communication that draws from well-established principles of sociology and psychology. It is a way to communicate with potentially hostile audiences about sensitive environmental, safety, and health issues they face. This paper explains the most important principles of risk communication and discusses audience analyses, perceptions of risk (outrage factors), and risk comparisons. These principles are applied to a risk communication issue in a fictitious community.


A study has been made of abnormal mental states found in 100 selected cases of pulmonary tuberculosis in Cragmor Sanatorium. Abnormal mental state has been defined as that state in which normal thinking and acting (normal behavior) has been dominated by the emotions. An attempt has been made to discover whether abnormal mental states found in tuberculosis are specific to the disease or dependent upon the personality makeup of the individual. Personality makeup has been determined by a complete individual physical and psychological life-history study. Tuberculosis has been considered as an emotional crisis in the life of the individual, toward which he may react either normally or abnormally, depending upon his personality makeup before the onset of the disease. Sixty-nine per cent of the group studied were considered to show a normal behavior under treatment for tuberculosis, or they showed a simple emotional maladjustment which was rectified during the period of observation. Of the remaining thirty-one patients, seven showed a persistent simple maladjustment, twenty were diagnosed as definitely neurotic and four were diagnosed as psychotic. Of the neurotic groups, nine cases of fatigue neurosis (neurasthenia), ten cases of anxiety neurosis, and one case of conversion hysteria were seen. Fatigue neurosis was found more frequently in women than in men. It was found more commonly in the asthenic than in the athletic individual. Anxiety neurosis was more common in men than in women. It was found quite commonly in Jewish patients. No abnormal mental state specific to tuberculosis has been found to exist between abnormal mental states in tuberculosis and the extent of disease, severity of toxemia, conditions of age, sex or body type. A definite correlation has been found to exist between abnormal mental states in tuberculosis and the personality makeup of the individual. Thus the emotional reaction to tuberculosis may roughly be predicted from a study of the personality makeup of the individual affected. Abnormal


To explore the risk factors of thrombosis in patients with JAK2V617F‐mutated myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), a cohort of 1537 Chinese patients with JAK2V617F‐mutated MPN was retrospectively analyzed. The Kaplan‐Meier method and multivariate Cox analysis were used to study the risk factors of thrombosis in patients with JAK2V617F‐mutated MPN. Among the 1537 MPN patients, 931, 468, and 138 had polycythemia vera (PV), essential thrombocythemia (ET), and primary myelofibrosis (PMF), respectively. The median follow‐up time was 7 years (range 1‐47), and 12.8% of patients (197/1537) died during this period. A total of 16.8% (259/1399) of PV and ET patients had secondary myelofibrosis, and 2.5% (38/1537) of patients developed acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Thrombotic events occurred in 43.9% (675/1537) of patients, among which 91.4% (617/675) were arterial thrombosis and 16.6% (112/675) were venous thrombosis. The number of thrombotic events in PV, ET, and PMF patients was 439 (47.2%), 197 (42.1%) and 39 (28.2%), respectively. The multivariate analysis indicated that age ≥60 years old, HCT ≥48%, at least one cardiovascular risk factor, a history of thrombosis, and JAK2V617F allele burden (V617F%) ≥50% are risk factors for thrombosis in JAK2V617F‐mutated MPN. According to the results of the multivariate analysis, a risk model of thrombosis was established and comprised low‐risk (0 points), intermediate‐risk (1 points) and high‐risk (≥2 points) groups, among which the incidence of thrombosis was 9.1%, 33.7% and 72.9%. For elderly patients with JAK2V617F‐mutated MPN and a history of thrombosis, reducing the V617F%, controlling HCT and preventing cardiovascular risk factors are necessary measures to prevent thrombosis.


The representations of the Schrödinger group in one space dimension are explicitly constructed in the basis of the harmonic oscillator states. These representations are seen to involve matrix orthogonal polynomials in a discrete variable that have Charlier and Meixner polynomials as building blocks. The underlying Lie-theoretic framework allows for a systematic derivation of the structural formulas (recurrence relations, difference equations, Rodrigues' formula, etc) that these matrix orthogonal polynomials satisfy.


The link between the built environment and residential segregation has long been of interest to the discussion for sustainable and socially resilient cities. However, direct assessments on how extensively diverse built environments affect the social landscapes of cities at the neighborhood level are rare. Here, we investigate whether neighborhoods with a diverse built environment also exhibit different socio-economic profiles. Through a geodemographic approach, we scrutinize the socio-economic composition of Shanghai's neighborhoods. We statistically compare the top 10% (very high values) to the bottom 10% (very low values) of the following built environment variables: density, land use mix, land use balance, and greenness. We show that high-density areas have three times the percentage of divorced residents than low-density areas. Neighborhoods with a high level of greenness have median values of 30% more residents aged between 25–44 years old and five times the percentage of houses between 60 to 119 m2 than low-greenness areas. In high land-use mix areas, the share of people that live on a pension is 30% more than the low land-use mix areas. The findings of this study can be used to improve the designs of modern, sustainable cities at the neighborhood level, significantly improving quality of life.


Ranman Microscopy and EPMA were employed to analyze components of the corro- sion of samples of four bronze articles (two bronze lances and two bronze mirrors dating back to the 7thcentury B.C. and the 14thcentury respectively) so as to identify the anticorrosive tech- niques of ancient Yunnan. Results of the Raman experiments show that the major components of te corrosion on the above bronze articles are CuCO3.Cu(OH)2and Cu2O while elements on and within them have also been identified with EPMA. This paper, a study of the application and development of bronze anticorrosive techniques in Yunnan, argues that people of the 7th century B. C. prevented bronze corrosion by applying a coat of substance containing 83% of SnO2while in the 14thcentury they did the same by applying a thin coat of Fe-Al alloy. It is proven that Sn-coat o the surface of the lances is better than Fe-Al alloy on the bronze mir- rors. The experiments also show that in the analysis of metal artifacts Raman microscopy, al-


Several Nb ingots have been provided by CBMM to Jefferson Lab since 2004 as part of an R&D collaboration aimed at evaluating the performance of superconducting radio-frequency cavities built from ingots with different purity, as a results of different ingot production processes. Approximately 32 multi- and single-cell cavities with resonant frequency between ∼1.3-2.3 GHz were built, treated and tested at 2 K at Jefferson Lab between 2004 and 2014. The average peak surface field achieved in cavities made of RRR∼260 and RRR∼100-150 ingots was (119 ± 4) mT and (100 ± 8) mT, respectively. Higher quality factor values at 2.0 K have been measured in medium-purity, compared to higher purity material.


This paper deals with the design and characteristic analysis of linear oscillatory actuator (LOA) according to permanent magnet material. NdFeB magnet have been widely used, but the main drawback to it is the high price. Therefore, research about material which substitutes NdFeB magnet has resurfaced. This paper shows the design and characteristic analysis of LOA designed by low cost Ferrite, and compares LOA designed by NdFeB magnet to it using Finite Element Method (FEM). Lastly, It verified the validity that Ferrite magnet is seen as the alternative to NdFeB magnet.


Originally designed for contactless smart cards in the form factor ID1, today ISO/IEC 14443 finds new applications in an increasing number of different form factors. Most famous among the new form factors are applications such as the electronic passport (e-passport) or contactless credit cards in a form factor that is only half or one third as large ("key fob") as ID1. The need of increasingly smaller form factors, however, more often leads to problems in the field, because the small transponder cannot always be read out reliably. This has led to a new type of a battery powered transponder, actively emulating load modulation, to enhance the operating distance. Whereas ISO/IEC 14443 focuses on very small antennas and small transmission power to allow reliable communication distances of a few centimetres, we were looking in the opposite direction. Using quite large antennas and huge transmission power we achieved communication distances in the range of a few meters. We also learned, however, that the effort spent to enhance the reading range increases drastically with each additional meter, quickly ending up with equipment like a "broadcast radio station". The issue presented in this paper is not linked to a future application, but describes the practical limits of a potential attack scenario.


The spectrum of colors that make up the world all have individual and unique wavelengths as the light reflects off of objects. These wavelengths can be captured and processed through electrical means to detect various colors. The process of sensing color can be applied to a number of processes that take place on a daily basis. As this process is refined the value of such technology will rise. The color sensing technology is in the early stages of development. The environment in which color sensing takes place must be accurately and properly controlled to process reliable color data. This project incorporates color sensing technology into a microcontroller based Skittle candy sorting machine which includes two servo motors, Arduino MCU, and a color light to digital convertor. This project began in phase one. During phase one of the project we formed a team to pursue this project. The project team includes Tom Syster, Ryan Cramer, and Andrew Costin. The conception and planning for the project was completed during the first phase of the project as well. The preliminary requirements were written for the project. Phase one also included the planned schedule to complete the project as well as approval from the department faculty members. Phase two of the project was the design and implementation portion of the project. Phase two began with the review and updating of the preliminary project requirements. These requirements were also updated throughout the project as the functions of the technology were discovered. The next portion of phase two included the design, construction, and project management of the project. The final stage of phase two was the testing of the project. The prototype was tested to have an accuracy rate of 65%.


Recent advances in the studies of glucose transport in animal cells are reviewed. Five subtypes of glucose transporters of facilitated diffusion have been found. They differ in tissue distribution. One of them, GLUT 1 localizes in blood-tissue barriers, such as blood-brain barrier, blood-ocular barrier and placental barrier. Homologous transporters are found in prokaryotes as well as lower eukaryotes. They traverse the membrane 12 times, according to hydropathy analysis and the molecular weights of which are around 50K. Homology of membrane segments is higher than that of hydrophilic parts. Regulation by insulin of glucose transport in adipocytes and muscles is mainly done by the recycling of vesicles containing glucose transporters between microsomes and plasma membrane. Recent rapid progress in moleluar biology of glucose transport may enable us to clarify the molecular mechanism of membrane transport.


To develop a prototype model of smart meter for the purpose of demand-side management. This work exchange sensitive data transfer between energy producer & the consumer, Thereby aims at increasing the efficiency of power consumption. One of the intent of DSM is to educate the consumer to take part in improving the peak load management by focusing the time of usage of load consumption. This smart meter transfer data to control centre wirelessly through IoT modem. . IoT V2 SIM-900 which sends data at a sampling rate of 56-114 kbps by a packet based wireless communication to the webpage through internet. The webpage which is created by an open source software www.iot cloud servers.com. The IoT modem not only acquiring data from the sensor to the cloud but also monitor such information and alert the users whenever the data sending route got damaged. In this work, the smart meters are communicated and monitored by one another and by the control center via UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter) to detect compromise attack, which uses Arduino UNO as a controller. Usually software can't protect hardware from physical attack. A little bit of Physical access to the smart meter is so dangerous, causes pwning, mess up with the memory and finally leads to faulty data reading. Buses are used in an embedded system to communicate with each other. Most commonly used protocols are I2C, UART and SPI. Whenever the bus protocol of a particular meter gets attacked/damaged. It couldn't send data to the main server. At that time, the data's are bypassed and safely send via neighbouring meter to the control centers. During this process is taking place the neighbouring meter couldn't see defected meters data, they can only do data transfer functions.


This case history critically reflects upon the implementation of an OCD initiative designed to improve the efficiency and productivity of management meetings and team meetings within one part of a large multinational financial bank situated in Portugal. It describes why the initial change strategy failed, and how a subsequent evidence-based approach to change agency practice helped bring about more effectively the desired improvements in the behavior and performance of managers and staff when attending meetings.


Neural stem cells are capable of generating new neurons during development as well as in the adulthood and represent one of the most promising tools to replace lost or damaged neurons after injury or neurodegenerative disease. Unlike the brain, neurogenesis in the adult spinal cord is poorly explored and the comprehensive characterization of the cells that constitute stem cell neurogenic niche is still missing. Moreover, the terminology used to specify developmental and/or anatomical CNS regions, where neurogenesis in the spinal cord occurs, is not consensual and the analogy with the brain is often unclear. In this review, we will try to describe the heterogeneity of the stem cell types in the spinal cord ependymal zone, based on their origin and stem cell potential. We will also consider specific animal in vitro models that could be useful to identify "the right" stem cell candidate for cell replacement therapies.


New systemic therapies are needed to improve the prognosis of patients with advanced‐stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In a Phase II trial involving previously untreated patients with advanced HCC, the more favorable schedule from a previous pilot study was evaluated.


The paper examines the poor-studied problems of poetics zefeuse one of the unique ancient genres of the Adyghe folklore. An analysis is made of the features of composition and the sound organization of a verse, as well as of typology of the cliche formulas used in the texts of debate.


A low-voltage temperature-insensitive full CMOS current reference circuit operating with a single-supply voltage between 2.5V and 5.5V is proposed. The current reference realizes a temperature coefficient of 98ppm/℃ over a temperature range from -25℃ to 75℃ and a simple calibration technique for output current variations improves the yield of the circuit. The reference is integrated with a 10b 20MHz sampling analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to verify its effectiveness in mixed-mode systems. The signal-to-noise-and- distortion ratio (SNDR) of the experimental ADC with a 10MHz input sinusoidal signal at a 20MHz sampling rate and a 3V supply voltage is measured to be 50dB.


Studies of the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) molecule at surfaces are driven by both the inherent interest in understanding different aspects of this molecule and its importance in biomimetic materials science and molecularelectronics. In this paper, we fabricate binary DNA/surfactant-modified DNA arrays on a heterogeneous patterned surface through twice controlled condensation and dewetting processes. Through the μCP technique, we created a hydrophobic/hydrophilic pattern, using a condensed microdroplet array as a template to fabricate a porous film of polystyrene (PS). With similarity to the "membrane-based patterning" method, this PS porous film was used as a mask, exposed hydrophilic regions inducing DNA to form as an array. After the PS porous films are peeled off, blocked surface sites emerged for the subsequent adsorption with other species. Through another condensation process, where a DNA aqueous solution droplet array could be used as a template, surfactant-modified DNA was sited in the ordered hydrophobic regions through a second dewetting process and hydrophobic interaction, and we fabricated binary arrays on the same surface. At the same time, the double-helical structure and function of DNA still remained. This provides a simple, flexible, and efficient patterning technique for biomolecules.


With the delay of a next-node lithography solution, lithographers are required to evaluate double patterning techniques such as double pattern/double etch (DP/DE) to meet scaling targets for the 22nm logic node. The tightest design rule level to pattern has traditionally been the first metal level. For this node, target minimum pitches are below 32 nm half pitch in order to meet cell area requirements. In this paper, we explore implications of the DP/DE approach when applied to complex 2D metal patterns. In addition to evaluating stitching rules for line ends, we move into complicated patterning structures such as landing pads neighboring metal runners and arrays of dense landing pads. These feature types are critical for area scaling; however, when these structures are patterned in a DP/DE scheme, the minimum area of the features needed for each pattern layer can be quite small. In this work, we explore minimum area rules for stitching together patterns as function of overlap with first pattern, minimum area and proximity to unrelated trench features on the same pattern. These results are shown thru simulation and on the wafer scale using a DP/DE approach which uses current 28 nm node imaging techniques.