MySpace? Facebook? What's a Teen to do? By Nee-Sa Lossing, Miramonte High School O 50 million MySpace accounts have been created since the birth of the site in 2003, most of them belonging to youth between the ages of 14 and 24, according to: www.collegewebeditor.com. "It's not okay for teens to spend so much time online, because it really affects people's schoolwork, and people just aren't personal anymore," said Miramonte High School junior Sasha Patpatia. "The other side of that, though, is that it helps you to communicate with people you otherwise wouldn't have met. I've met a lot of cool people with the same interests as me through MySpace." In recent years, it is obvious that the social development of teens is no longer restricted to face-to-face interactions. With the increasing popularity social networking sites, such as MySpace, teens' relations with their peers have crossed over onto the internet. Facebook, another social networking site, used to be exclusive to college students trying to find friends on their own college campuses. In late 2006, though, the site became welcome to anyone with an email address, and has since been growing in popularity among high school students. With about half the amount of members as MySpace, Facebook creates a closer-knit community that is further emphasized by grouping members together based on the school that they attend. A major appeal of social networking sites to teens is the ability to create an online personality that will attract other people with the same interests. "Social networking sites really create situations where you can find friends and groups where you fit in and feel like you belong," said Patpatia. "I think that a sense of belonging is something that every teen needs, and if they find it through MySpace, then that's that." No matter what, teens will always find a way to create the bonds that they need to develop socially, whether it be online or not.


mm yr − 1 of convergent motion. This implies that the Highlands Block is rotating in a clockwise direction relative to the rigid Australian Plate, consistent with the observed transition to left-lateral strike-slip regime observed in western New Guinea Highlands. We find a better fit of our block model to the observed velocities when assigning the current active boundary between the Papuan Peninsula and the South Bismark Block to be to the north of the city of Lae on the Gain Thrust, rather than on the more southerly Ramu-Markham fault as previously thought. This may indicate a temporary shift of activity onto out of sequence thrusts like the Gain Thrust as opposed to the main frontal thrust (the Ramu-Markham fault). In addition, we show that the southern Highlands Fold-and-Thrust Belt is the major boundary between the rigid Australian Plate and the New Guinea Highlands Block, with convergence occurring at rates between ∼ 6 and 13 mm yr − 1 .


A method is described for calculating tension and stress acting within the wall of the left ventricle during the cardiac cycle. This method is based upon ventricular pressure observations and measurements of left ventricular dimensions and wall thickness made from biplane angiocardiograms. To calculate wall tension and stress, it is assumed that the left ventricle can be represented as an ellipsoid of revolution with a relatively thin wall. The relative importance of ventricular pressure, volume, shape and wall thickness in determining the magnitude of wall tension and stress is illustrated and discussed.


The utility model relates to a transmission operating rod assembly for a light-duty truck, which comprises an operating rod, a gear shifting rocker arm, a gear selecting rocker arm, a manipulating pedestal base and an aluminum alloy seat, wherein the gear shifting rocker arm is fixedly connected on the left side at the lower part of the operating rod; and the middle part of the gear selecting rocker arm is arranged on the right side at the lower part of the operating rod through a gear selecting shaft pin, and one end of the gear selecting rocker arm is fixed on the aluminum alloy seat through the gear selecting shaft pin and rotates around the gear selecting shaft pin. The utility model has the following technical benefits that the requirements of the gear selecting and shifting travel and force and for changing the gear selecting and shifting direction can be satisfied, and the transmission operating rod assembly has low variation cost, economy and practicality, small appearance changes, and the like.


Over the past several decades, testing associated with the military has had a distinctly different flavor than that of the commercial sector. At present some rather dramatic changes are occurring in the military sector. Ensuing sections will discuss existing differences and attempt to predict whether any of the current changes in the military test philosophy will have an impact on the commercial sector.


The Fourier method in control systems reduces the study of controllability/observability to the study of related exponential families. In this paper we present examples of such systems, specifically those for which we can prove that the related exponential families form a Riesz basis in corresponding appropriately defined Sobolev spaces. This makes it possible to choose 'natural' pairs of spaces: the state space observability space and the control space state space, depending on whether an observation or a control problem is studied, respectively, so that the observation and control operators are isomorphisms.


As has been stated in many papers about postcommunist countries, the "post-communist" label underlines historical similarities of many countries of Central, Eastern and Southern Europe but is quite unproductive in explaining current social processes and, moreover, developmental possibilities. This is true in particular for the role of religion in light of not only very different religious situations in different countries (measured by the usual sociological indicators of religiosity) but also different confessional traditions (Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy but also Islam and Protestantism to a certain extent), and differences in their church–state relations. Thus, the notion of diversity(-ies) more accurately describes the role of religion in post-communist countries than does the notion of similarity. Diversity, on the other hand, poses another problem, as it lacks an adequate theoretical frame for understanding trends in socio-religious development. Is there any theoretical explanation (e.g. secularization, revitalization, globalization, modernization, post-modernization, religion as a memory, politicization of religion) that can adequately describe all post-communist countries, or at least for a group of countries? The main aim of this paper is to discuss the notion of religious diversities, as this is usually neglected in literature on post-communist countries. In so doing, the discussion touches, if only partially, on the issue of the relation between religion and politics, engaging in a theoretical discussion about main trends in socio-religious development. Hence, the paper is divided in four parts. After this introduction, the second and the main part is about the religious image of the thirteen countries based on different sociological indicators of religiosity. The relation between religion and politics forms the third part and is based on the analysis of the connection between indicators of religiosity and different value statements about democracy and politics. The fourth section summarizes the results of the study and discusses them briefly in relation to theoretical debates on religion in post-communism. SINIŠA ZRINŠČAK & GORDAN ČRPIĆ


Two of the fundamental problems facing the development of a Portable Life Support System (PLSS) for use on Mars, are (i) heat rejection (because traditional technologies use sublimation of water, which wastes a scarce resource and contaminates the premises), and (ii) rejection of carbon dioxide (CO2) in an environment with a CO2 partial pressure (ppCO2) of 0.4-0.9 kPa. Patent-pending Metabolic heat regenerated Temperature Swing Adsorption (MTSA) technology is being developed to address both these challenges. The technology utilizes an adsorbent that when cooled with liquid CO2 to near sublimation temperatures (~195K) removes metabolically-produced CO2 in the ventilation loop. Once fully loaded, the adsorbent is then warmed externally by the ventilation loop (~300K), rejecting the captured CO2 to Mars ambient. Two beds are used to provide a continuous cycle of CO2 removal/rejection as well as facilitate heat exchange out of the ventilation loop. Any cryogenic fluid can be used in the application; however, since CO2 is readily available on Mars and can be easily produced and stored on the Martian surface, the solution is rather elegant and less complicated when employing liquid CO2. As some metabolic heat will need to be rejected anyway, finding a practical use for metabolic heat is also an overall benefit to the PLSS. To investigate the feasibility of the technology, a series of experiments were conducted which lead to the selection and partial characterization of an appropriate adsorbent. The Molsiv Adsorbents 13X 8x12 (also known as NaX zeolite) successfully removed CO2 from a simulated ventilation loop at the prescribed temperature swing anticipated during PLSS operating conditions on Mars using a cryogenic fluid. Thermal conductivity of the adsorbent was also measured to eventually aid in a demonstrator design of the technology. These results provide no show stoppers to the development of MTSA technology and allow its development to focus on other design challenges as listed in the conclusions section of this paper.


During the process of wind farm load dispatch, frequent changes of start-up and shut-down state will bring large hardware loss. The pitch angle control system is applied to adjust the power generation of wind turbine. If the allocated power of a wind turbine is far less than the available power generation, the large control pressure will bring large loss to the pitch angle control system. In order to reduce the hardware loss of wind turbines in the dispatching process, a multi-objective optimal dispatching model is established, which takes the times of startup and shut-down and the mean of the power limited index as the objective functions. The optimized chaotic algorithm of tent map is integrated into the NSGA-II algorithm to develop the chaotic NSGA-II (CNSGA-II) algorithm. The results of numerical simulations verify that the CNSGA-II algorithm has better search efficiency and convergence performance. The CNSGA-II algorithm is used to solve the wind farm load dispatch problem. The experimental results demonstrated the validity and correctness of the model and prove the convergence performance superiority of CNSGA-II algorithm over the NSGA- II algorithm.


PURPOSE: Folder type device and control method thereof are provided to control a device according to an angle by detecting a rotating motion of display unit and body unit based on a hinge and calculating the angle between the display unit and body unit. CONSTITUTION: A first sensor (111) detecting a motion of a display unit (110) is formed in a display unit for measuring a first angular velocity which the display unit rotates based on a hinge connecting the display unit and a body unit (120). A second sensor (121) detecting a motion of the body unit is formed in the body unit for measuring a second angular velocity which the body unit rotates based on the hinge. A control unit (140) receives the first and second angular velocity and control the device according to an angle between the display unit and body unit based on the hinge. The control unit calculates the angle, compares the angel and intensity of a specific threshold value and control the device. [Reference numerals] (110) Display unit; (111) First sensor; (120) Body unit; (121) Second sensor; (140) Control unit


What is Modularity Good For? Michael S. C. Thomas (firstname.lastname@example.com) Neil Forrester (email@example.com) Fiona M. Richardson (email@example.com) Developmental Neurocognition Laboratory, School of Psychology, Birkbeck College, University of London, WC1E 7HX UK Abstract We compare three types of dual-route associative architec- tures for learning the English past tense problem. Identical computational resources are used in (1) a pre-specified modu- lar architecture, with a rule mechanism and an exception mechanism; (2) an architecture with two mechanisms that demonstrate emergent specialization of function for regular and exception verbs; and (3) a redundant system, where both mechanisms attempt to learn all verbs. Networks in which regular and exception verbs were learned in emergent or re- dundant systems showed many of the behaviors thought to derive from the operation of a modular system, and were more effective at learning the training set overall. The pre- specified modular solution was least efficient, due to a diffi- culty in resolving the competition between the two modules when they sought to drive the same output in different ways. The results are discussed in the context of modularity theory. Introduction The notion of modularity figures early in the history of cog- nitive science as a design principle for building complex computational systems. Thus Marr (1982, p.325) argued that 'any large computation should be split up into a collection of small, nearly independent, specialized sub-processes'. Fodor (1983) further developed the principle in the context of cognition, suggesting that modularity is likely to hold sway for low-level sensory and motor systems. For Fodor, modularity represented a probable coalition of processing properties (domain-specificity, informational encapsulation, innate specification, fast operation, hardwired at a neural level, autonomous, not assembled). Modularity saves a low- level system from having to consult all an organism's knowledge in order to do its job, instead acting over a re- stricted, propriety knowledge base and potentially employ- ing specialized processes (see Fodor, 2000, for the distinc- tion between epistemological and psychological modular- ity). From a developmental perspective, a restricted domain of operation simplifies the learning problem faced by the given sub-system. Fodor (1983) additionally argued that modularity would not apply to the central cognitive system, where access to background knowledge is available and computations are subject to global constraints of context. Later he argued that the central system might include the majority of cognition, so that modules would have limited explanatory scope (Fo- dor, 2000). However, others extended the principle of modularity to high-level cognition, under what Fodor (2000) refers to as the massive modularity thesis. This move was driven both by (1) proposals from evolutionary psychology that humans might inherit domain-specific reasoning sys- tems (e.g., for detecting social cheats, for predicting other people's belief states), and (2) evidence from cognitive neu- ropsychology of double dissociations between high-level abilities in acquired brain damage. Debates continue about the necessary and sufficient features that define a module (e.g., for Coltheart, 1999, the main feature is domain speci- ficity; Fodor, 2000, prefers encapsulation). The aim of this article is to consider the computational advantages and disadvantages in opting for modular archi- tectures in systems required to learn different sorts of cogni- tive problem. While accepting there are innate constraints on the architecture of the cognitive system, our perspective is essentially developmental: how does development occur given the initial constraints in the system, modular or oth- erwise? We seek to answer this question by generating and comparing explicit developmental trajectories for systems with different initial constraints. As an illustration of this approach, Calabretta et al. (2003) argued that the genotype of behaviorally complex organisms is more likely to encode modular neural architectures be- cause this avoids neural interference. They presented simu- lations in which a connectionist network was presented with letters on an input retina, and was required to output either Where on the retina a letter appeared or What letter it was. Table 1 shows different 3-layer architectures for systems with common or separate inputs, outputs, and processing resources. Calabretta et al. compared a system with common processing resources (Table 1, panel 5) with a system incor- porating modular structure (panel 7). The modular architec- ture was consistently superior in learning the task. Table 1: Architectures with different modular commitments OUTPUT Common Separate PROCESSING RESOURCES Common Separate Common Separate I Common N P U Separate T


Economic and social development of China's largest structure, it's urban-rural dual structure. Solve the problem of urban-rural dual structure, reduce the urban-rural gap, is to create a solid platform, urbanization and the development of positive interaction between the new rural construction, the platform is the urban-rural integration.


Objective To evaluate the anti aggression efficacy of fluoxetine in antisocial personality disorder subjects. Method PSAP (point subtraction aggression paradigm), MOAS (modified overt aggression scale) and TESS (treatment emergent symptoms scale) are used to assess the anti aggression effects and side effects of fluoxetine in a case control study, which 40 antisocial personality disorder subjects are included in study group with fluoxetine, another 20 personality disorder subjects in control group without drug. Results The total score of MAOA reduced significantly from 8.78±2.66 to 2.03±1.58 (P0.01), and the PSAP B responses reduced significantly from 198.84±135.96 to 60.54±65.56 (P0.01) after four weeks treatment. The efficacy rate of study group assessing by MOAS,PSAP B response and PSAP B response per point subtraction are 97.5%, 77.5% and 82.5% respectively, which are higher significantly than that of the control group 22.5%, 50% and 50%(P0.05) after four weeks treatment. The main side effects of fluoxetine treatment are headache (12.5%) and insomnia (7.5%). Conclusion Fluoxetine treatment has an antiaggressive effect on aggressive individuals with DSM IV antisocial personality disorder.


An unmanned traveling machine, an unmanned traveling system and a method for controlling the unmanned traveling machine are provided to improve the response rate to a control command. A method for controlling an unmanned traveling machine(110) comprises the following steps. A remote traveling state or an autonomic traveling state is changed into the state that the remote traveling and autonomic traveling are together performed. By using the second information, the weighted value of at lease one of the remote traveling and autonomic traveling is calculated. By using the calculated weighted value, the unmanned traveling machine moves according to a remote control command and self-control command. The calculated weighted value is the weighted value of the remote traveling.


ABSTRACT This study offers an example of 'standing theology', as distinguished from sitting theology and kneeling theology. It was delivered at the Easter Day communion service, 2021 at a church in the Diocese of Durham. The readings were Isaiah 25: 6–9 and John 20: 1–18.


End-products of sulfide detoxification have been compared in three turbellarians and a gastrotrich typical of lenitic beaches with a well-developed sulfide system. Oxidation products were correlated with the oxygen concentration in the animal's habitat indicating that adaptation to life in the sulfide system involves reduction of dependency on molecular oxygen in metabolism. Archiloa wilsoni, a surface dwelling turbellarian, made sulfite and sulfate, which are rich in oxygen. Of the three sulfide-system species examined, the primary end-product in two (the turbellarian Pseudohaplogonaria sp. and the gastrotrich Dolichodasys carolinensis) was elemental sulfur which lacks oxygen The third species (the turbellarian Solenofilomorpha funilis) made thiosulfate, a compound with a high S : 0 ratio, plus sulfate and sulfite. The presence of an important pathway of sulfide oxidation with elemental sulfur as the major end-product was heretofore unknown in the animal kingdom. Its presence in two phyla, Platyhelminthes and Gastrotricha, however, indicates that it is widespread in the lower invertebrates. Similarly, the formation of thiosulfate as a major product of sulfide oxidation has not been reported previously in the invertebrates. The discoveries of two new pathways for sulfide detoxification and of major differences in sulfide metabolism within a single taxon, the turbellarian order Acoela, indicate that invertebrates have a variety of detoxification mechanisms based on sulfide oxidation and that a substantial degree of plasticity in the detoxification method can be expected even between closely related organisms. The possibility that the observed sulfide oxidation is by symbiotic prokaryotes, rather than the animals themselves, is discussed.


The application of deep learning has recently been proposed for the assessment of image quality in mammography. It was demonstrated in a proof-of-principle study that the proposed approach can be more efficient than currently applied automated conventional methods. However, in contrast to conventional methods, the deep learning approach has a black-box nature and, before it can be recommended for the routine use, it must be understood more thoroughly. For this purpose, we propose and apply a new explainability method: the oriented, modified integrated gradients (OMIG) method. The design of this method is inspired by the integrated gradientsmethod but adapted considerably to the use case at hand. To further enhance this method, an upsampling technique is developed that produces high-resolution explainability maps for the downsampled data used by the deep learning approach. Comparison with established explainability methods demonstrates that the proposed approach yields substantially more expressive and informative results for our specific use case. Application of the proposed explainability approach generally confirms the validity of the considered deep learning-based mammography image quality assessment (IQA) method. Specifically, it is demonstrated that the predicted image quality is based on a meaningful mapping that makes successful use of certain geometric structures of the images. In addition, the novel explainability method helps us to identify the parts of the employed phantom that have the largest impact on the predicted image quality, and to shed some light on cases in which the trained neural networks fail to work as expected. While tailored to assess a specific approach from deep learning for mammography IQA, the proposed explainability method could also become relevant in other, similar deep learning applications based on high-dimensional images.


HEN a writer makes any single object of science his sole pursuit, and employs his utmost diligence in the prosecution of it, we certainly have more reason to expect satisfactory information, than when his attention has been bestowed upon a multiplicity of objects. Hence monographs have always been considered as the surest means of elucidating any particular branch of knowledge; and the work before us, which is of that class, will not, probably, be found to disappoint the reader. It is not, indeed, the production of a medical man, but of one who has had, for a series of years, occasion, in a mercantile view, to become intimately acquainted with his subject. To this


Torelli space T g (g ≥ 2) is the quotient of Teichmüller space by the Torelli group T g. It is the moduli space of compact, smooth genus g curves C together with a symplectic basis of H 1 (C; Z) and is a model of the classifying space of T g. Mess, in his thesis [12], proved that T 2 has the homotopy type of a bouquet of a countable number of circles. Johnson and Millson (cf. [12]) pointed out that a similar argument shows that H 3 (T 3) is of infinite rank. Akita [2] used an indirect argument to prove that T g does not have the homotopy type of a finite complex for (almost) all g ≥ 2. However, the infinite topology of T g is not well understood. The results of Mess and Johnson-Millson are the only ones I know of that explicitly describe some infinite topology of any Torelli space. Moreover, although Johnson [10] proved that T g is finitely generated when g ≥ 3, there is not one g ≥ 3 for which it is known whether T g is finitely presented or not. The goal of this note is to present a suite of problems designed to probe the infinite topology of Torelli spaces in all genera. These are presented in the fourth section of the paper. The second and third sections present background material needed in the discussion of the problems. To create a context for these problems, we first review the arguments of Mess and Johnson-Millson. As explained in Section 2, Torelli space in genus 2 is the complement of a countable number of disjoint smooth divisors D α (i.e., codimension 1 complex subvarieties) in h 2 , the Siegel upper half plane of rank 2. More precisely, T 2 = h 2 − φ∈Sp 2 (Z) φ(h 1 × h 1) where Sp g (R) denotes the automorphisms of R 2g that fix the standard symplectic inner product. 1 One can now argue, as Mess did [12], that T 2 is homotopy equivalent to a countable wedge of circles. Such an explicit description of T g is unlikely in higher genus due to the increasing complexity of the image of the period mapping and the lack of an explicit description of its closure. So it should be fruitful to ponder the source of the infinite rank homology without appeal …


CpRu(PPh3)2Cl (CP = eta5-C5H5, eta5-MeC5H4) react with (RO)2PS2M (M = Na, K, HNEt3; R = Me2CH-, Et-, Ph-, p-MeC6H4-, alpha-naphthyl, o-phenylene) in MeOH to give new derivatives of ruthenium of the type CpRu(PPh3)nS2P(OR)2 (n = 1 or 2). These compounds were characterized by elemental analysis, NMR and IR spectra.


Bulblets propagation by tissue culture was one of the key techniques in the production of lily ( Lilium ) bulbs. Therefore, in vitro micro propagation of lily bulblets was studied in detail in this paper. L A hybrids lily cultivar 'eyeliner' was selected as the materials. By using the method of orthogonal design, the following were concluded from the research: the optimum treatment and disinfection methods of 'eyeliner' bulb scales was soaking in 1:500 carbendazim solution for 30 min, disinfection in 75% alcohol for 10 to 60 s, disinfection in 2% NaClO solution for 15 min; the optimum medium for bud induction of 'eyeliner' was MS + 0.5 mg·L -1 6-benzyl aminopurine (6-BA) + 0.1 mg·L -1 naphlene acetic acid (NAA) + 90 g·L -1 sucrose, and 25°C and in darkness; the optimum medium for bulblets induction of 'eyeliner' was 2MS + 1.0 mg·L -1 6-BA + 0.5 mg·L -1 NAA + sucrose 90 g·L -1 + Paclobutrazol (PP333) 2 mg·L -1 ; the optimum culture condition for bulblets induction of 'eyeliner' was 20°C, 14 h·day -1 lightness + 10 h·day -1  darkness. The optimum medium for rooting culture of 'eyeliner' was ½ MS + 0.8 mg·L -1 NAA + 3 g·L -1  activated charcoal, 20°C, 14 h·day -1 lightness + 10 h·day -1 darkness. Keywords: Lily bulb, orthogonal experiment, in vitro micro propagation


Beginning with a linearized Coulomb collision operator, the derivations of bounce‐averaged energy and pitch angle scattering terms that have been suitably discretized for Monte Carlo use are described. The derivation assumes that the electrostatic potential is constant along a magnetic field line. The collision operators are applied to electron transport in ELMO Bumpy Torus.


The importance of stratigraphical research for the understanding of the structure and genesis of complex mountain chains was stressed and some of its special problems were discussed. The main part of the lecture dealt with the sedimentary history of the Alps, from Upper Carboniferous to Lower Cretaceous time, and with its implications for the crustal development in the geosyncline. Continental Upper Paleozoic and uniformly shallow-water Triassic formations point to the existence of a normal continental crust before the onset of subsidence. Deeper basins, probably bordered by normal faults, developed gradually during the Jurassic, and in late Jurassic and early Cretaceous time the geosyncline may have been comparable to some of the present smaller ocean basins. This implies thinning of the original continental crust; nevertheless, large remnants of granitic basement are present even beneath eugeosynclinal sediments and ophiolitic volcanics. In the Alps, the stratigraphical sequence is better compatible with the hypothesis of oceanization (replacement of the lower part of the crust by denser matter) than with the mechanism of ocean-floor spreading according to the Atlantic model.


This case study draws on a large research project completed in 2016 as part of the Fellows Programme funded by the Australian Government through the National Priority Pool, which was published in a research report by the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education. It also includes the latest available outcome data for the program (2020) as well as information from background documents and contemporary reflections from key project personnel.


1. In war-to-peace transitions, the reform of existing security forces or even creation of new police is necessary for the demilitarization of internal security, to provide safeguards for demobilisation and reintegration of former combatants and an environment for democratization. As a result, major – "holistic" – police reforms have been undertaken in post-conflict settings. Central American reforms endowed the new police with important political support. However, they have struggled to contain rapidly rising rates of common crime and social violence and rapidly lost operational credibility. In response, governments maintained or reintroduced a military role in policing, undermining the peace processes' commitment to demilitarise internal security. Other responses – increasing police powers and increasing penalties – threaten to erode still-fragile human rights guarantees. These trends are facilitated by the absence of pro-reform constituencies. In countries with long histories of militarized and repressive policing, few people are protecting the gains of police reforms; there is little civilian expertise in public security matters and alternative models either in government, academia and civil society (Neild).


Objective:To detect the expressions of human leukocyte antigen-DR molecule(HLA-DR)and intercellular adhesion molecule-1(ICAM-1)in ectopic endometrium and eutopic endometrium of patients with endometriosis,explore the significance of HLA-DR and ICAM-1 in immune pathogenesis of endometriosis.Methods:The expression levels of HLA-DR and ICAM-1 in ectopic endometrium and eutopic endometrium of patients with endometriosis and normal endometrium of control group were detected by immunohistochemical SP method.Results:The expression levels of HLA-DR and ICAM-1 in ectopic endometrium of patients with endometriosis were significantly higher than those in eutopic endometrium of patients with endometriosis and normal endometrium of control group(P0.05);there was no significant difference in expression levels of HLA-DR and ICAM-1 between eutopic endometrium of patients with endometriosis and normal endometrium of control group(P0.05);the expression levels of HLA-DR and ICAM-1 in eutopic endometrium of patients with endometriosis changed periodically,the expression levels in proliferative phase were significantly higher than those in secretory phase(P0.05);in normal endometrium of control group,the expression levels of HLA-DR and ICAM-1 in proliferative phase were higher than those in secretory phase,but there was no significant difference(P0.05);in ectopic endometrium and eutopic endometrium of patients with endometriosis,there was a positive correlation between expression of HLA-DR and ICAM-1.Conclusion:The expression levels of HLA-DR and ICAM-1 in ectopic endometrium of patients with endometriosis increase,the abnormal changes induce the changes of peritoneal local immune microenvironment in patients with endometriosis and promote the occurrence and development of endometriosis.


In this paper, the overview of FeRAMs, the key techniques and technical trends for scaled FeRAMs, and the marketing strategy are presented. Advantages of FeRAM compared with other emerging memories, overview of 1T1C-FeRAM and chain FeRAM, trend of memory cells and FeRAM chip features, various key device and circuit techniques to achieve low voltage scaled FeRAMs such as capacitor damage suppression and cell signal enhancement are demonstrated. High-speed embedded FeRAM solution, future cell direction, and marketing strategy to take full advantage of FeRAM merits are also discussed.


An evaluation is made of the evidence supporting claims that employer-sponsored child care programs improve employee work behaviors and attitudes. Explanation of the logic behind expectations for success, description of testimony for employer-sponsored child care and critiques of empirical studies are presented. Well planned evaluations with proper controls appear to be absent. Documentation was equivocal on whether women workers of child-bearing age were absent from work more than men or quit more often than men. Even if greater absences among women was assumed, it was suggested that this could be due to factors other than child care - such as lower attachment to work or need for wages in two-income households, or poorly paid and low prestige jobs. Despite enthusiasm by some chief executive officers, public relations officials and child care advocates, assertions that employer-sponsored child care reduces workers' absenteeism or tardiness, or that it increases workers' productivity or job satisfaction are not supported by credible research.


From the point of view of requirement,the paper distinguishes three different markets in energy saving and environmental protection industry.By taking SCP model as an analysis framework,the paper analyzes and compares three different market structures,enterprise behavior,performances,and sums up the problems and solving considerations existed in the different markets of energy saving and environmental protection industry.


School-aged children spend most of their daytime hours in school. Therefore, the school is in a strategic and powerful position to influence the development of their self-concept, self-image, self-worth and self-esteem. Academic success attributes most to positive school effects. But for too many African-American learners, school is a setting of limited achievement. Pre-existing structures within the educational system impede academic achievement and contribute to low self-concept. In the early part of the twentieth century, educational and social structures and practices in the United States were established according to the belief systems of powerful decision-makers. Many now entrenched practices fail to promote the full potential of African-American students. As a result, many African-American students are misplaced, mislabeled and channeled into special education and other lower academic tracks. Responsible, ethical behavior requires change. This article explores the psychosocial and educational dynamics of the process. Methodologies and strategies needed to change these practices and/or to limit their ill effects will be suggested.


AIMS
Nucleic acids, particularly antibiotic resistance genes, are commonly found on surfaces within healthcare environments, with levels not reducing following cleaning. Within the UK, there are no regulations for testing disinfectants against nucleic acids.

METHODS AND RESULTS
A series of commonplace in vitro methods were used to determine disinfectant-induced physical and functional damage to various nucleic acids; RNA (10 μg), genomic DNA (2 μg), and plasmids (1 μg). Using these methods, the optimal residence time (10 minutes) and working concentration (10%) were determined for a new disinfectant. Furthermore, comparison of disinfectants with different active ingredients including lactic acid (LA), sodium hydroxide (NaOH), chloroxylenol (PCMX) and quaternary ammonium compounds (QAC) were compared to controls. All disinfectants showed greater degradation by gel electrophoresis of genomic DNA and RNA than of purified plasmids. Functional analysis using qPCR and PCR demonstrated that no disinfectant tested (apart from control) could damage DNA to the level where PCR amplification was not possible, and only the NaOH reagent could achieve this for RNA.

CONCLUSIONS
The set of methods described herein provides a platform for future standardisation and potential regulation regarding monitoring cleaning solutions for their activity against nucleic acids.


Based on the theory of thermo-elasticity mechanics, the 3-D finite element numerical simulation model was established for a solid state relay (SSR) subjected to thermal loading. The distribution of temperature and thermal-stress under power dissipation using thermal loading were studied, and every factor that influences the thermal function of SSR was preliminarily analyzed by simulating the temperature and thermal-stress under different parameters. The result can provide basis for the improvement of this product.


Resumen en: In 1974, Matta-Clark cut a suburban family house scheduled for demolition; action called "Splitting", a radical dissection from the house's foundation to...


The inaugural issue of Brain Plasticity includes ten papers that focus on the effects of exercise on brain function in animal models. Exercise is a simple, lowcost intervention that promotes cognition and mood, protects against damage associated with neurodegeneration and may alleviate drug addiction in humans. The mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of physical activity are the subject of intense investigation. For this Special Issue we have invited scientists working on basic research into the cellular, molecular and behavioral changes associated with running. We are grateful for their excellent and insightful contributions. Several papers in this issue focus on the cellular mechanisms underlying beneficial effects of running on cognition and mood. The article by Sama Sleiman and Moses Chao describes the historical background and discovery of neurotrophic factors, their role (especially of BDNF) in synaptic plasticity and potential clinical implications of their modulation by exercise. The article also addresses how peripheral factors, such as ketones and myokines, may be implicated in the running-induced upregulation of BDNF [8]. The role of a specific myokine, irisin, a cleavage product derived from a muscle protein FNDC5 that is secreted into circulation, and its role in upregulation of brain BDNF levels by exercise is discussed in detail by Christiane Wrann [10]. In a comprehensive review, Simone Bolijn and Paul Lucassen describe how peripheral factors such as insulin-like growth factor, adiponectin and AMP-kinasethat may regulate exercise-induced hippocampal cell genesis [1]. Indeed, a focus on the effects of exercise on adult neurogenesis is the subject of several papers in this issue. Stefano FarioliVecchioli and Felice Tirone review the cell-cycle kinetics in both neurogenic niches the dentate gyrus and subventricular zone, and discuss how runningdependent enhancement of proliferation may depend on changes in cell cycle length in select types of neural progenitor cells [3]. Two research reports in this issue address effects of running on behavior. Justin Rhodes and his colleagues test a hybrid transgenic mouse model with reduced neurogenesis on hippocampus-dependent and non-dependent tasks and the response of this strain to exercise [4]. Furthermore, Joseph Bischofberger and co-workers provide novel evidence in their research report for running-induced enhanced pattern separation using a new behavioral approach with highly similar novel and familiar objects that does not cause stress or requires food or water deprivation of the animals, thereby highlighting the effects of exercise on cognition. They also show that running increases the dendritic outgrowth into the outer molecular layer and the number of young, double cortin-positive granule cells in the dorsal rather than in the ventral dentate gyrus [2]. The subject of another set of papers in this Special Issue is the effects of exercise on neurodegenerative disease, stress and drug addiction. Brian Christie and his colleagues [6] give a historical perspective on hippocampal structure, function and plasticity, followed by an overview of effects of exercise on the hippocampus under normal and disease conditions including Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Traumatic brain injury, Stroke and neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's Disease). Giselle Petzinger and her colleagues contribute a focused review on the impact of exercise on neuroplasticity in animal models of Parkinson's disease.


Aiming at the poor performance of short term prediction of navigation satellite clock error,a method based on the least square support vector machine( LS-SVM) and improved particle swarm optimization( PSO) is proposed for prediction of satellite clock error. Adaptive inertia weigh and learning factor are introduced to improve the ability of PSO to find the best swarm. Then it is used to choose the parameters of LS-SVM,for avoiding the man-made blindness and enhancing the efficiency of online forecasting. The four typical GPS satellites clock data of IGS are chosen and respectively used in three models to predict short term clock error. The results show that the accuracy of LS-SVM model is superior to the other models,and the work provides a new way for short term prediction of navigation satellite clock error.


Miniature inductors, consisting of thin-wire solenoidal or toroidal coils wound on a high-permeability soft ferrite core, find wide application in the filtering of noise or electromagnetic interference at RF. An understanding of the high-frequency parasitic and packaging effects of the inductor, such as stray capacitance, magnetic losses, self-resonance, etc., can be gained from an equivalent circuit characterization of the inductor. In this paper, we present a rigorous experimental method to fully characterize the RF behavior of ferrite inductors. The equivalent circuit parameters of the inductor, namely, series inductance, loss resistance, and stray capacitance, as well as the effective permeability of the core, are extracted in closed form from an accurate measurement of the RF impedance, without recourse to cumbersome optimization procedures usually followed in equivalent circuit extraction from measured data. We derive design equations for the equivalent circuit elements based on the proposed measurement-based model, and rigorously validate the model using inductors wound on commercial toroidal and rod-type Ni-Zn ferrite cores.


This paper is concerned with the analysis of almost everywhere stability (AES) of a class of nonlinear systems via Lyapunov densities. While many of the previous results on Lyapunov densities assume that the vector field is continuously differentiable, this paper deals with nonlinear systems that can have points of non-differentiability. A key to prove AES is monotonicity of a measure defined with a Lyapunov density to deduce that the set of non-convergent initial values has zero Lebesgue measure. The monotonicity condition of a measure involves a change of variables in integrals of the Lyapunov density over a set. Such a change of variables along trajectories is not available for vector fields that are not globally continuously differentiable, even though they are smooth at almost all points of the state space. In this paper, an alternative inequality is presented that proves monotonicity of a measure along trajectories of a class of nonlinear systems that are Lipschitz continuous and almost everywhere continuously differentiable. Based on this inequality, we provide a sufficient condition for AES while guaranteeing positive invariance of a specified region.


Magnetic induction tomography is a tomographic technique with potential medical applications. However, the realization of this technique remains a challenging topic both in hardware and in image reconstruction. This paper presents a hybrid image reconstruction algorithm for the image reconstruction using experimental data.


We report the fabrication of small (Ba,A)Fe2As2 (A: Na, K) coils using 10 m-class long round wires, fabricated by the powder-in-tube method. Coils are sintered using the hot-isostatic-press technique after glass-fiber insulations are installed. Critical current (I c) of the whole coil using (Ba,Na)Fe2As2 and (Ba,K)Fe2As2 are 60 A and 66 A under the self-field, and the generated magnetic fields at the center of the coil reach 2.6 kOe and 2.5 kOe, respectively. Furthermore, the largest transport critical current density (J c) and I c in (Ba,Na)Fe2As2 wires picked up from the coil reach 54 kA cm−2 and 51.8 A at T = 4.2 K under a magnetic field of 100 kOe, respectively. This value exceeds transport J c of all previous iron-based superconducting round wires. Texturing of grains in the core of the wire due to the improvement of the wire drawing process plays a key role for the enhancement of J c.


Little is known about the vascular pattern in the growth zone of long bones. Therefore, the morphological structures and vessels of the metaphysis of long bones were analysed. The growth plate is divided into different zones of cartilage cells and mineralised columnar septae. Terminal vascular loops arose from longitudinally arranged vessels of the diaphysis. Also terminal loops belong to the vessels of the epiphysis. The nature of the blood supply to the metaphysis depends on the age of the patient.


This work explores the question "How can data on flood extents derived from Earth Observations (EO) be used to assess the performance of a global flood forecasting model in the ungauged catchment of the Okere and Okok Rivers in Uganda?". The Global Flood Awareness System (GloFAS), jointly developed by the European Commission and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), is a global hydrological forecast and monitoring system. In many parts of sub-Saharan Africa the performance of GloFAS has not been assessed. GloFAS is being used in some parts of Uganda to forecast floods.

Recently Africa Risk Capacity has been developing a pan-African flood model for use in underpinning parametric flood insurance. The African Flood Extent Depiction Model (AFED) is a daily depiction of temporarily flooded areas everywhere in Africa over the past 20 years. The AFED uses satellite remote sensing from microwave sensors to map floods. The AFED data set was used to assess the performance of GloFAS for two rivers in Uganda. The AFED flood data consists of a flooded fraction per pixel which ranges from 0 to 1. This is not directly comparable to the river discharges produced by the GloFAS flood forecasting model. In order to compare both datasets and assess GloFAS's performance, the following steps were taken:

Extracting the flooded fraction of the Okok and Okere Rivers. Five methods were explored: Flooded fraction of the most downstream pixel; Catchment average flooded fraction for all non-zero pixels; Maximum flooded fraction in catchment; Number of pixels that are non-zero in the catchment; Sum of flooded fraction of all the pixels in the catchment.

Comparing the recorded floods derived from newspaper articles with the EO data to establish if the AFED captures the flooding of the Okok and Okere Rivers.

Establishing the range of the flood fraction that signifies flooding in recorded events.
Extracting flood events using the peaks of the AFED data and the range of flooding from step 3.
Assessing the performance of GloFAS and calculating its skill scores using this extended flood events.
Results show that AFED data successfully identifies flooding for the two rivers and can be used to assess GloFAS's performance.


We present analytical solutions for the mean-field master equation of the driven-dissipative Bose-Hubbard model for cavity photons, in the limit of both weak pumping and weak dissipation. Instead of pure Mott insulator states, we find statistical mixtures with the same second-order coherence as a Fock state with n photons, but a mean photon number of n/2. These mixed states occur when n pump photons have the same energy as n interacting photons inside the nonlinear cavity and survive up to a critical tunneling coupling strength, above which a crossover to classical coherent state takes place. We also explain the origin of both antibunching and superbunching predicted by P-representation mean-field theory at higher pumping and dissipation. In particular, we show that the strongly correlated region of the associated phase diagram cannot be described within the semiclassical Gross-Pitaevski approach.


Strontium (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) isotope analysis is a potent tool for reconstructing the residential mobility of humans and animals in the past but is reliant on knowledge of strontium isotope variation within the expanded physical environment. This paper aims to contribute to the isoscape in the northeastern Nile Delta with faunal samples from the site of Tell el-Dab'a (Avaris), believed to be the capital of the so-called Hyksos kings. Mapping the available ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios from Egypt and the Sudan highlights major research gaps outside the Nile region. e current corpus of knowledge also shows that the Nile River region yields a homogenous range of isotopic values (median and IQR 0.7076 0.0003). Strontium isotope ratios from human dental enamel, which record childhood residence, will provide evidence of non-locals from outside the Nile area with confidence but these values suggest that identifying movement along the Nile River in the past will be difficult without the use of supplementary evidence (e.g. oxygen stable isotope analysis). We present ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of archaeologically-derived faunal bone samples (n=6) from the site of Tell el-Dab'a (Avaris) in the northeastern Nile Delta. e ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios fit within the expectations of the wider Nile values (mean 0.70769 0.00003) and serve as the first archaeologically-derived values reported for this area of Egypt.


145 Background: Sub-populations of cancer stem cells (CSC) present in prostate cancer (PCa) and other malignancies have been associated with more aggressive characteristics. We investigated whether tumor expression of genes putatively linked to the CSC phenotype is associated with PCa recurrence. Methods: Expression of mRNA from radical prostatectomy specimens in 241 patients (cases 147, control 94) was analyzed by RT-PCR. Univariate analysis and recursive partitioning measured associations between expression of 12 CSC genes and PCa recurrence. Bootstrap internal validation was used to confirm associations. External validation was performed in-silico using the Oncomine microarray data compendium, analyzing differential gene expression in relevant studies. Results: Four genes (AXIN2, p<0.001; CD44A, p=0.036; OCT 4, p=0.017; TACSTD2, p=0.008) were differentially expressed in PCa recurrence. Recursive partitioning analysis identified three genes jointly predictive of disease recurrence (AXIN2, NANOG, CTNNB1;...


Parental child abduction across an international border remains a problematic family event worldwide, something demonstrated by the recent House of Lords decision in Re M and another (Children) (Abduction: Rights of Custody) ([2007] UKHL 55; [2007] 3 WLR 975) (see also Lowe and Horosova 2007). Re M deals with the interpretation of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction 1980 (Hague Convention 1980) which aims to provide a remedy when a child has been removed or retained from their habitual residence in breach of custody rights. The Convention creates a remedy which provides for the prompt return of the child to their habitual residence under Article 12(1). The remedy of returning the child is subject to only limited exceptions, as it is felt to be in the best interests of most children to return, deterring other potential abductions and preventing an abductor from unilaterally seising a foreign court with jurisdiction over substantive welfare issues relating to the child. One of the exceptions covers the situation where the child has resided in the State to which they were abducted for a year and have settled in this new environment. In these circumstances their return to their habitual residence may be refused under Article 12(2), Hague Convention 1980. In Re M the House of Lords addressed the question of whether a child may still be returned despite having been found to be factually settled where they have resided for a year following the abduction. Once it has been established that the child has settled, it was considered whether the court retains the same discretion to order return to his or her habitual residence as it does when one of the other exceptions to return is established. Alongside the Hague Convention 1980, in Regulation 2201/2003, the EU has adopted rules for intra-EU child abductions which build on the Hague Convention 1980 rules to reinforce the return remedy between the Member States (McEleavy 2005, p. 16). Although Re M is a case under the Hague Convention 1980 alone, dealing with an abduction from Zimbabwe, it also examines the issue of ''exceptionality'' in cases where an exception to the return of the child has been established and the court is exercising its discretion. In a series of cases under both the Hague Convention 1980 and Regulation 2201/2003 the courts have, when considering whether to exercise their discretion to refuse to return the child under


Five years ago, drug discovery involved carefully planned synthesis of single organic molecules. The overall synthetic approach had not changed much since the 19th century; individual chemists made individual compounds in round-bottom flasks. These compounds were then screened for biological activity in an attempt to develop a lead compound that could be taken into animal trials. A typical medicinal chemist might manage to synthesize 30 novel compounds in a year for biological screening. Since the annual cost of a chemist, including salary, lab space, instrumentation, management overhead, etc. is approximately $250,000, this meant that each compound synthesized cost approximately $8,000!


Objective:To investigate the effects of atorvastatin on LPS-induced production of cytokines in peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMCs) from patients with heart failure in dilated cardiomyopathy(DCM). Method:Stable dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) patients (n=25)with heart function Ⅱ,Ⅲ and Ⅳ class were selected. PBMCs in patients with DCM were isolated from 5 ml peripheral venous blood,then stimulated by LPS ,and separately added 0 mol/L,10-7mol/L,10-6mol/L or 10-5mol/L atorvastatin calcium, cultured for 24 hours. Supernatant were centrifuged. IL-1β,IL-6 and TNF-α levels from supernatant were measured by radioimmunity method. Result:With the loncentration of atorvastatin calcium increase, the levels of IL-1β,IL-6 and TNF-α were found to be gradually decreased(P0.01);Compared with the 0 mol/l atorvastatin calcium group, the levels of IL-1β,IL-6 and TNF-α in 10-7 mol/L ,10-6mol/L or 10-5 mol/L atorvastatin calcium groups were all found to be significantly decreased(P0.05 or P0.01);the levels of IL-1β,IL-6 and TNF-α in 10-5mol/L atorvastatin calcium group were more significantly decreased than those in 10-7 mol/L or 10-6mol/L groups (P0.05 or P0.01),but there were no significantly difference between 10-6mol/L group and 10-7 mol/L group(P0.05). Conclusion:Atorvastatin can dose-dependently suppress the expression of cytokines in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with heart failure in dilated cardiomyopathy. It might be one of the reasons that statins do benifits to dilated cardiomyopathy.


We evaluate new rate-distortion codes based on simple linear congruential recursions. Codes are demonstrated for the uniform and Gaussian sources and their performance exceeds that so far reported in the literature, including TCQ.


We prove the following theorem: Let be an admissible func- tion with "«H2"")_Lr(^"W\ X) - oo, where An(x) - {2""-' 0 then *2re(Am(x)\P(x,a))


Large-scale survey research by social scientists offers general understandings of migrants' challenges and provides assessments of post-migration benchmarks like employment, obtention of educational credentials, and home ownership. Minimal research, however, probes the realm of emotions or "feeling states" in migration and settlement processes, and it is often approached through closed-ended survey questions that superficially assess feeling states. The evaluation of emotions in migration and settlement has been largely left to qualitative researchers using in-depth, interpretive methods like semi-structured interviewing. This approach also has major limitations, namely small sample sizes that capture limited geographic contexts, heavy time burdens analyzing data, and limits to analytic consistency given the nuances of qualitative data coding. Information about migrant emotion states, however, would be valuable to governments and NGOs to enable policy and program development tailored to migrant challenges and frustrations, and would thereby stimulate economic development through thriving migrant populations. In this paper, we present an interdisciplinary pilot project that offers a way through the methodological impasse by subjecting exhaustive qualitative interviews of migrants to sentiment analysis using the Python NLTK toolkit. We propose that data scientists can efficiently and accurately produce large-scale assessments of migrant feeling states through collaboration with social scientists.


20 GHz signals received from the ATS6 satellite show much higher crosspolarisation than expected from rain alone. Radar data indicate the cause to be hydrometeors above, rather than in, the melting band. During thunderstorms, the crosspolar level can change abruptly at the moment of a lightning discharge.


Falling is a common problem in the growing elderly population and fall-risk assessment systems are needed for community-based fall prevention program. In particular, gait measurements such as several-meters walk tests are carried out in community health activities. To evaluate the walking ability of the participant, it is necessary to measure foot contact positions so that the walking parameters such as stride length can be used for fall-risk assessment. However, the conventional measurement systems are difficult to install for use in community health activities because of their scale, cost and constraints of the measurement range. Therefore, we propose a gait measurement robot (GMR) using laser range sensor (LRS) for a long-distance walk tests. From the experimental results with young people, it was confirmed that the GMR could measure the both leg trajectory and the foot contact positions. However, in the case of the elderly especially, a false tracking is likely to occur due to the narrow stride. In addition, the GMR calculates the foot contact positions by analyzing the estimated position and speed of each leg. In the case of the elderly, there is a possibility that the GMR cannot detect the foot contact correctly because the walking speed is likely to be slow. In this study, we carry out the seven-meter straight walk tests with the elderly people using a stationary LRS for the advance verification of measurement in the elderly with the GMR. We verify the leg tracking and foot contact detection using a stationary LRS in the elderly compared with the video analysis.


This paper was designed to present the results of the estimation of the stomatological status of the children being brought up in No 1 orphan home, the village of Bogorodskoye, Khabarovsk region. We calculated the indices of dental caries prevalence and intensity, the frequency of periodontal diseases, the prevalence and the structure of dento-maxillary anomalies depending on the age, sex, and ethnic background of the examined children.


In an increasingly competitive employment market, postgraduates need to demonstrate more than the 'skills,
knowledge, attitudes and experiences that are closely
associated with the research process' (Golovushkina &
Milligan, 2013: 199). Yet results indicate that Worcester
postgraduate students remain unaware of the full range of
opportunities that exist alongside postgraduate study, and
how this affects their subsequent employability. This
research, undertaken with humanities post-graduate
students at University of Worcester, aims to contribute to
discussions about how to enhance the employability of
humanities postgraduates through extra-curricular
activities. The project was implemented as a Students
-As-Partners-in-Learning-Project, using action research; the issue was identified, base-line data collected and this resulted in the creation of a postgraduate blog incorporating suggestions of possible opportunitie
s and links to relevant websites for further information. Informed by this research, the student partners then took active roles in the organization of the Women's History Network National Conference, 'Home Fronts: Gender, War and Conflict', hosted at the University of Worcester in September 2014, to broaden their existing skills base and then to connect this involvement to their professional development through a group CV review. The participants' own experiences of wider engagement can therefore illuminat
e new ways for understanding employability in relation to humanities postgraduate students.


Advances in spectroscopic techniques have led to an increase in the use of optical properties (absorbance and fluorescence) to assess dissolved organic matter (DOM) composition and infer sources and processing. However, little information is available to assess the impact of biological and photolytic processing on the optical properties of original DOM source materials. Over a 3.5 month laboratory study, we measured changes in commonly used optical properties and indices in DOM leached from peat soil, plants, and algae following biological and photochemical degradation to determine whether they provide unique signatures that can be linked to original DOM source. Changes in individual optical parameters varied by source material and process, with biodegradation and photodegradation often causing values to shift in opposite directions. Although values for different source materials frequently overlapped, multivariate statistical analyses showed that unique optical signatures could be linked to original DOM source material, with 17 optical properties determined by discriminant analysis to be significant (p < 0.05) in distinguishing between DOM source and environmental processing. These results demonstrate that inferring source material from optical properties is possible when parameters are evaluated in combination even after extensive biological and photochemical alteration.


With the goal of creating a generally applicable database for agroecological research data, we developed and described a data model. The objective of the present work was to determine the practical usefulness of a database implemented from that data model. We used a commercially available relational database management system and mapped the entities of the logical data structure to tables, entity attributes to table columns, and entity relationships to foreign keys. The attributes of the entity representing measurement values were distributed over two tables, both to reduce the size of the database and to reduce the response time of queries involving this entity. We found that loading data into the database was the most significant hurdle to its use, and so developed a set of stored procedures that function as a data input language. The input language and other methods were used to load the data from an intensively monitored, multisite, multiyear experiment into the database. The database was used to manage, explore, and analyze the data from these experiments, as well as to share the data between collaborators and with others in an effective way. We conclude that a database implemented from the previously designed data model is a practical and extremely useful tool for research.


If youve spent any appreciable amount of time on the Internet over the last six months or so, youve likely noticed an increasing number of websites ...


Papillon-Lefevre syndrome (PLS) is a rare autosomal inherited disease characterized by palmo-plantar hyperkeratosis and early onset periodontitis leading to severe periodontal disease and tooth loss. Successful periodontal management of PLS patients remains challenging. A multidisciplinary approach is needed to effectively treat such patients. This paper focuses on the periodontal management of a male patient aged 16 years who was diagnosed with PLS showing hyperkeratosis of palms and soles and advanced periodontal disease. Thorough periodontal care, administration of antibiotics both local and systemic along with full mouth disinfection and later host modulation therapy has helped the patient to maintain periodontal health even on eight months follow up.


As economists have become increasingly interested in higher education, economic reasoning has been applied, resulting in extremely useful research in higher education. With the growth of market forces in higher education, the changing role of government, and advances in research on the economics of higher education, higher education funding is increasingly seen as a tool to stimulate the market. The development of an effective funding strategy may be one of the keys to developing higher education - its quality and efficiency, increasing equity and equality. The article adds to the existing literature on higher education funding and the impact of market forces on higher education. It aims to provide an analysis of economic reasoning applied to higher education, which can be used as a tool to develop a funding strategy. It also includes an overview of different funding models concerning economic reasoning and synthesizes different funding strategies regarding their impact on the higher education market.


Background and Study Aims: A new technique has been described which combines abdominal helical computed tomography (CT) scanning and virtual reality computer technology, known as virtual colonoscopy (VC); the re constructed images provide a simulation of the interior of the colon as viewed by endoscopy. We compared VC with conventional colonoscopy in patients with suspect ed or known colonic neoplasia. Patients and Methods: A total of 38 patients, in whom there was a high likelihood of colonic polyps or cancer, underwent a noncontrast helical CT scan of the abdo men and pelvis after regular colonoscopy bowel preparation.The images were reconstructed into a VC presen tation and compared with the subsequent conventional colonoscopy in a blinded manner. Results: Conventional colonoscopy identified a total of 24 polyps 5 mm or greater. VC correctly identified five of 13 polyps 5-9 mm in size, and ten of 11 lesions great er than or equal to 10 mm in diameter. The reasons for four missed lesions were identified as being secondary to a collapsed rectum in two patients and stool in the right colon in two patients. The sensitivity and specifici ty per patient of VC for lesions greater than or equal to 5 mm were 66.7% and 75.0% respectively, and for le sions greater than 1 cm were 90.0% and 82.1 %, respec tively. Conclusions: Virtual colonoscopy is feasible, well toler ated, and capable of detecting most lesions greater than 10 mm in diameter. This technique is continuing to be developed and warrants further evaluation as a


Abstract : The Department of Defense is aggressively implementing electronic data interchange (EDI). The military services, Defense Logistics Agency, U.S. Transportation Command and its component commands, and the Defense Finance and Accounting Service have built or modified automated systems to support the electronic exchange of transportation information. In this report, we analyzed EDI opportunities for the Military Sealift Command (MSC), focusing on operations, acquisition and contracting, invoicing and payment, and the intermodal program. In those functional areas, we identified nine potential EDI projects, including ocean cargo invoicing and payment operations, vendor invoicing, acquisition, and tanker operations material inspection and receiving reports. However, only one of those projects is clearly economically justified. We recommend that MSC implement EDI in processing its ocean cargo invoices and payments. Doing so would save MSC more than $1.4 million in direct cost savings and another $1.7 million in reduced interest charges over the next 10 years.


Cloud cover is a key factor which affects the quality of aerial and remote sensing image. In order to precisely evaluate the impact which brought by cloud cover, article constructs a cloud detection algorithm which suits for aerial image according to cloud statistical characters; analyzing the cloud region, and building a model on the basis of the image quality comprehensive assessment of the thick cloud, thin cloud, possible cloud and cloudless region; at last, utilizing experts' subjective guidance to improve the evaluation model. The algorithm can efficiently and precisely evaluate the aerial cloud cover image on the account massive test data. Introduction Image is an important way for human to acquire information. Therefore, constructing image quality evaluation mechanism is significant[1][2]. Along with development of aviation technique and simulation, aerial image application is used more and more widely. However, due to many impact factors such as height and climate, it's hard to get the image without any cloud cover. Cloud cover has become main impact factor of affecting aerial image quality. Evaluating cloud cover image is valuable for aviation image application and process tools. So far, the normal method of evaluating cloud cover image is that firstly detect cloud cover region and then evaluate the quality of this region[3]. Cloud cover region detection method can be divided into two types: first type is spectrum analysis method which using reflectance value which get by multi-channel data acting on cloud and land, and second is using cloud's texture statistical feature; article takes no reference methods such as PSNR, SSIM, VIF[4][5] as criteria calculation. Because of the roughness of the detection result, simplicity of the model, article got a low accuracy of evaluation result and not well performed. For the above application requirements, article combines statistic methods with meticulous classification for the cloud region and using learning theories to improve the evaluation model and construct more accurate objective evaluation model. Feature analysis In the field of cloud detection, useful detection feature include: grayscale, shape, texture, shadow area six types features. Different types of clouds have different feature value because of height, temperature, climate etc. Therefore, we use mathematic statistic methods to do multi-feature evaluation at cloud region in order to get more accurate detection result. In the field of image evaluation, there are two general types: subjective method and objective method. The former method relies on humans' subjective perception to evaluate image; the latter method evaluate image according to quantitative criteria, for instance: PSNR, SSIM, VIF etc. Subjective quality evaluation is the most reliable method but restricted by human power, time cost, poor generalization[7]. Along with the development of AI, we can use the result of subjective evaluation to guide the objective model to get a better evaluation method. Article utilizes angle second order matrix and fractal dimension to detect and classify the cloud region as well as using experts' evaluation result and neural network to build evaluation model, deal 4th International Conference on Mechatronics, Materials, Chemistry and Computer Engineering (ICMMCCE 2015) © 2015. The authors Published by Atlantis Press 1028


The purpose of this work has been to develop methods and parameterizations for gradient based discrete material and thickness optimization of laminated composite structures. Here, special attention has been on increasing the manufacturability of the optimized design by incorporating so-called manufacturing constraints or design rules. Up until now, researchers have proposed a wide variety of methods and parameterizations for performing discrete material optimization of laminated composite structures. However, the majority of these have focused on laminates with a fixed number of layers i.e., constant thickness laminates. Still, for many high performance structures weight becomes an important design parameter both with respect to performance and cost. Hence, determining both an optimum material composition and thickness variation could further help manufacturers to design even lighter structures, thereby increasing performance while reducing material expenses. It is therefore vital to develop new methods which simultaneously can determine both an optimum material and thickness variation. Because of the complexity associated with laminated composite structures, engineers typically rely on finite element analysis using equivalent single layer shell formulations in order to validate the integrity of the entire structure. These computationally efficient methods are, however, not capable of predicting out-of-plane stress fields near e.g., a change in the thickness variation which can lead to failure due to delamination. In order to avoid detailed modeling around these critical regions, engineers can apply design rules which effectively reduce the influences from these local effects. By incorporating these design rules into the optimization problem as manufacturing constraints, engineers can avoid these undesired structural designs, and thereby reduce the amount of time required for manual post-processing. In this work, methods for performing simultaneous material and thickness optimization of laminated composite structures are presented. The methods have been demonstrated for problems considering mass minimization including non-linear structural constraints on linearized buckling load factors, natural eigenfrequencies, limited displacements, together with a series of known manufacturing constraints. A new type of parameterization is also introduced in the form of thickness filters. These filters replace the previously applied layerwise density variables with continuous through-thethickness design variables. Besides a substantial reduction in the number of design variables, the filters also eliminate the need for having explicit constraints for preventing intermediate void from appearing in between layers of the laminate. New methods are also presented which makes it possible for engineers to control the minimum size of the geometry and the material continuity while the optimizer is free to determine which material to apply, together with the location, shape, and size of the selected materials. A total of three scientific journal papers have been produced which document the capabilities of the presented methods and parameterizations.


In modern conditions rural ungraded schools suffer great difficulties in organization of vocational education. The article contains the description of the optional course in mathematics "The Solution of Applied Problems" which was created by the author.


Haemodialysis in India is a viable modality of renal replacement in India in select centres and should be offered to patients in whom trans-Sir, plantation is not a possible alternative. Management of end stage renal disease (ESRD) varies in different parts of the world. The overriding factor is the Manipal Institute of Nephrology H. Sudarshan Ballal economic status of the community which is served by the and Urology Urmila Anandh medical facility. Communities where state financing exists, Bangalore or insurance privileges are available, ESRD management is India often uniform: whereas in communities where there is nonex-1. Rao M, Juneja R, Shirly RBM, Jacob CK. Hemodialysis for end istent state support for the treatment of ESRD, the frequency stage renal disease in Southern India—a perspective from a with which one modality is offered is often determined by tertiary referral care centre. our data, which is different from that of CMC Vellore [1]. Our centre has been routinely offering maintenance haemo-1993; 8: 684–689 dialysis (MHD) since its inception (7 years ago) and we have 4. Incidence and prevalence of ESRD. United States Renal Data patients who have been on dialysis for more than 6 years. our group. To look into our MHD cohort, a medical audit was performed for 61 incident and prevalent patients who were on MHD for more than 3 months during the period between 1 April 1997 and 31 March 1998. Of the 61 patients 39 were on twice weekly dialysis and 22 thrice weekly. The mean (SD) age of this cohort was 54.6 (±12.2) years which is Acute renal failure from intoxication by Cortinarius higher that what is reported for Indian patients in the orellanus: recovery using anti-oxidant therapy and literature [2]. The number of diabetics (29 out of 61) on steroids MHD was again higher than reported in earlier studies [1,3]. In fact the demographics of our data was similar to that Sir, reported from western ESRD data systems [4]. Despite a Little brown mushrooms of the Cortinarius genus of fungi large number of patients on twice weekly dialysis, most of are known to cause acute renal failure between 2 and 20 the patients seem to do well with 47 out of the 61 patients days after ingestion [1–4]. Renal histology typically shows having a serum albumin more than 3.5 g/dl and also there interstitial nephritis [5], which has been attributed to the was no difference in …


TO THE EDITOR: We read with interest the article by Steensma et al in the January 1, 2011, issue of Journal of Clinical Oncology on the comparison of parenteral, oral, or no iron supplementation for patients who were treated with darbepoetin alfa for chemotherapyassociated anemia. The results contrast with those of six previously published and two additionally reported clinical trials that showed a significant benefit and good tolerability of parenteral iron compared with oral or no iron supplementation in patients with cancer who were receiving a concomitant erythropoiesis-stimulating agent. We believe that the interpretation and understanding of the results of the study by Steensma et al might have been facilitated by reporting some additional information. Both the lack of benefit and the higher number of adverse events in the parenteral iron group may be related to the specific dosing schedule of ferric gluconate in this trial (187.5 mg of iron every 3 weeks). The low planned total iron dose of 937.5 mg, the second lowest dose among the published trials (750 to 3,000 mg) and the lowest dose when calculated on a weekly basis (62.5 mg/wk), may have limited the potential benefit of parenteral iron supplementation. Furthermore, the iron dose that was actually administered seems to have been even lower, namely 650 mg total iron (43.3 mg/wk), as indicated online by Auerbach. In the study by Bastit et al that was cited by Steensma et al as similar to their own study, the actually delivered total iron dose was about 400 mg higher. The increase of transferrin saturation (TSAT) from baseline to the end of the study that was reported by Steensma et al was substantially lower in the parenteral iron compared with the oral iron group, and even lower than in the placebo group ( 1.4%, 8.0%, and 1.7%, respectively). This suggests that the given total dose of parenteral iron was either too low or not effectively used. In this context, Steensma et al mention that patients who were enrolled in the parenteral iron arm were more likely to withdraw consent or discontinue treatment as a result of adverse events. No information is given on how this affected the number of administered iron doses per patient. In contrast to the low total iron dose throughout the entire study period, the single iron doses administered per treatment as ferric gluconate were rather high (187.5 mg) and may explain the excessive number of adverse events that led to early termination of the study. In fact, this dose is 50% above the recommended dose for iron repletion with ferric gluconate in adult patients receiving hemodialysis in the United States, and therefore it is in the off-label range. Data from Ferrlecit (sanofi-aventis, Bridgewater, NJ) postmarketing reports indicate that individual doses that exceed 125 mg of iron may be associated with a higher incidence and/or severity of adverse events. The high single doses of ferric gluconate in this study may have resulted in oversaturation of transferrin, formation of nontransferrinbound iron, and deposition of iron in parenchymal tissues (eg, hepatocytes) instead of in the bone marrow. Apart from the increased risk of inducing oxidative stress and thus causing associated adverse events, the described effects may have additionally decreased the amount of iron that was effectively available for erythropoiesis. Therefore, it would be relevant to know more about the time course of TSAT and especially the levels of TSAT 24 hours after ferric gluconate administration. One aspect that may have affected the statistical power is the low proportion of patients who completed the study per protocol (65% overall; 63% in the placebo and the parenteral iron arm each). Thus, given that more than one third of the patients did not complete the study, a per-protocol analysis would be informative. In summary, the lack of response to parenteral ferric gluconate in the study by Steensma et al may be attributed to a suboptimal dosing regimen (ie, a low average dose but single doses that were too high) and a high proportion of dropouts rather than a lack of effectiveness per se. The superiority of parenteral iron compared with oral or no iron supplementation in terms of better hematopoietic response and less need for blood transfusions has been confirmed by two recent meta-analyses that included data from this trial as presented by Steensma et al at the 2009 meeting of the American Society of Hematology.


ABSTRACT Therefore the job satisfaction of organizational members should be raised to cut down on their turnover rate. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of the general characteristics of radiological technologist-turned hospital managers to their job satisfaction and turnover intention in a bid to identify factors affecting their job satisfaction and turnover intention. The major findings of the study were as follows: First, as for job satisfaction and turnover intention, the radiological technologist-turned hospital managers investigated got a mean of 3.00 and 2.79 respectively on overall job satisfaction and turnover intention out of five points. Their job satisfaction was slightly above the average (2.5), which indicated that they weren't gratified with their job. Their turnover intention was a little above the average as well, which implied that there was a tendency for them to seek another job. The findings of the study seem to suggest that the radiological technologist-turned hospital managers should make a new investment in their own future as their identity was thrown into confusion with age. They are expected to make a preparation for their future to open up a new chapter for themselves instead of being merely contented with their present position.


Background Juvenile systemic scleroderma (jSSc) is an orphan disease with a prevalence of 3 in 1 000 000 children. There are limited data regarding the clinical presentation of jSSc. The Juvenile Systemic Scleroderma Inception Cohort (JSSIC) is a multinational registry that prospectively collects information regarding patients with this disease in a standardized manner. Objectives Evaluation of the jSSc patients at the time of inclusion in the JSSIC. Methods Patients were included in the JSSIC if they fulfilled the adult classification criteria, if they presented the first non Raynaud symptom before 16 years old and if they were younger than 18 years of age at the time of inclusion. Patients' characteristics at time of inclusion were evaluated. Results Currently, the cohort includes 120 patients, being 89% Caucasian and 80% female. The majority had diffuse subtype (74%) and 18% had overlap features. The mean age of onset of Raynaud phenomenon was 9.7 years in the diffuse subtype (djSSc) and 10.7 years in the limited subtype (ljSSc). The mean age of non-Raynaud's symptoms was 10.0 years in the djSSc and 11.4 years in the ljSSc (p=0.041). Mean disease duration at time of inclusion was 3.4 years in the djSSc and 2.4 years in the ljSSc group. Mean Modified Rodnan skin score was 17.5 in the djSSc and 7.3 in the ljSSc (p=0.002). Gottron papulae were significantly more common in the djSSc compared to ljSSc group (29% vs 6%, respectively) (p=0.011). History of ulceration was significantly more common in the djSSc than in the ljSSc group (57% vs 30%, respectively) (p=0.004). FVC<80% occurred in 31% in the djSSc and 24% in the ljSSc group (p=0.55). Pulmonary hypertension assessed by echocardiogram occurred around 7% in both groups. No systemic hypertension or renal crisis was reported. Gastrointestinal involvement occurred in 39% in the djSSc and in 26% in the ljSSc (p=0.176). Number of joints with decreased range of motion was observed in approximately half of patients in both groups. Muscle weakness with joint contractures was present in 18% in the djSSc and 38% in the ljSSc group (p=0.271). Tendon friction rub was present in 11% in djSSc and 4% in the ljSSc group. djSSc patients had significantly worse scores for physician global disease activity (VAS 0-100) (41vs 30) (p=0.020) and for physician global disease damage (VAS 0-100) (37 vs 18) (p=0.001). Patient judgment of disease activity and damage was similar in both subtypes. ANA positivity was 88% in both groups. Anti-Scl70 was positive in 33% in djSSc and 37% in the ljSSc group. Anticentromere positivity occurred in 3% in the djSSc and 10% in the ljSSc group. ESR was elevated in 30% in djSSc compared to 18% in the ljSSc group. DMARDs were used in 86% of the patients. Conclusion In this large cohort of jSSc patients there were surprisingly not many significant differences between djSSc and ljSSc. According to the physician global scores the djSSc patients have a significantly more severe disease. Disclosure of Interests Ivan Foeldvari Consultant for: Chugai, Novartis, Jens Klotsche: None declared, Ozgur Kasapcopur: None declared, Amra Adrovic: None declared, Kathryn Torok: None declared, Valda Stanevicha: None declared, Flávio R. Sztajnbok: None declared, Maria T. Tererri: None declared, Ekaterina Alexeeva: None declared, Jordi Anton Grant/research support from: Grant/research support, consultant or speakers bureau from AbbVie, Alexion, Bristol-Myers Squibb, ChemoCentryx, Gebro, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Novimmune, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi and Sobi, Consultant for: Grant/research support, consultant or speakers bureau from AbbVie, Alexion, Bristol-Myers Squibb, ChemoCentryx, Gebro, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Novimmune, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi and Sobi, Speakers bureau: Grant/research support, consultant or speakers bureau from AbbVie, Alexion, Bristol-Myers Squibb, ChemoCentryx, Gebro, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Novimmune, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi and Sobi, Maria Katsikas: None declared, Vanessa Smith: None declared, Tadej Avcin: None declared, Rolando Cimaz: None declared, Mikhail Kostik: None declared, Thomas Lehman: None declared, Walter Alberto Sifuentes-Giraldo: None declared, Simone Appenzeller: None declared, Mahesh Janarthanan: None declared, Monika Moll: None declared, Dana Nemcova: None declared, Maria Jose Santos: None declared, Dieneke Schonenberg: None declared, Cristina Battagliotti: None declared, Lillemor Berntson: None declared, Blanca Bica: None declared, Juergen Brunner: None declared, Patricia Costa Reis: None declared, Despina Eleftheriou: None declared, Liora Harel: None declared, Gerd Horneff: None declared, Tilmann Kallinich Grant/research support from: Novartis, Speakers bureau: Sobi, Roche, Novartis, CLB, Dragana Lazarevic: None declared, Kirsten Minden Consultant for: AbbVie, Susan Nielsen: None declared, Farzana Nuruzzaman: None declared, Anjali Patwardhan: None declared, Yosef Uziel: None declared, Nicola Helmus: None declared


A Newton-iteration-based algorithm is introduced for the harmonic-balance analysis of autonomous microwave circuits operating in quasi-periodic conditions. The autonomy concept for quasi-periodic regimes is discussed in detail, and a solution strategy for the harmonic-balance equations based on a mixed-mode Newton iteration is outlined. A method for the exact computation of the Jacobian matrix, including the exact derivatives with respect to the unknown fundamental frequencies, is presented. The excellent numerical performance of the new simulation tool is demonstrated by the analysis of a dielectric-resonator-tuned self-oscillating mixer.<<ETX>>


Abstractα-(4-(Diethoxyphosphorimidoyl)butyl)-oligodimethylsiloxane (ODMS-PHOS) was prepared from ODMS containing amino group at the chain end. The prepolymer was synthesized by a ring-opening polymerization of hexamethylcyclotrisiloxane (D3) initiated with lithium trimethylsilanolate, followed by a termination with 3-cyanopropyldimethylchlorosilane and a reduction of the cyano group with lithium alminium hydride. Its enhancing activity on the drug penetration through the skin was studied by in vitro experiment using 2-chamber diffusion cell. All the oligomers effectively enhanced the drug penetration and the permeation coefficients were 4–15 times as much as that without enhancer. The enhancing activity decreased with the increase of the average degree of polymerization. From the detailed analysis of the permeation profile, it was revealed that the partition of the drug from the vehicle to the skin considerably increased, however, diffusivity of the drug in the skin barrier was unchanged as compared with that without enhancer.


Cloud computing services have been adopted to provide the necessary tools and resources to face the emergence of data that needs to be stored and processed properly. However, these promising services, raise the issue of security and reliability in terms of data confidentiality, control and loss of intellectual property. In this work, we exploit the characteristics of multi agent systems to deliver an optimal and secure solution for data storage and exploration in the Cloud. Our solution is based on an encryption process before storage, while an intelligent multi agent system was designed and simulated to optimize the exploration of the data in a Cloud environment. Our architecture aims to use adaptive agents able to predict alerts, make decisions and block any intrusion.


Many cycles recognized in the ocean sedimentary record have been linked to variable solar irradiance. This conclusion can be extended to include the paleoproductivity of fish stocks in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. Predominantly anoxic sediments from Effingham Inlet, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, collected from a 693 cm segment of a 1125 cm piston core, archive a high-resolution late Holocene (1,800-4,700 years BP) record of climate-change and paleoproductivity in the North American Coastal Upwelling Domain (CUD). Fish-scale abundances of Northern Anchovy and Pacific Herring were measured in this core. Spectral analysis (SA) and continuous (Morlet) wavelet transform (CWT) analysis of the dataset were used to examine fish productivity cycles and their variability within the absolute time scale. Anchovy and herring populations cycle independently at decadal to centennial scales, with especially well-defined variability at the stationary Gleissberg solar cycle (75-90 years here). Several other cycles are non-stationary, changing frequency following transition of the regional climate to a higher rainfall phase that impacted coastal oceanic dynamics ~ 3,400 years ago.


The highest serum concentration of amethopterin after single intravenous administration was present in the first specimen, which was obtained at 30 minutes. Total urinary output was greater the first 8 hours than during the next 16 hours. Tissue specimens of skin contained greater amounts of amethopterin at 5 hours than at 10 to 12 hours.


On the basis of the experience of CPC in ideological and political work in the army,the paper elaborates the necessity to raise the status of ideological and political work,the methods for ideological and political work and how to avoid the tendency to overestimate or underestimate the significance of ideological and political work.


Purpose: Complex supply chains characterise today's economic life, which is determined by uncertainties and risks. Managing those successfully requires the development of resilient and flexible structures and processes based on information transparency, which enables better decision-making, especially in times of global crises. In this context, supply chain visibility (SCV) is defined as the stakeholders' capability to have access to accurate and timely information about the flow of goods. Although the importance of SCV has been discussed in scientific literature and practice, challenges still inhibit improved SCV, particularly in distribution logistics. These have been scarcely investigated. The purpose of this study is to identify the challenges of SCV in distribution logistics and to provide implications to address them. Methodology: A qualitative content analysis (QCA) spanning 26 scientific articles was used. Results: We found evidence of challenges inhibiting SCV in distribution logistics within the three aggregated dimensions of inappropriate processes & technologies and information systems, lack of communication & trust, and insufficient monitoring & decision-making metrics. The findings show that trust can be seen as both a challenge and a prerequisite. Despite the possibilities of digitalisation, there exist trade-offs between manual processes and new technology implementation. Decision-making can be based on individual experiences, and monitoring can be difficult due to undefined metrics. Conclusion: Practitioners may use the findings to better identify and address the challenges of SCV in distribution logistics. Further studies could extend the findings through empirical studies, which would allow practitioners to assess their level of SCV and derive initial solutions.