AIM
To study the release mechanism of fenoprofen calcium (FC) from hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC) matrices.

METHODS
The release of FC and the erosion properties of hydrophillic matrices containing HPMC was examined at different paddle speed. The release mechanism of FC was further confirmed by evaluating the n value in Peppas equation.

RESULTS
The results indicate that the release of FC and the erosion of matrices exhibit zero order kinetic equation, and it exhibits line relationship between them.

CONCLUSION
In the first 40 min, FC mainly released by diffusion and erosion from HPMC matrix, while it was controlled by the rate of tablet erosion after 50 min.


With the development of linguistics study, readers have found a better way to understand and interpret literature work. Literature work needs language to express itself for the reader and language itself can create many kinds of rhetorical devices to enrich literature world. Therefore, the rhetorical device in literature has linguistics connotation to some extent. This paper aims to analyze the linguistics connotation of rhetorical device in literature taking Ulysses written by James Joyce for example and to make readers understand literature language and interpret literature work better.


OBJECTIVE: To investigate the status quo and tendency of clinical application of drugs for external use in dermatological patients in our hospital.METHODS: The use of drugs for external use in dermatological patients during 2009-2010 in our hospital was analyzed in respect of drug categories,consumption quantity and consumption sum.RESULTS: The chemical medicines manufactured in China were still the main drugs used for dermatosis,with the hormone compounds and antifungal drugs occupying a dominant place.The hospital preparations compound calamine lotion and boric acid solution ranked among the top 10 in terms of consumption amount.CONCLUSION: The use of drugs for external use in dermatological patients in our hospital is up to the standard of clinical medication.


Introduction: Habitus is defined based on the relationships maintained by the various social groups, in which it provides answers about the life trajectory, materialized by their behaviors and attitudes. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge of women attending a Basic Health Unit about family planning, following the assumptions of Pierre Bourdieu's concept of habitus. Methods: This is a qualitative research, conducted with ten women in the city of Dourados/MS, from February to May 2016. Data were collected through interviews and analysis through content analysis. proposed by Bardin. Results: The results showed that the participants have little knowledge about family planning. They use the pill and tubal ligation more often as a contraceptive method. They pointed out that there is a lack of more effective action by health professionals with activities related to family planning, which may create new habitus in reproductive health. Final Considerations: It was noticed that the practices in family planning by women happen by past habitus between generations.


We tested the recent hypothesis that the "fly factor" phenomenon (food currently or previously fed on by flies attracts more flies than the same type of food kept inaccessible to flies) is mediated by bacterial symbionts deposited with feces or regurgitated by feeding flies. We allowed laboratory‐reared black blow flies, Phormia regina (Meigen), to feed and defecate on bacterial Luria–Bertani medium solidified with agar, and isolated seven morphologically distinct bacterial colonies. We identified these using matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry and sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. In two‐choice laboratory experiments, traps baited with cultures of Proteus mirabilis Hauser, Morganella morganii subsp. sibonii Jensen, or Serratia marcescens Bizio, captured significantly more flies than corresponding control jars baited with tryptic soy agar only. A mixture of seven bacterial strains as a trap bait was more attractive to flies than a single bacterial isolate (M. m. sibonii). In a field experiment, traps baited with agar cultures of P. mirabilis and M. m. sibonii in combination captured significantly more flies than traps baited with either bacterial isolate alone or the agar control. As evident by gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry, the odor profiles of bacterial isolates differ, which may explain the additive effect of bacteria to the attractiveness of bacterial trap baits. As "generalist bacteria," P. mirabilis and M. m. sibonii growing on animal protein (beef liver) or plant protein (tofu) are similarly effective in attracting flies. Bacteria‐derived airborne semiochemicals appear to mediate foraging by flies and to inform their feeding and oviposition decisions.


PURPOSE: To provide a method for removing or partially structuring the surface of a polymer substrate. CONSTITUTION: The surface 1S of a substrate 1 is irradiated with an incoherent UV radiation which has a wavelength of 60-400 nm. In order to form the structure, a mask 4 is placed on the surface 1S of the substrate 1. COPYRIGHT: (C)1992,JPO


Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common life-threatening inherited disorder affecting Caucasians. It is caused by mutations in the CFTR gene that generate impaired cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR) anion channels leading to a multi-organ disease including chronic airway infection/lung deterioration and increased morbidity/mortality (Fajac & Wainwright, 2017). Despite identification of the CF gene in 1989, the initial phases of CF lung disease remain controversial (Luckie & Mauri, 2013). One of the biggest questions is how the loss of CFTR-mediated anion secretion initiates chronic lung infections. It has been known since the early 1990s that CFTR can conduct HCO3− and that CF epithelia exhibit defective bicarbonate transport (Gray et al. 1990; Smith & Welsh, 1992; Poulsen et al. 1994). Based on studies in CF piglets and in primary CF airway cultures, it is thought that CF airways are not hyperinflammatory and that


The introduction of reactive dyes has made possible the development of methods for linking the dyeing and finishing processes. This step offers considerable economy in operating costs because of the simplicity of the operations and the streamlining of production, and at the same time dye consumption is markedly reduced as a result of the very high degree of fixation obtained. Two processes are described: the Procion–Resin process for cotton fabrics, which permits simultaneous dyeing and finishing, and the two-stage Procion–Resin process for viscose rayon fabrics, which links the two processes. Excellent fastness properties and high-quality finishes can be obtained by the two processes.


Intrusion Detection System works with previous conduct that are as of now put away in information base and it doesn't have the capacity to recognize another unusual conduct. Beforehand accessible classifiers have terrible showing towards characterization precision, where bogus positive rate are high. Ant colony optimization based classifier proposed to order the uncertain and unambiguous practices in WSN and the public-key based methodology, each message is sent alongside the advanced mark of the message created utilizing the sender's private key. Each transitional forwarder and the last collector can validate the message utilizing the sender's public key. The ongoing advancement on the public-key plans can be more advantageous as far as memory utilization, message multifaceted nature, and security flexibility, since public-key based methodologies have a basic and clean key administration. It uses the normal qualities of an ant in looking for the nourishment for distinguishing the uncertain and unambiguous practices of client in WSN. The previous classifier performs arrangement dependent on known and obscure assaults recorded in the slots.


December 2004 seemed like a good time to leave America. The naked emperor had just beaten the swift boat vets for truth's whipping boy, retaining his place as sham figurehead for the Haliburton-Jesus Saves-America First cartel. A lot of people were disillusioned and talked about getting out and giving up. I was torn. On the one hand, it was literally stomach-wrenching and figuratively heartbreaking to see the American public (whoever they were) accept and even reelect a regime that promised more fascism at home and neo-imperialism abroad. Besides, how could people vote for such a dim-witted twit whose frat boy smirk and Beavis and Butthead snicker are like some pathological twitch betraying a dangerous mix of inferiority and entitlement? On the other hand, the whole 2004 campaign became such a cynical enterprise; it reminded me that regardless of who won, the United States remained a country far from fulfilling a serious commitment to democracy and universal human rights. The real struggles for social justice would not be resolved by an electoral campaign, although some progressive policies may have found more sympathetic ears in a Kerry administration. An emboldened Bush did seem more dangerous, but the war in Iraq would have continued; the war on the poor would have continued; and the war on women and people of color around the world would have continued with either candidate. Whether one left the country or not, giving up was never an option. Still, I had a sabbatical and had planned to attend a popular education conference in Sydney, so my wife and I decided to pack up our daughter and too many things and we left for Australia and New Zealand for three months. As I write this intro, we are finishing up our first month down under and the cultural contrasts and similarities have offered a little perspective on the recent presidential campaign in particular and the state of U.S. culture and politics in general. While I recognize the caveats of arrogant over-simplification that have plagued western travel writers and anthropologists alike for centuries, let me offer a few observations.


Introduction: Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) is a sleep condition where the upper airway becomes partially or entirely blocked while you're sleeping. As a result, sleep arousals and arterial oxygen saturation are reduced. According to the epidemiological survey, OSA is relatively common among people. Hence, there is need to analyse emotional stress in patients suffering from OSA. Need of the study: OSA and emotional stress are interconnected hence, a diagnosis of OSA is necessary to determine the patient's level of emotional stress. Aim: The research protocol is planned determine stress level among patients suffering from moderate OSA and to compare the effect of gender on stress among such patients. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study will be conducted in expected time period of 6 months from May 2022 to October 2022 at Respiratory ward of Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences, Maharashtra, india. This study design is planned to assess Emotional Stress among patients suffering from moderate OSA with sample size of 20 subjects (10 male,10 female) without any other demographic criteria consideration and recorded on Polysomnography (PSG). Patient was charged for PSG. An overnight PSG will be performed in Department of sleep medicine in chosen study institute. An online questionnaire will be used to gather and analyse information. The questionnaire will be consisting 14 statements. Study participants will be evaluated for stress level with previously survey validated questionnaire, Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) questionnaire given by American Sociological Association (ASA) to assess the stress level. Participants will be asked to rate stress according to a PSS score. Statistical analysis will be done using descriptive analysis.


A 76-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with a chief complaint of hypochondralgia and fever. Choledocholithiasis, acute cholecystitis and cholangitis were diagnosed. Three months after endoscopic retrograde biliary drainage (ERBD) and percutaneuous transhepatic gallbladder drainage (PTGBD), laparotomy was performed. Operative findings showed the gallbladder fundus was isolated and embedded into the liver. The cystic duct existed and connected to the common bile duct, but continuity between the cystic duct and the gallbladder fundus was disrupted. The cystic duct was resected just before the confluence of the bile duct, and the gallbladder fundus in the liver was resected after ligatation of the internal biliary fistula flowing into the posterior bile duct. The resected gallbladder included purulent bile juice and was pathologically diagnosed as chronic cholecystitis and continuity between the gallbladder and the cystic duct was not found. We report a rare case of isolated gallbladder fundus with a review of the literature.


A pitfall in testing for nonpaternity, heretofore not encountered, is described. Errors caused by admixture of donor's blood following an exchange transfusion resulted in false exclusion of paternity. The need for an adequate history is emphasized.


Exercise protects against cancer progression and metastasis by inducing a high nutrient demand in internal organs, indicating that reducing nutrient availability to tumor cells represents a potential strategy to prevent metastasis.


LIST OF BOXES, FIGURES, AND TABLES PREFACE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CHAPTER 1: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND THE SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN CANADIAN SOCIETY SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND THE SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION THE IDEA AND IDEAL OF MODERN SCIENCE THE IDEA OF MODERN SCIENCE THE IDEAL OF MODERN SCIENCE SOCIOLOGICAL CRITIQUES OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY WE HAVE NEVER BEEN MODERN SCIENCE NEVER REPLACED RELIGION SCIENCE HAS NEVER BEEN PURE SUMMARY KEY TERMS CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS SUGGESTED READINGS WEBSITES AND FILMS CHAPTER 2: SCIENCE IS SOCIAL RELATIONS: PART I THE SCIENCE WARS SCIENTIFIC REALISM AND ANTI-REALISM SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED MATTERS OF FACT WHY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ARE SOCIAL THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY THOUGHT COLLECTIVES, PARADIGMS, AND NORMAL SCIENCE ALL SCIENCE IS SOCIAL EVERYTHING IS SOCIAL RELATIONS, BUT NOT EVERYTHING IS HUMAN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY MANGLES HUMANS AND OTHER ENTITIES SUMMARY KEY TERMS CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS SUGGESTED READINGS WEBSITES AND FILMS CHAPTER 3: SCIENCE IS SOCIAL RELATIONS: PART II INTRODUCTION QUANTUM WEIRDNESS LIFE ITSELF SUMMARY CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS SUGGESTED READINGS WEBSITES AND FILMS CHAPTER 4: HOW SCIENCE IS SOCIAL INTRODUCTION THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD HOW SOCIOLOGISTS STUDY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY STUDYING SCIENTISTS STUDYING LABORATORIES SUMMARY KEY TERMS CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS SUGGESTED READINGS WEBSITES AND FILMS CHAPTER 5: SCIENCE AND/AS POWER INTRODUCTION POLITICAL ECONOMIES OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FEMINIST SCIENCE STUDIES WOMEN AS PRODUCERS OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE WOMEN AND KNOWLEDGE WOMEN AND THE ENVIRONMENT WOMEN AND TECHNOLOGY SEX DIFFERENCES AND THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE THE SEPARATION OF NATURE AND CULTURE RACIALIZED, INDIGENOUS, AND ANTI-RACIST SCIENCE STUDIES RE-THINKING THE BIOLOGY OF RACE RACE, GENES, AND HEALTH THE HUMAN GENOME DIVERSITY PROJECT INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (DIS)ABILITY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY STUDIES SUMMARY KEY TERMS CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS SUGGESTED READINGS WEBSITES AND FILMS CHAPTER 6: VALUES, TRUST, AND PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT WITH SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY GOOD SCIENCE, BAD SCIENCE SCIENCE AND VALUES SCIENCE AND TRUST PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING OF SCIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE TRANSLATION SCIENTIFIC CONTROVERSIES KNOWLEDGE MOBILIZATION AND CITIZEN SCIENCE KEY TERMS SUMMARY CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS SUGGESTED READINGS WEBSITES AND FILMS NOTES GLOSSARY REFERENCES INDEX


Growth of rough polycrystalline silicon films has been achieved on SiO2 surfaces over a broad temperature range (≥100 °C) using SiH4 chemical vapor deposition at low pressures (mTorr range), with smaller grain structure and roughness length scale achieved at lower temperatures. Rough morphology over a broad temperature range is attributed to the combination of nucleation‐controlled initial growth (on SiO2) and domination of growth by surface reaction (cf. gas phase).


Introduction The cemetery in Radom is one of the best archaeologically examined Early Medieval sepulchral sites in the area marked out by the Rivers Pilica, Wisła, Kamienna and Czarna. In Late Medieval sources this territory was referred to as the land of Radom (terra radomiensis)1. The interfluve area of the Wisła and the Pilica marks out the Lesser Poland's-Masovian border zone2, which found its reflection in some elements of funeral rites which were characteristic for the discussed necropolis3. In the period of formation of the Early Piast state the necropolis in question was part of a larger settlement structure. It consisted of a stronghold called "Piotrówka" whose origin is dated to the second half of the 10th c. and open settlements in its vicinity4 (Fig. 1). An identification of the temporal framework of use of the necropolis was possible first of all on the basis of coin finds, as well as by means of analyses of other items from post-mortem furnishings, especially parts of dress, ornaments and weaponry. Some observed traits of burial rites (among others, the arrangement of arms of the dead) were also significant. Furthermore, valuable hints for the identification of the period of use of the necropolis in Radom were yielded by a stratigraphic analysis of the site. The cemetery was established in the area of a previous Early Medieval


Abstract Nineteen years after he had first been known in the clinic as the father of a boy with hypopituitarism, a man requested an appointment for his own problem of penis shrinkage. In a state of confusional panic, he hoped that the same hormonal treatment that pubertalised his son would regenerate his penis in size and potency. He obtained what he termed emotional relief, for which he was profoundly grateful, even though the primary symptoms of premature somatic deteriorative disability did not improve. In this case the shrinking penis syndrome, otherwise known as koro, may be conceptualised as having not a primary etiological origin, but rather a derivative origin as a body-image pathology secondary to a primary disease, of which multiple sclerosis might be an example, that affects, if not wholly, then in part, the erotic functioning of the genitalia. With brief clinical intervention, the patient experienced what he defined as "a big emotional improvement", despite the persistence of the various somat...


A comprehensive research on developing P-wave near-surface velocity models conducted during classic seismic data processing enabled not only a calculations of reliable values of static corrections, but also obtaining a detailed geological characterization of the shallow deposits and structures. Such a solution was possible to obtain by application of joint inversion of seismic refraction and gravity data and aimed to deal with complex geological and hydrogeological conditions of the Polish Lowlands. The presence of large thickness of glacial and post-glacial deposits typical for this region became an essential challenge for the presented experimental seismic study. This Quaternary formation comprises problematic for seismic acquisition unconsolidated material: gravel, sand and clay, which are additionally characterized by remarkable lateral and vertical lithological heterogeneity. In order to improve the quality of near-surface interpretation, it was inevitable to support the traditional interpretation methods, mainly seismic refraction tomography, with incorporation of the other, independent geophysical data. High-quality seismic data together with gravity anomaly gave an opportunity for the wider application of the joint inversion method to near-surface imaging for groundwater aquifers and mineral deposits prospection.


Therapeutic courts targeting recovery in parents and child permanency are known as family dependency treatment courts (FDTCs). FDTCs provide an example of a multi-component intervention which addresses some social determinants of health. The goal of this manuscript is to examine how key ingredients of FDTCs are related to social determinants of health and the potential for this framework to be integrated into FDTCs. A specific FDTC is described and evidence-based wrap services are used to illustrate opportunities to improve the health of women and children involved in FDTCs. Barriers and recommendations are discussed.


We introduce a new method for carrying out In-Cell Western assays relying on digital microfluidics (DMF) for droplet-based fluid handling and microarray scanning for high resolution image analysis. This technique is fast, automated, reagent efficient, and capable of quantifying protein phosphorylation at the single-cell level. We propose that this technique will have similar utility as flow cytometry, but with the important capacity to evaluate and visualize adherent cells in situ.


Background: Non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) as the most common type of lung cancer has the most leading mortality rate among other cancers. Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common comorbidities of this disease. Metformin is a conventional anti-diabetic drug that is evaluated in various studies as an anti-cancer agent. This study was an updated systematic review and meta-analysis evaluating the effect of metformin on NSCLC. Materials and Methods: A systematic search was conducted through PubMed/Medline, EMBASE, and Cochrane library databases and all retrospective studies with the title the effect of metformin on the non-small cell lung cancer were collected. Statistical analyses were carried out using either random-effects or fixed-effects models according to the heterogeneity examined by I statistics and assessing Hazard Ratio of overall survival (OS) using Revman version 5 software. Result: Fourteen studies involving 3164 patients were included in the current meta-analysis. The pooled hazard ratio (HR) of comparison of overall survival (OS) between metformin user diabetic patients and diabetic patients without a history of using metformin was 0.87 (95 % CI 0.74–1.02; P = 0.08). Sub-group analysis showed that when studies were divided by region the HR of OS for Asia was 0.77 (95 % CI 0.65–0.90; P = 0.001), 1.11 (95 % CI 0.72–1.71; P = 0.64) for USA, and 0.86 (95 % CI 0.57–1.30; P = 0.47) for Europe. Conclusion: The use of metformin beside radiotherapy in patients with type 2 diabetes may be associated with a good prognosis. While this impact was just significantly seen in Asian studies.


Using data from an exclusive file-sharing Web site that allows users to share music files using the BitTorrent protocol, I exploit exogenous variation in the availability of sound recordings in file-sharing networks to isolate the causal effect of file sharing of an album on its sales. Using within-album variation in illegal downloads and sales, I find that the effect is essentially zero: The elasticity of sales with respect to illegal downloads is one-tenth of one percentage point. However, the finding that file sharing is not harmful to individual artists is not inconsistent with the well-documented fact that file sharing is harmful to the music industry (the fallacy of composition). More important, I find that file sharing benefits more established and popular artists who are signed to major labels, which is consistent with recent industry trends.


The performance of SAT solvers based on the Davis-Putnam-Lo gemannLoveland procedure [6, 5] is sensitive to the choice of branc h variable selection heuristic [14]. Heuristics that do well on random instances t nd to do poorly on real-world instances and vice versa. In this paper, we att emp to bridge this bifurcation with the notion ofclause weighting , which attempts to capture the difficulty of satisfying a given clause in a portion of the sea rch space. We show how this notion can be used to uniformly modify several wellknown heuristics, namely, one-sided and two-sided Jeroslow-Wang [13, 2 , 12], MOMS [3], and Bohm [3]. We conducted a performance study using random a nd real-world benchmark suites. The modified heuristics provide a statist ically significant improvement in the runtimes and the number of nodes expanded on the random instances while performing at least as well on the real-worl d instances, as compared to their non-modified counterparts.


In order to understand the differences in gene expression of MDCK cells infected with canine parvovirus(CPV),and elucidate the mechanism of virus infection and cellular antivirals,microarray technologies were used to analyze the change of genomic expression in MDCK cells with CPV persistent infection,and the canine genomic expression profiling was established.Real-Time PCR technology was used to further verify the results of microarray.359 genes with 1.5-fold difference of expression(1.53% of total number of genes) were obtained,in which 193 genes were up-regulated(0.84%),and 166 down-regulated(0.69%).GO functional cluster analysis showed that some genome altered involved in immune response,the growth cycle regulation or signal transduction and protease activity,but some other functions were unknown.Five randomly altered expression genes verified by real-time PCR showed the results were consis-tent with the microarray analysis.A genomic expression profiling of MDCK cells with persistent infection CPV was established,and the restriction role of CPV to host cells and the positive responses of host cells to CPV were initially understood,which showed that parts of the proliferation-regulated genes were expressed down,and some of the immune response genes,endopeptidase activity genes were up-regulated.The results of this study provided a basis of further research for understanding the molecular pathogenesis of CPV infection and the host antiviral mechanism.


At present, the parents are included in the experimental material for judging the performance of crosses over parents and for calculation of heterosis but they are ignored for combining ability analysis of Partial Diallel Crosses due to the non-availability of the method of analysis for such designs. To satisfy the practical need of the breeders on one hand and to remove the statistical objections on the other hand, a method of analysis of Partial Diallel Crosses based on circulant sample including parents has been presented in this paper. A numerical example is given for llustration of technique.


Gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase activity in kidney homogenates, aspartate and alanine aminotransferase activities in liver homogenates, and cholinesterase activity in brain homogenates were determined in nonpregnant and pregnant guinea pigs exposed to absorption through the skin of the epoxy resin triethylenetetramine. Elevated activity of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase in the kidneys of pregnant animals, and aspartate aminotransferase in the liver of nonpregnant guinea pigs were observed.


To examine factors affecting feeding efficiency of grey herons ( Ardea cinerea), the foraging behavior was studied at a reservoir in Asan city, Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea during the breeding seasons (from April to July) of 2006 and 2007. Four factors (age of foraging birds, time of day, breeding stage, and microhabitat type) were analyzed. Adults were more efficient foragers than recently fledged juveniles, and they had a higher success rate than juveniles. About half of the adults caught large prey, whereas most juveniles caught only small prey. Adult grey herons had different feeding efficiency according to the breeding stage. Pecking and capture rates were high during the late period (fledging stage), and biomass intake rates were high during the early (incubating stage) and late periods. However, time of day had no signifi cant effect on foraging activity of adult grey herons. Feeding activities of adult grey herons also showed significant varia tion among microhabitat types. Pecking and capture rates were higher in the submerged plants area, but capture success rate and biomass intake rate were not different according to microhabitat type.


Objectives During an anesthetic evaluation, the individual's medical history and overall fitness for the whole medical procedure should be carefully examined. The objective of this study was to apply a multi-criteria decision-making technique to determine the proper anesthetic agent for specific patients. Methods The fuzzy PROMETHEE (Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment of Evaluations) method was applied to determine the most appropriate agent. Minimum alveolar concentration, blood:gas and oil:gas partition coefficients, onset of action, recovery time, duration, induction and maintenance doses, and washout time were used as the criteria for the analysis. After defining the values of each criteria, the criteria weights and the preference function were set, and finally the results for two different examples, one for general ranking and one for a specific individual were obtained. Results The results show that nitrous oxide and xenon are among the preferred inhaled anesthetics in the ranking of the inhaled anesthetics, whereas midazolam was identified as the preferred injected agent. When the weights are selected according to a specific patient's condition, namely a 70-year-old woman to undergo an emergent laparoscopic appendectomy with comorbidities, including severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease as a consequence of a life-long smoking habit, morbid obesity, and type II diabetes, the results changed significantly. In this case, desflurane and etomidate come first in the ranking of inhaled and injected anesthetics, respectively, while nitrous oxide is the least preferred anesthetic agent. Conclusions Expert opinion is always needed. Assigning weights to criteria and grading alternatives are the major challenges in multi-criteria decision-making studies. Fuzzy PROMETHEE is proposed to solve a multi-criteria decision-making problem in selecting a general anesthetic.


This study examines the control issues related to three major flows among MNC subsidiaries: knowledge flows, product flows and capital flows. It also investigates the relationship between the strategic management style of headquarters and the control approaches employed. The results show the dominance of output control, even in situations where researchers have argued that they should not be relied upon. The study also found that as knowledge flow increases, reliance on financial control decreases and reliance on socialisation control increases. Consistent with other studies, the dominant management style is the strategic control style, while the least popular is the financial control style. The paper calls for using alternative theoretical lenses, such as institutional theory, to provide additional insights not available through the contingency lens.


Not all clinicians may consider contraceptive counseling to be a high priority, but preventing unintended pregnancy is important to many women's health


Nowadays, many people have smartphones, the fact that encourages the development of new tools to address different problems. One of its consequences is the recent growth of mHealth, a term that refers to the practice of medicine based on the use of mobile devices for medical and health purposes. This work describes a new mHealth tool to improve memory and cognitive abilities through gamification and serious games. In particular, a mobile application here is proposed to help children that suffer from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This application integrates the four profiles involved in this disorder: children, parents, teachers, and medical staff. With it, parents can discover if their children suffer the disorder, and children can improve their cognitive abilities through games of different types. Besides, the security aspect of the proposal is emphasized to highlight its importance in mHealth. Thus, the developed tool includes various cryptographic mechanisms to protect the confidentiality of communications and the authenticity of users and data.


This paper analyzed the wear problems appeared during running and maintaining for two CFB boilers, such as wears on the convective heating surface, the inner walls of the boiler, and whirlwind separator. Technique measures were taken to reduce the wear on the heat exchange surfaces in order to ensure the safety and reliability of the boilers. After the technical reform, the burning efficiency and heat exchange efficiency were increased while labor density and maintain cost were lowered.


Uwagi na temat wzrostu kalcytu w ciąglości optycznej z fragmentami szkarlupni

The author gives some new data concerning the problem of syntaxial overgrowth on echinoderm fragments. These data are as follows:
1) Growth of rim cement around echinoderm plate covered with micrite envelope;
2) Growth of rim cement in intergranular pore spaces and within pelecypod mould infilled with cement crystals;
3) Development of syntaxial rim or rim cement resulting in mammillary appearence; Moreover, growth of neomorphic spar in optical contiunity with echinoderm plate and its rim cement is confirmed. Furthermore, pseudopleochroism of echinoderm plates is briefly described.


A.C. Kamil, On the Proper Definition of Cognitive Ethology. R.P. Balda and A.C. Kamil, Ecology and Evolution of Spatial Memory in Corvids of the Southwestern U.S.: The Perplexing Pinyon Jay. S.J. Shettleworth and R.R. Hampton, Adaptive Specialization of Spatial Cognition in Food Storing Birds? Approaches to Testing a Comparative Hypothesis. N.C. Clayton and D.W. Lee, Memory and the Hippocampus in Food-Storing Birds. F.C. Dyer, Spatial Cognition: Lesson from Central-Place Foraging Insects. W. Wiltschko and R. Wiltschko, The Navigation System in Birds and Its Development. V.P. Bingman, L.V. Riters, R. Strasser, and A. Gagliardo, Neuroethology of Avian Navigation. W.J. Smith, Cognitive Implication of an Information-Sharing Model of Animal Communication. L.F. Baptista, D.A. Nelson, and S.L.L. Gaunt, Cognitive Processes in Avian Vocal Acquisition. D. Todt and H. Hultsch, Hierarchical Learning, Development, and Representation of Song. D.E. Kroodsma and B.E. Byers, Songbird Song Repertoires: An Ethological Approach to Studying. T.J. De Voogd and T. Szekely, Causes of Avian Song: Using Neurobiology to Integrate Proximate and Ultimate Levels of Analysis. I.M. Pepperberg, The African Grey Parrot: How Cognitive Processing Might Affect Allospecific Vocal Learning. R.S. Wilcox and R.R. Jackson, Cognitive Abilities of Araneophagic Jumping Spiders. C.G. Beer, Varying Views of Animal and Human Cognition. Subject Index.


Objective To explore the changes of serum level of neuron-specific enolase (NSE) after complex partial status epileptics (SE)and generalized tonic-clonic SE. Methods Serum NSE levels were determined in SE patients (including 14 cases of generalized tonic-clonic SE and 10 cases of complex partial SE ) at 2, 3 and 7 days by enzyme-linked immune-sandwich assay. Results were compared with those of normal and epileptic control groups. Results Serum NSE levels were increased in two subtypes of SE after 2 d, decreased after 3 d and reached normal in generalized tonic-clonic SE after 7 d, while NSE still remained high level in complex partial SE. Conclusions The increase in serum NSE provides new evidence that SE, especially complex partial SE, may cause brain injury in humans and should be treat promptly.


We tested the hypothesis that subcutaneous nerve activity (SCNA) of the thorax correlates with the stellate ganglion nerve activity (SGNA) and can be used to estimate the sympathetic tone.


Chitosan:SiO2 nanocomposite (Cs:SiO2 NCs) is synthesized via aerosol processing. Ultrasonic spray drying apparatus was used to produce smaller sized composite particles with spherical morphology. Composite from shrimp shell and water glass (Na2SiO3) as silica precursor were used for the preparation. Cs:SiO2 NCs were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to know about the chemical bonding and morphology of the particles, respectively. Based on the FTIR investigation the absorption peak at 1090 cm−1 represents the reaction of silanol groups of silica with carbonyl groups of polymers leading to the formation of Si-O-C bonds. The morphology of Cs:SiO2 NCs was more spherical than chitosan particles with relatively narrow size distribution. The smaller particle size of Cs:SiO2 NCs is potentially applied to engineer the material for drug delivery system.


Data processing model for MDDS editing was developed after analysis of planning and consolidation business processes, and was tested by prototype implementation of the Informational System using SAS/EIS customization and SAS/AF tools. The sense of new approach consists in using SAS Multidimensional Report object not only in passive mode for browse data, but also in active mode for dynamically modification both data and dimension values, for formulas building. Special rules are stated for edit value in any cell of any report. They are based on balance keeping and allow changing aggregate tables data in any order with keeping data mismatch at levels of RESERVE, which are below in hierarchy. User may create and modify own multidimensional database beginning just from one cell, to fill it by data and dimensional values from EXCEL tables with hierarchical header and left side-header with arbitrary tree structure, by computed values, manually edit and distribute values by some ways. User may control the upper boundary level of data consolidation, to prevent from changing the values of upper levels responsibility of another users. Intended audience application developers and end users with unsatisfied needs.


Drought stress is one of the most important abiotic stresses in plants. To evaluate the effect of drought stress on some cotton traits, 15 cotton genotypes were studied in a randomized complete block design with three replications at Agriculture Research station of Firoozabad, Fars, Iran during spring 2012. Two greenhouse experiments were performed under complete irrigation as control and under drought stress condition. The irrigation was done on every alternate day with normal tap water. After 45 days from sowing, a drought cycle was induced by restricting irrigation for 7 days. Normal regime was irrigated regularly. The studied traits were plant height, leaf area, number of nodes/plant, number of branch/plant, plant dry matter weight, number of bolls/plant and seed cotton yield. Seed cotton yield was reduced by drought stress (%47.03) that was probably due to decrease number of bolls/plant. In this study, the studied varieties were differed in their responses to drought stress. Therefore, it was possible to discriminate among these varieties on the basis of these parameters and there was a clear-cut distinction between varieties for tolerance and susceptibility to water stress. Based on the results, Mehr, Sahel and Varamin genotypes were suitable genotypes under drought stress and non-stress conditions and Shirpane 603 was the worst genotype.


In recent days, the professional and service sector is keep on increasing day by day. But, the safety measures become harder with respect to the employee. Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) has been deployed in order to collect the physical parameters of the nodes and also for the effective monitoring by the usage of sensor. Around 64%of accidents happen due to the emission of toxic gases. In past years, the standards and safety measures of an employee in industrial plants have been drastically drops down. Moreover the energy efficiency in conventional system is also more critical. Owing to that, the death rate of the node is maximized and it does not support mobility among the nodes. Therefore, a unique framework has been proposed for this issue in order to overcome the difficulties involved in the conventional system. In conventional system, the precision rate of the gas leakage was not appropriate. In order to increase the rate of accuracy, the proposed system has been designed in such a way that enhances the mobility support, data rate and effective routing mechanism. This system also monitors measures the concentration level of carbon monoxide (CO), methane (CH4) and provide necessary alerts to the wearer. By utilizing the alert system in the working environment high level of enhancement gets implied which provides enough benefits to the society.


In this paper, we describe LEAP (Localized Encryption and Authentication Protocol), a key management protocol for sensor networks that is designed to support in-network processing techniques such as passive participation. LEAP includes support for multiple symmetric keying mechanisms including individual keys, pairwise shared keys, cluster keys, and a group key. This design is based on the observation that different types of messages exchanged between sensor nodes have different security requirements, and a single keying mechanism is not suitable for meeting these different security requirements.


To improve the human–computer interaction ability and environmental adaptability of the quadruped robot, especially the ability of the quadruped robot to follow people and avoid obstacles. In this article, the fusion of ultra-wideband positioning technology and three-dimensional laser radar is applied to a quadruped robot. The core is to scan the surrounding obstacle information through three-dimensional laser radar, locate the position of both the quadruped robot and the target person, complete the obstacle avoidance, and follow the task of the quadruped robot through an efficient path planning algorithm. To meet the high-precision positioning requirements, the ultra-wideband positioning system is used in this article. When calculating the coordinates, we propose a three-sided weighted least squares positioning algorithm. To improve the efficiency and stability of the quadruped robot in path search, based on the A* algorithm, this article improves and proposes an incremental A* algorithm based on a sliding window. The feasibility and effectiveness of our method are verified by computer simulation analysis and real experiments of the quadruped robot.


ABSTRACT A method is described for the determination of ferrous iron contents in shales containing organic matter up to 4 per cent carbon equivalent. After initial attack on the shale the ferrous iron is made to react with iodine monochloride and the liberated iodine titrated against standard potassium iodate. The value of ferrous iron determinations in shales is illustrated by consideration of the composition of various members of a British Coal Measure cyclothem.


Introduction Knee osteoarthritis is a chronic degenerative disease associated with significant chronic pain, disability and impaired quality of life and is the most common form of osteoarthritis. There is no cure for knee osteoarthritis, and the main therapeutic goals are pain management and improving quality of life. The objective of this study is to evaluate the relative efficacy and acceptability of available interventions using network meta-analysis (NMA) to provide a comprehensive evidence base to inform future treatment guidelines. Methods and analysis A comprehensive literature search of major electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials) and clinical trial registries will identify randomised control trials (RCTs) of interventions listed in NICE guidelines for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis in adults. We will perform an NMA to estimate relative intervention effects across the whole treatment network. If any studies use multicomponent intervention packages, we will employ a component NMA model to estimate the contribution of individual components. The quality of evidence will be assessed using the Confidence in Network Meta-Analysis approach, which is based on the traditional GRADE framework adapted for NMA. Risk of bias (RoB) will be assessed using the revised Cochrane RoB 2.0 tool for RCTs. Ethics and dissemination This study does not require ethical approval. Findings will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal. PROSPERO registration number CRD42020184192.


The current systems are designed considering multi-disciplinary aspects. Their development and analysis expose the designer to a series of unknown parameters from several sources such as material properties, environmental and operational conditions. Therefore, the qualification and quantification of these inherent sources of design uncertainties become very important in several aspects in the context of design development. In this way, a system is reliable and robust if it allows a certain range of uncertainties before the first failure occurs. In this work it is proposes the development of a methodology that can identify the sources of uncertainties and parameters that largely influence the whole design. An initial study focuses on a simple oscillatory system that consists of a mass-spring-damper system, which it is extending to study in a rotor system. The full methodology developed consists in choice of some elements of the mechanical system and after this, it is applied a specific design of experiments for identifying the critical parameters. If there were many parameters it is used a factorial planning or orthogonal arrays, which are a kind of screen experiments. Once identified the critical parameters, can be used the factorial planning to study the interactions between these parameters. Afterwards, the development carries on with polynomial models (linear and quadratic) that should fit the experimental results from the factorial design. Once the critical parameters are obtained a search process must be done to find the optimum regions maximum, minimum or singular point. The steps used in the search interval occur along maximum or minimum lines that describe a region of interest or experimentation. The connection between optimization and statistics dates back at least to the early part of the 19 century and encompasses many aspects of applied and theoretical statistics, including hypothesis testing, parameter estimation, model selection, design of experiments and control process and product. A sensitivity analysis takes place using canonical analysis and optimization methods for parameter fittings such as the Gradient Methods. In this case it is used concepts from Response Surface Methodology for estimating and quantifying the allowable ranges of variability to each parameter with respect to the critical parameters in the robust design concepts.


The MAEROS aerosol model is being incorporated into the MELCOR code system for the calculation of risk from severe reactor accidents. To gain insight to assist in this incorporation, a computational test problem involving a three-component aerosol in the upper plenum of a pressurized water reactor was analyzed with MAEROS. The following topics were investigated: (1) the CRAY-1 CPU time requirements to implement and solve the system of differential equations on which MAEROS is based; (2) the effects on computational time and representational accuracy due to the use of different overall section boundaries and numbers of sections and components; and (3) the behavior of the aerosol and the variables that influence this behavior. Uncertainty and sensitivity analysis techniques based on Latin hypercube sampling and regression analysis were used in the investigation. Five sections and overall section boundaries from 0.1E-6 m to 50.E-6 m were found to be adequate for the problem under consideration. Further, solu...


Katherine Corbett, B.Sc., OT(C) is a regional manager of the Child and Family Rehabilitation Services for the Capital Health Region, Queen Alexandra Centre for Children's Health, 2400 Arbutus Road, Victoria, B.C. V8N 1V7. E-mail: email@example.com Elle est directrice régionale des Child and Family Rehabilitation Services pour la Capital Health Region, Queen Alexandra Centre for Children's Health, 2400 Arbutus Road, Victoria, B.C. V8N 1V7


Abstract : The finest systems for chemical and microchemical analysis today use optical systems for detection and identification of chemical samples. This is because these systems offer both the highest sensitivity and can make use of the most powerful array of labeling and tagging technologies to give specificity to any measurement. The major drawback of such optical subsystems for DoD applications in chemical and biological warfare detection (CBD) is their large size, high cost, and relative fragility. Given the recent progress in integrated microfluidics, in optical MEMS, and in passive micro-optics, the time is right to drive high quality optical detection systems for microchemistry to compact micro-fabricated implementations.


Manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) is an integral mitochondrial protein known as a first line antioxidant defense against superoxide radical anions produced as by-products of the electron transport chain. Recent studies have shaped the idea that by regulating the mitochondrial redox status and H2O2 outflow, MnSOD acts as a fundamental regulator of cellular proliferation, metabolism and apoptosis thereby assuming roles that extend far beyond its proposed antioxidant functions. Accordingly, allelic variations of MnSOD that have been shown to augment levels of MnSOD in mitochondria result in a 10-fold increase in prostate cancer risk. In addition, epidemiologic studies indicate that reduced glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity along with increases in H2O2 further increase cancer risk in the face MnSOD overexpression. These facts led us to hypothesize that, like the Cu, Zn-counterpart, MnSOD may work as a peroxidase, utilizing H2O2 to promote mitochondrial damage, a known cancer risk factor. Here we report that MnSOD indeed possesses peroxidase activity that manifests in mitochondria when the enzyme is overexpressed.


Recently, the concept of a super smart city has received special attention and has become the most popular agenda among city planners, policy makers and IT industries around the globe. In this paper, we proposed a novel Sustainable Ultra-Elastic Stack Security Architecture (SUESSA) which can address various future security challenges of artificial intelligence (AI), big data and communication networks. Our architecture employs the holistic approach based on sustainability of network security which is different than that of the prevailing security practices. We propose to apply the sustainable approach in the Network security architecture through augmentation of cloud, networks and end-point level, our approach provides a robust and ultra-elastic mechanism of security that surpasses the prevailing architecture. We evaluated the feasibility and performance of the security stack containing a machine learning component, Elastic search engine, Kibana and Logstash as the building blocks of the architecture. Based on our survey, SUESSA architecture overcomes the disadvantages of current architecture specifically solving the problem of sustainability strongly demanded in security architecture of the future smart cities.


Atrioventricular groove disruption remains one of the most devastating complications following mitral valve replacement. Herein are described two cases that were successfully managed by ex-situ repair and autotransplantation.


This study investigates the antecedents and consequences of organization-level inclusion climate. A national sample of human resource decision-makers from 100 organizations described their firms' formal diversity management programs; 3,229 employees reported their perceptions of, and reactions to, their employers' diversity management. Multilevel analyses demonstrate that identity-conscious programs (programs that target specific identity groups) generate an inclusion climate. Moreover, the analyses provide evidence of multilevel mediation: In organizations with an inclusion climate, individual employees perceive the organization as fulfilling its diversity management obligations and respond with higher levels of affective commitment. This study represents an important step toward understanding how a shared perception of organizational inclusiveness develops and how inclusion climate facilitates the achievement of diversity management objectives. The findings also shed light on the important role of identity-conscious programs in promoting organizational commitment within a diverse workforce.


As a hydrogen-rich and carbon-free fuel, ammonia is regarded as a promising carrier and storage medium for clean energy. By mixing methane with ammonia, the emission of carbon dioxide is also significantly reduced, which is of great significance for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and protecting the environment. However, ignition studies of ammonia/methane mixtures are still limited. In this paper, by means of numerical simulation with detailed chemical reaction mechanism, the effect of ammonia replacing methane on combustion was analyzed. Characteristics of explosion limit under different temperature (750-850K), equivalent ratio (0.5, 1.0 and 2.0) and ammonia mixing ratio (0-90%) were studied. The results show that the explosion limit decreases with the increase of temperature and equivalence ratio. When the proportion of NH3 is around 10%, the explosion limit shows a turning point. When the mole fraction of NH3 is higher than 50%, the explosion limit shows obvious increasing tendency with ammonia addition. Moreover, sensitivity and rate of production were also analyzed to expand the understanding of explosion limit for premixed ammonia-methane fuel blends.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18573/jae.9


In this article it is spoken of the enthusiastic relation with the old and old book: a dense attraction that takes with as much at the most quiet a more attractive complicity between the scent and the color of those backs and those leaves slid by the time, more and more yellowish. Every day one more to taste feels engaging in a dialog with other time through that fetiche alive that was the old book. It enjoyed them, looking for them or finding them or following the tracks of where it could give with them.


The quality of construction of cutoff wall plays a vital role to its upper structure and normal operat ion of dam. In order to study the construction defects of concrete cutof f wall to the effects of dam seepage flow field and investigate the effects of seepage face freezing in winter on the d am. Combining a water conservancy project in north, the control section and super finite element mesh automatic gen eration method was used to set up the 3D finite ele ment model and conduct the steady seepage analysis. Analysis resul ts show that the groundwater level has landed in th e cutoff wall simultaneously reduced the exit gradient downstream slope seepage and improved the stability of the sl ope. The effect on construction defects of cutoff wall in seepage fis more obvious in the local range. Winter fre ezing on dam seepage face has little effect.


Eor many years, the morphologists dominated the dermatologic scene. Classification of skin diseases has been based upon the predominant lesion; in the case of acne, this became comedonicus, papulosa, pustulosa, cystica and conglobata.' These complex Latinate terms have served little purpose except to denote the severity of the process and possibly to emphasize the need for specific therapy. To the nondermatologist, this nomenclature has served only to confuse rather than to enlighten, and undoubtedly, it must have withered many a budding dermatologist. The situation was somewhat improved when Pillsbury2 graded acne about 20 years ago. The description of 4 grades was an improvement, although somewhat arbitrary. As a matter of fact, many dermatologists changed the criteria for classification to meet their own whims. What was Grade I acne to one observer, because it was primarily comedonal, became Grade III to his colleague, who rated the disease on the number of lesions observed. Subsequently, one of us (JAW) developed a grading system based upon the number of each type of lesion, e.g., comedones, papules, pustules and nodules. This classification was more useful because severity and therapeutic response could be evaluated more objectively.-^ Within the past decade, another classification has evolved, based upon microbiological features rather than morpholFrom the Department of Dermatology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania


Pancrustacea represents a diverse clade of arthropods and includes the crustaceans and insects. The morphological and ecological diversity is among the most impressive of all invertebrates, with representatives including barnacles, shrimps, crabs, copepods, ostracods, brine shrimp, dragonflies, grasshoppers, true bugs, butterflies, and beetles, among others. For decades, morphological and molecular studies have attempted to reconstruct the evolutionary relationships between the major lineages, but a consensus on pancrustacean phylogeny is still under debate. Much of the uncertainty surrounding the evolutionary history of this ancient group stems from uneven and unrepresentative sampling, conflicting data, and different analytical approaches. First, we will introduce the major lineages of Pancrustacea and discuss the evidence for monophyly within these groups. Next, we will review the pioneering morphological and molecular studies that have contributed to current understanding of higherlevel (class/ subclass) relationships within Pancrustacea, with an emphasis on Crustacea. Within these sections, we will start with a series of early studies and describe how the development of methods and technology allowed for the advancement of morphological and molecular phylogenetics. A summary of current knowledge of pancrustacean phylogeny will be followed by a brief discussion of new emergent methods in the field that can be applied to future phylogenetic and phylogenomic studies.


There exists many interesting facts or anomalies in asset markets, and this thesis uses "Internal Rationality" learning approach to explain these facts. The first chapter first finds that the co-movement between US stock market and short-term bond market is weak, and the weak co-movement is inconsistent with several rational expectation asset pricing models. Then, we relax rational expectation hypothesis by introducing "Internally Rational" learning agents, so agents' subjective expectations dominantly drive stock price volatility relative to risk-free rate. Quantitative analysis shows the our model can generate data-like co-movement. The second chapter proposes that the high, volatile and persistent AH premium in China stock market is a big challenge for present-value asset pricing models. We show that "Internally Rational" model in which agents have different expectations for capital gains between A-share and H-share is the key to produce AH premium. The third chapter focuses on using "Internal Rationality" approach to explain exchange market puzzles


The accuracy level of the student determination in a class often has been paid less attention in educational data mining. So, this paper studies how to improve the performance of classification method to reach the higher of level accuracy. Therefore, we optimize logistic regression using equal frequency discretization method. Here, we test the student data by three intervals, four intervals, and five intervals. For logistic regression, we implement two regularization types, namely: lasso, ridge. Furthermore, to evaluate the results, we use the random sampling technique. Additionally, we measure the results by four classifier metrics, namely: F1, precision, accuracy, and recall. The experimental result shows that this method can be applied to optimize the logistic regression. On logistic regression_lasso and logistic regression_ridge, the three intervals achieve the highest of accuracy level. They can improve the accuracy level about 9% 9.4%, respectively.


Wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) populations are facing a serious risk of extinction and the main global threat is habitat conversion for subsistence and commercial agriculture. The western chimpanzee subspecies (Pan troglodytes verus) has been recently categorised as Critically Endangered by the IUCN red list because in the past 50 years its population has drastically reduced of more than 80% as a result of poaching, loss of habitat and habitat fragmentation due to human activities. Sierra Leone harbors the third largest western chimpanzee population but more than half of it lives in unprotected areas with a significant competition between people and chimpanzees for resources in areas dominated by farming activities where wild chimpanzees forage on crops. This thesis explores the agricultural challenges facing farmers and their attitudes and perceptions towards chimpanzees in four rural areas of Sierra Leone. Wildlife was reported to be the main agricultural problem although chimpanzees were not ranked within the 3 most destructive species. Chimpanzees consumed semi-domesticated oil palm resources and cultivated fruits, and this is negatively viewed by farmers. In general, farmers perceived chimpanzees more destructive than dangerous. Between April 2016 and May 2017, we conducted a camera trap survey in one of the rural areas previously surveyed with the aim to analyse the ecological and anthropogenic drivers of chimpanzee occurrence across a highly degraded and human-impacted landscape in the south-western district of Moyamba in Sierra Leone. The model showed that chimpanzee abundance across this landscape is affected by the distance to roads and proximity to swamps. However, settlements and human proximity did not influence in chimpanzee abundance. Farmers' tolerance and low hunting pressure are argued to be some of the reasons chimpanzees still persist in these degraded landscapes. Finally, this study also provides a preliminary insight into the demographics, group structure and ranging of unhabituated chimpanzees living in a non-protected landscape. Overall, we expect that the results of this thesis will contribute to a better understanding of how chimpanzees live in degraded landscapes and its implications for conservation actions including land use planning.


AbstractThe Seybouse river basin is subject to extreme and increasing water scarcity. Management of water resources in the basin is closely intertwined with use conflicts in the region. A fast growing population and expanding agricultural and industrial sectors create demands for new water resources. In this research, a microcomputer model, the water evaluation and planning system (WEAP), has been developed for simulating current water balances and evaluating water management strategies in the Annaba region. WEAP treats water demand and supply issues in a comprehensive and integrated fashion. The scenario approach allows flexible representation of the consequences of alternative development patterns and supply dynamics. This research then describes four alternative water supply scenarios for the Seybouse valley: increased use of treated wastewater in irrigation, climate change, and two combined scenarios—climate change with increasing reuse and altered patterns of agriculture to compute the impact on the ...


A macromolecular complex containing guinea pig complement fragment C5b (activated C5) and component C6 has been obtained from ĒĀC̄1̄,4̄b̄,2̄ā,3̄b̄,5̄b̄,6̄ (sheep erythrocytes carrying antibody and complement components, or fragments, C1, C4b, C2a, C3b, C5b and C6) or from ĒĀC̄4̄b̄,2̄ā,3̄b̄,5̄b̄,6̄ by elution. This complex combines with EAC4b,3b to yield an intermediate termed pseudo-EAC-6, which can be lysed by C7, C8 and C9, like genuine EAC-6, but which differs from the latter since it lacks C2a. In contrast, native C5 and C6 will produce EAC-6 only on reaction with ĒĀC̄4̄b̄,2̄ā,3̄b̄. Thus, cell-bound C2a is required for the reaction with native C5 but is not needed when C5 is supplied in the activated and complexed state C5b,6. Further, anti-C3 blocks the reaction of EAC4b,3b with C5b,6. These results suggest that in the reaction with native C5 the cell-bound C2a mediates the enzymatic activation of C5, whereas the cell-bound C3b supplies a binding site. In addition, the present experiments show that the activated state of C5b is stabilized by complexing with C6.


Objective:Studying the different substitution carbonyl compounds with three phenyl phosphonite vinyl-4-benzoic acid happen Wittig reaction conditions.Optimizing production processes and synthesizing different provides research foundation replaced olefins.Methods:P-chlorine methyl benzoic acid reacts with Triphenylphosphin to produce Tributyl Tetradecyl Phosphonium Chloride(TTPC).TTPC will remove 1 molecular HCl to get three phenyl phosphonite vinyl-4-benzoic acid when it is in alkaline condition(such as n-butyl lithium、Phenyl lithium、caustic alcohol etc).Then the Wittig reagents will reat with different aldehydes and ketones.Results:Three phenyl phosphonite vinyl-4-benzoic acid with formaldehyde、5-nitro furfural、benzaldehyde can happen Wittig reactions,but it can not occur with acetone and butanone.Conclusion:Only aldehyde can reat with three phenyl phosphonite vinyl-4-benzoic acid and ketone can,t.The aldehyde active than ketone.


The Black-Scholes model and many of its extensions imply a log-normal distribution of stock returns. However, for holding periods of up to a year, the empirical return distribution (both conditional and unconditional) is not log-normal, but rather much closer to the logistic distribution. This paper derives analytic option pricing formulas for the case of the logistic return distribution. These formulas turn out to be simple and elegant, and employ exactly the same parameters as B&S. Moreover, empirically, the logistic option pricing formulas fit prices much better than B&S, and are comparable to much more sophisticated models with many more parameters.


Harvesting water from air is a promising strategy for fresh water production, particularly desirable for areas that lack direct access to clean water. While high concentration liquid sorbent is well-known for high sorption, it has not been widely used for atmospheric water collection, primarily limited by the difficulty in desorption. In this paper we show that interfacial solar heating based on a salt-resistant GO-based aerogel can enable high concentration liquid sorbent (CaCl2 50 wt% solution) based atmospheric water generator. Fresh water of 2.89 kg m-2 day-1 can be produced at ~70% relative humidity, with only solar energy input and energy efficiency of desorption as high as 66.9%. This low-cost and effective approach provides an attractive pathway to extract water from air, to relieve the thirst of arid, land-locked, and other fresh water scarce areas.


Commercial exchanges in and with the Duchies of Athens and Neopatria during the "Catalan" domination have received little interest from researchers. Nevertheless, unpublished documentation from archives allows us to characterize now those commercial activities and to highlight an intensity far from traditional assumptions. From the commercial point of view the two most outstanding characteristics of this period will be the emergence of new agents with a leading role, the Catalans, and a new product, the slave, which will also be the basis on which an active long-distance trade will be sustained, especially with the island of Mallorca.


The Romulus Plate on the left side of the eighth-century Franks Casket (Webster 101) carries an inscription consisting of altogether sixty-nine runes. The inscription is arranged clockwise around a pictorial representation of a she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus. The runes are basically clear, and neither reading the Old English text nor translating it presents major difficulties (Becker 55). The sequence romwalus and reumwalus twœgen (top line, left to right) / gibroþær (right border, from top downwards) / afœddæ hiæ wylif in romæ cæstri (bottom line, right to left, runes upside down) / oþlæ unneg (left border, from bottom upwards) can be translated as 'Romulus and Remus, two brothers, a she-wolf nourished them in Rome, far from their native land' (Page175). Sweet (127), Viëtor (11), and Napier (369) think that the beginning of the text is oþlæ unneg (left border). The fact that cæstri, the last word in the bottom line, is followed by three points, one above the other, may be taken to signal the conclusion of the inscription. But von Grienberger (419) is convinced that oþlæ unneg concludes the inscription, and the beginning will then be romwalus and reumwalus; see also Wadstein (23) and Schneider (5). As will be shown below, it seems that this kind of reasoning is not really conclusive either way. Metrically and rhythmically the sequence can be divided up into five halflines numbered consecutively (1)–(5): (1) romwalus and reumwalus, (2) twœgen gibroþær, (3) afœddæ hiæ wylif , (4) in romæ cæstri, (5) oþlæ unneg (Eichner 604). Of these units, numbers (1) and (5) exhibit double alliteration and qualify metrically as a-halflines. The fact that the first stressed word in (4) in romæ cæstri has initial r makes it likely that this is a b-halfline, which, together with (1) romwalus and reumwalus, yields a full alliterating verse, albeit with a certain amount of intervening material that obviously disturbs the metrical flow of the clause. For (5) oþlæ unneg with vocalic alliteration, no matching b-halfline


The Clegg-Pitzer equations, expressed on a mole fraction basis, comprise an extended Debye Huckel term which is a function of composition and a Margules expansion carried out to the three-suffix level, with some simplifications are used to correlate and predict the vapor-liquid equilibrium data for the CO 2 -mixed amine aqueous system. The interaction parameters determined from data for the binary and ternary (single amine) systems can be used to predict the quaternary mixed amine system without any additional parameters. The model is applied to the CO 2 -MDEA-MEA-H 2 O system confining three neutral solvents (MDEA, MEA, and H 2 O) and four ionic species (MDEAH + , MEAH + , HCO 3 - , and RNHCOO - ) with four chemical equilibria simultaneously involved


e20740 Background: While medical oncology is growing in volume, it is increasingly becoming an outpatient enterprise. Issues leading to hospital admissions in the past are commonly either prevented or managed on an outpatient basis. We sought out trends within our practice on the frequency and reasons for hospital admissions.

METHODS
Computerized office visit and hospital admissions data were obtained on admissions by physician and year, for Pa. Oncology-Hematology Associates from 2000-2007. A retrospective chart review was also done for one physician from 6/08-12/08 to determine the reasons for admission.

RESULTS
While the total number of patients seen per year increased by 40% over the review period from 2000-2007, the relative number of admissions has steadily declined. Adjusting the number of admissions per patients in the practice (since the overall increase in volume partially masks the decline in admission frequency), the reduction in admissions is further evident. The frequency of admissions for the 4 senior oncologists showed a 50% reduction in admissions per patient over the past 8 years. Of 56 admissions reviewed from 6/08-12/08, 20 were related to infections (although only a minority were neutropenic), 13 for symptom management of disease progression, 6 for anemia/bleeding, 3 for bowel obstruction, 3 for non-infectious complications of treatment, and only 1 for chemotherapy administration.

CONCLUSIONS
Trends in our practice indicate a continued decline in the frequency of admissions per patient. Elective admissions for diagnosis, work-up, and chemotherapy are rare. Improved medications for symptoms related to cancer, its complications and treatment-related toxicities and improvements in palliative care (psychosocial support, communication about prognosis and treatment goals, and end-of-life care) have contributed to decreased admissions. Increasingly, even patients with incurable disease are managed from diagnosis to death entirely as outpatients. Optimizing outpatient management and avoiding admissions in medical oncology has major implications for practice quality, patient quality of life, cost and allocation of health care resources. No significant financial relationships to disclose.


The function and the mechanism of additive PEG-6000 in the preparation process of Sb-doped SnO2 nano-powder via oxidative-coprecipitation have been studied by means of particle size analysis, IR spectrum, Zeta potential measurement, and sedimentation experiments. The suitable additive amount (0.8%~1.2%, ω) has been determined by means of sedimentation experiments, and viscosity measurements. The experimental results show that agglomeration of precursor is reduced by the steric effect of PEG-6000 adsorbing on it, and the powder product quality is greatly influenced by the added amount of PEG-6000. The well-dispersed Sb-doped SnO2 nano-powder can be obtained by adding suitable amount of PEG-6000 (0.8%~1.2%, ω). This process can be applied in the preparation of other nano-powders with precipitation method as well.


The solubility rules presented in the majority of introductory texts of chemistry usually do not comprise a systematic analysis of the dissolution processes, neither from a microscopic nor from a macroscopic point of view. The solubility of nitrates in aqueous solution is discussed in this article, focusing on the thermodynamic data and the properties of the nitrate ion.


randomly to 30 pens (9 or 10 steers/ pen). Treatments were designed as a 2 X 2 + 1 factorial arrangement consisting of 15% or 45% corn silage and 20% or 40% MDGS (15:20 15% corn silage, 20% MDGS; 15:40 15% corn silage, 40% MDGS; 45:20 45% corn silage, 20% MDGS; and 45:40 45% corn silage, 40% MDGS) and a control diet consisting of 5% cornstalks and 40% MDGS (Table 1). Elevated levels of corn silage and MDGS replaced a 1:1 blend of dry-rolled corn:high-moisture corn. All steers were fed a supplement formulated for 30 g/ton Rumensin® (DM basis) and a targeted intake of 90 mg/steer daily of Tylan®. Steers were implanted with Revalor®200 on day 1. One block of steers were harvested after 91 days on feed. Five blocks were harvested after 98 days on feed. Prior to being transported to a commercial abattoir (Greater Omaha Packing Co., Inc., Omaha, Neb.), pens of steers were weighed on a platform scale. A 4% pencil shrink was applied to this weight for final live BW and calculation of dressing percentage. Steers were weighed in the afternoon prior to evening shipping, with slaughter the following morning. On the last day of feeding, pens were fed 50% of the previous day's intake at the normal morning feeding time. Hot carcass weight was obtained the day of harvest. Carcass adjusted final BW, used in calculation of ADG and F:G, was calculated from HCW and a common dressing percentage (62%). Marbling score, 12th rib fat thickness, and LM area were recorded after a 48 hour (one block) or 144 hour (five blocks) carcass chill. The longer chill was equal across treatments and was due to scheduling at the plant. Performance and carcass data were analyzed as a 2 X 2 + 1 factorial in a randomized block design using the mixed procedure of SAS (SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, N.C.). Pen was the experimental unit, and BW block was included as a fixed effect. Main effects of corn silage and MDGS inclusion were tested as well as the interaction of corn silage and MDGS. The control was included for the analysis of an overall F-test across all treatments. Treatment differences were considered significant at P < 0.10.


A simple formulation of a nine d.o.f plane triangle is achieved by the assumed-stress hybrid approach. The element has two translations and the rotation about a normal to the plane as d.o.f. at each node. Performance of the element is shown to be good. A device for softening overly-stiff elements is found to be effective and is suggested as a widely applicable method of improving the behaviour of hybrid elements. A particularly simple form of the element, herein called the CST Hybrid, appears to be the best performer.


Abstract : The development of a Navy shore activity's facility maintenance plan requires careful coordination of three systems: project development, personnel, and budgeting. The information provided in the three systems and their individual processes has a direct impact on each other. In project development, the majority of work that is accomplished by a Public Works Department is derived through the Shore Facilities Inspection Program. The size and structure of the public works organization is dependent on how much maintenance is required by the facilities, the budget base support available for labor, and the facility support contract requirements. The current trend of quantifying personnel requirements with computers and empirical mathematical models increases the Public Works Officer's responsibility to properly analyze essential mission needs. This report will discuss the intricacies of the systems and negative influences which the Public Works Officer must deal with in the development of a facilities maintenance plan.


Objective To investigate the expression and significance of Secreted protein,acidic and rich in cysteine(SPARC) in keloid and hyperplastic scar(HS).Method Fifty-two patients of pathological scar were applied,which was keloids(scar group) and HS tissue(HS group) of the 26 cases respectively,and the other 5 cases of normal skin tissue taken as control(control group).The expression of SPARC in the tissue of 3 groups were detected by immunohistochemical SP method and in the fibroblasts cultured(4~6 generations) were detected by western blot.Results The expression of SPARC in the tissue between scar group and HS group were stronger than that in the control group,but P0.05.Early expression of HS was similor to the late HS(P0.05).The expression of SPARC in the fibroblasts of scar group and HS group were higher than that of control group(P0.05).Conclusions There are low SPARC expression in keloid and HS,and highly expression of fibroblasts in its.The SPARC play a possible role in keleid and HS as fibrosis inducing factor.


When commanding gaits for snake robots and other articulated systems, direct control of all possible joint inputs may not always be necessary or optimal to achieve a locomotive goal. Here we consider a three-link nonholonomic snake robot-an already underactuated system with locomotive capabilities in SE(2)-and reduce its input space to a single actuated joint, replacing the other joint's motor with a passive mass-spring-damper system. We show that the modified system can operate dynamically in addition to kinematically, and that it is possible to find gaits that produces locomotion similar to a fully actuated system. In particular, we describe the emergence of a new type of gait that incorporates the system's singular configurations to produce high locomotive efficiency without incurring unbounded constraint forces.


We describe herein preliminary results on the novel Michael addition of naphthoquinones to nitroolefins and its application to the first synthesis of the novel (6b R,10a S)-7,8,9,10,10a,11-hexahydro-6b H-benzo[ A]carbazole-5,6-diones and (4a R,11b S)-1,2,3,4,4a,5-hexahydro-11b H-benzo[ B]carbazole-6,11-diones, together with a novel synthesis of 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-5 H-benzo[ B]carbazole-6,11-diones.


The article analyzes peculiar features of perception, memory and language in human complex cognitive processes. The author also looks into some aspects of the cooperation of memory and perception and their linguistic representation.


The invention relates to a system and method for achieving Bluetooth abnormity detection and recovery in a GNSS receiver. The system comprises a Bluetooth detecting module and a Bluetooth recovering module, wherein the Bluetooth detecting module is used for detecting an HCI protocol layer of a Bluetooth chip in the GNSS receiver, and in other words, the Bluetooth detecting module detects the HCI protocol layer of the Bluetooth chip in the GNSS receiver through an Hciconfig tool; the Bluetooth recovering module is used for recovering the Bluetooth service again when the HCI protocol layer of the Bluetooth chip is obstructed, and in other words, the Bluetooth recovering module loads the power-on time sequence, starts spp service and sets the Bluetooth to be visible again when the HCI protocol layer of the Bluetooth chip is obstructed. According to the system and method for achieving Bluetooth abnormity detection and recovery in the GNSS receiver through the structure, restarting is not needed during abnormal Bluetooth connecting interrupting detecting and secondary connecting recovering, data transmission between the receiver and a terminal is normal, and a wider application range is achieved.


This study presents the state estimation problem of discrete-time non-linear stochastic system with generalised unknown disturbance (GUD) in the measurements. To the best of our knowledge, there is no research result on the filter design dealing with such estimation problem. Here, an upper-bound filter is designed for the linear time-varying system with the GUD existing in the measurement equation, and optimal parameters are derived so that the minimum upper-bounds filter is obtained. The result is further extended to the non-linear case via the iterative optimisation of joint state estimation and parameter identification (the linearised measurement matrix). The simulation about tracking a target via one biased radar and one biased electronic support measure (ESM) shows the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed filter.


We considered the characteristic features of SU(3) partial dynamical symmetry in the interacting boson model framework to demonstrate the relevance of this technique in the nuclear spectroscopy of Dy (A=160) nucleus. The predictions of SU(3)-PDS for energy spectrum and B(E2)transition probabilities were compared with the most recent experimental data which an acceptable degree of agreement is achieved.


T h e concept and real-time implementa t ion of a n experimental home-use digital H D T V recorder i s presented. An advanced motion-compensated DCT bit-rate reduct ion syst e m i s used to realize high-quality images at 50 Mbi t / s only, thereby enabling small recording m e chanics f o r portable applications and featuring a new h igh-e f ic iency channel code wi th embedded tracking in format ion .


American cultural values make an impact on Chinese teenagers in three ways: first infiltration of cultural industry,second monopolization in internet culture,third selection of young talented people as spokesman for the West.In the stage the social transition,Chinese teenagers,without clear faith and goals,lack cultural identity and are indifferent to the mainstream values.Therefore,the educators should help them form the awareness of adversity,strengthen international competitive power in the cultural industry and develop internet culture to prevent the marginalization of the native culture.


Metro Ligero Oeste, an operator of light rail lines in the Madrid region, recent modified the design of its rolling stock to improve the overall quality of its service. Driver and user suggestions were incorporated into the redesign. The cars are designed to be fully accessible and optimize passenger flows. Other improved features include the repositioning of driver cabin controls to reduce distraction and the removal of unnecessary stop-request buttons. In addition, speed displays for drivers, translucent vinyl cabin partitions, resistors to reduce door buzzer sound and hands-free radio systems were installed.


The purpose of this study is to analyze and determine the influence of the taxpayer, the taxpayer awareness, Intensification, billing costs and trade, hotels and restaurants sector local tax revenues in Malinau. The analysis in this study uses Multiple Linear Regression Analysis to answer the research problems. The data used is secondary data in the period 2004 to 2013. The study concluded that:The results showed that the taxpayer, the cost of collection and trade, hotels and restaurants sector significantly influence the acceptance of Local Tax in Malinau. Mandatory awareness and intensification of direct taxes not significant effect on tax revenue of Regions in Malinau


Inorganic phosphate (Pi), the main form of phosphorus used by plants, is one of the most important limiting factors for plant growth. In the soil soluble Pi that is readily available for uptake, occurs at very low concentrations (Schachtman et al., 1998). One adaptation of plants to low Pi availability is the symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi (AMF) of the phylum Glomeromycota. The fungi efficiently take up phosphate and other mineral nutrients and deliver them to the host, in exchange for carbohydrates. Thereby, arbuscular-mycorrhiza compatible plants have two Pi uptake pathways, which are defined by different sets of phosphate transporters: a direct uptake pathway through the epidermis and root hairs, and a symbiotic uptake pathway for the Pi provided by the fungus (Smith and Smith, 2011).


Background Over the last decades, malaria parasites have been rapidly developing resistance against antimalarial drugs, which underlines the need for novel drug targets. Thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) is crucially involved in redox homeostasis and essential for Plasmodium falciparum. In this communication, we report first time important Docking study by in Silico approach, using AutoDock Vina. After a selective analysis of over 300 drugs, processed with Pyrx (a Virtual Screening software into the active site of protein (ID PDB 4J56 Thioredoxin reductase 2 Chain A), we noticed excellent value of Binding Energy of Telatinib estimated by Pyrx software. These results are comparable to the crystallized ligand FAD (FLAVIN-ADENINE DINUCLEOTIDE) completed in the above-mentioned protein. Indeed, from the results of Autodock Vina, Telatinib an inhibitor of tyrosine kinases, has excellent a Binding affinity value, ca. −12 kcal/mol.


Abstract Methods for controlling the synthesis of the submicron (including nanosized) powder of titanium dioxide (titania, TiO2) in a setup with a plasmachemical flow reactor were investigated. The synthesis of titania particles from gaseous titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4) in the plasmachemical reactor by the chloride method was experimentally studied. The processes of formation and growth of particles depending on the type of the plasma-forming gas, flow rates of TiCl4; and the quenching gas (air), reactor length, and mean-mass temperature in the reaction zone were considered. When using nitrogen as heat-carrying gas, a new approach of titania powder synthesis based on combining of reaction zone and quenching zone has been applied. Under these non-equilibrium conditions and substantial temperature gradients, this method enabled us to synthesize reproducibly ultrafine titania powders (30–50 nm) with a high content (80–87%) of metastable anatase crystal lattice. The results reveal that the powder properties can be efficiently controlled, i.e., one setup can produce titania with a required particle size and a type of the crystal lattice: anatase (A) or rutile (R). The experimental data are found to agree well with the results of numerical calculations.


The U.S. is experiencing an epidemic of opiate addiction, including injection drug use. Injection drug users are at increased risk for infectious endocarditis (IE) and have a higher incidence of recurrent IE and higher mortality than the general population. To provide data on addiction therapy among injection drug users with IE during hospitalization, researchers retrospectively reviewed 102 cases …


Objective To characterize the effect of nipocalimab, a fully human, effectorless IgG1 anti-neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn) monoclonal antibody on immune function. Background Nipocalimab binds to FcRn with high affinity which prevents IgG recycling, leading to reduced serum levels of total IgGs, including pathogenic IgG autoantibodies. Rapid, sustained lowering of IgG was observed in the phase 2 VIVACITY study in generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) and in phase 1 healthy volunteers. In gMG patients, nipocalimab induced rapid and sustained lowering of anti-AChR autoantibodies and MG-ADL scores, but no serious adverse events including clinically significant infections. Design/Methods Nipocalimab was evaluated extensively in vitro and in nonhuman primate-based chronic toxicology studies to evaluate selectivity, tolerability, safety and immunopharmacology. Safety, tolerability and immune-focused assessments in clinical phase 1 and Phase 2 MG studies were also completed (NCT02828046, NCT03772587). Results Nipocalimab binds specifically in vitro to FcRn without activation of effector function or inhibition of antigen presentation. In nonhuman primates administered up to 300 mg/kg nipocalimab QW for up to 6 months, sustained lowering of IgG was observed without adverse effects. Immunotoxicology identified no effect on immune cell phenotypes; CD8 T cell, NK or innate cell functions; T-dependent neoantigen IgM responses. Neoantigen IgG production was observed, but with lowered peak IgG titers consistent with the anticipated increase in IgG clearance with nipocalimab. In clinical studies, nipocalimab demonstrated a reproducible selective decrease in total serum IgG, including all subclasses of IgG, with no effect on IgM, IgA, IgE, CH50, C3, C4, inflammatory cytokines or acute phase proteins including, C-reactive protein (CRP). Conclusions These data suggest that nipocalimab can selectively lower IgG and IgG autoantibodies while preserving cellular immunity, complete IgM response and IgG production after neoantigen challenge. Overall, nipocalimab's selective effect on IgG recycling provides a mechanistic rationale for potentially decreased infection risk despite substantial IgG lowering.


The invention relates to a method for producing a person-specific information of a vehicle occupant (6) of a motor vehicle (1), wherein at least one body part as a person-specific information of the vehicle occupant (6) with a camera (7) of a driver assistance system (3) of the motor vehicle (1) is detected in at least one image, as the body part the face (8) of the vehicle occupant (6) is detected, and the at least one image with the face (8) depending on an operation performed by a user person ad call on one (of the driver assistance system 3 ) external display unit (10) is displayed.


Identity-based encryption (IBE) is a type of public-key encryption (PKE) that employs an identifier as the basis for the encryption mechanism. Thus, the communication parties are able to encrypt messages (or verify signatures) without any prior setup between users or distribution of user certificates. This is especially relevant in many mission critical applications, usually characterized by constrained end-points. MIKEY-SAKKE uses this concept to build a highly scalable protocol able to secure cross-platform multimedia communications. However, MIKEY-SAKKE is based on cryptographic primitives that will be no longer secure when sufficiently powerful quantum computers are built. To this end, this paper presents three contributions. First, it evaluates the performance of MIKEY-SAKKE in constrained embedded devices. Second, it extracts the requirements that post-quantum cryptographic primitives should meet in order to allow a plug-and-play replacement of the threatened security primitives with quantum-secure primitives. Third, it benchmarks the different post-quantum primitives running in the NIST standardization process and analyses their impact on the quantum-secure MIKEY-SAKKE. The results show that none of the NIST finalists perfectly meet all the specified requirements to achieve a post-quantum plug-and-play approach. However, the different combinations of post-quantum KEMs and signature schemes have a range of trade-offs compared to SAKKE and ECCSI, either having slower computation or larger keys and ciphertexts/signatures, or both.


This FY Work Plan (FYWP) applies to facilities at the Hanford Site under the management of WHC and the Hanford site S/RID. Project management plans will be developed for each facility/activity to document the specific technical and administrative controls for S/RID development and S/R implementation assessments.


Identify the components of psycho-acmeologic optimization concept personal and professional development of future psychologists (the methodological, theoretical and applied) based on the acmeological capacity of professional disciplines.


Abstract Background. Chronic health conditions (CHCs) pose stark detrimental effects on the health and abilities of older workers. The extent of these effects depend on the CHC, the time since its diagnosis and the type of health measure: a rarely explored combination of heterogeneities. Objective. This study examined how four existing and newly diagnosed CHCs influences older workers' vitality and worries about enduring physically and mentally until retirement age. Method. Data from two waves of the NIDI Pension Panel survey conducted in the Netherlands in 2015 and 2018 were used. We analyzed a sample of 1,894 older workers between the ages of 60-62 years at wave 1 using conditional change ordinal least square regression models. Results. Having a CHC at wave 1 was associated with lower levels of vitality and higher levels of worries at wave 2. These effects of CHCs on vitality and worries were much larger for older workers who were newly diagnosed with CHCs compared to those who experienced CHCs for longer. Intriguingly, the new diagnosis of physically disabling conditions increased worries about physical endurance at wave 2, while the new diagnosis of mentally disabling conditions increased worries about mental endurance at wave 2. Conclusion. By distinguishing the effects of four existing and newly diagnosed CHCs on vitality and worries, this study allows the identification of vulnerable groups of older workers. The findings may inform work accommodations and interventions which could improve both the quality and sustainability of work lives, while promoting healthy ageing of older workers.


Calluna vulgaris-dominated heathlands are a priority habitat type in Annex I of the Habitats Directive (92/43/ECC, habitat code 4060). In the Iberian Peninsula, the landscape of the Cantabrian Mountain range has great heterogeneity due to human management during the last 10,000 years. Another factor that can affect these communities is the increase in human-induced atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition. During the last century, there has been a dramatic increase in N deposition rates. For all these reasons, it is important to know the regeneration dynamics of the heathlands in the context of the disturbances that these communities currently face (i.e., N deposition, fire, and decrease in sheep grazing) in the Cantabrian Mountain range. In this study, we characterized the plant species composition and soil seed bank after prescribed burning in three heathlands on their southern distribution limit in Spain, to gain insights into regenerative capacity and conservation of these communities. The results obtained suggest that the post-burn soil seed bank could restore Calluna-dominated vegetation in these habitats, indicating that the restoration potential from the soil seed bank after wildfires of these habitats is high. Our results also suggest that, in the short term after burning, the main characteristic species such as Calluna and Erica are recovered, which is fundamental to maintain the heathland community structure.


The present studies employ multitudinous approaches in order to overcome the methodological obstacles in the understanding of the relationship between neurochemical alterations and behavioral deficits induced by heroin during prenatal development. Mice were exposed prenatally to heroin via daily subcutaneous injections of 10 mg/kg, on gestation days 9‐18. At age 50 days, the heroin‐exposed offspring displayed behavioral deficits as assessed in the eight‐arm and Morris mazes, pointing to possible alteration in the septohippocampal cholinergic innervations. Biochemically there was increased presynaptic activity of these innervations as attested to by the increased [3H]hemicholinium‐3 (HC‐3) binding sites and by K+‐stimulated inositol phosphate (IP) formation. Postsynaptically, there was global hyperactivation along the different components of the nerve conduction cascade, including an increase in M1 muscarinic receptor Bmax, a general increase in G‐proteins (GP) including the most relevant, Gq subtype, and an increase in IP formation and in basal protein kinase C (PKC) activity. However, there was desensitization of PKC activity in response to cholinergic agonist in the heroin‐exposed offspring. Transplantation of normal embryonic cholinergic cells to the impaired hippocampus reserved the behavioral deficits and both the pre‐ and postsynaptic hyperactivity and resensitized PKC activity.


The seismic design issues for shallow tunnel design are often poor or absent in the current national or international recommendations. Moreover, the available simplified formulations for the evaluation of tunnel internal forces, induced by seismic actions, account only for transient effects due to wave passage. Some centrifuge tests on circular tunnels in dry sand, recently performed, showed that permanent increments of internal forces clearly arise in the tunnel lining after seismic events. This evidence is also confirmed in real scale monitoring of tunnels, which suffered residual stresses after strong earthquakes. In order to capture the permanent increments of internal forces on a tunnel lining due to dynamic loadings, a series of numerical analyses have been performed by using a material model which includes hardening plasticity and the strain dependency of stiffness and damping. A experimental set of centrifuge tests in sand was used to validate the numerical analyses. The influence of the soil-lining relative stiffness and of the shear stress transmission at the interface between the soil and the lining are discussed in the paper.