Objective:To study the efficacy of ademetionine 1,4-butanedisulfonate enteric coated tables in the treatment of severe intrahepatic cholestasis in gestation period and its influence on liver function. Methods:From July 2013 to November 2014 in our hos-pital, 122 cases of severe intrahepatic cholestasis patients were divided into the observation group (61 cases) and the control group (61 cases) according to the admission order. The two groups of patients were given the conventional treatment, and the observation group was treated with ademetionine 1,4-butanedisulfonate enteric coated tables additionally. The clinical efficacy, pruritus, perinatal child and pregnancy outcomes were observed after the treatment. The liver function in the two groups before and after the treatment was com-pared. Results:Before the treatment, TB, TBA, DB, AST and ALT in the two groups showed no significant difference (P>0. 05). After the treatment, TB[(22.7 ±4.3) μmol·L-1], TBA [(14.3 ± 3.4) μmol·L-1], DB[(5.3 ± 0.8)μmol·L-1], AST [(73.2 ±13.2)U·L-1] and ALT [(82.5 ±10.3)U·L-1] in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the con-trol group[TB(28.3 ±4.8) μmol·L-1, TBA(21.5 ±5.2) μmol·L-1, DB(8.3 ±2.4) μmol·L-1, AST(245.1 ±38.3) U· L-1, ALT(221.4 ±37.4) U·L-1], and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05). After the treatment, the total effec-tive rate in the observation group (96. 72%) was significantly higher than that in the control group (80. 33%), the degree of itching in the observation group was significantly lower than that in the control group, the perinatal children and pregnancy outcomes in the ob-servation group were significantly better than those in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0. 05). Conclusion:Ademetionine 1,4-butanedisulfonate enteric coated tables in the treatment of severe intrahepatic cholestasis during preg-nancy is effective with high security, which can significantly improve liver function, and is worthy of wide application.


Background: Survival and prognostic factors following stroke occurrence differ between world regions. Studies investigating stroke features in the Middle-east region are scarce. We aimed to investigate 1-year survival and related prognostic factors of stroke patients in Central Iran. Materials and Methods: It is an observational analytical study conducted on patients registered in the Persian Registry of Cardiovascular Disease-Stroke (PROVE-Stroke) database. Records of 1703 patients admitted during 2015–2016 with the primary diagnosis of stroke in all hospitals of Isfahan, Iran were reviewed. Information regarding sociodemographic characteristics, clinical presentations, medications, and comorbidities were recorded. The living status of patients after 1 year from stroke was considered as 1-year survival. Results: Among 1345 patients with the final diagnosis of stroke, 970 (72.1%) were alive at the 1 year follow-up and the mean survival time based on Kaplan–Meier procedure was estimated 277.33 days. The hemorrhagic and ischemic types of stroke were reported in 201 (15.0%) and 1141 (84.8%) patients, respectively. Age (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.07, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.05–1.09), diabetes (HR = 1.49, 95% CI = 1.07–2.06), history of stroke or transient ischemic attack (HR = 1.81, 95% CI = 1.30–2.52), history of warfarin usage (HR = 1.73, 95% CI = 1.11–2.71), hospital complications of hemorrhage (HR = 3.89, 95% CI = 2.07–7.31), sepsis (HR = 1.78, 95% CI = 1.18–2.68), and hydrocephalus (HR = 3.43, 95% CI = 1.34–8.79), and modified Rankin Scale (mRS) ≥3 at the time of hospital dicharge (HR = 1.98, 95% CI = 1.27–3.07), were predictors of 1-year survival. Conclusion: Predictors of 1-year survival can be categorized into unchangeable ones, such as age, diabetes, previous stroke, and mRS. The changeable factors, such as hospital complications of infection and hemorrhage, guide physicians to pay greater attention to reduce the risk of mortality following stroke.


<italic>Mutually uncorrelated</italic> (<italic>MU</italic>) codes are a class of codes in which no proper prefix of one codeword is a suffix of another codeword. These codes were originally studied for synchronization purposes and recently, Yazdi <italic>et al.</italic> showed their applicability to enable random access in DNA storage. In this paper,we follow the research of Yazdi <italic>et al.</italic> and study MU codes along with their extensions to correct errors and balanced codes. We first review a well-known construction of MU codes and study the asymptotic behavior of its cardinality. This task is accomplished by studying a special class of run-length limited codes that impose the longest run of zeros to be at most some function of the codewords length. We also present an efficient algorithm for this class of constrained codes and show how to use this analysis for MU codes. Next, we extend the results on the run-length limited codes in order to study <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$(d_{h},d_{m})$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-MU codes that impose a minimum Hamming distance of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$d_{h}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> between different codewords and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$d_{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> between prefixes and suffixes. In particular, we show an efficient construction of these codes with nearly optimal redundancy. We also provide similar results for the edit distance and balanced MU codes. Last, we draw connections to the problems of comma-free and prefix synchronized codes.


The bare essentials -- Background information -- A framework for physiotherapy management -- Understanding how people with paralysis perform motor tasks -- Transfers and bed mobility for people with lower limb paralysis -- Wheelchair mobility -- Hand function of people with tetraplegia -- Standing and walking with lower limb paralysis -- Training motor tasks -- Strength training -- Contracture management -- Pain management -- Respiratory management -- Cardiovascular fitness training -- Environmental factors -- Wheelchair seating -- The way forward -- Evidence-based physiotherapy.


The genus Spiritiops was described by Lugo-Ortiz & McCafferty in 1998. Since then, only the type species, S. silvudus, was reported from different countries, such as Brazil, French Guiana, Surinam and Venezuela. In the last years, variousinternational speleological expedition explored summits of some table mountains called tepuis in Guyana region in south-eastern Venezuela. Here we describe a new species of the genus Spiritiops, found at three tepuis (Auyan-tepui, Churi-tepui and Mt. Roraima) during above mentioned speleological expeditions.


In recent years there has been a strong interest in obtaining a fundamental understanding of the chemical behavior of mixed-metal oxides at the nanometer range. Studies involving the deposition of nanoparticles and clusters of VOx, CeOx, and WOx on TiO2(110) and other well-defined oxide surfaces have shown novel structures that have special chemical properties. Dimers of vanadia and ceria have been found on TiO2(110), monomers, trimers, and oligomers of vanadia on CeO2(111), and (WO3)3 clusters on TiO2(110). In principle, the combination of two metals in an oxide matrix could produce materials with distinct catalytic activity or selectivity. Herein, we use scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and density functional (DF) calculations to study the interaction of RuO2 nanostructures with TiO2(110). Our results show unique wire-like structures for RuO2 that can be easily reduced and reoxidized. The special structural properties of RuOx/TiO2(110) favor the dissociative adsorption of O2 and the easy release of the adsorbed oxygen, making this mixedmetal oxide an excellent system for oxidation processes. Figure 1a shows a STM image recorded after depositing [Ru3(CO)12] on TiO2(110) at room temperature, with subsequent heating to 600 K to induce the cleavage of the Ru CO bonds and evolution of CO into gas phase, and then exposure to O2 at 550 K to form RuO2 and remove any carbon that may have been deposited by the decomposition of CO. The complete transformation of [Ru3(CO)12] into RuO2 was verified in experiments of XPS (Supporting Information, Figure S1). Our results for the decomposition of the [Ru3(CO)12] precursor are consistent with those reported in a previous study for the [Ru3(CO)12]/TiO2(110) system. [10] In Figure 1a, one-dimensional (1D) wire-like nanostructures can be seen elongated along the direction of the TiO2(110) substrate. These bright rows remained stable upon further annealing in 5 10 7 to 1 10 6 mbar O2 at 600 K for 30 min. However, the 1D rows were not stable in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV). Upon further annealing above 650 K in UHV, we observed the appearance of bright clusters along these 1D rows. Further annealing at 750 K led to the disappearance of bright 1D rows and to the appearance of bright clusters (Supporting Information, Figure S2). At 850 K, most 1D rows disappeared from the surface except for those lying underneath the bright clusters. The Ru cluster size ranged from 2 to 5 nm. The cycle of oxidation–reduction shown in Figure 1 was repeated three times at temperatures between 550 K and 900 K. There was no detectable change in the density or height of surface Ru clusters, suggesting that diffusion of Ru into the bulk TiO2(110) was negligible. The structure of the 1D RuO2 rows was then considered (Figure 2). Since the oxidation of Ru cluster also exposes the TiO2 substrate to O2 at elevated temperatures, the reconstruction of TiO2(110) in O2 should also be considered. It is known that interstitial Ti, which is mobile in the bulk, could diffuse to the surface of rutile TiO2 at elevated temperatures and aggregate to form added rows of TiOx. [11–14] Upon further oxidation, these rows arrange themselves into a cross-linked (1 2) structure. The presence of RuO2 inhibited the formation of the cross-linked (1 2) reconstruction, as shown in Figure 1b. Instead, we only observed wire-like rows extending along the h001i direction of TiO2(110). The structure of the RuO2 rows is illustrated in detail in Figure 2. Figure 2a shows that there are two types of strands on the RuO2/TiO2(110) surface. Here, we term the two types of strands as bright strands (BS) and dark strands (DS), depending on their apparent height. The DS are rare on the surface and appear uniform in height, with an apparent height [*] Dr. F. Yang, Dr. S. Kundu, Dr. A. B. Vidal, Dr. S. D. Senanayake, Dr. D. Stacchiola, Dr. P. Liu, Dr. J. A. Rodriguez Chemistry Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, NY 11973 (USA) E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com


ABSTRACT This study contributes to the international conversation about the education for students with disabilities at the secondary level by providing some international data about secondary teachers' training and experiences with inclusive practices. Teacher leaders from 20 different countries participated in this exploratory survey research about the context in which they work, their experiences and their training as related to their efficacy to educate individuals with disabilities. We acknowledge that efficacy and teacher training for inclusion are predominated by a discourse defined through Western best practice. We learned that despite variations in the countries' concept of disability and their implementation of inclusive educational systems, the teachers had moderately high self-efficacy for inclusive practices yet had limited training and experience with students with special needs. Results are discussed in relation to the preparation of secondary teachers for educating students with special needs.


BACKGROUND
This study explored the perceptions of staff for people with mild intellectual disabilities or borderline intellectual functioning and severe challenging behaviour in relation to the support they received at work from four groups of professionals (i.e. team leaders, managers, psychologists and other staff members). The team climate, such as the workplace having clearly defined goals for staff, was also explored. In addition, the associations between the support from each of the professionals and team climate with the well-being and job satisfaction of staff were examined. We hypothesised that staff would perceive higher levels of support from professionals around a team (i.e. team leaders, managers and psychologists) and a more positive team climate when professionals around a team experience more positive mutual collaboration.

METHODS
An online questionnaire about support at work, team climate, well-being and job satisfaction was completed by 201 staff members from 32 teams at 10 residential service organisations. In addition, professionals surrounding these teams rated their mutual collaboration.

RESULTS
Both support received at work from all four groups of professionals and team climate showed significant small to moderate positive associations with job satisfaction. Well-being was associated with support from team leaders, psychologists and other staff members in the team, as well as with team climate. We did not find support for the hypotheses that staff would perceive higher levels of support or a more positive team climate when professionals around a team experience more positive mutual collaboration.

CONCLUSIONS
This study highlights the importance of investing in staff support and creating a positive team climate for promoting staff well-being and job satisfaction. Implications for future research regarding staff support, team climate and the collaboration between professionals around a team are discussed.


OBJECTIVE
To study the effectiveness and feasibility of remote sensing technology in the rare species of wild plant resources.

METHOD
The mechanism and characteristics of Paeonia sinjiangensis were analyzed to find the possibility of extracting from TM imagery. An expert system has been used with Landsat Thematic Mapper data to derive P. sinjiangensis. Then logical decision rules were used with the various datasets to assign values.

RESULT
The land for P. sinjiangensis possible growth were mapped and accuracy tested was approving.

CONCLUSION
The results suggest that the remote sensing expert interpretation system using satellite imagery and ancillary data will be feasible for research of rare wild medicinal plants distribution.


Gender concepts have developed through centuries. In capitalism era, it goes along with the development of media. Media plays an important role in social construction and supporting the ideology; it is also included in politics of representation. Through media, the depictions about gender role are introduced. Nancy Drew and Detective Conan are two of many mass media that introduce gender subjectivity. As products of culture that have survived for many years in their countries, America and Japan, the two literatures must have successfully suited the societies" preference of gender concepts and supported its construction at the same time. This paper analyzes how the development of gender concepts runs together with the prolonged existence of the two media and the role of both in supporting the ideology. The analysis will be begun with the discussion about their similarities and differences then cultural and historical background that underlie their survival as influencing mass media and the constructions that follow.


The overpressure formation in the Pannonian basin, Hungary, was investigated but has not been properly understood for the last 40 years because at least two different explanations were delineated. The first explanation considers the hydrocarbon generation as the main overpressure generation mechanism with some undercompaction contribution. On the contrary, another explanation assumes tectonic stress as the main trigger of abnormal pressure. The following research delivers a suitable workflow to understand which generation mechanisms were active in the study area and estimate the quantitative contribution of the mechanisms. The developed workflow relies on the basin modeling principles that were designed to simulate subsurface processes on a geological timeframe. Moreover, the uncertainty of input parameters was considered, and the joint application of a heuristic Monte Carlo simulation scheme and improved basin modeling resulted in stochastic pore pressure models. The most frequent value (MFV) method was applied on the simulated values to test a robust statistical method in pore pressure prediction. The study has identified not only the four main overpressure generation mechanisms, but it could calculate the individual contribution to the subsurface pressure. Finally, two independent and stochastic pore pressure prediction methods have been developed that could be used in the pre-drill well planning phase and the real-time prediction during drilling.


This paper proposes a new algorithm for boosting in kernel density estimation (KDE). This algorithm enjoys the property of a bias reduction technique like other existing boosting algorithms and also enjoys the property of less function evaluations when compared with other boosting schemes. Numerical examples are used and compared with existing algorithm and the findings are comparatively interesting. Keywords : Boosting, kernel density estimation, bias reduction, boosting algorithm. Journal of Science and Technology (Ghana) Vol. 28 (2) 2008: pp. 69-74


HIGHLIGHTS • Although recent neuroscience has implicated the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) as a key hub of cognitive control, little research has explored systematic alterations within the dACC in obsessivecompulsive disorder (OCD), a disease largely defined by cognitive control dysfunction. • We demonstrate structural and functional abnormalities within the dACC in OCD, which further support the hypothesis that dACC dysfunction is central to the neurobiology of OCD.


Many research papers proposed deploying mobile sink node or nodes within a wireless sensor network to collect data from static sensor nodes. Thus, the performance of the wireless sensor network can be improved and its life time can be prolonged. In this paper, a new sink mobility model that is based on the breadth first traversal of a graph is proposed. As a result, the mobile sink will traverse the sensor network and visit static sensor nodes to collect data according to movement paths that are calculated based on the breadth first algorithm. After that, the proposed mobility model is simulated using NS-2 simulator and the performance of the proposed model is studied under different network sizes and speeds. Finally, average end-to-end delay, packet delivery ratio and throughput are the performance parameters used to study and investigate the behavior of the network using the mobility model proposed in this paper.


Gambling disorder is characterized by a persistent and recurrent maladaptive gambling behavior. In this paper, we analyzed the psychopathological dimensions of a group of gamblers and investigated the potential predictors of good/poor therapeutic outcomes. A total of 45 gamblers, between 23 and 69 years old (M = 45.73, SD = 10.93), were recruited in the following structures for the treatment of pathological gambling: the "Incontro" cooperative of Pistoia (Italy) and the "Orthos" community of Siena (Italy). We found significant correlations among SOGS, TAS-20/DIF, DES, and any clinical dimensions of MMPI-2. Nevertheless the several limits, the present study confirmed the impulsive nature of pathological gambling. Moreover, the results showed positive correlations among impulsivity, dissociation, and affect dysregulation (measured by the first factor of the TAS-20).


Interpreting general purpose programming constructs can be difficult because it requires context, such as knowledge of language syntax or idioms, which users may not have readily available. In such cases other source of context may complement or substitute. This paper proposes annotating program comments with hyperlinks that the user can select to restore the complete runtime state of the program, a technique we call snapshot documentation. The generality of snapshot documentation across user skill and system complexity suggests that it may be useful for gentle-slope systems, i.e. systems that are designed to allow users to acquire a full range of programming skills in an incremental yet continually useful way.


This study uses longitudinal data from the Oregon Youth Study (OYS) to examine prospective effects of juvenile arrests and of early versus late onset of juvenile offending on two labor market outcomes by age 29 or 30 years. It was expected that those with more juvenile arrests and those with an early onset of offending would show poorer outcomes on both measures, controlling for propensity factors. Data were available for 203 men from the OYS, including officially recorded arrests and self-reported information on the men's work history across 9 years. Analyses revealed unexpected specificity in prospective effects: Juvenile arrests and mental health problems predicted the number of months unemployed; in contrast, being fired from work was predicted by poor child inhibitory control and adolescent substance use. Onset age of offending did not significantly predict either outcome. Implications of the findings for applied purposes and for developmental taxonomies of crime are discussed.


What factors shape attitudes toward immigration? Previous studies have typically debated whether citizens oppose immigration more for economic or cultural reasons. We broaden this debate by exploring how different segments of the citizenry feel about immigration. Our original surveys conducted in Japan reveal two separate axes along which many citizens view immigration: (1) its cultural and economic effects, and (2) its positive and negative effects. Even in Japan, whose relatively closed policy toward immigration is conventionally believed to reflect widespread public intolerance of outsiders, over 60 percent of our respondents favor widening the doors to immigrants for economic or cultural reasons or both.


Nowadays, huge quantities of data can be easily accessible, but all these data are not useful if we do not know how to process them efficiently and how to extract easily relevant information from a large quantity of data. The anomaly detection techniques are used in many domains in order to help to process the data in an automated way. The anomaly detection techniques depend on the application domain, on the type of data, and on the type of anomaly.For this study we are interested only in sequential data. A sequence is an ordered list of items, also called events. Identifying irregularities in sequential data is essential for many application domains like DNA sequences, system calls, user commands, banking transactions etc.This thesis presents a new approach for identifying and analyzing irregularities in sequential data. This anomaly detection technique can detect anomalies in sequential data where the order of the items in the sequences is important. Moreover, our technique does not consider only the order of the events, but also the position of the events within the sequences. The sequences are spotted as anomalous if a sequence is quasi-identical to a usual behavior which means if the sequence is slightly different from a frequent (common) sequence. The differences between two sequences are based on the order of the events and their position in the sequence.In this thesis we applied this technique to the maritime surveillance, but this technique can be used by any other domains that use sequential data. For the maritime surveillance, some automated tools are needed in order to facilitate the targeting of suspicious containers that is performed by the customs. Indeed, nowadays 90% of the world trade is transported by containers and only 1-2% of the containers can be physically checked because of the high financial cost and the high human resources needed to control a container. As the number of containers travelling every day all around the world is really important, it is necessary to control the containers in order to avoid illegal activities like fraud, quota-related, illegal products, hidden activities, drug smuggling or arm smuggling. For the maritime domain, we can use this technique to identify suspicious containers by comparing the container trips from the data set with itineraries that are known to be normal (common). A container trip, also called itinerary, is an ordered list of actions that are done on containers at specific geographical positions. The different actions are: loading, transshipment, and discharging. For each action that is done on a container, we know the container ID and its geographical position (port ID).This technique is divided into two parts. The first part is to detect the common (most frequent) sequences of the data set. The second part is to identify those sequences that are slightly different from the common sequences using a distance-based method in order to classify a given sequence as normal or suspicious. The distance is calculated using a method that combines quantitative and qualitative differences between two sequences.


This article presents new ways to listen to the music using the parameter of sound spacialization. In this paper we present results of measures realized in Auditorio400 at the National Museum and Center of Art Reina Sofia in Madrid. These measures indicate SPL in each point of the room and show us zones with acoustic problems. Hereby the placement, directivity and power of loudspeakers that compose the Acousmonium system in the hall had been corrected. The Auditorio400 of Madrid, designed by Jean Nouvel, has installed the system named "Acousmonium" that was developed in GRM's studies of the ORTF in Paris. It consists of 32 loudspeakers distributed suitably to give acoustic signal to the whole room. This system allows to simulate acoustic properties of the traditional instruments or to change its characteristics of radiation, musical clarity and acoustic harmonics distribution. By means of this system it is possible to create a virtual space where the sound can be recreated in any geometric point of the room with the use of computer simulation.


A generic sample path based analysis of a multiple hop model of a network route carrying probe traffic and cross traffic is given. It provides a unifying context for active and passive end-to-end measurement techniques, and a framework to enhance existing and to generate new estimation methods. Novel aspects include focusing on delay variation and allowing general probe stream definitions. All multihop queueing effects acting on probes are identified and four canonical measurable signatures are defined and illustrated using simulation and real measurements.


Large amplitude stay-cable vibrations have been observed numerous times in the past few years in two long-span cable-stayed bridges in Texas: the Veterans Memorial Bridge near Port Arthur and the Fred Hartman Bridge near Baytown. In most cases, these vibrations have occurred in combination with light rain and relatively low winds. The rainwater forms rivulets on the cable that change the aerodynamic cross section of the smooth cable stays. This paper describes the field measurements, analytical models of vibration, fatigue tests carried out in Japan, and the development of planned laboratory fatigue tests that will be carried out at Ferguson Laboratory during 2001. The full-size cable fatigue tests will assess the relationship between the amplitude of cable vibration and fatigue damage. A future paper will relate these experimental results to the stays of the Veterans Memorial and Fred Hartman bridges in order to provide an estimate of the fatigue damage that may develop in their stays.


Abstract : An Advanced Conventional Armaments Panel was formed as part of a DARPA-sponsored assessment of the utility of electric guns in the fire support, anti-armor, and air defense mission areas. This panel was assembled and tasked to focus on identifying the near and intermediate-term capabilities that advanced conventional (nonelectric gun) technologies could offer in each of the above mission areas. This supplemental report contains first order conventional launch system parametric tradeoffs in the form of carpet plots, which present the performance capabilities of cannon and rocket systems. The utility of these tradeoff relationships is that they permit both the non-electric and electric gun and projectile designers to consider the most cost effective approach to satisfying their mission area requirements. This report also contains a survey of existing system performance parameters, and two projectile point designs. Long range artillery cannons and rockets, Anti-tank guns, Interior ballistics, Trajectories, Payload.


The article analyses the importance of the social responsibility principle in the Russian public service as a foundation of the social duties system and the way of efforts integration of all participants of social partnership. In the framework of this principle implementation the authors concretize its substantial parts: development of ideology, standardjustification and specification of moral and ethical requirements, development of institutional mechanisms. The choice of the priorities of political power's social responsibility development in the context of community development is substantiated.


The conditions of generating a single plasma channel in air are studied by using picosecond and femtosecond laser pulse. A stable and single plasma channel can be generated by a picosecond laser pulse with energy of 8-12 mJ and focusing length of 15 cm. The self-generated light emission is observed to be confined in the plasma channel and propagates in the channel. When using short focal length lenses it is easy to generate a single plasma channel in air with femtosecond laser with energy less than 10 mJ.


OBJECTIVE
To detect the effect of burn-activated PMN adhesion and its adhesion molecule CD11b/CD18 on microvascular endothelial permeability using an experimental model of endothelial monolayer on polycarbonate microporous filters.

METHODS
An experimental model for in vitro study of endothelal monolayer for permeability analysis was established. Seven groups were divided into according to the treatment of microvascular endothelial monolayer. Fluid filtration coeffecient(Kf) and albumin reflection coeffecient(delta) were measured after endothelial monolayer was perfused with albumin labelled by FITC.

RESULTS
Burn-activated PMN could increase the level of fluid filtration coeffecient(Kf) and decrease the albumin reflection coeffecient(delta). Monoclonal antibody sealing off CD11b/CD18 on PMN provented the change of delta induced by burn-activated PMN. Another microporous filter interposed between PMNs and endothelial monolayer corrected the changes of Kf and delta.

CONCLUSION
The permeability enhancing effect of PMNs may be attributed mainly to the PMN-EC adhesion mediated by CD11b/CD18. Blocking the PMN-EC over-adhesion in moderation may be helpful in reducing the lung injury due to severe burn injury.


Water flow in smooth rectangular cross-section microchannels and microchannels with discrete rectangle roughness elements was experimentally investigated. The microchannels were microfabricated on silicon wafers and the hydraulic diameter ranged from 153 µm to 191 µm. The rectangle roughness elements mounted on the sidewall of the microchannel were 50 µm high and 50 µm wide. The global pressure drop and velocity field were measured for Reynolds numbers between 100 and 2300. For the smooth rectangular microchannels, the friction factor of the laminar flow agreed with the value predicted by classical theory. The transition from laminar to turbulent flow occurred at about Re = 2100. For the microchannels with roughness elements, the friction factor approaches the conventional value for Re < 900 and is higher than the conventional value when Re > 900. It indicates that the presence of roughness elements leads to the early transition in the microchannels. The streamwise mean velocity profiles and turbulent intensities obtained from microscopic particle image velocimetry (micro-PIV) show that the transition from laminar flow to turbulent flow occurred for Reynolds numbers ranging between 900 and 1100. This result was consistent with the experimental data of the friction factor. The experimental results of flow fields also suggest that the flow became fully developed turbulence for Re > 1400 in the rough microchannel. In the microchannel with roughness elements, large scale coherence structures are observed in the flow fields for Re < 2000.


A novel compact wideband printed loop antenna is presented for wireless applications. The wideband characteristic is achieved by combining three different loop resonant modes of the antenna. The antenna geometry is simple and consists of a rectangular meandering loop, a coplanar waveguide (CPW) structure, and a monopole feed. This proposed antenna has the dimension of only 27×20×1 mm3 while operates at a wideband from 2.4 GHz to 5.9 GHz (84.3%) with stable gain, radiation pattern and vertical linear polarization. This antenna is suitable for WLAN and future 5G sub-6GHz spectrum communications. Good agreement between the simulation and measurement is obtained.


Aging effects are studied for the Resistive Plate Chambers (RPC) at the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Colider (LHC), which can manifest themselves during the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) running period. A dedicated consolidation program is set up using the CERN Gamma Irradiation Facility ++, where RPC detectors are exposed to a high gamma flux for a long term period equivalent to the HL-LHC operational time. Based on the past operational experience, the high background conditions are estimated and the RPC are tested under such circumstances. Several parameters are monitored as function of integrated charge and dedicated test beam periods allows measuring the detector efficiency as function of the background rate. In this work, an overview of the measurements which were performed for these studies is given. After having accumulated a significant amount of the total irradiation, no aging effects or degradation of the RPC detectors have been observed. These results suggest that the RPC system is capable to handle the HL-LHC conditions. Presented at EPS-HEP2017 EPS Conference on High Energy Physics Aging studies for the CMS RPC system Jan Eysermans1, Maŕıa Isabel Pedraza Morales1 on behalf of the CMS muon group Facultad de Ciencias F́ısico-Matemticas, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Mexico E-mail: email@example.com Abstract. Aging effects are studied for the Resistive Plate Chambers (RPC) at the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Colider (LHC), which can manifest themselves during the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) running period. A dedicated consolidation program is set up using the CERN Gamma Irradiation Facility ++, where RPC detectors are exposed to a high gamma flux for a long term period equivalent to the HL-LHC operational time. Based on the past operational experience, the high background conditions are estimated and the RPC are tested under such circumstances. Several parameters are monitored as function of integrated charge and dedicated test beam periods allows measuring the detector efficiency as function of the background rate. In this work, an overview of the measurements which were performed for these studies is given. After having accumulated a significant amount of the total irradiation, no aging effects or degradation of the RPC detectors have been observed. These results suggest that the RPC system is capable to handle the HL-LHC conditions. Aging effects are studied for the Resistive Plate Chambers (RPC) at the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Colider (LHC), which can manifest themselves during the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) running period. A dedicated consolidation program is set up using the CERN Gamma Irradiation Facility ++, where RPC detectors are exposed to a high gamma flux for a long term period equivalent to the HL-LHC operational time. Based on the past operational experience, the high background conditions are estimated and the RPC are tested under such circumstances. Several parameters are monitored as function of integrated charge and dedicated test beam periods allows measuring the detector efficiency as function of the background rate. In this work, an overview of the measurements which were performed for these studies is given. After having accumulated a significant amount of the total irradiation, no aging effects or degradation of the RPC detectors have been observed. These results suggest that the RPC system is capable to handle the HL-LHC conditions. 1. Resistive Plate Chambers at CMS The Resitive Plate Chambers (RPC) at the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) provide redundancy to the muon trigger system and contributes to the muon reconstruction and identification[1][2]. The CMS RPCs consist of 5 barrel stations having 480 chambers whereas the endcaps consist of 576 chambers distributed over 4 stations in both negative and positive sides. A CMS RPC chamber consists of two gaps operated in avalanche mode to ensure reliable operation at high rates. Each gap consists of two 2 mm thick high resistive High-Pressure Laminates (HPL) separated by a 2 mm gas gap. A graphite coating at the outer surface of the HPL plates guaranties a uniform distribution of the charges to achieve a uniform electric field over the entire gap area. A non-flammable 3-component gas mixture of 95.2% freon (C2H2F4, known as R134a), 4.5% isobutane (i-C4H10), and 0.3% sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) is used with a relative humidity of 40-50%. The readout plane is located between both gaps and consists of strips aligned in the η direction with a pitch between 2.28 and 4.10 cm in the barrel and between 1.74 and 3.63 cm in the encaps. In total, the entire system contains 137,000 of such copper strips covering an area of about 4000 m2. The strip signals are asynchronously sent to the Front End Boards (FEBs) which shapes the signal before being sent to the RPC linkboard system and the CMS data acquisition system. The FEBs are electronically controllable by means of the signal threshold to handle the noise of the detector. 2. Motivation of longevity studies The increase of the luminosity during the High-Luminosity LHC (LH-LHC) phase up to 5×1034 cm−2s−1 at a center-of-mass energy of √ s = 14 TeV will be a challenge for the RPC system which can affect the muon identification and reconstruction in the following ways: • Performance: increase of background rate which can lead to (partial) detector saturation and degradation of the performance; • Aging: continuous irradiation can induce non-recoverable aging effects inside the RPC gap materials which can alter the material properties (e.g. bakelite resistivity). Both effects can lead to a degradation of the performance with a lower muon detection efficiency. Therefore it is necessary to estimate the impact of these effects under the HL-LHC conditions up to an integrated luminosity of 3000 fb−1. Based on Run-I and II collision data, the maximum rates and integrated charge for the entire RPC system can be estimated, which is shown in the Table 1. A conservative safety factor of 3 is applied to cover all the uncertainties and to cope with e.g. the center of mass energy increase. During Run-I and II data taking, no detector degradation nor aging effects were observed so far. Table 1. Rate and integrated charge for Run-I+II (up to 2016), expected HL-LHC conditions and expected HL-LHC conditions with safety factor[3]. Run-I+II HL-LHC HL-LHC (+safety factor) Maximum rate (Hz/cm2) ≈ 40 200 600 Max. Integrated charge (mC/cm2) 4 280 840 3. Methodology In order to provide answers to the above questions, a dedicated consolidation study was set up at the CERN Gamma Irradiation Facility ++ (GIF++)[4]. This facility consists of an intense 14 TBq Cs-137 gamma source with controllable attenuation in order to obtain a wide range of gamma fluxes. Several weeks per year, dedicated muon test beam periods (providing intense 100 GeV muons) are available which allows to measure RPC efficiency subjected to different gamma background rates. Furthermore, the GIF++ facility is a controlled environment with a constant temperature of about 21◦C, a constant humidity of ≈ 45 % and gas monitoring system. The setup consists of two endcap chambers of type RE2 and RE4 which are continuously irradiated (see Fig. 1 (left)). Also two non-irradiated chambers of the same type are installed to be used as reference. Periodic measurements are performed on both irradiated and reference chambers: • continuous monitoring of the current and daily rate scans (irradiated chambers only); • weekly noise scan and high voltage scan without radiation to monitor the Ohmic behavior; • high voltage scans around the working point for different gamma fluxes; • during test beam periods the chamber efficiency is measured; • few times per year measurement of the bakelite resistivity. From these measurements the detector performance and stability as function of integrated charge can be monitored. 05/16 08/16 11/16 02/17 04/17 07/17 ] 2 In te gr at ed C ha rg e [m C /c m


Medical ethics education in higher medical has some problems such as paying to much attention to medical skills,less to medical ethics,educational mean is single and lack of system and reality in content. These problems raise the necessity of medical ethics educatioen infiltration in college English teaching. Using PBL teaching method and the combination of medical ethics education in the teaching mode in college English teaching to dig deeper into the moral connotation in the teaching material,the discussion of typical examples,strengthen the consciousness of medical ethics and creating real learning situations,stimulate students' moral education. This new teaching mode could help medical students to master the language knowledge in the textbooks,also make it realize the importance of good medical ethics for medical workers.


This paper presents a barrier Lyapunov function based nonsingular fast terminal sliding mode control with fixed-time non-recursive disturbance observer for the blended-wing-body (BWB) aircraft in the presence of mismatched disturbances and output constraints. The fixed-time non-recursive disturbance observer based nonsingular fast terminal sliding mode control is proposed for matched and mismatched disturbances attenuation. Furthermore, in order to pursue high-precision attitude tracking regarded as output tracking errors constraints before disturbance observer tracking errors converge to a small prescribed range, the barrier Lyapunov function is designed to constrain the sliding mode variables before states reach the sliding mode surface. Consequently outputs tracking errors constraints can be satisfied by the sliding variables constraints. More importantly, barrier Lyapunov function based terminal sliding mode controller ensures the finite-time convergence. Finally, the numerical simulations demonstrate the chattering attenuation and high-precision attitude tracking of the BWB aircraft in the presence of mismatched disturbances and output constraints.


HMMER3 is biological sequence search suite used in significant volume on systems hosted at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center. This heavy usage has revealed ways that HMMER3 underutilizes the resources available in an HPC environment such as the Manycore architecture Knights Landing processors available in the Cori supercomputer. After rigorous performance analysis it was determined that the thread architecture of HMMER3 is the most promising optimization target to increase throughput and efficiency. A refactoring effort introduced an OpenMP task based threading design, the ability to respond to imbalanced computation with work stealing, and input buffering to eliminate a large amount of redundant parsing. These efforts have been implemented and in production on Cori for over a year. In that time they have simplified the best practice for use of HMMER3 in workflows and conserved hundreds of thousands of CPU hours.


After examining various dimensions and alternative solutions to the tension between anthropological relativism and the universalism of human rights, the author proposes that extension of the latter originates in the 'ethical desire' of an 'ethics of dissatisfaction,' nourished by the anthropological adoption of the other's perspective. This approach allows us to develop the theoretical foundations for an engaged anthropology and a disciplinary movement no longer defined simply as the study of others or the reflexive mirroring of the anthropologist's world in theirs, but a disciplinary practice renewed by an 'accessibility' towards others that deliberately exposes anthropology to their questioning and demands.


High aggressiveness of laryngeal and hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas dictates the necessity of studying the molecular mechanisms of metastasis. Cancer metastasis is associated with remodeling of the cytoskeleton, which is carried out by actin-binding proteins (ABps). Currently, there is insufficient data on the feasibility of determining the level of circulating ASBs in lymphogenous metastasis of laryngeal cancer (LC). какурина Гелена валерьевна, firstname.lastname@example.com 88 SIBERIAN JOURNAL OF ONCOLOGY. 2020; 19(4): 88–93 89 лаБораторНЫе И ЭкСПерИМеНталЬНЫе ИССледоваНИЯ СИБИРСКИЙ ОНКОЛОГИЧЕСКИЙ ЖУРНАЛ. 2020; 19(4): 88–93 material and methods. Blood serum analysis was carried out in 42 LC patients and 15 healthy volunteers using ELISA kits on a microplate ELISA reader multiskan FC 100 (thermoFisher Scientific). Among ASBs, cofilin1 (CFL1), fascin1 (FSCN1), ezrin (EZR), profilin1 (pFN1), adenylyl cyclase associated protein 1 (CAp1) were studied. Statistical processing of the results was performed using the Statistica 6.0 software package. results. It was shown that the serum level of CAp1 was significantly higher in patients with LC compared with the group of healthy volunteers (p=0.00). As the size of the primary tumor increased, the levels of FSCN1, CAp1 and pFN1 significantly increased. the level of FSCN1 was 10 times higher and the level of CAp1 was 40% higher in LC patients with metastases than in LC patients without metastases. thus, among the studied ASBs, FSCN1, CAp1, and pFN1 play an important role in the pathogenesis of LC. Conclusion. the results of the serum level of ASB in LC were obtained for the first time, and they determine the fundamental basis for the development of new methods for predicting the development of metastases.


A WLAN access point (111) is synchronized with a Wide Area Network (WAN) (105) via either a backhaul connection (115), or via hardware of the WLAN access point (111) suitable for receiving and decoding a synchronization timing signal from the WAN (105). The mobile station (101) transmits a WLAN beacon during the predetermined time window. A WLAN access point (111) that detects the mobile station (101) beacon will then communicate with the WAN (105) via a backhaul connection (115), to inform the WAN (105) that a mobile station (101) has been detected. The WAN (105) then sends a message to the mobile station (101) to begin to search for a WLAN access point and handover from the WAN (105) to the WLAN.


Abstract : In an ideal axisymmetrical magnetically stationary suspension in a vacuum, the rotation of the suspended body (armature) around its axis of symmetry occurs without an electromechanical moment, i.e., without attentuation. However, in real suspension systems, attenuation is observed, caused by a number of factors. The article discusses only the mements acting on the armature as it rotates about its axis of symmetry. The electromechanical moments arising when the armature rotates at low angular velocity (omega <10 deg/sec) can be divided into the moment resulting from vortex currents, the moments of elasticity and the hysteresis moment.


Three composite stiffened panels, each with two man-holes, subjected to an axial tensile load, were tested after impact. The impacts were respectively introduced on the edge of stiffener web and on the skin near a man-hole transversely. The locations, dimensions, and extensions of the damages were inspected by the ultrasonic scan system. After that, the tensile load was applied and the effects of impact damage on the panel, especially on the strain distribution, were investigated and discussed.


New Federalism reforms introduced in Australia in the early 1990s were expected to improve efficiency and reduce duplication through new cooperative intergovernmental arrangements. The reforms were also an attempt to reduce the continuing trend of Commonwealth intrusion in state powers. As well as establishing the Council of Australian Governments (COAG), the reforms created the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) to promote a more coordinated and cooperative approach to the delivery of education. MCEETYA provides the quintessential example of the difficulties of establishing a national approach when the function, education, is squarely within the power of the states. This article investigates the operation of MCEETYA from its inception to 2006.


After the death of Mao Zedong it became clear that the Chinese economy needed to be reformed. The need arose from the economy's serious quality problems: chronic shortages, waste, low factor productivity, and technological backwardness. By 1979 it had been decided that reform must be structural and consist of decentralization of decision making that involves marketization of transactions and privatization of property rights. For the centrally planned system's quality problems to be solved successfully, reform must be comprehensive, that is, systemwide, not partial and selective. China, however, opted for the latter. By mid-1988 it was clear that incomplete reform did not do the quality-improvement job expected of it and that it produced some additional problems. There were distinct signs of regression as the reform momentum fizzled out.


Recent studies have shown that the mitigation and suppression of edge localized modes (ELMs) at low pedestal collisionality ν using externally applied magnetic perturbations (MPs) are correlated with the excitation of ideal stable kink modes at the edge. These kink modes cause a three dimensional displacement of the plasma boundary, which is clamped to the applied MPs-field. The three dimensional boundary distortion induced by the ideal stable kink modes is measured using rigidly rotating MP-fields and toroidally localized high resolution diagnostics. Profile diagnostics, e.g. profile electron cyclotron emission (ECE), have been used to determine the amplitude of the flux surface displacements. Its dependence on the applied poloidal mode spectra have been studied by varying the differential phase between the MP-field from the upper and lower coil set. ECE-imaging (ECE-I) has been used to determine the dominant poloidal mode number of the displacement. The measured displacement amplitudes at the outboard midplane are in good agreement with VMEC and clearly exceed the vacuum field calculations, when the ideal stable kink


A series of eight structurally‐related quaternary ammonium compounds (quats—the numbers for quats are synonymous with Colipa numbers) and one preservative formula which equilibrates to produce two other quaternary ammonium salts (Kathon CG®), were tested for their ability to induce allergic contact hypersensitivity in guinea‐pigs.


The ALICE experiment at LHC has been commissioned with cosmi c-ray particles during 2008 and 2009. ALICE looks forward to the high-energy proton-pro ton run in 2010 and, as the dedicated heavy-ion detector at the LHC, to the pilot Pb–Pb run be fore the end of 2010. In this report, we focus on heavy flavour and quarkonia measurements, which c onstitute, as we will explain, one of the main items of the ALICE physics program in proton–p roton and heavy-ion collisions. After describing some aspects of the detector commissionin g w th cosmics that are closely related to the preparation for these measurements —namely, the dete ctor alignment— we will review the expected performance for beauty and quarkonia production s tudies in the first years.


In response to Martinson's (1974) review of offender treatment literature and subsequent proclamation that "nothing works," there has been a growing movement to investigate the effectiveness of correctional interventions (Cullen & Gendreau, 2000). Most notably Canadian psychologists Paul Gendreau, Robert Ross, Don Andrews, and James Bonta challenged the "nothing works" doctrine by leading an effort to delineate the characteristics that distinguish effective from ineffective treatment (Andrews et al., 1990). Their focus on knowledge cumulation and "evidence-based corrections" has facilitated the identification of "what works" within correctional rehabilitation, including the specific criteria for optimizing effectiveness along clinically and psychologically relevant dimensions (Smith, Gendreau, & Swartz, 2009). Below, we summarize these findings, collectively referred to as the "principles of effective intervention" (Andrews, 1995; Andrews & Bonta, 2010; Gendreau, 1996).


SUMMARY Rice (Oryza sativa L.), wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and maize (Zea mays L.) are the main crops grown in China. Applying organic manures is an important practice in sustaining soil fertility and agricultural productivity in these cropping systems. The current paper presents the effects of manure application on grain yields in nine long-term experiments that consist of one continuous maize, four wheat–maize and four rice-based cropping systems across a wide range of agro-ecological regions in China. The study shows that regular manure application can increase soil organic carbon (SOC) and grain yield across all the sites. Overall, regular use of manure results in larger increases in SOC in the maize and wheat–maize systems than in the rice-based systems. Application of manure tends to increase the grain yield in the maize and wheat–maize systems during the final years, but increases the grain yield in the rice-based systems during the initial years of the long-term experiments. There is only one site that shows significant improvement in the yield trend in association with the application of manure. The effects of manure on yield trends are probably determined by the initial yield and/or the 'organic C effect' that may cause gradual improvements in SOC and soil physical properties.


This study examined cognitive functions of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) compared to patients with bipolar disorder (BD) and a healthy control (HC) group. The aim of this study was to show if there were distinguishable cognitive profiles and characteristics. 15 OCD patients without current depression, 18 euthymic patients with BD and 23 HC participants were tested. All participants passed through a neuropsychological test battery including attention, speeded information processing, learning and memory, executive functions and interference performance. Overall bipolar patients were more impaired than OCD patients. Both groups of patients revealed deficits in general information processing speed as well as in verbal learning and memory. By contrast, only BD patients showed significantly increased reaction times in the intermodal comparison and divided attention tests. In summary, this study provides evidence for both commonalities and disease-specific differences of cognitive deficit patterns in OCD and BD.


Author(s): Cutler, Kyle Brantley | Advisor(s): Tromberg, Bruce J | Abstract: The problem that is addressed in this thesis is the need to record the physical location of a contact based imaging probe and subsequent measurement, specifically for using diffuse optical spectroscopic imaging. A novel motion tracking system was developed using a combination of 3D scanned surface and embedded inertial/optical motion sensors. The motion tracking system was used in combination with a fast CW DOSI system to decrease single point measurement speed. The combination system was able to increase the spatial resolution of optical absorption measurements as compared to previous generation DOSI system. The motion tracking system was calibrated to quantify the repeatability of each sensor type as well as the projection onto the 3D surface. The displacement sensor had average percent errors of 1.203% and 1.552% over a flat surface at 50mm, 100mm respectively. The average percent error increased to 3.640% and 3.126% when repeated 50mm and 100mm displacement tests on human skin. The projection of motion paths on a flat optical phantom, exercise ball, and human lower leg was shown. The accuracy of unknown point estimation was shown with accuracy ranging from 21.9%-60%.


The commissioning of the ATF2 final focus test beam line facility is currently progressing towards the achievement of its first goal: to demonstrate a transverse beam size of about 40 nm at the focal point. In parallel, studies and R&D activities have already started towards the second goal of ATF2, which is the demonstration of nanometre level beam orbit stabilisation. These two goals are important to achieve the luminosity required at future linear colliders. Beam-based intra-train feedback systems will play a crucial role in the stabilisation of multi-bunch trains at such facilities. In this paper we present the design and simulation results of beam-based intra-train feedback systems at the ATF2: one system located in the extraction line at the entrance to the final focus, and another at the interaction point. The requirements and limitations of these systems are also discussed.


Rather than enjoying a good ebook when a mug of coffee in the afternoon, instead they juggled next some harmful virus inside their computer. stability indicating hplc methods for drug analysis is genial in our digital library an online admission to it is set as public appropriately you can download it instantly. Our digital library saves in merged countries, allowing you to get the most less latency period to download any of our books subsequent to this one. Merely said, the stability indicating hplc methods for drug analysis is universally compatible similar to any devices to read.


We present experimental results from the application of our new terahertz full-polarimetry instrument, to measuring the thickness of ultra-thin films in a multi-layer coating system. While the standard time-of-flight measurement is limited by the bandwidth of the THz pulse in the minimum thickness resolution of the film that can be resolved using a time-domain system, the new terahertz time-domain polarimetry (THz-TDP) instrument can extend this limit to a few micrometers. This unique ability to measure the thickness of ultra-thin films (approximately λ/1000) is due to the accuracy of THz-TDP to resolve the polarization direction of the THz field within 1 degrees.


Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have found applications in ship detection from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. However, there are some challenges hamper their advance. First, the detected bounding boxes are not very compact. Second, there are quite a few missing detections for small and densely clustered ships. Third, objects with analogical scatterings on land are detected as ships by making mistake. This is due to: 1) the CNN-based SAR ship detectors cannot utilize the spatial information very sufficiently; 2) features learned from CNNs only describe SAR images in space domain while neglecting the information hidden in frequency domain; and 3) information contained in the meta-data file, which may link to other sources, is not taken into account. To overcome these problems, in this paper, a cascade coupled CNN-guided (3C2N-guided) visual attention method for SAR ship detection is proposed. This method considers the newly presented 3C2N model as a qualified ship proposal generator because the images' spatial information is utilized more sufficiently. The 3C2N model, with coupled CNN as the baseline, consists of a sequence of cascade detectors for training. Complementally, a pulse cosine transformation-based visual attention model in frequency domain is operated on the adaptive regions for ship discrimination. This could further refine the proposals' locations and could significantly reduce the missing detections and false alarms. In addition, the digital elevation model data are adopted to remove ship-like targets on land. Experimental evaluations on 25 Sentinel-1 images demonstrate that the proposed method is superior to the previous state-of-the-art methods.


Introduction The most common movement disorders, including Parkinson's disease (PD), Huntington's disease (HD), dystonia, and dyskinesias are associated with pathology within the basal ganglia (BG), a group of graymatter structures situated at the base of the forebrain that are extensively interconnected together as well as with different parts of the cerebral cortex, the thalamus, and other subcortical and brainstem nuclei. To date, the complex functional organization of this extensive BG network has not been fully elucidated. However, microelectrode recordings in nonhuman primates and functional neuroimaging studies in humans during the execution of specific motor and/ or behavioral tasks imply that the BG are relays in parallel functionally and anatomically segregated circuits, which integrate and focus activity from different cortical and subcortical regions. At least five separate functional loops have been described: (1) motor, (2) oculomotor, (3) orbitofrontal, (4) associative, and (5) limbic. The motor loop subserves preparation and execution of movement while the associative loop mediates executive functions such as planning, decision-making, and working memory. The orbitofrontal loop is activated by reward-related and novel, salient activities, while the limbic loop mediates control of emotions and motivations. In PD and related disorders, the pathological process of the disease targets dopamine projections to posterior putamen, which mainly impacts on the motor circuit and leads to the occurrence of the classical limb rigidity and bradykinesia of these conditions. However, involvement of other BG areas results in executive functions, reward-related activities, control of emotions and motivations, and behavioral responses becoming abnormal in PD and other neurodegenerative diseases associated with movement disorders. Functional imaging techniques such as positron emission tomography (PET), single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) functionalmagnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have provided the tools for assessing directly the function of brain networks involving the BG in humans and have brought invaluable insight into the pathogenesis of movement disorders. This chapter will provide a brief overview of BG neuroanatomy and pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the main movement disorders. The findings of functional imaging studies that have enhanced our understanding of BG dysfunction in these conditions will be also outlined.


When searching for prey, animals should maximize energetic gain, while minimizing energy expenditure by altering their movements relative to prey availability. However, with increasing amounts of marine debris, what once may have been 'optimal' foraging strategies for top marine predators, are leading to sub-optimal diets comprised in large part of plastic. Indeed, the highly vagile Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) which forages throughout the North Pacific, are well known for their tendency to ingest plastic. Here we examine whether Laysan albatrosses nesting on Kure Atoll and Oahu Island, 2,150 km apart, experience different levels of plastic ingestion. Twenty two geolocators were deployed on breeding adults for up to two years. Regurgitated boluses of undigestable material were also collected from chicks at each site to compare the amount of plastic vs. natural foods. Chicks from Kure Atoll were fed almost ten times the amount of plastic compared to chicks from Oahu despite boluses from both colonies having similar amounts of natural food. Tracking data indicated that adults from either colony did not have core overlapping distributions during the early half of the breeding period and that adults from Kure had a greater overlap with the putative range of the Western Garbage Patch corroborating our observation of higher plastic loads at this colony. At-sea distributions also varied throughout the year suggesting that Laysan albatrosses either adjusted their foraging behavior according to constraints on time away from the nest or to variation in resources. However, in the non-breeding season, distributional overlap was greater indicating that the energy required to reach the foraging grounds was less important than the total energy available. These results demonstrate how a marine predator that is not dispersal limited alters its foraging strategy throughout the reproductive cycle to maximize energetic gain and how this has led to differences in plastic ingestion. Citation: Young LC, Vanderlip C, Duffy DC, Afanasyev V, Shaffer SA (2009) Bringing Home the Trash: Do Colony-Based Differences in Foraging Distribution Lead to Increased Plastic Ingestion in Laysan Albatrosses? PLoS ONE 4(10): e7623. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0007623 Editor: Yan Ropert-Coudert, Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien, France Received August 24, 2009; Accepted October 8, 2009; Published October 28, 2009 Copyright: © 2009 Young et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Funding: LCY was funded by the Hawaii Conservation Alliance, the University of Hawaii Department of Zoology Jessie Kay Fellowship, and several Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology research awards as part of NSF grant DGE02-32016 to K.Y. Kaneshiro. SAS was supported in part by grants to the Tagging of Pacific Pelagics (TOPP) program from the Alfred P. Sloan, Gordon and Betty Moore, and David and Lucile Packard Foundations. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. * E-mail: email@example.com


Currently, the treatment for ovarian cancer (OC) is not satisfactory. The microRNAs may have an important function in tumor pathogenesis. miR-183-5p involves in several tumors. However, its effect on OC cells is unclear. The BMSCs could regulate the micro-environment of tumor and participate
 in tumor procession. In this study, effect of BMSCs with highly-expressed miR-183-5p on OC cells was assessed. The BMSCs with highly-expressed miR-183-5p was established and co-cultivated with OC cell line SKOV3 followed by measuring miR-183-5p level by PCR, STAT3 and ADAM9 expression by western
 blot. miR-183-5p level in OC cells was reduced and further decreased after co-culture with BMSCs along with enhance cell proliferation and upregulated STAT3 expression (P < 0.05). In addition, miR-183-5p level was increased in BMSCs with highly-expressed miR-183-5p and STAT3 expression
 was reduced along with restrained cell proliferation (P < 0.05). In conclusion, miR-183-5p in OC cells is downregulated and malignant biological behaviors of OC cells are restrained by BMSCs with highly-expressed miR-183-5p possibly through regulating the expression of STAT3.


This article outlines the technological and political skills one first-year librarian used to implement new technologies, including blogs, wiki's and an open-source content management system, in a large academic library. The content management system allowed librarians with no knowledge of HTML to create professional looking, consistent, branded Web pages by simply filling in the blanks of a Web form. The author discusses the challenges of creating interfaces that are simple to use for both librarians with and without technological expertise, and the importance of providing detailed training, and individual coaching, highlighting the new technologies' ease of use. The interpersonal challenges of engendering administrative and peer support for implementing major change in a large academic library as a new young professional are emphasized.


College English teaching is a process of interacting between the teacher and the students, including two aspects: teaching and learning. With a great emphasis only on one aspect, it is rather difficult to achieve good results of teaching. English journal is such a good way for promoting the combination of college English teaching and learning.


This paper analyzes the interaction of three students working on mathematics problems over several days in a virtual math team. Our analysis traces out how successful collaboration in a later session was contingent upon the work of prior sessions, and shows how representational practices are important aspects of these participants' mathematical problem solving. We trace the formation, transformation and refinement of one problem-solving practice--problem decomposition--and three representational practices--inscribe first solve second, modulate perspective and visualize decomposition. The analysis shows how inscriptions become representations for the group through a historical trajectory of negotiation. This result is of theoretical interest because it shows how the practices underlying group cognition are contingent upon not only the immediate situation but also the chronologically prior resources and associated practices.


This paper expounds the specific contents of the innovation in the conceptions of modern higher education from the following five aspects. Firstly, the conceptions of educational value must leap forward from adaptable theory to transcending theory; secondly, the conceptions in educational quality must change from uniform to pluralism; thirdly, the conceptions of educational localization must change into internationalization; fourthly, "three creation education" (namely, creative education, innovative education and the education of starting a business) must be set up; finally, the conceptions of educational industry and its operation and management must be set up. This paper holds that only the innovation of conceptions can better promote the healthy and sustainable development of modern higher education.


Solid solutions of Sn–Si derivatives with an LGPS (Li10GeP2S12)-type structure are synthesized by a solid-state reaction in the Li3PS4–Li4SnS4–Li4SiS4 quasi-ternary system. The monophasic region of the LGPS-type structure deviates from the tie line between Li10SiP2S12 and Li10SnP2S12, and the composition of the solid solution is determined to be −0.1 ≤ δ ≤ 0.5 and 0 ≤ y ≤ 1.0 in Li10+δ[SnySi1–y]1+δP2−δS12 (0.50 ≤ x ≤ 0.7 and 0 ≤ y ≤ 1.0 in Li4–x[SnySi1–y]1–xPxS4). The solid solution is formed by a double substitution that changes the Sn/Si ratio and the M4+ (Sn4+ and Si4+)/P5+ ratio, which adjusts the sizes of the lithium conduction tunnels and the lithium concentration, and contributes to the optimal conductivity value. The highest ionic conductivity value of 1.1 × 10–2 S cm–1 is achieved for the composition of Li10.35[Sn0.27Si1.08]P1.65S12 (Li3.45[Sn0.09Si0.36]P0.55S4) at 298 K, which is close to the value for the original LGPS compound (1.2 × 10–2 S cm–1). The Ge-free solid electrolyte could be suitabl...


Hypospadias is the anomaly occurring due to partial development of anterior urethra. Urethral meatus can be opened anywhere on ventral side of the penis from just under glans to perineum (1). Hypospadias is seen in 1 in 300 male children on average (2,3). 60-65%, 20-30%, 10-15% of the cases are distal-located, mid-penile-located and proximal-located, respectively. In etiology, mother's using progesterone-like or androgen-like drugs during her pregnancy, advanced maternal age, in vitro fertilization babies, premature and monozygotic twins may be effective (5,6). However, the most important etiologic factor is thought to be androgen insufficiency. Androgen insufficiency is caused by faults in hypothalamicpituitary-gonadal axis (lack of hCG), production of defective testicular and placental androgen, testosterone's not being able to be converted into dihydrotestosterone due to 5α-reductase enzyme deficiency, or insufficiency of androgen receptors in penis (6,7). After hypospadias surgeries, complications such as bleeding, hematoma, wound infection, wound dehiscence, necrosis on penile shaft skin, urinary tract infection and urinary retention can be seen in the early period, on the other hand, in the late period, such complications as urethrocutaneous fistula, meatal stenosis, recurrent and permanent chordee, urethral stricture, balanitis xerotica obliterans, urethrocele and urethral diverticulum can be seen (8,9).


An all-at-once reduced Hessian Successive Quadratic Programming (SQP) scheme has been shown to be efficient for solving aerodynamic design optimization problems with a moderate number of design variables. This paper extends this scheme to allow solution refining. In particular, we introduce a reduced Hessian refining technique that is critical for making a smooth transition of the Hessian information from coarse grids to fine grids. Test results on a nozzle design using quasi-one-dimensional Euler equations show that through solution refining the efficiency and the robustness of the all-at-once reduced Hessian SQP scheme are significantly improved.


[Abstract] (cid:542) Objective (cid:542) To investigate the effect of Paeonia lactiflora formula granule (PLFG) against the damage of LO2 cells induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4 ) and explore its mechanism. Methods (cid:542) LO2 cells were divided into control group, CCl 4 model group, PLFG (1, 5, 10mg/L) groups and Vit E (50mmol/L) group. LO2 cells of PLFG groups and Vit E group were pretreated by drugs for 24 hours, then except control group, other groups were treated by 10mmol/L CCl 4 for 6 hours, which induced hepatic cell damage, the alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST) content of the cell culture supernatant were measured, the survival rates of LO2 cells were analyzed by MTT method. LO2 cells were divided into control group, CCl 4 model group, PLFG (10mg/L) group and Vit E (50mmol/L) group, cell loss, changes in nuclear size and morphology, DNA content, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), cell permeability changes, and cytochrome C release were measured simultaneously by high content analysis (HCA). Results (cid:542) Compared with CCl 4 model group, PLFG and Vit E pretreatment could obviously decrease the level of ALT and AST ( P <0.05 or P <0.01), especially in the 10mg/L PLFG group and Vit E group. PLFG (1, 5, 10mg/L) and Vit E could also significantly weaken the decrease of LO2 cell viability, which were induced by CCl 4 treatment, the results showed in dose-dependent to some extents ( P <0.05 or P <0.01). Meanwhile, treatment with 10mg/L PLFG and Vit E could significantly increase the level of MMP ( P <0.01), prevent cytochrome C release ( P <0.01), decrease the membrane permeability ( P <0.01), increase nuclear size ( P <0.01), decrease total nuclear intensity ( P <0.01) and increase the cell count ( P <0.05). Conclusion (cid:542) PLFG may act an obvious protective effect against the liver injury induced by CCl 4 , and it might be due to protecting the integrity of mitochondria membrane, decreasing cell membrane permeability and inhibiting the apoptosis of LO2 cells.


The analysis of a cutting process through grinding and its influence on the environment involves the creation of a physical model, an idealized approximation of reality, which reflects the development of principle and implies the admission of simplifying hypotheses. Based on the logic model, is necessary to be able to study the phenomena that accompany the technological process under investigation, starting from the beginning of its design phase. In order to be able to analyze more precisely the abrasion process, was considered the sequence in which an abrasive granule is in full action of detaching a chip. The paper proposes the mathematical modeling of the roughness of the surfaces processed by grinding based on the spherical model, which is a complex problem when it is desired to determine the influence of the technological parameters on the quality of the processed parts and on the environment. Key-Words: abrasion process, mathematical modeling, surface roughness, environment.


The present study entitled "Assessment of Nutritional Status of ICDS Beneficiaries on Pregnant Women in Shillong, Meghalaya" aimed to find out, the nutritional status of ICDS beneficiaries pregnant mothers, to compare the nutritional status of the ICDS and Non ICDS and to find out the impact of nutrition education on the selected pregnant women by using Booklet and Pamphlet 5 areas of shilling. A total of one hundred and fifty pregnant women were selected from three Anghanwadi centres and three primary health centres for the study and were personally interviewed with the help of preset schedule. The anthropometric measurements (Height, Weight, and BMI) and clinical observation was taken. Dietary intake (24 hour ICMR, 2010) and nutrition education was given to the pregnant women by using Booklet and Pamphlet. After observation, it was found that, pregnant women who are ICDS beneficiaries had good health and appearance as compare to Non ICDS pregnant women. It was also observed that ICDS pregnant women had good dietary intake as compared to the Non ICDS pregnant women. And the impact of nutritional education by using booklet and pamphlet was successively developed and found highly effective in imparting education to the pregnant women. The nutrition education materials were found successful as the gain and retention in knowledge level of respondents were recorded. It is probably that the nutrition education material (Booklet, and pamphlet) if translated into other language may be useful in educating similar population groups elsewhere in other parts of the country and even in other developing countries and may prove integral and beneficial as important part of education strategies adopted for combating malnutrition from the community.


activities, and travels, and even lists his addresses; it includes various pieces of correspondence (which rarely give a hint of the excellence of his criticisms and books) and copious excerpts from reviews of the premieres of his works. The author has done a thorough job of unearthing this data and she presents it very readably. She has succeeded even in making the numerous analyses readable by the layman. But, for this reader, the analyses are not as enlightening as they are readable. One's recollection is too likely to be simply of the reiteration of certain terms such as "polytonal," "polyrhythms," "blues," "Charleston," "pastoral," "Gebrauchsmusik American Style," and of the author's zest for mere pigeonholing rather than characterizing. To convey much sense of the style and quality of music it seems that writers must either plunge unabashed into a sea of adjectives and metaphors or else must engage in the most searching and all-butunreadable technical analysis. For her adjectives and metaphors Miss Smith has relied on the excerpts from critics; of technical analysis, little has emerged from the original dissertation. The most ambitious analysis, rightly that of the Piano Variations, can badly mislead an unwary reader. The quotation of the theme lacks the last measure: this amputates the last two notes of the final threenote phrase. Here as elsewhere the author overdoes her suggestion of Schoenbergian "serial" technique. What she so characterizes here could equally well be compared to Brahms' treatment of the four-note motive that opens his A minor string quartet. Her four-page analysis does not make it clear that the melody of the theme is solidly in C sharp minor, that the key-not always C sharp minor-is fairly apparent throughout the work, and that the theme consists not just of one four-note phrase but of four phrases (the second and fourth being variations of the first). Arthur Berger's Aaron Copland (Oxford University Press, 1953), though only about a third as long, seems to us to have the edge in both evocation of Copland's style and analysis of his technique. But the definitive study of his music is yet to come. Valuable and interesting are the appendices listing Copland's musical works, including juvenilia, published works, and unpublished (including to our shame the Symphonic Ode), recordings, books, and articles. With this list we can beguile ourselves looking up the uncollected articles in the files of periodicals while waiting for someone to come along who will write as well about Copland as he has about others. In fine, Miss Smith has given us a full and easily readable biography, but there is more to be said about the music.


Objectives:
 The aim of the present investigation was to determine whether the finger photoplethysmographic waveform of a healthy young man will...


Abstract. The idea of using a spatial filtering velocimeter (SFV) to measure the velocity of a vehicle for an inertial navigation system is put forward. The presented SFV is based on a CMOS linear image sensor with a high-speed data rate, large pixel size, and built-in timing generator. These advantages make the image sensor suitable to measure vehicle velocity. The power spectrum of the output signal is obtained by fast Fourier transform and is corrected by a frequency spectrum correction algorithm. This velocimeter was used to measure the velocity of a conveyor belt driven by a rotary table and the measurement uncertainty is ∼0.54%. Furthermore, it was also installed on a vehicle together with a laser Doppler velocimeter (LDV) to measure self-velocity. The measurement result of the designed SFV is compared with that of the LDV. It is shown that the measurement result of the SFV is coincident with that of the LDV. Therefore, the designed SFV is suitable for a vehicle self-contained inertial navigation system.


Laboratory has an important role in the process of education and learning, they are a lot of data inside laboratory, such as: Information and condition of goods, inventory of Laboratory instrument, component and devices, logbook, lending, scheduling, etc. Nowadays there are many laboratories are currently still using conventional methods in managing laboratory data, in this paper will discuss a concept for managing laboratory data digitally using a computer system which integrated with the Internet of Things (IoT) system, this concept is called Digital Laboratory Information System (DLIS), this concept offers many advantages for user or the administrator of laboratory data manager. DLIS concept makes data more flexible to changes, easier to update and upgrade data. DLIS allows access from outside the laboratory using the IoT method, so that users can access laboratory data without being constrained by distance and time.


A set-up comprising a magnetic disc, a solenoid and a mechanical balance was used to teach first-year physics students Newton's third law with the help of a free body diagram. The image of a floating magnet immobilized by the solenoid's repulsive force should help dispel a common misconception of students as regards the first law: that stationary objects are not being acted on by any force at all. Dropping the magnet onto the electrified solenoid, which can change polarity, can lead to more sophisticated elaboration of the second law.


Spodoptera frugiperda is a pest of great economic importance in the Americas. It is attacked by several species of parasitoids, which act as biological control agents. Parasitoids are morphologically identifiable as adults, but not as larvae. Laboratory rearing conditions are not always optimal to rear out parasitic wasps from S. frugiperda larvae collected from wild populations, and it frequently happens that parasitoids do not complete their life cycle and stop developing at the larval stage. Therefore, we explored ways to identify parasitoid larvae using molecular techniques. Sequencing is one possible technique, yet it is expensive. Here we present an alternate, cheaper way of identifying seven species of parasitoids (Cotesia marginiventris, Campoletis sonorensis, Pristomerus spinator, Chelonus insularis, Chelonus cautus, Eiphosoma vitticolle and Meteorus laphygmae) using PCR amplification of COI gene followed by a digestion with a combination of four restriction endonucleases. Each species was found to exhibit a specific pattern when the amplification product was run on an agarose gel. Identifying larvae revealed that conclusions on species composition of a population of parasitic wasps can be biased if only the emerging adults are taken into account.


The suture made through an endoscopic tube presents many difficulties, because the field of operation is limited and the spot which must be stitched lies at considerable depth. By using a new technic it is possible to find a solution of this problem. A new instrument for automatic suturing in the deep parts has been designed and constructed. This instrument is for use through a special endoscopic tube provided with a mechanism which enlarges its working lumen and gives more space for the manipulation of instruments. The new instrument (figure A ) reminds one of an endoscopic forceps with a thin needle at the end and a finger piece at the handle. The endoscopic tubes, especially favorable for manipulation with an endoscopic suture forceps, are of two types: (1) the expanding bronchoesophagoscope designed by me and (2) the endoscopie tube provided with a slot-shutter mechanism, which enlarges the operative field and


Thule archaeology has made great strides over the past several decades. Much has been learned about variability in social organization, settlement patterns, technology, subsistence, and even less visible archaeological phenomena such as gender roles and world view. However, a number of areas remain unclear, one of them being the issue of interaction within and between Thule regional groups. As is the case with all other cultural entities, the Thule tradition in the central Arctic can only be understood fully if the broadest scale of interregional interaction is taken into account. Of course, some attention has been paid to interaction, particularly in the form of trade, with copper, iron, ivory, and other exotic materials commonly reported from Thule sites; and aspects of interaction have been used to explain phenomena as diverse as the original Thule migration (McGhee 2000) and the eventual collapse of Classic Thule (Whitridge 1999a). Less attention has been paid to the issue of how interregional systems of interaction operated at a broader scale, although McCartney (1988, 1991), Savelle (2000), and Whitridge (1999a, 1999b, 2002) have made important contributions in this area. This paper attempts to build on these previous studies, and in particular McCartney's (1991) consideration of Thule interaction, in two steps. First, it will consider existing information on Thule interaction in relation to the ethnographic record of Northwest Alaska, which is usually considered the best analogue for understanding the Thule archaeological record. Second, it will compare the geographic and historical contexts of the two cases (Classic Thule and ethnographic northwest Alaska) as a means of understanding ways in which their patterns of interaction may have differed.


Since the invention of the first implantable pacemaker in 1958, wireless implantable microelectronic devices (IMDs) have been significantly improved by going through many generations. They have made it possible to treat a wide range of ailments and disabilities from bradycardia and chronic back pain to epilepsy and deafness. IMDs have the potential to alleviate more challenging types of disabilities such as blindness and paralysis. These devices need to transmit and receive information wirelessly across the skin barrier as breaching the skin with interconnect wires would be a source of morbidity for the patient and significantly increases the risk of infection.

IMDs can be divided in autonomous and sensory devices which, in turn, results in different requirements for the wireless telemetry system. Autonomous devices such as pacemakers, cardioverters, and deep-brain stimulators usually have a small number of stimulating sites (<5), low stimulus pulse rates (<500/s), and low power requirements. The anatomical location of implantation for most autonomous devices in the body allows them to be large enough to contain an energy source that would last for several years. Their autonomous operation limits the need to communicate with the external world to only occasional adjustments and interrogations, which can take place at low data rates. On the other hand, in sensory prosthetic devices—those that interface with the central nervous system (CNS) to restore a sensory function such as hearing or vision—the quality of perception enhances with the number of stimulating sites/electrodes and the rate of stimulation. These latter devices may stimulate the neural tissue by means of tens to hundreds of stimulating channels and, consequently, they generally require considerably more power and communication bandwidth than autonomous devices. Future visual prostheses might even go beyond one thousand sites to better provide the most important visual functions to the blind such as mobility without a cane, face recognition, and reading. Thus, sensory prosthetic devices usually require an inductive link between two (or more) magnetically couple coils for the transmission of power and data to the implanted device.

Keywords:

implantable microelectronic devices;
neuroprostheses;
sensory devices;
telemetry;
coupling coefficient;
transactaneous data transmission;
modulation schemes


ABSTRACT A bilattice is said to be regular provided its truth conjunction and disjunction are monotonic with respect to its knowledge ordering. The principal result of this paper is that the following properties of a bilattice B are equivalent: 1. B is regular; 2. the truth conjunction and disjunction of B are definable through the rest of the operations and constants of B; 3. B is isomorphic to a bilattice of the form L 1 · L 2 where L 1 and L 2 are bounded lattices. We also derive from this metaequivalence a number of corollaries concerning distributive bilattices, degenerated bilattices and bilattices with negation.


From the Department of Psychiatry, UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital, Los Angeles, Calif. The closed roundtable symposium "Women's Issues in Antidepressant Therapy" was held June 12, 2000, in Los Angeles, Calif., and supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Forest Laboratories, Inc. Dr. Altshuler has financial associations with many companies that produce psychoactive pharmaceutical agents. The associations include receipt of research support, consultancies, and participation on speakers' bureaus and advisory boards. Corresponding author and reprints: Lori Altshuler, M.D., UCLA Medical Center, 300 Medical Plaza, Suite 1544, Los Angeles, CA 90095-7057. Overview


The mechanical properties of a three-dimensional (3D) pillared graphene nanostructure subjected to tensile loading are studied by molecular dynamics simulation. The effects of temperature on the Young's modulus, fracture strain, and strain energy of the nanostructures with carbon nanotubes (CNT) types , , , and are examined. In according with simulation results, the maximum strain energy is obtained under a strain of approximately 0.265 at various temperatures. The Young's modulus and fracture strain of the nanostructure decrease as the temperature increases. The Young's modulus of the nanostructure is much lower than that of its composition materials. The Young's modulus and fracture strain of the nanostructures with armchair-type and CNTs are lower than those with and CNTs.


As the typical representative of the GIS software in abroad and China,MGE and MAPGIS are popular in the database construction of urban large-scale geographical map.The data conversion between them is very important.Taking the conversion of 1:500 geographical map of 1100 square km of Guangzhou as example,this paper introduces the data conversion,database construction and symbolization from MGE to MAPGIS in detail.


This research details electronic and magneto-transport in unsorted and chirality-enriched carbon nanotube (CNT) films. By measuring the electrical conductivity from 4 K to 297 K, we were able to assign the governing mechanism of electronic transport. Fluctuation-induced tunnelling was in accordance with the obtained data and very well matched the underlying physics. We demonstrated how a change in the type of CNT to make the film affects its electrical performance. As the temperature was decreased down to cryogenic conditions, up to a 56-fold increase in resistance was noted. Moreover, the measurement of magnetoresistance (MR) revealed a non-monotonic dependence on the applied magnetic field. The initial negative component of MR was eventually overpowered by the positive MR component as the field strength was increased beyond a certain threshold.


. This research focuses on controlling robots and their formations using rough mereology as a means for spatial reasoning. The authors present the state of the art theory behind path planning, robot cooperation domains and ways of creating robot formations. Furthermore, the theory behind Rough Mereology as a way of implementing mereological potential field based path creation and navigation for single and multiple robots is described. An implementation of the algorithm is shown in simulation using RoboSim simulator. Five formations are tested (Line, Rhomboid, Snake, Circle, Cross) along with three decision systems (First In, Leader First, Horde Mode) as compared to other methods.


Large Interactive Displays (LIDs), such as tabletops or interactive walls, are promising innovations, which are increasingly used to support co-located collaboration. Yet the current evidence base on the impact of LID use on collaborative processes and outcomes, and associated influencing factors, is fragmented, particularly in comparison with other media. To address this gap, a systematic review was carried out in the databases Web of Science, Psych.Info, ACM, Elsevier, JSTOR and Springer and in the ACM CHI conference database. A corpus of 38 articles with experimental study designs met the eligibility criteria and was analyzed in-depth. With regard to collaboration processes, the findings suggest a relatively clear advantage of the use of LIDs over classic forms of collaboration, in particular over single-user environments (e.g. laptops). With attention to collaborative outcomes, positive effects of LIDs were identified for knowledge gains and social encounters, and mixed effects for task-related outcomes. The analysis further shows relevant influencing factors of LID, such as the separation of personal and joint work spaces and the deployment of horizontal instead of vertical displays. Conceptual and practice implications are discussed.


According to American and recent European guidelines, both transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) and surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) may be used to treat severe aortic stenosis in a subgroup of patients with intermediate surgical risk, in spite of slight differences in recommended age limits (ACC/AHA: 65–80 years and ESC/EACTS: <75 years). A shared therapeutic decision is made with the patient, based on a heart team assessment. For this, individual factors should be taken into account. Concomitant chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a prognostic factor in such patients, and CKD stage ≥3a and ≥3b has been shown to be a significant independent risk factor for SAVR and TAVI, respectively.

 To compare TAVI vs. SAVR outcomes in a subgroup of patients for whom both therapies could possibly be considered according to current guidelines.

 The large nation-wide German Aortic Valve Registry (GARY) includes data from patients treated with TAVI or SAVR. A subcohort of patients from GARY with intermediate surgical risk (age ≤80 years, STS-score 4–8) and moderate-to-severe chronic kidney disease (CKD stages 3a, 3b, and 4) was selected. A matched analysis of 704 patients undergoing TAVI and 374 undergoing SAVR was carried out using a propensity score method. Primary endpoint was 1-year survival. Clinical complications and specifically the need for postprocedural new-onset dialysis were secondary endpoints.

 TAVI and SAVR showed similar survival results at 1 year in a Kaplan-Meier analysis (HR [95% CI] for TAVI: 1.271 [0.795,2.031], p=0.316). Despite a numerically higher post-procedural short-term survival in TAVI patients and a numerically higher 1-year survival in SAVR patients, such differences did not reach statistical significance (96.4% vs. 94.2%, p=0.199, and 86.2% vs. 81.2%, p=0.316, respectively). In weighted analyses, need for permanent pacemaker, vascular complications, and moderate-to-severe valvular regurgitation were significantly more common with TAVI, whereas patients undergoing SAVR had significantly higher rates of myocardial infarction, and transient ischaemic attack, needed more transfusions for bleeding, and had a significantly longer intensive care unit stay and overall hospital stay. The need for new-onset dialysis for a limited time was more common after SAVR (p<0.0001); however, very few patients required chronic dialysis either after TAVI or after SAVR.

 In a matched analysis of intermediate-risk patients with severe aortic stenosis and a concomitant moderate-to-severe CKD, for whom both TAVI and SAVR could possibly be considered, both approaches showed excellent and comparable results.

 Type of funding sources: Other. Main funding source(s): The registry receives financial support in the form of unrestricted grants by medical device companies (Edwards Lifesciences, JenaValve Technology, Medtronic, Sorin, St. Jude Medical, Symetis S.A.).In addition, there is unrestricted support by funding statisticians by the DZHK (Deutsches Zentrum für Herz-Kreislaufforschung).