Linnaeus (1771: 216) diagnosed Periploca secamone L. as "Periploca floribus paniculatis, foliis lanceolato ellipticis". Unfortunately, he appears to have confused two quite distinct elements under this name. These are represented by the two pre-1753 synonyms cited on the one hand and the herbarium specimen annotated by him as Periploca secamone on the other. The name has not apparently been typified by any of the authors who subsequently referred to it. Two synonyms were cited by Linnaeus, "Tournef. inst. 93" (Tournefort, 1700: 93) and "Alp. aegypt. 133, t. 134" (Alpino, 1640: 133). Tournefort gave the diagnosis "Periploca foliis oblongis, angustioribus". We have been unable to find any pertinent material in the Tournefort herbarium (P-TRF). This diagnosis may have been based on the figure cited by Tournefort as "Secamone P. Alp. aegypt", although the leaf shape does not agree fully. In the absence of Tournefortian herbarium material, Alpino's work is the only one of assistance here (Tournefort's herbarium was probably not examined by Linnaeus in any case). The citation of page number 133 by Linnaeus indicates that he was familiar with the 1640 edition of Alpino's work (p. 53 in the original 1592 edition). The plant figured in the cited plate 134 matches narrow-leaved material of Leptadenia arborea (Forsskal) Schweinf. from Egypt. This identification was first suggested by N. E. Brown (1902; 1907), who referred the plant to L. heterophylla Decne. (a synonym of L. arborea), and we see no reason to question it. Certainly, the figure bears little resemblance to Oxystelma, which Karsten (1883: 1031) would have us believe it should be assigned to. The figure does not, however, show sufficient diagnostic characters to allow a definitive judgement on its identity, which must remain open to question. Most of the features of gross morphology in Linnaeus's description of Periploca secamone appear to derive from this figure. The only herbarium specimen that qualifies as original material of Periploca secamone is LINN 307.2, which bears the annotation 'Periploca secamone' in Linnaeus's handwriting. It seems amazing that this specimen could be equated with the figure in Alpino, which differs markedly in its oblong rather than lanceolate leaves and its smaller and more numerous flowers. However, similarities such as the twining habit and the hirsute corolla may have suggested to Linnaeus that Alpino's figure was merely a poor representation of this plant. Observations such as "flores minuti, albi, intus hirsuti" and ".. .floribus minutis copiosis" in Linnaeus's description appear to


Objective To provide detailed anatomic information for the surgical management of lesions involving the petroclival venous confluence (PVC). Method The appearance and interior structures of PVC were microscopically observed and measured in 20 sides of 10 adult cadaveric heads processed by formalin. Results The three planes, i.e. horizontal, coronary and sagital ones were defined for PVC. The data of the petrosphenoidal ligament, the abducent nerve and the branches of the posterior curves and vertical sections of the internal carotid arteries were obtained and their morphology was described in great detail. Conclusions It may be a
relatively safe procedure to open the dura of horizontal or sagital plane of PVC. Prevention of intraoperalive severe bleeding and the
total removal of the lesions may be achieved in surgical management of PVC, but the abducent nerve should be well protected during the surgery.


With the development of the controllable suspension systems, the mono-tube hydraulic adjustable damper has attracted great public attention with the advantages such as good heat dissipation, less power, fast response, durable, reliable, and simple structure. However, the unknown regulating mechanism modeling impedes the practical application of the mono-tube hydraulic adjustable damper. To model the regulating mechanism, this paper analytically studies the behavior of the mono-tube hydraulic adjustable damper via developing an analytical model and thermal effect equations for the use of engineering design. Then, the mono-tube hydraulic adjustable damper is tested in an integral shock absorber testing system to verify the accuracy of model and equations. On the basis of the verified analytical model and thermal effect equations, a compensation system with gray neural network algorithm is originally designed to model the regulating mechanism of the mono-tube hydraulic adjustable damper, thus achieving the desired damping force adaptively and accurately at various working conditions by obtaining the required rotary angle of the adjustment rod. The simulation results and experimental results show that the characteristic analyses of mono-tube hydraulic adjustable damper are reliable. Meanwhile, the simulation results of the gray neural network algorithm also indicate that the proposed compensation system can provide an exact regulating mechanism model for the mono-tube hydraulic adjustable damper and the proposed gray neural network algorithm is superior to the traditional neural network algorithm.


Kriesgpiel, or partially observable chess, is appealing to the AI community due to its similarity to real-world applications in which a decision maker is not a lone agent changing the environment. This paper applies the framework of interactive POMDPs to design a competent Kriegspiel player. The novel element proposed here is a way to handle complexity in I-POMDPs by using the notion of quantal response developed in behavioral game theory. This allows us to model only one (or a few) prototypical opponents while representing a whole ensemble of possible levels of expertise of the opponent's evaluation functions. The model is used to predict the opponent's likely moves. The moves of our own player can then be computed based on these predictions. Furthermore, we explore practical considerations when approximating I-POMDP solutions. Due to the immense number of possible states in a game of chess, we approximate the distribution over states using a sampling of possible states. We show the practical viability of our approach by testing a Kriegspiel playing agent against human players.


Introduces the concept of configuration patches (C-patches) for representing configurations of a polyhedral robot in a point-point contact with polyhedral obstacles, and proposes an approach called the inverse mapping method for computing an approximate representation with cubic cells of the configuration space (C-space) of the robot. The configuration patches represented in a local coordinate system, have simple geometric shapes like paralleltopes. The inverse mapping method constructs the approximation of a C-space by quantizing the C-patches in the local coordinate system. There is no need to check any intersection among the robot and the obstacles. The only process needed is a coordinate transformation from discrete points on the C-patches to configurations of the robot.


Polybutadiene rubbers, filled with polydichlorostyrene or polystyrene latices having spherical diameters of approximately 500A, were examined by small angle x-ray scattering. The filler latices were examined by x-ray scattering as a function of strain. The sample elongations ranged up to 400 percent. An analysis of the scattering of the polydichlorostyrene filler latices showed that there was deformation of the filler particles up to 25 percent. Such a deformation is not expected on the basis of the mechanical properties of bulk glassy polydichlorostyrene. However, deformation into ellipsoids of revolution is consistent with the x-ray evidence. The deformation of the latices is reasonable.


Abstract Moored current-meter observations obtained from upstream and downstream locations in Shelikof Strait, between Kodiak and Afognak Islands and the Alaskan mainland in the northwest Gulf of Alaska, show a considerable amount of low-frequency variability superimposed upon the mean southwestward along-channel flow. Moreover, the spectral properties of these low-frequency current fluctuations varied seasonally and according to location within the channel. During fag 1976, the variance spectra of the along-channel fluctuations at the upstream end of Shelikof Strait were sharply peaked at 2.86 days. At the downstream end of the Strait, some 150 km to the southwest, the variance spectrum of the cross-channel fluctuations at 100 m was peaked at 6.15 days. However, the upstream 2.86-day signal was coherent with 2.86-day fluctuations downstream, and the phase relationship between the two locations implied the presence of a downstream-traveling wave with a wavelength of 74 km and a phase speed of 26 km day−1....


Duodenal obstruction secondary to an intramural hematoma was first described by McLaughlin in 1838. 1 Of the 36 reported cases, all except four have been recognized in the past ten years. 2-4 While the intramural hematoma may arise spontaneously, it is much more frequently associated with trauma, usually from a nonpenetrating blow to the abdomen. In a review of 1,476 patients with blunt abdominal trauma resulting in intestinal injury, Poer and Woliver found that 8% involved the duodenum. 5 The duodenum was especially vulnerable because of its retroperitoneal fixation and was the area involved in 50% of intramural hematomas described in 34 patients by Spencer et al. 6 The roentgen diagnosis of intramural hematoma was beautifully illustrated by Liverud in 1948, 7 while Felson and Levin 8 described the pathognomonic "coiled spring" pattern of the mucosa as an aid in preoperative diagnosis in 1954. The patient reported here had been


The introduction recounts the reception history of Percy Bysshe Shelley, the extremes of advocacy and detraction to which he was subjected, and the charges of weakness levelled against him by Victorian readers. It explores Shelley's manuscript history, pointing, and the ways in which critics have tried to define his intellectual trajectory. It places special emphasis on the pauses of his verse. The introduction outlines that the book will make reference to Shelley's reading, particularly the 'Marlow List', his poetic technique, and his unique approach to life and thought. It seeks to offer the beginning of a new reading of Shelley.


Objective To discuss the contribution of different risk factor to DVT and therapeutic effect of DVT protected by VCFs.Methods 83 patients with DVT of lower limbs protected by VCFs were administered thrombolysis and anticoagulation between January 2003 and December 2006.The effect and risk factors of DVT were analyzed.Results Overall,67.5% was over 60 years old,12.0% had trauma or bone fracture of pelvis and affected limbs,14.5% had history of surgery,19.3% had malignancy(75% located in abdominal or pelvic cavity).Filter insertion was successful in all patients,without displacement and perforation.98.8% was achieved effective treatment.19 thrombus were captured by the filters.Two patients had symptom of PE.The possibility of PE may be decreased by 20.5%.Conclusion Age,malignancy,trauma and bone fracture are significant risk factors of DVT.Treatments under protection of VCFs can prevent PE effectively.


A common dilemma among nurses when talking with people outside of the healthcare system is whether to disclose that you are a nurse, such as when crammed onto a full flight where a little small talk eases psychological discomfort caused by shrinking personal space. Often, what starts out as a casual conversation, such as ''What do you do?'' ''I'm a nurse,'' becomes listening to a stranger recall experiences with healthcare. The good news is that the public trusts nurses; why else share a story of a very personal nature. However, over the years, the stories are increasingly focused on what went wrong in the hospital. Credible evidence that things have gone wrong in hospitals is available from the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) 2000 report To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System, which reported that an estimated 98,000 hospitalized Americans died each year as a result of errors in their care. In a follow-up national survey about errors in healthcare, 24% of the members of the public reported an error that had serious health consequences for themselves or a family member, including death, long-term disability, and severe pain. Recognizing the contributions of nurses and nursing practice to patient safety, the US Department of Health and Human Services Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality requested that IOM conduct a study to identify the aspects of nurses' work environment that likely impact patient safety and to suggest improvements in working conditions that would increase patient safety. The results of this IOM study are described in the Keeping Patients Safe: Transforming the Work Environment of Nurses, published in 2004. Keeping Patients Safe outlines actions for creating safer patient care. The commonalities between the outcomes of clinical nurse specialist (CNS) practice and the IOM recommendations bring into focus the unique contributions of CNSs to the national patient safety agenda. For example, CNS practice outcomes in the patient-client domain include delivering evidence-based care, deleting outdated and inappropriate interventions from care guidelines, transitioning patients across the continuum of care, and preventing unintended consequences and errors. There are 16 outcomes of CNS practice in the patient-client domain, each one demonstrating remarkable parallel with the recommendations in the IOM report. Likewise, the 13 CNS outcomes in the nursing/nursing practice domain and the 13 CNS outcomes in the organization/system domain parallel the recommendations of the IOM report, with expectations for practice-based leadership that empower nurses to solve problems at the point of service, improve job satisfaction, increase participation in decision making, integrate change throughout the system, and actively engage healthcare professionals in collaborative practice. e d i t o r i a l


Batch codes, introduced by Ishai et al. encode a string $x \in \Sigma^{k}$ into an $m$-tuple of strings, called buckets. In this paper we consider multiset batch codes wherein a set of $t$-users wish to access one bit of information each from the original string. We introduce a concept of optimal batch codes. We first show that binary Hamming codes are optimal batch codes. The main body of this work provides batch properties of Reed-M\"uller codes. We look at locality and availability properties of first order Reed-M\"uller codes over any finite field. We then show that binary first order Reed-M\"uller codes are optimal batch codes when the number of users is 4 and generalize our study to the family of binary Reed-M\"uller codes which have order less than half their length.


THE course taken by the vagus fibres which supply the pyloric region has not been very definitely ascertained. Anatomically the main branches of the anterior and posterior vagal trunks from the cesophageal plexus are traceable to the region of the incisura angularis and their terminal fibres supply the pyloric antrum. In no instance does the anterior or posterior vagal trunk send fibres as far as the pylorus canal or sphincter. Many observers state, however, that all the pyloric region receives its nerve supply from these branches. The anterior vagal trunk has been show-n to give off a branch, and sometimes two or three branches, to the liver, which communicate with sympathetic fibres and have been called the hepatic branch of the vagus. From these, nerve strands descend to supply the pylorus and first part of the duodenum. La tarj et(1) states that the pylorus receives its entire nerve supply, in man and the dog, from above and considers these strands to consist wholly of sympathetic fibres. One of us, McCrea (2), has dissected the hepatic branch in man, dog, cat and rabbit and shown that the strands given off to the pylorus contain vagus fibres. It seemed then desirable to ascertain the effects which this pyloric branch is capable of producing upon the musculature of the pyloric region. In a recent paper, McCrea, McSwiney and Stopford(3), working on the intact stomach, have shown that stimulation of the vagi influences both the motor activity and "postural tonus," the type of reaction depending on the condition of the peripheral mechanism. The entogastric pressure was used as an indication of the state of activity of the peripheral mechanism, as this was found to vary with the degree of contraction of the viscus on its contents. In the passive organ (obtained by starving an animal for at least 12 hours) which did not normally maintain an entogastric pressure, stimulation of the nerve caused an augmentor response. In the active stomach (obtained by feeding a starved animal


HOW DO STATES IDENTIFY threats when choosing alliance partners? In other words, how do states choose against whom to balance? This question is at the core of the research agenda on alliances. Robert Jervis calls it "often the central question for statesmen: which state, if any, poses a threat so severe that all other considerations must be subordinated to it?" The realist emphasis on balancing behavior presumes that identifying threats is the starting point of decision-making on alliances. Yet the question of how states identify threats, as opposed to their behavior once the threat is identified, has received little systematic attention in the alliance literature. Even in Stephen Walt's The Origins of Alliances, which introduces the balanceof-threat modification to realist alliance theory, the process by which states identify threats is underdetermined. There seems to be an assumption that the source of greatest threat is obvious to decision-makers (and to analysts). This article tests how states prioritize among the potential threats they face in making alliance decisions. It examines the alliance choices made by Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria regarding conflicts in the Persian/Arabian Gulf area


Summary

The log-linear model is a tool widely accepted for modelling discrete data given in a contingency table. Although its parameters reflect the interaction structure in the joint distribution of all variables, it does not give information about structures appearing in the margins of the table. This is in contrast to multivariate logistic parameters, recently introduced by Glonek & McCullagh (1995), which have as parameters the highest order log odds ratios derived from the joint table and from each marginal table. Glonek & McCullagh give the link between the cell probabilities and the multivariate logistic parameters, in an algebraic fashion. The present paper focuses on this link, showing that it is derived by general parameter transformations in exponential families. In particular, the connection between the natural, the expectation and the mixed parameterization in exponential families (Barndorff-Nielsen, 1978) is used; this also yields the derivatives of the likelihood equation and shows properties of the Fisher matrix. The paper emphasises the analysis of independence hypotheses in margins of a contingency table.


The round is a natural activity in children, which manifests itself from an early age, where they discover the world around them, build their own knowledge, and express their desires, emotions and feelings. This theme highlights the concept, importance, advantages and functions of the Infant Rounds and Emotional Development in order to make known the value of it, and to be considered as a useful tool in childhood cognitive and Affective, since in this action they remember events, events, actions and bring them to reality, in order to manifest their feelings, and knowledge. The research has as general objective, to determine the influence of the infant round in the emotional development.
The design of the non-experimental research was applied, because the correlations between the study variables, the types of research used were, descriptive-explanatory, field and bibliographical, the level of the research was exploratory. The technique managed was observation, as an instrument the observation sheet applied to the 30 children of Sub-level 2. It was concluded that in the San Rafael Children's Center in the province of Chimborazo little use the rounds in teaching-learning therefore the 30 children Are affected in emotional development, are not very expressive through gestures which prevent them from expressing their emotions and socializing among peers. It was demonstrated that this ludic practice is a strategy for learning since knowledge is built from physical and mental experiences, which is not enough to know, but to use and transform them where children were more involved in the game, Developing more actively


This book focuses on the temperate European Iron Age, which lasted for much of the first millennium BC; although essentially protohistoric in character, it is a frequently contested period in terms of its interpretation. The dominant schools of thought attempt, to variable extents, to reconcile archaeological, historical, and linguistic evidence, which is unevenly available across space and time. Rapidly accu-mulating bodies of new information primarily from field archaeology make plain the huge cultural variability present, both chorologically and chronologically. " Progress "— even when recognizable — is in Patrice Brun ' s graphic description, a record of recurrent ups and downs like the teeth of a saw ( " L ' évolution en dents de scie des formes d ' expression du pouvoir durant l ' âge du Fer en Europe tempérée, " in Les structures sociales protohistoriques en Gaule et Ibérie , 2015). Geographically, the core area for most wide-scale interpretations occupies an arc around the north of the Alps from the middle Danube to the Bay of Biscay, extending north into southern Britain. Although contested, much of this sector is associated with " peoples " such as the Celts, Gauls, and later the Germans. The " alternative Iron Ages " considered here are not in the main an attempt to challenge and recast the evidence and prevailing models deployed for this zone but rather to provide studies from (in par-ticular, western) Iberia, northern and southern Britain, northern Holland, east-central Europe, and Sardinia that advance hypotheses about the nature of Iron Age societies that may have been configured very differently in social and political terms. Yet, despite a rather strident introduction that intimates that many characteristics claimed by


The utility of patients' self-reported asthma symptom scores in clinical trials has not been critically assessed. We investigated the types of symptom scores used in asthma clinical trials and how they are analysed and interpreted.

Systematic reviews conducted to inform asthma management guidance in England and Wales were used as an evidence base. These reviews identified 87 randomised controlled trials of the effectiveness and safety of inhaled corticosteroids and long-acting β-agonists, published during 1985 to 2006. From these trials …


Non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) has been a popular method for modeling audio signals, in particular for single-channel source separation. An important factor in the success of NMF-based algorithms is the "quality" of the basis functions that are obtained from training data. In order to model rich signals such as speech or wide ranges of non-stationary noises, NMF typically requires using a large number of basis functions. However, without additional constraints, using a large number of bases leads to trivial solutions where the bases can indiscriminately model any signal. Two main approaches have been considered to cope with this issue: introducing sparsity on the activation coefficients, or skipping training altogether and randomly selecting basis functions as a subset of the training data ("exemplarbased NMF"). Surprisingly, the sparsity route is widely regarded as leading to similar or worse results than the simple and extremely efficient (no training!) exemplar-based approach. Only a small fraction of researchers have realized that sparse NMF works well if implemented correctly. However, to our knowledge, no thorough comparison has been presented in the literature, and many researchers in the field may remain unaware of this fact. We review exemplarbased NMF as well as two versions of sparse NMF, a simplistic ad hoc one and a principled one, giving a detailed derivation of the update equations for the latter in the general case of beta divergences, and we perform a thorough comparison of the three methods on a speech separation task using the 2nd CHiME Speech Separation and Recognition Challenge dataset. Results show that, contrary to a popular belief in the community, learning basis functions using NMF with sparsity, if done the right way, leads to significant gains in source-to-distortion ratio with respect to both exemplar-based NMF and the ad hoc implementation of sparse NMF. Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories This work may not be copied or reproduced in whole or in part for any commercial purpose. Permission to copy in whole or in part without payment of fee is granted for nonprofit educational and research purposes provided that all such whole or partial copies include the following: a notice that such copying is by permission of Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.; an acknowledgment of the authors and individual contributions to the work; and all applicable portions of the copyright notice. Copying, reproduction, or republishing for any other purpose shall require a license with payment of fee to Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright c © Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc., 2015 201 Broadway, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 Sparse NMF – half-baked or well done? Jonathan Le Roux Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs (MERL) Cambridge, MA, USA firstname.lastname@example.com Felix Weninger TUM Munich, Germany email@example.com John R. Hershey Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs (MERL) Cambridge, MA, USA firstname.lastname@example.com


This chapter explains why grand strategy requires the great powers to be proactive: nobody will defend their interests for them. Can today's great powers establish a consensual agenda for a rules-based order? An analysis of the interbellum period shows that an international order cannot be created against one of the great powers of the day; that if violations of the rules-based order go without consequences, the order will be hollowed out; that great powers must abide by the rules that they want others to obey; and that no state seeks to be dominated by another. The chapter then analyses the grand strategies of today's great powers and concludes that while competition is strong, permanent and systematic rivalry is not yet unavoidable.


Recent years have seen a surge in interest in artificial intelligence and computer vision applications, which are essential for many real-time tasks like video summarization, picture retrieval, and image categorization. Convolutional neural networks, which are employed in numerous image processing and computer vision applications, are one of the most popular deep learning techniques. In this study, a CNN model for classifying colour images is proposed. The proposed model was developed using deep learning tools in MATLAB. Additionally, three separate datasets of varying sizes were used to test the suggested model. With the largest dataset, the suggested model produced the highest accuracy, precision, and sensitivity results, which are as follows: accuracy is 0.9924, precision is 0.9947, and sensitivity is 0.9931 when compared to other models


This paper presents and analyzes potential high voltage auxiliary power unit (APU)architectures for a new generation of electric vehicles which uses an 800V battery. The architectures are developed based on providing 400V and 12V DC bus terminals while also equipping the APU with an integrated on-board Level 2 charger. The design procedure is based on minimizing the total number of components while maintaining galvanic isolation between the grid and the battery in charging mode. Different potential architectures are compared in terms of number of components and efficiency and by doing so; a suitable topology with the aforementioned features is selected. The performance of the selected topology is verified through simulations.


Objective To explore the therapeutic effect of endoscopic therapy in chronic pancreti- tis.Methods All patients matched with chronic pancreatitis and treated by endoscopy in Changhai hospital from January 1997 to July 2004 were recruited in the study.All patients were follow-up for 1 week to 7 years.Results There were 296 patients involved in the study.Of the total,simply sphincterotomy of pan- creatic sphincter was 23 (7.77%),dilated by the bladder in the proximal end of the pancreatic duct was 11 (3.71%);86(29.05%) patients had the clearance of stone.138 patients had placement of pancreatic stent in the main pancreatic duct,and 26 in accessory pancreatic duct.The pain was relieved totally or par- tially in 224 patients (P0.05).The pain were palliated in 148 patients after 1 w,there was 34 patients who had persistent pain for 7y.The body weight of all the patients had increased.Before management the BMI was 14.8~30.0 (20.3±2.4) and 12.9~78.0 (28.0±15.9) after 1 year.Because of persistent pain,12 stents were dislodged after 28 d or 45 d,the other 126 patients has stents in body for 6m (stent was ex- changed every 2 or 3 months).The achievement of the management was 100%,after management,3 pa- tients had vomiting,there was hyperamylasemia in 31 patients in 24h;stents falled off in 3 patients and mi- grated in 6 patients.Conclusion Endo-therapy of chronic pancreatitis can relieved pain effectively and can increase body weight.Pancreatic stent therapy has low incidence of complication.


Sleep may be shortened in a variety of psycho pathological conditions associated with elevated levels of anxiety or arousal. Most sleep studies indicate a depression of stage 4 sleep in both schizophrenic (Caldwell and Domino, 1967; Feinberg et al., 1969) and depressed patients (Gresham et al., I965 ; Lowy et al., i 97 I ; Mendels andHawkins, 1967a, b, i 972 ; Snyder, i 968 ; Zung et al., 1964). However, there is some indication that the reduction in stages 3 and 4 (delta sleep) found in depressives returns toward normal levels prior to or shortly after the first clinical indication of improvement (Lowy et al., 1971). Stage 4 suppression has also been found in certain metabolic disorders, such as hypo thyroidism (Heuser et al., 1966; Kales et al., 1968; Karacan et al., 1968). Of what significance is the depression in delta sleep? There is some evidence that delta sleep represents a deeper, more restful sleep and is related to levels of biological energy. Exercise, for example, is followed by increased delta sleep in man (Baekeland and Lasky, 1966) and in the cat (Hobson, 1968). Indeed, there appears to be a need for stage 4 sleep as the deprivation of this stage results in a selective rebound on subsequent nights. It is quite possible that psychiatric patients of various symptomatology are incurring a sleep debt which may, in turn, prevent them from meeting the normal exigencies of daily life. If sleep is essential for health, then it behooves us to understand better the mechanisms in volved in sleep, especially since most psycho tropic drugs affect sleep in some way, i.e., the antidepressants have been reported to decrease REM sleep, diazepam decreases or eliminates stage 4 sleep, etc. There is considerable evidence pointing to an important role for serotonin in the induction and maintenance of sleep, (Jouvet, 1967; Koella, 1969; Williams, 1971) but there is conflicting opinion whether serotonin †̃¿ triggers' Stage I Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep and/or whether it is essential for non REM (NREM) sleep, especially delta wave sleep. Since serotonin does not readily cross the blood brain barrier, most investigators have admini stered one of the serotonin precursors (trypto phan or 5 hydroxytryptophan) in an effort to resolve this question. However, there are differences in results according to which corn pound is administered, for how long, in what dosage, and which species is studied (see Griffiths et a!., 1971 ; Mandell et al., 1964; Wyatt, Engelman ci a!., 1970; Wyatt, Zarcone etal., 1971). An alternative experimental approach is to determine the effects of parachiorophenyl alanine (PCPA) on sleep. PCPA is a tryptophan hydroxylase inhibitor which causes a major reduction in brain serotonin synthesis and levels, and with apparently slight effect on


Phosphatidylinositol(PI) signaling system was critical in many plant developmental processes including seed development,growth and reproduction,aging and cell responses to environmental stress. Based on the construction of the transcriptome library and the expression profile of Camellia oleifera seeds both in the fruit expanding period and at the peak stage of lipid biosynthesis and oil synthesis,the key enzyme genes related to PI signaling system has been analyzed in detail. The research suggested that there are 212 non-redundant gene unigenes related to PI signaling sistem of Camellia oleifera seeds which mainly encode 12 kind of key enzyme proteins such as PIK,PIPK,PIS,DGK,PLC et al. The results of expression profile analysis showed that these genes have different expression patterns in different developmental stage of Camellia oleifera seeds. The findings will be in favor of the research of interaction between IP pathway and other signaling pathways and provide a scientific basis for Camellia oleifera breeding of good quality.


Purpose: Parent shaming is defined as criticizing or degrading a parent for their parenting choices. Shaming may come from a myriad of sources, including family, friends, teachers, doctors, and even electronic media/parenting books. While previous studies have identified sources of parental shaming, they have not analyzed their varied impacts on the magnitude of parental guilt experienced. This study seeks to understand the extent to which shaming from various sources facilitates heightened parental guilt and elucidate the most …


Indonesia has a high and diverse biodiversity, particularly in plant species. There are numerous advantages to using various plants that grow in Indonesia. Indonesia is also known for its abundance of spices and other natural resources. Rapid research is required in the use of this plant in order for bio-based products to be widely accepted. Using in-silico predictions by utilizing meta data provided by several credible sites is one of the important rapid methods in analyzing the benefits of the chemical content of Curcuma zedoaria (Temu putih). The goal of this in-silico analysis-based study is to gain an understanding of the pharmacology of a plant known as potency simplicia Curcuma zedoaria. Analyzing metadata from various sources is the research method. Prediction of absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) was obtained from http://www.swissadme.ch/. The prediction of target proteins for phytochemical compounds of Curcuma zedoaria is available at http://www.swisstargetprediction.ch/, while the construction of active protein networks and interactions after induction of compounds contained in Curcuma zedoaria rhizome is available at https://string-db.org. According to the in-silico analysis performed with some of the software mentioned above, the rhizome of Curcuma zedoaria (Temu Putih) contains 71 active compounds, 64 of which are highly bioavailable. According to in-silico research, Curcuma zedoaria (Temu Putih) contains curcumin compounds (diarylheptanoid) and its derivatives have antioxidant activity, which functions to prevent stress from physiological stimulation that can increase the number of leukocytes.


Poor water quality is a result of a variety of sources, including human, animal and industrial wastes, by consuming such unhygienic water, there is a risk of contracting waterborne diseases and infections. Objective: To explore impact of drinking water on health of people and related waterborne diseases due to poor quality of drinking water. Methods: From March 2022 to June 2022, a cross-sectional study was carried out to assess the drinking water quality and any concomitant health concerns. The areas with the highest illness ratios were selected using convenient sampling technique. Total 277 participants both male and female participated in this study. Multiple choice questions (MCQs) and rating questions on a Likert scale were the two formats used in questionnaire. Results: According to survey area demographic data, 84.1% of respondents were living in joint families, and 63.5% of respondents were male. However, the respondents' literacy rate was below average. Motor pumps made up the majority of the water supply (60.6%). The majority of participants (84.8%) firmly believed that the quality of the water they consume has an impact on their health. The majority of respondents (56.3%) stated that water-borne illnesses such cholera, typhus, and stomach ailments affected children in their community. Conclusions: It was determined that the majority of the population reported higher disease development and expressed dissatisfaction with the quality of their drinking water. Also, education and economic conditions of a person can play an important role in health management and more access to better quality of drinking water.


New fixed-point theorems on metric spaces are established, and analogous results on partial metric spaces are deduced. This work can be considered as a continuation of the paper Samet et al. (2013).


We introduce the special issue "Our Present Crises: Climate Change, Biodiversity Loss, and Social Inequality" by highlighting how histories of the social and behavioral sciences can contribute to a multifaceted understanding of the links among the climate crisis, massive biodiversity loss, and social and economic inequities of nearly every kind. We propose that although the epistemological and ontological bases of these disciplines are themselves entangled with modernity/coloniality, there are, nonetheless, critical insights to be gained by exposing these entanglements. These insights may help generate visions of decolonial futures which eschew destructive dualisms in favor of relational ontologies which honor the living ecosystem of the earth.


Gels based on attapulgite, obtained by mixing attapulgite, a clay, with water or chemicals have been used as decontaminating agents. The method has been optimized through extensive scale laboratory experiments carried out under standard conditions. A wide variety of materials, used in nuclear technologies, and significant radionuclides have been tested. Gels obtained with water only in some cases allow full decontamination, when acids are added to clay, complete contamination removal, is possible except for extreme pHs radionuclides solution and on non-passivated or porous surfaces. The optimized decontaminating technique has successively been set up and applied on materials contaminated by routine or accident. Laboratory scale results have been confirmed through practical use. Process data are reported. This method is simple to perform and requires no special equipment. No liquid radioactive waste arises from the process and the resulting solid waste can be conditioned with cement.


The subject of this thesis is the beneficial properties of mastic in human health. Mastic (Pistacia Lentiscus var Chia) is cultivated exclusively in the southern part of the island of Chios. The special climatic and soil conditions have created the necessary conditions for its development and for the production of excellent quality resin. The cultivation of the mastic tree is an art and a technique that has developed over the centuries. The resin of the mastic tree consists of more than 120 chemical compounds and in a percentage of 40-55% contains triterpenic acids and 20-25% polymer fraction (poly-β-mercene). The beneficial effect of mastic on human health, especially in recent decades, has attracted the interest of the scientific community. Research has shown that it has antimicrobial, antioxidant, cardioprotective and anti-cancer properties. It helps to protect the body from gastrointestinal disorders and is used to treat bad breath. Finally, it seems that it can help in the treatment and regulation of diabetes.


Community structure in scientific collaboration network has become an important research area. Co-author of a paper can be thought of as a collaborative document between more than one authors. Community detection in co-authorship network reveals characteristic patterns of scientific collaboration in computer science research and help to understand the identity-organization of the author community. Louvain algorithm is a simple, easy to implement and efficient to recognize community in huge networks. In this paper, it is used to examine the structure of community in Computer University's coauthor network in Myanmar. Neo4j is also used to visualize the co-authorship network analysis results. Modularity is used to measure the quality of the cluster structure found by community discovery algorithms. In experiment, Louvain algorithm gives more effective qualitative community structures than other algorithms in co-authorship network.


How do Dominican migrants living in New York City relate to the changing social and cultural contexts that accompany experiences of migration, settlement and return? Dominicans, on migrating to the United States, confront a blunt racialised categorisation of black, white, Asian or latino/a, as opposed to the seemingly more fluid labelling in the Caribbean. In this paper, which draws on interview-based research in the US and the Dominican Republic, I explore the impact of contemporary international migration on racialised discourse and identification among Dominicans. Given the popular and historical rejection of African Caribbean or black identity in Dominican society, migrants who would not identify as negro/a (literally translated as black) or mulato/a in the Dominican Republic, find themselves being labelled as black Hispanic or latino/a in the US. Increasing emigration and transnational connections since the 1960s have not heralded a predicted re-evaluation of racialised discourse in the Dominican Republic. The commonly used term indio/a, which retains meanings specific to the Dominican context with regard to the rejection of negritud and concomitant anti-Haitian sentiment, remains a popular term of reference among Dominican migrants and returnees. While Dominicans living in the US may 'overcome the legacy of denial regarding the African part of their heritage' (Torres-Saillant and Hernandez, 1998: 145), I argue that the much-vaunted dynamics of transnationalism have so far failed to lead to a full reappraisal of racialised identification in Dominican society, both on the island and within the US. Transnational experiences, rather than stimulating a wider understanding of race, have promoted stasis or further reinforced existing racialised identities and prejudice. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Over the past two decades, new conceptualizations of women's psychological development have been evolving which emphasize the centrality of relationships in women's lives (Belenky et al., 1986; Gilligan, 1982; Jordan et al., 1991; Miller, 1976). This relational perspective has sought to describe development from women's perspective, using language and concepts derived from women's experience. Since women in this culture have been the "carriers" of certain aspects of the total human experience, specifically carrying responsibility for the care and maintenance of relationships, this model attempts to articulate the strengths as well as the problems arising for women from this relational orientation. Theorists and clinicians at the Stone Center at Wellesley College have been developing this theoretical perspective as a base for creating relational models of healing and empowerment for women.


Fintech has become an integral part of every modern developed economy across the globe. It is inevitable for inclusive and sustainable development. Now it seems to be unjustified to envisage development in the absence of Fintech while surviving in the electronic age. The term 'Fintech' refers to the introduction of technology in the banking and financial services sector. This innovation in the banking and financial services sector intends to make financial services universally and easily accessible and affordable. It is not limited to the banking and financial sector rather it has reached every segment of our day to day life, whether it is economic or noneconomic, commercial or social, and professional or personal life segment. It is the outcome of the twenty-first-century technological world wherein technology is the basis of every successful life. The advent of the internet can be considered the foundation of today's Fintech. Fintech has become the basis of round-the-clock online delivery of customized banking and financial services to every customer. It has its own merits and demerits like other things. However, it is the demand of the time in order to remain strong, vibrant, updated and competitive in the economic world. Fintech has enormous potential to change the pattern of financial transactions in particular and habit of society in general. It has brought a revolution in the entire economic world and made society global from the financial perspective. It has led to the improvement and innovation in the delivery of banking and financial services. Its prominent features are inclusiveness, universality, common interest, and technology-oriented. Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), Digital India, Demonetization, Goods and Services Tax (GST), and the COVID-19 pandemic proved a catalyst in the promotion and extension of Fintech across the country. Though Fintech in India is in its nascent phase it has a long distance to cover ahead. On the one hand, it has ample opportunities to avail, on the other hand, it has numerous challenges to face while completing its overall journey of growth and achieving milestones in the Indian landscape.


Tetrabutylammonium phtalimide-N-oxyl (TBAPINO) can be used as an efficient organocatalyst for the conversion of alcohols to their corresponding trimethylsilyl ethers with hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS). All reactions were performed under mild and completely homoogeneous reaction conditions in high to quantitative yields.


Background: The symptoms of depression in patients with heart failure is a serious
problem. Previous studies have analyzed the relationship of depression and heart
failure from different sides, but the measurement is not standardized, making it
difficult to compare. Norepinephrine and serotonin play a role in the pathophysiology
of depression, serotonin partially stored in platelets, mean platelet volume (MPV)
indicates platelet activation. The purpose of this study was to determine the
correlation between symptoms of depression with the MPV in patients with chronic
heart failure.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in patients with chronic heart
failure who were admitted to internal medicine wards and ICCU Hospital Dr.
Sardjito. Symptoms of depression were assessed using the Patient Health
Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). MPV data taken from routine blood laboratory results. The
data presented in the form of mean and standard deviations (mean±SD). The
correlation between symptoms of depression with MPV were tested with Pearson's
correlation, 95% confidence interval and p value of <0.05 was statistically significant.
Results: The study followed 73 patients, 40 patients met the inclusion criteria
comprised 55 % of men and 45 % women with a mean age of 50.60 ± 13.48 years.
The mean MPV 9.30±1.16 fL (7.30 to 11.90 fL), mean 9.38±0.93 fL in women larger
than males 9.23±1.34 fL. Obtained a correlation of r=0.344 with p=0.030. The mean
MPV major depression patients greater than 15.50±2.12 fL, and 10.00±2.64 fL on
minor depression and 6.45±3.54 fL in milder depressive symptoms. This study is able
to visualize the symptoms of depression in patients with CHF becomes more real and
measurable by looking at the value of MPV. The results of routine blood tests
especially MPV should receive attention in patients with chronic heart failure who are
hospitalized.
Conclusion: There is a positive correlation and statistically significant between the
MPV depression symptoms in patients with chronic heart failure.


In this report, the use of an asymptotic method, based on the time scaling of the ratio of produced fluids, to infer the relative permeability exponent of the displaced phase near its residual saturation, for immiscible displacements in laboratory cores was proposed. Sufficiently large injection rates, the existence of a power law can be detected, and its exponent inferred, by plotting in an appropriate plot the ratio of the flow rates of the two fluids at the effluent for some time after breakthrough.


With the development of hepatic surgery and radiology, an increasing amount of researchers have reported discrepancies between the real distribution of the hepatic portal vein branches and Couinaud's segmentation, especially for further division of the right medial division. The present study investigated 25 cadaveric liver dissections and 30 three‐dimensional reconstruction images of intrahepatic vessels. The ramifications, course, distribution and quantity of the portal branches were analyzed. An oblique fissure that had few vessels was found among third‐order branches of the hepatic portal vein of the right medial division. The right medial division could be redivided into the ventral subsegment and dorsal subsegment by this oblique fissure. A hepatic vein coursed in the oblique fissure between the ventral subsegment and dorsal subsegment. The hepatic vein could serve as an anatomical landmark of the inter‐subsegmental plane. This new method of identifying further division of the right medial division is a novel concept providing further information on conventional segmental anatomy. Clin. Anat. 25:489–495, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


The photoinitiating systems comprising of the peroxide, 3,3′,4,4′-tetrakis(t-butylperoxycarbonyl)benzophenone and (keto)coumarin dyes were sensitive to visible light to give photopolymers for argon ion laser exposure. The sensitivity of the photopolymer depends on the matrix polymer, and the highest sensitivity to 488 nm light of the argon ion laser, 0.01 mJ/cm2, was obtained with a poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) matrix. The sensitization of the peroxide by the dye is due to electron transfer from the excited dye to the peroxide.


Professor M. Muret of Lausanne (Ann. de gynec. et d'obstet., November-December 1916, 2nd ser., vol. xii. pp. 321-342) records some interesting, one may almost say entertaining, surprises following upon the exploratory curettage of the uterus. Every gynecologist has probably had experience of such unexpected happenings as the report from the laboratory of the presence of cancer or tuberculosis in scrapings from


The displacement fundamental equations of the thick shallow shells concerning five independent variables,ie five middle surface displacements were established based on the displacement fundamental equations of the thick shells by transverse shearing deformation and basic hypothesis on shallow shells,displacement fundamental equations of thick shallow spherical shells in orthogonal curvilinear coordinates and in polar coordinates were obtained.Authors introduced four assistant displacement functions to solve displacement fundamental equations of circular spherical thick shallow shells,which were tenth-order differential equations with variable coefficient and set up the decoupled governing differential equations,then obtained five displacement components through four assistant displacement functions.The results show that the displacements of equations of thick shallow shells degenerate to the displacement equations of the thick shallow spherical shells and thin shallow spherical shells,which demonstrate the generality of derived equations.


Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurological disorder involving the progressive degeneration of the dopaminergic system, which gives rise to movement-related dysfunctions (such as bradykinesia, tremor, and rigidity) as well as other symptoms, mainly of cognitive and psychological nature. In the latter case, mood disorders prevails frequently causing anxiety and depression in all phases of the disease, sometimes even before the motor symptoms occur. Aarsland and colleagues (1) report that 35% of the patients affected by PD present depression, whereas Richard (2) states that anxiety is to be found in 40% of the cases. The literature shows that playing and listening to music may modulate emotions, behaviors, movements, communication, and cognitive factors,modifying the activity of the brain areas involved in the perception and regulation of these aspects (3, 4). Music can produce substantial effects on movement-related symptoms as well as psychological ones in PD treatment. Concerning the first aspect, rhythm has a crucial role in rehabilitation, enhancing connections between the motor and auditory systems (5). Literature showed how a rhythmic auditory cues-based training can produce a compensation of the cerebello-thalamo-cortical network leading to beneficial effects, for example, improving not only speed and step length but also perceptual and motor timing abilities (6, 7). Areas involving rhythm perception are closely related to those that regulate movement (such as the premotor cortex, supplementarymotor area, cerebellum, and basal ganglia – especially putamen) (8–18). A study conducted with fMRI (19) shows that whereas a regular pulse (in contrast to an irregular one) generally activates basal ganglia in a significant way, this is not the case in PD. Other studies (7, 20) support the idea that external cues (in particular rhythmical cues) can modulate the activity within the impaired timing system. This may mean that a regular rhythmic pulse stimulates the putamen activity, facilitating movement and providing an input for sequential movements and impaired automatized processes. Moreover, this could compensate for the lack of dopaminergic stimulation. Rhythm can be also perceived visually and through the tactile sense, but the reaction time of the human auditory system is shorter by 20–50ms, when compared to visual and tactile stimuli; moreover, it has a stronger capacity of perceiving rhythm periodicity and structure (6). Therefore, rhythm influences the kinetic system (through synchronization and adjustment of muscles to auditory stimuli), facilitates movement synchronization, coordination, and regularization, and may even produce an internal rhythm that persists in the absence of stimuli (21–23). Many studies report that musical rhythm in PD treatment can improve gait (speed, frequency, and step length), limbs coordination, postural control, and balance (7, 18, 24–36). In view of the above, Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT) – especially Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation, one of its techniques – characterizes this approach to the disease: NMT aims at enhancing sensory, cognitive, andmotor functions (as in PD treatment, in which specific rhythmic techniques can strengthen and improve the rehabilitative process).


Borneol is a commonly used flavouring substance in traditional Chinese medicine, which possesses several pharmacological activities including analgesic, antiinflammatory, and antioxidant properties. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of borneol on cerulein‐induced acute pancreatitis (AP) model. Swiss albino mice were pretreated with borneol (100 and 300 mg/kg) daily for 7 days, before six consecutive injections of cerulein (50 μg/kg/hr, intraperitoneally). The protective effect of borneol was studied by biochemical, enzyme linked immunosorbent assay, histological, immunoblotting, and immunohistochemical analysis. Oral administration of borneol significantly attenuated pancreatic damage by reducing amylase, lipase levels and histological changes. Borneol attenuated cerulein‐induced oxidative‐nitrosative stress by decreasing malondialdehyde, nitrite levels, and elevating reduced glutathione levels. Pancreatic inflammation was ameliorated by inhibiting myeloperoxidase activity and pro‐inflammatory cytokine (Interleukins and TNF‐α) levels. Furthermore, borneol administration significantly increased nuclear factor E2‐related factor 2 (Nrf2), superoxide dismutase (SOD1) expression and reduced phospho‐NF‐κB p65 expression. Treatment with borneol significantly inhibited TNF‐α, IL‐1β, IL‐6, and inducible nitric oxide synthase expression in cerulein‐induced AP mouse model. Together, these results indicate that borneol which is currently used as US‐FDA approved food adjuvant has the potential to attenuate cerulein‐induced AP possibly by reducing the oxidative damage and pancreatic inflammation by modulating Nrf2/NF‐κB pathway.


We provide a dynamical proof of the second law of thermodynamics, along the lines of an argument of Penrose and Gibbs, making crucial use of the upper semicontinuity of the mean entropy proved by Robinson and Ruelle and Lanford and Robinson. An example is provided by a class of models of quantum spin systems introduced by Emch and Radin. Possible extensions to quantum continuous systems are discussed.


Rapid magnetization changes in small volume elements of ferromagnetic samples induce voltages V (known as Barkhausen signals) in a search coil surrounding the sample. The volume v in which the magnetization change takes place can be determined from the Barkhausen signal. Since a crack corresponds to a volume with zero magnetization, crack growth in ferromagnetic materials leads to Barkhausen effect type signals. The test system was calibrated by rapidly removing magnetized iron samples from the coil. Quantitative agreement between crack growth volumes as derived from elastic calculations and determined from ∫Vdt electric signals was obtained. Volumes ranged from 10−5 to 10−3 cm3. These signals were found only in brittle and semi‐brittle samples, but signals were picked up only during crack growth.


Objectives We aimed to assess the learning curves and the influence of the pathologist's performance on the endobronchial ultrasound transbronchial needle aspiration's (EBUS-TBNA's) diagnostic accuracy in a real-world study. Design/setting Cohort study conducted in a tertiary care university hospital (single centre) with patients referred for EBUS-TBNA. Participants/intervention We initially evaluated 376 patients (673 lymph nodes), 368 (660 lymph nodes) of whom were recruited. The inclusion criterion was EBUS-TBNA indicated for the study of mediastinal or hilar lesions. The exclusion criteria were the absence of mediastinal and hilar lesions during EBUS confirmed by a normal mediastinum and hilum on chest CT (except in cases of mediastinal staging of cancer) and lost to follow-up. Primary and secondary outcome measures Diagnostic accuracy and related outcomes. Methods We included patients from a prospectively constructed database. We performed a logistic regression multivariate analysis to adjust for potential confounders of the association between pathologist performance and EBUS-TBNA accuracy. The Cumulative Summation (CUSUM) analysis was used to assess pathologists' performance and learning curves. Results Most indications for EBUS were suspicion of malignancy, including intrathoracic tumours (68.3%), extrathoracic tumours (9.8%) and cancer staging (7.0%). The patients' mean age was 63.7 years, and 71.5% were male. Overall EBUS-TBNA accuracy was 80.8%. In the multivariate logistic regression model, the factors independently associated with EBUS-TBNA accuracy included certain pathologists (ORs ranging from 0.16 to 0.41; p<0.017), a lymph node short-axis diameter <1 cm (OR: 0.36; 95% CI 0.21 to 0.62; p<0.001), and the aetiology of lymph node enlargement (ORs ranging from 7 to 37; p<0.001). CUSUM analysis revealed four different learning curve patterns, ranging from almost immediate learning to a prolonged learning phase, as well as a pattern consistent with performance attrition. Conclusions Pathologists' proficiency conditioned EBUS-TBNA accuracy. This human factor is a potential source of error independent of factors conditioning tissue sample adequacy.


The aim of this research is to reveal the opinions of teachers about the development of assessment activities in updated educational conditions. The study was conducted with the phenomenology pattern, one of the qualitative research designs. The study data were collected with semi-structured interview forms applied to primary, secondary and high school teachers. The participants of the study consisted of 20 primary school teachers, 20 secondary school teachers and 20 high school teachers who were working in various schools in Kazakhstan in the 2021–2022 academic year and agreed to participate voluntarily in the research. As a result of the research, among the answers given to the question about the advantages of online education – financial advantages, time advantages and transportation advantages – the majority of the participants answered the question as financial advantages. Among the answers given to the question about the disadvantages of online education – adaptation problems, problems in social relationships and connection problems – the majority of the participants answered the question as connection problems. Among the answers given to the question about the advantages of evaluation activities in online education – speed–time advantages, storage advantages and alternative methods' advantages – the majority of the participants answered the question speed–time advantages. Among the answers given to the question about the disadvantages of assessment activities in online education – connection problems, cheating and distractions – most of the participants answered cheating. Among the answers given to the question regarding the development of assessment activities in online education – improving technology, establishing a counselling unit and preventing copying – majority of the participants answered the question as improving technology.
Keywords: online education training, assessment, development of assessment


This iss ue of the quarterly newsletter of the' , Institute for Research Edlucational Finance and Governance contains five articlet sunlmard ing five-papers on the regulation of education , that were originally resented at the institute%s Law and Education Seminar. Each suminary was written by the.author of the original' paper. Divid Kirp's article treats the changing nature of federal regulation and the-proper relationship between federal and state governments in eaucational.poUcy matXers. Guy Benvenitte discusses the effects of iMiosing,regulatary controlt at different stagessin the imPlementationsof-programs. Charles Benson draws on the recent history of vocational education'to illustrate the rise of federal regulation and the frustrations regulation has caused. Current arguments concerning deregulation are reviewed by William Clune. Ann Swialer's summary considers the'role.of regulation in an individualistic Society'with a deep historical antipathy to centralization of authority. A. supplement to the'newsletter summarizes a dottoral dissertation by Mary Bankston on the subject of the organizational reporting demanded of school districts by the accountability requirements of State and'federal programs. (PGD)


Studies of changes in the life and status of the Arab woman to-day deal with her education, her working conditions, her rights and needs, rarely analyzing the impact of such changes on her psychological make-up, on her personality.


Self-adjusting choke for nozzle enables issuing stream of liquid to remain coherent, despite fluctuations in flow, along greater distance than possible with same nozzle without choke. Flexible membrane with slanted orifices deforms according to upstream pressure in flowing liquid. Advantageous for firefighting, making it possible to direct more concentrated flow of water at flame or hotspot. Also used in mining and for transferring liquids.


A class of steady conically similar axisymmetrical flows of viscous incompressible fluid is studied. The motion is driven by a vortex half-line or conical vortex in the presence of a rigid conical wall or in free space. The dependence of the solutions on parameters (say, the vortex circulation) is analysed. At some finite parameter values the solutions lose existence, i.e. a flow collapse takes place. This is correlated with the appearance of a sink singularity at the symmetry axis. Analytical estimates of the critical parameter values are performed, together with numerical calculations of sounds on the solution existence region in parameter space. Asymptotic analysis of the near-critical regimes shows that a strong axial jet develops. The jet momentum becomes infinite at the critical parameter value and a singularity occurs. These paradoxical features seem to be typical of conically similar viscous flows. Reasons for the paradox and ways of overcoming it are discussed. Solution non-uniqueness and a hysteresis phenomenon are found in the Serrin problem. Possible applications of the results to model some geophysical and asrophysical phenomena are outlined.


It is very important to research and explore AIDS reagent to prevent AIDS.With knowing about HIV more and more and the development of the technology of molecule biology,HIV regeant developed greatly.The article main summarized HIV antibody serum diagnostic reagent,rapid HIV antibody serum diagnostic reagent,antigen diagnostic reagent and nucleic acid virus diagnostic reagen.


Different from a single layer structure, the quality (Q) factor of a multilayer resonator is more difficult to be determined and has not been studied sufficiently. In this paper, we present a simulation method to calculate and improve the Q factor of a piezoelectric driving multilayer resonator (PDMR). The Q factor dependent on damping of the piezoelectric and bonding layers were investigated, and the influence of the parameters, which are independent from material damping loss such as Young's modulus, and the thickness of each layer is discussed. We demonstrate that the bonding layer and the piezoelectric layer affected the Q factor of the multilayer beam dramatically, and the influence of Young's modulus, and that thickness should also be considered. According to the optimization rules, PZT8 and gold–indium were applied to replace the initial PZT5H and conductive resin as the piezoelectric and bonding layers. The experimental results show that the simulation method can well predict the Q factor of the PDMR, and an improvement of the Q factor from 74 to 1064 was obtained.


Individual pitch control for load reduction on wind turbines is developed.Individual pitch control is decoupled into collective pitch control and differential pitch control,and the theory of collective pitch control and differential pitch control for wind turbines are studied.By Park's transformation and inverse Park's transformation,the differential pitch control which is a multiple input multiple output(MIMO) linear system is decoupled into two single input single output(SISO) linear system and the corresponding controller is designed by using linear control design techniques,so the individual pitch control can be much more practical to implement.As an example,a 1.5 MW wind turbine is simulated and analyzed in GH bladed software,and the results verify that via individual pitch control not only the function of collective pitch control can be realized,but also the fatigue loads of key components can be reduced.


Abstract The optical absorption spectra of dimers of weakly coupled paramagnetic transition metal ions differ from those of monomelic complexes in several respects: They show additional splittings of absorption bands; intensities of spin-forbidden transitions may be enhanced by several orders of magnitude; the dimer absorptions may be strongly temperature dependent; new bands corresponding to the simultaneous excitation of both ions are observed. From an analysis of excited state exchange splittings, the orbital contributions to the exchange parameter JAB can be deduced. The dimer excitations are intimately related to charge transfer transitions, which provide their intensities.


The NASA image-based geological expert system was applied to analyze remotely sensed hyperspectral image data. The major objective is for geologists to identify the earth surface mineral properties directly from the airborne and spaceborne imaging spectrometer data. With certain constraints, we showed that the system can identify correctly different classes of mineral. It has the built-in learning paradigm to enhance the confidence factor of mineral identification. We also incorporated a very powerful natural language system as the user-friendly front end and tested the concurrent processing efficiency of our frame-based knowledge representation in the hypercube microsupercomputer simulation.


Although nanotechnology offers much hope, it also has dual-use potential that must be addressed. Past attempts to control chemical and biological weapons are instructive but inadequate.


Abstract A spectrometer/spectrograph of raindrops that uses their final fallspeeds to separate the drops according to their diameters is described. The apparatus is composed of two rotating discs, the Upper one allowing the rain to pass through a narrow window. The drops, separated according to size, are collected on the lower disc. The distance between discs and the rotation speed permit control of the degree of separation.


The health of a nation is determined primarily by the health of its children, which is the most important human resource for any society. In Ukraine great attention is paid to the problem of teaching and educating children with special needs. Purpose: to determine physical condition characteristics of preschool children with deviations in psychophysical development. Material: 54 children aged 5–6 (25 girls, 29 boys), who needed correction of psychophysical development, participated in the study: 9 preschoolers with musculoskeletal disorders without any visual motor impairments, like gross violation of walking, running, jumping), 15 of them had speech development disorders, 16 children were mentally retard, other 5 suffered from Down syndrome, and 9 kids had autism spectrum disorders. The following research methods have been used in the study: general scientific ones (analysis, generalization of the literary sources data); pedagogical methods (confirmatory experiment); medical and biological ones. The findings indicate an average level of physical development and in most cases a level below the average functional state of the surveyed child contingent. The level of physical condition of children with deviations in their psychophysical development requires differentiated approach in the process of physical education within the frameworks of the inclusive education.


BACKGROUND AND AIMS
Non-daily smokers (NDS) comprise a large fraction of US smokers. Despite little or no dependence, as typically assessed, ITS have difficulty quitting smoking. A randomized clinical trial comparing the effect of nicotine gum with placebo on quitting smoking in non-daily smokers did not find an effect on overall abstinence. We undertook an analysis to assess whether using nicotine gum, vs placebo, when tempted to smoke, could reduce incidence of lapses in those situations.

DESIGN
Within a 6-week randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial of nicotine gum, analyses contrasted the outcome of temptation episodes where gum was or was not used.

SETTING
Smoking cessation research clinic in Pittsburgh, PA, USA.

PARTICIPANTS
255 adult ITS (131 nicotine gum, 124 placebo) seeking help for smoking cessation.

INTERVENTION
Nicotine gum (2 mg) vs placebo for up to 8 weeks, with as-needed dosing instructions.

MEASUREMENTS
Outcome was lapsing in temptation episodes, as reported by participants via ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Propensity scores predicting gum use from situational factors (e.g., mood, social setting, smoking cues) served as a control variable.

FINDINGS
Participants reported 2,713 temptation episodes, 46.0% (1,248) of which resulted in smoking (lapsing). There was a significant gum use x active treatment interaction (p=0.0009). Using nicotine gum decreased the odds of lapsing by 55% compared with using placebo (OR=0.45, 0.22-0.94); when gum was not used, the assigned gum condition made no significant difference (OR=1.53, 0.78-3.01; Bayes Factor=0.14). The nicotine effect was not reliably different when participants were trying to achieve abstinence versus when trying to maintain abstinence (OR=0.44 (0.10, 2.03), p=0.294; Bayes factor=0.11), for men and women (OR=1.68 (0.58, 4.87), p=0.343; Bayes factor = 0.10), or for participants with some or no dependence (OR=0.88 (0.30, 2.59), p=0.811; Bayes factor=0.06).

CONCLUSIONS
When used in response to temptation to smoke, 2 mg nicotine gum can help prevent lapses among non-daily smokers.


U. S. welders must submit to constant testing and retesting to satisfy the plethora of certification requirements in the industry. Are they victims of too many standards?.


In wireless communication era, for satellite navigation applications a dual band stacked patch antenna with and without slots are proposed to operate at 1.6GHz and 2.4GHz frequencies. A top patch is placed over a bottom patch and a ground plane to form a stack. A single coaxial feed mechanism is used to excite the antenna. In this paper two stacked patch antennas V slot HEXAGON SHAPED and HEXAGON SHAPED were proposed. Comparison of parameters like return loss, VSWR, Gain were done. The antennas dimensions were computed with accuracy. Using HFSS the simulation results were presented.


Through interviewing cosers who took part in cosplay activity,research has been done in how did they get into this field,how to proceed cosplay production and what's their feelings in the process.Cultural Reproduction Theory is used to analyze interview material.Conclusion is that cosplay is the reflect of cosers'objective creation and cosers construct a cosplay world with their own rules and utterances.


The COVID-19 pandemic appeared in late 2019 and became a major health concern with rapid transmission and very high mortality rates across the globe. Although precautionary, preventive, protective and therapeutic measures have been adopted against COVID-19, still the disease has drastically affected people. In order to overcome the challenges of the pandemic, the understanding of the route of transmission, its fusion with receptors and invasion into the human body and hacking the immune system, the viral genome was sequenced. The viral genome keeps on mutating and altering its original form into its subtypes. Moreover, age and comorbid conditions had their impact on developing the disease differing from individual to individual due to interaction varying between the host genome and virus. Considering the pathogenesis of the virus, neutralizing antibodies reduced the viral impact and severity. This review is focused on highlighting the COVID-19 genome, host genetic factors, the pathogenesis of the disease and available therapeutic measures to overcome the pandemic.


The electromagnetic field induced by acoustic waves in a porous formation is investigated. By supposing the acoustic field is not influenced by its induced electromagnetic field, the governing equations for the coupled acoustic and electromagnetic fields are reduced to a set of Maxwell equations with a propagation current source. The Maxwell equations are then transformed into inhomogeneous vector Helmholtz equations by introducing Hertz vectors. Finally the electromagnetic field is formulated in terms of the solutions to the Helmholtz equations. This method is used to evaluate the electromagnetic field during seismoelectric logging in a porous formation. The full waveforms of the acoustic field and the electromagnetic field in the borehole are calculated when the borehole acoustic sources are respectively a monopole, a dipole and a quadrupole.


In this paper, a new non-linear Volterra series model is built based upon positive, negative and double step responses. The predictive control algorithm for non-linear system is then proposed, and the existence and uniqueness of the solution are proved mathematically. As a simulation study, the new predictive control algorithm is applied to a nonlinear robot system.


Admittance control allows a desired dynamic behavior to be reproduced on a non-backdrivable manipulator and it has been widely used for interaction control and, in particular, for human–robot collaboration. Nevertheless, stability problems arise when the environment (e.g. the human) the robot is interacting with becomes too stiff. In this paper, we investigate the stability issues related to a change of stiffness of the human arm during the interaction with an admittance-controlled robot. We propose a novel method for detecting the rise of instability and a passivity-preserving strategy for restoring a stable behavior. The results of the paper are validated on two robotic setups and with 50 users performing two tasks that emulate industrial operations.


FIELD: articles of personal use. SUBSTANCE: invention describes device for floor cleaning. It includes brush (114) rotating around rotation axis (118), and cover (200) with cover surface oriented towards rotation axis and featuring multiple fins (210) forming channels (212) between them for fluid supply to output orifices (214) positioned at the bottom ends of fluid ducts. In addition, a floor cleaning method is described. Brush is made according to the method, brought to contact a floor, wetted with fluid, such as detergent solution, and rotated, then fluid drops coming off the brush under centrifugal force effect of rotation are collected into multiple fluid ducts in the cover, and fluid gathered is drained through fluid ducts to fluid output orifices positioned at the bottom ends of fluid ducts. EFFECT: improved cleaning efficiency. 12 cl, 3 dwg


Many appreciate Japanese of their health properties. few foreigners sticky texture. Ibaraki prefectural government started the "development of sticky texture natto" project to export natto-based products to France and Germany, The use of specially shaped packages, or edible glue lowers the stickiness of natto. However, these methods require new processing machines. Natto makers would like to produce low sticky texture natto without having to purchase new machines. To meet this challenge, we developed a new strain of bacteria from a natural mutation during subculture of Bacillus subtilis. This strain produces substances with less stickiness. We named this strain "IBARAKI ℓst-1," and called natto products fermented by IBARAKI ℓst-1 "MAMENOKA." MAMENOKA means fragrance of fermented soybeans. We found that the stickiness and viscosity of MAMENOKA were significantly lower than that of commonly sold natto. Firmness, color, and nutrient (polyamine) content of MAMENOKA were almost the same as commonly sold natto. We performed taste tests of MAMENOKA and commonly sold natto. The majority of the people who tested MAMENOKA reported that it was easier to swallow than commonly sold natto, because of its low viscosity. Some natto makers in Ibaraki are utilizing these properties of MAMENOKA to develop new natto-based products, such as dipping sauces, pastes, and dressings.


This report describes the case of a middle-aged man with a manifest right septal accessory pathway and sustained atrial flutter with 2:1 atrioventricular conduction and a reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) of29% in whom cerebral infarction occurred. A transthoracic echocardiogram demonstrated large thrombi one in the left atrial appendage and one in the left ventricular apex. The thrombi disappeared after anticoagulation therapy with heparin followed by warfarin. The left ventricular EF was improved to 64% after radiofrequency ablation of an accessory pathway and inferior vena cava - tricuspid valve annulus isthmus.


Objective: To prepare epirubicin hydrochloride-loaded long circulating liposome by a method of ammonium sulfate trasmembrane gradients. Methods: A single factor-orthogonal test design was employed to optimize the prescription and process. The entrapment efficiency( EE) of the liposomes was used as the assessment criteria. Results: The optimized prescription and preparing process were as follows: the concentration of soybean phospholipid was 2. 5%,the ratio of drug to lipid( w / w) was 1∶ 12. 5,the ratio of cholesterol to lipid( w / w) was1∶ 4,the concentration of ammonium sulfate was 200 mmol·L- 1and the incubation condition was 50 ℃ for 30 min,and the molar ratio of PEG2000-DSPE was 4%. The EE of liposomes was 97. 84%. Conclusions: Liposomes prepared by the optimized preparation have high EE and low particle size distribution index.


With the extensive use of sensor-embedded smart phones, Location-Based Social Networks (LBSN) become more and more popular among online social networks in recent years. In social networks, constructing the shortest path with minimum cost between any two nodes efficiently is vital for both graph analysis and implementation of applications. This is well known as the routing problem in social networks. However, existing approaches of routing in social networks all fail in the scenario of LBSN which are large and dynamic. In this paper, we work out a fast routing system in LBSN leveraging check-in data to tackle this challenging problem. To be specific, firstly, we demonstrate the existence of the small world phenomenon in LBSN. Secondly, we reveal the friendship-inverse-geography property in LBSN. Thirdly, we design a Location-Based Fast Routing System LBFRS which can accomplish fast routing in LBSN leveraging geographical knowledge predicted from check-in data. Experiments on two real Location-Based Social Networks Go Walla and Bright kite have shown that LBFRS performs much more accurate prediction in geography than the baseline method and accomplishes dozens of times faster routing than Dijkstra in average.


In many cultures, simple herbal infusions, thin gruels or sweetened water ('agüitas' in Guatemalan parlance) are given to infants and toddlers.


Purpose: Adult relationships provide critical support for adolescents because of their potential to foster positive development and provide protective influences. Few studies examine multiple ecological layers of adult relationships in connection with well-being and depression. This study examines the influence of relationships from multiple contexts for adolescents and their mental health. Method: Data from the 2011 California Healthy Kids Survey was used for this analysis; a sample of 7th-, 9th-, and 11th-grade students (N = 14,931) was drawn from 6 school districts in Southern California. Results: Regression analyses revealed that parent, teacher, and community adult support were all significantly positively associated with well-being and significantly negatively associated with depression. Discussion: Social support explained more variance in well-being than in depression, indicating that adult support may be more important for supporting well-being. This study supports the belief that individual categories and combinations of adult support are important.


Wireless communication terminal has a user replaceable cover section. The wireless communication terminal and a user exchangeable cover part are electrically interconnected through an electrical connector. It said user exchangeable cover part comprises a means of identification. It said user exchangeable cover parts have the electric circuitry for supporting a user interface of the radio communication terminal. The radio communication terminal operates the electrical circuit of said user exchangeable cover part depending on the identification of said user exchangeable cover part.


This chapter takes another look at Social Democracy. "We don't want" brown German fascism, they say, "but nor do we want" the black Austrian variety either. But what they really want is not clear yet, so all they can do is let the latter save them from the former—that, at least, they do "want." For the time is not yet ripe for Austria to opt to become a "French colony" rather than a Prussian one, whose language is harder to understand. Until this time comes, it only remains for those who affirm ideals in which they no longer believe to sacrifice themselves for a Germanness notorious for feeling "threatened" the moment its own territorial and global demands are thwarted. If they had not at long last been forced to help drive Germanness from both houses of parliament, the Social Democrats would have supported it in loyalty to the constitution and voted with it against the "Clericals," as in the memorable shoulder-to-shoulder action with Sepp Straffner's Pan-Germans. For they will always demand freedom of speech for those who possess a capacity they lack: to convert it into freedom of action.


Defamation has long fascinated citizens of the English-speaking world. To the layman the fascination is due to the often sensational nature of the cases. It is hard to be bored by the legal resolution of charges that a high government official has taken bribes from criminal figures or that a celebrity has engaged in sexual misbehavior. For the lawyer defamation raises the fundamental tension between two major values the freedom of expression and the protection of reputation. The civil liberties aspect of a defamation case is not the contest between the powerful government on one side and the individual dissident on the other. Both expression and reputation are of value to the individual and to society as a whole. In Spring 1979, I had the good fortune to lecture on defamation law at the University of Southampton as an exchange faculty member from the United States. My task was to learn British defamation law and then introduce the students to defamation American style in particular, the constitutional treatment of large portions of American defamation law. Fortunately the combination of student courtesy and tolerance, the inherent fascination of the legal doctrines, and student sympathy with


AIM
To assess if miRNA expression profiling of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid and sputum could be used to detect early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Hierarchical cluster analysis was performed on the expression levels of 5 miRNAs (miR-21, miR-143, miR-155, miR-210, and miR-372) which were quantified using RNA reverse transcription and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction in sputum and BAL samples from NSCLC cases and cancer-free controls.

RESULTS
Cluster analysis of the miRNA expression levels in BAL samples from 21 NSCLC cases and sputum samples from 10 cancer-free controls yielded a diagnostic sensitivity of 85.7% and specificity of 100%. Cluster analysis of sputum samples from the same patients yielded a diagnostic sensitivity of 67.8% and specificity of 90%.

CONCLUSION
miRNA expression profiling of sputum and BAL fluids represent a potential means to detect early-stage NSCLC.


Objective:Endometrial cancer patients with positive serosa and/or adnexae (FIGO stage IIIA) have a variable prognosis and are at a significant risk for recurrence. We investigated how tumor characteristics and adjuvant treatments influence the overall survival (OS) and recurrence patterns in these patients and patients with positive cytology alone (previously classified as stage IIIA before 2009). Materials and Methods:This multi-institution retrospective study reviewed 55 patients with positive serosa and/or adnexae and 18 patients with positive cytology only, surgically staged from 1990 to 2010. The study cohort was evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier estimates of OS and Cox proportional hazards modeling. Results:The 5-year OS for all IIIA patients was 55%. Administration of adjuvant therapy was associated with improved OS when compared with surgery alone (P=0.0018). The 5-year OS was 20% for patients treated with surgery alone (n=10), 55% with surgery and radiation therapy (n=26), 75% with surgery and chemotherapy (n=7), and 79% with surgery followed by both radiation therapy and chemotherapy (n=12; P=0.005). The tumor characteristics showed that nonendometrioid histology (P=0.0143) and lymph vascular space invasion (P=0.0483) had a poorer OS. Recurrence occurred in 29% of IIIA patients, with 9% locoregional failures and 20% distant failures. Patients with positive cytology only had a similar OS to patients with positive serosa and/or adnexae (76% vs. 55%; P=0.104) and recurrence rate (22% vs. 29%; P=0.4101). Conclusions:This retrospective study suggests benefit from the use of adjuvant radiotherapy and chemotherapy for stage IIIA patients. We recommend further investigation of adjuvant therapies for IIIA patients in prospective studies and randomized clinical trials.


Dimensional quality control is critical for wider adoption of Additive Manufacturing (AM) as a direct manufacturing technology. Due to the process' complex physics, AM-fabricated parts still require post-processing with machine tools, which significantly negates its time and cost benefits. In this paper, we investigate product shape deviation for Mask Image Projection Stereolithography (MIP-SLA) — one of the earliest commercialized AM techniques. By studying part fabrication mechanisms, we consider (i) over or under exposure, (ii) light blurring and (iii) phase change induced shrinkage or expansion as the most significant sources for shape deviations. Accordingly, the shape deviation modeling is established to quantify the effects of those influential factors and to understand the deviation mechanisms. Cylinders and cubes of various sizes were built to test our approach. Accurate prediction of shape deviation for all parts serves as a further confirmation of our model.Copyright © 2013 by ASME


Based on the last decade of activities at the Italian Long-Term Ecological Research network (LTER-Italy), I describe and highlight here some major outcomes and challenges, by picturing different "voices", which we are listening to and we are talking with. Organisms, ecosystems, methodologies, data, researchers, stakeholders and citizens: their voices – i.e., the information which we receive from them, and then interpret and, consequently, express – create our experience and knowledge, which we share with and convey to our contemporaries and future generations. One of the main narrator's voices will be that of plankton: how we "listen" to them, describe and share long-term data and researches, also with the wide public. Through the "voices from the water" I will report and discuss experiences, which have been relevant also to open up the views on the role that science is challenged to play in a world of rapid change, characterized by complexity and contradictions. In particular I will consider: i) those voices coming from various LTER aquatic sites, mainly addressing the comparison among them; ii) how to make these voices most harmonized and audible through the open science approach; and iii) how to put the LTER voices in an effective dialogue with society. Finally, I will share some thoughts about the necessity and the possibility to open the purely scientific cognitive approach to other forms of knowledge, related to our intuition, feelings and empathy. If you are a poet, you will see clearly that there is a cloud floating in this sheet of paper. Without a cloud, there will be no rain; without rain, the trees cannot grow; and without trees, we cannot make paper. (...) If the cloud is not here, the sheet of paper cannot be here either. So we can say that the cloud and the paper inter-are. (...). "To be" is to inter-be. We cannot just be by ourselves alone. We have to inter-be with every other thing. (Tich Nath Han) No n-c om me rci al us e o nly


Given the level of interest in the 'happiness hypothesis' - the concern over the population's mental wellbeing - this book is timely. Consultant psychotherapist Christopher Mace has put together a coherent and stimulating read that should be of great benefit and practical use to professionals from all disciplines.


The roentgenologic anatomy of the cerebral vessels has been treated in detail by only a few authors, e.g. SCHIEFFER & VETTER (1957), TAVERAS & POSER (1959) and TAVERAS & WOOD (1964). The first two authors analysed a material of 265 normal subjects from the age aspect. The material was divided into 15 age groups, each comprising a 5-year age period, and included 52 children aged 1 to 15 years, with a distribution of 9, 17 and 26 cases in, respectively, the first, second and third 5-year periods. The material also included 64 subjects of ages between 16 and 30 years. The appearances and position of the carotid siphon, as well as the anterior and middle cerebral arteries, were investigated. Since the material comprised only carotid angiographies, no adequate evaluation of the vessels in the posterior cranial cavity could be made. TAVERAS & POSER and TAVERAS & WOOD studied mainly the position of the middle cerebral arteries, and an analysis was made among about 80 subjects aged 0 to 12 years in year group by year group, of 1 child-Cl year, 8 children< 3 years and 16 children<5 years. The present investigation was aimed at investigating changes in position of


This paper analyzes the performance of simultaneous transmitting and reflecting (STAR) reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS)-enabled short-packet non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) systems. A mode-switching protocol combined with partition strategies (MSPS) for the STAR-RIS design is proposed to simultaneously serve multiple actuators along with the discrete phase-shift alignment in order to reduce the STAR-RIS implementation costs. Approximate and asymptotic closed-form expressions for the average block error rate (BLER) and achievable rate have been derived to reveal some useful insights, such as the actuators' diversity order, coding gain, the power allocation factor, packet length, and the number of information bits. Numerical results confirm that: i) the considered system achieves better BLER balance among the actuators than classical RIS-based short-packet NOMA systems and higher achievable sum rate than RIS-based short-packet orthogonal multiple access ones; ii) the STAR-RIS with discrete phase shift design using 3-bit quantization achieves near-optimal performance with the continuous phase shift; iii) there is a trade-off between using bit quantizer and the total number of STAR-RIS elements; and iv) the power allocation strategy provides better average sum rate improvement than block-length increasing strategy.


C-axis tilted AlN films have been studied for use in quasi-shear mode devices. Highly tilted columnar structure induces the decrease of film density (void between columnar grains) because of the shadowing effect. This could affect the performance of shear mode resonator. In this study, the relationship between the acoustic properties and the grain structure is investigated in c-axis tilted AlN film. Acoustic properties of the resonators were estimated by the characteristic of conversion loss in composite resonator. In c-axis highly tilted AlN film, 1/4 and 3/4 wavelength resonance due to the decrease of shear wave velocity were observed in a number of samples. This phenomenon was not observed in longitudinal wave mode. Porous film structure was also observed in the highly tilted films by across sectional SEM image. Decrease of shear wave velocity would be caused by this structure because shear wave is more sensitive to the porous structure than longitudinal wave.


Summary Podocalyxin (PCX) is a glycoprotein member of the CD34 transmembrane sialomucin family and covers the surface of podocytes. It is assumed to be a marker of glomerular endothelial injury. In conditions, podocalyxin excretion in the urine is increased as a result of podocyte injury. Recent studies show that PCX is expressed not only in kidneys but also in the endothelial cells of other organs. Preeclampsia (PE) is characterized by new-onset hypertension, generalized endothelial injury, and glomerular alteration. Having this in mind, in the present study, we aimed to: (1) determine circulating PCX levels in sera of women with preeclampsia and normal pregnancy; (2) explore for an association between PCX and blood pressure and (3) investigate a possible relationship between PCX and routine laboratory markers of cardiac and renal injury/dysfunction. Fifty-five women with preeclampsia were examined. The mean age of patients was 24.9±6 years, and the mean age of the control group of 35 women with normal pregnancies was 24.7±5.4 years. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to determine concentrations of PCX. Levels of serum PCX in preeclamptic women were statistically significantly higher than those in women with normal pregnancy: 2.66±0.67 vs. 2.40±0.33 ng/ml (p=0.03). Podocalyxin correlated with SBP (r=0.30; p=0.004), DBP (r=0.35; p=0.0007), uric acid (r=0.32; p=0.002), CPK (r=0.22; 0.03) and its isoenzyme CK-MB (r=0.21; p=0.04). Our results showed significantly higher levels of serum PCX in women with preeclampsia than in healthy pregnancy. Elevated podocalyxin levels are associated with an increase in blood pressure in preeclampsia. We found a relationship between PCX and routine laboratory indicators of cardiac (CPK and CK-MB) and renal injury/dysfunction (uric acid). PCX has the potential as a future preeclampsia diagnostic biomarker.


An apparatus for measuring forces generated at the tips of two cones throughout the sliding‐contact life cycle is described. The cones are used to simulate surface asperities. Test results under atmospheric conditions show the following: (1) For cones with 90° internal angles, the ratio of the integrated value of the horizontal force component over the length of the life cycle to that of the vertical force component, a measure of coefficient of friction after Green, is not sensitive to the presence of lubricants in cases where the cone tips are in line or nearly in line with the direction of relative motion; but the ratio is substantially lowered in the presence of lubricants when the cone tips are far from being in line with the direction of relative motion. The former cases are always accompanied by the formation of macroscopic wear debris. (2) By increasing the internal angle of cones, the ratio defined above is decreased, but its value does not seem to approach zero for the angle approaching 180°, a f...