The invention provides a data visualization system based on Web. The system comprises a Web service platform and a client, wherein the Web service platform comprises a Web browser, a Web server and a database server; the Web server is used for receiving a data request from a client browser and is in charge of data calculation work and forwarding a generated processing result to the client browser; a map visualization component, a tree graph visualization component, a parallel coordinate visualization component, a time flow graph visualization component, a scatter diagram visualization component, a histogram visualization component, a network chart visualization component, a pie chart visualization component, a broken line graph visualization component and a label cloud component are arranged in the Web server; and the Web server also comprises a visualization component collaboration module which is used for presenting data by using more than two visualization components cooperatively according to preset rules. The system provided by the invention has low client hardware requirements, reduces the client use cost and is better in applicability.


This paper presents a method for learning decision theoretic models of facial expressions and gestures from video data. We consider that the meaning of a facial display or gesture to an observer is contained in its relationship to context, actions and outcomes. An agent wishing to capitalize on these relationships must distinguish facial displays and gestures according to how they help the agent to maximize utility. This paper demonstrates how an agent can learn relationships between unlabeled observations of a person's face and gestures, the context, and its own actions and utility function. The agent needs no prior knowledge about the number or the structure of the gestures and facial displays that are valuable to distinguish. The agent discovers classes of human non-verbal behaviors, as well as which are important for choosing actions that optimize over the utility of possible outcomes. This value-directed model learning allows an agent to focus resources on recognizing only those behaviors which are useful to distinguish. We show results in a simple gestural robotic control problem and in a simple card game played by two human players.


The 1997 Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications Concerning Higher Education in the European Region,informally known as the Lisbon Recognition Convention,is the first single inclusive legal document that aims to unify and consolidate the recognition of educational qualifications with due respect to the diversity of education systems in the European Region.The implementation of the Convention will facilitate the clearance of structural barriers such as national policy and law that affect the academic mobility of personnel within the said region.The Convention will also influence other countries owing to the fact that it is a joint effort between the Council of Europe and the UNESCO.


Very recently, catalytic measurements based on isotopic labeling disclosed details of the reaction mechanism in the methanol to hydrocarbons reaction over H-ZSM-5 and demonstrated that there are major mechanistic differences from one catalyst topology to another. In addition to having consequences for the catalyst selectivity, the catalyst topology may also lead to differences in the mechanism for the deactivation process. However, the understanding of the catalyst deactivation and the recognition of all of the species formed (coke) are rather complex. Most recent studies have reported the analysis (gas chromatography−mass spectrometry) of the fraction of extracted carbonaceous material soluble in an organic solvent only. This contribution describes the nature and evolution of all of the involved species formed both inside the channels and on the external surface of the catalyst during the reaction by spectroscopic techniques, (diffuse reflectance) DR-UV−visible and IR. Both DR-UV−visible and IR reveal th...


It was after the Second World War when the forces of globalization emerged into the world and the expansion of FDI really took off. The growing importance of multinational enterprises and foreign investment during the 1950s and 60s particularly FDI flows from US to European countries gave an impetus to many researchers to examine the issue of MNCs and the existence of international production. As a consequence of growing interest in FDI, a large body of studies has analyzed the factors and effects of such investment. It is in this context that the present chapter of the study surveys the existing theoretical and empirical literature on FDI flows. This is attempted to identify the research issues and knowledge gap for the present study. The current chapter is divided into two distinct parts. In the first part, different theories have been examined and in the second part review of existing empirical literatures have been undertaken.


Calcium is accepted as an essential nutrient for bone health (1). Between infancy and adulthood, more than 1000 g of calcium are incorporated into the skeleton. For optimal bone health, calcium intake must be sufficient to meet the demands of bone mineral accrual and to compensate for losses in feces, urine, and sweat. Experts in the United States, Europe, and Australia have developed age-adjusted recommendations for calcium intake based on the best available calcium balance, bone mineral accrual, and fracture data (2). For individuals aged nine to 18 years, calcium intakes of 800–1300 mg/day have been advised. Despite these guidelines, the "threshold amount" of calcium required for maximal calcium retention and bone mineral accrual remains a contentious issue (2;3).


We show that many of Ramanujan's modular equations of degree 3 can be interpreted in terms of integral ternary quadratic forms. This way we establish that for any n ∈ N


Nonlocal elasticity models in continuum mechanics can be treated with two different approaches: the gradient elasticity models (weak nonlocality) and the integral nonlocal models (strong nonlocality). This paper focuses on the fractional generalization of gradient elasticity that allows us to describe a weak nonlocality of power-law type. We suggest a lattice model with spatial dispersion of power-law type as a microscopic model of fractional gradient elastic continuum. We demonstrate how the continuum limit transforms the equations for lattice with this spatial dispersion into the continuum equations with fractional Laplacians in Riesz's form. A weak nonlocality of power-law type in the nonlocal elasticity theory is derived from the fractional weak spatial dispersion in the lattice model. The continuum equations with derivatives of noninteger orders, which are obtained from the lattice model, can be considered as a fractional generalization of the gradient elasticity. These equations of fractional elasticity are solved for some special cases: subgradient elasticity and supergradient elasticity.


The mitochondrial genome encodes core subunits involved in the process of oxidative phosphorylation. The sequence and structure of these mitochondria-encoded polypeptides are expected to be shaped by bioenergetic requirements linked to diet and environment. Here, we have developed a robust and effective method for highlighting phylogenetic tree edges with unexpectedly rapid, and likely consequential, substitutions within mitochondrial proteins. Further, our approach allows detection of discrete protein substitutions likely to alter enzyme performance. A survey of mammalian taxonomic groups performed using our method indicates that widely conserved residues in mitochondria-encoded proteins are more likely to rapidly mutate toward variants providing lower OXPHOS activity within specific clades. Intriguingly, our data suggest reduced cellular metabolism of ancestral anthropoids, and our findings have potential implications regarding primate encephalization. Significance Statement Mitochondria harbor DNA (mtDNA) that encodes proteins important for converting food into energy. The environment and lifestyle of an organism shapes, and is shaped by, the sequences of these mitochondrial genomes. We developed a new approach for the detection of rapid functional change to proteins, and we applied our method to the mitochondria-encoded polypeptides of mammals. We found that primates displayed a general signature of relative hypometabolism that is shared with other mammals characterized by a low metabolic rate. Indications of reduced cellular metabolism extend even to the earliest anthropoids. Our findings have potential implications regarding the evolution of an enlarged primate brain.


An approach to program control is described which is oriented to Systems Management. The following topics are discussed: total program control, systems management, program cost control, PERT network activity pricing, expenditure rate curves in cost planning and control, frequency of cost reporting, technical performance and program schedules, and project status reporting.


R‐loops are potentially mutagenic three‐stranded structures where RNA has hybridized to one strand of DNA and displaced the other, exposing ssDNA. Long repeated R‐loop‐forming sequences are known to cause genomic instability and are associated with disease. Šviković et al ( ) show that even short tandem (microsatellite) repeats, abundant in the vertebrate genome, do form R‐loops and present a barrier to replication. However, the replication fork can move past these short R‐loop‐forming repeats through the re‐priming action of primase–polymerase (PrimPol), thus avoiding the loss of epigenetic information or DNA damage.


The recent observations of persistent revivals in the Rydberg atom chain have revealed a weak ergodicity breaking mechanism known as quantum many-body scars, which is typically a collection of states with low entanglement embedded in otherwise thermal spectra. Here, by applying a generic formalism, we propose a direct evolution from the quantum many-body scars to their inverse case and construct multiple inverted quantum many-body scars, i.e., different sets of excited states with volume-law entanglement embedded in a sea of the many-body localized spectrum. When increasing the disorder strength, a tower of exact eigenstates remain intact, acting as conventional quantum many-body scars at weak disorder, and each residing inside narrow energy windows with the emerged inverted quantum many-body scar at strong disorder. Moreover, the strong disorder also induces additional sets of inverted quantum many-body scars with their energies concentrating in the middle of the exact eigenstates. As a result, all the multiple inverted quantum many-body scars are approximately equidistant in energy. We further examine the stability of the conventional and the inverted quantum many-body scars against the external random field. Our findings expand the variety of nonthermal systems and connect the weak ergodicity breaking with the weak violation of many-body localization.


This study's purpose was to explore relationships among perceived needs for information about resources, service needs, and service use. Ninety-three African-American grandmothers aged 36 to 78 who were primary caregivers for their biological grandchildren participated. Relationships among variables were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression, controlling for grandmothers' demographic characteristics. While grandmother age and number of grandchildren predicted needs for information about resources, such needs predicted both perceived service need and service use. Findings not only underscore the importance of sensitivity to variation across persons in needs for information about services among African American grandmother caregivers but also emphasize the key roles that such needs play in predicting both needs for services and the use of a variety of social, medical, and legal services.


The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that influence customer satisfaction and their impact on the marketing performance of Home Laundry business in the Region of South Tangerang. This study collected primary data from 87 home laundry workers in the South Tangerang area through the use of questionnaires.Purposive sampling was used to collect the research sample. The Partial Least Squares (PLS) analytical method was used with the SmartPLS 3.0 application. The results of the study showed that price perceptions and digital marketing had a favorable and significant impact on customer satisfaction. The findings further demonstrated that price perceptions, customer satisfaction, and partial digital marketing all had a favorable and significant impact on Home Laundry's marketing performance in the South Tangerang Region.


Marine equipment plays an increasingly important role in marine economic construction and marine defense. The problem of fouling organisms on the surface of water is still a key factor restricting the service life of marine equipment. The work firstly discusses the formation process and causes of biofouling, summarizes the harm of biofouling to marine equipment service, and clearly points out that the problem of fouling on the surface of hull has become a major problem hindering the research of hull surface drag reduction technology. Numerous studies have shown that studying the unity of surface structure and function and achieving effective surface protection and drag reduction are essential for the future development of marine equip表面强化及功能化 第 48 卷 第 6 期 秦立果等:柔性表面织构化在海洋装备减阻与防污上的应用 ·151· ment. The current two main research ideas are to regulate the physical and chemical properties of the surface, such as wettability and surface topography and to develop suitable antifouling agents for inhibiting the attachment and propagation of microorganisms. According to the above ideas, based on the principle of drag reduction of dolphins and sharks flexible skin, the flexible surface of common antifouling coating (polyurethane) was investigated, and the drag reduction by texture was introduced. Investigating the dual regulation of flexible surface and texture parameters on drag reduction behavior and anti-fouling bio-adhesion under service conditions is expected to achieve energy saving and consumption reduction of marine equipment under service conditions. At the end, the research methods of combining anti-biofouling bacteria and natural metabolites into the surface of marine equipment to achieve the function of repelling and resisting the adhesion of organisms are proposed.


Teachers' Attitudes toward the possible effects a longer school year might have on a district were investigated. A sample size of 64 teachers from a suburban school district in New Jersey were given a descriptive survey with 22 statements or guestions pertaining to the effects of a longer school year or dayQuestions were developed from literature review findings and from a focus group discussion with teachers on the possible effects a longer school year/day could have on a school district. The results indicated that teachers were unwilling to teach a longer school year/day unless they were compensated for the time. Compensation was the most important factor in a teacher's attitude toward working a longer school calendar. In addition, when given the option of teaching a longer school day, there was no difference between elementary and middle school teachers. Teacher related issues received themost agreement to than other statements and those issues were the best predictors of teachers' attitudes towards a longer school


We present a new concept and first results for a photoconducting detector exhibiting extremely high gain and extremely high detectivity. Previously we have demonstrated detectors and optical switches consisting of a n-i-p photodiode whose n-layer is depleted at sufficiently large reverse bias. Under illumination a photovoltage is induced by the photo-generated electrons and holes, accumulated in the n- and p-layer, respectively. We have shown that each photo-generated electron collected in the n-layer contributes about 10 nA to the photoconductive saturation current if the layer is covered with interdigitated `source' and `drain' contacts of about 1 micrometer separation. This signal persists until the photovoltage decays. For low-noise single- or few-electron detection the capacitance of the n-i-p diode has to be minimized. For this purpose we have fabricated n-i-p-structures consisting of crossed p- and n-doped stripes of a few micrometer width. First the (bottom) p-doped stripe is defined by focused Be-ion beam implantation directly into the semi-insulating substrate, followed by MBE-overgrowth with an i- and an n-doped layer. Narrow n-stripes are defined by wet-etching and n-contact fingers are deposited. Room temperature dark currents at a few volts reverse bias are in the low pA- and capacitances in the low fF-range and the expected large photoconductive gain is observed. The photoresponse is independent on the position of the illumination spot on the 50 X 50 micrometer mesa, although the area of crossing stripes is only a few micrometer wide.


TREC Collaborative Group. Rapid tranquillisation for agitated patients in emergency psychiatric rooms: a randomised trial of midazolam versus haloperidol plus promethazine. BMJ 2003;327:708–13.

[OpenUrl][1][Abstract/FREE Full Text][2]

 Q Is midazolam or haloperidol plus promethazine more effective for rapid sedation of agitated or aggressive people with mental illness?

### ![Graphic][3] Design:

Randomised controlled trial.

### ![Graphic][4] Allocation:

Concealed.

### ![Graphic][5] Blinding:

Treatment was open, but assessors were blinded to intervention.

### ![Graphic][6] Follow up period:

Twenty minutes for primary outcome.

### ![Graphic][7] Setting:

Three psychiatric emergency rooms, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

### ![Graphic][8] Patients:

301 people needing sedation for agitation or aggressive behaviour.

### ![Graphic][9] Intervention:

Intramuscular injection of midazolam (15 mg or 7.5 mg) or haloperidol plus promethazine (5 mg or 10 mg haloperidol plus 50 mg promethazine).

### ![Graphic][10] Outcomes:

Participant asleep or tranquillised at 20 minutes; adverse effects.

### ![Graphic][11] Patient follow up:

99%.

Midazolam rendered significantly more participants asleep or tranquil in 20 minutes than haloperidol plus promethazine (AR …

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E strogen's role in migraine in women has long been scrutinized, but little research attention has been paid to the influence of sex hormones in men with migraine. Now comes a new study from the Netherlands that found that non-obese men with migraine have higher levels of estrogen compared to similar men without migraine, and they also are more likely to have signs of androgen deficiency. The study is small and raises many questions, but researchers said it is a step toward better understanding the hormonal influence in migraine. The study appears in the June 27 online edition of Neurology. "This is the first study to show that differences/changes in sex hormones are associated with migraine in men, too, and not only in women," said the study's primary author, Willebrordus PJ van Oosterhout, MD, of the department of neurology at Leiden University Medical Center, in an email to Neurology Today. He noted, however: "I think it is too early to have clinical implications yet." It's not surprising that migraine research has focused so much on women, given that women are about three times more likely than men to experience migraine, and their attacks are apt to be more frequent and severe, the study authors noted. The cycli-


This paper presents a new kind of micromechanical optical power meter using a micro disk resonator. With the change of laser power irradiated on the surface of resonator, the resonant frequency of the micromechanical resonator drifts because of its body temperature change. The simulation result is verified by the experimental data. A linear relationship between the laser power and the resonant frequency is obtained by both open-loop and closed-loop experiments. The minimum detectable optical power is found to be 0.98μW. The response time of the detector is less than 0.3s when the optical power changes.


Colombo, like many emerging cities in Asia is plagued with the ills of overcrowding, ad-hoc developments and chaotic systems of travel and transport. Once considered one of the best cities in Asia, its walkable streets have been inundated with obstructions to the pedestrians and Colombo has increasingly become a city in which walking is a hazardous activity. In the current interest in transforming Colombo to a more liveable graceful city, facilitating walking through its public spaces springs to the forefront as an indisputable strategy to be employed in urban re-developments. This paper examines the issue of facilitating walking in the city of Colombo and discusses the problems and potentials of transforming it to a pedestrian-friendly city as perceived by the people. Based on the findings of a user response study carried out in 2008, it outlines the major issues raised by the urban dwellers of Colombo and proposes some remedial actions that could be taken. In the context of increasing urbanisation where vehicular traffic and the provision for it has begun to dominate the city spaces, the paper argues for a shift of approach in its urban development practice in order to improve its walkability so that the city could once again become a delightful place. DOI: 10.4038/besl.v9i1-2.3055 Built - Environment - Sri Lanka - Vol. 09 - 10, Issue 01 - 02 : 2011 pp.2-13


The unique nature of capital market instruments forces investors to depend strongly on fundamental factors in their investment decisions. These fundamental factors relate to the overall economy or a specific industry or a company. The performance of the securities that represent the company can be said to depend on the performance of the company itself. However, as companies are a part of industrial and business sector, which in turn are a part of overall economy, so even the economic and industry factors can affect the investment decision. The selection of an investment will start with fundamental analysis. Fundamental analysis examines the economic environment, industry performance and company performance before making an investment decision.


Drawing from a set of 25 sheets of architectural and construction drawings of the San Augustine Hospital District project, showing north, south and west elevations.


A current model of pitch perception is based on cochlear filtering followed by a periodicity detection. Such a computational model is implemented and then extended to characterise the sensory consonance of pitch intervals. A simple scalar measure of sensory consonance is developed, and to evaluate this perceptually related feature extraction the consonance is computed for musical intervals. The relation of consonance and dissonance to the psychoacoustic notions of roughness and critical bandwidth is discussed.


Infinite nuclear matter mass model and the relativistic mean field theory show strong evidence of new neutron magic numbers 100, 150, 164; proton magic number 78 and new islands of stability around N=100, Z $\simeq$ 62; N=150, Z=78; and N= 164, Z $\simeq$ 90 in the drip-line regions of nuclear chart. It is shown that shell effect stabilizes here the instability due to nuclear force giving rise to a new phenomenon; in contrast to the phenomena of fission isomer and super heavy elements where Coulomb instability is overcome by the same.


At present paper the software for the photoluminescence measuring complex operating is developed. The software designed in the LabVIEW graphical engineering programming environment. The measuring complex based on the automated monochromator MDR-2 Lomo that used for the spectral studies of semiconductor micro-and nanostructures.


The Peruvian Amazon Basin is characterized by the presence of multiple vegetation types. They are being given great impact by human activities such as mining and, logging. All this, coupled with global climate change, creates confusion about the future of our forests. The identification of levels of carbon storage in forested areas, and specifically in each vegetation type, would allow better management of conservation areas, and then identify potential areas that could serve to finance carbon sequestration and other environmental services. This study was conducted at the Biological Station for Research and Training Center Rio Los Amigos (CICRA, Spanish acronym). At the station three main formations were identified, alluvial terrace forests, flood terrace forests and Mauritia swamps. The alluvial terrace forest presents the most extensive area and the highest amount of carbon stored. As result, CICRA vegetations were valued at approx. 11 millions U.S. dollars. Admission to the supply of carbon credits could promote Amazon forest


CO2-EOR is one of the main methods for tertiary oil recovery. The injection of CO2 does not only improve oil recovery, but also contribute to the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. In this study, near well simulations were performed to determine the optimum differential pressure and evaluate the effect of CO2 injection in oil recovery. By varying the drawdown from 3 bar to 20 bar, the most suitable differential pressure for the simulations was found to be 10 bar. The effect of CO2 injection on oil recovery was simulated by adjusting the relative permeability curves using Corey and STONE II correlations. By decreasing the residual oil saturation from 0.3 to 0.15 due to CO2 injection, the oil recovery factor increased from 0.52 to 0.59 and the water production decreased by 22%.


With the rise of the digital economy, new business models have expedited the progress of corporate digital transformation. The mobile internet era has made enterprise social media a popular tool for employee communication. Summarizing the development and trends of enterprise social media research is beneficial for identifying future research topics. This paper analyzes the literature from the Web of Science core collection database and employs CiteSpace software to develop a scientific knowledge map, providing a visual analysis of the literature on enterprise social media in the context of the digital economy. The paper presents the research hotspots and evolutionary paths of enterprise social media, thereby clarifying the future development trends in this field. The study reveals that there is a relatively limited amount of literature on this topic, and collaboration among authors is not strong. Most research is conducted by higher education institutions in China and the United States. The research hotspots revolve around the theme of enterprise social media, covering topics such as knowledge sharing, communication, and performance. The research themes have undergone a transition from singularity to diversity. Finally, this paper proposes future research prospects in three areas: the human–computer collaborative model against the backdrop of artificial intelligence, user privacy disclosure and protection, and the impact of enterprise social media usage on the mental and physical health of employees. These prospects aim to provide valuable insights for subsequent research endeavors.


Michael Sullivan, Modern Chinese Artists. A Biographical Dictionary, Berkeley, University of California Press, 2006, 250 pp.This biographical dictionary of modern and contemporary Chinese artists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries is a reference work that has been keenly awaited by professionals and admirers of modern Chinese art alike. At a time when China is fascinating the world, when its contemporary artists are on show in all the biennales and major exhibitions of the planet, when the auction houses are organising special sales in New York, Hong Kong and London, it is increasingly difficult to identify those artists who are trying their chances on the international art market in ever increasing numbers each year. The limited number of Chinese family names makes identification even more difficult and, as the art lover, the exhibition commissioner, the critic and the collector of Chinese art are generally not speakers of Chinese, they quickly get lost among all those Wongs and Huangs, Chans and Chens, whose alphabetic transcription changes depending on whether they come from the north or the south, from Beijing or Canton. This dictionary is the updated version, considerably revised and greatly enriched, of a biographical index of 800 Chinese artists that the author Michael Sullivan had published in 1996 as an appendix to his work Art and Artists of TwentiethCentury China. This new version contains about 1,800 names followed by a succinct biographical entry, indicating, wherever possible, the year and place of birth, education, specialisation, places of residence in chronological order, positions held, travels, significant works and exhibitions of these artists. The names are classified alphabetically by their romanisation (Mandarin and Cantonese for those from the south) with their Chinese characters.The author, Michael Sullivan, is one of the major Western pioneers in the field of modern Chinese art history and criticism. After graduating from Cambridge in architecture in 1939, he left for China during the War with the International Red Cross; there, he met his wife Khoan, with whom he was to befriend many Chinese artists who had returned from abroad or would later do so, such as Zhang Daqian, Lin Fengmian and Pang Xunqin... These artists and those who followed them were to give the couple numerous works which would gradually constitute a collection, a catalogue of which Sullivan published in 2001 as Modern Chinese Art: The Khoan and Michael Sullivan Collection. It was while he was in China in the 1940s that he undertook an in-depth study of traditional Chinese art, before going on to write a doctorate in the history of Chinese art at Harvard. He subsequently taught at the University of Malaysia, where with Khoan he founded the University's art museum; he returned to London in the 1960s to take up a position at the School of Oriental and African Studies, and then went on to become Head of the Department of Oriental Art at Stanford from 1966 to 1984, finally settling in Oxford where he is Fellow of Saint Catherine's College. His work Chinese Art in the Twentieth Century, published in 1959, was the first critical study on the subject.Although the author is an expert in his subject, it must be said at the outset that this latest publication is by no means a treatise on art but a straightforward biographical index for consultation, which will be of no use to those wanting to find out about modern Chinese art, as it contains only scant indications about either the nature of the works of these artists or the movements or schools to which they might belong, apart from an occasional and very succinct description of their work. …


Introduction Kerala –the relatively small state in the south-west corner of India ,has received world wide acclaim on account of its remarkable achievement in the sphere of human development which has often been highlighted as the 'Kerala Model of Development'. It has always stood apart from the rest of India for its education and health achievements becoming India's only fully literate State in the 1980's. Kerala has also achieved remarkable progress in the quality of life of its people comparable with that of many other developed countries.


This georeferenced image represents 5 meter resolution bathymetry (sun illuminated with azimuth 225 and incline 45) of the north shore of St. Croix, US Virgin Islands.NOAA's NOS/NCCOS/CCMA Biogeography Team and NOAA/NOS/OCS/HSD personnel, in collaboration with NOAA vessel Nancy Foster and territory, federal, and private sector partners, acquired multibeam bathymetry data in the US Virgin Islands from 2/18/04 to 3/5/04. Data was acquired with a pole-mounted Reson 8101 ER multibeam echosounder (240 kHz) and processed by a NOAA contractor using CARIS HIPS v5.4 software. Data has all correctors applied (attitude, sound velocity) and has been reduced to mean lower low water (MLLW) using final approved tides from NOAA COOPS. Data is in UTM zone 20 north, datum WGS84. The processed CARIS data was used to generate a CARIS BASE surface -akin to a DTM- based on swath angle with footprint size 3*3. Within CARIS, an imagery file with associated georeferencing was then exported from the BASE surface.While the project was conducted to meet IHO Order 2 accuracy standards, there is a roll artifact (averaging 0.5m high) in the dataset that the user should take into consideration when performing any analysis.


D URING the twentieth century historians of English society have faced a dilemma when describing those people connected with the land but below the gentry in the social hierarchy. Their predicament has arisen from the absence of a suitable collective noun with which to describe rural society. Consequently they have had to try to turn imprecise contemporary terminology into clear-cut categorization widely acceptable to their readers, and in this process the word 'peasant' has increasingly been utilized. The fact that influential contemporary social commentators such as Gregory King and Patrick Colquhoun did not use 'yeoman', despite its widespread currency in the countryside, has always suggested that it was an imprecise term. As a result, historians have tended to employ their own definitions, such as owner-occupier or owner-cultivator. However, as social anthropologists have come to attribute wider scope to the term peasant, writers on England have been able to regard it as a convenient description applicable to rural society. ~ This should not be taken to imply that there has been any uniformity on the matter; on the contrary, a split has occurred between those who use the word, and those who, for a variety of reasons, refuse to entertain it. The latter group base their objection either on the imprecision ot


Many robots are required in order to perform complex tasks such as search and rescue in wide area or exploration into the unknown. To control multiple robots, a central command software is essential. The software has a GUI interface that the operator can easily access all functions of the robots. The communication is established by a wireless network and each robot can conduct a different mission assigned by the operator. In the paper, we designed a central control software for multiple robots on a Windows environment.


Abstract. Providing accurate soil moisture (SM) conditions is a critical step in model initialization in weather forecasting, agricultural planning, and water resources management. This study develops monthly to seasonal (M2S) top layer SM forecasts by forcing 1–3 month ahead precipitation forecasts with Noah3.2 Land Surface Model. The SM forecasts are developed over the Southeast US (SEUS) and the SM forecasting skill is evaluated in comparison with the remotely sensed SM observations collected by Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite. Our results indicate potential in developing real-time SM forecasts. The retrospective 18-months (April 2015–September 2016) comparison between SM forecasts and the SMAP observations shows statistically significant correlations of 0.62, 0.57, and 0.58 over 1–3 month lead times respectively. As a case study, the evaluation of the issued forecasts based on the drought indexes monitored during the 2007 historical drought over the SEUS also indicate promising skill in monthly SM forecasting to support agricultural planning and water management for such natural hazards.


The NiMgAl layered double hydroxides(LDHs) with different n(Ni~(2+))/n(Mg~(2+))/n(Al~(3+))(mole ratios) were synthesized by a coprecipitation method.The phase composition and catalytic performance of Ni-Mg-Al LDHs were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction,H_2-TPR(temperature programmed reduction) and probe reaction of aqueous-phase reforming of ethylene glycol.The results show that the synthesized materials with unitary hydrotalcite phase can be obtained when(n(Ni~(2+))+n(Mg~(2+)))/n(Al~(3+)) is 1.25-6.50.NiMgAl-LDHs derived catalyst(after reaction) was composed of Ni,MgAl-LDHs and AlO(OH) phases.The reduction process for active content Ni of NiMgAl-LDHs involved two stages.The H_2 production rate from aqueous-phase reforming of ethylene glycol(EG) increased with increasing in the reaction temperature and the feeding rate of EG,and decreased with increasing in the reaction pressure.The selectivity of H_2 production could be improved when Mg modified to Ni/Al hydrotalcite,which was related to the basic of supporters.The H_2 selectivity decreased and the alkanes selectivity increased with increasing the Ni contents.Considering the selectivity and the activity of Ni based catalysts,we found that the catalytic performance of NiMgAl-LDHs derived catalyst could be superior.


A 28-year-old Guinean man presented to our emergency department with a 3-month history of fever, weight loss (15kg), fatigue, cough, and dyspnoea. Physical findings included polypnea, tachycar-dia, distant heart sounds, and reduced lung sounds on the inferior left side. Laboratory tests showed anaemia and hyponatremia. Chest radiography revealed cardiomegaly and left pleural effusion. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) demonstrated ventricular septal bounce and a large pericardial effusion, with fibrinous strands crossing the pericardial space ( Panels A and B , arrows; Supplementary data online, Video S1 ). Cardiac magnetic resonance confirmed the multiloculated pericardial effusion and revealed pericardial thickening ( Panel C , arrow; S2 with strong dif-fuse and homogeneous enhancement after gadolinium administra-tion, suggestive of active pericarditis The patient had positive tests for infection with the human immunodeficiency virus, with a viral load of 57637 copies per millilitre. His CD4 T-cell count was 138 per microliter. He also had co-infection for hepatitis B virus. Thoracentesis showed exudative effusion, with adenosine deaminase of 119 units per litter and positive acid-fast bacilli culture.


he mechanism of regulation of the labor market study is possible on the basis the construction of its model. The author justifier the econometric model with some types of regulation labor market and regions specific. The regulation factors of supply and demand on the labor market are considered by in social and liberal types of regulation. Regressive model of regulation is justified on its basis


The Hubbard model is a prototype for strongly correlated many-particle systems, including electrons in condensed matter and molecules, as well as for fermions or bosons in optical lattices. While the equilibrium properties of these systems have been studied in detail, the nonequilibrium dynamics following a strong non-perturbative excitation only recently came into the focus of experiments and theory. It is of particular interest how the dynamics depend on the coupling strength and on the particle number and whether there exist universal features in the time evolution. Here, we present results for the dynamics of finite Hubbard clusters based on a selfconsistent nonequilibrium Green functions (NEGF) approach invoking the generalized Kadanoff--Baym ansatz (GKBA). We discuss the conserving properties of the GKBA with Hartree--Fock propagators in detail and present a generalized form of the energy conservation criterion of Baym and Kadanoff for NEGF. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the HF-GKBA cures some artifacts of prior two-time NEGF simulations. Besides, this approach substantially speeds up the numerical calculations and thus presents the capability to study comparatively large systems and to extend the analysis to long times allowing for an accurate computation of the excitation spectrum via time propagation. Our data obtained within the second Born approximation compares favorably with exact diagonalization results (available for up to 13 particles) and are expected to have predictive capability for substantially larger systems in the weak coupling limit.


This study conducts a bibliometric analysis of research on sustainability committees. Specifically, our paper analyses the development of this field of research by identifying the most influential articles, authors, and relevant research themes, and highlighting potential future lines of research. Our sample is composed of the publications from the main collection of the Clarivate Analytics Web of Science database (WOS) for the period 1900–2021. Our findings stress the interdisciplinary nature of research about sustainability committees. In addition, our evidence emphasizes the need for more research to understand how firms respond to regulatory and societal pressures on sustainability matters. In addition, the network analysis highlights the main research themes and provides a basis for recognizing future research opportunities. Our paper is the first to perform a comprehensive bibliometric analysis for sustainability committees. Our evidence presents relevant implications for academics in the definition of their research projects.


Background: Dental extraction is removal of a tooth from its dental socket in the alveolar bone. Young adults are the population with age ranging from (20-39) years old that they tended to have a good general and periodontal health . Dental extraction is the worst consequence for a diseased tooth so prevention is the best option , So that in order to raise the level of prevention we have to know what is the main reason of dental extraction for this age group . Materials and Methods: This study is a cross sectional study with retrospective data collection. The study conducted at UQUdent using the R4 system aiming to reach the previous extracted teeth and observe the current extraction cases in order to determine the most common reason of dental extraction among young adults patients at UQUdent. Results: We found that 53.21% of the total cases were extracted because it was carious until it reached the level of remaining root stumps . while 37.61% of the cases were non restorable teeth . The orthodontic reasons and impaction had less effect on the reason of dental extraction with a prevalence of 6.42% and 2.75% , respectively Conclusion: It can be concluded from this study that the remaining root stumps had occupied the majority of the cases which is the end result of dental decay, while the other reasons had a less effect on the dental extraction.


It is possible to undertake a free transplantation of the jejunum with a low rate of thrombosis by a microsurgical technique of vascular anastomosis. The animals could be nourished sufficiently via the interponate with pasty food. Peristalsis within the interponate was retained. Stenoses caused by a periluminar cicatrix are possible. After 1 year a transformation of connective tissue of the interponate was not observed.


In North America, hipparion horses consisted of four distinct genera, Hipparion, Neohipparion, Nannippus, and Cormohipparion, known from the medial Miocene to the late Pliocene, ca. 15.5–2 ma ago. The speciation mode is determined for 10 of the 16 valid hipparion species; 50% (5) seem to have resulted from anagenesis and 50% (5) from cladogenesis. Roughly contemporaneous species of the four hipparion genera seem to proceed through similar evolutionary stages of cranial and dental characters. The mean hipparion species longevity is 3.3 ma (N = 16); the mean generic longevity is 8.4 ma (N = 4). Only two species become extinct in less than 2 ma; extinction occurs at a rate of ca. 470 μmacarthurs for species with durations between 2 and 5 ma. For selected dental characters, mean evolutionary rates (for the 16 species) were between .08 darwins (d) and .03 d with crown height evolving most rapidly. Despite the commonly held notion that fossil horses evolved rapidly, these data suggest normal or average (horotelic) evolution for hipparions, which is not surprising because they were already established in the grazing adaptive zone during their history.


It has been the fate of the Jewish people to spend most of their history under foreign rule, and Rome, who governed Palestine during the period of the New Testament and for centuries after it, was only one of a series of powers who throughout the ages became masters of the country for varying lengths of time and controlled it with varying success.


Systems Engineering requires the involvement of different engineering disciplines: Software, Electronics, Mechanics (often nowadays together as Mechatronics), Optics etc. Systems Engineering of Astronomical Instrumentation is no exception to this. A critical point is the handling of the different point of view introduced by these disciplines often related to different tools and cultures. Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) approach can help the Systems Engineer to always have a complete view of the full system. Moreover, in an ideal situation, all of the information resides in the model thus allowing different views of the System without having to resort to different sources of information, often outdated. In the real world, however, this does not happen because the different actors (Optical Designers, Mechanical Engineers, Astronomers etc.) should adopt the same language and this is clearly, at least nowadays and for the immediate future, close to impossible. In the Italian Astronomical Community, we are developing methodologies and tools to share the expertise in this field among the different projects. In this paper we present the status of this activity that aims to deliver to the community proper tools and template to enable a uniformed use of MBSE (friendly name Astro MBSE) among different projects (ground and space based). We will analyze here different software and different approaches. The target and synthesis of this work will be a support framework for the MBSE based system Engineering activity to the Italian Astronomical Community (INAF).


In this paper, a high-speed color sorting algorithm based on FPGA implementation is introduced. By using the advantage of FPGA parallel computing, the algorithm process is designed as several independent running modules. The method of collecting image data by linear array CCD is point-by-point, line-by-line acquisition. With this method of collecting image data, By the way of using pipeline to make the collected data through the color space conversion, binarization, channel decision processing, and finally the color sorting results are obtained. The algorithm realizes the synchronous execution of the image acquisition process and color sorting process. Effective pixels of the CCD are divided according to the number of color sorting action mechanisms, so that each action mechanism corresponds to an independent color sorting channel, thereby greatly improve the speed of color sorting and ensuring color sorting accuracy.


Adenosine is used routinely in cardiac perfusion imaging in lieu of exercise stress to enhance coronary blood flow. Since it is a potent drug, intravenous (IV) infusion of adenosine must be carefully controlled to provide optimal pharmacologic effect and minimal adverse effects. There has been particular concern about a sudden increase in adenosine delivery at the time of radiotracer administration which has prompted recommendations for using separate IV infusion sites or double lumen IV catheter sets. To evaluate infusion control, five IV infusion systems were evaluated for their ability to accurately deliver adenosine with co-administration of a radiopharmaceutical, such as thallium-201 eo•Tt) into the infusion line. A decrease in adenosine infusion occurred with the Buretrol gravity drip system when 201 T/ was injected into the infusion line. A temporary, intermittent decrease of adenosine infusion also occurred with the IMED infusion system because of its pumping mechanism. No significant change in adenosine infusion occurred with either the Harvard or Medfusion syringe pumps or with the IVAC infusion pump. No significant increase or bolus effect of adenosine administration occurred with any of the infusion systems.


Actually,in modern literary and artisitic works,the development of lov e and marriage stories are all inquir y to marriage ethics.This inquiry is an expressio n of the civillization of human and th e development of society.The advancement of life ethics is inquiry but was the absolute reason.


A representation condition for one order discrete closed-loop fuzzy systems is proposed, By using the method of linguistic relation matrix, the stability of high order discrete fuzzy systems is discussed.


Background: Propolis is a substance made from resin collected by bees (Apis mellifera) from variety of plants, mixed with its saliva and various enzymes to build a nest. Propolis has potential antimicrobial and antiinflammatory agents with some advantages over calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH) 2 ). Ca(OH) 2 has been considered as the "gold standard" of direct pulp-capping materials, but there are still some weakness of its application. First, it can induce pulp inflammation which last up to 3 months. Second, the tissue response to Ca(OH) 2 is not always predictable. Third, the tunnel defect can probably formed in dentinal bridge with possible bacterial invasion in that gap. Purpose: This study was aimed to determine and compare the thickness of odontoblast-like cells layer after induced by propolis extract and Ca(OH) 2 in rat's pulp tissue. Method: Class 1 preparation was done in maxillary first molar tooth of wistar mice until the pulp opened. The Ca(OH) 2 and propolis extract was applied to induce the formation of odontoblast-like cells, the cavity was filled with RMGIC. The teeth were extracted (after 14 and 28 days of induction). The samples were then processed for histological evaluation. Result: There were significant differences between the thickness of odontoblast-like cells after induced by propolis extract and Ca(OH) 2 . Conclusion: The propolis extract as the direct pulp capping agent produces thicker odontoblast-like cell layer compared to Ca(OH) 2 .


Cheddar cheese was made from cow milk using calf and microbial rennets and also from cow milk; soy milk blends using microbial rennet. The changes in mechanical properties of the cheese during ripening (up to 8 months) were followed by texture profile analysis. The use of microbial rennet, instead of calf rennet resulted in a cheese with lower hardness. Similarly, a higher proportion of soy solids gave a lower hardness. The hardness increased during the first four months of ripening, followed by a decrease. Springiness, gumminess and chewiness showed a similar trend, while cohesiveness showed a reverse trend.


The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) City Airport extension project extends the existing light rail network from Canning Town to London City Airport, UK. The 4.4km scheme consists of at-grade rail, embankments, 2.8km of elevated viaduct and trough cuttings. The extension operates the same two-car articulated trains as the existing DLR network. The viaduct consists of three structural types: simple supported segmental spans; three balanced cantilever structures and a precast, prestressed beam composite concrete deck. Just under 2km of the project is made up of simply supported spans. At West Silverton and Pontoon Dock, the standard viaduct units were modified to accommodate in-line stations. Balanced cantilever structures were used to span obstructions at Blackwall Crossing, Pontoon Dock and Connaught Crossing. Because of restrictions on headroom, precast prestressed beams with a composite in-situ deck slab were used in the landmark station at London City Airport. The viaduct is supported on pile groups of 4-21 continuous flight auger (CFA) piles.


This paper reports the effects of 6 wheat–annual pasture rotations over 18 years on soil N, organic C, P, and pH in a red earth soil at Wagga Wagga (35° 03′ S, 147° 21′E), in southern NSW. There were 3 cropping intensities (33, 50, 67%) with pastures dominated by subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L. cv. Bacchus Marsh) and annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum Gaud. cv. Wimmera). Rotations were long (6-year) or short (2- or 3-year). Initial soil N and organic C concentrations (0–10 cm) were low, 1300–1400 kg N/ha and 0·7–0·9 g organic C/100 g. The rate of increase of total N in the top 20 cm was the same on short and long rotations, and increased with the proportion of pasture in the rotation from 2·0 to 12·1 to 20·7 kg N/ha · year for pasture to crop ratios of 0·33, 0·50, and 0·67. Estimates of the amounts of N fixed and the measured accumulation of N per pasture year varied within the narrow ranges of 95–113 and 45–64 kg N/ha · pasture year. Organic C increased faster as the proportion of pasture in the rotation increased and there was no evidence that steady-state concentrations were achieved by Year 18. Estimates of the average amount of N leached below 30 cm varied in the range 22–29 kg N/ha · year. Analysis of the individual crop and pasture effects on soil N in the surface 10 cm indicated that net nitrate leaching was greatest in the second pasture year or in the first crop year following 1 year of pasture. A significant amount of N leached during the first 2 or 3 pasture years in a rotation was recovered by the first wheat crop or by the third and fourth year pastures. Second to fourth cereal crops depleted soil N by an amount similar to that removed in the grain. Average grain N% for the rotation treatments was closely described (R2 = 0·96) as a function of the length of the pasture phase, the pasture to crop ratio, and the interaction pasture to crop ratio number of preceding wheat crops. In the top 30 cm the pH changed at a rate near –0·04 units/year on all treatments, equivalent to addition of 2·3–2·8 kmol H+/ha · year. The acid addition rate, and hence the long-term lime requirement (50 kg lime/kmol H+), did not vary with pasture to crop ratio or with the length of the rotation. The proportion of the acid added to the top 30 cm of soil that was contributed from the N cycle (nitrification followed by nitrate loss by leaching below 30 cm or by run-off) was 0·65 for rotations with 67% pasture and 0·80 for rotations with 33% pasture. Carbon cycle acids, produced during organic matter accumulation and the synthesis of products that were subsequently removed, accounted for the remainder. Individual crop and pasture effects on soil pH were near the overall mean of –0·04 units except in years preceding and following the transition from pasture to cereal phases of the rotations. In cereal-dominated rotations the last pasture year was strongly acid (pH decrease 0·13–0·17) and the following cereal year was alkaline (pH increase 0·05–0·08). In pasture-dominated rotations the effects were reversed, the last pasture being alkaline (pH increase 0·07–0·12) and the following cereal being acid (pH decrease 0·13–0·19). In the 50% rotations, effects were intermediate. Organic and inorganic forms of soil P in the surface 10 cm increased linearly with time, accounting for 38% of the applied fertiliser P. Of the applied P, 88% was accounted for by the sum of P accumulated in the surface 20 cm of soil and by removal in products and waste products. The remainder may have been lost by erosion or accumulated in forms resistant to extraction by 0·1 M H2SO4 after ignition at 550°C. There was a slightly greater rate of increase of organic P as the proportion of pasture in the rotation increased. The annual addition of 11·8 kg P/ha·year marginally exceeded the amount required to maintain the available P concentration.


This work observes the effect of poverty reduction programs on economic development evidence from Nigeria. Poverty reduction is a serious matter that requires serious attention. Despite various poverty reduction programs flag off by various past and present governments in Nigeria, it seems that this menace is still living with us. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to find out the causes of poverty and how it can be curbed or reduced to the barest minimum through policy recommendations .This study covers the period of 1980– 2010, analyzing time series data obtained from secondary sources. The essence of the study is to investigate the significant effect of various anti-poverty programs set up by various governments to reduce poverty level in Nigeria. The researcher employed the Ordinary Least Square technique to measure the incidence of poverty. The analysis was facilitated with the use of E-views analytical package. Findings reveal the existence of overall significant effect of poverty reduction on economic development in Nigeria.


Background: Over the past 5 years, minimal access surgery has been moved toward a new less invasive single port access surgery. Like any new technique, there is a need to ensure that basic tenets of safety and efficacy are maintained. In this study, we demonstrate the efficacy and safety of single port laparoscopic surgery for cholecystectomy in 22 consecutive cases in single institution. Materials and methods: It is a case series of 22 patients (20 females/2 males) who underwent single port laparoscopic cholecystectomy (SPLC) a single laparoscopic surgeon at Barts and the Royal London NHS Trust performed all surgeries using straight conventional instruments from July 2009 to May 2011. Results: In our series, the operations were performed by SPLC successful in 21 patients. In one case an extra-port was added due to inadequate exposure. The mean age was 37.27 years (24-70). The mean BMI was 25.25 kg/m2 (21.1-35). The mean operative time was 69.21 minutes (30-90). Gallbladder perforations were recorded in three cases. Minor bleeding was found in one case. The mean hospital stay was <24 (10.05) hours. Visual analog scale was used to record pain severity and the mean was less than one. All patients had uneventful recovery. Conclusion: The results from current series show SPLC to be a promising technique. We established in this series that SPLC is a safe, efficacious and feasible technique, but it took longer to perform than standard surgery. It can be performed using straight instruments. However, routine application of this novel technique requires evaluation of its safety and effectiveness in large randomized studies. Abbreviation: SILS: Single incision laparoscopic surgery; SIMPLS: Single incision multiport laparoscopic surgery; OPUS: One port umbilical surgery; TUES: Transumbilical endoscopic surgery; SPAS: Single port access surgery, are acronyms of LESS: Laparoendoscopic single site surgery.


South Africa is a highly distributively unequal country, and its inequality continues to be largely along racial lines. Such circumstances call for assessment from the perspective of contemporary theories of distributive justice. Three such theories—Rawlsian justice, utilitarianism, and luck egalitarianism—are described and applied. Rawls' difference principle recommends that the worst off be made as well as they can be, a standard which South Africa clearly falls short of. Utilitarianism recommends the maximization of overall societal well-being, a goal which South Africa again fails to achieve given its severe inequality and the fact of the diminishing marginal value of money—that a given amount of money tends to produce more utility for a poor person than it does for a rich person. The final theory, luck egalitarianism, aims to make distributions sensitive to individual exercises of responsibility. This view also objects to South Africa's inequality, this time on the basis that the poor are overwhelmingly worse off through no fault or choice of their own. These major theories of distributive justice therefore all propose large-scale redistribution to the benefit of the (predominantly black) poor. Perhaps more surprisingly, all three views also provide support for socio-economic affirmative action, as opposed to South Africa's race-based Black Economic Empowerment.


We show that, following shocks that change an industry's competitive environment, firms with more short-term institutional investors experience smaller drops in sales and investment and have better long-term performance than similar firms affected by the shocks. To do so, these firms introduce new products, file more trademarks, intensify their innovation efforts, conduct more diversifying acquisitions, and have higher executive turnover in the aftermath of the shocks. Our findings suggest that firms with more short-term investors adapt better to the new competitive environment. Endogeneity of institutional ownership and other selection problems do not appear to drive our findings. This paper was accepted by Gustavo Manso, finance.


The feasibility of using optical coherence tomography, a label-free, non-invasive technique, to monitor three-dimensional (3D) morphology and pathology of tumor spheroids has been previously demonstrated. Growth kinetics of each spheroid, with its size and volume measured, could be accurately characterized. However, the previous system was not fully optimized for the collection of spheroid data from the whole plate. Here, in a follow-up study, we demonstrated a high-throughput optical coherence tomography (HT-OCT) platform capable of performing automatic 3D imaging and analyses for all tumor spheroids in a multi-well plate. The total screening time for a 96-well plate was ~23 min, including the OCT acquisition time of ~3.2min. Employing HT-OCT system, we successfully characterized a plate of tumor spheroids modeling cell invasions, with 3 different drug treatments. The HT-OCT system can be a powerful tool for fast, robust 3D morphological characterization of simple and complex spheroids for different cancer models. Further, they can also be utilized to analyze other models like organoids and artificial skins.


A MAGNETOMETER COMPRISES CELL BALL 1, TRANSPARENT, FILLED HELIUM NATURAL ET. LASER 2, TYPE OF LNA (ALUMINATE LANTHANE-NEODYME) EXCITE THE CELL. 3 OSCILLATOR CREATES DISCHARGE FRESH INSIDE THE CELL 1. FROM THE LIGHT FT TRANSMITTED CELL UNDER EXCITED RADIO FIELD, DETERMINED ON THE FREQUENCY OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE ELECTRON ATOMS HELIUM TO THE metastable EXCITE, AND, THE, MAGNETIC INDUCTION.


This article aims to offer an overall view of three works on linguist contact conducted in Northeast Brazil, by discussing the relevance of exposure duration/length of residence variable in the processes of linguistic accommodation. The researches were carried out between 2013 and 2015 at the Federal University of Paraiba and are the results of Master's dissertations completed in the Postgraduate Program in Linguistics. Although they were focused on a quantitative-oriented analysis, based on a Labovian theoretical-methodological proposal, we emphasize here the need for a more qualitative approach, with an increased focus on the linguistic attitudes of the speakers. We therefore conclude that, despite the influence of the exposure duration variable on the linguistic accommodation process, a trigger is required in order to have its function: the existence of conducive linguistic attitudes towards the new dialect to be learned. --- DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22409/gragoata.2017n42a860


Proceedings of the CAS Biodiversity Seminar in March 1990. The year 2010 has been designated the International Year of Biodiversity by United Nations. The theme for this initiative is "Biodiversity is life and biodiversity is our life." A one-day high-level meeting took place on September 22, 2010, coinciding with the conclusion of the Millennium Development Goals Summit. Taking the continuing loss of biodiversity as a major obstacle to attain the Millennium Development Goals, the United Nations General Assembly will consider strategies for speeding up the implementation of measures to protect and conserve species and ecosystems around the world. The State Council of Chinese government reviewed and approved China Biodiversity Conservation Strategy and Action Plan from 2011 to 2030 on September 15, 2010, showing China's commitment to the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Owing to the growing population and intensifying anthropogenic activities, biodiversity, which is concerned with human survival and development, has suffered from great threats mainly arising from human activities. Since the early 1980s, biodiversity conservation and research have become the focus of attention worldwide. As early as in the late 1980s, a group of biologists of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) introduced the concept, research progress and trend of biodiversity into China, and begun actively promoting biodiversity research in this country. This article reviews the course and achievements of biodiversity research in CAS over the past 20 years.


Objective:To establish a simple extract and analytical methods of the metabolits of ketamine in human urine. Methods:1 ml of urine is extracted with 5 ml of ether,adding Na2CO3 solution (10% aq.) to adjust pH = 9-10. The extractive is analysed by GC-MS. Results:Ketamine and its three metabolits NK,DHNK,DHDANK can be detected by the analytical methods. Other 7 kinds of drugs including MA,MDMA,MDA etc. can also be detected simultaneously. Conclusion:The methods are suitable for the analysis of the urine specimens of new drug abuse style. The data of the metabolites suggest that there may be a correlation between the ratio of the three metabolites of ketamine and the time in which the specimens being collected.


This article examines central themes in Martha Derthick's writings on federalism and policy implementation. The first section examines specific themes including her conceptions of the motivations of politicians, her critique of the roots of policy implementation failures, and her critiques of overreaching in federal grant programs. The second section examines issues that arise from these themes, such as the role of race as a driver of policymaking, multiple policy dynamics implicit in federalism, the risks posed by local versus national tyrannies, and the role of venue shifting in the policymaking process.


Zodia (Evodia suaveolens Scheff.) (Rutaceae) is one of Indonesia's native plants, which comes from Papua which is widely used as traditional medicine. Empirically, zodia leaves are used as anti-mosquitoes, dysentery drugs, boiled bark is useful as a reliever for malaria fever, leaf decoction is used as a tonic, and increases stamina. Until now, no investigation has been carried out for the main compounds of the zodia leaf n-hexane extract which have proven activity. Therefore, it was done the isolation and characterization of the main compound in the zodia leaf n-hexane extract (Evodia suaveolens Scheff.). Zodia leaves were extracted with n-hexane using the Soxhlet tool. The n-hexane extract was fractionated using column chromatography with a gradient of n-hexane-chloroform mixture. Isolates were isolated in the form of white needle crystals which were purified by washing with n-hexane. Isolates were characterized by analyzing various UV, IM, 1D and 2D RMI spectrometry data which were confirmed by analyzing the mass spectrum. Based on the results of spectrometric analysis, it is known that the isolate is thought to be a triterpenoid compound, namely neohop-13 (18) -ene-3α-ol.Keywords: Evodia suaveolens, neohop-13(18)-ene-3α-ol, triterpenoide,


Eight nurses whose pay was cut by a third after they were transferred to a new employer have been compensated.


Shape memory alloys (SMAs) present a rate-dependent behavior, which means that the thermomechanical response depends on the loading rate. Therefore, although martensitic transformation can be considered as a non-diffusive process, the phase transformation critical stresses are temperature dependent and, since heat transfer process is time dependent, it affects the thermomechanical behavior of SMAs. This article deals with the rate dependence of SMAs, proposing a 1D constitutive model to describe this effect. The proposed model is formulated within the framework of continuum mechanics and thermomechanical coupling terms of the energy equation are incorporated in the formulation in order to describe the rate-dependent behavior. Numerical simulations are carried out comparing results with experimental data available in literature for different loading rates and environmental media, presenting a close agreement. Afterwards, numerical tests are performed in order to evaluate the model capabilities showing that it is capable to capture the general thermomechanical behavior of SMAs.


Glass fusion laser systems typically use a master oscillator-power amplifier (MOPA) architecture, where control of the optical pulse temporal and spatial parameters is accomplished mainly in the master oscillator and low power optics. The pulses from this low power ``front end`` are amplified in the power amplifier, which modifies the pulse shape temporally and spatially. Nonlinear frequency conversion crystals following the amplifier further change the pulse before it reaches the target. To effectively control the optical pulse on target for different types of experiments, and compensate for nonlinearity in the preceding optics, the front end system must be versatile enough to easily control many pulse parameters over a large range. The front end pulse generation system described in this article represents a new approach to this problem. The proposed National Ignition Facility (NIF) has 192 beamlines, each of which requires an input pulse of up to 12 Joules in around 4 ns equivalent square pulse length. Considerations of laser architecture for supplying each of these beamlines from a central oscillator system were crucial in the design of the front end. Previous lasers have used bulk optics to split a single oscillator signal and report beams to multiple amplifier chains. A key idea in the current design is to replace bulk optic transport with fibers, eliminating large opto-mechanical subsystems. Another important concept is convenient pulse forming using low voltage integrated optic modulators. The integrated optic and fiber optic concepts resulted in the current pulse generation designs for NEF. An important advantage is that each of the beamlines can have an independently controlled temporal pulse shape, which provides for precise balance of instantaneous power on target.


The Guidelines are intended to provide guidance to the user in preparing a written plan for a proposed nuclear organization and administration. The Guidelines allow for individual approaches to organizational structures to account for differences in plant size, number of operating units, number of plant sites, and the individual utility approach to providing technical support. These unique approaches, however, should meet the criteria of a reasoned, fully developed, and logically consistent focus on the user's organization in terms of organization of work, policies and procedures, staffing, and external relationships.


The present study is aimed to know the RET wild edible plants consumed by the Irula tribals of Walayar valley, Southern Western Ghats of India. The study was carried out during 2015 - 2016. A total number of 51 species in 38 genus belongs to 32 families of wild edible plants were enlisted during the survey. The information about each plant the local name of the plant, parts used, mode of use and medicinal uses are documented in separated filed data sheet. Among them 14 plant species are coming under IUCN red listed category. They have a very good knowledge of wild edible plants in their surrounding forest. Plants parts are mostly consumed as direct food. Our study revealed that the Adivasi community in the Walayar Valley continues to have and use the knowledge about the wild edible plants, including their habitat, collection period, sustainable collection, mode of preparation and consumption. To date, this knowledge appears to be fairly well conserved and used as a result of continued reliance of local community on the wild uncultivated foods.


Superior vena cava (SVC) syndrome presents with symptoms of poor venous return from the head and upper extremities as more blood is routed from the deep veins to collateral pathways. Objective evidence of this in most patients is demonstrated as dilated skin surface veins, an erythrocyanotic appearance to the skin, swelling of the face and arms, and the skin is warmer to the touch. The more abrupt the occlusion and extensive the involvement of the SVC is, particularly when the azygous vein is compromised, the more dramatic the symptoms are. In this article, head or neck distention was noted in only 29%. This must be a reflection of either the chronicity of the occlusion or perhaps the patients really did not have SVC syndrome. The two patients with ''thoracic outlet syndrome'' (TOS) are a case in point. It would be most unusual for thrombus to propagate from the clavicle/ first rib junction through the innominate vein and into the SVC. Clot propagation would be distal to the compression but not ''in front of it.'' The flow of the ipsilateral internal jugular (important in TOS) and contralateral innominate vein should limit the proximal extent of thrombus from the site of compression. TOS may be present but cannot explain the complete picture of SVC syndrome. So, the physician needs to consider other diagnostic entities that range from primary thrombophilia to mediastinal fibrosis to cancer. This should be highly scrutinized because the etiologic mechanism for SVC syndrome is the most important variable to consider when it comes to treatment. Many decades ago, syphilitic aortic aneurismal disease was a common cause for extrinsic compression of the SVC. This cause is almost never seen now. Currently, lung cancers and lymphoma are commonly responsible for the malignant forms of SVC syndrome [1]. Longterm indwelling catheters and pacemaker/defibrillator leads cause most of the nonmalignant cases of this syndrome. To the practicing clinician, cancer leads to extrinsic compression, whereas indwelling catheters lead to intrinsic fibrosis and thrombosis.


The utility model relates to the technical field of reverse circulation well press tools, in particular to an outer sliding sleeve reverse circulation short section. The outer sliding sleeve reverse circulation short section comprises an inner barrel, an outer sliding sleeve, an outer barrel and a compression spring, wherein an upper boss, of which the outer diameter is greater than that of the inner barrel, is fixed at the upper end of the inner barrel; a first boss, of which the inner diameter is greater than that of the outer barrel, is fixed on the outer side of the upper end of the outer barrel; a second boss, of which the inner diameter is greater than that of the first boss, is fixed on the outer side of the upper end of the first boss; the lower end of the inner barrel is fixedly arranged in the first boss; the lower part of the outer sliding sleeve is sleeved in an annular cavity between the inner barrel and the second boss; the compression spring is arranged in the annular cavity below the outer sliding sleeve; at least one radial inner hole is formed in the inner barrel above the second boss; and a radial outer hole is formed in the outer sliding sleeve above the radial inner hole. The outer sliding sleeve reverse circulation short section has a reasonable and compact structure, and is convenient to use; and due to the matching between the outer sliding sleeve and the compression spring, a reverse circulation valve can be opened repeatedly, so that the accuracy of various tests of oil extraction work is improved.


BACKGROUND
There is limited information about sexual knowledge and behaviours in adults with complex care needs, including those with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q) which represents a group predisposed to intellectual disabilities.

METHODS
We conducted sexual health assessments with 67 adults with 22q, examining whether those with knowledge deficits and a history of engaging in sexual activities with others would be more likely to engage in high-risk behaviours.

RESULTS
The majority (65.7%) of adults with 22q were sexually active with others; most (70.1%) had sexual knowledge deficits. Those with intellectual disabilities were more likely (p = .0012) to have deficits in certain topics. In the sexually active subgroup, most (81.8%) engaged in high-risk sexual behaviours, regardless of intellectual disability or knowledge deficits.

CONCLUSION
The results suggest a need for increased dialogue, repeated education, genetic counselling and preventive healthcare measures related to sexuality in 22q and potentially in other complex care conditions.


One or more 1st generation hemoglobin (Hb) based blood substitute products with adequate safety and efficacy profile may soon be approved for use in surgery. However there are unsettling issues related to nitric oxide (NO) physiology and lack of anti-oxidant properties among these 1st generation products (1,2). From my perspective of developing a 1st generation and a 2nd generation blood substitute (3,4), I believe that we should continue to strive in the new millennium, for a product that outperforms whole blood, with respect of reduction of mortality and morbidity, in resuscitation scenarios where a blood substitute is critically needed. In these applications, an effective blood substitute needs antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties to remedy the tissue ischemia, reperfusion and inflammatory injures that are common, for example, in severe hemorrhagic shock and ischemic stroke. A successful 2nd generation blood substitute should manifest the following properties: 1. Anti-oxidant activities: The 2nd generation blood substitute needs to address the over-production of both superoxide (O2 ) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) during reperfusion of ischemic tissues. This requirement has been met by


Wi-Fi mesh networks and WiMAX are two new emerging wireless access technologies for the delivery of broadband services to mobile users in the metropolitan area. To take advantage of the strengths of these two, we propose a novel architecture for next generation wireless metropolitan area networks. In this architecture, no wired backhaul connections for Wi-Fi mesh portals are needed, which considerably reduces the deployment cost and at the same time improves the system scalability. Due to the unique feature of wireless mesh networks which is a part of the architecture, previously proposed mobility management protocol can not work properly in this network environment. We propose a hierarchical mobility management scheme for mobile stations to maintain network connectivity while roaming within the Wi-Fi mesh networks. In this scheme, the dynamic forwarding chain is used to reduce the signalling traffic involved in the mobility management including registration and handoff procedures. The results of the performance evaluation justified the benefits of our proposed mechanism.


In this paper, we propose the jackknife estimator and the bootstrap estimator of Gini index of the two-parameter exponential distribution when the location parameter is unknown and the scale parameter is known. Sinilarly, we propose the bias location parameter and the scale parameter are unknown. The bootstrap estimator is more efficient than the other estimators when the location parameter is unknown and the scale parameter is known, and the bias corrected estimator is more efficient than the MLE when both the location parameter and the scale parameter are unknown.


The entry into force of the TRIPS Agreement, along with the inception of the WTO in 1995, was a turning point for multilateral governance and a catalyst for transformation of law, policy and international relations in IP and in a host of related policy fields. Through the linking concept of "trade-related aspects" of IP rights, the TRIPS negotiations reframed both the international governance of IP and the very conception of "trade" within multilateral trade law and policy. The period since the Agreement entered into force has undoubtedly been the most active, the most intensively debated and the most geographically and economically diverse phase of intellectual property law-making and policy-making processes ever experienced: national legislative texts on IP notified to the WTO TRIPS Council now amount to over 4,500 official document references.


Problem statement: This study reported a numerical investigation of t hree-dimensional turbulent buoyant recirculating flow within a room with heated obstruction. Approach: The study involved the solution of partial differential equat ions for the conservation of mass, momentum, energy, concentration, turbulent energy and its dissipation rate. These equations were solved together with algebraic expressions for the turbulent viscosity a nd the heat diffusivity, using k-e turbulence model. Results: The present study demonstrated the flow behavior, t hermal distribution and CO 2 concentration inside the room in the presence of he at flux obstruction with respect to three sizes of obstruction. Conclusion: The energy usage coefficient (efficiency of ventila tion) increases with decrease in size of obstruction. Concentration of C O 2 is very often used as an indicator for the control of air flow rate to the building. For the largest s ize of obstruction, the concentration of CO 2 is maximum above the obstruction and reduces with the reduction in the size of the obstruction.


Replication of the tumor microenvironment (TME) is a major limitation in organoid development as a model system for cancer research. Studies aimed at understanding the TME are typically performed in an oversimplified 2D cell culture system, or utilizing complex mouse models. Not only are in vivo mouse studies time consuming and costly, significant differences in the mouse immune system and TME may hinder applicability of the results in a translational paradigm. Here, we show that human specimens obtained via fine needle aspiration (FNA) from cancerous clear cell renal cell (ccRCC) tumors can grow and be maintained as immune organoids harboring a diverse lymphoid and myeloid population in a matrigel-based culture model. This system provides several advantages over cocultured cell lines with primary immune cells. In our FNA based method, the immune cell population is obtained directly from the TME, reflecting a realistic representation of tumor-associated exhaustive and/or regulatory immune cells. In addition, these studies provide a framework for drug development and allow for the evaluation of a 3D organization of tumor cells with immune cells. Ultimately, there is a translational gap between 2D cell culture and animal model testing; therefore, evaluation of the 3D organization of tumor cells within an ideal TME could recapitulate physiological cancer processes.


The present invention relates to a white material which absorbs wavelengths in a visible light region and a near infrared region, a method for producing the same, and a method for producing the same, and more particularly to a white material having a whiteness (CIE L *) value of 90 or more in a visible light region, A method for producing the excellent near infrared ray absorbing material, and a manufacturing and use of a product to which the infrared ray absorbing property and the antibacterial property of the material are added. In order to achieve the object of the present invention, a copper pyrophosphate compound having near infrared absorption and antimicrobial properties has been selected. However, the materials prepared by conventional techniques and methods have green or blue colors, According to the invention, it is possible to solve the constraint caused by color by manufacturing a material having high whiteness and excellent fine particle characteristics. The copper pyrophosphate compound thus produced has various uses and applications such as anti-falsification, anti-tampering, device detection, and laser marking and laser welding of a plastic product using antioxidant properties, have.


Science is a human endeavour. The boundaries of scientific and academic disciplines, as well as the way they identify their object of study, are products of social and historical processes and current beliefs. In some disciplines, such as physics or the life sciences, sophisticated research tools, such as particle accelerators or scanning tunnelling microscopes, make the collection of empirical data possible that are far removed from personal experience, for example, because the object of study is unimaginable small or large and might extend only over the tiniest sliver of time or over millions of years. One consequence is that, in these contexts, explanations and models tend to be less influenced by folk concepts*they are simply too far removed from subjective experience and direct insight. In contrast, psychology is still very much affected by the link of everyday subjective experience and scientific observation. This is not only a fact, it is also a feature of psychological science, as the subjective experience is one of the facets modern psychology tries to understand and relate to mental processes, and, more recently, to neural activity. There are likely few domains within psychology where the influence of subjective experience on scientific observation is more evident than in the study of emotion*a state of affairs that, at times, has been characterised as confusing and, at other times, as confused. Apparently, serious disagreements exist concerning affective key concepts. I have (optimistically) argued in the past (e.g., Kappas, 2002) that some of the purported difficulties of agreeing on common definitions of emotion are mainly due to practical issues of interpreting brief definitions out of context. Hence, while overviews, such as Kleinginna and Kleinginna (1981), reinforced the spectre of a field divided and splintered, there should be in reality considerable overlap in a procedural understanding of emotion when trying to integrate accounts of different emotion theorists. Yet, more recent attempts to assess the coherence of the scientific understanding of emotion (e.g., Izard, 2010) demonstrate still considerable diversity regarding


We use microdata collected at the border and the store to characterize the price impact of recent US trade policy on importers, exporters, and consumers. At the border, import tariff pass-through is much higher than exchange rate pass-through. Chinese exporters did not lower their dollar prices by much, despite the recent appreciation of the dollar. By contrast, US exporters significantly lowered prices affected by foreign retaliatory tariffs. In US stores, the price impact is more limited, suggesting that retail margins have fallen. Our results imply that, so far, the tariffs' incidence has fallen in large part on US firms. (JEL E31, F13, F14, F31, L11)


The effects of vitamin E at different levels of concentration on new born bovine ear fibroblasts apoptosis were detected by optical microscopy,agarose gel electrophoresis.Hoechst 33 342 fluorescence staining and flow cytometry.The result showed that the serum starvation made the apoptosis rate rised significantly as compare to the control,the vitamin E reduced the apoplosis significantly(P0.01).Thus the optimum inhibitor concentration of vitamin E was 100 μmol/L.The morphological changes of apoptosis were clearly. Under the optical microscope,the characteristics of apoptosis,such as the chromatin condensed and marginated,and apoptotic bodies were observed in fibroblasts.DNA ladders appeared in control and 50 μmol/L treatment groups,but did not appear in 100 μmol/L and 150 μmol/L vitamin E treatment groups.


Transgender individuals seek mental health counseling for a variety of reasons (Bockting, Knudson, & Goldberg, 2006); however, their experiences in therapy are not always positive, and some experiences are quite negative (Rachlin, 2002). The present study utilizes an analogue research design and video vignettes to investigate how a therapist's response to transgender identity exploration affects participants' perceptions of the therapist and the therapeutic relationship. The study utilized a series of mock therapy video vignettes that vary the way that a therapist responds to the client including transition affirming, nonbinary affirming, and nonaffirming responses. Transgender participants were asked about their plan to transition or not transition and were then randomly assigned to watch 1 of 3 mock therapy clips. Participants then completed a series of questions about their perception of the therapist's expertness, likability, trustworthiness, the session smoothness and depth, and their own feelings of positivity and arousal. Results indicate that the nonaffirming video condition had a significant negative effect on the participant's perceptions of the therapist and the quality of the therapeutic relationship. No significant differences were found between the transition affirming and nonbinary affirming conditions. This study provides a more nuanced understanding of the ways in which transgender individuals experience various affirming and nonaffirming therapeutic approaches.


Mercury ion can be detected by measuring surface plasmon resonance signal with a thin crosslinked chitosan layer deposited on a gold film. The crosslinked chitosan is synthesized by homogeneous reaction of medium molecular weight chitosan in aqueous acetic acid solution with glutaraldehyde as crosslinking agent. By surface plasmon resonance sensor, the optical properties of crosslinked chitosan thin film before and after contacting with different concentration of mercury ion range 0.5 to 100 ppm have been obtained by fitting. The resonance angle shifted higher values to the left as the copper ion concentration increased. By introducing the crosslinked chitosan film, mercury ion detection can be obtained for concentration as low as 500 ppb using surface plasmon resonance technique.


Abstract The paper presents the problem of determining the minimum acceptable level of products and services of airport business continuity. Conducted a study of legal requirements and operational needs. Characterized components of BCMS (ISO 22301). Determined the relationship between measures of the reliability and capacity in the airport BCMS. On this basis, presented a concept of use the reliability gamma-percent resource measure and RCM methods in the airport BCMS.


The annual dinner of the Medical Curling Club, though not strictly speaking the highlight of our social calendar, nevertheless offers a pleasant evening and a chance to go over the great issues of the day as they affect us here in Auchendreich.

As last Saturday's event drew to its close, talk turned to the Scottish Executive's recent white paper on NHS Scotland, Partnership for Care.

Our blue-rinsed director of public health, a well known closet Tory, had found it disappointing. Indeed, in her view, all devolution had done for health in Scotland was provide East German standards of care at West German prices. But as she spoke some of us wondered if her disdain might have much to do with her surprise defeat in the Ladies' Singles Cup—at the hands of a specialist registrar in geriatric medicine, a pleasant young woman from Surrey who had taken up curling only halfway through the season.

"They call it their new policy about working together," said our medical director. "But all they've done is taken our ideas—things we've done for years—and had the cheek to call it their policy! Hmph."

A retired general practitioner, now vice chair of the primary care trust, agreed, but thought abolishing trusts was going too far. It was worse than a crime; it was a folly, for which those responsible would pay dearly at the Scottish Parliament elections in May—war or no war.

An orthopod looked forward to the greater role for clinicians in service initiatives. "Take social workers . . ." he mused. "We could hire them, fire them . . ." He searched a large malt for further inspiration. ". . . and put them all on performance related pay. Yes. That's it—5% off for every bed blocker. And if that didn't work? 10%. But I still have doubts about devolution."

"You shouldn't have." Our new ladies' champion was emphatic. "The NHS is great up here. You really do work together."

"D'you think so?" The orthopod hesitated. "Well, maybe. Yes. You're right. I mean, look at England. That Milburn guy? Destroying the, um, foundations . . . Smart to get out while you could. And, you know, maybe we could work together." He paused. "In fact, you really should come round some time . . ." He put down his whisky and gazed deep into her eyes. ". . . and see my bed blockers."


This paper analyzed the situation of the laboratory course arrangement problem,found the utilization ratio of the computer room is low,presented the advantage of the greedy algorithm in the laboratory course arrangement problem,constructed a mathematical model of the problem,studied on the specific solution of the greedy algorithm in the problem,effectively improved the utilization ratio of the computer room.


Direct membrane filtration of municipal wastewater has attracted a considerable interest in recent years. Preventing severe membrane fouling is a crucial issue in the process development. This paper aims to assess the effectiveness of a rotating hollow fiber module in enhancing fouling control. The effect of rotation speed, intermittence and permeate flux was studied in short-term tests at lab-scale. A combined filtration model considering residual fouling, intermediate pore blocking and cake filtration was used to analyze the effect of the shear induced by rotation. Results showed a significant flux improvement by increasing rotation shear stress and showed a nearly linear correlation between the threshold flux (ranged between 12 and 32 L·h−1·m−2) and the rotation speed. A proper rotation intermittence (10/15 on/off) was found, which may maintain a fouling control comparable to that achieved for continuous rotation. For a given energy demand, the optimal operating conditions involve high speeds (≥180 rev·min−1) with low to moderate intermittences. Analyzing the relative contribution of the different feedwater fractions on membrane fouling, colloidal particles and macromolecules were found to be the main contributors.


Langerhans cells (LCs) are a distinct subset of DCs that resides in the epidermis and other epithelia. They are potent antigen‐presenting cells and strong inducers of T‐cell responses. Like other DC types, LCs express C‐type lectins that serve as antigen/pathogen uptake receptors, with Langerin/CD207 being the characteristic LC C‐type lectin. In this issue of the European Journal of Immunology, Geijtenbeek and colleagues [Eur. J. Immunol. 2011. 41: 2619–2631] assign a role to Langerin on human LCs for binding and capturing measles virus. Interestingly, however, this function does not correlate with productive infection or with cross‐presentation of measles virus. These authors show that measles virus does not infect the LCs via Langerin, and that LCs cannot cross‐present the virus to CD8+ T cells; however, presentation of this virus to CD4+ T cells occurs and is dependent on virus capture by Langerin. Thus, cross‐presentation of measles virus may be left to skin DCs other than LCs. This highlights the complexity of anti‐viral T‐cell responses that originate in the skin and also emphasizes the need for intensified investigations into human skin DCs in order to be able to ultimately harness their potential for immunotherapy.


A 91-year-old afebrile female with a history of bilateral belowthe-knee amputations and congestive heart failure presents to the emergency department by ambulance with a vesicular and excoriated rash to her upper and lower extremities (Figure 1 and Figure 2). The patient was being evaluated by a wound care specialist and was advised to report to the emergency department for the possibility of infection. The vesicular lesions have been progressing in size and number for two weeks, although localized to the patient's upper and lower extremities.


Existing capsular polysaccharide‐based vaccines against pneumococcal disease are highly effective against vaccine‐included serotypes, but they are unable to combat serotype replacement. We have developed a novel pneumococcal vaccine that confers serotype‐independent protection, and could therefore constitute a "universal" vaccine formulation. This preparation is comprised of whole un‐encapsulated pneumococci inactivated with gamma irradiation (γ‐PN), and we have previously reported induction of cross‐reactive immunity after nonadjuvanted intranasal vaccination. To further enhance vaccine immunogenicity and safety, we modified the pneumococcal vaccine strain to induce a stressed state during growth. Specifically, the substrate binding component of the psaBCA operon for manganese import was mutated to create a pneumococcal surface antigen A (psaA) defective vaccine strain. psaA mutation severely attenuated the growth of the vaccine strain in vitro without negatively affecting pneumococcal morphology, thereby enhancing vaccine safety. In addition, antibodies raised against vaccine preparations based on the modified strain [γ‐PN(ΔPsaA)] showed more diversified reactivity to wild‐type pneumococcal challenge strains compared to those induced by the original formulation. The modified vaccine also induced comparable protective TH17 responses in the lung, and conferred greater protection against lethal heterologous pneumococcal challenge. Overall, the current study demonstrates successful refinement of a serotype‐independent pneumococcal vaccine candidate to enhance safety and immunogenicity.