We define Knowledge Amplification by Structured Expert Randomization (KASER). A KASER can automatically acquire a virtual rule space exponentially larger than the actual rule space and with an exponentially decreasing nonzero likelihood of error. The KASER cracks the knowledge acquisition bottleneck in intelligent systems by amplifying user-supplied knowledge. This enables the construction of an intelligent system, which is creative, failsoft, learns over a network, and otherwise has enormous potential for automated decision-making. On Knowledge Amplification by Structured Expert Randomization (KASER) Stuart H. Rubin SSC San Diego FIGURE 1. The comparative costs of knowledge acquisition. VIRTUAL RULE SPACE REAL RULE SPACE CONVENTIONAL COST KN OW LE DG E BREAK-EVEN KASERS INTRODUCTION TO RANDOMIZATION The theory of randomization was first published by Chaitin and Kolmogorov [1] in 1975. Their work may be seen as a consequence of Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem [2] in that it shows were it not for essential incompleteness, a universal knowledge base could, in principle, be constructed––one that need employ no search other than referential search. Lin and Vitter [3] proved that learning must be domain-specific to be tractable. The fundamental need for domain-specific knowledge is in keeping with Rubin's proof of the Unsolvability of the Randomization Problem [4]. This paper went on to introduce the concept of knowledge amplification. Production rules are expressed in the form of situation action pairs. Such rules, once discovered to be in error, are corrected through acquisition. Conventionally, a new rule must be acquired for each correction. This is linear learning. The acknowledged key to breakthroughs in the creation of intelligent software is cracking the knowledge acquisition bottleneck [5]. Learning how to learn is fundamentally dependent on representing the knowledge in the form of a society of experts. Minsky's seminal work here led to the development of intelligent agent architectures [6]. Furthermore, Minsky [7] and Rubin [4] independently provided compelling evidence that the representational formalism itself must be included in the definition of domain-specific learning if it is to be scalable. A KASER is defined to be a knowledge amplifier that is based on the principle of structured expert randomization. A Type I KASER is one where the user supplies declarative knowledge in the form of a semantic tree using single inheritance. A Type II KASER can automatically induce this tree through the use of randomization and set operations on property lists, which are acquired by way of database query and user-interaction. An overview of a Type II KASER is provided below. Unlike conventional intelligent systems, KASERs are capable of accelerated learning in symmetric domains. Figure 1 plots the knowledge acquired by an intelligent system vs. the cost of acquisition. Conventional expert systems will generate the curve below break-even. That is, with conventional expert systems, cost increases with scale and is never better than linear. Compare this with KASERs where cost decreases with scale and is always better than linear unless the domain has no symmetries (i.e., it is random). Note that such On Knowledge Amplification by Structured Expert Randomization (KASER) 71 domains do not exist with scale in practice. Similarly, purely symmetric domains do not exist with scale in practice either. The more symmetric the operational domain, the less the cost of knowledge acquisition and the higher the curve appears in the graph. It is always the case that the virtual rule space >> the real rule space. INDUCING PROPERTY LISTS We will define a production system that can automatically acquire a virtual rule space that is exponentially larger than the actual rule space with an exponentially decreasing non-zero likelihood of error. Moreover, the generalization mechanism will not only be bounded in its error, but other than for a straightforward user-query process, it will operate without any a priori knowledge supplied by the user. To begin, define a production rule (e.g., using ANSI Common LISP) to be an ordered pair––the first member of which is a set of antecedent predicates, and the second member of which is an ordered list of consequent predicates. Predicates can be numbers (e.g., [1..2] [10..20]) or words [8]. Previously unknown words or phrases can be recursively defined in terms of known ones. For example, the moves of a Queen in chess (i.e., unknown) can be defined in terms of the move for a Bishop (i.e., known) union those for a Rook (i.e., known). This is a union of property lists. Other basic set operations may likewise be used (e.g., intersection, difference, not, etc.). The use of fuzzy set operators here (e.g., "almost the same as") pertains to computing with words [8]. In a Type I KASER, words and phrases are entered through the use of pull-down menus. In that manner, semantically identical concepts (e.g., Hello and Hi) are not ascribed a distinct syntax, which would otherwise serve to dilute the efficiency of the learning mechanism. In a Type II KASER, distinct syntax may be equated to yield the equivalent normalized semantics. To better visualize this, think of a child who may ask, "What is a bird?" to which the reply is, "It is an animal that flies," to which the question is, "What is an animal?" to which the reply is, "It is a living thing," to which the question is, "What is a living thing?" to which the reply (often) is, "Eat your soup!" (i.e., a Type I delimiter, or stop marker gene). Two sample rules and their representation follow. Hydrogen Oxygen Spark → Steam R1: ({Hydrogen, Oxygen, Spark} (Steam)) Hydrogen Oxygen Match → Steam R2: ({Hydrogen, Oxygen, Match} (Steam)) R1 and R2 may be generalized, since the consequent predicates are identical (i.e., the right-hand sides [RHSs] are equivalent) and the antecedent terms differ in exactly one predicate. This is termed a level-1 generalization because it is one level removed from ground truth. In a level-i generalization, i is the maximum level of generalization for any antecedent predicate. The need for a generalization squelch arises because contexts may be presented for which there is no matching rule in the real space. Generalizations can be recursively defined. DATA ACQUISITION AND EXPLOITATION 72 The advocated approach captures an arbitrary rule's context––something that cannot be accomplished through the use of property lists alone. If veristic terms such as "Warm" are generalized to such terms as "Heat" for example, then qualitative fuzziness will be captured. A1: ({Heat} {Spark, Match}(X001 Explosive-Gas-Igniter)) Generalization, A1, tells us that antecedent predicate, "Heat" is more general than either a Spark or a Match. We may also write this as Heat > {Spark, Match}. Note that the relation ">>" is used to denote ancestral generalizations (and vice versa). The general predicate is initially specified as X00i, but this is replaced after interactive query with the user, where possible. Otherwise, the next-level expansions will need to be printed for the user to read. Also, "redundant, at-least-as-specific" rules are always expunged. The common property list follows the set of instances. Here, the list informs us that a spark or a match may be generalized to Heat because both share the property of being an Explosive-Gas-Igniter. Properties are dynamic. They must be capable of being hierarchically represented, augmented, and randomized. In addition, property lists are subject to set operations (e.g., intersection). Properties can be acquired by way of database and/or user query. User-queries can be preprocessed by a companion veristic mining system. Similarly, system-generated queries can be post-processed by companion systems. Companion systems can also play a role in imparting tractability to the inference engine. Consequent terms, being sequences, are taken to be immutable. The idea here is to automatically create a hierarchy of consequent definitions to maximize the potential for rule reuse. Begin by selecting a pair of rules having identical left-hand sides (LHSs), where possible. Consider: R3: ({Hydrogen, Oxygen, Heat} (Steam)) R4: ({Hydrogen, Oxygen, Heat} (Light, Heat)) Next, an attempt is made to generalize the consequent sequences with the following result. C1: ((Energy) ((Steam) (Light Heat))(X002 Power-Source)) Here, the properties of Steam intersect those of Light and Heat to yield the property, Power-Source. Thus, a property of Energy, in the current context at least, is that it is a Power Source. Rules R3 and R4 are now replaced by their valid generalization, R5: R5: ({Hydrogen, Oxygen, Heat} (Energy)) A key concept is that further learning can serve to correct any latent errors. In addition, notice that as the level of randomization increases on the LHS and RHS, the potential for matching rules, and thus inducing further generalizations, increases by way of feedback. Consequent randomization brings the consequents into a normal form, which then serves to increase the possibility of getting antecedent generalizations, since more RHSs can be equated. Antecedent randomization is similar. Next, consider R5, where R6 is acquired and appears as follows after substitution using C1. R6: ({Candle, Match} (Energy)) On Knowledge Amplification by Structured Expert Randomization (KASER) 73 The system always attempts to randomize the knowledge as much as possible. Using A1 and C1 leads to the level-1 conjecture, R7, which replaces R6. R7: ({Candle, Heat} (Energy)) R7 is not to be generalized with R6. This is because {Match, Heat} is the same as {Match, Spark, Match}, which of course reduces to Heat and is already captured by R7. At this point, learning by the system can be demonstrated. Suppose the user asks the system what will happen if a spark is applied to a candle. While this is a plausible method to light a candle, this method will not us


Composite materials stand out for enabling the development of new materials that are environmentally friendly, whose manufacturing processes and waste are increasingly less harmful, associated with good mechanical properties. In this context, this work sought to investigate the mechanical behavior in flexural and impact of polyester matrix composites with the inclusion of short fibers of sisal, piassava, raffia, mallow and jute arranged randomly. The mechanical properties of flexural were evaluated according to ASTM D 790 and the impact toughness Charpy with the ASTM D 6110 standard. The results showed that when subjected to flexural stresses, the composites presented resistance of 112 .12 MPa for the neat matrix and 35.21; 34.45; 27.29; 25.89 and 20.56 MPa with the inclusion of sisal, piassava, raffia, mallow and jute fibers, respectively. As for the impact test, they showed values of 31.50 kJ/m² for the neat matrix and 57.06; 52.52; 48.03; 38.02; 37.65 kJ/m² with the inclusion of sisal, piassava, raffia, mallow and jute fibers, respectively. Then, the fracture surface of the composites was analyzed with a microscope in order to correlate the fracture aspects with the mechanical properties.


Blazek et al. demonstrate that treatment with IL-28A reduces inflammation in collagen-induced arthritis by restricting the recruitment of IL-1β+ neutrophils.


The use of digital social media as instrument for recruiting and participating in protest events has been considered by international literature like the main ingredient of the transformation in the conditions and dynamics of political participation in recent years. In Brazil, the "June protests" in 2013 highlighted the intensification of the use of internet and social media in political mobilization and recruitment. This article intends to demonstrate that the use of such tools in the anti-corruption protests in Brazil, from the wave of protest demonstrations starting internationally in 2011, expressed the confrontation with a political system which monopolized and avoided dissatisfactions and demands for transformation. They gradually became one of the main vehicles for the "liberal", "conservative" and "right-wing" organizations, groups and leaders around a common agenda. This analysis highlights the relevance of the "political dimension" to understand the process of using digital social media in the dynamics of political participation.


The article examines specific lexical characteristics of television language of science popularization of historical knowledge within the discursive space of TV-program "Namedni" by Leonid Parfenov. In the spotlight there are lexical units belonging to different functional styles of speech: from official business terminology to slang words, which serve, on the one hand, for shocking the audience and emotional prezentation of the channel and the journalist, and, on the other hand, for attraction maximum audience attention. The author of the article focuses on dependence of the language of modern television programs from contemporary market economy, for example the term "raiting". Every element of this lexical unit was examined in the way of its functions in the journalists' text.


The hyperfine coupling constants of the cyclohexyl radical have been calculated for several different geometries using Pople–Santry molecular orbital theory. The results indicate that a slightly nonplanar geometry for the radical carbon atom is required to account for the observed splittings.


This paper probes into three kinds of the phenomena of asymmetric information existing between the publishing house and the reader,the publishing house and the issuer and the issuer and the reader,expounds the harmfulness brought about by the phenomena of asymmetric information,and advances some suggestions on eliminating the phenomenon of asymmetric information in the book publishing.


Off‐specification operation and downtime are important considerations in designing system reliability in ultraviolet (UV) light disinfection systems. This research analyzed the residual risk of Cryptosporidium infection from surface water supplies—after implementation of UV disinfection—and the corresponding UV disinfection system reliability requirements. The author concluded that achieving a maximum downtime of 0.01% (4.4 min/month) is unrealistic, even with standby power and an uninterruptible power supply. Furthermore, starting from 0.01% downtime, seemingly minor increases in downtime significantly reduce the net disinfection credit and result in diminishing returns, regardless of the validated UV disinfection system credit. Providing redundant equipment, standby power, active series compensators, and uninterruptible power supplies can increase UV disinfection system reliability. Judicious application of these and other mitigation measures will help maximize the effectiveness of UV disinfection for regulatory compliance.


In this paper we introduce a generic model for multiplicative algorithms which is suitable for the MapReduce parallel programming paradigm. We implement three typical machine learning algorithms to demonstrate how similarity comparison, gradient descent, power method and other classic learning techniques fit this model well. Two versions of large-scale matrix multiplication are discussed in this paper, and different methods are developed for both cases with regard to their unique computational characteristics and problem settings. In contrast to earlier research, we focus on fundamental linear algebra techniques that establish a generic approach for a range of algorithms, rather than specific ways of scaling up algorithms one at a time. Experiments show promising results when evaluated on both speedup and accuracy. Compared with a standard implementation with computational complexity $O(m^3)$ in the worst case, the large-scale matrix multiplication experiments prove our design is considerably more efficient and maintains a good speedup as the number of cores increases. Algorithm-specific experiments also produce encouraging results on runtime performance.


BHATIA, K. Reactions of the Radiolytically Generated Hydroxycyclohexadienyl Radical in Aqueous Benzene Systems. Radiat. Res. 59, 537-555 (1974). The radiolysis of NaO-saturated aqueous benzene solutions has been investigated by aqueous liquid chromatographic methods. It is shown that phenol, biphenyl and at least five unidentified nonvolatile phenol-like substances with absorption spectra in the region 210-290 nm similar to that of phenol were produced upon the y-radiolysis of the N20saturated neutral aqueous benzene solution. Several of these products including phenol and biphenyl were primarily produced by postirradiation reactions since the yields of these products increased upon storing the irradiated solutions. It is concluded that hydroxycyclohexadienyl radical produced by the addition of the radiolytically generated hydroxyl radical to benzene was primarily converted to products other than phenol and/ or biphenyl. Phenol formation in post irradiation reactions was and biphenyl formation was not acid catalyzed. Phenylphenols were identified among products of postirradiation reactions. The nature and composition of products formed in the pulse and the y-radiolysis conditions was, as expected, different. The analyses of the y-irradiation solutions indicated that the number of products and their concentration ratios in the N20-saturated, aerated and deaerated solutions was different. The product composition of aerated and deaerated systems was also significantly altered due to postirradiation reactions.


Manuscript received October 1, 1974; revised Februar 3, 1975. This paper was presented rt the l9 i5 International ~ 0 n L . e on Relinble Soft\vare, Los Angeles, Calif., April 21-23, 1975. The authors are with TRW Corporation, Redondo Beach, Calif. Abstract-This paper summarizes some recent experience in analyzing and eliminating sources of error in the design phase of large software projects. It begins by pointing out some of the significant differences in software error incidence between large and small software projects. The most striking contrast, illustrated by project data, is the large preponderance of design errors over coding errors on large-scale projects, not only with respect to numbers of errors, but also with respect to the relative time and effort required to detect them and correct them. The paper next presents a taxonomy of software error causes, and some analyses of the design error data, performed to obtain a better understanding of the nature of large-scale seftware design errors and to evaluate alternative methods of preventing, detecting, and eliating-the_em. .. Based on this analysis of observational data, a hypothesis was derived regarding the potential cost-effectiveness of an automated aid to detecting inconsistencies between assertions about the nature of of inputs and outputs of the various elements (functions, modules, data bases, data sources, etc.) of the software design. This hypothesis was tested by developing a prototppe version of such an aid, the Design Assertion Consistency Checker (DACC), using TRW's Generalized Information Management (GIM) System, and using it on a large-scale software project with 186 elements and. 967 assertions about their inputs and outputs. Of the 121 000 possible mismatches between input 'and output assertions, DACC found 818, at a cost in computer time of $30. Most of the mismatches resulted from shortfalls in the initial version of DACC or the initial data preparation, such as a lack of a synonym capability and a lack of explicit statements about external inputsand outputs. However, a number of serious mismatches were exposed at a time when they were easy to correct, and a most useful worklist generated of items needing resolution before.allowing the design effort to proceed to further detail. In general, the data confirmed the hypothesis about the general utility of a DACC capability for large software projects. However, a number of additional features should be considered to compensate for current deficiencies (in areas such as manuscript preparation) not generally encountered in small projects. 'ere, a "small project" is one in which a single individual can encompass and resolve any and all.of the significant macro,, . . and micro issues involved in developing the system. On large projects, problems such as interface definition, . ambiguity resolution, management visibility, and consistency of assumptions are the dominant ones. Problems . such as computational accuracy, intraroutine control, and correct syritax still exist as error sources, but are relatively less significant than they are.on smaller projects. In particular, the error distributions on large projects differ considerably from the most 'familiar data on software error sources: experimental studies such as those of Rubey et al. [9] and Youngs [16]. The utility of these. experimental studies has been considerable; 'however, it is limited. by the fact that each effort studied began with a clean, unambiguous statement of a stand-alone programming problem. Thus, in these studies, there was virtually no chance for errors due t~ interface inconsistencies, incomplete problem statements, ambiguous specifications, or inconsistent assumptions. T h e relative importance of these design-oriented error sources can be seen from the'summary data in Table I on the relative frequency of design and programming emors found in an analysis performed by TRW for RADC (Thayer el al. [14]) of the errors found in a series of five modifications to a large (100000 source statement), generally good (on schedule, within budget) TRIV so f t ware, project earlier analyzed by Bosch and Hetrick [3].


The possible reasons of poverty in industrialized countries are considered in article on the example of Russia. The model is built on the principles of sociomechanics that use the representation of people as objects with a continuous structure. They can be characterized by means of the interaction between them. This approach allowed us to build a "model of Carlssons Svenssons Johanssons," which gives a good matching with the official data on poverty. The main causes of poverty are defined. Existence of a large number of children in low-income and therefore less educated families is one of them. The low wage in such families also because of deficiency of education is another reason of poverty. Thus, education is the most effective way of fight against poverty.


This paper presents a novel ESPRIT algorithm-based joint angle and frequency estimation using multiple-delay output (MDJAFE). The algorithm can estimate the joint angles and frequencies, since the use of multiple output makes the estimation accuracy greatly improved when compared with a conventional algorithm. The useful behavior of the proposed algorithm is verified by simulations.


As one of the principal parts of technology innovation,government plays an important role to promote the sustainable development of technology innovation.From the aspect of government's function,this paper put forward a series of long-term mechanism about government's supporting technology innovation,including headstream cultivating mechanism,to remedy the market failure mechanism,competition mechanism,service mechanism,incentive and guarantee mechanism,etc.


Abstract This paper argues that Lady Lucy Boyle, Viscountess Torrington, effectively took the position of her husband George Byng, 4th Viscount Torrington, Minister Plenipotentiary in Brussels from 1782 to 1792, during his absence in 1789. Pretending that his uncle needed him in England, Lord Torrington obtained permission to leave his post in the Austrian Netherlands in June. Lucy Boyle stayed with two embassy secretaries in Brussels until the end of November, a period of five months against the troubled background of the Revolution in Brabant. These months were the peak of the revolt of the Belgian provinces against Habsburg rule. Intended by her husband to arrange "presentation and letters of recommendation", Lady Torrington far exceeded that brief and defended the British residence against unwelcome incursion. She was the last to leave the embassy when the Austrian Government fell. This article highlights how a woman could assume a role that is normally linked to masculinity. Fiercely proud of his wife, whom he declared to be "the soul of my office", Lord Torrington was keen to speak about her active role in his reports to the Duke of Leeds. Lady Torrington and her two eldest daughters were considered as the leading lights of the British colony in Brussels. I outline the reception given to Lucy Boyle both by the Belgian authorities and in the highest social circles. To this end, I draw on the Belgiën correspondence in Vienna, in addition to the French and British diplomatic records and the manuscripts of the Duke of Leeds at the British Library.


Abstract A recent review paper on nepheline solid solutions dealt mainly with sodic varieties from nepheline syenites and differentiated alkali basaltic sills. Excel spreadsheets were provided for recalculating cell formulae in terms of the stoichiometric parameters ΔAlcavity cation charge and ΔTframework charge and molecular percentages of the end-members Ne, Ks, Ca-nepheline and excess Si (Qxs). Small amounts of tetrahedral divalent species (usually <0.10 wt.% though with up to 0.33 wt.% MgO) were related to a stuffed-tridymite end-member of ideal formula K8Mg4Si12O32 (denoted KsT2+-nepheline), although the equations used to calculate these end-members only considered Si, Al and Fe3+ as tetrahedral framework species. Recently, K-rich nepheline and kalsilite which contain up 0.54 wt.% MgO have been found in some feldspar-free mafic potassic volcanic rocks from central Brazil. Equations have been developed to deal rigorously with the presence of significant amounts of Mg (and Mn) in recalculating nepheline solid-solution parameters. In two related communications reworked spreadsheets are provided with examples of their use. High quality microprobe analyses of nepheline and kalsilite from magmatic rocks must include analyses for Mg and Mn and, if possible, estimates of Fe2+ contents.


A directly-modulated distributed-feedback laser module has been achieved with a ridge-waveguide laser chip in our laboratory. It is packaged in butterfly housing with a K connector, and the bandwidth of the laser module is up to 24 GHz with in-band flatness of ±3 dB. It shows a high linearity with input 1-dB compression point of higher than 23 dBm and third-order intercept of 32.2 dBm at 24 GHz. Meanwhile, the packaged DFB laser module gives rather low relative intensity noise of less than -150 dB/Hz when the bias current is 75 mA and it can show a great performance in analog optical communication systems.


During video transmission over error-prone networks, the compressed bit stream is often corrupted by channel errors which may cause the video quality degrading suddenly. In this paper, we present a novel temporal error concealment technique as a post-processing tool at the decoder side for recovering the lost information. In order to recover the lost motion vector, an improved decoder motion vector estimation (DMVE) criterion is introduced which considers temporal correlation and motion trajectory together. We utilize pixels in the two previous frames as well as surrounding pixels of the lost block. The best motion vector is determined according to the criterion, and then the lost pixels are recovered using motion compensation. Simulations show that the proposed technique can achieve remarkable objective (PSNR) and subjective gains in the quality of the recovered video.


Measuring retirement security -- or retirement income adequacy -- is an extremely important topic. EBRI launched a major project to provide this type of measurement in the late 1990s for several states concerned whether their residents would have sufficient income when they reached retirement age. After conducting studies for Oregon, Kansas, and Massachusetts, a national model -- the EBRI Retirement Security Projection Model® (RSPM) -- was developed in 2003, and in 2010 it was updated to incorporate several significant changes, including the impacts of defined benefit plan freezes, automatic enrollment provisions for 401(k) plans, and the recent crises in the financial and housing markets. EBRI has recently updated RSPM for changes in financial and real estate market conditions as well as underlying demographic changes and changes in 401(k) participant behavior since January 1, 2010 (based on a database of 23 million 401(k) participants). This paper provides updates for the previously published EBRI Retirement Readiness Ratings™ as well as the Retirement Savings Shortfalls. EBRI's updated 2012 Retirement Security Projection Model® finds that for Early Baby Boomers (individuals born between 1948-1954), Late Baby Boomers (born between 1955-1964) and Generation Xers (born between 1965-1974), roughly 44 percent of the simulated lifepaths were projected to lack adequate retirement income for basic retirement expenses plus uninsured health care costs. These "at-risk" levels are some 5-8 percentage points LOWER than what was found in 2003, largely due to the growing adoption of automatic enrollment by 401(k) plan sponsors. Eligibility for a workplace defined contribution retirement plan has a significant positive impact on "at-risk" levels. The aggregate retirement income deficit number, taking into account current Social Security retirement benefits and the assumption that net housing equity is utilized "as needed," is currently estimated to be $4.3 trillion for all Baby Boomers and Gen Xers. The PDF for the above title, published in the May 2012 issue of EBRI Notes, also contains the fulltext of another May 2012 EBRI Notes article abstracted on SSRN: "Trends in Employment-Based Coverage Among Workers, and Access to Coverage Among Uninsured Workers, 1995-2011."


The lower bound of the shear viscosity to entropy density ratio is examined using an exact representation of the ratio through the density of states. Under certain assumptions it can be shown that the lower bound of the ratio is not universal; its value is determined by the entropy density. Some examples of physical systems are discussed in the paper where one can expect violation of the conformal $1/4\ensuremath{\pi}$ value.


Text regression has traditionally been tackled using linear models. Here we present a non-linear method based on a deep convolutional neural network. We show that despite having millions of parameters, this model can be trained on only a thousand documents, resulting in a 40% relative improvement over sparse linear models, the previous state of the art. Further, this method is flexible allowing for easy incorporation of side information such as document meta-data. Finally we present a novel technique for interpreting the effect of different text inputs on this complex non-linear model.


Recent findings from the memory literature indicate that the human memory system may prioritize survival-relevant information, relative to other types of information. The original work led by Nairne and colleagues (Nairne, Pandeirada, & Thompson, 2008; Nairne, Thompson, & Pandeirada, 2007) suggested that survival processing may be a more efficient mnemonic strategy than more well-known strategies (e.g., generation, pleasantness ratings). This conjecture hypothesizes that memory performance today can provide us with the insight needed to predict what our memory system was evolved to prioritize for later retrieval. The current study was designed to investigate one component of the survival advantage: the fear of predation in survival settings. After modifying the survival passage, we found that a supernatural predator (a demon) motivated the highest amount of word recall, relative to pleasantness ratings, though word recall was not significantly greater than the standard predator passage. On the other hand, a bizarre version of the passage, with a clown predator, did not lead to any survival advantage. These results are discussed with regard to both modern and ancestral fears.


Abstract : Oral administration of the inorganic hepatotoxin, hydrazine, to male Fischer 344 or Sprague Dawley rats results in the endogenous methylation of liver DNA at the 7- and O6-positions of guanine. At doses below the LD50 (45, 60 or 75 mg hydrazine/kg body weight), methylation levels varied little and averaged about 500micromol 7-methylguanine/mol guanine and 20 micromol O6- methylguanine/mol guanine. At 90 mg hydrazine/kg body weight (approximately the 7-day LD50) the methylation levels were 869 micromol 7-methylguanine and 58 micromol O6-methylguanine/mol guanine 24 hours after toxicant administration. A single dose of 3 mg hydrazine/kg body weight did not result in detectable levels of methylguanines in liver DNA; however, after three or four daily administrations of hydrazine at this dose, liver damage was evident, and liver DNA contained 50-100 micromol 7-methylguanine/mol guanine, about the limit of analytical detection. Following a single oral administration of 90 mg hydrazine/ kg body weight, liver DNA guanine rapidly became methylated. The time for half- maximum alkylation at 7-guanine was 30 minutes and at O6-guanine, 45 minutes. The rates of removal of these methylated bases were consistent with published values from experiments using methylating carcinogens and with values obtained in this laboratory with the model compound, 1,2-dimethylhydrazine.


In this paper, the design of near-field broadband beamformer is considered. The idea is to design the beamformer filter coefficients such that the error between the actual response and the desired response is minimized. This problem can be formulated as a minimax optimization problem and can be transformed into a linear semi-definite programming problem. Interior point algorithm can then be applied after discretization. However, if the dimension of the problem is high, the number of discrete points of the specified region and consequently the dimension of the resultant constraint matrix is high. This high dimension provides a difficulty when directly employing interior point algorithm. Since it results in a large size problem, this problem is considered in this paper. To reduce the computational complexity and memory usage, a two-stage method has been proposed. In the first stage, by using an infinite length filter formulation, an infinite length limit for the original problem is obtained. Then, based on that limit, a reduced problem with a finite filter length is found. The computational complexity of this method is derived. It provides a significant reduction compared to a direct solution of the original problem. It is shown that as the filter length increases, the approximative problem comes close to the optimal infinite solution. Furthermore, we demonstrate with examples the close correspondence between proposed design and optimal design. Also the superiority of the suggested method is illustrated in a three-dimensional beamformer design, where the direct method can only design broadband beamformer of very short filter lengths.


With the current crisis of COVID-19, many universities are ordering shutdowns and moving courses on-line. Course offered via the internet is growing rapidly in recent years and will continue to grow into the future. We believe the recent crisis will further accelerate the growth of Internet courses. The reasons for this high growth include the need for social distancing, high cost of providing the education, the geo-graphical dispersion of students who may also currently hold jobs, the students' increasing access to the internet, the increasing effectiveness internet tools, as well as the lowering of the costs, associated in aiding the communication and learning between the students and instructor. Unlike face-to-face classroom experience, in internet e-learning the instructor does not meet with the students and, thus, the effectiveness of the learning can be difficult to assess because lack of direct face-to-face contact. In this paper, we first discuss the state-of-the-art literature of e-learning. We then propose several important course design principles for asynchronous internet e-learning as well as suggest several implementation guidelines to ensure that such that the internet e-learning course is effective. Finally, we propose several important areas for further research for enhancing e-learning.


Di erent concerns which arise when developing a system, such as di erent features, often end up scattered and tangled in code bases. The scattering and tangling of concerns complicates the performance of many software engineering tasks. For example, the scattering of a feature across a set of source les complicates the task of making any change to that feature. To help reduce the scattering and tangling problems, several separation of concerns mechanisms have been proposed (e.g., Composition Filters [1], Aspect-oriented Programming[4], Hyperspaces [7]).


The common terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) based on photoconductive antenna (PCA) needs two separate PCA chips. One PCA works as an emitter, and the other works as a receiver. For a reflection-type measurement, the technique called 'attenuated total reflection' usually is needed to enhance the reflection sensitivity. These make the system bulk and complicated for the reflection-type measurement. In this paper, we propose a novel THz-TDS endoscope that is specifically designed for reflection-type measurement. This THz-TDS endoscope is benefited from an integrated photoconductive antenna (we call it iPCA), which integrates the emitter and receiver on a single antenna chip. Therefore, the dimension of the endoscope can be shrunk as much as possible for practical usage. We present the design and working principle of this THz-TDS endoscope in details. It may open a promising way for the THz-TDS application in biomedical fields.


This study aimed to examine the health effects of fitness training and team-sport training in a pragmatic community health centre set-up for women with lifestyle diseases. The methods included training intensity evaluations and measurements of VO 2 max, blood pressure, body composition and exercise performance. Forty women in the fitness training group (FG) and 34 women in the team-sport training group (TG) completed pre-and post-tests, after they were offered 12-16 weeks of twice-weekly training sessions lasting 60-90 min. Mean heart rate during training was not significant different (P=0.569) between FG (72.7±4.2%HR max ) and TG (71.4±6.8%HR max ). TG achieved improvements in aerobic fitness of 0.9±2.0 mlO 2 ·kg·min -1 (P=0.034) and in resting heart rate of 3.7±9.1 bpm (P=0.026), as well as in sit-to-stand performance (STS: 3.5±3.3 stands · 30 sec -1 ; P=0.003) and 6-min walking test performance (6MWT: 53±29 m; P<0.001), while fat percentage was reduced by 0.6±1.6% (P=0.038). FG achieved within-group improvements (P<0.001) in STS performance (3.1±2.8 stands · 30 sec -1 ) and 6MWT performance (41±47 m), with fat percentage reduced by 0.9±1.7% (P=0.003). Overall, the study revealed no significant between-group differences in training effects. However, there was a between-group difference in training attendance (P=0.001), with the fitness group having the highest attendance (1.5±0.4 vs. 1.1±0.5 per week). In conclusion, small-sided team-sport training and fitness training conducted in a pragmatic set-up induce similar positive health effects for women with lifestyle diseases. Team-sport training is considered a feasible and worthy alternative to fitness training for sedentary women in community health centres


This paper brings together two seemingly unrelated branches of the literature that focuses on different aspects of a bank's interaction with its borrowers: the relative priority of bank debt, and the role of banks as "relationship lenders". Specifically, we show that bank seniority plays an important role in encouraging the formation of ongoing bank/firm relationships. Because the bank is senior, it is more able to reap the benefits from its relationship with the firm; because the firm has a relationship with a bank, it is more willing to exert effort, thus reducing the impact of a recession on its prospects. As a result, the firm's ex ante value is enhanced when the bank's debt is senior to that of the firm's other creditors. The intuition behind our model lies in the fact that, when the firm's prospects deteriorate, the most senior claimant first benefits from helping the firm improve its quality, and it is in such states that the true value of relationship lending comes to light. If banks are made junior to other creditors, they may benefit little in bad states from additional investment in the firm, and hence will have little incentive to build relationships that might allow them to determine the value of such an investment. As a result, making the bank senior improves its incentives to build a relationship with the firm, thereby fulfilling an important function of intermediated debt. * The authors are economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and the Bank for International Settlements respectively. They wish to thank Urs Birchler, Joe Bisignano, Mark Flannery, Craig Furfine, Joe Haubrich, Charlie Kahn, Ronald Mann, John Rozycki, Bruce Smith and Kostas Tsatsaronis, as well as seminar participants at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and the Bank for International Settlements for useful comments and suggestions. The views expressed here are their own, and do not necessarily reflect those of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland or the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Norwegian School of Management and the Bank for International Settlements. The initial work for this project was completed while João Santos was at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.


Introduction: To analyze the use of youth culture as a coping mechanism by youth in the Sioux Lookout Zone from 1969 to 1996.
Method: This project employs an archival research method to study the records of the Sioux Lookout Zone Hospital, located at the University of Toronto. The hospital was operated by the federal government for Status Indians. From 1969 to 1996, the hospital's medical service was provided by the University of Toronto.
Discussion: The period of 1969 to 1996 was a challenging time for teenagers in the Sioux Lookout Zone. They had poor job prospects and often struggled with the loneliness of attending high school in southern communities. They turned to youth culture as a coping mechanism, sometimes in healthier ways such as rock music and fashion, but also in less healthy ways such as substance use and gang membership.
Conclusion: This project serves as a case study of the challenges that faced youth in the Sioux Lookout Zone in order to contribute to our understanding of the historical antecedents of the poor health outcomes of youth in the Sioux Lookout Zone today.


Microglia are specialized macrophages of the central nervous system involved in immune regulation, tissue development, homeostasis and wound repair. In healthy tissue, microglia are found in a ramified state which is tightly controlled by neurons. Upon insult, microglia undergo morphological changes, resembling active phagocytic macrophages and are highly motile. In neurodegenerative diseases, such are Alzheimer's or multiple sclerosis and in most inherited retinal dystrophies, microglia cells are found in a permanent pro-inflammatory active state which exacerbates cell death and disease progression. Similarly, astrocytes in the brain or Muller cells in the retina, also become reactive in diseased tissue and may contribute to disease progression through overshoot release of protective factors such as VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor), massive proliferation and release of inflammatory intermediates which recruit microglia to site of injury. Along with active microglia, reactive astrocytes/Muller cells are also found in virtually all neurodegenerative and retinal dystrophies.

Microglia and Muller cell status has not been well defined in retinal degeneration of neurodegenerative disease neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (NCL). The NCLs are early onset lysosomal storage disorders characterized by vision loss, mental and motor deficits, and spontaneous seizures. Massive accumulation of auto-fluorescent material in neurons lead to progressive neuronal degeneration and cell death Furthermore, neuropathological analyses of autopsy material from NCL patients and animal models revealed brain atrophy closely associated with microglial and astrocyte activity. However, it is unclear whether this phenomenon is mainly confined to the brain or also occurs in the retina

Two mouse models of NCL, Cln3Δex7-8 and Cln6nclf, were selected for detailed characterization of retinal degeneration with focus on microglia and Muller cell activity. Studies showed that Cln3Δex7-8 mice had a late onset of retinal degeneration which started at 9 months and progressed until severe retinal impairment at 18 months. Reactive Muller cells were present starting at six months with no significant microglial activation until late disease stage. Furthermore, degeneration originated from inner retinal cells as seen through electroretinograms with little photoreceptor death. In contrast, temporal studies on Cln6nclf mice showed an early progressive retinal degenerative phenotype which started before one month of age resulting in loss of vision and retinal function by eight months. Full retinal degeneration was accompanied by reactive Muller cells already present at one month of age and fully active microglia at four months. Mixed population of ramified and active microglia were seen at one month. Transcript profiling of the Cln6ncl mouse retina also showed up-regulated expression of apoptotic, inflammatory and active microglia markers.

Based on the strong reactivity of microglia, Cln6nclf mice were supplemented with immuno-modulatory compounds curcumin, luteolin or DHA in order to ameliorate microgliosis and reduce retinal degeneration. Studies showed Cln6nclf mice supplemented with 0.6% curcumin, 0.6% luteolin or 5% DHA had improved retinal function, better visual acuity and DHA-supplementation had the greatest preservation of photoreceptors. All supplements were able to attenuate microglia activation as seen by the presence of microglial ramification and intact network. However, curcumin and luteolin supplementation did not have any effect on retinal transcriptom whilst DHA-supplementation reduced expression of inflammatory and apoptotic markers.

Taken together, microglial reactivity accompanies disease progression in the Cln6nclf retina but not Cln3Δex7-8. Immuno-modulating compounds were able to attenuate disease progression and reactive microglia to a certain extent in Cln6nclf mice, indicating modulation of microglial activity could be helpful in preserving vision and may ameliorate neuronal degeneration in NCL. Finally, inspection of the retinal function may also allow to monitor general disease progression and could be used to assess the efficacy of therapeutic interventions for NCL patients.


In the paper, 323 local students and 1,262 children of migrant workers were selected randomly according to different layers. Every student finished the "primary mental health scale" compiled by Prof. Yu Guoliang, et al. in the form of adaptation component of the prosocial behavior dimension. Survey shows that:(1)significant differences exist in migrant laborers' children's prosocial behavior of different gender and different grades.(2)no significant differences exist in migrant laborers' children's prosocial behavior among different schools and different types of city life.


Background: Tobacco consumption in the form of chewing and smoking is one of the biggest addictions. It causes various oral pre-malignant lesions which mainly include oral sub-mucous fibrosis (OSMF) caused by betel nut consumption and tobacco quid lesion, leukoplakia, erythroplakia and smoker's palate caused by chewing and smoking tobacco.Methods: The data about the past and present consumption of tobacco was collected from 909 individuals. Based on the tobacco habits, the oral cavity findings were assessed and the statistical analysis was carried out to find the significance of associations observed between tobacco consumption and lesions.Results: Out of 909 subjects, 537 were consuming tobacco, out of which 284 were chewers, 65 were smokers and 76 were consuming in both forms. Out of the 284 tobacco chewers, 43% had oral lesions (19.4% had OSMF and 21.5% had tobacco quid) as compared to just 1% of workers having oral lesions (OSMF) amongst those who had no addiction. There was a high prevalence of lesion in tobacco chewers (p<0.005). Out of total smokers, 15.8% had smoker's palate whereas no lesion was seen in the non-addicted workers. The odds of developing oral pre-malignant lesion are 43.62 times higher in exposed individuals.Conclusions: The tobacco consumption in any form is hazardous. Betel nut exposure causes more harmful effect which goes unnoticed. Awareness should be created about various lesions caused by tobacco as well as betel nut and special steps should be taken for early diagnosis and its treatment.


It is known from the Patent literature that many water-soluble salts of copolymerizable acids can be copolymerized with water in soluble, polymerizable esters when the latter are dispersed as an aqueous emulsion. We have studied the copolymerization of methacrylate esters, especially methyl methacrylate, with sodium, methacrylate, the former being maintained in a fine particle size with the aid of a water-soluble colloid and rapid stirring. Results have been reproducible. Analytical methods have been worked out for each monomer in the presence of the other, in order to follow the course of the reaction. Several ratios of methyl methacrylate and sodium methacrylate have been investigated under semi-adiabatic conditions, using a persulfate as polymerization initiator. When the two monomers are polymerized together equimolecular ratios, there is a period of inhibition or retardation only in respect of the sodium methacrylate, but this can be avoided by adding methyl methacrylate to sodium methacrylate at incipient polymerization of the latter. It has been possible to deduce a general picture of polymerization, which is as follow: The polymerization of methyl methacrylate follows zero-order kinetics for a large part of the reaction, while that of sodium methacrylate follows first-order kinetics. On increased dilution of the system, the rate of polymerization of methyl methacrylate is increased. On the one hand, increase of methyl methacrylate keeping water and sodium methacrylate constant results in little difference in the rate of polymerization of sodium methacrylate or on the proportional rate of polymerization of methyl methacrylate. On the other hand, the actual rate of polymerization of methyl methacrylate is doubled. β-Ethoxy ethyl methacrylate and ethyl methacrylate copolymerize to a lesser extent with sodium methacrylate in the examined ratios. In these cases a larger proportion of the sodium methacrylate remains unpolymerized when polymerized of the ester is virtually complete. Copolymerization is virtually nil between butyl and sodium methacrylates. The possible mechanism of the copolymerization is discussed.


Megakaryocyte (MK) colony formation has been studied in the chronic phase and in the blast crisis of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML). Blood cells were grown in plasma clot for 13 d. MKs were subsequently identified by immunofluorescent techniques using two monoclonal antiplatelet antibodies (AN51 and J15). The maturation process was studied by ultrastructural methods. A marked increase in the number of circulating CFU‐MK was observed in all the 10 cases studied prior to chemotherapy (70‐fold increase per ml of blood). No significant modification in the regulation of MK colony formation as compared to that of normal subjects was observed. The predominant abnormality in maturation in culture was the occurrence of many hypoploid MKs (microMKs). However, the cytoplasmic maturation of the MKs was identical to that of normal subjects with occasional platelet shedding. Since microMKs predominated in some patients, scoring of MK colonies in CML necessitated immunofluorescent labelling to permit identification of MKs. During the blast crisis, MK colony formation occurred in four out of five patients with an extremely high plating efficiency in the case of promegakaryoblastic transformation. In contrast, MK colonies could not be grown from blood samples of patients with acute leukaemia, including two cases of promegakaryoblastic leukaemia. Maturation of MKs in blast crisis was identical to that of the chronic phase. Furthermore, after short periods of culture in liquid medium, circulating promegakaryoblasts from spontaneously to become large MKs exhibiting demarcation membranes and α‐granules, while those from two cases of megakaryoblastic leukaemias did not mature. In consequence, the blast crisis of CML exhibits a different culture pattern from acute leukaemia. These results suggest, therefore, that the acute transformation of CML cannot be simply explained by clonal changes and that environmental and regulatory factors could be also involved.


To tackle the high rate of deforestation in Indonesia's production forests, a new type of licence was introduced in 2004 known as an Ecosystem Restoration Concession (ERC) or IUPHHK-RE by the Indonesian Government. For the first time, production forests could be managed for the purpose of restoration instead of logging. At the same time, however, the economic feasibility of ecosystem restoration concessions has to be proved if they are to be made attractive as a business opportunity. This paper examines the business feasibility of ERCs using a cost-benefit analysis method. The results show that the benefits of natural ecosystems are not well recognised and hence it is difficult to attract funds or investment for ERCs. Therefore policy support and sustainable funding mechanisms are needed for ERCs to ensure their economic viability.


Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is one of the most complex health problems of the 21st century. This study aims to assess the knowledge and attitude toward HIV/AIDS among university students in Qatar, in order to assist the efforts of the National AIDS Committee in designing HIV/AIDS health education strategy for youth in Qatar. The study was carried out in two types of universities; governmental (Qatar University) and nongovernmental private universities of the Qatar Foundation and college of North Atlantic. A self‐administered questionnaire was distributed to all universities through the academic year 2008–2009 to investigate knowledge, attitudes, regarding HIV and AIDS. The questionnaire was divided into six sections with a total of 35 items. SPSS program version 17 was used for data entry and analysis. The overall response rate for this survey was 781/924 students (84%): 80% (385\477) in governmental universities and 88% in non‐governmental universities (396\447). The results revealed moderate knowledge about HIV/AIDS among college students. Female students demonstrated a slightly higher level of knowledge in comparison with male students and there were many misconception about how HIV is transmitted. e.g., by shaking hands, using public toilet, using public swimming pools etc, proportion of students thought that there is a cure and vaccine for AIDS. Most of the students, have been reported to have positive attitudes toward HIV\AIDS preventive measures. Mass media was considered as the main source of information.


Fluorescent carbon nanoparticles (FCNs), as novel luminescent reagents exhibiting hydrogen peroxide mimicking properties, can directly react with luminol, NaHCO3 and NaHSO3 in alkaline conditions to yield novel chemiluminescence, and show great potential towards further applications of ultra-weak chemiluminescence.


By comparing with two protein extraction methods,ensured the optimal method for longan seed proteins extraction. Proteomic approaches were used to analyze the changes of differentially expressed proteins during four different stages of longan seed abortion. Twenty-one differentially expressed proteins were detected on 2-DE gels,9 were up-regulated and 12 were down-regulated. Among these proteins,12 proteins were identified by MALDI/TOF/TOF-MS/MS and protein database searching. They were cytosolic malate dehydrogenase,Dihydrolipoamide adetyltransferase,2,3-bisphosphoglycerate-independent phosphoglycerate mutase,RuBisCO large subunit-binding protein subunit beta chloroplast precursor,RuBisCO large subunit-binding protein subunit beta chloroplast precursor,17 kD heat shock protein,ascorbate peroxidase,cytosolic ascorbate peroxidase,cysteine protease,dessication-related protein,and two unknown protein. These proteins were involved in energy and metabolism,chaperon,antioxidation,apoptosis,which might relate to seed abortion of longan.


Atomic layer deposition (ALD) of tin oxide (SnOx) films was achieved using a newly synthesized tin precursor and hydrogen peroxide. We obtained highly pure, conductive SnOx films at temperatures as low as 50 °C, which was possible because of high chemical reactivity between the new Sn precursor and hydrogen peroxide. The growth per cycle is around 0.18 nm/cycle in the ALD window up to 150 °C, and decreased at higher temperatures. Self-limited growth was demonstrated for both the Sn and O precursors. Thickness is linear in the number of cycles, with an induction period of not more than a few cycles. Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements showed that the composition ratio of O/Sn is ∼2 and that the films do not contain any detectable carbon or nitrogen impurities. X-ray and electron diffraction analyses identified crystallites of SnO2 with the rutile structure and average grain size 5−10 nm. The density of the films is 83% of the bulk rutile phas...


This article examines Libya's troubled transition from Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi's authoritarian regime. The author asks what past transitions tell us about possible positive pathways from authoritarian rule and what Libya can learn from its previous failures in development in order to shed light on why Libya is struggling in its transition from regime change to economic and political development. The article concludes by identifying Libya's uniqueness with its "shallow state," its deep regional and tribal rivalries, and distributive economy, which together are currently incapacitating progress towards sustainable development.


"The primary dead load chemicals are sodium carbonate from incomplete conversion during causticizing, and sodium sulfate from low reduction efficiency in the recovery boiler, but thiosulfate and chloride also are potentially important. The difference between a low and high dead load operation might amount to as much as 125kg/metric tons of pulp (mtp). A 1% increase in causticizing efficiency reduces dead load by 6-7 kg/mtp, and a 1% increase in reduction efficiency decreases dead load by 2-3 kg/mtp. Costs associated with dead load include increased internal energy use, greater chemical losses, reduced equipment capacity, and operating problems. The differences in energy use between a low and high dead load operation can be as much as 0.7 GJ/mtp. Evaporators are likely to be affected most, but the green and white liquor system and recovery boiler also could be affected. This paper provides some guidelines for minimizing the effects of dead load."


A sand control technology decision expert system based on expert knowledge and field experience is developed.It has functions of sand prediction,selecting solution,and optimizing parameters.The system includes five subsystems:basic database,expert knowledge base,inference engine,single well simulator and explanation.For taking a new developed implement,driving by simple menus,learning very easily,the system can be used as both an adviser of design engineers,and a valuable technical training tool.Through application,the result shows that the system has certain reliability and practicability.The paper presents the population structure,main function and usage of the system,and the structure of every subsystem.


Mayan symbol for zero was a tattooed man in a necklace with his head thrown back. Or at least this was one of the Maya's astonishing array of zero symbols. Since their culture flourished from about 300 B.c. to 900 A.D. in the Yucatan Peninsula, isolated from any overseas contacts, they provide vivid testimony to an independent origin for the concept of zero and its signs. And why not? Why should this idea not have sprung up in such different cultures as those of Babylonia, India, and the Yucatan preserved and passed on here, flaring up and dying out there in the minds of many a mute, inglorious Newton? Since mathematics is our universal language, obscured by overlays of the accidental languages colonizing the time and place we were born to, why should it not break through with glory, the expression of its constructions altered by those accidents, but the relations so expressed reaching beyond our mortal natures? If we had to give the pedigree of zero as we do that of a horse, we could say: by Imagination, out of Necessity. Although our image of the Maya is one part fact and three parts conjecture (and these tempered by the fashions ascendant at their making) , it is hard not to believe that they counted as if their lives depended on it; and what they counted was time. Transposed to our calendar, their starting date for the universe would be August 13, 3114 B.c. This was their zero day. You wonder how they arrived at it; and since your wonder is


Background: Phosphoethanolamine methyltransferases (PMT) are required for growth and development of nematodes. Result: Biochemical studies of two PMT from a parasitic nematode reveal key similarities and differences. Conclusion: Although the nematode PMT are conserved, the domains that catalyze specific reactions may undergo different conformational changes upon ligand binding. Significance: Because the PMT are not found in mammals, these proteins are potential antiparasitic targets for human and veterinary medicine. Nematodes are a major cause of disease and the discovery of new pathways not found in hosts is critical for development of therapeutic targets. Previous studies suggest that Caenorhabditis elegans synthesizes phosphocholine via two S-adenosylmethionine (AdoMet)-dependent phosphoethanolamine methyltransferases (PMT). Here we examine two PMT from the parasitic nematode Haemonchus contortus. Sequence analysis suggests that HcPMT1 contains a methyltransferase domain in the N-terminal half of the protein and that HcPMT2 encodes a C-terminal methyltransferase domain, as in the C. elegans proteins. Kinetic analysis demonstrates that HcPMT1 catalyzes the conversion of phosphoethanolamine to phosphomonomethylethanolamine (pMME) and that HcPMT2 methylates pMME to phosphodimethylethanolamine (pDME) and pDME to phosphocholine. The IC50 values for miltefosine, sinefungin, amodiaquine, diphenhydramine, and tacrine suggest differences in the active sites of these two enzymes. To examine the interaction of AdoMet and S-adenosylhomocysteine (AdoCys), isothermal titration calorimetry confirmed the presence of a single binding site in each enzyme. Binding of AdoMet and AdoCys is tight (Kd ∼2–25 μm) over a range of temperatures (5–25 °C) and NaCl concentrations (0.05–0.5 m). Heat capacity changes for AdoMet and AdoCys binding suggests that each HcPMT differs in interaction surface area. Nonlinear van't Hoff plots also indicate a possible conformational change upon AdoMet/AdoCys binding. Functional analysis of the PMT from a parasitic nematode provides new insights on inhibitor and AdoMet/AdoCys binding to these enzymes.


Objective To explore the association of testosterone(T),testosterone receptor(AR),and heat shock protein90(HSP90)levels in the peripheral blood with those in the testicular tissue of azoospermia patients.Methods A total of 45 azoospermia patients were selected in this study.Their blood levels of luteotropic hormone(LH),follicle-stimulating hormone(FSH),T,AR,and HSP90 were measured.The testicular tissues were biopsied to observe the presence of sperm under microscope.Then the biopsied tissues were ground,centrifuged to obtain the supernatant,which was then subjected to detection of T,AR,and HSP90 levels.According to the biopsied results and FSH value,the patients were divided into three groups:group A(had sperm,FSH8IU/L),B(no sperm,FSH8IU/L),and C(no sperm,FSH8IU/L).The blood and testicular levels of T,AR,and HSP90 were compared between the three groups,and the relationship between FSH,LH,T,AR,and HSP90 levels was analyzed.Results There were significant differences between the three groups regarding the levels of AR(F=5.478,P=0.026)and HSP90(F=5.972,P=0.019)in the blood samples,and levels of T(F=6.757,P=0.006)and AR(F=4.988,P=0.047)in the testis tissue samples.We also found that FSH level was positively correlated with blood HSP90level(r=0.729,P=0.001)and testicular T level(r=0.722,P=0.002);LH level was positively correlated with blood(r=0.629,P=0.012)level and testicular T levels(r=0.610,P=0.016);blood T level was negatively correlated with blood AR level(r=-0.665,P=0.005)while testicular T level was positively correlated with testicular AR level(r=0.544,P=0.029);and blood(r=0.559,P=0.042)and testicular(r=0.803,P=0.000)AR levels were positively correlated with their corresponding HSP90 levels.Conclusion Azoospermia patients with normal testicular volume have increased blood HSP90 andAR levels,and it has a feedback effect upon FSH and LH levels,with gradually increased testicular T and AR levels and unchanged HSP90 level.


An independent absorbent core comprising an absorbent insert pad disposed between the first sheet and the second sheet. The first sheet and the second sheet extending beyond said core and connected together to form a seal. Said absorbent core having at least 40% superabsorbent material. The absorbent insert pad having between said first sheet and said at least 100gsm absorbent core instantaneous absorption layer flow. The first sheet and the second sheet of synthetic polymer filaments liquid permeable spunbond web. The absorbent insert pad no fluid-impermeable layer and having an absorption capacity of at least 600g. A first end section of the absorbent core has a maximum width of at least 135mm, the central section of the absorbent core has a maximum width of less than 90mm, the second end section of the absorbent core has a maximum width of at least 135mm.


In time, the salt mine has played an essential part in the birth and development of the town of Târgu Ocna, initially by drilling and selling the salt resources, and later by harnessing the tourist potential of the balneal resources as well. In the past few years a new trend has been emerging, that of industrial tourism, with the inclusion in the tourist circuit of the salt mine as an economic asset, with a view to highlighting the local mining culture.


Information Technology (IT) is among the most important factors of change in the 1990s and is now playing a leadership role in bringing about changes. In this context, mastering the evolution and management of IT is a challenge. Meeting this challenge requires methods, processes, software tools and training programs, as well as a systematic, overall and consistent approach. This is precisely the direction, the set of solutions, that The IT Macroscope project is working on. Several products such as guides, tools, lecture materials, self-learning courses, reference texts, templates, videos, etc. are being developed in the course of The IT Macroscope project. The products of The IT Macroscope project will be stored in a repository whose data structure and functionality will allow for easy consultation, adaptation to the particular needs of an organization, and evolution at acceptable levels of cost. This repository is intended to fulfill the needs of those who design and maintain methods, those who design training, and those who manage and promote Macroscope products. We chose conceptual graphs to represent all the knowledge required for the repository. These graphs are used to represent methodology reference, learning and promotional materials. Using conceptual graphs is becoming a natural way to represent knowledge about methodologies. It is very important to be able to store information but it is more important to be able to retrieve and display this information. The best way to retrieve information in conceptual graphs is certainly to use conceptual graphs, and if we use CG to store and retrieve information why shouldn't we use CG to display it? This paper presents the Presentation Definition Language we have defined and implemented.


ABS TRACT Ob jec ti ve: The aim of this study was to in ves ti ga te the phe noty pe-ge noty pe cor re la ti on and the re la ti ons hip bet we en cli ni cal se ve rity sco re and acu te pha se res pon se in chil dren with fa mi li al Me di ter ra ne an fe ver (FMF) in Wes tern Tur key. Ma te ri al and Met hods: The me di cal re cords of 87 FMF chil dren (me an age: 11.1 ± 3.6 ye ars; ran ge: 3-20 ye ars; me an age at di ag no sis: 8.3 ± 3.5 ye ars; me an fol low up: 31.2 ± 27.7 months; fe ma le: 55.2%) mu ta ti ons on MEFV ge ne we re ret ros pec ti vely re vi e wed. We used Tel Has ho mer di ag nos tic cri te ri a and se ve rity sco re. Cor re la ti ons bet we en whi te blo od cell (WBC), C-re ac ti ve pro te in (CRP) and eryt hrocy te se di men ta ti on ra te (ESR) du ring at tack-pe ri od as well as cli ni cal se ve rity sco res we re in ves ti ga ted. The pa ti ents we re gro u ped ac cor ding to one or two al le led mu ta ti ons and the pre sen ce of the M694V mu ta ti on. Cli ni cal pa ra me ters and WBC, CRP and ESR le vels we re com pa red among the gro ups. Re sults: M694V ho mozy go sity was fo und in 22 pa ti ents (25.3%). Amy lo i do sis was se en in six pa ti ents (6.9%). All of them had M694V ho mozy go te mu ta ti on. The me a su red WBC (r= 0.294; p: 0.006), CRP (r= 0.720; p< 0.001) and ESR (r= 0.716; p< 0.001) va lu es we re cor re la ted with cli ni cal se ve rity sco re. The pre s en ce of two mu ta ted al le les or M694V ho mozy go sity was as so ci a ted with a hig her cli ni cal se ve rity sco re, hig her le vels of WBC, CRP and ESR as well as hig her risk of amy lo i do sis com pa red to the ot hers (p< 0.05). Conc lu si on: M694V ho mozy go te ge noty pe shows hig her acu te pha se res pon se du r ing at tack-pe ri od and se ve re cli ni cal co ur se in chil dren with FMF in Wes tern re gi on of Tur key.


Electrical shock stimulation of the conotruncal area induced a spectrum of double outlet right ventricle (DORV) in embryonic chicks at developmental stages 24-27. The device used to apply electrical potentials to the heart was constructed using a 9 battery, a push-button switch, and a 100ohm, ten-turn potentiometer with a calibrated dial. The potentiometer was connected as a voltage divider with the outlet connected to an electrode pair. This allowed for a short voltage pulse (variable 0 to 9) to be applied to a selected area of the heart through the electrodes. Two different methods were chosen to apply electrical shocks to the conotruncal area of the heart. One method utilized the application of an electrical shock between two points across the conotruncus of cardiac loop (horizontally oriented) and the second method between two points along the conotruncus of cardiac loop (vertically oriented).The range of voltages applied to the conotruncal area of the heart was from 2 to 4. Three distinct types of double outlet right ventricle were in the longitudinal (L) and horizontal (H) electrical shock groups:1) DORV without a ventricular septal defect (VSD), which is associated with a prolapse of an aortic valve into the right ventricle (5/50 cases in L group, 3/40 cases in H group).2) DORV with a subaortic VSD, with a variable degree of pulmonary stenosis and a hypoplastic left ventricle (20/50 cases in L group, 12/40 cases in H group).3) DORV with a subpulmonary VSD and a pulmonary stenosis, c hypoplastic right ventricle (15/50 cases in L group, 5/40 cases in H group).Longitudinal stimulation induced more cardiovascular anomalies than horizontal stimulation, and histological examination revealed the complete disappearance of the myocardial fibers, myocardial degeneration, and the aggregation of protein material or glycogen in the myocardial cells. The relationship between cell death processes in the conotruncal area and the DORV spectrum induced by electrical shock are discussed.


We analyze the stability of scatter degree method,which is one of the most popular comprehensive evaluation methods,from two aspects respectively by considering abnormal object and extreme sample using stochastic simulation method,and then obtain some relevant conclusions. On this basis,we present an improved method for scatter degree method by fusing factor analyzing approach into it. Through the analyses of the stochastic simulation example,we can conclude that this improved method for scatter degree method can weaken the interference of outliers to original data. And then,the numerical example illustrates that the improved method can increase the stability of scatter degree method with the consideration of the internal diversity of a same data group. At last,it is pointed that the scatter degree method applies to the questions with fewer independent indicators,while its improved method based on factor analysis is more suitable to the questions in hierarchical structure with more attributes and belonging to different categories.


Blends of poly(dl-lactide) (PDLLA) with poly(vinylphenol) (PVPh), obtained by solvent-casting and solution/precipitation, have been studied by DSC and FTIR. DSC results obtained in the first heating scan suggest that as-prepared blends are phase separated in nearly pure components. In addition, the initial FTIR spectra of the as-precipitated blends show no sign of specific interactions, which is also consistent with the phase separation. In solution/precipitation blends, the first calorimetric scan shows an exothermic peak attributed to the enthalpy of mixing. To our knowledge, this is the first polymer blend system for which this thermodynamic parameter has been possible to directly measure. The exothermic peak occurs at temperatures just below the Tg of PVPh. The consecutive DSC scans show a single Tg for the whole composition range, indicating complete miscibility. The interaction energy density (B) has been calculated and shows a strong dependence on composition. The decrease in B (in terms of absolut...


Medvedev has thought highly of the relationship of Russia with the countries in Asia-Pacific area since his assumption of the president of Russia.He stressed for several times that the diplomacy toward Asia-Pacific area is the prior orientation of Russia' s foreign policy.Korean peninsula plays a special and important role in the Asia-Pacific strategy of Medvedev' s administration.To a great extent,the present policy toward Korean peninsula of Russia continues the pragmatism policy of Putin' s administration,that is,Russia will raise its discourse power on issues related to Korean Peninsula while maintaining an overall stable situation in that area.But there are some amendments in light of the ever changing situation in that region.In general,the major adjustment is that Medvedev wants to strengthen the economic cooperation with Korean Peninsula,and he highlights the extensive energy cooperation with the two Koreas.


Tree bark can be cut from logs in sheets, dried flat, and cut into pieces for use as an exterior siding material. For lumber, electronic meters are available for the rapid determination of moisture content during the drying process. While such meters are calibrated for use with different wood species, there is no information on using these meters with bark. Yellow poplar bark samples were monitored during drying to determine moisture meter correction values for three different commercial wood moisture meters.


An explicit expression has been obtained for ${{S_n } / {E_n }}$ when $f(x)$ is chosen to be a polynomial of degree $n + r + 1$. Furthermore, we have shown that the necessary conditions for ${{S_n } / {E_n }}$ to be a maximum over all polynomials of degree $n + r + 1$ are satisfied by choosing $P_{j,r} = \left( {\begin{array}{*{20}c} {{{ - 1} / 2}} \\ j \\ \end{array} } \right)$ for $j = 0(1)r$ and $r = 0,1,2, \cdots $.


This paper provides a thematic and technical treatment of Austin Clarke's Mnemosyne Lay in Dust , a long autobiographical work that tells the story of Maurice Devane, the protagonist who stands for the poet himself. The eighteen sections of the poem deal with Maurice's loss of memory and the suffering he undergoes as an insane person inside a mental asylum till he gradually progresses toward recovery. The paper's theoretical framework sheds light on the definition of memory according to psychology, clarifying its importance, types, phases, and processes, as well as the concept of memory loss as handled by psychologists and physicians. In addition, a brief introduction about Austin Clarke, the variety of his literary production, and his development as a writer is given. Then, the researcher presents a detailed discussion of Mnemosyne Lay in Dust , focusing on the themes and techniques Clarke employs in the poem. The paper closes with a conclusion highlighting the main points researched by the researcher.


UK researchers have had to give up 60 days of the experimental time they won on merit at the Institut Laue Langevin (ILL) neutron source in Grenoble, France. They lost the beam-time because access to the facility, which is jointly funded by France, Germany and the UK, is now linked to national contributions to the ILL budget. Most of the 60 days have been transferred to French scientists.


The aim of the present study is to improve the dissolution rate and developed Itraconazole solid powder. Cotton seed oil, tween 80 and transcutol were selected as key ingredients to formulated self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery system. Ternary phase diagrams were constructed, several formulations were designed. These formulations were characterized and evaluated for parameters such as thermodynamic stability, emulsifying rate, robustness to dilution and pH effects, globules size, zeta potential, in vitro study etc. The optimized formulation has globules size of 141.20±0.69 nm, pdi 0.29±0.04, zeta potential 11.2±0.69 mV and fast dissolution as within 30 min with more than 90% drug released. Further cytotoxicity studies of optimized formulation revealed safe formulation. Using neusilin US2 as solid adsorbent method to transformed the optimized formulation into powder form. It was further characterized and evaluated and the obtained results are acceptable. In vitro drug released of solid self-nanoemulsifying formulation and liquid self-nanoemulsifying formulation has almost similar. Thus, can conclude that implementation of solid approach of this strategy could be considered as alternative approach.


Extraoral alimentation is often necessary for adequate nutritional support following extensive head and neck surgery. Nasogastric intubation is a simple, useful method for short-term tube feeding, but cervical esophagostomy or pharyngostomy is the procedure of choice for long-term extraoral alimentation. This article includes a feeding program based on a high-calorie diet, and considers parenteral hyperalimentation as an adjuvant to tube feeding.


In the structure using a rectifying circuit and a main circuit forming the inverter, without enlargement of the device and results in a high cost screen, a direct-current power to be supplied to perform the regenerative power consumption operation that consumes the regenerative power from the motor structure and inverter to obtain a power conversion device capable of implementing the configuration of performing the boost operation of the booster. A rectifying circuit 3 and the anode and the rectifying circuit 3, and a eumcheuk power supply with an inverter (4) of the inverter (4) a diode (5) cathode is connected to both sides of the power supply path, and a diode (5) path in the switching device 6, the main circuit 100 is formed, including the connection between, and opening the first terminal P and the between the second terminal P1 disposed on both sides of the power supply path, and a second terminal P1 and the diode (5 by), and providing a reactor (13) between the third terminal PR provided in the connection point of the switching element 6, and to constitute a step-up chopper circuit.


This research was conducted at the office of Dulohupa Village ofBoliyohuto District. The village government role in community development in the village Dulohupa Boliyohuto District of Gorontalo district, very important to support the conditions of this village because most of the people in this village have subsistence corn farmers so as to enable the empowerment of corn plants.The aims of this research were to determine and analyze the extent of countryside government and factors that encourage and inhibit the role of countryside government in supporting the income of corn farmer at Dulohupa village, Boliyohuto sub district of Gorontalo district. The results showed that the village government Doluhupa plays an important role to determine the appropriate steps to increase incomes of farmers' corn or empower the people in the village of the District Dulohupa Boliyohuto.


Within the framework of perturbative QCD approach based on $\mathbf{k_T}$ factorization, we investigate the charmless decay mode $B \to K_0^*(1430)\phi$. Under two different scenarios (S1 and S2) for the description of scalar meson $K_0^*(1430)$, we explore the branching fractions and related CP asymmetries. Besides the dominant contributions from the factorizable emission diagrams, penguin operators in the annihilation diagrams could also provide considerable contributions. The central values of our predictions are larger than those from the QCD factorization in both scenarios. Compared with the experimental measurements of the BaBar collaboration, the result of neutral channel in the S1 agrees with experimental data, while the result of the charged one is a bit smaller than the data. In the S2 scenario, although the central value for the branching fractions of both channels are much larger than the data, the predictions could agree with the data due to the large uncertainties to the branching fractions from the hadronic input parameters. The CP asymmetry in the charged channel is small and not sensitive to CKM angle $\gamma$. With the accurate data in near future from the various $B$ factories, these predictions will be under stringent tests.


A half-inverse problem for Sturm-Liouville operators consists of reconstruction of this operator by its spectrum and half of the potential. In this study, we show that if q(x) is prescribed on (π/2, π), then, only one spectrum is sufficient to determine q(x) on the interval (0, π/2) for the Sturm-Liouville equation having singularity type 1/sin2 x on (0, π).


This paper considers Herodotus' presentation of the tyrants of Corinth (3.48–53, 5.92) and some recent readings of the same.1 The speech that Herodotus puts into the mouth of Socles of Corinth (5.92) is a main source for the tyranny of Cypselus and Periander, and also for the relations of the Spartans with their Peloponnesian allies and Athens, for it seems to persuade the allies to oppose the Spartans in their desire to reimpose tyranny on Athens by offering a negative paradigm of tyranny.2 Yet historians agree that what Socles says about Cypselus and Periander is cast in the form of patterned stories of questionable value for "real history" and that the image of tyranny does not in all respects meet the aims of the persuasion.3 Socles has called tyranny "more unjust


When I was in high school, I hated reading anything that was assigned to me. The Internet was a fairly new phenomenon, and I used it to my advantage as help to get past any readings that my English teacher assigned. Then, my junior year English teacher assigned the controversial book Uncle Tom's Cabin. Maybe because she told me that Uncle Tom's Cabin would change my life, or maybe because the book was considered contentious, or maybe because I had grown tired of faking my way through high school, I decided to give it a chance. Uncle Tom's Cabin is the reason I became an English teacher. It changed my world.This year, I started a new job at a low performing urban high school. On the first day of school, the (highly paid) consultant assigned to the school told me, "We don't teach novels. They take too long." The consultant was brought in to the district in a desperate attempt to raise test scores in a system whose sole focus was success on standardized testing. Her job was to create classrooms that were completely test-data driven. In her opinion, since short stories were what students had to read on the standardized exam, short stories should be the sole source of literature in the English language arts classroom. The consultant's job was to make sure that English teachers didn't stray from the path. If a teacher strayed, the understanding was that the consequences would be swift and severe.In previous years of teaching English II, I had taught booklength works, such as 13 Reasons Why, Night, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and To Kill a Mockingbird. Each novel held a special place in my heart and allowed me to teach students about life and the adventure of literature. I was also able to check off all of the necessary boxes and curricular goals, and my students posted sufficiently high scores to make my administrators happy.Does One Size Fit All?When No Child Left Behind (NCLB) became law, one goal was to bridge the gap between students "regardless of race or location." The Bush administration likened the legislation to a "civil rights initiative" that promised to challenge low expectations. NCLB supporters viewed "the highstakes accountability system as a tool to effect the reduction of disparities between the achievement levels of low-income and minority students and their more affluent White counterparts" (Mirra and Morrell 409).A friend of mine who teaches tenth grade in an affluent school about 20 minutes north of my school said that her principal rarely mentions the test because most of the students attending her school can pass the exam on the first day of class. In my friend's school, the test is superfluous; in my school, it is the center of the universe. Paulo Freire states, "one does not liberate people by alienating them" (Pedagogy of the Oppressed 60), and my urban students are thoroughly alienated. In fact, it seems as if alienation is the primary strategy being used to address the complex issues surrounding race and poverty in urban public schools.Thus, instead of bridging the gap of inequality, standardized testing has segregated the curriculum and turned the achievement gap into a chasm. Most of my students are English language learners (ELLs), and they are behind their grade level in reading and writing by anywhere from one to nine years. While my suburban teacher friend organizes field trips and ponders the intricacies of staging a Shakespearean play, I am trying to teach many of my students how to write, speak, and read in English. Despite the rage to forge a single, unified curriculum for everyone, students vary widely in terms of background and knowledge, and it is unlikely that "one single curriculum will meet the needs and interests of all students" (Ede 31).While NCLB promised equity, it instead spawned a policy of seeking equal outcomes. H. Richard Milner states, "Equity should be our goal in educational practices as equality means sameness whereas equity refers to responsiveness to particular experiences of student needs in a sociopolitical context. …


Predicting a vehicle's trajectory is an essential ability for autonomous vehicles navigating through complex urban traffic scenes. Bird's-eye-view roadmap information provides valuable information for making trajectory predictions, and while state-of-the-art models extract this information via image convolution, auxiliary loss functions can augment patterns inferred from deep learning by further encoding common knowledge of social and legal driving behaviors. Since human driving behavior is inherently multimodal, models which allow for multimodal output tend to outperform single-prediction models on standard metrics. We propose a loss function which enhances such models by enforcing expected driving rules on all predicted modes. Our contribution to trajectory prediction is twofold; we propose a new metric which addresses failure cases of the off-road rate metric by penalizing trajectories that oppose the ascribed heading (flow direction) of a driving lane, and we show this metric to be differentiable and therefore suitable as an auxiliary loss function. We then use this auxiliary loss to extend the the standard multiple trajectory prediction (MTP) and MultiPath models, achieving improved results on the nuScenes prediction benchmark by predicting trajectories which better conform to the lane-following rules of the road.


Background: Remnant preservation may confer important advantages in the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)–reconstructed knee. However, the presence of a large remnant may obscure visualization and impair the ability to correctly place tunnels during surgery. Purpose: To determine whether tunnel placement during anatomic ACL reconstruction using the single anteromedial bundle biological augmentation (SAMBBA) technique is consistent and precise when a large native remnant is preserved. Study Design: Case series; Level of evidence, 4. Methods: Included in this study were 99 patients undergoing an ACL reconstruction during which at least 50% of the native ACL was preserved. The femoral tunnel was created using an outside-in specific guide. The tibial tunnel was positioned in the anteromedial region of the ACL footprint, and the remnant was carefully preserved while drilling and passing the semitendinosus graft through it. Postoperatively, 3-dimensional computed tomography (3D CT) was used to evaluate tunnel placement. The mean tunnel locations were calculated and the standard deviation was used to evaluate precision of positioning. Inter- and intrareader agreement were determined to assess reliability of evaluation of tunnel position. Results: The center of the femoral tunnel was positioned at a mean 19.4% (SD, 2%) of the depth of the notch and a mean 23.1% (SD, 3.5%) of the lateral wall height. The center of the tibial tunnel was positioned at a mean 36.3% (SD, 3.8%) of the anteroposterior length of the tibial plateau and at a mean 47.0% (SD, 2.7%) of the mediolateral width. The small standard deviations demonstrate that this technique allows precise tunnel placement. The tunnel positions achieved were consistent with previous anatomic studies of femoral and tibial anteromedial bundle insertion. Intra- and interobserver reliability were high. Conclusion: Three-dimensional CT evaluation demonstrated that despite the presence of a large remnant, placement of femoral and tibial tunnels for anatomic ACL reconstruction using the SAMBBA technique is consistent and precise.


There is currently no effective therapy for men with metastatic prostate cancer who relapse after androgen ablation. Prolonged administration of effective concentrations of standard chemotherapeutic agents is usually not possible because of dose‐limiting systemic toxicities. A new strategy to target cytotoxic agents specifically to sites of metastatic prostate cancer while avoiding systemic toxicity would be to develop prodrugs that are inactive when given systemically but become activated when processed proteolytically within prostate cancer metastases by prostate‐specific antigen (PSA). In this study, the in vivo activity of a prodrug consisting of doxorubicin (Dox) conjugated to a PSA‐specific peptide carrier is described.


Key words: object of transnational crimes, subject of transnational crimes, objective aspect of transnational crimes, and subjective aspect of transnational crimes


Surface treatments give physical and chemical properties to the materials, without them showing any change in their dimensions. Plasma nitriding is a thermochemical treatment, which increases some mechanical properties of metallic materials. In this article the characterization of the mechanical and micro-structural properties of an AISI-SAE 4140 steel is presented. To carry out the metallographic characterization, stress, hardness, abrasive wear and X-ray diffraction tests, the AISI-SAE 4140 steel was mechanized and prepared delivered in a hardened state (quenched and tempered) produced by Shah Alloys Ltd. making test pieces with their corresponding ASTM standards and nitrifying by plasma half of these at 500oC for 10 hours. A thickness of 6.78 μm was obtained from the nitride layer that the material acquired. A microstructural constitution was found formed by martensite and austenite retained in the base material, maintaining the same structure with the thermochemical process. The nitrided surface showed in its atomic chemical composition (At%) the presence of 8.04% N, 1.69% O and 1.38% Al (element of great importance to achieve great hardness), revealing an increase of 18.55% of surface hardness and 78.87% of wear resistance. Regarding the tensile properties, there is a 77.65% decrease in its elongation when subjected to medium and low tensile loads, presenting a deformation of 0.09 mm for the last stress effort of 600 MPa.


SARS-CoV-2 is associated with multiple direct and indirect effects to the heart. It is not yet well defined whether patient groups at increased risk of severe respiratory disease due to SARS-CoV-2 infection also experience a heightened incidence of cardiac complications.We sought to analyse the role of pre-existing chronic disease (chronic respiratory illness, cardiovascular disease (CVD), hypertension and diabetes mellitus) in the development of cardiac complications from SARS-CoV-2.We retrospectively investigated published (including pre-prints), publicly released, de-identified, data made available between Dec 1, 2019, and May 11, 2020. Information was accessed from PubMed, Embase, medRxiv and SSRN.379 full-text articles were reviewed and 321 excluded for lack of original research, irrelevance to outcome, inappropriate cohort, or small patient numbers (case reports of <10 patients). Data were extracted from two studies and the remaining 56 contacted to request appropriate data, to which three responded with data contributions. A final of five studies were included.This systematic review was conducted based on PRISMA and MOOSE statements. Included studies were critically appraised using Newcastle Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale (NOS). Data were extracted independently by multiple observers. A fixed-effects model was selected for the meta-analysis based on relatively low heterogeneity between the studies (I2<50%).Cardiac complications were determined via blood levels of cardiac biomarkers above the 99thpercentile of the upper reference limit, abnormalities in electrocardiography, and/or abnormalities in echocardiography.SARS-CoV-2-infected patients who developed cardiac complications were, on average, 10 years older than those that did not. Pooled analyses showed the development of cardiac complications from SARS-CoV-2 was significantly increased in patients with underlying chronic respiratory illness (OR 2.88[1.45,5.71]), CVD (OR 5.12[3.09,8.48]), hypertension (OR 4.37[2.99,6.39]) and diabetes mellitus (OR 2.61[1.67,4.09]).Older age and pre-existing chronic respiratory illness, CVD, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus may represent prognostic factors for the development of additional cardiac complications in COVID-19, highlighting the need for a multidisciplinary approach to chronic disease patient management and providing justification for a larger scale observational study.


112 Volume 45, Number 1 named Bettie wrote to her friend Gertrud about the massive throngs at the stadium, but she added, "[Y]ou surely heard all about it on the radio broadcast" (61). She mentioned her thrill at seeing the Führer who showed up promptly at 8:15 in the morning, and she was impressed by the way 200,000 spectators exited the stadium quickly and efficiently. In many ways, it presaged the ruthless organization that a few years later would be put to work in a much grimmer business. The snapshots in the book are often revealing, sometimes beautiful, and every now and then brilliant. For me, however, there is a pervasive melancholy connected to the photos because, less than a decade after the photos were taken, the beautiful city of Berlin would be bombed to a smoldering ruin and a great many of the smiling, happy people captured in the images would be dead. Ironically, the great and impressive olympic Stadium where many of the photographs were taken would survive the war almost untouched—unlike many of the amateur photographers and bystanders preserved forever in this book. —david Chapman Independent Scholar