Guided wave has already been introduced to a wide variety of nondestructive testing especially for plate and pipe components. The shape of the cross section of the infrastructure is different in every portion, and the components consist of heterogeneous materials such as concrete and reinforced steel bar. Therefore it is useful to know the property of the guided wave in the target material prior to the testing. In this research, we adopted two numerical tools to assist the guided wave testing. One is the semi-analytical finite element method (SAFE), and the other is the elastodynamic finite integration technique (EFIT). The SAFE and EFIT were used to obtain the dispersion curve and the transient wave propagation, respectively. These methods were validated with the experimental measurement using an I-beam metal specimen. In the measurement, we used a wireless experimental system to receive signals of the guided wave. The guided wave was excited with an impact hammer, and then received with wireless accelerometers at multiple points. The simulation results and measurements showed good agreement with respect to the velocity dispersion curve, and the polarization shape in the propagation.


Rapid development of the information technologies leads to a continuous replenishment of the Internet marketing tools. The problem of introducing a new mechanism for evaluating results for improving the effectiveness of promoting goods and services in the Internet environment can be attributed to the most important ones. Gaps in comprehension of the problem in relation to web analytics in Russia have been indicated. Studying the main theoretical basis for changing the approach to marketing measures was conducted to increase the efficiency of businesses in the Russian Internet market. The direction of web analytics development in Russia has been defined. The Russian researches are found to focus on the practical part. There are considered the methods of obtaining economic data from the web analytics systems. The problems of business development in the Internet environment in Russia have been defined. As a result, it has been inferred that the existing methods of performance assessment are not applicable. The classification of performance evaluation parameters has been developed. The parameters were divided into 3 levels, depending on the metrics. The first level is associated with presentations, clicks, expenses on advertisements, the second level - with conversion and its cost, the third - with return on investment (ROI). The parameters were divided into the status and economic aspects, depending on their impact on the brand and on the financial condition of the business. According to the developed classification, the process of forming a marketing event was arranged; it is based on definition of the effectiveness level, which the company can achieve. There has been created and illustrated the sequence of events to evaluate the effectiveness of business in the Internet environment.


The distribution of velocity vectors of reaction products is discussed) with emphasis on the restrictions imposed by the conservation laws. The recoil velocity which carries the products away from the center of mass shows how the energy of reaction is - divided between internal excitation and translation. Similarly) the angular distributions) as viewed from the center of mass) reflect the partitioning of the total angular momentum between angular momenta of individual molecules and orbital angular momentum associated with their relative motion. Crossed beam studies of several of the type are most the energy o~ reaction the products the angular distribution qUite anisotropic) most recoiling backward (and R to the incoming K beam.


Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies, from the second-generation sequencing platforms of 454/Roche, SOLiD/ABI (supported oligonucleotide ligation and detection/Applied Biosystems), and Solexa/Illumina to the transitioning system of Ion Torrent and to the third-generation sequencing technologies of Helicos, PacBio, and Nanopore systems, have led the way in revolutionizing transcriptomics by providing unprecedented opportunities for high throughput transcriptomic research on medicinal plants, for most of which the genome/transcriptome data are not available. Transcriptome sequencing, analysis on the transcribed portion of the genome, has been used for applications ranging from gene expression profiling, protein-coding gene annotation, and rearrangement detection to noncoding RNA discovery and genetic marker identification. This chapter discusses the characterization and application of NGS technologies in plant transcriptomic research and examples in the procedures of transcriptome analysis using 454 sequencing technology.

Keywords:

transcriptome analysis;
next-generation sequencing technologies;
medicinal plants;
virtual terminator nucleotides;
dilution factor


The issues of interrelation of personality career orientations and organizational culture are regarded, and the features of the interrelation of career orientations with the parameters of organizational culture perception are described.


The effect of different diradylglycerol on three ethanolamine glyceropholipids biosynthesis ability was studied by means of kinetic study on ethanolamine phosphotransferase in guinea pig heart.The results revealed that the synthesis of phosphatidylethanolamine was inhibited by 1-alky1-2-acyl glycerol and alkeny1-2-acylglycerol,but the formation of plasmenylethanolamine was not affected by 1,2-diacylglycerol,and revealed the inhibition of different diradylglycerol for ethanolamine phosphotranferase appeared a noncompetitive inhibition in favor of the mutual coordination for three ethanolamine glycerophosphlipid biosynthesis.


The preparation of a ZSM-5 zeolite membrane on porous stainless steel disk by hydrothermal synthesis with electrophoretic deposition (EPD) as a seeding method was investigated. Micron size ZSM-5 crystal powder was seeded by EPD on the support disk by using ZSM-5 powder dispersed in ethanol. The seeded amounts were easily controlled by the deposition time during EPD. The membrane after secondary growth had a low amount of zeolite in comparison with the in situ seeding method and the permeance of single gas such as He, N2 and CO2 was also low in comparison with that of the in situ seeding method.


The AAVMC Foresight report 1 identified community engagement as a means of promoting the societal value of veterinary medicine, garnering public trust, and educating young people about the role of veterinarians. Through community engagement, veterinary professionals can build relationships that create opportunities for community members to better trust and comply with medical recommendations to increase patient well being. 2,3 In addition, veterinary students may derive particular benefits from community engagement opportunities. However, there is a dearth of research examining veterinary student community-engagement and service-learning experiences beyond the development of clinical skills. 4 Community-engagement experiences for veterinary students can increase the visibility and status of the profession and educate the public on the links between animal and public health. Veterinary students can also use these experiences to develop core professional competencies. Alongside faculty mentors, veterinary students can leverage their interactions with community members of diverse backgrounds and ages to develop professional skills in communication, equity-mindedness, inclusivity, cultural competency, and more. 2,3,5 Further, the development of communication skills is identified in the AAVMC Competency-Based Veterinary Education Framework 5 as essential for safeguarding both animal and public health. Findings in human medicine indicate positive associations between improvements in communication practices and favorable patient outcomes. 6 To yield similar benefits, veterinary students require consistent and targeted practice that extends beyond single or short-term lessons. 7-10 Veterinary colleges use a variety of methods to focus on these skills through coursework, role playing, guest speakers, and community-service programs. 7-10 However, students need opportunities to interact with and adapt their communication styles to a range of conversational partners, such as clients and colleagues. 11 For veterinary medical students, practicing their communication skills during community engagement could provide such opportunities and expedite their growth, in that these nontechnical


The following thesis tries to determine if and how students in elementary schools understand the concept of protected areas, as well as how important the role of pictograms is in understanding which activities are permitted in such areas and which are prohibited. For the purposes of the thesis we conducted a research, which involved fourth-graders and fifth-graders from seven different elementary schools, all located in Central Slovenia. 353 pupils (180 boys and 173 girls) filled in the questionnaire and took the test.
The majority of the pupils participating in our research perceive protected areas as areas of prohibition. The concept of protected areas is clearer to fifth-graders than fourth-graders, while gender plays no role in the pupils' understanding. We confirmed that in some cases girls convey a more positive attitude towards protected areas and nature-related activities than boys. Our results also demonstrate that in certain cases the differences among fourth-graders and fifth-graders in regard to their understanding of protected areas are quite significant.
We have confirmed our main hypothesis: pupils faced with positive pictograms see protected areas as areas where a number of activities is allowed, but they also realize which activities are prohibited. On the other hand, those faced with negative pictograms tend to focus more on prohibited activities, and are able to list significantly less permitted activities.
Visual and text messages influence the pupils' perception and understanding, which is something teachers need to keep in mind when teaching. Our research is also important for those who design the information boards found in protected areas: the design of such boards can greatly influence how one perceives protected areas.
We have also come to the conclusion that most pupils understand the meaning of pictograms in protected areas. Nonetheless, further research is needed as only a small pattern was used in our research. It would also be prudent to conduct a research, in which pupils themselves would be able to create various pictograms.


Bacillus cereus has been noted as hydrocarbonoclastic microbe that has ability to degrade hydrocarbons in non-saline conditions and some often to be found on high salinity environtment conditions. The purpose of this research is to determine the ability of strains Bacillus cereus (VIC) were isolated from non-saline environment to degrade hydrocarbons in crude oil on the different salinity condition. Bacillus cereus (VIC) was inoculated on the medium that has contaminated by crude oil with salinity level of 0,3

, 9,4

, dan 19,6

and incubated for 15 days. Determination of microbial growth is by using Total Plate Count (TPC) method along with determination of Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH) percentage using gravimetry method for every 5 day. The determination of microbial growth showed that Bacillus cereus (VIC) has the tolerancefor salinity level up to 19,6

because it is able to grow to a density of 6.9 x 10 6 CFU/ml on the 15th day. Bacillus cereus (VIC) is also able to degrades hydrocarbons on crude oil pollutants that indicated from degradation of TPH percentage in the medium up to 21% during 15 days incubation period on the medium with salinity level of 19,6

. Biodegradation using Bacillus cereus (VIC) can increase TPH degradation on the medium up to 19,8% than TPH degradation because of weathering. Keywords: Biodegradation, Bacillus cereus (VIC), Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH), Salinity.


Aim of this study was testing annually yield variation of winter wheat in eastern Croatia (EC) region with emphasis on Vukovar-Syrmium County (VSC) for 1981-2007 period and their connection with precipitation and temperature regimes. The growing season 2002/2003 was unfavorable for winter wheat. Water shortage was its main characteristic because in October-June period (Osijek Weather Bureau) precipitation quantity was only 284 mm or for 42% lower compared to long-term mean (LTM: 1961-1990). Drought stress was especially manifested in 4-month March-June period because of total 79 mm precipitation or only 32% compared to LTM. Cold winter (mean air-temp. -2.6 °C in 2-month period January-February compared to 0.2 °C for LTM) and above averages temperatures in May and June (mean 22.2 °C or for 4.2 °C higher compared to LTM) were additional unfavorable factors of wheat growing (mean yields in the region and VSC: 3.30 and 3.50 t/ha, respectively). The 1998/1999 growing season was also unfavorable for winter wheat as result of water excess in October, November and June, cold winter as well. These conditions resulted by low yields in EC and VSC (3.62 t/ha and 3.72 t/ha, respectively). The favorable1989/1990 growing season characterized moderate quantity of precipitation (October– June) in amount of 352 mm or about 30% lower compared to LTM and their relatively uniform distribution. At the same period, mean air-temperature was 9.1 °C or for 1.3 °C higher. Middle winter is additional characteristic of this growing season (mean 4.6 °C in December-March period or 2.7 °C above LTM ; mean 7.8°C in February and March or even 5.2 °C above LTM). During remaining part of winter wheat growing season (April-June) temperature regime was in accordance with LTM, while precipitation was for nearly 20 % lower. Under these favorable conditions bumper crop of wheat in EC (6.50 t/ha) and VSC (6.72 t/ha) were found. Key words: wheat, yield variation, precipitation, air-temperature, the eastern Croatia.


cis and trans forms of n-butylallyl potassium have been prepared by low temperature metallation of cis and trans heptene-2. Their rates of reaction with butadiene in tetrahydrofuran have been measured as a function of temperature. The trans form is more reactive. The results are compared with the propagation rates of butadiene in tetrahydrofuran using K+ as counter-ion.


A dynamical model is developed to infer the energy content of a relativistic-electron-beam--heated plasma column from global or local magnetic field measurements. Under this model, magnetic signals are interpreted in terms of the propagation of macroscopic magnetosonic waves, and differences in charcteristics such as beam duration, probe position, and pulse shape, etc., can be distinguished. This model applied to experimental regimes where the commonly used static model becomes invalid.


Experiments were carried out with the synchrocyclotron of the Laboratory of Nuclear Problems to determine total cross sections for the inelastic interaction of pi mesons with nuclei of carbon, aluminum, copper, tin, and lead. The method employed was the recording of events which result in the removal of a particle from the beam in passing through a scatterer made of the substance under investigation. (A.C.)


Many actinomycetes strains were isolated from soil samples of Thiruvananthapuram District, Kerala. The isolated strains were identified based on their morphological, cultural and biochemical characteristics. Totally thirty actinomycetes species were isolated and used for antibacterial activity. Out of thirty actinomycetes species, Streptomyces spp., showed the best level of antibacterial activity against human and fish pathogens. The bioactive compound protein was partially purified and tested for antibacterial activity. The partially purified bioactive compound was subjected for SDS-PAGE for protein profiling and band was obtained. The partially purified protein was allowed for High Performance Liquid Chromatography analysis and was tested for antibacterial activity against human and fish pathogens. The purified protein again subjected to SDS-PAGE analysis.


This essay examines the nature of kingship of Pamphilia in the context of the political debates of Jacobean England, investigating what kind of kingship Mary Wroth supported under the reign of James 1. Wroth"s construction of the monarchy of the kingdom of Pamphilia engages with most heated political issues, such as the origin of kingship and the existence of conquests in English history. As I will further argue, the kingship of Pamphilia has the characteristics of the people"s choice of their ruler regardless of conquest and the mutual contract between the king and the people. These features suggest that Wroth was not a supporter of James 1"s absolutism as Josephine A. Roberts asserts, but rather of the limited monarchy.


The focus of my paper is the chapter on starch (amylum) in N. Everett's recent edition of the Alphabet of Galen (Galen. alfab.), an important but hitherto neglected work from late antiquity featuring some three hundred pharmaceuticals. While discussing the Latin text of this chapter and some of the problems of Everett's editorial approach, other accounts of the preparation of starch in ancient and medieval sources will be considered, shedding some light on e.g. the alphabetical version of Dioscorides and the pharmaceutical dictionary of Matthaeus Silvaticus (14th century). Matthaeus Silvaticus excerpted material from, among others, the Arabic writer Serapion, recently identified with Ibn Wāfid; this is outlined in an appendix. keywoRds: starch (amylum), The Alphabet of (Ps.)Galen, Ps.Serapion (Serapion Iunior, Liber aggregatoris), Matthaeus Silvaticus (Pandectae), Dyascorides (Dioscorides alphabeticus).


ABSTRACT This paper describes the development of a crowdsourced indoor navigation system named SoleWay. Because the input of volunteers is crucial, special attention was paid to the usability of the system at different stages throughout its development. Besides a user-friendly system, this has resulted in a number of important insights that can facilitate the development of future systems: the importance social motivation of potential users, integration of a stepwise approach (with a gradual release and subsequent user evaluations), and adaptation to user requirements. These elements combined are also crucial to be able to obtain a critical crowd that can sustain a viable content.


Objective:To investigate the clinical efficacy of N2O inhaled labor analgesia.Methods:The labor progress,intrapartum,postpartum hemorrhage,neonatal score and the rate of cesarean of the patients of these two groups(120 cases each group) were observed.Results:The labor of the observation group(562±150) min was shorter than that of the control group(730±160) min(P0.05);there was a significant difference in the intrapartum [(165±10) ml vs(175±15) ml](P0.05) and there was no significant difference in the 2 h postpartum hemorrhage [(236±25) ml vs(242±27) ml](P0.05),the rate of cesarean of the observation group(87.5%) was obviously lower than that of the control group(77.5%)(P0.05).Conclusion:N2O inhaled labor analgesia is so noninvasive and easily operated that can be used widely,with shortening the duration of labor and lowering the cesarean rate significantly.


Recently, Huang et al. found that the lowest energy form of B19 (1) is a beautiful ring structure with two planar paromatic systems nested inside one another. The inner fragment (ring A) is a pentagonal six-atom group sharing two p electrons, surrounded by a peripheral layer of thirteen boron atoms (ring B), sharing further ten p electrons (Figure 1). Interestingly, both fragments individually satisfy


Cascajosa Virino's chapter, on the other hand, reviews representations of terrorism on Spanish cinema and television series, including fictional and non-fictional events. The author argues that some of these representations, including those of events perpetrated by ETA and the Madrid train bombings on 11 March 2004, have avoided the ideological nature of terrorism and have focused on it as a common criminal activity. The chapter pays attention to some specific episodes of Cuéntame Cómo Pasó, which dealt with terrorist events in Franco's times, including the death of Franco's right-hand man Luis Carrero Blanco by ETA, and it also makes references to the 48-hour kidnapping and eventual murder of Miguel Ángel Blanco in 1997. Cascajosa Virino highlights how Spain is divided into two 'clearly defined and irreconcilable' halves, not only with reference to the Civil War and ETA's terrorism, but also in relation to the Madrid train bombings. In addition, the chapter offers some interesting insights into the use of humour to represent terrorism on Spanish television, with special references to programmes such as Vaya Semanita and Homo Zapping News. In the introductory chapter Ibáñez points out that the authors were interested in comparing representations of historical memory in Italy and Spain, bearing in mind the cultural similarities between both countries and the role of the media in the recent rearticulation of discourses about the nation and national cultures in both countries. Although this is an objective worth pursuing, it would have been fruitful to explore the insights that can be drawn from this comparison, perhaps in a concluding chapter that indicates the significance of carrying out this cross-country study and what we can learn from it. From the perspective of a Spanish reader who is already familiar with the contextualization of the chapters dedicated to Spanish memory, but no so acquainted with the Italian case studies, it is fair to say that the book does not assume any previous knowledge in memory studies or the specific historical and sociopolitical contexts of the case studies. Therefore, readers will find historical references easy to understand and engage with. Overall, this is a useful contribution to the field of memory studies in the Spanish and Italian contexts, and to the study of media representations of historical memory more generally. This source is particularly relevant for anyone, including students and academics, initializing themselves in the study of memory in the media. This is also a valuable source for those seeking to learn about a range of specific case studies and the representations of particular events or topics in relation to memory, particularly the Civil War, the dictatorship and terrorism.


Isothermal drying rates and desorption isotherms of lemon juice were measured and compared with the data for a simulated lemon juice, sucrose, maltodextin and citric acid. The drying rates of lemon juice were much lower than the values for the simulated lemon juice and maltodextrin. Equilibrium water contents of lemon juice were much higher than those for other sugars, and similar to the values for the simulated lemon juice and citric acid.


Massive shore ice piles and grounded ice ridges up to 30 m high were examined along the northern coast of Somerset Island between 1973 and 1976. The ice ridges, composed of 1 to 2 m thick ice blocks and occasionally thicker multi-year ice blocks, occurred most frequently along the north and west shores of capes and headlands. 'Cape Fisher' was the site of shore ice piling during each of the four years and one set of ice piles, built 15-60 m inland existed three years. Effects of grounded ice ridges on nearshore morphology were minimal but ice-push features were observed as much as 185 m inland across the beach.


Currently, there is a popular slogan in the field of education, i.e.; improving the self capacity is vital in order for students to become globalized and connect to the worldwide network. For the purpose of cultivating student's abilities to be competent when communicating with the people from different cultural backgrounds, not only must the students possess oral language skills, they also need to know how to compose their thinking into written words. Writing courses currently are not given equal weight as compared to speaking in traditional language classes, especially in the junior college system. Therefore, it is hard for the students to achieve the goals that concerned authorities would hope for. This paper discussed how to help those who are interested in writing in English but have difficulties undertaking this process by themselves. The participants all majored in Applied English. It was the first time for them to take a writing class. In this paper, I attempted to realize what kind of language students prefer to use in their writing. To what extent will the L1 influence the L2 output? What are appropriate procedures to conduct in a writing class for novice students? Will the concepts of correct grammar influence their written expressions? Although all the participants majored in English, they were originally from vocational schools. Compared to the students in some other colleges, their English performance might be lower. Fortunately, the writing class was a medium forum of around 30 students. Thus, the teacher could address the student's needs individually and provide necessary assistance. In the findings, I detailed methods which were suitable for the students to apply so that they could hopefully connect with people from other cultures without any communication breakdowns and continue to broaden their worldwide vision.


A new structure of second order digital phase locked loop (DPLL) called modified second order DPLL (MSO-DPLL) has been proposed. Ranges of initial conditions leading to the phase locking condition of both conventional and modified second order DPLL have been determined from computer simulation. The phase error dynamics of both the loops have also been studied using digital computers. These observations establish the larger frequency acquisition range (FAR) of the MSO-DPLL compared to the conventional loop.


Summary A pulmonary embolism model in hamsters was used for the quantitative evaluation of the thrombolytic and pharmacokinetic properties of variants of tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA). A 25 μi 125I-fibrin labeled human plasma clot was made in vitro and injected into the jugular vein of heparinized hamsters. The extent of thrombolysis within 90 min was determined as the difference between the radioactivity injected in the jugular vein and that recovered in the heart and lungs. Recombinant t-PA (home-made rt-PA or Activase®) infused intravenously over 60 min caused dose-dependent progressive thrombolysis. The results of thrombolytic potency (clot lysis in percent versus dose administered in mg/kg) and of specific thrombolytic activity (clot lysis in percent versus steady state plasma level in μg/ml) were fitted with an exponentially transformed sigmoidal function y = 100 c/(1+e−a(ex−eb)) and the maximal percent lysis (c), the dose or plasma level at which maximal rate of lysis is achieved (b) and the maximal rate of lysis (z = ¼ ac .eb) were determined. With rt-PA, these parameters were c = 72 ± 6% (mean ± SEM), b = 0.19 ± 0.08 mg/kg, z = 68 ± 25% lysis per mg/kg, with corresponding values of 87 ± 5%, 0.07 ± 0.03 mg/kg and 150 ± 38% lysis per mg/kg for Activase® (p = NS). Deletion of the finger and growth factor domains in rt-PA ( rt-PA-ΔFE) was not associated with marked alteration of the thrombolytic potency (c = 90 ± 30%, b = 0.34 ± 0.35 mg/kg, and z = 54 ± 14% per mg/kg), but was associated with a significant reduction of the specific thrombolytic activity. Substitution of the kringle 1 domain by a second copy of the kringle 2 domain in rt-PA and in rt-PA-ΔFE did not significantly alter the thrombolytic potency as characterized by a simultaneous decrease of the b value and an increase of the z value (b = 0.07 ± 0.03 mg/kg and z = 210 ± 70% per mg/kg for rt-PA-ΔK1∇K2 and b = 0.13 ± 0.02 mg/kg and z = 210 ± 29% per mg/kg for rt-PA-ΔFEK1∇K2). Deletion of either the finger or the growth factor domain in rt-PA-ΔK1∇K2 also did not significantly alter the thrombolytic potency (b = 0.08 ± 0.008 mg/kg and z = 320 ± 33% per mg/kg for rt-PA-ΔEK1∇K2 and b = 0.05 ± 0.01 mg/kg and z = 270 ± 48% per mg/kg for rt-PA-ΔFK1∇K2). Likewise, none of the variants had a higher specific thrombolytic activity than wild-type rt-PA. Plasma clearance rates were reduced 10- to 20-fold for the rt-PA mutants lacking the FE domains, and 3- to 5-fold for rt-PA-ΔK1∇K2.


In the suspension of water and calcite, with pH 10.14, on the border of calcite / water was formed a double electric layer. Its structure, or hydrophilic properties of minerals, depended on the concentration of potential determination ions, Ca2+ i 2 CO3 , pH of the environment, and the adsorption of water molecules and ions (and molecules), formed in a suspension of calcite as a result of its solubility in alkaline media. The structure of such a way formed electrical double layer, influenced on interaction of minerals with stearic acid as a surface of active substance. In the presence of stearic acid, the pH value of slurry decreased to 8.72 due to the dissociation of stearic acid in alkaline medium and reaction of neutralization. As the result of dissociation, in the suspension, besides the un-dissociated acid molecules, there were also stearine ions CH3(CH2)16COO-, (St-), which have reacted with the surface of minerals, transforming it from hydrophilic to hydrophobic.


Purpose. To describe the prevalence and determinants of sodium-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors among U.S. adults Design. A cross-sectional survey was used. Setting. The study was set in the United States in 2012. Subjects. Participants were 6122 U.S. adults. Measures. Sodium-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors were measured. Analysis. Chi-squared tests were used to determine differences in sodium-related knowledge, attitude, and behaviors by respondent characteristics; multiple logistic regression was used to examine associations between selected respondent characteristics and health professional advice, reported action, or knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors (adjusted for all other respondent characteristics). Results. About three-fourths of respondents answered eating too much sodium is "somewhat" or "very" harmful to their health. Twenty-six percent reported receiving health professional advice, and 45% reported taking action to reduce their sodium intake. The prevalence of reported action was highest among adults receiving advice, those with hypertension, blacks, and those aged ≥65 years. Sixty-two percent who reported action agreed that most of their sodium comes from processed or restaurant foods. Of those reporting action, the most common tactics to reduce sodium intake were checking nutrition labels, using other spices than salt, and choosing low-sodium foods; requesting lower-sodium options when eating out was the least common tactic. Conclusion. Results suggest almost half of adults overall and the vast majority of those receiving health professional advice are taking some action to watch or reduce sodium intake. Although a substantial proportion report using recommended tactics to lower intake, many are not using the most effective tactics. In order to reach the general population, health communication messages could be simpler and focus on the most effective tactics to reduce sodium intake. Furthermore, health professionals can help reduce sodium intake by discussing the benefits of sodium reduction and tactics to do so, regardless of a hypertension diagnosis.


The contact charge transfer (CCT) complexes of isopropyl ether, phenyl isopropyl ether and benzyl isopropyl ether with O 2 were measured. It was found that the oxygenative position of isopropyl ether is different from that of phenyl isopropyl ether and benzyl isopropyl ether due to benzene ring in their structures. In the former the oxygenative position is at the etheroxy bond while in the latter at the benzene ring. The mechanism of the initial dark oxidation of ether was proposed.


Muscle protein catabolism and circulatoxy deregulation are the major determinants of the loss of physical fitness during and after acute infectious diseases. The proneness to contract infections seems to be higher following intense and prolonged exercise due to temporary immunodeficiency. Conversely, exercise training up to a certain level may be associated with improved immune function. During ongoing infection, baroreceptor stimulating activity limits fitness deterioration, whereas strenuous exercise may be hazardous, especially if cardiotropic micro‐organisms are suspected or proven. After abatement of symptoms and fever, gradually increasing activity and training may generally be promptly resumed in most infections; myocarditis and mononucleosis, however, require individualized recommendations.


We introduce a new non-resonant low-regularity integrator for the cubic nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation (NLSE) allowing for long-time error estimates which are optimal in the sense of the underlying PDE. The main idea thereby lies in treating the zeroth mode exactly within the discretization. For long-time error estimates, we rigorously establish the long-time error bounds of different low-regularity integrators for the nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation (NLSE) with small initial data characterized by a dimensionless parameter $\varepsilon \in (0, 1]$. We begin with the low-regularity integrator for the quadratic NLSE in which the integral is computed exactly and the improved uniform first-order convergence in $H^r$ is proven at $O(\varepsilon \tau)$ for solutions in $H^r$ with $r>1/2$ up to the time $T_{\varepsilon } = T/\varepsilon $ with fixed $T>0$. Then, the improved uniform long-time error bound is extended to a symmetric second-order low-regularity integrator in the long-time regime. For the cubic NLSE, we design new non-resonant first-order and symmetric second-order low-regularity integrators which treat the zeroth mode exactly and rigorously carry out the error analysis up to the time $T_{\varepsilon } = T/\varepsilon ^2$. With the help of the regularity compensation oscillation (RCO) technique, the improved uniform error bounds are established for the new non-resonant low-regularity schemes, which further reduce the long-time error by a factor of $\varepsilon^2$ compared with classical low-regularity integrators for the cubic NLSE. Numerical examples are presented to validate the error estimates and compare with the classical time-splitting methods in the long-time simulations.


We investigate the Jp = 1/2- baryons in the octets based on flavor SU(3) symmetry. Since baryons with same quantum numbers can mix with each other, we consider the mixing between two octets before their mixing with the singlet. Most predicted decay widths are consistent with the experimental data, and meanwhile we predict two possible Ξ mass ranges of the two octets.


According to the currently reviewed Child Life,  for younger children was published from 1930 to 1939. For more than 10 years, the illustrations of Agachagi were drawn by Kim Dong-gil, Lim Hong-eun, and Lim Dong-eun. This article summarized the writings and illustrations of  and attempted to analyze the headings and textual illustrations of  drawn by Kim Dong-gil from 1930 to 1935.
As confirmed, Kim Dong-gil was a member of the Korean Society of Jesus and was in charge of writing, painting, and editing the Agachagi from March 1930 to October 1935. In Agachagi, which Kim Dong-gil was in charge of, the story of providing comic-style writing, play, and new knowledge was added, and "Sangtagi" and "Wish of the Month" were irregularly published. The story was mainly composed of traditional fairy tale characters and factual fairy tale characters, and writings and fables with personality traits, adapted fairy tales, dream stories, and religious stories were often added. The song was mainly in the form of a children's song.
Kim Dong-gil's illustrations are largely divided into headings and body illustrations, and headings were often used in a decorative sense. In the early 1930s, among the textual illustrations, the end of the text mainly served to decorate the remaining space.
Kim Dong-gil's illustrations of the text included awkward characters in the beginning and many illustrations that lacked sophistication in detailed descriptions. As time accumulates, Kim Dong-gil's illustrations mature and have three characteristics. First, it shows a new perspective with an experimental image, Second, it builds the personal character and atmosphere of the work with light and shade, and Third, it shows modern scenery with perspective. Interestingly, when Kim Dong-gil was in charge of, religious writings are rare in Agachagi and the character rarely appears in illustrations.


While mobility consumer groups are increasingly inhomogeneous due to individual life styles and preferences, the spectre of transport service offers is also becoming progressively diverse. Emerging information and communication technologies enable people to make use of their travel time for additional activities such as work and leisure by using mobile phones, laptops and tablets. Multitasking has rapidly becoming a widespread social phenomenon.
The paper presents the preliminary outcomes of MobileTIMES, a research project which analyses the multidimensional use of commuter travel time. Based on the analysis of time use studies, an empirical survey in two Austria model regions was carried out for developing concepts for multitasking design solutions with the goal of popularizing transport behaviour transition to public transport. The survey was carried out in two Austrian regions with different infrastructural and social characteristics: a growing rural area in Austria and a growing suburban region in the south of Vienna. Information on general conditions, requirements and suitability of current transport and mobility services from user perspective were gathered. The diffusion of electronic devices plays an important role as it has not only changed travel time activities but - as a result – also individual travel time perception. The consequences on the transport system level will be described. Multitasking designs and multi-functionality offers in public transport to increase user acceptance for longer travelling time are presented. The potential for multifunctional activities in the vehicle interior as well as in bus or train stops on commuter trips is exemplarily presented in the paper.


Background: Looking towards 2050, substantial increases in agricultural productivity are needed to meet the projected demands of the growing world population. Inevitably, profound changes will occur in the sheep production systems and Latin-American countries such as Mexico will need to adapt to these changes. Objective: To provide a brief update on sheep production in Mexico and discuss the current challenges and prospects. Main findings: The development of the Mexican sheep sector is relatively slow since it is affected by complex factors including social, political, and economic changes that impact sheep production, and consumption of sheep products, as well as the diverse type of production systems throughout the country. Extensive production systems in Mexico are associated with limitations but have the potential for improvement in areas such as nutrition management, breeding programs, and response to consumer perception trends. In this regard, integrated efforts should be made to enhance sheep productivity in Mexico. Implications: The analysis was limited only to scientific contributions explored. An analysis that considered other sources of information could have strengthened this analytical exercise. Conclusion: The sheep industry in this country will concurrently face with two challenges related to increasing production efficiency: a) sheep production aimed to keep sustainability and animal welfare, and b) production of by-products, considering product quality, differentiation, value added, and marketing. Lastly, Mexican sheep production will require to consider the animal, social, and farming systems that together promote sustainable production.


In the field of poultry science, automation technologies can be highly helpful. Using an automatic heating and lighting system for newborn chickens helps to sustain a temperature that is ideal for their development both during the day and during the cold winter nights. A self-regulating temperature device that uses a fixed point or value to regulate the temperature of a lab or room is known as an automatic heat control system. The research study aimed to manage and control heat and lighting system automatically using Arduino. The user will set the desired temperature, which is then compared to the temperature of the poultry house as determined by a temperature sensor, and the device responds by automatically turning on the heater/lamp based on the temperature differential. Time and temperature will be registered on the SD card. The heater will turn on if the temperature falls below the fixed limit. Dip Trace, a circuit modelling program used to create electronic systems and PCBs, was used to create the device. The ATmega328p microcontroller and Arduino software were used to code. To provide a controlled voltage to most of the active devices in the system design circuit, a 5v DC power supply was added. For data recording, an SD card and an RTC are attached to the circuit. This method maintains a warm environment for baby chicks while also providing light. This technology regulates the temperature of the surroundings without the need for human intervention. The android mobile app may be used to monitor and check the temperature status of poultry homes at any time via a Bluetooth connection.


Phase retrieval has been an attractive problem, and many algorithms have been proposed. Randomized Kaczmarz method is a fast iterative method with good performance in both convergence rate and computational cost with theoretical analysis. However, they all assume that the iteratively updated variables and the original data are independent, which is not true in reality. In this paper, we study for the first time the convergence analysis of this method in the real case, where only a finite number of measurements are available. Specifically, we theoretically prove the linear rate of convergence for the phase retrieval via randomized Kaczmarz algorithm without independence assumption.


The historical and philosophical aspects of suicide in Islam, as well as the influences of Islamic culture on the phenomena of suicide and attempted suicide are discussed, focusing chiefly on attitudes in Egypt. All studies show that suicide is less prevalent in Islamic societies compared to countries associated with other religions. Here, the reasons for suicide in different Islamic and Arabic countries are evaluated in relation to the sociocultural context. The cognitive schemata of Muslims follow the phrases of the Koran that humans were created for the main reason of worshipping God, and that life and death issues should be controlled by God and not by self-destruction. This faith can be a factor in preventing suicide attempts, especially in those practising their religious rituals. The phenomenology of psychiatric disorders in Islamic culture is characterized and dominated in its content, whether hallucinations or delusions by religious themes.


Leitao, F., Santos, M. N., and Monteiro, C. C. 2007. Contribution of artificial reefs to the diet of the white sea bream (Diplodus sargus). - ICES Journal of Marine Science, 64: 473-478.An evaluation of the trophic relationship between Diplodus sargus and artificial reefs (ARs) in the Algarve (southern Portugal) is based on a comparison of stomach contents and the macrobenthic communities present at the AR and in surrounding sandy bottom areas. Only adult white sea bream were observed in the vicinity of the ARs. The percentage of items found in the stomach that were characteristic of AR hard substratum was high (67%). Although the diet contained a wide variety of items, namely reef algae, invertebrates (crustaceans, gastropods, and bivalves), and fish, Balanus amphitrite and Gibbula spp. contributed most to the diet. The diet of D. sargus was strongly associated with prey availability on the AR, so highlighting the importance of these artificial habitats to the species. It seems that these artificial feeding areas, owing to their extent and benthic production, are enhancing the local D. sargus stock and hence the fishery.


The overall aim of this thesis was to investigate pregnancy and childbirth in women with intellectual disability (ID), in Sweden, the health of their newborns and midwifery care for these women. Tw ...


Historical data are used to support the argument that the popularity of municipal contracting in Los Angeles County (the Lakewood Plan) resulted not from its adoption by local suburban residents seeking more efficient urban service provision, but rather from its use by members of local class organizations in order to create municipal boundaries that would surround and protect their territorial interests. The class position and objectives of political actors involved in 46 incorporation attempts in Los Angeles County provide evidence demonstrating how the conflicts and outcomes of the incorporation process were class based.


The study applies shift-share method and processes the data on the output value of forest industry of Liaoning and China in the period from 2003 to 2007. The comparative analysis is used through dividing the data into two stages of before and after the reform and the specific development of forest industry of Liaoning is analyzed in detail before and after the reform. The conclusion is that:the forest tenure reform accelerates the development of forest industry of Liaoning. The development of pre-reform in Liaoning fell behind the development of forest industry of the overall country,by con-trast,faster than the level of post-reform. Forest industrial structure of Liaoning has changed greatly after the forest tenure reform and the industrial competitiveness is further improved while maintaining their dominating position existing before the reform. But there are still some declining and slowly-growing industries,so forest industrial structure needs a further adjustment. The regional development of Liaoning forest industry shows strong competitiveness with more types of industries,more rapid devel-opment,stronger competitiveness and higher position. Especially after the forest tenure reform,the momentum is more apparent. Based on the analysis,the article proposes countermeasures and suggestion to promote sustainable development of Liaoning forest industry.


The traveling wave solution of a hyperbolic model for chemotaxis in one space dimension is studied in this paper. By using some transformations of dependent variables and independent variables, we apply the tanh method and improved tanh method to the model, from which some traveling wave solutions in explicit form are presented.


Almost from its inception early American literary studies has been grounded in an interdisciplinary approach that insistently situates its major (and minor) figures in cultural context. Given that most published writing in British North America did not take the form of belles-lettres, early americanists have dedicated their attention to texts other fields have often considered subliterary. Instead of "literature," early American studies has largely focused on religion and politics, and many of the key figures in its narrative have been celebrated for contributions other than aesthetic ones. In this regard, we might say that by necessity early American literary studies was ahead of the cultural studies curve.1 The field's


The authors present a clear analysis of the differences between the synoptic-scale conditions associated with clustered and isolated hail events in Switzerland, both north and south of the Alps, and discuss the differences between those conditions. The steps in their analysis are described clearly and the figures illustrating the analysis are of high quality. In my opinion, the only point that could be improved a little is to elaborate a bit on why contrasting isolated from clustered events is so important. Overall, the paper is of high quality and I recommend it for publication with only minor revisions.


We compute the power spectra in the cosmic microwave background and cold dark matter (CDM) fluctuations seeded by strings, using the largest string simulations performed so far. We find that local strings differ from global defects in that the scalar components of the stress-energy tensor dominate over vector and tensor components. This result has far reaching consequences. We find that cosmic strings exhibit a single Doppler peak of acceptable height at high . They also seem to have a less severe bias problem than global defects, although the CDM power spectrum in the standard cosmology is the wrong shape to fit large scale structure data.


An auxiliary start-up system is required in fluidized bed combustors in order to heat the bed to a temperature at which coal fed to the bed will ignite and burn without producing excessive smoke. Four methods are used by the U.K. National Coal Board, the one selected for a particular application being dependent on the type of solid fuel used and the type of appliance. To illustrate the nature of the design calculations associated with start-up, the paper describes the principles of a mathematical model developed to determine the rating of burner required for the hot gas start-up approach.


This paper seeks to assess gender power relations in political parties, which might (dis)empower both individual women seeking to become active participants as well as women as a group. Parties have historically been male- dominated structures with gender-biased organizational principles, rules, practices, and inertias. In this context, we explore how these factors shape power over (domination) , power to (resistance), and power with (solidarity). Our focus shifts from the formal level towards a more complex concept of power dynamics within parties, showing differentiated and conflicting patterns of formal and real power. We do so by analyzing focus groups composed of women party activists from five Spanish political parties. Overall, the logic of distribution fails to fully account for the foundations of gender power relations, and changes in the principles of office distribution (such as quotas) have been clearly insufficient to challenge men's power and women's subordination. Despite women's increasing resistance and collective action, as institutionalized domination remains basically unchallenged, men's capacity (power over) to constrict women's power (to and with) still prevails.


In this article is described the development and implementation of health care technologies into the education system, the need for health education pedagogy is becoming ever more relevant global health pedagogy, its technology, methodology for its implementation into the educational process and its principles, the development of methods, tools and approaches which are widely studied.


We present measurements of electrical resistivity ρ(T), specific heat C(T), entropy S(T), and magnetic susceptibility χ(T) as functions of temperature T for the alloy system Y 1-x U x Pd 3 . For x=0.2, ρ(T)/ρ(O) is almost linear in T for 0.2≤T≤20 K, and C(T)/T∼-ln(aT) for 0.6<T<16 K. Also, the added molar entropy per U, ΔS(T)-ΔS(O) appears to saturate to (R/2)ln(2), suggesting that ΔS(O)≃(R/2)ln(2)


The invention discloses a service information sending method, a service information customizing platform device and a service information customizing system. The service information customizing platform device sends acquiring requests for acquiring corresponding service information to corresponding service providing servers according to customizing requests for customizing the service information sent by a terminal device; each service providing server respectively sends the service information customized by users to the service information customizing platform device according to the acquiring requests; and then the acquired service information is accordingly formed into personalized webpages of corresponding users to be sent to the terminal device by the service information customizing platform device. By coordination of the service information customizing platform device and the service providing servers, the users of the terminal device can acquire the service information of one or a plurality of portal websites by accessing to the webpages, so that information acquisition is more convenient, comprehensive and flexible, and the service information can be displayed to the users of the terminal device in a webpage form, accordingly the information acquisition is not limited by the terminal device and has higher generality.


To improve dehulling rate and reduce the damage rate, a dehulling machine for Camellia oleifera fruit was designed according to the principle of impacting and rubbing. The machine consists of feed hopper, dehulling device, power transmission parts, rack and so on. It adopts impacting of centrifugal plate and rubbing of indoor ring gear for dehulling, which can adapt to the moisture content less than 65% and different sizes of the camellia fruit. The main factors influenced dehulling were established, which includes plate rotating speed and feeding rate, and a shell test was carried out. The results showed the dehulling rate and damage rate increased significantly with the increase of rotating speed. By contrast, with the increase of feeding speed, the dehulling rate increased first and then decreased and the change of damage rate was relatively small. The suitable working parameters of the dehulling machine are as follows: The rotating speed should be about 700 r/min, and feeding speed about 500 kg/h. The dehulling rate could reach 85.3% and the failure rate about 6.5% under this condition.


Summary Examination of the structure of the feeding appendages of Diaptomus kenai using light microscopy showed them to be extremely similar to those of D. oregonensis and other Diaptomus species which have been studied. Their fine morphology was examined using a scanning electron microscope, and pictures are presented showing the mouth region and details of limb structure. Some pictures of D. caducus are also included which show that small differences in detail exist between the two species. The need to study the uses made of each limb in different species as well as their fine morphology is emphasised in the light of the close overall similarity in general limb structure.


Sequence stratigraphic analysis of Eocene shelf and slope deposits near San Diego illustrates how eustasy and tectonics control the development of depositional sequences and facies along an active margin. Sequence boundaries produced by sea level fluctuations chronostratigraphically define, in ascending order, the Delmar, Torrey, Ardath, Scripps, and Friars formations of the La Jolla Group, and the base of the overlying Poway Group. The broad rise and fall of sea level represented by the La Jolla Group follows the general eustatic trend for the time. This trend was interrupted by several brief lowstands, which initiated many of the individual sequences. Facies successions across sequence boundaries are controlled by both eustacy and regional tectonic subsidence. An overall eustatic rise during deposition of the lower La Jolla Group, combined with shelf subsidence, limited subaerial exposure during periodic lowstands, but did not prevent associated erosion of the shelf and slope. In the upper La Jolla Group, sequence boundaries were produced by lowstands punctuating a general eustatic fall and are associated with a more typical abrupt shoaling of facies. However, subsidence continued to limit subaerial exposure until a major eustatic fall produced downcutting of the fluvial Poway Group across the shelf. Gault-related subsidence along themore » shelf edge also controlled the development of a slope facies within the Ardath sequence. However, while both regional and fault-related tectonic subsidence control the succession and distribution of facies, neither obscures the sequence framework produced by eustacy.« less


Structure of bicomponent blends of thermodynamically incompatible PP and HDPE, subjected to plastic flow on the Bridgman anvils at pressures ranging from 1.0 to 4.0 GPa and shear angles 100-1500°, was examined using WAXS. During the plastic flow, the crystallites of the disperse phase were effectively deteriorated to the size of 2.0-4.0 nm. The following diagrams were plotted: compression pressure-composition, shear angle-composition, and annealing temperature-composition. Structural homogeneization of the polymers was controlled by the shear strain and was independent of the applied pressure, at least within the examined range of pressures


This practice application brief reviews the preparation, implementation and evaluation of running behavioural interviews online. In a collaborative program between the School of Information Technology and the Careers and Employment service at Deakin University in Australia, students demonstrated their ability to articulate their generic employability skills within a simulated interview environment using Elluminate Live (www. elluminate.com) (or eLive at Deakin University), a 'real-time' communication application.


The proportional VAT fiscal credit recovery based on a pro rata system, enacted in the article 23 No 3, D.L 825 from 1974, Tax Law on Sales and Services (hereinafter called LIVS), whose calculation is enacted in the article 43, D.S 55 from 1977, allows taxpayers who generate taxable sales or services and exempt or untaxed sales or services, recovering some part of the tax credit mentioned in the article 23 of the law in question, if this is of common use. While pro rata mentioned in D.S 55, is a mixture of the real allocation system and the approximate allocation system, several laws regulate this subject through other ways, such as partial pro rata and permanent setting (similar to the one used in Chile until 1977). There are no arguments or records that justify our pro rata method.
As of the publication of the Law 20.780 in 2014, which modified the concept of sale of real estate properties, and its subsequent modification through the Law 20.899 in 2016, property development companies shall perform the proportionality stated by tax exemptions, and non-taxed facts established in the transitional articles 6 and 7 of the Law 20.780, as well as the new exemptions of article 12 from LIVS.


During the past decades, the B+-tree has been most widely used as an index file structure for disk-resident databases. For the disk based B+-tree, a node update can be cheaply performed just by modifying its associated disk page in place. However, in case that the B+-tree is stored on flash memory, the traditional algorithms of the B+-tree come to be useless due to the prohibitive cost of in-place updates on flash memory. For this reason, the earlier schemes for flash memory B+-trees usually take an approach that saves B+-tree changes from real-time updates into extra temporary storage. Although that approach can easily prevent frequent in-place updates in the B+-tree, it can suffer from a waste of storage space and prolonged search times. Particularly, it is not allowable to process range searches on the leaf node level. To resolve such problems, we devise a new scheme in which the leaf nodes and their parent node are stored together in a single flash block, called the p-node block.


A number of different network technologies are now in these days developed using the ad hoc configuration of networks. Among the wireless sensor network is one of most frequently used network technology for application developments. On the other hand the network devices are suffers from the various security and performance issues due to their ad hoc configurations. Therefore the solution for performance improvement and security concerns are required to investigate. In this presented work both the issues are included and a solution for providing efficiency and security is proposed. The proposed solution first performs the clustering in network. This approach keeps in track the performance of network nodes. To perform the clustering of mobile sensor network the weighted clustering approach is implemented. Additionally a malicious behaviour node tracking method is developed using the acknowledgment processing. During this communication the cryptographic manner of communication is used for providing full proof security. Thus the traditional AES algorithm is implemented for data cryptography and for security key exchange the DH algorithm is consumed. The implementation of the proposed routing technique is performed by manipulating the existing routing protocol namely AODV routing protocol. Additionally the simulation of the developed routing technique is demonstrated using the NS2 simulation environment. The experiments are evaluated with respect to the traditional AODV routing protocol under the attack conditions. Further for comparing the performance of both the networks the routing overhead, end to end delay, energy consumption, packet delivery ratio, and throughput is evaluated as the key performance factors. According to the experimentation results the proposed security technique successfully able to distinguish the attacker nodes and improve the performance even when the attacker is present in network.


Objectives: To examine the cost-effectiveness of the second-generation everolimus-eluting stent (EES) compared to the first-generation paclitaxel-eluting stent (PES) in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in daily practice.
Methods: The cost-effectiveness analysis was based on data from the TAXUS Stent Evaluated at Rotterdam Cardiology Hospital (T-SEARCH) and XIENCE Stent Evaluated at Rotterdam Cardiology Hospital (X-SEARCH) registries. The primary effectiveness measure was major adverse cardiac events (MACE)-free survival, in which the composite of MACE consisted of death, myocardial infarction (MI), repeat PCI and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). The costs were assessed in 2012 Euros (€) and limited to direct medical costs. A bootstrap simulation was used to estimate the uncertainty on the results of MACE-free survival and direct medical costs. An additional analysis was performed to evaluate the impact of patient characteristics on the study results.
Results: At the end of the two year follow-up period, the use of EES was associated with an increased MACE-free survival of 0.076 years and cost savings of €498.34. The probability that EES maintained dominant over PES was confirmed in 76.0% of the bootstrap simulations. The study results were affected by patient characteristics.
Conclusion: EES has proven to be dominant over PES by improving the clinical and economic benefits of PCI in daily practice, even though EES seemed to be worse off based on the patient characteristics.


textabstractThe Ph-D defense of 'Essays on Agricultural Cooperatives; Governance Structure
in Fruit and Vegetable Markets' by Jos Bijman (2002) brought a number of Cooperative
experts together at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. It provided the opportunity to ask
the Ph-D committee members, and a few others, to participate in a workshop 'Restructuring
Agricultural Cooperatives'. This book is the outgrowth of this event.


The reaction of the polymer (SnCl 2 S 2 N 2 ) n or the dimer (SnMe 2 S 2 N 2 ) 2 with chloride ions produces salts of the SnCl 4 S 2 N 2 2− or SnMe 2 ClS 2 N 2 − anions, respectively


How can the future not look bright when you are dealing with a microbial process that can power a light bulb? The study of microbial fuel cells and, more generally, microbe–electrode interactions is rapidly amping up, not only in power production, but also in the number of investigators and areas of study.


With the development of the fundamental research of photodynamic therapy (PDT) and its clinical application, the photobleaching properties of photosensitizers have become a hotspot of research. The experimental research of ALA mediated PDT was carried out in the own designed reaction chamber when the final concentration of ALA is 10 mM/ml, the wavelength and the output power of the light source are 410 nm and 5 mW/cm separately. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) was used to evaluate the cell viability while the photobleaching of PpIX in the subcellular structure of HL60 was detected by fluorescence spectroscopy. The results showed that after 60 min irradiation the fluorescence intensity of mitochondria, lysosomes and endoplasmic reticulum had decreased by 95%, 91.5% and 51.2% respectively compared to that before irradiation. The rate of photobleaching in mitochondria which can characterize the activity of HL60 was significantly higher than others, this suggest that mitochondria might be one of main therapeutic targets of photodynamic therapy.


This study aimed to do research on the influence of Genre Based Pedagogy on students' reading comprehension of explanation texts in a CBI Science class. The current enquiry exercise followed a qualitative research paradigm and was carried out with a 2nd grade class (37 students) at La Salle School in Monteria. Observations, document analysis and interview were the data collection procedures implemented in this study. Data was analyzed under the implementation of the Genre Based Pedagogy explained by Dreyfus, S. J., Humphrey, S., Mahboob, A., & Martin, J. R. (2016). After analyzing the results it was found the Genre Based Pedagogy influenced positively students' reading comprehension of explanation texts in the science class. In addition, it can be said implementing a sample curriculum designed under the GBP contributed to enhance not only teacher's strategies in terms of teaching reading but also students' reading comprehension of texts process. Thus, this study becomes significant in the way it provided the researcher, the science teacher and the school itself with a deep analysis of the strategies to implement the Genre Based Pedagogy in order to foster reading comprehension of explanation texts in young learners and might be taken as a pedagogical insight to improve what is has been done in the science class. Key words: Reading Comprehension, Genre Based Pedagogy, explanation texts, teacher's strategies.


Thermodynamic study is performed on nitrogen expander cycles for large capacity liquefaction of natural gas. In order to substantially increase the capacity, a Brayton refrigeration cycle with nitrogen expander was recently added to the cold end of the reputable propane pre-cooled mixed-refrigerant (C3-MR) process. Similar modifications with a nitrogen expander cycle are extensively investigated on a variety of cycle configurations. The existing and modified cycles are simulated with commercial process software (Aspen HYSYS) based on selected specifications. The results are compared in terms of thermodynamic efficiency, liquefaction capacity, and estimated size of heat exchangers. The combination of C3-MR with partial regeneration and pre-cooling of nitrogen expander cycle is recommended to have a great potential for high efficiency and large capacity.


The interaction between Reactive Brilliant Blue KN-R(RBB KN-R)and DNA was studied by UV-vis and fluorescence spectra.The results showed that RBB KN-R could interact with DNA.The binding mode and effect degree depended on the concentration of RBB KN-R,ionic strength,solution acidity(pH) and phosphate concentration.With the increase of the concentration of RBB KN-R,hyperchromic effect was observed in UV-vis spectrum and fluorescence quenching phenomenon was observed in fluorescence spectrum.RBB KN-R was mainly bound to the base groups of DNA,which led to the change of DNA double-helix structure.The addition of NaCl caused in the axial shrinkage of DNA double-helix structure.In acidic condition,RBB KN-R mainly interacted with the base groups of DNA,but the bound of DNA and EB was restrained in alkaline condition.When the phosphate ions were added,the strength of DNA breaking by RBB KN-R was weakened.


Summary This paper compares two neighboring ray approaches in reflection attenuation tomography, which constrains a layered model of seismic attenuation based on seismic reflection amplitude ratios between neighboring rays from the same source. In this method, the subsurface seismic structure is approximated by a depth model which consists of a number of layers of varying thickness, and each layer has a constant velocity and a constant quality factor, or Q value. The objective is to differentiate amplitude change due to attenuation from the amplitude change caused by other factors. Then the Q values are inverted based on amplitude ratios of neighboring reflections from the same source. The use of the amplitude ratios between neighboring rays in lateral or depth directions from the same source helps to avoid the measurement of source amplitude, which is difficult to obtain and varies in different directions. A synthetic example based on synthetic traces generated from a depth model with a group of layers having rock properties from Gulf of Mexico is conducted to compare two neighboring ray approaches, neighboring rays with same reflectors and neighboring rays with same receivers. The inversion results give similar values close to true Q distribution for both approaches. However, the same receiver approach has the potential to avoid the variation in receiver sensitivity with a field data set. In addition, the same receiver method also provides the possibility of this method conducted in CDP domain.


The objective of this project is to design and simulate an nMOS transistor with a channel
size of o. I 3 )lm. Implementing the scaling law, nMOS transistor o. 13 )lm is designed
from a CMOS transistor 0.18 )lm recipe that had been designed and simulated previously
using the same method. Some important parameters such as channel size, gate oxide
thickness, ion implanted for voltage threshold modification had to be adjusted in
searching the project goals. Fabrication and simulation is done using Virtual Wafer
Fabrication (VWF) software by Silvaco Inc. TCAD Tools. Two primary tools are used
during this project, which are ATHENA and ATLAS. ATHENA works as a simulation
tool for the device fabrication process and ATLAS for electrical characteristics
simulation. The simulation results are given in two-dimensional display using
TONYPLOT editor. From this study, the value of threshold voltage (VTH) for nMOS
transistor is 0.23503 V, junction depth (X}) is O. 198707 )lm; and the value of polysilicon
sheet resistance is 8.63937 ohm/square. As a conclusion, the objective of this project is
achieved. The tools of ATHENA and ATLAS and the scaling factor (5) = 1.38 are
relevant.


The age specific prevalence rates of multiple sclerosis in Wellington, New Zealand, are described. An overall prevalence rate of 39 per 100,000 places this area of New Zealand in one of the high risk zones of the world. Hospital admission statistics and mortality records suggest a gradient of increasing prevalence of multiple sclerosis in New Zealand from north to south. Neither internal nor external migration appear to influence the incidence of multiple sclerosis in Wellington. A critical evaluation of the prevalence of multiple sclerosis in the northern and southern extremities of the country is a prerequisite to further research on multiple sclerosis in New Zealand.


The authors discuss the design of a software reconfiguration strategy for hypercube multicomputer architectures under multiple faults. The advantage of the strategy over previous schemes is that it requires no redundant hardware, but supports reconfiguration through graceful degradation. It is based on the notion of using multiple virtual processors on a single physical processor and using these virtual processors for work-load redistribution under faults. The authors describe an environment, developed on a commercially available Intel iPSC/2 hypercube multicomputer, for implementing the software-based fault tolerance scheme. Results of experiments performed with this environment on the performance degradation of application programs under hardware faults are described. The reconfiguration scheme shows low overhead at low cost, and even provides improved efficiency on a fault-free hypercube.<<ETX>>


Abstract Thermoregulation has been suggested to influence mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) evolution. Previous studies revealed that the mitochondrial protein-coding genes of fish living in temperate climates have smaller dN/dS (Non-synonymous substitution rate/Synonymous substitution rate) than tropical species. However, it is unknown whether different geographic populations of one fish species experience stronger selective pressures between cold and warm climates. The biological characteristics of the Japanese sand lance, Ammodytes personatus in the North-western Pacific is well-suited for assessing the performance of mtDNA evolution among separate geographic populations. In this study, we focused on the mitochondrial ATP6 gene of A. personatus using 174 individuals from eight different sea temperature populations. Two distinct haplotype lineages and a significant population structure (P = 0.016) were found in this species. The frequencies of the two lineages varied with the changes of annual sea temperature. The southern lineage (lineage A, dN/dS = 0.0384) showed a larger dN/dS value than the northern lineage (lineage B, dN/dS = 0.0167), suggesting that sea temperature greatly influences the evolution of the two lineages. The result provides robust evidence of local adaptation between populations in A. personatus.


Industries release many toxic gases like CO2 etc., above the specified limit. This is a matter of serious concern as it affects people's health. A design has been developed for measuring and monitoring the amount of gas (particularly CO2) from any factory site. This will be of help in case when a factory or chimney releases harmful gases cross the permissible limit. An alarm will be sent to the operator's mobile when level of CO2 exceeds the standard level. It also has the temperature of that particular location and can also measure the pressure of CO2.GSM and GPS module comprising of elements like MSP 430 (controller), MG811 (gas sensor) and LM 335 (temperature sensor) are used to locate the plant. So far, researches have been done in this area with respect to the remote measurement of CO2 and that the data was sent by GSM. Here we have also used the GPS to locate the exact position of the factory site. In the present study, we have also used serial communication protocol, MODBUS (which proved to be a good replacement of low speed wireless channels) and GUI. This assisted us by monitoring and providing the update on local monitoring station and also measuring the temperature. Also the controller used is capable of responding to 247 different devices, a good choice for future expansion of a system like this.


Drainage characteristics of porous media are shaped by an interplay between gravitational, capillary and viscous forces that result in complex phase invasion patterns and dynamics. We propose a mechanistic model for viscous separation of temporary phase detention behind rapidly moving drainage fronts. The viscous‐limited region forming behind the front tip (tip of furthest penetrated air finger) drains at a slower rate with a characteristic time scale τ dictated by hydraulic decoupling expressed by the hydraulic properties of the medium. The region where saturation becomes viscously detained (temporarily entrapped) is determined by a critical water content θcrit that defines a viscous length LV behind the front tip. Theory developed to predict the critical water content θcrit and the characteristic secondary timescale τ was in good agreement with measured drainage characteristics using neutron radiography and direct imaging. The observed critical water content θcrit increased with higher drainage rates as predicted by theory with consideration of a percolation threshold. The observed slow drainage timescale τ as a function of mean drainage rate depended on the critical water content θcrit and the resulting counteracting effects of increased detained liquid volume and increased conductivity of the viscous limited region. The concept of drainage zonation illustrates how increasing flow rates enhances the extent of viscous limitations behind the main drainage front. The new insights could be useful for management of immiscible fluid displacement, quantification of averaging effects in experimental measurements (dynamic effects on pc‐S relationship), and explain some of the underpinnings of the field capacity phenomenon.


ABSTRACT The study of student participation in decision making has been characterised by conceptual vagueness and an absence of empirical tools to compare participatory practices in various contexts and to determine when they achieve their goals. This study presents an integrative theoretical model grounded in the organisational literature on participative decision making (PDM) – particularly on teacher participative decision making – as well as in the children's participation literature. The model focuses on decisions having collective implications made by a group of students or a group of students and adults. It views student participative decision making as a multidimensional structure that emerges within a context. Specifically, the model suggests that the rationales behind promoting student participative decision making (pragmatic, moral, or developmental/pedagogical) will determine its dimensions, which, in turn, will affect student, teacher and school outcomes. It posits that the school organisational culture will shape the patterns of these relationships. The model answers repeated calls in the children's participation literature for frameworks that are more attentive to diverse cultural environments. It provides an empirical foundation for comparative studies to explore how student participative decision making is interpreted, perceived and implemented in different organisational cultures.


To meet the increasing demand of wireless services associated with the scarcity of the radio spectrum and the trend to provide end to end quality of service (QoS), on the one hand advanced technologies that harness the available resource efficiently should be developed, on the other hand the collaboration of different layers such as physical (PHY) layer and medium access control (MAC) layer is needed. In this paper, we propose a joint space-frequency-power scheduling algorithm (JSFP) for real time service in multiuser cellular MIMO-OFDM system which jointly optimizes the subcarrier, bit and power allocation in the PHY layer along with the scheduling in the MAC layer to exploit the multiuser diversity. This algorithm considers both the user equipments (UE)' QoS requirements (such as packet delay and packet loss ratio) and the UEs' channel conditions and includes three parts: packet scheduling, subcarrier allocation and antenna selection, power allocation. Numerical results show that the proposed algorithm achieves significant system performance improvement compared with the conventional methods.


Through the interpretation of the connotations and denotations of difficult cases,the author analyses the causes form diverse angles and levels,which is significant for improving the effeciency of investigating difficult cases and safeguarding social stability.


Following the partial deregulation of the electricity industry in the 1990s, a number of electricity markets were instituted in the United States. As relatively new experiments, electricity markets open up possibilities for anthropologists to see markets as infrastructures of information. I argue that making markets in electricity has been a project in reorganizing information relationships, transferring the burden to organize information onto market actors, making them into data processors and the markets themselves into infrastructures of information. This article is part of a yearlong multilocale ethnographic project that seeks to understand how traders, analysts, engineers, and economists make markets in electricity in the United States. It draws on 5 months of participant observation at a market intelligence company that produces data and databases and sells price forecasts to traders in the deregulated markets of electricity. It maps the work practices of data cleaning and maintenance—a kind of labor I call "database work."


An ultrasound imaging system provides coronal and transverse images for guiding a superior temporal artery guidewire (STA guidewire) through a tortuous region of the STA to an aortic arch region for snaring by a femoral artery catheter snare and pulling through for "through and through" guidewire access. The STA guidewire includes a knob at a distal end which is advanced into a superficial temporal artery (STA) using multi-plane ultrasound guidance, and the STA guidewire is guided through the tortuous region using transverse and coronal images provided by the multi-plane ultrasound imager. The transverse and coronal images indicate the rotational direction for the wire tip to advance the knob end of the STA guidewire within the STA to the external carotid artery.


Investigating the composition, structure, and processes of the interior of planets is fundamental to understanding the origin, evolution, and present state of the solar system. Interior measurements provide the basic information about what planets are made of and how they "work." In virtually every science strategy report for exploring the solar system or a single planet, one of the major stated objectives has been to determine interior structure and dynamics of the terrestrial planets. In broadest terms this includes characterization of the core/mantle/crnst divisions in terms of depth of boundaries, composition, and mineralogy; the study of mantle/core motions (i.e., convection and magnetism); and determination of the thermal history and state, as well as the closely associated tectonic and volcanic history of a planet. For example, these objectives have been explicitly enumerated in the latest report of the Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration of the National Research Council (COMPLEX, 1994). This report identified two main themes to guide planetary science in the next two decades: understanding planetary origins and understanding the constitution and fundamental processes of the planets themselves. Within this latter theme, planetary surfaces and interiors comprised one of the four major components. It proposed four specific goals related to interior measurements for addressing this theme: 1. Understand the internal structure and dynamics of at least one solid body, other than the Earth or the Moon, that is actively convecting. 2. Determine the characteristics of the magnetic fields of Mercury and the outer planets to provide insight into the generation of planetary magnetic fields. 3. Specify the nature and sources of stress that are responsible for the global tectonics of Mars, Venus, and several icy satellites of the outer planets. 4. Advance significantly our understanding ofcrust-mantle structure.., for all the solid planets. These goals can all be addressed to some extent, and in many cases almost exclusively, by measurements made on the surfaces of planetary bodies. However, this enterprise has unique difficulties, in that even with in situ instruments on the surface one is still essentially confined to remote sensing of the region of interest. There are basically four types of measurements that can be made at the surface that are directly relevant to the deep interior: seismic, magnetic, heat flow, and geodetic. We will discuss each of these in turn.


Abstract Background Chemoradiation in Stomach is indicated in patients who do not receive perioperative chemotherapy. While contouring the organs at risk in CRT of stomach spleen is not considered as the organ at risk (OARS). Leukopenia is also seen very commonly during the CRT of stomach. We are trying to correlate the grade of leukopenia to the dose received by spleen during CRT of stomach. The primary aim of this study -To determine the dose achieved by Spleen during the Post Operative Adjuvant Radiotherapy of Carcinoma Stomach. Correlate the dose achieved to the weekly blood counts (Grade 3 Hematological Toxicity). Methods Patients attending Kasturba Medical College OPD diagnosed with Carcinoma Stomach and planned for Adjuvant Chemoradiation were considered for the study. We analyzed 42 patients from the Jan 2018 to December 2018. The Dosimetric and Volumetric Parameters were calculated for Spleen. The patients in our study underwent Upfront Gastrectomy (Total/Partial) and received 2 cycles of Adjuvant Chemotherapy (CAPOX). Then referred for adjuvant Chemoradiation. Results The Mean dose achieved was 36 Gy. The range of dose received by the spleen ranged from 35Gy- 45 Gy. The doses were high when splenic nodes were irradiated. 18 patients (42%) presented with Grade 3 Hematological toxicity( Leukopenia). 15 patients (35%) could not receive Concurrent Chemotherapy in view of non recovery of Hematological Toxicities. Conclusions From our study we found that Spleen is a Dose limiting Structure while planning the Adjuvant Post Operative Radiotherapy in Carcinoma Stomach. The dose received by spleen can be correlated with the grade of Leukopenia in patients receiving adjuvant CRT for Carcinoma Stomach. Legal entity responsible for the study Dr Umesh Velu. Funding Has not received any funding. Disclosure All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.


The problem of system identification has become increasingly important in the area of structural engineering, particularly in connection with the assessment of damage and deterioration of existing structures. In this paper, a method is presented to identify natural frequencies and critical damping ratios of existing structures on the basis of a multivariate ARMA model by appling the Kalman Filter incorporated with a global iteration. The method is verified by appling it to microtremor records which are measured on a four story reinforced concrete building.


At the turn of the 1960s, Maurice Blanchot began publishing texts that he named entretiens, this change in his writing responding to what deconstruction sees as the closure of logocentric or continuous discourse. Paradoxically, this closure does not prevent such discourse, in which philosophical enquiry and technological change are intertwined, from dominating the modern world. By changing his writing, and by reiterating the dialogical form so central to metaphysical tradition since Plato, Blanchot gives voice to the tensions between continuity and its 'outside', between philosophy and literature. This is one sense in which his entretiens do not engage in a representation of difference, but instead open themselves to the inflections of what Jean-Luc Nancy calls le partage des voix.


Most youth experience peer victimization, and when chronic, it can lead to problems related to social-emotional development,1 peer relationships,1 and school engagement.2 In their study, "Early Childhood Factors Associated With Peer Victimization Trajectories from 6 to 17 Years of Age," Oncioiu et al3 investigate peer victimization over time, beginning with the first years of school. This study is one of the largest and most extensive studies ever conducted on this topic. The authors use a repeated-measure, person-centered approach that allows for the comparison of personal trajectories over time and for causal inferences to be drawn. Four developmental trajectories of peer victimization are uncovered. Approximately one-third of children are in the low-victimization trajectory. The remaining two-thirds of children are in either the high-chronic (11%) trajectory, in which victimization is persistently higher than peers; the childhood-limited (26%) trajectory, in which early childhood victimization decreases by adolescence; or the moderate-emerging (30%) trajectory, in which victimization levels are moderate, remaining relatively steady and above normative levels, compared with those in the low-victimization trajectory across childhood and adolescence.

Given that nearly two-thirds of school-aged youth in the current study report peer victimization during elementary and/or middle school, …

Address correspondence to Stephen S. Leff, PhD, Violence Prevention Initiative, Roberts Center for Pediatric Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 8th floor – 8323, 2716 South St, Philadelphia, PA 19146. E-mail: leff{at}email.chop.edu


Chapter 39 discusses alkaptonuria (ochronosis), a rare hereditary metabolic disease that leads to the deposition of homogentisic acid. Homogentisic acid accumulation causes damage to connective tissues; leads to formation of renal, urethral, and prostatic calculi; causes cardiovascular abnormalities; and causes arthropathy. Ochronotic arthropathy is the articular manifestation of alkaptonuria with the most common clinical sites of involvement being the spine, knees, and hips. Diagnosis of the disease is made by demonstration of homogentisic acid in the urine. Radiography is the standard method for detecting changes associated with alkaptonuria. CT can aid in the detection of intervertebral disc calcification.


Urban development from the past until now has always been an interesting theme discussed in development discussions, this is because the development of rural / urban villages is an integral as well as a central point of national development. The purpose of this study was to determine community participation in the development of road infrastructure through the PNPM Program in Kelurahan Ponorogo, Lubuklinggau Utara District II. This research is a survey research. The type of data used is primary data obtained from questionnaires, interviews, observations, documentation with the number of respondents 7 neighborhood units (RT) where to be taken are 2 KSM (self-help groups) in 2 RTs in Ponorogo Kelurahan, namely RT 1 and RT 2. The total population of the two Rt is 178 households. The sampling method used was purposive sampling by 50%, so the number of samples to be taken was as many as 89 people. Data analysis methods used are descriptive analysis and qualitative analysis. The results of this study indicate that (1) Participation of the community in the form of mind Ponorogo Village has been going very well, with a percentage of 86.6%. (2) The participation of workers by the community in the construction of road infrastructure is 77.5% with a good category. (3) Community participation in the form of expertise is 55.1% with a fairly good category, (4) Community participation in the form of goods is carried out voluntarily by 100% with a very good category (5) Participation in community money Ponorogo Kelurahan is basically non-existent, however more manifested in the form of consumption, such as providing coffee water, tea water and snacks during mutual assistance in the construction of infrastructure roads through the PNPM Program.
Keywords: Community Participation, Road Infrastructure Development, PNPM, Village Ponorogo


The article analyses changes of the film distribution model. Due to the influence of digital technologies, new forms of film distribution, such as the internet, enabled uploading and downloading, video on demand service. The article also explores how these film distribution forms affect the information behaviour of a film consumer. It is important to emphasize that there are positive and negative factors, which have a significant influence on the film distribution market and on the film industry in general. The Lithuanian film industry faces positive trends because the number of domestic films has increased and more Lithuanian films are being screened in the film theaters. However, one of the most important negative aspects is piracy which highly affects distributors, and especially independent distributors. The main form of film distribution in Lithuania is still theater distribution which generates the best economic outcome. The usage of the DVD format is decreasing, and the video on demand service has the growing potential in the Lithuanian film industry.


As an earthquake-prone country,China has made sustained effors in the study of earthquakes and disaster mitigation during the past several decades,with China Seismological Bureau (CSB)as the backbone of these efforts,Working towards this purpose,a series of key projects were imp0lemented in the "ninth Five-Year Plan" (1995-2000)to upgrade earthquake monitoring systems and to improve the supporting infrastructure,significant results in earthquake science were achieved.In the new century,we have worked out a blueprint for earthquake preparedness and disaster mitigation in the "Tenth Five-Year Plan",which emphases 3 systems (i.e.Seismic Monitoring & Prediction,Seismic Hazards Prevention,Emergency Response) and 10 key projects in earthquake science and technology.


Non-genital warts are skin diseases caused by the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) the two most common types of which are common, often seen on hands and plantar, often seen on soles of feet. The two most common methods of treatment for these non-genital warts are Cryotherapy and Immunotherapy which are very different from each other. In this study, Scikit-Learn's Gradient Boosting, Categorical Boosting, and Extreme Gradient Boosting are used to predict the response to treatment of patients with common, plantar, and both types of warts with Cryotherapy and Immunotherapy treatment. This study used the Cryotherapy and Immunotherapy dataset which are donated and are publicly available on the University of California, Irvine Machine Learning repository. Scikit-Learn's Gradient Boosting proved to achieve the highest accuracy rate of 100% for the Cryotherapy dataset and 96.3% for the Immunotherapy dataset. The results of this study can serve as a ground for an expert system for the non-genital warts treatment selection method.


The ALICE detector provides excellent capabilities to study heavy quark (i.e. charm and beauty) production in proton–proton (pp) and heavy–ion collisions (AA) at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). In ALICE, open heavy–flavour hadron production is studied through the hadronic decays of D mesons at central rapidity (|y| < 0.9), and in the semi–leptonic decays of charm and beauty hadrons both at mid–rapidity and at forward rapidity (2.5 < y < 4). Quarkonia are measured in their di–electron and di–muon decay channels in the central barrel and in the muon spectrometer respectively, reaching in both cases zero transverse momentum. The latest results on open heavy–flavour and quarkonium production in pp ( √ s = 2.76 TeV and √ s = 7 TeV) and PbPb ( √ sNN = 2.76 TeV) collisions are presented.


It has been almost two years since we have been shocked by the COVID-19 pandemic, which initially started in Wuhan, China, on December 31, 2019. It was not long before the World Health Organization (WHO) finally declared it as a global pandemic on March 11, 2020, after announcing it as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) on January 30, 2020. Since then, we can see the pandemic accelerated in most countries all over the world. Globally, as of 4 December 2021, there have been 270,031,622 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 5,310,502 deaths. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions colloquially known as lockdowns have been implemented in numerous countries and territories around the world. The results of the pandemic lockdown have instigated another major concern, i.e. obesity. Overweight and obesity are defined as excessive or abnormal fat accumulation that may impair health. Based on the WHO classification for adults of both genders and all ages, overweight is defined as a body mass index (BMI) over 25 kg/ m2 and obese as a BMI over 30 kg/m2. COVID-19 has ubiquitously proven to be a major challenge for people struggling with obesity as the unfavorable effects of excess body weight in the course of SARS-CoV-2 infections have been mainly attributed to the metabolic perturbations and chronic inflammation of the adipose tissue leading to impaired immunity (blunted macrophage activation, impaired B and T lymphocyte responses) and more severe clinical outcomes. To make the matters worse, the COVID-19 pandemic has taken place at a time when there are around 2 billion overweight adults, of whom 650 million are considered to be affected by obesity (BMI ?30 kg/m2). That equates to respectively 39% and 40% of adult men and women aged 18 or over who are overweight, with 13% obese. To top it up, the lockdowns do force us to stay at home to avoid crowds by practising social distancing and locking ourselves at home with limited outdoor activities, which ultimately leads to another undeniable pandemic, obesity. The COVID-19 pandemic with its lockdowns has caused many to put on pounds. At the same time, obesity has emerged as a major risk for severe disease and death from the virus. In many countries, the interventions required to combat COVID-19 have resulted in severe socioeconomic crises. Given the well-described relationship between socio-economic status and risk of obesity, a widening societal inequality propelled by the political interventions against COVID-19 might translate into an increase in obesity and metabolic diseases in groups with a lower socio-economic status. People of lower socio-economic status with limited income and resources prefer cheap and readily available and palatable foods, which are highly processed and promote high caloric intake beyond energy needs.


This paper studies admissibility of matrix nonhomogeneous linear estimators for an estimable linear function of the parameter matrix in a multivariate linear model with completely unknown covariance matrix under a quadratic matrix loss function.A necessary and sufficient condition is given for a matrix nonhomogeneous linear estimator to be admissible in the class of all matrix linear estimators.