This article reads some familiar examples of contemporary visual arts, such as Cindy Sherman, Mona Hatoum, Robert Gober, John Miller, Eva Hesse, Orlan and Robert Mapplethorpe, by engaging with different theoretical issues, especially drawn from psychoanalytic criticism, gender and queer theory. More specifically, my theoretical analysis of these examples of contemporary art contests some of the homophobic and misogynist mechanisms created in the dominant patriarchal and heterosexist ideology for the purpose of social control by rejecting the Lacanian preoccupation with the phallus and the Freudian paternal function. As will be shown, my arguments demonstrate how the concept of abjection, articulated mainly by Kristeva, and its connections with Bataille's notion of the informe and Lacan's concept of the Real, is manifested in these visual works through the pleasure obtained (jouissance) from inter-racial sexual experiences, the transgression of taboos in relation to issues of the fragmented body, hair, excrement or touch. I argue that these visual works likewise allude to the heterogeneous image experienced in what Kristeva understands as the semiotic chora. Some of these visual works also engage with the fallen body, the repetition of the traumatic Real or the desire or anxiety to return to the maternal body, where there was no impression of the Freudian castration crisis. The detection of abjection, and its connections with the informe and the Real, in these examples of contemporary visual arts means that my reading of these artistic practices is less concerned with socio-historical deterministic aspects or with the purely formal and aesthetic qualities of these visual works. Rather, my theoretical analysis is concerned with using these visual works as a springboard for questioning whether these theoretical perspectives, particularly the concept of abjection, function independently or interconnectedly, implicitly or explicitly, in the construction or de-construction of the representation of feminist and queer subjectivities through the emphasis on the desublimated body. Thus, if my reading of these examples of contemporary art problematises the notion of abjection in order to deal with the politics of feminist and queer subjectivities in visual representations of the desublimated body and opens up these visual works to highly complex theoretical arguments, these visual works are not used as an illustration, or instantiation, of theoretical concepts, but they julia¤ n daniel gutie¤ rrez-albilla


We report here the production of active recombinant single-chain human cytomegalovirus protease in Escherichia coli and development of a continuous assay for this protease. In order to produce the human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) protease for structural studies and accurate kinetic analysis, mutation of alanine 143 at an internal cleavage site was introduced to prevent autoproteolysis. The resulting soluble 29-kDa A143Q protease was purified to homogeneity as a stable single-chain protein by hydrophobic interaction and ionic-exchange chromatography. The in vivo protein substrate, assembly protein precursor, was also expressed and purified for activity studies. To develop a continuous protease assay, fluorescent synthetic peptide substrates similar to the cleavage sequence P5 to P5′ of the maturation site containing anthranilic acid and nitrotyrosine as a resonance energy transfer donor-acceptor pair were designed. Purified HCMV A143Q protease cleaved the recombinant assembly protein precursor with K and k values of 3.0 ± 1.0 μM and 13.3 ± 1.6 min. The K for peptide substrates is at least 45-fold higher than for the natural protein substrate, but the k values are similar. A sensitive assay was developed using fluorescent peptide substrates, which can detect nM HCMV protease activity.


The main task of this article is to study the essence and purpose of the institute of criminal proceedings "conclusion of an agreement in criminal proceedings", to reveal the application of this institute of criminal proceedings in practice, to determine its role in legal and social life and to study the conditions of conclusion of the above agreement for a peaceful resolution of the dispute between parties. Among the methods by which the problem of the given topic is studied it is possible to distinguish a dialectic method, comparative-legal, system method, historical-legal, formal-legal method,method of analysis and synthesis. The authors studied the experience of foreign countries in combating corruption and proposed to introduce international experience in the national legislation for successful experience of entering into agreements in criminal proceedings, as well as for the effectiveness of these agreements and maximum compliance with the rights of the parties of the disputes. The study describes the current state of legal acts regulating the conclusion of agreements, the concept of agreements in criminal proceedings and their types and the main reasons for the conclusion of agreements, the terms of the agreement between the parties to criminal proceedings as a wat for a peaceful resolution of disputes, the stages and elements of the conclusion of agreements. The participation of the victim in the process of concluding the agreement was also investigated. On the example of international experience of development and application of this institute the establishment of the institute and its further development, as well as the conditions of conclusion of the agreement in such states are investigated.


The employment rewards and team cooperation have bigger influence on employees' satisfaction, and the leadership behavior, management behavior and job motivation also have some impacts on employees' satisfaction, the incentive strategy for the employees as follow: administrator should motivate employees by reducing pressure and improving the welfare measures ways and build the employees trust and let them have a good relationship with their working partners.


To the Editor: —InThe Journal, July 7, Dr. H. F. Zoller recommended the use of ethyl acetate for the removal of adhesive plaster. Since this is almost impossible to obtain, especially in the country drug stores, I want to suggest the use of ordinary benzene. If the adhesive strips are moistened lightly with the benzene by daubing it on with bits of cotton, the plaster will come away nicely; then the stains from the adhesive plaster are scrubbed off with the remainder of the benzene in cotton.


Because of the potential negative influence on their hosts, ecto-parasites are of prime importance to numerous species. Ticks are among these, distributed worldwide, and potentially transmitting diseases while sucking blood of diverse hosts. The leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis euptilura Elliot, 1871) is the only felid left in the Republic of Korea following widespread anthropogenic disturbances that have resulted in the extinction of both Panthera species: the Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris altaica Temminck, 1844) and Amur leopard (P. pardus orientalis (Schlegel, 1857)). This study identifies ticks collected from a roadkill leopard cat retrieved in Seosan area in the Republic of Korea. Two ticks attached to the facial area of the carcass were identified as Japanese hard ticks, Ixodes nipponensis, based on mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I. The matching sample was from Japan with 99.7% similarities, and the only available sequence on GenBank. This study reconfirms that I. nipponensis parasitizes the endangered leopard cat P. bengalensis euptilura.


The main activities carried out by Ordnance Survey Ireland are focused on the production and maintenance of both small and large scale topographic databases. In 1980, photogrammetric methods were extensively adopted to carry out these tasks, based on analytical procedures. A review of operating practices in 1992 led to the introduction of digital systems. The technical complexities of the installation of digital hardware and software in a production environment are reported in this paper. An expanded role for the photogrammetric department also required the acquisition of new skills by its personnel. Experience has shown that further development, based on co‐operation between vendor and user, must continue in the digital field.


Nicole Oresme lived from approximately 1325 to 1382. He was a philosopher, mathematician and churchman. We shall here be interested in a very particular aspect of his work: the incommensurability of celestial motions. In many ways, though, it was at the center of his achievements. As background for the discussion of Oresme's mathematical results, let us review the elements of Ptolemaic astronomical models. Ptolemy, the greatest of the applied scientists of antiquity, in his astronomy assumed the Earth to be immobile, with the planets, the Sun and Moon orbiting around it in a motion consisting of several (up to three) uniform circular motions. There is a great circle, the epicycle , on which is attached the center of another circle, the deferent . On this circle, finally, is located the mobile object. Spatial coordinates are determined against the 'sphere of the fixed stars.' It of course rotates once a day around the Earth. Different combinations of sense and speed of rotation of the circles are able to account for phenomena such as the retrograde motion of a planet. THE QUESTION OF THE PERIODICITY OF THE UNIVERSE Starting with the Greeks, who are said to have invented the geometrical representation of the motions of celestial bodies, there has been a debate about the character of such geometric models. The crucial issue was, whether the models pertained directly to reality, or whether they were to be taken just as instruments for prediction.


REFERENCES 1. Isaacson G. Why don't those ear drops work for my patients? Pediatrics. 2006;118:1252–1253 2. Dohar J, Giles W, Roland P, et al. Topical ciprofloxacin/ dexamethasone is superior to oral amoxicillin/clavulanic acid in acute otitis media with otorrhea through tympanostomy tubes. Pediatrics. 2006;118(3). Available at: www.pediatrics.org/cgi/ content/full/118/3/e561 3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC get smart. Available at: www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/community. Accessed May 10, 2007 4. Dohar JE, Kenna MA, Wadowsky RM. In vitro susceptibility of aural isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to commonly used ototopical antibiotics. Am J Otol. 1996;17:207–209 5. Rosenfeld R, Isaacson G. Tympanostomy tube care and consequences. In: Rosenfeld RM, Bluestone CD, eds. Evidence-Based Otitis Media. Hamilton, Ontario Canada: BC Decker; 1999 6. Roland PS, Parry DA, Stroman DW. Microbiology of acute otitis media with tympanostomy tubes. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2005;133:585–595 7. Eskola J, Kilpi T, Palmu A; Finnish Otitis Media Study Group. Efficacy of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine against acute otitis media. N Engl J Med. 2001;344:403–409 8. Ohyama M, Furuta S, Ueno K, et al. Ofloxacin otic solution in patients with otitis media: an analysis of drug concentrations. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 1999;125:337–340 9. Ruohola A, Heikkinen T, Meurman O, Puhakka T, Lindblad N, Ruuskanen O. Antibiotic treatment of acute otorrhea through tympanostomy tube: randomized double-blind placebocontrolled study with daily follow-up. Pediatrics. 2003;111: 1061–1067


Cinema is known as the mirror of society in worldwide. It reflects the people, places, ideas, thoughts, behavior, problems and various issues of society. Parallel cinema had shown this reflection of society in earlier years. Some of the Marathi Cinemas were influenced by the new wave of parallel cinema movement. Cinema is a complete process in itself. Storytelling is most important and comparatively most influential part of it. Storytelling can be divided in two ways. One is the content and events in story, i.e. story, characters, locations; and the other is mode of delivering it on screen i.e. film treatment, camera techniques and editing. In recent years most appreciated and critically acclaimed movie was 'Court' (2014). Movie was called best realistic movie of its time. It is having great social significance, presenting a postmodern, humanist point of view. But along with the content of reflecting reality, there is another angle which must be explored. A realistic film storytelling should be seen through the lens of realism film theory. This study includes the discussion of realistic cinema storytelling with the case study of 'Court' (2014) in the perspective of Andre Bazin's realism film theory. This cinema is examined by above mentioned both ways of storytelling. This case study explains how the realistic cinema 'Court' has shown its realistic storytelling ability stands differently which is rarely seen in Indian cinema ever.


Abstract : The Synthetic Theater of War (STOW) Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) concluded its life cycle with USJFCOM (operational user) acceptance of the federated simulation in FY 99. During the ACTD life cycle, USJFCOM required the technologies to support the following: Joint task force training (Unified Endeavor 98-1); Analysis of ACTDs (Joint Counter Mine); and joint experimentation (J9901, Critical Mobile Target, Attack Operations) circa 2015. This report documents the complexities associated with current and future problem-solving techniques necessary to meet the decision-maker's needs in the 21st century. The STOW ACTD is a case study in what to expect from future challenges facing the warfighter and the analytical community pledged to support the joint commander. Using the traditional problem-solving approach as a starting point, this paper addresses the question: "How can the decision-maker of tomorrow employ the latest technologies and analytical processes to make the best decision?" The answer lies in the following: Establish standard procedures for decisions; ensure all stakeholders are included; identify long-lead items early; and establish early working relationships between the maintainers of the analysis tools and the users.


We present metric radio observations of quasi-periodic emission from the solar corona in close association with a "halo" CME and an "EIT wave" phenomenon. The radio event lasted for about 60 s. Its mean periodicity was8.8 s. The estimated Alfven speed in the corona was 1034 km s 1 . The derived height of the source region of the observed quasi-periodic emission, and the magnetic field at the corresponding location (for emission in the fundamental mode) were0:23 R and 6.3 G, respectively. The magnetic field for harmonic emission was found to be3: 1G.


Optical pickups for digital versatile disk (DVD-ROM) need to be capable of reading compact disc (CD) and recordable compact disk (CD-R) disks. Therefore, two laser sources are needed. A compact optical pickup is presented which employs a dual-wavelength integrated (TWIN) laser diode and a diffractive optical element (DOE). The purpose of the DOE is to combine the two beams emitted by the TWIN laser diode. This substantially facilitates design and fabrication of two-wavelength optical pickups. The design of the DOE is discussed in detail. Experimental results on tolerance conditions and signal quality are shown.


A water-wall-type passive containment cooling system, which has an outer pool (O/P) outside the suppression pool (S/P), is one passive safety system for the next generation reactors. It utilizes the steel containment vessel wall as a heat transfer medium between the S/P and O/P. As a measure to improve heat removal capability, the authors propose introduction of a baffle plate. The baffle plate can mitigate thermal stratification and enlarge the high-temperature region in the S/P. In particular, a hybrid baffle plate utilizes the structure wall by setting up local flow holes and enhances the natural circulation in the S/P through these holes. To clarify the effects of the configurations of the flow holes, thermal-hydraulic behavior has been examined. 1. The circumferential temperature difference in the outside region of the baffle plate was 20%. 3. The maximum efficiency was obtained when the ratio of the depth between the vent tube outlet and the lower flow holes to the height between the vent tube outlet and the upper flow holes was ∼ 0.7.


The purpose of this research was to focus on how Lloyds Bank, one of the leading and largest banks of the UK, is using CRM to their advantage. After collecting secondary data, several different methods implemented by the organization were found to implement and strengthen its CRM activities. The findings show the organization is providing training to its employees so that they can become more skillful and competent while dealing with consumers. Lloyd Bank is also tracking buying behavior of its consumers and demands of its consumers based on different demographic factors. These are helping the organization to customize or improve its products and services. Besides, it is also using social media marketing along with traditional marketing methods, such as newsletters to let the consumers know about new product launches. It is also providing discount coupons to its consumers to motivate their buying behavior. Lloyds Bank is also working to increase customer loyalty by providing VIP services to its consumers. It is also continuously improving the way consumers love to communicate so that customer engagement remains uninterrupted. Besides, as a bold move, rather than focusing on all the consumers, Lloyds Bank is only focusing on most-profitable and responsible consumers.


I work in a totally inclusive school district as an inclusion speech-language pathologist. My caseload consists of the neediest students in the district. Those kids are simply fascinating to me.


LOW-PREVALENCE rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has not gained attention equal to that of more common chronic diseases, but it has earned a spot on the list of complex diseases ripe for disease management.


I. A.S. Nikoforov, V. V. Kulichenko, and M. I. Zhikharev, Rendering Liquid Radioactive Wastes Harmless [in Russian], ~nergoatomizdat, Moscow (1985), pp. 71-105 and 141-165. 2. V.D. Balukova, N. E. Brezhneva, M. I. Zhikharev, et al., "The basic lines of work relating to the treatment of radioactive wastes in the USSR," in: Nuclear Power Experience [in Russian], Vol. 3, pp. 167-180, IAEA, Vienna (1983). 3. V.I. Davydov, P. G. Dobrygin, V. V. Dolgov, et al., "The KS-KT-100 equipment for twostage vitrification of radioactive wastes and results of its testing in simulators," in: Proc. Management of Radiactive Wastes from the Nuclear Fuel Cycle [in Russian], Vol. I, pp. 375-384, IAEA, Vienna (1976). 4. V.V. Kulichenko, N. V. Krylova, and N. D. Musatov, "Thermal, chemical, and radiation stability of vitrified radioactive wastes," in: Proc. Management of Radioactive Wastes from the Nuclear Fuel Cycle [in Russian], Vol. 2, pp. 85-96, IAEA, Vienna (1976). 5. V.V. Kulichenko, N. V. Krylova, and I. I. Kryukov, "The properties which determine the behavior of highly active wastes in their storage in geological formations," in: Proc. Underground Disposal of Radioactive Wastes [in Russian], Vol. 2, pp. 201-207, IAEA, Vienna (1980).


Eighteen growing pigs weighing 32.4 +- 1.4 were assigned in a completely randomized design to three levels of dietary rearmaments to know the effect of quantitative fed restriction on them. Each treatment had three replicates of two growing pigs per replicate. Each of the treatment was fed one of the 3 dietary levels as follows: 10% of the body weight as feed given to the control group (T1), 7.5% for T2 and 5.5% for T3. Analysis of variance at the end revealed that though the total feed intake value for T1 differed slightly numerically than those of T2 and T3; there were no significant differences (P> 0.05) in feed gain and body weight gain in all the treatments. Economic analysis was also determined. Result shows that subjecting growing pigs to feed restriction made higher profit than the control. Keywords : Quantitative, feed restriction, Pig Global Journal of Agricultural Sciences Vol. 7 (1) 2008: pp. 31-34


[1] Vertical in-ice spectral radiation profiles were measured within melting 1.5- to 1.7-m-thick landfast sea ice in western Hudson Bay on 25 April 2005. Because the surface ice was subject to extensive melting and refreezing, the sea ice had fractioned into two main types, i.e., areas of more reflective white ice and less reflective blue ice. The shortwave albedo was about 0.69 for white ice and 0.47 for bare blue ice. The corresponding shortwave transmittance through the ice cover was about 0.02 and 0.09, respectively. The inherent optical properties of the sea ice were inferred by tying the input and output of radiative transfer simulations to the radiation profiles and the ice physical properties, as well as to the irradiance measurements above and below the ice cover. To explain observed spectral albedo and transmittance simultaneously, the ice/snow above the interior ice was divided into three layers on the basis of the following observations: snow (white ice) or a thin soot containing layer (blue ice), drained ice above and saturated ice below the waterline. Similarly, the bottom portion was divided on the basis of the presence of a living ice algae layer adjacent to the seawater interface and a layer extending 30 cm above the bottom containing mostly detrital matter. The interior of the ice, i.e., roughly 20–40 cm from boundaries, was well-represented by a single layer of pure sea ice as the radiation field was nearly asymptotic and the absorption spectra showed little evidence of impurities. Representative values for the scattering coefficient ranged 600–800 m−1, with a Henyey-Greenstein asymmetry parameter of 0.995. Observations within white ice suggest that about 40% of the energy responsible of the internal melting was provided directly by shortwave radiation, while the rest is due to heat conduction.


This paper investigates the sociomateriality of collective creation in the context of a design studio project. Grounded in a relational approach that has influenced a multitude of studies in various fields, the notion of sociomateriality accounts for the constitutive entanglement of the social and the material in practice. How this entanglement occurs or what exactly is subjected to it, however, remains largely unarticulated, especially in studies where the handling of materials lies at the heart of the research process. By adopting a relational approach operationalized through qualitative network analysis, we traced the sociomaterial trajectories of a studio project to identify the moments in which various actors were entangled. The resulting network visualizes these moments and assists in explicating how they enabled the instantiation of intersubjective design ideas.


At low concentrations addition of exo‐brevicomin synergizes the attraction of Ips typographus to pheromone traps. At high concentration levels the catches are reduced by adding exo‐brevicomin to the traps, indicating concentration dependent interspecific effect of exo‐brevicomin which, thus, may be a cue to I. typographus for choice of breeding material and regulating the colonization density.


Some aspects on biology of pilumnid crabs, Heteropanope glabra Stimpson, 1858 were studied.  Crabs were collected from mangrove area near the paved road along the seashore bridge, Muang district, Chonburi province.  Specimen of crabs were collected for two months from April to May 2016.  The total number of collected crabs were 444 crabs, with 217 males and 227 females.  Female crabs were divided into two groups, without egg and with eggs.  There were 95 females without egg and 132 females with eggs.  The sex ratio between male and female crabs was 1.05: 1.00.   The carapace width in most of the male crabs were in the range of 12-22 mm, whereas in female and ovigerous female crabs were in the range of 12-17 mm.  The maximum and minimum carapace width of male crabs was 25.28 and 8.29 mm respectively, with the average of 16.28 ± 2.60 mm.  The maximum and minimum carapace width of female crabs without egg were 18.18 and 10.97 mm respectively, with the average of 14.25 ± 1.59 mm.  The maximum and minimum carapace width of female with eggs were 18.98 and 9.72 mm, respectively with the average of 14.05 ± 1.67.  There was no difference between average size of female without eggs and females with eggs.  The carapace width of the smallest size of female crab with eggs was 9.72 mm.  The equation of the relationship between carapace width and carapace length of crabs in both sexes was    CL = 0.6469CW + 0.7309  Keywords : sex ratio, carapace width, carapace length, Pilumnid crab, Heteropanope glabra 309


Burstcoin is a cryptocurrency which differ from the well-known Bitcoin, among several integral component which encompass any cryptocurrency, the mining process is one which differ greatly between t ...


The present paper is a preliminary report on work being carried out at Princeton. The methods of representation constitute an offshoot of work on the general problem of surveying with photographs from aeroplanes, with which the author has been engaged over a number of years.

The general method of air-survey, as at present practiced, consists in setting up pairs of overlapping photographs from aeroplanes in such a way that a stereoscopic image of the terrain, to known scale and orientation, is produced, and then securing measurements, etc., of this image. In ordinary practice this results in a topographical map of the usual type. The writer has been working on a variation of this procedure in which a three-dimensional carving, or relief-map, of the terrain is produced, having any desired relation of vertical and horizontal scales. The carving, or a replica of the carving, is then photographically sensitized, returned to position beneath the projectors casting the plastic image, and exposed, the result being a photographic relief-map free from parallactic distortion. (A model of this type was exhibited at the meeting.)


Past research concludes that communication apprehension (CA) impacts academic achievement over and beyond intelligence, type of performance-oriented class, language proficiency, and amount of verbal activity. This study explores the possibility that this relationship is context-based by examining the impact of CA in the generalized contexts of small group, dyads, meetings and public speaking on the students' classroom achievement. Further, this study investigates the relationships among students' CA, their perceptions of nonverbal immediacy in general and specific contexts and their final course grades. This study of 389 students found that CA means were not significantly different for any final grade. Further, final grades were not affected by their perceptions of either general or contextual immediacy. These findings question previous research which indicates that those who are highly apprehensive receive lower final grades than do moderately or lowly apprehensive students. CA, overall and in generalized contexts, was significantly correlated with generalized and contextual immediacy. As was expected when CA increased, immediacy became lower. However, it appears that students feel more comfortable interacting -less apprehensive and more nonverbally immediate -in the context of their communication class than in other educational and non-educational settings. COMMURICATION APPREHENSION, GENERALIZED AND CONTEXTUAL IMMEDIACY AND ACHIEVEMENT IN THE BASIC COURSE A recent bibliographical compilation lists over 800 articles and conference papers which have dealt with communication apprehension (CA) and other constructs related to communication anxiety and avoidance (Payne & Richmond, 1984). An increasing body of research shoves that the behavioral and personality correlates of these constructs are personal, social, occupational, and educational handicaps for approximately 20 percent of the U.S. population (Daly & M "Croskey, 1984; Richmond & McCroskey, 1985). Students who are highly communication apprehensive have been found to be at a disadvantage academically (McCroskey, 1977). In fact, a recent survey of research into the effects of communication avoidance concluded that the fact that quiet students are less likely to get into touble with the teacher may be the only positive impact of CA in the educational environment (Richmond &


To the death of Li Ping'er,Ximen suffers from it.Comparing to him,Wu Yueniang pretends to be grieved while Meng Yulou is ignorant of it.However,Pan Jinlian feels relaxed because her most challenged opponent has died.Ping's funeral represents the complexity of that world.The chapters describing the death of Li Ping'er deserve to be classical.


Women in a rural farming community in Etteh, Nigeria, have traditional beliefs about onchocerciasis which differ from the concepts of modern science. Recognizing these beliefs may allow health workers to gain the confidence and participation of the people and increase the effectiveness of control programmes.


This work proposes a detection scheme that identifies non-conforming behavior in a VoIP network, based on statistical analysis and hypothesis testing. VoIP networks are a popular, low-cost alternative for telephony that offer lower rates especially for long-distance calls. Other services such as FollowMe, enhance the traditional voice-oriented nature of these networks. Consequently several security concerns such as fraud calls, are related to the high availability required by a VoIP system. Fraud calls account for an average loss of 3% to 5% of the operators' revenue. Thus the detection and prevention of the users from behaving in a non-conforming way, becomes crucial. A trustworthy and secure management and billing scheme is necessary, to guarantee the proper operation. This work proposes a behavioral control scheme for the VoIP clients. An initial training period defines the normal behavior. Then statistical analysis and t-testing is employed to extract results regarding the users' profiles, with pre-defined confidence levels. A Buffer zone creates a more flexible decision-making process. The scheme also offers the ability to configure its parameters, in order to react appropriately under different network conditions and detect possible misuses. It is implemented and its rational operation is verified via several simulation scenarios.


The longitudinal structure function F-L and the ratio R-L Of the longitudinally to the transversely polarized virtual photon absorption cross section are mainly dependent on the gluon distribution in the small-x region. And the initial gluon distribution at Q(2) = Q(0)(2) determines whether we must consider the shadowing corrections to the evolution process. In this paper we use the new evolution equation to analysis F-L and R-L, and found there must be shadowing effects in the parton evolution process.


Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is typically represented as synovitis and bone erosions of small joints. This classic picture resulted from comparing patients with RA with other rheumatic joint diseases for clinical and radiographic characteristics. Although different classification criteria for RA have been developed over time, this classic picture has not changed since the mid-20th century. During the last decennium, advanced imaging modalities, such as MRI and musculoskeletal ultrasound (US), have refined our understanding of tissues involved in RA. We will argue that tenosynovitis at the level of the hand and feet joints is a feature that deserves to be added as the third classic trait of RA.

A feature can be considered as a disease trait when it occurs frequently and is specific, and when a new trait is considered its connection with the disease is not a substitute of an already acknowledged classic feature. We will study the occurrence of tenosynovitis in RA in the light of these principles.

Many, but not all, tendons at the hand and feet joints are surrounded by a sheath.1 2 Tendon sheaths have a cell composition …


A flame retardant coating was designed and synthesized using phenolic resin (PF), 9,10‐dihydro‐9‐oxa‐10‐phosphazephenanthrene‐10‐oxide (DOPO), and nano‐SiO2 as raw materials. The coating is applied to the surface of rigid polyurethane foam (RPUF) to give it a flame retardant effect. Based on the excellent adhesion of PF, the coating effectively suppresses heat transfer, and the synergistic effect of DOPO and nano‐SiO2 improves the flame retardancy of RPUF. In addition, vertical combustion experiments have shown that when the ratio of DOPO to nano‐SiO2 is 2:1, there is no dripping, the flame is self‐extinguishing, and the internal structure remains basically unchanged, resulting in the best flame retardant effect. The cone calorimetric test shows that the coating can effectively reduce the total heat release and heat release rate of the substrate, and the smoke release rate and total smoke release data show that its smoke suppression effect is significantly improved. Thermogravimetric analysis shows that the coating can effectively improve the residual carbon rate of RPUF, and its mechanical properties are good. This study confirms that coatings based on PF/DOPO/Nano‐SiO2 can effectively improve the flame retardancy of RPUF, providing a potential direction for the development of green insulation materials.


This research explores the determinants of organizational performance of quasiautonomous non-governmental organizations, namely quangos, in Korea. Although we have observed the growth of the quangos in various policy fields, empirical studies examining the top leadership and performance of quangos remain largely underdeveloped. Using panel data of 13 quangos in Korea from 1999 to 2007, this research seeks to fill the gap by examining how several characteristics of top management of quangos, including politicization of the board, chief executive succession, and insider/outsider origin of chief executives, affect their performance measured by performance evaluation index (PEI) and consumer satisfaction index (CSI). Analysis results show that some leadership characteristics have a significant positive effect on the PEI; while the CSI was more influenced by contextual factors such as the presidential change and unemployment rate, while leadership characteristics were not statistically significant.


Agents are autonomous system components that communicate using message passing. This paper presents a higher-order agent calculus and its implementation in the lazy functional programming language EBG. The calculus is given a semantics using a translation to the-calculus that encodes higher-order functions and normal order evaluation.


Background: Deficits in visual processing are a prominent feature of Alzheimer's disease (AD), yet the cognitive and neuropathological mechanisms underlying these deficits are poorly understood. In the current study, we examined the hypothesis that perceptual organization is specifically impaired in AD compared to other dementias. Methods: We examined perceptual organization with a psychophysically well-controlled measure of contour integration in patients with AD (n = 17), vascular dementia (n = 5), frontotemporal dementia (n = 5) and mild cognitive impairment (n = 10) and 11 age-matched healthy controls. Results: Patients with AD differed significantly in their ability to detect contours comprised of Gabor elements as detection relied increasingly on long-range spatial interactions. Impairments in contour integration were particularly pronounced in AD patients with atrophy and gliosis of white matter in the occipital lobe. Deficits in perceptual organization were not found in patients with other dementias and participants with mild cognitive impairment. Conclusions: These results suggest that a subgroup of AD patients is characterized by a specific deficit in visual perceptual organization, which might reflect the impaired functional integrity of occipital cortico-cortical pathways.


This paper begins with a consideration of the work of Leijonhufvud, who, in the 1960's, introduced what he termed "cybernetics" to correct many of the perceived weaknesses in macroeconomic theory. The authors use current advances in systems thinking to develop their own definition of Cybernetics and provide an example to illustrate how this definition of cybernetics can produce meaningful economic questions. The paper concludes with a synthesis of economic and cybernetic ideas which is termed "Economic Cybernetics". This term is common in the former Soviet countries but is unfamiliar to western audiences.


In the present work, a new, low energy consumption sol–gel synthesis route has been developed for geopolymer composites. Instead of the typically published 0.1–1.0 Al/Si molar ratios, the efforts of this study concentrated on the realization of >2.5 Al/Si molar ratios in the composite systems. The higher Al molar ratio significantly improves the mechanical properties. A very important aim was also the recycling of industrial waste materials with attention to environmentally friendly requirements. The very dangerous, toxic red mud as a waste product of aluminum industrial fabrication was selected for reclamation. The structural investigation was carried out by 27Al MAS NMR, XRD, and thermal analysis. The structural examination has unambiguously proven the composite phases in both gel and solid systems. The characterization of composites was performed with mechanical strength and water solubility measurements.


In this research, we propose the robot technology (RT) Ontology for Interactive Human-Space Design and Intelligence to make robot provide appropriate services according to situations. For this, we propose to define that "Main task" as a task that the user requests and "Tsuide task" as an essential task accompanied with the "Main task" to complete it. We focus on the development of the system for identifying and defining "Tsuide task" that is changed by the intention of user and the main task. We name the proposing technique as "RT Ontology" which can be used for the infrastructure technology for structuring space information. In this paper, we describe the outline of RT Ontology and experiments.


The nutritive components of Ampelopsis grossedentatawere determined, and the use of its root, stem and leaf in the preparation of Ampelopsis grossedentata drinks was studied. Two new recipes were achieved.


High precision contact scanning probes for measuring miniature components on micro- and nano-coordinate measuring
machines require elastic mechanisms. In order to realize the probe's mechanical behavior and stiffness when designing
an elastic mechanism for a contact scanning probe, the elastic mechanism is analyzed by the theory of elasticity and
finite element analysis in this paper. The contact scanning probe is composed of a fiber stylus with a ball tip, a
mechanism of floating plate suspended by four leaf springs, and two optical sensors. The leaf springs experience elastic
deformation when a contact force is applied. Uniform stiffness model is analyzed. Simulation and experimental results
verify the correctness of the analysis.


Effects of a concurrent training protocol on body composition and phase angle in physically inactive young women: A quasi-experimental intervention study. Int. J. Morphol., 39(6) :1600-1608, 2021. SUMMARY: To determine the effect of a concurrent training program on body composition and phase angle in young women. 38 women (19.26 – 1.86 years) participated in the study, and were assigned according to convenience sampling into two groups: 11 into the control group (CG) and 27 into the intervention group (IG). The IG performed a 12-weeks concurrent training protocol. The frequency was five days a week, and the intensity was established in 40-60 % of a repetition maximum to strength exercise, and 40-65 % heart rate reserve to endurance exercise. Body composition and phase angle were evaluated by bioelectrical impedance before and after the intervention. The IG had a decrease in fat mass (pre = 24.66 – 5.65 kg; post = 20.38 – 4.20 kg; Cohen's d = .80; p< 0,001 [CI 95 % = 3.34,5.22]), and an increase in muscle mass (pre = 22.75 – 3.23 kg; post: 23.50 – 3.41 kg; Cohen's d = -0.86; p= <0,001[CI 95 % = -1.09,-0.40]) and total phase angle (pre = 5.72º – 0.39; post: 6.24º – 0.51; Cohen's d = -1.32; p=<0,001 [CI 95 % = -0.67,-0.36]), whereas the CG had not show significant variations in variables of body composition or total phase angle. The results suggest that a 12-weeks concurrent training program could modify positively the young women's body composition and phase angle. Hence, it is recommended using similar protocols to change variables related to young women's health.


[Purpose] We examined the short-term effects of two types of stretch utilized in the specific techniques of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF). [Subjects] The subjects were 20 healthy adult males. [Method] We used two techniques categorized under "repeated stretch" from among the PNF specific techniques. Before and after PNF, we measured the reaction time (RT) of elbow flexion, and examined the maintenance of its effect. [Results] In the Repeated Stretch group, we found a shortening of RT, compared to before PNF, which lasted for 20 min from immediately after PNF. In the Slow Reversal group, we found a significant effect only at immediately after PNF. [Conclusion] Since the shortening of RT was maintained for 20 min in the Repeated Stretch group, it is possible to apply this intervention in the clinical application of physical therapy techniques.


Various balance and imbalance conditions among the U.S., Russia, Turkey, Syria, and Iran are analyzed to present how changes in the direction of conflict and cooperation disturb the regional balance in the Syria conflict. We find that given a stable hostility between the U.S. and Russia, and the stable friendship between Russia and Syria, Turkish preferences over coveting friendship and leaning toward enmity are central in the formation of balances. Turkey-Syria relations constitute a key for the balance in the region. A main Russian foreign-policy problem thus remains to help Turkey and Syria to conduct friendlier relations. A competition or an agreement between the U.S. and Russia over Kurdish independence underlies TFP alignment choices and a high likelihood of a protracted conflict for years to come in the Middle East. The inclusion of Iran into the U.S.-Russia-Turkey-Syria system produces a five-state system of the U.S., Russia, Turkey, Syria, and Iran. The system generates ten triads: U.S.-Russia-Turkey; U.S.-Russia-Syria; U.S.-Russia-Iran; U.S.-Turkey-Syria; U.S.-Turkey-Iran; U.S.-Syria-Iran; Russia-Turkey-Syria; Russia-Turkey-Iran; Russia-Syria-Iran; and Turkey-Syria-Iran. The large number of triads might present analytic problems but the structural balance theorem eases our task of finding the balance condition in the system: either all states are mutual friends or they are partitioned in into two coalitions such that coalition members are mutual friends but are enemies of each member of the opposing coalition. 25 The two figures below respectively display imbalance and balance in the system of the U.S.-Russia-Turkey-Syria-Iran.


To compare 1.8 mm micro‐incision and 2.75 mm standard incision in coaxial cataract surgery combined with 23‐Gauge (23G) vitrectomy with respect to intraoperative and postoperative complications and outcomes.


The optimum of waster paper treatment technology and method was as follows. Firstly, the organic combined production flow of waste paper treatment of operation units such as pulping, screening, cleaning, floating se- lection; washing; heat dispersing and bleaching was selected and determined according to the kinds of paper, standard and quality of ready production. And then the most suitable operation method and equipment were chosen in operation units to reach the optimum of the final flow and treatment technol- ogy. The new technology, new method and optimum combination applied in waste paper treatment were introduced in detail.


The current study tested the association of number of children and the age at which parents sought treatment for alcohol dependence for the first time in the life. From the sample of 1,316 patients 1,109 were included for analysis. The mean age was 44 (SD ± 12.6) years; 71% were males. Their histories were retrospectively reviewed for the descriptive study that focused on the number of children at the first time of patient entry into a  specialized health facility for alcohol dependence treatment. The data were subjected to one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results showed that a higher mean age of the patients at the time when they were for the first time seeking treatment for the problems diagnosed as alcohol dependence was associated in both sexes with having more children: male and female patients without children, 36 (SD ± 11.8) and 35 (SD ± 10.0) years, respectively; male and female patients with one child, 44 (SD ± 11.7) and 43 (SD ± 10.8) years; with two children, 50 (SD ± 10.1) and 50 (SD ± 9.5) years, respectively; with three and more children, 50 (SD ± 10.3) and 51 (SD ± 10.8) years. The association between number of children and age at treatment was statistically significant (p ≤ 0.000). Conversely, there were no significant differences between female and male patients. Parents with more children tended to seek the first treatment for alcohol use problems diagnosed as dependence later, than those with one child or those who were childless.


Electric vehicles (EVs) have gained in popularity over the years. The charging of a high number of EVs harms the distribution system. As a result, increased transformer overloads, power losses, and voltage fluctuations may occur. Thus, management of EVs is required to address these challenges. An EV charging management system based on machine learning (ML) is utilized to route EVs to charging stations to minimize the load variance, power losses, voltage fluctuations, and charging cost whilst considering conventional charging, fast charging, and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technologies. A number of ML algorithms are contrasted in terms of their performances in optimization since ML has the ability to create accurate future decisions based on historical data, which are Decision Tree (DT), Random Forest (RF), Support Vector Machine (SVM), K-Nearest Neighbours (KNN), Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) and Deep Neural Networks (DNN). The results verify the reliability of the use of LSTM for the management of EVs to ensure high accuracy. The LSTM model successfully minimizes power losses and voltage fluctuations and achieves peak shaving by flattening the load curve. Furthermore, the charging cost is minimized. Additionally, the efficiency of the management system proved to be robust against the uncertainty of the load data that is used as an input to the ML system.


The First Year Curriculum Principles espouse a student-focused consistent and explicit curriculum, acknowledging diversity and the need to scaffold skills and learning. Commencing law students are no different to other first year students in that they must deal with changes in teaching and learning approaches and expectations. As well as the generic issues of transition, law students must grapple with learning the skills which are necessary for the study of law from the very start of their degree. A transition program at the commencement of a law degree as part of a planned first year curriculum provides an opportunity to introduce students to the study of law, the requisite skills as well as assist with transition to tertiary education.


The design and implementation of a new mechatronic system for lower limb rehabilitation is presented in this paper. The medical rehabilitation of the knee joint will be focused in this paper, because their injuries are characterized by a high degree of importance. The system applies a closed loop rehabilitation protocol, diagnosis treatment feedback from the patient, and allows a real time recuperative progress recording for the patient, using a database that stores the patient's evolution. The mechatronic system evaluates the patient's recovery based on the joint angular positions variation and also based on normal and tangential forces developed during the interaction between the human foot and the rehabilitation system. The normal and tangential forces can highlight the disease's gravity and also the rehabilitation progress. The results obtained from the experimental testes performed on a healthy subject and patient provides valuable information concerning the main parameters (angle, forces) involved in rehabilitation process appreciation and also, demonstrate the system's efficiency.


Background: The mental health of young people is highly influenced by the identity exploration processes, social origin of identity, and information processing styles. Objectives: The present study was aimed to investigate the effects of metacognitive beliefs on dimensions of emerging adulthood (EA) identity mediated by mental health in university students. Materials & Methods: In this descriptive correlational study, the statistical population included all male and female, 18-25-year-old university students of the public universities of Tehran in 2020-21. The study sample consisted of 178 students selected through convenience sampling. The research instruments included Arnett's Inventory of the Dimensions of Emerging Adulthood (IDEA), Metacognition Questionnaire-30 (MCQ-30), and Goldberg's General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12). The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). Results: Metacognitive beliefs was directly associated with mental health (β=0.61, P=0.001) and instability/negativity (β=0.24, P=0.010). Moreover, mental health had a significant positive association with instability/negativity (β=0.25, P=0.004) and a significant inverse association with possibilities/optimism (β=-0.23, P=0.018). The relationship between metacognitive belief with instability/negativity and possibilities/optimism was partly mediated by mental health. Conclusion: It is necessary to pay special attention to metacognitive beliefs as a factor affecting some EA dimensions such as instability/negativity and possibilities/optimism. Mental health should also be considered as the mediator in the association relationship between metacognitive beliefs and EA dimensions. Based on the results of the present study, it is recommended to hold training workshops on metacognitive strategies to improve their mental health and form identity styles.


We introduce machine learning methodology to the study of lattice polytopes. With supervised learning techniques, we predict standard properties such as volume, dual volume, reflexivity, etc, with accuracies up to 100%. We focus on 2d polygons and 3d polytopes with Pl\"ucker coordinates as input, which out-perform the usual vertex representation.


Although spills of low volatility toxic liquids do not receive the public attention given to releases of high volatility or flammable liquids, releases of low volatility toxic chemicals may present a hazard to facility personnel and the public. The purpose of this paper is to develop a method of ranking and evaluating the hazard presented to the public by a low volatility toxic chemical or a low volatility mixture of toxic chemicals. The ranking system, named LOVRS (LOw Volatility hazards Ranking System), can be used to determine if currently stored chemicals present a hazard to the public, or to screen the list of chemicals that might be stored at a proposed facility. For example, this type of information could be used to determine whether a mixture of chemicals stored at a toxic waste incineration site presents a hazard to the public. LOVRS employs readily available chemical properties, such as vapor pressure, molecular weight, Short Term Exposure Limit (STEL), Time Weighted Average (TWA), or other selected measure of toxicity, to compute a numerical value that is related to the hazard potential of each chemical. Commonly available sources of the required chemical properties are the CCPS DIPPR data base, NIOSH, etc. This paper presents ten toxic chemicals which were ranked using LOVRS and compares the results with other ranking methods. Extension of the pure-component ranking equations to multi-component mixtures of hazardous chemicals is developed. Evaporation rate and dispersion calculations were made for the ten chemicals ranked using LOVRS. The results of the calculations for worst-case conditions (Pasquill F stability, 1.5 m/s wind speed) with an assumed distance of 16,500 ft (5,030 m) to an area of concern are presented. Using the computed results, a relationship is shown to exist between the LOVRS Toxic Index value and the maximum mole fraction of a component that can be present in the released mixture. This relationship can be used to determine the maximum mole fraction at which a toxic chemical can be stored in a low volatility mixture without presenting a hazard to the public.


Dipeptidyl peptidase‐4 (DPP‐4) inhibitors are used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Available sub‐group analysis of clinical trials does not allow a clear identification of predictors of therapeutic response to these drugs. The aim of this study is the assessment of predictors of response to DPP‐4 inhibitors.


Nucleic acids, depending on their nucleotide sequences, can exhibit a variety of conformational transitions and adopt different secondary structures such as hairpins, triplexes, left-handed Z-DNA or quadruplexes. Nucleic acids are electroactive species producing a set of intrinsic voltammetric signals at different types of working electrodes. Some of these are sensitive to DNA structure changes. In this contribution we studied the influence of the formation of G-quadruplexes on the electrochemical behavior of synthetic ODN at mercury and carbon electrodes.


PurposeA review of papers on public sector accounting in emerging economies, as published in the Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies' (JAEE) first decade.Design/methodology/approachA reflection on the issues covered and achievements made in the reviewed papers in the context of extant knowledge in this domain.FindingsA majority of the research in JAEE is dominated by accounting reforms inspired by New Public Management (NPM). Performance management, budgeting and accrual accounting are the main topics in the reviewed research. NPM claims, which can range from usability and use of a new accounting repertoire to desirable impacts on efficiency and service delivery, are often not fulfilled. Many papers attempt to explain failing accounting innovations by the local context in which they are embedded, including political instability, poor governance and a lack of capabilities.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper reviews research in a niche journal, but the findings are related to wider public sector accounting literature.Practical implicationsPublic sector practitioners, but also researchers, need to move away from a focus on public sector reforms due to contextual circumstances leading to built-in failures and concentrate instead on understanding how the accounting repertoire works in practice, including routes for improvements therein.Originality/valueAn original framework for analysing public sector accounting research in emerging economies is proposed, which, among others, distinguishes between various ambition levels for achieving NPM reforms.


God Bless You Mr Rosewater is a novel about people - their pleasures, pains and perversions - and money. It is a penetrating satire on insanity - a millionaire's private lunacy, the inherited obsessions of a famous family and the collective madness that grips a whole nation.


Vertebral centra were removed from 55 tag-recaptured lemon sharks, Negaprion brevirostris, that had been injected intramuscularly with tetracycline hydrochloride at a dosage level of 12.5 mg/kg at the time of release. Tetracycline deposited at sites of active calcification on the vertebral centra served as a fluorescent marker along the periphery of each centrum at the time of injection. Thin growth zones, or circuli, were observed in ground and stained sections. A lunar periodicity of approx. 29 d was validated for circulus deposition. Precision of circulus counts was evaluated, with an index of average percent error of 3.4% for a single reader. Age estimates were then obtained using circulus counts for a total of 110 sharks, with a plot of precaudal length against estimated age for both sexes fitting a von Bertalanffy growth curve with the parameters Loo = 317.65, k = 0.057, and to = -2.302. The predicted age at maturity for males is 11.6 yr and for females is 12.7 yr. These results show that this species is slow growing and long-lived.


The Raman spectrum of LiNbO3 has been measured for various scattering configurations in crystals with different compositions. The comparison between spectra recorded for congruent and the nearly stoichiometric crystals shows significant differences in the shape and the number of Raman peaks. The analysis of results may be used to describe a complete vibrational modes of the long-wavelength optical phonos in


The invention discloses a system and a method for cross-mode inter-system switching of a dual-mode mobile terminal, which are used for switching a terminal from a GSM/GPRS mode communication system to a TD mode communication system. In the method, after a signaling plane lower module completes mode switching, an SNDCP module informs a PDI module to suspend data transmission under the request of an SM module, and the PDI module caches data received from an application layer; the SM module informs a PDCP module to establish a data transmission channel in a TD mode and informs the SNDCP module to release a data transmission channel in a GSM/GPRS mode; and the PDI module sends data to the PDCP module, the PDCP module completes the establishment of the data transmission channel under TD mode after receiving the data to complete the mode switching. The system and the method for cross-mode inter-system switching of the terminal ensures that packet domain data are not lost during being switched.


The calibration of four-terminal-pair(4TP) impedance meters at their working frequencies requires the knowledge of 4TP standard capacitor frequency characteristic. The calibration theory of 4TP air-dielectric standard capacitor frequency characteristic is studied by the predigest of 4TP impedance matrix according to the definition of 4TP admittance. Then the driving point impedance values at very high frequencies are measured by network analyzer and a regression analysisis performed to predict the capacitor frequency characteristic at frequencies from 100 kHz to 13 MHz. Finally the frequency characteristics of 1 000 pF,100 pF,10 pF,1 pF standard capacitor and their measurement uncertainties are given. The study may be the base of high-frequency impedance traceability.


Training feedforward neural networks with standard logistic activations is considered difficult because of the intrinsic properties of these sigmoidal functions. This work aims at showing that these networks can be trained to achieve generalization performance comparable to those based on hyperbolic tangent activations. The solution consists on applying a set of conditions in parameter initialization, which have been derived from the study of the properties of a single neuron from an information-theoretic perspective. The proposed initialization is validated through an extensive experimental analysis.


Abstract Drops subjected to electric fields can deform into singular shapes exhibiting apparent sharp tips. At high field strengths, a perfectly conducting drop surrounded by a perfectly insulating exterior fluid deforms into a prolate-shaped drop with conical ends and can exist in hydrostatic equilibrium. On the conical ends, capillary stress, which is due to the out-of-plane curvature and is singular, balances electric normal stress which is also singular. If the two phases are not perfect conductors/insulators but are both leaky dielectrics and the drop is much more conducting and viscous than the exterior, electric tangential stress disrupts the hydrostatic force balance and leads to jet emission from the cone's apex. If, however, the physical situation is inverted so that a weakly conducting, slightly viscous drop is immersed in a highly conducting, more viscous exterior, the drop deforms into an oblate lens-like profile before eventually becoming unstable. In experiments, the equator of a lenticular drop superficially resembles a wedge prior to instability. Such a drop disintegrates by equatorial streaming by ejecting a thin liquid sheet from its equator. We show theoretically by performing a local analysis that a lenticular drop's equatorial profile can be a wedge only if an approximate form of the surface charge transport equation – continuity of normal current condition – is used. Moreover, we demonstrate via numerical simulation that such wedge-shaped drops do not become unstable and therefore cannot emit equatorial sheets. We then show by transient simulations how equatorial streaming can occur when charge transport along the interface is analysed without approximation.


Abstract:  We report a rare childhood occurrence of melanoma in situ presenting as diffuse nail pigmentation resulting from expanding longitudinal melanonychia, and discuss factors that should come into play when considering a possible nail matrix biopsy.


Compared to the linear MIMO detectors, the Belief Propagation (BP) detector has shown greater capabilities in achieving near optimal performance and better nature to iteratively cooperate with channel decoders. Aiming at real applications, recent works mainly fall into the category of reducing the complexity by simplified calculations, at the expense of performance sacrifice. However, the complexity is still unsatisfactory with exponentially increasing complexity or required exponentiation operations. Furthermore, due to the inherent loopy structure, the existing BP detectors persistently encounter error floor in high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) region, which becomes even worse with calculation approximation. This work aims at a revised BP detector, named {Belief-selective Propagation (BsP)} detector by selectively utilizing the \emph{trusted} incoming messages with sufficiently large \textit{a priori} probabilities for updates. Two proposed strategies: symbol-based truncation (ST) and edge-based simplification (ES) squeeze the complexity (orders lower than the Original-BP), while greatly relieving the error floor issue over a wide range of antenna and modulation combinations. For the $16$-QAM $8 \times 4$ MIMO system, the $\mathcal{B}(1,1)$ {BsP} detector achieves more than $4$\,dB performance gain (@$\text{BER}=10^{-4}$) with roughly $4$ orders lower complexity than the Original-BP detector. Trade-off between performance and complexity towards different application requirement can be conveniently obtained by configuring the ST and ES parameters.


Previously, we reported that the substrate shape recognition of the Escherichia coli ribonuclease (RNase) P ribozyme depends on the concentration of magnesium ion in vitro. We additionally examined the Bacillus subtilis RNase P ribozyme and found that the B. subtilis enzyme also required high magnesium ion, above 10 mM, for cleavage of a hairpin substrate. The results of kinetic studies showed that the metal ion concentration affected both the catalysis and the affinity of the ribozymes toward a hairpin RNA substrate.


Two kinds of etherification reagents,dialkyloxycyclohexanes (Ⅱ)(1,1-dimethoxycyclohexane Ⅱa,1,1-diethoxycyclohexane Ⅱb and 1,1-diisopropoxycyclohexane Ⅱc) and alkyloxycyclohexenes (Ⅲ)(1-methoxycyclohexene Ⅲa, 1-ethoxycyclohexene Ⅲb and 1-isopropoxycyclohexene Ⅲc) were applied to the etherification protection of hydroxyl at the oxime group of erythromycin oxime (Ⅰ).Experimental results showed that the order of reactivity was ⅡcⅡbⅡa,ⅢcⅢbⅢa,and ⅢaⅡa,ⅢbⅡb,ⅢcⅡc.Ⅲc and Ⅲb have promising prospect for industrial application as compared with Ⅱc which is used at present.Also the optimum conditions were given as follows:dichloromethane as solvent,n(pyridine hydrochloride)/n(Ⅰ)=1.5-2,n(Ⅱor Ⅲ)/n(Ⅰ)=2-3,room temperature.


Cyano- and halogen-substituted 1,2-bis(1-benzothiophen-3-yl)ethene derivatives were synthesized in an attempt to obtain compounds with sensitivity at longer wavelengths. Under UV irradiation, the derivatives underwent ring closure reactions to form the substituted 11,12-dicyano-5a,5b-dihydro-5a,5b-dimethylbenzo[1,2b:6,5-b′]bis[1]benzothiophenes. Among cyano-substituted compounds, the 3,8-dicyano derivative showed an absorption maximum at the longest wavelength, 530 nm, which is 23 nm longer than the maximum of the unsubstituted compound. The absorption maximum of the 3,8-difluoro derivative, on the other hand, was 28 nm shorter than the maximum of the 2,9-difluoro derivative. Although the absorption maximum shift of the calculated values (MO INDO/S) by cyano substitution agreed well with the observed maxima, the calculation hardly reproduced the shift by halogen substitution.


In recent years, the utilization of voice interfaces has gained significant popularity, with speech synthesis technology playing a pivotal role in their functionality. However, speech synthesis technology is susceptible to noise interference in practical applications, which may lead to a decrease in the quality of speech synthesis. In this paper, the noise robustness of the Variational Inference with adversarial learning for end-to-end Text-to-Speech (VITS) model was investigated, which has shown promising results in speech synthesis tasks. This study conducted experiments using six different texts and evaluated the speech synthesis results using three metrics: Mean Opinion Score (MOS), Disfluency Prediction (DIS), and Colorfulness Prediction (COL). The experiments consist of a control group and six experimental groups, which include two types of noise, Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) and real-world noise, at three different signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs). The results demonstrated that both types of noise can significantly reduce the MOS scores of the synthesized speech, with a more severe decrease at lower SNRs. In terms of DIS and COL scores, the VITS model exhibits superior performance with real-world noise compared to AWGN noise, especially at lower SNRs. Moreover, even at an SNR of 3, the VITS model can still generate intelligible speech, which demonstrates its high noise robustness. The findings have important implications for the design of robust speech synthesis models in noisy environments. Future studies may focus on exploring more advanced noise-robust models or investigating the application of these models in practical voice interfaces.


IntroductionWith a disease attributable risk of 35% for the development of atherosclerotic cardiovascular events, 69% for stroke, 49% for congestive heart failure, and 24% for premature death (1-5), high blood pressure is one of the most important risk factors for cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. The raise in blood pressure with age has been associated with high sodium intake, independent of weight, physically activity, alcohol consumption and metabolic status (6). More than 90% of individuals with normal blood pressure will to develop hypertension over their lifetime (7).Sodium reduction is one of the most costeffective public health strategies to prevent cardiovascular disease. Reduction in sodium intake with an 1,840mg/day would reduce blood pressure by 5.1/2.7mmHg, and could prevent 1 in 6 cases of hypertension, 1 in 7 stroke deaths, 1 in 11 coronary heart disease deaths, and 1 in 14 deaths from any cause (8-10). These reductions could be even greater in specific ethnic and age groups as a result of salt sensitivity and over-consumption (11-16).Many studies reported that high sodium intake is a major factor increasing blood pressure at the population level. The effect of sodium intake on hypertension is much stronger than the effect of other lifestyle factors, such as weight gain, lack of fruit and vegetable consumption and lack of physical exercise. Many studies suggested that evidence linking sodium to high blood pressure is as strong as those linking cigarette smoking to cancer and heart disease (17-28).In Canada, hypertension affects nearly one in four people and it is the most common reason for a Canadian to visit a physician. Over 4 million prescriptions for antihypertensive medications are written every month (29, 30), and almost 46% of women and 38% of men aged 60 or over are on drug therapy for hypertension (31). In average adult Canadians consume approximately 3500mg of sodium per day, more than double the intake level of 1,500 recommended by the National Academies of Science (32).The objectives of this study are to study the potential associations of high sodium intake in relation to high blood pressure in different ethnicity groups in Canada, whether reduced sodium intake can reduce the risk of hypertension or suffering from subsequent cardiovascular complications in hypertensive patients, and to evaluate the recommendations that sodium intake be reduced to less than 2,300 mg/day in normatensive adults, and no more than 1,500 mg/day for people with hypertension of the Canadian hypertension education program (33), in different ethnicity groups.MethodsCanadian Community Health Survey (CCHS 2.2)The health and nutrition component of the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS 2.2) in 2004 was developed by Statistics Canada in consultation with an expert advisory group, with data collected between January 2004 and January 2005. This component focused on general health and nutrition. Individuals' daily sodium intake was estimated from 24-hour recall of food and beverage consumption. Daily sodium intake was averaged and compared by hypertension status (34). This study was conducted according to the guidelines laid down in the Declaration of Helsinki and all procedures involving human subjects/patients were approved by the Canadian ethics committee; and there is no conflict of the ethics in this study.Survey SamplingThe CCHS 2.2 survey targeted a sample size of 30,000 respondents from all age groups (aged 12 and older) living in privately occupied dwellings in all ten provinces of Canada. Excluded from the sampling frame were residents of the three territories, persons living on Indian reserves or Crown Lands, persons living in institutions, full-time members of the Canadian Forces and residents of some remote regions (Table 1).We selected all adult stakeholders aged 18 and over in this study to exclude the children and young adolescents. …


There are multiple initiatives aimed at strengthening coastal communities against tsunami disaster risks, such as growing vegetation belts, construction of embankments, moats, and different hybrid alternatives. To find a solution for strengthening the coastal buildings themselves, we firstly reviewed the flow phenomena around a single emergent (circular and rectangular) cylinder (case C1), which was considered as a piloti-type column under different Froude conditions, and evaluated the formation of surface bow-waves, hydraulic jump detachment, and wall-jet-like bow-waves. Secondly, the flow characteristics were investigated under the same Froude conditions with side-by-side two-cylinder (case C2) and four-cylinder (case C4) arrays in an open channel. Surface bow-wave length (LBw) increased by 7–12% over the rectangular cylinders (RCs) compared to the circular cylinders (CCs) with a subcritical flow. For the supercritical flow with a 1/200 bed slope, hydraulic jump detachment was observed in relation to the Froude number. The observed length of the hydraulic jump detachment (Ljump) varied between 3.1–8.5% and 4.2–12.9% for the CCs and RCs in the supercritical flow with a 1/200 bed slope. In addition, the wall-jet-like bow-wave height (hjet) over the CCs was increased by 37% and 29% compared to the RCs with a supercritical flow and zero bed slope (orifice-type flow). For case C4, a hydraulic jump was observed for the supercritical flow over the horizontal channel bed. Finally, empirical equations were defined concerning the geometrical shape and arrangement based on the experiment data for the single and side-by-side configurations of the cylinders to validate the height of the wall-jet-like bow-wave as the most critical flow property.


MODELS OF PARTICIPATION: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF PARTICIPATORY MECHANISMS IN LATIN AMERICA Pascal Lupien Advisor: University of Guelph, 2015 Professor Jordi Díez In the past decade, Latin America has witnessed an explosion of institutions designed to encourage and channel popular participation in decision-making. Participatory mechanisms have emerged under left-wing governments that claim a strong ideological commitment to "radical" participatory democracy while in other countries citizen participation is promoted as a means of improving governance rather than as an alternative model of democratic politics. Despite the recent expansion of innovative democratic experiments, scholars have observed that much of what has been written focuses on theoretical issues and normative debates. There is relatively little empirical research and a lack of comparative work that contrasts different models of citizen participation. This thesis addresses these gaps in the literature. It compares local participatory mechanisms in three countries with different models of participatory design: Venezuela's "radical" participatory democracy, Chile's "pragmatic" efforts at expanding participation and Ecuador's "hybrid" model that demonstrates features of both. Drawing on extensive fieldwork, it compares outcomes produced by participatory mechanisms in these countries and identifies five factors that enhance or diminish their ability to generate positive outcomes: decision-making and implementation capacity, quality of deliberation, inclusiveness, levels of engagement and the nature of relationships between participatory mechanisms and local authorities. The findings reveal that the "radical" model does not produce significantly better outcomes despite its promises of deepening the quality of democracy. Institutional design and state discourse on democracy are therefore less important than the extent to which these five factors are present.


This study presents considerations of a research on formation of teachers in which teaching with research is an important contribution for the graduation. It has problematized consequences for learners from the project "Memorias, lugares e a cidade", developed over two academic years in the discipline Methodology of Social Sciences Teaching into three classes of Pedagogy in a public university. The paper reports the city as a privileged space for teaching and learning since it has memories and trajectories


In this article the authors review the trends and differentials in mor- tality from self-inflicted injury and poisoning in the Czech Republic between the early 1970s and the present in terms of their socio-economic and demographic associations. They describe the sources of data on suicide and explore the pos- sible extent of under-reporting of deaths from suicide, and they examine the dif- ferences in suicide incidence by age and sex. With the decline in mortality from suicide, the male/female ratio of suicide rates increased from about 2.6 in the early 1970s to around 4.0 in recent years. Suicide rates increase steadily with age, and this pattern did not noticeably change during the period reviewed. The age- specific suicide rates of older men and women declined more than the rates for younger people. As in other societies, married men and women have the lowest suicide rates; in contrast, divorce puts both men and women at the greatest risk of suicide. The authors attempt to investigate the social correlates of suicide by analysing the variation in suicide rates among districts in the Czech Republic and selected socio-economic and demographic characteristics of the district pop- ulations. Stepwise regression analysis is used to identify three independent vari- ables that explain 50% of the variation in suicide rates among districts: the abor- tion ratio, the percentage of locally born population, and the percentage of adults with limited education.


Detecting a location change by the scanning for or to use with this in a mobile device, in order to facilitate or support the one or more operations or techniques for monitoring assistance data, in whole or in part to some exemplary methods may be utilized, apparatus, or article of manufacture are disclosed herein. Briefly, differentiated by at least one embodiment, the method is, in the mobile device, and obtaining a schematic estimate of the location of the mobile device, a plurality of transmitters in the signal acquisition range of locations that have been estimated schematically and, selecting and transmitting a probe request addressed to at least some of the transmitters, if the number of responses to the probe request received from the transmitter is less than the threshold number, the passive scanning at the receiver of the mobile device It may include a to start to. .The


Background and aims Posture and physical activity are important aspects in the development of children and young people. They influence the development of motor skills and intellectual development, and they are important for maintaining physical health. The WHO indicates that increasing physical activity is a fundamental building block for the future health of children and young people. Also, concerns have been raised about the time children spend using digital technology and its effect on their posture. Methods A systematic literature review is being conducted on several aspects of posture and physical activity in children. A working group of various youth healthcare (YHC) professionals, patients' representatives, researchers and guideline developers will develop a guideline according to the principles of evidence-based medicine. Recommendations in the guideline will be based on the literature review and, if evidence is lacking, on consensus among professionals and experts. Also, parents and children will be involved during the guideline development process, to ensure recommendations are feasible and acceptable for parents and children. Results The guideline will provide YHC professionals with background information on posture and physical activity problems, and recommendations regarding strategies for monitoring, prevention, intervention, referral and collaboration with other health care providers. Conclusions A web-based guideline with recommendations for monitoring, prevention, intervention, referral and collaboration with other health care providers will be developed. It is expected that this guideline contributes to better quality of healthcare, as it supports evidence-based practice. Statement or main question Preventing posture problems and lack of physical activity requires active monitoring of YHC professionals.


SUMMARY Introduction The aim of this study was to evaluate marginal sealing ability of newly introduced Dyad Flow flowable composite and compare to total-etch and self-etch adhesive system at the coronal and apical margins of class V resin composite restorations. Material and Methods A standard class V cavity (3 mm mesiodistal width, 3 mm occlusogingival height and 1.5 mm axial depth) was prepared on the buccal surface of freshly extracted sound human teeth. Occlusal and gingival margins of the cavities were located in enamel and cementum/dentin, respectively. Teeth were randomly assigned into the three groups (n=10) and restored with different composite materials following the manufacturer's instructions: group I was restored with nanohybrid resin composite using total-etch bonding agent; group II was restored with nanohybrid resin composite using self-etch technique; group III was restored with flowable composite (Dyad Flow), respectively. After finishing and polishing, the teeth were coated with nail varnish and immersed in rhodamine B dye and sectioned longitudinally. Dye penetration was examined under stereomicroscope and scored separately for occlusal and gingival margins on a 0–3 ordinal scale. Data were analyzed with Kruskal–Wallis, Mann–Whitney and Wilcoxon tests (a=0.05). Result Statistical analysis showed that specimens restored with the total-etch and self-etch adhesive systems revealed reduced leakage at the coronal margin. At the apical margin, Dyad Flow showed greater leakage than other groups. Conclusion Newly introduced flowable composite Dyad Flow showed inferior adhesive bond with enamel and dentin compared to total-etch and self-etch techniques.


There is an increased incidence of maxillofacial trauma in conflicts of the 21st century in comparison to those of the 20th century. This is attributed to the asymmetrical nature of modern war with the increased use of improvised explosive devices and improved thoraco-abdominal protection provided by current body armour. This paper aims to briefly review the principles of the initial management of modern battlefield ballistic injuries. The opinions given in this paper are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the UK MoD.


Costumer satisfaction are closely related to products or services which are sold to costumer. Besides it , costumer satisfaction can used as success measurement of company performance especially on services company because costumer used directly that services.  Costumer satisfaction on services company, especially logistic servives can be mesasured by few things, for an example service that company give to costumer, time delivery and facility. This research aims to exam that correlate service quality, on-time delivery and facility to J&T Express costumer satisfaction in Semarang. Sample for this research are random person of 100 costumers that had used J&T Express. Sampling Technique use Accidental Sampling, processed by SPSS 23 th edition that use Multiple linier analysis. Result of this research show that servive quality, on-time delivery and facility has significant and positive . On-time delivery variable has a biggest effect for costumer saticfaction.


Essay 1 (with Oskar Nordstrom Skans): This paper provides field evidence on the causal impact of past successes on future performances. Since persistence in success or failure is likely to be linke ...


For nonlinear continuous-time systems, a robust adaptive output feedback control method based on output feedback exponential passivity (OFEP) with the cerebellar model articulation controller (CMAC) based parallel feedforward compensator (PFC) and feedforward (FF) input has been proposed. In this method, by applying the CMAC, which has low calculation cost and has strong nonlinearity characteristics, to PFC design and feedforward input design, stable output regulation control system is obtained for uncertain nonlinear systems. In this paper, we try to verify the effectiveness of the adaptive output feedback method with adaptive PFC and FF input via CMAC by experiments through a magnetic levitation system.


Cimanuk is one of considerable potential river in West Java besides the Citarum River and Citanduy. Associated with the use of river water as raw water Cimanuk for various uses, needs to be monitoring the water quality conditions continuously. Cimanuk water quality assessment conducted to determine compliance with its allocation, state of water quality status and trends of water quality changes from time to time. The research method involves sampling, measurement of field parameters, testing the water quality in the laboratory, evaluation and assessment of water quality conditions. Based on water quality data during the period of years 20052009, showed that the characteristic Cimanuk water quality is better. This can be seen from the level of freshness still meet water quality criteria with dissolved oxygen content greater than 3 mg/L. Potential of Cimanuk water quality in the rainy season is the Class I of Government Regulation no. 82/2001 (water that can be used for various uses), Class III and Class IV i n the dry season. Assessment of water quality status were calculated using STORET method. If the assessment carried out on B,C,D Class of State Java Governor no. 38/1991, Cimanuk River conditions are "lightly polluted" upstream and "medium polluted" in the downstream. When using the classification of Class I Government Regulation no. 82/2001, then the condition is "medium polluted" upstream and "heavily polluted" in the downstream. When using Class II, the condition is "medium polluted" in upstream to the downstream.


Under R.A. 7722, CHED is mandated to promote quality education, ensure the development of responsible and effective leadership, & the education of highlevel professionals, among others. Hence, this study investigated the correlation of managerial skills and leadership qualities of women leaders which is paramount in topmost positions in the academic community. Descriptive survey method was utilized, and the unit analysis of data was processed using the SPSS software which determined the relationship of managerial and leadership qualities for competencies of women leaders.The respondents were 150 one hundred fifty women managers/leaders and members of the academic council from SUCs and private HEIs in Region IV-A. It was found out that women leaders managerial skills were very high level in terms of conceptual skills, human relations and technical skills. Their leadership qualities such as commitment, communication skills, consistency, ethical values and paralegal knowledge were also found very high level. With respect to women competencies in terms of respect to conflict management, professional competence, quality management and social competence, & work competence women leaders were also found of very high level. Generally, all the correlation testing of the independent and dependent variables had shown significant relationships.


Previous results have shown that the human oncoembryonic protein α‐fetoprotein (AFP) induces dose‐dependent targeting apoptosis in tumor cells, accompanied by cytochrome c release and caspase 3 activation. AFP positively regulates cytochrome c/dATP‐mediated apoptosome complex formation in a cell‐free system, stimulates release of the active caspases 9 and 3 and displaces cIAP‐2 from the apoptosome and from its complex with recombinant caspases 3 and 9 [Semenkova et al. (2003) Eur. J. Biochem. 270, 276–282]. We suggested that AFP might affect the X‐linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP)–caspase interaction by blocking binding and activating the apoptotic machinery via abrogation of inhibitory signaling. We show here that AFP cancels XIAP‐mediated inhibition of endogenous active caspases in cytosolic lysates of tumor cells, as well as XIAP‐induced blockage of active recombinant caspase 3 in a reconstituted cell‐free system. A direct protein–protein interaction assay showed that AFP physically interacts with XIAP molecule, abolishes XIAP–caspase binding and rescues caspase 3 from inhibition. The data suggest that AFP is directly involved in targeting positive regulation of the apoptotic pathway dysfunction in cancer cells inhibiting the apoptosis protein function inhibitor, leading to triggering of apoptosis machinery.


Traditional rural elder security mode is facing unprecedented challenge under the wave of the market economics.Social security hasn't functioned properly.So the problem of rural elder security is in a predicament.Finally,the author puts forward some viewpoints on it.


On patterned peatlands, open water pools develop within a matrix of terrestrial vegetation ('ridges'). Regional patterns in the distribution of ridge–pool complexes suggest that the relative cover of these two surface types is controlled in part by climate wetness, but landscape topography must also be an important controlling factor. In this paper, a functional model that relates relative cover of ridges and pools to climate and surface gradient was developed and tested. The model was formulated in terms of a water budget, based on the differential effects of ridges and pools on losses by evapotranspiration and subsurface flow. It predicts a positive relationship between surface gradient and ridge proportion, with a linear effect related to water supply and ridge hydraulic conductivity, modified at high ridge proportion by differences in evapotranspiration between ridges and pools. The limit to patterned peatland distribution occurs where the surface is completely covered by ridges. The model may be sensitive or insensitive to climate differences between localities, depending on whether hydraulic characteristics of ridge peat co‐vary with water supply. To distinguish between these alternative hypotheses, surface gradient and ridge proportion were surveyed along 20 transects in each of three localities in Scotland that differ threefold in net precipitation to pools. The results of the field survey served to reject the climate‐sensitive hypothesis, but were consistent with the climate‐insensitive hypothesis. Analysis of the residuals suggested that variation within localities was related more to topographic control of water supply than to ridge hydraulic conductivity or developmental stage. Hence, within this maritime climate region, the distribution of ridge–pool complexes and the relative abundance of pools are controlled mainly by topographic variables. Field surveys across both maritime and continental regions are required to confirm a subtle climatic effect that allows pools to occur on higher gradients in drier climates than in wetter climates. Further development and testing of the functional model will provide a stronger basis for assessing potential feedback between climate change, peatland surface structure and methane emission from pools. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The aims of this study is about to know the effect of implementatiton student management on learning achievement at SMA Negeri 14 Kota Bandung. The study uses quantitative approach with descriptive methods. The population and sample in this study were 40 respondents who were teachers at SMA Negeri 14 Kota Bandung with a questionnaire and documentation research instrument. Processing data in this study used stastical applications SPSS 24.0 for windows and Microsoft Excel. The result of this study indicate that the effect of implementation student management on learning achievement at SMA Negeri 14 Kota Bandung has very low correlation, namely 0.132 and the correlation coefficient is 0.820 0,320 which means that the implementation of student management has no significant effect on learning achievement in SMA Negeri 14 Kota Bandung.


Preface Advertising by Claudia Dobkin Comics by Maurice Horn Detective/Mystery/Spy Fiction by Franz G. Blaha Editorial/Political/Gag Cartoons by Jean-Claude Faur Film by Sybil DelGaudio Food and Wine by Pierre L. Horn Leisure by Roger Sue Love, Men, and Women by Edith J. Benkov Newspapers, Magazines, Feminine Press by Joseph Marthan Popular Music by AndRE PREvos Radio and Television by Jean-Pierre Piriou Science Fiction by Arthur B. Evans Sports by Richard C. Williamson General Sources Index


The effect of immersion period and inhibitor concentration were studied through immersion test and characterized by optical, gravimetric and electrochemical techniques. Gravimetric and electrochemical measurements show an increasing trend of inhibition efficiency up to 1200 hours and exhibit a decrease trend afterwards. The highest inhibition efficiency was found to be at 93 concentration of 600 ppm. deteriorated based on the assumption that desorption of inhibitor has started due to electrostatic repulsion and the remaining inhibitors in the system have likely to form natural aggregate which resulting in the decrease of the inhibition efficiency. follows the Langmuir ads Quantum chemical calculation sites for adsorption to occur due to their more negative Mülliken charge which provide a better tendency of O to be an


THE INCREASED USE of cardiac-pulmonary bypass with cardioplegia and ventriculotomy has developed a need for evaluating the influence of these procedures on cardiac function. Despite the diminution in the stroke work and volume, during bypass, an apparent vigorous contraction of the heart continues. The force of contraction of the myocardium is a fundamental factor in the production of stroke work. As Cotten et al. have pointed out, there are several instances when changes in stroke work are not accompanied by changes in the force of contraction of the heart muscle.4 One of these occurs with occlusion of the venae cavae. Under this condition of reduced venous return, the stroke work is markedly diminished by the reduction in stroke volume. For the above reasons, it was decided to measure in the dog, the force of contraction of the myocardium during cardio-pulmonary bypass with potassium induced arrest and right ventriculotomy. In addition, direct measurements of contractility were obtained in patients undergoing operation for correction of congenital cardiac abnormalities.


This study examined racial and geographic differences in access to a usual source of care (USC) and it further explored these differences among individuals who had a USC that followed the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) model. Using cross-sectional data from the Household Component of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (2008-2013), our sample consisted of non-institutionalized US civilians ages 18-85 (n= 146,233; weighted n = 229,487,016). Our analysis included weighted descriptive statistics and weighted logistic regressions. Although 76% of the respondents had a USC, only 11% of them had a USC that followed the PCMH model. Among respondents who had a USC that followed the PCMH model, 80% were White, 13% Black, 5% Asian, and 12% were of Hispanic ethnicity. Across U.S. regions, 88% percent of those who had a USC that followed the PCMH model resided in metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), 22% resided in the West, 26% in the Northeast, 25% in the Midwest, and 27% in the South. Results from logistic regression analyses indicated that race and ethnicity were not significant predictors of having a USC that followed the PCMH model. Northeastern U.S. residents (OR: 1.30; 95% CI:1.06-1.61) were more likely to have a USC that followed the PCMH model compared with southern residents. In conclusion, only a small percentage of respondents in our sample had a USC with the PCMH model. Further, race and ethnicity were not predictors of having a USC with the PCMH model.


Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is known as a frequent type of primary cancer in the liver, and it is the third‐most common cause of cancer‐related death all over the world. However, the molecular mechanism in the progression of HCC is still unclear. The current study was designed to investigate the expression and function of microRNA‐34a (miR‐34a) in HCC. In HCC tissues and cells, the expression levels of miR‐34a were analyzed by quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction. The association between the level of miR‐34a and hexokinase (HK)‐1 was also investigated via luciferase reporter assay. Cell viability and proliferation were detected by 3‐(4,5‐dimethylthiazol‐2‐yl)‐2,5‐diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay and flow cytometry. To assess whether miR‐34a can limit tumor growth in vivo, animal models and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling assay were used for examining the role of miR‐34a on the development of HCC and cell apoptosis. The expression level of miR‐34a was reduced in HCC samples and cells. The expression of miR‐34a was associated with the viability and proliferation capacity of HCC cells, and miR‐34a could inhibit HCC cells proliferation by inhibiting HK1. In the mouse model of HCC, volumes and weight of the tumors were significantly decreased by transfection with miR‐34a mimic compared with the control group. Furthermore, miR‐34a mimics could induce apoptosis in a greater proportion of cells compared with the control group. Taken together, the data may provide some novel insights into the molecular mechanism of miR‐34a and HK1 in the progression of HCC. Thus, miR‐34a/HK1 axis might be a novel promising therapeutic target for treating HCC.


Mudh â raba is partnership in profit between capital and work. It is conducted between investment account holders as owner of capital ( rabb al-mâl ) and the Islamic bank as a mudhârib. The Islamic bank announces its willingness, to accept the funds of invesment account holders, the sharing of profits being as agreed between the two parties, and the loss being borne by the owner of funds, unless they were due to misconduct, negligence or violation of the conditions agreed upon by the Islamic bank. A Mudh â raba contract may also be concluded between the Islamic bank, as a provider of capital on behalf of itself on behalf of invesment account holders, and bussiness owner.


Electro-active paper (EAPap) is a new smart material that has a potential to be used in biomimetic actuator and sensor. It is made by cellulose that is very abundant material in nature. This material is fascinating with its biodegradability, lightweight, large displacement, high mechanical strength and low actuation voltage. It has been reported that ionic and piezoelectric effects play a dominant roll in the actuation mechanism. However, the electromechanical actuation mechanisms are not clearly established yet. This paper presents the modeling of the actuation behavior of water infused cellulose samples and their composite dielectric constant calculated by Maxwell- Wagner theory. Electro-mechanical forces are calculated using Maxwell stress tensor method. Also, bending deflection is evaluated from simple beam model and compared with experimental observation.