Abstract Although weathering is usually carried out in outdoor conditions, even ageing in indoor conditions can cause significant changes to wood surfaces. We found these to notably impact wetting and coatability of surfaces of common beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and Norway spruce [Picea abies (L.) Karst.] wood. These effects were well overcome and the surfaces reactivated using a novel kind of a plasma device. On both kinds of wood, ageing caused significant changes in their colour, opening of pits and cell wall destruction. Infrared spectra indicated a significant decrease of aromatic lignin and production of non-conjugated carbonyl groups. Surface free energies and spreading kinetics varied much upon this kind of ageing. In beech, pull-off strengths for a commercial waterborne wood coating slightly decreased for longer exposure times. For the reactivation of wood surfaces, we employed a novel approach using a floating electrode dielectric barrier discharge (FE-DBD) plasma, which had not been done on wood before. Similar to other plasma techniques, the surface free energy (SFE) increased after treatment. On beech wood, the plasma treatment (PT) led to higher pull-off strengths of the waterborne coating. On spruce wood, the coating mostly showed cohesive failures after ageing, and thus the PTs showed less improvements.


Observation of large amplitude ion acoustic shocks with a high Mach number up to two in a collisionless laboratory plasma characterized by Te/Ti approximately 10 is described. Although they have large fluctuations behind the front, these shocks are almost laminar rather than turbulent, and they behave nonstationarily during propagation. A discussion about the upper critical Mach number for the excitation of laminar shocks and the behavior of the shocks is also presented.


Previous attempts to synthesize boracyclanes in the medium-ring range (9-, 10-, 11-, and 12-ring members) via cyclic hydroboration of α,ω-dienes have failed. However, their synthesis via the sequential one-carbon homologation of B-methoxyboracyclanes has been achieved utilizing the successive reaction of B-methoxyboracyclanes with in situ generated (chloromethyl)lithium (LiCH2Cl): MeOB(CH2)5 → MeOB(CH2)6 → MeOB(CH2)7 → MeOB(CH2)8 → MeOB(CH2)9 → MeOB(CH2)10 → MeOB(CH2)11. The yields achieved are in the range of 75–85%. In each case the products are identified by conversion via the DCME reaction into the known cycloalkanones. This development provides the first entry into boracyclanes of the strained medium ring range.


Abstract
In the context of cultural diversity and democratization in Nepal, ethical decision making with the central focus on the paradigms of care, justice, and critique is perceived as highly imperative in the life of school principals. However, the way each principal decides to remain ethical differs in practice as his or her own individual and school constructs vary from the other. The difference is much visible in the decision-making process of men and women principals. Considering this, a case study of men and women principals was carried out and the result showed that sociocultural constructs of the principals is primarily responsible to create the differences between them in terms of their ethical decision-making process. Sociocultural context of principals is not in the favor of the women's decisive role, and thus women principals in their workplace make decisions after having several rounds of consultations. This serves to make their decision constructive as compared to the men principals who hardly consult in the decision-making process.


Multi agent system (MAS) model has been extensively used in the different tasks of E-Commerce such as customer relation management (CRM), negotiation and brokering. We have our objective in this paper to evaluate seller agent's various cognitive parameters like capability, trust, and desire for selection of the best seller agent. The selection of the best seller agent from ordering queue, it helps for negotiation strategies to find out most profitable proposal by which both buyer and selected seller can get profit. In this work we have provided a logical cognitive model.


Objective To investigate the relationship in seasonal variation and blood pressure of older hypertension and incidance of cardiocerebrovascular events.Methods 167 hypertensive patients selected from 2009 to 2010 in our department were eligible patients,monitoring the change of four seasons in a year,blood pressure,cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events statistics.Results Elderly patients with hypertension systolic pressure,diastolic pressure is highest in winter,summer,systolic pressure,diastolic pressure minimum.The seasonal systolic blood pressure two two comparison,the difference was statistically significant(P 0.05).Summer and autumn compared diastolic blood pressure,there was no significant difference(P 0.05),the rest of the season diastolic blood pressure two two comparison,the differences were statistically significant(P 0.05).The incidence of cerebrovascular events in winter and summer than in spring and autumn,the incidence rate of the disease incidence rate is high,the difference was statistically significant(P 0.05);the incidence and prevalence of winter in summer and spring and autumn incidence incidence rate,there was no significant difference(P 0.05).Conclusion The older hypertension is season rhythm changes of blood pressure,namely there's highest peak of blood pressure in winter,and lowest com.Valley in summer,the blood pressure of spring and autumn is between that of winter and summer.Acute cardiocerebrovascular events incidence of extreme weather changes related to seasons show a certain rule,the first highest peak is in winter,the second highest peak is in summer.


The post-war decade has brought an increase in the criticisms of contemporary public education, particularly at the high-school level, a more searching examination of the bases of current educational philosophies, an augmented interest in education on the part of parents, of university professors and administrators, and of businessmen, industrialists, government officials, and other employers of the products of our schools. Many of these criticisms and inquiries reflect honest and sincere misgivings about the practices of some of our schools, others have been promoted by jingoistic, neo-fascistic, and other crackpot groups with selfish interests to promote. or obvious axes to sharpen. That some of these criticisms and doubts have validity is supported by the increased attention being given by educators and laymen alike to the work of our public schools and by increasing complaints about the illiteracy of many public school graduates. Related to these criticisms is another serious problem, that of the educational bureaucracy which in a large measure controls our public educational svstem. This bureaucracy consists in part of the faculties of our schools and colleges of education, in part of superintendents, principals, and other officials of some of our school systems, in part of powerful educational organizations of national scope and pervasive 9ower. This bureaucracy, through the interlocking relationships of its parts, in a large measure dictates the laws which govern the certification of teachers, controls the training of large numbers of our teachers, determines educational philosophies and practices, designs curricula, and wields great influence upon the writing and selection of textbooks. Like other bureaucracies, it has its generic characteristics: it is highly sensitive to criticism and, when criticized, commonly seeks to neutralize criticisms by personal attacks upon its critics, by impugning their motives, or by attempts at suppression of their criticisms; it is selfexpansive and self-reproductive in supra-Malthusian degree; it makes a fetish of methodologies; it loses the power of discrimination, so that it becomes increasingly unable to distinguish between the basic and trivial in education; and it confuses change with progress. Evidences of the power of this bureaucracv are numerous, so numerous that I can describe onlv a few of them. Laws governing the certification of teachers, for example, are created ostensibly by state legislatures, but the design of these laws is in large measure of the behest of the educational bureaucracy-of the state superintendents of schools, of state boards of education, the members of which are often professors of education or persons influenced bv them, and of schools of education. A study of the recent history of these certification laws indicatcs a common trend in many states: an increase in the number of credit hours in courses of education which must be completed by those who would gain teaching certificates. In some states, recent proposals have been made which would require as many as 40 to 50 credit hours of courses in education as a minimal prerequisite to teacher certification. Fifty credit hours of college work occupy nearly two full years of the standard undergraduate college course; a certification requirement of this magnitude would compel teacher-training students to devote most of their junior and senior years to the studv of courses in education. This would mean that students preparing to become teachers of chemistry, English, commercial subjects, vocational agriculture, modern languages, bi'An article of this nature always results in a number of replies. You are invited to submit manuscripts dealing with Dr. Fuller's criticisms. The co-editors will give equal space in a future issue of The Amierican Biology Teacher to the paper or papers which, in their estimation, seem to present best, the other side of the problems raised in this paper.


Authors Details: 1) Name: Subarna Nandy Professional Title: Research Scholar Institution: International Management Institute Address of Institution: B-10, Qutub Institutional Area, Tara Crescent, New Delhi110016 Email: firstname.lastname@example.com 2) Name: Richa Dubey Professional Title: Research Scholar Institution: International Management Institute Address of Institution: B-10, Qutub Institutional Area, Tara Crescent, New Delhi110016 Email: email@example.com 3) Name: Pinaki Dasgupta Professional Title: Professor, Dean Administration & Placements & Corporate Relations Institution: International Management Institute Address of Institution: B-10, Qutub Institutional Area, Tara Crescent, New Delhi110016 Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


We present several advanced techniques for evaluating the quality of fiber gyro coils, including characterizing the temperature and vibration transient characteristics of fiber coils, monitoring polarization-maintaining fiber (PMF) coil winding quality using distributed polarization crosstalk analyzer (DPXA) during production, and the defect detection of fiber coil using optical coherence tomography (OCT). To the best of authors' knowledge, this is the first report of using OCT for fiber coil inspection. The use of these new techniques can effectively improve and guarantee the quality of the fiber gyro coils.


Abstract Ustilago maydis,the causal agent of corn smut disease, displays dimorphic growth in which it alternates between a unicellular, nonpathogenic yeast-like form and a dikaryotic, pathogenic filamentous form. Previously, a constitutively filamentous haploid mutant was obtained. Complementation of this mutant led to the isolation of the gene encoding adenylate cyclase,uac1.Secondary mutagenesis of auac1disruption strain allowed the isolation of a large number of suppressor mutants, termedubc,forUstilagobypass of cyclase, lacking the filamentous phenotype. Analysis of one of these suppressor mutants previously led to the identification of theubc1gene, encoding the regulatory subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase. In this report we describe the isolation of cosmids containing three newubcgenes, termedubc2, ubc3,andubc4.We also describe the morphology of theubc2, ubc3,andubc4mutants in auac1−background as well as in a background with a functionaluac1gene. In addition, we describe several mutant strains not complemented with any of the genes currently in hand and that are thus presumed to possess mutations in additionalubcgenes.


The book aspires to show the inherent paradoxes of the "pure idea" of freedom and its foreignness, and possible contrariety, revealed in and by some specific historical-political contexts, to freed ...


On the basis of a transmission error-testing laboratory bench which is designed in advance, the research and design of a transmission error-testing system of harmonic drive are carried on. The structural composition and test principle of this testing system are introduced. Based on the software, LabView2009, the design of the transmission error-testing system of harmonic drive is finished. With the help of this testing system, the following purposes can be realized. The input and output angle data of the harmonic drive can be acquired, its transmission error is capable of being analyzed and the data will be able to be stored.


We report a brief method of measuring the order parameter of liquid crystal (LC) depending on the cell gap. The method utilizes polarized ultraviolet-light (UV) absorption of host-guest LC in a wedge cell. We applied this method to evaluate the order parameters of LC on polarized-UV-exposed polyimide (PI) films compared with those on rubbed PI films. The results suggest that the order parameter of LC gradually decreases with decreasing cell gap. Furthermore, the relative order parameters of LC on UV-exposed PI films show a stronger dependence on the LC layer thickness than those on rubbed PI films.


Atlantoaxial and subaxial facetal articulation is the fulcrum of all major spinal movements. The muscles that facilitate lifelong standing human posture are located on the back of the spine, and their activity is focused on the facets that form the fulcrum of movements. On the other hand, only thin strands of muscles are located on the ventral aspect of the spine in relationship with the vertebral body, intervertebral disc, and odontoid process. Incompetence of the muscles related to their disuse, abuse, or injury results in instability of the spinal segment that is first manifested at the facets. In 2010, we identified that rather than disc degeneration or disc space reduction, it is "vertical" spinal instability related to muscle weakness that is the nodal point of pathogenesis of spinal spondylosis.[1‐3] Stabilization or fixation of the facets, ultimately aiming at arthrodesis of the spinal segments, formed the basis of treatment of degenerative spinal disease. Our proposed philosophy has the potential for revolutionizing the surgical treatment of degenerative spinal disease.[1‐13]


Based on the in-situ placement of concrete for the construction of Jinping Hydropower Station I,the tests of freeze-thawing cycle are made on the samples taken from the typical locations of the dam body along with the measurements made on their relative dynamic elastic modulus and mass loss coefficient.During the freeze-thawing process,50 cycles are taken as the freeze-thawing cardinal number;after which the measurements on the relative dynamic elastic modulus and mass loss coefficient are made immediately with the observation on the general frost resistance of the sample.The result shows that the testing effects of both the samples taken from the exit of the concrete mixer plant and the site of the placement are more obvious,however,the relevant frost resistances can generally meet the those requirements specified in the design concerned.


Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacilli are phagocytozed mostly by alveolar macrophages following entry into the lung. M. tuberculosis interactions with phagocytes are central to both host protective immunity and tuberculosis pathogenesis. The M. tuberculosis envelope lipids include phosphatidyl-myo-inositol mannosides (PIM) and their multiglycosylated counterparts, lipomannans (LM) and mannosylated lipoarabinomannans (ManLAM). These molecules are involved in the modulation of the host immune responses. PIM are found in the plasma membrane among other phospholipids and also in the capsule, where they seem to be randomly distributed from the cell surface to its innermost layers. The biosynthetic pathway of polar and apolar PIM, although incomplete, is by far the best documented aspect of the biosynthesis of PI-based lipoglycans. Defective or deficient PIM/LM/LAM synthesis is associated with lethality or growth defects, and this raises the issue of the contribution of these complex molecules to the physiology of Mycobacterium sp. The ability of soluble lipoglycans to bind C-type lectins and TLR2 is of particular interest because mycobacterial compounds, including lipoglycans and PIM, are delivered from infected macrophages, through exosomes or apoptotic vesicles, to noninfected bystander dendritic cells (DCs). Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play a crucial role in innate immunity by the recognition of molecular patterns associated with mycobacteria. ManLAM binding to the C-type lectins, MR and DC-SIGN elicits cell signaling pathways. PIM and LM stimulate non-conventional αβT cells restricted by the CD1 proteins and innate immunity through TLR2 binding.


The invention discloses a bendable firearm having off-axis shoulder rest and sight. The present invention relates to a bendable firearm having an off-axis shoulder rest and a sight, which enables stable aiming and firing since a shoulder rest is bent in an off-axis shape and provides a new structure having excellent stability by minimizing exposure of the body. The bendable firearm having the off-axis shoulder rest and the sight, according to the present invention, comprising: a firearm body (100) having a gun barrel (110) and a trigger unit (120) for firing a bullet through the gun barrel (110); a shoulder rest (200) provided at a rear end of the firearm body (100); and a sight (300) which is coupled with the firearm body (100), wherein the shoulder rest (200) is coupled so as to be bendable from the firearm (100) by an additional shoulder rest adapter (400).


Although multidimensional interventions including physiotherapy, psychology, and education are generally recommended in managing headache, and to prevent chronification, such approach is lacking in cervicogenic headache (CeH). Therefore, exploring CeH within a biopsychosocial framework is deemed an essential first step.


Electricity plays a crucial role in the economic development of most economies. The causality nexus between electricity consumption and economic growth is important in enacting energy consumption policy and environmental policy. Many researchers have studied the causality between energy consumption and economic growth yet no consensus has emerged. Irrespective of the numerous researches conducted between these two variables, less evidence has been recorded in Ghana. Studies establishing the direction of causality between economic growth and energy consumption have concluded mixed result posing stern threat to Ghana's energy policy. It is therefore viable to investigate the direction of causality between electricity consumption and economic growth in Ghana. This study uses the Cobb-Douglas growth model covering time series data from 1970 to 2014. Vector Error Correction Model was also conducted in order to empirically ascertain the error correction adjustment. Granger Causality test was used to determine the direction of causality between electricity consumption and economic growth and the empirical findings obtained herein reveals that there exists a unidirectional causality running from GDP to electricity consumption. This line of causality obtained from the data supports Growth-Led-Energy Hypothesis. Therefore, it is evident that Ghana is a less energy-dependent economy.


Automated quantification of thousands of morphologic features in microscopic images of breast cancer allows the construction of a robust prognostic model. An Automated Pathologist Reads Cancer Biopsies How is a camera different from the human eye? Only the eye's images undergo extensive secondary processing as they are interpreted by the human brain. But what if we could program a computer to do the secondary processing? A pathologist reading a cancer biopsy slide matches his or her brain's memory of certain cancer-related features (tubules, atypical nuclei, and mitosis) against the tissue. This decades-old scoring system is still standard in most places for prognosis and treatment of cancer, despite its variability and often unreliability. Now, Beck et al. have created an automated pathologist by replacing the human brain with sophisticated image processing software and instructing it to find quantitative aspects of breast cancer tissue that predict prognosis. The software located a set of features that strongly predicted breast cancer outcome in both training and validation samples. With an image analysis protocol they termed C-Path, the authors set their program loose on a set of samples from patients in the Netherlands. From more than 6000 features, the software found a set that were associated with samples from patients who had died sooner. The key aspect of this analysis was that these features were not predefined by a pathologist as being relevant to cancer; instead, the software itself found the cancer-related features among the very large set of measurements of the image. Classifying the tissue as epithelial or stromal, an important part of cancer diagnosis, took a bit of extra work: The authors needed to provide the software with some hand-marked samples so it could learn the difference. The C-Path score yielded information above and beyond that from many other measures of cancer severity including pathology grade, estrogen receptor status, tumor size, and lymph node status. In another, completely independent group of women from Vancouver, the C-Path score was also associated with overall survival. An unexpected finding was that the features that were the best predictors of patient survival were not from the cancer itself but were from the adjacent stromal tissue. Women with worse outcomes tended to have thin cords of epithelial cells infiltrating the stroma, which resulted in high-risk stromal matrix variability scores. These patients also tended to have more inflammatory cells in the stroma (picked up as dark areas by the software). Replacing the human brain with an unbiased image processing system can extract more information from microcopy images and discover new biological aspects of cancer tissue. The morphological interpretation of histologic sections forms the basis of diagnosis and prognostication for cancer. In the diagnosis of carcinomas, pathologists perform a semiquantitative analysis of a small set of morphological features to determine the cancer's histologic grade. Physicians use histologic grade to inform their assessment of a carcinoma's aggressiveness and a patient's prognosis. Nevertheless, the determination of grade in breast cancer examines only a small set of morphological features of breast cancer epithelial cells, which has been largely unchanged since the 1920s. A comprehensive analysis of automatically quantitated morphological features could identify characteristics of prognostic relevance and provide an accurate and reproducible means for assessing prognosis from microscopic image data. We developed the C-Path (Computational Pathologist) system to measure a rich quantitative feature set from the breast cancer epithelium and stroma (6642 features), including both standard morphometric descriptors of image objects and higher-level contextual, relational, and global image features. These measurements were used to construct a prognostic model. We applied the C-Path system to microscopic images from two independent cohorts of breast cancer patients [from the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) cohort, n = 248, and the Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) cohort, n = 328]. The prognostic model score generated by our system was strongly associated with overall survival in both the NKI and the VGH cohorts (both log-rank P ≤ 0.001). This association was independent of clinical, pathological, and molecular factors. Three stromal features were significantly associated with survival, and this association was stronger than the association of survival with epithelial characteristics in the model. These findings implicate stromal morphologic structure as a previously unrecognized prognostic determinant for breast cancer.


ZnO-poly(2-cinnamoyloxyethyl methacrylate) and ZnO-poly(2-cinnamoyloxyethyl methacrylate)-b-poly[(poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate] have been prepared by atom transfer polymerization initiated through a 2-bromoisobutyryl or bromoethyl group linked onto the ZnO nanoparticle surface (ZnO-BIBB, ZnO-BEI). The structure and morphology of the hybrids were characterized using Fourier transform infrared, proton nuclear magnetic resonance, fluorescence and UV spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron (TEM) and atomic force microscopy. The existence of nanoparticles with diameters varying between 40 and 100 nm was evident in the TEM images of the pure ZnO, ZnO-PCEMA-Br-2 and the diblock copolymer. Under an excitation of 340 nm, these materials exhibit a broad emission band at around 390 nm, which was associated with the presence of ZnO in the organic matrix.Graphical abstract


Background Delivering therapeutic materials, like stem cells or gene vectors, to the myocardium is difficult in the setting of ischemic heart failure because of decreased coronary flow and impaired microvascular perfusion (MP). The aim of this study was to determine if mechanical left ventricular (LV) unloading with the Impella increases coronary flow and MP in a subacute myocardial infarction. Methods and Results Anterior transmural myocardial infarction (infarct size, 26.0±3.4%) was induced in Yorkshire pigs. At 2 weeks after myocardial infarction, 6 animals underwent mechanical LV unloading by Impella, whereas 4 animals underwent pharmacological LV unloading using sodium nitroprusside for 2 hours. LV unloading with Impella significantly reduced end‐diastolic volume (−16±11mL, P=0.02) and end‐diastolic pressure (EDP; −32±23 mm Hg, P=0.03), resulting in a significant decrease in LV end‐diastolic wall stress (EDWS) (infarct: 71.6±14.7 to 43.3±10.8 kdynes/cm2 [P=0.02]; remote: 66.6±20.9 to 40.6±13.3 kdynes/cm2 [P=0.02]). Coronary flow increased immediately and remained elevated after 2 hours in Impella‐treated pigs. Compared with the baseline, MP measured by fluorescent microspheres significantly increased within the infarct zone (109±81%, P=0.003), but not in the remote zone. Although sodium nitroprusside effectively reduced LV‐EDWS, 2 (50%) of sodium nitroprusside–treated pigs developed profound systemic hypotension. A significant correlation was observed between the infarct MP and EDWS (r 2=0.43, P=0.03), suggesting an important role of EDWS in regulating MP during LV unloading in the infarcted myocardium. Conclusions LV unloading using an Impella decreased EDWS and increased infarct MP without hemodynamic decompensation. Mechanical LV unloading is a novel and efficient approach to increase infarct MP in patients with subacute myocardial infarction.


This paper continues the discussion of linear equations of motion. The author considers non-rigid kinematic excitation for multiply-supported system leading to the deformations in quasi-static response. It turns out that in the equation of motion written down for relative displacements (relative displacements are defined as absolute displacements minus quasi-static response) the contribution of the internal damping to the load in some cases may be zero (like it was for rigid kinematical excitation). For this effect the system under consideration must have homogeneous damping. It is the often case, though not always. Zero contribution of the internal damping to the load is different in origin for rigid and non-rigid kinematic excitation: in the former case nodal loads in the quasi-static response are zero for each element; in the latter case nodal loads in elements are non-zero, but in each node they are balanced giving zero resulting nodal loads. Thus, damping in the quasi-static response does not impact relative motion, but impacts the resulting internal forces. The implementation of the Rayleigh damping model for the right-hand part of the equation leads to the error (like for rigid kinematic excitation), as damping in the Rayleigh model is not really "internal": due to the participation of mass matrix it works on rigid displacements, which is impossible for internal damping


Plasma laser ablation experiments were performed irradiating glassy-carbon targets placed in vacuum through a pulsed Nd:YAG laser operating at the second harmonic (532 nm), 9 ns pulse width and 109 W/cm2 density power. Thin films of ablated carbon were deposited on silicon oxide substrates placed at different distances and angles with respect to the target. The analysis of the deposited material was carried out by using surface profiler, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and Raman spectroscopy. Results show the evidence of carbon nanocrystals and nanostructures with dimension of the order of 100 nm deposited on the substrates together with a large amount of amorphous phase. The spectroscopic investigations and the SEM images indicate the formation of nanodiamond seeds as a nucleation process induced on the substrate surface. Nanostructures were investigated as a function of the laser intensity and angle distribution. Experimental results were compared with the literature data coming from nanodiamonds growth with different techniques. Experiments performed at Instituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare-Laboratori Nazionali del Sud (INFN-LNS) of Catania (Italy) and data analysis conducted at Dipartimento di Fisica and DFMTA of the Università of Messina (Italy), CNR-ITIS of Messina and ST-Microelectronics of Catania will be presented and discussed.


This article reports the results of an online experiment that suggest that individuals are more likely to comply with contracts they participated in negotiating (even marginally) than with ones they did not and that preconsent notice of a contract term increases the likelihood of compliance with that term. The experiment also measures the relative effectiveness of four framings (legal, moral, social, and instrumental) of requests to continue to perform an undesirable task/contract term, as compared to a generic request in the absence of a contract. The moral framing was the most effective at inducing performance. A positivistic legal framing (absent monetary sanctions) was significantly less effective than were other framings and only marginally less so than was a generic request to continue performing the task in the absence of a contract.


The role of terrestrial river systems in the global carbon cycle on a long timescale has been a subject of interest, especially in the context of past climate changes such as the global cooling in the Cenozoic. The discharges of water and carbon into the ocean from the Himalayan watersheds are among the highest in the world. However, there are few reliable geochemical data from the Ayeyarwady River. This study focused on reevaluating chemical weathering in the Himalayan watersheds based on samples taken from the Ayeyarwady, Mekong, and Chao Phraya Rivers and on chemical analysis of the composition of dissolved substances in these rivers. Comparisons of water quality showed that, unlike in previous studies, the total alkalinity budgets of the Ayeyarwady are dominated by carbonate rather than silicate weathering. Long‐term CO2 consumption by silicate weathering in the Ayeyarwady is estimated to be only 63–145 × 109 mol yr−1, which is only 10% of the previous estimate. Our results also suggest that the total Himalayan watersheds account for only about 10% of the total global CO2 consumption by silicate weathering. Although we need further studies, chemical weathering and associated CO2 uptake in the Himalayas likely played a lesser role in long‐term global cooling in the past than previously appreciated.


LBD-007, a newly developed recombinant human interferon alpha A, was at dose levels of 0, 3 , 6 and 12 IU/kg/day administered subctaneously to pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats during the organogenetic period. Ethylenethiourea was used as a positive control. 2/3 of dams per group were subjected to caesarean section on day 20 of pregnancy and the remaining 10 dams per group were allowed to deliver. Effects of test substance on dams, embryonal development development of F1 fetuses, as well as growth, behaviour and mating performance of F1 offspring were examined. 1. No treatment-related changes in clinical signs, food consumption, body weight and necropsy findings of dams were observed.


Asian countries need to find new ways to meet their healthcare needs, such as affordable medical devices and alternative ways to finance healthcare, concludes a new report by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

The unit's report, Healthcare in Asia: The Innovation Imperative, was released to coincide with an Economist Conferences round table meeting on healthcare in Asia in 2011, held on 17 and 18 February in Hong Kong.

How to sustainably fund affordable healthcare for all is a common challenge across the continent. The report advocates collaboration among governments, non-government organisations, communities, and the corporate sector.

One of the conference participants, Sian Griffiths, …


In this paper, a new method using the Hough transform to correct the drift of the mobile robot CESA is presented. The corrections are made by direct observation. As an illustration, an algorithm implemented is detailed, and experiment results for CESA navigation in our laboratory's corridor and trajectory generation are given.


The steady, internal, and ultrasonic-generated water mist cooling in a uniformly heated vertical cylinder with evaporating subcooled water film has been investigated experimentally. The goal is to elucidate the effects of different operating parameters, viz. water mist concentration, carrier gas velocity, loaded heat flux, and flow orientation on the heat transfer rate and pressure drop characteristics. The experiments were performed in a turbulent flow regime over a range of Reynolds number (from 6000 to 18000) using air as the carrier fluid. Compared with the cylinder without water mist, the results showed that using water mist as a coolant increases the Nusselt numbers along the cylinder, high Nusselt numbers are obtained by suspending the high-water mist and it was about 224% for heat flux q=1.56 kW/m2. The results also showed that the local Nusselt number rapidly decreases as the heat flux increases, this decreasing in the Nusselt number was the most at high heat flux q=4.81 kW/m2, in which the water film early breakdown and the breakdown point gets closer to the entrance region. In addition, a new empirical correlation of the heat transfer rate was proposed to estimate the real benefits in using water mist of the enhanced cylinder.


Proof. The backwards direction is trivial, for the forward direction we relay Euclidean Algorithm. The algorithm is based on the fact that if p > q then gcd(p, q) = gcd(q, p mod q). If gcd(p, q) = 1, the algorithm converges to 1 once we reach r such that gcd(r, 1) = 1. Note that the running time of the algorithm is O(log p) since the total size of the inputs halves at every step. It is easy to verify that if p′, q′ are of the form ap+ bq, a, b ∈ Z then r = p′ mod q′ is also of that form. Hence 1 = ap+ bq for some a, b.


The response of a Z-cut X-propagating single mode LiNbO3: Ti channel waveguide operating at 1300 nm and exposed to a 20ns, 3krad (Si) X-ray pulse peaked at 238 keV is reported. The purpose of this study was to determine if geminate ion recombination statistics used in describing the recovery kinetics in certain irradiated silica optical waveguides could also be used to represent the recovery of transient X-ray induced attenuation in a LiNbO3: Ti guided wave structure. It was also observed that no permanent radiation induced absorption occurred. However, induced transient damage up to 0.14 dB/cm was observed with the damage decay behavior following geminate ion recombination kinetics over a 600us recovery period. It was also observed that unlike the Cerenkov emissions observed for irradiated silica based optical fibers, the irradiated LiNbO3: Ti structure did not emanate Cerenkov emissions over the spectral range of 7001300nm.


This paper describes a computational model of word segmentation and presents simulation results on realistic acquisition In particular, we explore the capacity and limitations of statistical learning mechanisms that have recently gained prominence in cognitive psychology and linguistics.


A text‐based image retrieval system based on a brain function model, called the combination confabulation model, was developed to recognize how contextual word meanings change depending on the situation to overcome semantic gaps. In addition, a recurrent version of this system was developed to improve retrieval accuracy. The system uses a casebase that contains matched pairs of descriptions and images and searches for images that match the input queries. Experimental results showed that the proposed system exhibited more accurate image retrieval performances than conventional systems.


Previous studies have attempted to manipulate the elastic properties of products from elements such as different materials and internal structures. In this paper, we investigate whether we can manipulate the softness perceived by the surface texture when using the FDM-3D printer. We investigated the perceived softness of the surface texture provided by Tymms et al., in which cones of 1 mm in height are arranged, by a subject experiment. From the experimental results, it was found that the hardness perceived by increasing the arrangement interval of the cones decreased and the subjects perceived softer the objects with the surface texture.


A symmetric matrix \begin{document}$A$ \end{document} is completely positive (CP) if there exists an entrywise nonnegative matrix \begin{document}$V$ \end{document} such that \begin{document}$A = VV ^T$ \end{document} . A real symmetric matrix is called completely positive separable (CPS) if it can be written as a sum of rank-1 Kronecker products of completely positive matrices. This paper studies the CPS problem. A criterion is given to determine whether a given matrix is CPS, and a specific CPS decomposition is constructed if the matrix is CPS.


Nomenclature a = thermic diffusion coefficient, m/s B = magnetic field flux density vector, T Bk = component of magnetic field flux density vector (fc=r,0,z Ce = average velocity of thermal agitation cp = specific heat at constant pressure, J/K Dxy = geometrical distance between two, m dxy = unit vectors of oriented segments of Fig. 2c E ' electrical field, V/m EFk = ideal independent Faraday's voltage source (fc=r,0,z), V Effk = ideal controlled Hall's voltage source (fc=r,0,z), V H = length along the z axis of the sc coil cross section, m h = length along the z axis of each partition of the coil, m ht = total enthalpy of the gas, J ^scm = dc current flowing into sc coils, A / = current density vector, A/m L = length along the r axis of the sc coil cross section, m


The objective of this study is to examine, quantify, and analyze the variations in the financial performance of companies operating in the hotel, restaurant, and tourism subsector that are listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (BEI). The analysis focuses on the years 2019 (pre-COVID-19) and 2020–2021 (during the COVID-19 pandemic). Key financial ratios, including the return on assets, the current ratio, the debt-to-equity ratio, and the total asset turnover, are employed to assess the companies' performance. The study's target population comprises hotel, restaurant, and tourism businesses operating between 2019 and 2021. Sample selection employs purposive sampling based on specific criteria. Data analysis encompasses descriptive statistical analysis and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov normality test, which reveals non-normal data distributions. Consequentially, a non-parametric hypothesis test, the Wilcoxon signed the rank test, is employed to determine differences. The findings indicate significant variations in return on assets, the current ratio, the debt-to-equity ratio, and the total asset turnover between the pre-pandemic year of 2019 and the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021.


Intercalation of carbon nanosheets into two-dimensional (2D) inorganic materials could enhance their properties in terms of mechanics and electrochemistry, but sandwiching these two kinds of materials in alternating sequence is a great challenge on synthesis. Herein, we report a novel strategy to construct TiO2 nanosheets into 2D pillar-layer architectures by employing benzidine molecular assemble as pillars. Then the 2D carbon/TiO2 nanosheets composite with a periodic interlayer distance of 1.1 nm was obtained following a polymerization and carbonization. This method not only alleviates the strain arisen from the torsion of binding during the carbonization, but also hinders the structural collapse of TiO2 due to the intercalation of carbon layer by rational control of annealing conditions. The composite material possesses a large carbon/TiO2 interface, providing abundant active sites for ultrafast pseudocapacitive charge storage, thus displaying a superior high-rate performance with a specific capacity of 67.8 mAh/g at the current of 12.8 A/g based on the total electrode and excellent cyclability with 87.4 % capacity retention after 3000 cycles.


tive" churches. While Kelley cites differences in gross membership trends between these two denominations in order to support his case, detailed analysis reveals that the greater growth of the CRC is best explained by patterns of Dutch immigration after WW II and higher CRC fertility rates, but not by the appeal of the CRC to those not already members. Conservatism in the sense of demanding a great deal of members' time, energy, and money-as opposed to theological conservatismmay be a factor promoting membership retention. In general, comparisons between the CRC and the RCA do not support Kelley's causal conjecture. At a time when mainline Protestant denominations of North America were losing members hand over fist (1965-1975), Dean Kelley published a little book entitled Why Conservative Churches Are Growing (1972). Kelley argued that conservative churches were growing because they demanded more of their members' time, energy and other resources than did their more liberal counterparts. Apparently, these more stringent demands make current members more willing to stay members, increase commitment and willingness to sacrifice for the organization, and enhance the appeal of membership in such an organization to those outside the group. While Kelley presented no data to substantiate this claim, he did present comparisons of gross denominational statistics which seem to indicate that the more "conservative" branches of some denominational families were growing faster than the more "liberal" branches. One such comparison was between the Christian Reformed Church ("conservative" according to Kelley) and the Reformed Church in America ("liberal"). This paper examines in greater detail the membership trends of these two denominations in order to ascertain whether some other explanations are more likely than that proposed by Kelley. While I agree with Kelley that there are differences between these two small conservative Calvinist denominations, and I agree that some of the differences involve a somewhat more "liberal" set of


Removing phytic acid from dehulled double-low rapeseed cake by acetic acid-alcohol system was researched.The result showed that the optimal conditions were as follows:acetic acid-alcohol-water 5 ∶90 ∶5(V/V/V),the ratio of solid to liquid 1 ∶10,temperature 76℃,stirring time 45 min.Under the optimal conditions,the removal ratio of phytic acid reached 84.2%,the content of glucosinolate in finished product was 0.78%,and residual oil content was 2.66%.For little loss of dry matter,the nutrition of treated rapeseed cake was increased.


Endophytic Trichoderma is a fungus found in plant tissue and has the potential as a plant biological control agent. The aim of this study was to study endophytic Trichoderma isolated from tomato roots, stems and leaves to control Phytophthora infestans fruit rot and growth and yield of tomato plants. The treatments that were tested were endophytic tricoderma isolated from the roots, stems and leaves of tomato plants and applied with doses of 50, 75, and 100 g per tomato plant, respectively. The experimental design used a completely randomized design with three replications. The observed variables were disease intensity, plant height, number of flowers formed, and number of fruits formed. The results showed that the endophytic Trichoderma used could control the pod rot disease of Phytophthora infestans as well as increase the growth and yield of tomato plants. Giving endophytic Trichodema from roots applied with a dose of 100 g is the best treatment because it can reduce disease intensity by 48.02%, while giving at a dose of 75 g per plant is the best treatment because it can increase plant height by 51.74%, the number of flowers formed amounted to 68.42% and the number of fruit formed was 74.70%. Keywords: Endophytic Tricoderma , Tomato, Phytophthora infestans .


The Whitlams are touring Australia, celebrating 20 years since the release of their iconic album "Love This City".

But does Tim Freedman still love Sydney the way he did back then?

He took a break from the tour to talk about it with with Louise Grimmer.


On maize Cv. Ganga-5, the three nematode species, Tylenchorhynchus vulgaris, Pratylenchus thomei and Hoplolaimus indicus completed their life-cycles (egg to egg) in 15–18, 25–29 and 39–43 days respectively under laboratory conditions (30±2°C) when inoculated individually. In all cases there were 4 moults, the first being inside the egg. In combined inoculations, the life-cycle of T. vulgaris was shortened by 2–3 days (13–15 days). However, no such differences were observed in the case of P. thornei and H. indicus.


The paper proposes a comprehensive syntactic analysis of the subject-predicate relationship in SiSwati. It is proposed that there are two notions of a subject, namely, the subject of a clause and the subject of a predicate. Both positions are purely syntactic and must be filled before Spell-Out. The paper also argues that subject agreement is a purely syntactic phenomenon that takes place in a spec-head relationship. It proposes that subject agreement is triggered by verbs, and that multiple subject agreement within a clause occurs when auxiliary verbs iterate. The theoretical consequences of the analysis proposed in this study are evaluated against the pronoun incorporation analysis of Bresnan and Mchombo (1987) and the licensing of specifiers and heads proposed by Koopman (2000).


Hypertension, the foremost preventable cause of disability and premature mortality worldwide (1), is diagnosed most commonly with in-office blood pressure (BP) measurements. However, recent guidelines strongly recommend out-of-office BP monitoring (including ambulatory BP monitoring [ABPM] and self or home BP monitoring [HBPM]) for the diagnosis and management of hypertension (24). Increased use of out-of-office BP monitoring in recent decades has led to the identification of several BP phenotypes with different prognostic implications regarding long-term cardiovascular risk (57). These BP phenotypes, which require a combination of in-office and out-of-office BP readings to ascertain, include sustained normotension (that is, normal in-office and out-of-office BP in persons not receiving antihypertensive treatment), controlled hypertension (normal in-office and out-of-office BP in persons receiving antihypertensive treatment), masked hypertension (normal in-office but elevated out-of-office BP), white coat hypertension (WCH) (elevated in-office but normal out-of-office BP, described as WCH in persons not receiving antihypertensive treatment and as white coat effect [WCE] or white coat uncontrolled hypertension in those receiving antihypertensive treatment), and uncontrolled hypertension (elevated in-office and out-of-office BP). Despite guideline recommendations, real-world practice has been slow to adopt out-of-office BP monitoring (8). The clinical inertia surrounding out-of-office BP monitoring seems to be driven by several provider-, patient-, and policy-related factors (9, 10). A major barrier is skepticism over the utility of screening for isolated office hypertension (that is, untreated WCH and treated WCE) due to unclear evidence (9). The burden and risks of WCH, in particular, differ across studies. In a systematic review for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, Piper and colleagues (11) reported that the prevalence of WCH ranged from 5% to 65% in studies using ABPM and 16% to 55% in those using HBPM. They also found that WCH carried a higher cardiovascular risk than normotension in several studies but that these findings were not consistent across studies (11). Furthermore, the authors noted that studies of treated WCE showed no increased risk for adverse cardiovascular outcomes. Likewise, previous meta-analyses demonstrated weak association of WCH with cardiovascular risk and weak or no association with all-cause mortality (12, 13). However, these meta-analyses did not adequately explore factors contributing to the inconsistent findings across studies. Moreover, several additional studies evaluating the association between WCH and adverse cardiovascular outcomes were subsequently published. In this meta-analysis, we aimed to thoroughly assess the association of untreated WCH and treated WCE with future cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality. This information might promote more widespread adoption of out-of-office BP monitoring as standard of care and may inform policy changes to provide greater reimbursement and support for out-of-office BP monitoring in routine practice. Methods Data Sources and Searches All steps of the review and meta-analysis were performed by using a predefined protocol (Supplement) completed on 5 July 2018 in accordance with MOOSE (Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) guidelines (14). Publications were identified by searching PubMed and EMBASE from inception to 10 December 2018, without language restriction. Search algorithms incorporated hypertension, blood pressure, and several terms related to WCH, in-office BP, out-of-office BP monitoring, and cardiovascular outcomes (Supplement). Additional publications were identified by manual review of reference lists of relevant studies, reviews, and meta-analyses. Supplement. Supplemental Methods Study Selection Publications were eligible for inclusion if they were studies in adult humans that reported associations of WCH or WCE with nonfatal cardiovascular events (including incident coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, angina, stroke, transient ischemic attack, peripheral artery disease, revascularization procedure, and hospitalization for congestive heart failure), fatal cardiovascular events, or all-cause mortality; had a mean follow-up of at least 3 years; and provided a reference group of persons with normotension or controlled hypertension. Two investigators independently screened abstracts and reviewed full texts to determine eligibility. Any discrepancies were resolved by a third reviewer. Data Extraction and Quality Assessment Two investigators independently extracted data from each eligible publication by using a standardized form (Supplement). Data extracted included cohort name; year of publication; country and location of the study; study design; inclusion and exclusion criteria; type and duration of out-of-office BP measurement; criteria for diagnosis of WCH or WCE; number of study participants overall and with WCH or WCE; number of participants receiving antihypertensive treatment at baseline; number of participants with a history of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or chronic kidney disease; number of participants who were current smokers and were male; mean age, body mass index, and duration of follow-up; covariates included in statistical adjustment; outcomes reported and outcome definitions; adjusted risk estimates, separated by antihypertensive treatment status (treated, untreated, or treated and untreated combined); and type of outcome (fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular event, fatal cardiovascular event, or all-cause mortality). Any discrepancies were resolved by a third reviewer. Study authors were contacted directly by the lead author if a publication met all inclusion criteria but did not report the outcomes in a way that could be extracted for meta-analysis (for example, if 95% CIs were not reported). Quality of the evidence was evaluated by 2 investigators using a modified QUADAS-2 (Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies 2) tool to assess individual study bias for each outcome (Supplement). The QUADAS-2 tool assesses whether a study has low, high, or unclear risk of bias across 4 domains: patient selection, index test (modified to reflect the quality of the ABPM or HBPM assessment), reference standard (modified to reflect the quality of the in-office BP), and flow and timing (15). The modified tool incorporated quality of the statistical analyses, handling of confounding, and outcome assessment. Confounding was considered to be adequately addressed if adjustment was made for age, sex, previous cardiovascular events, antihypertensive medication, and at least 2 additional covariates among smoking status, lipid levels, diabetes mellitus, body mass index, kidney function, left ventricular hypertrophy, clinic BP, and alcohol use. Studies were determined to have a high risk of bias in the handling of confounding if the same covariates were used for analyzing cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality without otherwise accounting for potential differential confounding (for example, participant exclusion for important risk factors for all-cause mortality, such as cancer or high infectious risk). The primary analyses were restricted to studies determined to have a low risk of bias across at least 5 of 7 domains of the modified QUADAS-2. Data Synthesis and Analysis Meta-analyses were performed by calculating pooled log hazard ratios using random-effects inverse-variance models, with profile likelihood estimation (1618) and Bartlett correction (in analyses of more than 5 studies) (19) to address heterogeneity across the relatively small number of studies. All analyses incorporated multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios to quantify the association between WCH or WCE and each of the outcomes, with normotension or controlled hypertension as the reference group. The primary analyses were stratified by baseline antihypertensive treatment status reported in each study (WCH [untreated], WCE [treated], or combined). The primary outcomes evaluated were fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality. Heterogeneity was assessed by Cochran Q test and quantified with the I 2 index (20) in analyses of 3 or more studies. Begg rank correlation (21) and Egger weighted linear regression (22) tests were planned to assess for small study effects (that is, publication bias). However, these tests do not perform well with fewer than 10 studies contributing to a given estimate, and consequently they were omitted. In instances with more than 1 publication from the same cohort, data from the most recent and applicable report were used for the primary analyses; other publications from that cohort were included in pertinent subgroup analyses if the data were not available from the most recent publication. Analyses were performed with the admetan and metabias packages in Stata, version 15.1 (StataCorp). Role of the Funding Source The funding source had no role in the study design or implementation. Results The search strategy identified 27 publications that were eligible for inclusion from 29 unique cohorts, involving 25786 persons with WCH or WCE and 38487 with normotension or controlled hypertension (Figure 1 and Supplement Table 1). Two studies were based in North America, 13 in Europe, 7 in Asia, and 5 across several regions. Fourteen studies reported funding from government, university, medical society, or research foundation grants; 3 reported only industry sponsorship; 4 reported a combination of industry and government or foundation funding; and 6 (encompassing 4 distinct cohorts) did not report any source of funding. Six studies were population based, 11 recruited participants from outpatient clinics, and 10 included patients who were referred for ABPM or to a specialized hypertension clinic. Eighteen studies assessed out-of-office BP with ABPM, 7 with HBPM, and 2 wit


SUMMARY

We use counterfactual simulations based on an estimated dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model to demonstrate why China was affected less than other major countries during the first two years of the Great Depression. We show that being on a silver standard insulated China from the adverse consequences of the Great Depression by saving the country both from a tightening of monetary conditions and from a detrimental internal deflation. Without the insulation of the silver standard, China might have suffered from a cumulative output loss of between 11% and 23%, and its inflation might have become deflation. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Installation During the installation of process piping systems, it is critical for orbital welding personnel to work closely with Quality Assurance inspectors. The inspectors must be on site at the time of welding and inspect the welds as they are completed. Otherwise, the system would be welded together and it would not be possible to reach all of the welds with the fiberscope for inspection. Installation of Pharmaceutical Process Piping A Case Study Part 2 Orbital Welding, Weld Inspection, Weld Documentation, Passivation


Inducing fission by polarized neutrons allows studying subtle effects of the dynamics of the process. In the present experiments ternary fission of 235U and 239Pu was investigated with cold neutrons in the (n,f) reaction at the Institut Laue‐Langevin, Grenoble. Asymmetries in the emission of ternary particles were discovered by making use of the neutron spin flipping. It was found that two effects are interfering. There is first an asymmetry in the total yields of ternary particles having been called the TRI‐effect. Second, it was observed that the angular distributions of ternary particles are shifted back and forth when flipping the neutron spin. This shift was named ROT effect. Guided by trajectory calculations of the three‐body decay, the signs and sizes of the ROT effect are interpreted in terms of the K‐numbers of the transition states at the saddle point of fission.


Based on the space alternating generalized expectation maximization (SAGE) technique, and the ordered serial interference cancellation (OSIC) algorithm, an improved low-complexity inter-carrier interference (ICI) mitigation scheme, named SAGE-OSIC, is proposed for high mobile orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems, where the subcarriers are updated in series, according to the order of the decreasing signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) or signal to noise ratio (SNR). The computational complexity is investigated, and simulation studies are concluded over multipath fading and rapidly time-varying channels. It is indicated that the proposed SAGE-OSIC scheme significantly outperforms the existing low-complexity ICI mitigation methods based on SAGE, without any increase in the computational complexity, especially for the large Doppler shifts in highly mobile environments. Furthermore, it can also be concluded that the performance of the proposed SAGE-OSIC approaches that of the vertical Bell laboratory layered space-time (VBLAST) scheme, which demands very high computation.


Background: Aflatoxin is one of the most important fungal toxins with documented hepatotoxic, teratogenic, and immunosuppressive properties. This mycotoxin is mainly produced by species of the genus Aspergillus in feed. Therefore, the application of compounds, which prevent complications of aflatoxins without losing feed quality, is highly beneficial. Objectives: This study aimed to determine the effect of the Echinacea purpurea L. essential oils on the regulation of the microbial population of the gastrointestinal tract and some blood factors of aflatoxin-fed zebrafish. Methods: Zebrafish were divided into four groups of 45 fish in three replicates: control (G1); G2, fish fed with feed containing 500 µg/kg E. purpurea L. essential oils; G3, fish fed with feed containing 500 µg/kg E. purpurea L. essential oil and 3 ppm aflatoxin B1(AFB1); and G4, fish fed with feed containing 3 ppm AFB1. The fish were fed with diets for 60 days. After this period, they were euthanized, blood was collected from the tail vein, and blood smears were prepared. Fish hepatopancreas were used to measure alanine aminotransferase, aspartate transaminase, and alkaline phosphatase enzymes with an auto-analyzer. Also, intestinal contents were cultured to evaluate microbial population. Results: Results showed that liver enzymes increased in the aflatoxin group (P<0.05), and concurrent use of the essential oil along with AFB1 reduced the liver enzymes compared with the AFB1-treated group. Moreover, AFB1 could convert the microbial population to pathogens. Differential blood counts in the G2 and G3 groups showed an increase in the percentages of neutrophils and thrombocytes. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, E. purpurea L. essential oils could reduce the adverse effects of chronic contamination with AFB1 in zebrafish. Nevertheless, more studies are needed to better understand the immunological function of E. purpurea L. in zebrafish and its mechanism of action against AFB1.


The following comprehensive cares be adopted for chronic renal failure disease:(1)Dialectical nursing;(2)Food nursing;(3)Chinese medicine enema;(4)Confection precaution;(5)Skin care;(6)Blood monitoring;(7)Psychological care.By adopting above-mentioned comprehensive measures can delay the deterioration of kidney function.


A phase-change material (PCM) is a substance with a high heat of fusion which, on melting and solidifying at a certain temperature, is capable of storing and releasing large amounts of energy. PCMs are regarded as a possible solution for reducing the energy consumption of buildings. For raising the building inertia and stabilizing the indoor climate, PCMs are more useful because of its nature of storing and releasing heat within a certain temperature range. Phase change materials (PCM) are ''latent'' thermal storage materials possessing a large amount of heat energy stored during its phase change stage .The energy required to change the phase of a substance is known as latent heat. In this paper we are using PCM integrated into building materials for thermal energy storage applications, and much attention has been given to works concerned with the achievement and assessment of applying PCM in concrete wall. Because concrete have high specific heat capacity as well as the thermal conductivity which will eventually affect their thermal performance. In this we are using two PCM material integrated into concrete namely paraffin wax and beewax. After that we take reading of temperature by using temperature sensor. We are also comparing temperature of each PCM material with concrete by using graphical representation. The main objective of PCM integrated with concrete is that Analyse Or To Determine How Much Temperature Of Wall Can Be Reduced By Using PCM Material In Concrete Wall and To Reduce Energy Required


This research aims to determine the effectiveness of using Problem Based Learning models about critical thinking in learning geography students of class X IS 2 in SMA 1 Banyudono. This research is quasi-experimental study. The design study is a pretest-posttest control group. These subjects are students of class X and X IS 1 IS 2 SMA 1 Banyudono. Class X IS 2 is an experimental class were treated to a model Problem Based Learning, while class X IS 1 as the control class with the conventional model. The research data was collected using tests and observation. Hypothesis testing using t-test of the average value of the posttest. The results of t-test showed that t values = 3.152> t table = 2.000, meaning that the difference is significan. The difference showed that the average value of post test experimental class is 73,75 and the average value of post test control is 62,73. The average value of post test experimental class is greater than the average value of post test control. The conclusion of this research is the use of a model problem based learning in geography learning is more effective than the conventional model of critical thinking learners.


In this paper a novel approach for implementing isolated speech recognition is studied. While most of the literature on speech recognition (SR) is based on hidden Markov model (HMM), the present system is implemented by Radial Basis Function type neural network. The two phases of training and testing in a Radial Basis Function type neural network has been described. All of classifiers use Linear Predictive Cepstral Coefficients. It is found that the performance of Radial Basis Function type neural networks is superior to the other classifier Multilayer Perceptron Neural Networks. The promising results obtained through this design show that this new neural networks approach can compete with the traditional speech recognition approaches. Promising results are obtained both in the training and testing phases due to the exploitation of discriminative information with neural networks. It is found that RBF trains and tests faster than MLP.


An analysis is made of the difference between the alpha particle and proton flow velocities in the solar wind as observed by the OGO 5 satellite. The alpha and proton velocities from each of 962 spectral scans are compared with the variance of 32 solar wind flux measurements made during the scans. The average velocity difference is plotted for each of 10 logarithmic variance intervals and is seen to decrease and approach zero when the variance is high. It is shown that such an anticorrelation may be due to the fact the wave/particle interactions provide the drag force between two streams of different velocity in a collisionless plasma. (IAA)


objective To study the role of CTLA4 Ig in the induction of immune tolerance in mice heart transplantation. Methods Using the model of mice heart transplantation from the donor DBA/2 mice to the BALB/c recipients, different doses of CTLA4 Ig were injected into the recipients for 1 week after operation to observe the effects of CTLA4 Ig on the survival time of grafted hearts. Two weeks later the hearts from the DBA/2 or 615 mice was retransplanted into the recipients to study the effects of CTLA4 Ig on heart retransplantation. Results CTLA4 Ig prolonged the survival time of grafted hearts and CTLA4 Ig could induce the donor specific immune tolerance. Conclusion CTLA4 Ig could prolong the survival time of heart graft and induce donor specific immune tolerance.


Design and implementation of an automated or a semi-automated surveillance system is an active research area. Safety concerns of individuals have accelerated the research for identifying alarming human activities in public spaces like streets, shopping malls, airports, and others. But reliance on human operator for real-time actions can be inappropriate and expensive. On the other hand, demonstrating pragmatic scene of a surveillanced area with the help of a synthetic world can be effective that can guard operator's limitation. In this paper, we design a Decision Support Engine (DSE) coupled with a synthetic space to facilitate surveillance activities of operators. For this purpose, the detailed sensory data are processed and alarms are detected, classified and ranked according to the threat severity that follows some well-defined rules of the system. At the end, the identified alarming cases are marked and presented with the help of a synthetic environment in an elegant way so that the operators can take the right action in a specific security circumstance.


Human Papillomavirus (HPV) testing in combination with cervical cytology (HPV co-testing) has been recommended for cervical cancer screening for women 30 to 65 years of age. In several studies, HPV co-testing increased sensitivity for detecting high grade dysplasia and resulted in cost-savings. This retrospective cohort study assessed the prevalence of HPV co-testing in an obstetrics and gynecology resident clinic before and after a brief educational intervention which was designed to reinforce current cervical cancer screening recommendations. The intervention consisted of a short presentation that was given to all residents and medical assistants in October 2011. The proportion of women age 30-65 years of age who had cervical cancer screening with HPV co-testing as compared to cervical cytology alone was compared before and after the intervention using chi-square tests. The goal of the intervention was to increase the percentage of patients receiving co-testing from 0.5% to 7.8%. Each arm (pre- and post-intervention) required 130 subjects to achieve 80% power with a significance of P = .05. No significant differences in demographics including age, insurance type, and cytology were noted. HPV co-testing increased from 0% to 55% (P < .001). Of the 72 subjects who had co-testing, 58 (80%) will not need cervical cancer screening for another 5 years. HPV co-testing represents an underutilized cervical cancer screening modality for women 30 years and older. This brief educational intervention, adaptable to any clinical setting, significatnly increased co-testing at the clinical site.


Two electromagnetic undulators have been designed on the SOLEIL light source to produce variable polarizations in the range 5 eV – 200 eV. The first one (HU640) is a 10 m undulator composed of 16 periods of 640 mm. It will produce photons of 5 eV – 40 eV with all kinds of switchable (1 Hz) polarization states by varying the horizontal and vertical magnetic field components as well as the phase shift between them. This operation is achieved by means of three sets of coils mounted on non magnetic holders in a special arrangment. One set is dedicated to generate the horizontal component. Two other sets, shifted the one from the other by a quarter of period along the ID axis produce the vertical component with a possible continuous translation varying from +/− half a period without any carriage motion. The second undulator (HU256) operating between 10 eV and 200 eV is a 3.6 m undulator composed of two sequences of alternated dipoles. The two series of dipoles produce either the horizontal component of the mag...


In large railway station plaza, the pedestrian crossing bridge is often constructed in order to separate pedestrians and cars. Then many people must go up and down the stairs. So the perpendicular movement facilities are recently arranged. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the walking route considering the perpendicular movement facilities. Firstly, this paper structures the evaluation model for the location of elevators and escalators. Secondly, by the model, this paper analyzes the waking route of disabled people, and depicts the characteristics and variables to affect the walking route. Finally, the improvements of the detours are considered.


Non-invasive approaches to skin rejuvenation, such light-emitting diode (LED) red light therapy, are increasing in popularity owing to their affordability, effective treatment outcomes and minimal downtime. In contrast to traumatic ablative (e.g. laser resurfacing) and non-ablative (e.g. intense pulsed light) skin rejuvenation modalities, which induce secondary tissue repair by causing controlled damage to the epidermis or dermis, LED red light therapy is atraumatic and bypasses the initial destructive step by directly stimulating regenerative processes in the skin. Its mechanisms of action encompass increased cellular proliferation, as well as stimulation of tissue regeneration, through targeting fibroblasts, keratinocytes and immune cells (mast cells, neutrophils and macrophages), which can be stimulated using specific wavelengths with significant tissue penetration properties. A growing body of literature supports the safe use of this treatment modality in aesthetic medicine.


New C4ISR in information age promise information superiority and decision dominance but assessing its contribution towards combat outcome is still a major challenge.A novel system architecture of C4ISR simulation based on battle entity was proposed in an effort to evaluate the operational effectiveness of C4ISR.Firstly,the layer model about the measures of C4ISR operational effectiveness was discussed in detail.The quantitative definition of information superiority capability and decision superiority capability were proposed,and the corresponding evaluating algorithms were also proposed.Finally,results of simulation based on specifically campaign scenarios were analyzed and they verified the rationality and validity of the evaluation model.


This paper is an empirical study related to Islamic leadership. The literature review of this paper focuses on transactional leadership, transformational leadership and servant leadership. The literature suggests that Islamic leadership most closely resembles servant leadership. A questionnaire was then used to assess how administrators at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) view the leadership approaches of their direct superiors and which leadership approach they prefer. The results of the survey clearly indicate that they prefer servant leadership followed by transformational leadership. Respondents dislike transactional leadership. The implications of the studies are discussed and the possibility of generalization is discussed.


This two-volume report deals with the application of adjustable speed AC drives to shipboard machinery and systems. Volume 1 contains background and theoretical material. It describes the theory of operation of AC drives, the circuits that are used, the analysis of torque-speed requirements of shipboard machinery and selection, application and specification guidelines for AC drives. Volume 2, the Marine Application Manual, is a practical guide for the shipbuilder, designer or marine engineer who is interested in applying AC drives. It includes a brief description of the AC drives suitable for marine use, a list of AC drive manufacturers, application guidelines, sample specifications and sample economic comparisons with conventional equipment.


In this paper, we evaluate the possibility of using a machine learning Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) approach to monitor Chlorophyll-a content in Arctic waters by using the Sentinel 3 Ocean and Land Color Instrument. We develop the GPR model on a synthetic dataset, which represents both open ocean and coastal Arctic waters. This allows the model to be exposed to and trained on data from both kinds of aquatic environments. The chosen GPR model has previously been trained and tested in a different aquatic environment, representing a variety of complexity conditions, where it was demonstrated to have strong generalization capabilities. Our results suggest that this model can also be used for diverse Arctic water conditions as well.


Speaking in a very general way, youth and age have been taken in traditional Chinese literature as two stages in a continuous development of which the first represents the preparation and the last the goal. Respective values attached to these stages were derived from this concept. In a civilisation where literature, even polite literature, was to a large extent an amateurish pursuit of the scholar-official, this evaluation does not come as a surprise, particularly since it will not be easy to find another civilisation which was as strongly ideology-motivated as was the Chinese. Established attitudes concerning youth and age were thus, in general, accepted and taken for granted also by the poet.


CdWO4 (CWO) crystals are used as scintillators for X-ray detection in the computed tomography [1]. However the mechanism of scintillation in CWO is not clear up to now, moreover different undoped CWO crystals studied by several authors showed considerably different decay times of luminescence [2]. Thus the defects incorporated in crystals during growth change the luminescent properties considerably. Since the crystals were undoped the composition of crystal can be responsible for these defects. Recent study [2] of oxygen deficient CWO crystals shows an additional luminescence band centered at 2.0 eV and it was concluded that the oxygen-deficient defects were responsible for this luminescence. In. the present investigation, the time-resolved study of luminescence and transient absorption was carried out for CWO oxygen-deficient crystals.


Objective To evaluate the effects of "Shentong injection" on renal blood flow(RBF) in rabbits with acute renal failure by color Doppler flow imaging(CDFI).Methods 30 male rabbits were divided into three groups,10 rabbits in each: control group,model group,"Shentong injection" treated group. Acute tubular necrosis(ATN) model was made by glycerin iso-osmotic saline injection and iso-volume saline injection was made in control group,Abdominal "Shentong injection" was made in treated group after 1h(Shentong group), Abdominal iso-volume 5% glucose injection was made in control group and model group, renal functional parameters were monitored by biochemical method. The changes of renal hemodynamics were dynamically measured in each group by CDFI 24h,48h,72h after treatment. Results Compare with model group, RBF was remarkably increased and class-arteria resistance index significantly reduced in Shentong group. Each of renal functional parameters significantly ameliora- ted. Conclusions" Shentong injection" can ameliorate RBF in rabbits with acute renal failure. RBF can be quantitatively calculated by CDFI.


The current investigation focuses on the relative age dating and paleoecological conditions using calcareous nannoplaknton and foraminifera associations. Also, a sedimentological analysis was performed, necessary for the depositional environment interpretation. For the qualitative and quantitative study of the calcareous nannoplankton and foraminifera assemblages, 55 rock samples were collected and analyzed. Sample preparations for the calcareous nannoplankton analysis were made using standard methods. Foraminifera samples were processed by standard micropaleontological methods, the specimens were recovered from the 63 μm sieve and studied under stereomicroscope. Sedimentological studies included grain size analysis, sedimentary structure descriptions, and nature of bed contact analysis, measured on a cm – dm scale.


Amorphous metal organic frame work (MOF) with copper was a newly synthesized Cu-MOF which has been converted into a crystalline Cu-MOF with addition of nanometal oxide due to assembling of nanometal oxide on Cu-MOF/nanocomposite. The band gap of Cu-MOF/Ag2O and Cu-MOF/rGO has enhanced from visible light harvesting compound to near and far UV light harvesting material due to quantum size effect and can be used as coating material on appliances working under UV light without any degradation.


Not for Credit internships
Although not undertaken for academic credit, not for credit internships still represent an important way to gain experience and skills valuable to employers. Employers look for candidates who possess skills and experience relevant to their position and who already have exposure in their field, and not for credit internships represent an excellent way to develop these qualities.


Treatment of recurrent pain and instability after coracoid transfer procedure is a complex problem. This paper and accompanying video (Supplemental Digital Content 1, http://links.lww.com/TSES/A19) describe the surgical technique for revision of a failed Bristow-Latarjet procedure using a tricortical iliac crest autograft. The case presented here is a 32-year-old male with painful anterior subluxations after a Latarjet procedure because of coracoid graft pseudarthrosis. Surgical technique and result of the case are presented.


There are also some new technology tools that can make our work more convenient and easier. When writing a research, it can be used as an online tool for citing articles in a magazine, journals, books, and websites. You can also use those online tools for generating APA reference format. These tools are being used in a more collaborative write-up especially for an experienced researcher which helped me a lot [1].


Objective To explore the nursing intervention on the negative psychological mood and quality of life of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis.Methods In our hospital from January 2011 to January 2012,60 cases with pulmonary tuberculosis according to the random number table were randomly divided into intervention group and control group,each of 30 cases.Control group was given conventional medical care while the intervention group given routine care on the basis of a systematic care measures,scores of SAS and SDS were compared before and after the interven tion rating score comparison of the quality of life of the two groups in the change and after the intervention.Results SAS scores of the two groups after the intervention and SDS score significantly lower than those before the intervention,and the intervention group compared with the control group decreased more significantly,significant difference,P 0.05.Intervention group,the quality of life of each project scores were significantly higher than that in the control group,the differences exist significant,P 0.05.Conclusion The implementation of the system of care of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis interventions conducive to improve the patient's negative psychological,to improve the quality of life of patients.


Water balance technique is very important for agriculture areas due to its important role in determining the irrigation water requirements. Since potential evapotranspiration is considered as the most important factor in water balance equation, an accurate method is needed to estimate correctly. In this study, three methods (Kharufa, Blany Cridle and Thornthwaite) were used to estimate it the Potential Evapo-transpiration (PE) with monthly mean data of 21 years.  Water balance parameters such as water surplus and water deficit were found for studying the area (Erbil). Climate classifications were performed by using Brown & Cocheme and Cilianinove methods. The results show that Thornthwaite method gave the highest estimates of potential evapotranspiration followed by kharufa and Blany Cridle methods, a water surplus period was during winter session which is classified as a humid period while water deficit was prevailed during summer session period which is classified as a very dry period. According to Cilianinove index, the climate of the region of the study has been described as mountainous region. Generally, Kharufa and Blany Cridle results are identical and agree with previous studies which could be an indication for being the most suitable methods for the region of the study.


Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease associated with reduced life expectancy. It is heritable and an extensive repertoire of genetic variants have been identified. The gut microbiota may represent an environmental risk factor for RA. Indeed, Prevotella copri is a candidate keystone species, but whether it lies on the causal pathway for disease or is simply a bystander reflecting host-genetic predisposition to RA, remains to be determined. The study of disease-microbiota associations may be confounded by the presence of the disease of interest or by its treatment. To circumvent this issue, we assessed whether known RA risk alleles were associated with the gut microbiota, in a large who do not have RA. Methods: Blood and stool acquired from volunteers from TwinsUK were used for genotyping and assessment of the gut microbiota, respectively. A weighted polygenic risk score (PRS) for RA was calculated in 1650 unaffected twins from the TwinsUK cohort, based on 233 published GWAS-identified published RA associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) were generated from 16S rRNA sequencing of stool samples and assessed for association with RA PRS. Confirmation of findings was performed using an independent sample comprised of first-degree relatives of RA patients from the SCREEN-RA cohort (n=133). Findings: We found that Prevotella spp was positively associated with RA PRS in TwinsUK participants (p.adj<1e-7). This finding was validated in SCREEN-RA participants carrying the shared epitope risk alleles (p.adj=1.12e-3). An association of Prevotella spp. with pre-clinical RA phases was also demonstrated(p.adj=0.021). Interpretation: Prevotella in the gut microbiota is associated with RA genotype in the absence of RA, as well as in subjects at high risk of developing RA. This work suggests that host genotype is associated with microbiota profile prior to disease onset.


Loa loa (commonly known as the 'African eye worm') is a nematode commonly found in areas in and around the rainforests and swamps of Western and Central Africa. In recent years, due to an increase in international travel and migration various 'exotic' tropical diseases are being reported all over the world especially in Europe and North America. So far there have been no recent cases reported from the UK. This case report highlights one such case of Loa loa diagnosed recently in the UK. These filarial diseases should be considered in patients who present with unusual ocular or systemic symptoms if they have migrated or travelled from endemic areas in the recent past.


The paper shows how role-based access control (RBAC) models could be implemented using CORBA Security service. A con guration of CORBA protection system is de ned. We provide de nitions of RBAC0 and RBAC1 implementations in the framework of CORBA Security and describe what is required from an implementation of CORBA Security service in order to support RBAC0RBAC3 models.


Learning outcomes have an important role in the learning process. This is because learning outcomes can be used as a benchmark to find out how far changes in students after receiving their learning experience can be observed and measured in the form of knowledge, attitudes, and skills. This study aims to determine whether there is an influence of motivation to learn and interest in learning on the learning outcomes of PJOK subjects. This study uses a type of correlational research with multiple regression techniques. This research was conducted at SDN 4 Dauhwaru with a total sample of 30 people consisting of 15 students and 15 female students. Data collection techniques for the level of motivation and interest in learning in this study used a questionnaire while the learning outcomes used skill scores in PJOK subjects. The results of this study are that motivation and interest in learning have a positive influence on learning outcomes in PJOK subjects.


Review question / Objective: This scoping review aims to explore the literature to identify the types, scope and quality of evidence underpinning clinical assessment of deaf adults with learning disabilities, with or without autism, with mental health issues and/or challenging behaviour. Deaf adults are included in the review regardless of their communication modality, e.g. signed or spoken language, or other methods. The results of this review will inform considerations for future research and inform clinical practice. As an experiential type review, the PICO framework (Richardson et al. 1995) guides the question formulation. The review question is: what are the types, quality and extent of evidence that underpin clinical assessment of the mental health of deaf adults with learning disabilities?


In this study, neural network models (NNMs) were examined as alternatives to dispersion models in predicting the short-term SO₂ concentrations in a coastal area because the performances of dispersion models in coastal areas have been found to be unsatisfactory. The NNMs were constructed for various combinations of averaging time and prediction time in advance by using the historical data of meteorological parameters and SO₂ concentrations in 2002 in the coastal area of Boryeung, Korea. The NNMs were able to make much more accurate predictions of 1 hr SO₂ concentrations at ground level in the morning in coastal area than the atmospheric dispersion models such as fumigation models, ADMS3 and ISCST3 for identical conditions of atmospheric stability, area, and weather. Even when predictions of 24-h SO₂ concentrations were made 24 hours in advance, the predictions and measurements were in good accordance (correlation coefficient=0.65 for n=216). This accordance level could be improved by appropriate expansion of training parameters. Thus it may be concluded that the NNMs can be successfully used to predict short-term ground level concentrations averaged over time less than 24 hours even in complex terrain. The prediction performance of ANN models tends to improve as the prediction lagging time approaches the concentration averaging time, but to become worse as the lagging time departs from the averaging time.


Two composite compounds, [{Ce(DMF)4(H2O)3}{Ce(DMF)4(H2O)4}(P2W18O62)]·H2O (1) (DMF = N,N-dimethylformamide) and [{La(DMF)6(H2O)}{La(DMF)4.5(H2O)2.5}·(P2W18O62)] (2), have been constructed at room temperature and characterized by single crystal X-ray structural analyses, ESR spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric (TG) and differential thermal analysis (DTA) measurements. Single crystal X-ray structural analyses reveal that the adjacent polyanions are polymerized to form a 1D infinitely linear chain by the bridging RE coordination cations and exhibit an -ACACAC- type of structure, and that two types of terminal oxygen atoms of the Wells−Dawson polyanion located in the "cap" and "belt" sites are involved in coordination with the RE3+ ions, respectively. ESR spectra indicate that after irradiation with sunlight, compound 2 forms a mixed-valence heteropoly compound with unshared electrons. From TG-DTA analyses, we surmise that the frameworks of polyanions of this kind of compound decompose at ca. 620 °C.


With methods of hydrodynamical potential theory we construct a solution of the Stokes resolvent equations in 2d exterior domains with C1,α‐boundaries, 0 < α ≤ 1. The resulting system of boundary integral equations is uniquely solvable for small resolvent parameter λ and allows the limiting procedure λ → 0. (© 2014 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


[Objective] To determine inositol in vitamin functional drinks based on the specificity and sensitivity of Saccharomyces uvarum(ATCC 9080) to inositol. [Methods]The growth of Saccharomyces uvarum has a linear relationship with the content of inositol in culture medium except the component nutritional ingredient of inositol. The growth of Saccharomyces uvarum(ATCC 9080) increases with the increase of the concentration of inositol,showing a linear relationship within a certain concentration range. Prepare standard concentrate-response curve by plotting absorbance value for each level of standard solution. Determine the amount of inositol activity for each level of assay solution by interpolating from standard curve. [Result]The linear range of this method is 1-10 μg and the precision are 3. 85%,2. 46% and 2. 19% respectively. The rate of recovery is all higher than 95%. [Conclusion]Microbiological method is rapid and simple,features low detection limit and high sensitivity,so it is an effective method for determination of inositol in vitamin drinks.


In the last decade or so Africa embarked on data protection legislation reforms. These reforms have so far generated a handful of legislation in some African countries while leaving draft bills on privacy pending in others. At the same time regional economic communities RECs in Africa as well as the African Union have been drawn in the data privacy reform processes. The main objective of data protection reforms at supra-national level is to ensure harmonisation of data protection policies so that international transfer of personal data is not impeded. This article critically assesses the data protection reforms in Africa and offers the overall implications of these processes to data protection practices in the continent.


Background
Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus bloodstream infections (VRE-BSIs) are associated with significant mortality. Daptomycin exhibits concentration-dependent activity vs VRE in vitro, yet the clinical impact of higher-dose strategies remains unclear.

Methods
We performed a national retrospective cohort study of hospitalized Veterans Affairs patients treated with standard-dose (6 mg/kg total body weight), medium-dose (8 mg/kg total body weight), or high-dose (≥10 mg/kg total body weight) daptomycin for VRE-BSI. Patient-related, microbiological, and outcomes data were abstracted from clinical databases. The primary outcome was overall survival, evaluated by Cox regression. Secondary outcomes included 30-day mortality, time to microbiological clearance, and creatine phosphokinase (CPK) elevation.

Results
A total of 911 patients were included (standard dose, n = 709; medium dose, n = 142; high dose, n = 60). Compared to high-dose daptomycin, both standard-dose (hazard ratio [HR], 2.68; 95% confidence interval; [CI], 1.33-3.06; P = .002) and medium-dose (HR, 2.66; 95% CI, 1.33-3.92; P = .003) daptomycin were associated with poorer survival. After adjusting for confounders, the relationship between poorer survival and standard-dose (adjusted HR [aHR], 2.58; 95% CI, 1.27-4.88; P = .004) and medium-dose (aHR, 2.52; 95% CI, 1.27-5.00; P = .008) daptomycin persisted. Thirty-day mortality was significantly lower among high-dose daptomycin-treated patients compared with other dosing strategies (risk ratio, 0.83; 95% CI, .74-.94; P = .015). Compared with standard-dose daptomycin, both medium-dose (HR, 0.78; 95% CI, .55-.90; P = .012) and high-dose daptomycin (HR, 0.70; 95% CI, .41-.84; P = .006) were associated with significantly improved microbiological clearance. No difference in the risk of CPK elevation was observed between the treatment groups (P = .504).

Conclusions
High-dose daptomycin was associated with improved survival and microbiological clearance in VRE-BSI.


Relative risk estimation from matched pairs has been the subject of several papers (Mantel & Haenszel, 1959; Miettinen, 1970; Gart, 1971; Ejigou & McHugh, 1977); see also the Pittsburgh thesis of A. S. Kraus. In these investigations, the disease under study is assumed to be of low incidence and the relative risk is assumed constant over the levels of the covariates under consideration. The extension from a matched pair to a multiple matching design has also been considered. Mantel & Haenszel (1959) did not employ maximum likelihood estimation but rather used subclassification on the covariates in order to obtain subsamples each of which contributed to the overall estimator of relative risk by a weighting of the estimator from each subclassification approximately according to precision. Miettinen (1970) obtained a maximum likelihood estimator of relative risk using a conditional likelihood function. An iterative solution is generally required. The method presented here uses an unconditional approach for maximum likelihood estimation of relative risk in multiple matching, generalizing results for one-to-one matching of Ejigou & McHugh (1977). In addition, the unconditional model is used to obtain a new estimator of relative risk for application to large samples. This estimator is noniterative. Although simpler computationally than the maximum likelihood estimator, this new estimator is equivalent in asymptotic efficiency to maximum likelihood estimation.


In this paper, we propose a ball tracking algorithm robust against occlusion in broadcasting soccer video sequences. Soccer ball tracking is a challenging task due to occlusion, fast motion and fast direction changes. Many works have been proposed based on ball trajectory. However, this approach requires heavy computational complexity. We propose a ball tracking algorithm with occlusion handling capability. Initial ball location is calculated using the circular hough transform. Then, the ball is tracked using template matching. Occlusion is handled by matching score. In occlusion cases, we generate a set of ball candidates. The ball candidates which exist in the previous frame were removed. On the other hand, the new appearing candidate is determined as the ball. Experiments with several broadcasting soccer video sequences show that the proposed method efficiently handles the occlusion cases.


Abstract
The focus of this paper is to compare access to higher education by Syrian refugees in Jordan and Germany. Background of the Syrian refugee crisis and its scope are provided before delving into a description of the university-age population among Syrian refugees in both countries. The nature of access to higher education in both countries is first examined before conducting a comparative analysis of the two. Implications and recommendations for policy and practice are provided.