The main objective of the project is to use symmetries, together with some computation, to construct linear codes whose parameters reach, or almost reach, the Griesmer bound.


Abstract: The effects of logging on wildlife have been evaluated mainly in landscapes dominated by even-aged forest stands, leaving the impacts of harvesting on wildlife in irregularly structured stands less documented. We assessed the response of small mammals and birds to 4 silvicultural treatments with different levels of tree retention (from < 10% to 73%) in old-growth boreal forests of eastern Canada, where approximately 70% of stands have irregular structure. The experimental design controlled for local variation in the abundance of forest birds and small mammals by pairing each experimental harvested stand with an uncut stand. We found that species richness of small mammals and birds did not vary according to tree retention. Moss cover and vertical cover influenced small mammal community composition, whereas forest bird assemblages responded to conifer basal area, vertical cover, and snag availability. Species associated with silvicultural practices entailing retention levels > 55% included those that prefer closed canopy, such as the brown creeper (Certhia americana), ruby-crowned kinglet (Regulus calendula), and red-backed vole (Myodes gapperi). Our study demonstrates that silvicultural practices with retention levels > 55% are the most suitable for mitigating the impact of logging on animal communities in old-growth irregularly structured stands.


The role of repetition in language acquisition is often studied for lexical development. In this study, we propose to explore the role of adult and child repetition in the acquisition process of articles and clitical subject pronouns. After a brief presentation of a quantitative analysis of the evolution of repetition in the adult and child productions, we focus our analysis on the dialogical phenomenon of repetition in the child and adult verbalizations. The aim of the study is to illustrate the interactional process of the acquisition of articles and clitical subjects pronouns with an analysis of transformations in child productions after adjusted adult repetitions, considered as indications of an acquisition process in progress.


Rare primary neoplasms of the lung account for less than 1% of all primary lung cancers. These pulmonary tumors are usually metastatic. Accurate histopathologic studies and detailed clinical history are essential to confirm the diagnosis of unusual pri mary neoplasms of the lung. Rare pulmonary neoplasms are subdivided into six major histopathologic groups and include lymphoid tumors, soft tissue sarcomas, salivary gland tumors, mixed epithelial/mesenchymal tumors, ectopic tissue tumors, and undeter mined histogenetic tumors. Surgical resection, when possible, is the treatment of choice for rare pulmonary neoplasms. The effects of adjuvant therapy on long-term survival and disease-free interval is not known because of the rarity of these neoplasms. Overall sur vival is better when compared with primary bronchogenic carcinoma. Therefore, aggres sive surgical treatment of rare primary neoplasms of the lung is warranted.


A simplified quantitative recording model, for thick media, and for media with arbitrary easy axis orientation is reported. The model is based on an extended version of the Williams and Comstock model. Solutions of the model are determined through an iterative procedure. The model employs a minimum number of adjustable parameters. Comparisons between calculations made with the model and experimental data in the time and frequency domain indicate the model has quantitative accuracy for ME tapes.


While there are numerous literatures that have addressed the impact of mutual coupling on the reliability and security of protection schemes and have provided possible mitigation solutions, there has not been adequate research and documentation presenting a comprehensive analytical approach to 1) estimate the magnitude of mutual coupling and 2) quantify the adverse impact of mutual coupling in real-life scenarios under several system faults across various types of protective elements. This should be considered as the first stage of any mutual coupling related study preceding the second stage in which the mitigation against mutual coupling is to be developed. The proposed methodology can be used to study the impact of mutual coupling on ground overcurrent relays, ground and phase distance as well as pilot protection schemes. As part of the proposed approach, EMT simulation is utilized to quantify the extent of sub-transient overshoot and current reversal that may have adverse impact on the performance of studied relays. A real-life case study within the ERCOT network has been used to demonstrate the proposed study approach.


The permanent disposal of nuclear wastes, such as transuranic (TRU) wastes, high-level wastes, and spent nuclear fuel, that require isolation over thousands of years (due to the presence of long-lived radionuclides and high activity), is a complex and contentious issue. Stakeholders that are active and dedicated participants in the debate represent a wide spectrum of divergent viewpoints, but maintain the same desired end goal of disposition of radioactive waste that is protective of the health and safety of the public and the environment and compliant with governing regulations. The dynamics and interactions among these stakeholders are important elements in determining the end state and conditions of any radioactive waste management or disposal program. In the United States, deep geologic disposal is the preferred option for the permanent disposal of these wastes, with the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) for the permanent disposal of defense-related TRU wastes being a successful operational facility ...


ABSTRACT. In classical theoretical ecology there are numerous standard models which are simple, generally applicable, and have well‐known properties. These standard models are widely used as building blocks for all kinds of theoretical and applied models. In contrast, there is a total lack of standard individual‐based models (IBM's), even though they are badly needed if the advantages of the individual‐based approach are to be exploited more efficiently. We discuss the recently developed 'field‐of‐neighborhood' approach as a possible standard for modeling plant populations. In this approach, a plant is characterized by a circular zone of influence that grows with the plant, and a field of neighborhood that for each point within the zone of influence describes the strength of competition, i.e., growth reduction, on neighboring plants. Local competition is thus described phenomenologically. We show that a model of mangrove forest dynamics, KiWi, which is based on the FON approach, is capable of reproducing self‐thinning trajectories in an almost textbook‐like manner. In addition, we show that the entire biomass‐density trajectory (bdt) can be divided into four sections which are related to the skewness of the stem diameter distributions of the cohort. The skewness shows two zero crossings during the complete development of the population. These zero crossings indicate the beginning and the end of the self‐thinning process. A characteristic decay of the positive skewness accompanies the occurrence of a linear bdt section, the well‐known self‐thinning line. Although the slope of this line is not fixed, it is confined in two directions, with morphological constraints determining the lower limit and the strength of neighborhood competition exerted by the individuals marking the upper limit.


The present study was conducted to evaluates the hypocholesterolemic and hypoglycemic effects of dietary Orange Albedo Powder (Citrus Aurantium L.) in the hypercholesterolemic albino rats, also to examine various oxidative stress-associated with some biochemical parameters. Thirty two male albino rats weighing 110 + 10 g were divided into four groups, the first group received the basal diet only and served as (negative control), the second group received the hypercholesterolemic diet and served as (positive control), the other two groups received hypercholesterolemic diet supplemented with 10%, 20% orange albedo powder respectively (OrAP) for six weeks spontanously. The obtained results revealed that the groups of rats which received diets supplemented with 10% and 20% OrAP were significantly decrease total lipid, total cholesterol, triglycerides, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, liver enzymes (alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase), when compared with positive control, also kidney functions were significantly improved. Body weight gain and food intake were significantly decreased when compared with positive control. The results indicate that the orange albedo is a good source of natural fiber. It could use in obese people for body loss, also serves to improve blood picture and to reduce the blood glucose level in hypercholesterolemic rats.


DNA database is useful for Forensic Sciences.This paper reviews the establishment and development of forensic DNA database in China.The structure,contents,features,functions and the existing problems of forensic DNA database in China were discussed.It is aiming at providing a reference to establish excellently a forensic DNA database with special features in China.


The use of deep neural networks, i.e. neural networks with multiple layers, has significantly improved the accuracy of classification and regression tasks in many disciplines, including computer vision. Here, especially convolutional neural networks (CNNs) that are able to extract features representing local neighborhoods in 2D images are employed. The direct transfer of this approach to 3D point cloud data requires a rasterization and manual selection of attributes that are represented in the raster. We present a neural network based on PointNet by QI et al. (2017a) that instead directly uses 3D point clouds, along with any attributes attached to the points, as input, considering neighborhoods of points. On the ISPRS 3D Semantic Labeling Benchmark Vaihingen, we achieve an overall accuracy of 80.6 %. On the airborne laser scanning point cloud of the Federal State of Vorarlberg, Austria, we achieve accuracies in urban areas of up to 95.8 %, observing a strong correlation with land cover. Hence, we conclude that our approach learns a representation of neighborhood mostly equivalent to the current manual selection process, with the option of further improvement by use of additional data such as echo width or RGB information.


The present study was conducted to assess the efficacy of powder extracted from mature-dried Tamarindus indica and Litchi chinensis seeds for the turbidity reduction of polluted river water. Efficiency of Tamarindus indica and Litchi chinensis in removal of turbidity was compared with a synthetic coagulant Polyaluminiumchloride(PAC). The jar test experiment was performed to treat sample water using seed extracts along with PAC in laboratory condition. Polyacrylamide (PAM) was used as a model coagulant to aid the coagulation process. Water samples were analyzed before and after treatment with target coagulants. Tamarindus indica achieved maximum 91.16% turbidity reduction aided with0.5% PAM. Likewise, Litchi chinensis showed 91.82% turbidity reduction aided with 0.2% PAM, whereas PAC showed maximum 96.20% turbidity reduction aided with 0.5% PAM. The overall results revealed that both of the seed extract has impressive coagulation capacity in compare to the PAC. After treatment with natural seed extracts there was no significant changes in the other water quality parameters; pH, TDS, EC and COD. It can be stated that the present study will be a pathway to examine the kinetics of coagulation and mechanism of reactions by using natural seed extracts as coagulant.


MODIFIED PAPER TITLE AND ABSTRACT DUE TO SLIGHTLY MODIFIED SCOPE: TITLE: Nonlinear Force Profile Used to Increase the Performance of a Haptic User Interface for Teleoperating a Robotic Hand Natural movements and force feedback are important elements in using teleoperated equipment if complex and speedy manipulation tasks are to be accomplished in hazardous environments, such as hot cells, glove boxes, decommissioning, explosives disarmament, and space. The research associated with this paper hypothesizes that a user interface and complementary radiation compatible robotic hand that integrates the human hand's anthropometric properties, speed capability, nonlinear strength profile, reduction of active degrees of freedom during the transition from manipulation to grasping, and just noticeable difference force sensation characteristics will enhance a user's teleoperation performance. The main contribution of this research is in that a system that concisely integrates all these factors has yet to be developed and furthermore has yet to be applied to a hazardous environment as those referenced above. In fact, the most prominent slave manipulator teleoperation technology in use today is based on a design patented in 1945 (Patent 2632574) [1]. The robotic hand/user interface systems of similar function as the one being developed in this research limit their design input more » requirements in the best case to only complementing the hand's anthropometric properties, speed capability, and linearly scaled force application relationship (e.g. robotic force is a constant, 4 times that of the user). In this paper a nonlinear relationship between the force experienced between the user interface and the robotic hand was devised based on property differences of manipulation and grasping activities as they pertain to the human hand. The results show that such a relationship when subjected to a manipulation task and grasping task produces increased performance compared to the traditional linear scaling techniques used by other systems. Key Words: Teleoperation, Robotic Hand, Robotic Force Scaling « less


Culture is a dynamic force that significantly affects health. It comprises beliefs, norms and values, and determines how populations view certain things. In the area of mental health, it determines whether one will seek help or not, the type of help they will seek, the type of support system they will have, and how they will cope with mental illness. There are six racial groups in the United States, each with its unique sub-culture. Belonging to the African American racial group, African Americans have their perceptions about mental illness, stigma, treatment and care, as well as preferred coping mechanisms. This paper discusses the effects culture has on depression among African Americans. It also examines the coping mechanisms this population employs to deal with depression, and proposes strategies for addressing their mental health issues.


The goal of this study was to compare treatment outcomes for chronic bothersome tinnitus after Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT) versus standard of care treatment (SC) and to determine the longevity of the effect over an 18‐month period.


Mass transfer from a bypassed region to a flowing region is a very strong function of the solvent phase behavior. Diffusion, dispersion, and capillarity-driven crossflow can contribute to this mass transfer in addition to pressure- and buoyancy-driven crossflow. The authors experiments indicated that the mass transfer rate increased with enrichment. Liquid phase diffusion played a significant role and capillary pumping did not contribute to mass transfer in the cases studied.


Typical multiscale biochemical models contain fast-scale and slow-scale reactions, where "fast" reactions fire much more frequently than "slow" ones. This feature often causes stiffness in discrete stochastic simulation methods such as Gillespie's algorithm and tau-leaping methods leading to inefficient simulation. This paper proposes a new strategy to automatically detect stiffness and identify species that cause stiffness. Stiffness reduction methods are also discussed. Numerical results on a heat shock protein regulation model demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed method for multiscale biochemical systems.


ABSTRACT The present paper has discussed and find out the various activities of merger in Indian banking system. Including various aspects of bank mergers and its impact, such a case related to HDFC Bank Ltd and Centurion Bank of Punjab, in this I also compares pre and post merger in financial performance of merged banks with the help of financial tools just like, Gross Profit margin, Net Profit margin, operating Profit margin, Return on Capital Employed, Return on Equity, and Debt Equity Ratio. The review of literature and Research Gap between 2012 to 2015 it comes know that most of the work done high lightened the impact of merger and Acquisition. The data of Merger and Accusations are collected for a set of various financial parameters form net world. Independent T-test used for testing the statistical significance and this test is applied not only for ratio analysis but also effect of merger on the performance of banks. My research study found that the shareholders of the acquirer companies increased their financial performance after the merger rapidly event.


In this paper we study of the characterization and general properties of triple gai sequence via Orlicz space of χM of χ establishing some inclusion relations.


BACKGROUND: In the arsenal of a physiotherapist, there are many methods of non-drug rehabilitation. As contraindications to their use, spinal neoplasms, benign formations with a tendency to growth are indicated, among other things. At the same time, there is no data in the literature on contraindications to physiotherapy in the presence of non-aggressive vertebral hemangioma. As well as there are no scientific studies with a proven absence of a negative effect on the course of this tumor.
AIMS: scientific substantiation of the use of physical methods of treatment of patients with degenerative-dystrophic diseases of the spine in the presence of non-aggressive vertebral hemangioma.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study involved 154 patients with degenerative-dystrophic diseases of the spine and non-aggressive vertebral hemangioma. 94 patients were analyzed retrospectively, 60 took part in a prospective study. The following methods of physical therapy were used in the treatment of all patients: magnetotherapy, electrotherapy, physical therapy and massage. All patients underwent computer or magnetic resonance imaging of the spine before the start of treatment and 1 year after the end of treatment with an assessment of the presence or absence of hemangioma growth in dynamics.
RESULTS: In 94 patients with degenerative-dystrophic diseases of the spine in combination with non-aggressive vertebral hemangioma, who received various methods of physiotherapy, a different proportion of cases of increase in the size of vertebral hemangioma was noted upon repeated examination after 1 year. At the same time, in no case did the vertebral hemangioma acquire signs of aggressiveness. The minimum frequency of increasing the size of vertebral hemangioma was noted in patients after magnetic therapy, therapeutic gymnastics and massage. As a result of the use of magnetotherapy, electrotherapy, therapeutic gymnastics and massage in 60 patients, the growth of vertebral hemangioma was detected only in 1 case.
CONCLUSION: In patients with degenerative-dystrophic diseases of the spine, local low-frequency electrotherapy, magnetic therapy, physical therapy and therapeutic back massage did not significantly affect the frequency of cases of increase in the size of vertebral hemangioma. The possibility of using other methods of physiotherapy in the treatment of patients with degenerative-dystrophic processes of the spine in the presence of non-aggressive vertebral hemangioma requires further research.


AbstractThe concept of disaster-resilient communities has gained considerable acceptance and attention over the past decade, requiring the assessment of not only the monetary losses surrounding a hazard, but also the complex, time-dependent factors that influence community resilience. This paper presents an analytical, reliability-based approach to quantify seismic resilience based on the robustness and restoration rapidity of a portfolio of buildings following an earthquake event. The reliability problem is formulated using random variables to describe the spatially correlated seismic intensity, structural response, and duration of posthazard recovery for predefined building combinations within a portfolio. Based on these random variables, the first-order reliability method (FORM) is used as a basis to develop a new algorithm to evaluate a probability distribution of resilience for a suite of spatially distributed buildings. In addition, sensitivity measures are computed within FORM and used to prioritiz...


The latest version of the Virtuoso Platform looks to address the challenges associated with the next wave of analogue and system design requirements.


The improved LCL filter is used in transformerless three-level photovoltaic inverter system for leakage current suppression. However, the common-mode (CM) resonance circulating current (CMRCC) is generated, which causes inverter-side current oscillation, leakage current increment, and system instability. To overcome these issues, an improved CM circulating current model with detailed analyses of CMRCC is proposed in this paper. Based on above theories, the CMRCC is influenced by filter parameters, zero-sequence duty ratio, and number of switching transitions. To suppress CMRCC, a hybrid control strategy composed of proportional integral (PI) and feedforward control is presented. It is realized by real-time adjusting zero-sequence duty ratio in space vector modulation technique. Compared with the conventional damping resistor techniques, the CMRCC and leakage current are effectively suppressed with the proposed method. Thus, the performance of inverter-side currents and leakage current suppression is greatly improved. Besides, the capacitor-voltage-feedforward control is adopted to eliminate resonance peak in the differential-mode circuit. Simulation and experimental results are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of theoretical analyses and the proposed method.


In a paper on the angiographic diagnosis of carotid artery thrombosis, Johnson and Walker (1951) discovered six cases of unilateral thrombosis in 500 angiograms performed. They also reported that out of 107 published cases of carotid thrombosis only four were bilateral. Frovig, who published one of these cases in 1946, gave reference to ten others. These were not discovered by angiography but at postmortem. In 1953 two further cases were published by Paillas and one by Martelli.


Environmental service-learning is an intentional educational experience(s) wherein learners engage in meaningful activities designed to serve the environment. Environmental service-learning activities vary according to their learning and service goals and include ecomanagement, persuasion, legal action, economic action and political action. The purpose of this mixed methods research was to explore the ecological and educational impacts of grades 6-12 environmental education, with special attention to environmental service-learning throughout Portland, Oregon. Ecological impacts considered restoration and conservation outcomes of several environmental service-learning programs including plant communities, soils, litter removal and trail maintenance. Educational outcomes considered aspects of environmental literacy including locus of control, environmental sensitivity, indicated environmentally responsible behaviors, investigating environmental issues and knowledge of physical systems. The relative influence of some significant life experiences on youths' response to environmental education, including environmental service-learning, was also considered. Telephone surveys were used to gather data from 22 Portland metropolitan area environmental education programs. Data included 2014 annual biophysical impacts (e.g., area of invasive species removed, pounds of litter removed) and information on programming (e.g., length of program, % time outside). Eleven programs administered a 33-question environmental literacy assessment to participants of their programs (n=393). The assessment included the New Environmental


Monitoring water quality and analyzing its changing trend are beneficial to rational exploration of water resources.Based on the real monitoring data in the Manas River Basin in 2005,we analyzed the spatial changes of surface water quality at Manas River,Moguhu Reservoir,Daquangou Reservoir and Jiahezi Reservoir.The results showed that the water quality of Manas River Basin was the worst in the abundant water period.In addition,the seasonal Kendall test method was used to analyze the sequential changes of surface water quality from 2001-2005.The result suggested that water quality remained mainly stable,accounting to 45% of the whole changing trend.Among the water quality parameters,BOD5 was the worst,presenting obvious rising trend at four monitoring sites.


This paper deals with the role of myth and memories in the nationalization of the city Heidelberg after the period of German Romanticism. It is evident that a myth does not evolve from the nature of a thing, and that it is never eternal, rather, it has a specific historical foundation and transformation. The case of "Heidelberg myth" illustrates that the representation of the city Heidelberg as a "typical" German city was developed during three predominantly nationalistic phases of German history: 1) foundation of myth during the German Romanticism, 2) intensification of myth during the period of national movement, 3) taint of myth by the racism in the age of Nazis. In this ongoing process the city Heidelberg had to be prepared for its duties of representation as a "typical" German city. The next chapter focuses on the change of myth and memories caused by the transnational transfer, especially through the spreading of "The Student Prince" as a musical and cinema. Myth and memory is history in ceaseless transformation and reconstruction, and the image of the past is continuously reconsidered in the light of an ever-changing present and its place. The case of "The Student Prince" shows that the circulation of these memories, the increasing local and regional contexts as well as changes and adoptions by Japanese led to a creation of a transnational area of remembrance. So this paper reveals that the memories attached to the topics have a spatial reference, but this reference is either entirely national or transnational.


Abstract The subject of the analysis is linguaculture expressing linguistic and cultural differences occurring in every language of law. They relate to vocabulary and editing principles of law acts. It seems that preserving such differences in the target translation makes it possible to reveal specific legislation trends of a given country, which express political motivation. Their preservation in the translated text requires good knowledge of law and in-depth comparative analysis. The focus of the analysis in this text is on the expression of gender in the law texts and specifically, on the translation of feminatives and legal names relevant for cultural dimension of a given law system.


The influence of phase fluctuations of signal with QAM-16 in the receiver of radio telecommunication systems is considered. The effect of the fluctuated phase's rate on the probability characteristics of the received signal is calculated.


Empirical studies of multitask learning provide some evidence that the performance of a learning system on its intended targets improves by presenting to the learning system related tasks, also called contexts, as additional input. Angluin, Gasarch, and Smith, as well as Kinber, Smith, Velauthapillai, and Wiehagen, have provided mathematical justification for this phenomenon in the inductive inference framework. However, their proofs rely heavily on self-referential coding tricks; that is, they directly code the solution of the learning problem into the context. Fulk has shown that for the Ex- and Bc-anomaly hierarchies, such results, which rely on self-referential coding tricks, do not hold robustly. In this work we analyze robust versions of learning aided by context and show that?in contrast to Fulk's result above?context also aids learning robustly. Also studied is the difficulty of the functional dependence between the intended target tasks and useful associated contexts.


The general thesis is that the doctrine of laissez faire, rightly understood and correctly applied, furnishes the key to economic stability and world peace. The author, former Czechoslovakian political economist aDd for twenty years finance director of the Witkowitzer Iron Works, attacks Communist, Keynesian and other interventionist theories and gives his prescription for a free enterprise society. A World State is regarded as essential and inevitable.


Purpose: To characterize the velopharyngeal closure pattern in patients submitted to cleft palate surgery and its relation with gender, age, cleft type, and diagnosis of velopharyngeal function. Methods: Retrospective study based on 89 nasopharyngoscopy studies of operated cleft palate patients with ages between 4 and 47 years (mean=17.32±10.50). Data were analyzed regarding gender, age range (4 to 8, 9 to 12, 13 to 18 and >18 years), cleft type (postforamen or transforamen), diagnosis of velopharyngeal function (adequate, borderline, and inadequate), and velopharyngeal closure patterns (coronal, circular, circular with Passavant's ridge, and sagittal). Results were statistically analyzed. Results: In the study sample, 59.55% of the patients were women; 39.33% were above 18 years of age; 44.94% had post-foramen cleft and 55.06%, transforamen cleft; 14.61% showed adequate, 53.93% borderline, and 31.46% inadequate velopharyngeal closure. With regards to the velopharyngeal closure pattern, 37.08% of the subjects presented coronal closure; 33.71%, circular closure, 15.73% circular with Passavant's ridge; and 13.48%, sagittal closure pattern. There was a relation between pattern of closure and diagnosis of velopharyngeal function (p=0.05). Conclusion: Most of the sample presented coronal pattern of velopharyngeal closure, followed by circular, circular with Passavant's ridge and sagittal patterns. There was no relationship between closure pattern and the variables gender, age, and cleft type, but there was a related influence to the diagnosis of velopharyngeal function.


In the resist for lithography using wavelength 190nm or less of the light, excellent transparency to exposure light, and monomers useful polymers and polymer as an excellent chemical amplification resist to a substrate adhesion and dry etching resistance alicyclic unsaturated compound represented by the novel general formula (1) is disclosed as. Incidentally, in the general formula (1), at least one of R


Efficient compression of disparity data is important for accurate view synthesis purposes in multi-view communication systems based on the "texture plus depth" format, including the stereo case. In this paper a novel technique for loss less compression of stereo disparity images is presented. The coding algorithm is based on bit-plane coding, disparity prediction via disparity warping and context-based arithmetic coding exploiting predicted disparity data. Experimental results show that the proposed compression scheme achieves average compression factors of about 48:1 for high resolution disparity maps for stereo pairs and outperforms different standard solutions for loss less still image compression. Moreover, it provides a progressive representation of disparity data as well as a parallelizable structure.


An iconic description of shape, D. Ballard distance transforms and their uses, G. Borgefors generalized cylindes - what are they?, J.O. Eklundh quantitative performance evaluation of thinning algorithms in the presence of noise, R.M. Haralick et al recognition of graphical objects for intelligent interpretation of line drawings, R. Kasturi an induced taxonomy of visual form, G. Nagy context dependent shape perception, T. Pavlidis a continuous measure of symmetry, H. Zabrodsky and S. Peleg shapes, shocks, and deformations, S.W. Zucker. (Part Contents).


Purpose To study the clinicapathological features of primary granulosa cell tumor of liver associated with cavernous hemangioma.Methods One case of primary granulosa cell tumor of liver associated with cavernous hemangioma was studied by histology,immunohistochemistry,ultrastructural analyses and clinical imaging.Results A female patient complained of a mass by CT and MRI.The tumor protruded into the lower portion of the liver,and the cut surface was solid.Diaphragmatic surface of liver shows an area of gray red bleeding and loose sponge-like.The tumor cells were oval or spindle-shaped arranged in micro-follicular or trabecular,some areas showed solid and diffuse distribution,which was similar to ovarian granulosa cells;some areas were arranged in bundles with interstitial collagen fibers,like solitary fibrous tumor.Small nucleoli and longitudinal or transverse nuclear grooves were seen in nuclei of the tumor cells.Immunohistochemically,they were positive for CD99,α-inhibin,CK8,CK18,SMA and BCL-2,with Ki-67 proliferative index less than 1%.Ultrastructural study showed: the formation of various forms of nuclear grooves were seen in the tumor cells,and some cells were arranged in Call-Exner bodies-like structures,occasionally desmosome was noted between the cells,suggesting that the tumor was very similar to ovarian granulosa cell tumor.Conclusions The primary granulosa cell tumor of liver associated with cavernous hemangioma is rare.The behavior of tumor is unpredictable and long-term follow up is nelessary.


Abstract Nickel-copper alloys are widely used as catalysts. The chemical and physical properties of Ni-Cu alloys and their catalytic properties have been described quite extensively in the literature. Copper appears to be practically inactive for the hydrogenation or other related reactions unless some promotor is present with it. The mechanism by which nickel promotes copper is not clear. The activity pattern shown by the Ni-Cu alloy system in catalytic reactions is of great interest, and quite controversial results have been reported. Recent study shows that the surface concentration of nickel-copper alloys is different from that of the bulk.


In this paper we theoretically predict a distinct class of anomalous Hall effects occurring in metallic collinear antiferromagnets. The effect is quadratic and $d-$wave symmetric in external magnetic field. In addition, the electric current, transverse to the current voltage drop and the magnetic field in the predicted effect are all in the same plane. Studied theoretical model consists of two-dimensional fermions interacting with the Neel order through momentum dependent exchange interaction having a $d-$wave symmetry. We also find unusual linear magnetoconductivity in this model.


Principle of Mutuality: "No man can trade with himself; he cannot make, in what is its true sense or meaning, taxable profit by dealing with himself" - Palles, C.B. in Dublin Corpn. v. M. Adam 2 T.C. 387. Mutuality principle offers a tax shelter, as long as its character of a mutual association is retained, with its income not tainted by commerciality. A formal organization indicating mutuality as between members with bye-laws spelling out mutuality may, however, be necessary as proof of claim to mutuality either as a society or a company registered under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956, or even as managed by a public trust, with such activities primarily intended to be confined to its members.


The research in this article relates to an evaluation system for the implementation of lines in a public passenger transport system as a public service obligation. The purpose of this research is to present the methodology for the performance evaluation of a public passenger transport system that serves the public transport authority as a tool for making further decisions. The procedures first refer to the experimental determination of the criteria and then perform the first evaluation in the form of the value of the objective function. This is followed by multi-stage linear regression and optimization procedures that give the relation between the dependent variable ( Y ) and the independent variables ( X , ) that is, the criteria. Optimization is carried out in the coefficients ( β ), which are excluded from the optimization procedures in the case of the calculated statistical degree of insignificance. This research also shows procedures for changing the mathematical form of the criteria records and determining the impact on the final result of optimizations.


An X-ray study of the process of phase formation of prototypes of electro ceramic compositions based on local raw materials and alumina-containing waste was carried out. As a result of the research, it was found that in test samples fired at a temperature of 1250-1350 0 C, crystalline phases are formed - mullite, quartz, cristobalite and a glassy phase.


The incidence of obesity in the western population in recent decades has grown enormously. Study estimates suggest that 15–20% of the U.S. population is obese (BMI ≥ 30kg/m2) (1, 2). As a consequence, concern for a possible impending epidemic of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has also risen. NAFLD has a broad pathologic spectrum which ranges from nonalcoholic steatohepatitis or NASH (probably a precursor to cirrhosis) to simple fatty infiltration of the liver or steatosis (a relatively benign liver condition). In an obese patient, with or without abnormal liver enzymes, there is currently no single laboratory or imaging test which can accurately separate steatosis from NASH. Recently, however, researchers from the University of Melbourne, Australia have proposed a relatively simple scoring system to aid in determining who among the severely obese (BMI ≥ 35kg/m2), are at risk for NASH and should be singled out for liver biopsy.The HAIR score combines the presence of hypertension (diagnosed by standard technique), elevated ALT (>40 IU), and Insulin Resistance index (>5.0) as a simple sum. Each component of the HAIR score is equally weighted and assigned a value of one. A severely obese, hypertensive patient whose insulin resistance index is <5.0 and whose ALT is <40 IU would have a HAIR score of 1. The same patient with hypertension and an elevated insulin resistance index would have a HAIR score of 2, and so on. A HAIR score of 2 provides, according to the authors, the best combination of sensitivity (0.8) and specificity (0.89) for predicting NASH. A HAIR score of 3 virtually assures the presence of NASH.The selection of the three variables which compose the HAIR score was arrived at in a prospective study of 105 consecutive patients being considered for laparoscopic placement of an adjustable gastric band with the intent of surgically enhancing weight reduction. Each patient had a laparoscopic liver biopsy at the time of gastric band placement. Steatosis, inflammation, and fibrosis were all graded on a four-point scale and correlated with clinical as well as laboratory variables. A rigorous effort to exclude patients with liver disease due to other causes was made. A multitude of variables were considered and found to be predictive of histologic findings. Many of the variables considered, most of which were eventually excluded from the HAIR score, were components of the obesity related disorder, Syndrome X. The independent predictive value of each variable was assessed in consideration of a restrictive definition of NASH. A diagnosis of NASH was based on steatosis and two of the following three (zone 3-centric features): (1) necro-inflammatory foci with mononuclear cells and/or neutrophils, (2) ballooning degeneration of hepatocytes with or without Mallory bodies, and (3) pericellular fibrosis. Although other variables were predictive of the individual histologic features above mentioned, only those eventually assimilated as components of the HAIR score had independent predictive value for the strict definition used for NASH in this study.


Laboratory tests and a field experiment were carried out to evaluate the effects of priming methods on seed invigoration and field performance of soybean (cv. 'Zan'). The field experiment was arranged as split plot based on RCB design with three replications. Irrigation treatments (I1, I2 and I3: irrigation after 70, 110 and 150 mm evaporation from class A pan) and priming methods (water, 3% KH2PO4 and 3% KNO3 for 8 h at 15±1°C) were allocated to main and sub-plots, respectively. Germination percentage, seedling dry weight and field emergence percentage decreased, but mean emergence time increased, due to seed priming. Grain yield under severe water deficit was 29.32% less than that under normal irrigation. Pods per plant, grains per plant and grain yield per plant were significantly enhanced as a result of low stand establishment caused by seed priming. Consequently, biological and grain yields per unit area and also harvest index were statistically similar for plants from primed and unprimed seeds. In general, priming methods had no any beneficial effect on laboratory and field performance of soybean seeds.


Objective. The objective of the work was evaluate the damage genetic caused by the use of ivermectin (IVM) in cows zebu to concentrations of 1% and 3.15% through the test comet. Material and methods. 15 cows, were taken with age between 3 and 4 years old, average weight of 350 kg, body condition between 3 and 3.5. Three experimental groups with five animals per group, which were exposed to the concentration of IVM to 1% to 3.15% more group control (without application of IVM) were used. Animal blood sample was performed by venipuncture jugular or medial flow with vacutainer® needle, extracting 8 ml of blood. The blood samples it was collected at 9, 18 and 27 days post-treatment. Results. The display of the comets is made by using fluorescence microscope, the cells were evaluated by means of visual log and the Comet image software. Evidenced the presence of nuclei with DNA migration in all analyzed plates. The values of classification of comets indicate cells with high levels of damage (grade 3: cells with high damage). The rate of DNA damage of the treatment to 1% to 3.15% was significant, to relate to the control group. Conclusions. The results obtained in this study demonstrate the likely genotoxic potential of the use of IVM in cattle.


Tea is one of China's traditional export Agri-products, and all the time Chinese tea takes up important position in world market. Along with the rapid opening of world Agri-product market and the more and more competitiveness, the export of Chinese tea is affected more and more by world technique barriers. This paper mainly analyzes the impact of world technique barriers on China's tea export from the empirical angle. The research indicates: Technique barriers are the most important one among many factors affecting China's tea export. This paper proposes some suggestions on how to answer to the technique barriers.


Purpose – The aim of this paper is to explore the rationale for teaching sustainability and engineering ethics within a decision‐making paradigm, and critically appraise ways of achieving related learning outcomes.Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents the experience of the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Sydney in teaching environmental sustainability and engineering ethics to third‐year undergraduate students. It discusses the objectives of the course and the merits and drawbacks of incorporating ethics and sustainability in the same teaching framework. In addition, it evaluates ways of incorporating theoretical and applied perspectives on sustainability.Findings – Ethics and sustainability overlap but do not coincide; incorporating them in the same engineering course can be effective, provided that points of linkage are clearly recognized in the syllabus, a suitable combination of theory and practical applications is drawn upon and adequate teaching methods, including decisio...


Abstract Mitchell, C. R., Folkard, M. and Joiner M. C. Effects of Exposure to Low-Dose-Rate 60Co Gamma Rays on Human Tumor Cells In Vitro. Radiat. Res. 158, 311–318 (2002). Cells of three asynchronously growing human tumor cell lines, PC3 (human prostate carcinoma), T98G and A7 (human glioblastomas), which have been shown previously to demonstrate low-dose hyper-radiosensitivity to low acute single doses, were irradiated with 60Co γ rays at low dose rates (2 cGy–1 Gy h−1). Instead of a dose-rate sparing response, these cell lines demonstrated an inverse dose-rate effect on cell survival at dose rates below 1 Gy h−1, whereby a decrease in dose rate resulted in an increase in cell killing per unit dose. A hyper-radiosensitivity-negative cell line, U373MG, did not demonstrate an inverse dose-rate effect. Analysis of the cell cycle indicated that this inverse dose-rate effect was not due to accumulation of cells in G2/M phase or to other cell cycle perturbations. T98G cells in reversible G1-phase arrest also showed an inverse dose-rate effect at dose rates below 30 cGy h−1 but a sparing effect as the dose rate was reduced from 60 to 30 cGy h−1. We conclude that this inverse dose-rate effect in continuous exposures reflects the hyper-radiosensitivity seen in the same cell lines in response to very small acute single doses.


Under general circumstances full thermal equilibrium may not be established for a long period after perturbative or non-perturbative decay of the inflaton has completed. One can instead have a distribution of particles which is in kinetic equilibrium and evolves adiabatically during this period. Number-violating reactions which are required to establish chemical equilibrium can become efficient only at much later times. We highlight some of the striking consequences of such a quasi-thermal Universe. In particular, thermal gravitino production yields {\it no bound} on the maximum temperature of the primordial thermal bath alone. As another consequence, the lower bound on the mass of the lightest right-handed (s)neutrino from thermal leptogenesis can be $\gg 10^{9}$ GeV. Depending on the phase, a Wino or Higgsino considerably lighter than TeV, or a Bino in the bulk region, can be a viable {\it thermal} dark matter candidate. Finally the electroweak symmetry may never be restored in the early Universe, therefore weakening any hopes of realizing a successful electroweak baryogenesis.


Four chiral π-phenolato dinuclear (VO)2, Cr2, Mn2, and Fe2 complexes with a phenolic ligand bearing two L-phenylanalines as complexing arms have been synthesized and characterized. Asymmetric epoxidations of styrene with these complexes as chiral models of methane monooxygenase (MMO) and iodosylbenzene as an oxygen atom donor have been studied. The results reveal that the Mn2, complex catalyzes asymmetric epoxidation of styrene with the formation of R-(+)-styrene oxide in 42.8% e. e. Contrarily, the (VO)2 analogue complex gives S-(-)-styrene oxide in 19.2% e.e. EPR investigations suggest that the catalyzed epoxidations with the Mn2, Cr2 and Fe2 complexes proceed via high-valent oxometal intermediates; while in the case of the (VO)2 complex as catalyst, the epoxidation proceeds by a pathway that involves a complex of metal-iodine ligand. The catalytic activities of the complexes decrease in a sequence of Mn2>Cr2>(VO)2> Fe2.


Abstract In this paper, an active fault-tolerant control strategy is presented. After a short introduction to the Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy systems, a novel control strategy that integrates control and fault identification taking into account a possible actuator saturation is presented. In particular, the fault identification is based on an unknown input observer and integrated with a model-predictive controller taking into account the fault identification error. Finally, the last part of the paper exhibits experimental results regarding the tunnel furnace that confirm the effectiveness of the proposed approach.


Anti‐IgLON5 disease is a rare disorder characterized by a heterogeneous myriad of symptoms that may include sleep disorders, bulbar dysfunction, gait problems, movement disorders, cognitive impairment, oculomotor abnormalities, and nervous system hyperexcitability. Its physiopathology remains unknown, with a combination of both autoimmune and neurodegenerative findings.


Chan, K., Ford, H.A. & Ambrose, S.J. 1990. Ecophysiological adaptations of the Eastern Spinebill Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris to a high altitudinal winter environment. Emu 90, 119-122. Collins, B.G. & Briffa, P. 1983a. Seasonal and diurnal variations in the energetics and foraging activities of the Brown Honeyeater Lichmera indistincta. Australian Journal of Ecology 8, 103-1 11. Collins, B.G. & Briffa, P. 1983b. Seasonal variations in the energetics of an Australian nectarivorous bird, Lichmera indistlncta. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 74A, 731-738. Ford, H.A. 1979. Interspecific competition in Australian honeyeaters depletion of common resources. Australian Journal of Ecology 4, 145-164. Ford, H.A. & Paton, D.C. 1982. Partitioning of nectar resources in an Australian honeyeater community. Australian Journal of Ecology 7, 149159. Ford, H.A. & Paton, D.C. 1985. Habitat selection in Australian Honeyeaters, with special reference to nectar productivity. Pp. 367-388 in Habitat Selection in Birds. Ed. M.L. Cody. Academic Press, New York. Ford, H.A. & Pursey, J.F. 1982. Status and feeding of the Eastern Spinebill Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris at New England National Park, northeastern NSW. Emu 82, 203-21 1. Grant, P.R. 1986. Ecology and Evolution of Darwin's Finches. Princeton University Press, Princeton. Keast, J.A. 1968. Seasonal movements in the Australian honeyeaters (Meliphagidae) and their ecological significance. Emu 67, 159-209. McFarland, D.C. 1985. Flowering biology and phenology of Banksia integrifolia and B. spinulosa (Proteaceae) in New England National Park, NSW. Australian Journal of Botany 33,705-714. McFarland, D.C. 1986a. The organization of a honeyeater community in an unpredictable environment. Australian Journal of Ecology 11, 107-120. McFarland, D.C. 1986b. Seasonal changes in the abundance and body condition of honeyeaters (Meliphagidae) in response to inflorescence and nectar availability in the New England National Park, New South Wales. Australian Journal of Ecology 11, 331-340. Paton, D.C. 1985. Food supply, population structure and behaviour of New Holland Honeyeaters Phylidonyris novaehollandiae in woodland near Horsham, Victoria. Pp. 219-230 in Birds of Eucalypt Forests and Woodlands: Ecology, Conservation and Management. Eds J.A. Keast, H.F. Recher, H.A. Ford & D. Saunders. RAOU and Surrey Beatty & Sons, Sydney. Pyke, G.H. 1983. Relationships between honeyeater numbers and nectar production in heathlands in Sydney. Australian Journal of Ecology 8,217-234. Wiens, J.A. 1977. On competition and variable environments. American Scientist 65,590-597.


The data of Russian Federal State Statistics Service concerning the growth rate of private (peasant) farms and their share in agricultural production in Russia is cited. Despite the construction of large-scale livestock complexes, greenhouse complexes and poultry factories the small-scale production is also developing in Russia. The fundamentals of such development are outlined. There are factors in place significantly influencing the increasing energy intensity of products from private farms. These include reliability of power supply, pricing policy of electricity suppliers. The Institute proposes several methods to improve the reliability of power supply to private farms through replacing the share of energy purchased from centralized electricity grid by the electrical and thermal energy from renewable energy sources. In Russia a serial production of photovoltaic panels and solar power plants on their basis, as well as the manufacture of solar collectors to generate heat is well established. The use of electric and thermal energy accumulators will increase the reliability of power supply to private farms.


This manuscript presents object detection and tracking in video clips of soccer matches. Background subtraction based framework on pixel energy is proposed to detect objects in the input video clip with varying light conditions, high frame rates, and real-time processing. Unsupervised clustering is then used classify detected objects into various classes. A stochastic approach based on maximum a posteriori probability (MAP) is proposed for object tracking. 1. Comment on Motivation and Novelty The proposed scheme is well motivated as player tracking in games such as soccer match video with high frame rate and varying light conditions in real-time is challenging task and the proposed scheme is intend to address this problem with very few constraints. Submitted manuscript presents a marginally novel framework to achieve promised goals. 2. Comment on Methodology Methodology proposed in the submitted manuscript for multiple object tracking seems incorrect, this might be due to typos. For example, consider Eqs. 1 and 2, these equations seem incorrect in their current form, that is, μ̄ = αμ + 1 − α + μ̄t−1 (1) σ̄ = ασ + 1 − α + σ̄t−1 (2) I guess factor 1−α is simply adding bias to the estimated mean and variance values which is desirable in parameter estimation. One possible solution to fix this problem is by using following modified versions, μ̄ = αμ + (1 − α)μ̄t−1 (3) σ̄ = ασ + (1 − α)σ̄t−1 (4) Following are the desirable modifications in the proposed framework: • Similarly, Eq. 4 also need to be modified, as we are dealing with discrete values, therefore it is reasonable to use summation instead of integration, that is, E (x, y) = ∑ t∈ W | I(x, y) − BC(x, y) |2 (5) • It seems that there is typo in Eq. 5 as well, I guess it should be modified as, BF = { [μ (x, y)] if E (x, y) > th(W ), [0, 0] otherwise (6) Here are few concerns about Eq. 5 (in the submitted manuscript), – What is φ? I guess a vector of zeros. – What is th(W ) and how it is determined? • Authors also need to modify Eq. 6 to cover all logical possibilities over E (x, y), th(W ), and BF (x, y), as in its present form it does not cover all logical possibilities over E (x, y), th(W ), and BF (x, y). • What is the significance of Eq. 7, authors need to add some description for Eq. 7 to enhance readability of the submitted manuscript. • Representation of Eqs. 10 and 12, can be improved by using vector notation. • Finally, in Eq. 11 how disturbance matrix, Σ, is estimated? IEEE Fifth International Conference on Advanced Video and Signal Based Surveillance 978-0-7695-3341-4/08 $25.00 © 2008 IEEE DOI 10.1109/AVSS.2008.79 337 3. Comment on Experiments Experimental results presented in the submitted manuscript show that the proposed scheme can successfully track multiple-objects (players or group of objects) from diverse data set. It would be better if authors include some comparative performance analysis with existing player tracking (group of objects) schemes proposed in [2, 3, 1] (if possible). 4. Comment on Presentation Presentation of the submitted manuscript can be improved by careful proof reading and using distinct variable representation throughout the manuscript.


Laser treatment of a high‐speed steel surface is carried out and metallurgical and morphological changes in the laser‐treated layer are examined using SEM, EDS and XRD. A carbon film of 50 µm thickness and containing 5% TiC particles is formed at the workpiece surface prior to the laser treatment process. The carbon film formed at the surface enhances the absorption of laser irradiation and retains TiC particles at the workpiece surface. The residual stress formed at the laser‐treated surface is determined using the XRD technique while the indentation tests are carried out to measure microhardness and fracture toughness of the resulting surface. It is found that ε‐Fe3N, and ε‐Fe3 (N,C) compounds are formed at the laser‐treated surface, which are attributed to the presence of carbon film and high‐pressure nitrogen‐assisting gas. The fracture toughness of the laser‐treated surface reduces because of the increased hardness and dense layer formed at the surface vicinity. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


By way of the contrast test for the new type of the bodies of the EWEC mixing pile with the cement mixing pile.This paper has proved not only these mixing pile have higher side friction,but also the strength of the solidified soil in the mixing pile can increase by a wild margin as a result of the use of the EWEC solidifying agent.Besides,this method has solved the following problems,that is ,the use of cement can't give full play to the side friction because of law strength of the bodies of the mixing pile and law bearing capacity of the single pile.This paper has tested and verified the practicability of the deep mixing pile of the solid-EWEC.


To examine the intracellular localization of nicorandil in the heart, [14C]nicorandil and [3H]nicorandil (3 mg kg−1) were given orally to rats.


Inmates in U.S. correctional facilities are approximately 9 times more likely to have hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection than the nonincarcerated population. Some correctional facilities provide HCV services, yet little is known about inmate and staff satisfaction with them. Using qualitative data collected in a prison-based drug treatment program in California, this paper describes inmate and staff perceptions of the benefits and barriers to delivering HCV services. Participants commented primarily on their peer education program and on perceived budgetary constraints as a barrier to ongoing HCV service delivery. Participants' recommendations for the future included increasing HCV education and staff training, and expanding the peer educators program.


Background: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is an adult-onset progressive lethal motor neuron disease. TDP-43 is a ubiquitous multifunctional protein encoded by TARDBP involved in RNA processing. TDP-43, normally expressed in nuclei, has been shown to accumulate within pathological ubiquitinated cytoplasmic inclusions in brain and spinal cord of sporadic ALS patients and non-SOD1 familial ALS patients. In addition, previous Western blot analyses have shown that mutations in TARDBP produce TDP-43 aggregates in lymphocytes of ALS patients.


Method of indicating an entity Macromobility in an access system comprising a plurality of mobile stations (MS), each access nodes (SGN1, SGN2), and at least one entity mobility (FA1) arranged to provide services management macromobility to mobile stations (MS / MN) while they are registered in the access system, said method comprising the following steps: initiation of a binding with one of said modes of access by a mobile station, characterized by the following further steps reaction to said mobile station having IP capability by initiating at said access node a selection of an entity macromobility to said mobile station, and sending the identity of said entity selected macromobility to said mobile station in association with an access context establishment.


When Africans of Portugal's empire began at last to make their voices heard in the world outside their barricaded colonies, soon after the middle of the 1950s, they found few to listen to them and fewer still to understand the importance of what they were proposing to do. The outside world, they learned, knew little of Portugal itself, let alone of Portuguese Africa: and, knowing little, cared even less. This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website , where most recent articles are published in full. Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.


This paper deals with the method of static lamination-condensation in the Berthelot calorimeter whose constant is established by the mixing device or electric method; the title of wet vapour results from the equation of thermal balance.


Report of 1 case : Hepatolenticular degeneration complicated with the thrombus of deep veins of upper extremities is treated with Fuzi Lizhong Decoction,Aescuvenforte and bingxiao powder application compress.


Noncommutative geometry, an offshoot of string theory, replaces point-like particles by smeared objects. These local effects have led to wormhole solutions in a semiclassical setting, but it has also been claimed that the noncommutative effects can be implemented by modifying only the energy momentum tensor in the Einstein field equations, while leaving the Einstein tensor unchanged. The implication is that noncommutative-geometry wormholes could be macroscopic. The purpose of this paper is to confirm this conclusion in a simpler and more concrete manner by showing that the throat radius can indeed be macroscopic. This result can be readily explained by considering the noncommutative-geometry background to be a fundamental property and the macroscopic wormhole spacetime to be emergent.


In Goethe's Faust, Mephistopheles proposes that the emperor solve his financial problems by implementing a system of paper money, backed by his royal land and the gold hidden therein. His advocate, the astrologer, favorably compares this scheme to the transmutation of base metals into gold, while the skeptics exclaim: "Oh, let us off, All warmed-up stuff / It's number mystic,Alchymistic" (Goethe [1808] 1976, 4973–74).Mephistopheles ultimately prevails, and after the credit-money system is established and great prosperity ensues, the emperor's treasurer marvels: "There shall not be the faintest breath of trouble / I cherish a magician for my double" (6141–42). In this, Faust's so-called paper-money scene,1 Goethe metaphorically connects credit-money to alchemy; however, he does so in a way that only hints at the complexity of the actual link between alchemy and credit-money in the seventeenth-century. The idea that alchemy could be used to expand the money stock and thus stimulate the economy was rather well established during the seventeenth century, as witnessed by the writings of various social reformers and by the number of European regents who patronized alchemists. However, as experiments to transmute base metals into gold repeatedly failed, the search for a new money-creation mechanism continued,


The pre-condition of building or constructing "socialist harmonious politics" is to recognize the multi nature of benefits and benefits sharing.Therefore,the government must take "being people-oriented"as the starting point and goal o all its activities.Namely,the government ought to regard how to meet the benefits of the overwhelming majority as its ideal of governance,take the pursuit and realization of social equity and social justice as its aim,consider the realization and protection of the benefits of the overwhelming majority of the people as its basis of political legitimacy,and look upon "rule by law","scientific governance"and "democratic governance" as its ultimate goal o construction.Therefore,the nature of harmonious politics is made up of,"fair politics","limited politics","politics of order","democratic politics" and "rule-of-law politics".


In view of recent reports suggesting a possible relationship between ionization and the bacteriostatic action of the sulfonamides, it was thought that it might be of interest to study the activity of several sulfonamide derivatives as well as that of p-aminobenzoic acid under a widely varying pH range of the culture medium. Therefore, experiments were carried out with a strain of Staph. aureus which grew in a synthetic medium at pH values between 6.5 and 8.9. Tests for bacteriostasis by the sulfonamides and for the reversal of sulfonamide activity by p-aminobenzoic acid were made at several pH levels. The sulfonamide compounds used were sulfanilamide, sulfaguanidine, sulfapyridine, sulfathiazole, and sulfadiazine. The medium employed was that described by Gladstone3 for the cultivation of Staph. aureus. It consisted of a mixture of amino acids, salts, and glucose to which were added the growth factors, nicotinic acid and thiamin chloride. This medium was sterilized by filtration through a Mandler filter candle and the pH was adjusted aseptically after sterilization. A glass electrode poten-tiometer was used in making pH adjustments and determinations in all experiments. The test strain of Staph. aureus was cultivated exclusively in the chemically defined medium throughout the course of the investigation. Sulfonamide stock solutions were made up on a molar basis in the test medium and the pH was adjusted by adding small amounts of concentrated solutions of HCI or NaOH. The various concentrations of the sulfonamide compounds to be tested were obtained by making serial dilutions of the stock solutions, so that each tube in a test contained half the sulfonamide-concentration of the one * From the Department of Bacteriology, Yale University. The material presented here constitutes a portion of the experimental data contained in a disserta


For contemporaries, the Gunpowder Plot was 'a mother… of all crimes', and their sense of shock, and awe, in the face of so dreadful a treason was in no way diminished by the drama surrounding its discovery.2 The arrest of Guy Fawkes outside the cellars of Westminster, late on the night of 4 November 1605, caught King James I and his ministers completely off guard. A mass of documentary evidence for the fraught days following Fawkes's apprehension confirms that ignorance, embarrassment, even panic ran through the highest counsels in the land. While a deadly strike had clearly been frustrated, with just hours to spare, no one knew whether trouble might be expected from other conspirators in the capital, or indeed, from rebels and mischief-makers elsewhere in England. Military men rushed to court, and within a week a sizeable force had assembled there under the command of the Earl of Devonshire, prepared to face and to repel a phantom enemy.3 Open panic did of course subside, as administration and country alike began to measure and appreciate the danger, but anxiety was a long time dying. The extraordinary hysteria that swept London in the spring of 1606, on a rumour that the king had been assassinated, touched the court itself and serves as a reminder that, months after 5 November, many Englishmen in high positions still stood on their guard.4


The present invention relates to a kind of methods of the amount of determining glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), wherein, if necessary, erythrocyte hemolysis in sample, and if desired, the hemoglobin discharged later contacted with protein hydrolytic reagent and in this way or other modes generate glycosylated hemoglobin catabolite quantify.In order to provide the process and reagent that can be used for this with enough necessary chemical compound Properties in Stabilities of reaction, it is proposed that provide the indispensable protein hydrolytic reagent of inactive protein enzyme form, be then only re-activated in situ.In the specific implementation mode of the present invention, in order to make the stabilized hemoglobin of the unfolding at the low-down pH of 13 ranges, there should be at least one suitable stabilizer in haemolysis solution, and, in the embodiments of the present invention that wherein leuco dye is used in combination with the amount of determining HbA1c, according to the invention it is proposed that the latter can be stabilized with specific phosphine compound and/or sulfur-containing compound.


N MAY 25, I8I5, Washington Irving left New York for England; in June, I8I9, he published the first number of The Sketch Book, and thereby founded his international reputation. The circumstances and moods of an author during composition are interesting for the light they cast on his work, and these four years contained circumstances seemingly calculated to depress Irving, as most Irving scholars know. The story of his restlessness following the War of I812 which drove him to Europe, of his initial delight in England, of the gathering troubles-his brother Peter's ill health, the growing financial difficulties of the Irving firm which Peter headed in England, and finally the bankruptcy proceedings against the two brothers in March, i8I8-have been known and their effects analyzed. There is another story, however, which concerns Serena Livingston, a girl mentioned in none of the Irving biographies, and how she and her circumstances influenced Irving's mood during these years. One can easily see why, given the ill health of his brother and the near bankruptcy of the English branch, Irving remained in Europe once he was there. Why he decided to go in the first place is a little less clear. Stanley T. Williams accepts as sufficient reasons that Irving was unsure about a career, did not like the success standard's of Americans, and was suddenly feeling his age (thirtytwo).' William Hedges accepts the tenor of these motives, concluding, "for want of anything better to do, he drifted to Liverpool, England."2 But as late as I8I2, Irving had considered travel only as an alternative to a better situation: "I always keep it in view as a kind of succedaneum for matrimony, and promise myself, in case I


PURPOSE
The GeparX study investigated whether denosumab as add-on treatment to nab-paclitaxel-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) with two different schedules (125mg/m² weekly vs. day 1, 8 q22) may increase pathological complete response (pCR) rate. The addition of denosumab to NACT did not improve pCR rates as recently published. In this study, we investigated whether RANK expression, as part of the denosumab target pathway, a) may retrospectively identify a subgroup of patients with additional clinical benefit of denosumab or b) may predict response to nab-paclitaxel NACT.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
RANK protein was immunohistochemically stained on pre-therapeutic core biopsies from patients of the GeparX study (n=667) with the antibody RANK/Envision System HRP (DAB) and was analyzed for the percentage of membranous RANK tumor cell staining (>5 % RANKhighvs. ≤5% RANKlow).

RESULTS
We could not identify any patient subgroup with differential response under denosumab add-on treatment in patients with RANKhigh expression (139/667, 20.8%; Odds ratio (OR): 0.86, 95%CI 0.44-1.68; p=0.667) or RANKlow expression (OR: 1.10, 95%CI 0.78-1.56; p=0.589; interaction p=0.528). However, the pCR rate was higher in the RANKhigh subgroup compared to RANKlow (50% vs. 39%, OR: 1.52; 95%CI 1.04-2.21; p=0.037). RANK expression constituted an independent predictor of response to NACT frequently in patients with luminal-like subtype (HR+/HER2-; OR: 2.98; 95%CI 1.30-6.79; p=0.010). No predictive value of RANK expression among the different nab-paclitaxel regimes was observed.

CONCLUSIONS
We report RANK expression to be an independent predictive biomarker for response to NACT in luminal-like breast cancer patients.


Recorded between July 16, 1982, and August 25, 1984, when Truman Capote died, these unexpurgated interviews cover a wide range of territory, including Capote's views on his life, his personal demons, his homosexuality, his bout with drugs and alcohol, and his rich and famous friends.


Studies of labour force participation choices are mostly aimed at explaining determinants of participation for individuals. The objective of this study is the empirical estimation of the parameters of family participation decisions. Family participation decisions can be analysed as a choice problem of a family between a finite number of distinct alternatives. The appropriate estimation procedure for a model involving choice among multiple discrete alternatives requires a statistical technique different from ordinary least squares. In this study I use the multinomial logit model. A logit model allows me to explain the probability that a particular participation alternative will be chosen by a family as a function of a set of independent variables. It is found that economic variables such as wage rates and wealth, play a significant role in affecting the probabilities of choosing a particular labour force participation alternative. This study shows that an increase in the market wage for a family member not...


Both walking and biking have attracted attentions from planners as clean transport modes reducing automobile traffic. However, high fatality and injury rates of pedestrian and bicycle crashes prevent pedestrians and bicyclists from walking and biking. By describing research efforts on the development of environmental design resolutions for Merritt Island in Brevard County, Florida, this paper presents a systematic approach to pedestrian and bicycle crash analysis and countermeasure development. Spatial analysis methods based on GIS technology identify crash concentration zones and classify the major contributing factors of crashes in the zones. Based on the analysis, this paper especially focuses on investigating on environmental contributing factors to crashes and developing countermeasures for the factors.


During the past several years I have seized various opportunities to study and collect amphibians and reptiles in the state of Wisconsin. Specimens were taken while on an auto trip in the summer of 1941; while employed as nature counselor at Camp MacLean, Racine County, and near Ashland, Ashland County, while stationed there by the Army Signal Corps, in the summer of 1943. Specimens have been preserved in my personal collection and in the Chicago Academy of Sciences. The nomenclature of the Check List is followed.


The relationship between Foucault and Marx is that of subversion and inheritance.Foucault subverted Marx s historical materialism through the denial of historical law.He also had a critical inheritance of Marxism especially in the field of critical philosophy.The knowledge-right pattern expanded the scope of epistemological criticism while pedigree analysis in the replacement of class struggle in some degree led to an extensive and detailed struggle.


The invention discloses a data center network source routing method and device based on packet granularity. The method comprises the following steps: S1, constructing a data center network topology according to a Fat-Tree network; S2, configuring a fast retransmission threshold value of a TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) in a control system for a plurality of servers to be 10; S3, obtaining a sending end and a receiving end of a stream, wherein the sending end is used for sending data to the receiving end through all available paths; S4, performing data forwarding through a switch in the Fat-Tree network. According to the method, by the utilization of the characteristics of the data center network topology, smaller packet overhead implementation source routing is only introduced, and the flow rate can be uniformly distributed; hardware such as the servers and the switch does not need to be modified, and rich link resources in a data center network are fully utilized, so that the network throughput is improved.


Abstract Soil seed banks are important to vegetation recruitment, ecosystem functioning and land management. We evaluated composition of 0–5 cm soil seed banks and relationships of seed banks with forest community types (ranging from low-elevation pinyon–juniper to high-elevation bristlecone pine), vegetation cover and environmental variables within a 40,000-ha relatively undisturbed coniferous forest landscape in Nevada, USA. We collected samples from 36 sites and used the emergence method to assay seed banks. Seed density averaged 479 seeds m− 2 across sites and a total of 39 taxa were detected. Most (79%) of these taxa were perennials and 35 of 39 (90%) were native. Moreover, 62% of seed-bank taxa were in the vegetation of mature forests, an uncommon finding in studies of forest soil seed banks. Seed-bank density, species richness and composition did not display strong relationships with forest community types, vegetation cover or environmental variables. Weak relationships likely arose from the relatively uniform seed-bank density among sites, where 50% of sites had seed densities in the range of 106–282 m− 2. Results suggest that while seed banks on this landscape are not large, they provide recruitment potential for some native perennial species of mature, relatively undisturbed communities.


described a method for testing a document of value of a predetermined type on a suspicion of the presence of a forgery, in particular a Stuckelfalschung, wherein at least one ultrasonic property of the value document in a spatially resolved to form position-dependent measured data is detected, it is checked using the position-dependent measured data, if two face regions are at a predetermined test area of the value document present, the ultrasonic properties according to a predetermined difference criterion differ from one another, and in which an authenticity signal is formed which represents the result of the examination. Next, a corresponding test device is described.


This study aims to find and analyze the meaning of online learning according to the reflection of student behavior based on Weton. With a qualitative approach, this study collected data from 5 students. The results showed that student A (Monday Wage) interpreted the practice of online learning as an effort to beautify traditional learning, while student B (Monday Pon) interpreted it as violating obligations between teachers and students, Student C (Tuesday Pahing) interpreted it as a mere technique, Student D (Thrusday Legi) considers it a challenge, and Siswa E (Wednesday Pon) considers online learning to be a burden for teachers. The behavior of student A does not reflect his character, while the behavior of students B to E reflects his character. The condition of the family environment, the school environment at the previous level, experience, and always positive thinking are factors that influence the formation of his character.


An apparatus for detecting a collision object of a vehicle senses one or more relative vehicles positioned in front of an own vehicle through sensors provided in the own vehicle and collects relative vehicle information on the sensed relative vehicles, calculates relative positions of the relative vehicles when the own vehicle and the relative vehicles arrive at the same line in consideration of prediction paths of the own vehicle and the relative vehicles, selects a collision type depending on relative velocity relationships and access angles of the relative vehicles, calculates a collision position between the own vehicle and the relative vehicles in the selected collision type, calculates collision information based on the collision position, and selects a collision object among the one or more relative vehicles based on the collision information.


Thesis written by a student in the UNT Honors College discussing the development of the Philadelphia Orchestra and the early career of Leopold Stokowski.


Objective To study the efficacy of repetitive transcranial magneticstimulation(rTMS) of the right prefrontal cortex combined paroxetine for patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder ( OCD) under doubleblind , sham-controlled conditions. Methods Patients were randomly assigned to 2 sessions of real ( n = 32) or sham ( n = 31) rTMS and both group received Paroxetine treatment. rTMS treatments lasted 20 minutes,and the frequency was 10 Hz and the intensity was 100% of motor threshold for real rTMS. Psychopathology was assessed by HAMA.Y-BOCS before the treatment,immediately after the experimental treatment,and 1,2,4,6 weeks after the experimental treatment by an independent reviewer. Results In combined therapy group,9(32. 14% ) recovered, 10(35.71% ) remitted,5( 17. 86% ) improved,4( 14. 29% ) remained unresponsive. In contrast,there were 4(16.36%) recovery,5(21.82%) remission, 10(38.18% ) improvement,6(23.64% ) unresponse in drug therapy group. The outcome of ITT showed all the patients in the two groups significant improvement (the scores of YBOCS( F=56.258, P=0.000) ;the scores of HAMA( F=41.675, P=0.000) after the treatment,but the effectiveness in the combined therapy group was better than that in the drug therapy group (the scores of Y-BOCS, F= 13.652, P=0.028;the scores of HAMA, F= 11.632, P=0.031). Conclusions Repetitive transcranial rTMS of the right prefrontal cortex combined paroxetine is more effective than paroxetine only in treatment of refractory OCD.

Key words:
Obsessive compulsive disorder ;  Refractory ;  Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation ;  Proxetine ;


Objective:To observe the short-term curative effect of radiofrequency ablation with active electrode cooling in the treatment of hepatocarcinoma.Methods:Radiofrequency ablation therapy was targeted to 117 tumor bodies of 43 patients with hepatocarcinoma using cooled-tip radiofrequency energy delivery machine(HG-3000).The change of tumor size was observed using CT and type B ultrasonic examination.The level of alpha-fetoprotein(AFP),carcinoembryonic antigen(CEA),the liver function were recorded and compared with pretreatment.Results:Radiofrequency ablation therapy significantly inhibited the growth of 117 tumor bodies.The AFP value obviously decreased compared with pretreatment(P0.05);the CEA value had the tendency to continually increase.The CEA value had significant difference after 3-,4-,and 5-month therapy compared with pretreatment(P0.05).The liver function had obvious changes after 1-or 2-week therapy and recovered to the primary value before treatment after 4 to 5 weeks.Conclusion:The radiofrequency ablation with active electrode cooling may achieve satisfactory efficacy and has little complications.


ABSTRAK This research was conducted based on the fact that the low results of students' math' score, especially in the mixed number quantification operation material in 13 th Elementary School of V Koto Kampung Dalam grade II. One of the factors that caused the low results of students' math' score was the use of un-appropriate approach. To solve this problem, the researcher uses Realistic Mathematics Education (RME). The purpose of this research is to increase the students' score result of the mixed number quantification operation material through the use of RME approach. The kind of this research is Classroom Action Research. The subjects of the research were the teacher and the students of 13 th Elementary School of V Koto Kampung Dalam, grade II, with the number was 14 students. The instruments that were used in the research were observation sheets and students' test results. This research contained of 2 cycles, in which the result of cycle I, implementation stages from the teacher aspect was 72,5% and the average of the students' score results was 70,00. Meanwhile, in the cycle II, on implementation stages from the teacher aspect raised becoming 85% and the average of the students' score results become 79,00. Based on the research result in the cycle I and cycle II, it can be concluded that Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) can increase the student's math score result in the mixed number quantification operation material in grade II of 13 th Elementary School of V Koto Kampung Dalam. Keywords : Students' m ath socre result , Elementary School students grade II, Realistic Mathematics Education (RME).


The Day plot (M rs /M s versus H cr /H c ) is widely used by paleomagnetists to estimate the size of ferromagnetic grains and classify them as single-domain (SD), pseudo-single-domain (PSD,) or multidomain (MD). How reliable is this plot? To find out, a numerical micromagnetic model is used to calculate hysteresis loops as a function of grain size for two grain shapes (cube and cuboid with X = 1.5Y = 1.4Z). Magnetocrystalline anisotropy is ignored. The average M rs /M s is calculated for a collection of randomly oriented grains: In the elongated grain it drops from 0.4 to 0.06 over a negligible size range, almost missing the usual PSD range altogether. Other hysteresis parameters, H c , H cr , and X 0 , can only be calculated for a grain at a time. This is done for two magnetic field directions (close to the longest axis and close to the shortest axis). The single-grain values of H cr /H c depend strongly on field direction, but it is clear that the average jumps rapidly from SD to MD values. There are large, rapid fluctuations in H cr and X 0 associated with changes in remanent states. However, these fluctuations may not be apparent when averaged over a broad size range. This may explain why H cr and X 0 depend weakly on grain size in real samples. In tile size range studied (L < 0.25 μm), hysteresis parameters do not represent a typical grain size. Instead, they depend strongly on the size distribution.


Abstract Peer mentors can assist first-year student-athletes transitional demands by offering perspectives and resources to support their adjustment processes. Sports psychology practitioners (SPPs) can form mentoring programs to foster supportive relationships between athletes. We authored this manuscript to showcase the development of a constellation mentoring program (CMP), a form of mentoring where student-athletes had multiple mentors, integrated within two Canadian varsity soccer (football) sport contexts. We begin by situating our university context and why the CMP, underpinned by the athletic career transition model and constellation theory, was needed to support first-year student-athletes' transitions. We then introduce the stages of the program, beginning with its development, spanning its implementation, and ending with an evaluation to gauge its effectiveness. Each stage was informed using student-athletes' experiences of their demands in their university contexts. We conclude with reflections on mentor training, preparatory planning, team-building activities, and making time for reflective practice to help guide SPPs interested in adapting this program for use within further contexts.


We present a detailed analysis of the JIT, JET, and Horizon wavelength reservation schemes for optical burst switched (OBS) networks. Our analysis accounts for several important parameters, including the burst offset length, and the optical switching and hardware processing overheads associated with bursts as they travel across the network. The contributions of our work include: (i) analytical models of JET and Horizon (on a single OBS node) that are more accurate than previously published ones, and which are valid for general burst length and offset length distributions; and (ii) the determination of the regions of parameter values in which a more complex reservation scheme reduces to a simpler one. We compare the performance of the three wavelength reservation schemes on a single OBS node under various sets of parameter values. Our major finding is that, under reasonable assumptions regarding the current and future state-of-the-art in optical switch and electronic hardware technologies, the simplicity of JIT seems to outweigh any performance benefits of Horizon and JET.


As a side effect of the developments in the mobile robotics, navigational technology has gained a leap recently. Although the most popular navigational aid for trajectory tracking is the Global Positioning System (GPS), it has also some disadvantages. Therefore attentions are drawn to other navigational devices such as Inertial Navigation Systems. Taking the underwater implementations of vehicle navigation into account, INS becomes a necessity due to communicational problems between the GPS and the satellites. On underwater vehicles Inertial Navigation Systems consisting of Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) such as accelerometers and gyros are used combined with other navigational devices like GPS or sonar. The error of the IMU output makes it necessary to be accompanied by an additional device. In this paper a neural network based filtering system is introduced that is planned to be used for the trajectory tracking of an underwater vehicle.


In this article, a diesel engine named "X6170ZC" has been converted into a dual-fuel engine of diesel and liquefied natural gas (LNG). The principle, composition and characteristics of electronic control system for the engine have been introduced. An intelligent control technology has been adjoined to the engine based on the previous experiments. The applicability of the intelligent control technology in the diesel-LNG duel fuel engine has been verified through our new experiments. The results show that the engine adopting the intelligent control technology has higher integrated replacement rate and lower thermal load.


PACS pitfalls are mostly created from human error, whereas bottlenecks are due to imperfect design in either the PACS or image acquisition devices. These drawbacks can only be realized through accumulated clinical experience. Pitfalls due to human error are often initiated at imaging acquisition devices and at workstations. Three major errors at the acquisition devices are entering wrong input parameters, stopping an image transmission process improperly, and incorrect patient positioning. The error occurring most often at the workstation happens when the user enters too many key strokes or clicks the mouse too often before the workstation can respond. Other pitfalls at the workstation unrelated to human error are missing location markers in a CT or MR scout view, images displayed with unsuitable look-up-tables, and white boarders in CR images due to x-ray collimation. Pitfalls created due to human intervention can be minimized by a better quality assurance program and periodic in-service training, and by interfacing image acquisition devices to the HIS/RIS. Bottlenecks affecting the PACS operation include network contention; CR, CT, and MR images stacked up at acquisition devices; slow response from workstations; and long delays for image retrieval from the long term archive. Bottlenecks can be alleviated by improving the system architecture, re- configuring the networks, and streamlining operational procedures through a gradual understanding of the clinical environment. We have identified most of the pitfalls and bottlenecks discussed above in our hospital-integrated PACS based on the past two years of clinical experience. This paper categorizes some of these problems, illustrates their effect on PACS operations, and suggests methods for circumventing them.


We have developed an experimental method incorporating high frequency pulsed angle beam ultrasonic measurements under low frequency vibration of bonded structures utilizing parametric/nonlinear mixing between high and low frequencies. We have demonstrated that the effect of environmental degradation of adhesive bonds can be detected by this method. It is shown that good quality (undamaged) bonds do not exhibit dependence of their ultrasonic signatures on the overlay of low frequency vibration loads; however, environmentally degraded or imperfect bonds exhibit a shift of the resonance frequency of the ultrasonic signal reflected from the bond. We have also found that a much higher level of mixing (two orders of magnitude) occurs for very brittle adhesive bonds whereas the linear method cannot discriminate these bonds. We have developed a model for the case of two nonlinear interfaces separated by an adhesive layer and have described the variations in the reflection coefficient associated with nonlinear int...


HOPKINS, S. R., and C. A. HARMS. Gender and pulmonary gas exchange during exercise. Exerc. Sport Sci. Rev., Vol. 32, No. 2, pp. 50–56, 2004. Relative to body size, women have a lower diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide, smaller airway diameter, and smaller lung volumes than men. The effect that these differences have on gas exchange during exercise is incompletely understood. Women may have a larger alveolar-arterial PO2difference that may be compensated for, in part, by increased alveolar ventilation.


Phishing is a significant problem involving fraudulent email and web sites that trick unsuspecting users into revealing private information. In this paper, we present the design, implementation, and evaluation of content-based approach to detecting phishing web sites. We also discuss the design and evaluation of several heuristics we developed to reduce false positives. Our experiments show that CANTINA is good at detecting phishing sites, correctly labeling approximately 95% of phishing sites. We are going to implement Revelation of Masquerade Attacks: A Content-Based Approach to Detecting Phishing Web Sites using PHP & MYSQL.Our system will crawl the original site of bank and it will retrieve all URL's, location of bank's server and whois information. If user get any email with phishing attack link. Then our system will take that url as input and crawl the link, retrieve all url's and system will compare these url's with original banks url database, try to find url's are similar or not. Then system will find location of Phishing link URL and compare location with original banks location. After that system will find out Whois information of URL.System will analyze the information and show the results to the user.


The aim of the present work is to provide a better comprehension of the pneumonia‐induced sepsis model through temporal evaluation of several parameters, and thus identify the main factors that determine mortality in this model. Klebsiella pneumoniae was inoculated intratracheally in anesthetized Swiss male mice. Inflammatory and cardiovascular parameters were evaluated 6, 24 and 48 h after the insult. The results show that severity of infection and the mortality correlated with the amount of bacteria. Six, 24 and 48 h after inoculation, animals presented pathological changes in lungs, increase in cell number in the bronchoalveolar lavage, leukopenia, increase in TNF‐α and IL‐1β levels, hypotension and hyporesponsiveness to vasoconstrictors, the two latter characteristics of severe sepsis and septic shock. Significant numbers of bacteria in spleen and heart homogenates indicated infection spreading. Interestingly, NOS‐2 expression appeared late after bacteria inoculation, whereas levels of NOS‐1 and NOS‐3 were unchanged. The high NOS‐2 expression coincided with an exacerbated NO production in the infection focus and in plasma, as judging by nitrate + nitrite levels. This study shows that K. pneumoniae inoculation induces a systemic inflammatory response and cardiovascular alterations, which endures at least until 48 h. K. pneumoniae‐induced lung infection is a clinically relevant animal model of sepsis and a better understanding of this model may help to increase the knowledge about sepsis pathophysiology.


Volatility Index is the index that represents future volatility of underlying asset implied in option price and expected value of market that measures the possibility of stock price`s change expected by investors. The Korea Exchange announces a volatility Index, VKOSPI, since April, 13, 2009. This paper used daily data from January, 2002 through December, 2008 and tested power of Volatility index for future returns of portfolios sorted by size, book-to-market equity and beta. As a result, VKOSPI has the predictive power to future returns and then VKOSPI may be determinants of returns. Also if beta is included when sorting portfolio, the predictive power of VKOSPI is stronger for future portfolio returns.


Aquatic organisms such as fish are prone to contamination by water pollutants such as heavy metals. This study aims at assessing the levels of heavy metals in the fillet tissues of 75 fish samples comprising Clarias gariepinus (Catfish), Oreochromis niloticus (Tilapia) and Chrysichthys  nigroditatus (Bagrid catfish) from five (5) different fishing locations along the Ogun River, Ogun State. The fillet tissues of the fish samples were digested and analysed for Zn, Pb, Fe, Cr and Cd using a Perkin Elmer, AAnalyst – 200 Atomic Absorption Spectrometer. The concentration of Zn in Clarias gariepinus, Oreochromis niloticus and Chrysichthys nigroditatus were 5.37±2.558, 6.58±2.35 and 5.11±1.55 respectively; while the levels of Pb in the species were Clarias gariepinus (1.30±3.099), Oreochromis niloticus (1.01±0.95) and Chrysichthys nigroditatus (0.35±0.59). Concentrations of Fe, Cr and Cd in the species were Clarias gariepinus (8.87±3.547, 0.08±0.098 and 0.09±0.100), Oreochromis niloticus (8.96±2.21, 0.12±0.11 and 0.11±0.11) and Chrysichthys nigroditatus (8.16±3.88, 0.11±0.11 and 0.11±0.11). The data revealed that most of these values were lower than  FAO/WHO permissible except Pb and Cr. Some of the fish sampled may pose health hazards to the consumers. There is a need for constant monitoring of pollutants in Ogun River.
Keywords: Heavy metals, Clarias gariepinus, Oreochromis niloticus, Chrysichthys nigroditatus, Ogun River


A huge collection of textual, graphical, audio, and video contents are readily available on the Internet to be used for the purpose of learning. Sentimental feedbacks of learners posted at the end of many of these contents may be considered as genuine reactions of the learners who have gone through the contents. Such learners' sentiments are important inputs for judging the acceptability of a learning material. Analyzing such feedbacks using sentiment analysis techniques can identify the best reusable learning contents that may be used for developing new courseware. This can significantly reduce the time and effort of authoring, which is otherwise a difficult, time-consuming, and costly affair. This methodology can also be used for continuous assessment on the learning materials released for use. This paper presents a machine learning-based approach for emotion analysis in e-learning materials. It describes the design and experimental use of a sentiment analysis classifier that uses classifier combination rules to combine polarity scoring and a support vector machine (SVM). The present approach also gives an opportunity for users to train a lexicon on a very specialized set of data, pertaining to the domain of usage. This helps either to enhance polarity scores of certain words that appear more frequently or to add words that are completely missing from the lexicon, and contributes a great deal in determining the polarity scores.