Background
MicroRNA (miR)-124-3p is a crucial player in the transforming growth factor β1-induced in vitro fibrogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells. In the current study we aimed to further verify the in vivo role of miR-124-3p in a mouse model of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).
Methods
Mouse IPF model was established using repetitive intratracheal bleomycin (BLM) dosing, followed by in vivo delivery of miR-124-3p. Masson's trichrome staining, Hematoxyline-eosin (H&E), as well as modified Ashcroft score, were performed on lung tissues to assess extent of pulmonary fibrosis. Collagen deposition was examined using hydroxyproline assay. Inflammatory cell counts were evaluated in the bronchoalveolar Lavage (BAL) fluid. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay was performed to assess apoptosis in lung tissues.
Results
Repetitive BLM injection induced elevated Fibrosis score and collagen deposition, elevated numbers of inflammatory cells in the BAL fluid, and promoted in lung tissues of mice. MiR-124-3p, to a considerable extent, reversed the BLM-induced IPF symptoms in terms of fibrosis score and collagen deposition in the lung tissues, reduced the BLM-elevated inflammatory cells in the BAL fluid and the percentage of BLM-induced apoptotic cells in lung tissues. AXIN1, a pivotal component in Wnt signaling, was also significantly inhibited by miR-124-3p in the experimental mice.
Conclusion
MiR-124-3p serves as a therapeutic target in the mouse model of IPF by repressing Wnt/β-catenin signaling component AXIN1, and holds great clinical potential in molecular therapies to treat human IPF patients.


An UV spectro-radiometer operating in the 0.24 - 0.30 micrometers spectral region is being devised for Earth albedo measurements from space aboard the TECHSAT-1 satellite. The sensor incorporates a four-element, wide FOV (14 degree(s)) optic with an interference wedge as a spectral dispersive element. The spatial and spectral scanning is accomplished using a single CsTe cathode photomultiplier operating in the photon-counting mode. The sensor is capable of a 2 mrad spatial and 0.01 micrometers spectral resolution. The sensor is intended to measure the Earth backscattering albedo. The spectral profile of the albedo is a function of the ozone vertical distribution. The scientific goal of this project is to investigate the long-term impact of Kuwaiti oil fires on the stratosphere above the Middle East region. An additional goal is to find out the extent of global ozone depletion over the Middle East.


Office of Parliament for the Evaluation of Scientific and Technological Choices
(OPECST) : Scientific Expertise and Politics
The aim of OPECST, created in 1983, was to give Parliament the means of evaluating
government decisions in the areas of science and technology. OPECST is an original
structure made up of an equal number of representatives from both parliamentary houses
and which works only on a commission basis. An independent body functioning on
consensus and exercising true powers of clarification, mediation, and influence, its
recommendations are increasingly taken into account in scientific and technological
decision-making processes, making it the natural interface between the scientific and
political worlds.


Preliminaries Some Definitions C0-Semigroup Generated by Dissipative Operator Exponential Stability and Analyticity The Sobolev Spaces and Elliptic Boundary Value Problems Linear Thermoelastic Systems The Setting of Problems for the One-Dimensional Thermoelastic System The Exponential Stability for the Dirichlet Boundary Conditions at Both Ends The Exponential Stability for the Stress-Free Boundary Conditions at Both Ends The Exponential Stability for the Stress-Free Boundary Conditions at One End The Thermoelastic Kirchhoff Plate Equations Linear Viscoelastic System Linear Viscoelastic System Wave Equation with Locally Distributed Damping Linear Viscoelastic System with Memory The Linear Viscoelastic Kirchoff Plate with Memory Linear Thermoviscoelastic Systems Linear One-Dimensional Thermoviscoelastic System Linear Three-Dimensional Thermoviscoelastic System with Memory Elastic Systems with Shear Damping Shear Diffusion Equations Laminated Beam with Shear Damping Linear Elastic Systems with Boundary Damping Second-Order Hyperbolic Equation Euler-Bernoulli Beam Equation Uniformly Stable Approximations Main Theorem Approximations of the Thermoelastic System Approximation of the Viscoelastic System Bibliography


Managing human-wildlife conflict should be based on science rather than hearsay, as this failed attempt at controlling baboons with prisms in the Western Cape shows.


Buildings are physical structures which provide shelter and safety for people. People prefer to live in their own individual spaces, so there is a requirement for many buildings to be constructed. Area available for construction is inversely proportional to population growth. As the population is rising rapidly, there is a shortage of space available for construction. So, there is a requirement for constructing vertically tall buildings which can accommodate more people in a single structure which occupies less horizontal space. Tall buildings have their own drawbacks such as lower resistance to wind and seismicity. Buildings of some shapes are weaker than other shapes. Non-angular shapes are more resistant to wind than angular shapes. Angular shapes which are closer to circle such as octagon and hexagon also performs well.


This chapter reviews scholarship on the political economy of foreign aid, identifies key gaps in the current literature, and offers suggestions for bridging across dividing lines to advance future research agendas. It highlights potential synergies between the study of foreign aid allocation and aid effectiveness. The analysis draws attention to the need to synthesize across studies of micro-level and macro-level outcomes to understand the full political and economic impacts of aid. Reviewing the literature on differences across types of aid donors shows the need to better understand the relationship between democratic and non-democratic donors and to further study optimal design of development institutions to help meet global challenges addressed through foreign aid, such as climate change and pandemic disease.


This empirical study aims to investigate and compare the actual effects of play-related approaches—gamification and ludicization—on learning achievement and motivation. The authors have employed adapted College English Test-6 and Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire to assess learning achievement and motivation, respectively. According to ANCOVA, compared with the control group (N = 24, M = 59.979, SD = 1.836), gamification significantly enhances learning achievement (N = 23, M = 66.676, SD = 1.875), while ludicization insignificantly improves learning achievement (N = 23, M = 61.041, SD = 1.862). ANOVA has presented that gamification and ludicization insignificantly influence motivational-related subscales and that ludicization shows counterproductive effects on intrinsic orientation and learning beliefs. The main conclusion is that play-related approaches might exert insignificant effects on learning achievement or motivation. Unintended uses, excessive simplification, and addiction to external rewards lead to unstable or counterproductive impacts of playful experiences.


Background
Italy was the first country in Europe to report a SARS-CoV-2 case. Since then, the country has suffered a large number of COVID-19 infections both in adults and children. This disease has been shown to lead to different outcomes in these two groups, which often present varying symptoms and comorbidities.

Aim
Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the symptoms, comorbidities and laboratory values in adults and children.

Methods
We present the characteristics of 1,324 adults and 563 pediatric COVID-19 Italian patients. The data was retrieved from studies published in Italy and found via PubMed and Google Scholar.

Results
The virus appeared to affect adults more than children and men more than women, and to result in more severe outcomes in patients with abnormal laboratory values and a higher number of comorbidities. Adults are at higher risk for complications and death, and they usually present with fever, respiratory symptoms, cough, fatigue, diarrhea, myalgia, and/or loss of taste, smell, or appetite. Children usually have a milder disease progression and usually present with fever, cough, rhinorrhea, pharyngitis, sore throat, pneumonia, GI symptoms (diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain), fatigue, and dyspnea.

Conclusion
Our findings support early reports that showed that SARS-CoV-2 is associated with more common asymptomatic cases and milder clinical outcome in children than in adults. Acute respiratory distress syndrome and Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (systemic vasculitis) are the most severe disease progressions for adults and children, respectively.


The present invention for providing a broadcast signal and PSIP table decoding method and apparatus in a digital television receiver, PSIP table during the virtual channel and the (Extended Text Table) ETT having the details of an event exists, the ETT includes but provided with a header (header) and a message bar (message body), the header is the second field within the existing kinds of information in the first field with the information bits (bit) which allows to know in advance the ETT table type channel If the ETT has a source ID (source identification), it characterized in that the event is the ETT of the event ID (event identification) or a second field having a unique value (uniqueness value). Therefore, according to the present invention, it is given by using the information field, to provide information on how the transmission from the transmitting end can be received in suitably corresponding to the transmission scheme at the receiving end using the information, wherein in each ETT section do not need to parse the message body part, it is possible to filter section by filtering only the section header. PSIP, ETT, information field, the filter section, a header, a message body


Antipsychotics are the first-line treatment for psychotic disorders, which have antagonistic effects on the D2 dopamine-receptor, reducing dopamine mediated transmission. Long-term use of antipsychotics can potentially lead to a likely irreversible disorder called tardive dyskinesia (TD). The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM V) defines tardive dyskinesia as a medication-induced movement disorder that persists despite discontinuation or change of the medications.[1] While it is typical to see the development of TD with long-term use of antipsychotics, there are few reported cases reports of the development of TD with the withdrawal of antipsychotics. The development of TD symptoms with withdrawal of antipsychotics leads to the discussion of a phenomenon known as supersensitivity psychosis (SP). Supersensitivity psychosis was first defined as the emergence of psychotic symptoms with TD following the discontinuation of certain medications, typically antipsychotics. The following article presents the case of a patient diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder who developed TD after withdrawal of long standing administration of a second-generation antipsychotic, risperidone, whose symptoms began to improve after introduction and increased titration of clozapine. Furthermore, the following article summarizes the literature on supersensitivity psychosis in patients who were discontinued on antipsychotics and current practices for the treatment of SP.


In Anatomy textbooks, the medial proximal portion of the proximal phalange of the hallux is described as the insertion site of the abductor hallucis muscle. This muscle plays an important role in the functional biomechanics of the foot and its dysfunction has recently been implicated in the physiopathology of the myofascial foot pain. We investigated anatomical aspects of the muscle and its innervation looking for useful structural information, which could contribute to a better understanding of painful disorders of the foot.


This research focuses on testing enterprise systems, more concretely on how to automatically generate the initial test data to be entered into the relational database to support each test case. Existing approaches cannot generate initial database entries to suit complicated business logic states such as reading the database more than once, searching the database by partial string matching, or setting primary and foreign key constraints on the database scheme. To solve these limitations, we propose a method for initial database generation. This method adopts a design model that can handle the complicated business logic states given above, and from this design model, our method generates appropriate initial database entries, it employs a step-by-step approach using the constraints extracted from the design model. The proposed method enables us to automatically generate initial database entries for a wide range of test cases and thus supports the testing of industrial-level enterprise systems. Using three industrial-level enterprise systems as case studies, we confirm that our method properly generated initial databases for 72% to 100% of the test cases in which an initial database was needed.


Background: Cancer of the head and neck can have a major impact on patients. It is vitally important that the surgeon appreciate the anatomy of the head and neck, the varieties of tumours and their metastatic patterns of spread, the ablative techniques, the adjunctive treatments, and the potential need for reconstruction. The obvious advantages to immediate reconstruction of a defect after ablation of a tumor have been recognized for more than 3 decades and are still valid today.Methods: Those patients who required reconstructive management were included in the study. The patients with head and neck malignancy were operated in association with ENT surgeon's team or Onco-surgery team. Reconstruction of the defect was done by Plastic Surgeons.Results: In this series various types of reconstructive methods ranging from Split thickness skin graft, full thickness skin graft, fasciocutaneous flaps, fascial flaps, muscle flaps and musculo-cutaneous flaps were used. The defects were primarily sutured in 11% patients. The defects were covered with split thickness skin graft in 6.6% patients. Full thickness skin graft was used in 8.8% patients. Local flaps were used in 6.6% and loco regional flaps were used in 60% for coverage of head and neck defects. Free flaps were used in 6.6% of patients.Conclusions: The study concluded that for management of such defects local flaps were reliable, quick to execute, and capable of covering large defects. It provides skin of excellent colour and texture, and most of the scars are hidden in natural skin folds.


ANN ARBOR, Mich" May 28 (AP)-Wory over his health was blamed today for the death of William A. Devereaux, 21, University of Michigan junior who eloped tlYree months ago with the nlneteen-year-old granddaughter of C. W, Nash, the automobile newspaper. She diacovered Ute Lody three houra later. Navy Speeds Work To Lift Sunken Submarine With Pontoons and Air • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • One Officer Lost-Their Son! pInIon Fr,rlng Squads d .-_. \ At Hearin~ MADRID, May 28 {AP)-It Plan Doome m~2~:1~:~~:I:. young wile, lor-


AISI 420 stainless steel implanted by Ag/Cu ions was fabricated for antibacterial purpose. The implantation of Ag/Cu ions was in a total dose of 2×1017 ions/cm2 at an extracting voltage of 50 KV. The chemical composition of the implanted layer was characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The Ag/Cu implanted stainless steel shows good antibacterial property to both Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Aspergillus niger (A. niger).


The study of the relationship between IRM and the corporation value and the rights and interests of stock right will greatly help the development of China's capital market. The maintenance of a good relationship for all the three parties will raise the internal and external values of the public corporations, which in turn will embody their value through the rights and interests of stock right.


Delphine Hanna was a pioneer in both disciplinary scholarship and the establishment of professional programs. In this paper I contend that we must follow her example if we are to survive in the 21st century. In the past half century we have evolved from a profession primarily associated with teaching to a group of subdisciplines and many different professions. We got where we are as we both reacted to criticism and conformed to university concepts of centrality. For optimal development of both the disciplines and professions of kinesiology/physical education, it is suggested that we must become a field that includes both the disciplines and professions. The field should reward the many different roles equally in the pursuit of its common goals. We learn from nature and history that working together is critical for survival. By working together, we can make kinesiology/physical education the renaissance field of the 21st century.


Banking is considered as the backbone of any country even due to the unfavourable condition like war and internal disputes banking sector in the Middle East is in operations. However, to make these operations sustainable, continuous improvement is essential. It has been proved in the literature that lean approaches enhance the performance for not only manufacturing sector but also service sectors. The aim of this study is to explore the potential benefits of lean approaches in the banking sector of Jordan. Three most effective approaches are total quality management (TQM), 5S services and kaizen have been adopted and applied. A questionnaire has been developed and distributed by convenience sampling in all banks of Jordan. A total of 232 responses have been considered and SPSS 23 has been used for data analysis. The results revealed that all three approaches positively and significantly enhance the operational performance of banking sector. This study will help the managers of banks to make their operations more efficient and productive. For further studies, there is need to test more approaches and especially qualitative investigation to more explore the lean concept.


We aim to assess how the timing of being physically active in adulthood is associated with later‐life cognitive function; and estimate to what extent these effects are explained by pathways including earlier life influences, cardiovascular and mental health.


Objective To study the anti-oxidation effects and mechanism of Lumbrokinase extracts. Methods Pyrogallol auto-oxidation method Fenton reaction were used to detect scavenging activities against super anion radical(O-2·),hydroxyl radical(·OH) in vitro and in the heart and liver of mice. Results The lumbrokinase had scarecying activities against O-2·,·OH radicals,in the heart and liver of mice. Conclusion The lumbrokinase have excellent antioxidation properties.


The countries of Inner Asia with intracontinental economical-geographical position, carry the biggest part of loads by land. Land transport is more expensive than shipping; it reduces the competitiveness of continental countries in comparison with seafaring countries. The borderland interaction of Inner Asia countries can be a softening mechanism of their continentality (remoteness from year round navigation ports), raising their competitiveness and overcoming the economic asymmetry between them and seafaring countries.


This paper demonstrates the fabrication of sensor with electrical and gas sensing characteristics formed by block copolymer (BCP)-assisted carbon nanotube (CNT) on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI). The maximum sensing current of the sensor device is 19.02 μA when VDS is at the optimal voltage of 30 V. Meanwhile, the gas sensor exhibits good gas sensing performance both in oxidizing gas NO2 and reducing gas NH3, and high stability. In addition, the Schottky characteristic appeared when the back gate-voltage regulation is applied. The gas sensor of BCP-assisted CNT network not only successfully forms the controllable sensing film but also realizes effective utilization of the sensing area of CNTs during the device fabrication and characterization process.


: Standard Hammerstein-Wiener models consist of a linear subsystem sandwiched by two memoryless nonlinearities. Presently, the linear subsystem is allowed to be parametric or not, continuous- or discrete-time. The input and output nonlinearities are polynomial and may be noninvertible. A two-stage identification method is developed such the parameters of all nonlinear elements are estimated first using the Kozen-Landau polynomial decomposition algorithm. The obtained estimates are then based upon in the identification of the linear subsystem, making use of suitable pre-ad post-compensators.


Free fatty acid (FFA) is one of the most frequently determined quality indices in fats and oils industry because it has the economic impacts on production [1]. Pulp of macaúba is considered a promising raw material for obtaining vegetable oils given its high productivity and its high oil content in the pulp (50 to 70%). Thus the FFA in macaúba pulp oil is usually very high (10 to 40%) due to enzymatic activity in the raw material [2]. In this case, alkali neutralization is not economically recommended due to neutral oil loss by occlusion in the soapstock. The differential solubility of fatty acids and triacylglycerides in various organic solvents has formed the basis of several processes for deacidification of crude oils by liquid–liquid extraction .


Testimony from past readers drives this issue's content and approach. High on their wish list are a greater emphasis on science content, a more tutorial approach to computation, and a stronger, more utilitarian character. These are appropriate because science sets the context for—and computation, the practice of—computing in science and engineering. But isn't this what we are doing? Our charter commits us to build communities of practice that cross disciplines within the sciences, engineering, mathematics, and computation. Are we perhaps honoring this commitment, more often than not, in its breach? This issue offers three responses.


The effects of electric field and ultrasonication on the deposition and alignment of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) across a 10 μm electrode gap have been studied. It was found that a frequency of ~1 MHz of the applied field yields the largest current independent of the magnitude of the voltage or the ultrasonication time of the sample. Increasing the ultrasonication time of a SWCNT solution changes the I-V characteristics of the deposited nanotubes from linear to nonlinear for all the voltages and frequencies of the applied field. Even in the absence of an electric field, SWCNTs bridged the electrode gap up to a critical sonication time which depends on the concentration of nanotubes in the solution.


This paper describes the design of a fuzzy controller based on MacVicar-Whelan fuzzy control relation matrix (1976). An interesting feature of the proposed design is that the rule acquisition process, essential in most fuzzy controller designs, is avoided. A procedure is given for the tuning of the proposed fuzzy controller. Experimental results show that the proposed fuzzy controller can cope with the plant having different types of nonlinearity elements.<<ETX>>


DLNA has defined schemes for interoperable content sharing between devices in a home network. In this paper we describe our architecture for extending UPnP and sharing content between devices using DLNA specified schemes across broadband wireless networks. The architecture relies only on end-points and does not require any service specific intelligence in network servers. We also describe how that same approach can also enable sharing between remote mobile devices and in-home off-the-shelf DLNA compatible devices.


As part of the design of large integrated circuits, one must verify that the power delivery network provides supply and ground voltages to the circuit that are within specified ranges. We introduce the concept of time-frequency description of circuit currents using wavelets, and use that to set up an optimization framework that finds the worst-case supply/ground voltage fluctuations. This framework allows for the quick determination of the impact of either the package or the die on the worst-case behavior, which enables their codesign. This approach has been applied to an industrial microprocessor design, resulting in realistic and nonobvious worst-case waveforms.


As new evidence emerges and guidelines are frequently revised, optimizing diabetes treatment with an eye toward HbA1c, blood pressure, and lipid goals becomes increasingly complex. Here's help.


Fisheries involve complex problems not easily addressed by a single discipline, methodology, or set of stakeholders. In 2010, the Canadian Fisheries Research Network (CFRN) was initiated to increase fisheries research capacity in Canada through interdisciplinary and inclusive research collaborations. As post-graduate students in the network, we reflected on the type of training necessary to tackle fisheries problems and reviewed opportunities available at Canadian universities to receive such training. This paper presents an overview of fisheries education currently available in Canada, reflects on our training within the CFRN, and proposes improvements to fisheries education and research. Our review of the subject revealed few dedicated fisheries programs, limited interdisciplinary programs, few specialized fisheries training programs, and a heavy reliance on academic supervisors to secure research opportunities in fisheries. In contrast, the CFRN enhanced our training by deliberately focusing on tools and techniques to address fisheries issues, providing venues to foster interdisciplinary and inclusive research collaborations, and exposing the realities of stakeholder collaborations. We call for post-graduate-level fisheries education and research that is interdisciplinary, collaborative, and inclusive to produce well-rounded scientists and managers, and we suggest ways that universities, researchers, and funding agencies can incorporate these themes into fisheries education and research.


Abstract 2508 Poster Board II-485 RUNX1 helps direct the formation of definitive HSC during embryogenesis and the subsequent maturation of the lymphoid, myeloid, and megakaryocytic lineages in adults. RUNX1 regulates both lineage-specific genes and G1 to S cell cycle progression, the latter in part via induction of cyclin D3 and cdk4 transcription. Recent studies demonstrate that RUNX1 homologs in sea urchin blastocyts or in C. elegans seam cells, a stem cell subset, also stimulate cell proliferation. Of note, RUNX1 activities are commonly perturbed in human AML or ALL cases. RUNX1 residues S48, S303, and S424 fit the consensus, (S/T)PX(R/K), for phosphorylation by cyclin dependent kinases (cdk). Mutation of these residues to the phosphomimetic aspartic acid increases RUNX1 trans-activation, and mutation to alanine reduces trans-activation, without perturbing p300 interaction (Zhang et al 2008). We now demonstrate that cdk phosphorylation of RUNX1 reduces its interaction with HDAC1 and HDAC3. First, co-immunoprecipitation of FLAG-tagged HDAC1 or HDAC3 with myc-tagged RUNX1, RUNX1(tripleA), with S48, S303, and S424 mutated to alanine, or RUNX1(tripleD), with these three residues mutated to aspartic acid, was assessed using extracts from transiently transfected 293T cells. Both HDAC1 and HDAC3 bound RUNX1(tripleD) with greatly reduced affinity compared to RUNX1 or its tripleA variant. Consistent with previous mapping of HDAC1 and HDAC3 interaction to the C-terminal residues 380–432 of RUNX1, when this same assay was repeated using RUNX1(S48D), RUNX1(S303D), or RUNX1(S424D), carrying single residue mutations to aspartic acid, only S424D reduced HDAC1 binding, and S424D had a greater effect than S48D or S303D on HDAC3 binding. Second, when GST-RUNX1, GST-RUNX1(424A), or GST-RUNX1(424D) fusion proteins isolated from bacteria were incubated with in vitro translated, S35-methionine labeled HDAC1 or HDAC3, reduced interaction was again seen to the 424D variant. Finally, incubation of wild-type GST-RUNX1 with cdk1/cyclinB led to reduced interaction with radio-labeled HDAC1 or HDAC3, indicating that cdk phosphorylation and not just change of cdk target residues to aspartic acid reduces HDAC binding to RUNX1. In addition, endogenous HDAC1 in the Ba/F3 hematopoietic cell line co-immunoprecipitated with exogenous RUNX1, and we are attempting to optimize methods to detect interaction between the endogenous proteins. We previously provided data suggesting that RUNX1 cdk phosphorylation stimulates proliferation of the Ba/F3 hematopoietic cell line (Zhang et al 2008). We now find that RUNX1 or RUNX1(tripleD) reproducibly stimulate proliferation of transduced, lineage-negative murine marrow progenitors more potently than RUNX1(tripleA). Together our findings indicate that stimulation of RUNX1 trans-activation activity by cdk-mediated reduction in direct HDAC1 and HDAC3 interaction facilitates hematopoietic progenitor cell proliferation. Future studies will endeavor to determine whether activation of cdk in HSC or myeloid progenitors, for example by Notch or Wnt signaling, stimulates RUNX1 cdk phosphorylation to facilitate induction of cell cycle regulatory genes and cell proliferation. Conversely, reduced RUNX1 cdk phosphorylation may facilitate HSC quiescence. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


The importance of neutron scattering techniques for the characterization of samples in soft condensed matter has been demonstrated all along the present book. The fine understanding of the physical properties is closely linked to progress in the field of instrumentation. This chapter describes the advances over the last decade in technical domains, such as neutron detection, electronics and sample environment. The news software for data reduction and analysis are also discussed before to conclude with the ILL and LLB projects for new instruments.


Although Africa's share to the causes of Climate Change is insignificant yet, the continent is the most vulnerable to the impacts of the phenomenon. The Nile Basin witnesses very high population growth rates, severe impacts of climate variability and change and severe food insecurity. About 94% of the Sudan is located in the arid and semiarid regions. Desertification, climate change and other forms of environmental degradation strongly contribute to poverty, displacement and conflicts. Separation of south Sudan imposed huge economic hardships to the country which was formerly reported to achieve economic stability due to the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Recent projections showed that the Sudan will witness severe water shortages of about 30 billion cubic meters by the year 2027. Different factors like the ENSO Event were found to contribute to the variability of the country's rain fall and consequently, severe droughts, devastating floods and substantial socioeconomic impacts were incurred. Due to Climate Change the rain fall of the country showed 19% reduction and increased variability. Meanwhile, further reduction in rain fall coupled with south ward shift of agro-climatic zones and reduced crop productivity were anticipated.  Climate resilience is maintained by creating conducive policy environment, strengthening relevant institutions and early warning systems and implementation of the relevant programs and projects. In addition to that basin (regional) cooperation is of vital importance especially promotion of regional trade, coordinated reservoir operation and joint research. The Higher Council for Civil Defense is the apex body to coordinate disaster management in the Sudan. The paper recommends that the efforts to craft the national water policy, other sectoral policies, the national IWRM plan and the NAP are to be urged.


Dr. D. P. O'Leary is Assistant Professor, Institute for Physical Sci ences and Technology, University of Maryland. Ms. Habbersett was at the Laboratory of Pathology, National Cancer Institute, and is currently at Merck, Sharp and Dohme, Inc., Rahway, New Jersey. Dr. Herman was Chief, Quantitative Cytology Section, Laborato ry of Pathology, National Cancer Institute, and is currently at Katholieke Universiteit, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Address reprint requests to: Timothy J. O'Leary, Ph.D., M.D., Laboratory of Pathology, National Cancer Institute, Building 10, Room 1A24, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20205.


The preparation of English as a secondhth (third, fourth or greater) language (ESL) teachers at historically black colleges of education in South Africa has been characterized by inadequacy, causing teachers to lack crucial skills, especially those needed to teach a critical literacy. These problems were an educational effect of apartheid, the system of racial. segregation and stratification which gripped South Africa from 1948 to 1994. The distortions of this system produced inadequately and inappropriately trained teachers, in general, and English teachers in black secondary schocls, specifically. With the end of the apartheid system, it is necessary to prepare students to take part fully in the life of the multi-racial, multi-ethnic and multicultural country. Because of the role of English as a language of power in South Africa, competent teaching of English in black secondary schools is imperative, essential and indispensable. The apartheid framework was one of extreme hierarchical direction, which was applied to the training of teachers, pedagogical principles, and instructional strategies in the schools. Critical language competence requires decision-making by the user of the language. This thesis proposes a shift in the approach to teacher education for ESL. It builds on Freeman's model of second language teaching as decision-making. This framework of language teaching requires that a teacher-inpreparation/student teacher demonstrates knowledge, attitude, skills and critical awareness in the inquiry areas of language education. These include pedagogy, linguistics, culture, language learning and acquisition, interpersonal relations and professionalism. Competence in the identified areas is achieved through training and development, the two educational strategies of the decision-making model. Hundreds of thousands of teachers who were trained during the apartheid period require in-service education for effective transformation in the principles and strategies of ESL teaching. It is only through distance education that this massive number can be reached. The final chapter identifies teacher reflection on lesson plans as one means of developing the teachers' critical faculties, as well as knowledge of the principles and strategies of English as a second language teaching.


Carbon mineralization in acidic forest soils can be retarded by large concentrations of aluminium (Al). However, it is still unclear whether Al reduces C mineralization by direct toxicity to microorganisms or by decreased bioavailability of organic matter (OM) because dissolved organic matter (DOM) is precipitated by Al. We conducted an incubation experiment (6 weeks) with two DOM solutions (40 mg C litre−1) derived from two acidic forests and possessing large differences in composition. Aluminium was added to the solutions in realistic ranges for acidic soils (1.6–24 mg Al litre−1) at pHs of 3.8 and 4.5, to achieve differences in Al speciation. We determined different Al species, including the potentially toxic Al3+, by Diffusive Gradients in Thin Films (DGT) to evaluate toxic effects on microorganisms. Precipitation of OM increased with larger amounts of added Al and higher pH, and we measured a larger fraction of dissolved 'free' Al at pH 3.8 than at pH 4.5. Organic matter degradation decreased significantly with Al addition, and we found more organic matter degraded at pH 3.8 than at pH 4.5 for the respective Al additions. Consequently, the observed reduction in OM degradation (i.e. stabilization) cannot be explained by toxic effects of 'free' Al. However, C stabilization correlated significantly with C precipitation. The pH did not influence C stabilization directly, but determined the amount of C being precipitated. Phosphorus was removed along with OM by precipitation, which possibly also affected C stabilization. We conclude that C stabilization upon Al addition did not result from toxic effects, but was caused by reduced bioavailability of OM after its precipitation. The reduction in OM degradation by 65% is of great relevance for the overall C stabilization in acidic forest soils. Increasing pH and decreasing Al concentrations upon recovery from acidic deposition should therefore not result in decreased stabilization of precipitated OM.


In this paper, a new method of site model based change detection is presented for multitemporal synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. It first constructs a site model offline making use of a high resolution image of the fixed site, and then accurate registration is carried out between the model and the images. With the location information contained in the site model, the region of interest (ROI) can be extracted easily and robustly. Finally, the significant changes are obtained by comparing the invariant features extracted separately from the shapes of targets in ROI of two images. The experiment of change detection for two SAR images of airport demonstrated the validity of the proposed method.


This article discusses the technological agreement between the United States and Japan, which was eventually agreed to by the Japanese government in June 1982, and agreements between Japan, Britain and the EEC. The argument presented here is that technological power has become a political resource of national governments. The American government has used political power through the Japan-US Defence Treaty to attempt to retain technological and economic power. The Japanese government has been prepared to forgo technological power in order to placate American, British and EEC protectionist sentiments. Although governments of industrialized nations are now recognizing domestic technology as a determinant of power, ongoing technological innovation and the penetration by Japan of American microchip markets has increased US dependency on Japan. This economic dependency has not yet been recognized by shifts in political power.


With more than 4 billion devices produced in 2020, Bluetooth and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) have become the dominant solutions for short-range wireless communication in IoT. BLE mitigates interference via Adaptive Frequency Hopping (AFH), spreading communication over the entire spectrum. However, the ever-growing number of BLE devices and WiFi traffic in the already crowded 2.4 GHz band lead to situations where the quality of BLE connections dynamically changes with nearby wireless traffic, location, and time of day. These dynamic environments demand new approaches for channel management in AFH, by both dynamically excluding frequencies suffering from localized interference and adaptively re-including channels, thus providing sufficient channel diversity to survive the rise of new interference.We introduce eAFH, a new channel-management approach in BLE with a strong focus on efficient channel re-inclusion. eAFH introduces informed exploration as a driver for inclusion: using only past measurements, eAFH assesses which frequencies we are most likely to benefit from re-inclusion into the hopping sequence. As a result, eAFH adapts in dynamic scenarios where interference varies over time. We show that eAFH achieves 98-99.5% link-layer reliability in the presence of dynamic WiFi interference with 1% control overhead and 40% higher channel diversity than state-of-the-art approaches.


No single person or office is charged with the responsibility of managing corrections costs. The chief executive of the corrections agency administers its budget, but this is a very different function from managing costs. In the case of corrections, as with many governmental agencies, the itemized expenditure plan contained in the budget is implemented by a responsible official, yet the source of the budgetand the demands made upon itfall within the authority of other officials. That is to say, no single decision or easily identifiable set of decisions determines the costs of corrections; instead these are the result of a fragmented collection of unorganized, sometimes conflicting, and certainly varied decisions of legislators, judges, probation officers, jailers, parole officials, and media, among others.


This paper introduces a kind of food with functional response two groups types of predators d x d t=x(θ 1+θ 2x-θ 3x 2-y), d y d t=y(-1+x).The quality of the balance point is discussed in this system, and the existence, the uniqueness and the global stability of the limit cycle are proved in this system.


Objective: To investigate the effect of dihydroartemisinin on the production of inflammatory factors induced by UHMWPE particles in mouse macrophage cell line RAW264.7. Methods: UHMWPE particles were used to establish inflammatory factors production model in RAW264.7 cell and it was treated with dihydroartemisinin on different concentrations. The contents of TNF-α,IL-1, IL-6 and IL-10 in the supernatant of cell culture medium were detected by ELISA. MTT assay was adopted to detect the cytotoxicity of dihydroartemisinin. Results: Dihydroartemisinin could significantly inhibit the secretion of TNF-α, IL-1 and IL-6 in RAW246.7 cells induced by UHMWPE particles while promote the content of anti-inflammatory factor IL-10 in a dose-dependent manner. Conclusions:Dihydroartemisinin can significangtly inhibit the proinflammatory effects of macrophage induced by UHMWPE particles, which indicates that it plays a potential role in drug treatment for prevention of aseptic loosening after artificial joint replacement surgery.


Raffinose is one of the many uovvanted melassigenic substances, commonly called impurities, which interferes in the recovery and refining of sucrose. It is a dextrorotatory, trisaccharide com pound with the chemical make up of C, 8H ,2 0,6.5H20 and has very little commercial value. Like sucrose, it is precipitated by lime in the saccharate process and is mostly retained in the syrups because of continued recycling of the juices in the sugar factory. Zitkowski (9, 10. 11)2 recognized the troublesome characteristics of raffinose and published methods of isolating it from beet sugar products. He used artificial mixtures of sucrose and raffinose and demonstrated by photomicrographs that small quantities of raffi nose could interfere 'with the size and shape of the sucrose crystal. This is of importance to the beet sugar manufacturer whose aim it is to produce crystals as uniform as possible. Breeding of sug'ar beets for low raffinose content was made possible bv the development of the paper chromatography method of determination as described by Brown (2) anc! Serra and Brown (6). With this new technique it was possible to determine the raffinose content of individual beets very rapidly. Brown and 'Wood (3) also demonstrated that varieties differed in their raffinose content when grawn under the same conditions and concluded that these differences were due to the ?enotype of the varieties. They also reported that the raffinose content of the same variety could vary from location to location, and that some increase in raffinose content was noticed during; storaQ'e. Fink ner and Bauserman (5) reported an approximate 30 percent increase in raffinose content -from the same varieties ~vhich were harvested three weeks later in a date of harvest test. ProQ'env per formance of roots wh ich were selected from the same population for hiQ'h and low raffinose content h;we been reported by 'Vood (7) and Finkner and Bauserman (51. Both papers concluded that the raffinose content of beets could be significantly increased or decreased bv mass selection. 'Vood et al (8) studied the in heritance of raffinose production in sugar beets and reported the number of effective factor pairs for production of raffinose be tween the two parents used was about five and at least one is


Aims of Study In the last 100 years a great deal of experimental studies in bladder augmentation was performed [1]. With the development of antibiotics these were redefined, and improved after the 1970's with clean intermittent self-catheterization [2, 3, 4]. These techniques aim to the development of a large and compliant reservoir of urine, promoting continence and preserving renal function. Main indications for bladder augmentation are: small capacity and/or low compliance. Such conditions lead to urinary incontinence and renal failure due to vesical deterioration [5]. The aim of the present study is to compare the results of bladder autoaugmentation with or without intravesical balloon.


Abstract We discuss the effective implementation of parallel processing for linear prediction-based uniform state sampling (LPUSS). In previous work, we proposed LPUSS as an optimization algorithm for mechanical motions that assures high optimality of the solutions and computational efficiency. In parallel computation, LPUSS requires balanced memory allocation and managed processing timing. In this paper, we propose an effective parallel computing method that assures high optimality and calculation efficiency in parallel processing using GPU processor. We conducted two experiments to validate the proposed method. In the first experiment, we compared single-thread processing for LPUSS and the proposed parallel processing. As a result of this experiment, calculation speed of LPUSS was about 4–20 times faster than that with single-thread CPU. In the second experiment, we applied the proposed method to the optimization of sixtuple inverted pendulum. As a result, the proposed method optimized the motion within 40 minutes. According to our survey, there is no other optimization method that is applicable to higher than quadruple inverted pendulum models with standard constraints.


A portable device using the SAW-based impedance sensor type based on one interdigital transducer simultaneously as SAW generator and sensor element (1-port approach) is introduced. As a novelty, the so far required expensive vector network analyzer (VNA) is replaced by a hand-held device to measure the impedance spectrum of the SAW sensor by RF-gain-phase meters. Hence, some of the best features from the conventional oscillator and VNA approaches are combined to develop a low-cost and self-contained measurement system, including signal in- and output ability for real-time measurements. The pivotal aspect of the portable system is the transfer of the sophisticated high frequency approach into a quasi-static one. This enables the use of simple lumped electronics without the need of impedance matching circuits. Proof-of-concept was carried out by measuring conductivities of phosphate-buffered solutions and viscosities of glycerin. Sensitivities for temperature of 0.3%/°C, viscosity of 10.1% (mPa s)−1 and conductivity of 0.5% (S cm)−1 have been determined, respectively, which are competitive results compared to the benchmark approaches.


The application scope and advantages of cast-in-place bored pile are introduced.Combined with several years' experiences in construction,from two aspects: control of quality of hole and pouring quality of concrete discussion is made in order to ensure the construction quality of castin-place bored pile to meet requirements of codes.


The aim of the present study is to evaluate the capability of a miniaturized Raman endoscope (mRE) system to monitor the advancement of colorectal tumors in live model mice. The endoscope is narrow enough to observe the inside of the mouse colon under anesthesia. The mRE system allows to observe the tissues and to apply a miniaturized Raman probe for the measurement at any targeted point within the colon. Raman spectroscopy allows obtaining information about molecular composition without damaging the tissue (i.e., noninvasively). Continuous monitoring of the same tumor is carried out to study molecular alterations along with its advancement. The Raman spectra measured before and after the anticancer drug (5-FU) treatment indicated spectral changes in the tumor tissue. It suggests that the tumor is not cured but supposedly transformed to another tumor type after the treatment.


The objective of this study was to examine feed-sorting behavior of dairy cows in response to a grain challenge that leads to Subacute Ruminal Acidosis (SARA). Sixteen multiparous, rumen-cannulated lactating Holstein cows were used. During the first 49 days of the experiment, all cows received a High-Forage diet (HF; 77:23, F: C; NFC=35). Cows were then transitioned to a High-Grain (HG; 50:50, F: C; NFC=48) diet on days 50 and 51 and remained on the HG until day 72. Feed intake was recorded daily. Particle size distribution of feed and orts were analyzed using the Penn State Particle Separator (PSPS) on days 36 (HF) and 71 (HG). The extent of feed-sorting was evaluated by calculating sorting indices for each PSPS dietary fraction for each given diet. A sorting index of a given fraction of the PSPS was calculated as the actual DMI expressed as a percentage of the predicted DMI of that fraction. Ruminal pH was recorded continuously every minute using an indwelling system on days 36 (HF), 50, 51 (onset of SARA) and day 71 (chronic SARA). Data were analyzed using Proc Mixed of SAS with day as a fixed effect and accounting for repeated measurement. Orthogonal contrasts were utilized to compare days. Ruminal pH on day 36 (16±46 min/d


The invention provides a PAC (poly aluminum chloride) controller-based CAN (controller area network) bus locomotive double heading system and a realization method thereof. The CAN bus locomotive double heading system comprises PAC controllers, wherein the PAC controllers are respectively arranged on locomotives that are subjected to mutual double heading, each double heading locomotive also comprises a CAN bus clip, the CAN bus clip of each double heading locomotive is mutually connected with the PAC controller of the double heading locomotive, and the CAN bus clips of different double heading locomotives are in one-to-one correspondence connection through CAN buses. According to the realization method of the locomotive double heading system, after the CAN bus clips of one locomotive are succeed in initialization, one CAN bus clip is at a communication state, the other CAN bus clip is at an inactive state, and then the PAC controllers is used for deploying the CAN bus clips to be used so as to establish double heading communication. Compared with the prior art, the PAC controllers are adopted for deploying the CAN bus clips so as to form a double heading communication network, the system has high compatibility and strong conformability, the timeliness and reliability of the communication between the double heading locomotives are enhanced, and the system has the outstanding advantages of low construction cost and the like.


A mathematical model for the flow development upstream of the region of air entrainment on a spillway is presented. The model is based on numerical solutions of the time-averaged two-dimensional form of the Navier-Stokes equations. Predictions from the model of mean velocity distributions, boundary layer growth, and water surface profiles are compared with experimental data, both model and prototype. Excellent agreement is obtained. Furthermore, it is shown conclusively that self-aeration in a spillway flow commences at the point where the bed induced turbulence reaches the free surface.


Innovation has been recognized as the primary strategy to attain competitive sustainable advantage. The current dynamic environment has impelled organizations to adopt a new business model based on creativity and innovation. Although the researchers realized the significance of innovation, organizations have to focus on organizational learning to enhance their innovativeness. The present study attempts to study the effect of organizational learning on innovativeness in the public and private universities in Damascus. The sample consisted of 383 workers at the universities' Administrative and Academic system and two scales were used in this study; (Jerez-Gomez et al, 2005) scale to measure the Organizational Learning and (Gadot, Ruvio, and Schwabsky ,2012) scale to measure the Innovativeness. The study found significant impact of all Organizational Learning dimensions on Innovativeness. The results of regression analysis also showed that four elements of organizational learning explained the changes in the Innovativeness.


volvement and/ or by assessing elite effectiveness in decision-making, the reader is offered a very good socio-political and historical account of formal leadership changes over a twenty-five year period. We are given a great deal of data and information about the evolution of types of leaders during the Conservative Era (pre-1943), the Per6n Era (1943-1955), and the post-Peron Era (1956-1963). The last chapter brings into focus leadership changes from 1964 to 1968. We find, for example: Per6n broke the monopoly of political notables and upper class lawyers to high governmental office. Labor, the military, and national entrepreneurial types began to make inroads into positions of power. Leadership in the post-Per6n period became less traditional and charismatic (e.g. Eva Peron) and more rational. Military officer recruitment markedly shifted to the interior provinces and away from Buenos Aires under Peron. The Sociedad Rural represents solely and exclusively the largest Buenos Aires landowners. Diplomacy is the career for those in the upper class with no land, no law degree and no extensive financial interests. For the entrepreneurial class, economic influence has not been translated into social status. Their economic interest articulation is not cohesive since they are divided between representatives of internationally-based and native industries. The church elite differs from other Argentine elites in that they are invested with dual authority in both the religious and governmental spheres. Most indicators demonstrate that party politicians are poorly informed in public administration, social sciences, and rudimentary problem-solving techniques. The missionary, ascetic labor leader has become practically extinct since Peron introduced the trade unions to governmental bureaucratic status.


Aliano is a small village in the province of Matera (Note 1). The city is characterized by the exceptional nature and the uniqueness of a "lunar landscape", of a vast expanse of eerie beauty. The area was not always accessible for the same reasons, it became world famous for completely different reasons and specifically through the novel of a writer called Carlo Levi (Note 2). This particular author has left a strong mark on the history of Italian literature, although his work is not very rich. The place and the conditions of his new life as an exile in a poor isolated village of southern Italy, became the reason for the creation of his most important book entitled "Christ stopped at Eboli (Note 3).The book presents the rural south of Italy through its social condition, but not only as the result of an unbearable for the country archaic condition, but also as a place of existence of an important civilization. In this way the author's narrative, as argued by Palmieri (2020), works as an objective account that is subjectively equated to a literary form.[… Christ did not arrive at this dark land where there is no sin and redemption, where evil is not moral, but an earthly pain that always exists in life. Christ stopped at Eboli.] (Levi, p. 12).


A decoupling circuit using an operational amplifier is proposed to suppress substrate crosstalk in mixed-signal system-on-chip (SoC) devices. It overcomes the parasitic inductance problem of on-chip capacitor decoupling. The effect of the proposed decoupling circuit is not limited by parasitic fine impedance. A 0.13-/spl mu/m CMOS test chip showed that substrate noise at frequencies from 40 MHz to 1 GHz was incrementally suppressed by sequentially activating three of the proposed circuits in parallel. The power dissipation of each circuit was 3.3 mW at a 1.0-V power supply. The test chip measurement showed that the proposed decoupling reduced crosstalk by 31% at 200 MHz, whereas it was reduced by 4.4% with capacitor decoupling. This 7:1 ratio, or 17 dB, corresponds to the gain of the opamp. Design of the opamp and its feedback loop for active decoupling is simple, making the opamp useful for SoC applications.


As of August, there was a somewhat sizeable gap (0.5 percentage point) between the 12-month growth rate in the core PCE and the core CPI, which stood at 1.4 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively. Normally, this isn't much of an issue. However, this time the direction of the gap is reversed relative to historical norms (with the core CPI currently trending below the core PCE), and measured inflation rates are hovering just above zero. A quick look into the differences between these two series may clear up this mystery.


: For meteorological radar observations, it is very important to know the size and the characteristics of precipitation particles. In this paper, we report the snow particle size distributions at Syowa Station, Antarctica in 1988 using snow particle VCR tapes, which were recorded by a specially designed portable video camera set on the ground. The digitized video images retrieved from the VCR tape are processed to separate each snow particle on the image. We measured the three kinds of snow particle "radius" on the separated snow particle image and obtained the snow particle size distributions. Using the five sets of VCR tapes, we obtained four cases of distributions at Syowa Station in 1988 and estimated a case of snowfall rate from the distribution.


At present,the set up of simulation model of switched reluctance motor,with little regard the impact of mutual inductance,however,in the actual motor current commutation process,the adjacent phases and the mutual inductance can achieve maximum self-inductance of 6.4%~7.0%.According to measured the mutual inductance flux values considering the mutual inductance of SRM,set up the model of simulation,and consider the with mutual inductance and without mutual inductance,the simulation results were compared,results suggest that considering mutual inductance of the motor model simulation results closer to the actual situation.


A double lumen catheter was employed to examine the hemodynamics of the right heart. Also, the factors which cause pulmonary hypertension in anoxia were determined. The relation between the heart sound and the intersecting point of the ventricular and arterial pressure curves were that the second sound and the closing point of the pressure curve coincide well, but the first sound did not coincide well with the opening point of the curve probably because interference of sounds due to blood flow, myocardial vibration etc. When the pulmonary artery pressure rises (this includes the condition during induced anoxia) the effective expulsion time of the right ventricle shortens and the ventricle is forced to expell a certain amount of blood within a short time. In cases with no obstruction in blood flow, the pressure difference between the systolic right ventricular and pulmonary pressures decreases as the mean pulmonary arterial pressure rises. Thus, in combination with the fact noted in the above section, the right ventricle is placed in a state of an increased pressure load. When this state becomes more severe, the possible occurrence of right ventricular insufficiency can be predicted. This paper was made possible with the cooperation of Drs. Shinji WATANABE, H. YOSHINAKA, K. YAZU, R. YAZIMA, K. NARIYAMA, K. ASAKUMA, I. SUEMITSU, Shigeki WATANABE and T. OKUl.


In the course of pacing into the information era,mankind face new opportunities and challenges.The information era possesses profound intension of culture,which expresses the distinctive "dual character".The advantage of information era has expanded to several fields of human society,such as everyday life,interpersonal relationships.In the mean time,it has brought about serious alienation of humanity,and led to grave crisis of morality.Also,it makes traditional culture suffering from severe challenge.Therefore,on the way to sublating "being digital",we should approach correctly to some important and critical problems demanding prompt solution,as originating new principles and methods,enhancing exercise effective supervision with regard to culture,orientating man and his rational faculty again.


Chest pain in aortic stenosis (AS) has been attributed to the loss of coronary flow reserve however; this has not been directly quantified to date.

 To determine whether there is a decrease in coronary flow as a cause of chest pain or dyspnea in patients with severe AS

 Patients with AS and normal left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) underwent coronariography previous to valve replacement. In those patients without obstructive coronary disease, an invasive physiological evaluation was performed to measure absolute coronary flow (Q) and microvascular resistances (R). Left anterior descending artery (LAD) was explored in all cases and, in a subgroup of patients, we also studied the circumflex (CX).

 51 patients were included. 86% presenting with dyspnea, 26% also reported chest pain, and 11.8% syncope. No patient was admitted due to heart failure. Mean pressure gradient for AS was 52.44±15.41 mmHg with a mean aortic valve area of 0.76±0.17 cm2. Mean LVEF was 63±8.35%. The physiological study of LAD was successfully completed in all patients. 68.6% presented a normal / increased LAD-Q with a mean quantified flow of 262.118±161.99 mL/min. LAD-R proved normal in 56.9% of the cases and low in 13.7%. The quantified mean LAD-R was 400.78±195.89 UW.
 The physiological study of the CX was carried out in 34 patients. 82.3% presented normal / increased CX-Q, with a mean value of 201.82±117.91 mL/min. CX-R proved normal in 76.5% of the cases and low in 17.6%, with a mean value of 604.147±367.23 UW.

 Invasive intracoronary measurements demonstrated most of patients with severe AS maintain normal values of Q and R

 Type of funding sources: None.


The aim of this Special Issue is to interrogate the intersection of violence and feminist and queer politics of inclusion. As critical voices within the 'sexual citizenship' debate have argued, middle-class and homonormative performances of politics and identity are often privileged in dominant frames of inclusion and belonging (Richardson 2000; Bell and Binnie 2002). Moving beyond an analysis of citizenship as limited to some and not others, our scholarly and political aim is to debunk the very move of inclusion – into citizenship, rights and political subjecthood – through sexuality. Instead of taking for granted the incorporation of sexual minorities as a certain pathway to progressive politics, this Special Issue asks how inclusions can be murderous by shifting the focus from their promise to their violences. Contributors to the issue reflect on the 'intimate investments' (Agathangelou, Bassichis and Spira 2008) surrounding, for example, international development aid conditionality and local, national and transnational regimes of governance of identity and desire; same-sex marriage reforms in the context of structural assaults against racialized and economically disadvantaged populations; sexual and gendered citizenship regimes and the pathologization, criminalization and/or violent erasure of sexually and gender-non conforming subjects from lower classes/castes; the uneven and ambivalent extension of state protection to individuals on the grounds of sexual and gender identity in a context of unchallenged heteronormativity; and alliances between neo-imperial free-market capitalism, slavery and political value struggles (see also Bailey, Kandaswamy and Richardson 2004; Smith 2007; Reddy 2011; Spade 2011 reviewed in this issue; Stanley and Smith 2011 reviewed in this issue; Ekine and Abbas 2013). In that respect, the articles brought together here decouple the link between inclusion, queer politics and justice, and explore the mundane articulation of such dynamics.


A rack server comprises a rack, multiple server chassis and a virtual sever chassis, wherein multiple installation spaces are arranged in the rack, the server chassis and the virtual sever chassis can be installed in the installation spaces respectively, the virtual sever chassis comprises a blocking part and a covering part, the covering part comprises a support arranged on the bottom of the blocking part and a cover plate fixed to the support, and the cover plate is arranged on the top of the server chassis below the virtual server chassis in a blocking mode. The virtual server chassis of the rack server can replace the server chassis to be installed in the installation space of the rack to stabilize the heat dissipation environment inside the rack.


Hedge has been proposed as an adaptive scheme, which guides an agent's decision in resource selection and distribution problems that can be modeled as a multi-armed bandit full information game. Such problems are encountered in the areas of computer and communication networks, e.g. network path selection, load distribution, network interdiction, and also in problems in the area of transportation. We study Hedge under the assumption that the total loss that can be suffered by the player in each round is upper bounded. In this paper, we study the worst performance of Hedge.


A method for the identification of crosstalk in the telecommunications with known payload, wherein the crosstalk is modeled as a MIMO system, characterized in that the known user data are mapped by modulation to an input signal of unknown time delay and amplification (2), - that the unknown time delay is first estimated in a symbol clock with the aid of scalar products of the symbols of a quadrature amplitude modulation of all the carrier frequencies used (4) - and that, starting the transfer function of the crosstalk is estimated from the thus estimated time delay (5).


The article discusses the vital role that state and territory agencies play in providing help and support to the screen industry. The role that government bodies play in making this possible or not is highlighted.


Yamato (Y) ***/3is a new nakhlite recovered from Antarctica and is composed of roughly 2* augite, +* olivine and +* mesostasis. Augite is chemically homogeneous except for Fe-rich rims adjacent to the mesostasis. Olivine has more extensive chemical zoning, but the most Fe-rich part is also near the mesostasis. These observations suggest that chemical zoning of both augite and olivine was produced by interaction with the mesostasis. The crystallization history of Y***/3as deduced from this study is as follows. (+) Crystallization of cumulus augite and olivine and formation of symplectites in olivine. (,) Accumulation of augite and olivine. (-) Mesostasis crystallization and interaction of the augite and olivine rims with the intercumulus melt. (.) Aqueous alteration. The petrography and mineralogy of Y***/3is generally similar to other nakhlites, but minor mineralogical di#erences are observed. These di#erences resulted from di#erent thermal histories due to di#erent locations (burial depths) in the same cooling cumulate pile. Y***/3is most similar to Nakhla and both samples experienced similar formation histories. However, later mesostasis crystallization of Y***/3was more rapid than Nakhla due to its faster cooling rate. The burial depth of Y***/3would be shallower than m from the surface, and is intermediate between NWA2+1 and Nakhla. The abundance and mineralogy of the mesostasis as well as augite and olivine rim compositions are related to the burial depths of nakhlites. key words: nakhlite, augite, olivine, crystallization, cooling rate


Objective The regulation of adipocyte differentiation is closely related with the pathogenesis of obesity and insulin resistance.This study was to investigate the effects of pollen typhae total flavone(PTF) on the proliferation and differentiation of 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes and its possible mechanism by measuring the related gene mRNA expression.Methods The proliferation of pre-adipocytes treated with PTF was measured by XTT and stained in the differentiation phase by oil red O,and their differentiation was quantitatively analyzed by spectrophotography.The pre-adipocyte differentiation related expressions of PPARγ and C/EBPα mRNA were determined by real-time PCR(RT-PCR).Results PTF obviously promoted the proliferation and,at 0.2 g/L,the differentiation of pre-adipocytes.It also up-regulated the expressions of PPARγ and C/EBPα mRNA,with significant differences from the control group(P 0.01).Conclusion PTF can promote the proliferation and differentiation of 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes by up-regulating the expressions of PPARγ and C/EBPα mRNA.


tag=1 data=Qld Alumina gas deal a model for NT. by Rick Wilkinson

tag=2 data=Wilkinson, Rick

tag=3 data=Australian Business,

tag=6 data=9 August 1989

tag=7 data=22.

tag=8 data=GAS

tag=9 data=AUSTRALIAN GAS LIGHT OIL CO OF AUSTRALIA%QUEENSLAND ALUMINA

tag=10 data=The deal between the Denison Trough partners and Qld Alumina could be a valuable fuel oil replacement precedent.

tag=11 data=1989/1/6

tag=12 data=129

tag=13 data=CAB


B. Kelamanov (firstname.lastname@example.com), Ye. Samuratov (samuratov. email@example.com), A. Akuov, O. Sariev, Ye. Zhumagaliyev Aktobe regional state of university named after K.Zhubanova, Aktobe, Kazakhstan The paper presents the results of a thermodynamic diagram study of oxide smelting products from the processing of chromite and titanium raw materials in order to determine their most technologically advanced compositions, allowing for rational use of raw materials and energy resources. The reliability of the effectiveness of these developments was confirmed by tests carried out on a pilot industrial and industrial scale.


source which the lens transforms into a plane wave. The wavevectors of these plane waves lie on a cone. As mentioned earlier, this is a defining characteristic of Bessel beams. Using standard scalar diffraction theory, it can be shown that the field close to the optic axis is given by Eq. ͑2͒. A 1 mW He–Ne laser ͑Melles-Griot 05-LHP-211͒ is used to illuminate the annular slit. The He–Ne laser beam is expanded using a microscope objective and lens to a diameter of about 1 cm. An annular slit is placed in the back focal plane of a lens of focal length 150 mm. Initially the student can hold a piece of paper in the beam at various distances from the lens. One can clearly observe by eye ͑for a He–Ne laser power of 1 mW or greater͒ a central maximum in the beam that appears ͑as one moves further away from the annular slit͒ to approximately retain its size. After some point this central maximum diminishes and dies away as the Bessel beam fades. This allows the student to determine the propagation distance of the beam. For a more detailed study a CCD camera ͑Pulnix 2015͒ and computer frame grabbing card/software were used to record the beam and its profile at various points. The beam was telescoped ͑magnification of around 2.5͒ to increase its size on the camera. A picture of a typical Bessel beam taken with our setup is shown in Fig. 2. The profile of the beam for three different positions is shown in Fig. 3. To eliminate slight asymmetries, the profiles were azimuthally averaged on a computer. As seen in Fig. 3, the central maximum of the beam retains its size as the beam propagates for more than 500 mm. Knowing the pixel size and magnification of our telescope system, the size of the central maximum was found to be approximately 20 microns. A further simple experiment may also be undertaken by the student. This involves observing what happens to a Bessel beam when obstructed by an obstacle. As expected, diffraction dominates though, interestingly, after some distance beyond the obstacle, the outer lobes of the Bessel beam act to replenish the central maximum and thus the beam is reconstructed. This startling effect can be reproduced simply in the laboratory by placing a transparent slide with a very small dark spot in the Bessel beam path. Subsequent to …


Room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) lifetime differences between quinine and quinidine were observed in micellar solutions and the ability to alter these differences based on the use of chiral additives was demonstrated.


FIELD: radio engineering and communications. SUBSTANCE: invention relates to wireless communication, more specifically, implementation versions relate to communication protocols between wireless transmitters and receivers. Logic may implement restricted access window association circuit, which uses information provided in traffic indication bit map (TIM) bit array, and parameter set (PS) of restricted access window (RAW) in order to determine station connected to RAW. TIM information element (IE) may contain a bitmap indicating stations on numbered and unordered pages. RAWPS IE can contain a number of stations association identifiers (AID) and, possibly, other selection station data. Logic may determine a row of stations related with RAW based on AID for first and last stations in a row based on station position in TIM bit map. And row of stations related with RAW, can be independent from block associations of first and last stations in TIM bit map. EFFECT: methods and devices for determining stations assignments in restricted access windows in wireless networks. 25 cl, 12 dwg


(54) METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR (22) Filed: Jun. 5, 2008 CONTROLLING BODY PARTS AND DEVICES USING PSILATERAL MOTOR CORTEXAND Publication Classification MOTOR RELATED CORTEX (51) Int. Cl. (76) Inventors: Eric Claude Leuthardt, St. Louis, A6IB5/0476 (2006.01) MO (US); Kim Wisneski, St. ES (US); Nick Anderson, (52) U.S. Cl. ........................................................ 600/544 Iowa City, IA (US) (57) ABSTRACT Correspondence Address: WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY-SNR A system for controlling a body part includes a number of CfO SONNENSCHEN NATH & ROSENTHAL sensing devices that sense signals from a hemisphere of a LLP brain. A signal translating unit translates the signals into a P.O. BOX 061080, WACKER DRIVE STATION, command signal for controlling the body part, which is on a WILLIS TOWER same side of the body as the hemisphere of the brain. A CHICAGO, IL 60606 (US) prosthetic device receives the command signal from the sig nal translating unit and manipulates the body part in response (21) Appl. No.: 12/133,919 to the command signal.


Recent studies have shown that Sca‐1+ (stem cell antigen‐1) stem/progenitor cells within blood vessel walls may contribute to neointima formation, but the mechanism behind their recruitment has not been explored. In this work Sca‐1+ progenitor cells were cultivated from mouse vein graft tissue and found to exhibit increased migration when cocultured with smooth muscle cells (SMCs) or when treated with SMC‐derived conditioned medium. This migration was associated with elevated levels of chemokines, CCL2 (chemokine (C‐C motif) ligand 2) and CXCL1 (chemokine (C‐X‐C motif) ligand 1), and their corresponding receptors on Sca‐1+ progenitors, CCR2 (chemokine (C‐C motif) receptor 2) and CXCR2 (chemokine (C‐X‐C motif) receptor 2), which were also upregulated following SMC conditioned medium treatment. Knockdown of either receptor in Sca‐1+ progenitors significantly inhibited cell migration. The GTPases Cdc42 and Rac1 were activated by both CCL2 and CXCL1 stimulation and p38 phosphorylation was increased. However, only Rac1 inhibition significantly reduced migration and p38 phosphorylation. After Sca‐1+ progenitors labeled with green fluorescent protein (GFP) were applied to the adventitial side of wire‐injured mouse femoral arteries, a large proportion of GFP‐Sca‐1+‐cells were observed in neointimal lesions, and a marked increase in neointimal lesion formation was seen 1 week post‐operation. Interestingly, Sca‐1+ progenitor migration from the adventitia to the neointima was abrogated and neointima formation diminished in a wire injury model using CCL2−/− mice. These findings suggest vascular stem/progenitor cell migration from the adventitia to the neointima can be induced by SMC release of chemokines which act via CCR2/Rac1/p38 and CXCR2/Rac1/p38 signaling pathways. Stem Cells 2016;34:2368–2380


Successfully navigating a complex environment to obtain a desired outcome is a difficult task, that up to recently was believed to be capable only by humans. This perception has been broken down over time, especially with the introduction of deep reinforcement learning, which has greatly increased the difficulty of tasks that can be automated. However, for traditional reinforcement learning agents this requires an environment to be able to provide frequent extrinsic rewards, which are not known or accessible for many real-world environments. This project aims to explore and contrast existing reinforcement learning solutions that circumnavigate the difficulties of an environment that provide sparse rewards. Different reinforcement solutions will be implemented over a several video game environments with varying difficulty and varying frequency of rewards, as to properly investigate the applicability of these solutions. This project introduces a novel reinforcement learning solution by combining aspects of two existing state of the art sparse reward solutions, curiosity driven exploration and unsupervised auxiliary tasks.


The conversion of compound 1 [2,4,6-tris(2-oxaphthalonitrile)-s-triazine] into its isoindoline derivative of 2,4,6-tris[2-oxa(1,3-hexaimino isoindoline)]-s-triazine 2 was accomplished by bubbling ammonia gas through a solution in methanol in the presence of sodium methoxide. The cyclization of two different isoindoline derivatives namely, compound 2 and 4,5-bis(hexylthio)-1,2-diimino-isoindoline 3 with lutetium(III) acetate, [Lu(OAc)3] in refluxed DMF by the method of statistically mixed condensation gave trimeric trilutetium phthalocyanine [(LuOAc)3(Pc)3]4. [Lu3(Pc)6]5 has been synthesized in situ by the reaction of phthalocyanine 4 and three equivalents of dilithium octakis-hexylsulfanyl phthalocyanine in amyl alcohol.


The magnetomechanical resonance marker strip or element having the performance promotion based on an amorphous magnetic alloy ribbon having a linear resistance (line-like) surface pattern is used in electronic article surveillance marker or sensor element. A magnetic anisotropy direction, spaced at 80 to 90 degrees in the longitudinal direction of the ribbon plane is introduced during the manufacturing ribbon, which magnetomechanical circuit, and more specifically the marker or sensor elements using a plurality of the resonant elements or marker strip to thereby increasing the resonance performance with minimal loss. Marker or the sensor element is produced by using the resonance element or component, it is utilized in electronic article surveillance and identification systems.


In recent years there has been an increasing interest in the role of the university, the process of regional engagement and the impact of university activities on the economic and social development of the region. There has been interest in both the deepening and the broadening of activity – deepening in terms of increasing intensity of activity and a desire to increase impact, and broadening in the range of forms of engagement and the kinds of interventions and partnerships being developed. This increasing activity has been backed by a greater strategic awareness within some universities of this role, the emergence of greater managerial involvement and oversight and the creation of university-wide strategies and structural changes. Driving all of this has been a greater expectation on the part of civic society that universities will recognize local needs and challenges and take their engagement seriously, backed up in some cases by resources from government and benefactors.


In order to determine the influences of forest fire on the flashover property and mechanism of air gap under high voltage transmission lines,the flashover characteristics of simulative AC high-voltage transmission lines(single-bundle conductor,double-bundle conductor and four-bundle conductor) under the effect of wood crib fire were investigated and compared with the gap breakdown characteristics in air.Results show the average breakdown field strengths of transmission lines are remarkably decreased by wood crib flame.The measured ratio values of the average breakdown field strengths of gap in stable flame and in extinguishing flame to those in air(27.3%~33.5% and 39.4%~48.4%,respectively) are found to be lower than the calculated ratio values(37.4% and 49.8%,respectively),which are obtained by the proposed formulas that calculate the breakdown field strength under the high temperature field of wood crib fire.These results indicate that high flame temperature is the primary factor while flame ionization is secondary contributing to the reduction of breakdown filed strength.


Part 1 Europe: introduction - the historical study of political ideas the three political cultures of Western Europe the idea of a united Europe the European Union - problems in the 20th century effort of European government-building. Part 2 Finland: the historical construction of Finland as a political community the political identity of a borderland - an analysis of the external identity of Finland conclusions - Europe and Finland defining the political identity of Finland in Western Europe.


The article is devoted to the problems of improving federal relations in the context of the Russian Federation implemented in the state national policy, the analysis of the reforms undertaken in this area in the last decade, and the prospects for further development in the Russian Federation


According to Baecher, Graves, & Ghailan (2018), the instructional leader's supervision is a pedagogical skill set that can be advanced through reflective practice similar to teacher development. Reflective inquiry engages individuals in specific investigations to resolve puzzles or troubling and problematic situations (Lyons, Halton, & Freidus, 2013). Anchored on the theories of the model of inquiry by John Dewey (1938) and reflective practice cycle by York-Barr, Sommers, Ghere, and Monthie (2016), the study aims to explore the reflective inquiry practices of the instructional leaders and determines the extent to which instructional leaders practice their reflective inquiry. The study also identifies the significant difference in the respondents' reflective inquiry practices based on their personal profile.

Keywords: Instructional leaders, Reflective Inquiry, and Reflective Practice


In the experiments here reported, vaccinia virus in the form of partly purified elementary body suspensions was exposed to 0.006 M formaldehyde in the presence of 0.02 M glycine at 20–24 °C. Samples were taken at intervals to determine the rate of inactivation. Assays were carried out by intracutaneous inoculation of rabbits and by the plaque count method in monkey kidney cell monolayers. In addition, the virus suspensions so treated were injected into rabbits and the resulting immune response was studied by serum–virus neutralization tests performed on the rabbit skin and in tissue cultures.It was found that the rate of inactivation by HCHO decreased with time in accordance with the usual dynamics of disinfection. Similarly, the immunogenic properties decreased in proportion to the fall in infectivity. Minimal quantities of virus could still be detected after 150–250 hours; and samples removed at these times were capable of producing a feeble immune response. Later samples were neither infective nor immu...


In a hybrid approach experimental model data are combined with results from 3D and 2D numerical modelling. The latter was conducted by two different models solving the depth-averaged shal- low water equations. 3D computations are based on the REYNOLDS-averaged NAVIER-STOKES equations (RANS) using a volume of fluid approach to capture the free water surface. Measurements were per- formed on a scale model which was especially designed to reproduce the specific conditions of dike breaks. In various simulations it turned out that 2D shallow water models are able to reproduce steady- state flow patterns of dike-break induced flows and that there is a low sensitivity of the solution concern- ing turbulence modelling, bed and wall roughness. Nevertheless, final flow splits and breach discharges are systematically underestimated. This discrepancy seems to result from inherent modelling assumptions such as zero-vertical velocity and hydrostatic pressure distribution. Therefore, the complementary use of 3D RANS and 2D depth-averaged modelling frameworks for detailed predictions of dike-break induced flows is discussed in the present paper, based on BOUSSINESQ and pressure coefficients, which represent effects of non-uniform velocity profiles and non-hydrostatic pressure distribution over water depth, re- spectively. Values of these coefficients are inferred from 3D numerical results for the final steady state.


Qualitative chemical tests confirmed the presence of phytosterols, glycosides, tannins, and amino acids in the various leaf extracts of Moringa oleifera Lam., whereas its seed extracts showed the presence of phytosterols, glycosides, phenolic compounds, carbohydrates and amino acids. The ethanolic and ethyl acetate extracts of seeds showed significant antipyretic activity in rats, whereas ethyl acetate extract of dried leaves showed significant wound healing activity (10% extracts in the form of ointment) on excision, incision and dead space (granuloma) wound models in rats.


Spectroscopic observations have been carried out for eleven objects believed to be planetary nebulae on the basis of their optical appearance. They were discovered in an ongoing deep search for galaxies in the Southern Milky Way (Kraan-Korteweg & Woudt 1994). The objects were observed with the 1.9m telescope of the South African Astronomical Observatory during our program for obtaining redshifts of obscured galaxies in the ''Zone of Avoidance''. Of the eleven objects, three proved too faint for a definite classification, four were galaxies with radial velocities between v=3920 km/s and v=14758 km/s, but four were confirmed as planetary nebulae (PNE). Their relative line strengths and radial velocities have been determined. The PNE are on average fairly large (23 '' - 30 ''). Two of them (PN G298.3+06.7 and PN G323.6-04.5) were previously unknown; for these we show H alpha and [O III] images.


This paper presents the derivation of a new beam theory with the sixth-order differential equilibrium equations for the analysis of shear deformable beams. A sixth-order beam theory is desirable since the displacement constraints of some typical shear flexible beams clearly indicate that the boundary conditions corresponding to these constraints can be properly satisfied only by the boundary conditions associated with the sixth-order differential equilibrium equations as opposed to the fourth-order equilibrium equations in Timoshenko beam theory. The present beam theory is composed of three parts: the simple third-order kinematics of displacements reduced from the higher-order displacement field derived previously by the authors, a system of sixth-order differential equilibrium equations in terms of two generalized displacements w and φ x of beam cross sections, and three boundary conditions at each end of shear deformable beams. A technique for the analytical solution of the new beam theory is also presented. To demonstrate the advantages and accuracy of the new sixth-order beam theory for the analysis of shear flexible beams, the proposed beam theory is applied to solve analytically three classical beam bending problems to which the fourth-order beam theory of Timoshenko has created some questions on the boundary conditions. The present solutions of these examples agree well with the elasticity solutions, and in particular they also show that the present sixth-order beam theory is capable of characterizing some boundary layer behavior near the beam ends or loading points.


For carbonates, the porosity alone, as calculated with the combination of the Neutron and Density logs, is not enough to predict whether an interval will be permeable or not. A rock is permeable if the voids in it (matrix porosity, fractures, vugs) are connected. The well known Differential Effective Medium theory (DEM) allows the modeling of rocks perceived to be permeable or impermeable. Spherical pores in relatively low porosity rocks are assumed to be isolated and therefore resulting in very impervious rocks. Very flat ellipsoidal pores (penny cracks) with a random orientation are postulated to form an interconnected network of pores, resulting in a very pervious rock. These two end points can be identified in a Velocity (from the sonic log) vs. porosity (from the radioactive logs) diagram corresponding to the interval of interest, where the curves modeled with the DEM and the Wyllie curve have also been plotted. Impervious points should fall high above the Wyllie curve in such a diagram, whilst the points representing permeable rocks should fall well below the Wyllie curve. Production tests have been used to check the theory.


carefully study the changes which take place in the vitreous as the result of the development of fibrillar streamers from the region of an operative trauma. In cataract work the eventual test of such vitreous changes is of course the vision, and it must be confessed that many cases in which there is considerable vitreous change on microscopic and ophthalmoscopic investigation, preserve fairly good vision for a considerable time. Strictly speaking, the result of an operation for cataract ought to be recorded at least twelve months after the section. In this way only will the truth be arrived at as to the permanent and lasting value of any method. This is a very difficult matter in India, but no difficulty ought to be experienced in gradually collecting large figures in other countries where hospital cases are more easily kept in view. If only the perfect "operative" and "immediate post-operative" results were followed up the figures would be strictly comparable. In making these statements 1 do not lose sight of the fact that it is better for a patient to have vitreous opacities and a gradually darkening eye than not to have vision at all. The danger of the development of vitreous opacities after removing the lens in its capsule may not be so important as would appear from the foregoing when applied to selected eyes, healthy except for cataract, such as are usually chosen for operation in Western clinics, but even then one has to consider the other effects of leaving the vitreous unsupported, as suggested at the beginning of this note. Time and the accurate records of carefully followed cases wili tell.


The utility model provides a two-layer equipment base of vibration isolation, with structure that is composed of a pedestal of vibration isolation, vibration isolator, base, guide connecting rod and set bolt. The pedestal of vibration isolation is equipped with an installation hole of bolt for fixing with the equipment base, and the vibration isolator at the bottom of the base is arranged symmetrically on the base according to loads, so as to ensure of approximate equal load on the supporting point of the vibration isolator. The base is fabricated according to the size of the pedestal of vibration isolation, and located at the four corners by the guide connecting rod, and forms a rectangular frame structure of two-layer vibration isolation. The base is equipped with installation hole of screw for fixing vibration isolator at the top, and holes of anchor bolt for fixing with ground at the bottom of four corners. The two-layer equipment base of vibration isolation has the advantage of simple structure, clear force, low natural frequency, good effect of decreasing vibration, convenient installation, reliable performance, good stability and high grade, significantly reducing impact of vibration from equipment and producing active isolation, is mainly used for the vibration reducing of the pump units, ventilation units, blower units and other equipments.


This paper contributes to a better understanding of how Australian universities assess undergraduate consumer behaviour students. The study was based on content analysis of course outlines located within the websites of 39 Australian universities. Findings have implications for educators and practitioners.


This letter analyses results from residential property auctions conducted over the last eighteen months. At present, where there is considerable uncertainty surrounding the property market and transaction activity has declined, auctions can provide some transparency to the market. The limitation of the auction data, however, is the small sample size which means caution should be used in generalising widely from the results. The analysis indicates that properties sold at auction do so at a discount to the current market asking price and, on average, at a level over 65 per cent below peak prices. Additionally, rental yields achieved on the properties sold are above current market yields and at levels similar to those seen in the mid-1990s. The analysis also suggests that conditions differ across segments of the market as Dublin properties on average sold for smaller discounts relative to peak and current asking prices than properties outside of Dublin.


Surface enhanced laser desorption/ionization (SELDI) is a new technique used to investigate proteins, their up/down regulation during pathogenesis (biomarkers), cleavage products and protein/protein interactions. SELDI has been used to profile biomarkers in such diseases as cancer and AIDS. More recently this technique has also been used to investigate drug protein, receptor ligand and other interactions. SELDI can be used to monitor the activation and/or inhibition of enzymes that regulate important processes, such as coagulation and fibrinolysis. This application can be important in the development of new drugs used to treat thrombosis. Plasma samples obtained from patients treated with activated and non-activated forms of prothrombin complexes have provided specific biomarker profiles which can be further analyzed to understand the sites and the mechanism of the prohemostatic and activation profiles of the factor concentrates. This study was designed to determine if prothrombin complex (konyne) could be activated using tissue factor (TF) and if this activation could be differentially inhibited by anti-IIa drugs. This was accomplished by setting up the following reactions mixtures: TF alone; konyne alone; TF and konyne; TF, konyne and one of the anti-IIa drugs (argatroban, hirudin or angiomax). Saline was used to maintain the proteins at the same concentration in all reaction mixtures. TF was consistently added first followed by the test drug or saline and finally by konyne. The mixtures were incubated at 37°C for 15 minutes and then spotted on a strong anion exchange chip (SAX2). The chips were read using a PBSII system (Ciphergen, Freemont, CA). When konyne was added to TF a high intensity peak at 50 kDa was evident showing that konyne was activated by TF. It is speculated that the peak at 50 kDa may represent factor Xa. When argatroban was added to the reaction mixture at concentrations of 10 and 1 μg/ml, the peak at 50 kDa was not present. This indicates that argatroban is capable of inhibiting the formation of factor Xa thus it may interfere in the TF/VIIa mediated conversion of factor X to Xa. However, the addition of angiomax at the same concentrations did not cause the elimination of this peak suggesting that the mechanism of action of angiomax is somewhat different from argatroban. Hirudin showed some inhibition of the 50 kDa peak at 10 μg/ml. This suggests that hirudin is not as efficient in preventing the formation of the peak at 50 kDa. The inhibition of this peak may prove to be a specific mechanism of action of argatroban and to a lesser extent hirudin in the control of thrombogensis. Since prothrombin complex concentrates such as konyne are composed of purified factor II, VII, IX and X these provide a novel experimental setting to understand the TF mediated activation of prothrombin complexes and can be used in the understanding of the TF mediated activation process and thus inhibition by antithrombin/anti-Xa drugs. Other prothrombin complex concentrates such as proplex and FEIBA can also be used.


Summary. Currently, the construction industry in Russia is actively used tools road maps aimed at the implementation of measures to improve the business environment in the industry. Their implementation faces a number of obstacles arising from the inadequate accounting risks. As a result, the effectiveness of action plans is significantly different from the planned indicators. When implementing the road maps in the construction sector there are many risks, chief among which are: the risks of insufficient scientific support, the country risks, regional risks, industry, social and other types of risks. One of the main currently are legal risks, as required for the implementation of the road map legislative support is often lacking, and its adoption or amendment of existing rules is delayed. Only the sound management of these categories of risk will achieve positive changes in the planned construction. We can conclude that the road map implemented in the construction of a conceptually new tool in solving accumulated problems in the industry. Produced research shows quite high efficiency implementation of the roadmap for specific projects at the regional level. However, the high probability of failure inherent goals due to insufficient account of risks can significantly degrade the planned results.


A brief report concerning the search for a successful formula for a synthetic diet for chickens, and some of the unforeseen benefits to humans and animals disclusoed by investigation of vitamins discovered in the search for the diet.