Network aware applications provide opportunities for adaptive resource allocations for both network resources and distributed hosting of critical applications. We propose an Automatic Dynamic Resource Management (AutoDRM) architecture for efficiently managing shared resources in tactical network environments without human operator intervention. The AutoDRM architecture was developed to resolve the resource contention issues and to improve the quality of service in tactical network environments. The information herein describes key components of the AutoDRM architecture. An experimental endto-end network prototype test bed consisting of simulated satellite communications (SATCOM) and an OPNET system-in-the-loop (SITL) scenario was also developed to host the AutoDRM system. Experimental test results demonstrate that network performance such as packet delay and packet loss are greatly improved when AutoDRM is deployed.


The genetic diversity of 14 banana germplasm resources were analyzed by ISSR markers.Twelve polymorphic primers were selected from fifteen random primers.A total 126 DNA bands were amplified,in which 101(80.2%)were polymorphic.Four specific DNA fragments and seven specific DNA fragments were identified as present and absent markers,respectively.Fourteen banana germplasm resources were grouped into 4clusters based on the similarity coefficient of 0.88,which was the same as the results of traditional morphological classification.The Cavendish bananas had lower degree of genetic diversity.There was no close genetic relationship found between the novel disease resistance mutant and its maternal parent.The disease resistance of banana germplasm resources to Fusarium oxysporumf.sp.cubense race 4was not related to their genetic similarity.


Objective To evaluate the diagnose method of patients with maintenance hemodialysis complicating herpes zoster.Methods The clinical data of 47 cases with maintenance hemodialysis complicating varicella-zoster virus infection.Were retrospectivey analyzed in addition to the hemodialysis treatment,all patients were given the ganciclovir,topical recombinant human interferon ɑ-1b cream,vitamin B1,methylcobalamin,antibiotics to prevent bacterial infection,oral medicine,comprehensive treatment of pain.Results Recovery 28 cases,excellence 15cases,affective 1 case,ineffective 3 cases.The total effective rate was 91.49%(43/47).There was no adverse effect during treatment.Conclusion The patients with maintenance hemodialysis complicating herpes zoster was common in clinic,the diagnosis was not difficult,rational drug treatment was very important,comprehensive treatment can achieve good results.


Compulsory health insurance is an integral part of health care. Dental care is provided in two forms: private dental services and public dental services based on budget clinics. The purpose of this study is to study dental health in Russia by comparing the policy of compulsory medical insurance and private services in dental practice. During the study, dental health indicators were studied at three levels: indicators for monitoring the oral health of children and adolescents. In the second part, indicators for monitoring oral health in the General population were studied. In the third part, indicators for monitoring the quality of life of the oral cavity were studied. Statistical data processing included implementation of correlation analysis of the obtained data. The results show that social health insurance provides people with equal opportunities for dental services, and health care reforms have improved oral health. Thus, the data obtained indicate the need to Finance the health care system in view of improving the quality of dental care for children and adults, as well as through the introduction of primary and secondary prevention programs.


The psychology of migration involves more than one generation. The high psychological stress through uprooting is a result of four simultaneous processes: 1) Process of mouming because of losses in all spheres of Ufe, 2) cultural leaming and the overflooding of the psyche through an unmanageable amount of Stimuli, 3) pressure to be productive and forced adaptation, 4) coping with prejudices and discriminations experienced. The psychic tension of the children of migrants is related for more to their role conflict in the family, parental bounds and early experiences of Separation from the parents as well as identifications difficulties and therefore moral instability.


Biexciton photoluminescence was observed from single ZnCdSe quantum wells with excitation densities at least three orders of magnitudes lower than those reported in the literature. The very efficient biexciton photoluminescence is essentially due to the cold carrier generation under which the biexciton dissociation by hot carrier collision is greatly suppressed.


Satellite altimetry and high-resolution ocean models indicate that the Southern Ocean is comprised of an intricate web of narrow, meandering jets that undergo spontaneous formation, merger and splitting events, and rapid latitude shifts over periods of weeks to months. The role of topography in controlling jet variability is explored using over 100 simulations from a doubly-periodic, forced-dissipative, two-layer quasi-geostrophic model. The system is forced by a baroclinically-unstable, vertically-sheared mean flow in a domain that is large enough to accommodate multiple jets. The dependence of (i) meridional jet spacing, (ii) jet variability and (iii) large-scale, domain-averaged transport properties on changes in the length scale and steepness of simple sinusoidal topographical features is analyzed. The Rhines scale ℓ β = 2π V e /β, where V e is an eddy velocity scale and β is the barotropic potential vorticity gradient, measures the meridional extent of eddy mixing by a single jet. The ratio ℓ β /ℓ T , where ℓ T is the topographic length scale, governs jet behavior. Multiple, steady jets with fixed meridional spacing are observed when ℓ β ≫ ℓ T or when ℓ β ≈ ℓ T. When ℓ β < ℓ T , a pattern of perpetual jet formation and jet merger dominates the time evolution of the system. This unsteady structure reduces transport by a factor of two if the topography consists of zonally-invariant ridges, and increases transport by an order of magnitude or more if the topography consists of two-dimensional sinusoidal bumps. For certain parameters, bumpy topography gives rise to periodic oscillations in jet structure between purely-zonal and topographically-steered states. In these cases, transport is dominated by bursts of mixing associated with the shifts between the two regimes. Unsteady jet behavior depends crucially on the feedback between changes in mean flow orientation, caused by topographic steering, and the conversion of potential energy to kinetic energy through baroclinic instability, as well as on asymmetric Reynolds stresses created by topographical modifications to the large-scale potential vorticity gradient. It is likely that these processes play a role in the dynamic nature of Southern Ocean jets.


This paper discusses a new localized resource manager for a wireless sensor network of bearings-only sensors. Specifically, each node uses knowledge of the target under surveillance to determine whether it should actively collect measurements and how far to disseminate the data in order for the sensor network to maintain track of the target. At each node, the resource manager requires only knowledge of the relative location to the target for itself and the active nodes from the previous snapshot. The decentralized strategy represents a modification to the global node selection (GNS) method that exploits knowledge of the location of all nodes in the network. Simulations show that despite the lack of global network knowledge, the new localized management method is almost as effective as GNS in terms of balancing the tradeoff between energy usage and localization accuracy.


The modified CNDO method of Del Bene and Jaffe (CNDO/s) and the CNDO/2 and INDO methods due to Pople have been used to study the electronic structure and geometry of mono- and p-difluorobenzenes in the ground and the first excited singlet states. Bond orders, hybrid populations and transition energies together with the corresponding oscillator strengths have been given. Ground and excited state rotational constants and changes in bond lengths in the excited state as compared to the ground state have also been presented and discussed in the light of experimental observations.


The three elements of distance relay in the voltage plane are the polarization voltage,operation voltage and operation characteristic,among which the polarization voltage is the most important.The relay could ideally select pre-fault voltage as polarization voltage,while it practically employs the positive sequence voltage.The difference between the two kinds of polarization voltage is negligible in the case of low impedance ground fault,while significant in the case of high impedance ground fault.Thus,this paper uses the memory and the non-fault phase parameters to gain the pre-fault voltage,and use it as the new polarization voltage.Thus it puts forward a new self-adaptive high impedance ground distance relay.The theoretical analysis and simulation result show that the performance of the distance relay based on the voltage plane is better than that based on the impedance plane.


Patriotism is a deep passion for one′s country which traces its history back to thousands of years ago.The Spirit of Chinese,which has patriotism as its core,is a strong weapon that unites people of all nationalities.It′s very significant that profoundly researching and discussing formation and development of Mao Ze-dong Patriotism in the new period of socialist construction.This paper treats of questions mentioned above.


Theperformance ofaTTSsystem relies ontheacoustic features ofoutput speech, while wehaveonlythelinguistic information intext context forthecorpus design phase. To reconcile that conflict, this paper proposes adesign method basedondecision tree. First, trees aretrained using an existing speech corpus: thesplitting questions areselected fromcontext vectors andthedistance metric isbasedon acoustic features. Thenunits fromanewtextcorpus which will bethesource oftarget script areinserted into thetrees. Thesentence selection strategy isacombination ofcoverage ofmajor treenodesandfrequent context vector clusters. Experiment iscarried outbycollecting aBeijing Olympics related corpus taking advantage ofanexisting domainunspecified speech corpusandsupplementary domainspecified text.Informal listening teston TTS outputs confirms thattheproposed methodachieves a better optimization ofspeech. Itincludes notonlyphonetic balance asconventional methods do,butprosodic balance aswell.


The invention discloses a foldable pipeline supporting rod of a plant protection chemical and fertilizer spraying machine. The foldable pipeline supporting rod comprises a left-arranged pipeline supporting rod body, a middle-arranged pipeline supporting rod body and a right-arranged pipeline supporting rod body, wherein the left-arranged pipeline supporting rod body and the right-arranged pipeline supporting rod body are arranged on the left and right sides of the transversely-arranged middle-arranged pipeline supporting rod body respectively in a hinged mode and can be folded with the middle-arranged pipeline supporting rod body after being rotated. Through hydraulic or pneumatic driving, the left-arranged pipeline supporting rod body and the right-arranged pipeline supporting rod body are folded in a three-dimensional mode, and the plant protection chemical and fertilizer spraying machine with the pipeline supporting rod is high in operation efficiency, low in labor intensity, compact in structure and small in storage space and walks conveniently.


The portrayal of obesity in the media can impact public health by guiding peoples' behaviours and furthering stigma. Individual responsibility for body weight along with negative portrayals of obesity have frequently dominated UK media discourses on obesity. This study aims to explore how the media has represented obesity during the COVID-19 pandemic through a thematic analysis of 95 UK online newspaper articles published in The Sun, The Mail Online, and The Guardian. The first theme, lifestyle recommendations, accounts for media coverage providing 'expert' advice on losing weight. The second theme, individual responsibility, emphasises media appeals to self-governance to tackle obesity and protect the NHS during the pandemic. The third theme, actors of change, explores how celebrities and politicians are presented as examples of weight management. These results suggest that individuals are held responsible for their weight and accountable for protecting the NHS during the COVID-19 pandemic. Stigma can be furthered by the decontextualisation of lifestyle recommendations and exacerbated by the actors of change presented: Celebrity profiles reveal gendered goals for weight management, and politicians exemplify self-governance, which consolidates their power. In conclusion, individualising and stigmatising discourses around obesity have taken new forms during the pandemic that link health responsibility to protecting the NHS and invokes celebrities and politicians to foster action.


Summary form only given. The main advantages of diode lasers are their small size, long life time, high efficiency and frequency controllability. At the moment the obtainable output power from a typical 200 /spl mu/m emitter is about 2 W. Typical diode laser bars consists of about 20 emitters and delivers about 40 W. The beam quality after fast axis collimation is about M/sup 2/=3 along the fast axis and 1500 along the slow axis and is extremely asymmetrical. For enabling efficient fiber coupling of diode laser radiation different beam shaping techniques have been developed. The common feature of all beam shaping techniques is to group the beam into subbeams along the slow direction and to rearrange them along the fast axis. The beam quality along both axes can be matched by suitable selection of the number of subbeams.


The series solution suggested in a paper by Laura [J. Acoust. Soc. Amer. 42, 21–26, (1967)] for a doubly‐connected duct, with hard boundaries, is applied to its correct vibration mode as opposed to that implied.


It is well-known that heating-balance calculation and assess are essential to gas turbine combined-cycle based on engineering practice. In calculating heat-efficiency of each main plant and entire combined-cycle system, all factors/resolutions pertinent to the issues of heat-efficiency and power-distribution are briefly analysed and evaluated in this paper.


Safe and efficient drug delivery systems have received great attention for cancer therapy due to their enhanced cancer-targeting efficiency and reduced undesirable side effects. Administration, safety, and effectiveness are the main issues for clinical trials in nanomedicine. Here, we develop a series of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)-co-polyspermine (PLGA-PSPE) copolymers via a simple polymerization reaction between activated carboxyl groups of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) and amine groups of polyspermine (PSPE) with different molecular weights (Mw) for safe and efficient lung cancer drug delivery. PLGA-PSPE can self-assemble into polymeric micelles with a low critical micelle concentration. PLGA-PSPE had very low cytotoxicity and hemolytic activity. In addition, PLGA-PSPE also had no potential systemic toxicity after aerosol delivery to mice. Dihydroergotamine tartrate (DHE), which could suppress lung cancer cell survival by induction of apoptosis and mitophagy in the latest study, was employed as the model hydrophobic drug and encapsulated into PLGA-PSPE polymeric micelles (PLGA-PSPE/DHE). PLGA-PSPE/DHE could be stored at 25 °C for 7 days, and showed a controlled and sustained drug release, and time and dose dependent cellular uptake. Moreover, PLGA-PSPE/DHE efficiently increased apoptosis and mitophagy in A549 lung cancer cells. Furthermore, PLGA-PSPE/DHE significantly reduced tumor sizes and numbers, and efficiently suppressed lung tumorigenesis in K-rasLA1 lung cancer model mice after aerosol delivery. These results indicate that PLGA-PSPE polymeric micelles have a potential as an anticancer drug delivery carrier for lung cancer therapy.


Objective To compare the result and side\|effect of radiation therapy combined with chemotherapy(CRT) and radiation therapy alone(RT) for locally advanced Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma. Mehods 43 patients with for locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma were radomized into two groups:21 entred in the CRT and 22 in the RT group.Results The survival rates of all the patients at 1 and 3\|year were 88.4%,51.2%. The survival rates at 1 and 3\|year were 90.5%, 57.1% in the CRT group and86.4%, 45.5% in the RT group( P 0.05).The main vice\|reaction of CRT group is nausea,vomiting and WBS reducing.The occurrence rates were 90.5% and 100% ,and were Ⅰ~Ⅲgrade.Conclusion Radiation therapy combined with chemotherapy for locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinomais tolerable. Radiation therapy combined with chemotherapy gives similar results in the survival rates and the local control rates as radiation therapy alon for locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma .No significant differenceis observed.


Background: Cholesterol synthesis is decreased in the brain in diabetes. Results: Cholesterol depletion in neuron-derived cells results in impaired insulin/IGF-1 and neurotrophin signaling and altered apoptosis. Conclusion: Reduction of cellular cholesterol in diabetes causes defects in signal transduction and function in neuron-derived cells. Significance: Reduced brain cholesterol could contribute to the higher prevalence of cognitive dysfunction and Alzheimer disease in diabetes. Diabetes mellitus is associated with a variety of complications, including alterations in the central nervous system (CNS). We have recently shown that diabetes results in a reduction of cholesterol synthesis in the brain due to decreased insulin stimulation of SREBP2-mediated cholesterol synthesis in neuronal and glial cells. In the present study, we explored the effects of the decrease in cholesterol on neuronal cell function using GT1-7 hypothalamic cells subjected to cholesterol depletion in vitro using three independent methods: 1) exposure to methyl-β-cyclodextrin, 2) treatment with the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor simvastatin, and 3) shRNA-mediated knockdown of SREBP2. All three methods produced 20–31% reductions in cellular cholesterol content, similar to the decrease in cholesterol synthesis observed in diabetes. All cholesterol-depleted neuron-derived cells, independent of the method of reduction, exhibited decreased phosphorylation/activation of IRS-1 and AKT following stimulation by insulin, insulin-like growth factor-1, or the neurotrophins (NGF and BDNF). ERK phosphorylation/activation was also decreased after methyl-β-cyclodextrin and statin treatment but increased in cells following SREBP2 knockdown. In addition, apoptosis in the presence of amyloid-β was increased. Reduction in cellular cholesterol also resulted in increased basal autophagy and impairment of induction of autophagy by glucose deprivation. Together, these data indicate that a reduction in neuron-derived cholesterol content, similar to that observed in diabetic brain, creates a state of insulin and growth factor resistance that could contribute to CNS-related complications of diabetes, including increased risk of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer disease.


April, 1996 to March, 1997 studies on the abundance and secondary production of Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri in an algae-dominated lake showed that the worm density and biomass peaked in December at 152 ind/m^2 and 0.087 g/m^2 , respectively. The secondary production of the animal was 0.294g/m^2 fresh wt/a. The turnover rate (P/B ratio) was 11.4.


The principal criteria one needs to keep in mind when arranging laboratory power supplies are fairly obvious — but nevertheless worth stating. They can be expressed in brief as: convenience in use, safety, flexibility, and economy.


Ischaemic disease of the colon is generally attributed to small vessel disease. Not infrequently, however, lesions of the inferior mesenteric artery are identified causing insufficiency either by thrombotic or embolic occlusion of the vessel, or by low perfusion associated with shock, massive haemorrhage, etc. (Byrd et al., 1968; Farman, Betancourt and Kilpatrick, 1968; Schwartz et al., 1963). We have recently encountered another cause of inferior mesenteric artery insufficiency, namely an "intersplanchnic steal" phenomenon. Arteriographic studies demonstrated severe stenosis of the superior mesenteric artery. The flow of blood in this situation was diverted from the inferior mesenteric artery to supply the superior mesenteric vessel resulting in ischaemic disease of the distal colon. This collateral pathway is a well-known route of support to areas of decreased perfusion within the splanchnic bed. A search of the literature has revealed no case in which this abnormal flow pattern has resulted in ischaemi...


The soil borne pathogen complex Verticillium-wilt (V. dahliae & V. albo-atrum) is not only able to cause damages between low fruit quality and complete plant loss in worst-case, it is also able to accumulate in soils where it can survive up to 10 years. Biofumigation can be used to reduce the amount of inoculum potential from Verticillium-wilt. Therefore mustard is highly recommended and in particular the variety ISCI-99, because of its high glucosinolates amounts. But as field trials showed, especially for strawberry farmers, who want to plant Frigo plants till the end of June, the time schedule is very tight. Because using mustard as a spring pre-crop it has a seeding date of the end of March until the beginning of April and it needs at least two month for biomass production and till flowering. Especially this stage of development is important because at this time the biomass contains the highest amounts of glucosinolates. Because of disadvantageous whether conditions the seeding date for mustard can be delayed which can cause less biomass than needed and therefore also less amounts of glucosinolates. If mustard is used the farmer has also to be aware that insects could attack the mustard and cause major damages which will result also in less amounts of glucosinolates. Especially in climate regions like Germany biofumigation right before planting Frigo strawberries seems to be quite difficult. Not only that the cultivation schedule for mustard and strawberries can be very tight. Furthermore the time from April to July is the time of the year with the highest work load for the farmer. So if biofumigation with the additional work and the crop itself doesn't fit into the farmers system another solution than biofumigation has to be found.


One of the errors in the book of Chen Yuan's Academic Thoughts is that the cliff in the Summer Palace in Beijing was misconceived as the cliff in Xinhui City in Guangdong,whereupon appears the discussion about national consciousness and patriotism.This paper aims to clarify both cliffs and their different cultural connotations.


Glaciers and snow are the important features of hydrological cycle and affect volume, variability and water quality in areas where these occur. Snow supplies more than half of water used for irrigation in Himachal Pradesh and other northern states of India and is an important contributor to hydropower and irrigation reservoirs. The fact that snow acts as water storage over the winter and provides soil moisture recharge in the spring is of particular importance to agriculture productivity in mountainous regions. The study on snowfall estimation during 2004-05 in Himachal Pradesh was carried out using remote sensing techniques and ground truth data to estimate total snowfall and assess the impact of snow fall on water availability and crop productivity. The snowfall estimates using remote sensing techniques for two periods by using two sets of imageries before snow fall (October, 2004) and after snowfall (May 2005). This indicated an increase of 28.7 per cent in snow cover compared to pre snowfall period. The ground data from 22 sites also indicated an increase of more than 50 per cent higher amount of snowfall during 2004-05 compared to last two decades. The area under different crops during rabi 2004 was found to be increased by 8.57 per cent, whereas, subsequent kharif season registered 1.85 per cent reduction in cropped area. The increase also reflected in higher productivity during rabi season 2004 and kharif 2005. The productivity of total food grains increased by more than 19.0 per cent during 2004-05 compared to 2003-04. The apple and other fruits registered 12.1 and 59.8 per cent higher productivity, respectively in 2004-05 compared to 2002-03 and 2003-04. The impact of extreme snow fall was more pronounced in short duration vegetables crops. The total vegetables arrivals in the market increased by 48.33 per cent during 2004-05 compared to last three year arrivals. This indicated that there was a positive and significant effect of heavy snowfall on agricultural as well as horticultural crop productivity in the mountains and downstream of Himachal Pradesh.


We report herein a cucurbit[10]uril-based porous supramolecular assembly (A) that is readily obtained in the presence of [ZnCl4]2− as a structure-directing agent in HCl solution.


The purpose of the study was to characterize a group of Late Comb Ware (Ka III) from archeological sites on the Karelian Isthmus: its technology, morphology, chronology, distribution and origin. The Karelian Isthmus is probably the eastern periphery of the Uskela Ware area and a group of ceramics was found that fits most of the main criteria, proposed for the materials in Finland, but with some peculiar features. Uskela-like ceramics in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland is one of the earliest groups of porous ceramics, which coexisted with the Typical Comb Ware and has much in common with it and with the Eastern Swedish Pitted Ware. Due to rather limited area and chronology, for the north-western regions of Russia the existence of Uskela-like ceramics seems to be a rather local episode, while the main area of this ceramics is on the territory of modern Finland. Finally, such pottery on the Karelian Isthmus can probably serve as one of a few evidences of the influence on this area from the territories situated far to the west.


In the present work, a combination of experimental and density functional theory (DFT) investigation of the (3+2) cycloaddition reactions of diazopropane with chalcone derivatives was reported. All calculations were performed using several DFT approaches (B3LYP, M06, M06-2X) and 6-311+G(d, p) basis set. Based on the NMR, MS analyses and IRC calculations, the pyrazole derivatives are the kinetic adducts over the oxadiazoles. The use of two equivalents of diazopropane leads to thermodynamical products. A molecular docking analysis was performed to investigate the efficiency of the obtained products against selected drug targets in anti-Alzheimer ligand-receptor interactions. We revealed that the ligands selected were bound mainly to the catalytic (CAS) and peripheral (PAS) anionic sites of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) inhibitors, respectively. The selected ligands 1, 3, 4 and P14 may act as the best inhibitors against Alzheimer's disease (AD).


The research aims to characterize the small entrepreneurs of the dairy sector in Latacunga through an instrument of evaluation of the business idea. According to the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses of 2016, the fastest growing productive sector in the province of Cotopaxi was dairy. For the development of the study the tool Lona is analyzed that allows to verify the form in which the organizations create, the deliver and the value capture economic; Subsequent to this it was adapted to the characteristics and conditions of the dairy sector. In order to declare the validity of the content of the instrument, a trial of three experts was submitted, the same ones that they contributed with suggestions and after obtaining the approval, the application was carried out. The research methodology is based on a quantitative approach, with non-probabilistic sampling for convenience and cross-sectional research; for this there is no need to run the sample since the researchers choose who to interview the instrument through the Canvas model. Subsequently, 11 new enterprises are evaluated in the second stage of business development in which businesses born from 1 to 3.5 years of maturity create value and competitiveness in the market….


Watermarking is proved as a right-protection mechanism that can provide detectable evidence for the legal ownership of a shared dataset like image, audio, video, text. However, watermarking schemes for shared biomedical data, such as EEG data have been studied in little research. This paper proposes a optimized watermarking scheme with Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) technique to protect ownership for shared EEG data. The proposed watermarking optimizes quantization steps to find a suitable one to achieve the highest possible robustness without losing watermark transparency. Experimental results show that the proposed scheme provides good imperceptibility and more robust against various signal processing techniques and common attacks such as noise addition, low-pass filtering, and re-sampling.


Abstract The free-radical racemization of non-activated amines is a powerful tool for process design in the pharmaceutical industry, allowing the recycling of undesired enantiomers after chiral separation. This paper describes the development of the free-radical racemization of a key API intermediate in a continuous flow reactor. Upon development, a significant reduction of the solvent usage and radical initiator was made possible thanks to the conversion into a continuous flow mode. This intensification positively impacted both the environmental footprint and the safety of the reaction as well as maintaining satisfactory productivity.


Onycholysis, or the separation of the nail from its bed, is a non–lifethreatening toxicity, but one that may impair function and be visibly unpleasant. Anthracyclines and taxanes, alone or in combination, are the cytotoxic drugs most frequently associated with onycholysis (1,2). During the last year, we have treated 36 patients with metastatic colorectal cancer with an irinotecan–capecitabine combination and have noted that two patients developed chemotherapy-induced onycholysis. To our knowledge, there is only one report of capecitabine-induced onycholysis (3), which occurred in a woman with breast cancer, and no reports of irinotecaninduced onycholysis. The first patient, a 58-year-old Caucasian man with lung and liver metastases from colorectal cancer, was being treated with irinotecan at 225 mg/m on day 1 and capecitabine at 1000 mg/m twice daily on days 2–15 every 3 weeks. He had reached a sustained partial response after six and nine cycles with mild toxicity, with the exception of a grade 1 hand–foot syndrome after nearly every course. After the ninth course, he developed a grade 2 foot skin reaction and separation of the left fifth toenail (Fig. 1). He subsequently lost the nail. No other toenails or fingernails were involved. The patient was advised to wear closed sandals, and the onycholysis resolved, despite continued irinotecan– capecitabine therapy. The second patient, a 62-year-old Caucasian man, was found to have multiple liver metastases from colorectal cancer. Irinotecan–capecitabine therapy with the same administration schedule as that of the first patient was initiated, and within the first three cycles, he achieved a partial response. After the sixth course of chemotherapy, he experienced a grade 3 foot skin reaction, concurrently with some bleeding from the hyponychia of both fifth toenails and left fourth toenail. Capecitabine therapy was stopped on day 11, and 1 week later, the patient experienced a painless loss of his fifth toenails. As with the first patient, fingernails were not involved. The second patient received two more cycles with a 25% reduction in the dose of capecitabine and had no evidence of a recurrent foot skin reaction and onycholysis. In our two patients, onycholysis occurred simultaneously with a moderate hand–foot skin reaction and, in both patients, skin and nail toxicities were limited to the feet. One patient experienced evident inflammation and bleeding from the hyponychia that was associated with onycholysis. No other nail changes such as leukonychia or hyponychium hyperpigmentation were observed in the remainder nails, and there were no signs


PURPOSE: To provide a simple method for storing a solid catalyst component to be used for the polymerization of an olefin in an industrially advantageous dry powdery state for a long time without detriment to its performances. CONSTITUTION: This method comprises storing a Ziegler/Natta olefin polymerization solid catalyst essentially consisting of titanium, magnesium, halogen and an electron donor in a carbon dioxide gas or an inert gas atmosphere containing a carbon dioxide gas. According to this method, the catalytic activity scarcely deteriorates even after the catalyst is stored at room temperature for three months or at 60°C for 64hr. COPYRIGHT: (C)1994,JPO&Japio


In this paper, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the savings of Slovenian households in banks is explored. For this purpose, an econometric model is developed and the macroeconomic variables exerting a statistically significant impact on household deposits in banks are identified. Among all the macroeconomic variables considered in the paper, the research study has shown that there are only two macroeconomic variables with a statistically significant impact. These two macroeconomic variables are the Euro Overnight Index Average (EONIA) reference interest rate used as a proxy variable for the rate of return, and the price of one Bitcoin as a yield on an alternative investment opportunity. The results of this research study are important for both the Central Government in Slovenia and for Slovenia's banks as household deposits are a source of funding for banks in the time of a crisis as well, and because of the fact that the volume of the loans granted accelerates the GDP growth, which shows the successful implementation of the economic policy.


The study was divided into two groups to investigate the effect of adding silage on the weight gain of beef cattle,group I(experiment)and group II(control).The results showed that there was significant difference between two groups in average daily gain of the period of beef cattle fattening,and the group I has increased 104.8g compared with group II(P0.05),the feed conversion ratio(FCR),ME,and DCP,the group I have respectively reduced 14.2%,9.5%,and 9.8% compare with the group II(P0.05),feed intake increased 25%,beef yield increased 9.4kg,income increased 108Yuan compare with the group II.


Modern pulse oximeters are employed in critical care units to measure the vital medical parameters like heart rate and blood oxygen saturation levels. These devices work by acquiring the photoplethysmographic (PPG) data utilizing PPG sensors attached to finger/earlobe/forehead of the patient and then computing the ratio of amplitudes of the red and IR PPG signals. Further the ratio of amplitudes is used to estimate oxygen saturation levels with the help of calibration curve. Patient movements while recording the pulse oximeter data may result in erroneous estimation of medical data and may result in wrong diagnosis by the clinician. Data corruption in recorded PPG signals is referred as Motion artifact (MA) corruption and its detection and reduction is a crucial problem for most of the researchers. It is clear evident that detection and reduction of MA component from recorded PPG data by any signal processing technique may guarantee error-free estimation of oxygen saturation in arterial blood (SpO2). In this work, we present a adaptive coefficient estimation technique to detect MA components from quasi periodic natured PPG signal and then deduce MA reduced PPG signal. Fourier coefficients are estimated using basic least mean squares algorithm. The novelty of the proposed technique lies in detection and reduction of MA noise by estimating the Fourier coefficients and then based on randomness measures considering only the required number of Fourier coefficients dynamically to generate MA reduced PPG signal. SpO2 is estimated from MA reduced PPGs by utilizing the calibration curve. The superiority of proposed technique is been proved by comparing the experimental results with results obtained using basic least mean squares (LMS) method. PPG data recorded with different MA (Vertical, Horizontal and Bending movements of patient's finger) is considered for experiment analysis. Obtained SpO2 parameter calculations proved the efficacy of estimation technique in measurement of reliable and accurate SpO2, helpful for medical diagnosis.


It is well known that anticholinergic agents such as atropine and scopolamine are effective as anti-motion sickness drugs, however, the mechanism of action in the vestibular system is inadequately understood. It has been demonstrated by several investigators (1-5) that neurons in the vestibular nucleus are excited by local application of acetylcholine. Gerebtzoff (6) has shown a histochemical localization of cholinesterase in the vestibular nucleus of cats. Contents of the enzyme were relatively high in the superior and lateral parts of the nucleus, but low in the medial and inferior parts. According to the hypothesis of Wood and Graybiel (7), motion sickness occurred when activation of the central cholinergic system disturbed the balance of vestibular reactions, and protection would be achieved by utilizing anticholinergic drugs. Diphenidol (1, 1-diphenil-4-piperidine-1-butanol) which is related chemically to trihexylphenidil and chlorphenianol has been found effective in the treatment of motion sickness (8-11). Leonard et al. (12) have shown that diphenidol is equal in anti-emetic potency to chlorpromazine and that diphenidol has a greater selectivity of pharmacological action in experimental animals. The present experiments using cats were designed to study the effects of diphenidol on evoked responses in the central vestibular and visual systems.


Iodide can be oxidized to I2 and IO-3by potassium chlorate.The influencing factors of oxidizing power of potassium chlorate were discussed through parallel comparative experiments in this paper.We analyzed the major factors of concentration,acidity,and resolved some problems and improved the traditional experiment method.The results show that the oxidizing power of potassium chlorate strengthen with increasing the concentration of H + or KClO3.The neutral potassium chlorate is best and the solution must reach certain acidity,or redox reactions can not occur.The reaction time is shorter.The oxidation strength of potassium chlorate is affected not only by the thermodynamics but also by dynamics factors.The best reactive condition is: washing clear solid or nearly neutral saturated solution of potassium chlorate,potassium iodide appropriate solution in strong acid solution.The improved method can ensure the experiment success.


The invention relates to a vehicle seat with a seat cushion and a backrest, wherein the seat cushion and/or backrest is bordered on each of the left and right wings by a deformable side bolster for supporting a vehicle seat occupant, wherein each side wing comprises at least one cushion deformable in the seat width direction and at least one upholstery portion into which the at least one cushion is embedded, wherein a wear-resistant fabric is embedded into the foam of the at least one foam upholstery portion for stabilization of the upholstery portion and at least partically covering the at least one embedded cushion, and wherein, in at least one part of the area covered by the wear-resistant fabric, the fibres of the wear-resistant fabric are oriented at a non-zero-degree angle to the seat width direction.


Abstract Objective This study aims to investigate the effect of rosuvastatin on sympathetic neural remodeling of the left atrium (LA) in rats after myocardial infarction (MI). Methods Rats were randomly divided into a three groups: sham group, statin group, and MI group. The mRNA expression levels of the growth-associated protein-43 (GAP43) and nerve growth factor (NGF) were measured by RT-PCR. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the distribution and density of GAP43- and NGF-positive nerves. The expression levels of these proteins were quantified by Western blot. Results Compared with the sham group, the average optical density (AOD) values of GAP43 and nerve growth factor (NGF)-positive substances in the LA in the statin and MI groups were significantly higher (P<0.01), but the AOD values in the statin group were lower than of those in the MI group (P<0.01). Furthermore, the AOD values of GAP43 and NGF positive nerves in the left stellate ganglion in the statin and MI groups were significantly higher (P<0.01), but the AOD values in the statin group were lower, when compared with the MI group (P<0.01). Conclusion Rosuvastatin could effectively improve the sympathetic neural remodeling of LA in MI rats.


A fluorescent material has a composition represented by (Gd 1-α-β-γ R α Ce β Tb γ ) 3+a (Al 1-u-v Ga u Sc v ) 5-b O 12 , R being at least one of Y and Lu, a, b, α, β, γ, u, and v satisfying the following ranges, 0≤a≤0.1, 0≤b≤0.1, 0≤α≤0.8, 0.0003≤β≤0.005, 0.02≤γ≤0.2, 0.27≤u≤0.75, and 0≤v≤0.02, the relative density being 99% or more, and an effective atomic number being 35-60.


A convenient way to assess the traffic fuel consumption is to couple a microscopic traffic flow model with an instantaneous emission model. Traffic models are usually calibrated using goodness of fit indicators that are related to the traffic behaviour. Thus, this paper aims to investigate how the traffic model calibration influences the accuracy of fuel consumption estimation. Two traffic models are investigated: the Newell's and the Gipps's model. It appears that the Gipps's model globally provides more accurate fuel consumption estimation than the Newell's model. For both models, the fuel consumption estimation of a single vehicle is very sensitive to the calibration. This is confirmed by a global sensitivity analysis of the Gipp's model that shows that non optimal parameters significantly increase the variance of the outputs. Fortunately, this is no longer the case when the fuel consumption of a whole platoon is calculated. In fact, using global mean value for the traffic model parameters lead to errors lower than 3% when estimation the consumption of a platoon of ten vehicles.


In this paper,the principle and performance characteristic of self-locked hydraulic pressure arrester. Using the braking time to be optimizing principle,we establish mathematical model,and give some instances as well.


Abstract : A method of analysis for saxitoxin (STX) in the rat (blood serum and urine) and human urine was developed using CBA and EMPORE columns followed by oxidation with hydrogen peroxide and analysis by HPLC using a C18 reversed phase column and detection by fluorescence of the OPA derivative. Detection was also made by continuous flow fast atom bombardment (CF/FAB/MS). STX was found in the serum and urine of rats treated with STX (1 to 3 microns g total intraperitoneal injection) as soon as 10 min after dosing and up to 8 hrs. Rats dosed with 75 microns g by stomach intubation had detectable amounts of STX in their urine for up to 31 hrs. Confirmation was done by CF/FAB/MS using selected ion monitoring (m/z+ 300 & 282). The limit of detection by HPLC was 4 ppb in human urine and 220 ppb in rat urine. The limit of detection by CF/FAB/MS was 25 ppb in human urine. A method of analysis using EMPORE column technology yielded a percent recovery of 102 at 25 ppb and 99 at 50 ppb. CBA columns used for comparison gave a percent recovery that varied between 64 and 90%.


Professor Ling-xi Qian, a famous engineer, academic and scientist of engineering mechanics, was born in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province on 16 July, 1916. He graduated in 1936 with a bachelor degree majoring in civil engineering from the Institute Technique Franco-Chinois in Shanghai. Due to his excellent academic record, he was granted a scholarship from the government and studied in the Universite Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium. In 1938, he received the degree of Ingenieur de Construction Civile avec grande distinction. After returning to China, his career started as a railway engineer in Yunnan Province and participated in the construction of the Xu-Kun Chuan-Dian Railways. In 1942, he worked as a professor of Zhejiang University.


In this study, we proposed an approach, which helped students to improve their software engineering, designing, developing and coding skills. As a part of this methodology, we developed a comprehensive infrastructure including client-server, sub-versioning control setup and a three tier teaching pedagogy entitled as student-mentor-teacher layer. To test the proposed methodology two experiments were conducted; two types of feedbacks were collected. Adempiere ERP- an open source project was selected as test case. We also highlighted challenges of working on open source projects. Results showed that students who worked on open source projects were more skillful in designing and developing software projects than those who worked on standalone projects. Feedback of student's mentors as well as of teachers recommended using the proposed methodology that helped in improving technical skills by working with highly experienced professionals of open source software community.


The vast possibilities of the implementation of Popular Education in all its dimension is the most important reason to expose its implementation to comprehensive sexuality education. Such is the purpose of this article: to expose some effects on comprehensive sexuality education since the implementation of popular education. In this exercise of thinking and


:  The purpose of the study was to determine the influence of teacher motivation on the performance of Science among pupils in primary schools of Butere Sub-County .To achieve this objective the study examined  school  learning factors that influence teacher motivation. Student performance in Science subject was the dependent variable whereas the teaching environment, school inspection, workload and parent- teacher relation were independent variables. The study was premised on Herzergberg's Theory of Motivation (1959) which states that satisfaction and dissatisfaction at work only arises from different factors and is not simply opposing reactions to the same factors, as had always been   believed. The study was based on cross-sectional survey design .Target population were teachers, head teachers, school management committee chairmen (SMCs), parents and pupils. Data was collected from respondents using questionnaires and interview schedules. Simple random sampling techniques were used to collect the sample for this study .Data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The study established that the teaching environment had unfavorable conditions which demoralized teachers and that school inspection was not done regularly. It was also established that teachers' workload and the relationship between teachers and parents had an influence on the performance of the learners. The study recommended; supervision be enhanced in schools, teachers workload to be reduced and the gap between the head teacher and the teachers, the teachers and parents and teachers and society be minimized.


I n a previous communication1 based on a retrospective study of 82 cases of tetanus, it was postulated that overactivity of the sympathetic nervous system could account for many features of the disease which cannot be explained on the basis of hyperexcitability of motor neurones. It seems likely that some of these features, in particular the severe cardiovascular disturbances, contribute to the still considerable mortality and morbidity of the disease. This paper describes physiological observations on six patients with severe tetanus treated with curare and intermittent positive pressure ventilation (IPPV). The findings support our previous suggestion that overactivity of the sympathetic nervous system is an integral part of severe tetanus.


The construction of a surface–mounted vibratingwire strain gauge for use in creep tests is described and some results on the stability of the gauge are presented. Novel features of the gauge construction include a pressed one–piece clamp for holding the wire and provision for a secondary strain measuring system. Relaxation of the vibrating wire caused relaxation of the gauge. There was no significant relaxation due to the clamping method. Cyclic straining of the gauge before use virtually eliminated zero displacement. The use of an unloaded control specimen, which is gauged at the same time and with the same wire tension as the creep specimen, is recommended. Alternatively, relaxation measurements on the wire can be used to correct measured strains. Either of these procedures will reduce the effect of gauge relaxation on creep strains to less than 3 μstrain.


Climbing upstairs to pour one's heart was a kind of fashion in the Chinese ancient times.The description of towers in poems had unique features.Xilou(meaning west tower),owing to its distinctive geographical location and cultural connotation,was widely used in the Tang and Song poems.This paper,through analyzing the feeling tendency of poems by using Xilou image,probes into the cause for Xilou complex of scholars of the Tang and Song Dynasties.It finds out that the use of Xilou had closely connected with the fact that Chinese character Xi has particular connotation in Chinese philosophy as well as the location of Xilou,its function and scholars' aesthetic taste with tragedy as beauty.


Through long-term observations about deformation law of surrounding rock of roadway influenced by dynamic pressure in No.8 mine,the displacement speed as a dividing line,so around the working face was divided into six regions,including no effected area,the initial deformation area,speed deformation area,intense deformation area,slow deformation area,stable area.On the basis of great depth and complex geological conditions and dramatic impact on mining in No.8 mine,and then the supporting technology principle of first soft and after just and moderate soft are proposed,and development of the high priestesses and strong support technology.


AbstractThis study proposes a modal analysis for a simplified model of a linked building system, i.e., a system consisting of two adjacent tall buildings connected through links such as skybridges or skygardens. The simplified model was developed by modeling each building as a cantilever beam and allowing for the effects of varying link mass, axial stiffness, bending stiffness, and link location. The analytical solutions for the modal properties of the simplified model were then derived by solving the characteristic equations in the related boundary value problem. After validating the accuracy of the analytical solution by comparing it with the associated finite-element model (FEM), the effects of the link parameters on the modal properties, and the wind-induced responses of the system were examined by using these analytical solutions. Meaningful results were obtained and discussed. The analytical solution and results can be used for rapidly evaluating the modal properties of the linked building systems a...


For many application areas such as autonomous navigation, the ability to accurately perceive the environment is essential. For this purpose, a wide variety of well-researched sensor systems are available that can be used to detect obstacles or navigation targets. Stereo cameras have emerged as a very versatile sensing technology in this regard due to their low hardware cost and high fidelity. Consequently, much work has been done to integrate them into mobile robots. However, the existing literature focuses on presenting the concepts and algorithms used to implement the desired robot functions on top of a given camera setup. As a result, the rationale and impact of choosing this camera setup are usually neither discussed nor described. Thus, when designing the stereo camera system for a mobile robot, there is not much general guidance beyond isolated setups that worked for a specific robot. To close the gap, this paper studies the impact of the physical setup of a stereo camera system in indoor environments. To do this, we present the results of an experimental analysis in which we use a given software setup to estimate the distance to an object while systematically changing the camera setup. Thereby, we vary the three main parameters of the physical camera setup, namely the angle and distance between the cameras as well as the field of view and a rather soft parameter, the resolution. Based on the results, we derive several guidelines on how to choose the parameters for an application.


A review on the works of organic solvent effects in ICP-AES analysis in recent years was given in this paper,relating especially to the effect of organic solvents on physical characteristics of ICP,on the ICP atomization sample introduction system,and on ICP spectral,characteristics,as well as the elimination of interferences due to organic solvent effects.(41 ref.cited).


New tetrazine derivatives were prepared and their electrochemical properties as well as their reactivity in the inverse demand Diels−Alder (DAinv) reaction were investigated. DFT calculations were performed to calculate the energy and electronic distribution in the frontier molecular orbitals. In particular, the reactivity of these tetrazine derivatives has been compared with that of the already known dichlorotetrazine. A comparison of the gathered data allows a rough correlation to be established between the reactivity and the electron-withdrawing character of the substituent, but only a closer examination of the involved orbitals can enable an accurate prediction of the DAinv reactivity of the investigated compounds.


A new quaternary intermetallic borocarbide TmCo2B2C has been synthesized via rapid-quench of an arc-melted ingot. Elemental and powder-diffraction analyses established its correct stoichiometry and single-phase character. The crystal structure is isomorphous with that of TmNi2B2C (I4/mmm) and is stable over the studied temperature range. Above 7 K, the paramagnetic state follows modified Curie–Weiss behavior (χ = C/(T−θ)+χ0) wherein χ0 = 0.008(1) emu mol−1 with the temperature-dependent term reflecting the paramagnetism of the Tm subsystem: μeff = 7.6(2) μB (in agreement with the expected value for a free Tm3+ ion) and θ = −4.5(3) K. Long-range ferromagnetic order of the Tm sublattice is observed to develop around ∼1 K. No superconductivity is detected in TmCo2B2C down to 20 mK, a feature which is consistent with the general trend in the RCo2B2C series. Finally, the influence of the rapid-quench process on the magnetism (and superconductivity) of TmNi2B2C will be discussed and compared to that of TmCo2B2C.


The invention provides a deep hydrodesulfurization method which comprises the following steps of: contacting full-range gasoline with hydrogen and a selective hydrogenation catalyst under the condition of hydroforming reaction to obtain a hydroforming reaction product; contacting the hydroforming reaction product with hydrogen and a first selective hydrodesulfurization catalyst under the condition of first hydrodesulfurization reaction to obtain a first hydrodesulfurization reaction product; contacting the first hydrodesulfurization reaction product with hydrogen and a hydrodesulfurization adsorbent under the condition of adsorption desulfurization, so as to remove hydrogen sulfide to obtain an adsorption desulfurization product; and contacting the adsorption desulfurization product with hydrogen and a second selective hydrodesulfurization catalyst under the condition of second hydrodesulfurization reaction to obtain a second hydrodesulfurization reaction product. The deep hydrodesulfurization method provided by the invention can obtain a gasoline product with ultralow sulfur content, low thioalcohol content and a smaller octane loss value and is very suitable for industrial application.


Preface Neurofilament Proteins in the Cochlea: Changes in Response to Deafening and Neurotrophin Administration Neurofilament Proteins in Brain Diseases Neurofilament Protein Partnership, Transport, Phosphorylation and Neurodegeneration Neurofilament Changes in Multiple Sclerosis The Value of Neurofilament-Immunohistochemistry for Identifying Enteric Neuron Types: Special Reference to Intrinsic Primary Afferent (Sensory) Neurons Insulin Effectson Neurofilament Phosphorylation Neurofilaments in the Mammalian Visual System: As Revealed by SMI 32 Immunohistochemistry Index.


The analysis and the evaluation of the social capital that exist in a determined web of individual, organisational, social, community relations, have been built in an instrument of important utility, for the ones who direct and manage the organisations. By measuring the social capital of a web, we can diagnose the quantity and the quality of the existent relations in that web. The organisations that have a major capacity of steady development are the ones that put their culture and action in the whole of the social and management web in which they interact. Their bonds undertake more than the ones that are strictly of management. They are the «active» part of the environment's life and development. Thus, the enterprise is constituted in a «human project» which is active in the building of the social and community reality. At the same time, the strength of the social and community web facilitates the development of the management culture and action. The qualitative change of the management organisations, suppose specially, these three following characteristics: model of internal relation, based on the generation of knowledge; people of knowledge; complexity in the relation with the environment.


Small airway disease (SAD) has been recognized for many years as a central feature of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Histopathology studies have shown that the narrowing and destruction of small airways in COPD combined with inflammatory cell infiltration in thesubmucosa increases the severity of the disease.SAD is present in the early stages of COPD and becomes more widespread over time as the disease progresses to more severe COPD.The development of inhalers containing extra-fine particles allows the small airways to be pharmacologically targeted.Recent clinical trials have shown the efficacy of extra-fine triple therapy that targets the small airways in patients with COPD.This article reviews the importance and treatment of SAD in COPD.

Key words:
Particle size; Therapeutics; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease


In this letter, an improved all-fiber 90° optical hybrid is reported. The experimental unit has the following characteristics: low insertion loss, high stability, wide operation bandwidth, and simple fabrication process of all functional components. The unit will find applications in phase diversity coherent optical communication systems and interferometric sensing systems.


Two more or less ethoxylated pentaerythritols were reacted with dibutyltin dimethoxide and yielded spirocyclic tin alkoxides that were soluble in hot toluene or in chlorobenzene, chloroform, and 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane at room temperature. These solutions were used in situ as initiators for the ring-expansion polymerization of ϵ-caprolactone or β-D,L-butyrolactone. The spirocyclic polylactones were reacted with various carboxylic acid chlorides and yielded four-armed stars with the elimination of Bu2SnCl2. By variation of the acid chlorides, star arms with chloroacetate, 4-bromobenzoate, 4-nitrobenzoate, cinnamate, stearate, or methacrylate end groups were obtained. With 4-chlorothiophenyl esters of N-protected amino acids, N-protected aminoacyl end groups were introduced. A complete functionalization of all star arms was not achieved in all cases, and structure–property relationships were examined. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 1047–1057, 2002


What are the drivers of recent trends in earnings inequality? What role have economic policies played in this evolution? How should optimal policy relating to inequality and redistribution be designed? Finding answers to these questions is central to improving economic welfare in a world that is experiencing rapid shifts in the distribution of income. This collection of essays contributes to our understanding of the determinants of earnings inequality and the design of optimal redistributive policies. Chapter 1, co-authored with Jorge Alvarez and Niklas Engbom, uses administrative matched employer-employee data to decompose a decline in earnings inequality in Brazil from 1996 to 2012. Almost half of the overall decline is due to a fall in firmspecific pay differences, while around one quarter of the decline stems from falling pay differences due to unobserved worker characteristics. A large share of the decline is attributable to changes in firms' wage setting policies. Chapter 2, co-authored with Niklas Engbom, quantifies the contribution of a rise in the minimum wage to Brazil's inequality decline in an equilibrium search model with heterogeneity in worker ability and firm productivity. Monopsonistic competition among firms for workers leads to spillover effects of the minimum wage on higher earnings ranks. We estimate the model using indirect inference and find that the rise in the minimum wage explains 70 percent of the decline in the variance of log earnings. Chapter 3 examines the interaction between financial frictions, barriers to entry, and firms' extensive margin decisions in a dynamic occupational choice model. Inefficient firm liquidations lead to a substantial welfare loss. Government subsidies to the least productive entrepreneurs can have sizable effects on aggregate productivity. Efficiency implications of such interventions depends crucially on the persistence of the stochastic process underlying entrepreneurs' productivity evolution.


The article presents the problem of interpretation of the heritage of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone by a local tour guides. The text is the result of a research project whose purpose was to answer the question of whether Chernobyl guides use their own biography when creating a narration for tourists and how the inclusion of personal information translates into a style of touring the CEZ and, as a consequence, presenting the dissonant heritage to tourists. It was assumed that taking into account biographical elements is one of the strategies characteristic for the interpretation of heritage. According to the concept of Tilden, interpretation should be based on facts, but nuance the meanings, which as a result provokes thinking and [auto) reflection. Therefore, it was stated that the inclusion of a biographical perspective makes visitors to experience different emotions, primarily greater empathy, which translates into a better understanding of the complexity of Chernobyl issues.


By analyzing the existing products and the intellectual property rights of radial piston pump,the international development states of radial piston pump was reviewed and the deficiencies appeared in the development of radial piston pump technology were summarized and analyzed. The transmission system and the oil assigning system,which are the main structures of radial piston pump were studied. Both of the transmission system and the oil assigning system were classified,and the working principles of theirs were demonstrated. Combining with the products of world-renowned manufacturers of hydraulic components,the key issues and its solutions in the designing of radial piston pump were reviewed.


The design and synthesis of biodegradable ionic liquids has been one of the ways to accelerate the pace of ionic liquid large-scale industrial applications and prevent environmental hazards. The knowledge of thermodynamic properties for the mixtures of biodegradable ionic liquids with organic solvent or water has been paramount for the design of many technological processes. In this work, the densities of two binary systems for biodegradable naphthenic acid ionic liquids, choline cyclohexane carboxylate ([Ch][CHC]), and choline cyclopentane carboxylate ([Ch][CPC]) with ethanol were measured over the whole range of compositions from (293.15 to 323.15) K. The excess molar volumes of two systems were obtained from experimental data and fitted to the Redlich−Kister equation. The results showed that VE values were negative over the entire composition range, and its absolute values increased slightly with increasing temperature from (293.15 to 323.15) K. A minimum value of the two systems was located at 0.3 and...


The aim of the study is to analyze the corporate social responsibility effect of capital structure on profitability and its involvement on company value. The data is obtained from property companies and real estate listed on the 2011-2015 period in the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). The method of this study is using path analysis. The result shows that partially element of corporate social responsibility and capital structure have significant and constructive effect on profitability. The element of profitability and capital structure have a significant and constructive effect on firm value. On the other side, responsibility of corporate social element has a negative and destructive effect on company value. The result shows that profitability can influence the interaction between firm value and capital structure as well as the interaction between company social responsibility and corporate value. Both of these interactions show a positive and significant influence on company value. Keyword: Corporate Social Responsibility, Firm Value, Capital Structure, Profitability.


Abstract : The report describes a procedure for measuring the status and progress of a complex system development program. The procedure is based on four premises: (1) Progress is characterized by reduction of uncertainty; hence, if uncertainty can be measured at different times, progress can be indicated by changes in measures of uncertainty. (2) Assessment of uncertainty relative to development is subjective. (3) Subjective estimates of uncertainty can be expressed in terms of probabilities. (4) The amount of uncertainty is indicated by statistical measures of appropriate probability distributions. Consistent with these premises, the procedure for obtaining probability distributions for critical system performance characteristics involves five steps: (1) Obtain design equations. (2) Determine subjective probabilities. (3) Generate probability distributions for system performance. (4) Calculate statistical measures. (5) Compare measures at different times to obtain indications of progress. Methods for determining subjective probabilities should be tested in a real-world development program.


Tooth loss has been one of the most important problems in human history, not only affects the aesthetics of it, but it is related to a number of complications such as altered tooth position, bone resorption, including other. Implant dentistry is one of the most significant advances. In the last 50 years has focused in this problem. Currently there are no reports in the literature that provide statistics and data about common findings on panoramic radiographs associated with dental implants, underlining the lack of information on these findings.


This article focuses on the short term management of an energy portfolio with a considerable share of wind generation by a Balance Responsible Party. The portfolio consists of Gas Fired Power Plants and producers of wind energy on the supply side, and industrial and residential consumers on the demand side. Different balancing options are considered to manage the portfolio: upward or downward regulation of Gas Fired Power Plants, electricity market trading and shifting residential flexible demand (i.e. washing machines, dryers, dishwashers and electric hot water heaters). The remaining imbalance is settled via the balancing mechanism. The article presents a qualitative, multi-actor business model, but also includes a quantitative analysis based on a Belgian case study. Simulation results show yearly revenues for a residential consumer offering flexibility of up to €20.


The internal tilt mode is considered to be the biggest threat to Field-Reversed Configuration (FRC) global stability. The tilt stability of the FRC is studied using the MHD, Hall MHD, and the Vlasov-fluid (Vlasov ions, cold massless fluid electrons) models. Nonlinear Hall MHD calculations showed that the FRC was stable to the tilt mode when the s value of the FRC was below a critical value that was dependent on plasma length. The critical s value is larger for longer plasma equilibria. The stability of FRC's with toroidal field was studied with a linear initial value MHD code. The calculations showed an axial perturbation wavelength of the most unstable eigenfunction that was consistent with internal probe measurements made on translated FRC's. Linear Vlasov-fluid eigenvalue calculations showed that kinetic ion effects can change both the growth rate and the structure of the eigenfunctions when compared to the corresponding MHD modes. Calculations on short FRC equilibria indicate that MHD is not the appropriate small gyroradius limit of the Vlasov-fluid model because the axial transit time of a thermal ion is approximately equal to an MHD growth time for the tilt mode. Calculations were done using a small number of unstable MHD eigenfunctionsmore » as basis functions in order to reduce the dimensionality of the stability problem. The results indicated that this basis set can produce inaccurate growth rates at large value for s for some equilibria.« less


Hypothesis / aims of study Prior systematic reviews of conservative treatments for urinary incontinence (UI) in women have not focused on comparative effectiveness of treatments or included continence as a key outcome variable. Our comprehensive synthesis of the evidence relates to: 1) the effectiveness of conservative treatments in women with respect to UI, UI severity and frequency, and quality of life compared to no active treatment; 2) the comparative effectiveness of these treatments; and 3) the patient characteristics that are most likely to modify treatment outcomes.


This paper reveals that the current LDPC codes in DVB-S2 are not good, since they have the codes of minimum weight of 5, which leads to their BER can not satisfy the requirements of DVB-S2. This paper develops an algorithm to estimate the minimum weight of LDPC codes based on generator matrices. Using it, we can find the minimum weight problem of the current LDPC codes in DVB-S2. To enhance the minimum weight problem of the LDPC codes, we propose a new approach to construct the encodable irregular QC codes, which can not produce new short girths and can have much larger minimum weight and minimum distance of the codes. Simulations verify the construction of alternative QC LDPC codes for DVB-S2 to be valid, since better BER performance than that of existing irregular LDPC codes of DVB-S2 is obtained.


AbstractAlthough the steady, entraining, updraft plume is widely taken as the foundational concept of cumulus convection, past studies show that convection is typically dominated by thermals that are transient, more isotropic in shape, and possess interior vortical circulations. Here, several thousand such thermals are tracked in cloud-resolving simulations of transient growing convective events. Most tracked thermals are small (with radius R < 300 m), ascend at moderate rates (~ 2–4 m s−1), maintain an approximately constant size as they rise, and have brief (4–5 min) lifetimes, although a few are much larger, faster, and/or longer lived. They show slight vertical elongation, but few, if any, would be described as plumes. As convection deepens, thermals originate higher up, are larger, and rise faster, although radius and ascent rate are only weakly correlated among individual thermals. The main force opposing buoyancy is a nonhydrostatic pressure drag, not mixing of momentum. This drag can be expressed ...


To learn the prevalence of hookworm infections in Hainan province and formed control strategy,the investigation on infection situation of hookworm in Hainan province was made. According to the unified scheme formulated by the nationwide human parasite investigation program,the data were collected and analyzed using EpiDate 2.1a,Excel and SPSS 10.0. Fifteen townships in 6 counties(cities)were randomly sampled for the survey,total of 7 924 people from 15 survey sites were under fecal examination,and the overall infection rate of hookworm was 33.18%. Infection incidences with age,nationality,occupation were also shown in the survey.Infection rates in Hans,Lis,Miaos and Huis nationality in Hainan were 15.27%,43.80%,60.85% and 12.55% respectively.Farmer appeared to be higher infected than other occupations,and the highest infection occurred in central mountainous areas in the province.The results also showed that 94.20% of the infected persons harbored simple Necator americanus and 0.83% harbored simple Ancylostoma duodenale,the mixed infection rate was 4.97%.(N.a∶A.d=17.11∶1).The infection rate of hookworm has dropped thoroughly,but still higher in central regions in comparison with other regions of Hainan province.The comprehensive measures should be taken to control the hookworm infection in future.


Goodness-of-fit tests are considered for testing the two-parameters exponentiated Pareto distribution based on type II censored sampling with both parameters or one of them assumed unknown. Critical values are obtained by Monte Carlo simulation for Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Anderson-Darling and Cramer-von Mises type test statistics. A power study is carried out for these three test statistics for small, moderate and large censoring for different alternative models.


Bimolecular L-valine hydridophosphorane was synthesized by the reaction between L-valine and phosphorus trichloride in tetrahydrofuran (THF). Complete assignment of the 1H and 13C NMR chemical shifts of the compound was obtained by 2D NMR techniques, including 1H-1H COSY, DEPT and HSQC. Based on the results of NMR characterization, the structure of L-valine hydridophosphorane was elucidated. The 31P NMR spectrum of the compound showed two separated peaks at δ -64.66 and δ -67.81, suggesting that it is comprised of a pair of diastereomers. The configuration of one of the diastereomers was determined by NOESY, and further confirmed by X-ray crystallography.


Our interest in the treatment of trichophytosis of the feet, hands and groins with ethyl chloride was revived by a recent article in theArchives of Dermatology and Syphilogy. 1 Ethyl chloride was extolled as a simple, effective and safe remedy for all varieties of dermatomycosis without the necessity of considering severity, degree of inflammation or complication by secondary bacterial infection. One of us had occasionally used ethyl chloride, with indifferent results. It was found to be useful as an adjunct to apparently more reliable methods of treatment, particularly as a modality for promoting dryness of the skin, but in no instance by itself did it produce clinical eradication. Perhaps it had not been given a sufficient clinical trial. It occurred to us that we might be, therefore, disregarding a valuable therapeutic procedure. As there were at Bushnell General Hospital numerous patients with dermatomycosis suitable for


In order to solve the low inefficient problem in importing bulk data by typed DataSet,we present an optimization algorithm.Giving consideration to the quality of saving time,by analysising the working principle of the function inside the class of DataSet,we control the connection of the database,making every operation in disconnected dataset between only one database connection,avoiding frequently database operation of connections open close.Experimental results show that the time for data extraction is much less than the time for data import,and prove that the algorithm can effectively improve the efficiency of bulk data import.


An experiment was undertaken to develop an improved in vitro regeneration protocol in gerbera. Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium was supplemented with various growth regulators at different concentrations for callus induction and organogenesis. Newly emerging leaves of Gerbera cv. Rosalin were used as explants. Experimental results showed that maximum rate (74.07%) of formation of callus with good growth was recorded on MS medium supplemented with 2.0mgL-1 2,4-D + BAP 0.5mgL-1. Best shoot regeneration (57.8 %) with maximum shoot number (12.0) was achieved on with BAP 2.0mgL-1 + NAA 0.5mgL-1 fortified MS medium. Maximum (66.7 %) and earliest (12.3 days) root formation in shoots was recorded on IBA 3.0mgL-1is 1/2MS media. Survival rate of regenerated plantlets was maximum (73.33 %) in the potting mixture containing garden soil, sand and vermicompost (1:1:1).


Once established in a genome, certain gene sets can force their maintenance to the genome by killing the host organism that has threatened their persistence. This form of programmed cell death, called post-disturbance killing or genetic addiction, might be a general principle in symbiosis of genetic elements within a genome. A simple example is provided by a gene complex coding for a restriction enzyme and a cognate modification methyltransferase, such as EcoRI gene complex. The descendants of cells that lose the restriction-modification gene complex are unable to modify a sufficient number of recognition sites in their chromosomes to protect them from lethal attack by the remaining molecules of restriction enzyme. In general, a gene is defined essential to an organism when its loss leads to death. However, since its first appearance in the genome as a 'dispensable' gene, from outside or from inside, the gene may have co-evolved with the host so that it can now program death upon its curing. The capacity of mitochondria to kill their host cell, upon disturbance, may have stabilized their endosymbiosis at the initial stage of evolution of the eukaryotic cells. Symbiosis between genes through mutual addiction may be already built in the apparatus known as the chromosome, in which genes align hand in hand. Death of one gene by a chromosomal double-stranded breakage would readily lead, by degradation, to death of the remainder of the resident genes and, therefore, to death of the cell. This scenario of genetic addiction or symbiosis-through-death may provide a paradoxical answer to the question of how symbiosis can ever evolve from interaction between genetic elements with potentially different interests.


[Objective] The research aimed to study the effects of the photosynthetic characteristics of S.riparia A.DC under shade condition.[Method]S.riparia A.DC was cultivated under shade condition in this experiment,in accordance with its features of the primary environment.[Result ] The results showed that the shade reduced temperature of leaves,but the difference was not significant.With the increasing of shade degree,stomatal resistance also increased.Moderately shading reduced CO2 concentration among cells.Trend of transpiration rate was almost the same under different shade conditions,but the value of the transpiration rate at the same time was different.The shade increased the net photosynthetic rate.[Conclusion] The study can provide the theoretical basis and technological support for artificial cultivation S.riparia A.DC.


Mahesh Dattani's play Dance like a Man (1989) speculate the tragedy of an ageing Bharatanatyam Dancer, Jairaj and his shattering dancing dream owing to an authoritarian patriarch's resistance and manipulation. Amritalal who is authoritarian, martinet; led by material values is agitated by his son's liberal and modernist sensibility and initiated to curtail his dream. In the play Jairaj is personified as the epitome of the victim of gender rigidity, who attempts to subvert the subversion of hegemonic patriarchy but end up as an emblem of gender tragedy. The play is not solely about gender as it seems on the bare eye it is a brutal reprehension of the existing power dynamics that encompass wealth, social status and reputation. In Amritalal's rise as a prominent businessman, and as an influential social worker, in Jai and Ratna's marriage of convenience, in their abandonment and return in their parental house, in the tragic death of infant child Shankar, in Lata's rise as a "shinning star" in Bharatanatyam, the play showcases how the politics of power, wealth and social status deeply engraved in the structural dimension of the society and influence the normal day to day life of the masses. My paper tries to reanalyze Dattani's seminal work Dance like a Man going beyond gender oriented approach and aimed at a detailed critical study of Jairaj, leading to his tragedy, as a subject and victim of a plethora of different social apparatus along with his own incompetency in a world of fundamentalism. Keywords— Gender, Wealth, Power, Politics, Human Relationship, Identity


An invitation method for a wireless communication system supporting a standard of unified virtual experience (UVE) including a plurality of UVE clients and a virtual machine manager (VMM) is disclosed. The invitation method includes a first UVE client of the plurality of UVE clients transmitting a user agent (UA) invitation request message to the VMM for inviting a second UVE client of the plurality of UVE clients to access an application utilized by the first UVE client; and the VMM transmitting a UA invitation response message to the first UVE client.


at the close of a long and honourable career in the service of his native city. On leaving Bristol Grammar School in 1867 he entered the Bristol Medical School, and though this was sixty-eight years ago, we are glad to say that two of his fellow-students who entered a year earlier are still with us?Dr.


In this paper, we compare two definitions of Rauzy classes. The first one was introduced by Rauzy and was in particular used by Veech to prove the ergodicity of the Teichmuller flow. The second one is more recent and uses a "labeling" of the underlying intervals, and was used in the proof of some recent major results about the Teichmuller flow. The Rauzy diagrams obtained from the second definition are coverings of the initial ones. In this paper, we give a formula that gives the degree of this covering. This formula is related to moduli spaces of "framed" translation surfaces, which corresponds to surfaces where we label horizontal separatrices on the surface. We compute the number of connected component of these natural coverings of the moduli spaces of translation surfaces. Delecroix proved recently a recursive formula for the cardinality of the (reduced) Rauzy classes. Therefore, we also obtain a formula for labeled Rauzy classes.


With the recursive traversal,non-recursion traversal and level traversal methods of BOM(Bill Of Material) and its wide use of multi-level generic pieces and complex structure,this paper proposed an improved algorithm checking the overlaped nest and the legitimacy,which integrated the basic theory of DAG (Directed Acyclic Graph) chart and the practical net structure of BOM.This paper used the idea of top-down and layers decomposition,designed different signs and iteration to determine the cur- rent operation target,maked full use of the operation features in relational database,freed from memory constraints,the algorithm has a higher efficiency in implementation.


Mergers and Acquisitions The crystallization of small molecules or polymers is often described in terms of a nucleation stage, where initial clusters form, followed by a distinct growth stage. Growth can come from the addition of unbound molecules, or through "Ostwald ripening" where larger crystals grow at the expense of smaller ones due to thermodynamic effects. Zheng et al. (p. 1309) studied the growth of platinum nanocrystals inside a transmission electron microscope using a special liquid cell, allowing observation of crystal growth in situ. Both monomer addition to growing particles and the coalescence of two particles were observed. The specific growth mechanism appeared to be governed by the size of each of the particles. The combination of growth processes makes it possible for an initially broad distribution of particles to narrow into an almost uniform one. Transmission electron microscopy provides details of the growth mechanisms of platinum nanocrystals in solution. Understanding of colloidal nanocrystal growth mechanisms is essential for the syntheses of nanocrystals with desired physical properties. The classical model for the growth of monodisperse nanocrystals assumes a discrete nucleation stage followed by growth via monomer attachment, but has overlooked particle-particle interactions. Recent studies have suggested that interactions between particles play an important role. Using in situ transmission electron microscopy, we show that platinum nanocrystals can grow either by monomer attachment from solution or by particle coalescence. Through the combination of these two processes, an initially broad size distribution can spontaneously narrow into a nearly monodisperse distribution. We suggest that colloidal nanocrystals take different pathways of growth based on their size- and morphology-dependent internal energies.


PURPOSE: To provide a new portable grinder and a tool used for it for grinding a corner angled workpiece even at its corner and at its inside vertical edge existing at the edge of a ground face. CONSTITUTION: An angular portion 102 having an angle of 90 degrees or less is formed at least one corner of a tool 3 which highly vibrates at a small vibrating angle about a pivotal axis. A side edge 3a ranging adjacent to the angular portion is formed as a swollen out side face protrudedly bent outward. During small vibration motion, the angular portion is intruded to the corner in the corner area of a workpiece for grinding and the swollen side edge 3a of the tool grinds the angular corner area with sliding vibration along the inside vertical edge of the workpiece.


Two cases of primary paragangliomas of the lung are presented. The first occurred in a 69‐year‐old woman and was a grossly and histologically benign tumour. The other case occurred in a 33‐year‐old woman who had metastases to the peribronchial lymph nodes. This seems to be the second malignant case reported. No evidence of recurrence nor metastatic disease was found at follow‐up, 8 months for the first case and 7 years for the second, respectively. The morphological and immunohistochemical findings are discussed and the literature comprising 20 cases is reviewed.


Objective To investigate changes of cerebral blood flow and its association with neurological features in the patients with Wilson's disease (WD) Methods In 13 WD patients and 12 age matched control subjects, we quantitatively determined CBF and rCBF with SPECT using the non blood withdraw method Five neurological signs including dysarthria, dystonia, bradykinesia/rigidity, tremor and gait ataxia were assessed semiquantitatively The severity of each sign was scored from 0 (absent) to 3 (severe) The individual scores collected from a subject were then summed up, resulting in a "total clinical score" (TCS) We studied the correlations between the CBF or rCBF and semiquantitative clinical scores Results CBF in case group was (40 94±2 33) mL·100 g -1 ·min -1 and was significantly lower than that in control group [(43 82±1 58) mL·100 g -1 ·min -1 ](P0 01) Statistical comparison found more significant rCBF reduction in bilateral basal ganglia, thalamus, front lobe (P0 01) and left temporal lobe (P0 05) The reduction in CBF was correlated with the TCS (r=-0 620, P0 05) The reduction in rCBF of bilateral basal ganglia correlated with the severity of dysarthria (r=-0 770, P0 01 and -0 576, P0 05) The reduction in rCBF of right parietal lobe and bilateral thalamus correlated with the severity of bradykinesia/rigidity (r=-0 757, P0 01 and -0 635, P0 05) Conclusions These results suggest Wilson's disease patients have CBF or rCBF reduction to different degrees, and lower rCBF was found in bilateral basal ganglia, thalamus, front lobe and left temporal lobe The neurological deficits may have relationship with reduction of cerebral blood flow in Wilson's disease SPECT is useful for evaluation of cerebral function in Wilson's disease patients


A 43-acre watershed in Muskingum County, Ohio, was studied to determine the hydrologic consequences of strip mining for coal. A quantitative description of the effects on the ground-water flow components of the hydrologic system has been obtained using digital models.

The premining watershed was characterized by nearly flat-lying sedimentary rocks of the Pennsylvanian System. Underclay beneath the two major coal beds formed bases for perched zones, creating three separate aquifers. Recharge to the ground-water system occurred mainly by percolation of precipitation. Most of the discharge from the top and middle aquifers occurred by downward leakage to the underlying aquifers. A smaller amount of discharge occurred as springflow or streamflow near the intersections of the underclays and land surface.

Mining has destroyed the top aquifer, and has replaced the bedrock by spoil material. Water levels in the spoils are at a much lower altitude than existed in the premining top aquifer because of a combination of (1) a larger hydraulic conductivity, (2) areal variations of the hydraulic characteristics of the confining bed, and (3) a slower rate of recharge from precipitation caused by removal of vegetation and soil compaction. Covering of previously exposed portions of the middle aquifer and a lower hydraulic head in the spoils has allowed less recharge to the middle aquifer. Additional flow is induced across the western boundary of the watershed and has reduced the outflow across the eastern boundary. Discharge from the middle aquifer as downward leakage and streamflow is less than before mining.


Let ( ,A,µ) be a -finite nonatomic measure space and let w, be the Orlicz-Lorentz space. We study the Gateaux dierentiability of the functional w, (f) = 1 s (f )w. More precisely we give an exact characterization of those points in the Orlicz-Lorentz space w, where the Gateaux derivative exists. This paper extends known results already on Lorent spaces, Lw,q, 1 < q < 1. The case q = 1, it has been considered.


 Abstract— This study focuses on the production and optimization of motor gasoline in KRC(Khartoum refinery co. Ltd) .The gasoline produced by the refinery was analyzed using standard methods of analysis for the possibility of using ethanol as an additive ratio of 5%, 10% and 15%.Linear programming was used to determine the optimal production rate and optimal production cost of the blend ,using this model , two cases were investigated namely final products of 92 and 94 RON . For 92 octane the percentage of ethanol varies inversely with production rate while the optimal production cost value varies linearly from 63.5 to 64.3$/bbl. For 94 octane 15% of ethanol is required for all production rates and that the optimal production cost value remains constant at 70.3 $/bbl.


We obtain a closed formula for the v-decomposition numbers dλμ(v) arising from the canonical basis of the Fock space representation of Uv(ŝle), where the partition λ is obtained from μ by moving some nodes in its Young diagram, all of which having the same e-residue. We also show that when these v-decomposition numbers are evaluated at v = 1, we obtain the corresponding decomposition numbers for the Schur algebras and symmetric groups.


A lthough crude oil production is predicted to peak soon, it is reasonable to assume that unconventional fossil fuel sources can continue to meet society's increasing energy demands for many decades to come (1). The real challenge is sustainability: stabilizing and reversing global climate change, minimizing political and economic energy volatility, and smoothing the transition from fossil fuels in the distant future. In response to this challenge, many are looking to biotechnology to develop biofuels, such as ethanol, butanol, biodiesel, and hydrogen (H2), in which the energy ultimately derives from photosynthetic capture of sunlight. A fundamental issue with biofuels is efficiency. The pathway from sunlight through natural intermediates to final molecule is long, and biofuel production is perhaps the ultimate metabolic engineering problem (2). This challenge is made even greater by its inherent systems complexity, because any solutionmust be implemented in the context of an energy infrastructure with challenging engineering, economic, political, and environmental realities. Are biofuels sustainable? Consider U.S. transportation fuels, a market poised for impact. Biofuels derive their stored chemical energy from the sun viaphotosynthesis. Biofuel use is therefore a closed carbon cycle, as carbon released during combustion is sequestered during photosynthesis. Solar radiation is clearly a sustainable energy source on human time scales, and U.S. incident solar power ( 2300 TW) (3) greatly exceeds our transportation fuel usage ( 1.0 TW) (Table 1) (4). The reactions of photosynthesis impose a maximal efficiency of 12%, but final yields are significantly lower (2). Terrestrial plant efficiencies for solar to biomass conversion is maximally 2% (e.g., for the rapidly growingMiscanthus (5)), and the subsequent conversion into biofuels is 50% efficient (6). It would therefore require 4.3% of the U.S. land area to meet our transportation energy demands, which corresponds to 22% of current cropland. Thus, in an optimistic approximation (and ignoring social, political, and economic complexities), we can say biofuel production could be sustainable, albeit with significant challenges. These calculations suggest that a biofuelbased energy economy is feasible but that enhancements in the efficiency of any step in energy production would be favorable fromaneconomic and environmental standpoint. The upper bound on efficiency is set by photosynthesis—the challenge is therefore to come as close to this bound as possible. Put another way, how can one optimizemetabolism todirectmaximal flux from one set of metabolites to another, while still maintaining, at least partially, host fitness? Traditional industrial approaches have given us many such successes (e.g., beer) andwill play amajor role, but the tools of systems and synthetic biology promise to deliver a degree of optimization not previously attainable (7). A synthetic-biological redesign of the organisms that produce biofuels has the potential to significantly increase efficiency, *Corresponding author, email@example.com.


Aim: To investigate the effect of femoral head size on blood metal-ion levels caused by taper corrosion in metal-on-polyethylene total hip arthroplasty, comparing 36- to 44-mm heads with 32-mm heads. Methods: In a randomised, controlled, single-blinded trial, 96 patients were allocated to receive either a 32-mm metal head or the largest possible metal head (36–44 mm) that could be accommodated in the thinnest available vitamin E, cross-linked polyethylene insert. Blood metal ion levels were collected at 1- and 2-year follow-ups. Results: At 1-year, metal-ion levels did not differ between the groups. The median (interquartile range) blood-ion levels for the 32-mm versus the 36- to 44-mm group were 0.11 µg/L (0.08–0.15) versus 0.12 µg/L (0.08–0.22), p = 0.546, for cobalt, 0.50 µg/L (0.50–0.59) versus 0.50 µg/L (0.50–1.20), p = 0.059, for chromium and 1.58 µg/L (1.38–2.05) versus 1.48 µg/L (1.14–1.87), p = 0.385, for titanium. At 2 years, there was no difference either and the corresponding values were 0.15 µg/L (0.12–0.24) versus 0.18 µg/L (0.12–0.28), p = 0.682 for cobalt, 0.50 µg/L (0.50–0.50) versus 0.50 µg/L (0.50–0.57), p = 0.554, for chromium and 1.54 µg/L (1.16–1.87) versus 1.42 µg/L (1.01–1.72), p = 0.207 for titanium. Conclusions: The use of the largest possible metal head (36–44 mm) compared to a 32-mm head in metal–on-polyethylene bearings does not appear to elevate blood metal-ion levels up to 2 years postoperatively. As taper corrosion is probably time-dependent, longer-term reports are needed to evaluate the association between large metal heads and blood metal ion levels. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov (reg. ID NCT0231 6704)


Science is the disciplinary of which studies the movement regulation,structure and characteristics of material in natural.Cross-disciplinary construction in universities is the important aspect of the talent cultivation system in our country.Based on the visualization quantitative analysis on the occurrence status of cross-disciplinary in science through the software of Ucinet,we try to open out the cross-disciplinary setting regulation and provide the theoretical data for the cross-discipline construction in universities.


A truly global, collective picture of right here, right now, this book presents over 1,000 of the best, most telling images from the online photo journals found on one of the worlds liveliest digital communities, 'Fotolog[registered]', where millions of ordinary people obsessively document and share their daily lives. It is the ultimate fix for image junkies and an extraordinary document illustrating the online family of man.