This paper presents an adaptive cross-layer resources optimization strategy based on hybrid optical and wireless network with software defined networking. The efficiency of the whole system is experimentally verified on test program.


Our current transportation policies may be increasing traffic congestion, forcing people to drive more often. We can reduce traffic congestion through behavior modification and new technologies; a more successful way to reduce traffic congestion may be to shorten the distance and to make that distance more attractive to negotiate on foot. Government policies which require off-street parking and prohibit on-street parking may stimulate traffic congestion. Similarly, high design speeds and wide streets encourage more people to drive, while walking is discouraged by the excessive noise level and the lack of safety in crossing these high-speed streets. Minimizing access to parcels along a local street may maximize traffic congestion, and further discourage walking. Walking may also be discouraged by removing street trees, since walking is made uncomfortable due to lack of shade. Parking, design speeds, street widths, access, and street trees are items already tightly controlled by government; retaining these policies may only further degrade public quality of life.


In imperfect competition, electricity markets with transmission constraints and limited number of producers, generation companies (GenCos) are facing an oligopolistic market rather than perfect competition. In this market each GenCo may increase its own payoff through strategic bidding. This paper investigates the problem of developing optimal bidding strategies of GenCos considering participants' market power as well as transmission constraints. The problem is modeled as a bi-level optimization that at the first level each GenCo maximizes its payoff through strategic bidding, while at the second level, an independent system operator (ISO) dispatches power, solving an optimal power flow (OPF) problem. The objective of proposed optimization model is generating optimal bidding strategies for GenCos, while satisfying transmission constraints. Different aspects of exercising market power are studied and the corresponding effects on Nash equilibrium and GenCos' characteristics are proposed. Finally, the interaction of participants' different bidding strategies is investigated. An IEEE-30 bus test system is used for case study to demonstrate simulation results. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Since the early 1990s, when the Iron Curtain was lifted after over fifty years of Soviet occupation, approximately 800 000 citizens of Lithuania have emigrated, leaving a population of less than three million. This article addresses the phe- nomenon of emigration from Lithuania and analyzes how the issue of emigration and the experiences of the emigrants are reflected in Lithuanian drama. In the first part of the article, two plays – Without Conscience (Be sumnenes arba kaip ant svieto einasi) by Antanas Turskis and America in the Bathhouse (Amerika pirtyje) by Keturakis – will be analysed focusing on how the late nineteenth century plays shaped a critical attitude towards emigration, deconstructed the myth of the foreign land of gold and proposed a romantic image of the motherland as one's native soil where one needs to return. The second part of the article analyses the plays Goodbye, My Love (Antoskos Kartoskos) by Marius Macevicius and Expulsion (Isvarymas) by Marius Ivaskevicius and points out how reflection on the contemporary experience of emigration helps to explore deeper problems of post-Soviet society and the individual such as a sense of placelessness and fragmented identity. A comparative analysis of these texts makes it possible to analyse the dynamics of the different conceptions of emigration, emigrant's identity and self-perception as well as their artistic representations.


How to realize the survivable storage of multimendia data files is always an important issue concerned by researche-rs.According to the characteristics of hyperchaotic map,this paper used the pseudo-random sequences of the hyperchaotic system to propose and realize a new kind of image survivable storage scheme.This paper proved this scheme was very suitable for software implementation,but also could realize the security and the disater recovery of the image storage.Then did some optimization analysis of this scheme through experiments.


Short-term plasticity (STP) is a phenomenon in the biological brain where synaptic weight changes depending solely on the presynaptic activity in a biological brain. The STP is an essential brain...


The value of experimental Richardson constant (A*) is found to be a function of metal film thickness, type of the metal, method of deposition, and condition of semiconductor prior to metal deposition. In the case of Al and W on GaAs, the value of A* is found higher than the theoretical value. However, as the film thickness increases, the value of A* decreases. The larger value of A* is related to electrically active defects at the interface produced during sputtering. Filament evaporation results in smaller values for A*. In the case of WSi0.6 the presence of Si affects the value of A*. For InP, the value of A* is found smaller than the theoretical value. For both GaAs and InP, the value of A* increases when the semiconductor is annealed prior to metal deposition. This increase is significant in the case of InP.


A broad-band and high gain array antenna based on the dual-polarized technology for Wi-Fi/WiMAX application was presented,fabricated and measured.The dual polarized antenna was the combination of the two antennas with the orthogonal polarization direction of +45° and-45°.The return loss property was better than-10 dB from 2.38 to 2.72 GHz.The isolation of the proposed antenna was better than 20 dB between port 1 and port 2.The gain was of 17.14 dBi at 2.45 GHz for port 1,while it was of 17.15 dBi at 2.483 GHz for port 2.There is a good agreement between simulations and the measurement.The good performance for bandwidth and directionality will make the array antenna play an essential role in the development of Wi-Fi/WiMAX technology.


BACKGROUND
Gut microbiota are the major contributors to host metabolism and are considered as potential targets of novel therapeutics. Microalgae have a high potential for use as prebiotics because they are a rich source of protein, fatty acid, fibre, and mineral for nutritional supplementation in humans. Nevertheless, there has been insufficient research into the effect of microalgae on gut microbiota. To investigate the effects of 3 edible microalgae (Chlorella vulgaris, Chlorella protothecoides, and Schizochytrium sp.) on gut microbiota, simulated digestion and colonic fermentation were applied.

RESULTS
Following in vitro digestion, the microalgae displayed different bioaccessibilities and the nutrient analysis revealed that unabsorbed nutrients during the digestion process could be used for colonic fermentation. Following colonic fermentation, the control, inulin, and microalgae groups displayed different metabolite tendencies via nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic analysis. Especially, microalgae supplementation increased the proportion of propionate in the colonic culture (Control: 19.14%, Inulin: 18.38%, Chlorella vulgaris: 25.80%, Chlorella protothecoides: 25.46%, and Schizochytrium sp.: 25.56%). Additionally, microbial profiling analysis using 16S rRNA gene sequencing disclosed that the relative abundance of Bacteroides (Control: 1.91%, Inulin: 2.61%, Chlorella vulgaris: 14.77%, Chlorella protothecoides: 11.17%, and Schizochytrium sp.: 5.51%) and Dialister (Control: 0.08%, Inulin: 2.06%, Chlorella vulgaris: 6.79%, Chlorella protothecoides: 4.45%, and Schizochytrium sp.: 4.48%), involved in propionate metabolism, were increased more than in the inulin group.

CONCLUSION
Our findings suggest the potential use of microalgae as a functional food to increase propionate generation, as propionate has been reported to be effective in weight loss and inhibition of pathogen infection. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


Blockchain is distributed network technology which stores information in decentralized manner. Blockchain makes transaction transparent and provides enhanced security using cryptography. It has some properties including immutability, decentralization and auditability which makes transaction tamper proof and more secure. Decentralization is becoming popular way to develop applications and for data management. This paper has conducted a survey on the working of decentralized application based on Ethereum. Further, this research study has also analyzed the working of smart contract in Blockchain. Apart from that, InterPlanetary File System is used to for storing and accessing files in a distributed system. Moreover, this research study has covered different tools and techniques, which are used to develop DApps based on Ethereum network.


We report positron annihilation measurements on TiBe/sub 2/. Calculations using LMTO band structure method are also presented. The good agreement with the experimental data leads to the conclusion that the unusual magnetic properties of this compound can be well explained in terms of its electronic structure. A reconstruction of the electron-positron momentum distribution from calculated and measured 2D-ACPAR is discussed. 10 refs., 3 figs.


Objective:To establish an HPLC-MS/MS method for determination of seven antidepressants and five antipsychotics in human serum.Methods:The serum sample was precipitated with acetonitrile after the addition of internal standard(huanyangfen).The chromatographic separation was performed on XbridgeTM Phenyl column(150 mm×2.1 mm,5 μm) with the mobile phase of 0.02% formic acid water-0.02% formic acid acetonitrile(35:65) at a flow rate of 0.3 mL·min-1.The injection volume was 20 μL.The deprotonated ion of analyte was ionized by turbo ion spray and was detected in positive ionization by multiple reaction monitoring mode(MRM).Results:The linear concentration ranges of the calibration curves for seven antidepressants and five antipsychotics were 2-1000 μg·L-1.The coefficients of linearity were more than 0.993 1.RSDs of withinbatch and between-batch were less than 10%.The average recovery ranged from 102% to 112%.The accuracy ranged from 89.3% to 107.9%.Conclusion:The method is simple and quick with high specificity and sensitivity,and it is suitable for quantitative determination of seven antidepressants and five antipsychotics in human serum.


The utility model relates to a bunch planting tray seedling device, belonging to an agricultural machine. The utility model which is composed of a machine frame, a power machine, a driving part, a seedling tray delivery device, a water or agricultural chemical spraying device, a seeding device and an earth covering device can be used for accomplishing the plug seedling of paddy rice, vegetables, etc. The bunch planting tray seedling device which solves the problems of low production efficiency, bad operation quality and high void rate of current manual seedling raising has the advantages of simple structure, convenient operation, high productive efficiency, good operation quality, etc.


We report on transport measurements on micron-sized mesa structures fabricated on single crystals of the layered manganite La1.4Sr1.6Mn2O7, probing the magnetoresistance of a single magnetic domain for current transport perpendicular to the layers. In magnetic fields applied perpendicular to the layers switching of the magnetoresistance was observed in fields well below 0.4 T, while for parallel fields it decreased continuously. We interpret these observations within the framework of spin-polarized tunneling between adjacent MnO2 bilayers forming an intrinsic stack of spin valves.


Synthesis of Optically Active, X-Shaped, Conjugated Compounds and Dendrimers Based on Planar Chiral [2.2]Paracyclophane, Leading to Highly Emissive Circularly Polarized Luminescence


Sulfur hexafluoride has been widely used in field studies and laboratory experiments to develop a relationship between gas transfer and wind speed. The interpretation of the data from such studies requires the diffusion coefficient of SF 6 (DSF6), which has not previously been measured. In this study, DSF 6 has been determined in pure water and in 359/oo NaCI over a temperature range of 5-25oC. The measurements were made using a continuous-flow diffusion cell where SF 6 flows beneath an agar gel membrane while helium flows above the gel. The experimental data for pure water yielded the following equation: DSF6=0.029 exp (-19.3/RT, where R is the gas constant and T is temperature in kelvins). Measurements of DSF 6 in 35% NaCI were not significantly different from the pure water values. On the basis of our data, we estimate the Schmidt numbers for seawater over the temperature range 5-25 o C to be Sc-3016.1-172.00t+4.4996t2-0.0479657,


ABSTRACT The animal fauna of the Socotra Archipelago is influenced by three biogeographical regions, the Afrotropical, the Oriental and the Palaearctic. Consequently, the Archipelago shares faunal elements of these three regions in addition to unique endemic taxa. The ant fauna of Socotra Island was studied and is reviewed based on literature and newly collected material. In total, 28 species, belonging to 10 genera and four subfamilies, were collected from the main island. Eighteen of these (64%) are successful invasive species, seven are native (25%), and three are considered endemic (11%), Cardiocondyla longiceps Seifert, Monomorium elghazalyi sp. nov. and Monomorium nimihil Collingwood et al. Two genera are recorded for the first time from the island, Hypoponera Santschi, and Syllophopsis Santschi. Ten species are recorded for the first time, Cardiocondyla mauritanica Forel, Cardiocondyla minutior Forel, Monomorium atomum Forel, Monomorium dichroum Forel, Monomorium exiguum Forel, Pheidole pallidula (Nylander), Syllophopsis cryptobia (Santschi), Tetramorium pauper Forel, Tetramorium transformans Santschi and Hypoponera punctatissima (Roger). Ten invasive species are recorded from Socotra, reflecting human impacts on the Archipelago. These species are Tapinoma melanocephalum (Fabricius), Cardiocondyla emeryi Forel, Monomorium exiguum Forel, Pheidole indica Mayr, Syllophopsis cryptobia (Santschi), Tetramorium lanuginosum Mayr, Tetramorium simillimum (Smith), Tetramorium caldarium (Roger), Trichomyrmex destructor (Jerdon) and Trichomyrmex mayri (Forel). Our survey indicated a mixture of Afrotropical faunal elements (10 species, 36%), followed by cosmopolitan (nine species, 32%), Palaearctic (five species, 18%) and Oriental (four species, 14%) taxa. Two new synonyms of Monomorium exiguum Forel are proposed: Monomorium exiguum Forel = Monomorium baushare Collingwood & Agosti syn. nov. = Monomorium qarahe Collingwood & Agosti syn. nov. Tetramorium transformans Santschi is removed from synonymy with Tetramorium caldarium (Roger) and elevated to species rank. Ecological and biological notes for each species are given. Distribution maps for all species known from the Socotra Archipelago are provided. http://zoobank/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:89612083-9CE6-48E8-8975-1CE5334E098B


Abstract While neorhoticity in acrolectal black South African English has been investigated and confirmed by Hartmann and Zerbian (2009), and while a few commentators (including Bailey 1984, Da Silva 2008 and Bekker 2009) have briefly mentioned the possibility of a re-emergence of rhoticity in white South African English (SAfE), the phenomenon has not been investigated closely. The research reported on in this article is the first attempt to do so, focusing as it does on the speech produced in a range of styles by eight young, female speakers of the local standard of SAfE, that is, General SAfE. The research shows, furthermore, and in agreement with the existing literature on neorhoticity in modern English accents, that the re-emergence of rhoticity in General SAfE is both phonologically and sociolinguistically constrained: it appears almost exclusively in the most formal styles and is particularly prevalent when following /ɜː/, as in nurse, purse, etc. More surprisingly, there does not appear to be any evidence for an increase in the /r/-sandhi phenomena alongside the re-emergence of rhoticity.


This paper briefly analyses the following papers: an investigation into flexible pavements in arid regions (brodie=hd); structural examination of residential streets (scala=aj); evaluation for CBR and pavement design testing based on field compaction conditions (vaz=e and darke=bc).


whenever a < xl_? b, a ? x, -b. This note is concerned with the question of approximating f(x) by means of a function of the family 0. The discussion is deliberately restricted in scope, for the sake of illustrating the leading ideas with the greatest practicable simplicity. It could be generalized, to a greater or less extent, in any one of a number of different directions. 2. Existence and uniqueness of the approximating function according to the criterion of least mth powers, m ? 1. Let 9) (x) be an arbitrary fumetion of the family 0. Such a function will be called for brevity "a function 9p". Let m be a given constant -: 1. Attention will be directed first to the minimizing of the integral


The debate over the manner in which changes in money growth rates affect real economic activity, and over the role that systematic monetary policy plays in this relationship, has been a protracted one, yet it remains unresolved. This paper shows that a model proposed by Fischer [13] in which multi-period-ahead expectational errors in money growth are crucial for the determination of real economic aggregates is empirically superior to two leading alternatives when the three are estimated on a sample of U.S. quarterly data spanning the 1970s. In addition, we show that the test used to demonstrate these results, a version of Davidson and MacKinnon's [9] P test which we adjust experimentally to remove small sample biases in its size, is, in this application, more powerful than the more commonly-used F-ratio form of the likelihood ratio test.' We use these results on relative power to explain and reconcile some conflicting decisions to which the two alternative tests lead.


in American politics. But business political activities are not limited to making such contributions, for in 1934 the Bank of America participated in the California gubernatorial election in several unusual ways. It unsuccessfully attempted, through its head and founder, A. P. Giannini, to persuade the comptroller of the currency, James F. T. O'Connor, to run for governor. With the emergence of Upton Sinclair as the probable winner of the Democratic nomination for the governorship, the bank sought to have California Democrats unite behind a single candidate who could defeat him. This end also was not accomplished. A. P. Giannini then worked with high officials in the Roosevelt Administration on a plan to secure Sinclair's withdrawal from the gubernatorial race in favor of Raymond Haight, a progressive Republican running as an independent. The failure of that step eventually led to Giannini's endorsement of conservative Frank Merriam, the Republican nominee. What is striking about these actions is that nearly all of them demanded working within the Democratic Party. Many large businesses had, after all, become cool towards Roosevelt in 1934. Cooperation with the Democrats also was a drastic change in the stance of the Bank of America, which had allied itself with the Republicans throughout most of its existence. The search for the explanation of this change must be a primary task in examining the Bank of America's role in the 1934 election. It means an analysis of four main factors: the 1920s conflict with the Federal Reserve Board over the expansion of the bank's branch banking system; the conflict with the head of the San Francisco Federal


In any laboratory to carry out temperature dependent studies a reliable temperature controller is required. Temperature controi! lers may be of analog or digital type. The main drawbacks of the analog controllers are (i) limited controllability or automation and (ii) hardware limitations in implementing mathematical computations. Digital controllers are flexible as the implementabtion of the control schemes are carried out by software only. Hence, the hardware restrictions of analog controllers can be completely eliminatec Automatic control of process parameters can be accomplished by different contrOl schemes or control algorithms such as Proportional (P), Proportional + Integral (P1), Proportinal + Differential (PD), Proportional + Integral + Differential (PID) algorithms. All the controllers produce a control output by operating on the error signal or a time series of error signals. Most process loops where the plant transfer function has not been completely defined are controlled by PID control algorithms. PID control schems can be implemented in different forms such as (i) positional or whole value form (ii) incremental or velocity form. Of the two, velocity form of PID algorithm provides certain advantages over the other. In this paper, a modified velocity form PID algorithm developed in our laboratory to control the process namely temperature is described.


A study was conducted to investigate the survival of five Pseudomonas strains resistant to antibiotics in different types of water. The selected Pseudomonas strains were designated as strain P1 (CT-29), strain P2 (CT-25), strain P3 (CT-36), strain P4 (CT-20) and strain P5 (CT-27) which were only recovered from farmed fishes. Six types of water viz., distilled water, saline water, tap water, deionized water, pond water and river water were used. Among these experimental waters, river water was found to be the most suitable for long-term survival of these strains. Deionized water did not support survival of all these Pseudomonas strains. Pond water, tap water and distilled water were moderately suitable for strain P1 and strain P4. Saline water was also found to be highly suitable for long-term survival in case of the strain P3 and moderately suitable for normal survival of strain P2 and strain P5.


The objective of this work is to analyse the production potential and optimize the aqueous pulp extract of Palmer mangoes for the production of ethanol. The concentration of total sugars obtained was measured by phenol sulphuric acid method in the pulp and by chromatography; the results showed 83.33 g L -1 and 80.51 g L -1 respectively. By means of preliminary tests at 30°C, it was established that the period of 10 hours presented the biggest yield of ethanol. This was followed by fermentation , with 13 tests and two repetitions in the central point, after which the samples were centrifuged to determine the alcohol content. The optimisation indicated a formula containing 3.0 g L -1 of yeast extract, 8.0 g L -1 of yeast, and 0.35 g L -1 of NH 4 H 2 PO 4 , for an alcohol content of 34.5 g L -1 with a yield of 88.27%.Sugar cane jui ce, diluted under the same conditions, was also fermented and passed through the same procedures; however the resulting alcohol content of 35.68 g L -1 with a yield of 70.74% proved to be inferior value to that presented when the aqueous extract of Palmer mango was used.


for each positive integer n. This sequence nicely illustrates the theorem that guarantees the convergence of bounded monotone sequences: it is elementary to prove that our sequence is increasing and bounded above by 1, and so it has a limit. However, for the novice at least, it is not at all clear what the limit of the sequence is. Hence, the existence of the limit is established without knowing its value. Somewhat surprisingly, it turns out that this sequence also illustrates Riemann sums and rearrangements of conditionally convergent series. Furthermore, as we will show, the sequence can be generalized without losing any of its interesting features. We begin by summarizing five properties of the sequence {xn }, and advise the reader to work through the elementary justifications of these facts before reading further.


This report, originally prepared in 2013, investigates the relationship between English 'langlit' provision at A level and at BA level (school qualifications outside the A level nations are beyond the direct scope of this report). It builds on an earlier HEA report (Clark and Macrae 2014) which considered general questions about the nature of lang-lit work in both contexts and some issues of transition between the two. This report presents a more detailed comparative analysis of the content and delivery methods of lang-lit work at A level and first year BA level, identifying popular teaching and learning resources, tasks, and assessment methods. This overview is mainly grounded in data gathered from course materials, plus questionnaire responses gathered via a small survey. 20 responses to the survey were received from teachers and lecturers: these responses are not treated as representative of national opinion, but are nonetheless indicative of some widely held opinions in education at school and university. The report also presents limited anecdotal data, some of this gathered from interviews with colleagues delivering courses at both levels.


To the Editor.—
 We read with some concern the article by Maisels and Gifford.1 Although we agree with the results as they are calculated, we would like to express our concern about the logistic modeling used in the analysis. Most important, we would like to caution prospective users of logistic regression of the hazards of using the stepwise procedure. Although, the stepwise procedure will win you variables that demonstrate significant associations, it may exclude variables that are more important biologically to modeling the risk factors for the disease being studied.2


a common way to realize human-computer interactions based on B/S architecture model WEB application programs is page request. The complete page refresh process reduces the effects of users' experience,increases the pressure of servers and slows down the speed of program response. The realization of part page refresh with application of AJAX asynchronous transmission technology can increase the efficiency of program interactions,offer friendlier program interface. The paper,based on typical application of AJAX in design of on-line test systems,introduces the principles and methods of the application of AJAX to realize part page refresh.


Yiddish radio speak to its audience in a way different from these other forms? Kelman's best writing and most insightful analyses appear in those chapters where he examines the interplay between Yiddish radio and the historical events that were affecting Yiddish-speaking Jewry. For example, Chapter 5, 'At Home on the Air: 1941–1949,' discusses how World War II and the destruction of European Jewry were reflected in Yiddish radio. Broadcasts became sites where American Jews expressed their patriotism, were enlisted in the war effort, were encouraged to buy war bonds, debated the course of the war, and gave voice to their concerns about their friends and relatives in Europe. Later, Yiddish radio became a site where Jews could express their feelings about the new State of Israel, and even learn modern Hebrew. Although 1.75 million Yiddish speakers were present in the United States after World War II, Kelman tells us, the future of Yiddish radio was rather bleak. The pressure—both internal and external—on Jews to assimilate linguistically was great, and most Yiddish broadcasting disappeared from the air. Scant traces of this once vast cultural medium still remain, with an audience comprised either of native speakers or of others with familial, sentimental, or ideological attachments to the language.


A kind of high Al13 content PAC and two kinds of new rare earth composite polyaluminum flocculants have been made with aluminum powder,aluminum chloride and distilled water.By adjusting raw materials ratio,reaction temperature and aging time,after evaporating and crystallizing,the polyaluminum is acquired.The polyaluminum chloride is characterized by means of XRD and chemical analysis.The results show that PAC consists of 5 AlCl3·8Al(OH)3·37.5H2O and AlCl3·6H2O,and new rare earth composite polyaluminum flocculants consists of 5AlCl3·8Al(OH)3·37.5H2O,AlCl3·6H2O and raw material rare earth compound.Addition of rare earth compound has no influence on chemical constitute of polyaluminum flocculants,but has some influence on crystal process and structure of polyaluminum flocculants.


Developmental defects (partial atrophy, hyperplasia, hypotrophy, hypertrophy, deformation, dysplasia) in the higher vegetative centers in cases of hydrocephaly in fetuses and newborns are described.


Customer Satisfaction Index has won great success in the west countries, and become one part of economy indices system. We study CSI theory basis, CSI measurement methods, CSI history and development. Then we discuss CSI future research directions and main issues for constructing Chinese Customer Satisfaction Index.


Coating of finished flax particle boards with gelatin only, did not improve the resistance of boards to hot water. Coating with gelatin rendered insoluble, however, using hexamine and high temperature produced an insoluble gelatin film on the flax particles, which improved water resistance of the coated boards. Particle boards coated with 5% gelatin and a high concentration of hexamine (10%), improved water resistance to about 50% higher than that of uncoated samples. Higher amounts of gelatin (7.5 and 10%) gave a smaller improvement. The changes in thickness and density of the coated samples were also investigated.


The q-rung orthopair fuzzy set is a powerful tool for depicting fuzziness and uncertainty, as compared to the Pythagorean fuzzy model. The aim of this paper is to present q-rung orthopair fuzzy competition graphs (q-ROFCGs) and their generalizations, including q-rung orthopair fuzzy k-competition graphs, p-competition q-rung orthopair fuzzy graphs and m-step q-rung orthopair fuzzy competition graphs with several important properties. The study proposes the novel concepts of q-rung orthopair fuzzy cliques and triangulated q-rung orthopair fuzzy graphs with real-life characterizations. In particular, the present work evolves the notion of competition number and m-step competition number of q-rung picture fuzzy graphs with algorithms and explores their bounds in connection with the size of the smallest q-rung orthopair fuzzy edge clique cover. In addition, an application is illustrated in the soil ecosystem with an algorithm to highlight the contributions of this research article in practical applications.


Web blight of urdbean caused by Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn is an important disease of urdbean. Among four inoculation techniques tested on cv. P U-19, maximum web blight severity (65.3%) was observed on plants sprayed with mycelial suspension followed by inoculation with sclerotia (45.8%). The plant at all growth stages was found to be susceptible, However, disease severities varied with age. Young plants (30–60 days) were more prone to infection. Highest disease score was recorded on plants belonging to family Leguminosae followed by Gramineae.


With the city's rapid economic development,the urban tunnel construction fast becoming an integral part of urban planning.As relatively closed nature of the city's tunnel space,monitoring and controlling the air quality inside the tunnel become a hot research.Presents the PLC environmental monitoring control system of quantitative criteria based on CO/Ⅵ interacted with fan,it can effectively solve the problem of environmental air quality inside the tunnel.


The development of synchrotron-radiation-based high-energy X-ray micro-laminography to visualize microstructures in dense planar objects such as planar fossils is described.


It is known that the apparent difference between the geometric factors and loading conditions in the cervical cage is caused by the limited high pressure and thus the collapse of the adjacent vertebral body of the cage, leading to clinical problems such as vertebral body rupture, bone loss, stability and fusion failure. Numerous techniques and methods with advantages and disadvantages are applied for these clinical problems. But the cost of spine testers and biomechanical spine testing is a time-consuming process, and other alternatives and end-to-end analysis of implants are worthwhile and necessary to develop. The aim of this study is to calculate the equivalent stretching and deformation of cervical cage implants of different thicknesses with the Finite Element Static Analysis models to quantitatively evaluate the tendency of collapse in clinically encountered conditions. In this context, PEEK (polyether ketone) has been chosen as a material because of the incentive results in recent years with the use of integrated screws and cages in a select group of patients. A force of 100 N was applied to the upper surface of the implant in accordance with the standards and the lower surface of the implant model was defined as a fix support. As a result of the analysis made on 3 different models with different thicknesses, the total deformation on the 5.0 mm, 6.0 mm and 7.0 mm systems was 0.073161 mm; 0.032413 mm; 0.025319 mm respectively, and the equivalent stresses was 47.722 MPa; 24.126 MPa and 20.43 MPa respectively. These values were found to be smaller than the yield strength of the material used (165 MPa), and as predicted, the maximum deformation of the model and the decrease in equivalent stress were observed to decrease. In addition, there are places where there is a singular load accumulation on the design, which in turn has confirmed that the use of costly and time-consuming testing processes and finite element analysis to avoid faulty production is appropriate.


OBJECTIVE:To study the effects HER-2 gene RNA interference (RNAi) on the chemo-sensitivity of HER-2-positive breast cancer cell. METHODS:A plasmid vector capable of mediating HER-2 RNAi was constructed,and HER-2 positive breast cancer cell line SKBR-3 was transfected with constructed vector. The expression of HER-2 mRNA and protein was analyzed by RT-PCR and Western blotting; Also,transfected cells were co-cultured with different concentrations of epirubicin and the growth of SKBR-3 cells was analyzed by MTT. RESULTS:The expression of HER-2 mRNA and HER-2 protein was downregulated about 60% and 55%,respectively,in response to vector-mediated HER-2 RNAi. Furthermore,the chemo-sensitivity to epirubicin of the SKBR-3 cell was enhanced significantly by HER-2 gene RNAi and the IC50 was 0.25 μg/μL. CONCLUSION:HER-2 is a good target for RNAi and RNAi,targeting HER-2 gene can cause HER-2 positive breast cancer cell growth inhibition and increasing sensitivity to chemotherapeutics.


Apparent viscosity of rice (high amylose var. (i) Taichung Native 1 and low amylose var. (ii) Changlei) pastes and slurries was measured with a coaxial cylinder viscometer. The cooked pastes (cooked at 95 degree C for 2 min and measured at 27 degree C) of both the rice var. showed thixotropic loops in plots of viscosity vs. shear rate. Viscosities of both the pastes increased with concn. but the curve was steeper with (i) than with (ii). Viscosity was always higher at 27 degree C than at 60 degree C. In another set of experiments viscosities of the slurries of 8 quality types of rice (ranging from Type 1 which cooks hard and flaky and Type VIII which cooks very soft and sticky) were tested after cooking at 95 degree C for 2 min. It was found that at 10 and 12% (dry basis) concn. of the paste, apparent viscosity decreased continuously from Type I to Type VIII. At 3% concn. apparent viscosity decreased from Type VIII to Type I rice. But between 5 and 8% paste concn. the viscosities were close together. With uncooked slurry, the viscosity was tested at 20, 25 and 30% concn. (dry basis) as the readings were low and unreliable at lower concn. The results indicated that the apparent viscosity was highest for Type VIII and lowest for Type I rice in that order. Uncooked slurries of rice flour dispersed in 2% carboxymethyl cellulose at 10-15% concn. behaved similarly to cooked rice paste of 3% concn.


Changli Gold Coast in Hebei Province is one of the most typical coastal aeolian dune distribution regions in China,one of dunes in this area was chosen to measure the change of vertical distribution of different sand grain sizes in wind-sand flow at the different sites over coastal dune.The field measurement results show that the change models of vertical distribution of medium sands and fine sands in wind-sand flow at the different sites over coastal dune have no essential difference,there is only some difference in the extent of change.All the aeolian sediment transport rate of medium sands and fine sands increase on windward slope and decrease on leeward slope,but the increase rate of eolian sediment transport rate of medium sands on windward slope is slower than fine sands and the decrease rate of Aeolian sediment transport rate of medium sands on leeward slope is faster than that of fine sands.The ratio of aeolian sediment transport rate of medium sands and fine sands at different heights in the wind-sand flow over coastal dune almost have the same change trend among different sites over dune,but the extent of change of medium sands is larger than the extent of fine sand change.At all the sites over coastal dune,the vertical distribution model of aeolian sediment transport rate of medium sands in wind-sand flow is power function,the vertical distribution model of fine sands could be expressed by an exponential function in 0-10 cm height and by the power function at the height of 10-30 cm.


During studies on the metabolism of aspartic acid in Escherichia coli it became evident that cells harvested from a complex medium rapidly lost activity and that the lost activity could be restored by the addition of a mixture of the known members of the vitamin B complex. By restricting the conditions of measurement the active agent among these vitamins proved to be biotin, and by separating the various reactions concerned in the comples the biotin was shown to function in oxalacetate decarboxylation. However, some of the evidence available indicates that the natural substrate for this enzyme is not oxalacetic acid as such but a material resembling it, perhaps a phosphorylated oxalacetate. This study represents an unusual mode of obtaining a vitamin deficiency and reveals an unexpected property of biotin. That there existed a relationship between biotin and aspartic acid was shown by Koser, Wright, and Dorfman (1) and Stokes, Larsen, and Gunness (2). The latter workers investigated several of the reactions concerned in the metabolism of aspartic acid and found that biotin was not concerned with transamination. A suggestion that biotin was concerned with the formation of oxalacetate was reported? since oxalacetic acid partially replaced the biotin requirement for some organisms in an asparticdeficient medium. Winzler, Burk, and du Vigneaud (3) found that biotin-deficient yeast cells were markedly stimulated by biotin to take up ammonia.


11 This work presents the use of activated charcoal passivated-Ag 3 PO 4 (CAgP) and bare 12 Ag 3 PO 4 (AgP) nanoparticles (NPs) as effective photocatalysts for the generation of hydrogen 13 peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) in air-saturated water containing either formic acid (FA) or silver nitrate 14 (AgNO 3 ). The synthesized CAgP and pristine AgP were characterized using various state-of-the-15 art optical and electron microscopy techniques. The CAgP composites showed remarkable 16 photocatalyzed H 2 O 2 formation compared to bare AgP NPs. The CAgP photocatalyzed-assisted 17 H 2 O 2 formation from O 2 -saturated water under sunlight was achieved via two-channel


Noise parameter estimation is an important image processing step, because the noise parameters are often unknown, but many image denoising, compression, and segmentation algorithms take them as input values. The innovation of this thesis is the introduction of a new noise parameter estimation framework. The framework is designed to handle images with signal-independent noise as well as several common types of signal-dependent noise, namely, noise produced by synthetic aperture radars (SAR), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) devices, charge-coupled device (CCD) sensors, and ultrasound devices.

The framework is based on a sparse representation of the blocks of the original image. Specifically, it is assumed that a part of the original image blocks lies in a proper subspace of the image block vector space, which means that there is a linear dependence between pixels in the blocks. As a result, images without homogeneous areas can be accurately processed, which is a qualitative difference from the state of the art, where homogeneous areas are required to process images with signal-dependent noise with several parameters.

In the case of signal-independent noise, principal component analysis of the blocks of the input image is utilized in order to check the sparsity assumption and estimate the noise variance. Particularly, Bartlett's test and the difference of the sample covariance matrix eigenvalues are used as assumption checks, and the last several sample covariance matrix eigenvalues are utilized to estimate the noise variance. Besides, two strategies to select the part of the blocks, which allows the sparse representation, are suggested.

In order to process images with signal-dependent noise, a variance-stabilizing transformation is applied. An optimization procedure is used to compute the transformation parameters, because they depend on the unknown noise parameters. This procedure analyzes the noise distribution in the transformed image and selects the transformation parameters, which maximize a noise normality measure. After applying the variance-stabilizing transformation, the algorithm designed for signal-independent noise is utilized to estimate the noise variance in the transformed image; and the parameters of the original noise model are calculated.

The noise parameter estimation experiments, which include comparison with 19 state of the art methods, show that the accuracy of the proposed algorithms is the highest in most cases. Speaking of signal-independent noise, the proposed algorithm gives a good compromise between accuracy and execution time: it is at least 15 times faster compared with the methods with similar accuracy; and it is at least 2 times more accurate than other methods. Regarding signal-dependent noise, the accuracy of the proposed approach is considerably higher for the SAR, CCD, and ultrasound noise models. The denoising experiments demonstrate that the use of noise parameter estimates computed by the proposed method results in considerably higher denoising quality for these three noise models.


In this paper, the author firstly sorts the traditional clan living styles of Hakka, and then mainly compares the situations of Hakka clan revival in domestic regions which have taken place since the reform and opening-up with the developments of overseas clan organizations,hereby we can question the modernistic changes of Hakka clan from it.


Remember "easy as ABC"? Lipid absorption used to be like that. Lipid-soluble dietary components were thought to be absorbed according to the extent of their lipophilicity. Because triacylglycerols were hydrolyzed to fatty acids in the intestinal lumen and because enterocytes express fatty acid–binding proteins, fatty acid uptake was complete, and 100% of dietary triacylglycerols was secreted in chylomicrons. If chylomicron synthesis was impaired, fat malabsorption ensued. Thus, subjects with abetalipoproteinemia, which is a genetic defect in the microsomal triacylglycerol transfer protein (MTP) that is required for lipidating apolipoprotein B (1), had impaired chylomicron secretion. Not surprisingly, triacylglycerol absorption was impaired, as was the absorption of fat-soluble nutrients such as vitamin E and -carotene. Cholesterol absorption, however, has always been more complex than was thought. Whereas 50% of a dose of cholesterol is absorbed, plant sterols—even though their structures are similar to those of cholesterol—are poorly absorbed. Moreover, when they are present in gram amounts, plant sterols inhibit cholesterol absorption. In vitro studies suggest that plant sterols displace cholesterol from micelles and that, therefore, less cholesterol is delivered to the enterocyte for absorption. When plasma -carotene and -tocopherol decrease after plant sterol treatment, a decrease in plasma cholesterol–containing lipoproteins is assumed to be the cause. However, the report by Richelle et al (2) in this issue of the Journal suggests that things are not so simple. Those authors anticipated that plant sterols or sterol esters would reduce fractional cholesterol absorption but would have no effect on triacylglycerol absorption or on the absorption and incorporation of -carotene and -tocopherol into triacylglycerol-rich lipoproteins (eg, chylomicrons). Indeed, both plant free sterols and sterol esters similarly reduced cholesterol absorption by 67%, whereas triacylglycerol absorption was unaffected. Remarkably, both plant sterols and sterol esters reduced -carotene absorption by 50%, whereas plant sterol esters, but not plant sterols, reduced -tocopherol absorption by 20%. The mechanisms for the reductions in the absorption of -carotene and -tocopherol by plant sterols and sterol esters were not investigated, but the findings suggest that lipid-soluble nutrient absorption may be modulated by ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, nuclear receptors, and intracellular trafficking proteins. The specific mechanisms for cholesterol absorption and its regulation by the enterocyte are beginning to be elucidated. Cholesterol trafficking is under the regulation of 4 ABC transporters: ABCA1, ABCG1, ABCG5, and ABCG8 (3). Both ABCG5 and ABCG8 are half-transporters, which have only one nucleotide-binding domain followed by one transmembrane domain; the 2 come together to act as a transporter, and they shuttle plant sterols out of the cell into the intestinal lumen. Genetic defects in these transporters (4) cause sitosterolemia, a disorder characterized by cholesterol and plant sterol hyperabsorption and premature atherosclerosis. Plosch et al (5) showed in mice that abcg5 gene disruption causes selective dietary plant sterol hyperabsorption. Thus, ABCG5 and ABCG8 severely limit plant sterol absorption and reduce cholesterol absorption by increasing their efflux into the intestinal lumen. ABCA1 and ABCG1 also mediate cholesterol removal from enterocytes (6), but they direct their payloads toward the lymph, perhaps for uptake by HDL (7) or even newly synthesized chylomicrons. It is important that the 4 different ABC transporters that regulate sterol trafficking are under the control of oxysterol receptors, called liver X receptors (LXRs) (8). Repa et al (9) showed that ABCA1, ABCG5, and ABCG8 mRNA increased in LXR agonist–treated mice. Sitostanol, a plant sterol, has been proposed to be an LXR agonist (10). Kaneko et al (11) examined the effects of several plant sterols and their derivatives on LXR activity and found a potent LXR agonist related to the plant sterols ergosterol and brassicasterol. Thus, a minor component of consumed plant sterols or a plant sterol conversion (oxidation) product may be the active element that binds to LXRs and upregulates ABC transporters, thereby further limiting the absorption of both plant sterols and cholesterol. So, what is an LXR? As a heterodimer with the 9-cis retinoic acid receptor (RXR), LXR binds to specific DNA sequences called response elements in target genes. The LXR-RXR heterodimer must bind both an LXR agonist and retinoic acid; the ligand-bound heterodimer then binds to DNA in the nucleus and activates transcription of target genes. Edwards et al (8) proposed that LXR functions as a sensor of cellular oxysterols and noted that all LXR target genes encode proteins that have major roles in controlling cholesterol or fatty acid homeostasis or both. Retinoic acid has a critical role in RXR activation; therefore, it is not surprising that -carotene can be converted in the intestinal mucosa to 9-cis retinoic acid (12). It is possible that plant sterols activate LXR and that -carotene provides additional retinoic acid for RXR, thereby increasing the downstream effects of plant sterols. Unfortunately, Richelle et al did not simultaneously as-


BACKGROUND
New organ preservation solutions that contain soluble polyethylene glycol (sPEG) molecules have been associated with reduction of acute rejection episodes.

METHODS
In the present manuscript we tested in vitro whether sPEG molecules were able to mask donor alloantigens and reduce graft immunogenicity.

RESULTS
Immunomasking effect was only evidenced when PEG molecules were covalently bound to donor cell surface.

CONCLUSION
We concluded that sPEG in preservation solution are unlikely to display 'immunocamouflage' property.


from those of the total operation of the railroads controlling those routes) have never existed. It does mean, however, that both analyses must rest upon circumstantial rather than direct evidence. But in that contest, Taylor wins hands down. Professor Taylor's logic is more appealing because economics is more logical than politics. There were, as he clearly demonstrates, good commercial, technological, and topological reasons for this particular transportation system. Yet because its benefits derived from scale and stability rather than from atomistic competition it ran afoul of polemicists and idealogues. The real issues were never confronted. To their users, the railroad-controlled steamship lines were a beneficial transportation monopoly. To Brandeis they were another manifestation of railroad greed. Much of what he said about the New York, New Haven & Hartford was true — as a railroad. But when he and other critics urged separation of the steamship lines from the New Haven, they clearly lacked an understanding of the nature of the system and its service to the region. Fortunately for New England, the rail-water system survived its critics and the financial disaster that befell the New Haven Railroad. Fortunately for American history, Professor Taylor has set the record straight.


An interactive multimedia device that converts media content in real-time or near-real-time from a variety of input data formats to data formats accepted by a user's available output devices, and to output protocols that can communicate with the user's devices. The multimedia device can acquire content from remote sources and deliver it to the user. The multimedia device further supports interactive use and the generation of content by the user, as well as the purchase of media content on demand.


The aim of the study was to study the changes in the morphofunctional state of the liver after the combined transplantation of multipotent mesenchymal stromal (MMSC) and stellate liver cells (ZCP) in animals with partial hepatectomy.Materials and methods. The MMSC culture was isolated from the placental chorion of 5 laboratory animals f female mice aged 3-4 months, weighing 22-23 g, gestation period of 18 days. The mononuclear fraction of the cells was obtained by sequential mechanical and enzymatic treatment of the placental tissue. The cultivation of MMSCs was carried out in a CO2 incubator at a temperature of 37 0C with a carbon dioxide content of 5% and a humidity of 90%. ZCP was isolated by collagenase-pronase perfusion of the liver, followed by cell separation in the histodense density gradient. MMSCs of the 3rd passage were introduced, and ZKP was introduced immediately after isolation. MMSCs at a dose of 4 million cells/kg and ZCP at a dose of 9 million cells/ kg were used for transplantation to labotory animals. The cells were injected 1 hour after partial hepatectomy. The biochemical parameters of peripheral blood and morphometric parameters of the liver were evaluated on the 3rd, 7th day after the administration of MMSC.Results. As a result of the study, it was found that the combined transplantation of MMSC and ZCP after partial hepatectomy leads to the restoration of the level of enzymes that characterize cytolysis and cholestasis, normalization of the protein-synthetic function of the liver, normalization morphometric parameters of the liver. A significant mechanism for restoring the morphofunctional state of the liver can be considered the influence of transplanted MMSCs and ZCP on the cell repair system, which leads to a decrease in the severity of programmed cell death of hepatocytes and the level of pathological mitoses.Discussion. Combined transplantation of MMSCs and HCP after partial hepatectomy leads to an increase in the level of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), thus contributing to an se in the mitotic activity of hepatocytes and the restoration of liver mass. The transplanted cells also, by increasing the activity of DNA repair enzymes of the PARP family, lead to a decrease in the level of pathological mitoses, inhibition of their programmed cell death.Conclusions. The conducted studies demonstrate the ability of combined MMSC and PCR transplantation to restore the morphofunctional state of the liver after partial hepatectomy and provide the basis for conducting pilot clinical studies


Classical ballet has been active and prosperous in the dance world for long time. In addition to many classic stage performances, scientifically rigorous professional training is its strong support. In the intervention of developing dance aesthetics, training, anatomy and physiology and classical ballet has formed body languages characterized by a fine signifier and fuzzy signified.


Dimethylammonium gallium sulfate hexahydrate (DMAGaS) and dimethylammonium aluminium sulfate hexahydrate (DMAAS) are isomorphous and ferroelastic at room temperature. But at lower temperatures their ordering behaviours are quite different. Whereas DMAAS shows only a single order–disorder-type transition into a ferroelectric phase, DMAGaS exhibits an exceptional sequence of commensurate and incommensurate phases with an antiferroelectric lock-in phase at low temperatures. The basic experimental findings from recent pressure and composition dependent dielectric investigations and from electron paramagnetic resonance studies are briefly reviewed. Experimental results are then discussed within the framework of the semimicroscopical extended discrete frustrated φ4 (DIFFOUR) model. The frustrating nearest and next nearest neighbour interactions between the dimethylammonium (DMA) dipoles in the –DMA(i)–Ga/Al(H2O)6(i)–DMA(i+1)–Ga/Al(H2O)6(i+1)– chains give rise to the observed complex phase sequence. It will be shown that the phase sequence of DMAGaS, its variation under pressure and with DMAAS admixture, as well as the new pressure induced phases of DMAAS can be well interpreted by theory.


Electrohydrodynamic jet (E-jet) printing is a recent technique for high resolution additive micromanufacturing. With high resolution comes sensitivity to small disturbances, which has kept this technique from reaching its industrial potential. Closed loop control of E-jet printing can overcome these disturbances, but it requires an improved understanding of ink droplet spreading on the substrate and a physical model to predict printed feature locations and geometries from process inputs and disturbances. This manuscript examines a model of ink droplet spreading that uses assumptions that are important to the e-jet process. Our model leverages previous energy balance models that were derived for larger length scale droplets. At the smaller length scale, we find that viscous losses are a significant portion of the energy budget and must be accounted for; this is in contrast to models at length scales two orders of magnitude larger. Our model predicts the droplet height, base radius and contact angle in time from an initial volume and E-jet printing control parameters. The model is validated with published droplet spreading data and new measurements of E-jet printed droplets of diameter 8 μm. The viscous friction calculated in the new model is found to be significant compared to surface energy.Copyright © 2015 by ASME


In this paper the behaviour of various non-nested hypothesis testing procedures are studied, namely the J and JA tests and the same bootstrap-adjusted tests, using graphical methods. These methods are the P value plot, the P value discrepancy plot and the size-power graph. The size and power of the four tests are compared for all the possible nominal sizes and not only for 1% or 5%. It is found that the best test is the bootstrap-adjusted J test, given that its size is close to the nominal, independently of the nominal size, whilst it has a higher power than the JA test.


In this paper, we prove the local converse theorem for split even special orthogonal groups over a non-Archimedean local field of characteristic zero. This is the only case left on local converse theorems of split classical groups and the difficulty is the existence of the outer automorphism. We apply new ideas of considering the summation of partial Bessel functions and overcome this difficulty. As a direct application, we obtain a weak rigidity theorem for irreducible generic cuspidal representations of split even special orthogonal groups.


The research objectives include: a) testing the level of validity of the SAC-assisted Android-based spatial geometry learning media; b) testing the practicality of the SAC-assisted Android-based spatial geometry learning media. The research subjects were second semester students of STKIP PGRI Jombang who took space geometry courses. Research instruments include validation sheets, questionnaires for responses from lecturers and students and tests. This type of research is Research and Development (R&D) with the ADDIE development model (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation). The results of the validity test from the validators stated that the Android-based mathematics learning media assisted by SAC was included in the very valid criteria and could be used without revision. The practicality test by students and user lecturers was found that the android-based learning media for spatial geometry assisted by SAC was included in the very practical criteria. Therefore, the SAC-assisted android-based spatial geometry learning media that has been developed is valid and practical so that it is feasible to use it to improve students' proving abilities.


This paper presents a two prong approach to the validation of the cell controller being developed for advanced grid management in the presence of significant renewable and distributed generation embedded within distribution networks. A laboratory with configurable distributed generation sources, utility load simulators, wind turbine simulators, and high speed frequency and voltage compensators is used for physically validating the operation of the controller. The controls are then embedded within a network modeling and simulation tool for validating the operation of the controller against physical lab experiments. Once the software simulation and lab experiments provide consistent results, the solution can be scaled up for field deployment.


Porous alumina ceramic was prepared using sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) as foaming agent by the combination method of gel casting and foaming. The effect of solid content on the line shrinkage rate, the porosity, the fracture strength and the microscopic structure of porous aluminum ceramic were studied. The result showed that when solid content increased, the line shrinkage rate of porous alumina ceramic decreased form 20% to 1.2%, the total porosity first increased and then decreased from 43% to 57%, the fracture strength first decreased and then increased from 23MPa to 41MPa. SEM indicated that alumina ceramic had more open pores when solid content was too low, the number of closed pore increased along with solid content rising, when solid content was too high, pore size distribution uniformity decreased.


Countries worldwide are seeking solutions for the permanent removal of high-level radioactive waste from the environment. Surrounding the waste with multiple engineered barriers and emplacement in deep geological repositories is widely accepted as a safe means of isolating it from the biosphere for the necessary 105 – 106 years . As a precautionary measure, society demands that repositories be monitored for 100–300 years after they are backfilled and sealed. Effective monitoring that does not compromise the engineered and natural barriers is challenging. To address this issue, we investigate the viability of crosshole and hole-to-tunnel seismic methods for remotely monitoring high level radioactive waste repositories. Measurements are made at two underground rock laboratories in Switzerland, one within granitic rock and one within clay-rich sediments. Numerical simulations demonstrate that temporal changes of the monitored features (i.e., bentonite plug, excavation damage zone, sand-filled microtunnel) sh...


A comparative study has been carried out to assess antibacterial potential of different plant parts of Nyctanthes arbor-tristis. Leaf was experienced as the most efficient plant part having antibacterial activity against pathogen tested. Antibacterial activity of aqueous and methanolic extract of root, shoot and leaf were tested by well diffusion method. Leaf was taken for further activity by preparing four fractions (ethyl acetate, nbutanol, chloroform and aqueous) of its' methanolic extract. Antibacterial activity of these fractions were analysed for more accuracy. Sections of leaf of N. arbor-tristis were inoculated on PDA media to isolate and identify endophytic fungi. Aqueous extract of leaf possess greater activity against pathogenic bacteria than methanolic extract. Ethyl acetate, nbutanol and aqueous fraction of methanolic leaf extract is the effective fraction having antibacterial activity against Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Listeria monocytogens, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. On the basis of morphological features, biomass production and enzymatic studies the isolated endophytic fungus was identified as Colletotrichum gleosporioides.


We reported a very rare case of a 57-year-old female who had adult-onset noncongenital idiopathic acro-osteolysis combined with proximal symphalangism, together with shortening of fingers, hands, and toes. Radiological examination revealed bone resorption and partial loss of fingers and phalanges. Although the cause and pathogenesis of the "combination" of these two abnormalities were likely to be multifactorial, previous reports could not explain it exactly. Because the symphalangism was reported to be involved by the mutation of Noggin gene (NOG), known to be a bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) antagonist, we performed mutation analysis of the NOG of the patient by long and accurate PCR method of six primers, according to the published sequence of NOG (NCBI Reference Sequence HSU31202) and the current recommendation for mutation nomenclature (available at http://archive.uwcm. ac.uk/uwcm/mg/hgmd0.html). The current case represented some missense mutations (173 G > T, 176 A > T, 180 A > T, 203 C > G, 208 C > G) and a deletion (14 del T) in Nog. However, we did not obtain complete results, because we could not specify the consequences of the DNA alterations on the amino acid level or exclude the possibility that the sequence alterations are polymorphisms. Thus, we concluded that the observed sequence alterations could only imply causation. One of the purposes of the report was to present the very rare case and to seek information to correctly implicate the pathogenesis of the combination of adult-onset noncongenital acro-osteolysis and proximal symphalangism. However, we have not made much progress in the study, and nothing has been resolved in the patient yet. Therefore, Dr Debeer's comments are highly appreciated and encourage us to perform further analyses to confirm the presence of NOG mutations in the symphalangism, one of two abnormalities in this patient. Also, we will continue to ask for any suggestions that explain the mechanisms of this very rare case.


1. Introduction On 12 December 2012 the EU General Court dismissed Electrabel's appeal against the €20 million fine the European Commission had imposed on it for failing to notify a transaction -…


Writing a formal specification for real-life, industrial problems is a difficult and error prone task, even for experts in formal methods. In the process of specifying a formal model for later refinement and implementation, it is crucial to get approval and feedback from domain experts to avoid the costs of changing a specification at a late point of the development. But understanding formal models written in a specification language like B requires mathematical knowledge a domain expert might not have. In this work we present various improvements to the PROB tool, mainly aimed at making it a better tool for bringing formal methods to industrial developers and domain experts. The main contributions of this work are: 1. A notable recent development in the B world is the RODIN platform , which is an open tool platform based on Eclipse to support Event B, an evolution of B to specify reactive systems. The current version of PROB supports so-called "classical" B and in order to support the new Event B language we needed to integrate PROB into the RODIN/Eclipse platform. Another incentive for this move lay in improving the graphical user interface of the tool, which was originally developed in (and limited by) Tcl/Tk. 2. We changed the B Parser by B. Tatibouet to improve performance in case of syntax errors. Also the B Parser now can directly produce Prolog facts that can be used by PROB. 3. It is important that specifications can be animated in such a way that domain experts can easily validate whether the specification corresponds to their expectations. While PROB allows automated animation, the visualisation may still be difficult to understand for domain experts not versed in formal methods. To overcome this hurdle we have developed a generic Flash-based animation engine which allows to easily develop visualizations for a given specification.


T his chapter on basic training for software architects presents the fundamental tools required of effective software architects. In the military, basic training is used to challenge and motivate cadets and to demonstrate both the demands and rewards of a military career. Similarly, software architects must be motivated individuals who have the desire to confront the challenges of technical leadership in a software development effort. However, motivation is not enough. A software architect must be equipped with the intellectual tools to realize an architectural vision. This book takes a hands-on approach that not only presents the best architectural practices in the industry but also provides concrete real-world examples and exercises for applying the presented material to circumstances common throughout the software industry. Basic training will cover the fundamental concepts of software technology, which provide a foundation for software architecture. Software technology has evolved through many trends and alternatives for software development. Currently, mainstream software practice has evolved from procedural to object-oriented to component-oriented development (Figure 3.1). With the increasing adoption of enterprise Java and Mi-crosoft .Net, component orientation is the next major paradigm. In corporate development, most new-start projects are adopting component orientation because it is supported by the majority of commercial development environments. As is discussed in this chapter, object orientation has a very weak notion of software architecture, which leads to serious shortcomings. The emerging trend of component orientation is replacing old approaches with strong elements of architectural design.


The clinical utility of hydroxyethyl starch (HES) solutions shows substantial limitations due to characteristic complications such as kidney failure, impairment of coagulation, pruritus, and has the potential to increase mortality [1, 2]. Nevertheless, it continues to be argued that "modern" HES solutions with a comparatively low average molecular weight of 130 kDa and low average substitution of 0.4–0.42 may mitigate the risks. However, a recent metaanalysis of 13 randomised controlled trials with a total of 1131 patients revealed a trend toward increased mortality in recipients of HES 130/0.4, as judged by a pooled relative risk (RR) of 1.14 with a 95% confidence interval (CI) of 0.89 to 1.46 [3]. This trend became even stronger after adjustment for significant publication bias (RR: 1.25; CI: 0.98 to 1.58) but still did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.069). It was noted in the meta-analysis that major new evidence on the safety of modern HES would be shortly forthcoming from the Scandinavian Starch for Severe Sepsis/Septic Shock (6S) trial and the Crystalloid versus Hydroxyethyl Starch Trial (CHEST). Those trials have now been reported [4, 5], and their results have been used to update the meta-analysis.


Oncologists have an important role to play in debates about access to high cost cancer medicines. But in order for oncologists to be able to fulfil this role they need to have a solid understanding of the contexts of debates about access to high cost medicines, of the parameters that everyone can agree upon, and of the points of disagreement that need to be resolved. In this article, we offer a conceptual framework that oncologists (and other stakeholders) could use to guide more focused, systematic and ultimately mutually beneficial discussions about the subsidization of high cost cancer medicines.


Applying mathematical models to dynamic contrast enhanced MRI (DCE MRI) datato perform quantitative tracer kinetic analysis enables the estimation of tissue characteristics such as vascular permeability and the fractional volume of plasma in atissue. However, it is unclear to what extent modeling assumptions, particularly regarding water exchange between tissue compartments, impacts parameter estimatesderived from clinical DCE MRI data. In this work, a new model is developed whichincludes water exchange effects, termed the water exchange modified two compartment exchange model (WX-2CXM). Two boundaries of this model (the fast and noexchange limits) were used to analyse a clinical DCE MRI bladder cancer dataset.Comparisons with DCE CT, which is not affected by water exchange, suggested thatwater exchange may have affected estimates of vp , the fractional volume of plasma.Further investigation and simulations led to the development of a DCE MRI protocol which was sensitised to water exchange, in order to further evaluate the waterexchange effects found in the bladder cancer dataset. This protocol was tested byimaging the parotid glands in eight healthy volunteers, and confirmed evidence ofwater exchange effects on vp , as well as flow Fp and the fractional volume of extravascular extracellular space ve . This protocol also enabled preliminary estimatesof the water residence times in parotid tissue, however, these estimates had a largevariability and require further validation.The work presented in this thesis suggests that, although water exchange effects donot have a large effect on clinical data, the effect is measurable, and may lead tothe ability to estimate of tissue water residence times. Results do not support achange in the current practise of neglecting water exchange effects in clinical DCEMRI acquisitions.


Calcium oxalate (CaOx) crystalluria is a problem of growing concern in dogs. Reports describing pathologic findings of this condition are uncommon and ultrastructural descriptions are rare. We evaluated the consequences of calcium oxalate crystal deposition in renal tissue. Six dogs were intravenously injected with 0.5 M potassium oxalate (KOx) for 7 consecutive days. Ultrasonography revealed mild hyperechogenicity in both cortical and medullary renal tissue after treatment with KOx and the biopolar length and width also increased compared to the pre-injection value. Serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen levels gradually increased. Tissue examination by light and electron microscopy demonstrated that CaOx crystal deposition was accompanied by morphologic changes. Canine renal oxalosis resembles the histological and ultrastructural findings reported from rats, mice and tissue cultures. [Walaa Mohamaden, Heng Wang, Huawei Guan, Xia Meng, Jianji Li. Effect of Potassium Oxalate injection on Serum and Kidney Tissue of Beagle Dogs. Life Sci J 2013;10(2):1537-1542].(ISSN:1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite.com. 208


This project mainly aims at the study of microstructure and properties of a Cold Rolled Annealed steel coil after undergoing different processes. Cold Rolling is done at temperatures below the crystallization temperature. Firstly the coil properties and microstructure are observed and tabulated at its initial stage and then this is repeated at its final stage. The properties are then compared accordingly. The processes involved in this are Cold Rolled Slitting to reduce the width of the coil, Pickling (oxides on the coil are removed using HCL), Rolling (thickness is reduced), Generally4-Hi rollers are used in order to get an accurate thickness. The next process used is Nitrogen Annealing. It is a heat treatment that alters a material to increase its ductility and to make it more workable. It involves heating material to above its critical temperature, maintaining a suitable temperature, and then cooling. Annealing can induce ductility, soften material, relieve internal stresses, refine the structure by making it homogeneous, and improve cold working properties. The final process is Skin Pass to give an excellent flatness and a perfect finish to rolled steel strip. The Finished product is tested using a UTM (Ultimate Tensile Machine) to obtain the Tensile Strength Yield Strength, Elongation of the sample. It is access furthur if it meets the customer requirement. These products are sent to desired destinations. These products are used in different industries that manufacture automobile products, precision tubes, rolled steel products and railways products. Keywords— Linkage, Mechanical Advantage, spring, overhauling effect, Lead Screw, Square Thread.


A new methodology is presented to assure numerically reliable integration of the magnetisation slope in the Jiles-Atherton model of ferromagnetic core hysteresis. Two HDL implementations of the technique are presented, one in SystemC and the other in VHDL-AMS. The new model uses timeless discretisation of the magnetisation slope equation and provides superior accuracy and numerical stability especially at the discontinuity points that occur in hysteresis. Numerical integration of the magnetisation slope is carried out by the model itself rather than by the underlying analogue solver. The robustness of the model is demonstrated by practical simulations of examples involving both major and minor hysteresis loops


Aims: This study aimed to investigating the pathogenicity of Aspergillus fumigatus in the experimental infection of Clarias gariepinus fingerlings and juvenile catfish.
Experimental Procedure: Aspergillus fumigatus used for this study was isolated from the gills and liver of infected juveniles presented for microbial diagnostic examination, cultured on Sabouraud dextrose agar for 3 – 4 days, and identified at the Aquatic Animal and Wildlife Laboratory (AAWL), Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ibadan.
Methodology: One hundred and forty healthy eight-week old Clarias gariepinus fingerlings (average weight of 4g) and 140 healthy sixteen-week old juvenile (average weight of 10g) were purchased from a commercial fish farms in Ibadan. The fingerlings and juveniles were randomly divided into seven groups, each with 20 fish in five litters of water. The fungal suspension containing 3.2 X 106 spores/ml of Aspergillus fumigatus was used for the pathogenicity test. Six groups were infected by immersion in water containing fungal spores at the rates of 2ml/L and 5ml/L for fingerlings and juveniles respectively. The clinical signs, skin lesions and mortality were observed daily for 14 days.
Results: Aspergillus fumigatus isolated in this study has green spiked conidia; and the size of the conidia is 2.5µm. The conidia have a smooth surface and small spikes covering their surface. Moreover, the mortality rate was significantly (p = 0.40) higher in infected fingerlings (80%) than juveniles (62%) at fourteen days post-infection. The gross lesions observed during experimental infection of fingerlings and juveniles included exophthalmia, atrophied barbel, congested trunk kidney, hyperemia of gill filaments, and skin depigmentation. The histopathological organ changes caused by Aspergillus fumigatus were obvious in the liver and gills. Vacuolar degeneration of hepatocytes and necrosis of some melanomacrophage cells, in addition, severe erosion of the primary and secondary lamellae, were observed in infected juveniles.
Conclusion: Aspergillus fumigatus causes high mortality in fingerlings and juvenile of African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus).


This study sought to determine the Effect of Recruitment and deployment practices on the Performance of Healthcare Workers, a case of Nursing officers, Ministry of Health, Nyeri County in Kenya. Various organisations employ different human resources initiatives to increase efficiency. The most common initiatives employed to improve efficiency include performance contracts, internal contracting, contracting-out and outsourcing of services, among others. Employing such initiatives are considered among the primary Human Resource Management (HRM) practices, which are aimed at determining the equilibrium between workforce supply and the ability of healthcare practitioners to practise effectively and efficiently to ensure improved and quality care in healthcare systems. This study adopted a cross-sectional descriptive research design. The respondents constituted all nursing staff and managers in Nyeri County health facilities and at the County Director's Office. Stratified random sampling was used to come up with a sample of 248 respondents. Data was collected using a questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used in the analysis of data with the help of SPSS 23. Chi-square analysis was used to establish relationships. The researcher found that recruitment processes in Nyeri County comprised internships (f=109, 44%) and field placements (f=82, 33%). Selections were made via individual interviews (f=225, 91%), while job orientation (f=237, 96%) was the main technique. The researchers found that there were gaps in the deployment practices with a mean value of 2.73, SD=1.132. Deployment in some departments was deemed disciplinary action (M=3.09, SD=1.325), and managers response to deployment needs per department or ward or facility (M=3.07, SD=1.218) were rated to a moderate extent. The study concluded that recruitment does not affect the performance of health workers. Although the county was found to use only a few recruitments, selection and orientation approaches and techniques, this did not affect the Healthcare Workers. The study further concluded that deployment practices do not affect the performance of Healthcare Workers. regarding recruitment and selection and find diverse expectations and proficiencies of employing Trusts across the London region. The background of their study revealed that competence is a significant variable in nursing and is directly associated with professional behaviours and values. The results of their research indicated a substantial discrepancy in the amount and modes of competence evaluations employed for recruitment, with minimum uniformity in the detail of the evaluations. However, broadly similar evaluations exercises are used. Included in the key competencies were several personal attributes of the job applicants. However, it was not clear how these aspects were assessed during the selection process. Zerfu et al. (2018) evaluated the consequence of placing trained community-based nurses using a cluster-randomised organised community trial. The study aimed at establishing utilisation levels of Skilled Birth Attendance (SBA) in Ethiopia, Africa. A significant difference among the treatment groups is where the fresh service providers were positioned, either in health centres or in health posts. In their study, initial and end-line assessments were done to determine the effects of SBA interventions. The program impacts on SBA coverage determined using difference‐in‐difference analysis. The study concluded that the deployment of qualified reproductive health nurses to remote communities in Ethiopia markedly improved uptake of SBA services. In another study, Gaundan and Mohammadnezhad (2018), respondents voiced that upon being deployed to another ward (unit), they were deprived of learning the nursing care in their initial areas of deployment. Conceptual Framework: This study sought to determine the Effect of Recruitment and Deployment practices on the Performance of Healthcare Workers, a case of Nursing officers, Ministry of Health, Nyeri County, Kenya. Recruitment and deployment practices for health were the while the performance officers dependent objectives. Quantitative analysis was applied for the closed-ended question that provided respondents with an alternative response from which to choose. The quantitative data in this research was analysed by descriptive and inferential statistics using a statistical package for social sciences SPSS 23. Qualitative analysis was applied for open-ended questions, wherein traditional text analysis was used for data analysis. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics such as Chi-square was used to summarise quantitative data. The data was then be presented using frequency tables and figures. The researcher sought to establish deployment practices in the Nyeri County health department. The results would enable the study to determine the effect of deployment practices on the performance of nursing officers in Nyeri County. The mean value of 2.73+1.132 shows that most respondents indicated that deployment practices assessed were employed to a lesser extent. In addition, the results show that deployment in some departments is deemed disciplinary action (M=3.09, SD=1.325), and managers respond to deployment needs per department or ward or facility (M=3.07, SD=1.218) were rated to a moderate extent. The performance of nurses was also assessed. The man value of 3.75+1.100 indicates that the items tested on the performance of nurses were done about half of the time. Findings in Table 5 show that observing working hours (M=4.09, SD=0.846) and training students (M=4.02, SD=1.154) was usually done while all other activities were done about half the time. These findings, therefore, suggest that there was a moderate performance of nurses.


The present invention pertains to high-definition digital video compression encoding and decoding technologies, and in particular to a processing method suitable hardware HEVC SAO in video coding standard. The present invention is a method of processing hardware Quarter-LCU (Y component of 32x32 pixel block size, Cb, and Cr components of 16x16 pixel block size) based on a basic unit; one LCU four Quarter-LCU: Quarter- LCU_0, Quarter-LCU_1, Quarter-LCU_2, Quarter-LCU_3; sequential processing order, Quarter-LCU_1, Quarter-LCU_2 to Quarter-LCU_3 from Quarter-LCU_0. Ultimately the best mode and four offsets. The present invention can effectively reduce the memory cell area of the chip, reducing hardware overhead and efficient real-time high-definition video encoding.


Latency models address important questions about the timing of exposure and subsequent disease risk in epidemiologic research. However, the non-standard form of such models and the complexity of time-varying exposure histories that characterize many epidemiologic studies make such models difficult to fit using standard software packages. SAS offers software tools that can be used to fit "non-standard" latency models. In particular, SAS procedures NLP and NLMIXED provide the flexibility to specify quite general latency models and maximize the likelihood for latency parameters. While the methods require more sophistication than using a package or procedure that is specialized to the usual log-linear form, the additional programming complexity is not great. The methods are illustrated and compared by fitting latency models for radon exposure and lung cancer mortality rates from a cohort study of Colorado Plateau uranium miners. It was found that the conditional logistic likelihood is more computationally efficient than the unconditional and that PROC NLP is much faster than PROC NLMIXED.


This paper examines whether underwriter reputation, venture capitalist (VC) backing, and VC reputation are related to the probability that a newly public firm has serious accounting problems. We examine a sample of firms that went public during 1995-2005 and announced restatements within three years of their initial public offerings (IPOs), and a control sample of non-restating IPO firms matched by industry and IPO size. We use a variety of sources to assemble a novel dataset that includes hand-collected data on underwriters, VCs, corporate governance, executive compensation, and other IPO-firm characteristics. We use paired logistic regressions to examine how the probability of restatement by an IPO firm is related to the reputation of its lead underwriter, VC backing, and the reputation of its lead VC. We test several competing hypotheses and control for other factors that prior studies have found to be significant determinants of the probability of restatement. We find that the probability of restatement by a newly public firm is 1) consistently and positively related to the reputation of its lead underwriter, 2) negatively related to VC backing and the reputation of its lead VC in several sub-samples where misstatements are likely to be more harmful to VC reputations, and 3) negatively related to the maturity of its lead VC. The endogenous selection of a more reputable underwriter or VC backing does not appear to drive our results. Our findings suggest that VCs, especially those that are mature and reputable, have positive influence as monitors on the financial reporting quality of IPO firms, while underwriters' concerns about generating revenue appear to override their reputational concerns.


61 Species new to the Admiralty Bay region are reported. Among them 51 are new to King George Island, 35 to the South Shetland archipelago, 15 to the Antarctic zone, and 6 to the Southern Hemisphere. A further 49 species were found at new localities.


Across 2. We all love listening to _______ . 4. Bob enjoys playing ______ games. 6. I like playing basketball and ______ . 8. I usually go ______ in the summer. 9. We can build ________ on the beach during the summer. 13. My brother likes playing the ______ (musical instrument). 14. Mary is always working in the garden. She loves ____ . 16. My friend likes walking in the ______ . 17. Peter likes collecting _____ . 18. I ____ go shopping with my mum. Down 1. My mother is into planting ________ . 3. She likes collecting sea _____ at the seaside. 5. My grandpa enjoys playing _______ (board game). 7. Watching TV is an ________ activity. 10. I like collecting _______ . 11. Bob likes surfing the ________ . 12. I always play soccer on _______ . 15. I like making a snowman in the ______.


Aiming at the characteristics of road medium-capital overhauling projects in Shanghai,the paper analyzes the problems in all kinds of stages of the projects,including the program planning and investigation,the design,the bidding,the construction and completion audition,and points out some relative methods according to these problems,so as to play the role of direction for the investment and quality control in road medium-capital overhauling projects.


Anadromous and semelparous salmon transport nutrients from the ocean to fresh waters when they return to spawn and die, a process inspiring a large body of research on the role of salmon-derived nutrients in coastal ecosystems. However, salmon also transport nutrients out of fresh waters when they migrate to the ocean as smolts. Using a total of 76 years of age-specific smolt-migration and adult-escapement data, we calculated the amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus that sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) imported and exported from four major systems in Bristol Bay, Alaska. Smolts removed an average of 16% of the phosphorus and 12% of the nitrogen that their parents transported into fresh waters. The percentage of parental nutrients that smolts exported varied through time and among sites, ranging from 1% to 65% of the phosphorus and from less than 1% to 47% of the nitrogen. In systems where smolts were larger, they exported a higher percentage of nutrients. Depending on the strength of density-dependence,...


This research was conducted with three objectives: 1) evaluated the effectiveness of informatics management or ICT management of public universities in Thailand which based on balanced scorecard (BSC), 2) created key performance indicators (KPIs) of informatics developing, and 3) developed a new informatics strategic model (or ICT strategic model) for informatics management. This was to confirm that informatics could give an extreme benefit to universities and stakeholders. This proposed model provided some guidelines to improve investment and worthwhile informatics governance. In order to reach these objectives, qualitative and quantitative research methodologies were approached. The researchers investigated on 40 public universities in Thailand as a case study. The findings of this research showed how universities have been developing informatics as strategic management and the efficiency of informatics management. Further more, the specific KPIs have been created to measure and follow up the use of informatics. Then, the proposed informatics strategic model could apply to other public organizations


The molecular structure and dynamics of beryllocene are investigated using the Car–Parrinello projector augmented wave method. In the ground state, the molecule prefers a η1–η5‐coordinated conformation of CS symmetry. At finite temperature, beryllocene undergoes rapid hapticity changes with a frequency of 1–5×1012 s−1. This occurs by means of two mechanisms, each corresponding to a saddle point of the potential surface elevated 5 and 8 kJ mol−1 above the minimum, respectively. The saddle points have CS and C2h symmetry, respectively. The geometric and electronic structure at finite temperature are discussed.


Elevated levels of fetal hemoglobin (HbF) ameliorate the clinical symptoms of beta-thalassemia and sickle cell anemia. The transcription factor B-cell lymphoma/leukemia 11A (BCL11A) is required for silencing of gamma-globin expression in adult erythroid cells and functions as a switch from fetal to adult hemoglobin production in humans. BCL11A therefore constitutes a therapeutic target for the treatment of hemoglobinopathies. We inactivated BCL11A function by double-strand DNA break-induced mutagenesis using Transcription Activator-Like Effector Nucleases (TALENs). 20 to 30% gene editing could be achieved in vitro in human and nonhuman primate CD34+ cells by TALEN mRNAs electroporation targeting exon 2 of Bcl11a. Colony-forming efficiency was slightly lower in Bcl11a-edited CD34+ cells but lineage differentiation potential was unchanged. Erythroid differentiation of CD34+ cells in culture showed increased Fetal to Beta hemoglobin ratio in both human and primate Bcl11a-modified cells as compared to control cells, thus validating our editing approach to increase HbF production. To determine if Bcl11a-edited hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) could be engrafted and give rise to HbF-producing erythrocytes, we transplanted a pigtail macaque with autologous CD34+ electroporated with Bcl11a TALEN mRNA following conditioning by total body irradiation. We detected about 1 % gene disruption in vivo early post-transplant and disruption frequency gradually declined to reach a set point of about 0.3% starting at day 28 post-transplantation. In this analysis, which we have so far taken out to 42 days, single clones could be tracked based on their mutation signature, and we found that several clones persisted over time, confirming engraftment of Bcl11a-modified cells. Since the transplantation procedure and chemo-radiotherapy conditioning can raise HbF production, three control animals that were transplanted using similar conditions as with the Bcl11a-edited HSCs and one untransplanted animal were also included in our analysis. Flow cytometry measurement of HbF in peripheral blood showed a rapid increase in F-cell production in all animals, reaching levels that ranged from 10% to 40% by 30 days, while the untransplanted control showed basal HbF expression of about 0.5% (Fig. 1A). The peak for HbF expression lasted for about 140 days and eventually returned to basal levels that averaged 0.5% for all control animals. In comparison, the animal transplanted with Bcl11a-edited cells showed significantly higher HbF levels starting at day 140 post-treatment (1-1.5%), and HbF production has remained constant for at least 150 days. This result was confirmed by hemoglobin mRNA analysis in peripheral blood using real-time PCR. We found a rapid increase in gamma globin expression following transplantation, before returning to near basal levels. As compared to controls, the animal transplanted with Bcl11a-edited cells showed a 5 to 10-fold increase in gamma to beta globin ratio at day 140 and this ratio has remained constant ever since (Fig. 1B). We are currently working on ways to enhance Bcl11a-editing and to select for Bcl11a-modified HSCs using targeted integration of the chemoselection cassette P140K MGMT to ultimately achieve curative HbF production. Potential TALEN off-target sites will also be examined as well as any side effect associated with the inactivation of BCL11A. Overall, our data demonstrate that transplantation of Bcl11a-edited HSCs results in elevated HbF production in nonhuman primates. Furthermore, we show that nonhuman primates can serve as a useful model for novel gene editing strategies toward the treatment of hemoglobinopathies. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


In this paper, a transverse-flux linear switched reluctance motor (TFLSRM) based traction system for semi-magnetic suspending urban rail transit vehicle, is proposed. An analysis over the TFLSRM structure and operation principle is presented. The mathematical model of the thrust and normal forces is defined, and determined to be suitable for equal or unequal pole width of stator and rotor. Based on the known direct torque control principles for switched reluctance motors, a control method is proposed to simultaneously control the TFLSRM traction and normal forces. The effectiveness of the developed control method is verified by means of simulations.


In this paper we review the performances of the RPC detector versus the parameters characterizing the front-end electronics. The use of RPCs in collider experiments required a substantial increase of the rate capability compared to what could be reached in streamer working mode. That was achieved working in saturated avalanche mode, where the charge delivered in the gas was much lower than in streamer mode. The High luminosity LHC and the future colliders will require even larger rate capability in the muon spectrometers compared to the current one, which can be obtained with a further improvement of the front-end electronics. This improvement consist in lowering the front-end threshold in order to detect lower charge avalanches and at the same time to improve the signal to noise ratio.


Epitaxial films of Hg1−xCdxTe(MCT)were grown by Isothermal Vapor Phase Epitaxy(ISOVPE)without Hg overpressure on single crystalline substrates of CdTe and Cd0.96Zn0.04Te with(211)Cd and(211)Te crystallographic orientations. The chemical composition profile was determined using an electronic microprobe on the {110} preferential cleavage surfaces. Experimental values and data from the literature were used to calculate the percentage relative misfit and microhardness profiles. Both were correlated with the misfit dislocations distribution obtained at the interface of the films by chemical etching. The Zn doping in pure CdTe is related with the defect distribution at the film-substrate interface.


In this paper, we define the Orlicz radial sum and dual Orlicz mixed quermassintegral for concave functions, and then establish the dual Orlicz-Brunn-Minkowski inequality for concave functions.