Objective
To address the effects of osteopontin (OPN) on calcium oxalate renal calculus formation.

Methods
We silenced the OPN gene in rat kidney in vivo using lentivirus vector-deliverd short hairpin RNA (shRNA) targeting OPN through renal venous transduction. On the day 7 after injection with lentivirus, rats were fed on water containing 0.8% glycol and 1% ammonium chloride for 9 days. At the end of the experiments, the rats were killed and the kidney tissues were removed for subsequent analysis.

Results
The lentivirus vector could effectively infect renal cortex and medulla tissue. OPN-shRNA transfection resulted in significant reduction in the content of OPN. Crystals recorded as the average total pixels (object area) were 20 716±7 755 and 54 921±3 469 in renal cortex sections in the OPN-shRNA group and negative lentivirus vector group, respectively (P<0.01), as well as 18 618±2 285 and 30 475±1 735 in the medulla sections in both groups, respectively (P<0.01).

Conclusion
Specific knockdown of OPN gene in kidneys of hyperoxaluric rats leads to a decrease in OPN production and significantly inhabits calcium oxalate crystal deposition. OPN may play a certain role in promoting calcium oxalate renal calculus formation.

Key words:
Osteopontin; Calcium oxalate; Nephrolithiasis; RNA interference


The ultimate purpose of the exercise was to conduct "Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS)" of rendezvous-and-docking maneuvers by interconnecting several dynamics simulators ; representing the current International Space Station (iSS) and JAXAS HH Transfer Vehicie ~HTV), which were developed separately of each other by ESA'I/ESTEC'2 and JAXA, This paper presents the Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) as an essential technology that could significantly influence the way simulation system is developed and applied towards space projects~ Beside the network connectivity, the feasibility of "middle-ware" teclmology was also assessed. These cross-continental exercises have resulted in the a pplications of simulation standard (HLA'3 ' IEEE1516 High Level Architecture) to the domain of on going HTV operational procedure development and training. *1 ESA: European Space Agency *2 ESTEC.' European Space Research & Technology Center *3 High Level Architectur:e (IEEE 1516 Standord) simulation technology since 1999. This paper presents the results of distributed simulation experiments relevant to the mission design of an approaching vehicle HTV (Fig. I ) which docks with the ISS via proximity maneuver.


an opinion on any obscure and complicated disease without such investiguion? To answer that question, sir, I beg leave to call to the witiem-stand such men as Beale, Bence Jones, Hughes Bennett, Gull, Goge-Harley, Sir William Jenner, George Johnson, Stokes, and the immortal names of Bnright and Addison; and in my own country, the great names of Alonzo Clark, Austin Flint, Metcalfe, and a host of others Sir, Oppo6ition and ridicule are ever ready, but never yet crushed out a great truth. With the simplicity of my nature, and with the honesty of my purpose, there can be no inidecency, and no sacrifice of self.respect in making any necessary physical examination whatever, If it be done with a proper sense of delicacy, and with a dignified, carnest,


In ordered sets it is possible to show under certain assumptions two basic theorems concerning the cycle length of sequences of iterates generated by monotone operators. These results are applied to different iterative methods, where the conclusions are valid for the sequences of iterates produced by the numerical computations only, if the used computer arithmetic is properly implemented.


S I WRITE THIS ESSAY, it has been almost 5 years to the day since I attended the meeting of Women's Health Initiative (WHI) investigators at which the astounding results of the estrogen and progestin study were revealed for the first time. Although I knew then that we were all in for a big change, I could not have anticipated the total impact. In a commentary on those findings,1 published here in September 2002, I recommended that clinicians believe the results and stop prescribing combined hormone therapy for prevention of cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis. I also suggested that these results should not be overgeneralized: women who needed therapy for vasomotor symptoms, or who were taking estrogen therapy only, could continue to use hormones, and women under 50 years of age could continue with whatever they were taking. I concluded by asking readers to "stay tuned" for the complete WHI results, as well as results of other large randomized trials that were in progress. It's time for that update.


OBJECTIVES:In this study, we describe the prevalence of fecal incontinence by race, age, sex, the presence of major chronic conditions of stroke and diabetes, and the use of certain psychoactive medications.METHODS:Study subjects are participants in the Chicago Health and Aging Project, a study of older Chicago residents of a geographically defined area. In the period 1993–1996, interviewers conducted a door-to-door census that identified 6,099 individuals who participated in in-home interviews. The interviews included a wide range of questions regarding demographics, medical history, and medication use. The question used to determine the presence of fecal incontinence was: "In the past few months have you ever lost control of your bowels when you didn't want to?"RESULTS:Fecal incontinence was seen in 585 of 6,099 survey responders yielding an overall prevalence of 9.6%. The prevalence of fecal incontinence was strongly associated with age across all demographic groups. We did not observe significant differences in the prevalence for males and females once we adjusted for age. However, the increase in prevalence with age was significantly greater among Blacks than Whites. The use of psychoactive medications was found to be associated with significantly higher odds of fecal incontinence. Diabetes and stroke were associated with a higher prevalence of fecal incontinence.CONCLUSIONS:These cross-sectional analyses offer promising evidence that this common condition is correlated with the presence of certain conditions (e.g., stroke and diabetes) and use of certain psychoactive medications.


Summary.-The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of different types of instructions on autonomic arousal. The instructions were presented to 42 Ss after a series of muluplicarion trials. The multiplication trials were defined as autonomic stressors, acd the recovery of autonomic responses was measured. Mental relaxation instructions resulted in superior recovery of skin resistance levels over other types of instructions (p < .01). The findings were interpreted as supporting Rachrnan's (1968) hypothesis concerning the lack of the necessity of physical relaxation instructions for systematic desensitization. According to Wolpe (1958), desensitization consists of two major elements: muscular relaxation and other incompatible responses to anxiety, and a graded and gradual presentation of anxiety evoking stimuli. According to this literature, muscular relaxation facilitates the reduction of anxiety to phobic or other anxiety producing stimuli. A number of investigators have questioned whether muscular relaxation is necessary for successful desensitization. Desensitization has been accomplished in situations where there has been brief training in relaxation (Cooke, 1966; Paul, 1966; Ramsey, et al., 1966) and without training in relaxation techniques (Ricter, 1968; Cooper, et al., 1969). A futther indication that muscular relaxation may not be necessary for desensitization is found in studies by Lader and Mathews, cited in Rachman's ( 1968) micle. Lader found that Ss who stated that they felt calm showed no decline in electtomyogram amplitude. Mathews reported that Ss showed reductions in muscle tension by means of instructions to feel calm and peaceful. A number of other investigators have found little difference in the effect of various types of instructions which lowered autonomic responses, including instructions which emphasized and did not emphasize muscular relaxation (Grossberg, 1965; O'ConneU & Ome, 1968; Mathews & Gelder, 1969; Lader & Mathews, 1968; Paid & Trimble, 1970; Edelrnan, 1970a, 1970b). The assumption may be made therefore that mental relaxation and mental calmness may be a sufficient condition for successful desensitization and a general reduction of stress. If this assumption is correct, what has been reported in the desensitization literature as a state of relaxation may have been a feeling of mental calmness and have very little to do with the state of muscular tension. Perhaps experiments were able to induce in Ss a feeling of mental tranquility through the monotonous repetition of instructions related to mental calmness. Since Wolpe's method of systematic desensitizacion rests upon the assumption


This article shows how the participants of the Banco do Brasil Higher Education Program who obtained a master's or a doctor's degree perceive the use, in their specific posts, of the competencies acquired during their graduate courses. The research, which is descriptive, adopted both a qualitative and quantitative methodological approach. The data was obtained from documents and questionnaires. The sample was formed by bank employees who took part in the program and who had already returned to work. The study indicates that the employees developed a new knowledge, as well as different skills and attitudes. In general terms, they have been able to mobilize the acquired competencies, but not to their full extent. The conclusions of this study indicate that the program has positive results, but could be improved, and that factors associated with the job activities, the relationship between them and the participants' training, as well as organizational support, influence the level of the mobilization.


One of the fundamental purposes of response surface methodology is to develop a relatively simple linear model to explain a more complex phenomenon. Since the proposed model is only an approximation, analysts almost always must address the potential of bias due to model misspecification. This article proposes a graphical approach for evaluating response surface designs in terms of the mean squared error of prediction. In particular, this article develops measures of the maximum and minimum mean squared error of prediction over the surface of spheres through a region of interest. These measures are then plotted against radius. The resulting plots reveal at a glance how a response surface design performs in the presence of model misspecification. These plots are used to investigate the performances of several common response surface designs.


Bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) is the third most cultivated Solanaceae species in Brazil and is highly sensitive to osmotic stresses. The increasing soil salinity is a frequent problem that hinders the plant absorption of water and nutrients by the roots, limiting agricultural production. Therefore, this study's objectives were to evaluate the germination, vigor, and development of bell pepper commercial cultivars after NaCl treatments to simulate osmotic stress. Five cultivars (Yolo wonder, SF134 yellow, Marta, All big red, Cascadura) were submitted to four osmotic potentials (salt stresses of 0, -0.3, -0.6, -0.9 MPa)  in a factorial scheme of 5×4, with four repetitions. The results indicated that the bell pepper germination is highly affected according to the presence of NaCl. The bell pepper germination supports NaCl concentrations equal to or higher than -0.3 MPa osmotic potential. Significant reductions in germination, germination speed index, seedling length, and dry mass as the salinity increases - osmotic potential decrease. The yellow bell pepper 'SF134' presented similar germination down to -0.6 MPa and can be cultivated in regions with salinity problems. The green bell pepper 'Cascadura' presented great germination, germination speed index and dry mass, and superior seedling length, being indicated for cultivation in more diverse environments.


The area of vertebrate embryology is advancing rapidly on many fronts. Dividing it conventionally into subjects along a developmental time line-gametogenesis, fertilization, cleavage, gastrulation, organogenesis, histologic differentiation, and the special flareup or flashback events of metamorphosis and regeneration-I am quickly reminded of the new tools, concepts, and knowledge that have transformed each subject in the last quarter century. It is my intention to look at what has surely been the most sluggishly moving of these fronts, gastrulation. Regrouped forces are moving outward on promising new salients here, but there are still some dead horses being flogged. We must distinguish between the real problems and the verbal ones.


ABSTRACT Vying for the presidential nomination from the two major U.S. parties in 2016, both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders were repeatedly called 'populists' – even though their political positions and policy proposals on key issues differed very sharply throughout their campaigns. This article looks into the question of why the 'populist' label was applied to two politicians so fundamentally opposed, and what this means for the broader debate on populism. In doing so, it presents a discursive model for the empirical study of populism applicable independently of substantive ideological commitments and used to analyse key textual output from Trump's and Sanders's primary campaigns. The article concludes that, although both actors' political discourses feature different elements of populism to varying degrees, Sanders more discernibly articulates the people-outgroup antagonism that constitutes the very fundament of populism. Yet Trump much more clearly employs elements of discourse that indicate a conflict with democratic pluralism. This finding demonstrates how features of populism can indeed be applied to very different political positions, and it calls into question the common notion that populism is generically aimed at undermining liberal democracy.


Objective:The effect of combination of different intensities exercise and estrogen on bone mass was studied in adult ovariectomized (OVX) rats. Method: Seventy female SD rats were divided into 8 groups as follow: BASAL,SHAM,OVX,OVX+ESTROGEN,OVX+EX1,OVX+EX2,OVX+DR+EX1 and OVX+DR+EX2. Histomorphometric assessment was investigated in the proximal tibial metaphysis after 8 weeks different intensities treadmill training. Result:The bone mass reduced significantly in OVX rats with increasing bone turnouver. In OVX-EX1 rats moderat exercise suppressed increased bone transformation, while high intensity exercise did not affect the histomorphometric parameters significantly compared with OVX rats,also bone formation and resorption parameters is higher significantly compared with in OVX-EX1 rats. The two combination groups had the highest bone mass in the all OVX groups and similar to BASAL, but lower than SHAM. Conclusion:Combination treatment can reduced the cancellous bone loss much more than either that of estrogen administration without exercise or exercise training without estrogen.


This article studies the construction of Bayesian confidence interval for the difference of two proportions in the matched-pair design, and applies it to the equiva-lence or non inferiority test. Under the Dirichlet prior distribution, the exact posterior distribution of difference of two proportions is derived. The tail confidence interval and the highest posterior density (HPD) interval are studied, and their frequentist performance are investigated by simulation in terms of the mean coverage probability of interval. Our results suggest to use tail interval at Jeffreys prior for testing equivalence or non inferiority in matched-pair design.


Renowned landscape photographer, Ansel Adams advocated the use of visualisation to help aid in the making of photographs. Ansel Adams' visualisation process involved seeing the final printed image in the mind's eye before actually taking the photograph (Adams 1980, p.1). Once a clear mental picture, or direction for the image look, was established, necessary technical steps could be undertaken to reach that predetermined goal during the photography, film development and printing processes. Understanding and skilful practical application of photographic tools and processes, or craft competency, performs two functions in Adams' visualisation process. Firstly, the knowledge and understanding of how the camera tools and subsequent photographic processes affect the look of the final image enables the photographer to have a better idea of the visual possibilities when conceiving the image in their mind's eye. Secondly, having mastery over the photographic tools and processes enables the photographer to exercise control over the execution and development of the final image to match the result more closely to the visualised mental image.


Five rows of spinach, each separated by 1 ft, were planted in 6-ft wide beds on 11 Nov at the Ralph McClure farm at Kibler, AR. Plots consisted of 1 bed (5 rows) x 30 ft. Plots were separated by 1-ft bare ground on each side and 3 ft of spinach separated plots within the same row. Experimental design was a randomized complete block (8 treatments x 4 replications). Sprays were applied 13 Mar with a hand held C02 sprayer equipped with 3 Delvan #10 nozzles and calibrated to deliver 15.5 gpa. Temperature at spraying was 47°F. Ten randomly selected plants were cut from each plot at 3 and 20 days after spraying and transferred to the laboratory where the number of live aphids were determined by plant dissection.


Chronology of Strauss's life and career Charles Youmans Part I. Background: 1. The musical world of Strauss's youth James Deaville 2. Strauss's compositional process Walter Werbeck 3. Maturity and indecision in the early works Wayne Heisler Part II. Works: 4. The first cycle of tone poems David Larkin 5. The second cycle of tone poems James Hepokoski 6. Strauss's road to operatic success: Guntram, Feuersnot, and Salome Morten Kristiansen 7. The Strauss-Hofmannsthal operas Bryan Gilliam 8. Opera after Hofmannsthal Philip Graydon 9. 'Actually, I like my songs best': Strauss's Lieder Susan Youens 10. Last works Jurgen May Part III. Perspectives: 11. Strauss's place in the twentieth century Alex Ross 12. Musical quotation and allusion in the works of Richard Strauss Gunter Brosche 13. Strauss in the Third Reich Michael Walter 14. Strauss and the business of music Scott Warfield 15. Kapellmeister Strauss Raymond Holden 16. Strauss and the sexual body: the erotics of humor, philosophy, and ego-assertion Bryan Gilliam 17. Strauss and the nature of music Charles Youmans Bibliography.


From Yeats and the Celtic Revival onward, Irish poets have recorded, shaped, and criticized their nation's emerging independent identity. In the process, of course, they also attempted to reforge links to the past by creating for Ireland a literary tradition incorporating the myths, folklore, and symbols of a long-suppressed Gaelic heritage. Now, at the end of the twentieth century, the literary tradition wished into existence by Yeats has been expanded, modified, complicated, and virtually completed: it has become, so the argument goes, a "given" in Irish literature, a dead issue. Thus in Modern Irish Poetry, Robert Garratt "assumes a change among a younger generation of writers in their attitude toward tradition" (5). For today's poets, Garratt argues, the "need to create and establish a tradition in literature no longer appears foremost in their thoughts" (5); contemporary poets no longer feel compelled to write the "definitions" and "apologetics" that so obsessed their poetic forefathers. Although Garratt does not use the word, forefathers is by implication a key concept in his formulation; the tradition Garratt traces ("from Yeats to Heaney") is exclusively male. For women, who until recently have appeared only as subjects and objects of poems, not as their authors, the matter of tradition carries considerably more urgency than it does for their male counterparts. Indeed, just as the early Revivalists


This article briefly describes a system of analyzing movement sequences extracted from video images. The system uses an IBM-PC or compatible computer, equipped with a CGA screen and a mouse, and a videotape recorder and monitor. The coordinates of the points selected from the images with the mouse are stored in an ASCII-format file by a computer program. The principle behind this system is that it projects video images on a computer screen through a one-way mirror while avoiding parallax effects.


The psychomotor and cognitive performance of ten male divers was assessed during exposure to three effects; underwater exercise, nitrogen (N2) narcosis and the combined effect of exercise and nitrogen in addition to exercise-induced hypercapnia. The protocol involved rest and exercise, at three sub-maximal workloads on a fin-ergometer in a hyperbaric chamber at simulated underwater depths of 0.5 and 50 m. The control condition was rest at 0.5 m. The test battery included three visual reaction time tests and a sequential short term memory test to assess psychomotor and cognitive performance, respectively. The former included a simple reaction time test (SRT) and two 4-choice tests which differed in that the spatial compatibility of the stimulus-response alternatives was either high (cCRT) or low (iCRT). Short term memory was assessed by determining the accuracy of recall to 6-light sequences (Mem). There was no significant difference in endtidal carbon dioxide levels (PETC02) at 0.5 m. PETCO2 increased significantly with increased workload at 50 m (p<0.01), ranging from 49.7 mmHg at rest to 65.2 mmHg at the highest workload. Results revealed no significant exercise effect on psychomotor or cognitive performance. A significant N2 effect was identified on psychomotor performance (cCRT and iCRT), with a decrease in speed but not accuracy. Short term memory scores were lower at 50 m indicating a significant N2 effect on cognitive performance as well. The largest changes corresponded with the exercise-induced hypercapnia at 50 m. A significant interaction effect was identified between reaction time and the combined effect. The slowed reaction time is attributed to a decrease in arousal as explained by the slowed processing model. There was no evidence of a significant interaction effect between short term memory and the combined effect; however the scores were significantly lower at 50 m. Collapsing the performance decrement data across all four tests clearly revealed that the combination of exercise-induced hypercapnia and N2 narcosis resulted in a significantly larger decrement than the decrement observed with nitrogen alone. A nonlinear relationship was identified between PETC02 and performance decrement in all four tests, which has not been reported previously. The relationship provides a means of identifying the susceptibility of diver performance to the combined effects of N2 narcosis and hypercapnia.


The light curve of the star HD 200925 is investigated based on an analysis of published photoelectric observations. A preliminary search of the data for periodicities using the Jurkevich period search method indicates a period of 0.267 days, although the observations reported by Bedolla and Pe a (1979) for the night of September 26-27, 1978 are systematically brighter by about 0.08 magnitudes than the other observations. A nonlinear least squares fit of the values of the period, approximate amplitude (0.4 magnitude) and phase angle of the periodicity (0.9 radian) derived to a sinusoid is shown to differ significantly from the data obtained on the nights of September 24-25, 25-26 and 27-28, 1978, although confirming the period of 0.2672 days. Data also suggest the presence of a secondary period of 0.36 days, which, however, may rather be due to the asymmetry of the observed light curve.


This method consists of electrophoresis followed by double diffusion. Antigens in a sample can be electrophoretically separated and subsequently precipitated by antibodies, or antibodies can be electrophoretically separated and subsequently precipitated by antigens. Experiments can be performed in macroor micro-modification, and the method can be modified for comparative purposes. Immunoelectrophoresis (IE) can be used to demonstrate that two antigenically identical molecules may be physicochemically non-identical, and the electrophoretic heterogeneity of antibodies can be studied. EQUIPMENT


Example of a time diagram for traffic light Preparation and verification of the timing diagrams for modern complex facilities with diversified timing systems is a difficult task. A mathematical method for convenient editing and verification of the timing diagrams is presented. This method is based on systems of linear equations and linear inequalities. Every timing diagram has three interconnected representations: a textual equation representation, a matrix representation and a graph (tree) representation. A prototype of the software using this method was conceived in Python. This prototype allows conversion of the timing data between all three representations and its visualization.


The application of chitosan as wall material of microencapsulation in powdery liquid oil has been studied.Monophasic coagulation method,double coacervation method and spray drying method were used to cover liquid oil.In Monophasic coagulation method,adjusting pH and alcohol as polycoagulant were used.The former optimal pH is 6.7.The latter optimal addition of alcohol is 60%.Chitosan takes coagulation reaction with sodium alginate and gelatin were used in double coacervation method to get microcapsual wall material.Orthogonal experiment shows that:The former optimal technological is chroma of solution 1%,pH 4.0,the proportion of oil to wall 10.The latter optimal technological is chroma of solution 1%,pH 5.0,the proportion of oil to wall 12.The optimal technological of spray drying is :spray pressure 380 kPa inlet air temperature 180℃,out air temperature 100℃.The yield of each method in turn is 45.2%,49%,62%,73%,73%


A comprehensive survey of the vegetation of the North Luangwa National Park (NLNP) was carried out over a period of two years. The main aims of the survey were to describe the major vegetation communities in the park and to produce a vegetation map of the NLNP Initial differentiation of vegetation units was established by the appearance of the vegetation on aerial photographs Further information was derived from 353 ground plots in which > 20 000 woody plants were identified and measured Thirteen broad vegetation types were recognised in the NLNP Details of their physiognomy, species composition, distribution, topography and edaphic associations are given.


Shortly after starting articles with Deneys Reitz in 1999 I was given a motivational poster of a canoe lying on the banks of the calm waters of a lake, with a caption that read :
"It's the choices we make not just the chances we take that determine our destiny."


Atmospheric suspended particulates and leaves(Ficus virens Ait var Sublanceolata and Euphoria longana lam) were collected from two sites of an area in Guangzhou city.The distribution patterns of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polyechlorinated dibenzofurans(PCDD/Fs) in these samples were analyzed with isotope dilution and high resolution gas chromatography/high resolution mass spectrometry(HRGC/HRMS).The results showed that the levels of PCDD/Fs in the atmospheric suspended particulates from the two sampling sites were very similar,being 10.87 pg/Nm~3 and 10.34 pg/Nm~3,and the corresponding toxic equivalent(TEQ) values were 0.119 pg/Nm~3 and 0.121 pg/Nm~3.The concentrations of PCDD/Fs and TEQ values of Euphoria longana lam leaves were 972.52 ng/kg·dry and 15.11 ng/kg·dry respectively,while those of Ficus virens Ait var Sublanceolata leaves were 268.36 ng/kg·dry and 3.99 ng/kg·dry respectively.Therefore,these two kinds of trees can be served as good biomonitors of PCDD/Fs.PCDD/Fs in the atmospheric suspended particulates were similar to those in leaf samples,indicating that dry deposition may be a dominant pathway to transfer PCDD/Fs from the former to the latter in the atmospheric environment.Owing to the longer log t_(1/2) values and higher concentrations of highly chlorinated toxic PCDD/Fs in leaves,much attention should be paid to these compounds.


Emerging evidence has identified that older adults are at an increased risk of significant morbidity and mortality associated with contracting COVID-19. The need for social distancing and quarantine has greatly impacted healthcare delivery, leading to a greater emphasis on virtual care. Fortunately, this demand has been embraced by health regulators through policy amendments, which continue to evolve. Beyond the physical impact of this virus, a substantial increase in psychiatric morbidity is expected both in those who have contracted the virus and those who have not. Although providing mental health supports to older adults is a growing priority, there are a number of unique barriers to providing virtual care to this population. Here, we review some the barriers and potential strategies toward providing mental healthcare to older adults in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Just as older adults are more susceptible to the severe physical manifestations of COVID-19 illness, there are factors that may increase their vulnerability to the psychiatric effects of the current pandemic. This increase in psychiatric morbidity is likely due to a combination of biopsychosocial factors, including worsening physical health secondary to the infection, disruption in access to healthcare, social isolation with diminished supports as a result of quarantine measures, and the psychological stress of the infection itself. Restricted access to healthcare is likely to correlate with a deterioration of physical health and further exacerbate the cognitive and metal health of this population. Similarly, disruptions in access to psychiatric care and in-person treatments like electroconvulsive therapy will place older adults with the greatest vulnerability at a high risk of relapse. Furthermore, social distancing measures imposed on older adults have compounded the existing isolation experienced by those living alone or residential care, which is a risk factor for the development of latelife psychiatric illness. As public health measures persist in an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19, the health effects of quarantine are likely to compound. Even before COVID-19, face-to-face psychiatric care has been increasingly transitioning to the digital front. Virtual psychotherapy (etherapies) has been shown to be as effective as in-person treatments in some cases, particularly for cognitive behavioral therapy. More recently, there has been an increase in the use of virtual care for older adults with some encouraging results. Salisbury et al demonstrated that an integrated telehealth service for older adults with depression was significantly better than treatment as usual. Similarly, a review of studies exploring telemedicine-based dementia assessments yielded encouraging results, suggesting virtual assessments were as reliable as face-toface assessments, and acceptable for patients. Although emerging research is encouraging, there are a number of important barriers to widespread adoption of virtual psychiatric care in older adults. These include motivation to use technology, frustration with technical difficulties, and cognitive, physical, visual, and auditory impairments that may impact on the use of technology. Awareness of these barriers is essential for digital health providers and designers in both optimizing standard digital assessment platforms as well as by decreasing the need for digital assessment by strengthening caregiver support and integrating alternative assessment and monitoring tools. More specifically, integrating tailored feedback for in-home caregivers based on video recordings has been shown to improve depressive symptoms and competence among caregivers, helping to potentially decrease the burden on the healthcare system. Another critical barrier in the psychiatric care of individuals with neurocognitive disorders is the technical challenge of administering valid cognitive screening tools in a virtual setting. Here too, technological advances may be of assistance: the development of automatic speech analysis for the diagnosis and monitoring of dementia, for instance, may help to offset the burden on in-person assessment and concurrently improve accuracy of detection. The impact of the current pandemic is most acutely felt by older adults, especially those who are no longer living independently. Unfortunately, the morbidity and mortality among older adults who contract COVID-19 has only exacerbated the isolation and psychiatric morbidity of this population. Now more than ever, digital tools are essential as a means to help address the growing burden of psychiatric illness in older adults. Although there are unique barriers to virtual mental healthcare in older adults, emerging research has demonstrated these challenges to be Key points


This book gives a comprehensive background to the long running conflict on the status of Western Sahara and particularly highlights the question of the territory's natural resources, such as fish, ...


To examine the tissue expression of DNA topoisomerase I (Topo I) and IIα (Topo II), to pursue the possibility of future chemotherapy regimens for squamous cell carcinoma of the penis (SCCP), as high expression of Topo I might indicate sensitivity to the camptothecins, whereas high Topo II might indicate sensitivity to etoposide.


In recent years, basalt‐fiber‐reinforced‐polymer (BFRP) bars have become popular to replace steels. However, little is known about the performance of BFRP bars inserted in lightweight aggregate concrete (LWAC), especially the bonding performance under freeze–thaw (FT) cycles. In this study, a bond strength test was conducted for BFRP bars embedded in LWAC after FT cycles. BFRP bars, epoxy‐coated bars, and steels were tested for comparison purposes. The test parameters are the bar type, compressive strength of the LWAC, and FT cycles; 108 specimens were subjected to 0, 15, 30, and 50 FT cycles. Moreover, the bond strength models of the three types of bars were fitted to LWAC. The test results prove that the number of FT cycles significantly affects the bonding performance of the bar embedded in LWAC. The results also show that the bond strength prediction of the fitting model considering the FT cycle effect is consistent with the experimental results.


Angstrom-scale vanadium carbide rods combined with carbon (denoted as C–V8C7 (rods)) are synthesized through an ion-exchange route. The angstrom-scale C–V8C7 (rods) show better promotion effect on Pt than the nanoscale C–V8C7 (particles) towards methanol oxidation reaction (MOR). Furthermore, Pt particle loading on C–V8C7 (rods) (denoted as Pt/C–V8C7 (rods)) show much higher MOR activity and stability than commercial Pt/C electrocatalyst. The present method is imagined to be adopted to easily synthesize other angstrom-scale materials.


Four new water-soluble constituents, oblongaroside A (1), oblongar ester A (2), oblongaroside B (3), and oblongaroside C (4), were isolated along with four known compounds: 4-O-β-d-glucopyranosyl-3-hydroxybenzalcohol (5), 7-methoxyl-4-O-β-d-glucopyranosyl-3-hydroxybenzalcohol (6), 4-O-β-d-glucopyranosyl-3-hydroxybenzoic acid (7), and 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid (8) from the leaves of Ilex oblonga. Identification of their structures was achieved by 1D and 2D NMR experiments, including 1H–1H COSY, NOESY, HMQC, and HMBC methods and FAB mass spectral data.


supported unanimously by all the Fathers); and eight Church Fathers feature in the chapter on Isaiah's servant songs. Origen appears in five chapters; Augustine and Gregory of Nyssa are each cited in four chapters. Melito of Sardis and Clement of Alexandria are the earliest writers to be studied, while Leo the Great is the latest. The book investigates, above all, how the theology of history embraced by Greek (eleven major examples) and Latin (four major examples) authors enabled them to read christologically the Scriptures of the Old Testament. They recognized the mystery of the Christ-event as already present in the Law and the Prophets. Their sacramental exegesis detected the presence of Christ "hidden within the outward sacrament of the biblical text" (12). The inspired Scriptures that Christians inherited, as well as those they were to compose, shared mysteriously in the life of Christ and can prove the lifegiving Word for individual believers and the church at large. The Psalms—the Old Testament Scriptures most quoted in the New Testament and the heart of all Christian prayer—are perhaps the most striking case in point for supporting the sacramental exegesis of the Fathers endorsed by B. B. invites readers to share the early church's sacramental reading of the Scriptures, for which the visible sign of the Bible conveyed the invisible, yet very real, presence of Christ himself. A sacramental exegesis was persistently a christological exegesis. Finding Christ in the inspired Word of the Old Testament also became an exercise in finding oneself. A great advantage of this book is the possibility it holds out to those who may still doubt the value of a sacramental (others speak of "typological," "spiritual," and "allegorical") reading of the Old Testament Scriptures. Any doubters can select the case studies offered by specific chapters and see for themselves the enriching insights found in the sermons and commentaries of leading Fathers of the Church. Much of the work of the patristic authors can be summed up as an extensive christological commentary on the Old Testament Scriptures. A rigidly historical approach to exegesis risks losing the treasures which writers of the early church developed in their sacramental, christological fashion—not least when expounding Christ's presence in the Psalms. B.'s work makes a superb case for attending to and drawing on patristic exegesis.


Objective
To investigate the diagnosis and treatment of adult small bowel torsion in order to improve early diagnosis and improve prognosis.

Methods
Clinical data of 43 cases of small bowel torsion from January 2012 to December 2017 were collected. All of them were confirmed by surgery as small bowel torsion. After admission, white blood cell count > 18 × 109/L was found in 5 patients; and hemoglobin<100 g/L was found in 5 patients; abdomen CT examination in 39 patients showed 33 cases had intestinal torsion; 14 cases suggested possible mesenteric and root torsion.

Results
All patients underwent surgical treatment. During the operation, there were 11 cases with intestinal torsion ≥ 720°; 13 cases underwent simple bowel torsion in surgical operation; 4 cases underwent decompression combined with reduction of the bowel; 1 case was treated with reduction and jejunostomy; and small intestine resection was performed for intestinal necrosis. Twenty-two patients had small bowel resection and jejunostomy was performed in 3 cases. The small intestine was resected 7-240 cm, with an average of about 66 cm.

Conclusions
Small bowel torsion should be diagnosed and operated as soon as possible. The suspected necrotic bowel should be removed and more healthy intestine should be reserved. The patient′s vital signs should be observed dynamically after operation to prevent the occurrence of intestinal necrosis and septic shock, to avoid excessive intestinal necrosis that would lead to postoperative short bowel syndrome, and to improve the patient's cure rate and reduce hospital stay.

Key words:
Intestinal torsion; Diagnosis; Treatment outcome


Conditional mean embedding (CME) operators encode conditional probability densities within Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Space (RKHS). In this paper, we present a decentralized algorithm for a collection of agents to cooperatively approximate CME over a network. Communication constraints limit the agents from sending all data to their neighbors; we only allow sparse representations of covariance operators to be exchanged among agents, compositions of which defines CME. Using a coherence-based compression scheme, we present a consensus-type algorithm that preserves the average of the approximations of the covariance operators across the network. We theoretically prove that the iterative dynamics in RKHS is stable. We then empirically study our algorithm to estimate CMEs to learn spectra of Koopman operators for Markovian dynamical systems and to execute approximate value iteration for Markov decision processes (MDPs).


Significance Lipid membranes exhibit a variety of morphologies tailored to perform specific functions of cells and their organelles. A unique lipid structure is the nuclear envelope which houses the genome and plays a vital role in genome organization and signaling pathways. The nuclear envelope is composed of two fused membranes with thousands of toroid-shaped pores with extremely high curvatures, the origin of which remains an open question in biology. Here, we show that the architecture of this "ultradonut" may be generated by nanoscale buckling instabilities triggered by membrane stresses during nuclei growth. Our findings may help understand the impact of membrane mechanics on the geometry and the functionality of the nucleus and more generally, other double-membrane organelles in cells. The nuclear envelope is a unique topological structure formed by lipid membranes in eukaryotic cells. Unlike other membrane structures, the nuclear envelope comprises two concentric membrane shells fused at numerous sites with toroid-shaped pores that impart a "geometric" genus on the order of thousands. Despite the intriguing architecture and vital biological functions of the nuclear membranes, how they achieve and maintain such a unique arrangement remains unknown. Here, we used the theory of elasticity and differential geometry to analyze the equilibrium shape and stability of this structure. Our results show that modest in- and out-of-plane stresses present in the membranes not only can define the pore geometry, but also provide a mechanism for destabilizing membranes beyond a critical size and set the stage for the formation of new pores. Our results suggest a mechanism wherein nanoscale buckling instabilities can define the global topology of a nuclear envelope-like structure.


As the beginning of the foreign press in China,the Portuguese press in China had influence on the journalism in Shanghai and Peking,as well as on the modern press and society of China.Since 1822,it passed four periods of flourishing, development,decline and revival,and renders its own characteristics.This article aims to correct some errors from contemporary journalism works on Portuguese press in China and summarize the communication values of Portuguese press activities in China on this historical division.


Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist German Workers' Party were obsessed with keeping the German theatre tradition vital and maintaining Berlin as a "cultural metropolis" after Hitler's appointment as Reich Chancellor on 30 January 1933.1 Upholding a dynamic and energetic cultural life for the nation was a task for which National Socialism, as a political movement embodying the "will of the people," felt itself eminently well qualified. The Nazis, therefore, began almost as soon as they took over the reins of government in Germany to support theatre as an art form and theatres as institutions to an extent unprecedented in German history. 2 Though they had condemned much of the comedy prevalent in the Weimar Republic as decadent and perverse, they had no desire to remove comedy from German stages, but rather to reform it completely; indeed, they assigned comedy an important role in the task of "re-awakening the spirit of the people" because comedy "came from the heart." It "sprang from the depths of the peoples' roots as a nation, and it unites us as a people," according to one cultural panjandrum in a 1936 treatise titled "Culture in Service to the Nation," by Wilhelm Westecker.3 Westecker went on to demand that German comedy of the future should resemble that of either Hans Sachs in sixteenth-century Nuremberg or Ferdinand Raimund in nineteenth-century Vienna. The "new Germany," he said, needed a new kind of comedy, one distinct from the "civilized filth" of comedies popular in the Weimar Republic. That kind of comedy (one based on improbable situations and distinguished by witty dialogue) was not only filthy, another critic remarked; it had occasioned "enormous damage to the integrity of the German people" because it exposed "life-sustaining values" to "cheap, easy laughter."4 The problem for Nazi authorities was that German audiences actually preferred cheap, easy laughter and wanted more ofit.5 Playwrights and theatre directors therefore came under enormous pressure to produce "politically correct" comedies that also attracted audiences. Thus the career of the comic playwright and actor, Curt Goetz, during the Third Reich is an exemplary instance of how doctrinally flexible the Nazis became in formulating their theatre policy and how susceptible they were to a theatrical celebrity. Goetz was, by 1933, one of the German theatre's most popular and successful artists, one whom critics labeled "the German Noel Coward."


Surgeons often play a pivotal role in the treatment plans for cancer patients, especially when the plan of action includes resection. Locoregional therapies have the advantage of treating the tumor and its local environment while minimizing systemic effects. Other examples of local treatment include radiotherapy and chemotherapy delivered with isolation techniques. In contrast, systemic chemotherapy, systemic radiation, hormone therapy, and immunotherapy are administered throughout the body. Systemic therapy is most useful in treating disease distant to the site of origin but can be limited by systemic side effects. This chapter explores each of these treatment arms in more detail and provides examples of when such options may be deployed.
This review contains 1 figure, 2 tables, and 67 references.
Key Words: Biopsy, Cancer, Chemotherapy, Directed therapy, Hormone therapy, Immunotherapy, Lymph nodes, Proton therapy, Radiation therapy, Staging


Many studies have shown that anxiety-like behaviors are influenced by peripheral and central parameters including hormones and neurotransmitters in the different areas of central nervous system (CNS). Many investigations have proven the anxiolytic effect of androgens in different methods. Also, there are many reports about the modulating role of the amygdala complex, especially basolateral amygdala (BLA), through adrenergic system on anxiety. Among various types and subtypes of adrenergic receptors, β-1 adrenoceptors (β-1 ARs) of BLA account for the anxiety. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between testosterone and β-1 ARs in the BLA as an anxiety regulating key of CNS. Using elevated plus maze (EPM), the anxiety-like behaviors of four groups of intact adult male wistar rat were assessed in the presence of different doses of testosterone (0, 20, 30 and 40mg/kg, Intraperitoneal (i.p.). Then, the effects of intra-BLA microinjection of different doses of betaxolol, a selective β-1 ARs antagonist, (0, 0.025, 0.1 and 0.4µg/rat), were evaluated in the other four groups. Finally, the interaction between the ineffective dose of testosterone via i.p. and betaxolol via intra-BLA was investigated. The results obtained revealed that testosterone (i.p.) and betaxolol (intra-BLA) alone had anxiolytic effects on the male wistar rats in a dose-dependent manner. Our findings also showed that the anxiolytic effects of testosterone (i.p.) were reinforced by the intra-BLA injection of betaxolol. Co-administration betaxolol and testosterone also showed the synergistic actions on anxiolytic effects in the adult male wistar rats. Our results interestingly proposed that the interaction between testosterone and β-1 ARs is in part related to common mechanism and other neurotransmitters include gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and serotonin.


Laser spot detection is the key technique used in optical measurement. The precision and speed of the detection algorithm affect those of the optical measurement system directly. The traditional algorithms such as gravity model, Hough transform are unsatisfactory under some conditions. The laser spot detection algorithm referred in this paper is based on the LSM (least square method), and a circle is adopted to approximate the edge of the laser spot. Not only the center and radius can be detected simultaneously, but also the orientation precision is in the order of sub\|pixels, and the speed is fast. The algorithm is suitable for real\|time optical measurement.


In this study it is shown that addition of crude protein extract containing either membrane bound nitrate reductase (Nar) or periplasmic nitrate reductase (Nap) shortens the diauxic lag of denitrifying bacteria switched from aerobic to anoxic conditions. The specific growth rate under anoxic conditions, following resumption of exponential growth, was found to be linearly related to the extract dose.


This chapter addresses three particular areas of substantive review: jurisdictional issues (including review for error of law); irrationality and the doctrines of relevant considerations and proper purposes. First, the chapter argues that administrative law values are useful in distinguishing jurisdictional from non-jurisdictional issues and in understanding debates about 'deference'. Second, it argues that administrative law values are useful in understanding rationality review—in particular, in calibrating the range of reasonable responses, a key concept in the contemporary approach to irrationality. Third, the chapter argues that the structure of relevancy and propriety can be understood as being influenced by administrative law values. Given that in these areas there are significant divergences—certainly at the level of detail—between Commonwealth jurisdictions, the analysis in this chapter will be conducted at a higher level of abstraction than the analysis in the other chapters. Nonetheless, individual self-realisation, good administration, electoral legitimacy and decisional autonomy can be understood to influence the contemporary law of substantive review.


The results of the study of the indices of the own productivity of sows of Large White breed of different reproductive ages and the influence of this trait on the multiple pregnancy and the weight of the nest when weaning piglets are presented on the basis of using the documentation of the pedigree registration of pigs of the State Enterprise "Experimental farm" Elite "of the Institute of Agriculture of the Steppe NAAN" for the last three years. Based on the results of our research, it was found that the multiple births of sows of group I (18–24 months) is 10.4 heads, the weight of the nest at weaning at the age of 60 days is 181.8 kg, the safety of piglets at weaning is 91 %. Similar indicators in animals of the II and III groups (25–36 and 36 months and older) were 11.1–10.2 heads, 193.8 and 174.2 kg, 96 and 93 %, respectively. The variability of quantitative traits, which were the subject of our research, ranges from 9.3 to 17.5 %, that is, it corresponds to low and medium risk. When determining the influence of the age of mothers on their multiple births and the weight of the nest during weaning of piglets, it was found that the highest correlative relationship – r = 0.44 is observed between the age of the queens 18–24 months and multiple births and weak – r = 0.10 between the age of the uterus 25–36 months and multiple pregnancy. In queens older than 36 months, the correlation between age and productivity is weak and negative, which confirms that with an increase in their age, the reproductive and productive qualities of animals decrease. Improving selection work depending on age is an important and urgent issue in increasing the efficiency of pig breeding, since the volume of pork production depends on it. The age of sows is one of the key factors that affects the reproductive qualities of animals and determines the terms of the economic use of the broodstock, which, in turn, predetermines the need to study this aspect. Key words: pigs, age, sows, productivity, multiple pregnancy, influence, correlation, nest mass.


The cloud drop effective radius, Re, is one of the most important parameters in calculations of cloud radiative properties. Numerous formulations of the effective radius have been developed for use in numerical models (see, e.g., review in Gultepe et al. 1996); however, to the best of our knowledge, they all were designed for non-drizzling clouds. The objective of this paper is to derive a parameterization of Re for precipitating boundary layer clouds. The Re parameterization is necessarily a function of cloud prognostic variables used in a specific numerical model. To this regard, we note that the majority of current formulations of cloud processes in numerical models are based on partial moments of the drop distribution function: Qc, cloud water and Qr, rain water mixing ratios (Kessler 1969). Kogan and Belochitski (2000) argue that a better-posed problem can be formulated based on the total moments of the drop size distributions (DSD). In this paper, we describe Re parameterizations based on total, as well as partial moments of the DSD. In the latter case, we use the following set of variables: N total drop concentration, Q total liquid water content, and Qr drizzle liquid water content, while in the former case radar reflectivity Z is used instead of Qr. By using multiple nonlinear regression analysis, we seek Re in the form (Re)par =D N Q Z, where (Re)par is in microns, Q and Qr in g m, N in cm, and Z in dBZ.


We consider the linearized elasticity system for a class of periodic structures made by very thin bars (as cranes for instance) . There are three small parameters which characterize these structures: their global width (or thickness) e, the size of the period and the thickness €6 of the bars composing the structure. More precisely, we consider a domain consisting of four vertical bars of length L and of cross section eo/2 x e6/2. These bars are linked with horizontal thin bars of length e and cross section eo/2 x 6 and periodically distributed (with period e) along the vertical direction.


Foot and Mouth disease is an extremely contagious viral disease affecting all the cloven footed animals and elephants. The purpose of this study was to perform an epidemiological analysis of FMD outbreak in Nepal. It is endemic in Nepal since the time immemorial as well as in South Asian countries. FMD is highly transmissible diseases that have the potential for very serious and rapid spread, which is irrespective of national border and are of serious economic consequences and is causing restrictions on international trade in animal products. Time and again, around 200 outbreaks of FMD have been reported in Nepal and is causing substantial economic losses of around Rs. 98, 806 per affected household directly by decreasing the production and change in herd structure, and indirectly losses by cost of FMD control. Thus, strict vaccination programme, quarantine, bio-security and awareness on basic nature of FMD to animal handlers could be the best approach. This paper is based on the review of different articles from various journals, magazines, epidemiological bulletin and reports from government of Nepal. The obtained information was thoroughly reviewed and its history, present status, diagnostic tools and prevention and control approach adopted was reanalyzed and summarized.


You might say I was grandmothered into the Regional Oral History Office at UC Berkeley as an interviewer-editor in 1970. In those days, there were few courses in oral history methods. The idea of a graduate oral history program was just a glimmer on the horizon. It seemed as if university archival programs looked for a reasonable match of skills and trusted on-the-job training eventually to produce a competent oral historian. When I began work, ROHO had recently begun a project on Earl Warren's California career, with the goal of documenting how he had evolved from a solemn law-and-order district attorney into the charismatic chief justice who would find a consensus for integrating the nation's schools and protecting individual civil liberties. The office was looking for interviewers who understood the state's politics and had some knowledge of the issues that had made Warren's reputation as a crusader and innovator in public administration. I shudder to remember some of my bloopers during the first few recording sessions. But I was saved by some serendipitous earlier experiences. Most fortunate, I think, was the tough political science professor at Connecticut College who suggested firmly that all social science majors sit for the U.S. Civil Service Junior Professional Assistant exam in the spring of our senior year. What on earth for, we wondered. You never know, said Miss Dilley. The exam turned out to be very similar to the PSAT of high school days and a boring way to spend a Saturday morning. Eventually, I received an official paper that said I qualified as a GS-5, whatever that meant. Subsequently, letters arrived at


In a demand-side growth model we show that a developing economy may experience a steady positive equilibrium growth rate of investment and profit as long as– investment in the economy is responsive to the aspirations of the richer section of the population to match the consumption level of the developed world and imitation of foreign production technology is not very expensive. A worsening of income distribution is not required to sustain this kind of growth process but a sufficiently unequal initial distribution of income is enough to propel it. We also show that the technologically dynamic sector producing for the rich is incapable in generating much employment. If the process is accompanied by no change in the distribution of income then the employment share of the the technologically stagnant sector producing for the poor increases at the cost of declining growth rate of real wage. In case the growth process is accompanied by an exogenous change in the distribution of income induced by shifts in economic policy regime then the positive and stable equilibrium growth rate of investment is associated with an increasing growth rate of output though more is gained in terms of increase in output growth when income distribution improves rather than worsens. On the other hand, growth rate of employment for the entire economy might decline.


The fields of idealized heads and media are theoretically examined to obtain the symmetry properties relevant to playback signal prediction. Signals for different systems are theoretically compared and the conditions producing exact equivalence of all idealized systems are identified. Departure from these conditions is shown to produce a general non-equivalence of complementary single pole and ring head playback systems.


Some ten years ago Mr. Alfred Gillett observed in a quarry of the Lower Lias near his residence at Overleigh, Street, Somerset, a number of broken slabs of shaly limestone, containing portions of the skeleton of an Ichthyosaur. These slabs, which had been cast aside by the workmen, were fitted together by Mr. Gillett, who finally succeeded, after the expenditure of great pains, in skilfully developing from them an almost entire example of the skeleton of Ichthyosaurus tenuirostris, Conybeare.


The rapid development of information technology in recent years to give a lot of new things in the world of IT. One is the rapidly growing field of jaringan.Untuk links between several different networks need a router, the router is an international standard used today are a router vendor Cisco. Installation of LAN networks using Cisco routers have several advantages that can be used by communities to improve the effectiveness of its performance, but still many people who consider pengkonfigurasian cisco router is very difficult, scientific writing is trying to explain how step by step in configuring the LAN network so that people can use technology is to improve the quality of their performance.


Background & Objective: The association between breastfeeding and decreased toddler adiposity has been confirmed in numerous studies. The mechanism behind this association is still unknown. One theory is that children who are breastfed have increased responsiveness to internal satiety cues. The mode of delivery of breast milk (bottle vs. breast) may also influence the satiety responsiveness. Methods: We conducted secondary data analysis of 428 toddlers aged 2 years. Mothers' body mass index (BMI) and children's BMI z-score were measured. Mothers completed the satiety subscale of the Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ) and the scores used to assess satiety responsiveness. Maternal work status was used as a proxy for mode of delivery of breast milk. Regression analyses were used to determine if satiety responsiveness and work status modified the effects of breastfeeding on BMI z-score and BMI percentile. Results: Initiation of breastfeeding was associated with decreased BMI z-score (0.40 vs. 0.60; p=0.04); this association was attenuated after controlling for satiety responsiveness (adjusted BMI z-scores: 0.44 vs. 0.48, p=0.70. Interestingly, increased satiety responsiveness was weakly associated with decreased duration and intensity of breastfeeding; this relationship was mitigated after controlling for maternal work status. Conclusion: The association between breastfeeding and toddler obesity is at least in part due to increased satiety responsiveness. The mode of delivery of milk for infants may be partially responsible for the increase in satiety responsiveness observed with breastfeeding. More research is needed to characterize satiety responsiveness and its influence on the relationship between breastfeeding and childhood obesity. Amber Hathcock firstname.lastname@example.com Introduction: Childhood obesity is an increasingly important public health issue; in 2010, an estimated 32 percent of children in the United States were overweight or obese. 1 Several studies have found that breastfeeding is associated with decreased adiposity. 2-9 In one study, longer duration of breastfeeding was associated with decreased body mass index (BMI) at age 1 year. 9 In another study, toddlers who were breastfed as infants had a reduced risk of being overweight when compared to children who were never breastfed. 4 The association between breastfeeding and reduced childhood obesity is so provocative that potential strategies for the prevention of childhood obesity in the United States include the promotion of breastfeeding. 10 However, little is known about the mechanisms by which breastfeeding may decrease childhood obesity. Breastfeeding and childhood obesity rates are affected by similar maternal social factors, including education, race, and maternal work status. Higher levels of parental education are associated with lower rates of obesity and increased rates of initiation and duration of breastfeeding, 6 11 Among African Americans and Mexican Americans, there is no association between family socioeconomic status (SES) and overweight, while higher SES is related to higher prevalence of overweight in white Americans. 6 Maternal employment status has a negative effect on breastfeeding; mothers who are employed have overall shorter duration of exclusive breastfeeding. 11-12 In particular, mothers who are employed fulltime outside of the home are less likely to initiate breastfeeding and have shorter duration of exclusive breastfeeding compared to mothers who are employed part-time or are unemployed. 13 Social factors only partially explain the link between childhood obesity and breastfeeding. One physiologic factor that may play influence the relationship between Amber Hathcock firstname.lastname@example.com breastfeeding and reduced childhood obesity is satiety responsiveness. 14 That is, breastfed children may have a better response to internal satiety cues. 15 Increased breastfeeding is associated with less parental control over feeding. Less parental control over feeding practices is associated with decreased child adiposity and greater satiety responsiveness among children. 15-19 Breastfeeding itself may also be directly associated with increased satiety responsiveness. We are unaware of literature exploring the relationship between breastfeeding, satiety responsiveness, maternal work status, and toddler adiposity. In this paper, we attempt to describe the influence of satiety responsiveness and maternal work status on the association between breastfeeding and toddler adiposity We hypothesize that the interplay between the variables is as follows: (1) increased breastfeeding is associated with a lower BMI z-score and 2) a higher satiety responsiveness score at age 2 years; (3) a higher satiety responsiveness score is associated with a lower BMI z-score at 2 years of age; (4) satiety responsiveness is a mediator of the relationship between breastfeeding and BMI z-score; and (5) maternal work status influences breastfeeding rates and the effect of breastfeeding on satiety (Figure 1).


A phosphate-free glass based on SiO2-CaO was synthesized by a low temperature acid catalysed sol-gel route. The obtained material was evaluated by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The XRD analysis showed the sol-gel derived glass was amorphous in nature and crystallized when sintered at temperature above 900oC. The crystalline state was consisted of quartz and wollastonite phases. Meanwhile the infrared analysis showed typical transmission bands of monolith silica in the binary glass pattern. The bioactivity of the amorphous glass was investigated in vitro in simulated body fluid (SBF). The amorphous glasses were soaked in SBF for 1, 3 and 7 days. It is notable that the obtained results from FTIR, SEM and EDS analyses showed the deposition of spherical-shaped crystalline hydroxyl-carbonate-apatite (HCA) on the surface of the glass within 3 days of immersion in SBF solution. The HCA deposition was covered most of the surface after 7 days of immersion.


An exhaustive analysis of Psalms 3-8 suggests that the editors of the Psalter juxtaposed psalms on the basis of link words. The headings and verbal links suggest that Psalms 3 and 7 belong together, as do Psalms 4-6. In this article, we propose that the editors formed this collection by inserting Psalms 4-6 between Psalms 3 and 7, which were neighbours in another collection. The strong verbal links between Psalms 3 and 4 provide the rationale for this merger. They then rounded off this miniature collection by joining Psalm 8 to Psalm 7, based on the hook word ''name.''


Polyphenolics in nine propolis samples from Henan province were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC).Totally 29 compounds were confirmed in 75% ethanol extracts from nine propolis samples,and 25 of them were quantified.The results showed that propolis mainly contained flavonoids,phenolic acids and esters.Phenolic acids and their esters mainly included caffeic acid phenethyl ester,cinnamylideneacetic acid,p-coumaric acid,benzoic acid,isoferulic acid,caffeic acid,and 3,4-dimethoxyl cinnamic acid,and the average content of caffeic acid phenethyl ester revealed the highest level.Flavonoids mainly included pinobanksin-3-O-acetate,chrysin,pinocembrin,pinobanksin,galangin,and pinobanksin-3-O-acetate exhibited the highest average content among these flavonoids.


The Americas before and after 1492 - an introduction to current geographical research, Karl W. Butzer the pristine myth - the landscape of the Americas in 1492, William M. Denevan agriculture in North America on the eve of contact - a reassessment, William E. Doolittle landscapes of cultivation in Mesoamerica on the eve of the conquest, Thomas M. Whitmore and B.L. Turner II "heavy shadows and black night" - disease and depopulation in colonial Spanish America, W. George Lovell Spanish colonization and Indian property in Central Mexico, 1521-1620, Hanns J. Prem landscape, system, and identity in the post-conquest Andes, Daniel W. Gade pioneers of providence - the Anglo-American experience, 1492-1792, Carville Earle from Cabot to Cartier - the early exploration of Eastern North American 1497-1543, John L. Allen rereading the maps of the Columbian encounter, J. Brian Harley. Addendum - three indigenous maps from new Spain dated ca. 1580, Karl W. Butzer and Barbara J. Williams from Columbus to Acosta - science, geography, and the New World, Karl W. Butzer.


"The UK at the moment doesn't really have a mineral policy as such, but it is important that the UK gets involved in talks between EU countries regarding different mineral policies," [John Cowley] said.

"I know we're doing work in Tellus but what we really need is quantification of the potential of UK resources," he said. "This is another reason we need to get involved in EU policy - if the EU goes ahead with something, it will create a common policy across the EU. There are tremendous differences between what are important minerals to different countries and we need to expect that."

"We all know that you don't actually know what you've got in the ground until you've actually worked it," he discussed. "We're never in that position and we need to balance that out by having a minerals policy that provides that true position about how we can produce."


Significance Learning from past experiences—especially failures—is central to progress in human affairs. Knowing this, organizations, and especially governments, often conduct postmortems after important policies fail. Unfortunately, however, the combination of political pressures and psychological biases usually leads to the use of flawed social science methods, which make the results of the studies limited and often misleading. Most high-profile disasters are followed by demands for an investigation into what went wrong. Even before they start, calls for finding the missed warning signs and an explanation for why people did not "connect the dots" will be common. Unfortunately, however, the same combination of political pressures and the failure to adopt good social science methods that contributed to the initial failure usually lead to postmortems that are badly flawed. The high stakes mean that powerful actors will have strong incentives to see that certain conclusions are—and are not—drawn. Most postmortems also are marred by strong psychological biases, especially the assumption that incorrect inferences must have been the product of wrong ways of thinking, premature cognitive closure, the naive use of hindsight, and the neglect of the comparative method. Given this experience, I predict that the forthcoming inquiries into the January 6, 2021, storming of the US Capitol and the abrupt end to the Afghan government will stumble in many ways.


Polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs) are widely used as flame retardants in polymer materials, textiles, electronic boards and various other materials. Technical PBDE preparations are produced as mixtures of mainly penta-, octaor decabrombiphenyl ethers. PBDEs are structurally similar to other environmental pollutants like dioxins and PCBs, they are lipophilic and persistent components and widespread in the environment.


To, the monitoring method according to a system and method for monitoring the operation (operation) of business (business) is the (derived) leads ray relational data (operational data) derived from the business use of the software program from the plurality of business receiving; Calculating at least one of the individual performance indices (individual performance indicator) on the basis of the relational leads ray data for the business; A plurality of calculating at least one performance indicator group (group performance indicator) based on a leads ray relational data to the business method comprising: (calculate); And a step of comparing with the group of the performance index for the respective performance indicators.


Noise was identified as one of the key community concerns during the environmental assessment process conducted prior to the introduction of Amtrak's new high speed train, the Acela, in Northeast USA. Although the Canadian-French trainsets are similar to the TGV, there are significant differences for operation on American tracks. Noise sources were measured and identified during tests conducted at the Transportation Technology Center (TTC) near Pueblo, Colorado. Measurements were made using a microphone array system. Line arrays and X-arrays were used to locate and quantify the noise sources. Roughness of the wheel treads and rail surfaces were measured to enable the array-measured rolling noise to be assigned to a particular level of roughness. For the covering abstract see ITRD E107776.


The BSA-PLG microspheres were prepared by S/W/O/W emulsion solvent evaporation method with biodegradable material PLG607 as the carrier. Drug encapsulation capacity, morphology, particle size characteristics, as well as in-vitro release profiles of the microspheres were discussed. The results show that the microspheres were spherical and smooth and the mean size of the microspheres was 4070 μm, with a mono dispersibility. The in-vitro release profiles of the microspheres produced from different methods were significantly distinct. With the additives of hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HPB) and hydroxyapatite (HAP), the encapsulation of microspheres increased from 27.9% to 46.3%. Therefore, using S/W/O/W method and adding additives HAP and HPB in the formulation could decrease the initial burst release of drugs from the microspheres and increase the encapsulation capacity of the BSA-PLG microspheres, the in-vitro release profiles of which were fitted into near zero order release kinetics.


Basella alba L. (Baselaceae) is an ethnomedicinal herb and announced as an antiquated arrangement of medication, generally known as Chinese spinach, Indian spinach, Ceylon spinach, Vine spinach, and Malabar spinach. It is overall dispersed in tropical Asia however far reaching in Africa and parts of tropical America. Among five species, of which Basella alba and Basella rubra are significantly developed in Bangladesh.

The plant is an unimaginable wellspring of vitamin C, different minerals, follow components alongside flavonoids, carotenoids, saponins, numerous amino acids and natural acids.

Different in-vitro and in-vivo pre-clinical trials revealed that the plant has rich restorative characteristics due to the presence of active constituents having enormous potential in cytotoxic and antibacterial actions, anti-inflammatory action, antiulcer action, wound healing properties, CNS depressant activity, antioxidant activity, androgenic action, cardioprotective, nephroprotective, wound healing properties and so forth. Close to these the plant is regularly significant for its numerous ethnomedicinal importance and are utilized to fix bilious vomiting, sexual asthenia, gonorrhoea, burns, cerebral pain, ulcers, looseness of the bowels, liver issue, digestive disorders, skin diseases, bleeding piles, pimples, urticaria, inflammation, anaemia, whooping cough, aphthae, leprosy, insomnia, and malignant growth.

Subsequently, the current exertion is being secured to set up by talking about its essential survey on ethnomedicinal, morphological characteristic, phytochemical, pharmacological and toxicological assessments of this plant.


An extensive literature documents that resource wealth can be a curse rather than a blessing for many countries. Until the eighties, the general view among economists and political scientists was that a large endowment of natural resources has a positive impact on a country's development prospects. Yet, over the past forty years, casual observation and statistical studies indicate that natural resources often fail to deliver the expected economic benefits. On the contrary, resource wealth seems to impede the economic performance of many countries. In a series of highly influential of papers, Sachs and Warner (1995, 1997) present empirical evidence suggesting that natural resource wealth (measured by the GDP share of primary export in 1971) may be negatively associated with per capita GDP growth (see Figure 1) Various explanations have been offered ranging from the Dutch disease, rent seeking, increased indebtedness (Manzano and Rigobon 2001), domestic conflict and political instability (Collier and Hoeffler 2004), and autocratic regimes and poor institutions (Ross 2001; Isham et al. 2005).


Abstract The article discusses the relation between activity (as well as selectivity) of catalytical systems of electrophylic reactions and the measure (degree) of their acidic strength. The efficiency of catalysts in different types of electrophylic reaction (degradation of polymers, polymerization of olefines, alkilation of phenoles, etc.) depend on the universal index of acidity, size of the charge on hydrogenation in H2O complexes and metal chlorides, and parameters of relative acidity.


This paper argues that the role of media in the cultivation of audiences for architecture is much more complex than one of broadcasting architectural achievement to potential clientele and fellow design professionals. Understood in the broadest sense as spaces constructed for inhabitation, architecture is disseminated, produced and received through a much wider set of 'channels' than the design and lifestyle media. In the other direction, architects actively consume all forms of media and have gleaned an understanding of new technologies and scientific knowledge through popular media and culture. In this paper I will focus on medical technologies and knowledge and the relationship between the medical body and the environment as circulated through news media Specifically, the paper will relay three contiguous and historically specific narratives sharing the trope of the environment-bubble. The environment-bubble protects its inhabitant from invisible toxins and bacteria circulating freely in the exterior world by filtering the air of contaminants. The skin of the bubble is transparent, allowing the inhabitant to see and be seen by those outside. This bubble appears in medicine and architecture around the same time and in both contexts cultivates a relationship with the popular media. Each case will be described in turn before reaching broader conclusions. The environment bubble in architecture The 1960s saw the emergence of the pneumatic bubble as an architectural motif and ideal. Advocates for pneumatic architectures, such as Charles Jencks, emphasized the liberating potential of portability. For Ant Farm, the ease with which they could transport inflatable structures and the pumps required for their erection in their customized Chevrolet van, signaled the beginning of a new emancipatory architecture of flexibility and contemporary nomadism. Inflatables were proposed as a type of participatory architecture, their success and dissemination, augmented by festivals and conferences hosted in them, but also through videos and the publication of the Inflatocookbook. Much


The London of the late 1590s and early 1600s was a place in which satiric writing, whether for publication or for the stage, was anything but a safe pursuit. The death of Burghley in 1598, Elizabeth's increasing infirmity, and the Essex Rebellion of 1601 were just some of the factors motivating the government's heightened intolerance of public criticism of its institutions or policies. Nashe's imprisonment for his part in the Isle of Dogs, banned and suppressed after one performance in 1597, and the prosecution of Jonson and Chapman (Marston escaped unpunished) for their part in the writing of Eastward-Hoe in 1603, might be taken as chronological boundary markers for this lateElizabethan burst of political sensitivity. At its midpoint we find Elizabeth's famous (and astute) remark on the performances of Shakespeare's Richard II mounted by Essex supporters in the weeks prior to the Rebellion ('I am Richard the Second, know ye not that?'); and by the 'Bishops' Bonfire' of the previous year (1599), in which several recently published books were banned, for somewhat obscure reasons, and copies of them seized from the booksellers and burned in the churchyard of Paul's by episcopal decree.


In this paper, a typical application of multimobile robots, i.e., twin hoisting-girder transporters cooperating to transport a giant concrete girder, is studied. An overall solution based on the hybrid network communication framework is presented and the key issues, such as the accurate posture estimation and coordinated control of the two independent transporters forming a team, are researched. In order to obtain the relative distance and orientation angle between two transporters while traveling, a measurement data fusion method using real-time kinematic global positioning system for kinematic locating and in-vehicle speed sensors for speed measuring is proposed. Furthermore, a distributed master-slave coordinated control strategy based on the hybrid network framework is proposed to meet the reliability and accuracy requirements. The application results show that the deviations of the relative distance and the orientation of two transporters during working are not more than 0.1 m and 0.2deg, respectively, and it can meet the requirements of the technological specifications.


In this work, we present results of the short-time dielectric breakdown test in high-density polyethylene with different pigment levels (titanium and carbon black). These pigments are commonly added in polyolefines used as insulation in medium voltage cables. The specimen thin films, were obtained by hot-compression from extruded material. For the dielectric breakdown test an automated system developed in this department was used. A voltage ramp of 500 V/sec was applied to specimens immersed in a silicon oil bath at room temperature. The results were analysed by the Weibull distribution. The shape and scale parameters of the Weibull distribution were calculated by Graphical and Maximum Likelihood methods and their values showed that titanium dioxide does not affect the breakdown voltage of HDPE and in order to obtain high dielectric strength insulation the carbon black level must be as low as possible.


Background and Aims: The 13C‐urea breath test (13C‐UBT) is a reliable non‐invasive method of diagnosing Helicobacter pylori infection in adults and children. However, only a few validation studies have been performed on the 13C‐UBT in very young children. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the 13C‐UBT according to age, and to determine the optimal cut‐off value in children.


Cyromazine (N-cyclopropyl-1, 3,5-triazine- 2,4,6 triamine) having insect growth inhibiting properties was evaluated against Musca domestica by in vitro methods. A 1% premix formulation of this compound was incorporated in different concentration viz., 0.025, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.25% into larval medium and then the larvae were seeded into this. Concentrations of 0.025, 0.05 and 0.1% produced at least 40–78% inhibition of fly emergence while 89 and 90% inhibition was obtained at concentration of 0.2 and 0.25%, respectively. The effects of cyromazine remain persisted beyond 25 days in the larval medium.


The digitization of television broadcasting has facilitated an exponential growth both in the number and the diversity of programs and channels. Electronic Programme Guides (EPGs) help consumers find their way in this abundance of offerings. EPGs serve as a classical listing magazine or broadcasting guide with extensive information on television programs; like VCRs, they enable the recording of programs; as search engines, they allow users to look for content on the basis of a keyword; and finally, EPGs list the most favoured programs on the first page, either on the basis of popularity, the personal profile of the consumer or on the basis of agreements with particular broadcasting agencies. This article assesses how various European countries approach the regulation of EPGs and determines whether and how they try to reaffirm guarantees for diversity and pluralism in the digital television environment.


Abstract A skew brace is a triplet ( A , ⋅ , ∘ ) (A,{\cdot}\,,\circ) , where ( A , ⋅ ) (A,{\cdot}\,) and ( A , ∘ ) (A,\circ) are groups such that the brace relation x ∘ ( y ⋅ z ) = ( x ∘ y ) ⋅ x - 1 ⋅ ( x ∘ z ) x\circ(y\cdot z)=(x\circ y)\cdot x^{-1}\cdot(x\circ z) holds for all x , y , z ∈ A x,y,z\in A . In this paper, we study the number of finite skew braces ( A , ⋅ , ∘ ) (A,{\cdot}\,,\circ) , up to isomorphism, such that ( A , ⋅ ) (A,{\cdot}\,) and ( A , ∘ ) (A,\circ) are both isomorphic to T n T^{n} with 𝑇 non-abelian simple and n ∈ N n\in\mathbb{N} . We prove that it is equal to the number of unlabeled directed graphs on n + 1 n+1 vertices, with one distinguished vertex, and whose underlying undirected graph is a tree. In particular, it depends only on 𝑛 and is independent of 𝑇.


In the paper, we aim to show N-(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl)-1H-1,2,4-triazol-3-amine (HM-I) as explosive material that satisfies requirements of sensitivity and hydrolytically stability. The influence of nitro group substitutions on the thermal and chemical stability as well as the explosive performance of HM-I is also investigated. We found that nitro group substitution to the triazole ring of HM-I can significantly improve the properties of this new material. Only -NH2 substitution position (but not their number) in the core molecule is appropriate to increase the stability and improve explosive performances of HM-I.


Salinity is one of the major environmental stresses, which has deleterious effect on growth, development and yield of crops. Due to the gradual increase in soil and water salinity in the East Azarbaijan province of Iran, the garden cress cultivation in this region has always been associated with many problems. In order to evaluate the tolerance of this plant to different levels of salinity through some physiological characteristics, the present experiment was conducted using randomized complete block design with five treatments consisting of 0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 mM NaCl concentrations and three replications. The results showed that with enhancement in salinity levels, sodium, proline, soluble sugars and carotenoids content increased but potassium content, potassium to sodium ratio and amounts of chlorophyll a and b declined. Salinity had no significant effect on chlorophyll a+b content, chlorophyll a/b ratio and relative water content. Plants were destroyed at 200 mM concentration after 21 days. Since potassium to sodium ratio was lower than 1 at 100 and 150 mM concentrations, continuing of salinity would has presumably led to the destruction of plants in these treatments.


Sparse aperture designs can increase the effective aperture size of a remote sensing system, thus allowing the satellite to be placed in a higher orbit without compromising the resolution. The fill factor of a sparse aperture is the total area of the telescope apertures divided by the effective aperture size of the combined telescopes. Reducing the fill factor, F, reduces the overall weight, but also reduces both the signal and the MTF (modulation transfer function). Increasing the effective integration time, t, and applying Wiener filters can gain back some of the lost image quality. This study generated image simulations of various sparse aperture designs to assess the image quality as a function of fill factor. This study found that the integration time needs to be increased by a factor of 1/F2 - 1/F3 in order to maintain the image quality as the fill factor decreased. This study also found that the GIQE (Generalized Image Quality Equation) did not accurately predict the change in image quality, in (Delta) NIIRS, as the fill factor is reduced.


For a gas mixture, the relation between total gas pressure, partial pressure of atomic hydrogen, mean molecular weight, and several other auxiliary quantities has been determined as a function of electron piessure and θ = 5040/T, for three hydrogen-to-helium abundance ratios. The effect of molecular hydrogen has been incorporated.


As the twentieth century progresses, some archival institutions are becoming overstocked with masses of documentation from people and institutions important to the operations of our society. The archival profession no longer has sufficient staff and space to winnow this material, item by item. Even our most important leaders leave us with such a legacy of documentation that item-byitem weeding is generally no longer a feasible way to reduce bulk and produce a collection of manageable size. By any definition, the elected leaders of the U.S. government the President, the senators, the representatives are worthy subjects of research as they reflect and shape the operations and values of our society. This paper concerns a method for reducing the bulk of the papers of members of the legislative branch, thereby making the papers more usable for research.


The cytoplasm of Aegilops squarrosa L. (2n = 14; DD) is compatible with the nuclei of Triticum aestivum L. (2n = 42; AABBDD) and the pentaploid F1 (2x = 35; AABBD), but not with the euploid nucleus of Triticum turgidum L. (2n = 28; AABB). To identify D-genome chromosomes with the genes conditioning differential nucleocytoplasmic compatibility, ae and sq 5x F1, having cytoplasms of T. aestivum and Ae. squarrosa, respectively, were reciprocally crossed to the seven doubled ditelosomics (d-dts) of the D-genome chromosomes (including four control crosses of d-dts 1A, 1B, and sq 5x F1). The 32 progeny were examined for the presence or absence of unpaired telosomes, monosomes, and the maximum number of bivalents at the meiotic metaphase I in the pollen mother cells for comparison with the transmission of ae and sq male and ae and sq female gametes carrying different numbers of D-genome chromosomes. The sq gametes with 1D, 5D, and other D-genome chromosomes had a strong functional advantage. In contrast, the ae ...


Abstract : The report summarizes the results of studies conducted to determine personnel and training research requirements to support Navy Advanced Shipbuilding Programs. Included is a description of an 8-phase construct of ship development, an outline of personnel and training research tasks to be performed during each of these 8 phases in conjunction with other project activities, and a Guide of procedures recommended for conducting these research tasks. (Author)


Humans are dominant global drivers of ecological and evolutionary change, rearranging ecosystems and natural selection in many ways. Here, we show increasing evidence that human activity also plays a disproportionate role in shaping the eco-evolutionary potential of systems. We suggest the net outcome of human influences on trait change, ecology, and the feedbacks that link them, will often (but not always) be to increase the intensity of eco-evolutionary coupling, with important consequences for stability and resilience of populations, communities, and ecosystems. We also integrate existing ecological and evolutionary metrics to predict and manage the eco-evolutionary dynamics of human-impacted systems. To support this framework, we use a simple eco-evo feedbacks model to show that factors affecting coupling strength are major determinants of eco-evolutionary dynamics. Our framework suggests that proper management of anthropogenic effects requires a science of human-effects on eco-evolutionary potential.


This paper establishes dividend volatility as a fundamental risk metric that prices assets. We theoretically incorporate dividend volatility clustering into a model in which narrow-framing investors are loss averse over fluctuations in the value of their investments. Our model shows that dividend volatility positively predicts future asset returns, with the predictive power increasing with the forecasting horizon; our model also sheds light on a variety of other asset-pricing phenomena. We further provide supporting empirical evidence that dividend volatility is indeed priced in the data. More specifically, aggregate dividend volatility predicts and is predicted by aggregate price-to-dividend ratios; aggregate dividend volatility predicts future aggregate market returns; and dividend volatility of portfolios sorted by size, book-to-market ratios, and past returns predicts future portfolio-level returns, respectively. This paper was accepted by Wei Xiong, finance.


Research with infants has shown their auditory processing abilities predict subsequent language development. However, there are few studies that have investigated auditory processing skills of primary school-age children. This paper reports on a study that focused on a child-friendly method for testing auditory processing skills of children aged from 5-7 years. 36 children (M = 71.9 months) were tested on their discrimination of tone pairs that varied in frequency. Two pairs of tones were presented; one pair contained two 'same' tones (400 Hz) and the other pair contained two 'different' tones, one tone at 400 Hz and the other with a different frequency, ranging from 448 to 402 Hz. The tones were attributed to two animated frogs that appeared on a touch screen. The child was asked to identify which frog made the 'different' sound. Forward and backward masking conditions were included. The results showed variation in auditory processing skills, but differences between forward and backward masking were not significant. Significant correlations were found between auditory processing thresholds and expressive and receptive language. The findings suggest that children with poor frequency discrimination skills in the 5-7 year age range may be at risk for poor language outcomes.


The invention discloses a method for recovering sodium sulfocyanate from coke-oven gas wastewater that is desulfurized and decyanated through a sodium alkali method. Belonging to a pure physical separation technology, the method of the invention has no need for additional accessories to take part in a reaction and does not discharge any wastewater and waste material to the outside, thus really reaching the purposes of eliminating environmental pollution, utilizing waste materials, change waste materials into things of value and realizing circular economy. The method provided in the invention has the advantages of novel technology, simple process, low cost, advanced technique, and practical applicability.


The results were as follows: Bacillus subtilis BS-2,B.amyloliquefaciens TB2 and B.subtilis TL2 could obviously inhibit Peronophthora litchii,TB2 and BS-2 with the concentration of 108 cfu·mL-1 had the best inhibition effect on P.litchii,with the inhibition rates of 63.34% and 79.29% respectively;dimethomorph had good inhibitory effect on mycelial growth and sporangia germination with EC50 of 1.70 and 0.84 μg·mL-1 respectively.


This chapter introduces the reader to Dmitri Baltermants, beginning with his birth to a Warsaw-based Jewish family and then describing his development as a Soviet photographer in the 1930s. A second-generation Soviet photographer and master of the horizontal, Baltermants was trained in socialist realist aesthetics, which documented and elevated the revolutionary experiment that was Stalin's Soviet Union. In 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union, and Baltermants's world turned upside down. The second half of the chapter focuses on the German invasion and its rapid advance through Soviet territory until its occupation of Kerch in November. The chapter walks the reader through the unfolding process of Kerch under German occupation. In a matter of two weeks, German authorities rounded up the entire population of Jews, drove them to an antitank trench in nearby Bagerovo, and then murdered them in a Holocaust by bullets. It concludes with Kerch's liberation in late December.


In this paper,the automatic glacier delineation methods were applied to the Mt.Naimona'nyi of the western Himalayas by using band ratio and NDSI index from ASTER data.The advantage and disadvantage of each method in different areas were verified and discussed.It is found that the band ratio from ASTER3/ASTER4 performs better in glacier delineation in the mountain shadow area.However,in the non-shadow area,e.g.,the glacier terminus,the NDSI index provides a better delineation than that of band ratio.The results from bands ratio(ASTER3/ASTER4) and NDSI index were integrated together,using the respective superiority.In addition,permanent snow cover was removed from the above integrated results by using a mask of the non-glacierized area from the 1: 50,000 topographic maps published in 1974.A satisfied result of glacier delineation can be obtained from the ASTER images around the Mt.Naimona'nyi of West Himalayas.


Automated vehicles have to make decisions, such as driving maneuvers or rerouting, based on environment data and decision algorithms. There is a question whether ethical aspects should be considered in these algorithms. When all available decisions within a situation have fatal consequences, this leads to a dilemma. Contemporary discourse surrounding this issue is dominated by the trolley problem, a specific version of such a dilemma. Based on an outline of its origins, we discuss the trolley problem and its viability to help solve the questions regarding ethical decision making in automated vehicles. We show that the trolley problem serves several important functions but is an ill-suited benchmark for the success or failure of an automated algorithm. We argue that research and design should focus on avoiding trolley-like problems at all rather than trying to solve an unsolvable dilemma and discuss alternative approaches on how to feasibly address ethical issues in automated agents.