Clustering is one of the most important tools for analysis of large datasets, and perhaps the most popular clustering algorithm is Lloyd's iteration for $k$-means. This iteration takes $N$ vectors $v_1,\dots,v_N\in\mathbb{R}^d$ and outputs $k$ centroids $c_1,\dots,c_k\in\mathbb{R}^d$; these partition the vectors into clusters based on which centroid is closest to a particular vector. We present an overall improved version of the"$q$-means"algorithm, the quantum algorithm originally proposed by Kerenidis, Landman, Luongo, and Prakash (2019) which performs $\varepsilon$-$k$-means, an approximate version of $k$-means clustering. This algorithm does not rely on the quantum linear algebra primitives of prior work, instead only using its QRAM to prepare and measure simple states based on the current iteration's clusters. The time complexity is $O\big(\frac{k^{2}}{\varepsilon^2}(\sqrt{k}d + \log(Nd))\big)$ and maintains the polylogarithmic dependence on $N$ while improving the dependence on most of the other parameters. We also present a"dequantized"algorithm for $\varepsilon$-$k$-means which runs in $O\big(\frac{k^{2}}{\varepsilon^2}(kd + \log(Nd))\big)$ time. Notably, this classical algorithm matches the polylogarithmic dependence on $N$ attained by the quantum algorithms.


This paper proposes and describes the main steps for developing a flexible methodology for the analytical design of Transverse-Flux Generators. The aim of this methodology is to have a validated tool for implementing new topologies of TF-PMSG's for their use in wind turbines located in regions with higher wind potential. The higher specific torque and power densities is the main advantage of TF-PMSG technology against other topologies of PMSG machines and conventional machines. The methodology is well described in the form of an algorithmic solution. Finally, the proposed methodology is validated with JMAG-Designer 12.0.


The 10th International Conference on Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering (ICME 2019) organised by Faculty of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia is yearly event focusing solely on the Mechanical and Manufacturing in academic and industrial research. The conference was held in Melaka, from August 29 to August 30, 2019. This annual conference is aimed at highlighting the progress in mechanical, materials and manufacturing engineering and carries the theme "Emerging trends in Academic-Industrial collaboration". ICME 19 aims to provide a platform for academics, students, researchers and industrial players to share knowledge and ideas, widen networking, present their research findings and explore any other potential benefits that might contribute to the better future. All articles published in this volume IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering have been peer reviewed through processes administered by the conference organizer. Each article was peer-reviewed by at least two reviewers from the ICME committee and appointed reviewers based on their field of expertise. Reviews were conducted by expert referees to ensure the manuscript is up to the standard. We would like to thank the organizing committee and the members of reviewers for their kind assistance in reviewing the papers. We would also extend our gratitude for participants in our conference for their invaluable contribution and worthwhile ideas shared in the conference. It hope the proceedings will be helpful to all of you. The Editors Dr. Zaleha Binti Mohamad Ir. Dr. Saliza Azlina Binti Osman Dr. Kamarul Azhar Bin Kamaruddin


The taxonomic status of Sclerocrangon gasuyebi Yokoya, 1933 is re-assessed. From a careful examination of the original description and the extant syntype of Sclerocrangon gasuyebi combined with the study of additional material, S. gasuyebi is relegated as a junior subjective synonym of S. salebrosa (Owen, 1839). A lectotype is proposed for S. gasuyebi in the interest of nomenclatural stability and S. salebrosa is redescribed and illustrated. Brief notes on morphological variation in this species are also provided.


Monitoring vibration and related dynamic signals in rotating machinery provides insight to the machine's condition and mechanical health. This insight is useful in predicting maintenance requirements and provides opportunities for performance enhancement. This paper offers an overview of vibration measurement techniques and tools. In addition a discussion of interpretation of vibration is provided.


B. Sinclair, J. Cleary, M. Modat, F. Norris, F. Wiseman, V. Tybulewicz, E. Fisher, M. Lythgoe, and S. Ourselin Centre for Medical Image Computing, UCL, London, United Kingdom, Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging, UCL, London, United Kingdom, Centre for Mathematics and Physics in the Life Sciences and EXperimental Biology (CoMPLEX), UCL, Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom, MRC National Institute for Medical Research, London, United Kingdom


two orthographies in Lesotho and South Africa and the current impasse concerning a unified orthography. The analysis will include an examination of the linguistic issues involved, the sociolinguistic topics (including politics, education and religion) and various possible scenarios for resolving the problem will be considered.


In this paper, the coralloid TiO2 nanorods were fabricated directly between electrodes on the Au interdigital electrodes via a hydrothermal method. The TiO2 nanorods were characterized using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. Results indicated that the TiO2 nanorods have good sensitivity for humidity, including at low humidity level, and response time is momentary. This paper discusses the mechanism that probably caused the improved performance of the TiO2 nanorods by studying its electrical property through a complex impedance analysis method.


Intracavity laser Stark-shift spectroscopy has been extensively used in. the past years as a practical and powerful tool for overcoming the limited tunability of the cw CO2 laser. The extension o-f the method to the -far infrared (FIR) region has been demonstrated by using electric discharge HCN laser [1] with an extracavity absorption cell. The use of the optically pumped FIR laser is not straightforward due to the presence in the FIR laser of both the FIR and CO2 pump fields. In fact high transmission Brewster windows in the FIR region can be made only by thin plastic films that are burned by the strong CO2 pumping field. In the laser magnetic resonance experiments the problem was solved by using a specially designed FIR laser cavity with an off axis optical pumping[2]. In the present paper we will describe a very simple method for performing intracavity Stark spectroscopy in optically pumped FIR laser by using as a FIR resonator a hybrid waveguide (HW). The HW is rectangular in cross section with two large metal walls and two short walls in a dielectric material. The E.M. field is transmitted with a low absorption only when is linearly polarized with the electric field parallel to the metal walls of the HW. As a consequence molecular transitions are induced only with the selection rule ΔM=±1 when a DC electric field is applied to the metal walls [3]. For this reason HW optically pumped FIR laser has been used for frequency tuning several FIR laser lines by Stark effect [3]. However in many laser lines the Stark effect is negligible and the output power and the frequency are not affected by the Stark field. It has been also demonstrated that a second molecular species can be introduced in the FIR cavity without a significant effect on the output power [4]. As a consequence it should be possible to perform an intracavity laser Stark spectroscopy in the FIR region by using a HW FIR laser emitting on a laser line unaffected by the Stark field and introducing also in the cavity the molecular species to be investigated. A decrease in the laser output power will be observed whenever a Stark component of this molecule is brought in resonance with FIR laser line. The frequency of many FIR laser line has been measured directly and the reproducibility has been found to be of the order of a few parts in 10−7 [5]. As a consequence the laser-Stark spectroscopy will provide a high resolution and very precise spectroscopic data in this region.


From the conflicting statements about the effects of X-rays in therapeutic work, experiments have been made on various sorts of living tissues, in the hope that if definite pathological results could not be found in human tissues, one might reason by analogy from experiments along other lines. In attempting to eliminate errors from the results there arose so many problems in electricity, physics, biology, and pathology as to make it almost impossible to come to accurate conclusions, so that this report is made rather as a preliminary than as a final one. With the exception of the cases treated, and unless otherwise stated, the method of exposure to X-rays was to have the object on an insulated support as nearly as possible in the line of the angle of reflection of the cathode stream, so that the greatest amount of X-rays were received. Between the tube and object was a grounded aluminum screen, the wire to the ground and the two feed wires to the tube being as far from the object as possible, so that the magnetic field about the tube was reduced to a minimum. Electroscopic tests on the distal side of the grounded screen were negative. The apparatus used was usually a twelve-inch Heinze coil, which is a high potential, but not a high frequency, machine, and the quality of light was such as to show clearly the bones of the wrist. Changes of air, temperature, light, and moisture were guarded against as far as might be. The material worked with included vinegar worms (angelula aceti), protozoa, capillaries of frogs, etc., frogs' hearts, tortoise hearts, beans, lupin seeds, human leucocytes, clinical cases of cancer and tuberculosis, and " burned " human skin.


THE INFUENCE OF EARNINGS MANAGEMENT, BETA RISK, AND ASYMMETRIC INFORMATION ON COST OF EQUITY CAPITAL (STUDY OF MANUFACTURING COMPANIES LISTED IN INDONESIA STOCK EXCHANGE 2012 – 2014) This research aims to analyze the Influence of Earnings Management, Beta Risk, and Asymmetric Information on Cost of Equity Capital of Manufacturing Companies listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange. Population of this research were whole manufacturing companies listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange during peiod of 2012-2014. Sample of this research were 14 manufacturing companies listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange during the period of 2012-2014. This research used multiple regression analysis, F test, and t test. The results of this research indicated that, (1) Earnings Management had no influence on Cost of Equity Capital, (2) Beta Risk had positive influence on Cost of Equity Capital, (3) Asymmetric Information had postive influence on Cost of Equity Capital, and (4) Earning Management, Beta Risk, and Asymmetric Information simultaneously had influence on Cost of Equity Capital .


RIPE Atlas consists of ∼9.1K probes (as of Jan 2017) connected in core, access and home networks. RIPE Atlas has recently (Jul 2014) introduced a tagging mechanism for fine-grained vantage point selection of probes. These tags are subdivided into user and system tags. User tags are based on a manual process which is largely dependent on proactive participation of probe hosts. We show that only ∼2.8% of probe hosts ever update their user tags which may lead to user tags that tend to become stale over time. System tags on the other hand being automatically assigned and frequently updated (every 4 hours) are stable and accurate. We show an application of system tags by performing a vantage point selection of dual-stacked probes. This exploration reveals that with ∼2.3K (∼26%) connected dual-stacked probes, RIPE Atlas provides the richest source of vantage points for IPv6 measurement studies. These dual-stacked probes span 88 countries and cover 822 ASNs. ∼83% of these dual-stacked probes are connected within access networks with 782 probes deployed at homes with native IPv6 connectivity. These home dual-stacked probes are evenly split across DSL, cable and fibre deployments. We show that IPv6 latencies from these probes to RIPE Atlas anchors appear comparable to IPv4, although IPv4 performs marginally better. By applying a correlation against APNIC IPv6 user population estimate, we further reveal underrepresented countries (such as BE and JP) which would benefit from deployment of more probes for IPv6 measurement studies.


Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the common conditions that physicians frequently diagnose and treat both in the hospital and outpatient setting. Every year, a new report is generated based on an analysis of published studies which attempts to improve the way physicians handle COPD. In 2011 and 2017, the traditional GOLD guidelines were revised, and it included exacerbation history and COPD Assessment Test (CAT) and modified Medical Research Council Dyspnoea Scale (mMRC) in diagnosis of the disease. This study we used patients' symptoms, risk factors and exacerbation history to diagnose COPD as per 2017 guidelines and checked its accuracy by confirming with spirometry. Materials and Methods: A prospective study, in which 105 patients with history suggestive of COPD were classified according to ABCD tool, later these patients were subjected to spirometry to confirm the diagnosis of COPD and severity. Results: The results obtained were analysed by statistical software SPSS-V.24. About 79% of the population diagnosed to have COPD by ABCD tool were confirmed using spirometry, the rest 21% either had spirometric post bronchodilator FEV1/FVC >0.7 or significant reversibility. CAT and mMRC test correlate with the spirometric FEV1 predicted percentage. On comparing ABCD and Spirometric grading most of them had severe airway obstruction and these people were mostly distributed in group B and D of ABCD grading. Conclusion: The utility of 2017 GOLD consensus in diagnosing COPD in the Indian scenario was studied. The ABCD tool of GOLD consensus will be helpful in diagnosing COPD in a resource limited setting, primary care centres were spirometry is not available. © 2020 Published by Innovative Publication. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)


Negative mood states are credited to exacerbate excessive drinking among problem drinkers. We developed an emotional cue exposure treatment procedure and applied it to three problem drinkers who have a history of drinking excessively under stressful emotional states. All three preferred a controlled drinking goal and received an average of seven sessions of treatment. Treatment comprised of providing alcohol (priming doses), followed by negative mood induction and response prevention of further drinking. Reductions were observed in the quantity and frequency of drinking, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Severity of Alcohol Dependence Questionnaire (Form C) and the Impaired Control Questionnaire scores. Increments were observed in self-efficacy to face different difficult situations. These gains were maintained at the 6-month follow-up. Providing alcohol to problem drinkers in treatment, followed by negative mood induction and response prevention, is clinically feasible and may benefit clients who drink under a variety of stressful mood states. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Research Question and Objectives: Is there subtle gender bias in the way companies word and code job listings in such fields as engineering and programming? Although the Civil Rights Act effectively bans companies from explicitly requesting workers of a particular gender, the language in these listings may discourage many women from applying.The objectives of the research are to create to foundational constructs leaders can use to address the growing employee competency and business performance gaps created by the impact of lack of gender diversity among data scientist roles, and siloes across enterprise talent strategies. These two objectives include: Integrated Data Scientist and HCM Leadership Development Strategies and AI Leadership Assessment and Development w/ Risk Audits.


Soil salinity is a major abiotic stress which adversely affects the yield and juice quality in sugarcane. However, the mineral nutrient status of plant plays a crucial role in increasing plant tolerance to salinity. We investigated the effects of K and/or Si on plant growth, yield and juice quality in two sugarcane genotypes differing in salinity tolerance. Addition of K and Si significantly (P ≤ 0.05) increased K and Si concentrations and decreased the accumulation of Na + in plants under salt stress. Cane yield and yield attributes were significantly (P ≤ 0.05) higher where K and Si were added. Juice quality characteristics like Brix (% soluble solids in juice), Pol (% sucrose in juice), commercial cane sugar (CCS) and sugar recovery in both sugarcane genotypes were also significantly (P ≤ 0.05) improved with the supplementation of K and Si. For most of the growth parameters, it was found that K either alone or in combination with Si was more effective to alleviate salt stress in both sugarcane genotypes than Si alone. Moreover, the beneficial effects of K and Si were more pronounced in salt sensitive genotype than in salt tolerant genotype. The results suggested that K and Si counteracted the deleterious effects of high salinity/sodicity in sugarcane by lowering the accumulation of Na + and increase in K + concentration with a resultant improvement in K + /Na + ratio which is a good indicator to assess plant tolerance to salinity.


Different approaches and techniques are commonly available for the continuous monitoring of moisture levels and dielectric properties of materials; typically, related applications, are largely used in soil science area. Nevertheless, the state of the art is actually rather lacking in specific sensing methods that combine the low cost and the non-invasive approach of the involved instrumentation. To fill this gap, in this paper the authors study the feasibility of the adoption of the time-domain reflectometry analysis for such purposes, using a patch antenna as sensing element. This way, the extrapolation of the scattering parameters is suitably correlated to the water content levels of the materials under test. Furthermore, the adopted methodology is assessed through full-wave simulations, thus corroborating the experimental measurements.


The extent to which Slovenia will exploit its good geographictransport position, whether it will be merely a transportcorridor or assume an additional quality (e.g. a distributioncentre or a logistic centre) will depend on a cluster of circumstances.The importance will also be laid on how Slovenia willpresent itself and what it will offer to Europe and the rest of theworld. One of its best assets is the Port of Koper (favourable position,good condition, capacities) in the frame of the whole logisticsystem.A larger volume of transport and consequently be/fer exploitationof the Port of Koper will in the future depend on increasedtransit. However, to acquire new cargo, the mere installationand modernisation of port infrastructure and rise in thequality of services may not be sufficient: it will also require goodconnections to the hinterland.


A novel hydrazone, formed by the condensation of the hydrochloride salt of hydralazine with 3-chlorobenzaldehyde, and its Co (II), Ni(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II) complexes have been synthesized. Their structures have been elucidated on the basis of elemental analyses, conductance measurements, magnetic moments, and spectral (infrared, 1 H NMR, UV–visible, electrospray ionization (ESI) mass) and thermal studies. The bidentate behaviour of the ligand is proposed on the basis of spectral studies. Interestingly, all four complexes exhibit different geometry around the metal centre. The conductance data of the complexes suggest them to be non-electrolytes. The ESI mass spectra of the complexes support their monomeric nature. The compounds were tested against two Gram-positive and three Gram-negative bacterial strains and three fungal strains. Excellent inhibitory activity is observed against the Gram-positive bacteria Streptococcus mutans and Enterococcus faecalis which play major roles in tooth decay. Among the fungal strains used, Candida albicans is inhibited predominantly. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Additional supporting information may be found in the online version of this article at the publisher's web-site.


This study used data from the National Survey of Adoptive Parents (NSAP) to compare post-adoption contact in families with non-relative private domestic and foster care adoptions. This study is the first to use a nationally representative sample to examine and compare the extent of post-adoption contact in both private and foster adoptions. The results suggest that children adopted from foster care were less likely to experience post-adoption contact with their birth families than children adopted privately despite the fact that they were more likely to have lived with their birth families.


This article, devoted to the use of shotcrete and its application to tunnel strengthening on the SNCF (Ners, Saint-Elme, Corbinieres tunnels), forms part of a series on concrete: French regulations concerning pre-stressed concrete, quality control of concrete, internal deterioration (alkali-aggregate reaction); consolidation of masonry using shotcrete (bridges and tunnels, buildings, historic monuments, ducts).


The objective of the present study was to identify ventilation problems, and also to suggest new axial fan systems for the improvement of IAQ in the underground parking lots. Numerical results for air mean-velocity, local mean age, and sound power level are presented along with some of fan angles. The results showed the influence of airflow patterns on the fan performances installed in the underground parking lots. Discharge air volume is increased with the angle of the blade. And also, the main factors affecting the noise of the ventilation fan was found to be a rotational speed.


Compact, reliable, and packed with 150,000 synonyms, the Little Oxford Thesaurus is the perfect companion to the Little Oxford Dictionary . All the words you want are at your fingertips on one fully cross-referenced A-Z sequence. Example phrases clarify less obvious senses, and there is information on related synonyms and opposites. Ideal for writing letters, reports, and essays, for crosswords, and simply to increase your word power, this is the most comprehensive thesaurus of its size. This book is intended for anyone who has to write - for essays, letters, reports, or any other purpose. Crossword and other word-game players.


While China is undergoing a process of rapid economic development,the construction of business ethics has been ignored and the traditional honesty concept has also been worn out.Commercial frauds in financial activities have expanded to an incredibly large area and some government officials even attempted to conceal the truth from the public,which seriously undermined the social credibility and stability.As a result,the construction of social credit has become an urgent matter.To explore the origin of credibility and its law of evolution,both internal and external problems should be addressed,and both short-term and long-term plans should be made.The construction of credibility should be carried out at both the grass-root level and the governmental level,thus forming a long-lasting mechanism of guidance by the government,enhancement of and supervision by the grass-root level.


In the previous paper on a tree-to-tree editing problem some errors were included. This letter describes the corrected definition of a structure preserving mapping between rooted and ordered trees and a computing method of the tree distance based on the mapping.


Jack Balkin's Living Originalism is a remarkable contribution to public law theory. Drawing together several disparate strands of American constitutional thought, Balkin weaves an arresting tapestry of "framework originalism" with "text and principle", a tool he himself has fashioned, as his principal utensil. He offers a new design for the U.S. Constitution, sharply distinct from the "skyscraper originalism" he associates with Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and their acolytes. Balkin places less emphasis than do many theorists on judicial interpretation of constitutional provisions. Instead, a key role is given to social movements and actors in the political process.Balkin emphasizes the sociological legitimacy of the Constitution. However, Balkin and the political actors whose contributions he considers of central importance to the development of constitutional law implicitly rely on a conception of legitimacy higher than and prior to the U.S. Constitution. Yet to do so is to threaten the very fabric of the tapestry he has so elegantly constructed. Arguments based on text and principle are derivative of arguments based on "higher law" which exist independently of and prior to the written document. Any such "higher law" is a reflection of citizens' conceptions of justice, not of their reading of the constitutional text. Indeed, the authority of any constitutional text is therefore contingent on whether it can be reimagined and translated to take account of citizens' conceptions of justice. If not, it will lose any authority to bind and its sociological legitimacy along with it. Then the "text and principle" of the constitution must slip into the background. Balkin spends little time on the legitimacy of judicial review, but the role of judges in ensuring the moral legitimacy of the Constitution cannot be downplayed (in the U.S. or elsewhere). Arguments about the Constitution developed in the political and popular spheres have to be translated into legal arguments which are consistent with the text and principle of foundational law. Judges, acting in a legally principled way and not as ciphers of political actors, can ensure the integrity of the process Balkin so brilliantly describes and lauds.


The meaning of refrigerium was two-fold for early Christians: material and physical, derived from a previous pagan tradition (to 'refresh' the corpse), and also ethereal and preternatural, the result of an internal etymological development ('to reach eternal salvation'). Modern historiography has paid more attention to the former meaning than to the latter, as though it was the genuine, or at least the more common, significance of the term. This paper aims to describe the semantic context of this second meaning of the Christian refrigerium, and also its religious relevance, which was significantly greater than the that of the first. This analysis will also help to describe the symbolic nature of water for early Christians.


Adverse reactions, toxicity and poor patients' compliance still represent major challenges for conventional chemotherapies. Localized drug delivery would ideally improve the therapeutic efficacy, minimizing side effects. A MSU-type mesoporous silica-based...


RECENT reports1 , 2 of the efficacy of a new aromatic amine decarboxylase inhibitor, called alpha-methyl-dopa, in lowering serotonin blood levels by blocking metabolism of tryptophan at the 5-hydroxytryptophan level prompted clinical trial of this agent in a unique patient with proved carcinoid tumor, or argentaffinoma, a slow growing tumor that is constantly producing serotonin, which is believed at present to be the cause of the systemic flushes and important heart lesions characteristic of the malignant carcinoid syndrome. It is this relentless over-production of serotonin that adds to the malignancy of the carcinoid tumor. A drug that can neutralize this serotonin can . . .


We demonstrate how a new data structure for sparse distributed polynomials in the Maple kernel significantly accelerates a large subset of Maple library routines. The POLY data structure and its associated kernel operations (degree, coeff, subs, has, diff, eval, ...) are programmed for high scalability, allowing polynomials to have hundreds of millions of terms, and very low overhead, increasing parallel speedup in existing routines and improving the performance of high level Maple library routines.


This article examines the debate over West German defense policy from several perspectives. It first traces the evolution of the increased internal and external pressures for West German rearmament. It next addresses whether calls for increased defense spending are justified, given current FRG expenditures. Lastly, it analyzes the unique West German economic and political constraints that limit the FRG's ability to assume a greater military role in NATO. While economic constraints are not a decisive barrier to greater military spending, the domestic political climate and the West German view that security encompasses more than military security represent the greatest obstacles to increased defense spending.


A method (200) for correcting a magnification and image measurement rules is performed using a computer device that are one or more processors (118) / associated with a user interface (120) /, and one or more storage devices (122) , The method (200) comprises receiving a plurality of images of a target object (112). Each image is taken by the target object (112) at a different distance (113). The method (200) also includes determining a distance (113) between a lens that is used for receiving the plurality of images (106), and the target object (112) and determining a magnifying each recorded image. The method (200) further comprises determining an increase correction with respect to a reference object, determining a change in size of the target object (112) and outputting the determined change a size of the target object (112).


There is a well known correlation between atmospheric muon rates and seasonal temperature variations. Other effects related to weather can also affect the muon rate on shorter time scales. This poster will discuss the previously reported results on Sudden Stratospheric Warmings from MINOS using data from 2003-2007, and data from the Soudan 2 detector in the same location, if it becomes available, from 1995.


This book chapter analyses the autobiographical novels of French/Tunisian born author Colette Fellous. The four books analysed:  Le Petit casino (Gallimard,1999), Avenue de France (Gallimard, 2001), Aujourd'hui (Gallimard,2005), Plein ete (Gallimard,2007)  deal specifically with Tunisia and and its persisting memory. The book chapter analyses the intratexulaty between the different texts and deconstructs the autofictional narrating process and its combination of intimate details withJewish Tunisian history references.


In this paper, the authors study optimization and decision making. They propose an algorithm that is based on the theory of support vector machines. The algorithm is advantageous in that prior knowledge about the domain can be used to constrain the solution. The algorithm is demonstrated in a route recommendation system which adapts to the driver's route preferences.


Although the title of the article by May and Drucker 1 highlights the use of the temporalis muscle for reanimation, the article itself, with its case presentation, is a very impressive demonstration of the use of a dual, simultaneous technique including both temporal muscle transfer and free autogenous nerve grafting for this purpose. The authors clarify this titular identification discrepancy in their descriptive text by stating that the temporal muscle is "one component in a comprehensive program to improve facial function...." Their article covers all of the essential aspects of temporal muscle transfer in a clear and practical manner. There are some interesting points that can be emphasized, however. The authors used this muscle primarily for the treatment of complete, long-standing facial paralysis. In approximately a third of cases reported by May and Drucker, they used this technique for the treatment of facial paresis, showing both their imagination in applying


To support an efficient carpooling service in heavy urban traffic, we propose an intelligent routing scheme based on mining Global Position System trajectories from shared riders. The carpooling system provides many-to-many services with multiple pickup and dropping points. To join a daily carpooling group, the riders must accept a compromised route that is efficient after merging the routes that are preferred by all qualified riders. We developed three frequency-correlated algorithms for route mining, rider selection, and route merging in an urban carpool service. Our approach can cope with the traffic dynamics to yield a suboptimal shared route. Our scheme was successfully tested under heavy Beijing traffic over hundreds of riders. We developed performance metrics to measure the service cost and mileage saved. The ultimate goal is to minimize the riding distances and the transportation costs, and thus alleviate urban traffic jams.


Dielectric ceramics in multilayer capacitors are subjected to manufacturing or service thermomechanical stresses which, if severe enough, will cause mechanical failure and perhaps subsequent loss of electrical function. Strength of monolithic ceramics is probabilistic in nature; however, probabilistic design of such electronic ceramic components generally has not been used by manufacturers and end-users of these components. To illustrate how probabilistic design may be utilized for small components, the present study demonstrates the applicability of an existing probabilistic life design computer code in the prediction of failure probability of a dielectric ceramic in an arbitrary multilayer capacitor. Issues involving the generation of representative strength and fatigue data for specimens at this small scale and the ultimate failure probability prediction of dielectric ceramics in multilayer capacitors are presented. Additionally, alternative means to generate a strength distribution as input for the probabilistic life design computer codes which are under consideration by the authors are discussed.


With the advancement of information technology (IT), the importance of cyber security is increasing because of the expansion of software utilization in the development of weapon systems. Civilian embedded systems and military weapon systems have cybersecurity-related symmetry that can increase vulnerabilities in the process of advanced information technology. Many countries, including the United States, are exploring ways to improve cybersecurity throughout the lifecycle of a weapon system. The South Korean military is applying the U.S. standard risk management framework (RMF) to some weapon systems to improve cybersecurity, but the need for a model that is more suitable for the South Korean military has been emphasized. This paper presents the results of a mission-based cybersecurity test, along with an evaluation model that can be applied to South Korean military weapon systems in parallel with the RMF. This study first examined the related international research trends, and proposed a test and evaluation method that could be utilized with the RMF throughout the entire life cycle of a weapon system. The weapon system was divided into asset, function, operational task, and mission layers based on the mission, and a mutually complementary model was proposed by linking the RMF and cybersecurity test and evaluation according to the domestic situation. In order to verify the proposed cybersecurity test and evaluation model, a simulation was developed and performed targeting the Close Air Support (CAS) mission support system, which is a virtual weapon system. In this simulation, the nodes performances by layer before and after a cyberattack were calculated, and the vulnerabilities and protection measures identified in the cyber security test and evaluation were quantified. This simulation made it possible to evaluate and derive protection measures in consideration of mission performance. It is believed that the proposed model could be used with some modifications, depending on the circumstances of each country developing weapon systems in the future.


This paper reports on the use of microelectronic test structures to characterise a novel fabrication technique for thin-film electronic circuit boards. In this technology, circuit tracks are formed on paper-like substrates by depositing films of a metal-loaded ink via a standard lithographic printing process. Sheet resistance and line width are electrically evaluated and these quantities are compared with optical and surface profiling measurements.


BACKGROUND There is no consensus on how to define haemodynamic instability during general anaesthesia. Patients are often classified as stable or unstable based solely on blood pressure thresholds, disregarding the degree of instability. Vasoactive agents and volume therapy can directly influence classification but are usually not considered. OBJECTIVE To develop and validate a scoring tool to quantify the overall degree of haemodynamic instability. DESIGN Retrospective observational study. SETTING University hospital. PATIENTS The development cohort consisted of 50 patients undergoing high-risk surgery with a control group of 50 undergoing video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. In the validation cohort, there were 153 high-risk surgery patients and 78 controls. INTERVENTION None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The haemodynamic instability score (HI-score) was calculated as a weighted continuous measure ranging from 0 to 160 points, intended to reflect deviations of blood pressure and heart rate from predefined thresholds, and infusion rates of vasoactive agents and fluids. Thresholds were first determined in a development cohort and subsequently tested in a validation cohort. Results are presented as median [interquartile range]. RESULTS In the validation cohort the HI-score was 59 [37 to 96] in the high-risk surgery group compared with 44 [24 to 58] in the control group (P < 0.001). The score of the haemodynamic domain did not differ (P = 0.69) between groups: 10 [8 to 16] vs. 10 [8 to 16]. However, scores for volume therapy and vasoactive medication were significantly higher in the high-risk surgery group compared with the control group: 14 [6 to 30] vs. 6 [2 to 18], P = 0.003 and 35 [15 to 75] vs. 15 [5 to 35], P < 0.001, respectively. CONCLUSION We developed the HI-score and demonstrated that it can appropriately quantify the degree of intra-operative haemodynamic instability. The HI-score provides a clinical tool which, after further external validation, may have future applications in both patient management and clinical research.


This article addresses the fundamental importance of providing efficient public administration as a means to safeguard the fundamental rights of Brazilians. It highlights the need for an administration that is attentive to the interests of the people and committed to fulfilling the promises made during electoral campaigns. Failure to fulfill these promises undermines the legitimacy of democratically elected officials who deviate from their proposed policies and engage in inefficient practices, detached from the aspirations of the electorate, and tainted by incompetence and corruption. The objective of this paper is to emphasize the right to good administration as an inalienable and binding right exercised by elected candidates. It concludes that elected officials have an obligation to possess knowledge of public management, administer efficiently, and ensure competent and effective governance for the benefit of Brazilians. The study is divided into three sections: the importance of constitutionalism, the generations or dimensions of fundamental rights, and the necessity of efficient public administration.


The successful implementation of the Medication Order Entry/Medication Administration Record project was dependent on the Pharmacy department working collaboratively with many other stakeholders in the organization. To do this, the Pharmacy department faced numerous technical, staffing, workflow and clinical practice challenges during the design and implementation of MOE/ MAR.


An accurate and computationally efficient model for the deformation of brain tissue is very important in virtual neurosurgical simulation. In this paper, we introduced a new Finite Element Method (FEM) model, which is based on optimization implicit Euler method, for brain tissue deformation. Specifically, both the anisotropic and viscoelastic properties of brain tissue are incorporated into the model, providing more realistic and accurate description of the mechanical features of brain tissue. In the meantime, the model is particularly suitable for GPU-based computing, making it possible to achieve real-time performance for neurosurgical simulation. Simulation results show that the deformation model exhibits the behaviors of anisotropy and viscoelasticity. The proposed model was implemented on a neurosurgical simulator and it showed that the deformation of brain tissue can be rendered with a relatively high degree of visual realism at a refreshment rate of 23 frames per second in a normal PC.


Sarcoidosis hasbeenobserved inassociation with various autoimmune disorders, primary biliary cirrhosis, Crohn's regional enteritis, coeliac disease, amyloidosis andlymphoma, thereby posing thequery ofwhether therelationship iscausal orcoincidental. Thesepossible overlap syndromes should not,of course, beconfused withdisorders whicjh maymimic sarcoidosis andsogive rise todiagnostic difficulties. Erythema nodosum, uveitis, TandBcell imbalance, andhypergammaglobulinaemia arefeatures ofan autoimmune disorder andthere isanisolated report of finding specific circulating autoantibodies insarcoidosis (Favez & Leuenberger, 1975). Overlap syndromeswiththyroiditis, Addison's disease and Sjogren's syndrome (TASSsyndrome) haveamplified thepossibility thatsarcoidosis isanautoimmune phenomenon (Karlish & Macgregor, 1970; Wiesenhutter & Sharma, 1979; Seinfeld & Sharma, 1983) although circulating autoantibodies arenotafeature ofsarcoidosis (James & Jones Williams, 1985). Primary biliary cirrhosis Chronic non-suppurative destructive cholangitis or primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC)ischaracterized by positive serummitochondrial antibodies. We have described twomiddle-aged womenwithpruritus, liver biopsyfindings ofPBC,serummitochondrial antibodies andlung infiltration. Bothpatients died of liver disease; autopsy studies showed granulomatous lungdisease (Stanley etal., 1972). A similar overlap identified fourfemales withhepatic granulomas, positive mitochondrial antibodies andpulmonary disease (Fagan etal., 1983). Themitochondrial antibody test isthehallmark of PBCforitispositive in99%ofpatients butitisalways negative instraightforward sarcoidosis. Likewise, the Kveim-Siltzbach skin test ispositive inthree-quarters ofpatients withsarcoidosis butitisalways negative in primary biliary cirrhosis (James, 1983). Thesetwo tests remain mosthelpful indifferentiating thetwo disorders, butonextremely rareoccasions bothtests maybepositive inthesamepatient (Karlish etal., 1969; Maddrey, 1983). Suchtrue overlaps areextremelyrare andareonly acceptable after repeat tests with a different batch ofKveimantigen andafter mitochondrial antibody studies havebeenrepeated inanother laboratory.


The logarithmic mean \(L(a,b)\), identric mean \(I(a,b)\), arithmeticmean \(A(a,b)\) and harmonic mean \(H(a,b)\) of two positive real values \(a\) and \(b\) are defined by\begin{align*}\label{main}&L(a,b)=\begin{cases}\tfrac{b-a}{\log b-\log a},& a\neq b,\\a,&a=b,\end{cases}\\&I(a,b)=\begin{cases}\tfrac{1}{{\rm e}}\left(\tfrac{b^b}{a^a}\right)^{\tfrac{1}{b-a}},& a\neq b,\\a,&a=b,\end{cases}\end{align*}\(A(a,b)=\tfrac{a+b}{2}\) and \(H(a,b)=\tfrac{2ab}{a+b}\), respectively. In this article, we answer the questions: What are the best possible parameters \(\alpha_{1},\alpha_{2},\beta_{1}\) and \(\beta_{2}\), such that \(\alpha_{1}A(a,b)+(1-\alpha_{1})H(a,b)\leq L(a,b)\leq\beta_{1}A(a,b)+(1-\beta_{1})H(a,b)\) and \(\alpha_{2}A(a,b)+(1-\alpha_{2})H(a,b)\leq I(a,b)\leq\beta_2A(a,b)+(1-\beta_{2})H(a,b)\) hold for all \(a,b>0\)?


Based on samples of students in China and the United States (US), this research drew on concepts in relational dialectical theory and media multiplexity theory to examine relationships among multimodal connectedness, relational communication on media, the interdependence–entrapment dialectic, and relationship satisfaction. The results indicated that multimodal connectedness had an overall negative effect on romantic relationships because it increased the feeling of entrapment and reduced relationship satisfaction. This pattern was especially evident in the Chinese sample because multimodal connectedness reduced interpersonal communication and increased conflict management online. However, social sharing on media positively mediated the effect of multimodal connectedness on satisfaction in romantic relationships. These findings suggest that media modalities and use patterns are imperative factors in examining the influence of mediated relational communication on relational outcomes.


ObjectiveTo investigate the expression of heat shock protein 70(HSP70) and infection of human papillomavirus (HPV) in cervical carcinoma and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia(CIN).MethodsImmunohistochemial and in situ PCR were used to detect the expression of HSP70 and HPV in 66 cervical carcinomas and 25 CIN.ResultsThe positive staining rates of HSP70 in cervical carcinoma,CIN and normal cervical tissues were 80.3%,72.0% and 20.0% (P0.01,P0.05).Forty-five (86.5%) positive expression of HSP70 was found in 52 HPVDNA positive,being significantly higher than the HPV negative cervical carcinoma tissues (57.1%,P0.05).ConclusionThere is a close relationship between the HSP70 and the development of cervical carcinoma and CIN.The overexpression of HSP70 can be induced by HPV in cervical carcinoma and CIN cell.


Copper chloropyrophosphate frameworks have been synthesised with a wide variety of complex inorganic anions trapped in a large, flexible, one-dimensional pore, with anions including chloride, bromide, phosphate and the complex metal halo-anions PtCl(4)(2-), PdBr(4)(2-), CuCl(4)(2-) and AuCl(4)(-).


I n this paper, we study some separation axioms namely, SG-T o -space, SG -T 1 -space and SG -T 2 -space and their properties. We also obtain some of their characterizations.


To realize intelligent integrated of vehicle chassis system, multi-agent theory applied in cooperative control of suspension and steering subsystems. This paper built out suspension agent, steering agent, cooperation agent, and described their structures and attributes. Put up chassis cooperative control framework according cooperative processes of multi-agent. Query simulation of multi-agent was carried out based on agent development platform software Aglets. Results show that cooperation model of multi-agent system is effective on coordinated control suspension and steering subsystems.


Little variation in display characteristics, was displayed bright, high contrast and, as a transmission type liquid crystal display device with less viewing angle dependence from the back light side in order, the polarizing plate, the second optically anisotropic layer, first optically anisotropic layer, a top disposed opposite to each other consists of a substrate and the lower substrate a homogeneous alignment liquid crystal cell and a polarizer liquid crystal layer is held between, the liquid crystal film, and each of the birefringence wavelength dispersion of the liquid crystal cell of the liquid crystal film, the second optically anisotropic layer of the first optical anisotropic layer has a predetermined relation, a first retardation value of the black display voltage is applied when the optically anisotropic layer and second optically anisotropic layer and the liquid crystal cell have a predetermined relationship, the first optically anisotropic layer is fixed nematic hybrid alignment structure the transmission type liquid crystal display device consisting of a liquid crystal film is provided. A backlight, a polarizing plate, a liquid crystal film, birefringence, wavelength dispersion


Designs of on-chip reconfigurable band-pass filters are proposed based on GaAs process. The filters are constructed by cascading elliptic low- and high-pass filters, and reconfigurable center frequency and bandwidth are achieved by controlling the cut-off frequencies of the low- and high-pass filters. Varactors and switched capacitor arrays formed by the pHEMT transistors are used as tuning element to achieve the tunability. By introducing series LC tank resonator in the low- and high-pass filters, transmission zeros are formed outside the passband to improve the selectivity of the filer. One on-chip bandpass filter with tunable center frequency and one bandpass filter with controllable bandwidth are designed, fabricated and tested using the 0.15um GaAs pHEMT process. The filters realize a frequency tuning range of 1.9~2.53GHz, and a bandwidth tuning range of 330~750MHz, respectively, with bandstop suppression larger than 30dB.


: Background: The prominence on patient safety in health care, few organizations has evaluated the extent to which safety is a strategic precedence or their culture chains patient safety. In response to the Institute of Medicine's report and to an organizational commitment to patient safety, we conducted an efficient assessment of safety. Objective: To assess the level of Perspectives' towards Professional Harms among Surgical Staff at Selected surgical words, Saudi Arabia. Method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted at selected surgical words, Saudi Arabia. Self-administered questionnaire was provided to two hundred surgical staff in the research setting based on their area of their medical specialties to assess the level of p erspectives' towards Professional Harms among Surgical Staff at Selected surgical words, Saudi Arabia. Results: The findings showed that the Perspectives' towards Professional Harms among some surgical staff working at selected surgical words was variable. The majority (83.1%) of the surgical staff had a high level of perspectives' towards Professional Harms in relation to Professional Harms " in relation to only contact with skin) washing with usual detergent is enough". On the other hand (71.5%) of the surgical staff had a lowest level of Perspectives' towards Professional Harms in relation to Blood spills should be cleaned up at the appointed time with sodium hypochlorite "Although , concerning the Intermittent Level of Perspectives' the highest level was Perspectives' towards Professional Harms in relation to "Health care workers with non-intact skin should not be involved in direct patient care until the condition resolves "(19.2%).While, regarding the Low Level of Perspectives' towards Professional Harms in relation to only contact with skin washing with usual detergent is enough" "was showed higher rate (14.2%). Conclusions: The current study results revealed that there were high levels of Perspectives' among the surgical staff towards Professional Harms within the study setting. p of p of erspectives' Professional Arabia. Results: The findings showed that the Perspectives'Perspectives'Per towards Professional Harms among spectives' towards Professional Harms among spectives' some surgical staff working at selected surgical words was variable. The majority (83.1%) at selected surgical words was variable. The majority (83.1%) at of the surgical staff had a high level towards Professional Harms in relation to Professional Harms " in relation to only contact with skin) washing with usual the other hand (71.5%) of the surgical staff had a lowest level of the surgical staff had a lowest level of of Perspectives'Perspectives'Per towards Professional Harms spectives' towards Professional Harms spectives' Blood spills be cleaned up at the appointed time with sodium hypochlorite at the appointed time with sodium hypochlorite at the highest level was Perspectives' towards Professional Harms Perspectives' towards Professional Harms Perspectives' to in direct patient care until the condition resolves tient the tient care until the condition resolves "(19.2%).While towards Professional Harms in relation to only contact with skin washing with usual detergent Conclusions: The current study results revealed that there were high levels of Perspectives'Perspectives'Per staff towards Professional Harms within the study setting.


In this paper, we study harmonic functions on weighted manifolds and harmonic maps from weighted manifolds into Hadamard spaces introduced by Korevaar and Schoen. We prove various Liouville theorems for these har- monic maps.


In this paper, we present an approach to improve the efficiency of stochastic simulation for large and dense networks. We are using stochastic Petri nets as modelling framework. The underlying continuoustime Markov chain (CTMC) is converted to an equivalent discrete-time Markov chain (DTMC), this itself gains no efficiency. We improve the efficiency via discrete-time leaps, even though this results in an approximate method. The discrete-time leaps are done by applying the maximum firing rule, this reduces drastically the number of steps. The presented algorithm is implemented in our modelling and simulation tool Snoopy, as well as in our advanced analysis and model checking tool MARCIE. We demonstrate the approach on models of different sizes and complexities.


This work was developed in a financial institution, with the goal of identifying and analyzing the perception of the employees of the areas defined as the resource focus, according the formal dimension of the actual control program implemented in the institution, with the purpose of exploring the vulnerable points and the conflicting related to the increasing of performance of the employee's activities and new tools, concepts and news studies case. The work was conducted with the existing base of theories and concepts, following organizational controls, approachs like Elzioni's (1964), Amat's and Gomes's (2001) and Sturdy's, Knights's and Willmott's (1992). The research done was characterized as descriptive because it aims to describe the perceptions, expectations and the employee's profiles in the studied organization, such as field research, because it has the objective of promoting interviews and collecting the primary data and documental, because it will also be performed the analysis of the internal documents of the organization. The research also refers to a certain study case with a sectional cut and predominantly quantitative, but with support in quantitative technics for the initial tabulation of data that were analysed afterwords in interpretative form. The characteristics of the financial institution researched of the control program, has been formed predominantly of post-bureaucratic mechanisms focusing in results, in a hegemonic way expanded, of the utility type with strong alienatorian influences in the employees and with low incentive power, related to the increase of the employee's compromises. This way, the control program is noticed by the employees as a monitoring mechanism of actions and results, developed only to increase the institution profits, regardless of the impacts of the physical and emotional aspects and increasing, intuitively, the levels of internal dissatisfaction.


A common conception of "testing" by both educators and laypeople is one of students sitting in rows, pencils in hand, completing an assessment for a unit that was recently studied in class, an entrance exam for a school or university, or a midterm or final exam for a course. It might also include students cramming for a test the night before, rereading passages from books, or memorizing vocabulary words. Tests are traditionally thought of as assessment instruments which measure what knowledge students possess and provide an instructor's evaluation of a student's academic performance, or to summarize the attainment of student educational objectives, often for the purposes of external accountability. Tests are also used to rank and divide learners for the purposes of classroom placement or entrance into an educational institution. These uses of testing are familiar to educators and laypeople alike, and share the common function of assessing student knowledge. However, the technique of "retrieval practice" can also serve an important function that is often given scant attention-utilizing tests not only to measure knowledge, but also increase and enhance it, often significantly improving retention of the tested knowledge (Carpenter et al., 2008; Karpicke & Blunt, 2011; Karpicke & Roediger, 2007; Roediger & Karpicke, 2006).


The invention relates to a novel car cup holder which comprises a cup holder box. The left side wall and the right side wall of the cup holder box are both of a cambered surface structure protruding towards the outer side of the cup holder box. A bar-shaped groove which extends in the length direction of the rear side wall of the cup holder box is formed in the top of the rear side wall of the cup holder box. A blocking piece is arranged in the middle of the bar-shaped groove, and a first sliding block and a second sliding block are embedded into bar-shaped groove bodies located in the two sides of the blocking piece. A first spring is further connected to the right end of the first sliding block, and a second spring is further connected to the left end of the second sliding bock. A first rotating shaft and a second rotating shaft are further arranged on the front side top of the first sliding block and the front side top of the second sliding block respectively. The first rotating shaft and the second rotating shaft are connected with a first blocking rod and a second blocking rod respectively, and the first blocking rod and the second blocking rod are of an arc-shaped structure. Through the structure, structure adjustment can be flexibly conducted according to the size of a cup body placed in the cup holder so that the cup body can be effectively clamped and fixed.


Driving a vehicle in the present traffic conditions is a great challenge for humans. So many automated techniques like auto braking, airbag exposure in case of collisions are introduced as vehicle safety systems. Driver's unawareness about the presence of a vehicle or obstacle in the blind spot area and distracted driving are the main reasons, which cause vehicle collisions in the present scenario. The aim of the project is to take preventive measures against the vehicle collisions using 1.Blindspot Monitoring and 2.Drowisiness Detection techniques. This system prototype is built on the base of embedded platform using RASPBERRY PI microcontroller with ARM11 processor. 1. Blindspot Monitoring: This technique is used when there is an obstacle present in BSA and, during lane divergence; collision may occur in overriding situation. To avoid this phenomenon, ultrasonic sensors are used to detect the vehicles/obstacles in the blind spot region. 2. Driver Drowsiness Detection: The drowsiness of the driver is detected by capturing and processing image using MATLAB software. As soon as the driver feels sleepy, the microcontroller controls the DC motor connected to the wheels of the vehicle.


The aggregation of Amyloid-β (Aβ) is associated with the onset of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and involves a complex kinetic pathway as monomers self-assemble into fibrils. A central feature of amyloid fibrils is the existence of multiple structural polymorphs, which complicates the development of disease-relevant structure-function relationships. Developing these relationships requires new methods to control fibril structure. In this work, we demonstrate that mesoporous silicas (SBA-15) functionalized with hydrophobic (SBA-PFDTS) and hydrophilic groups (SBA-PEG) direct the aggregation kinetics and resulting structure of Aβ1-40 fibrils. The hydrophilic SBA-PEG had little effect on amyloid kinetics while as-synthesized and hydrophobic SBA-PFDTS accelerated aggregation kinetics. Subsequently, we quantified the relative population of fibril structures formed in the presence of each material using electron microscopy. Fibrils formed from Aβ1-40 exposed to SBA-PEG were structurally similar to control fibrils. In contrast, Aβ1-40 incubated with SBA-15 or SBA-PFDTS formed fibrils with shorter cross-over distances that were more structurally representative of fibrils found in AD patient-derived samples. Overall, these results suggest that mesoporous silicas and other exogenous materials are promising scaffolds for the de novo production of specific fibril polymorphs of Aβ1-40 and other amyloidogenic proteins. Significance Statement A major challenge in understanding the progression of Alzheimer's Disease lies in the various fibril structures, or polymorphs, adopted by Amyloid-β (Aβ). Heterogenous fibril populations may be responsible for different disease phenotypes and growing evidence suggests that Aβ fibrils formed in vitro are structurally distinct from patient-derived fibrils. To help bridge this gap, we used surface-functionalized mesoporous silicas to influence the formation of Aβ1-40 fibrils and evaluated the distribution of resulting fibril polymorphs using electron microscopy (EM). We found that silicas modified with hydrophobic surfaces resulted in fibril populations with shorter cross-over distances that are more representative of Aβ fibrils observed ex vivo. Overall, our results indicate that mesoporous silicas may be leveraged for the production of specific Aβ polymorphs.


The present invention provides a substrate formed at a low cost and having a controlled plate shape, an epitaxial layer provided substrate obtained by forming an epitaxial layer on the substrate, and methods for producing them. The method for producing the substrate according to the present invention includes an ingot growing step (S110) serving as a step of preparing an ingot formed of gallium nitride (GaN); and a slicing step (S120) serving as a step of obtaining a substrate formed of gallium nitride, by slicing the ingot. In the slicing step (S120), the substrate thus obtained by the slicing has a main surface with an arithmetic mean roughness Ra of not less than 0.05 [mu]m and not more than 1 [mu]m on a line of 10 mm.


In essence, a trunked radio system is a packet switching computer network. Users' radios send data packets to a computer, operating on a dedicated frequency — called a Control Channel — to request communication on a specific talk-group. The controller sends a digital signal to all radios monitoring that talkgroup, instructing the radios to automatically switch to the frequency indicated by the system to monitor the transmission. After the user is done speaking, the users' radios return to monitoring the control channel for additional transmissions.


Globalization has increased the frequency of business travel, with air transportation often being the first choice of travelers. Thus, maintaining high quality products and services has become critical for enterprises. Air transportation is a service that involves a high degree of social contact; therefore, the presentation of first-line employees can influence its quality substantially. Expanding team "work analysis" is beyond "teamwork" analysis. Notably, work analysis applied to work teams has sometimes focused mostly upon teamwork concepts (cooperativeness or agreeableness (e.g., Stevens & Campion, 1994) and crucial research streams this classic work prompted). However, project teams face task requirements not entirely unlike occupations or jobs. Thus, in addition to teamwork concepts, one needs traditional work skills considerations to guide team staffing decisions. Although previous studies have explored the person-team fit of new staffs, they have predominantly emphasized organizational recruiting, focusing on the role of recruiters and the patterns of employee personality traits, including personal value, attitude, and organizational value, before employees enter an organization. Few studies have investigated the direct influence of personality traits on person-team fit. Jones (1986) determined that person-team fit may be affected by new staff members perceiving their training programs differently. Thus, the various personality traits of staff members are worth discussing. In addition, whether unique socialization distinctly influences personality traits regarding person-team fit has been rarely


In response to a public health emergency of COVID-19 pandemic, changing learning and teaching from face to face mode to online one is determined to be imperative. The fact that classrooms were temporarily prevented from continuing did not mean that learning and teaching were suspended. It was going on in a new approach supported by technology, which challenges students and teachers with various barriers. The paper explored the correlation between online learning barriers and motivations, whether the motivation-boosting strategies could help students overcome challenges in online learning duration and had any impact on students' academic achievement or not. A quasi-experimental research was applied for 288 third-year students of law joining the second criminal law course at a university in Viet Nam. The experiment was conducted with the assistance of LMS, Microsoft Team, Skype and Zoom, along with Socrative, Kahoot and Social networks. The findings revealed that the extrinsic barriers had more impact on motivation than intrinsic ones; extrinsic barriers had high impact on the motivation and the learning results of students compared to the traditional learning method. The data also expressed that the motivation-boosting activities in the online learning process led positive changes in students' learning motivation and academic achievement.


100 Views. Hidden in a Coffer, I&II (From the album 'A Prayer Mat of Flesh', China, 18th Century; Direction of Rotation/ Number of Rotations/ Day; Countdown – Countup; Geographical Direction N-S; No Movement); 100 Views. An Amorous Bath, I&II (From the album "Red Shoes", China, 19th Century; Countdown-Countup; Direction of Rotation/ Speed of Rotation/ Number of Rotations per Day; No Movement; Geographical Direction N-S); 41 Views. An Amorous Bath, I&II (From the album "Red Shoes", China, 19th Century; Countdown-Countup; Direction of Rotation / Speed of Rotation: Rotations per Day/ Hour; Geographical Direction N-S)


Regeneration Potential of Ascocentrum ampullaceum (Roxb.) Schlter through Inflorescence culture
The paper deals with the in vitro regeneration response of immature inflorescence segments (buds, nodes and internodes) of Ascocentrum ampullaceum explants. The nutrient medium used played a key role in induction and multiplication of callus, protocorm like bodies and shoot. Inflorescence buds cultured in V&W medium supplemented with 15% coconut milk and 2% sucrose produced highest (80%) protocorm like bodies formation without any growth regulator. Inflorescence node culture in MKC medium supplemented with only 15% CM, and 15% CM and 1.0 mg l-1 NAA produced highest callus (70%) and plbs (50%) formation, respectively. Incorporation of 15% CM in all the media proved best for formation of callus and plbs. Our results suggest that Ascocentrum ampullaceum, which regenerates poorly in nature, can be micropropagated using inflorescence based explants...


In this paper, we use insights derived from a critical evaluation of ecological modernisation theories to examine the origins and influence of new, market-based, forms of carbon governance. Focusing on two key examples—emissions trading in Europe and the global market in offsets—we argue that ecological modernisation theories can help us understand the processes through which the seemingly intractable problem of climate change has been reframed as an opportunity to construct a new carbon economy and anticipate some of the tensions, contradictions and limits of such an approach. We then explore the governance dimensions of these novel market mechanisms, look at how they work, and then discuss whether, to what extent and for whom they work. We highlight a series of (un)-intended consequences that flow from these practices and modes of governing. We conclude by discussing the significance of these observations both for debates on climate change and the governance of carbon and for theories of ecological modernisation.


Background: Overall survival of patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) depends in part on Karnofsky performance status (KPS), extent of resection, age, and time interval between initial and reoperative surgeries. Guidelines for determining when reoperation is appropriate have not been defined. Objective: To develop an easy, reliable prognostic scoring system to use in counseling patients with GBM. Design: Retrospective case series. Methods: Patients with GBM treated at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with maximal safe surgical resection, involved-field external beam radiation, and nitrosourea or temozolomide chemotherapy were assessed for demographic, clinical, radiologic, and treatment variables to determine significant prognostic factors to develop a scaling system. The scale was validated on patients similarly diagnosed and treated at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH). Results: 34 NIH patients had a median age of 50.5 years (22 to 65 years); 64.7% were male. KPS median was 90 (40 to 100). In total, 70.6% were on corticosteroids, 47.1% had headache, and 50.0% had seizures. Time following initial diagnosis was a median of 11.1 months (range 0.4 to 68.7). Tumor volume median was 27.6 cm3 (0.8 to 98.8 cm3). Median motor-speech-middle cerebral artery distribution (MSM) score (a measure of eloquent brain involvement) was 1 (0 to 3). Survival after reoperation was a median of 7.4 months (0.9 to 64.9). Factors significantly related to survival were assigned 1 point as follows: KPS ≤80, MSM ≥2, and tumor volume ≥50 cm3; scores were additive. Patient groups had significantly different median survival after recurrent surgery: 0 points (good prognosis) – 21 patients, 10.8 months; 1 or 2 points (intermediate prognosis) – 10 patients, 4.5 months; and 3 points (poor prognosis) – 3 patients, 1.0 month. The scale was validated on 109 patients from BWH with significantly different survival as follows: 0 points – 49 patients, 9.2 months; 1 or 2 points – 57 patients, 6.3 months; and 3 points – 3 patients, 1.9 months. Univariate analysis showed only MSM ≥2 was significantly associated with poor prognosis. Conclusions: Based on the NIH Recurrent GBM Scale, patients scoring 3 points are less likely to derive survival benefit from reoperation. Reviewer's Comments: This study attempts to codify the decision to re-operate on patients with recurrent GBM in terms of survival benefit. The results suggest that patients with poor KPS and large tumor volume in eloquent areas are less likely to derive benefit. However, one problem with the study is the small number of patients in the poor prognosis group (3 from NIH and 3 from BWH). Also, because patients treated at NIH are highly self-selected, the results may not be generalized, validation at BWH notwithstanding. By contrast, the parameters in the NIH Recurrent GBM Scale are consistent with usual observations. Neurosurgeons can evaluate their own outcomes with the scale to see if they wish to apply it in making decisions with future patients. (Reviewer-N. Scott Litofsky, MD).


In the transcript of his Nobel Oration for the 1976 Award in Physiology or Medicine, Baruch S. Blumberg refers to David Surrey Dane nine times.1 Dane joined the Queen's Belfast Microbiology Department in 1955. He was soon promoted to Senior Lecturer, then Reader. In 1966 Dane was called to a Chair of Microbiology at the University of London tenable at the Bland-Sutton Institute and the Middlesex Hospital. Baruch S. (Barry) Blumberg (Fig. 1), David Surrey Dane (Fig. 2), Michael G.P. Stoker (Fig. 3) and Wolf Szmuness were responsible for wide-ranging advances in alleviation of pandemic Hepatitis B. This quartet of physician scientists each had outstanding World War II records and post-war guidance: each was a personable and talented leader2,3,4,5,6,7.

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Fig 1

Baruch Samuel Blumberg (1925-2011). Oil on canvas, 1993 by Paul Brason, RP (b.1952), 118" X 86", Balliol College Portraits Collection No. 174. Master of Balliol 1989-94. Baruch Blumberg entered the U.S. Navy in 1942 and rose to command a U.S. Navy Landing Ship (Tank). Blumberg was winner of the 1976 Nobel Prize and elucidator of the hepatitis virus which still infects over 270 million persons. Reproduction rights granted solely for this Medical History.


Abstract:In Great Peace Shipping v Tsavliris Salvage, the English Court of Appeal rejected the equitable doctrine of mistaken assumptions, arguing that the doctrine lacks a principled foundation. Defenders of the doctrine appear to agree that the doctrine lacks a coherent animating principle, but they think that its open-endedness is an argument in its favour. Against both the critics and the defenders, this article argues that the equitable doctrine of mistaken assumptions is a principled doctrine, one that protects individual self-determination by setting aside a contract that, due to a mistake about the quality of the thing contracted for, serves the purposes of one of the contracting parties but none of the other's. This defence of the equitable doctrine may seem to be an argument for replacing the narrow common law doctrine of mistaken assumptions with the equitable one, but I argue that it is not. The common law and equitable doctrines of mistaken assumptions are founded upon distinctive conceptions of human freedom, and each doctrine understands the normative significance of mistake in a manner suitable to the conception of freedom underlying it. Moreover, these conceptions of freedom are each incomplete on their own; they require each other for the vindication of their own claims to be conceptions of freedom. The English Court of Appeal was therefore wrong to conclude that the law of contracts must choose between the doctrines of common law and equitable mistaken assumptions; on the contrary, a law of contracts respectful of the freedom of its subjects requires both.


A vector finite-element method for the analysis of anisotropic waveguides with off-diagonal elements in the permeability tensor is formulated in terms of all three components of the electric field. In this approach, spurious, nonphysical solutions do not appear anywhere above the "air-line." The application of this finite-element method to waveguides with an abrupt discontinuity in the permittivity is discussed. In particular, we discuss how to use the boundary conditions of the electic field at the interface between two media with different permittivities. To show the validity and usefulness of this formulation, examples are computed for dielectric-loaded waveguides and ferrite-loaded waveguides.


Submitted for the MAR07 Meeting of The American Physical Society Giant Gap Surface Charge Density Waves in NaMo6O17 and KMo6O17 FENG WANG, S.-K. MO, J. W. ALLEN, U. of Michigan, G.-H. GWEON, UCSanta Cruz, J. MARCUS, C. SCHLENKER, CNRS, H. HÖCHST, SRC, U. of Wisc. — Quasi-2-dimensional molybdenum bronzes NaMo6O17 and KMo6O17 have a phase transition into the charge density wave (CDW) state at temperatures (T's) of 80K and 120K respectively. Our recent angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) data confirm in detail our previous findings [1] of nearly identical electronic structures and well nested Fermi surfaces of these two materials. An important new finding in both NaMo6O17 and KMo6O17 is the opening of giant energy gaps greater than 0.1 eV at T's well above the bulk CDW transitions, even as high as 300K. The spectra are very dependent on the sample surface and measurement position, and are strongly time dependent. All the evidence indicates formation of a strongly enhanced surface CDW, in contrast to the interpretation of a recent publication [2] relating these large ARPES gaps to the bulk CDW. We will discuss possible scenarios, e. g. [3], for such surface effects and the implications for measuring the spectral manifestations of the true bulk CDW's. [1] G.-H. Gweon et al., Phys. Rev. B 55, 13353 (1997). [2] P.-A. Glans et al., Phys. Rev. B 72, 035115 (2005). [3] S. E. Brown et al., Phys. Rev. B 71, 224512 (2005). 1Work at UM is supported by the U.S. NSF (DMR-03-02825) Feng Wang University of Michigan Date submitted: 20 Nov 2006 Electronic form version 1.4


The invention discloses a miniaturized Ku frequency band power combiner which comprises three portions including a waveguide resonant cavity, coupling windows for compressing the waveguide broadside and a transmission waveguide and has five input waveguide ports and one output waveguide port. The waveguide resonant cavity is mainly composed of five input resonant cavities and one output resonant cavity. Five constant-amplitude in-phase signals are inputted by the transmission waveguide and coupled to each waveguide resonant cavity through five different coupling windows for compressing the waveguide broadside, and then the signals are transmitted to the output resonant cavity through different resonant cavities, and finally, the signals are coupled to the output waveguide through an output coupling window. According to the invention, advantages, such as compact structure, light weight, easy machining, high reliability, easy implementation, reasonable structure layout, etc., can be realized.


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to synthesise glassy and crystalline Ca‐Zn and Sr‐Zn borophosphates.Design/methodology/approach – Anticorrosion pigments on the basis of glassy and crystalline borophosphates formulated as 20CaO‐30ZnO‐20B2O3‐30P2O5 and 20SrO‐30ZnO‐20B2O3‐30P2O5 were synthesised. The pigments prepared were characterised by means of X‐ray diffraction and their physical‐chemical properties were determined. The pigments synthesised were used to prepare water‐borne styrene‐acrylate coatings with a 10 per cent anticorrosion pigment content. The coatings underwent corrosion tests in a humid environment with SO2 content and a test in a salt mist environment. The corrosion tests results were compared with industrially produced pigments.Findings – As the glassy phase reduces the anticorrosion efficiency of the coatings with the Sr‐Zn borophosphate content decreases too. In case of the Ca‐Zn borophosphates, the maximum anticorrosion efficiency was detected with regard to a pigment containing 75...


Four periods with predominated droughts are identified in 4―2 ka BP according to documentary data, namely 3.6―3.5, 3.1―3.0, 2.8―2.7, and 2.45―2.35 ka BP. Palaeo-environmental data indicated that droughts were predominated in 4―2 ka BP in the south of Northeast China, Inner-Mongolia, east of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, and South China. Modeling study shows that precession may be responsible for the occurrence of droughts in 4―2 ka BP, integrating the GCM with forcing of insolation.


Background: The purpose of this paper is to provide data on the binocular accommodative response (AR) as accommodative stimulus (AS) is changed with plus adds. This may be helpful in refining guidelines for prescribing nearpoint plus adds.


Objective: The objective of this selective EBM review is to determine whether or not the use of antidepressants improves the quality of life and decreases the severity of symptoms in patients with IBS. Study Design: Review of three English language, double-blind, randomized controlled trials published in 2009. Data sources: Randomized controlled trials comparing the use of three different antidepressants to a controlled placebo were found on PubMed, OVID and the Cochrane database. Outcome(s) Measured: Primary end point was overall bowel symptom score at the end of twelve weeks. Secondary end points include individual BSS for each irritable bowel syndrome subset, constipation, pain, or discomfort. Other secondary end points assessed adequate relief of symptoms, IBS-quality of life, and rectal sensitivity. Outcomes were measured through the use of questionnaires. Results: Three randomized controlled trials were included in this review. The study by AbdulBaki H. indicated that imipramine was superior to treating IBS when compared to placebo, making this the only therapy evaluated in this review to be effective. Study by Ladabaum U. indicated that citalopram was less effective than placebo. Study by Saito Y. determined that St. John's Wort was less effective than placebo in decreasing symptoms of IBS. Conclusions: The results of the study using imipramine concluded that the drug was effective in reducing symptoms and improving quality of life for patients with IBS. The other two studies concluded that the therapy drugs were less effective than the placebo in treating symptoms of IBS. The population studied in some of the studies was not very large and one study had a majority of females which are factors that should be changed in future studies.


This paper proposes the "Hierarchically-Dynamically Separating Genetic Algorithm (hDSGA)" applied to a multi-agent system (MAS). In the hDS-GA, the colonies are separated dynamically into meta-groups, called meta-colonies. Consequently, colonies form hierarchical structures. There have been proposed separating genetic algorithms such as "Dynamically Separating GA (DS-GA)" or "Island model GA (IGA)" where agents are restricted to contact with each other. Differently from the DS-GA or IGA, in the hDS-GA it is not necessary to decide the parameter about a group size and migration probability beforehand. Experiments were performed where two parameters, "group size" and "migration probability", are optimized by applying hDS-GA to MAS problems. The results showed also that system-level optimality can be acquired by applying hDS-GA to MAS problems.


Acid attack is growing threat to concrete structures and worrying topic of increasing significance in all over the world. Type of cement being used in the structures is an important factor that affects the performance of cement constituents in an aggressive environment. Generally concrete is made of ordinary Portland cement (OPC), Portland cement is the most important ingredient of concrete and is a versatile and relatively high cost material. Large scale production of cement is causing environmental problems on one hand and depletion of natural resources on other hand. This threat to ecology has led researchers to use industrial by products as supplementary cementitious materials in making concrete. The selection of concrete proportions involves a balance between economy and requirements for place of ability, strength, durability and density (i.e., its performance).Hence to improve the workability, durability and the ultimate strength of concrete, OPC with mineral admixtures are used. Contemporary cement and concrete industries are facing already the shortage of traditional good quality raw materials and ingredients. A variety of unwanted waste materials have been successfully utilized as mineral admixtures in cement and concrete. Though, the huge volume of mineral admixtures have been discharging from industries ,considerable amounts of these mineral admixtures are yet to be utilized as ingredients for cement, concrete etc. Hence, continuous investigations need to be carried out to utilize greater amounts of by products as mineral admixtures in concrete. The goal of this study is to find various possibilities of protecting cement based materials. The performance of concrete made with the mineral admixtures is found to be effective. However, the information available on the performance of mineral admixtures in concrete is very limited, particularly on the durability of concrete. Most of the investigations in this regard have concentrated on strength aspects only, but considering the effect on the other important parameters related to durability of concrete, it is rather important to study even these properties


The author analyses the attitude of the RS political elite towards the resolution of the so-called Bosnian crisis, noting several coexisting approaches. National independence and secession, unification with the motherland, a confederate status, return of abducted jurisdictions, defence of the Dayton status quo and so on – these are just some of the possible options. The author exposes their political implications in a comparative manner, discussing their advantages and disadvantages. In the conclusion he suggests that some of these are primarily tactical, while some are strategic, and that the practical and political discourse should not be confused with the theoretic and political one. As an example of the latter, which does not have to take into account the political correctness and international opportunism, he mentions the attitude of the RS towards its historical founders and their public cover-up.


The Auk, Vol. 129, Number 1, pages 1−7. ISSN 0004-8038, electronic ISSN 1938-4254.  2012 by The American Ornithologists' Union. All rights reserved. Please direct all requests for permission to photocopy or reproduce article content through the University of California Press's Rights and Permissions website, http://www.ucpressjournals. com/reprintInfo.asp. DOI: 10.1525/auk.2012.129.1.1 1E-mail: email@example.com Over one hundred years of laboratory research on highly inbred model organisms has greatly advanced our knowledge of how regulatory networks such as the endocrine system work at the cellular and molecular levels. However, an understanding of how these systems play a vital role in mediating the effects of environmental change on morphology, physiology, and behavior must rely on investigations of organisms in their natural environments. To achieve this has meant integrating laboratory and field investigations wherever possible. Field endocrinology, in which free-living birds are captured and sampled for blood, feces, or feathers, has allowed us to assess for the first time how individuals respond to their physical and social environments under natural conditions (Wingfield and Farner 1976, Möstl et al. 2005). Controlled experiments have also made it possible to manipulate hormonal state (Ketterson and Nolan 1999, Ketterson et al. 2009) or social environment (Wingfield et al. 1999) to further expand our understanding of regulatory mechanisms in ecological context. Here, I discuss how regulatory mechanisms, in relation to seasonal events such as breeding, migrations, or environmental perturbations, can have diverse levels of control that we are only beginning to appreciate. Three examples will address territoriality in different seasonal contexts, adrenocortical responses to stress, and thyroid hormone involvement in control of the life cycle. There is now an urgent need to understand regulatory mechanisms, in the face of massive global changes resulting from anthropogenic influences. For example, loss of biodiversity globally is without doubt one of the biggest issues of our time. Yet we are just beginning to understand how knowledge of the interrelationships among phylogeny, gene–environment interactions, and function may help to facilitate the preservation of remaining biodiversity. Within phenotypes, cells respond in diverse ways to changes in the internal and external environment according to time of day, season, social interactions, and, thus, in how they cope with perturbations. In vertebrates these responses involve perception of the environment through sensory mechanisms, neural transduction within the central nervous system, and neuroendocrine and endocrine cascades to regulate morphological, physiological and behavioral responses of target tissues. This "perception–transduction–response" complex (Fig. 1) involves multiple regulatory mechanisms and is key to predicting how organisms will fare in relation to global change, including direct human disturbance. Furthermore, there are diverse ways in which individuals can respond to the same environmental change, indicating multiple mechanisms (diversity) by which the perception–transduction–response complex can be regulated (Wingfield 2008, Wingfield and Mukai 2009). The traditional view is that selection has favored the persistence of conserved molecular, cellular, and physiological mechanisms of the perception–transduction–response axis over a broad range of populations, habitats, life cycles, and phenology. Evidence is building, however, that there are many variations on this conserved framework that allow individuals not only to survive environmental challenges, but also to successfully reproduce, migrate, molt, and endure a wide range of winter conditions (Wingfield 2008; Wingfield et al. 2011a, b). For example, regulatory networks (e.g., Martin et al. 2011, A. A. Cohen et al. PERSPECTIVES IN ORNITHOLOGY The Auk An International Journal of Ornithology


Horn antennas are widely used as: (a) feeds for large reflector and lens antennas, (b) high gain element in phased arrays, and (c) standard-gain antenna in antenna measurements. The classic analysis of horn antennas is based on the equivalence principle using the approximate aperture field distribution, giving satisfactory results for the main beam of the radiation pattern and antenna gain. The two dimensional GTD model including edge diffracted field yields an improvement in the E-plane pattern. But, these methods can not be efficiently used for analysis of electrically large horns. For such horns a hybrid numerical technique, combining a full-wave stepped-waveguide model and hybrid field integral equation, is developed. This hybrid technique enables very accurate evaluation of the radiation pattern, even in the back region. However, once developed for horns of circular or rectangular geometries, this technique can not be applied to other geometries. Further, it can not be efficiently used with personal computers. This technique can not evaluate the input impedance of a horn antenna if it is fed by a coaxial line. All these problems can be overcome if the WIPL code is used, as explained. The WIPL is a code for electromagnetic modeling of composite wire and plate structures.


Objective
To observe the effects of bariatric surgery and the status of food addiction on obese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) .

Methods
A total of 76 obese T2DM patients who had undergone bariatric surgery (operation group, n=38) or traditional medical treatment (control group, n=38) were enrolled from January 2010 to November 2015. The food addiction status was investigated by five core questions of Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) (Q1: eating much more than planned when eating certain foods; Q2: spending time in dealing with negative feelings from consumed certain foods so often or in such large quantities; Q3: consuming the same types or the same amount of food even though having emotional and/or physical problems; Q4: appearance of withdrawal symptoms when cut down or stopped eating certain foods (for example: developing physical symptoms, feeling agitated, or feeling anxious); Q5: behavior with respect to food and eating causes significant distress). Blood glucose, obesity and the food addiction status were investigated. The data of YFAS were analyzed by McNemar test within groups while inter-group comparisons by rank sum test.

Results
Compared with control group, fasting plasma glucose [(5.6±1.0) vs (7.7±2.0)mmol/L], glycated hemoglobin A1c [(6.1±0.6)% vs (7.3±1.2)%], and body mass index [ (28±4) vs (34±4) kg/m2] were significantly improved in operation group (z=2.38-6.70, all P<0.05). After surgery, all five questions (Q1-Q5) for food addiction were significantly improved compared with preoperation (s=13.00-28.00, all P<0.05). Compared with control group, the three questions (Q1, Q2, Q3) were greatly improved in operation group (z=2.85-3.29, all P<0.05). The average difference between the operation group and the control group was Q1: 0.71 vs 0.34, Q2: 0.73 vs 0.32, Q3: 0.65 vs 0.29, respectively.

Conclusion
Compared with traditional medical treatment, bariatric surgery may significantly improve the food addiction of obese patients with T2DM in addition to lower blood sugar, body weight.

Key words:
Diabetes mellitus, type 2; Obesity; Bariatric surgery; Food addiction


Clinical pathways are defined as evidence-based, multidisciplinary care algorithms that outline essential steps in the management of patients. The objective of this work is to observe the impact of hysterectomy pathways on the reduction of open hysterectomy rates and improved patient outcomes. In 2012, the UPMC Health System introduced an evidence-based pathway treatment algorithm for hysterectomy with an overarching goal of reducing variations in surgical care and abdominal hysterectomy rates, thereby promoting cost containment and decreased patient morbidity. My work on this project involved generating a follow up report to the 2016 publication that analyzed the results from 2012 to 2014. I collaborated with colleagues at UPMC Magee Women's Hospital to evaluate the rates of open hysterectomy procedures and complications to determine their long-term effects on patient outcomes. UPMC Health System output from 2012 to 2019 was retrospectively identified for hysterectomy surgeries performed for benign indications. Health care outcomes by route of surgery and year were analyzed and tests for significance were administered to determine success of the implementation program by year.


Calcium oxide catalysts were prepared from natural calcium sources such as limestone and mud creeper shell and the catalytic activities were evaluated in the transesterification of palm oil. The raw material which mainly composed of calcium carbonate can be easily converted to calcium oxide (CaO) after calcination above 1000 K for few hours. Abundant, cheap sources, benign, high conversion and nontoxic become main advantages of these catalysts. The catalysts were characterized by XRF, TGA, XRD, CO2-TPD, SEM, and BET methods. Thermal decomposition of CaCO3, will produced CaO which later will be converted into calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2) via simple hydration technique. Under optimum reaction condition (methanol to oil ratio 15:1, catalyst loading 3 wt.%, reaction temperature 338 K for 5 hours), the highest conversion of palm oil to methyl ester recorded were 98% and 94% when using modified limestone and mud creeper shell respectively. The results observed an increment up to 80% by using modified catalysts with characterization results showed high in basicity and surface area. Hence, promising materials via simple and cheap method can be achieved.


The effect of number of arachidic acid (AA) Langmuir layers and pH values on morphology and local electrical properties of polycrystalline cadmium sulphide (CdS) film was investigated by atomic force microscopy, electric force microscopy (EFM) and scanning Kelvin probe microscopy (SKPM). Atomic force microscopy (AFM) surface analysis showed the polycrystalline relief of CdS surface with the roughness value about 8.5 ± 0.3 nm and the drastic increases up to 25 ± 0.9 nm for semiconductor surface modified by 1, 3 and 5 AA Langmuir layers at both pH value (pH 3.6 and 8.6). Surface potential (SP) values were estimated by EFM method and showed the same sequence of changes and were equal to -1 V for CdS film and to 2.4 V and 3.5 V for 3 AA layers at pH 3.6 and 8.6, respectively. SP of 1 and 5 AA Langmuir layers was about 2 V at both pH values. Furthermore, the electrical characteristics and parameters of samples calculated by EFM quantitative method were compared with SKPM method. EFM analysis showed more pronounced SP value changes than SKPM measuring, due to mathematical value processing of the established Coulomb interaction between the probe and the sample surface.


The Modified Structural Model of Attitude Toward the Ad Formation served as the theoretical basis for a systematic analysis of the message content of the pharmacy product information contained in 99 community pharmacy newspaper advertisements. Two classes of pharmacy products were advertised: (1) physical goods, such as legend and nonlegend drugs and other health care goods merchandised in the pharmacy, and (2) service goods. Three classes of ads were identified: (1) physical goods, (2) service g*, and $3) combined physical and service goods. Pharmacy product information was classified into two categories: price and product attributes. A four component standard ad information product was developed and used to extract pharmacy product information from ads, then a standardized measure of the information contained in the ads was developed. Price and product infonnation accounted for 30.7% (n = 666) and 69.3% (n = 1,506), respectively, of total ad bit information. There were 9 sponsors of the 99 ads, of which...