Herein, we have synthesized a microspherical nickel‐cobalt‐layered double hydroxides‐reduced graphene oxide composite (NiCo‐LDHs‐rGO) through a one‐step hydrothermal method and then used it as an adsorbent for the removal of Pb2+ from aqueous solutions. Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometry (FT‐IR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), mapping elemental analysis, electron dispersive x‐ray spectroscopy (EDX), x‐ray diffraction analysis (XRD), and the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) method were used for the characterization of the adsorbent. Factors affecting the adsorption of Pb2+ ion such as solution pH, adsorbent dosage, contact time, competing ion, and regeneration were investigated in batch mode by the NiCo‐LDHs‐rGO. Under optimized conditions based on the Taguchi method (pH = 5.0, adsorbent dosage = 20 mg, and contact time = 30 min), the highest removal percentage was found to be 99.7% for 100 mg L−1 of Pb2+. According to the results, NiCo‐LDHs‐rGO exhibited a high preference for Pb2+ over Cu2+, Zn2+, and Cd2+. This adsorbent was regenerated for several cycles (using 0.01 M HCl) with no significant deterioration in performance. Analyses of the adsorption isotherm models revealed that the adsorption of Pb2+ follows Freundlich isotherm with a maximum adsorption capacity of 200 mg g−1. Also, the kinetic data confirmed that pseudo second order kinetic equation is the best model for predicting the kinetics. Furthermore, the Simulink modelling illustrated that the adsorption kinetics of Pb2+ onto NiCo‐LDHs‐rGO is done with high accuracy in a continuous stirred‐tank reactor. Finally, dual interactions of the effective parameters can be modelled by polynomial equations in MATLAB, and according to the Taguchi model, pH is clearly the most important feature among all effective parameters.


It has been previously reported that contractile function is depressed in old skeletal muscle, compared to young. However, to our knowledge, the recovery response of old skeletal muscle, compared to young, following in vivo eccentric skeletal muscle damage has not been previously reported. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the recovery response of old skeletal muscle to young skeletal muscle following 7‐days of recovery from in vivo eccentric muscle damage. Old male mice (27.3 ± 0.2 mo) and young male mice (5.6 ± 0.1 mo) were anesthetized with isoflurane. In vivo isometric contractions (Aurora Scientific, 1300A) were performed to obtain optimal electrode placement to stimulate the anterior crural muscle group. Following electrode placement, the pre‐injury torque‐frequency relationship was established. Immediately following the pre‐injury torque‐frequency relationship, 150 eccentric contractions were elicited to induce injury. A second torque‐frequency relationship was measured immediately post‐injury to confirm damage. After 7‐days of recovery, mice were anesthetized with isoflurane and the in vivo torque‐frequency relationship was measured again. Repeated measures analysis of variance showed a significant time by group interaction (p=0.035), with no difference between groups in the torque‐frequency relationship pre‐injury (p=0.231) and a difference in the torque‐frequency relationship between groups 7‐days post‐injury (p<0.001). Further analysis revealed that the torque‐frequency relationship recovered to a greater degree in the young (p=0.313) than old (p=0.003). Analysis of a submaximal torque, i.e. 40 Hz, indicated young mice recovered 77% of initial isometric torque (p=0.254 compared to pre‐injury), while old mice only recovered 48% of initial isometric torque (p=0.003 compared to pre‐injury). Analysis of maximal tetanic torque, i.e. 250 Hz, indicated that neither young mice nor old mice recovered to pre‐injury torque output, 46% of initial (p<0.001) and 67% of initial (p=0.003), respectively. In conclusion, isometric torque decrements persist in both young and old male mice after 7‐days of recovery from in vivo eccentric muscle damage. Additionally, these data suggest that old mice exhibit a diminished capacity to recover isometric torque following eccentric damage, compared to young mice.


This paper considers the problem of finding the location and propagation path of chemical source using multiple intensity sensors. Source origin localization is treated as the sequence estimation problem over a fuzzy hidden Markov model. The main advantage of using fuzzy hidden Markov model is its inherent nonstationary behavior with time varying state transition probabilities which characterizes the uncertainties in advection and diffusion of the plume source. Unfortunately, estimation algorithms of Viterbi type can be very inefficient due to the large size of state space. Motivated by a recent theoretical result on low complexity maximum likelihood sequence detection, we propose a greedy heuristic algorithm to obtain a candidate source path and search only for state sequences within a constrained Hamming distance from the candidate path. Our approach is applicable to fuzzy hidden Markov decoding problem with a general class of fuzzy measures and fuzzy integrals. From simulation study, we found that our algorithm has plume localization error close to that using fuzzy Viterbi algorithm. It is very effective for state estimation over a long observation sequence when the decoding error probability is small.


Background: Recent studies reported that angiogenesis and endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) were dysfunctional in diabetes (DM). However, there have been no investigations on the pro-angiogenic characteristics of BM-derived cells in diabetes. Accordingly, we investigated angiogenic defects in BM-derived mononuclear cells (BM-MNCs), EPCs and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and sought to determine whether hindlimb ischemia can be repaired by non-DM cells. Method & Results: Studies were performed with C57Bl mice 3 months after the induction of diabetes with streptozotocin. Gene profiling analysis with Angiogenesis Microarray Kit (GEArray) and real-time RT-PCR showed that multiple angiogenic factors were significantly down-regulated in DM cells compared to non-DM control cells (Table 1). We also compared cell functions between DM and non-DM cells. DM-EPCs revealed decreased adhesion to laminin (non-DM vs DM, 78 vs 40/mm2, P<0.05) and vitronectin(320 vs 140/mm2, P<0.05), decreased migration to VEGF-A (210 vs 8...


THE STUDY OF FAULKNER'S Absalom, Absalom! against its cultural background, seen in the light of classical ideas of tragedy, is not new. Although three critical essays-by Ilse Dusoir Lind, Cleanth Brooks, and Richard Sewall-have discussed the tragic elements in the novel, none of them examines in detail Faulkner's allusions to ancient mythology, and none therefore successfully illuminates the concrete elements of plot and character that constitute the author's ethical analogies.' The most common explanation as to why Faulkner employed ancient myths has been that he attempted to create characters of heroic stature and to give the story historic dimensions. True. But previous studies have failed to emphasize the essential role that the fusion of the three major Western cultures-the Greek, the Hebrew, and the Christian-plays in Faulkner's tragic vision and the moral framework in which he sees Colonel Sutpen, perhaps his foremost tragic figure. In Absalom, Absalom! Faulkner has succeeded in creating a man of the heroic magnitude necessary to originate a myth: the little boy, who at the age of fourteen did not lose his innocence but did discover his social position when he was turned away by a "broadcloth monkey" Negro from the door of the rich planter for whom his father worked; the little boy who made up his mind to take revenge on them-with "them" meaning "all the human puny mortals under the sun that might lie in hammocks all afternoon with their shoes off"-and in order to do so needed "money, a house, a plantation, slaves, a family-incidentally of course, a wife"; who with this design in mind set out for Haiti, where, a few years later, he quelled a slave revolt and was rewarded with the 1 See Ilse Dusoir Lind, "The Design and Meaning of Absalom, Absalom!," PMLA, LXX, 887-912 (Dec., I955); Cleanth Brooks, "Absalom, Absalom!: The Definition of Innocence," Sewanee Review, LIX, 543-558 (Autumn, I959); Richard Sewall, The Vision of Tragedy (New Haven, I959), pp. I33-I47.


Abstract Background Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia (PCP) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs). Chemoprophylaxis with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) is recommended about 6–12 months after solid-organ transplantation. However, PCP occasionally occurs after the recommended prophylaxis periods. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence and risk factors for PCP in KTRs with 6-month TMP-SMX prophylaxis. Methods We performed a case–control study of adult patients diagnosed with PCP from 1999 to 2015 in a tertiary care hospital. All patients received 6-month PCP prophylaxis with TMP-SMX after kidney transplantation (KT). If there were rejection episodes, PCP prophylaxis was provided for additional 3 months. During the study period, CMV viremia was not indication of PCP prophylaxis because of the concern of the nephrotoxicity of TMP-SMX. We defined the classification of early or late-onset PCP as one year after transplantation. Results Among 3,941 kidney or pancreas-kidney transplant recipients, 67 (1.7%) patients developed PCP after the discontinuation of TMP-SMX prophylaxis. Among them, patients who was transferred from other hospitals (n = 14) and pancreas-kidney transplant recipients (n = 6) were excluded. Finally, 47 of KT PCP and 94 control patients were included. Of the 47 patients with PCP, 24 (51%) revealed early PCP while the remaining 23 (49%) exhibited late PCP. Duration of PCP prophylaxis was similar between case and control (median 6 months, respectively). In multivariate analysis, rejection (OR, 3.9; 95% CI, 1.4–11.1) and cytomegalovirus infection (OR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.0–5.8) were independently associated with the development PCP after TMP-SMX prophylaxis. Rejection or CMV viremia were observed in 70% of patients with PCP patients. Time to development of PCP after rejection (median 6 months; IQR 5–19 months) was slightly shorter than that after CMV viremia (median 9 months; IQR 5–12 months), although this difference did not reach any statistical significance (P = 0.18). Conclusion Rejection and CMV viremia appear to be risk factors for the development of PCP after completing early transplantation period chemoprophylaxis. Our data suggest that at least 6- to 9-month chemoprophylaxis for PCP may be needed for KTRs with rejection or CMV viremia. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.


Introduction: Different types of warm up may influence the strength performance. Objective: To investigate the acute effect of two warm up protocols (joint mobility and specific warm) on   the maximum repetition performance and training volume. Methods: The study included 14 men (24.29 ± 4.81). Participants attended on site six non-consecutive days with an interval of 48 hours between them, performing 10 repetition maximum test and retest and the experimental protocols (strength training sessions). Results: The training volume of (repetitions x sets x load) was higher in mobility exercise protocol compared to the protocol with specific warm exercises. Conclusion: Therefore, it seems that mobility exercises promote an acute increasing in maximum repetition performance for the lower limb exercises when compared to the specific warm up.


Introduction: The management of potentially contaminated samples with HIV, HCV, and HBV in an IVF laboratory raises the question of the viral risk for the other samples of patients treated at the same time, the children conceived, and the embryologists. In France, the laboratory practice is supported by different texts, including a good practice guide for analysis laboratories, standard precautions to be observed when manipulating biological samples and virus classification, sugP-056. 'Normal spermatozoa': IVF or ICSI?


Morphological diversity and phylogenetic relationships in the Periplocoideae are analyzed. Most of the species of this subfamily inhabit tropical or subtropical forests and savannas as woody climbers, woody shrubs, epiphytes, or herbaceous geophytes. The flower is complex and has evolved into many forms, always incorporating a corolline corona, interstaminal corona-like nectaries, and stamens fused with the style-head into a gynostegium. Pollen is borne in tetrads, less often as pollinia, which are shed onto spathulate translators that are secreted in grooves around the periphery of the style-head. Phylogenetic relationships among the Periplocoideae genera are analyzed cladistically using morphological characters, mainly of the flower. This analysis reveals one larger clade and two smaller clades. Eleven new generic synonyms, six new specific synonyms, and fifteen new species combinations are required within the subfamily. A key to the genera of the Periplocoideae is included.


A constrained proxy key is used to secure communications between two devices via an intermediary device. A first proxy key is generated at a host device (key generator device) based on a shared secret key, one or more constraints on the first proxy key, and a key derivation function. At least the shared secret key and key derivation function are known to the host device and a client device (authentication device). The first proxy key is sent to a proxy device to use in authenticating communications with the client device. An authenticated message is generated by the proxy device using the first proxy key and sent to the client device. The client device locally generates a second proxy key using the key derivation function, one or more constraints, and the shared secrete key for authenticating the proxy device. The proxy device is authenticated if the client device successfully accesses the authenticated message from the proxy device using the second proxy key.


In Ukraine, doctors and nurses are trained in the official language, and it is also common to find health professionals who come from somewhere in Ukraine and do not understand Hungarian at all. It is therefore not uncommon for "patients with Hungarian mother tongues to find it difficult to communicate with Ukrainian and Russian-speaking doctors and nurses". Of course, there are also native Hungarian-speaking health workers who, despite the exclusivity of state language education, are able to communicate in Hungarian and, if necessary, can even act as mediators in doctor-patient conversations. At the same time, it is important to emphasize that in their case, because of the exclusivity of state language education, second language influences are more pronounced, and they either do not know Hungarian terminology or, if they do, they hardly use it, since it is easier for them to understand each other in mixed-language working communities. In this paper, based on the data of a recent questionnaire survey, we try to present the level of language proficiency and the frequency of communication in certain languages of the native Hungarian-speaking health care workers in Transcarpathia, as well as the language use characteristics of the Hungarian language, paying special attention to the use of technical language-related loanwords or loanwords that are commonly known but can be included in the health care register. Based on the results of the research, the multilingual nature of Transcarpathian Hungarian mother tongue health care workers can be considered as clear evidence, which in the vast majority of cases implies a Hungarian mother tongue dominance. The level of proficiency in the official language of the respondents is closely related to the language in which they have completed their vocational training and the language composition of the work community in which they work. The latter also largely determines the frequency with which individuals use their mother tongue, the official language and Russian, as well as various foreign languages.


The objective of this research work is about developing a herbal jelly by incorporating Amla and betel leaf extract. Amla is a green colour translucent fruit which is loaded with more nutritional benefits. Amla is an excellent source of vitamin c and this vitamin c helps in building our immunity. Next is the betel leaf extract which is also enriched with more health benefits. These betel leaves are full of vitamin c,niacin and riboflavin and it has an Excellent healing properties. These betel leaf treat colds and also aids in digestion. So our idea is to develop a jelly by combining all these products. Our jelly is completely free of artificial colouring and flavouring agents. After preparation,the jelly was filled in sterilized bottles and stored under both ambient and refrigeration temperature for about 60 days and the biochemical parameters such as moisture content, TSS, pH, Titratable acidity were analysed. Under ambient temperature, moisture content decreased from 26.80% to 24.90 %and pH increased from 3.6 to 4.3 and Tss increased from 65 degree brix to 72 degree brix and Titratable acidity increased from 0.48 % to 0.67%.Under refrigeration temperature, the moisture content decreased from 26.80% to 25.83%, ph increased from 3.6 to 4.2,Tss increased from 65degree brix to 69degree brix and titratable acidity increased 0.48% to 0.54%. Sensory evaluation was also performed and the developed jelly obtained an excellent sensory score.


Introduction: Auto-calibrating parallel imaging (acPI) requires a calibration step to generate coil weights for each data synthesis pattern and becomes computationally challenging for acquisition with a large number of patterns (e.g. variable density acceleration, random sampling). Methods such as GRAPPA operator can address the computation challenge but considerably degrade image quality at high acceleration factors. We develop a source data decoupling method with two-step calibration that can significantly reduce acPI computation complexity for non-uniform Cartesian sampling with improved reconstruction compared to conventional GRAPPA operator based methods and this work demonstrates its feasibility on 3D cardiac cine MRI using kt GRAPPA. Theory: In cardiac cine MRI, due to heart-rate variations during a scan, acquired data must be re-sorted along time based on cardiac signals to reduce motion blurring and for complete-cardiac-cycle motion depiction. Furthermore, variable density acceleration is often used for better tradeoff between scan time and spatiotemporal resolution. Retrospective cardiac gating of such k-t datasets with time-interleaved acquisition generates variable-density pseudo-random k-space sampling with a typical number of synthesis patterns (Np) of >500 per time frame. Conventional kt GRAPPA (ktG) performs data synthesis using a 4D kernel (kx-ky-kz-t) and calculates coil weights (W) for each pattern by fitting a source data matrix (As) to a target data matrix (At) using W=(AsAs+λI)AsAt, where λ is the regularization parameter. Each such pseudo-inversion involves O(Ns) complex multiplications (Ns: the total number of source data for a pattern). With large Np's and coil channel numbers (Nc), ktG would be prohibitively expensive for online reconstruction. We develop a source data decoupling method for ktG, referred to as d-ktG, to address this challenge. Fig.1 demonstrates d-ktG calibration in 2D for a pattern with 3 source k-t lines (numbered black dots) and a target at center (empty circle). In calibration, source data of a pattern are decoupled into k-t groups and each group consists of all kx neighbors from all coils with a unique ky-kz-t shift. Coil weights are generated using the following two-step calibration: Step 1: Find optimal weights (W1,n) to fit each k-t group (As,n) to the target dataset using Eq.1: W1,n=(As,nAs,n+λI)As,nAt and then generate a synthetic target (Ts,n, gray dots in Fig.1) using Eq.2: Ts,n= As,nW1,n. Ts,n in other words provides exactly the synthetic calibration data generated from the nth k-t group and thus can be used to optimize combination of syntheses from different k-t groups; Step 2: Find the optimal weights (W2,m) to recombine all Ts,n's using Eq.3 below on a coil-by-coil basis to generate the final reconstruction (solid black dots in Fig.1) and combine W1 and W2 to generate the final coil weights (W=W1·W2) for each source datum. Eq.3: W2,m=(As,mAs,m+λΦm)As,mAt, where, As,m is the synthetic source matrix comprised of data from Ts,n's of the m-th coil, Φm=diag(W1,nΨW1,n) represents noise covariance among Ts,n's after W1 data fitting, Ψ is the original noise covariance of receiver coils and is set to I in this work. For data synthesis, each missing k-space line is synthesized using W of the local pattern in one step, similar to ktG. d-ktG substantially reduces the expensive O(Ns) computation per pattern of ktG to much cheaper O(Ns1) and O(Ns2) in the above two step calibration, where Ns=Ns1 Ns2. To further speed up d-ktG, a preparation step can be performed that calculates W1,n's for all potential k-t shifts (<acceleration) in all synthesis patterns. Then, the computation that needs to be repeated for each pattern involves only inversion of very small matrixes (~16×16 per coil) in step 2. d-ktG fully uses all available source data in each k-t group for data fitting of step 1. Also, using Eq.3, d-ktG regularizes noise amplification based on noise covariance of synthetic targets and finds the optimal solution with min L2-norm errors in the entire space spanned by all synthetic targets. Therefore, d-ktG can potentially provide more accurate reconstruction with higher SNR compared to conventional GRAPPA operator based methods. Methods & Material: To validate the proposed algorithm, we collected 3D cine datasets at 1.5T (GE Healthcare) from 4 volunteers using 8-ch and another 3 volunteers using 32-ch cardiac coils. k-space was sampled in a timeinterleaved fashion with 6x outer & 2x center acceleration for 8-ch and 8x outer & 3x center acceleration for 32-ch. Typical imaging parameters included: ~2×2mm resolution, 24 slices with 5mm thickness, 48ms temporal resolution. Each dataset was processed using conventional ktG, d-ktG and a GROG-like algorithm (combining syntheses at the same target location after first-step d-ktG using simple averaging). In all reconstructions, central k-space was recovered first at each cardiac phase separately using sliding-window to generate calibration data [6] and next the fully recovered central k-space was used for calibration in kt reconstruction in outer k-space. An adaptive time-window selection scheme [7] was used to determine the temporal neighborhood for each specific cardiac phase. To assess the improvement in computation efficiency, we also analyzed the number of complex multiplications of d-ktG calibration with regard to ktG with uniform and nonuniform kt sampling assuming 8× acceleration, kx kernel width of 5 and calibration size of 50×16×16 in [kx, ky, kz]. A correlation coefficient method [8] was used to reduce computation of AsAs and AsAt for all methods wherever beneficial. Results: Table 1 shows that d-ktG dramatically reduces ktG computations, especially for larger Nc's and Np's. For instance, for 3D cardiac cine MRI with 32ch (Np=500 to1000), d-ktG calibration is ~300 to 600 times more efficient than conventional ktG. Furthermore, d-ktG is multiple times faster than ktG on regular sampling datasets with a minimum Np of acceleration-1 and increasing Np adds only trivial increase in d-ktG computation. Fig.2 shows two representative cases with different accelerations and coils. Clearly, d-ktG (Fig.2.b&e) provides high image quality very similar to ktG (Fig.2.a&d). In comparison, the GROG-like method (Fig.2.c&f) generates visible ghosting artifacts (indicated by arrows) and significantly lower SNR due to its suboptimal combination of syntheses. Conclusion: d-ktG can dramatically improve computation efficiency of ktG especially with large Np's and Nc's without sacrificing image quality and is promising for online reconstruction for 3D cardiac cine MRI. This work also develops a novel approach for optimal combination of syntheses from different source data groups. Our invivo results show that our approach provides higher SNR and reconstruction accuracy than conventional GROG-like methods. The proposed decoupling method can also be used for static 3D MRI by simply removing the time dimension. The high quality results obtained from this work, in which central k-space was reconstructed similar to tGRAPPA without temporal neighbors, suggest that the decoupling method will perform well for static 3D MRI datasets as well. References: [1] Griswood M, MRM 2005, 54:1553; [2] Huang F, MRM 2005, 54:1172; [3] Lai P, ISMRM 2011:3378; [4] Blaimer M, MRM, 2006, 56:1359; [5] Seiberlich N, MRM 2007, 58:1257; [6] Breuer FA, MRM 2005, 53:981; [7] Lai P, ISMRM 2009:766; [8] Beatty P, ISMRM 2007:1749 Patterns 50 250 500 75


There have been many suggestions that a large part of the acetylcholine (ACh) of nervous tissue is not in a freely diffusible form but instead is bound in some way to the tissue; and that the binding may involve some kind of subcellular particle such as the mitochondrion (Bodian, 1942; Brodkin & Elliott, 1953). From Feldberg's (1945) analysis of the problem it appears that the ester enters the bound state as it is produced: or, as he has phrased it, 'acetylcholine... is synthesized into this linkage'. It may be therefore that within the cell the ester is in close spatial association with the enzyme of synthesis, that is with choline acetylase. The intracellular distribution of this enzyme was studied by Hebb & Smallman (1956) who found that after differential centrifugation of rabbit brain homogenates, 50-70% of the choline acetylase present could be recovered in the granule fraction which included the bulk of the mitochondria; while most of the balance was dissolved enzyme. The present inquiry was directed toward obtaining more information about this distribution and about its relation to the distribution of ACh.


This paper explains the process of design and implementation of a face detection and tracking system able to locate the face of autism children with low functioning through a depth camera, that establishing the distance and angle relative to a reference point, controls in real-time the movement of the head of a robotic model. The system was developed using the Microsoft Kinect® SDK library, Artificial Vision techniques and the development environment LabVIEW, and makes part of a robotic prototype oriented to therapeutic support and diagnostic of autism spectrum disorder. The results show a good system performance, so the next step will be validate its functioning with real patients and then integrate it on the final model.


In the previous paper (1), it was reported that kanamycin (KM), an antibiotic found by Umezawa et al. (2), formed a chelate with Cu++ at a molar ratio of 2:1. The structure shown in Fig. 1-a was proposed for this chelate where the propylene diamine moiety of KM took part in the formation of the chelation compound. To confirm this structure, deoxystreptamine (DOSA) was prepared by hydrolysis of KM and a comparative study of Cu++ chelates of DOSA and ethylene diamine (EDA) with that of KM was made by infrared spectroscopy and polarography.


This paper presents two formationkeeping strategies for controlling a halo sub-orbit for GEO collocation applications. One strategy is to maintain the desired halo sub-orbit with periodical two-burn bi-elliptical in-plane transfers and single burn for plane change. The second strategy is to keep the halo formation with low-thrust burns three times per orbit using an auto feedback controller method. The first strategy is designed for near-term applications for formationkeeping 3 to 6 communication satellites in GEO collocation based on conventional ground tracking and control. The second strategy is designed for a larger constellation with tighter tolerance using onboard GPS navigation and autonomous control. Results of computer simulations of the two types of applications will be presented. In the first application, the long-term histories of the minimum separation distances among the 2 to 6 satellites will be discussed. In the second application, the formationkeeping of 100 giant solar energy collectors in a GEO halo sub-orbit will be presented. The second application is part of the NASA/MSFC Space Solar Power concept study. The challenges and limitations of the onboard navigation and control using GPS measurements will be discussed.


4-Ethylbenzoic acid reacted with SOCl_2 to form 4ethylbenzoyl chloride,which,in the presence of acid binding(agent) and phase transfer catalyst,reacted with t-butylhydrazine hydrochloride,forming the title compound.Both reactions exhibited high yields and high product purities.


The natural killer (NK) cells play an important role in viral infections via their spontaneous cytolytic activity against virus‐infected cells as well as via secreting a variety of soluble mediators. The MHC class I‐binding NK receptors of these cells have emerged as the most important regulators of the effector activities of cytolytic cells (both NK and CTL). We have studied the modulation of NK activity and the expression of NK receptors in HIV‐infected/AIDS patients and report here that the NK activities of the patients with the lowest plasma HIV load were minimal and vice versa, suggesting a decrease in this activity following suppression of HIV replication. Interestingly, the NK activity correlated negatively with the peripheral blood CD4+ T‐cell counts of these patients. Furthermore, these patients showed decreased percentages of CD56+ cells expressing NK receptors of the immunoglobulin superfamily, whereas the percentages of CD8+ cells expressing these receptors were increased. Moreover, the expression of C‐type lectin‐like NK receptor‐associated invariant molecule CD94 was increased on CD8+ cells in these patients as compared with HIV‐seronegative controls. These changes in the expression of NK receptors were also evident within groups of these patients having different viral loads. These results show, for the first time, decreased innate immunity and changes in the expression of NK receptors on cytolytic cells in relation to viral burden in HIV‐infected/AIDS patient. J. Med. Virol. 65:431–440, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


In biotechnology, oxygen mass transfer is a key parameter involved in the design and operation of bioreactors and it can be analyzed by means of the oxygen mass transfer coefficient (kLa). Due to the fact that oxygen has a very low solubility in an aqueous media (8–10 ppm at 20˚C), actively growing cells can consume all the dissolved oxygen very fast, therefore, it has to be supplied continuously into the broths. In conventionally aerated bioreactors, low oxygen solubility combined with slow oxygen transfer rates often results in reduced growth and culture productivity. Due to their higher oxygen solubility, non-toxicity to microbes, antifoaming action, oxygen-vectors addition is one of the most effective methods to improve oxygen mass transfer rate in aerobic fermentations. The aim of this study was to investigate the use of n-dodecane as oxygen-vector in bubble column and air-lift bioreactors, under different working conditions (air superficial velocity, volumetric fraction of the organic phase, medium temperature). The results show that volumetric fraction of oxygen-vector (φ) has a great influence on kLa; in the presence of low volumetric fraction (φ=0.005 (v/v)), the oxygen mass transfer coefficient's value in bubble column bioreactor was increased by almost 100% at 35˚C and for φ=0.02 (v/v) by 5% at 25˚C, while in air-lift bioreactor, at 25˚C and φ=0.005 (v/v), the kLa value was enhanced by approximately 50%.


When an ultrasonic tool is subject to an external loading, its impedance may change, affecting its resonance frequencies, damping ratios, and amplification. The same effect occurs when an ultrasonic actuator is used to levitate planar objects by means of near-field acoustic levitation. Namely, different loadings or excitation conditions, change the thickness of the gas layer trapped between the levitated object and the actuator's driving surface, altering the stiffness and the damping of the coupled system. Moreover, for sake of high efficiency, the actuator being used usually has a very low damping. Thus, even small variations in the different parameters of the system can reduce its performance, dramatically. Therefore, in order to be able to accurately and efficiently control the height of a near-field acoustically levitated object, a constant excitation frequency is impractical, so a resonance-tracking algorithm must be used.
 To investigate the phenomenon discussed above, in this work a comprehensive model, coupling a piezoelectric actuator operating at ultrasonic frequencies, to a near-field acoustically levitated object, through a thin layer of compressible gas is developed, see Fig. 1 (Left). The latter is derived by introducing a simplified model of the nonlinear squeezed layer of gas, and a variational model of the solid structure and the piezoelectric elements. The resulted model couples a transfer function, representing the complex excitation amplitude of the driving surface assuming the steady-state height of the levitated object is given, to a transcendental equation, providing the additional relation between the height and the excitation amplitude. Since the last relation was already verified in the recent past, in order to validate the abovementioned model, an experimental setup, obviating the use of the transcendental equation was utilized. In this setup, the object is fixed to an XYZ stage, allowing to change the average thickness of the squeezed gas layer, manually. Fig. 1 (Right) presents several experimental frequency responses of the actuator's driving surface, measured under different average clearances between the driving surface and the fixed object. From this figure, one can notice that the maximal gain, the natural frequency and the damping ratio of the designated mode, vary monotonically with the clearance. The monotonic increment of the maximal gain and the monotonic decrement of both the natural frequency and the damping ratio are all highly correlated with the developed model. Therefore, this model can serve as a basis for model based resonance-tracking algorithms, striving to provide the optimal excitation frequency, for sake of maximal efficiency.


We propose a novel dual-core optical fiber design with a microstructured inner cladding for dispersion compensation. With the present design we show -33000 ps nm-1 km-1 dispersion with a mode-effective area of 68 μm2.


In this chapter we review the basic ideas of model-based clustering. Model-based clustering is a principled approach to cluster analysis, based on a probability model and using standard methods of statistical inference. The probability model on which it is based is a finite mixture of multivariate distributions, and we describe this in Section 2.1, with particular emphasis on the most used family of models, namely mixtures of multivariate normal distributions. In Section 2.3 we describe maximum likelihood estimation for this model, with an emphasis on the Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm. The EM algorithm is guaranteed to converge to a local optimum of the likelihood function, but not to a global maximum, and so the choice of starting point can be important. We describe some approaches to this in Section 2.4. In Section 2.5, examples with known numbers of clusters are presented. Two persistent questions in the practical use of cluster analysis are: how many clusters are there? and, which clustering method should be used? It turns out that determining the number of clusters can be viewed as a model choice problem, and the choice of clustering method is often at least approximately related to the choice of probability model. Thus both of these questions are answered simultaneously in the model-based clustering framework by the choice of an appropriate probability model, and we discuss model selection in Section 2.6. We will work through some examples in Section 2.7.


We report a new experimental technique that is capable of monitoring electron attachment to laser‐excited molecules in real time; the time resolution is limited only by the time constant of the detection circuit and was ∼100 ps for the experiments reported here. This technique provides information on the lifetime of the excited states responsible for electron attachment, and also allows determination of electron attachment cross sections involved. Results on dissociative electron attachment to ArF‐excimer‐laser‐irradiated NO are reported: Electron attachment occurred to the A 2Σ+(ν=3) state populated via the absorption of a single photon, and to highly excited states populated via two‐photon absorption; the cross section for low‐energy electron attachment to the A 2Σ+(ν=3) state was ∼3 orders of magnitude larger compared to that for the A 2Σ+(ν=0). Decay of the electrons over the ∼200 ns lifetime of the A 2Σ+(ν=3) state was directly monitored. Negative‐ion formation that occurred via the A 2Σ+(ν=3) state ...


George Douglas, editor of special publications for ABCA, recently called for papers, contributions to a history of business communication. Unfortunately, I can't get involved right now. I'm finishing a textbook, Applied Business Communication, due out in 1981 from Alfred Publishing Company. However, I began thinking about what I have seen. On an early trip in 1957-58: scribes on the streets of Calcutta, India; Katmandu, Nepal; Colombo, Sri Lanka-~quatting in the dirt with a small portable lap desk or box, complete with quill pen and battered ink pot. On later trips: the quill replaced by the ubiquitous ball point pen. Squatting beside the revered scribe, the customer-an awed man or woman-in awe of learning and writing ability. The olas in the museums of Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Indonesia-letters and legends written on vellum in Sanskrit and Pali-more recently on bark and wood in Bali. The tax beads


The amount of Worry and Emotionality components among pupils in Grade 6 with different motivational and cognitive characteristics was examined. A number of interactions indicated that the influence of both cognitive factors, i.e., ability and Future Time Orientation, and motivational factors, i.e., the achievement motives, on amount of Worry and Emotionality increased significantly as the perceived instrumentality (importance) of the school activity increased. Since it is the worry component which normally reduces quality of performance, one way to reduce worries at school for the pupils of low ability, the failure-oriented (highly anxious) pupils, the low future time-oriented pupils, and the girls, is to reduce the importance of the activity.


Background Nephrolithiasis is a widespread multifactorial disorder. Constitutional, environmental and genetic factors play a role in stone formation. Although important advances have been made in understanding the pathophysiology of stone formation, none of the many theories have given a satisfactory explanation of this process. Objectives The objective of study was to evaluate the probable relationship between cigarette smoking and nephrolitiasis in adult men. Patients and Methods A total of 102 cases diagnosed with nepholithiasis and 121 age-matched healthy controls were recruited from June 2010 to September 2011. Smoking status and resultant data was obtained from both groups. Results Twenty seven (26.5%) of the patients with stones and eighteen (14.9%) of the control group were current cigarette smokers. Our findings showed that smoking significantly increases the risk of nepholithiasis (OR = 2.06, 95% CI: 1.06-4.01, P = 0.034). There was no significant difference in the number of cigarettes smoked (P = 0.830) and years of smoking (P = 0.536) between subjects with and without stones (P = 0.536). Conclusions This study suggests that cigarette smoking might be an independent risk factor for the development of nephrolithiasis.


Tobacco use among adolescents is considered as priority health risk behaviors that contribute to leading causes of morbidity and mortality among youth and adults and are often established at a young age, extend into adulthood and are preventable. The overall prevalence of ever cigarette smokers in Bangladeshi students was about 9%, which was more than 3 times higher in boys compared to girls (15.8% vs. 4.8%). Almost four in ten students start smoking before the age of 10. In addition, another 6% of students reported to use other tobacco products. About 70.7% students reported that they desired to stop smoking, and 85.0% tried to stop smoking during the past year but failed. About 42.2% students were exposed to smoke from other people in public places. Among current smokers, 97.8% reported that they were not refused cigarette purchase because of their age. Authors of this study suggest that implementation and enforcement of tobacco control act are an urgent public health priority in Bangladesh.


Although hepatectomy and percutaneous ethanol injection therapy have been widely used in the treatment of small hepatocellular carcinomas of less than 3 cm in diameter in Japan, it is almost impossible to treat all small hepatocellular carcinomas according to one therapeutic method because both powerful treatments have various limitations. In patients with small hepatocellular carcinomas in whom these treatments are inappropriate, endoscopic or mini open microwave coagulo-necrotic therapy represents a new therapeutic alternative. In cases where any of these powerful local therapies can be performed, the selection among these three therapeutic options of hepatectomy, percutaneous ethanol injection therapy, and endoscopic or mini open microwave coagulo-necrotic therapy should be based on the patient's clinical and pathologic status. The addition of this new therapeutic method should improve the outcome in these patients.


We present self-consistent density-functional calculations of the adsorption of atomic and molecular hydrogen on the (210) surface of palladium using a plane-wave basis set with optimized ultrasoft pseudopotentials. The layer relaxations of the (210) surface and the preferred adsorption sites for atomic hydrogen adsorption are determined. Furthermore, we show that on the rather open Pd(210) surface a molecular ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}$ adsorption state becomes stabilized by the presence of atomic hydrogen on the surface. This provides a consistent explanation of recent experiments. An analysis of the bonding situation in terms of the local density of states is also presented.


Zengxu is one of Chinese ancient styles.This article discussed three problems.At first,it discussed the sudden change of HAN Yu'Zengxu in style.Secondly,the development status of Zengxu in Tang dynasty was described.Thirdly,the article found out the reasons that why ZengXu was getting to a new life during the spread and acceptance.


Self-efficacy is one of the intrinsic factors which affect self-regulated English learning.This paper discusses how self-efficacy affects autonomous English learning through factors such as task choice,target setting,motivation to learn English autonomously,learning strategy,and attribution,etc.The paper further discusses how to promote autonomous English learning by starting with changing students' and teachers' traditional beliefs in their English learning and teaching and by starting with enhancing students' self-efficacy.


The Flexible AC transmission System (FACTS) devices, such as, thyristor controlled series compensators (TCSC) may be used to enhance system performance by controlling the power flows in the network. It is important to limit the number of TCSCs and to locate optimally these devices in the power system because of their considerable costs. Firstly, we have applied optimization technique, namely, NSGA-II, to find out the optimal number of multi-devices of TCSC in order to improve the system loadabilty, to reduce the installation cost of these series FACTS and to minimize the real power losses. Secondly, we perform a contingency analysis procedure based on severity index (SIl) to identify and classify the most severe line contingencies. Then, we determine the optimal placement and parameter setting of TCSCs in stressed power system by using the above optimization approach to alleviate the line overloads. In this paper, the optimization problem consists to reduce TCSCs installation cost and to decrease total real power losses. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, IEEE 30-bus test system has been studied.


Corporate governance has been a major issue in the Asia Pacific region since the 'Asian crisis' of 1997-98 and in Australia following several recent high-profile corporate collapses. Governance issues affect HRM practitioners generally as business people and specifically in their role of developing policies and processes that promote the company's culture and values. This paper compares the development of corporate law and associated regulatory processes in Australia, China, India and Singapore as examples of governance in this geography. These four countries demonstrate the significant diversity of social and cultural patterns and economic development within the total region and corresponding differences in their respective approaches to corporate governance. A common feature of the Asian jurisdictions reviewed here is the high concentration of ownership by national governments and families operating complex corporate structures. Such concentration has direct implications for the level of share market trading and the protection of minority shareholders. The diversity of regional and local cultures will likely inhibit any short- to medium term convergence to international governance standards, although it is probably inevitable if Asian markets continue to access international finance. In the meantime there is a strong need for HRM practitioners to take the lead in shaping, communicating and representing the firm's values and behaviours, internally and externally, to reinforce ethical behaviour and business integrity.


In this paper, a novel space-time non-stationary three-dimensional (3D) wideband massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channel model is proposed. We then propose a ray-level process to model the spatial-temporal evolution of individual multipath components (MPCs), including near-field effects and (dis)appearance, and cluster-level large-scale fading. The proposed evolution process can flexibly control rays' lifespans and smoothness of (dis)appearance in both space and time domains. In addition, we propose an improved Rayleigh-distance criterion to determine the most adequate wavefront for each cluster and ray. Existing models can easily implement the proposed criterion and make a more efficient use of computation resources. Also, a Gamma-Poisson mixture distribution is introduced to model the distribution of the number of clusters when multiple locations of the mobile station are considered. Key statistical properties of the channel, including the autocorrelation function (ACF), Doppler power spectral density (PSD), spatial cross-correlation function (S-CCF), and frequency correlation function (FCF), are derived and the impact of the ray-level evolution process on them is analyzed. We demonstrate the correctness of the derived statistical properties through numerical and simulation results.


Load disaggregation is a difficult problem in non-intrusive load monitoring. This paper proposes a load disaggregation method by the combination of supervised learning and unsupervised learning. Firstly, the proposed model uses the sum of squared errors to determine the optimal clustering number. Secondly, Gaussian mixture model is applied to achieve robustness to noise and outliers. Thirdly, the hidden Markov model and factorial hidden Markov model are established for each load and total loads, respectively. By disaggregating the window of state change, the computational complexity is effectively reduced. The simulation experiment is carried out with the AMPds data set. The effect of changing the clustering numbers of the third type load on the disaggregation accuracy is studied. Moreover, the proposed model has been compared with other models. The simulation results show that the proposed model can not only reduce the computational complexity but also effectively improve decomposition accuracy.


The prediction of the putative enzymatic function of uncharacterized proteins is a major problem in the field of metagenomic research, where large amounts of sequences can be rapidly determined. In this work a machine-learning approach was developed, that attempts the prediction of enzymatic activity based on three protein domain databases, PFAM, CATH and SCOP, which contain functional and structural information of proteins as Hidden Markov Models. Separate and combined classifiers were trained by well-annotated data and their performance was assessed in order to compare the predictive power of different attribute sets corresponding to the three protein domain databases. All classifiers performed well, with an average accuracy of ~96% and an average AUC score of 0.84. As a conclusion, the classification procedure can be integrated to more extended metagenomic analysis workflows.


All data are of quarterly frequency, spanning 1971Q1:2017Q4. All series used in this exercise are for a sample of OECD economies and are produced by the OECD and can be downloaded from the OECD website. For more details on the OECD data, see the OECD Economic Outlook data inventory. To construct the observed advanced economy interest rate, we use long-term interest rates (10-year government bond yields; database here). As explained in the main text, we calculate the arithmetic average of these interest rates across the unbalanced panel of 36 OECD countries. Our results are unchanged if a median interest rate is used. The inflation series is the non-food, non-energy consumer price index for OECD-total sample (database metadata available here). We construct the measure of inflation expectations as a moving average of observed core inflation rates over the past four quarters. This, of course, is not an ideal measure, but it follows past efforts in this literature and allows for estimation using the data from a large block of countries (alternative measures of inflation expectations for a large sample of countries going this far back are not available). Finally, the GDP data cover the OECD-total sample. These are seasonally adjusted real (constant prices) measures, calculated using fixed 2010 PPPs, and expressed in 2010 US dollars. The series we use are calculated using the expenditure approach (OECD series code VPVOBARSA).


Introduction: Dermatoglyphics is an advancing branch of medical science in which the dermal ridge patterns are studied and used in prediction of genetic disorders. Objective: To assess the usefulness of dermatoglyphics, as a non-invasive early predicator in RAS, since genetics plays a role in both. Materials and methods: This case control study comprised of 40 patients with recurrent aphthous stomatitis compared to 30 control subjects of similar age and sex. All subjects were investigated for their dermatoglyphic patterns of both hands, which were obtained by smearing the ink uniformly over the palm and fingers and pressing the hands firmly against the good quality paper. Qualitative analysis of prints was done for arches, loops and whorls and quantitative analysis included Total Finger Ridge Count (TFRC) and atd angle. Fisher's Exact Tests were used to evaluate the significance between recurrent aphthous stomatitis and the dermatoglyphic features. Results: Among various dermatoglyphic parameters analyzed, recurrent aphthous stomatitis patients showed 9% arches, 62% loops and 29% whorls as the finger ridge configuration. In comparing the results between the two groups, the frequency of arches was observed more in study group while composite whorl and the nar pattern were more frequent in control group, the results were statistically significant (p < 0.05). In addition to this, study group patients demonstrated higher frequency of total finger ridge count, and control group showed higher frequency for atd angle on both hands, statistically significant difference is observed (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The study found significant correlation between palmar dermatoglyphics and recurrent aphthous stomatitis, suggesting that genetics is one of the host risk factor associated with the latter, and could aid in early detection of the disease.


The purpose of the present experiment consists in optimizing a building modifying its apertures (windows) and its geometry to reduce heating and air conditioning consumption. The optimization is performed using a Micro-Genetic Algorithm (Micro-GAs) programmed in C# embedded like a series of functions into GenerativeComponents (GC). EnergyPlus (E+) software is used to evaluate the HVAC consumption levels of the building. The aim of the optimization is to keep the temperature at 20oC on the hottest and coldest day using the least possible energy (Jules). In conclusion, this article proposes a new technique based on parametric modelling, evaluation and evolutionary optimization to generate efficient buildings with HVAC consumptions.


Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy of Leonuru Heteophyllus( LH) injection in treating menstrual migraine and investigate the mechanism of the therapeutic effect. Methods: 64 patients were randomly divided into two groups: group A(n =34) , treated with LH injection 2ml im qd; group B(n = 30) , treated with Sibelium 10mg qn. The administration was begun in 7 to 10 days before menstruation each month and was stopped after menstruation. The duration of observation was 3 months. The efficacy was assessed on the basis of the following variables: frequency of migraine attack, intensity of headache, duration of attacks and accompanying syndromes. Results; The marked effective rate and the total effective rate for group A were 61. 8% and 88. 2% respectively. The corresponding values for group B were 43. 3% and 83. 3% . There were significant difference in the marked effective rate(61. 8% vs 43. 3% , P 0. 01) between group A and group B. Conclution: LH is an effective drug for the treatment of menstrual migraine and it is better than Sibelium.


The transformation properties of classical electrodynamic variables under charge conjugation C, parity reversal P, and time inversion T are considered both for standard and atypical assumptions for the nature of charge. We have shown that four distinct behaviours of charge under space and time inversion are consistent with the invariance of Maxwell's equations under CPT and P. No prior knowledge of CPT invariance is assumed and the material is accessible to undergraduate students.


Observational evidence for the existence of submicron particles issuing from meteor streams and comets is examined. The MTS Explorer 46 carried a meteoroid detector which measured the rate of impact of particles with masses on the order of 10 to the -16th gram. Particle enhancements were observed in association with meteor streams, such as the Taurid and Orionids. The ratio of radiation pressure to gravity is employed to examine the effects of radiation pressure on the particles. When the ratio is higher than one, particles become smaller, unless they are dielectrics. Particles with radii less than 0.1 micron, having a potential of +3.3 V, are projected to have a lifetime of about 3 yr. Several thousands of tons of submicron particles are expected to be produced during a cometary perihelion passage. Launch of a long duration exposure facility with the Shuttle is recommended for studies of the decay of the particles over time.


Normal fNIRS setting up was limited by superficial physiological noises when applied into the deception detection. We designed a hybrid-pair wireless fNIRS system to improve the detection. The system takes advantages of short-pair channel to suppress the effect of physiological noises, and wireless module to improve the comfortableness of wearing it. We applied the system into a modified Guilty Knowledge Test. The experiment demonstrated that normal metrics might hint different energy consume during lying, while the regional oxygen saturation rSO2, specific in the system, is sensitive to indicate a lying. KeyWoRDS Deception Detection, fNIRS, Hemodynamic Response, Lie Detection


Tracheo-esophageal fistula (TEF) is a well known and a relatively common congenital anomaly (1 in 3,000-4,500 live births). Half of the patients with TEF may have other congenital anomalies, VATER syndrome. However, the presence of subglottic laryngeal stenosis in patients with TEF is uncommon. We report a case of TEF (type C) combined with subglottic laryngeal stenosis. We anesthetized a 2.74 kg neonate for reconstruction surgery. But, it was impossible to pass an uncuffed endotracheal tube (2.5 mm inner diameter and 3.6 mm outer diameter) beyond the vocal cord. A gastrostomy was performed only under mask ventilation, and emergent tracheostomy was done. Endotracheal endoscopy revealed TEF combined with subglottic laryngeal stenosis. In this case, she can be managed successfully by the performance of an early tracheostomy.


CLINICAL HISTORY Case 1.—A 31-year-old woman has a 10-year history of mild headaches occurring about once in a month. For the last 6 months, the headaches have increased in frequency and severity occurring 5 days per week and are described as a pressure around her eyes with nausea and light sensitivity typically of moderate intensity but severe once a week lasting many hours. There was no aura. There is no family history of migraine. Neurological examination was normal. A MRI scan of the brain was normal. She was started on topirimate 25 mg daily to be increased by 25 mg per week to 100 mg per day. When seen in follow-up 1 month later, the headaches were mild and had decreased to 1 or 2 per week. However, she reported having five episodes during the prior 3 weeks lasting 2-3 minutes and followed by a mild pressure headache behind her eyes lasting 30-45 minutes without medication. With three of the episodes, she felt like her entire body was too big and everything else was too small. With two of the episodes, she had a feeling that her entire body was too small and everything else too big. During the episodes, however, everything actually looked normal and she was


revelation and humor: the concept of compact form dissolving into spatial vibration is a beautiful idea (p. 53), and her re-visitations of experimental architects of the 1960s such as Archigram with their "walking cites" (1964) and Haus-Rucker-Co's "Mind Expander I" (1967) are refreshing and amusing. The book makes a strong case for regarding the human body as entirely continuous with its environment. She discusses the driver's ability to "feel" the car as an extension of her own body, thus allowing tight maneuvers (the driver winces if the car is bumped) and the nomadic sense of space in which the "nomad incorporates the whole of space under his own skin, because his tent is a house that never interrupts his progress, but on the contrary accompanies it: space is an extension, a prosthesis or vehicle for his own movement" (p. 71). The book certainly improves towards the end— the writing style becomes relatively lucid and the text is concluded with a useful overview of relevant literature and sources.


A variable lens (100; 200; 220; 240; 250; 300; 350) comprises a tank (125), the optical axis (90) extending through the tank (125). The box (125) comprising a first fluid (130) and a second fluid (140), contacting the fluid meniscus transverse axis (90) extending over (150). Surrounding the meniscus (150) is fixedly located in the tank (125) inner surface (120). The fluid (130, 140) are substantially immiscible and have different refractive indices. A pump (110) may be used for the shape of the meniscus (150) is changed by changing the control box (125) contained in each of said fluid (130, 140) relative volume.


With an increasing integration of intermittent distributed energy resources (DERs), the consequent voltage excursion and thermal overloading issues limit the self-sufficiency of distribution networks (DNs). The concept of soft open point (SOP) has been proposed as a promising solution to improve the hosting capacity of DNs. In this paper, we propose an optimal planning framework for SOPs and DERs while considering building-to-grid (BtG) capability. The optimal planning model is aimed at minimizing the investment and operation costs while respecting various constraints, including the self-sufficiency requirement of the DN, SOP and DER operation, etc. A steady-state SOP model is formulated and linearized to be incorporated into the planning framework. To make full use of the BtG flexibility provided by ubiquitous buildings, a differential equation model for building thermal dynamics is formulated. IEEE 33-bus feeder is adopted to validate the effectiveness of the proposed framework and method. Case studies show that SOP / BtG can effectively improve the hosting capacity and self-sufficiency of distribution networks.


Summary: The Natura 2000 network of protected sites is one of the means to address the issue of biodiversity conservation in Europe. Protected under the habitat directive, EU member states have to undertake surveillance of habitats and species of community interest and report every six years on habitat range and distribution, conservation status and the future prospects of the habitats within and outside of protected sites. Remote sensing techniques have been applied successfully to monitor habitat changes relevant for Natura 2000 monitoring using multioral satellite image data, but many challenges remain especially outside protected sites to assess the development of habitats over time. A flexible information layer concept was developed within the FP7 project MS.MONINA to address the complex task of monitoring natural habitats. In this paper the new approach to classify grassland land cover classes in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, will be presented. Based on ecological parameters experts defined simple description models, which were used by image analysts to extract corresponding image features for four different grassland types. Information layer operators were defined to extract image features for subsequent classifications. (Less)


In 2008 there were approximately 3,500 registered commercial fishing vessels in New Zealand and 2,500 fulltime employees working in the industry, a fraction of New Zealand's two million plus labour force. However, in the Maritime New Zealand's Annual Report 20002001 it was reported that New Zealand's commercial fishing sector represented a disproportionately high number of maritime fatalities. With the exception of the 2007 fatality figures, the rate of Maritime New Zealand reported fatalities and accidents within the commercial fishing sector have remained fairly static. As a result, there have been a variety of initiatives implemented in this hazardous industry, for example, FishSAFE, and a number of reviews undertaken. However, unlike other sectors, implementing OHS interventions in the fishing industry has to account for a number of unique features such as the employment strata, geographical isolation of job, precariousness of employment, increasingly a diverse workforce and social issues such as substance abuse, and. This paper reports on preliminary findings based on interview data of employers and employees in the New Zealand fishing industry. In particular, it exposes a number of barriers to implementing and maintaining OHS measures, for example, increasingly tight profit margins, time pressures, and confusion around regulatory requirements. The initial findings also indicate that the command and control structure of managing staff in the fishing industry can influence individual and group perception and acceptance of risk. Finally, the paper highlights areas requiring further investigation.


Inflammatory bowel disease(IBD) is a chronic recurrent intestinal autoimmune disease characterized by intestinal inflammation,and the incidence of IBD has increased obviously in recent years in China.The etiology and pathogenesis of IBD have not been completely elucidated,which leads to the restricted treatment.Accumulated evidences suggest that chronic and persistent intestinal inflammation is the main reason why IBD is hard to cure.One of the core mechanisms of chronic intestinal inflammation is the adhesion between lymphocytes and endothelial cells and diapedesis of lymphocytes,which is mediated by intercellular adhesion molecule-1(ICAM-1).This article reviewed the role of ICAM-1 in the pathogensis of IBD.


Introduction Malpositioning of the tibial component is a common error in TKR. In theory, placement of the tibial tray could be improved by optimization of its design to more closely match anatomic features of the proximal tibia with the motion axis of the knee joint. However, the inherent variability of tibial anatomy and the size increments required for a non-custom implant system may lead to minimal benefit, despite the increased cost and size of inventory. This study was undertaken to test the hypotheses:
 1.That correct placement of the tibial component is influenced by the design of the implant. 2.The operative experience of the surgeon influences the likelihood of correct placement of contemporary designs of tibial trays. Materials and Methods CAD models were generated of all sizes of 7 widely used designs of tibial trays, including symmetric (4) and asymmetric (3) designs. Solid models of 10 tibias were selected from a large anatomic collection and verified to ensure that they encompassed the anatomic range of shapes and sizes of Caucasian tibias. Each computer model was resected perpendicular to the canal axis with a posterior slope of 5 degrees at a depth of 5 mm distal to the medial plateau. Fifteen joint surgeons and fourteen experienced trainees individually determined the ideal size and placement of each tray on each resected tibia, corresponding to a total of 2030 implantations. For each implantation we calculated: (i) the rotational alignment of the tray; (ii) its coverage of the resected bony surface, and (iii) the extent of any overhang of the tray beyond the cortical boundary. Differences in the parameters defining the implantations of the surgeons and trainees were evaluated statistically. Results On average, the tibial tray was placed in 5.5 ± 3.1° of external rotation. The overall incidence of internal rotation was only 4.8%: 10.5% of trainee cases vs. 0.7% of surgeon cases (p 1 mm), primarily in the posterior-lateral region, was present in 12.1% of cases, and varied by design, as expressed by the area of the tray overhanging the cortical boundary (min: 2.3 ± 6.7 mm 2 ; max: 4.7 ± 7.9 mm 2 ; p Discussion 1.Malrotation, bony coverage and cortical overhang are all strongly influenced by the design of the tibial tray selected and the experience of the surgeon. 2.Compared to trainees, experienced surgeons tend to position tibial trays in more external rotation, and with less concern for reduced bony coverage and cortical overhang than trainees. 3.This study supports the hypothesis that improvements in the outcome and reliability of TKR may be achieved through attention to implant design.


Dual metal alkoxide was prepared by reacting lithium isopropoxide and aluminum iso-propoxide in iso-propanol. The dual metal alkoxide, lithium aluminum iso-propoxide, was then hydrolized to form sol which turned into lithium aluminate powder gel with uniform particles of submicron sizes. The amorphous gel had surface area and pore size. After sintered at for six hours, it was completely transformed to and had surface area and particle size. When the gel was sintered at for 6 hours, peaks of in the XRD spectrum began to appear and it almost turned into at . To compare microstructure, lithium aluminate powders were also prepared by solid state reactions. Lithium aluminates were hexagonal plate shape of size, and were mostly .


Second-generation antipsychotics, such as risperidone, olanzapine and quetiapine, have been studied in delirium treatment due to decreased risk of extrapyramidal symptoms.1 Our primary aim was to assess the efficacy of risperidone for the treatment of delirium. Our secondary aim was to evaluate the side effects occurrence frequency in comparison with other atypical antipsychotics and with haloperidol.

A systematic review according to the recommendations of the Cochrane group was conducted, and the present report follows PRISMA guidelines.2 Two authors (PS and …


A novel and systematic approach for dynamic modeling and approximate constraint-following servo control of con- strained mechanical systems under uncertainty is proposed. Fundamental equation of constrained mechanical systems is first obtained based on Udwadia-Kalaba approach which is applicable to holonomic and nonholonomic constrained systems no matter whether they satisfy the D'Alember's principle. The uncertainty (possibly fast time-varying) in mechanical systems is bounded and the bound is unknown. Fuzzy set theory is used to describe the unknown bound. The performance requirement is modeled as servo constraints in second-order form. A model-based robust control is presented to approximately follow the servo constraints. The proposed control is deterministic and is not IF-THEN rules-based. The uniform boundedness and uniform ultimate bounded- ness of the tracking error are guaranteed, regardless of the uncertainty. A performance index (the combined cost, which includes average fuzzy system performance and control effort) is proposed based on the fuzzy information. The optimal design problem associated with the control can then be solved (explicitely or numerically) by minimizing the performance index. The resulting control design is systematic and is able to guarantee the deterministic performance as well as minimizing the cost.


Objective  To investigate autonomous cortisol and aldosterone secretion and insulin resistance (IR) indices, in patients with incidentally discovered bilateral adrenal lesions (BA).


The restoring force model is accessed to lots of experimental researches,and it is just a practical mathematical model that presents the relationship between the load and displacement through an appropriate abstraction and simplification. Based upon the theoretic formulas and testing data,the four-linear restoring model under low cyclic load that is in good agreement with the experiment is established and the hysteresis model is proposed. Moreover,aimed at the stiffness turning point of restoring force model,a formula using pseudo-static method to solve the problems of nonlinear dynamic equations is devised. Iteration calculation is avoided in calculation,and it is convenient for computer programming with a more accurate result.


This study aims to investigate the impact of Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use and E-Trust on Customer Loyalty in Traveloka's Airlines E-Ticketing. This type of study is explanatory research. The questionnaires have been distributed in purposive sampling to 288 student respondents in Faculty of Economics and Business at Brawijaya University. The collected data were processed with Factor Analysis and Multiple Regression Analysis. The finding of Factor Analysis shows that the indicators of Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, E-Trust and Customer Loyalty are qualified to represent or explain the formed variable. Moreover, the results from Regression Analysis reveal that the three independent variables except for Perceived Ease of Use are partially significant on Customer Loyalty. Therefore, it is suggested that to increase the loyalty of customer, companies should improve the trust of customer on Traveloka website which E-Trust is the dominant variable and the usefulness and easiness of products and services should be maintained. Keywords: TAM, E-trust, and Customer Loyalty


The paper presents an autonomous parallel parking neuro-fuzzy controller for a car-like mobile robot. Three ultrasonic sensors are mounted in the front left corner of the car to obtain the parking environmental information and a compass sensor is mounted in the centre position of the car to measure the posture of the car. Through the proposed mechanism, one of the three ultrasonic sensors and the compass sensor are used to decide on the turning angle. Fifth-order polynomial reference paths starting from three different points to the same goal point have been used to generate the training data set. The fuzzy controller has been identified by subtractive clustering algorithm and trained by the adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference systems. The simulation results show that the proposed approach can successfully determine the motion direction at each sampling time without knowing the parking lot dimension, based on the direct sensors readings.


【This study is to improve reasonable consumption as a consumer and interests of the consumers through analyzing the consumer satisfaction degree on product information provided on Internet, and to present basic information to contribute in protecting consumers through preventing harms on them due to insufficient or unnecessary information. The major results of the study are summarized as follows: 1) The degree of understanding characteristics in information focus on household electric appliances provided for the consumers on Internet found to be 'average'. 2) In the degree of significancy for information of the household electric appliances, consumers recognized information regarding services most important. 3) The overall satisfaction degree on information regarding household electric appliances on Internet was evaluated through giving a weight to the degree of significancy for the products and adding the satisfaction degree by information contents, and it was found to be 'average'.】


Objective: To determine whether the adoption of the CONSORT checklist is associated with improvement in the quality of reporting of randomised controlled trials (RCTs).


Anionic phospholipids have been shown to interact with both membrane-associated proteins and integral membrane proteins. The objective of this work was to determine whether bacteriolysis induced by treatment with ampicillin was influenced by the levels of anionic membrane phospholipids in Escherichia coli strain HDL11. The pgsA gene, encoding phosphatidylglycerophosphate synthase, in HDL11 is under the control of lacOP, and the levels of anionic membrane phospholipids are consequently dependent on IPTG. The results indicate that limiting the amounts of phosphatidylglycerol and cardiolipin did not affect the lysis process in both growing and nongrowing bacteria.


Central to most e-learning strategies is the course management system (CMS). While a CMS has the potential to facilitate better course management, enhance learning, and encourage student autonomy, reports indicate that faculty are slow to adopt a CMS, and yet others claim most faculty are not using a CMS to its potential. This chapter considers teachers in a university English program who were surveyed about their perceptions of the Blackboard CMS using the technology acceptance model (TAM) and data from usage logs were analyzed to appraise actual CMS application. While the teachers had an overwhelmingly positive view of the CMS, their utilization of Blackboard was limited or unsophisticated. As e-learning coordinators in the English program, the authors are interested in increasing CMS adoption and developing a robust e-learning component in the curriculum.


This paper presents the dynamics of quality costs in an Indian manufacturing company. A system dynamics model is developed for this purpose. The new features of the model are: a) time dependent deterioration process, b) formation of quality perception, and c) market reaction. The effects of investments on quality activities are experimented by simulation runs. A number of policy runs presented in this paper quantifies the extents of such investments in order to achieve the best possible results.


automatic communication Abstract Automatic communication can help reduce errors in communication between navigators, and, consequently, increase the level of navigation safety. This article reviews some methods for the development of an ontology and looks into processes for communication at sea. Three basic elements of ontology can be distinguished: navigational information, communication and interface. The possibility of applying these methods for the construction of ontology was analyzed for a system of automatic communication


Secukinumab (anti–interleukin‐17A [anti–IL‐17A]) is an effective therapy for ankylosing spondylitis and psoriatic arthritis, the prototypical forms of spondyloarthritis (SpA). We undertook this study to determine whether secukinumab modulates the immunopathology of target lesions without blunting systemic immune responses, using peripheral SpA as a model.


Experiments using a small-scale solar dryer have been performed to determine the effect of incorporating solar dryers in the pre-firing stage of clay brick production. A comparison of brick moisture content over time is presented for dry bricks that underwent additional drying either naturally through direct exposure, in convection ovens set at 65.6 C and 104 C, in the solar dryer, or sealed in plastic bags. The ambient temperature and relative humidity were monitored along with the solar dryer temperature. Results indicated the solar dryer removed from one to two percent more moisture than natural drying, but removed less moisture than did the ovens. A similar comparison of wet bricks naturally dried, oven dried, and placed in the solar dryer for periods of five and seven days is also presented. The solar dryer reduced the amount of time required for bricks to be dried to a specified moisture content and increased the amount of moisture removed for a given amount of time.


Oxygen isotope exchange for sodium-and copper-containing mordenite was studied in the isothermal regime using the plug-flow reactor. No prominent exchange was observed over sodium mordenite at 873 K. In contrast, the presence of copper significantly increases the lability of oxygen atoms resulting in a substantial rate of isotope exchange in the temperature range between 793 and 873 K. A novel numerical model accounting for two kinetically distinct sources of exchangeable oxygen atoms was proposed and shown to provide high quality of fitting of experimental data. Two types of exchangeable atoms correspond to about 9 and 25% of the total amount of oxygen atoms, respectively, and these values do not change with the exchange temperature. The exchange mechanism involving two oxygen atoms from the surface dominates in the case of the first source of exchangeable atoms, while the second source undergoes exchange mainly via a single-atom exchange mechanism.


'East Africa' is a somewhat vague term; but for our present purpose we may take it to mean the area between Cape Guardafui and the Zambezi, extending inland to the Great Lakes, and including Nyasaland. Our subject naturally falls under two headings: we have on the one hand to consider the inchoate and sometimes only half articulate poetry of the inland tribes, and on the other the literature, as it may fitly be called, developed by the Swahili under Arab influence, but all the same a genuine product of the soil. The poetic output of the Hamitic Somali and Galla, though little known at present, is certainly worth attention.


Theoretical analysis is carried out to evaluate the performance of a Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) network transmission system in the presence of crosstalk due to an array waveguide grating router. It is found that linear crosstalk induced by the array waveguide induces higher penalty when the number of add/drop channels is increased and therefore imposes severe limitation on the maximum number of add/drop channels and the number of users accessing the WDM network.


OBJECTIVES
To prospectively compare the clinical and radiographic results of three modes of implant treatment for implant-retained mandibular overdentures in patients with extremely resorbed mandibles. The three treatment strategies used were (1) a transmandibular implant, (2) augmentation of the mandible with an autologous bone graft followed by placement of four endosseous implants, and (3) placement of four short endosseous implants.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Sixty edentulous patients met the inclusion criteria and were assigned according to a balanced allocation method to 1 of the 3 treatment strategies. Implant survival, surgical retreatment rates, and peri-implant bone loss were assessed according to a standardized protocol during a 10-year evaluation period.

RESULTS
During the evaluation period, significantly more implants were lost in the transmandibular implant (cumulative 10-year implant survival rate, 76.3%) and the augmentation groups (88%) compared to the group provided with short endosseous implants (98.8%). The 10-year retreatment rate was significantly more favorable in the endosseous implants only (0%) and augmentation groups (5%) compared to the transmandibular group (30%). In all three groups, there was minor peri-implant bone loss.

DISCUSSION
Although implant loss is a frequently used outcome measure for success, the necessity of surgical retreatment seems to be of more relevance for both the patient and the clinician.

CONCLUSION
Considering the favorable clinical and radiographic parameters and the fact that patients can be treated in outdoor clinic setting, the use of short endosseous implants in combination with an overdenture is the first choice of treatment in patients with extremely resorbed mandibles.


The actual paper provides a set of parametric stability charts considering a quadrotor rotorcraft performing stabilizing maneuvers under the presence of feedback time-delays and subjected to PID controllers. The analysis considers the couplings between the translational (slow dynamics) and the rotational (fast dynamics) motions. The parameters of the controllers, within the overall control scheme, are computed using the well-known stability crossing roots theory. Numerical simulation results, including the full dynamic model and the corresponding linear model of the vehicle, are presented to validate the proposal.


In the present investigation, which is a management model based on the balanced scorecard for
the communication sector, in particular: Radio "La Otra", located in the metropolitan district of
Quito, has been structured as follows. In Chapter I, it refers to the theoretical basis of Strategic
Planning and the Balanced Scored Card, its foundations and its conceptual framework. Chapter
II describes the Methodological Framework, the type of method to be used, to carry out the
survey according to the population and the sample. Chapter III describes the Strategic Proposal
of Radio "La Otra", based on the Balanced Scored Card, its strategies, objectives based on the
correct vision and mission. Finally, chapter IV describes the main conclusions and
recommendations of the present investigation.

Descriptors: Business Model, Strategic Planning, Radio "La Otra".


Switched Reluctance Machine (SRM) has magnetic field with strong saturation nonlinearity features, complex mathematical models and its fault output is mainly unsteady signals of strong coupling multi-physical field, which easily floods effective fault characteristics and make it difficult to extract. In this paper, Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT) is introduced to SRM fault feature extraction method to solve the problems aforesaid. Firstly, Empirical Mode Decomposition(EMD) is utilized to decompose the bus current of the faulted motor into several simple Intrinsic Mode Function(IMF) to resolve the problem of unsteady characteristics of complex fault signals. Secondly, primary IMF components are selected to form the matrix of initial parameters to calculate both the energy of singular values and the parameters of energy entropy of the matrix, which is used as a feature vector. Finally, multi-classifier based on support vector machine (SVM) are used to identify the extracted small-sample fault feature vector for classification. After verification by simulation, this method can effectively reduce the complexity of the fault signals, redundant data of faults and increase the accuracy rate of fault identification. Its application in SRM fault diagnosis has theoretical and practical value.


The textures and mineralogy of quartz syenite and hauyne syenite clasts within the phonolitic (pyroclastics) to tephriphonolitic (lavas) Pitigliano Formation indicate different origins and separate cooling histories. Whole-rock geochemistry of both quartz syenites and hauyne syenites indicates they are slowly cooled equivalents of differentiaded potassic magmas, approximately retaining a liquid composition. Clinopyroxene and amphibole compositions reflect the higher and lower silica activity of the melts from which the two suites crystallized. The foiditic syenite clasts, cognates with the Pitigliano Formation host-rocks, are inferred to have grown at shallow depths, as side-wall or roof cumulates (ideal orthocumulates) near the top of a chamber containing a HKS phonolitic-tephriphonolitic magma. By contrast, the quartz syenite clasts are inferred to be xenoliths of older rocks from deeper parts of the magmatic system crystallized from KS-trachitic magmas. There is little variation with respect to 143Nd/144Nd and 87Sr/86Sr ratios in the two syenitic suites. These ratios lie within the ranges shown by the mafic lavas of Vulsini, implying that no significant crustal contamination by siliceous material occurred beyond the mafic stage of evolution. The hauyne syenites, however, have relatively high δ34S values (between +10.4 and +12.9 ‰), which are believed to reflect assimilation of underlying Triassic evaporites with δ34S values of ca. +14.3 ‰. Evidence from SO4-rich apatites and the mineral chemistry of some pegmatite clasts appears to confirm that sulphur-rich fluids emanating from the Triassic carbonate-evaporite sedimentary wall-rock sequences contaminated the crystallizing HKS magma.


Let g=g_1+g_2, [g,g] =g_2, be a nilpotent Lie algebra of step 2, V_1,..., V_m a basis of g_1 and L=\sum_{j,k} a_{jk} V_j V_k be a left-invariant differential operator on G=exp (g), where the coefficients a_{jk} form a real, symmetric mxm-matrix. It is shown that if a solution w(t,x) to the Schr\"odinger equation \partial_t w(t,g)=i Lw(t,g), w(0,g)=f(g), satisfies a suitable Gaussian type estimate at time t= 0 and at some time t=T\ne 0, then w=0 . The proof is based on Hardy's uncertainty principle and explicit computations within Howe's oscillator semigroup. Our results extend work by Ben Said and Thangavelu in which the authors study the Schr\"odinger equation associated to the sub-Laplacian on the Heisenberg group.


Various lines of geomorphic evidence suggest that large bodies of groundwater were present on Mars throughout much of its early geologic history. In this paper the hydrologic response of groundwater to the thermal evolution of the early martian crust is considered. When a temperature gradient is present in a moist porous medium, it gives rise to a vapor pressure gradient that drives the diffusion of water vapor from regions of high to low temperature. By this process, a geothermal gradient as small as 15 K km−1 could drive the vertical transport of 1 km of water to the freezing front at the base of the martian cryosphere every 106–107 years, or the equivalent of ∼10²–10³ km of water over the course of martian geologic history. Models of the thermal history of Mars suggest that this thermally-driven vapor flux may have been as much as 3–5 times greater in the past. The magnitude of this transport suggests that the process of geothermally-induced vapor diffusion may have played a critical role in the initial emplacement of ground ice and the subsequent geomorphic and geochemical evolution of the martian crust.


The invention concerns a device for injecting an intraocular implant in a patient's eye comprising a chamber for folding the optical part of the implant, a folding member, a cannula for injecting the folded implant into the eye, said cannula emerging at a first end of said chamber, a guiding channel emerging at the second end of said chamber, and a mobile piston mounted in said guide channel to drive the folded implant into said cannula. The piston (40) comprises a cylindrical end (44) designed to co-operate with said implant, said end comprising an end surface (50) substantially orthogonal to the length of the piston, said end surface having an opening (52) emerging in the side wall of the piston end and extending over part only of the piston diameter, said end being provided with a slot (54) extending over a length l such that, with the length of said opening, the total length is at least equal to that of the haptic branch, said slot communicating with said opening and further extending over the whole piston diameter to emerge at diametrical ends in the outer wall of the end of said piston.


In single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), the non-stationary Possion noise in the projection data (sinogram) is a major cause to compromise the quality of the reconstructed images. To improve the quality, we must remove the Possion noise in the sinogram before reconstruction. However, the conventional space or frequency domain de-noising methods possibly remove the edge information that is very important for the accurate reconstruction, especially for SPECT reconstruction with non-uniform attenuation. As a time-frequency analysis tool, wavelet transform has been widely used in the signal and image processing fields, demonstrated its powerful functions in the application of de-noising. In this paper, we try to find out the de-noising abilities of the wavelet based de-noising methods for SPECT reconstruction with non-uniform attenuation, and the effect of the Anscombe transform in the wavelet based de-noising. Five most effective de-noising methods were selected, and the non-uniform attenuation reconstruction algorithm was applied to the de-noised projection data. From the reconstructed results, it is clear that the Revised BivaShrink with complex wavelet is the best wavelet based de-noising method for SPECT reconstruction with non-uniform attenuation, and the effect of Anscombe transform, which converts the Possion noise into Gaussian noise, is not significant in the wavelet based de-noising.


Objective To investigate the etiology, precaution and treatment of secondary glaucoma after penetrating keratoplasty (PKP). Methods Thirty-one cases of secondary glaucoma occurring in 163 eyes after PKP, were retrospectively analyzed of etiology, correlated factors and treatment methods. Results The intraocular pressure (IOP) of 22 cases became normal after drug treatment.Nine cases had received operation, in which 6 cases had normal IOP and 3 cases kept high ones. Conclusions Secondary glaucoma is a main complication after PKP, whose incidence relates with receptor conditions before operation, manipulations of the operation, treatment after PKP and graft rejection. It is crucial to differentially treat PKP according to different causes.


Inhibition activities of chalcone derivatives as substrate with farnesyl protein transferase(FPTase) were determined in vitro. The structure activity relationships(SAR) between the activity and physicochemical parameters of X & Y-substituents on the phenyl groups were analyzed by Free-Wilson and Hansch method. X-substituents on the benzoyl group have the more important role to inhibition activity than Y-substituents on the styryl group. Among them, none substituent, 8 showed the highest FPTase inhibition activity. Particularly, the SAR equation could be formulated, showing a parabolic relationship between the activity and hydrophobicity(logP) where the optimal value was 3.915. And also the activity depends on the steric effect(Es > 0) with X-substituent and the resonance effect(R


Elastatinal1) is an elastase inhibitor which was found in culture filtrates of various species of actinomycetes. In this communication, its structural elucidation is reported. The properties of elastatinal have already been described in a previous papery. It has the molecular formula C21H36N8O7. The IR [1725. 1655 (broad) and 1550 (broad) cm-1] and UV [2 0.1N HCl max: 275 nm (E 1% 1cm, 1.5)] spectra, color reactions (RYDON-SMITH, FOLIN, trl-


Modern pedagogy is moving away from traditional transmissive approaches, and it is extensively embracing constructive theory of learning. A prominent practical embodiment of this paradigm shift is a method called Constructive Alignment (CA). This approach focuses on learners' actions and starts from a clear communication of the Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) of the focal unit. ILOs are made of content, a context, and an Educational Goal Verb (EGV). According to the Bloom Taxonomy, the EGV is the core of an ILO and refers to the action the learners are expected to be able to master after completing the educational unit. The ILO is then aligned to the course activity using the EGV (i.e., EGVs are enacted through Teaching and Learning Activities (TLAs) and verified through Assessment Tasks (ATs)). Despite the ILO definition being extensively investigated and described, the extant literature has poorly explored how to devise suitable TLAs and ATs, lacking comprehensive contributions that identify and describe the different kinds of TLAs and ATs available to course designers. In view of the above gap, the authors searched and reviewed the literature (scientific papers (i.e., top-down, deductive approach)) and practices in higher education (university websites and blogs (i.e., bottom-up, inductive approach)) to identify all the possible sources of TLA and AT descriptions available. The results propose standardized templates that support the course design process, providing extensive descriptions of TLA and AT based on the best practices identified. The proposed templates include the core dimensions that proved to be suitable for designing traditional and remote-learning activities. Finally, the examples provided in the paper show how to use these templates on a few kinds of selected on-campus and digital TLAs and ATs from the educational units identified in the Erasmus+ MAESTRO project, which is based on Industry 4.0 technological enablers and their application in support of manufacturing sustainability.


Planar bidirectional dual-sense circularly polarized (CP) antenna with adjustable orthogonal polarization flared angle (OPFA) of $\gamma$ is presented and studied. A y-oriented, rectangular patch element and V-shaped symmetric electric dipole resonating at the first odd, high-order mode are combined. As is seen, two prototypes provided with variable OPFAs of $\gamma= 100\deg$ and 120° have been manufactured and measured to verify the progressive design approach. The low-complexity design method may be beneficial for future reconfigurable antenna developments.


The goal of this note on Hamiltonian splitting methods, an established technique to derive stable and accurate integration schemes in molecular dynamics, is to comment on the best combination of optimized splitting and gradient methods that avoids splitting the kinetic propagator.


The lipid-soluble pigments in pu-er tea,Liu-bao tea,Fu-zhuan tea,Hua-zhuan tea,Qing-zhuan tea and Hei-zhuan tea were analyzed by HPTLC. Results showed that the composing and content of lipid-soluble pigments in Dark tea were different from each other.


This paper challenges the dominant view of leadership, the organizational-effectiveness approach, and proposes a different concept of leadership in the context of retirement. A premise is that the organizational-effectiveness approach is inadequate to the task of retirement organizations and may inhibit senior participation. Following an introduction to the concept of leadership, problems with voluntary senior leadership programs are identified. The problems originate from a conceptualization of leadership that omits the following contextual variables: authority that is vested in a single person and organizational goals that are stressed over individual needs. The organizational effectiveness model is argued to be inadequate because it denies older people the opportunities to experience a sense of power as members of a group and to contribute talents that give them individual recognition. A shared culture of leadership based on shared power and the satisfaction of individual needs is advocated. One table is included. (26 references) (LMI) *********************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS ar :? the best that can be made * * from the original document. * ***********************************************************************


Abstract : The report presents an initial study of signal characteristics and coherent signal processing at the network level. Topics investigated include signal similarity, depth-phase detection and recognition, separation and location of events overlapping in time and space, and methods for real-time network processing and data presentation. Large variations in signal waveform and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) are observed across the network. Interstation coefficients of correlation for a relatively simple Kamchatka event vary from 0. 54 to 0.96, with the higher correlation found for stations on the eastern North American continent. Levinson equalization filtering does not appear particularly effective at the network level in terms of improved correlation coefficients or SNR. Depth-phase detection at the network level is not materially better than for selected stations, but recognition appears more reliable than for general station results. Experiments show that overlapping events of differing magnitudes and separated in epicenter by as little as 1 degree can be resolved by network beamsteer and integrate techniques. Signal-enhancement procedures implemented primarily to determine the extent of signal attenuation caused by signal dissimilarity across the network indicate less than 3-db reduction in signal energy across the signal passband.