Osteoarthritis (OA) is a multifactorial and chronic disease describing the destruction of cartilage that can lead to defects in the elderly. There is currently no practical strategy that can reverse the OA process. Here, we describe nepetin, a small natural compound with extracellular matrix (ECM) and inflammation regulating functions. In this study, we investigated the therapeutic effects of nepetin on interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β)‐induced inflammation in mice chondrocyte and OA model. In chondrocytes, treatment with nepetin inhibited the overexpression of pro‐inflammatory cytokines and mediators induced by IL‐1β. Moreover, pretreatment or posttreatment with nepetin also reduced the ECM catabolism and enhanced the ECM anabolism. Mechanistically, nepetin suppressed NF‐κB signaling pathway in IL‐1β stimulated chondrocyte. Meanwhile, our molecular docking studies indicated nepetin had a powerful binding capacity to p65. Furthermore, nepetin showed a protective and therapeutic effect on the mouse OA model. To sum up, this study indicated nepetin had a new potential therapeutic option in OA.


Objective To prob into the rational choice of tools of nutritional risk screening so as to carry out nutritional intervention,improve bad clinical results due to nutritional factor.Methods The body mass index(BMI),serum albumin(ALB),prealbmin(PA) and hemoglobin(Hb) were assayed or lymphocytes(LY) counted malnutrition was assessed on these grounds in 200 senile inpatients.The results of the nutritional risk screening scoring were collelatively analyzed,the occurrences of nutritional risk comparativel analyzed and the correlation between the score of nutritional risk screening and all nutritive index and the nutritive index levels in all score value sections compared by inpatient Nutritional Risk Screening 2002(NRS2002) and Nutritional Risk Index(NRI).Results The incidence rates of malnutrition showed by BMI,ALB,PA,Hb and LY were 9.0%,2.8%,29.1%,20% and 11%,respectively.There was a negative corrlation between the score of NRS2002 and the score of NRI(P=0.0005).The incidence rates of mild,moderate and severe nutritional risk in the NRS2002 scoring were 52%,32.5% and 5.5%,respectively but those in the NRI scoring 13.5%,28.5% and 1%,respectively.The results of the nutritional risk screening showed lacked uniformity between both methods(κ=0.115).The detectale rate of nutritional risk of NRS2002 was higher than that of NRI.There were a negative correlation between the score of NRS2002 and BMI,ALB,PA,Hb and LY and a positive correlation between the score of NRI and ALB,PA,Hb and LY.There was a significant difference between the ALB,PA and Hb levels in all score value sections in the NRS2002 and NRI scoring and also a significant difference between the BMI in all score value sections in the NRS2002 scoring.Conclusion NRS2002 integrates more indexes related to nutrition and may be better for the prediction of nutritional risk in cardiovascular medical senile patientes compared with NRI.


Objective To explore the relationship between the polymorphism of monoamine oxidase type B(MAOB) gene intron 13 G/A and Parkinson disease(PD) in Xinjiang Uygurs.Methods PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism(RFLP) was used to detect the frequency distribution of MAOB gene intron 13 G/A genotype and allele in 95 PD patients,and 104 sex and age-matched healthy controls.The association between each genotype or allele frequencies and PD was analyzed by chi-square test.Results There was no significant difference in the genotype and allele frenquency distribution between PD group and normal control group in Xinjiang Uygurs(P0.05).Neither males nor females showed any significant differences between PD patients and in the controls.The distribution of allele and genotype frequencies in male patients also differed significantly from that in female patients(χ2=3.944,P0.05;χ2=18.030,P0.01).Conclusion Our study did not demonstrate any significant association of MAOB gene G/A polymorphism and risk of PD in Uygurs.Genotype distribution in male PD group was different from female PD group.


A series of phosphorus-and silica-containing hybrids(DPS) with different molecular weight was synthesized by hydrolysis condensation of intermediate products and various amounts of water.The intermediate was formed by the reaction between 3-glycidyloxypropyltrimethaxysilane(KH-560) and diethyl phosphate(DEP) in different weight ratios.The structure of DPS was determined by Fourier transform infrared(FTIR),nuclear magnetic spectrum(NMR) and element analysis,while molecular weight and distribution of DPS were measured by gel permeation chromatography(GPC).Then,a cured epoxy resin containing phosphorus-and silica-containing hybrid was prepared by the in situ curing of the bisphenon A type epoxy resin and 4,4'diaminodiphenylmethane with the phosphorus-and silica-containing hybrid.The flame retardation was investigated by the limited oxygen index(LOI),and the thermal properties of the cured epoxy resin were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry(DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis(TGA).Studies on the characteristics of cured epoxy resin containing a phosphorus-and silica-containing hybrid showed that the flame retardant and the thermal properties were enhanced.The flame resistance was indicated by the limited oxygen index in the ranges of 23 ~ 29,which was higher than that of the pure epoxy resin(22).The glass translation temperature for E54-Si-3H-20 sample was 204℃ and the temperature of 5% weight loss was about 20℃ higher than that of the pure epoxy resins.Compared to the pure epoxy resin,not only the flame resistance of the cured epoxy resin containing phosphorus-,silica-containing hybrid was enhanced,but also the thermal properties were improved.


TOC Summary: Migratory birds are unlikely introductory hosts for this highly pathogenic virus in its present form into North America.


This paper research mainly the thought for making the constant Ti of the MD5 algorithm based on implementation of hardware and analyse the characteristic of Ti, then gives the schemes and implementation of design throughout the linear Feedback Shift Register and the norlinear Feedback Shift Register . Finally estimates its performance.


Biodegradable polymers such as polylactic acid (PLA) are used nowadays due to their degradability, durability and environmentally friendly properties. Alkaline surface treatment of natural fibres is used to increase the flexural properties of composites. This research investigated the flexural properties of dry compressed PLA, wet mix PLA, untreated flax/PLA and treated flax/PLA composites. The flax fibre was first treated with NaOH. The wet mix PLA was prepared via solvent casting with chloroform and dried at room temperature overnight followed by post-drying in an oven. The flax/PLA composites were fabricated using a hot press for 6 minutes. The wet mix PLA showed higher flexural strength compared to the dry compressed PLA. The treated flax fibre composite showed higher flexural strength compared to the untreated flax fibre. The flexural strength and elongation at break of the treated flax fibre composite was increased by 4.79% and 27.76%, respectively, while the flexural modulus decreased by 0.79% compared with the untreated flax composite. The treated flax composite also showed an improvement in impact properties, increasing its impact strength by about 3% and 10% at energy levels of 10 J, 15 J, and 17.5 J compared with the untreated flax fibre. Therefore, the investigation of the surface treatment of flax in a PLA matrix based on its mechanical properties revealed better properties compared to untreated flax/PLA composite.


The digitalization of construction has been carried out to meet the demands of the industrial era 4.0. However, there is still a lot of construction work that is preform manually, such as the steel-bar assembly for reinforcement concrete beams. Based on the 2019 ILO report, it can be seen that fatal work-related illnesses reached 86%, much higher than work accidents, which was 14%. Of the various fatal illnesses due to work, MSDs requires the highest health compensation costs, which reach 40%.  The previous study showed that the steel-bar assembly was done in awkward working posture (squatting, bending, twisting repeatedly) with high risk of MSDs (Rula score: 7) and needs improvement immediately. This research was conducted through experiment with pre-posttest control group design. The specific target of this research is to reduce the MSDs risk and increase the productivity by supporting the workers with the ergonomic tetrapod as the working table. The subjects were two groups of students at Civil Engineering Department Politeknik Negeri Bali, with 14 students in each group.


Strengthening the link of practical teaching is both an inevitable requirement at the stage of mass higher education and a special requirement for cultivating managerial professional.This paper analyzes the real problems existing in the practical teaching and discusses the basic approach to perfecting the practical teaching system of management specialty in colleges.


Canada is a federal country with a federal government, but according to the Constitution Act, 1867, "in and for each Province the Legislature may exclusively make Laws in relation to Education". Education is under the exclusive jurisdiction of provincial governments. There is no federal ministry of education, but there is a Council of Ministers of Education to offer provincial ministries and departments of education the opportunity to work together. In each province there is a ministry or de-


The paper proposes a classification method by using the decision tree based on rout sets.First,it reduces the unnecessary attributes when joining the core attributes sets′ nuclear attribute and transformed by disjunctive;secondly,it gets every condition′s top and bottom approximation set respectively when constructing the decision tree,and it finally gets every attribute′s approximation quality.Choosing the max-approximation as the decision tree′s root nodes,it uses this method through applying it to each sub-tree to choose decision tree′s nodes and achieves its simplification.The experiment analysis proves that the algorithm proposed in this paper can improve the efficiency of the decision tree method.


Any obligation entitles the creditor to claim the debtor to fulfil accordingly the performance he is bound to. An improper or delayed performance or the failure to perform by one party causes the other a prejudice, therefore entitling the latter to claim the former damages equivalent to the prejudice suffered.


One kind of stand apparatus comprising: a pair of first guides disposed in parallel to each other; a pair of sliders respectively coupled to said one pair of first guide member to move together with the first guide member; a second guide member coupled to the pair of sliders move along the slider; a head coupled to the second guide member so as to move together with said second guide member and movable along the second guide member; rotation means disposed between said slide member and said second guide member about an axis of rotation and said second guide member, a direction perpendicular to the axis of movement of said slide member and said head. The gantry apparatus capable of adjusting movement of the head in different directions.


This poster will describe a taped-out 2×2mm 1.3 M-transistor test chip in IBM 130 nm designed using our new Python-based hardware modeling framework. The goal of our tapeout was to demonstrate the ability of this framework to enable Agile hardware design flows.


By studying the weighing process composed of conveying belt and feeding gate, a new dynamic quantitative weighing control method is presented. The principle of the method is based on detailed analysis of the weighing process and the idea of multiple-compound control. A feeding gate and a conveying belt are adopted as tow regulated variables of the system. Especially, multi-stage control tactics and fuzzy neural networks control technique are applied to the system. The results show that the method can solve problem of the conflict between speed and accuracy of dynamic quantitative weighing process successfully. The quantitative error is ±0.5%, and weighing speed is less than 8 s/time when the set value of dynamic quantitative weighing is 1 000 g.


The following article aims at providing an outline of the multifaceted activities of Stanisław Kara, the consul in Lille and Paris in the 1930s and the émigré counsellor at the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Paris.


AS NURSING EDUCATION PERSPECTIVES CELEBRATES ITS 25TH ANNIVERSARY, it is important to revisit the Curriculum Revolution as a historic movement. Between 1989 and 1994, the National League for Nursing held four conferences that led to the publication of journal articles and a series of books that are thought-provoking, substantive, and continue to be widely cited. * This conversation, presented in part at the April 2003 NLN conference "Exploring New Pedagogies: Creating a Science for Nursing Education," involves a nursing teacher scholar, an elder scholar, and a nurse sage. Its purpose is to chronicle some of the experiences of the NLN's Curriculum Revolution and give life to a hermeneutical analysis of themes reflected in a series of manuscripts in the Curriculum Revolution series. It documents the authors' experiences and research in Narrative Pedagogy, the first nursing pedagogy from nursing research for nursing education. By revisiting the Curriculum Revolution, our past is before us, and our future is open for new possibilities. Converging Conversations Elder Scholar Hello, dear Sage and Scholar! I am so happy to have the chance to talk with you both. Scholar It is indeed good to have this opportunity. It has been too long. Sage Where shall we begin? Elder Scholar Lately I have been pondering my experiences as a teacher in the late 1980s. I remember feeling accomplished in competency-based nursing education, using objectives to guide my teaching. But I was frustrated by what I was being told was innovative, like using autotutorial learning packages. All that entailed was learning a new strategy that really changed nothing, nothing substantive anyway. So the same problems continued. Sage Yes, my friend, I remember how you were discouraged, disappointed in the landscape of nursing education! Elder Scholar Very much so, and then something happened quite surprisingly. One day Frank Shaffer from the NLN called to invite me to join in planning a conference about curriculum innovation. Scholar And how did you respond? Elder Scholar I have to admit, I was so discouraged that I told him "Nothing short of a revolution was going to get me to another conference!" Sage Then how did he convince you to become a major participant? What did he say? Elder Scholar He simply said, "That's it! Let's call it the Curriculum Revolution!" Scholar And was it really a revolution? Elder Scholar It was. We expected 200 people to attend the conference but, much to our surprise, over 400 people came. We squeezed them in everywhere! Obviously something important was happening! Sage Perhaps teachers are always reforming, and schools are always becoming. If that is so, your conference may have been a call to gather extant reformers. Elder Scholar You may be right. I wonder now how we can create schools that gather the innovation that is always already in their midst and be open to substantive reform when it comes along? Sage What do you think was significant about the first conference? Elder Scholar Well, we critiqued behavioral objectives and the major pedagogy of the time - conventional pedagogy or competency-based education. Sage As I remember it, this critique supported and sustained some of the innovation that was risky at the time. Substantive critique in nursing education has never been rampant, so this was a significant conference. Elder Scholar True. And since the NLN was a supporter of behavioral objectives, I respected the organization for leading this revolution and for gathering critical inquiry and scholarship. Sage I believe at the time, schools of nursing were accredited through standards that reflected only conventional pedagogy, and most schools were enslaved to this approach. Elder Scholar And we still may be, I might add, though now we have dropped the word behavioral from objectives and instead talk about outcomes. …


visionary approach to comparative literature: She traces the shockwaves of American imperial occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan and the targeting of Muslims under the Patriot Act to China's targeting of its own ethnic Muslim minorities, including China's adoption of America's language of War on Terror to crack down on Uyghur Muslims. The chapter is a timely and much needed addition to postcolonial and Muslim studies since those fields are dominated by Arab, Persian, and South Asian narratives, while very little is known about Muslim communities in China. Jin summarizes nascent research on the fascinating history of Muslims in China and then focuses on Chinese Muslim writer Zhang Chengzhi's fictionalized history of Islam (the second tide) in China. Zhang's book is not available in English, and Jin's brings Zhang to us along with a sophisticated analysis of Sufism in China as it syncretized with local culture. Pluralist Universalism is a welcome addition to multicultural and transnational studies. Jin is energetic and incisive. The arguments are masterfully executed, and the book is never bogged down by jargon. With interdisciplinary programs on the rise across institutions around the world, especially in Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Middle East, this book—and the method of research that it exemplifies—serves as an excellent instance of a truly transnational way to comprehend interdisciplinarity in a global realm.


What was the line-up at John Coltrane's Village Vanguard sessions? What is John Zorn's most important contribution to contemporary jazz? When was Jelly Roll Morton recorded for the Library of Congress? Where can you find a complete set of Ella Fitzgerald's many songbook recordings? Leading critics Richard Cook and Brian Morton answer these and a myriad other questions in "The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD"


We present an overview of the mathematics underlying the quan- tum Zeno effect. Classical, functional analytic results are put into perspec- tive and compared with more recent ones. This yields some new insights into mathematical preconditions entailing the Zeno paradox, in particular a sim- plified proof of Misra's and Sudarshan's theorem. We emphasise the complex- analytic structures associated to the issue of existence of the Zeno dynamics. On grounds of the assembled material, we reason about possible future mathe- matical developments pertaining to the Zeno paradox and its counterpart, the anti-Zeno paradox, both of which seem to be close to complete characterisa- tions. The Zeno effect consists in the impediment of a quantum system's evolution by frequent measurements performed on it. Apart from the generic quantum phenomenon of entanglement, it is probably the most striking difference sep- arating the classical from the quantum world, and an example for the some- times counterintuitive features of the latter. In the most concise manifestation of the Zeno effect, a decaying state of a quantum system, say an excited state of an atom, is conserved and prevented from decay simply by 'looking at it', i.e., observing the presence of the undecayed state. That this observation can clearly, in the quantum formalism, also be done by 'doing nothing' through a negative-result experimentnot observing the decay products, see (44), adds the same scent of magic (or 'spookiness') to this effect that adheres to the Einstein- Podolsky-Rosen paradox. The effect's name was aptly coined after the classical argument of Zeno that was meant to prove the impossibility of any real motion ('a watched arrow never flies'). It is no wonder that such a baffling phenomenon has by now also entered popular science texts (66). The interest of the mathematical, theoretical, and experimental physics communities in the effect — which was formerly seen as a mere curiosity, even possibly due only to a 'wrong' interpretation of quantum theory — was rekindled by the seminal work of Misra and Sudarshan (51), which also drew the present author into the subject, and inspired his recent works (63, 64). In the present survey, we report on the mathematical side of the story, and put classical and more recent results into perspective. More specifically, we concern ourselves with the stricter version of the effect presented by the Zeno


These race-affirming choices have more to do with what is in our history than in our genes, more with the growing understanding that African Americans are, and have been, as Booker T. Washington put it, ''a mixed race in this country and I don't draw the color line within my own people.'' Washington's claim counters the endings of so many passing narratives that, as Wald rightly finds, carve out successes by way of liberal political stances on individual gains. Washington's profound comment on heterogeneous collectivity is also ironic, coming from the one who in some ways was the black master of capitalist individualism. But his words also point to a most inspired and inspiring history of passing that Wald could more fully explore: identifying with ''something you are'' even though it might not show in skin, hair, and bone. To willfully belong and claim belonging to a brutalized community, as did the blue-eyed, blond-haired, thirteen-year-old Walter White when his home was under fire by a white mob, is to claim the profundity of the unseen—the ''invisible pigmentation'' so different from the symbolic and blood markings of melanin under siege in the pathological race history of the United States (39). Those invisible markings need more exploration, particularly when invisible belonging connects to choices to pass for African American causes—what Malcolm X called ''spying'' and what White did later in the century as the head of the NAACP when he conducted lynching investigations. Such a study of passing, while taking on the complex social roles and meanings of white and black skins, would also get closer to the black heart of the matter.


—Many robotics applications benefit from being able to compute multiple locally optimal paths in a given configuration space. Examples include path planning for of tethered robots with cable-length constraints, systems involving cables, multi-robot topological exploration & coverage, and, congestion reduction for mobile robots navigation without inter-robot coordination. Existing paradigm is to use topological path planning meth- ods that can provide optimal paths from distinct topological classes available in the underlying configuration space. However, these methods usually require non-trivial and non-universal geometrical constructions, which are prohibitively complex or expensive in 3 or higher dimensional configuration spaces with complex topology. Furthermore, topological methods are unable to distinguish between locally optimal paths that belong to the same topological class but are distinct because of genus- zero obstacles in 3D or due to high-cost or high-curvature regions. In this paper we propose an universal and generalized approach to multi-class path planning using the concept of a novel neighborhood-augmented graph, search-based planning in which can compute paths in distinct topo-geometric classes. This approach can find desired number of locally optimal paths in a wider variety of configuration spaces without requiring any complex pre-processing or geometric constructions. Unlike the existing topological methods, resulting optimal paths are not restricted to distinct topological classes, thus making the algorithm applicable to many other problems where locally optimal and geometrically distinct paths are of interest. For the demonstration of an application of the proposed approach, we implement our algorithm to planning for shortest traversible paths for a tethered robot with cable-length constraint navigating in 3D. We perform simulations and real robot experiments to demonstrate that a tethered quad-rotor can follow the resulting paths without violating the length constraints.


In the modern scenario, the artist was asked to create his work in processes with diferent degrees of detachment from the world. With the establishment of collective and collaborative artistic practices that advance in the mundane world, however, traditional positions based on precepts of self-referentiality and self-centering of art are abandoned, while these collective artistic practices also reveal significant transformations in the constitution and in nature of art. Thus, in this process that brings down barriers and approaches art and life according to parameters invented from the end of the autonomy of art, it is possible to perceive the beginning of the collapse of an idea of art founded on premises that close themselves. Admiting that art advances toward the mundane world in processes in which the artist shares the responsibilities of creation, we are faced with questions that we seek to address in this article: how can art and artist advance in unfamiliar scenarios once which has traditionally been suggested to them to avoid this world that materializes beyond the world of art? How can the artist advance towards the world when, traditionally, it has been suggested to him/her that his place in the world was just a place outside this world that manifests itself in the real? What about the artist, historically educated to face the world from his/her universe? There are many doubts that are ofered to art and to the artist in the contemporary of the contemporary.


This briefing explores the logic of International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan conditions to developing countries and why the IMF insists that keeping inflation low is more important than increasing public spending to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa Asia Latin America and Eastern Europe. In 2003 funding levels for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment are estimated to have reached almost $5 billion; meanwhile financing needs will rise to $12 billion in 2005 and $20 billion by 2007. But if these large increases in foreign aid become available will low-income countries be able to accept them? Despite the fact that the global community stands ready to significantly scale-up levels of foreign aid to help poorer countries finance greater public spending to fight HIV/AIDS many countries may be deterred from doing so due to either direct or indirect pressure from the IMF. The IMF fears that increased public spending will lead to higher rates of inflation but there is an open question in the economics profession about how high is too high and what is an appropriate level of inflation. Despite this being an open question among economists the IMF has taken an extremist position that lacks adequate justification. Such a position seriously undermines the best efforts of the global community to meaningfully address the HIV/AIDS epidemic and other health issues such as tuberculosis (TB) and malaria. (excerpt)


The study analyzed the financial performance of selected micro, small, and medium enterprises using secondary data from financial statements for the past three years. Results showed the enterprises performed favorably in liquidity, activity and leverage but suffered from a low-level profitability. Using correlation analysis, the results show a significant linear relationship between liquidity and activity, liquidity and leverage, and activity and leverage. However, each of these measures has no significant relationship with profitability. Using t-tests, the results show no significant difference in the liquidity, profitability, and inventory turnover of the enterprises when grouped according to organizational form, business type, and asset size. However, a significant difference exists in receivable turnover, asset turnover, and debt ratios. The study recommends the MSMEs should revisit their strategies for improving profitability and use financial performance information in making critical decisions. Firms should connect financial performance to the larger external environment of the business so they will continue to play an important role in the growth of the economy


In this Internal Report are discussed important physical considerations for the modeling of Angle Resolved X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (ARXPS) data for multilayer conformal films. It describes a self consistent analysis method (Multilayer Method, or MLM) that properly deals with a number of issues that have prevented a richer use of the technique. The MLM is the heart of XPSGeometry®, a software that has been employed in a number of ARXPS studies. The method addresses simple issues such as the use of the electron transport parameters corresponding to the material in each layer, an important condition for quantitative analysis that is usually neglected. The ARXPS technique has a limit on the number of structural parameters that it can determine, and this limit is imbibed in the algorithms. The composition of the film is not imposed but quantitatively assessed from the calculations. It also allows for a meaningful estimation of the uncertainties on the structural parameters found by the technique. Some issues involving common practices in this field are also discussed.


The approach presented in this paper enables more effective testing of on-board and board-to-board interconnections and significantly simplifies the interconnection self-testing. Some extensions must be added to the Boundary Scan Architecture which, however, do not violate the JTAG/IEEE1149.1 standard requirements. Benefits are the reduced complexity and cost of an on-board testing unit as well as better test performance.


Communicating multimode mobile nodes (MNs) in HWNs are capable of supporting different classes of calls simultaneously. This is also referred to as group calls. Vertical handover (VHO) decision problem for group calls in HWNs is a complex multi-criteria group decision making (MCGDM) problem, very little attempt has been made to address this problem. Existing works in literature on network selection problem for group calls treat the multi-criteria for VHO as static criteria, however in NGWNs, criteria such as: MN's speed and network traffic load variation are dynamic and vital for wireless network selection for group calls. In this paper, we propose MULTIMOORA, a new decision making algorithm, for VHO decision and address the problem of network selection for group calls in HWNs. We investigate the impact of dynamic criterion and the degree of importance of class of call in group calls. The performance of the MULTIMOORA is validated by comparing it with TOPSIS, a well known MCGDM algorithm, however the performances of TOPSIS are seen to be unstable at high speed region, unlike MULTIMOORA.


The present investigation compared the scores on the Cognitive Levels Test and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Revised of 55 children (39 boys and 16 girls) who were referred for remedial educational services. Intercorrelations among subtests of the Cognitive Levels Test and IQs on the three subscales of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Revised were consistently significant, positive, and of moderate magnitude.


Effect of non-ionogenic surfactant LF-57 on concrements from uric acid was studied. It was shown that the litholytic effect of this chemical was also directed on microelements. Composition of concrements and LF-57 was determined.


In the paper the method of core loss prediction in the switched reluctance motors is presented. The classical core loss separation technique is modified for the purpose of considering an arbitrary magnetic flux density waveform. The time-stepping finite element program is elaborated for prediction of instantaneous magnetic flux density distribution in the motor core. The method of core loss calculation is backed well by the measurements carried out on the laboratory test-rig.


Since polyethylene glycol (PEG) modified DNA has enormous potential application in gene delivery, and as liquid as well as liquid crystal material, we introduce a new way to fabricate DNA-PEG complexes through a ligand exchange approach, in which the DNA was firstly precipitated by an anilinium derivative in aqueous solution, and then mixed with amine derived PEG in organic phase to displace anilinium moieties. After thorough dialysis, the obtained DNA-PEG complexes with different molecular weight were characterized by NMR, UV/Vis and CD spectroscopy. Moreover, GPC and static light scattering were carried out to study the Mw and PDI of DNA-PEG complexes. Moreover, the substitution degree was calculated to unravel the influence of Mw of PEG on the grafting efficiency.


Antidepressants are increasingly prescribed by general practitioners and non-psychiatric specialists. More number of patients receiving antidepressants without much awareness about treatment duration. Aim: To study the drug compliance of patients on antidepressant medications. Methodology: The present study was conducted in the department of Psychiatry, Government Thoothukkudi Medical College, Thoothukudi after getting informed consent from 84patients (Male-45; Female-39)with more than 18 years of age on antidepressants with ≥ 2 visits attending psychiatric outpatient department. A questionnaire which assessed the general well being, drug compliance and adverse effects were explained to the patients on Antidepressants and their responses were statistically recorded. Result: Most common reason for non-compliance was found to be forgetfulness (42%).Patients associated with comorbid conditions 10 patients compliant and 8 patients were not. Patients without comorbid conditions 55 were complaint and 10 were non showing. 27 patients who had undergone psychotherapy were compliant whereas 2 were not compliant. Compliance was also affected by duration of drug intake.The patients who had sense of well-being were less compliant when compared to patients who had evidence of distress. Conclusion: Comorbid conditions, Psychotherapy, Educational status and duration of medications affect the compliance of the patients.


There are conclusive evidences of Se deficiencies in Brazilian soils, pasture grass and agriculture products. Se deficiency values in soils are considered to range from 100 to 600 µg kg 1 . However, in this mini-review, the highest Se content shown in Brazilian agriculture soils was approximately 210 µg kg -1 (very low Se levels). Genotypic variation of crops to accumulate Se in edible parts is an important agronomic trait to select or screening genotypes with high capacity to uptake and efficiency use of fertilizers. The amount of Se content in plants is strongly related to available Se in soils. There are evidences of low Se intake in Brazilian population, but no accurate and conclusive study has been done. Biofortification of crops with Se is not included in the HarvestPlus Program of Brazil. Therefore, more research on soil-Se levels and Se levels in agricultural products covering all Brazilian States is needed. It is well known that the application of Se containing fertilizers is efficacious at correcting low Se levels in human and animal diets such as in Finland, New Zealand and Australia.


Dysfunction of the pelvic organs in tumor lesions of the spinal cord is up to 20%. Registration of the bulbocavernosus reflex is performed to assess the integrity of the segmental apparatus of the spinal cord. Polymodal neurophysiological monitoring includes registration of the bulbocavernosus reflex during surgery of spinal cord tumors. The effect of the components of general anesthesia on the parameters of the bulbocavernosus reflex varies significantly according to various medical sources. The aim of the work was to compare the effect of inhalation anesthesia (sevoflurane) and total intravenous anesthesia (propofol) on the parameters of the bulbocavernosus reflex in the surgical treatment of spinal cord tumors. Thirty patients with intradural extramedullary and intramedullary tumors of the spinal cord at the level of Th11–S2 vertebrae were included in the study. The amplitude-frequency parameters of the bulbocavernosus reflex and the threshold intensity of stimulation were assessed in the study. The results of the study demonstrate that intraoperative registration of the bulbocavernosus reflex during resection of tumors of the distal spinal cord can be performed both with inhalation and total intravenous anesthesia. A sustained motor response of the bulbocavernosus reflex requires a higher intensity of stimulation with inhalation anesthesia with sevoflurane than with total intravenous anesthesia. If during the operation the depth of propofol's anesthesia increases by 1 mg/kg/h, then it is necessary to increase the current strength during stimulation by 10–11 mA.


We investigate the evolution of clumpy galaxies with Hubble Space Telescope (HST) samples of ∼17,000 photo-z and Lyman break galaxies at z ≃ 0–8. We detect clumpy galaxies with off-center clumps in a self-consistent algorithm that is well tested with previous study results, and we measure the number fraction of clumpy galaxies at the rest-frame UV, f clumpy UV . We identify an evolutionary trend of f clumpy UV over z ≃ 0–8 for the first time: f clumpy UV increases from z ≃ 8 to z ≃ 1–3 and subsequently decreases from z ≃ 1 to z ≃ 0, which follows the trend of the Madau–Lilly plot. A low average Sérsic index of n ≃ 1 is found in the underlining components of our clumpy galaxies at z ≃ 0–2, indicating that typical clumpy galaxies have disk-like surface brightness profiles. Our f clumpy UV values correlate with physical quantities related to star formation activities for star-forming galaxies at z ≃ 0–7. We find that clump colors tend to be red at a small galactocentric distance for massive galaxies with log M * / M ⊙ ≳ 11 . All of these results are consistent with the picture that a majority of clumps form in the violent disk instability and migrate into the galactic centers.


Taking account of the drawbacks in dynamicity and low latency of the existing MAC protocols for wireless sensor networks, an adaptive MAC protocol (AMAC) based on clustering was put forward. In this protocol, every member within a cluster could apply to the cluster head for slot according to its state. The cluster head arbitrated this application information, and then adjusted the frame time size in time to make it more suitable for the topology and traffic load of current network. The simulation results show that AMAC outperforms other MAC protocols in the real-time and mobile wireless sensor networks.


We describe the use of upper leg mounted force sensitive resistors (FSR) to analyze muscle activity during bicycling. We demonstrate that FSRs can provide information that is not accessible to motion sensors, like the gear in which a person is cycling or rather the amount of force applied to the pedals. This is exemplary for many other activities where the effort and subtle muscle activities patterns play a role in determining how well an activity is being performed. Together with a sports clothing manufacturer (FALKE AG) we have developed special shorts for the integration of FSRs. We have developed and implemented an online recognition method. This method has been evaluated in an elaborate experiment.


Dielectric constants and losses have been measured at wavelengths of 0.22, 1.25, 3.22, 10.01, and 57 500 cm at temperatures of 25°, 40°, and 60° for four liquid polymethylpolysiloxanes of the general formula (CH3)3Si[OSi(CH3)2]xOSi(CH3)3, where x=1, 2, 3, and 5. The data have been used to calculate the small dipole moments, very large atomic polarizations, and two rather small dielectric relaxation times for the molecules. The squares of the dipole moments, the atomic polarizations, and the relaxation times are found to be linear functions of the size of the molecule as measured by x, the number of (CH3)2SiO groups. It is concluded that dipole orientation or relaxation occurs by molecular rotation and by intramolecular motion, which includes group rotation around Si–O bonds and, probably, bending of the Si–O–Si bonds. The bending and twisting of these bonds are the principal causes of the large atomic polarizations, as the absorption frequencies associated with them extend into the far infrared.


We present results on broadband gain equalisation in a MM-EDFA for SDM transmission obtained by optimization of the pump launch and careful tailoring of both the fiber refractive index profile and erbium ion distribution.


"Isn't that a Library on your Desktop?" What do we call ourselves--geographers, cartographers, GIScientists? Is it GIS, cartography, or geography? Are we all cartographic information specialists or do we deal in spatial data? What about geomatics? Are we seeing the birth of some hybrid discipline that will, over time, supplant existing structures and organizations? Perhaps it will support and not supplant. One cannot join an e-mail listserv or attend a conference related to maps, geography, GIS or cartography without seeing or hearing, at least once, a discussion about "what is it that we do or are doing?" Within the library community, these "debates" have centered on the role of libraries and librarians in the context of new technologies and digital libraries. The most basic description of this debate is in the question: "Is it a library or a laboratory?" (see Perkins 1995). Map librarians (also called curators, archivists, collection managers, and cartographic information specialists) have to cope with the impact and use of computer technologies, telecommunications, and new formats of information just as scientists do. Some map librarians contend that every time a person walks into a map collection he or she is accessing a spatial information infrastructure. Map librarians also believe that those with decades of experience in dealing with spatial information, in all its forms, should be involved with the developments and discussions surrounding digital spatial data infrastructures. Map librarians and, to some extent, data librarians certainly have that experience. What is equally important is that related communities of experts talk with each other about common concerns and the solutions behind them. This journal issue represents a step in that direction. Not all the authors in the issue would call themselves librarians. Yet, their professional perspectives of what the future geospatial library should look like seem to be converging. The papers in this special content issue should be viewed in the context of rapid change in information technology. Their "technorealism" is not meant to add to the hype surrounding the "net." Indeed, one of the more interesting aspects of assessing the impact of technology on society, cultural organizations, ourselves and our working environments is overcoming that hype (see www.technorealism.org). One should remember that cartography, geography and allied "views" developed over thousands of years. Computers, the Internet, and GIS have been in existence for less than 100 years. The most recent (but not the last) interface to the Internet, the World Wide Web, was born in the last decade; and the speed of change in the last five years has been exponential. It is the impact of these rapid developments on spatial data--and on those who create, use or work with such information--that we are concerned with in this special issue. In GIS and allied fields of study there are similar discussions about the impact on society of specific geographic technologies and concepts (Goodchild 1997). The research projects and papers coming from the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS) provide excellent starting points for a more critical discussion leading to convergent activities. However, in order to recognize points of convergence, it is necessary to take apart some of the smaller components and look more closely at their key areas. The authors of the papers in this issue provide such analyses--they have taken the context, broken it into individual scenes, and highlighted particular points for consideration. Growth in GIScience is not just about software and hardware, it is also about the growth in data production, dissemination, and access. The policy questions related to data growth are paramount, and the technology and management issues of the data are central (Hernon and Lopez 1996). Two special issues of the Journal of Academic Librarianship (volume 1, number 4, July 1995; and volume 23, number 6, November 1997) focused on the impact of GIS and geographic information (GI) on libraries, discussing issues similar to those presented here. …


The structure of Tetra-PEG ion gel, which is tetra-arm poly(ethylene glycol) (Tetra-PEG) network in ionic liquid (IL) and has recently established in our group and possesses high ion conductivity and high mechanical properties, was investigated as functions of polymer concentration (ϕ) and molecular weight (Mw) by using small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) measurements. The results were compared with those of Tetra-PEG hydrogel. The macromer solutions of tetra-amine terminated PEG (TAPEG) macromers, which is one of the two constituents forming Tetra-PEG network, were found to interpenetrate each other in IL and exhibited a scaling relationship, ξ ∼ ϕ–3/4, where ξ is the correlation length. The SANS functions, I(q), for the ion gels made by cross-end-coupling of TAPEG and TNPEG (tetra-arm PEG with active ester groups) were represented by the so-called Ornstein–Zernike equation, suggesting absence of frozen inhomogeneites. The same scaling relationship to the macromer solutions, ξ ∼ ϕ–3/4, was also obtaine...


To reduce inter-symbol-interference (ISI) in underwater acoustic channels, a communication system based on joint LDPC-DQPSK iterative detection was proposed. Spread spectrum technology was adopted to increase communication distance and to combat multi-path effect. Joint LDPC-DQPSK iteration is essentially a joint demodulation and decoding iterative detection based on Turbo principle. To verify BER performance of proposed system, simulation experiments over typical underwater acoustic channels were carried out. Experiment results show that proposed system outperforms conventional systems. Proposed system with four rounds of joint iterations can obtain 3.5 dB SNR gains compared with conventional systems at BER of 10-4.


543Background: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy prior to radical cystectomy (RC) for muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma (UCCx) is the standard of care though the absolute survival benefit is small, and s...


A general linear model with a known covariance structure is considered. The method of Minimum Norm Quadratic estimation extending RAO'S (1972) argument is outlined. This method is illustrated for a particular model where it is noted that MINQE used for estimating intraclass correlation coefficient yields the maximum likelihood estimate.


Objective To investigate the clinical value of color doppler ultrasound in diagnosing placenta accrete in mid-pregancy.Methods Three cases of pregnancy patients with entirely placenta accrete were examined by 2-D and color Doppler technology.Results Uterus enlarged obviously,and were totally absent of myodium posterior placenta.The region between placenta and uterus had abnormal blood low signal surrounded and higher venous saectrum within placenta.Conclusion Color Doppler ultrasound technology has essential value of diagnosing placenta accrete in mid-pregancy.


This article results from research on the most recent effects of the COVID19 pandemic in the Sultanate of Oman. Interdependence is investigated along with the inherent fragility of a health system made more vulnerable by the high reliance on migrants. As part of the history of modern Oman the health sector development was pursued with huge reforms during Sultan Qaboos' reign (1970-2020): the achievements of those years are valued and studied, against the backdrop of Omani cultural roots and peculiar social environment. The regional dimension emerges with the interregional networks of this country. The issue of human security comes to the fore and it is even more evident in relation with the challenges posed by the health emergency in 2020. At the beginning of Sultan Haitham's reign, new efforts are requested to address an unprecedented crisis, as underlined in the article, stressing also the importance of initiatives related with investments and re-qualification, within a regional and interregional dimension.


Integrated system of fisheries statistics for the Amazon. The Floodplain Natural Resources Management Project (ProVarzea) executed by IBAMA, integrated institutions and projects that historically collecting effort and catch data, strengthened and expanded a system along of the Amazon- Solimoes-river channel. This system was implemented because the institutions just had a monitoring system of fishery activity with the following characteristics: i) working with the total universe of landings on the respective colleting locals, and not estimating by samples; ii) the data were processed by a relational data bank; (iii) the original data can be interchanged in different formats; and iv) the type of information obtained were similar, and the majority of the categorical variables were standardized. The system permitted construct a common data base and realize integrated analysis about the data collected a long in 17 municipalities. The system gave information published on annual statistics bulletins and on internet, and subsided the fishery management on the region, by establishment of closing season, and mainly the fishery community co-management by fishing agreement. The system was expanded to other states, but since 2005 all collecting data system was interrupted by the end of financing.


Soil- water repellency accounts for influencing many of the key soil hydrological processes such as reduced infiltration, preferential flow and surface water flow. Water repellency- induced fingered flow can lead to considerable variations in water content in an initially water repellent soil. The precise and continuous measurement of hydraulic properties of water repellent soils is important for understanding soil-water interaction. Moreover, there is a need for small-scale, non destructive measurement techniques to obtain direct, high resolution measurement of soil-water content and water potential. To study the soil-water retention properties for hydrophobized sands and natural volcanic ash soil during repeated wetting and drying processes, a mini tensiometer-time domain reflectometry (T-TDR) coil probe was developed with dimensions of 6-mm diameter and 30-mm length. Seven mini T-TDR coil probes were developed and the performances were tested against Toyoura sand, hydrophobized sands and volcanic ash soil. Due to the poor performance of dielectric mixing models, a simple two-point calibration equation was proposed. The new mini T-TDR coil probe also provided reliable, simultaneous measurements of volumetric water content and soil-water potential (h) measurements when investigating the soil-water retention characteristics of hydrophobized sands and natural volcanic ash soils under repeated wetting and drying cycles. Japanese volcanic ash soils, Andisols, have unique physical properties. For example, the water retention curve of an Andisol generally has a dual-porosity shape resulting from separate macropore (inter-aggregate) and micropore (intra-aggregate) contri-butions, and a very high saturated water content (often as high as 0.85 cm 3 /cm 3 ) because of the inherent nature of soil aggregation in these soils. Since capillary retention is dominant in inter-aggregate pores, hysteresis in water retention curves may occur between drying and wetting processes. This study presents inverse estimation of hysteretic soil hydraulic functions of Andisol using the multistep outflow-inflow experiments. An Andisol from an upland field at the National Institute of Vegetable and Tea Science in Mie, Japan was passed through 2 mm sieve. The soil was packed with a bulk density of 0.75 g/cm3 in .a 5-cm-long, 5-cm-diameter acrylic column having a porous plate at the bottom. The bottom boundary pressure ranging from 0 to -85 cm was controlled for drainage and wetting from the bottom. A tensiometer was installed horizontally at 2.5 cm depth. Cumulative water outflow-inflow was monitored based on the weight of the soil column. Soil hydraulic functions were separately estimated for drainage and wetting. We assumed hysteresis only appears in the first part of the VG function. When ?1 values for the first VG are different between drying (alpha 1 d ) and wetting (alpha 1 w ), however, hysteretic unsaturated hydraulic conductivity in terms of water contents appears in lower water contents. Hence we defined an independent alpha 1 k for the unified unsaturated conductivity in terms of water contents. Initial values for the bimodal VG were determined based on the observed water retention curve. Parameters alpha1, n1, w2, Ks and l were optimized for the objective functions of pressure readings, cumulative water flux at the bottom, and the average water contents of the soil column using HYDRUS1D. The modified hydraulic conductivity of bimodal VG was found to successfully describe hysteretic soil water retention and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity in term of pressure head, whereas the estimated unsaturated hydraulic conductivity is non-hysteric in terms of water content. There is increasing global concern about soil water repellency (SWR) as a soil degradation process. SWR is a transient property expressed in patchy wetting-up behaviour of soils once they dry out below a soil-specific critical water content. It might pose a threat to the delivery of soil ecosystem services in particular to the regulating services in relation to water and carbon, and food provisioning. The understanding of the economic, ecological and environmental consequences of SWR is still limited. Moreover, we are unable to predict when and where SWR will occur, or when it might disappear. To improve our knowledge on the extent of SWR in the North Island of New Zealand, we conducted a survey on the occurrence of SWR under pastoral land use. We sampled the top 4 cm of soils across 50 sites from ten soil orders and five drought-proneness classes in the summer 2009/10. We found that 98% of the sites will become hydrophobic when they dry out, and that 70% of the sites were hydrophobic at the time of sampling. The survey revealed that the phenomenon of SWR is prevalent throughout all regions and it is independent of climate but it is influenced by soil order. The degree of SWR and its persistence for air-dried samples were positively correlated with the soils carbon and nitrogen contents, and negatively with bulk density. The persistence of SWR for field-fresh samples was additionally negatively correlated with the soil water content. To improve our understanding of the environmental consequences of SWR, we conducted field and laboratory experiments with water-repellent soils from New Zealand. We focused on the local scale runoff, infiltration and leaching processes. Theoret-ically, in a hydrophilic dry soil, water infiltrates across the entire cross section of the soil surface. While in soils suffering from SWR, water infiltrates only across a fraction of the soil surface in the form of fingers, or it runs off. Measuring water and ethanol infiltration with tension disc-infiltrometers in the field, we found that SWR indeed reduced water infiltration by up to a factor of 20. Solute transport experiments through intact soil columns in the laboratory revealed that the soils buffering and filtering services were compromised by soil-water repellency. Enhanced preferential flow was found in the hydrophobic soils with ele-vated levels of soil organic matter. To quantify directly the impact of SWR on runoff, we developed a laboratory-scale runoff measurement apparatus. We compared the runoff resulting from the run-on of water with that resulting from an ethanol solution. The experiments with the ethanol solution can be taken as a proxy measure of the wetting-up behaviour of hydrophilic soils. No runoff occurred in the experiments with ethanol from any of the soils. We observed that runoff of water did not occur evenly across the entire soil slab, but was concentrated in channels, and covered only a fraction of the soil surface. Consequently, even a soil with an extremely high persistence of SWR resulting in almost the entire run-on water running off the soil slab, lost only a relatively small fraction of the solutes applied evenly to the soil surface, in runoff. We hypothesize that the channel-like pattern of runoff is typical for hydrophobic soils, and that the potential for nutrient loss in runoff from hydrophobic soils is limited. Our research demonstrated that the filtering and buffering functions of water-repellent soils were compromised at the local scale. Integrating these local phenomena up to a larger scale of a catchment is not straightforward. We are unable to predict the larger-scale impact of water-repellent soils on catchment hydrology, and nor could we predict the impact on the regulating and provisioning ecosystem services that soils provide. More research is needed to understand better the causes and occurrence of SWR, and the larger-scale environmental, ecological and economic impacts of SWR. Peaty soils in wetlands are known as one of the major sources and sinks of global C and it is escaped as greenhouse gases to the atmosphere (e.g., Alm et al., 1999; Pilegaard et al., 2003). Knowledge of mass and heat transport characteristics in differently-decomposed and variably textured peaty soils at different moisture contents is important for simulating the emissions of the greenhouse gases, especially methane, from the wetlands (e.g., Alm et al., 1999; Pilegaard et al., 2003). Unique physical Characteristics of peaty soils such as high organic matter content, high total porosity and volume shrinkage may influence various transport properties of peaty soils. In this study, the analogies and differences between the soil transport parameters were investigated for differently-textured and variably-saturated soils and unified models were developed based on modified Archie s laws. The study site was Bibai marsh, Hokkaido in Japan. Undisturbed peat samples were taken from three different sites in Bibai marsh at different depths using 100cm3 cylindrical cores. Peat 1 samples were sampled inside the marsh area, while Peat 2 samples were sampled from the area nearby a drainage ditch surrounding the marsh. Peat 3 samples were obtained from forested area located outside the wetland. Fiber contents showed that Peat 3 samples were the most decomposed followed by Peat 2 and Peat 1 samples. The peat samples were initially saturated and subsequently drained using two different methods corresponding to the matric suction ranges. The thermal conductivity (TC), gas diffusivity (Dp), air permeability (Ka) and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity (Kunsat) were measured at different soil moisture suction levels. A percolation threshold was introduced for each heat and mass transport parameter and the normalized TC, Dp, Ka and Kunsat as a function of normalized fluid content suggested a strong analogy between these parameters. This analogy was well represented by an excluded volume expansion of Archie s second law. It showed a clear two-region behavior suggesting the applicability of the new two-region model concept for bimodal porous materials. However, each parameter showed its own characteristic behavior with different fluid contents. Model curves for the each transport parameter by using Archie s law with reference point (EX


Introduction The cases of medical negligence in the recent years have been gradually increasing. Unless
knowledge about medical negligence is strictly implicated in the medical practice the rate of medical
negligence will increase. Nearly 50lakh Indians die due to medical negligence every year.
Ain & Objective The present study was aimed to assess the level knowledge and awareness regarding
medical negligence among medical practitioners .
Materials & Method The present cross sectional study was conducted in saveetha medical college and
hospitals , Chennai. A total of 100 practitioners were studied . The study period was from 24th February to
12th march 2019.
Result ; In total , 100 medical practitioners were studied, of which almost all had knowledge about medico
legal cases , only 88 of them take precautions during handling medico legal cases . only 47% were aware of
the punishments given for medical negligence.
Conclusion The awareness among the practitioners is satisfactory. But 37% of the practitioners couldn't
differentiate medical negligence from medical errors. The knowledge about the punishments given for an
act of medical negligence is not satisfactory only ,40% had knowledge inn that area. The attitude of taking
precautions during handling a medical legal case was satisfactory, only 12% of them don't take precautions .


The author states that Russian system of the higher professional education experiences the next stage of modernization, therefore it seems appropriate to refer to the Bologna Declaration provisions and international experience in search of the training model meeting modern requirements.


The waste streams from various agencies like textile, leather, electroplating, and process industries are generating pollutants in the form of effluents or by products. These waste streams consist of various carcinogenic pollutants such as dyes and heavy metals above the permissible limits. Numerous effluent treatment techniques have been implemented for the removal of these pollutants before their discharge into the water body. In this work, reverse micellar extraction was used for the removal of copper ions (heavy metal ions) from the waste stream. Mathematical models namely, the ion exchange reaction model and electrostatic model were developed in order to compare the experimental data with model predictions with regard to the effect of process parameters such as initial metal ion concentration, sodium bis-2-ethyl hexyl sulphosuccinate (AOT) concentration, and organic to aqueous phase volume ratio on final copper ion concentration in the aqueous phase. The ion exchange reaction model was based on chemical and electrostatic interactions between heavy metal ions and the surfactant head groups at the reverse micellar interface, whereas the electrostatic model was based on the adsorption of metal ions on the reverse micellar interface due to electrostatic force of attraction with no chemical bonding. The developed mathematical models were found in close agreement with the experimental data. Atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) was used to measure the metal ion concentration in the aqueous phase.


In this paper , the design method and management of the object about the numerical manifold method are studied and the theoretical basis for the researching and expanding of numerical manifold method is also put forward. The characteristics of easy programming and simple preprocessing and postprocessing are clearly shown. The solution precison of multinode isoparameter element method can be acquired by simply using triangular manifold element and one\|order uniform polynomial approximation. The calculation results show that the numerical results are in good agreement with theoretical solutions.


The paper describes a way of measuring the wind speed and direction based on Time of Flight. The system uses ultrasonic sound to detect the velocity of the wind. Time of Flight (ToF) is explained as the time taken by the ultrasonic sound waves to travel from one sensor to the other is defined. The propagation of these ultrasonic sound waves is affected by the intensity and direction of wind. If the direction of propagation of wind a n d the direction of propagation of sound is same, the ToF will be less. The lesser the ToF, more is the wind velocity. The system mainly includes Ultrasonic Transceiver, Time to Digital Converters (TDC), Multiplexer, FPGA and user interface. The FPGA communicates with the TDC and multiplexer using SPI protocol. FPGA plays a crucial role in this system. All the control and processing are done using FPGA. The proposed architecture is simulated in Libero IDE and synthesized using Synplify Pro for ProASIC3E Actel FPGA.


In the past γ‐ray Compton scattering experiments proved their value for the investigation of many‐body effects in the electronic structure of solids by measuring the projection of the electron momentum density onto the scattering vector, the so‐called Compton profile. Due to the availability of modern synchrotron radiation facilities the momentum resolution of the technique was improved substantially and, by using circular polarized photons, ''magnetic'' Compton profiles could be determined in ferromagnetic materials. A new approach, where the Compton scattered photon is measured in coincidence with the recoiling electron, allows for a direct determination of electron momentum densities in solids. This (γ,eγ) scattering technique will reach its full potential once synchrotron radiation from undulators in electron storage rings operating at energies above 10 GeV will be available.


Operator splitting is a powerful method for the numerical investigation of complex time-dependent models, where the stationary (elliptic) part consists of a sum of several structurally simpler sub-operators. As an alternative to the classical splitting methods, a new splitting scheme is proposed here, the Average Method with sequential splitting. In this method, a decomposition of the original problem is sought in terms of commuting matrices. Wedemonstrate that third-order accuracy can be achieved with the Average Method. The computational performance of the method is investigated, yielding run times 1-2 orders of magnitude faster than traditional methods.


RNAi is a kind of new molecular biology technique developing in recent years,applicated widespread in the research of gene function,human and animal infectious disease.On the assisting of RNaseⅢ,siRNA can stop the correlated genic expression by binding and shearing out its gene.SiRNA may be artificial or producing by the recombinated vector in cells.Substitution of some groups in the duplo-strand RNA will influence its interfering activity and tolerance to the RNase.Because it is easy relatively to find a conservative sequence less than 30 bp in different subtypes or strains and can activate quickly anti-virus effect,the technique is more potential than vaccine and anti-virus drugs.


Implementation of ethnic minority undergraduate tutorial system is not only an important measure of ethnic minority personnel training,but also a new attempt of the ethnic minority teaching reform,which is conducive to improving the overall quality of ethnic minority students.In previous practice of ethnic minority undergraduate tutorial system,some colleges and universities have developed a practical management system and carried out standardized management.However,there are still problems such as teachers' vague awareness and imperfect tutorial assessment and supervision mechanism.Therefore,it is of significance to establish a sound tutor selection mechanism as soon as possible to make clear appraisal system and further improve the overall quality of the tutors.


Electricity is the mainstay of Laos' export earnings. The country's 18 000MW hydropower resources represent huge potential earnings through energy export to neighbouring Thailand. Now several Power Purchase Agreements hang in the balance because ofa legal deadlock between the two countries and pressure from environmentalists on the World Bank. Janet Dansie reports.


Earthwork is an integral part of many construction projects. It involves cleaning of the site, loading and spreading of soil, and soil compaction and leveling. Heterogeneous orientation of soil particles and interaction of soil particles with moisture play an important role in behavior of soil under the earthwork equipment. The prediction of soil behavior under earthmovers, rollers, graders and hauling equipments is not simple due to the above-mentioned factors. In this situation behavior of soil can be predicted by experience. The experience of field engineers and rules of thumb can be of great use to optimize earthwork processes. The principles of artificial intelligence (AI) help in writing and translating this knowledge of experts into computer codes. These codes help users in convenient retrieval and decision making for efficient earthwork processes. The rule based system is capable of storing and processing the knowledge of earthwork. This paper describes such an expert system.


Aims  Identifying patients' beliefs about taking medication can inform interventions to support medication taking, and their evaluation. We set out to establish the range of these beliefs, and measure the frequency of commonly held beliefs and their correlation with intention to take medication and self‐reported medication adherence.


In this paper we present some reflections, in the light of Peircean Semiotics, on the possibility of introducing into classroom, activities that signal the potential to develop different reasoning modes and different cognitive actions in students. We started working with the theoretical assumptions of semiotics in relation to the modes of inference abduction, deduction and induction and Mathematical Modeling as a pedagogical alternative. Aiming to investigate the relationships among cognitive actions highlighted in modeling activities and modes of inference, we analyzed a modeling activity developed by students of a course in Mathematics. From this analysis we conclude that the modes of inference activated in this activity are associated with cognitive actions of students during the transitions between the different stages of development activity


:   Glucose has been implicated in functioning as a form of carbon translocated from symbiont zooxanthellae to the host coral cell. The present paper describes the lipid biosynthesis from [14C]-glucose in the coral tissue. To study the incorporation of [14C]-glucose into lipids, the branch tips of the coral Montipora digitata were incubated with [14C]-glucose or another radiolabeled substrates. The lipid biosynthesis from [14C]-glucose was dependent on light, and was decreased by dark conditions or by photosystem II inhibitor, 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea. Of the lipid classes, the light dependency was more pronounced with the biosynthesis of triacylglycerols (TG) and wax compared with phospholipids. Examination of [14C]-label distribution in the glycerolipids suggested that [14C]-glucose supplied mainly the fatty acid moiety of newly synthesized TG, while [14C]-glucose provided evenly the fatty acid moiety and the glycerol skeleton of phospholipids. The comparison of [14C]-labeling of lipid from host coral tissue and symbiont zooxanthellae suggested that [14C]-glucose entered the coral cell and was processed in parallel in the zooxanthellae and host cells. Furthermore, the coral cells used various [14C]-labeled sugars for lipid synthesis with similar lipid labeling profile as was the case for glucose. The current study thus supports the view that the low-molecular-weight compound, sugars and amino acids, once translocated from zooxanthellae to host cell were metabolized toward lipogenesis as well as glycerol.


The Vestal Virgins have often been the subject of close scrutiny by classical scholars. Indeed many articles have been devoted to a careful analysis of individual, apparently trivial, aspects of their legal rights, their privileges, their cult obligations and even their dress. In the same tradition I intend in this paper to consider just one element of their priestly position: their sexual status and its relationship to their sacred status. It is however an element which will be seen to have wider implications for their cult as a whole and for ancient religion in general.


In the last decades, there has been much interest in climate variability because its change has dramatic effects on humanity. Especially, the precipitation data are measured over space and their spatial association is so complicated. So we should take into account such a spatial dependency structure while analyzing the data. However, in linear models for analyzing the data, data sets show severely skewed distribution. In the paper, we consider the Box-Cox transformation to satisfy the normal distribution prior to the analysis, and employ a Bayesian hierarchical framework to investigate the spatial patterns. The data set we considered is monthly average precipitation of the third quarter of 2007 obtained from 347 automated monitoring stations in Contiguous South Korea.


Let D be an integral domain with quotient field K and integral closure D. An overring of D is a subring of K containing D, and O(D) denotes the set of overrings of D. We consider primarily two finiteness conditions on O(D): (FO), which states that O(D) is finite, and (FC), the condition that each chain of distinct elements of O(D) is finite. (FO) is strictly stronger than (FC), but if D = D, each of (FO) and (FC) is equivalent to the condition that D is a Prufer domain with finite prime spectrum. In general D satisfies (FC) iff D satisfies (FC) and all chains of subrings of D containing D have finite length. The corresponding statement for (FO) is also valid.


Ben Davis's 9.5 Theses on Art and Class argues from a Marxist perspective that art and politics should be understood as distinct fields. In a collection of essays on different aspects of contemporary art, Davis attacks the tendency towards 'aesthetic politics' and the prevalence of Frankfurt School and post-operaist Marxism in contemporary art. Davis affirms that an understanding of class allows the relationship between art and politics to be correctly gauged, and excessive claims for art to be moderated. While it contains some useful observations, his argument often misrepresents recent art theory and deploys militant populist arguments in support of a conservative notion of the art critic as arbiter of artistic value. Davis's hostility to work that blurs the boundary between art and politics is part of this conservatism. His argument is contrasted to rigorous analyses of the relation between art and class that emerged from the Art & Language collective since the mid-1970s. The work of this collective demonstrates that a thorough class-analysis always tends to destabilise the field of art, rather than clarifying it.


Infection bybovine leukemia virus(BLV)ischaracterized bya longclinical latency afterwhichsome individuals develop B-cell tumors.Thecontributions oftheviral regulatory proteins TaxandRexduring clinical latency anddisease areincompletely understood. TolearnaboutRexexpression inthehost, we used asensitive immunoprecipitation assaytodetect Rexantibodies throughout thecourseofBLVinfection insheep. Sixty percent oftheinfected animals produced Rexantibodies inintermittent episodes. Thispatterndiffered markedly fromthatofantibodies tovirion structural proteins, whichwere maintained inallanimals throughout infection. Onlyoneoftwoanimals thatdeveloped tumorshaddetectable Rexantibodies atthetime, although theother hadpreviously demonstrated an especially strongRexantibody response.We examined the Rexresponseinthecontext ofBLV infection bycomparing itwiththefrequency ofcirculating mononuclear blood cells thatcould transcribe BLVRNA or produce infectious virus. Episodes ofRexantibody occurrence followed some butnotallincreases inthenumberofBLV-transcribing cells. Since theappearance ofcirculating antibodies requires thattheintracellular Rexprotein beavailable toserveasantigen, theepisodic patternof occurrenceofRexantibodies could result fromintermittent killing byvirus-specific cytotoxic cells. Fluctuations intiter that were observed during some episodes ofRexresponsecouldbeduetoantibody retention byantigen present inlymphoid tissue. Bovineleukemia virus(BLV),humanT-cell leukemia virus typesIandII (HTLV-Iand-II), andsimian T-cell leukemia virus constitute a family ofretroviruses thathave similar genetic structures andmodesofaction. Infection by theseviruses ischaracterized bylongclinical latency followed, inonly afewinfected individuals, byterminal disease (1,2).Virusexpression islatent within mostinfected cells; circulating lymphocytes carryintegrated proviral DNA but donotproduce detectable virus (15). However, thecontinuingpresence ofantiviral antibodies throughout infection indicates that virus production doesoccur,mostprobably in lymphoid tissues. Thespecific cellular eventsthatactivate virus expression intheinfected hostare unknown, butin culture, polyclonal activators oflymphocytes stimulate virus production (11, 19,29). Thissuggests that immuneresponses stimulate viral replication invivoandmay playimportant roles intheprogression fromclinical latency todisease. Replication oftheseviruses isregulated bytwovirusencoded proteins, TaxandRex(10). Taxactsinconcert with cellular factors toactivate transcription fromtheviral long terminal repeat. Rexcontrols translational availability of different viral messages,although themechanismisnot understood. SincetheTaxandRexproteins regulate virus expression, theypresumably mediate theexitofthevirus fromcellular latency. Theseregulatory proteins are expressed atlowlevels inthehostcell, makingtheir detection difficult. However, thepatterns ofantibody responsetoTax andRexmight serveasindicators ofprior increases intheir production oravailability invivo. Antibodies to virus-encoded regulatory proteins have beenobserved inbothpatients andasymptomatic carriers infected witheither HTLV-Ior humanimmunodeficiency virus(HIV). Titers ofantibodies tosome HIV regulatory proteins as wellas totheviruscapsid protein (CA;p24)


Objective:Through gene cloning,expression and activity analysis of hBcl 2 to provide enough proteins for the development of new drugs on the basis of 3 D structue of hBcl 2 protein.Methods:Gene cloning using PCR amplification,identification with Western Blot and MALDI TOF MS.Results:hBcl 2 gene was cloned,inserted into pET28a(+) and solublely expressed in E.Coli.Its molecule weight was confirmed through MALDI TOF MS,which fits exactly with its theoretical value.After purification to reach electrophoresis homogeneity,it showed the ability of combining specifically with BH 3 domain of Bak,and then provide the basis for the further research on small chemical compounds which could specifically bind hBcl 2 protein.Conclusion:In this work hBcl 2 was successfully expressed and recovered its binding activity in a soluble form. [


In this study, the ozonations of catechol and hydroquinone solutions were investigated by using a new type of gas-inducing reactor. The effects of pH (3, 7, and 10) and initial concentration (3 mM and 1 mM) on the removal rate of catechol and hydroquinone were studied. The experimental results indicated that the concentrations of both catechol and hydroquinone solutions decay much faster at pH 10 than those at pH 3 and 7. Experimental results also identify the pathway of the ozonation of catechol and hydroquinone. The intermediate products during ozonation, such as muconic acid, maleic acid and fumaric acid, were identified and the mechanisms of ozonation were proposed in this study.


The purpose of this research is to build understanding of the reasons behind women's low representation in the ICT industry. Conventional approaches have not been able to account for the persistence of the problem, and because of this, this study adopts a more critical perspective toward gender relations in ICT by drawing attention to the larger societal context of the phenomenon. The objective of the research is to explore how gender emerges in social interaction, processes and practices in the workplace, and how women give meaning to these experiences in narrative form. Following a feminist research orientation, I further problematize the societal context in which the women's meaning-making takes place. This research is qualitative in nature and follows a social constructionist epistemology that understands reality to be formed through language in social interaction. Employing a narrative research methodology and wishing to give voice to women themselves, I produced the research data in semi-structured interviews with nine self-identified women who work in different positions in the ICT industry in Finland. In analyzing the women's narratives, I examined especially their dialogic and performance elements, reading closely the research context and the interactive nature of the narratives' production. After identifying prevalent themes in how the women discursively gave meaning to gender, I constructed the findings into one overarching narrative, "fitting in," on three analytical levels: the self, the organization and the society. The findings of the study suggest that women's experiences of gender relations in ICT are shaped by the masculinity of technology and the oppressive gendered structures of business organizations at large. The women's generally positive experiences of the industry contained subtle, ambiguous and even contradictory meanings whose closer interrogation revealed gender to play a central role in whether the women felt competent, valued and fit for the workplace. ICT thus appears to be a place for such "doing" of gender that obscures and downplays the significance of gender, especially in potentially negative cases, while at the same reifying the traditional gender order that considers masculinity superior to femininity. Often the women also contributed to these oppressive notions of gender themselves regardless of the quality of their personal experience. The findings signal an internalization of the gender order and emphasize the need to make gendered structures visible in organizations.


Mechanical ventilation of pediatric patients in the operating room can be challenging. Even small changes in delivered volume can be a significant percentage of the desired volume and lead to unintended hyperor hypoventilation, or even barotrauma. Modern anesthesia ventilators offer a selection of ventilation modes that approach the capabilities of an intensive care ventilator. Although the ICU experience can be helpful to guide the use of these modern anesthesia ventilators, clinical problems in the operating room are different from those in the ICU. Effective use of the modern anesthesia ventilator requires a clear understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of the available ventilation modes for solving the ventilation challenges which confront the pediatric anesthetist. Optimizing the ventilation strategy for an individual patient requires effective use of bedside respiratory monitoring technology. The following information will review the use of both controlled and supported modes of ventilation for the anesthetized pediatric patient. An approach to using respiratory monitors to optimize the ventilation strategy is also discussed.


This book is a one-stop reference offering everything a user needs to know about the product. It has enough detail for the new user to learn how to make his or her way around the worksheet and how to create all types of entries. It also addresses the needs of the existing 1-2-3 user base that wants to know how this product differs from earlier releases. The chapters cover all features in the product with application examples. Substantial sections are devoted to the more complex features such as external databases, new graphics capabilities, and multiple sheets and windows.


This paper presents results from an analysis of a 'visitor sector' employment study for the Foothills Model Forest. A visitor sector is differentiated from the rest of the economy based on a survey of visitor-related and visitor-driven businesses. An analysis of the survey data is conducted by town (Hinton and Jasper) and by major visitor sector industry (restaurant/hotel, tour/transportation, retail, car repair, and various). Visitor sector employment results are compared to the resource sectors of the FMF in terms of contribution to employment numbers and contribution to the total FMF wage bill. The analysis suggests the visitor sector is the largest employer in the region. However, this finding may be overshadowed by the small economic contribution made by the visitor sector in terms of total and average weekly wages. 1 Forest Social Science Researcher, Northern Forestry Centre, Canadian Forest Service, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6H 3S5 2 Research Assistant, Northern Forestry Centre, Canadian Forest Service, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6H 3S5 3 Senior Economist, Northern Forestry Centre, Canadian Forest Service, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6H 3S5 INTRODUCTION The visitor sector is a source of employment for many forest-dependent areas in Canada and the United States. Its potential to provide jobs and employment income has led governments and local communities to intensify tourist-related development (Duffield, 1982; Fleming and Toepper, 1990; Biggs, 1994). The data is also important for developing regional economic impact models that attempt to measure the visitor as separate from the service sector. Despite its importance there is an absence of accurate visitor related employment data. It is difficult to differentiate visitor expenditures from local expenditures in the service or transportation sectors. Collecting primary data is expensive. As a result cost-effective data collection methods need to be developed. We estimated the size of the visitor employment sector in the Foothills Model Forest (FMF) in central west Alberta, Canada (see Figure 1). The FMF is a 2.7 million hectare area where forestry, oil and gas, mining, and the visitor sector are important contributors to the region's economy. For an overview of the FMF's visitor sector see Wellstead, White and Olsen (1999) in this volume. For an analysis of the visitor sector's impact on the FMF's economy see Wellstead, Alavalapati, White, and Patriquin (1999) in this volume. The FMF's major visitor attraction is Jasper National Park, an internationally renowned park. Visitors also enjoy areas outside of the park for the many camping, hiking, and hunting activities available. Figure 1: Location of the FMF For more information on camping and hunting in the FMF see McFarlane and Boxall (1998) at www.fmf.ab.ca. We surveyed visitor-related businesses in the FMF to determine the number and type of employees and their wage and salary contributions to the FMF's economy. The following section outlines the methods and data. This is followed by the results. The final section discusses the results. METHODS AND DATA The data was derived from mail-out surveys of all visitor driven and visitor related businesses conducted in the FMF between July 3 and July 28, 1998 and a follow-up telephone survey in mid-October, 1998. The survey consisted of five questions. The first question asked how many employees were on staff in an average year (e.g., 1997). This included all part-time, full-time permanent and seasonal staff. The second and fourth questions asked the occupation types of the employees, whether or not they were parttime or full-time, the average number of hours worked per week per person, and whether or not they were seasonal employees. Because of the wide variety of occupation types found in the different types of businesses, question two and four were tailor designed to reflect the occupations associated with a particular business. As a result, five different surveys were developed (car repair/gas station, accommodation, tours/transportation, retail, and various) in order to avoid confusion and make the survey as simple as possible. Question three asked if there were any part-time employees; it was also a transition from the full-time employment question to part-time in question four. The fifth question asked respondents to provide a percentage estimate of their business activity dedicated to visitor related activity. A total of 387 businesses were surveyed: 127 in Hinton and 260 in Jasper. There were 28 refusals and 99 businesses either were closed for the seasons or could not be contacted yielding an overall success rate of 68.2%


Spectroscopy is the study of matter interacting with electromagnetic radiation (e.g., light). The electromagnetic spectrum in Figure 1 illustrates the many different types of electromagnetic radiation, including gamma rays (γ-rays), X-rays, ultraviolet (UV) radiation, visible light, infrared (IR) radiation, microwaves, and radio waves. The frequency (ν) and wavelength (λ) ranges associated with each form of radiant energy are also indicated in Figure 1.


In previous work, certain shortcomings of traditional design approaches against restrained bending fatigue of axially preloaded spiral strands used in cable stayed structures (e.g. bridges) based on the extreme fibre direct stresses have been identified and subsequently resolved. Restrained bending fatigue life of such spiral strands clamped at the end(s), is shown to be governed by interlayer fretting fatigue. Interlayer fretting is found to be greatest near the so-called neutral axis and not the extreme fibre position, where, during tests, initial wire failures have invariably been found to occur. A new parameter has thus been developed for design against such rather common and often very costly fatigue failures. The reliability of any restrained bending design procedure is based on a reasonably accurate estimation of the minimum critical radii of curvature at the fixed end(s) with such values of curvature then used as an input into the fatigue design model. The present paper makes significant progress in resolving the longstanding debate in the literature as to whether the traditional method of assuming a constant effective bending stiffness for estimating such critical curvature(s) is a practically reasonable one.


The Orphan Basin, lying along the Newfoundland rifted continental margin, formed in Mesozoic time during the opening of the North Atlantic Ocean and the breakup of Iberia/Eurasia from North America. To investigate the evolution of the Orphan Basin and the factors that governed its formation, we (i) analysed the stratigraphic and crustal architecture documented by seismic data (courtesy of TGS), (ii) quantified the tectonic and thermal subsidence along a constructed geological transect, and (iii) used forward numerical modelling to understand the state of the pre‐rift lithosphere and the distribution of deformation during rifting. Our study shows that the pre‐rift lithosphere was 200‐km thick and rheologically strong (150‐km‐thick elastic plate) prior to rifting. It also indicates that extension in the Orphan Basin occurred in three distinct phases during the Jurassic, the Early Cretaceous and the Late Cretaceous. Each rifting phase is characterized by a specific crustal and subcrustal thinning configuration. Crustal deformation initiated in the eastern part of the basin during the Jurassic and migrated to the west during the Cretaceous. It was coupled with a subcrustal thinning which was reduced underneath the eastern domain and very intense in the western domains of the basin. The spatial and temporal distribution of thinning and the evolution of the lithosphere rheology through time controlled the tectonic, stratigraphic and crustal architecture that we observe today in the Orphan Basin.


In this paper we report about the design and validation of a 1.2 m wind turbine rotor with fixed blade pitch. The wind turbine is a scaled version of the DTU 10 MW. Integrated design of dimensional scaling laws, blade aerodynamics, and turbine control is carried out to reproduce blade loading and interaction with atmospheric boundary layer of the reference turbine, despite challenges posed by the great reduction in chord-based Reynolds number. The rotor is verified with numerical simulations in OpenFAST and wind tunnel testing. The servo-aerodynamic design approach proposed in this article is shown to be successful for small-scale wind turbine models for use in experiments about wakes and floating wind.


Permanent cover crops are commonly used in vineyard floor management because of their beneficial effects to soil and vine health, but studies evaluating their competitive effects on vines have been conducted primarily in nonirrigated vineyards. Future air quality regulations could mandate the use of no-till floor management practices in California's Central Valley. We evaluated the combined effects of cover crop type (oats alone or oats grown with legumes) and tillage on soil nutrient availability, vine nutrition, growth, and yield characteristics of Vitis vinifera cv. Merlot grown under regulated deficit irrigation in a commercial vineyard from 2008 to 2010. Five treatments were used: Resident Vegetation (RV) + Till, Oats + Till, Oats/Legumes +Till, Oats + NoTill, and Oats/Legumes + NoTill. No differences in soil nutrient availability were found among the treatments. Of the numerous nutritional constituents analyzed on leaf petioles and blades, only NO3-Npetiole was affected by floor management. At nearly all growth stages among all years, NO3-Npetiole of tilled treatments was twice the no-till treatments. At harvest, yield, mean cluster weight, cluster number per vine, and aboveground cover crop biomass differed among treatments in 2009 and/or 2010 but not in the first year (2008); however, responses were not consistent among treatments within each respective year. Importantly, yields were similar from all four cover crop treatments compared to the typical management (RV + Till), suggesting that use of cover crops and/or no-till practices may be implemented in an irrigated vineyard with little immediate effect on grape productivity in mature vineyards.


Core–shell nanoparticles were prepared using a technique based on complex coacervation, and their characteristics were investigated after subsequent freeze drying. An oil-in-water emulsion was stabilized with a gelatin–acacia solution, and the pH of the solution was adjusted to a selected value with acetic acid. The solutions were frozen at a selected freezing rate and subsequently freeze dried. This is a strategic approach to produce particles upon freezing in order to tune their properties by controlling the processing parameters. It was found that particles with mean diameters in the range of 100–400 nm were successfully prepared under all of the selected conditions; however, the size distributions were highly dependent on the values of the variables employed. The efficiency of encapsulation of β-carotene dissolved in the oil phase was significantly affected by the specific processing parameters. Interestingly, the ratio between the surface and inner loads could be tuned by selecting the appropriate conditions. Furthermore, the freezing protocol affected the mass transfer properties of the shell membranes at certain pH values. Complexation of the gelatin and acacia during freezing was confirmed using in situ small-angle X-ray scattering analysis (SAXS) with oil-free gelatin–acacia solutions. A structural change on freezing of the solution was detected at a subzero temperature, and the structural features were found to be dependent on the acidity of the solution and the cooling rate during freezing.


Synthesis of long RNA chains by multisubunit RNA polymerases (RNAPs) requires accessory proteins that help RNAP bypass numerous roadblocks it encounters along the way. These "antitermination" proteins switch the elongating RNAP into a processive state, but the molecular mechanism of this phenomena remains unknown. Bacterial antiterminator RfaH is an excellent model to address this key mechanistic question because its structure, the mechanism of recruitment and its binding site on RNAP have been determined. RfaH increases expression of the distal genes in operons that have ops DNA elements. We found that RfaH binds simultaneously to the regions of β and β′ subunits that constitutes "jaws" of RNAP, locking it in a closed conformation. Deletion of a conserved β gate loop (GL) has little effect on intrinsic properties of RNAP but completely abolishes its response to RfaH and NusG, a general paralog of RfaH. qRT‐PCR analysis of ops‐containing operon expression driven by wild‐type or ΔGL RNAP in the presence or absence of RfaH confirmed in vitro observations. Finally, we showed also that GL deletion does not compromise stimulation of Rho‐dependent termination by NusG, function that is thought to be independent from AP effect of NusG and based on physical tethering of Rho to the elongation complex. We propose that NusG‐like proteins restrict conformational mobility of RNAP, thereby locking it in a processive state.


This research aimed to study the nutritional status of adults. The study concentrated on collecting information about the food habits and nutrition disturbances among adults. Questionnaire was used to collect data. The questionnaire composed of three parts; The first part was for personal information, while the second part concerned about nutrition disturbances and the disturbances. Nutrition habits diagnosed among the sample revealed different third part concerned about food intake. The results showed that the studied sample suffers from different nutritional imbalance food intake among the sample. Awareness of balance food program should be improved through educational nutrition programs. Keywords: Food intake, food disturbances, food habit