Non-spin glasses possess a number of specific features which, in structural and dy- namic aspects, are close to conditions necessary for neural networks to function. In a disordered network there exists a plurality of structural parameters and a number of two-level states defined by double-well potentials. Their characteristics are specified by the conditions of glass formation, i.e. by genesis. The thermodynamic description of glass as a self-organizing system (that does not require introducing an interacting potential model) leads to an unambiguous conclusion that its frequency spectrum is predetermined by the structure, which is characterized by zero-point entropy. Glass is a natural system of oscillators which form a disordered network. In this sense, glass conforms to a known model of a disordered neural network formed by interconnected oscillators. If one assumes that in living organisms the structure of a neural network (the brain) is inherited according to a genetic mechanism, the quickness of learning and recognition of patterns, the stability of associative memory and other capabilities have to be inherited genetically. The more ordered a neural network formed by distinguishable neurons, the better its capabilities.


Egg retention in the urinary bladder of a leopard tortoise was diagnosed by radiography and confirmed by cystoscopy. The egg was removed with a modified polypectomy snare, aided by a flexible endoscope and insufflation. No complications occurred during the procedures and the tortoise made a complete recovery.


1,4‐Butanediol (BDO)—used as solvent and abused for its euphoric effects—is converted to gamma‐hydroxybutyrate (GHB) by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase. This double‐blind, placebo‐controlled crossover study with six healthy volunteers is the first to date investigating the role of the ADH inhibitor fomepizole (4‐methylpyrazole (4MP)) in moderating this conversion in humans. Participants received on two different days either intravenous placebo or 15 mg/kg 4MP followed by oral administration of 25 mg/kg BDO. Pretreatment with 4MP resulted in significantly higher BDO maximal plasma concentration (P = 0.001) and area under the concentration‐time curve (AUC; P = 0.028), confirming that ADH is the primary pathway for the conversion of BDO to GHB in humans. With 4MP, the mean arterial pressure was significantly lower at 105 minutes compared to baseline (P = 0.003), indicating that blood pressure lowering, observed not with a temporal relationship to 4MP administration but after the maximum BDO concentration was reached, may be an intrinsic effect of BDO.


A simple and mild synthesis for pyrrolyl and pyrrolo[2, 3]pyrimidinyl diphenyl selenides is described based on the reaction of active methylene compounds with 4′-nitro-4-acetylaminodiphenyl selenide. The sensitivity of 77Se NMR spectra allowed differentiating the rather similar pyrrole compounds. The synthesized compounds were screened for their antifungal and antibacterial activities.


Evaluation of the implementation of the smoking area banning regulations on smoking behavior of government officials in Boalemo, Gorontalo Purpose This study aimed to investigate implementation of regional regulations for banning smoking on employees smoking behavior in a government office in Boalemo. Methods This research used a qualitative approach with a case study design involving 23 subjects. Data collection used systematic observation, regulatory documents, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Results Background process of drafting rules were, 1) idea of regent, 2) translation of indicators of clean and health living behavior, 3) Ministry of Health, 4) illness and death data caused by smoking, and 5) impact of smoking. Effectiveness of policy implementation for area smoking ban was largely determined by, 1) input: availability of facilities dedicated to smoking area, effort control, labeling, guidance system and form of communication channel, 2) process: leadership support, stakeholder involvement, social norm, legal regulation regent, monitoring, and evaluation. Rules indirectly provide positive effect for output of small portion of employees in terms of, 1) intention to quit smoking, 2) frequency of smoking in room reduced, and 3) there were some employees who quit smoking. Conclusion Implementation of a policy was determined by: 1) role of leader as indicator of example and role model for subordinates, 2) support and role of all relevant stakeholder, and 3) social norms that encouraged positive behavioral changes in smoking.


As, then, it may be affirmed that, at the moment of the occurreniee of' plthisis, or rather of the deposition of the tubercle, there is no change in the appetite or the functions of the alimentary canaal; but that there is a mnarked change its the quantity of air which the lungs are capable of containiing, and consequently a diminutioni in the process of aeration, it is important to ask it the last is an effect of some antel-ior condition, and only cotemporary with the deposit of tubercle, or if it is direct1v or indirectly causative of this deposit. It is quite capable of proof tlhat the diminished vigour and depth of breathing may not onily exist lonig before tubercle is probably deposited, but it


It is an unfortunate fact that British travel literature on the subject of Russia seems to be relatively little known. In comparison to the closely related subject matter of the 'Great Game' and Afghanistan, travellers who penetrated more deeply into the Russian frontier territories appear to have been accorded less prominence. They also seem to be poorly remembered in our own time. From the 19 century, for example, few will call to mind the Atkinsons's travels in Siberia despite their many adventurous dangers. Yet, Alexander Burnes and Lady Florentia Sale's accounts of travel in Afghanistan under a period of Russian threat will come much more easily to mind. This prejudice even extends to the 20 century. Travellers such as Robert Byron and Eric Newby are always remembered for their accounts of Afghanistan, but their travels in Russia seem to have garnered lesser interest.


Drawing from recent literature on bundling theory, this paper explores the implications of digital bundling for the music industry. Bundling can be very effective as both a profit-maximizing tool and a competitive weapon, particularly as electronic distribution of digital music files gains momentum. Contrary to the popular belief that digital distribution will lower barriers of entry and allow many new firms to enter, this study finds that bundling will lead to greater industry concentration and increasing market power for the large music companies. Despite the disrupting forces caused by digital technologies, the economics of bundling, the control of content, and the existing industry structure suggest that the major record labels will retain their power and the industry will continue to be concentrated, perhaps even becoming more so in the future.


Nitroprusside induced hypoxemia in postoperative patients is a potentially compromising event. The decision tree in this article helps the critical care nurse to minimize or prevent complications of shunting from nitroprusside therapy.


: In a world where researchers are more and more confronted to large sets of micro- data, new algorithms are constantly developed that have to be translated into usable programs. Modular GIS toolkits such as GRASS GIS offer a middle way between low-level programming approaches and GUI-based desktop GIS. The modules can be seen as elements of a programming language which makes the implementation of algorithms for spatial analysis very easy for researchers. Using two examples of algorithms in economic geography, for estimating regional exports and for determining raster-object neighbourhood matrices, this paper shows how just a few module calls can replace more complicated low-level programs, as long as the re- searcher can change perspective from a pixel-by-pixel view to a map view of the problem at hand. Combining GRASS GIS with Python as general glue between modules also offers options for easy multi-processing, as well as supporting the increasingly loud call for open research, including open source computing tools in research.


The study deals with a number of problems associated with the accumulation of arsenic in the body of birds. The necessity of using sorbents for reduction the negative influence of arsenic on the organism is proved. The features of the sorption effect of sorbents of different nature in poultry tissues are studied. The advantages of Echinacea-based plant sorbent based are indicated. The advantages of using vegetable sorbents as feed additives in poultry farming are proved


This article proposes a new analytical model of a queuing system to which a mixture of multi-service traffic is offered. The system under consideration has the advantage of servicing calls, in a shared server, of which only part will be placed in a queue when the server has no free resources (while the remaining part of the calls will be lost). In addition, this model also introduces the possibility for a compression mechanism to be applied for a selected number of data flows. The possibility of simultaneous analysis of the calls that can be placed in the queue as well as of those in which queuing is not implemented, while a certain number of them can be compressed, provides unquestionable advantage to the proposed model. The proposed model can be successfully applied to analyse and model 5G systems.


Technology transfer and, more broadly, knowledge spillover from universities to industry has become increasingly studied as universities have become charged with driving local economic growth. This study offers several empirical improvements over prior efforts to measure the aggregate local effects of academic research. It uses counts of scientific publications and citations as more direct measures of academic knowledge than R&D spending. It makes use of panel data with greater breadth and depth: the sample covers all 105 U.S. metropolitan areas with significant academic research and spans 22 years. The positive local geographic association between university research and private-sector patenting found in prior studies is reaffirmed. There is some indication that this relationship strengthened in the last quarter of the sample, 1994-1999, suggesting that academic research was becoming more important to innovation in the 1990s. However, the volume of academic research was not found to have an effect on the rate of citations received by patents.


A few papers relate that multi-channel consideration can be beneficial for side-channel analysis. However, all were conducted using classical attack techniques. In this work, we propose to explore a multi-channel approach thanks to machine/deep learning. We investigate two kinds of multi-channel combinations. Unlike previous works, we investigate the combination of EM emissions from different locations capturing data-dependent leakage information on the device. Additionally, we consider the combination of the classical leaking signals and a measure of mostly the ambient noise. The knowledge of the ambient noise (due to WiFi, GSM,. . .) may help to remove it from a noisy trace. To investigate these multi-channel approaches, we describe one option of how to extend a CNN architecture which takes as input multiple channels. Our results show that multi-channel networks are suitable for side-channel analysis. However, if one channel alone already contains enough exploitable information to reach high effectiveness, naturally, the multi-channel approach cannot improve the performance further.


The Making of the Asia Pacific - 2[-]Table of Contents - 8[-]List of Tables - 10[-]Acknowledgements - 12[-]1 Introduction: From 'Pacific Asia' to 'Asia Pacific' - 14[-]2 The Desire for Essence - 28[-]3 Knowledge Networks as Agents of Representation - 46[-]4 Representing the 'Asia Pacific' - 70[-]5 Representing Sovereign States - 112[-]6 Representing the 'In/Human' Faces of Asia Pacific Security - 136[-]7 Representing the 'Authority' of Knowledge Networks - 156[-]8 Conclusion: A Plea in Three Parts - 180[-]Notes - 188[-]Bibliography - 204[-]Index - 230


At early stages of a reservoir study it is necessary to involve the reservoir analog information on because the information available is often not enough. This article contains the analysis of permeability vs. porosity relationship based on analogous reservoirs and the general rules of their behavior in dimensionless coordinates are revealed.


The concept of the autonomous car was first originated in late 30s of the last century. Yet the technology has to come a long way to become a reality. Many developed countries have already made major technological advances to bring this technology for common use in near future. Still developing countries are lagging far behind for adaptation of this novel technology. Autonomous Vehicle (AV) technology is expected to enhance road safety, mobility, service and comfort for road users and hence will be able to serve the purpose of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). In order to avail these benefits, developing countries like Bangladesh needs to focus on their infrastructural development to embrace this technology when it becomes ready to be implemented. Also they need to conduct extensive research work for the development of the technology to be suited for their own context.


Effluent of fish farms is considered a safe source for irrigation and fertigation in the same time. A field experiment took place on Horticulture research farm, Faculty of Agricultural, Kafr El-Sheikh University, north of the Nile Delta, Egypt, having a clay textured soil during winter growing seasons of 2015/2016 and 2016/2017to study the effect of utilization of fish effluent on lettuce production and emitters performance under drip irrigation system. The drip irrigation system was studied at three different emitter types: long path flow, in-line type and 4 l h-1  discharge (D1); turbulent flow, on-line type and 6 l h-1 discharge (D2) and laminar flow, on-line type and 4 l h-1 discharge (D3), three levels of recommended N dose: 100% N, 75% N and 50% N and two different sources of irrigation water: traditional irrigation water (IW) and drainage water of fish ponds (FW). Traditional irrigation water was applied at 100% N only. Main results cleared out that, FW increased clogging ratio comparing with IW for different emitter types, D3 emitter had the highest clogging ratio while D2 emitter had the lowest; application uniformity at end of the growing season decreased comparing with it at beginning for all treatments, FW decreased Cu at end of the growing season comparing with IW; FW enhanced lettuce yield comparing with IW for different treatment, where FW increased total head yield by 51.2, 50.2 and 61.3% for D1, D2 and D3 respectively comparing with IW under 100% N level; FW increased water and nitrogen productivity comparing with IW for different treatments. Weight gain during feed period values were 52.95 and 52.42 g at the technique of water exchange and traditional treatment respectively.


During the 1980s, Quebec cinema underwent a period of depression, which was then quickly followed by the return of euphoria. In this realm of the immediate, what are the factors that have contributed to such differences over the past decade? This essay considers several: the socio-political context, the legal and financial role of the State, the evolution of the Office national du film, etc. In the process of becoming institutionalized, Quebec cinema has marginalized certain kinds of filmmakers and has made the creation of documentaries more difficult. Institutional and social changes have established a new balance in Quebec's cinematographic landscape. It appears to be more oriented toward the 1990s and less attached to the 1970s.


Planning and taking precautionary measures against catastrophic flood events can be notably improved by deciphering their meteorological/climatological causes. For that purpose, analysing documentary data is undeniable. On the basis of Weikinn's Quellentexte, chronologies of flood events of rivers Elbe and Oder are constructed and critically tested, ranging from approximately 1021 and 1270, to 1851, respectively. Time-dependent occurrence rate is estimated using kernel functions. Pseudodata reduce boundary bias. Bootstrap confidence bands and a statistical test of hypothesis "constant occurrence rate" allow to assess the significance of results. Long-term socio-cultural signals (e. g., document loss) can be strongly reduced by a normalization. First results are presented. Elbe and Oder exhibit similar occurrence rates (increase until 1600, significant decrease until 1700–1750, new increase). Future research will include differentiation (winter versus summer floods), magnitude classification and extending data coverage from 1851 to the present.


Abstract This paper presents an evaluation of four energy transition scenarios under consideration of multiple stakeholder opinions. We construct a multi-criteria group decision model that applies Value-Focused Thinking to construct a holistic objective system and uses Multi-Attribute Utility Theory to evaluate the energy transition scenarios. Although the individual scenario evaluations show that the opinions of the stakeholders towards a sustainable energy transition differ largely, we are able to identify three main strands of opinions among the considered stakeholders. By bundling the stakeholder interests by employing a k-means clustering technique, we derive detailed policy recommendations for a sustainable energy transition. For the case of Germany, these are to reduce GHG and pollutant emissions and at the same time enable citizens' participation, limit the visual impact on landscapes, and ensuring internationally comparable energy-related political frameworks for the economy. For the case of a sustainable energy transition in Germany, we find that the stakeholders considered prefer either the highly ambitious Climate Protection scenario (Scenario B) or the Pan-European scenario (Scenario C). The main novelties of the study are that stakeholders are included in every step of the decision-making process and that very comprehensive energy transition scenarios, comprising the electricity, transport, heat, and industry sectors, are considered.


: This paper proposes a fast localization method, based on a simple feature recognition like a sphere. The local and the global position obtained by scenario reconstruction, and feature recognition as the reference for localization. A 2D laser range finder mounted on a tilting mechanism scans the 3D information of the environment. The 3D workspace divided by triangulation, and a path planned for fast obstacle avoidance created by connecting the center points of each of the generated tetrahedron using Dijkstra's algorithm.


Absolute camera pose regressors estimate the position and orientation of a camera from the captured image alone. Typically, a convolutional backbone with a multi-layer perceptron head is trained using images and pose labels to embed a single reference scene at a time. Recently, this scheme was extended for learning multiple scenes by replacing the MLP head with a set of fully connected layers. In this work, we propose to learn multi-scene absolute camera pose regression with Transformers, where encoders are used to aggregate activation maps with self-attention and decoders transform latent features and scenes encoding into candidate pose predictions. This mechanism allows our model to focus on general features that are informative for localization while embedding multiple scenes in parallel. We evaluate our method on commonly benchmarked indoor and outdoor datasets and show that it surpasses both multi-scene and state-of-the-art single-scene absolute pose regressors. We make our code publicly available from https://github.com/yolish/multi-scene-pose-transformer.


As a general rule, the built environment in the EU uses about 40% of the total energy use. A major part of this is used to provide buildings with the necessary heating and cooling. The energy use of a building can be decreased by proper controlling of the ventilation and indoor climate system. One way to decrease the energy use is to control the supply air temperature. This paper presents a method for an optimal supply air temperature regarding energy use for a ventilation system with constant air volume (CAV). A onezone office with a CAV system, heating radiators and chilled beams was considered. The optimisation was done by minimising the sum of the different powers to heat the air, heat the radiators, cool the air, cool the chilled beams, run the fan and condense the vapour when the air supply air temperature was cooled below the dew point temperature. The energy saving potential was also analysed when the optimal supply air temperature is applied in a northern European climate. The annual energy use can be decreased significantly if the supply air temperature is optimised. An optimised supply air temperature should be possible with the controllers available on the market but the implementation of such a control strategy requires further research. assumptions and limitations are made. The energy use is calculated from hourly temperature and humidity data from three different climates in Sweden. The theory is based on steady state calculations. No night cooling is considered. Heat, cooling and electricity are treated as equal and no economical aspects are taken. There is a lack of general knowledge and theoretical approach regarding the influence from supply air temperature in CAV systems using only outside air. Most research has been done on VAV systems that uses return air. Most often, focus is on the proportions between return air and outdoor air (Stanke, 1998) in order to make it work in practice and to reduce the energy use. In many offices and premises in northern Europe, buildings need to be cooled for a major part of the year because the buildings have internal heat loads, are exposed to solar radiation and are insulated. However, the outdoor air enthalpy is usually lower than the zone air enthalpy and therefore returning the exhaust air will only reduce the energy use a small amount. Hittle (1997), probably referring to the USA, pointed out that most VAV systems do not include any heating function in the main air-handling unit. In northern Europe, heating of the supply air is more common and with a 100% outdoor air system in the northern climates, heating of the supply air is a necessity. Zaheer-Uddin and Zheng (1994) have shown that there is an optimal supply air temperature in a climate where the relative humidity is high and return air is used. The study did not include heating of outdoor air. In their case study (1996) they saved 20% of the energy use by an increase of the amount of outdoor air in a system that used return air. Norford et al. (1986) simulated an office building in New Jersey. The energy use was calculated for different constant supply air temperatures and a supply air temperature decreasing with increased outdoor temperature. By changing the supply air temperature, the energy use was reduced by 10% in winter time and between 11% and 21% in summer time. Xingiao et al. (2000) showed that on-line controlling of the supply air temperature could decrease the energy use significantly. Engdahl (2002) and Johansson (2002) studied optimal supply air temperature for a VAV system that uses only outdoor air. In South Sweden, savings of 8% was possible with an optimal supply air temperature, but this would increase if the internal heat load was not constant. They also found that condensation of the moisture in the supply air should be avoided in almost all cases to decrease the energy use and that more insulation decreases the energy use if the office is not used 24 hours per day. 2 METHOD In this study, only one zone in an office is analysed with some discussions about several zones. In a zone, which can be a cell, the indoor temperature set point, the outdoor climate and the internal load is given, from which the supply air temperature with the lowest power need is determined. The HVAC system, which provides the office cell with air and thermal comfort, uses only outdoor air. A schematic of the HVAC system and the cell is given in Figure 1.


One of the most fundamental challenges of building a human-multiagent team is adjustable autonomy, a process in which the control over team decisions is dynamically transferred between humans and agents. This thesis studies adjustable autonomy in the context of a human interacting with a team of agents and focuses on four issues that arise when addressing this team-level adjustable autonomy problem in real-time uncertain domains. Firstly, the humans and agents may differ significantly in their worldviews and their capabilities. This difference leads to inconsistencies in how humans and agents solve problems. Despite such inconsistencies, previous work has rigidly assumed the infallibility of human decisions. However, in some cases following the human's decisions lead to worse human-multiagent team performance. Secondly, it is desirable for the team to manage the uncertainty of action durations and plan for the optimal action at any point in time. This is a crucial challenge to address given that these human-multiagent teams are working in real-time with strict deadlines combined with the particularly uncertain duration of actions that involve a human. Thirdly, the team needs to be able to plan for the optimal time to interrupt certain actions. This is due to the fact that actions may take an uncertain amount of time and the deadline is approaching. The human-multiagent team may benefit from attempting an action for a given amount of time and interrupting the action if it does not finish in order to try another action that has a higher expected reward. Fourthly, team-level adjustable autonomy is an inherently distributed and complex problem that cannot be solved optimally and completely online.
My thesis makes four contributions to the field in order to address these challenges. First, I have included, in the adjustable autonomy framework, the modeling of the resolution of inconsistencies between human and agent view. This diverges from previous work on adjustable autonomy that traditionally assumes the human is infallible and decisions as rigid, but instead puts the humans and agents on an equal footing, allowing each to identify possible team performance problems. I have developed new "resolution adjustable autonomy strategies" that recognize inconsistencies and provide a framework to decide if a resolution is beneficial. Second, in order to address the challenges brought about by dealing with time, I have modeled these new adjustable autonomy strategies using TMDPs (Time dependent Markov Decision Problems). This allows for an improvement over previous approaches, which used a discretized time model and less efficient solutions. Third, I have introduced a new model for Interruptible TMDPs (ITMDPs) that allows for an action to be interrupted at any point in continuous time. This results in a more accurate modeling of actions and produces additional time-dependent policies that guide interruption during the execution of an action. Fourth, I have created a hybrid approach that decomposes the team level adjustable autonomy problem in a separate ITMDP for each team decision.
In addition, team-based logics are used to coordinate and execute the team actions that are present in the ITMDP. In addition to developing these techniques, I have conducted experimental evaluations that demonstrate the contributions of this approach. This has been realized in a system that I have constructed, DEFACTO (Demonstrating Effective Flexible Agent Coordination of Teams via Omnipresence), that incorporates this approach to team-level adjustable autonomy, along with agent coordination reasoning and a multi-perspective view of the team for the human. DEFACTO has been applied to an urban disaster response domain and used for incident commander training. The Los Angeles Fire Department has been supportive and has given valuable feedback that has shaped the system.


The 'hit theory' developed in 1920s to explain the actions of ionizing radiation on cells and organisms was purely physical, and its limitation was its inadequacy to address the contemporary findings such as the oxygen enhancement of radiobiological damage, and the increased radiosensitivity of dividing compared to non-dividing cells. The textbooks written prior to 1970s did not either refer at all to oxygen as a radiosensitizer, or had mentioned it only in a passing manner; yet 'oxygen effect' was emerging as the central dogma in radiation biology! The oxygen effect in radiation biology is highly interdisciplinary encompassing atomic physics (i.e. interaction of photon with matter), radiation chemistry (formation of reactive oxygen species), molecular signalling, gene expression and genetic alterations in cells (mutation, cancer) or the cell death (apoptosis, necrosis, mitotic catastrophe, etc.). Cell death in higher organisms is now recognized as the precursor of possible error-free cell replacement repair.


A titania-free heterostructure based on CuS/SnO2/WO3 was obtained by a three-step sol–gel method followed by spray deposition on the glass substrate. The samples exhibit crystalline structures and homogenous composition. The WO3 single-component sample morphology consists of fibers that serve as the substrate for SnO2 development. The CuS/SnO2/WO3 heterostructure is characterized by a dense granular morphology. Photocatalytic activity was evaluated under UV–Vis radiation and indicates that the WO3 single-component sample is able to remove 41.1% of acetaldehyde (64.9 ppm) and 52.5% of formaldehyde (81.4 ppm). However, the CuS/SnO2/WO3 exhibits a superior photocatalytic activity due to a larger light spectrum absorption and lower charge carrier recombination rate, allowing the removal of 69.2% of acetaldehyde and 78.5% of formaldehyde. The reusability tests indicate that the samples have a stable photocatalytic activity after three cycle (12 h/cycle) assessments. During light irradiation, the heterostructure acted as a Z-scheme mechanism using the redox ability of the CuS conduction band electrons and the SnO2/WO3 valence band holes to generate the oxidative species required for VOC removal.


The employment of organic materials such as dichloroisocyanuric acid (DCIA), trichloroisocyanuric acid (TCIA), N,N'-dichlorodimethylhydantoin (DDH) and trichloromelamine (TCM) in the energy delivery devices has been addressed in two ways. First, these materials have been coupled with magnesium in the presence of aqueous medium of magnesium perchlorate electrolyte. Secondly, on the consideration of cost, magnesium anodes have been replaced with zinc and zinc/N-halogen organic cells were also constructed using the aqueous ammonium chloride-zinc chloride solutions. In both the cases, the metal/N-halogen organic cells ascribe to, (a) High open circuit potential (up to 1 V vs Ag/AgCl), (b) High open circuit voltage (up to 2.67 V), (c) High closed circuit voltage (up to 2.45 V) and (c) High energy density (up to 798 Wh kg -3 of the organic compound). High melting point of these cathodic materials and their non-toxic properties would supplement the scope of their commercial viability for high temperature applications as well, befitting the environmental requirements.


For i a countable amenable group consider those actions of i as measurepreserving transformations of a standard probability space, written asfT∞g∞2i acting on (X;F;"). We sayfT∞g∞2i has completely positive entropy (or simply cpe for short) if for any flnite and nontrivial partition P of X the entropy h(T;P) is not zero. Our goal is to demonstrate what is well known for actions of and even d , that actions of completely positive entropy have very strong mixing properties. Let Si be a list of flnite subsets of i. We say the Si spread if any particular ∞6 id belongs to at most flnitely many of the sets SiS i1 i . Theorem 0.1. For fT∞g∞2i an action of i of completely positive entropy and P any flnite partition, for any sequence of flnite sets Siµ i which spread we have


Sound sensations are produced in the ear of a user by contacting the surface of the ear canal with an electrode and applying, between the electrode and another area of the user's body, electrical signals representing sounds to be heard. Preferably the electrode is mounted on an ear mold and a lead connected to the electrode, the lead extending through the mold to a source of audio electrical signals. The source may be a microphone on the ear mold.


Evapotranspiration (ET) is an important factor in the water balance.About 60% precipitation was depleted by ET while it exceeds 90% in crop land;so it is critical to study the spatial-temporal pattern of ET which will improve the understanding of hydrological process with regard to vegetation change.Thornthwaite model was used to calculate the ET of the upper Minjiang River.A mountainous radiation hour method was employed to improve the model precision.The results show that the verified model error was between 0.13%~20.72%,with a great reduction compared with the unverified model error of 0.72%~46.72%.Although the reduction of error was only 5% on average but it is important to the water cycle.The results also demon- strated that ET changed greatly in the past 30 years.ET was about 300 mm in 1970s while it was about 315.84 mm at the middle of 1980s.However ET decreased to 305.72 mm at the end of 1990s.


The term producer surplus conventionally has been used to refer to the area above the competitive industry supply curve for output and below the equilibrium price. For the short run, there is general agreement as to the meaning of this area. In the short run, this area equals the payments to the firm in excess of the firm's total variable costs. Such payments are often referred to as quasirents. For the long run, there is no general agreement as to the meaning of this area. Some claim that this area has no particular meaning except under very special circumstances. For example, see Mishan [7, 221-22, 225-30] and Formby [1, 316, 323-24]. Others argue that this area is equal to the rents paid to factors of production. For example, see Shepherd [9] and Helmberger and Rosine [2].' Helmberger and Rosine [2] were the only ones to present an analytical example to support their position. They demonstrated that producer surplus will in fact equal rents if (i) an aggregate production function is used, (ii) the production function has four inputs, is of the Cobb-Douglas variety, and exhibits constant returns to scale, and (iii) two of the industry input supply functions are log-linear and two are perfectly elastic. The current paper brings the analysis down to the level of the individual firm, and significantly extends the result of Helmberger and Rosine [2]. It is demonstrated that producer surplus equals rents whenever the individual firm has a U-shaped long run average cost curve, regardless of (i) the form of the industry input supply functions, and (ii) the number of inputs. Throughout the paper, the analysis is general, that is, no specific functional forms are used.


In its ruling in HP/Digital Revolution, the Dutch Supreme Court held that the sale of a printer may imply a license to use third-party cartridges, barring claims for indirect infringement. This note explains the background to the case and provides a critical commentary of the Court's reasoning.


In this study, we first synthesized a series of highly fluorescent InP/ZnS core/shell QDs under varied reaction conditions and then systematically investigated the blinking behaviors of QDs by single molecule imaging technique. In the measurement of blinking processes, the PL intensity trajectories of single QDs with different emission peak were recorded by a total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) imaging system. We observed that particle size, molar ratio of myristic acid/indium (MA:In), and the overcoating of ZnS shell had significant influence on the blinking behaviors of InP/ZnS QDs. Statistical analysis documented that both the on and off events (mon and moff) followed the power-law distributions P(ton/off) = Bt–mon/off, and the values for mon and moff were in the ranges of 1.3–1.7 and 1.4–1.9, respectively. As the wavelength of emission peak increased from 565 to 646 nm, the on-time fraction changed from 30% to 70%. The QDs prepared under higher MA/In ratio possessed a longer on-time fraction...


Beyond what normal antivirus products do, how can we protect ourselves from the increasing sophistication and subtlety of malware attacks?


1. To select the new rice varieties with high-yield, good tolerance to diseases and pests to increase the yield of rice and income of farmers.
2. To introduce the lines of CIAT and select the ideotype in Nicaragua.
3. To establish and execution the three


The method of simplifying the planar frame structure to the dual wings fishbone-shaped vibration model is introduced.To verify the validity of the model,the stiffness matrix of multi-particle system is computed respectively with the inflection point method,the D-value method and the dual wings fishbone-shaped vibration model method.The finite element method for the pole structure is used in the time-history analysis of the seismic response.Results from above methods are compared.It shows that the seismic responses by using the stiffness matrix from the dual wings fishbone-shaped vibration model are identical to that from the finite element method for the pole structure.


With the methods of documentary data method,field interview,questionnaire,mathematical analysis etc,it carried out a full investigation to the state of community sports and in-depth exploration of the National Games impact on community sports in Jinan.It provided a solution and helped Jinan as well as other urban community sports development for the future.The result of survey indicated that National Games can promote the development of many aspects,such as community sports facilities,Gross National Happiness Index in Jinan,the number of sports instructors and the public health awareness etc.


In recent years, consciousness of high levels of societal and familial risk have made raising a 'resilient child' a key theme in parenting culture. Using evidence from the popular literature on parenting resilient children, this interpretive discourse-based critique explores the ways resilience has been conceptualised in the parenting advice literature. It suggests that this literature advocates a 'resilience pedagogy' that reflects social class differentials and dramatically expands the possibilities for parental intervention in children's lives. The analysis identifies clear links between resilience pedagogy and an emphasis on parenting strategies focused on fostering children's emotional competencies. While ostensibly legitimising and valuing children's emotional worlds, the underlying message of resilience pedagogy is more one of social control and conformity, in which parents become a primary means for the delivery of rationalised and therapeutic models of parent–child relationships that respond to larger political, cultural, and class-based visions of social order.


The reaction rate constants of ozone with 95 alkenes (-logkO3) and the hydroxyl radical (•OH) with 98 alkenes (-logkOH) in the atmosphere were predicted by quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were carried out on respective ground-state alkenes and transition-state structures of degradation processes in the atmosphere. Stepwise multiple linear regression (MLR) and general regression neural network (GRNN) techniques were used to develop the models. The GRNN model of -logkO3 based on three descriptors and the optimal spread σ of 0.09 has the mean root mean square (rms) error of 0.344; the GRNN model of -logk OH having four descriptors and the optimal spread σ of 0.14 produces the mean rms error of 0.097. Compared with literature models, the GRNN models in this article show better statistical characteristics. The importance of transition state descriptors in predicting kO3 and kOH of atmospheric degradation processes has been demonstrated.


Large gas-cluster-ion bombardment has been shown to be a unique tool for generating a variety of bombarding effects over a broad range of acceleration energies. A hardness measurement technique is proposed in this paper based on the use of the effect of crater formation by large gas-cluster beams. The cluster impact leaves a hemispherical crater on a surface, the size of which varies with surface hardness and cluster parameters (which can be predetermined). As shown in this paper, the crater depth h (or diameter d) and Brinell hardness B are correlated through the formula $h\ensuremath{\sim}{(E/B)}^{1/3},$ where E is the cluster acceleration energy. The material hardness, binding energy, and the crater size have also been correlated with the sputtering yield Y, and hence this correlation can also be experimentally applied for measuring hardness. The proposed method is based entirely on surface effects which depend only on the surface material and not on the substrate and therefore should be particularly suitable for measuring hardness of thin deposited films. This technique also eliminates the need for indentors that are harder than the material measured.


The use of radiocarbon dating in geocryological investigations makes it possible to establish a chronology for permafrost-geological development during the Late Pleistocene. Both global and regional time scales for the formation of Late Pleistocene permafrost have been worked out over the past 15–20 years at the Permafrost Institute of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. I present here results from study areas of northwestern Siberia and of North, Central and West Yakutia.


Service Quality (SQ) results from complete customer service and consistent customer satisfaction and it suits not only to the manufacturing industry but also to the service sector, where the customer is very important. In fact, customers in the service industry are quite keen on service quality and service delivery than in manufacturing because they always interact with front-line service personnel. It is not the same as factory workers. These points-of-purchase contact or "moments of truth" determine whether the customer will return or move to another competitor. The objective of this study is to improve and prove a model for customer satisfaction assisted with service quality. Based on the research and literature the construct and hypotheses were framed. It consists of several questions related to demographics, service quality, and customer satisfaction. Hypotheses were tested through Structural equation modeling and paired t-test were employed in the research. Results revealed that all the dimensions of service quality had a significant gap with regard to expectation and perception of mobile customers and that all the service quality dimensions have a considerable impact on customer satisfaction. It is estimated that the findings of the study may provide a significant knowledge to the service providers and contribute to improving their strategies and marketing operations.


James's The Aspern Papers (1888; New York ed., 1908) is an elaborate arabesque of plot and counterplot, a story in which subtle innuendo and strategy repeatedly alter and shift the dynamics of power. While the unnamed narrator of the story has been laying plans, the two penurious women he figuratively and literally courts have been hatching a plot of their own. But they have more than one secret, as the story's clues and its notable silences hint at. While speculation in Venice suggests that Juliana Bordereau shares the rented villa with her niece, or perhaps grandniece, no further light is shed on their connection. Indeed their family origins are left only to the realm of vague guesswork and hearsay. No parents for the indecisive Miss Tina are ever alluded to, even in the most oblique terms, a fact that piques the reader's interest but evidently fails to awaken the narrator's curiosity. This omission, as well as a sequence of clues dropped unwittingly by the narrator, is key to the story's denouement. In the end, he is the only one left in the dark, the reader having had multiple chances to read between the lines of an account fraught with hints, evasions, and ambiguities. That the younger woman is the daughter of Miss Bordereau and the famed poet Jeffrey Aspern is a probability far outside the limited imagination of the hapless narrator, whose passion for literary remains has blinded him to the almost obvious physical reality of a living heir. It is in overlooking this relationship that he forfeits a prize even bigger than the one he sets his sights on, lamenting his loss in the final lines without perceiving what it is that he has let escape his eager grasp. While it is not remarkable that other readers have entertained suspicions about the relationship between Juliana and Tina, it is surprising that the subject has not been developed at length and that the importance of their familial tie has not been definitively linked to the narrator's bereft state at the end of the novella, nor to the more complex identity bestowed on Tina by her ''Aspern secret.'' Milton Reigelman maintains that evidence


In noise attenuation, it is difficult to reduce impulse noise and white noise at same time. In this paper, we study the left prediction, right prediction and middle smoothing, and prove two contraints conditions. We give the prediction hybrid and middle\|smoothing(PHS) method to attenuate noise. We also analyze the method's root signal structure and statistical property. At last, we employ some examples to check the PHS method. The result shows that the method is effective.


The study of Zhan An- tai's classical literature research focused on his theory of Ci-poetry,Books of songs and Chuci. His achievements in classical literary theory and criticism were often ignored. During the period of the republic of China,Zhan An-tai started on the construction of classical literary theory and criticism system,which his theory of further development since the foundation of the country were based on. The sociological approach was very popular in the study of literature in the republic of China. Scholars tended to attribute " style" to social environment,Zhan An-tai pointed out the writer's personal differences were determined. In explaining " jingjie" which was advanced by Wang Guo-wei,some scholars emphasized the role of natural scenery; Zhan An-tai claimed that the " jingjie" should be consisted of " qingqu" and " biaoxian". He emphasized the writer's individual and unique artistic techniques in his theory from his discussion on " style", " jingjie" and other categories. Zhan Antai stressed that literary studies should be on the basis of comprehensive master of the work,combine the unique artistic technique and background,so as to get in the writer's purpose. The methods of literary theory and criticism of Zhan An-tai still have great significance to our present classical literature study.


Across the last four decades the incidence of cancer in New Zealand has been rising among the middle-aged and elderly Maori and non-Maori and male and female alike. This trend is not a result of population ageing but will compound with that in the years ahead to produce greatly increased numbers of cancer cases requiring expensive treatment and extensive care. This paper explores some of the variations in cancer incidence the factors behind the rise and likely consequences for New Zealand and New Zealanders....[It] concentrates on two issues the age structure of cancer and the predominance of the disease among the elderly and the relationship between cancer mortality and cancer morbidity. (EXCERPT)


ABSTRACT. The present study investigates the connection between linguistic perceptions, speaker identification, and speaker attitude and examines the attitudes of speakers of Puerto Rican Spanish towards Dominican Spanish in sociolinguistic interviews. Although both varieties are linguistically very similar (Lipski 1994), the participants report being attuned to a range of linguistic differences between their variety and Dominican Spanish, while confirming widespread stigmatization of Dominicans and Dominican Spanish on the island. Their evaluations of Dominican Spanish are positive, indicating some degree of solidarity towards speakers of other Caribbean variety speakers. It is hypothesized that reported stigmatization of Dominicans and Dominican Spanish (Duany 2005) is not a reflection of linguistic prejudice but rather an expression of socioeconomic, educational, and cultural differences. 1. INTRODUCTION. Over the past decades, myriad studies investigating language attitudes and perceptions have demonstrated the importance of stereotypes in the recognition and evaluation of a wide variety of minority languages or linguistic varieties (Lambert et al 1960, Bourhis and Giles 1976, d'Anglejan and Tucker 1983, Bradac and Wisegarver 1984, Bettoni and Gibbons 1988, Luhman 1990, Bias Arroyo 1999, El-Dash and Busnardo 2001, Hiraga 2005). All these studies converge on the point that more prestigious varieties are often rated higher on characteristics that ascribe a higher social status (e.g. rich, intelligent, successful). However, varieties that are less prestigious (e.g. of linguistic and/ or ethnic minorities) are rated lower on similar characteristics. Nevertheless, a recurring question that is addressed in research to this day is how these evaluations arise and how they are maintained by members of the majority group. Research in the area of attitudes has grown out of social psychology along with much of the discussion on how these attitudes arise between speaker groups and how they are manifested in everyday interactions. The development and expression of particular attitudes has been linked to a cognitive component (recognizing similarities and differences to others), an affective component (developing positive/negative feelings towards different groups), and a behavioral component (acting or reacting based on the existing positive/negative feelings towards different groups) that is typically driven by the larger consensus within a smaller group or subculture. All three components are closely linked to societal norms, habits, and expectancies, underlining the important role that societal norms play on an individual's attitudes, behavior, and linguistic evaluations. (Triandis 1971, Ajzen 1988). Of utmost importance for the present analysis, studies addressing attitudes toward minority groups found that groups specializing in physical labor (such as immigrants with little or no formal education) are stereotyped as strong, stupid, pleasure-loving, and imprudent (Campbell 1967). Moreover, research shows that stereotypes can be enforced by one group (e.g. a lower income majority group) over another group (e.g. an immigrant group) to bolster the former group's self-esteem (Triandis 1971). These results point to the fact that many speakers, in particular less educated speakers (e.g. members of the working class), are regularly exposed to these standard ideologies and apply them to their own variety as well as that of others (Milroy 1992). Evidence from the area of perceptual dialectology supports the existence of socially imposed hierarchies for language varieties in the minds of speakers. What is more, perceived linguistic differences are often closely linked to particular phonetic and phonological differences between linguistic varieties (Preston 1989, 1999; Niedzielski 1999; Long and Preston 2002). Even very small phonetic/phonological differences may become social and/or ethnic markers for particular groups (Preston 1999, Long and Preston 2002, van Bezooijen and Gooskens 1999, Niedzielski 1999, Fridland et al 2005). …


The present invention discloses a rubber cover sealing an automotive front cylinder member made of a material of the following parts by weight: 30-40 acrylate rubber, chloroprene rubber A-90 (Electric of Japan) 30-40, 3950 EPDM (Lanxess, Germany) 10-12, 10-12 bisphenol A polycarbonate, super abrasion furnace black N11020-30, precipitated silica 5-10, 2-3 expandable graphite, calcium carbonate 5- 10, 6-8 barium sulfate, iron tailings modified powder 10-12, zinc oxide 3-4, diphenylsilanediol 1-2,2- mercaptobenzimidazole benzimidazole 1-2, vulcanizing agent BP0. 1 ~ 5, triallyl cyanurate 1-3, antioxidant TPPD 1-2, antioxidant NBC1-2, bis (dioctyl pyrophosphate group-yl) ethylene titanate 2-4 , PTFE powder 1-3, dioctyl sebacate 17-19. Rubber compound according to the present invention has excellent ozone resistance and low temperature resistance, heat resistance, temperature range, environmental technology, this compound can be prepared by various seals.


The aim of the research is: 1) to find out the local people's perception to the principal tourism destination management in Lake Toba, Simanindo district, Samosir Regency, 2) to find out the model of sustainable tourism development in Simanindo district Samosir regency. Franc Lynch method is used to take the sample from local people's aged 15-64 years old and obtained 95 respondent. Data type used represent primary by using questionnaire with Likert scale in each question. Data analysis techniques using the value perception and multiple regression analysis. The result from this research are: 1)The local people's perception to the principal way in managing tourism in Lake Toba in the positive area or good. 2) The model of the sustainable tourism development should be stressed on the attraction and the human resource in Simanindo district.


This paper explores the problem of hospital stock-piling of critical medical supplies in preparation for a possible influenza pandemic.We consider a regional network of hospitals that have mutual aid agreements in place such that they may borrow or lend supplies from each other during medical emergencies. We assume that the attack rate is a random variable with known distribution and that the demand surge due to the pandemic is a function of the attack rate, and is thus stochastic. We further assume that each hospital in the network pre-determines its targeted pandemic response level, and that any demand beyond this pre-determined level is reallocated to other hospitals. Each hospital in the network must decide the stockpile level that minimizes its expected overall cost, including purchasing cost, holding cost, cost (revenue) for borrowing (lending), penalty for setting a too low targeted level, and shortage penalty. To capture the mutual aid relationships of hospitals in the network, we formulate the problem as a game theoretic model. We show that the response sets are nested and we provide an algorithm to obtain numerically the Nash Equilibrium solution of this game. We illustrate the structure of the model on a two-hospital example and perform sensitivity analysis with respect to parameters of our model.


Objective
To observe the application of incremental sevoflurane concentration approach in the strategy selection of patients with suspected difficult airway caused by laryngopharyngeal lesions.

Methods
Patients [American Society of Anesthesiologists(ASA) Ⅰor Ⅱ] who underwent laryngopharyngeal surgery under general anesthesia with difficult airway risks from May 2014 to May 2018 were enrolled. The risk factors included degree Ⅰ to Ⅱ laryngeal obstruction or without symptoms of laryngeal obstruction but with the presence of laryngeal neoplasms which occluded more than 1/2 of the glottis through preoperative electronic laryngoscopy. All the enrolled patients were inhaled, sevoflurane, and airway assessment was performed and recorded from grades 1 to 3 when the sedation level reached 5 Ramsay score. All the patients at grades 2 or 3 were the formal participates and then these 110 patients were randomly divided into a fast induction group and a slow induction group (n=55). Intravenous anesthetics and muscle relaxants were used for intubation in the fast induction group, while incremental concentrations of sevoflurane were inhaled for intubation in the slow induction group without muscle relaxants. Both groups were compared for the intubation tool selection, intubation times, duration of intubation, successful rate and the incidence of hypoxic events during intubation.

Results
Compared with the fast induction group, the slow induction group showed a higher successful rate of one-time intubation, shorter intubation time and a lower incidence of hypoxia(P<0.05).

Conclusions
Incremental sevoflurane concentration approach is a relatively satisfactory tracheal intubation strategy for patients with suspected difficult airway caused by laryngopharyngeal lesions.

Key words:
Anesthesia; Induction of anesthesia; Endotracheal intubation; Laryngopharyngeal lesions; Difficult airway


Increasing data of the web graph make it difficult to identify the data structure and get the information from that large graph. To identify the structure and get the information, some method needed to summarize the large graph into smaller subgraphs, so data structure identification can be conducted on the subgraph. This will make structure identification easier. Vocabulary based Summarization of Graph (VoG) is a method that can be used to summarize the large graph and identify the subgraph structure. In the process of structure identification, a maximum number of node in $GCC\ (k)$ affects the generated subgraph. More and more $k$ generates less of subgraph with clique and star structures but generates more subgraphs with chain structures. The $k$ also affects the execution time of VoG. More and more $k$ make the execution time of VoG faster. From generated and identified subgraph structure, information that can be obtained is clique subgraph represent there is a user network that polls on a question link and star subgraph represent there is one user contribute an answer on some question link on quora.com.


A panoramic view of Riemannian geometry, by Marcel Berger. Pp. 824. £46.00. 2003. ISBN 3 540 65317 1 (Springer-Verlag). In the 1820s, Gauss showed, very surprisingly, that the 'inner geometry' or 'metric' of a surface in 3-space, that is the measurement of lengths of curves on the surface, actually determines the curvature of the surface, in the sense of what is now called Gauss curvature. Riemann, in the 1850s, turned this round and, instead of starting with a surface in 3-space, started with a metric and an abstract 2-dimensional structure, an 'abstract surface', and built from this a geometric object which would now be called a riemannian manifold of dimension 2. This idea has had enormous repercussions in the ensuing 150 years. Riemannian geometry has become a vast subject, influencing, famously, the development of general relativity and, more recently, the classification of 3-manifolds by hyperbolic structures in the work of William Thurston and his many followers.


This paper estimates the half-hourly and daily CO2emissions from electricity generation in Britain, and the influence that wind and solar output has on these. Emissions are inferred from the output of individual plants and their expected efficiency, accounting for the penalty of part-loading thermal generators. Empirical Willans lines are created for typical coal, oil and combined-cycle gas generators from the US CEMS database, giving the first fully-empirical treatment of the British power system. We compare regressions of half-hourly and daily emissions to estimate the impact of plant start-ups, which may not occur in the specific hours when wind and solar output drops, and thus may be mis-identified in half-hourly regressions. Our preliminary findings show that dynamic plant efficiency may reduce the carbon savings from wind by 5-12% and for solar by 0-6%. The effect is strengthening with increasing penetration.


Tunable Raman excitation spectroscopy with 1.55–1.77 eV laser energies was used to map the second van Hove singularities of semiconducting single‐walled carbon nanotubes ropes in air and immersed in water. The optical transitions are assigned to different (n,m) tubes using a correlation of the diameter and radial breathing mode (RBM) in the Raman spectrum. The resonance energies are blue‐shifted when the tubes are immersed in water and the shift depends on the chiral angle. In addition, the RBM frequencies are also blue‐shifted upon immersion in water.


The morphology and supramolecular structure of regenerated flax fiber were analyzed by scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffractometer.Direct Red 4BS was used to study some parameters in dyeing thermodynamics of regenerated flax fibers.The adsorption isotherm of the regenerated flax fibers was plotted,their effective adsorption volume was detected,their dyeing affinity,heat and entropy were calculated,and the data were compared with those of rayon fibers.The results showed that the isotherm of regenerated flax fibers was similar to that of rayon fibers.They had much higher dye affinity,dyeing heat and dyeing entropy than rayon fibers when dyed with Direct Red 4BS at the same temperature.


This paper develops a methodology for the optimum layout design of sensor arrays of structural health monitoring systems under uncertainty. This includes finite element analysis under transient mechanical and thermal loads and incorporation of uncertainty quantification methods. The finite element model is validated with experimental data, accounting for uncertainties in experimental measurements and model predictions. The structural health monitoring sensors need to be placed optimally in order to detect with high reliability any structural damage before it turns critical. The proposed methodology achieves this objective by combining probabilistic finite element analysis, structural damage detection algorithms, and reliability-based optimization concepts.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the roles of p27(kip1), p16 gene protein and proliferating cell nuclear antigen expression in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).

METHODS
The EnVision immunohistochemical method was used to detect the expression of p27(kip1), p16 gene protein and PCNA in 66 cases of non-keratinized carcinoma (NKC) and 25 cases of non-tumor nasopharyngeal tissue.

RESULTS
(1) The positive expression rates of p27(kip1), p16 gene protein were 65%, 68% in NKC respectively. There were significant differences between NKC and non-tumor group (P < 0.05). (2) The expression of p27(kip1), p16 protein correlated with cranial nerve encroaching and the 5-year survival rates of the patients (P < 0.05), but had no significant correlation to lymph node metastases and clinical staging (P > 0.05). The expression of PCNA was related to clinical staging and to the patient's 5-year survival rates (P < 0.05), but not to lymph node metastases and cranial nerve encroaching (P > 0.05). (3) The positive expression of p27(kip1), p16 gene protein and PCNA were correlated.

CONCLUSION
The results suggest that immunological labeling of p27(kip1), p16 gene protein and PCNA might be used to determine the prognosis of NKC.


Objective To explore the effectiveness of 3D fixed patch combined with medical glue patch by the intraperitoneal preperitoneal technique (TAPP).Methods A total of 96 patients with inguinal hernia had TAPP surgery using fixed patch combined with medical glue patch by the TAPP technique.Then the postoperative complications and recurrence were investigated.Results The unilateral side of surgical time was 40 to 140 minutes with a mean of 70 minutes.The bilateral time lasted 70 to 180 minutes with a mean of 110 minutes.The postoperative hospital stay was 3 to 7 days (mean:3.5 days) without any serious complications.The common complication was seroma (7 cases,7.3%) with a follow-up of 3 to 36 months. No recurrence was found.Conclusions 3D fixed patch combined with medical glue patch in the TAPP technique was practical,safe,and reliable with less complication and low rate of recurrence.


In addition to being symbolic, a further characteristic which distinguishes Geometry Expressions from older geometry packages is that it is constraint based. This means that rather than requiring elaborate constructions to be derived, or macros to be used, it is possible to specify diagrams directly in terms of geometric constraints – both qualitative (such as incidence and tangency) and quantitative (such as specifying distances and angles).


Background : Eradication of Helicobacter pylori is expected to prevent the development of gastric cancer. However, gastric cancer is sometimes discovered after successful eradication of H. pylori.


List of Illustrations and Tables Foreword Acknowledgments Maps Introduction 1. Contradictions of Gender When Women Immigrate First 2. Work: Nursing, Women's Networks, and Men "Tied to a Stake" 3. Home: Redoing Gender in Immigrant Households 4. Community: Creating Little Kerala and the Paradox of "Men Who Play" in the Church 5. Transnational Connections: The Janus-Faced Reproduction of an Immigrant Community 6. Conclusions Appendix 1: Interview Participants by Household Type Appendix 2: Types of Nursing Jobs Appendix 3: Transnational Organizational Structure of the Indian Orthodox Church Notes References Index


26 Despite the development of novel antibiotics active against Gram positive bacteria, 27 vancomycin generally remains the first treatment, although rapidly achieving concentrations 28 associated with maximal efficacy provides an unresolved challenge. The objective of this 29 study was to conduct a population pharmacokinetic analysis of vancomycin in a large 30 population of critically ill patients. This was a retrospective data collection of 206 adult septic 31 critically ill patients that were administered vancomycin as a loading dose followed by 32 continuous infusion. The concentration versus time data for vancomycin in serum was 33 analyzed by a non-linear mixed effects modeling approach using NONMEM. Monte-Carlo 34 simulations were performed using the final covariate model. We found that the best 35 population pharmacokinetic model consisted of a one-compartment linear model with 36 combined proportional and additive residual unknown variability. The volume of distribution 37 of vancomycin (1.5L/kg) was described by total body weight and clearance (4.6L/hr) by 2438 hour urinary creatinine clearance (CrCl), normalized to body surface area. Simulation data 39 showed that a 35mg/kg loading dose was necessary to rapidly achieve vancomycin 40 concentrations of 20mg/L. Daily vancomycin requirements were dependant on CrCl, such that 41 a patient with a CrCl of 100 ml/min/1.73m 2 would require at least 35mg/kg per day by 42 continuous infusion to maintain target concentrations. In conclusion, we have found that 43 higher than recommended loading and daily doses of vancomycin seem to be necessary to 44 rapidly achieve therapeutic serum concentrations in these patients. 45 on N ovem er 2, 2017 by gest httpaac.asm .rg/ D ow nladed fom Introduction 46 Infections in critically ill patients occur frequently and may lead to the development of sepsis 47 or septic shock. The morbidity and mortality rates for sepsis and septic shock remain 48 unacceptably high with septic shock still associated with a 35 to 65% in-hospital mortality 49 rate (5, 9). A significant body of work now describes the importance of early and appropriate 50 antibiotic therapy as the intervention likely to minimize therapeutic failure (10, 17, 18). 51 52 Of significant concern for clinicians is the increasing prevalence of multi-drug resistant 53 bacteria, particularly methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which has been 54 found to be the causative pathogen in more than 10% of infections resulting in septic shock 55 (9). Furthermore, data from the US have reported that 25.8% of bacteremias are due to MRSA 56 (4), with mortality rates for MRSA bacteremia in critically ill patients being reported between 57 45 and 55% (3, 13). Certainly, mortality rates for MRSA pneumonia in critically ill patients 58 may be even higher (12). Whilst newer agents are now available, vancomycin remains the 59 standard of care for treatment of MRSA infections in the intensive care unit (ICU) (30). 60 61 Despite vancomycin being in ubiquitous use for over 50 years, dosing in specific populations, 62 particularly the critically ill, remains confused. Conventional dosing regimens of 500mg 63 every 6 hours or 1g every 12 hrs have little evidence supporting efficacy (7), while data from 64 Moise-Broder et al., (22) in MRSA pneumonia suggests that standard dosing approaches are 65 unlikely to achieve the required pharmacodynamic index of vancomycin exposure needed for 66 optimal activity. Pursuant to this, a consensus review in 2009 by the American Society of 67 Health System Pharmacists, Infectious Diseases Society of America and the Society of 68 Infectious Disease Pharmacists (ASHP/IDSA/SDIP) recommended more aggressive 69 vancomycin dosing to achieve the pharmacodynamic index associated with efficacy (30). 70 on N ovem er 2, 2017 by gest httpaac.asm .rg/ D ow nladed fom 71 Continuous infusion (CI) of vancomycin allows more rapid achievement of therapeutic drug 72 concentrations than intermittent infusion and may optimize its bactericidal activity. Recent 73 publications recommend a loading dose of 15 mg/kg followed by a daily dose of 30 mg/kg 74 (33), however data on the efficacy of this strategy in a septic population are scarce. 75 76 In this respect, the aim of this study was to conduct a population pharmacokinetic analysis of 77 vancomycin continuous administration in a large cohort of critically ill patients, in order to 78 better inform dosing in this population and reduce the risks for sub-therapeutic drug exposure. 79 80 81 Patients and Methods 82 Patients and data collection 83 We reviewed all the medical charts of patients with a diagnosis of sepsis (18) admitted in the 84 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Erasme Hospital (Brussels, Belgium) between January 2008 and 85 December 2009, in whom continuous infusion (CI) of vancomycin, either in monotherapy or 86 combined with other antimicrobials, was administered. Patients meeting any of the following 87 criteria were excluded: (a) age less than 18 yrs; (b) previous administration of vancomycin by 88 intermittent infusion (<48 hrs from the onset of CI); (c) renal replacement therapy; (d) 89 duration of CI of vancomycin of < 48 hrs; (e) pregnancy, burns or cystic fibrosis (because of 90 altered pharmacokinetics, independent of sepsis). The study period was limited to the ICU 91 stay. Ethical approval to conduct the study was granted by the local Ethics Committee. 92 93 In all study patients, data were collected in an institutional database. The severity of illness of 94 each patient was characterized using the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation 95 on N ovem er 2, 2017 by gest httpaac.asm .rg/ D ow nladed fom (APACHE) II (16) and SOFA (32) scores determined on the first day of antibiotic treatment. 96 Urinary creatinine clearance (CrCl) was collected as routine procedure in all of the patients, 97 calculated daily and normalized to body surface area (BSA). Treatment of patients with 98 catecholamines or mechanical ventilation was also recorded, as was length of ICU and 99 hospital stay, overall mortality, and cause of death. 100 101 Vancomycin treatment 102 Administration of vancomycin (Vancocin; Eli Lilly, Indianapolis, Ind, USA) was by 103 continuous infusion in accordance with local guidelines, and often empirical in the setting of 104 presumed or documented Gram positive hospitalor ICU-acquired infections, especially when 105 MRSA or other resistant Gram positive bacteria (i.e., Staphylococcus epidermidis or 106 ampicillin-resistant Enterococcus) were suspected. Continuous infusion is the preferred 107 method of administration in the unit where the data collection occurred because we believe 108 dose adjustment to achieve therapeutic concentrations to be easier than with intermittent 109 infusion. Previous clinical outcome studies have shown equivalent outcomes for vancomycin 110 administered by either approach (33). In this study, the choice of antibiotic regimen was at the 111 discretion of the clinician; published recommendations (15 mg/kg of loading dose followed 112 by 30 mg/kg daily dose calculated on the total body weight, TBW) (33), with doses rounded 113 off to 125 mg, were used is some patients. In others, local simplified recommendations were 114 used, consisting of a 750 mg (if TBW < 70 kg) or 1000 mg (if TBW > 70 kg) loading dose 115 diluted in 100 ml of 5% dextrose in water and administered over 30 min, followed by 2000 116 mg (if TBW < 70 kg) or 3000 mg (if TBW > 70 kg) daily dose of vancomycin, diluted in 250 117 ml of 5% dextrose in water and infused over 24 h in case of normal renal function. In case of 118 renal failure, the loading dose was unchanged but the daily dose was adapted to the renal 119 clearance. The aim of this regimen was to provide serum drug concentrations between 20 and 120 on N ovem er 2, 2017 by gest httpaac.asm .rg/ D ow nladed fom 30 mg/L (28). Where concentrations were less than 20 mg/L, a loading dose of 500 mg and an 121 increase of 500-1000 mg per day of total dose was made. In patients where concentrations 122 were greater than 30mg/L, CI was discontinued for 4 hours and the total dose reduced by 500123 1000 mg per day. 124 125 Vancomycin Assay 126 Concentrations of vancomycin in serum were determined by fluorescence polarization 127 immunoassay (TDx; Diagnostic Division, Abbott Laboratories, Irving, Tex.). The assay limits 128 and intraday and between-day coefficients of variation for vancomycin were 0.6 mg/ml and 129 0.6%, respectively. The linearity (r 2 ) of the assay was 0.999. 130 131 Blood samples (5mL) for drug assays were taken every day at 8 am and sent immediately to 132 the central laboratory. As the aim was to examine the 'pseudo steady-state' phase of the drug 133 regimen, at least 16 hours from the onset of CI were allowed before sampling. We use the 134 term 'pseudo steady-state' as whether steady-state is ever achieved in ICU patients with 135 sepsis is debatable. The exact sampling time was recorded by the nursing or medical staff in a 136 computerized ICU system. 137 138 Pharmacokinetic and Statistical Analysis 139 The concentration versus time data for vancomycin in serum were analyzed by a non-linear 140 mixed effects modeling approach (2) using NONMEM (Version 6.1, GloboMax LLC, 141 Hanover, MD, USA) with double precision with the COMPAQ VISUAL FORTRAN 142 compiler. The NONMEM runs were executed using Wings for NONMEM (WFN 6.1.3). Data 143 were analysed using the first order conditional estimation method with the Interaction 144 program. 145 on N ovem er 2, 2017 by gest httpaac.asm .rg/ D ow nladed fom 146 For the population PK analysis, the serum vancomycin concentrations were fitted to one, two 147 or three-compartment linear models using subroutines from the NONMEM library (2). The 148 concentration–time profile can be described as (Equation 1): 149


The Committee believes that the time has come to progress regulatory reform more broadly, and to do so by reversing the onus of proof in considering the desirability of reforming particular regulation. Consistent with the principles already agreed between governments, in relation to market conduct, the Committee considers there should be no regulatory restriction on competition unless clearly demonstrated to be in the public interest (Hilmer et al, 1993: 190) (emphasis added).


Ophthalmic drops that combine immediate antihistamine relief with prophylactic care in the form of mast cell inhibition and eosinophil blockage are the mainstay of therapy for allergic conjunctivitis.


ABSTRACT Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles pose hazards different from conventional vehicles. This paper performs a risk assessment on road collision vehicle fires with hydrogen-fueled tank of 70 MPa. The high voltage battery fire caused by road collision can lead to onboard hydrogen release or explosion. Events progressions are analyzed and typical hydrogen consequences are evaluated quantitatively, including hydrogen jet fires and tank catastrophic rupture. Perimeters around the accident scene are proposed for the safety of general public and first responders, respectively. Risks of fatalities, injuries, and damages are all quantified in financial terms to make it possible to combine and compare.


This paper analyzes the implications of the
Black-Scholes-Merton model of option pricing, for the deltas of call and put
options and their respective probabilities of exercise at expiration. It
derives a threshold value of the stock price and shows that in certain cases
the options will have a delta in excess of 0.50, and will also have more than a
50% probability of exercise, while other options will have a delta that is
lower than 0.50 and a probability of exercise that
is lower than 50%. Similar results are obtained for the Garman-Kohlhagen
model, which is an extension of the Black-Scholes Merton model, for valuing
foreign currency options.


Many hardware efficient algorithms exists for hardware signal processing architecture. Among these algorithm is a set of shift-add algorithms collectively known as CORDIC (Coordinate Rotation for Digital Computers) for computing a wide range of functions including certain trigonometric, hyperbolic, linear and logarithmic functions. The paper compares the different CORDIC architectures with respect to their area, speed, and data throughput performance especially in three different major styles iterative, parallel and pipelined structures. All three designs were designed in VHDL, simulated using Modelsim simulator and Implemented using Xilinx FPGA synthesis and Synopsis ASIC synthesis tools.


A general relation is derived for the number of counts registered by a Geiger-M\"uller tube counter or similar electrical counting device exposed to a radioactive source whose strength varies arbitrarily with the time when the counter has a finite, constant resolving time. This is applied specifically to the case of an exponentially decaying source superposed on a uniform background, the solution of the resulting formula being represented nomographically. The number of spurious coincidences observed in a set of $P$ counters used coincidentally is calculated when the resolving times of the individual counters are neglected in comparison with the resolving time of the combining electrical circuit for coincidences. This general expression is applied to the cosmic-ray "telescope" and the double coincidence magnetic spectrometer such as that of Henderson and Alichanow. The constancy of the resolving time of a single counter and the justification for neglecting individual resolving times in comparison with the coincidence resolving time are discussed.


Current plans call for deployment of the TELESAT on Flight Day 2, followed by deployment of the SYNCOM on Flight Day 3. If all goes well and no backup deployment opportunities are required, Hauck and Walker will execute an Orbital Maneuvering System burn at mission elapsed time three days, one hour and twenty five minutes to begin the rendezvous with STS 51-A Mission Specialist Dale Gardner is shown here on the air bearing an artist's conception of what the procedure will look like In space. The Palapa on Flight Day 4. floor In Bldg. 9A demonstrating the retrieval concept to be used on that flighl mission is now set for launch on Nov. 2. The Palapa is in a circular orbit for grappling the Palapa satellite and bringing it back to Earth. See page 4 for between 180 and 190 nautical miles. The Discovery will move in The crewmember will dock with will be inserted into Palapa's Fisher piloting the robot arm, agreement which all the parties and station keep about 200 feet the slowly spinning satellite using apogee kick motor nozzle, where grapple the satellite and berth it will sign in the near future. This from the satellite as the prime an Apogee Kick Motor Capture it will expand after insertion and on a pallet in the payload bay. agreement couldincludeacommitEVA crewman flies over to the Device, or ACD, that resembles allow him to stabilize the rotation rnent to relaunch the satellite in satellite with a Manned Maneuverthe "stingers" which have been using thruster firings on theMMU. These and other details of the July 1985 should the underwriters ing Unit. Both Gardner and Allen used to mount aircraft models in Once Palapa is stabilized, the rescue plan will be spelled out in request it, NASA Headquarters are slated for the EVA tasks, wind tunnels for years. The stinger Discovery will move in and, with a standard Shuttle launch services said.


OBJECT
Modic changes (MCs) and high-intensity zones (HIZs) potentially serve as variably sensitive markers for discogenic chronic low-back pain (CLBP). No study has hitherto assessed the phenomenon of MC-HIZ coexistence at a single level, and the goal in this study was to assess the nature and frequency of this phenomenon.

METHODS
One hundred twenty consecutive patients with discogenic CLBP in whom lumbar MR imaging studies had demonstrated an HIZ, an MC, or both were included.

RESULTS
This cohort (120 consecutive patients with 193 degenerative discs) had discogenic CLBP in at least 1 lumbar level associated with either an HIZ (77 discs), an MC (67 discs), or both (16 patients); there were 55 coexistent non-HIZ/non-MC degenerative discs. Painful MC-HIZ coexistence at 1 level occurred in 6 patients (5 of whom were female). If HIZs and MCs were random, independent entities, then MC-HIZ coexistence at 1 level would have been expected in 67 x 77/193 (that is, 27) discs. The observed frequency was therefore significantly lower (chi(2) = 41, p < 0.001). There were no significant demographic differences between groups. The HIZ disc height (8 +/- 0.2 mm) was significantly greater than the MC (6.6 +/- 0.2 mm) or MC-HIZ (6.7 +/- 0.2 mm) disc heights (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS
In patients with discogenic CLBP associated with HIZ or MC lesions, MC-HIZ coexistence at 1 level was significantly rarer than expected even by chance; thus, despite both being manifestations of a seemingly common degenerative process, HIZ and MC more closely represent "either/or" phenomena. Because HIZ disc height was significantly greater, HIZs may develop earlier in the disc degenerative ontogeny. If any degenerative disc may only display an HIZ first, yet may ultimately display an MC instead, then HIZs must invariably regress as MCs supervene (or even vice versa). The MC-HIZ coexistence would therefore represent either a rare stable state (possibly more common in females) or a transitory state, as one lesion gradually replaces the other. Longitudinal studies would confirm or refute these hypotheses, although significantly larger sample sizes would be required.


We prove the second main theorem for the product space of the Riemann spheres by using the meromorphic connection. We deal with the divisors which are totally geodesic with respect to this meromorphic connection.


We study the projective normality of a linearly normal special scroll R of degree d and speciality i over a smooth curve X of genus g. We relate it with the Clifford index of the base curve X. If d ≥ 4g − 2i − Cliff(X) + 1, i ≥ 3 and R is smooth, we prove that the projective normality of the scroll is equivalent to the projective normality of its directrix curve of minimum degree.


In the early twentieth century, churchmen such as Warren Conant sought to virilize Jesus in the hopes of bringing men back to the church. Later in the twentieth century, some feminist theologians sought to uncover a feminine agenda in Jesus' ministry to support modern women's issues. Colleen Conway's book Behold the Man shows that gender has been a central concern in representations of Jesus from the beginning. Conway begins by reviewing ancient constructions of masculinity and illustrating these constructions with "case studies" of Caesar Augustus, Philo's Moses, and Philostratus's Apollonius. Even for scholars familiar with this material, a close reading of these chapters is beneficial because Conway reminds her readers that there were multiple—and sometimes competing— models of masculinity in antiquity and that "marginalized gender discourses" (as opposed to the "hegemonic masculinity" of the imperial project) could be used to resist imperial power without rejecting gender ideology altogether. Among the undisputed Pauline epistles, Conway focuses particularly on the Corinthian correspondence and Galatians. She argues that since Paul mentions the crucifixion most frequently when his masculinity is being questioned, references to the crucifixion bolster Paul's masculine status. Overall, Conway sees Paul's Christology as akin to imperial apotheosis traditions and, therefore, she does not read the Pauline traditions as countercultural or as subverting hegemonic masculine ideology. Conway begins her analysis of each Gospel by investigating how the titles applied to Jesus masculinize him. In Mark, the titles show Jesus' divine status and ruling authority. Jesus' miracles are to be understood as challenges to Roman imperial power. The healing of the Gerasene demoniac, for example, is described as a "thinly veiled 'exorcism' of Roman military occupation" (94). Mark's relationship with hegemonic masculinity is ambiguous, however, as the passion narrative makes clear: at his death, Jesus is filled with fear and anguish. Conway suggests that the noble death tradition might alleviate some of this tension. She surmises that the ambiguous portrayal of Jesus' masculinity may be attributable to the recent display of Roman power in Jerusalem. Matthew focuses on Jesus as a skilled teacher, which was a masculine quality. Conway argues that Jesus' teachings are not countercultural because


Shyamal Kumar Pramanik is an author on social and political values and an engaging writer of Dalit literature and movement. His works glitter with pain, angst and social good will. For him, writing is a commitment, social and political. Dalit literature is born out of ideological warfare. Pramanik is a socially committed artist with many works under his belt. All his works lead us to a better society based on justice, equality and fraternity.His collection of Dalit poetry titled Aguner Bornomala was first published in 2000 in Bengali. In 2019, it was published in English as Fiery Garland of Letters translated by Kalyan Basu (Gangchil, Kolkata). This collection of poems is rich with military images to change the society for good. These are mainly protest poems, protest against the age-old stereotypes in the Bengali caste pyramid.This interview was conducted via emails in the month of December 2019. We sat with the author a couple of times in a café in south Kolkata where we discussed his works and activism for the upliftment of the Dalits in Bengal.


The article deals with benefits for small and medium business entities in the field of property privatization. It covers changes in legislation and legal opinions worked out by courts.


Back in 1960, an article appeared in Li brary Journal (November 1, p. 3939-41) un der the title "Commercial, Statistical, and Fi nancial Services in Public Library Collec tions." The article gave the results of a survey of fifty-eight "medium-to-large public li braries" concerning which loose-leaf business services were subscribed to and the extent of use. This 1960 study was conducted by the former Science, Technology, and Business Committee of ALA, under the chairmanship of Richard J. Neuman.


Purpose: Neural degeneration in normal aging can lead to functional changes in the visual cortex. However, the visual stimuli used in previous studies only covered a narrow, central visual field. The goals of this study were to 1) establish a practical, low-cost visual screen system inside a clinical MRI system; 2) investigate effects of normal aging with the wide-view to include central and peripheral visual areas. Methods: Five elderly (60.6±3.4 y.o.) and five young (26.6±3.0 y.o.) normal volunteers were scanned at 3T. Visual stimulations (checkerboard animations) were projected to a customized plastic screen inside the magnet bore. Retinotopic BOLD fMRI was performed using the posterior half of a 12-channel head coil to image the occipital lobe without obstructing subjects' vision to achieve visual simulation from 0∼90° of the visual field. MRI data were processed in Freesurfer for a two-sample unpaired group analysis with significance level p<0.05. Results: Boundaries of complete visual cortex areas were delineated with retinotopic fMRI and the wide-view stimulus system. With a small ring stimulus in the central visual field, older subjects showed significantly reduced neural activity (p<0.05) compared to younger subjects in the central vision region of the primary visual cortex. However, with the ring-stimulus expanded to the periphery (visual angle 45°∼90°), older subjects had significantly more activation (p<0.05) in central visual cortex areas than young subjects but significantly weaker responses (p<0.05) in periphery visual cortex areas. Conclusion: Our results demonstrated that wide-view retinotopic mapping could be used to quantify age-related changes in the visual cortex. Central visual areas of healthy older subjects exhibited weaker BOLD activity for central stimulation and stronger signal for periphery stimulation, indicating potential central vision loss and neural reorganization with age. Future studies will correlate fMRI with visual field tests to investigate neural alterations in glaucoma patients.


The optimization design of guide shell is very important for compact plate-shell heat exchangers.The CFD to common guide shell reveals that there is serious asymmetry of hydro-distribution.A new guide structure is introduced,and its CFD shows that it can notably advance the fluid uniformity at the entrance of inner-shell.By combining fluid dynamic analysis with optimization technology,the optimization flowchart based on ANSYS-APDL is introduced,and the sound optimization math model is implemented.


The increase in irrigable land in the Midlands region of Tasmania presents an opportunity to increase animal production, whether it is lamb, dairy or beef. However, challenges including low rainfall ( 27°C) and duplex winter wet soils in this region put into question the suitability of the traditional intensive pasture base of perennial ryegrass Lolium perenne and white clover Trifolium repens. This study evaluated the performance of alternative grass and legume species under high input management for diversifying the feedbase in this region. The experiment was sown with 29 pasture treatments consisting of mixed swards and monocultures of 5 grass species (perennial ryegrass, tall fescue Festuca arundinacea, coloured brome Bromus coloratus, cocksfoot Dactylis glomerata and phalaris Phalaris hybrid) and 4 legume species (white clover, red clover Trifolium pratense, strawberry clover Trifolium fragiferum and Caucasian clover Trifolium ambiguum). The experiment was fully irrigated and nitrogen was applied at 40 kg N/ ha following each harvest event. Dry matter (DM) yield was assessed at six defoliation events between November 2014 and April 2015. Perennial ryegrass and coloured brome were the best performed grasses, with coloured brome only significantly (P<0.05) lower than perennial ryegrass on one of the six harvest dates. The addition of the 4 clover cultivars to each of the 5 grass swards made no significant difference to yield except where white clover was in combination with phalaris. This study highlights the potential of coloured brome as an alternative to perennial ryegrass in high input systems although its tolerance of waterlogging, typical in the Midlands region requires further evaluation.


High resolution flow velocity measurement of neutrals has been performed by using a laser induced fluorescence (LIF) system installed with a saturated absorption spectroscopy unit. The improvement of accuracy is achieved by utilizing Lamb dip as the reference of laser wavelength. The newly-developed LIF system can determine neutral flow velocity with an accuracy of 2 m/s, which is one order of magnitude higher than the velocity resolution of LIF systems with ordinary calibration technique utilizing iodine absorption spectrum.


A product weighing method comprises the steps of feeding an orderly succession of products 2a to capacitive sensors 36, 59; determining the weight of each product by means of the capacitive sensors, periodically weighing a number of products in the succession by means of precision scales 24, 50 and calibrating the capacitive sensors on the basis of the directly determined product weights. The method is particularly but not solely used for the metering of drugs.


Examine the relationship between household food insecurity (HFS; i.e., access to nutritionally adequate and safe food) and disordered eating behaviors (i.e., restriction, bingeing, insulin manipulation, etc.) among a sample of young adults with youth-onset type 1 (T1D) or type 2 diabetes (T2D).

 We used cross-sectional data from the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study. Individuals (n = 792) ages ≥18 years completed the U.S. Household Food Security Survey Module and the Diabetes Eating Problem Survey-Revised (DEPS-R) between 2016 and 2019. We converted HFS scores to a 10-point scale and dichotomized scores into food secure (HFS ≤ 2.2) vs. food insecure (HFS > 2.2). Multivariable linear regression was used to evaluate the association of HFS with continuous DEPS-R score (i.e., 0–80, with a greater score indicating greater symptoms of disordered eating), adjusting for potential confounders (i.e., sex, age, race/ethnicity, education, household income, insurance, depressive symptoms, and duration of diabetes). We further stratified analyses by diabetes type.

 Participants were on average 23.8 ± 3.7 years, 59.6% female, 49.6% non-Latino white, and had a mean diabetes duration of 11.5 ± 3.1 years. The overall mean DEPS-R score was 17.3 ± 10.0 points. Mean DEPS-R scores in individuals living in food secure households (n = 709) and food insecure households (n = 83) were 16.6 ± 9.45 and 23.4 ± 12.4, respectively. The adjusted DEPS-R scores were 3.6 points (95% CI = 1.5, 5.7; P < 0.001) higher in food insecure compared to food secure households. In individuals with T1D (n = 600), the adjusted DEPS-R scores were 5.0 points (95% CI = 2.6, 7.4; P < 0.001) higher in food insecure (n = 55) compared to food secure (n = 545) households. In individuals with T2D (n = 192), there was no significant difference in mean DEPS-R scores between food insecure (n = 28) versus food secure (n = 164) households in unadjusted or adjusted models (P > 0.05).

 Lower household food security in young adults with T1D, but not T2D, is associated with increased disordered eating scores. These results may allow clinicians and other public health professionals to target individuals with low household food security as being at higher risk for potential disordered eating, particularly those with T1D.

 NIDDK & CDC.


We previously demonstrated a regulatory role for intracellular Ca ([Ca]i) in human and murine adipocyte metabolism, with increased [Ca]i coordinately stimulating lipogenesis and inhibiting lipolysis, thereby expanding adipocyte lipid mass. More recently, we reported that la, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [la, 25-(0H)i-D3] stimulates adipocyte membrane vitamin D receptor (m VDR)-mediated Ca influx, resulting in a similar Ca-mediated modulation of adipocyte lipid metabolism. la, 25-(0H)i-D3 also exerts an inhibitory effect on adipocyte uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) mRNA and protein levels via the nuclear vitamin D receptor (n VDR), independent of its effects on Ca influx. Furthermore, we reported that suppressing la, 25-(0H)i-D3 levels by increasing dietary calcium reduces adipocyte [Ca]i, stimulates lipolysis, inhibits lipogenesis, increases thermo genesis, and consequently results in attenuation of adipocyte lipid accretion and weight/fat gain during over-consumption and acceleration of weight/fat loss during energy restriction. Notably, dairy sources of calcium exerted significantly greater effects than calcium in the form of calcium carbonate, although the reason for this is not yet clear. This thesis study was conducted to extend these observations by determining the efficacy of a fermented dairy product, yogurt, presented either unflavored or strawberry-flavored, compared to calcium carbonate, in accelerating weight/fat loss secondary to caloric restriction in aP2-agouti transgenic mice. Mice were fed a low calcium (0.4%)/high fat/high sucrose diet for 6 weeks in order to induce obesity. Mice were then either maintained on the same low calcium basal diet ad lib or energy-


This article describes the necessity of a prototype flume model for making wave.It uses a inverse system method to decouple a asynchronous motor dynamic model which is based on the two-phase stationary coordinate system.And it establishes the dynamic model of a prototype wave flume by means of PD control. Then the model of the prototype wave flume are simulated by using MATLAB ,which is to determine the establishment of the model's accuracy.


The paper describes the method of providing the save flight control of piloted WIG-craft (ekranoplane) at possible failures of a part of primary sensors. The structural redundancy in the number of altimeters and inertial sensors permits to estimate a failure of any one sensor and indicate it to pilot for making decision about continuation of flight. Unfortunately, any sensor failure detection requires some time and during this interval the errors of altitude, roll and pitch measurements grow up significulty. The pilot can interfere in this process and speed up the making of the right decision both for detecting a failure and for arranging the safest flight mode after detecting a failure of one sensor.Proper coordination of the pilot's dynamics as a link in the automated control system and the dynamics of other elements of the control loops is of great importance to ensure the flight safety. The problem is especially relevant for WIG-craft in which due to the extremely low altitude of flight, an emergency situation at any failure develops very quickly.