Introduction: A thorough understanding of the vertebral artery (VA) variations and course of the artery and its related branches could significantly enhance the efficacy and safety of interventions involving the neck and spine. Here, we aimed to investigate the incidence of various VA variations in individuals presenting with signs and symptoms of stroke with our neurology team. Material and Method: In this retrospective study we investigate CTA images of patients with signs and symptom of stroke who referred to specialized medical imaging centre. An experienced board-certified radiologist evaluated the CTA images, recording the characteristics of VA, regarding dominance and any possible anomalies. These included anomalous origin, anomalous route, anomalous branching, stenosis, hypoplasia, atresia, thrombosis, and dissection. All data were analyzed using SPSS version24 and Pearson Chi-Square and Fishers test used for anomaly and gender correlation. Results: A total of 125 patients (53.6% females; mean age, 60.7 (11-87)) were included. In the case of VA dominance, 66.4% of cases were co-dominant while 16.0% were right, and 12.8% were left dominant. Overall, males had more VA anomalies than females, 24.8% and 17.6%, respectively (in general, 42.4% of all participants) (p = 0.020). Among patients, 4.0% (n = 5) had an anomalous origin and anomalous branching was reported in 5 patients (4.0%). Among the variations, significant stenosis (18.4%) and hypoplasia (17.6%) were the most prevalent anomalies with the earliest one having the higher rate. While anomalous branching was reported in 5 patients (4.0%). Conclusions: VA variations are relatively common and should be addressed during procedures involving the neck region and would allow surgeons to avoid life threatening injury.


Population dynamics of Trichoderma harzianum (JMA-4), the best identified isolate against pea root rotJ wilt complex was studied at different moisture, temperature and pH levels up to 60th day of inoculation. The maximum population (71.0x 106cfu/g soil) was noticed at 35 per cent followed by 30 per cent moisture. Temperature of 25°C was found to be the most suitable for multiplication whereas higher temperatures (30- 35°C) inhibited the growth of bioagent. The highest population( 142.3x 106 cfu/gsoil) was recorded at pH 6.6 followed by 5.4 pH. Alkaline pH inhibited the multiplication of T. harzianum. The concept of biological control embodies the introduction of antagonists into cropping system and also the manipulation of the environment to favour resident beneficial microorganisms by crop rotation. A living, multiplying biocontrol agent potentially provides a continuous, non-chemical control of pathogen. Pea wilt/root rot complex is one of the major diseases of pea in Himachal Pradesh and is caused by a complexity of pathogens including Fusarium so/ani, F. oxysporum, Rhizoctonia so/ani, Sc/erotinia sc/erotiorum and Phoma medicaginis var. pinodella etc. In an attempt to identify biocontrol agents against this disease complex, an isolate of Trichoderma harzianum (JMA-4) was found most promising against all the pathogens and was used in the present studies. For maximum utilization of the antagonistic potential of an organism, it is necessary that the environment to which a prospective antagonist is added should be studied carefully and modified accordingly to assist the establishment and proliferation of bioagents. Soil physical factors such as moisture, temperature and pH influence the activity of biocontrol agent. Harmen et at. (1981) found that seed coated with T. hamatum could not control damping- off due to prevailing unfavourable soil temperature. In the present study, population


Distribution logistics system is required to respond to the uncertainty. Because the effective way to respond to the uncertainty is flexibility capacity, studying the flexibility capacity of distribution logistics system is important and practical. First of all, we analyze the uncertainty of distribution logistics system, then, we analyze comprehensively its elements from the view of system. Finally, we set up a quantitative model by combining the projection pursuit classification (PPC) and fuzzy matter-element, which can support the decision-making of selection of distribution system and flexible strategies.


The structural properties of porous tungsten ionizers sintered from powders of grain sizes 0.1, 0.9, 5, 8, 12 to 18, and 44 to 74 /* were investigated by gas-flow and metallographic techniques. The quantitative influence of porosity and further sintering on the structural characteristics are presented. The experimental results indicate that powders of less than 1or 2-/i diam cannot be used to fabricate satisfactory sintered porous ionizers unless significant advances are made in the techniques of powder metallurgy and sintering. Because the ionizer permeability and specific periphery increase with increasing porosity at a given powder size, a high ionizer porosity at any given powder size (pore diameter) is expected to be desirable for electrical propulsion applications. The apparent perveance of all of the ionizers was observed to increase slightly with increasing ion-current density and to decrease with increasing ionizer powder size. The operating characteristics of the 0.9-^ ionizer deteriorated severely with operating time at operating temperatures above 1100°C. The ionization efficiency decreases with increasing ion-current density at constant temperature (with some exceptions), and the ionization efficiency decreases with increasing ion-current density more rapidly as the ionizer powder size (pore size) increases. The maximum ionization efficiency was observed to occur at temperatures above the critical temperature. If high values of both ionization efficiency and ion-current density are simultaneously desirable, then this work leads to the conclusion that as small an initial ionizer powder size as possible (within the lower limit imposed by sintering changes, which is, at present, about 2 i) be combined with higher ionizer temperature and high ionizer porosity.


A product of HP's research labs, it'll be used in-house to make very-large-scale integrated circuits and other advanced devices. Precision is achieved by measuring distortions and correcting them with software and electronics. Digital Adaptive Matched Filter for Fiducial Mark Registration, by Tsen-gong Jim Hsu Detecting registration marks on substrates is a problem of extracting a known signal from noise. Shown on our cover this month is the exposure end of HP's electron beam lithography system, beam subject of this issue. On the left are the column that produces the electron beam (seepage 14), and below it, the X-Y stage that holds the target (see page 16). On the right is '¡s% the system that transports the target objects to and from the X-Y stage (page 16). Electron beam lithography is one of the technologies on the frontier of the business of producing integrated circuits, those tiny silicon chips that can hold enough electronic circuitry for an page computer †" HP's latest chip has 450,000 transistors on it. On page 5, Frank Ura, manager of HP's electron beam research and development team, introduces us to electron promises lithography and its advantages and disadvantages. Briefly, its main advantage is that it promises to let us percentage more transistors in a given area of chip and do it more accurately, so a higher percentage of good chips slower off the production line. Its disadvantage has been that it is slower than older methods, too slow for mass-producing any but the simplest chips. The scientists at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, HP's central research facility, thought they saw a way to make a faster management beam system that would be useful in a production environment, and HP management supported them. That investment has paid off in the system described in this issue, which is much faster than any other sometimes we know of. To make it work, the project team applied good, sometimes clever engineering and advanced technology, as this issue attests. The new present will be used by HP divisions to make better HP products. There are no present plans to make it available to other companies. The electron beam team has already used the system to make some advanced devices the to develop new ways of dealing with an electron beam problem, proximity effect, or the random scattering of electrons when they hit a target. We didn't have room in this issue to talk …


Painting and Painting: a two-person exhibition of digital and analogue paintings at Porthmeor Studios, St Ives, Cornwall, July 2016.As the second stage of the Painting as Post Internet Technology research project initiated in 2015 by Kate Southworth and Neil McLeod, the exhibition explored the materiality and media ecology of painting in the context of the digital/virtual and in relation to Walter Benjamin's notion of the aura. The artefact of painting was problematised, temporarily discarded, and temporarily re-instated. It informs the third stage of the project which seeks to fully digitise the artefact before re-materialising it in altered form.


Summary A review is given of current methods in theoretical aerodynamics which are useful in the design of aircraft wings for subsonic and transonic speeds. These are of two basic types: (A) direct methods for calculating the flow over a givenwing shape. In the design process, these can be used to obtain a rapid estimate of the effect of a specified change in wing shape. The most practical methods of this type make use of the viscous/inviscid interaction technique; some recent methods are described and examples are given of their use, both in two and three dimensions, including comparisons with experiment. (B) inverse methods in which the shape is calculated explicitly, as a result of either (a) specifying the surface pressure distribution on the wing, or (b) requiring that some suitable 'target' function, usually the drag/lift ratio, shall be a minimum. At present, these methods are restricted to inviscid flow. Several examples of both 'pressure' and 'optimisation' methods are discussed, and their advantages and limitations considered.


The study examined associations between unsystematic life style and symptoms of anxiety among adolescents. Lifestyle reflects the interests, opinions, behaviors, and behavioral orientations of an individual, group, or culture. Unhealthy life style means thinking and doing something in a manner that is marked by unstructured, unsystematic, not well planned, without any particular order or definite aim to it regarding protection of his/her health. It was hypothesized that subjects adhering to unhealthy life style. Would have greater amount of anxiety compared to those adhering to healthy life style Sample of the study consisted of 150 adolescents of both sexes (Boys=100 and Girls=50), aged between 16-18 years, Mean age=17 years, drawn randomly from high school student's population. Research tools included Hyphantis et al., (2018) Protection of Health Questionnaire, to measure Unhealthy Life style and Spielbeger's (2010) Test Anxiety Inventory Anxiety to measure anxiety symptoms of subjects. Result indicated positive association (r=.83p<.01); moreover interaction between gender and unsystematic life style also proved to be significant (F=6.48;) df=1/159; p<.01). Girls with more unsystematic life style showed more anxiety symptoms compared to their counterpart boys.


Recent advances in research and practice on the prevention and treatment of youth mental health problems have emphasized the central role of the child's developing cognitions (Boxer & Dubow, 2002; Compton et ai., 2004; Guerra, Boxer, & Kim, 2005). Children actively participate in a variety of contexts (e.g., home, neighborhood, school) that provide the settings and experiences that shape their subsequent cognitive, emotional, and behavioral development. Guerra and her colleagues summarized this cognitive-ecological view of child development:


System for detecting and entering the price and number of articles placed in a receptacle. This can be applied to trolleys used for shopping in hypermarkets and the like. The trolley contains the following: a bar code reader 1, a means of measuring the dimensions 12 of the product in the area corresponding to the bar code, and a means of measuring the weight 6 of the products. It has a central processing unit 8 that determines the weight, dimensions and price and checks whether these three parameters correspond to the same product, in which case it validates the introduction of the product and enters it together with its price, obtaining the value of the products purchased, shown in a display 9, limiting the cashier to collecting the total amount, thus avoiding queues forming at the check-out.


The invention provides a color card and a skin test method and system. The color card comprises at least one closed color ring, the inside of the innermost color ring is a hollow area, each color ring is at least divided into two color blocks equally, each color block at least comprises one color block body with the color different from that of skin, and other color block bodies are filled with at least one preset skin color; closed annular areas are arranged between the innermost color ring and the hollow area, between the color rings and outside the outermost color ring, and the annular areas are filled with colors different from that of the skin. The method includes the steps that the color card is placed on the skin and the image of the color card and the image of the skin to be tested are obtained; the obtained image of the color card and the image of the skin to be tested are recognized, and colors are extracted; the extracted colors are corrected; according to the corrected colors, attribute parameters of the skin to be tested are calculated; according to the attribute parameters, attribute classification is carried out on the skin to be tested, and a test result is obtained. The system comprises the color card and a skin test device.


We present high resolution, high S/N spectra in the λ6707 Li 1 region of the cool metal-poor dwarfs HD 103095 (={HR 4550}={Gmb 1830}), 134439, and 134440. Previous detections of weak Li in the first two stars are confirmed. We suggest that neither standard nor rotational stellar models we consider are able to satisfactorily account for the Li depletion of HD 103095. In contrast, both standard and rotational models are able to account for the Li abundance of HD 134439. This apparent disparity reappears when we find that the metallicity-sensitivity of the Li depletion models can not be confirmed by our or previously published Li abundances of HD 103095 and HD 134439. HD 134439 and 134440 form a common proper motion pair with virtually identical kinematics and heavy element abundances. Thus, it is likely that the Li abundances of these two field stars can be compared without undue concern for differences in their ages, compositions, or any Li enrichment history. Moreover, we do not find any significant Na abundance differences, hinted at by previous work, which would cloud the interpretation of the proper motion pair Li abundances. The {≥}0.6 dex Li abundance difference between HD 134439 and the {∼}200 K cooler HD 134440 implies that the Li-Teff morphology is a sharp function of temperature below Teff{∼}5000 K. This rather precipitous decline in Li abundance is consistent both with the standard and rotational stellar models considered here.


This report was written based on the things that have been studied for doing practical work in the QA department and manufacturing department PET PT. Coca Cola Bottling Indonesia. Writing of this report focused on the manufacturing process 1500 ml PET bottle packaging and quality control 1500 ml PET bottle packag- ing. Quality control of PET packaging bottles 1500 ml bot- tle packaging aims to create safe, attractive and hygienic re- quirements TCCQS and customer satisfaction. The process of manufacturing PET bottle packaging in PT. Coca Cola Bottling Indonesia through the 10 process, which starts from the process pemanasn prefrom in heating systems, printing bottles with wind pressure, until the last process that bottle out. Based on the results of data processing using pareto diagrams, it is known that the most dominant type of problem that occurs in manufacturing PET is the back transfer caused by melting Prefrom, Sensors and Ma- terials prefrom dirty no good After processing by using the brainstorming method turns out there are only factors that give rise to problems of the people, methods, machines, ma- terials, and environment. On the human factor or operator caused by the less scrupulous and less skill of the operator in performing his job, and then to factors caused by the service methods that do not follow instructions properly, the ma- chine factor caused by the maintenance schedule is erratic and the lack of good coordination, material factors caused by a component that does not meet established standards. As for environmental factors and conditions caused by the plant that is uncomfortable.


For the investigation of the effect of Chinese herb medicine (CHM) pieces by different drying conditions, a representative medicinal material of rootstalk kinds, Radix Astragali was chosen and dried by microwave drying , hot-air drying , vacuum drying and frozen vacuum drying after re-hydration. The influence of medicinal material quality by different drying methods, through the character of molecular weight of extraction solution by the technique of ultra filtration and measurements of micron and nanometer size to microstructure of pieces with the environment scan electron microscope, under the Chinese curatorial theory of "whole idea" and the thinking of "crude compound". The results show that the external appearances of astragalus chips are all irregular porous shapes under the four drying methods; The speed of microwave drying method is 10 times as swift as three others; microstructure of microwave drying and initial pieces are approximate with massive cytoplasm; cytoplasm like granules by frozen vacuum drying and hot-air drying sticks to cell walls and is filled in cells very loose by vacuum drying. The content of small molecular of CHM by microwave drying technique is 82%, obviously higher than that by other techniques; experiments show that the quality of CHM depends on the microstructure. The lower the destruction extent of microstructure is, the better the quality of CHM is. Therefore, the microwave drying technology was advantageous not only to the extraction of effective components of CHM, but also to the subsequent operation such as purification and refinement etc.


It is the main task for university that make students get possession of good psychological quality and moral behaviour.In university,combining psychological education with ideology education will improve the effect of moral work.


A design method of nonlinear adaptive robust control systems for a missile is proposed based on fully tuned RBF neural networks. RBF neural networks are used to identify the uncertainty of the system, then nonlinear missile control systems are designed using backstepping and robust control techniques which deal with the mismatched uncertainty of the system successfully, the differential damp terms are introduced into the fictitious control terms that improve the transient performance of the system effectively. Finally, the tuning law for updating all the parameters of the RBF neural networks is derived by the Lyapunov stability theorem, and the states of the system converge to the neighborhood of the origin globally and asymptotically.The simulation results show the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed method.


This work was made from a bibliographic analysis and statistical reports to determine whether advertising in search engines or by its acronym in English Search Engine Marketing (SEM), affect the decision to purchase consumers in Colombia and the world. Likewise, the price sensitivity or price elasticity of the demand is analyzed in the consumer's purchase decision for purchases made through web sites arranged for electronic commerce "Ecommerce"; or at physical points of sale, starting from the search engines to make a more informed purchase decision. It also explains the scope of advertising in search engines, increases in budgets that guide organizations for this area and the growth that has had advertising in marketing companies to establish the internet as a dynamic and open sales channel to reach the consumer through succinct and direct messages.

Finally, the reader will be able to observe a report distributed in four (4) chapters: the first chapter explains the antecedents and main attributions of the increase of advertising in search engines; in the second chapter, the way in which advertising in search engines affects the decision of purchase of users or consumers is explained; in the third chapter, a profile of the price elasticity of the demand is made, exposing the term and its condition in front of the advertising in search engines and the decisions of purchase of the consumers; Finally, the fourth chapter describes the return to investment made by organizations to use SEM advertising.


Abstract X-ray analyses indicate that illite, smectite, loughlinite (Na20.3Mg0.6SiO2.8H2O) and chlorite are present in the < 2 μm fraction of the lacustrine Green River Formation (Eocene) of Wyoming. Material amorphous to X-rays and random mixed-layer structures are present in subordinate amounts. Individual crystals vary from pure, well-ordered structures to poorly crystallized forms. Illite is ubiquitous, occurring in all the samples studied. It is generally associated with other clay minerals but frequently occurs as the only clay mineral found in the 'oil shales'. Smectite is present in all three members of the Green River Formation, but its presence frequently shows an inverse relationship to both analcime and loughlinite. Loughlinite is restricted to the saline facies of the Wilkins Peak Member. Chlorite occurs only in the silty and sandy beds of the Tipton Shale Member. The distribution of random mixed-layer structures and amorphous material is irregular. Several independent lines of evidence favour an in situ origin for many of the clay minerals reported in this investigation. The 'oil shales', which are in most cases varved, kerogenous, dolomitic marls, have a variable clay mineral composition. There is a marked tendency, however, for illite to be the dominant or the only clay mineral present. Apparently the geochemical conditions favouring the accumulation of the oil shales also favoured in situ generation of illite.


Flash vacuum thermolysis (FVT, 1000 °C ≥ T ≥ 1200 °C) of acenaphtho[1,2-a]acenaphthylene (3, C22H12) gave the C22H12 cyclopenta-fused polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (CP-PAH) acenaphtho[1,2-e]acenaphthylene (4), cyclopenta[cd]perylene (5) and cyclopenta[def]benzo[hi]chrysene (6). Whereas the formation of 4 is explained by a ring contraction/ring expansion rearrangement of 3, the identification of 5 and 6 suggests that 3 also undergoes homolytic scission of a five-membered ring's Carbon-Carbon single bond furnishing the transient diradical intermediate 7. Ring closure of 7to form 8 after rotation around the Carbon-Carbon single bond of the intact five-membered ring followed by hydrogen shifts will give 6. The latter can rearrange subsequently into 5by ring contraction/ring expansion. The structural assignment of 4 and 5 was supported by independent FVT of 6,12-bis(1-chloroethenyl)chrysene (14) and 3-(1-chloroethenyl)perylene (23), respectively. FVT of 14 (900–1200 °C) gave in a consecutive process 6,12-bis(ethynyl)chrysene (15), 9-ethynylbenz[j]acephenanthrylene (16) and bis(cyclopenta[hi,qr])chrysene (17). Although at T ≥ 900 °C 17 selectively rearranges into 4 by ring contraction/ring expansion, at 1200 °C the latter is converted into 5 presumably via a diradical intermediate obtained by homolytic scission of a single Carbon-Carbon bond of a five-membered ring. FVT of 23 gave in situ 3-ethynylperylene (25), which at 1000 °C is nearly quantitatively converted into 5. The propensity of internal cyclopenta moieties to undergo homolytic scission of a five-membered ring′s Carbon-Carbon single bond was corroborated by independent FVT of benzo[k]- (11) and benzo[j]fluoranthene (12). Previously unknown thermal pathways to important (CP)-PAH combustion effluents are disclosed at T ≥ 1000 °C.


Objective:To analyze the perioperative use of antibacterials in patients undergoing appendectomy.Methods:A retrospective survey and analysis was conducted on the 234 cases of appendicitis surgery patients in the perioperative period of antimicrobial drug use,include the number of varieties,frequency and combination of use,the use methods.Results:234 cases of appengicitis patients with the use of antimicrobial agents rate was 100 percent.Conclusion:The clinical use is reasonable.


Objective To study the B-cell content, organization, and existence of distinct B-cell subpopulations in relation to the expression of type 1 interferon signature related genes in dermatomyositis (DM). Methods Evaluation of skeletal muscle biopsies from patients with adult DM (aDM) and juvenile DM (jDM) by histology, immunohistochemistry, electron microscopy, and quantitative reverse-transcription PCR. Results We defined 3 aDM subgroups—classic (containing occasional B cells without clusters), B-cell–rich, and follicle-like aDM—further elucidating IM B-lymphocyte maturation and immunity. The quantity of B cells and formation of ectopic lymphoid structures in a subset of patients with aDM were associated with a specific profile of cytokines and chemokines involved in lymphoid neogenesis. Levels of type 1 interferon signature related gene expression paralleled B-cell content and architectural organization and link B-cell immunity to the interferon type I signature. Conclusion These data corroborate the important role of B cells in DM, highlighting the direct link between humoral mechanisms as key players in B-cell immunity and the role of type I interferon–related immunity.


&NA; Research is an essential function in nursing administration to improve practice and develop knowledge. Our goal for the column is to provide readers with relevant, useful reports. You are cordially encouraged to send abstracts of research and announcements of funding to the editor.


It was said in ancient Greece that when Aeschines spoke the crowd uttered, "What a great orator," but when Demosthenes spoke they shouted, "Let us march!" Donald Ainslie (D. A. since childhood) Henderson became commanding general of the World Health Organization's (WHO's) Intensified Smallpox Eradication Programme in October 1966. To many of the more than 150 000 pox-warriors who marched until the last case of naturally transmitted smallpox occurred in October 1977, he remains our revered leader (photo 1). Henderson, who died at 87 on August 19, 2016, in Towson, Maryland, was born in Lakewood, Ohio, in 1928 to an engineer and a nurse. He went to Oberlin College in Ohio and trained in medicine at the University of Rochester in New York, where he wrote a prizewinning article about the 1833 epidemic of cholera in upstate New York. Initially considering cardiology as a specialty, he was a medical intern and resident at Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown, New York. In 1967, smallpox was endemic in 33 countries with a population of 1.2 billion, and importations occurred into 14 others. Disease surveillance was abysmal. Ten to 15 million cases a year were occurring, less than 5% ever being reported to health authorities, and up to one third of the patients would die and many others were scarred and blinded. There was no effective treatment—only traditional beliefs. Less than 10% of the smallpox vaccines in program use were of good quality. In 1959 the World Health Assembly in Geneva adopted a Soviet-inspired resolution for global smallpox eradication. However, little was accomplished—another resolution was passed at the assembly in 1966 allocating WHO funds to accelerate smallpox eradication; the resolution barely passed because of worry that a smallpox program could not succeed, would compete with the malaria eradication effort, and require more funding from member states. Enter D. A. He came to WHO from the US Communicable Disease Center (CDC, now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). For 11 years, from 1955 to 1966, he was mentored by Alexander Langmuir, Epidemiology Branch chief and founder in 1951 of the famed Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS), formed in part to detect and respond to biowarfare attacks in the United States following the Korean War. Langmuir was a demanding boss, emphasizing "shoe leather" investigations of disease outbreaks, close partnerships with state health departments, practical recommendations to solve public health problems, and precision in scientific reports. D. A.'s studies during this period targeted influenza, measles, polio, hepatitis, cholera, antibiotic resistance, epidemic neuromyasthenia, and the complications from smallpox vaccination. Henderson rose rapidly, becoming Chief of the EIS program and the Surveillance Section. This included planning for responding to any imported smallpox case, testing the jet-injector gun for smallpox vaccinations, and assessing O B I T U A R Y


With the increasing demand for electric and hybrid electric vehicles and the explosion in popularity of mobile and portable electronic devices such as laptops, cell phones, e-readers, tablet computers and the like, reliance on portable energy storage devices such as batteries has likewise increased. The concern for the availability of critical systems in turn drives the availability of battery systems and thus the need for accurate battery health monitoring has become paramount. Over the past decade the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Montana Tech of the University of Montana (Tech), and Qualtech Systems, Inc. (QSI) have been developing the Smart Battery Status Monitor (SBSM), an integrated battery management system designed to monitor battery health, performance and degradation and use this knowledge for effective battery management and increased battery life. Key to the success of the SBSM is an in-situ impedance measurement system called the Impedance Measurement Box (IMB). One of the challenges encountered has been development of an accurate, simple, robust calibration process. This paper discusses the successful realization of this process.


Background: Resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) is a tool used in the management of hemorrhagic shock in trauma patients. REBOA has also been proposed as an option for non-traumatic hemorrhage, such as gastrointestinal (GI) hemorrhage. In this case report, the use of a partial REBOA (p-REBOA) for a patient with an acute upper GI hemorrhage is presented as a management strategy to temporize bleeding. Methods: Case information was obtained from the electronic medical record at the University Medical Center in New Orleans. Results: A 46- year-old woman presented to the Emergency Department with concern for an upper GI bleed. The patient was tachycardic on presentation and then quickly became unresponsive. Massive transfusion protocol was initiated and a p-REBOA catheter was placed in Zone 1. After the REBOA was inflated 20 mL in 2 mL increments, the patient's blood pressure improved, while maintaining distal perfusion. An exploratory laparotomy, with an angiogram once the patient had been stabilized, was planned. Despite resuscitative efforts for more than 2 hours, the patient progressed to cardiac arrest and did not have return of spontaneous circulation. Conclusions: This case report describes the use of p-REBOA in Zone 1 to control hemorrhage in a patient with a suspected upper GI bleed. This strategy could be utilized in patients with suspected non-traumatic hemorrhage in order to control bleeding temporarily and allow for ongoing resuscitation and stabilization of a patient prior to definitive treatment.


The only hope for a patient suffering from organ failure is transplantation from a healthy donor and advances in the medical field have enabled the use of several organs for transplant purposes. Harvesting/retrieval of organs from the Non Heart-Beating Donors (NHBDs) is the most common method for procuring organs like eyes, kidneys, liver, pancreas, intestines, lungs, heart, etc. However, of all these organs, kidneys are the most commonly transplanted organs as they are the ones that can be procured even from the living.


Electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) effect in a -system formed by Cs atoms line, enclosed in nanometric-thin cells, is studied both experimentally and theoretically for the first time. The atomic column thickness varies in the range of 50–1500 nm. It is demonstrated that when the coupling laser frequency is in exact resonance with the corresponding atomic transition, the parameters of the EIT resonance (also called dark resonance (DR)) depend weakly on , which allows us to detect DR at nm with the contrast of . The obtained DR parameters are the best as compared with those for Rb and lines and Cs line. The DR contrast and width are studied versus laser frequency detunings, coupling laser power, cell thickness, temperature, and applied external magnetic field. The well-resolved splitting of the DR resonance in a magnetic field for nm can be used for magnetometry with high spatial resolution. The theoretical model describes well the observed results.


One failure mechanism of thermal barrier coatings composed of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) has been proposed to be caused, in part, by the transformation of the tetragonal phase of YSZ into its monoclinic phase. Normally, studies of phase evolution are performed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and by evaluating the intensities of a few diffraction peaks for each phase. However, this method misses some important information that can be obtained with the Rietveld method. Using Rietveld's refinement of XRD patterns, we observed, upon annealing of YSZ coatings, an increase of cubic phase content, a reduction in as-deposited tetragonal phase content, and the appearance of a new tetragonal phase having a lower yttria content that coexists with the as-deposited tetragonal phase of YSZ.


The system nickel(II) chloride (NiCl2)/N,N-dimethylaniline (DMA) initiates the polymerization of methyl methacrylate and acrylonitrile. The thermal polymerization of styrene is not affected. From the polymerization and copolymerization studies as well as from spectral measurements in the UV and visible region it is concluded that this polymerization exhibits free radical character. Neither NiCl2 nor DMA used separately initiate the polymerization. The initiating species are assumed to be formed as a result of interaction between the vinyl monomer/NiCl2 complex {e.g. in the case of MMA, [Ni(CH3OH)6–x(MMA)x]2+2Cl−, (2)} and DMA. Possible causes for the different initiating efficiency of the system NiCl2/DMA for various vinyl monomers are also discussed.


Research investigating etiology, or beliefs and values related to prejudice toward transgender individuals, is in the early stages. This study examined correlates and predictors of antitransgender prejudice from a sample of 298 undergraduates at a large, urban university in the Southeastern United States. Measures of traditional values and beliefs, such as right-wing authoritarianism, and social dominance orientation, as well as social identity factors, such as intergroup contact, intergroup anxiety, in-group identity, and contact apprehension toward transgender individuals were examined. Bivariate correlations revealed that right-wing authoritarianism, contact apprehension, and intergroup anxiety were strongly correlated with anti-transgender prejudice, using the Genderism Transphobia Scale Revised version (GTS-R; Tebbe & Moradi, 2014). Contact with gay men and lesbians yielded a moderate negative correlation with GTS-R. Contact with transgender individuals yielded a small, but significant negative correlation with GTS-R. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that contact apprehension, right-wing authoritarianism, and contact with gay men and lesbians were significant predictors of GTS-R. A post hoc mediation analysis revealed that contact apprehension significantly mediated the relationship between gender and anti-transgender prejudice. INDEX WORDS: Transgender, Prejudice, Counseling, Social identity, Ingroup identity, Intergroup contact, Intergroup anxiety, Contact apprehension, Right-wing authoritarianism, Social dominance orientation CORRELATES AND PREDICTORS OF ANTI-TRANSGENDER PREJUDICE


This paper summarizes the characteristics of refractory lining for circulating fluidized bed(CFB)boiler with external heat exchan-ger(FBHE),and analyzes main erection experience of refractory lining of 300 MW CFB boiler for Qinhuangdao Thermal Power Company.The present status of this boiler's lining is introduced.Some suggestions for improvement are presented for the erection of CFB boiler lining.


Objective: Simple, sensitive, precise, reproducible and validated visible spectrophotometric methods have been developed for the determination of an antimuscarinic drug, namely oxybutynin hydrochloride (OXB) in pure form and in pharmaceutical preparations. Methods: Two spectrophotometric methods are based on the formation of yellow colored ion-pair complexes between the studied drug, and two sulphonphthalein acid dyes, bromocresol purple (BCP) and bromophenol blue (BPB) with absorption maxima at 410 and 416 nm, respectively. Results: The stoichiometric ratio of the formed ion-pair complexes was found to be 1:1 (drug: reagent) for both methods as deduced by Job's method of continuous variation. Several parameters such as pH, buffer type, and reagent volume, sequence of addition and effect of extracting solvent were optimized to achieve high sensitivity, stability, low blank reading and reproducible results. Under the optimum reaction conditions, linear relationships with good correlation coefficients (0.9996-0.9999) were found between the absorbance's and the concentrations of oxybutynin over the concentration ranges of 1.0–8.0 μg ml Faculty of Public Health and Health Informatics, Umm AL-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia Email: firstname.lastname@example.com -1 and 1.0–12 μg ml-1 with LOD of 0.21 and 0.19 μg ml-1


Abstract: Portal‐systemic encephalopathy (PSE) is characterized by neuropsychiatric symptoms progressing through stupor and coma. Previous studies in human autopsy tissue and in experimental animal models of PSE suggest that alterations in levels of brain amino acids may play a role in the pathogenesis of PSE. To assess this possibility, levels of amino acids were measured using in vivo cerebral microdialysis in frontal cortex of portacaval‐shunted rats administered ammonium acetate (3.85 mmol/kg, i.p.) to precipitate severe PSE. Sham‐operated rats served as controls. Portacaval shunting resulted in significant increases of levels of extracellular glutamine (threefold, p < 0.001), alanine (38%, p < 0.01), aspartate (44%, p < 0.05), phenylalanine (170%, p < 0.001), tyrosine (140%, p < 0.001), tryptophan (63%, p < 0.001), leucine (75%, p < 0.001), and serine (60%, p < 0.001). Administration of ammonium acetate to sham‐operated animals led to a significant increase in extracellular glutamine and taurine content, but this response was absent in shunted rats. The lack of taurine release into extracellular fluid following ammonium acetate administration in portacaval‐shunted rats could relate to the phenomenon of brain edema in these animals. Ammonium acetate administration resulted in significant increases in the extracellular concentrations of phenylalanine and tyrosine in both sham‐operated and portacaval‐shunted rats. Severe PSE was not accompanied by significant increases in extracellular fluid concentrations of glutamate, aspartate, GABA, tryptophan, leucine, or serine, suggesting that increased spontaneous release of these amino acids in cerebral cortex is not implicated in the pathogenesis of hepatic coma.


Although simple architectural structures like bridges, catwalks, cantilevers, and Stonehenge have been integral in human societies for millennia, as have levers and other simple tools, modern students of introductory physics continue to grapple with Newton's conditions for static equilibrium. As formulated in typical introductory physics textbooks,1–4 these two conditions appear as ΣF=0(1) and Στ=0,(2) where each torque τ is defined as the cross product between the lever arm vector r and the corresponding applied force F, τ=r×F,(3) having magnitude, τ=Frsinθ.(4) The angle θ here is between the two vectors F and r. In Eq. (1), upward (downward) forces are considered positive (negative). In Eq. (2), counterclockwise (clockwise) torques are considered positive (negative). Equation (1) holds that the vector sum of the external forces acting on an object must be zero to prevent linear accelerations; Eq. (2) states that the vector sum of torques due to external forces about any axis must be zero to prevent angu...


Zigbee is a kind of wireless network protocol specially designed for the sensor control network of low cost,low rate and low power.It is a new type of bidirectional wireless communication technology,and it is mainly applied to some fields like autocontrol,sensor,monitor and remote control.The primary characteristics of Zigbee protocol based on wireless network protocol IEEE802.15.4 are presented.The single-chip MSP430F169 of TI company(being used as the microcontroler)and the XBee(802.15.4)of Digi company are used for realizing the wireless network based on Zigbee protocol,and the wireless sensor network is applied to the monitoring system of well pumping units.


The purpose of this study was to (a) compare outcomes between children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) and children with typical hearing (CTH) on the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS), Eighth Edition assessment and (b) compare outcomes of children who are DHH on the DIBELS to other standardized literacy assessments.

 Participants included 19 children who are DHH and 19 CTH in kindergarten or first grade. All participants who are DHH had bilateral hearing loss and used listening technology. The participants completed timed and untimed standardized literacy assessments. Data were analyzed using independent-samples
 t
 test, chi-square analysis, and Pearson correlation analysis.

 Only one of five subtests on the DIBELS, the Oral Reading Fluency subtest, revealed a significant difference in scores between children who are DHH and CTH. Despite this difference, there were no differences in the distribution of risk between the groups. The DIBELS scores of children who are DHH strongly correlated to their scores on other standardized literacy assessments.

 The results indicate that the DIBELS is an adequate measure to screen early literacy skills for children who are DHH. The DHH and CTH groups differ in reading comprehension using a standardized measure; however, the DIBELS does not measure this skill. Further assessments of reading comprehension along with the DIBELS are recommended when assessing these skills in children who are DHH.


© British Bryological Society 2002 DOI: 10.1179/037366802125002186 Received 8 October 2001. Revision accepted 27 May 2002 Noguchi A. 1988. Illustrated moss flora of Japan, Part 2: 399–402. Nichinan: Hattori Botanical Laboratory. Ochi H. 1968. A revision of the family Funariaceae in Japan and the adjacent regions. Journal of Japanese Botany 20: 1–34. Ochi H. 1985. An annotated list of mosses of the subfamily Bryoideae in South, South-East and East Asia. Journal of the Faculty of Education, Tottori University, Natural Science 34: 41–96.


Introduction. Spontaneous cholecystoduodenal fistula is a rare complication of the gallbladder calculosis. Bowel obstruction is the complication in less than 1% of these patients. The pathognomonic triad (Rigler triad) of pneumobilia, small-bowel distention, and ectopic gallstones is typical for gallstone ileus. In only 1?3% of the patients with bowel obstruction by ectopic gallstone the localization of obstruction is in the duodenum, and it is called Bouveret syndrome. The rarest complication is a floating non-obstructing gallstone trapped in the stomach. Outline of cases. We present three elderly female patients with persistent abdominal pain and known gallbladder calculosis in the patients? histories. Plain radiography of the thorax and abdomen and ultrasound were performed as the first choice and contrast-enhanced computer tomography (CT) was done subsequently. In the first patient, CT and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed signs of pneumobilia, cholecystoduodenal fistula, and the presence of the gallstone in the stomach. The iodine contrast X-ray swallow test revealed a cholecysto-duodenal bulb fistula and floating calculus in the stomach, confirmed by endoscopy. In the second patient with persistent abdominal pain, CT and barium swallow test showed signs of pneumobilia, cholecystoduodenal fistula, and two ectopic gallstones obstructing duodenum ? Bouveret syndrome. The third case showed signs of the Rigler triad ? typical signs of gallstone ileus. Conclusion. Spontaneous cholecystoduodenal fistula is a rare condition with possible complications such as Bouveret syndrome, gallstone ileus and floating, non-obstructive gallstones in the stomach, as the rarest possible complication. CT, MRI with magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography, as well as the contrast X-ray swallow test can be very helpful in the detection of the bilio-enteric fistula and ectopic gallstones.


The specificity of an iodometric assay for measuring lipid peroxides in lipoproteins was tested, compared with the fluorimetric thiobarbituric acid assay, and adopted for detecting lipid peroxide in plasma samples. Oxidation of low density lipoproteins in vitro by Cu2", lipoxidase, and phagocytosing polymorphonuclear leucocytes was sensitively detected by the iodometric assay. Unlike the thiobarbituric acid assay, neither non-lipid substances commonly present in plasma, nor platelet or polymorphonuclear leucocyte by-products interfered with the iodometric assay. The iodometric assay measured a normal mean (SD) plasma lipid peroxide concentration of 10-8 (2-1) uM; n = 63. Two weeks after the start of a high cholesterol diet in rabbits (n = 5), a sixfold increase in plasma lipid peroxide concentrations was measured by iodometric assay. The specificity ofa simple and sensitive iodometric test of lipid peroxidation was superior to that of the thiobarbituric acid assay. This iodometric assay should therefore provide a much more accurate assessment of lipid peroxide in plasma samples. Thrombosis Unit, St Bartholomew's Hospital, West Smithfield, London EClA 7BE P Gorog D C Kotak I B Kovacs Correspondence to: Dr Iren B Kovacs Accepted for publication 25 April 1991 Despite the prevailing belief that lipid peroxides, in general, and oxidised low density lipoprotein, in particular, exist only extravascularly,l quantifiable plasma lipid hydroperoxide concentrations have been reported in different clinical conditions.2' Most of these findings have been viewed with suspicion, largely because of the unspecificity of the tests used. The most widely used, simple, and sensitive thiobarbituric acid assay has been criticised for its lack of specificity. Improvements, such as carrying out the assay from precipitated protein fraction,2 or lipid extract of plasma,5 optimisation of peroxidation and prevention of peroxide decomposition during the acid-heating stage of incubation,6 have done little to persuade workers of its clinical reliability.7 Sophisticated techniques such as separation of the different lipid peroxides by high performance liquid chromatography, coupled with sensitive chemiluminescence detection,8 are likely to be free of artefacts but not applicable for routine clinical use. 765 As lipid peroxides are increasingly thought to have a pathogenic role in many disorders a specific and reliable test for their concentrations in plasma is greatly needed. Recently, a simple spectrophotometric test of iodine formation, the iodometric assay, using a commercially available reagent, was suggested for the measurement of lipid peroxides in lipoprotein solution.9 We adapted this assay for plasma and compared the specificity of this test with the commonly used thiobarbituric acid assay. Methods Sixty three healthy volunteers (26 men and 37 women, aged from 19 to 36 years) were tested for plasma lipid hydroperoxide concentration. Plasma lipid peroxides were also measured in five New Zealand white male rabbits weighing 3-2-3*5 kg, before and two weeks after starting a high cholesterol diet. SEPARATION OF PLASMA Blood samples were taken through a 21 gauge needle and a "butterfly" cannula from the antecubital vein of healthy volunteers. The two syringe technique was used: the first 2 ml was used for routine laboratory measurements and the subsequent 2 ml was anticoagulated with EDTA (1-5 mg/ml blood) and used for lipid analysis.


This paper presents novel research with a developed algorithm that utilizes several aerosol properties using thresholds from previous studies to identify and classify multi day aerosol plume transports in the Eastern North Atlantic (ENA). The authors perform statistical analysis to determine if differences in aerosol properties during regional aerosol baseline conditions and plume transport events are statistically significant. They go a step further by using HYSPLIT to determine their origin and CALIPSO to determine their type. Finally, the authors present 3 case studies corresponding to each of the 3 classification schemes. Overall, this is a good quality study with clear motivation, methodology, and discussion of results that is strongly supported by past literature. It could provide a useful constraint for climate models. It is certainly of interest for publication, although without a stronger comparison to literature to make the significance of the findings more clear, it may fit better as a Measurement Report.


TiO2 nanoparticles were deposited on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for improvement of their photocatalytic activity. CNTs could be uniformly covered with TiO2 nanoparticles by the hydrolysis of titanium ...


Allium Sativum. Linn (Garlic) is one of the widely used herbs in food and medicine. The cloves of garlic are investigated for anti-diabetic potential; however, no efforts have been made to explore the potential of leaves to modify carbohydrate metabolizing enzymes viz. αamylase and glucoamylase. The inhibitors of these enzymes are used to achieve greater control over hyperglycemia in Type II Diabetes Mellitus. The present work was designed to investigate the inhibitory potential of the different extracts of Allium Sativum, on enzymes αamylase and glucoamylase. Different concentrations of the extracts were used to study inhibition of enzymatic activity of those enzymes. The current study for the first time, revealed α-amylase and glucoamylase inhibitory potential of A. Sativum leaves and the study could be helpful to isolate and characterize hypoglycemic compounds.


The sparsity of user-item rating matrix will reduce the performance of collaborative filtering algorithm in news recommendation system. In order to overcome the problem, we predict the values of user-item rating matrix combining two approaches: co-clustering and Radial Basis Function network (RBF). Co-clustering algorithm simultaneous cluster the rows and columns of the user-item rating matrix. It can cluster the matrix into several small matrix with high similarity. We take advantage of the similarity of a cluster and then predict the values using RBF network. This method can complement the sparse user-item rating matrix and improve the accuracy of news recommendation system by collaborative filtering algorithm. Experimental results on Xiamen University campus news data set demonstrate the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed missing value prediction method.


I found Dr . Radia Perlman's book Interconnections : Bridges and Routers thoroughly entertaining! While entertaining is not an adjective that usually applies to technical computer texts, this book definitely qualifies . Often while reading the book I found that I could not help but chuckle . More importantly, Dr . Perlman has the rare talent of explaining very difficult concepts in a way that makes them seem simple . In fact, often her crystal clear explanations makes you wonder why you didn't think of the idea yourself .


Miron Straf, President of the American Statistical Association, called on statistical agencies to use the federal-state cooperative statistics programs to provide the evidence that is needed to shape public policy (Straf, 2002). This paper gives a summary of a successful response to that challenge by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and its cooperating State Employment Security Agency partners in developing and sharing an automated system to produce and improve some of the most important economic data available to policy makers.


In this work a meta-analysis regression was performed to review 18 primary studies which were carried out between 1985 and 2017. These studies included a total of 60 empirical esti-mates of the impact of prior political relations between sender and target countries on the success of economic sanctions. The aim of this research is to find if there is no bias in the empirical studies. If a bias exists, then we intend to look for the 'true effect' of the prior political relations and which ones are the heterogeneity factors these publications count for. Our results showed that these primary studies have indeed a publication bias. In addition, prior political relations impact positively with a 'true' effect of 0.139 in the success of eco-nomic sanctions. The heterogeneity factors of the empirical studies include the following: if prior political relations variable was calculated as a dummy, control variables (duration, US, distress, no institutions, military alliance, GNP ratio, the interaction between international institution and cooperation, and knights) and the number of study citations in every publica-tion.


" r NHE EVOLUTION of Muhammad's preaching," says Professor Grunebaum in his new book on Islam,[I] " with its comparatively , z poor background of Arabian civilization into the cultural system of Islam with its claim to universal validity, forcefully colouring with its own and unmistakable patina every single object appropriated and every single thought accepted, is one of the most fascinating spectacles of history." Taken in conjunction with an earlier work,[2] of which the present one may be considered a complement and a continuation, these essays achieve a precise, craftsmanlike and authoritative descnption of what constitutes the patina of Islasn, and of the profile of Muslim society. To understand the character of this society, we must lmderstand its religion. Islam is not only the badge of Muslim society, but it has remained, until the very recent past, the constitutive and regulative principle of Muslim life in its temporal as well as its spiritual concerns. The distinctive feature of Islam, as Grunebaum puts it, is that it is " penneated by a sense of the autocracy of the Lord". There are, it is true, verses in the Quran which seem to acknowledge the existence of free will in man, but as soon as a coherent and systematic body of theology began to exist, it was the other conception, also to be found in the Quran, of God's utter omnipotence, and the utter powerlessness of his creature, which assumed central importance. An earlier authority has indeed argued that this latter conception is the more fundamental, and that the verses which speak of free will were " a campaigning expedient".[3] However this may be, by the end of the third century of theMuslim era, when the main lines of orthodox Muslim theology, as they were accepted and transniitted down the centuries, became fixed, the omnipotence of God and the powerlessness of his creature had achieved final dogmatic acceptance. Between God and man an infinite gulf is fixed. It may not be bridged, and the very attempt so to do is blasphemous. God's power is unlimited and no one may question His decrees. Man must do what He enjoins and abstain from what He forbids. God has revealed His will through Hls prophets, and especially through Muhammad, the seal of the prophets.


We compared the level of development of general and emotional intelligence, as well as creative abilities in children and adolescents receiving musical education and without music education (92 persons, students of the 3-th and 8-th class). It is shown that study in music class (compared to usual) helps to improve the performance of intelligence and some of the characteristics of non-verbal creativity, as well as emotional intelligence; these differences manifest themselves only in the older age group. There is also a pronounced advantage of third grade students, studying in the music class, from their peers, according to the indicators of verbal creativity, which decreas to the eighth class. We discuss possible reasons for this/


In the present Knowledge era, technology has a vital role to play in all fields, including education. Technology enables providing effective and pervasive media for life-long and personalized learning experiences. The advancements in telecommunication at a rapid pace have also paved the way for technology-based education systems and educational administration. The absorption of technology in education systems have fuelled the concept of "any education anytime and anywhere" and also about "technology for education" rather than limiting to "technological education". This paper provides a process model and a technical model for a technology-based education system. The process model highlights the processes building up a technology-based education system. The technology model for deploying e-administration in higher educational institutions is also discussed together with a survey report justifying that technology-based learning and technology-based administration are not available in totality.


The traditional wireless network works in a single channel, and only one transmission path is generated by routing, which not only limits the network capacity and system throughput, but also easily generates collision conflicts when the traffic is large, and cannot provide good network performance. This paper optimizes the backbone MESH network from the perspective of multi-channel and multipath, and proposes an AOMDV routing protocol MM-AOMDV (Multi channel Multi metric AOMDV) based on multi-channel and multi-metric. Simulation results show that the MM-AOMDV protocol has better end-to-end delay, throughput and delivery rate network performance than the original protocol while the node density and traffic volume increasing.


In its nature, kidnapping is an atypical act of violence which deprives the passive subject of the right of movement. In terms of criminal law, it involves unlawful seizure or detention of a person by use of force, threat or deceit, for a particular purpose. Depending on the division criteria, theory, legislation and practice distinguish among a large number of modalities. The basic and most comprehensive division derives from the motive of the perpetrators, based on which a distinction can be made between extortion-motivated kidnapping (for profit) and coercive kidnappings. Criminal investigations of extortion-motivated kidnapping can basically be differentiated into those conducted while the abducted persons are deprived of their liberty and held in unknown locations and the ones conducted after a kidnapping case is closed, that is, after the abducted person has been freed or, in the worst case scenario, deprived of his/her life. In cases when the victims are held by the kidnappers, criminal investigations have to be based on the principle that the main objective is to locate and liberate the abducted persons, without any consequences to them caused by the investigation, and the task of finding and apprehending the kidnappers comes only second. The paper focuses on criminal investigations of extortion-driven kidnapping reported by persons close to the victims, willing to cooperate in order to release the victims as the primary objective and the apprehension of the offenders as the secondary objective of the investigation.


What is it that makes an imperial hero and allows the survival of his or her reputation in the post-colonial era? In this concluding piece to the special issue of the Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History on the decolonisation of imperial heroes, John MacKenzie considers the modern afterlives of the 'heroic myths of empire' which he identified in 1992. Considering the crucial 'd's' (deeds, death, developments and dissemination), he shares here his reflections on the making, unmaking and debunking of colonial heroes over more than a century.


These studies were carried out on C57BL × C3H F1 mice to assess the neoplastic response of various tissues to intrauterine administration of urethan, evaluate the additive effect of prenatal and/or postnatal carcinogenic treatments, and compare those age periods regarding the carcinogenic efficacy of urethan.

Several groups were exposed to urethan either daily (11th to 15th or 14th to 18th gestation days) or at 3-day intervals (12th, 15th, and 18th day of gestation). Some received a limited number of intermittent treatments after birth. Urethan was administered i.p. as 10% aqueous solution. Animals were sacrificed at 48 weeks of age.

Data showed that 5 daily intrauterine exposures to this carcinogen resulted in the development of hepatoma, lung adenoma, ovarian tumors, and Harderian gland cystadenoma. The incidence of liver and lung tumors was significantly higher in mice exposed to carcinogen at the end of gestation. Development of hepatomas, lung adenoma, and Harderian gland cystadenoma was positively affected when subliminal prenatal treatments were followed by subthreshold postnatal exposures to urethan. Neonatally treated animals developed all of the above tumor types more readily than those exposed to carcinogen in utero . In addition, neonatal treatment resulted in leukemogenesis. Apparently, the stage of the perinatal development of tissues and the state of metabolic competence modified carcinogenesis.


Abstract Recent investigations concerning the structure of the B Phase have unearthed a variety of packing arrangements of the molecular layers for this semctic modification. Two general structures have been discovered; one in which the B Phase has three-dimensional crystalline order (crystal B), and one that is characterized by short-range in-plane positional ordering of the constituent molecules, and long-range bond orientational order, both within and between the layers (heatic B). In this present study n-hexyl 4′-n-pentyloxybiphenyl-4-carboxylated (650BC) has been synthesized and its smectic phases charaterized. Typically, this ester exhibits an A, B,E, phase sequence, with the B Phase being of the hexactic type. The Synthesis, microscopic textures, and miscibility studise ar reported here. The results show that while the two types of B phase appear co-miscibly by conventional optical mehtods, in fact X-ray diffraction studies show that a transition occurs between the two phases in certain binary mixt...


Customer focus... it's one of those phrases that's become ingrained in our work culture. It's so familiar, indeed, that it's almost lost its meaning. But as editor John O'Leary found out, innovative, customer-centric initiatives across a raft of public sector agencies are giving new meaning to the words.


This seminar, based upon the progress made in the previous two seminars, held in 1981 and 1987 (Int J Dermatol, 1988;27:207-208), was organized by Oumeish Y. Oumeish, M.D., and Elias Saliba, Ph.D, (Fig, 1). Under the sponsorship of the Higher Council for Science and Technology of Jordan and the International Development Research Centre of Canada, the goal of the 3-day conference was the solidification of knowledge about several zoonotic diseases (leishmaniasis, schistosomiasis, toxoplasmosis, hydatidosis, and brucellosis) and the establishment of a regional research and reference center. Representatives of 20 nations and delegates from the World Health Organization and UNESCO were in attendance.


A three-quarter insole made of thermoplastic rubber (TPR) and micropore polyurethane comprises a TPR material layer (1) and is characterized in that the inner portions at two ends of the TPR material layer (1) are respectively provided with a micropore polyurethane circular sheet (2). The micropore polyurethane circular sheets (2) and the TPR material layer (1) are one-time injection molding bodies. The three-quarter insole made of the TPR and the micropore polyurethane is simple in structure, convenient to manufacture, good in compression resistant performance and buffering performance, anti-bacteria, ventilated, capable of absorbing sweat, good in anti-skidding effect and easy to popularize and use.


"Necrotizing fasciitis is an invasive, life-threatening disease, frequently caused by Streptococcus pyogenes (Group A Streptococcus: GAS). Cases are already documented but the worldwide incidence has increased in recent years. Here we propose two unusual cases of a potential intrafamilial transmission of necrotizing fasciitis and describe the clinical course in each patient." A 66-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with a necrotizing soft tissue infection of the lower leg and five days later his partner was hospitalized with a necrotizing fasciitis of the neck and chest. After multiple surgical interventions and extensive intensive medical care, the male patient was discharged but his partner developed a multiple organ failure and died 27 h after hospitalization. Isolates of GAS from both patients were analyzed at the reference laboratory applying M protein (emm) gene typing and multiplex PCR screening for superantigen genes. The results of the microbiological examination support the hypothesis of intrafamilial transmission of a S. pyogenes emm89.0 strain. This clinical presentation shows a case of rapid onset necrotizing fasciitis with lethal outcome despite aggressive multimodal treatment. Both patients lived in the same house but were separately admitted a few days apart. Person-to-person transmission of necrotizing fasciitis caused by Streptococcus pyogenes is rare, but should be considered.


A 30-year-old non-smoker woman without a particular past medical history consulted for dyspnoea and non-productive cough. Chest CT scan revealed mediastinal and hilar adenopathies associated with bilateral ground glass opacities with thickened interlobular septa. Bronchoalveolar lavage was performed (Fig. 1). The fluid was opaque with a milky turbid gross appearance. On microscopic examination, finely granular amorphous material was apparent in the background along with numerous lymphocytes and fragmented macrophages. Zhiel stain was performed but was negative. The diagnosis of pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) was suspected but the association of mediastinal adenomegalies was not concordant with the diagnosis. Surgical biopsy of the lung and the mediastinal lymph nodes was performed. Histological examination revealed granulomatous inflammation with caseous necrosis in the lymph nodes and an amorphous PAS positif lipoprotein material filling the alveolar spaces in the lung (Fig. 2). The final diagnosis of associated PAP with tuberculosis infection was established. The patient was put on anti-tuberculosis drugs and presented an improvement of her general state.


A typical unmanned and remotely operated platform is usually equipped with cameras which give insufficient information about the nearest environment and an operator has difficulties in driving such a platform in unknown environment. In this paper, a problem of the platform nearest area map building based on additional devices is considered. The platform is equipped with SICK LMS lasers, inclinometer and radars. Combining information from the devices allows to build a map which helps an operator to drive the platform more efficiently.


Cloud Computing becomes a new trend in computing. The IaaS(Infrastructure as a Service) is served by the cloud computing service providers by placing the virtual machines over the physical machines in a datacenter. The datacenter's hardware get virtualized using virtualization component of cloud computing, before the placing of VMs on PMs, so that the resources of datacenter can be allocated to more than one VMs. A Virtual Machine placement problem is typically a search problem of available space and resources. Given that N is a set of virtual machines and M is a set of physical machines and the physical machines already hosting N1 virtual machines. Then the VM placement algorithms give a mapping of N+N1 machines on the M physical machines under a set of constraints. Resources in a datacenter can be provisioned to VMs by VM-scheduler in either a timeshared or spaceshared manner. After the successful placement of VMs on the PMs the tasks of the users are assigned to execute on different VMs. In this paper we are going to place the VMs and cloudlets dynamically and examine the resource allocation to VMs in a spaceshared and timeshared manner. Our simulation work is done using the cloud computing simulation toolkit known as CloudSim.


Due to an impressive progress in digital imaging reached over past decades, the importance of analog video systems as primary instruments of receiving, transmitting and storing data has been greatly reduced. However, there still exist large amount of data stored in analog formats on media affected by aging. In this paper, a new three-stage method for detecting and restoring blotches on a video sequence has been developed. The new method including the motion compensation, LBP calculations and data classification using the neural network is shown to have higher efficiency than commonly used ROD, SROD and SDI methods.


Abstract In this paper, we present a sample size determination for count data based on discrete Weibull and zero-inflated discrete Weibull regression models. The discrete Weibull regression can be used under various dispersion of count data, but its attractive feature is not sufficiently revealed. Discrete Weibull regression has a desirable feature in that it can be used for both over and under dispersed data, and thus a researcher can use a unified model with having low risk of failing to cope with the dispersion type of the data. Although the sample size calculation for Poisson, negative binomial regression has been previously introduced in many papers, there is no study that deals with discrete Weibull or zero-inflated discrete Weibull regression. We modified the method by Channouf, Fredette, and MacGibbon (2014) to calculate the required sample size for the two models. By using these two models, one can incorporate the effect of skewness, dispersion type and zero-inflated structure of the data when calculating the required sample size. Through the simulation studies, it was shown that our proposed sample size calculation method gives accurate results and also sample size is affected by the skewness of the distribution, covariance structure of covariates and amount of zeros. For illustration of our methods, the hospital length of stay study was used.


As crude oil price reach a new high, the need for developing alternate fuels has become acute. Alternate fuels should be economically attractive in order to compete with currently used fossil fuels. In this work, biodiesel (ethyl ester) was prepared from waste cooking oil collected from a local restaurant in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Ethyl alcohol with sodium hydroxide as a catalyst was used for the transesterification process. The fatty acid composition of the final biodiesel esters was determined by gas chromatography. The biodiesel was characterized by its physical and fuel properties including density, viscosity, acid value, flash point, cloud point, pour point, cetane index, water and sediment content, total and free glycerin content, diglycerides and monoglycerides, phosphorus content and sulfur content according to ASTM standards. The viscosity of the biodiesel ethyl ester was found to be 5.03 mm 2 /sec at 40 o C. The viscosity of waste cooking oil measured in room temperature (at 21° C) was 72 mm 2 /sec. From the tests, the flash point was found to be 164 o C, the phosphorous content was 2 ppm, those of calcium and magnesium were 1 ppm combined, water and sediment was 0 %, sulfur content was 2 ppm, total acid number was 0.29 mgKOH/g, cetane index was 61, cloud point was -1 o C and pour point was -16 o C. Production of biodiesel from waste cooking oils for diesel substitute is particularly important because of the decreasing trend of economical oil reserves, environmental problems caused due to fossil fuel use and the high price of petroleum products in the international market.


The fabrication of ferromagnetic metal coated conductive carbon black, their physical properties and performances in EMI shielding composites and in magnetoelastical rubber are presented. The Nickel coated carbon black has been used in a polypropylene compound and presents an increase of the electromagnetic attenuation reported to that of pure carbon/polymer composite. On the other hand, there is an evidence for the change of the elastic modulus of the rubber charged with Ni or Fe coated carbon in the presence of the magnetic field.


In my article (Featonby 2015 Phys. Educ. 50 256), I looked at how the behaviour of a spinning top differs when it is set to spin on a gentle incline.


Part 1 Are central banks necessary?, Charles A.E.Goodhard: comment, Leslie Pressnell comment, Geoffrey E.Wood. Part 2 Banking without a central bank - Scotland before 1844 as a "free banking" system, Lawrence H.White: comment, Charles W.Munn comment, K.Alec Chrystal. Part 3 Lessons from the American experience with free banking, Hugh Rockoff: comment, James A.Dorn comment, Anna J.Schwartz. Part 4 Experiments with free banking during the French Revolution, Eugene N.White: comment, Forrest H.Capie comment, Didier Bruneel. Part 5 The evolution of central banking in England, 1821-1890, Kevin Dowd: comment, W.A.Allen comment, Michael Collins. Part 6 Does regulation produce stability? lessons from the United States, George J.Benston: comment, Michael D.Bordo comment, Sir Peter Middleton.


Abstract The aim of this study was to establish an optimal keyboard and data space arrangement for data-entry operators using a VDT. The location of the keyboard and data was investigated in two ways: (1) An experimental model with a straight-line arrangement of operator, keyboard, data to be entered and screen. Entry data in that model were located between the keyboard and the screen, on a special inclined support. A sliding ruler, making reading easier, was an additional piece of equipment of the support. The keyboard was placed in front of the desk, below its surface. (2). A traditional model with a lateral arrangement of operator, keyboard, screen and with data to be entered either on the right or on the left of the keyboard. The test carried out to compare the two arrangements proved the assumption that there is a difference in operators'efficiency depending on the type of arrangement used. While operating the straight-line VDT stand operators were more efficient than when using the lateral one and f...


Trends in migration from Northern Africa to Europe are analyzed, with particular reference to migration to Italy. The author first considers the causes and consequences of this migration in general. A more detailed analysis of Tunisian emigration to Italy is then presented.


This study was carried out to investigate the level of antibiotic and heavy metal resistance of Enterobeacteriaceae isolated from some retail fishes in Giresun. A total of 134 bacteria were isolated from samples collected from different fish markets in central town. Antibiotic resistance of bacterial strains was determined by the agar diffusion test and 9 different antibiotic discs (representing 6 classes of antibiotics). Antibiotic resistance levels of isolates were determined respectively as, E (85.07%), CZ (79.85%), CTX (78.36%), CXA (71.64%), NA (60.45%), AM (58.96%), AK (53.73%), TE (47.76%) and S (17.91%). 88.05% of all isolates' MAR index values were higher than 0.2. In addition, all isolates of the Enterobacteriace were resistant to copper while manganese 61.94% and lead 46.27% were resistant. In plasmid DNA analyses, it was determined that 1 strain did not contain any plasmid DNA, while other strains included plasmid DNA bands ranging from 1 to 4. The molecular weights of these plasmids were found to be in various sizes from 28329 to 876 bp.


Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is the portion of the blood plasma which contains a platelet concentration above basal levels that stimulate tissue repair by means to growth factors. The aimed of this research was to evaluate the impact of PRP on skin repair upon epidermal surgical lesions. Using a scalpel, a clean epidermal incision of 5cm length was made in the interscapular region of New Zealand rabbits (n=8), and then divided in two groups. Rabbits from the group 1 (n=4) were untreated (control group), while group 2 received PRP on the surgical wound. Autologous PRP was obtained from whole blood drawn by jugular vein puncture, collected with sodium citrate anticoagulant solution, and centrifuged at 120g x 5min. One milliliter was obtained of the phase superior to the buffy coat. Biopsies from the injured tissue were collected on days 3, 7, 14 and 21 post-surgeries, and submitted to Hematoxylin-Eosin and Masson's Trichrome staining. In conclusion, the platelets separation method allows to obtaining plasma with higher platelets concentration and reduced number of leukocytes. Additionally, the results show that therapeutic PRP administration on surgically-induced skin injury has effect on the histological features of tissue healing compared with the control group.


The Big Data-as-a-Service (BDaaS) framework exploits the elastic scalability and analytical data processing capabilities delivered via the cloud, minimizing the complexity and capital expense of on-premises data infrastructure. Since the cloud can be considered as a marketplace, small and large enterprises lease storage and computing capacity based on a negotiated cost approach. In this context, this research work examines a novel methodology for capitalizing earnings on cloud storage level through a big data-as-a-service framework and proposes cloud- inspired quantitative cost and benefits analysis models under the assumption that the demand curves are linear. The proposed modelling approach is evaluated against the conventional high- performance data warehouse appliances on the necessity of possible upgradation of the storage.


Introduction: Multisystem inammatory syndrome in children is uprising issue amongst all the paediatrician in the world. It is speculated that a
upregulation of immune system after being triggered by SARS COV infection is the main cause. MIS-N is an extrapolation of such symptoms in
neonates which cannot be explained by any other cause. We reviewed the perinata Material & Method: l history, clinical features, and outcomes of
5 neonates with features consistent with MIS-C/MIS-N Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG and IgM Result: antibodies were tested in all neonates. All
presented with features consistent with MIS-C within rst 5 days after birth. Three out of ve neonates had cardiac involvement with AV block,
coronary dilatation or ventricular dysfunction. Other ndings included respiratory distress, refusal to feed, thrombocytopenia. All infants had
elevated inammatory biomarkers and received steroids while only three received IVIG. We hypothesise somehow maternal SARS- Conclusion:
CoV-2 exposure and transplacental antibodies cause multisystem inammatory syndrome in neonates (MIS-N). Immunomodulation may be
helpful to some extent, but more studies are needed


Structural comparison of the retinas was performed between shallow and deep sea elasmobranchs. One of the most noticeable differences between them was in the structure of the horizontal cells. The horizontal cells of the shallow sea elasmobranchs were larger and three different cell types, the external, intermediate and internal horizontal cells were distinguished. The three kinds of horizontal cells formed three distinct layers horizontally in the inner nuclear layer. However, the horizontal cells of the deep sea elasmobranchs were generally smaller in size and situated in a disordered manner, lacking layer formation. It was also noted that the horizontal cells of both the shallow and deep sea elasmobranchs are poor in cell organelles in comparison with other retinal neurons.


In order to raise the overall quality of bilingual education of minority teachers,the authors of the present essay have done a research of the mode of the minority teacher bilingual education in different training centres in Xinjiang.They also provide suggestions to improve the mode as well.


One compound responsible for the antimicrobial activity against Rhizoctonia solani was isolated from Inula cappa by means of silicagel column chromatography and bioactivity tracing,and its EC50 was 47 mg/L tested by the mycelial radial growth inhibition method.The compound was identified as thymol based on its1H and13C NMR data,and was stable to heat,acid-base,ultraviolet and fluorescence.The growth of 15 plant pathogenic fungi and 4 bacteria could be inhibited by thymol,among which,R.solani,Phoma putaminum,Phytophthora nicotianae,Curvularia lunata,Pectobacterium carotovora pv.Carotovora and Xanthomonas axonopodis pv.manihotis were strongly inhibited.


To mitigate the societal impact of vehicle crash, researchers are using a variety of tools, including finite element models. Such models are often developed to represent a 50 th percentile male occupant. However, in order to address the effects of size and sex-related geometrical changes, there is interest in developing such models for other cohorts. As part of the Global Human Body Models Consortium project, comprehensive medical image and anthropometrical data of the 5 th percentile female (F05) were acquired. A multi-modality image dataset consisting of CT, MRI and upright MRI medical images was developed to characterize the subject in the supine, seated and standing postures. Surface topography and 52 bony landmarks were also acquired for model assembly. The selected subject closely represented the F05 in terms of height and weight, deviating less than 2% in those measures. The volunteer was also compared to 15 external anthropomorphic measurements from Gordon et al. For all 15 anthropomorphic measurements, the average subject deviation across all measures was 4.1%. The multi-modality image set was used to develop and assemble skeletal and organ components of the model. Abdominal organ volumes and cortical bone thickness were compared to literature sources where data was available. Once assembled, the segmented geometries were used for mesh development of the finite element model. Ultimately, the model consisted of 875 parts, 2.4 million elements, 1.3 million nodes, and weighed 49.3 kg. Future work will involve regional and full body level validation. Once validated, the data obtained from this model will be valuable for the development of vehicle safety devices. To date, the data set used for the development of this model is the first of its kind, acquired with the explicit purpose of developing a full-body finite element model of the F05 for the enhancement of injury prediction.


Heart failure (HF) causes abnormal ventilatory responses to exercise which are inked to poor prognosis. We examined the impact of blocking fine afferents from locomotor muscles on exercise ventilatory efficiency in HF.


Cancer treatment represents one of the main scientific study targets today, mainly due to the pronounced side effects arising from chemotherapy. This study reports the synthesis, characterization, and anticancer activity of ten compounds from the Morita-Baylis-Hillman reaction. Ethylene glycol diacrylate was used as a double Michael acceptor in reactions with isatin derivatives to give homodimers of 3-hydroxyindolin-2-one core, recognized in the literature for its extensive pharmacological profile. The use of 1,4-diazabicyclo[2,2,2]octane (DABCO) as a catalyst and room temperature were the optimal conditions for the study reaction. The isolated yields were up to 63%, with most reaction times inferior to 24 h, some as fast as 15 min. The anticancer potential of the synthesized dimers was evaluated in vitro against three cancer strains, resulting in average inhibitory concentrations up to 0.72 μM. It was also found that the best performing homodimers are more active than their monomeric counterparts. Considering the promising selectivity indices observed, the preliminary results obtained here act as a basis for broader tests regarding the effectiveness of homodimeric adducts against cancer cells.


This study focuses on the concept of multi-scale wireless sensor networks for damage detection in civil infrastructure systems by first over viewing the general network philosophy and attributes in the areas of data acquisition, data reduction, assessment and decision making. The data acquisition aspect includes a scalable wireless sensor network acquiring acceleration and strain data, triggered using a Restricted Input Network Activation scheme (RINAS) that extends network lifetime and reduces the size of the requisite undamaged reference pool. Major emphasis is given in this study to data reduction and assessment aspects that enable a decentralized approach operating within the hardware and power constraints of wireless sensor networks to avoid issues associated with packet loss, synchronization and latency. After over viewing various models for data reduction, the concept of a data-driven Bivariate Regressive Adaptive INdex (BRAIN) for damage detection is presented. Subsequent examples using experimental and simulated data verify two major hypotheses related to the BRAIN concept: (i) data-driven damage metrics are more robust and reliable than their counterparts and (ii) the use of heterogeneous sensing enhances overall detection capability of such data-driven damage metrics.


The dural puncture epidural (DPE) technique is a modification of the combined spinal epidural (CSE) technique. In recent years, DPE for labor analgesia has attracted more and more attention. This article is to review the history and principle of DPE, the influence factors and blockade qualities of DPE, the clinical application of DPE in labor analgesia, as well as the future of this technique.

Key words:
Labor analgesia; Epidural block; Combined spinal epidural anesthesia; Dural puncture epidural block


Graph querying is the task of finding similar embeddings of a given query graph in a large target graph. Existing techniques employ the use of structural as well as node and edge label similarities to find matches of a query in the target graph. However, these techniques have ignored the presence of context (usually manifested in the form of node/edge label distributions) in the query. In this paper, we propose CGQ (Contextual Graph Querying), a context-aware subgraph matching technique for querying real-world graphs. We introduce a novel sub-graph searching paradigm, which involves learning the context prevalent in the query graph. Under the proposed paradigm, we formulate the most contextually-similar subgraph querying problem that, given a query graph and a target graph, aims to identify the (top-k) maximal common subgraph(s) between the query and the target graphs with the highest contextual similarity. The quality of a match is quantized using our proposed contextual similarity function. We prove that the problem is NP-hard and also hard to approximate. Therefore, to efficiently solve the problem, we propose a hierarchical index, CGQ-Tree, with its associated search algorithm. Our experiments show that the proposed CGQ index is effective, efficient and scalable.


According to the requirement of national deepening curriculum reform of basic education,combined with the characteristics of orienteering project technology and the actual situation of middle school,the construction of school-based curriculum orienteering sports is studied. The specific ideas of the construction of school-based curriculum orienteering sports in middle school is put forward. It hopes to provide a beneficial reference and theoretical guidance for the development of orienteering teaching and training of sports class in middle school.


miRNAs are small,noncoding RNAs,which are 19 to 25 nucleotides long.They either induce the degradation or repress the translation of target mRNA by completely or uncompetely binding with the 3′-untranslated region(3′-URT) of the target mRNA.miRNAs have been shown to play fundamental roles in diverse biological and pathological processes,including cell proliferation,differentiation,apoptosis and carcinogenesis.A growing body of evidence suggests that miRNAs participate in the fibrotic process in a number of organs including the heart,lung,liver and kidney.In this review,we summarize our current understanding of the role of miRNAs in the development of tissue fibrosis and their potential as novel drug targets.


Aspirations for sub-regional, regional and global cooperation at a bi-lateral and multilateral level over water security are strong and yet often a real or perceived gap exists between intentions and the workings of institutions. In the area of water security difficulties are often premised on tensions between national territory and national sovereignty. As a result, emphasis has been placed by decision makers on how to most effectively classify the 'most at risk' areas from water security issues. However, this objective itself is often separated from wider issues of economic land ownership. Yet stakeholders paradoxically have both similar and yet different understandings of what counts as territory and sovereignty. A majority of stakeholders continue to pursue a 'realist' or liberal approach to the spaces of national sovereignty and territory as water course or water basin. This binary assumption of territory as a specifically bounded political space is given here as a reason for limited concrete results on water security governance. Recalibrating this understanding of sovereignty, territory and security through a sociology of materialism might therefore open alternative spaces for ensuring issue-specific governance in spaces now impacted by the dynamics of infrastructure and sub-regional connectivity. By framing these tensions through the issue of territory and materialism the paper identifies gaps and strategic opportunities emerging that might potentially recalibrate the conceptual and policy debate on water security and its territorial assumptions.


This article presents evidence of misallocation across households in rural Indian agriculture. I show that household demographics predict own farm labor demand for smallholder farmers but not non‐smallholder farmers. A simple model of labor allocation predicts a clear consequence of this duality: smallholder farmers will reallocate labor across plots less in response to price changes than non‐smallholders. Detailed household panel data confirms this theoretical prediction. Three additional facts suggest that a lack of off‐farm labor opportunities may be partly responsible for the behavior of smallholders, leading smallholders to over allocate labor to agricultural production. First, smallholders report fewer hours of involuntary unemployment when their own crop prices increase. Second, yield is substantially higher for smallholders on plots of the same size. Finally, estimated marginal revenue products of labor are consistently lower for smallholders.


: The accuracy of the output quantities of stochastic problems in engineering requires the use of random input that correctly represents the entire sample space of the input quantities. For example, studies involving infrastructure reliability assessment, risk estimation, and community resilience require an accurate description of the regional hazard, which through the use of simulation-based techniques could be quantified by realizations of a two-dimensional ground motion intensity measure field. The selection of a few such realizations could be made with a technique called Functional Quantization by Infinite Dimensional Centroidal Voronoi Tesselation (FQ-IDCVT). This is a technique for the optimal selection (in the mean-square sense) of a predefined number of samples of a random function with their associated weights. Although, previous applications of FQ-IDCVT demonstrate that the technique works particularly well with different types of random fields (Gaussian / non-Gaussian, homogeneous / non-homogenenous), the computational cost often becomes an issue when multi-dimensional fields are at hand, because it scales linearly with the size of the domain and the resolution that is used. To address the issue of the escalating computational cost, in this paper the implementation of several accelerated clustering techniques is investigated. A quality check for each algorithm is performed by comparing the accuracy and efficiency of each methodology against a benchmark.


IN May 1959 a complimentary number of AUMLA was offered as a tribute to Professor A. R. Chisholm, who had recently retired after a period of thirty-six years from the Chair of French in the University of Melbourne. In addition to some personal homages and various articles of a scholarly nature, the editors included a short bibliography of Professor Chisholm's writings that mentioned seven books, three editions and seven major articles; but this could give only a grossly inadequate idea of the extent and scope of his varied publications. In the following list we have chosen to omit book reviews (close on two hundred of them) and commentaries of a political nature (more than two hundred and fifty such notes, mostly on the theme of the author's faith in France despite her defeat, appeared in The Argus and The Australasian between 1939 and 1944). Emphasis has thus been placed on material of more enduring interest. It will be clear that, even limited in this way, the bibliography remains highly impressive, the more so when we consider that the conditions in which the writing was done were not propitious to extensive research and slow elaboration. Professor Chisholm's friends and admirers will also observe with pleasure that his retirement has brought no slackening in the number and quality of his contributions. and that some of his most notable work has been accomplished over the last ten years.


The results of over two million miles of fleet testing of a Dow Corning silicone brake fluid by a 168-car fleet over a seven year period demonstrate greatly improved performance and component life under a wide variety of adverse conditions. Mixtures of silicone and polyglycol based fluids operate normally with no adverse chemical or physical effects. Flush filling using a variety of bleeding techniques can reduce corrosion, increase brake system life and provide improved performance at low temperatures, although the technique, no matter how thorough, will not give a pure system, and the full value of the silicone fluid will not be realized. Pure silicone systems will essentially eliminate brake system wear and corrosion for at least 70,000 miles, with a possible service life of over 100,000 miles predicted.


The German Turfan Expedition conducted 4 campaigns at the Turfan Oasis between 1902 and 1914 bringing 40,000 fragments in 20 scripts and 22 languages back to Berlin. During the 2 and 3 seasons (1904 – 1907), a library was unearthed at the monastery site of Shuïpang near Bulayïq yielding ca.1100 fragments written in Syriac script and covering 3 major languages: Syriac, Sogdian and old Uyghur. Several fragments in New Persian and a Middle Persian (Pahlavi) Psalter were also found. Small quantities of Christian texts, in Syriac, Sogdian, Uyghur and Persian, were discovered at other sites in the Turfan oasis (Astana, Qocho, Qurutqa and Toyoq). Regrettably, there are scant remarks about the excavation of the archive by Theodor Bartus at Bulayïq, north of the city of Turfan, a site which von Le Coq had previously visited. Talking about his colleague's visit, von Le Coq stated in his book Auf Hellas Spuren in Ostturkistan: "er hat ... in dem schauerlich zerstörten Gemäuer eine fabelhafte Ausbeute christlicher Handschriften ausbegraben" (he excavated ... in the extremely ruined walls an amazing Christian manuscript"). The Syriac script fragments from Turfan shed invaluable light onto the eastward missionary expansion of the Church of the East whose dioceses extended into Central Asia, China and Mongolia up till the 14th century, not only attesting the nature and expression of worship (liturgy etc) that was conducted, but also revealing how this branch of Eastern Christianity interacted with the local languages and cultures of its diverse congregations. As well as the Christian manuscripts in the Turfan collection, 97 Syriac fragments were brought back to St. Petersburg by N. N. Krotkov, the Russian consul at Urumqi. A few Christian manuscript fragments were also recovered from two other sites in western


For a multi-set $\lambda=\{k_1,k_2, \ldots, k_q\}$ of positive integers, let $k_{\lambda} = \sum_{i=1}^q k_i$. A $\lambda$-list assignment of $G$ is a list assignment $L$ of $G$ such that the colour set $\bigcup_{v \in V(G)}L(v)$ can be partitioned into the disjoint union $C_1 \cup C_2 \cup \ldots \cup C_q$ of $q$ sets so that for each $i$ and each vertex $v$ of $G$, $|L(v) \cap C_i| \ge k_i$. We say $G$ is $\lambda$-choosable if $G$ is $L$-colourable for any $\lambda$-list assignment $L$ of $G$. The concept of $\lambda$-choosability puts $k$-colourability and $k$-choosability in the same framework: If $\lambda = \{k\}$, then $\lambda$-choosability is equivalent to $k$-choosability; if $\lambda$ consists of $k $ copies of $1$, then $\lambda$-choosability is equivalent to $k $-colourability. If $G$ is $\lambda$-choosable, then $G$ is $k_{\lambda}$-colourable. On the other hand, there are $k_{\lambda}$-colourable graphs that are not $\lambda$-choosable, provided that $\lambda$ contains an integer larger than $1$. Let $\phi(\lambda)$ be the minimum number of vertices in a $k_{\lambda}$-colourable non-$\lambda$-choosable graph. This paper determines the value of $\phi(\lambda)$ for all $\lambda$.