Plant foliage is a difficult resource for animals to exploit. For example, only three orders of large terrestrial placental mammalian herbivores survive out of the 14 that have evolved. The phylogenetic history of insects also indicates a problem with exploiting foliage, but in their case it is demonstrated by relatively few orders ever having evolved an ability to eat foliage. Insects on Plants gives a broad overview of the research that can help to explain the apparent paradox of an abundant stationary resource that is seldom consumed to the extent that it becomes limiting to herbivores. The consideration of plants in this book is appropriately limited to foliage; other parts of terrestrial plants being under very different selective pressures. In order to make the narrative flow (which it does very well), taxonomic considerations for insects are relegated to two appendices. The first outlines the classification of phytophagous insects and gives a sketch of the feeding biology of groups down to major families. The second appendix gives support to the notion that, for some temperate biota and for some taxa of large insects, enough of the taxonomy is known to allow reasonable interpretation of community patterns. The book is introduced by three examples of insect communities, one taken from the research of each author. These examples introduce the research perspectives of the authors, which helps the reader to appreciate the aims of the book. The next chapter, on evolution, has two goals: presentation of the general problems of being a phytophagous insect and the phylogenetic history of these insects. The possibility that the problems of evolving to exploit new plant species are so difficult that communities of phytophagous insects are not yet close to species saturation is given support by the steady increase in taxonomic diversity of the fossil record. The remaining five chapters consider ecological relationships that can be used to interpret the evolution of community structure for phytophagous insects. Species diversity of insect communities increases with geographic area sampled and with the structural complexity of plant growth form. The increase with area is not just a function of increasing plant species diversity


We consider a standard growth model augmented with a share of rule of thumb con- sumers. A Government ?nances a preset level of public expenditure through ?at tax rates on labor and capital income and also makes lump sum transfers to non ricardian consumers. It has been shown in representative agents models with perfect competition that balanced budget rules with endogenous tax rates are likely to generate indetermi- nacy of the perfect foresight equilibrium. We show that the presence of rule of thumb consumers reduces this possibility. Further, we show that a ?scal reform which features a reduction in the capital income tax rate and leads to the steady state where the welfare of non ricardian agents is maximized could be Pareto improving. This is obtained via a direct redistribution of resources to rule of thumb consumers along the transition path.


As a method of Practice Teaching,moot court contributes to Legal Talents in the future than traditional classroom. Butmoot court does not achieve function because of little play. So we should research the real question during the teaching course,thanmake reformation and realize strategy forExcellentLegalTalents.


The variation in the number of erect hairs on the different parts of the body of large workers of the taxonomically difficult Formica rufa group (excluding pratensis-nigricans) was analysed. Samples of about five individuals from 122 more or less randomly chosen nests from different parts of Sweden were compared by a principal component analysis of a matrix of correlation coefficients. The four clusters obtained by this analysis (correspond- ing to the species: potyctena, rufa, aquilonia, and lugubris) vary considerably in the characters studied. Despite the large variation good discriminating characters were found permitting the specific identification of single large workers in most cases. The four species do not vary geographically as is shown by the lack of correlation among the geographical and morphological distances between the nests.


The smart grid is an emerging cyber-physical system that integrates power infrastructures with information technologies. In the smart grid, wireless networks have been proposed for efficient communications. However, the jamming attack that broadcasts radio interference is a primary security threat to prevent the deployment of wireless networks. Hence, spread spectrum systems with jamming resilience must be adapted to the smart grid to secure wireless communications. There have been extensive works on designing spread spectrum schemes to achieve feasible communication under jamming attacks. Nevertheless, an open question in the smart grid is how to minimize message delay for timely communication in power applications. In this paper, we address this problem in a wireless network with spread spectrum systems for the smart grid. By defining a generic jamming process that characterizes a wide range of existing jamming models, we show that the worst-case message delay is a U-shaped function of network traffic load. This indicates that, interestingly, increasing a fair amount of redundant traffic, called camouflage, can improve the worst-case delay performance. We demonstrate via experiments that transmitting camouflage traffic can decrease the probability that a message is not delivered on time in order of magnitude for smart grid applications.


Next generation applications and services have to be user-centric, and therefore must satisfy users' needs and improve users' lives. These systems also have to be able to adapt to different contexts, foresee users' intentions, provide recommendations accordingly and protect users' privacy at the same time. In this paper we present our research on context-awareness applications, context-recognition techniques and privacy and trust. To demonstrate the feasibility and the progress in this area, we have developed a set of representative applications, two of which are presented in this paper. This perspective is the first glimpse of the forthcoming applications and services in the mobile domain. In the discussion, we summarize the many possibilities and describe the challenges for the research brought in by these new topics.


With great pleasure, we welcome you to the 9th ACM SIG-Information Technology Education Conference -- SIGITE 2008.

This year's conference continues its tradition of being the premier forum for presentation of research results and classroom experience regarding the pillars of information technology education: programming, networking, web technologies, resource management and human-computer interaction. Our mission is to share novel, practical and generally applicable pedagogical approaches to all topics in IT education, demonstrate effective bridges between academia and industry, and provide an environment conducive to peer discussion, student engagement and institutional cooperation.

The call for papers attracted 76 full-paper submissions from all over the world. The program committee accepted 39 papers and 9 posters that cover a variety of topics, including general IT Education as well as online education issues, IT Curriculum Development in Programming and System Design, and Accreditation issues. Panels include a session devoted to exploring concerns around the involvement of women in IT and IT education, the formalization of an IT research agenda and standardizing network diagrams. We have a very full conference and look forward to your participation.


S. G. Weinrach, D. Lustig, F. Chan, and K. R. Thomas (1998) made unwarranted claims about the number of psychologists publishing in the Journal of Counseling & Development during 1978 to 1993 as well as their membership in the American Counseling Association. The authors' claims are evaluated and then discussed in the context of the long-standing counseling-counseling psychology relationship.


To obtain products of high quality software it is necessary to carry out good processes management in which measurement is a key factor. Therefore, companies should focus on continuous improvement cycles that integrate both the development process and the product obtained, to increase quality in both aspects. This cycle of improvement involves the adoption of a quality model appropriate to the characteristics of the company and a methodology that guides the software development cycle. In this sense, the agile philosophy proves to be the most suitable approach for the current development environments, and they are positioned as an alternative to the development processes with high cost in documentation and excessively long processes. This paper presents the results obtained by automation of QuAM Model [1] for the quality evaluation of agile projects on actual production environments and the subsequent analysis based on these projects.


Responsibility for corngrowing lay with local Communist Party and government organizations, who inherited inertia, arbitrariness, and management practices from the Stalin era that contributed to the failure to meet Khrushchev's expectations. Rejecting formerly orthodox land management practices, Khrushchev demanded industrial farming based on machines, chemicals, and corn. In one striking case, the party organization in the small Baltic republic of Lithuania, knit together by national identity, lied to Moscow. Leaders assured Khrushchev and his aides that the republic's farms had planted substantial tracts of corn, concealing the fact they followed their own judgment by planting crop rotations better adapted to local conditions. These instances challenge established scholarly conceptions supposing that power flowed from Moscow downward and outward to local authorities who unquestioningly carried out orders. Instead, these cases indicate that local officials balanced competing imperatives, made choices, and avoided the consequences by covering their tracks.


The pathogenecity for mice of S. aureus, Cowan I, and derived mutants and revertants was investigated by two methods, one involving intravenous injections and the other, subcutaneous injections in cotton dust. Mutants and revertants with reduced production of protein A and α-haemolysin, or loss of protein A and coagulase, showed only a slight decrease in pathogenicity compared with the wild type, as determined by the two pathogenicity tests. Mutants which lacked protein A, nuclease, coagulase, fibrinolysin, mannitol utilization, and phage type pattern, and mutants producing only nuclease or α-haemolysin showed significantly decreased pathogenicity. Reproducible results were obtained with both subcutaneous and intravenous injections. Similar results were obtained with normal guinea pigs infected intracardially. No spontaneous in vivo reversion was detected. It is concluded that the pathogenicity of S. aureus depends on the combined effects of many products including protein A.


EULAR has recently highlighted the vital role of digital health in standard practice and the possibility to enhance the patient's quality of life. Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) plays an important role in improving clinical outcomes in inflammatory arthritis patients. The aim of CBT is to boost patients' self-efficacy for pain management, or their confidence in their ability to control their pain, and lessen the interference that pain causes in their everyday lives.CBT does this by educating patients on how to develop more efficient coping mechanisms to deal with everyday pain sensations and enhance functionality and quality of life. So far, no comprehensive mobile app has been developed to facilitate the collaboration between patients and their CBT therapist, especially with those having monetary and physical constraints related to their disease.1-To provide basic data on system requirement specifications for a mobile app to provide constructed CBT program for RA patients 2. Identify the target audience, characteristics of the app, and correlations between the system requirements and the established CBT.To identify the major themes recognised as the main pillars for app development and inform the app developer/machine learning engineer, a participatory action research design was implemented. Qualitative data were collected using multiple methods in four workshops. Participants were 2 Rheumatologists, 1 rheumatology nurse specialist, 1 Psychiatrist4 rheumatoid arthritis patient, and an App developer. A taxonomy was used to determine the degree of correlation between the system requirements and established cognitive behavioral therapy techniques.The app targets the optimization of patient-reported outcomes and quality of life to provide a non-medical management approach via modifying Disease-specific dysfunctional beliefs and behaviors using cognitive and/or behavioral exercises in a structured manner. The major themes identified were: 1. collect self-completed patient-reported outcomes (disease functional ability, quality of life, motivation), 2. Collect information on patient demographics, comorbidity(ies), disease activity status (self-reported disease activity score), plus past and current medications, 3. Identify the individual patient's target to be achieved, 4. Develop a patient profile that focuses on the patient's perpetuating factors, 5. construction of a personalized, evidence-based disease management program based on recommendations from medical guidelines, medical standards, and state-of-the-art clinical research; 6. implementation of a personalized CBT program for Effective Coping, Life Goals, Pain Management, Emotional Responses, Managing Change, Self-Esteem, Relationships 7. a calendar feature for goal setting, planning, and recording of physical activity performance and progress, 8. a small community feature for positive feedback, support from peers and support the patient in coping with stress, sadness, depression, pain, fatigue, and further disease-related symptoms, 9. Implementation of relaxation exercises, 10. adapt a reward system to motivate end users for using the app,11. to help the patients learn ways to cope with increased resilience to disease-related episodes.12. Format the app interface.These findings highlight the potential of implementing digital CBT to encourage RA patients to be able to cope with their disease, change wrong beliefs, allow them to retain jobs, socialize normally, and engage with healthcare professionals. The results of this work suggest that using an app-based personalized disease management program may reflect significantly on several measures of patient-reported outcomes and disease quality of life in RA considering alleviating conventional physical CBT barriers. Future feasibility testing in a prospective study will firmly establish the reliability, efficacy, and cost-effectiveness of such an app intervention for this cohort of RA patients.NIL.NIL.None Declared.


Background Dental abnormalities are considered important, since they cause aesthetic and functional problems for people. Orthodontic treatment becomes more complicated when craniofacial abnormalities are accompanied with dental abnormalities. Objective This study aims to compare the frequency and type of dental abnormalities among patients with different skeletal malocclusion classes in northern Iran in terms of age and gender. Methods Participants were 310 patients (32.9% Class I, 33.9% Class II, and 33.2% Class III). They were evaluated with respect to hypodontia, hyperdontia, impaction, microdontia, macrodontia, and dens invaginatus/evaginatus. Association of the prevalence of dental abnormalities with the type of malocclusion and gender was assessed by chi-square test and Fisher's exact test, while independent t-test was used to determine its association with age. Results The overall frequency of dental abnormalities was 33%. Class III patients had the highest rate of dental abnormalities (40.8%); however, the difference was not statistically significant (P=0.105). Hypodontia and impacted teeth were the most frequent abnormalities in all malocclusion groups. Occurrence of tooth impaction differed significantly among the three malocclusion groups (P<0.001), where the highest rate belonged to the class III group. Hypodontia was more frequent in males (P=0.040). Tooth impaction and microdontia were the two abnormalities that showed significant association with age (P<0.05). Conclusion Dental abnormalities in northern Iran is more prevalent among people with the skeletal class III malocclusion. The prevalence of some dental abnormalities is associated with gender and age.


India is land of diversity religious, regional, cultural etc. political parties have important role in ensuring the effective and inclusive representation and participation of these diversified people in Indian Parliamentary Democracy. it is because the role of Indian National Congress in freedom struggle of India that it has gained dominance over the electoral mandate of India in post-independence era. The coalition is directly reflecting the growing regional aspirations and demands. It is an awakening of people towards the development of their region and addressing their grievances. Coalition government has both positive and negative impact. It is effective for enhanced participation, decentralization, political awareness and education, etc. the other side consequences of coalition government is Hung legislature/ parliament, sudden fall of government, cabinet fissures, weak centre etc. it is in view of these impacts coalition in J&K being analysed as therapy for democratic activity, whether it proved fruitful in strengthening democracy in J&K or influenced otherwise. PDP and Congress was first ever successful coalition government formed in J&K completed almost full term.


The platformOViA is a semiconductor solution that systematizes LSIs optimized for mobile devices, digital AV devices and automotive information systems with the OS or middleware, which is the basic component of a system's configuration. It features standardization of the multimedia processing interface to enable the most advanced IP available in the IT industry and pre-integration to enhance the product development capabilities of users. platformOViA represents the key strategy for NEC Electronics Corporation to expand its ASSP (Application-Specific Standard Products) business.


Vibration acceleration detection of spindle monitoring requires that the accelerometer has an adequate measurement sensitivity and response frequency above the interested range. This paper aims at design a kind of micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) accelerometer that can be used in the spindle component's vibration detection. To measure the vibration acceleration of the high speed spindle accurately, the accelerometer uses the cantilever beam-membrane (CBM) structure as sensing structure. In order to verify that the design of the sensor can be used in the spindle monitoring system, the vibration signal of spindle monitoring system were tested at different rotational speed. Experimental results show that the developed sensor is able to accurately identify the vibration signals in the monitoring system.


Although dietary cholesterol undoubtedly affects the plasma cholesterol level, the magnitude of this effect depends on several factors: 1. the amount of cholesterol ingested; 2. the amount of dietary fat; 3. the type of dietary fat; 4. the efficiency of metabolic compensatory mechanisms; 5. interactions with other dietary factors. Some of these are not sufficiently well recognized and account for considerable confusion. For instance, studies in which the addition of a single egg (250mg cholesterol) to a daily diet already rich in cholesterol, carried out in outpatients in whom other dietary constituents are surmised but not established, cannot be interpreted. The apparent absence of a clear relationship between dietary cholesterol and coronary disease within a single affluent society (in contrast to studies between populations) is similarly clouded, although such a relationship has recently been shown in the Chicago Western Electric Study (1).


According to the tactical technical specification,it is the chasing first goal to the mast of the op - timal scantling and optimal mechanical property of the structure material in the optimization design of submarine pressure hull structure.Using approximate goal programming the multiple goal model can be turned into single-goal programming model under nonlinear constrained optimization.Solving the optimum solution corresponding to the continuous variables and the discrete variables,and rounding these variables to normalized variables,and at last the relative effective solution is obtained which is corresponded to full the stresses design and relative lighter the pressure hull weight.


The paper presents an approach to three-dimensional visualization of idealized growth and division of the shoot apex meristem of a plant root based on simplification of cells to the form of noncomplex polyhedrons rendered by a graphic library. The vertices of polyhedrons are processed by a growth algorithm, which determines their position in space and successively increases their size until the division criterion is fulfilled and division is triggered. The proposed method allows simulation of the aforementioned processes and observation of their characteristics through animation of a single cell or large sets of cells.


BACKGROUND
Point of care (POC) testing is rapidly evolving. POC testing is often managed by POC coordinators (POCC), but this role is relatively new and has not been characterized.

OBJECTIVES
To characterize the background, responsibilities, and job satisfaction of POCCs.

METHODS
Structured interviews were conducted with 15 POCCs. On the basis of these interviews, a 38-item questionnaire was developed and administered as a web-based survey.

RESULTS
The respondents (N = 98) were mostly female (87%) and had a bachelor's degree (79%). About half the respondents were older than 55 years and were in supervisory positions. Overall, respondents indicated high job satisfaction, but women were significantly less satisfied than men. POCCs were infrequently involved in decisions regarding the implementation of new tests. The number of tests managed by each POCC varied widely (median, 6.0; range, 1-30).

CONCLUSIONS
The POCC role is in flux. There is consensus regarding some aspects of the job, but there are significant differences in the way that hospitals organize the POCC function.


The upstream regions of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) have undergone significant changes in land use during recent years, and these changes have strongly influenced runoff generation downstream. In this study, the relationships between land use changes and corresponding hydrological responses in the Dong and Puli River basins in the upstream region of the TGR were quantified using the runoff coefficient. Empirical regression equations between the runoff coefficient and the percentage of land use types were developed for the study area using partial least squares regression (PLSR). The Soil and Water Assessment Tool was used to simulate the runoff generation processes in the two basins, and land use maps developed using Landsat Thematic Mapper images from 2000, 2005, and 2010 were compared to extract information on changes in land use. The results showed that the total area of forest and pasture decreased over the 10‐year study period, while paddy fields and upland increased in both basins. These land use changes dramatically affected hydrological processes. Evapotranspiration decreased by 2.13% and 2.41% between 2000 and 2010 in the Dong and Puli River basins, respectively, whereas quickflow, infiltration, and baseflow increased to varying degrees. The PLSR modeling results showed that upland had a negative effect on the runoff coefficient and was the most influential land use type in the study area. In contrast, a positive effect of forest on runoff generation was found in most of the regression models. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Over the last 20 years, there has occurred an increase in the number, scope, and impact of nanomaterials projects. By leveraging the Surface Plasmon Resonance of metallic nanoparticles for labelling, sensing, and treatment, researchers have demonstrated the versatile utility of these nanomaterials in medicine. The literature provides evidence of use of simple, well-known chemistry for nanomaterials synthesis when the focus is new applications of nanomaterials. A case in point, is the synthesis of metallic nanoparticles, whereby HAuCl4, CuCl2, Cu(acac)2, and AgNO3 are typically employed as nanoparticle precursors. Unfortunately, the use of these precursors limits the number of applications available to these materials - particularly for AuNPs in medicine, where the byproducts of nanoparticle synthesis (most often surface-adsorbed reductants, toxic stabilizers, and growth directors) cause nanoparticles to fail clinical trials. Despite the several thousand publications detailing the advancements in nanoparticle therapeutics, as of 2017, there were only 50 FDA-approved nanoparticle formulations. Less than 10 were based on metallic nanoparticles. This is a problem because many of these nanoparticle therapeutics demonstrate potent cell killing ability and labeling of cells. A solution to this problem may be the use of weakly coordinated, monovalent metal complexes, which require only one electron to reduce them to their metallic state. Further, by designing nanoparticle syntheses around these monovalent complexes, we can employ weaker, environmentally friendly stabilizers. This strategy also forgoes the use of exogenous reducing agents, because the monovalent complexes can be reduced and stabilized by one reagent. Herein we investigate the use of Au(Me2S)Cl, [Cu(MeCN)4]BF4, and AgBF4 with green stabilizers to synthesize a variety of nanomaterials. We find that a range of sizes of spherical particles, as well as a range of sizes of gold triangular prisms can be synthesized by using techniques that follow this strategy.


Pomalidomide, an analogue of thalidomide, is a new immunomodulatory antineoplastic agent. It was licensed in Europe in August 2013 in combination with dexamethasone for the treatment of adult pa-tients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma (MM) who have received at least two prior treatment regimens, including both lenalidomide and bortezomib, and have demonstrated disease progression on the last therapy. Since few therapeutic options exist for heavily pre-treated patients who -despite undergoing established therapies- have relapsed and refractory MM, new treatments are needed for this indication.
In the U.S., pomalidomide was licensed under the accelerated approval regulations based on the results of two phase II studies, whereas EMA's decision rested already on a phase III study. This phase III study comprised overall 455 patients and compared pomalidomide in combination with low dose dexamethasone with high dose dexamethasone. Progression-free survival, the primary study outcome, was prolonged by 2.1 months for patients treated with pomalidomide in comparison with the control group. Improved results were also found for overall survival, overall response rate and preliminary results for quality-of-life also indicated improvements for these patients.
Since therapy for MM is currently undergoing substantial changes, questions as to the optimal sequences and combination of regimens are raised. Also, long-term data on safety are needed to better characterise the role of pomalidomide for the treatment of MM.


In the current study,the activity of matrix metalloproteinases(MMPs) in the uterine flushing and endometrial tissue of normal adult rabbits wearing FCu-IUD or FICu-IUD (containing in- domethacin) was observed by zymograph on SDS-PAGE containing gelatin. These experiments showed that the activity and kind of MMPs in the FCu-IUD group were increased significantly as- compared with the control group. However, compared with the FCu-IUD group, the activities of some kinds of MMPs in the FICu-IUD group were decreased significantly and the kinds of activi- ty-decreased MMPs were different between the uterine flushing and endometrial tissue. These data suggest that IUD can enhance the activity of MMPs in rabbit uterus, intermediated by prostaglandins,and MMPs may have relation to IUD-induced menorrhagia and indomethecin re- duce IUD-induced menorrhagia by inhibiting part of MMPs synthesis.


The present investigation is to assess the free radical quenching potential of Novel Theophylline containing derivatives, using DPPH and Nitric oxide methods. The synthetic compounds C-16 and C-17 were used to assess the antioxidant activity were measured spectrophotometrically. The C-17 compound (78.7±0.608 in DPPH and 69.5±0.495 in Nitric oxide assay at 160ug/ml) showed more antioxidant potential than C-16 compound (73.4±0.515 in DPPH and 65.5±0.496 in Nitric oxide assay at 160 ug/ml). Both the C-16 and C-17 compounds have showed less Nitric oxide scavenging than the DPPH scavenging activity and were comparable with standard Ascorbic acid. The results obtained from the present study were showed that the C-16 and C-17 compounds exhibited potential source of antioxidant activity. The novel Theophylline derivatives were showed dose dependent inhibition of free radicals which might be due to the presence of purine ring system in their chemical structure, especially alkyl side chain in the C-17 compound.


We have measured the hydrogen content ratio ISiH2/ISiH associated with Si–H2 and Si–H bonds in p–i–n (PIN) a-Si:H solar cells by Raman spectroscopy. With decreasing ISiH2/ISiH, the efficiency, short-circuit current density, open-circuit voltage, and fill factor of PIN a-Si:H solar cells after light soaking tend to increase. Namely, ISiH2/ISiH correlates well with light-induced degradation of the cells. While a single I-layer has a low ISiH2/ISiH of 0.03–0.09, a PIN cell has ISiH2/ISiH = 0.18 because many Si–H2 bonds exist in the P-layer and at the P/I interface of the PIN solar cells. To realize PIN solar cells with higher stability, we must suppress Si–H2 bond formation in the P-layer and at the P/I interface.


In this paper, we report the initial demonstration of mid-infrared interband cascade (IC) photodetector focal plane arrays with multiple-stage/junction design. The merits of IC photodetectors include low noise and efficient photocarrier extraction, even for zero-bias operation. By adopting enhanced electron barrier design and a total absorber thickness of 0.7 μm, the 5-stage IC detectors show very low dark current (1.10 × 10−7 A/cm2 at −5 mV and 150 K). Even with un-optimized fabrication and standard commercial (mis-matched) read-out circuit technology, infrared images are obtained by the 320 × 256 IC focal plane array up to 180 K with f/2.3 optics. The minimum noise equivalent temperature difference of 28 mK is obtained at 120 K. These initial results indicate great potential of IC photodetectors, particularly for high operating temperature applications.


The deployment and commissioning of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, the (presumed) discovery of the Higgs boson, the last undetected particle of the standard model and the ensuing awarding...


This paper describes a set-up for high-resolution imaging with a conventional microscope that allows producing a 3D-image set from which a 3D model can be derived. The 3D-image set, is de facto, a gray value voxel model. In order to obtain such 3D image set a good administration needs to be maintained at acquisition and moreover, the acquisition must be realized in two steps. High-resolution images are built of image tiles and sophisticated algorithms are required to build a coherent image from the tiles.


Overview Approximately 3 % to 6% of all school-aged children are believed to have developmental reading disabilities. or dyslexia. In fact. almost 50% of children receiving special education have learning disabilities, and dyslexia is the most prevalent form. Consequently. dyslexia has been given considerable attention by researchers. and extensive literature exists on instruction and remediation methods.


Context The frequency of infection with West Nile virus is increasing rapidly in the United States. While the most fatal and closely studied manifestations of the disease are meningitis and encephalitis, little is known about the symptoms and clinical outcomes of West Nile fever. Contribution The authors interviewed 98 people with nonparalytic West Nile fever following recovery. Muscle weakness, fatigue, headache, difficulty concentrating, and fever were common manifestations. Approximately one third of patients required hospitalization. Median time to full recovery was 60 days. Implications Even in the absence of neurologic manifestations, West Nile virus infection is a potentially severe and debilitating illness. The Editors West Nile virus is a mosquito-borne pathogen with a wide geographic distribution in the eastern hemisphere (1). The first documented West Nile virus infections in the United States occurred in 1999 in New York City (2). Since then, the distribution of the virus has expanded rapidly and the number of infections has increased (3-5). In 2002, 4156 cases of West Nile virus disease and 284 deaths were reported throughout the United States (6), compared with 62 cases and 7 deaths in 1999 (2). Illinois had 884 documented cases with 66 deaths in 2002 (7). In 2003, the expansion continued; 9858 cases and 262 deaths were reported nationally (8). Since the initial identification and isolation of West Nile virus in 1937 (9), associated outbreaks have typically been characterized by mild febrile illnesses (10). Starting in the mid-1990s, however, the frequency and severity of outbreaks increased (11). Recent outbreaks in Romania, Russia, and Israel involved hundreds of persons and high rates of severe neurologic disease and fatalities (12-14). Most recent studies on infections caused by West Nile virus have focused on persons with neurologic disease, such as meningitis or encephalitis (10). However, 3 serologic studies of persons in the United States and Romania found that meningitis or encephalitis occurred in only about 1 of 150 infected persons (12, 15, 16). In addition, the serologic study conducted by Mostashari and colleagues (15) during the 1999 New York City outbreak found that most infections are not clinically apparent; only approximately 20% of infected persons developed symptoms that could be attributed to the virus. On the basis of the number of meningitis and encephalitis cases reported in 1999, the authors estimated that 3500 to 13000 West Nile virus infections occurred throughout the greater New York City area that year. West Nile fever is often the term used to describe symptomatic infections without neurologic disease. The typical description is a febrile illness of sudden onset lasting 3 to 6 days and often accompanied by malaise, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, eye pain, headache, myalgias, and rash (17). Clinical characterization of West Nile fever cases, however, is poor (10). Methods Case Finding and Case Definition Human cases of aseptic meningitis and encephalitis are reportable conditions in Illinois. In 2002, the Illinois Department of Public Health tested all cerebrospinal fluid and blood specimens submitted for suspected arboviral infection, regardless of clinical picture. In addition, the Illinois Department of Public Health accepted positive results on laboratory tests for West Nile virus infection from commercial laboratories. Whenever the Illinois Department of Public Health notified a local health authority of a West Nile viruspositive result in a resident of its jurisdiction, the local health authority conducted an epidemiologic investigation of the case. Persons who had positive test results but did not meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention definition for meningitis or encephalitis and did not satisfy published criteria for diagnosis of West Nile virusassociated acute flaccid paralysis (18) were considered to have West Nile fever. As part of the West Nile virus outbreak investigation conducted by the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Chicago Department of Public Health, West Nile fever cases were characterized in terms of reported symptoms and illness severity. We classified cases of West Nile virus disease on the basis of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention case definitions for meningitis and encephalitis due to arboviral disease (19). The laboratory criterion for a confirmed diagnosis of West Nile virus disease was West Nile virus IgM in cerebrospinal fluid or West Nile virus genomic sequences in blood or cerebrospinal fluid. The laboratory criterion for a probable diagnosis of West Nile virus disease was West Nile virus IgM in serum. Cases were then classified on the basis of reported clinical criteria. We excluded patients with meningitis (fever, headache, stiff neck, and pleocytosis) or encephalitis (fever, headache, altered mental status, and pleocytosis). Patients with acute, progressive, asymmetric weakness, with or without the signs and symptoms of meningitis or encephalitis, were excluded because of the possibility of acute flaccid paralysis. The remaining patients were classified as having West Nile fever, defined as West Nile virus IgM or genomic sequences in serum but no symptoms or signs of meningitis, encephalitis, or acute flaccid paralysis. To ensure the exclusion of patients exhibiting more serious neurologic signs, we checked West Nile fever case reports before interviews to confirm that no patients had had lumbar puncture performed or cerebrospinal fluid submitted for laboratory evaluation and that confusion was not listed on the case report as a symptom. We confirmed this information with patients at the time of the interview. In addition, we obtained information from hospital records of selected patients when necessary to verify classification of illness. Data Collection To assess the clinical syndrome and functional outcomes of West Nile fever, we interviewed affected patients by telephone using a standard questionnaire. The questionnaire contained questions about the presence and duration of 18 different symptoms, hospitalization and other medical visits, medications taken or prescribed, the impact of the illness on daily activities, the amount of work or school missed, and underlying medical conditions during the illness (diabetes mellitus, history of cancer of any type, hypertension, heart disease, liver disease, kidney disease, and history of organ transplantation or immunosuppression). We determined duration of illness using self-reported illness information obtained at the time of the interview. Patients who lived in areas under the jurisdiction of participating local health departments and who were able to independently answer questions were eligible for inclusion. Statistical Analysis We used Epi Info (version 6.04b, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia) and SAS (version 8.2, SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, North Carolina) to analyze the collected data. Simple proportions and medians were generated to describe the frequencies with which symptoms were reported, symptom duration, and the effects of symptoms on daily activities. We used the t-test to determine the statistical significance of differences in the means of continuous data and the MantelHaenszel chi-square test to determine the statistical significance of differences in proportions. We calculated 95% CIs of proportions using Wald methods. Because some individuals had continuing symptoms at the time of the interview, we examined the relationship between age and duration of illness using proportional hazards modeling; illness durations in persons with continuing symptoms were considered to be censored. We assessed the proportional hazards assumptions by introducing a time-dependent covariatethe interaction between age and timeto test whether there was a systematic increase or decrease in the effect of age across time. We assessed possible confounding due to hospitalization and underlying illness by including terms in the proportional hazards regression model. Results In 2002, 331 West Nile virus infections reported in Illinois residents met the case definition for West Nile fever. Of these, 140 persons (42%) lived in jurisdictions of participating local health departments and were eligible for inclusion in the study. No information was obtained on 191 individuals (58%) who lived in jurisdictions of nonparticipating health departments. Of the 140 persons eligible for inclusion, 29 were not interviewed because of incorrect telephone numbers; 9 could not be reached in at least 3 attempts; 3 were unwilling or unable to participate; and 1, who was 3 years of age, was not evaluated. The remaining 98 patients, who did not report having a lumbar puncture and had no record of submission of cerebrospinal fluid for laboratory testing, were enrolled in the study. Interviews were conducted from 18 December 2002 to 27 April 2003, a median of 168 days (range, 84 to 254 days) after illness onset. Thirty-eight of 98 patients (39%) had ongoing symptoms at the time of the interview. Questionnaire responses were missing for fever duration in 4 patients, for presence of fever in 1 patient, for duration of muscle weakness in 1 patient, and for duration of rash in 2 patients. Patients with missing responses were not included in the calculated proportions. One patient had unclear information about onset of illness, and date of laboratory diagnosis was used in place of illness onset date. In addition, 1 patient had unclear duration information and was excluded from the analysis of illness duration. The respondents were not significantly different in terms of sex and age from nonparticipating Illinois patients with West Nile fever (Table 1). Table 1. Characteristics of Respondents and Nonrespondents Laboratory Confirmation Standard laboratory methods were used to identify evidence of West Nile virus infection in the serum specimens of the 98 enrolled p


This paper develops a conceptual framework for the analysis of benefit-sharing in light of its gradual development in international law as a basis for more detailed legal analysis (in the areas of international biodiversity, climate change, human rights, oceans, food, agriculture and land law). It teases out the inter-State, intra-State and transnational dimensions of benefit-sharing, with a view to mapping its multiple manifestations, connections among them, and their implications for pursuing equity among and within States in addressing global environmental challenges.


We study the field theoretical model of a scalar field in presence of spacial inhomogeneities in form of one and two finite width mirrors (material slabs). The interaction of the scalar field with the defect is described with position-dependent mass term. Within this model we derive the interaction of two finite width mirrors, establish the correspondence of the model to the Lifshitz formula and construct limiting procedure to obtain finite self-energy of a single mirror without any normalization condition.


This paper focuses on the shellfish and fish remains recovered at the Punta Atalaia site (Galicia, Spain). Their analysis allows us to evaluate the exploitation of marine resources in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula during Roman Times. Certain continuity with operating models defined for pre-Roman periods is found during the first occupation phase of this hillfort (1st century AD). However, data analysis for later times (2nd-5th centuries AD) indicates a greater complexity that may respond to an increasing market demand for these products and to an improved fishing and shellfishing gear. This is particularly noticeable due to an increase of gregarious pelagic fish and shellfish from the lower littoral.


Eighteen patients with relapse of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) were treated with recombinant human a2a interferon (IFN). Relapse was defined as greater than 90% metaphases containing the Philadelphia chromosome (Ph) and hematologic abnormalities consistent with chronic-phase (CP) CML. There were 11 males and seven females, with a median age of 38 years (range, 3 to 55). Three patients relapsed after second BMT. Only one patient had received T-cell-depleted marrow initially. The initial IFN dose of 3 x lo6 U/m2/d was escalated to the maximum tolerated dose or to a maximum of 6 x lo6 U/m*/d. IFN controlled the white blood cell (WBC) counts in 14 of 16 patients who had abnormal counts, and in all six patients with an elevated platelet count. Six patients (33%)


In the years I have been a nurse I have witnessed and engaged with massive changes in care delivery, preparation for practice and workforce management. All of which have created immense stresses for nurses. In recent times there has been a great deal written about nursing and a significant proportion of what is written focuses on unconstructive aspects such as lack of work-readiness and personcenteredness. In this editorial I will examine health care and its relationship with resilience in nurses.


This paper deals with the nonlinear gravito-electrostatic fluctuations in star-forming rotating complex partially ionized dust molecular clouds, evolutionarily well-governed by a derived pair of the Korteweg–de Vries (KdV) equations of a unique analytical shape, in a bi-fluidic-model fabric. The lighter constituent species, such as electrons and ions, are considered thermo-statistically as the nonthermal ones in nature, governed by the anti-equilibrium kappa-distribution laws, due to inherent nonlocal gradient effects stemming from large-scale inhomogeneity. The heavier species, such as the constitutive identical neutral and charged dust micro-spheres, are treated as separate turbulent viscous fluids in the Larson logatropic tapestry. Application of a standard technique of multiple scale analysis over the nonlinearly perturbed cloud procedurally yields the pair KdV system. It comprises of the gravitational KdV and electrostatic KdV equations with exclusive constructs of diversified multi-parametric coeffi...


Spinel Li4Ti5O12 used as negative electrode material for lithium-ion battery has been widely studied because of its reliability and safety in case of overcharge and quick charging performance.The preparing methods at domestic and abroad of spinel Li4Ti5O12were introduced.Through some comparison analysis,the existing problems,advantages and disadvantages of those methods were discussed,corresponding solutions of preparing spinel Li4Ti5O12 were introduced,and development trend of Li4Ti5O12 as anode material for lithium-ion power battery were expected.Li4Ti5O12 is a promising material for lithium-ion battery using in hybrid electrical vehicles.


The finite element of a prestressed concrete(PSC) beam is analyzed in a case of diverse prestressing forces.The mechanical model applied is that advanced by Clough for a concrete beam bearing axial force.The results indicate that the beam frequencies decrease with increasing prestressing force.A dynamic experiment of a non-bonded PSC beam was carried out to validate the veracity of the finite element analysis.Test beam frequencies increase with increasing prestressing force.The analysis model thus is unfit for frequency analysis of a PSC beam.The determinant factor of frequencies is analyzed,and the dynamic model is modified according to experimental results.The modified model analysis result shows that: the calculated frequencies of mode 1 agree with the test results well;the frequencies of mode 2 posses some errors;and,the modified model can reflect the direction of frequency change along with the change of prestressing force well.


In the design and making of complex architectural systems, sheet metal is still predominantly used as a cladding material. The objective here is to integrate innovative digital and analogue methodologies to develop a design system for a self‐supporting lightweight structure entirely based on the use of sheet metal as a construction material.


We propose a first-ever attempt to employ a Long Short-Term memory based framework to predict humor in dialogues. We analyze data from a popular TV-sitcom, whose canned laughters give an indication of when the audience would react. We model the setup-punchline relation of conversational humor with a Long Short-Term Memory, with utter-ance encodings obtained from a Convolutional Neural Network. Out neural network framework is able to improve the F-score of 8% over a Conditional Random Field baseline. We show how the LSTM effectively models the setup-punchline relation reducing the number of false positives and increasing the recall. We aim to employ our humor prediction model to build effective empathetic machine able to understand jokes.


Aims. We re-examine the possibility that astrophysical jet collimation may arise from the geometry of rotating black holes and the presence of high-energy particles resulting from a Penrose process, without the help of magnetic fields. Methods. Our analysis uses the Weyl coordinates, which are revealed better adapted to the desired shape of the jets. We numerically integrate the 2D-geodesics equations. Results. We give a detailed study of these geodesics and give several numerical examples. Among them are a set of perfectly collimated geodesics with asymptotes ρ = ρ1 parallel to the z-axis, with ρ1 only depending on the ratios Q E2−1 and a M ,w herea and M are the parameters of the Kerr black hole, E the particle energy and Q the Carter's constant.


Polysaccharides of flaxseed coat (flax mucilage) were removed by soaking of whole seeds in water or sodium bicarbonate solution or treatment with commercially- available carbohydrases. The extent of polysaccharide removal was determined by monitoring the concentration of total sugars and pentoses as well as viscosity values of the aqueous polysaccharide extracts prepared from treated flaxseed. A direct relationship existed between the amount of seeds dispersed in the extraction medium and the total contents of sugars and pentoses or viscosity values (correlation coefficients of 0.957, 0.974 and 0.921, respectively). These indicators served well in quantitating the content of polysaccharides in aqueous extracts. Soaking in a 0.10 M sodium bicarbonate solution for 12 h removed most of the mucilage from seed coats. Treatment of seeds with Viscozyme® L (22.5 mg protein/100 g seeds) for 12 h removed more polysaccharides from seed coat than Pectinex™ Ultra SP or Celluclast® 1.5L under similar conditions. Scanning electron microscopy provided evidence that polysaccharides were removed from seed coats by pre-treatments employed. Nitrogen solubility and protein recovery from meals of mucilage-reduced seeds was improved since there was less interference from seed coat polysaccharides which were co-extracted with proteins. Sodium hexametaphosphate-assisted protein isolation from mucilage-reduced seeds was optimized under laboratory conditions for pH, meal-to- solvent ratio and concentration of sodium hexametaphosphate using response surface methodology with a central composite rotatable design. Maximum nitrogen solubility and protein recovery were obtained at pH 8.89 and 9.04, meal-to-solvent ratio of 1:33.5 and 1:33 and sodium hexametaphosphate concentration of 2.75 and 2.85%, respectively. The prepared flax protein isolate contained 78% protein. Lysine was the first limiting amino acid of the protein isolate. The computed protein efficiency ratio and biological value indicated a reasonably good quality of protein in the isolate. The isolate contained elevated levels of phytic acid and total phosphorus. Electrophoretic results showed that the isolate was composed of total proteins of flaxseed. -- The isolated flax proteins were acylated with acetic or succinic anhydride. Approximately 84.5 and 56.9% of the free amino groups of protein isolates were acylated when 0.2 g anhydride/g protein was used. The colour and solubility of the protein isolate were improved due to acylation. Emulsifying activity and stability were enhanced by succinylation, but acetylation had a negative influence. Furthermore, foaming ability and fat binding capacity of succinylated products were less than those of their acetylated counterparts. Acylation reduced the in vitro digestibility of flax proteins. -- In another study flaxseeds were germinated for 8 days. Germinated seeds had lowered content of dry matter due to the use of their reserve components as an energy source for the developing seedlings. The crude protein content did not show a significant (p<0.05) change but the content of non-protein nitrogen compounds including free amino acids as well as agmatine and spermidine increased during the germination period. The in vitro digestibility was lowered but the calculated values for protein efficiency ratio and biological value of seeds did not change upon germination. Lipid content of seeds was reduced by 58% during germination but their fatty acid composition did not change. The content of neutral lipids, accounting for 96% of total flax lipids, was significantly (p<0.05) decreased while those of glyco and phospholipids increased. There was also a decrease in the content of triacylglycerols and an increase in the diacylglycerols, monoacylglycerols and free fatty acids of the neutral lipid fraction. The content of phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidyiserine and phosphatidylethanolamine in the phospholipid fraction was decreased while that of phosphatide acid and lysophosphatidylethanolamine increased significantly (p<0.05) due to germination. The quantities of raffinose and sucrose in the seeds were reduced while those of fructose and glucose increased after germination. The mineral composition of the seeds was not affected by germination. The content of known antinutrients of seeds namely, cyanogenic glycosides, phytic acid and trypsin inhibitors were lower in the germinated seeds as compared to those in their ungerminated counterparts.


Conclusions Calculation of peripheral resistance is based on Ohm's Law popularised by Guyton, viz. MAP-CVP = CO x SVR. Guyton argued that pressure varied with heart rate. His formula implies that peripheral resistance varies inversely with heart rate. It is problematic that this formula uses the average systemic pressure gradient, and divides it by the volume pumped by the heart per minute to derive systemic vascular resistance, introducing time as an intrinsic component of resistance. The way to remove time from the calculation of systemic vascular resistance is to use SV rather than CO for calculation of vascular resistance, represented here as rate-independent Vascular Resistance.


The data fusion algorithm used in TVM guidance is studied in this paper.The normal plot fusion method needs to calculate weight coefficients from the measurements,and the weight coefficients are constant in data fusion process.In order to be used in TVM guidance,the data fusion algorithm is improved,and the distance between target and measurement device is considered in calculation of weight coefficients.In tracking and guiding,the weight coefficients will change with the distance between target and measurement device.By simulation,satisfactory fusion results are obtained using the improved method in TVM guidance.


Abstract : The objectives of this program were: To analyze the index of refraction of various regions of lasers as a function of the aluminum concentration in (AlGa)As so that lasers can be synthesized with optimum radiation patterns in the sense that the power beamwidth will be minimized; to produce design curves showing the beamwidth for various laser structures; and, to investigate laser structures which produce waveguide modes giving the smallest possible radiation pattern divergence.


Security for the mostly constrained devices forming the IoT is an active field of research. In this paper, we propose two CoAP Options, HMAC1/HMAC2 and Crypt1/Crypt2 complementing our previous work on Lightweight Capability Based Access Control (LCap). This results in a lightweight, flexible, and complete solution for application layer security for CoAP nodes with severely limited memory. In our evaluation, we show that a pure software implementation without cryptographic hardware acceleration is feasible for practical use on highly constrained IoT devices. Due to mostly idiomatic use of cryptography, existing security analyses apply to our proposal. Our security framework was designed with ample focus on reducing the complexity of the system, which allows lean implementations and simplifies security reviews. This makes LCap based security a good fit for security in the IoT.


1. Perspectives.- 1.1 The Evolution of Ecosystem Models.- 1.2 The Modeling Process.- 1.3 Narragansett Bay.- 1.3.1 Physical Setting.- 1.3.2 Biology.- 2. The Narragansett Bay Model.- 2.1 General Formulation Strategy.- 2.2 A Conceptual Overview.- Theoretical Formulations.- 3. Physical Forcing Functions.- 3.1 Temperature.- 3.2 Solar Radiation.- 3.3 Tidal Circulation.- 3.4 Exchange with Rhode Island Sound.- 3.5 River Flow.- 4. Phytoplankton.- 4.1 Temperature-Growth Relationship.- 4.2 Effects of Nutrients.- 4.3 Effects of Light.- 4.3.1 Theoretical Background.- 4.3.2 Time and Depth Integration of the Steele Equation.- 4.3.3 Light Acclimation and the Selection of Iopt.- 4.3.4 Self-Shading and Extinction Coefficient.- 4.3.5 Sinking Rate.- 4.4 Two Phytoplankton Species Groups.- 5. Zooplankton.- 5.1 General Background.- 5.2 Ingestion.- 5.2.1 Ration, Filtering Rate, and Experimental Observations.- 5.2.2 The Maximum Ration.- 5.2.3 Reducing the Maximum Ration.- 5.2.4 Cannibalism.- 5.3 Assimilation.- 5.4 Respiration.- 5.5 Excretion.- 5.6 Reproduction.- 5.7 Egg Hatching Time.- 5.8 Juvenile Development.- 5.8.1 Growth Rate of Juveniles.- 5.8.2 Development Time.- 5.8.3 Food Limitation.- 6. Additional Compartments.- 6.1 Carnivorous Zooplankton.- 6.2 Adult Fish and Higher Trophic Levels.- 6.3 The Benthos.- 6.3.1 Grazing by Clams.- 6.3.2 Nutrient Regeneration.- 6.4 Nutrients.- Simulation and Analysis.- 7. Mathematical Considerations and the Computer Program.- 7.1 Instantaneous Rates, Finite-Interval Rates, and Integration.- 7.2 Developing the Computer Program.- 7.2.1 General Comments.- 7.2.2 Digital Computer Simulation.- 7.2.3 The Narragansett Bay Computer Program.- 8. The Tidal Mixing Model.- 9. The Standard Run.- 9.1 Selection of Parameters.- 9.2 Zooplankton.- 9.3 Phytoplankton.- 9.4 General Description.- 9.5 Rates and Mechanisms.- 9.6 Relative Role of Nutrients and Grazing in Phytoplankton Control.- 9.7 Zooplankton Excretion and Benthic Fluxes.- 9.8 Metabolic Carbon Budgets for Zooplankton.- 9.9 Annual Integrals.- 10. The Role of Biological Detail.- 10.1 Light Optima and Acclimation.- 10.2 The "Most Limiting" Nutrient.- 10.3 Two Species Groups and Luxury Nutrient Kinetics.- 10.4 Juvenile Zooplankton and Cannibalism.- 10.5 The Role of Carnivores.- 11. Sensitivity and Stability.- 11.1 Sensitivity Analysis.- 11.1.1 Initial Conditions.- 11.1.2 Hydrodynamic Characteristics.- 11.1.3 Extinction Coefficient.- 11.1.4 Phytoplankton.- 11.1.5 Zooplankton.- 11.1.6 Seasonal Cycles.- 11.1.7 General Implications and the Role of Sensitivity Analysis.- 11.1.8 A Note on Numerical Stability.- 12. Applications and Limitations.- 12.1 Ecosystem Modeling and Environmental Management.- 12.2 Holism and Reductionism.- References.- Author and Subject Index.


A 13-year-old boy was admitted with a 7-week history of worsening epigastric pain and vomiting. There was no prior history of similar episodes, jaundice or viral infection. There was no family history of hyperlipidaemia. His only comorbidity was obesity with a body mass index of 36.6 kg/m2. On examination he was tachycardic and tachypnoeic with a tender epigastrium. Blood results showed a leucocytosis, normal liver function tests and normal cholesterol, C-reactive protein and amylase levels. An ultrasound scan was performed but did not reveal any detail because of his body habitus. A computed tomography scan showed a necrotic pancreas and that gallstones were present. The patient deteriorated, becoming increasingly septic, and was transferred across to a paediatric intensive care unit. Initial management consisted of fluid resuscitation, intravenous protein pump inhibitors, intravenous antibiotics, parenteral nutrition and surgical review. He initially responded to treatment, but then deteriorated with wo...


Objective:To evaluate the value of color Doppler ultrasonography for diagnosing acute ureterolith.Methods:Color Doppler ultrasonography was used for 120 cases of acute ureterolith,and a summary was carried out of the sonogram characteristics of acute ureterolith.Results:The sensitivity of color Doppler ultrasound in the diagnosis of ureterolith was 91.66%.Color Doppler flow imaging could show the urine jet phenomenon in the lower urinary tract stones.Conclusion:Color Doppler ultrasound is a useful and rapid method to diagnose acute ureterolith.


The interaction between the circulating and entry lanes is an important consideration at roundabouts with spiral markings and where there is considerable amount of potentially dangerous lane-changing. Studies show that if the angle between the entry path of a vehicle and the angle of the circulating spiral markings (angle of incidence) is less than approximately 26 degrees, drivers treat the lane markings as tram-lines instead of crossing the circulatory lane lines and proceeding to the correct lane. Vehicles can be successfully directed to the correct lane by applying dot markings and removing the relevant lane marks that appear to deflect drivers. This approach will reduce driver confusion and lead to less road accidents.


The Lingqiu region is an important copper,silver polymetallic mineralization area in northeastern Shanxi,where some large- sized copper,silver polymetallic deposits such as Zhijiadi and Diaoquan distributed. The extraction of the remote sensing abnormal information were conducted in a total area of 2000 km2in the Lingqiu region based on ETM data from USA Landsat- 7. A total of59 linear structures and 9 ring structures were interpreted. The iron alteration and argillization alteration were extracted by applying the principal component analysis. In combination with geological analysis,the remote sensing iron alteration,the linear and ring structures were determined as the main prospecting criteria,and 5 prospecting areas were outlined.


A new compact cascaded arc device for plasma-wall interaction study is developed at the Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. A magnetic field up to 0.8 T is achieved to confine plasmas in a 1.2 m long and 0.1 m diameter vacuum chamber. Gas fluid type analysis in this compact vacuum system was done under high particle flux condition. The gas pressure obtained by calculation was consistent with the measurement result. Continuous argon plasma discharge with ion flux of ∼0.5 × 1024 m−2 s−1 is successfully sustained for more than 1 h. The effects of magnetic field configuration, gas flow rate, and discharge arc current on the ion flux to target were studied in detail.


Polarized absorption spectra of the ions Mo(CN)84- and W(CN)84- were measured on single crystals of the compounds K4Mo(CN)8 · 2 H2O and K4W(CN)8 · 2 H2O over the spectral region 10-47 kK and at temperatures from 300°K to 4.2°K. The results obtained were interpreted on the basis of the ligand field theory. According to their d → d-spectrum, these complex ions in the crystalline state have a quasi-dodecahedral coordination structure with the exact symmetry D2. The deviation from the ideal dodecahedral structure is appreciably smaller at low temperatures than at room temperature. Contrary to the results of earlier X-ray structure determinations, the only space group which can be assigned to the crystals of K4Mo(CN)8 · 2 H2O and K4W(CN)8 · 2 H2O is C92v.


Fetal membranes or what is known as "placenta" is an essential organ for prenatal transfer of nutrients and oxygen from the dam to the fetus. The normal separation of fetal membranes consists of complex hormonal process that starts before parturition in cows, which normally drops within shortly after birth. If the placenta is not expelled within certain time (12 h post calving and 3 h post foaling), it is defined as being retained placenta (RP). RP is a condition where all or part of the placenta or membranes are left behind in the uterus during the third stage of labour. Retained placenta results in a number of problems following pulling. The increase in the number of microorganisms in the uterus causes inflammation, decreased milk yield, reduce conception rate and inturn elongtes calving interval and reduces fertility. RP causes great economic losses, mainly due to decreased milk yield and loss due to infertility. The number of risk factors of retained placenta include stillbirth, dystocia, abortion, twin, fetotomy, induction of parturition, cesarean section, shortened gestation, managemental system, heridetary, hormonal, infectious disease and maternal immune system. Since there are many causative agents of retained placenta, the treatments which are commonly used for the retention of fetal membranes do not show any significant effects. Basically, we have to avoid the occurrence of dystocia through genetic selection of dam and sire having minimal probability for RP, proper prepartum nutritional status and exercise. Special care should be paid for nutrition and vitamine supplementation, especially during the dry period. The aim of this review was to spot the light on retention of fetal membranes in dairy cattle and to disseminate relevant information for the predisposing factors and the preventive measures that ay decreases its incidence and keeps fertility. It could be concluded that RP is an important problem which causes great economic losses and leave the animal subfertile even after treatment and recovery. So, it is recommended to control the condition rather than to treat it.


The spatiotemporal variabilities and drivers of ocean acidification (OA) metrics, [H+], pH, and aragonite saturation state (Ωarag) across environmental gradients remain poorly constrained. We use a novel high‐precision measurement of underway pH to investigate the hemispheric‐scale distributions of OA metrics from East Asia to the Arctic Ocean. While temperature and its induced air‐sea gas exchange fundamentally control the OA metrics distributions, we show that biological activity exerts the most prominent but different modifications on pH and Ωarag patterns. Strong photosynthesis counteracts the temperature‐driven pH pattern but reinforces that of Ωarag. Ice melt‐induced dilution in the Arctic Ocean additionally strengthens the Ωarag‐temperature relationship but insignificantly affects [H+] and pH. This study provides the first coherent assessment of comprehensive processes on OA metrics across large spatial regions, and highlights the potential of sea‐ice melt in changing Ωarag distribution, which should be included by Earth system models projecting future climate change.


Aims Seedfall of woody plants often fluctuates considerably from year to year and from site to site. These varia- tions may have strong effects not only on the recruitment of the plant populations themselves, but also on the community composition and structure. Our objective was to elucidate seasonal, annual and spatial variations of seedfall in broad-leaved evergreen forest in Gutianshan Nature Reserve of Zhejiang Province over four years. Methods Seed rain was censused weekly since June 2006, using 130 seed traps set along 2.3 km of trails within the Gutianshan 24 hm 2 subtropical evergreen forest plot. Each seed trap consisted of a square, 0.5 m 2 Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) frame supporting a shallow, open-topped, 1-mm nylon mesh bag suspended 0.8 m above the ground. Because of heavy snowfall in February 2008, seed traps were damaged, and all seed traps were reset. Therefore, seed rain data were absent from February to April 2008. We summarized four years of seed rain data from June 2006 to August 2010. Important findings There were a total of 124 227 seeds over the four years, belonging to 63 species, 51 genera and 29 families, and the Pearson correlation between adult tree basal area and seed production was significant. There was a marked peak in the number of seeds and species in each year in the dry season (autumn), but there were also ten species that dispersed their seeds in the wet season. Different species had different fruiting dates. Based on four years of seed rain data, annual variation in seedfall (CVyears) on Gutianshan was substantial (CVyears > 75% for almost all species), and the median coefficient of variation of annual seedfall was 1.72. Spatial varia- tion was also great, and the median coefficient of spatial variation in seedfall among traps was 8.06. Spatial varia- tion in seedfall density was greater than annual variation for almost all species. The rarity of seed-bearing adults, variation in seed deposition with distance, and different topography might be the most important sources of this spatial variation. Comparing with Barro Colorado Island tropical forest seed rain, Gutianshan data supported the


Objective To evaluate the difference of clinical efficacy of holmium laser and pneumatic lithotripsy for upper ureteral calculi. Methods 180 patients with upper ureter calculi were selected in this study, including 87 cases of pneumatic lithotripsy (control group), and 93 cases of ureteroscopic holmium laser lithotripsy (treatment group). The surgical procedures, the stone free rate, the stone free rate after one month, the operation time and the hospital stay of two groups were recorded and compared, and statistical analysis was carried out. Results The free stone rate of treatment group after lithotrity was 88.2%, while 77.0% in control group, the difference was significant (P 0.05). The operation time of the holmium laser group was significantly shorter than that of the pneumatic lithotripter group (P 0.05), and there was no significant difference in the hospital stay between the two groups (P 0.05). The free stone rate of treatment group after one month was 95.7%, and 86.2% in control group, with statistically significant difference(P 0.05). Conclusions Holmium laser lithotripsy is safer and more effective than pneumatic lithotripsy in the treatment of upper ureteral calculi.


We have demonstrated a In<inf>0.53</inf>Ga<inf>0.47</inf>As/In<inf>0.52</inf>Al<inf>0.48</inf>As single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) with single-photon detection efficiency (SPDE) as high as 74.3 % and dark count rate (DCR) of ∼107 Hz. By employing self-differencing techniques, both SPDE and DCR are significantly improved and approaching the performance limit.


We report on the impact of TiN interfaces on the ferroelectricity of nondoped HfO2. Ferroelectric properties of nondoped HfO2 in TiN/HfO2/TiN stacks are shown in capacitance–voltage and polarization–voltage characteristics. The Curie temperature is also estimated to be around 500 °C. The ferroelectricity of nondoped HfO2 clearly appears by thinning HfO2 film down to ∼35 nm. We directly revealed in thermal treatments that the ferroelectric HfO2 film on TiN was maintained by covering the top surface of HfO2 with TiN, while it was followed by a phase transition to the paraelectric phase in the case of the open surface of HfO2. Thus, it is concluded that the ferroelectricity in nondoped HfO2 in this study was mainly driven by both of top and bottom TiN interfaces.


Consequences on USA production : reform of supply management and income support programmes, reforms of price-supported commodities, reform of trade measures, reform of environmental programmes


The collection of high-quality data provides a key competitive advantage to companies in their decision-making process. It helps to understand customer behavior and enables the usage and deployment of new technologies based on machine learning. However, the process from collecting the data, to clean and process it to be used by data scientists and applications is often manual, non-optimized and error-prone. This increases the time that the data takes to deliver value for the business. To reduce this time companies are looking into automation and validation of the data processes. Data processes are the operational side of data analytic workflow.DataOps, a recently coined term by data scientists, data analysts and data engineers refer to a general process aimed to shorten the end-to-end data analytic life-cycle time by introducing automation in the data collection, validation, and verification process. Despite its increasing popularity among practitioners, research on this topic has been limited and does not provide a clear definition for the term or how a data analytic process evolves from ad-hoc data collection to fully automated data analytics as envisioned by DataOps.This research provides three main contributions. First, utilizing multi-vocal literature we provide a definition and a scope for the general process referred to as DataOps. Second, based on a case study with a large mobile telecommunication organization, we analyze how multiple data analytic teams evolve their infrastructure and processes towards DataOps. Also, we provide a stairway showing the different stages of the evolution process. With this evolution model, companies can identify the stage which they belong to and also, can try to move to the next stage by overcoming the challenges they encounter in the current stage.


Abstract With the growing demand for home infusion therapy and the limitations being placed on the home care agencies, it is becoming increasing important for the home care nurse to have a clear method for addressing the needs of these patients. Education of the nurses, the patient, and caregiver(s) and carefully listening to determine their needs, fears, strengths, and weaknesses are critical. In addition, adaptation of the plan of care and teaching techniques to best meet the learners' needs, without compromising the quality of the care provided, are important to help ensure the safe and succesiful provision of home infusion therapy.


was one in which the absence of pyrexia was still more remarkable, as the pus withdrawn by aspiration was exceedingly foul. The case presented considerable difficulties in the diagnosis of the exact seat of the suppuration. It was either a case of localised pyopneumothorax, or of a chronic abscess in the lung itself. Pathological experience of the greater frequency of such purulent accumulations being seated in the pleura, as compared with the frequency of large accumulations of pus in the lung itself, would suggest the belief that the pus in this case was probably of pleural rather than of pulmonary origin. Nevertheless, the physical signs before and after the removal of the pus, were more consistent withl the case being one of chronic pulmonary abscess than of a localised pyopneumothorax. Wherever the purulent accumulation was situated, whether in the lung or in the pleural cavity, it was probably encapsuled by firm old fibrous tissue, which prevented any absorption, and hence accounted for the absence of pyrexia. This case showed the importance of not attaching too,much value to the temperature chart in doubtful cases, even when the temperature had been regularly recorded over a prolonged period. Epidemic Influenza.-Dr. HUTTON opened a discussion on "epidemic influenza," and having quoted passages from early writers showing how little the main symptoms differed from those seen in the present epidemic, proceeded to call attention to the numerous and varied nerve symptoms, occurring both at the onset and in the course of the disease. Dr. Hutton then mentioned facts tending to show the disease to be only in a very slight degree infectious; and, by a reference to the statistics of mortality for the month of January, indicated to how great an extent the epidemic had contributed to the excessive mortality.-A discussion followed, in which Drs. SIMPSON, DRESCHFELD, HARRIS and the PRIESIDENT, took part.


ABSTRACT The energy balance between individual lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles is an important factor that affects the efficiency and long-time operation of the entire system. In the conventional modular switched capacitor method, small pressure difference between the batteries at the end of the equalization and the need for multi-stage transmission may cause the low efficiency of the equalization, slow speed and so on. To solve the issues, the control method of three-resonant-state LC converters is adopted in this paper. The resonance process not only improves the transferable energy of the capacitor, but also realizes the zero-current switching of the circuit, reducing the circuit switching loss and electromagnetic interference. A double-tiered modular resonance equalization structure is also proposed to provide more energy transfer paths and larger equilibrium current. By means of this, the inconsistency between the cells can be eliminated more quickly and efficiently when energy needs to be transferred in multiple stages. Comparative experiment is conducted by constructing a simulation platform and an experimental platform to demonstrate the superiority of the double-tiered resonance equalization.


This study investigates single pass and multipass (three-pass) welding effects on 304 austenitic stainless steel (ASS) corrosion in acidic/saline environments, to enable a better understanding of the influence of heat affected zone (HAZ) on ASS corrosion susceptibility in the selected commonly used aggressive environments. Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding process was used to weld the samples using 308 stainless steel filler. The corrosion behaviour of the welded samples was evaluated using immersion and potentiodynamic polarization tests. Immersion test evaluation and the analysed results showed that the single pass welds exhibited lower corrosion susceptibility in the acidic environments (H2SO4, HNO3) than in the multipass welded ASS. In contrast, using potentiodynamic polarization evaluation, the multipass welded sample, exhibited lower corrosion susceptibility than the single pass welded ASS in HNO3 environment. Essentially, the same trend of corrosion susceptibility was recorded in NaCl environments irrespective of the evaluation method.


Currently, there are little empirical data to guide the highway engineer concerning what level of accuracy is needed to gain driver acceptance and trust. In some domains, a single bad experience is enough to prevent people from using a service or machine again. For example, few people continue to put coins into a defective vending machine. Traffic information systems must be sufficiently reliable so that motorists continue to accept and use the systems. The goal of this research is to acquire data that the highway engineer can use to select a level of information reliability that will maintain the driver's acceptance and use of route guidance information.


Abstract Using ultrapurified, highly perfect anthracene crystals electron and hole mobility data were measured by the time-of-flight method over a wide temperature range along 5 different crystallographic directions. From these results full tensor data (principal axes mobilities, tensor orientations and tensor rotations with temperature) have been determined. The highest principal electron mobility component is close to the a axis, reaching 35cm2/Vs at 20K, the highest hole component along b, reaching 50cm2/Vs at 35K. For electrons moving along the crystallographic c direction a transition from a nearly temperature-independent mobility (400K-100K) to a mobility increasing upon further cooling has been found, with very similar absolute values and transition temperature as previously reported for naphthalene and explained as a hopping to band transition. A non-Ohmic, sublinear velocity–electric field relation, reflecting hot charge carriers, has been obtained between 20 and 36K for electrons drifting along a, with a tendency of velocity saturation between 0.5 and 1·106cm/s, similar to what has been reported before for naphthalene and perylene. Different samples set different low temperature limits to a determination of microscopic time-of-flight mobilities by an onset of trapping, probably at structural defects, induced during handling and measurement.


With rice as raw materials, after some periods of liquefaction, saccharification and alcohol fermentation, the wine fluid of 4.2 degree is made. By using DF biological reaction devices, after the fermentation in fixed cell bed composed of various acetic acid funguses, a gram of ethyal alcohol transforms 0.98 gram of acetic acid. With the heap of different time, different temperature, different alcohol degrees and different acetic acid fungus concentration, the fungus bed's level can keep stable for 360 days.


Purpose
Improvement of the results of surgical rehabilitation of adolescent patients with cerebral palsy with subluxation and dislocation of the hip with the help of hip joint arthroplasty.
Materials and methods
The work is based on a retrospective analysis of the treatment outcomes in 12 children with cerebral palsy at the age of 13 to 17 years who underwent a total hip replacement surgery. The indication for the operation was the presence of a severe deformity of the joint components that could not be reconstructed and was accompanied by severe pain, loss of limb weight-bearing, significant limitation of motor abilities in patients over the age of 13 years. The components with cementless fixation were used. All patients underwent adductorotomy on the affected side.
Results
Neurological and vascular complications were not observed. Dislocation of the head and instability of the implant components was not observed. All patients showed an increased motor activity, relief of pain, a significant increase in the joint range of movements. Good and satisfactory functional results were obtained. The best results were obtained in level I-III patients according to the GMFCS system. Children of level IV achieved pain relief, improvement in the sitting posture, facilitation of care for them. Unsatisfactory results were not obtained. There were no complications during the operation and in the postoperative period.
Conclusion
According to the results, hip joint arthroplasty can be recommended for the rehabilitation of adolescent patients suffering from cerebral palsy.


In 1992 United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali drafted his landmark report, "An agenda for peace," which boldly reasserted the role of the United Nations in the maintenance of international peace and security and proposed a set of recommendations on how the UN could respond to new international security threats posed by secessionism, ethnic conflict, and civil war. The report envisioned a collective international effort aimed at reducing human suffering, upholding human rights, and resolving the underlying causes of violent conflict between and within states.The mandate was vast "An agenda for peace" conceptualized peacebuilding as large-scale, well-financed, long-term, internationally led interventions in conflict-affected states, which "may include disarming the previously warring parties and the restoration of order, the custody and possible destruction of weapons, repatriating refugees, advisory and training support for security personnel, monitoring elections, advancing efforts to protect human rights, reforming or strengthening governmental institutions and promoting both formal and informal processes of political participation."1 Over the past two decades the international community has invested significant financial, military, and civilian resources into complex, multidimensional peacekeeping and peacebuilding initiatives designed to rescue states from internal strife and political failure.However, as I show in the case of Somalia, these international interventions can sunder the very state they seek to resurrect. In a civil war, large-scale international interventions infuse enormous sums of money into the informal economy, making local security providers stronger and more financially independent of their domestic constituencies. In this way, the introduction of significant resources into the informal economy affects the relationship between warlords and their subjects, often increasing both the level of predation against the populace and the duration of conflict. International interventions also transform the informal economy so that spoiler activity becomes more lucrative than peacebuilding. By warping the informal economy, international interventions can therefore have devastating state-destroying effects by arresting domestic processes of state formation and perpetuating internal armed conflict.Faced with the serious regional and international security threats presented by failed states, the international community has invested hundreds of billions of dollars into complex, multidimensional nationbuilding initiatives designed to centralize political power and reconstruct domestic national institutions. Though well intentioned, I argue here that this sweeping agenda can actually inadvertently undermine the domestic processes of political order-making that occur naturally within failed states, thus increasing predatory violence and prolonging civil war.Somalia provides an excellent case study of how large-scale international intervention affects the informal economy and perpetuates state failure. After the state collapsed in 1991, Somalia fell into a brutal civil war and suffered a famine that sparked international outcry and prompted a multilateral international intervention. As the United Nations operation in Somalia (UNOSOM) arrived on the beaches of the capital city of Mogadishu, Somalia became the first practical test of Boutros-Ghali's agenda for peace. From 1992-95, the UN operation in Somalia evolved from a limited humanitarian assistance mission to a heavily politicized military intervention aimed at restoring peace and political stability to the country. UNOSOM failed in this expanded mission. As the last of the international forces withdrew from Somalia in 1995, the UN intervention left a legacy of criminality and warlord power that perpetuated the civil war for another decade.The international operation in Somalia was a multibillion dollar initiative. According to UN department of peacekeeping operations reports, the UN spent a total of $1. …


The present invention discloses a shower apparatus a modular structure, comprising: a shower head groups face the water surface, the water seat handle set and install the rear seat assembly of a handle portion of the water, the surface of the lower cap group group connected to the handle waterway, said front cover connected to the rear portion of the rear seat set group waterway. The modular structure of the present invention, a simple, innovative, easy accessibility, convenient outlet to operate, the effect is very prominent, can effectively meet different needs, and can effectively protect the use of normalization.


Memory impairment has been connected to depression, however this association appears complex. Pattern separation is a specific hippocampal function, which separates similar events and stimuli into distinct memory representations. Hippocampal volume reduction has been seen in individuals suffering from depression. Multiple rodent studies have shown that adult neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus is crucial for proper pattern separation. There are several factors that are thought to influence neurogenesis. For example stress, depressive symptoms and aging have a negative effect on neuronal plasticity. On the other hand, exercise and antidepressants seem to accelerate neurogenesis. Patients with hippocampal damage are impaired in the pattern separation tasks, but not in the recognition memory tasks. Few studies have investigated the direct relationship between depression and pattern separation in humans. The current study addressed this issue by testing Swedish University students. We found a negative correlation between depression scores and pattern separation performance. The correlation between depression scores and recognition memory was not significant. Thus, we argue that depression is linked to impaired pattern separation ability. Unexpectedly, a gender-difference in pattern separation in favor of female subjects was found. We suggest that this issue should be investigated further by future studies. (Less)


. This paper presents a new design of longitudinal and torsional (L&T) ultrasonic vibration device for accurate needle insertion in medical applications. A waveguide-based Langevin type L&T ultrasonic transducer is proposed for the vibration-assisted insertion device. By cyclically altering the amplitude and direction of the resultant insertion speed, the proposed three-dimensional L&T ultrasonic vibration superimposed on the needle can reduce the friction force and needle bending during the insertion. Analytical modeling and analysis were conducted to study the vibration characteristics of the design. The new L&T ultrasonic transducer was fabricated using a metal 3D printing process. Laboratory experiments were carried out to validate the effectiveness of the new L&T vibration transducer design. The experiment results show the proposed new L&T vibratory needle insertion device is able to accurately deliver the insertion needle to the target depth and location. The presented new design and techniques can be used for medical treatments and implantation applications.


Background: Serum lipid profile is an important factor in predicting the risk of cardiovascular disease, and smoking is considered to affect serum lipid levels adversely by altering lipid metabolism. Although traditional lipid profiles are important in patient evaluation for predicting the risk of cardiovascular disease, the clinical significance of lipid ratios has recently gained attention as well. We aimed to investigate the relationship between smoking and serum lipid profiles and ratios in Korean older adults.METHODS: This cross‐sectional analysis used a nationally representative sample from the 2014–2016 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). In total, 4,349 participants aged ≥60 years with urine cotinine values were included. The outcome was a comparison of unfavorable lipid profiles/ratios in respect to urine cotinine-verified smoking status (urine cotinine level ≥50 ng/mL), and quantification of the associations between smoking and unfavorable lipid profiles/ratios using multivariable logistic regression analyses. In our analyses, the lowest quartile (Q1) of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and the highest quartile (Q4) of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), triglycerides (TG), and total cholesterol (TC), and their ratios (TC/HDL-C, LDL-C/HDL-C, and TG/HDL-C) were considered as unfavorable.Results: The percentages of unfavorable lipid profiles/ratios except for serum TC and LDL-C were significantly higher in the urine cotinine-verified smoker group. The odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of urine cotinine-verified smokers for the Q1 of HDL-C and for the Q4 of TG, TC/HDL-C, LDL-C/HDL-C, and TG/HDL-C were 1.67 (95% CI: 1.29–2.17) and 1.49 (95% CI: 1.14–1.96), 1.50 (95% CI: 1.14–1.97), 1.44 (95% CI: 1.10–1.89), and 1.75 (95% CI: 1.35–2.28), respectively.Conclusion: Urine cotinine-verified smoking status was significantly associated with unfavorable serum lipid profiles/ratios in Korean older adults.


This paper focuses on the multiattribute group decision making problems with linguistic intuitionistic fuzzy information. Firstly the concept of linguistic intuitionistic fuzzy numbers (LIFNs) is introduced, and then based on the LIFNs, some new aggregation operators based on Bonferroni mean and power operator are proposed, such as linguistic intuitionistic fuzzy power Bonferroni mean (LIFPBM) operator, linguistic intuitionistic fuzzy weighted power Bonferroni mean (LIFWPBM) operator, linguistic intuitionistic fuzzy geometric power Bonferroni mean (LIFGPBM) operator, and linguistic intuitionistic fuzzy weighted geometric power Bonferroni mean (LIFWGPBM) operator. Then, some properties are proved such as idempotency, permutation, and boundedness. Besides, some special situations of the operators are explored. After that, an approach based of the LIFWGPBM and LIFWGPBM operators is proposed. Finally an example is used to illustrate the validity of the developed method.


Details of a severe outbreak of M. crocodyli infection in farmed crocodiles are reported. The outbreak was suspected to have been precipitated by translocation-related stress on the animals brought from a farm with a known history of M. crocodyli infection. Resorting to the use of an autogenous vaccine proved more effective in alleviating the disease manifestations than antibiotic therapy. Prospects of vaccination in the face of an outbreak are discussed.


There are currently no fielded technologies for noncontact detection of tripwires. Itres Research Ltd. and DRDC Suffield have been conducting research on optical detection of tripwires since 1996, both for hand-held and vehicle-mounted roles. A proof-of-concept brassboard imager, initially for a vehicle-mounted role, has been constructed. The imager uses a high spatial resolution, panchromatic focal plane array whose high degree of integration includes on-board digitization and flexible addressing capabilities for windowing and subimaging. Command, control and signal processing are accomplished by a computer, based on dual 1GHz Pentium III processors. Using a high level, rapid prototyping language, 1 image frame can be processed in 3 seconds. Straightforward improvements should allow true real-time operation to be achieved. Preliminary testing of the imager was conducted in the outdoor DRDC Suffield Mine Pen in January 2003. Taut, sagging and undulating tripwires of various materials were partially hidden, often nearly invisible to the naked eye, in a number of types of local vegetation. Preliminary, quasi-real-time results showed that many of the wires were detected, although a significant number of false alarms occurred. As expected with the present algorithm, sagging, undulating and highly obscured wires were often difficult to detect. The instrument, results of the trial, planned improvements and future research will be discussed.


Malaria, a leading cause of mortality and morbidity in the developing world, with children aged under 5 years, accounts for 61% of all the global malaria deaths. The World Health Organization approved fixed-dose first-line artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) – artemether-lumefantrine ‒ for effective malaria treatment, is challenged by poor aqueous solubility and inadequate bioavailability leading to treatment failures and emergence of resistant strains. This study focuses on evaluating novel lumefantrine (LF) polymethacrylate-urea solid solutions comprising of a retarding polymer for enhanced anti-plasmodial efficacy comparable with existing artemether-lumefantrine combination therapy. Lumefantrine polymethacrylate-urea solid solutions were prepared by solvent evaporation and characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and dissolution studies. In vivo anti-plasmodial activity was determined by measuring the schizonticidal activity of Plasmodium berghei-infected mice using the Peter's 4-day curative test and the safety of the solid solutions was tested in major organs implicated in malaria. The solid state characterizations confirmed the formation of amorphous lumefantrine polymethacrylate-urea solid solutions. There was greater drug release from the matrix polymer in acidic than basic biorelevant media, with release kinetics following the Higuchi order. Interestingly, the reduction in parasitaemia caused by the lumefantrine polymethacrylate-urea formulations (72.3 and 81.27 %) for ternary and quaternary systems, batches SDA3 and SDB3, respectively) were significantly higher (p < 0.05) and more sustained than lumefantrine pure powder, but with comparable efficacy to the commercial brand-Coartem®. The formulation was stable over a period of 6 months. Thus, this study provides useful information on developing sustained lumefantrine formulation with improved solubility and antiplasmodial efficacy.


There are two kinds of sequential rules. They are classical sequential rules and common sequential rules. The common sequential rules present the relationship between unordered itemsets in which all the items in the antecedent part have to appear before the ones in the consequent part. All existing algorithms for mining common sequential rules can not apply to quantitative sequence databases. Furthermore, the common sequential rules found so far did not yet reveal the time gap about the apperance of itemsets in its antecedent and consequent parts. The purpose of this article is to overcome the two disadvantages mentioned above. Specifically, the article proposes an algorithm called IFERMiner to discover common sequential rules in quantitative sequence databases, where the time gap about appearance of two attribute sets in its antecedent and consequent parts is taken account. This algorithm was developed from the ERMiner algorithm that is the most efficient algorithm to discover common sequential rules in transactional sequence databases now. The computational complexity of the IFERMiner algorithm is also shown in the article and it is polynomial. The FCSI rules found out by the IFERMiner algorithm are useful for marketing domain and market analysis.


A general second order elliptic eigenvalue problem is studied in this paper, The L2(Ω)-norm and L∞(Ω)-norm estimations for the corresponding eigenpairs are obtained. Some numerical results which match well the theoretical results for a special example are presented.