Abstract Nonlinear optics focuses on the phenomena that arise when intense light interacts with matter. At low intensities, optical response of a material scales linearly with the amplitude of the electric field. However, at high intensities, light–matter interactions become more complicated leading to such fascinating nonlinear effects as self-focusing, soliton propagation, and high-harmonic generation. Although the field of nonlinear optics was developing for many decades since the invention of lasers, nonlinear optical materials available to date are still limited by either slow materials' response time in such phenomena as saturable absorption, photorefractive effect, and thermal nonlinear phenomena, or by relatively low and generally band-limited nonlinear susceptibilities responsible for ultra-fast nonlinear processes. The emergence of metamaterials is likely to revolutionize nonlinear optics, enabling to low-power, compact, and ultra-fast applications of nonlinear optical phenomena. We review a subset of recent progress in theoretical and experimental studies of nonlinear optical properties and phenomena enabled by the unique properties of engineered optical media. We discuss new regimes of nonlinear optical interactions enabled by judiciously designed metamaterials; review fundamental limit of nonlinear optical phenomena and several metamaterial-based approaches to enhancing nonlinearities at optical frequencies; and consider engineered nonlinear properties of soft matter-based nonlinear media.


Process for finding the load and/or loadability of electrical or electronic components or groups of components which are powered from a voltage source via a power control stage and whose current-dependent calorific behaviour is known, in which: a) the heat conductivity and capacity of the components or groups of components (1) are determined; b) at least one initial value of the temperature is measured on the components or groups of components (1) or in their environment and stored; c) the current flowing through the power control stage (5) and/or the power is detected and stored; and d) the momentary temperature of the components or groups of components is calculated from the stored initial temperature and the current and/or power via an algorithm containing the heat conductivity and capacity of the components or groups of components.


The article examines basic demographic indicators for the district of Haskovo (Bulgaria) - ethnic composition of the population, number and proportion of the population, percentage of population in the municipalities of the area, ratio of urban and rural population, sex structure of the population, age distribution, density, fertility, mortality, population growth, migration, etc. The main conclusions highlight the key trends and accentuate on the prospects for the population in the district in the future. Key words: population, birthrate, mortality, population density


Objectives:  The treatment of acute pain in the prehospital emergency setting remains a significant problem. We evaluated the incidence, site, and possible cause of acute pain in the prehospital period and also the current state of prehospital pain management by evaluating analgesic availability in emergency vehicles in Italy.


We employ both the effective medium approximation (EMA) and Bloch theory to compare the dispersion properties of semiconductor hyperbolic metamaterials (SHMs) at mid-infrared frequencies and metallic hyperbolic metamaterials (MHMs) at visible frequencies. This analysis reveals the conditions under which the EMA can be safely applied for both MHMs and SHMs. We find that the combination of precise nanoscale layering and the longer infrared operating wavelengths puts the SHMs well within the effective medium limit and, in contrast to MHMs, allows for the attainment of very high photon momentum states. In addition, SHMs allow for new phenomena such as ultrafast creation of the hyperbolic manifold through optical pumping. In particular, we examine the possibility of achieving ultrafast topological transitions through optical pumping which can photo-dope appropriately designed quantum wells on the femtosecond time scale.


Phase wrapping is one of the most important concerns in digital holography. Although many algorithms (David R Burton et al, 1994) were developed to implement phase unwrapping, most of them had several drawbacks such as data corruption due to ambiguities and time consumption. In this paper, we compare two different approaches for phase unwrapping. The first is weighted and unweighted phase unwrapping proposed by Ghiglia. The second is branch cut method proposed by Goldstein. The former gave efficient results even in the case of high levels of noise and solved the problem of regional inconsistencies whereas the latter limited the propagation of local errors as global errors.


The normal image of a theatrical performance is one that takes place inside a space particularly created for such activity. Almost all theatrical cultures have developed some sort of performance space set apart from the normal world of human activity, a space that serves as a site of imagination subject to certain rules, a fundamental one being that the audience agrees to serve as spectators and accept the fictive world the actors present to them. The performance space itself thus serves as a kind of "frame" emphasizing this dynamic (indeed, an alternative name for the proscenium arch theatre is the "picture-frame stage," and some late nineteenth-century British theatres in fact surrounded the stage on all four sides with an ornate frame). In most cases this performance space, the stage and auditorium, is not even entered directly from the outside world, but is separated from that world by a liminal area, as a kind of mimetic airlock, the theatre lobby, which allows audiences to move by stages into the illusory realm of the theatre. Theatrical performances that were not "protected" by this house of illusion have been much more susceptible to incursions from the physical world. Even the classic Greek stage, forming a partial enclosure, could and apparently did take advantage of the "real world" accessible to its audiences, the open sky above them. Thus, many of the extant plays, among them Oedipus and Antigone, begin at or near dawn, and it is difficult to imagine that the plays which were presented at that time of day did not take advantage of this contribution from the real world. In the very earliest liturgical dramas of the Middle Ages we find already a complex mixture of theatrical elements and real spaces. Early liturgical drama was staged in parts of medieval cathedrals, but although these were real locations, they were accepted as suitable symbolically, reinforcing the effect of the performance on an emblematic if not on a realistic level. When religious dramas began to be performed outside the cathedrals,


Objective To provide histological basis for Brucea javanica oil emulsion inhibiting bladder tumors. Methods Ten dogs were divided randomly into:①infusion-drug group( n =7) in which 0 1 mg/kg Brucea javanica oil emulsion was infused. ②control group ( n =3) in which 0 1 ml/kg methylene blue was infused via double ilial arteries.After one week, biopsy was underwent to observe the changes of the sites of dog bladder tissues under microscope and electron-microscope. Results In the infusion-drug group, drops and necroses in mucosa lamina, hyperemia, edema, necroses and acute or chronic inflamatory cells infiltration in muscular lamina and tunica adventitia, epithelial cells deformity in mesenchymal vessel were discovered under microscope, and microemboli of Brucea javanica oil emulsion in microvessel and destruction of mucosa cells plasmalemma were seen under electron-microscope. Cell form and structure in control group were no obviously changed. Conchusion These results indicate that Brucea javanica oil emulsion can inhibit growth of bladder epithelial cells and expected to become a novel drug for chemotherapy of bladder tumor through further investigation. [WT5"HZ]


Network meta-analysis (NMA), combining direct and indirect comparisons, is increasingly beingused to examine the comparative effectiveness of medical interventions. Minimal guidance existson how to rate the quality of evidence supporting treatment effect estimates obtained from NMA.We present a four-step approach to rate the quality of evidence in each of the direct, indirect, andNMA estimates based on methods developed by the GRADE working group. Using an example ofa published NMA, w e show that the quality of e vidence suppor ting NMA estimates v aries from highto very low across compar isons , and that quality r atings giv en to a whole netw ork are uninf ormativeand likely to mislead.MiloAPuhan


This book is a detailed feild guide to initiating and successfully completing a project on hydrology and hydrogeology. This 294-page yet pocket-sized book is easy to carry around, especially during field investigations. Although every project poses unique and unexpected challenges, this book provides logical sequences for developing a conceptual model to successfully implement a groundwater investigation project. The target audiences for this book are the field engineers, faculty, and students of hydrogeology, geology, earth sciences, water science and management, hydrology, and civil engineering courses. Field Hydrology consists of 10 chapters, 12 appendices, seven tables, and references. Chapter 1 begins with an introduction to groundwater systems but quickly moves into developing a conceptual model from scratch—using available information and subsequently strengthening it by field investigations—for initiating a groundwater project. A detailed flow chart provides a very useful guide to the steps, possible sources of information, and activities required to build a comprehensive conceptual model for a groundwater study. Chapter 1 also presents a brief overview of the MODFLOW groundwater model, how to write a groundwater report, and the duties and responsibilities of an expert witness. Chapter 2 is on the "Desk Study" and provides a systematic guide to examining the hydrogeology of the study area using all available information. Water inputs and outputs are presented through easy-to-understand but comprehensive tables. Chapter 2 is a useful precursor to the next chapters, which deal with field evaluations. Chapter 3 provides simple aquifer classifications and methods to determine several aquifer properties for sand and rock strata, including transmissivity from pumping tests and tracer migration. Chapter 4 describes different measurement devices for monitoring phreatic surfaces, as well as procedures for analyzing errors in groundwater table measurements, drawing groundwater contour maps, and interpreting flow maps and flow directions. Chapter 4 also presents a case history on the interpretation of groundwater strikes and on groundwater level interpretations. Some components of the hydrologic cycle, including precipitation, evaporation, springs and stream flows, are explained in Chapter 5. This chapter also provides guidance on how to choose the best method for spring or stream flow measurements, and explains the velocity area method, thin-plate weirs, and gauge-discharge relationships concisely but adequately. A case history on measuring flows with low heads is also presented in Chapter 5. Pumping tests are usually required to get information on aquifer properties and groundwater flows. Chapter 6 provides a checklist of equipment required for pumping tests. Various types of pumps are described for a quick memory refresher. Data validation and analysis during pumping and recovery periods are covered as well as single borehole tests for falling and rising heads. Groundwater sampling during and after pumping tests are introduced in Chapter 6 but described in detail in Chapter 7. Groundwater chemistry determines the suitability of water for various uses, and can also help identify the types and sources of water contamination. Groundwater sampling protocols are needed to make sure the water chemistry does not check change during sampling. Chapter 7 provides detailed checklists for groundwater sampling, sampling equipment, the use of depth samplers vs. an M.K. Shukla, New Mexico State Univ., Las Cruces, NM 88003. *Corresponding author (email@example.com.)


The well-established relationship between X-ray scattering and the Mossbauer effect is demonstrated by deriving the main features of both phenomena as the Fourier transform of a time-dependent Patterson function.


Partial table of contents: NATIONAL UPDATE. Communications in Construction: The Path to Project Success (R. Tucker). Program Management: A Broader Definition of Construction Management (G. Bundschuh & W. Wildman). A New Look at Construction Management (J. Ernstrom & K. Peartree). Practical Aspects of Federal Grant Funding for the Owner, Contractor, and Subcontractors (C. Risetto, et al.). Emerging Insurance Coverages for the Construction Industry (T. Colvig). The Jury Verdict Method (K. Gibbs, et al.). REGIONAL UPDATE. 1995 Developments in Federal Construction Contracts (T. Abernathy & T. Kelleher). Index.


in terms of real estate. Di Matteo's important contribution (chapter 6), which uses Ontarian probate records, shows that improvements in women's rights explain only part of their increased wealth (at death); other spatial and temporal factors have significant explanatory power. Using their new database of share registers of 47 companies in different sectors of the British economy – 33,848 individual shareholdings in all – Maltby et al. (chapter 8) find that share ownership was not extended much beyond an affluent elite at any time before World War Two, contrary to contemporary thought and much recent scholarship on the subject. Indeed, this chapter runs somewhat counter to Michie's contribution (chapter 7); he appears to take the democratisation of share ownership as given, at least by the interwar period, and then tries to explain why government did not intervene to improve the rights of shareholders much until after the world wars. Acheson and Turner's essay (chapter 9) uses their well-established dataset on bank stock ownership to look at alternative explanations for women's growing interest in limited-liability shareholdings. They find that, whilst limiting liability led to more risk, the premium such shares carried more than compensated for this, hence their ability to attract the risk averse (women). The last two chapters are different in character to those in the rest of the book. Hannah (chapter 10) looks at contested takeover bids, primarily in the UK, US, and France, and overturns some traditional wisdom on their relative popularity as a market disciplining mechanism. And Cassis (chapter 11) summarises parts of his recent work on the history of financial centres to show how investors invested. All in all, I think this is an important work of social history, especially useful for readers unfamiliar with the contributions of the individual authors involved. It would not look out of place as prescribed reading for gender history courses. Reading this book is also a very easy way by which to get to grips with the methodological strengths and weaknesses of histories which use probate records as their central source.


In this paper, an algorithm combining switching and tuning is proposed as a solution to the problem of adaptive disturbance attenuation. A high-level switching logic selects the controller providing the best potential performance within a pre-designed family; then a tuning procedure aims at finding a local refinement of the selected controller in order to improve its attenuation capabilities, and a low-level switching logic is used to decide whether to substitute the controller with its refinement or not. The control architecture is designed by adopting a particular implementation which ensures stability under any arbitrary switching sequence. It is shown that an arbitrary attenuation level can be achieved by adopting appropriately defined functionals. Simulation results are provided to show the validity of the proposed algorithm.


Objective To explore the knowledge and requirements of elders about hypertension and diabetes in communities of Yinchuan and to provide the basis of drawing up and developing the health education strategy to the elders in urban communities.Methods Elders aged over 60 years old in 4 communities were investigated the factors includinng the knowledge and requirements of hypertension and diabetes.Results 82% elders wanted to know prevention and treatment knowledge.On eating habits,37.8% elders did't control the salt intake.49.1% elders didn't care the collocation of five basic foods.29.6% elders seldom ate coarse grains,vegetable and fruits.57.3% elders seldom ate eggs and dairy products.47.2% elders seldom ate beans.62.8% elders seldom ate meat.Main way for elders to gain the knowledge on hypertension and diabetes was television,accounting for 53.7%.Conclusion There were various requirements on health education for elder people in communities in Yinchuan.Community nurses should use acceptable ways to give the elder people community health education about hypertension and diabetes.


Kind Code: A1 A refreshing sensation-retaining agent with reduced miscellaneous taste containing monomenthyl glutarate is provided. Disclosed is a composition containing a monomentyl glutarate with a high purity in a refreshing sensation agent composed of monomenthyl glutarate and dimenthyl glutarate, wherein the content of dimenthyl glutarate is 5% by mass or less. Such a composition is obtained efficiently by a preparation method comprising a step of extracting the former as an alkali salt from a composition containing monomenthyl glutarate and dimenthyl glutarate, the latter being present in excess of 5%. be able to.


Two poly(vinyl chloride) matrix membrane electrodes responsive to some drugs affecting the cardiovascular system, Amlodipine besilate (AM) and Valsartan (VL), were developed, described and characterized. A microsized graphite selective sensor was investigated with dibutylsebacate (DBS) as a plasticizer in a polymeric matrix of carboxylated polyvinyl chloride (PVC-COOH) in case of (sensor 1). This sensor 1 was prepared using 2- hydroxy propyl �-cyclodextrin (2HP �-CD) as an ionophore. While sensor 2 preparation was based on precipitation technique with bathophenanthroline iron (II) as electroactive materials in poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) matrix. Fast and stable Nernstian responses near 1x10 -5 -1x10 -3 M for the two drugs over the pH range 3-6 and 7-9 for the two sensors, respectively, were obtained. The method was successively applied for the determination of AM and VL in presence of each others, in their pharmaceutical formulations and in human plasma samples. The percentages recoveries for the determination of the drugs by the proposed selective electrodes were 99.78 ±0.382 %, 100.23 ± 0.440 %, for sensors 1 and 2, respectively. Statistical comparison between the results obtained by this method and those obtained by the official method and the reported method of the drugs was done and no significant difference was found.


Abstract We prove the conjecture of Jackson and Wormald that every 3-connected planar graph has a closed walk visiting every vertex once or twice. This strengthens Barnette′s Theorem that every 3-connected planar graph has a spanning tree with maximum degree at most 3. The result also holds for 3-connected projective planar graphs.


The Brahminy Blind Snake, Ramphotyphlops braminus (Daudin, 1803),has invaded many parts of the world except for South America. It can live commensally with humans, and is a successful colonist. It feeds mainly on ants and termites and so is beneficial to agriculture. Human activities play a significant role in the distribution of the species (WALLACH 2009). The fact that it is parthenogenetic promotes its distribution: all the specimens collected so far have been females, and a single individual is enough to colonise a new area. They lay eggs or may bear live young, and up to 8 offspring are produced. It is also called the Flowerpot Snake, because it has been introduced into various parts of the world through the plant trade. GASPERETTI (1988) mentioned Ramphotyphlops braminus from Iran with a question mark, but it seems that he only assumed that the species occurred there becausIranit is close to Saudi Arabia, where the species is found (cf. RASTEGAR-POUYANI et al. 2008). The species is also known from Oman and the United Arab Emirates (GARDNER 2009). We can report here on the first records of the species in Iran. We examined a total of four specimens of Ramphotyphlops braminus collected from Iran. All the specimens are preserved in 75% alcohol and are deposited in the International Center for Science, High Technology and Environmental Science Zoological Museum (ICSTZM), and in the Zoological Museum of Gorgan University (ZMGU). The first specimen (ICSTZM7H1066) was collected in the garden of a residential house in Bandar Abbas, Hormozgan Province (27°11'N, 56°18'E) in October 2008. The second specimen (ZMGU.2342) was collected in the garden of an old house in Qeshm city on Qeshm Island, Hormozgan Province (26°57'N, 56°16'E) in August 2009. Two specimens were collected in the garden in an old residential house in Ahwaz city, Khuzestan Province (31°19'N,


The contemporary emphasis on the pathologies of shelter denizens and street-dwellers tends to conceal the great variety of makeshift ways of life that have characterized "homelessness" over the centuries. Diversity notwithstanding, those considered "vagrants" were historically marked as suspect members of a poor apart, even when their numbers increased sharply. Because kin ties have consistently proven to be the first line of defense against "literal homelessness," skid row researchers thought their absence (along with the lack of associated ties to work and community) to be diagnostic of the condition. Indeed, earlier research tended to see as "homeless" any "disaffiliated" persons, housed or not, who lived alone in unconventional dwellings. Not only have the new homeless poor, by contrast, proven to be more diverse—their geographic locus, age, gender, ethnicity, and signal disabilities having all changed-but their common element is less often ascribed to faulty social connectedness than to sheer absence of shelter. This paper discusses such changes and reviews definitions of homelessness and several approaches to its social construction. The paper argues that, although definitions owe as much to political as to logical considerations, it makes both practical and historical sense to view the streets and shelters as but one variant of a class of informal or makeshift residential settings that increasingly characterizes the marginally situated.


ABSTRACT This paper proposes a new safety system named emergency steering assist (ESA), which consists of the autonomous steering subsystem and differential braking subsystem. The control system is developed to mediate the conflict objectives of vehicle stabilisation and rear-end collision avoidance in highway driving. Instead of predefining a collision-free trajectory in the entire process of collision avoidance, the process of collision avoidance is divided into two stages. In stage 1, where the vehicle is guided to enter the adjacent lane with a constant centripetal acceleration to avoid collision, the steering manoeuvre is determined by the feedforward controller based on the steering dynamics. In stage 2, where the vehicle is guided along the centreline of the adjacent lane, the steering manoeuvre is determined by the controller based on the theory of model predictive control. In addition, the differential braking subsystem is designed with a comprehensive treatment to the requirements of collision avoidance and vehicle stabilisation. Finally, the simulation results demonstrate that the proposed ESA system can effectively achieve better balance between an emergency collision avoidance manoeuvre and vehicle stabilisation at high speeds in different conditions. The hardware-in-the-loop experiment developed by the authors is used to validate the real-time performance and effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.


A new technology for preparing titanium-rich material from modified titanium material by microwave selective leaching is studied in this paper. The systemic conditional experiments are conducted on the flow sheet and the optimum technological parameters of microwave leaching including leaching temperature of 160°C, concentration of hydrochloric acid 10%, ratio of liquid to solid 10:1, leaching time of 120min. The content of TiO2 of titanium-rich material is 96.08% under the optimum condition.


Novel pyridine-containing macrocyclic compounds,the derivatives of 6,12,19,25-tetramethyl-7,11,20,24-dinitrilo-dibenzo[b,m]1,4,12,15-tetra-azacyclodocosine,were synthesized and characterized.These compounds were found to be usefulas electron-transporting materials in organic electroluminescent devices.


This article develops a theoretical framework that explains how life complexity and dynamism affect work-life balance. The authors explain the moderating effects of munificence and accessibility of resources in one's life as well as the personality differences and individual value systems on the relationship between life complexity/dynamism and work-life balance. The analysis leads to implications for future research and practice.


The NHS pay system has long been in need of review, particularly with regard to the nurse grading structure which discouraged career progression and deterred nurses from gaining experience in a variety of specialties because of fear of downgrading. Therefore, the proposals put forward in the recent Health Service Circular (NHS Executive, 1999) relating to Agenda for Change, the Government's document on modernizing the NHS pay system (Department of Health (DoH), 1999), can only be viewed as progress.


Using known one-dimensional Feigenbaum's univcrsality results, we show that a similar quantitative universality can be also observed in bifurcations of solutions of a class of infinite-dimensional dynamical systems generated by solutions of some boundary value problems and difference-differential equations. In such Systems quantitative universal estimates can be obtained for the stratification of the initial data space with respect to asymptotic behaviour of solutions and for errors of approximation of solutions by periodic solutions of a special kind. The results are applicable to the boundary value problems (and also difference-differential equations), for which the time evolution of solutions is governed by an appropriate scalar nonlinear difference equation.


Development accounting exercises generally assume that skilled and unskilled labor services are perfect substitutes. However, it is known that if labor services are imperfectly substitutable, this assumption might lead to an overestimation of uniform efficiency differences, and an underestimation of skilled labor efficiency differences. To quantify the importance of this mechanism, one needs to estimate the efficiency-adjusted relative price of skilled and unskilled labor services across countries. In this paper, I develop a method to estimate this relative price using international trade data. My method exploits the negative relationship between relative prices of skilled labor services and relative export values in skill-intensive industries. The trade data analysis suggests that the relative price of skilled labor services is low in rich countries. When I integrate these results into a development accounting exercise, I find that skilled labor efficiency differences are more important than uniform efficiency differences in explaining income differences across countries. The share of income differences explained by uniform efficiency differences falls from 79% to 26%. Under an assumption of neutral technology differences, like in traditional development accounting, the skilled labor efficiency differences reflect human capital quality differences, and these differences can explain a majority of income differences across countries. If the assumption of skill-neutral technology differences is relaxed, then an alternative explanation is that there are large skill-biased technology differences between rich and poor countries. ∗I am grateful to Timo Boppart, Axel Gottfries, John Hassler, Karl Harmenberg, Per Krusell, Erik Öberg, and Torsten Persson for extensive comments on the project. Moreover, I am grateful for helpful discussions with Ingvild Almås, Konrad Burchardi, Saman Darougheh, Niels-Jakob Harbo Hansen, Loukas Karabarbounis, David Lagakos, Bo Malmberg, Kurt Mitman, Jon de Quidt, Jósef Sigurdsson, Lena Sommestad, and David Strömberg, as well as for helpful suggestions during interviews, meetings, and seminars during my job market. †Graduate student. Institute for International Economic Studies. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com. 1


The integration of cognitive processes and behaviour change methods, generically known as cognitive-behaviour modification, has sparked off a series of heated arguments about the status of this hybrid (Greenspoon and Lamal, 1978; Ledwidge, 1978; 1979 (a); (b); Mahoney, 1974; 1977; Mahoney and Kazdin 1979; Meichenbaum 1977; 1979; Rachlin, 1977(a); (b); Wolpe, 1976; 1978). At the considerable risk of adding fuel to an already inflamed debate, I have drawn up a list of myths which the opposition to cognitive-behaviour modification has promulgated. Myths are, of course, a potent source of influence, and I am not at all sanguine that labelling the lines of opposition to cognitive-behaviour modification as 'myths' will change peoples' cognitions or behaviour. Nevertheless, in the interests of academic debate, and indeed in the pursuit of truth,* I have listed what seem to me to be the essential fallacies in the arguments against the cognitive-behavioural movement.


Two wheat starch samples differing in the degree of double-modification (hydroxypropylated (HP) and cross-linked) were used. Noodles each containing one of these starches were produced and the effects were examined. The kneading properties of the doughs were also examined by farinography. As physicochemical characteristics of the noodles, the degree of gelatinization, cooking loss, compression/tensile test data and freeze-thaw stability were each measured. The taste properties were also clarified by a sensory evaluation with the scoring method. The doughs containing the hydroxypropylated and cross-linked wheat starches each showed a farinogram similar to that of the wheat flour dough, all of which thus gave viscoelastic dough. The addition of the modified wheat starches caused a decrease in the cooking loss, and a high degree of gelatinization was achieved within a short boiling time. The noodles containing the hydroxypropylated wheat starch were soft, highly cohesive and highly extensible. They also had good characteristics of tensile strength and elastic modulus for elongation, indicating that they were highly viscoelastic noodles. After repeatedly freezing and thawing, these noodles suffered little decrease in hardness and elongation, but some showed a small increase in the elongation elastic modulus. The noodles containing modified wheat starch showed a suppressed degree of retrogradation due to aging and high freeze-thaw stability. The sensory evaluation clarified that the noodles containing the starch with a low-degree of substitution were viscoelastic, less sticky and highly prefered. (Received July 1, 1998; Accepted in revised form March 26, 1999)


Diverse patterns of plant fruit and seed coloration are determined by the presence of two main types of pigment, carotenoids (red, orange and yellow color) and anthocyanins (purple, blue, red). Thеy belong to two groups of secondary metabolites, isoprenoids and flavonoids. Interest towards the genetic mechanisms that control coloration in plants has recently increased due to the antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of some pigments and their colorless precursors consumed with plant-derived food. The genes encoding enzymes involved in step-bystep conversion of initial organic molecules to final pigmented compounds are referred to as structural genes, while regulatory genes are responsible for activation of the expression of structural genes and control the synthesis of pigments at certain times and in proper tissue. The data in plant genetics accumulated to date show that the inter- and intraspecies phenotypic diversity in coloration is mainly related with regulatory genes. Previously developed rich gene collections and precise genetic models for coloration traits in dicots and monocots as well as the rapid development of molecular genetic methods for studying plants allowed for studying genetic regulation of pigment synthesis at a molecular level. The peculiarities of the regulation of carotenoid biosynthesis are exemplified with Solanaceae fruits. The genetic mechanisms underlying the synthesis of various flavonoid pigments are exemplified with a study of seed color in Poaceae plants. In summary, prospects for the practical use of regulatory genes that control pigment synthesis are discussed and examples of their practical use in vegetable and cereal crop breeding are given.


Background According to some authors, a single isolated measurement of serum BNP executed on hospital admission would not be a sufficiently accurate method to predict the outcome of patients with ADHF. Aims For verifying this assumption, a retrospective study was conducted on patients hospitalized for ADHF. Our main objective was to ascertain whether there was any difference in midterm mortality among patients with rising BNP at discharge as compared to those with decreasing BNP at discharge. Methods Medical records were examined so as to make a partition of the ADHF patient population into two groups, the former characterized by a rise in BNP during hospitalization, and the latter exhibiting a decrease in BNP in the measurement taken at hospital discharge. Results 177 patients were enrolled in a retrospective study. Among them, 53 patients (29.94%) had increased BNPs at the time of discharge, whereas 124 (70.06%) showed decreases in serum BNP during their hospital stay. The group with patients who exhibited BNP increases at the time of discharge had higher degree of congestion evident in the higher frequency of persistent jugular venous distention and persistent orthopnea at discharge. Moreover, patients with increased BNP at the time of discharge had a lower reduction in inferior vena cava maximum diameter [1.58 ± 2.2 mm vs. 6.32 ± 1.82 mm; p (one-way ANOVA)=0.001]. In contrast, there was no significant difference in weight loss when patients with increased BNP at discharge were compared to those with no such increase. A total of 14 patients (7.9%) died during the six-month follow-up period. Cox proportional hazard analysis revealed that BNP increase at the time of discharge was an independent predictor of six-month all-cause mortality after adjustment for age, sodium at discharge, creatinine at discharge and New York Heart Association (NYHA) class at discharge (hazard ratio 34.49; 95% confidence intervals: 4.55–261.06; P =0.001). Conclusions Among patients with history of ADHF, more elevated BNP levels at the time of discharge from the hospital compared to those detected at admission identify a patient subset with higher grade of congestion and higher six-month mortality.


The vulnerability analysis technique presented in this paper takes into account the innovation of an attacker. A metric for innovation is not new; 700 years ago William of Occam suggested a technique [6]. The salient point of Occam's Razor and complexity-based vulnerability analysis is that the better one understands a phenomenon, the more concisely the phenomenon can be described. This is the essence of the goal of science: to develop theories that require minimum size to be fully described. Ideally, all the knowledge required to describe a phenomenon can be algorithmically contained in formulae; formulae that are larger than necessary lack a full understanding of the phenomenon. Consider an attacker as a scientist trying to learn more about his environment, that is, the target system. Parasitic computing [1] is a literal example of a scientist studying the operation of a communication network and utilizing it to his advantage in an unintended manner. The attacker as scientist generates hypotheses and theorems. Theorems are attempts to increase understanding of a system by assigning a cause to an event, rather than assuming all events are randomly generated. If theorem x, described in bits, is of length l(x), then a theorem of length l(m), where l(m) is much less than l(x), is not only much more compact, but also ( ) ( ) 2 x l m − times more likely to be the actual cause than pure chance [6]. Thus, the more compactly a theorem can be stated, the more likely one understands the underlying cause. A very literal example of an attacker as a scientist who is trying to understand a phenomenon, i.e. the system being attacked, can be seen in [1].


Metallothioneins (MTs) are cytoplasmic proteins that sequester certain divalent cations and are considered a primary cellular defense against the toxic transition metal cadmium (Cd 2 (cid:2) ). MT-I/II( (cid:1) / (cid:1) ) knockout [MT( (cid:1) / (cid:1) )] cells are available and serve as an excellent tool to study non–MT-related mechanisms in metal tolerance. In the current study, Cd 2 (cid:2) -resistant MT( (cid:1) / (cid:1) ) (CdR) and CdR revertant (CdR-rev) cell lines were developed and characterized to investigate non–MT-mediated cellular protection mechanisms. Resistance to Cd 2 (cid:2) was approximately 70-fold higher in CdR than the parental MT( (cid:1) / (cid:1) ) cell line (IC 50 (cid:3) 20 versus 0.3 (cid:2) M, respectively) and was stable in the absence of Cd 2 (cid:2) for 35 days. Accumulation of Cd 2 (cid:2) by the CdR cell line was reduced by approximately 95% compared with parental cells, primarily because of a decreased Cd 2 (cid:2) uptake. Cd 2 (cid:2) uptake by the MT( (cid:1) / (cid:1) ) parental cell line was independent


Hepatectomy is feasible for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with good hepatic function who meet the Milan criteria. Several studies have indicated that tumor markers of HCC, α‐fetoprotein (AFP), Lens culinaris agglutinin‐reactive fraction of AFP percentage and protein induced by vitamin K absence/antagonist‐II were good predictors of malignant potential. It is important to identify highly malignant cases of HCC, and the aim of this study was to clarify the impact of triple positive tumor markers as the prognostic factors for early stage HCC within the Milan criteria.


Doctors' strikes present an ethical dilemma due to perceived central role of doctors in relation to human health and life. Doctors are seen and judged by higher standards than the ordinary people. Under Hippocrates oath, doctor is considered to be in a social contract and is obliged to treat patient's health and life as a priority over everything else and going on strike is considered a breach of such contract. Though socialized medicine (being practiced in several developing countries) advocates that health care is the joint responsibility of the state, the healthcare institutions and the doctors, yet the doctors' strikes carry greater ethical predicaments for themselves. As most societies seem to follow a Utilitarian view that pronounces strike as ethical only under the condition when such action carries greater good for the doctors and to society than the loss occurring as a result of denial of health services to the patients during the strike. However decision regarding what defines greater good is complex. There is no single best answer against or in favor of doctors' industrial action. In a system of socialized medicine, government being in charge of resources and management decisions has to assume greater responsibility in faith of the greater good of all stakeholders including doctors and patients and working conditions of doctors in developing countries in particular demand a contextual analysis of the situation.


The Understanding of the different fractions of Zinc in soils is important to effectively manage fertilizer resources due to the low availability of Zinc in the native soil worldwide. Bioavailability, uptake of Zinc by plant and its fractions depend largely on the soil parent material, the type of chemical transformation the soil has been expose to over times and some anthropogenic intervention. This study examined five different Zn pools. The distribution of Zn in soil fractions was determined for seven selected soils of South Western Nigeria. A sequential batch extraction which had been modified was used to identify Zn fractions and were separated into: the extractable zinc (Ex-Zn), zinc associated with the carbonate (CO 3 -Zn), the organically bound zinc (Org-Zn), sesquioxide (Ox-Zn) and residual (Res-Zn) in each soil. Total Zn was estimated as a sum of all the pools. Result showed that Zinc fractions in the soils were in this order: extractible pool (3.8%) < organic pool (13.6%) < carbonate pool (14.8%) < sesquioxide pool (22.8%) < residual pool (45.1%). The residual pool amounts for almost half of the zinc that made up the total zinc in the soil. The distribution of zinc into these pools were determined by selected physical and chemical properties of the soil; the pH, organic carbon, clay, CEC, and phosphorus. However, soil phosphorus and pH had the highest influence on the zinc in the experimental soils. The stable fraction that dominated the soil was evident in the low extractable Zn fractions in the soil. Which is an indication of the inherently low levels of the bioavailability of Zn in the selected soils used in this study.


This article is based on the introduction of a telemedicine system in the jungles of northeastern Peru. The system was designed by a European consortium led by a Spanish polytechnic in cooperation ...


Enormous technological innovation in recent years has put a great challenge upon manufacturers in consumer electronics industry: how to efficiently and accurately verify the functionality of a product handed to a customer. To address this problem, we propose a fully automated system for functional failure detection in TV sets. In the proposed framework, the automatic assessment of TV set functionality is performed by processing captured images of the TV set under inspection and the captured images from the reference TV set (which is considered to be with no functional failures). A new algorithm for image similarity is proposed and incorporated in the system for evaluating the difference between the tested image and the reference one, in respect to specific degradations that can occur in TV sets. The similarity detection algorithm is a full-reference intra-frame video quality assessment scheme, which is based on spatially local mean square error and variance between the reference and the tested image. Based on the similarity detection, an acceptance decision for the TV set functionality is made. The proposed embedded system for automatic TV functional failure detection includes (i) central control unit through which the testing methodology is carried out: The TV set under inspection is fed by the test video signals defined by the (ii) specified test-case-scenario, while the picture is simultaneously captured from the tested TV set and compared by the (iii) proposed similarity detection algorithm to the reference one, for the same type of TV set. Finally, the results are stored in the (iv) data base for TV set debugging purposes. The usability and effectiveness of the proposed methodology has been experimentally evaluated and detailed analysis of the results has been reported. The proposed similarity detection algorithm has shown to be superior to the other state-of-the-art image quality assessment algorithms in terms of detecting TV picture degradations (such as picture misalignment, illumination change, aliasing, blurring, etc.) in captured images from TV set, under the methodology which incorporates defined test-case-scenario.


This study aims to analyze Company Size, Asset Structure, Sales Growth, and Profitability on Company Value with Capital Structure as a Mediator Variable in Food and Beverage Companies Listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange 2012-2018. This research is the associative research with a quantitative approach. The population used in this study were all foods and beverages listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. The samples of research were determined using the purposive sampling technique. Data were analyzed using path analysis. The data analysis instrument used was the SmartPLS application with an evaluation model. This data analysis instrument was used to assess the outer and inner models. The results showed that the company size, asset structure, sales growth, and profitability did not have a significant effect on company value. In contrast, the capital structure had a significant effect on the company value. Capital structure is not able to mediate the effect of exogenous on endogenous variables.


The joint Health Protection Agency (HPA) and Loughborough University Laser Safety Management training courses have been running for over 20 years. Over this time, the course has been modified, redesigned and developed to increase the interaction with the attendees. This included a range of practical activities from risk assessments on real-life situations to measurements of lasers and providing hands-on experience to compliment learning of the core knowledge required in laser safety management.More changes have taken place last year to develop the course further with the aim to take the interaction during the course to a greater level. One of the main objectives is to encourage discussion within the class and to gauge the attendees' understanding of the subject. Successful interaction techniques used at Universities and Schools have been investigated and introduced into laser safety training. Case studies of current implementation into the Laser Safety Management training course will be reviewed as well as future course development plans.The joint Health Protection Agency (HPA) and Loughborough University Laser Safety Management training courses have been running for over 20 years. Over this time, the course has been modified, redesigned and developed to increase the interaction with the attendees. This included a range of practical activities from risk assessments on real-life situations to measurements of lasers and providing hands-on experience to compliment learning of the core knowledge required in laser safety management.More changes have taken place last year to develop the course further with the aim to take the interaction during the course to a greater level. One of the main objectives is to encourage discussion within the class and to gauge the attendees' understanding of the subject. Successful interaction techniques used at Universities and Schools have been investigated and introduced into laser safety training. Case studies of current implementation into the Laser Safety Management training course will be reviewed as well a...


Background: Pseudomonas spp. is one of the most frequent nosocomial pathogen that is often difficult to treat due to a multi-drug resistant pattern to a wide range of antibiotics like carbapenems. Imipenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (IRP) resulting from metallo-b-lactamases has been reported to be an important cause of nosocomial infection and is a critical therapeutic problem worldwide, especially in the case of bacteremia. Objectives: In this work we aimed to detect Carbapenemase and MBL production as well as molecular detection of bla IMP gene in impenem resistant nosocomial isolates of Pseudomonas spp. Material and Methods:A total number of 150 Pseudomonas isolates were collected from clinical specimens submitted to Ain Shams University microbiology Laboratory for culture and antibiotic susceptibility testing.We used the Imipenem E-test strips to determine the MIC of the IPM resistant isolates .Screening for Carbapenemase and Metallo-β-lactamase was done phenotypically using modified hodge test (MHT) and Imipenem-EDTA Double disk Synergy test (DDST), also molecular detection of blaIMP gene was performed. Results: It was found that 38 out of 150 isolates (25.4%) were resistant to impenem by disc diffusion method which confirmed by E test that showed only 27 out of 150 (18%) were resistant. Ten Out of 27 isolates (37%) were expressed blaIMP gene. However, The Modified Hodge Test Positive isolates were 13 out of 27 E-test resistant isolates (48.1%). While the DDST positive isolates were 21 out of 27 (77.8%) of E-test resistant isolates. Conclusion: Metallo-b-lactamases among imipenem-resistant Pseudomonas were detected in 37% by PCR. This number might have been higher if other genes were included. Phenotypic tests could be misleading when testing for metallo-b-lactamases. Polymerase Chain Reaction detection remains the gold standard. [Sherin A.S. ElMasry, Rania A. Ammar and Sally M. Saber. Phenotypic and Molecular Characterization of Imipenem Resistant pseudomonas Isolates. Life Sci J 2012; 9(2s): 377-383] (ISSN: 1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite.com. 42


Scientific inquiry ranging from the historic research of Weston Price to ongoing contemporary studies demonstrates that microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, viruses) can persist in root canals and dentinal tubules after apparently successful endodontic treatment. The passage of these microorganisms into the blood has been scientifically demonstrated, as has the passage of their highly toxic waste products of anaerobic metabolism, such as sulfides and polyamines.


consider the currently available and most suitable best knowledge as well as develop new knowledge and skills. Fostered spatial education and awareness helps the society to better plan good spatial solutions. Spatial competence includes expertise and accountability when making and implementing decisions that impact spatial development. When making spatial decisions (incl. spatial planning), planners make sure that their methods are up-todate and the developed spatial solutions can be adapted in the future, since they have a long-term impact on development of built environment.


RNA plays many different roles in biological systems. characteristic marker mutations from the parental RNAs. One of RNAs most intriguing features is the ability to Following the initial recombination event, detection of carry genetic information despite a labile nature. While recombinants required amplification in cells that imRNA genomes were presumably widespread in the priposed a selection for or against a particular recombinant mordial ''RNA world,'' only RNA viruses and viroids conbased on its ability to be amplified in vivo. Nevertheless, tinue to exploit RNA-based genetic materials. As with these data were used to group RNA recombination as DNA-based organisms, these entities must evolve and homologous or nonhomologous (King, 1988). Homoloadapt in order to survive. Genetic recombination, the forgous recombinants were those derived from parental mation of chimeric molecules from segments previously RNAs that were either very similar in the case of intraseparated on the same molecule or present on different typic recombination or somewhat less similar in the case parental molecules, is one of the most important mechaof intertypic recombination. Based on the precision of nisms for generating novel genomes that may have sethe event, Lai (1992) further divided this grouping of relective advantages over parental genomes. Recent studcombinants into homologous or aberrant homologous ies on the evolution of RNA viruses have revealed that recombinants. Homologous recombinants were newly RNA recombination is a widespread phenomenon that defined as containing no sequence alterations (except has shaped modern viruses by rearranging viral gethe existing marker mutations) when compared to the nomes or disseminating functional modules among difparental molecules while aberrant homologous recombiferent viruses (Strauss and Strauss, 1988; Dolja and Carnants contained modifications such as mismatch mutarington, 1992; Lai, 1992; Simon and Bujarski, 1994). In tions, deletions, or insertions at or close to the junction addition, an important short-term function of genetic resite. Recombinants were grouped as nonhomologous if combination may be the rescue of functional sequences they were generated by recombination between dissimifrom mutated parental molecules, which is of particular lar viral genomes or between a viral genome and host significance given the high mutation rates associated RNA. This classical genetic grouping of recombinants, with replication by RNA-dependent RNA polymerases however, did not take into account the mechanisms lead(RdRp) (Domingo et al., 1996). Depending on the preciing to their generation. Not surprisingly, recent studies sion of the repair mechanism, the repaired genome can have suggested similar recombinants can be formed by be similar to the parental genome, or it can contain furdifferent mechanisms. Moreover, similar mechanisms ther mutations. This illustrates that sequence diversity in have been postulated that lead to the formation of some RNA sequences generated by genetic recombination can recombinants that currently would be grouped as homolinvolve both gross changes and minor mutations. Moreogous or nonhomologous. over, the products of recombination can overlap with unThe most accepted models of RNA recombination are related phenomena, including mutagenesis and nonrethe replicase-driven template switching model, the RNA combination-based genome repair. breakage and ligation model, and the breakage-induced Early studies identified RNA recombination events intemplate switching model. Since all these recombination directly by isolating chimeric products that contained models can lead to the formation of similar recombinant RNAs, it is not possible to promote a particular mecha1 To whom correspondence and reprint requests should be adnism based only on the sequence of the recombination dressed to at Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Ledend-products. Rather, characterization of recombination erle Graduate Research Center, University of Massachusetts, Box intermediates and components of the recombination ma34505, Amherst, MA 01003-4505. Fax: 413-545-4529; E-mail: simon@ biochem.umass.edu. chinery is required. Below, we will summarize our current


Standards exist for describing gene variants (e.g., Human Genome Variation Society), but there is not a definitive standard for encoding diseases for information exchange. Existing sources of disease definitions include the National Cancer Institute Thesaurus (NCIt), the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM), SNOMED CT, ICD, ICD-O, OncoTree, MedGen, and numerous others. Our census of disease ontologies [1] identified 37 such resources, each of which has been designed for a particular purpose, and as such has different strengths. However, these standards partially overlap and often conflict, making it difficult to align knowledge sources for example, there are multiple resources describing variant interpretation or drug responsiveness in different ways. This need to integrate information has resulted in a proliferation of mappings between disease entries in different resources; these mappings lack completeness, accuracy, and precision, and are often inconsistent between resources. The UMLS provides intermediate concepts through which other resources can be mapped, but these mappings also suffer from the same challenges: they are not guaranteed to be one-to-one, especially in areas with evolving disease concepts such as rare disease. Moreover, the UMLS is not intended for classification for example, it contains cycles. In order to computationally leverage the available knowledge sources for diagnostics and to reveal underlying mechanisms of diseases, we need to understand which terms are truly equivalent across different resources. This will allow integration of associated information, such as treatments, genetics, phenotypes, etc. We therefore created the Mondo Disease Ontology to provide a logic-based structure for unifying multiple disease resources.


A key source of the impressive growth in Pakistan's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been the agriculture sector, which grew about 3.6 percent a year for 25 years. The author analyzes whether such a growth rate is sustainable. In different periods, growth has come from different sources: from a seed, fertilizer, and irrigation packages in the 1960's, from intensification of water and fertilizer use in the 1970's, and from improvement of crop management and incentives in the 1980s. In the past 10 years, cotton has been a main source of growth. The momentum for growth may be ending. Total cultivable land and irrigation cannot increase significantly. At best, water resources can expand by 10 percent, and only at great cost. Also, there have been problems with cotton in recent years. Future growth must come mainly from increases in productivity, achieved by allocating resources to crops for which the country has a comparative advantage, improving the technical efficiency of inputs for each major crop, and increasing cropping intensity. But increasing productivity means changing major agricultural systems, policies, and institution, including: (a) Poor incentives policies, which have led to inappropriate use of land and hence to problems of soil erosion and land degradation; (b) Poor distribution of land resources and inadequate systems of land tenure. At one extreme are very large estates of absentee landlords, and at the other, very small, ill-equipped peasant farms. Insecurity of tenure creates disincentives for investing in land; (c) Persistent problems with irrigation, essential on more than three-fourths of agricultural land in Pakistan; (d) Weak human resources and infrastructure; and (e) Direct government intervention in agricultural markets, which, although recently diminished, still distorts markets. Subsidized imports of wheat and price controls on cotton exports reflect a persisting bias against cotton and wheat, while sugarcane is heavily protected. The protection of domestic industry distorts sectoral prices. Government policy also distorts the market for such vital inputs as seeds and fertilizer. Serious problems in the credit market exacerbate other problems arising from policy distortions.


The severe crises of 1991 gave birth to the new economic thought in the country. A bundle of measures were taken to remove the various deficiencies and rigidities in the Indian economy. Hence, new economic policy was introduced to mold the Indian economy to the right path. Financial sector reforms and banking sector reforms are the part and parcel of economic reforms, which strengthen the economic reforms. Under the regime of banking sector reforms, IT Act of 1999 gave new dimensions to the Indian banking sector. IT has created transformation in banking structure, business process, work culture and human resource development. It affected the productivity, profitability and efficiency of the banks to a large extent. The present paper analyzes the major parameters of productivity, profitability of major banks in the pre and post e-banking period. The paper concludes that performance of all the banks under study is much better in post-e-banking period and further foreign banks are at the top position, whereas the performance of the public sector banks is comparatively very poor. The paper suggests some measures to tackle the challenges faced by the banks particularly public sector banks. At the end, paper suggests how public sector banks can convert the emerging challenges into opportunities.


The present invention is a cancer condition that, cross-pollination After 50-86 days the bags to modify the field seed MS solid after 60 days, inoculated in the medium and 4 ± 1 ℃ cold treatment on the germination and dormancy breaking method of the bags is the seed after germination to in-flight aseptically or cross-pollination, or 50-86 days the bags is the result of sterile germination on board by the seed in the liquid shaking culture under dark conditions, indicating the effect of improving the germination rate. In addition, modification in accordance with the hyumyeonah dormancy breaking method of the bags is of the present invention MS solid medium in 240 days, modified MS liquid medium in 180 days culture the results of shaking culture at 60 days modified MS liquid medium under the conditions kills the hyumyeonah obtained , hyumyeonseong is shown breaking the effect is successfully grown in the greenhouse. The method is an innovative way for the bags to break the dormancy is to get the young seedlings. If the breeding grab bag is to break the seed germination and hyumyeonseong of the bags is in this way preserve the nation native plants in bags is in danger of extinction, and not only to restore the habitat is also developing for horticulture can can mean it is very large. Bags What, seeds, solid culture, liquid culture, hyumyeonah dormancy breaking


Physiotherapy is essential to optimize the results of shoulder joint replacement, but requires a close monitoring and co-operation between patient and physiotherapist. The development of telerehabi ...


Socio-economic development increasingly calls for revised interpretations of the right of ownership that would impose restraints on the owners in exercising their right. Rather than being an absolute substantive right, the right of ownership is a social function; its boundaries are delimited by legislative acts as well as by the public interest and the standards of communal conduct. Ownership of real property plays a special role with respect to spatial planning, both at the macro level and at the level of individual investment projects, by virtue of being an immanent part of its economic consequences. Restraints on the right of ownership are applied by government agencies and municipal authorities, whose task is not only to issue legally sound compulsory purchase orders, but also to ensure that the compensations paid to owners are commensurate with their losses. In the process of ownership changes, an important controlling role is played by public information programs enabling any concerned owners to inspect the envisaged transformations.


The cognitive spacial dimensionality of timbre in the minds of listeners is investigated. Physical models of strings, rods, plates, and membranes and couplings of these obtaining simple musical instruments are used. Here, for each model, eight sounds have been produced by linear change of only one parameter of the physical model. So, i.e., the change of inharmonicity in a string sound modeled as coupling of the string differential equation with a bending stiffness equation by linearly increasing the bending stiffness is investigated. After the judgment procedure, the mean judged similarities of all subjects are fit into an n‐dimensional space. The spacial dimensions then have to be interpreted in terms of the physical changes of the sounds distributed over those dimensions. It could be shown that linear changes in inharmonicity of strings do have both, a linear perception as well as sudden phase changes, a finding relevant to psychoacoustic noise perception or room acoustics. Also, the problem of changing...


Lymph node sections from patient with persistent generalised lymphadenopathy immunostained for acid cysteine proteinase inhibitor (peroxidase-antiperoxidase, haematoxylin.) x 120. describing the above events as it covers the essential features of this peculiar phenomenon. Centrorrhexis is important as: DRC may represent a reservoir of HTLV-III (HIV)6; the extent of it may be of prognostic importance in patients infected with (HIV)1; and it is found in some other disorders, including Toxoplasma gondii infection,4 the acute phase of which'° shares with persistent generalised lymphadenopathy, AIDS related complex, and AIDS, the phenomenon of a reversed helper:suppressor cell ratio for peripheral blood lymphocytes. Appreciation of centrorrhexis may shed new light on the interplay between events taking place in organised lymphoid tissue and subsets of circulating lymphocytes.nohistopathology of lymph nodes in HTLV-III infected homosexuals with persistent ade-nopathy or AIDS. Damage to secondary lymphoid follicles in AIDS-related persistent generalized lymph-adenopathy as revealed by the behaviour of dendritic reticulum cells possessing immuno-reactive acid cysteine-proteinase inhibitor. RA. The immunohistology of follicle lysis in lymph node biopsies from homosexual men. III/LAV viral antigens in lymph nodes of homosexual men with persistent generalised lymphadenopathy and AIDS. Demonstration of immunoreactive acid cysteine-proteinase inhibitor in reticulum cells of lymph node germinal centres. Hopsu-Havu VK. Acid cysteine proteinase inhibitor, a new characteristic of reticulum cells in human lymphoid secondary follicles. B. Activated T-cells with suppressor/ cytotoxic phenotype in acute Toxoplasma gondii infection. Recently much attention has been focused on the reactivity of the Reed Sternberg cell and its morphological variants with the monoclonal antibody Leu Ml.'-4 This can be detected both in paraffin and frozen sections using standard immunohistochemical techniques. In the series reported' 4 Reed Sternberg cells reacted with Leu M 1 in most cases of Hodgkin's disease in all histological subgroups with the exception of the nodular variant of lymphocyte predominant Hodg-kin's disease. This was taken to support the Letters 1043


This article analyzed the causes of a case of medcial lawsuit due to failing communication,demonstrated the case from the view of society,law and responsibility,and proposed some countermeasures to prevent the similar medical lausuit.Although the cases were few which hospitals failed in the law- suit due to failing communication and pay for it,it is necessary to take better measures according to legal process to prevent the cases effectively.


The response of mature female Mediterranean Fruit Fly (Ceratilis capitata (Wiedemann)) to various combinations of visual and olfactory stimuli was studied in field cages. Cohorts of laboratory reared mature females of known age were relased in the cage in choice experiments. Sources of olfactory stimuli were proposed to the flies inside small spheres (4,5 cm diameter) painted with an attractive (red, fluorescent yellow) or a non-attractive (blue) colour. Olfactory stimuli were of two types : food stimuli (protein hydrolysate or Torula yeast) or kairomone-type stimuli (pulp of host fruits). Flies on the different spheres were counted at regular time intervals. In red spheres, orange pulp odour was significantly more attractive for the females than no odour or Torula yeast odour. When proposed in spheres of different colours, orange pulp odour was more attractive in red than in fluorescent yellow or blue spheres. On the contrary, Torula yeast odour appeared more attractive in fluorescent yellow spheres than in red or blue spheres. In red spheres, no significant difference was observed between the odour of tangelo, tangerine and pomelo or tangelo, orange and tangor, respectively. The quantity of pulp used as a source of odour (15, 30 or 45 g) didn't influence markedly female response. Coffee fruit odour was also shown to be less attractive than orange odour in red spheres. (Resume d'auteur)


Social exchange theory is one of the prominent paradigms used to explain the processes linking organizational treatment of employees to their job performance. However, the theoretical link between perceived organizational treatment and police deviance has not been fully explored. This research addresses this gap by analyzing the relationship between perceptions of organizational justice and the use of police self-protective behaviors (SPBs) using organizational support and organizational indifference as ad hoc indicators of the social exchange process. Data were collected using an online self-report survey distributed to police officers in a southern state who are members of a police officer association (n = 1,861). Consistent with previous social exchange research, the findings generally support the idea that fairness is related to SPBs, but largely to the extent that it enhances the social exchange in terms of increasing perceptions of organizational support and reducing perceptions of organizational indifference, which both directly affect an officer's use of SPBs, and are a type of police deviance. Specific findings, relevant policy implications, and directions for future research are discussed.


By sampling perturbed state vectors from each ensemble forecast at additional time levels shifted by ±τ (where τ is a selected time interval) from the analysis time, time-expanded sampling (TES) can not only sample timing errors (or phase errors) but also triple the analysis ensemble size for covariance construction without increasing the forecast ensemble size. In this study, TES was applied to the convection-allowing ensemble-based warn-on-forecast system (WoFS), for four severe storm events, to reduce the computational costs that constrain real-time applications in the assimilation of remote-sensing data from radars and the geostationary satellite GOES-16. For each event, TES was implemented against a 36-member control experiment (E36) by reducing the forecast ensemble size to 12 but tripling the analysis ensemble size to 12 × 3 = 36 with τ = 2.5 min, 5 min and 7.5 min in three TES experiments, named E12×3τ2.5, E12×3τ5 and E12×3τ7.5, respectively. A 0–6-h forecast was created hourly after the second hour during the assimilation in each experiment. The assimilation statistics were evaluated for each experiment applied to each event and were found to be little affected by the TES, while reducing the computational cost. The forecasts produced in each experiment were verified against multi-sensor observed/estimated rainfall, reported tornadoes and damaging winds for each event. The verifications indicated that the forecasts produced in the three TES experiments had about the same capability and quality as that in the E36 for predicting hourly rainfall and the probabilities of tornadoes and damaging winds; in addition, the predictive capability and quality were not sensitive to τ, although they were slightly enhanced by selecting τ = 7.5 min. These results suggest that TES is attractive and useful for cost-saving real-time applications of WoFS in the assimilation of remote-sensing data and the generation of short-term severe-weather forecasts.


The characterization of germline genetic variation affecting cancer risk, known as cancer predisposition, is fundamental to preventive and personalized medicine. Current attempts to detect cancer predisposition genomic regions are typically based on small-scale familial studies or genome-wide association studies (GWAS) over dedicated case-control cohorts. In this study, we utilized the UK Biobank as a large-scale prospective cohort to conduct a comprehensive analysis of cancer predisposition using both GWAS and proteome-wide association study (PWAS), a method that highlights genetic associations mediated by functional alterations to protein-coding genes. We discovered 137 unique genomic loci implicated with cancer risk in the white British population across nine cancer types and pan-cancer. While most of these genomic regions are supported by external evidence, our results highlight novel loci as well. We performed a comparative analysis of cancer predisposition between cancer types, finding that most of the implicated regions are cancer-type specific. We further analyzed the role of recessive genetic effects in cancer predisposition. We found that 30 of the 137 cancer regions were recovered only by a recessive model, highlighting the importance of recessive inheritance outside of familial studies. Finally, we show that many of the cancer associations exert substantial cancer risk in the studied cohort, suggesting their clinical relevance.


Prevalence surveys in different countries have shown that about 1 in 10 hospitalized patients at any one time have acquired an infection and the incidence of infection is usually about 3% to 5%. Can this infection rate be significantly reduced and is there an irreducible minimum below which further reduction cannot be obtained? Cross-infection could probably be almost eliminated by the use of plastic isolators or life islands, and endogenous infections reduced by the wider and more rational prophylactic use of topical and systemic antimicrobial agents, and possibly a range of vaccines. However, the use of these techniques on all patients would clearly be impractical and too expensive for use in the foreseeable future. Excessive isolation techniques would have a detrimental psychological effect on many patients. In addition, failure to eradicate the organisms of the normal flora might be associated with more infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, fungi and viruses which would be more difficult to treat. Even if organisms could be eradicated, morbidity and mortality might not be correspondingly reduced. Priorities must therefore be set on the most effective use of staff and finances. These not only involve a consideration of infection, but all areas of clinical practice, eg, costs of cardiac transplants and provision of geriatric facilities. It therefore seems likely that little additional finance will be available for control of infection, other than possibly for transmissible infections with high mortality such as AIDS.


The dioxins concentration of some cities in Liaoning province were monitored and results was evaluated, too. The results show that concentration of dioxins in those areas is between 0.07~1.0 pg TEQ/m 3.


This paper introduces a new form of slicing, named architectural slicing, to aid architectural understanding and reuse. In contrast to traditional slicing, architectural slicing is designed to operate on the architectural description of a software system, rather than the source code of a program. Architectural slicing provides knowledge about the high-level architecture of a software system, rather than the low-level implementation details of a program.


We review the structures imposed on perturbative QFT by the fact that its Feynman diagrams provide Hopf and Lie algebras. We emphasize the role which the Hopf algebra plays in renormalization by providing the forest formulas. We exhibit how the associated Lie algebra originates from an operadic operation of graph insertions. Particular emphasis is given to the connection with the Riemann–Hilbert problem. Finally, we outline how these structures relate to the numbers which we see in Feynman diagrams. hep-th/0010059, MZ-TH/00-42 Heisenberg Fellow at Mainz Univ., D-55099 Mainz, Germany, email@example.com


Universities have been predicting graduation rates for incoming student classes using a multitude of factors. These factors can be broken down into two categories: preinstitutional and institutional. Pre-institutional factors include socioeconomic (race, gender, economic status) and high school performance data (G.P.A, S.A.T). The combination of this data can be incorporated into a statistical model for predicting graduation rates. While this information can give a broad student success estimate to the university, the refinement comes from the institutional factors. These can range from semester grade point averages to the amount of time a student spends at the gym. One particular factor that will be presented and studied in this thesis is curriculum difficulty, defined through features of a curriculum represented as a graph. A curriculum can be presented as a directed graph, with each class as an individual node, and co/prerequisites as the edges between them. Features of these graphs are defined and studied over several comparable universities' electrical engineering programs. Further, student data at the class level is adapted to create a weighted digraph form which a cumulative curricular difficulty/complexity metric is obtained. The purpose of this tool is to give administration quick access to curricular


The function and hardware and software design of CAN bus node for marine engine room monitoring system were introduced.The basic pattern of nodes,data acquisition and transmission module was designed based on microprocessor,CAN controller,CAN transceiver isolation.Realization of engine room monitoring system was accomplished through the integration with CAN node.


A linear relationship between μ/d (where μ is the C-X bond dipole moment and d is a distance parameter) and the inductive substituent constant, σ1 for substituted acetic acids, XCH2COOH, is derived from a combination of Taft and Kirkwood-Westheimer equations. This linear relationship is similar to the empirical relationship relating μ/d and σ1, observed in monosubstituted alkanes.


The adsorption of carbon dioxide on sodium- and magnesium-exchanged ETS-10 molecular sieves was investigated by FTIR spectroscopy. CO2 was found to adsorb reversibly onto the charge-balancing cations with formation of linear end-on adducts of the type M⋯OCO (with M=Na+ or Mg2+). Such adducts are characterised by intense ν3 bands at 2353 and 2365 cm−1, for CO2 interacting with Na+ and Mg2+, respectively. More interestingly, carbon dioxide was also found to form different carbonate-like species upon adsorption on the Na-ETS-10 (and, to a minor extent, also on Mg-ETS-10), which are the origin of the activity of ETS-10 in heterogeneous base-catalysed processes.


Effective one body numerical relativity waveform models for spin aligned binary black holes (SEOBNR) are based on the effective one body theoretical framework and numerical relativity simulation results. SEOBNR models have evolved through version 1 to version 4. We recently extended SEOBNRv1 model to SEOBNRE (Effective One Body Numerical Relativity waveform models for Spin aligned binary black holes along Eccentric orbit) model which is also valid for spin aligned binary black hole coalescence along eccentric orbit. In this paper we update our previous SEOBNRE model to make it consistent to SEOBNRv4 which is the most widely used SEOBNR waveform model. This upgraded SEOBNRE model improves accuracy compared to previous SEOBNRE model, especially for highly spinning black holes. For spin aligned binary black holes with mass ratio $1\leq q\lesssim10$, dimensionless spin $-0.9\lesssim\chi\lesssim0.995$ and orbital eccentricity $0\leq e_0\lesssim0.6$ at reference frequency $Mf_0=0.002$ ($M$ is the total mass of the binary black hole, $f_0\approx 40\frac{10{\rm M}_\odot}{M}$Hz), the upgraded SEOBNRE model can always fit numerical relativity waveform better than 98.2\%. For most cases the fitting factor can even be better than 99\%.


Though we say high of and make much progress in rule by law,peasant's right consciousness is still indifferent today.If we ascribe it to that peasant's legal awareness,the degree of education is low and their ignorance,it's reasonable in opinion of some western law theory.But it's irresponsible under Chinese urban circumstance.It is necessary to study it deeply and systemically based on the reality of the rural areas in China,and take scientific and reasonable ways to improve peasant's right consciousness under local resource's circumstance.


Accessibility analysis represents one of the most critical tasks in inspection planning. This analysis determines those probe orientations that can touch an inspection point without collision. This paper presents a methodology based on part discretization and the application of space partitioning techniques (kd-tree) in order to reduce the number of intersection tests between probe and part. A STL model has been used for discretizing the inspection part in a set of triangles, which permits the application of the developed system to any type of part, regardless of its shape and its complexity. Likewise, a recursive ray traversal algorithm has been used in order to speed up the traversal of the kd-tree hierarchical structure and to calculate exclusively the intersection of each probe orientation with those part triangles that can potentially interfere with it. In a further step of the analysis, the real geometry of the probe has been considered. Hence, a simplified model has been developed for each probe component (column, head, touch probe, stylus and tip) using different basic geometrical shapes. Finally, collision-free probe orientations are clustered for minimizing the orientation changes during the inspection process. Furthermore, the applied algorithm allows for determining different valid combinations of clusters. The developed system was applied to two example parts in order to prove that this methodology is adequate for the solution of real cases.


Some thirty-one Basque stepped aboard the Magellan-Elcano expedition in Seville. Twenty-two were from Biscay and nine were from Gipuzkoa. Among them were seamen, but there were also technical crew members such as carpenters and caulkers. Six completed the circumnavigation of the globe and eleven more returned aboard the San Antonio without having done so, after this ship abandoned the expedition. This paper describes all of the crew members, the ships onto which they enlisted, their position in the crew, their roles, their pay and their destination. The work is an original and necessary telling of their story. Until now, there has been no consolidated and documented review of the Basque contribution to the first circumnavigation of the world.


[Objective]To observe the curative effect of TCM treatment of IgA nephropathy.[Methods]Using randomized controlled methods,76 patients were divided into two groups according to the.The control of Western medicine treatment group of 37 cases.Observation of TCM treatment of 39 cases of treatment group.① early for the treatment of patients with the principles of the table.② stable patients with spleen and kidney,spleen and kidney for the treatment principle.③ patients with late liver and kidney,blood circulation to treat principle.Continuous treatment with 30d for 1 courses.Observation of clinical symptoms,adverse reaction.Continuous 4 courses of treatment,the curative effect.[Results] The treatment group cured 13 cases,effective in 17 cases,effective 5 cases,invalid 4 cases,the total efficiency of 89.74%.The control group cured 10 cases,effective in 12 cases,effective 4 cases,invalid 11 cases,the total efficiency of 70.27%.The treatment group was better than control group(P0.05).[Conclusion]TCM treatment of IgA nephropathy effect is significant,worthy of promotion.


In order to clarify the influence degree and scope of the sewage river to groundwater quality,taking one sewage channel of Dezhou as an example,effects of sewage river on coastal soil and groundwater organic pollution were studied. The results showed that the shallow groundwater has been seriously polluted on both sides of the sewage,the main pollutants include 3-nitrogen,heavy metal and chloroben,etc. Chlorinated pesticides,polychlorinated biphenyls and benzopyrene and other organic components of larger molecular weight are absorbed in soil.


This paper presents a framework to add data and task parallelism to a sequential image processing library. The library contains 3 modules, one for low-level operators, the second for intermediate-level operators and the third for high-level operators. We parallelize the low-level operators by data decomposition and we are working at adding task parallelism at the image processing application level. We validate our data parallel approach by testing it with the geometric mean filter and the multibaseline stereo vision algorithm. Experiments on a cluster of workstations show very good speedup.


My Bachelor thesis researchs efficiency of sales promotion tools utilization. Sales pro-motion subject come out from needs to know and understand of comsumer's buying behavior within beverages drink market area. Bachelor thesis is divided to theoretical and practical part. Theoretical part is based on outcomes form professional literature sources and apprises with marketing mix and describes individual sales promotion tools together with evaluation of its performance efficiency. Thesis also explore and explains in detail basis of buying behavior psycholo-gy, process of decission taking and also study factors which affects consumer behavior. Thesis describes theoretical assumptions taken into consideration within preparation, realization and evaluation of marketing research. Descritption and explanation of work techniques, research questions a objectives for practical part are in the end of theoretical part of thesis. Practical part of thesis describes company Red Bull and it's product Simply Cola. Next step is secondary research , where competitors products are compared by method of com-parative analysis. Second part of practical section is focused on primary research by on-line quantitative method CAWI (computer assist web interviewing), which is most effi-cient for such a type of research. Target of my thesis was to learn and understand of cola beverages consumers behavior, occasions and motivating factor for buying and consumption. Resuslts and findings will create base for recommendation how to adapt and modify future sales promotion acti-vities of Simply Cola.


This article deals with the situation of reimbursement and application for reimbursement of diabetes medical devices by statutory sickness funds in Germany, who represent more than 90% of the market.

The bases are both the SGB (Social Code), which regulates a sufficient, comprehensive, necessary, and economic social security, and the MPG (Medical Devices Code), which regulates the conditions under which a product may qualify to become a medical device, jurisdictions (BSG case B3KR25/05R and B3KR21/99R), and other sources that can be found in the abbreviations section.

There are a total of more than 400 000 different products summarized under "medical devices." They all have in common—different from pharmaceuticals—that they mainly have a "physical mode of action," that is, they do not have a pharmacological effect and will not be absorbed and used up by the body. Medical devices are designed for diagnosing, preventing, screening, and treating diseases. They can be pacemakers, ultrasound equipment, insulin pump catheters, surgical dressings, software, and disposable prefilled syringes.

A product qualifies as a medical device pursuant to the MPG when the manufacturer offers it for the use of patients and the handicapped. Thus, qualification is based only on the purpose defined and given by the manufacturer. The product has to be certified (CE certification) and must fulfill the conditions of the MPG, ensuring the quality of the product and the safety of patients and users. Through a defined procedure the manufacturer has to prove that the product fulfils all these conditions. Medical devices that under EU law can be legally sold in 1 member state consequently can be sold in all member states. However, this certification is not about the medical benefit of the product.

Proof of functionality, safety, and medical benefit of a product through the manufacturer is the prerequisite for the listing of the product as a therapeutic appliance in the list of medical devices of the GKV Spitzenverband.

The listing again is the prerequisite for a product to be reimbursed by the statutory sickness funds. Although this list is not binding, it has a steering effect, meaning also that a product may achieve reimbursement by the single decision of an independent sickness fund. However, the list provides overall information about the reimbursement duty of a sickness fund and the quality and variety of products in the market.

The manufacturer applies at the GKV Spitzenverband for the listing (see § 139 of SGB V), who can involve the MDK in the decision-making process, for instance, to check

Functionality and safety of the product (fulfilled by CE certification)

The proven medical benefit

Indication- or use-related conditions

User manuals in German to ensure safe handling of the product

Weather additional services must be provided by the sickness funds accompanying the use of the product

In case of a positive decision, which can take up to 6 months after filing, the product will receive a so-called medical device number, which shows it classification into the 33 different product groups, (eg, aids for application, surgical dressings, aids for inhalation, and systems to measure body functions).

Each product group contains definitions with advice about medical indications that justify a respective use and reimbursement. In addition, minimum quality and conditions under which the product can be provided are fixed to ensure a necessary, high-quality, and reliable social security.

The statutory sickness funds provide their services under a binding principle regulated in section 12 of SGB V: The services have to be sufficient, reasonable, and economic and may not exceed necessity.

Services that are not necessary or economic cannot be demanded by the insured and may not be provided by sickness funds.


Abstract As of March, the Covid-19 pandemic is still hitting Indonesia, this pandemic has a negative impact on Indonesian education, especially in the early childhood education level. The learning process, which initially turned into distance learning, is proof of the real impact of Covid-19. To achieve optimal learning objectives, different learning strategies are needed. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine the implementation of early childhood learning strategies in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. The type of research used is descriptive qualitative. The subjects in this study were teachers and pupils. The data technique used interviews and observations. Meanwhile, to test the validity of the data by triangulation of techniques and sources. The application of learning strategies carried out by teachers during the Covid-19 pandemic with bold and offline learning. Bold learning using social media in the form of YouTube and WhatsApp, while offline learning involves group home visits. Offline learning to cover learning deficiencies that has several problems.

Keywords: Strategic, online, ofline


This paper reviews the status of the main issues pertaining to the reliability of optical fibre cables and shows how increasing understanding of those issues is supporting the evolution of optical cable designs. Six types of failure mode, their effects and causes are discussed, and innovative cable designs are compared with conventional ones. >


The present study focused on numerical modelling on flame temperature and pollutant emissions of H2-air mixture combustion in a series of chambers with same shape and various diameters under adiabatic wall condition. The simulation results indicate that increasing the flame temperature and the combustion efficiency by increasing diameter, decreasing the NOx emission by depleting chamber size and the zero emission of the prompt NOx emission by using hydrogen as fuel in micro combustors. Also the best chamber size of reducing NOx emission and high efficiency was achieved at chamber diameter about 5 to 70 mm.


This paper presents the design and development process of an interactive football-training game that aims to improve players' ball-handling skills, and their ability to simultaneously survey the playing field. A small-scale experiment was conducted to test the game, and the results are presented and reflected upon. Based on the experiences gained from the design and development process, as well as examples from the existing field and skill acquisition theory, we present three areas of interest to consider for interactive sport-training game designers: Context Characteristics, Movement Patterns and Perceptual Reaction. From a discussion of these areas, we derive eight design sensitivities that emphasize issues, challenges and opportunities, important for the design, development and analysis of interactive sport-training games in general.


T HE VIEW FROM HIS APARTment is spectacular-an almost unobstructed view of endless blue water. Overhead, there's a steady pulse of aircraft heading inland. This is an appropriate setting for someone who's dedicated his career to studying the international sea and air transportation of arms and dangerous materials. But Sergio Finardi is not looking out upon a port teaming with freight transfers. The planes overhead are mostly on their final approach to Chicago's O'Hare airport; and the water is fresh and belongs to Lake Michigan. Finardi, 57, is trim, compact, and handsome. His apartment is pinneat: the books and journals stand at attention in the bookshelves, the decor is crisp and clutter-free, his office-with its two computer monitors and their attendants-is an ode to cord management. This is the environment of a man who keeps a steady gush of complex information organized and poised to be useful. Finardi holds a degree in philosophy and history of political doctrines from the University of Milan, and studied economic history at the Stockholm University on a fellowship from the Svenska Institut. For the past 20 years, he has focused on the international freight transport system and the production, trade, and logistics of oil and gas, metals, hazardous material, and weapons. From 1989 to 1998 he was a consultant to the Saima-Avandero Group, the official logistic services provider of the Italian Defense Ministry, and an editor of the group's quarterly World Transport & Trade, for which he conducted desk and field research on the freight transport systems of several countries. Since 1999, his research activity on the logistics of arms transfers and warfare has been supported by The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and Ploughshares Fund. He contributes research to Amnesty International and is a eofounder of the TransArms Research Center for the Logistics of Arms Transfers and TransArmsEurope. From the most discontinuous and bland data, Finardi can extract patterns of subterfuge and foul play. His work has the almost magical ability to make things appear out of thin ether. He explained his work this way: "My friend, Carlo Tombola, and I were writing a book on the international freight transport system, and we realized that there was no data on arms transportation. We started to think


Journal of Coordination Chemistry Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t713455674 XAFS spectroscopic study of Tc2(O2CCH3)4X2 (X = Cl, Br) Frederic Poineau a; Alfred P. Sattelberger ab; Kenneth R. Czerwinski a a Harry Reid Center for Environmental Studies, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV 89154 b Physical Sciences Directorate, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439


The aims of the investigation were to obtain small and supersmall Zr/ZrO spots on W surface, estimating the limit emission capabilities of such systems, and to analyze their physical mechanisms, which determine their stability. Ultrasmall Zr spots with radii of ∼100 A were obtained. For such spots field emission current densities of ∼109 A/cm2 were achieved in stationary regime. The numerical simulation of the emitter heating in the three‐dimensional axial‐symmetrical model showed good qualitative agreement with the experimental results for both localized and nonlocalized emission.


At the 2014 AAAI, Pat Langley, one of the founders of machine learning and, recently, of its detractors, publicly lamented the current abandonment of the "big issues" in AI. Indeed, from emulating human intelligence in the process of learning more about it, AI is often confused with non-intelligent emulation of human intelligent activities. Both in the States and Europe, cognitive computing has emerged as attempts to equip the computer with some knowledge of the domain in which it operates. Cognitive robotics is one of the latest applications of this approach. What I am planning to discuss in the plenary is that our Ontological Semantic Technology offers a framework for capturing, structuring, and computerizing our entire knowledge of the world and anchoring natural language semantics in that knowledge.


type="main"> Understanding the nature of structural change and the sources of economic growth of an economy, especially the relative importance of different industries, is essential for policy-making. This paper estimates industry contribution to economic growth in both Canada and the United States. It argues that industry contribution should be evaluated on the basis of the performance of an industry in terms of creating economic value relative to other industries. In particular, it calls for the quantity and the price effects, which is consistent with real GDP in the chained-Fisher index that values the industry more when its price rises and less when its price declines. This is an important departure from the traditional methodologies that consider only quantity effect. This paper shows that the contribution from demand-driven industries is significantly more than the finding based on traditional thinking.


type="main" xml:id="ecpa12085-abs-0001"> Application of new methodological advances to Africa either does not exist or is always with substantial delay, mostly due to lack of data. In this paper, we use the newly constructed real effective exchange rates of twenty African countries over the current floating rate period of 1971Q1–2012Q4 and test the well-known Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) theory by applying Panel Kapitanios-Shin-Snell unit root test through the sequential panel selection method. This method classifies the whole panel into a group of stationary and non-stationary series and hence identifies how many and which series in the panel are stationary processes. Our empirical results indicate that PPP holds only in three of twenty African countries under study.