We derive the requirements on the surface height uniformity and reflectivity uniformity of the Terrestrial Planet Finder Coronagraph telescope and instrument optics for spatial frequencies within and beyond the spatial control bandwidth of the wave front control system. Three different wave front control systems are considered: a zero-path difference Michelson interferometer with two deformable mirrors at a pupil image; a sequential pair of deformable mirrors with one placed at a pupil image; and the Visible Nuller spatially-filtered controller. We show that the optical bandwidth limits the useful outer working angle.


Traditionally, toxicologic histopathology assessments have been performed by veterinary pathologists using glass tissue slides and light microscopes fitted with a number of objective lenses ranging from 1x or 2x to 60x or 100x. Standard light microscopes have inherent limitations, such as the inability to view the entire tissue content of the slide when large organs or multiple organs are present in the same tissue block, or the inability to view more than one slide at a time for comparison. In addition, stacks of slide trays or racks are delivered to the pathologist, with the risk that some of the glass may be lost or broken. Digital pathology provides an alternative to traditional methods, allowing the user to view images of entire slides, or selected fields at increasing magnifications, and to compare multiple slide images simultaneously. The technology also allows both the use of digital slide images for teleconsulting and the use of robust image databases with metadata and search & retrieval capabilities. The Pathology department within worldwide. appropriate global security


Required to negotiate a transcultural present in which their rights and opportunities are circumscribed by the pleadings of multicultural others, Indigenous peoples have attracted attention for their approaches to alliance-building, responsible co-existence and self-determined care. In this second report on Indigenous geographies1, we associate those projects with the geographies of hope but, recognizing that a futuristic gaze on allegedly progressive cases can lapse into naivety, we call for further postcolonial critique of the influences on those cases. We distinguish retrospective and prospective applications of postcolonial theory, suggesting that while geographers initially disregarded the latter they now exaggerate that outlook in hopeful advocacy for Indigenous alternatives. Nonetheless, we conclude with examples of reconciliation and Indigenous service provision which attest to the social significance and aspirational character of Indigenous responses, both from the margins and in the focus of everyday politics.


Here we quantitatively examine the kinetics of salt‐induced dissociation of mannose‐rich yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) from concanavalin A (Con A) derivatized agarose beads. This model can be used to test a reagent's ability to elute glycan‐containing molecules from lectin beads in purification protocols and to remove pathogens from human cell surfaces in drug development studies. We chose one salt concentration (4.0 M potassium chloride) in this study in order to do many replicate experiments to statistically evaluate the reliability of this model system. Future work will test many reagent concentrations in dose‐response experiments to determine reagents that are most effective at the lowest concentrations. In 65 repeated trials, the kinetics of dissociation of yeast previously bound to Con A derivatized agarose beads in the presence and absence of the salt over a 60 min time course was measured. This was done by simply counting the yeast remaining on the beads at each time point. A repeated measures‐ANOVA indicated a significant effect of the salt on the number of bound yeast (F=70, p less than 0.0001) as well as a significant interaction between the treatment and time elapsed (F=25, p less than 0.0001). Two‐sample t‐tests comparing salt treated samples with controls indicated substantially increased dissociation in the salt treated samples (20 min p less than 0.0001, 40 min p less than 0.0001, 60 min p less than 0.0001). What is new here is the model. We know of no past work that measures dissociation kinetics in so simple, inexpensive and easily visualized a manner (Supported by NIH NIGMS SCORE S0648680, MARC, RISE, the Joseph Drown Foundation and the Sidney Stern Memorial Trust).


No clear impact of varicocele treatment on male subfertility Male subfertility may be related to the presence of varicocele; however, it is not known whether treatment of the varicocele or treatment modality affect subsequent fertility rates. A systematic review has identified 48 studies and compared surgical and radiological treatments with each other and with no treatment. Overall, there is no clear superior treatment modality and it is not certain that treatment has an effect on live birth rate; however, treatment may improve the pregnancy rate. Microscopic subinguinal surgical treatment is possibly more effective and has a lower recurrence rate than other forms of surgical treatment. Robust, larger scale randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are needed to better inform the management of men with varicocele and subfertility.


Background: Contrary to dalcetrapib (RO4607381/JTT-705), torcetrapib (TOR), a cholesteryl ester transfer protein inhibitor, has been shown to increase blood pressure in clinical and preclinical stu...


The study aims to analyze daily migration of zooplankton in Banda Sea and contribution of Calanoida to scattering volume. Applied method is exploratory description through direct survey toward zooplankton by using Baruna Jaya VII vessel as floating platform. The findings show that daily migration of zooplankton in surface layer occurs in every observation period, average value of scattering volume in stratified depth of 0-25 meter is -84.19 dB. For stratified depth of 25-50 meter, scattering volume reaches -81.81 dB. At 00:00-03:00, zooplankton is concentrated densely at three water layers by SV value of 84.25, -81.88, -83.9 dB. Zooplankton aggregation is always almost at surface layer of 0-25 meter at every observation time. Allegedly, oceanographic factor with high concentration value of chlorophyll a are the reason. Concentration value of chlorophyll a in this depth may reach 2.1 mg/m 3 . Calanoid contributes to value of scattering volume by regression formulation of Y=-8.93+0.01 Calanoida -0.001 Cyclopoida .


A cuboidal pack (10), particularly for cigarettes, by an outer wrapper (11) surrounding foil. This is removed by means of a tear strip (19). A revenue stamp (23) is in the region of a rear wall (14) of the pack (10) attached thereto, such that upon actuation of the tear strip or during removal of the outer wrapper (11), the band (23) along at least one perforation (29) is severed, such that a portion (24) in connection with the package (10) and another portion (25) in communication with the outer wrapper (11) remains.


Studied patterns of nitration of 2,6-dichloropyridine and chemical properties of 3-nitro-2,6-dichloropyridine. Investigated kinetic patterns of the nitration of 2,6-dichloropyridine in 85-94% sulfuric acid at 200 fold excess of nitric acid at 120° C, with control over the rate of nitration. We found the standard speed of nitration of 2,6-dihloripiridina, which characterizes it as strongly deactivated the substance.


ALK rearrangements have emerged as important therapeutic targets in oncology. This commentary, in light of recently reported cases, discusses the emerging role of liquid biopsies in molecular testing and new therapeutic options for oncology patients.


In this thesis the potential for lentiviral vectors as tools for gene manipulation was investigated. This thesis aims to answer the question of whether lentiviral vectors can be used to infect human stem cells with high efficiency without affecting their ability to differentiate and whether these vectors are able to deliver short hairpin RNA interference targeting a clinically relevant gene. The introduction covers first the basics of the areas involved in this thesis, starting with stem cell biology and RNA interference before discussing vector biology and then Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus. Human stem cell biology is a novel and rapidly moving field. The applications of lentiviral vectors range from determining mechanisms of cell growth and differentiation to tissue engineering. The first application for these vectors investigated was therefore optimisation of the infection of human stem cells and determining that these cells retain their biological function after infection. Lentiviral vectors to deliver short hairpin RNA were developed and a knockdown in human stem cells demonstrated. Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), a cause of virally driven malignancies in humans, was chosen as a target to demonstrate the therapeutic potential of these lentiviral vectors. Lentiviral shRNA vectors knocked down latent genes within KSHV in vitro and showed promising therapeutic potential. The final section of this thesis documents the progression of this work to form an in vivo therapeutic against a KSHV-driven malignancy, primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) in a murine model.


Sparse representation is an effective model for high-level feature extraction, and the dictionary is critical, since it can provide a sparse and discriminative feature for image classification. However, the traditional sparse model with ℓ1- norm is unstable and ignores spatial context dependence. Furthermore, the traditional off-line dictionary learning is less efficient. In this letter, a high-level feature extraction approach is proposed, in which structured sparsity priors are imposed on the sparse representation to exploit the context dependence and an incremental structured dictionary learning method is proposed to exploit the inherent structures of a dictionary. The experiment results on unsupervised synthetic aperture radar imagery classification show that the structured priors improve classification performance and the proposed algorithm is more efficient in dictionary learning compared with existing works.


Federated Learning (FL) presents a mechanism to allow decentralized training for machine learning (ML) models inherently enabling privacy preservation. The classical FL is implemented as a client-server system, which is known as Centralised Federated Learning (CFL). There are challenges inherent in CFL since all participants need to interact with a central server resulting in a potential communication bottleneck and a single point of failure. In addition, it is difficult to have a central server in some scenarios due to the implementation cost and complexity. This study aims to use Decentralized Federated learning (DFL) without a central server through one-hop neighbours. Such collaboration depends on the dynamics of communication networks, e.g., the topology of the network, the MAC protocol, and both large-scale and small-scale fading on links. In this paper, we employ stochastic geometry to model these dynamics explicitly, allowing us to quantify the performance of the DFL. The core objective is to achieve better classification without sacrificing privacy while accommodating for networking dynamics. In this paper, we are interested in how such topologies impact the performance of ML when deployed in practice. The proposed system is trained on a well-known MINST dataset for benchmarking, which contains labelled data samples of 60K images each with a size $28\times 28$ pixels, and 1000 random samples of this MNIST dataset are assigned for each participant' device. The participants' devices implement a CNN model as a classifier model. To evaluate the performance of the model, a number of participants are randomly selected from the network. Due to randomness in the communication process, these participants interact with the random number of nodes in the neighbourhood to exchange model parameters which are subsequently used to update the participants' individual models. These participants connected successfully with a varying number of neighbours to exchange parameters and update their global models. The results show that the classification prediction system was able to achieve higher than 95% accuracy using the three different model optimizers in the training settings (i.e., SGD, ADAM, and RMSprop optimizers). Consequently, the DFL over mesh networking shows more flexibility in IoT systems, which reduces the communication cost and increases the convergence speed which can outperform CFL.


This paper first introduced the theory of asymmetric information and the reason of building energy efficiency market's information asymmetry and manifestations. Then it analysed the real estate developers and consumers of information asymmetry and adverse selection,and put forward that building energy efficiency solution to identify energy-saving construction is an important means of solving market failure,and finally elaborated the function, system design and implementation way of establishing the construction energy efficiency marking system in China.


Background: Qualitative technical communication research often produces datasets that are too large to manage effectively with hand-coded approaches. Text-mining methods, used carefully, may uncover patterns and provide results for larger datasets that are more easily reproduced and scaled. Research questions:  1. To what degree can hand collection results be replicated by automated data collection? 2. To what degree can hand-coded results be replicated by machine coding? 3. What are the affordances and limitations of each method? Literature review: We introduce the stages of data collection and analysis that researchers typically discuss in the literature, and show how researchers in technical communication and other fields have discussed the affordances and limitations of hand collection and coding versus automated methods throughout each stage. Research methodology: We utilize an existing dataset that was hand-collected and hand-coded. We discuss the collection and coding processes, and demonstrate how they might be replicated with web scraping and machine coding. Results/discussion: We found that web scraping demonstrated an obvious advantage of automated data collection: speed. Machine coding was able to provide comparable outputs to hand coding for certain types of data; for more nuanced and verbally complex data, machine coding was less useful and less reliable. Conclusions: Our findings highlight the importance of considering the context of a particular project when weighing the affordances and limitations of hand collecting and coding over automated approaches. Ultimately, a mixed-methods approach that relies on a combination of hand coding and automated coding should prove to be the most productive for current and future kinds of technical communication work, in which close attention to the nuances of language is critical, but in which processing large amounts of data would yield significant benefits as well.


This paper describes computer simulations of an ultra-wideband radar imaging system. The system is equipped with a multi-static antenna array and mounted on a forward-moving platform. We consider several target types, placed on ground surface or buried, and clutter from rough surface. This paper introduces a hybrid approach to the implementation of the radar transmitters, by replacing the physical antennas with equivalent currents sheets on a surrounding closed surface. The numerical results consist of large scale radar simulations in the presence of multiple targets embedded in a rough ground environment.


Let G be an intuitionistic fuzzy graph. Let u and v be two vertices of G. A subset D of V is called a fuzzy equitable dominating set if every v ∈ V − Dthere exist a vertex u ∈ D such that uv ∈ E(G) and |deg(u) − deg(v)| = 1 where deg(u) denotes the degree of vertex u and deg(v) denotes the degree of vertex v and μ2(vi, vj ) = μ1(vi) ∧ μ1(vj ), γ2(vi, vj ) = γ1(vi) ∨ γ1(vj ). The minimum cardinality of an intuitionistic fuzzy equitable dominating set is denoted by γeif . In this paper we introduce the concept of intuitionistic fuzzy equitable dominating set, minimal intuitionistic fuzzy equitable dominating set, and intuitionistic fuzzy equitable independent set further obtain some interesting results for this new parameter in equitable intuitionistic fuzzy graphs. 2336 J. John Stephan, A. Muthaiyan, and N. Vinoth Kumar AMS subject classification:


Observations of solar magnetic activity and the dynamics of the solar convection zone have produced severe constraints on models of the Sun's magnetic dynamo. These constraints are so severe that, at present, we do not have numerical models that can accept the current conditions and then march forward in time to predict future activity. Given this state of solar dynamo theory we are forced to examine previous behavior to discover patterns and trends that afford us some measure of predictability. Here we examine the behavior of several indicators of solar activity near solar minimum that are well correlated with the amplitude of the following solar maximum to predict the level of solar activity over cycle 23. Sunspot numbers, areas, and positions are useful for characterizing solar cycle behavior due to the extent of the data (12 cycles or more). These data exhibit several patterns that relate future activity to past behavior. With the Odd-Even effect the odd numbered cycles have been larger than their even numbered predecessors for each of the last six cycle pairs. With the Amplitude-Period effect short period cycles have been followed by large amplitude cycles and long period cycles have been followed by small amplitude cycles for 10 of the last 13 cycles. With the Maximum-Minimum effect the sunspot number at minimum is directly correlated with the sunspot number at maximum for a given cycle. The geomagnetic indices aa and Ap are also related to solar activity by the connections between disturbances in the solar wind and variations in the Earth's magnetic field. Like the Maximum-Minimum effect for sunspots, the size of the aa and Ap indices at minimum are directly related to the amplitude of the following maximum. The number of geomagnetically disturbed days (days with Ap >= 25) over the course of a cycle is another indicator for the size of the next cycle. The aa and Ap indices can each be separated into a component in phase with the current sunspot cycle and an "extended cycle" component that is directly related to the following cycle. Individually each of these indicators provides some measure of predictive ability for the amplitudes of previous cycles. Taken in combination we find that the predictions are much more accurate. Our multi-variate analysis indicates that a maximum sunspot number of 160 +/- 20 should occur near the end of 1999 for cycle 23.


Background: Sleep disorders are fairly common in older adults. As people get older, sleep patterns and habits change. As a result, people may have trouble falling asleep, sleep fewer hours, wake up frequently in the night or early morning, and get less quality sleep. Kidney beans, also known as red beans, are good for health. They help boost the immune system. They are also a great source of vitamins, minerals, proteins, dietary fiber and iron. They contain antioxidants that are beneficial to health. This study aimed to assess the effect of kidney bean yoghurt on immune system and sleep quality among the elderly in Yogyakarta. Subjects and Methods: This was a quasi-experiment before and after with no control design conducted at Abiyoso Tresna Nursing Home for the elderly, Yogyakarta, from April to Mei 2018. A sample of 17 elderlies was selected for this study. The dependent variables were lymphocyte count and sleep quality. The independent variable was consumption of 200 ml kidney bean yoghurt per day for 14 days. Immune system was measured by lymphocyte count. Sleep quality was measured by Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) with higher scores indicating worse sleep quality. The data were analyzed by paired t-test. Results: Lymphocyte count after intervention (Mean= 28.89; SD= 7.09) was higher than before intervention (Mean= 25.96; SD= 7.41), and it was statistically significant (p= 0.006). The sleep quality after intervention (Mean= 4.88; SD= 1.83) was lower than before intervention (Mean= 8.06; SD= 3.09), which is good and it was statistically significant (p= 0.001). Conclusion: Kidney bean yoghurt improves both immune system and sleep quality among the elderly.


Classical probability theory provides information about random walks after a fixed number of steps. For applications, however, it is more natural to consider random walks evaluated after a random number of steps. Examples are sequential analysis, queueing theory, storage and inventory theory, insurance risk theory, reliability theory, and the theory of contours. Stopped Random Walks, the first unified treatment of this subject, shows howthis theory can be used to prove limit theorems for renewal counting processes, first passage time processes, and certain two-dimensional random walks. Also shows how these results are useful in various applications. Here is a comprehensive, up-to-date, and readable account of the behavior of extreme values of phe-nomena based on independent, identically distributed (iid) random variables and vectors. Many of the topics appear herefor the first time in book form. These in- clude quality of convergence, behavior of record values, record value indices, k-records, applications of point process methods to convergence in distribution, extremal processes, and others. Students and re- search workers in probability, statistics, mathematics, operations research, civil engineering, and economics will find this book full of useful information.


The first specification for the informatics Matura examination in Poland was published in 2000, and since May 2005 the examination has been organized every year. This article includes some reflections and remarks about formulating examination tasks and pupils' difficulties in solving the tasks collected by the author during her work as an examiner. In the article, four examination tasks from 2008 are considered. These remarks could be useful especially for informatics teachers.


Lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCM) virus often infects rodents such as mice, hamsters, and rats. Prevalence of LCM virus in house mice is estimated at 5%.

In April 2015, a 15-year-old girl in Minnesota presented to her pediatrician after experiencing 5 days of fever, myalgia, left-parietal headache, and photophobia. Symptomatic therapy had temporarily relieved her symptoms at home. Eight days after visiting the pediatrician, she …


The stability of a flexible cantilevered plate subjected to a parallel flow is investigated. As the flexible flat plates, the papers in a high speed printing machine, the thin plastic and metal films, the fluttering flag and the oscillating doom roof are enumerated. The fluid is assumed to be treated as an ideal fluid in a subsonic domain, and the fluid pressure is calculated using the velocity potential theory. The coupled equation of motion of a flexible cantilevered plate is derived into consideration with the added mass, added damping and added stiffness respectively. The complex eigenvalue analysis is performed for the stability analysis. In order to consider the accuracy of dynamic stability analysis, three stability analysis method are proposed. Firstly, the analysis method based on boundary conditions in the half space surrounded by leading edge and trailing edge is performed. Hereafter, let's call it the coupled solution. Secondly, the analysis method based on the non-circulatory aerodynamic theory is performed. Let's call it the non-circulatory solution.Thirdly, the analysis method which fulfills Kutta condition is performed. Let's call it the circulatory solution.The following is made to be clear through three solutions. When the mass ratio of a fluid system for a structure system is small, the flutter of the lower mode such as a second mode become predominant. And, when the mass ratio is large, the higher mode flutter appears. Although the critical velocities of the coupled solution and the non-circulatory solution are higher than that of the circulatory solution in the second mode flutter with lower mass ratio, the critical velocities of the circulatory solution becomes higher than those of the coupled solution and the non-circulatory solution when the mass ratio increases.


The problem of energy conservation is currently very relevant. Analysis of the structure of electricity losses shows that 90% is consumed by electricity, the main consumer of electricity is an electric drive (about 70%), it has a great potential for energy saving. The most common in the industry is an asynchronous electric drive, most of them are unregulated. Replacing an unregulated electric drive with an adjustable one in these units can significantly save electricity, increase the life of the mechanical part of the drive and improve the quality of the adjustable process parameter. The paper provides the rationale for the introduction of a frequency-controlled electric drive to optimize technological processes in electrical complexes and systems, in particular, a complete analysis of the energy efficiency of the use of a frequency-controlled drive in pumping water supply systems is presented.


Gloriosa supberba (family: Liliaceae) is widely used as a medicinal plant, and the alkaloids from the plant (Colchicines and Gloriosine)are used in the treatment of gout and rheumatism. We evaluated the analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of hydroalcoholic extract (50% v/v) of dried aerial parts of G. superba. The analgesic activity of the extract was evaluated by using Eddy's hot plate method and acetic acid-induced writhing method. The anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated by using the cotton wool granuloma model and the carrageenan-induced paw edema model. The percentage inhibitions of writhes or percentage protection were found to be 64.09%, 78.56% and 81.45% for extract at a dose 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight, respectively, in the acetic acid-induced writhing method (P <0.01) when compared with control. The percentage increase in reaction time at 90 minutes were 21.02%, 79.96% and 158.05% for extract at a dose of 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight, respectively, in Eddy's hot plate method (P <0.01) when compared with control. The percentage inhibition of paw edema was increased with time and gave maximum effect at 2 hours, then declined in case of standard extract 400 mg/kg body weight. Only the 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight extracts exhibited significant result (P <0.05) when compared with control. The rats exhibited 9.59%, 28.72% and 45.8% inhibition of granuloma mass formation after the 7 days treatment with 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight of extract when compared with control (P <0.05) in cotton pellet granuloma. Key words: Gloriosa supberba, analgesic activity, anti-inflammatory activity


The designer designed an engine fault diagnosis instrument with STM32 single chip microcomputer combined with LabVIEW technology for automobile engine failure. The system will use the eddy current sensor to collect the engine vibration signal and send it to the host computer program written by LabVIEW for high-order spectrum analysis. In this way, the working status of the engine can be obtained in real time. Experimental results show that the designed diagnostic instrument is highly efficient and highly reliable. It can meet the real-time diagnosis requirements of engine status.


We report on a novel intracavity quartz enhanced photoacoustic (I-QEPAS) gas sensing technique taking advantage from both the high Q-factor of standard tuning forks and the power build-up of a high-finesse optical resonator. This first prototype employs a distributed feedback quantum cascade laser operating at 4.3 μm. CO2 has been selected as gas target. Preliminary results demonstrate an improved sensitivity, close to the cavity enhancement factor (500) times the optical coupling efficiency (about 0.5), with respect to standard QEPAS technique. The detection limit was pulled from 7 ppm (obtained with standard QEPAS) down to 32 ppb, corresponding to normalized noise-equivalent absorption in the 10-9 W•cm-1•Hz-1/2 range.


Research conducted on children with CHD displays that these children's neurological development is different than the normal population and focuses on the reasons of this difference. Currently, the factor that attains the highest emphasis is the Apo E genotype of the patients. We aimed at revealing the influence of Apo E gene on the neurological development process of children with CHD. Our goal is, predicting the nurological development of children with CHD according to Apo E gene expression, and anchoring the children requiring support, at an earlier stage. We investigated 188 children patients with CHD, in GUTF paediatric cardiology departmentt, between 2009–2013. We documented the socio-demographic parameters. After physical examinations followed by psychometric tests, we examined Apo E genotype on blood samples of the children. Cyanotik patients' motor functions were worse then acyanotic patients (p Relevant literature claim that children with CHD display worse neurocognitive functioning compared to normal population, and having Apo E2 allel is a risk factor for it. Apo E4 allel is more related to better psychometric test. Results However, our results display no influence of ApoE gene on the neurocognitive functioning.


A hot melt adhesive containing a copolymer of polystyrene-polybutadiene-polystyrene block (SBS) hyperbranched having a percentage of diblock approx. 25% to 75% and a tackifier resin, dichoSBS hyperbranched is characterized by a ratio molecular weight by light scattering (the polimeroque is two blocks) and the molecular weight by GPC (the polymer is not two blocks) greater than 1.4 ypor having a ratio of molecular weight PM by light scattering (the polymer not diblock) yel PM molecular weight by light scattering (diblock polymer) greater than 5, and wherein the average weight of each arm molecularponderal the SBS block copolymer is less than 100,000 hyperbranched and SBShiperramificado has at least 10 arms.


In this paper, we attempt to investigate about how to deal with events stated by uncertainty demand in cloud computing environment between Software as a Service provider, Software as a User and cloud resources provider. The variation considers the supply and demand of resources. The events on uncertainty demand ensure provisioning resources and prevent fluctuation demand. We propose to create resource negotiation and use Fuzzy Optimization for demand fluctuation. This result is relation to the event on uncertainty demand in cloud. The issue is to model the uncertainties on demand to warranty quality of service.


The launch of a journal is always an opportunity to advance scientific knowledge, because a journal consolidates ideas and facts in a field. With this in mind, Journal of Ecoacoustics (JEA) aims to open a new season of theoretical, empirical and applied studies in Ecoacoustics, a recent ecological discipline that represents the development of bioacoustics studies into the ecological realm. Sounds are important semiotic mechanisms which allow, in a very efficient way, the exchange of information between organisms and their external world. In particular, inter-individual communication and environmental perception are the two most important processes in which sounds are utilized by soniferous organisms. Ecoacoustics may be defined as the investigation of the ecological role or effect of natural and manmade sounds. Ecoacoustics is deep-rooted in biological, anthropological and cognitive domains. Under the ecoacoustic umbrella different theories, topics, methods, techniques, and applications find appropriate conceptual niches. Recent advancements in ecoacoustics have demonstrated the capacity of this discipline to enounce important theories, to test powerful metrics of sound analysis associated with rigorous statistics, to experiment with acoustic sensors and recording digital devices, to design networks of automated acoustic monitoring, and to propose remote sensory methods for data collection in hostile and wild areas (including tropical forests, deserts, deep oceans and arctic regions). The unprecedented human intrusion in natural systems is producing effects that sensory ecology, in particular acoustic information, can perceive prior to the ecological consequences on population dynamics and community composition becoming evident and irreversible. The anticipatory capacity of the ecoacoustics approach, due to the plasticity of acoustic display, represents an extraordinary potential for environmental monitoring, saving strategic time that can be used to adopt efficient policies of environmental protection and to plan remediation actions.


Objective: To study levels of C-reactive protein(CRP) and endothelin-1(ET-1) in the patients with ischemic stroke.Methods: Sixty-eight patients with a first-ever ischemic stroke were prospectively studied.Plasma levels of CRP and ET-1 were measured at admission,at the 7th day in hospital and before discharge.All patients were scored by NIHSS based on deficit in their clinical neuro-logical function.Thirty healthy cases were chosen as control group.Results: ① In the patients with ischemic stroke,the content of CRP was 6.83±1.51 mg/L at admission,4.89±1.33 mg/L at the 7th day,and 4.12±1.24 mg/L before discharge,which is significantly differ-ent from that in control group(2.82±0.66 mg/L) respectively(p0.05);the content of ET-1 was 133.69±38.93 ng/L at admission,125.23±32.45 ng/L at the 7th day,and 108.32±31.51 ng/L before discharge,also significantly different from that in control group(45.67±10.02 ng/L) respectively(p0.01);② With the development of the disease,CRP content was in a gradual decline,and in a nega-tive correlation with the course of disease,but a positive correlation with neurological deficit scores;ET-1 content also decreased gradu-ally,but remained at a relatively high level,with no significant correlation with the progress of disease and neurological deficit scores.Conclusions: There were dynamic changes in the levels of CRP and ET-1 in patients with ischemic stroke.With improvement of disease,the content of CRP decreased obviously,but the content of ET-1remained at a relatively high level.


The purpose of this study is: comparison and determination of the balance skills of football players through dynamic posturography with some selected parameters. The experimental group of the research is composed of super amateur level football players who have at least 4 years of sports experience and study at Istanbul Gelisim University, School of Physical Education and Sports (N=90). The sample, which was determined through convenience sampling method, is composed of voluntary participants (n=30). Data form (sport year, position, dominant foot preference) was applied as the data collection tool. Balance measurements were performed by a specialist physician from the Istanbul University Cerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine Department of Audiology through a dynamic posturography. Six gradual sensorial organization tests were applied to the participant. Every step was repeated three times, the steps were applied from simple to difficult (eyes open and platform static) (eyes closed platform and cabin moving). With respect to how to read test result the data from the participants were compared to the maximum theoretical limit. The results were evaluated in a range of 0-100. According to the result, obtained 100 points constitute perfectness. T test and Anova analysis were applied as the statistical process. As a result, a significant difference was found in auditory, prefer and composite equilibrium parameters according to the foot preferences of footballers. Significant differences were also found in the balance skill scores of goalkeepers and defense players. It has been determined that goalkeeper's visual balance skills are better. In the literature survey, dynamic posturography and sensory organizational testing was not used as a measure of balance skills performed on athletes. Article visualizations:


Middle-class mothers typically are viewed as ideal models in terms of their values and goals related to education, participation in their children's education, and professional involvement in schooling. Yet, the results of this study indicate that educated, middle-class mothers, perceived as liberals who believe in integrated and inclusive education, still support segregated and stratified school structures that mainly benefit students of the middle class. Thompson's (1990) modes of operation of ideology and strategies of symbolic construction shed light on the ways ideology works to establish and sustain high-income parents' self-interested educational choices while, at the same time, allowing them to maintain a liberal image. The study illustrates how ideology allows parents to bridge disparate streams of thought and salve the dissonance that results from the contradiction between their desired liberal identity and class positionality.


Software maintenance is often a challenging and hectic process for both software engineers and IT consultancy firms. Software maintenance is considered as the longest phase in software"s lifecycle as it starts as soon as the software is deployed at the client-side and ends till the software goes obsolete. This paper sheds light on the various problems and challenges encountered by IT consulting firms in Mauritius during their software maintenance phase. A cause-analysis diagram has been used to illustrate the various problems along with their root causes. The paper then proposes some counteracting plans and solutions in order to alleviate those problems.


Islamic inheritance jurisprudence is a science in the teaching of Islam that studies of inheritance in accordance Shari'ah Prophet that have been submitted through the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet and the consensus of the Companions and scholars. Often the problem of inheritance to be the cause of family breakdown because family members do not understand on the rules and provisions of Islamic inheritance law. Along with the development of technology and information, the Internet-based learning into an alternative learning media to convey knowledge. The purpose of making these Islamic inheritance jurisprudence website is to help people, especially Muslims in learning about inheritance appropriate Islamic shar'iah. Design of the Islamic inheritance jurisprudence website is using UML, use-case diagrams and activity diagrams are used to describe the graphical diagrams. This website is designed use PHP and MYSQL database. Islamic inheritance jurisprudence resource materials obtained from books "Seri Fiqih Kehidupan [15] : Mawaris". Case search material obtained from application "i-waris" is released by Mosque Raya Al-Azhar East Jakarta. The results provided by this website is about the Islamic inheritance jurisprudence and case search.


From the Publisher:
Expert Timothy Masters provides you with carefully paced, step-by-step advice and guidance plus the proven tools and techniques you need to develop successful applications for business forecasting, stock market prediction, engineering process control, economic cycle tracking, marketing analysis, and more. CD-ROM includes NPREDICT - both DOS and Windows NT versions - a powerful time series program that can be customized to make accurate predictions in any application area, and much useful source code, including the complex-general multivariate fast Fourier transform in both C++ and Pentium-optimized assembler.


In this paper,the author presents and elaborates the concept of "physical life laboratory",briefly describes the characteristic of it from five aspects,and discusses the great significance of its establishment in strengthening the students'comprehensive quality and promoting the development of education in ethnic minority areas.


The invention of reconfigurable manufacturing systems (RMSs) has created a challenging problem: how to quickly and effectively modify an RMS to address dynamic changes in a manufacturing system, such as processing failures and rework, machine breakdowns, addition of new machines, addition of new products, removal of old machines, and changes in processing routes induced by the competitive global market. This paper proposes a new model, the intelligent colored token Petri net (ICTPN), to simulate dynamic changes or reconfigurations of a system. The main idea is that intelligent colored tokens denote part types that represent real-time knowledge about changes and status of a system. Thus, dynamic configurations of a system can be effectively modeled. The developed ICTPN can model dynamic changes of a system in a modular manner, resulting in the development of a very compact model. In addition, when configurations appear, only the changed colored token of the part type from the current model has to be modified. Based on the resultant ICTPN model, deadlock-free, conservative, and reversible behavioral properties, among others, are guaranteed. The developed ICTPN model was tested and validated using the GPenSIM tool and compared with existing methods from the literature.


"More Freedom, Less Balancing!" − that is the battle cry in contemporary human rights law. It sounds throughout public international law and has its reflections in national constitutional law. The German version of this debate circles around the case law of the Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht, BVerfG). The court has adopted wide ranging balancing in its interpretation of fundamental rights, thereby encouraging the theory that basic rights for the most part have the structure of principles rather than rules.Ronald Dworkin has introduced the theory of principles in the United States. In Germany, the theory of principles is most strongly emphasized by Robert Alexy. The German version has a specific flavor. While the anglo-american discussion of principles focuses on judicial activism and mostly glances over the structural analysis of principles, Alexy ties additional characteristics to the concept, namely the duty to optimize the principles' normative impact. Structure, optimization, and balancing are seen as an interrelated functional framework forcing courts − and that is: all human rights courts, nationally and internationally − to adopt a balancing approach with fine-grained control as their major tool of adjudication. As a matter of fact, most courts now follow this jurisprudential guideline.This paper challenges the balancing approach as a danger for individual liberty. It finds that (1) there are good reasons to read much of the fundamental rights' content as rule based rather than principle based, (2) flexibility in a legal system is not dependent on the structure of principles, but also comes with properly drafted rules, and (3) principles can be understood without the notion of optimization in order to reduce the courts' preponderance over legislative power.


In this paper, a voltage modulated direct power control for three-phase pulsewidth modulated rectifier is proposed. With the suggested method, the differential equations describing the rectifier dynamics are changing from a linear time-varying system into a linear time-invariant one. In this way, conventional feedback and feedforward controllers are applicable for the independent control of active and reactive powers. The proposed method has guaranteed that the closed system is globally exponentially stable. A feedback linearization method is also employed for generating the active power reference of inner loops. Finally, some experimental tests are conducted to verify its effectiveness.


of Highway, Ministry of Transport, Beijing 100088, China ) Abstract: To study the fatigue prestress loss of prestressed concrete beams, four bonded post-tensioned bonded concrete simple supported beams were designed and constructed for constant-amplitu de fatigue load displacement tests. Strain sensors were em bedded into the pre-pressed zone of the mid-span of the simply supported concrete test beams, and the fatigue prestress losses were calculated by strain increments in the concrete. The experimental results show that the phenomenon of fatigue prestress loss was present and primarily occurred in the forepart of cyclic fatigue test, and appeared to fit an exponential function law regarding cyclic fatigue load under dynamic loading for prestressed concrete beams. The preliminary results may be useful as a reference to improve the theory for designing prestressd concrete bridges.


http://aquatres.scientificwebjournals.com ABSTRACT Meriç River, called international water, is one of the most important river systems in Thrace. As the river is an open ecosystem to intensive anthropogenic impacts from settlements, agricultural and industrial areas, monitoring its aquatic characteristics is very valuable in terms of maintaining its sustainable use. In particular, knowing the micro and macro element contents that play an important role on primary productivity in aquatic ecosystems will be very useful in predicting the eutrophication process. In this study some chemical analyzes (calcium, magnesium, chloride, nitrate nitrogen, nitrite nitrogen, sulphate, phosphate, cupper, iron, zinc) were carried out to determine the concentrations and distribution of some micro-macro elements and their derivates in Meriç River. Thus, it was aimed to determine the micro and macro element contents of different regions in the river, to compare the data with other studies in the region and to make suggestions on the sustainable use of the river. For this aim, samplings were done selected from eight stations located in Meriç River at Thrace region of Turkey between January and December 2011. Chemical analyzes of Ca, Mg, Cl, NO3-N, NO2-N, PO4, SO4 in water samples taken from the sampling stations by the Ruttner water sampler at monthly intervals were carried out in the laboratory using classical and spectrophotometric methods. The multivariance analysis (Bray-Curtis Cluster Index) was used to evaluate the similarities of sampling stations in terms of seasonal averages of these parameters. In order to determine the concentrations of some heavy metals (Cu, Fe and Zn), water samples taken by Ruttner sampler and sediment samples taken by Ekman grab at seasonal intervals were measured in flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The sampling stations were evaluated also statistically by using Bray-Curtis Cluster Index in terms of heavy metal contents of water and sediment. According to the result of statistical analysis, it was determined that the locations at lower Meriç River area are different from the upper area. Especially it was observed that the sampling locality after Ergene River added to Meriç River has very low quality level in terms of some chemical contents. It is thought that this may be due to the agricultural and industrial pollution load carried by the Ergene River. Therefore, it has been concluded that these locations must be evaluated in the studies of physicochemical evaluation of Meriç River.


The article is devoted to the in-depth historical, etymological and semantic-structural characteristics of vocabulary to denote emotional states of anxiety, excitement, disquiet in the Polish language. Semantic, grammatical, linguo-cognitive properties, as well as the origin and formal-derivational and semantic development of the corresponding lexemes are considered. Polish linguists have repeatedly turned their attention to the relevant group of vocabulary, but they have considered, as a rule, only the key noun pol. strach, and many arrays of relevant language units have not yet received scientific coverage. In addition, the historical aspect is still the least studied in the polish linguistics, which reveals the origin of the names of emotions, their formal derivational development, models of initial semantic motivation and patterns of further semantic evolution. Numerous explanatory, phraseological, etymological lexicographical sources of Polish and other Slavic languages, dictionaries of synonyms and cognate words, The National Corpus of Polish, as well as studies in the field of psychology of human emotions and feelings served as a material for the analysis. Both emotion names pol. trwoga and niepokój are characterized in the modern Polish language by a fairly wide combination, on the basis of which the image of anxiety and disquiet in the minds of Polish speakers is reproduced. Thus, this emotion is represented as a substance (either liquid or volatile) that fills the human body; grain (like sow grain or panic); a tormenting enemy force, causing pain, and so on. Questions about the etymology and semantic development of the protoslav. *trьvoga is complex and still not definitively solved in Slavic linguistics. The analysis of numerous etymological lexicographical sources revealed that the most probable semantic transition is "causing painful physical feeling" → "state of fear". Name of pol. niepokój is formally a prefix formation with the negative prefix nie- and is an antonym to the appellatives: pokój, spokój "peace, tranquillity". We interpret the semantic motivation of this name as one that is indirectly related to the seme "movement", as it expresses opposition to the state of rest. Names of anxiety and restlessness which were traced in the field of the semantic and formal evolution for a significant time frame revealed that these names in the Old Polish era did not mean emotional experience, but functioned to denote very specific situations – disputes, conflicts, skirmishes; devastation, disorder, disagreement. During the historical development of the Polish language, the analyzed lexemes acquired a secondary "emotional" meaning, which is main today, namely "state, feeling anxious about what may happen, threatening; fear, horror", "mental state characterized by strong arousal, tension, difficulty concentrating thoughts and actions; lack of peace, balance; fear".


1 Abstract In response to long-term food insecurity, the Ethiopian government has attempted to diversify from food aid reliance by introducing a Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP). Beginning in 2005, in conjunction with the World Food Programme, the objective is to support food insecure households to build more resilient livelihoods and sustenance that later enables them to graduate from the programme. The fourth wave of the PSNP began in 2015 and while it is running with tangible measures of success across various regions in Ethiopia, the Afar region (which is also incidentally one of the most deprived areas of the country) is experiencing disproportionate barriers to implementation. Research has already been undertaken to understand this regional disparity. That is, the Social Protection for Inclusive Development in Afar (SPIDA) is a two-year research project conducted by Adigrat University, Pastoral and Environmental Network in the Horn of Africa and University College London; supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research. The research aims to analyse the programme's contribution to poverty reduction and food security, enhance social services, identify implementation difficulties, and assess the overall socio-economic situation of the Afar Region, to complement a smooth execution of the programme among the Afar pastoral communities in Ethiopia. The purpose of this review with some field-based reflections is to add value to the SPIDA research project by considering newly available documents by multiple stakeholders operating in the Afar Regional State of Ethiopia and other agro-pastoral/peasant communities in other parts of Ethiopia. By further evaluating the programme, we hope to provide alternative policy options for inclusive development that considers both the economic and socio-cultural significance of the Afar region.


This paper presents a modeling method called "Wheel-Center Modeling" for kinematics of a wheeled mobile robot that moves on uneven terrain. The technique is verified by analyzing the special locomotion characteristics of the multi-rigid body and wheels of a wheeled mobile robot. A six-wheeled mobile robot with the called "Rocker-bogie" suspension has been modeled by using this method. The proposed method was verified by simulation where the robot moves on a flat plane.


The intestinal microbiome is increasingly implicated in influencing intraintestinal and extraintestinal diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, and even some psychiatric diseases. Previous studies have suggested that disruption of the microbiome may be associated with the development of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).

To assess whether antibiotic exposure is a risk factor …


Primary orbital conjunctival epithelial cysts are congenital lesions that are lined by non-keratinizing epithelium with goblet cells. They can be very anteriorly located and readily visible, or deep within the orbit with mass effect and ocular motility disturbance mimicking any number of orbital masses. They can manifest at any age and are most commonly found in the superonasal, followed by the superotemporal orbit, and sometimes associated with the superior rectus–levator complex. The authors report three cases of primary orbital conjunctival cysts occurring in the inferior orbit.


Carbon management in forests is the global concern to mitigate the increased concentration of greenhouse gases. Carbon sequestration through biomass seems to be a cheap and viable option to mitigate the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The study attempted to estimate growth, biomass production, carbon stock and carbon dioxide mitigation potential of 19 year old Cedrus deodara plantation under different diameter classes. The volume of trees in the stand varied from 0.072 to 0.596m. The average dry stem biomass varied between 27.60 to 226.67kg, branch dry biomass between 7.88 to 64.14kg, needle dry biomass between 1.57 to18.19kg, total above ground dry biomass between 37.06 to 309.0kg and root dry biomass varied from 8.88 to77.25kg. The stem carbon varied from 12.80 to 105.15kg, branch carbon between 3.62 to 29.53kg, needle carbon between 0.67 to 7.78kg, root carbon between 4.09 to 35.66kg and total carbon between 21.18 to 178.12kg. The stem carbon dioxide mitigation potential varied from 46.83 to 384.84kg, branch from 12.91 to 108.07kg, needle from 2.44 to 28.47kg, root from 14.99 to 130.51kg and total carbon dioxide mitigation varied from 73.92 to 651.91kg.


The convolution neural network (CNN) is a classical neural network with advantages in image processing. The use of multiport optical interferometric linear structures in neural networks has recently attracted a great deal of attention. Here, we use three 3 × 3 reconfigurable optical processors, based on Mach-Zehnder interferometers (MZIs), to implement a two-layer CNN. To circumvent the random phase errors originating from the fabrication process, MZIs are calibrated before the classification experiment. The MNIST datasets and Fashion-MNIST datasets are used to verify the classification accuracy. The optical processor achieves 86.9% accuracy on the MNIST datasets and 79.3% accuracy on the Fashion-MNIST datasets. Experiments show that we can improve the classification accuracy by reducing phase errors of MZIs and photodetector (PD) noises. In the future, our work provides a way to embed the optical processor in CNN to compute matrix multiplication.


Did you have to rush to meet your last CPE reporting deadline? Do you repeatedly face such pressure because traveling to "classroom" sessions and working on paper-based correspondence courses isn't the best use of your time? Does your firm want to make its training program more flexible and cost-effective? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, online CPE may be just what you need. Many U.S. corporations are enthusiastic about the convenience and economy of online learning and have greatly increased their spending for it. The resulting boost in CPE providers' revenue, in turn, has enabled them to expand their course offerings and develop enhanced features, such as immediate test results, that make online instruction more attractive to busy practitioners. This article evaluates the current status of online CPE for CPAs and discusses the changes that have occurred since our 1998 JofA article on the subject (see "Plug-In to CPE," Nov. 98, page 59). In May of this year, as then, we searched the Internet and surveyed the online CPE vendors we found. Our findings and conclusions are based on their responses. THE GOOD NEW DAYS We spoke with 14 vendors now offering online courses to CPAs--double the number we contacted for our 1998 survey. The number of Web-based courses they offer has soared to more than 3,000 from only a few dozen. Much of this growth was in tax-related subjects: These vendors offer 902 online taxation courses vs. the 19 we reported in 1998. See exhibit 1 on page 65, which charts significant gains in accounting, auditing, computing and other professional development courses over the five-year period. Moreover, both enrolling online for courses and getting test results are easier than ever before. All surveyed providers offer these features--a vast improvement over 1998 when 71% offered online registration and payment and only 57% provided immediate online notification of test scores. And vendors have significantly expanded the array of other services they offer. One provider offers access to all the courses and features of its product via a free trial subscription. All but one offer either complimentary online. courses or previews, course materials and certificates of completion. A preview typically explains how to navigate the online course, summarizes the topics it covers, lists the course's learning objectives, describes the glossary of terms used in the course and explains how to take the course exam after studying the instruction material. Twelve providers also maintain an online record of the courses each individual has completed. Previously, just two vendors offered free online courses, one issued electronic course-completion certificates and one an online record of continuing education. Efficiency remains one of the major advantages of online CPE: There are no travel costs, and time spent unproductively is minimal. Plus, fees for online courses are significantly lower than those for more traditional forms of in-person and self-study continuing education. So today, CPAs who choose from the wide variety of online CPE vendors and courses can save time and money without compromising on quality. With a personal computer, a printer and Web access, practitioners anywhere in the world can complete a worthwhile course online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and immediately receive a certificate of completion. TAKE YOUR PICK Exhibit 2 on page 66 gives address and contact information for each vendor, shows cost per CPE hour and briefly explains what features the product or service provides. We do not endorse any specific vendor or course. (The vendors themselves supplied the exhibit's data, which are subject to change.) The following capsule summaries of each vendor's course offerings complement the information in exhibits 1 and 2. * AICPA Online CPE (www.cpa2biz.com). The AICPA's online learning tools are available exclusively through the CPA2Biz Web site. …


A new approach for speech stream detection based on empirical mode decomposition (EMD) under a noisy environment is proposed. Accurate speech stream detection proves to significantly improve speech recognition performance under noise. The proposed algorithm relies on the Teager energy and spectral entropy characteristics of the signal to determine whether an input frame is speech or non-speech. Firstly, the noise signals can be decomposed into different numbers of sub-signals called intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) with the EMD. Then, spectral entropy is used to extract the desired feature for noisy IMF components and Teager energy is used to non-noisy IMF components. Finally, in order to show the effectiveness of the proposed method, we present examples showing that the new measure is more effective than traditional measures. The experiments show that the proposed algorithm can suppress different noise types with different SNR.


On the basis of concepts from the mathematical theory of approximation of functions, we propose a method of deriving microcanonical transition state theory rate coefficients, both as a function of the total energy and the total angular momentum, from thermal data, namely, the limiting high-pressure rate coefficients. The method does not require the knowledge of the frequencies and degeneracies of the transition state and is general in that it allows for non-Arrhenius forms of thermal data, but it only applies to reactions possessing an intrinsic energy barrier. It is shown that the derived microcanonical rate coefficient is almost identical to the computed Rice−Ramsperger−Kassel−Marcus (RRKM) microcanonical rate coefficient using explicit frequencies and degeneracies of the transition state, and furthermore, that the difference between the two is uniformly distributed over the entire range of total energy and the entire range of the total angular momentum. Comparison of the microcanonical coefficients fro...


Considerations for selection of a real-time flood forecasting system are presented with particular emphasis on the procedure known as updating. A case study, the development and implementation of a real-time flood forecasting system for the Ganaraska River at Port Hope, is described. The forecasting model has three components: (i) a snowmelt model which requires temperature data, (ii) an abstraction model based on a variable runoff coefficient which requires rainfall, snowmelt and temperature data and (iii) a transfer-function noise (TFN) model which requires measured streamflow data. The TFN model transforms the net water inputs into streamflow and updates forecasts automatically in terms of previous forecast errors. The model has good forecasting accuracy up to a lead time of 18 hours, requires minimal real-time data or expertise and is embedded into a menu-driven computer-user interface.


ACP and CLM remain the two of the most economically important pests of Florida citrus. ACP directly impacts the growth of the tree by damaging new shoots and spreads the citrus greening disease. CLM causes significant damage to young leaves, reducing leaf cuticle defense against the bacterium Xanthomonas citri responsible for the citrus canker disease. This trial was conducted at the University of Florida Southwest Research and Education Center in Immokalee, Florida, on 3 year old 'Hamlin' trees planted at 145 trees per acre in double-row beds running north-south and separated by a swale. Three adjacent rows were used for a completely randomized block design with 5 treatments replicated 4 times. Each plot consisted of 4 trees that were pruned approximately two weeks before the start of the trial to encourage new growth (flushes) and provide suitable habitat for leafminer larvae. Weeds and leaf litter were removed from beneath each tree prior to soil applications. Soil drench applications were made 6 Jul 2011 by spraying 8 oz of solution onto bare soil within 12 inches of all sides of the trunk of the tree using an EZ-Dose® sprayer with a pressure of 45 PSI and a flow rate of 3.7 gpm.


Bowel movement frequency and stool consistency are important components of children's well‐being, activity, and academic performance. We conducted a pilot study on obtaining these data from school‐age children using a "Regularity Assessment Questionnaire" (RA) in 22 child/parent dyads (41% boys, 7–11 years) who completed a child‐ and a parent‐version of the RA: 8 questions and a picture‐based tool to help classify stool consistency. The RAs were completed weekly for 4 weeks and parents completed a questionnaire summarizing their experience with the RA, their children's understanding of the questions, and the ease of completing the RA. 91% of parents reported that the RA was easy to complete and children understood each of the questions. Interestingly, 50% of parents estimated that children answered "very accurately" and 50% thought the child responded "accurately". However, more than 60% of the parents reported not to have seen their child's bowel movement in the past week. The matching of responses between the child and the parent increased weekly, ranging 15% – 95%, depending on the question. 5–22% of parents helped their child, 80% only did so the first time. Overall, children in this sample were comfortable reporting on their bowel movements and other questions related to digestive function; studies focusing on digestive health in children should use the child, not the parents, as source of this information.


Abstract Using a contour dynamical algorithm, we have found rotating tripolar V-state solutions for the inviscid Euler equations in two-dimensions. We have studied their geometry as a function of their physical parameters. Their stability was investigated with the aid of contour surgery, and most of the states were found to be stable. Under finite-amplitude perturbations, tripoles are shown to either fission into two asymmetric dipoles or to evolve into a shielded axisymmetric vortex, demonstrating the existence of two new ''reversible transitions'' between topologically distinct coherent vortex structures. These dynamical results are confirmed by pseudo-spectral simulations, with which we also show how continuous tripolar long-lived coherent vortex structures can be generated in a variety of ways.


There are many interesting biological systems that utilize small mechanical forces to achieve functionality. Protein folding, ligand-receptor binding, cellular adhesion, and others all rely on picoNewton sized mechanical forces. In many of these examples, the fundamental character of the interaction remains controversial. In this paper, we describe work in progress to develop micromechanical force-measuring instruments suitable for measurements of these small biologically derived forces.


We present the Sloan Low-mass Wide Pairs of Kinematically Equivalent Stars (SLoWPoKES), a catalog of 1342 very-wide (projected separation ≳500 AU), low-mass (at least one mid-K to mid-M dwarf component) common proper motion pairs identified from astrometry, photometry, and proper motions in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. A Monte Carlo-based Galactic model is constructed to assess the probability of chance alignment for each pair; only pairs with a probability of chance alignment ⩽0.05 are included in the catalog. The overall fidelity of the catalog is expected to be 98.35%. The selection algorithm is purposely exclusive to ensure that the resulting catalog is efficient for follow-up studies of low-mass pairs. The SLoWPoKES catalog is the largest sample of wide, low-mass pairs to date and is intended as an ongoing community resource for detailed study of bona fide systems. Here, we summarize the general characteristics of the SLoWPoKES sample and present preliminary results describing the properties of wide, low-mass pairs. While the majority of the identified pairs are disk dwarfs, there are 70 halo subdwarf (SD) pairs and 21 white dwarf–disk dwarf pairs, as well as four triples. Most SLoWPoKES pairs violate the previously defined empirical limits for maximum angular separation or binding energies. However, they are well within the theoretical limits and should prove very useful in putting firm constraints on the maximum size of binary systems and on different formation scenarios. We find a lower limit to the wide binary frequency (WBF) for the mid-K to mid-M spectral types that constitute our sample to be 1.1%. This frequency decreases as a function of Galactic height, indicating a time evolution of the WBF. In addition, the semi-major axes of the SLoWPoKES systems exhibit a distinctly bimodal distribution, with a break at separations around 0.1 pc that is also manifested in the system binding energy. Compared with theoretical predictions for the disruption of binary systems with time, we conclude that the SLoWPoKES sample comprises two populations of wide binaries: an "old" population of tightly bound systems, and a "young" population of weakly bound systems that will not survive more than a few Gyr. The SLoWPoKES catalog and future ancillary data are publicly available on the Internet for utilization by the astronomy community.


The invention discloses a green phosphor for an LED (Light-Emitting Diode) and a preparation method of the phosphor; the technique adopts high-temperature solid phase method to prepare Lu2MMg2A3O12: Ce , wherein M is one or two of Ca, Ba and Sr; and A is one or two of Si and Ge. The product can be effectively stimulated by 450nm blue light, very wide emission peak emerges in the 550nm-750nm, and the main peak position is close to 590-600 nm, and green light is emitted. The relative intensity of the emission peak can be adjusted by changing the doping concentration of Ce , and the color temperature and the color rendering index of the encapsulated LED are accordingly changed. The preparation method disclosed by the invention is simple in technique, low in synthesis reaction temperature and high in luminous efficiency, and has the prospect of stimulating a white light LED with a blue light chip.


Objective
To review the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis infection after total knee arthro-plasty (TKA).

Methods
The recent literature concerning the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis infection after TKA were extensively reviewed and summarized.

Results
The diagnosis of tuberculosis infection after TKA is difficult. It should be combined with the patient's medical history, symptoms, signs, blood examinations, and imaging examinations, among which the bacterial culture and histopathological examination are the gold standard of diagnosis. Treatment strategy is combined with the drug treatment and a variety of surgical procedures that depends on the clinical situation.

Conclusion
At present, there is no guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis infection after TKA, it still needs further study and improvement.


This project involves designing, modelling, rigging and animating 3D Animation Application on Adab (3DAAA) for high functioning autistic students in Akademi Al-Fakih Intelek (AFI). The animation is converted into an application in iOS platform so that it can be viewed through the iOS devices such as iPhone, iPad and iPod. The main objective of this project is to allow high functioning autistic students to learn about adab (manners) through interactive and fun method according to their own pace. This project would help students getting Islamic knowledge and values using the utilised mobile technology in their learning method assist by their parents and teachers.


21-hydroxylase deficiency is the most common type of congenital adrenal hyperplasia. It is characterized by decreased synthesis of glucocorticoids and mineralocoticoids, adrenal hyperandrogenism and over-storage of progesto- gens and steroid precursors. Clinical manifestations of 21-hydroxylase deficiency are abnormality of puberty, decrease of final adult height and subfertility in adulthood. The mechanism involves alterations in cortisol pharmacokinetics at puberty, abnormal modulation of hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axis resulted from hyperandrogenemia and the adrenal rest tu- mors of gonads. The aims of the treatment include traditional substitution therapy by corticosteroids to prevent adrenal crises and to suppress hyperandrogenism, paying attention to protect growth potentiality and sexual health and fertility function in long-term. It is still a great challenge with regard to the management of hyperandrogenemia. The author reviews pubertal development, long-term fertility status of patients with 21-hydroxylase deficiency and the advances in the treat- ment besides conventional therapy for 21-hydroxylase deficiency.


This tape-recorded discussion was devoted to the mechanisms for complaints within the Health Service. In their working papers, circulated before the discussion, Mr. Rudolf Klein, an academic who has written extensively on this topic, argues that the existence of some sort of patient's friend would reduce the number of formal complaints; Dr. David Pyke, a consultant physiciam, that public pressure is the best remedy for errors arising in institutions; and Dr. Andrew Smith, a general practitioner and lecturer in family medicine at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, that the best solution is a local one, probably in the form of a social worker as part of the G.P.'s team. The working papers are printed below, followed by the discussion, which was chaired by a member of the B.M.J. editorial staff.


Purpose – Sharjah is the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) third largest city and third highest waste producer (9.9% of ~26 million in 2012). A total of about ~$1bn has been invested into programs pursuing zero-landfill waste by 100% recycling. Besides infrastructure, assessing knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) are needed for effective waste management. The purpose of this study is to examine recycling KAP in Sharjah. Design/methodology/approach –Across-sectional study, using pilot-tested questionnaires, was conducted among public venues during March and April 2016. A total of 400 residents (18–55 years) were selected via convenience sampling. SPSS-22 was used for analysis. Findings –Mean age [28 years (±9.4)] with 56.5% females. Knowledge level [51.8% (±18.1)]; students reported the highest (53.7%, p5 0.007, 95%CI [51.4–56.1]). 22.9%knew recycling benefits, 31.2%knewhow to correctly prepare items. Attitude level 92.6% (±16.5); 51.1% and 46.8% would recycle more with a financial reward or penalty, respectively. 70.4% reported practicing recycling; 16.0% always recycle. Logistic regression model indicated knowledge (OR5 1.013, 95%CI [1.001–1.025]) and attitude (OR5 1.014, 95%CI [1.001–1.028]) as the only significant predictors of recycling practice. Research limitations/implications – Convenience sampling led to a biased sample (54.4% < 25 years). Practical implications – Awareness programs and innovative methods, such as a reward system, are needed to strengthen recycling knowledge and practices, respectively. Originality/value – This is the first study measuring recycling KAP in the UAE. Results could be starting points for improved local waste management and subsequently reduced public health concerns.


Our development of an Automated Test System (ATS) for Proximity Sensor Electronic Units (PSEUs) in the aircraft industry required the implementation of a variable inductor. The variable inductor simulates inductive proximity sensors so the ATS can measure and verify the switch points of the electronics as the sensors move between their near and far states. Though developed for PSEU testing, the presented methodology and technology may be applied to other test equipment and applications that require a variable inductor. The paper begins by looking at different techniques for implementing a variable inductor: moving cores, switched decade boxes, gyrator circuitry and saturable core reactors. The paper presents the pros and cons of the different technologies and then focuses on the development of a saturable core reactor as the chosen technology. The paper presents fundamental formulae used during the development of the variable inductor and test results for a number of developed prototypes. The presentation includes the development of a highly-accurate control loop to precisely hold the value of the controlled inductance. Finally, the paper concludes with a brief discussion of the ATS that ultimately housed the variable inductor.


The paper focuses on a topic concerning the students' professional future. Students more often and more are prepared to leave the labor market. In addition to the ongoing higher education they get their education at a variety of courses and trainings; they increase their skills in workshops or attend internships and practices to become attractive candidates for the job in the eyes of a potential employer. At this point a number of questions raises, such as: do students choose their future profession consciously? what do they expect from the future profession? are they interested in working abroad after graduation? etc. According to the Forbes, logistician profession was in the top ten most popular professions in 2013 in Poland. That is why the objective of the paper was to identify the expectations of students who study Logistics at the Faculty of Engineering Management, Poznan University of Technolog. Paper type: Research Paper Published online: 28 October 2016 Vol. 6, No. 5, pp. 379–392 DOI: 10.21008/j.2083-4950.2016.6.5.1 ISSN 2083-4942 (Print) ISSN 2083-4950 (Online) 380 I. Pawłyszyn, N. Rizun and H. Ryzhkova © 2016 Poznan University of Technology. All rights reserved.


Effort to incorporate sustainability aspects into the spatial planning agenda requires new relationships between conventional and new players in today's post-socialist world. Some stakeholders engaged in development, management and governance are sometimes tailoring the destiny of regional and urban systems in Croatia without sustainability concerns. Their activities show the lack of awareness and negative attitude towards sustainable planning practices where the major goal is to improve the quality of life of current and future generations. Without sound ideas about carrying capacities and sustainability, some of these actors have ignored the planning knowledge and expertise (CAVRIC, NEDOVIC – BUDIC, 2007). Planners advise upon them with their professional skill and knowledge but the driving force is still political power. These proponents have managed to safeguard their own spatial and land interests on the expense of the public and ordinary citizens, by maintaining the system of "copy-paste" planning blue prints, suitable for supporting emerging urban sprawl and uncontrolled construction activities.  Unfortunately, due to the long-term social ignorance and strong alliance of developer's lobbies, architects and constructors, various international planning ideas with "sustainability in mind" have not affected Croatian planning theory and practice, yet. Some of them are petrified, misinterpreted or simply abolished owing to obstinate legislation, the non-existence of formal planning education, and the privileged position of only one brand of chartered planners (e.g. architects) . Alternative development solutions, such as public participation, behavioral, organizational and technological advances, diversity of implementing instruments in the planner's "toolkit", and the planner's numerous tasks in guiding sustainable change, are still to be recognized in this EU accession country. Notwithstanding, this paper aims to summaries sustainability and its derivates as the new paradigms, in which the guiding leitmotif of the new global agenda for planning is spelled out by the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (2001b) as follows: "The new planning is less coded and technical, more innovative and entrepreneurial. It is more participatory and concerned with projects rather than whole spatial systems. Planning expertise is increasingly sought not only by the state, but also by the corporate sector and civil society. What is controversial is not planning per se, but its goal: whether it should be directed chiefly at efficiency, reinforcing the current distribution of wealth and power, or whether it should play a distributive role to help create minimum standards of urban liveability" (Hague, 2001).


281 Perinatal Socioeconomic and Geographical Factors and Risk of Celiac Disease in Children: A Multilevel Analysis of the Swedish Population


While there is a vast literature highlighting the social dynamics that underlie political behavior, we know very little about the processes by which political behavior and practices disseminate among political actors. Drawing upon recent innovations, we study the diffusion of behavior within the U.S. House of Representatives. Specifically, we examine the role of diffusion in the context of discharge petitions, which are procedural mechanisms used to force a measure out of committee for floor consideration. Based on data from 1995 to 2008, we find that discharge petitions are subject to social diffusion processes. In fact, discharge petitions frequently follow a process of social learning according to which members rationally evaluate information conveyed by the decisions of other members. These findings have implications for our understanding of congressional processes in particular and questions of political accountability in general.


BACKGROUND
The Quick Dementia Rating System (QDRS) is a brief and rapid tool that can be administered by an informant without the need for a trained assessor.

OBJECTIVE
Our objective was to examine the validity, reliability, and cost-effectiveness of the informant QDRS in a Singapore memory clinic sample.

METHODS
We assessed a total of 177 older adults, among whom, 32 had no cognitive impairment (NCI), 61 had mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 84 had dementia. Elderly underwent 1) the informant QDRS, 2) the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) as the gold standard diagnosis, 3) the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and 4) the Ascertain Dementia 8 (AD8) as comparisons to the QDRS. The extent to which the QDRS may reduce the recruitment cost (time) of clinical trials was also calculated.

RESULTS
The QDRS had excellent internal consistency (Cronbach alpha = 0.939). It correlated highly with the CDR-global (R = 0.897), CDR Sum-of-Boxes (R = 0.915), MMSE (R = -0.848), and the AD8 (R = 0.747), showing good concurrent validity. With an optimal cut-off of 1.5 for MCI (sensitivity 85.2%, specificity 96.3%) and 6 for dementia (sensitivity 90.1%, specificity 89.2%), the QDRS achieved a higher overall accuracy of 85.0%, as compared to MMSE (71.2%) and AD8 (73.4%). A simulated clinical trial recruitment scenario demonstrated that pre-screening with the QDRS followed by a confirmatory CDR would reduce the time needed to identify NCI subjects by 23.3% and MCI subjects by 75.3%.

CONCLUSION
The QDRS is a reliable cognitive impairment screening tool which is suitable for informant-administration, especially for identification of MCI.


The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has established a Vitamin D Metabolites Quality Assurance Program (VitDQAP) in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Dietary Supplements. Participants in the eighth exercise of this program, the Winter 2014 Comparability Study, were asked to use the methodology of their choice to measure concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in pooled human serum control and study materials distributed by NIST. The study materials consisted of Standard Reference Material (SRM) 909c Human Serum and VitDQAP-III (a material designed for the VitDQAP). SRM 968d Fat-Soluble Vitamins, Carotenoids, and Cholesterol in Human Serum Level 1 was provided as a control material. Participants provided their data to NIST, where it was compiled and evaluated for trueness relative to the NIST value and concordance within the participant community. A report of results was provided to all participants of the study, and laboratories were identified by code numbers known only to them. The results from this eighth study are reported along with a summary of the analytical methods used. i _____________________________________________________________________________________ This puication is avilable ree of carge rom : http://dxorg/10.6028/N IS .IR .133


ardiac catheterisation and angiography uses ionisingradiation and therefore produces a radiation dose to thepatient and to the operating staff. The dose to the patientcan be measured using thermoluminescent dosemeters placedon the skin or by using a large-area detector attached to the xray tube to measure the dose–area product (DAP) for theincident x ray beam (DAP meter). The DAP is particularly usefulfor assessing and comparing the radiation dose from screeningprocedures. It provides a more useful indication of the overallpatient exposure than measurement of surface dose atparticular locations. The dose measurement is used either as asurrogate for radiation risk or as a step in actually estimatingthe risk. Published factors allow conversion of the DAP toeffective dose, a derived quantity in which doses to differentorgans or tissues are weighted according to their radio-sensitivity and summed to give a risk-related dose quantity.


Restriction and supervision are the two ways of power restriction.Restriction is objective and common.The objectivity includes characteristics of internality,instant,interactive and equivalence and so on.As a kind of inner restraint,restriction is real—time constraints in the development of things;while supervision is external with the characteristics of no simultaneity,mono—direction and exogenous and status superiority,etc.Power restriction is from decentralization,and power supervision is from authorization.In today's world,the emphasis and the modes in restriction and supervision are different because of the influence of traditional history.When using the mechanism of restriction and supervision we must strictly follow the two different nature and features.Otherwise it is impossible for restriction and supervision which is also the important principle of fully implementing"perfect restriction and supervision mechanism"in the party report of the 17th Congress of CPC.


From the development of multiply-stage DEA model,this paper puts forward the six-stage DEA-CCR model which combines Tobit,SFA Multiple linear regression analysis for decision making units' homogeneity problems in the multiple-inputs and multiple-inputs evaluation index system.The model firstly classified the external environment variables into positive negative environment variables and the model fully uses input redundancy relaxation variables and the output variables to readjust inputs and ouputs variables,which finally eliminates effects of environment variable and random error and management without efficiency evaluation to get the effect of pure management efficiency.Using 2009 commercial bank data to carry out empirical analysis,as the continuation of multiple-stage DEA model,six stages DEA model can be used as a a reference standard on system evaluation to judge decision making units' homogeneity,and it helps create a system,overall evaluate index system.At the same time,this method can spread to panel data model and has reference value to other model' system evaluation.


The generation, systematization and knowledge transfer about biodiversity is a fundamental input for its conservation and the inclusion of the community. El Cielo Biosphere Reserve (ECBR) in Tamaulipas, Mexico, is a natural area protected due to the characteristics of its biotic and abiotic resources. The objective of this research was to characterize the current state of the generated knowledge about El Cielo Biosphere Reserve and its relationship with its management program. A qualitative and quantitative search, classification, and review of the primary sources in the Web of Science, Scopus, and Redalyc databases was performed. This information was contrasted with the content of the ECBR Management Program. Results show an indirect association between publications and the management program with the absence of publications in the culture, communication, and management subprograms. The need to systematize the addressed topics was also evident. The main achievement of this work is the integration, mapping, and systematization of publications, which establishes a baseline for future studies. The existing knowledge about ECBR, published in scientific journals, was conducted from a disciplinary approach in the field of Biology. There is evidence that it was used to prepare its most recent management program and that it impacts at least 20 % of the actions included in the document. However, the process for the transfer of knowledge was indirect, and new transdisciplinary approaches are required to address the existing socio-ecological problems.


Following its political break with Stalin's Russia, Yugoslavia has, since the early 1950s, increasingly turned away from the centralized socialist planning that characterizes the Soviet economic system. The main impulse for the gradual elaboration of a distinctive national system came from two directions. First, the Yugoslav conception of federalism was based on the association of six regions (Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro) with very distinct national, historical, and social traditions and in different stages of economic development. This meant balancing central economic direction with concern for regional needs and interests. Second, the break with Stalinist Russia in 1948 no doubt stimulated a desire to develop, together with political and ideological independence, a distinctive national economic philosophy of communism in contrast to the overcentralized planning bureaucracy of the Soviet Union.


For the control of oak wilt caused by Raffaelea quercus-mongolicae, an antifungal microorganism, Streptomyces blastmyceticus, was used as a potential agent. Culture suspension of S. blastmyceticus was injected into Quercus mongolicae in the research forest of Kangwon National University by $ChemJet...


Reduction of soil adhesion and resistance of soil engaging parts is an important area of investigation. In this
article, consideration is given to mechanisms by which soil animals reduce adhesion and resistance when moving through
moist soil. It is suggested that the rough surface of soil animals is the main reason for reduced adhesion and resistance. A
bulldozing plate was prepared with various kinds of rough surfaces that simulate the cuticle of typical soil animals. Tests
were carried out in dry sand, wet sand, loose yellow soil, and compact yellow soil to verify the proposed mechanism for
reducing adhesion and resistance. The results show that, when bulldozing a compact soil, macro-rough surfaces such as
convex, wavy and scaly surfaces can reduce soil resistance and soil adhesion when compared with a smooth surface.


To assess the serum levels of cytokines in patients with CHD and metabolic syndrome (MS) and the possibility of reducing the inflammatory status during Dalargin administration 123 patients (the mean age 57,6 ± 5,2) were examined. The concentration of interleukin (IL) 1, 6, and TNF-α was measured through the enzyme immunoassay ELISA. The patients in the Group 1 (n = 63) received the standard medical therapy, the group 2 (n = 60) was receiving the additional endonasal Dalargin within10 days in the dose of 2 mg / day. We found the increased levels of IL 1, 6, and TNF-α in patients with coronary artery disease. CHD with MS is associated with more pronounced activation of subclinical inflammation. The use of Dalargin in treating CHD patients results in the significant reduction in serum levels of cytokines, which was not observed in the standard medical therapy.


According to the inspection of the transmission pipeline of the Lamadian oilfield in the sixth petroleum productionfactory and results of the experiments on the physical and chemical property of the pipeline steel, the remaining strength assessmentis made in this paper to the pipe using software based on API 579. One dimensional model based on radial corrosion rate and threedimensional model based on axial, radial and circumferential corrosion rates are also developed to make the life prediction. Finallythese two models are applied to predict the remaining corrosion life of a few inspected corrosion spots.


The invention discloses an additive material manufacturing molding cylinder. A hubbed flange and a base table which is matched with the hubbed flange are installed in the molding cylinder. The base table is provided with a protrusion, and the shape of the cross section of the protrusion is coincident with the shape of the cross section of the hub portion of the hubbed flange. The protrusion of the base table is upwards placed on a piston supporting plate in the molding cylinder, and the hub portion of the hubbed flange is downwards erected at an opening of the molding cylinder. The hub portion of the hubbed flange is closely combined with the protrusion of the base table in a sleeving mode and matched with the protrusion of the base table, so that a cavity for part molding is formed. The invention further discloses additive material manufacturing equipment with the molding cylinder. The application range of existing additive material manufacturing equipment is expanded, powder waste is reduced, and the part molding time is shortened. The additive material manufacturing molding cylinder and the additive material manufacturing equipment are simple in structure and easy to apply and popularize on a large scale.


In this lecture I will review the application of Magnetic Resonance (MR) techniques to examine the pathogenesis of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes in humans:


Skylab life support systems design and performance prediction covering thermal and humidity control, atmospheric supply, carbon dioxide removal, water and waste management


This study aims to explain the resources, capabilities and management choices necessary to respond to the new environment for the case of public university institutions. There is little research about responsiveness to the digital transformation in public universities. The methodology is based on literature review and a case study. A Public Agency Strategic Analysis is used to identify relevant issues to conduct the case study. Results show that the organizational processes, talent management and education service models have not been transformed as a result of emergent technologies. The work provides a comprehensive analysis of the capabilities, barriers and the role of the bargaining power of multiple forces affecting the digital transformation of a public sector organization. The article provides specific and actionable recommendations on relevant challenges when public university institutions conduct a digital transformation process.


Concentrations of cortisol, insulin, growth hormone, insulin-like growth factor-I, triiodothyronine and thyroxine were determined before and during parturition in sows immunized against a somatostatin-BSA conjugate (n = 7) or against BSA only (n = 6). Immunization against somatostatin decreased insulin-like growth factor-I concentrations during parturition (P ≤ 0.05). For all animals, cortisol, thyroxine and triiodothyronine concentrations were greater (P ≤ 0.01) during than before parturition. Key words: Sow, parturition, somatostatin, cortisol, thyroxine, growth hormone, insulin-like growth factor-I


After the discovery of the MEP pathway, people were convinced that plastidic isoprenoids derive exclusively from the MEP pathway and that cytoplasmic and mitochondrial isoprenoids derive exclusively from the MVA pathway. The fact that the MVA pathway products can not recover the mutant phenotype of plants mutated in the MEP pathway and vice versa solidified this view. However, radioactive labelled mevalonate was discovered to be incorporated into plastidic isoprenoids, and therefore a possible cross-flow of intermediates of the two isoprenoid pathways was suggested. In seeds of Arabidopsis thaliana plants which are mutant in the chlorophyll synthase (CHLSYN) or in the phytol kinase (VTE5), a reduction of tocopherol levels of 75% 80% has been shown. These results indicated that 75% 80% of seed tocopherol levels derive from chlorophyll recycling, and it has been suggested that the rest derives from the direct reduction of MEP pathway derived geranylgeranyl diphosphate (GGPP). It has not yet been demonstrated if the remaining 20% 25% are deriving from this reduction or if there is a MEP pathway independent production of tocopherols in seeds of Arabidopsis thaliana. This master thesis aimed to find genetic evidences to answer the question if a cross-flow of MVA pathway derived isoprenoid precursors happens naturally in Arabidopsis thaliana, and to investigate whether or not the mentioned remaining 20% 25% of seed tocopherols of chlsyn or vte5 plants are deriving from the MEP pathway. Results from analyses of the tocopherol content of single seeds of a plant which was hemizygous mutant in the HDR gene indicate that there is no cross-flow happening on a natural basis. This would indicate that the remaining 20% 25% of tocopherol content in seeds of chlsyn and vte5 Arabidopsis thaliana plants are indeed deriving from the direct reduction of GGPP by the geranylgeranyl reductase. This result could not be confirmed by analysation of the tocopherol content of 5 mg of homozygous mutant cmk seeds and by previously produced single seed data. They indicated that most seed tocopherols derive from a MEP independent source. Results of seeds, downregulated in MVA gene expression are pending.


Absorption spectroscopy in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) domain was performed on the hydrogen-deuteride molecule with a novel Fourier-transform spectrometer based upon wavefront division interferometry. This unique instrument, which is a permanent endstation of the undulator-based beamline DESIRS on the synchrotron SOLEIL facility, opens the way to Fourier-transform spectroscopy in the VUV range. The HD spectral lines in the Lyman and Werner bands were recorded in the 87–112 nm range from a quasi-static gas sample in a windowless configuration and with a Doppler-limited resolution. Line positions of some 268 transitions in the Lyman bands and 141 transitions in the Werner bands were deduced with uncertainties of 0.04 cm−1 (1σ) which correspond to Δλ/λ ∼ 4 × 10−7. This extensive laboratory database is of relevance for comparison with astronomical observations of H2 and HD spectra from highly redshifted objects, with the goal of extracting a possible variation of the proton-to-electron mass ratio (μ = m p /m e ) on a cosmological time scale. For this reason also calculations of the so-called sensitivity coefficients K i were performed in order to allow for deducing constraints on Δμ/μ. The K i coefficients, associated with the line shift that each spectral line undergoes as a result of a varying value for μ, were derived from calculations as a function of μ solving the Schrödinger equation using ab initio potentials.