System reliability and availability can be calculated using a multilevel flow model to describe the causal dependencies of the target system. Compared to established techniques, this allows for a method, which is less error prone, more efficient, and allows for multiple fault situations. The largest practical advantage of the method is that it is much easier to construct an MFM model of a system than to perform a reliability analysis by block diagrams or fault trees. The method allows on-line reliability analysis in real-time. INTRODUCTION Availability analysis, reliability analysis, and other related methods provide a way of estimating the availability, reliability, etc., of a process, that is, to give a measure on the probability that the process or its subsystems will actually work and not be broken or unavailable at some time or time interval in the future. This gives a general feeling for how "safe" and "trustworthy" a process is. These methods pose two practical problems, however. First, good values of component reliabilities are needed as inputs to the calculations. Secondly, the work effort going from process knowledge, via causal mapping of some kind, to the probability calculations can be very large. This paper presents a new method for calculation of availability or reliability. It uses multilevel flow models (MFM) as the basis for the causal analysis. In this way, much of the work effort needed is circumvented. The effort is instead to build an MFM model of the process. Since MFM models are useful for other algorithms too, work costs can be further reduced. The developed method even allows calculation of reliability online, so that the results can be used as highlevel sensors during process operation. SYSTEM RELIABILITY ANALYSIS System reliability analysis is the area in reliability engineering concerned with computing system reliability characteristics from the reliability characteristics of single components. A target system, for example an industrial process, is composed of a large number of components (items of physical equipment), which form subsystems. Subsystems form new, larger subsystems, and eventually the entire target system. Each component and subsystem can have one or several functions to fulfill, and these functions achieve the goals of the target system, (in other literature, however, the term function is often used to mean a combination of both function and goal). Reliability analysis is performed so that single components and/or subsystems are assigned a measure describing the probability that the item is in working order and able to fulfill its functions and goals. Through use of a description of causal dependencies between components and subsystems, it is possible to calculate the conditional probabilities that toplevel functions and goals are fulfilled. Reliability analysis can be used both to analyze the general safety properties of the target system during the design phase, and online to analyze the effects of failure of redundant systems. Several different probability measures are possible to use: • Reliability is the probability that the system has experienced no failure at some specified time in the future, while unreliability is the opposite probability, that is, 1 – reliability. • Availability is the probability that a system failure does not exist at a certain time in the future, while unavailability is 1 – availability. The difference between this and reliability is that a measure of failure, downtime, and repair is included, while reliability assumes no failure at all. • Rate of failure is the expected number of failures per time unit at a time t. The expected number of failures during a time interval is given by the integral over time of the rate of failure. • Failure rate is the probability of failure at time t, given no failures before t. Most of these measures are based on probabilities and are treated in a similar way in the reliability calculations. It is often trivial to change one measure for another in a specific method. For more on these measures, see for example Fussell (1975). REPRESENTATION OF SYSTEM CAUSALITY In order to calculate top-level reliability from the reliability measures of single components and subsystem, the causality between parts of the system must be known and described. Two different methods have been used regularly for this: • Reliability block diagrams • Fault trees Both these representations allow the calculations of minimal cut sets, that is, the failure combinations, which will cause the system to fail. These in turn can be represented as a (large) matrix, and the calculations can be performed as a vector and matrix multiplication. The main drawbacks with these representations are: • Reliability block diagrams and fault trees describe failure causality but have no direct relationship to the structure of the target system. Thus, they have to be built from scratch, and cannot be synthesized from other descriptions of the system. • Reliability block diagrams and fault trees potentially cover a very large number of minimal cut sets. A fault tree composed of some 20 logic gates can represent millions of system failure modes. All these failure modes should be taken into consideration when building the block diagrams or fault trees, or errors may occur in the representation. • The result of a reliability analysis cannot relate back to the causal path taken by failures in the physical process. • The methods assume that only one minimal cut set (that is, root cause fault) occurs at a certain time, and that the input probabilities of each component are independent. For the reasons above, a system for reliability analysis based on these "classical" techniques cannot be complete and there is no guarantee that it will have a correct description of the target system's causality. In fact, the probability is overwhelming that there will be errors in the description. Finally, there is always a risk that the independence assumptions made are not valid, and then the results are not necessarily valid. For more on calculation of reliability measures using fault trees, see for example Inoue and Henley (1975). All these drawbacks can be solved, though, with the introduction of multilevel flow models as the representation of system causality. MULTILEVEL FLOW MODELS Multilevel flow models (MFM) are graphical models of goals and functions of technical systems. The goals describe the purposes of a system or subsystem, and the functions describe the capabilities of the system in terms of flows of mass, energy, and information. MFM also describes the relations between the goals and the functions that achieve those goals, and between functions and the subgoals, which provide conditions for these functions. MFM was invented by Morten Lind at the Technical University of Denmark, see Lind (1990 a). Several new algorithms and implementations were contributed by Jan Eric Larsson at Lund Institute of Technology, see Larsson (1992, 1994, 1996, 2002). MFM provides a good basis for diagnostic algorithms. The work of Larsson (1996) describes three algorithms based on MFM: measurement validation, alarm analys is, and fault diagnosis. Other algorithms have been developed later, such as fuzzy alarm analysis, see Dahlstrand (1998), Dahlstrand (2000), Larsson and Dahlstrand (1998), failure mode analysis, see Öhman (1999, 2001), and sensor fault detection, see Öhman (2001, 2002). AN EXAMPLE OF AN MFM MODEL MFM has been thoroughly explained in Lind (1990 a) and Larsson (1992, 1996). Here a small example will be given, to show the basics of MFM modeling. We will use a part of the main circulation system of a nuclear power plant. A much simplified process graph, from an example in the master's project Ingström (1998), is shown in Figure 1. Moderator tank Reactor Frequency converter Power


Conventional solid rocket motors, which utilize ammonium perchlorate as the propellant oxidizer, produce hydrochloric acid (HC1) as an exhaust product. A low-acid propellant has been developed which substantially reduces the HCl content of the solid rocket exhaust. The predominant mechanism for HC1 exhaust reduction is a neutralization of the acid by the base magnesium hydroxide which is generated in the exhaust plume from the combustion of magnesium (Mg) fuel. Experimental analysis of the Mg-propellant combustion products has shown that HCl levels of less than 1 % are achievable. The Mg-neutralized propellant exhibits properties that are compatible with the reliability, cost, performance, ballistic, and mechanical properties as well as the safety dictates of an advanced launch system (ALS). Predictions for propellant variability and sensitivity suggest that the Mg-neutralized propellant reliability will compare favorably with the current state-of-the-art hydroxy terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) propellants. The range of ballistic tailorability is broad and the low-volumetric solids loading of the Mg propellant results in outstanding mechanical properties and simple processing. The Mg propellant also exhibits DoD zero cards class 1.3 hazards properties which suggests that no compromise in safety will be encountered relative to current propellants used in large booster applications.


With the adjustment of sociodemographic factors, our study aimed to explore the association between asthma control and headache using a representative sample in the United States.


Because paleoseismology can extend the record of earthquakes back in time up to several millennia, it represents a great opportunity to study how earthquakes recur through time and thus provide innovative contributions to seismic hazard assessment. A worldwide compilation of a database of recurrence from paleoseismology was developed in the frame of the ILP project "Earthquake Recurrence Through Time", from which we were able to extract five sequences with 6 and up to 9 dated events on a single fault. By using the age of the paleoearthquakes with their associated uncertainty we have tested the null hypothesis that the observed interevent times come from a uniform random distribution (Poisson model). We have made use of the concept of likelihood for a specific sequence of observed events under a given occurrence model. The difference dlnL of the likelihoods estimated under two hypotheses gives an indication of which between the two hypotheses  Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 06 51860482; fax: +39 06 51860507 E-mail addresses: email@example.com, email@example.com, firstname.lastname@example.com. * Manuscript Click here to download Manuscript: manuscript.doc


We are developing AC-biased transition edge sensor (TES) microcalorimeters for use in large arrays with frequency-domain multiplexing. Using DC bias, we have achieved a resolution of 17 eV FWHM at 2.6 keV with a decay time of 90 μs and an effective detector diameter of 300 μm. We have successfully measured thermal pulses with a TES microcalorimeter operated with an AC bias. We present here preliminary results from a single pixel detector operated under DC and AC bias conditions.


Recent results have shown that interference alignment (IA) achieves the optimal throughput scaling law w.r.t. SNR. However, except for a few special cases, finding transceivers to achieve IA in MIMO interference networks is still an open problem. This problem is challenging due to the non-convex nature of the interference optimization problem. Inspired by recent success in using tools from algebraic geometry to analyze the feasibility conditions of IA, in this work, we adopt algebraic geometry analysis to guide IA algorithm design. Specifically, we first explore the relation between algebraic independence and feasibility of polynomial equation sets, and transform the IA problem into an equivalent polynomial form, whose policy space is convex. Then we reformulate the transformed IA problem into an interference optimization problem. By exploiting the connection between algebraic independence and full rankness of Jacobian matrix, we prove that in the interference optimization problem, there is no performance gap between local and global optimums when IA is feasible. This property enables us to easily design IA algorithms by adopting existing local search algorithms. Combining the propositions obtained in this work and those obtained in the authors' prior work on IA feasibility, we have established a unified algebraic framework for both IA feasibility analysis and algorithm design.


Abbreviation study, accomplished through research in doctrine and decisions of the tribunals, concerning the activity of the magistrate in the civil sphere, pointing out the employment of initiative official probatory, inferring the need of a procedure more active of the judging organ, tends in your view preponderant paper during the development of the process, aiming at to assist in a more efficient way the referring constitutional precepts to the process.


A problem in managing the ever growing computer networks nowadays is the analysis of events detected by intrusion detection systems and the classification whether an event was correctly detected or not. When a false positive is detected by the user, changes to the configuration must be made and evaluated before they can be adopted to productive use. This paper describes an approach for a visual analysis framework that integrates the monitoring and analysis of events and the resulting changes on the configuration of detection systems after finding false alarms, together with a preliminary simulation and evaluation of the changes.


The English teaching at higher vocational colleges can no longer keep abreast of the development under the current situation.Nor can it meet the requirements of college students for their English language capability.Therefore,it is imperative to carry out reform of English teaching at higher vocational colleges.The reform of English teaching at higher vocational colleges should be enacted in accordance with the principles of "competency-based and being sufficient." Besides,it should be implemented in such aspects as teaching concept,teaching material,teaching mode,and teaching assessment so as to upgrade the English teaching and improve the students' communicative competence in a comprehensive way.


A localization system is one of the basic requirements for coal mines. Ultra-wideband (UWB), as a technology with broad application prospects, is considered to have great potential in the absence of satellite signals, especially in the underground mine environment, as it can provide rescue assistance. However, state-of-the-art UWB position systems in coal mines cannot efficiently differ the line-of-sight from all communication links, which results in deterioration of the localization accuracy. In this paper, we propose a LOS/NLOS classification method based on a deep learning algorithm. Specifically, we utilize the Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN) to generate diagnostic data for frame transmission under non-line-of-sight (NLOS) condition. Then, a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) is adopted to identify the NLOS communication. Finally, the trilateral centroid positioning algorithm (TCPA) based on ranging data is used to verify the effect of our method for a localization system in coal mines. Field experiments show that our method can accurately differ the LOS/NLOS with the accuracy of 91.19%. The TCPA algorithm with our method can obtain 3.11% improvement compared with the scenario without using our method.


The Covid-19 pandemic was a huge challenge for university teaching, e.g. (Daumiller et al. 2021). Almost all lectures at the University of Innsbruck were converted to online-only courses. In the first lock-down in spring, this was possible for my courses within 2 weeks, as the courses were already based on the flipped classroom concept on a flipped classroom approach (Lage, Platt, and Treglia 2000), which recently turned out to have a statistically significant advantage compared to traditional settings (Låg and Sæle 2019; Cheng, Ritzhaupt, and Antonenko 2019; Hassan and Othman 2021). A good learning management system (The OpenOlat learning platform), a virtual meeting software (BigBlueButton) and the tool R/exams for automated exams generation (Zeileis, Umlauf, and Leisch 2014) made this possible from a technical point of view. However, the total loss of physical encounters in purely virtual teaching stayed problematic. I performed an online survey in 2021 among students who had participated in three of my courses: one bachelor (2021a) and two master courses. The students missed the face-to-face contact with their fellow students and the teacher a (Figs. and and felt that the virtual meetings were only a weak substitute. The only real advantage of virtual teaching is flexibility in terms some. The bachelor students rated the course much worse than the master students. One for that difference may be that the face-to-face classrooms of the bachelor course were replaced with voluntary virtual meetings (consultation hours), which were rarely visited by students, whereas the face-to-face classrooms of the master courses are just moved to weekly virtual meetings with group work in The (Fellin forms blended learning) Abstract Constitutive modelling is a core subject in the field of computational geotechnics, as the quality of predictions made by finite element simulations depends on the quality of the used constitutive model. For many students, constitutive modelling in engineering education is perceived as an abstract and 'hard to grasp' topic. The here presented open education project 'Animating Soil Models' aims to increase the understanding of constitutive modelling with the help of interactive graphics and animations by improving the visual aspect of teaching soil models. Amongst others, the following topics are visualized: yield surfaces, stress invariants, Critical State Soil Mechanics and some related models as the Modified Cam Clay model and clay hypoplastic ity ( Mašín, 2013 ). The content of the project is shared under the open license CC BY as teaching and learning material: soilmodels.com/soilanim. The visualizations certainly do not replace studying the equations, computing or reading books. However, they can facilitate teaching and understanding concepts related to constitutive modelling. Abstract The intergranular strain concept (IGS, Niemunis & Herle, 1997) and the intergranular strain anisotropy formulation (ISA, Poblete et al. 2016) are state of the art extensions to describe small-strain effects. In this work, barodesy (Medicus & Fellin, 2017) is enhanced with ISA to improve its predictions of the mechanical behaviour of soils at small-strain. The performance of the new model is compared with barodesy enhanced with IGS, by performing qualitative simulations as well as using experimental data. Thereby, the conceptual differences and similarities between ISA and IGS are discussed and some recommendations on the models' applicability are provided. The main conceptual difference between ISA and IGS is the purely elastic strain range introduced by ISA. Furthermore, the used ISA formulation includes an additional state variable in order to reduce accumulation effects for cyclic loading with a larger number of repetitive cycles. However, for certain parameter values, the results of ISA and IGS are very similar: then for very small strain/stress cycles, also IGS provides a virtually vanishing stress or strain accumulation, even without a predefined purely elastic bubble (Tafili et al., 2021). Abstract Clay particles in suspension tend to come into contact and form aggregates. Physicochemical factors strongly influence the size of the aggregates as they affect the non-contact electrochemical forces arising between clay particles ([1]). Understanding particle association modes at the level of suspension may be the key to gain insight into the role of electrochemical forces driving clay macroscopic mechanical response. Aggregate size can be investigated via the rate of sedimentation of aggregates in suspension ([2]) for the case where no dispersant is added to the clay suspension. Clay mineralogy, temperature and chemistry sedimentation fluid determine the mode of particle aggregation in suspension and thus the final sediment fabric. Studies on kaolin suspensions have shown that, by increasing the electrolyte concentration ([3]) and by decreasing the relative dielectric permittivity of the pore fluid ([4]), the size of clay flocs decreases, resulting in a longer sedimentation time and a more packed sediment fabric. Similarly, it has been observed that the final sediment obtained for alkaline solutions (high pore fluid pH) is around two times smaller in void ratio than the one obtained for acidic solutions ([5]). In this research, sedimentation tests were performed to investigate modes of clay particle aggregation in different settling environment. Three main factors were analysed: the pH, the relative dielectric permittivity, and the temperature of the settling fluid. A purely inferential image analysis technique is proposed to evaluate the aggregate size of the analysed suspensions. For each sedimentation tests, optical signals were captured by a Digital Single-Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera at regular intervals (see Abstract Snow is a complex porous material existing on Earth close to its melting point, which makes it thermodynamically unstable and promotes a large variety of snow microstructural patterns. Although of primary importance for many applications such as avalanche forecasting, the link between snow mechanics and snow microstructure is still poorly understood. In particular, the failure mechanisms occurring at high shear rate (> 10 -2 s -1 ) during the release of an avalanche remain represented by very coarse empirical laws. In this brittle regime, the mechanical behaviour of snow is mainly controlled by bond failure/formation and grain rearrangements, which can be modelled by the discrete element method. Recent numerical developments based on 3D snow microstructures have provided new insights on the snow mechanical behaviour but lack of experimental evaluation so far. We present here an evaluation of these numerical models using experimental cone penetration test combining tomographic imaging and penetration strength measurements conducted in a cold room. On several centimetres snow samples spanning different snow types (recent snow, round grains, faceted crystals…), we measured the initial snow microstructure at a resolution of about 10 microns, performed a cone penetration test, and measured the deformed microstructure. The initial microstructure is used to feed the discrete element model reproducing the cone penetration test (Fig. 1) and the final microstructure is used to capture the deformation around the cone. We are performing a detailed comparison of numerical results with experimental measurements (Fig. 2) to better understand the link between the mechanical behaviour of snow and Abstract For the development, improvement and calibration of constitutive models for fine-grained soils, different experimental databases on soils with different characteristics (e.g. plasticity, structure, mineralogical composition, among others) are necessary. This article comprises some relevant results of an extensive experimental investigation on Malaysian kaolin under monotonic and cyclic loading. In the tests, a wide range of initial conditions was varied in order to investigate their influence on the mechanical behavior of the kaolin. In particular, the influence of the initial stress ratio, deviator stress amplitude, drained cyclic preloading and sequence of packages of cycles with different deviator stress amplitudes has been investigated. The so-called Miner's rule [1], states that the application of packages of cycles of different magnitudes in different sequences does not affect the final accumulation of strains. The validity of Miner's rule is convenient for the simplification of complex loading scenarios in simple groups of packages with constant loading amplitude in any sequence, as presented in Figure 1. However, the experimental results suggest that if the packages of cycles are applied under undrained cyclic conditions, its sequence does affect the final accumulation of strains and pore water pressure, as presented in presented in Figure 2. To account for the pore water pressure accumulation, a Modified Steward's Approach (MSA) has been proposed to estimate the accumulated strains and pore water pressures based on known results of single-amplitude cyclic tests (see Figure 3). Readers are referred to [2] for more details on the experimental database and the proposed approach. Abstract Many problems in science and engineering involve complex material systems (e.g. heterogeneous and multiscale in nature) displaying path-dependent behaviors, such as geo-, bio-, and meta-materials. Existing constitutive laws can account for several of these phenomena, but may fail to capture response of complex material systems, limiting the possible technological applications. A remedy is to rely on micro-mechanical simulations and multiscale approaches (see e.g. Nitka et al, 2011 ). Nevertheless, the calculation cost of these methods is prohibitive for real scale (industrial) applications. A promising solution is to rely on data-driven approaches based on Artificial Intelligence and, in particular, Deep Learning. D


This article introduces reactive power compensator based on AT89C52 controlling with high precision. It measures excess phase of voltage and current by using digital circuit. The AC solid state relay of passing zero is applied to the control switch. It is input when the voltage of the power system equals the voltage of the capacitor and elimination when the circuit is zero. A microcomputer AT98C52 completes the data processing, inputing, outputing, etc.. The practical result shows the advantages of high precision, less influence on low voltage power system, fast response, connecting capacitors with single phase and the ability of anti jamming. It is mainly used to compensate reactive power in present factories and mines.


Background: Pyoderma gangrenosum is a condition that is included among the neutrophilic dermatoses. Given its low incidence, few studies have addressed its epidemiology or treatment. ∗ Autor para correspondencia.


Compounds having a skeleton of dibenzo-p-dioxin (I) show a characteristic color (mostly blue or greenish blue and sometimes violet) in concentrated sulfuric acid with an oxidizing agent such as potassium nitrate. A series of electron spin resonance studies have revealed that the coloring was due to the formation of the cation radicals such as Ia.


The Internet of Things (IoT) is being used in different applications. Its ability to make objects that were not connected to finally have an internet connection is what is enabling IoT to be beneficial in human activities. It makes use of different sensors to measure changes in an environment. It can be used to measure vital signs of patients in a hospital. Monitoring of vital signs is necessary for the efficient and effective patient management. Vital signs are regularly measured at specific intervals in patients in the Emergency department or critically ill patients in other departments in a medical institution. Measuring of vital signs is necessary in patient management, but availability of resources in health institutions does differ and this affects how attention is given to patient when it is due This research proposes the use of a patient system that measures vital signs of both the patients on the waiting queue in the outpatient department and those in health institution wards. An evaluation will be made on the current systems in use in measuring vital signs and how this affects patient management. The proposed system is expected to measure heart rate and oxygen saturation of patients at specific intervals. The collected data will be sent to connected devices that health workers have access to. By having real time data of a patient's condition the system will not only enable health workers to assist patients in time, but it will also be beneficial to the patient using the system.


Background
Social media is developing into an essential form of communication, particularly in the personal sphere with some 96% of New Zealanders engaged in some form of social media. In recent years many sectors of the commercial environment have adopted social media for communication, marketing and recruitment but little is known of social media use by private surgical hospitals in New Zealand despite these organisations being quick to embrace new medical technology.

Objective
The aim for this study was to determine whether New Zealand's private surgical hospitals had adopted social media and, if not, to identify the barriers that prevented them from doing so. The research serves as groundwork for a future programme of research.

Method
A purposive sample of eight managers working in small to large private hospitals throughout New Zealand participated in the semi-structured in-depth telephone interviews in 2012. Interviews were recorded (with permission), transcribed and then analysed by key themes. Rogers (2003) Diffusion of Technology Theory framed the study.
Results
The majority of the private surgical hospitals had not adopted social media applications beyond some use of LinkedIn and the interviewees had limited knowledge of the benefits or risks of using other social media applications. Most of the interviewees had avoided any participation in social media at a personal level and believed that such technology was irrelevant for their industry group. They viewed their staff as innovative in adopting new clinical procedures, equipment and knowledge but noted they were late adopters of communication and marketing technology. All participants expressed concern with the "lack of control" and immediacy of social media sites and the problem of who would take responsibility for monitoring. They considered that aggressively advertising their hospitals' services was inappropriate but with the increasingly competitive environment some were beginning to seek ways of capturing a greater market share. A significant factor which may contribute to the negative attitudes towards social media was the age of the managers, the majority of whom belonged to the 'baby boomer' generation.

Conclusions
This study has shown that traditional conservative attitudes prevail in the private hospital sector as regards social media adoption. The benefits of increased client engagement and use of the media for marketing and improving internal communication are currently being ignored. The slow diffusion of social media in this health sector may be a reflection of New Zealand's lag behind the world in the use of this technology (NBR, 2011) and the older age of the managers. This preliminary study focused on private surgical hospitals, and further studies on other industry sectors would be useful in determining whether there are similar or different factors contributing to social media uptake throughout New Zealand organisations.

References
NBR, The National Business Review (2011). NZ business lagging with social media. Tuesday, November 22, 2011. Access http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/nz-businesses-lag-behind-social-media-according-report-aw-104785
Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of Innovations (5th ed.). New York, NY: The Free Press. []


Customary leaders have dominant roles and influences, these facts are shown in the land clearing process (monahundau) and the harvesting process (meolu) of paddy rice crop. These processes begin with the opening ceremony or in the form of a small ritual carried out by customary leader numbering one person called Puusaraormandaranosara. The purpose of this study is to find out how the role of customary leaders in decision-making in the ethics of land clearing and harvesting processes in paddy rice farmers. Analysis of the data used in the form of qualitative descriptive analysis, where the data obtained is then described qualitatively using the Miles and Huberman model which consists of three stages, namely (1) Data Reduction, (2) Data Presentation, (3) Conclusion Drawing / Verification. The results of this study indicated that land clearing (monahundau) and the harvesting process (meolu) were influenced by hereditary customs in Puday Village, Wonggeduku Barat Sub-District, Konawe District. Monahundau is a land clearing process which is the first step to open a new planting season every year. Meoluis a harvesting process that is carried out in the same steps as the process of land clearing (observation, reciting intentions and praying silently for the best wishes desired in the harvesting process), and the final step is done by investigating at the rice fields who first turned yellow (ripe), then the rice fields that will be harvested first, the rice begins to be harvested when there is already a statement then the other farmers' land that has yellowed (ripe) may be harvested by themselves (meoludowo). Customary leaders are people chosen by the people of Puday village (puusaraormandaranosara) and have an influnce on decision making in the process of land clearing (monahundau) andharvesting (meolu)


: In this work a labyrinth metasurface sensor operating at the low-frequency edge of the THz regime is presented. This intricate shape leads to a high electric field confinement in the surface of the structure, leading to


Quantum computers offer the potential of achieving significant speedup for certain computational problems. Yet, many existing quantum algorithms with notable asymptotic speedups require a degree of fault tolerance that is currently unavailable. The quantum algorithm for topological data analysis (TDA) by Lloyd et al. is believed to be one such algorithm. TDA is a powerful technique for extracting complex and valuable shape-related summaries of high-dimensional data. However, the computational demands of classical TDA algorithms are exorbitant, and become impractical for high-order characteristics. In this paper, we present NISQ-TDA, the first fully implemented end-to-end quantum machine learning algorithm needing only a short circuit-depth, that is applicable to non-handcrafted high-dimensional classical data, and with provable asymptotic speedup for certain classes of problems. The algorithm neither suffers from the data-loading problem nor does it need to store the input data on the quantum computer explicitly. Our approach includes three key innovations: an efficient realization of the full boundary operator; a quantum rejection sampling and projection approach to restrict a quantum state to the simplices of the desired order in the given complex; and a stochastic rank estimation method to estimate the topological features in the form of approximate Betti numbers. We present theoretical results that establish additive error guarantees, along with computational cost and circuit-depth complexities for normalized output estimates, up to the error tolerance. The algorithm was successfully executed on quantum computing devices, as well as on noisy quantum simulators, applied to small datasets. Preliminary empirical results suggest that the algorithm is robust to noise. Finally, we provide target depths and noise level estimates to realize near-term, non-fault-tolerant quantum advantage.


Abstract The partisan church‐related institution of higher education typically contains a serious internal inconsistency. It attempts not only to fulfill the educational expectations of the general academic culture of the United States, but also the theological expectations of its founding denomination. These two sets of expectations are at odds because they represent incompatible approaches to the acquisition of knowledge, and produce incompatible conceptions of educational diversity, authority, and academic freedom. To rid itself of this inconsistency, the partisan institution must choose to follow either one set of expectations or the other exclusively, or allow the two to exist in tension within one institution.


Objective To analyze the clinical features and diagnostic experiences of retroperitoneal neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC).Methods Clinical data of primary retroperitoneal NEC from January 2000 to January 2012 were retrospectively collected and analyzed.Results Five candidates were included 4 male and 1 female.The median age was 53 years old.3 cases initially suffered from abdominal pain and radiative back pain,2 cases were confirmed by normal physical check.The CT scan and B type ultrasound were performed among all patients,1 case was diagnosed as pancreas head neoplasm,1 case pancreas insulinoma,which was closely associated with other tissues and the intervational therapy was performed twice preoperatively.All 5 cases were selected surgery as the main treatment,2 cases performed radical tumor resection,3 cases received bypass operation.2 cases were 3 years survival.Conclusion Retroperitoneal NEC is a rare carcinoma,characterized by seriously invasion and high malignant degree.Surgery still remains the mainstay of selections,early diagnosis can significantly improve NEC patients' overall survival rate.But the early diagnosis rate of this rare kind of patients still need to be improved.

Key words:
Retroperitoneal neoplasms; Carcinoma,neuroendocrine; Therapy


Two-thirds of the pipeli ne was designed to be bu ricd underground. A ll of the p ipes were joined by welding using flexible joints to give se lf-compensation for temperature changes and deviations of rhc pipe li ne axis. The inside of the flexible joint was also lined with the ce ramic-lnyer to resismnce abrasion. The pipeline was lenk tested with water nt n pressure of 1020 Mpn. It is worth noting that a recent check of an elbow of the pipeline fou nd no evidence of nbrasion therefore showing a distinct advantage over the conventiona l pipe. The pipeline was installed Ju ring 1998 and h::~s been in operation since April 1999 giving, currently, two years of continuous se rvice. The seasonal varinrio n in temperature is from 10° C to 38° C. The pipes are operating without problem and the service life of the pipe is now estimated to be 10 times greater than the normal steel pipe. In general the mine now uses larger diameter pipes, lower concentration of the slurry and lower pressure to transport the ta ilings. Further work is required in order to: • Establish the vu lnerability to accidenta l damage. • Inspect the p ipeline in different areas. • Eva luate cathod ic protection to avo id co rros ion in the underground section of pipe. • o ll ect and eval uate Jam for the running slurry in order to optim ize the drag coeffic ient between the slurry and pipe.


The relative motion reducing apparatus for reducing relative motion between the parallel moored at sea the first vessel and the second vessel is disclosed. Described relative motion reduction apparatus, the vertical guide rod is in the upright position in a mounting groove provided on the side of the first vessel; An elevation member coupled to the vertical direction intermediate portions of the vertical guide rods; To be installed on a vertical guide rod, respectively, arranged perpendicular to the buffer means to the upper and lower portions of the elevating member; Horizontal buffer means provided on the side surface of the elevating member; Combined so as to be movable in the horizontal direction to the horizontal buffer means a horizontal guide rod; And to be coupled to the front end of the horizontal guide rod, which is in close contact plate in close contact with the side surface of the second vessel; and a.


Drawing the two books together, both accomplish and frequently supersede their stated goals. Ionian islands is a well-designed, comprehensive and carefully worded synthesis of published and unpublished material, while A n island archaeology moves Aegean archaeology into the 21st century and demonstrates beautifully how modelling and a careful analysis of material can improve and diversify our understanding of the Early Cyclades.


Objective To investigate the risk factors and clinical characteristics of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) complicated with pulmonary embolism(PE).Methods We selected 24 COPD complicated with PE patients defined as case group(COPD+PE group),while selected 54 acute exacerbation of COPD patients in the same period defined as control group(pure COPD group),compare the differences of risk factors and clinical characteristics between the two groups.Results There were significant differences in previous venous thromboembolism,cancer,surgery within 6 weeks,immobilization time≥7 days between the two groups;syncope,asymmetric swelling of lower limbs,deep venous thrombosis,SⅠQⅢTⅢ syndrome in ECG also with significant difference(P0.05);The level of Carbon dioxide(PaCO2) in blood serum was significantly reduced in COPD patients with PE compared with the patients with COPD,plasma D-dimer were significantly higher in patients with PE as compared to patients without PE.Conclusion The risk factors of pulmonary embolism in COPD patients are previous venous thromboembolism,cancer,surgery within 6 weeks,immobilization time≥7 days.The COPD patients who present with syncope,asymmetric swelling of lower limbs,SⅠQⅢTⅢ syndrome in ECG,the level of Carbon dioxide(PaCO2) reduced and the level of D-dimer elevated should be suspected of complicated with pulmonary embolism.


Learning the first programming language is challenging for many students. High failure rates and bimodally distributed grades lead to a pedagogical interest in supporting students in first-year programming courses (CS1). In higher education, the important role of feedback for guiding the learning process and improving the learning outcome is widely acknowledged. This article introduces contemporary models of effective feedback practice as found in the higher education literature and offers an interpretation of those in the CS1 context. One particular CS1 course and typical course components are investigated to identify likely loci for feedback interventions and to connect related computer science education literature to these forms of feedback.


1. Background. 2. The Development and Failures of the Empirical Literature on the Demand for Money. 3. Identification, Estimation, and Inference in Cointegrated Systems. 4. A Framework for Structural and Dynamic Analysis in Cointegrated Systems. 5. A Prototype Economic Model Characterized by Cointegration. 6. Analysis of Three Variable VECM Models Including Demand Functions for Real Balances. 7. Higher Dimensional VECM Models with Long-Run Money Demand Functions. 8. Combining Term Structure and Fisher Effects. Appendix. Bibliography. Author Index. Subject Index.


Two models of synthetic domain theory encompassing traditional categories of domains are introduced. First, we present a Grothendieck topos embedding the category !-Cpo of !-complete posets and !-continuous functions as a reeective exponential ideal. Second, we obtain analogous results with respect to a category of domains and stable functions.


This document describes use cases and documents call flows that
require the History-Info header field to capture the Request-URIs as a
Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Request is retargeted. The use cases
are described along with the corresponding call flow diagrams and
messaging details.


The paper discusses the latest work published in the high impact, highly political arena, where climate models failing any possible validation are used to study the  "multi-millennial Antarctic commitment to future sea-level rise". We may expect more and more ships of climate change tourists being stuck in the ice the flawed climate models predict as melted.


Daily commutes may contribute disproportionately to overall daily exposure to urban air pollutants such as particulate matter less than 2.5 Μm (PM2.5) and carbon monoxide (CO). PM2.5 and CO concentrations were measured and compared across pedestrian, bus, and car modes during lunchtime and the afternoon peak hour within a 3–week time period on preselected round-trip routes. Variability in the concentration ratios of PM2.5 and CO for the selected transportation modes was quantified, and factors affecting variability in concentrations were identified. Exposure concentrations of transportation modes were sensitive to mode and were affected by factors such as vehicle ventilation and proximity to on-road emission sources. In general, pedestrian and bus modes had higher PM2.5 concentrations than did the car mode. However, the car mode had the highest average CO concentrations among the selected modes. Near-road pedestrian PM2.5 concentrations generally covaried with fixed site monitor (FSM) measurements, but there was little correlation between pedestrian CO concentrations and FSM data. Field studies such as this one are needed to develop input data for simulation models of population-based exposure to predict more accurately exposure concentrations for transportation modes.


Type II superconducting films have been prepared on top of the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure. In an applied magnetic field the inhomogeneous flux distribution at the superconductor is projected down onto the electron gas. At low applied fields the distribution at the 2DEG takes the form of flux tubes which are much narrower than an electron inelastic scattering length. In this regime we observe a qualitatively new weak localization magnetoconductivity proportional to |B| in contrast to the B2 homogeneous result and in semi-quantitative agreement with the theory of Rammer et al.1 We further demonstrate that the 2DEG can be used as a probe of the spatial distribution of an inhomogeneous magnetic field


Abstract: Previous studies have described a biphasic cAMP response after stimulation of LGR7 by human gene 2 (H2) relaxin, involving both adenylate cyclase and PI3‐kinase activity. The current study identifies the upstream involvement of Gi in the PI3‐kinase‐mediated response, likely the result of receptor signal switching. Amino acid sequence analysis of the LGR7 C‐terminal tail and intracellular loops revealed multiple putative phosphorylation sites, suggesting that signal switching from Gs to Gi may occur after receptor phosphorylation. This study supports a time‐dependent biphasic cAMP response: an initial short Gs‐adenylate cyclase‐mediated cAMP response is followed by receptor signal switching to a Gi‐PI3‐kinase‐mediated response.


Foreign volunteers fought on behalf of General Franco and the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War for a right-wing cause whose aim was to smash democracy. These assorted adventurers, fascists, and Catholic crusaders were on the winning side, but their role has remained strangely hidden until now. Men from Portugal and Morocco signed on for money and adventure. General Eoin O'Duffy organised 700 Irishmen in a modern Crusade; 500 Catholic Frenchmen fought in the 'Jeanne D'Arc' unit; and thirty British volunteers, including aristocrats and working-class fascists, also took up arms. Romanian Iron Guard extremists died at Majadahonda and an Indian volunteer fought in the fascist militia. There were Russians, Americans, Finns, Belgians, Greeks, Cubans, and many more. Goose-stepping alongside the volunteers were fascist conscripts from Germany and Italy, in training for the next world war. Foreigners, whether unknown individuals like British pilot Cecil Bebb or infamous figures like the German dictator Adolf Hitler, were essential to Franco's victory. Without Bebb - - who flew General Francisco Franco from the Canary Islands to Spanish Morocco in 1936, a journey which was to precipitate the onset of the Spanish Civil War - - the war would never have started; without Hitler, Franco would never have won.


The abundance of the research in the field of venture capital funding highlights the importance of this topic to boosting economic prosperity in terms of increasing innovation potential and creation of job places appearing due to the development of high potential in early business stages. The analysis of the scientific literature has revealed a specific role of venture capital in funding an early stage business that faces the shortage of capital for development. Additionally, it is argued that venture capital has a positive effect on companies in terms of various non-financial services. Specifically, this paper deals with the role of venture capitalists in building innovation capacity in their portfolio companies. The findings of the qualitative research suggest that venture capital investors are associated with many changes in a company concerning innovations, so they contribute to the capacity gain for company's development.


The present study was carried out among and intermediate college going adolescent girls from 7th and 12th standard (10-19 years age) in the district of Varanasi U.P. Total sample size was 504 A pre-designed structured self administered modified Hindi version of the questionnaire prepared by Susan M. Moore was used which contained questions related to puberty and menstruation. One score was allotted to each correct answer with possible range of score between 0-14. Only 45.6% of the study subjects obtained more than 50% score. Age at menarche duration of menstrual cycle girls reach puberty before boys and menstruation makes women capable of child bearing was correctly known to more than two-thirds of the study subjects. More than half of the girls did not know that during menstruation blood comes from uterus/vagina. 84.9% stated that it is dangerous to swim and run during periods. Misconceptions included information regarding use of sanitary napkins psychological effect of menstruation and weakness during periods. Out of 462 girls who had attained their menarche 64.9% stated that their first source of information related to menstruation was their mother. (authors)


High volume production of sophisticated equipment combined with high reliability requirements, using Mil-Spec parts, has necessitated the development of comprehensive failure analysis techniques for solid tantalum capacitors. Detailed studies have resulted in an increased understanding of manganese dioxide integrity and the silver paint-solder system.


Consider that the theoretical investigation of post evaluation on construction project lag behind the practice of post evaluation in China,put forward that we should do some research on system indices of post evaluation,technique of post evaluation,content of post evaluation and the management system of post evaluation.


Introduction Fedwa Malti-Douglas 1. The Thousand and One Nights in Arabic literature and society Andre Miquel 2. Historical and mythical Baghdad in the tale of Ali b. Bakkar and Shams al-Nahar, or the resurgence of the imaginary Jamel Eddine Bencheikh 3. Aja'ib in The Thousand and One Nights Roy P. Mottahedeh 4. Shahrazad Feminist Fedwa Malti-Douglas 5. Nihil obstat in storytelling? Seeger A. Bonebakker 6. From history to fiction: the tale told by the King's steward in The Thousand and One Nights Muhsin H. Mahdi 7. Ancient Near Eastern traditions in The Thousand and One Nights Stanislav Segert.


Objective
To explore the effect of WeChat group in nursing teaching in neurology department.

Methods
159 cases of nursing undergraduate interns in Neurology Department were randomly divided into 2 groups. The control group used the traditional teaching method while the experimental group adopted WeChat group aided teaching management on the basis of traditional teaching methods, with effect evaluation after 5 weeks practice. SPSS 19.0 was used for chi-square test and t test.

Results
In both two groups of nursing students, scores of theory opera-tion were obviously improved (P<0.05), and the experimental group theory results, operation ability and satisfaction were higher than the control group (P<0.05), and the frequency of occurrence of adverse events was significantly lower than the control group (P<0.05).

Conclusion
WeChat group is conducive to improv-ing the quality of nursing teaching as well as students' overall quality, which is worthy of further promotion.

Key words:
WeChat group; Neurology; Nursing teaching


The microwave absorbing behaviour of Mn-Zn ferrite sintered at 1100,1200,1300,1400 and 1500℃ has been investigated.The phase constitution of the ferrite was analyzed by X-ray diffraction.The results show that the ferrite sintered at 1 500℃ has better microwave absorbing prop- erty than those prepared at other temperatures,due to the increase of turbulent loss generated by the formation of excessive Fe~(2+) in deoxidizing of Fe_2O_3 at high temperatures.


The hydrogen and hydrogen peroxide produced in the radiolysis of CoIII-EDTA (CoIIIY−) in various pH's have been measured. G∞(H2) in the deaerated system sharply dropped from the value of 3.2 at pH 4 where G∞ denotes a limiting value which is reached with increasing solute concentration. G∞(H2O2) in the aerated system was found to be 2.5–2.0. G∞(–CoIIIY−) (=4.4) was not affected by the addition of N2O. G∞(N2) and G∞(H2) were found to be 2.6 and 0.8 respectively. From the results, it is concluded that H atoms and OH radicals reduce Co(III) to Co(II) through the dehydrogenation from the ligand, while eaq− reduce the complex without any degradation of the ligand.


Four components were isolated from Plumbago zeylanica Linn. According to spectroscopic analyses (UV, IR, NMR, MS), preparation of derivatives and determination of physicochemical constants, three of them were identified as plumbagin, β-sitosterol and vanillic acid. The fourth component was a new compound and named plumbagic acid, the structure of which shall be dealt with elsewhere.


In the Old Testament the Chosen People is usually called an 'am, and the quasi-synonym goy is ordinarily reserved for the heathen nations. The immediate impression is that the Old Testament writers do not like to call their people a goy, and this impression is intensified when we remember that in later Judaism goy is a technical term for someone who is not a Jew at all but rather an unbeliever. Yet there are texts, in fact, in which the Chosen People is called not an 'am but a goy. Is this an abuse of a word which necessarily bears a connotation of heathenness, or is it a use positively called for by a particular sense which goy has in the classical language but which 'am does not have? Leonhard ROST has already given us an excellent survey of the general uses of goy and especially of 'am in the Old Testament 1), but a brief classification and analysis of the more particular application of gy to the Chosen People itself may be of use to lexicography and to the study of Israel's social consciousness. If we take all the occurrences of goy applied to the Chosen People in the Bible and classify them according to use in context, we find that they fall into one or the other of the following categories: 1. In a hypothetical generalization or example which is semantically applicable to all nations equally, although in context to be applied to the Chosen People-Dt. iv 7f., 34; Ps. xxxiii 12; Isa. lviii 2; Jer. xviii, 7, 9. (Cf. also category 7 below). 2. Of Israel growing into the status of a nation (like the other nations of the earth)-descending from the Patriarchs, Abraham: Gen. xii 2; xviii 18; Jacob: Gen. xxxv 11; xlvi 3; Jacob and Esau (goyim); Gen. xxv 23 (all either promises of God or, in Gen. xviii 18, an allusion to such a promise); another promise of God in Isa. lx 22; a part of the cultic recital of God's benefits in the history of Israel: Dt. xxvi 5.


Through the analysis of the requirement of quality assessment of The main stakeholders in the mining rights evaluation activities,Quantities and subdivides the relevant content of the Elements of the report format,the Compliance requirements and the requirements of the contract,Establish the quality evaluation system of mining rights price assessment report,This will help the competent administrative department of land and resources of high quality and high efficacy for mining rights assessment report of the acceptance and record work,and in favor of the evaluation institutions to enhance operating construction and improve the quality of assessment reports.


were described by Stauffer et al. (1993) and Stauffer & Sato (2002). Stauffer et al. (2002) argued that behavioral traits are important diagnostic tools for determin-ing phylogenetic relationships among Lake Ma-lawi cichlids. Important behavioral traits among the plankton-feeding cichlids are the structural characteristics and the position in habitat of the spawning and display sites. The purpose of this paper is to reexamine the genus


Abstract Preparation of 2-furylthiazole-4-carboxylic acid methyl ester is achieved in four steps from biomass-derived heteroaromatic compound furfural and a natural amino acid l-cysteine. One-pot bromination and following palladium-catalyzed arylation with arylboronates of the thus obtained furylthiazole at the furan ring gives arylated furylthiazole in excellent yields. Further arylation at the C–H bond of the thiazole ring (5-position) in the presence of AgF as an additive leads to diarylated furylthiazoles, which show strong photoluminescence. Homocoupling at the C–H bond of thiazole is also carried out with AgF to afford the corresponding further conjugated product composed of eight (hetero)aromatic rings.


Seven strains of EBHSV and 29 samples of internal organs of dead hares were used in the investigations. A Polish strain of rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) as well as a negative antigen control was used for conparison. Amon 29 samples from dead hares, 3 origina from hare experimentally infecte with a standard Italian strain and 1 from a hare infected with the Polish strain isolated in 1992. Studies confirmed the presence of viruses in 9 out of 38 samples, positive in ELISA and classic method of RT-PCR. Moreover, the presence of EBHS virus was detected by nested PCR conducted with a product of immunocapture-RT-PCR assay (IC-RT-PCR) in a sample originating from a hare infected with Italian strain although ELISA was negative. IC-RT-PCR assay sensitivity was from 50 to 128-fold higher in comparison to ELISA. The prepared reagents used in IC-RT-PCR assay facilitated the detection of EBHS virus.


Estimation of time since death may be possible from the study of associated bloodstain. In the present work, aging process of bloodstain had been studied by Spectrophotometric method on prepared samples up to a period of 15 days both qualitatively and quantitatively. Absorption Spectra of dilute Hemoglobin solution extractedfrom bloodstain at regular interval were studied from 400nm to 700nm. Absorption ratio (a ratio) of 575nm peak was calculated and plotted graphically gave an exponential decay curve. Age of unknown blood stain found to be associated with crime, may be determined from the experimental decay curve prepared under similar environmental condition. The age of the bloodstain thus indicate the time of death or time of occurrence of a particular crime, which has great evidentiary value in the investigation of the crime.


The lack of a widely accessible method for expressing genes of interest in wild-type embryos is the fundamental obstacle in understanding genetic regulation during embryonic development. In particular, only a few methods are available for introducing gene expression vectors into cells prior to neural tube closure, a period for the drastic development of many tissues. In this study, we present a simple technique for transferring vectors into the endo- and ectodermal cells of mouse embryos at E7.0 or E8.0 via in utero injection, without any specialized equipment. Using this technique, introduction of retroviruses can facilitate the labeling of cells in various tissues, including the brain, spinal cord, epidermis, and digestive and respiratory organs. As such, this technique can aid in analyzing the roles of genes of interest during endo- and ectodermal development prior to neural tube closure.


This work presents an experimental investigation on energy and exergy performance characteristics of a typical residential split air conditioning system. Analyses are performed for different atmospheric temperatures. On the basis of experimental data coefficient of performances (COP), exergy efficiencies (ψ) and exergy destructions (Ėxdest) of whole system and its each subunits are evaluated. The results also demonstrate that the atmospheric temperature (Tatm) rise affects the system performance as well as its performance of components substantially. The values of Ėxdest in the compressor and capillary tube increase with an increase of Tatm but the values of Ėxdest in the condenser and evaporator decrease with an increase of Tatm. When Tatm is risen from 20°C to 46°C; it is determined that power consumption (Ẇcomp) and Ėxdest of the air conditioning system are enhanced by 47.1% and 24.5%, respectively, but ψ is reduced by 38.8%.


The effects of channel and source/drain implants on device characteristics of partially-depleted SOI (PD-SOI) MOSFETs were studied. Devices with a retrograde channel profile show less short-channel effect (SCE), less edge and back channel leakage currents, and more severe reverse short channel effect (RSCE) compared to devices with a uniform channel profile. When the source/drain junction is formed by a single implant instead of extensions, the I/sub D/-V/sub DS/ kink effect is more pronounced. Source/drain junction formed by a phosphorus implant was demonstrated for the first time for deep submicron PD-SOI MOSFETs.


Section 1: Idea Introduction: HIV/AIDS is a sexually transmitted infection that is transmitted by coming into contact with infected bodily fluids. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it is the number 6 cause of death in the world, killing about 1.5 million people each year, and the current lifetime cost of treating HIV is about $379,000. In industrialized countries this maybe a possible option, but in third world countries, where the disease is most prevalent, if the treatment is even available, most people are not able to afford it. Some people are born with immunity to HIV/AIDS due to a genetic mutation, which causes misshapen proteins to form on the surface of their white blood cells. The deformed proteins prevent the HIV/AIDS virus from binding to the cells and ultimately infecting them. Using gene therapy, we can manually insert this mutation into cells and prevent them from getting infected by the HIV/AIDs virus.


Background: Uncontrolled increase of C-section is one of the major problems in Iranian health system, such that C-section is the most common surgical procedure in the entire country's hospitals in Obstetrics and Gynecology sections. A variety of complications also come along with cesarean. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence, causes, and complications of cesarean in Iran. Materials and Methods: forty-one articles were considered with respect to certain criteria and were included in a systematic review to perform a meta-analysis study. The systematic review's search was conducted on SID, Iranmedx, Magiran, Medlib, PubMed, and Science Direct databases published between1999-2016. The weight of each included study was calculated according to its sample size and the reported prevalence of binomial distribution. A random-effects model using R and STATA (Version 11.2) software was utilized for analyzing data Results: The total number of the sample was 197514 pregnant women with a mean age of 26.72 yr. The prevalence of cesarean in Iran was estimated at 48%. The main reasons for the prevalence of cesarean in this study were mothers' higher education, previous cesarean, and doctor recommendation. The most frequent complication in women undergoing cesarean was the muscular pain, and the most common fetal complications in newborns by caesarean delivery was transient tachypnea. Conclusion: The prevalence of C-section in Iran is much higher than what WHO recommends. It is essential, to decrease such a phenomenon, making the mothers aware of the risks of cesarean delivery, and establishing counselling sessions as well to eliminate the mothers' fear of vaginal delivery.


Introduction
 FLT3-ITD is one of the most common and clinically relevant mutations in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). A high FLT3-ITD allelic ratio (AR) (>0.5) is strongly associated with poor prognosis. FLT3-ITDs are heterogeneous mutations, varying in sizes and locations with some patients having multiple FLT3-ITDs. Unfortunately, conventional clinical techniques are often not adequate in measuring these characteristics at sufficient resolution. The current study aimed to characterize an AML case with 2 FLT3-ITDs at diagnosis, map the multi-omic evolution of AML clones, and understand genetic patterns underlying AML relapse using single-cell proteogenomic sequencing (ScPGseq).
 Methods
 Leukemic samples from a 46-year old female patient diagnosed with de novo AML obtained at initial diagnosis and relapse were archived and used in this study. Based on the 2017 ELN risk stratification, the patient was classified into a low-risk group due to normal karyotype/low FLT3-ITD AR/NPM1+. The patient achieved complete remission (CR) after induction chemotherapy in combination with midostaurin. The patient relapsed 2 months after 4 cycles of consolidation, with a CR duration of 6 months. After relapse, the disease was refractory despite reinduction and salvage therapies, even with gilteritinib (Fig A). ScPGseq was performed using the Mission Bio's AML panel and antibody oligoconjugates for 16 cell surface proteins. Raw sequencing reads were processed using Mission Bio's Tapestri pipeline and results were exported from Tapestri Insights (v3.0.2). All downstream computational and statistical analyses were performed using R and Python.
 Results
 Consistent with clinical sequencing (R 2 = 0.997) and PCR, ScPGseq identified 5 mutations in FLT3 (21bp and 39bp ITDs and D835Y), NPM1, and WT1 at diagnosis (2367 cells). At relapse, 1 FLT3-ITD (21bp) and mutations in NPM1 and WT1 were detected while the other FLT3-ITD (39bp) and FLT3 D835Y were absent (2611 cells). Clonal analyses of mutation patterns identified 4 AML clones at diagnosis (C1-4) and 1 at relapse (C3R; Fig B). Two closely related clones, C3 and C3R (WT1+/NPM1+/21bp FLT3-ITD+) differed in zygosity of 21bp FLT3-ITD, where nearly all cells in C3R carries homozygous FLT3-ITD. SNP array confirmed the presence of copy neutral loss of heterozygosity (CN-LOH) in chr13q.
 Analysis of 16 cell surface proteins along with clonal information identified 3 clusters including one devoted to non-leukemic fractions (i.e., no mutations) (top) and another nearly exclusively consisting of mutant cells from diagnosis, which we termed "monocyte-like signature" (right bottom). The other cluster was composed of nearly all mutant cells from the relapse sample and about 1/3 of mutant cells from diagnosis, which we termed "immature myeloid cell signature" (left) (Fig C).
 When investigating further, C3 cells with immature myeloid cell signature (98/287 cells, 34.1%) exhibited much higher allelic burden of (mean 73% vs. 56%, adj. p < 1.1e-6) and were significantly enriched with homozygous 21bp FLT3-ITDs compared to C3 cells with monocyte-like signature (189/287 cells, 65.9%) (41/98 cells, 42% vs. 11/189 cells, 5.8%, adj. p = 2.7e-13). No other mutations showed similar patterns. It indicates that C3R existed from the initial diagnosis at low frequency, instead of losing heterozygosity during relapse. Without the single cell proteogenomic analyses, C3R cells, present in <5% cells at the initial diagnosis could have not been detected.
 The multi-omic information elucidates the complete clonal history of this AML (Fig D). Starting with WT1 and NPM1 mutations (C1), 3 FLT3 mutations (2 ITDs and D835Y) were subsequently acquired in 3 subclones (C2-4). A subset of C3 cells (WT1+/NPM1+/21bp FLT3-ITD+) further gained CN-LOH in chr13q (C3R at diagnosis). When treated, AML cells without homozygous 21bp FLT3-ITD were cleared. Cells with homozygous 21bp FLT3-ITD survived/escaped from the treatment and became the dominant clone at relapse (C3R at relapse).
 Conclusion
 The current study demonstrates that ScPGseq allows
 1) simultaneous and comprehensive analyses of multiple FLT3-ITDs at the single-cell level
 2) early detection of relapse clone with subclonal homozygous 21bp FLT3-ITD from the initial diagnosis, which explains one of the mechanisms of relapse in AML cases with low FLT3-ITD AR
 3) multi-omic clonal analyses, which further refine clonal models relying only on mutation profiles.
 Figure 1 Figure 1.

 Minden: Astellas: Consultancy. Kim: Pfizer: Honoraria, Research Funding; Bristol-Meier Squibb: Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Paladin: Honoraria, Research Funding.


The paper reports experience and lessons learned from applying the principles of User Centered Design (UCD) to articulate user requirements for...


One of the first early intervention programs developed in the 1970s at Peabody College used an inclusive approach by combining infants, toddlers, and preschool-age children with and without disabilities. The first section of this article reviews three salient issues faced by the staff of this early program: recruitment of children, delivery of developmentally appropriate services, and relative lack of barriers to inclusion. In the second section, successes of this early program are juxtaposed with issues faced by contemporary early intervention approaches to inclusion. The final section suggests a refocusing of inclusion efforts in three areas: assuring that inclusion benefits all children and families, improving understanding of which strategies and procedures work and which do not, and improving the clarity of outcomes for individual children who participate in inclusion programs.


6 % BaTiO 3 -doped Na 0.5 Bi 0.5 TiO 3 (BNT  BT) lead-free piezoelectric thin fi lms with the composition around morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) were spin-coated via an economical water-based sol  gel method on Pt(111) / Ti / SiO 2 / Si substrates. High-quality BNT  BT thin fi lms with the thickness ranging from 120 to 560nm were synthesized by stepwise crystallization process, and the thickness effect on structures and electric properties were investigated. Two theoretical models are used to analyze the ferroelectric results. Intrinsic contribution and extrinsic contribution alternatively dominates under different conditions in the BNT  BT thin fi lm. The piezoelectric properties of BNT  BT thin fi lms were found to change monotonically with the increase of the thickness. The largest effective piezoelectric constant ( d 33 ) of the BNT  BT thin fi lms can reach the value of 97.7pm / V for the fi


A technique for the development of high-coupling distributed-feedback (DFB) lasers for the 1.55 μm spectral region is described. The lasers demonstrate stable single-frequency generation in a broad temperature range with a maximum side-mode suppression ratio of more than 30 dB.


In this note, we prove a Sherman type inequality for the Jessen's functional by using a majorization method. In consequence, we obtain a Hardy-Littlewood-Pólya-Karamata type inequality, which says that some n -sums generated by the Jessen's functional are Schur-concave with respect to its n -tuple of weight vectors. Mathematics subject classification (2010): 26B25, 52A40, 06F20.


Abstract Flavor threshold values were determined for ethyl acetate, ethyl butyrate, ethyl hexanoate, ethyl isovalerate, butyric acid, diacetyl, and dimethyl sulfide in homogenized milk. In addition, flavor thresholds were determined for two component mixtures of these compounds in milk. Synergistic interactions (P


The three-stage ground distance protection is generally configured in 220 kV transmission line protection program.With the development of power grids,the structure is increasingly complex.The main transformer of the next substation under different operation mode may cause the distance protection scope too large or the protection low sensitivity,and the difficult cooperation between the higher and the lower-level protection.By taking Chengde 220 kV Zhou-chao transmission line and 220 kV substation of Chaohe as an example,some existing problems in setting calculation were analyzed and discussed in this paper.The cooperation principle of setting was adjusted and the program that the 145 bus-tie breaker in the middle voltage side of the main transformer delayed 0.3 s for tripping to split operation was put forward.The system short-circuit impedance was increased to make the coordination between upper protection and lower protection more reasonable,and the line operation reliability was improved.


In 1995, the Technology Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation board for Engineering and Technology (TAC of ABET) approved a new criteria which places direct responsibility on each engineering technology program to plan and implement continuous improvement and furthermore, they must demonstrate achievements. The criteria (V.A.3.) and (V.A.4.) appeared in draft form in the 1996-97 criteria release; and since there have been no serious objections to date, this criteria will most likely appear in binding form in the 1997-98 release. The Mechanical Engineering Technology (MET) Department at Purdue University anticipated this requirement and first began to prepare for it during the spring of 1994. Several of the resulting initiatives have been accomplished and others are in various stages of progress. Since, the requirement is for "continuous improvement," most of the initiatives will never be finalized but will be ongoing in nature. In the following paper, the authors present the background and environment which seem to contribute to the criteria change. Then, perceived justifications for the new criteria will be presented. Thirdly, the various initiatives that have been launched in the MET Department at Purdue will be outlined and briefly described. Some of the positive outcomes which have already been realized as a result of the continuous improvement efforts are described and conclusions are drawn in the final section. Background There was considerable propagation in the length of the TAC of ABET criteria in the early years while they were in the formative stage. The criteria expanded in scope from a few pages to the format of approximately 25 pages as they appear today. However, during the past decade the criteria have matured and changes have been less frequent. In a 1992 panel discussion on TAC of ABET Criteria and Accreditation, Dr. Fred Emshousen carefully tracked the evolution of the criteria from inception to the then present time. He concluded "The number of changes per year has decreased indicating a stabilization of expectations and furthermore a sign that TAC operations have matured and stabilized regarding process and operations as well." [1] Conversely, in the past few years since 1992, renewed interest in change has been initiated in academic accreditation and assessment. There has been a strong movement in professional organizations and accreditation bodies towards "outcome-based" accreditation standards. Regional academic accreditation organizations have made a rapid transition to this type of standard. Typical regional accreditations now focus on student learning and achievement (outcome-based standards) rather than on faculty, courses and facilities (input standards). This in turn has caused substantial movement in specialized accreditation agencies to also P ge 214.1 2 contemplatethis trend. This is certainly true with ABET. Recently the Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) of ABET has proposed new out-come based criteria for engineering programs. These criteria known as "Criteria 2000" [2] are currently being utilized in pilot accreditation visits with plans for full implementation on or before the year 2000. In conjunction with the national movement towards outcome-based assessment, there has also been a great deal of interest in applying Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) principles that have been so successful in industry to academic institutions and programs. It is the combination of these two movements, that prompted TAC to closely examine its current accreditation criteria and practices. Some of the advantages and disadvantages of current TAC of ABET practices and proposed ideas for the future are presented in an earlier paper by Pagano [3]. For the present, TAC has chosen to maintain its course, and has resisted wide-scale adoption of the outcomebased philosophy. Conversely, TAC has fully supported the integration of continuing improvement expectations into the criteria. To examine and possibly implement some of these changes, TAC convened a mid-year working session in February 1995. Some of the actions that were considered at this meeting resulted in the TAC criteria revisions which are the subject of this paper and are given below [4]. "V.A.3. Programs must have written goals which are consistent with overall institutional goals. These goals must, as a minimum, focus on the student body served, resource allocation, and other factors directly affecting the program. Articulation of goals should be accomplished through specification of objectives by which achievement toward goals can be measured. Programs must demonstrate achievements through various methods, e.g., student outcome assessments, graduate career performance and employer feedback measures. V.A.4. Programs must have plans for continuous improvement. The visiting team will be looking for evidence which demonstrates implementation of continuous improvement processes and procedures for each program. Several individuals in the School of Technology (SOT) at Purdue University are involved in TAC of ABET activities and were aware of the changes being contemplated. In anticipation of these changes and due to the fact that the university as a whole was beginning to plan a CQI initiative, it was decided to go ahead and launch a continuous improvement program in the MET Department. It was felt that the department was due for a major review and could substantially benefit from a formal continuous improvement program. The next ABET visit to the MET Department at Purdue is scheduled for Fall 1998. Because the planning and documentation for such a visit normally span at least an entire academic year, it was felt that prompt action was necessary. Therefore, after some preliminary planning, continuous improvement activities were launched in the Summer of 1994. The progress to date is described below. MET Department Initiatives Formation of the Continuous Improvement Committee (CIC) In a university setting, one of the first things that happens when new ideas or initiatives are launched is the formation of a committee. This was also true in the case of CQI. Even though it P ge 214.2 3 was realized that CQI must involve every individual in the department including faculty, staff, and administration, it was determined that a focused group would serve as the hub of activities initiated. This group would be responsible to record and maintain the documentation of efforts for later inspections by TAC of ABET or other assessment teams. It is important to note that the new TAC of ABET criteria (V.A.4.) include a requirement for evidence which demonstrates continuous improvement results. The committee would also be responsible to monitor all accreditation agency requirements and CQI expectations of the university and to disseminate this information to faculty and staff. The committee was appointed in May 1994. It originally consisted of a chair and three members; one for curriculum, one for facilities, and one for processes. Later, a fourth member, representing student activities, was added. The committee has met almost monthly since its formation and has served as a true catalyst to move the department's CQI program into a proactive stance. Meeting minutes are kept as well as other documentation of committee efforts so that specific improvements can be gauged. University Wide North Central Assessment Effort The university's next accreditation visit by the North Central Association (NCA) takes place in the year 2000 and, as a result, there has been a university level effort to establish a plan meeting the NCA requirements. To this end, representatives from each school were selected to form a task force with the job of guiding this effort. The School of Technology representative also facilitates a school level committee made up of representatives from each department of the school. The North Central Assessment Committee, as the school level committee is known, has met regularly throughout the school year. An important ongoing effort of this committee has been to facilitate communication between departments and share information about assessment or other improvement projects being developed. For example, the MET representative has provided the school committee with a copy of a planning calendar and an example of a learning outcome model (see Specific Department Efforts below). Each department should be able to learn from the success or failures of the other departments. This committee serves as a vehicle for this exchange of information. One additional project that the committee has undertaken is to revise a school wide survey to use in assessing our success in education as viewed by employers, alumni, and faculty. Purdue University's Excellence-21 Campaign During the Fall 1995 semester, the Purdue University president assembled 140 representatives of every Purdue School, administrative unit, and campus to launch Excellence-21, an initiative to apply continuous improvement techniques throughout the university. The two-day leadership conference featured seminars on how to apply CQI tools and techniques in a university setting. The conference also featured success stories of several examples of how Purdue units had improved performance in the past through customer attention and overall redesigning of processes. Principles of customer-centered thinking were the focus of the two-day event. These principles, applied since the 1950's in industry, were presented by Motorola Inc. Motorola is internationally known for CQI and they have joined Purdue as a partner in the Excellence-21 campaign. The P ge 214.3 4 two-day conference was followed by a year long implementation phase, where the principles were disseminated and applied to all facets of the university's operation. Each unit on campus was responsible to define, implement, and report on at least two CQI initiatives during the 1996 calendar year. For academic units, at least one of the projec


Individuals tend to associate uniquely human features, for example the fact of feeling secondary emotions, more to ingroup than to outgroup. However, little evidence exists for a direct link between the concept of humankind and ingroup. In Study 1, participants were presented with pictures of humans and apes. Pictures were preceded by a supraliminal prime: names typical of ingroup versus outgroup. In Study 2, participants had to decide whether a string of letters represented a person name; names were typical of ingroup versus outgroup and preceded by a subliminal presentation of a human or monkey face. In both studies, faster latencies for human/ingroup than human/outgroup associations were found. An evaluative task confirmed no difference in valence between the human and animal face. Conclusions underline the importance of considering also the animal dimension in studying social cognition, and propose future avenues to identify variables shifting outgroup perception from infra– to dehumanization.


A real-time system for illumination-invariant object tracking is proposed. The system is able to estimate at high-rate the position of a moving target in an input scene when is corrupted by the presence of a high cluttering background and nonuniform illumination. The position of the target is estimated with the help of a filter bank of space-variant correlation filters. The filters in the bank, adapt their parameters according to the local statistical parameters of the observed scene in a small region centered at coordinates of a predicted position for the target in each frame. The prediction is carried out by exploiting information of present and past frames, and by using a dynamic motion model of the target in a two-dimensional plane. Computer simulation results obtained with the proposed system are presented and discussed in terms of tracking accuracy, computational complexity, and tolerance to nonuniform illumination.


The history of lingerie is a record of the tensions between the two stereotypes: mother and whore. Lavishly illustrated, this book tells the story of these tensions, taking in the feminist revolution along the way.


A recent article of Zavrel et al. in this journal (Eng. Life Sci. 2010, 10, 191–200) described a comparison of several computer programs for progress‐curve analysis with respect to different computational approaches for parameter estimation. The authors applied both algebraic and dynamic parameter estimations, although they omitted time‐course analysis through the integrated rate equation. Recently, it was demonstrated that progress‐curve analysis through the integrated rate equation can be considered a simple and useful alternative for enzymes that obey the generalized Michaelis–Menten reaction mechanism. To complete this gap, the time‐dependent solution of the generalized Michaelis–Menten equation is here fitted to the progress curves from the Zavrel et al. reference article. This alternative rate‐integration approach for determining the kinetics parameters of Michaelis–Menten‐type enzymes yields the values with the greatest accuracy, as compared with the results obtained by other (algebraic or dynamic) parameter estimations.


Lexical chaining is a method for encapsulating the meaning of a document in so-called lexical chains. The presence and concentration of such chains can be used to judge similarities both within and between documents. We present a system that performs such chaining and, using a small corpus of news articles, compare its performance with that of a naive vector-space system. We then investigate the utility of such automated similarity judgments for information retrieval tasks such as generating inter-document links and processing queries.


The Lake Toba area, which is one of the priority tourist destinations in Indonesia, has a variety of local wisdom that can be used for tourism development. This study analyzes what local wisdom in Pusuk Buhit is still guided by and which has been lost in today's daily life. Next, we will analyze the reasons behind the low tourist visits to Pusuk Buhit, Samosir Regency, which has an extraordinary natural and cultural heritage base. The research was conducted with a qualitative descriptive method. Data was collected using in-depth interviews, combined with field observations and FGDs with several key informants, namely community leaders, several NGOs. The results showed that some of the local wisdom found in Pusuk Buhit, Samosir Regency is still used as a way of life, but some of it is no longer used as a way of life. Most of the tourists who visit the local wisdom location in the area of Pusuk Buhit, Sianjur Mula-Mula Sub-district, do religious tour; they come to perform their pilgrimage to the local wisdom location. Stories about the local wisdom are not uniform, and they are usually interpreted by the speakers differently, based on their own religion. The reasons of tourists are reluctant to visit the local wisdom location is because of lack of transportation to the location, the location is far from the hotels where the tourists stay, there is no inn or motel in the local wisdom location, tourists need extra energy to reach the area of Pusuk Buhit, lack of information about the existence of the local wisdom, lack of service in the local wisdom location, lack of facility for the tourists to relax, lack of toilets/bath rooms, lack of restaurants or food stands, and sanitation and hygienic condition in the local wisdom location are very bad.


The peak level of growth hormone (GH) stimulated by insulin tolerance test (ITT) is the " gold standard" for diagnosis of growth hormone deficiency in adults.This study was aimed to explore the factors influencing GH response to ITT in 50 healthy adults.The results showed that the nadir or decreased amplitude of blood glucose was not related to GH peak level.In multivariable analysis,the GH level stimulated by ITT was negatively associated with body mass index(P<0.01),but there was no any association with age,gender,and waist circumference.

Key words:
Insulin tolerance test ;  Growth hormone ;  Influence factor ;  Adult


Simple Summary Deformation of red blood cells (RBCs) is essential in order to pass through the smallest blood vessels. This cell function is impaired in the presence of high levels of free radicals and shear stress that highly exceeds the physiological range. In contrast, shear stress within the physiological range positively affects RBC function. RBCs are a heterogeneous cell population in terms of RBC age with different RBC deformability described for young and old RBCs, but whether these different sub-populations tolerate mechanical and oxidative stress to the same extent remains unknown. The results of the present investigation revealed lower RBC deformability of old RBCs compared to young RBCs and comparable reductions in RBC deformability of the sub-populations caused by free radicals. Physiological shear stress did not further affect free radical content within the RBCs and reversed the deleterious effects of free radicals on RBC deformability of old RBCs only by improving RBC deformability. The changes were aimed to be explained by changes in the formation of nitric oxide (NO), but outputs of NO generation appeared dependent on cell age. These novel findings highlight a yet less-described complex relation between shear stress, free radicals, and RBC mechanics. Abstract Red blood cell (RBC) deformability is an essential component of microcirculatory function that appears to be enhanced by physiological shear stress, while being negatively affected by supraphysiological shears and/or free radical exposure. Given that blood contains RBCs with non-uniform physical properties, whether all cells equivalently tolerate mechanical and oxidative stresses remains poorly understood. We thus partitioned blood into old and young RBCs which were exposed to phenazine methosulfate (PMS) that generates intracellular superoxide and/or specific mechanical stress. Measured RBC deformability was lower in old compared to young RBCs. PMS increased total free radicals in both sub-populations, and RBC deformability decreased accordingly. Shear exposure did not affect reactive species in the sub-populations but reduced RBC nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activation and intriguingly increased RBC deformability in old RBCs. The co-application of PMS and shear exposure also improved cellular deformability in older cells previously exposed to reactive oxygen species (ROS), but not in younger cells. Outputs of NO generation appeared dependent on cell age; in general, stressors applied to younger RBCs tended to induce S-nitrosylation of RBC cytoskeletal proteins, while older RBCs tended to reflect markers of nitrosative stress. We thus present novel findings pertaining to the interplay of mechanical stress and redox metabolism in circulating RBC sub-populations.


1. As preparation for the OECD skills assessment project entitled Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) some perspective is required relating to the skills of young people and the school to work transition process. Most important is – what are the key issues for policy makers in this area? This short paper attempts to investigate these issues and provide such a perspective. The main questions to be addressed in this short paper are: • What should be the main economic questions of interest to policy makers? • What do we know and what we don't know about skills of young adults? • What do we know and don't know about the factors which relate to a smooth transition from school to work? How will a Skills Assessment of Young Adults address what we don't know? (This section can be very specific, for example focusing on skills in ICT, interpersonal skills, soft-skills, etc.) • What is the most important kind/type of skills that we would like to extract from a Skills Assessment of Young Adults? Why? How? What are the difficulties expected in extracting such information? What policy questions can be addressed from the information of such skills? Why was this not addressed in past surveys of adult skills? • Why is a new survey necessary? How can an assessment of skills of young adults help improve the understanding of the school to work transition, and thus policy design? How can we take into account the good dimension in the school to work transition? • Specifically, what kind of survey should be prepared? (skills to be assessed, age-groups to be surveyed? Employer-based versus household or individual based surveys? How to ensure international comparability, while still being relevant to employment policy makers?) • What might be the pros and cons of assessing young adults vis-a-vis other groups (e.g., older individuals, etc.)? 2. Since each of these issues themselves could be the topics of major research projects I will attempt to provide only a brief and selective subjective policy perspective. This perspective is heavily reliant on evidence from the UK partly because this data is readily available and most of the issues have been well researched. This will provide a good context for framing the policy questions which are relevant for the whole OECD but at the same time it should not be taken as necessarily applying to any other country.


Self Help Group has a positive impact in social, political, economic and educational sphere. It is playing a vital role in developing rural areas and rural people. SHG also pay a way for obtaining a method for raising money, skill development, ending social isolation; give a feeling of personal relation, social intimacy, social confidence etc. Self Help Group is an effective strategy for the empowerment of woman in rural as well as urban areas bringing woman together from all sphere. The selected location was Ranka, East Sikkim located 16 km away from Gangtok. The study was based to focus on functioning of SHG at Phenzong, Baliman. In the survey 6 SHG namely KURSONGREEP, UJWAL, PRERNA, LOTUS, AJAMBARI and MICKEL were interviewed. All the group mainly preferred agriculture as their foremost profession due to low level of education, knowledge in agricultural production, suitable climatic condition and fertility of soil. But LOTUS also practice bakery, handloom, and vermi-compost and AJAMBARI practice poultry farming as their secondary work. The paper also tries to look upon the economic and social impact, highlight the problems persisting and suggestion and measures are also given.


Objective: To investigate the clinical presentation and misdiagnostic causes of 507 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Methods: The analysis was performed in 507 cases of the nasopharyngeal carcinoma treated from January 1996 to the end of 1999. Results: The clinical presentation of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma includes epistaxis, nasal obstruction, ear pain, hearing loss, headache, cervical lymph node involvement, cranial nerve involvement and horner's syndrome. At the time of initial diagnosis, the rate of misdiagnosis was 86.98% for all cases. The duration before getting pathologic document was longer in patient with mild symptoms such as epistaxis, nasal obstruction and/or ear pain than that with headache, cranial involvement and/or cervical lymph node involvement. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that it is an important procedure for patients with symptoms linking to nasopharyngeal carcinoma to receive careful examination for the ear, nasopharynx and nose.


Simple and practical noble-metal-free catalyzed hydrogen production from sustainable resources, such as renewable formic acid, is highly desirable. Herein, we describe the development of an efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production from aqueous solution of formic acid by in situ generated Ni/CdS photocatalytic system, using CdS-Cys quantum dots (QDs) as the photocatalyst with Ni(OAc)2 as the H2 production catalyst precursor, in 94% yield within 5 h under visible light irradiation at 50 °C. The average rate of hydrogen (H2) production reached up to 282 μmol·mg-1·h-1 with 99.8% H2 selectivity. Mechanistic studies indicate cooperation of dynamic quenching and static quenching of CdS-Cys QDs by Ni(OAc)2. Especially, Ni0, generated in the dynamic quenching, accelerate the electron transfer through acting as an electron outlet and enhance the stability of CdS to slow down the photocorrosion distinctly, delivering efficient H2 production with high selectivity. Our study will inspire exploration of various efficient non-noble-metal catalysts for practical H2 production from bio-based formic acid.


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New work-hour limits aim to help increase patient safety and reduce resident fatigue.

When she was a resident, Antoinette S. Laskey, M.D., FAAP, promised her husband that when she finished her long shifts she would not drive their daughter for fear of falling asleep behind the


This paper highlights the reproduction problems of colored graphs in grayscale/black and white contexts. It suggests remedies and improvements to the common design and presentation of graphs. The paper also shows the benefits of using a graphic communication/information designer.